₦airaland Forum

Suspected bandits have attacked a wedding convoy in Unguwar Nagunda, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State, killing at least two people and injuring several others.

According to a Katsina-based security analyst Malam Bakatsine, the attack comes at a time when the Katsina State Government says it is preparing to pardon 70 detained bandits, citing “improved security” following peace talks held across several local government areas.

He noted that several people, including the bride, were injured during the attack, while an unknown number of wedding guests were abducted.

“Residents report heavy gunfire and widespread panic as the bandits struck. At least two people were killed, several others injured including the bride and an unknown number of wedding guests were abducted,” he said.

“As of this morning, families are still trying to confirm how many people were taken.”

According to him, officials say the planned pardon is meant to consolidate peace and encourage more fighters to lay down their arms.

However, residents of Unguwar Nagunda, Mabai and other parts of Kankara and neighbouring local government areas continue to report attacks, killings and abductions, raising serious questions about the reality on the ground.

SaharaReporters reached out to DSP Abubakar Sadiq, the Katsina State Police Command’s Public Relations Officer, for comment, but he had not responded to calls or messages as of the time of filing this report.

On Friday, SaharaReporters exclusively reported that a fresh controversy had broken out in Katsina State following the surfacing of an official document indicating that the state government initiated steps to secure the release of dozens of suspected bandits currently facing criminal trials.

The document, a letter dated January 2, 2026, and classified as “SECRET,” was issued by the Katsina State Ministry of Justice and addressed to the Chief Judge of the state.

It shows that the ministry requested the intervention of the Administration of Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee (ACJMC) to facilitate the release of the detained suspects.

Signed by the Director of Public Prosecutions, Abdur-Rahman Umar, Esq., the letter disclosed that a list containing the names of 48 individuals accused of various banditry-related offences had been forwarded to the Ministry of Justice by the Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs.

According to the letter, the proposed release of the suspects is aimed at “facilitating their release from detention, as one of the conditions precedent for the continuance of the peace accord deal signed between the frontline local governments and the bandits.”

The Ministry of Justice further revealed that while a handful of the suspects had been arraigned before the Federal High Court, most remain in detention awaiting trial at various Magistrate Courts across Katsina State.

The letter also disclosed that a separate list of about 22 inmates currently facing trial before different High Courts in the state was submitted, with the aim of having them released under the same peace arrangement.

The Ministry urged the Chief Judge to take “necessary action,” arguing that the matter falls within the statutory powers of the Criminal Justice Monitoring Committee under Section 371(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Law of Katsina State, 2021.

Meanwhile, the Katsina State Government has explained that its decision to initiate the release of 70 individuals suspected of involvement in banditry is aimed at sustaining ongoing peace agreements with armed groups operating in the state.

Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Nasir Muazu, said the measure was intended to consolidate accords reached between affected communities and repentant bandits across multiple local government areas.

Muazu stated this amid public reactions to an exclusive report by SaharaReporters about a leaked government letter seeking judicial intervention to facilitate the suspects’ release.

He noted that the broader peace deal, covering at least 15 local government areas, has already resulted in the release of about 1,000 people abducted during bandit attacks.

Describing the arrangement as akin to prisoner exchanges typically seen in wartime, Muazu emphasized that the initiative has produced tangible results.

The disclosure has sparked outrage and concern among legal practitioners and civil society groups, who warn that releasing suspects accused of serious crimes such as banditry could undermine the rule of law, deny victims justice, and embolden criminal groups.

Critics contend that although peace initiatives are important, negotiating the release of suspects already in custody, some of whom are standing trial, raises serious constitutional, ethical, and security concerns.

Deon28:
Northern Muslims haven't told Nigerians the truth about these terrorists that have been terrorizing their region for years.

Chijeep:
Some ronu will come and blame Peter Obi and Nnamdi Kanu for this

ranoman:
The north should be fenced
To keep their troubles away
At this point they are a burden to us

Seefinish:
And the governor is planning to release bandits from prisons

Maxymilliano:
The presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has explained why he delegated some members of the party to respond to questions posed to him.
According to the former Lagos Governor, he adopted the delegation method “to show team-ship”.

Tinubu spoke at the Chatham House lecture titled: ‘Nigeria’s 2023 elections: In conversation with Bola Ahmed Tinubu’, monitored by The Nation.

At the lecture, Tinubu after his opening remarks, assigned Kaduna Governor Nasir El-Rufai to speak on how his (Tinubu-led) government would address insecurity and asked the Director of Strategic Communication of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Dele Aleke, to respond to the question on oil theft.


https://thenationonlineng.net/why-i-delegated-el-rufai-ayade-others-to-answer-questions-at-chatham-house-tinubu/?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_source=Facebook#Echobox=1670262252

Obakoolex:
The northerners fed their little dragon until they became it's prey.

EkoIle1:
Jonathan Bares His Fangs, By Bola Ahmed Tinubu
May 15, 2013

It is now abundantly clear that President Jonathan has finally bared his fangs confirming what was widely speculated. By declaring a state of emergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, he has intimidated and emasculated the governors of these States. We are witnessing a dangerous trend in the art of governance and a deliberate ploy to subvert constitutional democracy.

The body language of the Jonathan administration leads any keen watcher of events with unmistakable conclusion of the existence of a surreptitious but barely disguised intention to muzzle the elected governments of these states for what is clearly a display of unpardonable mediocrity and diabolic partisanship geared towards 2015.

