A member of the Taraba state house of assembly representing Nguroje state constituency, Bashir Mohammed has been kidnapped by gunmen in the early hours today.
Nduka Obaigbena joins Sam Amuka, Segun Osoba as NPAN Patron Residents of his area in Jalingo, said the gunmen stormed the lawmakers house and shot sporadically before whisking him away around 1.30am.
According to one of them, “we couldn’t sleep last night, heavy gun shots started around 1:40am to 1:45am as they are leaving.”
Three siblings were on Tuesday struck to death by thunder while their mother, Justina Nyavoro, who sustained injuries is receiving treatment in the hospital.
The incident occurred at about 5.30 pm in Pupule village, Yorro local government when Justina and her three children were returning from the farm.
According to a source in the village, the woman and her three children were returning from the farm under very intense rain and were close to Pupule village when the thunder struck.
The source said the three children were murdered instantly while their mother, who sustained serious injuries and was unconscious, was rushed to Pupule maternity hospital for medical assistance.
It was further gathered the three children, aged 12, 8 and 6 respectively, were buried few hours later.
An influential personality in the village and former Chairman of Yorro local government, Mr. Acicus Kovorova confirmed the incident.
He described the incident as unfortunate and painful, adding that the mother of the children was responding to treatment.
The family of Danlami Shamaki, the proprietor of Winners Comprehensive High School Jalingo, have been thrown in mourning as Shamaki was killed by gunmen on Sunday.
According to an eyewitness the late Shamaki was returning from Abuja in his Toyota Jeep at about 5pm with three other people when they ran into a group of armed men between Danacha and Sabongida village in Gassol local government area of Taraba state.
It was gathered the gunmen, on sighting the vehicle, suddenly pushed a wheelbarrow to slow down the vehicle before opening fire.
According to the eyewitness, the gunmen shot the late proprietor, who was sitting on the front seat on the forehead while the driver managed to escape with the other three passengers unhurt.
Shamaki was said to have died immediately.
It was further gathered his remains were taken to Jalingo and deposited at the Federal Medical Centre mortuary.
The Police Public Relations Officer of Taraba Police Command, DSP David Misal could not pick his phone to confirm the incident.
But the deceased’s wife, Juliana, simply replied in tears “they have killed my husband”, when visited by newsmen.
Malami disclosed this on Friday in Abuja through a statement by Dr. Umar Gwandu, his Special Assistant on Media and Public Relations.
Malami said what his office did was to sever the charges in view of the unavailability of the soldiers who in their own case needed to be released by the military authorities, as they are undergoing military processes before their release.
“The interest of justice requires and legitimately allowed for segmentation of the case in the interest of speedy trail,” the AGF said.
He said it was in the interest of justice to accord speedy trial to the accused persons that were readily available to stand trial as against delaying at the expense of other co-accused persons, who in the peculiarity of the case are not available for immediate arraignment.
The statement added: “It is a common practice that absence of a co-accused will not constitute an impediment to the progress of a case.
“Those available are entitled to fair trial and have their cases determined within a reasonable time as a matter of Constitutional rights.
“Moreso, looking at the fact that the available accused persons are not to be held responsible for the unavailability of the co-accused persons.”
Malami said his office had taken steps to procure the availability of the co-accused, allegedly led by Captain Balarabe tijani, and shall have them arraigned immediately upon procuring their availability by the military authorities.
The Federal Government on Monday, arraigned alleged Taraba kidnap kingpin, Bala Hamisu (aka Wadume), and six other defendants on 13 counts bordering on terrorism.
When the matter was called, the prosecuting counsel, Mr Shuiabu Labaran prayed the court to have the charge read to the defendants.
He, however told the court that the defendants were 20, but since the prosecution had not gotten a hold of all the defendants, the 16-count charge earlier preferred on them was amended to 13 counts for the purpose of arraigning seven of the defendants.
The other defendants are; Insp. Aliyu Dadje, Auwalu Bala, Uba Bala, Bashir Waziri, Zubairu Abdullahi and Rayyanu Abdul.
When the charge was read to the defendants, they all pleaded not guilty.
Labaran prayed the court for a date for trial to begin.
“Having pleaded not guilty to the charge, the prosecution is asking for a date to commence trial and prove all the allegations against the defendants.
“The charge before the court borders on kidnapping, detention, collecting of N106 million ransom, being in possession of unregistered fire arms and aiding and abetting of criminals, “he said.
He further told the court that the prosecution will depend on testimonies from investigating officers, documentary evidence and defendants statements to prove its case.
Count one of the charge read:” That you Hamisu Bala, (aka Wadume) of Ibi Local Government Area, Taraba between February and April 2019 at Takum and Ibi Local Government Area, within the jurisdiction of this court, knowingly seized and detained one Usman Garba at his filling station in Takum, demanded and collected a ransom of N106 million before he was released”.
The trial judge, Justice Binta Nyako adjourned the matter until June 22 for commencement of trial.
The News Agency of Nigeria, (NAN) recalls that the Attorney-General of the Federation, (AGF) and Minister of Justice Mr Abubakar Malami took over the matter from the police on June 3.
NAN further recalled that the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had filed a 16-count charge bordering on terrorism, murder, kidnapping and illegal arms running against Wadume and the others.
They were accused of conspiring to commit felony, to wit: acts of terrorism, by attacking and kidnapping one Usman Garba, aka Mayo, at his filling station in Takum, thereby committing an offence contrary to Section 17 of the Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013.”
