Tag:

Kidnappers

Headlines

FG insists on death penalty for kidnappers

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The Federal Government has dismissed opposition by the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) and the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to the proposed death penalty for kidnappers and bandits, saying the punishment is consistent with Nigerian laws.

Minister of information and national orientation, Mohammed Idris, spoke on the issue on Monday at the Federal Government’s end-of-year press conference in Abuja.

Idris said the government would act strictly within the law and would not pursue any policy that contradicts Nigeria’s legal framework.

His words: “The Nigerian government will not do anything that is not consistent with the laws of the nation.

“If there is a need to adapt or to modify these laws, we have the national assembly to consult and to take them so that we can have a response, but for now it is important to say that Nigeria as a sovereign country has its laws and is being governed by these laws, and all the operators, including the security agencies, are acting within the ambit, within the parameters of those laws.”

The minister said the national counterterrorism doctrine unveiled this year is anchored on four pillars — unified command, intelligence, community stability and counterinsurgency.

He said under the doctrine, any armed group involved in kidnapping, attacks on farmers or terrorising communities would be treated as a terrorist organisation.

“Let me be clear about what this means: that henceforth, any armed group that kidnaps our children, attacks our farmers, or terrorises our communities is officially classified and will be dealt with as a terrorist organisation. The era of ambiguous nomenclature is over,” Idris said.

Addressing concerns about human rights violations, Idris said he could not reconcile human rights arguments with acts of terrorism and mass violence.

“I don’t know how human rights will stop you first when somebody comes into a room and randomly starts shooting at people,” he said.

He added that Nigeria must defend itself while observing globally accepted rules of engagement.

“Nigeria has to defend itself as a country, observing the highest standards of procedure. All our armed forces are trained, they collaborate with international partners and they are following strict protocols of engagement with terrorists or whoever they are engaging with,” the minister said.

He said where there are specific complaints about the conduct of security agencies, such issues should be raised and addressed through appropriate channels.

The minister also spoke on Nigeria’s relations with the United States, saying the recent diplomatic disagreement had been resolved through what he described as firm and respectful engagement.

He added that the N5.41 trillion allocation to defence and security — the largest in Nigeria’s history — is aimed at protecting lives and property through modern equipment for the armed forces, a new national intelligence architecture and a secure digital border surveillance system.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Muhammad Idris
Headlines

FG Designates Kidnappers, Armed Groups as Terrorists

by Nelson Ugwuagbo
written by Nelson Ugwuagbo

The Federal Government has formally classified kidnappers and violent armed groups as terrorists.

The declaration was made on Monday by the Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, during the Federal Government’s end-of-year press briefing in Abuja.

With the new designation, acts such as mass kidnappings and coordinated assaults in farming communities will no longer be treated as conventional criminal offences but addressed within the framework of counterterrorism operations.

Idris said any individual or group involved in abducting citizens, attacking farmers, or instilling fear in communities would now fall under the terrorist classification and face the full weight of the law.

According to the minister, the decision puts an end to what he described as vague labels previously used to describe violent actors, stressing that anyone who terrorises Nigerians will be treated as a terrorist without exception.

He added that the policy shift would improve intelligence gathering, enhance collaboration among security agencies, and enable quicker, more coordinated responses to security threats across the country.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Benue State
Headlines

Youths Protest Abduction of Traders in Owukpa, Benue State

by Nelson Ugwuagbo
written by Nelson Ugwuagbo

Youths in Owukpa, Ogbadigbo Local Government Area of Benue State, on Monday staged a protest over the recent abduction of traders in the area.

The protest follows the hijacking of a Benue Links vehicle by suspected armed men over the weekend along the Owukpa–Orokam road. The assailants reportedly abducted several female passengers, including both young and adult women, who were returning from Orba market in Enugu State to Owukpa.

The incident occurred around 7:00 p.m. near the Eyiupi community. The attackers, believed to be armed herdsmen, intercepted the vehicle and forcibly took the passengers to an unknown destination.

As of the time of filing this report, the kidnappers have yet to make contact with the victims’ families or issue any ransom demands.

In response, angry youths barricaded the Orokam-Owukpa-Okpoga road, calling on the government to intervene and secure the release of the abducted individuals.

