Almost a month after he was kidnapped by gunmen along Kaduna-Abuja Expressway, the Emir of Bungudu in Zamfara State, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru, remains with his abductors even after the payment of N20 million ransom.
The emir was abducted when bandits waylaid a convoy of vehicles he was travelling in from Kaduna to Abuja on September 14.
He was said to be on his way to join Zamfara government’s delegation to the UN General Assembly in the United States.
Confirming the incident at the time, the Kaduna State police command said unspecified number of commuters were abducted along with the monarch in the daylight attack which occurred around Dutse village on the highway.
Daily Trust gathered that the abduction was carried out by gunmen loyal to banditry kingpin Boderi Isiya, operating from Riyawa, Buruku and Sabon Birni forests in Kaduna State.
A source familiar with the case said the bandits’ kingpin had shifted the goalpost after agreeing to release the emir upon payment of agreed ransom.
“He is now insisting that ransom must be N100 million, instead of the initial amount agreed,” the source said, explaining that family members and negotiators have been warned to be wary of the kingpin as he had previously vowed not to release the monarch even with ransom paid.
The emir, officially recognised as Sarkin Fulanin Bungudu, is known for tough stance against bandits in his domain and support for local vigilantes.
Boderi is responsible for a number of atrocious attacks in Giwa, Chikun, Igabi and Zaria local governments, including the abduction of students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka, in March.
Reactions have continued to trail the decision of the Nigerian government to shutdown telecommunications network in states affected by terrorism in the North-West region of the country. States such as Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto, Kaduna and even neighboring Niger in the North Central have had telecommunications network shutdown in several local government areas.
The Nigerian Communication Commission (NCC), the agency saddled with the responsibility of overseeing and managing all communication architectures in the country ordered the shutdown of telecommunication networks in early September 2021 citing the war against terrorists elements in the region as yardstick.
In Katsina state, the President’s home state for example, at least 13 local government areas believed to be under the control of terrorists had telecommunications network shutdown since early September. This came after initial denial from the NCC that such was going to happen.
Neighboring Zamfara state also shutdown telecommunications network in the entire state for several weeks while Sokoto state did the same for 14 local government areas.
Niger state and also Kaduna state implemented network shutdown in parts as telecommunications networks in several local government areas were also shut down all in the guise of fighting terrorists.
While the states and federal government wants Nigerians to believe that the network shutdown is actually achieving the desired results, the realities on ground prove otherwise as the terrorists have not relented in their nefarious activities since the shutdown.
Even though the shutdown may have achieved some results in terms of diminishing the terrorists’ capacity to operate, the demerits outweigh the merits as over 300 people have been killed across the five troubled states of Katsina, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna and Niger since the shutdown was implemented in September. A figure many like myself believe to be too high considering the fact that a much publicised military operation is ongoing in the region.
Abductions have also continued unabated as the terrorists have devised means of communication such as using satellite phones to bypass the effects of the shutdown or using network architectures in Niger Republic to carry out their operations.
In an interview with dailytrust, a popular Nigerian based newspaper, terrorists commander, Shehu Rekeb boasted that the shutdown of telecommunication networks in the area does not stop them from operating as they now use thuraya satellite phones which do not require the conventional GSM network to function. Rekeb also said that certain GSM networks still operate in some parts of the states where the shutdowns were in effect.
“There are places you can make calls if you have Glo aand Airtel lines,” he told the Daily Trust September 13. This further raises questions on the sincerity of the telecommunications network shutdowns in the area.
A resident of Zamfara who relocated to Kaduna in late September told me under the condition that his identity must be anonymous that some areas still have globacom and Airtel networks making it possible for the terrorists to still communicate and launch attacks on communities. His testimony further confirms the claim of Shehu Rekeb.
Aside from the huge negative impacts the network shutdown is having on citizens who rely on networks to carry out their daily legitimate productive activities, the shutdown has also failed to improve the security of the citizens of the region as the terrorists still carry out deadly attacks on communities almost on a daily basis. This week alone over 30 people have been killed in separate attacks in Zamfara and Katsina communities despite the ongoing military operations and network shutdown. On 26 of September, 38 people were killed by terrorists in Madamai and Abun communities in Mallagum district of Kaura local government area of Kaduna state. In the same week another 60 were killed in Sokoto and Niger communities in separate attacks.
