The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Zamfara

  • ‘Zamfara N800m lead poison remediation project ready soon’

    About 300 compounds, representing 75 per cent of lead contaminated houses in Bagega village of Zamfara State, have been remediated, the Minister of Environment, Mrs. Hadiza Ibrahim Mailafia, has said.

    The minister said the project cost the Federal Government about N800 million, adding that it has made it possible for contaminated homes to become habitable.

    Receiving members of the Good Governance Tour, led by the Minister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku, as well as Zamfara State Governor Abdulaziz Abubakar Yari, the minister said the work involved sequential and mechanical removal of exposed surfaces.

    In a statement yesterday in Abuja by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Lawrence Ojabo, the minister said the work was consistent with international best practices and of the highest possible standards.

    She added that technical expertise and supervision was provided by Messrs Terra Graphics Consultants in partnership with Medicines Sans frontiers (msf).

     

  • Jonathan approves N5.7bn for victims of 2011 post-election violence

    President Goodluck  Jonathan has approved the release of a total sum of N5,747,694,780.00 to nine states of the federation for direct disbursement to those who suffered losses of properties, means of livelihood and places of worship in the post election violence of 2011.

    Special Adviser (Media) to the President, Dr Reuben Abati said in a statement that the approval was based on the submission of the Sheik Ahmed Lemu’s panel and its adoption by the Federal Executive Council.

    Following the post election violence and civil disturbances in some states after the April 2011 elections, President Jonathan set up a Panel of Enquiry headed by Sheik Ahmed Lemu to among other things, identify the spread and extent of losses suffered across the country.

     The Federal Ministry of Lands and Housing was later  mandated to assess the reported losses and damage to properties in all affected states.

    Consequently, President Jonathan has approved the release of funds to nine of the 14 affected states as follows:

    1.      Bauchi                 –        N1,574,879,000.00

    2.    Sokoto                 –        N55,888,506.00

    3.    Zamfara               –        N93,253,485.00

    4.    Niger                    –        N433,375,875.00

    5.     Jigawa                 –        N208,667,634.00

    6.    Katsina                –        N1,973,209,440.00

    7.     Kano                    –        N944,827,000.00

    8.    Adamawa            –        N420,089,840.00

    9.    Akwa Ibom          –        N43,504,000.00

    Total                –        N5,747,694,780.00

    President Jonathan has also directed that an Implementation Committee for the disbursement of the funds to beneficiaries in  the nine states be constituted as follows:

    1.      Executive Governor  or Deputy Governor        –        Chairman

    2.    Representative of State Government                –        Member

    3.    Secretary of the Sheik Lemu Panel                   –        Member

    4.    Representative of the OSGF                              –        Member

    5.     Representative of the FMLH&UD                    –        Member

    Inspection and assessment of damages and losses suffered are yet to be carried out in Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Kaduna and Nasarawa states as modalities and further instructions for the exercise are still being expected from the state governments.

    Funds to cover the losses sustained by victims of the post election violence in theses five states will be approved and released at the conclusion of the assessment exercise.

  • Zamfara awards N7b road contracts

    The Zamfara State government has awarded road contracts valued at over N7 billion as part of efforts to open up the state.

    The Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji, told newsmen at the end of the State Executive Council meeting in Gusau that the projects would be completed within 18 months.

    He said the contract included the 31.5 km Gusau-Kasuwar Daji road, and the Gusau-Zurmi-Katsina road which were awarded for N2.5 billion.

    According to him, the government has also awarded contract for the construction of the 38.3 km Tashar Abu-Kekun Waje-Bingi road at the cost of N1.5 billion.

    Other contracts, he said, included the N200 million Gusau GRA link road, and the road linking Gen. Sani Abacha Way to the State Primary Education Board, which would cost N900 million.

    Magaji said work on the Gusau Prisons-Jauri village road awarded at the cost of N301 million would be completed within a year.

    He further said that the the government had approved N1.06 billion as compensation to persons affected by the Gusau township roads project.

    The commissioner said the amount was also for those affected under the phase I and II of the Talata Mafara township roads, which were completed last year.

