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Bandits allegedly deploy helicopter, kill 32 in Southern Kaduna

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Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has carpeted the Defence Headquarters over its failure to deploy the 12 newly acquired Super Tucano aircraft in the North-West seven months after a Federal High Court designated bandits as terrorists.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, slammed the military hierarchy, especially the Nigerian Air Force for its tardiness in dealing with terrorists terrorising the North-West.

The group said while the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian Air Force are condoning the heinous killings by bandits, the marauders, now emboldened by the inaction of the government, have moved on to allegedly deploy sophisticated weapons, including an attack helicopter.

According to reports, terrorists in a helicopter attacked residents of the Adara community in the southern part of Kaduna State on Sunday and killed over 30 persons.

The National President of Adara Development Association, Awemi Maisamari, said the carnage was allegedly carried out by Fulani terrorists who aside from shooting sporadically from the helicopter, were aided by assailants on the ground who came on 150 motorcycles carrying three armed persons each.

“The death toll this morning (Wednesday) is 32, as villagers comb surrounding bushes for more bodies. Seven were found this morning decomposing,” he said, adding that an Evangelical Church Winning All in the area was destroyed.

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Reacting, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The killing of scores in Adara in southern Kaduna is unfortunate and totally avoidable if the military doesn’t ignore intelligence and telltale signs.”

HURIWA sympathised with the bereaved and prayed for their consolation and comfort.

“However, it is important to note that this new dimension of a helicopter being used by Fulani terrorists is shocking but not unexpected as there have been bold signs written all over the place going by the chronology of the sophisticated terrorism that banditry by Fulani bloodletters has evolved into.

“It is ironic that the terrorists are now operating on air, shelling houses and killing innocent residents when the military who should decimate the terrorist bandits through air raids have failed to bombard them for reason best known to them.

“Even the Kaduna State Governor indicted the military for failing to act on intelligence regarding the precise locations of these Fulani terrorists even when the military is monitoring their telephone conversations and now they are on the air. Who gave them the helicopters?

“Earlier in February 2021, a controversial Islamic cleric and bandit-sympathiser, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, disclosed that bandits operating in the northern states forests are planning to acquire anti-aircraft missiles to repeal attacks by the military. He said, ‘They (bandits) are now trying to buy missiles, anti-aircraft missiles. This is already developing into a full-blown insurgency

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“In March 2022, terrorists bombed a moving Abuja-Kaduna train and killed scores while others were kidnapped. On July 18, 2021, bandits shot down a Nigerian Air Force fighter jet on the border between Zamfara and Katsina states.

“Yet, the military and the sleeping regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), have gone on full somnolence and failed to treat the mass killers of innocent citizens as they are supposed to be treated despite that they have killed thousands of innocent souls in Kaduna in the last one year.”

HURIWA recalled that a frustrated Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, in March, after the train attack, accused the military of knowing the location of the bandits wreaking havoc in the state but was refusing to bomb their hideouts.

Commenting further, HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “The dastard killing by Fulani terrorists who operated from a helicopter in Adara was aided by the conspiracies of inactions by President Muhammadu Buhari who did not also take action against Fulani terrorists that shot down a military jet in Zamfara despite a court declaration that the bandits are terrorists.

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“The rampaging mass murderers have declared full war on the Nigerian state yet the military and the government are docile as they are wont.

“Last Sunday, the insurgents stormed a Catholic church in Owo, Ondo State and killed over 40 innocent worshippers in an unprovoked attack. Yet, the President and his cabal keep treating Fulani terrorists as sacred cows that should not be touched.

“With the Owo genocide and the Adara mass killing, HURIWA calls on the Defence Headquarters to swiftly deploy the 12 Super Tucano fighter jets on the bandits terrorising the Nigerian state. The court has already declared them as terrorists and they fit into the United States’ categorization as those to suffer from the heat of the fighter jets.

“Then, why the delayed almost eight months after? Isn’t this complicit that the military doesn’t want to deal with the criminal and mindless terrorists as el-Rufai noted in his March outburst? Should all Nigerians be slain because the President is Fulani as the killer bandits? Enough!”

 

 

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Nigerian who relocated to UK in 2022 beats wife to death

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A United Kingdom-based Nigerian man, Olubunmi Abodunde, has beaten his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, Daily Mail reports.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and always clashed over alleged affairs and arguments about bills.

According to the news platform, 48-year-old Abodunde had been repeatedly investigated by Suffolk Police about domestic violence and was due to go on trial for murder but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after a jury had been sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of bangs’ inside the house, which Abodunde had gone into, despite bail conditions imposed the day before that banned him from the property following another violent episode.

 

When they finally entered 25 minutes later, they found the wife, 41-year-old Taiwo, with her ‘skull smashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, warned him the only possible sentence was life imprisonment.

 

Suffolk Constabulary has referred itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed three officers were under investigation.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

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“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

 

Abodunde had a history of jealousy and suspicion and accused his wife of having affairs. He had been investigated by police a number of times over alleged domestic violence incidents before his wife’s death.

He was arrested on April 27 last year when police arrived at the couple’s home in Newmarket, Suffolk, and found Mrs Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was freed on police bail with the condition that he stayed away from the marital home and didn’t approach his wife.

But after working a night shift at Tesco, he went home just after 9 am to allegedly pick up his mobile phone.

