₦airaland Forum

The federal government has blamed petroleum marketers for the recent increase in petrol pump prices.

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said the government was still paying subsidy on petrol imported into the country.

“I can tell you authoritatively, we have not deregulated. The government is still subsidizing petrol prices. If there are increases in price, it is not from the government,” he told Journalists Monday at a stakeholders’ consultation forum on regulations organised by the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, (NMDPRA) in Abuja.

He said increased prices implemented in the last two weeks were “probably from the marketers”.

“I will talk to the Authority to ensure that they actually regulate the price. This is not from the government, we have not deregulated,” Mr Sylva said.

Fuel scarcity has continued in Abuja despite the government’s assurances the problem would be resolved.

Marketers had listed the high cost of buying petrol at the depots and the high cost of diesel to truck them as the major factors responsible for the scarcity.

The Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) said its members could not sell at the government-regulated price given increased costs.

In July, Abuja marketers increased the pump price of petrol with several stations selling the product above N165 a litre.

Some filling stations within the city centre sell petrol at N180. Mr Sylva did not say why the government has failed to enforce its price.

He said fuel queues in Abuja were gradually disappearing — the same claim the government has made for months without a permanent solution.

“The queues in Abuja are going but I don’t know whether you are seeing more queues but a lot is being done,” he said.

“I noticed that the queues are already disappearing. There are some issues, I believe that the authority chief executive of NMDPRA will be in a better position to explain some of the problems.

“But a lot is going on to ensure that the queues end. As of yesterday, I noticed that the queues in Abuja are easing off,” he added.

With pervasive insecurity, President Muhammadu Buhari’s handling of insurgency and terrorists’ attacks have been described as hastening the nation’s descent to a failed state.

In recent times, Nigerians have been on the edge with regards to how sanctity of life has ebbed to its lowest. And the verdict of commentators and security experts on the state of the nation is that with no discernible strategy to wage war against terrorists, President Buhari has not only failed Nigerians but has also allowed insurgents to gradually make inroads and shut down governance.

After holding the nation by the jugular in recent weeks, a launching attacks repeatedly across several states and kidnapping hapless citizens for ransom, Boko Haram insurgents, in a new viral video, threatened to kidnap President Buhari and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

The terrorists, who kidnapped over 60 passengers on an Abuja-Kaduna-bound train on March 28, have now become more emboldened, threatening to kill those remaining in their captive, while threatening to destroy the country. This is besides the recent attack on the elite Presidential Guards Brigade, which led to loss of lives.

The infiltration of Abuja and latest threats of attacks on some states forced knee-jerk reactions in certain quarters across the nation. There has been a forced closure of Federal Government Colleges, a shift in the venue of Call to Bar by the Body of Benchers for security reasons, just as the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) leadership has called for security reinforcement across its camps.

However, most disturbing is that President Buhari’s response to the challenge and other critical national issues, has been somewhat lukewarm; the National Assembly is also said to be playing the ostrich while joint efforts of security operatives to stamp out insurgency has just not been good enough.

In an appraisal of President Buhari’s handling of the war against insurgency, with special reference to how he has been detached from the booming kidnap and ransom-for-release business of the insurgents, using the Kaduna train victims as case study, Tanwa Ashiru, a former United States Airforce veteran and chief executive, Bulwark Intelligence, said the President has failed the people.

She noted that while the nation does not expect the president to take up gun and give the armed non-state actors a direct fight, he was expected to appoint effective people who could make a difference and promptly replace those who have not been able to produce results within the security agencies.

Ashiru observed that while kidnap for ransom had increased significantly under this current administration, the government has come across as insensitive in its response and handling of kidnap for ransom.

“Victims and their families are more often than not, left to sort out their release. Family members are hardly contacted and help is not offered to the victims’ families. Rescue operations are hardly conducted to secure the release of the victims. Even after securing their release, no post trauma medical support is given to the victims. Worse is communication. The government has not provided open and honest communication with Nigerians. The president in particular, hardly visits communities or family members as a show of empathy. These actions or inactions have done nothing to rally the people around the government and their efforts.”

According to the National Coordinator, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, “President Buhari is sympathetic to terrorists, which is why he has no clearcut strategy to end it except to use piecemeal approach that is filled with deception and deceit.

“Muhammadu Buhari deliberately sabotaged national security by failing to give unambiguous order to the military to degrade, decapitate and destroy terrorists in both the theatres of war on terror in the North East and North West. In the North East, the President failed to lead from the front as he promised and he has failed to ensure that procurement corruption now tearing apart the defence ministry is checked.

“Corruption, inefficiency, ineffectiveness, deceit and lies have become the hallmark of the fight on terror. This is why Abuja is almost at the precipice of collapsing under the massive and determined attacks by the terrorists.”

Security expert, Frank Ohanugor also submitted that President Muhammadu Buhari has since lost bearing as Commander-in-chief with respect to his handling of kidnap-for-ransom and insurgency in the country.


This position, he said, is informed by the fact that he has been insensitive to revelations made overtime with respect to the infiltration of his administration by sponsors of insurgency and those sympathetic to the insurgents and bandits.

Ohanugor said: “He has constantly played down useful intelligence, which would have helped security agencies to diligently combat insurgency and bandits. A case in point is the recent invasion of Kuje Correctional facilities by terrorists. The DSS was said to have submitted 44 intelligence reports warning about the attack but what happened to such intelligence reports. Why has he not resorted to the use of the Tuccano jets bought for the purpose of fighting terrorists?”

A socio-political activist and critic, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri, urged the Federal Government to urgently seek foreign help to tackle the protracted problems of insecurity, to save lives and property of innocent Nigerians.

He said the step had become imperative to enable Nigerians live in peace, progress and harmony. He also called on the government to declare a state of emergency on insecurity, to tackle the problem with all the seriousness it deserved.

According to Onitiri, the problems of insecurity, corruption and economic degradation have overwhelmed the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government, noting that the only option was to urgently seek foreign assistance.

“No doubt, this APC administration has failed Nigerians woefully and has nothing more to further offer the nation than to seek help and prepare for early general elections.

“The bandits and terrorists have overwhelmed this administration, kidnapping, killing, and maiming innocent Nigerians, collecting
outrageous ransom from their families with audacity as if we don’t have any government in place.”

He berated the military for allegedly shirking in their responsibilities to adequately protect Nigerians. He explained that the Kuje Prison and the Kaduna military formations attacks were sour in the mouth. “It’s like our sovereignty as a nation has been eroded.”

Calling on President Buhari’s leadership to show sincerity and determination in the fight against insecurity before it consumes the country, Director General, Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN), Seye Oyeleye said leaders must remove politics from security issues.

He said all hands must be on the deck because a lot was wrong with security that needed correction. “The President said that he has provided all that he can but certainly all that he has done is not good enough at the moment. It is very clear that it is not just a matter of buying equipment or rejigging the military, I will say that even at the level of the presidency, there has to be absolute sincerity in tackling the issue of security. There is no point in coming out and saying that all necessary steps would be taken and then you go back and the steps are not taken.”

Oyeleye opined that from the trends of some of the attacks, it was clear there were saboteurs in the system. He wondered why it was difficult as a nation to arrest such internal agents and prosecute them. “All we keep hearing for the past two years is that we have identified the sponsors of terrorism and we are going to go after them. Unfortunately, the chicken has now come home to roost, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja, that we only thought is impregnable is now being threatened.”

From an expert’s view, to restore some calm in the polity at this critical time, Ashiru stressed the need for the president to communicate better with the people and show more empathy or support. “If a community gets attacked, the president should visit and show his support. He should hold press conferences and town hall meetings with the people.”

She also contended that when the president directs his security and intelligence chiefs to take necessary actions against the gunmen, he ought to follow up on the results with sincerity and make difficult replacement decisions, if need be.


In Onwubiko’s view, President Buhari should rejig the internal security institutions and appoint persons from all religions and ethnicities to head the different offices. He should also order the arrest and prosecution of the current heads of internal security institutions such as NSA, DSS, Immigration, Customs, Police, Civil Defence and Prisons.

“These persons must be prosecuted for compromising national security in a lot of ways including the alleged arming of terrorists, permitting attacks at Kuje prisons and the siege on Abuja. This is a collective sabotage of the national security by those heading these key institutions,” he noted.

As a means of combating terrorism, especially kidnapping for ransom, the National Assembly recently proposed a law, outlawing payment of ransom for kidnapped. But Ashiru opined that such law would be “ineffective and insincere.”

“The same law that cannot prevent kidnapping, which is against the law, cannot be expected to prevent payment of ransom. The very lawmakers proposing this law, move around with extra security for themselves and their families so that they do not fall victim to kidnapping. But I guarantee you if any of their loved ones gets kidnapped, they will do whatever is necessary to secure their release. So, why impose on others a law that you cannot abide to either?

“If the government is going to outlaw ransom payments, they must have ready alternatives for the people. There must be hotlines that family members can call if their loved ones get kidnapped. They must receive negotiation support from the government. The security forces must be trained and ready to conduct surprise attacks and rescue operations against the kidnappers, without jeopardising the lives of the victims. If these things at the bare minimum are not put in place, the people will not obey this law!” she said.

Shedding some light on why insurgents defied all efforts by the nation’s security forces, Ashiru maintained that in order for Nigeria to effectively combat insurgency, government security forces need the people and the local communities to support them. She said this has been somewhat difficult because local communities have equally experienced the wrath of the same security forces and thus do not trust them. She noted that government must figure out how to gain the trust of the people so could support them in the fight.

Onwubiko also weighed in that the law against payments of ransoms is a fallacy and unworkable. For him, what the National Assembly ought to do is to pass a law prescribing the death penalty for soldiers, police and DSS officers colluding with terrorists and kidnappers, and who benefit from ransom payments.

He said: “How do you legislate against payments of ransom but the President Buhari administration lacks the will power to crush these terrorists and kidnappers? It’s like standing reason on its head.”

Security expert, Christopher Oji noted that President Muhammadu Buhari’s lackadaisical attitude towards security matters fuels serious suspicion.

“The National Assembly has been so quiet, but just because Abuja, where they used to hide, is now under threat by terrorists, they are threatening to impeach Buhari. Looking at the way our security agents, especially the military personnel are being wasted by terrorists on daily basis without the president making statements as the Commander-in-Chief of, it shows that something is wrong somewhere.

“Let’s look at the issue of Abuja-Kaduna train kidnap, for months the FG has not done anything tangible to secure their release. Even when terrorists released the video of how they torture the victims, the president was not perturbed.

“The Department of State Service (DSS) has claimed that it raised the alarm on the planned jail break in Kuje, yet nobody has been sanctioned for the unfortunate incident. Again, while we were yet to come out of the shock that terrorists were able to strike in the seat of power after spending over N900 billion on security, terrorists attacked the president’s convoy and even threatened to abduct him. This is a slap on Nigeria’s face, yet the president was not bothered.”
Orji believes that the National Assembly is sitting down aloof, doing nothing, and challenged it to live up to expectation by holding the President accountable for his actions and inaction.

“They should begin to interrogate the president on certain issues, especially on security. The National Assembly should make sure that he is impeached if he fails to do the needful. They should also live up to expectation by making laws that will be stringent on the offenders and stop playing politics with our lives.

“For the FG to defeat the insurgents, it must stop sympathizing with them and should let them know that it is no more business as usual. The Nigerian Air force should do the needful and do constant bombardment of the zone where Insurgents are hibernating. The military should carry the battle to terrorists in our bushes. The president should understand that world is watching and looking up to him.”

