A teenager, Sadiq Abubakar-Ibrahim, has undergone surgery at the National Hospital, Abuja after he was shot by policemen attached to the Special Tactical Squad.
PUNCH Metro learnt that the victim was performing ablution around 1pm in his place of residence in the Gwarinpa area on Monday, May 18, 2020, when the policemen scaled the fence into the compound.
They were said to have opened fire on Sadiq, who took to his heel thinking that the invaders were armed robbers or kidnappers.
Our correspondent learnt that the policemen claimed that they were after a suspected kidnapper, who allegedly entered the house.
The policemen were said to have arrested all male occupants of the house, including the victim, and detained them at the Guzate Police Station.
Sadiq’s family member, Fatima Babashehu, told our correspondent that after much pleading, the policemen released the victim for medical attention.
She said the police had refused to check on the victim or pay his medical bills since he was admitted last week Monday.
Babashehu stated, “Sadiq’s mother was beside the fence of the house trying to make barbeque fire last Monday when she heard people shouting and jumping over the neighbour’s fence into their house and she ran into the kitchen and closed the door.
“The men started banging the door and asking the occupants to open the door, and when they opened the door, the men dragged everybody out and searched for other members of the household.
“While they went round, they saw Sadiq, where he was performing ablution beside the house, but on sighting them, Sadiq thought they were armed robbers, he got scared and jumped over the fence to the neighbour’s house on the right side, but the invaders shot him in his hand.
“They followed him and started shooting so the neighbours gave Sadiq up and the owner of the house and two of his sons were also arrested. They brought everybody out and gathered them at the dining area and took all the male occupants away.
“Nobody knew where they came from at first; we thought they were kidnappers or armed robbers, because of the way they scaled the fence; they were in mufti and jackets. We started making calls to find out who took our people and we were able to confirm that they were policemen.
“We made more calls and we were able to gather that they came from the Guzate Police Station. We learnt that they were tracing a kidnapper, who was demanding ransom, and his location showed our house.
“We were taken to the commander of the squad and he told us that the officers told him a different story when they got to the station. He said a kidnap took place in Lokoja but the negotiator was around our house and when they traced him, they saw the kidnapper jumping into the house. He said the officers told him that it was not a gunshot that injured Sadiq’s hand, but a barbwire on the fence, while he was scaling the fence into the neighbour’s house.
“When we got to the police station, we saw Sadiq bleeding without any medical attention and we pleaded that he should be taken to hospital, but we were chased out on the grounds that we could not teach them their job.
“We were later made to sign an undertaking that we were the ones, who requested to take him to hospital, and I told Sadiq’s dad that if we should leave him with the police, he would die; so, we decided to take him to hospital and we requested that a police officer should follow us, because it was a gunshot injury and no hospital would attend to him without a police report or officer.
“They agreed that an officer would follow us and we drove to the National Hospital, Abuja, but when we got there, the officer was asked to write a statement, but he refused and we were told that they would not admit Sadiq until the officer submitted his particulars and phone number so they could reach him.
“Sadiq’s uncle was the one, who wrote the name and phone number of the police officer and the division he is attached to before he was attended to; and the officer left immediately and we have not seen him or any other police personnel since then.
“Sadiq is billed for surgery because the bullet pierced his bone and shattered it. We have not heard anything from the police; they did not reach out to us to know about the hospital bill.”
When contacted, the FCT police spokesman, Anjuguri Manzah, referred our correspondent to the force spokesperson, Frank Mba.
When Mba was contacted, his telephone was not reachable and an SMS requesting his comment on the matter had not been replied to as of the time of filing this report.
Kano Government has insisted Eid Fitri prayers will hold in mosques across the state on Sallah Day with strict adherence to COVID-19 protocols.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje last Tuesday approved open prayers to mark the Eid Fitri.
Ganduje, who also approved Sunday service for Christians, mapped out protocols during the religious gatherings.
Reacting to Federal Government’s directive that religious gatherings should not take place during lockdown, Commissioner for Information, Malam Muhammad Garba, said Kano has no choice but to go ahead with approval for the Eid Fitri prayers.
According to him: “Our people will pray in mosques. We have already decided on this issue and strategies on how to ensure their safety have been put in place.
“Kano state government has been working hand-in-hand with the Federal Government in our efforts to curtail the spread of coronavirus.
“The COVID-19 protocols will be strictly adhered to by worshippers at the Eid- prayer ground.
