Gunmen have killed a former Chief Security Officer of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State, Letam Kine.

Kine was said to have been shot dead along Polytechnic Road, Bori, in Khana LGA around 6 p.m. on Sunday.

Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer,  ASP Blessing Agabe, confirmed the incident to journalists in Port Harcourt on Monday.

According to Agabe, the gunmen fled the scene before security operatives arrived, while the victim’s body was deposited in a mortuary.

The police spokesperson disclosed that the body would be preserved pending autopsy, as police launched investigations to establish the circumstances surrounding the killing.

“The Rivers State Police Command has launched a full investigation to identify and bring the perpetrators to justice,” she said.

She urged Kine’s family to formally report the incident to the police to facilitate investigations and the administration of justice and reaffirmed the command’s commitment to identifying, arresting and prosecuting all those connected with the killing.

Reacting to the incident, Khana Local Government Chairman, Chief Thomas Bariere, condemned the attack, describing it as a senseless act of violence.

Bariere further described Kine’s murder as heartbreaking, saying such violence had no place in a peaceful and law-abiding society.

He expressed concern that the killing occurred weeks after Mr Clement Deegbara of Kpong Community was also murdered.

Troops of Operation HADIN KAI have foiled an attempted terrorist infiltration of a military base and evacuated 21 female students to safety following intelligence of a planned attack in Borno State.

The development was disclosed in the latest operational report released on Monday by the military and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.

According to the report, troops of the 3 Battalion at the Forward Operating Base in Logomani detected suspected ISWAP/JAS terrorists attempting to encircle their position through closed-circuit television, CCTV, surveillance.

Troops engaged the insurgents, forcing them to withdraw before executing the planned attack.

The report added that troops of Sector 3 also acted on intelligence indicating that seven suspected ISWAP/JAS terrorists carrying improvised explosive devices were sighted near the Water Board Internally Displaced Persons, IDP, Camp in Monguno.

As a precaution, troops evacuated 21 female students staying in a nearby hostel to Kinnasara Barracks. Three of the students reportedly suffered seizures during the evacuation but were stabilised at a hospital, while security was reinforced around the area.

In a separate operation, troops of the 115 Task Force Battalion, working alongside local hunters, engaged suspected terrorists at Surajo village in Askira/Uba Local Government Area. The insurgents fled the area, abandoning three bicycles and two coolers.

The report further disclosed that troops of the 247 Reconnaissance Battalion and local hunters arrested a suspected cross-border kidnapper at Gaya in Mubi South Local Government Area of Adamawa State.

The suspect reportedly confessed to belonging to a kidnapping syndicate operating from the Solere Forest in Cameroon and crossing into Nigeria to carry out abductions.

The report also noted that troops of Operation FANSAN YAMMA repelled suspected terrorists along the Wasagu–Ayu Road in Wasagu Local Government Area of Kebbi State, forcing the attackers to flee and abandon two motorcycles.

A Kebbi State High Court sitting in Birnin Kebbi has sentenced three women to 14 years’ imprisonment each for criminal conspiracy, abetment and belonging to a gang of brigands.

The convictions followed their trial over allegations that they supplied food, drinks and other items to armed bandits operating in Shanga Local Government Area of the state.

Delivering judgment, Justice Hassan Shehu Kuwwa held that the prosecution proved its case beyond reasonable doubt against the second, third and fourth defendants, while acquitting the first defendant, Aisha Abubakar.

The convicted women, Jamila Sule, Ramatu Habibu and Zara’u Abdulkarim, were found guilty of criminal conspiracy, abetment and belonging to a gang of brigands under the Kebbi State Penal Code Law, 2021.

According to the prosecution, the offences were committed on December 14, 2023, at Sabon Gari Hills Forest in Shanga Local Government Area, where the defendants allegedly aided armed bandits by supplying them with Indian hemp, foodstuffs and soft drinks.

The court admitted the defendants’ statements, recorded in English and translated into Hausa, as exhibits during the trial.

Justice Kuwwa ruled that the evidence presented was insufficient to establish a case against Aisha Abubakar, ordering her discharge and acquittal.

However, the court found Jamila Sule, Ramatu Habibu and Zara’u Abdulkarim guilty on all counts and sentenced each of them to 14 years’ imprisonment.