Bandits have threatened to kill the remaining 17 students abducted from Greenfield University, Kaduna State if the Kaduna State government fails to pay the 100 million ransom and 10 brand new Honda motorcycle by Tuesday.

Recall that Twenty-two students and a member of staff were abducted from the school campus along the Kaduna-Abuja highway on April 20 and within a week, five of them were killed

Speaking in an interview with the Hausa Service of Voice of America (VOA), which was monitored by our correspondent, a leader of the bandit group who simply identified himself as Sani Idris Jalingo, said if the Kaduna State Government or their families fail to pay a ransom of N100 million as well as provide them with 10 brand Honda motorcycles by Tuesday, the remaining students will be killed.

Jalingo said there were 17 students in his custody, including 15 females and two males, among them a grandchild of the late 18th emir of Zazzau, Shehu Idris, whom he identified as Hamza.

The bandit revealed that the families of the students have already raised and paid N55 million to them but claimed they had used the money to feed the students.

He vowed that it was his final warning and should government or the students’ families fail to meet his demands, all the students will be killed.

According to him; “You are speaking with the abductors of Greenfield students. We heard the utterances of the Kaduna State Governor that he will not pay ransom to bandits to purchase additional arms,” he said.

Asked if he sees himself as a terrorist, Jalingo laughed and said: “I’m nothing but a food seeker.”

Emphasising on his threat, the bandit said: “If they fail to bring N100 million and 10 brand new Honda motorcycles known as Boko Haram by Tuesday, I can assure you they will use trucks to evacuate the bodies of the remaining students.”

He, however, warned security agencies not to waste their time planting trackers on the motorcycles, saying his members do not go to cities and therefore arresting them will be difficult.

The Ondo State Government on Sunday evacuated 42 suspected Fulani invaders, who were arrested on Thursday by men of the Ondo State Security Network, Amotekun, at Okitipupa, the headquarters of Okitipupa Local Government.

The suspected invaders, according to our source were mainly from Jigawa and Kano States, claimed that they were brought to Ondo State for training as security guards.

The invaders, who assembled in front of the Army Barracks, Okitipupa before men of Amotekun, were alerted, caused panic among the residents, who suspected that they were brought to attack the town.

Speaking to newsmen before the people were moved out of the state in buses, the state Commander of Amotekun, Chief Adetunji Adeleye, who was flanked by the Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, said the government after profiling the alleged invaders, was not satisfied with their mission to the state.

He said the government considered their presence in the state a security risk, adding that it could not take chances.

According to Adeleye ; “In the last three days, there have been issues relating to the invasion of the state by alleged Fulani men in Okitipupa.

“We monitored and we found out that they converged in front of the army barracks. They were there for a couple of hours and at that point we tried to find out what their mission is, but because they couldn’t give satisfactory explanations, we moved them to our local office first in Okitipupa to try to debrief them and from the debriefing at Okitipupa, we had to move them to the state headquarters for proper debriefing.

We found out that they are primarily from two major states, that’s Kano and Jigawa States. The mission that they claimed they came for, we found out that is not too clear and upon profiling, we found out that majority of them don’t even know how they got here. All they were told is they were going for training. Training for who, by who or whatsoever, they do not know.

“But from detailed investigation, we were able to narrow it down to their sponsors. The sponsors happened to also claim that they belong to an NGO, that they contracted out the training to a consultant who was supposed to train their men. They said they were going to train them as security guards.

Right now, we look at them as security risk to the state, and at this point, we invited the sponsors, the head of the NGO and chairman of the board. They’ve also offered explanation. But we feel that we should let the people of Ondo State know that there is no crisis in Okitipupa Local Government.

“The way it was portrayed was as if some hoodlums or militants had taken over.

“We want to reassure the good people of Ondo State that we are firmly on ground in conjunction with other security agencies that there is no problem.

Haven’t debrief them, we intended to provide escort to lead them out of Ondo State back to wherever they came from.

“As part of our discreet investigation, we found out that the so called consultant had been arrested in Delta State and I confirmed from the Delta State Police Command as at today that he’s still in their custody.

“So, why we intend to release them on bail, we will release all these ones and ensure that they are taken back to their states.”

Speaking on the matter, the state Governor, Mr Oluwarotimi Akeredolu, warned the people of the state against taking laws into their hands on any issues.

