Police arrest OPC members who attempted to arrest a Fulani man they accused of being the mastermind of criminal activities

Three members of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) have been arrested by the Oyo state police command, after they reportedly invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State to arrest one Iskilu Wakili, a Fulani man they accused of being the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against the people/farmers of Yoruba origin in the community.

It was gathered that a woman was burnt to death after Wakili's house was set on fire during the invasion. 

The Commissioner of Police has directed that Wakili (due to his frail appearance and state of health) be moved to the Hospital, while others are being interrogated. Others being interrogated are the OPC members, involved in arson and murder.

The statement read; 

The Oyo State Police Command would like to inform the general public that at about 0900 hrs of date (7th March 2021), information was received that a group of persons, (later found out to be members of the Odua Peoples Congress- OPC), had invaded Kajola community in Ibarapa axis of the State. The invasion was reportedly aimed at arresting one Wakili, a Fulani by tribe, who is alleged to be the sponsor and mastermind of various criminal attacks against the people/farmers of Yoruba origin in the community.

2. The State Commissioner of Police has quickly moved into action and preliminary findings revealed that some OPC members went to Kajola community in Ibarapa North Local government Area of Oyo State. While there, the house of the Wakili in question was set ablaze, while a female (the identity of who is yet to be ascertained) was burnt in the fire and Wakili (about 75 years old and blind) with two (2) other persons were picked up. The three (3) of them are presently in the custody of the Police. The Commissioner of Police has directed that Wakili (due to his frail appearance and state of health), be moved to the Hospital, while others are being interrogated. Others being interrogated are the OPC members, involved in arson and murder.

3. Meanwhile, the Oyo State Police Command wishes to inform the general public that any person or group of persons from any region or tribe that has been found culpable to have committed any criminal act(s) in the State would not be spared, but would be arrested and dealt with according to extant laws.

4. Therefore, it is worthy of note that the good people of Oyo State and the general public should be rest assured that the officers and men in the Command would not derelict in its duty to bring to book criminal elements arrested for any infringement on the laws of the land, as adequate security measures has been emplaced against anything untoward while soliciting credible information from members of the public to enable the Police and other Security Agencies clampdown on crime and criminality in the State. In conclusion, anybody that has any case against Iskilu Wakili should report it to the State Criminal Investigation Department, (CID) Iyaganku Ibadan for discreet Investigation.

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I am ready to resign if that will bring peace to Zamfara – Gov Matawalle

Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara state has said that he is ready to resign as governor if that will bring peace to the state.

The state has been adversely affected by bandit activities.

In an interview with Channels TV on Wednesday, March 3, Governor Matawalle responded when asked if he is intimidated by the Federal Government’s declaration of a ‘No-Fly Zone’ in Zamfara.

Responding, he said

 “I am ready to accept any solution that will bring security to my state.

I am not intimidated. If I know that my resigning as a governor will make the people sleep with their two eyes closed, I can resign. I am ready to do what will bring security. I am not power-hungry. I have been having  sleepless nights to protect the people of Zamfara State.”

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The president has ordered security forces to go into the bushes and shoot whoever they see with AK47 - Garba Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, says President Buhari has directed security agencies to go into the forests and shoot anyone seen with AK47.

Garba disclosed this when he appeared on BBC Hausa. Garba while speaking on efforts being made to rid Zamfara and other northern states of bandits, said the government is resorting to lethal force.

“The president has ordered security forces to go into the bushes and shoot whoever they see with sophisticated weapons like AK-47. He ordered that whoever is seen with terrible weapons at all should be shot immediately.” he said

The presidential aide also stated during the interview that the no-fly zone placed on Zamfara state was as a result of strong indications that choppers were being used to transport arms to bandits in the state.

“Even in Zamfara, there is a strong suspicion that some of those choppers are being used to ferry arms for bandits and also to evacuate gold and illegally smuggled out of the country, so the country loses everything in the mining.

As you are aware, the Nigerian gold market is a big business and the government wants to do two things at the same time by doing this; end banditry and economic sabotage through the smuggling of gold."he said

Recall that on Tuesday, March 2, President Buhari placed a no-fly zone on the state as well as banned all mining activities carried out by non-state actors. This directive came following the recent abduction of 279 schoolgirls in Jangena.

 

 

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Northern food dealers agree to lift ban on food supply to Southern Nigeria

 

The leadership of Cattle and Foodstuff dealers under the aegis of the Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) have agreed to end the blockade of food supplies to the south.

They reached the agreement at an ongoing meeting with some governors in Abuja on Wednesday, March 3.

Abdullahi Tom, a youth leader of the cattle dealers in Lagos, told Daily Trust, that Kogi state governor, Yahaya Bello, is among the leaders who appealed to them to end the industrial action.

The union went on strike over claims of losing their members and properties during the #EndSARS protest and Shasa market chaos. Read here.

 

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President Buhari’s prolonged silence is tantamount to an endorsement of Gumi’s dangerous statement - CAN reacts to Islamic cleric's comment about Christian soldiers

The Christian Association of Nigeria has reacted to popular Islamic scholar, Sheik Ahmad Gumi's comment about Christian soldiers.

The Christian group in a statement released on Wednesday March 2, said Gumi's comment about Christian soldiers attacking communities and killing bandits in the country is “unpatriotic and divisive".

The statement read;

“If anyone said it was the Christian soldiers who are attacking armed bandits, that person does not wish this country well and he doesn’t want the war against terrorism and banditry to end in victory.

“Gumi’s so-called audio evidence cannot be taken seriously because audio evidence can be deliberately arranged to make a point. Secondly, how can we ascertain the credibility of the person alleging that it was the Christian soldiers that were attacking communities and bandits?

