16 Yrs Old Boy Faces 4 Years Imprisonment For Insulting The President In Turkey [Pix]

The Turkish Police Command have arrested a 16-year-old high school student for “insulting” President Recep Tayyip Erdogan by accusing him and his ruling party of corruption, sparking angry criticism on Christmas day from the opposition.

The boy, identified by his initials M.E.A., was believed to be a member of a leftist organisation, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

He delivered a speech on Wednesday in the central Anatolian city of Konya, a bastion of Erdogan’s Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP), in memory of a young secular teacher killed by Islamists in 1930, according to the newspaper.

The boy, who was arrested by police at school, is now facing up to four years in prison if convicted on the charge.

It was the latest controversial arrest in Turkey in recent weeks. Recent police raids on media outlets affiliated with Erdogan’s top foe, the US-based cleric Fethullah Gulen, sparked an angry exchange with the European Union, which said the arrests undermined media freedom.

Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu supported the court’s decision on the juvenile’s arrest.

“Everyone must respect the office of president whoever he is,” Davutoglu said, quoted in Turkish media.

In his testimony to prosecutors, the boy denied links with any political party and said that the local governor’s office granted permission for the commemoration ceremony organised through social media.

“I’ve made the statement in question. I have no intent to insult,” he reportedly said.

Man Wearing Invisible Ring Arrested By Police While Trying To Steal Cash In Bank [pix]

 

Whoever gave this man an invisible ring to wear to go and steal is wicked, lol. Apparently, a man walked into GTB thinking he was all invisible because he wore an invisible ring and he could steal. The man jumped over the counter and started stuffing a bag with cash, before the cashiers held him. Police where later called in and he was asked why he did that, and he said he thought no one could see him because he wore an invisible ring. How thoughtful!

Two girls arrested in India for posting and liking status on Facebook [Pix]

Shaheen Dhada is an unlikely looking protagonist in the battle under way in India to protect free speech from government restrictions in the new media age.
Slight and soft-spoken, Dhada perches on the edge of her bed in a purple-walled room that has been her own for the past 20 years. Outside, police officers are posted for her protection in the town of Palghar, 2 1/2 hours outside Mumbai.

Shaheen Dhada (left) and Renu Srinivasan leave court in Mumbai on Nov. 19. Dhada was arrested for a Facebook post questioning the shutdown of Mumbai for the funeral of a powerful politician; Srinivasan was arrested for "liking" the post.

The 21-year-old management science grad's Facebook post last week triggered her arrest and the wrath of local residents. Her "crime" was questioning the shutdown of Mumbai as mourners gathered for the cremation of Bal Thackeray, who had dominated the city's political stage for decades with cagey intimidation tactics.
In a Facebook post on Nov. 18, Dhada wrote: "Every day thousands of people die, but still the world moves on. ... Today, Mumbai shuts down out of fear, not out of respect."

Shaken by the reaction to his daughter's Facebook post, Farooq Dhada (shown here with Shaheen) says in India, freedom of speech "exists only on paper."

Within minutes, she got a call from a stranger. "And he told me, 'Do you really think whatever you posted is right?' " Dhada says. "I was actually confused about what he was asking for."
She hung up and deleted her comment. But by then a mob had gathered at her uncle's medical clinic around the corner, smashing windows and equipment, and vandalizing the operating room.
"Within 10 minutes, the police came and told me to come to the police station. I had to apologize in a written statement," says Dhada, who was held until 2 a.m. and then released on bail. A friend of hers, Renu Srinivasan, who "liked" the post, had been detained with her. A mob descended on the station. Dhada says she couldn't see it, but heard: "They were shouting, and at that time I was really very scared."

Meanwhile, Dhada's father, Farooq Dhada, says his family cowered inside their home for hours in the darkness, afraid the mob would come for them next.
The episode has shaken the Muslim father of two, who says he never expected things to escalate to such a frightening pitch. Reflecting on the incident days later, he says freedom of speech in India "exists only on paper." He says he doubts the common person feels any sense of security — no matter what religion they are.

