₦airaland Forum

By OLALEKAN OLABULO


OLALEKAN OLABULO, in this piece, brings to the fore the growing menace of gunmen in the largest local government area of Lagos State.

THE Ayobo Extension Residential Scheme in the Ayobo area of Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State was in the news last weekend following the killing of two brothers and abduction of three residents of the community by heavily armed hoodlums who invaded the area twice in three days.

The state government-owned estate has now become a ghost town as residents are deserting the community in droves following reports that the kidnappers had set up a camp on the other side of the water where they hold victims hostage and collect ransom.

Apart from the two residents, Alhaji Nurudeen Olanrewaju and Idris Olowolayemo, who were shot and killed by the suspected kidnappers, the chairman of the residents association identified simply as Surveyor Dayo has also died reportedly from the shock of the attack on the community, Saturday Tribune learnt.

Residents are now appealing to the state government to, as a matter of urgency, provide adequate security for them.

Seventy-eight-year-old Pa Odeleye Simeon, while speaking with Saturday Tribune, said: “I had never witnessed this kind of a thing since I have been living here since over 20 years ago. I was surprised that those people could come again to this community less than three days after they killed two persons and abducted two others.

“I have been living here since over twenty years ago. Then there were houses all over here but suddenly, the government came and announced that this place had been acquired and all the houses here were demolished except for one or two. They later allocated the place to new buyers and now people are just building new houses here.

“The whole community was thrown into panic when the invaders struck. People ran in different directions. The hoodlums were shooting to scare people. There was nobody to confront them. Two people that attempted to rescue the abducted persons were killed. The government should come to our aid.

“There is a proposed site for the permanent site of Ayobo Divisional Police Station, very close to us. They should build it for us and in the absence of that they should give a police post in this community. Many people have left their houses. You can go round the community. They can return if there are police patrol teams in the community.”


Informants among residents

Another resident, who pleaded anonymity said: “The bad thing is that there is a great level of distrust among the residents now. People are suspecting that there is a member of this community that is giving information about us to the kidnappers. They came here on Friday evening and somebody must have told them that there was not security presence when they came back on Sunday afternoon and abducted more persons.

“That is the more reason why some people moved out. They don’t trust one another again. They thought that they might be the next victim. They don’t know who to talk to and who not to talk to. This whole place is under serious confusion now.”

Mrs Evelyn Adeboye, who also resides in the community, disclosed that: “I have lived here for over five years now and I had never seen anything like this. It started on Friday around 6 o’clock in the evening, when we heard gunshots. I came out to see what was happening and I saw our neighbours, Mr Rashidi Salami and his wife, running down the road.

“We were inside our house when we heard a loud cry from the father of the two children that were abducted. He told us that they had killed some people down there. We ran inside our house. Some minutes later, I saw the man and his wife on a motorbike and later we saw his son, the younger brother to the abducted ladies. I called him and asked him what happened. He told me that they had abducted his two sisters.

“Before then, I had thought that it was the omo onile (land grabbers) that were on rampage, because they do come to disturb us. But when he told me that the abductors had taken his sisters to the other side of the water, I knew that it was more serious than I had thought.

“I asked the children to run and we all ran outside. We ran far down the road. That was where we met Baba (Pa Odeleye) and ‘Man of God’, a popular cleric in the area, and I narrated everything that had happened to them. It was Man of God that called the police. Before the police could come, the leader of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), Lakaye, had arrived.

“At that time, nobody could go down the community because we did not know if the kidnappers were still around. He (Lakaye) then went there with his vehicle and came back to tell us that there were two dead bodies on the floor with blood stains all over them. We were wondering whom they could have killed. We asked him about the women that they abducted. He told us that he did not see them.

“We still couldn’t go there. We waited a long time for the police to come. They eventually came around 7.30 in the evening, about two hours after the kidnappers had left. We now went to the scene with the police. That was when we were able to identify that it was Alhaji and his brother that were killed. After shooting Alhaji, they also inflicted machete cuts on his body. Only God knows why they did that.

“Since then, we have been living in fear but surprisingly, on Sunday, they came back again. I just came back from a meeting around 1.00 p.m. I was doing something. I had not even pulled off my clothes. The man that was abducted and his wife and their baby were returning from church in their vehicle. They greeted us, myself and the policemen who used to escort Man of God.

“The man stopped in front of his gate and the wife, with the baby in her hands, went inside to open the gate for him. The woman opened the gate and the man came down to check something on his vehicle when those people came out of the bush and started attacking him. The wife looked back and saw what was happening. She cried for help.

“All of us ran outside and the next thing we heard was gunshots. We all scampered in different directions. Later, the woman ran to us and shouted ‘they have taken my husband oooo!’ It was after that that most of the residents packed their belongings and moved out of the community.”


[The attackers also came with axes

Another resident, who also pleaded anonymity, further recounted how the attackers came into the community and how the attacks were carried out.

He said: “There were many of them. They were all clad in black and were holding axes, cutlasses and guns. They came in a boat but on Friday, when they were leaving, they escaped with a fishing canoe alongside their boat. There was a canoe that was being used by a fisherman for his business. They took away the canoe.

The abducted man has relocated with his family from our community since then. We saw him yesterday (Tuesday). Maybe he came to pick something. He said that the three of them were released after he paid an undisclosed amount of money. From what he told us, those people blindfolded him and took them to a camp where they negotiated the ransom.

“Many of the residents escaped from the community because they felt that there is a great level of distrust among residents. They felt that there was an insider in the estate who serves as an informant to the abductors. When they came on Sunday, they were said to have stopped a man and identified him by the name of one of his sons. They even sent him on an errand and threatened to kill him and his family if he dared expose them.”


We have deployed tactical squad –Police

The police in the state said one person had been arrested in connection with the incident and that their men had been deployed in the community.

The image maker of the state police command, Benjamin Hundeyin, while speaking with Saturday Tribune, said: “Yes, three people were abducted and two others killed but those who were abducted have been rescued.

“The Commissioner of Police has ordered the deployment of the Special Tactical Squad to the community and one person has been arrested in connection with the incident.”


A ghost town

When Saturday Tribune visited the community in the course of the week, only a handful of residents were seen staying back in their homes despite the presence of policemen drafted to the community by the state police command. The policemen were stationed in front of the house belonging to the man that was abducted in the presence of his wife and who reportedly paid for his freedom alongside the two girls that were abducted before him. An attempt by our correspondent to move deep into the backside of the community was discouraged by the policemen on duty. They insisted that only their Divisional Police Officer (DPO) could grant such permission, considering that the area was now deemed a security risk. The house of the man is considerably big and not too far from the forest where the kidnappers have allegedly set up a camp.

Saturday Tribune also discovered that the areas where the gunmen restricted their operations are also not too far from the forest, which is said to aid their escape during each operation.

Residents in other parts of the community, which are a bit far from the location of the camp of the kidnappers, are however, not confident that the invaders would not finally get to them, hence the mass movement from the entire community.

Our correspondents also discovered that a couple of buildings are under construction in the community, with artisans seen working on a particular one during Saturday Tribune’s visit, yet those who own completed houses are abandoning them for fear of attack.

After the second attack, Saturday Tribune learnt that a meeting took place between the residents and members of the OPC in the neighbourhood, but the outcome was not communicated to Saturday Tribune.

A member of the security organisation who earlier promised to speak with our reporter could not be reached again.

Saturday Tribune could also not establish if the arrested suspect is the suspected informant in the community.

A human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has alleged that some officials of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) allow criminals to escape court verdicts by getting young men who will serve jail terms for criminals.

Speaking on Thursday at a media session titled, “Forget the past, forfeit the future: A nation seceding from humanity”, Falana said the country is at war and the level of criminality is on the rise.

He noted that solving the country’s security challenges goes beyond hiring mercenaries.

Falana revealed that criminals that have been convicted of a crime are allowed to walk freely on the streets after warders connive with convicts to pay youths willing to serve jail terms on behalf of criminals.

According to him, some of them who have been condemned to prison terms in Kirikiri hardly get there as the exchange is made at Mile 2, a few kilometres to the prison.

He also said that there were some convicts who don't seek a replacement or representation in prison but simply pay court officials after which he goes from the court to his house.

He noted, “This will surprise you, when a judge pronounces a jail term, sir, before getting to Kirikiri, at Mile 2, warders have an arrangement whereby some prepared young persons will replace the convict. That is the person that will enter the prison, he's paid.

The second one, in the court premises, there's a syndicate by the defence counsel, prosecutors, warders and court clerks. Once the judge turns his back, the convict will arrange and pay them and the convict will walk back home.

“There's a study in Lagos, I think 2005/2006, 199 people sentenced for drug trafficking, none of them made it to the prison. It's a very serious crisis we are facing. If you want to discuss the security of our country, it goes beyond calling for mercenaries.”

Falana added that the country is at war but those in power, for reasons best known to them, have refused to acknowledge this.

He said President Muhammadu Buhari has disobeyed Section 305 of the constitution which requires him to declare a state of emergency in war-torn areas. He said Buhari has failed to take measures to restore law and order in troubled states.

