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Tag: bandits

  • Bandits release 5 more Bethel students, matron

    Bandits release 5 more Bethel students, matron

    Bandits have released five more students and the matron of Bethel Baptist High School, Maraban Damishi, in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna state.

    The President, Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev Dr Israel Adelani Akanji, said the students and their matron were released on Friday evening, while the remaining students would also be released.

    “Glory be to God. Five of our Bethel Baptist High School students and the Matron making 6, have just been released to us this evening, October 8.”

    “We thank God and trust that the remaining four students will also be released. Thank you for your prayers and support,” he said.

    Chairman of CAN in Kaduna State, Rev John Joseph Hayab also confirmed the release of the students.

    A total of 121 students had been forcefully taken away from their hostels when the school came under attack by the assailants in July.

    The bandits later released 28 of them on July 25, after a ransom was reportedly paid.

    Thereafter, 15 additional students regained freedom from the captivity of their abductors on August 22.

    Ten more students regained their freedom on September 18, and an additional 10 students on September 26

  • Bandits demand N100m to free 300 level BUK student

    Bandits demand N100m to free 300 level BUK student

    Suspected bandits have reportedly abducted one Sakina Bello, a 300-level student of Botany at Bayero University while on transit in a tricycle, popularly known as ‘Keke’.

    The abduction was said to have occurred along the Janbulo and Rijiyar Zaki area of the Kano metropolis on Tuesday.

    The 23-year-old student had left her home in Rjiyar Zaki at about 3pm and was headed for Janbulo when she was kidnapped.

    “They called her elder brother around 9 pm and informed him that she is their den and that they will call back on Wednesday. And the next they do is to demand for N100million ransom,” the source told newsmen.

    Reacting to the situation, the state’s police spokesman, DSP Abdullahi Kiyawa, told the medium that the command was making efforts to rescue the victim.

    “We received a report of missing person from Rjiyar Zaki and we immediately swung into action to trace her whereabouts. The command is putting more efforts to ensure she is traced and reunite with her family,” he said.

  • Bandits kill 10, wound many others in fresh Katsina attack

    Bandits kill 10, wound many others in fresh Katsina attack

    Bandits on Tuesday evening killed 10 people and injured 11 others in Yasore village, Batsari Local Government Area of Katsina State.

    The bandits were also said to have looted several houses in the village during which they stole money, phones, clothes, foodstuff and other personal items.

    Residents said the assailants also rustled several domestic animals after they had set ablaze scores of houses and food barns.

    It was learnt that the bandits, who were armed with sophisticated weapons, swooped on the village on motorcycles at about 6.30pm. They were said to be on a reprisal attack.

    Residents said that the bandits operated for several hours before they left the village because the telecommunication shutdown in the council prevented residents from seeking early assistance from security agencies.

    Although residents said 16 people were killed in the operation, the Police put the figures of the dead at 10.
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    It was further learnt that the dead were buried on Wednesday morning.

    A visitor to the village on Wednesday described the situation there as “sympathetic,” as he claimed that youths were seen preparing graves for the burial of the victims, while many residents were said to be bemoaning the losses they had suffered in the attack.

    Spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, SP Gambo Isah, confirmed the incident but insisted that the bandits were on a revenge mission at the village.

    “The bandits were on a reprisal attack. Ten people were killed in the incident, while 11 others were injured.

    “Recently, members of Yansakai (outlaw local vigilante) have been going round the community, killing the Fulani and the bandits went there on a revenge mission.

    “It is unfortunate. Any member of Yansakai caught henceforth would be treated as bandits. Yansakai remains outlawed in the state,” Isah said.

  • We deal with bandits same way we deal with separatists, criminals – Lai Mohammed

    We deal with bandits same way we deal with separatists, criminals – Lai Mohammed

    The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said the federal government of Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari deals with bandits same way it deals with separatists and criminals.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mohammed stated this on Tuesday when he featured on Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) programme, “Good Morning Nigeria”.

    Speaking on renewed onslaught against bandits, the Minister stressed that it was erroneous and misleading to accuse the FG of treating bandits with kid-gloves.

