News
Desertification: Zulum flags off 1.2m trees’ planting in Borno
Desertification: Zulum flags off 1.2m trees’ planting in Borno
… Target 10m trees in 2024
By: Michael Mike
Borno State Governor, Prof. Babagana Zulum has flagged off the 2023 tree-planting campaign with 1.2 million trees expected to be planted across the state.
The exercise, conducted at the premises of the Borno State University Teaching Hospital on Monday, according to a statement signed by the governor’s spokesman, Mallam Isa Gusau, aims at curbing desertification and other environmental problems.
This year’s campaign in Borno State has the theme: “Trees for Resettlement” which aligns with a broader theme of the United Nations: “Let’s Green Our City”.
Zulum, while delivering his address, advocated the use of gas cookers and wood-efficient stoves as against the mass use of firewood from felling of trees.
He said: “If (tree felling) is left unchecked, we may one day find that the whole of Borno State is a desert. We are all aware that we have lost more than 80% of our vegetation in the state to insurgency. All the trees around our village communities have been cleared for security reasons and some were cleared for firewood”, Zulum said.
The governor added that beyond Borno, “the issue of climate change and desert encroachment has been a great concern to the entire people of the northern states”, noting the urgent need “to arrest the menace of climate change in our state by planting trees”.
The governor also announced that Borno State Government will ambitiously target the planting of 10 million trees in 2024.
The governor explained that of the 10 million trees, each of the 27 local government areas of the state will raise 200,000 trees to make up 5.4 million trees while the State Government will raise about 5 million trees.
During the event, the governor directed the State Ministry of Environment to dump its traditional tree-planting campaign by innovating a more result-based model.
He also asked the ministry to come up with a working calendar that should be strictly adhered to.
The governor charged the ministry and the 27 local government areas to ensure seedlings were raised early so that tree-planting can commence early in 2024.
Highlight of the occasion was the symbolic tree-planting by the governor, his deputy, Umar Usman Kadafur, Speaker of the State Assembly, SSG, commissioners and other dignitaries.
Another highlight was a public enlightenment drama presentation by “Nakande drama group” based in Maiduguri on the impact of cutting trees.
Desertification: Zulum flags off 1.2m trees’ planting in Borno
Bandits Dump Corpses in Revenge Attack in Tafoki Village, Katsina
By: Zagazola Makama
A group of suspected bandits have launched a brutal revenge attack on Tafoki village in the Fasakari Local Government Area of Katsina State, dumping several corpses at the entrance to the community.
Local sources told Zagazola Makama that the assailants, believed to be mostly in their 20s, arrived in the village on April 9, 2025, and positioned the bodies at the entrance. This attack is reportedly in retaliation for the deaths of three bandits killed by villagers in February 2025, after the criminals attempted to launch an assault on the village.
Among the slain bandits was Goje, a notorious leader who led the failed attack. Sources suggest that the bandits have since been abducting villagers, tying their hands behind their backs, and executing them with gunshots to the head. Afterward, the bandits return the bodies and dispose of them at the village entrance.
As families mourn, they are left to recover the decomposing remains of their loved ones, with some corpses already starting to decompose.
Villagers are left devastated, grappling with the trauma of the violence and the realization that their attempts to defend themselves against the bandits’ previous assault have now turned into deadly retribution.
Bandits Dump Corpses in Revenge Attack in Tafoki Village, Katsina
Man Dies After Being Beaten by Brother in Zaria City
By: Zagazola Makama
A tragic incident in Zaria City has led to the death of 50-year-old Sani Yusuf, who was reportedly beaten into a stupor by his elder brother, Abubakar Aminu, on April 4, 2025.
According to information from a Good Samaritan, Abubakar, aged 53, attacked Sani at their home in Rimintsiwa, Zaria City.
The victim was immediately rushed to ABUTH Shika for medical treatment but unfortunately passed away early on April 10, 2025, at approximately 4:50 a.m. While the victim was under care at the hospital, his condition deteriorated, and he succumbed to the injuries inflicted during the assault.
The family has since buried the deceased according to local customs.
Police authorities are currently searching for the suspect, Abubakar Aminu, who fled the scene following the incident. Efforts to apprehend him are ongoing.
The case has been classified as culpable homicide, and investigations are being pursued to determine the circumstances surrounding the altercation and the suspect’s motives.
Man Dies After Being Beaten by Brother in Zaria City
Bandits Abduct Three in Gusau Community
By: Zagazola Makama
Suspected armed bandits have abducted three residents of Marere Hausawa, a community on the outskirts of Damba in Gusau Local Government Area of Zamfara State.
Sources informed Zagazola Makama that the incident occurred in the early hours of Thursday at about 2:30 a.m., when the assailants, wielding dangerous weapons, invaded the area and forcefully took the victims to an unknown destination.
Sources within the community confirmed the attack, describing it as sudden and terrifying.
Search efforts are ongoing to rescue the victims by the troops of Operation FANSAN YANMA
Bandits Abduct Three in Gusau Community
Bandits Dump Corpses in Revenge Attack in Tafoki Village, Katsina
Man Dies After Being Beaten by Brother in Zaria City
Bandits Abduct Three in Gusau Community
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