The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Benue

  • Herdsmen kill soldier, farmer in Benue

    Suspected Fulani herdsmen have reportedly killed a soldier and farmer in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue State.

    The farmer, Aondoaver Muemumu, was shot on Ayilamo-Anyiin road in Logo.

    A community leader, Chief Job Tiza, said the victim was returning to Anyiin from Ayilamo when he was ambushed.

    His body was deposited at Anyiin Mortuary.

    The soldier was reportedly killed in Tse-Ikyo, Guma council.

    An eyewitness, Kumachia Adzuu, said the herdsmen ambushed soldiers on patrol and killed one of them.

    Adzuu said the attack happened between 8 and 9pm. The soldier’s body was recovered yesterday at the Kwatan-Sule crossing point in River Benue.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu could not be reached for comments.

  • 21,000 Benue IDPs benefit from WASH interventions – Official

    Twenty-one thousand displaced people are benefiting from the Water Sanitation and Hygiene ( WASH ) interventions in Guma and Logo Local Government Areas of Benue, an official has said.

    Mr Ibiyemi Olu-Daniels, the Deputy Director, WASH Emergency Response, Federal Ministry of Water Resources, made the disclosure at a WASH Emergency Working Group Meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

    Olu-Daniels said that the interventions, funded by the UN Children’s Fund ( UNICEF ), had been able to scale up hygiene promotion programmes to reduce disease prevalence in the camps.

    “In IDPs camps in Guma and Logo Local Governments, water facilities are lacking or decrepit, majority of the IDPs have no access to toilet; it is saddening that about 1,000 people share one drop-hole.

    “This is making open defecation commonly practiced, there is low level of hygiene awareness, Limited WASH sector response is currently provided, but it is not enough,” he said.

    The deputy director, who described the situation as an emergency, called for more interventions to sustain the growing needs of IDPs.

    According to him, the humanitarian crisis in Benue is affecting no fewer than 200,000 people, which was further aggravated by the continuous farmers-herdsmen crisis.

    He said that 12,000 WASH kits had been distributed to IDPs, 10 hand-pump boreholes were rehabilitated and provision of water chlorination to promote access to potable water.

    Olu-Daniels said that part of the intervention was the sensitisation on sanitation and safe excreta management in the host and IDP communities using the Community-Led Total Sanitation approach.

    He said that this would reduce the prevalence of diseases and forestall outbreak of waterborne diseases in the camps.

    Olu-Daniels noted that with support from the state emergency management agency, two camps had been opened for the Cameroonian refugees.

    The deputy director stressed the need for the provision of water points and sanitation and hygiene kits for them.

    He added that the WASH Emergency Response Team was working in Yobe, Borno and Bauchi States toward hygiene promotion through the distribution of WASH kits and sanitation activities.

    Olu-Daniels said that there was need for state rural water supply and sanitation agencies to take ownership of scaling up sanitation and hygiene.

    He said that we should not wait for an emergency before actions were taken.

    Olu-Daniels added that with the continued reports of cholera cases in Bauchi, the team would carry out an on-site assessment to know what immediate response to be given.

    The WASH in Emergency Group is working to see that humanitarian responses, especially in the North-East reach their target population.

    NAN

  • Army destroy camps abandoned by herdsmen in Benue

    The Nigerian Army said its troops had destroyed camps abandoned by herdsmen militia in Gbajimba, Kaseyo and Adagu communities in Benue.

    According to a statement by its Spokesman, Brig.-Gen. Texas Chukwu, the feat was achieved during a patrol.

    Chukwu said that one motorcycle was recovered from the camp during the operation.

    He also said that troops had cleared some identified armed robbers and kidnappers hideouts in Shaka, Ananum and Donga settlements of Taraba.

    He said during the operation, they recovered one wooden gun with the shape of an AK 47 rifle at Shaka village.

    NAN

  • Herdsmen kill five in Benue

    The Benue State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said five farmers in Agatu, Guma and Makurdi councils were killed by suspected Fulani herdsmen on Sunday.

    Owoseni, who addressed reporters in Makurdi, said the herdsmen attacked Olegobiudu in Agatu, killed three and rendered thousands homeless.

    It was gathered that the assailants overran the villages when about seven boys went to bathe at the river. The herdsmen ambushed the them and killed two.

