The Bauchi State Police Command yesterday suspended the two-week-old curfew imposed on the Yelwan Tsakani, Lushi, and Anguwan Kusu communities of  Bauchi Local Government Areas (LGA) which were rocked by violence on May 27, 2022.

The Command’s spokesman Ahmed Mohammed Wakil said in a statement that the Commissioner of Police (CP) in the state, Umar Sanda, lifted the curfew following an improvement of security in the areas.

The Nation reports that the Bauchi State Government, through the Chief of Staff, Government House, Aminu Gamawa, imposed a 24-hour curfew on the communities following a conflict that started between two youths in the area but escalated to other areas.

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The violence resulted in the death of three persons, while many houses, cars, motorcycles and properties worth millions of naira were destroyed.

After three days, the government, in another statement signed by Gamawa, relaxed the curfew by 12 hours – from 6 pm – 6 am.

Exactly two weeks later, Sanda suspended the 12-hour curfew.

“To this end, the Command urges citizens not to panic and go about their normal businesses, that there is no cause for alarm.

The officers and men of Bauchi State Police Command are ever ready to respond to a distress call and any other security situation to stop it from degenerating further,” the statement reads in part.

A lawmaker in the House of Representatives, Yusuf Gagdi, yesterday in Jos, Plateau State said there was no rift between him and the lower chamber’s Deputy Speaker, Idris Wase.

Gagdi represents Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency, while Wase represents Wase Federal Constituency, both in Plateau State

Both legislators are of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Gagdi rebutted the rumour in a statement by his Senior Legislative Aide, Haruna Mizim.

Mizim described the allegation as malicious, fake and aimed at causing disaffection between both lawmakers whom he said had been working closely in the state’s interest.

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He said: ”The attention of Yusuf Gagdi, the member representing the people of Pankshin/Kanke/Kanam Federal Constituency, has been drawn to a trending new media report on an alleged ‘beef’ between the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Idris Wase, and himself on different platforms.

”The invention of this report is meant to cause disaffection between them, having failed in their attempts to dissuade Gagdi during the recent campaign for reelection in the primaries held last month in Pankshin

”Rather, if anything is going well for both of them, it is their resolute concern to unite their supporters and people to win their respective elections come 2023.

”While it is a known fact that both representatives and their constituents have been on the best of terms, we are indeed taken aback by the evil machinations of some warped minds who are interested only in their belly and not what can be done to the people of the constituencies, state, and Nigeria.

”We are constrained to issue this statement and to further reinforce the determination of the lawmakers who have working in unison and giving the best to their constituencies, state, and Nigeria, today and always.”

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mohammed Bello yesterday urged newly sworn-in chairmen of the six area councils to avoid strike action in their councils.

The minister urged the chairmen to be magnanimous in victory while urging their supporters to hold them accountable for their promises.

Bello also pleaded with them to tackle insecurity, primary healthcare and keep the environment clean.

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He spoke in Abuja at the inauguration/swearing-in ceremony of the elected council chiefs and their deputies.

He said: “As you go back home, ensure you read all that you swore to uphold, holding the holy book and keep to it because you will be held accountable.

“You need to be magnanimous in victory, tackle insecurity, ensure that your environments are kept clean and make sure that the primary health centres in your places are taken care of. Don’t allow your pupils to stay home from school because of a strike. Ensure that your primary health centres are taken care of. You are closer to the people at the grassroots.”

Bello also urged FCT youths not to be deceived into fighting for politicians “because they are friends behind closed doors and only come out to pretend to be enemies in public.”

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has described as barbaric, the gruesome murder of farmers in Edumoga, Okpokwu Local Government Area (LGA) of the state by suspected terrorists.

An angry Ortom, in a statement signed by his Media Aide Nath Ikyur, condemned the killings and described the murderers as cowards and criminals who should be fished out and prosecuted.

He said: “When I started shouting about the menace of killer herdsmen in my state, many people thought I was playing to the gallery. Gradually, this has spread to all other parts of the country because the Federal Government has refused to act appropriately and decisively against them.

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“This is the reason why they have continued with impunity. It has clearly shown that the killing of these innocent farmers in Edumoga, Okpokwu local government is yet another barbaric act by herdsmen. They must not go unpunished “.

Ortom renewed his call on Benue residents to defend themselves against the invaders, adding that even the laws of the land permit self-defence.

“We are capable of defending ourselves if the authorities concerned refuse to do so. We are not cowards. We are just law-abiding“, Ortom said.

The gubernatorial candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in Benue, Mr Joseph Waya, has called on Benue people to join forces with the party to rescue the state from the shackles of poverty, disease and hunger.

The call was contained in his 2022 Democracy Day message which he signed and issued on Sunday in Makurdi.

“Please join us in APGA, a political party on the rescue mission in Benue. It is not encumbered by political godfatherism and its leadership will not mortgage your future and that of your children.

“Instead it will utilise the state funds frugally and judiciously for the benefit of all.

“You must act by registering to vote in the forthcoming general elections to stop the economic ills visited on us by corrupt politicians for decades,” Waya said.

He lamented that the country was in danger as it faced many threats that created much anxiety among the citizens.

He said that the promise of democracy, as well as its rewards, remained pretty much an ideal in Nigeria.

He also encouraged those in government and those outside of it to graciously cooperate to ensure that the principle of fair play prevailed in the upcoming elections.

Waya stressed that never in history had the nation suffered a long and sustained economic decline that had shattered many lives.

“Those who work in government are denied the wages of their labour; those who work on their farms are harmed in their sleep or on their farms and those who are artisans or traders have no patronage because of the penury of the populace.

“There is no gainsaying that the majority of Nigerians today are in misery and suffering untold indignities.”

The Katsina Emirate Council has restated its commitment to support security agencies in the fight against security challenges bedevilling the state.

The Wazirin Katsina (Chief Adviser to the Council) Alhaji Ibrahim Ida, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Katsina on Monday.

He noted that the fight against insecurity was a collective responsibility, and stressed the need for all to put their hands together to address the problem.

“This is because government or security operatives alone cannot solve the problem; all hands must be on deck by stakeholders to address the problem.

“I, therefore, urge all of us to cooperate in the fight against kidnapping, banditry, cattle rustling and rape among other vices bedevilling us and some states in the Northwest zone,” he said.