₦airaland Forum

Following the disclosure of the Nigerian Police that it neutralised 250 terrorists and bandits in Kudaru forest, in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State, residents said the police might have left the corpses inside the forest. Sources around the area told Daily Trust that villages close to Kudaru forest had been deserted for years due to the activities of bandits.

Villagers around Dogon Dawa town which is close to the forest said they had noticed increased police vehicles and personnel moving towards the forest on Tuesday, but said no corpse was moved out after the operation. “The police must have left the bodies inside the forest because nobody saw them moving bodies either of the bandits or their personnel from the forest. And the forest is not safe for us to go and verify,” a source told Daily Trust.

He said: “all the villages around Kudaru forest have been deserted because the forest has been under the control of the bandits. Anybody you see living around that forest must be a member of the terrorists or bandits if not, they would have killed him.”

It was also gathered that Kudaru forest which is immediately after Maidaro forest had been used by the bandits as a training camp for years. Another source emphasised that; “just few days ago some people were kidnapped at Randagi village which also shares a boundary with Kudaru forest through the western part of Birnin Gwari town.” “Birnin Gwari for your information shares boundaries with Katsina, Niger, Zamfara States and Chikun Local government Areas of Kaduna.

So it’s a very big forest and the terrorists operating there are in thousands and do so with impunity,” he said When contacted for his reaction, Force spokesman Frank Mba, said: “The truth is that we inflicted huge damage on them, by the time we pulled out in the night, the information we have is that the terrorist buried their own.” Earlier in a statement yesterday, Mba said the Force lost one Inspector Muhammad Abubakar to the Wednesday’s raid.

The Force spokesman, Frank Mba, in a statement, said Inspector Abubakar, attached to the Police Special Forces, died as a result of injuries sustained in the heat of the combat. He said 13 other officers made up of 2 SPs, 1 DSP, 4 Inspectors and 6 Sergeants including the Pilot and Co-pilot of the Police helicopter, sustained different degrees of injuries and are currently receiving treatment.” He said the Late Abubakar was one of the finest officers of the Police Special Forces with vast training and operational background, both at home and abroad.

He said exhibits recovered by the police during the operation included “11 AK47 rifles, 730 rounds of live AK47 ammunition, 152 rounds of GPMG ammunition in two chains, 13 pairs of military camouflage uniforms, 2 cartons and 48 sachets of tramadol, four facemasks, phones and other electronic gadgets which are currently subject of forensic investigations.” He asked citizens living in and around Birnin-Gwari axis of Kaduna State have to be on the lookout for fleeing bandits, especially those with bullet wounds and report every suspicious behaviour to the police.

Mba also said one Haruna Basullube, one of the most wanted kidnappers/cattle rustlers and one Bashir Leta, another bandits’ commander, were killed. Mba also said one Malam Abba, commander of Boko Haram camp in Kuduru Forest and one Mofa, a notorious kidnapper were critically injured.

He said as mop-up operations continue, the Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Adamu had deployed detectives and special forensic investigators from the Force Headquarters to expedite investigations into the criminal enterprise of the group and their associates.

*Ask FG to apologise to Lagosians

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has sympathized with Nigerians living in Lagos following the ban on the use of commercial motorcycles (Okada) and tricycles (Keke Marwa) in the state. The party, however, noted that the ordeal should be blamed on President Muhammadu Buhari who, in 1985, terminated the initial Lagos Metro Rail Line project started by the government of Alhaji Lateef Jakande to facilitate mass transportation within Lagos, as Nigeria’s commercial nerve center, and surrounding cities.

The PDP, in a statement on Thursday by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, argued that if Buhari did not terminate “that laudable project” by the Lagos state government, Lagosians would not be suffering the transportation infrastructure deficit they are faced with today.

The PDP called on the federal government to apologise to Lagos state for terminating the metro rail line and take urgent steps to address the transport situation in the state. The party also asked the Lagos state government to adopt alternatives to ease the suffering of the people as their welfare ought to be its primary focus of governance.