Suspected ritualists arrested by Niger Police command [Pix]

When three young farmers of Gwari extraction in Niger state conspired to source for human head in their neighbourhood for money-making rituals purposes, hardly did it occur to them that the long arm of the law might soon catch up with them.

the 3 ritualist

The  three suspects, whose names were given as Saleh  Ibrahim (35), Usman Lashi Sarki (30) and Dantala Doma, a.k.a. Operator, (25) years had conspired with other people which included a Fulani man simply identified as Gajere, now at large, who had allegedly given them a dried human skull to go and grind.

It was further learnt that another unidentified PHCN employee who is also on the run had promised to get the three suspects mercury to accomplish their aim.

Nemesis however caught up with them on Monday August 26, few hours after Ibrahim lured a 10-year-old boy, Ishaya Segi, from his father’s farm at Amale village in Shiroro Local Government of the state, put him on his motorcycle and abducted him to Lashi village, also within the council area where his two other accomplices were waiting for him.

Saleh was said to have urged the boy to accompany him to his friend’s place in the neighbourhood, after which he would bring him back to the same spot where he had picked him. The victim was said to have followed Saleh, unknown to him that he would never return alive.

A police source at the homicide section of the Criminal Investigation Department, Minna  informed Crime Reports that no sooner was the victim brought to Lashi village than the third suspect, Doma, brought out a very sharp cutlass and cut off the head. The head was removed from his body by Sarki who is said to be a son to the late village head of Lashi. 

The source added that during interrogation, Sarki confessed that he was contracted to bring the 10-year-old boy’s head by Gajere for money-making ritual.
It was further learnt that during police investigation, the boy’s head was traced to Saleh’s residence of Saleh while he later took the police to two other accomplices. The police were taken near river Erena in Shiroro Local Government Area of the state where the headless body of the boy was buried in a shallow grave.

According to Saleh, he initially resisted when Sarki informed him that one Gajere contacted him to bring a head of the little boy, but after convincing him, he decided to go out in search of a boy.
Efforts towards apprehending Gajere who contacted the three suspects for the job had not yielded any result as at the time of filing this report.

Confirming the incident, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Richard Adamu Oguche, an Assistant Superintendent of Police, said investigation into the matter had since commenced, after which the three suspects would be arraigned in court of competent jurisdiction for prosecution on charges of conspiracy and culpable homicide.

He revealed that the command directed all police outposts within Kaffin-Koro Division and the DPO in Kaffin-Koro to reach out to the community leaders in the area to know if there was a reported case of missing child, an effort which yielded result on Friday 30 August 2013, when an Amale village-based farmer, Pa Segi Gayaga appeared at the state’s police headquarters to identify the 10-year-old victim as his son.

Bird Suspected Of Being A Spy Detained By Police [Pix]

Bird that’s ruffling government feathers: Stork suspected of being a SPY detained by police in Egypt
Egyptian authorities have detained a bird that a citizen suspected of being a spy.
Officials say a man took the bird to a police station in the Qena governorate, some 280 miles southeast of Cairo, on Friday.
He suspected the bird was an undercover agent because it carried an electronic device.

Bird detained

A migrating stork is held in a police station after a citizen suspected it of being a spy and brought it to the authorities
The head of security in Qena confirmed that officials examined the bird and the device.

Mohammed Kamal said the device was neither an explosive nor a spying device. It is thought to have probably been a wildlife tracker.
Earlier this year, a security guard filed a police report after capturing a pigeon he said carried microfilm.

Officials say the man suspected the bird was an undercover agent because it carried an electronic device
With turmoil gripping Egypt, authorities and citizens remain suspicious of anything foreign.
The country has been in turmoil following the July 3 coup that toppled President Mohammad Morsi.
Clashes between Egyptian security forces and Morsi's supporters have killed hundreds of people.
'We do believe that the recent operations of the security forces have been disproportionate and we're worried about the resulting alarming number of people that have been killed,' said the EU's foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

the detained bird.

Clashes between supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood and Egypt's ousted president Mohamed Morsi continue
Political turbulence has kept Egypt on edge for months. At least 900 people, including 100 soldiers and police, have been killed in a crackdown on Morsi supporters, making it the country's bloodiest internal episode in decades.
The United States and the European Union have both been reviewing aid to Cairo in light of the bloodshed, but Saudi Arabia, a foe of the Brotherhood, has promised to make up any shortfall.

