News just reaching TheNewsGuru.com indicates that heavily armed kidnappers attacked a resisdent at Tunga Maje village, Gwagwalada Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday.
Unfortunately, the kidnappers met a very stiff resistance from their intended victim.
TheNewsGuru.com gathered that the victims used machetes to confront the kidnappers who were using sophisticated weapons, which drew the attention of the vigilante group members in the area.
DETAILS SOON…
Troops of I Division FCC Nigerian Army have revealed the names of the five students of the College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Kaduna rescued from the hands of their kidnappers.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the five students were among 39 others kidnapped by bandits on March 11.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.
Yerima gave the names of the rescued students as Abubakar Yakubu, Francis Paul, Obadiya Habakkuk, Amina Yusuf and Maryam Danladi.
He said the rescued students are currently receiving medical attention in a military facility in Kaduna.
According to him, the General Officer Commanding (GOC) I Division, Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen Danjuma Alli-Keffi, has commended the troops for their effort.
“He charged them not to rest on their oars until all kidnap victims are rescued and returned to their families,” he said.
A Lagos-based pastor, Frederick Aramuwa who was kidnapped while travelling along the Ipele/Idoani Road in Ondo State has been found dead.
Aramuwa was said to be travelling from Lagos to his hometown, Ifira-Akoko in Ondo State and was discovered to be missing since March 31.
Subsequently, his kinsmen embarked on a rigorous search for him and equally reported the case to the police. However, it was discovered that the deceased was kidnapped and his captors demanded ₦10 million ransom, which was reduced to ₦2 million after negotiations.
TheNewsGuru.com, TNG gathered that after the ₦2 million ransom was paid, it was the lifeless body of the pastor that was discovered in the forest.
The remains of the deceased have since been deposited in the morgue at the General Hospital, Ipe-Akoko.
When contacted, the spokesperson of Ondo State Police Command, DSP Tee-Leo Ikoro confirmed the death of the pastor on Sunday.
Ikoro disclosed that the deceased’s remains were discovered tied to a tree in the forest.
He added that some other persons kidnapped along with the pastor have been rescued by the police.
The police spokesperson noted that the police is investigating the incident and hope to apprehend the perpetrators in no distant time.
Commercial Transport operators in the motor parks within the Audu Bako Secretariat park also known as Dogon Banki area in Kano Municipal Local Government Area, Kano State, have raised complaints of low turnout of passengers for Easter Travels.
This they said is largely caused by the fear of the high level of kidnappings on the highways in the Northern part of the country.
After visiting the Kano-line and Dogon Banki motor park on Good Friday, our correspondent, who was told that travellers may increase in number on Easter Sunday, reports that there were only a few passengers boarding to travel on.
In an exclusive interview, an official of the Ali Kofa said the park expected a huge turnout of passengers compared to last year considering the fact that the Covid-19 travel restrictions are no longer there as it was the case in 2020.
“We thought that by today (Easter Sunday) passengers would increase but the park is still scanty.
“Turnout of passengers last year’s Easter was also very low but it was understandable because it was because of the Coronavirus, I don’t know why people are not traveling. I think they are afraid of Kidnappers,” Ali said in Hausa.
Movements from Kano to other Northern parts of the country used to be massive during festivities due to the large population of the State, which is motivated by the predominant business and commercial potentials Kano is known for.
President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria has ordered the nation’s service chiefs to crack down on the sponsors of bandits and kidnappers in the country.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports President Buhari gave the order on Tuesday in a meeting with the service chiefs after which he will embark on a two-week medical leave in the United Kingdom (UK).
The service chiefs and other heads of security agencies were present during the meeting, where Buhari ordered that the reign of terror unleashed by bandits and kidnappers must be ended immediately.
The President ordered the security chiefs to identify and crush heads of bandits, kidnappers and their local collaborators to restore confidence in the society.
The National Security Adviser (NSA), retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, said the president gave the order when he met the security chiefs at the State House, Abuja, on Tuesday.
Monguno, who briefed State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, quoted the president as warning that his administration would not accept a situation where the security agencies are reactionary rather than being proactive in the fight against insurgents, bandits and other criminal elements.
“On issues of kidnapping and banditry – these menaces still persist especially in the North West and the North Central zones.
”Mr President has stated very clearly that this problem must be brought an end but using the traditional that the armed forces have been trained to deploy.
”Mr President has made it very clear to both the intelligence and operational elements that their first assignment will be to identify the leaders of these bandits and kidnappers and take them out in order to restore confidence in those areas.
”Mr President has said that he will no longer tolerate a situation where bandits and kidnappers are the ones dictating the pace and setting the tones and he will not also condone a situation in which our own operations are reaction rather than being proactive,’’ he said.
The NSA also revealed that the president had directed the service chiefs, the intelligence community as well as the constabulary forces to target those agents of disunity across the country.
He said such people had been creating chaos, disunity and disharmony among peace-loving citizens.
He said: “I’m also to send out a warning to those people who think they can continue to behave in a manner that undermines national security.
“Those people engaging in all kinds of underhanded, unscrupulous, mischievous and deceitful practices, people who are working with those that are in government, in particular, critical agencies of government.
“We have been able to identify certain areas that are weak and these areas have to be strengthened so that these characters who are engaging in acts that you can describe as outright acts of brigandage, people who are behaving in a manner that portends a lot of danger to innocent lives, have to be fished out.