Falana further noted that the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami has refused to name the 400 financiers of terrorists that the AGF announced in May 2021. He also said the 800 suspected terrorists Malami mentioned two weeks after that must be put on trial.

He said, “Our country is at war, but whether the people in government are aware of this, the enormity of the crisis is another. For instance, the president has refused, for some inexplicable reason, to declare a state of emergency in those states. That's what the law says; Section 305, the President shall declare a state of emergency.

“He is supposed to go to the National Assembly for endorsement so that extraordinary measures can be taken to restore law and order. For reasons best known to the President, he has not done that, even to rebrand bandits as terrorists, was a problem.

“In May last year, the AGF, Malami announced that they have arrested 400 sponsors of Boko Haram but because the staff of judiciary are on strike, once the strike is over, they will be on trial. Two weeks later, he also announced the arrest of 800 Boko Haram suspects who were to be put on trial, that was about a year ago.

“None of them has been put on trial. So if the sponsors of Boko Haram are walking free, perhaps to continue to fund terrorism, we must know the 400 sponsors of terrorism, they must be put on trial. Money has been appropriated by the National Assembly to try arrested terror suspects, but the regime for reasons best known to the people in government is not doing this.

“It is about what has happened to the money budgeted for the defence of our country, what has happened to the arrested Boko Haram sponsors? Those are the kind of questions the likes of (Nasir) El-Rufai (Kaduna State governor) should be asking, not diverting our attention.

“Lagos is the largest city in the world without CCTV cameras, if we had CCTV cameras all over the place, what happened to that lady inside the BRT bus wouldn't have happened.

“Crime happens everywhere because we don't have gadgets. At our airports, these guys (bandits) can launch attacks and no one knows who they are. If there is a killing anywhere, people are moving there to touch whatever they can lay hands on, whereas what is done is to remove everyone from there so that taking fingerprints will be enough for investigation.”

Residents of Kogi State were on Thursday advised to shun cow meat for at least one week as 20 cows died mysteriously in Lokoja.

The state government says there is the possibility that the cows ingested poisonous substances while grazing.

The Director of Veterinary Services, Kogi Ministry of Agriculture, Salau Tarawa, gave the advice at a news conference.

He said beef from some of the cows were already in Lokoja markets, but had been recalled.

He said some of the cows had already been taken to markets in Osara in Adavi Local Government Area; to Ajaokuta, to Obajana, to Kotonkarfe and to Kakanda for sale to members of the public.

He said the ministry was collaborating with security agencies to bring the herders to question.

Speaking on the development, the Head, Agro Rangers Unit, Kogi State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Bayode Emmanuel, said the cows were discovered in Lokoja.

“The cows emerged from the back of the state’s secretariat complex where they had gone to graze. All of a sudden, they started behaving funny, slumped and died within minutes.

“Upon interrogation, the herder said he was coming out with the cows after grazing when the incident happened,’’ he said.

Mr Emmanuel assured that the NSCDC would investigate the development thoroughly to ascertain where the dead cows had grazed and also to prevent possible sale and consumption of the infected beef.

https://cdn.pmnewsnigeria.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/Ade-Ogundeyin-of-Proforce-Air-Systems-and-Aeraccess-CEO-Shehzaad-CAllachand-sign-the-agreement-to-make-drones-.jpg

French drone company Aeraaccess has signed a partnership agreement with Proforce Nigeria to manufacture Made-in-Nigeria drones, immediately.

The agreement which was signed with Proforce Air Systems Nigeria, was announced in a statement today.

Proforce, which deals with military armoured vehicles and is based in Ode Remo in Ogun state said the drones would address the internal defence challenges in Nigeria.

It will certainly be used to comb our forests and detect hostile elements.

The partnership between the two companies was signed by Proforce Air Systems CEO, Ade Ogundeyin and Aeraccess CEO, Shehzaad CAllachand during the bpifrance exhibition held in Abuja on Wednesday.

AERACCESS is a technology solutions provider that designs, builds and produces an innovative portfolio of unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

It says its drone give law enforcement personnel a situational awareness on the battlefield through real-time, airborne reconnaissance, surveillance and communication.

Proforce, incorporated in 2008 specializes in Manufacturing of Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs), MRAPs, CITs and so on.

It recently got an order from Belarus for its armoured vehicles.

Apart from Ogun state, Proforce also runs a manufacturing plant in Rivers state.

Nigeria Police Force junior personnel have again stated their resolve to commence a nationwide strike on May 1st, 2022, SaharaReporters has gathered.

The aggrieved policemen had in March 2022 said they would embark on a warning strike to protest against poor working conditions, poor salaries, lack of genuine welfare benefits and outdated weapons.

A protest tagged “We are tired of negligence” was scheduled to be held at Eagles Square in Abuja on March 26 to reiterate their demands to the Nigerian government.

The officers condemned the continuous killing of their colleagues by armed robbers and terrorists, without adequate compensation for their families.

They accused the Nigerian government of lying about the increment of police salary and other promised benefits and demanded improved conditions of service, particularly salary increment and provision of modern weapons as they tackle the security challenges facing the country.

Shaken by the reports, Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, dispatched members of the police management team to different commands and zonal formations to pacify the personnel while promising to accelerate the payment of the 20 per cent salary increment, as approved by the Nigerian government last December.

Speaking to SaharaReporters, one of the leaders of the aggrieved officers accused the IGP of deceiving them.

“We have started planning another protest and strike action. It will definitely be nothing ever seen in this country. Workers’ Day, May 1 is the new date,” he told SaharaReporters.

“Strike and protest will be done together. We relaxed the planned strike action initially because we were reliably informed that the salary would be paid last month. But as we speak, we still received the old salary.

“We were fooled; this time around, nothing shall stop the coming doom. We advise the Nigeria Police Force’s hierarchy to keep the doors of prison yards wide open. We shall all march ourselves to all the prisons across the country. We want to save them the stress of mass arrests.”

A former Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Victor Attah, has instituted N1.5bn defamation suit against the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, accusing him of damaging his reputation.

In the suit, now pending before Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High in Abuja, filed by his lawyer, Reuben Atabo, Attah claimed that Malami, in 2016, named him among some ex-governors to be prosecuted by the National Prosecution Coordination Committee for alleged corruption.

Attah, in his witness statement, stated that as a result of the pronouncement by the AGF which was published in the media, the Specialist Crimes Directorate and the Metropolitan Police of the United Kingdom placed him on their watch list of corrupt governors of Nigeria facing corruption charges.

He added, “I left office as the governor on May 29, 2007, and the only allegation made against me and my government were the of allegations of money laundering concerning the sale of Akwa Ibom State’s shares in Econet by the Akwa Ibom Investment and Industrial Promotion Council and African Development Fund Inc, and I had been cleared of the said allegations.

“From May 29, 2007 till date, there were no fresh facts linking me with the looting of the treasury of Akwa Ibom State, or any case of money laundering, official corruption and/or abuse of office.

“By the conduct of the defendant in causing the SCD and the Metropolitan Police of the United Kingdom to place my name under their watch list, and upon the arrival in the United Kingdom to be arrested and interrogated, I have not been able to travel to the United Kingdom to meet my international obligations to my clients and have lost several contracts.

“By the defendant’s publication, I have been brought into public ridicule, a politician not worthy of my calling and a person who cannot be trusted to hold political office, and I have therefore suffered losses and damages.”

Attah said his resort to court was because the AGF failed to retract the publication as demanded in his lawyer’s letters to him.

The ex-governor is praying the court to, among others, order the AGF to tender an apology to him in three national dailies, retracting the alleged defamatory statement.

He also wants an order compelling the AGF to write to the SCD, stating that he is not among the ex-governors facing corruption charges.

The AGF, in his notice of preliminary objection, faulted the competence of the suit and argued that the court lacked the jurisdiction to hear it.

In the objection filed by his lawyer, T. D. Agbe, the AGF argued that the suit was tortuous in nature and not within the contemplation of Section 251 of the 1999 Constitution.

The AGF, while praying the court to either strike out or dismiss the suit, argued that the court with jurisdiction over such cases was the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, an argument the plaintiff countered in his reply.

The case was to be heard on Wednesday, but had to be rescheduled for May 30, owing to the absence of the judge.

Almost a week after his abduction, the Managing Director of the Bank of Agriculture, Alwan Ali-Hassan, on Wednesday, was set free by terrorists who attacked the Monday night Abuja-Kaduna bound train.

The attack left eight passengers dead while several others were taken away by the terrorists, among them, Ali-Hassan, and was immediately declared missing by his family.

A source close to the family said the BOA boss was released on Wednesday after paying an undisclosed amount as ransom.

Also, an official of the bank also confirmed the release, saying that he (MD) has regained his freedom and in Kaduna now.

There was no official confirmation neither from the state government nor the state police command as of the time of filing this report.

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The Nigeria Police Force in insurgency-ravaged Borno State and the Department of State Services have urged Islamic clerics in the state to use the period of Ramadan fast to preach only unity and peaceful coexistence and shun other commentaries.

The Borno State Commissioner of Police, Abdu Umar, gave the charge during the stakeholders’ meeting to regulate preaching on Tuesday in Maiduguri.

The meeting was convened by the Nigeria Police and the DSS.

