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A miner trapped in the collapsed Hushan mine was brought to the surface on Sunday, state media say.

The Shehu of Dikwa, Borno State, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn Shehu Masta II El-Kanemi, is dead.

SaharaReporters gathered that the monarch died in the early hours of Saturday at a private hospital in Abuja after suffering from an undisclosed ailment.

The late monarch’s funeral prayers are expected to hold at Shehu Palace in Maiduguri on Saturday.

This is the third in the series of high-profile deaths in Borno State within short intervals, after those of Shehu of Bama and Emir of Biu in 2020.

Former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff appointed the late El-Kanemi in 2010 as Shehu of the newly created Dikwa Emirate.

That appointment split the 100 years old Dikwa Emirate into two: Bama and Dikwa Emirates. The old Dikwa Emirate was made up of four local government areas: Bama, Ngala, Dikwa and Kala- Balge with 24 districts with the palace in Bama town.

The new Dikwa Emirate now has three local government areas: Ngala, Dikwa and Kala-Balge with 12 districts while Bama Emirate now has one local government area with 12 districts.

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The Shehu of Dikwa, Borno State, Alhaji Mohammed Ibn Shehu Masta II El-Kanemi, is dead.

SaharaReporters gathered that the monarch died in the early hours of Saturday at a private hospital in Abuja after suffering from an undisclosed ailment.

The late monarch’s funeral prayers are expected to hold at Shehu Palace in Maiduguri on Saturday.

This is the third in the series of high-profile deaths in Borno State within short intervals, after those of Shehu of Bama and Emir of Biu in 2020.

Former Governor Ali Modu Sheriff appointed the late El-Kanemi in 2010 as Shehu of the newly created Dikwa Emirate.

That appointment split the 100 years old Dikwa Emirate into two: Bama and Dikwa Emirates. The old Dikwa Emirate was made up of four local government areas: Bama, Ngala, Dikwa and Kala- Balge with 24 districts with the palace in Bama town.

The new Dikwa Emirate now has three local government areas: Ngala, Dikwa and Kala-Balge with 12 districts while Bama Emirate now has one local government area with 12 districts.

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There is tension in the Ketu-speaking villages in the Yewa North Local Government Area of Ogun State after soldiers escorted herdsmen to graze in the communities, and brutalised some residents in defence of the herders.

The soldiers' action has forced traditional rulers and monarchs in the affected communities to write a save-our-soul petition to the Nigerian Army authorities demanding protection from the harassment of soldiers and herdsmen.

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According to The Nation, one of the victims is Seye Mulero, who was severely injured in Ubeku village in Yewa North and is currently receiving medical treatment.

The herdsmen, who had left the village after the villagers rejected their continued presence, suddenly resurfaced at about 2 pm on December 19, 2020, with a handful of soldiers from the 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta.

The soldiers headed straight for the palace of the community's traditional ruler, Chief Olaleye Adigun, calling out the villagers and warning them against preventing the evicted herdsmen from returning to the village.

In the middle of this strange encounter, Mulero told the soldiers that the herders would not be allowed to remain in the community because of their brutal killing of residents and the destruction of their farmlands in recent times.

Mulero said, "Everyone was frightened by the action and utterances of the soldiers, but I summoned the courage to tell them how a Geography teacher Mr. Yomi Akinola and two students of Community High School, Ibeku, among others, were killed by the herdsmen while our women were raped and killed on their ways to the farm."

But Mulero and Ubeku village were not the only person and area that tasted the bile of the soldiers who escorted the herdsmen in a military patrol van from one village to another. Innocent indigenes of Iselu, Ibeku, Agbon-Ojodu, Asa and other villages were also harassed and assaulted by the soldiers at the instance of the herdsmen.

TheNation

After leaving Ubeku, the herders and the complicit soldiers moved to neighbouring Asa, where they reenacted the Ubeku scenario, causing the hapless villagers to panic.

At Asa, the herders sighted Mulero's brother, Gabriel Mulero, accusing him of being among the crowd that jeered them after his brother was beaten up.

There and then, the soldiers seized the young man, giving him some deafening slaps and kicking him mercilessly before whisking him away to a neighbouring village, Agbon-Ojodu, where they dropped him off after elders of the community pleaded for his release.

Worried by the development, monarchs of the affected communities petitioned the Nigeria Army over alleged connivance of its men with herdsmen to assault and harass villagers.

The monarchs are the Oniggua of Iggualand, Oba Micheal Adeleye Dosumu; the Eselu of Iseluland, Oba Akintunde Ebenezer Akinyemi; and the Alademeso of Igan Alade, Oba Gabriel Olukunle Olalowo.

The petition titled 'matter of urgency' dated January 7, 2021, signed by their lawyer, Mr. Olaoluwa Folalu, was addressed to the Brigade Commander of 35 Artillery Brigade, Alamala, Abeokuta.

