• Okutepa says there should be no authoritarian audacity of arrogance that no lawyer has right to belong or form another lawyers association

Although the nod given by the Federal High Court for the Nigerian Law Society, (NLS) a new association for Nigerian lawyers to be registered by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) is generating a lot of controversy, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Jibrin Samuel Okutepa has said he stands for a united bar but “let us not be told in the most authoritarian audacity of arrogance that no lawyer has the right to belong or form another lawyers association.”

Stating his position in a WhatsApp chat, Okutupea said: “I am for one UNITED Bar Association NBA. But let us not be told in the most authoritarian audacity of arrogance that no lawyer has the right to belong or form another lawyers association. No gain splitting ourselves.

“Let us do all to remain one. But let nobody berate or insult the sensibility of our understanding by making outlandish statements that seem to suggest that we are under military dictatorship. Let NBA fight for the interest of lawyers and not sound patronizing of the systems it was created to fight.”

The Federal High Court in Abuja had on 15 December 2023 ordered CAC to register NLS after some lawyers sued the Commission for its failure to register the association as a legal practitioner’s association in the country.

The lawyers, Bolaji Ayorinde, Mela Nunge, Garba Gajam, Emeka Ichoku, Chioma Ferguson, and Tejumola Adigun, in the suit contended that the names being considered for registration as a body of lawyers are not similar to that of the Nigerian Bar Association which could mislead the public.

Consequently, the court in a judgment delivered by Justice Gladys Olotu ordered the CAC to approve any of the proposed names submitted by the plaintiffs.

The names submitted by plaintiffs are “Nigerian Law Society,” “Nigerian Bar Society,” “Nigerian Lawyers’ Society” and “Association of Legal Practitioners of Nigeria.”

The judge ordered the CAS, “To approve for registration and thereafter register any of the proposed names submitted to it on behalf of the plaintiffs, being: The Nigerian Law Society,” “Nigerian Bar Society,” “Nigerian Lawyers’ Society” and “The Association of Legal Practitioners of Nigeria” and issue a certificate of registration to that effect.”

Olotu held that the right to peaceful assembly and association, guaranteed under Section 40 of the Constitution, Article 10 of the ACHPR, and Article 20 of the UDHR cover the kind of association the plaintiffs plan to register.

The Nigerian Bar Association established in 1933 has remained the only professional body for legal practitioners in the country.

Since its establishment, the NBA has encountered multiple instances of several groups vying for registration as a lawyers’ association.

Efforts to get the reaction of the NBA spokesperson, Akorede Lawal, proved abortive as calls to his line indicated it was not reachable. He has yet to respond to the message sent to him as of the time of filling this report.

The grieving father of the late Whitney Adeniran, a 12-year-old student of Chrisland International School, Opebi branch, Lagos, who died under mysterious circumstances during the school’s inter-house sports competition on 9 February 2023, Mr. Michael Adeniran told the court on Monday that his daughter died before being taken to the hospital by the school management.

Adeniran who instituted an action against the school following his daughter’s controversial demise made the statement while being cross-examined by the school’s lead counsel, Bolaji Ayorinde, SAN at the resumed hearing of the suit at Ikeja High Court.

Whitney’s father had accused the school management of negligence that led to the untimely death of his daughter who left home that day hale and hearty.

Whitney, a JSS 2 of the elite school was allegedly electrocuted during the school’s inter-house sports held at Agege Stadium on February 9th, 2023.

While being cross-examined by Ayorinde, SAN, Adeniran told a Lagos State High Court in Ikeja that his daughter was allegedly dead at the stadium before she was taken to the hospital.

However, there was a mild drama in the court  between the defendant and plaintiff under exhibit PW1A, which was issued where the name of the deceased was wrongly written. The issue was resolved and the matter continued

Restating his earlier assertion about his daughter’s death, Adeniran told the court that he was informed by the school nurse that his daughter was already dead before she was taken to the hospital.

He said the nurse told him the  deceased eyes had dilated but she could not confirm her death because she was not a doctor.

Speaking further, Ayorinde, SAN inquired about the medical condition of the deceased from his father whether she had any severe illness.

But Adeniran said his daughter was hale and hearty and didn’t have any ‘health issue’ that needed urgent attention.

The Lagos State Government had on March 31, 2023, arraigned Chrisland School Limited, Opebi, and its principal, vice principal, and two others over the death of one of the school’s students, Whitney Adeniran.