“This unreasonable outburst is not only demoralizing and a plot to divide the Nigerian military into two along religious lines, it equally derogatively portrays the non-Christian soldiers as being not committed to fighting criminality.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari’s prolonged silence is tantamount to an endorsement of Gumi’s dangerous statement. If what Gumi reportedly said was attributed to a Christian leader, the security operatives would have invited him or declared him wanted and the Presidency would have publicly condemned that Christian leader.

“We recalled how Apostle Johnson Suleiman, Dr Obadiah Mailafia, Prophet Isa El-Buba and of recent, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Dr Matthew Hassan Kukah’s statements were handled by security operatives and equally reacted to by the government. Do we truly have sacred cows in the country now?"

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The word militants given to Niger Delta warriors was to justify what they were doing, bandits shouldn’t be branded as criminals too - Sheik Gumi

Popular Islamic cleric, Sheik Gumi, has once again condemned the tagging of bandits as criminals.

In an interview with Tribune, Sheik Gumi said during the tenure of late President Musa Yar'Adua, a peace treaty was held between the government and Niger Delta warriors and the warriors were tagged as militants and not criminals.

He said to him, they were branded as militants to justify what they were doing. He went on to say that bandits shouldn't be tagged as criminals as such derogatory words used to describe them will not help in the peace process.

Reacting to his recent comment on Arise TV where he said journalists are also criminals for describing bandits as criminals, Sheik Gumi said

''I was trying to emphasise that bandits are criminals. They are committing criminality. Kidnap is criminality. Rape is criminality. But I said don’t refer to them as criminals. Why? If you recall, there was a peace treaty between the late President Umaru Musa and the Niger Delta warriors. Were they called criminals? No! They were called militants.

To me, the word, militants given to them was rather to justify what they were doing. So, bandits shouldn’t be branded as criminals too. Don’t call the bandits terrorists or label them with derogatory adjectives because we want them to come to negotiating table. If you keep calling them criminals, you are not encouraging the peace process. If you as a journalist, you are putting oil in the fire.

The nation is in flames and you are putting sentiments and fire to combust it. Is that not criminality? That’s criminality.

So, a journalist can be criminal too if, for instance, there was a clash between a Muslim and a Christian in Kaduna and hundreds of people died and the journalist, instead of mellowing down his report, decided to add oil to the fire.

Journalists, in times of conflict, should mellow down their reports so as not to incite the public. Journalists can trigger war. So, any journalist who does that, that is criminality. I’m not referring to all journalists but a particular case; that journalist that is putting oil in the fire. Am I not a friend of journalists? I have nothing to hide. And all these places I’m going, I moved with journalists. When I was going to Sokoto, I travelled with Arise TV, TVC and NTA.''

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NDLEA recovers 27 rifles from two criminals in Niger state (photos)

 

Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Niger State Command have recovered 27 new rifles from two suspects during a routine stop and search operation in Kontagora area of the state.

The suspects identified as Danjuma Auta, 35, and Daniel Danrangi, 25, both male and from Dirin Daji, Sakaba Local Government Area of Kebbi State, were arrested along Kontagora – Zuru road, Niger state on Monday night, March 1.

 According to the Niger state Commander of the Agency, Mr. Aloye Isaac Oludare, the duo were arrested with 12 locally fabricated AK 47 rifles and 15 locally fabricated pistols. The rifles were concealed in a white sack while on a motorcycle to an unknown place when they were arrested.

“Kontagora where the weapons were seized is about 107 kilometers from Kagara, a town in Niger State where there have been mass abductions of women, children and secondary school students in the last one month.

 

“Preliminary investigation shows that the fabricator of the weapons resides in Kamfaninwaya, not far away from Kontagora, while one of the pistols is fully loaded. The suspects and the weapons will be transferred to the Nigerian Police Headquarters, Minna for further investigation and prosecution of the suspects” Oludare said

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“It would be better to lose the food items than to lose lives"- Northern traders insist on continuing food blockade to the South

Northern traders under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) have vowed to continue the food blockade to the Southern part of the country, in spite of being at risk of losing their perishable goods. 

Awwalu Aliyu, an official of the union who spoke to TheCable stated that the aim of the food blockade is not to starve Southerners but to protest against the killing and destruction of properties belonging to Northerners. 

Aliyu who restated the group's claim of Northerners being killed and losing properties especially during the #EndSARS protest and the recent Shasha market crisis in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital, added that it will be better for them to lose food items locked up inside trucks in Jebba, Niger state than losing their lives. 

When asked if members of the union were not concerned about food items locked up inside trucks in Jebba, Niger state, going bad and leading to losses, Aliyu said; 

“It would be better to lose the food items than to lose lives.

“You’re talking about losing goods; which one is better, to lose a life or to lose property? Losing property is better than losing a life.

“We prefer and our people will prefer to lose those farm items or goods than to continue losing their lives. If you are alive, you can plant another thing, you can rear another cattle. But if you’re dead, you can’t do that again. Only the living can go to the farm.

“We do not want to destroy anybody. We do not want to kill anybody. The number of Yorubas and Ibos that reside in Kano and Kaduna alone is far more than the number of northerners in the entire south-west, south-south and south-east.

“Also, the investments of Yorubas and Igbos in Kano and Kaduna, running into billions of naira is more than the entire investments of northerners in the south-west, south-east and south-south if you remove Dangote. Our people are only petty traders, shoe shiners, fingernail cutters, wheelbarrow pushers, okada riders and so on.

“Our people in the south don’t have what southerners have in the north. They have farmlands, buildings and a lot of properties that run into billions. We do not intend to touch a needle out of it. We do not intend to destroy anybody’s property. What we want is to have our people protected from being killed.”

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