Written by Isaac Shobayo, James Bwala, Kola Oyelere and Chris AgbambuTuesday, 03 April 2012
AN annual hunting festival in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State turned bloody, at the weekend, with the killing of five protesting youths by men suspected to be members of the Special Task Force while a police station and a magistrates’ court in the area were also burnt down.
A policeman attached to the Special Task Force maintaining law and order in Barakin Ladi Local Government Area of the state was also killed on Sunday by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
A source close to the Maingo community in Bassa Local Government Area told Nigerian Tribune that the youth, who had filed out for the festival on Sunday, were returning from a hunting expedition, when a fracas suddenly broke out between rival factions leading to commotion and a free-for-all.
It was learnt that in an attempt to arrest the situation, some elders within the community invited the police to help restore normalcy and in the process arrested two of the youth and took them to the police station within the vicinity for interrogation.
Irked by the arrest, the youth reorganised themselves and stormed the police station in a commando-like operation and forcibly released the youth from police custody and burnt down the station and the magistrates’ court beside the police station. Property such as vehicles and other belongings were also damaged by the irate youth.
Nigerian Tribune further learnt that the arrival of a reinforcement of law enforcement agents to the area further aggravated the situation, as the youth confronted them by hauling stones and other dangerous weapons at them, forcing the law enforcement agents to employ firearms and killing five people in the process of trying to disperse the youth.
It was learnt that despite the large presence of men of the Special Task Force in the community, women in the area trooped out en masse in black attire on Monday to protest the killing, alleging that the law enforcement agents worsened the situation by killing five people and were later persuaded by elders to return to their various homes.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Samuel Dabai, who confirmed the development to Nigerian Tribune, said the incident which started as a minor fracas between two youths, while returning from hunting, assumed a dangerous dimension with the forceful release of two people arrested and burning down of a police station and a magistrates’ court in the community.
He said that contrary to the claim of the people in the community that five people died, only one person died with two persons injured.
In a related development, a police officer attached to the Special Task Force in Barakin Ladi Local Government Area of the state was brutally killed in the area, at the weekend, by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
Confirming the incident, the PPRO, Samuel Dabai, said the policeman was chatting with some people when some gunmen shot him at close range, killing him on the spot and injuring two other civilians standing with him.
The PPRO said the corpse of the policeman had been deposited at Vom Christian Hospital while those who sustained injuries were receiving treatment at the same hospital.
Meanwhile, a gunman suspected to be a member of the deadly Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on Monday morning shot and killed Mr Ibrahim Gana Malgwi in Abbaganaram ward of Maiduguri, Borno State.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that Malgwi, of the State Security Service (SSS) Borno State command, was shot dead at about 11.00 a.m. when he left his residence in the state low-cost housing area to go and have a haircut at a nearby salon in Abbaganaram ward.
Confirming the incident to journalists in Maiduguri, a top SSS official in the state said that one of their staff was trailed by Boko Haram members on his way to a nearby salon in Abbaganaram on Monday morning, where he was shot many times before he died.
He said already, the remains of Malgwi had been conveyed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital mortuary, even as he added that investigation was going on with a view to arresting the culprits.
A policeman attached to the Special Task Force maintaining law and order in Barakin Ladi Local Government Area of the state was also killed on Sunday by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
A source close to the Maingo community in Bassa Local Government Area told Nigerian Tribune that the youth, who had filed out for the festival on Sunday, were returning from a hunting expedition, when a fracas suddenly broke out between rival factions leading to commotion and a free-for-all.
It was learnt that in an attempt to arrest the situation, some elders within the community invited the police to help restore normalcy and in the process arrested two of the youth and took them to the police station within the vicinity for interrogation.
Irked by the arrest, the youth reorganised themselves and stormed the police station in a commando-like operation and forcibly released the youth from police custody and burnt down the station and the magistrates’ court beside the police station. Property such as vehicles and other belongings were also damaged by the irate youth.
Nigerian Tribune further learnt that the arrival of a reinforcement of law enforcement agents to the area further aggravated the situation, as the youth confronted them by hauling stones and other dangerous weapons at them, forcing the law enforcement agents to employ firearms and killing five people in the process of trying to disperse the youth.
