The Nasarawa state police command has confirmed the invasion of suspected gunmen into Mararaba community shooting sporadically between the hour of 7pm and 8 pm, kidnapping two students of the Institution.
Confirming the invasion via a telephone conversation on Sunday to reporters is the Public Relations Officer of Nasarawa State command, ASP Ramhan Nansel who said the anti-kidnapping squad has been dispatched to commence investigation.
“We have just met as I speak with you at 12.30 pm in the Anti-kidnapping office with the institution’s PRO (public relations officer), CSO (chief security officer) on the issue, Nansel stated.”
According to a source who disclosed to Daily Sun reporter said the first son of Hon. Yahaya Adams (Major), by name Zafir Yahaya Adams, was kidnapped last night with one other student.
The source added that the kidnappers had demanded the sum of N25 million after contacting the family at about 11.30 pm on Saturday night.
The Nigerian Air Force coordinated ransom payments to armed bandits in exchange for an anti-aircraft gun seized from the Nigerian Army, The Wall Street Journal said, in a desperate deal that was brokered as President Muhammadu Buhari was planning a trip to Katsina.
The U.S. outlet said N20 million was delivered to the bandits in Rugu Forest by a Nigerian Air Force official, who leaked details of the operation under anonymity, because the military realised that it would be too risky to leave the weapon in the hands of violent criminals operating in an area the presidential jet would fly over.
The rugged, lawless jungle that covers parts of Kaduna, Zamfara and the president’s home state of Katsina has served as a vast haven for bandits terrorising Nigeria’s northwestern communities. A large portion of kidnapping plots emanates or terminates in or around the forest, security agencies have previously warned.
“The mission to buy back the antiaircraft gun began with a handoff from a high-ranking air force intelligence officer in the capital Abuja: a black zip-up bag he said was full of 20 million Nigerian naira,” the paper reported, after stating that such military hardware in the hands of bandits “posed a threat to President Muhammadu Buhari, who had been planning to fly to his hometown about 80 miles away.”
The gun truck with 12.7 caliber anti-aircraft fire was reportedly disassembled and transported back to the military on motorbikes after the deal was concluded.
The Journal did not specify when the deal was brokered or the presidential trip that was planned. The president has been in his hometown at least twice this year that his office disclosed to the public. The first trip was in late January and another in July.
Although the Nigerian government claimed combat victories against armed bandits, several military bases have been sacked by the violent criminals dreaded largely for their abduction of schoolchildren and prominent personalities, including politicians and emirs.
Last month, a forward operating base crucial to the military campaign against banditry was raided in Zamfara, leaving at least 12 officers killed. The bandits also seized military equipment when they captured the base in Dansadau, about 80 kilometres south of the capital Gusau, in the September 11 operation.
It was not immediately clear why service chiefs opted for ransom payment in the operation described by The Journal. Military weapons that fell into the hands of Boko Haram insurgents and bandits were usually destroyed by air strikes.
The Gazette has yet to hear back from the Nigerian Air Force about the reported N20 million ransom to bandits.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime has announced that Nigeria’s Excess Crude Account (ECA) balance as of October stands at $60, 857,773.43, a drastic depletion from the $2.1 billion left by Goodluck Jonathan’s administration.
Clem Agba, the minister of state for budget and national planning gave the update during the national economic council meeting at the State House in Abuja on Friday, according to a statement by Laolu Akande, spokesperson to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.
“Excess Crude Account (ECA) balance as at 13th October 2021 stands at $60, 857,773.43; Stabilisation Account, balance as at 13th October stands at N25,009,892,511.55; Development of Natural Resources Account balance as at 13th October 2021 stands at N56,144,024,000.71,” the statement said.
As of July 13, NEC announced that the excess account balance stood at $60.8 million while stabilisation account was N26.3 billion with the natural resources account balance standing at N23.5 billion.
The ECA, created in 2004 by former President Olusegun Obasanjo for the sole aim of saving oil revenue in excess of the budgeted benchmark, stood at $3.6 billion in February 2014, one of the highest balances on record.
In 2015, the former minister of finance Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala disclosed that the country earned $61.7 billion (about N12.3 trillion) as excess crude oil money between 2011 and 2015.
The minister said Nigeria earned about $18.14 billion in 2011; $18.16 billion in 2012; $15.19 billion in 2013; $8.01 billion in 2014, and $2.17 billion in 2015.