The South African government says it will slash the pump price of fuel from Wednesday.

Gwede Mantashe, South Africa’s minister of mineral resources and energy, said this in a statement on Saturday.

He said the price adjustment is aimed at easing the burden on consumers of soaring energy prices.

South Africa’s fuel prices are adjusted monthly, informed by international and local factors.

“International factors include the fact that South Africa imports both crude oil and finished products at a price set at the international level, including importation costs,” Mantashe said.

According to the minister, the price of petrol will drop by ZAR 1.32 ($0.08) per litre — to ZAR 25.42 and ZAR 24.99 — for 95-octane and 93-octane petrol, respectively.

The price of diesel, used mainly by farmers, haulage vehicles and emergency power generators, will also be cut by 88 cents for high-sulphur diesel and 91 cents for lower sulphur diesel, he said.

Mantashe said the prices were adjusted due to less demand for crude oil due to recession concerns and a resurgence of COVID-19 in China.

He added that “the decision by OPEC and Non-OPEC members to increase oil production” was another contributory factor.

“The average international product prices of petrol, diesel, Illuminating Paraffin and LPG have decreased during the period under review. LPG prices have increased due to higher freight rates during the period under review,” he said.

“The movement in product prices has led to lower contributions to the Basic Fuel Price of petrol ULP 95 by 303.16 c/l, ULP 93 by 297.42 c/l, diesel 500ppm and 50ppm by 267.30 c/l and 271.15 c/l respectively, while the contribution to illuminating paraffin was 249.77 c/l.”

The minister said the depreciation of the rand also instigated the price reduction.

In June, the country’s inflation hit a 13-year high of 7.4 percent.

Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national planning, says state governors, in consultations with the national economic council (NEC), are aware of withdrawals from the excess crude account (ECA).

Ahmed said this on Wednesday at the end of the federal executive council (FEC) presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari.

In a communiqué issued at the end of the federation account allocation committee (FAAC) meeting for July, the federal government said the balance in the ECA dropped from $35.37 million to $376,655 in June, without providing further details.

ECA is the difference between the market price of crude oil and the budgeted price of crude oil in Nigeria’s budget.

It was established in 2004 by the federal government to save for rainy days, stabilise the country’s economy and smooth out the impact of price volatility in oil exports. Since its creation, the ECA has been the subject of controversies and allegations of corruption.

She said the governors, who are joint owners of the accounts, were aware of the withdrawals.

The minister explained that the account has had no accruals in the last four years because of the volatility of the commodity in the international market, adding that withdrawals have always been in consultations with NEC.

“The last approval that was given by the council was the withdrawal of $1 billion to enhance security,” she said.

“We have been utilising that — the last tranche of that has been finally released because deployment to security agencies is based on the contracts executed and it’s been used strictly for that security purpose.

“So, the utilisation of the account is with the full knowledge of the governors.”

However, a source at the FAAC meeting told TheCable that the fund was used to procure two offshore patrol vessels (OPVs) for the Nigerian navy.

The two vessels would be used to combat oil theft, piracy, and smuggling, as well as conduct search and rescue operations.

The source added that the details were reported as a side note during the meeting on Tuesday.

“It’s terrible behaviour though. They didn’t tell the owners of the account, just spent and reported it,” the source said.

By Stephen Onda


A Facebook post with the title, “The New Electoral bill signed by Mr President will affect our democracy” allegedly authored by the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has gone viral.

The post was made on a media page, PressExpress Nigeria, on Sunday July 24, 2022.

As of the time of filing this report, the viral post had garnered about 1,000 reactions and comments.

While Daily Trust could not get a reaction from Tinubu’s spokesperson, Mr Tunde Rahman, the content of the post suggests that it may not have originated from the former Lagos State governor.

The full post reads: “As an elder statesman in this country, atimes we sit and analyze some critical decisions which is affecting our democracy and the possible ways to tackle such decisions for it not to destroy our democracy.

“We all are aware of the new electoral act reform signed by Mr President that the results of every elections in Nigeria be electronically transmitted into the INEC server.

“Atimes bringing up leadership ideas is good but it should be weighed thoroughly if it will have any negative consequences in our present day society. We all witnessed what happened in Osun State where someone who’s not supposed to win an election automatically became the winner because of the new electoral act.

“It will be better we go back to our previous way of conducting an election in Nigeria where elections are conducted free and fair with the presence of party agents. After election, the results will be sorted out one after the other to know if there are issues of over voting or manipulations but this new reform does not provide such opportunity, which means that as the electorates are voting, results are going directly to INEC server immediately.

“What has advantage also has its own disadvantages. The earlier we rise up against this new reform before it destroys our democracy, the better for all of us because since this new act came on board, it has already started affecting our hard earned democracy already with what happened in Osun State, well meaning Nigerians will surely rise against such reform before it destroys our democracy.”

~ Bola Ahmed Tinubu

Daily Trust verified some of the claims to be false and misleading.


Claim 1:

The ‘author’ of the post claimed that the new reform does not provide the opportunity where results are sorted out one after the other after elections to know if there are manipulations or over voting.


Verification

Is it true that the Electoral Act, 2022 does not allow for sorting and counting of ballots This is false and misleading.

The Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines for conducting an election requires that thumbprinted ballots are sorted and counted in the full view of everyone present, including party agents. This is because the party agents also have a say in which of the ballots are classified as ‘rejected ballots’. There is always a consensus before decisions in this regard are reached.

Although INEC is now empowered to transmit elections results electronically, the presiding officer at the polling unit is mandated to transmit, first of all, the total number of accredited voters according to the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) to a dedicated INEC server/database immediately after accreditation and voting; but before commencement of sorting and counting procedures.

This serves as a double check on issues around over voting when the ballot box is finally emptied and the content sorted and counted. The number of voters accredited according to the BVAS must at the end of the process tally with the total of the valid and rejected votes.

Therefore, the claim that the new reform does not allow for sorting of votes is false and intended to mislead the general public.


Claim 2:

The ‘author’ also alleged that as people are voting, results are going directly to INEC’s server.


Verification

Do votes go directly into INEC’s server as the electorates are voting? False.

At the polling unit level where votes are cast, BVAS is used for accreditation of voters. This device verifies the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and authenticates the fingerprints or facials of the voter.

As voters go through the process of accreditation, the BVAS keeps count, beginning from the first individual who presents him/herself to the INEC officials for the purpose of voting. For every successful process, the device automatically adds the person to the previous number recorded by the device.

It is when everyone in the queue has successfully cast their vote that this number displayed on the BVAS is transmitted by the INEC officials to the server.

However, at the end of sorting and counting of ballots, the Presiding officer in charge of the polling unit takes a snapshot of the results sheet (FORM EC 8A) using the BVAS and transmits the total number of votes scored by all parties participating in the election, to the server.

This is contrary to the claim that “as electorates are voting, results are going directly to INEC server immediately.”

It is also worthy to note that a system where votes are being collated directly as claimed, is termed “electronic voting” which Nigeria is yet to practise, though it has been experimented a few times.

Claim 3: While urging Nigerians to rise up against the electoral reforms, the ‘author’ claimed that the Electoral Act has started affecting our democracy.


Verification

It is no longer news that before now, Nigeria witnessed elections marred by massive rigging due to over voting, writing of election results and all sorts of unimaginable irregularities. This led to the push by well-meaning Nigerians to have a more effective procedure (The Electoral Act 2022) to check these ills.

Contrary to the claim, the Electoral Act 2022 has deepened democracy as citizens are more aware of their power as voters and votes now count as evidenced by reports of several election observer groups.

The governorship election of Osun State, where an incumbent was defeated, attests to the fact that the wish of the people carried the day as against what was obtainable during the era of results writing.

All efforts to reach Tinubu’s spokesperson, Mr. Tunde Rahman, for comments on whether his boss authored the viral post proved abortive as he did not respond to calls by our correspondent or reply to messages sent to him.

By Tola Owoyele


On July 5, gunmen in large numbers attacked the Kuje Correctional Centre in Abuja, freeing more than 600 inmates. During the invasion, six inmates and one prison official were killed.

The gunmen shot sporadically, detonated eight bombs and forced the prison guards to run for safety.

They also took their time to deliver a Quranic lecture and subsequently shared transport fares to their freed members. The Islamic State in West Africa Province (ISWAP) would later claim responsibility for the attack.

While reacting to the jailbreak that lasted for close to two hours, president Muhammadu Buhari expressed his sadness and berated the country’s overall intelligence system.

This is however not the first time a deadly jailbreak has taken place under his administration. Below are records of similar attacks.


KOTON/KARFE, NSUKA ATTACKS

On July 29, 2016, 13 inmates escaped during a jailbreak at the Koton/Karfe Correctional Centre in Kogi State.

The prisoners forcefully brought down a section of the prison wall before escaping from the premises, and security agencies were only able to rearrest one of the inmates after the incident.

A few weeks after the Koton Karfe attack, attackers struck again, and at least 15 inmates broke out of their cells and scaled the perimeter fence at the Nsukka Correctional Centre in Enugu State. It was on August 9, 2016. Only two inmates were rearrested by security operatives after the incident.


IKOT EKPENE, MINNA ATTACKS

On December 27, 2017, 36 inmates escaped during a deadly jailbreak at the Ikot Ekpene Correctional Facility in Akwa Ibom State.
The prisoners were said to have wrestled an axe from a kitchen staff and used it in fighting prison officials.

In the end, 36 inmates escaped from the facility. While four died during the incident, seven inmates were recaptured by law enforcement agencies.

Similarly, armed men attacked the Medium Security Correctional Facility in Tunga, Minna, Niger State, on June 3, 2018. During the prison break, over 200 inmates were freed.

In the end, only 28 prisoners were recaptured by security operatives.


BENIN, OKITIPUPA ATTACKS

During the October 2020 #EndSARS protest, hoodlums numbering over 100 in Benin, the Edo State capital, launched coordinated attacks on the Benin and Oko prisons in the city, broke cells open and freed several inmates.

Before launching the attack, the hoodlums had gathered as early as 7 am in the morning, setting bonfires and blocking road users. During the jailbreak, 1,993 prisoners escaped from both prisons.

A few hours later, one of the inmates who had escaped from Oko prison went to his village to kill a witness who had testified against him in court.

Two weeks after the incident, only a total of 207 either turned themselves in or were rearrested.

On October 22, 2020, another set of hoodlums attacked the National Correctional Service Facility in Okitipupa, Ondo State, pulling down the walls of the prison and setting 58 prisoners free.

The hoodlums also set the police area command in the local government area headquarters on fire, burnt many cars and injured many officials. They were also said to have carted many police rifles away during the attack.

On the same day, assailants attempted to break into the Ikoyi Correctional Centre in Lagos but were repelled by a combined team of correctional officers and soldiers.


OWERRI, KABBA ATTACKS

Gunmen attacked the Owerri Custodial Centre in Imo State with explosives and dynamites on April 5, 2021, freeing 1,884 inmates. In the attack described as one of the worst in the country’s history, the operation lasted from 1 am to 3 am.

The prison authorities revealed that 600 inmates either returned to the facility or were rearrested after the attack.

Also, on September 12, 2021, unknown assailants stormed the Medium Security Custodial Centre in Kabba, Kogi State, engaging the armed guards in a fierce gun battle.

Due to the armed men’s superior firepower, more than 240 inmates were released, and two prison officials killed. After the incident, security agencies said they rearrested 114 prisoners.


