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Tag: Zamfara

  • Insecurity: Zamfara residents hold prayer sessions

    Insecurity: Zamfara residents hold prayer sessions

    Residents of Zamfara State on Sunday gathered to pray for God’s intervention over the continuous bandit attacks, killings and abductions in the state.

    They have also urged the Federal Government to provide adequate equipment for security personnel fighting the war against banditry and other crimes in the state.

    This is coming amidst series of attacks and abductions for ransoms with the most recent being the abduction of 73 students of the Government Day Secondary School in Kaya in Maradun Local Government Area.

    According to reports, the assailants had invaded the school on September 1 in a large number and left with the students to an undisclosed location.

    The incident was the third attack on schools in Zamfara this year – coming after that of Jangebe and Bakura.

    A total of 317 students were abducted from the Government Girls Science Secondary School in Jangebe during an attack in February, six months before bandits kidnapped at least 20 persons comprising students and officials from the College of Agriculture and Animal Science, Bakura.

    Since the recent incidents, the government has had to take more stringent measures such as the shutting down of telecoms services.

    The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on September 3 directed telecommunications providers in the state to shut down their services.

    “The pervading security situation in Zamfara has necessitated an immediate shutdown of all telecommunications services in the state from today, September 3, 2021. This is to enable relevant security agencies to carry out the required activities towards addressing the security challenge in the state,” a memo signed by the vice-chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta, said.

  • 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 kill soldier, police, kidnap Emir, others on Kaduna-Abuja highway

    Bandits kill soldier, police, kidnap Emir, others on Kaduna-Abuja highway

    A soldier has been reported killed and four persons abducted by bandits who attacked Milgoma, a community near the Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital in Zaria, Kaduna State.

    Those kidnapped by the gunmen in the Monday night attack weer a woman, her daughter and two sons.

    In another development, Emir of Bungudu in Zamfara state Hassan Attahiru has been reported abducted by bandits along the Kaduna-Abuja highway on Tuesday evening.

    The Secretary of Milgoma community, Malam Sani, said the bandits invaded the area in large numbers at about 9:00pm on Monday and went straight to the residence of a male lecturer working with the Kaduna State University to kidnap him.

    One of the soldiers, who advanced to the residence of the lecturer, was said to have been shot by the gunmen who already laid an ambush around the compound.

    The security operative was later rushed to a hospital where he was reported to have died.

    On the other hand, the body of one of the bandits who died from bullet wounds was later discovered by soldiers.

    Sani stated that the soldiers were able to stop the bandits from kidnapping the lecturer.

    He said the gunmen later moved to another location within the community where they took away a woman and her three children.

    In another development, the Paramount Ruler of Bungudu Emirate in Zamfara state, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru was reported abducted by bandits along the Kaduna-Abuja highway Tuesday evening.

    The first class chief was said to have been abducted while traveling along Kaduna – Abuja highway this Tuesday’s evening

    It was also gathered that a police escort who accompanied the Emir was killed in a shootout with the bandits, while the gunmen whisked away only the Emir.

    Meanwhile, the Kaduna Police Command has confirmed the abduction of the Emir of Bungudu and an unspecified number of commuters, along the Kaduna – Abuja highway.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Tuesday, in Kaduna.

    “Today, Sept 14, at about 3.10 pm, the Kaduna Police Command received a tragic report of an attack and kidnapping incident around Dutse village along the Kaduna-Abuja road.

    “An unspecified number of people were suspected to have been kidnapped, while two others sustained varying degrees of injuries and are currently receiving medical treatment.

    “Equally, available information indicated that the Emir of Bungudu, Zamfara State, His Royal Highness (HRH) Alhaji Hassan Atto, is among the people abducted to an unknown destination,” he said.

    Reports reaching the command indicated that the commuters were intercepted by the bandits, who fired shots at random, before abducting their victims.

  • Another set of kidnapped Zamfara school students regain freedom

    Another set of kidnapped Zamfara school students regain freedom

    The kidnapped students of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State have regained their freedom.

    After being released by their abductors, the students were received by Governor Bello Matawalle in Gusau, on Sunday.

    Gunmen, believed to be bandits, had abducted the students from the school late in the night of September 1. It is unclear if any ransom was paid before the students were freed.

    The Zamfara Police Command said afterward that 73 of the students were kidnapped from the school but five of them were freed a day later.

    Sources in the community said the assailants stormed the school in large numbers before taking the students to an unknown destination.

    The incident is one of the several school abductions that have been reported in the North-Western state and other northern states battling attacks from bandits.