    Owoseni confirmed that two persons were killed on Sunday in a renewed attack on Agatu by suspected herdsmen. Two others were killed in Tse Semaka, Guma and one person in Makurdi.

    He said the Agatu situation was controlled through  community policing and intelligence gathering.

    Governor Samuel Ortom, who lamented the situation, urged security agencies to improve on their surveillance and be proactive to curtail the killings.

    The governor also said the people were being killed because they chose to follow due process in the regulation of livestock business.

    He spoke yesterday when the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) Representative to Nigeria, Antonio Tose Canhandula, visited him at the Benue Peoples House.

    The governor reiterated that ranching law remain the only solution to farmers and herdsmen crisis.

    He said it was practised in African countries and should be done in Nigeria too.

    Ortom acknowledged the efforts of security agents in containing the crisis, but said more should be done to bring back displaced persons.

    He thanked the UNCHR for its support to IDPs, through donations.

    Canhandula, who was accompanied by the Regional Representative in West Africa, Liz Ahua, commiserated with the government and people on the killings.

    He said their visit was to donate relief materials to Cameroonian refugees in Kwande, adding that they could not do so without identifying with the governor and providing relief to displaced persons.

    Items donated include buckets, sleeping mats, toilet soap, blankets, solar lanterns, cooking pots, jerry cans and insecticide-treated mosquito nets.

  • UNHCR urges Cameroonian to respect human rights

    The United Nations High Commission for Refugees ( UNHCR ) has appealed to the Government of Cameroon to respect human rights of all citizens for the sake of peace.

    The commission’s representative in Nigeria and ECOWAS, Mr Antonio Canhandula, made the appeal while speaking with newsmen on Monday in Makurdi.

    Canhandula said the instability in Anglophone Cameroon had forced thousands of citizens to seek asylum in Nigeria.

    He said Cameroonian Government should explore alternative ways of engaging with those who feel aggrieved for the sake of peace and that both parties should respect human rights.

    “UNHCR urges the Government of Cameroon to explore ways of engaging with those who feel aggrieved, for the sake of peace.

    “We also reiterate the need for respect of human rights by all parties involved,’’ Canhandula said.

    He said the refugees complained of exclusion from the national life by the Cameroonian Government, political processes and important positions in the government.

    “Longstanding grievances against the central government in Cameroon took a new turn in 2016 when a group of Anglophone Cameroonians triggered civil society-led demonstrations.

    “This was based on allegations of marginalisation by the authorities, particularly in the education and justice system.

    “Initially, the protesters called for the return to a federal system of government and greater autonomy.

    “However, on Oct. 1, 2017, the separatist movement, Ambazonia Governing Council, declared unilaterally the independence of Cameroon’s Northwest and Southwest Regions.

    “Tensions ensued with government security forces clashing with movement, resulting in injuries and deaths and leading to an influx of English-speaking Cameroonians into Nigeria.

    “Critics accused government forces of killing dozens of civilians while the administration is also alleging that suspected separatists have killed more than 10 security personnel since the crisis intensified in October.’’

    Canhandula further said that the UNHCR had registered 20,485 Cameroonian refugees seeking asylum in Benue, Cross River and Akwa Ibom states.

    He explained that the commission also opened a permanent office for the coordination of their activities in Calabar, Cross River, field offices in Adikpo, Benue and Ikom in Cross River.

    Read Also: UNHCR launches $157m appeal fund for Boko Haram victims

    The UNHCR representative said that the Benue Government had allocated 191 hectares of land for the settlement of refugees in Kwande Local Government Area.

    He added that the site was being developed.

    According to him, each site has the capacity to host 4,000 persons.

    He, however, said that the influx is expected to continue and there is the need for more land in Benue.

    “We are still working with the state authorities in Cross River to identify a suitable location to move the refugees away from the border in line with international standards.

    “Issues of accessibility, security, topography, water resources, absorption capacity and good terrain for sanitation facilities are taken into consideration while selecting potential refugee sites.’’

    Canhandula said the commission was yet to gain access to Akwaya, where some Nigerian refugees in Cameroon were located.

    “The Akwaya sub-division, in particular, hosts small refugee population of around 1,800 Nigerians and around 600 Cameroonian returnees, who had been refugees in Nigeria before being repatriated in 2015 and 2016.