It was learnt that despite the large presence of men of the Special Task Force in the community, women in the area trooped out en masse in black attire on Monday to protest the killing, alleging that the law enforcement agents worsened the situation by killing five people and were later persuaded by elders to return to their various homes.
The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Samuel Dabai, who confirmed the development to Nigerian Tribune, said the incident which started as a minor fracas between two youths, while returning from hunting, assumed a dangerous dimension with the forceful release of two people arrested and burning down of a police station and a magistrates’ court in the community.
He said that contrary to the claim of the people in the community that five people died, only one person died with two persons injured.
In a related development, a police officer attached to the Special Task Force in Barakin Ladi Local Government Area of the state was brutally killed in the area, at the weekend, by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen.
Confirming the incident, the PPRO, Samuel Dabai, said the policeman was chatting with some people when some gunmen shot him at close range, killing him on the spot and injuring two other civilians standing with him.
The PPRO said the corpse of the policeman had been deposited at Vom Christian Hospital while those who sustained injuries were receiving treatment at the same hospital.
Meanwhile, a gunman suspected to be a member of the deadly Islamic sect, Boko Haram, on Monday morning shot and killed Mr Ibrahim Gana Malgwi in Abbaganaram ward of Maiduguri, Borno State.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that Malgwi, of the State Security Service (SSS) Borno State command, was shot dead at about 11.00 a.m. when he left his residence in the state low-cost housing area to go and have a haircut at a nearby salon in Abbaganaram ward.
Confirming the incident to journalists in Maiduguri, a top SSS official in the state said that one of their staff was trailed by Boko Haram members on his way to a nearby salon in Abbaganaram on Monday morning, where he was shot many times before he died.
He said already, the remains of Malgwi had been conveyed to the University of Maiduguri Teaching Hospital mortuary, even as he added that investigation was going on with a view to arresting the culprits.
Gunmen, stray bullets kill 4 in Kano
Two gunmen arrested at Sheka community on the outskirts of Kano over an allegation of robbery were, however, killed by people suspected to be members of Boko Haram, just as a stray bullet allegedly killed women at Pashekara, also on the outskirts of the state capital.
Also, an unconfirmed report said six people were allegedly killed in a crossfire between the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the gunmen at Abacha Youth Centre in Pashe-kara.
JTF Public Relations Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ikdichi Iweha, while confirming the report of the killed two gunmen, said the gunmen killed the two suspected robbers arrested by the people of Sheka community.
According to him, the two suspected robbers were arrested by the people of Sheka and, in an attempt to hand them over to police, they were confronted by gunmen who then killed the arrested suspected robbers.
He, however, denied the killing of six people that were said to have been killed by the JTF, saying that there was no iota of truth in the allegation that soldiers killed six people at the Sani Abacha Youth Centre.
Meanwhile, in an encounter that ensued between the gunmen and soldiers on Monday, two women were allegedly killed by stray bullets.
While some people in the area alleged that the bullets were fired by the soldiers, a source said the source of the stray bullet could not be determined, as there was a crossfire between the JTF and the gunmen.
However, while commenting on the incident, Lieutenant-Colonel Iweha said the two women lost their lives due to attack by the gunmen, saying that the hoodlums launched an attack on the JTF and the soldiers had to return the fire.
Boko Haram kills police officer, lecturer in Kaduna
A senior legal officer of the Kaduna State police command was killed at his home by a Boko Haram agent.
The action, which happened shortly after a suicide bomber blew himself up in Ungwan Muazu last night, may signal a new theatre of war for the extremist group.
Salisu Mohammed, the police officer, was shot in the presence of his family at Rigasa area of Kaduna.
The assailants killed Mohammed and his friend, a lecturer at the Kaduna State Polytechnic.
According to an unconfirmed report, the sect killed Mohammed and the lecturer as a reprisal against individuals opposed to the sect.
The sect had announced in an open letter distributed in Kaduna that it was preparing to fight security operatives in the state and had warned residents who live near military, police, SSS and prisons to relocate immediately.