Even the military fighting the terrorists in the North West are not exempted from the negative impacts of the network shutdown. On 11th of September 12 military personnel paid the supreme price when terrorists took advantage of the shutdown and launched a deadly attack on a forward military operation base in Mutumji, Zamfara state. Reacting to the attack, a too military source told dailytrust that the shutdown made it impossible for the troops to communicate amongst themselves when the terrorists attacked.
“While the jamming of GSM in Zamfara has gone a long way in taming the bandits, it also has a negative effect on troops because communication among them was also extremely restricted,” the source said.
“Most of the foot soldiers relied on normal phone networks instead of any of the specialised communication gadgets that should be deployed during operations such as the one going on in the North West.
“Only the top commanders have military radio or walkie-talkie, meaning those in the frontlines would only use their personal mobile phones which are no longer accessible.
“The bandits took advantage of this and attacked them at their forward operation base. As you can see, the attack was launched on Saturday but it only came to the fore days after,” he said. Another source said there was the need to deploy specialised communication gadgets for the troops.
“The ban on communication in Zamfara and parts of Katsina is not bad in its entirety but the military high command should have taken note of the adverse effect on troops.” The military source said.
In the same vein, another security source told Dailytrust in September that the telecommunications network shutdown was not ‘well-thought-out and bypassed the due process of getting clearance from the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, who oversees cyber security’.
In as much as some sessions of the Nigerian media would want to paint a scenario that the network shutdown and ongoing military operations in the North-West have achieved the desired results, citizens in the areas are daily counting their losses in the forms of burying their loved ones and inability to even send SOS calls when under terrorists attacks due to absence of telecommunication networks in the area.
Socioeconomic activities that rely solely on telecommunication network facilities to function have also been crippled in the region forcing many to be out of jobs in an economy where inflation is currently on an all time high.
The Federal government must as smarter of urgency and national importance review the ongoing suspension of telecommunication networks in the North-West region to ensure necessary measures are out in place to achieve maximum results.
Dealers of the so-called thuraya satellite phones in the country must be investigated and possibly prosecuted for aiding and abetting terrorists activities in the country.
Gunmen suspected to be terrorist herdsmen operating in Southern Kaduna have attacked St. Albert the Great Institute of Philosophy, a Catholic run major seminary situated in Fayit community in Kagoma Chiefdom, Jama’a local government area of Kaduna state on Monday night.
The terrorists invaded the school at about 8pm Nigerian time and began shooting sporadically, causing a pandemonium in the area.
A source who stays close to the school told MBT that the operations lasted for over an hour before local hunters and vigilante intervened and “chased the terrorists away.”
Middle Belt Times gathered that some students were abducted by the terrorists while others sustained injury during the attack.
Efforts to speak to authorities in the school for comments on the exact number of students abducted proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.
Faults Barak Obama for Subverting War on Terror in Nigeria
Self-taught journalists in the Jos metropolitan area are the featured truth tellers of a ground-breaking documentary on the Nigerian conflict produced by Fox Nation reporter Lara Logan. Lawrence Zongo and Masara Kim, Plateau State natives, collaborated for months with war correspondent Logan to make the 38-minute film, which is the Fox News corporation’s first in-depth examination of the tragic loss of life some call Nigeria’s “Silent Slaughter.”
It will be reported at an invitation-only Press Conference in Miango on October 15 where elected lawmakers and community leaders will acknowledge the Rural Watch achievement.
The film has been excerpted in segments on the YouTube channel of ICON PSJ media: https://youtu.be/94bVIPo5yPI
Logan, known in the United States as an award-winning war correspondent, delves deeply into the views and motivation of five reporters associated with a group Zongo created called “Rural Watch.” The mentor of the group is Washington-based editor Douglas Burton, who enables the Rural Watch writers to get published in The Epoch Times. Lawrence Zongo, a high-school history teacher and human rights activist, teamed with Masara Kim, a respected conflict reporter in Jos, Luka Binniyat in Kaduna, and Tom Garba in Adamawa as well as many others.
