A total of forty-three (43) dead bodies of Boko Haram/ISWAP insurgents were evacuated after a fierce battle with troops of Multinational Joint Task Force (MNJTF) Sector 4, Diffa in Niger Republic.
A statement from Colonel Muhammad Dole, Chief of Military Public Information, HQ MNJTF N`Djamena Chad on Wednesday, said the troops displayed uncommon acts of gallantry and bravery when their location was attacked.
Troops of the sector deployed in Baroua came under heavy attack by suspected BHT/ISWAP criminals in the small hours of Wednesday, 25 August 2021.
“The troops tactically canalized the criminals to their effective killing zone, brought heavy fire on them, and neutralized scores of the terrorists, while others escaped with various degrees of injuries.
“One terrorist suspected to be their leader was caught alive and a large cache of arms and ammunition were recovered and four enemy gun trucks were destroyed,” the statement said.
The statement also said, regrettably seven gallant MNJTF soldiers paid the supreme sacrifice, while four other soldiers sustained varying degrees of injuries and are being treated in a military hospital.
“Coincidently, the Force Commander (FC), MNJTF, Major General Abdul Khalifah Ibrahim was in HQ Sector 4 Diffa on 25 August 2021 on the final leg of his familiarization/operational visit to the sectors.
“General Ibrahim commended the selfless sacrifice and act of gallantry, as demonstrated by the troops, ” The statement added.
While praying for the repose of the souls of the deceased soldiers whom he described as martyrs of freedom, the Force Commander also condoled the family of the deceased and wishes the wounded soldiers speedy recovery.
While addressing the troops at the frontline location of Sector 4, alongside the Commander Sector 4, MNJTF, Col Mamane Sani Kiaou, General Ibrahim said, despite the ongoing waves of BHT/ISWAP terrorists surrender, MNJTF forces will continue to take the battle to all identified enclaves of the insurgents.
He described these attacks as futile kicks of a dying horse.
He further charged them to brace up, remain alert and deal decisively with remnants of the criminals around the fringes of the Lake Chad region.
The Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a 47-year-old woman, Gertrude Akpan, to 10 years’ imprisonment for trafficking in children.
The convict was said to have bought a six-year-old boy in Uyo and taken him to Owerri, Imo State, where she sold the victim to one Kate Ogbonna.
The court, presided over by Justice Okon Okon, found Akpan guilty and jailed her without an option of fine.
Akpan, a mother of three, hails from Ikot Eyo in the Nsit Ibom Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.
The convict, who claimed to be a retired worker of the Immanuel Hospital, Eket, where she worked as a matron in 2015, confessed that she had been in the business of trafficking in children since 2008.
“Apart from the confession of the convict, the evidence of the prosecution witness that she assisted the police in the recovery of the child victim from the buyer in Owerri, remained unchallenged and therefore accepted,” the judge said.
Justice Okon further held that the evidence of the prosecution was that one Ubong Ekwere on May 12, 2018 abducted the six-year-old boy in the custody of his grandmother and sold him to the convict for N50,000.
Akpan, in turn, sold the child to Ogbonna in Owerri for N200,000.
According to the judge, the convict is “guilty of unlawful removal and transfer of the child from Akwa Ibom State to Owerri, Imo State.”
“It is sadistic that Gertrude (Akpan), a mother of children, indulged in selling the children of others, thereby depriving the innocent children of the natural love, care and upbringing of their parents. Such an evil trade must be deprecated, forestalled and checkmated by every right thinking member of society,” he added.
Preliminary findings by the military authorities have revealed how the gunmen, who attacked the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna, gained access to the institution.
The attackers reportedly broke into five apartments at the NDA residential quarters and swiftly escaped before the guards on duty could respond.
This came to the fore on Wednesday as the Christian Association of Nigeria and the Coalition of Northern Groups berated the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).
Gunmen had early on Tuesday attacked the NDA, killed two officers and kidnapped another during the surprise attack.
