SIT-AT-HOME ORDER: SHOOTINGS RECORDED IN OWERRI AND ENVIRONS

Following the sit-at-home order by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), shootings have been recorded in some parts of Owerri and its environs.

Sporadic shootings were recorded late Friday night to early on Saturday morning at Naze Timber Market and its environs in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State on Friday between the hours of 8pm till 10pm.

The situation made it difficult for travellers on the Aba Expressway to reach their destinations on time.  

The same shooting continued on Saturday morning, when the sit-at-home order was to begin, at Egbu Road, Mbaise Road, Douglas Road by men of Nigeria Air Force, who were called out of their base by the authority.

There were also armed blockages by security agents at Chukwuma Nwoha, Egbu Road, Mbaise Road and some other roads in Owerri metropolis

Already the sit-at-home was gradually becoming effective as movements of people were being restricted, even by the security personnel, drafted to maintain peace, law and order.

The restrictions placed on people’s movements by the security agents run contrary to the position of the state government that citizens in the state should be protected to go about their normal businesses.

Reports filtering into our news room have it that people coming out for their normal business were being harassed and intimidated by the security personnel who kept shooting intermittently.

Shops and markets around Federal Housing Egbu Road and Mbaise Park were all closed by their owners at the time of filing this report.

AT LEAST SEVEN ESN MEMBERS KILLED AS SECURITY OPERATIVES RAID CAMP

No fewer than seven suspected armed members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), were killed on Thursday evening when a joint security team, raided the group’s camp located in a forest between Oyigbo and Eleme local government areas of Rivers State.

The joint security team, comprising of personnel of the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), had stormed the camp located in the forest along Pipelines Road Ogali/Kom-Kom boundary between Eleme and Oyigbo local government areas.

The 6 Division of the Nigerian Army, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, said five persons, suspected to be operatives of the ESN were arrested during the operation, while arms and ammunition were recovered at the camp during the raid that took place at about 6:15pm on Thursday. 

The statement, which was signed by the Deputy Army Public Relations Officer, Lt. Colonel Charles Ekeocha, reads in part: “6 Division, in conjunction with Keystone, DSS and NSCDC led by Brigadier-General MD Danja conducted clearance/raid operations at suspected IPOB/ESN camp in Agbochia Forest along Pipelines Road Ogali/ Kom-Kom boundary between Eleme and Oyigbo local government areas of Rivers State.

“During the clearance/raid Operations, the team came in contact with the IPOB/ESN members. However, during the firefight, 7 x IPOB/ESN members were neutralized and 5 x suspects were arrested.

“Items recovered during the clearance/raid include: Communication gadgets, assorted cell phones, army uniforms arms and ammunition were also recovered.

“Also recovered from the camp two AK 47 rifles, two G3 rifles, one locally made machine gun and one G3 magazine. Also recovered were include three rounds of 7.62mm special,10 rounds 7.62mm , 51mm NATO, one cutlass, five Baofeng handheld radios with chargers and 10 black berets.”

IJAW YOUTHS IN DELTA, BAYELSA PROTEST AGAINST ABDUCTION OF IYC PRESIDENT, IGBIFA.

There was tension in Delta and Bayelsa and Delta states, yesterday, as Ijaw youths from both states protest to the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) over the abduction of National President of the Ijaw Youths Council (IYC), Peter Igbifa.

Igbifa was reportedly abducted on Tuesday in Port Harcourt, Rivers States by unidentified gunmen, a few hours before the expiration of the 30-day ultimatum it issued to President Muhammadu Buhari to name a substantive board for the NDDC.

The IYC Worldwide and leaders of other ethnic nationalities in the Niger Delta had on April 25, 2021 given a 30-day ultimatum to the to the presidency to appoint a substantive board for be NDDC or face their fury.

They insisted on the desolation of the Interim Management Board, headed by a Sole Administrator, Effiong Akwa and appoint a substantive board, failing which they would shut down all oil installations in the region and cripple the country’s economy at the expiration of the ultimatum.

