Category: Northern Reports

The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kebbi State has presented motorcycles to ward chairmen.

Each of the 225 ward chairmen received a new high-performance motorcycle for campaign activities preparatory to the 2023 general elections.

At the ceremony held at the Presidential Banquet Hall, Birnin-Kebbi, the state capital, the Kebbi State APC Chairman, Abubakar Muhammad Kana Zuru, said the motorcycles numbering about 300 were procured through personal donations by top echelons of the party.

The Kebbi State APC Chairman, Alhaji Kana Zuru stated that the motorcycles were presented to the ward chairmen solely for campaign purposes to the nook and cranny of the state.

He warned the ward chairman not to sell the motorcycles for personal gains.

The APC Zonal Vice-Chairman, Kebbi North, Alhaji Sahabi Lolo thanked all APC members for their support and prompt response to party issues.

The Chairman of APC Elders’ Forum, Alhaji Sani Hukuma Zauro; Zannan Gwandu, reaffirmed unflinching support for the administration of Governor Atiku Bagudu.

The Election Petition Tribunals that were recently constituted by the Chief Judge of Katsina State, Justice Musa Danladi Abubakar to entertain petitions arising from the recently-conducted local government election in the state, are expected to commence pre-election trials on May 10.

Justice Abas Bawale Abdullah, who is the supervising judge in charge of the three tribunals, stated this while addressing the reporters in his office yesterday.

He further announced that 39 petitions received so far have been spread thus: Tribunal 1 located in Katsina has 10 petitions made up of eight chairmanship petitions and two councillorship positions.

The petitions received for the second tribunal located in Funtua include nine for chairmanship and seven councillorship positions, while that of the third tribunal located in Daura has 12 chairmanship and one councillorship petitions.

He said: “The respondents have been fully served with petitioners brought against them while they are also expected to file their responses during the pre-trial conference within the seven-day period.

“The pre-trial conferences will also entertain interlocutory applications, applications for substituted services and preliminary objections.”

The Nation recalls that three Local Government Election Tribunals have been established with one representing each senatorial district of Katsina, Funtua and Daura.

The election tribunals for Katsina and Funtua Senatorial Zones were expected to sit in Katsina while the Local Government Election Tribunal for Daura shall sit at Daura.

All processes in respect of petitions are to be filed at the secretariat of Local Government Election Tribunals for ease of logistics.

The Election Tribunals have 90 days within which to determine petitions filed before it while the Appeal Tribunals have one month to do so.

There was tension yesterday as a group of miscreants attacked officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) and injured a police officer.

While the injured police officer and some of the attackers were said to have been rushed to an undisclosed hospital, the officials taken hostage were later released, following a rapid response from the rescue team of FCT Police Command, led by Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Bernard Igwe.

Senior Special Assistant on Monitoring, Inspection and Enforcement to FCT Minister, Ikharo Attah confirmed the incident.

Attah said some officials of the development control attached to the task force, who went to Gaduwa Community to mark some buildings for demolition, were injured.

While he commended some youths who are indigenous to the area helped in calming the situation and working towards the release of the hostages. Attah also noted that but for the quick intervention of the re-enforced rescue team; the miscreants would have unleashed more mayhem on the team.

Attah said: “I was sent somewhere by the minister and before I could arrive at the scene of the mayhem when I was contacted, the police officer who was badly injured on the head and others had been rushed to hospital.

“Those who were held hostage were rescued by a rescue team led by DC Bernard Igwe. The area where the indigenous people stay was not marked. The Police will determine what happens to those who were arrested.”

One of the officials that were held hostage and the leader of the development control officials, Kalu Amadi, said the experience was horrific and may take some time for him to overcome the psychological trauma.

Amadi, who was allegedly stripped half-naked, explained that the attackers almost killed him.

A youth in the area who spoke to our correspondent in confidence said there are few houses owned by some of those who are indigenous to the areas marked illegal expansion within the community.

He noted that the place is largely occupied by non-indigenous people whom he pleaded should be allowed to live with them.

Attah also explained that a man and a lady who sustained the injury during the conflict have also been rushed to hospital.

Gombe State Governor Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya yesterday called for calm in the wake of a clash that ensued between two factions of youths. Three people lost their lives in the clash which occurred during a Sallah Durbar procession by a group of horse riders through Jekadafari in the state capital on Wednesday.

In a statement by the Director-General Press Affairs Malam Uba Misili, Governor Yahaya condemned the senseless act and commiserated with the families of those who lost their lives. He prayed for the quick recovery of the injured.

