The Nation Newspaper

Tag: killings

  • These killings must stop

    These killings must stop

    SIR:In recent time, there have been reported escalation of violence in Plateau, Taraba and some parts of Kaduna State. The activities of Boko Haram in the troubled Borno, Yobe and Kano states have robbed these once peaceful states of their serene status. While the north has been battling and grappling with these unfortunate incidents, other parts of the country share their sorrowful experience of rampant cases of kidnapping, land disputes, militancy and political assassinations.

    Evidence abounds in the gruesome murder of 11 policemen in Bayelsa State, as well as the kidnapping and subsequent killing of former deputy governor of Anambra State. The developments attest to the dimension of insecurity in the country.

    The lingering questions agitating the minds of Nigerians are: why these killings? What are the perpetrators trying to achieve? What are the constituted authorities doing to stem the tide of insecurity in the country?

    From religious and cultural points of view, killing is abomination. Neither Islam nor Christianity encourages killings. Those who kill in the name of religion do it out of ignorance or they do not understand the content and context of our holy books. So also are the killings alien to our African culture. There exists a philosophical belief that the spirit of the dead person would haunt whoever kills a fellow human being. Nowadays, people kill with instinct and passion.

    The objectives of these evil-minded people or vampires are to promote disunity and hatred among Nigerians. To them, a divided Nigeria is the only way to achieve their parochial interests.

    It is agreed that no nation can develop in an atmosphere of rancour and instability hence the need for peaceful coexistence. Can this tall dream become possible? For optimistic people, a united and peaceful Nigeria is possible if we can eschew violence and love one another. Though conflict is inevitable, instruments of conflict resolution should be employed to tackle the frequent violence ravaging our country. The use of dialogue in resolving our grievance should be encouraged.

    Interestingly, the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration, after several appeals from eminent Nigerians, has agreed to grant amnesty to members of Boko Haram. This gesture, in spite of the barrage of criticisms that trailed it should be commended. Government at all levels should pay more attention to the problems of unemployment. A situation where thousands of youths are roaming the streets is like a time bomb waiting to explode. The problem of corruption, now a hydra-headed monster should be confronted while good governance should be institutionalised!

    • Isyaku Garba (Matawallen Dass), Bauchi.

     

  • Plateau killings: Death toll hits 50

    Plateau killings: Death toll hits 50

     Two die in Gombe night attack

    The death toll in the week-long orgy of killings by unknown gunmen in several villages around Jos, Plateau State has risen to 50.

    This figure was confirmed by officials of the Special Task Force (STF) yesterday, as authorities pleaded for peace over the Easter holiday. The attacks came as a string of unsolved killings continue to plague the region that has seen thousands killed in massacres in recent years. While a combined police and military presence still patrols Jos and other parts of Plateau State, many of the villages attacked sit in remote, rural corners of the state.

    The most recent killings happened on Friday night in the Barkin Ladi area, according to STF spokesman, Navy Lt. Jude Akpa. Attackers raided Bokkos town and killed nine people, fleeing before soldiers arrived, Akpa said. Emmanuel Lohman, a government official, said gunmen armed with assault rifles struck a village called Ratas and opened fire in the night while many there were sleeping.

    Witnesses said the shooting lasted for almost two hours before the attackers fled. The villagers blamed nomadic Hausa-Fulani cattle herdsmen for the attack.

    Muhammadu Nura, the state secretary of the cattle breeders association, said Hausa-Fulani people had been killed in “reprisals” but denied herders were involved the attacks.

    The figure of 50 people said to have been killed in attacks, includes an assault on Wednesday on a village in the Riyom local government area that killed 28 people and an attack on Thursday in the Bokkos local government area that killed 18 civilians. The military said it killed six while trying to repel attackers during the assault.

    Meanwhile, the management committee chairman of Barkin Ladi local government area of Plateau State, Emmanuel Lohman, has commended the personnel of the Special Task Force on Jos crisis saying but for their constant patrols around the villages in the area there would have been another bloody night yesterday.

    Loman who spoke in Jos yesterday while giving an update on the renewed killing of people by suspected hired Fulani gunmen said STF personnel prevented another round of bloody killings because of their constant patrol of the area.

    The council chairman commended the STF personnel for their professional conduct, noting that the council will support them in the bid to rid the area of the killers.

    Meanwhile, the Police in Gombe State have confirmed the killing of two people when gunmen attacked Kumo Police Division in Akko Local Government Area on Friday night.

    The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Mohammed Sule, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe that the dead were among the attackers.