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Following the Friday night unrest in Igangan, Ibarapa North Local Government of Oyo State, the Seriki Fulani of Oyo State, Alhaji Saliu Abdulkadir, on Saturday morning, said he trekked through the forest to Ogun State from Oyo State.

He told Saharareporters that many of his family members were shot by the angry youths. He said none of his family members was killed in the fracas.

Abdulkadir told SaharaReporters in Ibadan that he, his wives and children were sent out of the settlement by the youths, adding that 11 vehicles and houses were burnt in the process.

He said despite assurance by the police and the people of the state, his house was burnt in the presence of security agents.

He said, "As we speak, we are in the bush. Our cars, numbering about 11, have been burnt. Some of my children sustained injuries, and we are looking for a way to get them to the hospital. My children have left their houses for the bush. We need the government to help us. Police, Operation Burst and other security agencies were there when they set my house ablaze."

When contacted on Saturday morning by Saharareporters, he said,  "I am now with my people in Ogun State. I am yet to see my other children but I heard those who were shot are still alive.

"Those boys shot my wife, my son and his wife. They shot one of my neighbours, but we thank God none of them is dead. I walked all through the night in the bush but I am safe here."

A popular Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, reportedly stormed the Fulani settlement in the town to eject Abdukadir, and some other herdsmen accused of fuelling security problems in the area.

See Also Sahara Reporters Two Feared Dead As Herdsmen, Sunday Igboho's Supporters Clash In Oyo 0 Comments 2 Hours Ago

Addressing the youths, Igboho said, "They started deploying soldiers here yesterday (Thursday). When our people were being kidnapped and killed, there were no soldiers to secure them.

Reacting, the Oyo State PPRO, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, said, "Tactical police teams with Operation Burst are on ground to give maximum security protection while efforts are on to ascertain the situation there."

Meanwhile, on Friday, Governor Makinde said that his government would not allow anyone hiding under the guise of ethnic interest to perpetrate a crisis in the state, Punch reports.

Makinde added that his administration would not allow anyone to threaten the state's peace by acting unlawfully as such was against the nation's constitution.

The governor, who spoke while receiving the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs Ngozi Onadeko, said the state government would not relent in prioritising the welfare of security agencies in the state.

The governor said, "For people stoking ethnic tension, they are criminals, and once you get them, they should be arrested and treated like common criminals. For this administration, the major pillar for us is security, because we know that all the good economic plans we have won't be possible in an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity."

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The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, has told Yoruba youths that the security of their lives and property, including those of their parents is their responsibility.

He advised them not to rely on their governors because, like the South East and South-South governors, they will not protect them. 

IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

In a statement by the group's Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, Kanu reminded the Yoruba youths that southwest governors did nothing when herdsmen kidnapped and killed a Yoruba leader, Pa Fasoranti's daughter on Yoruba soil. 

He noted that the southwest governors, particularly the Ondo State governor, cannot sustain any stand against killer herdsmen activities, suspected to be Fulanis because they belong almost to a political party.

Kanu urged the youth to rise to the occasion like the Eastern youths have done with Eastern Security Network, ESN, and take their destiny in their hands. 

Kanu warned the youth that any attempt to compromise would end the Yoruba nation. 

See Also Military Nigerian Soldiers Resigned To Join Kanu’s Eastern Network – Military Sources 0 Comments 18 Hours Ago

The statement read in part, "Somehow I knew he didn't have the guts to withstand their Caliphate masters. His resistance didn't last long, did it? Like his Eastern counterparts, he has capitulated. Which one is herdsmen permit? Do you mean you have government licensed terrorists operating in Yoruba forests? 

"No wonder Pa Fasoranti's daughter was murdered on Yoruba soil by these licensed killers in Yorubaland and the South West governors did nothing. Everybody knows Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders in Nigeria are the dreaded killer bandits and terrorists, raping, kidnapping, and pillaging our indigenous communities. Only God knows what they have promised this governor or perhaps the media heat from the caliphate is too much for him to bear. 

"My Yoruba folks, especially the youths, please learn something from Eastern Security Network. Defend your land and forests yourselves with your lives. If you surrender your future to these unstable politicians, your children and those unborn will be slaves forever. 

"If in doubt, look at what became of the once-great Hausa race. Today Fulani oligarchs have reduced them to nothing, absolutely nothing. A once proud, tolerant, loving, and technologically advanced race like the Hausa is now a shadow of itself because they made the same mistakes Yoruba youths are about to make today. 

"Sokoto was once a thriving Hausa city called Gobir until Fulanis from Sene-Gambia asked and were given permission to graze their cattle in their bushes. Before they realised what was happening, their land was taken over and renamed before their eyes. Yoruba wake up and stand your ground. If you compromise now, you are finished."

