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About 19 suspected armed robbers and kidnappers have reportedly escaped from police custody in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The suspects who escaped between Saturday night and Sunday morning December 13, after using a hacksaw to cut the key to the cell, were reportedly being detained at the police headquarters in Diamond Hill, Calabar.
CrossRiverWatch reported that the station guard on night duty and some other officers on duty have been detained.
The United States has formally removed Sudan from its state sponsors of terrorism blacklist, its Khartoum embassy said Monday.
Sudan Celebrates ‘New Era’ as US Drops It From Terrorism
Less than two months after the East African nation pledged to normalise ties with Israel.
The move opens the way for aid, debt relief and investment to a country going though a rocky political transition and struggling under a severe economic crisis exacerbated by the Covid-19 pandemic.
US President Donald Trump had announced in October that he was delisting Sudan, 27 years after Washington first put the country on its blacklist for harbouring Islamist militants.
“The congressional notification period of 45 days has lapsed and the Secretary of State has signed a notification stating rescission of Sudan’s State Sponsor of Terrorism designation,”
The US embassy said on Facebook, adding that the measure “is effective as of today”.
In response to the move, Sudan’s army chief General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan — who doubles as the head of the Sovereign Council, the country’s highest executive authority — offered his “congratulations to the Sudanese people”.
“It was a task accomplished… in the spirit of the December revolution”, he said on Twitter, referring to a landmark month in 2018 when protests erupted against dictator Omar al-Bashir.
Bashir was deposed by the military in April 2019, four months into the demonstrations against his iron-fisted rule and 30 years after an Islamist backed coup had brought him to power.
Sudan’s Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok also welcomed Washington’s move in a post on Facebook, noting that it means “our beloved country… (is) relieved from the international and global siege” provoked by Bashir’s behaviour.
The removal of the designation “contributes to reforming the economy, attracting investments and remittances of our citizens abroad through official channels” and creates new job opportunities for youth, the premier said.
As part of a deal, Sudan agreed to pay $335 million to compensate survivors and victims’ families from the twin 1998 al-Qaeda attacks on US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania, and a 2000 attack by the jihadist group on the USS Cole off Yemen’s coast.
Those attacks were carried out after Bashir had allowed then al-Qaeda leader Osama Bin Laden sanctuary in Sudan.
Sudan in October became the third Arab country in as many months to pledge that it would normalise relations with Israel, after the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain.
The transitional government’s pledge came amid a concerted campaign by the Trump administration to persuade Arab nations to recognise the Jewish state, and it has been widely perceived as a quid pro quo for Washington removing Sudan from its terror blacklist.
But unlike the UAE and Bahrain, Sudan has yet to agree a formal deal with Israel, amid wrangling within the fractious transitional power structure over the move.
The first major evidence of engagement between Sudan’s interim authorities and Israel came in February, when Burhan met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Uganda.
In late November, a spokesman for the Sovereign Council, comprised of military and civilian figures, confirmed that an Israeli delegation had visited Khartoum earlier in the month.
Seeking to downplay the visit, council spokesman Mohamed al-Faki Suleiman had said “we did not announce it at the time because it was not a major visit or of a political nature”.
Sudan’s transition has lately displayed signs of internal strain. Burhan last week blasted the transitional institutions, formed in August 2019 after months of further street protests demanding the post-Bashir military share power with civilians.
“The transitional council has failed to respond to the aspirations of the people and of the revolution,” Burhan charged while also lauding the integrity of the military.
Trump sent his notice to remove Sudan from the terror blacklist to Congress on October 26. Under US law, a country exits the list after 45 days unless Congress objects, which it has not.
Families of victims of the September 11, 2001 attacks had called on lawmakers to reject the State Department’s proposal, saying they want to pursue legal action against Sudan.
The Google-owned family of apps has crashed for thousands of users worldwide.
This includes Gmail, Google Drive, Google Sheets and YouTube as well as the main search engine.
Outage tracker site DownDetecter clocked tens of thousands of users reporting issues with the sites around 11:40am.
Problems were reported mainly in Europe but also in Australia, the east coast of the USA and parts of Africa, South America and Asia.