OYO, PLATEAU ATTACKS

On October 22, 2021, unknown assailants attacked the Abologo Custodial Centre in Oyo State, freeing 837 prisoners in the process.

When a manhunt was launched to re-arrest the fleeing inmates, security officials were only able to recapture 252 prisoners.

After four inmates escaped from its premises in July 2021, the Medium Security Custodial Centre, Jos, Plateau State, suffered another attack on November 28, 2021, when armed men attacked the prison and released 262 inmates. During the deadly attack, 10 inmates and one security official were killed.

By Seun Adeuyi


Suspected thieves, whose mode of operation could be described as mysterious, on Sunday broke into the home of the proprietor of a primary school located in the Pipeline area of Kubwa, a satellite town in Bwari Area Council of the FCT, and carted away money meant for the July salary of his teachers and other workers in the school.

City & Crime gathered that the robbers also attacked two houses on the same street.

The proprietor, Mr. Adegbenro Samuel, told our reporter that he had retired to his residence from work on Friday, taking with him the envelopes containing the salaries.

He said he placed the envelopes in a briefcase and kept it on the table beside his bed, adding that he also placed his mobile phone on the table and went to bed.

He said when he woke up the next morning, he discovered that both the briefcase and mobile phone were missing.

He said: “Initially, I was shocked because I never heard any noise throughout the night. I thought, maybe, I did not bring the briefcase home from school but my phone, which was the last thing I handled was also missing. That made me conclude that something was amiss.


“Immediately I went to the sitting room to inspect the doors and windows but, to my amazement, both were intact and still locked the same way I left them the night before.

“At this point, I raised the alarm. I was equally shocked that other occupants of the house did not know what happened and did not hear any sound.

“We moved around the premises to search only to discover the briefcase on the floor. When it was opened, all the envelopes had been taken away. The envelopes were later found on the ground in the premises with all the money removed.”

An official attached to the Kubwa Police Station, who does not want his name in print because he was not authorised to speak to the press, said the attack could have been carried out using charms which made the robbers invincible.

Similar robberies, according to him, had been reported in Garki, Asokoro and Wuse, among other places.

By Iniabasi Umo


Some female members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Akwa Ibom State have been raped.

They were assaulted when gunmen invaded a Corpers’ lodge in Uyo, the state capital.

It was gathered that the gunmen invaded the area on tricycles at about 1am and carted away valuables, including laptops, cell phones and money.

Narrating the incident, one of the corps members, said, “They arrived on a tricycle, popularly called Keke and immediately started operation. They beamed high intensity torchlight everywhere and pounced on every door with heavy iron and threatened to shoot us if we failed to cooperate”.

A female corps member, who preferred to remain unnamed, said her phones, laptop and money were taken away from her by force after the hoodlums entered her room through the back door.

“You know at that period of the night, most of us females, we used to sleep naked; the attack caught us unprepared. They beamed the torch through the window and threatened to shoot if the door is not quickly opened.

“I have never heard of this anywhere in Nigeria, even in the North, where insecurity is at the peak, that Corpers could be deliberately targetted, raped and robbed by criminals at gun point.

“Is it because we are not from Akwa Ibom that no one could hear our shouts and come to save us?” She lamented.

Also speaking, Mr Nsikak Ibanga, a night guard at the State Secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists which is located opposite the corpers lodge said, “I raised alarm by hitting the supporting pillars holding the reconstructed NUJ auditorium. The sound reverberated across the whole area but no response.”

Another neighbour, Bassey Offiong, stated, “When I heard the attack and the outcry of the corpers, I quickly reached out to the Police at Ikot Akpanabia Command, which is very close here, but they arrived a little late, after the criminals had finished and left with their tricycle.”

Youth Leader of the area, Godwin Okpo, blamed the criminal activities in the community on the collapse of internal security organized by the residents.

“I used to go round from house to house to collect monetary contributions for the night vigilante group to secure the area at night, but suddenly they started accusing me of embezzling their money, so there was nothing I could do again.

“When I heard the incident, I moved to the place but since I was alone, there was nothing I could do,” he stated.

When the Police Public Relations Officer, SP Odiko Macdon, was contacted, he said he was yet to be fully briefed on the incident.

“I don’t have any information about the incident but I will find out and get across to you,” he said.

He had not done so as of the time of filing this report.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the concept of “placeholder” for vice-presidential candidates “has no place in our constitutional and legal framework”.

Following the completion of presidential primaries of political parties, INEC set June 17 as the deadline for the nomination of vice-presidential candidates.

In order to beat the deadline, some parties submitted names of vice-presidential candidates who they described as placeholders.

TheCable had reported that Kabiru Masari was named as the running mate to Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), but some political analysts had said the APC welfare secretary is a “placeholder” before a final candidate is named.

Similarly, Doyin Okupe had announced that he would be “standing in as the vice-presidential candidate” for Peter Obi, the Labour party candidate, pending a final replacement.

Reacting to the trend in a chat with Arise TV on Monday, Festus Okoye, the commissioner for information and voter education of INEC, said the “placeholder is a unique Nigerian invention” for which the commission’s law has no provision.

He added that the commission can only replace a candidate if the person writes a “sworn affidavit stating that he is withdrawing from the race within the time frame provided by the law”.

“The constitution makes it very clear that you cannot run alone as a presidential candidate and must nominate an associate to run with you for that position, and as far as INEC is concerned, the presidential candidates have submitted their associates to run with them in the presidential election,” Okoye said.

“As far as we are concerned, there’s no form submitted by the presidential candidate where they said ‘we’re submitting this person’s name as a place or space holder’.

“The issue of space or place holder is a unique Nigerian invention that has no place in our constitutional and legal framework.

“Political parties’ candidates have submitted names of associates to run with them, and that is the position of the law as at today and nothing has changed.

By Usman Bello Balarabe, Kano


Presidential Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, has mocked his opponents over their delay to produce their “permanent” running mates within the time-frame stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

In a statement, Atiku said the office of the presidency does not need someone who hesitate to make decision in picking his running mate.

However, other candidates vying for the office of the Presidency in the 2023 elections include, a Former Lagos Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu under the APC platform; A former Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso under the NNPP; former Anambra State Governor, Peter Obi of the LP, amongst others.

In a statement, Atiku chide his opposition candidates especially from the APC, NNPP, and the LP over what he described as lack of clarity and inability to make decisions at a critical time to pick their permanent running mates.

He said picking running mates by candidates vying for any big office like the presidency is very important in a democracy.


“The office of the presidency needs someone who has the clarity to make decisions without hesitation.”

“In developed democratic countries, the process and picking of a running mate by a presidential candidate is a step to understanding the capacity of a candidate and his capability to do the job”

Reacting through his spokesman, Tunde Rahman, the APC Presidential candidate said it is pathetic for the PDP to utter such.

Rahman told BBC that the PDP ought to focus more on resolving its internal crisis.

“The PDP should pay attention to resolving their internal crisis, they failed to fulfill all their internal promises.”

“They should stop the propaganda campaign on Muslim-Muslim ticket, amongst others,” Tinubu’s spokesman said.

By Punch Editorial Board



THE President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and his Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, are stubbornly pressing ahead with their plan to establish another potentially profligate enterprise – Nigeria Air. To this effect, the reality of a state-backed national carrier got closer on June 6 when the ministry received an Air Transport Licence from the regulator. While Sirika and his allies celebrated, many stakeholders however expressed strong doubts on the viability of the proposed airline in the dynamic global aviation industry.

For Sirika and Buhari, establishing a national carrier has been an obsession. The minister launched the branding and livery for Nigeria Air during an elaborate road show at the Farnborough Air Show in London in July 2018. He pledged then that the airline would commence operations by the end of 2018. Four years after, that plan has not materialised even after an ‘interim management committee’ was empanelled.

Though its details remain hazy, a new take-off date has been scheduled for later this year, after Nigeria Air Limited must have secured an Air Operating Certificate. The AOC takes 18 months to grant, according to industry regulations. But being government-supported, the regulators may be tempted to fast-track it. If granted without due process, this will instantly create an image problem for the project. Although Sirika says the government will own only 5.0 per cent equity, leaving 95 per cent for private investors, the partners and other details are shrouded in secrecy.

Sirika and his principal are enamoured of the project simply for “national pride,” not economics. The newly appointed CEO of Nigeria Air, Dapo Olumide, says “the objective of this national airline and the reason (President) Buhari insisted on us having such a thing was because we need to restore pride to Nigeria outside the country. When you have a national airline, you have the ability to deploy capacity to different routes and it’s not about revenue but it’s about exposure.” In today’s world, this is sheer fantasy and a waste of public resources.


To be fair, Sirika says Nigeria Air is aimed at maximising the economic benefits of 80 Bilateral Air Services Agreements. But this argument falls flat. It is far better to further liberalise the aviation sector and promote private airlines to utilise the benefits of BASA. Experience around the world has proved that enabling private airlines’ growth is better than pouring public funds into commercial enterprises. The role of the government is to create an enabling competitive environment for private investment.

At best, Nigeria Air is a vainglorious attempt to whitewash the stained image of the regime, serving just a few influential people for travel in the absence of standard road infrastructure.

There are deeper problems in the sector. One is the absence of domestic hangars to undertake the maintenance of aircraft. As such, aircraft are routinely flown abroad for servicing. This costs the economy N1.04 trillion annually, says the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria. The Airline Operators of Nigeria says that 70 airlines have collapsed in the past few years and three more are on the verge of extinction due to high operating costs, especially the cost of aviation fuel. Operations at the Kaduna International Airport have been in limbo since March when terrorists attacked it.

The strongest case against Nigeria Air is that Nigeria has performed very poorly with state-owned enterprises. Joint ventures by the government with investors have equally failed. Grand corruption, mismanagement, and cronyism ignited their collapse. Its four public refineries are comatose, provoking imports and petrol subsidies valued at N4 trillion in 2022. Public utilities suffer from the same dysfunction.

Until the Olusegun Obasanjo administration liberalised the telecommunications industry to bring in private ownership in 2001, the sole national telecoms carrier, NITEL, had just 720,000 lines for Nigeria’s then 125 million people. Today, there are 199.2 million GSM lines, says the Nigerian Communications Commission.

Before liberalisation, the numbers were awful. As against the 1:100 teledensity recommended by the International Telecommunications Union, Nigeria recorded 1:280 up to year 2000. Between 1966 and 2000, the sector averaged a paltry 0.3 per cent contribution to GDP. In comparison, telecoms services contributed a high of 14.3 per cent to GDP in second quarter 2020, ending 2021 at 12.61 per cent to GDP.

Nigeria Airways – the precursor of Nigeria Air –collapsed in 2003, more than 50 years after the government raised its stake to 100 per cent. By the time it went under, it had lost 27 of its 30 aircraft and had debts of $528 million. In March, its ex-workers staged a protest to demand N33 billion in pension arrears. In that period, many private airlines have come and gone.

Therefore, Sirika and Buhari have no compelling reasons to plunge headlong into the Nigeria Air venture. Apart from being ill-advised, the project is shrouded in opacity. Till now, the shareholding structure and the names of the investors are unstated. That is bad for investor confidence.

In the past 40 years, the global best practice is for government to privatise rather than establish airlines. The United Kingdom led in 1987 by privatising the iconic British Airways. Since then, Lufthansa (2004), Iberia (2001), Air Canada (1989), Air France (2004), Air India (2001), Cape Verde Airlines (2018), Aėromexico (2007), Japan Airlines (2001) and South African Airways (2022), have all been privatised by the governments that owned them. Air France, which merged with KLM in 2004, carried 87.3 million passengers in 2014. Today, Etihad of UAE owns 49 per cent stake in Air Serbia; 33.3 per cent in the Swiss carrier, Darwin Airline (rebranded as Etihad Regional Airlines); 29 per cent stake in airberlin; and 49 per cent stake in Alitalia.

