Tag: Bandits

Presidency says Bandits Carrying AK-47 will be Shot on Sight
Boko Haram, Fulani Herdsmen, Nigeria, Terrorism

Presidency says Bandits Carrying AK-47 will be Shot on Sight

Nigerian presidency said on Wednesday that security agents have been given the order to shoot anyone found carrying AK-47 illegally. Helicopters that violate the ‘no fly zone’ slammed on Zamfara State will also be brought down as the government goes tough on banditry and other criminal activities in the country. Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu, who stated this on Wednesday, spoke on the Hausa Service of the BBC. National Security Adviser (NSA) Babagana Monguno on Tuesday announced the Presidential directive that Service Chiefs should be hard on criminal elements to secure Nigerians. Asked if the President’s directive to security agencies to go after abductors of the Zamfara schoolgirls and bring them to justice is not too weak...
NYSC Responds to Rumours on Expending Corps Member’s February Salary on Bandits
Finance, News, Nigeria

NYSC Responds to Rumours on Expending Corps Member’s February Salary on Bandits

The National Youth Service Corps Management has discredited the speculation that the February stipend for corps members has been expended on the settlement of bandits. The management of the NYSC described the rumour as fake news masterminded my mischief-makers, adding that reports that the February stipend for corps members will be paid at the end of March was false. It disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘To all Corps Members and the General Public’. The NYSC urged corps members to only rely on the NYSC platforms for information regarding the Service. The statement read, “The Management of the National Youth Service Corps wishes to alert members of the public, especially Corps Members on the fake news currently trending, which states that Corps Members will be paid the February...
Gunmen Kidnap 300 Girls in Zamfara School
Crime, Education, News, Nigeria

Gunmen Kidnap 300 Girls in Zamfara School

Government Girls Secondary School, Jangebe in the Talata-Mafara Local Government of Zamfara State has been raided by gunmen suspected to be bandits and abducted about 300 schoolgirls in the early hours of Friday, 26th February, 2021. According to a staff of the school who spoke to Punch on the condition of anonymity, the gunmen arrived at the school around 1am on Friday with Hilux vehicles and motorcycles and forcefully took the schoolgirls. The source said some of the gunmen dressed in uniforms and pretended to be security personnel, before they broke into the students' hostels and kidnapped over 300 students. He said, “When they came into the school, we thought they were security personnel but to our utmost fear and dismay, they started putting the girls into Hilux vehicles and ...
Bandits Are Peaceful People, says Sheikh Gumi
News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

Bandits Are Peaceful People, says Sheikh Gumi

Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, an Islamic Cleric has defended perpetrators of banditry in the country, saying that they are victims of circumstance. The cleric reiterated his standpoint during an interview on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Monday. Gumi had been an advocate of amnesty for bandits after meeting with them in the forest. He said, “When I listened to them, I found out that it is a simple case of criminality which turned into banditry, which turned into ethnic war, and some genocide too behind the scene; people don’t know.” “There is no excuse for any crime; nothing can justify crime, and they are committing crime,” the bandits were forced into criminality. “I think it is a population that is pushed by circumstances into criminality. “And this is what we should lo...
Kagara Students Yet to be Released — Niger Governor
Education, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Violence, Youths

Kagara Students Yet to be Released — Niger Governor

Governor Sani Bello of Niger State has debunked speculations that about 42 persons kidnapped by bandits from the Government Science College, Kagara, in the state have been released. Speculations on Sunday night suggested that the schoolchildren have been set free. In his reaction, the governor in a press conference in Minna said efforts were at top gear to rescue the students safely. Recall that gunmen suspected to be bandits had raided the school on Wednesday, kidnapping 27 students and some staff members. Meanwhile, the passengers who were abducted last week Sunday by bandits allegedly affiliated to the Abubakar Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram, Jama’atu Ahlussunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, have been received at Government House, Minna. The victims who walked into the governme...
Kagara Abduction: Govt Plans to Swap Schoolchildren for Arrested Bandits
Education, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Violence, Youths

Kagara Abduction: Govt Plans to Swap Schoolchildren for Arrested Bandits

Speculations are rife that the government might cave into releasing some arrested bandits as part of the deal to secure the release of 27 pupils and 15 workers of Government Science College, Kagara, in the Rafi Local Government Area of Niger State. Reports on Friday say the bandits that perpetrated the abduction of the schoolchildren on Wednesday are demanding for the release of their gang members in custody of security agencies as a swap deal to free the abductees, Punch reports. The bandits had raided the school in military uniform around 2am on Wednesday, and captured their victims while killing a Senior Secondary School 3 student who raised the alarm in the process. They took their victims to a nearby spot around Attahiru Secondary School where they had reportedly parked their...
Katsina Abduction: Gov Masari Confirms 333 Out of 839 Students Still Missing
Education, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Terrorism, Violence

Katsina Abduction: Gov Masari Confirms 333 Out of 839 Students Still Missing

Governor Aminu Masari of Katsina State on Sunday confirmed that a total of 333 students of Government Science School, Kankara, Katsina State are missing following the bandits’ attack on Friday night. Masari disclosed this when he received a Federal Government delegation led by the National Security Adviser, Babagana Monguno on Sunday, Channels Television reports. The governor while explaining that the school has a population of 839 students noted that those abducted cut across board as the school had students from all parts of the state and beyond the state. He said, “Based on the available record we have, we are still searching for 333 students through either the forest or their parents to ascertain the actual number that has been kidnapped,” “We are still counting because mor...