The Kaduna State Government on Thursday asked a Kaduna High Court to sentence 50 Shiite members to death for allegedly causing the death of a soldier.
The government had filed a five-count charge against the accused before Justice David Wyom.
It accused them of criminal conspiracy, unlawful assembly, culpable homicide, disturbance of public peace and wrongful restrain.
In the petition, the counsel to the government, Bayero Diri, said the offences are punishable under Sections 97, 221, 102, 106 and 225 of the Penal Code Law, Laws of Kaduna State 1991.
The government said the offence was committed between December 12 and 14, 2015 in Zaria.
It alleged that the suspects among other things shot dead Yakubu Dankaduna, a corporal of the Nigerian Army “with a gun when he alighted from the convoy to disperse the IMN members.“.
The prosecution told the court that they intend to present 39 witnesses.
The plea of the accused persons was not taken as the judge adjourned sitting till May 16.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) gathered that the 50 suspects were among the 265 persons currently in custody, who were arrested during the Shiites clash with the Army on Dec. 12 and Dec. 14, 2015.
The highly pronounced power failures across the country in the past few days may worsen following a partial system collapse that occurred on Tuesday, and the continuous drop in electricity generation due to what the government says is the vandalism of pipelines that supply gas to the power plants.
Power electricity
As a result, power generation dropped to 1,580.6 megawatts on Wednesday.
Data from the Nigeria Electricity System Operator as well as information from senior officials of the different electricity distribution companies confirmed that power generation plummeted massively on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The officials noted that this resulted in the reduction of the electricity load allocated to the Discos, stressing that this was why many parts of the country had been recording blackouts in the past few days.
It was learnt that the partial system collapse that occurred on Tuesday happened at the Shiroro Power Plant and dragged down electricity generation to as low as 1,233.4MW from a peak of 3,207.7MW recorded on the same day.
Data from NESO showed that by 9.48am on Wednesday, power generation was 1,580.6MW, with the Ikeja Electric getting 237.09MW; Abuja, 181.77MW; Eko, 173.87MW; Benin, 142.25MW; and Enugu, 142.25MW.
Others are Ibadan, 205.48MW; Jos, 86.93MW; Kano, 126.45MW; Kaduna, 126.45MW; Port Harcourt, 102.74MW; and Yola, 55.32MW.
One of our correspondents gathered that prior to the partial collapse of the system, the Abuja, Ikeja and Eko distribution firms were getting over 350MW each to meet the power needs of a considerable number of their customers.
In fact, it was learnt that the normal baseline allocation for the Abuja Disco was 450MW, but on Wednesday, the firm got 181.77MW around 9.48am, according to data from NESO, and this further dropped to 131.77MW by 1.25pm.
On reason for the slump in electricity generation, officials at the power arm of the Federal Ministry of Power, Works and Housing told one of our correspondents that the same old issue of gas pipeline vandalism had continued to pose challenge to adequate electricity generation and distribution.
An official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said, “Gas is vital for power generation and most of the electricity being generated in Nigeria is produced by gas-fired power plants. Both the ministers of power and petroleum have often called on Nigerians to help safeguard these infrastructure, but we keep recording explosions of gas pipelines.
“Currently, repairs are ongoing on some of the ruptured pipelines and once they are completed, we believe generation will pick up again.”
Last week, the acting Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission, Dr. Anthony Akah, lamented the incidences of vandalism that led to the reduction in peak power generation and supply from the national grid.
Akah, who spoke in Abuja, solicited the support of members of the public and the Consumer Protection Council to collaborate with electricity service providers and security agencies in ensuring adequate protection of power installations across the country.
Similarly, the Minister of Petroleum Resources, Dr. Ibe Kachikwu, told journalists in Abuja on Tuesday that vandalism had been a serious challenge to not just the oil and gas sector, but also the power sector.
Meanwhile, the management of Ikeja Electric has apologised to its customers for the epileptic power supply across its network in the past three days.
The Head of Corporate Communications, Ikeja Electric, Mr. Felix Ofulue, made the apology through a statement on Wednesday.
Ofulue attributed the poor service to the ongoing activities by labour unions picketing the facilities of the company over the purported sacking of 400 workers.
He said the company’s employees were not on strike, but that they had been prevented by the protesting labour unions from gaining access to its facilities and “are, therefore, not in a position to provide any consistent service to our valued customers.”
Ofulue noted that the situation had impacted negatively on power supply as well as the purchase of recharge units because all the substations, business units and undertakings had been taken over by members of the protesting unions.
He said, “Ikeja Electric regrets all inconveniences this action may have caused its customers and appeals to all its customers to please bear with us.
