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Traditional Ruler, Two Others Killed In Bloody Benue Land Dispute

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A protracted land dispute between the people of Okete in Ohimini Local Government Area, LGA, of Benue state and the neighbouring community of Otukpo-Nobi in Otukpo LGA over the ownership of

Amla-Icho community land has claimed the lives of a traditional ruler and two others in the feuding communities.

It was gathered that the age long dispute was triggered last week when the Chairman of Otukpo LGA, Alfred Omakwu allegedly sent a bulldozer to the disputed land to enable him commence work on the creation of a layout in the area.

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The presence of the earth moving equipment angered the people of Okete who moved to stop the destruction of the cultivated land.

In his account on the incident, the Chairman of Otukpo LGA said “the problem is that the Okete people lost it. It is a dispute between Amla in Otukpo and Okete in Ohimini LGA and a total of three people lost their lives in the crisis.

READ ALSO: Troops Eliminate Shekau’s Top Ally, Tahir Baga In Sambisa Forest Troops

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“What happened was that they (the Okete people) used to go and farm in Amla land but sometimes last year when we wanted to develop a layout there, the Okete people went to report to the Och’Idoma that their farm produce were there and the Och’Idoma directed that no layout should be done until they harvest their products.

“February this year, they harvested their produce and the Och’Idoma called them and informed them that by March this year, Otukpo would go ahead with their layout and that they should not farm there again.

“But when the bulldozers returned they said they had farmed there already and reported the matter to their Second Class Chief as well as their LGA Chairman who called me and I told them that the Och’Idoma asked them not to farm there again because of the layouts.

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“So when the bulldozer went there on Friday, they came with their lawyer who called me and I told him everything and said if they want to go to court, it was their right.

“They demanded that the bulldozer stopped work but their lawyer advised that they should wait for him to get an injunction from the court but they said they could not wait.

READ ALSO: NIMC Warns Against Fake NIN Number

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“They then went to the First class chief of Otukpo/Ohimini who called Och’Idoma and the Och’Idoma said they should not stop the people doing the layout because he asked them not to farm their again.

“At that point they went there and opened fire on the people; they killed one and shot two people and burnt all their motorbikes about 10 of them.

“Then Otukpo retaliated the next day; they also burnt some houses and killed one person and killed another person in Amla making two.

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“But we have maintained calm. The Police Commissioner summoned all of us for a peace meeting so we are restoring peace now among both parties. We have agreed that all the culprits will be arrested and brought to book.”

Countering his Otukpo counterpart, the Ohimini LG Chairman, Samson Okoh who also acknowledged that the dispute was over land said “there is a place called Amla, it’s close to Okete. The Otukpo Chairman took the bulldozers to the place where the Okete people used to farm for years and according to him he wanted to do a layout. So he went and destroyed their farm crops.

READ ALSO: ‘You’re Guilty’ – Judge Roars, Jailed UK-based Nigerian Pastor, Wife 34 Years For Raping, Assaulting Members

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“When the Okete people demanded an explanation, the Amla people said the land does not belong to the Okete people but to the Amla people.

“According to what I was told, when the argument ensued somehow one of them from Otukpo pulled the trigger and shot but the bullet mistakenly hit a fellow Otukpo person.

“Then on Saturday night the Amla people went and reinforced and barricaded the Okete people, burnt houses, beat up ans killed one boy. And on Sunday around 10am when I went to take the boy they killed to the mortuary, the Alma people went to the place again and burnt 17 houses, burnt motorcycles, slaughtered a Clan Head Chief Sunday Okpe, and shot five other persons who we took to the Teaching Hospital in Otukpo for treatment.”

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The Chairman who informed that the community had been deserted said the parties had been summoned by the Police Commissioner over the matter and that efforts were on to apprehend the masterminds of the crisis.

On whether the Paramount ruler of Idoma land, Och’Idoma Agaba-Idu John Odogbo asked his people not to farm on the said land again, the Chairman said, “I am not aware of that but the Otukpo Chairman claimed so. I was not told by the Och’Idoma to tell the people not to farm there.

“Moreover, the Och’Idoma cannot tell the people to stop farming where they have been farming for several years without compensation or settlement and you just take the bulldozer to destroy their crops on the hectares of land they eke a living from.”