They were also accused of possessing six AK-47 rifles and dealing in prohibited firearms contrary to Section 27 (1)(a)(I) and (1)(b)(iii) of the Firearms Act 2004.
The Taraba State Government on Tuesday said it has discharge all coronavirus patients from its isolation centre after they recovered from the virus.
As at Monday, the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control, NCDC, recorded 17 confirmed Coronavirus cases for Taraba, with one discharged so far.
But Taraba’s Deputy Governor, Haruna Manu, said the patients were discharged after successful treatment protocols and series of test which returned negative and certified them free of the virus.
Speaking in a statewide broadcast on Tuesday, Manu said the development meant that there is no active coronavirus case in the state, adding that the feat was achieved with concerted efforts of the government, health workers in the frontline against the virus and other stakeholders in the state.
He thanked the citizens for their adherence to health and safety measures put in place by health experts and the government, but warned that the state was still at risk of the pandemic if citizens lower the bar on all safety and precautionary measures.
“It is important for me to say that even with the present zero active cases of COVID-19 infection in the state, we cannot yet say that we are completely free of the risk of infection.
“We must, therefore, remain committed to those international protocols introduced by the World Health Organisation and which have been domesticated to serve our needs and purpose in the state,” he said.
A female patient, who tested positive for COVID-19 in Taraba State, has escaped from the isolation centre.
The state Commissioner for Health and Chairman of state’s Technical Committee on COVID-19, Innocent Vakkai, disclosed this while briefing journalists in the Taraba’s capital, Jalingo, on Saturday.
Vakkai identified the patient at large as Tatu Idris, noting however, that efforts were on to find her.
He declared the patient wanted and urged residents to report if found anywhere.
The Taraba commissioner further stated that the government had procured two additional ventilators to assist in the treatment of patients.
Six persons have tested positive for COVID-19 in Taraba state.
The news of the six confirmed cases was reported by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), after samples taken from the victims who are being quarantined at the NYSC Isolation Center, Sibre, tested positive.
Governor Darius Ishaku also confirmed the report in a state broadcast on Monday.
Since the global outbreak of the pandemic, Taraba had maintained a zero status until Wednesday.
Governor Ishaku said he was shocked over report of the sudden six index cases. He, however, told Tarabans not to panic.
“I wish to assure the people of Taraba State that this is not a time for panic as government is on top of the situation.
“Additional manpower and resources have been mobilised and deployed to trace contacts of all those that have tested positive to the Coronavirus, immediately.
“Let me assure you (Tarabans) that we are prepared, having already identified two treatment centres located at the State Specialist Hospital, Jalingo and the Federal Medical Center also in Jalingo with the combined capacity to handle 22 cases.
“In the meantime, we are in the process of completing a one hundred bed capacity isolation centre with the assistance of Access Bank.
“Tarabans should, therefore, be rest assured that their protection is paramount and government will do all within its powers to checkmate widespread of the virus,” he stated.
Ishaku said it was unfortunate that the reported outbreak came about despite the robust proactive steps taken by his administration to prevent the virus from entering Taraba State.
It was gathered that the persons who tested positive are among 130 interstate travellers from Bauchi, Kano, Jigawa, Borno, Ogun and Lagos states intercepted at the state’s borders.
The committee on Covid-19 in the state, headed by the Commissioner of Health Innocent Vakkai, had earlier intercepted on two occasions, 65 and 59 persons from Ogun state en route to Adamawa state and were allowed to proceed amid tight security.
Governor Ishaku said: “We all woke up this morning to the shocking news of six confirmed cases of Covid-19 by the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) from samples taken from persons already quarantined by the State Task Force on COVID 19 who are presently at the NYSC isolation centre, Sibre.
“I, therefore, commend the proactive steps of the committee which led to the isolation and identification of the reported cases.
“You will recall that immediately the index case was identified in the country, we took a number of preventive steps such as the closure of our land borders with neighbouring states as well as the international boundary with the Republic of Cameroon.
“We also temporarily closed places of worship, schools, markets and other public places that attract large crowds.
“In addition, government had also rolled out intensive sensitisation and advocacy programmes using our two religious bodies (Christianity and Islam) and traditional institutions as well as the media.
Ishaku said the situation in Taraba demands strict adherence to preventive measures approved by the World Health Organisation endorsed by NCDC and adopted by his administration, such as regular washing of hands, use of sanitizers, social distancing and avoidance of handshakes.
“We in Taraba State should continue to practice these habits as regular new ways of social interaction to keep the virus in check.
“Our lockdown measure which is meant to encourage people to stay at home is not negotiable.
“Security agencies are to ensure that interstate travelers are prevented from coming into the State and that those who are already in the State stay at home,” Ishaku said.
The governor acknowledged that the measures come with a lot of inconveniences to the people, but they must adopt them in order to save lives.
“Government will do everything possible to ameliorate the suffering of those that may be adversely affected by these measures,” he assured.
Taraba State Commissioner for Rural Electrification, Mr. Alexander Markus Senlo is dead.
The commissioner reportedly died on Monday after a brief illness.
Danjuma Adamu, Commissioner for Information confirmed Senlo’s death on Monday.
He told the Sun that the state was “deeply saddened by his sudden death at a time his wealth of knowledge and expertise was needed the most”.
The two-time commissioner under the administration of the current governor, Darius Ishaku died in a Yola hospital after falling ill three days ago.
Senlo’s death is coming two days after Anthony Ugochukwu, Enugu State Commissioner for Health died.