    The Minister said banditry is criminality with no basis on religion or ideology.

    He said the approach of the federal government through the military in treating criminals is not to make a distinction between bandits and terrorists.

    “I think we have been dancing around nomenclature, a criminal is a criminal whether it is a bandit or terrorist and the same measure is being meted out to them.

    “That is why we find it ridiculous, the accusation that the federal government is softer on bandits than the separatists and other criminals.

    “This is a fallacy, a fake news and misinformation all into one, and this is the kind of divisive rhetoric being promoted by some naysayers,’’ he said.

    Mohammed said it is senseless for the military to treat bandits, who are killing soldiers and policemen, with kid-gloves.

    He added that the method of the military in fighting criminality through the land and air would not allow for any distinction between bandits and other criminals.

    Mohammed said with the renewed onslaught against bandits and certain measures taken by the governors of the states where bandits are operating, they are winning the war.

    He said the governors had learnt from the mistakes of the past and had resolved that they would not negotiate with bandits but to go after them and not spare them.

    Mohammed said measures, such as suspension of mobile telecommunication networks in certain areas and the ban on sale of petroleum products in jerry cans and at filling stations around the land borders are yielding fruits.

    He added that the ban on sale of fairly used motorcycles in some markets and restriction on the use of “junction motor parks’’ in the states are also yielding results.

  • Bandits, kidnappers are also terrorists – Senator Bulkachuwa

    Bandits, kidnappers are also terrorists – Senator Bulkachuwa

    Senator Adamu Bulkachuwa says bandits, kidnappers and other violent groups troubling the country are no different from terrorists.

    “We gave them the name bandit probably to just soft pedal because terrorism in the international arena is regarded as the most heinous crime that any group of people can engage in,” the senator said on a monitored Channels Television programme on Sunday.

    “They are terrorists in reality. What else are they? Anybody that does not allow people rest, what is he?”

    The Senator is one of the latest high-profile Nigerians to have joined calls for bandits and their sponsors to be tagged as terrorists.

    Earlier on Sunday, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Femi Falana called on the media and Nigerians to stop referring to the criminals as bandits, insisting that they are terrorists.

    According to him, the government was “quick to proscribe” those who kidnapped students from Chibok in Borno State, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and others as terrorists but has continued to treat banditry “lightly”.

    “But for reasons best known to the Federal Government,” he said, “the criminal elements who are currently involved in the brutal killing of innocent people and abduction of thousands of people including primary school pupils in the North West Zone are called bandits and not terrorists.”

    The lawmaker concurred with the human rights activist.

    “It is just giving them their right name,” he said, days after the House of Representatives and the Senate urged President Muhammadu Buhari to brand bandits and their sponsors as terrorists.

    “They should be declared terrorists. After all, who is a terrorist and who is a bandit?”

    According to the lawmaker representing Bauchi North, both bandits and kidnappers should be tagged as terrorists. This, he believes, will help in the fight against criminality in the country.

    “The bandits, the kidnappers, they are all terrorists,” he maintained. “They should be declared same so that whichever country they go to, they would be regarded as such.”

  • Stop calling them bandits, they are terrorists, Falana tells Media, Nigerians

    Stop calling them bandits, they are terrorists, Falana tells Media, Nigerians

    Human rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Femi Falana, has urged the media and Nigerians to stop branding terrorists as mere bandits.

    Mr Falana made the appeal in a statement on Sunday while reacting to the Federal Government’s seeming silence on the calls to declare bandits as terrorists.

    He made reference to the Chibok situation, as well as IPOB among others who the government was “quick to proscribe” as terrorists and yet has continued to treat banditry ‘lightly’.

    “It is public knowledge that the dangerous criminal elements who kidnapped the Chibok and Dapchi secondary school girls in the North East Zone in 2014 and 2017 respectively were not referred to as bandits.

    “They were called terrorists by the Federal Government and the media. The description was correct as the abductions carried out by the criminal elements were acts of terrorism. But for reasons best known to the Federal Government the criminal elements who are currently involved in the brutal killing of innocent people and abduction of thousands of people including primary school pupils in the North West Zone are called bandits and not terrorists.