He directed security agencies to carry out a thorough investigation and bring to book the perpetrators of the heinous act.

He said: “We condemn  this unfortunate situation and commiserate with the affected families. We also urge all aggrieved persons and residents to remain calm and allow justice to run its due course, as efforts are underway by security agencies to ensure that those liable for the crime are brought to justice.

“The government wishes to categorically warn the citizens, especially youths, against any act that will undermine the prevailing peace and tranquillity of Gombe State.”

Governor Inuwa, who had earlier led a delegation to the funeral prayer for two of the deceased at the Gombe Specialist Hospital, vowed to continue to do everything necessary to protect the lives and property of the citizens.

Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has said that the state would not cede one inch of Benue land for the implementation of the National Livestock Transformation Plan (NLTP).

The governor also noted that herdsmen engaged the police and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) in a shootout close to the bank of the River Benue in Makurdi a few days.

Ortom said this while speaking with stakeholders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) from Kwande and Ushongo local government areas of the state at Government House Makurdi on Wednesday.

He further explained that during the shootout that ensued, personnel of the NSCDC and a member of the Livestock Guards were shot dead.

The governor said the herdsmen who came in their numbers were on the verge of overpowering the security agents posted to the area until a reinforcement of the Army came and salvaged the situation.

However, he stated that the herdsmen had succeeded in carting away eight motorcycles belonging to members of the livestock guards.

Ortom, who advised the people of the area and the state to be security-conscious, insisted that the herders were in Benue to take over their land.

Fifteen people have died after a boat capsised at a section of a river site located at Mai’adua Local Government Area of Katsina State.

The incident, according to an eyewitness, occurred on Wednesday at about 11:00 p.m. when the canoe conveying an undisclosed number of passengers capsised which, in effect, led to the death of 15 people on board. The victims have been buried.

To this end, funeral prayers were conducted for the victims yesterday at about 7:30 a.m. at Tsabu Town in Mai’adua Local Government Area of the state.

The State Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Ya’u Umar Gwajo-Gwajo was among the dignitaries that attended the funeral service.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged the Federal Government to adopt a research-based strategy in the fight against insurgency.

The union also identified questionable Nigeria’s social contract as a major cause of insecurity. It noted that the country’s legal foundation is shaky and its democratic credential weak, susceptible to partisanship and parochial or commercial misappropriation.

The chapter made the research option known in a public lecture and town hall meeting it held at the ASUU secretariat at the permanent site of the University of Jos.

On the theme “Exploring Radical Remedies for the Roots of Pervasive Insecurity in Contemporary Nigeria,” the union’s trustee and past ASUU Chairman, Prof. Assisi Asobie said combating pervasive insecurity is possible. However, it requires the interaction of the Nigerian working class in alliance with university-based research institutes constantly engaged with it as a pressure group using accumulated research knowledge over time.

He said: “The alliance between the working class and workers should lead to an engagement with the selected wing of the business community and state officials.

“A three-sided collaboration of workers backed by the universities, the business community and state officials will provide good bases for charting a viable strategy for addressing the identified roots of the three main sources of pervasive insecurity in Nigeria.”

Also, the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Pro-Chancellor of the University of Jos, Prof. Attahiru Jega has observed that poor economy and youth unemployment are serious contributory factors.

Asobie said the relegation of Nigerian universities to the background by the government, which has resulted in persistent strike actions by lecturers, has made the citadel of learning unable to produce necessary researches to combat insecurity in the country.

He said: “Furthermore, the Nigerian state has not yet earned the monopoly of the legitimacy of the possession, control, and use of the instruments of coercion in the society.

“Moreover, the Nigerian state lacks relative autonomy; its dominant class, an alliance of indigenous middlemen or communisation agents and foreign merchants and speculative investors is not independent of social groups and their parochial interests, and criminal activities. It is, therefore, unable to enforce the law of the land against criminality.”

The Niger State chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has lamented the escalation in the market prices of farming inputs. This, it said has left the farmers struggling to cope with farming activities.

While drawing the attention of the state government to the plights of the farmers, the organised labour stressed the need for the Niger State Government to provide subsidised farm inputs for the farmers across the state to guarantee a bumper harvest.

At the celebration of the International Workers’ Day held at the Idris Legbo Kutigi Conference Centre in Minna, the State NLC Chairman, Comrade Yakubu Garba said farmers can no longer cope with the escalation of the market price of farming inputs such as fertilisers, insecticides and seedlings, among others.

Garba stated that agriculture is the most critical sector of the state’s economy due to the large population that depends on farming.