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Corpses Litter Plateau Communities 12 Days After Terror Attacks
Published
2 years agoon
By
Editor
Twelve days after residents fled Plateau communities in Bokkos, Barkin Ladi and Mangu Local Government Areas following Christmas Eve attacks by gunmen which left more than 150 persons dead, the affected communities are still deserted, Saturday PUNCH reports.
The PUNCH reports that the killing which had been ongoing in Plateau State worsened on Christmas Eve when gunmen attacked over 25 communities, killing over 150 persons.
The gunmen also burnt several houses and property worth millions of naira while over 10,000 persons were displaced
Some of the attacked communities are Mangur village, Mbar, Tangur, Bokkos Central, Butura, Mushere.
The PUNCH correspondent who visited the affected communities, including Matellem village, Dung village, Yelwa village, Ngyong, observed that the villages were completely deserted.
READ ALSO: I Lost My Mum, Two Brothers In Plateau Attacks, Survivor Narrates Ordeal
It was also observed that no security presence was stationed in the affected communities
At Mbar community where a pastor and four of his children and his wife were among those said to have been killed during the attack, The PUNCH charred remains of other residents who were burnt beyond recognition as their bones littered the floor of their burnt houses in the community.
A peace advocate, Gideon ParaMallam, who led a team of his Peace Foundation to Bokkos communities to sympathize with the people on Friday expressed concern over the level of devastation in the communities.
ParaMallam also visited the internally displaced persons who were camping at different locations, including the COCIN Church in Bokkos and donated some relief materials to them.
Speaking with journalists, ParaMallam said, “We have come here to Bokkos and we have seen and heard from the people.
The attacks in Bokkos villages have been very devastating. The loss of lives and the degrading and the degrading of human dignity has been very painful. Our peace foundation came to make a call for peace to appeal to the people of Bokkos for restraints.
READ ALSO: ‘We Need Solution To Killings’ – Sen Plang Rubbishes ‘Palliatives’ For Plateau Victims
“We have also come to see things for ourselves so that we can promote the cry for Justice for the people of Bokkos. Our peace foundation believes in peace building that is predicated on justice.
“That useless narrative that goes around that makes it look as if that it is Bokkos people who have been fighting and killing themselves is a complete fallacy and a lie .Bokkos People are not killing themselves.
“We have talked with them and heard from them and I believe that our visit will not only throw more light on what Bokkos people have gone through but to encourage Nigerians to rise in unison to condemn the terrorism that took place on Christmas eve and right after that .The only way to bring peace to Bokkos Communities is to return them back to their communities.”
The PUNCH correspondent who visited the burnt palace of the paramount ruler of Bokkos at about 5 pm on Friday saw a thick billowing smoke still oozing out from the burnt palace.
Soldiers who were drafted to the area were also seen guarding the palace.
It was learnt that the paramount ruler fled the community with members of his family before the protesting women set his place on fire.
READ ALSO: PHOTOS: Protesters Raze Plateau Traditional Ruler’s Home
The Chairman of Community Peace Observers in Bokkos LGA,Kefas Mallai told our Correspondent that the protesting women burnt the palace of the paramount because they believe that he has abandoned the people to their fate over the attacks in their communities .
He said “The people are angry at the district head of Bokkos and that is why they went and set his house ablaze because they believe he has compromised his duty to speak and protect the people.
“Just yesterday (Thursday), some of the youths who went to look after their burnt communities were arrested by soldiers. The women saw that as unfair and injustice and wanted them to be released as they could not understand why the soldiers would leave terrorists and were arresting people who are victims .And in all of these the paramount ruler was nowhere to be found and so they went and burnt his house “
The Chairman of Bokkos LGA, Monday Kassam, in an interview, blamed the military for the fresh tension in his area.
He said, “When the people who went to look after the attacked communities were arrested by the soldiers, about 10 of them were arrested. I got the information and I called the Commander and told him what was happening and asked that those people should be arrested. They should release them but he did not listen. So, that is the problem but we have been talking to the people so that the issue can be resolved.”
READ ALSO: Many Feared Dead As Transformer Explodes In Plateau Community
It was learnt that a new sector commander had been deployed to Bokkos following the attacks in the communities
The new Sector Commander of Operation Safe Haven in charge of Bokkos ,Lt Col Isaac Indiorhwer ,however allayed fears of any fresh attack in the communities and assured that they were doing everything possible to restore peace in the trouble communities .
The commander spoke on Friday when the President of Gideon and Funmmi ParaMallam Peace Foundation visited the Command’s headquarters in Bokkos after a tour of the troubled communities
He also dismissed the claim that troops had abandoned the troubled communities.
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The management of Ambrose Alli University Ekpoma has responded to a recent publication by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), AAU Chapter, alleging that the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Professor Sunday Olowo Samuel, claimed to have cleared all staff arrears.
A statement issued by Otunba Mike Aladenika, Principal Assistant Registrar and Head of Information, Protocol, and Public Relations, described the claim by ASUU as far from the truth.
Aladenika said the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s 31-paragraph address to journalists did not state that all outstanding salary arrears had been paid.
He noted that instead, the VC emphasized the administration’s commitment to gradual liquidation of these arrears.
READ ALSO: AAU Acting VC Meets With Journalists, Rolls Out Achievements
According to the imagemaker of the university, the Vice-Chancellor, in his speech, rather highlighted prompt payment of salaries and pensions as a hallmark of his administration, and noted that the university had implemented the new minimum wage of N70,000 as soon as it was approved.