The protest, which was staged at the NDDC state offices along the Edjeba Road, Warri, Delta State and Yenezue-Gene area of Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, disrupted vehicular and business activities for several hours.

Carrying placards with inscriptions as: Restructure Nigeria Now; IOCs Must Not Remit $1.6b To NDDC Now; We seek Justice In NDDC and FG Should Appoint Substantive Board For NDDC Now, they accused President Muhammadu Buhari of state-sponsored abduction of Igbifa.

They warned that the next protest on the issues and development concerns of the region would be a total and mass action. In a communiqué issued at the end of an emergency meeting and signed by its Deputy President, Savior Olali, National Spokesman, Ebilade Ekerefe and others the group alleged that the presidency sponsored Igbifa’s abduction.

“Although his abduction came to us as a shock and provocative, we have since discovered that the Federal Government sponsored and executed the action. ”

“He and other National Executive members of IYC were invited to Abuja for a meeting with the Interim Coordinator of the Presidential Amnesty Programme (PAP), Col. Milland Dixion Dikio (rtd.), before armed men with standard IWI Tavor rifles and Uzi sub-machine guns, abducted him.

The IYC condemned the abduction and urged the Federal Government to ensure that he was released unconditionally. Meanwhile, Ijaw youths also blocked the Mbiama-axis of the East West road in protest against Federal Government’s refusal to inaugurate a substantive board of the NDDC.The Guardian learnt that the youths shut down the Bayelsa State office of the NDDC, before proceeding to Mbiama.

SOLDIERS THREATEN TO SHOOT EFCC OFFICIALS, RECOVER PROPERTY SEIZED FROM NSA’s AIDE

Soldiers on Wednesday threatened to shoot officials of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission that came to mark properties seized from Brig. Gen Jafaru Mohammed, the Director of Finance and Administration at the Office of the National Security Adviser.

The EFCC had obtained an interim forfeiture from a Federal High Court in Abuja on March 11, 2021, and proceeded to mark eight properties belonging to the NSA’s aide.

Our correspondent, who visited Sun City in the Lokogoma area of Abuja on Wednesday, reported that after a team of EFCC officials began marking General Mohammed’s building located on 52 Main Street, Sun City, in red paint, armed soldiers arrived in a white Hilux marked GWA481EA and chased the EFCC officials away.

The soldiers took a bucket of water and soap and quickly cleaned off the markings which read, ‘EFCC Under Investigation, Keep Off!”

Our correspondent, who visited other properties linked to the general, observed that soldiers were on guard to prevent EFCC officials from marking them.

Justice Folashade Ogunbanjo had in a suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/007/2021 ordered the interim forfeiture of eight properties linked to General Mohammed who is a trusted aide to the NSA, Major General Babagana Moguno (retd.).

The investigation of Mohammed is part of a wider probe into the finances of the Office of the NSA.

 

Other properties affected include: A house at 7 God’s Own Estate, Road 1, Wamba District, a fenced plot at 1 Jubril Aminu Crescent, Katampe Extension, a plot at Kubwa Express Road directly opposite Abuja Model City Gate, A house at Block SD 22, Road 5, Kabusa Garden Estate, Abuja; Plot 15, 21st Crescent, Second Avenue, Gwarinpa, 3 Liverpool Close, Sun City Estate and 25 Osaka Street, Sun City.

The properties are believed to be worth billions of naira which far exceed the income of a brigadier general.

Reports had it that this is not the first time that EFCC officials would be harassed for trying to enforce court orders.

In November 2017, masked operatives attached to a former Director-General of the Department of State Services, Ekpenyong Ita, prevented EFCC officials from arresting him and even threatened to shoot journalists who attempted to take photographs.

The Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, said he was not aware but promised to call back.

