Gov. Atiku Bagudu of Kebbi says the anti-banditry operations of the Nigerian Army have increasingly enabled farmers in the state access to their farms without threats.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, in a statement, said the governor made the observation when he received the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt.-Gen. Faruk Yahaya in Birnin-Kebbi on Tuesday.
Bagudu said the farmers in Danko Wassagu in the southern part of the state had returned to their farming occupation, urging army to sustain the operations and bring about lasting peace in the state and Nigeria.
He commended the Nigerian Army for providing aid to civil authority at a critical period when non-state actors who were engendering insecurity in the society were being shielded by unpatriotic citizens.
Bagudu urged the army to continue to synergise with other security agencies and stakeholders to rid the north-western part of the country of banditry.
He pledged the state government’s commitment to collaborating with the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to tackle insecurity in the state.
The governor introduced some reconfigured operational vehicles constructed by the state government to the COAS.
He said the operational vehicles were reconfigured with the supervision of the Deputy Governor, retired Col. Samaila Dabai, to provide operational platforms for troops.
He assured the COAS that the vehicles would soon be handed over to the troops for deployment.
The COAS commended the state government and people of Kebbi for their support to Nigerian Army.
Yahaya added that renewed measures would be taken to address the security challenges affecting the state while calling on the government to sensitise the public to the danger of colluding with bandits to create panic within their communities.
He also noted that all hands must be on deck to resolutely deal with the prevailing security situation.
At the palace of the Emir of Gwandu, Alhaji Muhammadu Bashar, the COAS appealed to traditional leaders to guide the conduct of members of their communities against providing tacit support to bandits.
He added cooperating with troops would add value to the relentless effort of security operatives to restore law and order in the north west geopolitical zone of the country.
Responding, the emir commended the COAS for embarking on an operational tour of formations and units to give direction and guidance on how to overcome security challenges confronting the country.
Duringoperational visit to 1 Battalion in Birnin Kebbi, the COAS urged the troops to remain focused and professional in the conduct of every operation.
He assured them of adequate provision of more and modern equipment to enable them to carry out their mandate effectively…
CAN members during a Protest against killings in Nigeria
By Steven Kefas
When Gideon Akaluka, an Igbo trader was gruesomely murdered and dismembered in Kano on the 26th of December, 1994 by some irate muslim youths, some of whom prison authority said scaled the fence of the Goron Dutse prison in the ancient city of Kano to carry out the barbaric act, many like myself where toddlers or were not even born and didn’t have any knowledge of what the scenario looked like on that day.
Even though the murder of Akaluka may have been forgotten by many, recent events that have to do with religious killings in the Northern city of Kano bring to mind what happened in the past, what is happening today and what may likely happen in the future if nothing drastic is done.
Slain Reverend Shuaibu Yohanna
On the night of 22nd September, 2021 Christians who are minority in Kano were visited with the news of another gruesome and barbaric murder of a Christian missionary by name Reverend Shuaibu Yohanna who until his death was the chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Sumaila Local government area of Kano state. His murder is a reminder to the fact that Christians are now an endangered species in Northern Nigeria.
The slain Reverend, a Northeastern Evangelist of the New life Church, lived in a village called Massu in Sumaila local government area of Kano state with his wife and children.
Testimonies abound about his exploits in the vineyard of the Lord. Mobilising funds to build schools, providing potable water to both Christians and Muslims in his community.
His good works couldn’t make him immune to the barbarity of the Kano Muslim youths who at the slightest or no provocation descend on their victims with utmost cruelty even before ascertaining their guilt.
Reverend Shuaibu, believed to have facilitated the conversion of many Muslims in the area to Christianity met his untimely death when some muslim youths, over 50 in numbers according to his daughter, accosted him and began butchering him like ram to be used for barbecue.
Eyewitness accounts revealed that the Missionary was killed because, one of his converts who recently got converted but neither attends church service nor mosque had a fight with his sister in-law (brother’s wife) and he hit her with a piston and she died.
Why would Reverend Shuaibu pay for a crime he didn’t commit? Why wasn’t he given the opportunity of being tried by a court of competent jurisdiction? These are questions begging for answers.
Late Mrs Bridget Agbaheme, beheaded in Kano
Just like Reverend Shuaibu, 74 years old Mrs Bridget Agbaheme was on the 2nd of June, 2016 beheaded by some muslims in Kano for allegedly blaspheming Prophet Muhammad.