“By now, Lagos state would have been boasting of state-of- the-art transportation infrastructure and facilities with associated economic boom like her peers in other parts of the world. “It is saddening to note that not only did the termination of the initial metro line slowed down and almost crippled development in Lagos, President Buhari’s current administration has also continued to fail to take conclusive step to address the transportation challenges in Lagos, despite outcries by Nigerians. “Furthermore, leaders of Lagos state have consistently demanded a special status recognition for the state, expectedly, to ease infrastructural quagmire of the state.

“They would have expected that with the level of support Lagosian reportedly gave to President Buhari in 2015 and 2019, Mr. President would have addressed the needs of the state as a commercial nerve center of our nation. “Such attitude toward the development of a city such as Lagos shows that the APC has no interest in the growth of our nation and the welfare of our citizens,” the party said.

Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim has filed a N500m libel suit before the FCT High Court against an online outfit and two other individuals over the publication of a report accusing him of destroying farmland in Ebonyi State. In the suit dated January 23, 2020, Anyim joins Moses Orji, Ogbonna Paul Arochukwu, and the Independent Communications Network Ltd as defendants for what he termed “baseless, unfounded and malicious publication” of unlawful seizure of land against him.

Anyim is also demanding the sum of N100m as cost of the action against the defendants as “aggravated, punitive and exemplary damages over the embarrassment, public odium, derision, ridicule, obloquy, mental agony and psychological trauma which the defendants’ publication has caused the claimant.” Anyim is also demanding an order of the court restraining the defendants from making such further publications, and to make a full-page written apology in major national dailies such as: Vanguard, Thisday, Daily Trust, Punch, The Nation, The Guardian, and the Sun newspapers.

The defendants had in the publication on January 25 alleged that Anyim brought in bulldozers, using two individuals: Chinedu Makwe and Livinus Uka, to destroy the farmland with economic trees and crops belonging to Moses Orji in Amagu between January 21 and 22.

The former Senate principal officer and Secretary to the Government of the Federation stated that he had not instructed anyone to take over anyone’s land, adding that the land issue is communal, and not being the head of the community, he is not responsible for decisions in respect of land.

He described the allegation as plot to damage his character and reputation.

No date has been fixed for hearing.

President Muhammadu Buhari, Tuesday, officially launched the Nigerian Visa Policy 2020. This is according to a statement by Mrs Grace Njoku, Chief Information Officer in the Ministry of Interior. The President, while performing the presentation at the State House, Abuja, said the initiative would attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity. He emphasised the gains of the new visa policy and we have them highlighted below:

1. The Nigerian Visa Policy 2020 is to support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for the country.

2. It is a pathway to achieving the Security, Economy and Transparency agenda of Buhari’s administration.

3. The policy would improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) and boost tourism.

4. The policy will not compromise National Security.

5. It will introduce the issuance of visa at the point of entry into Nigeria to all persons holding passports of African countries.

6. The operation of the Nigerian Visa Policy is cardinal to the Ease of Doing Business in Nigeria

7. The new regime is expected to boost economic activities in the areas of tourism, aviation, entertainment, commerce and other areas where Nigeria has comparative advantage over other African countries.

8. It presents Nigeria with the opportunity to apply the principle of reciprocity with her visa policy in the nation’s bilateral and multilateral relations.

9. It will provide jobs for the people as well as lift Nigeria’s teeming population out of poverty.

10. The NVP 2020 introduces special visas for Nigerians in diaspora who either by birth, marriage or nationalization have assumed dual citizenship.

11. Nigerians in diaspora will now be able to make use of the passports of their adopted countries to visit Nigeria without the need for short stay visa.

12. Features of NVP 2020 include an increase in the classes of visas from 6 to 79.

13. The NVP 2020 also created visa codes for all classes of visa and introduction of e-visas.

Borno Governor Professor Babagana Umara Zulum on Wednesday swore-in Chief Kesta Ogualili from Anambra State, and Alhaji Yusuf Alao from Oyo State, plus 24 others as special advisers. Chief Ogualili, a Nigerian of Ibo extraction hails from Dunukofia Local Government Area, while Alao is Yoruba from Ogbomosho Local Government Area.

