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In the Kankara killing, it was reported that the hoodlums were attending a wedding party (Walima) of one of their kingpins, named as ‘Mai Katifa Mutuwa’ before the fatal conflict between some of the hoodlum and the vigilantes.

According to the source, “Between 3 and 4 pm yesterday (Saturday), we learnt that some vigilante members clashed with some of the bandits who came to Majifa village to attend the wedding ceremony of one of their leaders, known as ‘Katifa Mutuwa.’

“The clash eventually led to the invasion of nearby villages in the area by the hoodlums shooting sporadically.”

Five people were killed in Gurbi, according to the source, while another 13 bodies were discovered between the communities of Majifa, Makera, and Gidan Jifau.

The source continued by saying that the terrorists attacked more than ten local settlements, including Gurbi, Danmarke, Majifa, Gidan Baso, Gidan Sarka, Gidan Jiho, Gidan Ancho, Gidan Sanka, Dan mangoro, and Gidan Sale, among others.

As of late Saturday night, the bodies of 18 people who were slain in the attack had been found, and 15 others who had been injured in varying degrees had been sent to the Kankara General Hospital for treatment.

One the injured died on the way to the Kankara Hospital, the source said.

“Right now, we can’t confirm the exact number of people killed because the search is still ongoing to discover if there are more victims. Fear couldn’t let us search through the night but hopefully, we should be able to ascertain the exact number of casualties this morning as the search for the casualties has already resumed,” the source added.

When asked about the altercation, Katsina State Police Command spokesperson Gambo Isah responded, “Yes, there was an attack in Majifa. We discovered that some bandits from Zamfara attended a celebration before attacking Majifa village. We discovered there were some cattle as well.

In Kaduna and Katsina states, gunmen have killed no less than 36 people.

While 17 people were killed by gunmen in the Zangon Kataf Local Government Area, LGA, in southern Kaduna State, another 19 villager deaths and 15 injuries occurred on Saturday after a fight between vigilantes and terrorists in the Kankara towns of Katsina State.

The attack in Southern Kaduna perpetrated by several gunmen who were said to have stormed Zangon Kataf LGA at about 7:00 pm on Saturday led to the death of no fewer than 17 persons.

One of the LGAs in the southern section of Kaduna, Zangon Kataf, has experienced killings over the years as a result of a variety of issues, including farmer-herder clashes.

Jonathan Asake, the LP’s nominee for governor, is a native of the LGA.

Via phone on Sunday, one of the locals reported that “The gunmen in their considerable numbers came at around 7:00 pm yesterday (Saturday)”.

“As I speak to you, we have found 17 corpses thus far.”

The Zangon Kataf LGA administration enforced a 24-hour curfew following the killing.

The media aide to the LGA Chairman, Yabo Ephraim, said the curfew would enable the army to restore peace and order in the affected areas, saying in a terse statement, “A 24-hour curfew has been imposed on Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili and Zangon Urban with immediate effect. This is to allow men of the Nigerian army to restore peace on that axis.”

Spokesman of Kaduna State Police Command, Muhammad Jalige, who confirmed the attack, among others, said “From the briefing I received from the Area Commander, trouble started a couple of days ago, when a boy rearing cattle was murdered. We have been trying to manage the situation while investigating the sad occurrence before trouble broke out.

“A joint security team will be combing the bushes in the area Sunday afternoon (yesterday) to search for bodies if there are any. They will also apprehend the suspects responsible for the killings.

“We are on top of the situation and all the hoodlums responsible would be rounded up. But for the timely intervention of joint security personnel coordinated by the Area Commander, the terrorists would have had a field day.”

“Repelling the hoodlums was a tedious task for our security agencies, but they were successful as the terrorists scampered away from the scene.”

Asake, who had earlier asked for calm in Zangon Kataf LGA, reacted by expressing outrage over the incident, expressing sympathy to the families of the deceased, and praying for the repose of the victims’ souls.

His media assistant James Swam, among others, encouraged the Kaduna State government and security organizations to see to it that the culprits were brought to justice in order to serve as a deterrence to other criminal elements in society and prevent retaliation in other areas.