The deceased are Lieutenant Commander Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Commander Okoronkwo, while Major Datong was abducted. The gunmen injured another person, identified as Onah.
But preliminary findings by the military authorities indicate that the attackers broke into five apartments at the NDA residential quarters and swiftly escaped before the guards could respond to the situation.
The successful abduction and swiftness of the operation suggested that the assailants might have collaborators within the NDA, it was learnt.
An assessment of the incident carried out by the authorities indicated that the sentry guards did not offer a robust and effective response to the armed invaders.
It was also noted that the bush behind the officers’ quarters made it easy for the gunmen, said to be in military uniform, to escape.
The report states, “An assessment of the kidnap incident revealed that the bandits gained access and escaped by breaching the barbed wire fence of the academy along Airport Road, Afaka.
“Further checks revealed bushy areas around the officers’ quarters to the fence area, which is believed to have given the bandits easy concealment during escape.
“More so, it was observed that the response time of troops to the crime scene was slow as the bandits successfully broke into five different flats in the same block and swiftly withdrew before the intervention of troops.
“Further assessment revealed that the bandits’ escape route leads across the Airport Road to the open farm/bush area near Gidan Gado village in Afaka.”
The report further noted that the bandits escaped through the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
It stated, “The bandits are believed to have escaped either to Buruku and Maguzawa axis or the Riwaya axis in the Igabi LGA, which are known as notorious bandits’ hideouts.
“Consequently, there is a need for robust clearance operations along those areas.”
It added that a joint security operation had been launched to rescue the kidnapped officer.
The report also strongly recommended an overhaul of the security architecture of the NDA to avert a recurrence of the attack.
Also on Wednesday, the Defence Headquarters said it had set up a board of enquiry to ascertain the incidents that led to the security breach at the NDA.
The DHQ disclosed this in a statement by its Director of Defence Information, Major General Benjamin Sawyerr.
He stated, “Let me use this opportunity to reiterate that the NDA authorities, acting on the directive of the Chief of Defence Staff, have constituted a board of enquiry to ascertain the remote and immediate cause(s) of the breach of security with a view to sanctioning any personnel found culpable and also preventing a future occurrence.
Bandits consistently rehearsed before attacking NDA, says Sawyerr In an interview with the Voice of Nigeria, Sawyerr said the gunmen had “consistently studied (the NDA) and rehearsed” before carrying out the attack.
He also said the slain officers were killed for resisting being abducted by the attackers.
He stated, “It was an unfortunate incident. We lost two of our very brave officers. Every security architecture is susceptible to breaches; it is unfortunate that that of the NDA was breached.
“I can tell you that these people had consistently studied and rehearsed what they wanted to do, because where they went to are the quarters for officers. The officers, who were killed, fought bravely against being abducted.”
A constitutional lawyer, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, said he was not surprised by the development at the NDA and stated that Armageddon was here.
He stated this in a chat with The PUNCH on Wednesday.
Ozekhome said, “I am not surprised at all. When you point one finger at others, be sure that four are pointing at you. The words of the German cleric, Martin Niemoller, after the Jewish holocaust between 1940 and 1945 during the World War II are very apt here.
“Let the Buhari government go and read them and they will understand why the chicken is coming home to roost so soon.
“When bandits attack a school for the training of military men and audaciously demand ransom, then Armageddon is here.”
Protests on Wednesday rocked Jos, the Plateau State capital, following the killing of 36 persons in an attack on the Yelwa Zangam community in the Jos North Local Government Area of the state on Tuesday.
This was just as eight persons were allegedly killed by suspected herders in the Yelwata community, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State on Tuesday. Several people were said to have been injured and one person was allegedly abducted during the attack.
Angry youths stormed some hospitals, including the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, where they seized corpses of the victims of the attack, went round with them in a truck before depositing them at the Government House.
There was tension in the local government following the attack as youths berated the state government for failing to protect the residents.
Recall that there was tension in Jos on August 14, when a group of youths along the Rukuba Road in the Jos North Local Government Area killed 22 persons, who were among passengers of five buses being conveyed from Bauchi State to Ikare Akoko in Ondo State.
