The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kaduna

  • NLC condemns sack of 5000 workers in Kaduna

    NLC condemns sack of 5000 workers in Kaduna

    The Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ) has condemned the sack of 5,000 local government workers by the Kaduna State Government.

    In a statement on Thursday in Abuja, President of NLC, Mr Ayuba Wabba, said the action of the state government was illegal.

    According to him, the Nigeria Labour Congress strongly condemns the mass sacking of 5,000 local government workers by the Kaduna State Government.

    “The purported sack violates the provisions of all labour laws, industrial relations practice as well as processes.

    “The reasons adduced by the government are spurious and unfounded. Aside from this, the process is patently faulty and unlawful, and redundancy cannot be carried out without following the provisions of the Labour Act.

    “When Kaduna Government announced the plan to lay off about 25,000 teachers for failing a competency test for Primary Four Class, we expressed our misgivings.

    “We said that the so-called competency test was a subterfuge and part of a premeditated plan to drastically cut down the workforce.

    “This is in furtherance to dangerous neo-liberal policies. The latest illegal mass sack of workers lends credence to our assertions or fears.

    “We would want to warn of the consequences of the reckless actions of the government of Kaduna State and will call for caution and restraint on the part of the government,’’ he said.

    The labour leader said it was evident that the state government did not give sufficient consideration to the social consequences of dropping off 5,000 workers.

    He deplored reports that the governor boasted that no one or nothing could stop him from carrying out his agenda of mass retrenchment of workers.

    “This is most unfortunate and a direct fulfilment of the exact opposite of his campaign promise and APC’s manifesto to create jobs.

    “He often says as Governor, he has the right, power, means and will to do as he likes, but this is undemocratic and anti-workers.

    “We are worried by these emotional outbursts, and their infectious effects on his peers and the polity as a whole.

    “We at the Nigeria Labour Congress expected more maturity and flexibility.

    Read also: Rescuing Kaduna’s troubled education sector

    “We accordingly advise the government to rescind its decision on the mass sack. We call on President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the APC, to call the governor to order,’’ he said.

    Wabba also noted that the President’s support for a reform in the education sector was not synonymous with “mindless and conscienceless retrenchment’’.

    He said that some states in the federation had carried out far-reaching reforms in the education sector with impressive results without causing social violence.

    He, therefore, called on the state government to heed to wise counsel given in good faith, adding that the statement should be considered as a served notice.

    The congress president said that workers would use all lawful means available to contest the wave of the mass sack.

    He said that NLC would mobilize workers and pensioners across the nation and its civil society allies in solidarity with workers in Kaduna

    NAN

  • Two ‘rustlers’ killed in Kaduna

    TWO suspected cattle rustlers were killed in a gun battle with operatives of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Operation Absolute Sanity, at Kagarko forest in Kaduna State.

    The rustlers were said to have engaged the operatives after they were caught fleeing with 413 cows and 50 sheep.

    It was gathered the incident happened about 2 am. Other members of the gang were forced to abandon the stolen herds and an AK47 rifle.

    The recovered herds, it was gathered, were moved to Katari town, where their owners identified and reclaimed them; 76, however, remained unclaimed.

  • JNI wants Kaduna to establish HIV/AIDS centres in LGAs

    JNI wants Kaduna to establish HIV/AIDS centres in LGAs

    The Jama,atul Nasirul Islam ( JNI ) Kaduna chapter has appealed to the state Government to establish more HIV/Aids centers across the 23 local governments to reduce the high rate of the scourage in rural areas.

    The chairman of JNI in the state, Alhaji Jafaru Makarfi made the call at a news conference in kaduna on Wednesday.

    Makarfi said the main purpose of the briefing was aimed at drawing the attention of the government on the significance of establishing the HIV/Aids treatment centres.

    “HIV/AIDS is a silent killer because many people are carriers but they don’t know they are carrying this sickness until they die.

    “In Kaduna alone we have about 700 orphans so with this number we should be in a place where they are segregated so that we can take care of them adequately,” he said.

