The House of Representatives on Wednesday called on the military to re-strategize and take the fight to the Boko Haram enclaves.

It specifically urged the Federal Government to tackle constant Boko Haram attacks on Maiduguri.

This was a sequel to a motion by Rep. Abdulkadir Rahis, who decried recurring attacks on Maiduguri by the Boko Haram terrorists.

The House urged the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development and the National Emergency Management Agency to provide relief materials to the victims of attacks.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said ransom payments would continue to prosper kidnapping.

He said: “The time has come to reverse, completely, the grim and heartbreaking incidents of kidnapping”.

Buhari, in a statement by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, urged the police and the military to go after kidnappers and bring them to justice.

He expressed “overwhelming joy” over the release of abducted schoolgirls of Zamfara State, saying “I join the families and people of Zamfara State in welcoming and celebrating the release of these traumatized female students.”

Buhari, who said he was excited that their ordeal came to a happy end without any incident, noted that “being held in captivity is an agonizing experience not only for the victims, but also their families and all of us.”

He called for greater vigilance by the people so that human intelligence could be collected early enough to nip the bandits’ plans in the bud, while celebrating the release of the students.

Zamfara governor Bello Matawalle on Tuesday said while the state was in negotiation with kidnappers of Jangebe schoolgirls, the armed men were offered money by unnamed persons not to release the girls.

Matawalle spoke when he was addressing the freed Jangebe schoolgirls on Tuesday.

He said he would soon reveal the mystery behind the abduction of the girls adding that those instigating criminals should be careful.

He said he talked to the relevant security agencies including the police, DSS and army to discreetly investigate the matter.

“I didn’t sleep for four days. We worked hard for days to ensure the safe return of the girls to their families. We are using kinetic and non-kinetic approaches, and the non-kinetic is working for us. If not, we wouldn’t have successfully negotiated the release of these girls, ” he said.

He said the abducted and freed girls were 279 and all were released.

In 2 Months: IPOB, Others Fingered In Killing 62 Policemen In 15 States
* They want to create anarchy – Ex-DIG
* It’s tough working in Nigeria – Policemen
* Tackle IPOB decisively – S/East elders
* Take charge of ESN, Uwazuruike tells govs

No fewer than 62 personnel of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have been killed between January and February this year by criminal elements in 15 states.

Similar killings in some other states were largely unreported within the period.

Members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), bandits, kidnappers, Boko Haram terrorists, cultists and armed robbers are some of the criminals that perpetrated the act.

However, while some elders, especially in the South East, have blamed IPOB for the heinous act of killing police operatives, the media in most of the reported cases hid the identity of the proscribed group by describing the attackers as “unknown gunmen”.

Some serving police personnel interviewed said their morale was low and wondered why some people were against them despite the sacrifice they were making to keep society safe.

Some analysts have noted that the indiscriminate killing of security operatives would spell doom and therefore called on relevant authorities to tame the trend.

A tally from reported cases in the media showed that some officers were killed by their colleagues while on duty and some died in auto crashes. Findings also revealed that Delta State recorded the highest cases. It was observed that the brutal attack on police personnel heightened after last year’s #EndSARS protests which also led to the deaths of many operatives.

It’s tough working in Nigeria – Policemen

Some officers and men of the police said it was very difficult working in Nigeria.

A police sergeant said, “Since the #EndSARS protests, many Nigerians have developed cold feet for us, and honestly, I don’t know why.

“While we are always putting our best to keep Nigeria safe with little motivation, some criminals are killing us at will and nothing is happening to them. This is demoralising.”

Another officer, Corporal Sani, said he felt like removing the uniform completely for another venture.

He said, “I am tired of the job and I want to leave. In other climes, there is no way miscreants would kill police personnel and go away with it, but here, some people don’t even want to call them criminals; it is very sad, but the truth is that all of us would regret the day that we would not have the police on the streets.”

Speaking on the preponderance of attacks on police operatives, a senior officer who pleaded anonymity, said many personnel of the force had applied to be redeployed from the South East, South South and other violent-prone regions of the country.

He said many hoodlums attacking police and their formations had sophisticated weapons than the officers of the force; hence that it would be difficult to tame or reduce the growing violence in those regions.

He further said, “I can tell you that those who were redeployed from the South East and South South to the North after some police stations were burnt in Abia and Anambra states were very happy when they received their redeployment letters.

“Though not all those who applied would be redeployed, but a considerable number of them would be redeployed pending when lasting solutions would be found. I’m still wondering why police are the targets.”

Tackle IPOB decisively – S/East elders

Following renewed attacks on police formations and officers, some elders from the South East have urged relevant authorities to deal decisively with IPOB members.

The elders under the aegis of the Conference of Concerned Igbo Elders for Peace and National Unity (CIEPNU) said in a statement that the attacks on security operatives in some states in the region by IPOB members were unacceptable.

