NEWS AND STORIES
News & Stories (2012)
Agency Report
Golf Legend, Tiger Woods suffered some multiple leg injuries Tuesday morning in a horrific car crash in Los Angeles California.
Reports said the golfer had to be cut out of the wreck after the car rolled over.
Woods, 45 years old, was said to be on the steering wheel.
The accident happened on the border of the Rolling Hills Estates and Rancho Palos Verdes in Los Angeles at 7.12AM PST.
The Los Angeles County Sheriffs department confirmed that Woods was the driver of the vehicle.
Fire crews had to lift him from the vehicle with the “jaws of life” before Woods was transferred to hospital by paramedics.
Mark Steinberg, Woods’ agent said the mega star is undergoing surgery for multiple leg injuries.
According to the department, the vehicle sustained “major damage.”
Woods was in the area for a two-day content photoshoot with Golf Digest, the outlet confirmed, after serving as host for the PGA Tour’s Genesis Invitational.
Rwandan Hutu rebels on Tuesday denied accusations they were behind the killing of the Italian ambassador to the Democratic Republic of Congo and instead blamed the armies of the DRC and Rwanda, as further details emerged about the attack.
Luca Attanasio, 43, died on Monday after a World Food Programme (WFP) convoy was ambushed in a dangerous part of eastern DRC.
The envoy’s Italian bodyguard, Vittorio Iacovacci, and a Congolese driver who has not been identified also died on the field trip.
The DRC’s interior ministry on Monday blamed the killings on “members of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR)” — a Rwandan Hutu rebel group that has plagued the region for more than a quarter of a century.
But the FDLR rejected the allegation, blaming the Rwandan army and the Armed Forces of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (FARDC) for the attack in a statement received by AFP Tuesday.
It said the ambassador’s convoy was attacked near the Rwandan border, “not far from a position of the FARDC”.
“The responsibility for this despicable killing is to be found in the ranks of these two armies and their sponsors who have forged an unnatural alliance to perpetuate the pillaging of eastern DRC,” it said.
The FDLR called on Kinshasa and UN peacekeeping force MONUSCO to “shed light” on the killings “instead of resorting to hasty accusations”.
The DRC and Rwanda authorities have not reported the presence of any regular Rwandan troops in the DRC.
But an expert at the Kivu Security Tracker (KST), a US monitor, told AFP the Hutu rebel group has a known presence in the region.
“The FDLR are near the place where the attack took place. It’s in the realm of possibility that the Rwandan rebels are responsible for this attack,” the expert said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Scores of militias roam the DRC’s four eastern provinces, many of them a legacy of wars in the 1990s that sucked in countries around central-southern Africa and claimed millions of lives.
Some of the FDLR’s founders were involved in the 1994 Rwandan genocide during which the Hutu majority slaughtered 800,000 people, mainly Tutsis but also Hutu moderates.
The group is opposed to the current Rwandan government but has not launched any large-scale attacks in Rwanda since 2001.
Dangerous region
Monday’s attack occurred north of the North Kivu capital of Goma on National Highway 2 — a road that runs through thickly forested, mountainous terrain next to the porous border with Rwanda.
The world-renowned Virunga National Park, a UNESCO-listed wildlife reserve that is a haven for critically-endangered mountain gorillas, straddles the area.
DRC President Felix Tshisekedi’s office said Attanasio had arrived in Goma on Friday morning aboard a MONUSCO plane.
He left on Monday morning in a two-vehicle WFP convoy heading for Kiwanja, in the Rutshuru area, accompanied by his bodyguard and WFP workers, it said.
The convoy was ambushed three kilometres (1.8 miles) from their destination by six assailants, armed with five AK-47 assault rifles and a machete.
“They proceeded by firing warning shots before forcing the people in the vehicles to get out and follow them into the depths of the (Virunga) park, which they did by shooting dead one of the drivers to create panic,” the president’s office said.
Park rangers and army troops nearby heard the noise and pursued the attackers.
“Five hundred metres (from the site of the ambush), the kidnappers fired point-blank at the bodyguard, who died on the spot, and at the ambassador, hitting him in the abdomen,” the presidency said.
Security questions
After the Italian government expressed shock and outrage at the attack, newspapers in Rome on Tuesday raised questions about security preparations for the trip.
The DRC interior ministry, in a statement on Monday, said the security services and provincial authorities had not been given advance warning of the trip.
“(They) were unable to provide special security for the convoy or come to its aid because of a lack of information about their presence in this part of the country, despite its reputation for instability,” it said.
