Killings
Bandits kill 13, injure 7 in Kaduna
Thirteen persons have been killed by bandits following multiple attacks on communities in Zangon Kataf, Kauru and Chikun Local Government Areas of Kaduna state. Seven people were also injured while 56 houses and 16 motorcycles were burnt by the hoodlums. The Kaduna state commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan confirmed the killings in a statement on Friday in Kaduna. According to him, the killings were reported to the Kaduna State Government by troops of Operation Safe Haven (OPSH). He said, in Gora Gan village, Zangon Kataf LGA, bandits killed one Irmiya Godwin who was returning from the farm while his brother escaped. The commissioner said, in another incident in Kizachi village, Kauru LGA, bandits killed 10 people, while four others were injured, adding t...
Osun government condemns killing of family of six by gunmen
The Osun Government has condemned the killings of six family members at Wasinmi in Irewole Local Government Area of the state by unknown gunmen. Newsmen report that the Police Command in the state had confirmed the killings which took place on Saturday night. Mr Benedict Alabi, the state Deputy Governor, who paid a condolence visit to the bereaved family on Sunday, described the killings as disheartening and unfortunate. Alabi, who was received by scores of family members of the deceased and some leaders in the community, described the incident as a case of brutal assassination. The deputy governor assured the community that the perpetrators would be brought to book in no distant time. He added that the state government had ordered the security agencies in the state to fish out the perpetr...
‘Fulani warlord’ Iskilu Wakili arrested in Oyo
A joint team of Ibarapa security operatives, including Oodua Peoples Congress, Vigilante, and other groups have arrested the alleged notorious Fulani warlord terrorising Oyo communities, Iskilu Wakili. Newsmen gathered that Wakili was arrested after several attempts resulting in a gun battle. There had been reports that Wakili and his gang were involved in the killings and kidnapping of several people in Ibarapa, Oke Ogun, Oyo State. Wakili was nabbed barely seven days after his second-in-command, Isiaka Muhammadu, was arrested alongside four others. The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, confirmed Wakili’s arrest in a statement made available to newsmen by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Aderemi, on Sunday. Adams said the Fulani warlord was arrested around 7 am on Sunday ...
Lobbyist says Myanmar junta wants to improve relations with the West, spurn China
An Israeli-Canadian lobbyist hired by Myanmar’s junta said on Saturday that the generals are keen to leave politics after their coup and seek to improve relations with the United States and distance themselves from China. Ari Ben-Menashe, a former Israeli military intelligence official who has previously represented Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe and Sudan’s military rulers, said Myanmar’s generals also want to repatriate Rohingya Muslims who fled to neighboring Bangladesh. The United Nations says more than 50 demonstrators have been killed since the Feb. 1 coup when the military overthrew and detained elected leader Aung San Suu Kyi, whose National League for Democracy party won polls in November by a landslide. On Friday, a U.N. special envoy urged the Security Council to take action against t...
PDP accuses APC of plot to take over Zamfara
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of plotting a forceful take over of Zamfara State because of the security challenges confronting the state. The party levelled the accusation in a statement on Wednesday by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan. The North-west state is governed by a PDP governor, Bello Matawalle. Hundreds of students were abducted from the Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State by some bandits on Friday last week. They were, however, released in the early hours of Tuesday. On the same day, the APC-led the federal government declared the state a ‘no-fly-zone’ just as it again banned mining activities in the state to curb the rising insecurity. Before the Zamfara incident, at least 27 male students were abduct...
Senator threatens to join kinsmen in self defence against Fulani herdsmen
Facebook Worried by the seeming helplessness of security agencies to stem the tide of incessant attacks of communities in Yewaland in Ogun State allegedly by Fulani herdsmen, Senator Solomon Adeola (APC-Lagos West) has threatened to join his kinsmen in self defence. The Senator, who made the threat in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, said his action in that direction is being fuelled by the inaction of both the Federal and Ogun State Governments to stop incessant attacks of communities in Yewaland by Fulani herdsmen. Adeola, in the statement signed by his Special Adviser on Media, Kayode Odunaro, said the latest of such attacks were the ones brazenly carried out in Yewa North, Imeko, Afon, Ipokia and Yewa South Local Government Areas two weeks ago, occasioning several deaths and destruction...