“We have taken the decision for them to conduct Eid prayers in the state. To change gear now could amount to another thing and it makes no meaning.”
He added: “You are also aware that already, operational guidelines for the controlled easing of the pandemic-induced restriction has been released.
“Governor Abdullahi Umar Ganduje has directed the state Hisbah Board
to hold meeting with Imams and deploy its personnel to Friday (Juma’at mosques)
across the state to ensure that worshipers comply with personal hygiene through
maintaining social distancing, hand washing with soap, use of hand sanitizers
and face masks.”
A crucial security meeting is ongoing at the Government House with service chiefs in attendance.
The purpose of the meeting, presided over by Ganduje, may not be unconnected with a final decision on religious gatherings.
Seven people were shot and killed during an alcohol-fueled fishing trip in central Ukraine, a rare mass shooting in the ex-Soviet country, police said on Friday.
Eight people from the capital Kiev went fishing on a lake in the neighbouring Zhytomyr region when a local host attacked the guests with his hunting rifle, said Ukraine’s deputy interior minister Anton Gerashchenko.
The attack took place early on Friday when the local man — a professional hunter — reached for his rifle in the middle of an alcohol-fuelled quarrel and shot two of the guests.
Then he shot and killed five more people who were sleeping in a shed on the bank of the lake near the village of Novoselytsya.
“He managed to shoot and kill seven people,” Gerashchenko said in a statement on Facebook.
“Just one person — upon hearing the shots — managed to escape into the woods, reach the village and call the police.”
The suspect has been detained and faces life in prison, said Gerashchenko.
The cause of the argument was not immediately clear.
Aged between 30 and 50, the victims had previously fought as volunteers against Russian-backed separatists in Ukraine’s war-torn east, local media reported.
Former Kano State Commissioner of Works and Infrastructural Developments, Muazu Magaji, has been discharged after recovering from COVID-19.
Magaji took to his Facebook page to announce his status.
“To the Glory of Allah SWT, today Friday 22nd May and 29th Ramadan I have been confirmed COVID-19 negative and discharged from Isolation centre,” he wrote.
Magaji tested positive for Coronavirus on May 7.
He was sacked by the Kano State Government for celebrating the death of Abba Kyari, the late Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari.
A tragic incident occurred at Tarau Gwer local government area in Benue state on Saturday night, as a family of three were killed by thunder bolt.
It was gathered that the family died on the spot after the thatch house they were sleeping in was struck by a thunder, folllowing a heavy rainfall on Saturday
A man, his wife and their five (5) year old son died in the incident which has thrown the entire community into mourning. An eyewitness, Peter Kembe told The Nation that the incident is the first of its kind in the village.
The Federal Government has declared Monday, May 25 and Tuesday, May 26, 2020 as public holidays to mark this year’s Eid-el-Fitr celebration.
The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made the announcement yesterday in Abuja on behalf of the Federal Government.
Aregbesola congratulated all Muslim faithful for the successful completion of the Ramadan fast.
A statement by the Director of Press in the ministry, Mohammed Manga, quoted Aregbesola as advising Muslims to replicate the life of kindness, love, tolerance, peace and good neighbourliness, as exemplified by the Holy Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him).
The minister expressed concern about ethnic conflicts that have resurfaced in some parts of northern Nigeria in recent times.
He advised Nigerians to see themselves as a single entity and learn to tolerate one another, despite their ethnic and religious differences.
Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, has disclosed that there are plans to soon reopen schools nationwide, however, it won’t happen in two weeks as being speculated in some quarters.
Nwajiuba, made the clarification on Thursday during the daily briefing of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, following rumours making the round the Federal Government would reopen schools in the next two weeks.
Nwajiuba said there is no exact date yet for schools to resume, adding that schools will be reopened after they are ”resourced properly”.
“We all are seriously interested in reopening and I believe we will reopen soon. But I can’t confirm what your children said that we will reopen in two weeks. The issue around reopening has nothing to do with the availability of the schools or not. It has to do with national governance. The idea of shutting down the schools has nothing to do with the schools per se.
You heard the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, the SGF, keep saying it is a national response. It is a single national response and everything we do flows from that.
When they determine, I’m sure you have seen all the experts here, that there is the measure of safety to which we can expose our children, we will gladly do that. We are watching and we are working with all bodies within and outside the country.
The five countries of West African Examination Council (WAEC) are meeting and I just came out of a meeting with African Union (AU) Ministers of Education, everybody is concerned as you are. We hope to reopen very soon. This morning, I met with the Ministry of Science and Technology. We are looking at putting a system in place that can disinfect every child as he goes into a school and disinfect him as he goes out.
