₦airaland Forum

Governors in the six Southwest states are putting finishing touches to the inauguration of a joint regional security outfit codenamed Western Nigeria Security Network (WNSN).

This followed the Approval in Principle given by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) for the zone to establish a Joint Task Force (JTF) to tackle killings, banditry and kidnapping in the Southwest.

The governors rose from a security summit in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital in July, where they decided to defend their domain.

A source close to the project confided in The Nation on Sunday that the six governors had procured the patrol vans to be used by the outfit in readiness for the launch by October.

The source added that the vehicles would be used in each state as branches of the regional outfit with a regional management team to coordinate its activities across the region.

The regional management team would ensure exchange of intelligence and sharing of experiences for maximum performance.

According to the source, the WNSN will be made up of unconventional security personnel, including local hunters and members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) as well as other related personnel.

They will work with traditional rulers and relate with the police on specific engagements, including prosecution of arrested suspects. Their relationship with the police is also to ensure that they operate within the ambits of the law.

The WNSN members are to comb forests and monitor activities in urban neighbourhoods to support the conventional security operatives.

Insecurity heightened in the region in June and July with the incidents reaching an alarming rate on the Ibadan-Ikire-Ife Road, Ilesa-Akure Road and roads in Akoko area of Oyo, Osun and Ondo states respectively.

The fear generated by the incidents prompted the governors of Ondo, Oyo, Osun, Lagos, Ogun and Ekiti states to come together to seek a regional approach to tackling the menace.

They directed the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to organise a security summit to generate ideas on how to develop a regional blueprint to tackle the growing concern.

Magnus Eze, Enugu

An Nnewi based businessman, Chief Ernest Otugo, his wife and friend, simply identified as Chief Reuben, have been kidnapped around Amaokwe, along the old Enugu-Awka road in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu state.

They were said to have been abducted by suspected herdsmen about 8:30pm as they travelled to Enugu from Nnewi, in a chocolate colour Toyota Venza on Thursday.

Saturday Sun gathered that Otugo is President General of Ibite Olo community in Ezeagu Local Government Area of Enugu state while his friend hails from Awka Offemilli, Awka North Local Government Area of Anambra state.

One of their children who was on the trip with them was not taken by the abductors. However, the wife was later released by her captors and asked to go and “begin to gather an undisclosed amount of ransom”.

While the operation lasted, there was anxiety everywhere as the Obioma-Nsude axis of the road was blocked. A family source said the kidnappers had made demands to the family.

There was apprehension in the state, especially as unknown persons had earlier in the day, in Enugu, kidnapped Kaosisochukwu Anioma, daughter of Frank Anioma, former Special Assistant to Senator Ike Ekweremadu. Her father said the incident happened at about 7:00am on Thursday while the young girl left their GRA residence for the New Haven market.

Meanwhile, an advocacy group for the promotion of peace and good governance in Enugu State, Enugu Youths Coalition for Good Governance, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to direct the immediate redeployment of the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Suleiman Balarabe, for lack of capacity and commitment to secure the state.

The group, which frowned at the spate of crimes in the state since Balarabe assumed office as Enugu State police commissioner, few weeks to the 2019 general election, said that their demand was borne out of their objective assessment of the performance of the police chief and the need to protect lives and property.

In a statement signed by the Coordinator and Secretary, Ikechukwu Ibeh and Jude Onyema, respectively, the advocacy group maintained that Enugu State has been peaceful and one of the safest states in Nigeria, expressing deep concern that, “if something urgent is not done to rejig the security architecture of the state; our state’s enviable status will be jeopardised.”

They stated that the present cases of kidnapping, murder and other criminal activities being witnessed in the state were strange and a sign of failure on the part of the security agencies in the state, especially the police.

The youth group which accused leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State of being responsible for the redeployment of the former CP out of the state prior to the elections, asked them to apply the same process to ensure the removal of the present CP on security basis.