    He said the police recovered one AK 47 rifle and two motorcycles from the attackers.

    “As far as I am concerned, none of my men was killed. What I know is that two of the attackers were killed and we recovered one AK 47 rifle and two motorcycles,” he said.

    Sule, however, said he was expecting details of the incident since it occurred in the night.

    He decried the lack of information from the public to enable the police to prevent such attacks.

    Some residents of Kumo town told NAN on telephone that they heard sounds of gunshots when the attackers came in the night.

    They said they could not sleep in the night because of the exchange of fire between the police and the attackers.

     

  • Forum condemns killings in Borno, Kano, Yobe

    Forum condemns killings in Borno, Kano, Yobe

    The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) is set to make its organs more functional.

    The Forum denied that it is against President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration and passed a vote of confidence on its leadership under Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi.

    At the end of its meeting in Abuja in the early hours of yesterday Amaechi read the Communique: “We, the governors of the 36 States of the Federal Republic of Nigeria at our second meeting of the year held Wednesday 20th February 2013 at the Rivers State Governor’s Lodge, Abuja, deliberated over a number of issues and resolved as follows:

    “Members exhaustively discussed the administration of the Forum and resolved that all the organs of the Forum be made functional at the next meeting.”

    “Governors expressed deep concern and condemned the recent killings of health workers in Borno, Kano and Yobe while re-affirming their solidarity with the governors and people of these States.

    “Forum commended the governors of the states for their resolve to continue with their polio eradication programme.”

    Anambra State Governor Peter Obi said: “We all met to support the President. Not the other way round.”

    On the presence of Bishop Matthew Kukah at the meeting, he said: “He wasn’t invited; he just wanted to see us. He came to see a group of us on an issue, it doesn’t have to do with….. You don’t have to know every issue.”

    Ekiti State Governor Kayode Fayemi said: “Polio was the most serious issue we raised today, following the assassination of health workers in Kano and also the attack on health workers in Borno and Yobe.

    “We, of course, in solidarity with our colleagues who were affected, we commended their resolve for not allowing this to create any disinterest on their part to focus on polio eradication. That was the most critical thing and we also discussed the issue of the administration of the forum.”

    Imo State Governor Rochas Okorocha said: “The issue of polio is becoming very embarrassing to our nation. We also looked at some key positions in the Governors’ Forum that need to be fixed up. We have never had such positions before and some of the key structures.

    Some of the states represented at the meeting are Edo, Ekiti, Jigawa, Abia, Kogi, Kaduna, Imo, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Adamawa, Rivers, Bayelsa, Nasarawa, Taraba, Kano, Oyo, Anambra, Sokoto, Cross River, Enugu, Katsina, Kebbi, Zamfara, Niger, Plateau, Yobe, Rivers and Benue.

  • Mindless killings

    Mindless killings

    • Govt must bring murderers of health workers in Yobe, Kano, to book

    The killing, in Potiskum, Yobe State, of three Korean doctors, has further illustrated how cheap life is in parts of the country. The doctors who were recruited by the state government under an exchange programme with the North Korean government were butchered in their apartments by unknown gunmen last week. It is hard to see any justification for killing men who left their country to help improve the state’s health system.

    Doctors, by the nature of their profession and calling, are engaged in humanitarian activities. They are called to serve humanity and save lives. It is an irony that in the course of performing this sacred duty, they are made to lose their precious lives.

    In recent years, governments, especially in the North, have turned to Egypt, Pakistan, India and Korea for support in critical areas of technological and scientific development. This is to allow for expansion of the system and enhance capacity. The gory sight of foreign doctors slaughtered in their homes, with one even beheaded, calls to question the humanity of those who perpetrated the act and is bad for the country’s image.

    This is a new dimension to the crisis in the North East where thousands of Nigerians have been senselessly mowed down for ill-articulated reasons. Churches have been razed, prominent citizens dispatched and the polity thus heated up.

    A few days earlier, nine health workers involved in polio vaccination in Kano, were similarly murdered. They were engaged in the noble cause of exterminating wild polio in the country. It has become embarrassing that Nigeria is one of only three countries in the world where polio still exists at all. In this, we are in the company of Afghanistan and Pakistan.

    The campaign to stamp out the disease received the first jolt in 2003 when the state government and some Islamic leaders in the country took exception to it on the ground that it represents a western ploy to arrest population growth in the Muslim world. It did not matter to the promoters of the view that leading Islamic countries like Saudi Arabia and Malaysia had cooperated with the World Health Organisation in ensuring that their populations were well covered by the polio vaccination. Even in case of misgiving against the vaccine, why descend on innocent people engaged for the purpose?

