The Nation Newspaper

Tag: kill

  • Kidnappers kill girl, 4, policeman in Benin

    A four-year-old girl and a policeman were yesterday killed in Benin, the Edo State capital by kidnappers.

    The girl was shot in the head when her mother ran into the kidnappers on Akpakpava road.

    Eyewitnesses said the kidnappers came out of their getaway vehicles, which were stuck in traffic and started shooting indiscriminately.

    The witnesses said the kidnappers ran into heavy traffic at Second Junction after abducting Dan Odiete, an Estate Surveyor.

    It was gathered that the kidnappers shot at the vehicle driven by the girl’s mother, thinking she was after them.

    The witnesses said the girl and her twin sister were in school uniforms.

    It was learnt that her twin was injured.

    The policeman killed was said to be the kidnap victim’s orderly.

    Two other persons, including a policeman, were shot.

    They were taken to the Central Hospital in Benin.

    A source at the hospital told The Nation that two of the victims were brought to the hospital.

    Police spokesman Anthony Airhuoyo said he was yet to get details of the incident.

  • Gunmen kill man, wife, kid in Kano

    Gunmen kill man, wife, kid in Kano

    Unknown gunmen riding on a motorbike shot and killed a man, his wife and kid at Kwanar Masalaci in Naibawa quarters, Kano, yesterday.

    They were shot dead as they drove out of their home at about 8.30am. The murder is the fifth within one month in the same Naibawa vicinity.

    According to an eyewitness account, the victims, who hailed from one of the Southeastern states, riding in a red Golf car, were driving out of their compound when the two gunmen riding on a motorbike emerged and shot them dead instantly.

    The gunmen escaped from the scene. Operatives of the Joint Task Force (JTF), backed by an armoured tank, arrived and cordoned off the area. Some of the security men spread to the adjoining streets, which they combed for a possible clue to tracking down the fleeing suspects.

    According to a source, before the arrival of security men to the scene, sympathisers, who were frightened, gathered at the spot, but were scared to move close to the attacked vehicle, the interior of which was splattered with blood.

    The police evacuated the bodies of the deceased to the mortuary for autopsy.

    Kano State Police spokesman Magaji Majia, who confirmed the incident said the man was taken to the hospital but died shortly. His wife and kid, who died instantly, were taken to the morgue.

    According to the spokesman, one of the man’s sons, who was in the vehicle at the time of the attack escaped unhurt. He urged the public to assist the police with information that would lead to the arrest of the fleeing gunmen.

  • Gunmen kill six in Yobe, Bauchi

    Gunmen kill six in Yobe, Bauchi

    Gunmen at the weekend shot dead five residents of Gaidam in Yobe State and a policeman in a Bauchi State town, the police said yesterday.

    The gunmen stormed the home of the people believed to be Igbo in Gaidam late Saturday and shot them dead before fleeing, police commissioner Patrick Egbuniwe said.

    “The gunmen broke into the home of the Igbo iron welders after they had closed from work and shot them dead. The attackers escaped and no one has been arrested for the attack,” he told AFP.

    Gaidam, which lies 135 kilometres (84 miles) from the Yobe State capital Damaturu and near the border with Niger, is the hometown of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam.

    Egbuniwe did not say whether Boko Haram was behind the killing.

    Also on Sunday, gunmen have killed a policeman and wounded another in a raid on a police station in Bauchi State, a police officer said yesterday.

    The gunmen launched the attack late on Saturday in the town of Itas, about 200 kilometres from the state capital, Bauchi, hurling explosives into the police station and opening fire on policemen, leading to an hour-long shootout, according to the AFP

    “The gunmen threw explosives into the police station, setting it on fire,” and killing a police inspector inside the building at the time, said the police officer who asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak about the incident.

    Another policeman was wounded in the shootout and two nearby police homes were burnt.

    Bauchi State Police Commissioner Mohammed Ladan confirmed the attack but said he had no details yet.

    On Friday, gunmen killed three policemen and set ablaze three churches and a school in Bonny Yadi in the volatile Yobe State, a military spokesman said.