They were arraigned alongside the school before Justice Oyindamola Ogala.

The defendants were Ademoye Adewale, (Cotton candy vendor), Kuku Fatai, Belinda Amao (Principal), and Victoria Nwatu.

The defendants were standing trial on two counts bordering on involuntary manslaughter as well as reckless and negligent acts preferred against them by the state.

At the resumed hearing of the trial, yesterday, Adeniran who is the first prosecution witness narrated this to the court during cross-examination by the school’s counsel Bolaji Ayorinde (SAN).

When asked if Whitney was absent from school on February 2, 2023, due to illness, Adeniran replied,” Yes, she was absent from school, but she was not ill.”

According to Mr. Adeniran, on January 20, 2023, the school called his wife (the deceased’s mother), to inform her that Whitney was ill.

Thereafter, his daughter was then taken to Inland Specialist Hospital at Ikeja and the doctor prescribed some drugs for her to be taken and the dosage but that he didn’t know the name of the drugs.

When asked if he knew the name of the drugs, he explained that he got to know the name of the drugs from the doctor’s report obtained from the hospital issued on February 16, 2023.

Adeniran mentioned the names of the drugs as nitrazepam 5mg and amitriptyline, 12.5mg which he read from an exhibit before the court.

Asked if he was informed by the  Agege Central Hospital and Diagnostic Limited that the deceased died of cardiac arrest, the witness replied that he was informed that she died of cardiac arrest.

He told the court that he could not remember anybody informing him that oxygen was administered to her at the hospital.

The witness also told the court that he could not remember if the school nurse mentioned anything about applying cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) on the deceased.

However, the case was adjourned till January 24, for continuation of trial.

Background

PUNCH reports that within the period of the sad incident, Whitney’s mother Mrs. Blessing Adeniran, in a video on her Instagram page said that she was told her daughter slumped and had been rushed to the hospital.

Mrs. Adeniran said she immediately rushed to the hospital but had a hard time finding it because she was given the wrong address. However after she finally located where her daughter was, she said Whitney was already dead and her lips and tongue were black.

Narrating her ordeal, she said, “We drove out of the stadium to the gate, we asked the gatemen (for the hospital), they didn’t know. As we were driving around we were asking people where we can find Central Hospital but they all said they only knew Agege General Hospital. When we couldn’t locate the place we decided to go to Agege Central Mosque and on our way to the mosque, we saw the school bus packed, so we knew we were at the place.

“I jumped down from the car when we saw the school bus and rushed in. I saw the staff that went with her (Whitney) and I asked her ‘Madam where is my child, what happened, why did she faint’ she (the staff) said ‘I don’t know, she’s in there’. I went in there and I saw my daughter’s corpse, Desola didn’t say anything to me. I went in there and I met my daughter on her deathbed, she was already dead.

“She was drenched, soaked to the skin, water was dripping. I knelt down, I called on God, I shouted, I screamed. I felt her pulse, there was no pulse. My daughter was silent. I asked the doctor what happened to my daughter and he said from the look of things she suffered from cardiac arrest.”

No proper first aid

Continuing, she said, “How does a 12-year-old have a cardiac arrest? No pre-existing heart condition, no pre-existing medical condition. She was hale and hearty, she was not sick in any form. Even if she will die from cardiac arrest why should one arrest kill a healthy teenager? Let me state this, that by the time I got there, my daughter’s lips and tongue had already turned black.”

Blessing also revealed that her daughter was not taken to a hospital but an immunisation centre, adding that there was no proper first aid management.

She said, “My child was not taken to a hospital, she was taken to an immunisation centre but that is not even my pain. My pain is there was no proper first aid management, there was nothing that was done for her; she was brought to the hospital dead.

“Because when her medical report came in, it said dead on arrival. When my husband came he came in to pick his child to take her to another hospital, he came in and met her dead. He screamed, shouted, ‘Desola, daddy is here, stand up. What is happening to my child’. My husband knelt down crying begging the doctor ‘help me, this is my first child’.”

As a sequel to an action instituted by a lawyer M.O. Idam, Esq. requesting the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to compel Nigeria’s Senate President to furnish him with the exact amount payable to each Nigerian Senator as basic salary as at year 2023. information, the allowance(s) and the amount payable as such allowance(s) to each Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigerian, amongst others, the Senate President has said such requests should be channeled to the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC).

