No fewer than two people were killed and others sustained various degrees of injuries in a fresh attack on Friday night by gunmen in Gora Dan village of Zango-Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
Eyewitnesses said the gunmen invaded the village market and opened fire on the residents who were still transacting their businesses for the day.
Although the Kaduna state police command is yet to confirm the incident, the local government chairman, Elias Manza told Channels Television that the gunmen invaded the village market square from the bush, shooting sporadically and in the process, shot two people to death and also wounded several others.
He explained that no group has claimed responsibility for the attack, but disclosed that an emergency security meeting was held on Saturday with all the relevant stakeholders in order to unravel the perpetrators of the attack and also forestall any form of reprisal.
The fresh attack comes almost a year relative peace returned to communities in the southern part of Kaduna state that were engulfed with incessant conflicts between herders and farmers.
The wife of a lawmaker representing Miga constituency, Mr Haruna Aliyu has been kidnapped by gunmen at their residence in Jigawa state.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, SP Abdu Jinjiri who confirmed this to channels television the incident occurred around 4 am on Saturday, “some gunmen numbering about five came to the residence of the assembly member and forcefully took away his wife Zahra’u Aliyu to an unknown destination.”
He added that the police gave the suspects a hot chase and is hoping to make some arrest soon.
The relative peace enjoyed in the state was recently breached with the rising cases of kidnapping of relatives of government officials.
In 2019, the mother of the Special Adviser to the state governor, Alhaji Yahaya was kidnapped in her village and released after the family paid the sum of about N20 million to secure her release.
When contacted the state commissioner for Information Col. Mohammed Alhassan also confirmed the kidnap but assured that there is a strategy being worked out to ensure she is released safely back to her family.
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted four seminarians of Good Shepard Catholic Major Seminary at Kakau village along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.
Confirming the incident to Channels Television in an interview, the spokesman of Kaduna state police command, DSP Yakubu Sabo, says the gunmen invaded the school through a porous point and started shooting sporadically and thereafter abducted four students from their hostels.
He explains that the timely response of police personnel to the school prevented the gunmen from taking away more students, adding that the police have launched a manhunt of the kidnappers with the view to arresting them and rescuing the victims.
A group of armed men have killed 12 people during an attack on Kunben village in Kombun District of Mangu Local Government Area (LGA) of Plateau State.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Plateau, Mathias Tyopev, confirmed the incident in an interview with Channels Television on Thursday.
He explained that the attack which took place on Wednesday night also left some villagers with various degrees of injury but were receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Mangu.
The command’s spokesperson added that the police have deployed security personnel in the area to forestall any breakdown of law and order, while investigation into the attack was ongoing.
In his reaction, the state governor, Simon Lalong, condemned the attack which he said was unacceptable.
The governor cancelled a planned tour of road project sites to visit the village to commiserate with the people, in the company of the deputy governor and security chiefs in the state.
During the visit, he urged the people not to retaliate but leave the security agencies to handle the case.
Governor Lalong also assured the residents of the village that the security agencies were working hard to apprehend the culprits and bring them to justice.
Mangu LGA has been grappling with security challenges since the last quarter of 2019, recording the death of a district head in another community.
Stop Further Attacks
Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has condemned the killings and asked the security agencies to stop further attacks.
According to his media aide, Mr Garba Shehu, the President is in contact with the governor and the security agencies.
The presidential spokesman noted that the President’s action was aimed at finding ways to prevent a reoccurrence of such incident.
He said, “President Muhammadu Buhari strongly condemns the gunmen attack on Mangu Local Government in Plateau State and is in contact with the Governor, Simon Lalong and the military, police and other security agencies in the state to ascertain details of what happened and what can be done to forestall a future occurrence.
“President Buhari said he is shocked and grieved by the incident and has urged security agencies in the state to increase vigilance to stop further attacks on innocent communities.”
A car touched by gunmen during an early morning attack on Tawari community in Kogi State on January 3, 2020.