    Other states in the region including Katsina and Kaduna, have had their fair share of attacks on schools.

  • 75 kidnapped Zamfara pupils regain freedom

    75 kidnapped Zamfara pupils regain freedom

    The 75 pupils of Government Day Secondary School, Kaya, in Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara State who were kidnapped on September 1, 2021, have regained their freedom.

    The Nigerian Television Authority broke the news via its verified Facebook page overnight.

    TheNewsGuru recalls that Police had reported that gunmen abducted more than 70 students in the country’s northwest state of Zamfara.

    Zamfara State Police spokesman, Mohammed Shehu, had said in a statement that a large group of attackers invaded the Government Day Secondary School in the remote village of Kaya that Wednesday morning, seizing the pupils. He had given the number of seized children as 73.

    “The abduction followed the invasion of the school by large numbers of armed bandits,” he had stated.

    Shehu said that Police rescue teams were working with the military to secure the release of the pupils.

    The bandits later returned five of the pupils within 24 hours.

    A former councilor of Kaya ward, Yahaya Kaya, said that his niece was among those released by the bandits; adding that the five freed pupils had been returned to their hometown of Kaya.

    It is not yet clear if any ransom was paid before the pupils were released.

     

    Following the abduction, the Zamfara State Government had ordered the immediate deboarding of boarding facilities in 30 schools.

     

  • Banditry: Zamfara govt. intercepts food, fuel suppliers, arrests 100 suspects

    Banditry: Zamfara govt. intercepts food, fuel suppliers, arrests 100 suspects

    The Zamfara State Government says it has incepted vehicles conveying food, drinks and fuel to various bandit camps in the state.

    The government said it had also arrested no fewer than 100 violators of Gov. Bello Matawalle’s Executive Order to restore law and order in the state.

    Secretary of the state Special Taskforce on Security, Mr Abdulrasheed Haruna, made the disclosure to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Wednesday.

    Matawalle had established the Special Taskforce to enforce measures to address the lingering security challenges of mass kidnapping for ransom and cattle rustling by gunmen facing the state.

    NAN recalls that Matawalle had on Aug. 26, signed the executive orders in line with the relevant sections of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

    In signing the executive order the governor said he acted in the exercise of the powers conferred on him by the Section 5(2),176(2) and 315(2) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.

    He also said it was in exercise of all other powers enabling him in that behalf in an effort to protect the lives and property of the people of the state of Zamfara and at the same time contain the security challenges.

    Consequently, he issued an executive order as follows:

    “All weekly markets activities within Zamfara State are hereby suspended.

    “Ingress and egress for all cars, or vehicles by whatever name called within Zamfara State shall be from 6:00 am to 10:00 pm excluding Firefighters, Ambulances, Patrol vehicles, Health Personnel and Journalists.

    “No bicycle, motorcycle shall carry more than one passenger; in the case of tricycle, three passengers.

    “No bicycle, motorcycle and tricycle shall ply any road or rat run within Zamfara State between the hours of 6:30pm to 6:00 am, while in Gusau metropolis shall be between 8:00 pm. to 6:00 am.

    “No firewood or charcoal shall be transported from the bush to any part of Zamfara state by bicycle, motorcycle, tricycle, car, articulated vehicle, lorry truck or any vehicle by whatever name called.

    “No sheep or cow shall be transported into or outside Zamfara State.

    “The sale of petroleum products by filling stations within the control of a village head is banned.

    “Filling stations shall not sell petroleum products in jerry cans or any other container to any customer.

    “No filling station shall sell more than five litres to motorcyclists, tricyclists and 40 litres to any vehicle.

    “All shops, Kiosks, Containers, Tents and Stands located at Garejin Mailaina, Gusau are hereby closed.

    “A Special Taskforce is hereby established to ensure full compliance with this order while mobile courts are hereby established to deal with violators”.

    Haruna told NAN that the suspected collaborators were handed over to security agencies for further investigation while those with light offences were being tried by a mobile court established by the taskforce.

    According to him, the closure of weekly markets and filling stations by the government had curtailed supplies of food and other essential services to the bandits.

    “We believe that these have forced the bandits to relocate enmass from the state,” he said.

    Haruna further said the taskforce had set up 11 subcommittees to monitor and ensure total compliance to all elements as contained in the executive order.

    Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara, has announced additional measures taken by the state government to tighten the leakages giving lifeline to the bandits.

    Dosara said the additional measures were taken based on intelligence obtained by the state government and security agencies.

