•Kidnappers fed a newborn baby to their dogs in the presence of the kidnapped mother

WHAT occurred at Uromi, headquarters of Esan North East Local Government Area in Edo State on Thursday, March 27, could have befallen any other community in the heartbeat of the nation, given the prevailing circumstances, tension, and anger over the hair-raising operations of suspected herders in combination with abductors.

More than 24 other communities in Edo Central, Edo North, and Edo South senatorial districts have been sacked and under siege by criminally-minded herders from northern Nigeria.

The same could also have arisen in over 30 communities in Delta and Bayelsa States, where the residents, especially farmers, are terrified to go to farms because of some brazen Fulani herders who invade their farms, uproot crops they planted and feed their cows, rape women, and take the villagers hostage for ransom.

A few months ago, bewildered women stormed the palace of the Onojie of Uromi to vent their anger at the rising cases of kidnappings and killings.

The situation became so frightening in January that the Onojie of Uzea, Esan North East local government area, HRH Solomon Itoya Iluobe, declared that he did not want to see any Hausa/Fulani in their forests because of their atrocities.

”Our women go to their farms, they rape them, and at times they even set them ablaze. I have paid ransom three times to Fulani herdsmen; they kidnapped my elder sister, and they have also kidnapped two people from this place. Even last month, I paid a ransom.

“To even sleep in this place is by the grace of God Almighty. To access this road, you need security, which is a problem.

“I, as Onojie of Uzea, no longer want Fulani in my forests. They will kidnap us, keep us in our land, and we will pay a ransom. We are tired. I do not have a hand in Fulani, and anybody who has a hand in their staying in our forests should tell them to leave Uzea. We need security here so that one day we will not wake up and discover that we only have two people remaining in the Uzea Kingdom.”

Some weeks ago in Bayelsa State, where the deputy governor confirmed that several local governments were under siege by herders, mothers protested the destruction of their farmlands and rape by the prowling cattlemen.

In Delta, Edo, and Bayelsa States, the situation is as if herders plotted and intensified their operations in the first three months of this year to make life unbearable for the people, who have cried hoarse about their nightmares with the federal and state governments doing little to protect the citizens.

We are hunters, not terrorists — Survivors

However, last week’s incident in Uromi was ill-fated. A raging mob roasted alive 16 out of 27 persons of Hausa origin who identified themselves as hunters and were traveling from Port Harcourt, Rivers State, to the northern part of the country for the Salah celebration on the supposition that they were kidnappers after finding a cache of arms and ammunition with them.

Some people argued that it was a transferred hostility. Two survivors of the Uromi attack who narrated their near-death experience said they were hunters from Kano State.

They said the rifles recovered by the vigilante group were hunting rifles, claiming they had licenses; however, the vigilante cluster accused them of being terrorists and lynched 16 of them, while five others escaped.

Concerned citizens have also pointed out that the people lynched were Hausa indigenes and not Fulani herders, who the Uromi people claimed were attacking farmers and kidnapping villagers for ransom. Eyewitnesses said more than 20 persons were in the trailer, but some Uromi indigenes helped some of them to escape lynching.

The whereabouts of arms, ammunition, and cash allegedly found are unknown

There is a controversy over the whereabouts of the arms and ammunition found with the victims, but what they saw with them were Dane guns.

A villager said the guns were with the police, but the police public relations officer said everything that has to do with the case has been transferred to the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID).
The whereabouts of the supposed cash found in the trailer remain unknown.

Ubiaja indigene sighted victims transferring weapons into a waiting trailer – Ben

Some locals who disputed the claim of the Hausa victims said some kidnappers also have dogs with them in their hideouts in the forests, but the way the victims behaved created room for suspicion from the point they were sighted loading their consignments into a waiting truck, along the road between Onicha-Ugbo in Delta State and Ubiaja in Edo State.

A non-indigene who lives in Uromi, Ben (surname withheld), gave a peek into what happened. His words: “I condemn the act of jungle justice, which is not in line with our constitutional provision of how offenders of any form of crime can be tried.”

