Crime
North Korea says it will strike with nuclear weapons if South attacks
By Derrick Bangura
Kim Yo Jong, the sister of leader Kim Jong Un, on Tuesday said North Korea opposes war but would use nuclear weapons if South Korea attacks.
Kim Yo Jong, a senior official in the government and ruling party, said it was a “very big mistake” for South Korea’s minister of defence to make recent remarks discussing attacks on the North, state news agency KCNA reported.
South Korean Defence Minister, Suh Wook, on Friday said his country’s military has a variety of missiles with significantly improved range, accuracy and power, with “the ability to accurately and quickly hit any target in North Korea.”
Both Koreas have increased displays of military strength after North Korea test-fired a range of increasingly powerful missiles.
Officials in Seoul and Washington also fear it may be preparing to resume testing nuclear weapons for the first time since 2017 amid stalled negotiations.
Kim and another North Korean official issued earlier statements on Sunday condemning Suh’s remarks, and warned that Pyongyang would destroy major targets in Seoul if the South takes any “dangerous military action” such as a preemptive strike.
Kim’s criticisms are most likely aimed at South Korean President-elect Yoon Suk-yeol, who has called for a more muscular defence against North Korean threats.
Rachel Minyoung Lee, an analyst with the U.S.-based 38 North Project, which monitors North Korea said “Yoon’s ‘preemptive strike’ comment made the headlines a few months ago.
“Pyongyang is seizing Suh’s remarks to make a point to the incoming South Korean administration.
“North Korea has thus far refrained from criticizing Yoon at any authoritative level, but it certainly seems to be laying the groundwork for it.”
The statements suggest Pyongyang was preparing the North Korean public for a possible shift in inter-Korean relations once Yoon takes office in May, Lee added.
According to a statement by the U.S. State Department, a delegation from Yoon’s team was in Washington to meet with U.S. officials, who reiterated their commitment to defending South Korea.
In her statement on Tuesday, Kim said Pyongyang opposes war, which would leave the peninsula in ruins, and does not view South Korea as its principal enemy.
“But if South Korea, for any reason – whether or not it is blinded by misjudgement opts for such military action as ‘preemptive strike’ touted by (Suh Wook), the situation will change.”
“In that case, South Korea itself will become a target.
“If the South Korean military violates North Korea territory, it will face an unimaginably terrible disaster and the North’s nuclear combat force will inevitably have to carry out its duty.”
Kim noted that the South can avoid this fate by dropping any “fantastic daydream” of launching a preemptive attack on a nuclear-armed state.
The Anambra State Police Command has foiled a cult initiation ceremony in Nawfia, Njikoka Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson for the Command, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Awka.
According to Ikenga, the operation was carried out by police operatives around 9:30am on June 15, leading to the arrest of six suspects at the scene.
Recovered during the raid were one Jojef pump action gun, two cartridges, and a golden-coloured Lexus SUV with registration number ATN 202 AE. Other items found include two cutlasses, two scissors, a cap bearing the inscription of the Supreme Vikings Confraternity, charms, and substances suspected to be hard drugs.
“They are currently undergoing police interrogation to get more insight into their modus operandi, after which the case will be charged to court on the conclusion of the investigations,” Ikenga stated.
The police spokesperson reassured residents of the command’s unwavering commitment to fighting cultism and other related crimes across the state.
An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Wednesday, remanded two persons, Olaitan Fasasi and Kehinde Tobiloba in a correctional facility over alleged attempted murder.
Fasasi, 40, and Tobiloba, 26, whose addresses were not provided, are being charged with conspiracy, attempted murder and membership of a secret society.
The Magistrate, Mr L.A Owolabi, did not take the plea of the defendants for want of jurisdiction.
Owolabi directed the police to forward the case file to the Director of Public Prosecution for legal advice.
He thereafter adjourned the case until May 31 for mention.
The Prosecutor, Josephine Ikhayere, told the court that the defendants committed the offences at about 5.02p.m on Feb. 15, at Mushin, Lagos.
She said that Fasasi, Tobiloba and others now at large, attempted to commit murder by shooting at a resident, Alfred Ademola.
“They armed themselves with a locally made gun. They belong to Eiye Confraternity, a group proscribed by law,”, she said.
Ikhayere said that the offences contravened Sections 230(1) and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2012.
He said that the actions of the defendants also contravened Section 2(3)(a)(b)(c)(d) of the unlawful societies and Cultism Law of Lagos State Law.
An Area Court in Jos, on Tuesday, sentenced one Jeptha John, to three months imprisonment for stealing a Redmi mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The judge, Shawomi Bokkos, sentenced the John after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
The judge, however, gave the convict an option to pay N20, 000 fine and N50, 000 restitution to the complainant.
Bokkos said that if the convict defaulted in paying the restitution, three months should be added to his sentence to make it six months imprisonment.
Earlier, the police prosecutor, Insp Monday Dabit, told the court that the case was reported at the B Division Police Station, Jos, on Dec. 1, 2024, by Ms Nerat Danjuma.
He said that the complainant alleged that the defendant trespassed into her house and stole her mobile phone valued at N165, 000.
The prosecutor further told the court that the offence contravened the Plateau State Penal Code, Law of Northern Nigeria.
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