The film credits the Nigerian reporters for making the dangerous and painstaking trips into rural villages in the Middle Belt to get testimonies of the victims and their families. Logan takes pains to stir the conscience of the West, long accused of being a “conspiracy of silence.” “Masara Kim,” she says in her narration, is the “eyes and ears of a world that doesn’t care.” After months of interviews with the conflict reporters and Nigeria asylum seekers in the West, Logan cuts through the fog of war to show who in Nigeria is killing who and why. Dr. Sulieman Yahaya Kwande, a former Representative of Bassa/ Jos North from the ruling party of All Progressive Congress (APC), has said that “Killings of any religion or tribe is an evil act and against the will of God. Nigeria authority should take quick action and stop such killings, I appreciate Lara Logan and the team of Rural Watch News for the timely report.”
“This documentary has been produced to open the heart, eyes and conscience of an otherwise unperturbed world to the wanton cruelty of bands of murderous Jihadists. I strongly commend this great effort,” according to Dr. Pogu Bitrus, National President of the Middle Belt Forum.
A respected scholar in Washington D.C. has said the film exceeded her expectations. “Even for those of us informed about the Fulani and Boko Haram atrocities — this film is an eye opener,” wrote Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute.
Among several revelations in the film, Logan documents how Barak Obama rebuffed President Goodluck Jonathan when he needed arms to fight Boko Haram and put its weight behind the election of Muhammadu Buhari.
The press event coincides with the grim anniversary of a massacre of 29 Christian villagers in a classroom of LEA Primary School Nkiendoro, for which no one has been held accountable. “They were looking for refuge at a military base to hide from their attackers, yet they were locked in the classroom and killed by Muslim Fulani terrorists as a result of the negligence of the Military,” according to Zongo.
Bandits in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State are now demanding cooked food as ransom for kidnapped victims.
The bandits were said to have retrieved from attacking communities since the state Government banned weekly markets as part of measures to tackle insecurity in the state.
A youth leader in one of the villages of Birnin Gwari, Babangida Yaro, told Daily Trust that since the ban, bandits operating along Damari, Kutemashi and Kuyello villages only asked for cooked food each time they abduct people.
According to him, the ban on sale of fuel in filling stations located in rural communities had also helped to restrict their movement.
“There is relative peace around Damari, kuyello, Kutemashi because the bandits have stopped attacking our communities. They usually stay in the forest and seiz food items mostly cooked ones from vendors,” he said.
He added that when they abducted two or three persons in farms, one is allowed to go and get them food from their relatives as ransom since there is no communication network to make contact.
The youth leader added that Dogon Dawa area is still not completely safe because villagers are still scared of accessing their farmlands. Babangida also lamented that the ban on use of private Motorcycles in the villages had increased hardship on the bandits as well as residents.
Nigerian joint security forces have killed 32 armed bandits fleeing from Zamfara in Niger State, PRNigeria learnt on Sunday.
This was after the bandits attacked a security post, and shot dead five policemen who attempted to confront them.
The incident occurred at Bangu Gari in the Rafi Local Government Area of the State.
A security source told PRNigeria that the armed bandits, who fled Zamfara State due to the ongoing military operation, had earlier wreaked havoc on the community.
“The bandits came in their large number with sophisticated weapons including rocket launchers after fleeing their camps at Danjibga and Munhaye in Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
“They stormed the police station at Bangu Gari in Rafi LGA and killed five policemen during the exchange of gunfire.
“Immediately a signal was received and a detachment of joint security forces was despatched. The troops on reinforcement successfully ambushed the marauding bandits while attempting to escape through Tegina axis.
“At least 32 of the bandits were killed including their leaders, Karki Buzu and Yalo Nagoshi while another kingpin, Ali Kawaji sustained serious gun wounds,” the source said.
The Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, has warned President Muhammadu Buhari that the fighter jets he is purchasing will be used to destroy the country.
The cleric stated this during a sermon at his church on Sunday.
