Showing posts with label ABUJA. Show all posts

Bandits Take Over Abuja While DSS, Police Go After Protesters

Nothing puts greater timbre on the parlous state of security in the country than the denudation of the virtual hedges and moats around the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and the disarray of the phalanx of boots in the city. Abuja was once assumed to be impregnable and residents lived with a false sense of security. But the terrorist blitzes in the national’s capital in 2013 and 2014 jolted many out of the reverie.

With the dawning of the Buhari administration, the bombing in the city petered out. The security forces also appeared to have nicked the insecurity in the north-east to subsidence at the time. I recall that in 2016, Tukur Buratai, chief of army staff, in a fit of showmanship presented a flag reportedly retrieved from the last frontier of the insurgents to President Muhammadu Buhari. But a few months after the “big show”, the insurgency metastasised. What really happened?

As a matter of fact, the FCT enjoyed a bit of calm from terrorism but with flickers of other crimes like armed robbery, one-chance operations, rape and car-jacking. However, as the Buhari administration lost its compass by sleight of abominable incompetence, the entire security bearing of the city and the country caved in – from Borno, Kano, Katsina, Zamfara to Niger, Kogi, and Nasarawa bandits expropriated pieces of earth.

While some of us in Abuja had looked on the devastation of insurgency and banditry in other parts of the country from a ‘’safe’’ distance and with a smirk of privilege, “the doom” comes right at our doors. Really, the Buhari administration has failed spectacularly to secure Nigerians everywhere and anywhere. The government has also failed to secure the very corners from where it sits to preside over the country. What an extravagant failure!

Abuja is home to the headquarters of the DSS, the police, the army, the air force, the navy, the NIA, the DIA, and other security and paramilitary agencies. But right under the lenses of this octopus of agencies, bandits are attacking communities within the territory and on the fringes of the city. What a phenomenal shame! If they cannot secure their base and the areas around it with diligence, can they secure anywhere else in the country?

The DSS and the police, in particular, appear to be very dutiful in combating civil protests and in arresting dissenters. This is while the nation is taken up in galling insecurity. The expertise of these agencies is demonstrable on the civilian population, not on those who have picked up arms against the state.

Just a few days ago, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) issued an anticipatory warning to its officers, saying Boko Haram insurgents had set up hotbeds in Abuja and that they were oiling their cannons to launch attacks on five locations across the nation’s capital.

In an internal memo, H.A. Sabo, comptroller of enforcement at the customs headquarters, asked officers to be on the alert. He spelt out the locations in Abuja, Kogi and Nasarawa where the nurseries of these terrorists are bubbling.

“Information reaching the comptroller-general of customs (CGC) reveals the existence of Boko Haram terrorist (BHTs) camps in and around the Federal Capital Territory,” the memo read.

“Further reports have it that they are planning to attack some selected targets within the territory. They are reported to have set up their camps in the following identified enclaves: Kunyam Bush along airport road, off DIA Staff Quarters – Abuja; Robochi/Gwagwalada forest; Kwaku forest, Kuje, Abuja; Unaisha forest in Toto local government of Nasarawa state and Gegu forest, close to Idu town in Kogi state.

“Consequently, you are to be at alert and security conscious of your environment at all times.’’

What is most disconcerting in the memo is the tone of helplessness by the customs – “consequently, you are to be at alert and security conscious of your environment at all times”. What could be more dispiriting? If an agency in the security network is gripped by trepidation, then it is a serious cause for alarm. We should all be worried.

On Thursday, bandits pushing violence in the Gwagwalada axis of the FCT struck at Tunga Maje, a suburb of Abuja, reportedly kidnapping 20 people after a vehemence of brutality on the community. The community has become a select victim of the invaders who attacked the area some weeks ago. What is telling about the recent attack is that it happened just days after the customs’ memo was reported. There is no reprieve from torment for the residents of Tunga Maje who have to endure intolerable trauma. The government has failed them just as it has failed other Nigerians in states under the reign of bandits and insurgents.

Also, there have been coordinated attacks by bandits in other parts of the FCT – in Kuje where a traditional ruler was kidnapped and in Pegi where nine people including a 12-year-old were abducted. And with every successful onslaught, these gunmen are revivified and excited to inch into the city centre. There have been three reported attacks on a road in Life Camp so far.

Insecurity anywhere should concern us all. First, the security crisis was localised in Borno, then it mushroomed in Yobe, Bauchi and Adamawa; it took the form of banditry in the north-west, and now it is metastasising in the north-central — with Abuja as a trophy target. We must not discount insecurity anywhere. We are all potential victims.

