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RANDOM MUSING ON KASHIM SHETTIMA @58

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RANDOM MUSING ON KASHIM SHETTIMA @58

By: Inuwa Bwala

Kashim Shettima, the vice president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, wanted a low-key birthday anniversary, but it is like trying to cover a bushel with bare palms.
For a person of Shettimas fame, he can not avoid being celebrated; especially by people, whose lives he may have positively affected: and I am one of them.

When I saw the notice by his spokesman, I smiled to myself and said, “If the vice president does not want to be celebrated on his birthday, then let him stop being good to people”.

Many people may not have the financial capacity to place adverts in newspapers or run radio and television messages, neither are there cakes to cut nor champagne to pop, but definitely, many people will mark the date in their own different ways.
I am not surprised at what I have seen so far, coming from different people this morning alone.

Kashim Shettima is like the parabolical baobab tree: you I can only analyze the portion visible to you, while others view it from their own positions.
From whichever position one looks at him, one can not miss the fact that Kashim Shettima is richly endowed, intellectually, politically; perhaps economically, and has a rich religious background. He is always passionate, humble, statemanly, philanthropic, flamboyant in appearance, and an oratorial delight in speech.

I stand to be corrected, but I think Kashim Shettima is one of the most widely connected politicians north of the Niger today, which accounts for why so many people loath his emergence as the political oracle, in the region, so to say.
At 58, Kashim Shettima is a mite younger, by months, but we have come a long way since our paths crossed.
To those of us, who are his peers, his friends, his school mates and his subordinates, Kashim Shettima is a rendezvous of sorts, as he has the contacts of virtually everybody whose paths crossed his and he reaches out periodically, as a reminder that he has not grown above us, even as the Vice President.
It is therefore difficult for him to shut us out even as he clocks 58 because we have been innaundating him with telephone calls and messages since yesterday and he has been promptly responding.

Having worked under him, in the process of which we sometimes disagreed, I must confess that I am yet to meet a boss who regards me more as a friend and brother than as a subordinate. Even in his present capacity, he calls to inquire about ones welbeing. He leaves his doors wide open whenever one visits.
At 58, he has risen from a humble background to become a national icon and a mentor to so many people.

As I join fellow Nigerians to celebrate our dear Vice President, it is my hope that you continue to be blessed with good health, strength, and wisdom, in serving Nigeria.
Happy 58th Birthday to His Excellency the Vice President, of the Federal Repiblic if Nigeria, Distinguished Senator Kashim Shettima, GCON.

RANDOM MUSING ON KASHIM SHETTIMA @58

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

By: Zagazola Makama

A wave of coordinated security offensives in Imo State has barbecued the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with the killing of key kingpins and the dislodgement of notorious terrorist camps in forested parts of Njaba and Isu Local Government Areas.

Zagazola Makama understand that The offensive, which began on June 29, was spearheaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in close collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, special forces, and local tactical units.

It was launched after the arrest and detailed confessions of two ESN commanders Uchenna Opara, popularly known as Ntanta Miri, and Ozioma Ihedoro, a.k.a OZ, both natives of Umuaka community in Njaba LGA.

Acting on actionable intelligence, the joint team raided and obliterated several terrorist enclaves, including Umuele Umuaka, Ezioha, and Ugbele Umuaka, known safe havens of the separatist group.

A fierce gun battle ensued as operatives stormed the camps. Three ESN fighters were neutralised during the confrontation, while others reportedly escaped with bullet wounds. Their bodies were later recovered along the Ugbele Umuaka axis.

What followed was a methodical clearance operation targeting the B44 camp cluster, long considered one of ESN’s strategic base networks. The camps, codenamed B44 Tangle 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9, were all successfully dislodged by the joint force.

A caterpillar operator working with the team was tragically killed in the line of duty when the group came under sudden fire while approaching the B44 main camp. He was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, but later confirmed dead by a medical officer on duty.

Items recovered from the operation included:
One AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of live ammunition, pump-action shotgun, two locally made IEDs, one human skull and a Biafran flag

In addition, two suspected ESN members were arrested during the combing of nearby bush paths. The duo Emeka Ogene Sabinus of Ezi Isu in Isu LGA and Nnabuike Emmanuel of Ohofia Oduma in Aninri LGA, Enugu State were said to bear tribal incisions associated with the proscribed militia.

The collapse of the B44 cluster was significant in the counterinsurgency drive in the South-East, where pockets of armed resistance have posed growing threats to residents, security personnel, and national assets.

“The terrain is difficult, but our operatives are relentless,” a senior official close to the operation said. “We are targeting leadership figures, supply chains, and safe havens.”

Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to apprehend fleeing fighters, with mop-up operations continuing in adjoining forest belts across Orlu, Njaba, and Isu corridors.

The Imo offensive adds to a growing list of successes by joint intelligence-led operations aimed at stabilising regions grappling with armed separatist violence, kidnappings, and the weaponisation of local grievances.

DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

By: Zagazola Makama

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested three most-wanted bandits and kidnappers operating across Abuja and neighbouring parts of Kaduna State.

According to a police sources, the arrests were carried out on June 29 between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., by operatives of the Scorpion Squad led by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, following actionable and digital reconstructive intelligence.

The sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects were identified as: Abdulkadir Abubakar, a native of Mpape, FCT, Mohammed Tasiu Sani, of Rigina, Kaduna State, Suleiman Jibrin, 27, of Sabon-Gayan, Kaduna State.

The three suspects, all Fulani by tribe, have been on the command’s most-wanted list for
their roles in multiple kidnapping and banditry operations, particularly in Jere, Kajuru, the FCT and its environs.

During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting victims and moving them to detention camps in Kachia and Rigina forests in Kaduna State. Some victims, they admitted, were held for months, while others were killed at will.

The sources revealed that one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Abubakar, provided disturbing details of internal executions within the gang, in which some members were killed by their own leaders over mistrust and betrayal.

An operational motorcycle, popularly referred to by locals as the “Boko Haram Motorcycle,” was recovered during the raid. The suspects are currently assisting operatives in ongoing efforts to recover arms and ammunition, and to track down other gang members still at large.

FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

By: Zagazola Makama

A 20-year-old farm labourer identified as Solomon (surname yet unknown) has been found dead with gunshot wounds after he was allegedly shot by a member of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, along the Ilesa/Iperindo Road in Osun State.

The incident, which occurred on June 29, followed the reported confrontation between a local security operative and a group of five farm labourers on their way to a farmland.

According to Temidayo Olowookere, the employer of the deceased, the labourers were accosted around 11:00 a.m. by an Amotekun operative, one Ajayi Ibukun, who accused them of extorting money from passersby. Two members of the group were apprehended, while the remaining three fled into the bush.

Olowookere said the detained workers were later released to him in the afternoon. However, later in the evening, when two of the three fleeing labourers returned, Solomon remained missing.

A search party was immediately organised. His body was discovered in the bush with gunshot wounds on his back, raising suspicions that he may have been shot during the initial confrontation.

His remains were evacuated to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the morgue for autopsy.

Police say efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the security operative allegedly involved in the shooting, while the community continues to call for justice.

Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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