According to Mbaka, Buhari should rather focus on building more industries
“The jets you are buying are going to be used to collapse Nigeria.
“Please, the first person to meet President Buhari after this message, should tell him that all these jets he is buying will be used to destroy Nigeria.
“God told me to tell him that,” he said.
“Let him stop buying more jets and begin to build more industries.”
Buhari, speaking last week, confirmed that “we have received new equipment in our fight against any form of insecurity from our friendly countries.”
“These assets will be deployed to accelerate the fight against insecurity in all parts of the country,” he added.
Adamawa State Police Command has confirmed attack on its operatives at Ngurore Police Station by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers.
The Police Command said the gunmen also attacked a house in the area and abducted a woman identified as Hauwa Umaru and her daughter in the early hours of Sunday.
Speaking on the incident, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, Sulaiman Ngurore said the attackers stormed the station at about 2 a.m. on Sunday, but no casualty was recorded.
“The criminals separated into two groups; one attacked the police station to divert the attention of security operatives, while the other group attacked Alhaji Umaru’s house and kidnapped his wife, Hauwa Umaru, and her daughter.
“The Commissioner of Police in the State, Mr Mohammed Barde, has ordered the deployment of the operational assets including Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Unit (CTU), Crack Squad and Anti-Kidnapping units to Ngurore,” he said.
According to the police spokesman, the operational units were expected to carry out confidence-boosting patrols within the hotspots in coordinated operations to rescue the kidnapped victims and apprehend the culprits.
The commissioner assured that the command was committed to working with other patriotic stakeholders towards restoring public order in Ngurore and other parts of the State.
Prominent pro-democracy and Not-for-profit organisation- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has advocated the impartial investigation of the persons responsible for the alleged killing of two soldiers and the subsequent invasion by armed soldiers and burning down of the palace of traditional ruler of Izombe community in Oguta Local Government Area of Imo.
HURIWA said it was absolutely unlawful for the military to use extralegal execution of citizens no matter the level of perceived offence just as the Rights group said it has emerged that it was the killing of a young man by soldiers that led to the revenge killing of the two soldiers which in itself is barbaric and unlawful.
The Rights group is proposing the setting up of an independent judicial commission of inquiry by the Imo State government to identify the arsonists amongst the soldiers that petrol bombed the palace of the traditional ruler just as the Rights group has called for justice and closure for all those killed including the two soldiers reportedly set ablaze by some irate youths.
The Rights group expressed worries that the Nigerian military is yet to understand that under constitutional democracy, no institution has the legal authority to take the law into its hands no matter the provocation or anger just as setting ablaze the housing assets of the traditional ruler has been described as an act of primitive brutality and an uncivilised modus operandi which must be decisively dealt with and stopped forthwith.
The Rights group quoted the news media as reporting that many houses, including the palace of the traditional ruler of the Aborshi-Izombe community, Pius Muforo, were burnt down just as it was gathered that Izombe, Eziorsu and Osobod communities have been enmeshed in oil bunkering operations.
HURIWA recalled that a community leader from Umuokwu village, Mr James Imo, claimed that over 50 houses have been burnt down.
His (James Imo) words: “I was informed that two military men were killed and their vehicle set ablaze after the two military personnel had killed one young man, Chukwunonso Iherue, in Umuokwu-Izombe.The problem arose from misunderstanding between the youth and soldiers over crude oil bunkering activities”.
HURIWA which condemned the cowardly actions of the irate youths for allegedly murdering the uniformed men of the Nigerian Army, however stated that in as much as the brutal criminal act of killing law enforcement agents is totally condemnable and remains absolutely despicable and reprehensible, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA insisted that what is lawful is for the Nigeria Army to report to the police who will immediately swing into action and arrest the suspected killers of the two soldiers so they are prosecuted for murders and not for the soldiers to resort to self help measures of invading communities and burning down houses and shooting randomly at everything moving in those communities just to revenge the alleged brutal killing of two of their colleagues who in any case had allegedly killed a young man extralegally.