One thing stands out: The Buhari administration has failed on security in all axes – even in its house

Kidnappers Numbering Up To 20 Storm Abuja Community, Abduct 10 People

Armed men suspected to be kidnappers abducted no fewer than 10 people in the early hours of Thursday at Tungan-Maje, a community between Zuba and Giri, on the Kaduna-Abuja-Lokoja highway.

A source in the area, who spoke to City News on Thursday afternoon, disclosed that the attackers, numbering about 20, got to the area on foot around 1 am and went into some houses opposite the Government Secondary School in the area where they abducted their victims.

A security source, who spoke to our reporter, said the kidnappers fled into nearby Shenagu forest, where they are suspected to have their camp, around 4 am along with their victims.

Also, the councillor representing Tungan-Maje ward in the area, Salihu Adamu, confirmed the incident, saying he was terrified by the sporadic gunshots fired by the kidnappers.

He said five among the kidnapped victims were rescued through the combined efforts of the police and vigilante members in the area and appealed to the police to intensify efforts in ensuring that the remaining five victims were also rescued.

Zuba Divisional Police Officer CSP Yahuza Muhammad said five of the victims, comprising three children, a pregnant woman and an elderly man were rescued unharmed.

He said the gunmen who were moving by foot, fled into the forest on noticing that security men were trailing them.

He added that two of the victims were taken to hospital due to the trauma, and that effort to rescue the others was ongoing.

Tungan-Maje, situated between Zuba and Giri, is host to military facilities, one of which was recently named as Muhammadu Buhari Cantonment.

The incident came less than a week after some forests in the FCT were discovered to be used by terrorist groups’ hideout.

The spokesman of the FCT police command, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, also confirmed that five of those kidnapped had been rescued.

He said the police responded to a distress call at about 1:30 am and a joint team of police operatives from the command’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Rapid Response Squad and Zuba police division acted promptly to rescue the five people.

He said a fierce gun battle ensued with the heavily armed hoodlums before the police team succeeded in rescuing five of those kidnapped.

He said effort was on to rescue the remaining five victims.

“The command is still reassuring members of the public on its commitment to deploying proactive crime-fighting measures to ensure the security of lives and property in the FCT,” he said.

Source: City News

Reactions As Lexus Jeep Driven By 13 Years Old Boy Rammed A Honda Car In Abuja

According to Gidi_Traffic today, an accident has occurred on Shehu shagari road in Abuja, where a Lexus jeep which was driven by a young teenager of 13, rammed into an Honda car and caused a lot of drama between the owners.

To the extent of damages between these two cars have been so much that it would take a lot of money to fix. According to Gidi_Traffic, thus has left so many people talking as they ask how and why would anyone let a young teenager drive all by himself to causing this destruction.

This would take a lot of time to settle and possibly involve the police if not settled amicably.

The extent of damages between these two cars have been so much that it would take a lot of money to fix. According to Gidi_Traffic, thus has left so many people talking as they ask how and why would anyone let a young teenager drive all by himself to causing this destruction.

This would take a lot of time to settle and possibly involve the police if not settled amicably.

However, here are some of the reactions made by Nigerians on Twitter to this issue:

Police Rescue 2 Children Locked Up In Toilet In Garki, Abuja.

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has rescued two children that were allegedly locked up in a toilet in a house in Garki, Abuja.

In a statement, the spokesman of the command, DSP Anjuguri Manzah, said the two kids were subjected to inhuman treatment by their guardian who lives on the second floor of a two-storey building in the Federal Capital Development Authority (FCDA) Quarters, Garki.

He said one of the children, Wisdom Christopher, 9, whom he said miraculously escaped through the window of their guardian’s apartment located in a two storey-building, raised the alarm which led to the rescue of the second victim, Angel Nwoga, also 9-years-old, from the apartment.

He said the second victim was rescued from the apartment by operatives from Garki police division and some officials of the Federal Fire Service.

According to him, the guardian of the victims, Mrs Loveth Ilobi, was reported to have been subjecting the children to inhuman treatment.

“Information has it that she often starved the children and locked them up in the toilet pending her return from work late at night,” he said.

Manzah said the culprit had been arrested by police operatives from Garki police division and that investigation had commenced.

The United Arab Emirates (UAE), on Thursday, debunked claims of restricting travels from Nigeria.

The Embassy in Abuja stated this in a statement, noting that unverified claims of suspension of different categories of visas to Nigerians after Hushpuppi was arrested for alleged fraud were not true.

The statement stressed that the UAE only took a number of precautionary measures to combat the spread of coronavirus, including the temporary suspension on issuing UAE visas for all nationalities as of March 17, 2020.