Commenting further on Gov. Ugwuanyi’s untiring efforts, the youth group stated that Enugu State is winning the war against crime, stressing that the new security strategies and measures introduced so far by Gov. Ugwuanyi’s administration are already yielding positive results.

StOla:
A terrorist considers physical assault to be courageous while filming the premeditated act, yet same terrorist screams to high heavens that he is being denied his own human rights?

If no one has been arrested, it is because no one has pressed charges.

For that, the terrorists should be thankful for Ekweremadu's naivety or his stupidity.

Now that the terrorist has praised the German police for being civilized, does he consider his own terrorist miscreants and barbarians in that society as part of the civilized humans?

All terrorists are the same. They exploit the liberalism, civility and legal protections of the society as loopholes to stay off prosecution, while they enforce their will on others with threats, fear, assault and murder.

Or is this not the same terrorist who said any Igbo who does not obey his own mandated sit at home order, deserves to die?

jayfolarin:
Elede! Unlike naija teyin oloriburuku yi n fi Olopa oppress protesters. People are free to push back against useless politicians in saner worlds without fear or foe!

That's why diasporans are the biggest weapons against this heartless fools called politicians

jayfolarin:
Ton ba bi iyalaya e da if you be naija politician, wa si Europe abi America, gbogbo wa n duro de gbogbo yin. Eyin oloriburuku omo akotileta!!!

You dey ruin naija dey come jolly for Yankee. God punish una!!!

jayfolarin:
Oponu. Speak for yourself and not the yoruba group. I am yoruba and I can promise you, ekweremadu is just a start to what is to come.

Stupid politicians think they can mess up Nigeria and run to Europe and America to chill. Ko jo mehn!

It's a start! Nigerians abroad (igbos or yoruba) aren't brainwashed by this elder elder bullshit. If you are a Nigerian politician, enter Europe or America openly if dem born you well

Ojiofor:
Did IPOB that claimed responsibility of harrasing Ike Ekweremadu ask you to beat up Yoruba leaders?
I don't think IPOB care how you treat your thieves as leaders in Yorubaland.

Ojiofor:
And that warrant writting an epistle.Olukwu!

Ojiofor:
You are writting long epistle on top Igbo matter,wetin come be your own on how we decide to deal with our leaders?

DukeNija:
You are a very daft fellow who thrives in ethnic division and discord. This is about Nigeria and not your foolish family, enclave or whatever you choose to associate with. Nigeria first before any stupid tribe or ethnic group.

Published August 18, 2019

… puts Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Anambra govs on notice

… attacks Ekweremadu in Germany with stones, yams

My ordeal in the hands of Biafra activists –Ex-DSP

We’re not moved by empty threats, says Umahi

The Indigenous People of Biafra has ordered its members in 100 countries across the world to attack the governors of Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia and Anambra states if they are seen in any of the countries.

The group also put on notice Ndigbo leaders such as the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who it accused of supporting the Operation Python Dance in the South-East.

Operation Python Dance was launched by the Nigerian Army in the South-East in 2016 in the wake of protests by IPOB members who were demanding secession from the country.

The group had cited historical events such as the victory of President Donald Trump in the 2016 United States elections and Brexit as proof of international support for self-determination.

During the Operation Python Dance, the army raided Umuahia, Abia State, the home town of the leader of the secessionist group, Nnamdi Kanu, whose whereabouts have been unknown since then.

Ultimately, the Federal Government designated IPOB as a terrorist organisation on September 18, 2017, under the Terrorism (Prevention) Act 2013.

Speaking to one of our correspondents on Saturday, IPOB spokesperson, Mr Emma Powerful, noted that South-East governors and some Ndigbo leaders had been marked as enemies to be attacked if they were seen in any of the 100 countries their members were residing.

He said the directive was given by Kanu and that in obedience to the IPOB leader’s order, its members were the ones who attacked a former Deputy Senate President, Dr Ike Ekweremadu, in Nuremberg, Germany on Saturday.

Powerful said the lawmaker was “disgraced by the IPOB Nuremberg Family as an Operation Python Dance instigator.”