Mrs Agbaheme, who sells plastics at the local market, was in the company of her husband when she was murdered.
According to some eyewitnesses, Mrs Agbaheme’s only crime was refusing a Muslim co-trader from performing ablution at the entrance of her shop, an act the Muslims in the market deemed blasphemous and punishable by death.
The suspects responsible for her murder were eventually, reluctantly arrested but instead of facing the capital punishment for murder, the five suspects were on 3rd November, 2016 released from detention. At a court session on the day if their release, the Chief magistrate, Mr. Jibrin Muhammad discharged the five suspects and terminated the case ‘in line with the directive of the attorney-general of Kano state’.
The Kano state government also failed to tell Nigerians why the suspects were not arraigned before a higher court considering the gravity of the offence.
Gov. El-rufai during a visit to Francis Emmanuel in the hospital
Few days after the murder of Mrs Agbaheme, a carpenter by name Francis Emmanuel, 41, was stabbed by some youths along Sokoto Road in Kakuri area of Kaduna South on Tuesday for not participating in the ongoing fast accoeding to a dailytrust publication of June 9, 2016.
Francis, a witness said, had gone to buy food from a woman along the road in the afternoon after taking a break from his cabinet making work when four young men accosted him as he was eating and asked him why he was not fasting.
A fight soon ensued after some exchanges and one of the four boys was said to have brought out a dagger and stabbed Francis in several parts of his body.
Even though the Kaduna state government condemned the attack on Francis and also a high powered delegation led by the governor, El-rufai and the then Deputy Governor, Bala Bantex went to see Francis in the hospital, no suspect was arrested.
Late Evangelist Eunice Elisha, slain in Kubwa, Abuja
One month after the gruesome murder of Mrs Bridget Agbaheme, in July 2016, a 42 years old Christian preacher and mother of seven, Eunice Elisha in Kubwa, a satellite town in the Federal Capital Territory. Kubwa is just about 20 minutes drive from the Presidential villa in Abuja. Mrs Elisha had on the day of her killing gone out topreach the gospel like she does every MORNING, unfortunately she met her untimely death in the hands of Muslim fanatics.
Suspects were arrested by the police but like in the case of Mrs Agbaheme, they were released by the police in Abuja in January 2017. The police concealed the identities of the suspects all through the investigation and said they were released because they could not be linked to the murder.
“What happened is that when the incident occurred, arrests were made. But during the course of the investigation we found that the persons arrested could not be linked to the said murder. And we cannot keep them if we do not have any case against them,” Mr. Anjuguri told PREMIUM TIMES on January 14th, 2017.
“They were released under the condition that they will be invited for questioning whenever the need arises. The commissioner has instructed the Divisional Police Officer for that region to intensify efforts on the matter; the case has not been closed. The investigation is still ongoing,” said Mr. Anjuguri.
The police claimed that the suspects could not be linked to the murder of Evangelist Eunice Elisha contradicts her earlier statement that the suspects were helping in the investigation.
Nigeria, theoretically ought to be a secular state with freedom of religion and other forms of association guaranteed by the constitution but that is not the reality as Christians are oftentimes attacked either as a community or individuals.
Hundreds of Christian communities in Northern Nigeria have been held under siege by Fulani terrorists. Killings of Christians in genocidal proportion have continued unabated with no one being prosecuted for such crimes against humanity. The Nigerian Fulani government headed by Maj. Gen. Muhammad Buhari Rtd has done nothing serious to put an end to the carnages against Christians in the Northern part of the country.
With the Nigerian government’s poor handling of the crisis, the international community must as a matter of urgency begin to call out the Nigerian state for abating genocides in the country.
The governor of Kaduna State, Nasir El-Rufai, has stated that it is difficult to execute the Anti-Open Grazing laws which his counterparts in the Southern part of Nigeria have passed to curb insecurity in the region.
He, then, cautioned them not to deploy much energy on the laws, adding that it would take time for it to materialise.
Speaking during a visit to the headquarters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Tuesday, El-Rufai revealed that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has backed his state with N7.5 billion out of the N10 billion required to build a ranch.
He also disclosed that since there are over 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State, he would be glad if the Nigerian Government can support his state with N140 billion to develop the grazing reserves.
According to El-Rufai, it is needless for the Southern states’ governors to politicise grazing rights and pass laws they know cannot be implemented.