The protest has disrupted movement in the area, leaving travelers from Enugu and nearby communities stranded, as the youths vowed not to allow entry or exit into Owukpa until the victims are rescued.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Kidnappers
Headlines

Gunmen Kill Driver, Abduct All Passengers in Benue Road Attack

by Nelson Ugwuagbo
written by Nelson Ugwuagbo

Gunmen suspected to be herdsmen on Sunday night ambushed a commercial vehicle along the Otukpo-Adoka Road in Benue State, killing the driver and abducting all passengers on board.

The attack occurred at about 11 p.m. as the vehicle was travelling from Abuja to Otukpo.

According to eyewitnesses, the assailants opened fire upon sighting the vehicle, fatally hitting the driver, who lost control and veered into nearby bushes. The attackers then abducted all passengers and left the vehicle at the scene.

The body of the driver, identified as a native of Adoka, has been recovered and taken to his hometown.

Military personnel have since arrived at the scene and launched a manhunt for the attackers.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Headlines

Kidnapper writes Oyo Varsity, Bank, Threatens Abduction

by Folarin Kehinde
written by Folarin Kehinde

The Oyo State Police Command has arrested a suspected kidnapper, who wrote a letter to a private university in Oyo town and told the management of his plan to abduct three students of the institution.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Adebowale Williams, while parading the suspected kidnappers and other suspects on Monday, noted that the suspects were arrested at different times by men of the command.

The CP said the suspected kidnapper asked the university to pay N10 million to stop him from striking. He was also said to have written a bank in the town to notify the management of his intention to attack the place.

He, however, said the arrests of the suspects were made possible by the crime tackling approach “premised upon improved communal partnerships and technology-aided inquiries.”

He said, “The command’s monitoring unit has intercepted a kidnap mastermind whose mode of operation is to run detailed background checks on unsuspected victims and then inform them through writing of his intentions to abduct them unless a stipulated amount of money could be sourced and paid to him.

“Preliminary investigations revealed on Thursday, August 11, 2022 at about 8am, members of a notorious kidnapping syndicate sent a ‘’hand-written” note to the management of a private university in Oyo town wherein they threatened to abduct three of its students should the management fail to pay up N10,000,000 within a stipulated period.

Read Also: Two Nollywood Actors Kidnapped

“The threat, as expected, disrupted academic activities within the university, stirring up panic and uncertainty among the university community.

“Basking under the euphoria of what they presumed was a successful scheme, and blinded with greed, they decided to extend a similar (hand-written) notification to a branch office of a new generation bank within Owode area, Oyo, with the intentions of invading it later in the week.

“Consequent upon the above, discreet forensic based investigations were carried out and this led to the arrest of one Azeez Mufutau ‘M’ whose phone numbers were inscribed on the ‘’hand-written notes’’ sent to the both the school management and bank.

“Upon questioning, the suspect confirmed that the phone number on the note was his but denied being the author of the document.

“The investigation further led to the arrest of one Olarinde Adekunle ‘M’ age 37 years, who confessed to being the author the hand-written notes under scrutiny and added that Azeez Mufutau ‘m’ was used as a decoy for the purpose of concealing his direct involvement.”

According to him, a Tecno phone was recovered from the suspect who some said might not be mentally okay.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Headlines

Nasir El-Rufai needs help as kidnappers now break walls to ferret residents from homes

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

“The bandits broke walls to gain access to houses. They kidnapped tenants and house owners,” Eunice Kasu,

Residents of Unguwan Gimbiya in Sabon Tasha area of Kaduna State on Thursday narrated their horror as bandits attacked their community and kidnapped many people.

Among the victims kidnapped in the attack that began at 11 p.m. on Wednesday
were a landlord and his tenants.

According to a resident, the bandits announced their arrival in the community by shooting sporadically into the air to scare the residents.

“The bandits broke walls to gain access to houses. They Kidnapped tenants and house owners,” Eunice Kasu, a resident of the area, told our reporter.
.
“The whole community is in total disarray now. We are all afraid and tired. Three days after the kidnapping of Bethel Baptist Secondary School students, we witnessed another big kidnapping.”

Other residents narrated similar ordeals.

The kidnappers broke into house by breaking a section of this fence
The kidnappers broke into house by breaking a section of this fence

On Thursday, residents of the area held a protest march, calling on the state government to provide security to the people of the area

The protesters blocked the Sabon Tasha road that leads to the Kaduna metropolis.

The police spokesperson in the state, Muhammed Jalige, did not respond to messages sent to him as of the time of writing this report.

