The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Kano

  • Jonathan condemns Kano bomb blast

    President Goodluck Jonathan has condemned Monday’s bomb blast in Kano.

    According to a statement issued  by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Rueben Abati, the President said that the barbaric incident will not deter the Federal Government from its strong-willed determination to overcome those who do not mean well for the nation.

    The Federal Government, he said, will not be stampeded, for any reason whatsoever, into abandoning its unrelenting war against terrorists in the country.

    The statement reads in parts: “President Jonathan reassured Nigerians and foreigners in the country that the Nigerian Government will continue to do all that is required to ensure the safety of lives and property, including continued collaboration with local and international partners and stakeholders to check the menace of terrorism.”

    “President Jonathan commiserated with the victims of the Kano explosions, their families and friends, and assured the Kano State government of the Federal Government’s continued support.” It stated

  • Many killed in kano as suicide bombers attack Lagos-bound bus

    Many killed in kano as suicide bombers attack Lagos-bound bus

    Unspecified number of travelers aboard a Lagos bound luxury bus, including park workers and traders were killed on Monday during a suicide attack at the New road Motor Park, located at the Sabon Gari area of Kano.

    The attack, which occurred at about 4.30 pm during the peak period was targeted at a Lagos-bound 59 seater luxury bus which  was blown up when it was departing the park.

    Eyewitness account hinted that three  suicide bombers had positioned their Golf car, primed with explosives between Gobison Luxury bus and one other before detonating the explosives immediately the driver of the bus was about to take off .

    Apart from the 59 seated passengers onboard the ill-fated bus, it was gathered that there were no fewer than 40 extra passengers when it was blown up and none according to our sources survived.

    As at the time of filing this report, the tragic scene was cordoned off by men of the military joint task force to pave way for the evacuation of both dead and injured victims, who were taken to the Murtala Muhammed Specialist mortuary in the case of the dead victims.

    Some of the injured victims had amputated arms and limbs, resulting from the severe impact of the explosions. About six explosions were heard in the busy park that accommodates mostly South-East and South West bound passengers.

    At the last count, apart from the wrecked Gobison bus, 10 other buses were torched.

     

  • Kano plans metroline

    The Kano State government is exploring the possibility of partnering with foreign investors for the establishment of a metroline, Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso has disclosed.

    Speaking with newsmen on arrival from a five-day trip to Dubai, Kwankwaso said he held fruitful discussion with investors on the proposed project.

    This, he said, was part of plans to ease transportation problem in Kano, adding that some potential investors in the project are expected in Kano next month.

    The governor maintained that he strongly feels that Kano is ripe for such a project now.

    According to him: “If we have to get money or borrow money to execute any project, it is in the areas of metroline and IPP.

    “The investment in these projects will yield results, so we are looking at our treasury to see whether our budget can accommodate them.”

    He also mentioned that he met with investors with interests in sustainable energy in preparation for the state’s Independent Power Project (IPP) using Tiga and Challawa Gorge dams.

    The governor explained although there are bureaucratic bottlenecks, his administration is fine-tuning a far-reaching arrangement to install turbines at the two dams for enhanced electricity supply in Kano.

     

  • Nigeria targets $1bn trade with Pakistan

    Nigeria targets $1bn trade with Pakistan

    Nigeria plans to enhance a two-way trade up to $ 1 Billion with Pakistan before the end of the year.

    The High Commissioner to Pakistan, Alhaji Dauda Danladi disclosed the plan last Friday said the Nigerian High Commission in Pakistan is actively working to start economic initiatives through a Joint Nigeria-Pakistan Commission.

    According to him trade with Nigeria is beneficial for Pakistan as Nigeria can serve as a window of business opportunity to the whole of West Africa.

    He said majority of Pakistani Industrialists have shown their interest to participate in the forthcoming Single Trade Fair to be held in Kano State this year  and appreciated the goodwill gesture shown by Islamabad, Lahore and Faisalabad Chambers of Commerce  to invest in Nigeria.

    “President Goodluck Jonathan attaches great importance to boost economic interaction with Pakistan. Consequently, great opportunities are being explored by the Nigerian High Commission in the area of Agricultural machinery like tractors, Pharmaceuticals and export of garments including electro-medical apparatus to Nigeria from Pakistan to enhance two way trade to $ 1 billion with Pakistan by the end of 2013” the High Commissioner stated.

  • Kano attack death toll now five

    The death toll in Sunday’s attack by unknown gunmen at Dakata and Hotoro quarters in Kano has risen to five, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    Gunmen on tricycles shot residents, killing three on the spot and injuring many.

    The Chairman of the Kano State chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Bishop Ransom Bello, said the two latest victims were brothers.

    According to him, the parents of the deceased have reported the incident at the CAN secretariat in Kano.

