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8 people killed by ramming gunmen in the Kogi community

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A gang of rampaging gunmen is believed to have killed at least eight people in Bagana district of Omala Local Government Area of Kogi State from Tuesday night to early Wednesday morning.

The gunmen are said to have started the attack in a supermarket in the community’s central area. They assassinated the salesperson and three other people in the store.

Fearful residents reportedly began running helter-skelter to avoid being hit by the sporadic gunshots that rang out throughout the night. Several other victims were said to have died as a result of stray bullets, while many others were injured.

The gunmen vanished without a trace, leaving the residents fearful of future attacks.

According to one source, the invasion is linked to a nearly ten-year conflict between three dominant groups in the area. In 2014, the conflict resulted in communal clashes that claimed dozens of lives and property.

Read Also:  Bandits attack Niger’s community, rob shops

According to the source, the conflict between Agatu militias and Fulani herders from Benue state has forced many people to flee their homes.

According to him, the same shop, which belonged to Musa Salifu, one of the sons of an embattled Onu Otutubatu Alhaji Salifu Anyebe, was attacked about five months ago, and he was wounded by gunshots.

William Aya, a spokesman for the Kogi State Police Command, confirmed the breach of peace, but claimed that normalcy had been restored in the area. Police have launched a manhunt for the perpetrators of the violence, he added.

Read Also:  Bandits kidnap 73 students in gov’s community, prompting Matawalle to call for self-defense

Bagana is a riverine community with a population of around 10,000 people. In the past, it was a major trade center with John Holt’s shop. The Olusegun Obasanjo administration started building a bridge across the Benue River from Bagana to Kuto in Nasarawa State. The bridge has been closed since then.

Bandits kidnap 73 students in gov’s community, prompting Matawalle to call for self-defense

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The abduction of 73 students from Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in the state’s Maradun local government area was confirmed by the Zamfara state Police Command on Wednesday.

The governor is from Maradun, the local government area’s headquarters.

SP Muhammad Shehu, the command’s public relations officer, confirmed the development in a statement, saying the abduction occurred after a large number of armed bandits invaded the school at exactly 1122 hours.

Shehu stated, “The Command, led by CP Ayuba N Elkanah psc+, has deployed a search and rescue team that was mandated to work in tandem with the military to ensure the safe rescue of the abducted students.”

Elkanah also urged the general public, particularly parents and relatives of the abducted students, to remain patient and pray for the ongoing rescue operation’s success.

“Security has also been beefed up at Kaya Village and environs to forestall further attack on the communities,” the statement continued, emphasizing that more information would be made available to the public.

The governor encourages people to help themselves.

Read Also:  Police apprehend the kidnapper of Afaka students

Meanwhile, the state’s governor, Bello Mohammed Matawalle, has urged residents to defend themselves from bandit attacks.

Matawalle made the remarks during a special prayer session organized by his administration on Wednesday to seek God’s intervention in the state’s current insecurity challenges.

Among those present were prominent Islamic scholars from the state as well as top government officials.

“I am calling on the people of the state, particularly rural communities, to use all available weapons at their disposal and protect themselves whenever they are attacked by bandits within their respective domains,” the governor said at the event.

“From now on, whenever these bandits storm your villages, I am directing our law abiding citizens, particularly those at the grassroots, to come out en masse and confront them with every available weapon you have at your disposal,” the governor said.

“I am confident that if this measure is implemented, the issue of banditry will be resolved quickly,” Mutawalle added.

Bandits are hit by a NAF jet.

In a separate incident, armed bandits were killed by a fighter jet from the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) at a school building in the state’s Shinkafi local government area on Sunday.

The jet also carried out air offensives in the areas of Zangon Dammaka and Jajaye, where Kachalla Haru and his loyalists had taken refuge.

Read Also:  NFF signs a deal with Air Peace that will lead to N1.2b in additional sponsorship

All of the operations over the weekend, according to an intelligence operative involved in the joint military operation in Zamfara State, were successful, according to PRNigeria.

