Author: Bala Muhammad

BLAISE Felix Aliyu, a student of the Air Force Comprehensive School, Kaduna, has been punished to death by two of his senior colleagues. Aliyu, an orphan, who lost his parents in 2013, is said to be survived by his twin brother, who is also a student at the military boarding school, located in Mando, Kaduna. Two SS3 students reportedly summoned the 15-year-old to their room under the pretext of punishing him but ended up killing him. The deceased body has been deposited in the mortuary. Reacting to the development, Air Vice Marshal Edward Gabkwet, spokesperson for the Nigerian Airforce (NAF),…

A NOTORIOUS bandit leader, Kachalla Ragas, has been killed alongside several other terrorists in another coordinated attack by the military in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. A statement by Samuel Aruwan, the Overseeing Commissioner, Ministry of Internal Security and Home Affairs, the coordinated ground and air strikes by troops of Operation Whirl Punch successfully killed several bandits, including some of their leaders at an identified meeting point near Bula community within Yadi Forest in Giwa LGA. “According to operational feedback to the Kaduna State Government, the strike was based on credible intelligence which followed the recent elimination of…

PROTESTERS on Thursday stormed Kaduna Government House asking Governor Uba Sani to invite the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and other relevant security agencies to arrest and prosecute his predecessor, Nasir El-rufai, over an indictment of N423 billion. The protesters in huge numbers under the aegis of Kaduna Citizens Watch for Good Governance trekked from the popular UTC bust stop along Sokoto Road to the main entrance into Sir Kashim Ibrahim Government House, Kaduna in the state capital. They carried placards with inscriptions such as “We will occupy all MDAs to chase out all indicted persons in the report,” “Stop…

AT least six persons have been reportedly killed and scores abducted by bandits who attacked Bauda and Chibiya communities of Maro Ward in the Kajuru Local Government Area (LGA) of Kaduna State. The bandits were said to have stormed the two villages on Monday afternoon and unleashed terror on the residents, killing six persons. The blood-thirsty marauders later took an unspecified number of people away. Several others also sustained varying degrees of injuries. The police authorities in Kaduna State are yet to comment on the incident but the Chairman of Kajuru LGA, Ibrahim Gajere, said the bandits invaded the communities…

THE Armed Forces of Nigeria on Friday, announced the deployment of 197 personnel for the peace keeping mission in the Gambia. This is despite the insecurity scourge raging across Nigeria with heightening cases of banditry, terrorism and kidnapping. The Chief of Operations Nigerian Army, Maj-Gen. Boniface Sinjen disclosed the deployment in Jaji, Kaduna State, at the graduation of troops of Nigerian Company 9 Economic Community of West African States Mission in The Gambia (ECOMIG). This newspaper report that the 197 troops began Pre-Deployment Training (PDT) on May 4, at Martin Luther Agwai International Leadership and Peacekeeping Centre (MLAILPKC) Jaji Kaduna…

TROOPS of Sector 6, Operation Whirl Punch, have killed a notorious bandit, Buhari Alhaji Halidu, popularly known as Buharin Yadi, during an operation in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The infamous terrorist kingpin, who is one of the deadliest bandit leaders terrorizing Northern Nigeria in the last decade, was killed by the security forces along with 35 members of his gang. According to a statement by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, Buharin Yadi and some members of his gang were neutralised during a fierce gun battle with troops of Operation Whirl…

GOVERNOR Dauda Lawal of Zamfara State has lamented the laidback attitude of the police and the military in combating the menace of banditry plaguing the North-West state. He said the uninspiring attitude of Federal Government-controlled security agencies was responsible for the creation of the state security outfit, Community Protection Guard. “We, as governors, don’t have control over the military, we don’t have control over the police as well as the civil defence. In most cases, we get frustrated,” the governor said during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Tuesday. “When you need these people, they are…

TROOPS and Special Forces of Operation Whirl Punch (OPWP) conducting special fighting patrols in the Kachia-Kajuru axis of Kaduna State have neutralized five bandits in Dantarau general area of Kajuru Local Government Area of the state. This was disclosed in a statement issued in Sunday by the State Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, about the troops operations to clear the Maro-Enugu axis spanning Kachia and Kajuru LGAs. According to Aruwan, the troops engaged the bandits at Dantarau community and after a sharp exchange of gunfire, five of the criminals were neutralized. The troops also recovered two…

POLICE authorities in Kaduna State have arrested a 70-year-old man suspected bandit in Zaria. Three others were also nabbed. The suspect, one Hussaini from Tudunjukun in Zaria, was nabbed by operatives attached to Tudun Wada Zaria Division following credible intelligence information about his suspicious movement. Disclosing this in a statement on Tuesday, the state Public Relations Officer, Mansir Hassan, said an AK-47 rifle, a locally made pistol, and three cartridges were recovered from him. “Following credible intelligence information about suspicious movement of an armed bandit, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Tudun Wada Zaria Division led a swift action resulting…

MEMBERS of the Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria (PASAN), an affiliate of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), have shut down the National Assembly in compliance with the indefinite strike declared by the organised labour. Our correspondent who went to the National Assembly to monitor the situation met the entrance and exit gates blocked with two coastal buses by PASAN. The organised labour had insisted that its indefinite strike would begin today as planned following the federal government’s refusal to increase the minimum wage above N60,000. Labour, which is demanding N494,000, said this in Abuja last night after a three-hour meeting…