Kidnapped by Nigerian S.S.S [Pix]

Victim- Mr Jonathan Ekpoma

Monday 12^th August 2013 is a day Mr. Jonathan Ekpoma will not forget easily. That morning he left his residence at Ibusa delta state going to his place of work at Enugu, that was where His woes began.

He was grabbed by some men of the State Security Service (SSS), they presented their I.D cards’ handcuffed him and dragged him into their vehicle. When asked his offence, he was battered with the butt of a gun, and asked to keep quiet, He further demanded to contact His family and the SSS officers answered Him “you have been kidnapped by the SSS, you cannot contact anybody until our investigation is finished, you cannot tell the SSS how they operate”. When they finally got to their office, his phones were switched off. He was told he threatened one James Eboka over the phone, a former colleague of his at UBA, he admitted calling the man due to some issues they had, but not using any threat words. He wrote His statement which they rejected. The SSS operatives tortured him, using some electrical appliances to shock him, flogging him consistently and using various torture techniques on Him, especially those that will not put visible marks on his body, they did not even care if he had any health conditions. To avoid further shock and torture He wrote what they demanded for in His statement. He was under their custody from Monday 12^th – 21^st Aug 2013, before he was charged to court.

The issue was not also easy for his wife Mrs. Ekpoma who is a nursing mother of a 4 months old baby girl and his aged mother. Her husband left for work that faithful day and she lost communication with Him. She prepared for the worse, went round all hospitals, checked manifests of transporters, waiting for calls from kidnappers, went to different police stations, she made a formal report at one of the stations, after a week of His disappearance she went on air (Delta Broadcasting Service) to announce that her husband was missing, the announcement paid off as someone called, to give her information that he was with the SSS. She went to their office to enquire, and they denied having him in custody, that same day a lawyer and some members of the family also went to enquire at the SSS office, they also denied having him in custody. A formal report of a missing person was then written and filed by the SSS and they promised to look for him at their capacity. She was suddenly contacted 21^st Aug 2013 that her husband has been taken to court by the same SSS who denied having him in custody.

after his arrest: Mr Jonathan

We all have to fight and address the way security operatives keep oppressing the Nigerian people. In this era of security crisis,where kidnapping, ritual killing and other disturbing things are rampant, a family man was kidnapped and kept unlawfully because he called someone by SSS officers over a week, even Boka Haram suspects are given access to their families, doctor and lawyers. The issue of battering and forcing suspects to write statements under duress has to stop. The Era of having a friend in any of the security outfits, and using them to carryout personal vendetta should be discouraged. To show they carried out a biased investigation the complainant was not in court.

That week, the Ekpoma family faced trauma, so many families are going through this, He came across so many people under SSS custody that their families don’t know their where about, some have been there for months, if they die there, they erase any trace of the person to them, because nobody even know they are there in the first place.

 Is this how they protect Nigerians?

I urge Nigerians to petition the SSS for their missing persons.

Kenyan President Orders Mass Deportation Of Nigerians

For Nigerians resident in Kenya, these are the worst of times. Their plight could be compared to the era of slave trade when able-bodied Africans could not tell what the next minute held for them because human traffickers could pick them up the next minute.

Checks revealed that in recent times, Nigerians have become victims of undeserved humiliation and deportation in President Barrack Obama's country of origin.

It was gathered that due to the uproar that followed a recent publication by Sunday Sun in which one of the deportees, Anthony Chinedu, recounted his sad experiences in the hands of Kenyan security personnel, the government of the East African country swiftly changed its strategy. According to latest deportees, the Kenyan security agents have resorted to bugging telephone conversations of Nigerians, and once the name or language sounds Nigerian, they would trace the person and get him arrested.

They stated that Nigerian citizens, especially those engaged in legitimate businesses in that country live literally with their hearts on their palms, hiding from place to place for fear of being picked up and bundled back home empty handed.

It was alleged that part of the grouse that the Kenyan President and his deputy have against Nigerian citizens was that Nigerians gave massive support to his rival in the country's recent presidential election and that a Nigerian is in charge of the deputy president's case at the International Criminal Court.