“We assure our customers that the company is doing its best to normalise the situation within the shortest possible time. We thank all our customers for their patience and understanding.”
Power sector workers under the aegis of National Union of Electricity Employees and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies had on Monday picketed the head office of the Ikeja Electric over the sacking of 400 workers of the company.
The union had issued a seven-day ultimatum to the management of the company last week Tuesday to recall the disengaged workers or face industrial action.
Abuja—The embattled leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibrahim El Zakzaky, was flown out of Nigeria for treatment of gun shot injuries he suffered during the encounter between his supporters and members of the Nigerian Army last year, multiple security sources told Vanguard in Abuja yesterday.
Picture of bleeding sheikh Zakzaky. Source: @ZahradeenAAhmad
It will be recalled that during the bloody encounter between the Shiites and the Nigerian Army, several members of the sect were killed, while many others sustained various degrees of injuries with some still on admission at Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, Shika near Zaria.
The fracas occurred when members of the sect allegedly blocked the Zaria-Sokoto road and prevented the convoy of the Chief of Army staff from passing through, despite several entreaties.
Sheikh El-Zakzaky allegedly sustained several gun shot wounds, with some reports claiming that one of his eyes was affected during the encounter.
Since the clash between the sect and the military, his whereabouts have been shrouded in secrecy until Vanguard exclusively revealed that he was moved from Kaduna to a safe house in Abuja belonging to one of the security services.
Several security sources who are knowledgeable in the matter, however, revealed to Vanguard yesterday that due to the seriousness of the injuries the Shiite leader sustained, he was secretly flown to France by the Nigerian government some weeks ago for treatment before being returned to the country two weeks ago.
One of the sources said: “It is true that the federal government flew him out of the country for treatment. He was stabilized before he was brought back to Nigeria. The government did not want to take chances by keeping him in the country. We did not want a repeat of the incidenct with the late leader of the Boko Haram movement whose death in custody exacerbated the crisis in the North East.”
Another source explained that the decision to fly El Zakzaky out of the country followed intervention by highly placed Nigerians, including the .former President, Olusegun Obasanjo, and the Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’ad Abubakar, who warned that allowing the Shiite leader to die in custody would have grave implications for the security of the country.
Spokesman of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Ibrahim Musa, confirmed to Vanguard that members of the NSCIA committee confirmed to the IMN that their leader was alive, after being treated for gun shot injuries in France and was recuperating in Abuja.
Senator Shehu Sani, the Senator Representing Kaduna Central has said he will remain with the ruling political party in Nigeria, the All Progressives Congress as long as Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, remains a member of the party.
Shehu Sani
Sani said this on Sunday in Kaduna after he commenced the distribution of 100,000 transistor radio sets in seven local government areas under his senatorial district.
According to him, he would remain in APC as long as President Buhari is still in the APC, “because Buhari is APC,” he said.
He told journalists that the national body of APC has already invalidated his suspension from the party and advised the two parties to avoid any form of attack and counter attack “I have instructed all my supporters and followers to abide by this, but unfortunately, some people are capitalizing on the crisis for their own monetary gains.
“I am saying it in clear terms that as far as I am concerned we would abide by what the national body says,” he said.
He said as Chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign and Domestic Debt and also vice chairman, Senate Committee on Foreign Affairs, he would continue to call on nations which Nigeria has diplomatic relations with to assist the fight on corruption by returning money looted from Nigeria.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), yesterday night, arrested a former military Governor of Kaduna State and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Brig-Gen. Lawal Jafaru Isa (reted).
EFCC
Isa is the first chieftain of the APC arrested by the EFCC since the beginning of the sweeping probe into the alleged diversion of $2.1 billion meant for arms purchase by officials of the immediate-past administration.
The erstwhile Military Administrator of Kaduna State from December 1993 to August 1996, during the military regime of General Sani Abacha and one-time governorship candidate of the defunct CPC in Kano State, is a close friend of the embattled former National Security Adviser (NSA), Col. Sambo Dasuki (reted).
Isa was arrested at his Abuja residence located at Ajayi Crowther Street, Asokoro.
Isa’s house was said to have been invaded by operatives of the EFCC around 9pm, and then whisked him away a few minutes later.
The retired brigadier general, was invited last week to appear before the commission on yesterday to clear the air on “some questionable receipts” from the former NSA.
Investigators believe the retired soldier received over N100million from Mr. Dasuki.
It was gathered that rather than honoring the invitation, sources said, Gen. Isa wrote a letter to the EFCC through his lawyer, seeking a postponement of his appearance date on the grounds of death of a relative.
Apparently dissatisfied with his excuse, the EFCC however arrested him to clarify the “questionable receipts”.