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Contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Superintendent, SP, Catherine Anene who confirmed the development said the command received the report of one death though she was awaiting full details of the incident.

 

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Train Attack: Terrorist Leader Gave Mamu N50m From Ransom — DSS Operative

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A Department of State Services (DSS) investigator has told the Federal High Court in Abuja that Tukur Mamu was offered a N50 million share by Shugaba, the leader of the terrorist group, who attacked the Abuja-Kaduna-bound train in 2022.

The DSS operative, who testified as the 6th prosecution witness (PW-6) in the ongoing terrorism trial of Mamu, the alleged terrorists’ negotiator, told Justice Mohammed Umar while being led in evidence by the DSS lawyer, David Kaswe.

The witness, who gave his testimony behind a witness screen for security reasons, said the group also asked Mamu to teach them how to open a website for their terrorist activities.

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He stated this while interpreting four voice notes played in the courtroom containing the defendant’s telephone interactions with the terrorists who held the abducted train passengers hostage.

The audio recordings were extracted from Mamu’s mobile telephones during interrogation after he was arrested in Egypt and brought back to Nigeria.

The first voice note that played was for the defendant (Mamu) fixing a date for the delivery of the ransom.

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“The second voice note that played for five minutes was the voice of Shugaba, the leader of the terrorist group.

READ ALSO:Terrorism Conviction: Nnamdi Kanu’s Wife Reacts To Husband Sentencing

In the voice note, he was appreciating the defendant’s effort and asked him to remove N50 million for his personal use from a particular tranche of ransom sent to them.

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“The last voice note that played, Baba Adamu, who is their spokesperson, was heard requesting the defendant to help them procure speakers and a public address system for their preaching activities, and the defendant responded that he was going to look into their request.

“They also requested that the defendant teach them how to open a website for their activities,” the witness said.

Mamu was alleged to have convinced the terrorists to discuss ransom payments with individual families of the hostages of the train attack instead of the Chief of Defense Staff Committee set up by the Federal Government for his personal financial gain.

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The defendant was said to have been nominated by the terrorists who attacked the train sometime in March 2022, where scores of passengers were held hostage.

Mamu was alleged to have collected ransoms on behalf of a terror group from families of hostages, confirmed the amount, and facilitated the delivery of the same to them.

The PW-6, while being led in evidence by the prosecuting lawyer, Kaswe, told the court that after Mamu was brought back from Egypt, he submitted his Samsung tablet and two phones to DSS officials.

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READ ALSO:Trump Using FBI To ‘Intimidate’ Congress, US Lawmakers Cry Out

The witness, who said he was part of those who investigated the case, told the court that when the defendant was intercepted in Egypt, he put a call to his in-law, identified as Mubarak Tinja and directed him to move out all his valuables, comprising of cash, cars and other items of values, from his house to a safe location, to avoid detection by security agents.

“The defendant was subsequently arrested in Egypt and returned back to Nigeria, where a team of investigators was on the ground to receive him.

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“A duly endorsed search warrant was executed in his property and office in Kaduna, during which cash, in both local and foreign currencies, vehicles, and other valuables were recovered.

“In compliance with his directive to his in-law, Mubarak Tinja, and the other dependants in the house, some cars and cash were moved out of the house to various locations,” he said.

He said investigators later traced and located some of the items, including about 300,000 US dollars, about seven cars, including a Toyota Camry (Muscle), a Peugeot 5008, a Lexus, a Mercedes E350, and a Hyundai car.

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Vehicle documents relating to the cars were later tendered by the prosecution through the witness, which the court admitted in evidence.

The witness added that when the defendant was brought back to the country, he “handed his Samsung tablet and two of his phones to our exhibit keeper, who sent them to our forensic department for forensic analysis.

READ ALSO:Bandits Claim Kebbi, Niger Abductions, Vow More Attacks On Soldiers, Politicians [VIDEO]

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The outcome of the forensic analysis, which included the voice notes of the conversation between the defendant and the terrorists, was part of the content that was presented to the interrogation team and the items recovered from his home.

“He (the defendant) was subsequently interviewed, during which the content of his phones and other items were presented to him.

“During the interview, the defendant admitted giving instruction to Mubarak to move his belongings from his house.

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“He also admitted communicating with the terrorists, using his voice notes, which were extracted from his two phones and Samsung tablet.”

