An angry mob has killed a man, his wife and son in Zangon Aya community, Igabi local government area of Kaduna State for allegedlyfpor giving information to bandits.
Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State has condemned the act and ordered a thorough investigation into the incident.
Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Kaduna State, said on Tuesday that security agencies reported the killing to the state government.
According to the report, Abdullahi Mohammed Gobirawa, his wife Binta Abdullahi and his son Hassan Abdullahi were killed when a mob stormed their home on Monday afternoon.
“The mob action was in response to the trio’s suspected collaboration with bandits, especially in relation to recent kidnappings in the area. After killing the trio, the mob looted and burnt their home.”
While “receiving the reports, Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed his sadness and deep worry at the violent actions of the citizens, and strongly condemned the extra-judicial killings. He stressed that lawful means alone should be adopted in confronting suspicions of criminality, as the destructive practice of self-help would only result in greater harm.”
“The Governor directed security agencies to conduct thorough investigations into the incident and urged citizens to maintain order. He cautioned against stereotyping of any sort and appealed for consistent recourse to the constituted agencies.
“Investigations into the incident are in progress,” he said.
Says military action in Imo State community may constitute a war crime
The Governments of the United States of America and Nigeria have been applauded for including a clause banning the use of the newly acquired American built Tucano Jets in any military operations in the South East of Nigeria against agitators of self determination just as the Rights group has asked the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) not to carry out adversarial actions such as boycott of the Anambra governorship election by invoking a one week sit-at-home protest. HURIWA said any action that would derail the conduct of the Anambra governorship election is not in the best interest of the South East of Nigeria but is the evil wish of the enemies of Ndigbo.
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA ( HURIWA) a prominent Civil society and pro-democracy group has called on the Chief of Army Lieutenant General Yahaya Faruk to stop forthwith the adversarial and bloody violence unleashed on many Igbo communities by the Nigerian Army operatives currently on internal security operations in the Southern Nigeria just as HURIWA said military invasions of Communities in Imo State which have resulted in many extrajudicial killings and organised and coordinated burning down of communities by armed operatives of the Nigerian Army. HURIWA has tasked the Imo State governor Mr Hope Uzodinma to go beyond just weeping openly at the scenes of military attacks on innocent Imo communities but should ensure that indicted armed operatives are sanctioned using extant laws that prohibit extrajudicial killings and deployment of torture.
Describing the military attacks in Oguta and some parts of Imo State in which many youths were reportedly killed by the marauding armed operatives of the military of Nigeria as constituting a grave crime against humanity, HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has promised that civil rights advocacy groups active in the South East of Nigeria have already started compiling evidence of crimes against humanity by armed security agencies whilst carrying out the internal security operations in the South East and in due time those reports will constitute a body of fresh petition to be despatched to the International Criminal Court in The Hague Netherlands so that those operatives and the military commanders responsible for committing the crimes against humanity are brought for prosecution and global judicial sanctions. The Rights group warned against the killing by aggrieved groups of members of the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to avoid unnecessary bloodshed.
In a statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the government of the United States of America shouldn’t stop at just publicising the conditions precedent for the contractual agreement between it and the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on the deployment of the newly bought Tucano Jets but there has to be a transparent, open and public monitoring and reporting mechanisms so Nigeria keeps to the commitments to respect for human rights that it entered into with the United States of America regarding the operational deployment of the new militsrung combat technology loans Tucano Jets.
HURIWA is proposing to stakeholders in the South East of Nigeria including State Governments and businesses to set up a trust fund to support the credible and genuine activities of the Civil Rights Advocacy community in the South-East of Nigeria with specific operational mandates to monitor the activities of the members of the armed forces of Nigeria and to promote civil and military synergies and partnerships.
