Adelowo Oladipo

No fewer than about 20 gunmen suspected to be armed bandits were killed last Tuesday by local hunters in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State. The local hunters were also said to have recovered much livestock allegedly rustled by the ill-fated bandits. The incident was said to have come on the heels of the restoration of armed security operatives to Bassa, Gurmana and Kukoki neighbourhoods of the local government area. A statement by the concerned Shiroro Youths made available to Tribune Online yesterday in Minna, the state capital confirmed the incidence. The statement issued and made available to newsmen on Saturday, jointly by Abubakar Yussuf Kokki and Bello Ibrahim Co-Conveners of the Concerned Shiroro Youths declared that "the group commends the uncommon bravado and gallantry exhibited by the combined team of local Hunters and local Vigilante groups during a head-on confrontation with the hoodlums at around Gurmana forest on Tuesday night which resulted in many casualties including death on the part of the criminals. The statement added that “the armed bandits had successfully rustled herds of cattle around Gurmana axis of Shiroro local government but luck ran out of them and thereafter they met their nemesis resulting in scores of the criminals being neutralized during the fierce gun duel as they fell to the superior firepower of the local hunters.” The statement stated further that "luckily, herds of rustled cattle were forcefully confiscated from the deadly hoodlums.” Kokki and Bello also in the statement said they have received with extreme joy the news of the deployment of well equipped Joint Security Task Force to insecurity prone areas of the local government area. "With this welcome development, we are enthusiastically confident that our people who are peaceful and law-abiding citizens but unfortunately have come under constant and sustained multiple deadly attacks by heartless, venomous, murderous and hydra-headed terrorists will now have a reprieve from the regular vicious attacks by the Marauders." "We fervently hope and pray for the sustained operation to be carried out by the Joint Chiefs of Staff Security Task Force stationed in the affected areas," the duo said the statement. They thereby prayed that the area will continue to witness "similar unprecedented breakthrough in the fight against terrorism and insurgency." YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state... Selfies, video calls and Chinese documentaries: The things you’ll meet onboard Lagos-Ibadan train The Lagos-Ibadan railway was inaugurated recently for a full paid operation by the Nigerian Railway Corporation after about a year of free test-run. Our reporter joined the train to and fro Lagos from Ibadan and tells his experience in this report... Lekki Shootings: Why We Lied About Our Presence — General Taiwo The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the killings at Lekki Toll Gate, on Saturday resumed viewing of the 24hrs footage of the October 20, 2020 shooting of #EndSARS protesters by personnel of the Nigerian Army… ICYMI: How We Carried Out The 1993 Nigerian Airways Hijack —Ogunderu On Monday, October 25, 1993, in the heat of June 12 annulment agitations, four Nigerian youngsters, Richard Ajibola Ogunderu, Kabir Adenuga, Benneth Oluwadaisi and Kenny Razak-Lawal, did the unthinkable! They hijacked an Abuja-bound aircraft, the Nigerian Airways airbus A310, and diverted it to Niger Republic. How did they so it? Excerpts… ICYMI: What North Will Not Accept About 2023 Presidency —Prof Mahuta, UDU Don And Kebbi Dev Foundation Chairman Sahabi Danladi Mahuta, a community mobiliser and APC chieftain. Mahuta spoke to select journalists at the sidelines of an Islamic conference in Abuja recently. Excerpts…