A leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has been shot dead, according to latest reports.
The deceased, Saidu Kolaku was the zonal vice chairman of MACBAN, Adamawa South, until his death on Saturday.
An official of MACBAN and other informed persons in the state have described the murder as a possible reprisal attack.
The deceased, until his death, was said to be helping security operatives track down kidnappers and other criminals and was honoured recently by the state police command for his efforts.
A gunman wearing body armor killed nine people and injured 26 in a Dayton, Ohio, neighborhood of bars and restaurants, authorities said, in the second mass shooting in the U.S. in less than 24 hours and the third in eight days. The gunman was killed by police.
The shooting began at 1 a.m., police said, in the Oregon district, a popular spot on weekend nights. Officers were “in the immediate vicinity when this shooting began and we were able to respond and put an end to it quickly,” the Dayton Police Department said in a tweet.
Dayton Mayor Nan Whaley said during a press conference Sunday morning that the shooter was wearing body armor and had a .223 caliber high-capacity gun, with additional magazines. She added that first respondents in the area, which is regularly patrolled, took out the shooter in under a minute.
“As bad as this has been, it could have been much, much worse,” Assistant Police Chief Matt Carper said.
Authorities said they would provide more information later. Speaking on CNN Sunday morning, Ms. Whaley said there was no known motivation for the shooter and that FBI investigators are on the scene.
A shooting at a Texas shopping mall has ended in “multiple fatalities”, local officials say.
The shooting happened at Cielo Vista Mall in El Paso, just a few miles from the US-Mexico border.
At least 22 people arrived at local hospitals for treatment for their injuries.
One person is in custody, and police did not believe there were multiple gunmen, a spokesperson said, but was unable to provide casualty figures.
“We don’t want to do anything prematurely until we have accurate facts for you,” Sergeant Robert Gomez said, declining to provide details on the injured.
First reports of a shooting emerged at around 11:00 local time (18:00 GMT).
There were reports of gunfire in several locations – in both the Cielo Vista mall and the nearby Walmart, police said – but reports of further gunshots at another nearby mall, Bassett, were not true.
“Initial reports of the weapon was a rifle – I can’t confirm that yet,” the spokesman said.
He could not confirm any details about the suspect, except that he was male. No officers had fired their weapons in apprehending him, he said.
Police said they no longer believed there was any immediate threat to the public, but were continuing searches. A family reunification area had been set up nearby for those searching for loved ones.
The Police say the call by the Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria, inciting Nigerians to join a planned revolution march against the Federal Government is a treasonable and terrorism offense.
The Force Public Relations Officer (FPRO), DCP Frank Mba disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Abuja.
He said that the attention of the Police had been drawn to a video circulating on the social media inciting Nigerians, home and abroad to join in the revolution march.
Mba said that the sole aim of the revolution march slated for Aug. 5 was to force a regime change in the country.
He said the police would not stand and watch any individual or group in the society causing anarchy in the land.
According to him, while acknowledging the rights of Nigerians to embark on protest, the Force wishes to note that such rights should not translate to a violent and forceful change of government.
He said Nigeria is a democratic republic with well-defined processes for change of government, exercised periodically during various cycle of elections.
“The Force, therefore, warn the organizers, sponsors, allies, supporters, associates and sympathizers of the group Global Coalition for Security and Democracy in Nigeria to steer clear of any such planned protest and proposed ‘revolution’.
” The warning is for the group to, in their own interest, steer clear of any such planned protest, demonstration, acts of incitement and proposed “revolution”.
“The full wrath of the law will be brought to bear on any individual or group engaged or found participating in the above planned criminal act,” he said.
He, therefore, called on parents and guardians to impress on their children and wards not to allow themselves to be used in whatever form to breach the law and order in the country.
Mba said that the Police would work with other Law Enforcement Agencies and positive minded Nigerians to protect, defend and secure public peace.
Arsenal are set to take on Barcelona at the Nou Camp on Sunday for the pre-season Joan Gamper Trophy.
Off the pitch, the Gunners’ head of football Raul Sanllehi will be in attendance and is set to meet his Barcelona counterparts. And with talk over a move for Philippe Coutinho in the offing it is being claimed Sanllehi could look to secure a shock deal.
Spanish publication Sport claim Barca are ready to send the Brazil ace out on loan with the Premier League the most likely destination.