This week, the Apo Legislative Quarters central mosque committee in Abuja sacked Sheikh Nuru Khalid for criticising President Muhammadu Buhari in his Friday sermon.

The police chief said the meeting became necessary to remind preachers of the existing law passed in 2010 by the state government to regulate preaching, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

He added that the law established the Borno State Islamic Religious Preaching Board, which made it mandatory for preachers to obtain licences from the board before embarking on their activities.

The police commissioner stressed the need for Islamic clerics to use the Ramadan period to preach peace and unity instead of attacking one another based on sectarian differences.

He also urged the media not to allow themselves to be hoodwinked by preachers inciting people and creating problems in Borno.

Also speaking, SSS director M.M. Murtala explained that Islam urged Muslims to promote peaceful coexistence.

Murtala also mentioned that the hardship experienced in Borno due to insurgency was enough to teach the people the value of peace.

The SSS director reminded the media that only clerics cleared by the preaching board were allowed to preach in their medium.

For his part, Mohammed Shettima, the secretary of the Borno Islamic Religious Preaching Board, reiterated the readiness of the board to ensure that only certified clerics preach in the state.

In their separate remarks, heads of media organisations promised to work with all stakeholders to jettison inciting preaching in their programmes.

The preaching law empowered the governor and the board to ban preachers and preaching in public places capable of causing public disorder or breach of peace in Borno.

Facilities at the stadium station of the Abuja light rail system have been stolen by vandals, leaving the station that was commissioned by President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018 as a caricature.

Daily Trust visited the light rail station on Monday, and observed that the industrial and electrical cables as well as air conditioners equipment were carted away.

The hoodlums also removed the cables along the rail track as well as heavy nuts used to tie the track.

The light rail project, which was commissioned by Buhari sometimes in 2018, has not been functioning well since then.

Some technical staff, working at some of the stations, said many facilities both at the stations and on the track have been removed.

It was further learnt that the FCT Administration still owes the Chinese company handling the project, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation Ltd.

It was learnt that the company withdrew their infantries from the station, while the three Civil Defence officers at the station were not properly armed to guard the facilities.

The Mandate Secretary of the FCT Transport Secretariat, Malam Zakari Angulu Dobi, who also visited the station yesterday, said he was there to ascertain the level of damages to the project by the vandals.

He said such ugly incident happened because the facilities are not been put into constant use and assured that the light rail project would soon begin full operations after the repairs.

Dobi said work would also start soonest on 5.76 kilometres rail track, which is expected to gulp $272 million.

Ibrahim Magu, former acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is set to retire from the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) as his hope of becoming an assistant inspector-general of police (AIG) appears beyond reach.

The former EFCC boss is billed to retire from the force on May 5, 2022, after 32 years in service.

Magu, who was born on May 5, 1962, will clock 60 this year, thereby making him eligible for retirement from the NPF in accordance with Section 18( of the new Police Act.

Reliable sources within the NPF informed TheCable that Magu has commenced his one-month terminal leave ahead of his eventual retirement.

The development means that Magu will not be getting the promotion he so desires. TheCable had previously reported that he was being considered for promotion by the Police Service Commission (PSC) despite the allegations against him.

On July 7, 2020, when he was still at the helm of affairs in the EFCC, Magu was arrested, detained, and suspended as the acting chairman of the anti-graft agency — after he appeared before a panel probing allegations of gross misconduct against him.

The panel led by Justice Ayo Salami subsequently recommended Magu’s removal as EFCC boss “for failing to properly account for N431,000,000.00 security votes/information fund released to the office of the Executive Chairman of EFCC between November 2015 and May 2020”.

He was also accused of causing the “disappearance of evidence, stoppage and suppression of cases under investigation and prosecution, and omitting to arrest suspects” in cases involving a former deputy senate president and a former managing director of Pipelines and Product Marketing Company (PPMC).

Magu was further accused of suppressing high profile cases involving four former governors, one of whom is currently a senator.

However, since the panel submitted the report in November 2020, only a few recommendations have been implemented.

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr Garus Gololo, Sunday, in a media briefing in Abuja, accused the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, of lying to Nigerians that the coaches bought for the Abuja-Kaduna train service were bullet-proof.

This was as he urged President Muhammadu Buhari to use the remaining days of his tenure, in the nation’s highest political office, and right all the wrongs committed under his administration.

On the issue of bullet-proof train coaches, Gololo argued: “The bullet holes on the train, coupled with the number of casualties from the incident, showed that the claim of a bullet-proof train by the minister was bogus, irresponsible and an outright lie.”

He also condemned the minister’s request for N3 billion to deploy digital security equipment to monitor activities along rail tracks in the country to tackle security breaches by criminals.

Gololo wondered why a “civilian Minister of Transport will arrogate to himself security expertise, instead of enlisting the help of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Chief of Army Staff or Inspector-General of Police, to execute such a sensitive function as installing sensors on rail corridors.”

The politician, who appeared to be antagonistic of Amaechi’s handling of rail projects across the country, also asked the minister to make public reasons for the delay in the construction of the Kano-Maradi (Niger Republic) rail line.

Moreover, the APC stalwart urged Amaechi to be transparent in executing the rail transportation agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari-led government, saying: “Amaechi has not been forthcoming in making public the cost of the trains from foreign partners.

“We don’t know how much he purchased the trains and the actual loan implication for the project, in terms of sources of funds and percentage interest at repayment. These are things every Nigerian should know about these rail projects, because it’s our money that has been frittered.

“Moreover, he didn’t build new rail lines. He’s only consolidating on earlier works done by the former PDP government,” Gololo argued.

He called on President Buhari to use the opportunity of the remaining days of his administration to right the wrongs in his government.

Suspected armed bandits, Sunday night, invaded Tsafe town, the council headquarters of Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, killing many people.

Residents said one of the victims is the son of the state’s commissioner for security affairs, Mamman Tsafe. Neither the commissioner nor the state government has confirmed the killing. The state’s commissioner for information, Ibrahim Dosara, did not respond to calls and a text message by PREMIUM TIMES.

Residents said the gunmen who invaded the town went on a shooting spree immediately after night prayer. The gunmen killed at least three people in the attack.

PREMIUM TIMES learned that the incident occurred in the ‘Hayin Tumbi’ area, which is close to the commissioner’s residence, while many people were still in mosques observing their night prayers,

Following the attack, many residents have fled the town.

The state police spokesperson, Muhammad Shehu, did not respond to calls for comment about the attack when contacted on Sunday night.

However, a police source confirmed the attack and the killing of the commissioner’s son. The source said the police would release an official statement on the incident Monday morning.

Sunday night’s attack is the latest in Zamfara by gunmen who have terrorised the state and neighbouring states since 2018.

The gunmen have killed thousands of people and kidnapped thousands of others in Zamfara and other North-west states.

The attacks have continued despite repeated pledges by President Muhammadu Buhari to end them and despite the heavy deployment of security operatives to the areas.

Apart from Zamfara, other states affected by the attacks include Kebbi, Sokoto, Kaduna and Niger.

By Daniel Abia

P/HARCOURT – The last has not been heard of the internal wrangling in the rul­ing All Progressives Congress, (APC), despite its successful conduct of the high­ly anticipated national conven­tion held at Eagle Square, Abu­ja last Saturday.

A popular Nigerian witch doctor and spokesman of the White Witches and Wizards As­sociation of Nigeria, (WWAN), Dr. Iboi Okhue, in his April pre­dictions he exclusively shared with the Saturday INDEPEN­DENT, said no less than thirty political groups would “pull out” from the party before the end of this month.

Dr. Okhue, who predicted the death of former Military Head of state, General Sani Abacha except he apologised to the family of late Ogoni environmental activist, Ken Saro-Wiwa, revealed that members of the thirty groups who attended the national con­vention were not happy with the decision taken by Presi­dent Muhammadu Buhari and some vested interest for consensus candidates in the various positions for the con­vention, adding that they were at the venue of the event with “double mind” having held three meetings before then to decide on the possible action to take after the convention.

He stated that the groups would take a final decision this month of April in their last meeting scheduled to take place later in the month.

The spokesman of the noc­turnal group revealed that the decision of the groups to pull out of the APC would critically affect the performance of the party in the 2023 general elec­tions, adding that they have already identified the political parties they would pitch tent with to pursue the ambitions of their respective candidates in the coming elections.

Dr. Oklhue, who was a mem­ber of the Edo State Board of Traditional Council, BTC, said prior to the APC convention on March 26, 2022, at Abuja, the spirits of the Nigeria’s found­ing fathers had converged on the Eagle Square burning with anger and fury and regretted the way the country was being administered by the present leadership despite its abun­dant human and material re­sources.

“The founding fathers of Nigeria are very angry about the way things have so deterio­rated in Nigeria. They said this country has every potential that should make it a super­power, at least in Africa”.

According to him, the blood­bath being witnessed in the country would end before the exit of the Buhari government in May 29, 2023, saying that “this was a unanimous resolu­tion taken by all herbal doctors in Nigeria” during their meet­ing at Zuma Rock, Abuja.

