₦airaland Forum

Elder statesman and former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, has faulted ex-President Olusegun over his Sunday's comment on the security situation in the country.

Obasanjo had during a press conference on Sunday claimed the security situation in Nigeria has deteriorated under the Muhammdu Buhari-led government.

Reacting in a letter entitled “Your Open Epistles Have Outlived All Usefulness" Tsav said Obasanjo goofed on his submission.

The elder statesman said he was shocked that Obasanjo who laid the foundation for all problems bedeviling Nigeria is now criticising Buhari.

The letter reads.

Let me use this opportunity to wish you and your family a happy, blissful and prosperous New Year, as we pray for God’s guidance and wisdom in the leadership of Nigeria.

I have taken pains as an elder to peruse and deeply reflect on the contents of your recent epistle/address to Nigerians. I strongly feel like most other elders of our great nation that as a Senior Citizen, there is need to reply you by shedding light on some of your attempts to twist facts and the carefully rehearsed tales, least you mislead the younger generation.

First, I must say, I am not impressed with the tone, discourteous and indecorous language of your letter. Even if you are genuinely aggrieved or seek for a better Nigeria as you feign in this open letter, an elder statesman of your status should be more matured in conveying his anger.

Casting unproved aspersions on public institutions is in itself a weapon of anarchy for the youths who are reading/listening to you. We have a moral and religious duty to mentor our children in a manner that would enable them grow up as responsible citizens and leaders.

What better Nigeria do you seek when you fabricate lies and de-market other leaders from a partisan perspective; delivered in a very uncouth language to youths who would tomorrow assume leadership of this great nation?

Sir, your letter has touched on a number of national issues, which are basically centered on the next general elections, especially the Presidential ballot of February 16, 2019. I take serious exception to the falsehood and mendacities peddled by its contents and the unfounded phobia of your presumed rigging of the next general elections.

However, while these issues have been unconvincingly interrogated by you and at some instances, you dispensed yourself more as seeking for personal vengeance than fighting an altruistic national cause; I like to comment on the issue of security and Boko Haram insurgency to be specific.

Let me quickly remind you that whatever perceived loopholes in the administration of Nigeria today had the foundation solidly laid by your government for eight years. It does not make sense for a leader to create a problem and then query another leader for failing to solve it to his taste.

The political infractions as experienced in our democracy today, which you complain loudly were hatched and nurtured by you. The PDP government you headed raised an army of killers, by arming youths and brigands, who gleefully embarked on assassinations or elimination of political rivals.

This culture survived all the years PDP held power and President Muhammadu Buhari’s redemption government is cleaning up the rot or the mess accumulated for 16 years in the midst of distractive obstructions.

It’s unfortunate that indignation has blinded you from noticing the difference. But Nigerians who saw yesterday and are survivors today have seen the positive and remarkable difference, which your malicious letter fruitlessly seeks to diminish.

When I look at what Boko Haram became in Nigeria, the torments; the atrocities or heinous crimes it committed on Nigerians for more than a decade, I feel Nigerians deserve a public apology from you.

It is strange that while you have not convinced yourself to tender a public apology to Nigerians, it smacks of public mockery and assault on our collective sensibilities for you to castigate President Buhari by baselessly plotting to vacate the gains the country has achieved in battling insurgency under his administration.

If you have forgotten, let me remind you that Boko Haram started in 2002 as a small sect of political thugs imported into Nigeria/Borno state from Niger and Chad republics for the reelection project of the then Governor of Borno state.


The band of political thugs who morphed into Boko Haram and led by Mohammed Yusuf felt aggrieved that they were used and dumped after the governorship reelection victory in 2003. And with arms in their possession they initially started as armed robbers and were emboldened by the successes of their exploits and then metamorphosed into Boko Haram.

Sir, the government you led had the opportunity to crush this emergent and fanatical religious sect, but you ignored it. Under your watch, you allowed Boko Haram gain strength and gathered enough momentum to spread its atrocious tentacles in killings, bombings, abductions and destruction of public and private properties in Nigeria. There was no apparent reason to abdicate this sacred security responsibility to the nation. Have you ever reflected on this?