The General Officer Commanding, (GOC) 1 Mechanized Division of the Nigerian Army, Major General Adeniyi Oyebade has said that, the Nigerian Army has no apology for its recent encounter with members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, popularly known as the Shi’ite sect.
The GOC said that, the Army cannot fold its arms and watch any group or sect threaten the peace and stability of the country.
Addressing newsmen at the headquarters of 1 Division in Kadunaon Wednesday, the GOC said, the Army has no issue with the Shi’ites, saying “they are like any other sect in the land, but as long as they obey the law of the land no problem, but if any group chooses to challenge the authority of the land, it means they do not value the sanctity of life and the constitution of Nigeria.”
The GOC added that the military has no issue with the Islamic sect, pointing out that even some military personnel are Shiites by religious calling, but they respected and obeyed constituted authority, and the military has no issue with them.
According to him, “Army has paid heavily with the blood of its officers and men to protect this country, and so we have no apology any group, either Shiites Islamic sect, Christian sect, even pagan sect that is threatening the peace of the country.
“We don’t have any issue with the Shiites or any sect at all in the land as long as they obey the law of the land. But if any group tends to challenge the constituted authority of the land, it means that such group does not respect the constitution of the land.
“Even in the military, we have Shiites members, but there is no issue with them because they are law abiding citizens.
“But we have issues with those who creates a State within a State, and our rules of engagement are very clear, that is, when there is threat to a constituted authority, it must be arrested before it goes full blown.
“We know the business of violence but we apply it professionally if the peace of the land is being threatened, so we are appealing to Nigerians who are bent on causing violence stay off,” he said.
The GOC however insisted that the Army remains the guidance of Nigerian democracy, but stated that, an attempt on the Chief of the nation’s Army is akin to an attempt on a sitting president.
Giving an overview of the activities of the division in 2015, the GOC said, “We want to re assure the members of the North West zone that the army will do everything possible as mandated by the constitution of Nigeria to protect our people and to enable the people go about their activities without molestation.”
Bothered by his state of health, three weeks after his arrest and subsequent detention, members of the Islamic sect, Shi’ites, yesterday, asked the Federal Government to tell Nigerians the whereabouts of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife.
Picture of bleeding sheikh Zakzaky. Source: @ZahradeenAAhmad
In a statement by the President of the Islamic Movement Media Forum (IMMF), Ibrahim Musa, the group said its members were anxious of the whereabouts of its leader.
He said: The condition and whereabouts of the Islamic Movement’s leader Sheikh Ibrahim El-Zakzaky as well as that of his wife, are still unknown, three weeks after their arrest and detention by the security operatives.
“The Islamic Movement as well as the general public are now seriously anxious.
“Where is Sheikh Zakzaky and why has he been denied his constitutional rights to an attorney, bail and visitation?
“If the government is truly interested in finding a peaceful way out of this crisis the army initiated and executed, as the government wants the public to believe, it should by now have allowed an unimpeded access to Sheikh Zakzaky.
“First and foremost, his first family members and leading brothers of the Islamic Movement and his doctor should have met him by now, since he was shot by the soldiers when they attacked his residence.
Adding, he said: “We are highly agitated by this seeming needless incommunicado the Sheikh has been placed in.
“The Federal Government should tell the public where Sheikh Zakzaky is, because rumours of various degrees are flying about his health.
“We believe it is only when the Sheikh’s health condition is made public by the relevant authorities that the tension brewing among the populace will be doused.”
The authorities of the Kaduna Prisons on Wednesday distanced itself from purported claim that the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, otherwise known as Shi’ite, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, was in the prison.
Picture of bleeding sheikh Zakzaky. Source: @ZahradeenAAhmad
While dismissing the claim, the Controller of Kaduna Prisons, Abubakar Argungu, however, said 191 members of the IMN were in the custody of the prison.
“We only have 191 followers of the Shi’ite leader in our custody. But we do not have their leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, with us,” Argungu said.
Meanwhile, the Kaduna State Government said on Wednesday that it would soon announce members of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the recent clash in Zaria between the Nigerian Army and Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky-led Islamic Movement in Nigeria.
In a statement issued by Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Samuel Aruwan, the government said it had completed the composition and terms of reference of the proposed commission.
It added that effort was being made to contact all the nominees for the membership of the commission as well as the secretariat and resource persons.
The statement partly read, “The Kaduna State Government has largely completed work on the composition and the terms of reference of the proposed Judicial Commission of Inquiry.
“However, the government is still engaged in extensive consultations that are required prior to a formal announcement.
“Efforts are also being made to contact all the nominees for membership of the commission, as well as the secretariat and resource persons that will support the work of this important inquiry.
