Kidnapping

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The abducted traditional ruler of the Bukpe community in Kwali Area Council of Abuja, Alhaji Hassan Shamidozhi, has regained freedom after 18 days in captivity.

Reports disclosed how bandits stormed the monarch palace in the Bukpe community and abducted him alongside two residents of the community a few weeks ago.

The Daily Reality gathered that the abductees were said to have paid a ransom of N2.5 million.

Shamidozhi, who spoke to Daily Trust on Sunday, said they were released around 6:12 pm on Saturday.

He stated that his family members, relatives and friends contributed to raise the money for ransom.

Other abductees were identified as Ahmad Joel and his daughter, Precious Joel.

By Zakariyya Shu’aib Adam 

About two months ago, I took off from Sokoto to Minna in a commercial vehicle. As usual, I wore a kaftan and sat in the front seat. Although I had my headphones on, we had some words with the driver. He never knew I was “ɗan boko” until I communicated with someone on the phone in English. He said: “Mallam, na zaci kai ma duk mu ne [I thought you were like us – uneducated].” I laughed it off and said, “Ai dole sai a na raba ƙafa [One must diversify].”

The driver told me that he knew many police officers on that way. That is why he is not frequently stopped at checkpoints. However, when we left Kontagora and before we reached Tegina, we were stopped at a checkpoint. When the police came, they greeted and cracked jokes. He asked the driver: “Babu kayanmu a motar nan [Are there our goods in the car]?” The driver said, “Eh, babu kayanku [Ye, there’s none].” I wasn’t interested in their discussion until I saw the police pointing at me, saying, “Wannan ba kayanmu ba ne [Is this not ours]?” The driver said, “A’a, wannan ɗan gari ne [No, he’s not].”

When we were allowed to pass, I asked the driver the meaning of “kaya [goods]” and why the police thought I was their “kaya [goods].” He said the police thought I was nomadic Fulani. A typical Fulani who did not attend school. Whenever a car is stopped at the checkpoint, they single out a Fulani man or woman and ask him or her to alight. They will be charged between 5k to 10k. If they fail to give, they will be framed as kidnappers or their informants. He said if only he had told the police that I was their “kaya”, I would have been made to give that amount of money.

By Allah, if it were someone that informed me of this, I wouldn’t have believed. But Wallahi, it happened to me. I was just saved by Allah, Who made the driver promptly intervene. I just can’t imagine myself refusing to give them that sum of money. I would have been left alone, and the network wasn’t friendly for calls. I would have been framed up as a kidnapper or their informant. Only Allah knows what would have happened to me. My sin was just that I am Fulani.

Indeed, there are criminals among Fulani. There are kidnappers and their informants among them as well. Many of these undesirable elements have committed heinous acts against innocent people and subjected sackless individuals to unnecessary throes and severe distress. They have successfully sacked many villages and murdered countless innocuous souls, thanks to the I-don’t-care attitude of the government. May these barbarous beasts get caught and euthanized. 

This piece is not, in any way, intended to strip them of their crimes. Even though there are bad eggs among them, there are also good ones. There are many responsible and peace-loving individuals among them. Imagine how many innocent Fulanis are stopped on a daily basis and robbed. How many of them are falsely charged as kidnappers without conviction. Some of them are even victims of the kidnapping and cattle rustling. What kind of justice is served?

This type of unjust profiling and more paved the way for these innocent people to join the malignant kidnapping infection. Many of these unethical practices and professional misconducts committed by a few greedy Ekuke parading themselves as police are not only apoptotic to the Nigeria Police Force but are also a threat to the peaceful coexistence of the country. The perpetrators of these heinous acts amongst the police must be investigated and brought to book.

Zakariyya Shu’aib Adam wrote from Sokoto.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Four abducted female students of the College of Health Science and Technology, Tsafe in Zamfara State, regained freedom Thursday, April 14, 2022.

The Deputy Provost of the college, Jamilu Lawal, made the disclosure, adding that the students were released unhurt. 

He added that the four female students had been taken to the hospital for medical screening.

The Daily Reality learnt that no ransom was paid to the bandits for the release of the students. 