But the WFP, in a statement, said the attack “occurred on a road that had previously been cleared for travel without security escorts”.
A UN humanitarian official in the DRC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said that this meant the convoy had to be a minimum of two vehicles.
South Africa’s scandal-tainted former president Jacob Zuma and French arms giant Thales, accused of graft in a case going back more than two decades, will go on trial in May, the High Court ruled Tuesday.
Zuma is facing 16 charges of fraud, graft and racketeering relating to a 30-billion-rand ($2-billion / 1.67-billion-euro) purchase in 1999 of fighter jets, patrol boats and military equipment from five European arms companies.
He allegedly took bribes amounting to four million rand ($270,000 or 224,000 euros) from one of the firms, French defence giant Thales at the time when he was deputy president.
Judge Nkosinathi Chili at the High Court in Pietermaritzburg said the matter was certified as trial-ready and would be heard between May 17 and June 20, 2021.
Zuma was not present for the announcement.
The case was postponed last December, when Thales contested the racketeering charges linked to the arms deal.
But a court dismissed the challenge on January 22, a decision that Thales said it would not contest.
Both the state prosecution and defence attorneys had asked the pre-trial court for extra time.
They cited among other things Covid restrictions on international travel that could impede the availability of witnesses living abroad.
Zuma, 78, who was forced to step down in 2018 by the African National Congress (ANC) after nine years in power, is separately accused of enabling runaway looting of state assets during his tenure.
The judicial panel probing this alleged graft on Monday sought orders to jail Zuma for two years for defying a court order compelling him to testify.
The embattled ex-leader has repeatedly snubbed summonses by the commission, saying its chair, Deputy Chief Justice Raymond Zondo, is biased.
He testified only once, in July 2019, before staging a walkout days later.
The findings of the anti-corruption commission will not lead directly to indictments but may be handed to the prosecution for possible charges.
By Justina Asishana, Minna/ THE NATION
Some of the abducted passengers of a bus, who regained freedom at the weekend, on Monday relived their ordeal in the hands of the bandits.
Fifty three passengers of a Niger State Mass Transit bus, who were kidnapped on the highway on February 14, were released one week after.
They were taken to the Government House in Minna, the Niger State capital, about 11pm on Sunday.
Among them were 19 members of a family, children and the aged.
One of them, Hajiya Jumai Isa, said: “It was a terrible experience but we thank God that we are safe now. They threatened us, they beat the men, they really beat the hell out of them. They told us they didn’t want anything from us but money. They said they wanted money, that we should give them money, that our people should bring money so that they would free us and that if not, they would kill us.”
She added that the bandits brandished sophisticated weapons that she had only seen in movies. “Their weapons, I have never seen the type before in real life. They have rockets, guns, AK 47, and other weapons. The bandits were more than 1,000 in that bush.’
00717/22/2/2021/BJO/NAN
She expressed appreciation to God and the government for bringing her back safely, “I feel happy being reunited with my family. I thank God I am still alive because I lost hope, I didn’t think I would come back again.”
Mohammed Ndagi, who was returning from his friend’s wedding in Rijau at the time he was abducted, said bandits were shooting sporadically and a bullet almost took off his head.
‘One of the bullets brushed my head. When I saw blood, I thought I wouldn’t survive. But even with the wound, they forced me to move with them into the bush. We walked for about 24 hours. We walked all through the night. They gave us simple food, served on our palm. We drank the water that cows drink.”
He added: “We slept on bare floor. They did not tie our hands or tie us at all. They kept guns to our heads and beat us all the time. They beat us with stick. As they beat us, they kept saying, we need money or you will die here”.
He said they were moved from one place to the other adding that on the day they were released, the bandits escorted them to where those who picked them were waiting to prevent their being re-kidnapped.
“On the day they released us, they asked us to forgive them for what they did to us and we said we had forgiven them.
“They escorted us because they said if they left us to go on our own, some of their partners might re-kidnap us.”
Hamza Buhari described his experience as “hectic that I don’t wish for my enemy. They took us inside the bush. We walked for 24 hours. They moved us from one point to another. They conveyed the elderly on motorcycles. They beat us every day. They gave us rice on our hands. The experience was very bad”.
Alhaji Isah Abdukadir, who had 19 members of his family expressed gratitude to God and the government for ensuring their release.
Abdukadir who was close to tears, said the past week was traumatic for his family.
One of the family members who gave her name as Ameer said her mother, grandmother, uncle and sister were among those released.
