Funtua

By Safiyanu Ladan

The henious activities of bloodthirsty and marauding bandits is taking a new toll in some communities in Giwa LGA, Kaduna state, despite the fact that military has orchestrated a new strategies aimed at mopping them up.

The remnant of these bandits are still lurking in some rural communities unleashing mayhem to the helpless and hopeless villagers.

A joint military and police operation carried out on 18th November, 2022 has foiled kidnap attempt along Funtua-Zaria road and led to the rescue of over 70 people.

In addition to that on 17th November, 2022 the Kaduna state police command has, acting on intelligence report that some armed bandits were sighted on motorcycle along Galadimawa-Tumburku Road in Giwa LGA, deployed its personnel and after an ensued engagement between the bandits and the police, one bandit was apprehended and five of their operational motorcycles were recovered.

The untiring efforts of military and police in checkmating the criminal activities of bandits is glaring as it brings back sanity to some communities. However, much need to be done in order to rid other communities of the clutches of armed bandits.

Some news reports coming out from other communities are disturbing because they indicated that residents in those communities live at the mercy of the dreaded bandits.The horrendous killing of eleven community members and the abduction of 24 others in Sarkin Rafi in Giwa local government area last Friday is a major setback in the security’s ongoing war with bandits.

I was enraged by the news that about ₦10 million ransom was paid to the bandits to secure the release of my cousin who was kidnapped alongside her husband and 7 other couples of just a few months in one of the community at Giwa LGA. They regained their freedom after spending over 40 days in the kidnapper’s dens.

The unreported and underreported incidents like the above-mentioned are going on without interruption in some communities at the detriment of the poor villagers who are always at the receiving end.

It’s on this note that, while we appreciate the efforts of security personnel for deploying the resources to combat the menace of armed bandits, we equally call on them to re- strategize and deal with them ruthlessly.

The life of any Nigerian matters and as such people should be allowed to pursue their legimate goals and ambitions ina peaceful setting as enshrined in the Constitution, without fear of being attacked by the miscreants.

Safiyanu Ladan writes from Zaria. uncledoctor24@gmail.com

By Umar Haruna Tami

The people of Funtua Local Government Area of Katsina State had, on Friday morning, staged a protest to express their anger over continuous kidnappings in the town and the sorrounding villages which happen almost everyday.

The protest followed the kidnapping of eleven people on Thursday night, among which include women, a girl and a child. However, Police used tear gas to disperse the protesters shortly after the protest started.

Kidnapping has become endemic in the outskirts of Funtua town making it hardly a week to pass by without a news or two about either a kidnap attempt or a successful kidnap of residents.

Last Thursday night, around ten o’clock, kidnappers came to Sabuwar Abuja and kidnapped some men, women, children and shot one person who refused to open the door of his house.

At the beginning, when the kidnappers came to the victims’ houses they knocked on the doors and threatened to kill the victims if they refuse open. This forced many surrender and open the door.

But these days, the first thing they do after knocking a victim’s door is to use digger and axe to break it. If that doesn’t work, they break the house wall and enter the house through the hole and fetch the people.

When the people understood the new strategy the kidnappers use, they opted to fleeing their homes in the evening and move to their relatives’ houses in the town where they can sleep safely and come back to their homes in the morning.

Men and women from villages also come to the town in the evening to find shelter. Among these fleeing women, the kidnappers met some, in the recent incident, lately on their way to the city and kidnapped them.

None is spared in this barbarism the kidnappers are perpetrating against the people of Funtua including women, girls and children. In June, a kidnappers’ informant was arrested in the same area where Thursday’s incident occurred.

The victim confessed that his role in the crime is that of nforming kidnappers on the whereabouts of their potential victims. He also also confessed to murdering his neighbor who recognized him in one of the kidnapping operations he participated. In that operation, it was that same neighbor they attempted to kidnap.

His wife also recognized the informant, but he didn’t realize that. They kidnapped the neighbor’s wife, demanded ten million ransom and after her release, she blew the whistle and the informant was arrested by DSS.

The bottled anger the residents expressed during the protest over these incessant kidnappings has to do with the fact that Sabuwar Abuja, where the cases of kidnapping become rampant, has over two thousand houses.

And in all these houses, many people in the inner part of the town have relatives who, when kidnapped, those people have to contribute their own money to pay ransom for the release of their kidnapped relatives.