The students were reportedly abducted last Tuesday night in Tsafe town.

By Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr J)

I write this letter to you as a Muslim brother and a citizen who is deeply concerned about the gory happenings in this country and who prays for its betterment. It is undeniable that the trying time Nigerians live is uncalled-for. It is not what the citizens prayed for when voting for their leaders. Thus, it indicts the leadership system of all the three arms of government in the country, unfortunately

Should the government have worked holistically towards curbing the menace, the situation couldn’t have been worst like this. But, would the inferno ignite due to our leaders’ carefree attitudes, which seem to have been politicising virtually everything, be left consuming the spirit and the fabrics of our dear nation?

Truth be told, even a responsible and serious government can’t fight a politically created conflagration of multiple fronts alone, let alone a government with a lackadaisical attitude. Therefore, as Muslims of the ravaging county, we all have a role to play individually or collectively.

As we observe this blessed month of Ramadan, which has the best nights therein and in which the glorious Qur’an was revealed, we need to cry hard for God, the Almighty, to come to the rescue of our nation.

We must look inward and outward and return to God, the Most Merciful, the Most Powerful, the Compassionate and the Absolute Compeller. We should desist from committing sins and repent from our misdeeds. We should give to charities, recite the glorious Qur’an, supplicate and intensify prayers to God to see to the end of this mess.

Religious scholars should use their influence during tafsir, and Imams during their Juma’a sermons should pray immensely on this matter. Let Him choose for us the rightful leaders of all cadres. Let God the Almighty leave us not with our wisdom and selfish wishes and choices.

We can’t fold our hands, legs crossed, witnessing the downfall of this country under the watch of our leaders whom we entrusted but failed us. So let us all wake up from our slumbers and do the needful at the right time.

May we be governed by leaders who love us more than how we love them, leaders who prioritise our societies’ interests over their interests, leaders who think about giving their leadership account on the Day of Reckoning, amin.

Muhammad Rabiu Jibrin (Mr J) wrote from Gombe via muhammadrabiujibrin@gmail.com.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

The police in Lagos State have confirmed being on the trail of one Ahmed for allegedly conspiring with one Uchenna Daniels to abduct his girlfriend, Hannatu Kabri.

The Daily Reality learnt that Daniels reportedly abducted Kabri in Abuja on March 31 2022.

After her abduction, Daniels took Kabri to Lagos, a catastrophic situation that put her family in a dilemma.

In an attempt to save Kabri, her parents had no option but to pay the ransom of two million naira for her release. 

The case was reported to the police, and a search was launched for the suspects, leading to Daniels’ arrest.

Addressing journalists on Thursday at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters in Ikeja, Lagos, the spokesperson for the command,  SP Benjamin Hundeyin, stated that the police were making efforts to arrest Ahmed and one Biliya who allegedly participated in the crime.

He added, “Operatives of the command tracked and arrested the suspect, Uchenna Daniels, at Allen Avenue, Ikeja. 

“The suspect revealed that the victim’s boyfriend one Ahmed and one Biliya planned the kidnap with him and collected a ransom of N2 million in Kaduna through a Bureau de Change from the parents of the victim before she was released.

“The suspects used a toy gun to commit the crime. An investigation is ongoing to arrest other fleeing suspects,” he added.

By Uzair Adam Imam 

Citizens in Kahiyal in Bugaje word of Jibia, Katsina State, have bravely stood up to bandits who invaded the village to collect tax from the innocent people. 

The Daily Reality gathered that two armed bandits came into the village in broad daylight, asking people to give them money. 

The villagers feigned to oblige but only for one of them to quickly grab the bandit’s rifle while dropping the money. Other locals, who also had their weapons, helped him.

A citizen, Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia, narrated the incident on his Facebook wall.

He said the bandits “stayed in one place and asked the villagers to contribute money and bring it to them. 

“The villagers did that. However, unfortunately for the criminals, the person who brought the money dropped it and quickly grasped the boy holding the rifle. 

“Other villagers who were ready with their local weapons rushed on the criminals and finished them off as it should be,” he said.

