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Tag: attack

  • The Emir of Kano attack

    The Emir of Kano attack

    Then Sambo Dasuki was appointed the national security adviser, his first mission was to visit and solicit the support of the emirs and royal fathers of the North over the surge of militancy. In my column titled: A Prince and the Pauper, I mused that the problem went beyond the royal fathers since class inspired the crisis. The underclass militants looked askance at the northern traditional elite, and the emirs are also targets of their rage. They had no solution to the problem.

    So I thought Sambo’s pick and approach did not address the matter. The unfortunate attack at such a lofty and apparently impregnable position of the Emir of Kano only puts my column in perspective. If the Emir of Kano is vulnerable, then we must understand that the royal fathers of the North also cannot offer the kind of intelligence that Sambo or any other top flyer of Jonathan’s regime needs to stop the problem.

  • Alaafin condemns attack on Ado Bayero

    The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, has said the absence of a “clear-cut planning” for the education policy is responsible for the rising crime rate in the Country.

    The Alaafin spoke with reporters yesterday after receiving three prominent traditional rulers from Ondo State, who visited to sympathise with him on the fire that gutted 21 rooms in his palace.

    The traditional rulers are the Deji of Akure, Oba Adebiyi Adesida; the Olowo of Owo, Oba Dr. Olateru Olagbeji III CFR and the Osemawe of Ondo, Oba Dr. Adesimbo KIladejo.

    Oba Adeyemi said policy makers evolve good educational programmes but fail to provide corresponding job intake to cope with the large turn out of graduates from tertiary institutions.

    He said: “Several thousands of our able-bodied youths receive admissions into various institutions of higher learning, but at the end of their academic pursuance, search for jobs that are not forthcoming. This leads to idleness, which eventually leads to criminal acts.”

    Describing the attack on the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, as disturbing Alaafin said the paramount ruler is neither controversial nor fundamentalist, but committed to the well-being of his people.

    He said: “So, what then is the basis for the attack? It clearly portends the state of insecurity in the country, which must be tackled headlong by the government.

    “For a traditional ruler of that status to be attacked in his domain shows that no where is safe in the country. We pray God to grant quick recovery to the emir’s two sons and others injure in the attack.”

    Opposing any dialogue with the Boko Haram sect, the Alaafin said: “How can you dialogue with a faceless group? Their origin and base are not known. Their mission is unknown but they continue to snuff life out of defenceless people.

    “A leader of the sect, who was said to have been arrested sometime ago by security agents, was traced to Mali. Also, former President Olusegun Obasanjo visited one of their leaders sometimes ago for amicable solution. Rather than allowing that peaceful resolution to take place, the leader of the Boko Haram was killed the following day the former president visited him.

    “The best solution is the one applied by Obasanjo in the Niger Delta. Our national security must be strengthened and be made more effective through efficient and proactive surveillance system.”

    The Ondo traditional rulers delivered Governor Olusegun Mimiko’s condolence message to the Alaafin. They said the governor travelled abroad for an award ceremony.

  • Two killed as gunmen attack JTF checkpoint in Kano

    Two gunmen, believed to be members of the Boko Haram sect were yesterday shot dead by the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Kano and five others were arrested during a shoot-out between the sect and the JTF.

    Two passersby –a man and a woman – were said to have been hit by stray bullets in the crossfire.

    The incident reportedly occurred at the JTF checkpoint on the Wudil–Maiduguri Road, Mariri Quarters, about 5.30pm, during a stop-and-search operation.

    It was gathered that the gunmen launched a bloody attack on members of the JTF but were swiftly repelled.

    Residents said the sect members disguised when they attacked the security operatives in a vehicle, while some other sect members were said to be on a motorcycle.

    Acting on a tip-off, the security operatives reportedly launched an aggressive operation against the sect members.

    As the gunmen attempted to attack the JTF team, the security personnel were said to have opened fire on them, resulting in the death of two of the gunmen.

    The other five members were reportedly arrested after the operation.

    JTF spokesman Captain Ikedichi Iweha said: “Our men repelled an attack by this terrorist group, who stormed the JTF Mariri checkpoints.

    “During a gun dwell, our men gunned down two, while five other members of the group were arrested.”

