Author: Aliyu H. Mohammed, Minna

NINE people, including 6 vigilantes have been killed by bandits in Kuchi and adjoining communities in Munya LGA of Niger State. Dozens of farmers as well as women and children were also reported to have been kidnapped by the attackers on Friday. Sources said bandits arrived in the community around 5pm with sophisticated weapons and held residents hostage, shooting sporadically before taking away dozens. Residents told our correspondent that, Kuchi the home town of the current Munya LG Council Chairman, Aminu Najume, and other communities had come under severe attacks several times in the past before relative peace returned. Sources,…

THE Minister of Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, on Thursday, announced scholarships and gave various gift items to 100 orphaned girls in Niger State, ahead of their mass wedding today (Friday). The mass wedding is being sponsored by the Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Abdulmalik Sarkindaji. The minister had kicked against the mass wedding of the young girls, saying it was a violation of the Child Rights Act. Kennedy-Ohanenye, who addressed a press conference in Abuja, noted that she had petitioned the Inspector General of Police to stop the wedding, adding that she also filed a lawsuit, seeking an…

A 35-YEAR-OLD health worker identified as Umar Mohammed has been stabbed to death in Gbeganu Area of Minna, Niger State capital. Sources said the deceased, staff of a private clinic in Minna, was returning home after attending to a patient when he rammed into hoodlums fighting with dangerous. Fight was said to have broken out between hoodlums at a wedding reception in Gbeganu, during which some people were also injured. Residents said activities of hoodlums have led to disruption of peace in Minna, the state capital, in recent times. They said areas usually affected include Kpakungu, Maitumbi, Fadikpe, Gbeganu, Soje,…

SEVERAL people have been trapped as a one-storey building collapsed in Minna, the Niger State capital. Emergency officials who raced to the scene on Friday succeeded in rescuing seven persons who are receiving treatment at the Minna General Hospital. The building is located at the popular New Market Area in Minna, the capital of the North-Central State. At the time of filing this report, the manual evacuation of the debris has commenced, and the authorities said machines would be mobilised quickly so that those suspected to be trapped could be rescued. The immediate cause of the building collapse is not…

BARELY 78 hours after the military authorities withdrew soldiers in Allawa Community in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, bandits have raided the community, stealing foodstuffs. This newspaper had reported how residents fled the community after soldiers withdrew following an ambush. One of the residents, Mallam Yahuza Allawa, who confirmed the invasion to our correspondent via telephone, said bandits entered Allawa and adjoining communities on Sunday morning and stole their food stuffs and other valuables, including goats and other domestic animals. He said residents of Allawa, Saminaka, Gyra-Miyan, Unguwan Sarkin-Noma, Kurmi all fled since Thursday. He said there has…

ONE hundred and nineteen inmates have escaped from the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, in Niger State after a rainstorm damaged part of the facility late Wednesday. “A heavy downpour that lasted for several hours on the night of Wednesday, 24 April 2024 has wreaked havoc on the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Suleja, Niger State, as well as surrounding buildings, destroying a part of the custodial facility, including its perimeter fence, giving way to the escape of a total of one hundred and nineteen (119) inmates of the facility,” the Deputy Superintendent of Corrections Command Public Relations Officer, FCT Command,…

SIX soldiers and one hunter lost their lives in a fight with bandits in Karaga and Rumace communities in Bassa ward, Shiroro local government area of Niger State. Two farmers were also reported to have been killed while houses, food banks and motorcycles were burnt by the attackers. Sources told this newspaper Correspondent on telephone that the attack started around 9pm on Friday and lasted for hours. One of the sources who didn’t want his name mentioned said “Six soldiers lost their lives and one volunteer hunter.” Another source, Mustapha Bassa, said bandits in their numbers rode on motorcycles with…

THE Niger State Governor, Umaru Bago, said he had declared a state of emergency over insecurity in the state following a resurgence of violent activities of thugs in the state capital, Minna.  While speaking at a Sallah Durba festival organised by the former governor of the state Babangida Aliyu on his farm in Minna, he said he had directed security men to shoot at sight any thug found threatening the peace within the state. The governor’s directive comes on the heels of the resurgence of the activities of thugs which led to the death of two persons, and several others…

SUSPECTED thugs in Niger State have reportedly raided shops, killed and maimed residents in the Maitumbi area of Minna, the state capital. Eyewitnesses said the rampage started on Friday and continued for the next two days, forcing a reign of terror in the area. A tricyclist, name withheld, narrated to this newspaper how he narrowly escaped death when some of the hoodlums attacked him while he was carrying some passengers. “As I was riding my tricycle through the Maitumbi area, I had three passengers when about four of the hoodlums attacked us. They were brandishing their knives and daggers, threatening…

NIGER State command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has confirmed the arrest of five suspected cattle rustlers in Tafa Local Government Area of Niger State. The State Commandant of the Corps, Joachim Okafor, confirmed the arrest in a press release made available to newsmen in Minna. Commandant Okafor said that based on credible intelligence the Agro Rangers Team on patrol across Tafa Division got information about 48 cattle which were suspected to have been rustled from Kafuru in Katsina State through Sundu Kano and heading to Paukon Kore Gwagwalada Area Council of Abuja were intercepted. He…