The National Assembly should stop Sirika and Buhari from deploying state resources into the Nigeria Air project. Privatisation has been undertaken with great success by several European countries. Pivoting away from their doomed venture, Buhari should speed up the plan to concession 21 airports run by FAAN and review civil aviation regulations to draw in investors through a transparent process.

The emergence of Delta Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, as running mate to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has caused unusual quietness in Rivers State.

Most stakeholders of the PDP in the State were said to be disappointed at the last- minute horse trading that produced Okowa ahead of Governor Nyesom Wike.

The Government House and PDP leaders on Wednesday celebrated reports that Wike had been recommended by the PDP’s Advisory Committee as a running mate having reportedly won 16 votes to defeat Okowa, who got only three votes.

Read Also: Why I chose Okowa as running mate, by Atiku

But they were said to have felt embarrassed that despite the recommendation of the committee, the PDP and Atiku settled for Okowa.

They were said to have wondered the rationale behind setting up the committee if Atiku and some PDP leaders had wanted to pick Okowa.

Immediately report of Okowa filtered into the the State and all PDP leaders, stakeholders wore long faces refusing to speak on the matter.

Most of them were scared to speak on the matter as Wike had yet to officially declare his next move.

Rivers PDP Publicity Secretary, Tambari Sydney, said the national leadership of the party would handle the development.

This is yet another shocking revelation of the nefarious activities of the insensitive regime of Buhari which has subjected Nigerians to unnecessary hardship.



SaharaReporters has obtained a document detailing how President Muhammadu Buhari's government procured 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for officials of Niger Republic with public funds.

This is yet another shocking revelation of the nefarious activities of the insensitive regime of Buhari which has subjected Nigerians to unnecessary hardship.

From documents seen by SaharaReporters, the Nigerian government, through the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, approved N1,145,000,000 for the purchase of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 vehicles, for government officials in the Republic of Niger.

The contract was awarded to one Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited and approved by President Buhari on February 25, 2022.

According to the document sighted by SaharaReporters, the Nigerian government, in order to cover up its fraud, had obtained Due Process Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to Direct Procurement Method.

The contract was said to be funded from the Ministry of Finance's 2022 Appropriation sum of N282 billion.

The document is titled, ”Approval For The Award Of Contract For The Procurement Of Vehicles For The Republic Of Niger For Logistic Support".

It reads, “The purpose of this memorandum is to seek Council's ratification of the President's approval for the award of Contract for the Supply and delivery of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser V8 vehicles, for the Republic of Niger, as logistic support, in favour of Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N1,145,000,000.00 inclusive of 7.5% VAT, with a delivery period of one week as indicated in the table below:

“2021 Model, V8 Toyota Land Cruiser: Specification: V8 Engine, Automatic Transmission, Alloy Rims, Power Steering, Power Windows, Power Door Locks, Keyless Entry, Air-Conditioner, Push Start, Airbags, High Mount Stop Light, Radio/MP3.

“Three (3) years or 100,000km Warranty. Delivery to Niger Republic, Flight, Logistic, Insurance & Foreign Customs Duties.

“Unit Price (N) N80,600,000.00
Total Amount (AD) (for 10 units) N806,000,000.00
Delivery to Niger Republic, Flight, Logistics, Insurance and Foreign Customs Duties - Unit Price N33,900,000.00 —(10 units) N339,000,000.00
Grand Total-N1,145,000,000.00.

“The Presidency of the Republic of Niger requested for logistic support from the Presidency of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vide letter with Ref. 000104/PRN/DIRCAB, dated 20 January, 2022. A copy of the letter is attached to memorandum as Annex I.

“It is noteworthy that Nigeria and Niger have enjoyed close and long-standing diplomatic relations as captured in several Bilateral Trade and Economic Agreements, as well as various memoranda of understandings (MOUS) ranging from migration and human trafficking, to drug trafficking, and infrastructural development in line with integration policies of ECOWAS.

”The rise of insurgency in the shared borders has also led to deeper ties between both countries Presidents' significant and strong role in the promotion of peace in Africa warrant this gesture.

”The request supports bilateral relations between the two countries. The vehicles will be used to assist the country in the transportation and movement of VIPs, high-ranking officials, top government functionaries and visitors scheduled for official visit to Niger at this time of its nascent democracy, with all its attendant consequences on their collective and individual security and safety of lives and property.

”The President on February 25, 2022 gave approval for Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning FMFBNP to urgently procure to Toyota Land Cruise V8 SUVs to support the Republic of Niger by way of logistics. A copy of the President's approval is attached to this memorandum as Annex II.

“Considering the urgency of the request, the Ministry adopted Dire Procurement method in line with section 10 a&b of the Public Procurement act PPA 2007
“In furtherance of the process, the Ministry contacted Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, a reputable and accredited Toyota car dealer with good track record and requisite experience capabilities and capacity to execute the contract within the shortest time frame was requested to submit its profile and quotations.

“The sum of N1,145,000,000.00 only, which includes the cost of vehicles, delivery, 7.5% VAT was submitted by the company. Copy of the Ministry's request Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited quotation is attached as to memorandum as Annex III.

”Consequently, the Ministry sought and obtained Due Process Comp Certificate of No Objection from the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) to Direct Procurement Method for the procurement of 10 Toyota Land Cruiser vehicles for the Republic of Niger as Logistic Support in favour of Messrs Kaura Motors Nigeria Limited, in the sum of N1,145.000.000.00 inclusive of 7.5%, with a delivery period of one week.

”Copies of BPP Certificate of "No Objection" and Process Review Report are attached to this memorandum as Annex IV.

“The procurement will be funded from the Ministry's 2022 Appropriation, the sum of N282, 548, 005, 655.00 under the code 0220001001-Ministry of Budget and National Planning as a source of fund for the project. Copies of the Ministry's 2022 Appropriation are attached to this memorandum as Annex V."

By Joseph Adeiye

Damilola Benson, a registered nurse working with the Ondo State health ministry, has revealed that the state government paid salaries for January on June 7.

This was after Benson and a few other Twitter users complained about the government owing them salaries for months. Residents of Ondo State, Nigeria, have cried out against salaries owed to civil servants in the state for several months.

“I work in Ondo State as an RN! We are yet to receive January salaries, and the state is predominantly a civil servant state where cash flow drops when this happens. Most adults are struggling with their baseline blood levels (PCV) talk less of donate,” Benson tweeted on June 6.

Benson’s tweet came in the wake of the Owo Catholic Church massacre, as hospitals asked for blood donors to help victims stay alive.

“While most children are anemic, parents can’t afford proper medical care for men…prior to this there had been a crazy staffing crisis. Civil servants have parked their cars due to inability to buy tires, service or fuel them. We owe tonnes of bills in kids’ school fees and food stuff bought on credit. Hungry people neither donate blood nor volunteer,” Benson tweeted.

Benson made a new tweet on June 7 to announce that Rotimi Akeredolu, governor of Ondo, had approved the payment of January salaries. She had previously said Akeredolu was “applying copious makeup on the face of his governance here so as to mask the spots, scars and wrinkles”.

Oluyemi Fasipe, a communication strategist living in Ondo, told FIJ that the state government was struggling to generate enough revenue to pay its workers.

“This is not just affecting the nurses; the government is owing salaries. The last they paid was for January. It’s a general thing,” Fasipe explained.

“It has been on for more than a year. Before it got to this, it had been accumulating. At a point, the government was paying half salaries, paying in percentages. The government said the revenue available to them was not enough to cater for the wage bill. So, they were paying in tranches.

“Ondo State is a civil servant state, so this had an effect on all the sectors. Somehow, people have adjusted. It’s been difficult for our civil servants. People cannot drive their cars because they cannot fuel their vehicles. What Ondo workers do now is find something else to earn some money to provide for families”.

The state government was yet to respond to an inquiry sent to its designated phone number at press time.

TOSIN AJUWON


With the vacuum created by their resignation, President Muhammadu Buhari is yet to fill the position of the ministers who resigned to contest the 2023 general election.

At least eight ministers in the cabinet of Mr Buhari had resigned to contest the just concluded primaries of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

The ministers are: Rotimi Amaechi, Transportation (Rivers); Godswill Akpabio, Niger Delta Affairs (Akwa-Ibom); Ogbonnaya Onu, Science, Technology, and Innovation (Abia); Paulen Tallen, Women Affairs (Plateau).

Others are Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, State for Education (Imo); Uche Ogah, State for Mines and Steel Development (Abia) and Tayo Alasoadura, State for Niger Delta Affairs (Ondo).

Mr Buhari had during a Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, asked that the members vying for elective public office resign their positions.

The president’s directive followed the decision of the Court of Appeal dismissing a suit that challenged section 84 (12) of the Electoral Act, which prohibits appointees from participating in a convention as a delegate or nominee.

Peoples Gazette gathered on Tuesday that since the resignation of the affected cabinet members and ministers, their portfolios have remained vacant.

Section 147 (3) of the Constitution requires that the President “appoint at least one Minister from each State, who shall be an indigene of such State”.

The country has 36 states and FCT, Abuja; meaning that there should be at least 37 ministerial nominees, who would represent each of the states and the FCT.

It was not immediately clear if Mr Buhari would appoint a replacement for the affected ministries before the 2023 general election.

Two presidential sources who spoke to The Gazette, said Mr Buhari was not under any pressure to appoint new helmsmen to fill the vacant ministries.

“So, the President is less concerned about that for now and the election is just a few months by the way. We have to prepare,” one of the sources said.

In 2015, when Mr Buhari was first sworn into office, it took him over six months to appoint his ministers. When he eventually did, some dead people made the list of appointees.

A lady, Hannab Saliu a.k.a Shaba, was attacked and set ablaze after she was caught with a Quran and was allegedly asked to disclose her religious status. As she was unable to do so, she was murdered and burnt beyond recognition for blasphemy in Lagos State.

P.M.EXPRESS reports that the incident happened at Alaba Rago area of Ojo, Lagos, where the victim, Shaba was accosted for the alleged blasphemy.

Three of the suspects behind the act, Abubakar Musa, 32, Sarauta Monsur, 31 and Surajo Yusuf, have been arrested and charged before the Court for the alleged murder by willfully killing the lady.

According to Police sources, the suspects were said to have accosted the lady with the Quran and she was asked to identify the religion she belonged to and she was unable to do so. The suspects and others now at large then mobilized, attack her with sticks and bottles and she fell down due to profuse bleeding before they brought some petrol and set her ablaze.

The matter was reported to the Police, who trailed and arrested the suspects and transferred them to the SCID, Yaba, for investigation while others were said to be at large.

After thorough interrogation, the Police found them culpable and subsequently charged them before the Ebute Metta Magistrates Court for conspiracy and murder, which attracts life imprisonment if they are tried and found guilty before the Court.

However, when they were arraigned, the Court did not take their plea after the prosecutor, Inspector Olatunde Kehinde, asked the Court to refer the matter to the DPP for advice since the alleged crime was a capital offence punishable by death.

The Presiding Magistrate, Mrs. F.M.Kayode Alamu, ordered their remand in Correctional Centre pending the outcome of the DPP’s advice and directed the prosecutor to duplicate the file and send it to the DPP.

