Three residents of Hukke village in the Miango District of Plateau State were killed on Sunday night after a group of Fulani herders sent a warning letter to the Nigerian Army on October 1.
Three persons also sustained varying degrees of injury as a result of the attack. The deceased residents are Barry Ive, 42; Isaiah Gado, 45; and Weyi Chohu, 40, while the injured ones are Bosco Gbere, Barnabas Lundi, and Moses Bombo.
FIJ gathered that the entire Miango community, which had been desertedsince early August owing to several invasions, witnessed a gradual return of indigenes few weeks before the incident.
Both the local vigilantes and the Nigerian Army had agreed to place a warning flag against cattle grazing in Hukke and its neighbouring villages to protect the ravaged agrarian communities.
“This prompted both the local security and the army to mount checkpoints across the entire community,” a source told FIJ. “However, on Wednesday, the Fulani came in the night, removed the flag, and dropped the threat letter there.”
“In the letter, they said the Nigerian Army does not have the right to stop them from grazing. They threatened to attack the soldiers if they didn’t leave the checkpoint.”
FIJ exclusively gathered that after receiving the letter, the Nigerian Army had a meeting with community members and Fulani leaders to reach a truce. Sources revealed that the meeting was held on Saturday at Sector 3 of the army command in Plateau State.
Despite the dialogue, the community was attacked on Sunday afternoon. The attack started with a gun duel between the Nigerian Army and the assailants from 2 pm till around 6 pm.
“They repelled the attackers. It looks like what they did was to actually ensure that the military supply in terms of the ammunition was drained,” an eyewitness narrated.
“After that, they attacked the village, killing three people and injuring two others. One other community resident had already been injured during the gun duel.”
“To me, the whole attack looks like a game plan between the Fulani and the Nigerian Army.”
Leading Civil Society and Pro-democracy group-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has thrown her weight behind the insistence of the nation’s electoral umpires the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to conduct the November 6th 2021 election as planned inspite of heightened attacks by unknown armed non state actors.
Besides, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA said it was heartwarming that even when speculations and accusations were rife that the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) had threatened to unleash unprecedented violence to stop the November 6th poll, the officially recognised spokesperson of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra Comrade Emma Powerful is known to have been attributed with the claim in the media that the violence targeting the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission and strategic national security institution and operatives aren’t executed by his organisation but rather that a South East governor was behind the killings so as to render the election inconclusive and to enable the electoral panel to give the victory to the National ruling party of All Progressives Congress which produced the said alleged Igbo sponsor of the spate of attacks in the South East of Nigeria. HURIWA said there was valid reasons to investigate this libe of thoughts.
HURIWA through the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko therefore says the onus is now on the Federal Government of Nigeria using the law based security and intelligence gathering approaches and strategies to decide and unravel the exact sponsors and executors of the unprecedented bloody violence and targeted killings of Igbo academic and political elites that escalated since preparations for the governorship election in Anambra State intensified.
The Rights group accused the All Progressives Congress of demonstrating undue avarice and greed to scuttle the peaceful conduct of the anambra state gubernatorial poll going by the high level of committees backed by the federal government set up to help the All Progressives Congress candidate in the Anambra election Mr. Andy Uba to win.
“HURIWA doesn’t apprehend and comprehend the choreographed state of panic and terrific fears that the so called activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in the state may obstruct the conduct of the election when from the official spokesperson of the banned group Nigerians have been told that IPOB won’t undermine the conduct of the election.”
“It is now becoming clearer that the All Progressives Congress is determined to throw Federal might and manipulate Presidential power and misuse public fund at the disposal of the office of the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to deliver by hook or crook the Anambra state governornirship seat to the All Progressives Congress.”
“The body language of the President and his speeches and the fact that All Progressives Congress has set up nearly 100 men campaign panel made up of over 20 governors and Federal officials shows that the problem facing the smooth conduct of the Anambra state gubernatorial poll is not IPOB but the Federal government and members of the deep state who are plotting and working through the activities of the unknown gunmen to create panic and conflicts in Anambra to scuttle a peaceful, transparent and accountable election to either declare the election inconclusive as was done in Osun and then rig the by-election or to rig it outright and allow the Supreme Court to reinvent the Imo formula in which the person who emerged fourth by INEC was declared the winner by the discredited Supreme Court of Nigeria “.
HURIWA recalled that amidst the uncertainty over the election, Director, Voter Education and Publicity, INEC, Victor Ayodele Aluko, told the media on Monday that the emergency Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security meeting would among others deliberate on the way forward for the Anambra election.Asked if INEC was considering postponing the election as a result of the insecurity in the state, he said the answer would come after the meeting.
