The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Abdulgafar Alabelewe

  • El-Rufai names Kafanchan General hospital after Yakowa

    El-Rufai names Kafanchan General hospital after Yakowa

    Kaduna State Governor, Malam Nasir El-Rufai has named the state owned General Hospital in Kafanchan after the late Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.

    In a statement signed by the Special Assistant to Governor El-Rufai on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, El-Rufai
    said that the State Executive Council decided to honour the late governor by naming the hospital after him.

    According to the statement, “The Kaduna State Executive Council has approved the renaming of the Kafanchan General Hospital. The hospital will henceforth be known as Patrick Yakowa Hospital. This in honour of the service rendered to the state by the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.

    “Governor Yakowa capped a distinguished career in public service with the two highest political offices in Kaduna State. He was Deputy Governor and then Governor, before his unfortunate demise in an helicopter crash.

    “The general hospitals in the major cities in Kaduna State are named in honour of citizens who had made notable contributions to the state. The general hospital in Zaria bears the name of Hajiya Gambo Sawaba, an activist who fought for Nigeria’s independence. The eminent name of Dr. Barau Dikko, the first medical doctor from Northern Nigeria and first president of the Northern Peoples Congress, graces the hospital in Kaduna that was recently accredited as a teaching hospital.

    “General hospitals in Kaduna are also named after the revered late Chief of Kagoro, Gwamna Awan, and Alhaji Yusuf Dantsoho, a respected public servant.

    “The only exception to this naming trend among the general hospitals in the major cities of Kaduna, Kafanchan and Zaria is the one in Kafanchan. That has now been remedied by the action of the Kaduna State Executive Council.” The statement read.

  • North can be global mining destination – Fayemi

    North can be global mining destination – Fayemi

    As President Muhammadu Buhari’s Lieutenants faced Nigerians in Kaduna on Tuesday to give account of their stewardship, Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr. Kayode Fayemi said that, with 70% of Nigerian metallic mineral deposits located in Northern Nigeria, the region has the potential to become a global mining destination.

    Fayemi, however, assured that President Buhari’s administration will ensure that all the metallic mineral deposits are tapped for national economic growth.

    Addressing the town hall meeting organised by the Federal Ministry of Information and Culture, Dr. Fayemi said, with a huge deposit of gold in Kaduna, tin and columbite in Jos, lead in Zamfara state, sapphire, emerald, tantalite among others located in other parts of the region, Nigeria needs commitment, determination and resilience for the country to realise its full potential in solid minerals.

    According the Minister, there was however the need to formalise the sector, register them, organise them into cooperative societies for easier financing.

    “We are endowed with resources, the challenges is often persecution and trust. We can be mining destination with determination, commitment and resilience. The key challenge is organising the sector in a way that the people will get social benefits. Over 5 million Nigerians are involved in mining informally, they don’t have licenses, but we can organise them to be useful to them and to the country.

    “We can formalise them, organise them into cooperative, empower them through capacity building and finance them. The quantity, quality and commercial viability of our endowment, we have gold in abundance in Kaduna but we still need to do more exploration in the state in partnership with the state government.

    “Mining is capital intensive business, we are working with Bank of Industry and commercial banks to provide intervention fund to develop those involved in the business. Nigeria spends less than other neighbouring countries on exploration. Burkina Faso spends $50 million on exploration annually, while Nigeria spends $300, 000 annually. Our mineral resources must work for Nigerians to generate revenue and create jobs,” he said.

    Earlier in his opening remarks, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said that the Town Hall Meeting, which was the second in the series was part of the concept of participatory democracy “for the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to give an account of its stewardship since coming into office on May 29th 2015. This is the right thing to do because we entered into a contract with you during the electioneering campaign to do certain things, and it is only right that we let you know how we have fared since we assumed office.”

    On insecurity, corruption and economy, Lai Mohammed said the Buhari administration has crushed the Boko Haram insurgents, limiting it to soft targets, it is routing out corrupt personalities, whose practices have had a negative impact on the people, and is bringing back the economy from the doldrums.

    According to him, “But let me focus on the administration’s strategy to lift millions of Nigerians out of poverty. We plan to do this through six social intervention areas that will greatly impact on the economy as well as on lives: 500,000 graduates are to be employed and trained as teachers, 370,000 non-graduates (artisans, technicians) to be trained and employed, 1 million people (farmers, market women, etc) to be granted loans to set up small businesses.

