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President Muhammadu Buhari


President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the alleged sponsors of ‘RevolutionNow’ to come out openly to be identified by Nigerians so that they would know where they (sponsors) stood.

The Presidency mentioned this in a statement on Sunday following the arrest of rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the February 2019 election, Mr. Omoyele Sowore, the convener of the protests.

Buhari had said earlier on Sunday that elections remained the best way to change a government.



He stated that he already demonstrated this by presenting himself for a democratic election in February this year, where his party, the APC, won both the Presidential and National Assembly polls.

The presidency added that much as the administration respected the right of Nigerians to hold a peaceful protest, a call for a revolution was an incitement to violence.

The statement, which was signed by Shehu on Buhari’s behalf, partly read, “The President of Nigeria and his administration respect and uphold the right of every Nigerian to peaceful protests and civil campaign, whether to raise awareness on issues and even oppose the government. It is the inalienable right of all citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to do so.

“There is, however, a difference between a peaceful call to protest and an incitement for a revolution.

“The organisation championing this planned action is not fronted by any serious public faces. We call on the sponsors and organisers to have the decency to come forward and make their identity known, out of respect to all Nigerians; so that Nigerians can be fully aware in whose name this ‘revolution’ is being proposed and who the beneficiaries may be.

“Less than six months ago, Nigeria held simultaneous presidential and parliamentary elections. Both contests were won resoundingly by President Muhammadu Buhari and his All Progressives Congress party.

“The campaign was observed, and results were confirmed by international election monitoring groups and observers. The result is even being contested by the losing presidential candidate and his party in court.”

Arguing that elections were the best form of regime change, the Presidency added, “The ballot box is the only constitutional means of changing government and a president in Nigeria. The days of coups and revolutions are over.



“Those making the ‘revolution’ call hide behind the veil of social media modernity. But, without revealing the identity of their sponsors, this shadowy campaign is no better, and no more democratic, than the days of old.

“The President calls on all those who seek to use and hide behind everyday citizens to attain power through undemocratic and violent means, which has been alluded, to come out clearly and be identified.

“They should lead their march in person. Only then will they begin to have the right to call themselves leaders before the people of Nigeria.”

Source: https://punchng.com/reveal-your-identities-buhari-tells-revolutionnow-sponsors/

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered all command Commissioners of Police in the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, to maintain law and order in their jurisdictions.

Adamu on Sunday directed the CPs to ensure that the #RevolutionNow protests did not degenerate into violence across the nation.

The Force Public Relations Officer, DCP Frank Mba, said, “The IG has directed all the command Commissioners of Police to ensure law and order in their areas of jurisdiction during the protests. How they do it is up to them.”

Mba did not respond to further questions.

But findings by The PUNCH indicated that the police authorities were nervous about the protests getting out of hand against the backdrop of the vow by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria to continue with the protest for the release of their detained leader, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky.

It was gathered that the police leadership believed the Shi’ites could hijack the #RevolutionNow protests which may lead to widespread violence across the country.

A senior officer said, “The timing of the rallies is wrong, given the challenges the security forces are facing with the Shi’ites in Abuja and Kaduna. The situation could get out of control should the IMN joins the rallies and that’s the fear of the police leadership.

“Apart from this, the involvement of a politician and former presidential candidate, Omoyele Sowore, in the civil action sends a wrong signal. The government doesn’t want to take any chance.”

Source:https://punchng.com/revolution-police-panic-ig-sends-alarm-message-to-cps/

DIVIDEND pay-out in banks rose 12.6 percent for their financial year ended December 2018 despite the dividend restriction policy introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. About nine banks scaled the CBN hurdle while four were caught napping. CBN Cadbury Nigeria shareholders approve N471m dividend(Opens in a new browser tab) Leading banks quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, paid N259.4 billion to their shareholders, as against N230.4 billion in the financial year 2017.

The five Tier-1 banks were responsible for the huge dividend pay-out, accounting for 87.4 percent of the total dividend declared by the 13 banks captured in the review period while the CBN’ dividend policy affected most of the Tier-2 banks. Furthermore, directors of the nine banks went home with N17.9 billion in the year 2018 as against N15.8 billion in 2017, representing a growth of 13.2 percent The CBN last year came up with a policy on dividend which had intended to discourage high dividend pay-outs by banks on the heels of worsening Non-Performing Loans, NPLs, which was eroding banks’ capital adequacy. The policy was meant to force the banks to plough back their profits to beef up their capital.