In the statement jointly signed by the President, Mazi Professor William Okocha, and Secretary, Barrister Irene Chizoba, CIEPNU condemned IPOB for carrying out Tuesday’s attack on Abayi police station in Aba in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State which resulted in the deaths of two police officers and burning of the station.

According to them, the current level of force being deployed may not be enough to curb their violent excesses in the region, warning that the proscribed group may likely carry out more daring attacks unless urgent action is taken to deter them.

They also urged Igbo sons and daughters at home and in the diaspora to dissociate themselves from the group to send a strong message across that IPOB did not represent the views of Ndigbo.

Some recent attacks on police operatives

On January 8, three policemen were gunned down at Onueke Police Station in Ezza South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. On January 10, Inspector Muntari Lawal, Sgt Adamu Ibrahim and Simon Madaki were murdered at Wakyz Fast Food Joint, Ughelli, Delta State, by “yet-to-be-identified gunmen.”

In the same Delta on January 24, another police officer was killed by gunmen at Oton Area of Sapele.

Controversy also trailed the killing of a police officer identified as Rauf Fawale who was murdered by unknown men of the Department of State Service (DSS) in Osogbo, Osun State capital, on January 14.

In Kaduna, bandits launched an attack on police officers on Birnin-Gwari-Funtua road and killed four of them.

Also, one police inspector was killed by armed robbers at Boriki, Port Harcourt, in Rivers State on January 18.

Sgt John Auta was not lucky at his duty post in Kafanchan, Kaduna State, when he was killed by gunmen on January 23. In Yobe, Boko Haram terrorists lynched six police officers during an attack in Bursari Local Government Area on February 16.

Why attacks on police fester – Retired officers

Speaking with Daily Trust in a telephone interview, retired DIG Adedayo Adeoye decried that the attacks on police were growing in the South East and fingered IPOB militants.

He said the government should tackle them head-on and advised for more intelligence gathering and equipment for the police to be in a vantage position to repel any attack.

According to DIG Adeoye, IPOB members are attacking police to create anarchy and achieve their unpatriotic long-standing aim.

He said, “Since police stations are being burnt, it means there will be more criminals because the police will not be able to perform effectively again.

“Not only that, it would be telling on our economy because the money the government is supposed to use in developing other things would now be used in rebuilding the police stations.

“Look at those police stations that were burnt during #EndSARS, up till now, nothing has been done on them, and I know it is because of lack of finance to rebuild them yet.”

He further said, “What IPOB members are doing now is that they are setting the hand of the clock backwards. That is the way I see it, and it is not good for us as a nation. The police and the security agencies generally should buckle up.”

A retired AIG, Austin Iwar, attributed the latest attacks to growing insecurity across the country. AIG Iwar said the police being the most visible state structure were the first line of attack to weaken the security structure of the state and finally defeat it.

He said, “The implication of this is anarchy. They intend to create anarchy, to create a state of fear and violence in the minds of, not only the people, but in the state institutions.

“You know IPOB is an insurgency group and the government needs to do something about it before it snowballs into terrorism.”

Another retired AIG, Ali Amodu, said it would take more than a day before the problems of attacking police were solved, but asked the government to act fast.

Officials of the police force, however, said their men killed four attackers of their station in Abayi, Aba in Osisioma Ngwa Local Government Area of Abia State.

The spokesperson of the force, Frank Mba, who disclosed this in Abuja, said the operatives also arrested eight persons and recovered arms and ammunition from the hoodlums who carried out the attack.

Founder of the Movement for the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, yesterday charged governors from the region to take over operations of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).

He said, “I call on South East governors to take over the activities of ESN before they cause more harm to the region.

“South East must not be a theatre of war because of the activities of few individuals. We must recognise our leaders. We cannot allow anarchy to prevail.”

The leadership of Cattle and Foodstuff dealers under the aegis of Amalgamated Union of Foodstuff and Cattle Dealers of Nigeria (AUFCDN) are currently with officials of Department of State Service. (DSS).

General Secretary of the AUFCDN, Ahmed Alaramma, who disclosed this at a press briefing at Labour House, Abuja, on Monday, said the President of the Association, Mohammed Tahir, is with the DSS.

Alaramma also alleged that the military personnel were intimidating members and task force of the union, advising the government to avert looming chaos by stopping the intimidation of their members.

The union had earlier vowed to continue its nationwide strike and sustain the enforcement on the blockade of foodstuff and cattle from entering the douthern part of the country.

This, according to them, would be sustained till federal government attend to their demands, which border on payment of N475 billion compensation for lives of members and property lost during the #EndSARS protest and Shasa market crisis.

Okorocha’s Son-in-law Shot During Brawl Over Seized Property To Be Flown Abroad

Uzor Anwuka, the son-in-law to former Governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha, who was shot when the former governor’s loyalists clashed with government officials, will be flown abroad for treatment.