“On August 29, 2921, at approximately 2 p.m., credible intelligence was received that over 100 armed bandits had surrounded a school building in Galadi’s Gidan Rijiya village, Shinkafi LGA, Zamfara State.

“A NAF Alpha Jet was then dispatched to conduct an assault on the location as part of Operation Hadarin Daji. Countless bandits were killed and their weapons were destroyed as a result of the assault strike.

“Aerial strikes were also carried out on Halilu Tubali’s enclave in Sububu forest. Except for one building, all of the operations were successful with no collateral damage.”

Read Also:  Bandits attack Niger’s community, rob shops

While the exact number of casualties is unknown, a local source told PRNigeria that the number of motorcycles destroyed at Gidan Rijiya Village could have eliminated more than 50 bandits.

Meanwhile, PRNigeria was unable to contact the Nigerian Airforce spokesperson, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, because his phone was not working.

4 Banks Owe FG N10.6bn in Customs Duty — Reps

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coic
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The House of Representatives has threatened to stop banks from remitting billions of naira collected as customs duty to the federal government, claiming that four out of 18 banks failed to do so.

When the banks appeared before the House Committee on Customs on Wednesday, this was their position. Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Standard Chartered Bank, Ecobank, and Providus Bank were the banks involved.

Most banks have been found culpable of not disclosing the exact amount they owed as outstanding remittances of Customs Duty collections running into billions of naira, according to Chairman of the Committee, Leke Abejide (APC, Kogi).

According to him, four of the 18 banks under investigation are allegedly owed the federal government N10.6 billion in unpaid Customs duty collections.

ECO Bank was also chastised by the committee for claiming N450 million in unremitted funds in documents submitted to the committee earlier.

According to Abejide, the committee discovered that the figure is N3.9 billion after conducting an independent investigation, collecting data, and analyzing the bank’s customs collection transactions.

Haruna Musa, the GTB’s Executive Director, said that some of the figures from the N103 million liability that had been tagged as unremitted had actually been remitted by the bank.

Ecobank Executive Director, Corporate Banking, Adekola Adeleke, however, stated that the bank owes no other funds.

Providus Bank was praised by the committee for being more honest in their disclosure than the other banks.

Nasir Muhammed, the bank’s Group Head, Public Sector, said that of the N213 million collected, N129 million was submitted late, and the remaining balance will be paid promptly.

“I’m using this medium to issue a warning to them. We were able to recover N10.6 billion from 18 banks, or 5 out of 18 banks, which are owed to the government,” Abejide said.

Read Also:  CBN Pegs Transfer Limits as E-Naira takes place October 1

The chairman of the committee warned that any bank found wanting or holding on to funds collected on behalf of the Nigeria Customs Service would be sanctioned by the Central Bank of Nigeria, with the outstanding amount deducted from their accounts (CBN).

“Well, we’ve given them two weeks to go and come back,” says the narrator. We will have no choice but to write the CBN to deduct the money from source after these two weeks,” Abejide warned.

Bandits attack Niger’s community, rob shops

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coic
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On Wednesday, bandits attacked the Bassa community in Niger’s Shiroro local government area.

On Wednesday, Mohammed Abdullahi, a traditional title holder in Erena town (Gunduma), confirmed the attack by phone.

According to Abdullahi, the bandits, who are believed to be members of Boko Haram, attacked Bassa town in the early hours of Wednesday.

“I’m not sure when they attacked, but we heard about it this morning when we woke up. We heard the assailants fled Zamfara and took refuge in Shiroro forest after being shot down by Nigerian Army fighter jets a few months ago,” he said.

“The bandits have been ravaging the town since the morning, destroying shops and other valuable properties while stealing all food and money. We’ve already notified the special vigilante groups stationed at Galkogo (a village near Bassa) and they’re en route to the town.

“As I speak with you, many residents have fled to Erena, while others have taken refuge in the bush. They arrived on motorcycles in droves. Because these attackers operate differently than the bandits who typically attack villages, people are claiming they are members of Boko Haram.