    Iweha said none of the security operatives sustained any injury in the shoot-out.

    Arms allegedly recoverd form the suspects include an AK47 rifle.

  • Gunmen kill soldier, policeman in attack

    Gunmen kill soldier, policeman in attack

    Four people, including a soldier, a policeman and an 80-year-old woman along with her 15-year-old grandson were killed yesterday by gunmen in Adamawa State.

    The attack occurred in Song, a town near the border with Cameroun.

    The unknown gunmen razed the Song divisional police station and local government secretariat, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports.

    A resident of the town, who spoke to NAN on condition of anonymity, said the attack occurred in the early hours.

    “The police station and part of the one-storey secretariat building were burnt by the gunmen, who also attacked a security check-point on the Song-Yola road,’’ he said.

    The source said an old woman and a boy were hit by stray bullets in their home near the police station. “Dada Audu, an 80-year-old woman, and her grandson of about 15 years were hit by bullets and are feared dead,’’ he said.

    Adamawa police spokesman Mohammed Ibrahim confirmed the attack, but gave no details. Ibrahim said he was heading to the location. The Song attack came less than a week after a similar attack in Maiha, Hong and Fufore local government areas of the state.

  • Okorocha ordered attack on my convoy, says senator

    Okorocha ordered attack on my convoy, says senator

    Senator Chris Anyanwu yesterday accused Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha of ordering his security detail to attack her convoy and beat up her security men.

    Wednesday’s convoy clash was the height of the personality clash between the two public officials both of whom were elected on the platform of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA).

    But Okorocha’s spokesman Ebere Uzoukwa denied the claims by the senator.

    He said the senator breached protocol by using a siren, which has been banned in the state.

    “The senator’s vehicle suddenly rammed into the governor’s convoy close to the staff car, cutting off the lead security vehicle after overtaking dangerously and in a very suspicious manner,” Uzoukwa said.

    But, Senator Anyanwu recounts the incident in Owerri, the Imo State capital. She described the governor’s security men’s action as “frightening” and “brutish”, adding that she had been threatened in the past at several occasions in the state.

    Giving a graphic detail of the clash between her convoy and the governor’s security men, Senator Anyanwu said: “My day started around 9.30am when I visited the governor at the Government House on Tuesday to exchange pleasantries and he asked if I had adequate security and I said “yes” after which I left for my home town, Mbaise.”

    “When we got to Azara Egbelu, we heard siren coming behind us and when it grew louder, we parked (our vehicles) to allow the convoy way to pass. But, surprisingly, the approaching convoy which comprised of truck loads of armed and stern looking men double crossed us and pulled out two of my drivers dragging them into the bush where they were mercilessly beaten and left with broken skull and bruises.

    “When I could not bear it any more, I rushed out of my car barefooted and started shouting: “I am Senator Chris Anynawu please don’t kill my driver, but one of the armed men charged at me and threatened to shoot me for running into the governor’s convoy. All these while, the Governor was seated in his car with the glass wound down and I heard him shout at his security men to disarm my orderlies”.

    Mrs. Anywanwu described the Governor’s action as “a misplaced show of power. The power of the state is so enormous and you don’t need to intimidate, harass or kill your people to assert your powers as a governor.

    “I am tired of all these abuses and harassment in this state. It is not only in Imo State that they have female legislators. If they could do this to me, what will happen to the ordinary people, this has to stop”.

    The governor’s spokesman insisted that Senator Anyanwu breached security, adding that her outburst of anger could have resulted in a heavy casualty if not for the discipline of the governor’s security men who displayed a high sense of decency, professionalism and maturity.

    “Surprisingly, Senator Anyanwu, who no doubt knew the convoy was that of the governor of Imo State, alighted from her car and ordered her Naval security personnel to open fire. The Senator slapped both the governor’s Aide Camp and Chief Detail. She also rained abuses on the governor,” Uzoukwa said.

    Sources in the state said there had been no love lost between the governor and the senator because of the perceived interest of the senator in contesting for governor.

  • Thugs attack Ogun PDP secretary

    Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ogun State Alhaji Semiu Sodipo was attacked yesterday by armed political thugs at the party’s secretariat in Abeokuta, the state capital.