The travellers had gone back to Bauchi State for an Islamic programme and were on their way back to Ondo State when they were attacked.
On Wednesday, Jos was enveloped in tension again following the killing of 35 persons in Ahwol Ward of the Naraguta community in the same local government area the previous night.
It was learnt that around 10pm on Tuesday, gunmen stormed the Yelwa Zangam community and killed no fewer than 36 persons and injured many others, who were rushed to the Bingham University Teaching Hospital, Jos, for treatment.
It was gathered that when the gunmen got to the community, they were shooting in every direction before they went from house to house and gunned down many residents.
The paramount ruler of the Anaguta ethnic nationality in the state, Johnson Jauro, confirmed the attack to The PUNCH in Jos on Wednesday.
“I have been informed that some gunmen attacked my people last night (Tuesday) in the Naraguta community with many casualties. But we are still investigating to know what really happened,” he stated.
The Councillor for the Ahwol Ward, Yusuf Ali, who also confirmed the attack, said more than 20 persons were burnt alive in the affected area.
Another resident, Jeremiah Bulus, said, “Sixteen additional corpses have been taken to the mortuary this morning and people are still making efforts to recover more corpses from several houses, which the gunmen set ablaze. The situation is really bad for the people.”
According to the councillor, the gunmen first destroyed the iron bridge linking the community before attacking the residents, which made it difficult for security agents to access the area when they were contacted about the attack.
He said, “The gunmen were just shooting in every direction when they arrived in the community around 10pm. For now, more than 10 dead bodies have been recovered and we are still searching for more victims, because the shooting was heavy.
“While the attack was going on, the chairman of the local government called the security agents to mobilise to the area, but it was discovered that the gunmen had destroyed the iron bridge linking the community.
“They destroyed the bridge probably to prevent security agents from having access to the community so that they could execute their evil agenda unhindered and that was exactly what happened. We are in pain because our people have been cheated.”
A few hours after the attack, it was gathered that angry protesters stormed some hospitals, including the Plateau State Specialist Hospital, Jos, where the corpses of the victims were deposited.
Eyewitnesses said the protesters dragged about 15 corpses into a waiting van and marched through the state House of Assembly complex to the Little Rayfield Government House, where they deposited them in front of the two gates.
It was learnt that at the roundabout in front of the Little Rayfield Government House, the protesters destroyed Governor Simon Lalong’s giant billboard that had the inscription, ‘Peace, Unity and Progress’.
They were, however, prevented from entering the Government House by security operatives, who mounted roadblocks at the road leading to the gates.
The security agents also fired teargas canisters to disperse the surging protesters, but the irate youths took the corpses in the vehicle from the roundabout and made their way to the front of the Government House gate, where they dumped the corpses one after another.
One of the protesters, Yusuf Jeremiah, who said he took five of the corpses to the Government House gate, said that the youths were not happy with the government’s handling of the security situation in the state.
Jeremiah said, “How can we have a government in place and over 36 persons were killed in a community without anything being done to stop the attackers? What is the job of those in government if it cannot protect the lives and property of the people? Is it that those in government want to eat the bodies of those killed? If that is what they want, we have decided to bring the dead bodies to the Government House.
Another protester, who refused to give his name, said, “The killings are too much in the state. There is hardly a day without stories of attacks and killings. For how long shall we continue like this? All through the time the protest lasted in front of the Government House, no government official came out to address us. So, we left the corpses for them there.”
It was gathered that the corpses were later evacuated and taken back to the morgue by security operatives.
The spokesman for the Plateau Police Command, Ubah Ogaba, could not be reached for comments.
But the Operation Safe Haven, in a statement by its spokesman, Ishaku Takwa, said the troops mobilised to save the community were slowed down by the destruction of the link bridge by the marauders.
He stated, “The attackers came in the night and started shooting unsuspecting members of the community from house to house. The gunmen also destroyed houses and the bridge linking the town to the community, making access to the area difficult for security agencies.
