Just In: Police Begin Documentation of Kidnapped Niger Students, Teachers

Laleye Dipo in Minna

The Police have begun the documentation of students and teachers kidnapped at Papiri town of Agwara local government of Niger state last week.

Already, the police on Friday invited parents of the affected students and teachers to appear before its officers to give details of those missing.
The action of the Police, it was learnt, followed lack of credible statistics on the number of children kidnapped, those that have returned and reunited with their parents.

It was claimed that over 259 students as well as 13 teachers were kidnapped by terrorists while 66 escaped from their den in unknown circumstances.

Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State Police Command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, confirmed this to THISDAY in a telephone interview.

Abiodun said, “We invited the parents to come and give us information about the children, including those that have reunited with their parents”.
He however did not say how many names have been put on the register now opened.

Governor Mohammed Umaru Bago in an interview with the Hausa Service of the BBC also said government had not been able to confirm the number of students abducted from the school neither was he able to say how many victims have been recovered.

Governor Bago in the interview alleged that the school was ordered closed since 2021, adding that government never gave a counter order for the reopening of the school before disclosing that investigation into the issue would be carried out at the appropriate time.

The governor also said the missionary that established the school had since relocated to Ireland while the foreign road construction workers that managed the institution after had left the area.

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    David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka

    Ex-governor of Anambra State and immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has given an account of how his convoy was attacked by gunmen on Wednesday.

    The former governor spoke to journalists when presidential candidate in 2023 election, Mr Peter Obi, visited him to commiserate with him on the attack.

    Ngige said he had been in Anambra since Saturday, and had sent his personal aides on errand, including taking one of his cars for maintenance when they were attacked on their way back, leading to the death of one lady, while his police orderly was shot in the leg and dispossessed of his rifle and his uniforms.

    Ngige, dispelling rumors of death, said: “As you can see, I’m alive, I’m not dead, so there should be no panic or fear. They attacked my convoy while they were coming back around Umuoji when they saw some vehicle racing towards them, and later reversed and chased after them, and started shooting.

    “They were all dressed in police and army uniforms, so my convoy driver dribbled them until they ran into a shop and they caught up with my police security men who battled with them until his bullets exhausted. They took away his rifle and his uniforms and that was after they shot him in the leg.

    “They told the two police men that they were serving a zoo government. So I think something is in the offing, they are seizing arms, mopping up police uniforms. I have spoken to the governor of the state who assured me they will be tracked down, because if they are not tracked down, that can lead to potential danger and a sign of potential unruffling of the calmness we have enjoyed in the state for three months now.

    “You know we are entering Christmas season and our people will be coming home. They need to be tracked down because it is a gang with a modus operandi of operating in police uniforms.”

    On whether it was a targeted attack, the former senator said it could be because his convoy and drivers are well known, but again he thinks it may be a coincidence as the group may just be going about seeking police men to harvest guns and uniforms from.

    He said: “My pilot driver is very well known and most people know that anywhere they see him, they know Ngige is there. He has driven me for 22 years. So on that basis, I may say they knew it was my convoy and decided to attack. On the other hand, I can say they do not know, they may have just seen a convoy with police men and decided to attack them. So I’m not talking about targeting me now, anyone who targets me is wasting his time.”

    Speaking on the claims of the gunmen that the policemen were serving a zoo government, and the recent jailing of the leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Ngige said: “When they told the security men that they were serving zoo government and that they should tell their masters they are coming for them. You know what that means.

    “My own take is that Nnamdi Kanu’s case is for political solution. I met President Buhari on that. Governor Soludo has also said that he wants Kanu to be released to him, but even if they don’t want to release him to us, they can release him to Britain.

    “Why I say so is because the symptoms he is exhibiting is a bizarre symptom. I’m not a psychiatrist, but I know that something is wrong. Even the NMA people that went to do medical evaluation on him were wrong. They should look at that other part of it. They should look at that other component, there is a mania there, and when you have such a situation, the court normally discharges the person. That is my take, this is elementary psychiatry, and I’m a medical doctor.”

    Mr Peter Obi who visited him in his country home in Alor, Idemili South Local Government Area thanked God for sparing the life of the former governor, while commiserating with the families of the deceased woman who was felled for making a video of the incident.

    ​  

    David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka Ex-governor of Anambra State and immediate past Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, has given an account of how his convoy was attacked by

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    Coup: ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau

    Coup: ECOWAS Suspends Guinea-Bissau

    Michael Olugbode in Abuja

    The Authority of Heads of State and Governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Guinea Bissau from all decision-making bodies of the regional bloc following the military take-over of government.

    The Authority of ECOWAS Heads of State and Government, under the chairmanship of President Julius Maada Bio of Sierra Leone, the Mediation and Security Council (MSC), met virtually on Thursday at the level of Heads of State and Government following the military coup on Wednesday and suspended Guinea-Bissau after reviewing the situation.

    The West African leaders acted in accordance with the provisions of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance, warning the coup leaders to restore the democratic order and return to their barracks.

    A communique issued after the meeting, read: “The MSC decides, in accordance with the provision of the ECOWAS Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance 2001(A/SP/12/01), to suspend Guinea-Bissau from all ECOWAS Decision-making bodies until the restoration of full and effective constitutional order in the country.”

    The MSC also said it holds the coup leaders in the country individually and collectively responsible for the protection of the life and property of all citizens and residents of Guinea-Bissau and for the security and safety of all detainees.

    It called on the leaders of the coup to guarantee the safety and facilitate the evacuation and safe passage of ECOWAS and all other international election observers.

    It also advised the army to return to their barracks and maintain peace and their constitutional role, even as it ordered the ECOWAS Stabilisation and Support Mission in Guinea-Bissau (ESSMGB) to continue helping protect the institutions of Guinea-Bissau.

    The MSC decided to continue to monitor the situation in Guinea Bissau and reserves the right to use all options provided for by the 2001 ECOWAS Supplementary Protocol on Democracy and Good Governance and the 2012 Supplementary Act on Sanctions, including sanctions on all entities deemed culpable of disrupting the electoral and democratic process in Guinea Bissau,’’ it said.

    The MSC then mandated the chair of the Authority to lead a high-level mediation mission to Guinea-Bissau to engage with the leaders of the coup, to ensure the complete restoration of constitutional order.

    The appointed members of the mission includes Faure Gnassingbe, President of Togo; Jose Maria Pereira Neves, President of Cabo Verde; and Bassirou Diomaye, President of Senegal, and will be accompanied by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, Dr Omar Touray.

    The coup leaders on Thursday swore in an army general as Guinea-Bissau’s new head of state to serve as transitional president for a period of one year.

    Gen. Horta N’Tam took the oath on Thursday in brief and quiet proceedings at the army headquarters, a day after the army coup that toppled President Umaro Embalo and the country’s democratic structures.

    ​  

    Michael Olugbode in Abuja The Authority of Heads of State and Governments of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has suspended Guinea Bissau from all decision-making bodies of

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