    There has been a supremacy tussle over the control of the party office between the Prince Buruji Kashamu/Mr. Adebayo Dayo-led faction and the faction belonging to Senator Dipo Odujirin, which is loyal to former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

    Yesterday, when the Kashamu group attempted to hold a meeting of the PDP Youth Vanguard at the secretariat, it was learnt that thugs allegedly loyal to the rival faction attacked them around 11:25am and injured Sodipo.

    It was gathered that Sodipo, who was beaten up by the thugs, was rescued by the police.

    Five of the hoodlums were arrested.

    Sodipo, who had wounds on his face, was led out of the secretariat half-naked into a waiting car by the party’s former secretary, Chief Adepegba Otemolu.

    Speaking with The Nation on the phone on his way to the hospital, Sodipo said other party members, including Alhaji Agoro Akinlagbin, Mr. Adeleke Mukairu and Mr. Olawale Adewale, were also injured in the attack.

    Commissioner of Police Ikemefuna Okoye, who visited the scene, said he had strengthened security in the area.

    He said he rushed to the scene when he heard of the incident and assured residents that the police were on top of the situation.

    Dayo blamed the attack on some party elders, whom he accused of “always flouting court orders”.

    He said: “Our party elders in the state do not want to obey the law. Several court pronouncements have shown that we are the authentic executive of the party, with me as the chairman, but they do not want to listen.

    “No matter what position you must have held in the past, the rule of law must prevail, but we have in Ogun PDP a situation where somebody will wake up in the morning and begin to do whatever he likes by completely disobeying a court order and the rule of law. We belong to the same party, but the rule of law should be respected.”

  • Sanusi under attack

    Sanusi under attack

    There was outrage in Labour circles yesterday over Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi’s call for the sacking of 50 per cent of civil servants.

    Sanusi, who spoke at a seminar in Warri on Tuesday, listed the sack as part of measures to reflate the economy.

    He said the government was servicing civil servants, legislators and local government officials with 70 per cent of its income, leaving a paltry 30 per cent for development.

    But the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), the Trade Union Congress (TUC) and the Civil Service Workers Union were up in arms against the CBN governor for his suggestion.

    The labour union called for his resignation or his sack by President Goodluck Jonathan.

    The NLC described Sanusi as an agent of death because, according to the Congress, he wanted to escalate the insecurity in the country. TUC President General Peter Esele said the problem of Nigeria is the greed of the elite.

    Esele said Sanusi should tell the people what the CBN budget is.

    “Sanusi is the most loquacious of Central Bank Governors. Central Bank Governors all over the world and all other treasury governors comment on monetary policies, which is responsible for the growth of their economy. They are not headline makers; they only make news when necessary. The CBN Governor should resign, if he is bored with the job or if the CBN is too small for him, and look for a job that will get him ready headlines”.

    “ Nigerian people don’t know the cost of running CBN. He should start from there. The House has been asking him for the budget of CBN, and he has been evasive,” Esele added.

    The NLC, in a statement entitled: “Sack Sanusi now”, signed by President Abdulwaheed Omar, said: “We see in Sanusi an agent of death that must be defeated and crushed before he further destroys the Nigerian economy. While President Jonathan is promising to create more jobs, Sanusi is calling for mass sack of civil servants in a country with one of the highest number of unemployed, which has indeed led to gross deprivation and the current state of insecurity in Nigeria. While we believe the Federal Government will ignore the ranting of this hollow economist, Sanusi has never demonstrated patriotism in all his advice on economic and financial management in Nigeria.

    “Sanusi’s only understanding of governance is simply about saving money and not saving lives as his proposals are repeatedly devoid of human content and without consideration for the implications on the larger society. The burden that will come with mass sack as high as 50 per cent of civil servants, in addition to the already saturated unemployment market can better be imagined. Governance is about improving the quality of lives of the people and not destruction of productive lives.”

    The Congress condemned also Sanusi’s statement on local governments, saying, “To show how unknowledgeable and unfit he is as a public office holder, Sanusi also called for the scrapping of local governments in Nigeria, a country that runs a federal system – no matter how inefficient the system is. Local government is an important tier of government in a federal system and what we need is to strengthen the system to enable it deliver good governance to the people as it is the closest to the grassroots.