Speaking on the anti-open grazing laws, he noted, “The northern state governors forum has already taken a position that open grazing is not a sustainable way of livestock production. And we must move towards ranching.
“But moving towards ranching cannot be done overnight. We have to have a plan, we have to have resources and we have to implement it sensibly. It is not a matter of populist legislation or saying tomorrow this or that. It is not a solution.
“We have taken a position as northern state governors and we are implementing that.
“And in my state, for instance, we are developing a huge ranch to centralise the herders. And that is the solution, a long time. But can it be done overnight? No.
“This project we are doing will cost us about N10 billion. The CBN is supporting us with about N7.5 billion. And it will take about two years to do. We will be settling about 1,500 Fulani herder families.
“And I hope that they will see that there are alternative ways of producing livestock instead of running up and down with cattle going to people’s farms to cause all kinds of problems. We want to solve the problem.
“What is unhelpful is to politicise the situation and pass legislation that you know that you cannot implement. So, we have taken a position and we are working round the clock to implement that position.
“And these herders emanate from the north and we are going to centralise them. We cannot do it overnight. We need billions of naira. This is just one ranch that is causing 10 billion. I have 14 grazing reserves in Kaduna State and I will like to convert them into ranching. Do I have 14 times 10 billion naira? I don’t have.
“If the Federal Government will give me N140 billion, I will convert the other 13 into ranches and make sure that nobody comes out with a cow or sheep in Kaduna State because I will have enough ranches to take care of everybody. That is the solution. You can legislate but let us wait and see. And I wish them the best of luck.”
Gunmen who recently broke into the correctional centre in Kabba in the Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State, are Boko Haram terrorists, SaharaReporters learnt.
A source also told SaharaReporters on Monday that after their arrival, the terrorists gave an auto assault rifle to the Chief Imam for the inmates, said to be a Boko Haram commander.
According to the source, the Boko Haram commander, an inmate of the prison, had taken up the role of Chief Imam at the correctional centre, leading other Muslims to prayer.
“It was Boko Haram terrorists that broke into Kabba prison,” the source said.
“The Chief Imam for the inmates is apparently a Boko Haram commander, and when the gunmen arrived, they handed him an auto assault rifle.”
Just a week ago, SaharaReporters reported how some prisoners gunmen attacked the correctional centre in Kabba, freeing inmates.
The prisoners who were in their hundreds were said to have escaped after the gunmen attacked the prison located along Kabba-Lokoja highway late on Sunday, September 12.
Though security officers comprising 15 soldiers, 10 policemen, and 10 armed guards of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) were at the facility at the time of the attack, the gunmen were able to break into it.
They killed a soldier and a policeman during the attack, Sola Fasure, media adviser to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, had said in a statement.
The assailants thereafter set the prisoners free.
The early morning downpour on Monday aided their escape as the building housing the inmates was reportedly submerged by flood.
According to the statement, the Kabba custodial facility had 294 inmates as of the time of the attack, and only 28 inmates did not escape.
It said many of the 266 inmates initially unaccounted for were able to escape after the gunmen used explosives to destroy three sides of the perimeter fence.
Later, Sesan Nihi, the Kogi correctional service spokesman said no fewer than 114 inmates from the Kabba Correctional Centre had voluntarily returned or been rearrested.
Nihi was quoted as saying, “We have about 114 inmates back now. Some of the inmates returned themselves but I cannot give a definite figure for that. In fact, two just returned not too long ago. Some of the inmates were brought back by their parents.
“We have a search party with other security agencies to capture the remaining inmates.”
Northern Governors Forum mourns Ex-CBN Executive, Obadiah Mailafiya
Late Dr Obadiah Mailafia
Northern Governors Forum says the death of former CBN Deputy Governor, Dr Obadiah Mailafiya, is a great loss to the nation.
Chairman of the Forum and governor of Plateau, Simon Lalong, said in a statement issued in Jos on Monday by his Director of Press and Public Affairs, Dr Makut Macham that Mailafiya’s death was saddening.
Lalong said the death of Mailafiya was a loss not only to his family and the people of Kaduna State, but also a loss to the nation because of his enormous contributions to socio-economic pursuits of Nigeria.
He said the deceased was a consummate financial expert and vibrant intellectual whose local and international reputation was highly acknowledged.
The governor observed that Mailafiya’s intellect was sought and deployed for the benefit of governments and the private sectors around the world.