Borno and Yobe states have been literally under armies of occupation with the attendant excruciating hardship experienced daily by the indigenes and residents of these areas. This government now wants to use the excuse of the security challenges faced by the Governors to remove them from the states considered hostile to the 2015 PDP/Jonathan project.

Let me be quick to say that this administration will be setting in motion a chain of events the end of which nobody can predict. Experience has shown clearly that actions, such as this one under consideration, often give root to radical ideologies and extremist tendencies, a direct opposite of the intended outcome of unwarranted and unintelligent meddlesomeness. The present scenario playing out in the country reminds one of the classical case of a mediocre craftsman who continually blames the tools of his trade for his serial failure but refuses to look at his pitiable state with a view to adjusting.

It has become crystal clear, even to the most incurable optimist, that the country is adrift. That the ship of the Nigerian state is rudderless is clearly evident in the consistent and continual attacks ferociously executed by elements often referred to as the insurgents in some northern states of the federation, particularly Borno and Yobe states respectively.

Indeed, no part of the country is immune from the virulent but easy attacks, veritable indices of a failing state. Unfortunately, the tenuous and uncoordinated approach adopted by this government betrays a grossly incompetent disposition which stands at variance with current realities in the country, nay the international community where acts of terrorism are engaged and contained. No Governor of a state in Nigeria is the Chief Security Officer. Putting the blame on the Governors, who have been effectively emasculated, for the abysmal performance of the government at the centre which controls all these security agencies, smacks of ignorance and mischief.


Terrorist acts are perpetrated routinely and the government at the centre appears incapable of stemming the tide of the horrendous crimes unleashed on the hapless populace. The considerable ease, with which lives and property are destroyed on a daily basis, should excite deep introspection on the part of a government truly desirous of finding a lasting solution.

The Constitution provides that the safety and welfare of citizens shall be the primary purpose of having that structure of any political leadership in the first instance. This Government, through acts of omission and commission, has fallen far short of expectation. It actively encourages schisms and all manner of divisive tendencies for parochial expediency. Ethnicity and religion become handy weapons of domination. Things have never been this bad.

The response to the pervasive chaos in the Northern region of the country has been militarisation, mass arrests and extra judicial killings by the Joint Task Force, JTF, a convenient euphemism for an army of occupation seemingly set loose on the people of the localities concerned. The tenor of the State of Emergency declared by the Federal Government yesterday portends danger for the polity. The full militarisation of security operations in these states will compound the already tense situation.

Both local and international media are awash with news of reckless attitudes of the invading forces. The fact that security operatives are killed cheaply and reprisals from the state find expressions in organised pogroms in the immediate communities is sure evidence of a government which lacks basic understanding to appreciate the enormity of the current security challenges. If development is about the people, all measures put in place for the sustenance and maintenance of the super-structure of the society must take into cognisance local contents.
It is evident from the grim experiences in recent times that this government has failed, or does not know that it is necessary for it to avail itself of the benefits accruable from exchange of ideas and notes on the latest in terms of technology and human resources among nations of the modern world, especially those which have been fighting terrorist organisations over the years, on the most effective mode of combating this menace. Technologically advanced countries of the world will never discard the idea on the need for the establishment of an effective local intelligence outfit.

Our suggestions along this path have always been met with suspicion and acerbic criticisms from both the informed and the ignorant alike. A government which stoutly defends its opposition to the decentralisation of the police force from its present over-centralised command structure is already experimenting with all manner of means patently extra-legal.

The massacres of local communities attendant upon the attacks on security agents by unknown elements will further alienate the people who should, ordinarily, partner with the government in securing their immediate environments. An army which invades a community maiming, raping and killing defenceless civilians will end up radicalising the youths whose parents and young ones have been wiped out most cowardly and recklessly. This government should concentrate more on encouraging the development of local intelligence which will, inexorably, lead to the practice of true federalism. Adopting the use of excessive force against those perceived as harbouring terrorists does not portray this government as possessing the wherewithal to find abiding solutions to the lingering security challenges.

The President’s pronouncement, which seeks to abridge or has the potential of totally scuttling the constitutional functions of Governors and other elected representatives of the people, will be counterproductive in the long run. A State of Emergency already exists in the states where JTF operates. Residents of these communities live in constant fear. Their rights are violated with impunity under the guise of searching for terrorists in their respective domains.

Hiding under some nebulous claims which border on the intractability of the security challenges posed by Boko Haram or some acclaimed traditionalists who have killed some policemen to render ineffective the constitutional powers vested in elected Governors and other representatives of the people, perceived as not amenable to manipulation for the 2015 project amounts to reducing serious issues bordering on the survival of the country to partisan politics.
Let all those who love this country genuinely advise the federal government not to tinker with the mandates of these Governors under any guise. It is a potentially destructive path to take. If security of a society is about the protection of lives and property of the citizenry, the involvement of the people is a sine qua non to effective intelligence gathering. Any measures put in place which alienate the people, in particular their elected representatives, should be considered as fundamentally defective by every right thinking person in the country.

Mr. Bola Ahmed Tinubu, was a two-term governor of Lagos State, and now a leading voice of the opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN.


http://premiumtimesng.com/opinion/134435-jonathan-goes-for-broke-by-bola-ahmed-tinubu.html