14 Vigilantes, 5 Others Killed in Terrorist Attacks in Niger

Fourteen vigilantes from Rijau local government area of Niger state who went to assist their colleagues in fighting bandits in Kebbi State have been killed.

The Nation learnt that the residents of Darin Daji in Sakaba local government area of Kebbi state were under attack of bandits and the Vigilantes sent an SOS to their colleagues in Tungan Magajiya community of Rijau local government.

The Vigilantes who went en masse to Kebbi state battled the bandits but over 52 people were said to have been killed in the attack.

The Chairman of Rijau local government area, Alhaji Bello Bako said that contrary to reports making rounds, no recent bandit attack has taken place in Rijau local government area.

“15 vigilantes were killed when they went to assist their colleagues in Kebbi state to fight the bandits who were attacking the community. The attack was nit in Rijau local government, they only went to support their colleagues and unfortunately met their death”, the Chairman told The Nation.

The Nation learnt that 52 people were killed in the attack which occurred on Monday morning in Sakaba local government area of Kebbi state which shared a boundary with Rijau local government area of Niger state.

In a related development, five people were killed and others seriously injured in  Paikpa village in Munya local government area of Niger state.

The attack which occurred at midnight on Monday saw the terrorists invade the community on motorcycles carrying sophisticated weapons and shooting into the air.

The terrorists were said to have entered the village through Luwi community.

Several cattle were rustled and unconfirmed report has it that some people were abducted.

 The attack in Munya local government area was confirmed by the Secretary to the Niger State Government, Alhaji Ahmed Ibrahim Matane but he did not give out the number of casualties.

“There was a raid of some Communities in the state a few days ago as they, (gunmen) entered Paikpa late on Monday during which they killed some people, abducted some people and rustled a lot of cattle.

“Men of the Civilian JTF and local vigilante engaged the bandits in battle which lasted hours making the gunmen escape into the bush”, the SSG said.

Credit: The Nation

Ninety Percent of Repentant Terrorists Are Truly Born Again – Zulum

Not less than 90 per cent of terrorist elements who repented from the life of crimes in Borno State have genuinely forsaken their past, Governor Babagana Zulum declared on Wednesday.

Zulum stated this while responding to questions from State House Correspondents after the inauguration of the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return and Resettlement of Internally Displaced Persons by President Muhammadu Buhari.

His Kaduna counterpart, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, late 2021 argued that terrorists do not genuinely repent, advising they must be dealt with and eliminated.

However, Zulum whose State started receiving repentant elements from Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorist groups last year, said those that so far come out to surrender to the government have genuinely shown repentance.

According to him, most of the repentant terrorists are already giving the government the necessary support.

When asked if he was confident that the terrorists were truly repentant he said: “Hundred per cent confident. Yes. While no process is perfect in the entire world, so far, so good, the process has yielded positive results.

“I believe, over 90% of those that have surrendered, are doing well and have given the government the necessary support. They’re also calling their colleagues in the bush to come out and join the process of peacebuilding.”

On the inauguration of the committee to resettle the IDPs, he said: “Indeed, we are so much happy, especially those of us that are in the Northeast because thousands of people were displaced, some are taking refuge in the Republic of Chad, in the Republic of Niger, Cameroon.

“And this is the time that the Federal Government in collaboration with the State Governments of the North East, will facilitate the repatriation of the internally displaced persons that are living in our neighbouring countries to Nigeria.

“The committee is also to look into the management of the repentant Boko Haram members. So indeed, we are so grateful and the entire northeastern government will give maximum support to this committee.”

On if the refugees are ready to come back, he said: “They are over ready. They have been agitating for a return for the last two and a half years. But unfortunately, the enabling environment has not been created for that return.

“But now that the Federal Government has acted when all the necessary resources and materials needed to ensure their return in a dignified manner will be provided by the Federal Government and we remain extremely grateful.”

TG News

BREAKING: FG Declares Bandits as Terrorists, Releases Gazette

The Nigerian Government has officially proscribed banditry in Nigeria.

This development was contained in a statement sent to POLITICS NIGERIA by the Ministry of Justice on Wednesday. It can be recalled that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) disclosed that the Federal Government was planning to officially designate bandits as terrorists because the government is following international best practices.

He said his office was in the process of gazetting a court judgement that ordered the government to declare bandits as terrorists, adding that the process would be concluded in a matter of days.

Speaking on Tuesday to NTA, Malami had stated; “Government has a responsibility to act but within the context of acting, you equally expected to operate within the confines of international best practices associated with engagement and one of such best practices is that you can only use maximum force on groups, individuals that are declared terrorists and that is where the application of the Terrorism Act comes in place.”

