Bandits Use Helicopters, Demand N1 Bn Ransom

President Muhammadu Buhari

Bandits attacked the Erena area of Shiroro local government in Niger state taking four workers of an unnamed construction company hostage. 

A ransom of N1 billion was demanded but a N700 million compromise has reported to have been reached. One abductee is said to have escaped from his captors.

A bandits attack on Sunday (17th May) in the same local government claimed five lives which included a pastor, a blind man and three others. Eye witnesses say the bandits have been employing the use of helicopters in their operations. Allegations of bandits deployment of helicopters have been on since January.

Bandits Have Informants In Government--Abu Lolo

Recent data in Nigeria shows that at least twelve thousand people have been killed by bandits in the banditry afflicted states of Niger, Zamfara, Katsina amongst others, two hundred thousand others have also been displaced with about five thousand of them forced to flee to neighbouring Niger Republic.

Niger state governor Abubakar Sani Bello

Niger state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, also known by the nom de guerre, Abu Lolo, was made the chairman of the North Central Governors Forum in a security summit organized by the Nigerian police Force on 23rd January.

On 25th January, the federal government ordered the deployment of military equipment, including aircrafts, to fight bandits in the affected local governments of Shiroro, Paikoro, Munya, Rafi and others.

On the same day 25th January, 11 people were killed and 4 women were kidnapped when bandits attacked Rafi local government. The bandits were said to utilize helicopters.

Minna: 7 Bodies Exhumed From Cemetery

Voodoo icons

Suspected ritualists have exhumed the body of a woman from a cemetery just hours after it was buried. 

Asma’u Yakubu was buried at the Anguwar gwari cemetery in Chanchaga local government in Minna, the Niger State capital, around 4 am on Thursday, it was discovered a few hours later that her corpse had been stolen away. 

No member of deceased family is known to have had any interactions with the press on the egregious incident. 

Confirming the incident, the Chief Imam of the area, Alhaji Abubakar Sadiq Yahya said it was the seventh time a body was stolen from the cemetery. He called on the government to ensure proper surveillance of cemeteries in the state.

On 24th February 2020, the body of a teenage boy buried at the same cemetery on Friday (21st February 2020) was exhumed by unknown persons. 

Minna: Another Body Stolen From Cemetery

Though not officially recognized, the practice of witchcraft is legal in Niger state as the sight of sorcerers and conjurers strutting their stuffs in markets and motor parks is nothing strange.