    “This area is very difficult to access, particularly during the rainy season.

    “Nevertheless, our office in Cameroon is working to organise an assessment mission there.

    “But we cannot provide first-hand information at this moment,’’ he said.

    NAN

  • Benue: More questions after president’s visit

    Nearly three months after herdsmen militia attacks in Guma and Logo communities in Benue State claimed 73 lives, President Muhammadu Buhari on March 12, paid a surprise and long-awaited trip to Makurdi, the state capital. Subsequent attacks by herdsmen since January this year have claimed about 65 more lives and most recently about 26 people mostly vulnerable women and children again lost their lives to these Fulani militia. The office of the president of a democratic nation is one that carries huge political, economic and moral responsibilities. The president of a country is also symbolically the father of the nation.

    The people of Benue State expected their president to at least pay a courtesy visit on the chairman, Benue State Council of Chiefs, the Tor Tiv V, HRM Prof. James Ortese Iorzua Ayatse and also visit one of the eight Internally Displaced Persons Camp housing about 170,000 people with about 60,000 children unable to attend primary and secondary schools. A visit to the burial site of the 73 heroes who lost their lives to herdsmen would have afforded the president a practical feeling of the sorrow of his compatriots. But that was not to be as the president only restricted his visit to the Benue People’s House where he made a less than five minutes speech that many believed left many burning questions unanswered.

    The president’s message to the Benue stakeholders who visited the State House in January this year is to ‘go home and learn to live peacefully with their countrymen’. How are they expected to live with strange elements who have no regard for human lives including that of children and pregnant women who they kill and maim at will? Ironically, President Buhari at the last Council of State’s meeting was quoted to have asked Governor Ortom about his cattle rearers. It is expected that the father of the nation should have asked the governor about the wellbeing of the 170,000 IDPs in eight camps in Benue forced out of their ancestral homes by armed herdsmen.

    On March 5, while on an official visit to Taraba State, the president again surprised many by saying that there have been more killings in Mambilla Plateau in Taraba and Zamfara states combined than in Benue State! Should we lose more precious lives before the father and leader of a nation visit the affected community to sympathize with his compatriots and assure them of their security and justice for their attackers? Immediately after the President’s visit to Taraba, about 20 people were reported to have been killed in Mambilla Plateau in the state. Just as more than 11 people were widely reported to have been killed by suspected herdsmen shortly after the president launched the Plateau State Peace-Building Agency on March 9, in Jos.

    The night attacks on Ganda village of Daffo district of Bokkos Local Government Area and on Miango village of Bassa Local Government Area was unfortunate especially as Governor Simon Lalong of Plateau State had mischievously blamed the Benue State Anti-Open Grazing law for the killings by herdsmen in Benue although, he has since withdrawn the statement and apologized to Governor Ortom. Just a day before the president visited Benue State, two mobile policemen sadly lost their lives to suspected herdsmen. On March 5, a week earlier, about 26 people mostly women and children were killed by Fulani herdsmen in Omusu Village in Okpokwu Local Government of Benue. Are these herdsmen simply embarking on these renewed killings of indigenes to increase the number of their victims?

    The recently launched Exercise Ayem A Kpatuma (Cat Race) by the military need to justify the confidence of the people in their ability to secure the state and fish out the masterminds of these senseless bloodbath in Benue. Strangely, there has been thousands of influx of cattle and herdsmen into Benue State, grazing openly especially in the rural areas despite the anti-open grazing law in force. This is happening with the presence of the military in the state. In 2016 and 2017, the Nigerian Army launched Operation Python Dance in the Southeast to clamp down on secessionist activities and other criminal acts such as kidnapping. Likewise, in the same year, the army also launched Operation Crocodile Smile I and II in the Niger-Delta to tackle security threats. Currently, the Nigerian Army is waging a military campaign tagged Operation Lafiya Dole against insurgents in the Northeast states of Borno and Yobe. These military operations in these states have recorded tremendous success. Why should the case of Benue be merely Exercise Cat race? Why not accord it the same operational status as obtained in other states with a clear mandate to tackle armed herdsmen militia attacking innocent people?