Insecurity and banditry are the major security issues bedevilling the northwestern part of the country, leading to thousands of deaths while numerous others are forced to migrate.

The criminals impose unlawful taxes on countless farmers and others living in the affected areas.

By Musa Kalim Gambo

Before this kidnapping, banditry, and terrorism got to this scary stage, I consider(ed) Giwa my favourite and adopted Local Government in Kaduna State. This is a place where I have the largest number of friends in Kaduna State; many of these friends have come to assume the status of brothers to me. Not long ago, I visited Giwa frequently, almost weekly.

Now all things have changed. Giwa has become an epicentre of kidnapping and terror attacks on innocent individuals. Criminals attack people at home and on their farms; kill and abduct for a huge ransom. In the past few weeks alone, the rate of this criminality has intensified geometrically. Due to this tragic development, some villagers have been forcefully displaced. They have had to migrate to the Giwa town, which is relatively safer than their communities. About 3,000 of these displaced persons now take refuge in camps in Giwa town, Marabar Yakawada, and Yakawada. While a large number of the displaced persons have also moved to stay with their relatives in neighbouring towns of Sabon Gari and Zaria in Kaduna State and Funtua in Katsina State.

The families who have been sadly uprooted from their homes have obviously been denied access to the arable rural farmlands. Beyond the refugee crisis, this will result in an attendant shortage of food in the towns, which may eventually spill over to the rest of the country. Therefore, it is evident that life will not be easy for them in their camps and the host communities.

These refugees now have to contend with the gory reality in town, that while they run for their lives, they also definitely need food, medical attention and clothes to survive in their new temporary settlement. It has been reliably reported that the Giwa Local Government Chairman, Dr Abubakar Shehu Lawal, has made provisions for feeding them at various refugee camps in Giwa and across the Local Government. Also, Senator Uba Sani is reported to have delivered some relief items to the camps. This is indeed commendable. The local politicians have indicated a high level of commitment to responding to the plight of their people in distress.

However, all these are not enough. What is needed is a total end to this incessant spate of killings and kidnappings in Giwa. Within the week, this was one of the major issues raised on the floor of the House of Representatives by Honorable Shehu Balarabe, a member representing Giwa and Birnin Gwari federal constituency, in a motion of urgent public importance. Honourable Balarabe, in a very emotional tone conveying the gravity of the situation, highlighted the depth and dimension of the troubles and crises that these banditry, kidnapping and senseless killings have plunged his constituency in both Giwa and Birnin-Gwari. He called on the Federal government to direct all the relevant agencies to swing into action in order to address the crisis.

It is sad to note that the two Local governments that Honorable Shehu Balarabe represents at the House of Representatives are the two most dangerous places in Kaduna State in terms of banditry and kidnapping today. So it is easy to understand the difficult situation in which the Honorable finds himself as one of the voices of these people in Abuja. Birnin Gwari suffers way too much from the atrocious attacks of these bandits, and it also has its refugee crisis as well. However, I write on Giwa because of my deeper connection and access to the situation there.

So to an appreciable extent, it may well be concluded that the political leaders from Giwa are playing their roles to bring an end to this madness that has continued for too long. However, what remains is the commitment on the part of the federal government, which obviously does not seem to render any positive outcome yet. There has been a military presence in Giwa and other bandit infested communities. However, it has remained a puzzle that the criminals could still carry out attacks almost every day without any hindrance.

The month of Ramadan has just begun. While we keep calling on the governments at all levels to aid these communities in crises, it is also important for us to use this holy month to pray to Allah to provide succour and restore peace and sanity in the land. It is now evident that we should no longer pray for Allah to guide these criminals aright, no! They have unleashed an unforgivable magnitude of terror on our land. The least we can do now is pray for an eternal condemnation upon them, starting from here on earth. It should also be our point of prayer that whoever supports these criminals, in whatever way or means, from their informants’ right to the supply chain of their arms and ammunition, should face eternal perdition and body crippling afflictions here on earth before they meet their worse punishment in hell.