“With that in mind, Nigeria acted, first by proscribing IPOB, taking into consideration the threats to lives and properties they have caused in the nation. Boko Haram was proscribed.”

“The gazetting of a court order or judgement is a process but what matters fundamentally within the context of international convention is the judicial declaration and that has been obtained; the court has declared bandits, kidnappers, cattle rustlers as terrorists.”

“So, with or without the gazette, what gives effect to such declaration is a judicial pronouncement but the gazette is a mere formality and it has been on and I believe within a matter of days, it will be concluded.”

Politics Nigeria

Zamfara Police Rescue 97 Kidnapped Victims Including 19 Babies, Pregnant Women

The Zamfara State Police Command has confirmed the rescue of 97 persons abducted by bandits in Shinkafi and Tsafe Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state.

Briefing newsmen at the Command Headquarters in Gusau on Tuesday January 4, the Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Ayuba Elkanah, revealed that those freed included seven pregnant women, 19 babies, and 16 minors.

The CP explained that 68 people were released in Shinkafi while 29 others regained freedom in Tsafe.

“Following an extensive pressure mounted as a result of the ongoing Military operation around the camp of a notorious bandit’s kingpin known as Bello Turji that covers Shinkafi, Zurmi and Birnin Magaji Local Government areas. On 3rd January, 2022, Police Tactical operatives deployed at Shinkafi axis received an intelligence report that, some kidnapped victims were seen stranded in the bush,” the police commissioner stated.

“The Police operatives in collaboration with genuine repentant bandits and vigilante swung into action and rescued sixty eight (68) victims from the forest. The victims were in captivity for over three months and they include 33 male adult, 7 male children, 3 female children and 25 women including pregnant/nursing mothers respectively. The victims held from Magarya, Maradun, Gusau of Zamfara State and Sabon Birni LGA in Sokoto State.”

The police boss said that 29 victims were rescued from 60 days after they were abducted from three villages in Tsafe Local Government Area.

“On Monday 3rd January, 2022, Police Tactical operatives deployed in Tsafe axis acted on intelligence report and stormed Kunchin Kalgo forest in Tsafe LGA and rescued twenty nine (29) kidnapped victims unconditionally,” he said.

“The victims were abducted for over 60 days from three villages namely; Adarawa, Gana and Bayawuri in Rijiya District of Gusau LGA, they include 25 female including pregnant/nursing mothers and 4 male children. The victims were said to have been abducted by a Bandits’ kingpin Ado Aleru

“All the rescued victims are currently receiving medical treatment from the joint medical teams of the State Government and the Police. They will be debriefed, hand over to the State Government before being reunited with their families.”

IGTV

Tension in Edo as suspected Fulani herdsmen take over community

There is tension in Edo state as scores of persons with some of them dressed in military uniform and suspected to be Fulani herdsman have reportedly invaded a farming community known as 2nd Abumere Ojigbelu Camp in Ovia Northeast  Local Government  Area of Edo State and chased the villagers away.

They are also alleged to have taken over their farms, homes and properties.

Some of the villagers who have run away for their lives and now taking refuge in other communities around Okada narrate their ordeal.

The armed men were said to have been chased away from the Okada area from where they ran to near Benin City.

One of the displaced farmers who incidentally is from Taraba State, Mr Mattu Alli, said:  I am short of words to explain what I witnessed, yesterday (2^nd) in our community.

“I have been here for the past 20 years with my family farming. I was in my compound with my family when we started to hear the sound of guns and people running to different directions,  I saw one Benin man running towards my compound.

“I asked him where are you running to and he said herdsmen have taken over the village chasing people away from their houses.

“So I called my wife and we had to run for our lives. I did not see my children. Every one of us ran in different directions. As I speak to you now, I don’t know the whereabouts of my wife and children.

“Another thing that put fears into our minds is that one of the Fulani herdsmen pointed a gun at me and said look man we are for peace, we would only kill you, people, if you refuse to allow our cows to feed on your crops.

“The yams you people have are for our cows, the cassava and all that you have are for our cows. If you people touch our cows we will  kill everybody in this village.

“For us to be safe we ran to the next community.” 

Another victim, Mr Sunday Chimen, said: “Suddenly we heard gunshots and people running, we later discovered that Fulani herdsmen with AK-47 have taken over our community and were threatening to kill us if we didn’t cooperate with them. We decided to run for our dear lives leaving our properties with our children running to an unknown place. 

“We are calling on the security agencies to come to our aid as our community is under siege.” 

