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2021-05-26 Africa Subsaharan
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Nigeria: Bandits, Herders On the Loose, Kill 128 in 4 States
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[All Africa] It was a bloody Monday as bandidos and armed herdsmen raided communities in the four states of Benue, Plateau, Niger and Anambra, killing about 128 person and destroying property.
OVER 100 KILLED IN BENUE
Suspected armed herdsmen attacked four council wards in Kastina-Ala local government area of Benue State, killing over 100 residents, injuring scores of others and setting several houses ablaze.
Continued from Page 1
Our correspondent gathered from the locals that the rampaging herdsmen overwhelmed security personnel in the area and laid siege to the four council wards.
When contacted, the chairman of Kastina-Ala local government area, Alfred Atera, said from all indications, the security personnel were overwhelmed by the herdsmen's new strategy of multi-pronged attacks.
He said, "As I speak with you, over four council wards in Kastina-Ala, which include Yooyo, Mbayongo, Mbatyura/Mberev and Utange are under siege and over 100 persons have been killed. Thousands of others have been displaced and several houses razed while the herders are occupying most of the houses in the affected communities as residents fled for safety.
"I am suspecting connivance between the aggrieved boys of the late Terwase Akwaza (a.k.a. Gana) with the herdsmen to attack and kill people here because the strategies of multiple attacks adopted by the herders is strange, because before the security personnel would arrive at a particular scene of attack, the herdsmen would have left there and gone to another place
"As they are attacking and killing, that is how they are dropping the dead bodies and moving ahead. We are trying to recover the dead bodies for burial but it is not easy," he said.
When asked whether the authorities were aware of the invasion, the chairman replied 'yes', adding that all the concerned authorities had been informed.
"As I am speaking to you now, my traditional rulers are also here with me to see what we can do to salvage the situation," he said.
Atera recalled speculations that the late Gana's Boys had some time ago given the state government a condition for peace: they wanted the state authorities to hand over to them all the markets in the Sankera axis for them to be in charge of collecting revenue from them - a demand the government refused.
The commander of "Operation Whirl Stroke", Brig. Gen Clement Apere, said the narrative of the killings was wrong and asked LEADERSHIP to call the Kastina-Ala local government for clarification.
The state police public relations officer, DSP Catherine Anene, said he was yet to get the details of the attacks.
14 KILLED IN PLATEAU
Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Fat Tony demanded his rosco back. He didn't say please...
a week after the acting inspector general of police, Usman Alkali Baba, warned about an impending terrorist attack in Jos, Plateau State and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja,14 people were gruesomely murdered by undentified
button men in two separate attacks in Dong village of Jos North and Kwi community of Riyom LGA of Plateau State.
LEADERSHIP's investigation revealed that the unknown button men came out suddenly from a nearby bush and invaded Dong Village, killing nine persons at about 9pm on Sunday night.
Plateau State Police command's front man ASP Gabriel Ogaba told our correspondent that only seven people were killed in the Dong attack.
A worker at Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) who did want his name in print told our correspondent that he counted nine dead bodies on his way to the office in Dong village.
Similarly, gunnies invaded villages of Kwi community in Riyom LGA of Plateau State and killed a family of five.
Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Fat Tony demanded his rosco back. He didn't say please...
Plateau State government said it was deeply saddened by the reoccurrence of violence in parts of Dong Kasa in Jos North LGA and Kwi in Riyom where innocent citizens, including children and women, were murdered in cold blood.
State commissioner for information and communication, Dan Manjang, in a statement described the act as barbaric, callous and a desperate attempt to breach the peace and security of the state.
Manjang said Governor Simon Lalong is deeply distressed by the incident and has vowed to ensure that the sanctity of life remains sacrosanct in the state.
According to him, the governor's administration would continue to take measures and work hand in hand with security agencies for the protection of life and property of citizens.
He disclosed that as soon as the government was informed about the attack, it quickly reached out to security agencies which responded immediately and have been in pursuit of the attackers with a view to apprehending them and bringing them to justice.
The commissioner reiterated that the capacity of the security agencies for rapid response and intervention would be boosted once the approved 50 patrol vehicles and 200 security cycle of violences are supplied.
Similarly, Senator Istifanus Gyang of Plateau North whose constituency and constituents have been suffering sustained attacks, losses of lives and displacement from ancestral homes, strongly condemned the renewed attacks, describing it as dastardly, wicked and unwarranted.
