Daily Security Information Update

ALERTS DATE
The following section illustrates the date alerts were reported on Monday, 23rd January 2023.

KIDNAPPING

• The Taraba State Command Police Public Relations Officer has confirmed the kidnapping of a traditional ruler in the state. According to reports, heavily armed men suspected of being kidnappers stormed the monarch’s palace around 1 a.m. on Friday and abducted him, along with his two wives and six children. According to a palace guard who confirmed the incident, the gunmen took over the monarch’s palace after successfully scaring the residents of the community with sporadic gunshots.
• On Friday morning, gunmen kidnapped the traditional ruler of Izere in Plateau State’s Jos East Local Government Area. Around 3 a.m. on Friday, the first-class monarch was abducted from his Palace in Jos East’s Shere district. According to the chairman of Jos East Local Government Area, who confirmed the incident in Jos, the gunmen invaded the community and began shooting sporadically in the air before gaining access to the monarch’s residence. According to a witness, a police officer on duty at the residence was shot, while a civilian security guard was killed.
• The sole administrator of Imo State’s Ideato North Local Government Area has been kidnapped by unknown gunmen. Two other people who were with him at the time of the attack were also abducted late Thursday night. According to reports, the sole administrator was shot prior to his kidnapping by the assailants, who also burned down his country home in Imoko community of Arondizuogu LGA of the State.
• According to the Nasarawa State Police, gunmen on motorcycles abducted six students from the Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) Primary School Alwaza in the Doma Local Government Area on Friday. The spokesperson for the Police Command confirmed the development in Lafia. He stated that preliminary investigations revealed that the students, aged seven to eight, were abducted on their way to school at around 7 a.m. He also stated that a joint security team of police, military, and vigilantes had been dispatched to the area to conduct a search and rescue operation.
• Six people were kidnapped during a one-week siege by gunmen at Ikem community in Enugu State’s Isi-Uzo local government area. The situation has exacerbated security concerns in Isi-uzo Local Government Area, which is still reeling from the wanton killings committed by suspected herdsmen militia in Eha-Amufu, a neighboring community. Masked gunmen besieged Ikem-Isioroto along the Obollo Afor-Nkalagu road for three days and drove the villagers into the bush.
• The identities of the six students abducted by terrorists from LEA Primary School in Alwaza village, Doma Local Government Area (LGA) of Nasarawa State have been revealed. The abductees have been identified as Melody Ombugu, Vision Ombugu, Ishaya Oliver, Jerusalem Sidi, Favour Emmanuel, and Peace Amos, according to security sources. The gunmen stormed the community around 7 a.m. on Friday and abducted students on their way to school.

KIDNAPPING RESCUE

• Kidnappers have freed the remaining two members of the Baptist Church in Iwo, Osun State. Five church members were kidnapped, but three were released on Wednesday after a N6 million ransom was paid. It was previously reported that two of the two victims were kidnapped while returning from their farms in the Ileogbo area of the state, and that the three others were kidnapped when they went to deliver ransom to the kidnappers in a location in Kogi State. In a joint statement signed on Friday, the President of the Osun Baptist Conference and the Chairman of the Osun Baptist Conference announced the release of the two remaining church members. They claimed that after paying N10 million, the church members were released.
• On Saturday, police in Nasarawa State, north-central Nigeria, announced the rescue of two of the six primary school students kidnapped in Alwaza, a community in Doma Local Government Area. On Saturday afternoon, the command’s spokesperson stated that security personnel are on the trail of the suspected kidnappers in order to rescue the remaining victims. It was reported that the students were kidnapped on their way to school around 7 a.m. on Friday. According to the spokesperson, a joint team of police officers, soldiers, and vigilante groups successfully rescued two of the victims unharmed on Saturday.
• A traditional ruler in Plateau State who was kidnapped by gunmen in the early hours of Friday has been released. Some residents of the state’s Shere community in the Jos East Local Government Area, where the monarch was abducted, claim he was rescued on Friday, a few hours after his kidnapping. Gunmen kidnapped the monarch around 1.30 a.m. on Friday after attacking his palace in the Shere neighborhood. The gunmen killed one person and injured one of the cops who engaged them in a gun duel during the attack. Two suspects were arrested in connection with the incident, according to a state police spokesperson who confirmed the monarch’s release.
• The abducted presiding Catechist of St. Monica’s Catholic Church, Ikulu-Pari, Kauru Local Government Area, Kaduna State, has been released. According to a statement from the Catholic Diocese of Kafanchan, the catechist who was kidnapped from the Parish Rectory was released on Saturday morning. The statement did not specify whether a ransom was paid, but a church source said an unspecified sum was paid.

SHOOTING (GUNMEN)

