Top Stories
WHAT’S NEWS? Thursday, October 5, 2023
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Kidnapped government official regains freedom
Matthew Abo, the commissioner for information, culture, and tourism in northcentral Benue State, has been freed by his abductors. Abo spent ten days in captivity.
The commissioner was abducted on the night of September 24 by gunmen who invaded his residence in Zaki Biam, in the Ukum County of the State. Abo was taken to an unknown destination. Authorities said Abo was released in the early hours of Thursday [Oct. 5] and has been reunited with his family.
The State Government said no ransom was paid in securing the Commissioner’s release. The Chief Press Secretary to the State Governor, Tersoo Kula, said his release was due to “intense pressure on the criminals from the gallant security operatives” who were acting on the directives of Governor Hyacinth Alia.
● Governor imposes curfew to halt renewed communal clash
Ademola Adeleke, Governor of southwestern Osun State, has imposed an indefinite curfew on Irepodun and Orolu Counties of the state after a fresh communal clash erupted between two warring communities: Ilobu and Ifon. Tempers flared on Wednesday following the killing of a commercial motorcyclist identified as Taiwo Adetoyese, a native of Ifon, by masked gunmen said to be from Ilobu.
In a reprisal attack, armed Ifons invaded the Ilobu community. Houses were burned and many were rendered homeless while several others sustained varying degrees of injuries. Some residents of the two communities fled their homes because of sporadic gunshots and fear of being attacked.
The State Government said the curfew between the hours of 6:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. was to “forestall attempts of destruction of lives and properties.” The neighboring towns have been waging wars against one another for years over land disputes.
● Lawmakers order security chiefs to end killings, herder attacks in Plateau
The lower chamber of Nigeria’s legislature, the House of Representatives has mandated the heads of security agencies in the country, including Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, and the Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun to address the resurgence of armed herdsmen attacks on some communities in Plateau State.
Many towns in Plateau in Nigeria’s northcentral region are attempting to recover from mass attacks that have claimed the lives of scores of citizens for at least eight years. The terrorist gangs, who speak the Fulani language, raid, and burn villages. The latest attack at Du village of Kwall district on Nigeria’s 63rd Independence anniversary October 1, 2023, led to eight deaths.
The lawmakers demanded that criminals be flushed out of the troubled communities and that normalcy be restored.
● Supreme Court to determine secessionist leader’s fate Dec. 15
Nigeria’s apex court has fixed December 15, 2023, as the judgment day on appeals regarding the continued detention of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a secessionist group which has been proscribed as a terrorist organization in Nigeria.
British national Nnamdi Kanu was arrested in Kenya and forcefully extradited to Nigeria in June 2021. He has been wanted by Nigerian authorities since 2015, when he was charged with terrorism offences. Kanu was granted bail on medical grounds in 2017 before fleeing the country.
The separatist leader has been in detention since 2021 despite a Court of Appeal judgment on October 13, 2022, ordering his release. The court also struck out eight of the 15-count terrorism charges against him. But the authorities, unwilling to let him go, took the matter to the Supreme Court. They want the apex court to set aside the judgment of the lower court.