The matter was adjourned till 29th June, 2022, for report of the DPP to be available, which will determine if the matter will be transferred to the High Court or not over jurisdiction.

Noah Banjo


The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Interior, has declared Monday, June 13, as a public holiday in commemoration of Nigeria’s Democracy Day which comes up on June 12.

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, made this known in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Dr M. L. Shuaib Belgore, on Thursday.

He congratulated Nigerians and urged all citizens to support the present administration in its efforts at ensuring a secured, united and prosperous nation.

Aregbesola admonished Nigerians to use the occasion to reflect on the long journey the country has made towards the enthronement of civil democratic order, before Independence in 1960 till date and the sacrifices of our patriots.

“As we mark another Democracy Day in the history of our dear country, let us reflect on the efforts of our founding fathers and ensure that Nigeria remains one united, secured, peaceful and an indivisible entity, noting that no development can take place in an acrimonious environment.

“With the challenges we face in Nigeria today, I see an opportunity for us not to break up or break down, but to break open; open up to ourselves in truth so that we may appreciate each other, understand each other, honour each other and live together in peace and prosperity,” Aregbesola was quoted as saying.

The former governor of Osun State also enjoined Nigerians to keep faith with democracy, stating that although it might not have brought the best of expectations, keeping to it is better than alternatives which have proved ruinous and disastrous to the nation.

“There will surely be light at the end of the tunnel,” he added.

https://cdn.punchng.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/02181257/The-lady.jpg

Condemnation has trailed the alleged sexual assault of a lady, identified as Izzy, at Eko Hotels, Lagos State.

The victim narrated that she had a horrific experience at the hotel while waiting for an Uber driver.

According to her, a strange man touched her thigh and later punched her for rebuking him over the act.

In a Twitter thread on Thursday, Izzy said, “I was waiting for an Uber in the lobby of Eko Hotels when a stranger walks by, touches my thigh and goes ‘hey wassup’ I’m then enraged telling him that he does not deserve to touch me as we do not know each other.

“I dismissed him; after telling him thusly, he walks back up to me and punches me in the face because of the weight of my accusations and the truth.

“We scuffled and he left! I filed a complaint and practically beg for the CCTV footage from the incident! All in all, this world is shit #ekohotels #lagos #nigeria. Well if you see me clocked out you’ll know it’s because I can’t deal anymore.”

When contacted on the telephone, an official of the hotel said the incident would be investigated.

The official who responded to our correspondent’s call said, “This is news to me. I am just hearing this for the first time. We will investigate and get back to you.”

The official, however, refused to give his name, stating that he should be quoted anonymously.

However, many Nigerians on Twitter have demanded justice for the lady, urging the hotel to make the CCTV footage available.

Chinny-San @kilonpop said, “A scuffle happened and Eko Hotel security and staff let him leave!!! Goodness! This just sank in. Heartbroken!”

Dr A.K @Drwisephool said, “This is absolutely pitiable and heart-aching, it troubles my heart that a woman has to experience this type of assault and battery unprovoked.

“It shouldn’t be let to slide, otherwise the assailant would likely continue in this vein of action against other women.

“May I suggest you report to the most appropriate authority to handle this case, with such authority, the CCTV record tape can be recovered and the assailant identified and at least gets to be placed on the search for apprehension. This breaks my heart badly!”

Kieran Chiebuka @KieranChiebuka advised that “You can sue Eko Hotels, just enlist an energetic lawyer to wake them up? No security at the foyer, none at the outer gate to stop the felon?”

Ikjunior @Ikjunior4 said, “I don’t understand this… Eko Hotels should have security guards, how didn’t they do something about it?? Why’ll you have to beg for footage of you being hit? You should file a complaint against the hotel too.”

Tunde @tunde_fernandes added, “Isn’t there a way the hotel management and security could help find justice? There has to be a way. That’s a good place to start. Apologies will never fix or neutralise the problem of sexual harassment.”

The Nigeria Police Force says disciplinary procedures will be instituted against a chief superintendent of police for accusing the Nigerian Army of conniving with “herdsmen” to kidnap residents of Abia community.

On Wednesday, a video, where a police officer was addressing a gathering of people and attributing kidnapping in Isuochi community in Abia to activities of herdsmen, appeared on social media.

The officer who identified himself as CSP Johnbull accused the Nigerian Army of not assisting the community to arrest the kidnappers.

“My name is CSP Johnbull, commander Rapid Response Squad, Abia state police command. I was sent here by the commissioner of police two days ago to come and assist the people of Isuochi to do away with all these kidnappers, the Fulanis, who are kidnapping our people,” the officer said.

“Our people who are coming home, they are kidnapping them. We are not happy about it.

“Yesterday night, I sent my men to the Garki cattle market. They (referring to kidnappers) go there to spend money after kidnapping our people, they will collect ransom they will go and spend it there (cattle market) The army is not helping us…”

Reacting to the video, Muyiwa Adejobi, force spokesperson, in a statement on Wednesday, said the “unprofessional and unguarded” utterances of the officer do not represent the principles and ideals of the force.

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force has been drawn to a video making the rounds in some sections of the media where a chief superintendent of police of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), attached to the Abia state police command, while on special duty at Umunneochi L.G.A of the state following the kidnap of some members of the community on Sunday 29th May, 2022, was seen addressing a crowd in an unapproved and unprofessional manner by attacking a particular ethnic group and casting aspersions on other security agencies,” he said.

“It is pertinent to state that the officer was at the location to carry out a rescue operation led by an assistant commissioner of police.

“He had no locus standi to address the press or any group of persons, as such is the sole responsibility of the commissioner of police, and the police public relations officer, or at least his superior in rank who was also at the scene.

“The inspector-general of police acknowledges and will continually appreciate the robust synergy enjoyed over time from the military and other security agencies in maintaining internal security, even as he assured that the erring officer will face the disciplinary procedures of the force for his unguarded indiscretions.”

On Wednesday, youths in Isuochi community, Umunneochi LGA of Abia issued a seven-day ultimatum to the federal and state governments to relocate the cattle market and remove all military checkpoints in the area.

The protesters attributed incessant kidnappings in the community to the activities of herdsmen.

The protest took place days after Samuel Uche, prelate of the Methodist Church of Nigeria, was kidnapped along Enugu-Port Harcourt expressway in Umunneochi LGA.

The cleric was, subsequently, released 24 hours later after the payment of N100 ransom.

FELIX NWANERI


The jostle for Atiku Abubakar’s running mate for the 2023 presidential election has commenced. Atiku, a former Vice President, emerged as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the election after winning Saturday’s primary in Abuja.

The PDP’s candidate in the 2019 presidential election, polled 371 votes to defeat his major challenger, Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who garnered 237 votes. A former President of the Senate, Bukola Saraki, polled 70 votes to place third.

Though the primary was characterised by claims of financial inducement of delegates, most of the losers were on the podium alongside party leaders, including governors and members of the National Working Committee (NWC) to congratulate Atiku. They also pledged to work for his victory in the main election.

However, New Telegraph learnt that shortly after the leaders left the MKO Abiola Stadium venue for the primary in the early hours of yesterday that another round of political intrigues ensued. This time, it was over who emerged as Atiku’s running mate. Several meetings were said to have been held in the last 24 hours, with names mentioned for the position.

Among those said to have been shortlisted are Governors Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta State) and Udom Emmanuel (Akwa Ibom). Both governors are from the South South geopolitical zone. Emmanuel, who contested the primary, polled 38 votes to place third. Okowa served as Chairman of the Accreditation Sub-Committee of the Special National Convention.

This newspaper also learnt yesterday that Sokoto State Governor Aminu Tambuwal, who withdrew from the race to back Atiku, will contest the senatorial election and will possibly head the Senate if things go the way of the PDP in 2023.

A party source told our correspondent that meetings were quickly conveyed to decide on the next move as the PDP is not leaving anything to chance in its bid to unseat the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to him, unlike what transpired in 2019, party leaders and other stakeholders will not leave the decision on the choice of a vice presidential candidate to Atiku to decide to avoid the bickering experienced, when he opted for Peter Obi, a former governor of Anambra State, as his running mate in the last presidential election. Obi, from the South East, was also in the race for the PDP presidential ticket, but last week he announced his resignation from the party over what he described as “recent developments”.

A former member of PDP’s NWC, who spoke on condition of anonymity, revealed that Obi would have been the perfect choice for the vice presidential slot if he had not left the party. He said: “If Obi had not resigned from the PDP, we would have repeated what we did in 2019 because the general opinion is that nothing has changed.

We still believe that we won the 2019 poll but were robbed by the APC, and you will agree with me that Obi played a major role in what we achieved in 2019.

“However, with his resignation, the party is now looking towards South South for a vice presidential candidate and I will tell you that Governors Ifeanyi Okowa and Udom Emmanuel are those highly considered. “No conclusion has been reached yet; everything you are hearing now is in the realm of conjectures and permutations, but the general belief within the party is that Atiku’s running mate should come from South South, with the two governors I mentioned, highly favoured.”

Another party source, who spoke on the issue, said apart from the need for balancing, Okowa and Emmanuel were shortlisted based on what he described as their “electoral and other values”.

The source said: “We are handling the issue of a running mate with utmost care although it is natural that the party zones its vice presidential ticket to the South to ensure power balancing. Atiku is from the North, so it is natural that the South will produce the presidential candidate.

“But the South comprises three geo-political zones – South East, South South and South West. But taking a look at the strength of the party in the three zones, the vice presidential ticket has been narrowed down to South South, which unarguably is the party’s stronghold in Southern Nigeria, with five out of the six states in the zone.

“The South East was knocked out despite being a traditional supporter of the PDP since 1999. The party is only in control of two states of the zone – Enugu and Abia at the moment.

“So, the calculation of our strategists in picking South South ahead of the South East is that a vice presidential candidate of the party from the oil-rich region will attract more votes than the South East if Peter Obi is on the ballot on the platform of Labour Party.”

Asked what he meant by “other values” expected of a running mate, the source said while Okowa is being considered for his experience in governance, having been in the legislature and executive, which Atiku is not lacking, Emmanuel was shortlisted because of his private-sector background.

He said: “A vice president with sound knowledge of the economy will help Atiku fix the economy, which is one of his campaign promises if he wins the main election.” On the next political move by Tambuwal, a source within Sokoto PDP told our correspondent that there was an arrangement even before the primary for the governor to return to the National Assembly.

This, according to him, was the major reason he withdrew from the presidential race. The source said: “The plan before the convention was that Tambuwal will go to the Senate, which informed why he used a commissioner in his cabinet from Bodinga Local Government Area to secure the PDP ticket for Sokoto South.

“It is also believed that his chances of emerging as the next president of the Senate are high, having been Speaker of the House of Representatives if the PDP wins in 2023.”

By Abdul Seye


Over the past few days, Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, was on some sort of momentum ahead of the primary election.

His public boosting, painted the picture of a man that already has the ticket of the party in his pocket. At the Moshood Abiola Stadium, the venue of the PDP national convention, all eyes were on Wike.

Around 8:30 pm, the dramatic step-down of Aminu Tambuwal, halted Wike’s momentum and changed the trajectory in favour of the former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar.

In the ruling party, the camp of Bola Tinubu, former Governor of Lagos State and one of the leading Presidential aspirants of the APC, had eyes on the events at the convention.

Jibrin Gawat, the Special Assistant to governor Babajide Sanwoolu, who is one of the prominent online supporters of the BAT movement tweeted:

“Imagine Yourself as ATIKU and u hear that APC has ‘given’ the ticket to a Non-BAT candidate ……. Won’t you be happy

“Answer with the fear of God.