“These consultations and contacts have been impacted by the holidays. Therefore, the Kaduna State Government will be delaying the announcement of the membership of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry until early in the New Year.
“Best efforts have been applied to ensure that the announcement is made within the two-week window envisaged when the decision to establish the commission of inquiry was made. But it has now emerged that a little more time is required.”
Troops have arrested seven suspected Boko Haram bomb and Improvised Explosive making Devices (IEDs) specialists.
The terrorists were arrested in Kaduna after painstaking surveillance and proactive intelligence operations over a period of time.
A statement by army’s acting Director of Information Colonel Sani Kukasheka Usman, said: “From all indications, the suspects were in Kaduna to conduct suicide bombings, kill and maim innocent citizens in the state and other surrounding areas during the Christmas period.
“Recall that recently in Maiduguri some of them were arrested while trying to detonate IEDs carried in food containers in public places.
“The arrest of these suspects would no doubt assist in the fight against terrorism in the country, more so as the military have technically defeated the Boko Haram terrorists in the field, the terrorists have resorted to attacking soft targets through suicide bombings, IEDs and harassing attacks on isolated communities.
“Therefore, the public is please requested to continue to be more vigilant and security conscious by reporting suspicious persons and their movements to security agencies. This request has become necessary because the terrorists have resorted to mingling with the public across the country after sensing the futility of their encounter with troops in the northeast.
“They adopt other methods of perpetuating violence in the society.”
An unidentified middle age man was electrocuted at the early hours of Sunday while trying to steal electric cable at a power supply installation in Kaduna.
Power electricity
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the incident happened at Accra Crescent by LEA Primary School, Unguwar Rimi.
The traditional ruler of teh area, Dan Iyar Unguwar Rimi, Alhaji Muhammad Gidado, confirmed the incident.
Gidado said that the corpse of the vandal was evacuated from the scene by the police from Unguwar Rimi Division.
According to him, the vandal was unknown to them in the area and urged law enforcement agencies to step-up patrol as the community has suffered from the activities of vandals lately.
Gidado explained that the deceased tried to steal the 150mm four core up-riser cable at the distribution sub-station along Accra Crescent when nemesis caught up with him.
The Head, Corporate Communications of Kaduna Electric, the operator of Kaduna Electricity Distribution Company, Mr Abdulazeez Abdullahi, also confirmed the incident.
He appealed to customers of the company to be more vigilant and report suspicious movement around power supply installations to the police, especially in the night.
Abdullahi lamented that the activities of these hoodlums was causing set back to the company’s effort at providing steady power supply to its customers.
He warned criminal elements to desist from damaging or removing power supply equipment as the consequence could be very tragic.
Meanwhile, the police said it was investigating the incident with a view to arresting the collaboartors of the act and preventing reoccurrence.
The Human Rights Watch on Wednesday stated that hundreds of Shi’ite Muslims were killed by soldiers and buried in mass graves in an “unjustified” attack earlier this month.
Picture of bleeding sheikh Zakzaky. Source: @ZahradeenAAhmad
The New York-based rights watchdog claimed in a statement that soldiers killed “at least 300” members of the radical Islamic Movement of Nigeria earlier in December when they fired “without any provocation.”
It claimed that witnesses said that the soldiers disposed of hundreds of bodies by throwing them in mass graves, making it difficult for the organisation to establish an accurate death toll.
The violence erupted on December 12 when members of the Shi’ite group erected a makeshift roadblock during a religious procession, blocking the path of a Nigerian army chief.
“It is almost impossible to see how a roadblock by angry young men could justify the killings of hundreds of people,” Africa director at HRW, Daniel Bekele, said.
“At best it was a brutal overreaction and at worst it was a planned attack on the minority Shi’ite group,” he added.
The Nigerian army, which has not released an official death toll, denied HRW’s charges.
“The allegations are not true,” said Nigerian army spokesperson, Sani Usman, to AFP.
“It is therefore presumptuous and clearly out of context for anyone to make such an unsubstantiated allegations or comments.
“The incident between the Nigerian army and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria has been reported to the appropriate agencies who are investigating the issue,” Usman said.
Last week, the Federal Government set up a judicial commission to investigate the deaths.
The Nigerian army had accused the Iran-backed sect of “a deliberate attempt to assassinate” the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, releasing footage of the crowd hurling stones at his military convoy.
The allegations come amid fears that the violent clashes between the Shi’ite group and army will unleash a new Islamic threat on a country still battling Boko Haram militants.
IMN leader Ibrahim Zakzaky, the charismatic founder of the group, was seriously wounded and remains in police custody, while his deputy was killed in the army crackdown.
A non-governmental organisation, Access to Justice, has alleged that the Nigerian Army had a “pre-determined mandate” to attack members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, in Zaria on Saturday.
