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Tag: Security operatives

  • Security Operatives, IPOB clash over attacks on INEC offices

    Security Operatives, IPOB clash over attacks on INEC offices

    Gunmen yesterday bombed the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oru West Local Government Area (LGA) of Imo State.
    The Police, which confirmed the incident, said the facility was attacked with Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs).

    It blamed the attack on members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed unit, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

    The police made its claim just hours after IPOB warned law enforcement agencies to desist from holding it responsible for any such attack.

    It said its members were “intelligent freedom fighters”, not criminals.

    The incident – the second attack on an INEC office in the state in three days – set part of the INEC office ablaze.

    The police, in a statement by its spokesman CSP Michael Abattam, said the attackers were repelled by its men and fled after suffering injuries.

    Abattam said the gunmen stormed the INEC office at about 4am shooting sporadically.

    According to him, they threw explosives into the compound from outside which landed on the INEC office conference room and damaged some furniture and windows.

    He said: “On 04/12/2022 at about 0400 hours, gunmen suspected to be members of the proscribed IPOB and its armed affiliate, ESN came in their numbers to the office of the INEC office in Oru West Local Government Area of Imo State.

    “They threw IEDs into the office from outside the fence, shooting sporadically but were repelled by the gallantry displayed by the police operatives on duty.

    “The police operatives, who engaged the hoodlums professionally, inflicted various degrees of injuries on them.

    “Having suffered a huge defeat, the hoodlums retreated, escaping in their vehicle and were given a hot chase by the operatives.

    “However, the explosives fell on the conference room of the INEC office and caused minor damage to some of the furniture and windows. No life was lost.”

    Efforts to reach the IPOB spokesman Emma Powerful were not successful as he was yet to react to messages sent to him.

    Last Friday, gunmen set ablaze the INEC office in Orlu LGA of Imo State.

    Confirming the incident via a statement, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, said the building, which was undergoing renovation following an earlier attack, was vandalised and partially set ablaze by the gunmen.

    Okoye, who noted that the commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Prof. Sylvia Uchenna Agu, reported the incident on Thursday, said three out of seven construction workers were abducted but were later released.

    The INEC official stated that the damage would have been more extensive but for the quick response of the police operatives deployed to the scene.

    Describing the incident as “one attack too many”, Okoye expressed concern over the spate of attacks on INEC’s facilities and the negative consequences on the electoral umpire’s preparations for the 2023 general election.

    Earlier yesterday, IPOB asked National Security Adviser, Major General Mohammed Babagana Mungono (rtd) to provide evidence that security agents dislodged camps belonging to ESN and arrested some of its commanders.

    It challenged Mungono to mention the names of the ESN camps and commanders.

    IPOB, in a statement by Powerful, said: “We challenge them to mention the camps they dislodged and produce video evidence of the commanders they claimed to have arrested.”

    He urged the NSA to focus on destroying Boko Haram and other terrorists “rampaging and destroying lives and property” elsewhere.

  • Security Operatives Intercept 42 Children in Benue State as NAPTIP warns Against Trafficking

    Security Operatives Intercept 42 Children in Benue State as NAPTIP warns Against Trafficking

    By Isaac Kertyo, Makurdi

    At least fourty two children from Ukum Local Government Area of Benue State who were intercepted by security Operatives in Gboko Local Government over alleged trafficking have been reportedly taken the NAPTIP zonal office, Makurdi.

    It was learned that the Joint Patrol team popularly known as Operation Zenda intercepted the children while they were being taken to Osun State for trafficking purposes.

    Findings by Day Break indicated that children who are between the ages of 12 and 16 have already been profiled by the agency.

    The Commander of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Makurdi zonal office, Mrs Gloria Bai said they were on top of the situation, adding that investigation was still in progress.

    According to the Commander, the arrangement to convey the victims to Osun State was made by one of the family members who is currently living in Osun State who came and spoke to the parents of the victims who released the children to them.

    ” They came home and talked to the parents in that locality and they released their children to them” with the believe that they were going to obtain Western education as explained by their relatives who came from Osun.

    Mrs Bai contended that it was a punishable offense to release children of below the age of 16 under that arrangement, cautioning parents against being deceived by traffickers.

    The Commander maintained that the Chairman of Ukum Local Government Area, Mr Steve Ayua has been briefed by the agency on the need to counsel the parents of the affected children to check their actions.

    Investigation showed that the children have been united with their families.

