The Chairman, Zamfara State Council of Chiefs, Alhaji Attahiru Ahmad, has apologized to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) over its recent allegations that innocent citizens were killed in the state during air strikes by personnel of the Air Force.

The Chairman Council of Chiefs, who is also the Emir of Anka, made the apology when a seven-man high powered investigation team led by AVM Idi Lubo visited him at his palace in Anka on Saturday.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the traditional rulers had, a fortnight ago, alleged that air strikes on suspected bandits’ camps hit at and killed innocent citizens in some parts of the state.

The emirs spoke at a press briefing through the Emir of Bungudu, Alhaji Hassan Attahiru.

This followed an emergency meeting they held in reaction to an earlier accusation by the Minister of Defence, Alhaji Mansur Dan Ali, that some high ranking traditional rulers were conniving with the bandits.

The Emir of Bungudu also followed up the claim with the release of the names of some persons who were killed in the air strikes.

The Emir of Anka, however, said “the council regrets the embarrassment caused by the press briefing because it was not targeted at the Air Force or the army but at our own son, the Minister of Defence, who wrongly accused us of complicity in the bandits’ activities in the state.

“l apologize over whatever embarrassment the statement may have caused and from now, we have drawn a line, there won’t be anything like that again, and I want to appeal that care should be applied while tracking the bandits and when they run from your fire power into the community, the land army should take over so as to avoid killing the innocent.

“Out of the 17 emirate councils that we have in the state, mistakes occurred in only four and the submissions we made were gathered in the last two years, l also want to state that nothing happened on innocent citizens in the last six months in the state,” he said.

While speaking on the list of killed persons that was later released by the Emir of Bungudu, the Chairman of the Council of Chiefs said: “The Emir of Bungudu is not the spokesman of the council even though he read our press briefing that day.

“The list of victims that he released to the press on a later day did not emanate from me nor was I aware of it as the Chairman, l will only take responsibility because l am the Chairman”.

He then assured that the traditional council would continue to support security agencies in the fight against armed banditry in the state and urged the army to go and occupy deserted villages where some of the bandits were hiding.

Earlier, leader of the team, AVM Idi Lubo, said the team was in the state to investigate the true position of the allegations in order to avoid future occurrance.

“We have also come with condolence letter from the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshall Sadique Abubakar, in case some innocent people were killed in our encounter with bandits.” He said.

NAN reports that the team was taken round stakeholders by the Commander of the 207 Quick Response Group in the state, Squadron Leader Sunkanmi Thomas.

Facebook Comments

Customs officials in Hong Kong have apprehended a Nigerian woman who arrived at the Hong Kong International Airport on Thursday with more than half a kilogramme of cocaine hidden in her body, South China Morning Post is reporting.

According to the Hong Kong-headquartered Asian paper, the 37-year-old, who claimed to be a businesswoman, arrived in the city on a flight from Lagos via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

She was said to be acting suspiciously, shortly after her arrival on Thursday, hence she was taken to hospital for a check-up that confirmed she had foreign objects in her body.

“She was taken to Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Yau Ma Tei for a check-up and confirmed to have foreign objects in her body,” the paper said.

“Officers first recovered 215 grams of cocaine contained in condoms and plastic bags found in her vagina. She later discharged 24 capsules of cocaine, each weighing 14 grams, from her body.

“The haul, weighing 550 grams in total, was estimated to be worth HK$522,000 (US$66,900). The authorities said the woman, who was detained for inquiries, may discharge more drugs.”

Under Hong Kong’s Dangerous Drugs Ordinance, the maximum penalty for drug trafficking is life imprisonment and a HK$5 million fine.

Facebook Comments

Residents of some communities in Kaduna State, on Sunday protested the repeated kidnappings in their areas.

The residents of Nariya and Kanama communities blocked the Nnamdi Azikwe Expressway during the protest.

Speaking to DAILY POST, a resident of Nariya, Mr. Johanna lamented incessant cases of kidnapping since the last few months saying, “we are no longer safe in our homes.”

According to him, every week, they witness one kidnapping or the other, adding that kidnappers make huge demand of money from family of victims.

“In some cases, the victims lost their lives in the process.

“Just last week, a pregnant woman was kidnapped in Chokoliko village. Few hours later, another was kidnapped in Nassarawa village. They later made huge demand of money from family of their victims. As I am talking with you, the one kidnapped in Nassarawa is yet to return, because the family could not afford to pay the ransom. We couldn’t sleep in the night for fear of being kidnapped, we couldn’t stay out in the night or go far from home.” He added.

Another resident of Kunama community, Mrs. Iliya Bilkisu said her husband was kidnapped two months ago, but was released after ransom was paid.

“My husband was kidnapped right in the evening at the gate of our house when he was returning from work. He spent three weeks at the den of kidnappers. We even thought, they have killed him. He walked to the house one evening. We were surprised and happy to see him because we paid the money demanded, but they did not release him till after two weeks.”

She called on the law enforcement agencies to strengthen their operations in and around Kaduna to ensure that kidnappers were wiped out from the state.

DAILYPOST had on Saturday (yesterday) reported the killing of foreign female tourist and one other, while three others were kidnapped in Kajuru Castle Resort, in Kajuru local government.

Facebook Comments