“Bloodbath in Nigeria is too much. We the herbal doctors in Nigeria had a three-day meeting at Zuma Rock and resolve our willingness to support the present government to end the carnage in the country. We decided that before this government leaves next year, Nigeria would be at peace with itself.

“We took a unified decision to ensure that government is given the necessary support to end the bloodshed in the coun­try. Those who take delight in killing unarmed Nigerians and kidnap the innocent ones would down their tools natural­ly and embrace peace”, he said.

He revealed that the meet­ing to work out a modality to end wanton killings in the country by terrorists and ban­dits lasted from Wednesday, March 30 and was rounded off on Friday, April 1.

Dr. Okhue also predicted that a sitting APC governor in the south-eastern region of the country would be impeached if he does not turn to God in prayers.

Accordingly, while the Peo­ples Democratic Party (PDP), has a brighter opportunity to take over power at the center, APC, on the other hand may breakup due mainly to inter­nal distrust and suspicion among its members. “This was aggravated by the way the last convention went. Not ev­erybody was happy about the way it was conducted but alot of APC members are afraid to speak out”.

He said many aspirants will waste billions of naira to con­test for various positions, they will not win because “Aso Rock is not for sale.”

By John Gabriel


For the past three weeks, Kaduna has been in the news, as bandits continue to terrorise and inflict injuries, on the lives of their victims.

Bandits have now grown wings from attacking residents in their houses, farm, boarding students to now laying siege for passengers who travel by road, rail or air.

Kaduna International Airport was attacked by bandits who killed a security man guarding the perimeter fencing and
blocked an aircraft from flying to Lagos.

A few days after that incident, bandits bombed the Kaduna – Abuja train carrying 980 passengers. Eight passengers were reportedly killed, 26 wounded, while scores were unaccounted for.

Following this development, political watchers told DAILY POST in Kaduna on Saturday that the bandits’ attack, is a longtime plan of action, executed by bandits, and they are succeeding in their plan.

They are of the opinion that the bandits must have a plan of action and are trying to prove something to the entire world.

Dr. Salisu Abdullahi, a political analyst said the event in Kaduna for the past few days, is a sign that Kaduna, which is the capital of the northern region, is already caged by bandits.

“The famous crocodile city is no longer what it used to be. It is regrettable that so many bad things are happening every day in the state. Bandits attack everywhere as if we have no government, no security and nothing is working. If you want to travel, fear of bandits will occupy your mind. Not even fear of accidents any longer.

” You may wish to travel by road, fear of not reaching your destination comes in. You may wish to travel by train, fear of being killed by bandits grips you. You may wish to travel by air, fear of being attacked at the airport will envelop you.

He said bandits have grown to a level that it will take the grace of God to be able to overpower them.

Also, Prof. Reuben Machok, a former lecturer, at the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA), said the killing is not just in Kaduna alone but the bandits see Kaduna as the capital of the north (meaning the strong state in the Northern region).

”Kaduna has enormous resources, it used to have several industries, with great potentials, it has blessed people with blessed brains. Several federal government projects, schools and many more compared to other northern states.

“There are great potentials in the Northern states. Many states got their origin from Kaduna. Kaduna is like a grandfather. So, if bandits can capture Kaduna, they have captured all other northern states. They have a well-coordinated plan.

“Just imagine, what started as child’s play in 2015, is now outgrowing to a level that the government itself cannot curtail.” He said.

By Abdulgafar Alabelewe

https://nation-media-assets.storage.googleapis.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/02014823/Kaduna.jpg

As efforts intensify to rescue passengers abducted by bandits during the ill-fated Abuja-Kaduna train attack, survivors relive their experiences as the invaders held them hostage for one hour, 15 minutes – killing and maiming innocent travelers. ABDULGAFAR ALABELEWE reports.

The survivors recounted how the bandits overpowered the inbound security personnel and took charge of the train. One of the survivors, Shuaibu Adamu Alhasssan said, the policemen on board gave a good fight, but they later removed their uniforms and joined passengers in lying under seats.

Alhassan revealed two people who sat beside him on the train were hit by the bandits’ bullets, adding that, he escaped being shot as corpses of slain passengers fell on him, shielding him where he laid down.

He said, “When they shot the lady beside me, I lied down immediately, then somebody fell on me. The corpse of the lady beside me fell on that person, and I was beneath both of them. That served as a cover for me. While the bandits shot sporadically, none of the bullets hit me.”


According to Alhassan, though he was neither shot nor kidnapped, the one hour and 15 minutes of the attack was the most traumatic moment of his life.

“You are sitting close to somebody this minute, and the next minute, they are hit by a bullet, without you also knowing your chances of survival,” he said.

Alhassan continued, “The train left Kubwa station at exactly 6:30 pm, and the journey was smooth as usual until we got to Jere, then the train started slowing down and we were wondering what was happening because there was no sign of passengers boarding the train. Then it started moving again, and at exactly 7:50, we heard an explosion. The train derailed and stopped. Before it could stabilize, we started hearing gunshots, and everybody became confused. The train stopped and the bandits took over the train. They boarded Coach 17; when they entered, they shot some people, then they came to our coach.

“As I was lying down, I heard one of them saying Musa, why did you shoot this person? He responded saying he is wasting my time. After 1 hour, and 15 minutes, we sensed the presence of the military. I had never believed that the Nigerian army could be so responsive, they maneuvered their way through the forest to get to our location. They came with over 30 Hilux vans with senior military officers. They started exchanging fire with the bandits, and after some time, the bandits stopped shooting. The soldiers boarded the train and told us that they had taken over the train and we were safe. Subsequently, they started moving those that were injured out. There was blood everywhere on the train.

Recalling the gallantry of the policemen attached to the train, Alhassan said, “When trouble started, the policemen on the train, actually tried their best, but from my estimation, they were not more than seven, so they positioned themselves. They went close to the doors and started exchanging fire with the bandits. When they discovered that the firepower of the bandits was overwhelming, they ended up removing their uniforms and everything that will identify them as security agents, then they joined us in lying down. Sincerely, the bandits had superior firepower, there was nothing the policemen could have done.”


The bandits, he noted, were between 18 and 20 years of age. He said, “They were speaking Fulfude and Hausa. It was only God that saved us. There was no mobile network within the vicinity, except for Etisalat and Airtel which were fluctuating. So it was difficult to call for assistance. It got to a point that when anyone attempted to make a call, and they see a sign of phone light from outside, they just shoot towards that direction.”

“We can’t say how many people died, but they were many, as we struggled to avoid stepping on corpses as we were been rescued. The soldiers really tried because they took us up the hill after being evacuated from the train. They carried several people that sustained injuries on their backs. We also helped in carrying children whose parents were kidnapped, while some people could not find their children.

“Soldiers took over the entire area; we saw some of them in the bush, strategically positioned to respond to any emergency. Then they started moving us in batches in their vehicles to the main road. Later, they advised that those of us that were not injured should walk, and we were surrounded by soldiers. The Nigerian Army provided about 10 buses and ambulances to convey us to safety. They took us to the hospital. Before our arrival, the army’s medical team was already on alert to receive us. So, none of the injured people was left unattended.

“We should be praying for our security agents because they are really trying. Before now, I used to think that they were not doing anything, but after that incident, I realized that they were trying their best but the security challenges are overwhelming,” Alhassan said.

“I have never encountered this kind of horror in my life. It is a very disturbing situation because this is beyond banditry and kidnapping. If their aim is to kidnap and collect ransom, why do they need to waste other people’s lives? who boarded the train with us because other survivors were saying that the bandits were asking them whether they were members of the National Assembly or not.


He said, “It was just God that saved us. So many people were injured. There was a particular woman who was almost hit in the eye, but luckily, the bullet brushed her forehead; her husband was among those that were taken away.

There was also a particular man who went to the VIP section a few minutes before the incident to see someone, he was among those kidnapped. But along the line, when they were been taken away by the bandits, he jumped out of the moving vehicle. He suffered a fracture in his arm. So, he was telling us in the ambulance that he took the risk because he felt it is better to nurse injury than to pass through trauma in the kidnappers’ den,” said Alhassan

An injured survivor, Malam Mohammed Ishaq, said he escaped the bandits’ attack by running away to another coach to hide when he realized they were about to enter the train.

Ishaq, who sustained injuries on his arm while trying to escape said the attack took place about 30 minutes from Rigasa. “It happened exactly 7:35 pm. We were on board the train from Abuja to Kaduna, I think it’s around Jere but you know it was dark, so I can’t say exactly where.

“We heard a loud bang like something blew up. They didn’t target any coach, they were just looking for how to gain access to the train because it was from afar that they started shooting. They were speaking in Hausa but they were Fulani. One was telling the other to use the gun to break the door, then they started shooting the door.

“I heard them asking everybody to come out, and I left many people behind me when I ran. They said the bandits went away with some people. I don’t know how many people were taken away. Later, when the soldiers chased the bandits away, and we went back to where we were seated to carry our luggage, I saw people lying dead,” said Ishaq.

Fatima Shaibu who got injured while running for the bandits stated that they targeted the VIP coach through which they entered the train, adding that the bandits were probably non-Nigerians.