“Anyways Welcome to my TEDTalk Isonu.”

The series of tweets by Mr Gawat generated hot debates among the supporters of different aspirants in the APC.

While these tweets may look like usual social media banters, however, snippets like this have become opinion sampling by major politicians.

Hours later, Mr Tinubu issued a statement, congratulating Mr Atiku as the candidate, and launching the first attack against the new candidate.

“I look forward to squaring up with him as a worthy opponent in the coming 2023 election. I have known the former Vice President as a formidable politician and a patriot who believes in the unity and progress of our dear country.

“Nigerians are yet to forget the national ruin and mismanagement of our country for sixteen years by successive PDP administrations and this bad memory will dog the campaign of the PDP candidate.”


Why is Tinubu’s camp worried?

Sources within the National Working Committee of the APC, informed DAILY POST that the party postponed the convention to allow it decide on the best candidate in the event that Atiku gets the ticket.

“The party is willing to pick a candidate from the South, but we are concerned that a strong northern candidate by the PDP could make the party reconsider its options. If you look at the way the emergence of Atiku happened, then there is a need to be worried.

“With Tambuwal stepping down and the North rallying around Atiku, that is a major reason for concern. Had it been he won without uniting the northern delegates, then there would be no reason to be worried. But it was like he united the entire northern base. What if he repeats the same thing during the general election? Secondly, there was no outcry from the candidates from the South on the basis of rotation. So there is a need to be worried,” the source disclosed on condition of anonymity.

This disclosure also corroborated the claims in the letter by Salihu Lukman, the controversial ex-DG of APC Governors’ Forum, who is now the APC Deputy Chairman, Northwest.

It would be recalled that Lukman, in a letter directed to the National Chairman, Abdulahi Adamu, revealed some of the reasons for the delay in the screening of the candidates.

He accused the National Chairman of the party of using the name of the president as an excuse not to conduct the screening of presidential aspirants.

The emergence of Wike would have been more welcoming for the Tinubu’s camp, as his brash nature could have polarised the party. However, Atiku has so far campaigned without being offensive against any of the aspirants.


Muslim-Muslim ticket

The former Vice President will have unlimited options when it comes to picking a vice from the South. Several governors like Ifeanyi Okowa, Emmanuel Udom, Wike and others have been suggested, giving the Muslim/Christian combination.

However, Tinubu will be faced with the option of balancing the ticket. A Muslim/Muslim ticket may cost him votes in the South, while a Muslim/Christian ticket will cost him votes in the North.

Whatever the option, the party must decide in the next 7days. Whatever it is, the dramatic movement of Tambuwal has changed the dynamics of the race.

Well, such was the case for Desiree White, 32, who ultimately divorced her husband to marry her lifelong friend and the best man at her wedding, Bryant, after he confessed his undying love for her while toasting her nuptials to his then-best friend.

“He said, ‘I remember the first moment I saw Desiree, I loved her. I fell in love with her. I knew she had to be mine. I thought she was the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen in my life,’” White, from Illinois, told Kennedy News and Media of Bryant’s best man’s speech during her 2010 matrimony.

“He said, ‘She’s the best person I’ve ever met. I’ve never met anyone like her. Then I found out she already had a boyfriend and I thought I needed to find out a way to get her, but then I met [White’s ex-husband] and we became friends,’” she recalled.

“He said, ‘I remember the first moment I saw Desiree, I loved her. I fell in love with her,'”


But she and her ex sat side by side, slack-jawed, as Bryant poured out his heart in front of them and their 200 wedding guests.

“[Bryant] then just said, ‘Love you both — congratulations.’ It ended there,” she added, noting that her ears “turned red” with embarrassment after his admission. A wave of awkwardness then overcame the room, White remembered, saying, “Everyone was kind of laughing — and then it got quiet.”

And she was admittedly “confused” by Bryant’s confession, most notably due to the staunchly platonic nature of their yearslong camaraderie.

“Bryant and I met each other in class at high school,” White told Kennedy News. “I had a boyfriend at the time and, because of that, I really wasn’t going to talk to other people.”

After showing him a picture of her then-beau, Bryant immediately recognized the kid as someone who shared the same lunch period as him. The three formed a tight buddies bond shortly thereafter.

“Bryant and my ex-husband became best friends and, because they were guys, they did a lot together. They did everything together,” White said, insisting that she did not harbor any romantic feelings for her now-husband during their formative years.

“I set Bryant up [on dates with other women] so many times,” she said. “I’ve been on double dates with him and I always tell people I wouldn’t have ever dated the person he was then,” White assured, adding that, at the time, “He had a lot of growing up to do. I didn’t really look at him in that way.”

But White vividly remembers the look of affection that Bryant wore when he saw her adorned in bridal garb on the morning she was to tie the knot with his pal.

“On the wedding day, I walked into the living room, right when I was done getting ready with my wedding dress on and my hair done. Bryant came into my parents’ house and froze and stared at me,” she recounted.

“I said, ‘Hey, what’s up?’ He said I looked beautiful. I’d never had a moment of him looking at me like that.”

His adoring gaze aside, White proceeded on to her wedding and got married. Bryant, in turn, reportedly got drunk and then publicly professed his love for her.

White claims she tried to sweep Bryant's profession of love "under the carpet," hoping his revelation was nothing more than a byproduct of his loneliness.

Later that evening, White shared a dance with him while her new hubby cut a rug with her maid of honor. White recalled that while boogying with Bryant, he said, “Why didn’t you ever give me a chance? I would have always taken care of you.”

“I asked him what he meant and he said, ‘Nothing. I love you, I love [White’s ex-husband],’ ” she recounted. “Then he got quiet.”

Following her big day of festivities, a confounded White remembered hoping that she’d “misinterpreted” Bryant’s revelation of amour and tried sweeping his avowal “under the carpet” in her mind.

“I’m sure it was because he was really drunk and lonely,” she recalled thinking to herself at the time. “I knew, up to this point, that he had girlfriends that weren’t working out and he was kind of the third wheel.”

However, less than a year later, when her marriage began to crumble because her then-husband had adopted what she called “a totally different lifestyle,” White’s relationship with Bryant took a sudden romantic turn.

“When [my ex and I] broke up and divorced, I went through a depression and was really secluded myself. I just didn’t want to make an effort for anything,” she said, noting that Bryant showered her with emotional support during the separation. “He’d ask me to eat with him or hang out and watch a show. He was trying to be there for me.”

Then, to her surprise: “Bryant and I just kissed one day when we were hanging out,” said White.

“It was out of nowhere. When he kissed me, I didn’t stop it, then I kissed him back,” she added. “I was shocked that it was a good kiss. It felt good and natural.”

Almost immediately, the friends became lovers. And, within a year, she became pregnant with their first son, Sawyer, who’s now 9, and the couple got married in 2012.

“[Bryant] said, ‘I always wanted to marry you and this isn’t because of the baby, but let’s start this family right,’ ” White gushed. “We were always friends but when we were together [romantically], it was like nothing was hard to do anymore knowing we had each other.”

And White, now a mother to her and Bryant’s four boys, said she’s living the dream.

“We love being parents. Twenty-year-old Desiree wouldn’t think she could be a mom of four kids,” she proclaimed. “She couldn’t imagine this is what my life would be like now.”

Olufemi Olaniyi


Some residents of Oyo town who thronged the Oyo Palace to mourn the death of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi on Saturday were stung by bees.

This happened around 10 am after Islamic clerics had arrived at the palace in preparation for the burial of Oba Adeyemi, who died on Friday night.

Our correspondent observed that to ward off the attacking bees, residents in the open space in the palace who were affected plucked tree branches and leaves to drive the unwanted creatures away.

A policeman was one of the victims and some of the mourners assisted him to drive away the bees and removed some of the insects which got stuck in his uniform.

Meanwhile, the Oyo State Governor, ‘Seyi Makinde, on Saturday, described the death of the Alaafin of Oyo, His Imperial Majesty, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi III, as “a huge loss to the state, Nigeria and the Yoruba race”.

Makinde, while describing Oba Adeyemi’s death as a personal loss to him, said that he was “an ever-supportive royal father and a worthy leader, who spared nothing in trying to make Oyo State and Nigeria greater”.

The governor, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Taiwo Adisa, said, “Kabiyesi’s words of advice and guidance were always golden and helpful”.

Makinde expressed his condolences to the Oyo State Traditional Council, the Oyomesi, Oba Adeyemi’s immediate family, the people of Oyo Kingdom and the entire Yoruba race.

The governor, however, prayed to God to grant repose to the soul of the departed traditional ruler.

According to Makinde, apart from Oyo State losing its last man standing in the rank of experienced monarchs with long years of royal leadership, it has also lost a royal institution and an authority, which Alaafin Olayiwola Adeyemi III had become by virtue of his high-octane understanding of Yoruba history, politics and national development.

He said, “I have been informed about the death of our father, His Imperial Majesty, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III.

“I express heartfelt condolences to the Oyo State Council of Obas and Chiefs, which Oba Adeyemi chaired for decades, the Oyomesi and the entire people of Oyo Kingdom.

“I equally commiserate with the Oloris, children and entire Adeyemi family on the demise of their patriarch and worthy father.

“Kabiyesi’s departure is a huge loss not only to Oyo State, to which he committed 52 years of his life as the Alaafin of Oyo Kingdom, but also to Nigeria and the entire Yoruba race.”

According to him, Oba Adeyemi was our last man standing in the rank of most eminent royal fathers with long years of leadership.

“He became a golden king, an institution and an authority rolled into one by virtue of his immense experience, wisdom and understanding of Yoruba history, royalty and politics.

“Oba Adeyemi, not only elevated the Alaafin throne with his knowledge and wisdom, he became a worthy exemplar for royal leadership in Africa and brought glory to Oyo State and Nigeria.

“Kabiyesi never spared anything in his strive to make Oyo State greater and to bring about the Nigeria of everyone’s collective dream.

“Personally, Kabiyesi’s death is a great loss to me, because he proved to be a worthy father and had been ever so supportive of our government.

“His words of advice and guidance were always golden and helpful.

“It is my prayer that God accepts Kabiyesi’s soul into Aljanah Firdaus and uphold everyone and everything he left behind. Good night, Iku Baba Yeye !”

As Nigeria continues to count its losses from the recent spate of attacks by bandits on public facilities, military formations and innocent lives in Kaduna State, some ranking members of the intelligence community have identified reasons it might be difficult for the country to win the war against terrorism.

While they listed manpower challenge and lack of collaboration between security agencies as part of the problems on the one-hand, they undercsored failure of intelligence within the security sector and lack of will power by the political leadership to end the war as key obstacles.

Recall that bandits unleashed repeated attacks on Kaduna last week, involving the Kaduna train station, an Abuja-Kaduna-bound train, Kaduna airport, and military formations, leading to loss of lives, with several kidnapped citizens still held captive.

But the Kaduna attacks are only recurrences of several such incidences across the country, which the security agencies now seem not to have answers to or the wherewithal to thwart or repel.

One of such attacks was carried out sometime in June 2021, when suspected armed bandits invaded Igangan Community in Ibarapa area of Ibadan, Oyo State in the dead of the night and unleashed mayhem on unsuspecting residents.


In the process, 11 persons were killed, while some vehicles and buildings including the Palace of the Asigangan of Igangan town and a filling station were torched. Residents alleged that the gunmen stormed the community with over 20 motorcycles. News later made the round that information about the impending attack was passed to the appropriate quarters but no action was taken to forestall it .

