The Nation Newspaper

Tag: hunters

  • Rotary urges hunters to follow vocation ethics

    Rotary urges hunters to follow vocation ethics

    The Rotary Club International District 9110 has begun educating people at the grassroots on the dangers of the Ebola virus and it can be spread.

    At a seminar at the weekend to sensitise its members on the dangers, symptoms and prevention of the disease, Rotary’s District governor Dr Dele Balogun said a variety of the spiced dried meat (Kilishi) and other forms of the meat could carry the virus.

    He warned its members and other Nigerians to stop some dangerous habits that could cause infection.

    The club chairman, a medical doctor, urged Nigerians to warn hunters to stop selling dead animals in the bush or the sick ones.

    Dr balogun said: “It can be contained, if we are aware and take precaution and other measures to prevent the spread by washing hands regularly and avoiding body contact in crowded places. That way, we can keep the epidemic under check.

    “Since the disease has a 90 per cent mortality rate, those in the rural areas need to know of this menace by making them understand the danger of the virus in a broken down formula for them to comprehend with.”

  • One killed as hunters shoot vigilantes in Kogi

    THE hunter became the hunted in Yagba West Local Government of Kogi State on Monday when one of the two vigilance groups deployed to a crime zone was killed by the bullets of another.

    The victim was reportedly mistaken for one ofthe robbers at the scene of the crime.

    One vigilante was killed and two others were badly injured.

    Eyewitnesses of the tragedy, which occurred between Okunran and Okoloke communities, claimed that incident followed a tip-off that robbers were operating on the Egbe-Pategi Federal Road.

    The robbers were said to be dispossessing travellers of their valuables.

    Following the tip-off, it was gathered that a distress call from the vigilantes in Okoloke was made to the Local Government Area, which mobilised more vigilantes from neighbouring Odo-Ere, the council headquarters, and Egbe, the commercial nerve of the localgovernment.

    Twelve vigilantes immediately reported to the Police Divisional Office at Odo-Ere before embarking on the rescue mission.

    The Media Assistant to Governor Idris Wada on Research and Documentation, Mr Ralph Agbana, who hails from the council, confirmed the incident to reporters.

    He explained that as part of their strategies, the local government vigilantes, who arrived at the scene, split into two groups of six preparatory to engaging the robbers.

    He said: “On their way, they met a car driven by one of the victims of the robbers. He narrated his ordeal to the vigilantes that the robbers were still operating. A group of vigilantes then entered the car and told the occupants to lead them to the scene.

    “But as soon as the robbers sighted the same car they had robbed, they carted away. The vigilantes fired at the robbers but their efforts were too late as they disappeared into the bushes.

    “As the vigilantes re-strategised to ambush the robbers, another set of six hunters – four Hausa and two indigenes from Okoloke – joined forces with the other vigilantes to dislodge the robbers. But they claimed nothave heard about the deployment of vigilantes from the local government and opened fire on them (local government vigilantes) having been caught off-guard.

    “Those hunters, who misfired, were not registered community/local government vigilantes.”

    One of the victims, Abayomi Sunday, was said to have died instantly from the bullets that hit him on the head. His two other colleagues, Bamidele Olayemi and Dele Asebiobirin, however, survived with bullet wounds on their legs and thighs. They are said to be responding to treatment at the ECWA Hospital, Egbe

  • Apex court hires hunters, ex-service men to find justice’s wife

    Apex court hires hunters, ex-service men to find justice’s wife

    •Police: we are on top of the situation

    The Supreme Court has engaged local vigilance group members and some retired policemen to assist in locating the whereabouts of the wife and daughter of Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour.

    Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers seized Mrs. Adedoyin Rhodes-Vivour, her daughter and their driver on their way to Benin on Friday night.

    As at last night, the abductors were yet to contact the family on their motive for holding the trio hostage.

    On September 13, last year, the judge’s son, Rotimi, was also abducted with a N30 million ransom demanded for his release.

    Constitutional lawyer and human rights activist Mike Ozekhome yesterday said the spate of kidnapping was making Nigeria a laughing stock before the international community.

    The Nation learnt yesterday that the Supreme Court has adopted what a source described as “unorthodox method” to rescue the kidnapped victims.

    The source said: “The Supreme Court has engaged local vigilance group members, hunters, ex-service men and retired policemen living along the Ore-Okada-Benin axis to search the forest to locate the kidnappers’ den.

    “The permutations of the court border on the fact that hunters, local vigilance group members, retired policemen and ex-servicemen have knowledge of the terrain.

    “The Rhodes-Vivour family, all the judges and officials of the Supreme Court are worried over the fate of the three victims.

    “They have also been restless and discouraged that the rescue operation has not yielded the desired result. They felt there was need to complement the efforts of the police.

    “The anxiety became heightened as the kidnappers have failed to reach out to the Rhodes-Vivour family.”

    Another source said: “When we got in touch with the police on Monday, they assured us that they were still on top of the situation.

    “We are aware that other security agencies are collaborating with the police for a successful rescue operation. But no clue yet on the whereabouts of the three victims.”

    In a statement in Abuja, Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), said: “The abduction of the wife, daughter and driver of Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour of the Supreme Court has once again most forcefully brought to the forefront, the pitiable and parlous security situation that has engulfed Nigeria.