HURIWA said: “It is indeed heartwarming to read that the United States Government says the Federal Government is expected to deploy the Super Tucano aircraft only in the northern part of the country where Boko Haram terrorists have engaged the Nigerian state in a decade-long insurgency killing thousands and displacing millions. This, therefore, precludes the possibility of the Federal Government deploying the security equipment in the South-East despite the designation of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra as a terrorist organisation and the setting up of the armed Eastern Security Network by IPOB. The South-East has been the epicentre of a secessionist agitation threatening to break up the country.”
HURIWA recalled that briefing journalists earlier in the week, the US Principal Deputy National Security Advisor, Jonathan Finer, at an event attended by the US Ambassador to Nigeria, Mary Beth Leonard, said the terms of the agreement during the sale of the 12 Tucano aircraft were explicit. Reacting to a question on whether the Tucano fighter planes might be deployed against secessionists in the South-East, Finer said the planes were an important platform for security, particularly in the North, expressing pleasure over the conclusion of the deal.
HURIWA quoted the American official Jonathan Finer as stating thus: “We are pleased to deepen our security cooperation with the Nigerian government. I think we made it very clear our expectations about this platform where it would be used and in the right way and we are always raising concerns when we have them and that it’s true with all our security partners around the world.This is an important platform for security, particularly in the North and we are pleased the transaction is finally concluded.”
The Rights group which called on President Muhammadu Buhari to speak publicly on this condition of never to deploy Tucano Jets to hunt members of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) or any self determination groups in the South said Nigerian government deserves to be commended for agreeing to sign on to the Conditions precedent for the contractual agreement between it and the government of the United States of America regarding the operational deployment of the newly acquired American built Tucano Jets.
HURIWA also appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to rein in reactionary elements and war mongers in his administration such as the bellicose minister of information and culture Lai Mohammed and the Fulani bigot who doubles as the Senior special assistant on Media and Publicity to President Muhammadu Buhari Alhaji Garba Shehu who are using their privileged access to the media of mass communication to overheat the polity and the South East of Nigeria particularly through their rabid Igbo phobic speeches and diatribes.
On Sunday evening I got a distress call from a resident of Jankasa community in Southern about an ongoing terrorist herdsmen attack.
The caller was so frightened that she couldn’t even speak well, I on my own end could hear heavy gunfire on the background as the villagers scamper for safety.
The residents have been living in fear since the attack that claimed 38 lives in neighbouring Madamai and Abun communities, I remember some residents telling me that they hardly sleep at night due to fear of an impending attack. The government failed to provide them with security as usual and the terrorists eventually came knocking on Sunday.
By the time the terrorists were done, they left behind their usual trademark of blood, tears and sorrow. At least 4 people mostly young people with future ahead of them were gruesomely killed while 3 others sustained gunshots injuries.
To my greatest shock when I woke up yesterday I read a statement credited to Samuel Aruwan, the Kaduna Commissioner for mourning and announcements saying that it was a clash between farmers and herders.
This is a dangerous narrative tantamount to peeing on the graves of the massacred.
I don’t know why he derives much pleasure in spewing such malicious and mischievous narratives but whatever be the case, posterity will judge him accordingly.
May the souls of those killed in Jankasa find rest with the Lord and may the injured receive quick healing.
At least 18 people have been reportedly killed as terrorists group invaded Maza-Kuka Community, Mashegu Local Government Area of Niger State, North Central Nigeria in the early hours of Monday.
Dailytrust reported that the terrorists upon arrival into the community on motorcycles went straight to the mosque and murdered the victims who were observing the early morning muslim prayers.
The victims were reported to have been shot dead at closed range while many others were injured. The terrorists also kidnapped 13 people.
The attack is coming amid a network shutdown ongoing in some parts of the state, a measure the government claimed is to curtail activities of terrorists operating in the region.
It would be recalled that one February 17, a student was killed while 27 students were abducted after daredevil terrorists attacked a government owned science College in the town of kagara in the state.
women and children fleeing Yar’Matanakari village after an attack in January. Photo credit: Yusuf Anka
Terrorists have abducted at least forty (40) villagers from Yar’Matanakari village in Anka local government area of Zamfara state, North-West Nigeria. The community leader of the village was also killed during the attack.