The CBN guideline stated: “In order to facilitate sufficient and adequate capital build up for banks in tandem with their risk appetite, the following directives will now apply: “Any Deposit Money Bank (DMB) or Discount House (DH) that does not meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio shall not be allowed to pay dividend; DMBs and DHs that have a Composite Risk Rating (CRR) of “High” or a NPL ratio of above 10 percent shall not be allowed to pay dividend; DMBs and DHs that meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio but have a CRR of “Above Average” or an NPL ratio of more than five percent but less than 10 percent shall have dividend payout ratio of not more than 30 percent; DMBs and DHs that have capital adequacy ratios of at least three percent above the minimum requirement, CRR of “Low” and NPL ratio of more than five percent but less than 10 percent, shall have dividend pay-out ratio of not more than 75 percent of profit after tax.

“There shall be no regulatory restriction on dividend pay-out for DMBs and DHs that meet the minimum capital adequacy ratio, have a CRR of “low” or “moderate” and an NPL ratio of not more than five percent. However, it is expected that the Board of such institutions will recommend payouts based on effective risk assessment and economic realities; No DMB or DH shall be allowed to pay dividend out of reserves.” Prior to this guideline, most banks adopted aggressive dividend policy, partly to shore up their share prices and also to satisfy top directors’ need for cash.

However, Financial Vanguard analysis on the dividend pay-outs in the financial year 2018 revealed that four banks were caught in the CBN net forcing their shareholders and directors to go home empty-handed. The banks are Union Bank Plc, Unity Bank Plc, Sterling Bank Plc and Jaiz Bank Plc. Meanwhile, during the seventh annual general meeting, AGM of Jaiz Bank in Abuja, the chairman, Jaiz Bank, Dr. Umaru Mutallab had said: “While the board had tried to recommend the payment of dividend for the 2018 financial period, the regulators felt otherwise.” Mutallab told the shareholders that the regulators of the bank were of the view that there was a need for Jaiz Bank to improve on some specific performance benchmarks.

He said some of the performance benchmarks included improvement in capital buffers and reduction in non-performing loans. The nine banks that met the CBN’s requirements for dividend pay-outs include Zenith Bank Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa, UBA Plc, FBN Holdings Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Access Bank Plc, Fidelity Bank Plc, FCMB Group Plc and Wema Bank Plc. Tier-1 banks’ pay-outs A cursory review of Tier-1 banks dividend shows that Zenith Bank paid the highest dividend in absolute term recording N87.9 billion, up by 3.7 percent from N84.7 billion in 2017.

GTBank followed recording N80.8 billion, rising by 1.7 percent from N79.5 billion in 2017. UBA occupied the third position posting N29.9 billion, but which translated to highest rise in pay-out Year-on-Year, YoY, amongst the tier-1 banks as it represents 34.5 percent rise from N22.2 billion in 2017. Access Bank Plc recorded N18.8 billion, the same amount in 2017, while First Bank followed posting N9.3 billion representing four percent rise.

Tier-2 banks’ pay-outs Stanbic IBTC led the Tier-2 dividend pay-outs in absolute term with N25.5 billion, representing 131 percent rise from N11.03 billion in 2017. It was followed by Fidelity Bank paying N3.2 billion, the same amount in 2017. FCMB occupied the third position with N2.8 billion, representing an increase by 39.9 percent from N1.9 billion in 2017. Wema Bank came fourth position recording N1.2 billion as against none in 2017. Tier-1 Directors’ dividend The Tier-1 directors’ dividend stood at N17.8 billion in 2018 as against N15.749 billion in 2017.

The Tier-1 bank directors’ dividend accounted for 98.8 percent of the total banks directors’ dividend pay-outs. Leading the Tier-1 chart in absolute term is Zenith Bank directors recording N14.6 billion, representing a 17.5 percent rise from N12.4 billion in 2017. UBA trailed behind Zenith Bank, recording N2.01 billion, up by 71.9 percent from N1.17 billion in 2017. Access Bank’s directors occupied third position recording N772 million dividend, dropping by 57 percent from N1.8 billion in 2017.