BAYELSA STATE GOVERNOR CALLS FOR UNCONDITIONAL RELEASE OF IYC PRESIDENT , PETER IGBIFA

The Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri has described the alleged abduction of the President of the Ijaw Youths Council IYC, Peter Igbifa as a direct affront on the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

Governor Diri, speaking at the weekly Executive Council meeting this Wednesday allayed fears that such dastardly act could worsen existing security challenges, just as he called for his immediate release.

The alleged kidnap of the president of the apex Ijaw youth body, Peter Igbifa rent the airwaves on Tuesday afternoon.

The IYC president was said to have been whisked away by unknown gunmen along the Port Harcourt International Airport on his way to Abuja.

Governor Douye Diri appealed for his unconditional release to ensure that the Peaceful disposition of the Niger Delta Region was not put in jeopardy.

The Governor called for peace, emphasizing that dialogue remained the best way of resolving conflicts.

This development is coming on the heels of the one month ultimatum to the Federal Government by the IYC over delays in constituting a substantive board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC , which terminated on Tuesday this week.

Source: AIT NEWS

SOUTHERN AND NORTHERN KADUNA AGREE TO SPLIT INTO TWO NEW STATES

In a development that caught many unawares, the Christians, Non-Hausa/Fulani from the Southern part of Kaduna state and its rival Northern Muslim Hausa/Fulani dominated part of Northern Kaduna, have agreed for the split of Kaduna State into two new states.

Speaking during the presentation and defence of their memos at the Senate ad-hoc Committee and the House of Reps Special Committee on the Review of the 1999 Constitution at the Hassan Katsina House on Wednesday who has been engaged in infamous inter-ethnic and religious clashes for decades, said creating new states from the present Kaduna State will go a long way at solving the bloody violence that seemed to defy solution.

The President of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Hon. Jonathan Asake, who defended the memo of Southern Kaduna people said: “The wish of Southern Kaduna is to have a brand new constitution, not an amended one,” he said.

“But in the absence of that, we are here to make our inputs as a people who have suffered suppression and oppression for a long time,” he said.

“Southern Kaduna is made up of 67 ethnic nationalities spread in 13 of the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Kaduna state. It has a landmass of 26,000kmsq with an estimated population of 5.1 million. We are endowed with an educated population and with abundant natural resources,” he said.

“Our land size is greater than that of Kano state which has a landmass of 20,000kmsq. Yet Kano is a state of its own with 44 LGAs. Our population is greater than 21 other states of the federation,” he went on. “We are demanding for the amendment of the provision of section 8 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which makes it almost an impossible task for the creation of a new state,” he insisted.

“We have been demanding for a state of our own for over thirty years and Gurara state was among the 18 states proposed in the 2014 Confab report,” he said.

“We are demanding for the creation of the Gurara state after the amendment. This will help in solving the incessant conflicts between our people and the other divide,” he said.

SOKAPU also asked for the removal of the Land Use Act from the Constitution and its amendment as a law, so that communities and families can have larger control of the ancestral lands.

“We stand by all the 2014 confab report which had captured most of our demands.

In the same vein, the Northern part of Kaduna State, under the aegis of Kaduna Development Elders Initiatives submitted a memo signed by the Senators Representing Kaduna North Senatorial Zone, Sen. Sulieman Abdu Kwari; the Senator Representing Kaduna Central Senatorial zone, Senator Uba Sani; all the House of Reps members from the Northern Part of Kaduna; all members of Kaduna state house of Assembly from the northern part of Kaduna their Chairmen of LGAs and Councillors.

Defending the memo of the group, Abdulkadir Ahmed said, “we are canvassing for the creation of New Kaduna state from the present Kaduna state and we want the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria amended to make this possible."

“Kaduna South has been complaining of marginalisation ever since, even though Chiefdoms have been given to them and they occupy 60% of the workforce of Kaduna state,” he added.

“Let the state be split and if they are asking for Gurara state, let them have it,” he said.

“This will solve all the crises we have been having in this state,” he added.

“On our part, we are asking for the creation of ‘New Kaduna State’, which will include Kaduna North and Kaduna Central Senatorial zones,” he said.