As of August 2015, after Mr Buhari assumed office, it stood at $2.2 billion but it gradually depleted.
The Central Bank of Nigeria in its 2018 report said that the country’s excess crude account fell from $2.45 billion in 2017 to $480 million as of December 2018.
Statistics from the ministry of finance had also revealed that the Buhari regime withdrew N1.5 trillion (about $4.92bn) between 2015 and 2019 from the account. $1 billion was withdrawn in 2017 on basis that it will be used to procure arms and train personnel in the fight against Boko Haram insurgents in the North-East.
A 2020 analysis by BudgIT, a civic organisation had indicated that Nigeria’s excess crude oil under Mr Buhari stood at $631 million in December 2018, $324 million in October 2019, and fell to $70 million in February 2020.
The Kaduna State Government on Friday, inaugurated the preaching regulatory council with the aim of stemming any act of religion that will trigger conflict in the state.
Governor Nasir El-rufai, who inaugurated the council at the Kashim Ibrahim House, Kaduna on Friday, said, religion must not be used for economic and political exploitation.
According to El-rufai, a religious preaching edict has been in place in the state since 1984, but his administration failed to implement it after reviewing the laws in 2016.
The governor said it is now the responsibility of the council to ensure that religion in the state is practiced in a manner that will not inconvenience others.
He said his administration is ready to tackle any negative religious practice in the state.
The regulatory preaching council is comprised of senior religious leaders from the Christian and Islamic faiths as well as traditional leader and public office holders.
No fewer than 12 villagers have been reported killed as group of bandits attacked people of Sakajiki village in Kaura Namoda Emirate in Zamfara State.
According to Channels Tv, the Zamfara State Police Public Relations Officer, Mohammed Shehu confirmed the incident on Friday. Saying, casualties recorded in the incident would have been more if not for the response if the police operatives deployed to the area.
Report reveals that the bandits arrived at the village at about 9pm on Thursday and left the following morning around 4am on Friday, in the process, a dozen persons were killed.
Several shops and houses were razed, the police outpost in the area was also set ablaze as well as several other vehicles, one of which belonged to the police.
Meanwhile, search for more dead bodies are still going.
The team of police mobile force operatives tried their best to repel the attack, but they were purportedly overpowered by the bandits.
Residents and motorists plying the Lafia-Shendam Road connecting Nasarawa, Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi states have called on the Federal Government to rehabilitate the road to reduce associated hardship and deaths.
Our correspondent who visited the road observed that some parts had become death traps as robbers take advantage of its dilapidated condition to attack motorists almost on a daily basis.
The road which links three states from the southern axis of Nasarawa State was constructed by the Federal Government in 1976. Since then, no rehabilitation and maintenance have been carried out on it.
The journey between Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital, and Shendam, Plateau State, which would have taken about an hour, now takes four hours due to the road’s deplorable condition. The about 60km road is now characterised by deep potholes and some areas completely washed away.
Residents and motorists along the road who are predominantly farmers lamented that they had been subjected to untold hardship over the years due to a lack of maintenance and total neglect of the road by the Federal Government.
A resident of Akurba community in the area, Shehu Musa, who spoke with our correspondent on the deplorable condition of the road, narrated how a woman and her son lost their lives in a motor accident on the road while they were heading for their village.
She said, “This road has caused the death of many innocent Nigerians. The portholes on the road are many and that is why accidents occur on it. Two months ago, a woman who lives in the Bakin Rijiya community with her 15-year-old son were involved in a motor crash on their way to their village. It was a head-on collision with another vehicle. The boy died on the spot but his mother died after a few days in a hospital.’’
Residents of the area have also called for the presence of security agencies to always be on patrol on the Lafia-Shendam road to check activities of bandits on the route. They noted that if the government could ensure that there was a checkpoint after every three kilometres of the road, activities of the criminals terrorising motorists, passengers and residents would be curbed.
A peasant farmer in Mai-Akuya community in the area, Ibrahim Abubakar, decried lack of security agents’ presence on the Road which he attributed to the reason bandits were harassing residents and motorists on the axis.
She said, “I am a peasant farmer and after harvest, I transport my farm produce to the Asakio market to sell and make profit. But with the activities of criminals who block the road almost on a daily basis, I am now scared to ply the road because I don’t want to be kidnapped or killed. There are no police or military checkpoints from Lafia to Sabon-gida Bakin Kogi, which is the boundary between Nasarawa and Plateau states. The bandits attack and kidnap our people and nothing is being done about it.’’
