Abducted NYSC Member: Boko Haram Demands Ransom

There are indications that the Boko Haram insurgents have demanded ransom before releasing members of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel) they kidnapped two weeks ago.

Gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram had kidnapped a member of the National Youth Service Corps, Ibrahim Amuta and three other members of the church on their way to Chibok to distribute relief items to internally displaced persons and evangelise.

Amuta’s housemate, Success Ezeanya, whose tweet about the abduction went viral on Saturday, told The Punch on Monday that he was told by a member of the church that the insurgents had demanded N200m before they could release those they kidnapped.

Although a source in Maiduguri said Boko Haram demanded N100m ransom, Ezeanya said that the family of the abducted corps member was communicating with the church

Ezeanya stated, “I haven’t heard anything from AB’s family members. I think they are communicating directly with the church, so I have not heard anything directly from them. I know he is the only son; I don’t know if he is the only child. According to one of the church members, Boko Haram asked for a ransom of N200m.”

It was learnt that Amuta served as a vigilante. Amuta’s colleague, Ezeanya told The Punch that the abducted NYSC member had gained experience combating crime as a member of a vigilante group in Jos, Plateau State.

He had tweeted, “Abraham Amuta is a corps member serving in Maiduguri. He was abducted by Boko Haram two weeks ago. He went for evangelism with a pastor from his church – Living Faith. He is an only son. Let’s not forget him in our prayers.

“He is a Batch B, stream 1 corps member serving in Maiduguri, Borno State. It’s been over two weeks now since he went missing in Maiduguri. Some people claiming to be Boko Haram have called and claimed to have abducted him. Please retweet until the Federal Government sees this.”

Speaking on Monday, Ezeanya described the abducted NYSC member as audacious.

He said, “We were just lodge-mates. I think he is 27 or 28 years old. He has a barber’s in the lodge where we go to cut our hair. I was in Batch A but I’ve passed out, although I’m still in Borno still searching for a job as a Mass Communication graduate.

“AB, however, is in Batch B. I would always interact with him whenever I would go to cut my hair at his place. AB is a very strong guy; the guy has guts. The kind of things he says, he’s a different kind of person.

“He would always talk about his experience as a security agent in Jos (Plateau State) and how he is ready to go to Sambisa Forest whenever the opportunity comes because he has got security experience. He said during the crises in Jos, a vigilante group was set up there and he was part of the group. He is a tough guy.”

Ezeanya stated that he had known Amuta since August 2018, adding that other housemates shared his sentiment about the abducted corps member’s courage.

He condemned the comments on social media ridiculing Amuta for his decision to evangelise and distribute materials in Chibok.

“That shouldn’t be the discussion now. The most important thing is how to have him released, not how he went there. When he comes back, we can begin to query him, saying, ‘Why did you go there?’ But the most important thing we should concern ourselves with now is getting him out.

“Nigerians always find a way of expressing themselves to the fullest, no matter the circumstance. Sometimes, you have to use diplomacy to address things like that. I am surprised that up till now, I have not heard any statement from the Nigeria Police, the Army or the Federal Government.”

When contacted on the telephone, the Pastor of Living Faith Ministries in Borno State, Victor Samaila, declined to speak on the incident.

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Baby Kidnapped at Mountain of Fire Has Been Rescued

Almost two months after she was kidnapped at the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM) regional headquarters in Agege, a two-year-old girl was yesterday rescued in Igando, Lagos, by the police.

Igando Divisional Police Officer (DPO) Taiwo Kasunmu, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), led the operation to rescue Baby Esther Ojo from the kidnappers’ den.

The duo of Nwaigbo Magnus and Sixtus Osunwoke Egwim, who were waiting to collect ransom from the baby’s parents at a fixed location, were arrested during the operation.

It was gathered that the police had been on the kidnappers’ trail since they established contact with Mr. and Mrs. Oladipo Ojo.

The Nation learnt that the suspects gave them six locations to take the ransom to before settling for the place they were arrested. They were said to have changed the locations many times to avoid falling into police. But they were outsmarted by the police, which nabbed them around 12:30pm yesterday.

It was gathered that they led the police to their den where the baby was rescued and handed over to her parents.

The baby’s father, who could not hold back tears, said her rescue had restored his faith in the police.

Police spokesman Bala Elkana, a Deputy Superintendent (DSP), said the operation lasted over four hours.

He said: “The Commissioner of Police has hailed the DPO of Igando and his team for busting the gang. This operation to arrest the suspects today lasted over four hours. The police acted on credible intelligence and led plain-clothes surveillance men on the trail of the suspected kidnappers.

“They had already demanded ransom of undisclosed amount from the parents of the baby and the church. They continued to change the venue for the collection of ransom within Igando axis for over four hours until they were rounded up by the police.

“This is in furtherance of the commitment of the Lagos State Police Command to ensure a crime-free Lagos that will be safe for all,” he said.

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El-Rufai Hits Hard: APC Men Who Are Overambitious Must Be Dealt With By Buhari

The Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has blamed the internal crisis in the All Progressives Congress in the build-up to the 2019 general elections on the desperation of some members who are positioning themselves ahead of the 2023 presidential election.