“Troops of the Operation Safe Haven, who were mobilised to save the community, were slowed down by the destruction of the bridge by the marauders.
As a result of the incident, Lalong re-imposed a 24-hour curfew on the Jos North Local Government Area.
The 24-hour curfew earlier imposed on the council area alongside Jos South and Bassa by the governor was relaxed last week from dusk to dawn.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Governor’s Director of Press and Public Affairs, Government House, Macham Makut, said the decision to re-impose the curfew, which began by 4pm on Wednesday, followed imminent threat to lives and property in the area.
The statement said, “The Plateau State Government has reinstated the 24-hour curfew earlier relaxed in the Jos North Local Government Area following growing tension arising from the attack on Yelwa Zangam village of the local government, where people were killed and properties destroyed.
“According to Governor Simon Lalong, the 24-hour curfew will come into force from 4pm today, Wednesday, August 25, 2021, until further notice.
“The proactive decision became necessary following imminent threat to lives and property within the local government area and the need to forestall the breakdown of law and order. It will also enable security agencies to deploy appropriately to maintain security as the search for the attackers of the villagers continues.”
CAN condemns killings, demands compensation for bereaved families
Meanwhile, the Christian Association of Nigeria, Jos North chapter, has condemned the fresh killings.
It said this on Wednesday in a statement signed by the Coordinator, CAN, Jos North, Rev Polycarp Gana, and Secretary, Rev Ezekiel Nyam.
The statement reads in part, ‘ We reiterate and condemn aggressively these killings and attacks on innocent citizens in their homes and the provocative statements by clerics, who should be preaching understanding and solidarity to fish out the bad eggs in our communities.
“We condemn provocative statements at these times when we should be trying to assuage frayed nerves with words from the holy books, which should build rather than further tear apart.
“CAN calls on the government to visit and compensate the families of the victims affected by the incident and appeals to Christians to stand firm and defend themselves.”
Lalong later confirmed that 10 persons had been arrested in connection with the attack.
The governor, who condemned the fresh attack in a statement by Makut, warned that those behind the killings would not go unpunished
The statement read in part, “Governor Simon Bako Lalong is appalled by yet another isolated attack, which took place at the Yelwa Zangam village of the Jos North Local Government Area on Tuesday night, where properties were destroyed and some people killed.
“The governor totally condemns this barbaric act and directs security agencies, which have already arrested 10 suspects in connection with the attack, to intensify efforts in tracking down the other assailants and their sponsors in order to bring them to justice.
Gombe State Governor, Inuwa Yahaya, has condemned the reprisals that followed the recent killings in Jos, Plateau State, urging residents to remain calm.
Yahaya spoke at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday, after meeting with the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.
A former Navy Commodore, Kunle Olawunmi, has said that Boko Haram terrorists mentioned names of current governors, senators and Aso Rock officials as sponsors during interrogation but the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has demonstrated an unwillingness to go after the high-profile politicians for reasons best known to him.
Olawunmi spoke on Wednesday when he featured on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise Daily’ breakfast Programme.
He described as an “aberration”, Tuesday attack by bloodthirsty bandits on the Kaduna campus of Nigeria’s foremost military university, the Nigerian Defence Academy, where two military officers were killed and another kidnapped.
“It is an aberration; you don’t attack the Nigerian Defence Academy and get away with it,” he lamented, adding that the NDA, like other military environments in the country, carelessly opens its doors to everyone on Friday for Jumat prayer.
‘Terrorists profile security environments during Muslim prayer on Friday’ Olawunmi said terrorists and criminals profile military environments during the weekly Muslim prayer on Fridays.
He said, “In 2017, I carried out an investigation by the minister of defence that wanted me to check what was going on with the training and the security there (NDA). I remember I spent about a week in the NDA with the commandant and the staff but something struck me: every Friday, the gate of NDA is thrown open and everybody has access to pray in the mosque.