“However, those persons are presumed to be kidnappers because information available showed that if you are passing through here to the east, you will move from Uromi to Ubiaja, Ewato, and Ewohinmi, down to Onicha-Ugbo, and there is a forest and a river.

“That place has been a flashpoint; they (herders and kidnappers) have laid siege on that part of the road for the past months, and it was at that spot that an indigene of Ubiaja moving towards Ubiaja from the Onicha-Ugbo axis saw these men carrying their arms from one person to another and into the trailer with Dangote inscribed on it.

“He quickly drove to town and alerted the vigilante men at Ubiaja, who waited for the truck. On getting to Ubiaja, the trailer did not stop for the vigilante, so the vigilante at Ubiaja sent a distress call to those in Uromi, and they mounted surveillance.

“The vigilantes in Uromi were able to use a tipper with a full trip of sand to stop the trailer, and at the point of questioning them, one of them stabbed the vigilante with a dagger, which was how the thing escalated. It is regrettable the way they were handled, but they caused the provocation, and their movement was suspicious.”

What gave them away— Prince Olumese, native

Corroborating the claim, Prince Eugene Olumese said the victims could have also camouflaged as hunters because “there are hunters that carry dogs and Dane guns.”

“From the environment I grew up in, Lagos and Ogun states, we used to see hunters in the bushes, irrespective of what tribe they were; some of them even have huts in the bushes. But even at that, were these people hunters? It could be. Are they kidnappers? It still could be, but some reasons will make you say these people are likely to be kidnappers or hunters.

“They covered themselves with a tarpaulin in a truck filled with palm kernel shells, which means they did not want anybody to know that people were there. Why? Hunters should walk freely in towns; there was something spectacular, and they also had plenty of money. New currency notes—look at it, hunters with new currency notes!

“Many trucks drove through Uromi that day without anybody searching. This truck was carrying palm kernel shells. You can imagine what it took them to search and discover human beings and then guns, money, Dane guns, and dogs, so these people (vigilantes) were working on a tip-off.

“There are videos and write-ups in social media by Uromi indigenes saying these things are happening; they kidnap poor men, they kidnap our women, they rape our women, and they insert sticks into their private parts.

“Sometimes, even when ransoms were paid, they would hold the person who came to pay the ransom and release the one who was held before. These things kept happening again and again, yet nothing was done on these cries, and if anything was done, it was not to the satisfaction of the Uromi indigenes.

“Though it is not right that they took the law into their hands, something triggered the anger. You can imagine that when people are arrested in the act and taken to the appropriate authorities, especially the police, and in a few days to months, you see the same people walking freely.

“Your life is at risk, especially those who keep watch over the town, whom we call vigilantes, because these people will come after them. This was why they mobbed them to death, which is inappropriate. We are unhappy about it. But a situation that was not remedied caused it to happen.”

Why did they hide in the trailer? Okojie, native queries

Another indigene, Brown Okojie, said, “We see trucks pass through here, and you would see the boys who we call aboki standing on the top of the trucks; they hang their Dane guns on their shoulders, and you would see the dogs they carry, but these, they were hiding in the Dangote truck. why?”

A week before that incident, five kidnappers were arrested in the forest, and they were taken to the police station in Uromi, which transferred them to the state police headquarters in Benin City. But shockingly, the following Monday, the same people were released back to the community, thereby putting the lives of those who apprehended them at risk.

Okojie revealed: “A day before the incident, N25 million was paid as ransom to the herders to release a husband and his wife, but they still killed them and left their bodies along the Ubiaja Road.

“That same day, a lady went to pay N5 million to bail her sister from the herdsmen in Uromi; they collected the money, released the initial victim, and then kept her. Now, we are looking for money to release her. As we speak, people who are victims of kidnapping are still with their captors, these Fulani herdsmen.

