Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo State has dissolved the State Executive Council.
The dissolution was announced shortly after the State Executive Council meeting on Wednesday by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Declan Emelumba.
He attributed the dissolution to plans by Governor Uzodinma to rejig the activities of the state government after one year in office.
Emelumba added that out of the 28 commissioners, only 8 commissioners were left to carry on with their activities, and they include: Commissioners for Health, Information, Tourism, Women Affairs, Works, Finance, Youths and Sports, and Ministry of Technology.
The Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) said that they had killed two senior Hamas chiefs, Hassan Kaogi, head of the Hamas military intelligence security department, and his deputy, Wail Issa.
IDF said the intel chiefs were killed by Israeli fighter jets, tweeting “Looks like our intel was better.’.
The Palestinian death toll was 36 on Wednesday morning, with ten children among the dead.
Five Israelis are believed to have been killed in the conflict, in the most intensive aerial exchanges for years.
Israel carried out hundreds of air strikes in Gaza into Wednesday morning, as the Islamist group and other Palestinian militants fired multiple rocket barrages at Tel Aviv and Beersheba.
One multi-storey residential building in Gaza collapsed and another was heavily damaged after they were repeatedly hit by Israeli air strikes.
Other strikes targeted what the military said were rocket launch sites, Hamas offices and the homes of Hamas leaders.
It was the heaviest offensive between Israel and Hamas since a 2014 war in Gaza, and prompted international concern that the situation could spiral out of control.
U.N. Middle East peace envoy Tor Wennesland tweeted: “Stop the fire immediately. We’re escalating towards a full scale war. Leaders on all sides have to take the responsibility of de-escalation.
“The cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people. UN is working w/ all sides to restore calm. Stop the violence now,” he wrote.
Gazans homes shook and the sky lit up from Israeli attacks, outgoing rockets and Israeli air defence missiles intercepting them. At least 30 explosions were heard within a matter of minutes just after dawn on Wednesday.
Israelis ran for shelters or flattened themselves on pavements in communities more than 70 km (45 miles) up the coast and into southern Israel amid sounds of explosions as interceptor missiles streaked into the sky.
In the mixed Arab-Jewish town of Lod, near Tel Aviv, two people were killed after a rocket hit a vehicle in the area.
Lod and other mixed towns have been gripped by angry demonstrations over the Gaza violence and tensions in Jerusalem.
Hamas’s armed wing said it fired 210 rockets towards Beersheba and Tel Aviv in response to the bombing of the tower buildings in Gaza City.
Israel’s military says that around a third of the rockets have fallen short, landing within Gaza. It actually estimated the rockets at 1,050, fired in 38 hours across central and southern Israel.
For Israel, the militants’ targeting of Tel Aviv, its commercial capital, posed a new challenge in the confrontation with the Islamist Hamas group, regarded as a terrorist organisation by Israel and the United States.
The violence followed weeks of tension in Jerusalem during the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, with clashes between Israeli police and Palestinian protesters in and around Al-Aqsa Mosque, on the compound revered by Jews as Temple Mount and by Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.
These escalated in recent days ahead of a – now postponed – court hearing in a case that could end with Palestinian families evicted from East Jerusalem homes claimed by Jewish settlers.
Violence has also flared in the occupied West Bank, where a 26-year-old Palestinian was killed by Israeli gunfire during stone-throwing clashes in a refugee camp near the city of Hebron.
‘A VERY HEAVY PRICE’
There appeared no imminent end to the violence. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned that militants would pay a “very heavy” price for the rockets, which reached the outskirts of Jerusalem on Monday during a holiday in Israel commemorating its capture of East Jerusalem in a 1967 war.
The outbreak of hostilities led Netanyahu’s political opponents to suspend negotiations on forming a coalition of right-wing, leftist and centre-left parties to unseat him after an inconclusive March 23 election.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid has three weeks left to establish a government, with a new election – and another chance for Netanyahu to retain power – likely if he fails.
The Nigeria Police Force has ordered immediate withdrawal of personnel attached to governors, senators and other public office holders in the South East over nonstop attacks on police officers and formations in the region.
A police wireless message seen by THE WHISTLER on Tuesday said the directive followed attacks on policemen by alleged members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its the Eastern Security Network (ESN) paramilitary wing.
The signal dated “101054/05/2021” and with reference number 0900/DTS/DOPS/VOL47/812 was issued by the Commissioner of Police (DOPS), Asaba, Delta State.
It said, “Sequel to the incessant attacks on policemen/ snatching of arms and ammunition by the proscribed IPOB/ESN elements in the eastern states of Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo States and Rivers State, COMPOL DOPS directs you warn personnel that escorts of their principals to the six (6) eastern states is suspended forthwith until security situation improves. Ensure strict compliance please.”
The acting spokesperson of the Delta State Police Command, DSP Edafe Bright, confirmed validity of the wireless message, but noted that it was not meant for the press.
“Firstly, the message that was sent out is not for press, so I don’t know how it got to you. Secondly, it is for policemen attached to VIPS not to escort their men to any part of the eastern state. That is the directive,” said Bright.
Further efforts by our correspondent to get the Force PRO, CP Frank Mba, to comment on the development proved abortive as he was not picking his calls.
INEC LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OFFICE IN ABIA STATE SET ABLAZE
The Commission met today, Monday 10th May 2021, and discussed a wide-range of issues, including a disturbing report from Abia State. The Resident Electoral Commissioner for the State, Dr. Joseph Iloh, reported that INEC's recently renovated office in Ohafia Local Government Area has been set ablaze.
The incident occurred late on Sunday night, 9th May 2021.
There are no casualties on the part of our staff on guard duty but the building was virtually destroyed. Apart from furniture items, all electoral materials and office equipment were destroyed. The matter has been reported to the police for investigation.
It will be recalled that only last week, the Commission reported an attack on its office in Essien Udim LGA of Akwa Ibom State and expressed anxiety about the impact of such attacks on electoral activities, including the ongoing expansion of voter access to Polling Units, resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), pending bye-elections, end-of- tenure elections and ultimately the 2023 General Election.
The latest incident in Abia State is one too many. This is not the first attack on the Commission's facilities in the State in recent times. Five months ago on 13th December 2020, the INEC LGA office in Aba South was completely burnt down while that of Arochukwu LGA was vandalised and ransacked in October 2020. These facilities are national assets, which must be protected. Accordingly, the Commission is convening an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) ext week to discuss this disturbing trend.
Meanwhile, the Commission wishes to reassure Nigerians that all activities in relation to the ongoing expansion of voter access to Polling Units and preparations for the resumption of CVR as well as all scheduled elections will proceed as planned.
The bandits also said some police officers have been a part of the conspiracy that has fueled insecurity across Nigeria.
Armed bandits terrorising different parts of Nigeria have disclosed that they have been receiving arms and ammunition from operatives of the State Security Service and often split ransom payments received at gunpoint.
The criminals told Deutsche Welle in a recent report that they “borrow weapons” from the state agents and then go to work to share ill-gotten gains together.
The bandits also said some police officers have been a part of the conspiracy that has fueled insecurity across Nigeria which President Muhammadu Buhari has been accused of being too lazy to address.
A spokesman for the SSS did not return a request seeking comments from Peoples Gazette about whether or not the secret police was aware of a possible alliance between its officers and armed bandits wreaking havoc across the country.
