The Arewa People's Congress (APC) is a group in Northern Nigeria established to protect the interests of the people of Northern extraction. It has been described as a militant wing of the Arewa Consultative Forum. [1] The group was formally launched on 13 December 1999. It was chaired by a retired army officer, Captain Sagir Muhammed, who had been an operative in the Directorate of Military Intelligence. The APC has a motto "to preserve the indivisibility of the country". [2] The group said it would begin full self-defence training for northern residents in reaction to attacks on Hausas by the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC), a Yoruba pressure group in the south. [3]
The emergence of increasingly militant groups such as the APC and OPC is one of the factors fuelling communal violence in Nigeria. [4] The Oodua People's Congress secretary general, Kayode Ogundamisi, has blamed the APC for the ethnic violence. [5] In January 2000 the Inspector General of police, Musiliu Smith, announced a reward of N100,000 for Gani Adams, leader of the militant youth wing of the OPC. The APC promptly raised the ransom to N300,000. [6]
Speaking to the Conference of Southern Governors in January 2001, Chimaroke Nnamani, the governor of Enugu State, said the emergence of these groups was due to the inability of the federal police to provide adequate policing due to shortage of manpower. [7]
In November 2006 Sagir Muhammed described the impeachment of Plateau State Governor Chibi Joshua Dariye as an affront. [8]
Adams Aliyu Oshiomhole, is a Nigerian politician and the former National Chairman of the All Progressive Congress. He had previously served as the President of Nigeria Labour Congress from 1999 to 2007 and the executive governor of Edo State, Nigeria from 2008 to 2016.
The Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) is a secessionist movement in Nigeria, associated with Igbo nationalism, which supports the recreation of an independent state of Biafra. It was founded in 1999 and is led by an Indian-trained lawyer Ralph Uwazuruike, with headquarters in Okwe, in the Okigwe district of Imo State.
Katsina State is a state in the northwestern geopolitical zone of Nigeria. Katsina State was created in 1987, when it split from Kaduna State. Today, Katsina State borders Kaduna, Zamfara, Kano, and Jigawa States. Nicknamed the "Home of Hospitality", both the state capital and the town of Daura have been described "ancient seats of Islamic culture and learning" in Nigeria.
Chimaroke Nnamani is a medical doctor and Nigerian politician from Enugu State. He was elected Governor of Enugu State in the 1999 Enugu State gubernatorial election from 1999 to 2007. He subsequently served as a People's Democratic Party (PDP) Senator for Enugu East Senatorial District from 2007 to 2011 and was re-elected in 2019.
The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) is a Yoruba nationalist organization in Nigeria. The Yoruba people, who live in the southwestern and some North central parts of Nigeria, and in neighbouring countries such as Benin, are a large ethno-linguistic group; the majority of them speak the Yoruba language . It is also known as the Oodua Liberation Movement (OLM) or the Revolutionary Council of Nigeria'"O'odua Peoples Congress (OPC)", globalsecurity.org, 16 February 2003
Mohamed Buba Marwa is the current Chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency. Marwa is a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier who also served as Governor of Borno State during the administration of General Ibrahim Babangida and Governor of Lagos State during the military administration of General Sani Abacha.
James Ifeanyichukwu Nwobodo is a Nigerian businessman and politician who was governor of Anambra State (1979–1983) during the Nigerian Second Republic and was Senator for Enugu East Senatorial District in Enugu State (1999–2003). In 2003, he ran unsuccessfully in the Nigerian Presidential elections.
Anthony Obi was a Nigerian Lt. Colonel who served as Military Administrator of Osun State during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. He then became Military Administrator of Abia State in August 1998, handing over power to the civilian governor Orji Uzor Kalu in May 1999.
Colonel Ahmed Usman was a Nigerian military administrator of Ondo State and later Oyo State during the military regime of General Sani Abacha.
Sullivan Iheanacho Chime was elected governor of Enugu State in Nigeria in April 2007, taking office on 29 May 2007. He is a member of the People's Democratic Party (PDP). He was reelected on 26 April 2011. Chime has five children: Ada Chime, Nnamdi Chime, Tochukwu Chime, Ezinne Chime, Ugomsi Chime. He married his second wife Clara Chime in 2008.
The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) is a political and cultural association of leaders in Northern Nigeria formed in 2000 which has considerable influence in the political scene. The forum is a successor to the Northern People's Congress, which collapsed after the coup of 1966. The ACF has been associated with the Arewa People's Congress (APC), a militant group set up to protect the interests of the Hausa-Fulani people in the north. However, the forum is committed to democratic processes within the Federal constitution.
Mohammed Shata is a Nigerian politician who served in the Cabinet of President Olusegun Obasanjo between 1999 and 2003.
Lawal Jafaru Isa is a retired Nigerian Army Brigadier General, and was the Military Administrator of Kaduna State from December 1993 to August 1996 during the military regime of General Sani Abacha. In 1996, Isa created several chiefdoms for the southern Zaria or Kaduna people in order to improve peace in Kaduna State.
Fidelis C. Okoro is a Nigerian politician who was Senator for the Enugu North Senatorial District of Enugu State at the start of the Nigerian Fourth Republic, running on the Alliance for Democracy (AD) platform. He took office on 29 May 1999.
Alhaji Abdul'aziz Abubakar Yari is a Nigerian politician who was elected Governor of Zamfara State, Nigeria in the 26 April 2011 national elections, running on the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) platform following the merger of the ANPP and several other opposition parties into the now-governing All Progressives Congress, Yari became a member of the All Progressives Congress.
The Ekiti prison break was an attack on the federal prison at Afao road, Ado Ekiti in the southwestern Nigerian city of Ekiti State by 60 unknown gunmen. The attack occurred on 30 November 2014. 341 prisoners escaped from the prison leaving 1 warder and 20 sniffer dogs dead. The escaped prisoners were largely awaiting trial. 10 inmates who attempted to escape were captured during the attack at gunfire exchange between the policemen and the gunmen. 67 inmates were rearrested after the attack and 274 inmates escaped. One inmate, who claimed to have run away when he heard gunshots, returned to the prison to serve out his short sentence.
Chief Ganiyu Adams, popularly known as Gani Adams, is a Nigerian activist, politician and traditional aristocrat.
Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN) codenamed Operation Amotekun , is a security outfit based in all the six states of the South Western, Nigeria, responsible for curbing insecurity in the region. It was founded on 9 January 2020 in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria as the first regional security outfit initiated by a geopolitical zone in Nigeria.
Salihu Sagir Takai is a Nigerian politician, an educationist, was a Commissioner of Governor Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and the former Chairman of Takai Local Government Area of Kano State and the 3 times Gubernatorial candidate of three different parties ANPP (2011), PDP (2015) and PRP (2019)