At least 19 people have been reported killed following an overnight attack by gunmen on Tawari community in Kogi Local Government Area of Kogi State.
Some residents of the community who narrowly escaped death alleged that the attackers could have been armed herdsmen.
Among those killed in the attack which occurred on Friday were the Chief Imam of the village, Zakari Salihu, and Tawari Ward Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ibrahim Simbabi.
The gunmen reportedly invaded the community at about 1am and opened fire on residents before setting houses, churches, and many properties ablaze.
Also touched were the oldest clinic established by the missionaries in the colonial era, and the official vehicle of the traditional ruler of the area – Aguma of Tawari, Idris Tawari – among others.
The state governor, Yahaya Bello, confirmed the incident in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Onogwu Muhammed.
He called for calm among the residents of Tawari town in Kogi/Koto Karfe Local Government Area of the state.
Governor Bello asked the security agencies to immediately investigate the incident and ensure that those who carried out the dastardly act were brought to justice.
He condemned the incident and warned that those with the intention to cause a crisis in the state would have themselves to blame.
The governor assured residents that his administration would do everything to protect their lives and properties.
The deputy governor of the state, Edward Onoja, also confirmed the incident to Channels Television in an interview.
He gave an assurance that the state government would unravel the cause of the attack, in order to prevent an escalation.
According to witnesses, a herder was killed and his body mutilated by suspected ritualists some times last year.
The herdsmen were said to have pointed accusing fingers at Tawari community and threatened a reprisal.
But persistent persuasions by the community head against a reprisal made the herdsmen lived with the indigenes of the community in peace until a few days ago when they started moving out en-mass.
Following Friday’s incident, a combined team of police and military personnel have been deployed in the community while the Commissioner of Police in Kogi was also on the ground to monitor the situation.
Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen have kidnapped three indigenes of Obbo-Aiyegunle in Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State.
The incident occurred on New Year’s Eve along the Osi-Obbo-Aiyegunle Road in the state.
When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in Kwara, Mr Kayode Egbetokun, could not confirm the incident but promised to provide details of the incident later.
Those kidnapped include a lady and two men, while the fourth in the same vehicle with them escaped with serious injuries.
The kidnappers were said to have demanded a ransom of N50 million from the families before they would release the victims.
A former chairman of the Ekiti Local Government and an indigene of the town, Ezekiel Gbadeyan, told Channels Television that the victims were travelling to their hometown for the New Year celebration before the incident.
He decried that kidnapping has been a recurrent event in the area due to the deplorable state of the road linking Osi and Obbo-Aiyegunle.
“That incident was the fourth in the last few weeks, but local hunters have always been rising up to the occasion of preventing innocent souls from been kidnapped,” Gbadeyan said.
The Chief of Dan-anacha, a suburb of Gassol local government area of Taraba has been abducted by gunmen.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, David Misal, the gunmen accosted the Chief and his younger brother on motorbikes at his residence on New Year’s Day.
Armed men attacked a Greek oil tanker in the Cameroonian port of Limbe on Tuesday and abducted eight seamen, Greece’s merchant marine ministry said.
The five Greeks, two Filipinos and a Ukrainian were part of a 28-member crew aboard the Happy Lady, including one, a Greek national, who was injured, the ministry said in a statement.
“Merchant Marine Minister Yannis Plakiotakis is following developments closely, along with the Greek foreign ministry and the oil tanker’s operator,” the statement said.
Attacks on ships and kidnappings for ransom are relatively frequent along the West African coast.
Pirates hijack ships sometimes for several days as they pillage their cargo while demanding hefty ransoms in return for the release of the crew.
Armed men raided another Greek oil tanker, the Elka Aristote, in November around 10 nautical miles off the Togolese capital Lome, capturing four sailors.
They released three of the men on December 13, but one died in captivity.
An investigation is still under way, but “it appears his death was not a result of actions by the hostage-takers but of illness,” the tanker’s shipbuilder said at the time.
