The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the data is being collected by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

The team leader, Nadia Muhammed-Soso, said on Thursday in Katsina that the aim was to mainstream the victims into all National Social Investment Programmes.

Muhammed-Soso, who heads the ministry’s Special Duties Department, was represented by Funke Olatunji.

She said during a sensitisation on the survey, that the victims had suffered enough and required life changing support.

“It is a fact that insecurity in Nigeria has continued to restrict access to basic services and both affected people and host communities require emergency support and other necessary humanitarian assistance. To this end, the ministry whose mandate is to provide assistance for vulnerable groups in Nigeria, has realised the enormous challenges faced by the victims of terrorism across Nigeria and has commenced a pilot phase of sensitisation and survey of the victims,” she said.

The official listed the programmes run by the ministry to include Conditional Cash Transfer, Government Enterprise Empowerment Programme, N-Power, National Home Grown School Feeding Programme, and Grant for Vulnerable Groups.

“The ministry intends to mainstream the victims into all National Social Investment Programmes with a view to strengthening their resilience through social inclusion and provision of durable solutions,” she added.

Muhammed-Soso expressed hope that the beneficiaries of the exercise would make good use of the opportunity and provide concrete information that would guide the ministry in achieving its set goals.

His Chief Press Secretary, Ibrahim Kallah, confirmed the development in a statement in Katsina on Thursday.

Kallah said Mannir’s resignation was in accordance with section 84 (12) of the 2022 electoral act as amended.

He said, “Mannir made the declaration on Thursday, April 14, 2022, in his preparation to declare for governorship soon. The Chief Press Secretary added that the deputy governor thanked the Almighty Allah and Governor Aminu Masari for giving him the opportunity to contribute “towards the restoration of agriculture in the Masari administration.”

The statement further read “Mannir Yakubu expressed his happiness over the repositioning of the agricultural sector where farmers experienced turn around in agricultural production that guaranteed food security, and Agro industrial needs of the state and Nigeria at large.”

It was reported earlier that the violent clash ensued after the soldiers turned down an initial agreed offer of N500,000 per pit from the miners, and turned around to demand more money upon discovering the large quantum of gold nuggets found by the illegal miners in one of the pits.

Army spokesman, Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu who described the claim as “baseless, unfounded, untrue and a mere figment of the writer’s imagination, aimed at tarnishing the reputation of the Nigerian Army”, urged members of the public to disregard reports suggesting that two soldiers and seven miners were killed during a gun duel arising from rifts over gold.

Onyema noted that troops deployed in the North West were committed and engrossed in the fight against banditry and other criminalities bedevilling the region. He added that soldiers deployed to fight insurgents are never permitted to participate in any form of mining, whether legitimate or illegitimate.

Onyema added “This is certainly not what the troops require at this critical time. We assure the general public of the unrelenting commitment of our troops to decisively tackling the banditry menace in the North West.”

Also abducted was one of their school teachers, The PUNCH was told on Wednesday.

The identities of the late Tuesday attack victims could not be ascertained as of the time of filing this report.

Residents narrated that the gunmen arrived at the school on motorcycles when the pupils were about to close for the day.

The gunmen reportedly started shooting indiscriminately, the development which caused a commotion on the school premises and at nearby communities.

A resident said, “The gunmen forced the teacher and the pupils on their motorcycles before they zoomed off towards the forest and since then, nobody has heard anything about them.”

There were no activities at the Islamiyya school on Wednesday during a visit by our correspondent.

It was also learnt that the gunmen had not made any contact with the school and families of the victims.

The Spokesman for the Katsina police command, SP Gambo Isah, was yet to respond to a text message sent to him.

Masari stated this while responding to a question at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) Media Forum in Katsina, on Sunday.

He explained that all the traditional rulers, security operatives, stakeholders and the locals from wards to the state level were now involved in trying to find ways of nipping insecurity in the bud.

Masari said  “I directed that all the good people living in the forest should come out from the forest and live with the good people like them in villages, towns and cities, to avoid any eventualities. Therefore, we don’t have people living in the forests again. If you see any people living in the forest they must be either bandits or criminals. In fact, the old people still living in the forests are also bandits, who come out to perpetrate their evil acts and go back to the forest. We have achieved a lot in tackling the security problems in the state”

The officers were reportedly deployed to Kastina state in January and the special duty was supposed to last for 3 months.

However, they have now been there for 7 months and have allegedly not received any allowance.

In a video shared online, a spokesman for the police is heard saying, “No allowance, no market.”

The spokesperson also requested to see the governor of Katsina State, Aminu Bello Masari, and the Commissioner of Police.

It was gathered that the bandits stormed the mosque while worshippers were observing Tahajjud, a midnight prayer observed during the Holy Month of Ramadan.

Residents of the town told Daily Nigerian that dozens of gunmen struck at the mosque around 2 am on Monday, May 10, and whisked away some worshippers. It was further gathered that the kidnappers initially picked 47 congregants, including women and children, but seven later returned.

“So far we established 40 people missing after the attack,” a resident said

Another resident, Lawal Jibiya, said neighbouring villagers had alerted them about the impending attack after sighting the bandits heading towards the town.  He said hundreds of youths and local vigilante members were on alert, but the bandits changed their route and entered the town from the western entry point.

He said “We were expecting them from the eastern entry point through Daddara, Kukar Babangida or Magama but this time they proceeded beyond the town and camped at Jibawa. From Jibawa they then went round to the western entry point near Yunusa Dantauri Hospital and attacked a mosque on the outskirt of the town,”

Danejin Daura, Alhaji Abdulmumini Salihu who made the announcement on behalf of the secretary of the council, said that special prayers will be offered for sustainable peace in the state immediately after the Eid prayers on Sallah day.

The statement read “The focus will be on performing special prayers on the Sallah day as soon as the Eid prayers are performed. You are by this notice to inform all the Imams to pray for President Muhammadu Buhari (Bayajida II) and other leaders for protection from all evils of the enemies of progress of this country, its stability, and its corporate existence”

He also reacted to claims made by the acting National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, Yekini Nabena, that he was sponsoring banditry in the North West.

Speaking to journalists in Abuja, the governor said the Kankara schoolboys were released in Zamfara State before they were moved to Katsina State, where they were received by government officials.

He said, “As soon as the boys were kidnapped, we stepped in. We reached out to repentant bandits in the state. Negotiations were made and that was how they were released. The boys were released in Zamfara before they were moved to Katsina. Before I came on board as the executive governor of Zamfara State, over 7,000 people were killed in such crisis and a dozen of hundreds of others were kidnapped by bandits within the eight years of my predecessor. Records have also shown that almost a million cattle and related animals were rustled by bandits in the state. Property and farm produce worth billions of naira belonging to innocent citizens were either destroyed, vandalised or carted away by these criminals. All these calamities and catastrophic consequences occurred in the hands of the APC government that ruled Zamfara State for almost a decade. However, between May 29, 2019, when I took over the leadership of the state to date, I rescued more than 2,000 kidnapped victims from their abductors. I collected over a thousand weapons from both the bandits and the members of the vigilante groups operating in the state. It is also worth noting here that, for almost two years of my administration now, Zamfara State has not recorded such a number of deaths, as was the case before my administration when hundreds of innocent people were being massacred almost on a daily basis.”

Senate President Lawan gave the assurance after visiting Katsina State governor, Aminu Bello Masari, at Government House.

He said the National Assembly is expecting the budget from the presidency by September and hoped to deliberate and pass it within two months.

He assured that the Ninth Assembly would also pass the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, to ensure the oil and Gas sector are given the desired reform.