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Isa Gusau: A part of me is gone

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Isa Gusau: A part of me is gone

By: Yakubu Ahmed BK

Innalillahi Wa’inna Ilaihirrajiun. Death – the ultimate leveler has knocked on the door (as it will on ours) of Malam Isa Gusau, the Special Adviser, Media and Strategy to the Borno state Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum.

Isa was a complete gentleman, a professional and a loyal friend who gave his all to what he so much loved. Years my junior but almost at par with those who began before him.

Our paths crossed in Maiduguri early 2000 or thereabout and we clicked almost immediately, because we shared many attributes. He was Daily Trust’s Correspondent in Borno and I was Concord Press Correspondent there too, after I had spent 10 years as a Reporter and later a News Editor with Borno Radio Television Corporation BRTV. If you work in Borno, you just have to be at your best. Borno has a way it builds your confidence and sharpens you into a courageous person – and of course into a go getter. He was courageous, and one thing nobody can take away from him was his professionalism – one hell of a writer if you would.

It was not for nothing that he meritoriously served former Borno state Governor (now Nigeria’s Vice President) Kashim Shettima as SA Media for eight solid years from 2011. It was not for nothing again that Kashim Shettima’s successor Babagana Umara Zulum inherited him – and was glad to have done that. Isa was somewhat irreplaceable, no carbon copy of him, take it or leave it.

We spoke last some two weeks ago and believe me even though we were close, he never uttered a word about what he was going through healthwise other than the general knowledge even amongst his closest friends that he had some challenges which we all thought he had dealt with since his surgery at a hospital in India a year ago. It was he who called and as usual, he had some professional suggestions on how I should handle certain PR issues of my Principal in my position as the Commissioner for Information and Culture Kebbi state. We have become used to checking on one another on the professional realm. Each time either of us called, it must be about what either he or I thought should be done to advance the frontiers of image making for our respective bosses.

Since my appointment as Information Commissioner some five months ago, he became restless for me to hit the ground running and to make “that first impression.” The advises we offered to each other were mutual, but I must confess that I drew much more from his fountain of knowledge than he did from mine. That was obvious because he has image managed and PR consulted much earlier than myself and had done it more successfully. The fact that he achieved that much in a state that was not his attested to his capacity and ability in the area he had chosen for himself.

A part of me is gone and I just can’t decipher where to run to when I hit that point of creative slowdown. Of course, we drew from each other but my sense of loss was made worse by the reality that I must dig out with bare hands since one of the shovels is gone. Allah ya jikan Isa Gusau.
Yakubu Ahmed BK is Commissioner for Information and Culture, Kebbi state.

Isa Gusau: A part of me is gone

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Troops, NDLEA Raid Drug Hideout in Katsina, Arrest Suspected Supplier to Terrorists

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Troops, NDLEA Raid Drug Hideout in Katsina, Arrest Suspected Supplier to Terrorists

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Malumfashi at Kafur, in collaboration with the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, have raided a suspected drug peddlers’ hideout in Kafur Local Government Area of Katsina State.

Security sources said the operation was conducted at about 12:30 p.m. on May 12, 2026, at Huguma village following intelligence on illicit drug activities within the area.

During the raid, troops apprehended one suspect identified as a major supplier of illicit drugs and other substances to terrorists and criminal elements operating within Kafur Local Government Area and surrounding communities.

Items recovered during the operation included 146 grams of suspected cannabis and 16.5 grams of a substance identified as Exol-5.

The suspect and the recovered drugs have since been handed over to the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency for further investigation and necessary legal action.

Troops, NDLEA Raid Drug Hideout in Katsina, Arrest Suspected Supplier to Terrorists

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Troops Recover 13 Sheep in Mangu, as Attacked Herdsman go Missing

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Troops Recover 13 Sheep in Mangu, as Attacked Herdsman go Missing

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of Sector 8, Operation Safe Haven (OPEP), have recovered 13 sheep in Sabon Gari village in Mangu Local Government Area of Plateau State following a suspected attack on a herder who was either killed or just vanished.

Sources said that the troops responded to the incident at about 6:30 p.m. on May 12, 2026, after receiving information that strayed livestock were discovered in the community without the owner.

On arrival at the scene, the troops reportedly found 13 sheep grazing without any herder in sight. The animals were subsequently taken into custody by the troops for further action and documentation.

Security sources said the absence of the herder raised concerns about his possible safety and whereabouts. Sources maintained that the disappearance of the harder raised suspicions that he may have been eliminated by assailants in the community.

Preliminary assessment of the situation has prompted security considerations within the area, as incidents involving farmer–herder misunderstandings and livestock encroachment have continued to be recorded in parts of Plateau State.

Authorities are expected to carry out further inquiries to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident and to determine the appropriate disposition of the recovered livestock.

