Headline

Banditry: Stakeholders Fault Gov. El-Rufai’s Call For Carpet-bombing Of Forests

Published

4 years ago

January 9, 2022

Reactions have continued to trail Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s suggestion that forests inhabited by bandits be carpet-bombed.

The Council of Imams and Ulamas in Kaduna State through its Secretary-General, Dr.Yakubu Yusuf Arigasiyu, believed that the issue of segmented attacks would not yield any positive result, stressing that there is a need for clear tactical plan to understand the strategic locations of these bandits and deal with them once and for all.

According to the Imams and Ulamas, the military know of this and nobody should tell them what to do, stressing that perhaps it is because of personal benefits some people are getting out of it they do not want to see to the end of this calamity.

They believe that three months is too much for the Nigerian military to make banditry history in Nigeria.

According to Dr.Yakubu Yusuf Arigasiyu, “I really appreciate and support the suggestions made by his Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State.”

The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) in Northern states and Abuja, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, while commenting, observed that what many groups including CAN have been calling on the governor to do since 2018 but he (Governor) has always viewed the suggestions as coming from those he has scores to settle with.
He explained that if El-Rufai had done what he is saying now over three years ago, Kaduna state would have been safe and the many lives and properties lost would have been averted.

According to Rev. Hayab, “The Governor’s call now may be coming from fear he is having that he will soon be out of office and be a free citizen like us not knowing what his fate would be with these evil people.”

The state chairman of CAN believed that Governor El-Rufai is championing that they (bandits) should be wiped out completely for self-protection and interest first, not a sign of concern for the suffering of the masses, adding that the governor knows that many will support this suggestion though it is coming late after the state had suffered many losses.

Rev. Hayab added that CAN Kaduna State is urging him (Governor El-Rufai) to go ahead and wipe the bandits and terrorists out of the forest but with less noise since they seem to know what he discusses even in his bedroom, stressing, “We believe the best way to get at these enemies of the people and the state is by action, not noise making.”

On his part, Anthony Sani, immediate past Secretary-General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), agreed with the strategy of taking the fight to the bandits and smoke them out of their hideouts in the forests, pointing out that such tasks are not as easy as the governor sees it.

He explained, “This is because the bandits and gunmen are all over the forests across the nation while there are not enough trained and equipped security personnel who are well-motivated to secure the whole country. As a result, the spread of the security personnel to man all the communities across the nation are too thin for any serious engagements in asymmetric conflicts.This is not conventional conflicts requiring only the use of hard power of military war but that of guerrilla war where some of the enemies live among the people.”

In the same vein, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF) told Governor Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai that carpet-bombing has never been a successful military operation in history.

Alhaji Yerima Shettima, President of the AYCF, in a statement explained that what the governor was advocating as a means of exterminating the bandits occupying the ungoverned forests, could best be described as his personal opinion.

He explained that he sees Governor the El-Rufai suggestion as his personal opinion and not drawn from any example known to historians studying conflicts, insurgencies and banditry bombing campaign.

“So, it is easier said than done and I thought El-Rufai would seek the opinion of historians or run a random search in the archives to find where carpet-bombing has ever succeeded,” he exclaimed.

Headline

Alarming Food Shortage Forces People To Eat Animal Feed In Sudan

Published

3 hours ago

August 8, 2025

Editor

Hungry civilians are reportedly eating animal feed as women and girls face a “gender emergency” in war-torn Sudan, UN officials said on Thursday.

Particularly hard hit is El Fasher, where hunger is growing, with the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs warning of a deteriorating situation that is putting even more civilians’ lives at risk.

UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq disclosed the alarming shortages of food in the war-torn country on Thursday at the UN Headquarters in New York.

“With increasingly alarming food shortages and spiralling prices, people in El Fasher are reported to be resorting to eating animal feed in what is an increasingly catastrophic situation,” Haq said.

El Fasher has the highest cost of basic goods nationwide at nearly $1,000 per household per month, which is far beyond the reach of most families.

This includes more than $700 for food alone, more than eight times the cost of basic food items in other parts of the country, Haq said.

“These steep costs, coupled with the siege and lack of aid delivery by road for over a year, have left thousands facing starvation,” he added.

He noted that engagement around the calls from the Secretary-General and the UN Emergency Relief Coordinator for a pause in the area is “more important than ever”.

Similarly, OCHA’s Director of Operations and Advocacy, Edem Wosornu, who is currently in the country, said the suffering was immense, with people trapped, displaced or returning to face communities in ruins.

She called for unimpeded access and urgent support to reach those on the frontlines of hardship.

Warnings also came from UN Women, the gender equality agency of the UN.

“This crisis is a gender emergency,” Salvator Nkurunziza, the agency’s representative in Sudan, said.

“Displaced women and girls can be subject to the risks of exploitation and abuse, especially during the delivery of aid, where protection mechanisms are weak or absent in some locations.”

NAN

Headline

30 Injured As Train Derails In Iran

Published

3 hours ago

August 8, 2025

Editor

A train derailed in the southern Iranian province of Kerman on Friday, injuring more than two dozen people though no deaths were reported, according to local media.

“Thirty people were injured when a train derailed on the Kerman-Zarand railway path,” Babak Mahmoudi, head of the Red Crescent Society’s Relief and Rescue Organisation, told the Mehr news agency.

A statement from the public relations office of the national railway body carried by the Tasnim news agency reported that after “the timely arrival of railway technical personnel and rescue forces, all passengers safely exited the train”.

Train derailments are not uncommon in Iran, and while they do not generally result in deaths, there have been fatal disasters in the past.

In June 2022, 21 people were killed and dozens were injured when a train derailed near the central Iranian city of Tabas after hitting an excavator beside the track.

In 2016, two trains collided and caught fire in northern Iran, killing 44 people and injuring scores.

AFP

Headline

Authorities Order Evacuations In Los Angeles Zones As Wildfire Spreads

Published

3 hours ago

August 8, 2025

Editor

A brush fire in a mountainous area north of Los Angeles triggered evacuations in two US counties, scorching nearly 5,000 acres (2,000 hectares), authorities said Friday.

At least 10 zones in Los Angeles and Ventura counties were under evacuation orders, with 2,700 residents displaced as of 11 pm (0600 GMT) Thursday, Ventura County Fire Department spokesperson Andrew Dowd told AFP.

At least 400 personnel have been deployed to contain the fire, according to Dowd.

The blaze erupted as firefighters battled a separate wildfire — California’s largest of the year so far — which raged for an eighth straight day and engulfed more than 99,000 acres in the Los Padres National Forest, threatening hundreds of homes.

The latest fire has so far burned 4,856 acres and remains zero percent contained, Dowd said.

LA County Supervisor Kathryn Barger, who represents the area, urged residents to heed evacuation guidelines.

“The #CanyonFire is spreading fast under extreme heat & dry conditions near Ventura–LA County line,” Barger wrote on X.

“If you’re in Santa Clarita, Hasley Canyon, or Val Verde, take evacuation orders seriously — when first responders say GO, leave immediately. Keep aware–please don’t risk lives.”

The fires follow a July blaze that scorched more than 70,000 acres and needed hundreds of firefighters to contain it.

Fire authorities at the time noted that dry brush, sustained winds and high temperatures were fueling the flames.

That came after several earlier fires, stoking fears of a difficult season in a state still reeling from wildfires that killed 30 people in January.

Earlier this week, Zurich-based reinsurance giant Swiss Re said natural disasters caused $135 billion in economic losses globally in the first half of this year, fuelled by the Los Angeles wildfires.

AFP