Tier-2 directors’ dividend Tier-2 bank directors’ dividend stood at N0.22 billion representing an increase by 73.0 percent from N 0.126 billion in 2017. The Tier-2 bank directors’ dividend accounted for 1.2 percent of the total bank directors’ dividend for the year under review. Leading the Tier-2 bank directors’ dividend chart is Stanbic IBTC recording N25.5 billion as against N11.03 billion in 2017. FCMB occupied second position in the Tier-2 bank directors chart in 2018 recording N0.058 billion dividend, representing a growth of 38.1 percent from N0.042 billion in 2017.

Wema Bank occupied the third position in the chart in 2018 recording N 0.052 billion dividend, the same in 2017. Stakeholders’ reactions Reacting to the dividend pay-outs, managing director, APT Securities and Funds Limited, Mallam Kasimu Kurfi, said: “The reason why banks increased their dividend for the year ended December 2018 is that most of the Tier-1 banks met the CBN’s requirements and the ones that mostly increased their dividend include Zenith Bank, UBA and Access Bank and they always account for the bulk dividend. “Another reason is that most of the Tier-1 banks’ stock prices declined and they hope that by increasing the dividend it might support their market prices which eventually did not happen on the stock exchange. “Also, the banks aside meeting CBN’s requirements, they considered it necessary to compensate the shareholders and the directors who have provided the capital.

Also Tier-2 banks like FCMB have increased their dividend “The reason why Tier-1 banks pay more dividend than Tier-2 banks is because Tier-1 banks met Composite Risk Rating, CRR of low, Minimum Capital Adequacy Ratio and the NPL ratio of 5 percent which allowed them to pay 75 percent of their profit while those that did not meet all are allowed to pay only 30 percent or non.

“These guidelines affect banks such as First Bank Holding, Sterling, Ecobank, Fidelity Bank, among others. “Given the directives that banks should not be participating in buying Treasury Bills, TBs and giving more credits may affect their performance and thus they paid less dividend for the year ended December 2019.” Commenting also the spokesperson for Independent Shareholders Association of Nigeria, ISAN, Mr. Moses Igbrude, said: “The increase in dividend payment in the banking sector despite CBN’s restriction policy is because the banks outperformed the economy in the period under review.

“Also, the Tier-2 banks were mostly affected by the CBN’s policy because they have huge non performing loans as compared to the Tier-1 banks. The Tier-1 banks have huge shareholders funds when compared to the Tier -2 banks and don’t forget the reason why that policy was introduced is to protect the shareholder funds of these banks. The management of these banks should try their best to be skilful in giving out loans to their customers to avoid loans being bad.

” The Chairman, Progressive Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Boniface Okezie said: “Almost all the Tier-1 banks made a good profit last year that informed the huge accelerations of dividend paid this year but theTier-2 banks did not do so because of a lot of provisions made on non performing loans portfolios in their books. But the Tier-1 banks have muzzles to do so notwithstanding the provisions they made from their books which can not affect them as such considering their strong financial balance sheets.

Dividend policy “Next year will be tougher for all of them going by the CBN’s pronouncement on banks recapitalization which is beckoning on the banks plus the full implementation of IFRS 9 Acts which is in full force.” The National Chairman, New Dimension Shareholders Association of Nigeria, Mr. Patrick Ajudua said: “CBN circular to banks on dividend payment serves as a guide with particular reference to implementation of IFRS 9 which dwelt on treatment and disclosure of loans & advances. So, most banks are guided to align their dividend policy in this regard. Despite this we are not surprise that dividend pay-outs in the year under consideration outweighs the proceeding year as a result of better performance.

“The Tier-2 banks are mostly affected by this directive because of low cash liquidity requirements, shareholders fund & non performing loans regulatory benchmark. For them to pay a better dividend is to improve on liquidity and cash reserve ratio, improve on non performing loans and address their asset quality. As shareholders we are very optimistic that going by half year report coming out and implementation of the budget, banks will declare a better dividend despite slow economic recovery.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/08/9-banks-scale-cbns-dividend-hurdle-4-fail/

Fresh facts have emerged that the Federal Government may not grant the request of the Islamic Republic of Iran that the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, be released for medical treatment in Tehran, the Iranian capital.

A reliable government source told Saturday PUNCH that powerful forces within the government were not favourably disposed to the request.



The source also gave details of a high-level security meeting held in Katsina on Thursday of the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and governors from 11 states in the North.

Although the meeting, on the surface, was concerned about the general security challenges facing the country, the source, who is a senior intelligence operative, told one of our correspondents that the Shiite situation dominated the discussion.

