Why Is No Group Blamed For Oyo/Kogi Prison Breaks But IPOB Is Ready Made Suspect In South East?: HURIWA Asks FG

Says Gumi Is Working For Government/Terrorists

“A situation whereby the federal government through the heads of security institutions headed mostly by Northern Moslems had always blamed the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) for attacks on National institutions and officers in the South East but fails to apportion any blames for such kinds of attacks elsewhere like the Oyo and Lokoja prisons’ breaks shows an entrenched double standard and a certain kind of crude hatred of Igbo ethnicity by key officials of government.
Besides, HURIWA has asked the president to order the immediate arrest of the Kaduna based Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and charge him to court of competent jurisdiction for violating the extant counter terror Act for supporting terrorists and Fulani bandits by once again threatening the  end of Nigeria should President Buhari classify Fulani militia as terrorists.
HURIWA in a statement said if the Federal government fails again to arrest Sheikh Gumi, then Nigerians should know that he is actually speaking the official position of key officials in government including heads of military institutions and the National Security Adviser who have all praised his role recently.
HURIWA recalled that the controversial Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Sunday warned that declaring bandits as terrorists will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity.
Ahmad Gumi, a retired army military officer and mufti, admitted that the devastation inflicted by rampaging bandits in Nigeria’s northwest amounts to terrorism, but President Muhammadu Buhari’s labelling them as such will invite additional consequences that will consume the entire country.
HURIWA quoted Sheikh Gumi as saying thus: “The acts the bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism,” Mr Gumi said in a Facebook post on Sunday night. The cleric warned that the moment bandits are designated as terrorists, “Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force. “Many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits,” he said. “This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim.”

But HURIWA queried the Federal government why the officials are pampering Gumi whose actions and statements are directly backing mass killers and terrorists but the central government is too quick to kidnap Nnamdi Kanu of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra from Kenya for trial for treasonable felony and is chasing Sunday Igboho of the Yoruba Nation separatist agitation. 
 
HURIWA recalled that on April 5 2021,
a total of 1,844 prisoners were freed when gunmen attacked a correctional facility in Owerri, an official has said.
It was then automatically  reported that the attack on the prison by armed men initially suspected to be members of the outlawed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB).The group had been blamed by the Government for previous attacks on security officers and facilities in the South-east and South-south regions.The Nigerian Inspector General blamed  the Eastern Security Network, the armed wing of the banned separatist group the Indigenous People of Biafra, are responsible for the attack. 

HURIWA recalled that amongst a plethora of attacks targeted at National security assets which are blamed on IPOB without any shreds of forensic evidence, Another incident is the report Of Thursday 7th August 2021 in which Imo police through its commissioner Mr. Abattam who said, “On August 5, at 21:35 hours, bandits, in their numbers attacked and threw explosives and petrol bombs on top of the roof of Orsu Police Station damaging the roof and causing fire outbreak in the station which spread and affected some of the vehicles parked at the parking lot. The command’s tactical teams on ground engaged the bandits in a gun duel. The police blamed the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra for this and scores of attacks.

HURIWA however said the federal government’s show of shameless double standard was manifested when On the 13th September 2021 , Gunmen attacked Kabba Correctional Centre in the early hours of Monday, freeing 240 inmates and killing two security operatives.The custodial facility was said to have had 294 inmates as of the time of attack. The Rights group said the President of Nigeria and heads of security institutions did not blame any group for the attack and for over a Month not a suspect is under arrest. The spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) in the state, Mr. Olanrewaju Anjorin, confirmed the incident, saying: “Yes. It has been confirmed that the attack actually happened. And right now, the comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and other top officers are assessing the situation.”

