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…Police arrest man, 35, for allegedly killing Chief Imam in Niger

Six governors in the North have joined hands to wage total war against banditry in their territories.

Niger State governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, stated this yesterday while presenting letter of appointment to the new Emir of Kagara, Ahmed Garba Gunna as the 2nd Emir of Kagara at Government House Minna.

Although he did not name the five other governors, Governor Bello said they had “all unanimously agreed to fight the bandits terrorising their states. Bello, therefore, advised bandits and their   collaborators to change for the better in their own interest or face the wrath of the people and government.”

On the   emergence of Garba Gunna as the new Emir of Kagara, the governor described his final selection as an act of God, adding that he did not in any way interfere in the election process of the new Emir. He reminded the emir of the security challenges facing the state, particularly in his domain and urged him to unite with the people of his emirate to jointly fight criminals within and outside and bring lasting peace to the area.

It would be recalled that Niger State had been a victim of serial attacks by bandits who invade villages in their hundreds, killing, maiming, setting houses ablaze and kidnapping their victims.

A case in point was the attack on Government Science Secondary School, Kagara, where a student was killed, while over 40 others were kidnapped and held in captivity for over a week until they were released, after ransom was reportedly paid.

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The joint effort by the governors to fight banditry is coming on the heels of the emergence of a regional security outfit, code-named Amotekun, by South West governors to address the spate of killings and kidnappings by criminal herders in the region.

A similar effort by South East governors has also culminated in the formation of a security outfit, code-named EbubeAgu, to checkmate the activities of criminal herdsmen who have in recent times attacked many communities in the South East, the most recent being the killing of eight and 25 persons in Enugu and Ebonyi states respectively in the past two weeks.

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Meanwhile, Niger State Police Command has arrested a 35-year-old man, Umar Jibrin, for allegedly killing the Chief Imam of Enagi in Edati Local Government Area of Niger State.

The Imam, identified as Attaihiru Alhassan, 48, was reportedly killed with an iron rod   by the suspect who claimed the cleric was caught red handed having sex with his 30-year-old wife, Aisha Umar.

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The incident occurred last Monday. Steps were earlier taken to settle the incident amicably by the two parties due to the Islamic cleric’s involvement but the peace meeting eventually turned bloody.

Jibrin was said to have allegedly snatched the iron rod which the deceased was holding and used it to hit him in the neck, resulting in the death of the Chief Imam.

According to reports from the area, the youths of the town rose in support of the late Chief Imam demanding for the head of the assailant who   had fled the town to Batati in Lavun Local Government Area. Police Public Relations Officer Niger State Police Command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, who paraded the suspect before journalists at the Police headquarters yesterday in Minna, said but for the intervention of some elders of the town, the incident would have led to assault on the police station at Enagi and the lynching of Jibrin because the youths felt the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, was keeping the suspect in the cell there.

The PPRO said some elders in the area   were, however, able to convince the youths that Jibrin was not in the station.  “After the incident, the suspect took to his heels but was later arrested at Batati village in   Lavun Local government area,” the PPRO stated.

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He said the suspect would soon be charged to court after Police investigations.

Jibrin, who is a father of 6 and married to two wives, said in an interview that it was the devil that led him to attack the Chief Imam.

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“ it was not the first time the late Chief Imam had been having sex with my wife but I regret my action. It is the work of the devil,” he pleaded.

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