  • Stop embarrassing Judicial Officers – CJN warns Security Operatives

    Stop embarrassing Judicial Officers – CJN warns Security Operatives

    The Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad, has warned that Nigeria’s judiciary has had enough of the embarrassment of its officers and would not take kindly to a repeat of any ugly treatment from security operatives.

    He warned that the silence of the judiciary should never be mistaken for stupidity or weakness.

    Justice Muhammad spoke on Wednesday in Abuja on the occasion of the 2021/2022 legal year held at the Supreme Court.

    “On a very sad note, I must say, we were jolted with the embarrassing news of the invasion of the official residence of one of our brother Justices, Hon Justice Mary Peter Odili on Friday, October 29 by men suspected to be security operatives, acting on a search warrant.

    “The said warrant was purportedly obtained from an Abuja Magistrate court under questionable circumstances.

    “I must make it known to all and sundry that we have had enough dosage of such embarrassment and harassment of our Judicial officers across the country and we can no longer take any of such shenanigans.

    “The silence of the judiciary should never be mistaken for stupidity or weakness.

    “By the nature of our work, we are conservative but not conquered species and should not be pushed further than this by any individual, institution or agency of the government.

    “With time, those taking judiciary as a mere weakling will soon realise that it is from the calmest seas we often experience the fiercest storms.

    “The time to oppress, suppress and intimidate judicial officers is gone.

    “No one, irrespective of his or her status or position in the country, should test our will because the consequences of such unwarranted provocation will be too dire to bear.

    “We shall begin to resist any clandestine attempt to silence or ridicule us to oblivion.

    “Nigeria, to the best of my knowledge is not a lawless society. We should begin to do things that will project is favourably and rightly too, to the international community.

    “No law permits anyone to invade, subdue or overawe any Nigerian citizen in his or her residence With a flimsy, fraudulently obtained search warrant.

    “We are making efforts now to ensure that henceforth, every search or arrest warrant must be issued with the knowledge and approval of the Chief Judge of the respective state or federal high court as the case may be”, the CJN said.

  • Security Operatives Brutalise Female Doctor, Patients In Abuja

    Security Operatives Brutalise Female Doctor, Patients In Abuja

    A doctor and some patients were allegedly assaulted by security operatives at Maitama General Hospital in Abuja on Thursday.

    Dr. Okpalla Adaeze, one of the victims, told our reporter that a policeman who sought treatment in the hospital was behind the incident.

    She said he lost his cool after he was rejected at one of the wards.

    Adaeze said she did not attend to him because he was previously attended to at the General Outpatient Unit of the hospital.

    “I quickly went to notify them they had no business at the Accident and the Emergency (A&E). I also explained that since they’ve been attended to and if they are not happy with our service, they should check elsewhere, I disn’t know what I did to him, he started beating me,” Adaeze said.

    She added that it took the intervention of some patients for her to escape but he transferred his anger to two patients.

    Adaze, who identified one of the officers as Ogoche Kingsley said he later called his friend, a policeman, to the hospital who in turn came along with a pistol and an AK-47 riffle.

    “At first, the friend claimed to be a DSS officer, he asked Kingsley to point out those who attacked him and he pointed to the two patients around as I was hidden in the theatre. The friend later used the back of his AK-47 to hit one of the patients who just underwent a surgery.”

    Jamilu Bala Muhammad, one of the assaulted patients, battered him.

    He stated that policemen from Maitama Police Station were later called in and they arrested and detained the attackers.

    “When we got to the station, the guy claiming to be DSS later said he was a police officer but before then, he told his friend, Kingsley, that he should tell the police that he was assaulted with chain and cutlass that was why he came to rescue,” he said.

  • Criminals Have Informants Among Security Operatives – NSCDC CG

    Criminals Have Informants Among Security Operatives – NSCDC CG

    The Commandant-General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Dr Ahmed Audi, has said some security services personnel serve as informants to criminals.

    The CG stated this at the stakeholders’ summit on the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure at the NAF Conference Centre in Abuja, on Tuesday.

    “You will agree with me that the nefarious activities of these criminal elements are being strengthened not only by informants within security formations but equally those within the society; hence the need to engage our traditional rulers, religious, community, political and youth leaders in the process of finding a solution to this menace.” he said.

    Audi noted that the rise in crimes constituted a threat to critical national assets and infrastructure, citing Kaduna, Zamfara, Katsina, Borno and other states of the north as examples.