The senator, in a statement issued in Jos by his special assistant on media, Musa Ibrahim Ashoms, expressed concern that available information indicated that some persons at a meeting with the police the week preceding the attacks vowed to unleash mayhem on the helpless communities.
Senator Gyang further called for decisive action against all those known to security agencies for the serial killings, displacements and forceful occupation of ancestral homelands of communities in Plateau North.
The management committee chairman of Jos North local government, Shehu Bala Usman, also condemned the killing of innocent citizens by unknown persons in Dong village.
Senior information officer, Jos North local government area, Philip Eplong, in a statement, described the gruesome murders as condemnable, unacceptable and a setback to the grinding of the peace processor in Plateau State.
12 KILLED IN NIGER, 25 OTHERS ABDUCTED
Also, bandidos killed 12 people and kidnapped 10 others in two different attacks at Munya local government area and kidnapped 15 others in another attack in Gauraka, Tafa local government area of Niger State.
The bandidos, yesterday morning, stormed Guni and Kuchi communities killing seven and five people respectively in the two different but serial attacks.
It was learnt that the bandidos were shooting randomly commando- style, leaving the villagers scampering for safety.
A villager, Mohammed Aliyu, told LEADERSHIP: "The members of the two communities have abandoned their ancestral homes for safety in different locations.
"The villagers had recently gone back to the villages from the internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp with the assurance to continue their farming as the rainy season had set in but they were attacked barely three weeks after they returned from the camp."
Also, in another attack on Gauraka in Tafa local government area of the state and a suburb of Suleja, 15 people were kidnapped by bandidos.
It was gathered that the bandidos, in large numbers, stormed the community, kidnapped the residents and left many others injured.
According to one of the residents, one Joseph Emmanuel, "A large number bravely ran away for safety while many are presently protesting, blocking Kaduna-Abuja road demanding government's urgent action."
When contacted, the Police public relations officer, Wasiu Abiodun, could not be reached but a police brass hat who preferred anonymity, told LEADERSHIP that "we are aware of the attacks, and we are trying to control the protesters who blocked the Kaduna road in Gauraka."
GUNMEN ATTACK INEC OFFICE IN ANAMBRA, 2 KILLED
In Anambra, there was blood stains and several empty bullet shells all around INEC headquarters, Awka, Anambra state yesterday morning following the hot exchange of gunfire between a gang of button men and security operatives.
The button men had attacked the INEC office at about 9pm on Sunday, and set ablaze about seven operational vehicles, over 100 power generating sets and a collation centre at the office.
The hoodlums stormed the INEC office in three Hilux vans, blocked both entry points into the INEC office with the Hilux vans, before gaining entry into the premises from an adjoining bushy plot of land through a part of the INEC perimeter fence they destroyed.
The state commission of police, CP Chris Owolabi, did not confirm the number of casualties and if the police had made any arrest.
He said investigation was still ongoing when he was interviewed by newsmen when he visited the INEC office yesterday morning. However,
there's more than one way to stuff a chicken...
LEADERSHIP's correspondent saw two corpses being driving away in one of the police operational vehicles.
The CP, however, stated that eight guns, which included two AK-47 rifles, were recovered from the hoodlums.
Meanwhile,
...back at the precinct house, Fat Tony demanded his rosco back. He didn't say please...
two male suspects were also sighted being whisked away in another police vehicle.
The hoodlums also abandoned their three hilux vehicles and bravely ran away.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Nkwachukwu Orji told newsmen that he was yet to take an inventory of the destruction.
The button men also attempted attack the nearby "B" cop shoppe but were successfully chased away by the operatives attached to the station.
Only traces of smoke on the wall of the entrance to the cop shoppe were noticed, indicating their attempt to set the station ablaze.
Both the INEC and cop shoppe have been cordoned off by a combined team of security operatives, including police and army.
RESIDENTS OF NIGER COMMUNITIES BLOCK ABUJA-KADUNA OVER RAMPANT KIDNAPPINGS
Angry residents of Gauraka Community along Kaduna-Abuja expressway yesterday staged a protest against what they described as persistent kidnappings in the area, calling on the federal government to intervene before things get out of hand.
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Posted by Fred 2021-05-26 00:00||
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File under: Fulani Herdsmen (Boko Haram)
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