Zulum had on January 9 appointed both men who have lived in the state for many years and have been active loyalists of the APC. The appointments included additional 24 persons.

The Deputy Governor Umar Kadafur represented Governor Zulum at the swearing-in of the 26 advisers.

Gbari masquerades, some of them children, and musicians and dancers last Saturday gave scintillating performances which got thousands of spectators who converged on the Kwali mini stadium raving. Thousands of Gbari natives, one of the nine original inhabitants of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), converged on the venue of the 3rd Gbari National Cultural Carnival to celebrate their culture and foster unity. The cultural carnival attracted politicians, academics and technocrats from various parts of the country who are of Gbari extraction, as well as their friends. Speaking at the carnival, the Etsu of Kwali, His Royal Highness (HRH) Alhaji Shaban Nizazo (III), said the event was organized to serve as a symbol of peace and unity among Gbari sons and daughters, including those in the diaspora. He said the Gbari culture and tradition are gradually being revamped and what was left was to see how the young generation will sustain it.

The carnival was also an avenue to educate the youth on their roots, which, he said, would help them sustain the culture. “We are not isolated, as we are Nigerians and we must also cooperate with other ethnic groups for the development of the country, but more importantly, we must sustain the Gbari culture and tradition which has eroded over the years,” he said.

Also speaking, Senator Philip Aduda, who was the chairman of the occasion, represented by his senior special adviser, Mr Julius Gado, appreciated the organisers of the event, saying the cultural display by various Gbari natives was the best way the younger ones will also learn and sustain the Gbari culture. Aduda, therefore, urged the Gbari youth to give attention to education, saying it was the bedrock of any society that gives individuals a sense of belonging.

The chairman of the council, Mr Danladi Chiya, said his administration would continue to promote the culture of the natives of the FCT in order to ensure continuity. He further said the council would ensure it sustained and reinvigorated the Gbari cultural carnival. “The reinvigoration of the Gbari culture and its sustenance should be a point of duty especially by our elders so that the younger ones will sustain it,” he said.

An educationist, Dr Midah Kwali Ayuba, in a paper he presented at the occasion titled ‘Effects of Foreign Religion on the Culture of the Gbari People’, said: “The Gbari values are cherished tradition and ethos which are desirable to the society and taken as normative civilization.” According to him, the Gbari value system is subsumed in discipline, disposition to obey orders and fulfil responsibilities which, he said, was reinforced through the organisation of age-grades, to favour the well-behaved and punishment for deviants.

“Also, one of the things that the Gbari believe, aside from religion, is hard work and self-reliance. Honour has also been on top of their life agenda as their whole existence is guided by the sense of shame in things spiritual and moral,” he said. He explained that in Gbari traditional society, a person would rather starve to death than rely on others for food, saying reliance on others for anything is considered as humiliating to the individual in addition to bringing dishonour to the entire family.

He added that “idleness and laziness are not only abhorred, but they are also treated as taboo. No wonder in the Gbari communities, the disabled are kept within the family household and fended for by the extended family.” Dr Midah noted that the Gbari culture has sustained the people for generations, “but the two imported religions came heavily on the Gbari cultural world, bringing about a bartering and shattering experience and irreparable cultural trauma.”

According to him, the effect is regarded as the conquest of the traditional culture in history when the whirlwind of the cross current of the two faiths bartered and shattered the ancient crust of the traditional Gbari cultural phenomenon. He, however, observed that Gbari scholars, commentators, elite, elders, and youth as well as sympathizers have expressed doubt and worries over the solidarity of the Gbari social structure. “But today, the two foreign religions have brought about the decline of the Gbari traditional world, the undoing of the old cultural setup and the rapid erosion of old values.

The Gbari culture, therefore, is gradually running into extinction and something must be done to stop this,” he said. “Today, instead of the Gbari people to relate with their brothers and sisters using cultural affinity, they use the force of religion to identify themselves; instead of a Gbari man identifying himself first as a Gbari person, he uses the force of religion as his or her identity,” he added.