However, because of the sensitive nature of the subject, the details of the discussion were not made public.

Although the meeting was held behind closed doors, the source revealed that the governors and the IGP felt that releasing El-Zakzaky to Iran for medical treatment could cause a major security problem for Nigeria in the near future.

“It was concluded at that meeting that the idea of granting Iran’s request that El-Zakzaky should be sent to them for treatment would never happen. And even if he was released, allowing him to travel out of the country would never happen because that would be like giving him a passport to go and rearm,” the source said.

However, Saturday PUNCH learnt that talks were ongoing between the Federal Government and Iran over the release of the Shiite leader while findings also showed that the IMN was not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission.

Recall that the Prosecutor-General (Attorney-General) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammed Montazeri, had penultimate Friday written a letter to the Federal Government of Nigeria asking the government to allow El-Zakzaky to come to Iran for medical treatment.

Montazeri, who also criticised the Federal Government’s handling of the crisis, said El-Zakzaky’s current medical condition had become a source of worry.



The letter read in part, “I, as the prosecutor general of the Islamic Republic of Iran, urge the Nigerian judicial authorities (to take steps) in line with their judicial independence and support for a captive citizen, and provide the ground for his release and transfer him to the Islamic Republic of Iran for treatment.”

But stakeholders at the security meeting believed that if allowed to go to Iran on medical grounds, the IMN leader could become very powerful and begin to foment trouble from overseas while causing security problems for Nigeria back home.

READ ALSO: Shi’ites ban could turn Abuja into conflict centre – MASSOB

According to them, such a decision can also undermine the government’s efforts to clip the wings of the Shiites who have become violent over the Federal Government’s continued detention of El-Zakzaky.

“He would amass so much influence before ever returning; he could even seek asylum there and start fomenting trouble here. These are based on the intelligence that the Department of State Services gathered,” the source stated.

One of the governors present at the meeting, who is from the North-West, according to the source, specifically said at the meeting that as long as he remained the governor and the chief security officer of his state, he would never support the Federal Government to grant Iran’s request.

The governor, who has a very significant number of Shiites living in his state, said he would never tolerate a situation where IMN members would continue to live as if they were in Iran, adding that they could go to Iran to practise their religion if they wanted the freedom of worship.

The meeting, which had the Commissioners of Police from the 11 states in attendance, also had in attendance a Presidency representative from the office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation.

The source added, “They (Shiites) have been proscribed. So, there is a possibility for them to resort to violence like Boko Haram. Naturally, it is expected that the northern governors, as chief security officers of their states, have to rub minds as to what measure can be put in place to nip the issue in the bud, so that the situation at hand does not degenerate to the level of the Boko Haram insurgency.

“(Governors of) Kaduna, Katsina, Kano, Jigawa, Bornu, Sokoto, Zamfara, and Adamawa were there (at the meeting). Not all the northern states are flashpoints of insecurity. A chunk of those Shiites are from Kaduna, Kano, and Katsina.”

He added, “The SGF’s representative was there. It was the IGP that actually chaired the meeting; Governors Nasir el-Rufai, Aminu Tambuwal and Abdullahi Ganduje were there.

“One of the governors, who is believed to be very outspoken about the IMN issue, advised that everything should be done to ensure that the Shiite movement does not degenerate into another Boko Haram. He said that they had curtailed their activities in Kaduna State and that they (Shiites) said that they didn’t recognise the Constitution, the President and the governor of the state, but were only loyal to the Quran, they should go to Iran to so that they can practise that 100 per cent.”

FG, Tehran in talks over IMN leader’s release

The source, who revealed that the Federal Government was currently negotiating with some people with a view to releasing the IMN leader, noted that Iran was also involved in the process.

“Unofficially, they are actually negotiating that (El-Zakzaky’s release). The Federal Government is speaking with the leadership of the Shiites in Nigeria; Iran is also part of the negotiation. The reason is to strike a balance and get an assurance that if this action (release) is taken, they (Iran) will not go against whatever agreement or condition given for his release,” the source added.

El-Zakzaky, who is in his mid-60s, lost his left eye when the Nigerian government forces raided the northern town of Zaria more than three years ago.

The raid started after Shiites refused to allow the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, to ply a road.

His wife also sustained serious wounds while more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed in the violence that ensued.

