The attack saw gunmen move house to house as well as take positions atop a hill and open fire, the official said. Houses were also burnt, but it was not clear how many.

“There was an attack by armed bandits early Tuesday on Kizara village where 48 residents were killed in apparent targeted killings by cattle rustlers that have been terrorising the state for some time now,” said Ibrahim Birnin-Magaji, commissioner for information in Zamfara state, where the remote village is located.

Dozens of gunmen arrived in the village before dawn on motorbikes, he said

“Some of them climbed up the hill overlooking the village and opened fire indiscriminately,” he said.

“They later moved house to house, telling residents that they were looking for members of local vigilante (groups) whom they said had been disturbing them.”

He said those killed included the local chief, the chief imam and the head of the vigilante group in the village.

“The police from nearby Keta mobilised and engaged the bandits in a shootout, but they were overwhelmed by the gunmen’s superior firepower and were forced to retreat,” said Birnin-Magaji.

Many villages form local vigilante groups to defend themselves against violent cattle rustlers or other criminal gangs, sometimes leading to a cycle of clashes and reprisal attacks.

Zamfara state has seen a number of such incidents.

There was so far no sign of any link to Islamist extremist group Boko Haram, which has been waging a deadly insurgency mainly in the northeast. The military is currently engaged in an offensive seeking to end Boko Haram’s four-year insurgency.

However, the raid is the latest sign of insecurity in Africa’s most populous nation and largest oil producer, where authorities have been largely unable to stop such violence.

The country includes some 250 ethnic groups and is roughly divided between a mainly Muslim north and predominately Christian south. Illegal weapons are widespread.

While such clashes in central Nigeria tend to involve ethnic tensions, they are more strictly criminal further north, with attackers and victims from the same ethnic group in certain cases.

“This trend of raids by bandits stealing cows and cash from villagers has become a serious menace which should be jointly tackled by the federal and state governments,” said Birnin-Magaji.

Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar lll, had at a meeting of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam in Kaduna, last week, urged the President to grant members of the sect amnesty.

However, the Emir of Anka at a workshop on peace building and conflict management for sustainable development, organised by the National Emergency Management Agency on Wednesday in Kaduna, said “amnesty is for people you can identify”.

He added, “Where were our leaders when members of Boko Haram were going to receive trainings outside the country. Let us check ourselves, if there must be justice, we must go back to the basics.”

He also blamed the current security challenges on the elite and politicians.

Ahmad said, “From experience, I have come to realise that whenever you have crisis and a proper investigation is carried out, you always find the involvement of these two classes. Within my domain, a sad experience occurred sometimes ago when an Igbo man, who owned a shop, was attacked and his shop burnt because his son was said to have torn a copy of the Quran. But upon investigation, I found out that a native of Anka, who was also in the same business with the Igbo man, deliberately roped-in the Igbo family.

“He took a piece of paper with an Islamic inscription on it and tore it into pieces in front of the Igbo man’s shop and then raised the alarm calling on all Muslims faithful to come and see a copy of the Quran torn into pieces by the son of the Igbo trader. The crowd grew angry and set the house and the shop of the Igbo man ablaze immediately. You can see that this native of Anka did this malicious act purely for personal interest and not religion. And that is how it is with the elite and the politicians”.

He added, “As a traditional ruler, who lives with the people, I have come to a conclusion that if the common man is left alone, there is going to be peace in the land. But any place you find crisis, just look around, you must find the involvement of these two classes – the elite and the politicians.”

-Via Punch

Gusau – A police corporal, Jeremiah Yusuf, lost four children in a fire incident  at  Tudun-wada Quarters of Gusau, Zamfara, on Wednesday.

Yusuf said a neighbour’s house where he was receiving sympathisers, that “I watched all my children burn helplessly before me and I could not do anything to save them.”

Yusuf explained that he became aware of the incident at about 1am when his sister-in-law, rushed into his bedroom shouting that the four-bedroom house was on fire.

“When I woke up I noticed that even the mattress that I was lying on had also caught fire and that was when I thought of my children, who were all sleeping in the same room,’’ he said.

The bereaved corporal said that before he could do anything the ceiling had caved in and killed them.

He said that his wife had travelled to Benue with his last son, adding that she been informed of the incident.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Alhaji Hassan Atto, urged Yusuf during a condolence visit to consider the tragedy as an act of God.

Atto promised that the State Government would assist him to cushion the effects of the loss.

The SSG said the government would reposition the Fire Service to meet eventualities, especially “as we enter into harmattan.”

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Usman Gwary, and the Divisional Police Officer of Tudun-wada Police Station, Abubakar Shika, had paid their condolence visits on the bereaved corporal. (NAN)

-Vanguard

An eyewitness told the Nigerian Tribune that the hoodlums came on horses and motorcycles, carrying dangerous weapons and AK47 rifles around 2.00 a.m. to attack the small village when most of the people had gone to bed.

According to sources, in the stampede, at least 17 people were reported to have died from gunshots, including the village head who was popularly addressed as ‘Alhaji Maiyara’.