The attackers had only come to steal, according to Abdullahi, who added that no one had died.
According to Shehu Nagarta, a former resident of Bassa, the bandits remained in Bassa until 6 p.m. before departing for Magami, another Shiroro LGA village.

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The vigilantes and other security operatives who left to rescue the residents, according to Nagarta, have yet to return.

Attempts to contact police and government officials were unsuccessful, as calls and messages went unanswered.

Police apprehend the kidnapper of Afaka students

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coic
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After 55 days in captivity, the students were released after a ransom of N15 million was paid.

Security agents, however, stormed the Askolaye community in Kaduna South Local Government Area on Sunday after tracking the suspect for weeks, according to sources.

The suspect arrived in the community almost two months ago and rented a house with the intention of enrolling his two stepchildren in an Islamic school, according to a resident familiar with the situation. Security agents detained the suspect and his wife, he said, while community leaders and neighbors who had been summoned for questioning had been released.

Another resident told our correspondent that the suspect’s wife, whose father and husband were murdered by bandits, had no idea her current husband was a criminal who had orchestrated the murders of her late father and husband.

“After murdering her husband, he returned and married her, then adopted her two children, both under the age of seven. All of this was unknown to her until he was apprehended and confessed in front of her during interrogation. He also admitted to being a part of the group that carried out several school kidnappings, including those of Afaka students,” he said.

When officers arrived in the community, they discovered that the suspect’s three-bedroom house on the ring road in Layin Dahiru Bauchi was locked.

Another local told our correspondent that the suspect claimed to be from Ilorin, Kwara State, and that he had relocated his family to enroll them in school.

Read Also:  Two killed, many injured when police officers and kidnappers clashed near Ogun polytechnic

“He told us his name is Abubakar; we don’t know if that is his real name, but he was introduced to us by a tailor friend in Badarawa,” he explained. However, the suspect’s tailor friend has now told security agents that their relationship is based on the fabrics he brings to him to sew, as he had no idea the suspect was a bandit.

The Kaduna State Police Command, through its Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige, declined to comment on the arrest when contacted, but said the matter was being investigated.

NFF signs a deal with Air Peace that will lead to N1.2b in additional sponsorship

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coic
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On Wednesday, a Nigerian airline, Air Peace, signed a four-year deal with the country’s football federation to become the team’s sole sponsor.

The deal is worth about N300 million per year, and will continue to do so for the next four years.

Mr. Allen Onyema, Chairman of Air Peace, signed a contract with the President of Nigeria Football Federation, Amaju Pinnick, and representatives of both organizations, in attendance.

A partnership with the Nigeria Football Federation would see the airline fly the country’s players and officials to Cape Verde on the airline’s brand-new Embraer E195-E2 jet.

Pinnick mentioned that the NFF has become 75% self-funded because of the partnership, mentioning that the federation’s goal is to become 100% self-funded.

He noted, “We are content, because peace in Air Peace represents unity, humanity, patriotism, and nationalism.”

We’ve signed an agreement, and we’re going to protect it and showcase it. 100% self-funding is our goal, and that is our dream.

Read Also:  2023: Don’t let Atiku squander your ticket, a group warns the PDP

Chairman of Air Peace, Mr. Allen Onyema explained that the airline’s desire to be a part of the Super Eagles’ success stories is what drove them to sign the contract.

The main reason I decided to get involved with NFF is because I want to use the platform that God has given me to restore hope in Nigeria.

Many people are suffering. Hope in the country is waning. Please, don’t lose hope. It is a magnificent nation. “Countries throughout the world envy Nigeria,” he declared.

2023: Don’t let Atiku squander your ticket, a group warns the PDP

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PDP Action 2023, a group of supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party, has urged the party not to repeat the mistake of wasting its Presidential ticket on former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

The group made the appeal in an Abuja statement signed by its National Chairman, Dr. Rufus Omeire, titled “Atiku Should Not Waste PDP Ticket Again.”

