Gunmen have killed 19 security personnel, including 13 soldiers, in an assault in Kebbi State, a security source and residents said yesterday.
Agence France-Presse (AFP) said the battle erupted late Tuesday, in Kanya, a village in Danko-Wasagu district, just a day after dozens of members of a self-defence militia were killed in the same area.
At least, 57 vigilantes were killed in nearby Sakaba, on Monday, in an ambush by heavily armed criminal gangs known locally as bandits.
The Kebbi State Government confirmed the report when the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, visited Birnin Kebbi, the state capital, yesterday. Though the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Umar Babale Yauri, who briefed the minister, did not give the number of the soldiers killed, he said killing of the soldiers happened a day after about 63 members of the vigilante group, known as Yan-Sa-Kai, were massacred in Zuru. He said: “In the last three days, we lost about 65 vigilantes members. And even yesterday, we lost some military officers engaging with them.”
Hundreds of gunmen invaded Kanya, engaging a combined military and police detachment in a three-hour gun fight, the source and residents said.
“The death toll stands at 19. They include 13 soldiers, five policemen and one vigilante,” a security personnel, who did not want to be identified, told AFP.
He said eight other security personnel, including four soldiers, were hospitalised with wounds.
“It was an intense fight that lasted more than three hours. The terrorists had the upper hand because of their sheer number.”
Military and police did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the incident, AFP said. Local resident, Musa Arzika, who gave the same toll, said the attackers came on “around 200 motorcycles, riding three on each” and laid siege to the village.
“The bodies of 13 soldiers, five policemen and one vigilante killed in the fight were taken to Zuru this morning. We believe they were the same bandits who killed the vigilantes that attacked our village,” he said.
The Northwest and central have been terrorised for years by criminal gangs who raid villages, killing and abducting residents for ransom after looting and burning homes.
The minister was in the state on the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, to condole with the government and people of Kebbi State, over the recent killing of vigilante members in the state. Onyeama said the president urged the state to stand firm in dealing with the challenges of banditry.
“There will be no retreat and we will not be bound with the challenges of banditry and terrorists in the northern states,” he said.
Court fixes March 23 to hear FG’s request to extradite Abba Kyari
The Abuja division of the Federal High Court has fixed March 23, to hear an application by the Federal Government seeking the extradition of the detained Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, to the United States (U.S).
The Federal Government had, on March 3, 2022, filed the application marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/249/2022, through the office of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN).
The application, titled: “Application for the Extradition of Abba Alhaji Kyari to the United States of America,” was dated and filed March 2.
While the AGF is the applicant, Kyari is the respondent in the application.
Kyari was formerly the head of the Inspector-General of Police special Intelligence Response Team (IRT).
The matter, which was assigned to Justice Inyang Ekwo by the Chief Judge of FHC, Justice John Tsoho, has been fixed for March 23 for hearing.
The application was filed under the Extradition Act, as part of Nigerian government’s approval of the request by the U. S. for Kyari’s extradition.
The application, which was directly addressed to the chief judge, hinted that a request was made to Nigeria by Diplomatic Representative of the Embassy of the United States of America (USA), Abuja, for the surrender of Kyari who is a subject in a superseding three counts indictment in case no: 2:21-cr-00203-RGK.
The AGF, Abubakar Malami, said the case was filed on April 29, 2021, in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, USA.
Malami said that Kyari was to answer to a three-count charge.
“Count one: Conspiracy to commit wire fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1349, ll.
“Counts two: Conspiracy to commit money laundering in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1956(h)
“Count three: Aggravated identity theft and aiding and abetting, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C, Sections 1028A (a){1}j and 2(a),” he said.
The AGF said the punishment for the offences as contained in the superseding indictment carries a maximum of 20 years imprisonment for count one, 20 years imprisonment for count two and two years imprisonment for count three consecutive to any other sentence imposed, respectively, as contained in the various United States laws.
Malami said: “There is no death sentence imposed on the offences for which the suspect is accused.”
He said the application was in line with the requirement of the Extradition Act, CAP E25, LFN, 2004.
He argued that the offence for which the suspect is accused of is an extraditable offence under Articles 3 (18 & 20) of the Extradition Treaty between the United States of America and Great Britain, signed at London, on December 22,1931.
He said the treaty is recognised as binding on the Federal Republic of Nigeria, by legal Notice 33 of 1967.
He said the offences are also covered by Articles 3, 5 and 6 of the United Nations Convention Against Transnational Organised Crime, adopted November 15, 2000 (“The UNTOC”).
Malami said that the offence charged in count three is considered a separate serious crime, covered under Article 16(2) of the UNTOC.
He said besides that the offences for which Kyari is accused are extraditable, they are also punishable under the Nigerian laws.
Already, the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) had, on Monday, arraigned Kyari, alongside six others, including four officers of IRT, on eight-count charge bordering on alleged drug trafficking before Justice Emeka Nwite of FHC, Abuja.
The four members of the IRT, in the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/57/2022, include ACP Sunday J. Ubia, ASP Bawa James, Insp. Simon Agirigba and Insp. John Nuhu.
Other defendants in the charge are Chibunna Patrick Umeibe and Emeka Alphonsus Ezenwanne, the two alleged drug traffickers that were arrested at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport in Enugu.
Although Kyari and the four police officers denied their involvement in the matter, Umeibe and Ezenwanne pleaded guilty to the counts preferred against them.
Justice Nwite, who ordered that Kyari and others be remanded in NDLEA custody pending the hearing of their bail application on March 14, also fixed March 28 for the review of facts in the charges filed against Umeibe and Ezenwanne, who pleaded guilty.