“On Fridays, you are going to see the same thing happening across all military formations in the country…If you go to Defence Headquarters, I served at the Defence Headquarters as the Deputy Director, Defence Administration between 2015 and 2017, throughout my two years at the Defence Headquarters, I received visitors twice because of the strict security architecture there but every Friday, the gate of the Defence Headquarters is thrown wide open for everybody to come in and observe Jumat.
“That is the time the terrorists have the time to profile our security environment. It has always been the case. I have served the military intelligence for the past 35 years. Our problem is religion and socio-cultural.”
Furthermore, Olawunmi, a Professor of Global Security Studies, said he was a member of the Intelligence Brief at the Defence Headquarters during the leadership of the then Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin (retd.).
The intelligence expert said he told the then CDS that the centre of gravity of the Boko Haram insurgency ravaging the North-East and spreading to other parts of Nigeria was the sponsors.
“I told General Olonisakin then that the centre of this problem cannot be solved the same way we solved the problem of the Niger Delta. The Niger Delta problem was solved during (Ex-President Umaru) Yar’adua basically by me and I told them that we can’t use that same template for Boko Haram.
“I told General Olonisakin to look at the centre of gravity of the problem. I was made a member of the committee in 2016-2017 including (the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Ibrahim) Attahiru that died.
“I told them that the centre of gravity of Boko Haram in Nigeria is the sponsors of the programme. It was beyond us because the job we needed to do was kinetic but we cannot resolve issues of sponsors of Boko Haram that were in Buhari’s government that we know them. That was why we couldn’t pursue that aspect that could have resolved the issue (insurgency) because we need to arrest people.”
The PUNCH had reported that the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, earlier in the year said the Nigerian Government arrested some Bureau De Change operators who were facilitating the transfer of money to Boko Haram terrorists.
Olawunmi said the government has not been able to prosecute the sponsors because it is allegedly partisan.
He said, “Recently, 400 people were gathered as sponsors of Boko Haram, why is it that the Buhari government has refused to try them? Why can’t this government bring them to trial if not that they are partisan and part of the charade that is going on?
“You remember this Boko Haram issue started in 2012 and I was in the military intelligence at that time. We arrested those people. My organisation actually conducted interrogation and they (suspects) mentioned names. I can’t come on air and start mentioning names of people that are presently in government that I know that the boys that we arrested mentioned. Some of them are governors now, some of them are in the Senate, some of them are in Aso Rock.
“Why should a government decide to cause this kind of embarrassment and insecurity to the sense of what happened yesterday (Tuesday attack on NDA)?” he queried, adding that terrorist financiers want to turn Nigeria to a Taliban type of country.
‘DSS has information on terrorism sponsors but can’t act without Buhari’s order’ Olawunmi also said that the Department of State Services has “tremendous information on terrorists but they can’t do anything except the body language of the Commander-In-Chief”.
He, however, expressed hope that the next Nigerian President in 2023 might have the willpower to bring the high-profile sponsors of Boko Haram to book.
The PUNCH had earlier reported that a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia, said in August 2020 that repentant terrorists revealed that a serving northern governor is a Boko Haram leader.
For over 10 years, the Boko Haram terror group had killed thousands of Nigerians in the North-East. The sect had also burnt down and bombed scores of villages as well as churches. The Nigerian Army and the Presidency had at several times claimed the group had been ‘technically defeated’ and ‘weakened’ but the bloodthirsty terrorist faction continues to strike with daring effrontery and crude savagery
Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor; Nigeria Defence Academy
Major Datong, who was kidnapped in the early hours of Tuesday by armed bandits at the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna has been found dead, Vanguard and PM News reported.
Bloodthirsty bandits had killed two military officers and kidnapped Datong when they attacked Nigeria’s foremost military university on Tuesday.
The murdering bandits shot Lieutenant Commander Wulah and Flight Lieutenant Okoronkwo while Major Datong is still missing.
The bandits invaded the permanent site of the institution located along Airport Road, Afaka, in Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State around 1.00am.
