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Kaduna 177: Southern, Middle-Belt Forum, demand rescue, compensation
Nothing less than the immediate rescue and compensation to the victims of the over 100 worshippers in Kurmin Wali community, Afogo Ward, Kajuru Local Government Area of Kaduna, will satisfy the Southern and Middle Belt Forum (SMBF).
Conveying the position of the body on the incident, Bitrus Pogu, the SMBLF Leader, backed by the other leaders from the South on Friday, lashed out at the Federal Government and security operatives, over the incident.
Others who joined in the condemnation, included Oba Oladipo Olaitan, Leader of Afenifere, the Yoruba socio-cultural association, John Mbata, his counterpart at the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, and Godknows Igali, Chairman of the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF).
The statement, said: “We call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately deploy all necessary military and intelligence resources to secure the safe rescue of the abducted, law-abiding citizens of Kurmin Wali.”
The abduction, which happened on Sunday, has been the subject of intense debates among Nigerians since the news filtered in. The gunmen attacked three churches, taking away scores of worshippers.
While the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in the state first disclosed the incident, police authorities and the Kaduna government denied the attack.
The Nigeria Police Force spokesman, Benjamin Hundeyin, days after, said the incident “did happen.”
The SMBLF, while calling for sanctions on persons responsible for the grave act of incompetence, regretted that it undermined rescue efforts, emboldened the criminals, and gave the kidnappers valuable time to relocate their captives to remote terror enclaves.
“All public officials who denied or downplayed this crime must be suspended and thoroughly investigated for their roles in obstructing justice and endangering lives.
“The renewed killings in the Middle Belt region further lay credence to the calls for the establishment of state police which it said is “long overdue. The National Assembly must as a matter of urgency start working on a bill that will facilitate it.
“The National Assembly, must as a matter of urgency, start working on a bill that will facilitate it. We call on Governor Uba Sani of Kaduna State to urgently establish and properly fund community-based vigilante formations in every Southern Kaduna community.
“This, will serve as a first line of defence against terrorist incursions. The Governors of the Middle Belt states must immediately form a Joint Regional Security Outfit, similar to the South-West model, to enhance intelligence sharing across state boundaries and to enable rapid, coordinated response to attacks.
“In the last two days, we have been collaborating with the relevant security agencies, both the military, the DSS, the police, and the Office of National Security Adviser to ensure the quick return and recovery of our people that were abducted in this very important community.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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