    “Conditional cash transfer to be made to the most vulnerable people (not unemployed graduates), school feeding targeting 4.5 million school children, and bursaries/scholarships for STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) students,” the Minister said.

  • Zaria clash: Court orders sureties to produce accused minors

    Kaduna State High Court presided over by Justice Hannatu Balogun on Monday ordered three suretees who stood in for 63 accused minors, including seven juvenile boys, and 12 women arrested during December 12, 2015, Zaria Shiites/Army clash to produce them.

    However, the three suretees, Musa Usman, Muhktar  M.Sherrif  and Khalid Isah said they did not know that they were standing surety for the accused because according to them, police only asked them to facilitate the release of the accused minors and women from detention.

    The accused persons who are children, juveniles and women were charged for culpable homicide punishable with death.

    Though, one of the sureties, Khalid Isah was not in court, Musa Usman who spoke in court on their behalf, said they only obeyed the police so that the accused persons could be released, not necessarily filling a bail application for them.

    But the lead counsel to the State Government, Mr. Dari Bayero said he would not believe that police could release accused persons to any body without bail application being signed by a surety.

    While tendering before the court, the bail application being signed by Musa Usman with his photograph passport attached, Mr. Bayero said, “I know how much I suffered before I got the sureties to court, so I am not surprised at their attempt to deny the bail application”.

    While replying to Mr. Bayero, the lead counsel to the accused, Mr. Festus Okoye said, “If the Commissioner of Police asked persons to assist the accused for a bail, it does not amount to being a surety”.

    When the bail application was shown to him by the court, Usman confirmed that it was his signature and passport, but denied the signature on the first page of the application.

    He said the accused persons he stood in for are between the ages of 9-17 years, accepting to bring them to court if given enough period of time to do so.

    However, the presiding Judge asked the sureties how much time they needed to produce the accused persons before the court.

    Consequently, Usman demanded for 30 days duration to bring the accused minors to court.

    Mr. Bayero did not if he would object to the 30 days as requested by the surety,  said he did not object.

    The Judge said the suretees actually need the 30 days to gather the accused persons before bringing them to court because they are in different locations across the country.

    The presiding Judge therefore adjourned the case till June 20, 2016 to enable the suretees produce the accused persons.

    Meanwhile, in an interview with Journalists, Mr. Okoye, said, “The Commissioner of Police told Musa Usman that he (Commissioner) was given an order by the governor to release women and children unconditionally, based on that they went and chart two buses, when the bused arrived, police brought the detainees from different cells, and as they were bringing them from the cells, they were putting them inside those buses.

    “Those whose direction are Kawo, Zaria, Funtua, etc, were put in buses going that way, and those whose direction was Niger, Lagos, and so on, were put in buses going that way.

    “And the buses left, they did not leave with the buses, they did not sign any bond, saying the accused persons were released to them on bail because if you see the document containing names of the minors and juveniles, it was prepared by the police, so for the police to turn back now to go and prepare charges culpable homicide punishable with death against children and juveniles, it doesn’t make sense because the deal was between the so called sureties and the Commissioner of Police.”

  • Labour Union explains cause of salary delay

    The National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria (NUTGTWN) has attributed the plight of Nigerian workers through delayed payment of salaries and diversion of bailout funds to division in the apex labour movement.

    NUTGTWN General Secretary and former Vice President of NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu said: “The current assault on the work force such as delayed payments of salaries, diversion of bail-out funds are made possible because comrades are not united in mass actions against bad employers and bad Governors.”

    Aremu, who addressed the press in commemoration of this year’s workers’ day alongside the President of the Union, Comrade John Adaji however, called on labour unions affiliated to Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to critically use the occasion of May Day to get united for a vibrant labour movement.

    According to Aremu, “We regret that as we point two accusing fingers at bad governors and bad employers, the remaining three fingers point at us too who are unacceptably divided against ourselves rather than united against common class enemy.

    “It’s time we close ranks to ensure we have an NLC that commands the confidence of workers, be trusted by the public, respected by the government and employers.

    “To this extent our union calls on NLC leaders at all levels to immediately implement the report of the NLC Reconciliation Committee under the Chairmanship of Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu aimed at resolving the avoidable crisis arising from 11thDelegates Conference last year.