Anwuka, an American-trained medical doctor, who was shot on the left leg during the clash, has undergone three surgeries.

Okorocha, who is also the Senator representing Imo West, has been having a running battle with Governor Hope Uzodinma over one of his wife’s properties, the Royal Spring Palm Hotel, which was seized by the government.

Speaking when the former governor visited him at a hospital at Apo, Abuja, on Sunday, Uzor said he had undergone surgeries without any improvement.

He explained that he was surprised that he could be attacked because he was never involved in the brawl.

According to him, “On the day of the incident, my father-in-law called me that he was in Owerri to see his seized property and I drove down their to see him.

“On getting there, I saw a crowd of thugs led by one of the governor’s cousins. They had guns, cutlasses and other dangerous weapons, they started harassing everyone including my father-in-law (Okorocha).

“Later, they were asked to round us up and they started shooting, I made an attempt to climb the fence but I was hit by bullet and I fell into the bush and I was there for several hours before I was rescued and brought to the hospital.

“I have been in this hospital for six days and my leg has been operated three times but it is not getting better. So, I will be going out to get a better treatment.”

Describing the attack as sad, Okorocha said it was an assassination attempt on his life, saying his major concern is to save the life of his son-in-law.

The lawmaker said he wondered why those who carried out the attacks have not been arrested.

“No arrest has been made it was the people with me who were macheted that were still arrested. For now, to save the life of my son-in-law is more important to me now than any arrest.

“The authorities should know what to do. It was a beating galore against my people but I ordered that nobody should shoot,” he added.

A former Vice President, Architect Namadi Sambo, has stressed the need for Nigeria to refocus its educational system to a value-driven system in order to address the challenges of unemployment and insecurity in the country

Sambo said this Saturday in his virtual goodwill message during the 22nd matriculation ceremony of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State.

He noted that with the destruction in the academic system by COVID-19 pandemic and the search for job opportunities, particularly in Africa, “our educational system must be value driven one.

“Educational value-driven system is imperative especially at this critical time when unemployment rate has continued to pose greater challenges to our existence as a nation,” he said.

He added that Nigeria must refocus her educational system to one that prepares students to create jobs rather than engaging in low paid job that add less value in a competitive world.

He suggested a move away from non-skills approach that create employees that cannot fit into complex jobs to employee with skills search to handle complex jobs and create opportunity for others.

Earlier, the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof. Lawrence Ezemonye, urged the students to shun cybercrimes, cultism and drug abuse among others as whoever is caught faces expulsion.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has asked Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Abdulrasheed Bawa, to be ruthless in the fight against corruption in the country.

This followed the approval of his appointment on Wednesday, by the 9th Senate, after his nomination by President Muhammadu Buhari on February 16, 2021.

Secretary of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, Senator John J. Akpanudoedehe in a statement on Thursday said anti-graft war was one of the cardinal campaign promises of the APC in 2015 and 2019, and must be intensified.

“The APC urges Abdulrasheed Bawa’s to be guided by the stance of President Buhari that the fight against corruption must be total and unsparing.

“From advance fee fraud, money laundering, public sector corruption and other financial crime-related issues, economic and financial crimes are becoming increasingly sophisticated criminal activities which keep evolving with the times.

“To be steps ahead, the Abdulrasheed Bawa-led EFCC must invest in technology and ensure synergy, cooperation and partnership with relevant agencies, locally and internationally, to effectively prosecute the current administration’s war against graft.

“Corruption is the root cause of most of the society problems, particularly underdevelopment and poverty which the current administration is working assiduously to reverse.

“Blind to religious, cultural, political and sundry leanings, corruption is a common enemy which we must use all lawful means to end. It is the reason why the President Buhari administration has dedicated itself to end impunity and ensure that our commonwealth works for the common man, not a few,” the APC said.

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned against ethnic profiling of criminals, assuring Nigerians that his government will continue to deal with insurgents, bandits, kidnappers and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens.

The president, who spoke while declaring open a meeting of the 19 Northern Governors and chairmen of the region’s Traditional Council of Chiefs and Emirs in Kaduna, stressed that, “criminals are criminals and must be dealt with accordingly without resulting to ethnic profiling.”

Daily Trust reports that the meeting was put together as a result of the security and socio-economic challenges bedeviling the region.

Those in attendance were representatives of the region at the National Assembly, the Director General of the DSS, IG of Police, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminences, Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar as well as representatives of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) and Northern Elders Forum (NEF).

President Buhari, who was represented, by his Chief of Staff, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, said his administration would confront the various dimensions of security challenges and continue to emancipate Nigerians from poverty and economic deprivation.