The chairman commiserated with the family of the deceased and urged them to take solace in his legacies, saying he showed passion for development, emancipation, truth, justice and equity in all his interventions on various platforms.
He noted that his vision for a better Nigeria and the uplifting of the downtrodden motivated him to contest for the Office of the President in 2019.
Gov. Lalong condoled with Gov. Nasir El-Rufai, the government and people of Kaduna State over the loss of Mailafiya and prayed for his soul to rest in peace.
CALLS FOR INDEPENDENT AUTOPSYTO ASCERTAIN CAUSE OF DEATH
Late Dr Obadiah Mailafia
Exactly one year ago on September 11th 2020 at the height of the incessant harassment by the Department of State Services and the Nigeria Police Force, the former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria and a critic of the current administration Dr OBADIAH Mailafiya raised alarm of death threat as follows: “Please, pray for me. I have reasons to believe that my life is in danger and that some powerful political forces want to silence me forever for speaking the truth. For speaking on behalf of the Holy Martyrs — of thousands of innocent children, women, elderly and youths that have been killed in our beloved country”.
There are very unassailable reasons to believe that the alarm he raised which was never investigated may be the harbinger of his sudden demise in Abuja on Sunday September 19th 2021, argues the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA which is calling for independent investigation on his death.
With the above preamble, the leading CIVIL SOCIETY GROUP-: HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has asked the CHRISTIAN ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (CAN) and the SOUTHERN KADUNA PEOPLES UNION (SOKAPU) to jointly hire top notch forensic investigation teams to independently probe the immediate and remote circumstances of the death of OBADIAH MAILAFIYA so as to ascertain the exact cause of the death of a man who since the past few Years became the voice of truth against the powers- that -be and the champion of the PRINCIPLE OF RULE OF LAW IN NIGERIA.
In media release endorsed by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA regretted that Nigeria seems to have become the killer of her best citizens just as the Rights group said indeed persons who speak truth to power in the past six and half years have come under persistent attacks and pressure from forces embedded within the Nigerian Security Forces and the political class in charge of government at all levels to an extent that even the central ruling party – ALL PROGRESSIVES CONGRESS has gone all out to try to sponsor many toxic, obnoxious and unconstitutional bills all aimed at curtailing the enjoyment of the constitutionally guaranteed fundamental human rights recognised in chapter 4 of the Nigerian constitution. HURIWA confirmed that its officials have similarly being threatened by forces working for the federal government and the officials of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association that are being protected by officials working in the office of the President. “We call on the President to immediately fish out the blood thirsty officials working in Aso-Rock who are issuing personal threats to human rights campaigners. The Rights group said it got many calls from the Presidency in the past few months warming our officials to stop causing distractions. Of truth, there are individuals in this government who do not wish their Principal President Muhammadu Buhari to quit on a high notes but they are working to stain the image of the President and it looks like the President does not read opinions of critical stakeholders who are clearly interested in guiding the government to the path of legality and lawfulness “.
HURIWA expressed disappointment that months after the erstwhile Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria OBADIAH MAILAFIYA raised the alarm that government agents were after him, there was never any effort made in the direction of unraveling the forces who wanted him dead and he was overlooked and allowed to be wasted in such a callous manner and we are only being told that he died after brief illness. HURIWA said there have been several of such suspicious deaths that have been covered up such as the death of the Executive Secretary of National Examination Council in Minna Professor Obioma from Abia State whose suspected murder has been hidden from the public scrutiny.
The Rights group said the persistent attacks of political rivals by the current Federal government is the reason a lot of robust brains are migrating legally and on high demands to the United States of America, Canada and other Western Societies to pick up specialised jobs as University professors just as the Rights group Condemned the United Nations General Assembly and the Secretary General of the United Nations for abandoning Nigerians in the hands of tyrants and a brutal dictatorship that does not tolerate plurality of opinions and the security agents are adopting extralegal means including suspected gas poisoning. “The death of OBADIAH MAILAFIYA is highly suspicious and must be investigated “.
The Rights group noted that even the detained leader of the self determination group – the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has just told the Court of law that he was physically tortured and his faeces used to smear on his face but unfortunately the United Nations has done nothing about the fact that a citizen faced illegal rendition and abduction from Kenya to Abuja against natural and international laws. .
