19 children, two adults killed in Texas school shooting – Newstrends
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19 children, two adults killed in Texas school shooting

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3 years ago

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Nineteen children and two adults have been confirmed dead in a shooting at a primary school in south Texas, of the United States Tuesday night.

The gunman opened fire on Robb Elementary School, where young children aged seven to 10 are being taught, in the city of Uvalde before he was killed by law enforcement, officials said.

Accoding to a BBC report, investigators say the 18-year-old suspect had a handgun, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle and high-capacity magazines.

The teenager is suspected of shooting his grandmother before the rampage and local media report he may have been a high school student in the area.

Uvalde Consolidated Independent School District Chief of Police Pete Arredondo said the shooting began at 11:32 local time on Tuesday, and that investigators believe the attacker “did act alone during this heinous crime”.

Texas Governor Greg Abbott said the shooter, whom he named as Salvador Ramos, abandoned a vehicle before entering the school to “horrifically, incomprehensibly” open fire.

One of the adults killed was a teacher, who has been named in the US media as Eva Mireles. Her page on the school district’s website said she has a daughter in college and loved running and hiking.

Nearly 500 pupils are enrolled in the predominantly Hispanic school around 85 miles (135km) west of the city of San Antonio.

The Associated Press news agency reports that a US Border Patrol official who was nearby when the shooting began rushed into the school and shot and killed the gunman, who was behind a barricade.

Border Patrol is a federal agency that guards US ports of entry. Uvalde, which is fewer than 80 miles from the border with Mexico, is home to a Border Patrol station.

Two border agents were reportedly shot in an exchange with the gunman. One agent was shot in the head, officials say, adding that both were now in a stable condition in hospital.

According to CBS News, the attacker was wearing body armour as he carried out the attack. Another 18-year-old who is suspected of attacking a grocery store in Buffalo, New York, on 14 May was also wearing body armour and carrying a semi-automatic rifle – both of which are commercially available in the US.

The Uvalde Memorial Hospital posted on Facebook earlier that 13 children had been taken to hospital “via ambulances or buses”.

A 66-year-old woman and a 10-year-old girl were in a critical condition at a hospital in San Antonio, University Health hospital officials said.

There have already been 27 school shootings this year alone. Young school children routinely rehearse what to do if a gunman enters their classroom.

It’s only 10 days since ten people were killed in a mass shooting in New York.

Politicians recognise this a problem almost unique to America, where guns have overtaken car crashes as the leading cause of death for children and teenagers. But it’s a problem that politics seem incapable of solving. Deeply entrenched views on gun control are not changed in response to events like the tragedy in Uvalde.

“Why do we keep letting this happen?” asked President Biden. “Why are we willing to live with this carnage?”

But there is no sign that Democrats will get any closer to passing tighter gun control legislation. Some Republicans are already accusing of them of using this latest school shooting to cynically further their own political objectives.

Robb Elementary School will join the roll call of school shootings along with Sandy Hook and the Parkland shooting. The killing of innocent schoolchildren has reignited the debate over guns in America, but has not brought it any closer to a resolution.

As evening fell police remained outside the community centre in Uvalde braving an intense rainstorm.

Earlier, cries and sobs could be heard from outside as family members who gathered there received the devastating news that their children had been killed.

Others were asked to give DNA samples to help identify some of the young victims.

Just a few blocks from the Robb Elementary school, a small vigil was held for the victims and survivors of the attack.

Karla Bohman’s voice cracked as she told the group about a family friend whose young daughter, a student at the school, was among those still unaccounted for.

“They don’t know if she’s in surgery or one of the fatalities, but they know she’s a victim of some sort because she’s missing,” Bohman cried. “I can’t believe this.”

Cheryl Juhasz, a lifelong resident of Uvalde, quietly wept during the prayer.

“You can’t comprehend evil like this. No matter where it happens, but it’s harder when it happens at home.”

School district superintendent Hal Harrell said the school year had been ended early in the wake of the shooting.

In a speech from the White House, US President Joe Biden said he was “sick and tired” of responding to mass shootings, as he called for gun control.

“How many scores of little children who witnessed what happened – see their friends die, as if they’re in a battlefield, for God’s sake,” he said. “They’ll live with it the rest of their lives.”

He ordered that flags at the White House and other US federal buildings be flown at half-mast in honour of the victims in Uvalde.

School shootings have become recurring emergencies in the US, with 26 recorded last year, according to EdWeek, an education trade publication.

 

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Court orders FG to take over 7 properties of ex-FBN personnel

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April 11, 2025

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Court orders FG to take over 7 properties of ex-FBN personnel

A Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, has granted an order for the permanent forfeiture of seven properties linked to Muiz Tijani Adeyinka, a former employee of First Bank Plc.

The ruling, delivered on Thursday, April 10, 2025, by Justice Dehinde Dipeolu, followed a motion filed by the Lagos Zonal Directorate of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

The assets in question include residential apartments and parcels of land across various parts of Lagos and Abuja. Among them are: Plot 9, Block 28 Itunu City, Veritas Homes & Properties Ltd., Aiyetoro, Epe; a three-bedroom flat at Le Moriah Residences Estate in Ikate, Lekki; and land in Amen Estate Phase III Extension, Abomiti Zone, along Lekki/Epe Expressway. Others are located in Idera Scheme, Arizon Estate, Itunu Residential, Tiara by Amen City, and Ochacho Real Homes in LifeCamp, Abuja.

According to a statement released by the EFCC, the court’s decision came after no objections were raised within the 14-day period allowed for interested parties to challenge the interim forfeiture, which had been previously ordered.