    He noted that for the problem to be tackled, there was need for stakeholders to intensify effort toward making people to come forward to be tested.

    “This will enable them to know their own status early enough so that they will be able to save themselves since its can be completely eradicated.

    The chairman said, “JNI has the list of about 700 orphans in kaduna whose parents die of HIV/Aids.

    “In Kaduna alone not to talk of Local governments so we are expanding this to the 23 LGAs particularly in rural areas.

    “We don’t know who are the carriers because they claimed to have this sickness or the other without knowing what is bothering them ”

    Makarfi streesed the need for the media to create awareness on the need for people especially at the grassroots to avails themselves to be tested for HIV/Aids.

    According to him, the organisation was determined to employ and train people that would go house to house to check on the menance.

    “If we don’t likely in the next 20 years we are going to be a nation of widows and Orphans,” he said.

    He called on Non Governmental Organizations to come together under one umbrella with a view to sensitising the public on dangers of scourage. .

    “The government should also come in to collaborate with other organisations and fight the silent killer disease”

    He called on people to stop stigmatization saying that the disease is not infectious and therefore stop discrimination against people living with HIV/Aid.

    Malam Isah Kusalla, Secretary JNI kaduna chapter said the issue of HiV /AIDS is very important and streesed the need for intensified testing and taking care of those that have tested positive.

    Kufaina called on government and wealthy individuals to assist in catering for those affected by the disease.

    “Wealthy individuals should bring their Zakkat (Alms) to JNI for distribution to the poor as we have the means of accounting for whatever is given to us,” he said.

    Hajiya Aisha Usman, The coodinator, Al-Umma Foundation, an NGO said she has been living with HIV for over 17 years,adding the foundation is for women living with HIV/Aids under JNI.

    According to her, she has adopted no fewer than six orphans that are positive to HIV/AIDS and urged the government to look for centers where those children and their parents could be taken care of.

    NAN

  • NBTE wants FG to establish more technical colleges to boost technical skills

    NBTE wants FG to establish more technical colleges to boost technical skills

    Dr Mas’udu Kazaure, the Executive Secretary of the National Board for Technical Education ( NBTE ) has called on the Federal Government to establish more technical colleges across the country.

    Kazaure told newsmen in Kaduna on Wednesday, that the country was supposed to have at least one technical college in each of the 774 Local Government Areas.

    He said the measure was necessary in order to check Nigeria’s skilled labour deficit.

    “Based on the nation policy on education, we are supposed to have 774 technical colleges across the country, but we only have 110; 17 federal colleges, 90 state colleges and three owned by private.

    “This means that we still have deficit of 664 technical colleges that needs to be established.

    “We need to establish more technical and technological institutions to improve access to technical education and boost our technical, innovative and inventive skills that will meet our industrial needs, “he said.

    According to him, there was also the need to focus on building skills for key economic sectors that will support the country’s socio-economic transformation for sustainable development.

    Kazaure said that the board has 523 technical institutions under its purview comprising 112 polytechnics, 35 colleges of agriculture, 29 colleges of health sciences, and 26 specialised institutions.

    Others are 138 innovation enterprises institutions, 110 technical colleges, and 73 vocational enterprise institutions.

    He identified some challenges affecting the technical education system to include delay in the review of Federal Polytechnic Act, in release of funds and nonpayment of salaries in many state’s polytechnics.

    “There is also security challenges resulting from non release of enough funds to settle the out-source services, shortfall of personnel allocation to polytechnics and responsibility allowances.” he added.

    NAN

  • Kaduna‘s legion of ignorance

    SIR; When John Dewey, the great American psychologist and educational reformer said that, “Education is not preparation for life, but life itself,” he espoused in such few, but eternally valid words, the critical place education occupies in individual lives, and as a corollary, in the life of any society serious about its affairs and future. Nigerian educationists have long been alarmed at the wide cracks that have appeared and expanded insidiously over our educational system as a country. Today, the number of those fallen through those cracks (almost 22,000 teachers known in Kaduna) boggles even the most arithmetically inclined mind. One can only shudder at the scandalous statistics that could be scrubbed out should a similar scalpel be used in other states.

