Nation
Kingpin Behind Kankara School Boys Abduction Surrenders
A criminal gang leader behind the kidnapping of hundreds of schoolchildren in Kankara, Katsina State in December, 2020, has surrendered to the authorities in an amnesty deal, officials said, yesterday.
Auwalun Daudawa led dozens of gunmen, who snatched students from their school hostels in Kankara in a crime that sparked global outrage and highlighted growing instability in the country’s North-West.
The abductions happened when President Muhammadu Buhari was visiting his home state of Katsina.
Some students managed to escape, and officials said around 343 were freed days later after negotiations.
Daudawa surrendered to local officials, last Monday, with six of his gang members, the local government spokesman said in a statement.
“In a brief ceremony at the premises of the Governor’s Office…. Auwalun Daudawa handed over the weapons, and also… swore with the Holy Quran not to revert to his old ways,” spokesman, Zailani Bappa said.
Daudawa and his comrades surrendered 20 Kalashnikovs and other weapons.
It would be recalled that the North-West has been terrorised by criminal gangs who raid villages, stealing cattle, kidnapping for ransom, and burning homes after looting supplies.
No fewer than 19 people were killed, last weekend, when armed men raided two villages in Kaduna State.
The gangs also attack travellers at bogus checkpoints on the highway and abduct them.
Hostages are usually released after a ransom payment.
Most of the Kankara children were released after days in captivity following negotiations between the abductors and officials of Zamfara and Katsina states’ governments.
The bandits hide in camps in Rugu forest, which straddles Zamfara, Katsina, Kaduna, and Niger states.
Despite the deployment of troops in Zamfara and Katsina states, deadly attacks persist.
The state government has sought instead to broker peace deals with the bandits, offering them amnesty in exchange for surrendering their arms.
Daudawa’s surrender was part of the amnesty offered to bandits, the statement said.
Security analysts have warned of infiltration of criminal gangs in the region by jihadists who are conducting a decade-long insurgency in the North-East.
Following the schoolboys’ abduction, Boko Haram leader, Abubakar Shekau, claimed responsibility in a video showing some children he alleged were the captives, in a bush.
Security sources said that the abductions were carried out by Daudawa in collaboration with two bandits with a strong following, on the orders of Shekau.
Daudawa, 43, was an armed robber and a cattle rustler before he turned to gun-running, security sources said.
He began bringing in weapons from Libya, where he had received training from jihadists, selling them to bandits, the sources said.
He forged an alliance with Boko Haram and became their gunrunner, taking weapons the group seizes from the Nigerian security forces in raids and ambushes and selling them to bandits.
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has commemorated the 15th anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Environmental Assessment Report on Ogoniland, reaffirming its commitment to restoring the environment and improving the livelihoods of affected communities.
In a statement signed by the Project Coordinator, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, to commemorate the anniversary, HYPREP described the anniversary as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s environmental restoration efforts, noting that the project has made remarkable progress in implementing the recommendations of the landmark UNEP report released on August 4, 2011.
The UNEP report had revealed extensive oil pollution across Ogoniland, severe environmental degradation, and serious public health risks resulting from decades of petroleum operations. It also recommended an initial $1 billion fund to commence the cleanup of the affected communities.
According to HYPREP, the Federal Government formally launched the Ogoni clean-up in 2016, while the Project Coordination Office was established in 2017 to drive the implementation of UNEP’s recommendations.
Zabbey said the current administration has continued to prioritise the project under the Renewed Hope Agenda.
Providing an update on the cleanup, the Project Coordinator disclosed that 30 of the 65 contaminated sites identified by UNEP have been fully remediated, while work is ongoing at several medium- and high-risk locations. It also stated that more than 1.5 million mangrove seedlings have been planted as part of what it described as the world’s largest restoration of oil-degraded mangroves, with over 1,000 hectares of shoreline already rehabilitated.
Zabbey further revealed that 49 Ogoni communities have been connected to potable water schemes through multiple water projects and booster stations aimed at providing safe drinking water across the region.
In the health sector, he said the 100-bed Ogoni Specialist Hospital in Kpite and the 43-bed Cottage Hospital in Buan are nearing completion, adding that several existing health facilities have been upgraded with modern medical equipment, while five ambulances have been donated to improve emergency healthcare services. The Project Coordinator also disclosed that a three-year human health biomonitoring study is being conducted in collaboration with the World Health Organization’s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC).
On economic empowerment, Zabbey stated that the Project has created more than 8,000 direct jobs and trained thousands of Ogoni youths and women in various vocational and technical skills, including software development, cybersecurity, aviation, commercial diving, seafaring, mechatronics, and creative arts. The project also reported awarding scholarships to more than 1,000 students, providing grants to small businesses, and supporting persons living with special needs through skills acquisition programmes.
The statement further highlighted ongoing legacy projects, including the Ogoni Power Project and the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, which it said is about 96 per cent complete. HYPREP also welcomed the recent designation of the Ogoni Wetland as a Ramsar Site of International Importance and pledged to continue promoting biodiversity conservation and sustainable management of the ecosystem.
Marking the anniversary, Zabbey said the progress achieved over the past 15 years demonstrates the collective commitment of government, development partners, stakeholders, and local communities to restoring Ogoniland. He called for renewed collaboration to sustain the cleanup effort, promote environmental sustainability, and support the long-term development of the region. 3