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Operatives of the Ekiti State Security Network Agency, popularly called Amotekun Corps, have arrested four suspected kidnappers in Eda Oniyo, Ilejemeje Local Government Area of the state.

The suspects are Abubakar Sule, Shehu Usman, Abubakar Babangida and Sheu Mamuda.

File photo used to illustrate story. PT

The Corps' commander, Brigadier-General Joe Komolafe (retd), who made this known on Friday, said the suspects came into Ekiti from Sokoto and were arrested while on four motorcycles.

Komolafe disclosed that the suspects could not give satisfactory responses as to their mission in the state but confessed to being kidnappers.

Materials found on them included a long rope which they confessed was used to tie kidnap victims in the bush.

He said, "Our men on routine patrol intercepted these four persons suspected to be kidnappers on Friday when they were making their ways into the state from Sokoto state.

"They told us they were coming from Ilorin, the Kwara State Capital, on motorcycles after they were brought in from Sokoto State in a truck a few days ago. Upon questioning, they said they were heading to Akungba Akoko in Ondo State but with no clear mission here.

"What we found on them clearly gave them away as suspected kidnappers and also with their confession. One of them wrote on his motorcycle in the Hausa language, 'Duniya Ba Hutu', which means, 'No Peace in this world'.

"None of the motorcycles has a number plate or documents to show ownership."

The Amotekun commander, who said the suspects would be handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution, assured residents of the agency's readiness to ward off criminal elements from the state.

Therefore, he solicited for maximum cooperation on timely and accurate information on movements of strange individuals in the state.

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Hundreds of almajiri have returned to the streets, months after northern state governors banned them from begging in their states.

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, some northern state governors spent millions evacuating the street children to their home states and some outrightly banned the almajiri practice.

File Photo

However, despite the confusion relocating the almajirai generated among state governors, many children are seen in their numbers, in tattered clothes and begging bowls in Zuba, Bauchi Lafia, Kano and Kaduna.

DailyTrust reports that in Bauchi, an increasing number of almajirai thronged different markets, motor parks, petrol stations, local food joints and prominent junctions in the state capital, particularly Wunti Roundabout, where they spend the day begging for alms.

Almajirai were also seen on major roads, streets, and popular junctions begging for food and money, a situation that exposes them to traffic and other dangers.

Daily Trust Saturday recalled that the Bauchi State Government had last year repatriated hundreds of almajirai to their states of origin and received another set from neighbouring states who were reunited with their parents.

Surajo Hamza, 13, was repatriated to his village in Sheme, Lere LGA in Kaduna State. He returned to Bauchi two weeks ago.

"Our Malam, Malam Sani, went to our village two weeks ago and brought us back to Bauchi," he said. "I was among hundreds of almajirai who were repatriated from Bauchi State to our state of origin."

Yusuf Rabe, 10, from Dagolo village in Katsina State is now an almajiri at Unguwar Kurmi in Bauchi metropolis.

"It was my brother who brought me back to Bauchi six weeks ago to Alaramma school in Unguwar Kurmi. I don't know why they brought me back to Bauchi because I was taken back to my parents," he said.

A resident, Garba Mohammed, said that the state government was not sincere about its ban of the almajiri system because, "there is no practical step to monitor the implementation of the ban, neither is there an arrangement to enforce the ban. Any filling station you enter in the metropolis, you see these children chasing you for alms."

The proprietor of a tsangaya school, under the leadership of Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, had rejected the ban on the almajiri system by the northern state governors, describing the move as callous, discriminatory, and a conspiracy against Qur'anic knowledge.

The Bauchi State Commissioner of Religious Affairs and Community Relations, Ado Sarkin Aska Zigau, declined to comment and insisted on a face-to-face encounter when contacted on the phone. When our reporter requested to meet the commissioner, he dropped the call.

However, the Commissioner of Education, Dr Aliyu Usman Tilde said that the government is aware of the return of the almajirai. A committee is at work to find solutions to the challenge.

"The committee is still working and consulting with critical stakeholders on a gradual process to enforce the ban because this system has been in place for over 1,000 years," he said.

Tilde explained that the committee had already directed the local government councils, through their welfare offices, to commence preparations for a smooth process of implementing the new approach to tackle the problems.

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Authorities of the detention facility where the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, and his wife Zeenat, are being held say they are not aware Zeenat tested positive for coronavirus.

The couple's son, Muhammed, announced his mother's condition this week after the couple's doctor visited them in detention.

Zakzaky and wife Zeenat

But controller of Kaduna Correctional Service, Ibrahim Maradun, said he has yet to receive test results after a sample was taken on Wednesday by officials of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.

He said Zeenat had been in isolation since the sample was taken, DailyTrust reports.

"As far as I am concerned, the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) officials took her sample on Wednesday around 5 pm and I am yet to receive the result," he said.