A source told our correspondent that the hoodlums, who were dressed in military camouflage, beat the guards and headed for the officers’ quarters of the institution.
Incidentally, the military institution is opposite the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization, Afaka where 39 students were abducted by bandits on March 11, 2021. The bandits demanded N500 million a few days after the abduction.
But they were finally released after spending 50 days in the bandits’ den following the intervention of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and controversial Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi.
In a statement confirming the attack, the NDA revealed that it is on the trail of the gunmen who compromised its security architecture.
This was issued by the Academy Public Relations Officer, Bashir Muhd Jajira.
The statement read, “The security architecture of the Nigerian Defence Academy was compromised early this morning by unknown gunmen who gained access into the residential area within the Academy in Afaka. During the unfortunate incident, we lost two personnel and one was abducted.
“The Academy in collaboration with the 1Division Nigerian Army and Air Training Command as well as other security agencies in Kaduna state has since commenced pursuit of the unknown gunmen within the general area with a view to tracking them and rescue the abducted personnel.
“The NDA community and Cadets are safe in the Academy. We assure the general public that these unknown gunmen would soon be apprehended and the abducted personnel rescued.”
Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, has lambasted the Department of State Services for allegedly not taking any action against Kaduna-based Islamic cleric who threatened to kill Christians.
The threat is sequel to the murder of 25 Fulani travellers, who were intercepted and killed recently by suspected Irigwe militia in Jos, the Plateau state capital.
In a viral video, the cleric known as Ustaz Abubakar Salihu had over the weekend, threatened to kill Christians in retaliation over the killing by the militiamen.
The Fulani travellers were killed by suspected Irigwe militia at about 10.30 am on August 14, 2021 around the Gada-Biyu-Rukuba Road area in Jos.
The victims were said to be returning from the annual Zikr prayer in Bauchi State and heading for Ikare in Ondo State when they ran into irate youths mourning their kinsmen earlier killed by suspected herdsmen.
Speaking in Hausa in a sermon over the weekend, Ustaz Salihu had reportedly said, “I swear to God Almighty, if such ever occur again, there are Christians in Kaduna, there are Christians in Zamfara, there are Christians in Sokoto, there are in Katsina, Kebbi, there are Christians in Gombe, Damaturu and Yobe and there are major roads. We will also block the roads, waylaid Christian commuters.
“We are not fools and we are not afraid of anyone, there is no one we are afraid of. If nothing is done, we will take the law in our hands because no life is superior to others and I swear compensation must be paid for the lives of the people lost.
“I swear this will not go unpunished, we won’t accept this, action must be taken and if they don’t take action, we will also react in our states. Every infidel should prepare, he will leave the earth if nothing is done about our people that were killed in Jos. I swear we will revenge and you should know that the life of one Muslim is equivalent to 100 infidels. No life is greater than another.”
HURIWA, in a statement on Monday signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the DSS should have invited the cleric just as it had in the past interrogated a former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Obadiah Mailafia; as well as the Spiritual Director of Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka.
The statement was titled, ‘Why Has DSS Not Invited Ustaz Abubakar Salihu Zaria Over Alleged Incitement Against Christians? :-HURIWA Asks DSS’.
It partly read, “The loud silence and apparent inaction of the hierarchy of the State Security Service also known as Department of State Services or the Nigeria Police Force to the unambiguous incitement against Christians made in a recent viral video allegedly by one Ustaz Abubakar Salihu Zaria has been described as discriminatory, illegal and totally indecorous.
HURIWA wondered “whether the security forces including the Nigerian Police were waiting for the threats to be fully executed before it can take any lawful measure to bring the said religious preacher to justice, or to account for his treacherous threats to attack Christians in Northern Nigeria to revenge the killing by yet to be named unknown gunmen of Moslem travellers commuting through Jos.”
“We hereby ask them to invite the said Islamic cleric to say what he knows about a future plot to kill Christians in Northern Nigeria should any Moslem be killed by hoodlums in Plateau State and also find out why he classified Plateau State citizens all of whom have one religion or the other as infidels. These inciting comments and the inaction of either the Nigerian Police Force or the DSS are dangerous,” the group stated.
