metro
Residents flee Abuja suburbs over bandits
The spate of banditry attacks and kidnappings in villages and towns in Abuja sharing boundaries with Niger State has forced most residents to abandon their homes for places they consider safe.
Daily Sun investigation revealed that the most affected towns are Bwari, Kuje and Kubwa where mass exodus of persons have been witnessed recently.
In Bwari, it was learnt that those who have abandoned their homes cited constant underreported attacks by bandits and frequent abductions of family members by kidnappers as reasons.
Residents of Bwari, who spoke to Daily Sun, said kidnapping is now a regular occurrence, lamenting that streets are now deserted at sunset, over fears that people could be abducted for ransom.
Communities mostly affected in Bwari are located around the Nigerian Law School, Veritas University and areas bordered by mountains and forests close to Niger State.
Similarly, in Pegi, a fringe town in Kuje Area Council of Abuja, residents are relocating in droves to the metropolis, as bandits and kidnappers operating in the area have intensified their activities in recent weeks.
The development in Kuje has forced major schools to shut down. Some of the schools that have shut down are SS Simon & Jude Seminary, Kuje Abuja, Louis Ville Girls, Gwagwalada and Hand Made Girls, Kuje.
Residents living around the mountains in Byazhin, Kubwa, also lament the increase in vices, such as kidnapping and rape. They said strange faces who visit the market from those mountains, occasionally, to buy foodstuffs, are becoming frequent.
Those who spoke with Daily Sun said their environment was no longer safe, as they could no longer go out freely, due to fear of being kidnapped and raped, irrespective of gender.
Chioma Okereke, a resident, said that prior to the recent development, it used to be said that kidnappers were after the rich, but lamented that today, it is no longer so, “because the hardship in the country has pushed both the thieves and other crime perpetrators to kidnapping because even when they steal, nobody is willing to buy the stolen items.”
Further investigation revealed that despite the repeated kidnappings by suspected bandits and payment of ransom, the FCT administration, led by the Minister, Muhammad Bello, was yet to summon an emergency meeting with community leaders of the affected areas, on how to address the issue.
In Kuje, about 37 minutes from the Presidential Villa, residents are not leaving anything to chance. In Pegi, which has become the epicenter of major abductions in Abuja, residents, who are majorly from the southern part of the country, are relocating to the metropolis.
A resident said the place was becoming a ghost town. “The adjourning road linking the community and Abuja is in a deplorable state. Bandits who operate in a thick forest along the road, lay ambush everyday,” said a resident did not want to be named.
She said: “I have lived and done business in this area for more than 20 years. I have never experienced the type of fear that we are passing through these days. It is just that it is not easy for one to move with his family to another person’s house. If not, we would have moved.
“The condition is becoming alarming by the day. These days, we witness influx of strange faces coming to the market to buy foodstuffs, especially during the weekend. We are really scared. Something needs to be done very fast.”
Another resident, Susan Useni, said: “This country has turned into something else. Before, when you hear of kidnappers, you would say it doesn’t concern you because it was believed to be for the rich; but, today, things have changed. They are now after everyone. This year, almost all my family fruits are wasting in the farm because everyone is afraid.
“The last group of family members who visited the farmland for harvest ended up paying ransom, depending on what you can afford. Some even paid as small as N10,000. That is to tell you how rampant it has become. Before, you hear religious workers saying they wanted to go up the mountain to pray, but now it is no longer so.”
Aminu Alhasan, said they are now after pregnant women and men.
He said: “Two heavily pregnant women were kidnapped close by here and gang raped. If not for spiritual purpose, how can a normal person settle for another man’s pregnant woman after collecting ransom? Life is no longer safe in this part of the town. On a daily basis, people are kidnapped and money collected quietly.
Despite the fact that Abuja has the nomenclature of a State, the FCT administration has always maintained that the issue of insecurity doesn’t fall within its purview. Instead, it claimed that security agencies, whose headquarters are domiciled in Abuja, should handle the issue.
– The Sun.
metro
Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’
A soldier of the Nigerian Army, Lcpl Ojo Tope has died in an accident in Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State.
According to a report by SaharaReporters, multiple sources said the deceased attached to the 322 Artillery regiment in Benin City was on his way to meet policemen who had allegedly arrested his brother illegally.
The incident occurred around 10 pm on Wednesday.
The policemen attached to Ikere Area Command had reportedly illegally detained Ojo’s brother and after talking to him on the phone, Ojo was asked to come to their checkpoint and identify himself as a soldier.
SaharaReporters learnt that on his way to the checkpoint, Ojo was involved in an accident.