Finally, may Allah grant our leaders the will and ability to put in place the right measures to end these killings and kidnappings. At the same time, we should assist these displaced persons with the little we have in terms of food items and clothes; I have also seen a group of youths on Facebook led by the immediate past president of the Giwa Students Association, Nuhu Haruna mobilizing funds on Facebook to assist these displaced persons. We should contribute as much as we can.

Musa Kalim Gambo writes from Zaria and can be reached via gmkalim@hotmail.com.

By Aliyu Nuhu

When we criticize this government, some people deride us as Buhari bashers. They complain that we lack patriotism because we run down our country. But look at Nigeria today and say if it is the kind of country you want to live in or it is the kind of country you want your children and grandchildren to inhabit.

What is the fault of the government in matters that concern our security? It is because of the way it neglected police affairs. Banditry and terrorism are, among others, products of poor community policing. Humans are products of communities, good or bad. The police decide the kind of communities we have as far as crimes are concerned. Before they kidnap anyone, criminals emerge from the community and when they kidnap they return to the communities. Good police will ensure that they don’t emerge and if they do, they can’t return to the community. But today’s Nigerian police are going on strike because of poor salaries and delays in payment of even the poor salaries. Police lack all working tools from the basics such as lie detectors, electricity, and computers; to the complex ones such as data banks for fingerprints and DNA.

Whenever there is a bomb blast you see the president holding emergency meetings with service chiefs. That is missing the point. What have navy, airforce and army got to do with attacks on the train? The president should hold his emergency meeting with police high commands, NSCDC and DSS. That is where the missing links lie.

The military ordinarily has no business safeguarding railways, doing the work of police, DSS and NSCDC. They have no budget to safeguard the railway. The military can be called to give additional firepower to the police when there is a need but they have no solution to the problem and cannot prevent future attacks.

The railway is a product of technology and there is technology to protect it. Only Nigeria will invest so much in railway and refuse to deploy the technology to protect it. There are real-time intelligent railway protection systems of various types to deploy. The minister for transportation had made such a request after the first attack which was denied (though the request was later accused of being through a seemingly corrupt process). The second attack has made the president see the reasons and approved of the technology. I hope that with the new measures, future attacks on railways will be prevented.

Who were the attackers?

According to the Daily Trust, a Kaduna security source, who did not want his name in print, said the attack was carried out by Boko Haram elements in collaboration with bandits.

“Two sources; a local with knowledge of bandits’ activities and a senior intelligence officer in Abuja confirmed that a Kaduna-based bandits leader, Boderi, was involved in hatching the attack.

Boderi is notorious for masterminding a number of atrocious attacks in Giwa, Chikun, Igabi and Zaria Local Governments in Kaduna State, including the abduction of students of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, in March last year and kidnapping of the Emir of Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru in October of the same year.”

Also, victims said they were not the regular Fulani kidnappers that carry out their raids on the highways. They said they were very young boys between the ages of 18 to 25 years and spoke good English. Some of them were pronouncing “Allahu Akbar”. It pointed to either Boko Haram or ISWAP. Deployment of IED technology is Boko and ISWAP franchise. The attackers used buses, unlike the Fulani kidnappers that use motorcycles, an indication that they came from a long distance. How about 200 terrorists came in buses and carried people and disappeared into thin air beat all minds. There was no single casualty on the side of the attackers and no one was captured. We have a long way to go in security matters.

By A.F. Sesay

It’s difficult to fathom how a region of such numbers, resources, and beautiful cultural heritage/pedigree came to become such a scourge on national conscience in a space of forty years. What happened to the passion of the Sardauna, the native pride and dignity of your people, the welfarism that always motivated your brothers from the south or neighbouring countries to stay beyond those initial dates of return or even decide to be permanent residents?

If you were to canvas for answers,  different answers would come from different sources based on intellectual and cultural biases or leanings. That’s also the case with all matters of human endeavour. So, no shaking! And the more complex the issue the more divergent opinions and perspectives.

But in the case of recent events in northern Nigeria, with an emphasis on the Muslim hemisphere, there is something striking in the people’s unwanton love for the material side of life, contrary to the previous cultural ethos. Equally matched by this is the fear for death which naturally comes with more cravings for the transient pleasures of life. What happened to the studious efforts of the serious and sincere ulama (religious scholars)?