In a nation with a gamut of intelligence and security agencies, equipped to intercept information or gather intelligence with a view to using such to thwart attacks by bandits and/or terrorists, it is confounding that “unknown gunmen” or “bandits” would repeatedly launch attacks on public facilities and innocent lives, leaving in their trail deaths and destruction.

Reacting to the recent attacks, a retired army intelligence officer, Col. Hassan Stan-Labo reasoned that failure of intelligence could be the explanation for the “attacks that came in piecemeal one after the other.

“What could be wrong with the intelligence community entirely? It beats my imagination as an officer that we would still be talking about things like this at this time. More so, these are attacks that came in piecemeal after the other. It beats me hollow and it is something that anybody that belongs to the intelligence community should bury his head in shame for. Even if intelligence has gone to sleep, once an incident happens, it wakes everybody up. Leadership immediately directs on what needs to be done, they spread their tentacles and begin to read the minds of the enemy and envisage their next step.

“Like in the case of the rail incident, without even being an intelligence personnel, any one would know that all traffic would immediately be diverted to the Kaduna expressway. And the enemies we are fighting are reading the battle correctly; while we moved to the rail after their attack, they moved to the road and they got us. That is good thinking and good operational delivery,” Stan-Labo said.

The retired officer noted that manpower issues, which had always been identified, are still bedeviling the entire security sector and remained the main reason why the terrorism war is yet to be won.

He said, “A country of over 250million Nigerians that is fighting a long-drawn terrorism battle is still bedeviled by manpower issues. Could that country be said to be serious? I expect that the entire 30km stretch of the Kaduna-Zaria road, consisting of those three notorious communities that are giving us headaches, would by now have been embedded with plain-cloth security personnel. This ought to have been done in such a way that when you are walking on any road or footpath in the communities, for every five people you pass by, three should be intelligence personnel, ranging from a man that sells Kolanut to people that sell groundnut, hawking all sorts of things. You set up your intelligence systems with these people in the communities and in no long a time, you would have vital information required to thwart attacks. This is the way intelligence is done, not the executive intelligence we are practicing these days. Before you talk to some of our personnel, he has already introduced himself as a DSS officer. In those days, you hardly know them.”


Stan-Labo said he was at a loss as to why security agencies do not have personnel embedded in those communities already. While asking what it required to employ and train people for this purpose, he challenged government to rise to the manpower challenge.

Stressing the seriousness of the challenge, he canvassed for an executive order from the political leadership for the nation to overcome manpower issues in the security sector.

“Or are there ulterior motives for making sure that the security sector is starved of manpower such that certain lines of action cannot be carried out. Some of us are beginning to read meanings to this disposition by the federal government. If we can bring out N219b to feed school children even when they were not in session, and when education budget is only N109b, how come we cannot bring out money and recruit people into the security sector?

“Something is just wrong with us. Will power is lacking; interpretation of the realities on ground is blurred by all sorts of sentiments, ranging from ethnicity to religion. Let 2023 just come and let us see if God would give us a leader who would be ready to bail this country out. We wasted eight years under President Goodluck Jonathan, we have wasted another seven under President Muhammadu Buhari. It is even far worse under the current administration. One expected that Nigeria would fare better in terms of security under a retired General but it has been unfortunate. Great nations that fought wars turned to their generals when they were challenged and they were rescued with those generals as presidents. In our case, President Buhari has not just been disappointing, he is a total failure. The little reputation he had before becoming president has been marred.

“We bought 12 Tucanos, where are they? They are busy gathering dust instead of pursuing terrorists in the forests. I expected that by now, each of the Tucanos would be making 60 turn-around of bombings every week. By the time 12 Tucanos are making 60 by 12 bombings of every nooks and cranny where the bandits are, within three months, we would have been done with the war. But when we have other ulterior motives, this is what we would have to contend with. The military has what it takes in terms of capability. The airpower we have is also superior to what the enemy has. It is the willpower that is lacking. Government must take a decision to get this war done with,” Stan-Labo said.

Former intelligence analyst with the United States Air Force, Tanwa Ashiru, however, observed that from information available, there was adequate intelligence about the Kaduna attacks, but the intelligence failed because the information was mishandled.


She declared that majority of the problems the nation had at the moment stemmed from “taking little to no action on threats to human life.

“Information and the subsequent intelligence derived must be acted on swiftly, especially when there is threat to human life. But it seems the intelligence agencies are swifter to act on intelligence that are a perceived threat to the entity of Nigeria than direct threats to human lives,” she said.

Suggesting ways of stopping the recurring attacks, Ashiru, who provides defense, intelligence and security solutions as chief executive of Bulwark Intelligence, stressed that intelligence agencies must go out of their way to illustrate the intelligence and the threat of inaction more convincingly to powers-that-be.

She added that the agencies must also provide a well thought out action plan that can be taken to mitigate the immediate and longer-term risks.

Ashiru also bemoaned the poor collaboration among security agencies, noting that the country had finally reached a stage where the lack of adequate collaboration is directly affecting the safety and security of the lives of the citizens.

She said, “The adversary has evolved to a level where the response from the government security forces requires intentional coordination. Much of the internal security effort is being lopsidedly placed primarily on the military. But involving the military increases collateral damage and often exacerbates the problem. A number of criminals often trace their initial reason for joining these criminal groups to violence from the military or other law enforcement, which personally affected their lives.

“The Police need to step up their role in internal security. They are supposed to have good relations with the local communities and gain their trust, working with them to root out criminals. But this too is lacking. Border security has a huge role to play as well in preventing the transnational flow of fighters and weapons that has brought us to this point.

“The defense, intelligence and various law enforcement agencies will need to put their differences aside and better collaborate for Nigeria to see results.”

Ashiru’s position on collaboration was echoed by Captain Umar Babangida Aliyu (rtd.), a former military intelligence officer and Chief Executive of Goldwater and Riversand Consults, who said the nation needed to revamp and reinvigorate other arms of security service to complement what the army was doing.

Aliyu noted that, as seen in recent attacks, the Armed Forces, particularly the army, have been spread thin. “The Armed Forces are probably doing the job of the DSS. Our soldiers are not just being killed, they are dying everyday because the Police, Civil Defense and the multitude of other security and law enforcement agencies are not measuring up. Otherwise, we would not see almost back-to-back consistent slaughter of soldiers. It’s unfortunate.”

He stressed that Nigeria was not getting the desired results in the terrorism fight because one security agency seems to be doing the role of all other agencies.

“The real challenge today is not about our army not being capable but about the army battling alone. There must be the DSS counter-terrorism component and the civil defense component. Even religious leaders and traditional rulers have roles to play. But in this particular situation, other security agencies have to come to the table. We must challenge other agencies if we are to win this battle. The bandits are exploiting the fact that our army seems to be the only arm running helter-skelter to combat. Fighting terrorism should not be left to the army alone, it has other components that the other agencies should attend to,” he said.

The Federal Government says it is difficult to fight bandits because of the terrain in which they operate.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, said this when he featured on a Bond FM programme at the weekend.

He said the current administration has invested in tackling insecurity, adding that efforts would be more impactful if citizens support government’s efforts.

Reacting to Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s suggestion of hiring mercenaries, Mohammed said, “Governor El-Rufai spoke out of a deep concern about the situation. He might have spoken out because of the circumstances at which the bandits are emboldened to operate.

“The mercenaries cannot be compared with our security forces; the fight against bandits is a difficult one because of the terrain. We cannot just go with full force to bomb them or else innocent people living around them will be killed and we don’t want that to happen.

“If we employ mercenaries to fight the bandits, we should have it at the back of our minds that they are only mercenaries and not our security personnel who will return to wherever after their task is done.”

The Minister also appealed to Nigerians to join the fight against banditry, saying the Federal Government cannot do it alone.

“We are also pleading with Nigerians to join in this fight because they have a lot of roles to play in tackling this insecurity. This is because these criminals called bandits are living among us; they interact with the people as well.”

“Who are the ones supplying them with food? More so, they also have landlords. People should expose these criminals and then, the various efforts of the government will be effectively complemented and we will see the results.

“We have been trying our best in the fight against the bandits by equipping our security apparatus. The government has purchased aircraft so that they can fight alongside the soldiers. We have not rested on our oars.

“The welfare of the police is also given adequate attention and very recently, this administration recruited 25,000 constables and deployed them to their home states. This will go a long way in community policing.

“It will be easier for the newly-recruited constables to work effectively. There are lots of work in progress in the security infrastructure and personnel,” he said. (NAN)

By: Kingsley Omonobi – Abuja.


At least 10 terrorists of the Islamic State of the West African Province(ISWAP), including top Commanders, were executed by its affiliates, Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad faction of Boko Haram in the North East of Lake Chad, a counter-insurgency expert who closely follows Boko Haram activities in the North East, Zagazola Makama has said.

According to the expert, the Boko Haram terrorist faction of the Buduma overwhelmed the ISWAP in a gun battle which resulted in the killing of many fighters on the river bank between Kadunan Ruwa and Kandahar axis of the Niger Republic.

Many fighters drowned in the water while ten ISWAP fighters were apprehended alive by the Buduma’s in the aftermath of the battle.

The expert and Security Analyst in Lake Chad obtained a video showing the two terrorist groups in a heavy gun battle in a boat on top of the water.

Also, in the 6:40 minutes videos seen by Zagazola, two ISWAP top commanders were interrogated before being taken to somewhere and slaughtered.

A top-ranking Amir of the Buduma’s group suspected to be Mohammed Ari, a deadly Spiritual Warfare Commander, who appeared in the video said God has continued to give them the opportunity to defeat their enemies (ISWAP).

He said “We are the Mujahideens from the Jama’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihad faction in Lake Chad.

“As you are aware, there has been an intensified infighting between us and our enemies (ISWAP) for the past few months and Allah has been giving us victories to eliminate our enemies.

“We have arrested about ten of them including some of their top commanders and we have asked them why they are waging war against us. And the Commander said, they don’t have any reason but they are just fighting us.

“So even your leaders that you followed blindly, said he doesn’t know why he is fighting us, talk more of you his followers.

“Initially, we are doing the same thing and going on the same path before you changed and started to deviate from the teachings of God and start to practice all sort of evil ways.

“We are therefore assuring you that Almighty God will continue to give us victory to eliminate all of you from the surface of earth”, he said.

The bloodbath between the two groups of terrorists has continued to rage especially in the axis of Lake Chad, Abadam, Niger Republic, Sambisa forest and Mandara Mountain with hundreds of casualties recorded so far on both sides within the last year.

“On March 24 and 28, 2022, the JAS terrorists Loyal to the Bakura Buduma, ambushed and eliminated about 45 terrorists in Yauma Wango and Ngaama, in Abadam Local Government Area (LGA) of Borno State” the expert said.

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) imposed monetary sanctions on Stanbic IBTC Bank, Access Bank for permitting crypto transactions by customers in breach of a directive from the regulator last year, forbidding such deals, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

While Access Bank, the commercial banking division of the country’s biggest lender Access Holdings, which converted to a holding company this February, got N500 million in fine, Stanbic IBTC’s penalty was N200 million, according to the news outlet, which cited a disclosure at a virtual investor call arranged by the latter on Tuesday in Lagos.

CBN, sometime last February, embargoed cryptocurrency trading, going ahead to instruct banks to disallow transactions in it, noting they could trigger an exposure of the financial system to danger.

Wole Adeniyi, Stanbic IBTC’s chief, stated his bank heeded the order but admitted the two deals for which it is being punished is more of negligence than infringement as the transactions were processed through its system without the lender discovering it.