Idam who argued that as a Nigerian Citizen, he is directly affected by the way and manner the national treasury is managed by the Respondent, further requested to be furnished with the following details:

• The exact amount transferred to each Senator as recess or holiday allowance, for enjoyment during Senate recess or holiday, as revealed by the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on the 9^th of August 2023.

• The exact amount budgeted and paid as constituency allowance to all the Senators in Nigeria. The information regarding practical measure(s) if any put in place by the Nigerian Senate to meet the yearnings of the common Nigerian masses in order to cushion the negative effect of fuel subsidy removal. The reason or need for such enjoyment at the expense of Nigerians during Senators’ holiday, especially at a time when the debt profile of the country is alarming and the poor Nigerian electorate who are worse hit by fuel subsidy removal, struggle to merely survive.

He further stated:

1. I am worried that if explanation is not provided for the monies spent by the National Assembly under the Respondent, it will occasion arbitrary and frivolous spending which will further wreck the country’s economy.
2. I know as a fact that Nigeria’s debt profile is on the increase amid poor health care delivery, dilapidated federal roads, poor electricity supply and high rate of out of school children.
3. I also know as a fact that I and millions of other common Nigerians are currently subjected to the plagues of economic hardship, which was occasioned by reckless spending and economic mismanagement.

Security experts have accused commercial banks of encouraging the kidnapping epidemic in the country, as some ransoms are paid into bank accounts.

The experts and analysts, who have backgrounds in military, intelligence, and policing, also stressed that abductions had become an industry enabled by the financial institutions that received ransoms. They advised President Bola Tinubu and security to end the epidemic.

Previously restricted to the North-West, abductions have in recent times spread to other parts of the country, including Lagos, Ogun, Nasarawa, and Delta states, as well as the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

In the past weeks, several incidents of kidnappings have been reported in the FCT, with over 25 persons taken away by suspected bandits who demanded huge ransoms for their release.

Speaking on the complicity of banks in the growth of the abduction business, the Managing Director of Beacon Consulting, Adamu Kabiru, affirmed that banks were involved in collecting ransoms.

Speaking in an interview on TVC, the security and risk consultant categorically stated that two banks were involved in two kidnap-for-ransom cases, which he was aware of.

He said, “ I will shock you today to tell you that in almost all the cases where my company was involved, the money was collected through our banking system, and I say this with a sense of responsibility. In almost all, it was only in very few circumstances that cash was collected and taken to these guys (kidnappers).

“They are so brave and bold that they provide account numbers. Two banks are guilty, and because this is a public forum, I will not mention the banks’ names.

“But of course, if the security agencies are interested and they listen to this, I will be happy to provide it to them if they don’t already know.”

He urged the financial regulators to live up to their billing by ensuring the ‘Know Your Customer’ policy is effectively implemented by banks.

Adamu said, “So, even our financial regulators have a responsibility to ensure that banks play the Know Your Customers element very well.

Know Your Customers

“If they play that KYC element very well, it will be very easy, for instance, to descend on those account numbers and, of course, arrest whoever is the holder of that account. But as of today, that has not been done.”

The former intelligence officer noted that the Money Laundering Prohibition and Prevention Act 2022 prohibits individuals and corporate bodies from paying or receiving cash payments exceeding N5m and N10m, respectively.

The law provides for 24-hour timeframes for all financial institutions or designated non-financial institutions to file suspicious transaction reports with the Nigeria Financial Intelligence Unit.

Adamu admonished the security managers to “wake up from their slumbers’’ insisting they had the technical capacity to track the kidnappers.

The obstacle to rescuing the victims, he explained, was the fear that the abductors could kill the victims.

He said the nation lacked the tactical ability to rescue the hostages, noting that this could be achieved with good intelligence and well-trained personnel who could carry out multi-faceted rescue operations.

Speaking in an interview with The PUNCH on Sunday, Adamu stressed that the payment and withdrawal of money paid for ransom could not be made without the involvement of some bank officials.

He said the industry was “fed” by a line of other businesses, including informants, weapons and ammunition suppliers, and the “vulnerabilities that exist in our banking system.”

He added, “One can conclusively say that a kidnap-for-ransom industry exists in Nigeria and that it is a thriving one. The industry is fed by a value chain that includes businesses like informants, weapons and ammunition supplies, drugs and essentials supply etc.