A resident of Adogi community in the area, Haliru Ibrahim, was seen fetching sand from a nearby river in the community with his wheelbarrow to fill the bad spots on the road. He told our correspondent that he was moved to sand-fill the road because of the rate of accidents that had claimed the lives of some people who plied the road.
Ibrahim stated, “The reason I am filling some of the bad spots with sand is because it has claimed lives of some people who travel from Lafia to Shendam in Plateau State. The road is bad. Nobody asked me to do this. I have been doing this for about five years. I bought the wheelbarrow I use for the work.’’
A commercial driver, Mallam Danladi Ibrahim, who has been plying the road for over 20 years, narrated his experience on the road to Saturday PUNCH.
Ibrahim said, “As a commercial driver, I have been plying the Lafia-Shendam Road for over 20 years. I must say that it has been difficult for me these years because of the state of the road and the insecurity that we are experiencing as drivers. But I don’t have a choice because I have to work to take care of my family members. The activities of robbers and kidnappers are worrisome. Almost every Monday, they block the road to rob businessmen and women going to Asakio market to buy goods. We are going through a difficult situation on this road.’’
Another commercial driver, Biliya Muhammed, stated how he was stopped alongside his passengers on the road by robbers who he said dispossessed them of their valuables.
“I once plied the road with some passengers from Lafia to Shendam when some robbers robbed us of money and phones. We have been going through several challenges on the road. The government should help us repair the road and direct security agents to always patrol it.’’
In his comment, a traditional ruler in the area, Emir of Adogi, Alhaji Ladan Omaku, said the about 60 kilometer Lafia-Shendam Road had caused the death of many.
He also lamented the absence of the police and other security agencies on the road which he said was responsible for the increased insecurity on the axis.
Omaku stated, “This road has been like this for many years and we have been appealing to the government to come to our aid because of the challenges we face. Some parts of the road are bad and criminals use the opportunity to rob people.
“Recently, heavily armed men blocked the road and robbed passengers going to the popular Asakio market. I call on the federal and state governments to consider that this road is important to us and help us repair it as it links many communities in the state and also serves as a link road to Plateau, Taraba and Bauchi states. Bandits are taking advantage of the bad road to attack our people and rob them of their belongings. The government needs to help us out of this situation.’’
A top government official at the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the press on the matter said the ministry had been doing its best to reduce accidents on the road.
When our correspondent spoke with the engineer in charge of the Federal Roads Maintenance Agency in the state, Hafsat Muhammed, she said that the agency carried out a project between March and May this year and was able to patch some dangerous spots on the road.
Muhammed said, “We have done a lot on that road because the condition you met it is not how it was before. As of January this year, the road was in a state of total disrepair but we had a project there from March to May and we were able to patch and overlay some parts of the road.’’
The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, who was in the state to inspect some of the ongoing Federal Government projects, said the government was aware of the challenges being faced by users of the road.
He said, “The Nasarawa State Governor applied that he should be allowed to reconstruct and dualise some parts of the road and we have accepted that he can work on the road. The Lafia-Shendam Road has been in need of attention since the 1990s before we came to government. We didn’t promise Nigerians to do everything, we only promised to do our best and that is what we have been doing.’’
The police in Jigawa have arrested a 25-year-old herder, who allegedly trespassed into a farmland and destroyed crops worth N200,000, at Takatsaba village, Suletankarkar Local Government Area of the state.
ASP Lawan Shiisu, the command Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in the state, confirmed the arrest in a statement in Dutse on Thursday.
He said the police also arrested his 73 cows and 13 sheep that strayed into the farmland on Oct. 10.
“Information received from a source revealed that on Oct. 10, at about 1920hrs, a herder trespassed into the farmland of Habu Sa’idu of Takatsaba village in Suletankarkar LGA and his animals ate and destroyed his farm crops.
“Residents from the said village accompanied by the complainant went to challenge the herdsman, who became violent and inflicted various degrees of injuries on the five persons.
Shiisu noted that no life was lost during the incident, adding that the situation had been brought under control.
He said investigation into the matter is ongoing and efforts are on to arrest the fleeing suspects.