    In July 2016, the federal government promptly deployed soldiers to Zamfara State following incidence of banditry and cattle rustling in the state. The president was personally in Zamfara in full combat military uniform to launch the military offensive against the cattle rustlers and criminals. Why has Benue not witnessed the same prompt response even when the governor had reported threats of these attacks to the security agencies months before these herdsmen eventually struck?

    In Mbatoho Island, Mbalagh Council Ward of Makurdi Local Government between February 27 28, about 5000 native inhabitants of this village were sacked by armed herdsmen who ordered them to vacate their ancestral land while their cattle were let loose to feed on the farm crops from the barns of the villagers. This is a clear case of modern day forceful occupation of a territory within a sovereign nation and this in the 21st century! Where were the security agents deployed to the state?

    An encouraging aspect of President Buhari’s visit to Benue is his admission that he was not aware that the Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris flouted the orders to him to relocate to Benue and stay in the state until security and peace is restored. This is however an indictment on the information managers at the Presidency. How come they failed to bring to the president’s attention, the deliberate disobedience of his orders by the police boss despite many officials of Benue State government repeatedly crying out on the disappearance of Ibrahim Idris from Benue after spending about 24 hours?

    The president has a golden opportunity to decisively prove to Benue people that ‘he belongs to no one and belongs to everybody’. The people of Benue feel abandoned by a federal government which it helped to vote massively into office in April 2015. It is their right to be guaranteed peace and security.

     

  • President Buhari: do something!

    Let me at the very outset enter a caveat: This is no hysteria or histrionics of any kind. The issues raised in this piece are absolutely in the public interest, especially in the interest of the most at risk Nigerians who literally have no voice of their own. Among them are the unemployed and the totally unemployable s to whom the Federal Government’s social security programmes might have reached, and provide a succour of sorts, have our legislators not taken to themselves a hugely disproportionate part of the national income. Certainly among the victims of this crass selfishness, are government workers, millions of who are owed their salaries for upwards of eight months and some, as in Benue and Kogi states, for over 12 months. These are people whose children, and wards’ inability to pay their school fees have either taken to prostitution or chose almost certain death in the Sahara desert or, worse still, on raging seas in North Africa. Or sold into slavery.

    And that is where they have not simply succumbed to the elements.

    Thanks to Mr Peter Obi, former Anambra State governor, we now know that everything has broken down in Nigeria. According to him: “If he revealed how much a Nigerian governor earns, the outrage would be hotter than what trailed the N13.5 million monthly pay of senators.” “None of you,” he further said, “knows what a governor earns.  Quote me anywhere, if you know you won’t be here.”

    Nigerians already have details of what senators earn, and with those figures, we can work straight away. If any of the figures are wrong or outlandish, it will be the duty of the senate spokesperson to let Nigerians know. It will be the height of disrespect to the citizenry for the senate to resort to any sabre rattling and Nigerians will take none of such insult.

    For me, Olakunle Abimbola of The Nation remains a constant source of great delight. He writes for all time, now and, forever, and always, quotable. Let’s see him in DISTRACTIONS, The Nation, Tuesday, 6 March, 2018. He wrote, and I will quote him in ex tensor: “The more the president pines, the more he is scorned, if not by the quiet majority, then by a noise-some, virulent ensemble; most garrulous among whom are unfazed past wreckers, locating their own redemption in Buhari’s destruction.

    Yet, Buhari is nary the enemy.

    “As if bewitched, critical stakeholders of the Nigerian realm have joined this self-destruct crusade. In booming business are ethnic entrepreneurs, with their impassioned Fulani roasting; tribal pigeon-holing and ethnic scapegoating, their golden but empty panacea to rural banditry (read “Fulani herdsmen”), with its wanton waste of life. Churches live in scandalous denial of the tough economic rebuilding, play politics of the belly with their congregants’ plight and worship on the altar of cheap populism. Yet, that denial negates their core doctrine: purgatory before salvation – that tough path to spiritual renewal. If you don’t purge yourself of old vices, how do you appreciate the new grace? A section of the media, smug, severe, all-wise and all-knowing, point fingers, lecture and hector: a very few from the position of condescending knowledge; a good many from self-yoked, but badly disguised bigotry; and many, many more, just echoing the din, like some Roman plebs baying for blood, but never bothering to ask why! Among the commentariat, an anarchist’s manifesto would appear writ large!”