    The Gordian knot here is that the future is in jeopardy: the future of the poorest Kaduna children who can only attend public schools. This future which is stalked by grueling incompetence and staked on the pikes of shockingly convenient dereliction and negligence must be salvaged at all reasonable, if extreme costs.

    The days were, especially in the 60s, 70s, 80s, and early 90s, when the system on which our education ran bubbled with life and bustled with promise. Then, we were getting it right. Education was one of those measly, yet invaluable pearls. In those days, having seen the many rungs we could scale on the ladder of development   and advancement with hands and feet fortified by education, we seemingly gave it our best. We tried to build our own schools and forge our own system even if like weaver birds we had to pick twigs from far and near to construct something extravagantly elegant, belying our age as a country. We were pretty successful and prudently proud of the foundations we laid.

    Then, even when we travelled to other shores to grace their schools, it was for the fortifications of the foundations stoically and painstakingly laid here.

    If the harbinger of what was to come was scrawled all over the flight to foreign shores for the fleece of education golden even then, things soon scampered out of the window figuratively and literally. When we began to de-emphasize the irreducible and irreplaceable power of education, choosing instead the un-golden glitter of petro-dollars and its utopian promises, education began to take a backseat. Also, we began to have the sore spectre of decaying school buildings with broken and glassless windows. Our inferiority complex soon sauntered in through those “windows” we left untended, proliferating a blind thirst for everything western and promoting a deleterious convenience culture. We believed our education was not good enough, and as soon as we began to believe it, we began to see it. As soon as we began to see it, we stopped the painstaking but invaluable work education demands and supports. “Educational supplements” from abroad became imperative. It began the exodus. Too lazy, and supposedly too poor to   attract, import, imprint and repeat those “supplements” here, we began to go   there for them.

    We are rightly alarmed for our   children and the future of Nigeria; just as the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) is rightly alarmed for its members who might soon leave the congress for the unforgiving labour market where they will surely prove unemployable.

    We must   also continue to lament the harm done to our ivory towers:  their windows and doors have been torn away, their treasures pillaged and those manning them   disarmed.

    All those who at one time or the other held the reins of our educational system at whatever level and in whatever capacity have accounts to render. All public officers who plundered funds assigned to education and used same to fund their scions‘ entrances to foreign schools have questions to answer.

    While we wait for the events in Kaduna to fully unfold, let other states inquire into the state of their education before the “termites” completely bring down the “houses of rotten wood”.

    • Kene Obiezu,

    keneobieu@gmail.com

  • VAIDS: FG recruits 2190 tax officers – Adeosun

    VAIDS: FG recruits 2190 tax officers – Adeosun

    The Federal Government has recruited and trained 2,190 Community Tax Liaison Officers (CTLOs) under the Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), says the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun.

    Adeosun, in a statement by her Special Adviser, Media and Communications, Mr Oluyinka Akintunde, said that 1,710 CTLOs had already been deployed to 33 states, out of the number recruited and trained.

    She said that their task was to raise awareness about the scheme and taxation in general.

    She said that the CTLOs were currently operating in Adamawa, Cross River, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Kaduna, Kwara, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun and Oyo states among others.

    Adeosun said there was no hiding place for tax evaders residing in Nigeria or abroad, noting that the Federal Government had put in place a data mining mechanism to fish out evaders.

    “The unique cooperation between the various arms of Federal Government, state governments and foreign governments has provided an unprecedented level of data that allows the Nigerian Government to profile taxpayers accurately.

    “We are now able to identify those whose lifestyle and assets are not consistent with their declared income.

    “A lot of data mining is going on daily, both locally and internationally, on property ownership and other items. Data is an extremely powerful tool that is now being utilized.

