News
Insecurity: Group Canvases State of Emergency In Zamfara
Worried by the recent escalation of bandit attacks and kidnappings resulting in deaths and displacement of several communities in Zamfara State, the Democracy Watch Initiative (DWI) has called on the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in Zamfara State as the only remaining option.
Leading twenty-seven other Non-governmental-organizations, the DWI at a press conference read by its Spokesman, Sanusi Ali Mohammed, in Abuja said the call became necessary given the regrettably alarming deterioration of security situation in the State in the last two months.
The DWI noted that in spite of the previous the government’s efforts to curtail insecurity in Zamfara, the situation in the state has been steadily deteriorating with the state capital, Gusau, already on the verge of being completely overrun by bandits.
“We note that since June this year the audacious regularity of acts of violence perpetrated by the bandits and kidnappers who operate freely and at will have deteriorated with horrifying instances of women and children being raped, communities displaced, people kidnapped for ransom, citizens denied access to farmlands and many others, brutalized, traumatized and killed on a daily basis.
“Killers and other criminals appear to have sensed a paralysing vacuum at the highest levels of leadership in the State, hunger continues stalking millions of homes. Inflation is making life difficult by the day as eople are losing sources of livelihood.
“Even the State House of Assembly had expressed worries over the development, lamenting that it appears there is no government in the state owing to the disdainful way the bandits are having a field day in their killing spree,” the Group said.
It said that over 400 villages and communities are estimated as being controlled by the ravaging bandits in the state with the terrorists forming their own government in these areas and deciding what happens and what should be done.
“Without a doubt, Zamfara State has become a colony of banditry in the whole country with the rate of merciless killings, kidnappings, and rape becoming very uncontrollable.
“Records have clearly indicated that there are thousands of widows and orphans roaming the streets aimlessly due to banditry that killed their husbands and fathers, thereby increasing the volume of almajeris.
“By some specifics, in addition to the daily unrecorded incidences of attacks, four Policemen were Killed in an attack in Bungudu Local Government Area on July 10 and on 24 July, seven soldiers were reported killed as bandits attacked Kangon Garacce, in Dangulbi community of Maru Local Government Area,” it said.
Almost around the same time, DWI said, bandits attacked communities in Maradun Local Government Area where they killed many locals and abducted no fewer than 30 girls.
“This was as 31 villagers were killed by bandits in Janbako and Sakida villages, Maradun Local Government Area the following weekend. And just last Thursday armed Bandits abducted twenty five persons in Boko village in Zurmi local government area including twenty four women and one male adult. The women were abducted in their homes when the armed bandits invaded the Community,” DWI said.
The Group noted also that several thousands of fellow Zamfara citizens are internally displaced and hundreds of thousands of orphans, hunger and malnourishment, previously unknown, are now becoming alarming features of existence.
“Villages are being emptied as hundreds of people, due to constant attacks, are relocating to the already congested urban areas of the state and deepening poverty. Just on Monday morning, the bandits freely moved through farms to attack a police station in Bungudu, killing a policeman just as they simultaneously attacked Kwatar village killing scores as reported by many media outlets.
“A few weeks earlier, some policemen were killed close to Bungudu and a few days later, some innocent citizens were reportedly killed at Boko village in Zurmi local government, the same situation in Mada, Wonaka, Ruwan Bore.
“Also in Bukkuyum and Anka, the wave of insecurity is blowing all over the state and the PDP-led government under Dauda Lawal is doing nothing but lamentation which is a sign of failure on the side of the government,” the Group said.
The DWI condemned what it called, the way and manner the Governor Dauda Lawal-led administration is handling security issues in the state allowing killing of innocent citizens to become rampant with violent terrorists now in the state capital, Gusau.
“We call for the immediate proclamation of a state of emergency in Zamfara State because the people have shed enough tears and blood in the last two months without an appropriate response from a state government that appears to be helpless in the face of this mounting security crisis.
“We call the attention of the Federal Government to the reality that only the declaration of a state of emergency can assure the people of Zamfara that they have not been abandoned at the mercy of a rampaging banditry and kidnappings by a state government that has resigned itself to live with rapists and murderers,” the Group said.
It emphatically stated that only the declaration of a state of emergency can free the people from the stranglehold of the bandits and criminals who have understood that weak political will and total incapacity on the part of the current administration have weakened the resolve to fight them.
“By his show of insensitivity and indifference to the plight of the people that trusted him to lead them, Governor Lawal Dare has inadvertently acquired the reputation of being the worst in the history of Zamfara State in terms of any capacity to generate confidence in achieving credible goals.