HURIWA said speaking at the meeting, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, assured that the election will not be postponed just as INEC Chief recalled that during the ICCES last quarterly meeting on 9 September 2021, the committee received briefings and reviewed preparations for the election and that a major concern raised by members was the security situation in the state in particular; the adjoining states in general and how this might affect preparations and possibly the conduct of the election.
HURIWA quoted Professor Yakubu as saying thus: “Unfortunately, the situation has deteriorated markedly since our last meeting. Many innocent lives have been lost and property destroyed. From the reports we have received, the stated goal of many of the attackers is that the governorship election scheduled for 6 November 2021 must not hold.This is worrisome for the commission. We are deeply concerned that specific electoral facilities and materials could once more become targets of attack. Recall that in May this year, our State Office at Awka was attacked and all the non-sensitive materials assembled for the election at the time were destroyed.In addition, our store, collation centre and the main office building were either totally or substantially damaged. The Commission also lost several vehicles to be used for the election.
We appreciate the enormous challenges that the security agencies are presently facing in Anambra State, which entail not only securing the electoral process, but also enforcing law and order generally.
This is particularly worrisome because the security agencies have also become prime targets of these mindless attacks.
We will continue to work with the security agencies and in consultation with respected opinion leaders in Anambra State and the National Peace Committee to ensure that these hit-and-run attacks do not derail the electoral process.
To underscore this determination, the commission is implementing two more activities on the Timetable for the election in the next few days. The register of voters will be presented to political parties in Awka on Thursday 7 October 2021. On the same day, the commission will publish the final list of candidates for the election,”
HURIWA is therefore appealing to the good people of Anambra State to give peace a chance and to actively participate in the November 6th election so as to make their choice of who would salvage their state from perennial underdevelopment and economic insecurity since the last failed 8 failed years of the locusts by the outgoing governor of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). HURIWA has appealed to the Federal Government to fish out the agents sent by some federal government officials to destabilise South East of Nigeria in order to demarket IPOB and put them at loggerheads with the over 60 million Igbo people Worldwide.
The Southern Kaduna community in the diaspora, United States chapter (SOKAD-USA) has paid tribute to the late former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Dr Obadiah Mailafia who passed away on the the 19th of September 2021. The group described the Oxford trained Political Economist, Mailafia as a man who represented what was decent and was passionate about the people of Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt and Nigeria as a whole.
The group in a statement obtained by Middle Belt Times said the death of Mailafia is a huge loss to Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt and Nigeria as a whole.
The statement reads;
We, the members of Southern Kaduna in the Diaspora resident in the United States of America (SOKAD-USA) have received with profound shock and great surprise, the news of the death of an indefatigable fighter for truth and justice, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia.
We mourn his passing because he represented what was decent, passionate and enviable about the people of southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt and Nigeria as a whole. In him, we witnessed an individual with a strong commitment to the economic, social and political survival of all minorities of the middle belt especially the people of Southern Kaduna.
Dr. Mailafia exploited his knowledge and expertise as a Development Economist, Deputy Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria and politician to champion the cause of the under privileged irrespective of their origins in Nigeria. His pithy columns and hard-hitting interviews decried the violence, economic wastage and corruption that now ravage the country.
Dr. Obadiah Mailafia spoke truth to power, endangering his life as he did so, for to him, no one was beyond reproach. Justice, fair play, equality of opportunities were qualities Dr. Mailafia craved for Nigeria, but failed to realize them in his life time. He condemned the elites for exploiting Nigeria’s diverse ethnic and religious cleavages to inflame tensions for their selfish desires.
His death is a great loss to Southern Kaduna, the Middle Belt, and the whole of the country particularly at a time when we needed voices like his. He is one of the people who could talk or fearlessly tell truth as it is without fear or favor. We surely lost a patriot.
We pray for God’s consolation for his family, the people of Southern Kaduna and all-middle belters. We also hope that those in the corridors of power would embrace Dr. Mailafia’s penchant for truth and justice by eschewing acts of violence, providing purpose driven leadership and reshaping the country’s political structure to benefit both the privileged and the down trodden. We condole the immediate family of Dr. Mailafia and the people of Kaduna State for this colossal loss. It is very unfortunate.
Yes! we have lost a voice, a man of courage and a brilliant intellectual; someone who had passion for Nigeria and who was ready to lay down his life for Nigerians both at home and abroad. Indeed, we have lost a man of integrity, a voice for the voiceless, but we are comforted because God is in control of all situation. Therefore, your messages of truth will continue to remain and serve as a catalyst for justice and peace with those of us who will continue the struggles for a better Nigeria, Middle and Southern Kaduna.
