The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Shootout

  • Police, Air Force in shootout

    The peaceful atmosphere in Jeddo, Okpe Delta State was shattered Monday evening when policemen and Air Force  officials engaged  in a shootout.

    Several persons, including personnel of both agencies and some residents , sustained injuries. Properties, such as vehicles, were destroyed.

    The fight was said to have been caused by an assault on a lady whose father has links with the Air Force.

    The incident scared most residents out of their homes

    Police spokesman DSP Andrew Aniamaka said he was driving when reached, but a senior police source confirmed the incident.

     

  • Army kills four suspected kidnappers in shootout

    Army kills four suspected kidnappers in shootout

    Troops of the 2 Brigade of the Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt yesterday rescued three kidnap victims and killed four suspected kidnappers in a shootout during the operation in Rivers State.

    Men of the Nigerian Navy Ship (NNS) Pathfinder, Rumuolumeni, Port Harcourt, also arrested eleven men for allegedly parading themselves as naval personnel in Rivers state.

    The outgoing Commander of NNS Pathfinder, Commodore Sanusi Ibrahim, yesterday handed over the 11 suspects to officers of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Rivers Police command for further investigation and possible arraignment.

     Army said the rescue of the three kidnapped men was in continuation of its operations to stem the tide of cultism, kidnapping and other criminal activities.

    The Assistant Director, Army Public Relations of 2 Brigade, Capt. Eli Lazarus, said: “Troops of 2 Brigade, Nigerian Army, rescued three kidnap victims in the early hours of June 29, 2016 in Iba/Obele, Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State. The victims were kidnapped on Monday in Rumuji, Emuoha LGA, while travelling along the East-West Road. They were subsequently taken to the kidnappers’ camp in Iba/Obele by their abductors.

    “Acting on information, our troops closed in on the criminals and engaged them to rescue the three persons. The 3 men were rescued unhurt, while 4 suspected kidnappers were killed during the operation. The operation is still ongoing to clear kidnappers’ and cultists’ camps in the state.

    “The general public is assured that security agencies will not rest on their oars in combating criminals. All are enjoined to continue to volunteer useful information that will assist the security agencies to combat crimes.”

    Capt. Lazarus also admonished parents and guardians to always warn their children and wards to denounce membership of any kidnap or cult group and never to associate with criminal gangs.

    The Commander of NNS Pathfinder said the 11  suspects used navy uniforms and paraded themselves as “merchant navy,” with intent to defraud unsuspecting individuals and companies in Rivers state and its environs.

    The suspects were caught in the act by operatives of the Nigerian Air Force, who reported the matter to the navy.

  • French police report shootout and explosion in Paris

    Police officials in France last night reported a shootout in a Paris restaurant and an explosion in a bar near a Paris stadium. It was unclear if the events were linked.

    BFM television said  there were several dead in the restaurant shooting in the 10th arrondissement of the capital. Two police officials confirmed the shooting but had no information about casualties.

    Also last night , two explosions were heard outside the Stade de France stadium north of Paris during a France-Germany friendly football match.

    A police official confirmed one explosion in a bar near the stadium. It is unclear whether there are casualties.

    Two explosions  were heard  in the stadium .

    Sirens were immediately heard, and a helicopter was circling overhead.

    The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to be publicly named.

    The attack came as France has heightened security measures ahead of a major global climate conference that starts in two weeks, out of fear of violent protests and potential terrorist attacks.

    Emilioi Macchio, from Ravenna, Italy, was at the Carillon bar near the restaurant that was targeted, having a beer on the sidewalk when the shooting started. He said he didn’t see any gunmen or victims, but hid behind a corner then ran away.

    “It sounded like fireworks,” he said.

    France has been on edge since deadly attacks by Islamic extremists in January on satirical newspaper Charlie Hebdo and a kosher grocery that left 20 dead, including the three attackers.

     

  • Shootout at Ekiti PDP secretariat

    Shootout at Ekiti PDP secretariat

    The battle for the control of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ekiti State, assumed a violent dimension yesterday, when a factional secretary of the party, Dr Tope Aluko was injured during a shootout at the party secretariat in Ado Ekiti.

    Residents including passersby, commuters and motorists scampered for safety __as gunshots rent the air.

