The Nigerians Railway Corporation has withdrawn train services from Abuja to Kaduna State. This is coming on the background that trains were reportedly attacked by terrorists on Wednesday. But the corporation said the suspension was to enable it conduct maintenance. “We are withdrawing the DMU on Abuja Kaduna Train Service (AKTS) from Tuesday 19th-Thursday 21st October, 2021 for scheduled maintenance. The DMU will return back to operations on Friday 22/10/21. Tuesday 19th & Wednesday 20th will be four trips each (I:e AK1, KA2, AK9 & KA10).Thursday 21/10/21 will be 8trips ( AK1, KA2, AK3, KA4, AK7, KA6, AK9 & KA10) respectively, While full train service will return on Friday. Any inconvenience to our esteemed passengers is regretted,” NRC announced on its website.
Senator Shehu Sani had alleged terrorists “attacked the Kaduna Abuja railway with an explosive and opened fire on the train”.
But the Nigerian Police denied the claim made by the senator who represented the Kaduna Central senatorial district in the 8th Senate.
Speaking on the development, the State Police Spokesperson, Mohammed Jalige said, “That is not true, the command is not aware of anything. The train was faulty yesterday on its way coming from Abuja to Kaduna which caused a delay in people’s arrival time.
“They were no explosives denoted; there was no any attack.”
PROTESTS MALTREATMENT BY DSS OF IGBO LEADER AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE CHIEF CHUKWUEMEKA EZEIFE
The failure of the hierarchy of the nation’s Federal High Court to defend her independence from the stranglehold of the Executive arm of government represented by the Department of State Services (DSS) that has kept barring Journalists, stakeholders and Human Rights activists from accessing the courtroom for the trial of detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is disastrous message to the World that the judiciary in Nigeria is in chains and is being controlled by the Presidency.
This position was expressed by the prominent Civil society and pro-democracy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which carpeted the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court justice John T. Tsoho for abdication his authority and thereby allowing the operatives of the Department of State Services to dictate who should have access to the publicly funded Federal High Court Complex which contravenes the CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS as encapsulated in sections 4, 5 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Besides, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said the denial of access to the courtroom of the respected Igbo leader and former governor of Anambra State His Excellency Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife shows the lack of equity in the administration of the Daura Katsina State born President Muhammadu Buhari and his entire internal security team headed by Northern Moslems with little or no respect for traditional, societal, prominent leaders of other Ethnicities such as the Igbo speaking Ethnicity because if the person of Chukwuemeka Ezeife was one of the prominent Northern Fulani leaders, the Department of State Services won’t subject him to the public opium of letting him sit on the barefloor outside of the Courtroom of the Federal High Court even when it is a notorious knowledge that he was nominated officially by the Igbo Ethnicity to stand in for the race to witness and observe the prosecution of one of the respected Sons of Igboland- Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
HURIWA protested the ugly scenario whereby access to the courtrooms built by the contributions and resources of taxpayers is now out temporarily under the control of the executive arm of government under President Muhammadu Buhari which is the plaintiff in the same matter of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the government of Muhammadu Buhari just as the Rights group said this singular act of cowardice on the part of the Nigerian judiciary which ceded the authority to let Nigerians have access to the Courtroom to the control of the Department of State Services headed by a Northern Moslem has open the judicial process to critical doubts regarding the independence and objectivity of the process before the Federal High Court just as the Rights group has asked the Chief Judge to take back the control of the Court Complex.
HURIWA lamented that the hierarchy of the Federal High Court out of fear refused to accredit representatives of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA to observe the judicial trial of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) just as the Rights group accused the chief judge of the Federal High Court of failing to even reply to the written request it sent to his office over two weeks back. HURIWA recalled that in its application titled: “REQUEST TO MONITOR LEGAL PROCEEDING ON MAZI NNAMDI KANU”, it wrote as follows:
“We write to convey our readiness and intention to be offered access to the Court room to monitor the legal proceedings of global importance which involves the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
As members of the organized Civil Rights Community of Nigeria, we feel obliged to attend and watch the proceedings in this specific matter given the groundswell of claims that the management of the Court does not feel comfortable allowing members of the public to attend the proceedings. There’s also the suspicion that the Federal High Court has denied Nigerians access to the trial of Nnamdi Kanu for the reason that the process won’t be transparent and accountable and therefore violate section 36(5) of the Nigerian Constitution which complete categorises all accused persons as innocent in the eye of the law. The refusal of access to the venue of the trial is therefore not in tandem with Democratic principles of checks and balances.
