*Police kill 10 bandits, injure several others in gun duel in Niger
*Slain officers drawn from Lagos, Abeokuta
*Alleged killing, persecution of Christians: Presidency attacks Bishop Kukah
By Our Reporters with Agency Sources
No fewer than 13 mobile policemen deployed from Lagos and Ogun states to Zamfara were on Sunday, killed by bandits operating in the area.
A source informed our correspondent that the slain police officers were drawn from Mopol 16 – Abeokuta and Mopol 20-Lagos.
The Unit commander of Mopol 16 is said to be among the victims.
The details of the killing are still sketchy by the time of going to press.
Police kill 10 bandits, injure several others in gun fight in Niger
In a related development, the Nigerian Police special unit, Operation PUFF ADDER has killed at least 10 armed bandits when the gunmen attacked the Police camp at Kundu village in Rafi local government area of Niger State.
Two members of the special unit, an Inspector and a sergeant also lost their lives in the attack on the bandits.
The incident which occurred on Saturday, it was gathered left several other escaped bandits with injuries in the battle that lasted for two hours.
It was learnt that the bandits numbering over 100 rode on about 30 motorcycles and launched an attack on the Police camp located at a primary school in Kundu village, about two kilometres from Zungeru town at about 10am and opened fire on the Policemen.
A source close to the police camp in Kundu told DAILY POST that the bandits emerged from a maize farm, about 50 meters from the PUFF ADDER camp.
“Taking over from the farm, the bandits attacked the diseased policemen that have strategically positioned themselves before the arrival of the bandits.”
A resident of the community told our reporter that after about two hours of heavy exchange of fire, about 10 bandits were killed, the bodies of the deceased bandits were successfully carried away by their members.
“Some of them were moving the bodies of those killed while others engaged the Policemen in the gun battle. A woman was among the bandits killed and her body also taken away.”
Consequently, the state governor, Abubakar Sani Bello on Sunday, accompanied by all the heads of security agencies, visited the scene of the attack and assured the security agents of the administration’s support in the fight against armed bandits in the state.
Commending the resilience and braveness of Operation PUFF ADDER in repelling the attack on the village, Bello stated, “we have ordered for some equipment that will reduce casualties on the side of our security agents and make the fight against these criminals easier. Very soon those equipment will arrive”
“I assure you that your efforts in ensuring the peace and security of the state will not be in vain, the government will do whatever it can to support the families of those Policemen that were killed in the attack.”
Alleged killing, persecution of Christians: Bishop Kukah’s petition to US most unfortunate – Presidency
The Presidency has responded to recent claims against the Buhari administration by Bishop Matthew Kukah before the U.S Parliament.
Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Sokoto, Kukah had expressed the fear that the Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari is not handling issues concerning religious crisis the right way.
The revered cleric said this at a virtual presentation with the US Congress in Washington on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic extremist groups in the Northern Region of Nigeria.
Kukah, among many other things, told the Congress that although the attack on Christians in Nigeria have been happening for many years now it has risen in the last 10 years.
Reacting to this in a statement signed by Garba Shehu, a senior special assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, the Presidency said it is unfortunate, and disappointing, for citizens of Nigeria to bear witness to one of their Churchmen castigating their country in front of representatives of a foreign parliament.
“We are all too familiar with these overseas political tours that opposition politicians take – visiting foreign leaders and legislators in the United States, United Kingdom and Europe. So, the argument goes, if they are heard seriously abroad, then Nigerian citizens back home should surely listen to them too,” the statement added.
“But in order to be heard at all, and to maximise media coverage back home for their activities, inevitably these visits involve painting the worst possible picture of our country before their chosen foreign audience.
“Soon enough we inescapably hear an identical list of racist tropes against northerners, how one religion dominates governance above all others, how the government is doing nothing to address herder-farmer disturbances, and how the government spends money on infrastructure to benefit everyone but the group and religion of the speaker. Of course, in order not to disappoint their western audience, regardless of fact, the list is always the same-and always slanted for whoever wishes to cross-check.
“Nigerians expect this from their unimaginative opposition – but it is troubling when a so-called man of the Church copies the worst excesses of those seeking personal advancement in public office.
“Only this government has put forward the first and singular plan in nearly a century to address herder-farmer challenges – a fact recognised by international NGOs, including the International Crisis Group. To declare to a foreign audience that this government does nothing is an incredible falsehood.
“To suggest that investment in infrastructure between Nigeria and Niger is wasteful and biased – when a similar infrastructure project between Lagos and Benin has revolutionised the two neighbouring economies to the advantage of both our countries – is quite disturbing.
“There is no bias in this government when the president is northern and Muslim, the vice president southern and Christian, and the cabinet equally balanced between the two religions. But neither is there anything in our Constitution to state that political posts must be apportioned according to ethnicity or faith. It takes a warped frame of mind for a critic to believe ethnicity is of primary importance in public appointments. It is yet more troubling to hear a Churchman isolating one group for criticism purely on ethnic lines.
“With due respect to the esteemed position he holds, the Bishop’s assertion that only Christian schools are being targeted by bandits or terrorists is not supported by the facts on the ground. It is sad to say but also true that victims of crime, kidnapping, banditry and terrorism cut across all strata of the society.
“Sad but true that Kankara students in Katsina State were stolen by bandits of the same Islamic faith as those they took away. The same may be true of those who are still holding the 134 students of the Islamic School at Tegina in Niger State.
“The nation witnessed the sad incident of the female students abducted by bandits at Jangebe in Zamfara State and the over 100 predominantly Muslim students of the Federal Government Girls College Birnin Yauri in Kebbi State who are currently in captivity- and the nation’s security agencies are hard at work to release them unharmed.
“The attack on Christian students is sad and unacceptable; so also is the abduction of students of other faiths. The claim that only Christian schools are being targeted is totally untrue.
“As a nation and a people, we must together define evil as evil. We must not allow our religious differences to divide us. No one gains but the evildoers when we divide our ranks according to ethnicity and religion in confronting them. The bandit, kidnapper and terrorist are the enemies of the people who should be confronted in unison.
“To be clear, The Bible is definitive on matters of ethnicity and racialism: In Romans 2:9-10, it says: ‘There will be trouble and distress for every human being who does evil: first for the Jew, then for the Gentile; but glory, honour and peace for everyone who does good’; And in Galatians 3:28: ‘There is neither Jew nor Gentile, neither slave nor free, nor is there male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.’ Whether Christian or Muslim, we stand by these beliefs and are steadfastly committed to them in governance.
“There is no place in mainstream civil discourse for those who actively, negatively, and publicly label an individual ethnic group, especially before a foreign audience. These are not the views expressed or opinions held by the vast majority of the citizens of Nigeria. For all our challenges as a nation, nearly all of us seek to live together in harmony, celebrating differences, and finding common ground as Nigerians above all. But people like Kukah are doing their best to sow discord and strife among Nigerians.”
More than any other set of people, leaders in politics or religion who preach respect for truth have a duty to practice it. It is a moral and practical responsibility.
Going by the history of the Church as is well known, it will stand up publicly for the truth. It is time others did the same.