    “The state government has closed down, Yargaya Market of Tudunwada area in Gusau, Kaura Namoda-Jibiya Junction, Lambar Bakura Junction, Colony-Rini Junction and Mayar-Anka Junction,” he said.

    The Commissioner further said security agencies were directed to take total control of all the affected areas with immediate effect “and state taskforce will monitor to ensure compliance”.

    According to him, the troops led by Lt.-Gen. Faruku Yahaya, the Chief of Army Staff, who had since relocated to the North West region had been combing the forests and bandit enclaves.

    He said the military had recorded huge successes which details would be made available in due course.

    Meanwhile, commercial activities in the state were halted following the disconnection of telecommunication network by the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC).

    The disconnection had also affected banking services including Point of Sales (POS) services and internet cafe services among other businesses in the state.

  • Security officials finding it ‘easy’ to deal with bandits after telecoms services shutdown – Zamfara Government

    Security officials finding it ‘easy’ to deal with bandits after telecoms services shutdown – Zamfara Government

    The Zamfara State Government has said the military onslaught against the bandits is yielding tremendous success especially since the shutdown of telecoms services in the state.

    This was disclosed by the Commissioner for Information, Ibrahim Dosara on Tuesday at a press briefing in the state.

    “Zamfara State Government in efforts to ensure the crashing of the bandits has requested for the closing down of all networks in the state and this has been effective,” he said.

    “The security officials are finding it very easy to deal with the bandits in their enclaves in the forests.”

    He said some identified camps were destroyed by the Air Force while the Army is also on the ground to neutralise those who managed to escape through footpaths.

    Speaking further, the Commissioner said other measures have also been taken based on credible information and intelligence available to the government.

    “These include the immediate closure of the following places suspected to be habouring bandits and their collaborators,” Dosara said.

    According to him, such places include some illegal motor parks and roadside markets, especially those at Kauran Namoda-Jibia road, Lambar Bakura junction, Mayanchi-Anka junction, Garejin Mai Lena, as well as Filin Jirgi rice and vegetables market in Gusau Metropolitan.

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) in a leaked memo obtained by TNG directed telecommunications providers to shut down services.

    This was disclosed in a memo signed on Friday by the Vice-Chairman of the NCC, Professor Umar Danbatta.

    The shutdown is expected to last for two weeks.

    Meanwhile, last week, the government shut down schools after the abduction of 73 students from a public school in the state.

    The abduction occurred 11 days after students abducted from the College of Agriculture in Bakura, Zamfara, regained freedom.

    The state governor Bello Matawalle also suspended the transportation of livestock beyond the state’s borders and ordered the closure of weekly markets across the state, while transportation of food items will be subject to verification.

  • A plea for understanding in Zamfara tech shutdown – Okoh Aihe

    A plea for understanding in Zamfara tech shutdown – Okoh Aihe

    By Okoh Aihe

    I begin this material with a solicitation that you join me in prayers for a dear friend, Ahmed Abudulkadir who was kidnapped on Monday along with his daughter in Bakori, near Funtua in Katsina State. Ahmed is a nice fellow, a genuine go-happy gentleman who has no time for misery and regrets.

    Ahmed has served his people without holding anything back. He was General Manager, Katsina State Television, before joining the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) where he retired as the Zonal Director in Maiduguri. The Maiduguri Zone also includes: Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Yobe. Before the Maiduguri posting, Ahmed was Head, Public Affairs of the Commission. It will be pertinent to observe here that with all the dangers in the Zone which includes the dreaded Sambisa forest, Ahmed traversed the whole of the area before retiring into farming in his native Katsina State.

    Ahmed is a good man. Go to his Facebook posts and you will be overwhelmed with the love of one man for his family. Those who took him should look at the face of one gentleman that has given his best to his people and country and, please, release him to continue with his simple life. Let those who know how to pray, pray that God should come through for Ahmed and bring him and his daughter home safely.

    Without a doubt things are spinning out of control in the country, demanding of all of us to encourage and support government in its actions to deal a lasting blow on the enemies of the land before the situation festers beyond redemption.

    The nation is not at war but some people are going through war daily. They say there is peace and some unsavory developments are exaggerated; the peace is as good as a man and the young daughter being kidnapped and that man, who is a father, is unable to play the role of a father and defend his family. Villages are attacked for hours and nearly obliterated but help does not come. The attackers choose very soft targets where they can engage in looting and in the dance of death unhindered and people are wondering what is going on in the land. Something has to give. And that came last week.

