Tag: Sokoto State

Sokoto records 1,137 fresh HIV infections

Aminu Imam

Sokoto State recorded 1,137 fresh HIV infections between January 2020 and September 2021. The Acting State Coordinator of Civil Society for HIV/AIDS in Nigeria, (CiSHAN), Sokoto State chapter, Muhammad Garba, disclosed this at a press conference in commemoration of 2021 World AIDS Day, yesterday, in Sokoto. Garba said the State’s prevalence rate is 0.4%, according to the 2018 Nigeria HIV/AIDS Indicator and Impact Survey, (NAISS). He noted that the reduction in prevalence follows concerted efforts by State and non-State actors within Sokoto State. He explained that the new cases of…

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Again, bandits abduct 5, impose fresh levy on Sokoto communities

Aminu Imam

…Demand N500,000 as ransom Barely a month after collecting N11 million as ransom for the release of 20 people they kidnapped in Gatawa, bandits on Wednesday returned to the town and abducted five people. They are now demanding N500,000 as ransom for the release of the victims, multiple sources in the town have said. Gatawa, situated in Sabon-Birni local government area of Sokoto State, was until recently one of the communities in the state spared by the bandits. However, the town has now come into the focus of attacks by…

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Sokoto: Bandits impose new district heads for Sabon-Birni villages

Aminu Imam

…Orders re-opening of mosques, weekly markets Sokoto bandits have started appointing and posting their members to head some villeges in Sabon-Birni local government area of Sokoto State. Investigations revealed that the bandits, suspected to belong to the camp of Turji, have posted a village leader for Gangara village, who was sent away after the insurgents invited the villagers to a meeting in Saturu village on Thursday, October 4. In attendance at the meeting were 5 Turji’s commanders, namely: ?an Ba??walo, Boka Tamis?e, Hassan ?an-?waro, Dogo as well as Jammu Ba?i.…

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Sokoto: Governors donate N20m to families of victims of Goronyo market massacre

Aminu Imam

Governors in the North-East Governor’s Forum yesterday in Sokoto donated N20 million to support families of victims of the October 17 massacre, which occurred at Goronyo Market in the State. This is contained in an issued statement by the Special Adviser, Media and Publicity to Governor Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, Muhammad Bello, in Sokoto. Chairman of the forum, Governor Babagana Zulum, of Borno State, who made the donation on its behalf, expressed displeasure at the massacre. “Our region, especially my state has in more than a decade, experienced a lot of…

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Sokoto attack: President Buhari sends tough warning to bandits

Aminu Imam

President Muhammadu Buhari has sent a tough warning to bandits, saying that “the clock of your ultimate destruction is ticking as they will no longer have a place to hide.”  This was contained in a statement issued by Senior Special Assistant to the President, Garba Shehu. Reacting to the killing of over 30 people in Goronyo in Sokoto State on Sunday by bandits, President Buhari said that “the days of the bandits are indeed numbered because the military capabilities of our forces are being boosted by the acquisition and deployment…

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Bandits write Sokoto monarch, demand N20m ransom to free victims

Aminu Imam

In the absence of telecommunications in some parts of Sokoto State, suspected bandits operating in the Eastern senatorial district of the State have allegedly written a letter to a monarch in Burkusuma, situated in Sabon-Birni local government area, demanding for ransom to secure the release of 20 persons who were kidnapped from two communities in the area. It was gathered that the bandits have resorted to sending letters to families of kidnapped victims since the shutdown of telecommunication Services in the area. The letter was allegedly written in Hausa language…

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Sokoto: ‘Politicians hijacked CBN’s Covid-19 loans’ – Small businesses  groan

Aminu Imam

Small business owners in Sokoto State are fuming over the alleged silence of the government on the impact of Covid-19 on their businesses.  Also, market traders in the State have decried their inability to access government facilities. They claimed that most of the opportunities have been hijacked by politicians and shared among their families and children in the state.  According to a trader at one of the largest markets in the State capital, Sokoto, Hajia Halimah market, Bashir Muhammad, “The government won’t do anything because the government doesn’t like poor people, especially small business…

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Banditry: Sokoto shuts down telecom services in 14 LGAs

Aminu Imam

Sokoto State governor, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, yesterday announced the shutdown of telecommunication services in 14 out of the 23 local government areas of the State. The governor, who disclosed this during an interview with Voice of America (VOA) Hausa service, said it is part of the effort to check banditry in the State. Revealing that the affected council areas are the most vulnerable to bandit attacks in the State, Tambuwal added that the telecom services in the LGAs were shut down after the State secured approval from the Minister of…

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Insecurity: “We’re not returning to Nigeria”, say 50,000 Sokoto residents taking refuge in Niger Republic

Aminu Imam

More than 50,000 residents of 17 communities in Sabon-Birni local government area of Sokoto State who relocated to Niger Republic two weeks ago following incessant bandits’ attacks have refused all entreaties for them to return home. The villagers, who are currently taking refuge at Tudun-Sunnah village, Gidan Runji LGA in Maradi State of Niger Republic, insisted that their former villages were not safe as there was still insecurity there. The State’s Commissioner for careers and security architecture, Col. Garba Moyi (rtd), said the State government had been making efforts to…

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“Killings are underreported; we buried 76 people in one day in Sokoto” – Sultan

Aminu Imam

The Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence, Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said that the number of people killed by criminals across the country is underreported. Speaking at the 3rd Quarter 2021 meeting of the Intra-Religious Council in Abuja on Thursday, Abubakar said the level of insecurity in the country has worsened. According to him, 76 residents in the State were killed and buried in one day, and 48 persons another day. He said these incidents were not reported. The Sultan asked why the intelligence agencies have been unable to identify the…

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