TheNewsGuru

Tag: Katsina State

  • Daura indigenes hail Amaechi’s chieftaincy title

    Daura indigenes hail Amaechi’s chieftaincy title

    Daura indigenes living in Kaduna state have described the chieftaincy title conferred on Transport Minister, Rotimi Amechi,“Dan Amana ” as a unifying factor among Nigerians.

    The Emir of Daura, Alhaji Faruk Umar Faruk, on Feb. 5, turbaned Amaechi as ‘Dan Amanar Daura (Trusted one).

    Some of the indigenes on Monday, in Kaduna, commended the Emir of Daura for honouring the minister.

    Alhaji Sani Dan-Daura, a business man, said“ the honour is well deserved by a hardworking and active minister’’.

    “Amaechi is among the performing ministers, working towards President Buhari’s vision of transforming Nigeria, by connecting rail line and roads across the country,’’ he said.

    Ibrahim Lawal Daura said Amaechi was conferred with different chieftaincy titles in Igbo land that showed he was indeed a detribalized person and loved by the people.

    According to him, the conferment of the chieftaincy title on the minister, who hailed from South- South, symbolized unity and cordial relationship between the north and south.

    “Amaechi took the University of Transportation to Daura, people from all the regions can gain admission and study’’, he said.

    Sheikh Ishaq Abdulmalik, a cleric, based in Kaduna, said “Amaechi did very well when he was the governor of Rivers state. Daura indigenes acknowledged these good works and he was rewarded.

    Barr. Muhammad Mustapha, a legal practitioner, said the title was another testimony and recognition of the minister’s achievements over the years, and his vision of building bridges between various parts of the country.

    “It is no doubt that Amaechi has exhibited uncommon patriotism and passion on delivering President Buhari’s mandate of reviving the nation’s rail system, ” he said.

  • Why we established village security structure in Katsina – Gov Masari

    Why we established village security structure in Katsina – Gov Masari

    Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State says his administration has established village security structure as part of efforts to tackle insecurity in the state, especially banditry.

    The governor disclosed this on Sunday in Katsina when he received the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, on a condolence visit over the recent murder of his Commissioner, Dr. Rabe Nasir.

    According to the governor, the village security structure consists of the village heads, the two religious leaders that are dominant in the areas and also the head of butchers.

    He added that members of the structure are head of barbers, officials in the motor parks, youth leaders, head of vigilantes, and whoever has a role to play in the communities.

    According to Gov. Masari, “We have involved them under our new security structure which clearly outlined the involvement of every section of the Community.

    “We have fully involved the traditional institutions. Like I said, because we realized that this is a community issue, it has been approached through communal participation of everybody.

    “Again, we established conflict resolution centres organized and operated by the judiciary, particularly the Office of the Chief Judge of the state. We are currently establishing over 40 conflict resolution centres across the state, and they have started working.

    “And you will be surprised, about eight that we have opened so far have disposed of more cases than what regular courts would have done.”

    He added that the centres deal with community issues such as conflict between landlords and tenants, and sale of plots.

    “Disputes such as minor trade issues which are not criminal in nature, issues of drainage, issues like maybe your goats entering your neighbours and misunderstanding erupting between the families.

    “All these are issues that you don’t have to go to court, these conflict resolution centres are equipped with community participation so that we will reduce the workload on the judiciary.

    “And also bring harmonious living among communities, you know courts do not settle disputes.

    “You hardly go to court and come out as friends, but if you go to conflict resolution centres, you come out as friends because you have agreed to resolve your issues outside the normal court or police station system,” he added.

  • Nigeria will win war against insecurity – Tinubu

    Nigeria will win war against insecurity – Tinubu

    The National Leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, says Nigeria will win the ongoing war against banditry, kidnapping, killing and other security challenges facing the country.

    Tinubu gave this assurance on Sunday when he paid a condolence visit to Gov. Aminu Masari of Katsina State over the recent assassination of his Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dr. Rabe Nasir.

    According to him, the country is larger and greater than those criminals, therefore, the Federal Government should adopt all the necessary measures to eliminate them.

    “It is also a very trying period for Katsina State, as it is going through a lot of security challenges. Please, whatever happens to one of us, happens to all of us.