The report surfaced amidst widespread claims that Nigerian security forces are fueling insecurity for financial benefits. In 2018, Theophilus Danjuma, a former chief of army staff, said the Nigerian military and other state agents were actively supplying weapons to violent criminals waging a war against minority rural settlers in Nigeria’s north-central.
The Buhari administration denied the allegation, but several indications have emerged repeatedly since then that appeared to show that the government was not as concerned about the raging crisis.
Last week, Mr Buhari warned Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue, where armed militia elements have killed thousands and razed hundreds of villages since Mr Buhari assumed power in 2015, to either accept the controversial ruga policy or continue to endure violence with his people.
Last month, Mr Buhari also stood Isa Pantami, one of his cabinet ministers who was recently exposed as a hardline jihadist and lover of Osama Bin Laden, Al-Qaeda and other groups and persons long associated with terrorism.
Today, Sunday, 9th May, 2021, about 09.45 hours, the Mike Okiro Police Station located along Umuahia-Uzoakoli Road, close to Ubani market, was attacked by hoodlums who came in a hummer bus, 2 Sienna mini vans and 3 motorcycles. While two vehicles, two motorcycles, stationeries and office equipment inside the police station were set on fire by the yet to be identified arsonists, there were no human casualties or loss of weapons as the station which was deemed vulnerable to attacks following security review of credible intelligence was already evacuated and personnel relocated 3 weeks earlier.
The Government of Abia State condemns in its totality the attacks on security agents and facilities across the country and warn those responsible for those in Abia that they will certainly not escape the long arm of the law as our security architecture in the State is robust enough to bring them to justice.
Attacks on security agents, particularly men of the Nigeria Police Force, constitute danger to everyone in our society and we call on citizens and leaders to come together and work to end such needless and mindless acts immediately.
Those who feel aggrieved must find peaceful means of ventilating their grievances and agitating for redress as provided for in our constitution rather than take the laws into their hands.
Law abiding members of the public are advised to maintain vigilance and go about their normal businesses but ensure they return home before the curfew hours of 8.00pm to 6.00am as Abia State Government led by Governor Okezie Ikpeazu, PhD, will not spare any resource in ensuring the safety of all citizens and visitors alike to the State, as well as bring criminal elements to justice swiftly.
Meanwhile, all relevant agencies involved in enforcing the curfew are requested to continue to exempt members of the public on essential duties including medical personnel, journalists, men of the fire service, with their properly identified vehicles etc.
Thank you. Chief John Okiyi Kalu Honorable Commissioner for Information. 09/05/2021
The Kaduna Government has announced the murder of three persons in Jema’a in a Saturday night attack by gunmen.
Samuel Aruwan, Commissioner for Internal Security, in a statement on Sunday said the Police Command and the Defence Headquarters outfit Operation Safe Haven reported the killing.
The assailants stormed the home of Sgt. Christopher Madaki (Rtd), a scribe to the Ward Head at Golkofa, Jema’a LGA, shot him, his wife and his son’s wife.
The three were confirmed dead, while his son, Clement Musa Madaki, survived with injuries inflicted on him.
The statement added that the scribe’s wife was identified as Mary Christopher Madaki and his son’s wife as Alice Musa.
However, troops of Operation Safe Haven received a report of a missing person, Ngode Patrick Kambai, in Mabuhu village, Zonzon district, Zangon Kataf LGA.
Kambai, a commercial motorcycle rider, was reported by his father to have been missing since around 8:00am on Thursday when he left home on his motorcycle and did not return.
“Troops are coordinating efforts to locate and rescue the missing person while engaging his family and community”, Aruwan said.
#JusticeForOmolara: Twitter user alleges hospital negligence as Omolara dies
As shared by a Twitter user
I don’t know where I gathered the strength to do this, I’m in a pool of my tears, pls if you see this help trend.
My friend Lara feeling some type of way (ulcer attack as she claimed in her status) she went to the hospital,tested + also to malaria (according to her) & was given some injections... and then she went back home.
I got to Lara’s place at past 10. She had tried to eat and vomited, she was sweating profusely. I started to clean, she vomited again. I went to her neighbor so we could go back to the hospital since she wasn’t getting better, she was breathing hard too.
We got to Beachland Hosp. AREPO and she saw the same doctor that attended to her initially, I excused them but I heard him say “I’ll have to admit you” I dashed back to her to pick stuff that she’d be needing. Before I got back she had been taken to the wards.
I met a nurse there giving her some injections through her hands (the way they give drips) Lara was so uncomfortable, she kept on insisting that she couldn’t lie down cos she’s not breathing well. “How am I supposed to sleep when I’m not breathing well?”
After a while they left, they put a device on her thumb and asked me to be monitoring it and call for attention once it reads 90. She wasn’t getting any better rather she was getting worse, I went to complain, a nurse came again n gave her another injection
Lara after the injections (I was told she’d sleep off and I should keep checking the device on her thumb)
The device later stopped working, I detected the battery was low, I didn’t meet any nurse on her wards floor, I went to the floor before hers and complained,I started to look for the doctor. when I got back to the ward Lara had already sat where I was, she couldn’t really talk.
Somehow, Lara lost consciousness, another doctor came in and said she (the new doctor) didn’t know it was this kind of case (meaning it’s critical) and then asked that she’s placed on oxygen, there was reluctance to get that oxygen.
I made efforts myself at some point I went to the emergency room to get the oxygen myself, I almost lifted it alone before one of the nurses came to give me aid and eventually another collected it from me, she was placed on oxygen.
They asked me questions about her health history. How would you admit a patient without asking her those things initially? She has a card that shows she has been using that hospital since 2019... I called her siblings (they both don’t live in Lagos/Ogun). Lara was an orphan.
Lara doesn’t smoke, she doesn’t have Asthma, she only had episodes of chest pain alongside her back (that aggravates from the ulcer attack) the only thing I know is her chest pain from aggravated ulcer after her back) fast forward to almost 1am, they said they need to refer her.
They said I need to get someone to come n pick us up, as their ambulance is not available till later that morning. I said I’ll wait coz of it was already midnight. They said the oxygen they have can’t last up to 3 hours(they started touching the cylinder to demonstrate emptiness)
They declared her bp low and hurried me again, I immediately started to call for help, I made a tweet to call for help (that I later deleted after I found someone)phone calls and all. took her phone and took numbers from it. It’s already around 2:30am.
Mind you, I tried to reach out to people at her workplace (Lara worked at LASEMA as a call center representative, yes! 112 emergency. She picked calls and recorded cases) they were scared that the ambulance wouldn’t be able to come over, since it’s not on their call record.
I approached the first doctor that attended to her as he was writing the referral letter and tried to ask somethings he didn’t respond n he said I should allow him focus on the referral note (he wrote it more than once,he was being careful I guess)
I thought they would let us go with the oxygen, a nurse only brought it to the car door and put it in her nostrils for a while, I even thought she was gonna go with us. They left us and told Lara’s neighbor to move with the “highest speed”
They placed her head on my laps and asked me to raise my laps, the windows were wind down as they advised, When we got to LASUTH, the doctors at the medical emergency announced Lara dead and they filled a form ‘BID’ (Brought in dead) Lara died! She died on my laps and in my arms
Lara’s health was obviously mismanaged. Lara doesn’t joke with her health, she went to the hospital herself, It’s a pity it had to be Lara my friend, Lara could be me tomorrow, Lara could be you.