Barcelona want to sell the midfielder, who cost £143million just 18 months ago, after he failed to make a substantial impact.
But they may struggle to recoup such a hefty fee so are willing to loan the 27-year-old out with an option to buy.
It is thought the La Liga giants will demand a loan fee to cover the instalments they are still paying to Liverpool. And with the Premier League the most likely destination, Arsenal could steal a march on their rivals just by being in the city tomorrow.
The Premier League looks the most likely destination and Sport say Arsenal are closing in on a move for the Brazilian.
However, it is unclear where the north London side will find any money for the deal, especially after shelling out a club-record £72m for Nicolas Pepe earlier this week.
Sheikh Muhammad Yakubu, the brother of Sheikh Ibraheem Yakubu El-Zakzaky, the leader of Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), otherwise known as Shi’ites, has reacted to the recent proscription of IMN.
According to him, the proscription by the Federal Government was long overdue.
El-Zakzaky’s elder brother, who is also the Zaria Branch Chairman of Izalatul Bid’ia wa Ikamatus sunna, said that the Federal Government should not stop at proscribing IMN but go further to disband the Shi’ite sect in its entirety.
Speaking with The Nation newspaper, Shiekh Yakubu said there was no difference between his younger brother’s IMN, the Shi’ite sect, and the dreaded terrorist group, Boko Haram.
He added that both the leader of the deadly Boko Haram sect, Abubakar Shekau, and his younger brother, El-Zakzaky, were terrorists.
He said the decision taken by the federal government to proscribe the IMN was not only right but overdue because the government can be overthrown through the violent protests of the group.
Sheikh Yakoob said the IMN leader is responsible for whatever calamity that has befallen him, saying that he was warned when he started propagating “his dangerous Shi’ite doctrine.”
He said: “As you may be aware, El-Zakzaky is my blood brother. We were given birth to by the same father. While growing up, before he started this journey into Shi’ism, I didn’t have any close friend apart from him. We did everything together. We studied together in Islamic school.
“We warned him seriously to desist when he started this Shi’ism ideology. I personally warned him several times, and when he refused, I had to abandon him. So, whatever the authorities might have done to him, he caused it for himself.”
Sheikh Yakoob added: “There is nothing good about Shi’ism. These people are supposed to have been proscribed a long time ago, but the government waited until they are now causing havoc.
“In the entire world, where has the Chief of Army Staff ever been blocked on the way and denied right of passage? Since the time Shi’ites people did that to the Nigerian Chief of Army Staff, they were supposed to have been stopped. But now, the authorities seem to have understood their mission.
“Anywhere the Shi’ites are, they are always a problem. They are the ones that ruined Iraq. They are the ones that ruined Syria, Yemen and Lebanon. All the crises you see in the Middle-East, Shi’ites are responsible for them.
“You see, with their protests, they çan take over government. The enemies of the country and enemies of the sitting government can take advantage of the Shi’ites protest and overthrow the government.
“I believe the government now understands this secret. What the government has done is very right.”
On Tuesday’s declaration by another Shi’ites group that IMN members are fake Shi’ites, El-Zakzaky’s brother described the declaration as hypocritical.
According to him, all Shi’ites groups have the same doctrine and ideology.
“They are liars. All Shi’ites are one,” he said.
“What they are doing is hypocrisy. All of them have the same doctrine and ideology. They are only in Shi’ites leadership tussle with Zakzaky. That is why they are denouncing him publicly.
“Therefore, it is not only Zakzaky’s group that is supposed to be proscribed. The government should outlaw the entire Shi’ites sect. This is because both Boko Haram and Shi’ites share the same ideology.
“They can continue to fool other people that they are not armed, but we know they carry arms. Didn’t you see them shown with their arms?
“They lied that they were not the ones that killed the police officer in Abuja. The Deputy Commissioner of Police that was killed in Abuja was not the first police officer to be killed by the Shi’ites.”
When asked about the court order that, said his brother should be released and a house built for him anywhere in northern Nigeria, Sheikh Yakubu said, government should only obey such order if it is also ready to build a house for the leader of the dreaded Boko Haram group, Abubakar Shekau.
He said: “Nobody should blame the government for holding him despite the Abuja court order. Some would say, ehn, court ordered that Zakzaky should be released and a house built for him. If they want the government to build a house for Zakzaky, then the government should also build a house for Shekau.