Aladenika questioned where ASUU got their information from, given the Acting Vice-Chancellor’s clear statements.
“It’s worth noting that when the current administration took over, ASUU members were owed over 35 months in arrears.
“However, the debt has since been reduced as those owed 35 months and above were paid 10 months emblock in the 1st tranch, while in the 2nd tranch, those owe 20-months and above were also paid 10 months salary arrears, emblock. Apart from individuals among them who got paid on personal requests, the payment of the backlogs is still ongoing as various applications on salary arrears are been attended to, demonstrating the management’s commitment to gradual payment.
READ ALSO: Okpebholo Approves Construction Of 500-room Hostel For AAU
“On the issue of the 13th month salary, it’s essential to clarify that this has never been a right, but rather a subject of tripartite negotiations between workers, management, and the state government. There has been no prior agreement or understanding on this matter, and it has always been a point of negotiation for our unions.
“It’s worth noting that the university has never paid 13 months’ salary in a 12-month financial year. However, this doesn’t mean that the management is opposed to negotiations on the matter. Rather, we believe that it’s essential to approach such discussions in a constructive manner, rather than using it as a bargaining chip for blackmail.
“The management is open to negotiations, but we urge all parties to engage in good faith and avoid misrepresentations.”
News
US Court Sentences Osun Monarch To Prison Over $4.2m Fraud
Published
17 minutes agoon
August 27, 2025By
Editor
A United States District Court has sentenced the Apetu of Ipetumodu in Osun State, Oba Joseph Oloyede, to four years and eight months imprisonment over a $4.2million COVID-19 relief fraud scandal.
Justice Christopher Boyko while delivering the sentence on Tuesday, also ordered the monarch to pay $4.2 million in restitution.
According Osun Defender, the monarch was also ordered to pay the sum of $195,000 to the IRS for filing a false tax return.
Justice Boyko also ordered Oloyede to forfeit $96,000 in money seized from his bank account and his home on Foote Road that he bought in 2021 for $130,000.
READ ALSO: US court Jails Five Nigerians 159 Years For $17m Fraud
Boyko said Oloyede was a “very smart guy who did a lot of stupid things.”
Oba Oloyede, a US-based accountant and information system expert, was appointed the new Apetu in July 2019.
The monarch was arrested alongside alongside Nigerian pastor, Edward Oluwasanmi in early 2024 for their roles in a scheme to fraudulently obtain $4.2m in COVID-19 relief funds.
The two men were charged with 13 counts of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, conspiracy to defraud, money laundering, and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property.
News
OPINION: Ezekwesili, The NBA, And The Mirror Of Truth
Published
2 hours agoon
August 27, 2025By
Editor
The air inside the hall was thick with expectation. Learned silks in flowing robes, young wigs eager to impress, and the weight of tradition hung over the Nigerian Bar Association’s 2025 Conference. It was meant to be another gathering where speeches would be given, pleasantries exchanged, and resolutions filed away into dusty archives. But then, like a stone thrown into a still pond, Oby Ezekwesili rose, and the hall shifted.
Her words did not flatter. They struck with the urgency of a fire alarm in the middle of the night. She asked the lawyers, the guardians of the nation’s constitution, to look into the mirror. Not to admire the silk of their gowns or the polish of their titles, but to examine the log in their own eyes. For too long, she said, they had been arbiters who excused their own failings while pointing at the speck in others.
It was not a comfortable charge. Lawyers shifted in their seats. Some frowned. Some applauded. But the truth was laid bare: the Nigerian legal profession, once the conscience of society, has too often dropped the ball.
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Think of the 2023 elections, where brazen infractions were documented, yet the courts delivered rulings that raised more questions than answers. Or the endless adjournments that have turned justice into a waiting game, eroding faith in the very system lawyers swore to uphold. Think of the silence of many senior advocates when judicial corruption is whispered about, as though the temple of justice can stand while its pillars are rotting.
Ezekwesili’s charge was not merely to critique. It was a trumpet call. She asked them to confront the truth that Nigeria is where it is today because those who should have drawn the lines of accountability too often chose convenience over courage. Lawyers were once in the vanguard of change: the Gani Fawehinmis, the Alao-Aka-Bashors, the Akinola Agudases. Their names are etched in our collective memory because they fought when it was costly. But where is that spirit now?
The metaphor of the mirror is haunting. For what is a mirror if not a silent witness? It does not flatter or deceive. It simply reflects. The Nigerian Bar Association cannot continue as though it is an observer of the nation’s decline; it must admit that its silence, its compromises, its complicity have helped fertilize the soil of Nigeria’s failures.
And yet, in Ezekwesili’s provocation lies a possibility. To look into the mirror is not merely to mourn, but to begin again. To reclaim the nobility of the law not as a profession of prestige, but as a calling of service. To recover the conscience that once made lawyers the voice of the voiceless.
MORE FROM THE AUTHOR: [OPINION] BUHARI: The Man Who Missed Redemption
This is not about throwing stones at others. It is about removing the log in one’s own eye. For until the Bar confronts itself, it cannot hope to help Nigeria see clearly.
The question then lingers beyond the echoes of that hall: when next the mirror is held up, will the Nigerian Bar Association be able to stand and say, “We did not look away”?
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