By Francesca Hangeior.

Two officers attached to the Abia State Police Command, Inspectors Dunna Jatau and Bala Mohammed, were ambushed by armed assailants while on official duty on Sunday night.

According to a statement on Monday by the command’s spokesperson, ASP Maureen Chinaka, the officers were attacked by armed men dressed in black attire after dropping off a member of the House of Representatives, Ginger Onwusibe.

The statement read, “On 17/11/2024, at about 20:30hrs, two police officers from the Special Protection Unit Base 4, Makurdi—Inspector Dunna Jatau and Inspector Bala Mohammed—assigned to Hon. Ginger Onwusibe, a member of the House of Representatives representing the Nsiala-Ngwa North/South constituency, were ambushed by armed assailants while on official duty in Umuahia.

“The officers were in a police Toyota Hilux vehicle after accompanying and dropping off the Honourable Member in Umuahia.

“On their way back, near the Umuahia South Local Government Area Secretariat in Ubakala, their vehicle was intercepted by armed men dressed in black attire, operating in a Toyota Corolla with tinted windows.”

“Tragically, Inspector Bala Mohammed sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died at the scene, while Inspector Dunna Jatau and the driver managed to escape the attack,” the statement added.

Following the incident, the police command said it had combed the area and launched a comprehensive search operation to locate the attackers. Tactical teams have been deployed to track the fleeing suspects, and an investigation is ongoing.

“The Abia State Police Command is committed to bringing the perpetrators to justice,” the statement added.

It could be recalled that two soldiers were killed on Wednesday when gunmen attacked an army checkpoint at the Imo/Abia boundary community of Ekenobizi in Umuopara, Umuahia South Local Government Area of Abia State.

Heavy ‘wahala’ as President-elect Donald Trump confirmed Monday that he plans to declare a national emergency on border security and use the US military to carry out a mass deportation of undocumented migrants.

Immigration was a top issue in the election campaign, and Trump has promised to deport millions and stabilize the border with Mexico after record numbers of migrants crossed illegally during President Joe Biden’s administration.

On his social media platform Truth Social, Trump amplified a recent post by a conservative activist that said the president-elect was “prepared to declare a national emergency and will use military assets to reverse the Biden invasion through a mass deportation program.”

Alongside the repost, Trump commented, “True!”

Trump sealed a remarkable comeback to the presidency in his November 5 defeat of Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.

He has been announcing a cabinet featuring immigration hardliners, naming former Immigration and Customs Enforcement acting chief Tom Homan as his “border czar.”

Homan appeared at the Republican National Convention in July, telling supporters: “I got a message to the millions of illegal immigrants that Joe Biden’s released in our country: You better start packing now.”

Authorities estimate that some 11 million people are living in the United States illegally. Trump’s deportation plan is expected directly to impact around 20 million families.

While the US government has struggled for years to manage its southern border with Mexico, Trump has super-charged concerns by claiming an “invasion” is underway by migrants he says will rape and murder Americans.

During his campaign, Trump repeatedly railed against undocumented immigrants, employing incendiary rhetoric about foreigners who “poison the blood” of the United States and misleading his audiences about immigration statistics and policy.

Trump has not elaborated on his immigration crackdown in any detail but during his election campaign repeatedly vowed to invoke the Alien Enemies Act of 1798 to speed up deportations.

Critics say the law is outdated and point to its most recent use during World War II to hold Japanese-Americans in internment camps without due process.

The number of US border patrol encounters with migrants crossing from Mexico illegally is now about the same as in 2020, the last year of Trump’s first term, after peaking at a record 250,000 for the month of December 2023.

The United States, through the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is providing more than $22 million in additional assistance to build resilience and improve food security for Madagascar’s most vulnerable people.

The funding, representing the first year of two new five-year resilience and food security projects, will help our partners reach up to 88,000 extremely poor and marginalized households in the Androy, Anosy, and Atsimo Atsinanana regions of Madagascar. This assistance, which will be implemented by consortiums led by USAID partners Catholic Relief Services and Cultivating New Frontiers in Agriculture, will support marginalized households to build sustainable livelihoods, develop financial capital, and increase their savings and assets. It will also support households to access existing health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene services, and bolster households’ capacity to withstand future shocks and stresses.

This support builds on USAID’s long standing emergency programming in Madagascar to respond to recurrent disasters like drought and cyclones, as well as efforts to strengthen emergency response and increase resilience in the face of these disasters. The United States has provided nearly $103 million for humanitarian assistance in Madagascar in Fiscal Year 2024 and remains committed to supporting the people of Madagascar.