    “Textile Union is not happy that NLC could not have a common May Day in spite of the joint resolutions of all the parties to put the past behind. We commend Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, Alhaji Hassan Sunmonu, Comrades Ayuba Wabba and Joe Ajaero for the signed resolutions. It is however time we all implemented these resolutions with sincerity of purpose.

    “We need a united NLC to fight the issue of unpaid salaries, the struggle for improved minimum wage, the war against corruption, revival of industries and the creation of mass decent employment among others. If we operate separately, we will be defeated separately, but if we are united we shall overcome. We must stop ‘comrades-on comrades’ quarrels,” he said.

    However, the union commended both the Governor of Cross River State, Professor Ben Ayade and Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of Edo for their pronouncements in restoring the dignity of labour during the 2016 May-Day celebrations nationwide.

    “At a period when not less than 22 states default in payment of salaries of the workers, Ben Ayade of Cross Rivers state announced the payment of May salaries of workers in the employment of the state government while  Edo governor, Adams Oshiomhole on Sunday announced the increment of the National Minimum Wage from N18,000 to N25, 000 with immediate effect, for employees in the State Public Service.

    “The two governors have by their pronouncements demonstrated that the crisis of non-payments of salaries in most states is contrived, artificial, self serving on the part of the defaulting governors. It is not the lack of means and resources to pay their workers, but sheer lack of willingness to abide by the spirit and content of the 1999 constitution which says that the primary function of the government is the security and welfare of the citizens. It is a class war the defaulting governors are waging against their workers through denial of wages. In a decent country, there is always enough for the needs of all, including workers, but not enough for the greed of rulers, some governors inclusive.

    “We commend both Governors of Edo and Cross River for breaking ranks with the gang of some insensitive greedy governors who assign little resources to labour as a critical factor of development, but throw scarce resources to phoney projects by ghost contractors in the garb of infrastructural Development. With respect to Edo, Comrade governor has also shown that wage payment is not just a function of ability to pay, but willingness to muster the ability to motivate the work force for productivity and development,” Aremu said.

  • Army planning to steal bodies from mass grave – Shi’ites

    Army planning to steal bodies from mass grave – Shi’ites

    • It’s concoction of lies – Army

    The Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) popularly known as Shi’ites has alleged that the Nigerian Army is planning to exhume bodies of their members allegedly buried in a mass grave in Kaduna in a bid to reduce the number of dead bodies.

    Meanwhile, the Army in a swift reaction rejected the allegation, saying: “it is a concoction of lies and deliberate effort by the IMN to portray the Nigerian Army’s image negatively‎.”

    The IMN in a statement signed by its spokesman, Ibrahim Musa ‎said since the disclosure of the existence of a mass grave at the Judicial Commission of Inquiry by officials of the Kaduna state government, the Nigerian Army, who initially tried to debunk the existence of a mass grave in their testimonies has been uncomfortable.

    The statement reads: “Reports reaching the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) have it that some unscrupulous people, who were behind the massacre of hundreds of unarmed citizens and their secret burial in a mass grave, are planning to secretly and unilaterally exhume the corpses in an effort to lower the figure of those buried therein in the event of a subsequent full blown international investigation of their crime.

    “When it became obvious through confessions of officers of the state government that mass grave exists, and that officers and men of the Nigerian Army were fully involved in the construction of the mass grave as well as the secret burial of hundreds of IMN members they killed, the Nigerian Army officials have been working out how they could at least significantly put down the number of corpses buried in the grave. As a follow-up testimony at the Judicial Commission, they bluntly refused to acknowledge the hundreds killed and buried in the mass grave, claiming that they handed over only “a few” to state officials for burial.

    “The Islamic Movement in Nigeria wishes to make it categorically clear that the site of the mass grave where the Kaduna state government admitted that it had buried 347 of those killed by the Nigerian military in Zaria last December is a crime scene, hence any attempt to tamper with it would not only be taken as a sacrilege and unacceptable, but also as an attempt to tamper with an important exhibit, which is a serious crime in itself.

    “We wish to also show our dissatisfaction with the reaction of the government at all levels to the disclosure of the existence of mass grave. The least we expected were steps to protect and safeguard the place by independent-minded bodies, to prevent any attempts at mischievous alteration or obliteration of crime facts by perpetrators. If this confession of mass grave were in other climes, it would have been accorded all the protection of a crime scene, so that eventually justice will be done to the victims. Surprisingly, however, the site is left very vulnerable to mischief-makers.