    The trend that has seen many innocent people slaughtered for the flimsiest of reasons must stop. Clerics of the major faiths must enlist in the task of properly educating their members that killing others cannot prove their piety. They must be involved in the task of restoring the dignity of man in Nigeria.

    The starting point is demonstrating that security agents are alive to their responsibility by getting the suspects prosecuted. It is gratifying that Kano State Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso has condemned the killing and expressed support for the immunisation programme.

    The Federal Government has a responsibility to give effect to the resolution passed by the House of Representatives to compensate the families of the heroes who died working for the country.

    Beyond compensation, governors of Northern states should get involved in mobilising support for the scheme. It should be the last time that people enrolled to work for the country would be made to lose their lives in such cheap circumstances. The plan by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to provide security for all those recruited for the purpose is welcome.

    It is unfortunate that the three Korean doctors did not enjoy security cover despite the volatility of the area of their deployment. It has become imperative that the other 15 brought in under the scheme are immediately assured of their security at work and home. Others in and outside Yobe State who were engaged under technical agreements must also be made to see the commitment of the government to guarantee their security.

  • Residents flee Maiduguri after killings

    Residents flee Maiduguri after killings

    Fear is gripping Nigeria’s northeastern city of Maiduguri with many men fleeing after the alleged execution style killings of around 40 young men, mostly teenagers, who residents say were rounded up and shot.

    “All male residents have left the neighbourhood … Those that remain are women, children and elderly men,” said resident Fatima Mustapha.

    The city is the stronghold of an insurgency by Boko Haram Islamists, blamed for the death of hundreds of people in northern and central Nigeria since 2009.

    “The neighbourhood has been under siege since yesterday (Friday) with soldiers taking over the entire area,” said Mustapha, a resident of the Gwange area where a retired army general, Mohammed Shuwa, was shot dead on Friday.

    She said the men had fled fearing a heavy handed military response to the murder of the general who was buried yesterday.

    A military source on Friday declined to comment on weekend killings, saying only that if such shootings had taken place, they would have been “unjustified”.

    The killings came on the same day that Amnesty International accused Nigerian security forces of massive rights violations, including summary executions, in its campaign to crush the Islamists.

    Residents said troops conducting raids in areas of Maiduguri on Thursday separated males in their teens and twenties from older men and shot them.

    In the Kalari neighbourhood they told the young men “to lie face down on the ground,” then asked the rest to look away, “one resident said.

    All we heard were gunshots. They shot them on the spot,” said the elderly religious leader, who did not want to be named, adding that the troops did the same in three other neighbourhoods.

    Most Maiduguri residents were on yesterday shut up at home.

    Residents spoke of a heavy military presence in many areas of the city.

    Boko Haram’s insurgency in northern and central Nigeria and the state’s military response are believed to have left more than 2800 people dead

     

  • Many puzzles on Aluu Four killings

    Many puzzles on Aluu Four killings

    SIR: I scribble feebly with a heavy heart and with a sense of shame. Shame for the country I find myself in; shame on the people we live with. Shame on the faces I am familiar with; and on the breed of humans we are gradually turning into. I write to a generation I do not know- neither am I certain of their awakening. I write even if history shoves this journal in her archives. I write even if these pages may be blown up in a timeless memory hole.

    I never realised the magnitude of the killings of the Aluu Four till I went online.

    I could not even bring myself to watch the video: the pictures were real enough to make me sick. I mean it could be anybody; anybody’s child; anybody’s friend, lover, neighbour, brother, uncle, or nephew.

    I saw four naked bodies – stripped of all sense of dignity, hope, and confidence. Bare and vulnerable under the watch of the whole community. Helpless to an inevitable end that was before them.

    I don’t care what they -supposedly-did. That is not how to treat a fellow human. There have been rumours, insinuations and speculations. There have also been whispers, silent arguments, and even loud protests that provide a foundation of excuses and defenses – blowing a cover of “jungle justice.” That sure is ‘jungle’ behaviour, but “justice?” No!

    That is not justice – that is brutal, hasty, anti-society, and selfish. It is murder.

    Let’s take a closer look at this incident -or event- because the whole thing seems pre-empted, premeditated, and calculated. There were willing parties involved; the whole community of Aluu seems to me a group of people observing a familiar ritual. Nobody seemed disturbed, rather it looks like an event where every party had defined roles, and played those roles efficiently. All factors in Aluu collectively ensured the killing of four young men in broad daylight – undisturbed!