Fulani herdsmen fed a newborn baby to their dog in the mother’s presence

“Early this year, a pregnant woman was in labor, and the husband had no choice but to carry her around midnight to the hospital. On their way to the hospital, herdsmen kidnapped them. The woman was in labor throughout that night until morning, and she gave birth to a baby boy in their presence.

“The Fulani herdsmen gave that baby boy to their dog because they move with the dogs; the woman said she watched her baby being eaten alive by the dogs. She is still living with the trauma, so you cannot just say that because those victims were with dogs, it made them hunters. After this incident, they still asked for ransom before they were released. They did that to show their level of harshness.”

He said a few days before the incident, about 12 children were going to school together in a community in Ewohi, cows emerged from the bush, the children ran, and a three-year-old child who could not run was trampled upon, killed by the cows, and nothing happened

They are not hunters — Ordia

Ordia, who has been involved in negotiating the release of a kidnapped person, said, “It is not a good experience at all. About two months ago, a very close friend of mine was kidnapped, and the members of our association had to rally round, levied ourselves, including church and family members, and raised N3 million before they released him.”

I am not particularly pleased with how the authorities and media have handled this matter, that they are hunters traveling from Port Harcourt to Obajana and Kano State, as the case may be. Port Harcourt is a riverine area, so where were they hunting? I believe that these guys were not hunters.”

Villagers identified some of them as kidnappers before the lynching

A source told Saturday Vanguard: “What provoked the mob to lynch the 16 persons was when villagers who claimed to have been abducted in the past past came to the scene, and identified some of them as those that kidnapped them.”

“Some of them also identified some items found with them as property they stole from them during their kidnap.

“If they were hunters , why were they not with dried meat and any other things that would show they were hunters? They use the weapons they carry to hunt and kill their fellow human beings, not animals.

“Is it the bags of rice that the vigilantes saw with them that were their proof of being hunters when we already knew they took off from their hideout in the thick forest between Onicha- Ugbo and Ubiaja.”’

Okpbholo’s intervention after dismantling Obaseki’s ESSN

When Governor Monday Okpebholo visited Uromi on March 28, a day after the incident, Hausa people residing in the community and some natives staged parallel protests.

Both sides almost clashed before security agents shot to disperse them, after which the governor came down from his vehicle to address them.

The women’s protest on social media, purporting that they barricaded Okpebholo’s entourage, was an old video.

The protesting women, however, said they were worried that the state government had stopped the local vigilante protecting them in Uromi, and “Now, it is operation secure yourself.”

Former governor of the state, Godwin Obaseki, had set up the Edo State Security Network (ESSN), mainly vigilante members. Many of them registered with the state government with their arms.

Some were trained by the security forces at the Mobile Police Training School in Ogida Barracks, Benin City, and the government deployed them across senatorial districts, local government areas, and communities. They worked with the local vigilantes and hunters in the communities.

They also mounted roadblocks at the flashpoints around the highways and communities, and at times, jointly searched the forests with government security agencies to checkmate kidnappers and their activities.

When Governor Okpebholo assumed office, he appointed Friday Ibadin, a retired commissioner of police, and changed the name to Edo State Security Corps. Ibadin recalled the personnel and ordered them to submit their guns and appear for profiling, which is what he has been doing for the past three months. The governor suspended him soon after the Uromi incident.

The Okpebholo government took a hard stance against kidnapping by demolishing properties linked to criminal activities, including those of suspected informants and kidnappers, and has vowed to continue this crackdown until kidnapping ends in the state.

These actions were taken based on a new anti-kidnapping law in the state. According to the new law passed by the Edo State House of Assembly and signed by the governor, any house found to be used for kidnapping activities will be demolished to serve as a deterrent to others.

Under the new law, a landlord “must profile a person before giving out their house to him or her for rent.”
The government intensified its crackdown on individuals aiding kidnappers, as the state’s task force demolished several properties within the Edo Central and Edo North senatorial districts.

The measures seemed to be yielding results as collaborators were already allegedly fleeing their areas, abandoning their properties for fear of being demolished until the March 27 tragedy.