Findings revealed that the onslaught which lasted for two hours not  unconnected with the role members of the vigilance group played in recent times which provoked the gunmen who embarked on a reprisal.

‘The armed bandits had made several attempts to rob the people of their belongings and each time, they were chased away. On few occasions some of them were even caught and maimed by men of the village vigilante group.

As of the time of filing this report, the state is acting governor, Alhaji Sanusi Garba Rikiji, in company with the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Usman Akila Gwary, had left Gusau, the state capital, to the scene of the incident.

Speaking with newsmen before their departure, the state acting governor described the incident as barbaric and negated the sharia law which is being practised in the state, saying that, the state government would not fold its arms and allow the miscreants to go scot free.

-Tribune

Wakkala, who is also the state deputy governor, said the deportees, who arrived in the state in good health, were received by top government officials.

He charged the women to remain calm as the Federal Government was working to ensure that the differences between Nigeria and Saudi Arabia were resolved.

The deputy governor said that while the state would be waiting to hear the outcome of the meeting between the authorities of the two countries, the state government had directed officials to go vet the documents of the intending pilgrims.

It was gathered that all the returnees have been dispatched to their respective local governments.

-Tribune

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Usman Hassan, said, that the thugs were arrested in Gusau and its environs.

He said the police acted on information  it received from the public to raid  criminal hideouts.

“It was through such raids that we carried out following different tip-offs that we were able to raid many criminal hideouts and ended up with these arrests last month,” he said.

He said all the suspects had since been charged to  courts.

He urged the public to cooperate with the police as they  had been directed to stop and search persons and vehicles at any time.

He said that the measure would help to  curb  criminal activities to the barest minimum.

Hassan appealed to parents to always monitor the movement of  their children and their type of friends “so that the innocent will not be corrupted.”

The crime wave has  gradually returned  to the state with  daytime house breaking and thefts occurring. (NAN)

via Vanguard

imprisonment for fornication and are to be given 30 strokes of the cane each.

Those convicted were Badamasi Ibrahim, Mudi BB, Zainab Abubakar, and Maryam Nasiru.

The prosecutor told the court that the two ladies were found of visiting their lovers at home everyday and would not leave the house until it was mid-night.

According to the prosecutor, the attitude of the four accused contravened the Sharia law practised in the state which forbade the union of a man and woman that were not married to stay under one roof.

The accused also pleaded guilty on the charges levelled against them.

Delivering his judgment, the Sharia court judge, Alhaji Saadu Shinkafi, maintained that the evidence before the court showed that the

accused were guilty of the offence levelled against them.

-Tribune

The SSG made the disclosure during the recently concluded local government election in Bungudu, his hometown on Saturday.

“I am highly impressed on how your paper (Tribune) has made a tremendous headway in the North. Truly speaking, it has won the hearts of many northerners in recent times,” he told a reporter of the Nigerian Tribune.

He advised the management of the newspaper to continue in this spirit, by giving opportunities for expression to both the state government and the masses.

Alhaji Ato also debunked the insinuation that the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) rigged the just concluded local governments election in the state, adding that it was clear to everyone that the party defeated a sitting state government.

He affirmed that the victory of ANPP at the polls, once again, proved that the people had confidence in the leadership style of the party.

Spaeking with newsmen in Gusau, the police boss said the suspect was helping the police in their investigations.
On the recent media report in a national newspapers that that the billboard of the president was destroyed in Maradun Local Government Area of the state, he maintained that the report was malicious, false and a figment of the writer’s imagination aimed at rubbishing the police.

According to him, when the report was published, he swung into action and summoned all the stakeholders in the area with the view to unearth the truth but to their (police) chagrin, they later discovered nothing of such
happened.

“Even plainclothes detectives were dispatched to the village and a thorough investigation was conducted but we could not lay our hands on any person or group of persons with such motive. To cut the story short, the billboard of Mr President is still in Maradun. It has not been mutilated or torn as reported,” he said.

-Tribune

The suspects were also said to have awarded another contract with their forged governor’s signature for the supply of, Toyota Camry cars worth N500 million to Mr. Chris Onyekuleye of Anambra State.
The Zamfara State police who paraded the suspects revealed that the N2.25 billion contract which was awarded by the suspects (Umar Faruk) was for the supply of sugar, rice and fertilizer to the state government.
According to police investigation, the suspect has conspired and forged Governor Abdulaziz Yari Abubakar’s signatures and that of Permanent Secretary, Governor’s Office to actualise their unholy business.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), ASP Sanusi Amiru, who confirmed the apprehension said, Maizinari had allegedly connived and collected N2million from the contractor, Mr. Chris to facilitate the payment of the awarded contract.
The PPRO further explained that the contractor has also given bribe of a Jaguar vehicle in addition to the N2 million as back-up for the facilitation of the payment of the said contract.

The police spokesman disclosed that the suspects were charged with criminal conspiracy, breach of trust, cheating and forgery. Umar Faruk was until his arrest, alleged the Personal Assistant (PA) to the state Chairman, All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP), Alhaji Lawali Abubakar Kaura.

 -Sun