Jet used to deport Anthony Chinedu still at MMA

Checks by Sunday Sun indicated that, as at press time, the jet (5Y-SAX) used to deport Anthony Chinedu last week, was still being detained at the cargo wing of the of Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos. Unconfirmed sources from Kenya said the jet belonged to Hon William Ruto, the Kenyan Vice President. It was gathered that the jet's voyage into the Nigerian airspace was not properly and officially documented, a situation that suggested that it might not have followed due process.

President orders mass arrest and deportation

A tacit official confirmation that Kenya-based Nigerians were really in for hard times, came last Monday, when that country's president, Uhuru Kenyatta, in a public function, gave his nod to mass deportation of Nigerians. While declaring open the 2nd National Conference on Alcohol and Drug Abuse (NACADA) in Nairobi, on June 11, 2013, he ordered the security agencies to fish out, arrest and deport all foreigners suspected to engage in drug trafficking in Kenya. Sunday Sun monitored the reportage of the presidential order that was relayed in Kenyan radio and TV stations including NTV, Capital FM and Ghetto Radio- 89.5FM, as well as some tabloids the next day. Some of their headlines read: "Deport all suspected drug dealers", "Police to arrest, deport all foreigners suspected of engaging in drug", and "Deport all suspected foreign drug dealers". It was gathered that since that official directive, several Nigerians have been secretly deported.

Many Nigerian citizens in that country saw the presidential order as an official permission to Kenyans to tag any face they do not like, as "suspected" drug dealer. One of them who mailed Sunday Sun stated that, "since all it takes to throw a foreigner out of Kenya is mere suspicion, landlords, debtors and anybody who doesn't like your face only needs to call in the police and brand you a suspect."

One of the victims who identified himself simply as Joe, spoke to Sunday Sun upon his arrival at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, on Monday. Like Chinedu, he is also an indigene of Anambra state. Narrating his experiences in the hands of the Kenyan police, he stated that he was picked up Sunday night and told to choose either to die slowly in their (security men) hands or silent deportation.

"I asked them what they meant by going home silently and they said they would just buy a normal air ticket for me, so I could return to Nigeria like other normal travelers, and I chose the latter," he said.

Joe said he learnt later, that the security agents adopted the strategy because the Nigerian High Commission in Kenya had lodged official complaint to the authorities about the deportation of Nigerian citizens without its knowledge. About a dozen Nigerian citizens resident in Kenya who reacted to Sunday Sun interview with Anthony Chinedu also confirmed that Nigerians were still being recklessly arrested and detained. They also confirmed Joe's allegation of silent deportation.

Another deportee, Mr Paul Owoseni, an indigene of Ondo state, told a pathetic story. He told Sunday Sun while on his way to his village that he did not know his offence.

Hear him: "Many Nigerians are still detained there, as we speak, awaiting deportation. Till now, I don't know what offence I committed that warranted this inhuman treatment. Their security agents just go on the streets of Kenya, picking up anyone they identify as a Nigerian and tag him a drug dealer. I was doing my legitimate business in that country; I did not sale, take or keep drugs, and nobody has ever seen me with any narcotic substance. They picked me up on Monday (June 3), and detained me till Thursday, before bundling about ten of us into the plane. We were not allowed to take even a pin. They told us while in detention, that they wanted all Nigerians out of their country, not minding whether we were doing legitimate business or not. They also said that they did not want to get rid of us through court process.

Tracking method

"The moment you call a friend and the security agents noticed it is a Nigerian name you called, they would track both of you and get you arrested. They also intercept calls, and once they notice that you sounded Nigerian, they would trace you and get you arrested immediately."

Owoseni told Sunday Sun that while in Kenya, he was into importation of human hairs that he also supplied to Uganda and Tanzania, and he had just stocked his shop. Oseni alleged that the security agents broke his gate while he was away on the day they came to arrest him, at about 5pm, and waited for him.

"They even arrested a friend that was in my company at that time. I will not mention his name because he is among those in detention in Kenya."


Kenyan wife works with Kenyan army

Owoseni who arrived in Nigeria with nothing, told Sunday Sun that like many other Nigerians, he was married to a Kenyan and they had a child, Micheal. He stated that his Kenyan wife, Damaris, who works for the Kenyan army, was still at work when he was arrested, and they did not allow him to communicate with her before he was deported. Like the other deportees, he urged that the Nigerian government should not let all their struggles in Kenya to be in vain.