No doubt Sir, that Nigeria practices Presidential system of government even as Country is governed by a grund norm which states unambiguously that the people are the owners of the sovereignty of Nigeria as enshrined in section 14 (2) thus “ It is hereby, accordingly, declared that: (a) sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority; (b) the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and (c) the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
Sir, we remind your good offices that the public and the press have qualified First Amendment Right of access to Court proceedings and records. Although the first amendment does not explicitly mention the right of access say Emilies S. Kraft, the United States of America’s supreme Court has held that the right to attend criminal proceedings is implicit in freedom of speech and serves an important function in a democratic society by enhancing trial fairness and appearance. We thereby write you this request so two officers from our organization will be given regular access to monitor Nnamdi Kanu’s trial because of its Human Rights related implications. Whilst awaiting your rapid response, accept our highest consideration and regards.”
HURIWA regretted that the office of the CJ of the Federal High Court which acknowledged HURIWA’s letter however failed to respond either in the negative or positive even as the Rights group said it was disgraceful that Lawyers, Journalists and activists were never allowed access to a public Court Complex. HURIWA recalled that journalists were barred from courtroom as the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, resumed on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) barred journalists and some court officials from gaining access to the premises.
The frustrated court workers and journalists were seen milling around and wearing heavy frowns.
The media according to HURIWA were not told the reason for the denial because it was not made known by government officials, though a handful of reporters from a list produced by the stern looking DSS operatives were allowed into the premises.
DSS officials had set up a barricade at the entrance of the Court and prevented reporters and officials from entering, resulting in angry scenes and arguments. HURIWA described the behaviour of the operatives of the executive controlled DSS as a primitive recourse to self help effirt by the central government which will inevitably undermine fairness and fair trial.
Most of the DSS operatives were masked as they were clad in their all black ensemble, reports the media quoted by HURIWA.
Gathered outside were frustrated family members, supporters, civil rights groups, lawyers, journalists and other members of the public, who were not allowed near the court.
Nnamdi Kanu’s Special Counsel, Alloy Ejimakor while addressing journalists said the lawyers who accompanied him were also denied access.
HURIWA recalled that Mazi namdi Kanu is facing charges bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
The Federal Government had filed seven amended charges bordering on treasonable felony and acts of terrorism against Kanu on Monday.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, filed the charges on behalf of the government.
HURIWA has therefore advocated the take over of control of the Federal High Court Complex Abuja from the stranglehold of the operatives of Department of State Services by the hierarchy of the Nigerian Court system or it will drag the CJ of Federal High Court to the National Judicial Council for ceding independence of the Federal High Court to the Department of State Services which is unlawful and unconstitutional. “The DSS is under the control and command of the President. The President is behind the ordeals of Nnamdi Kanu and if there will be justice or semblance of justice the least physical evidence of it is the guarantee that the facilities of the Nigerian courts are controlled by staff of the Federal High Court who are judicial staff under the Judicial arm of government and not the same arm of government that has brought a citizen to court under some charges”.
Hundreds of women in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State have blocked Gusau-Kaduna road to protest against persistent attacks by bandits, despite security measures said to be taken by the state government.
Gusau-Kaduna road links the state to several other states both in the North and the South.
The women carried their children and belongings sat on the road, refusing to allow the motorists to pass through the road.
This resulted in traffic and hundreds of motorists were stranded.
One of the women, who gave her name as Sadiya, told The PUNCH that they decided to come out to protest because the bandits were always attacking and raping them and there was no action taken by the security agents to protect them.
Sadiya said, “We blocked the road in order to draw the attention of both the government and the security agents to come to our rescue.”
Another woman, Talatu Sani, said, she left her village of Cediya because the bandits used to go to the village to rape women and steal their food and animals.
“I have to join the protest because the authorities are not doing anything to protect us from this hopeless situation.”
Efforts were made to talk to the spokesperson of the state police command SP Mohammed Shehu without success, as he didn’t pick up phone calls.
Armed bandits on Wednesday reportedly bombed a train travelling between Abuja and Kaduna, inflicting technical damages on the country’s major rail infrastructure.
Former Senator Shehu Sani said a train he rode between Kaduna and Abuja on Thursday morning nearly derailed because of an explosive that damaged a section of the tracks.
Mr Sani, in a telephone exchange with Peoples Gazette over the incident, said the bandits were targeting the trains in order to dispose of passengers of their cash and other valuable possessions. He also said the attackers opened fire on the train driver.
A spokesman for the Nigerian Railway in Abuja did not immediately return a request seeking comments on Thursday morning.