    “It remains on record that government officials testifying before the Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba-led commission had confessed to burying at least 347 corpses in a mass grave. If the military is claiming that only a “few” corpses were buried there, there should be no hasty unilateral action on any of the parties disputing the figures. Such must be done under the watchful eyes of independent observers and international ‎community.”

    However, the Nigerian Army in a statement by the Deputy Director, Army Public Relations‎, 1 Division Headquarters, Kaduna, Colonel Abdul Usman said the allegation is a figment of their jaundiced imagination and a campaign of calumny against the Army.

    He said, “The attention of the Nigerian Army has been drawn  to an online report by SAHARA REPORTERS ON 28 APRIL 2016 in which the Islamic Movement in Nigeria alleged that the Nigerian Army is planning to steal bodies from mass grave in Zaria. It further, stressed that a contingent of soldiers have been deployed to keep guard at the site of the mass grave in an effort to prevent the uncovering of the hundreds of bodies buried there. It is simply a figment of their jaundiced imagination and a campaign of calumny against the Army.

    “The Army strongly and categorically reject the IMN’s unfounded n spurious allegation. It is simply a concoction of lies and deliberate effort by the IMN to portray the Nigerian Army’s image negatively.

    “The Nigerian Army will like to make it abundantly clear that, it has never contemplated such act at anytime. It’s of no relevance whatsoever.  we are focused on discharging our constitutional duty as a professional military force. We expect any responsible media to double check such weighty allegations before going to press. Nigeria’s national security and interest must never be toyed with.

    “The Nigerian Army as a law abiding entity had already stated its facts regarding the December 12-14 incident in Zaria before the Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba led Judicial Commission of Inquiry. For the avoidance of doubt, the commission had on Wednesday 27th April, 2016 visited all the sites of the incident in Zaria including the grave site in Kaduna. It was widely aired. It is not the duty of the Army to guard any public grave site other than our own designated military cemeteries.

    “It appears that the IMN’s desire is to whip up public sympathy not minding their crimes over several years against the people of Zaria as testified by the parties at the just concluded sitting of the commission, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria failed to state her facts or opinion if any as regards the incident of December 12th and 14th 2015 before the judicial commission of inquiry.”

    He called on the general public to disregard this unfounded claim adding that the Nigerian Army will continue to safeguard the lives and property of all citizens in every part of the country.

  • Kaduna Refinery to distribute 2 million litres petrol today

    Kaduna Refinery to distribute 2 million litres petrol today

    The Managing Director, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company (KRPC), Idi Muktar, has said that the company will distribute 2 million of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS) in Kaduna State on Wednesday.

    The Managing Director disclosed this on Tuesday while receiving leadership of the State Union of Journalists in the state, stressing that efforts have been put in place to ensure constant supply of the product to help reduce the hardship Nigerians are facing due to fuel scarcity in the state.

    His words: “I want to announce that by Wednesday Kaduna Refinery will begin operation with the  release of 2 million litres of PMS in Kaduna. This will help reduce the hardship the citizens are facing due to fuel scarcity in the state.

    “Sustainability of the product is another issue Nigerians will want to hear. With available crude oil we will be producing 2 million PMS a day.  I can assure you that all hands are on deck to ensure supply. We also hope Nigerians will continue praying for it to be sustained.”

    According to the MD, once the supply of crude is sustained, there will be no scarcity of fuel in the country.

    He also blamed some bad elements in the society for the fuel scarcity, “from March to April we witnessed 13 infractions with the pipelines from Abuja to Kaduna. We are losing petrol due to activities of unpatriotic elements tempering with pipelines which is unfortunate,” he said.

    Muktar stressed that, it was high time these unpatriotic Nigerians realized the harm done to the country due to their unpatriotic behaviour.

    He assured the visiting journalists of his company’s readiness to partner with media in the development of the country.