The spokesperson of the Ilana Omo Oodua, Maxwell Adeyemi has explained that the group will have a meeting on Sunday to decide whether or not to accept the invitation of the Indigenous People of Biafra to join the proposed one-month sit-at-home.
Recall that IPOB, in a statement issued by the Media and Public Secretary of the group, Emma Powerful, enjoined other agitators for self-determination from other ethnic nationalities in the country to join its one-month sit-at-home protest commencing on October 21.
According to him, the one-month protest would be subject to the refusal of the Directorate of State Services to bring its leader, Nnamdi Kanu, to court on the said date.
The group alleged that it had learnt that there was a plan by the Nigerian Government not to bring Kanu to court on that day as a ploy to continue to incarcerate him.
When SaharaReporters reached out to Ilana Omo Oodua, the umbrella body for the Yoruba self-determination groups, the spokesman, Adeyemi said he could not make a statement at the time due to its sensitive nature.
According to him, there is a meeting scheduled for Sunday where the IPOB’s proposal will be discussed and a decision taken as to whether the group will join in the sit-at-home protest or not.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, he said, “That is a very sensitive issue. When we have our meeting on Sunday, we’ll let you know our position. It is a very sensitive matter, and I cannot solely speak about it. We’ll have our meeting on Sunday.”
In June, Kanu leader was arrested in Kenya and extradited to Nigeria to face treason charges.
He was subsequently arraigned and brought before Binta Nyako, a judge of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who asked him to be remanded in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS).
Kanu is facing charges bordering on treasonable felony instituted against him at the court in response to his agitation for the Republic of Biafra.
The scheduled trial in July suffered a setback, with the judge adjourning till October 21.
The first new sickle-cell treatment in 20 years will help keep thousands of people out of hospital over the next three years, NHS England has said.
Sickle-cell disease is incurable and affects 15,000 people in the UK.
And the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence said the hope of reducing health inequalities for black people, who are predominantly affected and often have poorer health to start with, made the drug worth recommending.
It called it “an innovative treatment”.
Painful episodes
The drug, crizanlizumab, made by Novartis, is injected into a vein and can be taken on its own or alongside standard treatment and regular blood transfusions.
And in a trial, patients taking the crizanlizumab had a sickle-cell crisis 1.6 times a year on average, compared with nearly three times a year normally.
These painful episodes, which can require hospital treatment and lead to other health complications, are caused by by sickle-shaped red blood cells blocking the small blood vessels .
But because the trial was small and lasted only a year, it remains unknown how long the benefits last for – and that makes it difficult to judge how cost-effective crizanlizumab is.
Nevertheless, NICE, which recommends treatments in England and Wales, is recommending its use for over-16s, albeit under a special arrangement rather than routinely, on the NHS.
And additional data on the treatment will be collected through clinical trials.
The charity Sickle Cell Society said the new treatment brought “new hope” for people living with the world’s most common genetic blood condition.
NHS chief executive Amanda Pritchard said: “The moment that a new drug comes that is approved to be used, our job is to make sure that we can do a deal to ensure it’s affordable and get it out as quickly as possible.”
Prominent Civil Rights Advocacy Group:- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has strongly condemned the reported extralegal killings of about seven house owners in Graceland neighborhood near the federal Aviation School, Samaru Zaria on the instructions of President Muhammadu Buhari and executed by the Kaduna State government with impunity and reckless primitive tendencies.
