PDP seeks Shettima’s trial over Chibok girls’ kidnap

• Gov dismisses threat, berates Fani-Kayode

• Nine feared killed as Berom, Fulani clash in Plateau

• APC condemns Maiduguri bombing

NINE persons were being feared killed yesterday in an attack and reprisal attack between Fulani and Berom tribes of Barkin Ladi Local Government of Plateau State.

 The incidents occurred as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) put the Borno State governor, Kashim Shettima, on notice of government readiness to drag him to court over alleged culpability in the kidnap of some school girls from the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok.

 But in a swift reaction, Shettima denied the allegation and expressed disappointment that anyone or group could allege his complicity in the kidnap. 

  Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has condemned the bombings that left many dead and injured in Maiduguri at the weekend, warning that those behind the continued killing and maiming of innocent people will not go unpunished.

  In a statement issued in Lagos on Monday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party condoled with the families of those killed as well as the government and people of Borno state.

  A statement by the Director of Media of the PDP Presidential Campaign Organisation, Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, in Abuja yesterday berated the governor for allegedly ignoring security reports and the counsel of the Federal Government against holding the 2014 May/June West African Examination Council (WAEC) in Chibok.

  Fani-Kayode said the abducted Chibok school girls would have been saved the ordeal to which they have been subjected had the governor taken the advice and acted in accordance with the security reports that the town was not safe for the examinations.

  He served notice to Shettima to be ready for investigation and prosecution after leaving office if found complicit in the circumstances that led to the abduction of the girls.

  “Shettima will not be governor forever, and when he is no longer in office, his role in the Chibok affair would be investigated and, if found wanting, he would be prosecuted.”  

He accused the governor of reflecting the thinking of his party over the whole mess that his alleged insensitivity allowed to happen.

The statement reads in part: “The governor of Borno State, Kashim Shettima, is the most insensitive governor in Nigeria. He is a wicked man whose mindset reflects the thinking of his party, All Progressives Congress (APC). He, more than anybody else, is responsible for the abduction of the Chibok girls.

 “The circumstances that led to the abduction of the innocent girls, who were writing their examination in an environment that was everything but secure, underscored the governor’s negligence.

“The governor must give account to God and to the Nigerian people for what he has done to those girls. We are accusing him of being responsible for the abduction of the Chibok girls because he was warned by the Federal Government and by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) not to allow the examination take place in Chibok. He ignored the warning and promised to guarantee security for those girls. When time came, the governor did not even deploy one policeman, let alone adequate security.

“He betrayed the girls; he set them up; he opened the door for them to be abducted by the Boko Haram and instead of asking for forgiveness and repenting of his wicked ways, he is talking nonsense.  

“In any other country, this man would have been arrested and prosecuted for collaborating with Boko Haram. But here, in Nigeria, instead of him showing remorse, he went all over the world attacking the President and the Federal Government over the Chibok affair. Those he was speaking to did not know that he, more than anybody else, was responsible for the abduction of those girls.”

  Speaking through his media aide, Malam Isa Gusau yesterday in Abuja, Governor Shettima described Fani-Kayode as “one Nigerian that is physically an adult but mentally an infant”, adding that, “we all know that going into exchange with an infant is like having a dialogue with a blind, deaf and dumb”.

The governor continued: “This is why it is thoughtless for any serious minded person to exchange words with Femi Fani-Kayode, not to talk of someone like Governor Kashim Shettima who has too many serious issues he is competently handling with patriotism. He was not only exonerated but commended by a presidential fact-finding committee on the missing Chibok schoolgirls that was set up by the same Presidency Fani-Kayode works for.

“For this, in addition to the governor being the one that secured admissions into an international school for the escaped Chibok schoolgirls and granted them scholarships, and other efforts, he is highly respected by those who know him or have come in contact with him in Nigeria and within the international community.

“We are not worried because it is only a matter of time, we are sure that in the near future, sooner than we probably expect, the same Femi Fani-Kayode will sing and dance ‘Fuji-garbage’ with praises for Governor Shettima. He will come to contradict what he said today and he will do so without the slightest shame because he has none.

“He is known for saying ‘A’ in the morning, ‘K’ in the afternoon and ‘Z’ at night, so we will wait for him to contradict himself and he will surely do so because that is him. He can’t avoid being who he is. We will not have any conversation with him.”

   It was gathered that two Fulani travellers were allegedly killed by a Berom mob on Sunday while the mob was protesting over arrest of their armed youths by the Special Task Force (STF) deployed to restore law and order in the state.

 The attack, it was further gathered led to a suspected reprisal attack which led to the killing of a family of seven, at the early hours of yesterday. The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) yesterday said “a Fulani woman and her travelling companion were attacked and killed by a Berom mob on Sunday.” State Chairman of MACBAN, Haruna Boro Hussaini, also alleged that “some soldiers had attacked and burnt down seven Fulani settlements in Luggere Shaw of Barkin Ladi Council.”

It was gathered that the Special Task Force (STF) had arrested two youths on Saturday evening with two AK47 rifles after intelligence report revealed that the suspects were planning to attack Sho village in the council.

  The STF Spokesman, Captain Ikedichi Iweha, said: “We arrested two youths suspected to have planned to attack Sho village. Two AK47 rifles were recovered from them.”

  But Berom women and youths on Sunday afternoon blocked the high way in Barkin Ladi in a protest to the STF Sector 7 where they demanded the release of the arrested youths.  

An eyewitness, Chaplain Titus Samuel Kasem, said the mob attacked and burnt two motorcycles before they reached the Sector 7 Command of the STF. Kasem told journalists that the community was angry over the arrest of the youths, stressing that the weapons were used to protect themselves. Iweha called on the people to allow security agencies discharge their duties, urging them to avail security agents with timely and useful information.

   The Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Deputy Superintendent Abuh Emmanuel, when contacted, confirmed that six persons were killed at the early hours of yesterday.