The cleric has been kept in custody along with his wife and a large number of his followers ever since.

El-Zakzaky’s followers had for the last two years been holding protests mainly in Abuja, calling for his immediate release.

In recent time, the protests have become more aggressive leading to the deaths of Shiites, security officials and innocent Nigerians caught in the crossfire.

The development forced the government to, through the court, proscribe IMN and declare it a terrorist organisation

Iran, which is the stronghold of the Shi’a Muslim faith, has been demanding the release of El-Zakzaky for over three years despite reports that the Office of the National Security Adviser has asked for Iran to withdraw support for the Shiite leader.

Back in 2016, Justice Gabriel Kolawole of a Federal High Court ordered his unconditional release from jail following a trial but the government has so far refused to set him free.

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El-Zakzaky’s legal team has long called for his release, saying he is suffering from health issues that require urgent medical care abroad but the state high court in Kaduna has denied the request.

IMN not registered with CAC –Findings

Meanwhile, IMN is not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission and is, therefore, not recognised as a legal entity neither is it a juristic body, Saturday PUNCH has learnt.

A search on the CAC portal showed that the IMN does not exist on the commission’s database.

Also, its other names – Muslim Brotherhood and Ikhwan al-Muslimin – were not found in the database of the CAC.

A spokesman for the IMN, Abdurrahman Abubakar, confirmed to our correspondent on the telephone that the IMN was not registered with the CAC.

Abubakar said the IMN was a movement like Catholicism, Protestantism and Pentecostalism hence it needed not be registered.

He, however, explained that the IMN had schools, foundations and other institutions which were duly registered with the commission.

The IMN spokesman said, “The IMN is a movement, it is an idea so it cannot be registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission but we have organs that are registered like schools and foundations. These ones are registered with the commission.

“We also have associations that are registered with the CAC. The IMN is a concept, an idea that cannot be registered. You cannot register something that is not a substance.

“Do you register Catholicism or Protestantism? No. But they can have churches or organisations that are registered with the CAC. We remain a law-abiding movement and we have the right under the constitution to worship freely.”

FG can’t proscribe, outlaw a religion – Shiite prof

A Professor of History at the Bayero University in Kano, Dahiru Yahya, disclosed that the IMN was not a legal body and as such could not be outlawed.

He disclosed further that Shiite was a religion, adding that the Federal Government lacked the power to proscribe religion.

He said, “The proscription is illegal. We are going to appeal against the proscription order. We would be going to court on Monday. The whole thing will be ready by then and I know that by Monday we would have gone to the court.

“The IMN does not exist as a group. You cannot in any way outlaw religion, you cannot proscribe a religion. The IMN had never been a legal body.”

The professor of history also disagreed that events leading to the proscription of IMN, which culminated in the deaths of several persons, were carried out by members of Shiites, whom he claimed were not violent.

Those who were killed during the protest included the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, FCT Command, Usman Umar, a Channels Television journalist, Precious Owolabi, and several Shiites.

“The violence that they are talking about was from the Federal Government itself, and not from the Shiites’ peaceful protest. The violence was perpetrated by the police and not members of the group. Shiites are never known to be violent in this country. In any case, we are appealing against the proscription,” he added.

Speaking on the possibility of the Iranian government intervening to find a lasting solution to the group’s situation in Nigeria, the university don said, “As a policy, the Iranian government will not interfere in the policies of other countries. Of course, they are aware of what is happening here. They had said those injured should be brought to Iran for treatment.”

Shiites movement asks court to set aside proscription order

Meanwhile, the IMN on Friday, filed a suit to challenge the order of proscription issued against it by the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The IMN filed the motion on notice before Justice Nkeonye Maha of the Federal High Court in Abuja, who issued the proscription order and designated it a terrorist group in a ruling delivered on July 26.

The group in the application filed on behalf of the group by Mr Femi Falana (SAN), alleged as part of the grounds for seeking the reversal of the proscription order, that the order was made without jurisdiction.

It contended that the court lacked the jurisdiction to issue the ex parte order against a non-juristic body like IMN which is not an incorporated entity.

It also alleged that the order breached the fundamental right of all its members to a fair hearing, guaranteed by section 36 of the Nigerian Constitution.

It also alleged that the ex parte order violated its members’ right to freedom of thought, conscience and religion as well as freedom of assembly and association as guaranteed by various sections of the Constitution.

