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Tag: Adamawa

  • Flood sacks 40 villages in Adamawa

    Flood sacks 40 villages in Adamawa

    No fewer than 40 villages have been sacked by flood in Adamawa, News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    Dr Muhammad Sulaiman, the Executive Secretary, Adamawa State Emergency Management Agency (ADSEMA), confirmed this to NAN on Saturday in Yola.

    Sulaiman said the development followed heavy downpour recorded in the last three days in some parts of the state.

    He said majority of the affected villages were on the bank of River Benue, with farmlands and houses seriously affected.

    “In August this year, we lost 15 persons, hundreds of people were internally displaced, and thousands of farmlands and domestic animals were lost to the flood.

    “Now within the last three days, over 40 villages in five local government areas of Adamawa were over-run by flood following heavy torrential rainfall.

    “The affected local government areas include Fufore, Yola South, Demsa, Numan and Girei,” the ADSEMA boss said.

    He urged the federal agencies and United Nations Organisations who promised assistance to the victims of the August flooding to redeem their pledge.

    Sulaiman noted that currently the level of water in the River Benue was high and many villages are cut off from the rest of the state.

    He said that there was possibility of more flooding, adding that officials of the agency had been sent to some affected areas to assess the level of damage.

    On the speculations that the recent flood is linked to the release of water from Lagdo Dam in Cameroun, the ADSEMA boss said that he was unaware.

    “There has been no official communication between Nigeria and the Cameroun Government that water is going to be released from Lagdo Dam.

    “However, the recent high volume of water in the River Benue is unusual,” Sulaiman said.

    Mr Haley Gajere, a farmer from Bilachi Village in Demsa Local Government Area, told NAN that the village was completely over-run by the flood.

    Gajere said that the residents were taking refuge in neighbouring villages, adding that their rice and maize farmlands had been completely washed away.

    “On Friday, we harvested one of our rice farms of about three hectares along the bank of River Benue with the intention of conveying it back home on Saturday.

    “However, as I speak to you now, our houses have been submerged; we cannot even trace the farm location, because everywhere is flooded,” Gajere said.

    NAN reports that the displaced villages in Demsa include Mbula Bilachi, Morro 1, Morro 2 and Mbumara.

    Others are Tika 1, Tika 2, Kunteri, Kuli, Tassala, and Kulasala among others.

    In Fufore, the affected villages include Riko, Faram-Faram, Gurore Ribadu, Tumbi’nde, Dulo Bate, and Dulo Fulani among others.

  • Police uncover another torture centre in Adamawa, rescue 15

    Police uncover another torture centre in Adamawa, rescue 15

    The police in Adamawa State have rescued 13 adults and two teenagers from an illegal rehabilitation home in Adamawa state.

    The operator of the inhumane centre with his three sons have also been arrested.

    The policemen who rescued the 15 said they acted on intelligence reports. Police found the victims in a one-room apartment which is said not to be suitable for three persons considering the harsh weather condition of the state.

    DSP Suleiman Nguroje, who disclosed this in Yola on Wednesday, said the 15 victims were found in dehumanising conditions.

    He also said that some of the victims had spent the past year in that condition. It was revealed that except for two teens all the other victims were adults within the age bracket of 22 and 46 years.

    Nguroje said, “They were being chained, humiliated, victimised, subjected to unnecessary torture. They were in chains for 24 hours without feeding and medication.”

    Nguroje explained that the police has already started investigations into the activities of the four suspects.

    The victims who have narrated their ordeals to the police following their rescue said they were fed only once in 24 hours.

    One victim aged 42 said he had been in the centre for the last one year.

  • Atiku’s son make Adamawa Commissioner nominees’ list

    Atiku’s son make Adamawa Commissioner nominees’ list

    Gov. Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa has nominated Adamu Atiku, the eldest son of the Presidential candidate of the PDP in 2019 general election, Atiku Abubakar, and 22 others as commissioners.

    The list was read out at the Wednesday plenary of the Adamawa House of Assembly presided over by the Speaker, Alhaji Aminu Iya-Abbas.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the PDP Secretary in the state, Alhaji Abdullahi Prambe, also made the list.

    Atiku loyalists, Ibrahim Mijinyawa and Umaru Daware who resigned their position as commissioners under former Gov. Muhammadu Bindow’s administration and defected to the PDP, were also nominated.

    Speaking on the list, the House Committee Chairman on Information, Mr Japhet Kefas, said no date had been fixed for their screening.

    “The house will decide next week on a date for their screening,” Kefas said.

    NAN recalls that the house had on Tuesday approved the list of 40 Special Advisers for the governor.

  • APC vows to retake Atiku’s Adamawa from PDP in 2023

    APC vows to retake Atiku’s Adamawa from PDP in 2023

    Stakeholders of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Adamawa State have taken stock of how the party lost the state in the 2019 election due to disunity and resolved to put the past behind them and take back the state in 2023.

    The stakeholders came out of a reconciliatory meeting in Yola on Friday night saying they had learnt their lessons and would henceforth work together for the success of the party at all levels.