Although the protest was short-lived, people are waiting to see the outcome of their expressed anger. The residents and relatives of the people in the areas where kidnapping becomes the order of the day, may not afford to continue paying ransom and living in poverty and, at the same time, be captives in their homes.

Therefore, the government should, as a matter of urgency, look for ways to safeguard the lives of its people and, at the same time, pay attention to the influx of internally displaced persons from surrounding towns and villages, who are now populating all the nooks and crannies and the suburbs of Funtua City.

Umar Haruna Tami wrote from Funtua and can be reached via;
umartami1996@gmail.com

By Uzair Adam Imam

Community members of Dutsen Reme, Funtuwa in Katsina State were thrown into mourning as bandits launched a fresh attack leading to the death of two citizens, Buhari Ahmadu and 11-year-old Usman, last night.

A source who exclusively spoke to the Daily Reality disclosed that the bandits roamed the community last night where they arbitrarily gunned down many people.

He said Ahmadu, a member of the Bakori local government council staff, passed on instantly as he was shot in the head, while Usman also died in the wee small hours of today.

The bandits, about 100, were said to have trooped to Dutsen Reme Tuesday around 10:30 pm, where they operated for almost 2 hours without any security intervention.

Our reporter gathered that this was the third time in ten days and during this holy month of Ramadan that these heartless bandits attacked this community, the development that strangled peace in the area.

The residents who spoke to the Daily Reality confirmed the incident wailing on the government to come to their rescue and end the incessant bloodshed in the community.

A resident, Lawal Hamisu, confided in our reporter that insecurity had strangled the peace in their community these days.

He said, “This is just not the first time. The bandits attacked this community three times in ten days. In the first place, they abducted a lactating mother. Until now, no one knows her whereabouts.

“On their second attack, they abducted two women and robbed people of their money, phones and whatnot. And sadly enough, the bandits on a fresh attack last night gunned down two innocent people in our community,” Lawan said.

Another resident, Mujahid Aliyu Maigora, recounted the harrowing tale of the incident saying, “it happened last night around 10:00 pm when I was coming back home from a cinema alongside my cousin. It surprised all of us to have heard gunshots in the air. We could not help but run away to save our dear cheap lives.

“The bandits walked, passed my house and made for one stall. So I think their intention might be to take away the cows there,” he said.

A resident, Amb Funtuwa, lamented that this is the time the government should mitigate banditry in Nigeria. He said, “government should just warrant order so that our security forces will confront these bandits.”

The residents pleaded with the government to do whatever possible to put banditry to an end in Nigeria, let alone the Dutsen Reme community.

All attempts to reach the Katsina State Police Spokesperson for comments proved abortive.

By Zaharadeen Muhammad

Some weeks ago, His Royal Highness, The District Head of Funtua, Sambo Idris Sambo, announced the confirmation of chieftaincy titles on some few outstanding sons of Funtua in recognition of their contributions to the town and the country as a whole. One of them is an unsung luminary in academia, and the health sector whose take off to educational journey began as Newton’s apple. But was it not William Shakespeare who likens the world to a theatre role with entrance – often by fluke, stage performance and exit? This time, Dr Umar Aminu’s entrance and performance will be profiled, and it will be quite the zinger.

Almost half a century ago, a religious scholar left Funtua for Katsina on a mission to supervise Islamic schools and carried his much younger brother with him. On a particular day, the curious lad wandered off to explore the new surrounding, and as fate would have it, he chanced upon a primary school in the neighbourhood. He surreptitiously tucked himself behind the door panel as he peeped into a class through the apertures relishing the nectar of the lesson.

He was to frequent the school many more times afterwards. Unknown to the school teachers and his brother, till the momentous day that his inert nature got the very best of him, he ventured an answer from his hideout to a puzzling question that appeared to elude the students sitting inside. Having gotten over his shock, the startled teacher identified where the voice emerged from, walked stealthily but tactfully toward the doorway and seized the kid. “he has to be enrolled,” thought the teacher. The brilliant boy in this tale was Dr Umar Aminu, and the elder brother was sheikh Aminu Liman of blessed memory. The anecdote was a watershed.

His academic sojourns would take him to Zamfara, Bauchi, Zaria culminating in him bagging a PhD in Public Health from Texila American University, USA. He gathered the mountain of knowledge and wealth of experience over the years working in public and private organizations and international agencies such as UNICEF, WHO, USAID, and FRIM. He brings to bear in solving various societal issues in Katsina state and beyond. To paraphrase sir Winston Churchill, what is the use of living if it is not to make this muddled world a better place for our posterity long after our departure.  

