The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Clash

  • Update: Ijaw, Urhobo towns clash over land  

    Fears of a bloody ethnic crisis gripped Delta state on Thursday as  Ogbe-Ijoh and Aladja,  Ijaw and Urhobo communities in Warri Southwest and Udu local government areas of the state clash over land.

    The two communities have been locked in battle over the ownership of a strip of land over which they went to war in 1996.

    Various sources said the latest in a series of clashes between the warring neighbours was sparked off when armed Urhobo warriors from Aladja invaded Ogbe-Ijoh in the wee hours of Thursday.

    At the time of this report on Thursday evening the sound of gunfire was booming from ‘warfront’ with at least a dozen persons reportedly missing.

    A soldier and several Ogbe-Ijoh community indigenes sustained machete wounds in the attack.

    Two speed boats conveying hundreds of residents fleeing Ogbe-Ijoh to neighbouring Warri were also reportedly seized by the warriors.

    An indigene of Ogbe-Ijoh, Mr Richard Koremene told our reporter on telephone that three of his kinsmen had been butchered.

    “Some Ogbe-Ijoh persons have been injured, including a soldier man. There is tension – very high and there is concern that the hostility might escalate.”

    The Chairman of Warri Southwest LGA , Chief Government Ekpemupolo, told our reporter on telephone that tension was “very high” even though the Warri Area Command of the Nigerian Police had waded into the matter.

    Mr Aaron (surname withheld) blamed the crisis on the abduction of an Aladja woman from the farm on Wednesday evening.

    “The woman who went to the farm was seized and taken to Ogbe-Ijoh by the youths who detained her behind a counter.”

    “So Aladja youths in reprisal blocked the only road leading to Ogbe-Ijoh. They said the road would remain closed until the woman is released.

    Meanwhile, residents of Ogbe-Ijoh, including NYSC corps members, are fleeing Ogbe-Ijoh in the wake of Thursday attack.

    The Chairman of the Waterways Security Committee, Chief Boro Opudu, who confirmed the report said security operatives were battling to restore normalcy to the area.

    He said soldiers from Nigerian Army and mobile police force have been deployed to the community to restore law and order.

  • Scores wounded as Ijaw, Urhobo clash in Delta

    At least three persons were fatally wounded and scores still missing after an early morning clash between the Urhobo

    people of Aladja and Ijaw of Ogbe-Ijoh communities in Udu and Warri Southwest local government areas of Delta state, on Thursday.

    Although what caused Thursday’s clash was not immediately known at the time of this report, findings revealed that the two communities have been involved in incessant clashes for decades.

    Both communities are locked in a boundary dispute that predates the Ijaw /Itsekiri war that lasted from 1997 to 2004.

    An indigene of Ogbe-Ijoh, Mr Richard Koremene told our reporter on telephone that three of his kinsmen had been butchered.

    “Some Ogbe-Ijoh persons have been injured and tension is very high now and there is concern that the hostility might escalate.”

  • Oworonshoki clash: Police arrest monarch

    Oworonshoki clash: Police arrest monarch

    Police operatives in Lagos have arrested the Oworonshoki monarch, Oba Bashiru Salihu and a man identified as Alhaji Ajisegiri for allegedly instigating the clash that broke out in the area.

    Police Commissioner Fatai Owoseni who confirmed their arrests during a press conference at the command headquarters in Ikeja, said that the duo may be charged to court.

    He explained that they were arrested following the murder of a young man during a fight by hoodlums loyal to the suspects.

    According to him, the thugs, suspected to be cultists were allegedly acting on the orders of both men, insisting that the police will prosecute them if there was any evidence linking them to the crime.

    He further explained that four suspects have been arrested in connection to the fight, two of whom have confessed to have been directly involved in the murder.

    However, the first son of the embattled monarch, Aremo Nurudeen Salihu denied that his father was arrested.

    He said his father was only invited to write a statement at the police headquarters in Ikeja and was not detained.

    He said:”It is not true that my father (Oba Salihu) was arrested; on the contrary, he went to the state police command in Ikeja to write a statement concerning the mayhem caused by over 200 thugs who destroyed his palace, family house and his dredging company.”