Also the state’s commissioner for Internal Security, Samuel Aruwan, did not answer calls made to his phone.

Earlier in the week, over 100 students of Bethel Baptist Secondary School were kidnapped in Kaduna.

The kidnappers broke into house by breaking into this house
The kidnappers broke into house by breaking into this house

The police said 26 of the students have been rescued but the others remain in the captivity of the bandits.

Many other students abducted from schools in Kaduna as well as in Niger and Kebbi States are also being held by their captors.

The state governments have vowed not to pay ransom but have also failed to devise measures to safeguard schools against raids by bandits and to free kidnapped pupils.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Headlines

Video: FG Ignored us, we paid N180 million to Kidnappers – Parent

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters
  • About 730 children and students have been kidnapped Since December 2020, a UNICEF tally showed. At least six states shut down schools temporarily.
  • “Millions of children are paying the price of the government’s failure to protect its citizens from violence,”

Angry parent of kidnapped Greenfield University students said N180 million Naira was paid to the abductors of the university students kidnapped over a month ago.

A total of 10 motorcycles were also given to the kidnappers as part of the ransom to secure the release of the students abducted from their school on April 20.

Video: FG Ignored us, we paid N180 million to Kidnappers – Parent – TVC
14 students were freed on Saturday.

“N180 million, that is what they [the kidnappers] collected from us,” a parent told Television Continental on Saturday, noting the ransom was paid “without the help of the government.”

One of the students was released in early May after his parent paid a ransom.

Five of the Greenfield students were executed by the kidnappers and government and security forces remain helpless.

But the Kaduna State Government insisted paying ransom only emboldens the criminals.

“We will not give them any money and they will not make any profit from Kaduna,” Kaduna Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai said last month.

About 730 children and students have been kidnapped Since December 2020, a UNICEF tally showed. At least six states shut down schools temporarily.

States such as Katsina, Zamfara, Niger and Kaduna have seen mass kidnapping of students.

Amnesty International said in a report in April that “over 600 schools” have been shut in Nigeria’s northern region as kidnapping spirals.

AI worried that the spate of kidnapping will worsen the rate of out-of-school children in the region and fuel a spike in child marriages and early pregnancies.

“Millions of children are paying the price of the government’s failure to protect its citizens from violence,” said Osai Ojigho, the director of Amnesty International Nigeria.

“The Nigerian authorities must restore security to schools in Nigeria and provide psycho-social support to victims of abductions and their families, to enable them to heal from trauma and integrate back into society. There must be a plan to ensure that children can return to safe classrooms.”

In a statement after the release, Kaduna State Government said it is “working with the FG and other states for military operations to secure our people” despite the accusation of abandonment by the Greenfield students’ parents.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Headlines

Breaking: Two Kidnappers Burnt Alive In Madalla Market

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

Two suspected kidnappers have been burnt alive in Madalla Market this morning, Leadingreporters has been informed.

The two suspects were burnt inside a vehicle with which they allegedly commit their nefarious crime.

Recall that 10 people were kidnapped last Wednesday around the same axis, and another 20 along Kaduna Express Road.

An eyewitness said that the suspected kidnappers were trailed to Madalla Market where they received instant jungle justice.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail
Headlines

Kidnappers On Rampage: Over 30 Allegedly Kidnapped In a Day, 2 Shot Dead Within Abuja Environs

by Leading Reporters
written by Leading Reporters

In what looks like untamed criminal operations with Abuja environs, no fewer than 30 people have been allegedly kidnapped and two fatally shot by kidnappers within Kwata and Kaduna road, LeadingReporters can authoritatively report.

According to an eyewitness account, the kidnappers made their way to Kwokwonshi, Kwata in Suleja on Wednesday  around 11pm, where about 10 people were kidnapped on Wednesday, 19the and taken to a hitherto unknown location.

It was also reported that on the same day, about 20 people were waylaid and kidnapped along Kaduna road. Recall that Kaduna road has become the hub of kidnapping which has led to more people traveling to Kaduna through train.

In what looks like a shooting spree, the kidnappers were said to have fatally shot two persons in Dakwa Village when they invaded the village.

Recall that the menace of kidnapping, banditry and other forms of criminality have bedeviled virtually every part of Nigeria.  The Federal Capital Territory, Abuja is fast becoming a vulnerable place following the alleged invasion of the city from neighboring villages.

0 comments
0 FacebookTwitterPinterestThreadsBlueskyEmail