“This is the directive from the President, I am to send a warning to those people who think they’re in close proximity with those who have the instruments to make the space easy for criminals, those people who think they have some kind of authority, who are engaging in all kinds of Hocus Pocus in all kinds of jiggery pokery or skullduggery.
“These people will be brought down to their knees.’’
The meeting was attended by Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, Chief of Army Staff, Lieut.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, Chief of Navy Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Isiaka Amao.
Others were the National Security Adviser to the President, retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, Director-General of the Department of State Services, Yusuf Bichi, Director General of the Nigeria Intelligence Agency, Ahmed Rufa’s and the Inspector-General of Police, Muhammed Adamu.
Katsina State Governor, Aminu Masari has stated that security situation in Nigeria has improved since Muhammadu Buhari became President in 2015.
Masari made the revelation while featuring on Channels Television’s ‘Politics Today’ programme.He also slammed critics of the Buhari-led administration.
The Governor who is also the Chairman of the North-West Governors’ Forum, said Nigeria is economically attractive to kidnappers in the Sahel region of Africa.
“Look at 2015 for instance, you could not go to the church, you cannot go to the mosque. If I travelled from Kaduna to Abuja, it would take five hours and three of those hours were for checkpoints.
There were at least 30 checkpoints along the highway.
Is the situation the same today? It is not. Yes, there are kidnappers, there are bandits around but look at the whole world and look at the position of Nigeria in the Sahelian region. Are we not the richest? So, the attraction even for kidnappers to come to Nigeria is there. If you kidnap somebody in Mali, where are you going to get thousands? If I kidnap you in Nigeria, I get millions. So, all of us will have to rise to the occasion,” he said.
The Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Isiaka Amao, has assured Nigerians of the readiness of the military to deal decisively with bandits, kidnappers and other criminals across the country.
Amao who was on operational visit to the Nigerian Air Force Base in Kaduna, said on Wednesday that the military would deal with all criminals terrorizing the people.
According to reports the maiden operational visit, the CAS also paid a courtesy visit on Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State.
“Our officers and men are ready for the battle against bandits and kidnappers,” he said, adding that the visit was mainly to assess the operational readiness of the personnel.
He said that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered the military to ensure that people go freely to their farms during the rainy season without any security threat.
“We are working towards that in synergy, the platforms are ready for the operations and we are liasing with the Army and other ground troops for the operations.
“My message to bandits is that we are coming after them together with the Army, Navy and other security agencies to make sure the they are flushed out of the country”, Amao said.
He stated that the welfare of the NAF personnel would be accorded full priority, to ensure motivation and diligence in the discharge of their duties.
“Welfare entails providing the personnel with equipments, conducive training environment and where they live and to make sure they are given their entitlements”, he said.
The CAS, therefore, charged the personnel on loyalty, dedication and discipline in the discharge of their constitutional responsibilities.
Earlier, the Air Officer Commanding Air Training Command, AVM Jackson Yusuf said the visit would be a morale booster to the command and would ensure more successes in the fight against insecurity.
The police have gunned down two kidnappers in Anguwar Hausawa, Naharati community in Abaji Area Council, Abuja.
According to reports the kidnappers were killed during an exchange of gunfire with the police and members of the vigilante group guarding the area.
A resident, identified as Suleiman, told newsmen around 1am on Sunday, gunmen in their large numbers swooped on some houses in Anguwar Hausawa.
He said before the arrival of security operatives, the gunmen had broken into some houses and whisked away four persons.
The persons kidnapped were identified as Abdullahi Umar, Abdulkarim Yusuf, Abubakar Umar and 13 year -old Abdulrahman Isah.
“They started shooting sporadically into the air to scare residents after they kidnapped four people,” he said.
The chairman of the council, Alhaji Abdulrahman Ajiya, confirmed the abduction of the residents and killing of two kidnappers.
Our reporter, who visited the police station, saw the corpses of the kidnappers lying on the floor.
Some residents rushed to the scene to take snap shots and videos of the corpses.
Among the items reportedly found on them were SIM Cards, charms and phones.
When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT police command, ASP Maryam Yusuf, confirmed the abduction and killing of two kidnappers.
She said the police repelled the attack, narrating that the kidnappers, who sustained gunshot injuries, died while being taken to the hospital.
Unknown gunmen on Friday invaded the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Mando, Kaduna State and abducted an unspecified numbers of female students in the school.
Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige who confirmed the incident to newsmen said the exact number of students abducted is currently unknown.
Jalige said Investigations are ongoing, adding that the police is working with the Army to trace the kidnappers.
“They were abducted last night but we have no details of the number of students and I can’t say if they are all female.
“We are currently working with the Nigerian Army to trace the kidnappers and rescue the students,” he said.
Recall that gunmen had earlier abducted students and staff of Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, Niger State, and Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, Zamfara State
Details later
An unspecified number of teachers and students of the National Institute of Construction Technology, Uromi, Edo State, have been reportedly kidnapped by gunmen.
It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the institute on Wednesday night and abducted the victims.
The development has heightened tension among residents in the locality.
As at the time of filing this report, parents of the kidnapped victims have reportedly stormed the school premises.
When contacted on the phone, the newly appointed spokesman of the State Police Command, SP. Bello Kontongs confirmed the report.
He however did not give much details.