Speaking at the hospital, Shaibu, who is a student, said the bandits were mostly young boys between 18 and 20 years. She said they were speaking some foreign languages that are different from the Nigerian Hausa and Fulani languages.

“When the soldiers came, they had a face-off with the bandits. The bandits were children between 18 and 20 years old and they did not look like Nigerians. They looked like Chadians and Nigeriens because they spoke languages like Fulani, but not purely the Fulani of Nigeria and they are not even more than 20 in number. There was a serious exchange of gunfire between them and the soldiers until the latter overpowered them and the bandits ran away.

“The soldiers and police came inside and rescued us. They took us, including the injured to hospitals, some to the 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital Kaduna, and some to St. Gerald (Catholic Hospital Kaduna).”

In her own account, Maimuna Ibrahim, a young graduate who was shot in the thigh said, when the shooting began, she did not hear clearly, the police instruction from inside the train that they should lie down, so she got shot by the bandits, but the bullet went clean through her flesh.

She said, “I know that we suffered, but again we are thankful to the Nigerian Army and the police. They really helped us because they came to our rescue and brought us to the hospital.”

A 32-year-old, Iliya Musa, has allegedly raped a 75-year-old grandmother to death in Adamawa State, SaharaReporters learnt.

SaharaReporters further learnt that the incident happened last Saturday in Maduguva community in the Mubi North Local Government Area.

Samuel Adamu, who is the son of the rape victim, said, "The rapist come (sic) to my mother's house around 8 pm last Saturday and raped her to death.

"Our neighbour, Esther Thomas heard when my mother was shouting, so she rushed and called my elder brother, Yohanna Adamu, who caught him in the act.”

Iliya Musa, who has confessed to the crime, told SaharaReporters that he was under the influence of alcohol.

"I was returning from a wedding ceremony in the night when I heard the grandmother sobbing in her room. I went in and in the twinkling of an eye, I found myself on top of her," Musa said.

The spokesperson for the state police command, DSP Sulaiman Ngoruje, also confirmed the incident, saying, "The suspect has been arrested and will be charged to court after investigation."

Olalekan Adetayo, Tunde Oyekola, John Charles, Olaide Oyelude, Dennis Naku and Adeyinka Adedipe


Low revenue accruing to state governments monthly from the Federation Account Allocation Committee is forcing the sub nationals to renew their calls for the removal of fuel subsidy, The PUNCH reports.

They are also introducing strategies to increase their Internally Generated Revenue.

For instance, the Cross River State Government last week received only about 15 per cent of its statutory allocation from the Federation Account for March. Figures released showed that out of the state’s gross allocation of N2.22bn, only N34.9m was received as N2.18bn was deducted to service debts incurred by previous administrations.

The PUNCH’s investigation revealed that the issue of low allocation was common to many of the states, making it difficult for them to continue to meet their financial obligations.


Let state decide whether to continue with subsidy – Ekiti

The Ekiti State Government told The PUNCH that it restructured its expenses ahead of the shortfall in revenue being experienced.

The state Commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Mr Akintunde Oyebode, in an interview with one of our correspondents, disclosed that the state got N2.8bn, inclusive of Value Added Tax, from FAAC in March.

He admitted that the shortfall would have an impact on the state’s ability to embark on new projects.

When asked about the other avenues the state was looking into to generate more revenue, he said, “We are deepening the IGR, and we have digitised our tax system and are also ready to launch our long-awaited GIS solution for land administration.”

Oyebode justified the calls for the removal of fuel subsidy when asked if states would reopen the agitation for its removal.

He said, “The agitation was never rested. Our view is that it is against any sense of federalism for Ekiti, which consumes 0.55 per cent of trucked petrol, to pay over two per cent of the subsidy cost.

“We also believe that states should be given the right to determine if they want to participate in the subsidy of petrol products or not, depending on the fiscal position and priority of each state.”


Our IGR to increase by 50% in six months – Imo

The Imo State Government said it had introduced measures to increase the IGR as a way of increasing its revenue to meet its financial obligations.

The state Commissioner for Information, Declan Ewelumba, told The PUNCH that the state government had automated its revenue service to ensure that all funds due to the state get to the government’s purse, adding that “the target is that the state would have been able to increase its IGR with more than 50 per cent in the next six months.”

When asked if the state will support the removal of fuel subsidy as a way of increasing allocation to states, Ewelumba said the government would abide by the decision of the Federal Government on the matter provided that such would not increase the hardship of the people.


Allocation too meagre to pay salaries, but we’ve never defaulted, says Osun

The Osun State Government admitted that its allocation was too meagre to pay salaries and pensions.

It, however, said because of the creativity it adopted, it had never defaulted in the payment of salaries and pensions.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ismail Omipidan, disclosed this in an interview with The PUNCH.

Omipidan disclosed that the state received N177,812,228.90 as allocation for March, describing it as “an improvement from the last one, which was negative N375m.”

The governor’s spokesman said, “Creativity is the word; we just look at where we are and where we want to be and look at the gaps and creatively plan things to take care of those gaps. I think that is the only way one can explain what we are trying to do.

“My principal has been able to block leakages, while setting our priorities right. We don’t spend frivolously. This is why even when the allocation is a far cry from what we need to pay salaries and pensions, we have never defaulted.”

Although Omipidan declined comment on whether states will revisit their call for the removal of subsidy to shore up allocations, a top government official who did not want his name in print, said, “Collectively, I am not sure their (governors’) position has changed on the issue of withdrawal of subsidy.”

The Kwara State Ministry of Finance said the government received a total inflow of N2,886,631,784.67 as federal allocation for March.

Though the March allocation figure is higher by N291,079,653.10 when compared with that of February, it still represents a downward trend in revenue.

The state Commissioner for Communication, Mr Olabode Towoju, said though the allocation was below expectation, the state had fulfilled its obligation by paying workers their full salaries even in March.


We borrow to pay salaries, says Ortom

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, said federal allocation to the state had shrunk, adding that states that received meagre allocations in March must borrow to meet their obligations.

Ortom, who was reacting to the low allocation for the month of March, said states of the federation had for some time now been experiencing a drop in allocations.

He said in some cases, his administration had to resort to borrowing to pay salaries, adding that his administration placed priority on the payment of salary.

“Since 2018, we have been paying salaries up to date and our intention is to continue to pay and to source for funds to carry out capital projects,” he said.


Rivers blames low revenue allocation on economy

The Rivers State Commissioner for Finance, Isaac Kamalu, attributed the drop in allocation for March to poor economy.

“But everybody understands the nature of the economy; the allocation for the month of March was very low,” he said.


Our monthly allocation low – Edo

The Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Media, Crusoe Osagie, said although he did not know the exact allocation the state got in March, it would be low just like other states experienced.

He, however, said the state government did not rely on federal allocations to take care of expenditures.

“We manage our resources in such a way that we don’t have to rely on federal allocations. We make arrangements in such a way that our expenditure, like salaries and pension, are taken care of by the IGR,” he said.


No access to Zamfara’s accounts

The PUNCH gathered that the Zamfara State Government currently did not have access to its accounts.

Sources attributed this to the ongoing legal tussle between the state government and ex-council chairmen and councillors over alleged unpaid accrued salaries and allowances.

The state Commissioner for Finance, Alkasim Mutalab, could not be reached for comments.

Telecommunication Operators, including Globacom, Airtel, MTN and others, have threatened to raise tariffs if the Federal Government does not resolve critical issues currently affecting the industry.

Speaking on behalf of the telecos at a press briefing in Lagos on Thursday, Gbenga Adebayo, Chairman of the Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria (ALTON), gave the Federal Government seven days to act.

Adebayo said the seizure of cellular sites in Kogi, concerns about degrading quality of services in Abuja, high cost of diesel, inflation and safety of telecom workers are the issues presently bedevilling the telecom industry.

ALTON chairman said all the telecom operators had expressed their concern about the shutting down of telecommunications facilities in Kogi State because of disputes arising from taxes and levies demanded by the Kogi State Government through the Kogi State Internal Revenue Service (KIRS).

“The action by KIRS was hinged on an ex parte court order obtained by the KIRS over unsubstantiated allegations that our members are in default of tax payments to the state government (which is not the truth) and access to these critical telecom sites has been denied.

“This issue is likely to lead to a total communications blackout in the entire Kogi State, parts of Abuja the Federal Capital Territory and possible impact on service availability in some parts of the following States: Nassarawa, Benue, Enugu, Anambra, Edo, Ondo, Ekiti, Kwara, Niger States.

“These are States sharing borders with Kogi State’’, the ALTON’s chairman, who also doubles as the joint spokesman for all the telecom operators, said.

He also said the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA), the office of the Director for Signage & Advertisement has refused to grant telecommunication service providers a permit to build infrastructure in the Federal Capital City.

This, he said, is affecting the quality of services around FCT and Abuja.

He said: “The problem is created by the governing authority in the FCT. Telecommunications services drive on the terrestrial infrastructure.

“We hereby call on the Federal Executive Council to prevail on the FCDA in granting approval/permit to our members to deploy infrastructure.

“ALTON and its members will no longer tolerate discriminatory charges against the sector. The industry is planning to begin a study on varying tariffs to some of the unfriendly telecommunications States in other to accommodate their demand’.”

