Bandits kill 30, burn houses, animals in Katsina

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A New wave of insecurity hit Katsina on Friday night with bandits sacking two villages and killing 30 people.

Several houses and some animals were burnt by the marauders.

Another gang of gunmen struck in Okpoga, Okpokwu local Government area in Benue State, abducting two doctors.

As the situation unfolded on Saturday the Presidency alleged  a plot by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to  unleash an  ‘orchestrated’ protest march against the  security service chiefs.

It claimed that 2000 people have been recruited for the protest slated for tomorrow.

The PDP swiftly dismissed the allegation last night as blackmail.

It asked the presidency to desist from hanging its shortcomings on the opposition.

Attacked on Friday night in Katsina State were Tsauwa and Dankar villages in Batsari Local Government Area.

Twenty-one people were killed in Tsauwa alone while efforts were on at press time yesterday to bury some of the victims.

Majority of the victims in the village were old people and children.

The bandits also burnt down houses, animal and food items.

The District Head of Batsari who is also Sarki Ruma, Alhaji Tukur Muaazu, described the incident as horrible.

He said, “I have never seen this type of destruction in my life. The bandits arrived here (Tsauwa) about 7 pm on Friday when residents were about observing Magrib. Some were also preparing to sleep. The bandits laid siege to the village, killing and destroying anything they sighted.”

He appealed to Governor Aminu Masari to come to the aid of the victims and to strengthen security in the community.

Police Commissioner Sanusi Buba visited the two communities yesterday for an on- the- spot assessment.

He confirmed to reporters that 30 people were killed by the bandit and said he was surprised by the attack.

“I still find it surprising that whatever could have been the motive, these people (suspected bandits) could still carry out these dastardly acts. We are, however, after them,” he said.

“Twenty-one people were killed in Tsauwa while nine were killed in Dankar.”

Some villagers who spoke to The Nation in Tsauwa village – Salisu Lawal and Baba Dahiru -said about 23 persons were killed in Tsauwa, while about 10 persons were killed in neighboring Dankar.

Dankar was like a ghost town yesterday as many residents have fled nearby towns to avoid further attacks.

Security personnel including police and the army as well as local vigilantes have taken up positions in the two villages.

Governor Masari recently named Batsari, Safana, and Jibia as local government areas still experiencing incessant banditry attacks because of the refusal of the bandits in those places to embrace the olive branch offered   by government through dialogues

Gunmen abduct two doctors, one other in Benue

Unknown gunmen have also abducted two   medical doctors  and a medical recorder in Okpoga, Okpokwu local Government area of Benue State.

The State Police Command confirmed the development yesterday.

All three are said to be staff of the General Hospital, Okpoga.

They were on their way home after closing from work when the gunmen seized   and whisked them away to an unknown destination.

The abductors were yet to establish contact with anyone yet about their victims.

Police spokesperson Sewuese Anene said the police were investigating the incident.

The abduction is the latest in the series of kidnappings and other crimes in the Benue South Senatorial District.

2,000 hired to protest against service chiefs on Monday — Presidency

The Presidency alleged on Saturday that the opposition, represented by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had  hired about 2000 persons for  an ‘orchestrated’ protest march against the  security service chiefs tomorrow.

The  Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said in a statement in Abuja that a recent clip showing some people  booing during President Muhammadu Buhari’s sympathy visit to Maiduguri last week was part of a scheme to sell a lie about the administration to the undiscerning.

Shehu described the brains behind the planned protest which, according to him, is patterned after  those recently mounted against justices of the Supreme Court, as beneficiaries of Boko Haram terrorism.

His words: “The Presidency wishes to caution a section of the political class against misleading the public and inciting protests against the heads of military institutions.

“This has become necessary in view of received reports that about two thousand men and women have been hired to demonstrate against Nigeria’s service chiefs on Monday.

“This imminent gathering is the latest in a series of demonstrations orchestrated by the opposition to embarrass the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“As part of this overall scheme, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with its belligerent politics, has been marching from one embassy to the other in protest against the Buhari administration and the nation’s highest court of justice, the Supreme Court. They are keen to give the impression that Nigerians are in support of them as they take to the streets, and they will go to any length to promote this false narrative.

“The recent incident in Maiduguri, Borno State, where an overwhelmingly cheering crowd gathered to welcome President Buhari, while a handful were recorded booing him, is a part this elaborate scheme. It is misleading, as some analysts have tried to do, to read this as verdict against President Buhari, who emerged winner with 94 per cent of the votes cast in the Presidential election in the state in February last year.

“This was clearly a hired few, but the news was promoted by the opposition who had of course positioned themselves to record the booing – all just to embarrass the President.

“We urge the media to remain unbiased and discerning in their reporting, instead of becoming unwitting tools in the hands of the opposition.

“A group of politicians and beneficiaries of the Boko Haram insurgency is right now paying for people to join their planned protest against our country’s service chiefs, and they will no doubt seek the media’s collaboration on this as usual.

“But there is news and there is promoted content – two very different things, one of which should never make the headlines as these recent fake protests have done,” the statement said.

PDP to Buhari: Stop blackmailing opposition, media

Responding to the latest accusation from the Presidency, however, the PDP asked Buhari and his minders to address the consensus concern of Nigerians over their handling of security issues instead of seeking to blame the opposition and the media.

The PDP described threats and allegations by the Presidency, that the opposition was sponsoring a protest against the heads of military institutions, as derisory, self-indicting and diversionary.

The national Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, said : “It is clear to all, including even the Buhari Presidency, that Nigerians across board, have been in protest against the Buhari-led APC administration and need nobody to mobilise them to publicly exercise their constitutionally guaranteed rights any day to register their discontentment against a failed administration that has continued to live on propaganda, excuses and denials.

“Moreover, the PDP restates that its demand that the security high command should be rejigged to inject new blood to effectively tackle our security challenges; a position that have become a consensus opinion of all other patriotic individuals and groups, including the two chambers of the National Assembly, is well known within and outside our country.

“Accusing the opposition and threatening the media are therefore diversionary and apparently aimed to validate alleged plots by agents of governments to clamp down on innocent Nigerians, the media and members of the civil society to suppress and foist a siege mentality on Nigerians.

“Moreover, the PDP is aware that the accusation is part of the ploy by the Buhari Presidency to intimidate our party to abandon its demands for the Buhari administration to be alive to its responsibility to secure the nation or step aside for more competent hands to manage the affairs of our nation.

“Our party holds that instead of resorting to fabrications, blackmail and threats, a responsive and concerned administration should rather listen to the people, stop its blackmail, propaganda, denials and excuses; take urgent steps to rejig its security architecture and end the escalated bloodletting under its watch.”