Gunmen have gone on the rampage again, killing several people and abducting many others in different states between late Wednesday night and Thursday.
On Wednesday, a traditional ruler, Chief Hyacinth Ajon and three other people were killed in separate attacks on two local government areas of Benue State.
The monarch was said to have been killed alongside one, Benjamin Anakula in Tse Zoola community of Makurdi LGA; while two others whose names were not given were also killed in Guma area of the state.
The eldest man in the community, Aho Zoola, said gunmen suspected to be herders attacked the villagers at about 2:00am, shot sporadically and killed the two people.
Zoola, according to the report of one of Governor Samuel Ortom’s media aide, narrated that the attack on their rural abode came to them as a surprise because they never had any issues with herders.
The media aide, Jimmin Geoffrey, had stated that the governor was returning from a burial in the area when he had a stopover to sympathise with the villagers who are already displaced from their homes and assured them that he would do everything possible to get security agencies to the area.
Similarly, the chairman of Guma LGA, Caleb Aba, told newsmen in Makurdi that the two other people were killed on Wednesday in Mbayer-Yandev council ward of Guma.
Aba however fingered suspected herders behind the killings in his domain.
Bandits attack Kaduna hospital, abduct 2 nurses
Armed bandits on Wednesday attacked the General Hospital Idon in Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna State and abducted two nurses.
A source from the community confirmed the abduction, saying the incident happened at night.
The hospital is a 24-hour secondary health care facility serving Idon, Makyali, Idon Gida, Kajuru, Maro, Kasuwan Magani, Kufana, Kallah, Kurmin Idon, Buda and Afogo communities in Kajuru local government area.
A source from the community, who did not want to be mentioned, told Daily Trust that the victims were on night shift before their abduction.
The chairman of the local government, Cafra Caino, also confirmed the abduction but said security had been beefed around the area.
NSCDC officer shot dead in Edo
An operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) guarding the private residence of the University of Benin’s bursar has been shot dead by gunmen suspected to be armed robbers.
The incident it was gathered happened at Ogheghe Community, Ikpoba-Okha local government area of Edo State.
It was gathered that the incident occurred at about 2.45am on Thursday when armed robbers invaded the area.
They scaled a fence in attempt to flee after robbery and landed in the bursar’s compound.
It was further gathered that the gunmen on landing in the compound met the NSCDC officer identified as Alex Osaghae sleeping and shot him dead.
Daily Trust further learnt that the hoodlum after killing the officer made away with his official rifle.
The spokesman of the Edo State Command, NSCDC, Ogbebor Efosa, who confirmed the incident declined further comments.
Meanwhile, UNIBEN Bursar, Victor Imagbe, and the public relations officer of the institution, Benedicta Ehanire, did not responded to inquiries as of the time of filing this report.
2 killed in Rivers cult clash
No fewer than two persons were killed yesterday in a rival cult clash at the Ntawogba axis of Diobu in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
An eyewitness account said this happened when two rival cult groups, Demgbam and Icelanders, engaged themselves in a gun battle.
A source said the incident which took place at about 3.00pm caused pandemonium in the Diobu axis of Port Harcourt as residents scampered for safety.
When contacted, Rivers State Police Command Public Relations Officer, SP Nnamdi Omoni, said he was yet to be briefed about the incident.
Niger military camp shut as bandits abduct 15 in fresh attack
The army yesterday shut down a military camp in Zagzaga community in Munya council area of Niger after another attack by bandits.
It has also launched a search operation with the support of the community youths for one missing soldier in the wake of the attack.
It came after bandits estimated to number up to 60 invaded the camp early Wednesday and engaged soldiers in a gun battle.
The bandits suffered heavy casualties, but no soldier was wounded in the attack, except the missing one.
The soldiers moved out of the community in what the secretary to the state government, Ibrahim Matene, called a “tactical withdrawal”.
Hours after the soldiers moved out, bandits launched coordinated attacks on communities in the area, a source within the community tells Daily Trust.
Some 15 people were reportedly abducted in the night attacks, forcing residents to flee to neighbouring villages.
Communities affected in the fresh attacks Wednesday night are Zagzaga, Zhani, Guni and Maraban Daudu.
The villagers are reportedly to have all relocated from these communities, leaving only the youths and some men behind.
The source said the 15 people were abducted from Boddo village in the early hours of Thursday during the invasion.
When contacted on the latest incident, the Secretary to the State Government said the military camp was being closed temporarily for tactical reasons, stressing that the military has being stationed in the community for the past five years due to the notorious nature of the area.
He disclosed that Zagzaga community and other surrounding villages have remained entry and exit routes for the bandits before the soldiers were brought and stationed there, adding that the people have enjoyed a steady peace for the past five years that the military were there.
Nigeria now expansive killing field — PDP
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP) says Nigeria, under President Muhammadu Buhari, has become an expansive killing field where bandits, terrorist, kidnappers and invaders are having a field day despoiling communities and killing citizens.
The party, in a statement yesterday by its spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, described the situation as completely unacceptable.
The party decried the killing of many people in the recent bandit attacks on four villages in two local government areas of Zamfara State.
It also bemoaned the killing of a staff member and the abduction of an unknown number of students of Greenfield University in Kaduna State Tuesday night.
According to the PDP it is saddening that bandits and terrorists are holding Nigeria to ransom “due to the manifest lack of commitment by the Presidency and the disoriented All Progressives Congress to decisively confront the situation and secure our country.
“Our party recalls that we had advised President Buhari to conduct a holistic rejigging of our national security architecture but Mr. President only replaced the faces of the service chiefs, without any attention to serious operational issues, as if the replacement of commanders were the exclusive magic wand for the security challenges facing our nation.
“For the umpteenth time, the PDP charges President Buhari to wake up from slumber, stop his unnecessary rhetoric, blame games and lame marching orders and take bold steps to rejig our national security architecture to guarantee the protection of lives and property in our country.
“Our party holds that President Buhari, as the commander-in-chief, who promised to lead from the front, cannot be sleeping on duty or having penchant for overseas trips when our nation is on the edge,” the PDP stated.
Hope Abah Emmanuel (Makurdi), Romoke W. Ahmad (Minna), Mohammed Ibrahim Yaba (Kaduna), Usman A. Bello (Benin), Victor Edozie (Port Harcourt) & Hamisu Kabir Matazu (Abuja)
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