The health system needs a reform. Health mismanagement and negligence of the health workers in beachland specialist hospital Arepo killed my friend Omolara Omoyajuwolo. There was no ambulance, there was no supporting oxygen, there was no nurse. ���� #JusticeForOmolara
There is a tiny chance that the debris from a Chinese rocket could hit Abuja this weekend.
Citing experts and officials, NBC, an American news platform, said a piece of a rocket launched by China in late April is expected to re-enter earth’s atmosphere between late Saturday and early Sunday.
“It’s 10-stories tall and twice as heavy as a school bus, and it’s set to crash back to Earth this weekend — but no one is quite sure where or when.”
“The 98-foot-long, 20-ton section of China’s Long March 5B rocket is tumbling through space in an uncontrolled orbit at 18,000 miles per hour after blasting off last month carrying part of the country’s new space station., according to experts and officials,” NBC said in its report.
Beijing, capital of China, the American cities of New York and Los Angeles, Madrid in Spain, and Rio de Janeiro in Brazil were listed as other places where the rocket could land.
Scientists say the risk of it killing anyone after it re-enters the planet is small but not impossible
In a tweet on Friday, The Aerospace Corporation, a US nonprofit research firm, said its prediction for landing was eight hours on either side of 4:19 GMT time on Sunday.
It pinpointed an area near the north island of New Zealand as a possible re-entry point but said it could happen anywhere across large parts of the planet.
Don Pollacco, a physics professor at England’s University of Warwick, who tracks space debris, was quoted to have said, “You have got a big lump of metal in space that’s in a declining orbit because it’s rubbing up against the atmosphere. It will hit the atmosphere, bounce around a bit and it’s correct to say most of the planet is covered by water, so that’s where it will likely land.
“But there’s a chance it won’t.”
Asked about the rocket Friday, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Wang Wenbin said it would burn up on re-entry calling its descent “common international practice.”
“The probability of causing harm to aviation activities or activities on the ground are extremely low.” he said.
A 23-year-old drug trafficker, Okoguale Douglas has excreted 59 wraps of heroin weighing 781.2 grammes following his arrest at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, while trying to board a Milan, Italy bound flight.
Douglas, who hails from Uromi in Esan North-East Local Government area of Edo state, was arrested by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforeement Agency NDLEA, during an outward clearance of Ethiopian airline flight number 910 at the boarding gate of the airport enroute Abuja-Addis Ababa- Milan (Italy) after being scanned, which proved positive for ingestion.
Under interrogation, he claimed he has been residing in Italy since 2011 after entering the country via Libya with one of his uncles. He said he works as a restaurant attendant in Italy where he earns 900 Euro per month and also works as a painter on his free days and gets about 400 Euro upon completion of any work. He also confessed he was promised 2000 Euro if he successfully delivers the drug to Milan, Italy. He said he came to Nigeria on April 4, 2021 for the burial of his late father in Esan, Edo state and after spending so much during the burial, he ran out of money, a situation that made him to ask for financial support from one of his Nigerian friends resident in Italy.
He further claimed that his friend then told him he would send him money on the ground that he will collect a consignment for him from one other friend of his in Nigeria. To facilitate that, he promised to send him a number to call. He said contrary to the initial arrangement, he claimed he was called by a man on Thursday April 29, 2021 and asked him to come down to Abuja where he was picked by two other unknown men from Utako area and lodged in a hotel which he claimed he doesn t know the address.
The suspect also claimed that the two men brought the wrapped drug to him in a hotel on Friday night after which he swallowed the 59 pellets early on Saturday May 1", 2021 and was promised 2000 Euro on successful delivery to Milan, Italy. Commander, NAIA Command of the Agency, Kabir Sani Tsakuwa said efforts still ongoing to unravel other suspects connected to the crime.
Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig. General Mohamed Buba Marwa commended the officers and officers of the airport command for their resilience and charged them as well as their counterparts across the country to remain vigilant especially with the coming holidays to ensure that no single gramme of illicit drug is smuggled in or out of Nigeria.
He assured them he will continue to make their welfare a priority.
Femi Babafemi Director, Media & Advocacy NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja 7th May, 2021
A gang of IPOB/ESN terrorists mounted in vehicles on Thursday, 6 May 2021, stormed Orlu town with intention to attack the compound housing the Area Command and Police Station in Orlu LGA of Imo State.
The attackers were resisted by vigilant police personnel at the Area Command and were completely obliterated when a reinforcement team of the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Air Force arrived the scene.
The assailants who have been on the radar of the Joint Technical Intelligence Team were said to have come from a Forest Camp in Ideato North LGA of Imo State from where they mobilised and planned the failed attack.
Following the encounter, eleven IPOB/ESN Terrorists were neutralised while four AK47, one G3 and one Pump Action Rifles as well as a Berretta Pistol, charms and assorted ammunitions were recovered. All the seven Operational Vehicles used for the attack were demobilised and as such the remaining terrorists escaped on foot with fatal injuries.
There were no casualties on the side of the security forces.
Law abiding citizens in the area are advised to look out for strange persons with gunshot injuries and report same to the nearest security agency for the safety of their communities.
The Nigerian Army remains committed to a united Nigeria that is safe for all law abiding citizens and will continue to support the Police in maintaining internal security.
The general public is once again enjoined to support the security forces with useful and timely information that will help eliminate the security threats in their communities.
Mohammed Yerima Brigadier General Director Army Public Relations 7 May 2021
The management of Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (FUAM) in Benue State on Thursday formally unveiled the new name for the institution as Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University.
Daily Trust reports that the governing council of the institution unveiled the new signpost in acknowledgment of the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari which in 2019 changed the name of the university.
Vice Chancellor, Prof. Anande Richard Kimbir, had during that year’s matriculation explained that the Federal Government has changed the name of the institution from Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi (FUAM) to Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University (JTU).
Kimbir had however noted then that the delay in effecting the change was because an official communication was being awaited to specify the mandate, vision and mission of the university’s new status.
The vice chancellor hinted during the convocation ceremony of the school a fortnight ago about the formal adoption of the new name which suggested to the gathering that the long awaited official documentation was finally done.
Meanwhile, with the development, the expectation is for the school to settle for fresh vision and mission as obtains in conventional universities.
Joseph Tarka lived between 1932 and 1980. He is of Tiv origin in Benue State, North Central Nigeria.
Born in Igbor, Benue State to the family of Tarka Nanchi and Ikpa Anyam, he is a prominent Nigerian politician in the First Republic and beyond.
He was a former Federal Commissioner for Transport and then Communications under the Yakubu Gowon administration.
He was one of the founding members of the United Middle Belt Congress, a political organization dedicated to protecting and advocating for the country’s Middle Belt.
He attended Native Authority Primary School, Gboko and Katsina Ala Middle School, Katsina Ala.
After completing his education, he became a teacher at Katsina-Ala Middle School before going on for further studies at Bauchi Rural Science School.
He was a member of the Tiv Native Authority Staff Union and of the Northern Teachers Association.
He was among the founding fathers of the Second Republic political party known as the National Party of Nigeria.
He unsuccessfully ran for presidency in the party but later won a senatorial seat to represent Benue East in 1979.