    Nigeria’s northeast has been hard hit by deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.

    In November last year, the Islamist militant group launched coordinated bombings and shooting attacks on the town.

    Armed with Kalashnikov rifles, the Islamists hurled explosives at Gaidam police station, freed suspects, stole arms, rampaged through the town, burning six churches, a high court, a shopping complex and robbing a bank.

    On Friday, gunmen killed three policemen and set ablaze three churches and a school in the town of Bonny Yadi in the volatile state, a military spokesman said.

    Nigeria’s northeast has been hard hit by deadly attacks blamed on Boko Haram.

  • Robbers kill Inspector

    A police Inspector was yesterday killed during an early morning robbery inside an Estate in Oke-Afa, Isolo, a Lagos suburb.

    It was gathered that a Corporal, who was wounded, is in the hospital.

    Police sources told The Nation that the incident occurred around 2am when about 15 armed men invaded the estate.

    The gunmen were moving from house to house when a distress call was sent to the police.

    The Nation learnt that unknown to the policemen, who came in two patrol vehicles, some of the hoodlums laid ambush for them in a bush outside the estate.

    As the policemen approached the scene, the hoodlums opened fire on them, killing the Inspector and injuring others.

    A resident told The Nation that “it was like a war” as the robbers who apparently came with sophisticated firearms, shot sporadically for over 30 minutes.

    It was learnt that the policemen who could not match the firepower reportedly fled.

    Police spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP) said the Inspector died on the way to the hospital.

    Braide said the policemen killed a member of the gang and also recovered an AK47 rifle.

  • Gunmen kill family of three in Plateau

    Gunmen, suspected to be Fulani, have killed a village head in Kachim, Kura Falls, Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, Da Timothy Gyang, his wife, Rebecca, and their seven-month-old baby.

    The killers reportedly invaded the village head’s home on Wednesday night at 9pm.

    Police spokesman Emmanuel Abuh confirmed the attack.

    He said two of the suspected assailants were killed by policemen attached to the Special Task Force (STF), code-named Operation Safe Haven.

    Abuh said the STF policemen pursued the assailants as they attempted to escape and killed two of their members.

    STF spokesman Capt Salisu Mustapha also confirmed the attack.

    He urged the public to use the numbers given to them for distress calls during any attack.

  • We didn’t kill Gen. Shuwa, says sect

    We didn’t kill Gen. Shuwa, says sect

    Fundamentalist sect Boko Haram yesterday washed its hands off last Friday’s killing of civil war hero Gen. Mohammed Shuwa in Maiduguri, Borno State.

    Senate President David Mark and former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chairman Chief Solomon Lar condemned the killing.

    A statement by Mark’s Special Adviser, Media & Publicity Kola Ologbondiyan frowned on the incessant killing of people across the country.

    Mark said the late Shuwa would be remembered for his doggedness and steadfastness to nation building.

    “Without sounding like a broken record, I urge all the leaders in the North to come together and let us find a lasting solution to the problem of these incessant killings.

    “We are the first victims of this dangerous bend in the growth of nationhood. We must therefore find a solution to this unrelenting social malaise,” he said.

    Lar urged the Federal Government to do everything possible to bring those who killed Gen. Shuwa to justice.

    He said the role the late Gen. Shuwa played in keeping Nigeria one during the civil war has not been recognised by the government, adding that he remained one of Nigeria’s unsung heroes who was never talked about or recognised by past governments.

    “He was a hero but nobody talked about him. Government after government never did anything for him nor recognise his contribution to Nigeria. Nobody sang his heroism. It is unfortunate, the government must do everything to find those behind this unfortunate incident and bring them to justice. This is my plea,” Lar said.