Majority of the freed abductees had difficulty walking having been made to trek long distance in the bush.
Some of them were supported into the conference hall of the Government House.
Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani-Bello, who received them, said the released victims were malnourished and unwell adding that the medical team would attend to them.
He said no ransom was paid adding that the government employees used dialogue to secure their release.
Governor Sani-Bello said pupils of Government Science College Kagara, abducted by bandits on Wednesday, were still in captivity.
“We still have the students of Kagara in the hands of the bandits and everything is being done to secure their release soonest,” the governor explained.
Bello said the state went through one week of negotiation and dialogue to ensure the release of the passengers.
BY MICHAEL BAMIDELE/ GUARDIAN.NG
Nigerian Afrobeats superstar Davido has been named by TIME magazine as one of the 100 emerging leaders who are shaping the future.
The Time100 Next list which was released today is an annual list that serves as an extension to the Time100 list. The Time100 Next aims to highlight “the 100 individuals who are shaping the future of their fields and defining the next generation of leadership in business, entertainment, health and science, sports, activism, and more.”
TIME wrote that the individuals on this year’s list provide “clear-eyed hope” amid a global pandemic, deepening inequality, systemic injustice and existential questions about truth, democracy and the planet itself. According to Dan Macsai, editorial director of the TIME100, “Everyone on this list is poised to make history. And in fact, many already have.”
For the list, Davido’s entry was penned by Laycon, Nigerian rapper and TV reality star.
“Davido is one of the biggest voices in Afrobeats because his music connects with people, often in ways that transcend his expectations. When he released the song “FEM” in 2020, a title that loosely translates to “shut up” in Yoruba, he didn’t know it would become a major #EndSARS protest anthem, as youth banded together to demand the government take action to end police brutality in Nigeria last October. Officials responded by sending politicians to give speeches. We told the government to keep quiet unless they had something sensible to add—the ethos of “FEM” was directly relatable to that moment,” Laycon wrote.
Davido | Image: Stephen Tayo /The New York Times/Reudx
Laycon continued: “You can tell Davido puts 100% into every song he makes. And the results are clear: his album A Good Time surpassed a billion streams in 2020. Afrobeats is a worldwide phenomenon, and Davido is one of many Nigerian artists who has made that possible; now more and more artists, from Nicki Minaj to Young Thug, want to work with him.
“By bringing Afrobeats to the global stage, he’s paved the way for people like me.”
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Our Reporter/ The Nation
Borno State Governor Prof. Babagana Umara Zulum, has approved the payment of N13.9 million and car gift to a 65-year old medical doctor from Ogun State, who lived within the General Hospital in Monguno and continued to offer healthcare services to patients even when the town was faced with the most severe threats by Boko Haram.
The doctor, Dr. Isa Akinbode, graduated from the University of Maiduguri and joined the Borno State Civil Service, where he served for 22 years before he retired in 2016 at Monguno General Hospital.
After his retirement, the doctor, despite reports that he was once abducted and released by Boko Haram in Monguno, remained at the General Hospital in Monguno to offer voluntary medical services. Then Governor Kashim Shettima, during one his visits to Monguno, directed officials of the state’s Ministry of Health to engage Akinbode as a contract staff. Due to bureaucratic procedures, officials at the ministry in Maiduguri, however, delayed formalising the doctor’s contract, even though he continued to serve.
Read Also: Zulum approves N624m for Borno students
Five years later, Governor Zulum, on Friday, directed that Dr. Akinbode be paid his accrued arrears of N13.9m based on the terms of the contract directed by the former governor in 2016. Zulum also directed that going forward, contracts should be formalised for monthly entitlements.
The governor also presented a Toyota Highlander as gift to Dr Akinbode for his services to the host people of Borno.
“These (people like Dr Akinbode) are the kinds of people that need to be encouraged. He lives in Monguno despite all the security problems. My predecessor had during his visit to Monguno directed that he should be engaged on contract basis; unfortunately due to some bureaucratic procedures, his reengagement has not been formalised. In fulfilment of the promise of my boss, I decided to re-engage him on contract basis retrospectively. We are paying all his entitlements/salary in arrears. I am giving him a cheque of N13.9m. I have also approved his reengagement from 2016, being the date of his retirement.” Zulum said.
Governor Zulum also approved the recruitment of Dr Akinbode’s daughter, who studied Public Administration at the University of Maiduguri, into the Borno State Civil Service.
