Gunmen suspected to be bandits armed with deadly weapons have stormed Kangon Farun Mana and Yardoka villages in Magami district of Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State, killing over 40 people, mostly members of the outlawed Yansakai groups.
According to one Aminu Magami, an eyewitness, who spoke to DAILY POST, the dreaded gunmen stormed the communities at the early hours of Wednesday and started unleashing terror on the villagers.
Magami explained that most of the people who were killed were members of the outlawed Yansakai group who attempted to repel the attack by the bandits.
“One of those killed by the bandits was a close friend of mine; we had discussion few hours before he was killed,” the source added.
In another development, another set of bandits also seized Bayan Banki, Gobirawa and Biyabiki communities in Tsafe Local Government Area of the State where they killed one person in Gobirawa village and left two others wounded at Bayan Banki.
According to the source, those killed and wounded were initially being targeted and penciled by the bandits, saying that they were members of the outlawed Yansakai groups that have been disturbing the bandits from free operation in the area.
DAILY POST gathered that the incident occured less than 24 hours after members of the outlawed Yansakai groups at Gidan Zuma repelled another attack by some suspected bandits and killed two of their members on Monday.
Another eyewitness, who spoke to our correspondent said earlier before the Monday’s encounter, the bandits had attempted to cease the same Gidan Zuma but they were resisted by the members of the outlawed Yansakai during which the bandits lost five of their members.
When contacted, the State Police Command said it actually received a distress call when the the attack was on in Magami but could not respond and repel the attack due to lack of good roads in the area.
According to the command’s spokesman, SP Mohammed Shehu, the location where the incident occurred does not have cellular network coverage making communication very difficult to the police operative for quick response.
He added that “PMF 19 Contingent attached to Puff Adder ll that are based in Magami responded to the locations on foot with a view to preventing further attacks on the neighbouring communities and their response is being awaited to ascertain the level of damage done by the assailants”.
This is Attama Nwamba’s House built in 1907. Attama is said to be the person that brought the Catholic Church to Nsukka.
He married more than 100 wives, including the daughter of Onyeama na Eke. Attama Nwamba was the only warrant chief that appointed a female warrant chief in Enugu-Ezike, known as Ahabe Ugbabe.
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted some students during an attack on a private university in Kaduna state on Tuesday night. The academic institution, Green Field University, is located along the Kaduna–Abuka Highway in Chikun Local Government Area, and also the first private university in the state established three years ago.
The latest incident is the first major attack that bandits will launch on communities around the Kaduna-Abuja Highway since 300 female soldiers were deployed to the general area in January this year.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, confirmed the incident to Channels Television.
However, eyewitnesses, said the gunmen stormed the university last night and started shooting sporadically, before taking some of the students away.
The locals said that the university with about forty students population does not have enough security on the ground, despite being located in one of the epicentres of kidnapping, a situation which they believe made it easier for the bandits to gain easy access into the institution.
In recent time, Kaduna has been facing series of attacks by bandits including assaults on schools.
On March 11th, they attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization Afaka in the Igabi Local Government Area of the state and kidnapped 39 students.
While ten out of the number have been released, the fate of the remaining ones still hangs in the balance.
Ohaneze Ndigbo has made shocking revelations about the height of insecurity in the south east during am interview with vanguard news.
The president General of Ohaneze Ndigbo revealed the difference between ESN and Ebubeagu security outfit and he equally told igbos the one to support.
According to Ohaneze Ndigbo, the recent attacks on public properties and police stations in the south East is not done by igbos, IPOB or ESN. Ohaneze. Ohaneze believe it was done by those who do not want Igbos to produce the next president of Nigeria. ” There is now possibility of igbo presidency so they want turn our environments to terrorists area and declare state of emergency so that no one will come out to vote” .
Before now there has been rumor spreading that it was members of ESN that that were responsible for the attacks on police stations in the south east but now Obiozor the president of Ohaneze Ndigbo has opened our eyes to another posibility though he didn’ t mention the names of thone trying to convert south east to terrorists environment. Could there be truth in what he is saying?
Obiozor was asked about the comparison between ESN and Ebubeagu and he said the two are not the same.
” The governors are the chief security officers in there various states and any group they establish for security is the authentic one. No other group or organization can compare itself with government constituted outfit.