SHITES MUSLIMS KILLED
The deadly clash left scores of the sect’s members dead. The Army claimed the sect made attempt on the life of the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.
But Access to Justice, during a press conference, addressed by its Director, Joseph Otteh, on Friday in Abuja, said the Army’s claim that the protesters were armed was untrue.
“The response of the Army towards the Shiite protesters was a crime against humanity,” said Mr. Otteh
He, therefore, warned that his organisation would not “hesitate to head for the International Criminal Court, ICC” and insisted that “the Army had a predetermined mandate to do what they did.”
Even as he said the organisation was not in support of blockade of a highway or violent protest by the Shiite Muslim group, Mr Otteh said “the Army lacked constitutional mandate to disperse protests or procession of any kind”.
In his view, what the Army ought to have done was to reach out to the police high command in Kaduna State to deploy personnel towards handling the protest.
He said, “The convoy of the Chief of Army Staff could have, in order not to escalate an already violate situation that was unraveling along Zaria Road, chosen another route into Kaduna.
“This would have been a course of action you would expect from a very senior official of government who wants to avoid possible, in fact, likely repercussions of engaging in violent confrontation with the protesters.
“It was reasonably foreseeable that violence can further inflame religious passions which were already very high among members of the Islamic movement, who had already lost many members to military attacks last year and previous years.
“Such confrontation could also trigger a violent blackash and radicalise members of the group in the same way that Boko Haram was transformed after security and law enforcement officials attacked their members and extra judicially executed many of them.
“This history should have figured in how the military chooses to respond to protesters.
“The people of Nigeria have a right to assemble freely, even on public streets. Where protests offend against traffic laws, the protesters should be managed or restrained and if necessary, prosecuted.”
The organisation asked President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a high-powered independent commission of inquiry to unravel the remote and immediate causes of the massacre condemned by United States, United Kingdom, Iran and both chambers of the Nigerian National Assembly.
“Access to Justice demands that a thorough, independent and impartial inquiry be carried out by the Federal Government over this incident.
“It should be noted that this is not the first time the Nigerian Army has attacked members of the sect.
“In July 2014, scores of members of this group, including two sons of Sheik El-Zakzaky were killed by officers of the Nigerian Army as they were holding a peaceful procession along a road.
“Up till this time, the Nigerian government has yet to investigate the incident neither has anyone been brought to account over the attacks,” Mr. Otteh said.
He noted that the failure of government to investigate the 2014 killings may have contributed indirectly to the Saturday incident.
“Where governments do not show serious concern for the safety and integrity of human life and allow security or law enforcement agents to act with impunity, it strengthens the hands and minds of abusers,” he added.
The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, and Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, have urged the Nigerian government to investigate the killing of several members of the Shi’ia sect during a clash with the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.
Ayo oritsejafor
The army had on Saturday clashed with the group. The exact number of those killed is yet to be ascertained.
CAN and NSCIA are the highest decision-making bodies of the two major religions in Nigeria, and serve as the umbrella bodies of all Christian and Muslim groups respectively.
While CAN urged President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene and probe the killings “to avoid the escalation of the crisis”, NSCIA set up a seven-man contact committee to meet with all parties “in the interest of peace and security in Nigeria”.
A statement by the national secretary of CAN, Musa Asake, said although the body would not pre-empt any action to be taken by the government and the Nigerian Army, it would sue for peace between the two contending parties.
CAN demanded the setting up of a judicial panel of inquiry to establish the cause of the crisis and prevent a reoccurrence.
It drew the president’s “attention to the fact that similar circumstances as this led to the escalation of belligerence from the Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād, also known as Boko Haram”.
While urging that no harm should be done to the spiritual leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, CAN said the establishment of the panel would help forestall fresh insurgent activities in the country.
The association said it “observed, with much sadness, the altercation between the Nigerian Army and Muslim faithful of the Shia Islamic movement, which led to loss of lives of many members of the Shiite”.
“Our faith is bed-rocked on love. We do not only love ourselves, but we also love our neighbours and Shiite Muslims are our neighbours,” the Christian body said.
The Christian body however condemned reports by an Iranian Network, Press TV, which reportedly claimed that CAN had colluded with Boko Haram and the Nigerian Army to perpetrate the killings of Shi’ia Muslims.
“This is a most unfortunate accusation especially given the fact that CAN has consistently sympathized with the Shias over previous clashes with the authorities,” the association said.
“We urge the Iranian backed Press TV to be mindful of its reportage in order not to stoke religious tensions in Nigeria. We work on the assumption that that is not their intention.”