Popular Zamfara Activist, Yusuf Anka made this know on his twitter handle on Tuesday morning.
Anka said the terrorists have demanded for a N5 million ransom from the community or they will abduct more people. He said the residents are already fleeing the community since they cannot pay the ransom demanded.
The tweet reads;
Morethan 40 People have been abducted with the community leader killed in Yar'Matanakari, Anka, the bandits have demanded for 5Million or abduct more people, members of the community in a meeting have agreed for the resident to flee so far they have somewhere to go for safety.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s media aide Garba Shehu says he agrees with the UK-based publication, The Economist, that Nigeria’s insecurity has taken a turn for the worse since the ex-military dictator was elected as a civilian president in 2015.
“The Economist is also accurate to state that they (insecurity challenges) have come to a head under President Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration,” the president’s media acknowledged in a statement reacting to the report.
The publication noted that under Mr Buhari, Nigeria had become a crime scene of destructive magnitude on the African continent, pointing out that terrorists and armed bandits are running wild because Mr Buhari is corrupt and lazy, failing to do anything but render lip service following every deadly attack.
“Yet they do so, because for so long, under previous administrations, whether military or democratic, tough decisions have been ducked, and challenges never fully met – with the effect of abetting these dangers and allowing them all to fester and grow,” the presidential spokesman claimed. “It is only the Buhari leadership which has sought – ever, in over one hundred years – to identify the root causes of the herder-farmer clashes and find durable solutions.”
In July, the bandits shut down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara and invaded the Nigerian Defence Academy Kaduna the following month.
Although Mr Buhari acknowledged bandits have been terrorising the country, his administration has been reluctant to declare bandits as terrorists because they have yet to declare a political or religious goal, a key requisite in designating a movement as terrorists under international regulations.
“A situation whereby the federal government through the heads of security institutions headed mostly by Northern Moslems had always blamed the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) for attacks on National institutions and officers in the South East but fails to apportion any blames for such kinds of attacks elsewhere like the Oyo and Lokoja prisons’ breaks shows an entrenched double standard and a certain kind of crude hatred of Igbo ethnicity by key officials of government. Besides, HURIWA has asked the president to order the immediate arrest of the Kaduna based Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi and charge him to court of competent jurisdiction for violating the extant counter terror Act for supporting terrorists and Fulani bandits by once again threatening the end of Nigeria should President Buhari classify Fulani militia as terrorists. HURIWA in a statement said if the Federal government fails again to arrest Sheikh Gumi, then Nigerians should know that he is actually speaking the official position of key officials in government including heads of military institutions and the National Security Adviser who have all praised his role recently. HURIWA recalled that the controversial Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Sunday warned that declaring bandits as terrorists will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity. Ahmad Gumi, a retired army military officer and mufti, admitted that the devastation inflicted by rampaging bandits in Nigeria’s northwest amounts to terrorism, but President Muhammadu Buhari’s labelling them as such will invite additional consequences that will consume the entire country. HURIWA quoted Sheikh Gumi as saying thus: “The acts the bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism,” Mr Gumi said in a Facebook post on Sunday night. The cleric warned that the moment bandits are designated as terrorists, “Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force. “Many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits,” he said. “This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim.”
But HURIWA queried the Federal government why the officials are pampering Gumi whose actions and statements are directly backing mass killers and terrorists but the central government is too quick to kidnap Nnamdi Kanu of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra from Kenya for trial for treasonable felony and is chasing Sunday Igboho of the Yoruba Nation separatist agitation.