The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council reaffirmed on Sunday that unless the Independent National Election Commission gives LP’s lawyers access to records from the contested February 25 presidential election, its supporters would not abandon their planned statewide protest.

Atiku Abubakar, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, and the nominee of the Labour Party, who received 6,984,520 and 6,101,533 votes respectively, were defeated by Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, who received 8,794,726 votes.

Both Obi and Atiku, who were unhappy with the outcome, sought the election tribunal to request permission to examine the voting equipment.

A few days later, the Court of Appeal in Abuja granted their petitions for access to inspect the election materials, but the commission refused to comply.

In order to reconfigure the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System devices in time for the March 18 gubernatorial and state assembly polls, INEC obtained a court injunction four days prior to the development.

Yunusa Tanko, the primary spokesman for the Obi campaign committee, insisted there was no turning back from mobilizing their followers to occupy INEC offices around the country.

Tanko charged INEC with defying the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal’s directive to give Obi and the party access to the authenticated copies of the materials used to conduct the election.

“We didn’t fix a date for the protest because we deliberately wanted to give INEC up till Monday to respond to us first.

“But when they (INEC) fail to do what they are supposed to do, our supporters will hit the streets, by the grace of God. There is no going back,” he said.

The Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi Oyekanmi, declined to respond when asked about whether INEC will agree to the request of Obi’s legal team.

In a similar vein, Muyiwa Adejobi, the force’s public relations officer, claimed to be ignorant of any correspondence between the LP and the police to that effect.

The police spokesman had not provided an update as of the time this report was filed regarding their response to the anticipated demonstration.

The Peoples Democratic Party leadership in Osun State has protested the police’s widespread detention of its leaders, stating that the action was taken to rig the State Assembly elections scheduled for next Saturday.

In a statement obtained in Osogbo on Sunday, the party’s acting state chairman, Dr. Akindele Adekunle, said PDP members would occupy police stations throughout the state in peaceful protest unless Mr. Usman Baba Alkali, the inspector general of police, stopped the ongoing detention of the party’s leaders.

The party said that the IGP Alkali had a responsibility to uphold the law impartially and that the police chief shouldn’t follow orders from APC leaders over who to detain or arrest.

The statement partly read, “Our leaders are being arrested in a bid to rig Saturday’s election. We will resist any ploy to manipulate the polls. Osun people voted overwhelmingly for PDP in the last polls. They are ready to freely exercise their voting rights again. Arresting our leaders on Kangaroo charges is an attack on democracy and our fundamental human rights.

“We call on the Inspector General of Police to stop serving the evil interest of the APC. The police boss has a sacred duty to be an impartial enforcer of the law, not an agent of one political party against the other. It is unacceptable for the IGP to take directives on who to arrest or detain from APC chieftains. This is a democracy, not a military dictatorship.

“We will not resort to self-help. We are law-abiding citizens and a ruling party in Osun state. But if this harassment of our members continues, we will mobilize and storm all police posts in Osun state in a peaceful protest. Let the IGP arrest all Osun PDP members.”

When reached, Mr. Kola Olabisi, the Osun APC spokesperson, said he would respond to the statement, but as of the time this story was filed, he had not yet done so.

Nevertheless, the spokeswoman for the Osun Police Command, Yemisi Opalola, denied that any particular group’s members had been arbitrarily detained and insisted that the command was only after criminals.

For law-abiding citizens to live in peace, Opalola said police will continue to make arrests, and he urged everyone’s assistance to guarantee effective enforcement throughout the state.

“We are police, not politicians. We are after criminals and if we arrest anybody, the person must have done something which is against the law.

“We have no affiliation with any political party.

“Criminals will belong to one group or the other. We don’t know and we are not concerned with that. What we are concerned with is the security of lives and property. We are law enforcers and we will arrest anyone who disturbed public peace. There is no need to give a crime colouration,” Opalola concluded.

In connection with the mysterious poisonings of thousands of schoolgirls, Iran has said that it has made more than 100 arrests around the country, alleging that the as-yet-unidentified suspected culprits may have ties to “hostile” parties.

