Boko Haram throws Maiduguri, other Borno towns into darkness again

 The Boko Haram sect has knocked off electricity in Borno State capital, Maiduguri and surrounding towns, the second time in 2021.

On Saturday, terrorists vandalised two towers on the Damaturu-Maiduguri 330kiloVolt (KV) Transmission Line.

Transmission Company of Nigeria General Manager, Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, confirmed the attack in a statement.

Mbah said that the incident occurred after TCN made concerted effort and restored power to Maiduguri on March 24.

The spokesman disclosed that the explosion recorded at about 5.56 a.m on Saturday, cut power supply to Maiduguri and its environs.

“This time, the insurgents bombed two other towers; T152 and T153 on the same line route of the other incident,” she said.

The TCN assured that engineers would ensure power supply was restored to the affected areas.

Last month, two TCN staff were injured at Mainok in Kaga Local Government Area of Borno State when their vehicle hit a landmine buried by Boko Haram.

They were part of a team from the TCN and Yola Electricity Distribution Company (YEDC).

The latest sabotage has affected the power outrage the engineers fixed a few days ago.

- DAILY POST

Lagos panel awards N16.25m to four victims of police brutality

 

The Lagos state judicial panel has awarded a total of N16,250,000 to four victims of police brutality.

Doris Okuwobi, chairperson of the panel, gave the ruling on Saturday.

The names of the petitioners are Tolulope Openiyi, Blessing Esanbor, Felicia Opara, and Tella Adesanya.

The panel awarded the sum of N10 million to Openiyi, N5 million was given to Esanbor; Opara received N750,000, while Adesanya got N500,000.

Tolulope, a widow, had approached the panel over the death of her husband, Olusegun Openiyi, whom she said was shot by one Jide Akintola, a police sergeant with the force number 32405.

The widow had told the panel that her husband, who worked for Celtel (now known as Airtel), was shot on his chest, while on his way back from an official outing at the University of Lagos in August 2007.

On her part, Esanbor had approached the panel to narrate how a police officer shot her on February 10, 2012, during an argument, adding that she sustained injuries, and had spent over N5 million in the hospital for treatment.

In his testimony, Adesanya said police officers seized his car while driving along LASU/Ibadan road in June 2018, after some persons accused him of hitting someone along Igando junction.

Adesanya said he spent three days in a police cell, after which he alleged that he paid N10,000 for bail, and his car was damaged at the station.

He added that he wrote letters to the police, office of the public defender, the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and the presidency, seeking justice, but nothing was done earlier.

In Opara’s account before the panel, she said some police officers assaulted her with guns after she was arrested for using her phone to record during the #EndSARS protest.

She was one of the ladies dragged to the Ojuelegba police station during the #EndSARS demonstrations, and her experience was captured in a video that went viral on social media at the time.

See photos of the other petitioners below.

 

- THECABLE

You have no right to decide who stays in Nigeria – Nnamdi Kanu blasts FG

 

Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the proscribed Indigenous People Of Biafra, IPOB, has said it is not the duty of the Federal Government to decide who stays or leave Nigeria.

Kanu made the assertion on Saturday via a tweet on his official Twitter handle.

According to him, the decision of whether the country would disintegrate or remain integrated should be determined by the people via a referendum.

The founder of the Eastern Security Network, ESN, said not even the military has such power.

“Dear Nigerian Govs
It’s not your business to decide whether the people of your State should remain Nigerians or not. It’s not even the business of @NGRPresident or the @HQNigerianArmy.

“Instead, it’s the business of the PEOPLE, freely expressed through a process called REFERENDUM”, the tweet reads.

Recall that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. -Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru recently said the military was ready to deal with all separatists disturbing the cooperate existence of Nigeria.

He vowed to ensure that those inciting disintegration such as the Yoruba activist, Sunday Igboho who recently declared the Oduduwa Republic and his South South counterpart, ex-militant, Asari Dokubo are all dealt with.

 - DAILY POST

Woman dies, six wounded in shocking knife-attack in Vancouver

 

A woman died and multiple others were wounded in a stabbing at a public library in Canada’s affluent Vancouver suburb on Saturday.

A suspect, who apparently acted alone, was taken into custody.

Canada’s Global News reported the death of the woman, citing homicide police, who were not immediately available to confirm. No details were provided.

The Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) said “multiple victims” were stabbed inside and outside the North Vancouver Library and that one suspect was in custody.

It “appears this was a lone suspect,” the RCMP said on Twitter, adding that it was still looking for “potential additional victims.”

Amy Robertson of B.C. Emergency Health Services said six people were taken to the hospital and that she was unable to release details on their condition, the Canadian Broadcasting Corp (CBC) reported earlier.

“We were driving up … and there was a woman right beside her car with a 7-year-old boy, multiple stab wounds and bleeding profusely … She said it was a random stabber who was running down the street,” a witness who gave his name as Steve told Canada’s Global News.