When contacted, Edo State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP kotongs Bello, said he has not been briefed on the development and promised to get back as soon as he finished speaking with the Division Police Officer in charge of the area, but was yet to do so as at press time. 

Vanguard

Secret Memo: National Intelligence Agency Directors Ask Buhari To Stop Signing Documents He Doesn’t Understand —Report

Directors in the Nigerian Intelligence Agency (NIA) have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to desist from appending his seal on decisions he does not understand.

The directors in a secret memo unanimously noted with dismay several decisions Buhari has made after being “deliberately” misguided by his aides and advisers as a result of “selfishness”.

All these they attributed to the president’s inability to pay rapt attention to matters, Peoples Gazette reports. 

“As the head of this massive entity call Nigeria, sometimes your aides, advisers and handlers, may, out of selfishness and vested personal interest, deliberately mislead you, to unwittingly do some things against your known principles, unfortunately, because, they know that sometimes, due to some urgent numerous state matters that need your urgent attention you may not necessarily be too meticulous about everything,” the directors said in the letter.

The letter was written to Buhari amid claims that the President is considering tenure extension for the current NIA director-general, Ahmed Abubakar. 

Appointed on January 10, 2018, Abubakar’s tenure is expected to expire in January 2022.

The directors described Buhari’s decision on the tenure elongation as a “wrong one based on a wrong advice”. Nonetheless, they admitted that some of the president’s decisions are borne out of inadequate facts of situations.

“We learnt that the tenure of the current DG, which comes to an end in January 2022, is being considered (for extension) or has been secretly renewed,” the spy chiefs noted.

They alleged the repeated and “intense lobby” for tenure elongation for the heads of the security agencies.

“We have known all along that there has been clandestine and sometimes open intense lobby to mislead you to take the wrong decision, as was done in the last appointment,” they said.

“Please excuse our use of this language to describe your last decision on this matter as a wrong one based on very wrong advice. With all sense of humility and modesty.”

The NIA directors believed the president could not have approved the appointment of Abubakar in 2018 if he had been duly informed about circumstances against his appointment. 

“There is no way you will knowingly approve any illegality and/or anything done without due process as the last appointment of the current DG,” stressed the spy chiefs.

They pointed out that Buhari flouted the National Security Agencies Act, which specified that the NIA DG should be appointed on the advice of the national security adviser.

The spy chiefs said Babagana Monguno, the current NSA, had told the National Assembly that he was unaware of Abubakar’s appointment when the president authorised it in 2018.

Controversies had trailed the appointment of the current director-general, as critics, including a Bauchi senator, Isa Misau, argued that Mr Abubakar was unqualified for the position. 

Many have described the President’s decision as a “breach of national security.”

Saharareporters

FDA approves first injectable treatment to prevent HIV infection

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved an injectable form of GlaxoSmithKline’s (GSK) cabotegravir drug that is given every two months to prevent an HIV infection.

The injection — Apretude — to prevent the virus that causes Aids is aimed as an alternative to daily pills and has been approved for use in at-risk adults and adolescents.

Its first two doses are administered one month apart and then the injection is given every two months thereafter.

Patients can start their treatment with Apretude or take oral cabotegravir for four weeks to assess how well they tolerate the drug.

Apretude comes with a boxed warning to not use the drug unless a negative HIV test is confirmed. A boxed warning on the label is FDA’s strictest warning and calls attention to serious or life-threatening risks of a drug.

Apretude’s approval was based on a final study showing it was found to be 66% more effective in preventing HIV infections than Gilead’s Truvada daily oral pills.

Cabotegravir and the daily oral pill were both well tolerated in the study, which was conducted on men who engage in sexual activity with other men and transgender women who have sex with men, putting them at risk of contracting HIV.

(Reuters)

Nigerian Army Chief Laments That Some ‘Repentant’ Terrorists Have Ulterior Motives

The Nigerian Army has said though thousands of terrorists and their families have laid down arms in the North-East, some of them have ulterior motives. 

The Theatre Commander of Operation Hadin Kai, Maj.-Gen. Christopher Musa, disclosed that 20,000 insurgents and their families had laid down their weapons but some of the ‘repentant’ terrorists are not sincere. 

The commander, who spoke on the sidelines of the Chief of Army Staff Conference in Abuja, added that another challenge the military has is that the insurgents use civilians as cover, making it more difficult for soldiers to kill them, the Nation reports. 

He said: “We have over 20,000 combatants and their families surrendered. This tells you there is something we are doing right. What we do with them after surrendering is our next focus. The expectation is that after all have surrendered, then, everything will fizzle out. But, that is not the case.