Bandits have repeatedly targeted the railway between the nation’s capital and the key northern city, which has become the preferred route for passengers seeking to avoid the perilous three-hour journey by road.
The deadly gangs have raided military bases and shot down at least one reconnaissance jet of the Nigerian Air Force. Last week, The Wall Street Journal reported that the military paid a ransom to the bandits to prevent President Muhammadu Buhari’s plane from being shot down.
The president has repeatedly vowed to be ruthless against the attackers largely responsible for widespread abduction and plunder of communities across Nigeria’s northwestern region.
But security agencies are warning that the gangs are becoming more armed with sophisticated combat equipment that would make it more difficult to defeat them.
Terror bandits operating between Sokoto and Zamfara states have taken responsibility for the attack on Goronyo Market in Sokoto State, where 49 villagers were killed on Sunday, describing it as a reprisal.
One of the kingpins, who is close to both Kachallah Turji and Halilu Sububu – the two notorious warlords in the area – Shehu Rekeb, said the attack was carried out to avenge killings of “innocent Fulani” in the area.
Daily Trust had on Tuesday reported that the attack was a joint one with the attackers storming the market on over 100 motorcycles.
They surrounded the place and opened fire on buyers and sellers that led to the death of 49 people.
“We heard those who attacked Goronyo being described as criminals. They were not.”
“The president (Muhammadu Buhari) came out to say so. Those people (of Goronyo) have killed so many people, so they would have to be attacked and killed,” he said.
Citing the killing of some Fulani Muslim worshippers at Unguwar Lalle, Rekeb said, “When those people (Fulani) were killed, the president did not say anything but he is now coming out to react to this one.”
A resident had on Monday told Daily Trust that, “The recent attack could be a misplaced reprisal by ‘Yan Sakai’ because of the recent killing of 11 herders at Mamande Market in Gwadabawa Local Government Area.
“This outlawed group is arresting and killing Fulani men unjustifiably,” he said.
The State Security Service (SSS) has blocked all access to the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to prevent lawyers and journalists from attending the trial of separatist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.
Other litigants who have court hearings scheduled for today are also not being allowed entry into the court by the SSS Peoples Gazette gathered on Thursday morning.
The secret police has denied Mr Kanu access to his lawyers and family since he was abducted and brought back to Nigeria by state operatives in Nairobi, Kenya, with many people questioning the legality of the manner in which he was rearrested.
Mr Kanu was initially charged for terrorism, however, in an amended charge sheet, the SSS said he was now being arraigned for calling President Muhammadu Buhari an idiot, a terrorist, and “embodiment of evil.”
Spokesman to the SSS, Peter Afunnaya did not respond to calls and messages from The Gazette seeking comments on the blockage of the courts.
Commotion as security operatives order all to take cover in pitch darkness
The Abuja-Kaduna train which developed ‘fault’ about 40 kilometres to Kaduna, left passengers in a state of panic for over six hours after taking off from Idu terminal in Abuja, around 6pm Wednesday.
Regional Editor of News Express Garba Muhammad and other passengers in the train said the train developed fault around 8pm after a loud sound from the engine which forced the train to stop.
“We had a loud sound from the locomotive engine, then the train gradually came to abrupt halt,” Muhammad said.
There was pandemonium from passengers when the security men in the VIP coaches shouted for all to take cover after the loud sound.
Lights and the air conditioning systems immediately went off, leaving passengers in the heat and darkness.
“Policemen in the VIP coaches shouted to us to get down when we had the loud bang. We all fell over each other, while some ran to other coaches, thinking that the train was under attacked,” Lawal Isah, one of the passenger said.
Since then, passengers were left in the middle of the bush in the middle of the night afraid of imminent bandits attack.
Another engine came around 12:15am and pushed us to Rigasa, Kaduna – a short distance that took additional two hours with frequent stops and slow movements.
There were no comments from officials in the train as to what caused the engines fault and why it took over four hours for another engine to come for rescue.
The incident, however, generated mixed reactions, as passengers were insinuation a deliberate attack of the engine.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, has urged the Federal Government to declare bandits as terrorists so as to allow the Nigerian military deal with them without any major consequences in international law.
The governor spoke at the presentation of the Kaduna State Security Incidents Report for the Third Quarter of 2021 in Kaduna on Wednesday, saying “we in the Kaduna State Government, have always aligned with the declaration of bandits as insurgents and terrorists. We have written letters to the Federal Government since 2017, asking for this declaration because it is the declaration that will allow the Nigerian military to attack and kill these bandits without any major consequences in international law.”