The association also called “on all lovers of God, be they Christian or Muslims, whether Sunni or Shia, to keep the peace and await judicious action from constituted authority”.
On its part, the Muslim body, NSCIA, set up a seven-man committee to meet with all parties involved in Saturday’s clash.
The decision to set up the committee was taken at an expanded general purpose committee meeting comprising notable Muslims and heads of all Islamic organizations in Nigeria.
The meeting held on Wednesday at the National Mosque in Abuja.
The Secretary General of the NSCIA, Is-haq Oloyede, who spoke with reporters at the end of the meeting, said Muslim leaders decided to come together “to express their concern about what is happening in Zaria and call for restraint on the part of all stakeholders in the interest of peace and security of Nigeria”.
He said NSCIA had also decided to call on the Nigerian government to set up a judicial commission of inquiry to probe the incident.
“Council also decided to set up a seven-man contact committee to meet with all parties and call for caution that we should await the report of the commission of inquiry,” he said.
The group’s scribe said, Daud Naibi would serve as the chairman of the committee, while Muzammil Hanga, Abubakar Tsav, Ibrahim Suleiman, Yusuf Ali, Abubakar Siddique and Is-haq Oloyede would serve as members.
Mr. Oloyede, a professor, said the judicial panel inquiry that should be set up by the government should include all relevant persons and organisations, including the NSCIA.
“If possible members of the group concerned should also be represented on the commission so that whatever comes out would be something that is credible and would be seen as impartial,” he said.
Mr. Oloyede said another decision taken at the meeting was a call to all Muslims in Nigeria to take advantage of the next Jumaat prayer on Friday “to offer special prayers for this country”.
He said with adequate prayers, God would aid the return of peace to the country.
Mr. Oloyede also called on the government and citizens to always adhere to the laws of the land.
“We continue to call for caution from all parties including the aggrieved and we call on the government and the citizens of this country that the best way to solving any grievances or infractions is through the rule of law.
“We should always seek the law as a solution to any of the problems we have, rather than self-help either on the part of the government or the citizenry,” he said.
The meeting was chaired by the supreme leader of the NSCIA, the Sultan of Sokoto, Saad Abubakar, and was attended by several Muslim leaders across the country.
An ardent critic and a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode who recently changed his name to Olufemi Olu-Kayode has taken a sweep on Buhari led-government on its action against the Shi’tes in Kaduna on Monday.
President Buhari
Fani-Kayode in a series of tweets condemned the act and the international media for muting on the massacre.
The former Aviation minister described Nigeria as a country governed, run by sadists, adding that they malign the weak and discipline the innocent.
The critic who expressed anger towards the recent incident in Kaduna where soldiers lay siege at the residence of Shi’tes leader Sheikh al-Zakzaky killing over hundred, with rumours saying that his wife was also shot, said”100 Shia Muslims are massacred in one night in Kaduna and there is no mention of it on BBC and CNN and no sense of outrage in our country.
“A man is granted bail but the minute he steps out of court he is dragged off the streets and whisked away yet there is no sense of outrage.
“This is a government of sadists, run by sadists and for sadists. They are cowardly, wicked, malicious, petty, vicious and incompetent. They are a government of liars, run by liars and for liars. They malign the weak and punish the innocent but God will see their end.
“They are soft on Boko Haram whilst they kill the shia, the christians, the Biafrans, the young, the old, the weak and the vulnerable. ”
Referring to the way the accused persons in the ongoing $2.1bn arms deal saga are treated, Fani-Kayode said “They defy court orders and mock the judges. They abuse power and defy the word of God. Instead of being just and true they are perverse in all their ways. May God curse them and may He bring them down. May He show Himself mighty in battle and may He avenge the innocent.”
The angry and disappointed Fani-Kayode also took a sweep on those who are in support of the current government. He said “Shame unto all those that have chosen to dine with the devil by joining this government. There is no fellowship between light and darkness.
Picture of bleeding sheikh Zakzaky. Source: @ZahradeenAAhmad
“I would rather die than join a government of Haramites and closet fundamentalists. By the time it’s over Nigeria will beg PDP to come back.
“Like the proverbial frog that is slowly being boiled in water but that does not even feel it,our people are being taken for a ride by Buhari
“To sedate them and distract them from his monumental failures and their own misery and hardship he feeds them with daily doses of lies, falsehood and sensational and unsubstantiated allegations of the so-called corruption of key players in the previous administration.
“Sadly they lap it up with joy and accept all they are being told without question. They forget that allegations are a dime a dozen and that trial by media does not often result in a conviction in the courts of law. Meanwhile as this obscene circus show of labelling everyone but himself as a crook and feeding the innocents to the lions continuous, Buhari is destroying the lives of the people, ruining the economy, crushing his opponents, silencing his detractors, discrediting his adversaries and dividing our nation.