El-Rufai, while regretting that the APC lost some states to the opposition on account of the inordinate ambitions of some members of the party, argued that it was wrong for the APC members to be scheming ahead of 2023, when President Muhammadu Buhari’s second term had not even taken off.

He said Buhari must be firm and deal decisively with those ambitious men.

El-Rufai spoke in Ikoyi, Lagos on Saturday during an interactive session with members of The Bridge Club, who are mainly businessmen and captains of industries.

He said, “There were a lot of internal crises in the APC; those crises had nothing to do with the 2019 elections; they were all about positioning for 2023. You know politicians can be very strategic; as illiterate as some of them can be, they are very strategic, they can think far ahead of you.

“So, those 2023 aspirations had been busy at work, creating pockets of support that had unintended consequences. I can mention a few states that we lost because of these kinds of aspirations. Some of the things led to unintended consequences and we paid for it. It is my view that President Muhammadu Buhari must be firm and decisive in dealing with these overambitious elements that will make his second term difficult from day one unless curtailed. The President has to be very decisive in dealing with such people.”

He argued that until the political elite, across party lines, had a conversation and agreed on the country’s ideology and goal, Nigeria would not make any progress.

“As you know, whether there is Brexit or not in the UK, there are certain questions that the elite in the UK have accepted as a given. Whether they belong to the Labour, Conservative or Social Democratic party, some things never change; the same with the Democrats and the Republicans in the US. Russia is an enemy, whoever is in power. Whoever is in power, China is a threat. This is what elite consensus is all about.

“Here in Nigeria, our elite have not even agreed on who are our friends; who are our enemies; what are the irreducible minimum that we all must agree upon that no matter what type or government or leader we have, we must for instance, agree that we must give every child in Nigeria free basic education. We must agree on that. Every human being in Nigeria is entitled to universal health care. We must agree on these things. Whoever is the President, whoever is the governor continues to pursue these goals. The nuances of how to achieve the goals may differ from party to party but the goals will remain. We have not had that conversation and I believe it is time we began to have it.”

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Gov. Ganduje Moves To Remove Sanusi As Emir Of Kano?

The governor who alleged take bribe in Dollars, according to several videos, Abdullahi Ganduje, of Kano state, has relaunched moves to remove Muhammad Sanusi II as the emir of Kano.

On Monday, the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission reopened investigation into the expenditure of the state emirate council under Emir Sanusi.

According to The Cable, also at Monday’s plenary of the house of assembly, Kabiru Alhassan Rurum, the speaker, read a letter from one Ibrahim Salisu and others, seeking the creation of new Kano emirates in Karaye, Bichi, Rano and Gaya.

“The governor is determined to remove the emir, and if this does not succeed, he will break the emirate into pieces to whittle down Sanusi’s power,” an official of the state government, who asked not to be named, told TheCable on Monday evening.

Ironically, Ganjude’s move to break the emirate into smaller units will mirror what Abiola Ajimobi, the outgoing governor of Oyo state, did to the olubadan of Ibadan, Saliu Adetunji, whose authority Ajimobi sought to decimate by approving 21 beaded kings for Ibadan. Ganjude and Ajimobi are in-laws.

FOREIGN TRIPS 
Sanusi II’s problem with Ganduje is usually traced to his critical comments in 2017 on the award of contracts to Chinese companies by the state government and on the governor’s foreign trips.

Shortly after the comment, the Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission alleged the misappropriation of N6billion by the Kano emirate council “without the approval of the state government”.

The probe was halted then but it has now been revived.

Sanusi II is believed to have opposed the re-election of Ganjude, who needed a disputed supplementary election to be returned to office in the March 2019 governorship election.

In a letter dated May 2, 2019 seen by TheCable, the state anti-graft commission invited one Isa Bayero to appear before it to shed more light on the payment vouchers from 2013 to 2017 in his name.

EMIRATE’S FUNDS 
Other officers in the emirate council to be quizzed, according to TheCable sources, include Mohammad Sani Kwaru, the accountant, Mannir Sanusi, the chief of staff, Danburan Mujittafa and Falakin Kano.

The letter said the commission was inviting the staff over alleged violation of section 26 of its enabling law in the management of the emirate’s funds.

The letter also stated that the invitation was sequel to the power conferred to it under “section 9 and 15 of Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-corruption Commission Law 2008 (as amended).”

Sanusi II was appointed the 14th emir in 2014 after his suspension from office as governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) by former president Goodluck Jonathan.

Ganduje was the deputy governor to Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso when Sanusi II was appointed, but the former governor is no longer on good terms with his successor.

Kwankwaso supported his son-in-law, Abba Kabiru Yusuf, to challenge Ganduje, but the incumbent was returned with a score of 1,033,695 — a narrow difference of 8,982 votes.

Ganjude lost the Kano municipal heavily, leading to rumours that he would come after the emir after the election.

Sanusi II is the grandson of Muhammadu Sanusi I, the 11th emir of Kano who was deposed in 1963 after a disagreement with Ahmadu Bello, the sardauna of Sokoto and premier of northern region at the time.

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