    What he failed to do in that piece, was cast a glance at the totally disreputable Nigerian legislature, an arm of government so unfeeling its less than 600 total population takes such a humongous portion of our country’s total annual income it would not be a curse to say that some of them will, very soon, choke on gluttony.

    Cognisant of the fact that many wished President Muhammad Buhari dead not too long ago, I stopped short, in the title of this article, from doing that which Ghanaians, our neighbours and brothers, did a while ago when they called on President Jerry Rawlings to save Ghana from the likes of the predators who now predominate the Nigerian political space. Cried hapless Ghanaians: J J, DO SOMETHING BEFORE YOU DIE.

    That is the war cry I am extending to the president today. If it is the only thing President Buhari will do for the remaining part of his entire life, he must save hapless Nigerians first, from the internal slavery the Legislature has dug us into. Their out of the world heist from the national treasury is choking Nigeria. They are so unfeeling not an all-consuming recession could make them bat an eyelid or have a rethink. They took it, all of their N13.5 million monthly heist, and more. What exactly runs through these fellows veins, what? Why is shame in such short supply among them? How many times a day do they feed their ravenous palates?

    Unfortunately, the respective Houses of Assembly, save one or two,  have become nothing but slaves to their Almighty Governors and there is no way they can call them to order. It is not unknown that many state legislators are owed salaries for months but you won’t hear a word. That is why the president must also handle all these leakages.

    Mr President, it has become obvious that we, an absolutely docile Nigerian citizenry, can no longer help ourselves, and therefore have no choice than to call on the only one man we elected to govern us, despite all the mischievous antics of the antichrists that now populate our country. By whatever means, Sir, you must stop this lootocracy in high places and the place to start is to kick the ass of the soporific and useless Revenue Mobilisation Allocation Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) which has remained deaf and dumb to all the noise made by Nigerians on the ignominious obfuscations its constitutionally prescribed roles have suffered in the hands of legislators. The agency must be sacked immediately with new members appointed to breathe life into it. Most of the legislators’ allowances are self- awarded; a direct consequence of President Obasanjo inflicting two luckless presidents on Nigeria both of who became playthings of the legislature, especially during the Speaker-ship of Hon Dimeji Bankole when they not only astronomically increased their allowances, but went a-borrowing from banks, to pay illegal  allowances that  were curiously backdated.

    Subsequent on Senator Shehu Sani’s letting slip their monthly pay, traumatised Nigerians have come up with several comments. Below is one on the Facebook wall of Valiant Samson Idowu-Alaba.

    IN CASE ANY FIGURE IS WRONG, LET THE SENATE CORRECT IT AS THE ONUS IS ON THEM.

    WHAT A NIGERIAN SENATOR GETS

    1. RUNNING COST

    Newspaper allowance…….N1.24m

    Wardrobe allowance……….N0.62m

    Recess allowance ………….N0.25m

    Accommodation…………….N4.97m

    Utilities …………………………N0.83m

    Domestic staff……………….N1.86m

    Entertainment………………..N0.83m

    Personal Assistant…………N0.62m

    Vehicle Mtce Allowance…N1.86m

    Leave Allowance……………N0.25m

    TOTAL RUNNING COST ………..N13.58m/month

    This adds up to N162.96m annually

    1. CONSOLIDATED SALARY

    He goes home with N750,000 monthly.

    This sums up to N9m annually.

    1. He is entitled to N200m annually to execute projects which is the duty of the Executive branch but which they normally corner, where executed, at all.

    SUMMARY

    Annual Salary…N9,000,000 per annum

    Running Allowance….N163,000,000 per annum

    Constituency….N200,000,000 per annum

     

    TOTAL N372,000,000.00 per annum.

    This amount is over N1,000,000 every blessed day including Sundays when he/she is in church.

    HE ALSO GETS THIS

    Severance Gratuity………… N7.43m

    (Is this as many terms as he does?)

    Furniture allowance ……….N7.45m

    Motor Vehicle Allowance…N9.94m

     

    TOTAL  N24.82m. I presume once in a Senate life.

    The above are the amounts to which Nigerians can put a figure.

    So Mr President, if clearing this Augean stable is, the only additional thing you can do for Nigerians, you would not only have earned a place in our history books, you would have earned it in our hearts.

    We know you can do it.

