News
Again, Herdsmen Kill Nine In Plateau …Ondo Evacuates Students From UNIJOS …As Femi-Kayode Condemns Attacks
Suspected herdsmen have killed 19 persons and injured four others during an attack on Ariri community in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau State.
Among the victims of the attack which took place at 11:30pm, Wednesday, were women and children.
The latest attack came amidst condemnation of the alleged militarisation and menace of fake soldiers in Jos metropolis.
On Tuesday night, 13 persons were feared killed by suspected herdsmen during a midnight attack on Riyom LGA.
An eyewitness from Ariri village, Miango District, Yohana Yakubu, in an interview with newsmen, yesterday in Jos, said the assailants displaced many families, after shooting indiscriminately.
He said, “In all, 18 people were killed; the killers wore black clothes, they were shouting Allah Akbar. They were speaking Hausa and Fulani languages and after the attack, they fled. People were massacred and we are now helpless.”
The spokesperson for Miango Youths Development Association, Lawrence Zongo, also shed light on the attacks in a message to newsmen in Jos.
He said, “Again, Fulani gunmen have killed 19 people in Ariri village of Miango District in Bassa LGA of Plateau State. Four persons sustained serious injuries including the youth leader of Ariri who is now receiving treatment in Enos Hospital, Miango.
“The Fulani people have declared war on the Plateau. They are achieving their plans through genocide attacks and killing of citizens. We are always in security meetings which have not achieved results. No investigation to arrest the criminals. Now, Ariri village has been displaced. This is too bad; this is an evil genocide going on in a democratic dispensation.
“We are pleading, calling on Amnesty International, the global community and Red Cross to please come to our aid. We need your help and assistance.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for the Plateau State Police Command, DSP Matthias Tyopev, said he would get the details, speak with the commissioner of police, “and get back.”
But as of the time of this report, he had yet to get back to our correspondent.
Reacting, former minister of aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, condemned the fresh attack on the Plateau that has resulted in the killing of about 19 persons.
Fani Kayode, in a post, called out President Muhammadu Buhari over the incessant killings during his administration.
According to him, Buhari’s administration has been filled with sad incidences such as mass murder and slaughter of Nigerians.
He wrote: “Fulani herdsmen butchered another 19 innocent and defenceless people in a village in Plateau state last night.
“Under Buhari all we have seen is tragedy after tragedy, calamity after calamity, mass murder after mass murder and slaughter after slaughter. In Jesus Name flush him out!”
Meanwhile, the Chief of Army Staff, Lt-Gen Tukur Buratai has revealed those sponsoring armed ethnic militia groups in Jos, the capital of Plateau State.
Buratai said the armed ethnic militia groups in Plateau State were supported and sponsored by the elite or elders of the state.
Buratai disclosed this during the burial of three soldiers who were killed during the violence that rocked the state’s troubled Barkin Ladi Local Government Area at the Maxwell Khobe Military Cemetery at 3 Division Headquarters, Rukuba, Jos.
Buratai, who was represented by the Operation Safe Haven Commander, Maj-Gen Augustine Agundu, said, “It is evident that there exist armed ethnic militia groups sponsored or supported by some elites and elders who deploy the misguided youths into committing the worst heinous crimes.
“There is certainly no constitutional provision that allows civilians to bear firearms but their possession has become a well sort-out vocation here on the Plateau.”
Expressing regrets over the death of CPL Effiong Mbuotidem, he said: “Human dignity has lost its value on the Plateau.
“The troops of OPSH like all service personnel are officially detailed to Plateau State to perform the duties upon which they swore an oath to serve the nation.”
Similarly, the Nigerian Army has pledged to guarantee the safety of farmers in Borno State, to enhance the production of paddy rice and other food crops.
The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig-Gen Texas Chukwu, in a statement issued, yesterday, in Maiduguri, quoted the Acting General Commanding Officer (GOC), 7 Division, Maiduguri, Brig-Gen Bulama Biu, as making the pledge when members of the Rice Farmers Association of Nigeria (RIFAN) paid him a courtesy visit in Maiduguri.
The statement quoted Biu as saying that the army would provide security to farmers to enable them cultivate their farmlands and ensure their safety to encourage agricultural activities.
Biu noted that rice farmers were critical partners in ensuring food security for sustainable social and economic development in the country.
He tasked farmers to be law-abiding and ensure that they followed due-process in the discharge of their business.
In his remarks, the Chairman of the association, Alhaji Bulama Mohammad, lauded the military over the successes recorded in the counter-insurgency campaign in the northeast.
Mohammad sought the support of the military to ease movement of the produce to the market.
Meanwhile, no fewer than 100 indigenes of Ondo State studying at the University of Jos in Plateau State including two visually impaired have been evacuated from their troubled tertiary institution by the state government.
UNIJOS main gate Students of the institution who are indigenes had sent a distress call to the state governor Rotimi Akeredolu following the unrest in Jos metropolis.
The called followed the killing of some students in the institution hostel. Deputy governor of the state Agboola Ajayi while receiving the students expressed appreciation to God for sparing their lives, thereby averting what could have been a major calamity for the state.
Ajayi, who described the Akeredolu-led government as a responsive one, thanked the students’ leader for alerting the government on the development early enough which led to the timely rescue mission.
He assured them that the government would continue to prioritize the safety of the citizens, irrespective of their religious and political creeds.