Attacks: IG summons CPs
Following the attacks and killing of security personnel, including policemen and SSS by the Boko Haram sect and blowing up of oil facilities in the South-South, an emergency security meeting with commissioners of police has been scheduled for today in Abuja by the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji M. D. Abubakar.
Aside the issue of terror attacks, it was gathered that incidences of kidnapping and bank robberies would also be deliberated upon.
It was equally gathered that the Federal Government was not happy that militants succeeded in blowing up some oil facilities at the weekend, because it was capable of giving out wrong signals to the international community.
For new wave of attacks on police personnel, which had seen the force losing a number of its men to Boko Haram attacks in recent days, the IG was expected to ask the CPs to be more proactive, with a view to preventing the killings of their men.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that following the imbroglio over the posting of assistant inspectors general of police by the Police Service Commission, both the new and the old AIGs were exempted from the meeting.
SOURCE: The Tribune, 3 April 2012. http://tribune.com.ng/index.php
Two gunmen arrested at Sheka community on the outskirts of Kano over an allegation of robbery were, however, killed by people suspected to be members of Boko Haram, just as a stray bullet allegedly killed women at Pashekara, also on the outskirts of the state capital.
Also, an unconfirmed report said six people were allegedly killed in a crossfire between the Joint Task Force (JTF) and the gunmen at Abacha Youth Centre in Pashe-kara.
JTF Public Relations Officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Ikdichi Iweha, while confirming the report of the killed two gunmen, said the gunmen killed the two suspected robbers arrested by the people of Sheka community.
According to him, the two suspected robbers were arrested by the people of Sheka and, in an attempt to hand them over to police, they were confronted by gunmen who then killed the arrested suspected robbers.
He, however, denied the killing of six people that were said to have been killed by the JTF, saying that there was no iota of truth in the allegation that soldiers killed six people at the Sani Abacha Youth Centre.
Meanwhile, in an encounter that ensued between the gunmen and soldiers on Monday, two women were allegedly killed by stray bullets.
While some people in the area alleged that the bullets were fired by the soldiers, a source said the source of the stray bullet could not be determined, as there was a crossfire between the JTF and the gunmen.
However, while commenting on the incident, Lieutenant-Colonel Iweha said the two women lost their lives due to attack by the gunmen, saying that the hoodlums launched an attack on the JTF and the soldiers had to return the fire.
Boko Haram kills police officer, lecturer in Kaduna
A senior legal officer of the Kaduna State police command was killed at his home by a Boko Haram agent.
The action, which happened shortly after a suicide bomber blew himself up in Ungwan Muazu last night, may signal a new theatre of war for the extremist group.
Salisu Mohammed, the police officer, was shot in the presence of his family at Rigasa area of Kaduna.
The assailants killed Mohammed and his friend, a lecturer at the Kaduna State Polytechnic.
According to an unconfirmed report, the sect killed Mohammed and the lecturer as a reprisal against individuals opposed to the sect.
The sect had announced in an open letter distributed in Kaduna that it was preparing to fight security operatives in the state and had warned residents who live near military, police, SSS and prisons to relocate immediately.
Attacks: IG summons CPs
Following the attacks and killing of security personnel, including policemen and SSS by the Boko Haram sect and blowing up of oil facilities in the South-South, an emergency security meeting with commissioners of police has been scheduled for today in Abuja by the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji M. D. Abubakar.
Aside the issue of terror attacks, it was gathered that incidences of kidnapping and bank robberies would also be deliberated upon.
It was equally gathered that the Federal Government was not happy that militants succeeded in blowing up some oil facilities at the weekend, because it was capable of giving out wrong signals to the international community.
For new wave of attacks on police personnel, which had seen the force losing a number of its men to Boko Haram attacks in recent days, the IG was expected to ask the CPs to be more proactive, with a view to preventing the killings of their men.
Meanwhile, it was gathered that following the imbroglio over the posting of assistant inspectors general of police by the Police Service Commission, both the new and the old AIGs were exempted from the meeting.
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