Had you discharged your sacrosanct constitutional obligation of securing lives and property of Nigerians, Boko Haram would have been extinguished at its embryonic stage; it would not have blossomed and President Buhari would not have met it as a major security threat to Nigeria by 2015.

A leader with such records on this scandalous security problem has no moral standing or locus standi to openly disparage the rewarding efforts in curbing Boko Haram under the Buhari Presidency. If it is not malicious persecution, I remember that in your open epistle to President Buhari last year, you commended the President for his efforts in fighting corruption and Boko Haram in the country.

Why the sudden reversal? Could it be genuine confusion or malice or hatred wrapped as national activism or patriotism? To describe insecurity situation in Nigeria today by you, especially Boko Haram as deteriorating is absurd and most uncharitable.

I want to believe your memory has failed you on the precarious security situation and progression of Boko Haram in Nigeria, especially in the Northeast before the Buhari Presidency.

Permit me to refresh your memory. When President Buhari took over the reins of power in May 2015, Boko Haram insurgency had engulfed almost the entire Northern part of Nigeria. The Northeast was under the raging fires of insurgency, with Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states most affected. It reigned supreme and started inroads into Southern Nigeria. But Buhari has halted it.

Also, please recall that insurgents had forcefully annexed and occupied 20 local government areas in Borno state alone, in which they deposed Emirs and foisted the flags of their “Islamic Caliphate,” as insignia of their administrative control unchallenged. Terrorists also had partial control of seven other LGAs in Yobe and Adamawa states. President Buhari has reclaimed all the captured territories of Nigeria.

Insurgents frequent attacks and raids of security formations, villages or communities caused desertion of ancestral abodes by natives, leading to gruesome killings, abductions, destructions and displacement of people. IDPs camps in the Northeast were filled to the brim with displaced persons. With President Buhari’s decimation and defeat of Boko Haram, the situation today is not as grim as it was yesterday.

Most IDPs have gone back to their villages, the devastated Northeast is being rebuilt; over 16, 000 Nigerians held hostage by terrorists have been rescued by the Nigerian Army. And life has gradually returned to abandoned enclaves. No leader honest with himself would claim the security situation on Boko Haram in this region is deteriorating.

I agree with you that the Islamic State’s West African Province (ISWAP) has teamed up with Boko Haram. It is the reason for the resurgence of terrorism in the region in the last two months. But to rubbish every other efforts in this regard or refuse to see the change is unpatriotic and self-serving.

And to falsely claim the Nigerian government is empowering insurgents by payment of ransoms is equal to countering yourself, hence you had admitted this same address that ISWAP pairing with insurgents is responsible for the current upsurge, which is being handled.

I am baffled that as a retired Army General and former Commander-in-Chief of Nigerian Armed Forces you feel satisfied to say the Buhari government has reached the “end of its wit even in handling all security issues , but particularly Boko Haram issue.” But three successive Presidents of Nigeria including you combined could not post the results the Buhari Presidency has displayed on the winning streaks against insurgency.

We all seek to have a peaceful, secured and progressive nation. But to deliberately undermine or rundown an incumbent leader because of our personal grudges is unrealistic, selfish and callous.

I strongly feel President Buhari deserves encouragement to break new grounds on the resurged Boko Haram insurgents and not vilification. In same manner, the COAS, Lt. Gen. TY Buratai and the troops in the trenches deserve kind words of endearments’ from leaders like you for the great sacrifices they are making on our behest.

To understand that this poor outing is emanating from an elder statesman of your caliber is not good account of yourself and Nigeria, a country you once led. You cannot be wrong and right at the same time.

It is better to reassess your public outings, especially on the excitement of -writing open letters because I sense these epistles in which you end up countering yourself most times have outlived their usefulness’.

By Okanga Agila

Its partisan times, so differing views have invaded the political space on the persona and leadership content in President Muhammadu Buhari. He is both loved and hated. But it’s normal in life, especially for leaders who must step on toes or bruise many to find the illuminating trajectory of leadership.

President Muhammadu Buhari is Nigeria’s latest subject of praises and vituperations. First, everyone must understand that Buhari is the incumbent President of Nigeria, who is seeking reelection in the February 16, 2019 presidential ballot. But inevitably and consonance with democratic ethos, some political power mongers are seeking to unseat him. They have assembled in their numbers on different political platforms.