The IPOB spokesman described Ekweremadu as a “traitor,” accusing him of being among those that got the pro-Biafra group proscribed, alongside the South-East governors.

Powerful vowed that IPOB would take similar action against the South-East governors and Ndigbo leaders, if they dared to attend any public event abroad.

He said, “Today (Saturday), the Nuremberg IPOB family in Germany, in keeping with the long-standing directive from our leader to hound all instigators of the Operation Python Dance, is glad to report that Ike Ekweremadu was confronted and duly hounded out of a so-called New Yam Festival event in Germany.

“Despite repeated warnings to the organisers of this jamboree that Enugu, Ebonyi and other parts of ‘Biafraland’ is under siege by the Fulani caliphate and their collaborators within, they went ahead to invite a known traitor, co-conspirator and one of those who worked with Igbo governors to proscribe and tag IPOB a terror organisation while they never raised any voice against the murderous Fulani herdsmen.

“This should serve as a warning to Nnia Nwodo, Dave Umahi, Okezie Ikpeazu, Willie Obiano and others that any day we find them in a public event abroad, they will be humiliated. IPOB is strategically located in over 100 countries around the world. Anywhere we find them, they will be dealt with.”

How Ekweremadu was attacked with stones, yam

In apparent obedience to the IPOB’s directive to its members, there was commotion on Saturday when Ekweremadu was attacked in Nuremberg, Germany.

The lawmaker, who has served in the Senate since 2003, was seen being pelted with stones, yam, sticks and water packs in short video clips which had gone viral on the social media.

Decked in isiagu, a pullover shirt worn by the Igbo people on special occasions, Ekweremadu was said to have been attacked at Löwensaal am Tier Garten, Nuremberg, venue for the annual New Yam Festival of the Igbo.

The New Yam Festival holds at the end of the rainy season in August and symbolises the conclusion of the harvest and the beginning of a new planting season.

The age-long festival is celebrated across Nigeria and the world wherever the Igbo people live.

While attending the event at Nuremberg, Ekweremadu was seen being attacked by a mob who tore his cloth and dragged him out of the event.

In the video clips, the angry mob was seen preventing the lawmaker from escaping, but he was later whisked away in a Mercedes-Benz car, even as the mob continued to beat him.

As the scene played out, some onlookers, dressed in traditional Igbo attire, were heard condemning the assault meted to the former deputy senate president.

One of the onlookers was heard saying, “This is wicked; why now? It’s not good.”

Despite the commotion, the event went on as planned, according to the Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, Yusuf Tuggar.

In a tweet via his handle @YusufTuggar on Saturday, the diplomat who was at the event wrote, “The Nuremberg yam festival organised by the Ndigbo Germany still took place and I was in attendance. There is no stopping Nigeria. It opened with the Nigerian and German anthems and I addressed the crowd.”

My ordeal in the hands of Biafra activists –Ex-DSP

Confirming the incident on Saturday, Ekweremadu, in a statement by his media aide, Uche Anichukwu, described it as unfortunate. He, however, said he was safe.

He said he was invited to the Second Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by the Ndigbo Germany in Nuremberg and billed to give a keynote address alongside the President-General of the Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Chief Nnia Nwodo, who, however, could not make it.

The lawmaker said he was welcomed by the Ndigbo in Germany and everything went smoothly until some men, who identified themselves as IPOB members, stormed the venue.

He said, “They began to complain about the killings in the South-East, stressing that there would be no Igbo event at the venue.

“I tried to engage them, but when they became unruly, I had to leave the venue.

“The organisers also invited the police and I was accompanied out of the venue.

“I am disappointed with their (IPOB members’) conduct, especially as I am one of the persons who have spoken up on justice for the Ndigbo and against the judicial killings in Igboland and elsewhere.”

Ekweremadu said he had defended IPOB on the floor of the Senate, with the Presidency and the media.

He said, “I had as well rallied the South-East Senate Caucus to secure Nnamdi Kanu’s release with Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, taking him on bail to douse tension in the South-East.