“But there should be a referendum for each section of the state to decide on where it wants to belong,” he added.

Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State, who declared the meeting open, also asked for true Federalism, State Police and Financial Autonomy to Local Government Councils.

The Chairman of the Committee, Senator Kabiru Gaiya from Kano State, in his opening remarks assured all that each of the memos will be well looked into and submitted to the National Assembly for further actions.

Many groups and individuals also submitted memos as the sitting continues till Friday.

GUNMEN KILL ONE POLICE OFFICER, SET PATROL VAN ABLAZE IN DELTA STATE

Report reaching our news desk reveals that a policeman has been killed, while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries as gunmen attacked a police team on stop and search duty at Akwukwu Igbo, the administrative headquarters of Oshimili North local government area of Delta state.

While confirming the incident when contacted, the command public relations officer, DSP Bright Edafe, told ait.live that the principal suspect who led the gunmen, has been arrested and investigation is ongoing to track down the other culprits.

DSP Edafe said the unfortunate incident occurred on Wednesday morning at about 9 am. He added that the gun-wielding criminals also set the police van ablaze.

VETERAN ACTOR SADIQ DABA IS DDEAD

   Sadiq Daba 

Veteran Nollywood actor, Sadiq Daba, is dead. It was gathered that the actor died on Wednesday at about 8:30 pm. According to his close friend, Joe Odumakin, the actor had been ill for a while before his demise. She said, "We have lost Sadiq. It is so painful because I spoke to him a few days ago when his wife became a permanent secretary.  

However, I called his number some hours ago but his son picked it. I told him to give the phone to his father but he told me that his father is gone. I had to ask; gone to where?

ABDUCTED ZAMFARA SCHOOLGIRLS REGAIN FREEDOM

Schoolgirls kidnapped from Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe, in Talata Mafara Local Government Area of Zamfara State last Friday have regained their freedom.

Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, who confirmed the news on Tuesday, said the girls were released with the help of repentant bandits without any ransom paid.

The Governor put the number of girls recovered at 279, although the police had earlier said 317 girls were kidnapped.

The released girls arrived at the Zamfara State Government House in Gusau early on Tuesday wearing face masks and light blue and brown chadors.

The girls’ kidnapping on Friday was the latest in a series of school abductions that has rocked the country in the past three months.

74 ABDUCTED KAGARA STUDENTS, TEACHERS, OTHERS HAVE BEEN RELEASED

Barely four hours after the abducted passengers of Niger State Transport Authority were released, the 42 school children and teachers who were abducted in Government Science College Kagara, Niger State, yesterday set free by their abductors.

Government sources told revealed last night that the students were released from another location different from where the NSTA passengers were released.

It was learnt the same unnamed mediator who facilitated passengers of the NSTA was the same person who secured the release of the students  and teachers.

It was also gathered that the students were taken out of the location they were kept at about 8pm.

The students were abducted last Wednesday alongside three teachers and 12 other people from the college, totalling 42. While information on their release as of the time of filing this report was sketchy, it was learnt that well-armed security personnel have been mobilised to escort them back to Minna.

Earlier yesterday, the remaining 32 passengers of the Niger State Transport Authority, NSTA, abducted at Yakila in Rafi local government area of the state were released by the bandits.

40 of the passengers were abducted last week Sunday, while eight were released last Wednesday, leaving 32 of the abductees in the custody of their abductors.

A terse news flash from the chief press secretary to Niger State governor, Mary Noel-Berje, indicated the passengers were released about 3 pm yesterday.

“The Niger state government has secured the release of the abducted NSTA bus passengers. Government is intensifying efforts to also secure the release of the Kagara Government Science College, GSC  students, staff and their family members,” the statement stated.

The statement did not give further details, but findings revealed that they were released in the forest in Allawa bordering Birnin Gwari in Kaduna state and Zamfara state about 3.PM yesterday.

A source in Minna said that they were on their way from the forest as the state government had earlier dispatched four buses after receiving assurance of their release from the bandits through a mediator.