Amnesty

A former Director in the Department of State Services DSS, Barr. Mike Ejiofor, has described as senseless and bizarre, the call by an Islamic Cleric, Abubakar Gumi that the federal government grants amnesty to armed Fulani herdsmen who have taken to terrorism in some parts of the country.

Renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheik Abubakar Gumi, has submitted that Nigeria would escape banditry and achieve peace only when bandits were granted amnesty.

Human Rights Watch has released a report saying the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic set off human rights crises worldwide.

The Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD) says it paid gratuity and pension arrears to 414 Association of Retired War Affected Police Officers (ARWAPO) amounting to over N954 million.

A coalition of 15 northern-based civil society organisations (CSOs) yesterday in Kano, Kano State, accused some northern governors of allegedly turning the rising cases of kidnapping and banditry in the region to money spinning ventures.

The ‘’no fly zone’’ order given by President Muhammadu Buhari over Zamfara State on Tuesday appears to have impacted positively on banditry in Birnin-Gwari Local Government Area of Kaduna State yesterday, as bandits ran helter-skelter, abandoning their motorcycles on sighting military fighter jets in the area, and fleeing.

Authorities in Zamfara are holding negotiations for the release of 317 schoolgirls kidnapped by criminal gangs last week, sources familiar with the talks said Monday.

The Leader of INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has once again knocked the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, over the unsecured state of the country.

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Saturday called on the African Union and other international partners to help address a deepening crisis in Ethiopia's northern Tigray region as he condemned alleged atrocities in fighting there.

Global rights group, Amnesty International, has condemned the arrest of Salihu Tanko Yakasai, who was arrested hours after criticising President Muhammadu Buhari, over the rise in school kidnappings.

A former assistant director in the Department of State Services (DSS), Dennis Amachree, says some bandits are former members of the Boko Haram insurgent group.

Presidential Amnesty Programme office has stated that it has not appointed representatives to any crisis-affected community in the Niger Delta region over the payment of stipends to ex-agitators.

The Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), on Friday, called for the arrest of Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, for saying journalists are criminals for calling bandits criminals.

A prominent Islamic cleric, Shiek Ahmad Gumi, says the abduction of schoolgirls in Zamfara was not carried out by bandits he met with recently.

Mr Dachung Bagos, the member representing Jos South South/Jos East Federal Constituency, has said that the military needs modern and sophisticated equipment to combat kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and other forms of insecurity in the country.

The incident is the second such kidnapping in just over a week and the third since December in Nigeria's north, where a surge in armed militancy has led to a widespread breakdown of security.

The Niger State Government yesterday accused the federal government of not doing enough to assist the state in rescuing the 27 pupils of Government Science College, Kagara and 15 others, bandits kidnapped from the school last Wednesday.

Buhari stated this on Thursday while declaring open a joint security meeting of Northern State Governors’ Forum, Northern Traditional Rulers Council and delegation from the federal government in Kaduna State.

Fourteen people, including at least two civilians, were killed inside a “religious site” as government and rebel forces fought for control of a Central African Republic (CAR) town, rights group Amnesty International said Thursday.

The Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has distanced its members from the purported killing of six children in Anambra State, describing the allegation as “malicious and mischievous”.

The last has not been heard of the face-off between the federal government and Niger Delta militants over the continual marginalization of the people of the Niger Delta region.

A self-confessed leader of a bandit group in Zamfara State on Monday renounced criminality and surrendered his arms to the state government.