When asked about the activities of IPOB Obiozor said ” IPOB is our children and they must listen to us as we listen to them. we can’ t deny them because they are part of us but they shouldn’ t do anything that will harm the igbos and put us in war. “
Obiozor said any group is welcomed as long as they are fighting for the peace and progress in the region and must be under Ebubeagu because it’ s the highest in hierarchy
The federal government has advised the UK to rescind its plan to grant asylum to IPOB members – Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, explains why FG is opposed to the new UK policy – The asylum to IPOB members may strain relations between the Nigerian and the UK government
The Nigerian government said it is opposed to the reported plan by the UK to grant asylum to members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, on Tuesday, April 20, in Abuja described the decision by the UK government as sabotaging the fight against terrorism in Nigeria, The Cable reported. Lai Mohammed said Biafra agitators are secessionists.
Commenting at a forum organised by NAN, he said: “Let me say straightaway that this issue is within the purview of the honourable minister of foreign affairs and I am sure he will handle it appropriately.
“But as the spokesman for the federal government of Nigeria, I will say that if indeed the report that the UK will grant asylum to supposedly persecuted IPOB and MASSOB members is true, then something is wrong somewhere.” The minister stated that IPOB has been proscribed and designated as a terrorist organisation in Nigeria. Mohammed stated any asylum awarded to members of the group would be a disrespect to Nigeria, The Punch reported. He said: ”The decision amounts to sabotaging the fight against terrorism and generally undermining Nigeria’s security. “It is not only unconscionable, it is inexplicable. “For the UK to choose this time to give succour to IPOB beggars belief and calls to question the UK’s real intention. The minister said IPOB is alleged to be behind the recent attacks in the south-east despite denials by the group.
FG says agitators will flee from Nigeria when crisis erupts He said what the UK has done is like Nigeria offering asylum to members of the IRA before the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement. The minister’s comments came after UK Visas and Immigration had released new guidelines to its decision-makers on how to consider and grant asylum applications by members of Biafran secessionist groups. Meanwhile, the minister of police affairs, Maigari Dingyadi, has directed the police force to neutralise perpetrators of violence in the southeast and elsewhere in Nigeria. Dingyadi on Monday, April 19, disclosed that he has directed an intelligence-led kinetic operational against the culprits attacking police formations.
• Says constitution doesn’t recognise two parliaments
Buhari
The Presidency again, on Tuesday, foreclosed a national conference of the federating states in the country.
Speaking at a forum of All Progressives Congress Professionals Forum held at the party national secretariat, Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu, said no one would bully President Muhammadu Buhari to convene a gathering of ethnic groups in the country.
In the vanguard of the agitation for a national conference are the Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, its counterpart in the South-East, Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo, and the Middle Belt Forum.
Mallam Shehu asked those canvassing for a new Constitution to avail themselves the opportunity provided by the Constitution Review Committee set up by the National Assembly.
He declared that it is the National Assembly that is statutorily vested with the powers to amend the Constitution.
He said: “Yes, there are problems and we are hoping that as people united and loving of one another, we will come together and solve our problems and that leads me to the question, whether there should be National Conference?
“What National Conference? Do you have more than a parliament? Anyone who is a democrat in heart, in practice in their beliefs they should believe in the tripartite structure of government. Governments that are democratic, there is a parliament, the executive arm of the government and the judiciary, each one being independent and cooperating with the other. We have an elected parliament, which has a mandate as the custodian of the sovereignty of the Nigerian people.
“Look, a lot of these people were crying for this secession, they are unelectable. “If you think you are electable go around for a parliamentary seat whether House of Representatives or Senate and come and table an amendment for the Constitution.
“The process is ongoing as we speak now under the Deputy Senate President. They are calling for Memoranda, why can’t you present what you want? So the issue is that people who are not democrats want a parallel parliament to be set up and this Constitution does not recognise two parliaments in this country. We have one parliament that is sovereign, that is the custodian of the sovereignty of the Nigerian people.
“If your member representing you has failed to present this request that you want whether it is a change of the structure at state, local government or national level pull him out four years after, don’t vote for him. Put another representative who will do what you want. This is how democracy works, periodic elections.”
On the demand for the Balkanisation of the country in certain quarters, the Presidential spokesman said President Buhari would not be cowed to take action which could be detrimental to the corporate existence of the nation. He also noted that credible voices and state actors where proponents of secession are resident are against the agitation.
“Look, one thing with this President and the national secretary has said a bit of that, you can’t intimidate Buhari. You can’t bully him. A lot of these people who are calling for secessions are the problem of this country and I’m happy that reasonable voices are now rising. Is it not only yesterday we are reading Afenifere, the most credible faction of Afenifere saying we are not for secession?