His first landmark contribution was to the health sector way back in 1999 when a glaring shortage of health personnel in the state was a cause of deep concern. Then, as a key member of the MSSN, he broached the idea at one of its meetings for establishing a centre for training health technicians who can, in the long run, make up for the inadequacy. The program began with only a handful of students and has metamorphosed into the world-class Muslim Community College Of Health Science and Technology, Funtua. Today, the school runs a wide range of health-related courses at ND and HND levels and draws a motley of students from every nook and corner of Nigeria.

His curiosity and a natural aversion to passivity and mediocrity made him the first to be on the ball whenever things appear to go south. That is why when there was statewide successive massive failures in SSCE between 1999 and 2003, a big blow to the quintessential reputation of the state in that regard,  instead of joining the wagon by stepping on the pedestal of lamentation, he met with stakeholders in the ministry to find out ways of ironing out the problem. He was one of the brains behind creating the refresher program, which, under the able stewardship of Malam Ilyasu Umar, has hatched hundreds of students who became medical doctors, pharmacists, engineers,  mathematicians, etc. Thus, leaving another indelible footprint in the sand of time.

His empathy and compassion dispose him to pursue numerous charitable causes, especially in education, where he has facilitated and personally offered many scholarships and grants to the less privileged. Moreover, his being a versatile and cynosure in education and business informed our decision to invite him to speak at our first (NIPES) public lecture themed ‘Our Economic Mindset’ held on February 2021. The advocate of functional education, self-development and entrepreneurship eloquently demystified our present unemployment crises that became ubiquitous clog and articulated sundry out of the box ways of putting a dent in the issue.

Dr Umar Aminu, The Danmasanin Funtua possesses most attributes our people recognize in the words of Anthony Kirk-Green as ‘Mutumin Kirki” in the book of the same title. These are truthfulness, trustworthiness, generosity, patience, good sense, bashfulness, courtesy, self-esteem, wisdom and scrupulous behaviour.  

“When a mother-cow is chewing grass,” said Chinua Achebe in Things Fall Apart, “its young watch its mouths”  We, the youngsters, have been watching from afar and up close and have drawn so much inspiration from his noble deeds. For these reasons and more, we join the joyous multitudes celebrating this well-deserved title. Allah shi tayaka riko, amin.

Zaharadeen Muhammad wrote from Abdullahi Aminci Road, Funtua, Katsina State via Zaharadeen2020@gmail.com.

By Yahuza Abdulkadir

Many a time, I listen to people expressing their feelings and emotions, telling their beautiful and ugly stories, talking about the experiences they encountered through their journeys.

But then, there’s this story I wanted to write, but I couldn’t. Whenever I tried to, fear overwhelmed me. So, I overcame my fears and summoned the courage to write this story today.

In April 2021, while travelling to Funtua in Katsina State, I had a dreadful experience that left a big scar on my heart.

On that day, I reached Kano at around 6:30 PM and boarded the ‘Adaidata Sahu’ tricycle to Rijiyar Zaki Park because I was told that it’s only there I could get a car that would take me to Funtua by that time.

We started the journey to Funtua at around 9:00 PM. It was late and a lovely friend who happened to know how the road used to be at night advised me to stay till morning. But I couldn’t heed her advice because I wanted to reach Funtua that night and complete my assignment the following day.

I started regretting why I embarked on the journey when our car spoiled at Malumfashi. The driver tried to get the car back to work for almost an hour but no progress. Finally, he decided to walk a few metres away to get a mechanic. And we were lucky that he came back with one. After several trials, the car engine started, and it got back to work.

I can still echo the voices of the two women seated at the back, pouring blessings upon the mechanic who helped fix the car’s problem. He really tried, but God’s miracle has taken place, I believe.

As we continued the journey – chatting and listening to other passengers telling their stories, I fixed my eyes on the road, and many thoughts knocked me on the head. When I noticed no car coming from the other side of the road, fear robbed my mind. My heart kept beating. I wanted to tell the driver that I was uncomfortable with this journey, but silence kissed my lips. I kept mute for some minutes. But deep inside of me, I wasn’t feeling okay.