    “For instance, we have reviewed all companies that received major payments from the Federal Government in the last 5 years and found that even those who made money from government, under-declared,” she said.

    Adeosun said that the tax compliance team had looked at import records and compared the value of goods imported to the tax declarations of the importers, but the discovery was worrisome as “the variance was disturbingly wide”.

    “On personal income taxes, we reviewed property and company ownership as well as registration of high value assets and foreign exchange allocations, which gives us a sense of the lifestyles of the persons.

    “But again, we found major non-compliance. In some cases, people declared as little as N10 million as income but purchased expensive property overseas and in Nigeria.

    “They also registered high specification vehicles and funded luxurious personal events costing multiples of the declared income,” she said.

    Adeosun said that now, with the centralisation of data under Project Lighthouse within the Federal Ministry of Finance, a major tax loophole has been plugged.

    She reiterated the willingness of the Federal Government to prosecute tax evaders after the tax amnesty period had elapsed.

    Adeosun also said that the Federal Government had compiled a list of 500 prominent Nigerians with property and trusts abroad, to determine their tax compliance status.

    The 500 prominent Nigerians, according to her, will receive their letters beginning from Monday, asking them to take advantage of the tax amnesty to regularise their tax status and avoid prosecution and fines.

    VAIDS, an initiative of the Federal Ministry of Finance in collaboration with the State Tax Authorities, is a revolutionary programme that provides tax defaulters a nine-month opportunity to voluntarily and truthfully declare previously untaxed assets and incomes.

    The tax amnesty period is expected to lapse on March 31, 2018.

    Job creation is one of the spin-offs of the VAIDS initiative, with the scheme expected to create 7,500 opportunities for Nigerians as CTLOs through the N-Power scheme of the Federal Government.

     

  • LG autonomy: Kaduna Assembly may vote in favour of bill

    LG autonomy: Kaduna Assembly may vote in favour of bill

    As debates on amendment of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria especially the aspect of autonomy of local government gathers momentum, Kaduna State House of Assembly (KDHA) may vote in favour of the bill when transmitted to it by the National Assembly.

    Speaker, KDHA, Abdullahi Aminu Shagali promised Nigerians that, the bill will get required attention from the members of the state assembly as they await the arrival of the bill in the state for considerations.

    He said this when he hosted a group, Friends of Democracy. The group comprises of some ex-lawmakers, academia and civil society organization, Partnership to Engage, Reform and Learn (PERL), at members’ common room of the House on Friday.

    Hosting the advocacy team on behalf of his principal, the Deputy Speaker, John Audu Katuru noted that, even before the move to amend the constitution by NASS, KDHA was already working hard to strengthen the autonomy of its local government councils.

    According to him, the State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai had shortly upon his swearing into office in 2015 pressed for the autonomy of the local government in the state so that the people at the grassroots can enjoy dividends of democracy the more.

    “I want to assure you that once we receive the bill in Kaduna, we will take our time to do our best. It is important to tell this team that, even before the constitutional review, we are already on top of it because the state governor has shown interest shortly after he came to power in 2015.

    “We believe that strengthening local government is strengthening democracy in the country because even former top political gladiators like ministers will be relocating to their towns and villages if that is done.

    “By the grace of God, we will not disappoint you. We are well prepared and informed and so, we are only expecting the bill to be transmitted to us and we will do justice to it. We will give the best Nigerians will appreciate,” the lawmaker explained.

    Earlier, leader of Friends of Democracy, Senator Bala Abdullahi Adamu (Taraba North 1999-2003) said, his team was in Kaduna to woo the state governor and members of KSHA to vote in favour of the amendment of the constitution especially, that of local government autonomy.

    “We are also engaging the governors of Kebbi, Sokoto, Katsina, Kano and Kaduna states in addition to legislators. This is important because we understand the influence the governors have on their assemblies.

    “This is a good course that will outlive everybody because while the state and assembly remain, the occupants will leave no matter how long they stay. Hence the need for this crop of lawmakers to see this as a golden opportunity that they have privilege to effect changes on our constitution. Their names will be in the history of Nigeria,” he advocated.