    While giving an update on the performance of the command since January 27, Owoseni said 47 robbery suspects were arrested, noting that most of them were traffic robbers.

    He decried the spate of gangsterism despite efforts by the police to stamp out the vice.

    Owoseni also appealed to residents to furnish the police with information that will aid crime prevention.

    “We have launched police application on smart phones. We have hot lines which are in public domain and we have telephones at every police station where the public can reach us at any time of the day or night.

    “When they hoard information we could have used that time to deal with the situation promptly. So we beg the public to help us in order for us to help them. It is their taxes that are used to pay our salaries; so we are always there for the public.

    “Sometimes we get these distress calls and once we get to the street, the gate is locked and the gateman manning the gate will be nowhere to be found. This aid criminals get away with crime easily.

    “At least, when they hear the sound of siren, the gatemen should open the gate. The Lagos State government has even said some of these structures should be removed. We should learn to obey the law,” he said.

    Owoseni used the opportunity to warn commercial bus drivers to obey traffic rules and be disciplined.

    CP Owoseni also said 25 suspects including six aliens from the Niger Republic for various offences allegedly committed since January 27.

    They are Mustapha Musa, Abdulahi Ali, Isah Musa, Seidu Isah, Aliyu Azuma and Yakubu Adamu.

    Their gang also had a Nigerian identified as Isiaka Yakubu.

    Owoseni said the suspects were nabbed on January 27, at about 2:30am in a Nissan Sunny vehicle marked AKD163DW, while going for an operation in Ebute Metta.

    He stated that six cutlasses, an iron cutter and two torches were recovered from them.

  • Scores injured in Ebonyi rice millers clash

    Scores injured in Ebonyi rice millers clash

    The leadership tussle rocking the Abakaliki Rice Milling Company got messier at the weekend as rival factions clashed in Ebonyi, the state capital.

    Factional Chairman  Chukwuemeka Nwankashi got machete cuts on his head and has since been hospitalised, following parallel elections, which produced factional executives.

    It was gathered that a faction supported by the government held its election at the Abakaliki Township Stadium and former chairman Joseph Ununu was re-elected.

    The second faction held its election at the mill’s hall and Nwankashi was elected as its chairman.

    Speaking to The Nation, Nwankashi accused Ununu of causing the fracas. He alleged that Ununu’s faction, armed with weapons, and on Ununu’s orders, attacked him and his supporters as they celebrated his victory.

    His words: “We planned to have our elections but government interfered with it. This is contrary to our constitution because only registered members are allowed to vote during elections.

    “We begged to be allowed to hold the election at our hall but the government insisted it must hold at the stadium, and we agreed. But when we got to the stadium at 8am, we discovered they had brought in hoodlums to take over the place. We told them those people were not our authentic members but they did not listen, so we left.

    “The authentic members then went to the mill and held our election but before that, we stopped at the Government House to intimate them of happenings. I won the election with 158 votes, as I was unopposed. Other officers were also elected: Elias Nwogwu (treasurer), Chijioke Ilodiba (vice chairman) and Emeka Agu Ozo (financial secretary).

    “We were celebrating the victory when the former chairman, Joseph Ununu a.k.a Zuma, came with armed thugs and attacked us. I sustained injuries on my head and face. Many others were also injured and if not for the intervention of the police, we would have been killed.

    “Ununu even boasted that he had government’s backing to eliminate anyone opposing him.”

    Nwankashi called on the government to intervene, adding that “even if they want a particular candidate, they should tell us. We only want the proper thing to be done”.

    But Ununu denied ordering the attack. He maintained that he was duly elected.

    The government, through the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural resources, Uchenna Orji, has said the state will only recognise the election which produced Ununu.

    According to him, the government had done all it could to ensure peace but its efforts were frustrated by selfish individuals.

    “The government, therefore, constituted a committee, headed by myself, with other commissioners as members, and we fixed February 12 for the election, to hold at the Abakaliki Township stadium, which all the aspirants accepted.

