News
Bandits Kill 11 In Kastina Attack
Not fewer than eleven persons were reportedly killed in a fresh attack launched by armed bandits on nine villages of Kankara Local Government Area in Katsina State.
This was as angry residents in the area staged a protest with corpse of persons killed barricading for hours major highway linking to major parts of the state (the state capital and the southern part (Funtua axis).
Information gathered by our correspondent revealed that the bandits stormed the area by 5pm on Saturday evening and launched the attack on the villages.
Villages attacked include Pauwa, Katoge, Danhayi, Gidan Guge, Kaurawa, Jan Bago, Kadanya, Gidan Kwaki and Lambar Kantoma. Locals said the eleven persons killed – eight (8) and three (3) in Katoge and Yar kuka villages, respectively.
It was gathered that the protesters took the corpses to the palace of Sarkin Pauwan Katsina, Alhaji Yusuf Lawal and later to the Chairman of Kankara local government area, Hon. Anas Isah Kankara upon which they pleaded with the persons who succumb to the plea and funeral prayer was observed on the corpse and buried.
It was also gathered that the residents repelled the attack of the bandit in another village where they succeeded in killing two of the bandits.
The protest by the angry residents who barricaded the roads for hours also left commuters traveling along the route stranded as a result of a traffic jam. It took the intervention of security personnel to restore calm and open up the road while others diverted to take another route.
Meanwhile, more than 2,000 people protested yesterday in the northern Nigerian city of Maiduguri, calling for a ban on the anti-Boko Haram CJTF militia they accused of abuses after the killing of a rickshaw driver.
The protesters blocked major roads in the Suleimanti area of the city and set fires, causing chaos despite pleas from police and military officers, an AFP reporter at the scene saw.
“We want the CJTF to be banned from the city because of the abuses we suffer in their hands,” said Suleimanti resident Bukar Saleh.
“They have become a law unto themselves and are treating us badly. And now they have started killing us,” Saleh said. The CJTF militia tried to stop the demonstration, attacking protesters with batons and arresting scores of them. The protest erupted hours after a rickshaw driver was shot dead near a militia checkpoint.
“The victim was a known resident and his name was Modu but the CJTF just shot him for no reason,” Saleh said.
The CJTF insisted however that the victim was shot for failing to stop at a checkpoint during nighttime curfew hours.
The militia have intensified night patrols in the area in recent days following incursions by the jihadists.
“The driver’s refusal to stop raised the suspicion of our men and one of them took him down, because they believed he was a Boko Haram terrorist on a mission,” Babakura Abba-Ali, the CJTF head in Suleimanti area, said.
The militia man was handed over to the police for investigation, Abba-Ali added.
The CJTF emerged in 2013 as a vigilante group in response to Boko Haram’s deadly attacks in Maiduguri.
Young men and women mobilised and started going door-to-door hacking to death known Boko Haram members and forcing the jihadists to flee the city.
The vigilantes were later organised into a militia force and embedded with the military to fight the jihadist group.
Late Saturday, Boko Haram jihadists killed four people and looted food supplies when they raided Gamurari village, some 90 kilometres (60 miles) from Maiduguri, militia and residents said.
The decade-long Boko Haram conflict has killed at least 27,000 people and forced some two million to flee their homes in Nigeria alone. The violence has spilled into neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon, prompting a regional military response to fight the jihadist group.
Following reinvigorated operational strategies and robust anti banditry operations injected in to the activities of Operation HARBIN KUNAMA III, troops have in renewed efforts arrested several gangs of bandits terrorizing Isa, Rabbah and Burkusuma communities around Sububu Forest in Sokoto State as well as in Batsari, Safana and Kankara in Dumburum Forest of Katsina State.
Similarly, troops deployed in Super Camp covering Bena, Jega, Danko and Wasagu encountered and annihilated uncomfirmed number of bandits and destroyed five bandits’ camps in Gando Forest of Kebbi State.
Briefing journalists on the activities of the operation, the General Officer Commanding (GOC), 8 Division, Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen Hakeem Otiki, said that five camps and 25 motorcycles were destroyed during the operation.
