Banditry: Tension in North as groups plan shutdown of states - Newstrends
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Banditry: Tension in North as groups plan shutdown of states

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*Recruit special forces to fight bandits, Tambuwal tells FG

*Plans to deboard schools in Sokoto

Following the escalating insecurity in North west states, Sokoto State chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups, CNG, has given the Federal Government three months within which to resolve the security situation in the zone or face mass action.

Criminal activities, ranging from banditry, kidnapping to armed robbery, had escalated in the north west, resulting in the killing of hundreds of people.

The ultimatum came even as North-West Governors’ Forum said in its meeting on Wednesday that to have a banditry-free society, all stakeholders must show commitment at fighting the menace, and stop playing the blame game.

This is even as Sokoto State governor, Aminu Tambuwal asked the Federal Government to recruit special forces to fight bandits in their enclaves in the forest.

Recruit special forces — Tambuwal

He also disclosed plans to deboard all schools in the state until the security situation was resolved.

Rising from a one-day stakeholders meeting in Sokoto yesterday, the coalition in a communique issued at the end of the meeting, said it had mobilised youths in states in north west to ground activities in the zone until government dealt with the problem of banditry and other violent crimes.Coordinator of CNG in the state, Isah Jabbi Usman, also blamed the activities of the outlawed volunteer vigilantes groups, known as Yan Sakai for the escalation of violence in most parts of the north western states.

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He lamented the escalating insecurity, particularly in Sokoto and called for immediate action to address the situations once and for all.

The group faulted both the federal and state governments for not acting promptly to tame the situation at its initial stage.

‘’We hereby place the authorities on notice that if the killings and abductions are not significantly or totally controlled within the next three months, mass action would be called that will not prelude occupying all towns in all the frontline states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja,’’ Usman said.Similarly, the North-Western Governor’s Forum challenged stakeholders in the zone to show commitment to the efforts to wipe out banditry in the north west.

Chairman of the Forum, Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State, who threw the challenge when he led a delegation of the Forum on a condolence visit to Senator Aliyu Wamakko (APC-Sokoto) in Abuja yesterday over the burning of over 40 persons in a bus by bandits in Sokoto last week said: “We were in Sokoto State earlier to sympathise with the government and immediate families of those who were brutally killed in the name of banditry.

“The issue of banditry in north western part of the country is not beyond us. We know the problem and the solutions are something we as a people are capable of providing.

“This will be, provided that all of us take responsibility and stop the blame game. Banditry, especially our own in the north western part of the country, can easily be dealt with, if all hands are put on deck.

“This is because it has no religious coloration, no ethnic coloration, it is not ideological. It is simply pure criminality.’’

While acknowledging that the Nigerian Police had limitations in fighting insecurity, Masari said security agencies required technologies to effectively tackle the challenge.

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“We in the north western governor’s forum together with the governors of Plateau, Nasarawa and Niger are working with the Federal Government to come up with strategies and solutions,’’ he said.

Tambuwal on deboarding schools

Meanwhile, Governor Tambuwal said the state government was looking into the possibility of deboarding all boarding secondary schools in the state, pending when the security situation improved.

Tambuwal, who disclosed this in a media chat with journalists said the decision to deboard the schools was a result of constant and continued attacks by bandits and other criminal groups terrorising the state.“This situation calls for specialised approach with a holistic support from community groups, religious leaders and other individuals to tackle.”

On his part, Masari expressed his condolences to Sokoto state on the recent attacks by bandits, noting that measures are being put in place to address the situation.

“Bandits behave worse than animals in view of the atrocities they perpetrate; people need to protect themselves.

“Police and other security personnel are inadequate, so we shall not wait for those barbaric bandits to maim and kill people at random,” he said.

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“We shall confront them and deal with them the way they are supposed to be dealt with. It is no longer a blame game, rather we shall shun political differences to support authorities on containing the situation.

”The governor also said the state government was looking into the possibility of deboarding all boarding secondary schools in the state, pending when the security situation improved.

Tambuwal, who disclosed this in a media chart with practising journalists in the state, said the decision to deboard the schools was a result of constant and continued attacks by bandits and other criminal groups terrorising the state.

He said the launching of operation Hadarin Daji by the Nigeria Armed forces had made Sokoto State vulnerable to attacks by fleeing bandits from Zamfara State, adding that the state had made available all needed assistance to the security agencies in the state, with a view to containing the activities of criminal gangs.

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School Attack: 13-Year-Old Student Kills Teacher, Injures Two

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School Attack: 13-Year-Old Student Kills Teacher, Injures Two

Slovakia School Attack: 13-Year-Old Student Kills Teacher, Injures Two

A 13-year-old student has been detained after a knife attack at an elementary school in Slovakia left a 61-year-old teacher dead and two other people injured.