To this category of opposing politicians and Nigeria’s potential leaders, President Buhari has performed so poorly in the last three years. They chant everywhere that he deserves to be ousted; but hardly justify their stand with incontrovertible facts. What is palpable in their eyes is the naked scramble for power. So, “Buhari must go!” is what electrifies every campaign fora of the opposition gangsters.

The opposition ought to be genuinely piqued with Buhari for several reasons. The CBN ATMs, the unfettered access to the official exchange rates of foreign currencies; the blockage of fake oil subsidy claims, terminating the regime of inflated and abandoned contracts, and the arms procurement deals which stashed diverted dollars into several accounts have been blocked by Buhari.



So, there are veiled and subterranean plots to ensure President Buhari does not stage a comeback in the next presidential polls. Some former Nigerian leaders, with the exception of a few like Gen. Yakubu Gowon (rtd) are neck-deep into this evil design. They have some handful minions, most of whom are in subordinate leadership positions who are prosecuting the agenda of President Buhari’s ouster very satanically.

The opponents, especially in the main opposition PDP have forgotten that in 16 years of acclaimed “perfect” leadership of Nigeria, they neither delivered on good governance nor leadership. They dislocated Nigeria in all sectors.



But it was under their watch Nigeria’s foreign reserves were depleted and shared on the table mutilated parts of a hunter’s game. It was under their watch local contractors and oil subsidy claimants were owned awful trillions of naira for questionable debts.

It was under their cursed regimes, 27 out of 36 states in the federation, including the central government could not pay salaries and allowances to public servants. The defunct PDP government personified poverty and misery.

It was under their leadership insecurity in Nigeria peaked. Boko Haram terrorists captured and conveniently occupied 20 LGAs in Borno state alone and another four LGAs in Adamawa and Yobe states. Nigerians witnessed Boko Haram detonating their bombs everywhere in Abuja and other major cities in the North. The government of the day condoned it as signs of the times.

Nigerians tolerated for years, and inexcusably, how the so-called ideal leadership supervised Plateau, the home of peace and tourism turned the epicenter or turf of testing ethnic supremacy by clannish warlords. Farmers and herders clashes reigned in most rural communities of Northern Nigeria unrestricted and blossomed every day, starching its tentacles to virgin territories.

Armed bandits and rustlers roamed freely with the gait of conquerors in Northwest Nigeria. Militancy in the Niger Delta region was job for both the young and the old. And its intensification blighted Nigeria’s economic fortunes.

Nigerians, except these odious leaders, barricaded by fenced walls and sentries knew everything was wrong with Nigeria. The masses realized only a puritan of angelic endowments like President Buhari was competent to re-fix Nigeria. He was fervently persuaded to redeem Nigeria from the manacles of leadership slavery.

Thus, Buhari landed like the eagle in 2015 in the poll of these sickening national malaises. President Buhari mounted the stage with messages in three main critical sectors to kick-start the recovery or redemption campaigns for Nigeria. Security was topmost on his agenda; the economy and anti-corruption wars were aspects of Nigeria as a country he vowed to vigorously pursue in his first years in office.

Looking back at yesterday and today, one observes a positive and significant difference in these critical sectors in the nation. President Buhari has been able to recover a nation pushed into recession back on its feet. It happened when national oil revenues’ declined considerably; but he combined wisdom and prudence to effectively apply the meagre national resources to achieve results.

Aside initiating capital projects, he has been able to complete abandoned capital projects in infrastructure, power generation, health, public transport, education, oil and gas, agriculture and so forth to lay the base for industrial development.

Buhari has been able to impressively shore-up Nigeria’s foreign reserves which declined to as low as $29.6 billion in May 2015 to $47.5 billion by May 2018. This is alongside checkmating inflationary trends in the economy, which have also witnessed a progressive decline since January, 2017.

Similarly, the Sovereign Wealth Fund portfolio has appreciated with the injection of $650 million so as to strengthen local investments in various sectors of the economy. It has also yielded positive results.

President Buhari’s anti- corruption crusade anchored by both the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) have recovered looted commonwealth amounting to billions of naira, alongside forfeiture of assets acquired with illicit wealth worth trillions of naira. EFCC has netted the highest record of recoveries of loots since the establishment of the anti-graft agency nearly two decades ago.

