…Want IGP to investigate, order release of five members
By Abubakar Yakubu, Abuja
• Harira and Ladidi, lamenting over their husbands’ detention for four months
‘The police is your friend.’ So goes the famous slogan of the Nigeria Police Force. But this does not seem to apply to residents of a Fulani Community at Tungan Kwasau in Abuja, especially the males, who now flee on sighting a policeman.>>>>CONTINUE READING HERE
The community, which is located at the end of the Dei-Dei-Zuba Expressway in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory, says it has lately suffered numerous raids by policemen, which has led to the death of three residents and the arrest of five.
•Some of the few residents left after the last police raid
Such raids have also led to the confiscation of dozens of cows owned by members of the community, some residents told Saturday Sun.
This newspaper learnt that the police are after a suspected bandit called Ilu in the community. Ilu’s name, it was gathered, was mentioned during the interrogation of a suspected kidnap kingpin, Nasiru Mohammed A.K.A. Danger, who was arrested and paraded by the FCT Police Command on March 11.
•Muhammad T. Sarki, a community leader
Residents of the community have cried out to the Inspector-General of Police to investigate the alleged harassment they face from some armed policemen, which has led to the death of three residents and detention of five others for four months without trial at the former Special Anti-Robbery Squad headquarters in Abuja.
The community members also want a stop to the confiscation of their cattle by the policemen as well as a return of the cattle taken away by the law enforcement agents.
The herders, who claimed to have stayed in the community for over three decades, also accused the police operatives of extorting money running into millions of naira from them to secure the release of their detained members.
A housewife, Ladidi Muazu, who lost three neighbours to such raids, said her brother in-law, Magaji, was arrested about four months ago. She also claimed that her husband’s cattle were confiscated along with others under his care, adding that she was surprised to learn that the police had declared the said cattle as exhibits recovered from a forest at Jibi.
She said the police claim was false as the cattle were confiscated by the police at their hamlet in Tungan-Kwasau village.
According to her, some policemen, accompanied by local vigilantes, stormed their residence at around 6am and took away the animals to Zuba Police Division.
“On sighting them, we took to our heels out of fear and from previous experiences, where our members who summoned courage to inquire what the problem was, were either shot dead or arrested,” she alleged.
She said all attempts by her to inform the policemen the truth about the cattle were rebuffed as they declared that the cows were owned by thieves.
“I told them that the cows are owned by my husband and his late brother, whose children inherited them from the deceased but the policemen asked about one Ilu, whom they linked the cows to. I refuted their claim,” she stated.
According to her, her husband, Muazu, and other male residents had to flee the community on sighting the policemen due to what the community experienced in the past whenever such raids occurred.
“The police arrested five of our members, Magaji, Dauda, Ibrahim, Salisu and Haruna, and they have been detained for four months. They were arrested from their respected homes and we are now hearing that the police are saying they arrested them from a hill inside the bush, which is not true,” Ladidi added.
Another woman, Harira Dauda, who is married to one of the arrested persons, Dauda, lamented that the detainee’s mother was killed a few years ago when a military personnel manning a checkpoint close to the community trailed her to an uncompleted building and raped her, before stabbing her to death.
She said when the policemen raided their community, her husband was arrested along with his brother.
“My husband and I were sleeping in our hut when the policemen arrived around dawn on that fateful day. The door was locked and they knocked and we came out. They arrested him in a half nude state and took him away. We were shocked to later learn that the police are saying they arrested him from a bush, which is not true,” she disclosed.
She noted that her husband has remained in police detention for four months and she has spent a lot of money on the case.
“I visit him in detention occasionally and a lot of money was demanded from me with the promise that he would be released soon, but all these have not happened,” she lamented.
Another housewife, Gwamma Magaji, said her husband, Magaji, and her younger brother were arrested on the same day during the police raid. “My husband was arrested inside our room, while my younger brother was arrested from a nearby house.
“After arresting them, the policemen threatened them to confess to committing the crime or be shot dead. But my husband, who I was following closely at that time, told them that he didn’t commit any crime and had nothing to confess. They took them away and recently the police promised that they would release them on bail but instead of their release, the police came back again on Saturday to take our cattle,” Gwamma said.
According to her, before the arrest, her 20-year-old son was killed about eight months ago, while herding their cattle in the bush.
“The cows the police confiscated are owned by three separate families, with two of the family heads now deceased. I don’t know how to continue with my life in such a condition. Without my husband, cattle and peace of mind, how do I survive as we lost a lot to this struggle and yet the police continue to detain them,” Gwamma said.
A male resident, Yusuf Salisu, lamented that residents of the community no longer have peace of mind.
“We lost about three members during the police raids, as they would come unannounced and begin to pursue everyone on sight, especially the males.
“There was also a situation when a young herder was confronted by the security men and shot dead as he was crossing the highway with his cows,” Salisu said.
When our reporter visited the community on Monday, most residents had relocated to other buildings due to the fear of more police raids.
Muhammad Tukur Sarki, one of the community elders shuttling between the families of the detained persons and police, said the police informed him at the former SARS headquarters that the case against the five members of the community was still under investigation.
“Few days later, the police came to the homes of the arrested persons to carry out further investigations and promised us they would be released, but they have yet to do so or charged them to court,” Sarki said.
A police officer, who did not want his name in print, said the case is somehow linked to the arrest of a bandit. He said those arrested will be investigated. “Those not found culpable will be released and those found wanting will face the law,” he said.
BREAKING: Igbo youths pass vote of confidence in Orji Kalu
The FCT Police Command in a recent statement by Superintendent Josephine Adeh informed that operatives of the FCT Police Command, in a continued fight against banditry in FCT, stormed a kidnappers’ den in Jibi forest bordering Dei-dei Abuja on March 23, 2024, about 06:00 am, adding that on sighting the operatives, the bandits fled.
She said the operation was carried out on the heels of a credible intelligence that one Mallam Danyaboi and Ilu, gang members and colleagues to one Nasiru Mohammed A.K.A. Danger, who was earlier arrested and paraded by the Police Command on March 11, 2024, in connection with series of kidnappings in FCT, had planned a reprisal kidnapping attack in Zuba and its environs for the arrest of their members. Exhibits such as firearms and cows were recovered from the camp, she said.
However, residents of the Fulani community spoken to have denied any link with Ilu or his gang members. Two housewives in the community – Ladidi Muazu and Gwamma Magaji- disclosed that they were shocked to learn that the cattle removed from their homes were later said to have been recovered at Jibi Forest by the police.>>>>CONTINUE READING HERE
