TheNewsGuru

Tag: Kaduna

  • Confusion in Kaduna as mob throng Covid-19 palliative warehouse, loot food items [Photos]

    Confusion in Kaduna as mob throng Covid-19 palliative warehouse, loot food items [Photos]

    Thousands of EndSARS Protesters on Saturday in Kaduna metropolis broke into a warehouse suspected to be a store for Covid-19 food Palliatives.

    The warehouse is located at Tanko Tete crescent , off gwari Avenue, Barnawa Kaduna .

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG gathered that the warehouse is situated in the compound of believed to be owned by the Kaduna State Commissioner of Planning and Budget, Hon. Thomas Gyang.

    Recall that TNG’s investigation in June reveals that politics, and corruption marred food palliative distribution in Kaduna during the Covid-19 lockdown

  • ASUU rejects resumption order after 17 Kaduna varsity students contract COVID-19

    ASUU rejects resumption order after 17 Kaduna varsity students contract COVID-19

    Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kaduna State University (KASU) chapter, has kicked against the university management’s plan to reopen the school after many months of lockdown due to COVID-19 pandemic.

    The state chapter of the ASUU said it is not yet safe to reopen the institution because of the fear that students might contract the virus as they will mingle freely among themselves during school hours.

    Addressing journalists at a press conference on Friday, the chairman of ASUU-KASU, Comrade Tukur Abdulkadir, noted that some weeks ago, 17 out of about 50 medical students who were recalled for examination tested positive to COVID-19.

    He said: “As you are aware the management of the Kaduna State University has opened the university and plans to conduct examination beginning from Monday, October 19. To this moment, Kaduna State Government has not officially announced the re-opening of tertiary institutions. Although the 2019/2020 academic session has been significantly affected by Covid-19 lockdown, re-opening the university at this material time is tantamount to trading the lives of students and staff for the conduct of the examination.

    “The decision by the management of KASU to re-open is in gross violation of the Covid-19 Protocol as highlighted by the Presidential Task Force (PTF) and the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC). This action also violates the standard provision and regulations guiding conduct of university examinations.

    “Let this be known to the general public, almost all the guidelines as stipulated by PTF/NCDC are not in existence in Kaduna State University at the moment. Students congregate very closely without facemasks, and hostels are overcrowded. It is on record that some weeks ago, 17 out of about 50 medical students who were recalled for examination tested positive to Covid-19.

    “As you may be aware that the university has been closed for more than 7 months, the Kaduna State University Management plans to re-open on October 18, and commence examination by October 19. Students have not been given time for revision (at least 2 weeks as required).

    “This will have severe consequences on students’ performance, and therefore undermine the examination. Amongst the infractions associated with planned examinations include: Inability to subject examination questions for external moderation before examination by some departments. This is an important requirement for examination in universities in Nigeria as stipulated by NUC.

    “It should be noted that examination is the most important component of any university and strictly an academic affair. The absence of academic staff in the conduct of the examination might tamper with the quality and integrity of the examinations.

    “Some newly established departments have covered only a fraction of their syllabus, yet examination will hold in these departments.

    “It is clear that the re-opening of Kaduna State University by the university management potent danger and health risk to citizens of Kaduna State. The second wave of Covid-19 has manifested in some countries, with more casualties being reported.

    “Kaduna State University is a non-residential university where students come for study and return back home after classes. This therefore stresses the danger for wide spread of the virus”.

  • Anonymous claims it has hacked official websites of Lagos, Kaduna, EFCC, INEC, NCDC, NNPC, others in support of #EndSARS

    Anonymous claims it has hacked official websites of Lagos, Kaduna, EFCC, INEC, NCDC, NNPC, others in support of #EndSARS

    The official websites of Lagos and Kaduna State Governments were early Saturday morning allegedly attacked by Anonymous.

    The hacker allegedly further shut down Nigeria’s anti-corruption agency, the Economic and Financial Crime Commission (EFCC), Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and Amuwo Odofin Local Government in Lagos State.

    The hacker, who tweets from @LiteMods, claimed responsibilities for the said attacks on the websites in support of protests against police brutality in Nigeria.

    https://twitter.com/LiteMods/status/1317255037802942464?s=20

    The latest cyberattacks were a part of coordinated attacks by hacktivists on Nigerian government-owned websites and social media accounts.