Their lawyers, added, “There was no urgency warranting the grant of the order ex parte. No Motion-on-Notice was filed together with the motion ex parte.

“The ex parte order made by the honourable court has determined the fundamental right of the respondent/applicant without affording it fair hearing.

“No undertaking was made as to damages. The order ex parte constitutes a gross abuse of the process of this honourable court.”

In its supporting affidavit deposed to by a lawyer and member of the group, Haruna Magashi, the group said the order of proscription was issued by the court without affording the members fair hearing.

He also alleged that the Federal Government “suppressed and misrepresented material facts” in obtaining the said order.

Magashi maintained that members of IMN “are non-violent but peaceful and they have been in existence since the 1970s in Nigeria as a Muslim body.”

He added that contrary to the government’s claim in the said affidavit, it was the security agencies that had allegedly at all times provoked IMN members, violently attacking them and destroying their properties and killing them across the states.



He alleged the Federal Government’s agents and the Nigerian Army had “killed three sons of El Zakzaky, the leader of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria in 2014.”

He added, “That the current governor of Kaduna State, Mr Nasir El Rufai, paid a condolence visit to Sheik El ZakZaky at the material time.

“That el-Rufai condemned the military attack and described the murderers as ‘Jonathan Genocidal Army’.”

Source: https://punchng.com/igp-northern-govs-oppose-el-zakzakys-travel-for-treatment/

The Military High Command, yesterday, decried what it described as a figment of Wall Street Journal’s imagination, its report that over one thousand soldiers killed in the anti-insurgency war against Boko Haram were buried secretly in Maiduguri. Nigeria’s military built this barrier to wall off what had been farmland on the northern edge of the base in Maiduguri. An expanding cemetery lies on the other side. According to the military, the writer of the publication lacks knowledge of military values, ethos, and traditions on treatment of fallen heroes.

This is even as former Vice President and presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the 2019 elections, Alhaji Abubakar Atiku, demanded, in his reaction, report of the true state of the anti-terrorism war. The military high command in a statement signed,yesterday by the Acting Director, Defence Information, Col. Onyema Nwachukwu, titled “There Are No Secret Graveyards in the North East Theatre,” said: “The Defence Headquarters has noted with dismay an online article by “Wall Street Journal” purporting that the Nigerian military maintains secret graveyards in the North East theater of operation.

“This insinuation can only emanate from an uninformed position of the author of the said publication. It, therefore, becomes necessary to inform the public that the Armed Forces of Nigeria have a rich and solemn tradition for the interment of our fallen heroes. No secret burials — DHQ “Therefore, it must be unambiguously clarified that the Armed Forces of Nigeria do not indulge in secret burials, as it is sacrilegious and a profanity to extant ethos and traditions of the Nigerian military. “In tandem with the traditions of the Armed Forces, fallen heroes are duly honoured and paid the last respect in befitting military funeral of international standard, featuring funeral parade, grave site oration, solemn prayers for the repose of departed souls by Islamic and Christian clerics, as well as gun salutes, aside from other military funeral rites.

“The cemetery described in the publication, which is situated in Maimalari Military Cantonment, is an officially designated military cemetery for the Armed Forces of Nigeria in the North East theatre, with a Cenotaph erected in honour of our fallen heroes.

“The official cemetery has played host to several national and international dignitaries, where wreaths were laid in honour of the fallen heroes. It is, therefore, a far cry from the sacrilegious impression being painted by “Wall Street Journal”. “The Defence Headquarters, therefore, urges members of the Armed Forces and the general public to disregard such a misinformed publication and see it as a figment of the imagination of the writer, whose knowledge of military valued ethos and traditions is grossly misplaced.” The Wall Street Journal had, while quoting military sources, said the number of soldiers buried in that manner could be higher than the figure.

It said on the eve of President Muhammadu Buhari’s visit to Borno in November last year, Army commanders secretly moved corpses of soldiers from a morgue to unmarked graves. “When President Buhari visited the Maiduguri base in November, commanders rushed to bury bodies that had accumulated at the morgue from the recent attack on the base in Metele and several others, according to several soldiers at the base.

They moved the bodies from the morgue into the unmarked graves under cover of darkness,” the report said. It quoted a soldier as saying: “We could see the headlamps and the torches of the engineering division digging the graves.” The report said as the commanders prepared the base for the President’s arrival, they also drafted in additional medical staff to treat the dozens of wounded soldiers in the base’s hospital wards. It said as soldiers tried to register complaints about their conditions when Buhari addressed them, the President pledged to do everything within his powers to continue empowering them.