“Giving Atiku Abubakar another chance as the PDP Presidential Candidate is to ensure a clear defeat for the PDP in 2023,” Omeire said, admonishing the former Vice-President of Nigeria not to deceive PDP members a second time.

Read also: Parties’ Crises: When Chief Justice Buni Steps Down, Council Ward Exco Suspends Secondus

“In our most recent Press Statement, we chastised Atiku for abandoning PDP members by fleeing to Dubai after the elections, shielding himself from PDP members, only to reappearance now that the Presidential primaries are approaching.

“We are surprised that Atiku claimed in his response that his absence from Nigeria for so long was to obtain a degree from Cambridge University.

“On the contrary, the entire country is aware that he relocated to Dubai, where he even received his highly publicized COVID Vaccination before it was available to ordinary Nigerians.”
“It is disingenuous for Atiku to claim that he was in school in Cambridge, London when he actually lived in Dubai,” the group added.

“He could have done the program from Nigeria if he had enrolled in a part-time course at the University of Cambridge.”

Attempts to reach the former Vice President’s media office were unsuccessful. The Media Adviser’s mobile phone number, Mazi Paul Ibe’s, was switched off when calls were made to it.

As of the time of filing this report, no response to a text message sent to him had been received.

Security officers hindered the Oyo monarch from attending state function

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coic
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The monarch, Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111, had been prevented from entering the Salami stadium, Adamasingba Ibadan on Wednesday, Bode Durojaiye, the Director of Media and Publicity to the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi 111 has confirmed.

It was found out that other monarchs in the state, such as the Alafin of Oyo, were among those who were notified of the newly remodeled stadium being commissioned on Wednesday.

Our correspondent learned that, despite having been formally invited by the Oyo State Government, the Alaafin was barred from entering the stadium.

It was discovered that the monarch had left the location immediately after the event.

The announcement from Alaafin’s spokesman, Bode Durojaiye, came via Twitter, stating that while confirming the development, he had been briefed that security agents did keep the monarch out of the venue.

He called the security agents ‘overzealous’ in his description.

Please accept my condolences, brother.

The Alaafin had to cut his tour short because of excessive security.

I was not present, but I have just learned about it.

It had been reported earlier that Oba Saliu Akanmu Adetunji, the Ibadanland Olubadan, was also prevented from entering the stadium.

Adetunji stormed out of the stadium in a fit of rage.

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The development was confirmed by the Yanju Adegboyega, Assistant Director of Media and Publicity to the Olubadan.

Officials of the Department of State Service (DSS) and security guards successfully stopped the monarch from entering the stadium.

It was completely unremarkable. We were unable to enter the stadium because of the crowd control procedures.

Due to the DSS and bouncers, we were not permitted entry. I am the Assistant Director of Media, so please quote me.

Aregbesola’s aide attempted to assassinate the police

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coic
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One of Rauf Aregbesola’s aides, Abosede Oluwaseun, has described the claims of the Nigerian Police, the Osun Command, and other official sources as full of partisan and unfounded allegations.

A spokesman for Oluwaseun issued a statement on Wednesday in which he claimed that the police had discredited information given by an attack suspect at Dada Estate, his Osogbo home.

A year ago, on Thursday, August 26th, 2021, armed masked men attacked me at my home shortly after 10 p.m. The police responded to the home only two hours after the criminals left with my car and phone.

This is because they restrained my wife and myself, as well as gagging us, and then tied our hands. Due to this act, it took longer to get help, and then the police, which delayed our progress and prevented us from making any further progress.

Nigerian Police Oluwaseun said that the police could not have chased the hoodlums who had been out for two hours because the police could not have seen them.

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To put it in his own words, he says that “along with our other allies, we discovered the car parked a short distance from the police station, with the keys still in the ignition.

Then, police officers were taken aback by the turn of events, and so we called their attention to it. All political documents and personal identity cards were missing except for the car plate numbers, Arsenal stickers, and a couple of other minor items. Based on the above information, I suspect that the police chased the hoodlums, who were likely responsible for the vehicle’s theft, and that is how the vehicle was recovered.