It also said that the UAE had already eased some measures from July 7, permitting visitors from various countries to adhere to the necessary precautionary measures, including showing negative PCR test results within 92 hours of travelling to the UAE, as part of measures it is taking while entering the recovery phase of the pandemic.

It said the travel between the UAE and Nigeria had remained limited due to the closure of Nigerian airspace, adding that the UAE Embassy in Abuja was working closely with the Nigerian government to obtain the necessary approvals to facilitate travel between the two countries.

The embassy, therefore, urged the general public to verify the authenticity of such reports and to seek

How floods consumed 30 in Gwagwalada,

A collapsed house near the river bank in Dagiri, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT

Last weekend’s floods in Zuba, Gwagwalada Area Council of the FCT, and Suleja in Niger State left many residents wriggling in pain and lamentation.

While the Zuba flood claimed a woman and her four children in Giri community, Daily Trust Saturday gathered that the death toll in Suleja has risen to 24.

Buhari speaks on EFCC, NDDC probes, decries worsening security situation

FCTA presents relief items to Gwagwalada flood victims

Relations and neighbors of the victims who spoke to reporters in Zuba expressed shock and sadness. They said the woman, whose apartment was close to the waterways died with her four children after the heavy flood submerged the apartment and other houses.

They said before a rescue could come, the flood had already swept them away.

A neighbor, Mrs. Grace Uche, said the deceased who had lived in the apartment for over a year after separating from her husband, was always jovial with neighbors.

“I didn’t know that the woman had separated from her husband until that day the incident happened, after which the Ebira chief came to the scene and I overheard some of her kinsmen discussing it,” she said.

Neighbors of the other two persons who died in Anguwar Paka Zuba said they were sleeping when the flood suddenly submerged the house and swept them away.

A neighbor, Ibrahim Aliyu, said the parents of the children had traveled to the eastern part of the country before the incident.

The village head of Kaura Quarters, Mr. Bako Ndazhaga, said contrary to reports that 30 people were missing, four people were missing while one death was officially recorded there. He said those missing and the dead were from the same family.

Bako said one person was found dead while the other four including a woman and her three children were missing while expressing fears on their survival.

Another resident of the area, Mr. Simon Baba, said the rain forced the resident to stay indoors, and the flood submerged the Gwagwalada Bridge and a hotel and destroyed properties.

Another resident, Ibrahim Shaibu, said the flood which started around 2am on Saturday took over a petrol station and swept away a truck loaded with petrol.

The village head of Dagiri, another affected area, Alhaji Saidu Muhammad Ndako, said many houses close to the river bank were destroyed.

The chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, who visited some of the affected areas, urged community leaders to make arrangements to get people out of flood-prone areas.

“We at the local government level will do our best to provide urgent palliatives because the incident has created havoc,” he said.

Minister orders removal of houses on waterways

Reacting to the incident, the Minister of State for FCT, Hajiya Ramatu Tijjani Aliyu, ordered the management of the FCT Development Control department to remove houses on waterways across the council.

Speaking when she visited some of the affected areas on Wednesday, she said the flood was a result of building houses on waterways.

She donated relief items to the chairman of the council, Alhaji Adamu Mustapha, for distribution to the victims.

The Director-General, Federal Capital Territory Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Alhaji Idriss Abbas, said: “Gwagwalada was flooded from Giri. A family of five was affected at Giri.

“We rescued six people and they are in hospital. The flood has damaged a lot of houses and property, especially at Gwagwalada,” he said.

Victims at the mercy of relatives, neighbors in Suleja

People affected by the flood in Suleja have turned to relatives and neighbors for temporal shelter, just as the death toll is reported to have reached 24, according to our reporter.

It was gathered that 10 people are yet to be found after the heavy flood swept the area Saturday following an early morning rainfall.

Unguwar Gwari, a community under Rafin-Sanyi District on the outskirts of the town was reported to be the worst hit, with the loss of seven persons, including five from a single-family.

At Rafin-Sanyi community, 10 people were reported to have died. Our reporter on Thursday went around Unguwar Sunday, Polosa and Unity wards, all within Rafin-Sanyi community

A resident, Sunday Nnamani, said he was sleeping when his attention was drawn to screams from his neighbor’s apartment.

“The next thing I saw was my phone rolling in the water, so I immediately got out of my room which I discovered was flooded all over, and I don’t know how I escaped,” he said.

A shocked Nnamani added that it was thereafter that he understood that the incident took the lives of his neighbor, a pregnant woman and two children within the compound. He said he is now squatting in a nearby house as he doesn’t have anywhere to go or money to look for another place.