    In a telephone conference yesterday in Maiduguri, Mohammed Ibn Abdulaziz, one of the sect’s commanders, who spoke to reporters last week and proposed dialogue with the government, said: “We heard that people were saying that we had a hand in the killing of Gen Shuwa. I want the people to know that we didn’t have any problem with the man. We don’t have anything against him. He is (was) a respected person and has not offended us in any way. We have no hand in his killing. We were even surprised when we heard about the incident. We want to warn those who are using our name to do this thing to stop and we also warn those who are also spreading the rumour that Jama’atu Ahlis Sunna Lidda’awati wal-Jihad killed Gen Shuwa to stop it because we are not the ones that did it”.

    He also exonerated the sect from the killing of a Maiduguri-based businessman, Alhaji Mohammed Flawama, an associate of former Borno Governor Modu Ali Sheriff, saying: “we don’t know anything about it.”

    Abdulaziz, who claims to be the commander in charge of southern and northern Borno of the sect, restated the group’s resolve to embrace dialogue and peace with Gen Buhari, Monguno, Ibrahim, Galtimari and other prominent northern leaders “as witnesses.” He however asked the government to call the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) to order and “stop killing our members.”

  • Gunmen kill five in Kano, Yobe

    Gunmen kill five in Kano, Yobe

    Gunmen went on the rampage in Yobe and Kano states yesterday, killing five persons.

    They struck in Fika, Yobe State killing two policemen and torching a school. The hoodlums killed three persons Kano.

    The Kano victims were trailed by four gunmen on motorcycle to Kawo, Maigari quarters.

    Two of the victims were shot dead. The third victim – a woman – was hit by a stray bullet.

    Spokesman of the Joint Task Force in Kano, Lt. Victor Ikedichi confirmed the incident.

    “Men armed with explosives assaulted a primary school, a police station and two telecommunications installations, setting them on fire. We heard that there were some attacks in Fika by suspected Boko Haram terrorists. They attacked two telecommunication masts, a police station and a primary school,” said Capt. Lazarus Eli, the military spokesman in Yobe State.

    A witness said he saw the bodies of two policemen carried out of the burning police station, but Eli was unable to confirm the report. The military spokesman added that troops were deployed in the city to contain the violence. Fika is 170 km from Damaturu, the Yobe State capital.

    According to local sources, the attack took place around 4:30 a.m.

    “They threw explosives and fired gunshots at their targets, setting them ablaze, and fled after the attack,” said Tanimu Mani. “Soldiers who arrived in the town went inside the burnt police station and brought out the bodies of two policemen killed in the attack,” he said.

    Another resident, Hassan Gaji, a student, said he had heard blasts and gunshots during his early morning prayers. “They were shooting seriously for about one hour,” he said, adding that the town had been taken over by police and soldiers.

    Also yesterday, Kano State Police Command arrested 25 suspected Boko Haram militants over the killing of a police officer in the state on Saturday.

    Commissioner of Police Ibrahim Idris said the attack at the Anguwar-Ukwu area of the city occurred shortly after the sanitation.

    It was learnt that the environmental slain officer was observing the sanitation by tidying his environment when gunmen on a motor bike struck.

    The gunmen allegedly shot into the air repeatedly, before hitting their target, he was shot in the head, according to sources.

    The gunmen were said to have fled the scene after killing the officer. Residents informed the police of the attack.

  • Gunmen kill policeman, four others in Jos

    unmen, suspected to be Fulani herdsmen, yesterday killed a policeman in an outpost in Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State and four other residents.

    Three of the victims, including the policeman, were killed in Jol village; the others in Sopp village.

    Another person, whose identity could not be established, was injured and is receiving treatment at Vom Christian Hospital.

    The police, on Wednesday, paraded a five-man “killer gang” before reporters at the command headquarters in Jos, the state capital.

    Members of the gang were said to have attacked residents of Riyom and its environs.

    But as the police were parading the suspects in Jos, another group in Riyom engaged in violence.

    Police spokesman Abuh Emmanuel, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), confirmed the incident.

    He said: “One of my colleagues, Corporal Istifanus Samaila, was attacked by unknown gunmen while he was on patrol of the area.

    “Apart from the policeman, four others were killed in similar manner between Wednesday night and Thursday morning in Jol and Sopp villages.

    The police spokesman also said the body of the late Samaila has been recovered and deposited at the morgue of the Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos.