    “All 13 aspirants were screened and at the end, we adopted the option A4 system, with the delegates raising their hands to be counted.

    “Ununu emerged as chairman and there was nothing like a parallel election, because the one which produced him was conducted in the presence of security officials and accredited election observers.

    “The purported parallel election was conducted by cartels who are produce merchants; they connive with rice vendors to brand the rice as belonging to other states.

    “Their acts give the false impression that Ebonyi rice is produced by other states, but we urge the rice millers and the public to conduct their businesses without fear of molestation,” Orji said.

  • 2016 budget: APC, PDP Reps clash over Amaechi

    2016 budget: APC, PDP Reps clash over Amaechi

    There was a drama yesterday during the budget session of the Ministry of Transportation with the House of Representatives joint committee on Land Transport and Aviation.

    Trouble started when All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers felt that questions being asked by a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmaker, Linus Okorie, at the ministry’s 2016 budget defence was in bad faith.

    The session became rowdy and had to be terminated abruptly after the APC members present at the session told the Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, not to answer the questions.

    Okorie had called the attention of the minister to perceived discrepancies in the budget figures submitted by the ministry and sought clarifications.

    Amaechi told the committee that his budget was tailored to conform with the template given to them by the budget office.

    But some members of the committee, especially from the PDP, were at variance with Amaechi’s explanation, asking further probing questions.

    According to them, the documents presented by the minister were below their expectations and that he should present an acceptable and realistic budget.

    This prompted APC members at the hearing to ask the minister to cease answering the questions.

    However, after a while fray nerves were calmed  and the minister’s team was told to return at a later date with the appropriate documents to continue the defence of the budget.

  • Seven suspects held over Bariga cult clash

    •Police sieze three power bikes, Keke Marwa

    The Lagos State Police Command has arrested seven suspected cultists following Saturday’s clash in Bariga which claimed a 65-year-old woman’s life.

    They are Afees Olaide Fagunwa, Nurudeen Lateef, Richard Ewa, Richard Abayomi, Mohammed Musa, Kayode Dada and Adams Adelakun.

    Mrs Adejoke Adefuye was burnt beyond recognition when her house on 19, Oshinfolarin Street in Bariga, was set ablaze by the feuding cult groups.

    On the fateful day, members of Eiye Confraternity led by Ibrahim Balogun, clashed with a rival cult group, Aiye Confraternity, led by a man simply identified as Gideon.

    The cultists, according to reports, vandalised some vehicles parked on the road side. Two members of the Aiye Confraternity, identified as Bobo and Abayomi Olubola, died in the fracas.

    Command spokesperson Dolapo Badmos, a Superintendent of Police (SP), confirmed the cultists’ arrests and the recovery of some weapons, including one live and expended cartridges.

    Badmos said the second-in-command of one of the cult groups was among those arrested. Three power bikes and a tricycle, popularly known as Keke Marwa, were confiscated.

    She said the suspected cultists had been terrorising the area for days, adding that the police made some arrests because of their swift response to distress calls.

    Badmos said all the bodies had been deposited at the Gbagada General Hospital for autopsy.

  • Monarch, five others feared killed in post-poll clash

    Monarch, five others feared killed in post-poll clash

    Six people, including a traditional ruler, were feared dead yesterday during a clash between supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Peremabiri, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area.

    The Paramount Ruler of the community, Chief Progress Neverdie and five other persons were said to have been shot during the fracas which occurred when results for the governorship election in the state were being collated in Yenagoa.

    It learnt that when it became obvious that the PDP candidate was poised to win the poll, the party supporters started celebrating and taunting the loyalists of the APC.

    Peremabiri is the community of the ex-militant leader, Mr. Eris Paul, popularly known as Ogunboss.

    Neverdie, who was reportedly shot at the back, was said to have been rushed to the Federal Medical Centre.

    Sources said he was unconscious and in a critical condition as he was being taken to the hospital.

    News of the incident filtered into Yenagoa shortly after the police urged the winners of the poll to celebrate with utmost modesty.

