Bandits
President Buhari directs security chiefs to recover areas being occupied by criminals
President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered the nation’s security chiefs to recover all areas being occupied by insurgents, bandits and kidnappers across the country. The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, told State House correspondents that the president gave the order during the just concluded meeting of the National Security Council. The meeting was presided by Buhari at the Council Chamber of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Tuesday. According to him, no sovereign nation will allow a group of non-state actors to bring it down to its knees and render the state in state of panic, apprehension, mistrust and disorder. “Therefore, both the defence and intelligence organisations have been charged that while we look forward to having a peaceful, non-kinetic reso...
NANS asks Nigerian government to declare abductors of students terrorists
Following the gale of abductions of school children in the Northern part of the country, the National Association of Nigerian Student (NANS), has advised the federal government to list bandits perpetrating such horrendous crime as terrorists. Newsmen averred that the abduction of over 300 schoolgirls from Government Girls Junior Secondary School, Jangebe, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State in the early hours of Friday, was an indictment and clear indication of the failure of the nation’s security apparatuses. Again, NANS advised the government to convey a National Security Summit towards galvanizing the best brains in providing ideas and innovation to combating the country’s multi-faceted security challenges. In a statement in Ado-Ekiti, on Sunday, NANS National President, Com. Su...
Primate Ayodele: President Buhari has broken Nigeria’s unity
The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has once again knocked the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, over the unsecured state of the country. The popular prophet frowned at the method the government has chosen to fight banditry: negotiating with bandits in order to stop terrorising the ordinary citizens. Ayodele during a live service in his church on Sunday made it known that Nigeria has broken already with the means through which the government is fighting insecurity. He explained that terrorism will continue to grow bigger and tougher in Nigeria because the government has invited terrorism already by negotiating with bandits. He explained that the unity of Nigeria has been broken, and it’s only God that can bring the country back. Ayodele said: “‘Gi...
Zamfara governor: Abducted schoolgirls will be released soon
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara State has said that the abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Jangebe, will be released very soon. Matawalle stated this in Gusau on Sunday while receiving the federal government delegation which was in the state for sympathy visit over the abduction of the children. “We are using the leaders of the repentant bandits to rescue the schoolgirls from the kidnappers. “Very soon we are going to witness the release of the abductees”, the governor said He said his administration “is going to continue with peace process with bandits considering its impacts in addressing security challenges facing the state”. He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for sending the delegation to symphathise the state over what he described as “ugly act”. Newsme...
NHRC urges Zamfara government to reconsider stand on ‘repentant bandits’
The National Human Rights Commission, on Saturday, expressed concerns over the rising cases of kidnapping of boarding schools’ students in northern parts of the country. The commission also called on the Zamfara State Government to reconsider its stand on repentant bandits to avoid elevation of criminality to a level where they would be dictating conditions for negotiations with government. The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Tony Ojukwu, stated this in a statement by the Commission’s Deputy Director of Public Affairs, Fatimah Mohammed, in Abuja. He was reacting to the recent reports of the abduction of over 300 students at Government Girls Science Secondary School Janjebe, Zamfara State. According to him, young boys and girls have unfortunately been abused and violated by some unsc...
Sokoto villages deserted as bandits kill residents
Suspected bandits have raided some communities in the eastern part of Sokoto state, killing four persons and rustled several livestock. Colonel Garba Moyi (rtd), the state Commissioner for Carrier and Security Matters, confirmed the attacks, saying three persons were killed at Bargaja village in Isa local government area while one was killed in a community under Sabon Birni local government. Newsmen learnt that the attackers invaded Bargaja around 2pm on Thursday, shooting sporadically. A resident said six persons were shot in the village, but only three died while the remaining three are currently receiving treatment in the hospitals. A resident of Isa who identified himself as Surajo, told newsmen that inhabitants of Bargaja, Tozai, Turba and Danzanke have all relocated to Isa town follo...