Akeredolu, who spoke through the Commissioner for Information, Mr Donald Ojogo, said the invaders would have been lynched, if not because it was professionally handled by the state particularly, the Amotekun.

“Ondo State led by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu is not one that intends to take law into its own hands. The security situation we found ourselves in the last three days was a very precarious one.

“If not that it was discreetly and professionally handled and well managed by officials of government particularly Amotekun Commander and SSA on Security, the situation may have degenerated.

“As you also witnessed, none of them was molested. The situation would have degenerated to the extent of lynching and jungle justice. It was almost getting to that point when they were seen in a suspicious manner in Okitipupa but the governor had to rise up to the occasion to ensure that they were given to adequate protection so that jungle justice had to be avoided. That was one of the key points that was achieved in the last 72 hours. It was a very frightening situation.

What government is trying to do today is to ensure that the way they came to the state, they will leave the state safely, peacefully and unhurt, so that when they get to their various states, they will also testify to their state government and their people that the movement that brought them to Ondo State was an unclear one and the state government had to protect them and move them back to their state,” Ojogo said.

The commissioner said Akeredolu had directed that no official of the state must issue statement or comment on security issues in the state.

The governor has directed that in any security situation we found ourselves, the first point of contact must be security agencies.

“They are the only points of contact. Even me as Commissioner for Information and spokesperson of government is not authorised to speak on issues related to insecurity, no matter how insensitive it is.

“As long as it is security matter, we do not want anybody to speak without proper authorisation,” he said.

One civilian was killed and five others sustained various degree of injuries when some suspected Boko Haram insurgents attempted to infiltrate Rann, headquarter of Kala-Balge local government area of Borno State, security source said.

The incident happened when the outlawed group stormed Rann town at about 6: 15 pm shooting sporadically but met swift resistance from the Nigerian troops.

A security source confirmed that the military employed their artillery in the counterattack resulting to destruction of gun truck belonging to the insurgents.

The source said five persons, including two civilian Joint Task Force (JTF) members were wounded in the attack.

He said; “One civilian (a lady) later died from stray bullet that hit her lap. During the attack, five persons were wounded by stray bullets and they are currently undergoing treatment at the military facility.

” The military did not allow the insurgents into the town but started hitting them at the gate. It was outstanding operation for the troops in Rann.”the source said.

Boko Haram has intensifies attack on troops, leading to the death of
a commanding officer and 7 others insurgents during an attack on 2 Army bases in Borno State.

The terrorists have intensified attacks on army camps in recent weeks as part of a more than decade-long insurgency that has killed more than 36,000 people

Newsfocusng gathered that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) arm of the dreaded Boko Haram group on Sunday morning attacked a base in Ajiri, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) away from Maiduguri, the Borno state capital.

A similar attack had been carried out earlier on Saturday night when the insurgents hit a base in Rann in the same state, the military sources said.

In Ajiri, troops fought a two-hour gun battle with the insurgents in gun trucks and on motorbikes who eventually breached the base and forced troops to withdraw.

According to a source, “The commanding officer of the base… paid the supreme price while six civilians who were caught up in the fight were also killed,” one of the military sources said.

Another source confirmed the toll and said militants escaped with weapons from the base.

Late on Saturday, fighters attacked a base in Rann, 172 km from Maiduguri but were beaten back by troops using artillery.

“They came in six gun trucks and met a stiff resistance from troops at the base. Two of the gun trucks were hit by troops artillery fire. The other four fled,” a military source said.

One civilian who was wounded later died in hospital.

President Muhammadu Buhari earlier this year replaced his four top military commanders in a bid to better combat the insurgency that has also displaced more than two million people from their homes since 2009.

ISWAP split from mainstream Boko Haram in 2016 and became a dominant group, launching attacks on military bases and ambushing troops while abducting travellers at fake checkpoints.

Since 2019, the army has mostly withdrawn from villages and smaller bases into so-called “super camps”, fortified garrisons meant to give better protection against attacks.

But critics say the strategy has left jihadists with more freedom to roam untouched in rural areas and made highways vulnerable to kidnappings and assaults.

The Police Command in Ebonyi State, on Sunday, intercepted 753 live ammunition of General-Purpose Machine Gun (GPMG).

The ammunition was said to be concealed in a sack being transported in a commercial vehicle from Abakaliki, the State capital, to Umuahia, capital of Abia State.