“Do Nigerians agree that government should build a house for Shekau? If no, then government should not build a house for Zakzaky, because they are the same. They are all terrorists.”
He noted that since the exit of El-Zakzaky, Zaria, which was his base, has been very peaceful as security agents have been able to tame their “violent activities.”
The Department of State Services (DSS) has arrested Omoyele Sowore, presidential candidate of the African Action Congress (AAC) in the 2019 elections.
He was said to have been picked up in the early hours of Saturday and taken to the Lagos head office of the secret police on CMD Road, Magodo, Ikosi, Ketu.
At 1:25am, the activist tweeted: “DSS invades Sowore’s.”
SaharaReporters, Sowore’s online outfit, said his phone was forcefully seized before the arrest.
“An eyewitness confirming that his phone was forcefully taken from him,” SaharaReporters said in a report.
“He also tweeted ‘Ja p’, confirming his phone must have been seized while trying to raise the alarm about his arrest.”
The medium said the arrest and detention of Sowore are not unconnected to “#RevolutionNow, a series of planned protests against bad governance in Nigeria” scheduled for Monday.
Sowore has been actively involved in the plans for a nationwide protest.
Hours to his arrest, he had tweeted: “All that is needed for a #Revolution is for the oppressed to choose a date they desire for liberty, not subjected to the approval of the oppressor.”
The senator representing Sokoto-North in the National Assembly, Aliyu Wammako, who is under probe by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for alleged N15bn fraud, has been named the Vice-Chairman of the Senate Committee on Anti-Corruption and Financial Crimes, The PUNCH understands.
With his new role, Wammako and other members of the committee will be expected to carry out oversight functions on the EFCC.
Wammako, who was the governor of Sokoto State from 2007 to 2015, was accused of embezzling public funds.
In an EFCC factsheet published last year by many media houses, the EFCC said at least N1.7bn had been traced to the personal account of the ex-governor.
The fact sheet read in part, “Several petitions were received against Wammako for alleged theft and laundering of state funds amounting to N15bn.
“One of the petitions came from the Movement for the Liberation and Emancipation of Sokoto State signed by the Chairman of the group, M. D. Sirajo Saidu and Secretary, Mudasiru Umar Alasan. The petition was dated August 10, 2015.
“The EFCC in the last three years took time to look into some of the petitions and verified a few facts. Investigation so far has traced N1.5bn to the personal account of Wammako which was deposited by individuals (suspected to be staff of the Government House, Sokoto) who have yet to be traced.”
Wammako, who led President Muhammadu Buhari’s campaign in Sokoto State, will be expected to inspect EFCC projects, scrutinise budgets and make recommendations to the Senate by virtue of his new position.
When contacted on the telephone on Wednesday for an update on Wammako’s probe, the spokesman for the EFCC, Mr Tony Orilade, said he would find out and asked for 24 hours to respond.
When contacted on Thursday, Orilade asked one of our correspondents to come to his office.
But the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, said the war against corruption might have ended with the development.
He said although the Senate had the prerogative to appoint its leaders, CACOL would protest the nomination of Wammako and call attention to the case against him.
Adeniran noted that aside from Senate members with corruption cases, some of the ministerial nominees with corruption charges might also frustrate the war against corruption in the country.
He said, “The nomination of Wammako portends an annihilation of every effort to win the battle against corruption in Nigeria. It appears there is a kind of orchestrated attempt to emasculate the President’s determination to root out corruption in Nigeria.
“Even within the Senate, we have a preponderance of members who have long charges of corruption hanging on their head.
“The EFCC and ICPC will not have their independence because the National Assembly and the cabinet members will join hands to frustrate efforts to fight corruption to a standstill.”
The PUNCH reports that over 11 senators are either under EFCC probe or prosecution.
They include Orji Kalu, Theodore Orji, Rochas Okorocha, Stella Oduah, Ike Ekweremadu, Peter Nwaoboshi, Abba Moro, Akpan Albert, Ifeanyi Ubah, Gabriel Suswam and Ibrahim Shekarau.
Senator Danjuma Goje was also facing prosecution but the charges against him were mysteriously dropped by the Federal Government following a meeting he held with the President during the campaign for presiding officers of the National Assembly.