HURIWA then recalled that last week the Oyo prison with over 1,000 inmates experienced a massive prison break with all the prisoners escaping even as experts alleged that armed Fulani attackers were responsible and their target was the detained Oyo based Blind Fulani warlord Wakili blamed for the killings of Yoruba farmers for which Sunday Igboho mobilised his supporters to chase the armed Fulani militia away and the leader of the Fulani gangs was arrested and detained in prison. 
HURIWA then said the federal government failed to blame any particular group for the Oyo prison break even when the Fulani  terrorists are blamed by most experts. The Rights group said these signals of double standards by the current government in favour of Fulani terrorists is provocative, vexatious, treasonous,  unconstitutional and illegal just as the Rights group urge Nigerians to speak out in condemnation of the open practice of double standards by the federal government in Abuja now. 
 

Gunmen attack church, abduct three worshippers

There was pandemonium in Obada Oko in Ewekoro local government area of Ogun State following the kidnapping of three worshippers in a Cherubim and Seraphim Church, along Railway station in the early hours of Sunday.

The victims, according to a source, who pleaded anonymity, included; Ifeoluwa Alani-Bello, Adebare Oduntan and Mary Oliyide were said to have been taken away by unknown gunmen while holding a vigil in the aforementioned church.

It was gathered that the abductors had demanded for ransom of N6 million before they can be released.

According to the source, “the incident took place at Cherubim & Seraphim Church, Ona-Ara, Oju-Irin in Obada Oko in the early hours of today (Sunday) during a night vigil held by the said church”.

Confirming the incident, Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Ogun State command, Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the state command anti-kidnapping unit has been dispatched to the area to partner with the Obada Oko Division of the police to rescue the victims

He added that, it should also be noted that the police had also warned members of the public from having vigil and religious activities in areas considered to be isolated and that if at all such places of worship want to have programme, they should inform the police so that police patrol could be extended to such area and adequate security provided.

(Vanguard)

Nigeria will end if Buhari declares bandits as terrorists: Sheikh Gumi

Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Sunday warned that declaring bandits as terrorists will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity.

Mr Gumi, a retired army military officer and mufti, admitted that the devastation inflicted by rampaging bandits in Nigeria’s northwest amounts to terrorism, but President Muhammadu Buhari’s labelling them as such will invite additional consequences that will consume the entire country.

“The acts the bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism,” Mr Gumi said in a Facebook post on Sunday night.

The cleric warned that the moment bandits are designated as terrorists, “Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force.”

“Many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits,” he said. “This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim.”

Mr Gumi said, since Boko Haram has already gripped the North-East, separatist agitators in the South-East and South-West will easily seize on the lawlessness sweeping the northern regions.

“NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later.

“Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe.

“Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?” Mr Gumi said.

The mufti also dismissed his critics as “illiterates” for their failure to see his position since he started holding talks with bandits in their hideouts and publicly advocating for a civil resolution to their deadly exploits.

Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina recently smalled Mr Gumi as a “terrorist lover” for his open association with bandits killing and abducting civilians across the North-West.

The bandits carried out abductions of schoolchildren that forced school closures in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara. The Nigerian National Assembly also urged Mr Buhari to declare them terrorists.

In July, the bandits shut down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara and also raided Nigerians Defence Academy Kaduna the following month.

Although Mr Buhari acknowledged bandits have been terrorising the country, his administration has been reluctant to declare bandits as terrorists because they have yet to declare a political or religious goal, a key requisite in designating a movement as terrorists under international regulations.

See Mr Gumi’s full statement below:

Nobody doubts that sentimentalism today overrides sensibility in our polity. For the sake of posterity, some people will have to speak out. The acts the Bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism.

Yet, innocence these days is relative. We agreed if their children and women are also killed, they are guilty by association or collateral damage, so also the bandits may think the same way. It’s right for vigilantes to lynch Fulanis herdsmen or anyone that looks like them by profiling but wrong for the herdsmen to ransack villages in retribution. They are pushed to believe it is an existential war and in war, ethics are thrown to the winds.

Yet again, the only helpful part that is against Bandits is that no other than them are attracted to join them in the NW because of its ethnic tinge and coloration. However, the moment they are termed Terrorist – Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force. And many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive.

Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits. This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim. In such a situation, does the larger society -as it is- has the moral high ground to fight back? This is the most probable consequence, the price of which is not worth it. Nothing stops the kinetic actions from going on without the controversy of semantics.

NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later. Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe. Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?

I have started to get these raw bandits out of their misadventure but unfortunately, I have few helpers and a mountain of antagonists. The psychology in fighting natives is to induce a motive for their struggle if they don’t have one already, a motive that is manageable, and it is so managed. Unfortunately, reactions to threat in our nation is always slow and incoherent.

I hope another Igbo clergy goes into the IPOB militants likewise and talk sense into them, and another Pastor of Oduduwa land talks against the Igboho secessionist tribal movement by way of sensitizing people to the values of a cohesive nationalism that will guaranty freedom, equality, and justice for all. Religious forces can permeate hardened hearts where secular forces cannot.

Regrettably, people just sit down in the comfort of their rooms or parlors and make useless passing comments that only add fuel to the inferno of ethnic jingoism and bigotry. In the 21st century, Nigeria is hijacked by semi-illiterates and half-baked tribal heroes that have nothing to offer besides promoting tribal xenophobia.

Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groupings, it’s not possible to divide such a nation into tribal enclaves. Nigeria is multi-religious, even with one same religion or sect there is no harmony and understanding that can build a prosperous unified nation where tranquility and development will flourish. We are tired of these bogus destructive fruitless slogans!
Nigerians are in a daydream so long they act by Nerval impulses not by the dictates of their cerebral cortex.
May Allah protect us all. Amin

[Gazette]

Ministers, party leaders detained in apparent coup in Sudan – sources

Soldiers arrested most of the members of Sudan’s cabinet and a large number of pro-government party leaders on Monday in an apparent military coup, three political sources said.

The information ministry said “joint military forces” had arrested civilian members of the Sovereign Council and members of the government and had taken them to an undisclosed location.

There was no immediate comment from the military. Sudanese state TV broadcast as normal.

A Reuters witness saw joint forces from the military and from the powerful, paramilitary Rapid Support Forces stationed in the streets in Khartoum.

Sudan has been on edge since a failed coup plot last month unleashed bitter recriminations between military and civilian groups meant to be sharing power following the 2019 ouster of former leader Omar al-Bashir. read more

Bashir was toppled and jailed after months of street protests. A political transition agreed after his ouster has seen Sudan emerge from its isolation under three decades of rule by Bashir and was meant to lead to elections by the end of 2023.

The Reuters witness said military and paramilitary forces deployed across the capital, Khartoum, restricting civilians’ movements, as protesters carrying the national flag burnt tires in different parts of the city.

The information ministry said on its Facebook page that a number of ministers and civilian members of the ruling Sovereign Council were arrested.

Khartoum airport was shut and international flights were suspended, according to Dubai-based al-Arabiya TV channel.

Citing unidentified sources, Saudi-owned, Dubai-based Al Hadath said Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok had been placed under house arrest, and that unidentified military forces arrested four cabinet ministers, one civilian member of the Sovereign Council, and several state governors and party leaders.

Family sources told Reuters that military forces had stormed the house of Hamdok’s media adviser and arrested him.

Reuters witnesses said internet services appeared to be down in Khartoum.

The Sudanese Professionals Association (SPA), a main activist coalition in the uprising against Bashir, called on supporters to mobilise after what it called the arrest of cabinet members.

“We urge the masses to go out on the streets and occupy them, close all roads with barricades, stage a general labour strike, and not to cooperate with the putschists and use civil disobedience to confront them,” the group said in a statement on Facebook.

As tensions built this month, a coalition of rebel groups and political parties aligned themselves with the military and called on it to dissolve the civilian government, staging a sit-in outside the presidential palace.

Last week, several cabinet ministers took part in big protests in several parts of Khartoum and other cities against the prospect of military rule.

The military head of the Sovereign Council has previously asserted his commitment to the transition.

[Reuters]