The Ohanaeze Ndi’gbo said this over and over again. So this thing about secession is, they had used it in the past. The Governors in the South-West, we have all heard them, they have denounced all of these things. So it’s a sham, Nigerians want to be one, they want to continue.”
Earlier in his remarks, National Secretary of the APC Caretaker and Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, said no administration has surpassed the Buhari administration in terms of commitment to the needs of Nigerians.
“There has never been a government like this in the history of the nation. And I am not playing politics. Show me any government that has done much than President Buhari that has a direct link with the masses.
“Everywhere in Nigeria, people are having access. The president has thrown his door open for everybody. It doesn’t matter which party you belong to. In the days of PDP, it was not so. It is either PDP or nothing. The President allows everyone to key into his program. As I am talking with you now, people are collecting loans and COVID-19 palliative. Go to the Ministry of Labour and you will find people collecting 450,000 to N1 million. And they are not saying anything.
“Nigerians are enjoying the program. And he is a listening President. We thank you the professionals. In the face of difficulties, frustration and in all, you still stand with the party. You still defend the President. Most of the defence in Twitter by you, I have seen them. You are not selfish. There is nothing you do in this life that the reward is not there. ”
The shock announcement of Idriss Deby’s death on the frontline of a fight against northern rebels comes day after the 68-year-old was proclaimed the winner of a presidential election that had given him a sixth term in office.
Deby’s son, Mahamat Kaka, was named interim president by a transitional council of military officers, spokesman Azem Bermendao Agouna said in a broadcast on state television.
Announcing his death, army said Deby had been commanding his army at the weekend as it battled against rebels who had launched a major incursion into the north of the country on election day.
Deby “has just breathed his last breath defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield,” army spokesman General Azem Bermandoa Agouna said in a statement read out on state television.
A four-star general who is Deby’s son will replace him at the head of a military council, the army said.
“A military council has been set up headed by his son, General Mahamat Idriss Deby Itno,” Agouna said.
Some Africans have kicked against Deby’s son as his successor, tagging it “dictatorship” and wondering if the country is still controlled by the western world.
Here are some reactions as gathered on Twitter:
@udoiheanacho wrote: “Africa is cursed! What happened to the President of the National Assembly, according to their constitution? What happened to the Head of Judiciary?
READ ALSO: Asylum to IPOB members: UK disrespectful, sabotaging terrorism fight — FG
@ojuroungbe1 “This trend of family political dynasties is rubbish. The automatic succession of sons seem to be the norm in Africa. just like Kabila, Eyadema, Kenyatta & Botswana Khama.”
@cchukudebelu “France has managed 2 father to son dictatorial transitions; 1. Gnassingbe Eyadema to Faure Gnassingbe (Togo). 2. Omar Bongo Ondimba to Ali Bongo Ondimba (Gabon). Now a third – from Idriss Deby to his son (Chad). Congratulations France, “defender of democracy in Africa”!!”
@SatansTweet1″ The west preaches democracy when it suits their interest. It is a pity over 30 years in power and the army still remains the strongest institution in the country. He did not build democratic institutions”
@MrOdanz “After ruling Chad for 31 years, Idris Derby will be succeeded by his son General Mahamat Kaka as acting President. The US and its allies will be okay with the arrangement just like they were okay with Derby’s 31 years Dictatorship. Strategic interest >>> Democracy.”
@AbdijabarBurnt” Africa is wild. You have some countries like Ghana and Kenya that I feel have a strong shot at attaining high HDI levels and strong quality of life indicators. Then you got places like Chad where they’re literally reenacting Game Of Thrones, just in the Sahel. What a continent.”
@MrGeorgBruce “Where is he’s Vice? Doesn’t the country have a vice president? Where is the country’s Parliament? All hail France the “defenders of democracy in Africa.”
@manu_keith “But but they had an election just few weeks ago.. why can’t they go to the ballot. Oops it was an illusion and coronation of a dynasty that’s now sprouting. Uganda, what’s the star level of the president’s son?”
@Vimbai34879137 “Another Kabila type of take over. Another African nation enslaved in a pathetic system of governance #AfricanLivesMatter #AfricaUnite4Change”
@KivaulaK “Ooh does this mean armies in Africa perpetrate dictatorship and nepotism, why his son then.”
