NEWS
How I killed Sheikh Goni in Yobe, flee with his car – Soldiers
By Funmilayo Olusanya
…Buhari calls for severe punishment of the culprit
Lance Corporal John Gabriel of 241 Recce Battalion, Nguru, Yobe State, on Tuesday described how he killed Sheikh Aisami Goni and stole his car.
When Adamu Gideon and Gabriel were paraded at the State Police Criminal Investigation Department Headquarters in Damaturu, Gabriel confessed to the crime.
The only thing on Lance Corporal Gabriel’s mind when he woke up on Friday morning and headed to a checkpoint with his rifle was to “arrange any vehicle that I see and take it from the owner”.
He said: “When I saw this Honda coming. I stopped the car and asked the owner where he was coming from and where he was going. He said he was coming from Kano and going to his hometown in Gashua. I asked him if he could give me a lift to Jajimaji. He said no problem. We reached our first checkpoint in Dongon Kukar. When he saw soldiers collecting money from drivers, he asked me why. I told him that I didn’t know because it’s not every soldier that collects money from checkpoints. My mission was to collect his car and leave.
“I was not in uniform but the car owner knew I was a soldier because I introduced myself to him before I joined him in his vehicle.
“As we were approaching Jajimaji about five to six kilometres I told him that I was hearing a sound under his car. He parked and went to check. I also came down from the vehicle. He check but he did not see anything.
“It was a ploy to make him come down from the vehicle. As he was checking, I removed my rifle and fixed my magazine. I asked whether he has checked the back tyre. As he was trying to move and check the back tyre, I pointed my rifle at him. He asked, what have I done, what have I done. I said you didn’t do not do anything. He asked again, do you want to kill me. I said I don’t want to kill you.
READ ALSO: House help impregnates, murders employer’s daughter after abortion
“I now fired a warning shot, thinking that it would scare him to run away but he did not run away. When he wanted to run into the vehicle, I fired the second shot. When he ran to the side of the driver, I fired on the body of the car and one of the bullets penetrated the vehicle and killed him. I dragged his body off the main road into the bush.
“I have never done this before.
“On that fateful day, I really don’t know what came over me. I was off duty. I don’t really know what happened.
“I am owing my wife N250,000 but that is not the reason I went out to do this.
“I regret killing the man.”
However, President Muhammadu Buhari urged the military to punish the soldiers who are believed to have slain the sheikh as soon as possible.
The President said in a statement released by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu that; “this barbaric murder of a compassionate man by a soldier he had assisted has no place in our training as soldiers, and it negates the entire ethos of military life, which is anchored on discipline and respect for the sanctity of innocent lives.
“As the Commander-in- Chief, I am personally outraged by this criminal and wicked act by a law enforcement official trained to protect life.
“Of course, the action of this soldier is an isolated incident involving an individual, but it is capable of staining the collective image of our military.”
“I call on the military authorities to punish the perpetrators of this heinous crime without delay, and flush out other elements with such criminal tendencies.”
He expressed his condolences to the Yobe State government, the residents, and the relatives of the deceased.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has appointed retired Vice Admiral Ibokette Ibas as the military administrator of Rivers State following the suspension of Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly.
The announcement came during a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday amid heightened political tension in the oil-rich South-South state.
Tinubu said the suspension would last for an initial period of six months.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Tinubu Suspends Fubara, Deputy and Lawmakers
“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months,” the President stated.
Ibas, a former Chief of Naval Staff who served from July 2015 to January 2021, will take charge of the state’s affairs.
Tinubu clarified that the judiciary remains unaffected and will continue to function as mandated by the constitution.
“The Administrator will not make any new laws. He will, however, be free to formulate regulations as may be found necessary to do his job, but such regulations will need to be considered and approved by the Federal Executive Council and promulgated by the President for the state,” Tinubu added.
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has suspended Rivers State Governor Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the state House of Assembly for an initial period of six months.
Tinubu made the announcement in a nationwide broadcast on Tuesday, citing undisclosed reasons for the decision.
READ ALSO: JUST IN: Rivers Assembly Accuses Fubara, Deputy Of Gross Misconduct
“By this declaration, the Governor of Rivers State, Mr. Siminalayi Fubara, his deputy, Mrs. Ngozi Odu, and all elected members of the House of Assembly of Rivers State are hereby suspended for an initial period of six months,” the President stated.
The suspension comes amid ongoing political tensions in Rivers State.
More updates to follow…
In what political watchers perceive as part of efforts to discomfit and scatter the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on the feeling that its National Working Committee (NWC) antagonises him, the Minister of Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has revoked the rights to occupy the land on which the party’s national secretariat, Abuja is sited.
Biztelers reports that Wike’s revocation notice was conveyed in a letter released in Abuja on Tuesday, dated March 13, 2025.
The letter was titled, “Notice of right of occupancy with file no: MISC 81346 in respect of plot no: 243 within central area district, Abuja.”
ALSO READ: Explosion Hits Trans-Niger Oil Pipeline In Rivers
The letter was signed by the Director, Land Administration (FTC), Chijioke Nwankwoeze.
Wike, it was gathered predicated his action on the PDP’s failure to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from January 1, 2006, to January 1, 2025.
The negligence on the part of the opposition party, the letter claimed was despite many publications in several national dailies and electronic media to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on its property.
The letter read, “I have been directed to refer to the above Right of Occupancy granted to PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT and inform you that the Minister of Federal Capital Territory has in the exercise of powers conferred on him under the Land Use Act No. 6 of 1978, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria 2004, revoked your rights, interests and privileges over Plot No. 243 within Central Area, Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja.
“The revocation is in view of your continued contravention of the terms and conditions of grant of the Right of Occupancy by failing to pay the annual ground rents due on the property for twenty (20) years, from Ist of January 2006 to 1st of January 2025. This is despite the many publications made by the FCT Administration since 2023 in several national dailies and on electronic media requesting all allottees of plots in the Federal Capital Territory to pay up every outstanding bill and ground rent on their property.
“You would please note that the said breaches by PEOPLES DEMOCRATIC PARTY (PDP), NATIONAL SECRETARIAT (MISC 81346) run contrary to the provisions of Section 28, Subsection 5 (a) and (b) of the Land Use Act.”
There are palpable fears that the PDP’s national secretariat might be demolished or vandalised, sooner than later because Wike added that the FCTA administration would take immediate possession of the party secretariat until all bills are settled.
Tinubu Appoints Vice Admiral Ibas As Rivers Administrator
JUST IN: Tinubu Suspends Fubara, Deputy and Lawmakers
JUST IN: Wike Renders PDP Homeless In Abuja
Explosion Hits Trans-Niger Oil Pipeline In Rivers
Osun Issues Guidelines For Tractor Operations