He added that the defendant also admitted owning a pump-action gun, which was recovered from his house, which he claimed was duly licensed.

The witness, however, told the court that investigators later discovered that the licence expired in December 2021, nine months before he was arrested.

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The DSS operative said about 98 per cent of the conversation on the voice notes is in Hausa Language, some of which were translated to English by him, because there were too many.

READ ALSO:Troops Destroy Bandits’ Camp, Arrest Seven Suspected Cultists In Benue

Kaswe then applied to tender the recorded voice notes stored on compact disk plates and flash drives, which the court admitted, after Mamu’s counsel, Johnson Usman, reserved his objection until the final address.

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The recorded conversations were played in the courtroom.

The witness added that in the course of the investigation, two victims volunteered written statements in which they recounted their experiences.

He said one of the statements was written in English and the other in Hausa.

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He, however, said that the victims, a male and female, were no longer available, because they expressed their unwillingness to attend court to testify because of fear and trauma.

The court admitted the statements of the victims in evidence and marked them as exhibits after it was not opposed by Usman.

The court also admitted in evidence eight statements made to investigators by Mamu and video recordings of the statement-writing sessions.

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Kaswe then informed the court that he would be bringing a formal application for the court to visit where the items recovered from Mamu’s house and office are kept.

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Metro

PHOTOS: Fire Guts Factory In Anambra

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Production machines, office equipment, and other valuables worth billions of naira were on Wednesday razed by a mysterious fire at a factory in Abubor Nnewichi, Nnewi North Local Government Area of Anambra State.

The fire, which sources said started around 5:50 a.m., destroyed goods in the production process and finished products as well as office equipment.

A resident of the area, who identified himself as Obinna Okoye, said the fire took them by surprise as they were still asleep when it started.

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He, however, said firefighters were on around to battle the inferno.

READ ALSO:Fire Ravages Residential Building In Oyo

“The fire service men are still trying to quench the fire. You know how inflammable pampers and tissue papers can be,” he added.

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Confirming the incident, the Commander of Fire Service in charge of Nnewi zone F Machine Parts, Jeremiah Anwuobi, said the fire had been brought under control.

Anwuobi disclosed that his office was alerted by 5:30 a.m. when they rushed to the scene of the incident to fight the fire.

READ ALSO:Fire Guts Section Of Rivers Secretariat

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He, however, said no casualties were recorded, while the cause of the fire was yet to be ascertained.

Reacting to the incident, an Internal Auditor of the company, Chikelu Edwin, described it as a mystery fire.

Edwin said there was no electricity supply at the section where the fire started at the factory, which surprised them.

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See more photos below:

 

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Police Stop Egungun Festival In Lagos Community

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The Lagos State Police Command has ordered the suspension of an Egungun festival in Oregun area of the state, earlier fixed for Friday and Saturday.

The command has also arrested suspects linked to the circulation of posters and social media posts warning residents against free movement in the area during the festival.

According to a statement signed on Wednesday by the command’s spokesperson, SP Abimbola Adebisi, the suspects, allegedly acting under the name “Oje Parapo of Oregun,” were apprehended after distributing handbills that restricted people’s freedom of movement, expression, and dignity.

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The police described these actions as capable of inciting fear and disturbing public order.

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“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Olohundare Jimoh, has therefore ordered an immediate suspension of the festival scheduled for November 27 and 28, 2025.

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“He warned that the command would not tolerate any activity capable of breaching public peace, threatening safety, or disrupting law and order in the state,” the statement read.

The police vowed that no cultural event or gathering that could heighten tensions or endanger lives would be permitted in the state.

“In a similar incident on November 23, 2025, at Mafoluku in Oshodi under Makinde Division, the police swiftly arrested 12 individuals behind another attempt to incite disorder through circulation of provocative publications.

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READ ALSO:State Police Can No Longer Be Delayed – South-West Governors

All suspects remain under investigation and will be charged upon conclusion of inquiries,” the statement added.

Reiterating the suspension, CP Jimoh directed the Oje Parapo group to desist from any attempt to proceed with the festival, stating that security for such an event could not be guaranteed.

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He condemned the fear already created among residents as unacceptable and warned that anyone attempting to undermine public peace would face the full weight of the law.

The command urged Lagos residents to continue their lawful activities without fear, assuring them of sustained protection of life and property.

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