Mr. Wilson Williams stands where his building was cut by the flood

Another woman close to the house identified as Mai-Kifi, was also said to have died along with two of her daughters. At Immaculate Street just across the stream, another woman popularly known as “Calabar” died with her two children and another boy who lived with his parents in the compound.

Another person died around Poloso area of Rafin-Sanyi, bringing the number of deaths in the area alone to 10.

Many residents faulted the claim that their compounds were marked, maintaining that they were only suddenly told that the houses would be pulled down after the flood disaster in 2017.

The village head of Rafin-Sanyi, Malam Zakari Madaki who acknowledged the visit of some government officials to the area after the incident, put the total casualty figure within the area, and that of Unguwar-Gwari where he supervised as Wakili, to 22.

Daily Trust on Saturday gathered that two other children died around Living Faith Church in Madalla, a neighboring community, just as a woman’s body was seen floating in the river around Chaza community, all within Suleja Area Council.

Man who lost wife, 4 kids grateful for the empathy

The man who lost four children and his pregnant wife, Mr. Obioma Thank God, expressed gratitude over visits from dignitaries that included the state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, and the Emir of Suleja, Malam Muhammad Auwal Ibrahim.

He said apart from the condolences, the governor spoke to him at length, including how he got his land allocation for the destroyed house.

“The governor then told me he would get back to me while directing the chairman to communicate to me later. The same issue was raised by his highness, and after I answered him, he said I should try to meet him at the palace. I am still hoping and waiting, believing that something positive would come from them,” he said.

He added: “But is there anything positive that can come out more than my children? I think there is nothing like that in this world. They were my great assets and treasure, my best friends, all my trust is to God, that is the only one who can make the impossibility to be possible, and I handed everything to him.”

He said the stream that passes behind his house was previously a tiny one but kept expanding.

“It was a piece of wood that was used as a bridge across it, to tell you the size then.”

Speaking on how he got the land, Obioma said he bought the allocation paper from somebody who got the offer and proceeded to the area council where he got the necessary documents after verifying it to be genuine.

“It was when all the buildings within the old barracks were marked that our private buildings were included, but not because of their locations, as we were made to know then.

“We then approached the area council with our documents where they accused the previous administration of allocating lands at the wrong places.

“But all along they secured us after a kind of understanding and went ahead to demolish all buildings within the barracks. So it’s not right to come out now to blame us,” he added.

But while Obioma was lucky to get a visitation from prominent persons, others including a woman who lost her two children are yet to be that lucky.

Our reporter who also visited the area heard that as a result, the names of the affected people are yet to be captured as claimed, as according to them, no government official has so far visited them.

“A neighbor of the woman there, who lost two children, Christopher Acham, said a woman known as Majesty lost one of her children after a wall fell on him.

Building destroyed by the flood

“Two others were pulled by the flood, one died and the third one was rescued,” he said.

He said while the mother of the two deceased children relocated to her sister’s home in Gauraka town along the Abuja-Kaduna high way, her husband relocated to his brother’s house in Madalla.

He said no government official visited them for any documentation, let alone donating any relief material to them. The same story was given by another victim of the flood, Wilson Williams, along with other victims.

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) recently released the 2020 Seasonal Rainfall Prediction (SRP) report, where it stated that Nigeria was expected to have rainfalls, ranging from 400mm in the North to over 3000mm in the South.

It predicted a total of 28 states for “highly probable flood risk” and that the flooding could affect a total of 102 local government areas across the 28 states while another 275 local government areas are categorized as “moderately probable flood risk”.

The states predicted to experience severe floods include Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Benue, Niger, Kogi, Enugu, and Anambra.

Others are Imo, Abia, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Osun, Kwara, Zamfara, Sokoto, Lagos, Ondo, Bayelsa, Kaduna, Oyo, Ogun, Abia, Kano, Kebbi, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

However, torrential rainfalls in the last few weeks have led to serious floods in many states, such as Lagos, Delta, Niger, and the FCT, with consequent loss of lives and properties, while many people were reportedly displaced.

Floods kill 10 in Suleja, 5 in Gwagwalada

Submerged houses in Gwagwalada after torrential rainfall yesterday PHOTOS: Abubakar Sadiq Isah

Building Collapse Claims 2 in Abuja Pregnant Woman, 8 Children Among Dead

A pregnant woman died with four of her children along with five other persons in a heavy flood after an early morning rainfall in Suleja, Niger State yesterday. The flood also swept away some houses along waterways.

It was gathered that the first incidence occurred around Unguwar-Gwari within Rafin-Sanyi area on the outskirts of the town, where the woman resided along with her husband and children, and a nearby house where two persons died.

