Crime
BREAKING: Ebonyi Residents Flee Community As Death Toll From Herdsmen Attack Rises To 16
Residents of Amegu Nkalaha Community in the Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State are fleeing their houses in droves as the death toll in Sunday’s armed herdsmen invasion rose to 16.
On Monday, hundreds of residents were seen on the road, leaving the community with some of their belongings, including cooking pots and mattresses to nearby communities.
On getting to the community, the surviving residents were seen in clusters mourning their losses.
Houses and properties that were burned and destroyed by the invading assailants who took advantage of Sunday morning, when majority of the people had gone to churches.
Three corpses that were recovered on Monday morning were seen either being prepared for burial by family members.
According to reports, seven Yam bans that were burned; 25 houses were completely razed; five houses which didn’t burn down, had their windows and doors badly damaged.
Some of the corpses being buried during the visit had their throats slit while some had several gunshots.
Some residents who spoke in Igbo lamented the complicity of the Nigerian Army and the Nigerian police in the gruesome attack.
They accused the Nigerian military of aiding the Fulani herdsmen attacks, adding that the military and police came on Saturday telling them that nobody should leave the community only for attackers to strike, killing 16 persons and wreaking havoc and for several hours.
After the carnage, they said Nigerian Army troops and some policemen were sent to the community to condole with the residents.
“Worse still, when they came the soldiers seized the phones of our people who were making videos and threatened that if they see the videos of the carnage and pictures of the destruction they will come back and destroy them,” said one Edeze, whose phone was seized.
According to him, “After they carried 10 corpses which our people recovered including a retired policeman namely Mr James Ogbu, from different locations they were slaughtered, the soldiers returned and handed back the phones seized from the people.
“Even the deputy governor of Ebonyi, Mrs Patricia Obila, was the one telling the police that they should go for mass arrest in our community, accusing our people of killing cows belonging to the Fulani herdsmen.
Till now, she hasn’t visited the community.”Edeze regretted that the government only raised its voice when a community is accused of killing cows but will remain silent when “our farms and crops are destroyed by the same cows.”
“If a cow is reportedly killed in a community, is it not the duty of the security agencies to investigate it and fish out the killer? Why would the entire community collectively be punished? After the police extortion for bail and payment for the cow, they will send Fulani militias to invade and slaughter the people who probably knew nothing and the attackers would raze the community.”
He gave the names of those killed as “Simon Ogbuabor, Nnaji Nwa Omebe, James Ogbu retired police officer, Alloy Nnaji aka Eze Nwata, Amos Ogbu, Alfred Igwurube, an Assistant Pastor of Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministry and his principal Pastor Ibam.”
Others are “Idenyi Ebe, Okechukwu Ogbuzuru, Eze Obeagu, Omebe Ogbu, Samuel Nnaji Ede, Obeagu Ogenyi, Nnaji Ebe still missing and Nnaji Okwor still missing.
Joseph Ebe from another village Umulesha was also killed.
“Mrs Ogbu clementina lamented why security agencies didn’t come until after the assailants had gone.
She said: “On Sunday being yesterday we were preparing to go to church, suddenly, we started hearing gunshots.
Then some had already gone to churches for Sunday service, while some had also gone to their farms. The gunshots were coming from all the directions. We were in a state of confusion and some of us entered the bushes and hide.
Shortly, we started seeing rising thick smokes in the sky. Our houses, food bans and our wears were completely burned.
“We slept in the bushes and now we have no house, no food, in short nothing left to live on. I am family haven’t eaten anything since yesterday.
We need help from anywhere.
“Elder Simon Idenyi, who also spoke during the visit accused the military and police of aiding the atrocities of the herdsmen in the community and other parts they have attacked.
He narrated, “What happened is that on February 1st, officials of the state government with the military and police authorities came to us that they want to make peace with us and Fulani Herdsmen.
After discussions with the elders of the community including women, they told us that the problem we had with the Fulani herdsmen had been resolved.
They encouraged us not to leave our houses that the government and security agencies are here to protect us.
They assured us that nothing would happen to us.
“Regrettably, at about 9:30am strange faces we came to understand were Fulani herdsmen wielding AK-47 rifles and machetes surrounded the community and started killing anyone on sight and burning houses randomly.
There was no security agents in sight while the carnage lasted. The attack started around 9:30 am and they left the community around 3:30 pm and no single security agent came until around 5pm.
“The assailants entered every nook and cranny of the community and even church. They killed two inside the church.
They burned our houses, at least 25 houses despite the military and state government assured us of protection and support, that we shouldn’t leave our community.
“Hours after the carnage the soldiers came and told us sorry for the loss and later left.
They took 10 corpses we have recovered to the morgue and still looking for more five people in bushes,” he narrated.
Meanwhile on Monday the Nigeria Police Force confirmed that the security operatives had recovered 10 bodies of people killed in the community.
The Command’s spokesperson, Joshua Ukandu, who confirmed the attack in a statement on Sunday, stated that the police were currently investigating the incident, adding that normalcy had returned to the area.
“Several houses were also burnt selectively in the area, and other properties destroyed. Upon receipt of the information, we drafted police operatives to the area.
“We are currently investigating the incident while normalcy has returned to the area,” the PPRO stated.
“We also recovered 10 corpses from the area. At the moment, our personnel are there, and normalcy is returning to the area,” Ukandu had added.
Crime
BREAKING: Nnamdi Kanu Sacks All Lawyers, To Represent Himself
The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has informed the Federal High Court in Abuja that he will personally conduct his defense in the ongoing terrorism case brought against him by the Federal Government.