Gunmen have kidnapped two nursing mothers and three children in Ganye, the administrative headquarters of Ganye Local Government Area of Adamawa State.
According to sources, the kidnappers invaded the home of one Hussain Ahmadu at about 1:00 am on Tuesday and kidnapped the victims.
On receiving the information, the Divisional Police Office quickly mobilised his men to the scene but were ambushed by heavily armed men who engaged them in a gun battle.
Consequently, four policemen sustained gunshot wounds.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the state command, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, who confirmed the incident to Channels Television, said the Command has mobilised the anti-kidnapping Unit and the State Operation Farauta security outfit to the area.
Also, he stated that the IGP Rapid Response Unit led by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Karewa, has been directed to relocate to Ganye to apprehend the kidnappers and free the victims from their abductors.
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have killed two officers of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) and injured another while on patrol along the Lokoja-Okene Road in Kogi State.
The Customs Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr Lomba Benjamin, confirmed this in a statement forwarded to Channels Television on Tuesday.
He identified those killed as two Assistant Superintendents of Customs – S. Ohiremen and S.M. Omale – while a Deputy Superintendent of Customs, H.I. Oladapo, sustained a gunshot injury.
Benjamin explained that the incident occurred on Thursday last week and the injured officer was quickly moved to Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja where he was treated and later discharged.
He condemned the attack on the officers and others, saying Customs personnel should not be the targets for persons aggrieved by the government’s policies.
“Officers of the Nigeria Customs Service are only implementers of Federal Government policies, hence we urge every Nigerian citizen aggrieved toward losing his/her goods to engage the services of the court rather than resort to violence and killing of family men who are the breadwinners of their families while serving their Nation,” Benjamin decried.
He added, “The Nigeria Customs Service, Niger/Kogi Command has continued to maintain close contact with the bereaved families.
“We are pained by the sad development and share in the grief of losing fellow officers, colleagues, brothers, husbands, fathers, and the likes.”
The public relations officer noted that Customs would continue to work with other security agencies in identifying the suspects and bring them to justice.
Omale, according to him, was buried on Friday last week according to Islamic rights in Ayamba village of Kogi State.
Benjamin said the Customs Area Controller, Abba-Kassim Yusuf, paid a condolence visit to Omale’s family on Saturday last week.
During the visit, Yusuf assured the family that the management would deploy all necessary mechanisms to ensure the perpetrators were apprehended.
The public relations officer said Ohiremen would also be buried at his hometown in Ondo State in January, stressing that the attack would not distract personnel from discharging their statutory functions.
Suspected armed robbers have attacked the players and members of the coaching crew of FC Ifeanyi Ubah (FCIU).
The Anambra-based team came under attack by gunmen dressed in National Youth Service Corps uniforms on Friday afternoon in Kogi State.
A statement from the management of FCIU explained that the team were on their way to Kano for their Nigerian Professional Football League (NPFL) match against Jigawa Golden Stars before the incident occurred.
“This is to inform the general public that at about 1:30pm today, players of FC Ifeanyi Ubah (Anambra Warriors) who were travelling to Kano for their scheduled NPFL matchday 6 fixture against Jigawa Golden Stars ran into a group of armed robbers dressed in NYSC uniforms, operating at Kabba junction, near Lokoja in Kogi state,” said.
Although no life was lost in the attack, the driver of the bus was said to have been shot with some members of the coaching crew and players critically injured.
The injured persons were already being treated and were responding to treatment at a medical facility.
The club’s management called on the Federal Government and football regulatory bodies in the country – Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and the League Management Company (LMC) – to intensify security efforts.
They asked the government to ensure the safety of teams who often have no choice than to travel long distances by road, especially clubs owned by private investors for the growth and development of football in Nigeria.
The club also urged its fans, well-wishers, and Nigerians in general to keep the entire management, coaching staff and players of FC Ifeanyi Ubah in their prayers.