Another Deportee speaks

Also forced out of Kenya, was Oluwatosin Adebiyi, an indigene of Oyo State, who was arrested at midnight and taken away in his nightclothes. "They stormed my house at midnight and arrested me. They were about 40 armed men, and before I was taken away, they ransacked the house and took away all handy valuables including my $20,000 cash, five phones and three ipads belonging to me and my wife. My duplex, two cars and other valuables in the house are worth over N60 million. "The most annoying part was that they rendered me incommunicado, disallowed me from communicating with my Kenyan wife and children. They did not give me any option while in detention."

They jumped into my compound around 1 a.m. -Daniel

Another deportee, Mr Daniel, narrated his ordeal in Kenya. "On Sunday night (June 2), about 15 policemen who were armed to the teeth, came to my house. They actually scaled the fence like criminals, around 1 a.m., and ordered me to open my door. Initially, I thought they were armed robbers

Via Sunday Sun

Two Elderly Women Caught And Abused After Stealing Palm Oil [Pix]

These Two Women were caught when they stole palm oil from a supermarket and put it under their shirt, Look at the how they were humiliated!!!
One question.. why would they steal palm oil?? well it’s obvious that they need it to prepare food since poverty has embraced our beloved country to an unimaginable extent…

It’s quite shocking to see that Ghana which was the Most promising Country in Africa with lots of Investment coming from all over the world has now been reduced in this condition within a mere 4yrs time frame..
This is Gargantuanly ridiculous indeed and something must be done about it fast, We don’t like seeing our mothers in these situation koraaa!!

U.S. Places $23m Reward For Boko Haram Leader, Shekau, 4 Others

In an unprecedented move, the United States on Monday posted up to $23 million in rewards to help track down five leaders of militant groups accused of spreading terror in west Africa.

The highest reward of $7 million is offered for the Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau, who last week called on Islamists in Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iraq to join the bloody fight to create an Islamic state in Nigeria.

The US State Department’s Rewards for Justice program also targeted Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), offering its first ever bounties for wanted militants in west Africa.

Up to $5 million was posted for Al-Qaeda veteran Mokhtar Belmokhtar, the one-eyed Islamist behind the devastating attack on an Algerian gas plant in January in which 37 foreigners, including three Americans, were killed.

A further $5 million was offered for top AQIM leader Yahya Abou Al-Hammam, reportedly involved in the 2010 murder of an elderly French hostage in Niger.

Malik Abou Abdelkarim, a senior fighter with AQIM, and Oumar Ould Hamaha, the spokesman for Mali’s Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO), were also targeted by the rewards program, which will give up to $3 million each for information leading to their arrests.

Shekau was placed on a US blacklist last year, but Boko Haram has yet to be designated a foreign terrorist organization — an absence which has raised eyebrows among regional experts.

JTF Arrest Boko-Haram Members In Search Of Food [Pix]

A group of Boko Haram members have been apprehended by the Special troops during their cordon and search operation in Borno State while they were going around in search of food.

 The intensive cordon and search operation being conducted by the troops of the Special Forces in Borno State have received a major boost from civilian cooperation in communities close to locations being focused in the operation.

According to the Defence Spokesman; Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, a group of terrorists moving from village to village in search of large quantity of food were tracked and apprehended following a tip off from civilians.

The group which was moving around in a Toyota Land Cruiser jeep were arrested at Daban Masara with weapons such as AK 47 rifle, single barrel shotgun, double hand shotgun and various calibres of ammunition.

He further stated that in other locations, a total of 56 identified insurgents were apprehended with the help of military police dogs. Items recovered from the arrested insurgents include, 7 packs of IEDs, 2 rocket-propelled gun chargers, a rifle magazine, 2 machetes, bomb detonators, camouflage and other military uniforms as well as medicines equipment, charms, 7 vehicles including a jeep and 8 tri-cycles. 

Suspected Boko-Haram: Orange Seller Arrested With N600 Million In His Account

The General Officer Commanding (GOC), 1 Division Nigerian Army, Kaduna, Major-General Garba Wahab, at the weekend said the media should not eulogize criminals as the Division has arrested a suspected orange seller who spied for terrorists and over N600 million was found in his bank account within three months.