But Buhari’s brightest star shines in the area of the hitherto suffocating national insecurity. It is repetitious to assert that President Buhari has splendidly curbed raging terrorism and insurrections which nearly crumbled Nigeria.

Under the Buhari Presidency, the Nigerian military have been able to properly dissect the numerous security challenges confronting the country. It has adopted both combat and psychological strategies to conveniently counter the menace of insecurity threats that held Nigeria to the jugular.

A transparent, accountable and disciplined leadership of the Nigerian Army led by the COAS, Lt.Gen. TY Buratai has secured for Nigeria victory over Boko Haram insurgents, herdsmen /farmers crises, violent militancy, dubious secession movements and the repulsive armed banditry and cattle rustling criminalities in the country.

Truly, many people are excited at the prospects of leadership; but not everybody is endowed with leadership wisdom to lead a country as complex as Nigeria, with its multifaceted challenges. Most leaders of Nigeria have failed because they mixed greed and personal enrichment at the expense of the people. President Buhari is outstanding in this regard, which makes him an incontestable Prince of the Savannah.

Nigeria cannot afford to mortgage President Buhari’s leadership at this moment. There is every need to support him to succeed and continue in office beyond 2019 to concretize these gains. As far as Nigerians committed to the recovery of this country from the hands of the leadership vultures, Buhari remains the unbeatable choice and hope for a secured and prosperous nation.

Only President Buhari who has the moral rectitude and commitment can sustain the gains that have been recorded in some of the nation’s critical sectors and most profoundly on security.

Okanga wrote this piece from Agila, Benue State.

The embattled Chief Jusitce of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Waler Onnoghen hhas been asked to honourable take the exit door before its too late.

Recall that thet Federal Government had ordered Justice Onnoghen to immediately vacate his office.

The Federal Government among others is accusing Nigeria’s Head of the Judiciary of refusal to declare his assets in breach of the provision of the Code of Conduct Bureau Act.

He was billed to appear before a Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, on Monday but failed to show up.

Speaking on the development, the Coalition for Change in Nigeria, said from its finding, contrary to the political, ethnic and religious coloration it is being given, the trial of Justice Onnoghen was not about President Muhammadu Buhari or the All Progressives Congress (APC).

President of the coalition, Patriot Sabo Odeh, who addressed a press conference on Wednesday, called on the CJN to take the path of honour by resigning his appointment and consequently vacate his office to face trial.

Full text of his speech below.

Nigerians have again been subjected to a spectacle of shame with the ongoing but needless controversy over the arraignment of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen, before the Code of Conduct Tribunal over his alleged failure to properly declare his assets and operating foreign domiciliary bank accounts. We call the controversy a shame because it has exposed the sham in the constant agitation for a paradigm shift that some of our compatriots put up for show.

We have noted that the matter, which is glaringly an open and close case, since flagrant violation of the Constitution and legislation emanating from it have been established against Justice Onnoghen. But in an atmosphere that has been hijacked by a feral opposition it is not surprising that the case has been turned on its head and given all manners of colourations, all with the sole aim of allowing another person that has abused his position of trust to escape repercussions.

In the past few days, we have seen the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) issuing statements and threats that have only gone to confirm that the embattled Chief Justice is a closet member of the party.

The party has issued several threats and continued to reiterate them such that with the benefit of hindsight there is now substance to the claims previously made by some groups and persons that the PDP, certain of a resounding trouncing and defeat at the polls, has compromised the judiciary in order to fraudulently take over the government of the country through frivolous court ruling, particularly the position of the President. It has therefore wrongly concluded that Justice Onnoghen is being tried after his secret deal with the PDP was found out. In street parlance, such behaviour is greeted with the exclamation of “guilty conscience”.

We have since found out that the huge crowd of lawyers, 30 Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SAN) and more than 100 junior lawyers, that turned up to represent the Chief Justice were retained by members of the PDP. Many of these PDP members that hired the lawyers for Justice Onnoghen are candidates in the forthcoming elections and will likely have post-election litigations that will proceed from Elections Tribunals to the Supreme Court. This has further exposed His Lordship to conflict of interest, which he seems unable to resist.