ALHAJI Aminu Ado Bayero, observe Juma’at prayer at Nassarawa Palace, where he has been residing for nearly a week. The dethroned emir returned to Kano after his deposition by Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, a development which has led to some controversies. On Friday, there were reports that he would be at the mosque where Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi, Emir of Kano, will lead prayer. However, the police dismissed the report. Below are the pictures of Bayero at Nassarawa mosque:

AN FCT-based Islamic cleric, Muhammad Alkandawi, and his wife, Ubaida Abdulmalik, have been arrested by soldiers in their home in Dei-Dei community in Abuja. This newspaper learnt that the wife, as well as three of the cleric’s associates, were earlier arrested on Saturday before the cleric wasSoldiers, vleric, Arrest picked up on Tuesday. In a video and audio message released by the cleric before his arrest, Alkandawi, also known as Sarkin Malamai, said his three associates were released along the way on the day of their arrest but that his wife was taken by the army to the Mogadishu Cantonment.…

THE Federal Government has instituted a legal action against the governors of the 36 states of the federation at the Supreme Court over alleged misconduct in the administration of Local Government Areas. The suit filed by the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, is seeking full autonomy for all local government areas in the country. In suit, the Federal Government specifically prayed the court to issue an order, prohibiting state governors from embarking on unilateral, arbitrary and unlawful dissolution of democratically elected local government leaders. The governors of the 36 states were sued through…

OPERATIVES of the Kaduna State Police Command have arrested a notorious bandit, Muhammad Bello aka Dan Bello during an operation at Kidandan in Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state. The 30-year-old Bello, who hails from the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, is a close ally of the notorious bandit, Dogo Haliru, and both are responsible for the numerous attacks in Zamfara, Katsina and the Kaduna-Abuja expressway. The suspect was arrested based on credible intelligence by operatives of Operation Yaki. This was disclosed in a statement on Saturday by the Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna State…

TROOPS of Operation Whirl Punch operating in the North-West zone have killed four bandits, including the notorious Dogon Bangaje, during fighting patrols in Giwa Local Government Area of Kaduna State. According to a statement by the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan, the troops first conducted the special fighting patrol over the weekend at Tumburku village. Then they projected the same to Sabon Sara, both in Giwa LGA. He explained that the troops acting on credible intelligence, sighted bandits fleeing the latter location, and engaged the criminals in hot pursuit. During the process, the troops…

THE Kaduna State government has disclosed plans to merge a total of 359 schools over incessant activities of bandits which had resulted in cases of abduction and kidnapping in the state. Speaking at a stakeholders forum and the training of the Schools’ Protection Squad on Wednesday, Governor Uba Sani represented by his Chief of Staff, Sani Kila, said the schools in vulnerable communities would be merged with those in safe locations, as part of measures to safeguard the schools and children from being attacked by bandits. According to him, the launched school protection squad under the Federal Government’s Safe School…

FOLLOWING the decision by the Kaduna State House of Assembly to investigate the financial dealings and contractual liabilities by the immediate past administration of former Governor Nasir El-Rufai, the adhoc committee set up by the House to investigate the issue has commenced fact-finding clarification sessions. During the commencement of the sitting held behind closed door at the House of Assembly complex on Tuesday, the committee engaged in detailed discussions with several key past and serving government officials especially those who served under the El-Rufai administration between May 29, 2015 to May 29, 2023. Among those invited so far include the…

BANDITS have killed six persons when the assailants attacked the Ambe community of Sanga Local Government Area, Kaduna State, on Sunday night. The spokesman of the Kaduna State Police Command Mansir Hassan confirmed the incident to News Point Nigeria, saying that one suspect has been arrested in connection with the attack. According to Hassan, police operatives from Sanga Divisional Police Station and troops of Operation Safe Haven upon getting a distress call, rushed to the community and engaged the bandits in a gun duel during which one of the bandits was arrested while the rest escaped into the forest with…

THE Nigeria Police Force said its operatives had arrested one Ibrahim Abdullahi, aka Mande, who is believed to be the mastermind behind the March 2022 Abuja-Kaduna train attack as well as kidnapping and murder of students of Greenfield University and the many abductions along the Abuja-Kaduna highway. Mande was nabbed along with several other suspects. The Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, revealed this during a press briefing in Kaduna State. Parading the suspects at the Kaduna Police Command Headquarters in on Thursday, the Force Public Relations Officer Muyiwa Adejobi said that Mande was arrested based on credible information…

THE military high command says it has concluded its long-awaited investigations on the bombing of innocent citizens Tudun Biri village of Igabi LGA of Kaduna State. It also said two officers of the Nigerian Army, who were found wanting about the incident would face court-martial, saying the operation shouldn’t have happened in the first place. The Director, Defence Media Operations, Edward Buba, disclosed this at an ongoing press briefing at Defence Headquarters, Abuja on Thursday. This newspaper had reported how the drone bombing mistake, which occurred on Sunday, December 3, 2023, resulted in dozens of casualties and injuries to residents…