Since late November, schoolgirls have reported “unpleasant” odors on school grounds and have experienced a wave of symptoms including fainting, nausea, shortness of breath, and other symptoms. Some of these cases have required hospital treatment.

The interior ministry reportedly announced the arrests late Saturday, according to state media, following the suspected poison attacks in more than 200 schools that have alarmed and infuriated students and their parents.

“More than 100 people who were responsible for the recent school incidents were identified, arrested, and investigated,” the ministry said in a statement, carried by state news agency , IRNA.

“Among those arrested are people with hostile motives and with the aim of instilling terror in the people and students and to close schools.”

The ministry added that “fortunately, from the middle of the last week until today, the number of incidents in schools has decreased significantly, and there have been no reports of sick students.”

The statement pointed at possible links to an Albania-based exiled Iranian opposition group that Tehran considers a “terrorist” organisation, the People’s Mujahedin of Iran or Mujahedeen-e-Khalq.

“The investigation of these criminal people, including the discovery of their possible connection with the terrorist organisations such as the MEK and others, is ongoing,” reported IRNA.

The poisonings began two months into the nationwide demonstrations that erupted in Iran after Mahsa Amini, a 22-year-old ethnic Kurd arrested on suspicion of breaking strict dress codes for women, died on September 16. Mahsa Amini was killed.

These protests, which Iran frequently refers to as “riots,” have been attributed by Iran to hostile forces abroad that are connected to its arch-enemies the United States, Israel, and their supporters.

According to the most recent official count, more than 5,000 students have been impacted at over 230 schools located in 25 of Iran’s 31 provinces.

The ministry reported that arrests were made in the northern provinces of Tehran, Qom, and Gilan; the northeastern province of Razavi Khorasan; the northwest provinces of West Azerbaijan, East Azerbaijan, and Zanjan; the western provinces of Kurdistan and Hamadan; the southwest province of Khuzestan; and the southern province of Fars.

Last Monday, the Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei demanded that those responsible for the unforgivable atrocity be apprehended without mercy.

Following a fire incident at the oil mill market along Aba Road in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, goods and property valued in the millions of naira were lost.

Even though the source of the fire was not discovered right away, it was discovered that it began early on Saturday while the traders were still at home.

The Rumuokwurusi hamlet in the state’s Obio/Akpor Local Government Area hosts the well-known midweek oil mill market.

On Wednesdays, the market draws vendors who bring their wares from neighboring states.

The fire, which began at around 6:45 am, burned for many hours, according to an eyewitness, until firefighters came to put it out.

Several of the shopkeepers tallied their losses as they bemoaned the effect the blaze would have on their enterprises and pleaded with Governor Nyesom Wike to help them.

The caller informed the middle-aged woman, who just gave her name as Ebere, that she was still asleep when her phone called.

She said, “This morning, I was still sleeping when I received a call that the market was on fire. When I got there, all my goods and those of others had been destroyed.

“A trailer load of yam, garri and charcoal which we off-loaded all burnt.

“Please, Governor Wike, come and help us. We are dying because of this fire!”

Another victim, who identified herself as a widow, sobbed hysterically while claiming that she had taken out loans to pay for the goods in her two businesses, which were now empty.

“I am a widow, my husband died since 2007. I borrowed the money that I used in buying things and I am still paying interest.

“My two shops and all the tubers of yam I bought have burnt to ashes. Who is going to help me? How do I pay back the money I borrowed?

That is what I am thinking now,” she said while fighting back tears.

Commenting on the incident, Rumuokwrushi, O. C. Wosu, Chairman of the Community Development Committee, said that the fire’s origin was still a mystery but that he was relieved that no one had been hurt.

“I got distressed calls from many traders calling me that some section of the oil mill market was on fire.

“I quickly called the fire service. As God will have it, the Total E&P fire service, the Shell fire service also came, and they were able to contain the fire.

“I thank God that there was no casualty. The traders’ goods were affected, you know, goods, including buildings worth over N500,000.

“I call on the Rivers State and the local government to come and assist these people,” he pleaded.

17 people have died as a result of last night’s attack on the Ungwan Wakili hamlet in Kaduna State’s Zango Kataf Local Government Area.