"She has been in isolation since the day. Her personal physician has been seeing her from time to time in the company of the doctors representing the state and the correctional service."

Kaduna Corrections Command debunked reports of the infection, saying there was "no such incident in any of our facilities, as all our inmates are safe and highly protected from the virus".

It cited its efforts in March to lock down all custodial centres and halted admission of new inmates while installing gadgets to facilitate compliance with COVID-19 prevention protocols.

El-Zakzaky and his wife have been in detention since 2015 after some of his followers clashed with soldiers in Zaria, Kaduna.

El-Zakzaky is standing trial over allegations of culpable homicide, unlawful assembly, disruption of the public peace, among other charges.

Their stay at the correctional facility in Kaduna started after the couple returned from a botched medical trip in India.

News of her testing positive, released by her son, raised concern about the possible flare-up of coronavirus infections in Kaduna's correction centres.

On Friday, IMN called for the release of the couple.

Members of the movement thronged Ahmadu Bello Way in Kaduna to protest continued "illegal detention" of the El-Zakzaky's.

The group said it is deeply worried that even six days after contracting the COVID-19 while in detention at Kaduna prison, Zeenat had not been taken to any specialised hospital for such patients to receive proper medical care.

She "has been denied treatment for acute medical conditions, including severe arthritis of the knee for five years now," Ibrahim Musa, president of IMN media forum, said in a statement.

"Given her underlying medical conditions and age, her infection places her at heightened risk of severe illness and death. Sheikh Zakzaky himself suffers from many underlying conditions which put him at high risk of developing life-threatening symptoms should he contract the virus."

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Violence erupted in Igangan in the Ibarapa North Local Government Area of Oyo State on Friday when a popular Yoruba activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho, reportedly stormed the Fulani settlement in the town to eject the Seriki Fulani, Salihu Abdukadir, and some other herdsmen accused of fuelling security problems in the area.

Unconfirmed reports claimed that some persons were killed while properties worth several millions of naira were set ablaze during the clash which occurred in the evening.

Punchng

Although Igboho could not be reached as calls to his telephone line indicated that he was out of reach, residents of Igangan, however, said that Fulani fighters killed at least one youth from Igboora while two others sustained injuries from gunshots.

SaharaReporters had reported that the settlement of Abdulkadir was allegedly set on fire by aggrieved youths on Friday night.

Abdulkadir told SaharaReporters in Ibadan that he, his wives and children were sent out of the settlement, adding that 11 vehicles and houses were burnt in the process.

He told SaharaReporters that despite assurance by the police and the people of the state, his house was burnt in the presence of security agents.

He said, "As we speak, we are in the bush. Our cars, numbering about 11, have been burnt. Some of my children sustained injuries, and we are looking for a way to get them to the hospital. My children have left their houses for the bush. We need the government to help us. Police, Operation Burst and other security agencies were there when they set my house ablaze."

Chairman of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association in the state, Alhaji Ibrahim Jiji, also confirmed the incident to our correspondent on the phone.

He said, "As we usually say, not all Fulani people are evil. Good people are among us. What can we call this now? The man is a gentleman and see how he was chased out of his house. We need the government to act now," he said.

The Seriki also told our correspondent that one Fulani woman was killed. He said he had fled the town before Igboho returned on Friday.

Both sides' claims could not be independently verified as of press time on Friday.

Igboho had last week issued a seven-day notice to quit to Seriki and his associates.

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State had in a broadcast warned people fuelling the ethics crisis to desist from such acts.

Despite this, Igboho and his supporters stormed Igangan on Friday afternoon.

Addressing the youths, Igboho said, "They started deploying soldiers here yesterday (Thursday). When our people were being kidnapped and killed, there were no soldiers to secure them.

Reacting, the Oyo State PPRO, Mr. Olugbenga Fadeyi, said, "Tactical police teams with Operation Burst are on ground to give maximum security protection while efforts are on to ascertain the situation there."

Meanwhile, on Friday, Makinde said that his government would not allow anyone hiding under the guise of ethnic interest to perpetrate a crisis in the state, Punch reports.

Makinde said the war to be waged by the state and the security agencies were against criminal elements, irrespective of their tribes, religions or creed.

He added that his administration would not allow anyone to threaten the state's peace by acting unlawfully as such was against the nation's constitution.

The governor, who spoke while receiving the new Commissioner of Police in the state, Mrs Ngozi Onadeko, said the state government would not relent in prioritising the welfare of security agencies in the state.

The governor said, "For people stoking ethnic tension, they are criminals, and once you get them, they should be arrested and treated like common criminals. For this administration, the major pillar for us is security, because we know that all the good economic plans we have won't be possible in an atmosphere of chaos and insecurity."

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Russian authorities crack down on protests in support of jailed Putin critic Alexei Navalny.