HURIWA said: “It is so unfortunate that the National Human Rights commission is dead and buried and the security forces are simply playing football with the human rights of citizens. It is unfortunate that the National Assembly does not provide adequate oversight functions and has not sufficiently exercised its oversight responsibility over the different security forces which is why the Department of State Services keep invading houses of citizens, killing, maiming and destroying lives and property at will. The court of law has just justifiably slammed a well desrved N20 billion damages against the DSS for invading the Ibadan home of the leader of the Yoruba Nation self determination group Mr. Sunday Igboho in which his associate were murdered in cold blood.”
“In Owerri and other South East of Nigeria States, Amnesty International found out that there are credible evidence of over 1, 000 cases of extralegal killings by security operatives but the Federal government which has a policy of permitting extrajudicial killings by security operatives has done nothing to investigate these atrocities. Too many citizens are getting killed by State sponsored assassination and executions. Nigeria has become officially a killer of good citizens. This must not be allowed to continue. “
Mob lynches IPOB member trying to enforce sit-at-home order in Imo
A composite of Nnamdi Kanu and ESN members used to illustrate the story
An angry mob lynched a leader of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) on Monday while trying to enforce a sit-at-home order alongside his gang members.Commissioner of Police in Imo, Rabiu Hussaini, confirmed the incident in a press statement signed by the police spokesman, Mike Abattam.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ESN member was lynched while his gang members fled before the police patrol team could arrive at the scene.He added that the police commissioner had instructed that those behind the lynching be handed over to the police for proper investigation.
In the press statement, Mr Abattam said residents of Umuagbavo Oru Ahiara in Ahiazu Mbaise local government area of Imo came out of their houses and were going about their lawful businesses.
“Suddenly, one Obinwanne Iwu, 34 years, a native of Ahiara in the same local government area who is an escapee of Imo Correctional Centre, Owerri, went to the market with his gang trying to enforce a sit-at-home order of the proscribed IPOB/ESN terror group.
“They were shouting at the top of their voices that ‘today is Monday, and everybody must obey the sit at home order,” he said.He added that the harassment did not go down well with the people who resisted the gang.
The U.S., UK, France, and Germany had to appeal to President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime not to assassinate former CBN deputy governor Obadiah Mailafia, a vocal critic of the regime, including its security agencies, Peoples Gazette has learnt. “There was a call from the White House in fairness to the Americans. There was a call from London, Germany, and France to Abuja to warn them that no harm comes to me,” Mr Malafia said in an interview with popular journalist Ohimai Amaize. In footage of the interview shared shortly after his death on Sunday, the economist revealed that his life had been under threat since the State Security Service (SSS) interrogated him on his on-air comments about deliberate violence across the country. Mr Mailafia, who noted that he had gone into hiding, alleged that the Buhari regime had deliberate plans to keep him at the SSS custody until the next day to have him killed. “As I am talking to you, I am in hiding. Not even my wife knows where I live. The plan was that they would keep me there and interrogate me until past midnight, then what they would then do was to say it’s too late to return me home and I should just stay in the prison next door,” he said. “They had already paid somebody who is on death row that in the middle of the night, he’ll just get up and kill me,” he explained. According to him, the attempt to assassinate him would have been successful if not for the quartet of the U.S., UK, France, and Germany’s intervention. “When they saw the crowd, I think that was what made them backtrack,” the economist said. The economist also explained that his son addressed the media and also reached out to the UK government and EU parliament “so, the publicity over my case is such that they felt cornered and it became very difficult.” Nonetheless, Mr Malafia lauded some of the SSS operatives for being “professional and civil” even though they acted on the instructions of their bosses to have him silenced. Speaking further, he recounted an alleged attempt to bomb his house a month before he granted the interview. “Over a month ago, they tried to bomb my house. Some people called me and said I had a parcel from the United States and they needed to deliver it to my house, and I should give them the address,” he explained. The economist said he hesitated to give out details of his residence after he got wind that “there was something else behind it,” he also claimed to have had a dream warning him of such occurrence. “I dreamt that my whole house had crashed with everybody inside, including myself. It was like a warning dream, and when it came, I said the almighty must be telling me to be careful with this thing. So, I decided to switch off my phone for two days. They’ve not called me till this very day,” he added. Both the spokesperson for the SSS, Peter Afunanya, and Femi Adesina, a media aide to Mr Buhari, did not respond to Peoples Gazette’s request seeking comments on the allegations. Mr Mailafia died at the age of 64 at the University of Abuja Teaching Hospital on Sunday. Credit: Gazette