     

  • Police parades eight kidnappers in Kaduna, 450 others

    Police parades eight kidnappers in Kaduna, 450 others

  • Fuel scarcity: Mega Marketers threaten to expose saboteurs

    Fuel scarcity: Mega Marketers threaten to expose saboteurs

    Association of Mega Filling Station Owners of Nigeria, AMFSON, has told the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu that if they are pushed to the wall they will mention the names of his subordinates sabotaging his efforts to end fuel crisis.
    This was as it said that heads will roll in the oil industry if they go ahead to mention names.
    Addressing a press conference yesterday over plight of members of the Association to access fuel after several months of depositing millions of Naira for supply, National Secretary of AMFSON, Kenneth Nwachukwu said his members had in recent past resisted the urge to mention the saboteurs even when the Minister insisted they mention names.
    Nwachukwu alleged that several trucks of fuel had been diverted into black markets by these perceived saboteurs at the detriment of mega stations owners and Nigerians in general.
    He pointed out that it was for incident of fuel scarcity that the immediate past government established mega affiliate stations in order to cushion its negative effect on Nigerians, and urged the Minister who is also the Group Managing Director to address plight of AMFSON members to help in ending the fuel crisis.
    He said, “The minister said we should mention names, but you know Nigerians, when you come out in public to mention names of the saboteurs, they can go after you, so it is something that if it is possible to do one on one with the Minister, we can tell him, there is nothing to be feared because we have evidence of how fuel is being diverted into the black markets, we have evidence of everything we are saying about this fuel crisis.
    “The Minister said we should mention names that if we mention names the persons will not last 24 hours. But it is not proper to mention names in public, we are giving information, it is left for the Minister to go underground and work on the information and get to the root of what we are saying. We cannot come out to the market place and say this person is a thief. We don’t do things like that, but if we are pushed to the wall and mention names, heads will roll at NNPC Retail.
    “One of the ways to end this fuel crisis is for the Minister to come down to our own level and discuss with us, get the whole truth of the people that are sabotaging his efforts. If they supply fuel to our affiliate stations, there will be no scarcity again. This is what the immediate past government was doing with us in time like this.
    “The NNPC Retail will take this fuel meant for us to the black market, and still end up spoiling our names as if we are the one diverting the fuel, the fuel that was not delivered to us, but distributed somewhere else in our names. This is corruption in the highest order.
    “We are now crying out, we met twice with the Minister of State for Petroleum, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, and we told him that NNPC Retail staffs have refused to bring us into the mainstream of fuel distribution. But they can’t be the accused and the Judges, and everything at the same time.
    “The petroleum product belongs to the government, it belongs to the people, so these staffs should not keep it to themselves, we should know how it is being distributed. We should know the quantity that is available, and we should know that this is the quantity you are giving to us being the marketers, you cannot wake up one morning and say you gave us five million trucks. Who did you give them to?. Nobody knows.
    “Sometimes it is our names they used in bringing out that product, but it never got to us.
    “When we met the Minister for the first time, around October last year, we discovered that the NNPC Retail staffs deceived him to embark on building new 800 filling stations, but it does not make sense to build 800 stations when the old ones on the ground have not been serviced.
    “So when we met him, we told him about our own plight, that these staffs believe that NNPC Retail belong to them, and not to Nigerian people, they believe that it is their birthright, staffs that are earning salaries.
    “We told the Minister of our problem that these staffs refused to work with us as an Association, they prefer to work with us on individual basis, so that if you are dying as an individual, you can’t talk, and if you talk, they drive you out of the business. Since there is strength in unity, they don’t want to deal with us as an association.
    “So the Minister told them in our presence he saw nothing wrong for them to work with us as an association than as an individual. He said that they should go and work with us. So we left.
    “May be they went back to poison the Minister’s mind because since that time our problem became worst, they just abandoned us completely. For more than six weeks now, some us deposited N10 million, we cannot access fuel. So how can we keep quite over these issues.
    “Again, we wrote to the Minister, and we met, and he was seriously disturbed by what is happening.  We reported back to him that NNPC Retail staffs have refused to with our association. And he was furious and asked them what is wrong with working with our association.
    “The Minister therefore told them to go and set up a committee that will comprise our own members so that we should be able to monitor the product, even if it means offloading the product at a particular depot from where we can load our own supply.
    “The minister handed our issue to a new Chief Operating Officer (COO) who now told us that he will call for dealers meeting and not association meeting. But we were surprised at this because we are registered association, so nobody can stop us from being an association. This matter had dragged us and the NNPC Retail to the National Assembly, where the Senators settled the matter that we have 600 mega stations and the Corporation has only 37 Mega Stations, and that we should be given a supply too even if it is 50 to us and 50 to them.
    “Sometimes you see 10 trucks of fuel packed at Mega 1, while none of our members has fuel. And by night the Mega 1 will sell off these 10 trucks to the black market.
    “You cannot solve fuel scarcity in this way unless you allow the supply to go round. But you pack 10 trucks in one place, whom are you deceiving, and by night you send the trucks to the black markets,” Nwanchukwu explained.
  • Zaria clash: Commission of Inquiry recalls GOC for further questioning

    Zaria clash: Commission of Inquiry recalls GOC for further questioning

    The Judicial Commission of Inquiry probing the clashes between the Nigerian Army and members of the Islamic Movement in Zaria has issued a recall to the General Officer Commanding  (GOC) 1 Division of the Nigeria Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade for further examination and questioning.