While in the Senate, he served as chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance and Appropriation, a position he held till his death on 30th March 1980, aged 48.
Joseph Tarka University joins Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, ABIA; Nnamdi Azikiwe University, ANAMBRA; Obafemi Awolowo University, OSUN; Ahmadu Bello University, KADUNA; Modibbo Adama University, ADAMAWA; Alex Ekwueme University, EBONYI; Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, BAUCHI; Usmanu Dan Fodio University, SOKOTO and FUOYE, EKITI (General Adeyinka Adebayo University, EKITI (undergoing bureaucratic formalities)... as Federal Universities renamed by the Federal Government at different times.
Ghana’s police and immigration have arrested and expelled 541 Nigerians and about 2,000 Togolese and Burkinabe for “overpopulating a community”.
Many of those arrested had lived in Ghana for years.
They were arrested in Bolgatanga and taken to Aflao, a border town between Togo and Ghana, and detained in an open field for a week.
“We just woke up one morning to see the police arresting everyone,” Eze Maxwell, who was also arrested, told FIJ.
“They first said that our population was too much. They later said the community people said we were raping their girls, smoking and doing illegal businesses.”
Maxwell, 25, an indigene of Enugu State, moved to Ghana last year. He told FIJ that in Ghana, he sold machine spare parts and did a multilevel marketing and networking business.
While the Burkinabe and Togolese who were arrested were allowed to return to their countries, the Nigerians were detained and told to wait for the Nigerian embassy.
“They said that the embassy would have to come and see us and then talk to Togo and Benin to open their borders for us,” Maxwell said.
“When they called someone at the embassy, he said he travelled and could not come to see us. But because of the prison break in Imo State, he said we must wait for him to come and check if we were among those that broke out of jail.”
For a week, the Nigerian embassy official did not show up. Detainees had to feed themselves, as Ghanaian officials fed them only occasionally.
“When the Nigerian official did not show up, they gave us forms to fill our addresses, names and pictures.. He confirmed that we were not among those inmates who broke out of prison,” Maxwell said.
Under pressure from the owner of the property where the detainees were kept, Ghanaian officials told the Nigerians that those who had N20,000 transport fare back to Nigeria would be allowed to leave.
“Those that had the money, made calls. About 300 people were able to raise the money and they got a bus for them,” he said. “Those who could not afford it called our business partner, Eze Ndigbo Na Ghana; he gave N500,000.”
Shortly after arriving in Nigeria, Maxwell is considering returning to Ghana because of his business.
Abdur-Rahman Balogun, Head of Media of the Nigeria in Diaspora Commission, told FIJ that the Commission was not aware of the situation. He urged the affected persons to write a petition to the commission.
My deepest sympathies to the family of Pastor Enoch Adeboye, General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), on the passing of his son, Pastor Dare Adeboye. I pray that God Almighty will grant the departed rest, and comfort grieving family, friends & associates.
My thoughts and prayers are with the family of PASTOR E. A. ADEBOYE in this trying time. I pray that God will comfort and strengthen him and his family by His mercies and grace.
My family and I send our heartfelt condolences and prayers to Pastor Enoch Adeboye, his family and the entire RCCG Community over the passing of Pastor Dare Adeboye.
We pray that the Almighty grants you all the much needed strength that you need as you mourn this significant loss.
Sanwo-Olu commiserates with Pastor Adeboye over son’s death
Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has commiserated with the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), Pastor Enoch Adeboye and his wife, Pastor Folu Adeboye, on the death of their beloved son, Pastor Dare Adeboye.
Pastor Dare Adeboye, an Assistant Pastor in charge of Youth in Region 35 of RCCG and third surviving child of the renowned cleric, died in his sleep on Wednesday in Eket, Akwa Ibom State. He was 42-year-old.
Governor Sanwo-Olu in a statement issued on Thursday by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Gboyega Akosile, expressed his heartfelt sympathies, urging the deceased family, friends, associates and entire members of RCCG to take the death of Pastor Dare Adeboye in good faith.
Governor Sanwo-Olu said: “no doubt the death of a loved one is usually painful as it is irreparable but we must always take solace in God especially if the deceased had lived a good life, just like the late pastor Dare Adeboye.”
He said “The pastoral and wise counsel of Pastor D as he was fondly called will be sorely missed by his family and the entire members of RCCG, especially in Eket, Akwa Ibom, where he played active roles as a cleric before he passed on.
“I sympathise with Pastor Enoch Adeboye, his wife, siblings and widow of the deceased and the entire members of RCCG. I pray that God will grant the late Pastor Dare Adeboye eternal rest and grant the family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”
The Department for State Security, DSS, has raised that the ‘missing’ Rev Fr Ejike Mbaka is not in their custody.
Protest is presently ongoing in front of the Catholic Bishop’s court in Enugu where his supporters gathered, chatting and asking Bishop Callistus Onaga to produce Fr. Mbaka.
He was said to have got missing two days ago after he reportedly went to see the Bishop.
The spokesman of the DSS, Peter Afunaya, however, told Vanguard that the service was not in possession of Fr. Mbaka.
Afunaya said: “Rev Fr Mbaka is not with the DSS. The DSS did not pick him up, please.”
Recall that the Federal government had alleged that some religious and political leaders were planning to overthrow the Mohammadu Buhari-led government.
A Malian woman gave birth to nine babies on Tuesday - two more than doctors had detected inside her crowded womb - joining a small pantheon of mothers of nonuplets.
The pregnancy of Halima Cisse, 25, has fascinated the West African nation and attracted the attention of its leaders. When doctors in March said Cisse needed specialist care, authorities flew her to Morocco, where she gave birth.
"The newborns (five girls and four boys) and the mother are all doing well," Mali's health minister, Fanta Siby, said in a statement.
Cisse was expected to give birth to seven babies, according to ultrasounds conducted in Morocco and Mali that missed two of the siblings. All were delivered by caesarean section.
Nonuplets are extremely rare. Medical complications in multiple births of this kind often mean that some of the babies do not reach full term.
AS Roma are delighted to announce an agreement has been reached with José Mourinho to become the club’s new head coach.
Mourinho has agreed a three-year contract with the Giallorossi that will run until 30 June 2024.
He will begin his new role ahead of the 2021-22 campaign.
“We are thrilled and delighted to welcome José Mourinho into the AS Roma family,” club president Dan Friedkin and vice-president Ryan Friedkin said.
“A great champion who has won trophies at every level, José will provide tremendous leadership and experience to our ambitious project.
“The appointment of José is a huge step in building a long-term and consistent winning culture throughout the club.”
Mourinho, 58, is one of the most successful coaches in the history of the sport – having won 25 major trophies in his career to date.
The list of clubs he has previously managed includes FC Porto, Chelsea, Inter Milan, Real Madrid, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.
“Thank you to the Friedkin family for choosing me to lead this great club and to be part of their vision,” Mourinho said.
“After meetings with the ownership and Tiago Pinto, I immediately understood the full extent of their ambitions for AS Roma. It is the same ambition and drive that has always motivated me and together we want to build a winning project over the upcoming years.
“The incredible passion of the Roma fans convinced me to accept the job and I cannot wait to start next season.
“In the meantime, I wish Paulo Fonseca all the best and I hope the media appreciate that I will only speak further in due course. Daje Roma!”