    From the person who had the nerve to capture the whole killings on video: the anonymous and silent eye that made the whole world know about the injustice that took place in Aluu. Heroic you might think, but what were his/her intentions? What did he intend to achieve? What emotions was he/she trying to provoke? Did he have underlying motives? There is something definitely missing here – a big hole that needs to be filled. Why did he not use the same power – the media- to source for help? Why did he wait till the whole thing ended- only to replay those horrors on the internet?

    Certainly someone stripped them naked- and just like Saul in the Bible-their belongings were laid at his feet. Someone brought the fuel; someone beat them up; someone in that community was well prepared to kill!

    Ready hands ignited the flames that engulfed the hope of a generation. What about the owner of the local store they patronised? The compound cleaner? Their landlord? The flatmates? For goodness’ sake where was everybody? I could imagine the feeling of betrayal as they pored into those familiar eyes for a clue or hint for their hopeless defeat. Where were their friends? Why didn’t word go out before their brutal end? Where were the students of UNIPORT? They sure could not have killed over 5,000 students? I can feel what seem close to their heartbeat. Inside felt lonely, betrayed and defeated.

    Would this just be another closed chapter buried in our archives of injustice? Would we talk for a while, then say to ourselves “What’s my own?” or “Na dem sabi?”

     

    Oyindamola Adegboye

    Lagos

     

  • UNIPORT Four killings: Ruler incited mob, says IG

    UNIPORT Four killings: Ruler incited mob, says IG

    –Why police couldn’t stop them

    –Community leader, 18 others arrested

     

    MORE details emerged yesterday on how four University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) students were lynched in Aluu on October 5.

    The community’s traditional ruler instigated the mob action, Police Inspector-General Mohammed Abubakar said.

    A preliminary report, which the IG personally signed, said security information showed that Alhaji Hassan Welewa, the traditional ruler of Aluu in Omikiri community, Ikwere Local Government, River State, and 18 others being held for the killings, were culpable.

    The four lynched students are: Ugunna Obuzor (18) Geology, Lloyd Toku (19) 200 Level Civil Engineering, Tekena Elkanah, 20, (Diploma Technical) and Chiadaka Odinga, 20, (200 Level Theatre Arts).

    The police said they were unable to stop the mob because they were chased away by stone-throwing assailants, who accused the students of stealing laptops and mobile telephones.

    The lynchings have caused outrage, with a video showing the gruesome killings of the victims, aged 18-20, circulating through social media.

    “The police on getting to the scene met a mob attack on four victims who were supposedly the suspected armed robbers,” the statement said.

    “Attempts made by the police patrol team to take over the suspects were met with stiff opposition from the mob, who chased the team with stones.”

    The four police officers at the scene then called for reinforcements, but they arrived after the victims were “stoned and burnt to death, while the mob immediately took to their heels,” the statement said.

    It was not clear why police did not shoot into the air or fire tear gas as is often done to disperse crowds.

    The IG statement reads: “Intelligence report implicated Alhaji Hassan Welewa as being the person who incited the mob to unleash terror on the victims. Further investigation conducted by the police indicates that four (4) suspects, namely: Felemo Solomon; Cynthia Chinwo; Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Samuel Evans have been closely linked to this barbarous act.

    “The victims had gone to the area, where they met their unfortunate death earlier that morning, to demand for money allegedly owed to them by Coxson Lelebori Lucky, alias Bright, who raised a false alarm that the victims were armed robbers. Although Coxson has gone underground, detectives are on his trail.

    “Investigation is ongoing with efforts being intensified to track down others who are involved in the incident. Those who are found culpable shall be prosecuted

    “Efforts are being intensified to establish the motives behind this crime, arrest all who may be directly or indirectly connected with the crime and eventually bring all indicted persons to book.”

    The IGP added that normalcy had been restored in the area and that the university and other tertiary institutions within the area were being closely monitored.

    He maintained that policemen, including detectives had been deployed in the area to assist the police, with a view to forestalling any untoward reactions.

    Abubakar promised that the police would take every legitimate step within the ambit of the law to ensure that perpetrators of the dastardly act are identified and made to face the law.

    He advised members of the public against taking the law into their hands, stressing that two wrongs can never make a right.

    “More so, it is criminal and against the laws of the land and those that do so will surely be made to face the full wrath of the law.