    Aluko, was shot at close range as he led members of the Tunde Olatunde faction to take over the party’s secretariat shortly after the Idowu Faleye faction left the building shortly after announcing the suspension of four members of the State Working Committee (SWC) led by Olatunde.

     While Olatunde is the acting chairman of a faction that has 11 out of 14 SWC members, Faleye is the chairman of the faction recognized by Governor Ayo Fayose.

    The Olatunde faction maintained that the appointment of Faleye which was masterminded by Fayose to fill the vacancy created by the former chairman, Makanjuola Ogundipe’s appointment as Southwest PDP chairman runs contrary to the party’s constitution.

    There was tension in Ado Ekiti earlier on Friday as riot policemen were mobilized to the party secretariat in about 10 vehicles and an Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC).

    The presence of the minions of law was to prepare ground for the arrival of the Faleye faction who announced the suspension of Olatunde, Aluko, Women Leader, Mrs. Busola Oyebode,  Auditor; Tunji Olanrewaju and Assistant Secretary, Femi Esan.

    The ‘suspended’ leaders of the party, according to the Faleye faction are to be tried for alleged anti-party activities by a disciplinary panel to be chaired by Commissioner for Local Government, Kolapo Kolade.

     Other members of the panel are Babade Ige; Animasaun Bamidele; Mrs. Lanre Fajuyi; Smart Adebusuyi; Dele Ajibola and Kola Lawal

    But the Olatunde faction later came to take over the secretariat about two hours after the Faleye faction had left.

    The riot policemen were later drafted to the party secretariat at about 3.40 pm and there was shooting with the PDP scribe hit by bullets.

    In a telephone conversation with our correspondent, Aluko said: “I was shot at close range by policemen. As I was parking, they opened fire on me at about 3.40 pm. I went there and the policemen were waiting for me and what followed was shooting. My cloth was drenched in blood and I am receiving treatment as you speak with me. I went to the party secretariat because that is my office as the PDP secretary in the state.

    “I have taken care of myself, no shaking. I want you to tell Fayose that the war has started and Fayose cannot intimidate us. We will never leave the party for Fayose or any other person. Tell him that the war has started and we are battle-ready and the people of the state will know the real members of the party”.

    The spokesman of Ekiti Police Command, Alberto Adeyemi, said: “Our men were there until they (members of Faleye faction) left and we are not aware of any other meeting held after they had left.

    “The DPO also told me that nobody had come to the station to complain that he was shot or that any shooting incident took place”.

    The resolution of the faction loyal to Fayose to take disciplinary action against the five was read by its Publicity Secretary, Jackson Adebayo.

     Before he was attacked, Aluko at a news conference described the action of the Faleye faction as a breach of the party’s constitution, saying that he and other duly elected and recognized party leaders remain bonafide members of the party with right to all privileges being enjoyed by registered members.

    Aluko, who spoke on behalf of the aggrieved SWC members, said the state SWC was constituted by 14 members, wondering where Idowu Faleye-led faction had got the quorum to suspend them.

    “Nobody can push me out of PDP. I have invested and sweated so much to

    build the party. But if the party is heading to implosion, then I will take my destiny in my own hands, because nobody has right to my happiness more than myself.

     “PDP is being run in line with the constitution of the party. If this is the case, it came to me as a shock that the party could come up with this action through Jackson Adebayo and Idowu Faleye, who have been suspended by the authentic PDP leaders.

    “Though, we owe it a duty to respect the NWC, but for suspended chairman to do that was a deliberate attempt to destroy the party; it is rather frightening, embarrassing and also disturbing. Up till now, Faleye has not been properly registered as a PDP member in his ward, having defected from Labour Party (LP) where he ran for the House of Representatives’ seat for Ekiti North Federal Constituency 2 in the 2011 general elections.

    He added : “How can eleven members be suspended  in SWC. Only the State Executive Committee acting on the directive of the NWC can do that. If anybody thinks the best way to save the party is by illegal suspension, I won’t be part of that game. Since we assumed office, we have worked hard to win so many elections. We were the ones that put Governor Ayodele Fayose on that seat. I was the state agent in the last governorship poll. I can still not recollect where the meeting was held to ratify our suspension. It was just a decision of Faleye and his faction. The National Publicity Secretary of the party, Mr Olisah Metuh, could not have authored the statement about our suspension , because he was the one that communicated to us about a truce meeting slated for next week.”