Mourinho is one of only three managers to date to have won the UEFA Champions League with two different clubs, a feat he has also repeated in the UEFA Europa League.
He is a three-time winner of the Premier League (with Chelsea in 2005, 2006 and 2015), while he has also won top-flight titles in Italy, Spain and Portugal.
“When José became available, we immediately jumped at the chance to speak with one of the greatest managers of all time,” said Tiago Pinto, Roma’s General Manager (Football).
“We were blown away by José’s desire to win and his passion for the game: no matter how many trophies he has won, his primary focus is always on the next one. He possesses the knowledge, experience and leadership to compete at all levels.
“We know that in order to build a successful sporting project it takes time, patience and the right people in the right positions. We are supremely confident that José will be the perfect coach for our project, for both our immediate and long-term future.
“Together with the vision and ambition of Dan and Ryan Friedkin, we will build the foundations of a new AS Roma.”
BudglT highlights corruption loopholes in the budget process, calls for urgent budget reforms.
BudglT, a civic-tech non-profit organisation leading the advocacy for transparency and accountability in public finance in Nigeria, has called on the government to audit security spending and close loopholes for Corruption in the budget process.
While speaking on BudglT's recent publication, "Demanding Budget Reforms for Resource Optimization", Gabriel Okeowo, BudglT's CEO, said, "2021 has been a horrifying year for Nigerians concerning security as the country combats mutating forms of crime and terror across all its 36 states; this is despite allocating over N10.02tn to security between 2015 and 2021. In the 2021 budget, the entire security sector's allocation was N1.97tn, representing a 14% increase from the N1.78tn allocated in 2020."
Increased resources allocated to the security sector means that less money is available to develop other sectors; thus, there is a need for more scrutiny of how these allocations are budgeted and spent. Likewise, BudglT's publication noted that various non-security related government agencies now request and receive allocations for "Security Votes", an opaque feature of the Nigerian security ecosystem devoid of accountability. In the 2021 budget, a total of 117 federal agencies received allocations for "Security Votes" worth N24.3bn, despite many of these agencies already having allocations for "Security Charges" to cover each agency's security needs.
Furthermore, BudglT observed that the little budgetary allocation provided to other sectors are plagued with various loopholes for leakages and theft of public funds.
"Our investigations into the 2021 budget revealed at least 316 duplicated capital projects woth N39.5bn, with 115 of those duplicate projects occurring in the Ministry of Health. This is very di'sturbing especially considering the health infrastructure deficit and the raging COVID-19 pandemic affecting Nigeria."
"Even worse, agencies now receive allocations for capital projects they cannot execute. For example, the National Agriculture Seed Council has an allocation for N400m to construct solar street lights across all six geopolitical zones, while the Federal College of Forestry in lbadan in Oyo State got N50m for the construction of street lights in Edo State." These are aberrations that need to be corrected.
Mr Okeowo enjoined the Federal Government to urgently block all loopholes in the budget creation and implementation process, some of which are highlighted in the recently released publication.
"Nigeria is already haunted by a staggering N3.31tn debt servicing burden which will wipe out nearly 41.63% of the projected N7.99tn 2021 revenue.
The Federal Government can maximise the little public funds left by blocking the leakages BudglT has identified." Okeowo added. Nigeria's budget can be an excellent tool to accelerate economic recovery, but if the budget is left with the current loopholes, it can cover corruption and grand theft.
The Nigerian government already plans to borrow N4.69tn to meet its expenditure needs in 2021; thus, it cannot afford to allow these borrowed funds to be stolen by a few corrupt elite through loopholes in the budget. Virement provided in the Fiscal Responsibility Act 2007, or the opportunity for Corrigenda recently provided in Section 16 of the 2021 Appropriation Act Implementation Guidelines published by the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and Planning in March 2021 are handy starting tools the government can immediately use in plugging loopholes.
The Buhari administration has been on a cash-printing spree since it assumed office in 2015, but showed little courage at being transparent about it.
Transport minister Rotimi Ameachi has been caught on tape admitting that President Muhammadu Buhari has always ordered the CBN to keep printing money since 2015, Peoples Gazette can report.
Mr Buhari vowed to revamp the Nigerian economy in his campaign promises, but has been criticised for worsening the economic situation over the past six years of his regime.
In an interview with journalists prior to the 2019 general election in which Mr Buhari was re-elected, Mr Amaechi also disclosed that they swore an oath never to publicly admit to Nigerians that the government was on a printing spree of the national currency.
“And most of you didn’t know at the time we took over, most Nigerians don’t even know because we have sworn to an oath not to tell anybody we were printing money,” Mr Amaechi said.
“Do you know when a country prints money? When it has no money at all,” he said. “We were just printing money to pay debt.”
Mr Amaechi’s comments further exposed the cover-up that has followed Mr Buhari’s widely condemned approach to the country’s economy, as millions of citizens continue to plunge into poverty. Nigeria has since emerged as the country with the highest number of poor people in the world. The country also has the poorest electricity supply and the second country with the most jobless people worldwide.
Earlier this year, renowned credit rating institution Fitch said the Nigerian central bank under Mr Buhari has been printing money at an alarming rate, warning that such tactics could engender additional economic woes for the country’s 200 million people.
Last month, Governor Godwin Obaseki expressed concerns on crude oil revenue, disclosing that the federal government printed extra N60 billion for states to share in March.
“In another year or so, where will we find this money that we go to Abuja to share every month? Last month, we got FAAC for March,” he said, explaining that “the federal government printed an additional ₦50 to ₦60 billion to top-up for us to share”.
“My worry is that we will wake up one day like Argentina, the naira will be ₦1,000, ₦2,000 and will be moving because we don’t have money coming in,” he maintained while lamenting that the current administration borrows without means or the idea of paying back.
In response, the Minister of Finance, Budget, and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed accused the governor of spreading falsehood, stating that “The issue that was raised by the Edo state governor for me is very, very sad because it is not a fact”.
Similarly, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Godwin Emefiele, dismissed Mr Obaseki’s claim, describing it as “unfortunate and totally inappropriate”.
Addressing the matter while speaking with journalists, Mr Emefiele said: “If you understand the concept of printing of money. The concept printing of money, it’s about lending money.
“That’s our job – to print. It’s about lending money and so there’s no need putting the controversy about the printing of money as if we are going into the factory printing the naira and start distributing on the streets.”
Prior to Mr Buhari’s assumption of office on May 29, 2015, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo disclosed that their administration would inherit $60 billion as foreign and domestic debt from the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Mr Osinbajo had also described the state of the Nigerian economy as unfortunate, stating that the nation has to spend 21 percent of its 2015 budget on debt servicing.
“We are concerned that our economy is currently in perhaps its worst moment in history. Local and international debt stands at $60 billion. Our debt servicing bill for 2015 is N953.6 billion, about 21 per cent of our budget,” the vice president had said.
A spokesman for Mr Amaechi did not return repeated requests seeking comments for the minister’s audio, which was part of a scandalous series that emerged in the run-up to the 2019 elections.
Although Mr Buhari and his appointees have been claiming repeatedly that they met an empty treasury, available facts showed the claim as untrue. The administration met at least $2.07 billion in excess crude accounts as of May 2015 when it came in.