    A former member of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nuhu Ribadu, and Hajia Aisha Buhari’s brother, Ahmed Halilu (Mudi) had been bitterly against Sen Mohammed Jibrilla (Bindow) after Bindow as the state governor at the time, won the APC governorship primary which Ribadu and Mudi discredited.

    The two rejected Bindow’s candidacy up to the general election and were believed to have worked against Bindow at the election, a development believed to have contributed greatly to the failure of Bindow and of course the APC at the election.

    Ribadu who attended the Adamawa State APC Steering Committee/State Exco/Stakeholders Reconciliatory Meeting of Friday night, stressed that the intra-party conflict which cost the party the chance of retaining the state at the 2019 governorship election would never occur again.

    “Never again will we let that happen,” he said during a review remark at the end of the meeting.

    The meeting was the first in what may be a series of similar meetings following the constitution of a 39-member Central Steering Committee of the APC to reconcile misgivings and reposition the party for future success.

    Ribadu said, “We are here saying enough is enough. We will work together, we will never allow anything to come between us that will affect our fortunes and the fortunes of our party.

    “APC is a progressive party, our opponents are conservatives. It was so unfortunate that we were not guided in the past as a result of which our political enemies benefitted.”

    Urging a demonstration of the new resolve in the council-level elections scheduled for the state in November, Ribadu said, “It will never happen again in Adamawa. We have an election coming, the local government election. We intend to do it properly and fairly and we will not allow anybody to cheat us again.

    “We have all assembled here, all the leaders of the party from the local government to state levels. We have all resolved to work together for the victory of our party.”

    Earlier in his remark, chairman of the APC Steering Committee and one time Minister of Defence and Internal Affairs respectively, Abdurrahman Adamu, said that disturbed by the lingering precarious relationship among members of the party, elders took the gauntlet to restore sanity and orderliness after the party waded through misunderstanding for a long time.

    Also speaking, Adamawa State APC chairman, Ibrahim Bilal said with the resolve of the elders of the party to address grievances within the party, APC in Adamawa has become well organised, strengthened and ready to take the state by storm.

    The Chairman Sub-Committee on Reconciliation, Dahiru Bobbo, said his committee was delegated to reconcile aggrieved members and put the party on the threshold of prosperity.

  • Adamawa Gov. Fintiri loses father

    Adamawa Gov. Fintiri loses father

    Adamawa State Governor, Rt Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, has lost his father.
    A statement on Sunday afternoon from the state Director General of Media and Communications, Solomon Kumanga, said,
    “It is with a heavy heart that we announce the passing away of Alhaji Umaru Badami, the father to Adamawa State Governor Rt. Hon Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, who died today after a prostrated illness.
    “The funeral prayer will take place at Lamido’s Palace in Yola by four o’clock today.”
    Kumanga said the governor’s father died at the FMC Yola at 2:30 p.m. Sunday at the age of 82.
    He said the deceased was an ex-serviceman who retired from the Army in 1984

  • Adamawa Perm Sec abducted at gunpoint

    Permanent Secretary of the Adamawa State Ministry of Mineral Resources, Emmanuel Piridimso, has been kidnapped.
    Emmanuel was abducted at his residence in the state capital, Yola, in the early hours of Wednesday, according to a member of his family, Francis Samuel, who said the gunmen stormed the residence of the permanent secretary at Clark’s Quarters in Jimeta, about 3:20 am and took him away.
    “The gunmen came bearing two guns and abducted the Permanent Secretary at gunpoint. They carted away his handset and that of his wife.
    “We have tried to no avail to contact the Permanent Secretary through his phone number, and the abductors refused to pick our calls. As at the time we are speaking, the abductors were yet to contact us,” Francis Samuel explained.
    The state police command confirmed the incident, assuring of efforts to redeem the situation.
    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Suleiman Yahaya, told newsmen Wednesday morning, “The police have already deployed IG’s rapid response team to track and arrest the culprits and to also rescue the victim.”

  • Three feared dead in Adamawa as soldiers ‘open fire’ on protesters

    Three feared dead in Adamawa as soldiers ‘open fire’ on protesters

    At least three protesters were killed and four others injured when soldiers allegedly opened fire on demonstrators in the border community of Gurin, Fufore Local Government of Adamawa State.

    According to sources, over 2000 youths took to the streets on Thursday, to protest against military harassment and selective enforcement of the ban on the use of motorcycles.

    They explained that the villagers were angered by the fact that their impounded motorcycles are being used by the soldiers or their errand boys.

    This frustration has been building, but yesterday the soldiers tried to seize a particular young man’s motorcycle which he resisted.

    However, reports indicate that three persons were shot dead by the soldiers, while six others sustained wounds as a result of the clash.

    Meanwhile, the brigade commander, 23 Armoured Brigade Yola, said he is yet to be briefed on the number of casualties.

    Only recently, the Adamawa State Police Command announced the ban on motorcycles as a measure to checkmate activities of kidnappers and other criminals in the state.