This is coming in the wake of recent DSS warning about arms movements and violent attacks on police formations in the South East and South South regions of the country.

Gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have been blamed for the attacks.

Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, in a statement made available to newsmen in Abuja, explained that the deadly ammunition was intercepted following intelligence-driven covert operation.

According to him, the interception and recovery of the deadly ammunition, is part of efforts by the Force to identify and crack down on criminal networks and supply chains for weapons and ammunition in and around the country.

Mba stressed that comprehensive investigations aimed at bringing to book all persons linked to the crime are ongoing.

The Force spokesman also disclosed that following investigations into the foiled bank robbery on the Onueke branch of a commercial bank in Ebonyi State which occurred last week Tuesday, Policemen led by the Commissioner of Police, Ebonyi State Command, last Thursday stormed the hideout of suspects indicted in the investigations located at Oriuzo village in Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

He explained that the suspects on sighting the Police squad, opened fire on them.

”The Police team engaged them gallantly and professionally. At the end, three members of the gang including two male and one female met their waterloo following bullet injuries sustained during the exchange of gunfire. Other suspects fled in different directions.

”Two Ak47 riffles, five pump action guns, six pistols, fifty Ak47 ammunition, one hundred and twenty-six cartridges, Jack knives, cutlasses, and a 40-page notebook containing inventories of ammunition purchased by the gang were recovered. A Honda Pilot Jeep with Reg No. ABJ 163 NV used for the foiled bank robbery was also recovered by the Police Team,” he said.

Security forces have uncovered a plot by insurgents to infiltrate the the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), using tinted vehicles and covered plate numbers.

It was gathered that the joint security task force, comprising the military, police, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and intelligence agencies, however, has intensified patrols and surveillance in and around Abuja.

Newsfocusng investigation also revealed that the meetings of the joint security task force under the office of the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Irabor, continued at the weekend.

However, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has debunked reports that the nation’s capital was under terror attack.

A statement by the command said while security forces sustained pre-emptive measures against any eventuality, the reported attack on FCT was a clash of cultists in Mpape, an outskirt of Abuja and not an attack by terrorists.

We gathered that security agents uncovered an unusual number of unauthorised tinted vehicles with covered plate numbers within the city centre.

There are certain categories of political officeholders and security chiefs allowed to use tinted vehicles and covered plate numbers.

Permits are also granted to some citizens after an application is granted.

A security source revealed that “such applications are no longer granted in view of the security situation.”

With the rising number of vehicles with tinted glasses, concerns were raised that the insurgents were conducting a test run preparatory to an attack.

A security source revealed that the strategy was a familiar one applied during the bombing of the United Nations office and the Force Headquarters in Abuja by Boko Haram some years ago.

“It is a familiar pattern. We are working on it”, he said.

The FCT Police Command had last week launched an operation against the use of unauthorised covered number plates and tinted vehicles.

It said the operation had become “extremely necessary due to the recent security threat analysis conducted by the joint (security) team reveals that criminal syndicates now execute their nefarious activities using tinted vehicles with covered number plates.”

The command warned those using unauthorised covered number plates and tinted vehicles within the FCT to desist as violators would be arrested and prosecuted.

Meanwhile, the Federal Capital Territory Police Command at the weekend debunked reports that the seat of power was under attack.

It said a cult clash in Mpape, an outskirt of Abuja, was misconstrued as an attack by terrorists.

It said in the statement by its spokesperson, Mariam Yusuf, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, that there was no such attack on FCT.

It said heads of security agencies had reassured residents of their safety.

According the statement; “The attention of the FCT Joint Security Team has been drawn to a viral publication in social media purporting that the ‘Federal Capital Territory is under attack by Boko Haram Terrorists.

“The Joint Security Team of the FCT wishes to refute the mischievous publication targeted at creating palpable tension amongst the well-spirited residents of the FCT,” it added.

The command said “contrary to the speculation, the Heads of Security Agencies (HOSA) in the Federal Capital Territory in the bid to address security concerns within the FCT, held a strategic meeting on Thursday, April 29, 2021, where the team resolved to deploy alternative proactive crime-fighting measures within the FCT particularly in areas with challenging terrain, including aggressive motorised/foot patrols.

“However, the patrols will be conducted in line with the peculiarities of every terrain within the territory. In other words, the team has adopted the use of motorcycles, horses and other technical means of gathering intelligence to checkmate criminality within the Federal Capital Territory,” it stated.