ALTON also expressed concerns about the rising cost of diesel and its implications on the general high cost of business.

Adebayo said: “We are concerned that unless there is an intervention to save this sector, operators will have no choice but to begin a process of price review.

“The state of security in our country is of concern, while we commend all our security agencies for the work they do to keep us all safe, the impact of the general state of security in the country is that we are not able to provide 24/7 support in certain areas as it is unsafe to send out service personnel to some parts of the country and to other at certain times of the day.”

THE World Bank has sanctioned SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., a Nigerian information technology solutions company, and its Managing Director, Mr Isah Kantigi, for alleged corrupt practices.

The firm, which was involved in the National Social Safety Nets Project, was sanctioned for 50 months while the managing director was sanctioned for 60 months.

This was contained in a statement titled ‘World Bank Group debars SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd. and its managing director’, which was published on the bank’s website on Wednesday.

The statement read in part, “The World Bank Group today announced the 50-month debarment of SoftTech IT Solutions and Services Ltd., an information technology solutions company based in Nigeria, and the 60-month debarment of its managing director, in connection with corrupt practices as part of the National Social Safety Nets Project in Nigeria.

“The debarments make SoftTech and Mr Isah Kantigi, a Nigerian national, ineligible to participate in projects and operations financed by the World Bank Group.”

The World Bank said the firm and the managing director were sanctioned for improper payments made to certain project officials.

A17-year-old boy identified as Isah Hassan has been arrested for allegedly removing an eye of a 12-year-old Mustapha Yunusa in Dan Tsinke, Tarauni Local Government Area of Kano State.

Isah, popularly known as Shahidai allegedly removed Mustapha’s eye to produce a charm that would give him the power to disappear.

Following his arrest, Isah accused a 107-year-old witch doctor identified as Sayyada Furera Abubakar of asking him to bring an eye for the charm, Daily Trust reports.

However, Sayyada denied the accusation levelled against her, saying she only wanted to assist Shahidai to produce traditional medicine.

She said: “I am just a traditional herbalist. He’s lying. I have more than 50 grandchildren and I did not remove theirs. Why should I do that?”

Meanwhile, Dahiru Ahmad, the father of the victim, Yunusa is distraught about his son’s condition.

He said, “I received a call that my son is at the Murtala Hospital.

“Upon arrival, I was told that some bad eggs ambushed, attacked and removed his eye.

“We thank God, with the aid of the police and the medical personnel, they have tried their best and the boy has recovered now surviving with one eye.

“Yesterday, around 1 am, I received a call that the boy who removed my son’s eye has been arrested and he has confessed that he committed the offence.”

Ali Abdulhamid, the Vigilante commander of Dan Tsinke who arrested the culprit, said: “We arrested Shahidai along the border of Kumbotso and Tarauni.

“He removed the boy’s eye two weeks ago and to God be the glory, we arrested him while trying to remove another one.

“One of our personnel reported the case to us that one boy wants to commit a crime and is asking for his support to do it.

“He told us the nature of the crime and we asked him to go ahead and play along.

“From there, he asked him to come along with a knife that he will use in removing the eye and still we asked him to give him and followed them behind to the crime scene where we successfully arrested the culprit.”

The state police spokesman, SP Abdullahi Haruna Kiyawa, said that the police were investigating the case and would charge the suspects at the end of the investigation.

A woman, Oluchi Ukonu, has skillfully used her private part to trap one of the robbers, Chika Ebelugwu, whose gang invaded their home at night during an operation in Lagos State.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at Akeem Lawal Street, off Imude Road, Shibiri area of Lagos, where the robbers invaded.

The Police alleged that the robbers on 5th March, 2022, broke into the house with arms and started carting away properties found in the house including laptop, phone and other valuables belongings to Emeka Ukonu.

When they entered the room where Oluchi was staying, one of the robbers took her phone while the suspect, Ebelugwu, was busy sexually touching her private parts. And out of fear, she made it comfortable for him and he did not know when the other robbers left and he was caught in the process.

He was then handed over to the Police at Ilembe Hausa Division for Interrogation where he confessed to have been trapped by the victim’s private parts and did not know when his other gang members left during the operation.

The Police found him culpable and subsequently charged him before the Ojo Magistrates Court for conspiracy, stealing and attempted rape.

When he was arraigned, he pleaded not guilty.

The prosecutor, Inspector Ekpo Edet, then asked the Court to give a date for hearing to enable the Police to prove that he actually committed the alleged offence.

The Presiding Magistrate, Mr. T. A. Popoola, granted him bail in the sum of N500,000 with two sureties in like sum.

He was remanded in custody at the Correctional Centre, Kirikiri town, pending when he will perfect his bail conditions while the matter was adjourned till 23rd April, 2022, for mention.

By Sanni Onogu, Abuja

Senator Abdu Kwari (Kaduna North) has given a graphic account of the horrible experiences of passengers in the Kaduna-bound train attacked by terrorists on Monday night.

Kwari spoke while contributing to a motion titled: “The continuing attacks on communities and public facilities in Kaduna State” on the floor of the Senate at plenary.

The motion was sponsored by Senator Uba Sani (Kaduna Central).

Kwari lamented the bandits shattered the head of a nursing mother who was also with her aged mother despite her repeated plea for mercy.

Kwari said: “What is happening today is to say the least very pathetic. And what was experienced yesterday in Kaduna is something that you will not wish even the worst of your enemies.

“We found ourselves yesterday entangled having live chats with people that were caught in the unfortunate incident and it was really scaring.

“My President, one of the women seated with a baby in her arms in that ill-fated train was calling for mercy. She had an aged mother by her side and was pleading that she brought the mother for medical attention in Abuja.

“She was pleading for mercy. Instead of giving mercy, Mr President, she had her head shattered right before other travelers in that train.

“Fortunately some of the military personnel that were inside the train had to induct some people the act of crawling that was what saved the disastrous outing of that train and many of them crawled from the VIP coaches to the economy coaches and that is why the casualties recorded were reduced.

“Unfortunately the drones and other advanced technologies that have been advocated for on this floor in this Chamber have not yet been acquired by the government and the response time was also not good enough for a country like Nigeria.

“We ought to as a country be doing better than we did. We need to get our acts together to ensure that peace comes to our country at this very point in time.”

Senator Gabriel Suswam (Benue North-East) lamented that Kaduna had become the new theatre of insecurity.

He said the lingering activities of terrorists in the state make it imperative for the appropriate authorities to take decisive action.

The lawmaker attributed the inability by the military to curtail growing incidents of terrorism to “a clear failure of leadership.”

Senator Sani, in his lead debate, said the Senate: “Notes also that bandits attacked a Kaduna bound train carrying over 970 passengers around Kateri – Rijana axis in Kaduna, just a few kilometers to the Rigasa Train Station in Igabi Local Government Area of the State. The train derailed after the first wave of attacks.

“Grenades and RPG were used. They rained bullets on all the coaches. Some passengers were killed, while many sustained bullet wounds. There are reports that some of the passengers were abducted.

“The terrified passengers only breathed a sigh of relief when security agencies arrived and secured the train and the area. It’s been a reign of undiluted terror.”

Patrick Odey


AN Akwa Ibom State Magistrates’ Court has ordered a 40-year-old man, Mr Idongest Idiok, to be remanded in a correctional centre for publishing libel against Governor Udom Emmanuel.

Idiok, who used the profile name, Soundcraft Owo OBA, on Facebook, had, on March 16, 2022, published what was considered offensive and derogatory against the person of the governor by referring to him as a sex maniac.

The publication followed an incident at the Ibom Hall, Uyo, during the International Women’s Day celebration where the Commissioner for Agriculture, Dr Gloria Edet, was alleged to have claimed that she was the leader of women in the state in the presence of the wife of the governor, Mrs Martha Emmanuel.

The accused was said to have taken to his Facebook page and other social media platforms to abuse the governor.

According to the charge, the accused had, within the magisterial district in the Uyo metropolis, knowingly and intentionally made a social media publication via Facebook, knowing the same to be false, for the purpose of causing annoyance, insult, injury or ill-will against Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The alleged offence is punishable under Section 24(1)(b) of the Cybercrime (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015.

After listening to the application of the prosecuting counsel that jurisdiction in the matter of cybercrime, by virtue of Section 50 of the Act, was vested in the Federal High Court, Senior Magistrate Ini-fiok Isong ordered that the case file be forwarded to the office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for legal advice/arraignment of the accused before the appropriate court.

He further ordered that pending the DPP’s legal advice, the accused be remanded in custody of the Nigerian Correctional Centre, Ikot Ekpene, for a period not exceeding 14 days.

The prosecution was led by Ibanga Inyang, while Uwem Umoh represented the accused person, and Samuel Ikpo led Pelumi Adegoke represented the governor.

The case was adjourned till April 4, 2022.

One of the passengers on board the ill-fated train that was attacked in Kaduna on Monday has said some persons were abducted.

Daily Trust had reported how the train which took off from Abuja around 6pm derailed after the rail track was bombed between Dutse and Kakau.