President of the National Association of Ondo State (NAOSS), UNIJOS Chapter, Comrade Olakunle Ojumu, said the students would ever remain grateful to the state government for evacuating them from the troulbed environment.
Olakunle said “I made a distress call to the state government following the sudden outbreak of the ongoing killing in Jos and the government acted promptly by sending five buses, which contained 16 students each and other logistics to rescue the trapped students.”
Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar, had lauded the courage and commitment of troops of the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) to the ongoing counter-insurgency operations in North East Nigeria.
Abubakar gave the commendation during a morale-boosting visit to the Air Component of Operation HADIN KAI in Maiduguri, Borno.
This is contained in a statement by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, yesterday, in Abuja.
The CAS said their sacrifices were etched in the history of the nation, and in the hearts of millions of Nigerians who sleep safer because of the troops’ vigilance.
He emphasised that their bravery and resilience in the face of adversity have not gone unnoticed, saying his visit underscored the vital role airpower plays in neutralising threats and protecting communities.
Abubakar pledged continued investment in cutting-edge technology to empower frontline units.
According to him, the NAF remains steadfast in its mission, guided by leadership, strengthened by unity, and driven by the selfless service of its personnel.
The visit comes at a critical moment, reinforcing the importance of public support for military operations and spotlighting the human element at the heart of national defence.
Nigeria’s soft drinks and beverage market continues to show strong growth potential, making it the leading consumer of soft drinks in Sub-Saharan Africa, according to the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Association.
A statement by the VDMA disclosed during a press conference held in Lagos ahead of drinktec 2025, that Nigeria consumed over 53 billion litres of soft drinks in 2024, placing it well ahead of other African countries such as Ghana and South Africa.
Despite challenges such as inflation and a weakening naira, Nigeria’s growing population, rising urbanisation, and expanding middle class are key factors driving demand in the beverage sector.
Bottled water led the segment with 48.7 billion litres sold in 2024, a figure projected to rise by 27% to 62 billion litres by 2028.
Carbonated soft drinks followed with 3.4 billion litres, expected to reach 4.4 billion litres by 2028, while energy drinks are forecasted to grow by 30% over the same period. Juices, though relatively small, are also on an upward trajectory.
“The Nigerian beverage market is expanding quickly due to increasing accessibility and affordability,” VDMA stated, citing data from Euromonitor International.
Set to take place in Munich from 15 to 19 September 2025, drinktec is the world’s leading trade fair for the beverage and liquid food industry.
VDMA, a key exhibitor and technical partner for the event, revealed that Nigerian participation is expected to be strong, especially as the country anticipates economic recovery.
Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, has condemned the recent ban placed on a song by Nigerian musician, Eedris Abdulkareem, describing the development as a return to the culture of censorship and a threat to the right to free expression.
Abdulkareem had waxed a song titled “Tell Your Papa” which criticized President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
In a statement issued from New York University, Abu Dhabi, yesterday, Soyinka criticised the action and its wider implications, saying it echoed past attempts to stifle artistic and socio-political commentary in Nigeria.
“Courtesy of an artist operating in a different genre – the cartoon – who sent me his recent graphic comment on the event, I learnt recently of a return to the culture of censorship with the banning of the product of a music artist, Eedris Abdulkareem,” Soyinka said in the piece posted on PM news.
He expressed irony in suggesting that the ban did not go far enough, stating, “It is not only the allegedly offensive record that should be banned – the musician himself should be proscribed. Next, PMAN, or whatever musical association of which Abdulkareem is member, should also go under the hammer.”
Soyinka noted that he had not listened to the banned song but stressed that the issue transcends content and concerns a fundamental democratic principle.
“It cannot be flouted. That, surely is basic. This is why I feel that we should look on the bright side of any picture and thus recommend the Aleshinloye cartoon – and others in allied vein – as an easy-to-apprehend, easy-to-digest summation of the wisdom of attempting to stifle unpalatable works of art or socio-political commentary,” he said.
He also pointed out the irony that censorship often benefits the targeted artist.
The ban is a boost to the artist’s nest egg, thanks to free governmental promotion. Mr. Abdulkareem must be currently warbling his merry way all the way to the bank. I envy him,” he added.
The literary icon warned that such censorship was not only counterproductive but also dangerous to democratic development.
“We have been through this before, over and over again, ad nauseum. We know where it all ends. It is boring, time-wasting, diversionary but most essential of all, subversive of all seizures of the fundamental right of free expression,” Soyinka said.
He warned that the ban creates “a permissive atmosphere of trickle-down power,” where state authorities feel emboldened to clamp down on dissent.
Soyinka’s statement also touched on broader issues of impunity and mob violence in Nigeria, lamenting the recent lynching of 19 youths in Edo State.
“My heart goes out to friends, colleagues and families of victims and traumatised survivors of this senseless slaughter. Our thirst for justice must remain unslaked,” he said.
Referencing the 2022 killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto, Soyinka criticised the culture of impunity, saying, “Identified killers were set free to gloat, and paste their photos on the Social Media… in full daylight glare, in the presence of both citizen voyeurs and security forces.”
He called for accountability, warning that “as long as the culture of impunity is given the sheerest strain of legitimacy in any given cause, such gruesome assaults on our common humanity will continue to prevail.”
Soyinka concluded by urging the relevant regulatory body to reverse what he described as a “petulant irrationality,” warning that any government that only tolerates praise-singers “has already commenced a downhill slide into the abyss.”