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Insecurity: Gunmen Set Divisional Police Station Ablaze In Ondo Community On New Year Day
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Suspected terrorists on Wednesday night attacked Ipele community in Owo Local Government Area of Ondo State, setting the Divisional Police Station ablaze and throwing residents into panic.
It was gathered that the attackers, said to be about 20 in number, stormed the community around 10 p.m., shooting sporadically and forcing residents to flee their homes in fear.
Eyewitnesses said the assailants specifically targeted the police facility in the community, which was eventually razed during the attack.
One of the witnesses, who pleaded anonymity, described the incident as a coordinated assault.
He said the attackers operated in a commando-style manner for several hours while security personnel were reportedly overwhelmed by the intensity of the attack.
“It was a terrorist attack. The attackers, numbering about 20, came into Ipele community in a commando style and started shooting sporadically before attacking the Divisional Police Station.
“Many of us had to flee into the bush. The sounds from the attack were terrifying, and no one could withstand it,” he said.
Other residents also described the incident as horrifying, saying many people escaped into nearby bushes to avoid being harmed.
As of the time of filing this report, there was no official confirmation of casualties, although security agencies which include men of the Nigeria Police, Nigeria Army and Amotekun Corps have since been deployed to the area.
When contacted, the Ondo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Jimoh Abayomi, confirmed the attack to the Nation in an interview but said details were still sketchy.
Abayomi added that the command would provide further information after receiving a proper briefing.
The attack has heightened fear among residents, who called on the government to strengthen security presence and protect vulnerable communities from recurring assaults.
The incident occurred barely 24 hours after the Ondo State Security Network Agency, also known as the Amotekun Corps, announced the arrest of 39 suspected terrorists in the state.
The Amotekun Commander, Adetunji Adeleye, while briefing journalists on Tuesday in Akure, said the suspects were arrested at the Elegbeka area of Ose Local Government Area after allegedly fleeing Sokoto State following United States airstrikes targeting militants linked to the Islamic State (IS) group in north-western Nigeria.
Meanwhile, the attack comes two months after a leaked memo by the Department of State Services (DSS) addressed to the 32 artillery brigade of the Nigerian Army in Akure, revealing that members of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) are planning to carry out coordinated attacks on communities in Ondo.
The memo had stated that intelligence confirmed plans by members of ISWAP terrorist group to carry out coordinated attacks on communities in Ondo and Kogi States anytime soon.
“Some identified target locations within Ondo State include, Eriti Akoko, Oyin Akoko communities in Akoko North West LGA and Owo town in Owo LGA respectively.
“It was further gathered that the groups have commenced surveillance on potential soft targets in the above mentioned locations.
“Consequently, there is a need to scale up the level of security alertness in the various communities to forestall any untoward situation.”
Although, the state government had said leaked security memo from the DSS warning of a possible terrorist attack in the state was “part of regular intelligence reports.”
Idowu Ajanaku, the Ondo commissioner for information and orientation, had said such intelligence reports are routine and form part of ongoing efforts by security agencies to identify and prevent potential threats.
He reassured the public that the intelligence is being taken seriously, with appropriate precautions already in place to safeguard residents.
A late-night fire has destroyed six houses, several shops and storage facilities at Kofar Wanbai Market in Kano State, with property worth millions of naira reportedly lost.
The fire broke out at about 9:43pm on Friday in the Babban Layi, Yan Robobi section of the market, according to the Kano State Fire Service.
The agency’s Public Relations Officer, Saminu Abdullahi, confirmed the incident in a statement issued on Saturday.
He said a distress call from a Principal Fire Superintendent, Usman Idris Fagge, prompted the immediate deployment of firefighting teams from the state headquarters and stations at Rijiyar Zaki, Sabon Gari, Government House and Bompai.
Abdullahi said firefighters arrived to find the blaze had engulfed parts of a two-storey building measuring about 120 by 125 feet and used mainly as plastic shops and storage facilities.
He identified the affected houses as Gidan Alhaji Sani, Gidan Sani Muhammad, Gidan Alhaji Kwa Kwa, Gidan Alhaji Shafi’u and Gidan Alhaji Sulaiman.