  • Ortom on bloodshed in Benue: enough

    •Ortom: enough of bloodshed in Benue
    •Confiscated livestock to be auctioned

    Benue State Governor Samuel Ortom has decried the incessant bloodshed in the state following the recurring herdsmen attacks on farmers.

    He spoke yesterday at St. Bernard Primary School, Ugwu-Okpoga, Okpokwu Local Government Area, at the burial of 26 victims of herdsmen attacks in Omusu and Okana communities.

    Ortom reiterated his call on security agencies to arrest the leadership of Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, whom he said were the sponsors of the attacks, following the statements credited to them.

    The governor also reiterated that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law had come to stay, noting that there was no land for open grazing and crop farming to go on concurrently.

    He assured the people that his administration would continue to respond swiftly to security challenges, adding that data was being gathered for compensation plans.

    Deputy Governor Benson Abouno; Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly James Okefe; Rev. Fr. John Attah (who represented Bishop Apochi), among others, thanked Ortom for his support to the bereaved families. They also pledged their support for the ranching law.

    In his sermon, state Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Rev. Akpen Leva prayed God to grant the governor and the people the strength to overcome the menace.

    The government has directed its Ministry of Finance to appoint a registered auctioneer to auction livestock confiscated in violation of the Anti-Open Grazing Law 2017.

    The Commissioner for Information, Lawrence Onoja, briefed reporters after the state Executive Council meeting yesterday.

    Onoja said the animals were confiscated from their owners for violating the subsisting law against open grazing, adding that they were given till March 19 to pay stipulated fines to the Ministry of Agriculture to claim their animals or risk them to auctioning as from March 20.

    The council approved the release of N261 million as counterpart fund for International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) programme, and also approved the constitution of the state Debt Management Committee.

  • NULGE decries slow action on Autonomy Bill

    …knocks Imo Assembly for voting against Bill

    The Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees (NULGE) has lampooned House of Assemblies in the Southeast zone over their indifference in handling the Local Government Autonomy Bill.

    He noted that while other states like Kwara, Benue, Niger, Plateau, Bauchi, Cross River, Bayelsa and Ogun states have voted for Local Government autonomy, the states in the Southeast are yet to conduct public hearing.

    The Union also knocked the Imo State Assembly for voting against the Bill, describing the decision by the lawmakers as unfortunate.

    NULGE also lampooned the Imo State governor, Rochas Okorocha for not “equally putting his best to ensure the passage of the Bill”.

    Addressing newsmen at the NULGE Secretariat in Owerri, the Imo State capital, the National Auditor of the Union, Comrade Ayuba Shamdung Jepla, said that four states in the Southeast zone were just preparing to conduct public hearing on the bill.

    He accused the lawmakers of being insensitive to the plight of the people at the grassroots, who he said are the direct beneficiaries of the Local Government Autonomous Bill.

    Jepla also dismissed the earlier reason given by the Imo State House of Assembly for none passage of the bill, stating that “the defense was a mockery of the well-intended aim and objectives of the National Assembly with regards to Local Government Autonomous Bill”.

    According to him, “the Union unequivocally condemns the none passage of the Local Government Autonomous Bill by the Imo State House of Assembly as it is not only retrogressive, undemocratic but a calculated plan to enthrone abject poverty and misery in the third tier of government”.

    The Union however appreciated the State House of Assemblies that voted in favour of the bill, describing them as “partners in progress”.

  • Fulani herdsmen ‘kill’ two in Benue

    Suspected Fulani herdsmen have killed two brothers – Aondowase Uma and Ahanbee Uma – in Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

    An eyewitness, Peter Igbor, said the brothers were ambushed as they returned from Yelewata Market, about 8 pm.

    The herdsmen burnt their motorcycle.

    A survivor, Orihyev Nyaga, who was shot in his left hand, said he was returning from the market on a motorcycle when he ran into a road block mounted by the herdsmen.

    They attempted to cut him but he escaped; he was then shot in the hand. He abandoned his bike and ran into the bush, from where he went back to the market and raised the alarm.

    Reports from locals said the bodies were recovered by youths and handed over to the police, who deposited them at an undisclosed morgue.

    The locals said but for Nyaga’s alarm, the casualties could have been more.

    Police spokesman Moses Yamu confirmed the incident, saying he would soon issue a statement to that effect.