We read the statement signed by Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and publicity, mallam Garba Shehu in which he said President Muhammadu Buhari had expressed “his disappointment and sadness to hear Samuel Ortom, the Governor of Benue State make a litany of accusations against his person and his government following the recent unfortunate incidents in the state”. Shehu was referring to Governor Ortom’s clarion call on the President to act decisively and in an unbiased manner to end the spate of killings by Fulani herdsmen in Benue and other parts of the country.
We are convinced that Mr President was not aware that his aide Shehu made such a statement on his behalf. It is clear that the media aide didn’t speak for the President in the said statement. President Buhari wouldn’t have given approval for such a reckless and insensitive press release.
What is wrong with Governor Ortom’s call on the President to address the nation, convene a national security summit and declare a state of emergency on security, following the spate of killings taking place in Benue and the remaining states of the federation?
Governor Ortom is not the only one who is worried by the worsening security situation in the country and has called on the President to rise to his responsibilities by declaring a state of emergency on security and convening a summit to address the numerous security challenges bedeviling the nation. Many other Nigerians of good conscience have at different times made similar calls. What the Governor therefore deserves is commendation and not condemnation.
If Garba Shehu claims that the President is disappointed in the Benue State Governor for speaking against the sustained attacks on his people, we wonder how he feels about the killings in North East, North West, South East, South West and other parts of the North Central. Are those killings occurring as a result of the comments of Governors of the affected states?
It is shocking that Shehu would make a statement regarding an attack evidently carried out by Fulani herdsmen and there won’t be a single sentence of reproach directed at the violent Fulani herders. Such a deliberate omission smacks of complicity and tacit support for the killer herders.
Shehu is aware that Governor Ortom has on several occasions raised alarm against activities of the rampaging herdsmen whose sole aim is to take over the ancestral lands of Benue people and other Nigerians. The Governor has written letters to the Federal Government and made other spirited efforts to have the government at the centre take preventive measures against further attacks on Benue communities. The Federal Government has repeatedly ignored such patriotic calls, insisting rather that cattle routes of the 1950s be re-opened to grant easy passage to the pastoralists and their animals.
The posture of the Federal Government has made many Nigerians to conclude that it is complicit and its inaction has emboldened the armed herdsmen to cause greater havoc across the country.
The President is Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The job of a Governor is to support security agencies to perform their duties, and this, Governor Ortom has done efficiently to the admiration of many Nigerians.
When President Buhari gave a shoot on sight order to security agencies against persons bearing AK47, Governor Ortom was one of the first to support the presidential directive. Minister of Defence came out a few weeks later to counter the President’s order and we expected a reaction from the Presidency but till this minute, no such reaction has been heard.
What Garba Shehu ought to know is that Governor Ortom has no personal grudge against the President. The Governor is only being patriotic by calling for justice, equity, fairness and above all the rule of law. He expects the President to be the leader of every Nigerian and treat all as his people.
Terver Akase Chief Press Secretary April 30, 2021.
The Ogun State Police Command has barred the Oduduwa nation rally expected to hold May 1 in the state.
The Ogun Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, made this known in a press statement on Thursday.
“Consequently, the rally slated for Abeokuta on 1st May, 2021, is viewed by the Command as one too many in the State, and therefore not approved.
“Parents and guardians are hereby advised to warn their children and wards not to be involved in any of such gathering that may expose them to violence and consequently bring them on a collision course with the security agencies,” the statement read in part.
Communique Issued At The End of the Emergency Meeting of The National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Today, Thursday, April 29, 2021.
The National Executive Committee (NEC) after its emergency meeting today, Thursday, April 29, 2021 considered crucial issues regarding the programs of the party as well as extensively reviewed the state of the nation, especially the escalated insecurity engulfing all parts of our country and resolved as follows:
NEC lamented the heightened insecurity pervading all parts of our nation due primarily to the misrule of President Muhammed Buhari and All Progressives Congress (APC) as well as their failure to decisively tackle the menace of terrorism, banditry, kidnapping, bloodletting and acts of violence in our country.
NEC urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately declare a national state of emergencyon security.
NEC also urged President Buhari to, without delay, convoke a national conference on Security so as to galvanize ideas and options to tackle insecurity in our country.
NEC further commended the efforts of Governors, Senators, House of Representatives members and other officials elected on the platform of the PDP in forcefully seeking solutions to the spate of insecurity in our Country.
With regard to the programmes of our party, NEC expressed satisfaction with the efforts of the NWC in preparation for the November 6 Governorship election in Anambra state and asserted its readiness to do everything possible, within the confines of the law, to win the election.
NEC also received reports on the e-registration of members as the NWC announced the membership of the committee set up to conduct the exercise.
The Edo State Governor, Chief Godwin Obaseki has been appointed to serve as Chairman, while his Adamawa State counterpart, Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, is appointed to serve as Deputy Chairman.
The statutory members of the committee are the National Organizing Secretary, National Treasurer, National Financial Secretary, Deputy National Secretary and the National Publicity Secretary.
Further nominations will be taken from the Board of Trustees, the National Assembly, Forum of State Chairmen as well as the youth and women demography of our Party.
NEC unanimously pased a vote of confdence on the National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus as well as the member of the National Working Committee(NWC).
NEC further cautioned party members at all levels to be wary of agents of distractions and division while praising the effort of the NWC for being focused and purpose driven in piloting the affairs of the party.
Signed: Kola Ologbondiyan National Publicity Secretary
The State Security Service has held Usman Bugaje for criticising the Buhari administration’s handling of insecurity across the country.
Mr Bugaje, a politician and scholar, was held by state agents after appearing on AIT, Peoples Gazette learnt. He has been at the secret police’s custody since 10:00 a.m. on Wednesday, sources said.
Mr Bugaje added his voice to growing concerns amongst Nigerians about insecurity. The politician had previously condemned Mr Buhari’s failure to tackle the economy, as well as his sectional appointments.
It was not immediately clear whether the SSS would release Mr Bugaje today. A spokesman for the service did not immediately return a request seeking comments from The Gazette.
Mr Bugaje’s arrest came barely a few weeks after the SSS invited then detained Obadiah Mailafia, a former CBN chief who similarly criticised insecurity and accused politicians of being behind the expanding crisis.
Dr. Bugaje, a former House of Reps member and founding Secretary-General of the now-defunct ACN, has been highly critical of the Buhari-led administration's handling of the Insecurity pervading the country presently.
He was arrested by the DSS during the Goodluck Jonathan administration in 2012, after his critical stance,via an interview, on their handling of the subsidy removal.
Publicity Secretary of the ACN at the time, Lai Mohammed had condemned the arrest:
”There is nothing that Dr. Bugaje said in that interview that has not been said many times over by other Nigerians since the government decided to over-reach itself by inflicting avoidable pain on the people in the name of fuel subsidy removal.
”Perhaps Dr. Bugaje’s only sin is that he is a member of the ACN. But our party is not responsible for the unenviable situation in which this rudderless government has found itself. In fact, had the government listened to our wise counsel, it would have avoided the troubles it had now brought on itself,” Lai Mohammed said.
Over Six decades since Independence,African countries should purposefully work together to confront & address their security challenges,while honorably seeking foreign technical assistance. The call for the US to relocate its @USAfricaCommand HQ to Africa is unconscionable.