    The NLC added: “What Sanusi as a beneficiary is running away from, is that corruption has become a real burden on the economy and it should be the only priority item on the table of any serious government. Even if you sack all the workers in Nigeria, any amount saved from that will be stolen and the culprits will walk in freedom.

    “And we need to ask Sanusi how much work he has successfully done in the CBN to reposition it to contemporary realities? He is surrounded with countless aides that are obviously not required by a man who believes that the Nigerian economy runs too high on overhead cost.”

    The General Secretary, Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Comrade Alade Bashir Lawal, said he was surprised that the CBN Governor could not differentiate between civil servants and public servants. He said the strength of the entire civil service is below 100,000. And that the public service, comprising the Army, Navy, Customs, EFCC, NAFDAC, among others, has 970,000 workers.

    His words: “The civil service is just a subset. If Sanusi now says we are the ones taking 70 per cent of the budget, we have to doubt his CV. The IMF said for every N100 spent on services in Nigeria, 80 per cent goes to private pocket; it goes to corruption. Only 20 per cent is spent on the project.

    “Have they traced the N1.7 trillion subsidy scam to civil servants? What they are trying to do is to see more resources to share. If they try sacking 50 per cent of the civil servants, they won’t find it easy. We will rise to the challenge.”

    The President , Nigeria Voters Assembly , Comrade Mashood Erubami, in a statement in Ibadan, described Sanusi’s advice as ill-timed and self-serving .

    He said: “The Voters Assembly is shocked by the unsupportable advice from the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) asking the Federal Government to downsize the labour force if it must achieve anything in the economy.

    “Workers who are the producers of the nation’s wealth, the chicken that lay the golden egg, must not be sacrificed for the economy, instead, Federal Government should employ more workers to enhance the productive capacity of the economy and improve the resource base of the nation for sustainable human development.”

    “Sacking 50 per cent of Nigeria workers would create further risky condition for the economy and the constituent citizenry; armed robbery will be on the rise, daylight assassination will become the order of the day and hunger shall be prevalent for underdevelopment will step in. There will be war from all fronts and the state will become decapitated,” Erubami said.

     

  • Govt officials visit Auchi attack victims

    Edo State Deputy Governor Pius Odubu yesterday assured residents that those responsible for Monday’s attack on four banks and a police station in Auchi would be brought to book.

    He spoke at the palace of the Otaru of Auchi, A.H Momoh, Ikelebe III, shortly after addressing victims of the robberies.

    Odubu, who led government officials on an assessment tour, said the government would do everything possible to apprehend the hoodlums.

    He urged the Inspector-General of Police to deploy more men and weapons to Auchi to unmask the culprits.

    Odubu commiserated with the relatives of those killed in the robberies.

    The monarch described the attacks as “coordinated” and urged residents not to be demoralised.

    The team visited those injured during the robbery at a private hospital.

    When the deputy governor visited Auchi Police Area Command and Divisional Office, signs of the attack were everywhere.

    The roofs of the buildings were blown off and expended bullets and cartridges littered the premises.

    An Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) had been destroyed by dynamite and the fence and buildings were riddled with bullets.

     

    The team also visited the attacked banks. It was learnt that the robbers used dynamites to open the vault of one of the banks.

    Odubu was accompanied on the tour by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Julius lhonvbere; Majority Leader of the House of Assembly Philip Shaihu; Director of the State Security Service (SSS) Bello Bankori; Acting Commissioner of Police Mohammed Hurdi and the representative of the 4 Brigade Commander, Lt. Col. Olu Famakiwa.

    Hurdi said seven civilian casualties were recorded in the attacks.

  • Jonathan under attack

    Jonathan under attack

    Obasanjo, ACN, ANPP chide President over media chat comments

     

    President Goodluck Jonathan came under attack yesterday as Nigerians reviewed Sunday’s Presidential Media Chat.

    Dr. Jonathan spoke on various issues, including Boko Haram, fuel subsidy and infrastructure, among others, during the two-hour broadcast on national television.

    Former President Olusegun Obasanjo fired a broadside at Dr. Jonathan over his comment on his administration’s military action Obi in 1999.

    Opposition parties – Action Congress of Nigeria (AC N) and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) – crtiticised the President’s response to some of the questions he fielded from the editors.