    Other areas to be touched include but not limited to strengthening of the judiciary, independent candidature, extension of rerun election from 7 to 30.

  • Rescuing Kaduna’s troubled education sector

    Sir: It is no longer  news that  over  21,780  teachers  in   the   employment   of  Kaduna  State government could not pass the primary four examination organised to assess their competence for continuous employment. What is rather baffling is the attempt of the teachers under the state chapter of the Nigeria Union of Teachers to blackmail the state government into condoning mediocrity in a critical sector of the polity.

    The Kaduna saga again brought to the fore the rot in our educational system.  The latest   discovery reveals the quality of individuals who find their way into the noble calling of teaching. It clearly indicates that those we entrusted the future of our children are not the best of us.  Teaching nowadays has become the last resort for both the unemployed and the unemployable graduates. Hence, it is now a refuge for all types of charlatans.

    However as deplorable as the situation is, it is only a symptom of a more fundamental cause in our educational system. We are only scratching the surface if we think we can isolate the teachers as the only problem in the entire education sector.  We need to fundamentally address a situation whereby educational disciplines in our tertiary institutions are not attractive to students.

    How come our faculties of education suffer perennial poor enrolments? How come teaching does not ignite passion in our youths? Are teachers accorded the same respect with the bankers or other lucrative professions in our society?

    Why would landlords prefer to let their houses to bankers rather than teachers? What are the teachers’ remunerations like? How committed is the government to the training and retraining of teachers?

    These posers raise fundamental issues of funding, remunerations, motivations and recognitions. These are critical issues that must be addressed.

    The kind of premium placed on teaching profession in other climes is not replicated here. In Cuba, for instance, according to a 2014 report by the World Bank, the country has the best education system in Latin America and the Caribbean and the only country on the continent to have a high-level teaching faculty. Peter Dolton, Sussex University Economics Professor and author of the Global Teacher Status Index stated that attracting good quality and well-qualified people into teaching is accepted as the essential prerequisite to raising educational standards. In Finland and Singapore, teachers are recruited from the most-qualified graduates, all with a second degree. Here in Nigeria reverse is the case as recruitment into public service including teaching service is for “political settlement or compensation”. And because you cannot sow pepper and reap onions, the seed of years of inequities have now germinated and become full grown before our very eyes. Unfortunately it is the innocent children who bear the brunt of the recruitment error.

    This problem needs to be tackled holistically because we cannot be paying lip service to the sector and expects a dramatic result. The compromised recruitment system whereby selections are largely based on patronage as against merit need to be revisited. Only those who are competent   and passionate about the job should be recruited. The Kaduna experience is a clarion call to refocus on the sector. The opportunity it provides to get rid of the bad eggs in the system should not be lost to political consideration. Special attention should be devoted to teachers’ training. Special incentives should be created to stimulate interests in the study of education related disciplines. Teachers should be well motivated such that they would have pride in the profession. This would ultimately attract the best brains to the profession.

    As for the ‘casualties’ of the proposed reforms in Kaduna, they should assisted with training for other vocations while those who are trainable should be retained and made to undergo necessary skills acquisition  to  enhance their capacity for teaching.

     

    • Babatunde M. Tijani

    Isolo, Lagos State.