The industry watchdog spotted the transactions and their details, by way of an ultramodern surveillance technology currently exclusive to it.

United Bank for Africa, one of Nigeria’s five largest banks in asset terms, also shared in the regulator’s wrath, incurring a penalty of N100 million.

Adeniyi said lenders are in talks with the CBN to give them leave to use the software.

“It doesn’t seem that they are going to entertain a refund, but they are now sharing intelligence with us to be able to kind of deter clients,” he said.

Apart from the United States, Nigeria, Africa’s biggest economy, is responsible for the biggest size of digital currency deals in the world, according to Paxful, which runs a platform for trading in Bitcoin.

The country is also home to the biggest proportion of retail users with transactions below $10,000, according to Chainalysis.

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of 12 private universities across the country.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this to State House correspondents at the end of the Council meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday in Abuja.

He said the affected universities would be located in Kano, Niger, Gombe, Sokoto, Delta, Abia, Anambra and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

He said: “Council approved the memo for the issuance of provisional licences for the establishment of 12 proposed private universities.

“The proposed private universities are Pen Resource University Gombe, Gombe State, Al-Ansar University, Maiduguri, Borno State, Margaret Lawrence I -University, Delta State and Khalifa Ishaku Rabiu University Kano, Kano State.

“Sports University Idumuje Ugboko, Delta State, Bala Ahmed University Kano, Saisa University of Medical Sciences and Technology, Sokoto State, Nigerian-British University Hasa, Abia State and Peter University Acina-Onene, Anambra State as well as Newgate University, Minna, Niger State, European University of Nigeria in Duboyi, Abuja and the North-West University Sokoto. ”

Mohammed said the Minister of State, Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba presented the memo on behalf of the National Universities Commission and it was approved by the cabinet.

According to him, each of the new universities will be mentored by the old universities nearer to them.

He argued that establishment of additional universities for an over 200 million-populated country was necessary if the policy of educating a larger percentage of youngsters was to succeed.

Similarly, FEC gave approval to the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, to revise the estimated total cost of the contract for the extension of the inner southern expressway, from the outer southern expressway to the southern parkway.

Mohammed, who stood in for the Minister of the FCT, said the augmentation was in the sum of N1.4 billion.

He explained that the augmentation would raise the contract sum from over N17 billion to over N18.5 billion, to be completed in 12 months.

The Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola also revealed that the Council approved N36.1 billion for the rehabilitation of Keffi-Nasarawa-Toto road in Nasarawa State.

He said: “The Ministry of Works and Housing presented a memorandum to council for a contract for the rehabilitation of 118.9 Keffi-Nasarawa-Toto road in Nasarawa State and the memo was approved for the award of the contract for N36.130 billion.”

The Minister also explained that the new Executive Order 11 signed by President Buhari would help improve the life span of all public buildings.

According to the minister, Nigerians stand to gain a lot from the Executive Order, adding that this was the first time the Nigerian government is making maintenance a matter of national policy. (NAN)

There is uneasy calm at the headquarters of the Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) following persistent silence by the management of the Corporation over the fate that has befallen seven kidnapped railway workers who were working onboard the Abuja-Kaduna train before it came under explosive attack by a terrorist in Kaduna.

When Tribune Online visited the NRC headquarters at the weekend, some of the workers were seen discussing in groups, lamenting that the management has been issuing statements giving details of rescued passengers and missing passengers but not saying a word about the seven workers who were kidnapped by terrorists on the ill-fated train.

According to some of the workers who spoke under condition of anonymity, “It is worrying that we have not heard a word about seven of our colleagues who were kidnapped even though the NRC has been issuing statements giving updates on affected passengers.

“There were fifteen railway workers onboard that ill-fated train. Seven of the workers were kidnapped, one was killed and another seven made it safely out of the train. Among the seven kidnapped railway workers are an electrician and a Loco Driver. The name of the kidnapped Loco Driver is Danni Abdullahi while the name of the Railway Electrician is Mr Goni.

“The other five kidnapped railway workers are Usman Abdullahi, Mary Kefas, Imam Sanni Aliyu, Jesy (surname unavailable) and Anna (surname also unavailable). The only worker that died during the attack is Ishaya Lorita. All these people were part of the fifteen man crew working onboard the train before it was attacked. The management has not said a word about these workers. Even the Nigeria Union of Railway Workers (NURW) that is supposed to be protecting workers’ interests has been silent on the fate of the kidnapped workers.

“We are giving the Union till the closing of work on Monday before we will let the whole world know what we workers are going through in this difficult moment.”

When contacted, the President-General of the NURW, Comrade Innocent Ajiji confirmed that seven workers were actually kidnapped during the bombing of the Abuja-Kaduna train. He also confirmed that the Union is angry with the NRC management for keeping quiet on the fate of the abducted workers. He however stated that out of the seven workers, two were staff of the NRC while five were contract staff.

In the words of Comrade Ajiji, “Yes, seven workers were kidnapped on the Abuja-Kaduna train that was bombed last Monday. However, out of the seven kidnapped workers, only two are our members because they are railway workers. Those two are the Loco Driver, Mr Danni Abdullahi and the Railway Electrician, Mr Goni.

“Others are contract staff. Even the lady that was killed during the attack, Ishaya Lorita was a contract worker.

“However, we are very disappointed with the NRC management over its handling of activities since the attack occurred last Monday. None of the families of the abducted workers has been contacted by the NRC management. All the statement issued by the NRC since the attack has centered more on affected passengers and re-railing efforts. Nobody is saying a thing about the abducted workers. Are the workers not human beings?

“We are having a showdown meeting with NRC management tomorrow and will brief the media on our next line of action after tomorrow’s meeting.”

Meanwhile, the NRC in its continued efforts to update the general public on rail restoration efforts and rescue efforts disclosed late Saturday evening that two more passengers have been contacted, thereby bringing the total number of passengers contacted safe to 172 out of the 362 passengers on board the train. The Corporation however noted that the confirmed missing passengers still stand at 21, meaning 169 passengers remain at large.

In a statement signed very late on Saturday by the NRC Managing Director, Engineer Fidet Okhira, “The Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) finds it incumbent to continue to update the general public on latest findings regarding the unfortunate incident of bandit attack on AK-9 of Monday 28th March 2022 and efforts at restoring the service.

“From the last Press Release, we confirmed that four numbers of Coaches (SP 00004, SP00009, SP00012 and SP00013) out of the 11 Coaches involved in the incident have been re-railed and safely moved to our Rigasa Station while work is ongoing on track repairs. We did also stated that 170 of the Passengers on-board the train are safe while 21 Passengers are reported missing.

“At the end of work on Saturday evening (02/04/2022) the NRC’s restoration team has further re-railed four more Coaches and two of the coaches (SP 00007 and SP 00013) had been safely moved to Idu and Rigasa Stations respectively. The other two Coaches are still at the site due to damaged tracks. This brings the total Coaches so far re-railed to seven with only five successfully moved to the Stations. “However, efforts are on to link the track. At the moment, a total of 80 meters of the affected section has been fixed including the replacement of affected Sleepers and twisted rails.

“The Corporation also confirms updates that a total of 172 (additional 2 persons answered their call today) passengers on board the AK9 are safe and okay while 21 Passengers are still reported missing. Let us assure our esteem passengers that the Corporation in collaboration with the Security agencies will leave no stone unturned in our efforts at rescuing the missing persons.

“Once again, the Corporation deeply condoles with those who lost loved ones and pray for the repose of the lost souls. We equally sincerely sympathise and empathise with our injured Passengers and indeed everyone on board the AK9 train of Monday 28th March, 2022 for the trauma this unfortunate incident has caused you.”

There are strong indications that a former boss of the Department of State Services (DSS), and an influential ex-Minister(names withheld) during the first tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, may have formed an “extortion syndicate”, ahead of the 2023 Presidential election.

Impeccable sources, who disclosed this to Sunday Telegraph on the condition of anonymity, owing to the sensitive nature of the matter, said a governor from the South South region and a very senior public official in the nation’s monetary sector, have fallen victim to the alleged racketeering.

According to the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 15, 2023.

Already, many politicians across the dominant political parties – the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) – have made public their intentions to run for the highest office in the land.

It was gathered that the former secret service boss, and the ex-minister, may be capitalising on the perceived desperation of some of the aspirants, who cut across political party lines, to extort them. It was further learnt that the duo used their purported closeness to President Mohammadu Buhari – which investigation points to the contrary – to convince the unsuspecting and unwary aspirants.

Specifically, they were alleged to use the name of an influential member of what is referred to as “cabal” in political circles, to perpetrate the act. But, findings showed that the President has no hand in the alleged criminal enterprise, as he is said not to be aware of the influence peddling, “and will never accede to same”.

“It is an incontrovertible fact that a former DSS boss, and a former minister in the first term of the government, are into a racketeering outing, using their false closeness to the seat of power. “Contrary to their claim, they have no direct access to Mr. President, whose integrity and credibility, have remained unquestionable.

“They use the name of a powerful member of what the media has now termed, “the cabal”, to advance their self-serving and extortionist cause.

“They are promising people presidential tickets, and I can tell you authoritatively, that a Governor from the South South geo-political zone of the country, and a top senior government official, have been swindled of huge cash”, one of the sources said. Another source, who spoke on a similar note, said: “Let me inform you that they even promise their victims structure of the party in states.

“While they claim to be working for the President, they are, indeed, working against him. “Let me also hasten to let you know that the duo had tried, without success, to occupy positions of authority in the present equation, but failed”.

Sunday Telegraph has additional information on the activities of the highly-placed individuals, whose identities were deliberately withheld, for purposes of confidentiality.

By Ishola Oludare

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An eight-month-old baby has died when his father, 50-year-old Pastor Isaac Akinbola, ordered his alleged concubine to beat up his wife, Dasola Akinbola, in Ogun State.

It was gathered that the baby, Obadiah Akinbola, fell down from his mother when the concubine and one other woman were attacking the pastor’s wife.

DAILY POST learnt that the woman and her daughter were rushed to a hospital, where the daughter died the day after.

Confirming the incident on Sunday, the Ogun State police spokesperson, Abimbola Oyeyemi said the pastor and the women he hired – Esther Olowolayemo (29 years) and Oluwakemi Oshinbajo (30 years) – have been arrested by the police.

According to Oyeyemi, the incident occurred last week Sunday at Awa Ijebu, Ijebu-North Local Government Area of the State.

The pastor’s wife had lodged a complaint at Awa Ijebu divisional headquarters.

Dasola had told the police that she had been having disagreements with her husband over his alleged illicit affairs with some female members of the church for sometimes.

The PPRO said the wife had accused her husband of coming to her house at Ipinle area of Mamu Ijebu, with the two women, whom she suspected were having illicit affairs with her husband.

He said, “while they were beating her, her eight-month-old baby, Obadiah Akinbola, fell down while her husband was urging the two women to beat her thoroughly.

“Upon the report, the DPO of Awa Ijebu division, CSP Adewalehinmi Joshua, ordered the arrest of the three suspects, while the woman and her baby were taken to Mamu ijebu health center for medical care.

“The woman and the baby were later referred to Blessed Hospital Oru ijebu where it was discovered that the baby had internal injury which he sustained when he fell down from his mother’s hands during the scuffle.

“The child gave up the ghost on the 28th of March, 2022, while receiving treatment as a result of the internal injury.”

Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, Lanre Bankole, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspects to the homicide section of the State CID for further investigation and prosecution.