    The AC N said the President and his aides had been flip flopping on crucial national issues.

    The ANPP said the President evaded questions that would have enabled him to lay many controversial national issues to rest.

    But the President’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) alleged that opposition parties were spreading “cheap lies” and trying to distance the country.

    Ex-President Obasanjo defended his administration’s deployment of troops in Odi, a Bayelsa State community, in 1999, saying it achieved the purpose, which was to “uproot” the operational base of a terrorist group.

    He said President Jonathan was wrong to have claimed during the Presidential Media Chat that the invasion was a failure.

    Jonathan was Bayelsa’s Deputy Governor during the military action.

    Obasanjo also justified the use of force in Zaki Biam, Benue State, following the killing of 19 soldiers by suspected terrorists.

    In a statement issued through his former spokesman, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, Obasanjo said Jonathan must have forgotten the facts about Odi or was misinformed.

    To him, the President should rather learn lessons from the actions on how to deal with terrorists.

    Jonathan had said: “We saw some dead people, mainly old men and women and also children. None of those militants was killed. None was killed. So, bombarding Odi was to solve the problem but it never solved it.

    “Of course if the attack of Odi had solved the issue of militancy in the Niger Delta, the Yar’Adua government, which I had the privilege of being the Vice-President, wouldn’t have come up with the amnesty programme.”

    But Obasanjo said Jonathan was wrong in the assertion, which he called “a serious charge” against him.

    According to him, the operation, which he ordered in response to the killing of five policemen and four soldiers by suspected Niger Delta militants, was carried out with military precision and efficiency.

    Contrary to Jonathan’s statement, the objectives of the soldiers’ deployment “were fully achieved”, Obasanjo said.

    The former President claimed it was “factually incorrect” for Jonathan to say that all he saw in Odi after he went there on an official visit as deputy governor were the bodies of old people and children.

    Obasanjo urged Jonathan’s administration to cultivate the courage and the political will to tackle the security challenges posed by the Boko Haram sect.

    While in power, the former President said, he handled such matters “decisively, with vigour and with the utmost urgency”.

    He said: “With the greatest respect to Mr. President, this is factually incorrect. He has either forgotten the relevant facts or he has been misinformed. Whichever way, he is mistaken and it is important for those of us that proudly served the Obasanjo administration to respond to him in order to clarify the issues, clear the air and set the record straight for the sake of history and posterity.

    “I had the privilege of being briefed about all the facts by President Olusegun Obasanjo himself and Col. Kayode Are, the former DG of the SSS, immediately after the Presidential Media Chat and I believe that it is appropriate to share some of those facts with members of the Nigerian public, given the grave assertion and serious charge that President Jonathan has made. Those facts are as follows.

    “Five policemen and four soldiers were killed by a group of Niger Delta militants when they tried to enter the town of Odi in Bayelsa State in order to effect their arrest. This happened in 1999.

    “After the brutal killing of these security personnel, President Olusegun Obasanjo asked the then Governor of Bayelsa State, Governor Alamiyeseigha, to identify, locate, apprehend and hand over the perpetrators of that crime.

    “The Governor said that he was unable to do so and President Obasanjo, as the Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, took the position that security personnel could not be killed with impunity under his watch without a strong and appropriate response from the Federal Government.

    “Consequently, he sent the military in to uproot and kill the terrorists and to destroy their operational base, which was the town of Odi. The operation was carried out with military precision and efficiency and its objectives were fully achieved.”

    Fani-Kayode said the military operation led to the dislodgment of the terrorist group.

    The statement added: “The terrorists were either killed and those that were not killed fled their operational base in Odi, were uprooted, were weakened, were demoralised and were completely dispersed. That was the purpose of the whole exercise and that purpose was achieved.

    “The truth is that the killing of security agents and soldiers with impunity by the Niger Delta militants virtually stopped after the operation in Odi and remained at a bare minimum right up until the time that President Obasanjo left power eight years later in 2007. I advise those that doubt this to go and check the records.

    “The same thing was done in Zaki Biam in Benue State in the North-central zone of Nigeria in 2001 after 19 soldiers were murdered in cold blood and then brutally beheaded by some terrorists from that area. Again, after the Federal Government’s strong military response in Zaki Biam, the killing of security personnel with impunity stopped.