[Vanguard]

The United States government has expressed concern over the recent tribunal decision on the Edo State governorship election.

The U.S. Mission in Nigeria said the ruling may have come from a process with problems.

In a message posted on the official X account of the U.S. Embassy on Friday, the diplomatic office said there were “serious lapses in the collation process” during the election. They added that civil society groups and election observers are also worried about these issues.

“Ambassador Mills reiterates his statement of September 24 that transparency and due process are crucial to maintaining public confidence in any democratic system.

“The United States reaffirms our commitment to supporting free, fair, transparent, and credible elections in Nigeria and will continue to monitor the situation closely,” the statement said.

There have been complaints following the September 21 governorship election in Edo. Some stakeholders have accused the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) of election malpractice.

Three sisters from the same parents have reportedly died in their home after consuming poisoned egg sauce prepared by their stepmother.

The incident occurred in DSC Steel Town, Udu Local Government Area of Delta State.

The father of the three girls was nowhere to be found at the time of this report.

Their remains have been deposited in the mortuary, leaving many, including neighbors, in tears.

Meanwhile, the stepmother of the three girls has confessed to poisoning the egg sauce she gave them to eat last night.

According to her, she did not intend to kill them but only wanted to make them sick for a while because they refused to accept her as their stepmother.

It was learned that the stepmother was the best friend of the late mother of the three girls, who died a year ago.

It was also gathered that the stepmother, who had children with three different men (all of whom are now deceased), moved into the home of her late best friend and married her widowed husband less than a year ago.

Suspension: Court restrains Senate president, Kogi senator, others from speaking with media

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, yesterday responded to an allegation by suspended Kogi Central Senator, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan that he was involved in a plot to assassinate her.

The response from Akpabio came same day a Federal High Court under trial Justice Binta Nyako restrained both Akpabio and Akpoti-Uduaghan as well as other named parties in the case before her to stop speaking to the press on their case. The restraining order issued by Justice Binta Nyako, was sequel to a complaint by Akpabio’s lawyer, Mr. Kehinde Ogunwumiju, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Akpoti-Uduaghan had alleged at a rally she organised in her hometown on April 1, that Akpabio was working with a former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, to kill her.

However, in a statement by his Media Adviser, Eseme Eyibo, in Abuja, the Senate President described the Kogi Central Senator’s allegations as baseless and totally false.

Part of the statement read, “The Office of the President of the Senate strongly condemns the recent baseless, false and inflammatory accusation made by Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, in which she falsely alleged that the Senate President, Senator Godswill Akpabio was involved in a plot to assassinate her.
“While speaking in Kogi State on April 1, 2025, the suspended Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan recklessly and maliciously claimed that Senator Godswill Akpabio “recruited” former Governor Yahaya Bello to “assassinate her in Kogi State rather than in Abuja.”

“This outrageous accusation is not only false but a complete fabrication and deeply irresponsible and dangerous attempt to provoke public unrest, attract media attention, and discredit the person and office of the President of the Senate for ulterior motives.

“It is important to remind the public that this same individual had previously made an unsubstantiated accusation of sexual harassment against Senator Akpabio, a claim she seem to have abandoned without explanation.

“Having failed to gain traction with that narrative, she has now escalated her campaign of misinformation to a deadly and defamatory dimension.
“This pattern of deliberate falsehoods and manipulative theatrics reveals a troubling willingness to exploit public sensitivities through recurring victimhood narratives.

“It is a matter of public record that she has previously made assassination allegations against former Governor Yaya Bello and others in 2019 and 2023, along with multiple unsubstantiated claims of sexual harassment against other dignitaries.

“Her recurring persecution narrative and evident lying complex should not be weaponised to malign individuals or destroy hard-earned reputations.”
Furthermore, the statement noted that, “this latest reckless allegation is not occurring in isolation. Barely 24 hours later, on April 2, 2025, former Senator Elisha Abbo appeared on Arise Television to revive a previously withdrawn claim that Senator Akpabio “manipulated the judiciary” to secure his removal from the Senate.

