WHAT’S NEWS? October 25, 2023
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Nigerian Defence Chief pledges more arms and ammo to fight insurgency
President Bola Tinubu has pledged to address the manpower needs of the Nigerian military.
Defence Minister Muhammed Badaru, during a working visit to Army Headquarters in Abuja on Tuesday, said President Tinubu would provide arms and ammunition needed by the military to effectively combat the devastating security threats in different parts of the country.
Badaru acknowledged the sacrifices made by gallant soldiers who risk their lives in the war against insurgency. “I want to commend the Chief of Army Staff [Taoreed Lagbaja] for the successes so far, and I believe more successes will come as we continue to supply the necessary equipment to execute the war,” the Minister said.
● Killers in camouflage gun down Imam in Mosque
Masked killers stormed a mosque at Sabon Layi community in Birnin-Gwari County of Kaduna State on Tuesday, killing an Imam and a worshipper. The marauding bandits struck at 5:30 a.m. local time when people gathered for congregational prayer.
Two other worshippers were critically injured by gunshots. The bandits disguised themselves as men of the Nigerian Army. The attack has thrown the community into panic, as most of the villagers have now fled to nearby villages for safety, according to Nigerian Tribune.
A resident who spoke to the Guardian said the terrorists attack the community daily, wreaking havoc with reckless abandon. “Almost on a daily basis, terrorists are on parole across the entire Birnin-Gwari local government area [county], killing and abducting innocent citizens,” he said. Mosque attacks are becoming rampant in the northwestern state. In September, gunmen attacked Muslim worshippers in a Mosque at Saya-Saya village in Ikara County, shooting dead seven people.
Read more: https://guardian.ng/news/two-dead-as-terrorists-attack-worshippers-in-kaduna-mosque/
● Senate tasks security forces to investigate bank robbery in Otukpo
The Nigerian Senate has ordered an investigation into last Friday’s attacks on four banks and a police station in Otukpo, a densely populated town in Benue State. TruthNigeria reported how a group of 12 to 20 heavily armed gunmen gunned down more than eight persons including four cops in the deadly attack.
Millions of Naira were carted away from branches of Access Bank, United Bank of Africa, Stanbic IBTC Bank, and Zenith Bank located in the commercial district of the town. The daredevil robbers operated unchallenged for about two hours.
“It was an Armageddon let loose as men of the underworld invaded Otukpo, the ancestral hometown of the Idoma people unleashing mayhem in the process,” Patrick Aba Moro, the senator representing Benue South district, told the Senate on Tuesday. He blamed the attack on a lack of intelligence by the security agencies in Nigeria’s “food basket”.
Read more: https://leadership.ng/investigate-otukpo-bank-robbery-senate-tells-igp
● Women cry out over growing bloodshed in Southeast Nigeria
Nigerian women in the southeast region on Tuesday called on the government to urgently address the worsening deterioration of insecurity in the region. “What we see on a daily basis in the region are tears, sorrows and blood,” Josephine Anenih, a one-time women’s affairs minister, said at a conference in Enugu State.
The Southeast is rife with gang- and separatist violence. Armed groups attack police stations and government buildings, which authorities often blame on the proscribed Biafra secessionist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). But IPOB, which has been campaigning for the homeland of the Igbo ethnic group to be an independent country, denies the charges. The Nigerian government in recent times has intensified efforts to clamp down on the secessionist group.
The women expressed worry that Nigeria’s Southeast has snowballed into a “Hobbesian state where life seems to be nasty, brutish, and short.” They advised the government to “address the insecurity that has made the region lose billions if not trillions of naira for a region known for its industry and commerce.”
● Gender studies lecturer regains freedom from kidnappers
Dr Comfort Adokwe, deputy director of the Centre for Gender Studies, at state-owned Nasarawa State University, Keffi [NSUK], has been freed by her abductors. TruthNigeria reported that the senior lecturer was kidnapped Sunday night by gunmen who invaded her residence in Agwan Jaba town in Keffi County of the north central State.
Adokwe was released at 8:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday [today], according to her brother, Timothy Adokwe who confirmed her release to the Daily Post. The kidnappers reportedly demanded N100 million [$125,700] ransom, but Timothy kept mum on the amount paid for the lecturer’s freedom.
The military, police and Nigeria’s secret police, the Department of State Services [DSS] teamed up for the rescue operation.
Read more: https://dailypost.ng/2023/10/25/gunmen-release-kidnapped-nasarawa-varsity-lecturer/
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Ezinwanne Onwuka reports for TruthNigeria from Abuja.