The Rights group in a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Director of Media Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said Kaduna state government has committed gross crimes against humanity by using crude force employed by the Nigerian Army to displace genuine or even imagined house owners and thereby killing seven citizens unlawfully. “We have it on good authority that so far, seven persons have been killed by soldiers who escorted the demolition squad from the Kaduna State government which claimed that the exercise was directed by President Muhammadu Buhari to enable the Aviation college to expand her training facilities within their vicinity. We wonder on which of the legal authority the President of Nigeria Under the Land Use Act of 1978 to order the revocation of property rights of citizens some of whom are citizens that have worked tirelessly to build the economy of Kaduna State”. “Our attention was called to the ordeals of an octogenarian whose house was crudely demolished in Zaria today’s morning even as he was shoved aside even after pleading with the Kaduna State government that the house was all he has in this life. He was physically, psychologically and emotionally tortured and his property demolished without consideration for his age and the fact that he retired as a Civil Servant after putting in nearly forty years of his productive life. The action of the Kaduna State government is unlawful, unconstitutional, murderous, offensive, despicable and reprehensible. We call on the United Nations, the European Union, Amnesty International, Human Rights watch of New York and all persons of good will to condemn these atrocious crimes against humanity by soldiers of the Nigerian Army and to demand efficaciousjustice for those killed unlawfully. We call for the arrest and prosecution of all the operatives and commanders of the Soldiers who directed the killings of innocent citizens whose only offence was seeking to use their persuasive might to defend their property”. HURIWA cited the provisions of the GrundNorm the brute and illegal action violated as follows: Section 33 stated thus: 33. (1) Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, save in execution of the sentence of a court in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria. 34. (1) Every individual is entitled to respect for the dignity of his person, and accordingly – a) no person shall be subject to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment; b) no person shall he held in slavery or servitude; and c) no person shall be required to perform forced of compulsory labour. 37. (1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance. (2) No person attending any place of education shall be required to receive religious instruction or to take part in or attend any religious ceremony or observance if such instruction ceremony or observance relates to a religion other than his own, or religion not approved by his parent or guardian. (3) No religious community or denomination shall be prevented from providing religious instruction for pupils of that community or denomination in any place of education maintained wholly by that community or denomination. (4) Nothing in this section shall entitle any person to form, take part in the activity or be a member of a secret society. 40. (1) A citizen of Nigeria of a particular community, ethnic group, place of origin, sex, religion or political opinion shall not, by reason only that he is such a person:- a) be subjected either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any executive or administrative action of the government, to disabilities or restrictions to which citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions are not made subject; orb) be accorded either expressly by, or in the practical application of, any law in force in Nigeria or any such executive or administrative action, any privilege or advantage that is not accorded to citizens of Nigeria of other communities, ethnic groups, places of origin, sex, religions or political opinions.
The Rights group has resolved to write the United Nations, European Union and ECOWAS to report both the Kaduna and the federal government over the extralegal killings of the citizens in Zaria.
Unknown gunmen have invaded a security office at Central Body Neighbourhood Watch, Ogrute, Enugu-Ezike, in the Igbo–Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State leaving two dead.
According to reports, the gunmen invaded the office in the wee hours of Tuesday killing one security personnel and a former Commander.
Many others reportedly got injured while some patrol vehicles and the office were set ablaze by the gunmen.
This comes barely 48 hours after unknown gunmen burnt the offices of the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Nnewi, Anambra State on Sunday.
A video seen by SaharaReporters shows a burning building said to be the DSS office.
A man speaking in the video says, “DSS office on fire live on Sunday morning. Both Road Safety office and DSS office are on fire this Sunday morning.”
The Economic Financial Crime Commission (EFCC) has reportedly arrested Hafsat Ganduje, the wife of Kano state governor, Abdullahi Ganduje.
According to a report by Premium Times, Mrs Ganduje was reported to the anti-graft agency by her son over her alleged involvement in bribery and land fraud.
According to sources who saw the son, Abdulazeez’s petition, he reported that he was approached by a property developer to help facilitate the acquisition of some plots of land in Kano with some hundreds of thousands of US dollars and at least 35 million Naira as “facilitation commission”.
Abdulazeez said he paid the sum in dollars to his mother, Mrs Ganduje.
She however failed to honour the anti-graft’s invite after weeks it was extended.
A person, who has the knowledge of the arrest but asked not to be identified, said “she was arrested this (Monday) evening.”
Mrs Ganduje was still at EFCC headquarters as of 6a.m. on Monday, this newspaper learnt.
Residents of Nde village in the Ikom Local Government Area of Cross Rivers State have lamented that they were brutalised by soldiers over the sacking of Fulani herdsmen who were terrorising the area.
In a video seen by SaharaReporters, residents narrated that the soldiers flogged no fewer than 10 youths for daring to prevent the herders from grazing.
They claimed that the youths “pleaded with the herdsmen” to leave their land after their cattle destroyed almost all their produce.
They added that consequently, soldiers from the Amphibious battalion allegedly arrived in the community and beat the youths mercilessly, leaving them with serious injuries, for asking the herdsmen to leave.
“The herdsmen then went to Edor Army Barracks which is about three kilometers away to report that youths of Nde attacked them and sent them away from the Community.
The herdsmen then went to Edor Army Barracks which is about three kilometers away to report that youths of Nde attacked them and sent them away from the Community.
“Soldiers from the barracks came in truckloads on Sunday, rounded up youths and took them to the barracks, flogged them severely, leaving them injured.