    This was the main high point of the Commission’s Public Hearing this Thursday.

    Since the 6th April when the Nigeria Army witnesses made their presentations before the commission, a lot has been uncovered with regards all that transpired in Zaria on December 12 to 14.

    This, apparently informed the decision by the Commission’s Chairman, Justice Mohammed Lawal Garba to facilitate the recall of the GOC, 1 Division for further examination at the commission’s public hearing.

    Following the information by the Counsel to Nigerian Army Biola Oyebanji that the GOC will not be available till on the 21st of April, the commission therefore fixed the 25th April as the date for the senior Army officer to appear before it.

    In the meantime, Thursday’s Public Hearing featured the testimony of the military officer who oversaw the cordon and search operation by the Nigeria Army at Dembo which is the site of the Shi’ite temple in Zaria.

    Col. Mohammed Babayo told the commission that he was assaulted by members of the Islamic Movement on Sunday the 13th December, 2015.

    Three other witnesses, residents of Gyellesu, whose properties were destroyed in the course of the Zaria clashes, also gave their testimonies at the commission’s sitting yesterday.

  • Revealed: Zakzaky has lost one eye – Counsel 

    Revealed: Zakzaky has lost one eye – Counsel 

    • How followers died for him 
    • Sheikh’s wife shot thrice
    • Bullets removed forcefully by soldiers

    The rumour making the round that leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky has lost his eye to the December clash between members of the movement and a detachment of the Nigerian Army was yesterday confirmed by his lawyers.

    Counsels to the movement, Barrister Festus Okoye and Maxwell Kyon on Wednesday addressed a world press conference in Kaduna to inform the public that Sheikh Zakzaky has dragged the Army and other security agencies involved in the clash to the Federal High Court.

    The lawyers who explained their ordeal before and during their meeting with Shi’ites leader said, Zakzaky and his wife were not in good condition.

    According to Barrister Kyon, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky has completely lost his left eye, while his right eye is partially affected.

    Kyon who also disclosed that Zakzaky’s wife, was shot thrice in the abdomen said, the Shi’ite leader and his wife were subjected to all forms of inhuman treatment by men of the Nigerian Army.

    In his words, “We met with Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky at DSS custody. Initially, the SSS guys wanted to stay with us while we discuss with him, but we insisted that we must see him alone. Later they maintained a reasonable distance and we were able to speak with him.

    “He told us how the soldiers invaded his home and how they killed his followers. In fact, he told us that the soldiers after killing many outside, forced their way into his house, opened the door and meeting them inside, they closed the door again and started shooting sporadically at their direction.

    “He told us that, they would have killed him in the process, but his followers formed a shield around him and his wife, preventing many bullets from reaching him and the wife. At the end, all those that protected them died.

    “The Malam and his wife also sustained bullet injuries. The wife was shot thrice in the abdomen, while one of the bullets hit Zakzaky on his left eye,” he narrated.

    Talking about medical treatment given to Zakzaky, Barrister Kyon said: “against the speculation that the IMN leader was flown abroad for treatment, Malam told us that he was never taken out of the country.

    “He told us that they were only taken to 44 Nigerian Army Reference Hospital, Kaduna. And there, he said his wife was not given any form of anaesthesia, some soldiers just held her and forcefully removed the bullets from her abdomen.

    “The only place they were flown to for medical treatment apart from Abuja was Lagos, where they were trying to make sure his remaining eye sees clearly.” He explained.

    However, Kyon said that, as at the time of the Counsels’ visit to El-Zakzaky, he could not identify them clearly, except with the help of his wife who was helping him to identify the visitors one after the other.

    “In fact, we went with a member of the movement whom the Malam was very familiar with, but on getting there, he could not identify the person. That goes to show you how bad his vision has become.” He explained.