About 24 ISWAP fighters including top-ranking Commanders while attempting to attack a military convoy were killed at Ngamdu axis by airstrikes on Wednesday evening
PRNigeria gathered that among the ISWAP high-ranking Commanders who were eliminated in foiled attempts to attack the military convoy and Forward Operating Base (FOB) included Yaya Ebraheem, Baba Chattimari and Abu Adam Oubaida.
Meanwhile, ISWAP Deputy Jaysh in Sambisa, Modou Bacheer Oukocha, is among those fatally wounded.
A top military intelligence officer told PRNigeria that while the convoy of ground troops engaged the ISWAP fighters in a firefight, the air component from the Nigerian Airforce (NAF) arrived at the scene and bombarded the locations of the terrorists.
The source said: “A military convoy was moving between Damaturu to Maiduguri when it got intelligence of impending attacks on a FOB at Ngamdu axis. The convoy quickly made a U-turn to reinforce the base after sending signals for air cover.
“En route to Ngamdu, the military convoy encountered ISWAP fighters and engaged them. A firefight ensued before the sudden arrival of fighter jets that shelled the enemies’ locations. Many of the terrorists were killed.
“The well-coordinated operation of the Nigerian Army and Air Task Force with the support of intelligence components in the swift response is highly commendable.”
Nigeria Air Force (NAF) fighter helicopters, with the support of ground troops, had repelled a terrorist attack launched at a military base in Ngamdu by ISWAP insurgents on Tuesday as reported by PRNigeria.
However, four soldiers paid the supreme price, while an officer who sustained serious injuries while engaging the terrorists, is fast recuperating from a military health facility.Ngamdu is a border town between Yobe and Borno states.
Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, has said that controversial Islamic scholar Ahmad Gumi is playing his part to tame the menace of insecurity in the country and would not be stopped by the military.
Mr Irabor, speaking at a ministerial briefing organised by the presidential communications team at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, says that while Mr Gumi does not work for the military, the military will not prevent anyone from contributing to the country’s security.
Mr Gumi, a self-appointed mediator between bandits and the government, has been at the forefront of articulating the position of bandits wreaking havoc across the North.
The influential Islamic cleric recently stated that one-third of Nigeria’s budget for battling insecurity should be spent on bandits through techniques other than fighting, such as enlightenment and listening to their problems.
During a recent speaking engagement at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Mr Gumi stated that the humane side of bandits could be optimised by by showing them understanding and respect.
He said he has been able to undertake several visits and negotiations with the brigands simply by showing empathy to their yearnings.
The advocacy of Mr Gumi for bandits drew flaks from the presidency weeks past.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s spokesman Femi Adesina slammed him as “bandits-lover”.
Many Nigerians have also called for Mr Gumi’s interrogation.
Mr Irabor also announced that the military has received all 12 A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets ordered from the United States.
He said while the military should have had the last six aircraft on September 24, a variety of factors, including weather, delayed delivery until September 28, 2021.
The fighter jets according to the defence chief are expected to strengthen Nigeria’s military operations across the country.
Over 40 bandits have been gunned down in the North West, according to the military authorities.
Brig.-Gen. Benard Onyeuko, Acting Director, Defence Media Operation, who disclosed this, said troops carried out operation in forests within Sokoto and Kaduna States.
He spoke at the Defence Headquarters, Abuja, while giving updates on the activities of troops across all theatres of operations between October 1 and October 13.
The senior military officer, who also revealed how several structures which served as bandits’ logistics bases were destroyed, explained that the operations became imperative in order to ensure that impending security threats are forestalled across the country.
According to him, within the two weeks under review, using a force package of NAF platforms, multiple air strikes were executed on bandits’ enclaves in successive passes in different locations.
He said, “In the same vein, several armed bandits were neutralised and their hideouts destroyed during air interdiction missions executed at some other locations. The success of the air interdictions was confirmed by battle damage assessment carried out on these locations.”
Also speaking on the recently launched military exercises running concurrently in the South West, South-South, South East and North Central Zones of the country, Onyeuko said the military high command has resolved to checkmate all forms of security vices as the yuletide season approaches.
Daily Trust reports that the exercises were flagged off by the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, October 4, 2021, at three different exercises of the Nigerian Army at Ovie-Emene in Enugu East LGA of Enugu State.
The exercises codenamed GOLDEN DAWN, ENDURING PEACE and STILL WATER are running concurrently precisely in the 2 Division, 6 Division, 81 Division and 82 Division of the Nigerian Army.