Let me hazard a few guesses. While some unscrupulous elements in both local and international media make it look like Arewa is Africa’s human abattoir where people are killed for the fun of it, non-northerners who have lived there before this litany of crises have fond memories of a people who are peaceful to a fault. This peace, which was largely a product of a contented heart, died with the pressure to keep up with the Joneses. And in that pressure was buried the deep fear of death. Before this, you knew people who were courageous, who stood for what they believed in no matter whose axe was gored and no matter the deadly consequence.

Crimes like kidnapping and banditry couldn’t reign supreme because criminals weren’t feared. We all remembered the courageous youths of Azare who risked their lives to confront armed bandits in 2012. Instances abound when community leaders (mai unguwas) coordinated young people to serve and defend the community within the ambit of the law. So, what happened?

How did we come to this period of life when people in a region of over 100 million people stood by and watched unknown faces and small groups of scums hack away their future and that of their children, one local government at a time?

Maybe we should look at the trends and evolution of materialism. Look at a few nations whose socio-economic progress have been meteoric in the last 50 years and look at northern Nigeria, you will see a striking lack of priority as well as a  lack of agency and urgency. And what underlies all this is the base love for material things among the elite which oozed out into the wider society rubbed off on the talakawa (proletariat) Suddenly, suddenly every Bala wants this: a luxurious house with a tall gate, a fleet of cars, tall, fair and wide-eyed women and other fine, yet fleeting things of life. Yet, neither the education nor the economy was tailored to sustain this onward rush to glitters: new trends come up annually in the design of houses, new brands of cars, new phones and so on.

Whoever is going to keep up with that has to have unrestricted access to money either through commerce or a job that pays an incredibly high salary. In the absence of this is another companion to money: stealing and everything extortion. Under this falls the myriads of problems we see today: unbridled corruption in governance, banditry, kidnapping and the rest in this nefarious family of ills.

Let’s say we flipped the conversation and say the fault is not in the people, but their enemies. It is logical to think that a region this steeped in tradition, with such great potential in numbers and unexplored resources is bound to be a target of both visible and invisible enemies, what is not logical though is when this becomes an excuse for inertia, baseless polemics, cancel culture and hurling of insults left right and centre. About enemies, who hasn’t had one? About insults, we haven’t seen one- I mean- we haven’t had an economy built solely on the foundation of the people’s ability to hurl insults at each other.

While there are certainly smithereens of enmity and animosity smothered on all of the region’s myriads of problems (a common case is a bias in data and reportage on and about the north, but let’s not digress), there is certainly a need for deep introspection. What happened? Are these manifestations of problems long foretold? Could something be wrong with the very approach to problem-solving? Or is this a huge cultural gap nobody is willing to talk about? Does it have something to do with population or outright carelessness on the part of the ruling class?

The north, in its long political sojourn as part of a nation in which it was severely disadvantaged in education, yet extremely well-positioned in Politics and Administration, has had its fair share of wins and losses. What remains to be seen is the ingenious manipulation of pluses and minuses. The world is watching and history’s pen is looming over you!

All told, the current state of affairs should remind you of the popular hadith of Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings of Allah be upon him). And if this is a behavioural problem like it was rightly observed, then it’s going to require a behavioural solution: moderate the wanton love for material things and be courageous enough to confront death when your dignity and that of the generations unborn are at stake. 

A.F. Sesay sent this via amarasesay.amir@gmail.com.

By Muhammad Sabiu

On Monday, February 7, 2022, the Kaduna State Government said that troops had rescued seven people in the state who had been kidnapped.

Security forces revealed to the government that the troops rescued seven persons from bandits who attacked Ungwan Garama in the Maraban Rido General Area of Chikun Local Government, Kaduna State, according to Samuel Aruwan, the state’s Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs.

The troops, he claimed, got distress calls alerting them of a bandit raid and swiftly engaged the attackers.

The criminals were forced to flee due to the soldiers’ superior firepower, he continued.

Security authorities, according to him, were able to exploit the criminals’ escape path and recover seven abducted people, adding that all of the rescued victims have been reunited with their relatives.