 

Two officers arrived at 9.20 am to take a statement from Mrs Abodunde about the previous night’s incident and heard repeated banging noises inside.

 

But it wasn’t until 9.55 am that they forced their way in after getting approval from senior officers and found Mrs Abodunde ‘obviously dead’ near the front door.

A post-mortem examination later showed she had been throttled until she fell unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were broken before her husband used the skateboard to finish her off. The blows were so violent that the skateboard was damaged.

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Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court the banging officers heard was likely to have been Abodunde continuing to attack his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs Abodunde had a job as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, who had trained as a civil engineer, was unable to find work in his profession and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

 

After his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode”.

 

He later claimed in a police statement he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife, I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

 

But the court heard while he did have an injury to his hand, there wasn’t a knife near his wife’s body.

 

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the level of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and might have been affected by medication he was taking. But she said no medical evidence would be provided to support this claim.

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Detective Inspector Dan Connick, of Suffolk Police, said after the hearing, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a lasting impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.

 

‘We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

 

‘Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends and hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.’

 

Taiwo Abodunde worked for Cambridge Manor Care Home, which provides dementia care and residential and respite care.

 

A spokesman for the facility, which is owned by TLC Care, said: ‘We are all deeply shaken and upset by the tragic death of Taiwo, who was a much-loved member of our home community.

 

‘Our thoughts and deepest condolences are with her family. Taiwo always cared for those we support with compassion and kindness, and she will be greatly missed by all of us and our residents.’

 

Abodunde was remanded in custody and will be sentenced on May 9.

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Alleged procurement fraud: Court adjourns Emefiele‘s trial to June 24

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A federal capital territory (FCT) high court in Maitama has adjourned the trial of Godwin Emefiele, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to June 24. 

 

When the case was called on Thursday, neither the prosecution counsel nor the defendant were in court. However, Emefiele was represented by one of his counsels.

 

I.D Ahmed, who represented the defendant, told the court that the prosecution served him a letter praying for an adjournment.

 

He also apologised to the court for the absence of his client.

 

Hamza Muazu, presiding judge, said: “Because you have a letter of adjournment from the prosecution does not mean the defendant should not be in court.”

 

Muazu then adjourned until June 24 and June 25 for continuation of trial.

 

The federal government, on January 18, amended the criminal charges filed against the former CBN governor.

 

The charges, formerly six counts, were increased to 20 counts.

 

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The amended charges border on alleged criminal breach of trust, forgery, conspiracy to commit forgery, procurement fraud and conspiracy to commit a felony.

 

At the previous hearing, the court agreed to vary Emefiele’s bail condition which previously restricted him to the FCT.

 

The court granted the application permitting the former CBN governor to travel within Nigeria but restrained him from leaving the country during the pendency of the case.

In some of the counts, the EFCC alleged that Emefiele, in January 2023, forged a document titled: “RE: PRESIDENTIAL DIRECTIVE ON FOREIGN ELECTION OBSERVER MISSIONS,” dated 26 January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201.

 

The EFCC said Emefiele made the claim despite knowing it to be false and committed an offence contrary to section 1(1) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006, and punishable under section 1(3) of the same Act.

 

According to the amended charge marked CR/577/2023, Emefiele, on February 8, 2023, connived with one Odoh Ocheme, who is now on the run, to obtain $6.2m from the CBN, claiming that the SGF requested it “vide a letter dated 26th January 2023 with Ref No. SGF.43/L.01/201″.

 

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Meanwhile, the EFCC had also declared Magaret, Emefiele’s wife, wanted for money laundering.

 

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Mother, son, one other electrocuted in Ogun market

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No fewer than three people, including a mother and child, were reportedly electrocuted at Mowe Market in Obafemi-Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The incident reportedly happened on Monday following the restoration of power after the Sunday downpour.

 

The Chairman of the Local Government, Ambassador Adesina Ogunsola, during his visit to the market on Wednesday gave a seven-day notice to all the traders with shops and stalls under the high-tension powerline to vacate to forestall a repeat of the tragic incident.

 

An eyewitness said that the electric shock was from the step-down transformer suspended on an electrical pole next to the shop where the incident happened, just as the shop owners arrived for their daily sales in the market.

 

The woman and her son were said to have been burnt beyond recognition.

 

The Director of Information at the Obafemi Owode Local Government, Segun Soneye, confirmed the incident on Thursday.

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Soneye, in a statement, blamed the incident on the erection of shops made of iron under the powerline by the traders.

 

He said, “The chairman of the council had visited the affected shop owners and commiserated with them over the incident.

“The LG boss has already given shop owners a seven-day ultimatum to evacuate their make-shift shops built under the high tension powerline to forestall the recurrence of the incident.”

Speaking during his visit to the market, Ogunsola who commiserated with the families of the victims, also blamed the incident on the nonchalant attitude of the.

 

The LG boss wondered why people would disregard safety rules and have their shops close to electrical poles that carry step-down transformers.

 

Ogunsola, while giving the vacation order to the traders with shops and stalls under the powerline, said, “Let me also say that everyone that has extended its shop beyond where it should be, particularly those under high-tension cables should start removing it from today.”

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The police spokesman, Omolola Odutola, also confirmed the incident but said only the mother, Ujuwa Okechukwu, died from the incident.

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