Terrorists bomb Kaduna-Abuja rail track
Gunshots were fired but we are now safe, says passenger on attacked train

Speaking with our correspondent, a passenger said he counted six people with bullet wounds but could not say if they were dead.

“There are six people we have counted with bullet wounds, there maybe more but so far this is what I can confirm. Security agents are trying to get them medical attention,” he said.

“We also learnt that the bandits forced their way into some coaches and have abducted some people.”


Daily Trust cannot independently verify this claim.

Zainab Musa, another passenger, described the attack as shocking.

“Currently we are all lying down flat and Security forces have started converging to drive the terrorists away. We are grateful to be safe and not harmed,” she said over the phone.

Another passenger, Anas Iron Danmusa, said the explosives planted by the terrorists ‘destroyed’ the engine of their train.

He said, “As at 8pm, we were just lying on the seats of the train praying. The gunmen were shooting sporadically around Katari-Rijana area.”

In a statement, Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, said security agencies had secured the train trapped by terrorists.

“The Kaduna State Government received multiple reports of an attack on the Abuja-Kaduna train service at around Kateri-Rijana general areas.

“Relevant action agencies were urgently contacted, and robust deployments of personnel were swiftly made to the area to secure the passengers on board.

“Efforts are ongoing to convey the passengers from the location and others that sustained injuries have been rushed to hospitals for urgent medical attention.

“The Government of Kaduna State will be liaising with the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) to ascertain the list from the passengers’ manifest for efficient tracking.”

LAGOS – There is uneasiness within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) over the second term aspiration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as party members, who are loyal to other aspirants have started complaining over the purported second term endorsement of the governor by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.

As reported by this medium last week, Sanwo-Olu got the nod of the national leader of the APC for a second term and that the latter had already instructed the party leaders to work for his reelection.

A prominent member of the Governors’ Advisory Council (GAC), who is also one of the apex leaders of APC in Lagos state, told this newspaper that, “Sanwo-Olu is coming back. I can authoritatively confirm that to you

He is likely to declare and will kick off his re-election campaign this weekend at the Eagles Square, venue of the national convention of the APC on March 26 in Abuja.

“The governor has performed creditably well in all areas since coming to office in 2019. As a technocrat, he focused on his job as governor and allowed political leaders who ensured his emergence to run the political affairs of the state.

This endeared him to many of us and we believe he should be allowed to continue the good works he started.”

However, the news of Sanwo- Olu’s second term endorsement by Tinubu took many by surprise, especially those who do not have a close relationship with the governor and have not really benefited from his administration.

Though many have tipped the governor for another term in office, there are others who feel he hasn’t done excellently well to get another term in office.

Apart from this, some have tipped Sanwo-Olu’s deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, to replace him come 2023.

Others who have also been tipped for the number one seat include the Senator representing Lagos West, Tokunbo Abiru, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, and the Lagos State Head of Service, Hakeem Muri-Okunola.

However, both Muri-Okunola and Gbajabiamila have denied any plan to unseat Sanwo- Olu but there are claims that some interests within the party are hell bent on showing Sanwo-Olu the way out.

Some sources told Sunday Independent that the issue of religion is one of the factors that is likely to work against Sanwo-Olu when the time comes. According to a top politician in the state, “The agreement was that Sanwo-Olu will only complete Akinwunmi Ambode’s remaining four years and he himself is aware of that arrangement.

I don’t know why he is now nursing a second term ambition. “The truth of the matter is that he won’t find it easy like that.

There are others who are very much interested in becoming governor. Someone was appealed to in 2019 to step down for him (Sanwo-Olu). “Some of us are waiting to hear from Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu because they have already started using his name again.

They said he has endorsed Sanwo-Olu for a second term but we don’t believe it. Every interested aspirant should be allowed to contest in a primary and if he wins, we will accept it.”

Another source disclosed to our correspondent that Hamzat will challenge Sanwo-Olu once it is time. “The deputy governor will contest against Sanwo-Olu this time around. Nobody has endorsed or will endorse anybody.

Everyone will go and test their popularity in an open primary election. “Don’t believe whatever they are saying about Asiwaju endorsing Sanwo-Olu, it is only some people that are benefitting from Sanwo-Olu that are playing that game.

Asiwaju has said before that anyone that is willing to become the next governor will have to contest in the primary and that he is not going to support a particular candidate.

“Sanwo-Olu himself is just trying to be smart, he knows that there are others capable people who is eyeing the seat, so those around him are just the ones flying that kite of Asiwaju endorsing him for a second term,” the source claimed.

The governor recently said in an interview that only residents will determine if he deserves the second term in office or not.

Sanwo-Olu, who explained that he is leaving his fate in the hands of the citizens to determine, said, “It’s for the citizens to determine if we are good enough for the second term.

“What we are doing now is the work and what they will miss if they don’t allow us for a second term to complete the job. What we are doing now is the work, when it’s time for politics, we’ll start.”

By Esther Onyegbula,

Residents of Iyana-Isashi community of Lagos State were recently thrown into confusion, when a young lady suddenly went dumb after she visited a lover she met on Facebook in Lagos.

It was learned that the young lady, who hails from Benue State, but resides in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, became dumb after spending the night in lover’s arms.

Trouble, as gathered, started in the morning when the victim woke up, took sachet of water and went outside to brush her teeth.

Thereafter, she noticed all of a sudden that she had gone dumb.

According to the suspect, “I met the victim on social media, and we became friends and then started dating.

“Last week, she came from Port Harcourt to Lagos to visit me. We spent time together everything was okay until the next morning when she woke up and decided to brush her teeth.”

Explaining further, the suspect said, “She took a sachet of water from the bag of ‘pure water’ inside the house.

“She stepped outside and by the time she finished brushing her teeth, she noticed she could no longer talk.

“I was scared because she spoke to me when she woke up that morning before taking water and going outside to brush her teeth.”

Vanguard gathered that when all efforts to assist the victim recover her speech failed, police from Iyana-Isashi Division were invited to arrest the suspect.

Confirming the arrest, the spokesperson of Lagos State Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, said the suspect was arrested and later released when the victim’s parents came to the station and revealed that it is a reoccurring spiritual attack afflicting the victim.

Her parents insisted on taking the victim to their home town in Benue State to find remedy to the issue.

“After verifiable evidence that they are her parents, the victim was released to them,” Hundeyin added.

Nigeria’s Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, has described the Nigerian government’s controversial subsidy regime as “a criminal enterprise.”

Mr Sylva, who lamented the controversies surrounding the amount of petrol that the nation consumes daily, said the subsidy regime encourages criminal activities like smuggling which in turn impact negatively on the nation’s oil resources.

According to Punch newspaper, the minister said this in an interview with his media team, led by his Senior Adviser, Media and Communications, Horatius Egua.

“I have said this publicly before that I don’t know the figure,” he said of the opacity surrounding Nigeria’s petrol consumption figures.

“When I assumed office, initially I was told that our daily consumption was 66 million litres.

“Then, when fuel prices increased from N145 to N162, the consumption figure temporarily fell to about 40 something million litres per day, because the arbitrage opportunity reduced.

“Then the value of the naira dropped again, and the number went up again to over 60 million litres. I am told the figure sometimes rise to as high as 90 or over 100 million litres. I don’t know how that happens.

“At this rate, I have said if anyone is looking at a criminal enterprise, look no further than the fuel subsidy.”

The minister said that on the basis of these revelations, he has intensified his advocacy for deregulation and ultimate removal of fuel subsidy from the country’s PMS pricing template.


‘Unknown’ Consumption Figures

In recent years, experts have said that Nigeria’s inability to account for the amount of petrol it consumes daily was due to the continued smuggling of PMS through its porous land borders.

In 2019, Nigeria shut its land borders as part of government’s sustained efforts to check smuggling and other illicit cross-border activities.

Despite the closure of the land borders, reports showed that smuggling was still rampant across the nation’s borders.

In December 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari approved the immediate reopening of the major land borders in Seme in the South-west part of the country, Ilela in the North-west, Maitagari in the North-west, and Mfun in the South-south.

Mr Sylva said that as of today, the nation cannot still tell the exact volume of petrol it consumes on a daily basis.

Speaking in reaction to the N3 trillion fuel subsidy proposal by NNPC, he said: “I would have preferred that this question be directed to the NNPC.

“I have made my views known about this issue in the past. NNPC has agreed with me that they are not certain about the exact consumption figure.”

Mr Sylva argued that the country’s petroleum products are smuggled out of the country, so neither the ministry nor the NNPC could give a definite figure.

“It’s more or less fueling a criminal economy. The NNPC imports the products, and nobody knows the exact destination of the products at the end of the day,” he lamented.

“The imported products come to Nigeria, and from there filters out of our borders to neighbouring countries.

“So, as a country, we cannot tell the exact volume of petroleum products that we consume on a daily basis. All we have been doing is to assume the level of consumption over a period and work with that.”

Mr Sylva said that Mr Buhari had done “everything” to resolve the issues, including the closure of the country’s borders with neighbouring countries, yet the criminality was not stopped.

“The truth is that what the President could do was to close the ‘formal’ borders. What about the illegal routes?,” Mr Sylva quipped.