    “Let us be vigilant to help our country, let us preach peace and a change of mind to those who are determined to bring terrorism, kidnapping and evil doings to our midst.

    “I urge the Federal Government, under the able leadership of President Muhammad Buhari as the Commander Chief of the Armed Forces, to use all necessary means to eliminate these people.

    “We share and we will continue to pray with the Katsina Government and also the people of the state to conquer the evil of kidnapping s and the killing of innocent people,“ Tinubu.

    In his response, Gov. Masari noted that the current security challenges in the state started with cattle rustling, which he described as “community banditry“.

    He said the bandits lived within the community and were not invading from the forest.

    He, however, said that with time the forest became a place where the criminals, such as kidnappers, hid their victims until ransom is paid for them.

    “What we have discovered is that the majority of what is going on now is community banditry. So, we have community issues which we have to resolve before going forward,” the governor said.

  • Police recover 109 anti-aircraft ammunition in Katsina

    Police recover 109 anti-aircraft ammunition in Katsina

    The police command in Katsina, says it recovered 109 Anti-Aircraft Ammunition (AA) and arrested 999 suspects in various operations across the state in 2021.

    SP Gambo Isa, the spokesperson for the command, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Katsina, said that the command also recovered various arms and ammunition during the period.

    He listed some of the arms to include four GPMG, 44 AK-47 rifles, one LAR rifle, one G3 rifle, 20 locally made guns and 689 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition.

    Isa said that 1,243 domestic animals including 867 cows, 352 sheep, 24 goats and one donkey were also recovered.

    “Some of the suspects include armed robbers, kidnappers, cattle rustlers among others, a total of 157 suspected armed robbers were arrested and 145 of the suspects were charged to court while the remaining 12 are under investigation.

    “Also, 65 suspected kidnappers were arrested and 63 charged to court while the remaining two are under investigation.

    “We succeeded in arresting 244 suspected cattle rustlers, of which 230 suspects have been charged to court while the remaining 14 are under investigation.

    “In the course of this campaign, 38 suspected bandits were neutralised in various gun battles while five police officers paid the supreme price,” Isa said.

    He added that 246 suspects were arrested for rape and unnatural offence, while 63 victims were rescued in four reported cases of human trafficking and transferred to the NAPTIP office in Kano State.

  • Ban on telecom services in Katsina to be lifted soon – Masari

    Ban on telecom services in Katsina to be lifted soon – Masari

    The Katsina State Government says it will lift the ban on telecommunication services in the remaining seven affected local government areas (LGAs) before January 2021.

    The State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari, who disclosed this during a media parley with journalists on Tuesday in Katsina, urged residents to do their best to protect their areas from bandit attacks.

    Recall that recently the State Government lifted the ban on telecommunication services in 10 out of the 17 LGAs in the state which hitherto suffered from banditry.

    He commended the efforts of all security agencies, especially vigilance groups, for fighting bandits.

    Masari noted that the vigilantes travel from one community to another with the aim of protecting the communities.

    The governor also advised people to defend their communities and to also give the securities all the necessary support, especially by providing them with correct information on criminals.

    The governor urged the people in the various communities to support the local vigilance groups with the necessary weapons so that they could defend them in the event of any attack.

    Also recall that recently the governor said that banditry must be defeated collectively across the affected northern states before 2023 when the tenure of the various administrations will come to an end.

    The governor, who gave the assurance while signing the state’s 2022 approved appropriation bill, said no going back in the fight against bandits.

    According to him, the bandits are well known in their communities and should be fished out.

    “We must prepare to fight back as individuals, to fight the bandits because they are evil and they represent evil. We should not retreat in this fight.

    “We took over under serious threat of security in 2015, and by God’s grace we will not handover this country to the next generation of leaders under this condition. We must restore normalcy.

    “We inherited the government with the security challenges and we must end it and handover the state to our successors without the same problem.

    “We must control and dominate our environment.

    “There are two advantages that we have, numbers and technology. When you put the two together, we will restore normalcy. It is not beyond us to do that,” Masari said.

  • 90-year-old Emir of Daura marries 20-year-old bride

    90-year-old Emir of Daura marries 20-year-old bride

    The Emir of Daura, HRH, Faruk Umar Faruk, has married a 20-year-old bride, Aisha Iro Maikano.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) learnt the marriage ceremony took place on Saturday in Katsina State.