    Hours earlier, the website of Nigeria’s central bank was hacked.

    https://twitter.com/LiteMods/status/1317267721986387974?s=20

    https://twitter.com/LiteMods/status/1317277361394585602?s=20

    https://twitter.com/LiteMods/status/1317261161725833219?s=20

    https://twitter.com/LiteMods/status/1317253586959650817?s=20

     

    “Nigerian government, we will not allow this corruption,” the hacker tweeted late on Friday. “We will not allow this police brutality. Your websites of @officialEFCC have been taken-down so far by my attacks and more will be next.”

    Protests broke out in Nigeria last week against police brutality, with thousands of young people calling for the scrapping of a Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a police unit that has been accused of committing crimes including murder.

    The protests have drawn thousands of mainly young demonstrators onto the streets and online in the most concerted show of people power in Nigeria in years.

    Crowd-sourced donations have poured in for the largely leaderless #EndSARS movement, supporters said.

    One group, the Feminist Coalition, said it had received contributions worth more than $175,000 (150,000 euros).

    The collective said it had paid legal fees and medical bills for injured protesters, donated to families of victims, and bought food, water and face masks for people at demonstrations.

  • Gunmen launch fresh attack on Kaduna villages, 12 feared dead

    Gunmen launch fresh attack on Kaduna villages, 12 feared dead

    Gunmen suspected to be bandits terrorising Birnin-Gwari and Giwa local government areas of Kaduna have killed reportedly no fewer than 12 persons and injured eight others in two villages of Giwa.

    According to reports, the bandits invaded Kidandan and Kadai villages between Friday and Saturday for the attacks.

    Confirming the development, an anonymous source from the area of attacks said: “12 people were confirmed dead while eight are injured during the attack.

    “The attackers came in large number, they besieged Kidandan Friday afternoon killed three people and four wounded while on Saturday night, the gunmen killed nine at Kadai village and four were in critical condition.”

    The source also quoted the District Head of Fatika, Alhaji Nuhu Lawal Umar, as appealing to the State Government “to deploy additional security personnel to safeguard lives and property” of locals in the trouble communities.

     

  • BREAKING: Kaduna names new Emir of Zazzau

    BREAKING: Kaduna names new Emir of Zazzau

    The Kaduna State Government on Wednesday announced the emergence of the 19th Emir of Zazzau.

    His name is Ambassador Ahmed Nuhu Bamali. He succeeds Shehu Idris, who died on Sunday, September 20, 2020, after reigning for 45 years.

    This was announced in a press statement by the Kaduna Commissioner for Local Government Affairs, Ja’afaru Sani, on Wednesday.

    The statement was titled, ‘KDSG appoints Ahmed Nuhu Bamalli as Emir of Zazzau’.

    The statement read in part, “Following the death of His Highness, Alhaji (Dr) Shehu Idris, the late 18th Emir of Zazzaus, the Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai has approved the appointment of Amb. Ahmed Nuhu Bamali as the 19th Emir of Zazzau.

    “Bamalli is the first emir from the Mallawa ruling house in 100 years, following the demise in 1920 of his grandfather, Emir Dan Sidi.

    “The appointment is with immediate effect.

    “All other arrangements for the installation ceremony and presentation of the staff of office would be announced in due course.

    “The Governor congratulates the new Emir of Zazzau for a deserved appointment and wishes him a successful reign.”

    Born in 1966, Bamalli studied Law at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria. He holds a Master’s Degree in International Relations and Diplomacy and a diploma in Organisational Leadership from Oxford University. He is also a fellow on Conflict Resolution of the University of York, United Kingdom.

    Until his appointment as Emir of Zazzau, Bamalli held the title of Magajin Garin Zazzau and served as Nigeria’s ambassador to Thailand, with concurrent accreditation to Myanmar.

    He was a permanent commissioner in the Kaduna State Independent Electoral Commission in 2015.

    He has worked in banking and as Executive Director and later acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Corporation.

    He was a staff of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Agency before a stint as head of Human Resources at MTel, the mobile communications arm of the old Nigerian Telecommunications Limited.