Google’s websites are some of the most popular in the world, with its video-streaming site YouTube frequented by more than two billion people every month.
Unlike other tech firms like Facebook, outages are rare at Google, .
By 11:54am, there was more than 50,000 complaints for YouTube alone. with half (49 per cent) regarding issues with the website and 43 per cent pertaining to problems watching videos.
Gmail had 23,000 complaints before midday and Google’s main site had a reported 19,000 complaints.
Eighty-one and 91 per cent of the issues with these sites, respectively, was to do with logging in, according to DownDetector.
MailOnline has approached Google for comment.
Other affected sites includes Google Meet, Hangouts and the Play Store as well as the Pokemon Go game, which is made by Niantic, another Google-owned company.
It appears the outage is not uniform, with some users reporting a ‘400 error message’ while it is working fine for others.
However, a quick test at the London office of MailOnline reveals, Sheets, Gmail and YouTube are offline.
Osama Aminu Maale, an 18-year-old student of Government Science School, Kankara, in Katsina State, has narrated how he escaped from bandits who kidnapped hundreds of his colleagues last Friday.
According to Maale, 520 students were abducted when the armed bandits stormed the school on Friday night.
“There were a total of 520 of us that were taken by the gunmen from the school,” he told AFP on the phone.
“After they took us away we stopped inside the bus where they made the older students take a headcount. We counted 520,” he said.
The hostages were split into groups before Maale and four others escaped.
“One of the gunmen hit me repeatedly when I failed to keep up with the rest of the group due to my failing health before he let me trail behind, giving me the chance to escape,” Maale added.
The Federal Government has said efforts were on to rescue students abducted by armed men who raided their hostels.
UN children’s agency UNICEF condemned the assault on the school in Katsina, the home state of the President Muhammadu Buhari
State governor, Aminu Masari, who visited the school on Saturday, said soldiers were working to locate and free the hostages.
“Soldiers are currently in the bushes fighting the bandits. We will do all we can to ensure all the abducted children are reclaimed,” he said.
The Ondo State House of Assembly has lifted suspension order placed on four suspended lawmakers.
The lawmakers are former Deputy Speaker, Iroju Ogundeji, Favour Tomomewo, Adewinle Adewale Williams, Akinrindibo Leonard.
They were suspended in the wake of the botched impeachment of the state Deputy Governor, Agboola Ajayi.
An Ondo state High court had earlier quashed the suspension placed on the four lawmakers.
But the leadership of the assembly refused to allow them access to the assembly complex .
The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) has launched a security outfit known as the Eastern Security Network (ESN), which it said will protect the south-east and south-south from criminal activities.
Spokesperson of the proscribed group, Emma Powerful who made the announcement on Sunday December 13, said the outfit is a replica of Amotekun launched by the governors of the south-west to curb insecurity in that region.
He added that the “failure” of the governors of the south-east and south-south to enforce measures that will protect the people in those regions, led to the launch of the security outfit.
The statement read;
“The sole aim and objective of this newly formed security outfit known as Eastern Security Network is to halt every criminal activity and terrorist attack on Biafraland.
“This outfit, which is a vigilante group like the Amotekun in the south-west and the Miyetti Allah security outfit, will ensure the safety of our forests and farm lands which terrorists have converted into slaughter grounds and raping fields.
“We can’t watch helplessly while those we are agitating to liberate from bondage are gradually being eliminated by terrorists.
“We, therefore, advise every robber, kidnapper and other criminals to steer clear of Biafra land or brace for the worst. We must defend Biafra no matter the price.
“Biafra security network personnel will release special phone numbers for people to call whenever there is any case of criminality, including kidnapping and robbery activities, in the whole of Biafra land.
“Every resident in Biafra land should use the numbers to report any criminal activity anywhere in Biafra land for prompt response.
“Unnecessary police brutality on innocent citizens also must stop.
“Police and army checkpoints which have since been converted to extortion points should be dismantled. Any attempt to sabotage this security network will be stoutly resisted.”
Ekiti State government on Monday cautioned residents against engaging in business transactions with unverified loan givers to avoid being scammed.