    “I wish to use this medium to advise and appeal to Nigerians to see it as their civic obligation in the fight against crime and criminality and to assist security agencies in the discharge of their responsibilities.

    “Security is everybody’s responsibility and so, should not be abandoned in the hands of security agencies alone. The maximum cooperation of the public is needed to ensure that Nigeria is safe for all.”

  • Reps invite IGP over Mubi, Rivers killings

    Reps invite IGP over Mubi, Rivers killings

    The House of Representatives yesterday condemned the recent attack on students of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa State and last weekend’s mob killing of four students of the University of Port Harcourt.

    It invited the Inspector General of Police, (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar over the killings.

    The police chief is to brief the House committee on Police Affairs and the committee will in turn report to the House.

    No date has been fixed for the IG’s appearance.

    Members also observed a minute silence in honour of the dead students and resolved to send a delegation to Mubi and Port Harcourt to commiserate with the government and families of the slain students.

    The team will also visit Maiduguri, where over 30 people, including soldiers were killed on Monday.

    The IG is to brief the House Committee on the inability of the police to prevent or intervene while the attacks lasted. He is also to explain the absence of the police and security agencies within the vicinity of the attacks.

    The resolution was sequel to the adoption of the prayers of motion by a lawmaker, Abubakar Wamba, who wondered at the motive behind the killing of over 40 students of the Polytechnic in Mubi, Adamawa State,

    Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Chairperson of the House Committee on the Diaspora, noted that the actions of both Port Harcourt and Mubi attackers had gone far to demonstrating the fast degenerating level of our value system,

    According to her, the security service were to blame mainly for their non-responsive attitude during such emergencies.

    “When we look at what happened in Mubi and Port Harcourt, especially, you can see we have lost our moral values. In view of all the killings that happened, the House should ensure that it is not business as usual,” she said.

  • Uniport killings: In the name of God, let this be the last

    Uniport killings: In the name of God, let this be the last

    No one who has watched the video clip of the lynching of three University of Port Harcourt (Uniport) students and a yet-to-be-identified fourth youth at Omuokiri village near the campus can fail to be truly and deeply horrified by the depth of barbarism we seem to be capable of plumbing in Nigeria. To describe the lynching as gruesome and stomach-churning is an understatement. Now, imagine that parents and relations of the victims also watched the video and saw how their loved ones were horrifically put to death, and you may begin to vicariously feel not only a sense of loss and hopelessness, but a sense of despair as to how alone and unprotected the Nigerian citizen truly is.

    The three Uniport students and the fourth youth were beaten to pulp and burnt to death last week by members of the Aluu community in Omuokiri. The students have been identified by the school authorities as Biringa Lordson, a 200-level theatre arts student; Ugonna Obuzor, a 200-level student of Geology; and Mike Toku, 200-evel civil engineering. The fourth victim, Tekena Erikena, had yet to be properly identified, said the university vice chancellor, Professor Joseph Ajienka.

    Nigerians have always suspected that such barbarism was commonplace in their country, what with the disturbing news of frequent extra-judicial killings and officially-sanctioned torture by security agents, as documented by international organisations and local civil society groups. Their suspicions have now been confirmed. But the Uniport video also brings it home graphically to everyone just how irresponsible we have become in putting up with such abhorrent practices over the years, whether they were committed officially by government agents or carried out by private entities such as vigilance groups and ethnic militias.

    The video of the lynching has gone viral on the Internet. It will confirm to the world the bestiality they always felt we were capable of. It will also diminish us in the estimation of the world. Coming barely a week after the cold-blooded murder of over 40 students in Mubi, Adamawa State, Nigerians must be forgiven if they wonder whether their country is not much closer to the precipice than most people imagine. We must also wonder, as indeed this column asked after the Mubi massacre, how much more the country, particularly youths, can take.

    In the name of God, the federal government must seize this occasion of the Uniport killings to make it the last time extra-judicial killings and other bestial practices would be tolerated. It is not enough for the police to bring the perpetrators to book; the president must recognise that the Uniport killings have raised national revulsion to fever pitch deserving of his personal attention and strong policy initiative.

    Whether the murdered students actually stole laptops and phones as alleged by their tormentors, or they were robbers or cultists as some others claimed, is completely beside the point. The government must come up with firm initiatives to eradicate cultism from campuses, put a complete stop to extra-judicial killings by agents of the state, halt torture as a means of extracting confession from suspects, and put an end to the degrading treatment citizens publicly suffer at the hands of security agents, all of which have spurred the country’s rapid and seemingly inexorable descent to anarchy and barbarism.