    “Coming few days after the kidnapping and release of the nonagenarian and elder statesman, Alhaji Shettima Ali Monguno, kidnapping has assumed a frightening dimension such that all Nigerians must rise to curb this menace before it kills us all. It is a twin sister of Boko Haram.

    “Justice Rhodes-Vivour, a well-acclaimed jurist, is just a judicial officer, not an entrepreneur. His wife is a legal practitioner, not a business woman.

    “Only on September 13, last year, his son, Rotimi, was also abducted with N30 million ransom demanded. Why is this madness targeted at a peace-loving and hardworking jurist, who has served Nigeria meritoriously?

    “Is this persecution by faceless merchants and buccaneers masterminded by politicians, who have vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable? Or is it by mere kidnappers for the sake of ransom money alone?

    “If so, where do they expect a serving justice of the apex court to cough out ransom money? Whatever angle we view it from, the fact remains that Nigeria is fast descending into the abyss of systemic annihilation.

    “It is more and more donning the toga of one of the most insecure places on earth.

    “We are becoming the laughing stock of the international community. For God’s sake, kidnappers, or whoever you are, release immediately and unhurt, Justice Bode Rhodes-Vivour’s lovely wife, daughter and driver.

    “I plead with you in the name of God. Don’t discourage patriotic Nigerians from giving all to their fatherland.”

    Also in Benin yesterday, the state chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) called for the unconditional release of Mrs. Rhodes-Vivour, her daughter and their driver by their abductors.

    In a statement by NBA chairman Oriane Akere, the group urged the government to strengthen security to protect lives and property in its domain.

    He also implored relevant security agencies to secure the release of the victims.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Bounty hunters in Boko Haram territory

    Bounty hunters in Boko Haram territory

    Feeling expansively generous, the federal government has put a N250 million bounty on the heads of a number of militants in the Boko Haram fold. The five-member Shurra Committee, which is the highest decision-making organ of the violent Islamic sect, predictably attracted the princely sum of N25m on each head, with their leader, Abubakar Shekau, having the mouthwatering sum of N50m offered as reward for his capture. It is not known why the military authorities fighting the sect have not gone beyond placing a reward for information leading to the capture of the Boko Haram leaders. Why not a reward also for their heads on a John the Baptist-type platter if capture proves difficult? The military statement simply said: “They are wanted in connection with terrorist activities particularly in the North East Zone of Nigeria that led to the killings, bombings and assassination of some civilians, religious leaders, traditional rulers, businessmen, politicians, civil servants and security personnel amongst others.”

    But even without modifying the statement to embrace “dead or alive,” the government seems hopeful that bounty hunters will swamp the Northeast to capitalise on the largesse. Whether anyone will take the risk of ratting on Boko Haram militants is a different thing altogether. For it is obvious that anyone who claims a bounty on Boko Haram commander’s head knows invariably that for a far cheaper price, Boko Haram would in turn place a bounty on the head of the snitch. But you never can tell what amnesia the aroma of tens of millions of naira could cause a man to suffer. However, even if the bounty does not look tempting enough or practical, at least it seems to indicate that the government is finally quitting its pussyfooting on whether to fight Boko Haram or not. That is, assuming the government is not as Janus-faced as we think.

    Bounty hunters, any 50-year-old will recall from comic books of the 1960s, are an integral and indispensable part of American folklore. Who can forget the inimitable Charlie Siringo, a Texan cowboy who began working as an undercover detective for the famous Pinkerton Agency in Chicago in 1886? Using his Western guns, he tracked rustlers and bank robbers for his agency, travelling tens of thousands of miles throughout the United States, and infiltrating the famous Butch Cassidy gang of train robbers. After a very successful career, he even had time to write two books entitled, A Cowboy Detective and Further Adventures of a Cowboy Detective, and helped popularise detective work and bounty hunting.

    The federal government is of course at liberty to spend handsomely on anything that catches its fancy, not to talk of what it describes as sensitive national security issues. Perhaps more than the rest of us, it is best placed to determine the appropriateness of putting a bounty on the heads of guerrilla fighters rather than the classical fugitives from justice which detectives like Siringo battled. Perhaps it can also best weigh the benefit to a snitch of ratting on Boko Haram in a country notorious for its inability to keep secrets, and where police informants typically have sad tales to tell. And of course, in a country where officials descended on Abacha loot in foreign banks and profited from it, and also harvested humongous gains from Nigeria’s debt repayment, who can say whether Boko Haram commanders captured during regular operations will not be submitted under the subhead of bounty hunting?

    Well, by oil subsidy standard, N250m is nothing for Nigeria to lose sleep over. Indeed the surprise is why N100m or even N200m was not put on the head of Shekau. If nothing was put on the head of former Boko Haram leader, Mohammed Yusuf, and he was captured and extra-judicially murdered, and the sect easily replaced him, would it mean anything to the sect if bounty hunters secured the capture of Shekau? Somebody please quickly look for a metonym for the Joint Task Force (JTF) fighting Nigerian militants, whether in the Niger Delta, Jos, or Boko Haram territory. Their quaint ways, and now quaint ideas, put them in line for a superb and original metonym.