HURIWA recalled that on April 5 2021, a total of 1,844 prisoners were freed when gunmen attacked a correctional facility in Owerri, an official has said. It was then automatically reported that the attack on the prison by armed men initially suspected to be members of the outlawed Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB).The group had been blamed by the Government for previous attacks on security officers and facilities in the South-east and South-south regions.The Nigerian Inspector General blamed the Eastern Security Network, the armed wing of the banned separatist group the Indigenous People of Biafra, are responsible for the attack.
HURIWA recalled that amongst a plethora of attacks targeted at National security assets which are blamed on IPOB without any shreds of forensic evidence, Another incident is the report Of Thursday 7th August 2021 in which Imo police through its commissioner Mr. Abattam who said, “On August 5, at 21:35 hours, bandits, in their numbers attacked and threw explosives and petrol bombs on top of the roof of Orsu Police Station damaging the roof and causing fire outbreak in the station which spread and affected some of the vehicles parked at the parking lot. The command’s tactical teams on ground engaged the bandits in a gun duel. The police blamed the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra for this and scores of attacks.
HURIWA however said the federal government’s show of shameless double standard was manifested when On the 13th September 2021 , Gunmen attacked Kabba Correctional Centre in the early hours of Monday, freeing 240 inmates and killing two security operatives.The custodial facility was said to have had 294 inmates as of the time of attack. The Rights group said the President of Nigeria and heads of security institutions did not blame any group for the attack and for over a Month not a suspect is under arrest. The spokesman for the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) in the state, Mr. Olanrewaju Anjorin, confirmed the incident, saying: “Yes. It has been confirmed that the attack actually happened. And right now, the comptroller of Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) and other top officers are assessing the situation.”
HURIWA then recalled that last week the Oyo prison with over 1,000 inmates experienced a massive prison break with all the prisoners escaping even as experts alleged that armed Fulani attackers were responsible and their target was the detained Oyo based Blind Fulani warlord Wakili blamed for the killings of Yoruba farmers for which Sunday Igboho mobilised his supporters to chase the armed Fulani militia away and the leader of the Fulani gangs was arrested and detained in prison. HURIWA then said the federal government failed to blame any particular group for the Oyo prison break even when the Fulani terrorists are blamed by most experts. The Rights group said these signals of double standards by the current government in favour of Fulani terrorists is provocative, vexatious, treasonous, unconstitutional and illegal just as the Rights group urge Nigerians to speak out in condemnation of the open practice of double standards by the federal government in Abuja now.
Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Sunday warned that declaring bandits as terrorists will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity.
Mr Gumi, a retired army military officer and mufti, admitted that the devastation inflicted by rampaging bandits in Nigeria’s northwest amounts to terrorism, but President Muhammadu Buhari’s labelling them as such will invite additional consequences that will consume the entire country.
“The acts the bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism,” Mr Gumi said in a Facebook post on Sunday night.
The cleric warned that the moment bandits are designated as terrorists, “Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force.”
“Many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits,” he said. “This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim.”
Mr Gumi said, since Boko Haram has already gripped the North-East, separatist agitators in the South-East and South-West will easily seize on the lawlessness sweeping the northern regions.
“NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later.
“Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe.
“Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?” Mr Gumi said.
The mufti also dismissed his critics as “illiterates” for their failure to see his position since he started holding talks with bandits in their hideouts and publicly advocating for a civil resolution to their deadly exploits.
Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina recently smalled Mr Gumi as a “terrorist lover” for his open association with bandits killing and abducting civilians across the North-West.
The bandits carried out abductions of schoolchildren that forced school closures in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara. The Nigerian National Assembly also urged Mr Buhari to declare them terrorists.
In July, the bandits shut down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara and also raided Nigerians Defence Academy Kaduna the following month.
Although Mr Buhari acknowledged bandits have been terrorising the country, his administration has been reluctant to declare bandits as terrorists because they have yet to declare a political or religious goal, a key requisite in designating a movement as terrorists under international regulations.
See Mr Gumi’s full statement below:
Nobody doubts that sentimentalism today overrides sensibility in our polity. For the sake of posterity, some people will have to speak out. The acts the Bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism.