“I nevertheless do not hold this to the heart against them, for they know not what they did.

“I have received thousands of solidarity calls and messages from well-meaning Ndigbo. I want to assure them that I am hale and hearty.”

In the meantime, investigations by one of our correspondents showed that Kanu visited Nuremberg recently to protest against holding the New Yam Festival because of the killings in Igboland.

It was also gathered that the IPOB members who attacked Ekweremadu on Saturday actually targeted Nwodo.

They reportedly descended on Ekweremadu when it was obvious that their main ‘target’ was conspicuously absent.

FG, CACOL, Ohanaeze, Ndume condemn attack on lawmaker

Following the attack on Ekweremadu, the Federal Government has condemned the IPOB members’ action.

The Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, in a statement on Saturday described the incident as an embarrassment to the country.

She stated that some of the culprits who perpetrated the act had been apprehended and called on the German government and law enforcement agencies to ensure they faced the consequences of their actions.

She said, “It is also shamefully pathetic that an event which was nobly put together by the Ndigbo community in Germany, whose members make up the majority of Nigerians living in Germany, to amongst other things, provide a forum for the Diaspora and various stakeholders to network and facilitate a better cooperation between German and Nigerian businesses, ended up in such a disgraceful manner.”

Dabiri-Erewa appealed to Nigerians to be of good behaviour wherever they found themselves “because such incidents tarnish the image of the country.”

Also condemning the attack, the Executive Chairman, Centre for Anti-Corruption and Open Leadership, Mr Debo Adeniran, condemned IPOB’s action, saying it was an act of brigandage.

He said, “These people ought not to have gone to such place to display brigandage because IPOB has been banned in Nigeria.

“However, our leaders should take heed because that is an example of what will happen, granted that it was a different ball game. They might have reacted that way because they possibly perceived that Ekweremadu had not been with them in terms of support.

“Be that as it may, the action of the IPOB members was highly condemnable in faraway Germany where the image of the country should have been jealously guided.”

Also describing the attack as barbaric, the Ohanaeze Ndigbo accused Kanu of sponsoring “miscreants” to trample on Ekweremadu’s fundamental human rights.

Nwodo told SUNDAY PUNCH on Saturday that Kanu’s action reflected his disregard for the former deputy senate president, who was instrumental in securing the release of the IPOB leader.

Nwodo said, “In every 12, there is a Judas. Senator Ekweremadu and I were supposed to be in Germany but because my visa was not out, Senator Ekweremadu went on our behalf.

“The attack on him was unruly, uncivilised, a vitiation of his fundamental human rights and a sad story of where we are. I’m shocked that any true Igbo man could do this to Senator Ekweremadu.

“Without Senator Ekweremadu, Nnamdi Kanu would not have got bail. He (Ekweremadu) was the one who networked with senators who went ahead to sign on his (Kanu) behalf.”

Nwodo called on the German government to take appropriate actions against the perpetrators.

“I condemn it in its entirety. I think it is disrespectful, discourteous; I think it is a fundamental dent on our solidarity. I think that those who did it are not worthy to be called Igbo,” he said.

A former Senate Leader, Ali Ndume, also condemned the attack on Ekweremadu.

Speaking to one of our correspondents on Saturday, he said the IPOB members attacked one of the “greatest heroes” in Nigeria.

“Ekweremadu is not the person they ought to attack and indeed they have to stop such attack on anybody for that matter,” Ndume said.

Assaulting us abroad not solution to agitation – S’East govs

Meanwhile, the South-East Governors Forum on Saturday said the IPOB order directing its members to attack them anywhere abroad would not solve the problem of their agitation for Biafra.

The chairman of the forum and Governor of Ebonyi State, David Umahi, who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Emma Uzo, said that the governors had no problem with the members of the outlawed group to warrant such an order, adding that the insecurity in the South-East was a nationwide challenge which was squarely under the Federal Government’s command and control.

Condemning the attack on Ekweremadu, Umahi said, “If there is any issue IPOB holds against the governors, they should come home to settle it in Igboland instead of a foreign land.