    Bishop Bello said the victims were returning home from the ECWA Church at Dakata when the gunmen shot them, adding that the incident occurred two weeks after 13 Christians were also killed in their compound at Sheka, Sharada Phase 111 in Kumbotso Local Government by unknown gunmen.

     

  • Police investigate murder of eight in Kano

    The Kano Police Command said on Thursday that it was investigating the killings of eight persons by unknown gunmen on February 23.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr. Musa Daura, confirmed this while briefing journalists in Kano.

    He said the command had made useful arrests in connection with the killings, assuring that the public would be informed adequately of developments.

    Daura said the command swung into action immediately it received information on the incidents.

    The commissioner, according to the News Agency of Nigeria, also disclosed that seven policemen were being investigated over acts of indiscipline as part of efforts to rid the force of bad elements.

    He said their offences ranged from illegal arrests, detention and extortion.

    Daura said that the command would mete out appropriate measures against the erring officers to serve as a deterrent.

    He stated that the disciplinary actions would include dismissal from the force, prosecution or imprisonment.

     

  • Kano to empower beggars, destitute

    Kano State Government has mapped out skill acquisition programmes for beggars and the destitute to evacuate them from the streets.

    “Over 500 beggars have been evacuated from the streets in Kano and they have been registered and accredited as part of the new empowerment scheme designed to give hope to the hopeless,” said Alhaji Yusuf Usman, the Special Adviser (SA) to Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso on Disabled Persons.

    The SA, who spoke to reporters yesterday in Kano, said the registration exercise is ongoing at road junctions, roundabouts and other spots where physically-challenged persons and the destitute stay.

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

     

  • Kano police arrest suspects

    The Kano State Police Command has arrested suspects in connection with the killing of the Commanding Officer, Mopol 9 Hotoro, Superintendent Dahiru Ibrahim Majiya, by unknown gunmen on Monday night in his home.

    Moments after he was shot dead, police detectives were drafted to cordon off the area. Later, some suspects were arrested and are undergoing interrogation and screening.

    Speaking to reporters in Kano yesterday, Police Commissioner Musa Daura said the Command would investigate the matter and fish out the perpetrators.

    The remains of Majiya, the elder brother of the Kano State Police Command (PPRO), Magaji Musa Majiya, have been buried at the Tarauni Cemetery, Kano amidst tears and wailing by friends and family.

     

     

     

     

  • The killing of health workers in Kano

    The killing of health workers in Kano

    SIR: A man’s house is on fire and a concerned neighbour ran with a bucket of water to quench the fire. The man whose house is on fire turned and stabbed the neighbour with a bucket of water to death. The above scenario pictured the recent killings of health workers in Kano and Yobe states. How can one explain the madness behind the killings of those health workers who came to save lives of brothers and sisters of these unknown gun men?

    To exonerate the dreaded Islamic fundamentalist organisation “Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’ Waati Wal Jihad Yaanaa”, also known as Boko Haram from this nefarious act is like exonerating anterior placenta from the survival of a foetus in a woman’s womb.

    This insane act reminded me of a recent report from a journalist from Somalia. The journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Mogadishu reported that a procession of famished mothers with their skeletal children burdened further with outsized bellies travelling many miles on foot across the desert to get food were driven back home by al-Shabaab: “They told us it was better to wait for God’s mercy than to beg for food from the unbelievers.” Why? Because Western aid is a sin and so is western knowledge of routine immunization, and the polio eradication programme in Northern Nigeria.

    Boko Haram is wielding the same guns and bombs (the only instruments in which western education is not a sin) and spreading hate and insecurities in Nigeria.

    Boko Haram, how do you want poverty and high rate of illiteracy to be eradicated in your area? When you are causing local and foreign investors to flee? The Yorubas will say: ‘ronu’ meaning think. Please, Boko Haram members, you should think deeper so to heal the past wounds instead of inflicting deeper wounds.May the souls of those innocent health workers killed in Kano and Yobe states rest in peace, Amen.

     

    • Eyeke Solomon Eyeke.

    Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

     

  • Gunmen kill pedestrian in Kano

    The Kano State Police Command has confirmed the killing of a pedestrian by gunmen at Na’ibawa area of Kano on Monday, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

    The command’s spokesman, ASP Magaji Majiya, confirmed the incidence to NAN on Monday, saying that it took place around 8.00 p.m.

    According to him, some gunmen attacked a pharmaceutical shop at Na’iabawa and a passerby was shot dead while one was injured and taken to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital.

    He, however, said that investigations had since begun and tight security had been enforced in the affected area with restricted movement of people.

    He added that the gunmen escaped while the police were trailing them, and promised that the command would not relent until the criminals were driven out of Kano.

    An eye witness told NAN that after completing the night’s prayers, the public heard gun shots which sent people scampering.

    “It was after the shootings that the police arrived the scene. A man was lying on the floor covered with blood and was taken away by the police to the hospital,” the witness who pleaded anonymity added.