    He said: “No arrests have been made, but men of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) have been drafted there to fish out the killers.”

    Emmanuel assured Plateau State residents that there would be no hiding place for the killers.

    “They (killers) will be fished out sooner than later. We urge the residents to remain calm and go about their normal businesses without fear,” he said.

    Governor Jonah Jang recently appointed Senior Special Adviser on Community Relations from the five major ethnic groups in the state.

    They represent Fulani, Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa and Muslim communities.

    The governor’s belief is that the appointments would strengthen inter-ethnic relations and consolidate the peace process as well as prevent ethnic conflicts.

  • Unknown gunmen kill 24

    Unknown gunmen kill 24

    It was all tears yesterday in a Kaduna State community where unknown gunmen killed 24.

    The motive for the attack on Dongo Dawa village in Gwari Local Government Area remained unclear last night.

    Some reports said the gunmen were on a reprisal mission after being dislodged from the village; others said they were armed robbers.

    A resident reported that the gunmen were disguised in police uniforms as they stormed a mosque just before sunrise, shooting worshippers.

    Kaduna Police chief Olufemi Adenaike confirmed the casualty figure.

    Mr Adenaike said four suspected gunmen were arrested by the vigilance group in the area.

    He said: “On 14/10/2012 at about 0530hrs, a suspected gang of armed bandits, numbering about 10, stormed Dogon Dawa village, killing 24 persons. Information had it that a few of the victims were returning from their morning prayers while the rest were attacked in their various homes.”

    He said: “The command swung into action by mobilising a unit of the Police Mobile Force (PMF) personnel and conventional operatives to the scene, where all the exits were properly manned by the police and army as hunt for the perpetrators is in top gear. Meanwhile investigation has commenced and security presence maintained”

    Adenaike added: “Some members of the vigilance group from Dogon Dawa village went to Kuyello village, arrested four persons suspected to be members of a notorious gang terrorising their areas and took them to Dogon Dawa village for questioning.”

    An Army officer said: “It is a clear case of armed robbery.”

    Lt. Col. Sani Usman added: “The last time I spoke with my (contact) in the area, he said it was 20 people dead.”

    A traditional ruler in the village told NAN in a telephone interview that a large number of gunmen held the village captive, opened fire on worshippers who were returning from a mosque after the early morning prayers.

    He said the gunmen were believed to have moved from Zamfara State to the area.

    The Nation gathered that the gunmen, who operated in the area before being chased out, regrouped and returned to the village on a reprisal, having lost some of their men.

    Sources said that the gunmen might have escaped from a prison in one of the negbouring states. They have been operating along the Kaduna/Birnin Gwari highway before the community set up the vigilance group to fish out the criminals.

    A highly dependable source said “sometimes ago, there were series of armed robbery operation in the area especially along the Kaduna/ Birnin Gwari highway. Some women were even raped in the process.

    “So the community set up a vigilance group to find out who were responsible and put an end to it. They have being doing a good job as they were able to identify some of those responsible for the robberies and other criminal activities in the area.

    “A former hakimi (district head) in Dogo Dawa was in charge of the committee that was responsible for sanitising the area and that was why, in the last three months, there was no robbery in the area. People were able to identify the criminals and they were being eliminated silently one after the other.

    “The criminals must have fled the village. This morning, they went to the house of the man they suspected to be responsible for identifying them. They killed him and two of his children and cut the hand of his wife. They also killed 17 other people in the village.

    “I learnt that those people they killed were just coming from the early morning prayers. I can confirm to you that it was not a robbery operation, but it was the criminals themselves that came for a reprisal attack because the people have been identifying them”.

    Another source said that the criminals sent a message to the community that they were coming back on a revenge mission having lost some of their members.

    The Joint Task Force (JTF), Operation Restore Order (ORO),yesterday on Sunday confirmed an early morning blast on Bama Road in Maiduguri, the beleaguered, Bornor State capital.

    JTF spokesman, Lt.-Col. Sagir Musa, said in Maiduguri that the blast did not record any casualty.