    Magaji said the projects were in line with the administration’s desire to enhance economic activities in the state.

     

  • Former Zamfara governor arrested, released

    Former Zamfara governor arrested, released

    Former Zamfara state governor, Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima Bakura was on Saturday arrested by the police in Kaduna and detained for four hours for allegedly making an inciting statement on a live Radio Nigeria hausa phone-in programme, Hanu Dayawa.

    The federal lawmaker was quoted as saying that leaders of the All Progressive Congress (APC) will stage a peaceful demonstration at the Eagle Square in Abuja if the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to register the party.

    However, the state Commissioner of Police, Olufemi Adenaike who earlier said that they never arrested the senator later told journalists that he merely invited the senator to clarify a statement he made on radio when he started receiving calls from concerned citizens of the state.

    While expressing disappointment with journalists for “blowing issues out of proportion”, he said “let me start by saying that I am seriously disappointed by journalist, in the sense that you are blowing nothing out of proportion.

    He said, “If you put yourself in my shoes, you are the commissioner of police of a state. And you start getting calls from concern citizens of the state that somebody has made an inciting statement on the radio, will you go to burukutu (local brew) joint and start drinking? You have to make a move.

    “All I did was to go the radio house. And I met the distinguished Senator and I said, “please, I want to know what you said”. He said, “no problem, let me finish”. And I will come with you to the office. This is what has transpired. And I am surprised that people are saying many things. “CP has arrested him. Or that CP has orders from Abuja. The distinguished senator is not under arrest. The Senator is not under arrest.

    “All we did was to find out what he said. And he said they were going to go on a peaceful demonstration. And I said, define what you mean by peaceful demonstration, considering that Kaduna State is a volatile state.”

     

  • TCN loses N20m to vandals in Zamfara

     

    The Transmission Company of Nigeria said it lost N20 million to vandals on its transmission tower situated on Gusau-Talata Mafara road in Zamfara State.

    The General Manager of the company in Kaduna region, Mr. Mike Ezeudenna, disclosed this in Kaduna in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria.

    He said the activities of the miscreants had hampered the company’s ability to provide good service to its customers using the tower line.

    Ezeudenna said the company had reported the activities of the vandals to the state government and the commissioner of police to beef up security around the towers.

    He said the company would not tolerate the disruption of structures that would boost electricity supply to Nigerians.

    Ezeudenna promised that Nigerians would soon enjoy regular power supply, as efforts made in the past by the government to improve the sector were gradually yielding positive results.

     

  • 25 dead in Zamfara road accidents

    Twenty-five people have died in two accidents on the Gusau-Sokoto road in Zamfara State.

    An official of the Zamfara State Government said the accidents took place an hour apart.

    Government spokesman Nuhu Anka said yesterday that the first accident occurred on Monday when a bus tyre burst on the Gusau-Sokoto road.

    The driver reportedly lost control of the vehicle, leading to the death of six passengers, who were going to attend a wedding.

    Anka said 19 others died in the second accident involving a bus and a car on the same road.

    Ten people were injured.

    The government spokesman noted that reckless driving caused the accidents.

    He said the accidents were not caused by bad road, because the 230-kilometre road was not damaged where they occurred, although the road has bad patches.

     

  • Gunmen kill village head, 17 others in Zamfara

    Gunmen kill village head, 17 others in Zamfara

    Gunmen numbering about 20 on Tuesday attacked the Kaboro community in the Dansadau Emirate of Zamfara, killing 18 people, including the village head.

    A survivor, Malam Sani Abdullahi, who narrated his ordeal to journalists in Gusau, said the bandits, swooped on the village at about 4am and began to shoot sporadically.

    “It was when the shooting started that the village head, identified as Alhaji Maiyara, came out to plead with the gunmen to stop the heinous crime. But they got at him and killed him.

    “He was killed instantly when they felt that he was disturbing them with his endless begging after he was warned to shut up and keep off.

    “They fired from different angles of the village and killed whoever attempted to escape, after killing our village head,’’ he said.

