NEWS
Police debunk reports of abduction of travellers on Kaduna-Abuja highway
The Kaduna State Police Command has denied reports that armed bandits abducted several persons along the Kaduna-Abuja highway.
ASP Mansur Hassan, Public Relations Officer of the Command, in a statement on Wednesday, warned newsmen to always verify information before going to the press to avoid misleading the public.
Explaining what happened, the statement said, “There was a heavy gun duel along Kaduna-Abuja expressway between security operatives and armed bandits on the 6th January, 2024 at 2330 hours or thereabout.
“The incident occurred when the armed bandits in large number attempted to cross the said expressway at Dogon Fili area heading towards Jere axis and were engaged in a fierce shoot-out by the well alerted security agents who dislodged the hoodlums and ensured a lot of them only escaped but with gunshot wounds.”
The statement further called on the public around that axis to be on the watch for any person or persons nursing suspected bullet injuries and report same to the closest Police station or any security outfit.
“In the course of the battle commuters plying the highway were caught in a crossfire, and six persons sustained varying degrees of bullet injuries.
“They are: Jibrin Tasiu ‘M’ 27 years old; Jummai Abubakar ‘F’ 20 years; Zafira Abubakar ‘F’ 11 years and AbdulKarim Nurudeen ‘M’ 2 years. Others are L/Cpl Chinedu Jerry Moneke 37 years and Ayo James ‘M’ 42 years old. They were all rushed to the hospital for medical attention,” the statement said.
The Police Command described the development as “an unfortunate isolated incident in a long time”, noting that the Kaduna-Abuja expressway has since been fortified for the use of commuters.
It urged the general public to disregard the “misleading fear inducing story”.
“The Commissioner of Police Kaduna State Command, CP A.D. Ali, psc is calling on journalists to always verify their story with concerned security agencies before going to press.
“This, he said will ensure that only the right and correct information are availed to the public,” the statement added.
The Chairman of Abia State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the recovery of Government Property and Funds, Justice Florence Doruoha-Igwe (Rtd) has issued a Bench Warrant on Anthony Agbazuere and Don Ubani, who served as Chief of Staff and Deputy Chief of Staff, respectively, to former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu.
This is even as Don Ubani has said that he never received any invitation from the panel.
The Bench Warrant on Agbazuere according to Justice Duruoha-Igwe was because of his alleged failure to appear before the Panel to give evidence in respect to a Toyota Hilux Land Cruiser alleged to be in his possession since he left office.
Justice Doruoha-Igwe (Rtd) who adjourned the matter to January 24, 2024, directed that Agbazuere should be arrested and produced for further cross examination.
The Panel said that the Bench warrant on the former Deputy Chief of Staff to former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Don Ubani, was because of his alleged failure to appear before the Panel and his inability to file a response to a notice served him on 30th of November, 2023.
Speaking before adjourning the matter to 24th of this month, the Chairman Justice Doruoha-Igwe (Rtd) directed that Ubani should be arrested and produced on January 24, 2024, to defend himself.
But reacting to the development, the former Deputy Chief of Staff to former Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, Don Ubani said he was shocked to read that a Bench Warrant had been issued on him, saying that he was never invited by the Panel.
“I am shocked to read that a Bench Warrant could be issued on me without ever being invited to a Panel either by writing or even through a telephone call,” said Ubani who also described the arrest order as ‘false propaganda and political witch-hunt’.
But the former Deputy Chief of Staff also promised to appear before the Panel of Enquiry if he received an invitation.
The National Judicial Council, NJC, has clarified that no date has yet been fixed for the swearing-in of the newly appointed eleven Justices of the Supreme Court.
The Council said that the purported news by an Abuja based media organization suggesting Monday January 16 for the inauguration of the Justices did not emanate from it.
A statement by the NJC’s Director of Information, Barrister Soji Oye clarified that neither the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, who is the NJC Chairman, nor the Council itself authored or endorsed the purported date.
While asking members of the public to disregard the news, the NJC said that the date for the swearing-in of the Justices would be made public at the appropriate time.
NJC’s statement read in part, “The attention of the National Judicial Council has been drawn to a trending story purportedly informing the public that the newly appointed 11 Supreme Court Justices would be sworn in on Monday 16 January 2023.
“The Council by this medium expressly denies the news as it did not emanate from the Council or the Office of the Chief Justice of Nigeria and Chairman of the National Judicial Council, Hon. Justice Olukayode Ariwoola.
“The date for the swearing-in of the Justices will be made public at the appropriate time. Members of the public should please disregard the trending news.”
The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, MACBAN, Kaduna State, has demanded a probe of alleged extra-judicial killing of their members.
WORLD WIDE GIST recalls that an online report alleged that 11 decomposing corpses of Fulani natives, from Tulde Fulbe, Ladduga Grazing Reserve in Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State, were on Monday discovered in a forest.
They were alleged to have been killed by the Nigerian Army.
But the Headquarters, 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, in a statement on Thursday night, by Lt. Col Musa Yahaya, Acting Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, denied involvement of the Army in the said killing.
However, in a statement by MACBAN Kaduna chairman, Haruna Usman Tugga, he insisted that the organisation as an umbrella body of Fulbe in Nigeria received with serious concern the information.
The statement condemned what they described as “extra-judicial killing of law-abiding Fulbe youths of Tilde Fulbe community and other areas of Ladduga Grazing Reserve in Kachia Local Government Area of the state by military personnel at Kachia, headquarters of Kachia Local Government Area of Kaduna State.”
He said they called an emergency executive meeting of the association to get to the root of the matter and find out the remote causes, perpetrators and names of the victims.
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