Troops in partnership with local vigilantes have killed a bandit leader, Sani Black in Zamfara State.

Security expert, Zagazola Makama announced the elimination of Black in a report on his official website on Tuesday morning.

“A major breakthrough in the fight against banditry in northern Nigeria was recorded with the elimination of notorious bandit leader Kachalla Sani Black,” Makama said.

“Black, a feared warlord responsible for countless terror attacks, was ambushed and killed by local vigilantes supported by military in the Magama Mai Rake area of Maru Local Government Area, Zamfara State.

“It was gathered that Black and two of his sons were killed during the operation. The vigilantes recovered two AK-47 rifles, a PKT machine gun and an undisclosed amount of cash from the scene.”

According to Makama, Black had long been a menace to communities across northern Zamfara, known for leading deadly attacks, abductions and sexual violence.

With over 150 armed followers, his reign of terror extended beyond Zamfara to neighboring Kaduna, Niger and Kebbi States.

His criminal activities included orchestrating ambushes, kidnapping for ransom and raiding villages across the region.

“On the morning of Tuesday, September 24, 2024, following information about the clash between vigilantes and terrorists in the Tashar Sahabi area, troops from the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Hanutara were deployed to the scene to prevent potential reprisal attacks by the terrorists,” Makama explained.

“Upon arrival, they identified the body of Sani Black but soon came under heavy fire from terrorists in the vicinity.

“As the firefight intensified, a Combat Support Vehicle (CSK) bogged down in the village, leaving the soldiers vulnerable.

“Despite reinforcements being mobilized from Team 3 HQ in Magami and FOB Dansadau, the troops were temporarily withdrawn. The CSK was destroyed, and two soldiers were wounded in action (WIA).”

Makama said Black’s death is a significant victory for security forces and local vigilantes in their ongoing battle against banditry in Zamfara State.

He said Black had been a major competitor to another infamous bandit leader, Kachallah Gwaska Dankarami and his influence in the region was unmatched.

His ability to wreak havoc across multiple states had earned him a reputation as one of the most dangerous criminals in the North West.

In the aftermath of Black’s death, intelligence reports indicate that bandit leaders, including Gwaska Dankarami and fighters from the late Kawaje group, are mobilizing around Kuran Mota to launch reprisal attacks.

Security forces are on high alert, prepared to counter any retaliatory measures as they work to stabilize the region.

A South Korean man has been arrested after confessing to murdering his girlfriend 16 years ago and entombing her body on his balcony under a layer of cement, police told AFP on Tuesday.

The man, who is now in his 50s, was charged with murdering the woman in October 2008 during an argument, according to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police and Geoje Police Station.

He fatally struck the woman with a blunt object then placed her body in a large travel bag, police said.

He then hid the body on his balcony by stacking bricks and pouring on a 10-centimetre (four-inch) layer of cement.

The woman wasn’t reported missing until three years later, as she was not in contact with her own family.

During a 2011 missing person inquiry, the man told police they had “broken up” and the case remained unsolved due to a lack of evidence.

A police official told reporters that the body was not discovered earlier as it had been fitted into the small balcony space, and that the room was “virtually empty since 2016”.

That year, the perpetrator was arrested for drug use, and the landlord said the property was used for storage space.

The body was found last month after a worker who was searching for water leaks found the travel bag.

Upon inspection, police found the woman’s body “preserved to some extent”.

“The body hadn’t completely decomposed to bones, allowing us to identify her using fingerprints,” police said.

The man was brought in for questioning and eventually confessed to the murder.

A police official from Gyeongnam Provincial Police told AFP the investigation and questioning is nearly over and the man will be “sent to prosecution soon”.

The man, who is now in his 50s, was charged with murdering the woman in October 2008 during an argument, according to the Gyeongnam Provincial Police and Geoje Police Station.

He fatally struck the woman with a blunt object then placed her body in a large travel bag, police said.

He then hid the body on his balcony by stacking bricks and pouring on a 10-centimetre (four-inch) layer of cement.

The woman wasn’t reported missing until three years later, as she was not in contact with her own family.

During a 2011 missing person inquiry, the man told police they had “broken up” and the case remained unsolved due to a lack of evidence.

A police official told reporters that the body was not discovered earlier as it had been fitted into the small balcony space, and that the room was “virtually empty since 2016”.

That year, the perpetrator was arrested for drug use, and the landlord said the property was used for storage space.

The body was found last month after a worker who was searching for water leaks found the travel bag.

Upon inspection, police found the woman’s body “preserved to some extent”.

“The body hadn’t completely decomposed to bones, allowing us to identify her using fingerprints,” police said.

The man was brought in for questioning and eventually confessed to the murder.

A police official from Gyeongnam Provincial Police told AFP the investigation and questioning is nearly over and the man will be “sent to prosecution soon”.