    The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Peter Ogunyanwo ,also thanked the general public for cooperating with all security agencies to conduct a peaceful and orderly rerun election.

    He said: “It is hoped that this trend would be improved upon in subsequent elections. The Command in the meantime appeals to all, that as the results are being announced, members of the public should co-operate with security agencies in sustaining the existing peace in the state.

  • Shi’ite Crisis: Kukah calls for peaceful negotiation

    Shi’ite Crisis: Kukah calls for peaceful negotiation

    The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto State, Most Rev. Matthew Kukah has called for calm and peaceful negotiation over the recent clash between the Nigerian Army and members of the Shi’ite Islamic Movement of Nigeria in Zaria.

    The clergy said there was need for the aggrieved members to consider dialogue rather than increase tensions amidst current insecurity bedeviling the nation.

    Kukah made the call at an inaugural forum on Role of Islam and Christianity in Social Transformation in sub-Saharan Africa.

    The event was organized by the Kukah Centre in partnership with the Department of Intercultural Theology, Depaul University, USA.
    He stated that since the country runs a democratic system of government, agitations against the government should be presented responsibly to avoid escalation into crisis.

    Kukah said: “I think what we can do is to condole with the bereaved and also to let Nigerians know that we are in a democracy, people have the right to make their claims but they must make them responsibly.

    “There are processes and channels and I think that these are challenging times for our nation nobody needs all this crisis, those who are agitating have made their point it is now time for us to now develop the capacity for negotiation but government won’t be able to solve the problems if everyone is on the street agitating.”

    Members of the Islamic movement clashed with a convoy of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, last Saturday in Zaria, leading to the death of Shi’ite members. The crisis had since generated reactions from local and international communities especially Iran. About three persons were declared dead aftermath of a
    protest when the shi’ite leader, Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky was
    arrested.

    Speaking on the forum, the clergy said it was targeted to provide a framework for policy makers and other political stakeholders to help address the challenges posed by religion differences in Africa.

    He said the panelists, who were drawn from different countries and institutions of higher learning, are scholars drawn from both the Christians and Muslims community.
    Kukah noted that various crimes have been committed on the premise of religious difference stressing that, “Religion is gradually being held responsible for most of the crisis that is going on in the continent.”

    “We can see from the calibre of scholars all of which are professors, across the country. What we try to do is draw scholars from different backgrounds, Christians and Muslims to deliberate on the future of religion most specifically Christianity and Islam in sub-saharan Africa to deal with the fact that religion is becoming a problem.

    “Religion is gradually being held responsible for most of the crisis that is going on in the continent. Our idea is to see whether we can help provide a blueprint that can help policy makers to figure out the kind of things that can help us very coherently use religion for the growth and development and peace of the country.

    “One of the things we have figured out here is that violence is violence. There is more violence caused by the failure of economics activities than violence ascribed to religion. Neither Islam nor Christianity are the major factors for violence. It is quite possible
    that people stand on religion to make moral claims but those things will be sustainable where there is an intensity of grievances that other people have.” he added.

  • Tension in Kaduna as soldiers clash with ZakyZaky’s ‘men’

    There was tension yesterday in Kaduna, following Saturday’s clash between the convoy of Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Yusuf Buratai and supporters of the Islamic Shiite sect leader, Sheikh Yakubu El ZakZaky.

    The whereabouts of Sheikh Zakzaky was unknown last night, according to the sect, amid reports that he might have been arrested.

    The Army said it took a justifiable action and urged Nigerians to remain calm.

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El Rufai called for calm, as sect members protested to the Government House. He said he visited Zaria where the clash occurred. The governor claimed to have spoken to Gen. Buratai and Sheikh Zakyzaky. He also visited Zaria.

    In a statement, the sect claimed that the wife, a son, the second-in-command to the leader were killed in the shootout with soldiers on Saturday.

    It alleged a military siege to its leader’s Zaria home.

    Sources said soldiers, on receiving an alert that the sect members were regrouping, mobilised and surrounded El-Zakzaky’s home at Gyallesu,  Zaria.