By Kazeem Ugbodaga/ PM NEWS
Popular comedian Debo Adebayo, also known as Mr Macaroni has narrated his experience after he and 39 others were arrested at the Lekki Tollgate, Lagos for protesting the re-opening of the toll plaza.
He said he and others were thoroughly beaten and stripped naked at the Adeniji Police Station where they were taken to after the arrest.
Macaroni, in series of videos on twitter, said his father and friends warned him against participating in the protest, but did not heed their calls.
“My father, my friends all called me and they said I should not go out and in all honesty I did not want to go out. The only reason I went there was that I wanted to be there. I knew people will die again and I saw it. I was at Lekki Phase 1 and I was about shooting, that is to tell you that I did not really want to go because I was scared.
“The situation we are in, in this country is dip shit, you cannot blame anyone. People are scared for their lives. Do you think I am not scared? People are scared for their lives. We are in a government that has zero value for human lives.
“I saw it with my eyes, when we were picked up, we were taking to Adeniji where we were beaten, stripped naked, everyone was beaten. It was the 39 people out there that gave me the ginger to go out, they are the true heroes and heroine. Have we got justice for what happen last year? And you want to open the tollgate.
“You over 200 policemen outside and does it mean you cannot guarantee peaceful protest? You are all irresponsible, we were beaten, it is serious war out there, these people don’t care, they will kill anybody. You cannot continue to oppress us,” he narrated.
By Abankula/ PM NEWS
Senior lawyer, Ndieonyema Nwankwo was found dead in his Owerri office on Sunday, a victim of a gruesome murder.
Sixty-four year-old Nwankwo, who was a former chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association in the Imo state capital, was found, in a pool of blood, with machete cuts on his neck.
The police said they also found the machete used to attack the lawyer from Arochukwu, Abia state.
According to the account of Chinedu Agu, the NBA secretary in Owerri, Nwankwo had left his home for his office on Saturday, to work.
It was when he did not return home, that the family raised an alarm.
Imo State Police Public Relations Officer Orlando Ikeokwu, on Sunday, explained that when the command received the report of the murder, operatives were immediately deployed to Nwankwo’s office.
According to the PPRO, they met the lawyer’s lifeless body.
Ikeokwu noted that while taking a further look around the office, a machete with bloodstains, suspected to have been used in inflicting the cuts on him, was found on the floor.
He said it was also discovered that his car and other yet to be identified items were taken away.
The state Commissioner of Police, CP Nasiru Mohammed, has called for calm.
He has also ordered an investigation into the murder.
But the police may already have a clue to work on: Nwankwo’s driver, who took him to work in the vanished car, has not been seen.
Here is the narration by Chinedu Agu:
At about 8.15am today [Sunday] on my way to Church for 8.30am Mass, I received a call from the Chairman of the Bar, J.I Ogamba, Esq. detailing me to liaise with the former Secretary of the Bar, Ishmael Nkwocha Esq., to take Police to N.H Nwankwo & Co. at 43 School Road Owerri, to ascertain the safety of N.H Nwankwo, Esq. who left home for work yesterday Saturday the 6th day of February, 2021 and was yet to return from work.
However, earlier to the call, Ishmael Nkwocha, who shares same office space with him had, in response to frantic calls from his family members over the uncertainty of his whereabouts, gone to his office to meet same locked. On opening the Entrance door, he met Nwankwo’s main office locked and with traces of blood on the door to his (Nwankwo’s) office.
Not very sure of the situation he went to the Homicide Section of the State CID, going with him Forensic Experts from the Police Headquarters to the office to have it properly opened by themselves in order not to contaminate evidential materials.
When the forensic experts arrived at 9:56hrs with their gadgets, they opened the door only for us to find his bulky frame lying lifeless inside his office in a pool of his congealed blood.
On a closer inspection, Nwankwo appeared to have been savagely macheted by his Assailant, as a very gaping cut was seen on his neck, a monstrous cut of not less than of about 30cm with only about less than 50percent of the flesh in his neck region holding the head.
On a closer inspection, Nwankwo appeared to have been savagely macheted by his Assailant, as a very gaping cut was seen on his neck, a monstrous cut of not less than of about 30cm with only about less than 50percent of the flesh in his neck region holding the head.
Blood splashes were seen on the roof, fans, Printer, Computers, table, files, seats, books, bookshelves inside his office suggestive of a ferocious macheting of his neck.
Nwankwo was suspected to have been busy working as his Printer, Computer, Standing Fan were on while a writing pad containing jottings unrelated to this incident and a Pen were found on his Desk.
A bucket of water was seen in his office, with which the assailant must have washed his hands and Machete used in this act.