A legal practitioner, Mr Junaid Sanusi who is a customer of Access Bank Plc, has sued the bank for N100 million for allegedly deducting his money unlawfully.

While arguing his originating summons before the Federal High Court at Ibadan on Monday, Sanusi informed the court that he operated a savings account with Access Bank Plc.

He said that while going through his account he discovered that the bank was deducting more than N50 as an electronic levy stipulated by the Finance Act, 2019.

“What is provided in the Finance Act is that banks should deduct N50 one-off for transactions above N10,000.

“I noticed that the bank deducts N100, N250 and so on from my account as FGN electronic levy,” the bank customer said.

Sanusi told the court that any deduction on customers’ accounts must be subjected to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) guidelines 2020, and other Financial Institutions Acts.

He pointed out that these guidelines remained the only law allowing banks to make deductions from customers’ accounts.

“The court needs to determine whether or not it is lawful for the defendant to make unauthorised deductions from my account in favour of FGN or another third party than the one allowed under the CBN guidelines and Finance Act for bank charges,” Sanusi said.

He went on to inform the court that he relied on his filed affidavit, nine exhibits and a written address in support of his originating summons.

Sanusi then urged the court to grant all his prayers.

He asked it to restrain Access Bank from making further deductions on his account and reverse the monies deducted unlawfully from his account from March 27, 2020.

”This should be until judgment is delivered in the suit.

“Court should also order the bank to pay N100 million to me as exemplary damages for wrongful deductions it made in favour of FGN without my authorisation,” Sanusi said.

In his reply, the counsel to Access Bank, Mr Ahmed Adeleke, informed the court that he had filed a counter-affidavit, attached exhibits and a written address to argument his case.

He told the court that the bank reviewed the plaintiff’s three months’ statement of account between March 1, 2020 and May 29, 2020 to justify the deductions made.

Adeleke said the bank never charged more than the amount stipulated by the law going by the plaintiff’s transactions within the months under review.

He then urged the court to discountenance the plaintiff’s case with substantial cost.

Justice Uche Agomog adjourned the case until Nov. 12 for judgment.

The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) has given three factors that caused the recent flood incident in Sokoto state.

The Director General (DG) of NEMA, Zubaida Umar highlighted the reasons for the flood incident in a post on her X account on Monday night.

“We are currently responding to the flood disaster that has affected some communities in the Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto state. The communities include Nassarawa, Amarawa, Munlela, and Dankuda,” Umar wrote.

“Upon the on-the-spot assessment conducted by a joint assessment team including officials of NEMA, SEMA and community leaders, it was established that heavy rainfall, absence of culverts and bad drainage system were responsible for the disaster.”

She lamented that unfortunately, many families have been displaced, houses submerged and hectares of farmlands destroyed.

Umar added that the flood has damaged some connecting roads, thereby affecting farming and economic activities in the areas.

“We will continue to monitor and collaborate to support the affected communities,” the NEMA DG concluded by pledging the agency’s help.

Malam Usman Maigadi, a guard at Orchard Farm owned by the Emir of Yauri, Dr Muhammad Zayyanu-Abdullahi, has been killed by a mother hippopotamus, the News Agency of Nigeria, reports.

NAN gathers that the animal may have perceived the deceased as coming to harm its baby, hence the attack in self-defence.

Maiyaki, who was 60 years of age, was attacked on Sunday by an animal while fishing in Yauri River at Tillo Village in Yauri Local Government of the state.

” Maigadi has been buried, according to Islamic rites in Yauri, after a funeral prayer,” according to the Chairman of the Local Government, Alhaji Abubakar Shu’aibu.

Also, Gov. Nasir Idris, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Ahmed Idris, condoled with Yauri Emirate and the family of the deceased.

Idris urged the emirate and members of the deceased family to take heart and accept the will of the Almighty in good faith.

The governor prayed to Allah to forgive the deceased’s  shortcomings and grant him Jannatul Firdaus.

A yet-to-be-identified middle-aged woman has been killed by a speeding train behind Yaba Market in Yaba, Lagos.

 The accident happened on Sunday morning.

An eyewitness said the woman, who appeared to be suffering from mental illness, did not attempt to leave the tracks when the train was approaching despite people urging her to.

  “She refused to leave the railway, and the train did not stop. After the train had passed, it cut her into two,” the eyewitness said.

  Upon visiting the scene, The Guardian learnt that the unfortunate incident had happened at about 9 am. Many bystanders at the scene of the incident said that they used to know the deceased as a demented woman.

  At the time of publication, her body was still at the site, surrounded by flies, and no authority figures were present.

 Meanwhile, the Nigeria Railway Corporation (NRC) has sympathized with the deceased of the train accident in Lagos yesterday.

  In a response to an inquiry by The Guardian from the Deputy Director Public Relations, NRC, Mahmood Yakub, said: “Good afternoon sir, may her gentle soul continue to rest in perfect peace.”