06032018 - Charge any Fulani man with AK-47 to court—BUHARI

Vanguard, TUESDAY, MARCH 6, 2018—7
By Peter Duru
MAKURDI—NO fewer
than 10 persons were
feared dead, yesterday evening,
when herdsmen attacked
Omosu village in Ojigo Ward,
Edumoga, Okpokwu Local
Government Area of Benue
State.
Vanguard gathered from a
source in the area that the wellarmed
herdsmen stormed the
village at about 4p.m., shooting
at anything in sight and burning
down houses in the community.
According to the source, “it
was a bloody evening in
Okpokwu; armed herdsmen
stormed Omosu village and
opened sporadic fire on the
locals, killing anyone and thing
they came across.
“I cannot give you the casualty
figure or number of people killed
and injured at the moment, but
many have been killed and
several houses also razed.”
Confirming the development
on phone, Chairman of the local
government, Mr. Francis
Ejembi, said there was
pandemonium in the entire area.
He said: “It is a serious
problem and heart-rending. So
far we have moved about 10
corpses and several injured
persons to Saint Mary’s
Hospital, Okpoga.
“We are still searching and it
as cholera hits Bauchi
ATBUTH, out of 20 cases recorded
in a cholera outbreak.
Speaking, yesterday, at a
briefing at the Emergency
Operation Centre, Bauchi,
Gamawa said the remaining 18
patients are responding to
treatment in the same hospital.
:Vanguard News :@vanguardnews :@vanguardnews NEWS HOTLINES: 08052867023, 08052867058
Herdsmen kill 10, burn houses in Benue village
By Olasunkanmi Akoni
& Bose Adelaja
LAGOS—TRAGEDY struck
yesterday, when a Bus
Rapid Transit, BRT, bus crushed
and severed the head of a Basic
Four pupil of C & S Primary
School, Ezekiel Daniel, at
Ogolonto Bus Stop, along
Ikorodu Road of Lagos State.
The incident resulted in a
chaotic traffic situations as
sympathisers and passers-by
trooped to the scene, wailing.
According to an eyewitness,
Mr. Akin Adeolu, the incident
happened at about 7.45a.m.,
when pupils were rushing to
their various schools.
He said the school boy, aged
13, was dashing across the BRT
corridor, misunderstanding the
flag man’s signal, when the fastmoving
bus hit him and cut off
his head.
The driver was said to have
taken to his heels immediately,
for fear of possible mob action
against him.
The mob became agitated,
forcing officials of Lagos State
Traffic Management Authority,
is very possible that we may
recover more dead and injured
persons, because the village has
been sacked and many are still
missing. It is indeed a sorry sight
here. We have informed the
Police.
Contacted, the Police Public
Relations Officer, ASP Moses
Yamu, confirmed the report,
saying “we have reports of a clash
He said the 20 new cases were
reported from four different
locations— Danmar A and B,
Isangaya School, Hardo within
Kobi Ward, Makama B at
Nasarawa Jahun and Makama A
Gwallaga, all within Bauchi
metropolis.
He added that the agency has
between the youths of Omosu
village in Edumoga
community. Our men are
there responding to the
development.
“Meanwhile, we do not
have the figure of casualties,
but our men are on ground to
check an escalation of the
crisis. We will get back to you
when we get a clearer picture
made provision of drugs such
as ORS solution and chlorine
for disinfection that will help the
public.
Gamawa called on the people
of the state to cultivate personal
hygiene, keep their
environment clean and always
cover food items properly.
of the casualty figure because
we do not want to speculate.”
This is coming few hours
after suspected herdsmen
allegedly killed five persons,
weekend, in a fresh attack on
Umenge village in Guma
Local Government Area of
Benue State by herdsmen
despite the ongoing Exercise
Ayem Akpatuma (Cat Race).
... as Court remands 6 herdsmen in
prison over Benue New Year day attacks
By Peter Duru
MAKURDI—A Makurdi
Chief Magistrate’s court,
presided over by Mr. Isaac Ajim,
has denied bail to six herdsmen
arrested over the New Year day
attacks on Guma and Logo Local
Government areas of Benue
State.
The suspects were first
arraigned on January 5 before
Mr. Ajim, who ordered that the
accused remanded in Makurdi
Medium Prison till yesterday.