Otiki added that the operation which covers Katsina, Kebbi, Sokoto and Zamfara states witnessed series of successful simultaneous ground operations activities involving raids, ambushes, cordon and search with the occasional support of the Air Task Force component which the troops are poised to sustain.
The GOC further listed items recovered during the operation to include, 8 x AK-47 rifles, 2 x General Purpose Machine Guns, 2 x G3 rifles, 3 x dane guns, 9 x AK-47 magazines, and 48 x rounds of 7.62mm special ammunition.
According to him, “The operation is to facilitate the return of refugees and internally displaced persons back to their homes, creating enabling environment for economic activities to strive and instilled confidence in the locals to remain in their villages and continue their normal lives unmolested.
He assured the residents of the Nigerian Army readiness to provide adequate security and improve synergy and collaboration with other security agencies within 8 Division Area of Responsibility with the aim of Combating banditry, cattle rustling, kidnapping and other security challenges.
Otiki used the opportunity to commend the gallant officers and soldiers of the Division for their resilience and patriotism in the ongoing operation even as he commends members of various vigilante groups and local hunters for their supportive roles to troops.
He appealed to residents of the areas to always provide useful and timely information to the security agencies for prompt action.
The Hausa Community in Rivers State has dissociated itself from media reports credited to one MaiwadaAdamu that the Arewa Community in Rivers State has appointed Alhaji Musa Saidu as the acting SarkinHausawa, PortHarcourt, following the inability of the former SarkinHausawa, Alhaji Isa Madaki to carry out his functions.
MaidawaAdamu, who is also the spokesman of the Arewa Initiative for Peaceful Co-existence, had briefed journalists on the change, but in a swift reaction, the Office of Alhaji Isa Madaki, has come out to say that the only recognised body which has the powers to appoint the SarkinHausawa, PortHarcourt is the Council of SarkinHausawa in PortHarcourt headed by Alhaji Isa Madaki.
The statement also said Alhaji Hussani Isa Madaki is the only recognisedSarkinHausawa, Port Harcourt, adding that his appointment follows the proclamation and endorsement by the council members of SarkinHausawa, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
The statement further called on the general public and all authorities concerned to give Alhaji Hussani Isa Madaki maximum co-operation and support,as he discharges his duties as SarkinHausawa, Port Harcourt.
The Suspended Rivers State Commissioner for health, Dr Adaeze Chidinma Oreh, has described as baseless allegations in some quarters that she was responsible for the purported disruption of the Nigerian First Lady’s empowerment program in Port Harcourt.
Dr Oreh, who said this in a statement personally signed by her and a copy made available to newsmen in Port Harcourt also described the allegation as a product of the sick imagination of rumour mongers
According to Dr Oreh, “they are nothing more than a feeble and mischievous attempt to tarnish my reputation and sow discord”
In her words,”the allegations levelled against me, Dr. Adaeze Oreh, regarding the supposed disruption of the First Lady’s empowerment programme on Friday 2nd May, 2025, are entirely unfounded, completely false, and a product of the sick imagination of rumour mongers and conflict entrepreneurs.
“They are nothing more than a feeble and mischievous attempt to tarnish my reputation and sow discord.”
The suspended commissioner challenged those behind the allegation, especially the Concerned Rivers Youth Organisation to show proof of its assertion adding “It is essential to base criticisms on facts rather than speculation or puerile political agendas.
“I challenge the “Concerned Rivers Youth Organisation” (assuming such a body really exists) to provide tangible proof to support their assertions.
“It is essential to base criticisms on facts rather than speculation or puerile political agendas.
“I have neither sponsored nor will sponsor any activities aimed at embarrassing or disrupting the activities of the administration appointed by His Excellency President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR to oversee the affairs of Rivers State following his declaration of a state of emergency on Tuesday, 18th March, 2025, and have rather spent the time of my suspension from office focused on other endeavours and my doctoral studies.
“I reaffirm my commitment to working tirelessly for the progress and development of Rivers State.