” So, we support the resolution by the National Assembly and we are going to follow up with a letter of support, for the Federal Government to declare these bandits and insurgents as terrorists, so that they will be fair game for our military. This is the view of the Kaduna State Government,” he said.
The Governor also called for a consensus between the Federal Government and the the 36 states on an emergency programme of recruitment into the security agencies.
He said government can change the game significantly by hiring 1,000 willing youths from each of the 774 LGAs in the country into the security agencies.
“This will be a surge in numbers that is unprecedented since the civil war. An influx of 774,000 new boots on the ground will be a significant blow against criminals and an employment boost,” he said.
He announced that next Saturday, the two Local Governments of Birnin Gwari and Zangon Kataf were elections were postponed for security reasons ,will be having their own Local Government elections.
He however warned that if elections do not take place as scheduled on that date,they will have no option than to appoint Administrators to manage these Local Governments for the next three years.
He said “our Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs has just presented its report on security incidents in Kaduna State within the third quarter of 2021. It is a sobering report, reflecting the real agony of our citizens and communities, their pains and losses, and the fears and anxiety that have created considerable distress. The report puts the statistics in context, analyses the pattern of violence and outlines what the Kaduna State Government and the security agencies are doing to contain the situation and relieve the situation in our communities.”
“These figures indicate the continuing severity of the security situation. In our view, this compels an obligation to transparency on the part of the managers of security. It acknowledges the pain of our people, reflects precise figures on the nature and pattern of security incidents and provides the public factual information on this unprecedented challenge.”
“Previous annual and quarterly security reports have placed the Kaduna Central Senatorial District as the most impacted by these incidents. That was the consistent pattern in the Security Incidents Reports for 2020, the first quarter of 2021 and the second quarter of 2021.”
“However, the report for the third quarter of 2021 indicates that the Kaduna South Senatorial District had the highest casualties in the period. This reflects the toxic mix of banditry and the continuing violent clashes between communities in Zangon-Kataf, Kaura and Kauru LGAs. The locus of these violent incidents is Zangon-Kataf LGA where the peace process, championed so impressively since last year by His Highness the Agwatyap, is being imperilled by sundry acts of lawlessness. I call on all the communities in Zangon Kataf LGA to recommit to peace, to work together to promote harmony, uphold the rule of law and unite to against the criminals that threaten all of them.”
“While receiving the second quarter report in July 2021, I had noted that “it is a matter of profound regret for me that our considerable investments in security are yet to manifest in the defeat or at least the considerable degradation of the criminals that menace our people. We have consistently supported the federal security agencies deployed to our state with logistics and equipment. Apart from these recurrent expenses, the Kaduna State Government has undertaken capital expenditure to provide facilities that can multiply the capacity of security agencies to deter crime and conduct effective investigations of those that do occur. We created the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs to provide a specialised institution to coordinate these investments and our liaison with the federal security agencies”.
He expressed with delight that since he made those comments, the military and other security agencies have commenced operations against the bandits.
“These operations, which began in the third quarter, are degrading bandits but they are not yet simultaneous across all the affected states in the North-West region. This reflects the limitations that personnel and other resource deficits have imposed on the federal security agencies. There are simply not enough boots on the ground to have credible deployments in most places to protect communities, deter crime and enforce law and order,” he said.
He said many state governments in the North-West and the North-Central have adopted an unconventional approach to help the federal security agencies to better protect our communities, adding that there is no alternative to launching simultaneous operations.
” I will also like to announce that this Saturday, the two Local Governments of Birnin Gwari and Zangon Kataf will be having their own Local Government elections. They were postponed for security reasons, but I believe that the security agencies and the State Independent Electoral Commission have agreed that it is possible to hold this election this weekend. Our hope is that we will be able to conduct this election as well as bye elections in two or three Local Governments, so that we swear in the new Local Government Chairmen, to start their tenure from the 1st of November 2021.”
“I would like to observe that if elections do not take place as scheduled on this date, we will have no option than to appoint Administrators to manage these Local Governments for the next three years. So it is in the interest of everybody to allow elections to take place, otherwise I will appoint people to manage those local governments.”
“I will also want to comment on those that are affected by insecurity. We have a Riot Damage and Compensation Fund for those who are affected from 2016. I am therefore directing the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs to draw from the Riot Damage Fund, to pay all those affected, up to, and including this year.”
“I would also like to inform the security agencies as well as the traditional leaders here, that we are in the process of establishing a Farmers/Herdsmen Reconciliation Council at the State level as well as similar Committees at the Local Government and Chiefdom and Emirate levels. This is backed by a law, a military edict, enacted in the 1990s. But somehow, we didn’t come across the law until recently. So, we are activating these Committees to help in managing clashes between farmers and herdsmen at all levels.”