“It also includes those who assist them in collecting and laundering the proceeds. It is a security and financial issue. Some of the drivers of abduction are the socio-economic issues and the vulnerabilities that exist in our banking system.’’

“The financial sector in Nigeria remains a vulnerable point for money laundering and the financing of illicit transactions and terrorism. Details of this are in the last GIABA review of Nigeria’s compliance with global protocols and standards on money laundering and financing or terrorism.

“As an example, banks still have a comfortable number of their staff members supplied by third-party contracts and the issue of KYC,” he submitted.

‘Kidnapping now business’

Corroborating Adamu’s position, a retired Commissioner of Police, Emmanuel Ojukwu, hinted that the banks might be complicit in the kidnapping business.

Ojukwu said, “Crowd-funding for ransom payment has been hyped. It is not a pleasant solution; it sort of reinforces the crime. The banks are probably involved in all of this, for how do such funds get pooled, and where do they end?

“Bank customers have been finding it tough to get cash for their transactions, how come millions are being sourced for kidnappers?

“I suppose that banks and NFIU should begin to ask questions on how these funds are trafficked and where they end up. There is technology to track such funds.’’

The Chairman of the Association of Corporate Affairs Managers of Banks, Rasheed Bolarinwa, could not be reached for comments on the allegations against the banks as of press time on Sunday.

However,  a top official of the bank who chose to speak under condition of anonymity, because he was not authorised to speak on the matter, said the ransoms allegedly paid into some bank accounts might have been paid into tier-1 accounts with inadequate Know-Your-Customer requirements.

He said, “During the era of a former CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi, banks were allowed to open some accounts with little KYC requirements. These tier-1 accounts could be used to perpetrate such evil acts. However, I’m still not sure if that is possible because there is a limit to the amount that can enter such accounts. Only current or corporate accounts can handle huge amounts, often paid as ransoms. But the CBN is already handling these issues by asking bank customers to link their BVN to NIN before April ending.”

But Chidi Omeje, a security analyst, lamented that kidnappings had become a big industry, turning over billions in a matter of months.

He said, “It’s a huge industry, one of the biggest industries in this country. If we check the figures, we will discover that those guys have a monthly turnover of billions. So, it’s a huge industry and a very horrible one at that.

“I think it’s a pity that we have come to this level that such an odious enterprise is now becoming such a huge industry.’’

He argued that banks had contributed to the growth of the abduction industry “because most of the ransoms are not paid with cash.’’

Omeje said, “Of course, they (banks) are quite complicit because most ransom payments are not done with cash; they are done through bank payments and transfers or whatever.

“And do not forget there was a time when they said we should do these NIN and BVN, and they told us how they would use it to catch criminals. Can’t you see that nothing is happening?

“This is where offices like the NSA, EFCC, and DSS come in. We have a lot of agencies that should be on this, but nothing is happening. Are you telling me that the NCC cannot track phone numbers? Banks are complicit, and it is quite shameful.”

Also, a former Assistant Director in the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, agreed that abductions had become an industry in Nigeria, adding that banks could collaborate with agencies to trace the kidnappers using marked monies.

“I remember that when (Ex-CBN Governor Godwin) Emefiele’s wife was kidnapped; money was marked, and it led to arrests. The problem is that most people paying ransom are weary of the security forces. If they collaborate to get some of the marked money, it could lead to arrests too.

“The money may not necessarily be from the Central Bank because it is not the Central Bank that gives them the money.”

On his part, Dickson Osajie admonished the banks to discharge their responsibilities while calling for enforcement of relevant banking regulations and laws to monitor and track the activities of banks involved in receiving ransoms.

Strict monitoring

The security expert said, “Nigerian banks have to wake up to their responsibilities. During the ENDSARS revolution, the CBN was able to track down its sponsors. It’s been over 13 years now since Boko Haram has been ravaging the country; why have we not been able to track its sponsors?

“The banking sector is not doing enough. What these kidnappers are capitalising on is online banking because you don’t need to go to the banks. Your KYC is not verified. You can just open an account anywhere.

“More attention should be given to these online banking services. If we don’t do this, we will continue to suffer from that trend. Banks must ensure that customers follow all the rules and regulations so criminals don’t capitalise on them. It is disconcerting and Nigeria is currently on a dangerous path. We need everybody to come on board to tackle these issues.