@Banky62168357 “Same script every time. Mama Africa weeps Crying face”
@UrRoadMap “So his son is the most qualified in the country? So Chad na family business?”
@Babasridonpapa “So, they served father for 30yrs and they’re planning to serve son for another 30. This country belongs to Deby.”
@MarshalkingNp “When is Africans going to be free from these autocratic systems of government and dictatorships?”
@basic_stunt “When will most of these countries in Africa ever grace an opportunity to lift Thier country forward and out of political slavery they find themselves??? Be wise people”
•70% of illegal weapons in West Africa found in Nigeria
April 20, 2021
By Kelechi Mbadiwe, Abuja
Senators, yesterday, raised the alarm that Nigeria is under siege from murderous non-state actors whose activities are threatening the continued existence of the country.
The scenario, senators said, is further heightened with records from the United Nations Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa (UNREC), that out of 500 million illegal weapons circulating in West Africa, 350 million (70 percent) are domiciled in Nigeria.
Making the submissions during a public hearing, organised by the Senate Joint Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, Navy and Marine Transport on Firearms Act 2004 (Amendment) Bill 2021 and Exclusive Economic Zones Act 2010 (Repeal and Re-Enactment ) Bill 2021, Uba Sani said the country needs to urgently address the worrisome situation.
Sani, who is sponsor of the Firearms (Amendment) Bill, lamented that proliferation of illegal arms and ammunition with little or no control by relevant authorities has profound implications for collective survival of Nigerians and Nigeria.
“We are gathered here to deal with a matter that has profound implications for our collective survival. We are under siege from murderous non-state actors. They have been acquiring arms illegally, maiming our people and threatening the continued existence of our dear nation.
“We either take measures to deny them of the oxygen that sustains their nefarious activities or we watch helplessly as they overrun us and our country.”
The aim of the proposed amendments to the Firearms Act, he explained, is to curtail proliferation of illegal arms and bring the existing law in line with global best practices.
He said UNREC recently reported that the proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons (SALW) in Nigeria had reached an alarming proportion.
“A pointer to this effect can be cited with the incidence of January 31, 2017, when the Nigeria Customs Service confirmed the interception and seizure of 661 pump action rifles imported from China into our country.
“More recently, in Benue State, a local militia had the temerity to kill an army captain and 11 soldiers not to talk of reign of terror in Owerri, Imo State by gunmen who launched coordinated attacks on police headquarters and correctional centre.
“Something must be done urgently to curtail arms proliferation, the very reason for the proposed amendment bill on the existing Firearms Act.”
He listed the five major objectives of the amendment bill to include imposition of stiffer penalties for offences under the Act. One of such penalties is the one under section 27 (sub-section 1c), which proposed increase of fine from N1,000 to N1 million.
But a representative of Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Oladayo Amao, in his submission, objected to the N1 million and proposed N2 million.
Earlier, Chairman of the Committee, Opeyemi Bamidele, said the purpose of the two bills were to further strengthen the extant laws against illegal firearms possession and proliferation as well as making provisions of the Act on Exclusive Economic Zone to be in line with global practices as far as protection of the nation’s territorial sea and waters are concerned.
Meanwhile, reactions have continued to trail the Senate’s statement that Nigeria is under siege.
Former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife agreed that Nigeria is in dire situation.
“Our continued existence is in serious danger like they (senators) pointed out. But, it only shows that they are blaming themselves because they are part of the government,” he stated.
He, therefore, appealed to Nigerians, irrespective of religious belief, to pray for the survival of Nigeria.
For the President of Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, the Senate’s statement amounts to an insult and abuse on the sensibility of Nigerians.
“It is an insult and abuse on the sensibility of Nigerians for the Senate to sit down and just say that Nigeria is under siege when we have been suffering all these while in the hands of bandits.”
He described the security situation in the country as frightening, even as he charged the senators to realise that the issue is degenerating by the day.
“And I am afraid if anybody will escape it at the end of the day. All of us will be victims if they don’t take measures immediately. They have to wake up to the realities of the day that we are in big trouble. The earlier we wake up to accept that we have a serious monster and work collectively to defeat it, the better otherwise all of us will be consumed.”
National Publicity Secretary, Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Dr. Dogo Isuwa, also charged the lawmakers to step up to their responsibilities, even as he blamed them for being quiet in the face of the wrongdoings in the country.