Efforts to reach DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, proved abortive as of the time of filing this report.
The pan-Northern socio-political organizstion, Arewa Consultative Forum expressed shock over bandits’ raid on the Nigerian Defence Academy where two officers were killed and one other kidnapped on Tuesday.
The ACF lamented that the incident was a slap and embarrassment to the entire nation, lamenting that the institution bequeathed to the country by the founding fathers of the North, had been handed over to “bandits.”
The National Publicity Secretary of the ACF, Emmanuel Yawe in a terse statement, noted that the invasion was an indication that the Nigeria’s national security system was running on a reverse gear.
The statement read, “The ACF first & foremost commemorates with the families of those who lost their lives during today’s attack on the Nigerian Defence Academy. These gallant men have paid the supreme price for Nigeria, their motherland. We hope their sacrifices are not in vain.
“The Forum is praying that the abducted officer will be rescued and the criminals who abducted him brought to book.
“The latest security breach is another embarrassment to the ACF. The NDA is a proud monument q of the efforts of the first generation of northerners who fought hard to bring development to the north; the likes of Muhammadu Ribadu, Sir Abubakar Tafawa Balewa and Sir Ahmadu Bello who brought the Institution to Kaduna. They did not bring it here for our generation to hand it over to bandits or whatever we call them.
“This is an institution that is not only a pride of the north but a pride of Nigeria. Many African countries train their military officers here.
“It is really sad that ordinary street bandits will invade a military institution of such high national and international repute, outwit the security system and men there, kill officers and take one away to an unknown destination.
“We of the ACF are particularly sad because Kaduna is our home not only because our headquarters is located here but for a long time even after the split of our Northern Region, Kaduna remained home to all northerners.
“The NDA is a proud reminder of the achievements of our fathers. Is that how our present generation of northerners will seat and watch as these legacies are destroyed?
“We of the ACF have said it again and again that there is everything seriously wrong with the management of our security. The other day a Nigerian Air Force fighter aircraft was shot down by the so called bandits.
“Today the factory where all Nigerian military officers are produced has been invaded and desecrated. What else do we need to show that our national security system is running on reverse gear?”
Bandits have attacked the permanent site of the Nigerian Defence Academy in Kaduna State, killing two officers and abducting one other officer.
Although the authorities have yet to confirm the incident, a security source told Channels Television that the incident occurred in the early hours of Tuesday.
The bandits who came in a vehicle were said to have passed through the security gate into the academy, disguised in military uniforms, after which they proceeded to the officers’ quarters.
On arrival, they began shooting sporadically and in the process, killed two officers (a Major and a Squadron Leader), and later on, took another Major away through the nearby bush inside the academy.
The sound of the gunfire, however, alerted the troops of the NDA Quick Response Team, who arrived at the scene, but were unable to rescue the kidnapped officer as the bandits were already gone with the victim.
A combined team of security operatives has now launched a manhunt of the bandits inside the bush including air surveillance with a view to arresting them and rescuing the kidnapped officer.
The Nigerian Defence Academy is located few metres away from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanization Afaka, in Igabi local government area of Kaduna State, where 39 students were abducted by bandits in March.
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested 37 suspected Internet fraudsters in Oyo State.
The suspects were arrested at various locations in Ibadan, the state capital, and Oyo town, by operatives of the Ibadan zonal command of the agency.
The Head of Media and Publicity of the EFCC, Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed this in a statement on Monday.
The anti-graft agency’s spokesman explained that the suspects were arrested on Friday following intelligence on their alleged involvement in Internet fraud.
The suspects include Kehinde Ayoola, Adewale Samson, Adeniran Ayobami, Abiodun Olamide, Olaoye Bolarinwa, Ajibade Ayodeji, Babalola David, Fatunbi Oludotun, Abdusalam Ololade, Taiwo Olaoluwa and Oyewole Fred.
