News
Fresh Violence Claims 20 Lives In Taraba
About 20 persons have been reportedly killed and 300 cows stolen following a fresh outbreak of ethnic violence on the Mambilla Plateau in Sardauna Local Government Area of Taraba State, local officials and residents told our correspondent, yesterday.
A fleeing resident, Saadu Mogoggo, who said his house was attacked at Leme suburb of Gembu, said two of his brothers were killed last Saturday evening and their cattle rustled by a group he identified as the Mambilla militia.
“As I am talking to you, we are yet to bury their corpses,” he said toour correspondent, yesterday.
‘’The ethnic militias attacked our residence in Leme where they killed our father last month. During this attack, the Mambillas took away our over 100 cows.
‘’My two younger brothers reported the matter to a nearby military base and a soldier was attached as escort to retrieve the stolen cows. Unfortunately, in the process, my younger brothers were both killed while the soldier fled with injury,’’ he said.
Abdu Gagarau, another resident of the area who said he was speaking from hiding, said, “The burning and killing of the Fulani continued till early this morning. As I am talking to you now, from last Thursday they have been attacking our settlements and over 20 people killed. Some were buried and over 300 cattle stolen by the militias.
“The Mambila ethnic group are known for attacking other tribes. They attacked the Pansos in 1982, The Fulanis in 2002 and in 2017, when eventually we retaliate then the normal shouts of herdsmen will start. Let government be proactive and come to our rescue,’’ he said.
A Fulani community leader in the area, Ahmadu Nguroje , called for government and security intervention.
‘’At least 20 people are feared killed, looting of houses, shops and burning down to ashes by the Mambilla militias along Tapare and Yerimaru axis have been recorded here in Sardauna LGA of Taraba State,” he said.
‘’About 12 others were also wounded and are on admission at a hospital in Gembu,’’ Mr. Nguroje said.
The lawmaker representing Nguroje and Gembu constituency in the state House of Assembly, Bashir Muhammad, confirmed the latest disturbances.
“There have been silent and systematic killings of Fulani nomadic herdsmen in the remote areas in Mambilla Plateau,” Mr. Muhammad said.
‘’It is unfortunate that while efforts are being made to restore peace, the killings continued unabated and many people feared killed between Thursday to Sunday, just as dozens of livestock were killed or injured. I was even told that over 200 cows were rustled.
“Security is grossly in adequate because some of the affected villages are remote and in hinterlands that can take one or two hours to be reached. We want presence of more security, particularly soldiers to ensure peace,’’ the lawmaker pleaded.
Reacting to the report of the attacks, the state governor, Darius Ishaku, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Emmanuel Bello, called for an end to the violence.
‘’Anyone who takes any life, irrespective of religion or tribe, is a criminal, whether it is on the summits of Mambilla or the plains of southern Taraba and anywhere in this state. And we shall deal with them as criminals.”
Mr. Bello said the governor, ‘’was committed to an amicable resolution of the crisis in the state and peaceful co-existence of all ethnic nationalities,” attributing the renewed crisis to “disagreement between two ethnic groups.”
The police spokesperson in the state, David Misal, told our reporter that four people were confirmed killed from both sides of the ethnic groups in the conflict. He added that security officials had been dispatched to the area to restore peace, but that no arrest had been made.
Investigations revealed that the crisis started last Thursday over a land dispute between nomadic Fulani and Mambilla in Yerimaru village and later snowballed into neighbouring villages.
Meanwhile, Police in Taraba have confirmed that five people were killed and several others injured in fresh attacks on communities in Sardauna local government area of the state.
The state’s Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), David Misal, told newsmen last Saturday that the crisis erupted in Nyiwa and Yerimaru areas last Thursday as a result of a misunderstanding between a farmer and a herder.
He said units of mobile policemen and soldiers from the 20 battalion in Serti have been deployed to the area to maintain law and order.
Mr. Misal added that the situation, which led to the burning of several homes and killing of many cows, has been brought under control.
A victim of the attack, Abubakar Ardo, who escaped with his family, toldin Gembu that the attacks started at midday last Thursday and most of the killings occurred in the night.
The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.
Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.
He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.
“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.
He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.
“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.
“We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.
“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.
He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.
Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.
He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.
The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.
This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.
The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.
Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.
The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.
From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.
From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.
Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.
From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.
The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.
The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.
The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the Polytechnic, recently.
Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.
He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.
This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly, Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.
The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.
Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.
He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.
The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.
Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.
Chinedu Wosu
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