Commissioner for Information and Values Orientation, Mr Akin Omole, said in a statement issued in Ado-Ekiti that some unscrupulous persons and organisations were going about baiting people with attractive loan packages to swindle the gullible.
He described a particular viral video of some women in the state that were allegedly swindled by one of such companies as unfortunate and sad.
He expressed government’s sympathy with the fraud victims, stressing that the issue was particularly lamentable because government already established a Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency where traders and artisans could obtain soft loans.
According to him, relevant security agencies are already on the trail of the swindlers.
The commissioner also advised Ekiti State people to make proper enquiries at the Ministry of Trade and Industries for available loan facilities for small and medium scale businesses to avoid falling prey to fraudsters.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack by suspected bandits at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State on Dec. 11.
Guterres’ reaction came in a statement by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday in New York.
He called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of no fewer than 300 male students, the attackers reportedly abducted from the school.
“The secretary-general strongly condemns the Dec. 11 attack on a secondary school in Katsina State, Nigeria and the reported abduction of hundreds of boys by suspected armed bandits.
“He calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted children and for their safe return to their families.
“The secretary-general reiterates that attacks on schools and other educational facilities constitute a grave violation of human rights.”
The UN chief urged security agencies to arrest and bring those responsible for the heinous act to justice.
He reaffirmed the “solidarity and support” of the organisation to the Federal Government and Nigerians in their fight “against terror, violent extremism and organised crime”.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also flayed the abduction and called for the boys’ immediate release.
In a statement, the agency said it is “deeply concerned about these acts of violence”, describing attacks on schools as a violation of children’s rights.
“UNICEF condemns in the strongest possible terms this brutal attack and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all children and their return to their families.”
Its Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, issued a separate statement expressing solidarity with the families of the students and their communities.
Poitier said that the violence was a “grim reminder” that abductions of children and widespread grave violations of children’s rights continue to take place in the northern part of Nigeria.
“Children should feel safe at home, in schools, and in their playgrounds at all times.
“We stand with the families of the missing children and the community affected by this horrifying event,” she said.
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has condemned the attack by suspected bandits at Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State on Dec. 11.
Guterres’ reaction came in a statement by UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric on Monday in New York.
He called for the “immediate and unconditional” release of no fewer than 300 male students, the attackers reportedly abducted from the school.
“The secretary-general strongly condemns the Dec. 11 attack on a secondary school in Katsina State, Nigeria and the reported abduction of hundreds of boys by suspected armed bandits.
“He calls for the immediate and unconditional release of the abducted children and for their safe return to their families.
“The secretary-general reiterates that attacks on schools and other educational facilities constitute a grave violation of human rights.”
The UN chief urged security agencies to arrest and bring those responsible for the heinous act to justice.
He reaffirmed the “solidarity and support” of the organisation to the Federal Government and Nigerians in their fight “against terror, violent extremism and organised crime”.
The UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF) has also flayed the abduction and called for the boys’ immediate release.
In a statement, the agency said it is “deeply concerned about these acts of violence”, describing attacks on schools as a violation of children’s rights.
“UNICEF condemns in the strongest possible terms this brutal attack and calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all children and their return to their families.”
Its Regional Director for West and Central Africa, Marie-Pierre Poirier, issued a separate statement expressing solidarity with the families of the students and their communities.
Poitier said that the violence was a “grim reminder” that abductions of children and widespread grave violations of children’s rights continue to take place in the northern part of Nigeria.
“Children should feel safe at home, in schools, and in their playgrounds at all times.
“We stand with the families of the missing children and the community affected by this horrifying event,” she said.
Armed bandits have attacked a community in Adamawa State and left one resident dead.
It was gathered Monday morning that the bandits launched the attack Saturday evening on Humbutudi, a ward in Maiha Local Government Area, north of the state capital, Yola.
The bandits, local sources said, killed one person and injured another after shooting randomly, to scare residents away.
The sources said the attackers took away valuable items as if they invaded the community primarily to steal.
“They looted the biggest provision shop in the community,” one of the sources said.