Reminding Governor Dare that the people of Zamfara will at the fullness of time, tally up the days he spends outside the country or in Abuja, or how many months they went without salaries and pensions, and how many young people graduated into crimes and drugs during his tenure, DWI urged President Tinubu the security forces to fight the escalating security challenges in Zamfara State with resolve and awareness of their obligations under the law, as well as the knowledge that victory will only be pronounced when the nation achieves full cessation of hostilities, disarmament, demobilization and reintegration in Zamfara and the entire northern region.
“With security, Zamfara can feed itself and feed the rest of Nigeria. But when cost of inputs become prohibitive, threats to lives limit productive capacities, herds are stolen or limited by weak government responses and damaging political interests, the economy of this otherwise productive segment of the country suffers,” the Group said.
By Israel Bulus, Kaduna
A controversial list of political appointees purportedly originating from the Kaduna State Government has triggered outrage within Government House and among prominent politicians across the state’s 23 local government areas.
ELANZA NEWS gathered from credible government sources that the list, which has been widely circulated on social media, did not receive the knowledge or approval of Governor Uba Sani or any of the local council chairmen.
Insiders in the Kaduna State Government confirmed that the document did not emanate from any official or authorized channel.
The list, which includes names of alleged political appointees and their supposed sponsors—some of whom are well-known political figures—has raised serious concerns about internal sabotage and the deliberate spread of misinformation within the state’s political landscape.
“This list is not only fake; it was deliberately leaked to sow confusion, erode public trust, and discredit both the governor and the local council leadership,” a senior government official told ELANZA NEWS under the condition of anonymity, citing the sensitivity of the matter.
Further investigations revealed the document was allegedly compiled nearly two months ago by unidentified individuals believed to be working against the current administration. Some individuals named in the list reportedly made financial contributions under the impression that the appointments were genuine.
“This fraudulent act is more than just mischief. It is a calculated attempt to deceive the public into believing these appointments have been officially endorsed,” another government source said.
“The government is thoroughly investigating the origin of the document, and those responsible will be held accountable under the law,” the source added.
Political analysts warn that the incident could prompt a review of the state’s appointment and vetting procedures to prevent future exploitation by political intermediaries.
Governor Uba Sani, who took office in 2023, has consistently championed transparency, meritocracy, and due process in governance. Observers say this incident presents a significant test to the administration’s integrity and internal unity.
As of press time, the state government had not issued an official statement, although sources indicate that a formal response is expected soon to clarify the situation.
Efforts to reach the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Ibrahim Musa, were unsuccessful, as he did not respond to calls from our correspondent.
It has been a full week of listening to Politricktians struggling to defend the indefensible. I have watched some struggle to present purely self-seeking and egocentric predilections and decisions as altruistic and popular. The usual lie told when politicians decamp from one Party to another was rife in the news-wave. It was repeated every so often they were confronted with ‘why did you decamp to a Party you had mocked and described as soulless and directionless?”. And the lies would come streaming with shameless Olympic stupidity and shenanigans unbridled.
If your reason for moving from the PDP to the APC is to connect Delta State to the Centre ditto to Abuja, who Abuja elp? How has the Partisan affinity or connection with Abuja helped Lagos State? How has it benefitted Benue State? How has it made life better for the people in Bornu State? And how has the lot of the people in Imo State improved? The States here in reference are APC States, and are badly messed up.
Since 1999 Lagos State has never had it so bad, Lagos State for instance fared better when it wasn’t in partisan sync with the centre. No sane person can compare Tinubu’s term as Governor of Lagos State with Sanwo-Olu’s, none can compare Fashola’s, or Ambode’s one term, albeit as opposition Governors with the most lethargic and uneventful watch that Lagos State has produced in the last 26 years Sanwo-Olu’s connect with Abuja notwithstanding. Lagos is presently experiencing it’s worst leadership deficit and lethargy in 26 years, but Sanwo-Olu is not the trust of this piece, so I will let him be, but I shall return to substantiate my position, if his spin-doctors provoke me.
To the States of Bornu, Benue and Imo, the vouched partisan affinity with Abuja is a curse more than a blessing. Bornu and Benue are theatres of unmitigated security challenges. I won’t mention Jos, Plateau so Partisans wouldn’t challenge me that Plateau State is PDP. However, in today’s Nigeria most of the States troubled silly with insecurity are APC States. Human barbecues are dished with reckless abandon by the Haramists and Herders, and Abuja has done little to help, it has been more words and little action. All the people see, read and know is the blood soaked and blood stained mandate of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his Party. The APC has failed them like it has failed most Nigerians, so the people who decamped from the PDP to the APC in Delta State should stop telling stupid lies of how a contrived partisan sync with Abuja will benefit Delta State, that na big lie. The truth is that that decision of theirs is absolutely self-seeking, egotistic and individualistic, it was a shenanigans shameless and utterly soulless.