In addition to the one victim from yesterday and the two patients who passed away in the hospital, 14 bodies that were found this morning.

It was learned from the military on the ground that the recent attack might be related to the killing of a Fulani herder four days ago in Ungwan Juju, apparently in retaliation for the killing of one of their locals last month, aside from the pockets of complaints of cow poisoning and destruction of farm produce by the locals and Fulani, which they have been resolving.

Addressing to reporters, Mr. Francis Sani Zimbo, the council chairman of Zango Kataf Local Government, denounced the brutal assault and reaffirmed that investigations are ongoing to identify the offenders and hold them accountable.

He expressed remorse over the decision to remove all Mobile Police checkpoints from the impacted villages before to last night’s attack.

While protesting, the locals questioned how an attack could endure for almost 40 minutes without a single attacker being shot by security personnel despite the presence of a forward operating base in the neighborhood.

A source that spoke on condition of anonymity stated, “A police officer and 10 others were killed on Saturday night when a confusion endued earlier in the afternoon between security operatives and a Fulani man at a checkpoint in Ungwan Wakili.”

“First, a Fulani man and  the police were shot and killed at the checkpoint.The situation became worse  in the evening when some fishermen  were attacked and one was allegedly hacked to death.”

“A dusk to dawn curfew was imposed on the troubled communities ,Ungwan Juju, Mabuhu, Ungwan Wakili, and Zango Urban. Angwan Wakili, Angwan Juju, and Mabuhu communities in Atyap chiefdom  were threatened to be attacked.”

“Yesterday, 11th March, 2023 at about 4:45pm, I got informed that the security personnel at a checkpoint in Angwan Wakili tried to stop some Fulani men who were on motorcycle, but they tried to pick a fight with the mobile police officers. One of the officers was hit with a stick by the Fulani and the officer shot one of them on his leg. In retaliation, the Fulani also shot one of the officers who quickly rushed to the hospital.”

“The  Fulani regrouped  and returned to the checkpoint at about 10 pm and opened fire on the security personnel.But by this time, it was the military that was at the checking point exchanging fire.”

The injured were rushed to nearby hospitals..

The Abia government has stated that it will penalize any individual, team, or company that refuses to use the 500 and 1,000 naira notes for commercial transactions.

The threat was made public in a statement that Mr. Chris Ezem, the state’s secretary, provided to journalists in Umuahia on Saturday.

Ezem claimed that the choice was consistent with the Supreme Court’s order extending the legal tender status of the previous 200, 500, and 1000 naira notes through December 31.

“Abia State Government advises Abia residents to feel free to carry out their financial transactions with the old naira notes alongside the new notes as stipulated.

“Any individual, group or business entity that rejects the old notes will be contravening the law of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and stands the risk of facing sanctions,” Ezem added.

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), has been urged by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project to “instruct the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, and the National Broadcasting Commission to urgently withdraw the ‘last warning’ and threat to revoke the licenses of broadcast stations and shut them down over their coverage of elections and post-election matters.”

Last week, the NBC threatened to suspend or revoke the licenses of broadcast stations, saying that it was “giving its last warning to broadcast stations and will not hesitate to shut or revoke the license of any when convinced that its activities are capable of undermining the peaceful coexistence of the country.”

This was his disclosed in a statement following a meeting between the NBC’s Director-General, Balarabe Ilelah, and broadcast stations on the coverage of the February 25 presidential and National Assembly elections.

However, the organization warned that the NBC’s “last warning” and threat, if not immediately withdrawn, would restrict freedom of expression and the capacity of broadcast stations to cover significant issues surrounding the 2023 general election. The letter, dated March 11, 2023, was signed by SERAP deputy director Kolawole Oluwadare.

Threatening to close down and withdraw the licenses of broadcast stations just for acting in their “watchdog function” is, in the opinion of SERAP, clearly in conflict with Nigeria’s constitutional responsibilities and its obligations under international human rights law.

The letter partly read, “Political expression is a fundamental right. The threat by the NBC creates a significant risk that legitimate expression may be prohibited.