The governors of five south-south states, with the exclusion of Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo state, elevated themselves above the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by directing the Chief Justice not to keep his appointment with the Code of Conduct Tribunal.

It is troubling that Justice Onnoghen deferred to the directive of the five governors thereby placing them above the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, which established the Code of Conduct Tribunal and empowered it to summon public office holders that are deemed to have cases to answer before it. Without prejudice to the eventual outcome of the case filed before the Tribunal, the fact that His Lordship would rather toe the line ruled by regional governors to violate the Constitution being the Chief Interpreter of the Law has proven that he has no business occupying his current post.
It is most nauseating that among those that have been hired to help Justice Onnoghen evade the law are Niger Delta militants.

The militants have threatened to resume hostilities against the Nigerian state should the Code of Conduct Tribunal go ahead with the trial. Even if he was constrained to be unable to distance himself from the PDP, to the extent that the Chief Justice has refused to reject the support offered by the militants, we see their threats on several levels. The first is that the threats prove that His Lordship has all along been the Chief Justice of the Niger Delta and not that of Nigeria, which makes his continued parade as CJN untenable even if there was no charge against before the tribunal.

Secondly is the absurdity of the Chief Justice accepting the support of a group whose members are certain to appeal the sentences for their crimes against Nigeria before the Supreme Court; the support they have given him today has bought them influence with the Court in future. Additionally, any patriotic Nigerian should condemn groups that attempt to get their way by threat of violence as the militants have done by threatening to resume attacks against Nigeria.

The only honourable thing Justice Onnoghen has done in the entire saga was to set the record straight by disproving the fake news deployed by one Femi Fani-Kayode and one Yinka Odumakin to the effect that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has surrounded his residence. The fact that the Chief Justice disprove the fake news is an indication that he could have also disowned the support from the Niger Delta militants and also disregard the directive from the south-south governors if he had wished to. We see him allowing this controversy to fester because he views it as an escape route from facing the consequences for his breach of the law.

The Coalition for Change in Nigeria, from the foregoing, is convinced that contrary to the political, ethnic and religious coloration it is being given, the trial of Justice Onnoghen is not about President Muhammadu Buhari or the All Progressives Congress (APC). It is about embracing the new Nigeria where there are no different set of laws for Nigerians, a country where judiciary plays its role for the sustenance of our democracy because those presiding over its affairs place themselves above board.

Justice Onnoghen may wish to place a call to the Deputy Chief Justice of Kenya, Justice Philomena Mwilu, who has not only been arraigned and being tried for corruption, but was arrested prior to being charged. A former Chief Justice of Nepal, Justice Gopal Parajuli, is another buddy that the Chief of Justice of Nigeria may want to interact with to find out how false declaration could hurt careers as he was sacked for false age declaration.

We envisage that the recalcitrant disposition not to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal has already hurt the stability of the country because Justice Onnoghen’s behaviour and utterances of those speaking on his behalf would be interpreted as a Supreme Court pronouncement. The implication of this is that persons to be arraigned before the courts will simply cite his refusal to appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal as justification for them not to be expected to do same.

In recent days, the Chief Justice’s case has been politicised, made to appear like ethnic persecution, has been a source of terror threat against Nigeria and the key personae has encouraged this behaviour with his silence. The preservation of Nigeria is at the core of expectations from the judiciary and if the number one person in the judiciary has shown that he is not interested in the oneness and the harmonious existence of the country there is no need to continue trusting his leadership of that arm of government.

He has also compounded whatever allegations there are against him before the Code of Conduct Tribunal by accepting representation from lawyers paid for by chieftains of PDP, who will be litigants before the Supreme Court in a matter of weeks. This is a clear case of conflict of interest. His conflict of interest has been further compounded with the acceptance of support from militants that could be appealing convictions before his court.
The judiciary has been compromised by someone with moral burdens of this magnitude being in charge. We therefore boldly declare that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen has lost the moral standing to continue to remain in that capacity. Justice Onnoghen should therefore honourably resign before it is too late for what would left once honour has deserted him is shame.

The South East Revival Group [SERG] has spoken on the reintroduction of the military exercise, otherwise known as Operation Python Dance III in Nigeria, particularly the south east region.

