Senate president of Nigeria linked to heist that left 33 people dead

Nigeria's Senate President is linked to suspects involved in a notorious bank heist where 33 people died, Nigerian police has said. 

Police say the robbers attacked six banks in the remote town of Offa in Kwara State and fired at a police station, killing nine police officers and passersby including some pregnant women on April 5 this year. 

Five members of the criminal gang arrested after the robbery in central Nigeria allege the operation was financed by Bukola Saraki, Nigeria police said in a statement.

"Senate President, Bukola Saraki, is being invited to report to the police to answer allegations indicting him from confessions of five gang leaders arrested for active participation in Offa bank robbery and killings of 33 innocent persons," said Nigeria police spokesman Jimoh Moshood in a statement.

Saraki later sent a tweet saying that Nigeria police no longer required him to attend the station but had asked him to respond to the allegations in writing instead.

According to the police, the five suspects arrested in the robbery confessed they had been "sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles" by the lawmaker to carry out the bank robberies.
However, the leader of Nigeria's Upper Chamber released a statement Monday saying the allegations were "baseless." 

"Let it be known that there is no way I could have been associated with armed robbery against my people. I hereby state categorically that I have no link with any band of criminals. As a person who has utmost respect for the rule of law... when the invitation from the police is formally extended to me, I will be ready to honor it without any delay," Saraki said in a statement. 

A commentator online, Reno Omokri questioned why Saraki, who controls Senate's annual budget of around $300 million, would rob a bank.

"But why will politicians who can rob the treasury prefer to rob a bank? Which is easier and more profitable?" asked Omokri, a former aide to ex-Nigerian president Goodluck Jonathan. 

The Offa bank robbery is one of the most audacious heists carried out in the country in recent years, police say.

 
The thieves got away with millions of naira in local currency after using dynamite to blow up a vault in one bank.

CNN

180 prisoners break out of Nigerian prison, 30 recaptured

Following combined efforts of the Nigerian Prisons Service and other security agencies in Niger state, 30 inmates who escaped from the Minna Medium Security Prison on Sunday night have been recaptured.

The Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Danbazau disclosed this after an on-the-spot assessment of the prison.

Mr Jibrin Ndace, spokesman to Niger Governor, Alhaji Abubakar Sani-Bello, in a statement on Monday, added that about 180 inmates escaped during the jailbreak.

The Minister, who revealed that Federal Government is building 3000 capacity prison in each geopolitical zone and will recruit 6000 personnel, admitted that there were security lapses at Minna Prison.

“There are security gaps to be addressed in the prisons such as manpower, de-congestion,” he said.

Also speaking, the Niger state governor, Sani-Bello called for more commitment to duties, adding that Niger State Government would work with Federal Government on Prison reforms.

“I will like to appeal to public servants generally to take their jobs seriously. Niger State Government collaborate with the Federal Government to improve infrastructure of prisons across the state.”

In his comment, the Comptroller-General of Prisons, Jaafaru Ahmed said an investigative panel has been set up to ascertain the immediate and remote causes of the jailbreak.

Daily Post

Video - Anti-tobacco campaigners look to tighten anti-smoking regulations in Nigeria

A new tariff hike to limit tobacco consumption takes effect from today amidst calls for stricter anti smoking laws. Nigeria has already banned smoking in public places but enforcement of the ban has hardly taken effect and its health ministry says tobacco consumption remains as high as 20 billion cigarettes per year.

Video - Bokom Haram ambush kills 5 soldiers in Nigeria

Five soldiers have been killed by improvised explosive devices planted by Boko Haram. A statement from the army said the soldiers ran into the explosives while fighting their way through a Boko Haram ambush.

13 killed by herdsmen in Nigeria

At least 13 people have been killed by gunmen in two separate attacks in central Nigeria’s Benue state, an area that has recently seen a wave of deadly clashes, officials said.

In one attack, attackers, who officials said were armed herdsmen, stormed the Tseadough village in the Kwande area shortly after midnight while people were asleep.

They killed seven people, including women and children, Terdoo Nyor Kenti, a local government leader, told AFP news agency.

"From what I gathered, they opened fire and shot sporadically in all directions which rattled everyone," Kenti said.

"Seven people were killed at the end, six others were injured while the herdsmen also went away with a woman after burning several houses and farmland in the area," he added.

In a separate attack on Sunday, six people were killed in what was described by local residents as cult violence in the twon of Otukpo on Sunday, according to officials.

"I am still expecting a clearer picture about this because the police have deployed their personnel," George Alli, a local official, said.

Disputes over territory in central Nigeria have killed more than 300 people in the past two years. Hundreds of thousands of people have also been displaced.

Al Jazeera