Is Imo an example of a State benefitting from her partisan sync with Abuja? I beg make I laugh small. And to make matters worse they call Governor Hope Uzodinma the Chairman of the Unprogressive, oh sorry, Progressive Governor’s Forum. That means that Hope Uzodinma is the Chairman of the Forum of APC Governors. I beg ask Ndi’Imo how market? Now Governor Sheriff Oborevwori is an APC Governor, and I hear that Pastor Eno of Akwa Ibom is joining soon. If no be craze, how will a Governor wey dey try small go go join Party wey the Governor wey no dey try at all, go be im Chairman? What in today’s Nigeria is testament to the laudable rule of the APC? And why is the APC attractive to the defectors streaming into the Party? I am committed to telling all I know, and more in the sequel to this piece, yes Part 3 dey come.
I am committed to making sure that each of this series is short and reader friendly. However, I will not conclude this without calling out Nigerians to consistently interrogate Public Office Holders and Political Operators, we must understand that eternal vigilance is the price of freedom, and we must refuse to drink from the poisoned chalice of deceit, falsehood, and debauchery that self-serving Politricktians wield. And we must say no to their lies, half truths and mendacity.
Compatriots, those defending the egocentric and self-seeking defection of the Delta State Governor and his Team from the PDP to the APC are smart by half. And to those wondering whether we can effectively organize to stop the rudderless APC, the gail of defections notwithstanding, I bring great hope. Yes, there is enough time to perfect and pull through with the needed coalition to defeat the underperforming APC in 2027. Do not forget that Peter Obi didn’t have a State Governor when the Labour Party won the election in 2023. Tinubu didn’t win the majority of the total votes cast when INEC declared him winner, and having failed, as he continues to outperform Buhari in failure, the hail of defections will only deepen the Tinubu rejection.
Do not forget that Delta State was home to the Obidient Movement in 2023, and still is. Do not also forget that Okowa, Sheriff Oborevwori and the PDP machinery was roundly trounced and defeated by the Obidient Movement/Labour Party at the Presidential polls in Delta State in 2023, and that it took the Obidients rejecting Senator Ovie Omo-agege for Oborevwori to emerge Governor in 2023. May the Proud, the Arrogant and the Boastful use their tongue count their teeth, e no far again.
Delta State in 2027 offers a beautiful turf for the replay of the contest between the Peoples Power, and the Power of the men in power. Indeed, 2027 will be a Ballot Based People’s Revolution deeper and more effective than what happened in 2023. Take note that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the APC are consistently their own greatest undoing, not with Buhari’s colossal failure becoming Child’s play compared with Tinubu’s uneventful and Olympic failure.
Folks, we shall coalesce and unite to make Tinubu a One-Term President, that’s the least duty we owe Nigeria.
I shall return very soon with Part 3, but before then, please stay safe and protect yourselves, ‘no be me talk am, na one Oga DSS dem say na im talk am.’
God Bless Nigeria.
Prof Chris Mustapha Nwaokobia Jnr
Convener COUNTRYFIRST MOVT. A Good Governance Advocacy Group.
Call Mgbeke Comedian
North Central Women on Friday criticized Prof Mgbeke, dismissing her recent remarks about the representative of Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, as mad imaginings, deception and fantasy.
They also described the remarks of the All Progressives Congress (APC) South-South Organizing Secretary, Mr. Blessing Agbomhere, as banal and irrelevant.
“It is amazing that male politicians in Nigeria are resorting to dishonest tactics to fight women.”
The women in a statement in Abuja criticized the leadership of the Senate for placing Nigeria in a dilemma.
“The six-month suspension is raised in almost all the news media in the world.’’
They urged the senate leadership to save Nigeria from ignominy.
Specifically, the women praised Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan for not allowing anyone to make her an emotional client in the country.
They also applauded her for playing a major role in the national history of Nigeria.
The statement issued by the Chairperson of North Central Women Front (NCWF), Mrs. Mary Adamu emphasized Akpoti-Uduaghan’s unflagging commitment to improvement of Kogi Central Senatorial District.
The women scolded the spokesperson of Executive Watch Dog, Mr. Fidelis Ella for advertising his ignorance.
The women of repute and experience branded Dr Sandra Duru (Mgbeke), Ella and Agbomhere parrots and bootlickers of anti-democratic forces.
“Unstable people can destroy anybody for a political appointment, contract and petty cash.”
The women further dismissed allegations of malicious agenda, dirty game of propaganda and destruction.
They described the plot to dismantle Yoruba Government, destabilize the national structure and halt the country from moving forward as a foolish talk.
“Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan is guided by patriotic commitment.’’
The women urged sympathizers of the Senate President and a former ministerial nominee not to lead Nigeria to confusion.
The statement denounced intolerance, lies, perversion of truth and crazy ideas.