Once the US relocates their HQ to Africa,Russia,China,Iran,Saudia,Israel and co would follow suit with establishing their Commands HQs,and then Africa will be militarily Balkanized; then we either become like Korea or like Syria.
The President call for World powers military HQ on African Soil is an open invitation for recolonization of Africa.Its easier to tell and get them to come and when they come,it’s impossible to tell and get them to go out.
Surrender to eriminals is not an option- KDSG Amidst the violence unleashed by criminal elements on the people of Kaduna State, some commentators have responded by blaming KDSG for asserting that the duty of the state is to uphold the law and not to reward hoodlums for violating the lives, property and liberties of citizens.
Those pushing that kind of narrative are sharing a video clip of a 2014 interview in which Malam Nasir El-Rufai called on the government of President Goodluck Jonathan to use all options, including negotiation, to rescue the Chibok girls. The years since 2014 may have led some people to forget the denial and doubt that defined the FG's response to the Chibok abductions, especially the initial refusal to acknowledge that it happened.
That was the context under which civic pressures were brought on the government. Nigeria's journey since the 2014 Chibok tragedy has proven that the solution to violent crimes, including terrorism and banditry, is a robust response from the state and its coercive agencies. The quantum of money paid as ransom following many negotiations with bandits have not stopped kidnappings, reduced their frequency or deterred the criminals.
The experience of many states in the Northwest of Nigeria since 2015 has included cattle rustling, kidnappings, killings and the devastation of communities by criminals. Several states sought to negotiate their way out of the problems by talking to bandits, paying them money or offering them amnesty. This has not worked and has only encouraged the criminals to press ahead for a surrender of the public treasury to them. That is clearly not in the public interest.
Mass abduction was like in novelty in 2014. But the facts have changed since then. Negotiations and ransoms have been undertaken, but these have not stopped the criminals. It has only encouraged them. It is only prudent to review one's position when the facts change, and the suggestion made by a citizen years ago cannot be taken as the immutable answer to a serious problem which has evolved since 2014, no matter the Viral replays of the said video clip.
The Kaduna State Government has been consistently transparent about its security challenges. It has supported and continues to resource the security agencies in the state. We are engaging the Federal Government to have security responses that move away from reactive response of repelling bandits towards a comprehensive, proactive offensive that takes the battle to the criminals and uproots them. As a sub-national, with no direct control of any of the security agencies, we cannot make this task more difficult by giving criminals the resources to acquire more arms.
KDSG regrets the recent kidnaps and killings of students from tertiary institutions in our state, and we sympathize with their families with whom we share the aim of the safe return of all the students. We mourn the dead students and we offer our condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.
The ruthless and heartless resort of the kidnappers to murdering these young persons is part of their effort to further their blackmail and compel us to abandon our 'no-ransom, no negotiation' policy. Are people bothering with the consequences of state surrender to hoodlums, or is the continued politicization of security challenges not going to make all of us ultimately victims of the insurgents?
The fact that criminals seek to hold us by the jugular does not mean we should surrender and create an incentive for more crime. In today's Nigeria, it has become fashionable to treat the unlawful demands of bandits as worthy of consideration and to lampoon people who insist that outlaws should be crushed and not mollycoddled or availed the resources they can use to unleash further outrages.
Signed Muyiwa Adekeye Special Adviser to the Governor (Media & Communication) 27th April 2021
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the United States to consider relocating the headquarters of the US Africa Command (AFRICOM), from Germany.
The president made the request on Tuesday, during a virtual meeting with Anthony Blinken, US secretary of state.
AFRICOM, with headquarters in Stuttgart, Germany, is one of the 11 department of defence combatant commands of the US, which focuses on addressing security challenges affecting African countries.
According to a statement by Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, Buhari said the relocation is necessary as part of efforts to address insecurity in Nigeria and other African nations.
“The security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern to us and impacted more negatively, by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region,” the president said.
“Compounded as the situation remains, Nigeria and her security forces remain resolutely committed to containing them and addressing their root causes. The support of important and strategic partners like United States cannot be overstated as the consequences of insecurity will affect all nations hence the imperative for concerted cooperation and collaboration of all nations to overcome these challenges.
“In this connection, and considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider re-locating AFRICOM Headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany to Africa and near the Theatre of Operation.”
Darkness Awaits Us If We Do Not End The Attacks on Our Citadels of Learning.
The abduction of yet an unspecified number of undergraduates of the Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, Benue State, is one abduction too many. It marks both an unacceptable escalation and an expansion of this menace, and we must not only ensure that the abducted youths are rescued, but even more importantly, we must put in measures to prevent future reoccurrences.
This must not be allowed to become our new normal. It is time for us as a nation to face the reality that we have an emergency on our hands. A catastrophe that must be decisively dealt with before it snowballs into an existential crisis.
We must stop treating these acts of criminality with kid gloves. Enough is enough! There must be the safety of lives and property in our citadels of learning. Without it, there would be a loss of confidence in the sector, which will result in low enrolment rates in a country that is already the world headquarters for out of school children.
This is all the more reason why I have maintained in the past that impunity must give way to punitive measures. When criminals profit from their criminality, crime will increase.
The only response from all governments in Nigeria to acts of abduction, kidnapping and unlawful detention of persons ought to be to bring the full weight of the law on the perpetrators of these heinous crimes.
Once these criminals have clarity on what awaits them should they toe such evils paths, then their audacity to commit evil will be weakened, and gradually, this ugly chapter in our national life will become a thing of the past.
I renew the call I made on Monday, March 15, 2021, for a state of emergency to be declared in the education sector and for 24 hour armed guards to be posted at all schools in the affected states.
Yes, it is an expensive venture. Nevertheless, we must accept that whatever we invest in preserving the lives of Nigeria’s youth is worth the price, as nothing is, or can be more valuable to us than our youths, who will take up the baton after we are gone.
Guzamala is certainly not the only local government in Borno state that is completely off-limit for both the military and the civil populace. Borno state is dotted with other smaller locations where insurgents are in full control.
These locations, according to HumAngle investigations, are not necessarily remote border regions; they are areas right within the state and even surrounded by other ‘liberated’ communities where civil authorities are in place.
It is common knowledge that there are major routes in Borno state today that are not safe for commuting, not because the military declared them closed, but because they are under the control of insurgents.
There are still known communities where insurgents live freely, operating unchallenged and cohabiting with locals who have sworn to remain loyal to their imposed authorities.
These ungoverned highways and isolated communities are under Nigerian sovereignty but seem to have been relinquished to the outlaws.
It has been established that the terrorists, either JAS or ISWAP faction of Boko Haram, usually perfect their plans and take off for attacks from these ungoverned spaces. And when “repelled” by government troops, or succeeding in their mission, they return to those locations.
The Borno state government targets the end of May 2021 as the deadline for the return of IDPs to their ancestral communities. It is however a checkable fact that the returnee IDPs can only go as far as the local government headquarters. Anything beyond the local governments headquarters is off-limits. Insurgents are still believed to be occupying these hundreds of villages and hamlets.
On these routes and around the no-go area communities, the insurgents would mount roadblocks and conduct stop and search operations, the way Nigeria police and military would do.
The road leading to Monguno from Maiduguri is dotted with checkpoints manned by ISWAP fighters. Their routine is to check vehicles for any government officials, INGO workers or security personnel.