According to him, the fire started on the upper floor before spreading to two shops on the ground floor, two on the first floor, six permanent stores and four temporary units on the top floor.
Firefighters eventually brought the inferno under control and prevented it from spreading to adjoining sections of the busy market.
Preliminary findings by the fire service indicated that the blaze was caused by a faulty solar system installation.
The Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Sani Anas, urged traders and residents to observe fire safety measures, install smoke detectors and ensure that functional fire extinguishers are available in commercial and residential premises.
A Kaduna-based man, Nasiru Musa Idris, has accused Islamic cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi of allegedly keeping his Moroccan wife away from him for about 11 months after he took her to the cleric for counselling.
Idris made the allegation in an interview with RFI Hausa, claiming he took his wife to Gumi after the cleric requested to counsel her because she was young.
According to him, his wife stopped responding to his calls after the meeting, while attempts to have security agencies investigate the matter were allegedly frustrated.
“For 11 months now, my wife has been in his hands through injustice and ill-treatment. He has no relationship with her; she had never known him. The only place they knew each other was through me,” Idris alleged.
Gumi, however, has denied the allegation, insisting that the Moroccan woman had already left Nigeria and was in Morocco with her parents.
The cleric, who declined to provide further details because the matter is before a court, also threatened to sue Idris for defamation.
“But I will take him to court for defamation against me. As for the issue of the girl, she has already left Nigeria and she is in Morocco happily with her parents,” Gumi said.
Idris said he first met Gumi at a pharmacy on Isa Kaita Road in Kaduna while he was with members of his family and later introduced his Moroccan wife to the cleric.
He said his wife had no prior connection with anyone in Nigeria before he travelled to Morocco to marry her, adding that the marriage was conducted with the approval of her parents and relevant authorities.
“The Moroccan girl had never known anyone in Nigeria and nobody knew her except through me. I went to seek her hand in marriage in her country, and we had an engagement with the approval of the embassy and the approval of her parents,” he said.
The dispute, according to Idris, escalated after Gumi allegedly asked him to obtain another marriage certificate from a Sharia Court despite the couple already having marriage documents issued in Morocco and Nigeria.
“I told him that I did not agree with the marriage certificate he told me to obtain. Later, he went to the Sharia Court in Malali and asked them to issue one to him,” Idris alleged.
He said he submitted several documents supporting the marriage, including papers from Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Nigerian embassy in Morocco, alongside other documents and a police character report.
Idris further alleged that Gumi later sought the dissolution of the marriage and interfered with efforts by security agencies to investigate the matter.
He urged the cleric to honour a police invitation and submit himself to questioning.
“My complaint is that he should come forward and answer the invitation of the police so that an investigation can be conducted. If he is right, there is nothing stopping him from going to the authorities to clear his name,” he said.
Idris also rejected claims that his wife’s mother travelled to Nigeria and took her daughter back to Morocco.
He maintained that he personally processed the documents that enabled his wife to travel to Nigeria, insisting that he only took her to Gumi because he trusted the cleric and believed he was seeking to help the young woman.
“Because I trusted him, I took her there. From then on, whenever I called, she did not answer the phone,” he alleged.
Meanwhile, Malam Nasiru Ayuba, popularly known as Dan Agaji, chairman of the Volunteers of Sultan Bello Mosque, Kaduna, and Gumi’s personal assistant on special assignment, denied that the cleric kept Idris’ wife in his house.
“The allegation that Malam kept his wife in his house is not true. It was the woman herself who went to Malam to ask him for help,” Ayuba said.
He claimed that the Moroccan woman approached Gumi over a personal matter and sought his intervention, after which the cleric took the matter to court.
“She brought the matter herself because she knew what she was going through. Th
Today sons and daughters of Ikwerre LGA in Port Harcourt held a civic reception in his honour.
The message was as they declare that on election day, before 11 am, Rotimi Amaechi will tell his people to boycott the election because he knows there’s no way he’ll defeat us. If he wins his village, Ubima, then he has won the election. That’s if he will win his own polling unit.
Watch below:
Fire Guts Kano Market, Destroys Six Houses, Shops, Warehouses
Moroccan Wife Has Been Away From Me for 11 Months — Husband Accuses Sheikh Gumi
Watch Wike delivering his speech at civic reception held in his honour today
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