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“No one showed cause within the 14 days window granted after the publication,” EFCC counsel Zeenat Atiku informed the court.
Supporting the application was an affidavit sworn by EFCC operative Isah Yusuf Nadabo, who stated that Tijani, during his tenure in the bank’s settlement office, exploited privileged access for personal gain.

“He, therefore, carried out illegal, unauthorised and fraudulent activities against First Bank Nigeria Plc,” Nadabo declared in the affidavit.

He further revealed that investigations had traced N35 billion allegedly obtained by Tijani and associates through these activities.

“Investigation has thus far revealed and traced the sum of N35 billion (Thirty Five Billion Naira) benefitted by Muiz Tijani Adeyinka and his cronies,” the affidavit stated.

Atiku urged the court to grant final forfeiture, arguing that the properties were suspected to have been acquired with proceeds of financial crime.

Justice Dipeolu, in granting the order, ruled that the EFCC’s application had merit and subsequently ordered the properties be forfeited to the Federal Government.

Court orders FG to take over 7 properties of ex-FBN personnel

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Judge, son shot as bandits kidnap 13 in Katsina

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April 11, 2025

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Judge, son shot as bandits kidnap 13 in Katsina

Bandits have attacked Mahuta town in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State, shooting a Shari’a court judge, Rabiu Mahuta, in the hand and his son.

During the attack, which occurred late Tuesday night, the assailants injured three people and kidnapped 13 others, including the judge’s wife and five of his children.

A resident who spoke to Daily Trust said the bandits arrived around 11:30 p.m. and headed straight to the judge’s residence, where they spent nearly an hour attempting to break down the door.

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Despite the judge’s call to the local Divisional Police Officer for help, no security personnel arrived in time.

“When they eventually broke in, they shot him in the hand, and he collapsed. One of his sons was also injured, with a bullet grazing his forehead,” the source said.

A neighbour, who is a member of the state-owned Community Watch Corps and tried to intervene during the attack, was also shot and is currently receiving treatment at a hospital in Katsina.

Daily Trust gathered that the attackers also abducted five people from the household of one Shehu Maishayi, along with Malam Sufi Nahi and the wife of Malam Abdurrazak, who lives on the outskirts of Mahuta.

Sources said soldiers arrived only after the bandits had fled the scene.

Judge, son shot as bandits kidnap 13 in Katsina

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EFCC plays confession video of ex-power minister in court

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April 11, 2025

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Former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman

EFCC plays confession video of ex-power minister in court

The trial of former Minister of Power, Saleh Mamman, continued on Thursday, April 10, 2025, before Justice James Omotosho of the Federal High Court, Abuja, with the prosecution presenting further evidence in a trial-within-trial to justify the admissibility of the extra-judicial statements of the defendant, who claimed that he volunteered them under duress.

Mamman is facing prosecution in relation to the Mambilla Power Project by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC on a 12-count charge, bordering on conspiracy to commit money laundering to the tune of N33,804,830,503.73 (Thirty-Three Billion, Eight Hundred and Four Million, Eight Hundred and Thirty Thousand, Five Hundred and Three Naira, Seventy-three Kobo).

Led in evidence by prosecution counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, Abubakar Muhammed Kwaido an EFCC investigator maintained that Mamman made his statements to the Commission without intimidation or force.

“There was at no point I harassed or intimidated him with detention. My boss was even asking him if he could write, but he said he would ask his lawyer to write on his behalf,” he said.

In a video clip of Mamman’s statement to the Commission which was played in court, the defendant was seen clarifying to investigators in a convivial atmosphere that he chose to avoid payment for an Abuja property through financial institutions to evade detection, considering his position in the government.

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“Honestly, I gave him N5million about three times. I didn’t transfer or put it in his account. I gave him cash. Why I didn’t do a transfer was because I am a civil servant and I have left my business and some of my things, so I have been very careful,” he said.

He further disclosed that the payments were made to Abubakar Mustapha Bida in relation to a house he acquired through him. Bida is the Mambilla Project Accountant. “After the payment, he then gave me the house, that is why I didn’t bring up that issue. Then I accepted the house at Kado,” he said.

Mamman was also seen in the clip narrating how he discussed the property with one Sam. “I said to Sam that there’s a house in Kado, but I have to collect the documents of the house. That’s why I told you that there’s no issue between me and him.”

He was also seen claiming that he jointly purchased another property in Wuse, Abuja with a friend who is a member of the House of Representatives, who chose to register the house with a different name. “We went together and bought the house in Wuse. It was me and my friend that joined and bought the house, but he gave another person’s name instead of his. Now I’m even struggling to get the papers for the house,” he said.

Speaking further in the clip, he said, “We bought the house from N30 to N35 million and we agreed I will be giving him the money in tranches. Things became somehow and I then left the office. He didn’t give me the papers and that’s how I left office.”

Mamman in the video, repeatedly accused Abubakar Mustapha Bida of dishonesty. “Mustapha is a liar. It was his PA that did all these things,” he said, referring to one Musbahu Idris.

Nonetheless, he admitted benefitting from the transaction. “Whether I like it or not, I benefitted, because my people have benefited from the money. That was why I was all involved in it,” he said.

In the video, he was also seen explaining to Kwaido that his lawyer has his nod to write his statements on his behalf because he was a bit under the weather.

Asked by Kwaido if he could write, he replied: “Honestly I can’t write, I’m not too strong, but as you can see, I’m about to take my medication. That’s why I spoke to him to write because I don’t want to stress myself. The doctors warned me not to stress myself. I was advised by my lawyer to come so that it will all be easy,” he said.

Justice Omotosho adjourned the matter till Monday, April 14, 2025, for continuation of trial.

EFCC plays confession video of ex-power minister in court

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