“There should be an additional regulatory agency under the CBN’s supervision that will help monitor the menace. They will be in charge of policing all the activities of the banks about this criminality and ensuring that banks are complying with the rules of engagement.’’

Continuing, he reasoned, “We should have a banking police, just like an agency that will ensure that the banks keep track of everyone with an account with them. The NIN and BVN should also be made very important. The process of our NIN is very porous. Many people who are not from Nigeria have NIN.”

 Osajie frowned on the spate of abductions which he said had become a big criminal enterprise.

“They (kidnappers) see it as a business industry. The industry is the kidnapping market, and the business aspect is the money they are making from kidnapping. They have discovered that the risk implications are very slim.’’

On what the banks could do to address the abduction crisis, the Managing Partner of Chive-GPS, Nnamdi Chife, said, “The banks can freeze such accounts and notify the security authorities; it’s usually under a “suspicious transaction report.” That way, the KYC of these criminals can be gotten, tracked, and arrested.’’

Speaking further, he added, “Nigerians are participating in the crime due to the rewarding experience for the criminals and the absence of a security architecture to curtail the menace. Let’s not forget the involvement of foreigners in enabling the crime, especially in the North-West and North-East and down to the South.”

A retired DSS officer, Akin Adeyi, also believed that the banks were culpable for the epidemic of abductions.

He stated, “Imagine N100 million entering a forest. Will the money sit inside the forest? It will go into the banks. In those days when security was still working well, you gave them marked money, which in turn led to their arrest.

“But these days, they collect the money. We don’t even know whether they still mark them. So, the banks and everyone else are culpable in this kidnapping business. There are security features that can be attached to these funds. These kidnappers have their godfathers.’’

 A security analyst, Anselm Ozueh, charged the Federal Government with punishing banks and other perpetrators of kidnappings.

He argued, “It is both a business and an industry. And as far as I am concerned, both are the same. However, it is important to note that it is a criminal activity. Whoever is involved in that chain, be it an informant or resource person, must be punished.

“In this line of business, whoever is playing any role should be treated as a criminal. So, if any bank or any institution is aiding and abetting this kidnapping business in society, there has to be a law that will punish them. The way money laundering is checked is the same way these monies involving kidnapping should be checked.”

Patrick Agbambu said paying ransom to kidnappers had contributed to the growth of the abduction industry.

“Now, when you pay the ransom, of course, either through transfer or cash movement, either way, you have transactions with the banks,’’ he said.

A security analyst, Jackson Ojo, expressed worries that abduction was a growing business.

Ojo noted, “The abduction spate in Nigeria is gradually becoming a business industry for people that are taking it as a form of trade whereas it is an abnormality that is becoming a norm in the country.

“Nobody is stealing cars again or robbing people on the road, rather, people are swinging into the kidnapping business.”

He noted that banks were not entirely to blame for the booming business, saying, “I will not blame the abduction business on banks totally because they have regulators that are in a position to sanction any of the banks.

“If a single bank had been sanctioned and de-registered, I don’t think any bank would continue to boost the abduction business.

 “Even if one detects such and reports to the regulators, nothing might be done because the people in government are the principals of all the banks. The regulators, too, are afraid because they know the personalities behind the banks.”

Retired Colonel Hassan Stan-Labo said kidnapping and banditry were thriving because “government officials gain from the big-time business.’’

“The abduction menace has always been a big-time business in Nigeria all along. We have been fighting terrorism and banditry for over 10 years, and certain deals have been perfected to a point whereby some individuals are just making their cool money out of this, including government officials.

“I know there was a time when government officials were ready to release money from the treasury to pay and release individuals because they have some cuts from such money released.

“But look at the way Israel is fighting the Gaza war, they said they are not just fighting, but we want to make sure that this does not happen again,’’ he added.

On whether banks were complicit in the kidnapping business, the retired col. said, “Banks are business enterprises. When one is into business, profit is one’s major concern.

“The way we see banks declaring all sorts of huge profits, even when the economy is said to be in bad shape, is alarming. I am saying that banks, of course, will cooperate to get profits. They conceal whatever needs to be concealed and make their money,” the ex-military officer added.

The Chancellor of the International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights, Jackson Omenazu, suggested that citizens should be allowed to bear firearms.

“The current insecurity in the country is lamentable, and the constant loss of lives and disruption of livelihood is unacceptable. The security chiefs should either do what is needed or the government should allow citizens to have access to firearms to defend themselves,” he said.

