Tag: Benue killings

DSS Arrests suspected killer of Taraba lawmaker

Emporium Reporters

The Department of State Services said it had arrested Barnabas Torva Amadu, who was accused of being a member of a gang that kidnapped and killed Mr. Hosea Ibi. Ibi, until he was kidnapped and killed, was a member of the Taraba State House of Assembly. The service said Amadu was arrested on February 25, at Takum in Taraba State, when a joint team of service operatives and the military arrested the 23-year-old Isaiah Suwe. Suwe was said to have led the team to Gbise Village, Katsina Ala Local Government…

Benue: Missing Nigerian Police Officer Found Dead

Emporium Reporters

A Nigerian police officer who went missing in Benue State on Saturday has been found dead, locals told PREMIUM TIMES Monday. The officer, whose identity has not yet been disclosed, was amongst the four mobile police officers that went missing following an ambush on their patrol vehicle in Logo Local Government Area on Saturday. The incident occurred in Tse Akpam village, near Azege town around 3:00 p.m. Saturday afternoon while the officers were returning from a peace-building mission in remote villages, Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, told PREMIUM TIMES. The remains…

Police interrogate DPO, arrest others over killing of seven passengers in Gboko

Emporium Reporters

The Police Command in Benue is interrogating the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Gboko A Division over the Wednesday killing of seven persons. The Commissioner of Police in Benue, Mr Fatai Owoseni, said in Makurdi on Friday that some persons had been arrested in connection with the killings. Seven passengers were killed and burnt by a mob at Gboko Motor Park in Gboko Local Government Area. Owoseni said the DPO was being questioned on whether he acted professionally upon getting a distress call on the day of the incident.…

Islamic State Responsible for Killings in Benue, Others says DSS

Emporium Reporters

The Islamic State in West Africa network operating within some North Central and South-South sections of Nigeria may be responsible for the recent killings recorded in Benue State and other parts of the country, Punch reports on Sunday. This information is said to be contained in an intelligence report presented to President Muhammadu Buhari by security agencies, including the Department of State Service. A top government official who spoke on the condition of anonymity told journalists on Sunday that the security organisations told the President that the ISWA network is…

Herdsmen: The Circumstantial Case Against Buhari By Herdsmen: The Circumstantial Case Against Buhari By Moses E Ochonu

Emporium Reporters

The circumstantial case against Buhari is compelling and may help explain the signature failures of his administrations, from his neglect of the deadly violence of armed herdsmen to the collapse of his war against corruption. A few facts will suffice. 1. In October 2000, Muhammadu Buhari led a Fulani delegation to confront Governor Lam Adesina of Oyo State on the death of some herders allegedly killed by farmers during clashes. His was not a fact-finding or peace mission. He had a predetermined agenda founded on a preconceived understanding of what…

The Nigerian Killing Fields By Ahmad Salkida

Emporium Reporters

There is an ugly, depressing reality of Nigeria that beggars understanding. The leaders and the institutions they run have generally been skewed to revere and pamper themselves as the demi-gods, while utterly placing no value on the lives and aspirations of ordinary citizens outside the circle of the ruling elites. The public systems and institutions are not designed for problem-solving mechanisms. Which is why the culture of public blame is a pastime of both the political class and the military jackboots. The buck starts with the rulers and must be…

Senate gives IGP 14-days to arrest killers in Benue

Emporium Reporters

The Senate has given the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mr Ibrahim Idris 14 day ultimatum to arrest and investigate the perpetrators of Benue killings. This position was sequel to the consideration of a report of the Senate Ad Hoc Committee on the Review of the Current Security Infrastructure in Nigeria. The committee had on Friday last week, visited Benue to ascertain the level of killings in the state. The report was presented by Chairman of the Committee, Sen. Ahmed Lawan during plenary on Tuesday. He said the recommendations of the…

BUHARI CALLS FOR RESTRAINT IN BENUE …. assures of Govt Commitment to Resolve Crisis

Emporium Reporters

President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday in Abuja called on the government and people of Benue State to exercise restraint following the recent attacks on some communities, assuring that all the perpetrators of violence in the state will be made to face the wrath of the law. Receiving a delegation of political leaders, traditional rulers and elders of the state led by Governor Samuel Ortom at the Presidential Villa, President Buhari said all those involved in the conflict that culminated in loss of lives would not escape justice, including any illegally…

Ortom again rejects cattle colony at funeral for victim

Emporium Reporters

Benue state Governor, Samuel Ortom has again rejected the suggestion that the state create Cattle Colony or Grazing Routes for herdsmen. He said the suggestions were not acceptable to the Benue people. Ortom stated this on Thursday in Makurdi in a service to mark the mass burial of the victims of the herdsmen invasion. He had stated this position on Wednesday at a stakeholders meeting attended by the Inspector General of Police. Idris Ibrahim. On Thursday, he said since the state does not even have adequate land for farmers, it…

Benue Pogrom: Dancing On Victims’ Graves By Louis Odion

Emporium Reporters

As the nation groped in fuel darkness during the Yuletide season, the Nobel laureate’s distraught words perhaps best described the shame and tragedy of it all. The authorities in Abuja would rather indulge in the profanity of buck-passing, lamented Professor Wole Soyinka. That climate of shame would appear to have grown even more inclement and the midnight children of impunity more daring with the resumption of terror and bloodletting early in the new year by Fulani herdsmen. Citizen Peter Aboh had his dream of better life aborted eight months to…