This declaration came during Thursday’s proceedings, following the withdrawal of his legal team, led by senior advocate Kanu Agabi (SAN), alongside other Senior Advocates of Nigeria who had been representing him.
The courtroom was thrown into mild surprise when Mr. Kanu told Justice James Omotosho that he intended to take charge of his own defense, stating his decision to act as his own counsel moving forward.
Justice Omotosho, in response, offered to assign a court-appointed lawyer to assist him, but Mr. Kanu declined the offer, insisting that he would proceed without any legal representation.
The court subsequently adjourned to allow Mr. Kanu to prepare for his defense under the new arrangement.
Mr. Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) since his re-arrest and extradition to Nigeria in 2021, faces multiple charges bordering on terrorism, treasonable felony, and incitement.
The self-proclaimed IPOB leader has consistently denied all allegations, maintaining that his movement’s agitation for the independence of Biafra is rooted in self-determination and not in violence or terrorism.
The case, which has drawn both national and international attention, is expected to resume in the coming weeks as Mr. Kanu opens his defense without a legal team.
Crime
Indonesia to Repatriate British Grandmother on Death Row, Says Official
Indonesia will sign an agreement on Tuesday to repatriate two British nationals convicted of drug-related crimes, including Lindsay Sandiford, a grandmother sentenced to death, according to a senior Indonesian government source.
“The practical arrangement will be signed today. The transfer will be done immediately after the technical side is agreed,” the official told AFP, naming Sandiford and Shahab Shahabadi, 35, as the individuals to be returned to the UK.
Sandiford was sentenced to death in 2013 after she was caught smuggling cocaine worth over $2.1 million into Bali from Thailand. The drugs were discovered concealed in a false bottom of her suitcase. Shahabadi, arrested in 2014, is currently serving a life sentence for separate drug offences.
Although the Indonesian source listed Sandiford’s age as 68, public records indicate she is 69.
A joint press conference with Indonesian officials and the British ambassador to Indonesia was scheduled for later Tuesday, according to the Coordinating Ministry for Legal, Human Rights, Immigration and Correctional Affairs.
Tabloid Attention and Personal Testimony
Sandiford’s case received widespread attention in the UK after she admitted to the offences but claimed she was coerced by a drug syndicate that threatened to kill her son. In a 2015 article published in The Mail on Sunday, Sandiford wrote from prison about her fear of imminent execution:
“My execution is imminent, and I know I might die at any time now. I could be taken tomorrow from my cell. I have started to write goodbye letters to members of my family.”
Originally from Redcar, in northeast England, she also wrote that she planned to sing the Perry Como hit “Magic Moments” before facing the firing squad.
During her time in prison, Sandiford reportedly became close friends with Andrew Chan, one of the “Bali Nine” Australian drug smugglers who was executed in 2015.
Policy Shift on Repatriation
The planned transfer follows recent moves by the Prabowo Subianto administration to repatriate foreign nationals serving harsh sentences for drug crimes. In December 2024, Mary Jane Veloso, a Filipina who spent nearly 15 years on death row, was allowed to return home. In February 2025, Serge Atlaoui, a French national, was repatriated after 18 years on death row.
Indonesia, known for having some of the world’s strictest drug laws, last carried out executions in 2016, when three Nigerian citizens and an Indonesian were executed by firing squad. As of early November 2025, more than 90 foreign nationals remain on death row in the country, all for drug-related offences.
The British Embassy in Jakarta declined to comment, directing inquiries to the Indonesian government.
Indonesian authorities have recently signalled the potential resumption of executions, after nearly a decade-long de facto moratorium.
Crime
Bauchi: Boy,17, plucks sister’s eyes for money ritual
The victim’s father told investigators that the suspect lured his daughter, who shares the same parents, into the bush, where he attacked her and forcefully plucked her eyes.
Bauchi State Police Command, has arrested a teenager, Auwal Dahiru, aged 17, and five others for having forcefully plucked her sister’s eyes for money ritual.
His accomplishes are Mohammed Rabiu, aged 19; Saleh Ibrahim, aged 20; Nasiru Muhammad of Soro town, Ganjuwa LGA; Hassan Garba of Soro town, Ganjuwa LGA; and Garba Dahiru, aged 43, of Soro town.
The Command PPRO, CSP Mohammed Ahmed Wakil, in a statement made available to journalists in Bauchi on Monday, stated that Auwalu lured his seven-year-old sister to the bush, where her eyes were forcefully removed for ritual purposes.
The PPRO added that on 17 October 2025, at about 18:00 hours, one Muhammad Adamu of Bayan Dutse Village, Wailo, Kubi Ward, Ganjuwa LGA, Bauchi State, reported at the Soro Divisional Police Headquarters that on the same date at about 20:00 hours his daughter, Rukayya Muhammad, aged seven years, was attacked with the intention of killing her and an attempt was made to pluck out her eyes.
“Upon receipt of the report, a team of detectives led by CSP Aliyu Mohammad Goni, Divisional Police Officer (DPO), Soro Division, immediately dispatched to the scene, where the suspects were arrested.
At the same time, the victim was quickly evacuated to Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital (ATBUTH), Bauchi, for medical treatment.”
A preliminary investigation’s findings revealed that the seven-year-old girl, Rukayya Muhammad, tragically lost her eyesight permanently after her elder brother allegedly removed both of her eyes in a money ritual, reportedly in a desperate attempt to gain wealth.
The victim’s father told investigators that the suspect lured his daughter, who shares the same parents, into the bush, where he attacked her and forcefully plucked her eyes.
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