A relative of the deceased told the online newspaper that : “A soldier (Ojo Tope) serving in Benin City came home on a pass in Ikere Ekiti. Around 10 pm on Wednesday, he realised there was no fuel in their generator. So, he sent his younger brother who has a car to get fuel for him.
“However, on his way to get the fuel, the guy met some policemen on the road and they arrested him illegally. They asked him why he was driving at that time and asked him to unlock his phone as well but he refused.
“He pleaded with them that it was his soldier brother who sent him to buy fuel but they refused to let him go. So, he later called the soldier to talk to the policemen and one of them asked him to come and meet them. Sadly, on his way there on a bike, he had an accident.
“After the accident, people rushed him down to where the policemen seized the brother’s car and they pleaded with them to release the car so they could use it to rescue the soldier to the state hospital in Ikere but they refused to release the vehicle.
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“They later got another one to carry the soldier to the hospital. Unfortunately, before they would get to the hospital, the soldier gave up. His body is now in the morgue.”
The family source said some residents who heard about Ojo’s death got angry and wanted to protest against the actions of the policemen but the family calmed them down.
When SaharaReporters contacted the spokesperson for Ekiti State Police Command, DSP Sunday Abutu, denied the role allegedly played by the policemen in the death of Ojo.
He said, “This could be termed ‘a lie from the pit of hell’ as no such incident or report was made in any of our stations across the state, not even the headquarters.
“The only vehicle that was confiscated by our surveillance team from Ikere Area Command on Wednesday night was an unregistered Toyota Camry 2006 model car. The driver had no document and could not give satisfactory proof that the vehicle belonged to him, but then offered to go home and get the documents.
“Up till this moment, the driver did not bring the car documents or come for his vehicle. It should be noted that our surveillance teams do not have or create checkpoints.
“No soldier’s death was reported by anybody or family or the military authority in the state in Ikere Area Command or any of our divisions or formations across the state in recent time and nobody has come to solicit for the release of the said Toyota Camry car.”
“Meanwhile, anyone with any genuine complaint against the conduct of our men should feel free to approach the nearest police station, formation, office of the PPRO or office of the Commissioner of Police for necessary and immediate action,” Abutu added.
Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’
metro
Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
Rampaging bandits operating in North-West Nigeria have attacked Maradun town, the headquarters of Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara, killing one person and kidnapping several others.
Maradun is the hometown of Bello Matawalle, the former governor of the state and present Minister of State for Defence in the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
Although, police authorities in the state are yet to comment on the latest incident an indigene of the town Nura Maradun told Channels Television that the bandits stormed the town around 1 am on Friday with sophisticated weapons.
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He said they fired indiscriminately to scare residents. According to him, the bandits went from house to house to abduct residents of the town.
“They came in around 1 am and operated till 4 am unchallenged. They went on to search house by house looking for people to be kidnapped,” he said.
“From what I can confirm to you now, one person was killed, and about eight persons most women have been taken away. Some of the women kidnapped are daughters of the Emir’s brother.”
Bandits attack Matawalle’s hometown in Zamfara kill one, kidnap many
metro
Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra
Eight illegal security guards arrested in Anambra
The Anambra command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), says it has arrested eight suspected unlicensed private security guards with four pump action guns.
During the parade of the suspects in Awka, the state capital on Thursday, Olatunde Maku, the NSCDC state commandant, said the arrest was made in response to intelligence reports.
Maku added that the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.
“Preliminary investigation revealed that some of the suspects were impersonating the Anambra Vigilance Group while others were hired by hotels to provide security services, in spite of knowing that the outfits were not licensed or registered,” NAN quoted the NSCDC commandant as saying.
“Meanwhile, four pump action guns with 16 live cartridges were also recovered from them.
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“All the suspects are currently undergoing investigation, after which they would be charged to court and prosecuted.
“This raid is in continuation of the execution of the NSCDC mandate and we will not leave any stone unturned in discharging our responsibilities.
Maku said that the NSCDC is the only agency responsible for licensing, monitoring, and supervising private securities companies in Nigeria, and the raid aims to prevent illegal security outfit proliferation.
The commandant urged licensed private guard companies to adhere to the law and report any suspicious activities or security outfits to the Corps for prompt action.
“I want to put all illegal security outfits on notice to dismantle their operations or face the consequences.
“We will clamp down on any illegal outfit, arrest and prosecute their operators, and recover illegal weapons in their possession.
“This is to restore sanity in the operations of the private security sector and ensure the safety and security of residents.”
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Soldier dies while ‘rushing to rescue brother arrested by policemen’
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