A fleet of 150 gunmen on motorcycles rode into two villages in Katsina State, murdering, at least, 15 people, stealing cattle and torching houses, Police said, yesterday.
The gang attacked two villages — Gobirawa and Sabawa villages of Safana LGA of Katsina State, late on Tuesday night, raiding the villages for hours into Wednesday morning.
“Police patrol teams were dispatched to the scene,” Katsina Police spokesman, Gambo Isah, said.
A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent Gambo Isah, explained that the patrol teams dispatched to the scene engaged the hoodlums in a gun duel.
The teams, he added, chased the bandits out of the villages and recovered one motorcycle Bajaj from them.
He said: “The command commiserates with the families of the deceased persons and the entire peace loving people of Katsina State.
“It will do everything possible to bring perpetrators of this heinous crime to justice and bringing to an end the activities of these rascals’’.
In Zamfara State, the state Police Command has confirmed the abduction of two caterers and three children during an attack on Government Girls’ Secondary School, Moriki, Zurmi Local Government Area, last Wednesday night.
The gunmen were said to have stormed the area around 11:30 pm by announcing their arrival with sporadic gun shots in the air.
The state Police Command PPRO, SP Mohammed Shehu, in a press release stated that, “On 1st May, 2019 at about 21;30hrs, DPO Zurmi received a distress call that unidentified number of armed men entered into Government Girls’ Secondary School, Moriki in Zurmi LGA through the back fence of the school with intent to attack the school and abduct students.
“On the spur of the moment, a combined team of PMF/CTU/ and Civilian JTF personnel headed by the DPO mobilised to the school, confronted the armed men, and stopped them from gaining access to the students’ hostels. The bandits took a retreat back to the bush.
“No student was abducted as earlier reported by some media. However, two caterers and three of their children were later discovered missing.
“The police are collaborating with the school authority to establish the whereabouts of the missing persons.”
The PPRO said a search-and-rescue operation team has been dispatched to the surrounding bushes for an extensive bush combing.
The police further explained that security has been beefed up in the school and its environment to forestall further happening.
Also speaking, the Zamfara State Commissioner of Police, Celestine Okoye, confirmed the attack, but stressed that no students were abducted by the bandits, contrary to a viral rumour on social media.
“We have confirmed reports of an attack on the school in Moriki, but no students were abducted,” Okoye said.
“Unfortunately, five persons were abducted from the school, including two cooks and three of their children.”
Moriki is in Zurmi Local Government Area, which has been one of the most terrorised areas by bandits in the North-West.
A spokesperson for the state government did not immediately return requests for comments.
Some social media posts had cited the BBC Hausa as reporting that, at least, two teachers were abducted alongside the cooks.
The bandits had reportedly blocked the road leading to the school before breaking into its premises.
Okoye said details of how the girls were prevented from being abducted would be made public shortly.
The police chief said efforts were underway to rescue the victims, urging parents and members of the community not to be apprehensive about unconfirmed social media claims.
However, the Katsina State Police Command, has arrested some suspects in connection with the abduction of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aide de Camp (ADC)’s father-in-law.
The kidnappers, had last Wednesday night, abducted the Magajin Garin Daura, Musa Umar, in his Daura residence.
But the spokesperson of the Katsina State Police Command, Gambo Isah, yesterday, confirmed that some of the suspects were arrested as the officers arrived the scene, adding that one police officer was however hit during a gun-duel with the kidnappers.
Narrating the incident in a statement released, yesterday, police disclosed that Magajin Garin Daura, Alhaji Musa Uba, was abducted on Tuesday evening at his residence.
He added that the kidnappers numbering six stormed the residence in a Peugeot 405, unregistered car, blue in colour, shot sporadically into the air, and abducted him.
The statement read in parts, “The state Commissioner of Police, CP Sanusi Buba, along with police patrol teams immediately arrived at the scene.
“Police patrol teams at Kusada Division Katsina State intercepted the hoodlums and engaged them in a gun duel and as a result of which one Inspector Muntari Maikudi attached to Kusada Division sustained a gunshot injury and was rushed to the Federal Medical Centre, Katsina for treatment.
“IGP Tactical Squad, SARS teams, PMF and counter-terrorism units have already been dispatched to rescue the victim alive and safely to his family.
“We appeal to members of the public to always assist security agencies with timely intelligence on the activities of bandits, adding that the command and other security agencies are on their toes to bringing to an end the activities of the bandits.
“The abducted traditional ruler who is the father of Fatima Musa, wife of Colonel Mohammed Abubakar, the ADC to President Muhammadu Buhari was a retired customs comptroller and business mogul.”
Meanwhile, the Senator representing Kaduna Central in the National Assembly, Shehu Sani, has reacted to the abduction of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aide de Camp (ADC)’s father-in-law.
Reacting, Senator Shehu Sani, yesterday, condemned the abduction of President Muhammadu Buhari’s Aide de Camp (ADC)’s father-in-law.
According to him, the abduction raises “the urgency to combat this ravaging scourge and menace in the state.”
On his Twitter page, the Kaduna lawmaker wrote: “The kidnapping of Alhaji Musa Umar, the district head of Daura, Katsina State stands utterly condemned.
“This again raises the urgency to combat this ravaging scourge and menace. Their audacity must not dampen the nation’s resolve to prevail.”
Meanwhile, United Kingdom Foreign Secretary, Jeremy Hunt, has said Nigeria should ask for support in the fight against Boko Haram and that Britain would be ready to give
Mr Hunt said a perceived rift between the Nigerian Army and the local populace in the North-east is fueling violence in the region. He said “intelligence information reaching him” reveals that lack of trust between the authorities and indigenes is one of the reasons that fuels attacks in the region. He also said the British government would be willing to support the military fight insurgency, only “if the authorities ask for help.” The British government, in August 2017, announced £200million as aid to assist Nigeria in fighting insurgency and training its military personnel for four years: from 2018 to 2022.
Mr Hunt gave the latest assurance while on a visit to Maiduguri as part of his Africa tour seeking ‘new UK partnerships’ across Africa, The Guardian, (UK) reports.
He is expected to visit Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Ethiopia, and Kenya from April – May 2019. “I am here in Maiduguri North-east Nigeria, where the conflict which has involved both Boko Haram and Islamic state West Africa has meant that two million people have been displaced living in, effectively, refugee camps,” Mr Hunt reportedly said.
“And the U.K is supporting the World Food Programme (WFP) which is doing an extraordinary job. We have given £150 million since the start of the conflict and they have been able to feed 1.5 million people as a result of their activities here. “I think the crucial deciding factor is the willingness and enthusiasm of the Nigerian government and the Nigerian army to work closely with us – we would like to support and help them, but they are a sovereign nation and they have got to want our help,” he said.
The British envoy also accused the military of moving the locals into towns “and assuming the ones that are not in a secure area are members of Boko Haram.” He said while the approach is understandable, “the effect means depriving the indigenes of their livelihood and homes.”
“The feedback I got from NGOs on the ground is that lack of trust between the authorities and local people is one of the things that is fuelling the problem at the moment.
“The Nigerian army strategy is largely about herding people into towns and saying if you are not in a secure area, we are going to assume you are Boko Haram and/or Islamic State west Africa,” he added. The official said his government is considering providing both military and non-military support to Nigeria.
“I think our approach is potentially a very significant one because we could bring not just the British army (support) but also DfID (the Department for International Development) and our experience in holistic solutions to these kinds of situations,” Mr Hunt explained.