Ex-DSS director: Some bandits are former Boko Haram militants
A former assistant director in the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, says some bandits are former members of the Boko Haram insurgent group. Speaking when he featured on an Arise TV programme on Saturday, Amachree said he learnt this from the confession of some bandits. He added that unlike the Niger Delta militants protesting pollution of their areas, bandits do not deserve amnesty as they are “faceless criminals”. “From investigations, we have even discovered that some of them were Boko Haram fighters,” he said. “Some of them have confessed to having fought with Boko Haram. And now, you have these people infiltrating, collecting money for ransoms, raping women and sending them back to Boko Haram. “Anybody who is comparing them to militants in the Niger Delta, I want to...
OPC nabs four ‘kidnappers’ in Ibarapa
The Oodua Peoples Congress, OPC, in Oyo State said yesterday that it arrested four suspected Kidnappers in the Ibarapa, area of the state. The group, under the supervision of its state coordinator, Mr Rotimi Olumo, said it made huge progress with the arrest of the second in command to the dreaded kidnapper, Wakilu, Isiaka Muhammadu was also arrested. The arrest was made around 1 pm on Friday, while the OPC was on a search mission for the dreaded Wakilu that had been terrorising the entire area. Muhammadu, who was arrested around 5 pm, had given vital information that might lead to the arrest of the kingpin. Olumo stated that suspected kidnappers had been a thorn in the flesh of the residents of the community. According to him, the four suspects have been handed over to the police and they ...
Shiek Gumi: Bandits I met not behind Zamfara schoolgirls abduction
A prominent Islamic cleric, Shiek Ahmad Gumi, says the abduction of schoolgirls in Zamfara was not carried out by bandits he met with recently. On Friday, some gunmen had invaded the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata-Mafara local government area of the state, and abducted schoolgirls. The police command in Zamfara said 317 students were abducted, adding that a joint search-and-rescue operation is already underway with a view to bringing back the girls. According to The Nation, Gumi, who is known to have access to bandits, said the attack was carried out by another group. “They are not the ones that abducted the girls. It is a splinter group,” Gumi reportedly said. When the Islamic cleric was asked if he would be willing to meet with the bandits to secure the release of the...
Zamfara government confirms abduction of female students
The Zamfara Government has confirmed the abduction of female students of Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata-Mafara Local Government area of the state. The confirmation was made by the Commissioner of Security and Home Affairs, Alhaji Abubakar Dauran, in a brief interview with newsmen in Gusau on Friday morning. The abductors in their hundreds invaded the town and took away the students at about 2am. “I can confirm to you now that we have sadly received the report on the abduction of the students of GGSS Jangebe and right now, I am on my way to the school. “At this moment, I cannot say how many students were taken away by the gunmen until l get there, but we have already mobilized security men and members of the vigilantatè who are now in pursuit of the abductors,” the co...
Crypto ban: We acted in Nigerians’ best interest – CBN
The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr Godwin Emefiele, says the Bank’s decision to prohibit deposit money banks, non-banking institutions, and other financial institutions from facilitating trading and dealings in cryptocurrency is in the best interest of Nigerian depositors and the country’s financial system. Mr Emefiele made the declaration on Tuesday, February 23, 2021, while briefing a joint Senate Committee on Banking, Insurance and Other Financial Institutions; ICT and Cybercrime; and Capital Market, on its directive to institutions under its regulation. Describing the operations of cryptocurrencies as dangerous and opaque, the CBN Governor said the use of cryptocurrency contravened an existing law. He said given the fact that cryptocurrencies were issued by unregulated and...
NUJ calls for Sheikh Gumi’s arrest
The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Friday, called for the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for saying journalists are criminals for calling bandits criminals. The union expressed reservation on Gumi’s remarks during an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday where he labelled journalists as criminals for calling bandits criminals. In his interview, Gumi said: “You are emphasising on criminality, I don’t know. Even the Press (journalists) are criminals too because they are putting oil into fire [sic]. These people are listening to you, don’t address them as criminals”. “It is instructive to note that one of the gangs that were recently interviewed by Nigerian journalist, Abdulaziz Abdulaziz and published in Daily Trust of today where the bandit leader insisted on being introduced properly as...