” Let me conclude by expressing our deepest gratitude once again to our traditional leaders. You are playing a very important role not only in the provision of useful intelligence in your communities, but in also in engaging in reconciliation. You are also engaged in peace-building in collaboration with our state Peace Commission. We urge you to continue and I particularly urge the Agwatyap not to be discouraged by what is happening, to continue to work towards peace. In the end, there is no alternative to peace building. As leaders, we cannot but to continue to preach peace.”
“I want to express our gratitude to our security agencies for the sacrifice that they are making. I urge them not to be discouraged by comments by those who are uninformed, who think that nothing is being done. My colleagues, the politicians, are the most guilty; just because they want people to clap for them, they will say that nothing is being done. If nothing is being done, you will not be able to sleep. Many of these incidences are being prevented and when they are, you will not hear about it. You don’t hear commendation but when something happens, you hear all the condemnation. As someone who receives the security reports on a daily basis, I know that a lot is being done by the security agencies. I wish to commend you and may God bless you. We are happy with the results of the military campaigns, and it is clear that kidnapping has gone down, but we want more than that. We want to have zero-kidnappings, zero killings,” he said.
President Recep Tayyip Erdogan of Turkey has expressed concern that the Fetullah Terrorist Organisation (FETO), which he blamed for the July 15, 2016, failed coup attempt against his government, is still active in Nigeria.
Erdogan spoke Wednesday at a joint press conference with President Muhammadu Buhari on the occasion of his official visit to Nigeria.
In the speech delivered in his native Turkish and interpreted by one of the officials on his entourage, Erdogan asked Nigeria to join his country to forge a solidarity in the fight against terrorism in the two countries as one of the oldest allies of Turkey in Africa, having seen 60 years of diplomatic ties.
He said: “Distinguished members of the press, as Turkey, we have been closely monitoring the developments unfolding in Nigeria, our brotherly and friendly nation.
“The terrorist organisations, the armed gangs and the marine bandits are continuously active in Nigeria and the Nigerian authorities are continuously fighting against them. So, in order to cooperate further in the fields of military, defense, and security, we are doing everything that will be available….
“As we’re probably aware of the fact that Turkey has been fighting against terrorist organisations for many decades, such as the PKK, PYD, FETO, DASH and other terrorist organisations.
“The perpetrator of the heinous failed coup of July the 15th, FETO, is still illegally active in Nigeria, and we are continuously sharing our intelligence with the Nigerian interlocutors and authorities. I hope and pray that our Nigerian brothers will forge a closer solidarity in this field with us, the Republic of Turkey. I hope and pray that our visit will yield the most auspicious results and I would like to thank my distinguished brother, President Buhari, for being such a gracious host for me and for my delegation”, he said.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, on Wednesday, said 343 people were killed, while 830 people were kidnapped between July and September 2021, in the state.
Speaking during the presentation of the third quarterly security report of the Kaduna State Government at the Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Aruwan said within the period under review, 193 deaths were recorded in the Southern Kaduna senatorial district. This, he said, was caused by violent attacks and reprisals, adding that130 deaths were recorded in Kaduna Central Senatorial District, 20 deaths in the Northern Senatorial District.
He further said 830 people were kidnapped within the period under review, adding, out of the number of those kidnapped, 732 were kidnapped from Kaduna Central, while 51 persons were kidnapped in Southern Kaduna Senatorial District and 47 persons were kidnapped in the Northern Senatorial District.
He said 210 people were injured by banditry, violent attacks, reprisals and communal clashes, adding, 122 people were injured in Kaduna Central Senatorial District. Aruwan further added that 67 people sustained injuries in Southern Kaduna, 21 persons were injured in the Northern senatorial district. He said 1,018 animals were rustled in the state in the third quarter; 780 stolen from the Kaduna Central Senatorial District.
According to him, the state government received 77 reports relating to the destruction of farm crops notably in Birnin Gwari, Igabi, Giwa, Kachia, Kaura, Kauru and Zangon Kataf, adding such destruction usually resulted in violence in the front line local government arrears. He said that banditry and kidnapping are striving due to the flow of money which encourages them in the business. The commissioner lamented the current insecurity challenge is a major threat to the looming food crisis, education and health.
“Primary, secondary and tertiary institutions remain under threat from bandits. Teaching and learning activities in frontline areas have been severely hampered. While hospitals and other health facilities in frontline locations are equally under grave threat from armed bandits,” he further said.