  • BREAKING: Gunmen abduct serving Kaduna LG chairman

    BREAKING: Gunmen abduct serving Kaduna LG chairman

    Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have abducted the Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, Mr Humble Bege Katuka, TheNewsGuru.com, TNG can authoritatively report.

    Confirming the incident to TheNewsGuru.com, TNG on Monday evening, a source close to the Katuka’s family said Mr Katuka was whisked by the gunmen when he was going to inspect his his farm located around Juju village in Chikun Local Government Area of the state.

    The bandits were said to have opened fire on them, killing the bike man on the spot, before taking the council boss.

    “The chairman was kidnapped on his way to the farm on Sunday. The farm is located somewhere around Kiduni in Chikun LGA. I understand that a bike man was taking him to the farm. The bandits shot at them and killed the bike man and kidnapped the chairman,” the source said.

    The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command, Mr. Mohammed Jalige, did not respond to both telephone calls and text message sent to his mobile phone when contacted.

    Kaduna is one of the states facing serious security challenges, occasioned by incessant invasions of communities and abductions for ransom.

    Many residents around the suburbs of Kaduna metropolis, especially, residents of places like Damishi, Juji, Maraban Rido and Karji are said to have relocated from their homes to safer places following rampant cases of invasions and abductions in their communities by gunmen.

  • Again, gunmen kidnap 10 in Kaduna, demand N24m ransom on eight victims

    Again, gunmen kidnap 10 in Kaduna, demand N24m ransom on eight victims

    Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, have again kidnapped 10 persons at Karji community, a suburb of Kaduna metropolis

    This is coming barely 24 hours after bandits invaded Barkallahu, another Kaduna suburb where they kidnapped and went away with seven persons.

    The bandits’ attack on Karji was carried out twice within two days.

    During the first attack launched on the community around 10pm on Wednesday, the gunmen abducted eight persons, while two more persons were whisked away and one person shot by the gunmen during the second attack on Friday night.

    The kidnappers have however demanded N24 million ransom on the initial eight people kidnapped on Wednesday.

    Eye witnesses said, the bandits demanded N10 million ransom for one of the victims and N2 million ransom each for the remaining seven abductees.

    While the the residents and family of the victims were still trying to raise the ransom, the kidnappers struck again Friday night at about 10pm shooting sporadically as they ransacked houses following which they picked two people and escaped before security agents could arrive to safe the victims.

    One of the residents of the area, who crave anonymity said they now live in fear, even as many of them have deserted their houses for any safe place, where they would be shielded from the rampaging kidnappers.

    According to him, “I thank God for seeing this day!!! Kidnappers on rampage in Karji, Yakowa Road. They have invaded our area, eight people were taken on Wednesday, for which they are demanding N10 million ransom for one of them and N2 million each for the other seven persons.

    “Last night they came again. They kidnapped two people last night, one other person escaped with serious gunshot injuries. We all took cover at different location. These guys had a field day combing the streets of Karji, Karuga New Extension.

    “Thanks to God for survival. Thanks to Samuel Aruwan (Kaduna state Commissioner for Security and Internal Affairs) and Kaduna state Deputy Commissioner of Police,” the Karji resident said.

  • Rapists risk castration in Kaduna

    Rapists risk castration in Kaduna

    With the amended Penal Code 2020 signed into law on Wednesday by Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufa’I, rapists risk surgical castration upon conviction.

     

    Besides, convicts’ names are to be listed on the Sex Offenders Register that will be published by the Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

     

    The amended bill was passed into law last Thursday by the Kaduna State House of Assembly.

     

    The development was declared on El-Rufai’s official Twitter handle @GovKaduna Wednesday night.

     

    According to the Twitter post, “Malam Nasir @elrufai has signed the Kaduna State Penal Code (Amendment) Law 2020 which provides stiff penalties upon conviction for the rape of a child, including surgical castration for male convicts and bilateral salpingectomy for female convicts”

     

    Similarly, a statement posted on the governor’s Facebook wall said “the amendment updates the penalties for the offence of the rape of a child, which include the punishments of surgical castration and bilateral salpingectomy for male and female convicts of child rape, and death.

     

    According to the statement signed by the Governor’s Special Adviser on Media and Communication, Muyiwa Adekeye, said, the convicts will in addition, be listed in the Sex Offenders Register to be published by the Attorney-General of the state.