The accused persons— Ibrahim
Saleh, Jibrin Adamu, Magaji
Yau, Ibrahim Abubakar, Useni
Bala and Sabin Yau— were
charged for culpable homicide,
criminal conspiracy, mischief by
fire, grievous hurt and violation
of the Open Grazing Prohibition
and Ranches Establishment Law
2017.
They were also arraigned for
rearing their cows in
farmlands at Akor village in
Guma council, thereby
contravening Section 97, 329,
333 and 222 of the Penal Code
Laws of Benue State and
Section 19(2)(3) of the Open
Grazing Prohibition and
Ranches Establishment Law
of Benue State, 2017.
No plea was taken for want
of jurisdiction, just as the
Principal State Counsel, Mike
Abenga, from the state
Ministry of Justice, applied to
take over the prosecution and
the substantive case from the
initial prosecuting counsel,
ASP Edward Imoh.
Abenga further brought
another application, urging
the court not to grant bail to
the accused, pending the
determination of the
substantive suit and applied
for an adjournment to enable
the ministry conclude its legal
advice.
Counsel to the defendants,
Al-Mustapha Elegu, did not
oppose the application.
The presiding Chief
Magistrate, Ajim, granted the
state counsel’s application.
He told the accused that the
offences were grievous,
adding “I will need legal
advice from the state Ministry
of Justice.”
He ordered the accused
remanded at the Makurdi
Federal Medium Prisons and
adjourned the case till March
29 for ruling on application
for bail and April 11 for
hearing of substantive suit.
Chaos as BRT bus cuts off school boy’s head
Scene of the accident.
LASTMA, to disappear from their
duty posts, but men of the Rapid
Response Squad, RRS, and other
security agencies were on
ground to maintain law and
order.
Officials of the Lagos State
Environmental Health
Monitoring Unit, LASEHMU,
were contacted to take the
remains of the boy to the
mortuary.
Meanwhile, an official of
Primero Transport Company,
owner and operator of the
BRT buses, who spoke on
anonymity, confirmed the
incident, saying “we have
commenced initial
investigation into the
incident.
“We commiserate with the
family and colleagues of the
deceased. God will give them
the fortitude to bear the loss.”
Police smash
car-snatching
syndicate
By Evelyn Usman
THE Police in Lagos
State have smashed a
syndicate that specialised
in snatching vehicles from
the state and taking them
to the northern part of the
country, where they are
either dismantled into parts
or sold at give away prices.
The gang’s Lagos
workshop where stolen cars
were kept was also
uncovered in Ipakodo area
of Ikorodu, Lagos.
Arrested, were five
suspected members of the
syndicate with the recovery
of several vehicles
suspected to have been
stolen at different locations
in Lagos and several plate
numbers which the
suspects used as decoy
when moving stolen cars
from Lagos to the north,
were also recovered.
In addition , 118 rounds
of AK 47 ammunition,
English pistol, one hand
grenade and military
accoutrements were
recovered.
Their arrest as gathered
was effected after a Toyota
Camry Saloon car with
plate number ER 468 KRD,
belonging to one Saheed
Aminu was stolen from
where it was parked in front
of a building on Awolowo
road, Ikorodu, last
November.
Detectives of the Federal
Special Anti Robbery
Squad, FSARS in Ipakodo
reportedly traced the stolen
Camry to the auto
mechanic workshop at
Ipakodo where one
Opeyemi Ogundokun was
arrested.
His confessional
statement according to the
command boss, Imohimuli
Edgal, led detectives to
Rigassa, a town in Kaduna
State, where two suspects:
Qudus Abdulkareem, (42)
and Abdulwaheed
Abdulkareem, (28)were
arrested.
Edgal said: “The
syndicate’s job was to either
steal cars from where they
are parked or snatched at
gun point from their
owners. They will refurbish
it at Opeyemi’s workshop
before moving them to the
north, where they are sold.
“Their arrests in Kaduna
led the detectives to one
Sehu Shittu, 42, Nurudeen
Abdulrahman, 38, and
Musiliu Abdulwahab, 40,
who were identified as
receivers of all cars stolen
by the gang from Lagos.
“The suspects confessed
that they reside in Kaduna,
but come to Lagos to snatch
vehicles.´