An elder statesman, Mallam Tanko Yakasai, and former FCT Commissioner of Police, Lawrence Alobi, asked the President to do more to end insecurity.

Yakasai observed that the insecurity situation was becoming too big for the Federal Government to handle.

On his part, Alobi, who described the situation as embarrassing, charged President Tinubu to give service chiefs a month to tame the insecurity.

Holistic measures

In an interview with The PUNCH, a retired Police Commissioner, Edward Ajogun, noted that while the possibility of bank involvement could not be ruled out, it was important to adopt some holistic measures that could help to combat kidnapping headlong.

Ajogun said, “Kidnapping by its nature is an organised crime that has a leadership we do not even know but which is controlling their foot-soldiers. When these ransoms are collected, they are often spread out, making it easier for the ransom money to be moved without suspicion.

“I think we should rather focus on monitoring the serial numbers of the monies used in paying ransom so that it can easily be tracked; by doing that, it will be easier to track the kidnappers. Some people are also saying that it may have external connections. So our security experts should also look at monitoring if our money is being transported to foreign countries like Benin Republic, Niger, and others.

“We should also segment our security apparatus. When we realise that kidnapping is on the high side in a particular place, security apparatus should be mobilised to such a place to tackle the situation.

“The most effective means which none of us will go for is that if somebody is kidnapped, are we ready to sacrifice the individual? This is because if the security agencies cannot get the kidnappers, they can annihilate them, but in trying to do that, the victim’s life will be at risk. But that is the only method to make the business not lucrative to the kidnappers. However, that would mean that the death toll and fatality on the side of the victims will be high. That is the only means of discouraging this thing.”

Culled from the PUNCH

After a young woman’s head was brutally cutting off in Yola, Adamawa state capital, the state’s Police Command has made some suspects.

According to available Police report, the grisly incident took place in a hotel room located within Yola metropolis.

The reports said three employees of the hotel, identified as Jacob, and Yifarta, both receptionists, and Isah, a security guard, who were on duty at the time of the incident, were also arrested.

Spokesperson of the Command, Suleiman Yahaya-Nguroje, who confirmed the development, disclosed that the handset belonging to the deceased and the drug used to sedate her were recovered from the crime scene.

Nguroje said information gathered indicated that the main suspect had on January 18, 2024, at around 9:30 pm, took his victim to a hotel where he was lodged as a guest, beheaded her, and later went away with her decapitated head.

The Police PRO told journalists on Friday that; “The command has so far apprehended three staff (members) of the hotel and recovered drug and handset of the lady. The drug and handset were recovered at the scene of the crime.”

He also assured members of the public that the State Commissioner of Police, Afolabi Babatola, is determined to arrest the main perpetrator of the heinous crime.

Meanwhile, insiders sources hinted that the Police are on the trail of two persons suspected to have engineered the gruesome murder, but their identity are being kept a secret because of ongoing investigation by the Command to further unravel the circumstances surrounding their actions.

The Conclave

*Reiterates neither Army nor Police rescued them

Facts are still unravelling on the details of the kidnapped victims of the Al-Kadriyar family following the release of the five abducted girls by their captors.

Daily Trust reports that the girls were abducted on January 2 along with the second-born of the family, Nabeeha, as well as their father, Alhaji Mansoor Al-Kadriyar, from their home located at Zuma 1 area, at the outskirts of Bwari town, in the FCT.

An uncle to the children was shot dead by the bandits, as he was leading a police rescue team to the house around 9 p.m of the faithful day.

The father was released three days later and ordered to provide N60 million ransom before or on Friday 12.

However, unable to meet the demand, the bandits killed Nabeeha, a 400-level student of Biological Science, Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria, around 9 p.m on the dateline, and jacked up the ransom to N100 million, which must be paid before last Wednesday.

The five victims released are Najeeba, a 500-level Quantity Surveying student, her younger sister Nadherah, 300-level Zoology student, both of the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) Zaria and their twin sisters, Habeeba, Haneesa.

The fifth person is Mardeeyah Isah Salahuddeen, a 400-level student of Microbiology, Bayero University Kano (BUK). She is maternal cousin to the children that joined the family, during school holidays.

Meanwhile, the FCT police command in a statement issued on Sunday, through the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, had said the effort of the Command’s anti-kidnapping squad led to the rescue of the victims.