HURIWA charges the Chief of Army staff Lieutenant General Yahaya Faruk to escalate his announced programme of professionalisation of the Armed Forces and to work out ways and means of ensuring that henceforth soldiers do not resort to self help measures such as invading a community whereby any of their members are killed on the line of duty or even for committing atrocious act of extrajudicial execution of a citizen and for the invading soldiers to extend this revenge mission to adjourning communities means that these are crimes against humanity.
The Rights group thinks this tendency of invasion and arson by irate soldiers belongs to the medieval period and is totally unconstitutional and infact amounts to terrorism because in the process of the soldiers exacting revenge, many innocent people are killed which is reprehensible and absolutely criminal.
Besides, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has charged the Inspector General of Police Alhaji Usman Alkali Baba to investigate the extensively damaging accusation that Policemen in Nsukka Enugu State invaded the home of a traditional ruler, destroyed the property, maimed visitors, manhandled the traditional ruler and apparently abducted him to an unknown torture centre because of alleged land related dispute the traditional ruler had with another resident of the community.
HURIWA affirmed that report says that the traditional ruler of Ihekwuenu autonomous community in Aku, Igbo-Etiti Local Government Area of Enugu State, HRH, Igwe, Christopher Okwor was on Thursday allegedly beaten and dragged to an unknown location by men suspected to be policemen.
The wife of the traditional ruler, Martina Okwor who was also allegedly beaten by the officers who had invaded the residence of the traditional ruler in Umakashi, Nsukka said the incident occurred at about 10 pm on Thursday.
HURIWA said thus: ” We hereby appealed to the Chief of Police of Nigeria to investigate the circumstances surrounding this disgraceful and criminal allegations against his men and officers and to arrest, investigate and charge any of his operatives indicted for participating in this illicit raid of the home of a citizen and reportedly destroyed the housing assets in a crude attempt to harass, intimidate and ambush a citizen on the strength of a so called petition filed by another citizen especially bordering on land related disputes. The Nigerian Police Force must begin the period of sanitisation and cleaning up of the vestiges of professional misconducts and all tendencies that had brought bad publicity and global opprobrium on the institution such as this type of illegal orchestration and misuse of power by the police”.
Heavily armed bandits on Sunday morning opened fire on a Divisional Police Station in Adamawa State.
The incident happened in Ngurore, a satellite town on the outskirts of Yola, the state capital, along Yola-Gombe Road.
An eyewitness told SaharaReporters that the bandits, who came in their number, arrived in the town around 5 am.
They subsequently opened fire on the police station and also kidnapped a woman with her daughter from a nearby house.
He said, “They came in large numbers, some in Hilux vans, others on motorcycles.
“They divided themselves into two groups, one group engaged the police station; the other group went to the residence of Alhaji Umaru.
“They have sadly succeeded in kidnapping his wife, Hauwa Umaru and her daughter.”
The police spokesperson in the state, DSP Suleiman Nguroje has confirmed the incident, saying no damage was done to the police station.
He said, “Yes, there was an attack on Ngurore police station this morning; but nothing was carted away and none of our gallant officers was injured.
“As we speak, there are also ongoing, coordinated efforts at restoring public order in the town and its environs.
“However, following the unfortunate attack on Ngurore police station and the house of Alhaji Umaru of Nasarawa B, one Hauwa Umaru and her daughter were kidnapped on Sunday, 10 October, 2021.
“The Commissioner of Police, CP Mohammed Ahmed Barde, has ordered the deployment of an additional operational asset including Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU), crack squad and anti-kidnapping units to Ngurore.
“The operational units are expected to carry out confidence-boosting patrols within the hotspots in coordinated operations with the gallant men on the ground to rescue the kidnapped victims and apprehend the culprits.
“The CP assured that the Command is committed to working with other patriotic stakeholders towards restoring public order in Ngurore and other parts of the state.
“Meanwhile, the Head of the Police Intervention Team, SP Babagana Abubakar is already on the ground to coordinate police investigative, operational and rescue response.
“The CP called on citizens to go about their businesses in the most peaceful and law-abiding manner and report any suspicious person(s) around their neighbourhoods to police,” he said.