“The botton line is this: Nigeria is turning into a police state where state-sponsored lies and propaganda hold sway and where fear, coercion and intimidation is the primary tool of governance. May God grant us courage and may the forces of light, truth and justice prevail.
“The bottom line is this: Nigeria is turning into a police state where state-sponsored lies and propaganda hold sway and where fear, coercion and intimidation is the primary tool of governance. May God grant us courage and may the forces of light, truth and justice prevail.”
KADUNA – Governor Nasir El Rufai of Kaduna State has orderd the immediate closure of two churches, a seminary and a church-owned hospitals and secondary school all in Saminaka, Lere Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
El-Rufai
He said the closure was to avoid the eruption of violence among factions of the congregations whose leaderships’ positions he described as, “principally to preserve their personal interests with little concern for the common good, and the peace and security of Kaduna State”.
A statement on behalf of the governor sign by his spokesman, Samuel Aruwan Wednesday in Kaduna named the affected bodies as: Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, (TSNN), Shalom Comprehensive College, Assemblies of God Church, AGC, Nmbare all in Saminaka. The rest are: Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) and AGC Evangelist Hospital, also in Saminaka:
Reads the statement: “The Kaduna State Security Council at its 15th meeting, held on the 15th September, 2015, deliberated on the leadership crisis in the Assemblies of God Church, AGC, Saminaka District, Lere local government area of the state.
“The council discussed this matter in the context of preventing threats to the peace and stability of the State.
“The Council noted that the leadership crisis has led to disintegration of order in the church, and raised tensions between the followers of the rival camps.
The crisis has also widened to the students of the church-owned school and seminary, who are now split and divided on factional lines.
“The Council reviewed previous efforts made to resolve the crisis. It noted that these were aborted by those involved in the leadership tussle, principally to preserve their personal interests with little concern for the common good, and the peace and security of Kaduna State.
“The Council unanimously agreed that if left unchecked, the growing tension may degenerate into total breakdown of law and order in the said area, with the potential to spread to other parts of the state.
“Therefore, the Council has taken steps to preserve the peace. It has unanimously directed the immediate closure of the following:
“Theological Seminary of Northern Nigeria, (TSNN) Saminaka. Shalom Comprehensive College, Saminaka Assemblies of God Church, Nmbare, Saminaka and Assemblies of God Church (Jerusalem) Saminaka AGC Evangelist Hospital, Saminaka “As a result of these measures, those who may be affected will be admitted into government schools or hospitals, if they exercise the option.
“The Council also directed that the status quo with regard to farmlands, houses and other assets of the church be upheld pending resolution of the leadership crisis, which is a matter before the Supreme Court.
“Kaduna State Government wishes to reiterate that it will not tolerate the use of religion and ethnicity to cause crisis in the state.
“The government has also announced that it will prosecute anyone, no matter his or her standing, that is implicated in fomenting crisis in whatever form in the State”, the statement concluded.
A Nigerian Air Force aircraft, a Donnier 228, has crashed at the Old Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna.
It was gathered on Saturday that the aircraft, which took off from the Nigerian Air Force base, Kaduna, was heading for Abuja when it came down in the early hours of the day.
The military aircraft was said to have crashed into a residential building within the neighborhood NDA, igniting fears that the casualty figure could be high.
It was gathered that there were no survivors in the crash.
The Director of Public Relations and Information of the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore Dele Alonge, confirmed the crash to our correspondent on the telephone but did not give details.
He said the NAF would issue a statement on it later.
Our correspondent learnt that the seven people on board the aircraft, comprising the crew members and the passengers, died in the crash.
It was gathered the captain, the co-pilot, the board technician and four passengers were involved in the crash.
Meanwhile, combat ready soldiers have condoned off the barracks, preventing people from gaining access to the area.
The North-West Zonal Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Musa Ilallah, confirmed the crash and the casualty figure.
As the three-day ultimatum handed down to the Kaduna State Government by beggars expires on Wednesday, Governor Nasir El-Rufai has insisted that the ban on begging and hawking are still in force in the state.
El-Rufai
The governor noted that the insterest of a group, who think they could eke a living through begging, could not override the security of over eight million residents of the state.
Last Saturday, the destitute protested against the ban on begging and hawking in state, threatening to sue the el-Rufai-led government for infringing on their fundamental human rights to movement.
Although, there was an indication on Tuesday during the governor’s visit to the Kano Road beggars’ colony and the Kaduna State Rehabilitation Centre that the beggars had agreed to go off the streets, el-Rufai made it clear that beggars must leave the streets to acquire profitable skills.