    Born in 1931, the nonagenarian tied the knot in a low key marriage ceremony with the nubile young lady after a brief courtship.

    The monarch reportedly paid the sum of N1 million dowry to the bride, who is the daughter of Fagacin Katsina, Iro Maikano.

    Sources close to the royal family said the monarch has married not less than four young wives in the last six years.

    The Emir reportedly divorced all his three wives recently to pick a new four set of wives.

  • BREAKING: Telecom services restored in 13 Katsina LGAs

    BREAKING: Telecom services restored in 13 Katsina LGAs

    Katsina State Government has ordered the restoration of telecom services in the 13 local government areas hitherto affected by banditry.

    Special Adviser to Gov. Aminu Masari on Security Matters, Alhaji Ibrahim Katsina, confirmed this on Thursday in Katsina.

    He said that the directive was sequel to the relative peace being recorded in the affected council areas.

    Recall that the state government had, in September, ordered the removal of the network in the 13 council areas mostly affected by banditry.

    The local government areas are: Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Kurfi, Danmusa, Dutsin-Ma, Kankara, Matazu, Musawa, Funtua, Faskari, Sabuwa, Dandume, Bakori, Danja and Malumfashi.

  • REVEALED! How NAF paid bandits N20 million not to shoot down Buhari’s plane

    REVEALED! How NAF paid bandits N20 million not to shoot down Buhari’s plane

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) coordinated ransom payments to armed bandits in exchange for an anti-aircraft gun seized from the Nigerian Army, according to a report by The Wall Street Journal.

    According to the report, the desperate deal was brokered as President Muhammadu Buhari was planning a trip to Katsina State.

    The U.S. outlet said N20 million was delivered to the bandits in Rugu Forest by a Nigerian Air Force official, who leaked details of the operation under anonymity, because the military realised that it would be too risky to leave the weapon in the hands of violent criminals operating in an area the presidential jet would fly over.

    The rugged, lawless jungle that covers parts of Kaduna, Zamfara and the president’s home state of Katsina has served as a vast haven for bandits terrorising Nigeria’s northwestern communities. A large portion of kidnapping plots emanates or terminates in or around the forest, security agencies have previously warned.

    “The mission to buy back the antiaircraft gun began with a handoff from a high-ranking air force intelligence officer in the capital Abuja: a black zip-up bag he said was full of 20 million Nigerian naira,” the paper reported, after stating that such military hardware in the hands of bandits “posed a threat to President Muhammadu Buhari, who had been planning to fly to his hometown about 80 miles away.”

    The gun truck with 12.7 caliber anti-aircraft fire was reportedly disassembled and transported back to the military on motorbikes after the deal was concluded.

    Meanwhile, The Journal did not specify when the deal was brokered or the presidential trip that was planned. The president has been in his hometown at least twice this year that his office disclosed to the public. The first trip was in late January and another in July.

    Although the Nigerian government claimed combat victories against armed bandits, several military bases have been sacked by the violent criminals dreaded largely for their abduction of schoolchildren and prominent personalities, including politicians and emirs.

    Last month, a forward operating base crucial to the military campaign against banditry was raided in Zamfara, leaving at least 12 officers killed. The bandits also seized military equipment when they captured the base in Dansadau, about 80 kilometres south of the capital Gusau, in the September 11 operation.

    Less than two weeks later on September 24, bandits again struck a joint base of security forces in the neighbouring Sokoto State, killing several soldiers, Civil Defence officers and civilians.

    The Nigerian Air Force also confirmed on July 19 that bandits had shot down one of its fighter jets, but the pilot was able to eject and there were no casualties. The incident came as Mr Buhari was visiting his hometown for this year’s Sallah.

    It was not immediately clear why service chiefs opted for a ransom payment in the operation described by The Journal. Military weapons that fell into the hands of Boko Haram insurgents and bandits were usually destroyed by airstrikes.

    Whereas Mr Buhari has promised to be tough on the bandits and publicly railed against governors negotiating with them, his government has been known to pay ransom to terrorists and other violent criminals.

