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Obiano Declares 24Hours Curfew As Hoodlums Attack Police Stations in Anambra
A police officer and three other persons died on Thursday as hoodlums attacked various police stations in Anambra State.
The police officer, whose name is yet to be ascertained, was killed and burnt by hoodlums in Nnewi, Anambra State.
Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed, in a situation report, said three other people suffered various degrees of injuries.
He said the victims were rushed to hospital for medical attention, adding that they were responding to treatment.
He said five persons were attacked in Onitsha and taken to hospital for medical attention, where three have been confirmed dead while two others were receiving treatment.
He further disclosed that the protesters attacked Nnewi police station, set it ablaze and vandalised patrol vehicles and other property.
Mr Haruna listed other police formations attacked to include Nnewi Area Command, 3-3 Division, Ogbunike/ Isiuwulu, Nnobi, and Itchy divisions as well as Peoples Club police post.
The statement by the police reads: “On the 21/10/2020 at about 11:30 pm hoodlums in large number under the guise of “END SARS” protesters attacked Nnewi Police Station, set it ablaze and vandalised patrol vehicles and other exhibits but were prevented from assessing the armoury to cart away arm due to strong resistance placed by police men on duty.
“Similarly, on the 22/10/2020 between 3:30am and 5:pm,the hoodlums in large number equally attacked Nnewi Area Command,3-3 Division,Ogbunike/ Isiuwulu, Nnobi, and Itchy Divisions as well as peoples club police post, burnt Police vehicles and set the facilities ablaze carting away exhibits kept at the divisions.
“Meanwhile, one police officer was beheaded and burnt to ashes while three others sustained various degrees of injuries. The injured police officers were rushed to the hospital for medical attention and they are responding to treatment,” he said.
The spokesman said seven other police stations in the state namely, CPS/Area Command Onitsha, Ogidi, Awada, Inland Town and B Divisions successfully repelled the attacks and chased the hoodlums away.
“Also, police operatives in collaboration with members of the communities comprising youth, vigilante and community leaders at Okpoko, CPS Awka, Oraifite, Otolo, Amichi and Oba vehemently resisted attempts by the hoodlums to attack the police stations.
“However, five persons were attacked in Onitsha and taken to the hospital for medical attention where three have been confirmed dead by the medical doctor while two others are receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Haruna said other government property burnt or destroyed include High Court Ogidi, Idemili North local council secretariat while the Zik statue at DMGS roundabout was vandalised.
The spokesman said some arrests were also made by the police.
Meanwhile, the state governor, Willie Obiano, has declared a 24-hour curfew in the state, beginning 8pm Thursday, to curtail the outbreak of violence in the state.
The governor made the announcement during a statewide broadcast.
According to the governor, the curfew has become necessary due to unpleasant incidents recorded so far, as well as rising tension in the land.
He declared that all schools and markets in the state be closed down, adding that all large gatherings in any form are banned.
While describing the anger of the #EndSARS protesters as justifiable, Governor Obiano charged youths in the state not to resort to violence.
“I am immensely proud of what you have achieved so far. But we must not succumb to the morbid attractions of violence; no matter the provocation, no matter how justified our anger and no matter how easy it all might seem. Violence does not yield fruitful results,” he said.
He said security agencies are on notice to do the needful, asking them to resist all efforts to provoke them to use extreme force.
“All law enforcement officers charged with ensuring compliance to the restriction on movement must resist the temptation of applying excessive force while attempting to bring the situation under control.
“We cannot afford to repeat the same mistakes that created the problem we are trying to solve in the first place,” he said
Mr Obiano assured all non-indigenes living in the state of their safety and security promising that “the government of Anambra State will not allow you to come to any harm.”
The governor called on stakeholders including the clergy, traditional rulers, youth leaders, among others, to lend their voices and help address the escalating situation.
He revealed that the sum of N200 million has been approved to compensate families of those affected by SARS brutality in the state.
He concluded that this is not the time for destructive rumours, but a time to unite and keep Anambra safe.
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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has expelled Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike, its suspended National Secretary, Samuel Anyanwu, and former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayo Fayose.
Their expulsion was announced on Saturday at the party’s National Convention in Ibadan, Oyo State.
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has insisted that there is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria, hence demanding end to the alleged Christian killings.
Speaking on Thursday after an emergency executive meeting of the Fellowship held at its national headquarters in Lagos, PFN President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke, said the body would no longer remain silent while Christians are “targeted, killed, raped, and displaced” across the country.
He said: “There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria. If we call it by any other name, it will bring Nigeria down. We are crying out to our international friends, beginning with America and Donald Trump. Whatever you can do to help our government put an end to it, come quickly and get it done. When on Christmas Day, Christmas Day was turned a bloody day in Benue State, and hundreds were massacred. And we are to be conducting mass funerals when we are not in open conflict. What do you call that? And this is different from individual cases.
“Let us call a spade a spade. There is Christian genocide ongoing in Nigeria,”Bishop Oke declared.