• On Thursday night, unknown gunmen allegedly broke into the home of another Catholic priest in Kaduna State. According to reports, the assailants stormed the area on Thursday with the intent of kidnapping the priest but were met with his absence. According to reports, the target was kidnapped in similar circumstances in February 2022 and released after a ransom was paid. When the gunmen arrived, the Priest was said to have left the village. However, when the priest was not present, the assailants allegedly abducted the Catechist of St. Monica Catholic Church.
• On Thursday night, about eight people were shot dead by people suspected to be Fulani herdsmen in Abagena village, opposite the Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp in Makurdi. A man, his wife, and four children, including their dog, were among those killed by herdsmen on a rampage. According to reports, the herdsmen decapitated the heads of the majority of their victims and carted them away following the attack, which occurred between 9 and 10 p.m. on Thursday. Many other victims were reported to have been seriously injured in the attack.
• On Saturday, gunmen attacked the Oguta Divisional Police Headquarters in Imo State’s Oguta Local Government Area, killing one police officer. The gunmen who attacked in the early hours of the morning also set fire to the police station. Imo State police spokesperson revealed this in Owerri, the state capital. During the attack, he said, police officers engaged the gunmen in a shootout. He claimed that the hoodlums fled the scene after being overpowered by the operatives.
• On Friday, gunmen killed two people in Mkpuma Akataka Community, Izzi Local Government Area, Ebonyi. An Ebubeagu commander was also killed. On Saturday, a local said that hoodlums had invaded the neighborhood and were shooting sporadically. It was reported that hoodlums murdered the Commander of Ebubeagu (the Southeast security network) in his home in Ogboji Ward, Ezza North Local Government Area of Ebonyi. The killing was confirmed by an Ebonyi police spokesman.
• On Thursday morning, gunmen assassinated a councillor in Niger State’s Shiroro Local Government Area. The incident was confirmed by the Niger State Commissioner for Internal Security and Humanitarian Affairs. He stated that the deceased and one other person were riding on a motorcycle when they were stopped by terrorists, who immediately shot and killed the councillor. The deceased was ordered off the motorcycle, and the terrorists opened fire on him. The other rider on the motorcycle was unharmed.
• Suspected militants in Taraba State’s Wukari local government council attacked many internally displaced returnees of Tiv origin on Friday. The attack on Friday in Tor-Iorlumun Community, Rafinkada Ward of the aforementioned local government council, has rekindled tensions. Aside from the attacks, it was discovered that the returnees’ belongings were also destroyed beyond recognition.
• Four people were killed by gunmen in the Gambar Sabon Layi community of Bauchi State’s Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area. According to reports, the hoodlums also kidnapped one person before fleeing the neighborhood. According to a resident, the gunmen stormed the area on Saturday and fired into the air to scare people away before carrying out their heinous act. However, a state police spokesperson said in a statement on Sunday that four people were killed and one was injured to varying degrees.

ARMED ROBBERY

• The Bayelsa State Police Command announced the arrest of an armed robbery suspect. The suspect was apprehended by a crack team of anti-kidnapping operatives, according to a statement issued by the command’s Public Relations Officer on Thursday. He stated that the suspect was apprehended after a complaint from a female victim he had robbed. He claimed that the suspect robbed her of her phone at gunpoint in Agudama, Yenagoa. During a search, officers discovered one dummy pistol, a pistol holster, a handcuff, and Navy, Army, and Air Force face caps.

ARMS & AMMUNITION

• The Bauchi State Police Command has discovered an underground arsenal of suspected kidnappers in Liman Katagum, Bauchi Local Government Area’s Tudun Wada area. The state Police Public Relations Officer who disclosed this in a statement on Sunday in Bauchi said, Operatives attached to the command acted on credible intelligence and uncovered an armoury of suspected kidnappers. Three AK47 rifles, one LAR rifle, 49 rounds of 7.62mm ammunition, nine AK47 magazines, one army camouflage jacket, and one pair of police camouflage trousers were among the items recovered, according to him.

INSECURITY

• As attacks by non-state actors become more common in the weeks leading up to the general elections, civil rights advocacy group Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday called for the liberalization of AK-47 licenses for adults with no criminal records. In a statement, HURIWA’s National Coordinator stated that it is critical for states and the federal government to stem the tide of kidnapping, including the new dimension in which marauders raze buildings after slaughtering innocent citizens. The group reiterated its call for the establishment of a National Guard to supplement existing security forces.

TERRORISM

• In the North East Zone, 1,773 members of the Civilian Joint Task Force (CJTF) were killed while fighting terrorists from Boko Haram and the Islamic State of West African Province (ISWAP). The Chairman of the CJTF revealed this during an interview on Saturday in Maiduguri. He stated that the deaths occurred between 2012 and 2022, and that despite the high casualty figure, the CJTF remained steadfast in its determination to assist the military in ridding the state of terrorists.
• The Katsina emirate council has confirmed the dismissal of a top district head, Makaman Katsina, the Bakori district head, for allegedly aiding and abetting terrorism in his domain. The dismissal was announced in a letter dated January 19, 2023, and signed by Kauran Katsina, district head of Rimi and a senior council member of the emirate. According to the letter, the district head was fired after a state government committee found him guilty of charges leveled against him by his constituents.

DIPHTHERIA

• According to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (NCDC), the death toll from Diphtheria disease in the country has risen to 34, with Kano State reporting 100 cases. According to the NCDC, the deaths occurred between December 2022 and early January 2023 in Lagos, Kano, Yobe, and Osun, with Kano State alone accounting for 25 deaths. The agency blamed the increase in infection and resurgence on the country’s low vaccination coverage.

CHOLERA OUTBREAK

• As a result of a cholera outbreak, sixty people have died in Obubura, a community in Cross River State. According to the report, there has been an increase in mortality across 14 wards with over 200 infected people. The community’s only source of water for cooking, bathing, washing, drinking, and defecation is a river. Ohorodo I of Okum Kingdom, the community’s traditional ruler, who was alarmed by the epidemic, urged the government to intervene by providing them with safe drinking water to prevent another outbreak.

TRAFFIC DIVERSION

• The Lagos State Government has announced that traffic will be diverted on the 23rd and 24th of January in preparation for President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to the state. The announcement was made in a statement signed by the state transportation commissioner on Friday. He assured that alternative routes had been planned and that the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) would be deployed to manage traffic flow during the two-day visit. He stated that adjourning streets leading to the designated routes for Mr. President’s movement would be temporarily closed.