Following the weekend’s celebratory press conference organised by the office of the National Security Adviser Mr. Nuhu Ribadu attended by all the service chiefs and the Inspector-General of Police during which the Security Adviser to President Tinubu announced the capture of two terrorists masterminds Mahmud Muhammad Usman (AKA Abu Bara’a/Abbass/Mukhtar) the self-styled Emir of Ansaru and Mahmud Al-Nigeria(AKA Malam Mahmuda), Abu Bara’s chief of staff/Deputy, a call for caution has sounded towards the direction of the military and police chiefs not to rejoice yet until the reckless and massive killings of mostly Christians of Benue and Plateau states are stopped. HURIWA lamented too that security agencies are accused of committing horrendous human rights violations in the South-East even as the NSA has not bothered to demand investigation of these cases of forced disappearances of Igbo youths by the police and the DSS in the last two years.
Besides, HURIWA wondered the reason for the celebration of the capture of the daredevil terrorists commanders when several hundreds of other armed and dangerous terrorists are roaming around freely all over North Central States and Nortj West states, killing, maiming lives and destroying property of citizens with reckless abandon and they seemed to be eluding capture by the armed forces.
The Rights group pointedly to the fact that Bankole town in Ifelodun Kwara state was attacked by bandits who were more than 50 in their numbers around 9pm on August 16, 2025. The assailants overpowered local security, killing the Olu Ode of Bankole. A little girl named Mary was kidnapped, along with other strangers who had sought refuge and safety in the town. The attack has left residents in shock and fear. Authorities are urged to take immediate action to rescue the kidnapped victims and bring the perpetrators to justice. HURIWA also observed that in Zamfara state, terrorists kidnapped hundreds of Hausa indigenes but the armed security forces are not keen on combating and eradicating the existential threats posed by the terrorists who are operating as if they are protected by the military Generals in Abuja.
HURIWA alluded to the destructive attacks of Christian communities in Benue state just as the Catholic Priests in Benue State have expressed outrage over the recent destruction and desecration of St. Paul’s Parish, Aye-Twar (Agu Centre) in Katsina-Ala, Local Government Area, LGA, of the state and the occupation of 26 other outstations by armed herdsmen.
They noted that the incident did not only represent an attack against the Church and the Diocese of Katsina-Ala in particular, “but a direct assault on government at all levels, the security operatives, the traditional institutions and indeed all stakeholders.”
The Chairman of the Nigerian Catholic Diocesan Priests’ Association, NCDPA, Katsina-Ala Diocese, Rev. Fr. Samuel Fila, in a statement availed newsmen in Makurdi, explained that the unprovoked violent attack started on Sunday, August 10, 2025 and resulted in the severe destruction of several facilities in the Central Church at Agu Centre.
He said: “Preceding this assault were other previous sustained attacks on Aye-Twar community which increased in intensity, thus forcing the Parish Priest to relocate to another parish, while continuing with skeletal pastoral activities.
“The barbaric attack of August 11, 2025 has finally shut down all pastoral activities since all 26 outstations have been occupied by the armed herdsmem long before now. The malevolent attack left in its wake the desecration and destruction of the Parish Church, the destruction of the Parish Secretariat, the burning to ashes of the Father’s House, destruction of household items, pastoral logistics and vehicles in addition to many other valuable items.
“At the moment, the entire Agu Centre community has been deserted by the locals for fear of more attacks. It must be reiterated that Aye-Twar is only one out of innumerable communities that are currently under a sustained invasion by dangerously armed terrorists.
HURIWA which commended President Donald John Trump for his outspoken condemnation of the selective terrorists attacks of Christians in Nigeria and other neighbouring West African nations, noted that it was shocking and disappointing that the Nigeria’s minister of Foreign Affairs was opposed to the position of the government of the United States of America on the targeted killings of Christians moat especially in the North Central States of Benue and Plateau states.
“It is in the light of the above factual claims ny the Catholic Priests in Benue state that the Rights group wondered why the NSA and other Service chiefs including the Inspector-General of Police are in celebration moods for capturing just two kingpins of terrorism in Nigeria even as thousands of other Nigerians are facing imminent attacks by terrorists made up mostly of Fulani herders. The NSA and his colleagues in the hierarchies of the armed forces and the police, should up their game and implement concrete measures to curb these attacks against Nigerians and the Minister of Justice should do more to speedily prosecute these terrorists or better still the government which seems disinterested in prosecuting terrorists, should hand them over to the INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT IN THE Hague Netherlands to face prosecution for their dastardly crimes against humanity.
COMRADE Emmanuel ONWUBIKO,
NATIONAL COORDINATOR,
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA). August 17th 2025.