The governor explained that the government had made arrangements to ensure that beggars in the state were not removed from the streets but to be trained in various skills to better their future.
According to the governor, begging is not a profession but humiliating, adding that government will train beggars and empower them to fend for themselves.
At the Kano road beggars colony, the beggars made a U-turn on their threat to sue the government after the governor promised to donate a parcel of land to them.
Speaking at the 500-seat capacity state owned rehabilitation centre at Kakuri, Kaduna South Local Government Area, the governor said the centre would soon be ready for the training of the beggars.
He, however, said there was no plan by government to repatriate beggars to their state of origin, noting that all that resided in the state were indigenes of the state.
El-Rufai stated, “We had to take an unprecedented decision to ban beggars in Kaduna State because of the security threat that some of the beggars and hawkers pose to the rest of the populace.
“Having taken the decision, we have to find ways and means to rehabilitate these people by training them to have a skill and then assist them in terms of finance to start their own business.
“Our visit here reveals that our rehabilitation centre needs rehabilitation. The facilities are in a state of disrepair.
“We think the overriding need to secure the lives and property of the over eight million people that live in Kaduna State is superior to that of those that think they have a right to beg.
“Begging is not a profession; begging is humiliation. We don’t believe in it. There is no going back on the ban on street begging, but we are not going to repatriate anybody. The problem is here and we will solve it here.
“We want to empower our people so that they don’t beg and that is what we are working on as a government.”
Head of the beggars in the state, Abdullahi Samaila, hailed the governor for visiting them, pledging their loyalty and their readiness tocooperate with the state government.
Nigerian soldiers have arrested the mastermind of the Jos and Zaria suicide bombing, Defence Headquarter has said.
The HQ disclosed this on its twitter handle on Wednesday.
The tweet read: “Troops have arrested a mastermind of the Jos & Zaria bombing at a checkpoint in Gombe following an operation by combined team of military & DSS operatives. More details”.
On July 6, the secretariat of Sabon Gari Local Government, Zaria, Kaduna State was bombed leaving 25 people dead and 32 others injured. And 24 hours earlier, a twin bomb attack Jos killing 44 people and injured 47 others.
The first bomb went off at a restaurant in Jos opposite Bauchi campus of the University of Jos, while the second one went off at mosque near Yan tyre market area about 15 minutes after.
The Kaduna State Governor-elect, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, says it will be a wishful thinking for anybody to believe that he will share public fund to individuals or groups in the state after May 29.
He said his administration would not condone the sharing of public funds to anybody in the name of godfather or group, no matter how highly placed.
Rather than doing that, el-Rufai said the state resources would be judiously utilised for the development of the state and the people.
This was just as the governor-elect said that the debt profile of the state would run into N100bn before the May 29 hand over date.
El-Rufai noted that as the administration of the Peoples Democratic Party ended in May, both at the federal and state levels, what both the President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari and himself needed was prayers from Nigerians to succeed.
The former Minister of the FCT added that the government of President Goodluck Jonathan and that of Governor Mukhtar Yero had become so bad that they had to obtain loans to pay salaries.
According to el-Rufai, Nigerians should stop congratulating him and the President-elect but should rather pity them and pray for them to succeed because of the “bankrupt economy” they would inherit.
El-Rufai spoke at a reception organised for him by the Kaduna Peoples Association at the Arewa House, Kaduna on Saturday.
The governor-elect , who told the gathering that the state, led by Yero, had incurred N90bn debt, noted that before the May 29 hand over date, the debt might increase to N100bn.
Meanwhile, at a prayer session for them by the APC Yoruba Political Forum in Kaduna State on Saturday, el-Rufai insisted that the incoming government needed nothing but prayers from Nigerians.
The governor-elect said, “When people call to congratulate me or come to congratulate me and General Buhari, I always tell them, thank you, but what we need is your sympathy and prayers.
“This is because, myself and Buhari are taking over bankrupt governments; it is so bad that the Jonathan administration is finding it difficult to pay salaries. In fact, they had to obtain loan to pay salaries.
“In the case of Kaduna State, the Peoples Democratic Party’s government has incurred debt to the tune of over N90bn and this may get to N100bn before May 29. Therefore, what you have done is exactly what we need to succeed.”
El-Rufai urged other elected officers to strive hard to deliver the dividend of democracy to the electorates.
He warned that if they (elected officers) failed in the discharge of their duties to the people, they would be voted out like the PDP come 2019.
He assured the people that in his administration, there would be no discrimination among indigenes or settlers while noting that the Yoruba community had lived peacefully with their hosts over the years in the state.
The GOC said that, the Army cannot fold its arms and watch any group or sect threaten the peace and stability of the country.