    “Embarrassed by the reluctance of the Federal Government to deal decisively with the so-called bandits the members of the Senate and House of Representatives, in separate sittings, unanimously passed resolutions last weekend requesting President Buhari to declare the dangerous criminal elements as terrorists and proscribe them in accordance with the provisions of the Terrorism Prevention Act as amended without any further delay.

    “The federal lawmakers also asked President Buhari to declare all the known leaders of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution. So far, the Federal Government has ignored the resolutions.

    “However, as the Federal Government is not prepared to declare them as terrorists we call on the media and the Nigerian people to stop referring to terrorists as bandits,” the Senior Advocate said.

    The Senate had during the plenary last Wednesday, urged President Muhammadu Buhari to declare bandits as terrorists.

    The federal lawmakers also asked the President to declare all the known leaders of the bandits wanted and track them wherever they are for arrest and prosecution.

    The resolutions followed a motion moved by the Senator representing Sokoto East, Senator Ibrahim Abdullahi Gobir, and eight others.

    There’s however, yet to be any reaction from the presidency.

  • How police rescued 200 kidnapped persons, arrested 21 bandits in Zamfara

    How police rescued 200 kidnapped persons, arrested 21 bandits in Zamfara

    The Zamfara Police Command says it has rescued 200 abducted victims in the state.

    The command disclosed this in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Muhammed Shehu, on Saturday.

    The police noted that the development was as a result of an ongoing onslaught against bandits and criminal elements in the state.

    “Fortunately, attacks, killings and abduction have reduced drastically,” Shehu said.

    According to the command, 21 bandits have been arrested, five were killed and four attacks have been repelled so far.

    The police credited the achievements to the recent security measure by the state government, where telecommunications networks were shut down in the state.

    The telecoms shutdown, lifted on Friday, according to Shehu, has “assisted in no small measures towards denying the recalcitrant bandits access to food supply, fuel supply, Indian hemp/other hard drugs supply and other essential services that are inevitable to their survival.

    “Similarly, payment of ransom to bandits by the relations of the kidnapped victims has now stopped due to the effective enforcement of the security measures where communication between the bandits and their informants became impossible.

    “Under this situation, kidnapped victims have now become liabilities for the bandits and are being released unconditionally following an extensive search and rescue operations”.

    The police further added that they have curtailed the rampant cases of abduction, armed robbery, car snatching, burglary and housebreaking and other heinous crimes in the state.

    “Many informants to the Bandits were arrested, investigated and prosecuted,” the police said.

  • Police arrest bandits’ commander, ban unauthorised use of tinted glasses in Zamfara

    Police arrest bandits’ commander, ban unauthorised use of tinted glasses in Zamfara

    The Zamfara State Police Command says it has arrested one of the notorious commanders of bandits, Bello Ruga.

    Commissioner of Police in Zamfara, Ayuba Elkana, who disclosed this to reporters said Bello, also known as Bello Dan Malankara, was apprehended at a bandits’ camp in Gummi Local Government Area of the state.

    “On 1st October 2021, police tactical operatives on anti-banditry operations around Gummi axis acted on intelligence report and stormed Gidan Bita, Malankare, and Kagara forest in search of one notorious bandit known as Bello Rugga,” he said during a briefing on Friday at the Police Headquarters in Gusau.

    “The bandit who happens to be one of the Turji’s commanders was the one in charge of Gummi, Gidan Bita, Malankare, and Kagara forest in Gummi LGA.

    “He has been commanding a series of attacks and kidnaps in Gummi that led to the unwarranted killing of innocent people, and the kidnapping of many persons where ransoms were paid. The suspect who has many bandits under him also is in possession of AK 47 rifles.”

    Meanwhile, Elkana announced that all vehicles with unauthorised tinted glass should be immediately removed.

    He also directed the police to arrest and prosecute owners of vehicles without plate numbers on all roads in the state.

    The police commissioner also clarified the status of the measures announced by the state government to check the activities of bandits in Zamfara.

