Train Attack, Oil Discovery, Nine Other Big Stories In Northern Nigeria In 2022

From a daring terrorist attack on a moving train to the start of oil drilling, the year 2022 will be remembered in northern nigeria for some key events and developments.

Here are some of the stories from the region that stood out in 2022:

1. Terrorists attack the Abuja-Kaduna train

Terrorists, loosely called bandits by residents, have been reigning supreme in the north-west and parts of north-central Nigeria for more than a decade, but the attack on a moving train is unprecedented in Nigerian history.

With federal, state and local highways in jeopardy, many people going to Abuja from Kaduna had found solace on the new railway linking the old Northern Region headquarters to the federal capital of Abuja, until the attack on the night of 28 of March. At least eight people died in the attack on that dozens of passengers were kidnapped by the attackers.

The hostages were released in batches for several months after the ransom was paid by their relatives, until negotiations between a committee of the Chief of Defense Staff and the terrorists led to the release of the others.

The terrorists intermittently released video footage and photos as proof that the captives were alive. Members of the captives’ families held protest after protest just as senior government officials were repeatedly visiting the scene of the attack.

2. Tukur Mamu: Negotiator in hot soup

Another consequence of the attack on the train was the participation of a journalist, Tukur Mamu, as a negotiator. The editor of the Desert Herald, however, turned from dealmaker to suspect after he was detained by security agents in Dubai and brought back to Nigeria.

The State Security Service insisted that Mamu had questions to answer after several “exhibits” were discovered during a search for your residence. Mamu said that he had not committed any crime despite his arrest. The charges brought by the state against Mr. Mamu were later dropped.

3. Oil drilling

Many people in northern Nigeria expressed their joy when President Muhammadu Buhari ended the first oil drilling project in the region. Authorities had announced that crude oil had been discovered in commercial quantities in Gombe and Bauchi states in the northeast.

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“This is really significant considering that efforts to find commercial oil and gas outside the established Niger Delta basin have been attempted for many years without the desired results,” Buhari said.

“This discovery arose from our charge to NNPC to restrategize and expand its oil and gas exploration footprints into the Anambra, Dahomey, Sokoto, Benue Trough, Chad and Bida Basins frontier basins. Similar activities are currently being carried out in the other basins.”

4. Terrorist turbaning

PREMIUM TIMES exclusively reported Zamfara State Yandoton Daji Emirate Council’s plan to muddy a notorious bandit kingpin, Ado Aleru, as Sarkin Fulanin Yandoto. The council said it was part of its efforts to restore peace to the area.

The coronation it was witnessed by senior Zamfara government officials and monarchs. However, after a nationwide backlash, the suspended state government the emir, Aliyu Marafa, and called for a committee to investigate the development. Nothing has been heard of the committee’s findings and Mr. Aleru, who still terrorizes motorists and communities, still holds the traditional title to him..

5. Floods

Like many other parts of the country, northern Nigeria experienced devastating floods that wreaked havoc on farmland, roads, homes and schools. From Kogi and Bauchi to Yobe, Jigawa, Kano and Adamawa, Taraba, Benue and Sokoto in the three zones of the region, there were stories of loss of life, agricultural products and property.

PREMIUM TIMESvisited Jigawa, Kano, Kogi, Adamawa, Bauchi and Yobe, where farmers reported loss of Agricultural products and farmland valued at millions of naira. hundreds of homes They were also destroyed, which displaced several residents, leaving them displaced and leaving them refugees in primary and secondary schools..

6. Debora’s lynching

Another sad incident in the North during the year that drew the attention of Nigeria and the international community was the murder of a student in Sokoto for alleged blasphemy.

Deborah Samuel, a Christian, was stoned to death and set on fire by thugs and some Muslim students from the Shehu Shagari College of Education. The arrest of her killers sparked riots in the state capital. This came after the police announced the arrest and indictment of some young people suspected of being involved in the murder.

7. Transitions

The Sokoto Sultanate was affected by the death of two of its most illustrious and influential sons. First it was the eldest/chief kingmaker, Hassan Danbaba, who died in February. Mr. Danbaba’s grandfather, Ahmadu Bello, the first and only prime minister of the northern region, vied for the post of sultan in 1938. He was a descendant of the great Islamic scholar and jihadist Usman Bin Fodio.

The Sultanate was also hit in December when Sarkin Sudan, Shehu Malami, another influential princewho was seen as Mr. Fix it of the current Sultan Sa’ad Abubakar, died in Cairo, Egypt.

Mr. Malami, who was from the ruling house of Bello, was Nigerian High Commissioner to South Africa and a member of the International Advisory Board of the World Economic Forum Foundation, Geneva, Switzerland.

He was one of the founders of Ecobank, former Chairman of Union Bank, Director of Standard Chartered Bank and former Chairman of Costain West Africa.

Another eminent northerner who died in 2022 was tofa bashirthe presidential candidate of the defunct Republican National Convention in the annulled election of June 12, 1993.

A renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Bamba, also died in the year. He was the head imam of the Darul Hadith Mosque in Tudun Yola, Gwale Local Government Area in Kano.

He hosted weekly lectures, on Saturdays and Sundays, which drew thousands of listeners in person and live broadcasts across Hausa-speaking northern Nigeria.

8. Accusation

On the political front, the deputy governor of Zamfara state, Mahadi Aliyu, who refused to walk with the governor to the All Progressive Congress (APC) of the Popular Democratic Party PDP, was impeached by the state House of Assembly.

The intrigues that led to the impeachment were documented here for PREMIUM TIMES.

Lawmakers insisted they continued due to the process in carrying out the prosecution, but Mr. Aliyu said he was victimized for not following Governor Bello Matawalle and lawmakers in defecting to the APC.

9. Abba Kyari

Another northerner in the news that year was Abba Kyari, who had earned celebrity status for fighting crime. While trying to avoid extradition to the United States, where he was named for allegedly colluding with con man Ramón Azeez (Hushpuppi), Mr. Kyari was named in another major scandal.

Kyari was arrested and delivered to the National Drug Enforcement Agency NDLEA for alleged drug trafficking.

10. Ahmed Idris

Another northerner accused of corruption is the Accountant General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris, who has been suspended and is under investigation for alleged theft of at least N80 billion of public funds.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), in a statement from its spokesman, Wilson Uwujaren, said: “Operatives from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, May 16, 2022, arrested the Accountant General in functions of the Federation. , Mr. Ahmed Idris in connection with the diversion of funds and money laundering activities in the amount of N80billion (Eighty billion Naira only).

“The Commission’s verified intelligence showed that the AGF extracted the funds through bogus consultancies and other illegal activities using proxies, family members, and close associates.

“The funds were laundered through real estate investments in Kano and Abuja.

“Mr. Idris was arrested after not complying with the invitations of the EFCC to respond to problems related to fraudulent acts”.

11. Kogi – drama Dangote

In October, the Kogi state government sealed off a Dangote Cement factory in Obajana after alleging that the factory was improperly acquired by Dangote Industries Limited, owned by the world’s richest black person, Aliko Dangote.

Dangote Industries Limited denied the allegation and claimed that some of its staff were damaged when the factory was invaded by state government agents.

President Muhammadu Buhari intervened to secure the reopening of the factory, but the parties in dispute took the matter to court.