“Such unlawful prohibition may prevent transparency and dissemination of information on legitimate issues of public interest around the 2023 general election.

“We would be grateful if the requested action is taken within 48 hours of the receipt and/or publication of this letter. If we have not heard from you by then, SERAP shall take all appropriate legal actions to compel your government to comply with our request in the public interest.”

According to SERAP, the danger could have a direct effect on broadcast stations’ operations in ways that are incompatible with the freedoms of expression, access to information, and media freedom.

It stated that the FG had a legal obligation to create an atmosphere that allowed a wide range of political viewpoints and ideas to be freely expressed and discussed in relation to the general election.

“The threat by the NBC is neither necessary nor proportionate, as it would unduly intrude upon Nigerians’ right to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.

“The use of vague and undefined phrases such as ‘unpatriotic individuals’ ‘subversive, hateful, and inciting utterances, particularly post-election’, as grounds to threaten to shut down broadcast stations is inconsistent and incompatible with human rights requirements,” the organisation added.

According to SERAP, the danger could have a direct effect on broadcast stations’ operations in ways that are incompatible with the freedoms of expression, access to information, and media freedom.

It stated that the FG had a legal obligation to create an atmosphere that allowed a wide range of political viewpoints and ideas to be freely expressed and discussed in relation to the general election.

“The threat by the NBC is neither necessary nor proportionate, as it would unduly intrude upon Nigerians’ right to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom.

“The use of vague and undefined phrases such as ‘unpatriotic individuals’ ‘subversive, hateful, and inciting utterances, particularly post-election’, as grounds to threaten to shut down broadcast stations is inconsistent and incompatible with human rights requirements,” the organisation added.

According to SERAP, the FG is legally obligated to refrain from imposing limits that are inconsistent with the requirements of human rights, including on the debate of political and election-related matters.

“It is also against constitutional and international human rights requirements to threaten broadcast stations solely for their coverage of the election-related issues on the basis of nebulous terms like ‘unguarded statements, divisive and dangerous comments,’ ‘negative conversations,’ as used by the NBC.

“The threat may stifle reporting on political and election-related issues, as well as have a deterrent effect on the public’s exercise of their right to freedom of expression on political and election-related issues, in particular issues deemed controversial or critical,” it added.

The National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) Renewal Group has advised opposition groups protesting Sen. Bola Tinubu’s announcement as the nation’s next president to give up on trying to overturn his victory.

The group referred to Tinubu’s election as president-elect as the best thing that had ever occurred to Nigeria in recent memory in a statement released on Saturday in Ado-Ekiti.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Labour Party (LP) attempted to overturn Tinubu’s victory through the tribunal, but Prof. Atilade Adeeyo, the party’s national leader, called their efforts a futile exercise.

The two runners-up in the presidential election on February 25—Mr. Peter Obi of the LP and Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the PDP—he claimed—would not succeed in overturning Tinubu’s triumph.

He urged the pair to concede defeat graciously so that the nation could advance.

Adeeyo characterized Tinubu as a patriotic and tactical leader with a potent political network spanning the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

“President-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu has an impressive track record as a great, patriotic leader.

“He displayed this uncommon leadership trait when he served as the governor of Lagos State.

He claimed that one of the reasons Tinubu won the election was that “all Nigerians admire him for being a beautiful bride.

“He deployed competence and enduring capacities of a pan-Nigeria cabinet in his government to achieve giant strides in Lagos State and we all are witnesses to the awesome development that state has got,’’ he said.

Adeeyo added that Tinubu is adored by the majority of patriotic Nigerians because he builds men up rather than tears them down.

“This is the more reason why Nigerians will experience the best of governance under his watch as president.

“We can also assure our teeming youths to be rest assured that Tinubu will ensure that their yearnings for a greater future is taken care of when he mounts the saddle of power.

“We are standing up for our nation and Nigeria will work again. The families of those that died in the post-annulment of the 1993 presidential election will wish the annulment never happened.

“I speak for thousands of members in the NADECO Renewal Group, and urge Nigerians to allow peace to reign so that we can enjoy the renewed hope promised by the president-elect,’’ Adeeyo added.