  • The showdown in Kaduna

    In Kaduna State right now, over 20,000 Nigerians are facing imminent job losses in the state’s civil service. Nasir el-Rufai, the governor, plans to replace them with more suitably qualified personnel. The news sends chills down the spine of the average person, especially in the current unfriendly economic climate in Nigeria.
    The spine-chilling horror of the proposed move will probably turn to a mixture of disbelief and strong approval when one learns that the more than 20,000 civil servants are teachers who had just failed examinations set for primary four pupils. Images of some of their test scripts have been released online by the state government to justify the governor’s decision. The scripts reveal errors in spelling that would earn primary two pupils sharp rebukes by their teachers. The incoherent sentences on some of the scripts are heart-breaking.
    The governor is now torn between calls for his administration to be “humane” and desist from carrying out the extreme action and others cheering him on to save the children of Kaduna State from a mediocre future. It does not help that the governor has acquired a reputation for harshness and blind resolve in his past appointments. This uncomfortably comes into play to steer the conversation away from the real issue, which is that the future of the Nigerian child should not be toyed with.
    The truly gulling reality is that this could have happened anywhere in the country. While teachers from some states may fare better than others, there is just no guarantee, and this is a sad point indeed. An optimal result will be that no teacher scores below 80% in this kind of test, but it is doubtful that this will be the case in any state school anywhere in Nigeria. The Kaduna State situation should therefore, be considered as a litmus test in the resolve of the country to break through the chains of primitivity and mediocrity in the educational sector.
    The unenviable situation el-Rufai now finds himself is accentuated by the threat of strike made by the Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, in Kaduna if the governor persists in his decision. It is understandable that the NUT is a trade union by description and as such is expected to protect the interest of its members, suitably qualified or not, as it is. However, the body ought to have a frank discussion amongst its members with the interest of the children at the forefront of their thoughts.
    The selfish interest of teachers, who are largely not qualified, has been demonstrated before through age falsification and irregular certificates in Edo State. Adams Oshiomhole, then governor of Edo State had a chance then to set the tone for reform amongst state schools in the country. In a popular video, the governor is seen beside a teacher who could not read the contents of her own certificate after being prompted to do so by the governor. Oshiomhole hatched a plan to conduct competency tests for teachers at the time, which was resisted by the teachers on spurious grounds.
    Even then, the NUT threatened and Oshiomhole’s former comrades at the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, also mounted pressure until he made the political decision to settle for a “training and re-training” programme instead. The ‘programme’ has now led nowhere. Oshiomhole sacked only 936 teachers then, a decision which he reversed after the mounted pressure. This helps to put into scale, what el-Rufai is about to embark on.
    After the capitulation of Oshiomhole to trade union pressure, el-Rufai’s mission takes on much more significance, not just because of its scale. The future of public school education may now rest on the outcome of the showdown between el-Rufai and the unions. The NLC and NUT are already active in protest in Kaduna and Nigerians should keep watch on developments there as it may have ripple effects on other states.
    If the strong-willed el-Rufai manages to overcome the unions and carry out his plan, a bold precedence will be laid. The power of the unions against crucial personnel overhauling in public schools will be weakened and the reform can spread far and wide. Now is the time for extreme measures because public education has barely survived a sustained crisis since about the early 1990s. It is now at a critical point.
    Many years back, a person with a standard six certificate (First school leaving certificate) could speak and write very well. These days, a school certificate holder and even graduates struggle to make sense in English. With the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB, recently dropping cut-off marks to record low levels, with the lowest levels for intending teachers, it is obvious that the quality of education is only sinking lower.
    We are at a point where the only options for recovery are extreme choices. How does one retrain a teacher that cannot pass primary four examinations? Surely, the children do not have the time it takes for the teachers to go back to primary school, which they ought to do.
    The future of Nigerian children cannot be mortgaged for political advantage by our leaders or the selfish interests of the unions. Too much is at stake in a fast growing world for Nigeria to jeopardise its position in an increasingly competitive space on the global front. Of the current crop of millennials, many have been adjudged to be unemployable, and the others have only excelled despite the educational system. Better qualified teachers will make intelligent demands for teaching aids from the government and task the students to do more to achieve their potential.
    Something has to give within the education system, and if what gives is the cycle of incompetence guaranteed by weak political will and irresponsible unions, then so be it. El-Rufai may be unpopular in many quarters, but if it takes an unpopular man to take the unpopular decision that may start the educational revolution in Nigeria, then it is fortuitous that he is a governor today.
    As for the unions, the NUT and NLC should rather be thinking towards a deal to make the transition from ill-qualified to better qualified teachers as dignified as possible. This is achievable if the affected teachers are provided with an option of re-absorption if they manage to improve themselves in future. The one thing that should be non-negotiable is the quality of education the Nigerian child receives.
    While the popular saying that teachers’ reward is in heaven may be a stretch too far, it is also true that selfish interest is not a leading quality in a good teacher. The NUT needs to re-invent itself as a body and re-evaluate its mission and values. It must be aligned with the better interest of the Nigerian child. This can only happen if the body can indeed play a part in ensuring teachers are adequately trained in the actual sense, not just bearing certificates that say they are.
    Helpless children in Kaduna state are being placed between a rock and a hard place. On the one hand they may be denied what little education they are getting through strike action by the unions, while on the other hand they may continue to be taught by teachers who cannot themselves pass the examinations the students are assessed by.
    Competency tests should be carried out for teachers all over the country to ensure that the students are indeed getting an education and not just attending school. It is better for us to know where we stand and safeguard the future than for the unions to maintain the job security of their members. The individuals who populate these unions must begin to see every Nigerian child in the eyes of their own children and make the best decision for them.
    Today, if there are incompetent doctors who cannot differentiate between a stethoscope, proctoscope and otoscope, will the medical association defend them or will they be allowed to continue practice? This is where we are with many teachers and the sooner all involved realise this, the better.