    For the first time government took a decision to shut down telecommunications operations in Zamfara State to enable the gallant Nigerian forces intensify their operations in that part of the country, and the document which is top secret found its way to the public space and it has been trending ever since. I have asked myself severally, how did this happen? Who released this document without even contemplating the implications?

    “The second paragraph of the letter dated September 3, 2021, reads: “The prevailing security situation in Zamfara State, has necessitated an immediate shutdown of all telecommunications services in the State from today September 03, 2021. This is to enable relevant security agencies carry out required activities towards addressing the security challenge in the State,” the letter said.

    I have looked at this material I couldn’t find anywhere it is marked ‘Top Secret.’ How could somebody make that type of puerile mistake where lives are concerned?

    Be that as it may, I have also tried to assess the behavior of whoever leaked the letter, there is no justification whatsoever. I admit that this government may have engaged in some actions that were unwarranted and really irritating sometimes, making the citizenry to hold some of its actions in suspect, but that should not make anybody in the country to underestimate the danger staring us in the face.

    I have been reliably informed that the letter was not intended for the public because of the security implications but the public got it, and I am suggesting that the public also get the more sobering message, which is to the effect that the situation in the land is no more a handshake between friends. It has never been. The hold has gone beyond the elbow and only this government enjoys the reason why it cannot declare these bandits terrorists.

    Some guy spoke to me on Monday morning and painted a grim picture of what is happening in some of these States where the war on terror has been raging. The source explained that for whatever reason the bandits have taken arms against the nation, the acquiescing conspiracy of the locals, among them informants, is even more dangerous and damaging. Among the locals are the agents who the bandits pay heavily; they include suppliers of food, diesel, fuel, and other necessities. My source lamented that it is worse when the security forces believe they are fighting for the people only for a tiny few among these people to betray their commitment and sacrifice with results that can be very discouraging, damaging and even deadly.

    “They have informants all over the place and they are paying those people heavily. The people are doing it as a means of livelihood without knowing the dangers their actions constitute to the nation,” the source said.

    From all indications, what is being done is so technical that the ordinary folks were not supposed to be in the loop. There is a way the neighbouring States are affected causing some parts of Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi, Kaduna and Niger to suffer some collateral damage by propinquity. The technicality or those involved in the chain of implementation of the government’s directive shouldn’t be our concern but the results. I remain miffed by the fact that a communication was even released to this effect, which nearly jeopardized the entire process. My source is however encouraged by the results coming to them from the field of operations.

    Here is my appeal. The situation in the land is so dire and so potentially explosive that we need, as a people, to escalate our thinking process and be able to squeeze reason out of irrationality. In the war against terror, government needs help and Nigerians should give it even at a cost.

    For instance, the people of Zamfara are under a very terrible situation at the moment. That is a grave cut. The security forces are ready to pay with their lives by paying the ultimate price. How do we ever pay them back? The operators and their contractors with total service shutdown have taken their own cut. The rest of us should be ready to take a cut and support government’s actions towards bringing this nightmare to an end. This tech disruption in Zamfara is only but a phase that will soon pass.

    Final take. Please remember Ahmed and his little daughter in your orison.

     

  • NAF aircraft bombard bandits logistics base in Zamfara, Katsina; kill scores in Kawara Forest

    NAF aircraft bombard bandits logistics base in Zamfara, Katsina; kill scores in Kawara Forest

    In the wake of aggressive bombardments by military air troops which have killed several bandits in Zamfara State in the last one week, a logistics base set up by criminals in Kaduna State has been destroyed by airstrikes of Nigerian military fighter aircraft.

    The logistics facility, which PRNigeria, gathered was being used by bandits hiding at Kawara Forest in Igabi Local area of Kaduna State.

    Sources also said no fewer than 50 bandits were killed by bombs shelled at the bandits’ logistics facility at the weekend.

    According to one of the sources, a military air officer, a reconnaissance mission by Nigerian Air Force, NAF, helicopter gunships had intercepted a large gathering of bandits dressed in black clothes with rustled cattle around Kawara Village in Giwa local government area.

    “On sighting the aircraft, the bandits ran and hid in between the cattle, while navigating their movement.

    “After clustering at a water crossing point, the bandits were struck in successive passes by the aircraft.

    “Some casualties that were spotted to be struggling to scamper for safety were also successfully neutralized by the aircraft.

    “A reverse trail back to their initial departure point revealed a possible logistics base which was also struck until it went into flames.

    “Sources on the ground at Kawara on Monday confirmed that at least 50 dead bodies of the bandits were counted while their motorcycles and food items were destroyed at the camps during the attack,” he said.