    He also emphasised on the need for security agencies to re-strategise for better protection of the national assets from the assault by criminal elements.

    The CG, who expressed concern over a statement by the Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, that the federal government spends N60 billion annually on the repair and maintenance of vandalised oil pipelines across the country, emphasised on the need to re-strategise for better protection of national assets from the assault of criminal elements.

    The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, said that government in investing heavily to provide basic infrastructures in the country.

    He said schools and educational institutions are classified as critical national assets and infrastructure to focus more effort on for a safer and more secured teaching and learning environment.

    “The federal government, various states and local governments are currently massively investing in the development and construction of various infrastructure that would support employment generation, poverty reduction and the comfort and wellbeing of the Nigerian people,” he said.

  • 12 Security Operatives Killed As Gunmen Invade Military Base In Zamfara

    12 Security Operatives Killed As Gunmen Invade Military Base In Zamfara

    Gunmen have killed 12 security personnel in attack on a military base in Zamfara State.

    Citing security sources, AFP reported that the attackers stole weapons and also set houses on fire.

    It was not immediately clear who carried out the Saturday raid in Mutumji, but the army is engaged in operations in Zamfara against armed criminal gangs known as bandits who are blamed for a series of mass abductions.

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    Telecommunications have also been cut in Zamfara and in parts of neighbouring State Katsina in an attempt to disrupt bandit communications about army movements during the crackdown.

    “The attackers stormed the base around 10:30 am and engaged the troops in a fierce gun battle,” one security source said.

    “They subdued the troops and killed 12 of them. They included nine navy, a soldier and two policemen.”

    A second security source confirmed the casualties.

    The base in Mutumji, Dansadau district, about 80 kilometres (50 miles) from the state capital Gusau, is a key site for logistics and reconnaissance in the army’s fight against bandits in the area.

    Gunmen frequently attack military bases in Borno State, the heart of a 12-year insurgency that has killed 40,000 people.

    But large, heavily armed criminal gangs who raid villages and kidnap for ransom in the northwest and central states have also become more brazen.

    In July, bandit gunmen shot down an air force jet over Zamfara while it was returning from operations.

    The pilot safely ejected and managed to escape capture.

    Gunmen also attacked the country’s elite defence academy in northwest Kaduna State last month, killing two officers and kidnapping another in a raid in one of the symbols of the armed forces.

  • Security Operatives intercept large number of Kwara bound herdsmen

    Security Operatives intercept large number of Kwara bound herdsmen

    A joint task force comprising operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the Nigerian Army and the police, on Wednesday, intercepted a large number of suspected Fulani herdsmen coming to settle down in Kwara State.

    The spokesman of the defence corps, Kwara State Command, Babawale Zaid Afolabi, disclosed this in a statement in Ilorin on Thursday.

    According to Babawale, “On Wednesday, 04/08/2021, at about 0700hours, suspected Fulani herdsmen were intercepted at Erin-Ile, a border town of Kwara state through a joint effort of the NSCDC, Army and the Police.

    “The herdsmen, who were in a large number with some of their cattle, were stopped at Erin-Ile-Offa axis end of the Kwara-Osun state boundary on their way to Ajasse-Ipo, a town in the Ifelodun Local Government Area of the state.”

    The spokesman said the herdsmen and their cows were going to Ajasse-Ipo, a town with a large concentration of the Fulani in the state.

    “The suspected herdsmen were later led to Ajasse-Ipo by the JTF where further background check and profiling was carried out by the appropriate security operatives,” the spokesman stated.

    Daybreak reports that in the meantime, the herdsmen have been allowed to remain in Ajasse-Ipo pending the time when all necessary actions would be taken and security beefed up in and around the town.

  • Security Operatives intercept bags of foreign currencies at Kano Airport

    Security Operatives intercept bags of foreign currencies at Kano Airport

    Combined security personnel have intercepted bags filled with different foreign currencies smuggled into Nigeria via Ethiopian Airline in Kano State.

    The incident, which occurred Thursday, according to some insiders at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport, followed the arrival of an Ethiopian Airline, which came in at about 2 pm local time.

    A source who, doesn’t want to be mentioned, explained that the Ethiopian Airline arrived at about 2.30pm.
    “Some security personnel uncovered some suspicious luggages and upon checking, discovered different foreign currencies stashed in them.”

