- Nigeria suspended from the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species
- Attackers killed by own explosives in Jos
- Bandits killed 37 in Kaduna, burned down houses
- Bandits killed 37, kidnapped 62 in Zamfara villages
According to Harry S. Truman, there is nothing new in the world except the history you do not know.
Undoubtedly, both bad things and good things have occurred in the past. If thoroughly considered within a historical context, there is no new story to be told. But odd things are everywhere. Even though we are unaware of them, they are not new.
With a view to upholding historical principles and bringing events to the doorsteps of our esteemed readers, WITHIN NIGERIA has highlighted four key events that took place on March 20th in this nation’s history.
Nigeria suspended from the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species
On this date, 20th of March in 2008, Nigeria was suspended from the International Convention on Trade in Endangered Species for alleged breaches of its provisions.
According to Fidelis Omeni, who monitors the west African country’s adherence to the international pact, Nigeria is held to have failed to respect CITES clauses on illegal trade in endangered species.
Reports further revealed that such a suspension would mean a total ban on imports or exports of every species of fauna and flora covered under the convention, which Nigeria ratified in 1974.
Omeni said authorities had made insufficient progress in cracking down on an illicit traffic. Some parts of Nigeria are known as centres for outlawed trade in endangered wildlife from within and outside the country.
The CITES agreement was drawn up between 1963 and 1973 and has been ratified by 172 parties, according to the convention’s Internet site. Its secretariat in Geneva is administered by the UN Environment Programme.
Nigeria was already warned in 1974 over breaches concerning the traffic of protected animal species.
Attackers killed by own explosives in Jos
On this date, 20th of March in 2011, two men were killed in Jos, Plateau state when explosives they were carrying on a motorbike went off, preventing what local residents said was an attempted attack on a Christian community.
More than 200 people have been killed in sectarian violence since late last year in and around Jos, which lies in Nigeria’s “Middle Belt” between the mostly-Muslim north and predominantly Christian south.
Christian youths angered by what they took to be an attempted attack by members of the Muslim Hausa-Fulani ethnic group set fire to the corpses of the two men in the Nasarawa Gwom area of Jos, police commissioner Abdulrahman Akano said.
“The explosives killed the two men. They died instantly,” Akano told Reuters. Some reports said the attack had been meant for a nearby church, but Akano said it was impossible to say where the men had been headed.
Bandits killed 37 in Kaduna, burned down houses
On this date, 20th of March in 2022, atleast 37 people were reportedly killed by bandits during fresh attacks in the Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The attacks took place separately at Malagum 1 and Sokwong communities of Kagoro Chiefdom in the Kaura Local Government Area of the state.
Although the police authorities are yet to confirm the incident, the Speaker of Kaura Local Government Legislative Council, Chairman of Kauru Local Government Area, Hon Atuk Stephen revealed that the bandits carried out the coordinated attacks at about 11 pm on Sunday where they killed 37 people.
Bandits killed 37, kidnapped 62 in Zamfara villages
On this date, 20th of March in 2022, bandits killed 37 people and kidnapped 62 in Bungudu and Bukkuyum Local Government Areas of Zamfara State.
According to reports, 17 people were killed in two villages of Juyi and Doruwa in Bungudu Local Government, while 20 were killed in Ganar-Kiyawa village of Bukkuyum Local Government.
In the press release, Matawalle said the “dastardly and cowardly” attack was coming at a time when peace was fast improving in the state, adding that it would not deter the efforts of his administration at achieving it.