The attack occurred on Tuesday morning, September 29, 2026, at a school in Staškov, a town in northwestern Slovakia’s Čadca district.

Police said the student attacked teachers and pupils with a sharp object during the school day. The suspect was taken into custody, while authorities said the situation was brought under control and there was no continuing threat to the public.

The teacher who died was identified as a 61-year-old woman. Another female teacher and a pupil were also injured and taken to hospital.

The second teacher suffered a stab wound to the chest and was hospitalised with serious injuries. Officials later said her life was not in danger.

The injured pupil, reported to be a girl, was in critical condition and was transported by helicopter for further treatment.

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Emergency medical teams, including ambulances and rescue helicopters, were deployed to the school following the attack.

Slovak authorities detained the student and launched an investigation into the incident. Police had not publicly confirmed a motive for the attack at the time of reporting.

Slovakia’s Interior Minister Matúš Šutaj Eštok, Education Minister Tomáš Drucker and Health Minister Kamil Šaško travelled to Staškov following the incident.

Education authorities also offered assistance and professional support to the affected school, while officials appealed for respect for the privacy of the children, their families and school staff.

President Peter Pellegrini and Prime Minister Robert Fico expressed condolences to the victims and their families following the Slovakia school attack.

The incident has renewed attention on school violence in Slovakia, following other serious attacks at schools in recent years.

In January 2025, an 18-year-old student was accused of fatally stabbing a deputy principal and another student at a secondary school in Spišská Stará Ves in eastern Slovakia. A separate school attack in 2020 also left a deputy principal dead and several others injured.

Police continued their investigation into Tuesday’s school stabbing in Staškov, while further details about the circumstances surrounding the attack remained under investigation.

School Attack: 13-Year-Old Student Kills Teacher, Injures Two

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Edo Court Sentences Four to Death Over Kidnapping, Armed Robbery

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Edo Court Sentences Four to Death Over Kidnapping, Armed Robbery

Edo Court Sentences Four to Death Over Kidnapping, Armed Robbery

Four men have been sentenced to death by the Edo State Special Criminal Court after being convicted on multiple charges arising from a kidnapping, armed robbery, cultism and firearms case in Benin City.

Justice Aigbona Momodu delivered the judgment on Tuesday, September 29, 2026, in what was the court’s first reported judgment in a kidnapping case since it became operational.

The convicts were identified as Marvellous Isaac, 32; Wisdom Michael, 36; Rufus Emete Michael, 30; and Gift Raphael, 27.

The case arose from the June 14, 2026 abduction of a woman at the Vegetable Market area along Airport Road in Benin City.

The victim was reportedly at the market with her husband and children when armed men abducted her. She was later released unharmed.

The incident prompted a police investigation that led to the arrest and prosecution of the four men.

Police reportedly recovered a Lexus RX 350, which investigators linked to the abduction, as well as a pump-action firearm, ammunition, a motorcycle and cash.

One alleged member of the group, identified as Precious, was reportedly killed during a security operation, while Marvellous Isaac was arrested on June 18 following an alleged exchange of gunfire with police operatives.

The defendants had pleaded not guilty during the trial.

After considering evidence presented by the prosecution and defence, the court convicted the defendants on the relevant counts.

According to the reported judgment, Marvellous Isaac received seven years’ imprisonment on Count 1, death sentences on Counts 2 to 9, 10 years’ imprisonment on Count 10 and life imprisonment on Count 11.

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Wisdom Michael was sentenced to seven years on Count 1 and death sentences on Counts 2 to 9.

Rufus Emete Michael received seven years on Count 1 and death sentences on Counts 2, 3, 4, 6 and 7.

Gift Raphael was sentenced to seven years on Count 1 and death sentences on Counts 2, 4, 6 and 8.

Earlier reports on the case had described the defendants as facing a 10-count charge, while the judgment reports refer to an additional Count 11. The available reports do not provide sufficient detail to independently assign every offence to each of the 11 counts, so the sentencing breakdown above follows the counts specifically reported in the judgment.

Justice Momodu said the court had no discretion over the punishment prescribed by law for the offences attracting the death penalty.

The court also ordered the confiscation of a JoJef pump-action firearm and four cartridges tendered as exhibits during the trial.

The firearm and ammunition were ordered to be handed over to the Edo State Police Armourer at the State Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for destruction within 30 days.

The judgment marked the first kidnapping-related judgment delivered by the Edo State Special Criminal Court, a specialised court established to handle kidnapping, cultism and other serious violent-crime cases.