IN a devastating assault on Madaka community within the Rafi local government area of Niger State, suspected bandits have wrought havoc, claiming the lives of no fewer than 21 individuals, among them, the village head. The incident unfolded with terrifying swiftness around 3pm on Thursday, amidst the bustling activity of the community market, resulting in a grim tally of casualties. Reports from the scene suggest that it was utter chaos, with approximately 50 residences engulfed in flames, along with several commercial establishments, and a number of automobiles and motorcycles reduced to charred remnants. The assailants, armed and unrelenting, are said…

MANY people have been reportedly killed when bandits invaded a market in Madaka community, Rafi LGA of Niger State. The residents said the attackers invaded the market around 3pm on Thursday when the market was at its peak, shooting sporadically at people. Details of the attack were still sketchy at the time of filing this report but one of the residents who spoke in confidence said the number of casualties had not been ascertained yet. The people said the attack came two days after bandits also attacked Pangu Gari, killing the district head and four other people. The Niger State…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu says it is not in his character to blame past administrations for the socio-economic and security challenges in Nigeria as he is committed to taking the right actions to re-engineer the finances of the country and stay on the right path to achieve progress. The President spoke on Monday at the flag off of Agric Mechanisation Revolution For Food Security in Minna, the Niger State capital. Many current members of the Tinubu cabinet including Minister of Finance Wale Edun had blamed the current socio-economic and security challenges in the country on ex-President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year administration. However,…

PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu will visit Niger State on Monday, the state government has said. Briefing journalists in Minna on Sunday, the State Commissioner of Information and Strategy, Hon. Binta Mamman, said arrangements have been concluded by the government to ensure a smooth visit of the President. The Minna International Airport named after Abubakar Iman will now be renamed after President Tinubu, the commissioner said. She said President Tinubu is to visit the state to commission agricultural equipment worth billions of naira procured by the state government in the state among others in the state. According to her, all necessary measures…

WORKERS in Niger State have downed tools this morning following a directive by the state chapter of the Nigeria Labour Congress. The indefinite strike came about after the state government failed to meet their demands. The state chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress, Idrees Lafene, and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Ibrahim Gana, had on Monday directed civil servants in the state to commence an indefinite strike over what they described as the failure of the state government to continue negotiations on issues affecting the welfare of the workers and the smooth running of the state. The labour has asked…

A 20-YEAR-OLD newlywed, Aisha Aliyu of Nasarawa village in Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State has reportedly killed her husband, Idris Ahmadu. Residents told this newspaper that the incident happened around 1am on Monday. Multiple sources said the couple got married on December 31, 2023, exactly six weeks ago. One of the sources said the couple had a little misunderstanding in the evening on Sunday and they were reconciled before going to bed, until midnight when the mother of the deceased heard him screaming. “When the mother came out alongside other residents, they saw him in a pool of…

THE Niger State government has directed the release of Aisha Jibrin, leader of the Minna protest who was arrested by the police and 24 others. Commissioner of information and Strategies, Binta Mamman stated this in her office during a press conference in the state capital on Friday. Mrs Maman also told journalists that the decision to release the suspect was a result of thorough review of the circumstances leading to the arrest of Jibrin and other women who led and took part in the protest. The protesters including women and youths were heard chanting protest songs, while security agents including…

RESIDENTS of Suleja in Niger State have taken to the street to register their displeasure over the high cost of living in the country. Wednesday’s protest is coming after a similar protest in Minna, the state capital just two days ago. Suleja, the commercial nerve centre of Niger State, is only a few kilometres away from the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. An eyewitness, Mr. Yazid Abubakar, who spoke to this newspaper by telephone, said the protesters stormed the popular Moroko Road where the biggest market is located in the town.  The protesters carried placards with various inscriptions such as “Leadership…

HUNDREDS of residents of Minna, the Niger State capital, on Monday, protested hunger and high cost of living in the country, blocking major roads within the metropolis. The protesters including women and youths were heard chanting protest songs, while security agents including policemen looked on. The protesters said the rising cost of food items and poor government effort to arresting the situation forced them to block major roads so that government will hear their cry. The Deputy Governor of Niger State, Yakubu Garba, while addressing the protesters, said the government is aware of the pain and hardship families are faced…

HAJIYA Fatima Hussaaina Awwal Ibrahim, the eldest wife of the Emir of Suleja, Niger State, Mallam Muhammadu Awwal, is dead. She reportedly died after a brief illness on Sunday and has been buried according to Islamic rites. The state Governor, Mohammed Umaru Bago while mourning also commiserated with the Suleja Emirate and the Emir of Zazzau Suleja, over the death. Bago in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Bologi Ibrahim, described the death of Hajiya Fatima as a huge loss not only to the Emirate but the state. He encouraged the Emir of Zazzau Suleja to see her…