“Frankly speaking, for us, this is a good development. A lot of people have been thinking and also expressing mixed feelings if at all the news is true. Of course, there are some insurgents who truly wish to surrender, but we cannot jettison the fact that some of them do have ulterior motives.

“Like I said, to us, this is good and if we follow it through in the right way, then, we may begin to see the end of this insurgency sooner than we actually think.”

According to Maj-Gen. Musa, the terror group has remained dangerous despite the death of its leader, Abubakar Shekau.

He said: “Before Shekau died, they (Boko Haram fighters) pledged allegiance to the Islamic State in the West African Province ISWAP and ISWAP gets its funding from foreign donors. It is the lust for these monies that have further emboldened them. This is why they overran Shekau. These people who are enemies of the nation, who do not want peace in Nigeria are the same people pushing ISWAP too. It has nothing to do with religion or any form of ideology, but is purely driven by the quest for money.

Dismissing public concerns that the Nigerian military has been outstretched by the security challenges in the country, he said, “No group can outstretch the Armed Forces of Nigeria. What people need to understand is, we in the military can easily be identified because we put on uniforms. These guys go on mufti and we cannot just go into a community and start killing everybody. If we have to do this, then, this fight would have ended since.

“But, what about the collateral damage on the part of innocent civilians? If we have to shoot, then, we must target the real trouble makers and not just anyone. This is the problem. They mingle among civilians. This is why it has become so dificult. If it is conventional warfare, we would have finished them a long time ago.”

[Saharareporters]

Again, Terrorists Attack Kaduna, Community, Kidnap 36

Terrorists have again invaded Jangali Bagoma in Birnin Gwari local government area of Kaduna State and kidnapped 36 persons. The incident occurred in the early hours of Sunday and yesterday.

Malam Abubakar Mohammed, who is a resident of Birnin Gwari disclosed this to journalists in Kaduna.

He said, “The bandits attacked the community yesterday and this morning (Monday) and kidnapped the villagers, including women and children.

“They didn’t kill anybody during the attacks. We are still gathering the figures of the people they kidnapped today (Monday)”.

He lamented that the bandits attacked the community twice within 24 hours, a situation he described as heartbreaking.

It would be recalled that bandits kidnapped over 50 residents of Ungwa Gimbiya in Chikun local government area in the early hours of Friday, 3rd December, 2021.

Mohammed said “Nigerians are no longer safe in their homes, these people are kidnapping our people anyhow, anytime.

“Our government should do something and end this kidnapping, we cannot continue like this,” he said.

He also called on the security agencies to put in more efforts in order to ensure the safety of Nigerians, he added.

When the police public relations officer, Mohammed Jalige, was contacted, he promised to confirm the incident and get back but did not do so as of the time of filing this report yesterday.

Credit: Leadership

Boko Haram behind Abuja-Kaduna highway attacks — Intelligence source

The recent wave of attacks on travellers along the beleaguered Abuja-Kaduna highway were carried out by Boko Haram terrorists. This is according to a report by Daily Nigerian Newspaper.

Recall that on Sunday, the terrorists abducted an unspecified number of passengers and killed a prominent Zamfara politician, Alhaji Sagir Hamidu, at a point called Kurmin Kare along the highway.

The terrorists returned on Monday at Gidan Bussa and almost the same time to abduct dozens more.

A top intelligence source in Abuja told DAILY NIGERIAN on the condition of anonymity that the recent attacks were carried out by Boko Haram terrorists, who are now setting up camps in Kaduna and Niger forests.

“Based on an intercepted intel, the Boko Haram terrorists are behind these recent attacks at Kurmin Kare area along Abuja-Kaduna highway.

“They are also the ones who are abducting people around Mashegu and Shiroro in Niger State. They are trying to establish themselves around the area, so they embark on abductions to raise money for logistics.

“You know they under heavy bombardment in their enclaves in Birnin Gwari, Giwa, Chikun, Igabi and other places. So after fleeing from these locations, they now camped at some points not more than 50 to 60 kilometers away from Abuja-Kaduna highway.

“From these points, they use motorcycles to travel. There is a stream along the road where they keep the motorcycles and travel on foot through a thick forest to perpetrate the attacks,” said the source.

According to him, security agencies as well as Niger and Kaduna State Governments have been alerted of the development and efforts to decimate them.

He also said that the Boko Haram terrorists are now working in concert with bandits to abduct and attack people.

Spokesman for the Kaduna State Police Command, Mohammed Jalige, could not be reached for comment at the time of filing this report.

Credit: Daily Nigerian