    The source added, “Upon further checking of the luggages, different foreign currencies such as US Dollars, Euro, Pounds Sterling and others were uncovered”.

    Accordingly, heavy reinforcement of security was quickly drafted to the scene of the incident.
    “Security started counting the money at about 2pm and they could not conclude till evening”, the source added.

    All efforts to speak to different security agencies on the matter proved abortive.

  • BREAKING: Security Operatives Kills Ahmed Gulak’s assailants in Imo

    BREAKING: Security Operatives Kills Ahmed Gulak’s assailants in Imo

    The Imo state Commissioner of Police, Abutu Yaro, has announced that combined operatives of the command’s Tactical Units, Intelligence Response Team, and Police Mobile Force have killed the suspected killers of a former Presidential aide, Ahmed Gulak.

    Gulak was on Monday morning killed in Imo State while on his way to Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport, Owerri.

    A statement issued on Sunday night by the command’s Spokesperson, Bala Elkana, on behalf of the CP, disclosed that riffles, pistol, and ammunition were recovered from the slain suspects.

    The statement also disclosed that the vehicles the slain hoodlums used in killing the former Presidential aide were recovered by the command.

    He disclosed that the operatives overpowered the gunmen during the gun duel and two Armored Personnel Carriers used during the operation were riddled in bullets.

    The statement read “On 30th May, 2021 following distress received by the Command on the gruesome murder of Ahmed Gulak, Police Special Forces made up of Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Police Mobile Force (PMF) and Tactical Units from the command were deployed to the scene at Obiangwu Junction at Ngorokpala LGA of Imo state. The teams were given a clear instruction to identify and apprehend the perpetrators of the act with a view of bringing them to justice.

    “Eyewitness account, especially the account given by the Driver of the vehicle that was conveying Ahmed Gulak to the Airport before the attack, gave a vivid description of the assailants and the vehicles they used in carrying out the attack.

    “The assailants were said to have used a Toyota Camry 2005 model with silver color; Toyota Sienna 1998 Model with golden color; Toyota Hilux with white color; and a Lexus RX 330 with golden Color. (Registration numbers are withheld for security reasons).

    “Having established the identity of the assailants and the description of the vehicles used in carrying out the attack, the teams further got details of the direction the hoodlums have taken.

    “With further leads, the team was able to establish the location of suspects. The suspects were rounded up at Afor Enyiogugu junction in Aboh-Mbaise Local Government Area. The hoodlums were met distributing onions to locals from a trailer they confiscated. The trailer was loaded with Onions from the Northern region of Nigeria.

    “On sighting the Police, the hoodlums providing security coverage to those sharing the onions opened fire on the Police teams. The gallant and battle-ready Police Officers swiftly returned the fire. The six hoodlums who carried out the killings and four other members of their gang were fatally injured. Three out of the four vehicles used in attacking Gulak were recovered.

    “Three AK 47 Rifles, one Pistol, five AK 47 magazines with ninety two rounds of live ammunition and criminal charms were recovered. During the encounter, two of the police armored personnel carriers were riddled with bullets but survived the gun battle.

    “The Commissioner of Police Imo State, CP Abutu Yaro, fdc commended the gallant effort of the team and admonished them to continue to protect the public space.”

  • Security operatives rescue 30 Muslim worshippers in Katsina

    Security operatives rescue 30 Muslim worshippers in Katsina

    Joint security operatives, comprising the Police, Army and other allied agencies, Monday afternoon rescued 30 Muslims out of the 40 that were kidnapped while praying inside a mosque.

    Spokesman of the katsina State Police command, SP Gambo Isa who confirmed the abduction and subsequent rescue of the Muslim faithful, told The Nation in a telephone chat that the bandits in their numbers came from Zurumi border town in Zamfara state during Tahajjud prayers in the outskirt of Jibia forest.

    Gambo said; ‘’the bandits, who came in their numbers, surrounded the worshippers at a newly constructed mosque at the outskirt of Jibia.

    “It is around Abattoir quarters, which is their notorious route into Jibia. They surrounded the worshippers and fired a shot into the air to scare them after which they abducted about 40 of them.”

    “But a combined effort of the police, military, local vigilante and members of the community went after them and succeeded in rescuing about 30 of the victims.

    “When we conducted a headcount this morning, about 10 are still missing, but we are not sure if they are actually with the bandits or they ran to other places for their safety. But investigation is ongoing,” he said.