“Nigerians will recall that Mr. Abbo, in 2023, publicly retracted this same accusation and tendered an apology after acknowledging that his claims were founded on incorrect assumptions.

“His removal from office was the outcome of a constitutionally grounded judicial decision by the Court of Appeal, which independently determined that he was not duly elected to represent Adamawa North.

“In a further twist, Mr. Abbo also alleged that he was denied his entitlements by the Senate President.

“This, too, is categorically false. Entitlements such as salaries and allowances are processed strictly through administrative and legal procedures.  The Senate President does not and cannot unilaterally approve or deny such requests. Any delays or rejections would have been based solely on due diligence and compliance with established protocols.”

According to the statement, “the timing, tone, and striking similarity of these coordinated attacks point clearly to a politically motivated smear campaign.
“These individuals, backed by undisclosed interests, appear united in a desperate effort to undermine the credibility of the Senate and its leadership and intended to distract from their own personal and political shortcomings and failings.

“Senator Godswill Akpabio remains undeterred. As a statesman devoted to national unity, institutional integrity, and the rule of law, he will not be distracted by malicious falsehoods or inflammatory rhetoric.

“Regardless of the necessity for legal redress, formal letters of demand, seeking immediate public retractions, apologies, and compensation for reputational harm, are underway to be served on both Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan and Mr Elisha Abbo.

“We call on the Nigerian public in particular and the International Community to reject these baseless and provocative narratives.
“The Senate, under Senator Akpabio’s leadership, remains focused on its constitutional mandate: to promote legislative excellence, safeguard democratic values, and deliver meaningful progress for the Nigerian people.”

Court Restrains Akpabio, Akpoti-Uduaghan, Others from Speaking with Media

Meanwhile, the restraining order issued yesterday by Justice Binta Nyako, was sequel to a complaint by Akpabio’s lawyer, Ogunwumiju, SAN.
The senior lawyer at yesterday’s proceedings had accused Akpoti-Uduaghan of going from one television house to another, granting press interviews on issues relating to her case, currently pending before the court.

Ogunwumiju added that the Kogi Central Senator had also been to the BBC and CNN to speak on the issue.

Reacting, Justice Nyako ordered that there shall be no press interviews by all parties and their lawyers as regard the subject matter of the case.
While observing that the case was sub-judice, she further barred parties and their lawyers from engaging in streaming of proceedings in the case on social media.
At the commencement of proceedings yesterday, plaintiff’s lawyer, Jibril Okutepa (SAN) told the court that the case was coming up for the first time,  having been transferred from another court, under  Justice Obiora Egwuatu.

He informed the court that parties had filed and exchanged all relevant documents, except one and prayed the court to grant a consolidated hearing of all pending applications along with the substantive suit.

According to the senior lawyer, time was of the essence because his client’s suspension was for a limited period, adding that Akpoti-Uduaghan was desirous of expeditious determination of the case.

Responding, the Clerk of the National Assembly represented by Mr. Charles Iyoila as well as Paul Daudu, SAN, who represented the Senate, did not object to Okutepa’s application that the substantive case should be heard with the objections raised by the defendants.

However, the application was opposed by Ogunwumiju and Umeh Kalu, SAN, representing the Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Code of Conduct, Senator Neda Imasuem.

In a short ruling, Justice Nyako granted the application and held that the court would hear all pending applications, including preliminary objections along with the substantive suit. The judge subsequently adjourned till May 12 for hearing.

Listed as defendants in the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/384/2025 are the Clerk of the National Assembly, the Senate, the President of the Senate and Senator Neda Imasuem (Chairman, Senate Committee on Ethics, Privileges and Code of Conduct).

Akpoti-Uduaghan had approached the court to challenge her investigation and subsequent suspension for six months over alleged misconduct.
Amongst others, the plaintiff claimed that she was not given fair hearing before her suspension by the Senate.