PDP asks US, others to prevail on President Buhari to protect Nigerians
Ahead of its proposed conference on security, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called on the United States of America and other members of the international community to prevail on President Muhammadu Buhari to take decisive steps to protect Nigerians and curb escalated violence, terrorism and banditry ravaging many parts of the country. The party also tasked President Buhari to respond to a widespread cry for credible elections in the land by making a personal commitment towards an accelerated amendment to the Electoral Act, to among other things, “give statutory force to simultaneous electronic transmission of results and use of card readers in elections.” PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, presented made this known at a crucial meeting with the political officer with the...
Gani Adams: Food crisis looms in Southwest due to herders attacks
File Photo The Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Aare Gani Adams, says food crisis is imminent in the South-West region of Nigeria due to the onslaught on farmers by Fulani herdsmen. According to him, farmers in attack-prone areas have stopped going to their farms for fear of being assailed by suspected herders. “They have discouraged Yoruba people from farming now and if care is not taken within one year, there will be famine in Yorubaland,” Adams said on Wednesday while featuring on a Channels TV programme. The chieftain described the situation in the South-West as “a serious invasion”, adding that drastic measures must be taken quickly to stop the ugly trend. “We have been seriously infiltrated by Fulani herdsmen. Most of the reserved forests have been taken over by the Fulani herdsmen an...
OPC: We’ll deal with killer herdsmen
The Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) has vowed to get rid of killer herdsmen from the South West. It also offered to enforce the quit notice to herdsmen to vacate forest reserves by Ondo Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, which expires on Sunday. Deputy President to late OPC founder, Otunba Wasiu Afolabi, in a statement on Sunday, further said the arrest order on Yoruba rights activist Sunday Adeyemo popularly known as Sunday Igboho is “misguided and provocative.” The socio-cultural group said: “Although the millions of law-abiding Fulani men and women living in our midst have absolutely no cause for alarm, those Fulani criminals hiding under the cloak of being herdsmen to perpetrate evil against law-abiding citizens should know their time is up. Henceforth, it will be fire for fire. “We are fully pr...
Cult clash claims four lives in Cross River
Tebogo Letsie/Associated Press A clash between two cult groups has allegedly left four persons dead at Bakassi in Cross River State. Eyewitnesses said the clash started on Thursday with the killing of one person at Ekpri Ikang and has been raging till Saturday night. A resident of the Bakassi who gave her name as Etido said one person was killed on Thursday, one on Friday and two persons on Saturday. “I do not know the specific groups involved in the war but I can tell you that we have been experiencing regular gunshots and people running helter-skelter because of one group chasing members of the other group”. She said the killings on Friday and Saturday seem to be retaliation by members for the killing of their members by warring groups. She said many people in the Bakassi have been stayi...
Bandits kill 19 in Kaduna attacks
Some bandits on motorcycles have invaded Kaya Village in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State and killed no fewer than 19 persons, including the leader of the volunteer team in the area. Over nine persons sustained gunshot wounds in the incident that started from New Year’s day (Friday) to Saturday night. Several houses, shops as well as motorcycles were burnt during the reprisal attack by the bandits. The Kaya village in Kaduna Central Senatorial District shared a border with Hayin Kaura village of Dandume Local Government Area of Katsina State. The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Mr. Samuel Aruwan, who confirmed the attack on Sunday, said trouble started on New Year’s day when bandits attacked Kaya town and kidnapped some locals, including two marr...
Benue governor calls for arrest of ‘Fulani spokesman’
Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has called for the arrest and questioning of a self-acclaimed spokesman of Fulani groups and All Progressive Congress, APC, chieftain, Garus Gololo, over alleged comments on Benue killings. Gololo had recently alleged that Governor Ortom was sponsoring attacks on Fulanis residing in Benue state. Piqued by the allegation, the governor demanded an apology and retraction. The Governor in a statement on Sunday by his Chief Press Secretary, Terver Akase, alleged that Gololo had not been new to such false and malicious statements after his request, to be appointed a Special Adviser in Benue state was turned down. “Since Governor Ortom turned down his request to be made Special Adviser preferring to appoint another Fulani man as his aide, Gololo has launched a ce...