    Haruna Kabir, another survivor who spoke to journalists, said he heard gunshots from far away and sensed that a disaster was befalling the community.

    Kabir said he escaped from the village through a bush path, adding that he would not return to the village in a hurry.

    The bandits were believed by the villagers to be responsible for the killing of 22 people at Dogon Dawa village in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State about a fortnight ago.

    Malam Nuhu Anka, the Director of Press to the state governor Abdulaziz Yari, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria in Gusau.

    He said the governor had directed the state Emergency Management Agency to supply relief materials to the victims’ families.

     

  • Gunmen kill 18 in Zamfara village

    •Village head among victims 

     

    Scores of gunmen yesterday killed at least 18 people, including the village head of Kabaro in Dansadau, Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

    It was learnt that the gunmen, carrying guns and other weapons, stormed the village and started shooting towards different directions.

    The reportedly urged the residents to remain indoors and keep money and other valuables within reach.

    Eyewitnesses said the village head, simply identified as Alhaji Maiyara, pleaded with them not kill anybody.

    A resident, Sani Abdullahi, said: “He was killed instantly when they felt that he was disturbing them with his endless pleas. He was warned to keep off but he did not heed the warning.

    “They fired shots from different places and they killed whoever dared to escape. That was how they took several innocent lives.”

    Another survivor, Haruna Kabir, said he heard gunshots from afar.

    According to him, the gunshots were bad omens for the community.

    He said he and his wife as well as three of their children escaped into the bush.

    Kabir said: “We had escaped before they arrived. We dashed into the bush and hid. We could hear the screaming of the people from where we hid.”

    It was learnt that the assailants were after the money the villagers reportedly made from their farm produce during last week’s Sallah celebration.

     

  • Police rescue five-year-old girl in Zamfara

    •Kill two suspected kidnappers

     

    The Zamfara State Police Command has killed two suspected members of a kidnapping and human parts’ selling syndicate during a raid on their hideout.

    Police Commissioner Usman Gwary told reporters in Gusau, the state capital, that the girl was rescued during the raid.

    He said the two suspects were killed in a crossfire with the police on the Sokoto-Gusau Road.

    The police chief said the suspects were first intercepted when they were negotiating to sell the girl.

    Gwary explained that his men acted on a tip-off and ambushed the suspects at strategic points on the Zamfara-Sokoto states’ boundary.

    He said the suspects allegedly abducted the girl from a private school in Imo State last week.

    The police chief said the girl was to be delivered for sale to another syndicate in Niger Republic through the Sokoto-Zamfara boundary.

    According to him, the police sourced N600,000 for a phony purchase deal, having been briefed that the syndicate usually collected between N500,000 and N1,000,000 for their victims.

    Gwary said the police were connected to the syndicate through a mobile phone number they got from an informant.

    He said his men offered to buy the girl for N600,000, a price the suspects accepted.

    Gwary said when the suspects attempted to drive off, a gun battle ensued, which led to their death.

    The police chief said the girl’s parents had been contacted through the Imo State Police Command.

     

  • Police kill suspected kidnappers in Zamfara

    Police kill suspected kidnappers in Zamfara

    The Police in Zamfara said two suspected members of a syndicate that specialised in kidnapping and trading in human parts have been killed during a raid on their hideout.

    The state Commissioner of Police, Malam Usman Gwary, who stated this on Monday at a press briefing in Gusau, said a five-year-old girl was rescued in the raid.

    Gwary said that two suspects were killed in a cross fire with the police along the Sokoto-Gusau highway.

    He said the suspects were first intercepted as they were trying to negotiate the sale of the five-year-old girl in Zamfara.

    The commissioner of police said that his men acted on a tip-off and laid ambush for the suspects at strategic points on the border between Zamfara and Sokoto States.

    The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suspected criminals abducted the child from a private school in Imo sometime last week.

    Gwary said the girl was to be delivered for sale to another syndicate in Niger Republic through the Sokoto-Zamfara border.

    He further said the police sourced N600,000 for a phony purchase deal, having been briefed that the syndicate usually collected between N500,000 and N1,000,000 as price tag for sale of their victim.