  • Police kill two suspected killers of youth leader in Kaduna

    Police kill two suspected killers of youth leader in Kaduna

    The Nigeria Police Force has killed two suspected killers of a Youth Leader, Haru Manya, in Sabon Gaya in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

    Manya was killed by the suspects while working on his farm on Nov. 12.

    The Force spokesman, CSP Jimoh Moshood, disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Sabon Gaya on Tuesday.

    Moshood said that the two suspects were killed during a shoot-out with the members of Operation Absolute Sanity.

    He explained that the operation followed a directive from the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, to arrest the killers.

    “The Inspector-General of Police commiserates with members of the community and directed Operation Absolute Sanity to arrest the killers,”he said.

    The spokesman said that investigation would be intensified to arrest other suspects connected to the heinous crime.

    In a related development, the Nigeria Police Force said it had arrested eight suspected kidnap-for-ransom and armed robbery gang.

    The suspects are: Umar Ibrahim, gang leader, Iliya Adamu, Ifeanyi Linus, informant to the gang, Jibril Adamu, Samaila Haruna, Ibrahim Mamman, Ibrahim Idris and Silas Chukwuemeka.

    The Force Spokesman said that the suspects had confessed to the various crimes they had committed along the Abuja-Kaduna road.

    He said that three victims were rescued form the suspects’ hideout, adding that a police officer was also injured during the shoot-out.

    He said that items recovered from them are: two Toyota Corolla cars, one with registration number: ABJ 893 NV, and one without a number plate, two locally made single barrel guns and one AK 47 rifle.

    Others are: one locally made revolver gun, one AK 47 magazine, one live cartridge, two expended cartridges and seven AK 47 am munitions.

    He said that investigation was ongoing and when concluded, the suspects would be arraigned in court for prosecution

    “They will be arraigned in court on completion of investigation and investigation is being intensified to arrest other suspects at large,”he said.

    Moshood urged owners of the vehicles to contact the Police command in Kaduna for identification and collection

    He said that the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Ibrahim Idris, had directed the Assistant Inspectors-General of Police (AIGs) and Commissioners of Police (CPs) in the zones and commands to replicate same feat on the highways and major roads.

    He said that they were also to beef up security in their areas of responsibility and ensure massive deployment of armed police personnel, patrol teams and undercover operatives to black spots, flash points and other vulnerable criminal spots.

    The Force had on July 25 commenced ‘Operation Absolute Sanity’ on Abuja-Kaduna Highway to check incessant cases of kidnappings and armed robbery.

    On July 31 and Aug. 3, the police also arrested 31 and 40 suspects at Katari and Rijana areas, along the Kaduna-Abuja road.

    NAN