“What happened was a security issue which was within the purview of the Federal Government. Attacking governors in a foreign land is a wild goose chase. We love them because they are our children.

“IPOB cannot achieve Biafra alone, except with the collaboration of all stakeholders including the governors. They don’t need to attack the governors to achieve Biafra.”

The governors’ forum warned the members of the proscribed body not to allow political opportunists to use them to destroy the South-East.

“They should come together and work with the governors and the Ohanaeze Ndigbo to achieve the Igbo Presidency come 2023 instead of fighting the governors. We want them to be close to us instead of taking the struggle to the international arena,” it said.

Furthermore, Umahi’s aide described the IPOB’s threats as empty, saying the group lacked the powers to track down any South-East governor anywhere in the world.

“They have no such spread and powers to track down South-East governors for attack anywhere in the world. They are too small. I don’t want to say they sound so cowardly, but they can’t see the governors to attack,” he added.

samyyoung1:
I be Yoruba ooo, but I love d beating thing, abeg help us beat our daddy n mummy, Baba n mama tinubu join..... Let the revolution be televised

Esseite:
But the same Elders in villages across divides are worthy to be beaten, raped, displaced and killed while the one whom is being paid to speak for them is absorbed of such reprimand.

The ones who were beaten or even killed, are they not peoples parents?.

MrBrownJay1:
NEWSFLASH: your disrespectful unfaithful dishonest untrustworthy husband is the person who will allow these slay mama to take over your home, and you will have no say on this matter... since you will clearly accept any type of rubbish from your husband.

FarahAideed:
Jonathan govt had negotiated an 850 million dollars out of court deal with PID which Buhari rrfused to honor...it's Buharis fault we are in this mess

FarahAideed:
The contract was breached by Buhari ..I have been following the case

https://www.vanguardngr.com/2019/08/breaking-british-court-orders-irish-firm-to-seize-9b-nigerias-foreign-reserves/


…Deal struck during Ex-President Goodluck Jonathan’s government

By Anthony Ogbonna

A British court has ordered an Irish firm, Process and Industrial Developments Ltd (P&ID) to seize 20 per cent in assets, of Nigeria’s foreign reserves, amounting to $9bn (£7.4bn).


Justice Butcher of the British Commercial Court gave the ruling on Friday. The ruling will likely raise concerns among foreign investors. The case dates back to 2010, when Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was Nigeria’s president.

The Nigerian government, under Dr. Jonathan, had struck a deal with the Irish firm to supply gas to a processing plant built and run by P&ID in Calabar. The agreement was for a 20-year deal. But the Nigerian government failed to keep to her own side of the agreement, prompting the firm to take the case to court.

Meanwhile, in 2013, P&ID won a $6.6bn arbitration case against Nigeria. The figure was calculated based on what the company was estimated to have earned over the course of the 20-year agreement. But in today’s ruling, the firm said the amount had risen to $9bn following interest accrued so far, reports City A.M.

Today’s decision means that the arbitration is converted into a legal judgement, allowing P&ID to attempt a seizure of the assets. Andrew Stafford QC, P&ID’s lawyer, said: “We are pleased that the Court has rejected Nigeria’s objections both to the arbitration process and to the amount of the award, and that it will grant permission to P&ID to begin enforcement of the award in the United Kingdom.”

He added: “P&ID is committed to vigorously enforcing its rights, and we intend to begin the process of seizing Nigerian assets in order to satisfy this award as soon as possible.”

FarahAideed:
They will seize it because of the folly of your Buhari who has caused Nigeria to lose 9 billion dollars in a bid to avoid paying just 200 million dollars or allowing the contract go on

Ajibel:
Well, I think this is what you inferred from his statement and I kinda agree but some could interpret what he said implying otherwise which would be a shame if that's what Joe actually meant. You know you can't take it away from them to brag about their large numbers and business sagacity.

Ajibel:


Is he insinuating that 70% of Lagosians are Igbos