The court became operational on July 1, 2026, as part of efforts to accelerate the prosecution of serious criminal cases in Edo State.

The sentencing concludes the trial at the Special Criminal Court, but available reports do not indicate whether the four convicts have filed appeals against their convictions or sentences.

The death sentences are therefore sentences imposed by the trial court and should not be presented as final or carried out unless subsequent legal proceedings establish that position.

Edo Court Sentences Four to Death Over Kidnapping, Armed Robbery

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Chimamanda Adichie: Hospital Seeks to Stop Inquest Into Son’s Death

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Chimamanda Adichie: Hospital Seeks to Stop Inquest Into Son’s Death

Chimamanda Adichie: Hospital Seeks to Stop Inquest Into Son’s Death

A Lagos State High Court has fixed October 12, 2026, to rule on an application by Eurapharma Care Services Nigeria Limited, operators of Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital, seeking to halt the coroner’s inquest into the death of Chimamanda Adichie’s son, Nkanu Adichie-Esege.

Justice Aishat Opesanwo fixed the date after hearing arguments from the hospital, Nkanu’s parents and other parties involved in the legal dispute.

The hospital is challenging the continuation of the coroner’s inquest, which is examining the circumstances surrounding the death of the 21-month-old child at Euracare Multi-Specialist Hospital in Lagos on January 7, 2026.

Eurapharma is seeking judicial review orders, including certiorari, to quash decisions already made by the coroner and prohibition, to restrain the coroner, Magistrate Atinuke Adetunji, from continuing with the proceedings.

One of the hospital’s key arguments concerns the fact that Nkanu’s remains were cremated, which it argues prevents a post-mortem examination and affects the coroner’s ability to proceed with the inquest.

The hospital has also challenged the procedure adopted by the coroner regarding the presentation of evidence, particularly a direction requiring Euracare to present its case before the family of the deceased.

Eurapharma’s counsel, Taiwo Osipitan, SAN, argued that the hospital should not be required to open its case before the family, which has raised allegations concerning the medical care provided to Nkanu, first presents its evidence.

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However, lawyers representing Chimamanda Adichie and her husband, Dr Ivara Esege, urged the High Court to dismiss the hospital’s application.

Their counsel, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, argued that the application was premature because the coroner had not made any substantive decision capable of being challenged through judicial review.

Pinheiro also disputed the argument that the cremation of Nkanu’s remains deprived the coroner of jurisdiction.

He relied on provisions of the Lagos State Coroners System Law, including Sections 21 and 31, arguing that an inquest could proceed even where a body was unavailable for inspection.

The lawyer described the inquest as a fact-finding process rather than a criminal trial, stressing that the coroner’s proceedings do not determine criminal guilt or impose criminal liability.

He argued that the coroner’s eventual findings would be submitted to the appropriate authorities, including the Lagos State Attorney-General and the Director of Public Prosecutions, for any further action considered necessary.

The Lagos State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro, SAN, also urged the court to dismiss the hospital’s application.

Counsel representing Atlantis Paediatric Hospital Limited similarly opposed the application and argued that the issue concerning the order of evidence had already been addressed during proceedings before the coroner.

According to the arguments presented in court, parties had previously agreed that the family would lead evidence first, although the hospital had earlier agreed to commence its case because it was the party that initially sought the inquest.

The dispute is not the first time the Chimamanda Adichie son death inquest has faced a legal challenge.

In June, the Lagos State High Court granted Eurapharma leave to commence judicial review proceedings and temporarily stayed further proceedings before the coroner pending determination of the substantive application.

The hospital had argued that the coroner acted without jurisdiction and had also challenged procedural decisions made during the inquest.

The coroner’s proceedings began after Nkanu died at Euracare in January following medical treatment. His parents subsequently raised concerns about the circumstances surrounding his treatment and alleged breaches of the duty of care.

The family has alleged possible medical negligence, while Euracare has denied wrongdoing and described the allegations as inaccurate and unfounded.

Earlier reports on the case said the child had been referred to Euracare for diagnostic procedures and that arrangements were being made for further treatment abroad.

The family has maintained that it wants the inquest to establish the circumstances surrounding Nkanu’s death and provide answers about the medical care he received.

The current court proceedings, however, are focused on whether the coroner can lawfully continue with the inquest and whether the hospital’s complaints about the procedure and the cremation of the remains provide grounds for judicial intervention.

Justice Opesanwo is expected to determine the hospital’s application on October 12, 2026.

The ruling will determine the immediate legal direction of the coroner’s inquest into Nkanu Adichie-Esege’s death, while the underlying allegations of medical negligence remain unresolved.

Chimamanda Adichie: Hospital Seeks to Stop Inquest Into Son’s Death

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