The GOC, whose area of command covers the north-western states, while fielding questions from newsmen in Kaduna relating to why the Army is carrying out general search without discrimination, said, “When we stop those who are hawking and carrying wheelbarrow, and we said we want to check, people will shout, ‘Why are you disturbing the average person?’ And I give you example; we arrested somebody here called mai lemu (orange seller) in Kawo here. And in three months when we checked through his account, over 600 million naira has passed through that man’s account, and he sells orange here by Kawo bridge.

“He is there as a lookout. He is like a spy. He looks around, gets information and feeds these guys, says this is what is happening. That is why I said we are not dealing with idiots. We are dealing with people who have one or two guys working and thinking, and giving them information. And we know that before they attack they must look at the softest locations.”

Wahab added that it is a criminality that the media and society must cooperate and ensure that it is brought to an end.

On Thursday’s attacks in Daura, he explained that military personnel adhered to the principles of rules of engagement, saying, “I called this press conference to fill the gap on the attack that occurred in Daura, Katsina state. We don’t want a situation where people will be speculating. Yes, the criminals came, they bombed vehicles, and they packed money using improvised explosive devices (IEDs) to bomb everywhere. Nobody will give an instruction for an innocent life to be lost, so in whatever we do, we keep to the rules of engagement given to us and that is why I have called the media to lend us their support because when a few reports go out, it’s like it is encouraging the criminals and they start to think they have the upper hand.”

Meanwhile, the presidency yesterday offered amnesty to any Boko Haram member who surrenders, as it wages war on the insurgents in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa, where state of emergency was declared last Tuesday.

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Rueben Abati, revealed this yesterday while talking to Reuters, a foreign news agency, on telephone.

He said: “Mr President has urged Boko Haram members to surrender their arms and embrace the amnesty option which is still open as the committee is working on the option of dialogue for a peaceful resolution.”
 

120 Boko Haram Members Arrested During Burial Of Their Commander

 About 120 militant Islamists have been arrested in Maiduguri, as they were organising the burial of one of their commanders who died in an encounter with soldiers, an army spokesman has said.

According to Brig Gen Olukolade, the 120 militants who were arrested were being interrogated in the custody of the Joint Task Force (JTF).

The latest arrest brought to more than 200 the number of Islamists the army says it has arrested since last week.

Defence spokesman, Brigadier General Chris Olukolade, in a press statement added that the military has also recaptured five areas from the militants.

He said the Special Forces had now secured the environs of New Marte, Hausari, Krenoa, Wulgo and Chikun Ngulalo, all in Borno state, after destroying all the terrorists’ camps sited in these localities.

The statement said that the troops were already interacting with locals and citizens assuring them of their safety and freedom from the activities of insurgents.

Brigadier General Olukolade said terrorists fleeing towards Chad and Niger Republic are being contained by the Multi-National Joint Task Force in various locations at the border.

He said during the raid on terrorist camps, the troops observed a few shallow graves believed to be those of hurriedly buried members.

“Advancing troops also observed a few shallow graves believed to be those of hurriedly buried members of the terrorist groups,” he added.

Meanwhile, the Defence Headquarters said it had observed the use of photographs purportedly taken in the areas raided by the Special Forces and wished to state that the photographs were questionable as they did not reflect any related reality of the social or geographical environment.

He said the story and pictures depicting Nigerians fleeing to Niger Republic and other countries were doubtful.

More than 2,000 Nigerians living in border villages in Borno State were reported to have fled as a result of the ongoing military operations targeted at routing the insurgents from the area.

The fleeing villagers were said to have headed to the neighbouring Niger Republic.

“Most of the residents of border villages of Borno have fled to Niger. About 2,000 people from Abadan, Malam Fatori and other villages are now refugees in Difa, Niger Republic,” a top security officer told a national dailies.

The source said that the Joint Military Task Force was on the trail of the members of the Boko Haram sect, who were dislodged from the Sambisa Game Reserve and other camps on Thursday in Borno State.

It was learnt that residents of Maiduguri and other communities far from the border, who did not want to be caught in the cross-fire have also fled to some neighbouring states, including Kano and Bauchi.