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

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

19 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

The United States has revoked the visas of several foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The State Department said the decision followed an internal review of social media posts deemed “offensive and contrary to U.S. values,” adding that the country “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA and a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a political rally on 10 September.

His killing drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with many describing the act as a targeted attack on free speech.

According to U.S. authorities, at least six individuals from Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Germany had their visas revoked after making comments online that celebrated Kirk’s murder or insulted his supporters.

Examples cited by officials included posts calling Kirk a racist who deserved it, and messages mocking grieving Americans.

“We will not tolerate foreigners who promote or celebrate acts of violence against U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The move underscores Washington’s growing use of immigration powers to respond to online behaviour perceived as threatening or disrespectful towards the country.

The Department said it continues to monitor social media content for evidence of incitement or endorsement of violence.
Civil liberties advocates, however, have questioned the decision, arguing that revoking visas for social media comments could set a worrying precedent.

Officials maintained that the visa cancellations were lawful, limited in scope, and aimed at protecting national integrity.

“Freedom of speech does not extend to foreigners seeking the privilege of entry while glorifying violence,” the spokesperson added.

The United States has increased visa scrutiny in recent years, requiring applicants to disclose social media handles and online activity.

The policy, officials say, is designed to prevent extremist sympathisers or those expressing hostility towards the country from entering its borders

Headline

Israeli PM Netanyahu Back In Court For Graft Trial

Published

21 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday for the latest hearing in his long-running corruption trial, which opened in May 2020.

The prime minister kept a smiling face as he and his entourage of several ministers from his conservative Likud party were heckled by protesters en route to the tribunal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the Israeli premier should be pardoned in his three separate corruption cases.

His latest appearance at the Tel Aviv court also follows the return of the hostages taken by Hamas as part of Trump’s US-brokered plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including champagne, cigars and jewellery, from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other instances, Netanyahu is also charged with attempting to negotiate better press coverage from two Israeli media outlets. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of a political plot.

During his current term, which started in late 2022, Netanyahu has proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics say sought to weaken the courts.

Those prompted massive protests that only abated after the onset of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In an address on Monday to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Trump told the chamber that Netanyahu should receive a pardon in the graft cases.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked, before asking his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog: “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The Israeli premier is also subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of ordering war crimes in his government’s assault on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu holds the record for the most years spent at the head of Israel’s government, having served 18 years in several stints as premier since 1996.

AFP

Headline

FULL LIST: US Set To Carry Out Four Executions This Week

Published

21 hours ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

A Florida man convicted of murdering two women he hired for sex was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, one of four executions to be carried out in the United States this week.

Samuel Smithers, 72, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1996 killings of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach in Tampa. They had been beaten and strangled and their bodies were found in a pond.

Smithers was executed at a Florida state prison at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), the 14th execution in the southern state this year.

Another convicted murderer was also put to death by lethal injection in the midwestern state of Missouri on Tuesday.

The execution of Lance Shockley, 48, was carried out at 6:13 pm (2313 GMT) for the 2005 murder of a police sergeant, Carl Graham.

Graham was gunned down in an ambush at his home. The officer had been investigating a fatal car accident involving Shockley at the time.

Shockley maintained his innocence but his appeals were rejected by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe rejected his clemency request on Monday.

Two other executions are scheduled this week.

Charles Crawford, 59, is to be put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student.

Richard Djerf, 55, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Friday for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family.

In a letter last month apologizing for the crime, Djerf said he was ready to die and would not seek clemency.

“If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote.

There have been 37 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Thirty-one of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and, on his first day in office, called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”