Troops Recover 13 Sheep in Mangu, as Attacked Herdsman go Missing

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“It Is Obvious the Video Is Fake” Gov. Mutfwang Dismisses Viral Plateau Burial Attack Video as Fake, Warns Against Rumour-Mongering

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“It Is Obvious the Video Is Fake” Gov. Mutfwang Dismisses Viral Plateau Burial Attack Video as Fake, Warns Against Rumour-Mongering

By Zagazola Makama

Governor Caleb Mutfwang has dismissed the viral video circulated by Plateau- based activist Masara Kim Usman alleging a “jihadist attack” during a burial ceremony in Barkin Ladi, describing the footage as fake and deliberately designed to cause panic.

The governor made the remarks during a recent Security Council meeting while addressing the growing security issues and the spread of unverified security reports and sensational narratives on social media concerning the security situation in Plateau State.

“It is obvious that the video is fake,” Mutfwang said while reacting to the controversial footage that had been widely circulated online and featured in international interviews.

The video had claimed that armed Fulani attackers stormed a burial ground during funeral rites, allegedly opening fire on mourners from surrounding hills with sophisticated weapons.

However, The Nigerian Police Force who provided security at the scene of the burial and other relevant security agencies in the state found no confirmed casualty, injury or medical record linked to the alleged attack.

The governor’s comments came barely two days after he cautioned social media activists, media, bloggers and online champions against spreading rumours and unverified reports capable of inflaming tensions and damaging the image of the state.

“We are not saying that every incident should be swept under the carpet. We keep accurate data of all accounts of incidents,” the governor said.

“We are not saying that there is no attacks but many of you that are in the hurry to put it on social media, you are destroying the state.”

He warned that the reckless dissemination of rumours and unverified information could endanger lives and worsen the fragile security atmosphere in affected communities.

“And sometimes you put on social media what you heard as a rumour. You dont know the lives you put in danger sometimes with what you put on social media. We need to be careful,” he added.

Mutfwang further alleged that there were deliberate efforts by certain actors to portray Plateau negatively before the international community through exaggerated and misleading narratives.

“There is a deliberate plan to demarket Plateau State and to tell the world that Plateau state is not anywhere that anyone should visit,” the governor said.

“But let me reassure Nigerians and the world that Plateau State remain the home of peace and tourism nobody will take that from us.”said the Governor.

According to the activist’s dramatic narration, heavily armed “Fulani jihadists” surrounded a burial ground, opened fire from nearby hills with sophisticated rifles and sniper weapons, and forced terrified mourners to flee while abandoning corpses in shallow graves.

The scene was presented to international audiences as evidence of an ongoing Islamic terrorist extermination campaign against Christians in Plateau State and Nigeria.

Yet after all the cinematic shouting, breathless commentary and social media outrage, one stubborn problem refused to disappear:
Nobody died, nobody was injured, no hospital treated victims, no corpse emerged from the supposed attack, no security report confirmed casualties, no family identified anybody allegedly shot during the incident. Which raises a very uncomfortable question for the propagandists:

What exactly were the “snipers” shooting at?
Because for an alleged coordinated jihadist ambush involving sophisticated weapons against a crowded funeral gathering, the complete absence of casualties is not merely suspicious, it is devastating to the credibility of the entire narrative.

Even more remarkable was the extraordinary professionalism displayed by the supposed victim while “escaping.” Apparently, modern sniper attacks now allow enough time for stable camera angles, American accents and commentary while maintaining uninterrupted narration and carefully managed video framing.

At different points, the narrator claimed he ran two kilometres. Later, it became five kilometres. He was we was in the middle of God knows where when houses were clearly seeing behind him.

Yet somehow throughout the entire footage, there was no exhaustion, no panic, no disorientation, no visible trauma and not even the shaky breathing expected from somebody allegedly escaping death under sustained gunfire. He even took his time to mount his microphone to avoid background noises.

One almost expected background music and movie credits to appear. But perhaps the most embarrassing part of the production was hidden in plain sight inside the video itself.

While viewers were being told that heavily armed jihadists were actively attacking mourners, some women in the background were calmly walking around without panic. Others appeared unconcerned while some youths suddenly being prompted to run during portions of the recording.

Ironically, the only visible armed individuals in sections of the footage were local armed Berom youths. That small detail completely shattered the carefully packaged “helpless civilians under jihadist siege” narrative being exported to foreign audiences.

Governor Mutfwang’s intervention therefore matters because it represents something increasingly rare in today’s toxic information environment: An admission that propaganda itself has become part of Plateau’s security problem.

The Plateau crisis is already painful enough without staged documentaries pretending to be genocide evidence.

If peace is ever to return fully to Plateau, it will require honesty from all sides not scripted panic, selective outrage and propaganda disguised as activism.

Because eventually, reality catches up. And when even the governor says, “It is obvious that the video is fake,” the performance begins to collapse under its own weight.

“It Is Obvious the Video Is Fake” Gov. Mutfwang Dismisses Viral Plateau Burial Attack Video as Fake, Warns Against Rumour-Mongering

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