North Vancouver is a mostly quiet and wealthy suburb with about 85,000 people on the north side of Burrard Inlet, Vancouver’s primary port.

In 2019, North Vancouver was ranked 10th on Maclean’s magazine list of the richest Canadian communities with an average household net worth of nearly C$2 million.

Two bridges and a foot ferry connect North Vancouver to the city of Vancouver. North Vancouver is also a popular destination for hiking and skiing, with part of the North Shore mountain range within its boundaries.

*Source: Reuters/NAN

NDLEA arrests ’70-year-old’ man ‘who sells drugs to bandits’

 

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) has arrested one Mohammed Wada, for his alleged involvement in the sale of illicit drugs to bandits.

Femi Babafemi, the NDLEA spokesman, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.

Wada, identified as a native of Niger Republic, was reportedly arrested in Niger state, where he was found to be in possession of “skunk”.

Skunk is sometimes used to refer to a brand of cannabis.

“A 70-year-old drug trafficker, Mohammed Rabiu Wada, who supplies illicit substances to Boko Haram insurgents and bandits, has been arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, in Niger state,” the statement reads.

“The suspect who hails from Dallawa town, state of Agadez, Niger Republic, was arrested on Thursday with 10 pallets of skunk in Jebba, Niger state. He had brought into Nigeria hides and skin from Niger Republic to sell in Lagos.

“During interrogation, the suspect claimed he sold his goods for N300,000 in Lagos and used the fund to buy 10 pallets of skunk at N25,000 each.

“He was on his way back to Niger Republic through the North West where he sells drugs to bandits when he was intercepted in Jebba.”

Aloye Isaac, Niger state commander of the NDLEA, is said to have described the arrest as “further confirmation of the nexus between drug abuse and the security challenges in parts of the country”.

- THECABLE

Bandits place N50million ransom on kidnapped RCCG members

 

Members of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Kaduna kidnapped by bandits on their way to Kafanchan from Kaduna have been placed on a N50million ransom.

A senior Pastor of the Church who confirmed the contact and the amount, explained that the eight members were kidnapped from the church bus at about 6:00 p.m while on their way for a church assignment.

The RCCG cleric, who is a Special Assistant to the General Overseer assured, “It’s true. It happened around 6:00 p.m. They are asking for N50 million.”

He said that the abducted persons were adult missionaries, male and female, from Kaduna Province 1 going to Kafanchan for prayer work.

Recall that an engineer, Mr Eje Kenny Faraday, said “he narrowly escaped being a victim,” had broken the news on his Facebook wall with the photograph of the empty bus around 7.00 p.m. on Friday.

He posted on his Facebook wall, “All passengers in the bus are just kidnapped along Kachia Road, Kilometre 63 from Kaduna.”

The inscription on the side of the bus reads, “The Redeemed Christian Church of God, Region 30, Trinity Sanctuary, Kaduna.”

- DAILY POST

Ogun Police reveal new tactics of kidnappers

 

The Ogun State Police Command has revealed new tactics employed by kidnappers to abduct their unsuspecting victims in the state.

The command revealed this in a press release issued by its spokesman, DSP Oyeyemi Abimbola to newsmen in Abeokuta.

“The Ogun State police wants to reiterates the need for the general public to increase their level of security consciousness in view of the prevailing security situation in the Country and the nonchalant attitude to security issues exhibited by some people.

“It is to this end that the following security tips are hereby provided to members of the public to keep you abreast of the new tactics of criminals.

“All the good people of Ogun State are enjoined to take precautions to minimize, if not completely eliminate, the chances of falling victims of the criminal gang. The new tactics are as follows”

“Hoodlums, including kidnappers now lay wait in isolated area, where they ambush innocent person(s) to either rob or abduct them for ransom. It is advisable that all such isolated roads are avoided as much as possible, especially at night.

“OKADA WITH AN ACCOMPLICE PASSENGER: With this system, kidnappers will pretend to be an Okada rider while his accomplice will pretend to be a passenger. In doing this, the accomplice passenger who had already laced his back with a sedative substances will be in the middle while their victim who will now sit at his back will fall asleep having inhaled the sedative substances.

“The kidnappers are now targeting business men and women who always close late from their shops and places of business.

“To this end, the Command hereby appeals to members of the public to always avoid travelling alone on isolated roads, especially at night. Also, those whose cars are not in good mechanical condition should avoid night travelling, because if such vehicle breaks-down, such person(s) may have unknowingly given the kidnappers opportunity to attack them,” the statement said..

The police added that members of public are advised to always avoid being the third person on a commercial motorcycle, most especially when the two other persons are not known to them.

“Our business men and women should as well endeavour to avoid closing too late from their business places pending when those marauders who are making life difficult for our people will be apprehended.

“Conclusively, the Command is working round the clock to ensure the safety of residents of the State and the support of the general public is therefore needed to achieve this onerous task,” the statement said.

-PM NEWS