A search of the office revealed a machete abandoned inside the Toilet of his office with which the assailant was suspected to have used to cut his neck.
When his body which lay half prostrate was turned machete cuts were seen on his Wrist also and the footprints captured by forensic experts suggested the act was done by two persons as the two footprints were unidentical.
As at the time of this Provisional report, Forensic Experts are still gathering evidential materials for their use accompanied by myself, L.C Ugorji, Uche Osuji, Ishmael Nkwocha, J.I Ogamba, D.O Nosike and a host of other Lawyers.
Meanwhile, his Driver, who reportedly was the only person with him in the office on Saturday, is at the time of this report at large, with Nwankwo’s phones, and Car no where to be found.
Arrangement has just been concluded to take the lifeless body to the Morgue.
This is one death too many; one murder too savage!
By Samuel Oamen
· Major-General Leo Irabor, Chief of Defence Staff
· Major-General I. Attahiru, Chief of Army Staff
· Rear Admiral A.Z Gambo, Chief of Naval Staff
· Air-Vice Marshal I.O Amao, Chief of Air Staff.
More...
The Federal High Court, Abuja, on Monday, ordered the resumption of trial in the N1.9 billion money laundering charge against former Governor of Niger, Babangida Aliyu.
Delivering judgment, Justice Inyang Ekwo, dismissed an administrative directive that okayed the trial of Aliyu, which started in 2017, to start de-novo (fresh).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the ex-governor is facing an eight count money laundering charge alongside his former Chief of Staff and governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Umar Nasko, filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
Ekwo held that former Chief Judge (CJ) of the Court, Justice Abdul Abdul-Kafarati, acted in breach of Section 98(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) 2015, when he re-assigned the case-file to a new judge for a fresh trial, after EFCC had called 10 witnesses in the matter and tendered several exhibits in evidence.
The judge noted that EFCC only had four pending witnesses to conclude its case before the matter was handed to a new trial judge.
NAN reports that the defendants were accused of diverting ecological funds of the Federal Government released to Niger State in 2014, to the tune of about N1.940 billion.
Though they were initially arraigned in Abuja before Justice Nnamdi Dimgba in 2017, however, following an application by the defendants, the case was transferred to the Minna Division of the Federal High Court.
Following the transfer of the case to Niger State, it was assigned to Justice Yellim Bogoro by the then CJ and the defendants were arraigned afresh and released on bail on Nov. 16, 2017.
However, midway into their trial, the CJ, in June 2019, ordered Justice Bogoro to hands-off the case.
The CJ subsequently transferred the case to Justice Aliyu Bappa for the trial to begin afresh, citing a petition that was brought to him by the EFCC.
Dissatisfied with the CJ’s decision, the former governor filed a suit to challenge it, insisting that the aim was to unnecessarily prolong his trial.
In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/620/2020, which has the FHC CJ, the EFCC and the Attorney-General of the Federation as 1st to 3rd defendants respectively, Aliyu urged the court to reverse the decision.
Meanwhile, in his judgement on the matter, Justice Ekwo agreed with the former governor to the effect that the CJ acted beyond his administrative powers.
Justice Ekwo held that the suit called for the judicial review of the action of the CJ in transferring a judicial proceeding mid-stream, from one judge to another, after the prosecution had called 10 witnesses.
“I have reviewed the facts, evidence and circumstances.
“Ordinarily, certiorari would not lie where the chief judge of a court acts administratively in the routine transfer of cases pursuant to the rules of court.
“This case is not predicated on the administrative power of the chief judge under the rules of this court.
“This is a statutory matter whereby the provisions of the law, the power of the chief judge to transfer a case, is curtailed.
“Where power is curtailed by statute and It is exceeded, review of such act by certiorari becomes inevitable. It is my opinion that order certiorari must be made in this circumstance where evidence has clearly demonstrated that a quasi-judicial function of a chief judge has been exercised in excess of statutory authority, and I so hold.
“As it is, I find merit in the case of the plaintiff and I enter judgment as follows:
“Declaration is hereby made that having regard to the provisions of Section 98(1) and (2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act 2015, the Honourable Chief Judge of the Federal High Court lacks the legal power to transfer or re-assign a criminal case from a judge before whom witnesses have been taken, to another judge where the trial will commence de novo.
“A declaration is hereby made that having regards to the provision of Section 98(2) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015, the purported transfer or re-assignment of the charge to Justice Bappa to commence de-novo, is ultra bored the powers of the Chief Judge and therefore null and void”, Justice Ekwo held.
