• ASUU protests in Katsina over killing of lecturer
The Kaduna Customary Court judge, Janet Gimba, who was abducted along with her four children by terrorists in the state, have gained her freedom.
The judge’s husband and a medical doctor, Musa Gimba, who confirmed the development, said the children were still in captivity. Gimba clarified that the hoodlums were demanding a N150 million ransom within three days for release of the children or have them killed.
Spokesperson for the state police command, ASP Mansir Hassan, said the hoodlums killed the 14-year-old son of the judge named Victor. According to him, security operatives found Victor’s body at Ungwan Bayero, Duste village near tollgate along the Kaduna-Abuja Expressway on Tuesday, July 2.
The spokesman said in the wake of the incident, the command and other sister security agencies worked tirelessly to rescue the victims and arrest the terrorists.
This is even as the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Kaduna branch had earlier condemned the abductions, while calling on Governor Uba Sani to ensure their immediate release.
The lawyers also flayed the killing of the judge’s son after demand of N300 million ransom. Branch chairman of the association, Godwin Ochai, who addressed a press conference in Kaduna yesterday, regretted that kidnappers now target judiciary officers and their families.
He recalled that the victims were kidnapped on June 23 from their home in Mahuta new extension area of Kaduna State. Ochai noted with dismay the alarming cases of kidnap in Kaduna, saying it is a crisis that requires immediate and determined action from the Kaduna State government.
In a related development, the Federal University, Dutsinma, Katsina State (FUDMA) Branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday, staged a peaceful protest over the security situation within the institution’s community.
The demonstration followed bandits’ killing of Dr Tiri Gyal, a lecturer, on Tuesday and abduction of four people, including two children of the deceased teacher alongside two other women.
Moving round the temporal site of the university, the union members chanted various slogans, brandishing placards that read: ‘Stop killing ASUU members, we are humans’, ‘We are not safe (ASUU)’, ‘Our lives matter’, ‘Security for ASUU’ among others.
The union called on the Federal Government and management of the institution to redouble effort in tackling the security situation that is affecting both staff and students.
Speaking, ASUU chairman, Dahiru Rabe, explained that the protest became necessary in view of the raging security challenges within the unity community. He charged the Federal Government “to be proactive by providing adequate security in the area.”