    “The objectives of the military operations in both Odi and Zaki Biam were to stop such killings, to eliminate and deal a fatal blow to those that perpetuated them and to discourage those that may seek to carry out such barbarous butchery and mindless violence in the future. Those were the objectives and nothing more and clearly those objectives were achieved.

    “There is no doubt that after Odi there was still unrest, agitations, protests, kidnappings and the blowing up and sabotage of oil pipelines in the Niger Delta area but there were hardly any more attacks on or killing of soldiers and security personnel by the terrorists and militants because they knew that to do that would attract a swift and forceful reaction and terrible retribution from the Nigerian military.

    “To stop and deter those attacks and killings was the objective of President Obasanjo and that objective was achieved.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan was, therefore, in error when he said that Odi did not solve the problem of killings in the Niger Delta area by the Niger Delta militants.

    “Not only did it stop the killings, but it is also an eloquent testimony of how to deal with terrorists, how to handle those that kill our security personnel with impunity and how to deter militants from killing members of our civilian population and thinking that they can get away with it.

    “If President Obasanjo had not taken that strong action at that time many more of our civilian population and security personnel would have been killed by the Niger Delta militants between 1999 and 2007.

    “By doing what he did at Odi and Zaki Biam, President Obasanjo saved the lives of many and put a stop to the killings and terrorism that had taken root in the Niger Delta area previous to that time.”

    Besides, Fani-Kayode said Obasanjo was actually misquoted, as he never recommended that the “Odi treatment” should be adopted to quell Boko Haram insurgency.

    He said: “On the issue of Boko Haram, it is unfortunate that President Obasanjo’s comments have been misconstrued and his views misrepresented. He never said that the Odi treatment should be applied to Boko Haram or that such action is appropriate in these circumstances.

    “What he said was that a solution ought to have been found or some sort of action ought to have been taken sooner rather than allow the problem to fester over time like a bad wound and get worse.

    “There can be no doubt that he was right on this because, according to President Jonathan’s own Chief of Army Staff, no less that 3000 people have been killed by Boko Haram in the last two years alone.

    “That figure represents approximately the same number of people that were killed by the IRA in Northern Ireland and the British mainland in the 100 years that the war between them and British lasted and before peace was achieved between the two sides.

    “The same number of casualties that the IRA inflicted on the people of the United Kingdom in 100 years is the same number of casualties that Boko Haram has managed to inflict on our people in just two. This is unacceptable and it is very disturbing.

    “The Federal Government must cultivate the courage and the political will to stop the killings by Boko Haram and to find a permanent solution to the problem.

    “When President Obasanjo was in power he handled such matters decisively, with vigour and with the utmost urgency.

    “He brought justice to the perpetrators quickly and promptly and he did whatever he had to do to protect the lives and property of the Nigerian people.

    “The truth is that the strategy that he adopted to fight terrorism and mass murder worked very well and it was very effective. For President Goodluck Jonathan to suggest otherwise is regrettable.”

     

  • Gunmen attack Benue ACN chieftain

    Gunmen suspected to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) youth wing in Benue State have attacked Bala Bagu, a chieftain of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Gboko.

    The politician, who bled profusely from the injury he sustained in the atteack, was left in a pool of his blood.

    Addressing reporters in his hospital bed in Gboko, Bagu said he was leaving Gboko Mechanic Village after fixing his car at 5pm when gunmen in a bus shot at his Honda Accord car from behind.

    He said: “I heard gun shots from behind and the bullets narrowly missed me. Then a bus overtook my car and blocked it. Five men with pistols forced me out of my car and started hitting me with their gun butts and sticks.”

    The ACN chieftain said a policeman saw what was happening and threatened to shoot his assailants.

    Bagu said this forced the hoodlums to flee while he was bleeding.

    Another group of hoodlums also invaded the home of ACN councillorship aspirant for Gboko South, Shon Terhembe.

    Though the hoodlums did not meet him at home, they reportedly cut down the flowers and warned that they would cut him like that if he refuses to step down for the election.

    The police command said investigation into the incidents has begun.

    It added that security has been tightened in Gboko to forestall a breakdown of law and order.