He equally declared that the petition the EFCC submitted to the CJ through a letter dated Feb. 21, 2019, “failed to meet the requirement of Section 98(3) and 98(4) of the ACJA, 2015, as a basis for justifying the transfer of the criminal case with Charge No. FHC/ABJ/CR/71/2017, from Justice Yellim Bogoro to Aliyu Bappa J”.
He then made an order directing the CJ to recall the case-file from Justice Bappa and to remit the same to Justice Bogoro to continue and conclude the case.
As well as, “an order directing Justice Bogoro to complete the trial, having heard 10 prosecution witnesses”.
NAN recalls that Justice Bappa had, on May 23, 2019, issued a bench warrant for the arrest of the former governor and his co-defendant, after they failed to appear before him for trial.
The court further revoked the bail that was previously granted to them by Justice Bogoro.
The factional leader of the Boko Haram insurgents, Abubakar Shekau has claimed responsibility for the abduction of students of Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
Shekau made the claims in a new audio message first published by HumAngle.
He stated that the action was carried out to ‘promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices’.
“What happened in Katsina was done to promote Islam and discourage un-Islamic practices as Western education is not the type of education permitted by Allah and his Holy Prophet,” he said.
“They are also not teaching what Allah and his Holy Prophet commanded. They are rather destroying Islam. It may be subtle, but Allah the Lord of the skies and earth knows whatever is hidden. May Allah promote Islam. May we die as Muslims.”
“In a nutshell, we are behind what happened in Katsina,” he said.
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• Masari Orders Shutdown Of Boarding Schools
• Actual Number Of Abducted, Missing Students Uncertain — Police
• Buhari Condemns Bandits’ Attack On Katsina School, Charges Army To Rescue Students
• Call Off Holiday, Rescue 600 Kidnapped Students, PDP Urges President
• Kankara Abduction Sad Reminder Of Dapchi, Chibok Episodes — CPNS
• Make Your Word Your Bond, YCE Tell Buhari
• President Shunning Reps Tantamount To Abdicating Duty — NCP
• Nigeria’s Governance Beyond Buhari’s Capacity — Uwazurike
Nigeria is sinking deeper into a state of anomie with the abduction of about 600 schoolchildren from their dormitory, at the Government Secondary School (GSSS), Kankara, Katsina State, by suspected bandits at about 9.45pm on Friday.
The Katsina incident, which happened barely eight days after Boko Haram slaughtered over 100 farmers in Borno State, among other violent incidents have continued to lend credence to the worsening insecurity in the country.
The schoolchildren’s abduction happened the day President Muhammadu Buhari landed in his home state of Katsina for a week’s private visit, where he was presented with a horse by Emir of Daura, Alhaji Farouk Umar Farouk.
Interestingly, Buhari’s trip to Daura was done a day after he made a remarkable volte-face, after initially agreeing to appear before the National Assembly (NASS) to brief lawmakers of efforts that his government has been making to curb widespread insecurity.
With the spectre of insecurity looming larger than ever-before in the country, bandits dared the president by kidnapping about 600 of the about 800 pupils in the school, located in Kankara Local Council, which is 190 kilometres away from his homestead in Daura.
Some of the students escaped into nearby bushes, while others ran home to their parents while the bandits raided their school after shooting one of the policemen guarding the school’s entrance on the leg before gaining entrance.
While the NASS also cemented its alleged rubber stamp reputation with some members openly supporting the president’s no-show, stakeholders are worried at actions and inaction of the president that seem to have diminished governance and portrayed Nigerians as being taken for a ride.
They are also questioning the imperative of a seven-day private trip by a commander-in-chief at a time that strategic sessions are ultra-important in reducing the spate of killings, abductions and other violent crimes that have enveloped the country.
Their grouse is even made worse by the realisation that Buhari, 24 hours after he shunned a National Assembly invitation, abandoned his duty post and embarked on an impromptu vacation while criminals run riot across the country.
HOURS after the abduction of the pupils, Governor Aminu Bello Masari, ordered the closure of all boarding secondary schools across the state to forestall a reoccurrence.
One of the school’s teachers who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the bandits launched the attack shortly after prep by shooting into the air, a development that led to commotion and stampede.
He said the school has over 880 students, with the exception of JS3 and SS3 students, who are now out of school, and that 600 students were yet to return to the school several hours after the attack.
