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There Is Intensified Attempt To Annihilate Middle Belt Region, Forum Cries Out To International Community

Published

4 years ago

April 15, 2022

Editor

The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), has observed has said that there is a calculated attempt by suspected Fulani militia to increase attacks on the Middle Belt region with the sole purpose of annihilating the communities.

The forum noted tha:t “As the 2023 campaigns gather momentum, the intensity of these attacks is set to increase, with the sole purpose of annihilating communities of the Middle Belt by the invaders.

“The increase in the level of massacres, devastation of communities and kidnapping of members of the Middle Belt Region extraction is aimed at impoverishing and disempowering the people and creating chaos that will render them as refugees in their own ancestral homes.”

The National President of Middle Belt Forum, Dr Pogu Bitrus, in a statement explained that the forum’s attention had been drawn to the renewed vicious attacks on communities of the Middle Belt Region in Southern Kaduna, Southern Kebbi, Niger, Plateau and Benue States, “that have led to hundreds of lives lost and decimation of our once thriving communities.”

It observed that on 8th March, 2022, “daredevil terrorists” mounted an ambush for members of a vigilante group called ‘Yan-Sa-Kai’ in Zuru, Kebbi State, saying that the terrorists killed 65 of them, while attempts by the security forces to bring the bandits to justice led to the murder of 13 soldiers and five policemen, bringing the total of number of the dead to 83.

It added that one week after the assault on Zuru Emirate, “the blood-thirsty criminals” attacked a police station in Nasko town in Magala Local Government Area of Niger State on March 15, 2022, where they slaughtered no fewer than eight people, comprising the divisional police officer, three policemen and four members of the community’s vigilante group.

The forum also stated that a week after the murder of the DPO and seven others in Nasko, another group of butchers, dressed in military uniforms, on March 22, 2022, launched an attack on four communities: Tsonje, Agban, Katanga and Kadarko, all within Kagoro Chiefdom in Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State and killed no fewer than 34, according to the Kaduna State Government and razed 35 homes down.

“Less than seven days after the bedlam on the four Kagoro communities, members of a madcap gang bombed an Abuja-Kaduna bound train on March 28, 2022. The blood-spilling outlaws abducted scores of passengers and murdered eight persons, among others. The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) is yet to account for the whereabouts of 165 passengers that were on the ill-fated trip,” the statement explained.

The statement noted that while the nation was mourning these avoidable murders, another deadly assaults on Kadanye village in Kajuru Local Government Area and Akilbu village in Kachia Local Government Area left eight persons, mostly women and children, dead, while 28 were abducted on April 6, 2022.

The forum lamented, “These killings seemed to have hit the peak on Sunday April 10, 2022, when another group of armed brigands pounced on four villages in Kanam Local Government Area of Plateau State and killed about 80 people in cold blood.

“While these communities were still in deep mourning, another terror group launched yet another deadly assault on a military base located in Pole Wire Village in Birnin Gwari LGA of Kaduna State, slaying 12 soldiers and injuring 19 military personnel.”

“To clearly convince the world they were in charge”, the bandits, the statement said, “in a video clip shot in front of the captured armoured tank, announced the release of the Managing Director of Bank of Agriculture, Alhaji Alwan Ali Hassan, on compassionate grounds, saying that thought they hinged the release of the BOA MD on the Ramadan season, the terrorists threatened to kill the kidnapped train passengers if the government did not meet their demands.”

It explained that another group of gunmen would re-enact a horror scene on Monday April 11, 2022 in three local government areas of Logo, Tarka and Guma in Benue State by killing no fewer than 25 persons, including a traditional ruler, Zaki Unongo Shaayange, stressing that in the three attacks on Plateau, Kaduna and Benue that took place within 24 hours, no fewer than 117 lives were lost, including 12 military personnel.

The forum, therefore, condemned what it called “this gradual return to the bloody days of horrifying assaults that are presently assuming a genocidal level”, saying that no nation can survive this level of crippling insecurity that had rendered life short and brutish for many communities in the Middle Belt Region.

The forum said it was irrevocably convinced that the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari had abandoned “its constitutional responsibility of stopping these recurring deadly attacks on our peoples.”

“We are still at a loss why the government has not found it expedient to engage local communities on how best to defend themselves against these highly sophisticated terrorists. The Forum completely aligns with the position of the Benue State Governor, His Excellency Dr Samuel Ortom who has declared that our besieged communities must rise up to the challenges of the time and defend their lives and property,” the group said.

It called on the international community to beam its searchlight on the horrendous massacres of the Middle Belt people, being carried out under the watch of President Buhari and the refusal of the government to deal with perpetrators of those recurring killings.

It said that the Middle Belt Region had lost faith in the capacity of President Buhari to secure the lives and property of Nigerians and called on their people to be alert and use whatever is available to them to stand firm and resist the bloodthirsty invaders.

“We call on our communities to be security conscious as they celebrate Easter. We must never allow ourselves to be caught unawares by those inflicting all forms of barbarities and threatening our existential survival,” the forum stated.

Headline

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

23 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

1 day 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

1 day 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.”