    An associate of the Shi’ite leader, Malam Aliyu Abba, said residents could not sleep throughout the night.

    The sect alleged that El-Zakzaky was whisked away by soldiers after destroying his home.

    The statement, entitled: ‘Indiscriminate killing of members of the Islamic Movement by the Nigerian Army in Zaria’, was signed by President of the Media Forum of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria Malam Ibrahim Musa.

    It alleged that the wife of its leader, Malama Zeenat Ibraheem Zakzaky, his son, Aliyu Ibraheem Zakzaky, the sect’s leader in Kano and the adjudged second-in-command to Sheikh Zakzaky, Sheikh Muhammad Turi, the group’s spokesman, Malam Ibrahim Usman and Dr. Mustapha Sa’eed were among those killed by soldiers.

    The statement said: “Following the alleged blockade of the route of the Chief of Army Staff by members of the movement, the Army brutally descended on harmless members of the movement, killing indiscriminately.

    “Leading members of the Islamic movement and other members as well, were killed by soldiers, including leader of the Kano Centre, Sheikh Muhammad Turi, Dr. Mustapha Sa’eed, Malam Ibrahim Usman and Sister Jummai Gilima.

    “Also killed were Sayyid Aliy, son of leader of the Movement, Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky (H), wife of Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky (H), Malama Zeenat Ibraheem  and  others. More are being killed as at the time of this statement.

    “The sporadic killings took place at three locations including home of the revered leader of the movement at Gyallesu, the Husainiyya Bakiyatullah at the GRA and the Darur Rahma on the Zaria-Jos Road where many harmless people were killed.

    “The killing was so brutal at Gyallesu that even those injured  were identified and killed in cold blood by the soldiers. As at the time of writing this statement, the victims run into their hundreds, if not thousands.

    “Considering the gross violation of fundamental human rights and extra-judicial killings perpetrated by the Army, the Islamic Movement condemns these unjustifiable acts.

    “We state categorically that the claim by the Army that members attempted to assassinate the Chief of Army Staff was a blatant lie, as the Army came back to launch their attack more than an hour after the COAS passed.

    “The Federal Government, through its military, is now on the rampage, in an all-out war with the Islamic movement, its members and structures. The scale of this attack will suggest it was meticulously planned by authorities and now being executed ruthlessly. The alleged attack on COAS Burutai was just an alibi.

    “Therefore, with all pointers at the government as the contractor of the killings, we call on Nigerians and the international community to intervene and seek redress for the victims and their family, as many innocent people have unjustifiably been killed and many others injured.

    “In the meantime, there is no idea as to the whereabouts of leader of the movement, Sayyid Ibraheem Zakzaky (H) nor his present condition, and aggrieved members of the movement across the country have taken to the streets in protests.”

    Governor El Rufai’s spokesman Samuel Aruwan, in a statement, said: “Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has appealed for calm and peace. The governor has spoken on the telephone with Sheikh Zakzaky and later went to Zaria.

    “He met the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur  Butatai, in the depot of the Nigerian Army in Zaria after the passing out parade. The situation is calm and security has been tightened in Zaria,” Aruwan said.

  • Police arrest suspects during clash

    Police arrest suspects during clash

    The Bayelsa Police Command said  yesterday that normalcy had been restored in Oporoma, headquarters of Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state.

    The Public Relations Officer of the command, Mr. Asinim Butswat, an ASP, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Yenagoa.

    Butswat said the command had received report of a clash by rival groups which disrupted the electoral process in the area.

    He said one person was injured during the clash, while the police arrested some suspects in the process.

    “ We have made some arrests and normalcy has been restored in the area. Security reinforcement was sent to Oporoma and we can say that the electoral process had commenced there,” he said.

    He said information available to the police showed that no life was lost during the clash.

    He also said that accreditation had commenced in some parts of the area.

    “ We are recording success in other local government areas such as Brass, Nembe, Sagbama, Kolokuma/Opokuma and Yenagoa,” the police spokesman said.

    He said the governorship election in these areas had been peaceful while security agents were on high alert to check any breach of the law.