    “It is true that we had a blast along Bama Road in the early hours of Sunday. The truth is that there was no casualty.”

    Lt.-Col. Musa explained that the bomb was planted on the road in anticipation of the JTF patrol vans.

    “They were probably targeting our patrol vans or other civilians. But, fortunately, the bomb went off without hitting any target.”

    He said to residents of the state to be vigilant and report suspicious objects to the JTF promptly.

  • Kidnappers kill businessman

    Kidnappers kill businessman

    He went to the pharmacy to get drugs for his ailing friend’s child, but never made it back home.

    Odidi Nweze, a businessman, was killed after being abducted in front of a pharmacy in Satellite Town, a Lagos suburb, two days after he returned from the United States.

    He was said to have been abducted with his companion in front of Oxpharm and killed a few metres away, but the woman reportedly escaped.

    It was at the Festac Town branch of the pharmacy that the drugs injected into the drink of the late Cynthia Osokogu were bought.

    According to eyewitnesses, the late Nweze and his partner were bundled into the back of the abductors’ vehicle and taken away.

    On their way, the abductors ran into a traffic gridlock, and resorted to shooting their way out.

    Motorists were said to have abandoned their vehicles to avoid being hit by stray bullets.

    Sources said Nweze was dragged out of the vehicle and shot dead by his abductors.

    Lagos Police chief Umar Manko, it was learnt, has ordered the Area Commander in charge of Area ‘E’, Command, Mr Dan Okoro, an Assistant Commissioner of Police (ACP), to fish out the killers. He has seven days to do so. Okoro led the team which cracked the Cynthia murder case.

    Two suspects, The Nation learnt, have been arrested; the search for others is on.

    Okoro told The Nation that those in custody are the late Nweze’s female companion and his friend, who is also said to be dating the woman.

    The woman, it was gathered, has a child for the late Nweze’s friend.

    She told the police that she slept with her fellow suspect a day before Nweze died; but the man denied the allegation, claiming that he had not seen her in the last one year.

    The police are working on the theory that there may have been a quarrel between the late Nweze and his friend over the woman.

    The woman, it was learnt, is being held because she witnessed the killing.

    “She is alive; she saw it all and the only witness to the murder. She saw how it happened and how he was killed. We want to uncover those who sponsored the murderers, those who are in conflict with the man or his family members so that we can pick all the people involved in the killing,” a source said.

    The police are also on the trail of the late Nweze’s business partners to ascertain if they had a clash.

    A source at the Area Command said: “The deceased was already home and had even changed into his night wears when a call came through. It was the call that made him leave the house to where he was abducted. We are still trying to find out who called him. We have gone to the service providers to assist us with information that will aid our investigation”.

    On why the late Nweze’s friend was arrested, the source said: “From all indications, there are cloudy issues surrounding the man and these are the things we want to uncover, and that is why we are holding him. He has a case to answer.”

    Okoro accused some hoteliers of conniving with kidnappers, warning that anyone caught would be treated as an accomplice.

    He said: “Our investigation so far has shown that some hoteliers are harbouring these criminals. Any hotelier that a kidnapper is arrested in his or her domain will be charged to court alongside the suspects for complicity. The hotel, which we are suspecting that those who killed Nweze operated from, is already being investigated.

    “We suspect that the suspects were living at the hotel and taking off from there to carry out their criminal activities. All hoteliers must comply with the Inspector General’s and Commissioner of Police’s directives on the installation of Close Circuit Television (CCTV) in their premises and also ensure proper identification of guests before checking them in.”

    The police, he said, were beaming their searchlight on Oxpharm because of the coincidence in the instant case and that of Cynthia.

    Okoro said: “It’s an issue that I cannot just place. First, it was in their store that the drugs that were used on Cynthia was purchased in Festac and now the late Nweze was abducted in front of their branch at Satellite Town.”

    It’s in focus, we are thinking about that. Why must it be Oxpharm”.

    Command’s spokesperson, Ngozi Braide, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said, the commissioner of police had given investigators one week to fish out the killers.