“Nigeria is dying and this has been going on for a long time. The question is why has the National Assembly not done anything all this while? Why did they wait until we are close to the end of the tunnel? The National Assembly has not acted on what they are supposed to do. If Nigeria is under threat from these non-state actors, why is it that nothing has been done to stop it from happening? In my opinion, the worst is yet to come if nothing is done at the earliest time possible to stop it. Who would believe that despite the killings that have been going on in Southern Kaduna for years, not a single person has been arrested not to talk of being prosecuted? If Miyetti Allah would come on television and own up to their collaboration with those doing the killings, what else can you say? They know the killers, so why have they not done anything about it? The National Assembly knows what is happening and they know what to do. If they feel that something is wrong, they should act now before it is too late.”
Chad’s President Idriss Déby has died of his injuries following clashes with rebels in the north of the country at the weekend, the army has said.
The announcement came a day after provisional election results projected he would win a sixth term in office.
The government and parliament have been dissolved. A curfew has also been imposed and the borders have been shut.
Mr Déby, 68, spent three decades in power and was one of Africa’s longest-serving leaders.
A military council led by Mr Déby’s son, a 37-year-old four star general, will govern for the next 18 months.
Mahamat Idriss Déby Itno will lead the council but “free and democratic” elections will be held once the transition period is over, the army said on Tuesday.
An army officer by training, Mr Déby came to power in 1990 through an armed uprising. He was a long-time ally of France and other Western powers in the battle against jihadist groups in the Sahel region of Africa.
Ahead of the election on 11 April, Mr Déby campaigned on a platform of bringing peace and security to the region.
But there has been growing unhappiness over his government’s management of Chad’s oil resources.
Mr Déby “breathed his last defending the sovereign nation on the battlefield”, an army general said in a statement read out on state TV.
He had gone to the front line, several hundred kilometres north of the capital N’Djamena, at the weekend to visit troops battling rebels belonging to a group calling itself Fact (the Front for Change and Concord in Chad).
Founded in 2016 by disillusioned former army officers, the group accuses President Déby of repression in the run-up to the election.
They built up their base in Libya in the Tibesti mountains, which straddle northern Chad and part of southern Libya.
On election day the group mounted an attack on a border post and gradually advanced on N’Djamena.
The latest clashes began on Saturday. An army general told Reuters news agency that 300 insurgents were killed and 150 were captured. Five government soldiers were killed and 36 were injured, he said. The figures could not immediately be verified.
Some foreign embassies in the capital have urged their staff to leave.
N’Djamena has come under rebel attack before and there was panic in the city on Monday, with parents taking their children home from school, when tanks were deployed along the main roads.
As Group Decry Continued Harrassment Of Members In Onitsha
By Sophie Eze, Onitsha
ONITSHA: Security agents suspected to be joint task force comprising of Naval officers and operatives of Directorate of state service, DSS, yesterday, arrested five members of a leading protagonist of Biafran movement,. ( BIM-MASSOB) along the popular Onitsha- Owerri road, Onitsha, Anambra State.
In a statement signed by the Biafra’s Director of Information and Senior Special Assistant to the President of Biafra’ internal Government ( BIG) on Media and Publicity, Elder Chris Mocha, gave their names as Mr. Akachukwu Nwachukwu, Chukwudi Okafor, Kingsley Ukachukwu, Igwe Onyekachi and Ebuka Okafor.
Mocha said the detained members are innocent members of a peaceful organization that pursues for the realization of Biafra’ through a Non-violent process.
BIM-MASSOB which practices an internal government as a prelude to achieving Biafra soveriegnty has decried the incessant harrassment and intimidation of the internationally recognized non- violent movement by security agencies in Nigeria.
The five members of Chief Ralph Uwazuruike–led Biafra independence movement/ movement for actualization of sovereign state of Biafra (BIM-MASSOB) were arrested shortly after the commercial bus conveying them from AP filling station Owerri road, had taken off to Oraifite town in Ekwusigo LGA to attend the group’s regional meeting, when unidentified gunmen suspected to be joint task force intercepted the bus, shot sporadically into the air forcing their driver to stop . . ” The securitymen came in four sport utility vehicles (SUVs) that included a Venza , 2 Lexus – 3030, and a Toyota Camry as the trigger- happy officers shot sporadically into the air probably to put fear among the passengers of the commercial bus”.
Mocha while appealing to the joint security taskforce not to rely on false security report in their professional duties, also demanded for their release .
As at the time of filling this report, the reason for the arrest could not be ascertained as they were taken to an unknown destination.
BT Afrika 