  • Boko Haram invades Adamawa village, kills 26

    Twenty-six people have been feared killed and several others critically injured following a Boko Haram attack on a village in Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

    According to reports the insurgents on Tuesday riding motorcycles, stormed the Kudakaya village in large numbers around 7pm on Monday.

    A local vigilante member said, “Many victims fell to the attack. I saw corpses of 26 people and there are several others that were critically injured and taken to hospital.”

    A former chairman of the Madagali LGA, Abawu Ularamu, supported the anonymous vigilante member’s account, and added, “They (Boko Haram) burnt several shops and many homes. They also stole food items. As I am talking to you now, we are living in an atmosphere of despair and agony for this attack. Over 20 people were killed while many were injured and rushed to hospital.”

    He said the insurgents must have arrived the community from Sambisa, a forest in neighboring Borno State dreaded for being a hideout for Boko Haram despite its supposedly having been cleared of the insurgents by soldiers.

    ‘’There is no doubt the attackers came from Sambisa. We experience such periodic attacks from Boko Haram, who usually look for food. They are not far from us. Any slight opportunity, they may strike again,” he said.

    The Adamawa State Police Public Relations Officer, Othman Abubakar, confirmed the attack. “Yes, I was briefed that members of the dreaded Boko Haram insurgents have attacked the village.”

    Othman however could not confirm the casualty figure. He merely said, “I am yet to get the casualty figure but security operatives were deployed and are on the top of the situation.’’

    Madagali has since just before the March/April elections been frequently attacked by Boko Haram. It shares the bad luck of being haunted by the insurgents with nearby Michika LGA. Together, they are the two LGAs in Adamawa State that have been attacked by Boko Haram a number of times in the last couple of months.

  • Buhari condemns fresh ethnic clashes in Taraba, Adamawa, others

    President Muhammadu Buhari has expressed sadness over the latest needless violent clashes between Jukuns and Tivs in Taraba State; and Fulani, Genjon and Bachama in Adamawa resulting in arson, injuries and deaths.

    Buhari said this in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, in Abuja on Saturday.

    He said: “Violence and bloodshed for whatever reason is unacceptable and condemnable, especially when it is coming as the nation celebrates Easter, with all the lessons of love and peace for humanity.

    ”Violence has not and cannot be the solution to the resolution of misunderstandings among the people.

    “Once we abandon reason and good judgement, we are giving violence the chance to take over and make a bad situation more complicated and difficult to resolve.’’

    The president maintained that the “primary initiative for ending violence once and for all must originate from the local actors involved in these clashes.”

    Buhari reassured Nigerians that his administration would not rest on its oars to provide security for all.

    He said government would at the same time “engage in dialogue with local stakeholders in order to get to the root of the crises.”

    The president mandated a religious group involved in stitching up broken relationships between communities in Plateau State to work with security agencies in reconciling communities in Kaduna, Taraba and Adamawa states.

    “The President has also directed the National Emergency Management Agency and the National Commission for Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons to scale up their efforts in bringing succour to displaced people.

    “President Buhari assured that immediate intervention by the military has brought calm back to communities,” the statement quoted Buhari as saying.

  • 9th NASS leadership: Adamawa APC supports Lawan, Gbajabiamila

    9th NASS leadership: Adamawa APC supports Lawan, Gbajabiamila

    The Adamawa Chapter of the All Progressives Congress(APC) has thrown its weight behind the candidatures of Sen. Ahmed Lawan and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila for the leadership of the 9th National Assembly (NAN).

    Alhaji Ahmed Lawal, state Organising Secretary of the party, made the declaration in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Yola.

    Lawal, who said he was speaking on behalf of the party, said that the decision of the party leadership at the national level to endorse the duo was logical.

    According to him, Lawan is already the Senate Majority Leader while Gbajabiamila is the House Leader.

    He said that the decision of the party was binding on all APC senators and members of the House of Representatives.

    He condemned the activities of some members of the party who were opposing the decision of the APC leadership.

    “As far as Adamawa APC is concern, the decision of the national leadership of the party is final, hence party supremacy.

    “The endorsement of Ahmed Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila for national leadership is logical since they are leaders of the APC caucus in the national assembly.

    “All members of the APC irrespective of their status should abide by the decision of our party leadership.

    “Any decision taken by Adams Oshiomhole, and Ahmed Tinubu, who is the national leader of our dear party is in the best interest of the APC in particular and the nation in general.

    “Any member of the party who opposes such a decision should be sanctioned immediately,” Lawal said.

    The organising secretary commended Tinubu for his contributions to the party from its formation in 2013 till date.

    Lawal urged the national leader of the party not to be deterred by marginal internal wrangling and remain resolute to work toward sustainability of APC for taking Nigeria to ‘Next Level’.

    NAN reports that the APC national leadership has endorsed Lawan and Gbajabiamila as Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives respectively.

    However, some APC members at the NASS were allegedly opposing the decision of the party on the endorsement.