Scarcity

Fuel scarcity worsened across Nigeria in recent weeks despite repeated assurances from the government that the crisis would not linger for too long. The scarcity and its attendant chaos were initially said to be as a result of an off-spec product imported into the country, which reportedly damaged vehicles and generating sets.

As the NNPC and regulatory authorities struggled to put the situation under control, queues persisted in Abuja, Lagos and several other cities for weeks as people scrambled to get petrol for their cars and their electricity generators at a time of rising temperatures.

The crisis, which lingered for weeks — and in some places like Abuja, for several months — continued despite the federal government saying it has sufficient stock of petroleum products for distribution across the country.


Way Out?

Relative normalcy has since returned to filling stations in places like Lagos, but residents of Abuja have barely experienced any sense of relief. In other cities like Ibadan, Osogbo and parts of the South-east, petrol stations have continued to sell at different prices ranging from N170 to N210.

As a result of these developments, although the government has maintained that the recent crisis was due to the ripple effect of the importation of off-spec petrol, some Nigerians on the streets and across social media platforms claim that the chaos was “orchestrated” as a means of removing the subsidy component of fuel prices.

The subsidy debate is one of Nigeria’s most polarising public discussions. Earlier in the year, Mr Buhari suspended the government’s plan to remove subsidies on petrol.

In January 2012, protests erupted across the country when the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan introduced the idea of removing petrol subsidy. While the government and other policy experts argue that subsidy is not sustainable and should be removed, civil society organisations and labour unions have always stood against the move.

Mr Sylva argued that if the subsidy component of the oil pricing template is taken out through deregulation, smuggling of PMS to neighbouring countries would cease.

“Of course, we need the market from there. But now we are punishing ourselves because every litre we import at our expense will always find its way outside the country,” he said.

“Now, the government is trying to subsidise our citizens so that our people will at least get the benefit of the subsidy on petroleum products. But, now because of how our borders are, it is very difficult. Now, we are inadvertently subsidising the whole of Africa. This is the thing we cannot handle.”

The embattled governor of Ebonyi State, Dave Umahi, has accused his Rivers State counterpart, Nyesom Wike of stealing public funds belonging to his state (Rivers).

This is the latest attack in the war of words between Umahi and Wike since the sacking of the former by a court.

Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had ordered Umahi and his deputy, Dr. Kelechi Igwe, to vacate their offices for defecting from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Wike had followed that up by saying Umahi should return the mandate he got on the platform of the PDP, later adding that he was behind his colleague’s travails.

Umahi had replied, saying he could not be sued as a governor and that the judgment poses no threat to his presidential ambition.

Speaking to journalists on Wednesday, Umahi attacked Wike, calling him a thief who lacks intellectual capacity.

He said, “You heard him on Channels (TV) boasting that he is behind…, a mere man that depends on the breath of God, I pity him. It is a shame. You are boasting to remove another governor.

“What qualifies you? Just because you are packing money that is public funds, not intellectual material, but just packing public funds and you are boasting about it.

Otherwise, who are you? I became a billionaire at the age of 25.

“I’ve worked all my life and I have asked him to come for public debate. I do not commission 3.4 km roads, I commission 35 km roads. I commission twin flyovers running into 1km, I commission megaprojects with little resources. So, if he says he has done well and is Mr This or That, let him come for a public debate with me. Let’s start with our childhood, so I’m not disturbed.”

SaharaReporters had published a report about how Wike revealed Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Federal High Court, Abuja as the judge he uses for ‘dirty jobs’.

Wike had during his recent inauguration of the reconstructed 3.4km eastern bypass in Port Harcourt said he was behind the sacking of David Umahi as governor of Ebonyi state.

“You carry the vote of another party and join another party. Can you transfer votes? If you are defecting, leave the seat. And this will checkmate most of these political harlots who will never sit in one place, looking for excuses here and there.

“You can’t take our property and say we should close our mouths. How can we close our mouths? And say those who are behind it. We are behind it.

“If your friends don’t want to tell you, me, I’m involved. So, nobody should threaten us. You are not our friend. You are not a member of our party. Leave what belongs to our party,” Wike had boasted.

Umahi left the PDP in November 2020, attributing the action to the “injustice” done to the South-East.

Consequently, the PDP instituted a suit against the governor, his deputy, the APC and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In his judgment, Justice Ekwo held that having defected to the APC, both Umahi and his deputy had by dumping the PDP also forfeited the votes that belonged to the party.

He added that going by the outcome of the governorship election, the offices of the governor and deputy governor in Ebonyi state belong “to the plaintiff and no other political party”.

However, sources at the Federal High Court in Abuja told SaharaReporters that Justice Ekwo is known as “Wike Judge”.

They added that the judicial officer is so enmeshed with Wike that the governor permanently has lawyers stationed in his court to monitor his cases.

“Were you surprised when Governor Umahi criticised Justice Ekwo over the judgment, describing him as a hatchet man? Justice Ekwo is known as ‘Wike Judge’ here.

“He is so enmeshed with Wike that Wike permanently has lawyers stationed in his court to monitor his cases.

“The Rivers State governor is known as the ‘Golden Boy’ of the judiciary over his ability to bribe judges at all levels. He was known to have awarded the contract of building the Court of Appeal to a sitting judge, President of the Court of Appeal, then, Justice Zainab Bulkachuwa.

“Back to Justice Ekwo, some of the cases with him are cases Wike is directly or indirectly involved in,” a source had said.

Another source had added, “The Ebonyi governor didn’t lie when he said we were in trouble in this country because justice could now be purchased anyhow, the reckless statement of Wike yesterday confirmed that.

“He has turned Justice Ekwo to his homeboy. This same judge was used to remove Sowore as AAC (African Action Congress) chair and Malcolm Fabiyi as his deputy. He refused to hear the case on merit. And when he gave the judgement, he refused to make copies available before going on vacation.

“When your medium (SaharaReporters) wrote about this unethical behaviour, he hurriedly called off the vacation to make a copy of the judgement available. Ever since then, he has avoided Sowore’s cases assigned to him. He typically returns them to the Chief Judge.”

By Peter Okutu, Abakaliki


The National Human Right Commission, NHRC, yesterday condemned the gruesome murder of an Ebonyi lady who demanded her own share of her father’s inheritance.

The single lady, Nnenaya Onu, 35, was allegedly murdered and burnt alive by her assailants as there have not been any record of their (assailants) arrest in the State, since the incident occurred.

She was allegedly beaten, stripped naked, dismembered and burnt alive in Onicha Igboeze Community of Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

Vanguard investigation revealed that the victim was murdered behind her late father’s house as her only brother died some years ago, under a mysterious circumstance in the community.

Confirming the incident, the State Coordinator, National Human Right Commission, NHRC, Mr. Christopher Onyekachi Okorie added that: “She was murdered in cold blood, her leg chopped off and her whole belongings heaped on her while she was burnt beyond recognition.

“All these happened behind her father’s house at Onicha Igbeze of Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.


“Her offence is that she insisted on demanding her father’s inheritance as a woman. She was not married but lived in her late father’s house at Onicha Igbeze.

“Her only brother died years ago under mysterious circumstances according to the old mother. She has a surviving sister, Juliet Onu, who is married.

“Her old agonizing mother points at her cousins as the suspects of this atrocity due to their (the said Cousins) numerous threats to her life before she was eventually murdered, dismembered, and burnt.

“Her killers forbade any person from the village from talking about the incident nor even sharing the photo of her burnt carcass either on social media or otherwise.

“Her poor mother wants justice but has no money to sponsor police investigations and arrests.”

Vanguard gathered that the victim was killed when her mother traveled out of the community to Abakaliki to visit Juliet, her daughter.

Speaking with Vanguard on Phone, the State Coordinator of NHRC said, he has written a petition to Ebonyi State Police Command over the incident as he was yet to get any response from the Command.

“According to the sister of the deceased, the incident took place on the 23rd of December 2021 and since then nothing has been done to bring justice to the victim.”

Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Ebonyi State Police Command, DSP Loveth Odah, who confirmed the incident added that she will get back to Vanguard on the present status of the case.

An Adamawa State resident, Kama Hammajoda, has allegedly bathed his fiancé, Ladi Ishaku, with a liquid substance, suspected to be acid.

SaharaReporters learnt that the lady, Ladi, who is critically lying ill at a hospital in Yola, the state capital, was on Sunday disfigured by the acid bath, allegedly by Hammajoda whom she refused to marry.

Hammajoda is a motor mechanic based in the Song area.

Narrating why she suspected Hammajoda, Ladi said, "He had threatened my life when I told him, our relationship would not lead to marriage. I refused to marry him because I sensed he was lying to me about virtually everything. For instance, He told me that he was not married, but I found out he lied about it.

“I confronted him about it, and in a heated argument I told him I would not marry him; so he threatened me saying if I did not marry him, then everyone would lose.

"Shortly thereafter, my mother was burnt to death in her room; but as at that time, I couldn't link it to Hammajoda's threat. Last Sunday, I was lying down in the open within our compound due to power outage, when someone tiptoed in the dark and poured acid on me.”

Hammajoda who is currently in police detention at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) in connection with the crime, had denied the allegation.