“Furthermore, I believe that it is crucial for all stakeholders to promote a culture of truth, integrity, and respect in public discourse.
“Unsubstantiated wild claims undermine trust and hinder constructive engagement, and this is not what the state needs at this difficult and delicate time.
“I urge everyone to focus on issues that unite us and foster a positive, solution-driven dialogue for the betterment of our State, and urge everyone to work together to build a brighter future for Rivers State, grounded in truth, transparency, and collective effort,”she said.
By: John Bibor
The Hydrocarbon Pollution Remediation Project (HYPREP) has called on key regulators, asset owners and other stakeholders to continue to support the agency toward the goal of remediating the Ogoni environment and restoring the livelihoods of the people and building structures for peace.
The Project Coordinator of HYPREP, Prof Nenibarini Zabbey, who made the call during the Project’s first quarter meeting with regulators, asset owners and stakeholders in Port Harcourt, urged the stakeholders to remain resolute in supporting HYPREP’s work.
“We particularly expect each regulatory agency and asset owner to deepen their involvement and continue to provide strategic support to the project”, he said, stressing that the quarterly meeting platform remains instrumental in providing a structural avenue for regulators, asset owners, and implementation partners to offer feedback to HYPREP on project performance and deliberate on ideas that move the project forward, as well as strengthen collaboration, deepen synergy and reinforce collective responsibility.
Zabbey disclosed that the socio-economic study of Ogoni has started, as HYPREP has contacted the International Agency for Research on Cancer of the World Health Organisation(WHO) to commence in the next quarter a three-year human health biomonitoring in Ogoniland.
He noted that work on several fronts of the cleanup project is progressing steadily, adding that as key project partners, the insights and shared experience of the regulators and asset owners have always enriched HYPREP’s operations.
He said the policy thrust of HYPREP for 2025 is clear, as the Project is intensifying efforts to complete within stated timelines, the various ongoing projects, including remediation works and mangrove restoration, potable water facilities, the Centre of Excellence for Environmental Restoration, the Ogoni Power Project, Ogoni Specialist Hospital, and Buan Cottage Hospital, among others.
Zabbey, however, announced that HYPREP would commence new set of shoreline cleanup, mangrove restoration and livelihood projects, to sustain the momentum of implementing the Ogoni cleanup, adding that the agency would also conduct detailed site characterisation of the high-risk complex sites, leading to remediation works at the sites.
He noted that HYPREP’s collaboration with Rivers State Ministries of Health, Power and Environment, and civil society organisations remains vital, stressing that the technical and administrative support of all relevant government agencies and funding partners is indispensable in helping HYPREP overcome operational bottlenecks, especially those encountered in interfacing with host communities.
He further indicated that “the people of Ogoni and the nation are looking to us with hope and expectation, and expect tangible results from the remediation initiative”, assuring the participants that the Project Coordination Office is committed to delivering positive results.
“We must, therefore, continue to work with diligence, transparency, and a renewed sense of purpose”, he declared, saying, “ the completion and commissioning of projects this year must reflect not only our technical ability but also our collective commitment to environmental sustainability and sustainable development in Ogoni.”
During the interactive session, the Project Coordinator briefed the participants on the progress made so far by HYPREP to conclude the distribution of starter packs to the 5,000 Ogoni trainees, and called on contractors who had already collected huge chunk of money for the project, to deliver without further delay.
In all, the regulators, asset owners and stakeholders commended HYPREP for the good works it is doing, and urged it to do more.
The National Oil Spill Detection and Response Agency(NOSDRA) was represented at the event by Deputy Director, Oil Field Assessment, Dr Abam Komommo Omini, while Dr Vincent Nwachukwu, Director of Medical Services, represented the Rivers State Ministry of Health.
The Rivers State Ministries of Water Resources, Power and Environment were represented by Dr Bealo Brownson; Engr K. J. Osele; and Mr James Ordu respectively, while the Society for Women and Youth Affairs (SWAYA); and the Stakeholder Democracy Network(SDN); among other civil society organisations were also at the event.
By: Donatus Ebi