    The government paid millions of dollars to free some of the Chibok girls seized in 2014 under President Goodluck Jonathan. It also facilitated hundreds of millions of naira in ransom to bandits who seized schoolchildren in Niger State earlier this year.

    The Gazette has yet to hear back from the Nigerian Air Force about the reported N20 million ransom to bandits.

  • Customs intercepts 202 motorcycles from suspected bandits in Katsina

    Customs intercepts 202 motorcycles from suspected bandits in Katsina

    The Nigeria Customs Service (NSC) has intercepted 202 motorcycles from suspected bandits and their collaborators in Katsina State between August and September.

    The Acting Controller of the state command, Alhaji Chedi Wada, who disclosed this on Friday in Katsina, said that the motorcycles, mostly Boxers and Jencheng models, were confiscated around forests close to border areas.

    “We suspected that the motorcycles were used for conveyance of petrol, food items and smuggled items to bandits in the forest.

    “Most of the people we seized the machines from fled and no one came to claim the motorcycles,’’ the controller said.

    Wada said the command is working assiduously in ensuring that no contraband or illegal item is brought into the country through any of the borders in the state.

    “The fight against banditry, kidnapping, cattle rustling and other forms of crimes and criminal acts in the state and the country in general is a collective effort.

    “The custom service, like any other security agency, also has a stake in it.

    “Here in Katsina state, we are determined despite all odds; we will make sure we assist to bring the bandits and other criminals to their knees,” Chedi said.

  • BREAKING: Buhari’s home State bans transportation of cattle to other States in Nigeria

    BREAKING: Buhari’s home State bans transportation of cattle to other States in Nigeria

    Disturbed by incessant attacks by bandits, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State, home State of President Muhammadu Buhari, has banned the transportation of cattle from the State to other States in Nigeria.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Governor Masari issued an executive order banning the transportation cattle to other States of the federation on Monday.

    The Katsina State Governor also ordered the immediate and total closure of the Jibia-Gurbin Baure road to all motorists until further notice, while advising travelers plying that road to go through Funtua.

    Governor Masari explained that the closure of the roads and other measures were in the exercise of powers conferred upon him by sub-section (2) of Section 176 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

    He tagged the notice, “Security Challenges (Containment) Order” and shall come into effect from August 31, 2021.

    The executive order reads: “In the exercise of powers conferred upon me by the Subsection (2) of section 176 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended and all other powers enabling me on that behalf, I, Rt. Hon. Aminu Bello Masari CFR, the Governor of Katsina State, do hereby make the following:

    “1. This Notice may be cited as the Security Challenges (Containment) Order and shall come into effect on the 31st day of August 2021;

    “2. Immediate total closure of Jibia-Gurbin Baure road to all motorists until further notice. Travelers plying that road are advised to go through Funtua;

    “3. Immediate closure of Kankara-Sheme road to all commercial vehicles, who are advised to go through Funtua. Only private non-commercial vehicles are to ply the road;

    “4. Lorries /Trucks carrying firewood from the bush are totally banned;

    “5. Suspension of the sale of all animals at the markets of the following Local Government Areas: Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Malumfashi, Charanchi, Mai’adua, Kafur, Kafur, Faskari, Sabuwa, Baure, Dutsinma and Kaita;

    “6. Ban on transportation of cattle trucks from Katsina State to any State in Nigeria;

    “7. Total ban on carrying three (3) persons on motorcycles and more than three (3) passengers on a tricycle;

    “8. Total ban on the sale of second-hand motorcycles at Charanchi market;

    “9. Re-enforcement of the ban on the operation of Commercial tricycles and motorcycles from 10.00 p.m to 6.00 a.m in the State Capital, and 6.00 p.m to 6.00 a.m in the frontline Local Government Areas;

    “10. Re-enforcement of the total ban on the sale of petrol in jericcans at filling stations;

    “11. Only two (2) designated Filling stations are allowed to sell fuel of not more than N5,000.00 to motorists in Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Faskari, Sabuwa, Dandume, Musawa, Matazu, Dutsinma, Kurfi, Danja and Kafur Local Government Areas;

    “12. Identified essential workers (health personnel, security personnel and Journalists) could use tricycles and motorcycles beyond the banned periods”.