The report said military authorities were reportedly trying to expand the secret graveyard, adding that “as the secret cemetery at the Maimalari barracks grows, the military has expanded the site into neighbouring fields.” It also quoted Sarah James, a 50-year-old farmer, as saying: “The farmland has been fenced off so they can bury the forces.” Atiku demands inquest Meanwhile, Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has called for an independent inquiry into the reported secret burial of soldiers who died in the Boko Haram war. In a statement yesterday, Atiku said it was shocking that such a thing could happen under a democratic government.

The former vice-president described the situation as a national emergency that should shock all statesmen and leaders of thoughts into action to save Nigeria. He said: “Shock, that such a thing could happen under a democracy. I shudder to think that the cover-up of such an event of epic proportions can be true. “The men and women of our armed forces are our first, second and last defense against our domestic and foreign enemies and should be treated with love, respect, dignity and appreciation for the invaluable service they render to Nigeria. “I cannot fathom that in the space of a year, 1000 of these great patriots were killed and buried secretly without their families being told.

I hesitate to believe that deceit on such a grand scale is even possible. “To ensure that we get to the root of this matter, I urge that a judicial commission of inquiry, headed by a non-partisan and reputable jurist, be inaugurated to investigate the findings of the Wall Street Journal.

‘’While this is occurring, I also strongly urge that a panel of inquiry, comprising distinguished former military officers, be set up to investigate and report to Nigerians the true state of the war on terror and what must be done to ensure Nigeria brings a speedy end to the ongoing insurgency.”

Read more at: https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/08/atiku-calls-for-probe-as-military-denies-burying-1000-soldiers-in-maiduguri-secret-graveyards/

The Vice-President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said there is no truth in the thinking that the different regions of the country would prosper individually if the country breaks up.

He said Nigeria needed to learn from the example of Sudan, which split into northern and southern Sudan in the belief that that was the solution to the country’s internal strife.

Also citing the case of Somalia, the Vice-President argued that the fact that people speak the same language and practice the same religion was no guarantee that they would live in harmony.

The Vice-President spoke in Lagos on Tuesday at the 70th anniversary lecture of the Lagos Country Club.

He spoke on the theme, ‘Promoting national cohesion as a means of promoting progress and prosperity.’

Osinbajo, while pointing out that diversity could either be a trigger for conflict or a fountain of prosperity and progress, urged Nigerians to embrace the latter like the United States of America, which exploited diversity to its advantage.

He said, “The truth is that any group that suggests that its destiny is outside Nigeria and so must separate to achieve its ambitions will find out soon enough that even within that group there are many little splinters, factions waiting to cut the pie into even smaller pieces, hoping that by doing so, they will eat a large piece.

“The mere fact that we all speak the same language or belong to the same tribe does not mean that there will not be strife; and in the same way, the mere fact that we all speak different languages or belong to different tribes and religions does not mean we will strive.”

Osibanjo regretted that as a result of weak law enforcement and justice institutions, divisive narratives had gained ground in the country.

To reverse this trend, he said the institutions must be strengthened to assure Nigerians of security anywhere they lived.

He added, “The challenge is dynamic and our approach must also be dynamic. That is why I believe that state police in a large and diverse federation is an imperative. However, we know that the creation of state police requires constitutional amendment. In the interim, the Federal Government has approved community policing, as an option. A component of that is that the new approach to police recruitment is that policemen will be recruited in each local government and after training, they will be required to remain in their local government.”

In another development, Osinbajo said the Federal Government must win its fight against human trafficking.

The vice president, who said the government was concerned about the youth and the dangers of trafficking, added that sexual offences were abominations to God and man and the government had established the sexual offenders’ register.

He spoke on Tuesday in Abuja at a public lecture on the 2019 World Day against Human Trafficking.

The lecture was hosted by the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related offences with the theme, ‘Human Trafficking: Call your government to action.’

Osinbajo said, “Human trafficking is a clear and present danger which confronts all nations in the world either as a source, transit or destination country. It is therefore pertinent that the efforts to combat it should be wholesome.”

Source: https://punchng.com/break-up-not-solution-to-nigerias-problems-osinbajo/