The heavy rain was reported to have started around 4am and continued till 7am. The chairman of Suleja council, Malam Abdullahi Maje, said the remains of the deceased were taken to the Suleja General Hospital morgue after a search mission.

The Suleja Zonal Coordinator of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Umar Abdullahi, said three children and their sibling lost their lives when the flood forced its way into their compound around Living Faith Church area in Madalla, a neighboring town.

Many houses, vehicles, and other valuables were submerged in the flood, even as some people were declared missing.

The husband of the pregnant woman, Iboma ThankGod Ibedike, told our reporter that the fence collapsed after which the house also went down. “I went outside to ascertain the level of the water from outside the compound when another wall attached to the building also collapsed, that was when the flood took away my family members,” he said.

Residents gather during a rescue effort by emergency officials when a two-storey building collapsed

Woman, 4 kids drown in Gwagwalada flood Elsewhere in Gwagwalada area of the Federal Capital Territory, a 27-year-old housewife, Habibat Hameed, and her four children drowned in a heavy flood in Giri community in the area council.

The children included; Latifat, Rahamat, Abdulateef and Rabiu. A neighbour of the family, Israel Musa, said the incident took place around 3:12 am after heavy flood submerged houses near a river in the area. He said the woman and her four children were sleeping in their room when they were trapped by rising waters. “Before rescue could come their way, the flood had already taken over the house,” he said.

He said the corpse of the deceased woman’s first son was later recovered from a short distance from the bank of the river and was later buried.

“But the corpses of the woman and her children are yet to be recovered as efforts are still on to see how they will be recovered,” he added. Another resident, Samson Iyah, whose four houses were submerged, said he was still in shock.

He said flood destroyed the four houses which he built with mud block, and destroyed valuables, while appealing to the FCT administration to come to the aid of victims. Iyah, added that the flood crossed over the Abuja-Lokoja highway, which he said forced some motorists to turn back.

Another victim, Abdullahi Yakubu, said his house and that of his three neighbours were destroyed and valuables such as electronics, mattresses and some other items were destroyed by the flood. Our reporter gathered that the torrential downpour covered the Gwagwalada-Abuja-Lokoja road forcing some motorists coming form both lanes to park.

2 feared dead, 6 injured, 10 trapped in Abuja collapsed building Two people were feared dead when a building collapsed at the Panteka area of Dawaki, an Abuja urban slum along the Kubwa Expressway at about 10am yesterday, witnesses said. A witness, Usman, said the victims were Niger Republic nationals working at a construction site.

He said they were water vendors but engaged in menial jobs at construction sites since the beginning of the rainy season.

One of the injured victims, Hamisu Abdullahi, said: “I cannot say what happened, I was on the second floor working when it happened. I was rescued alongside others. I cannot say the number of people trapped but there were six that were taken to hospital for treatment.” Abdullahi said he was fortunate because he was at the top of the building and was not trapped.

The Director-General of the FCT Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), Abbas Idriss, said 10 people were trapped in the building.

He said one was injured while three were rescued and taken to the hospital. “We cannot identify their nationalities yet. The public should always follow the approved building plan, they should not contravene the masterplan. Should they want to change, they should consult the necessary government agencies,” he said.

The Director, Department of Development Control of the Abuja Metropolitan Management Council (AMMC), Muktar Galadima, said he was not aware of an approved building plan for the building. He said due process was not followed by the developer, as he built the two-storey building within two weeks, contravening engineering standards.

“On the 17th of this month when our officers were monitoring the development, they noticed the modification of the building from a bungalow to a two-storey building so they served him a stop-work notice. Taking advantage of the weekend, the developer resumed work, unfortunately, this incident happened,” he said.

He said legal action would be taken against the developer while integrity tests would be conducted on surrounding structures.

12 injured as bus crashes in Yangoji

Twelve passengers sustained various degrees of injury after a bus crashed near Government Secondary School (GSS), Yangoji, on the Abuja-Lokoja Highway.

A witness said the accident happened around 04:00pm last yesterday and that it involved an 18-seater bus with registration number DKP 100 LG.

He said the driver was conveying 16 passengers from Zuba, heading to the East when he lost control while on high speed during a heavy downpour and crashed into a ditch.

He said men of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) arrived the scene and evacuated the victims to the hospital in Kwali.

In a related development, two persons on a motorcycle were seriously injured near RCC Junction on Sunday evening after they were knocked down by a bus.

The cyclist and his passenger were rescued to the hospital by the police after the driver of the bus sped off.

When contacted, the Yangoji Unit Commander of FRSC, ACC Aminu Shuaibu, confirmed the accidents, which he attributed to poor visibility and loss of control by the drivers