The Chairman, Senate Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Senator Adedayo Adeyeye, told our correspondent in an interview on Thursday that the National Assembly had concluded its task by sending the outcome of the ministerial nominees’ screening to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Adeyeye said, “I believe the communication has been sent to the President. We concluded the process of screening and confirmation on Tuesday and yesterday (Wednesday) was a day after.
“The National Assembly worked on the communication on Wednesday and as the media reported the meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and the President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, also on Wednesday, I think that has been settled.”
When contacted, The Presidency confirmed that it had received communication from the Senate formally informing President Muhammadu Buhari that the 43 individuals he nominated for ministerial positions had been confirmed.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Ita Enang, confirmed this in an interview with our correspondent.
“Yes, communication has been transmitted. We have received the communication from the Senate,” Enang said.
When further asked when the ministers designate would be inaugurated, the presidential aide paused for a while and simply said “thank you, thank you.”
No fewer than 14 former ministers who worked in the first term of President Buhari made the list. They are Babatunde Fashola (Lagos); Rotimi Amaechi (Rivers); Hadi Sirika (Katsina), Zainab Ahmed (Kaduna); Lai Mohammed (Kwara); Chris Ngige (Anambra); Adamu Adamu (Bauchi); Abubakar Malami (Kebbi); Godfrey Onyeama (Enugu); Ogbonnaya Onu (Ebonyi); Osagie Enahire (Edo); Suleiman Adamu (Jigawa); Mohameed Bello (Adamawa); and Mustapha Baba Shehuri (Borno).
A former Senate Minority Leader, Goodwill Akpabio; Senator Gbemisola Saraki; and Buhari’s campaign spokesperson, Festus Keyamo, are also in the list.
The list also has Senator Olorunnimbe Marmora; Senator Tayo Alasoadura; former governor Rauf Aregbsola; former governor Niyi Adebayo; and former governor Timipre Sylva, among others.
Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters, DHQ, on Thursday, rubbished a report by the Wall Street Journal which claimed that 1, 000 soldiers in the North-East were secretly buried under the cover of darkness after being killed by Boko Haram and ISWAP insurgents.
The Director of Defence Information, Onyema Nwachukwu, insisted that the Nigerian Armed Forces does not engage in the secret burial of soldiers but accords fallen soldiers a befitting military funeral of international standard.
The Wall Street Journal report had alleged that about 1,000 soldiers killed by Boko Haram were secretly buried in the North-East.
However, Nwachukwu maintained that the report was a figment of the writer’s imagination.
A statement signed by Nwachukwu and forwarded to DAILY POST reads: “The Defence Headquarters has noted with dismay an Online Article by “Wall Street Journal” purporting that the Nigerian Military maintains secret graveyards in the North East theatre of operation. This insinuation can only emanate from an uninformed position of the author of the said publication.
“It, therefore, becomes necessary to inform the public that the Armed Forces of Nigeria has a rich and solemn tradition for the interment of our fallen heroes.
“Therefore, it must be unambiguously clarified that the Armed Forces of Nigeria does not indulge in secret burials, as it is sacrilegious and profanity to extant ethos and traditions of the Nigerian military.
“In tandem with the traditions of the Armed Forces, Fallen heroes are duly honoured and paid the last respect in befitting military funeral of international standard, featuring funeral parade, gravesite oration, solemn prayers for the repose of departed souls by Islamic and Christian clerics, as well as gun salutes, aside other military funeral rites.
“The cemetery described in the publication, which is situated in Maimalari military Cantonment is an officially designated military cemetery for the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the North East theatre, with a Cenotaph erected in honour of our fallen heroes. The official cemetery has played host to several national and international dignitaries, where wreaths were laid in honour of the fallen heroes. It is, therefore, a far cry from the sacrilegious impression being painted by “Wall Street Journal”.
The Defence Headquarters, therefore, urged members of the Armed Forces and the general public to disregard the misinformed publication and see it as “a figment of the imagination of the writer, whose knowledge of military valued ethos and traditions is grossly misplaced”.
247NNU had earlier reported that Atiku Abubakar, 2019 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had challenged President Muhammadu Buhari to probe the reported secret burial of 1,000 Nigerian soldiers killed by Boko Haram and ISWAP.
A statement the former vice president signed on Thursday said the Wall Street Journal report on the matter was saddening and that the attempt to hide the true state of the war on terror was heartbreaking and shocking.
A leader of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has been shot dead, according to latest reports.