The spokesperson for the Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, accused the police of being false, malicious, and unprofessional when he stated that his wife was followed home by hoodlums and that the case was a robbery.

He insisted that his wife and children had been home for hours prior to his arrival, and that the attack was launched shortly after his arrival.

In light of the fact that violence to myself and my family, the threat to end my life, and the bizarre return of the vehicle to where I and the police can recover it, with the assailants’ focus being on obtaining my documents rather than anything of value, could cause sympathetic writers to use the term “attempted assassinations,” the police must analyze the facts and conclude the case without sensationalism or partisan bias.

He argued that the police claim that the crime was only a robbery, and no one was killed, was ridiculous.

Next, Oluwaseun ordered the police to serve the public, to act in a neutral and professional manner, and to not be on the side of politicians who are desperate for power.

Read Also:  PDP suspends National Chairman, Uche Secondus

On Tuesday, the Osun Police Command refuted claims that Oluwaseun was behind an assassination attempt by using a public service announcement that was signed by their Police Public Relations Officer, Yemisi Oplalola.

Opalola said in the press release that the police immediately started chasing after the gangsters after they obtained the information which lead to the vehicle recovery.

Parties’ Crises: When Chief Justice Buni Steps Down, Council Ward Exco Suspends Secondus

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Ward 5 in Ikuru town, Andoni Local Government Area of Rivers State has suspended the embattled National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prince Uche Secondus.

Party chairman George Christopher made the announcement yesterday at the extraordinary meeting of the party’s leadership, which was taking place at the party’s secretariat in Ikuru town.

The crisis ragging of the opposition party in Port Harcourt brought about the earlier suspension of a Secondus.

In a case involving Secondus, a pseudonym used by chairman and member of the PDP Secondus, Justice O. Gbasam of the Degema Judicial Division granted an interim injunction, which barred him from appearing publicly as chairman and member of the PDP.

A lawsuit filed by Ibeabuchi Ernest Alex, Dennis Nna Amadi, Emmanuel Stephen, and Umezirike Onucha (1st defendants) and the PDP had as its follow-up the consideration of an ex-parte application in suit number PHC/2183/CS/2021 (2nd defendant).

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After reading the affidavit, the judge granted the ex parte motion.

However, on the day after the High Court’s decision, the High Court in the state capital of Kebbi, Birnin Kebbi, reaffirmed the ruling and ordered Secondus to return to work immediately.

In her ruling, Justice Nusirat Umar studied the affidavit and written address in support of the ex parte application, and concluded that she was satisfied with the request for an interim injunction.

“The court is pleased to grant the second defendant, the PDP, Chairman First Respondent, the liberty to exercise all the constitutional powers as described in both the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria and the party’s constitution as amended until the motion on notice is heard and finally decided,” she said.

Three concerned members of the party, represented by their counsel, Ibrahim Jibril, brought the suit.

He was, however, stopped from presiding over the National Executive Council meeting and parading himself as chairman of the party after a Cross River High Court issued an order halting his efforts.

Prince Secondus is a native of the town of Ikuru in Rivers State’s Andoni Local Government Area.

George Christopher, the chairman of Ward 5 Ikuru of the PDP, stated today that 11 of the 17 executive members of the ward supported the suspension of Ward 2’s leader, Secondus.

He reported that the ward executives of the party met on August 31, 2021, and discussed the issues that were impacting the party. He went on to say that the party executive committee subsequently decided to suspend Secondus as a result of the meeting.

While in a text message, Mr. Abonyi, who serves as a Special Adviser to Secondus on Media, clarified that he is not aware, but NEC of PDP only has the authority to suspend a national officer.

Buni’s bid to lead the LG group is aborted by the court.

Read Also:  Kwara cabinet approved presentation of a supplementary budget to the Assembly for 2021

An APC local government congress in Asaba, the Delta State capital, has been suspended by the High Court, which is sitting in Asaba.

When a substantive suit comes before the court, the Yobe State governor, Mai Mala Buni, will not parade as chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee.

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