A notorious banditry kingpin, Abdulkareem Lawal alias Faca-faca, and many of his followers have been killed in airstrikes by the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets on some bandits’ enclaves in Safana Local Government Area of Katsina State.
Our correspondent learnt that the raids were carried out in the evening.
The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in the state, Gambo Isah, confirmed on Sunday that eight suspected bandits including Faca-faca were killed during the raid.
He also said the police Saturday night raided a terrorists’ hideout at Unguwar Dako, Tandama village in Danja Local Government Area of the state where they rescued six kidnapped victims.
Isah gave the names of the rescued victims as Alhaji Garba DanMallam, 52; Rabiu Idris, 45; and Abba Samaila, 38, who are all residents of Unguwar Nuhu.
Others are Yunusa Sani, 54; Ishaq Yakub, 40; and Danjuma Samaila, 45, all residents of Layin Sani village, Kafur.
Meanwhile, bandits have killed two members of a local vigilante group and abducted a newlywed couple and other residents of Shola Quarters in the Katsina metropolis.
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Residents said the bandits invaded the area around 1:25am and operated for over an hour.
One of the sources said, “It was the vigilante members that even confronted the bandits but in the process, two of them were killed and two others wounded.”
He explained that the vigilante members had to retreat for their safety when the bandits overpowered them.
He said it was later that one body was retrieved while one of the injured persons rushed to the hospital died.
Explaining how the newlywed couple was kidnapped, a relative, Usman Masanawa, said the husband, Yusuf Bishir, called to inform him of the attack but there was nothing he could do.
“We went there this morning; the bandits did not even enter the house through the entrance gate but they smashed the wall and got access into the house,” Masanawa said.
He added that the number of residents abducted could not be ascertained but other residents said some houses were attacked and people abducted.
When contacted, the PPRO who responded via WhatsApp message, said officers were on an operation (on the matter) and would communicate details later.
In another attack, bandits abducted 13 people from Natsinta village, in Jibia Local Government Area, which is a few hundred metres from the army barracks in Katsina.
A resident, whose uncle and two of his children were abducted, said the bandits had earlier abducted 26 people but when they got to where they parked their motorcycles, they took 13 with them and left the others.
DAILY TRUST
Five children trapped inside abandoned car in Minna die
Five children have reportedly died of suffocation in an abandoned vehicle in the Albishiri area of Minna, Niger State.
The children were said to have gone missing on Sunday morning before they were found dead at 6pm on the same day.
One of the children was said to be a child of the owner of the car while another one was the child of a neighbour.
The remaining three were siblings, belonging to one Abdullahi Etsu of Etsu-tasha, from the Albishiri area.
Spokesman for the police command in Niger, Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed the incident in a statement on Monday.
He said the children were between the ages of five and 13.
Abiodun said the children were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle in the area.
He stated, “On 21/4/2024 at about 6.30pm, based on information received at Kpakungu Div, five children of about 5-13 years of age were found trapped in a Honda Civic vehicle with Reg No. GO 778 ABC at Albishiri area of Minna,” the statement reads.
“They were found to have suffocated in the vehicle, while their bodies were later removed by the various Parents, as Police visited the scene.
“However, the owner of the vehicle was invited for questioning, as the unfortunate incident is under investigation.”
FG summons Abuja Chinese supermarket owner to tribunal over discrimination
Director of Surveillance and Investigation at the FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka, disclosed this on Monday after sealing off the outlet.
She affirmed that the owner of the supermarket, Cindy Liu Bei, had fled before the arrival of the agency’s officials.
The FCCPC officials stormed the supermarket on Monday, April 22, 2024, barely 24 hours after the discriminatory practices of the outlet were reported on social media by Nigerians.
Four vandalised towers disrupt power supply to Gombe, Yola, Jalingo
The TCN General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, disclosed this on Monday in a statement shared on the company’s official X handle, along with pictures of the vandalised towers.
According to the statement, the TCN noted that when the 330kV transmission line tripped, its operators attempted to restore it to service but it tripped again, prompting the dispatch of TCN lines men to trace the line to detect and rectify the fault.
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It said, “While fault tracing, TCN’s engineering crew discovered that towers 288, 289, 290, and 291 were vandalised and that some tower members were carted away. Also, the towers had equally collapsed as a result of the incident. Presently, bulk power supply to Gombe, Yola, and Jalingo substations have been disrupted, affecting bulk power supply to parts of Yola and Jos Electricity Distribution Companies’ franchise areas.’’
The TCN however stated that it was trying to first backfeed Gombe through its 132kV transmission line from Bauchi and subsequently Ashaka, Potiskum, Damaturu, and Billiri/Savannah, to mitigate the effect of the incident on electricity consumers affected by the incident.
The company assured that it would do everything to ensure restoration of electricity to the affected areas, while efforts were made to reconstruct the four vandalised towers.
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