A few kilometres to Bakori, we spotted torchlights reflecting from a close distance. And I heard the driver saying, “Inna-lillahi Waa Inna Ilaihir-rajiun,” meaning: “From Allah we are, and unto him is our return.” He tried turning the car to escape the trap in our front, but the sound of gunshots flying in the air made him stop the car.

I couldn’t remember what happened, but I saw people with guns and torchlights telling us to get out of the car. We went out, and I was terrified. Some voices began to whisper into my ears, “Had I known, I could have stayed in Kano till the following day like my friend said, but my stubbornness got me into this, it’s not my fault; this is my fate.”

That night we were robbed. “The Children of the Night” collected all our money and that of the driver. Then, they took away our cell phones and walked into the bush, shooting in the air.

When they left, I got into the car, shivering. Then, I realized that my smartphone was inside my small travelling bag, which I kept close to where I sat. I put the phone into the bag earlier because its battery was flat. So, I was lucky that my smartphone was still with me, though they took my small phone I used for calls. I know that we were lucky enough to be alive that night.

We stayed there till dawn because our car couldn’t get back to work again. We were thinking of what to do next when a car carrying bags of maize showed up. We waved hands for the driver to stop. And he did. He got out of the car and headed to where we stood. We told him about the incident, and he showed his concern, sympathizing with us. He told our driver that he was rushing to get to his destination. Then I saw him removing some money from his pocket and offering it to our driver. The driver thanked him and asked us to do the same. This man is very kind. Humanity lies in his heart, I whispered.

We kept waiting there till an empty commercial bus came. Then, after discussing with its driver, he asked us to get in. And we headed to Funtua. Our driver left his car with the intention to get a mechanic at Funtua who could repair it.

When we reached Funtua, I wished the other passengers well and prayed for their safety everywhere they would be. Then, I took my travelling bag and walked to my destination.

Although I have been travelling along the Damaturu-Maiduguri highway, I have never felt shocked and frightened like this before.

This was the most dreadful experience of my life. It’s a memory I can never forget.

Yahuza Abdulkadir wrote via yahuzaabdulkadir50@gmail.com.

By Umar Haruna Tami

We have already lost count of how many times kidnappers came and abducted people from different locations in Funtua. Still, the ease with which they carry out their operations day by day is alarming. The two successful kidnappings that occurred in the past weekend – Saturday’s in a single house near GRA, Sunday’s in mass in Sabuwar Abuja – symbolise the fragility of the security agents that are meant to protect the town and its people from these monsters.

The security agents and the residents of almost every community have already been defeated through fear. Even a rumour of kidnappers’ presence sends fear around the town and that with a single gunshot, everyone would end up running for their life. Even the “‘Yan Karota” volunteers’ confidence to confront the monsters has since been defeated upon realising that the machine guns the kidnappers carry cannot, in any way, match the plug-bulleted ones they have. Thus, they too run for their lives, even though what they do defines good citizenship.

So a city as big as Funtua, with routes linking it to many towns and villages from East, West, South and North, is under security threat. These links make it easier for the kidnappers to make away with whoever they have successfully carried with little chance of being tracked and attacked. This also makes their operations tricky to thwart in poor-populated areas.

They failed to conduct only two operations that targeted Rabe Sale’s children and that of NAK’s family. But the abortions of these two kidnap attempts have anything to do with the connection between the would-have-been victims and the reserved soldiers brought to the town for special operations simply because they are aristocrats.

But what would be the fate of community members that have already been defeated by the fear of being potential victims of kidnappers even when they shut and lock their doors but have no connection to the soldiers for emergency aid and one of those elites happens to not live among them? The latest kidnap of over ten people in Sabuwar Abuja at only 10 pm — thank God that the captors released them — signifies nothing bolder than the community’s vulnerability and the limited chances the sophisticated security agents have to abort their operations or exchange fire with them. But, on the other hand, they now have the assurance that it wouldn’t cost them much to do whatever they want and at any time!

What Funtua communities need now, just as the other Northern communities need, is making available the reachable lines of those special forces for emergencies. Second is the provision of more of these agents—both the soldiers and policemen — with weapons they can use to repel the kidnappers’ attacks in areas not far from where their help could be needed in time. Third we, the community members, need to reduce the extent of our collective fear for the kidnappers that we can stand up to them, not always run away. It is time for us to start being responsible for where our political choice has landed us.

Umar Haruna Tami wrote from Funtua, Katsina State. He can be reached via umartami1996@gmail.com.