The United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator in Nigeria (OCHA), Edward Kallon, had in June 2020 while condemning an attack by non-state actors in Gubio that led to the death of over 80 civilians, expressed concern over “the widespread practice by non-state armed groups of setting up illegal checkpoints along main supply routes, which heighten risks for civilians to be abducted, killed or injured.”
He said that the establishment of illegal checkpoints has directly impacted the humanitarian community, adding that a camp manager from the Borno State Emergency Management Agency working in the northern Borno town of Monguno was abducted at one of those checkpoints.
A local commercial driver who passes the Maiduguri-Monguno highway informed HumAngle that being accosted at the Boko Haram illegal checkpoints has become customary.
“Just as one is certain that the sun would rise in the morning and set at dusk, so do we expect to be accosted by Boko Haram gunmen at their check when travelling between Maiduguri,” said a local driver whose identity is being concealed for his safety.
“The checkpoints are permanently located at strategic points of the road, and when they stop you they look out for any NGO worker or security personnel. If they found any, they’d usually take the person away and ask the driver and other passengers to continue their journey. And if they found none of them, they would ask for money from the driver just like the way police and soldiers do.”
HumAngle learnt that the insurgents usually operate “calmly” as though they fear no confrontation from the government troops.
The road to Biu
The 175 kilometres highway that connects Maiduguri with Damboa and Biu towns in southern Borno was closed by the military some years ago due to insecurity. The highway traverses through locations that share borders with the Sambisa forest.
Until recently, it was believed that Boko Haram had carried out more attacks on communities and travellers in that route than any other place else in Borno state.
In 2016 and 2017, the military opened the highway for commuting after claiming to have cleared the area of all insurgent activities. But travellers had to travel in long convoys escorted by the military.
On both sides, the military escorts take off in the morning around 9 a.m. WAT to meet up at Damboa where the soldiers from Maiduguri and Biu would swap the escort service for the convoys. The escort team from Maiduguri would take over the convoy of travellers from Biu and return with them, while the team from Biu would do the same.
Despite these military escorts, travellers were still ambushed and killed alongside the soldiers escorting them. In 2018, travelling to Biu from Maiduguri became a nightmare as insurgents took over the highway from Damboa to Biu. The road later became only safe for travellers going or coming from Damboa with a military escort.
Anything concerning movement beyond Damboa is considered a suicide mission because the Boko Haram insurgents have completely taken over the 100 kilometre distance between Dambo, Sabon-gari, Wajiroko up to Mandaragirau towns that lead to Biu.
For about three years or more now, the terrorists and insurgents have mounted roadblocks and checkpoints where they hunt for security personnel.
“If you are not afraid as a civilian, you could travel from Damboa to Biu, but it is 100 percent certain that you would be stopped in at least two checkpoints manned by armed Boko Haram fighters,” said another commercial driver.
The driver said the insurgents have assured the civilian travellers that no harm would come to them as long as they don’t have NGO or security personnel in their vehicle.
“They are always there manning the checkpoints at Wajiroko village,” he said.
“They are well armed but pretend to be friendly to us. Sometimes the drivers coming from Damboa would drop the passengers at Sabon Gari or Wajiroko who would walk past the checkpoint under the watch of the insurgents to take another vehicle on the other side to Biu.”
The driver said the Boko Haram fighters have been there and no one has challenged them. “The Nigeria military has a base in Damboa and Biu. But we all wonder why no one is doing anything about the growing presence of Boko Haram fighters in between.”
HumAngle gathered that travellers from Maiduguri to Biu —a trip of 175 kilometres— have to make a long detour of about 700 kilometres through Yobe, part of Bauchi, then link Gombe state, before reaching Biu. While those who could stand the risk would cut the detour by taking the Maiduguri – Damaturu, then Damaturu- Gujba road before getting to Biu through Buratai village – a trip of 300 kilometres.
Testimony of a lucky driver
A local driver, Maidugu Mustapha, who frequents the Maiduguri-Monguno route, supplying logistics for NGOs, told HumAngle how he was abducted and held for 14 days by the armed non-state actors.
Mustapha, who is in his mid-30s, said he was transporting diesel for an international NGO in Monguno when he ran into a checkpoint mounted by some uniformed Boko Haram members, whom he earlier thought were soldiers.
“I got a military clearance to transport the diesel to Monguno for an NGO. On the way, I had to conceal the tanks of fuel by carrying some local traders going to Monguno.”
“Halfway into our journey, we sighted some uniform men mounting a checkpoint, we quickly realised that they were not soldiers but Boko Haram. So we had to make a hasty U-turn and headed back. We later used a sneak route that could take us beyond the checkpoint. As we sneaked back to the highway, we never knew there was another checkpoint mounted by yet another group of Boko Haram. It was too late for me to run. The passengers in my truck were asked to go down.”
“After searching and stealing all our possessions, they asked the other vehicles to continue their trip, while I was asked to remain and drive the truck and diesel with them into the bush.”
“They hauled everything they stole from us into my truck and we drove far into the bush. On the way, my truck broke down. And that was how they made a few phone calls and a bigger truck came to us after some few hours. They evacuated the stolen items and the diesel from my truck into theirs and the driver drove off to an unknown destination.”
“For no clear reasons we remained at that location for over ten days, and in-between, some of them would go to the highway to carry out attacks and return to where we were camping. The armed insurgents were always worried about not being able to gather more food and related things to the Amir.
“On the 14th day, the terrorists, having been unable to get food the previous days, had to let me go. But my vehicle had broken down and I needed an oil filter to be able to start the vehicle. They asked me to wait if I could, that they would bring me a spare oil filter. I had to wait for them until about 4 hours later when one of them returned on a bike and handed me a new oil filter. That was how I fixed my vehicle and returned him.”
Mustafa said as he drove to Maiduguri, he counted 4 other checkpoints manned by them.
The driver worried why Boko Haram, a group outlawed and being hunted by federal troops, enjoys such freedom on a highway that links a state capital and one of the most fortified local government headquarters in the state.
“Between Monguno and Maiduguri it is a trip of about 133 kilometres and there are a couple of military checkpoints in between. But we still get harassed by Boko Haram at illegal checkpoints. This is unthinkable,” he said.
Apprehension has continued to mount following last Saturday’s attack on the Omuma country home of Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo State by armed men believed to be members of the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
This is also as members of the community are fleeing their homes.
The major news now making the round in the area is the warning purportedly left behind by the gunmen that they would be back.
A kimsman of the Governor, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told our correspondent that: “When I heard the report of heavy gunfire during the attack on the Governor’s home, I ducked into a corner and stayed there for the length of time the gunmen operated within the Governor’s premises. When things calmed down and I assumed the gunmen had left, I came out and was walking home with some kinsmen when we were suddenly surrounded by armed men.
“They took all our mobile phones and told us that the attack on the governor’s home, was just the beginning, that they will be back.”
Apparently, with the horrifying incident of Saturday morning, no local wants to be caught up in a crossfire when the gunmen return. This is why the villagers are vacating their homes to neighbouring communities.
Also, the arrival of soldiers to the community may not have placated anybody as some locals are convinced that the stay of the army will ultimately be exploitative to the locals in the long run.
Politics › Governor Uzodimma Sacks 20 Commissioners, Dissolves Imo State Executive Council by HonNL(op): 3:15pm On May 12, 2021