“Following the relentless advancement of the Federal Capital Territory Police Command Anti-Kidnapping squad in a concerted effort with troops of the Nigerian Army, on the heels of the kidnappers that struck the Zuma 1 area in the Bwari Area Council on the 2nd of January 2024, The FCT Police  has rescued the victims and reunited them with their families.

“The operatives successfully rescued the victims around Kajuru forest in Kaduna state  at about 11:30 pm on  Saturday 20th January 2024,” the statement reads in part.

However, the family countered the claim saying that the girls were released after ransom was paid, and not rescued.

Speaking about the release of the five sisters, an uncle to the victims, Jamiu Salman, told Daily Trust that they received a call from one of the victims around 8 p.m on Saturday that they were released by their captors and gave the details of the location.

“On getting the information, I and a younger brother to their father mobilized ourselves and left for the Jere junction, where we sighted some military men and approached them to introduce ourselves.

“They provided us with escort down to a bush around Gurara Dam where they stopped. We proceeded and met the children. We arrived back home after 11pm, in the company of the military escort.”

He confirmed that a ransom was paid last Wednesday, though he declined to disclose the amount.

Also speaking, a cousin of the children, Mubarak Alkadriyar, who was in the journey to bring back the children, said the bandits had earlier called them and directed them about where and who to pay the ransom.

“They released 12 people altogether – comprising five from Al-Kadriyar’s family, and seven other people from three different families abducted from Dutse axis in the FCT. We jointly made the payment last Wednesday.

“It was a collective payment with the other family members. They told every family what to pay, and one person agreed to collect all the money on behalf of the others and given directives on how to bring the money,” Mubarak said.

Mubarak Al-Kadriyar also faulted a claim that the victims were rescued by security men, insisting that they were released by their captors after ransom was paid.

“They have done their best actually, but as I earlier said what they did was not enough. The security agencies have failed to prioritize the lives of the citizens which is their duty.

“Because even after the ransom was paid, should they come in to say they want to rescue them?

“The bandits shouldn’t have stayed conveniently from Wednesday down to Saturday night and at their convenience to release them to us, and they left thereafter without anybody confronting them.”

Report by Daily Trust

The ongoing crises in Nasarawa state has escalated with the shooting of a yet-to-be-identified woman in the state capital, Lafia, on Friday.

She was among those protesting the Supreme Court’s judgement which affirmed the election of Governor Abdullahi Sule.

DAILY POST recalls that protests broke out in Lafia and other parts of the state over the court verdict, which upheld Sule’s election and threw out the Peoples Democratic Party and Emmanuel Ombugadu’s case. In a video trending on the social media, the woman was seen walking naked and alone when an unidentified person shot at her. The woman, whose identity could not be ascertained at the moment, was seen crying and rolling in the pool of her blood.

DAILY POST could not ascertain if she was shot by security men or hoodlums. A background voice commenting in Hausa language after the woman fell said, “Lafia has become what it has become.”

Checks by DAILY POST show that there is palpable fear among residents of the state as irate youths in some areas are insisting that the protest against the judgement of the Supreme Court must continue. Earlier, police in the state forcefully dispersed aged women using tear gas at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) state secretariat.

The angry women protesting said they did not vote for Governor Abdullahi Sule who was declared winner of the governorship election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) amid controversies.

The protesters who displayed placards with various inscriptions accused Governor Sule of rigging himself to power and forcing himself on the people. They, therefore, hurled curses at everyone who participated in denying them what they described as their mandate.

Hurling curses at politicians whom they accused of rigging Governor Sule into power, one of the angry protesters said, “I came here stark naked the way I came into this world to fight for my emancipation.

“Should there be my own compatriots who colluded with them to steal our mandate, I stand here today to curse and declare that may the ground open up and swallow them all.”

SaharaReporters had reported that following the announcement of the election results, the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of conspiring with officials of the INEC and security agents to manipulate and alter the governorship election results in the state.

The party alleged that the stolen results were taken to various locations including the Government House and the Federal University, Lafia, where APC agents altered and manipulated the figures in favour of the party.

The State Returning Officer for the governorship election, Professor Tanko Ishaya, declared that Governor Sule of the APC polled 347,209 votes, to beat his closest rival, David Ombugadu of the PDP, who had 283,016 votes.

Credits: DAILY POST /Sahara Reporters