•Benue ex-PDP Chair assassinated

By Ndahi Marama, Peter Duru, Marie-Therese Nanlong & Bashir Bello

No fewer than 30 persons, over the weekend, were killed in Borno, Plateau, Kano and Benue states.

The deaths came on the heels of the massacre of at least 200 people in the Yelewata community, Guma Local Government Area of Benue State.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the killing spree started on Friday morning in Borno’s central town of Konduga, where a female suicide bomber murdered no fewer than 12 people.

Also, a mob attacked and killed eight wedding-bound travellers from Zaria in Kaduna State in the Mangun District of the Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State on Friday evening. These happened as a former Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chairman and Commander of the Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Services, NHFSS, in Tarka Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue State, Aondoakaa Yayough, was assassinated by gunmen on Friday night.

Similarly, a deadly bomb explosion, which killed at least five people and left 10 others injured, occurred at the Yongxing Steel Company, located along Ring Road in the Mariri Quarters area of Kano State capital yesterday.

While residents said the Borno bomber sneaked into the midst of dozens of fruits, vegetables, roasted meat sellers and other consumables, at a local trading area along the major road which passes through the town to neighbouring Bama town, preliminary investigations confirmed that the Plateau victims lost their way en route to the Quan’pan Local Government Area, and residents mistook them for a threat.

Kano deaths

Confirming the Kano incident, the state’s Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim, said: “I received a call about the incident that had happened. When I arrived, I found that it was a suspected explosion, possibly EOD, Explosive Ordnance Disposal, personnel on a military mortar bomb that exploded. Fifteen people were affected and rushed to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. I found out that five died and 10 were receiving treatment.”

The statement clarified that the explosion occurred during the offloading of scrap metal at the factory. The police, upon receiving a distress call from the company’s Marketing Manager, Mr Ibrahim Udazu, immediately deployed personnel and equipment to secure the scene and avert further damage.

“Personnel from the Explosive Ordnance Disposal unit, as well as the Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear Wears team, successfully recovered seven suspected explosive devices without additional injuries,” Abdullahi noted.

Although the origin of the mortar remains unclear, preliminary findings suggested the explosive might have been unintentionally transported alongside other scrap materials from Yobe State.

Assassination of Ex-PDP Chair

Meanwhile, the Special Adviser to Governor Hyacinth Alia on Security and Internal Affairs, Chief Joseph Har, who confirmed the killing of Yayough, said the Tarka Local Government Council Chairman and members of the NHFSS in the LGA confirmed to him that Yayough’s assassins came on a bike and shot their victim at close range after which they fled.

Har said “It was an assassination of the commander of the Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Services NHFSS, Aondoakaa Yayough. They came on a bike, shot him at close quarters and fled. After shooting him they fired sporadically to scare others and then fled on a bike. They were shielded by two cars also firing sporadically to scare away people.

“Sketchy investigation showed that a criminal who attacked and killed the deceased wife and burnt his house was sent to prison. On his return, both of them have been chasing each other until this happened.”

The Benue State Police Command, in a statement by its Public Relations Officer, Deputy Superintendent, DSP, Udeme Edet, said: “On Friday night at about 8 pm, information was received by the police that one Aondohemba Yayough was shot dead along Akume Road in Wannune, Tarka LGA. Swiftly, a team of detectives were deployed to the area.

Upon arrival, some persons within the area identified the assassin to be one Saater Aii said to be an ex-convict. The suspect was disarmed by local security. Though he managed to escape, two other persons who were injured at the scene were taken to the hospital, where they are responding to treatment.

Detectives are on the trail of the fleeing felon. An AK-47 rifle used in the attack has been recovered by the Police. An investigation is ongoing to apprehend the fleeing suspect. Members of the public are advised to be cautious of misinformation and rely on credible sources for information because there was no report of herdsmen attack in Wannune.”

Plateau

In Plateau, several others, who sustained injuries, were currently receiving treatment at the General Hospital in Mangu.

Governor Caleb Mutfwang, who immediately visited the hospital and the site of the tragedy, described the incident as both “deeply painful” and “entirely avoidable.”

He decried the act as a grave departure from Plateau’s renowned culture of peace and hospitality, particularly in communities like Mangun, Chakfem, and Mushere, which have shown resilience against terrorists’ incursions.

Mutfwang said: “This is a tragic day for Plateau State. I never imagined that such an act could occur, especially in a community whose youths have so courageously stood by security agencies to repel criminal attacks. It is unacceptable that the same youths would abandon reason and law to perpetrate such horror.”

Mutfwang stressed that no level of frustration or insecurity justifies jungle justice, and reaffirmed his administration’s commitment to building a safe state for all, including travellers, and pledged to ensure such an incident never reoccurs.

He said: “I have personally reached out to the Governor of Kaduna State and His Royal Highness, the Emir of Zazzau, to express our heartfelt condolences. We are sending a high-powered delegation to Kaduna to deliver our message of sympathy and solidarity. We will stand with the victims’ families in this moment of grief and ensure they receive justice.”