“Even while we speak, killings are still taking place in Borno, Plateau, and Benue states. When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogon Noma in Plateau, what do we call that? When Christmas Day turned into a bloody day in Benue, with hundreds massacred, what name should we give it?
While noting that the United States President Donald Trump spoke the truth, the PRN President cited the case of Leah Sharibu who was abducted alongside other Chibok girls and has since remained in captivity.
“Like the case of Leah Sharibu. Where is Leah Sharibu? Like the case of Deborah that was lynched and burned alive in Sokoto? What about that? And several of our girls were kidnapped and forced, given out as wives by force without the consent of their parents and their Christian parents. And the Christian parents would not see them for years.And this has been going on. We have been talking and we are not taking it seriously. And it has been going on again and again, until Donald Trump now spoke. And Donald Trump spoke the truth. There is Christian genocide going on in Nigeria.
“Like you will have picked in the news, even since this narrative began, killing was still going on in Borno, in Plateau, in Benue, up until yesterday. What are we saying? When 501 Christians were massacred in Dogonaya in Plateau State, what do we call that? And for no offense other than they are Christians.”
Oke recalled that the Christian community had repeatedly called the attention of the government to the alleged genocide with no decisive action from the authority.
The cleric expressed his backing for President Trump’s intervention, adding that Trump only echoed what Nigerian Christians had been saying for year
“I was part of the team that went to see the immediate past President, Muhammadu Buhari. We spoke very strongly about this and the President listened to us, but he completely ignored the main issue we came for, If we came and spoke with such vehemence, with such passion, and then you pick the peripheral matter and left this matter alone, I knew that day that his government was complicit in what was going on,” he added.
Oke alleged that the killings across parts of Nigeria were systematic and targeted on Christians, lamenting that the killings had continued unchecked despite repeated appeals from the Church.
“The evidence is all over the place. There is nothing anybody can say that can whitewash it. It is evil, it is blood shedding, it is mass murder and it is genocide. The time to stop it is now. That is what the church in Nigeria is saying with one voice.
“Christians in this nation must be free to practice their faith in any part of Nigeria as bona fide citizens of Nigeria.
“These armed bandits, Fulani herdsmen, Boko Haram, ISWAP, all of them using Islam as a cover. We have been living in peace with our Muslim brothers for a long, until this violent Islamic sect came up with an intent to make sure they impose Sharia on all Nigerians,” Oke said.
Bishop Oke called on President Bola Tinubu to decisively overhaul the nation’s security architecture, and ensure justice for victims of religious violence. He questioned why those responsible for notorious attacks—such as the killing of Deborah Samuel in Sokoto and the abduction of Leah Sharibu and the Chibok schoolgirls—remain unpunished.
“The government should prove by action, not words, that it is not complicit,” he said. “When hundreds are buried in mass graves and the whole world sees it, who can deny it? Why should we play politics with the blood of Nigerians?”
The PFN urged President Tinubu’s administration to rebuild trust by ensuring that the security architecture of the country is not infiltrated by those sympathetic to extremist ideologies.
Oke further condemned the government’s rehabilitation of so-called “repentant terrorists,” describing the move as a grave security.
He assured Christians that the PFN would continue to speak out until the killings stop. “We are not going to keep quiet. We will keep raising our voices until justice is done and every Nigerian, regardless of faith, can live in peace. The truth may be suppressed for a time, but it cannot be buried forever,” he said.
The meeting, which drew PFN leaders from across the country, reaffirmed the body’s commitment to national unity, peace, and the protection of fundamental human rights, while urging the media to “side with the oppressed” and report the truth without fear or bias.
US President Donald Trump has signed a federal spending bill, officially ending the longest government shutdown in American history.
The legislation, passed by the House of Representatives in a 222–209 vote, followed narrow approval in the Senate just two days earlier. The bill restores funding to federal agencies after 43 days of closure, bringing relief to millions of government employees and citizens affected by halted services.
Speaking after signing the measure on Wednesday night, Trump described the deal as a political victory, asserting that Democrats unnecessarily prolonged the shutdown.
“They didn’t want to do it the easy way. They had to do it the hard way, and they look very bad,” he said.
The temporary funding bill maintains government operations only through 30 January, creating a new deadline for lawmakers to negotiate a long-term budget solution.
As part of the agreement, Senate leaders committed to an early December vote on Obamacare subsidies, a key priority for Democrats during the shutdown standoff.
In addition to reopening federal offices, the bill provides full-year funding for the Department of Agriculture, military construction projects, and several legislative branch offices.
It also ensures retroactive pay for federal workers affected by the shutdown and allocates funding to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, SNAP, which helps about one in eight Americans access food.
The shutdown, which began in October, forced the suspension of many government services, leaving an estimated 1.4 million federal employees either furloughed or working without pay. It also disrupted food assistance programmes and caused widespread delays in domestic air travel.
With federal operations now resumed, attention in Washington has turned to whether Congress and the White House can reach a longer-term funding agreement before the new deadline at the end of January.