    According to him, the ban on carrying more than a passenger on a motorcycle, as well as the use of motorcycles with clutches in 13 LGAs and some parts of Gusau, remains in force.

    Elkana warned residents against non-compliance with the closure of weekly markets in the state, except in Gusau.

    He reminded them of the restriction of movement in and out of the 13 LGAs from 6am to 6pm, and from 8pm to 6am in the state capital.

    The police commissioner, however, revealed that movement within Gusau metropolis has been extended to 12am, as announced by the Commissioner for Information in the state, Ibrahim Dosara.

    “All Keke Napep (tricycles) putting additional curtain to cover passengers is banned. The suspension of communication networks in the 13 LGAs is still in force with the exception of Gusau metropolis,” he said.

    Elkana appealed to the residents to exercise more patience and support the government in its bid to restore peace and security in the state.

  • Bandits write Sokoto monarch, demand N20m ransom for 20 abducted villagers

    Bandits write Sokoto monarch, demand N20m ransom for 20 abducted villagers

    Suspected bandits operating in the Eastern Senatorial District of Sokoto state have allegedly written a letter to a monarch in Burkusuma demanding for ransom to secure the release of 20 persons kidnapped from two communities in Sabon Birni Local Government Area.

    The letter was allegedly written in the Hausa language by one of the victims kidnapped by the bandits and addressed to Sarkin Rafin Burkusuma, the district head of the area.

    The bandits informed the monarch that the victims kidnapped from Gatawa and Burkusuma are all in good health and doing great.

    They thereafter demanded the sum of N20 million to be paid for the release of the kidnap victims.

    The kidnapped victims, whose names were all written in the letter, consist of nine males, eight females and two children.

    According to reports, one of the victims was released to deliver the letter to Gatawa through the Sarkin Rakin Burkusuma.

    Multiple sources have it that the bandits have resorted to sending letters to families of kidnapped victims since the shutdown of telecommunication services in the area.

    Sokoto, just like other states of the North-West has been ravaged by bandits’ activities who kidnap for ransom, kill, steal and maim people.

    Just two days ago, bandits had attacked Gangara and Gatawa all in Sabon Birni local government where residents said over twenty persons were killed and 27 persons were kidnapped.

    Although the police authorities confirmed the killing of four persons in Gangara town, they, however, did not give detail on the attack in Gatawa

  • JUST IN: Bandits burn 10 alive, kidnap seven after bloody raid of Niger communities

    JUST IN: Bandits burn 10 alive, kidnap seven after bloody raid of Niger communities

    Ten people have been reportedly burnt alive, several others killed while seven women were said to have been kidnapped by bandits during an attack in the Kachiwe community in Sarkin Pawa Ward of Munya Local Government Area of Niger state during the week.

    The Secretary of Munya the Local Government Area, James Jagaba narrated the ordeal which he described as ‘an ugly incident’.

    He said, “The bandits set all the houses ablaze, burnt ten people alive, abducted ten women and slaughtered the others. On their way after carrying out their heinous act, they met two people whose vehicle broke down, they stopped and killed those two people then burnt down their vehicle. In the process, three of the abducted women escaped and the bandits went with the other seven women.

    “The whole community was wiped out by the bandits, nobody survived. We got to know about how they carried out the activities from the women who escaped and are still in shock.”

    The Secretary added that the bandits moved to Shapè village under the Sarki Pawa ward and slaughtered nine people while others in the community took to their heels adding that they also killed seven people in the Gogope ward.

    It was learnt that the bandits were able to carry out their activities unabated due to the seizure of mobile networks in the affected communities.

    “We were told that all efforts to reach the security personnel proved abortive because, for some days, there has not been mobile network service in Munya local government. The people could not reach out to the security agencies neither could they reach out to the council. At the council, we got the message very late and efforts to get the security was not possible”, James said.

    He said that the women are currently in a state of shock and have been showing signs of trauma.

    “The three people who survived are currently in shock and suffering from trauma. They need to be helped medically and otherwise because all they have has been burnt down by the bandits,” he said