“We are still hoping that some of them might return. We believe some of them fled the attack and ran into the bushes,” he said, adding that the bandits, after gathering the students in one place, moved them towards Pauwa, a neighbouring village, where they were carted away.
Another teacher, who also craved anonymity said a headcount in the school carried out on Saturday, amid reports that hundreds of students had been abducted, revealed that 54 students were missing, a member of staff at the school told Channels TV on the condition of anonymity.
Masari, who abandoned an earlier scheduled event, yesterday morning to head to Kankara to ascertain the situation, ordered the immediate closure of all boarding secondary schools across the state.
Accompanied by his deputy, Mannir Yakubu, and other government officials, Masari met with the school officials, some parents, traditional and religious leaders, as well as security officials.
He pleaded with the people to be patient, show restraint and understanding, while assuring that government would do every necessary thing to ensure the release of all abducted pupils.
He said security personnel, including the military, police and the Department of State Security (DSS), had already swung into action and were on the trail of the abductors.
Governor Masari further assured that both governments at federal and state levels were doing their best to bring an end to banditry and other criminal activities in the state.
According to him, the government is very firm in its resolve to be ruthless in any engagement with the bandits.
Spokesperson for the State Police Command, Gambo Isah, a superintendent of police who earlier confirmed the incident, however, said the actual number of kidnapped, or missing students was being investigated.
According to Isah: “On 11/12/2020 at about 21:40hrs, bandits in their numbers, shooting sporadically with AK-47 rifles, attacked Government Science Secondary School, Kankara.
“The policemen on duty also responded to the attack and engaged them in a gun duel, which gave the students opportunity to scale the fence of the school and run for safety.
“The DPO reinforced the policemen on duty with Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC), which forced the hoodlums to retreat back into the forest.
“One inspector sustained a gunshot wound and was taken to the hospital and is responding to treatment. In the course of investigation, the DPO rescued over 200 students back into the school compound.
“The police, Nigerian Army, and Nigerian Air Force are working closely with the school authorities to ascertain the actual number of missing and/or kidnapped students, while search parties are assiduously working with a view to finding and/or rescuing the missing students.
“It will be too early to say at this particular moment the actual number of students that have been kidnapped or missing,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the deployment of additional operational and investigative assets to support the ongoing search and rescue operations. The deployment, which includes personnel from the Police Tactical Squads, and crack detectives from the Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB), will provide investigative support to the Katsina State Police Command.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, said they are also to work in sync with the military and other law enforcement agents in coordinated efforts aimed at rescuing the students, hunting down the perpetrators and bringing them to book.
PRESIDENT Buhari, yesterday, condemned the bandits’ attack and charged the Nigerian Army and other security agencies to go after the attackers to ensure that no student gets missing or harmed.
He also urged the school authorities to carry out an audit of the population of the students following shootings in and around the school that sent hundreds of them fleeing.
“I strongly condemn the cowardly bandits’ attack on innocent children at the Science School, Kankara. Our prayers are with the families of the students, the school authorities and the injured,” said Buhari while pledging to continue to support the police and military struggle against terrorists and bandits.
THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), in its reaction, charged Buhari to cut short his holiday and immediately take steps to rescue the kidnapped students.
At a press conference addressed in Abuja, the party’s national publicity secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said the party was shocked that the abduction took place a few hours after President Buhari arrived Katsina for a holiday, adding that the development showed that no security intelligence was done before the president’s trip.
Kastina State Governor, Aminu Masari (right); Commander, 17 Brigade, Katsina, Brigadier General W. B. Idris (left); and Principal of Government Science Secondary Schoo (GSSS), Kankara (where bandits abducted an unspecified number of students on Friday night), Malam Usman Abubakar, when Masari visited the school … yesterday
The party said it is perplexing that at a time the people of Katsina should have heaved a sigh of relief because of his presence, the abduction happened right under Mr. President’s nose; in his home state, where he had gone holidaying.
“This development,” according to the PDP, “has further exposed the failure of President Buhari to manage high level security intelligence that ought to accompany a presidential visit.”
The PDP said it was distressing that Buhari, who refused to honour an invitation by the House of Representatives for a collective deliberation on security, “could abandon his duty post for a holiday, leaving our national flanks open for terrorists, bandits, vandals, and insurgents.”
The party claimed that the time of the attack buttresses the fact that “President Buhari, as the commander-in-chief, is totally incapable of securing our nation; the very reason there have been widespread calls by patriotic Nigerians that he should resign.”
