Niger State: Bandits release 56 kidnapped victims after six months in captivity

Bandits have released the remaining 56 kidnapped victims of Kafin Koro and Kwagana wards in Paikoro Local Government Area of Niger State.

 

 

Recall that on March 14, 2023, the terrorists had stormed Kaffin-Koro and the adjoining communities, kidnapping over 60 residents who are mostly farmers.

 

 

Some of the victims were later released after their families had paid ransom to the terrorists.

 

 

In June, the gunmen released a video threatening to kill the victims if their families failed to pay the requested ransom.

 

 

Confirming the development on Thursday, August 24, the coordinator of the Kaffin-Koro Axis Concerned Youth, Sabastine Maikarfi, said the victims were released on August 6.

 

 

According to him, the victims were released after ransom was paid.

 

 

Similarly, the coordinator of Justice, Development and Peace Commission, Catholic Diocese of Minna, Rev. Fr Bahago Dauda Musa, while confirming the release, said victims are in need of mental health support to recover from the trauma.

 

“My interactions with the victims of banditry in Niger State have not been a wonderful one; it has been a traumatic one. These victims had gone through a lot of trauma; so many of them were kidnapped, or loved ones had been kidnapped,” he said. 

 

“So, so many of them who had returned from the hands of bandits after weeks or months in captivity are now battling with post-traumatic disorder and that is seriously affecting their mental health."

 

 

He appealed to the state government and experts to assist in rendering mental health support to the abductees to enable them to recover from the post-abduction traumatic disorder. 

I forgave my husband after I discovered he is gay but he still repeats same mistakes - Woman laments

 

An African woman is seeking advice on what to do after she discovered that her husband is gay. 

 

According to the lady, she forgave him after the shocking discovery but he still continues to sleep with men.

 

Us rapper Polo g charged with gun possession; his brother trench baby get robbery charge

American rapper, Polo G and his brother Trench Baby have each been charged in connection with the recent police raid at his Southern California home.

 

According to a TMZ report on Thursday, August 24, Polo got booked for gun possession while his brother has been hit with a robbery charge. The LAPD told the outlet that the raid was in response to a report from August 15, which alleged Trench Baby robbed a man in Granada Hills during a music video shoot.

Per the report, Trench Baby drew a handgun with an extended magazine on the alleged victim when he arrived, demanding he empty his pockets and wire money to him into another account. The pair apparently had a previous working relationship.

 

 

The rapper was booked for illegal possession of the short-barreled rifle that was allegedly used in the robbery and cops say numerous firearms were recovered during the raid.

On Wednesday, TMZ obtained footage of the Chicago rapper’s home in Los Angeles with police vehicles parked outside. Law enforcement entered his house and led several people away in handcuffs.

 

 

The rapper’s lawyer issued a statement clarifying what went down shortly afterward, saying that the whole melee was simply to “verify” his client isn’t a convicted felon.

 

“The incident surrounded someone staying in Polo’s home and not Polo directly,” Bradford Cohen told XXL. “The officers have detained Polo to ‘verify’ that he is not a convicted felon, as they assert a firearm was found in the home. It is widely known that Polo is not a convicted felon and never was a convicted felon.”

 

 

He continued: “I personally got all his charges in Miami dismissed when he was in our opinion wrongfully arrested and charged. They have refused to allow us access to our client which is also an illegal and unethical practice and someone will have to answer for these new wrongful actions.”

Shortly after being detained for the police raid, Polo G was rearrested – then released on an outstanding warrant for a kidnapping.

 

Sources close to the case told TMZ that he’d been released from Burbank Jail at about 4:30 a.m. local time, and had to post a $100,000 bond in order to be released.

 

“Burbank Police tell us Polo and TB had outstanding warrants for kidnapping, assault with a deadly weapon, and robbery, stemming from a report filed last April,” reported the outlet. “Officers waited for the pair to be released from LAPD custody, and then nabbed them for the warrant around 10:30 PM on Wednesday.”

Fuel marketers push for fresh price hike as Naira crumbles to 920/$

As the value of the Naira against the dollar continues to plunge further, Oil marketers have insisted on a possible hike in the pump price of petrol. 

 

Oil dealers and marketers on Thursday, August 24, told Punch that with the exchange rate at N920/$, the pump price of petrol could not remain at N617/litre, particularly if the current exchange rate lingered. The oil marketers, however, pointed out that since the Federal Government had insisted that it would not increase the petrol price, it must then be “subsidising the commodity secretly, based on the prevalent exchange rate reality.”

It was gathered that the ex-depot price of petrol was around N585/litre on Thursday. The projected cost of N680/litre, going by the current forex rate, means that the government might be forced to spend about N95/litre as subsidy. 

 

Last week, the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority stated that petrol consumption in Nigeria was about 52 million litres daily. When this is multiplied by the estimated N95/litre projected subsidy and calculated for a month, it implies that the government could be forced to spend about N153bn as fuel subsidy monthly.

Speaking on this development, the National Public Relations Officer, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Chinedu Ukadike, said

‘’I still maintain that since we are still importing petroleum products into this country, it has to do with forex. And once it has to do with forex, it means that so much naira will be chasing a few dollars. And since we don’t have the influx of dollars into Nigeria, the after effect is that the landing cost of petrol will continue to increase as long as the dollar continues to rise.

The rise in dollar automatically leads to an increase in the cost of petroleum products, except the NNPCL is subsidising it through the Federal Government. I also recall the last statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media, who said he got a brief from the president that the fuel price would not rise.

That automatically means that there is quasi-deregulation and that Mr President is cushioning the price of petroleum products in relation to the dollar. So if the dollar is higher at the parallel market, it means that whatever is the offshoot, the Federal Government will continue to keep petrol prices within a price regime.

 

“And that regime currently is from N590/litre to N620/litre depending on the part of Nigeria you are buying it from. But if you allow the commodity to sell at the free market price, with respect to the hike in dollar currently, the cost of petrol should be around N680/litre and N700/litre.”

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, had told State House correspondents last week, that President Bola Tinubu had instructed that the cost of petrol should not increase.

 

“Mr President wishes to assure Nigerians following the announcement by the NNPC Limited just yesterday (Monday) that there will be no increase in the pump price of PMS anywhere in the country. We repeat, the President affirms that there will be no increase in the pump price of PMS,” he said

 

 

NNPCL had also refuted rumours that it was planning to increase the pump price of petrol.