Yet, innocence these days is relative. We agreed if their children and women are also killed, they are guilty by association or collateral damage, so also the bandits may think the same way. It’s right for vigilantes to lynch Fulanis herdsmen or anyone that looks like them by profiling but wrong for the herdsmen to ransack villages in retribution. They are pushed to believe it is an existential war and in war, ethics are thrown to the winds.
Yet again, the only helpful part that is against Bandits is that no other than them are attracted to join them in the NW because of its ethnic tinge and coloration. However, the moment they are termed Terrorist – Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force. And many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive.
Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits. This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim. In such a situation, does the larger society -as it is- has the moral high ground to fight back? This is the most probable consequence, the price of which is not worth it. Nothing stops the kinetic actions from going on without the controversy of semantics.
NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later. Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe. Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?
I have started to get these raw bandits out of their misadventure but unfortunately, I have few helpers and a mountain of antagonists. The psychology in fighting natives is to induce a motive for their struggle if they don’t have one already, a motive that is manageable, and it is so managed. Unfortunately, reactions to threat in our nation is always slow and incoherent.
I hope another Igbo clergy goes into the IPOB militants likewise and talk sense into them, and another Pastor of Oduduwa land talks against the Igboho secessionist tribal movement by way of sensitizing people to the values of a cohesive nationalism that will guaranty freedom, equality, and justice for all. Religious forces can permeate hardened hearts where secular forces cannot.
Regrettably, people just sit down in the comfort of their rooms or parlors and make useless passing comments that only add fuel to the inferno of ethnic jingoism and bigotry. In the 21st century, Nigeria is hijacked by semi-illiterates and half-baked tribal heroes that have nothing to offer besides promoting tribal xenophobia.
Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groupings, it’s not possible to divide such a nation into tribal enclaves. Nigeria is multi-religious, even with one same religion or sect there is no harmony and understanding that can build a prosperous unified nation where tranquility and development will flourish. We are tired of these bogus destructive fruitless slogans! Nigerians are in a daydream so long they act by Nerval impulses not by the dictates of their cerebral cortex. May Allah protect us all. Amin
Terrorists suspected to be Fulani herdsmen on Sunday evening attacked Jankasa community in Zangon Kataf local government area of Kaduna state, Northwest Nigeria killing two people.
The attackers invaded the community at about 4:30pm Nigerian time and began shooting sporadically as villagers scamper for safety, a source told Middle Belt Times on telephone.
“They came in shooting anyhow, it is Sunday evening and people were relaxing when they came.
“So far I saw two dead bodies while two other people were seriously injured and have been taken to the hospital.” He said.
Jankasa is neighboring Mallagum District where 38 villagers were massacred on September 26 by suspected Fulani terrorists in Madamai and Abun communities.
Terror group suspected to be Fulani terrorists operating in Kaduna on Saturday attacked traveling Southern Kaduna traditional dancers who were returning from a function in Kaduna, killing one, injuring five others and abducting many.
The attack took place along Mararaban Rido while the dancers were en-route Southern Kaduna having performed in a function in Kaduna city.
An eyewitness who craved anonymity told Middle Belt Times that the attackers were heavily armed and opened fire upon sighting the vehicle conveying the dancers.
“The attack took place around 5pm, just after Mararaban Rido, the gunmen opened fire on the vehicle, the occupants of the vehicles were mostly traditional dancers who had earlier performed at a function organized by a Catholic Priest in Kaduna.
“The driver was killed on the spot, while five others were injured. They also kidnapped seven people and went away with them” He said.
MBT also confirmed that the five persons who sustained gunshots injuries during the attack are currently receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital in kaduna.
Mararaban Rido and environs have been hotspots for kidnappings and other terrorists activities lately. It would be recalled that over one hundred students of the Bethel Baptist High School situated in the area were kindappeed on July 5.