     

    He said: “Following Malam El-Rufai’s assent to the amended law on 11th September 2020, the new law has come into effect in Kaduna State. It introduces stricter punishments than the previous law which carried a maximum penalty of 21 years imprisonment for the rape of an adult and life imprisonment for the rape of a child.

     

    “Under the amended law, the punishment for the rape of a person older than 14 years will include surgical castration or removal of fallopian tubes, but the death penalty shall not apply. In cases where the rape convict is also a child, the court shall order an appropriate punishment under the Children and Young Persons Law Cap 26, Laws of Kaduna State 1991.

     

    “While commending the members of the Kaduna State House of Assembly for passing the amendments, the Governor stated that these drastic penalties are required to help further protect children from a serious crime.

     

    “The Kaduna State Penal Code (Amendment) Law 2020 amends the Penal Code Law (No.5) of Kaduna State, 2017 by substituting section 258 as follows:

     

    Whoever commits rape of a child below the age of fourteen (14) years shall on conviction, be punished with Surgical Castration and death;

    Whoever has sexual intercourse with a male child below the age of fourteen years shall be punished with surgical castration and death;

    Where a female adult is convicted for the offence of rape of a child, the Court shall punish the accused with Bilateral Salpingectomy and death;

    Where the victim is above fourteen years, the Court shall on conviction sentence the accused with a punishment of surgical castration and life imprisonment;

    Where the convict is a child, the Court shall order as appropriate under the Children and Young Person Law Cap 26 Laws of Kaduna State 1991;

    Where the victim is a child, the Court shall in addition to the conviction, order that the convict be listed in the Sex Offenders Register to be published by the Attorney General;

    Where the Court is trying the offence of rape involving a child below the age of fourteen years, corroboration of a medical report shall be necessary.”

     

     

  • See how much El-Rufai’s Kaduna spent treating each COVID-19 patient

    See how much El-Rufai’s Kaduna spent treating each COVID-19 patient

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai has disclosed that it costs the state over N400,000 to treat each COVID-19 patient.

    El-Rufai said COVID-19 management is an expensive process and a big drain on the treasury of the government, which it must continue to bear, to prevent wider spread of the virus.

    The governor stated this in Kaduna during an executive committee meeting with northern traditional rulers chaired by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III.

    The governor said the amount is as a result of the increasing cost of drugs, feeding of the patients and personal protective equipment (PPE) for doctors.

    He, however, said the government cannot tell patients to bear the cost of the treatment because it would be too much for many to bear and it would lead to further spread of the disease.

  • Enough is enough of this killing spree in Southern Kaduna – Sultan

    Enough is enough of this killing spree in Southern Kaduna – Sultan

    Chairman of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council and Sultan of Sokoto, Dr. Sa’ad Abubakar III, has condemned the killings in the Southern part of Kaduna State, describing the incidence as a “madness that must stop immediately.”

    Speaking yesterday at the opening of a meeting of the Northern Traditional Rulers Council in Kaduna, the Sultan called on sponsors of the killings to stop the dastardly act, declaring “enough is enough.”

    He said “no man in his right senses will go on a killing spree of innocent people under whatever guise.”

    The monarch, who accused politicians of fuelling the crisis, also called on Nigerians not to allow themselves to be used.

    He said any politician who ignites violence does not mean well for the people and called on the people to shun such politicians.

    “You keep on igniting killings based on ethno-religious differences because it is the innocent children that are killed while those of the elites are protected,” he said.

    Earlier, Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, had said the Southern Kaduna crisis had lingered on for the past 40 years since the first Kasuwan Magani riot in Kajuru Local Government Area in 1980.

    “Kaduna is a mini-Nigeria with over 52 ethnic groups, meaning that 10 per cent of Nigeria’s ethnic groups are from Kaduna State.

    “The danger of it is that crimes committed by criminals for their own selfish motives are given ethno-religious interpretations,” the governor said.

    He added that his administration has been striving to stop the killings, citing the location of a military base and a mobile police depot in the area as well as the deployment of the Air Force and Strike Force personnel as part of measures to stop the killings.

    According to him, equipment like drones and GSM trackers are being used and had helped to neutralise thousands of the bandits in the state.

    After the opening ceremony, the meeting went into a closed-door session.