“The government shall continue to deal with insurgents, bandits kidnappers and other criminals who constitute a threat to innocent citizens across the country,” President Buhari said, adding that he has since tasked the new Service Chiefs to devise new strategies that will end the ugly security situation where lives of Nigerians continue to be threatened by hoodlums and criminals.

“It is pertinent to note that the increased realization of our security, democracy indices are inextricably linked. Democracy and rule of law promote stability and in turn reinforces the power to assert freedom and economic progress of our people. This thread of interconnection needs support of the Northern State Governors Forum and entire citizenry of the country as any amount of positive sacrifice would be beneficial in bringing about national development and security of our nation,” he further said.

Governors should synergise

While advocating for synergy between the Northern Governors Forum and other forums in other regions for the collective good of nation, he stressed the need for the regions to compare notes and peer-review one another to exchange ideas and adopt best practices for the good of the people they govern.

The president also urged the governors to discuss and devise ways of building stronger collaboration with the security architecture and the people in defeating criminality across the region and the nation at large.

He commended the Forum for de-escalate tension arising from clashes between herders and farmers adding that the efforts of the Forum in engaging all parties and supporting the efforts of the Federal Government has gone a long way in ameliorating the situation.

The House of Representatives Committee on Procurement yesterday said it would engage the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and other financial Crimes Commission to ascertain the level of procurement breaches in Project Development Institute.

This was decided at the end of the committee’s investigation into alleged breaches of procurement process, staff victimisation and management problems in the institute.

Speaking after submissions by the BPP, the chairman of the committee, Nasir Ali Ahmed, said the acting Director-General of the institute, Fabian Okonkwo, was culpable in the violation of the Public Procurement Act 2007 by arbitrarily cancelling and awarding contracts without recourse to BPP and the laws.

“We’ll use you as an example. I don’t think any other DG has been punished before. I can assure you that every other penalty that is in the Procurement Act, you’ll face it.

“You can’t sit in your office and decide on who gets what. I’m happy that the board of PRODA is here and is listening to the rot that’s happening at the institute.

“So, we’ll refer this case to the EFCC, ICPC and the NFIU. There was a transparent process, you came in and said to hell with BPP and decided to do what you want”, he said.

Babatunde Kuye, who represented the Director-General of the Bureau for Public Procurement, Mamman Ahmadu, confirmed the alleged breaches by the acting DG of the institute, Fabian Okonkwo.

He said PRODA had in many instances awarded or canceled contracts in breach of the Procurement Act or informing the BPP as required by law.

On his part, Chairman of PRODA Board, Daniel Onje, said they stopped the contracts in national interest.

He, however, accused the acting DG of misleading the board by claiming that he had informed BPP and got approval to cancel the contracts.

PRODA Acting DG, Okonkwo, told the committee that he had written to the BPP regarding alleged illegalities in the contracts.

He later apologised for “misleading” the PRODA board on the issue.

The Bauchi State branch of the Miyyeti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) has threatened to stop its members from selling and supplying cattle to the South if the planned eviction of the Fulani herders by some governors comes into effect.

MACBAN also threatened to drag the Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, to court if he fails to withdraw statements he made labelling Fulani herders.

The Bauchi Chairman of MACBAN, Abubakar Sadiq, at a press conference in Bauchi, told reporters that, “Unless he immediately withdraws his statement, we will be left with no option other than legal means to clear the name of Fulani as an ethnic group.”

He said the persecution being faced by Fulani herders started with Benue’s anti-open grazing law.

He explained that, “Although the law did not succeed, but it has created problems for the herders,” adding that, “People must be fair to the Fulani race; they should not be branded as criminals. Government at all levels should create a conducive atmosphere for the Fulani and others to do their legitimate businesses without molestation and castigation. We are all Nigerians and must be treated equally as such.”

It would be recalled that Governors Bala Mohammed and Samuel Ortom of Bauchi and Benue States respectively had been trading words over the right of herdsmen to carry AK-47 rifles.

While Bala said herders carried AK-47 to protect themselves, Ortom challenged his Bauchi counterpart for backing an “illegal” action.

The Nigerian Army says troops have complied with the directive of Chief of Army Staff, Maj.-Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru, who charged them to recapture Marte, an area in Borno State, from the hold of suspected terrorists.

The Director of Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Mohammed Yerima, in a statement on Tuesday, said the troops carried out the task in less than 48 hours.

The statement read: “Troops of Nigerian Army troops this afternoon, around 3 pm, recovered New Marte and adjoining communities from the devilish Boko Haram terrorists.

“This is coming less than the 48 hours directive earlier given to the troops to recover the town by the Chief of Army Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru.

“The troops backed by air cover from the Nigerian Air force, successfully charged through Marte town, destroying several Improvised Explosive Device and landmines laced across their routes and killing scores of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists and successfully recovered the town.

“The gallant troops are currently in total control of the general area.”