AN advocacy group, the Coalition for Peace and National Security (CPNS), which also condemned the Katsina attack described the action of the bandits against innocent school children as unacceptable, tasking security agencies to immediately swing into action to rescue the missing students, and also apprehend the perpetrators.
In a statement by its National Coordinator, Dr. Mohammed Maigoro, and National Secretary, Tunde Funsho, the group said: “We received the news of yesterday’s attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State, where at least 600 out of 800 students of the school are reportedly missing with shock.
“This latest action by bandits is a sad reminder of the past similar ones on Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok in Borno State on the night of April 14, 2014, where 276 girls writing West African Examination Council, WAEC, were abducted and another attack on February 19, 2018, at the Government Girls’ Science and Technical College, Dapchi, in Yobe State that left some students dead and others missing.
“This attack on innocent school children is not only cowardly but also callous and a crime against humanity, prohibited under the international humanitarian law.
“We urge the security agencies to immediately swing into action in not only rescuing the missing students but also apprehend the perpetrators of this heinous crime,” the group said.
LEGIONS of Nigerians have continued to weigh in on Buhari’s botched trip to the NASS with many of them scalding the president for his action.
According to the Secretary General, Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), Dr. Kunle Olajide: “Once the Speaker announced Mr. President’s decision to honour the invitation and Buhari’s Special Adviser on Social Media confirmed same, it was incumbent on the President to appear at the chamber. A gentleman’s word must be his bond.”
Olajide, who said shunning the NASS was not only disappointing, but also a slap on Nigerians added: “What the president did was wrong and his handlers and the APC didn’t advise him appropriately. They did him a lot of wrong by asking him not to appear, despite his initial assurance. It was more degrading that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, even visited the president in Aso Rock as a follow-up to the invitation and he assured him only to make a U-turn. That portrays him as a dictator. I appeal to well meaning Nigerians to condemn the action and that they must insist a new constitution is needed.”
NATIONAL Chairman, the National Conscience Party (NCP), Dr. Tanko Yinusa said Buhari’s refusal to appear before the NASS means he does not understand the tenets of democracy at all.
“He has simply ridiculed democracy and exposed it to danger. He has weakened it by showing discontent to the people that elected him into office.
“I do not think President Buhari is in his full capacity to preside over Nigeria. The ruling party is selling a dummy to Nigerians as if we don’t understand the constitution. For him not to appear before the House of Representatives is tantamount to abdicating his duty.”
THE Movement for the Actualisation of Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights Initiative (ISPHRI), and Emeritus President of Aka Ikenga, insisted that not honouring the invitation of the House of Representatives on a crucial issue as security meant that Buhari has lost touch with realities.
The Leader of MASSOB, Uchenna Madu said: “His inability to honour the invitation of the House of Representatives proves him as a non-citizen and a foreigner who maneuvered his way to the presidency through hypocritical, complex and religious fundamentalism.”
Stressing that the widespread insecurity in the land should worry any right thinking person, Madu added: “For the umpteenth time, the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration has portrayed itself as an uncoordinated and clueless administration.”
His failure to appear before the House of Representatives to table efforts he is making to stem insecurity in the country is eloquent evidence that he is enjoying the rampant killings in the country.”
THE President of ISPHRI, Comrade Osmond Ugwu, on his part said: “Buhari has been taking Nigerians for a ride on a number of issues. I want to also believe that it is the National Assembly that has given impetus to this character of the president because they have refused to rise to their responsibilities of calling the president to order on a lot of issues.
“This particular action of the president to me constitutes a gross misconduct because the action is tantamount to disobedient to constituted authority. In the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under Section 88, the National Assembly has the power to investigate public officers, including the president on issues of corruption and inefficiency. Section 89 makes it very clear that the National Assembly has the power to summon any person in Nigeria over any issue….”
PRESIDENT Emeritus, Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike stated: “My suspicion is that the governance of this country is above the capacity of President Mohammadu Buhari. Alternatively, Mr. President is not fully cognizant of the happenings in the country or the farfetched thought is that he does not care as long as he is in power.”
Explaining that any of the three postulations could indicate a fundamental failure of governance, Uwazuruike, added that it was amazing how ‘a man of the people’ has “metamorphosed into an invisible president.”
He said: “The President addressed us (Nigerians) three times from March to December after a lot of prodding. The mutual interaction between the president and the people has been replaced by indifference and nonchalance,” stressing that “this present legislature is so tame that the president of the Senate declared that any bill from the executive will pass. Also, the Senate dissociated itself from the invitation of the president. As it is, the Speaker of the House of Representatives is a marked man in the political activities of APC.”
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