If we resource our schools properly we can begin to reopen. But we must be able to ensure that the children go in safe and come out safe and not become a conduit for further infection in society.” he said
The Federal Government has accused governors of willfully breaching the protocols designed to guide the country out of Coronavirus spread.
Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 control Chairman Boss Mustapha warned on Thursday of the danger in allowing large gatherings.
He reiterated that the ban on gatherings of more than 20 people remained banned.
Mustapha, who spoke at the daily briefing by the PTF in Abuja, emphasised the “need for states to diligently implement and enforce compliance. Particularly, I underscore the need for the governors to provide personal and strong leadership, carry the policy of community ownership to the grass-roots and create deeper awareness.
“Governors are also advised on the decision taken by some of their colleagues to permit large gatherings as such decisions could inadvertently endanger the elderly, the sick and those with underlying factors during such gatherings. The strong advisory from the PTF is that large gatherings beyond 20 persons remain prohibited and should be adhered to”.
The SGF also announced that the PTF would work with the National Assembly. The House of Representatives has inaugurated an Ad-Hoc Committee on COVID-19.
“The PTF on COVID-19 is pleased to inform you that in order to underscore the seriousness attached to this COVID-19 pandemic, the House of Representatives has set up an Ad-Hoc COVID-19 Committee.
“In deepening the existing collaborative spirit, we shall work together with the legislature to be more productive and add value to the overall delivery of service to Nigerians on behalf of whom we hold our responsibility in trust”.
Many governors have opened up their states for religious gatherings. These include Cross River, Ebonyi, Kano, Borno, Zamfara and Bauchi, among others.
But, the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) has advised Muslims to observe the Edi-el-Fitr prayers at home in accordance with the PTF-issued guidelines.
Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Mohammed Bello has resisted pressure to open worship centres in Abuja.
Apart from Cross River State which has no virus case yet. The active cases in some of the states reopening the worship centres are: Ebonyi (12), Borno (122) and 24 deaths, Zamfara (8), Kano (690) with 36 deaths and Gombe (41) and three deaths.
Defending the governors’ position, Jigawa State Governor Badaru Abubakar, told State House reporters at the end of the National Economic Council meeting at the Presidential Villa that “the issue has been resolved because, at our last meeting with Mr President, the President was clear that the Governors’ Forum and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 should meet and agree on steps to be taken, and it has been discussed today and commitment has been taken by today’s NEC that the Governors’ Forum, the Presidential Task Force would work hand -in -hand to see to the end of COVID-19.
“A committee was formed today that will look up to the eventual opening up of the economy. Sometimes you will see a different approach by different states, that doesn’t mean that there is loggerhead between the states and the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19.
“Some peculiar situations require some peculiar solutions and that is why at times you see such and it will always be discussed with the Presidential Task Force so that we will always be on the same page”.
The PTF has also raised the alarm that Nigerians have started stockpiling chloroquine in large quantities.
Mustapha said: “Through the surveillance system set up by the PTF, we have received reports that Nigerians have been purchasing Hydrxoychloroquine in large quantities. We wish to reiterate that this drug has not being certified for use in treating COVID-19 in Nigeria by the relevant health and pharmaceutical authorities.
“Self-medication of any kind, is fraught with the danger of increasing risks of avoidable casualties. We, therefore strongly warn against self-medication. If you are sick, please seek medical advice and if you are confirmed positive, kindly self-isolate in an approved facility. The COVID-19 is highly infectious and dangerous”, he said.
He noted that the PTF had consistently answered questions and provided explanations on the categories of persons and services exempted from some aspects of these guidelines particularly as it relates to restrictions on inter- state movement and curfew.
According to him, for the avoidance of doubt, essential workers including medical personnel, journalists, fire service personnel, telecommunications workers, are all exempted.
He said the Inspector General of Police has further clarified the categories of essential workers in alignment with the guidelines and has issued instructions to security agents to work on the approved exemptions.
“With this clarification, we sincerely hope that the persistent complaints of harassment by these categories of essential workers, especially medical personnel and journalists would be put to rest so that we can harmoniously work in battling this pandemic.
“The PTF COVID-19 urges all essential workers to go about their legitimate businesses carrying with them valid means of identification and to exercise courtesy in approaching security personnel. I sincerely apologise for the inconveniences”, he said.