“Our community is currently on fire as military men dehumanised the youths with the intent to provoke us but we pleaded with the herdsmen to leave our land after destroying our crops to avoid further attacks,” a villager said.
The Nigerian Army has yet to officially react to the invasion by its personnel.
Following report that the Nigerian Army has launched multiple military exercises covering the Southern Nigeria aimed at checking the excessive cases of attacks targeting strategic national security institutions/ personnel and the killing of civilians by unknown gunmen, abd crimes, a call has gone to the military high command to abide by rules of engagement, respect for Human Rights of civilians and adherence to the principles of Rule of law.
HURIWA has also tasked the Nigerian Army not to work under a bandwagon conspiratorial plots that the attacks and killings are carried out by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra but the Army must be open minded, look inwards and investigate the possibility that these attacks may have been masterminded by federal government officials and some governors of the South East of Nigeria who may want to undermine the public acceptance and popularity of the agitation for self determination as canvassed by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra. HURIWA expressed consternation that in the past few months many innocent Igbo youths have been killed, arrested, incarcerated and tortured by the security forces under the guise that all Igbo youths are members of IPOB just as the Rights group said even members of IPOB or ESN are entitled to the full protection of the law and therefore must never be killed extralegally by the armed forces of Nigeria which is an institution created by the GrundNorm.
Making the charge is the nation’s leading civil society group:- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) just as the group has proffered workable solution to the rising uprising in the South East which according to it would include the recommendation by the South East governors to the president of Nigeria to lift the illegal tagging/classification of the indigenous people of Biafra (IPOB) as a terrorist group and to order the release of the detained leader of IPOB Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the institution of a genuine National reconciliation and dialogue for South East of Nigeria by both the central government and the South East governors. “The South East governors should begin by rescinding their ill-informed and malicious decision to recognize IPOB as a terrorist group after which the governors of the South East should openly recommend to president Muhammadu Buhari the deproscription of IPOB as a terrorist group as condition precedent for peace. HURIWA said it is mischievous that the same IPOB that operates freely in Europe and the United States of America are classified as a terrorist group by President Muhammadu Buhari who has yet to classify MIYETTI ALLAH CATTLE BREEDERS ASSOCIATION and Fulani herdsmen as terrorists “. Besides, HURIWA through a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Adviser Miss. Zainab Yusuf, has also tasked the South East governors to hire forensic private investigators so the forensic criminologists can ascertain the members of the deep state carrying out attacks on strategic national security institution and operatives and the sporadic but well coordinates assassinations of Igbo citizens. HURIWA has therefore restated her position that IPOB is not behind the spate of violence in South East since the majority of the victims are the finest crop of Igbo people just as the group suspected that some key officials of the federal government may be funding the violence. HURIWA thereby reminds the military of their legal obligations in all internal military operations thus: “Nigerian Armed Forces when deployed for either internal or external operations, are bound by the laws of war and international law in the conduct of the operations. The laws regulate and limit the conduct of operations by acting as checks against arbitrary use of force. They are intended to minimize unnecessary suffering by combatants and non- combatants during war. The laws of war and international law are therefore sources of military law in Nigeria and include the following: a. The four Geneva Conventions of 1949. b. The two Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949. c. Multilateral and bilateral agreements to which Nigeria is a signatory and have bearing on military service or operations. d. The decisions of: 1. The International Court of Justice (ICJ) at the Hague. 2. Ad hoc war crimes tribunals set up by or with the backing of the UN Security Council. (3) The International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague.”
HURIWA says thus: “The four Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949 for the protection of war victims are as follows: a. Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field.
b. Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked members of Armed Forces at Sea. c. Geneva Convention Relative to the Relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of war.
d. Geneva Convention Relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War”. The two Additional Protocols of 1977 to the Geneva Conventions of 1949 are to supplement the 1949. Geneva Conventions and modernize the laws of war. Protocol I deals with the laws of war in international armed conflicts while Protocol 2 addresses the laws of war applicable in internal armed conflicts. It is nóteworthy that the four Geneva Conventions and the two additional Protocols of 1977 have been formally given effect in Nigeria by the enactment of the Geneva Conventions Act Cap G3 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004. In sum, the Conventions and Protocols which are now an Act of the National Assembly, elaborately spell out the laws of armed conflicts on the use of force and the legal implication of disregarding rules regulating the means and methods of warfare, among other things. Specifically, section 3 of the Act provides a plethora of safeguides.
The Rights group therefore asked the military not to apply excessive use of brute force or to torture innocent people in the South East of Nigeria just as it reminded the Nigerian Army that all eyes are watching them and they will be subjected to international legal reprimand should they abuse human rights.