The group said the launch of the exercise, which has sent criminal elements running from the south-east, was a welcome development and will put an end to all forms of intimidation, coercion, force and blackmail which the agents of darkness had programmed to use in truncating the 2019 general elections across the south east.

SERG pledged that Igbos would give the troops support in the course of their operation to ensure free and transparent election.

Charles Mbani, the national president of the group, while addressing newsmen in Abuja on Wednesday, recalled that Operation Python Dance I & II helped reduce incidents of armed robberies and banditry in the five Igbo states and their neighbours.

Mbani called on the army to ensure that members of the Independent People of Biafra organization or any other organization do not deprive voters in the southeast, especially in Ebonyi and Abia states.

He said, “We are not unaware of the mixed reactions that have trailed the launch of the exercise at the various brigades across the country. Being a group that has been in the tick of the affairs in the southeast, which has hosted the earlier editions of Operation Python Dance, we are in position to offer a fair assessment and projection of what to expect from the nationwide exercise. The earlier versions of the operation held solely in the Igbo states of southeast as training exercises that dealt with incidental crimes.

It is on record that these first and second versions of Operation Python Dance, which we know locally as Exercise Egwu Eke I and Exercise Egwu Eke II, were initially opposed by those that did not appreciate what was achievable. We can categorically state that after Exercise Egwu Eke I held with remarkable success, people were less critical of Exercise Egwu Eke II, which has made Operation Python Dance III record better reception than the two preceding editions.

In those two initial editions were instrumental for certain milestones in the southeast as itemized below:

“Operation Python Dance I & II helped reduce incidents of armed robberies and banditry in the five Igbo states and their neighbours. Because the exercises were held towards the Yuletide season, towns and cities that use to come under siege of criminal elements practically celebrated the season with reduced crimes. The impact was such that our brethren in the Diaspora, who used to be wary of returning home are now able to not only visit home but also spend quality time with us. Because they are able to spend time at home without feeling threatened we are now beginning to see in them an appetite for investing at home, which was not the case before the initiation of Operation Python Dance. Had Operation Python Dance not held in our geo-political zone perhaps we would have today been in the same situation as the northwest geo-political zone where bandits are sowing terror in the hearts of the people.

“Crimes thrive on the availability of illicit small arms and ammunition. Troops on Operation Python Dance have in the past been able to mop up the flow of illicit firearms, which has made it possible for other law enforcement organizations to have a more conducive environment to carry out their tasks.

“These past achievements of Operation Python Dance, particularly when they troops persistently observed the rules of engagement, have endeared the exercise to the people. We recall that there were demands from discerning groups and individuals in the southeast for the exercise to be made into an annual affair to ensure that the security situation does not degenerate badly again before there would be such stabilizing intervention.

“One gap we noticed in the past edition was the tendency for some criminals to flee across state borders into states not covered by the exercise, in the hope that they will return to resume their evil activities once it is over. This gap has now been plugged since Operation Python Dance III is nationwide. The implication is that criminals will have no hiding place as they can only flee one state where the operation is taking place into another state where it is also taking place.

“We particularly laud the Nigerian Army and the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai for expanding the operation to cover the entire country. We further laud the Army and COAS for not excluding the southeast from the third edition on account that the geo-political zone had enjoyed two previous editions of the exercise. We are certain that the current exercise will consolidate on the gains of Exercise Egwu Eke I and Exercise Egwu Eke II while spreading similar benefit across the country.

"The operation is a great initiative that complements other security agencies in their roles to make democracy work for Nigerians.

"The ongoing exercise is meant to address the problem of criminality usually associated with general elections. It is apparent that it will positively impact the forthcoming election and ensure that lives and properties are secured, which is paramount. Like Oliver Twist, the South East Revival Group [SERG] will however make further demands of the Nigerian Army in the firm belief that the COAS will be kindly dispose to entertaining them:

“IPoB and some other separatist groups have been threatening that they will not allow citizens to vote in the southeast. Operation Python Dance should help ensure that members of the designated terror organization or any other organization do deprive voters in the southeast, especially in Ebonyi and Abia states, that IPoB has particularly singled out for disruption as contained in a statement it issued.

“Troops should continue mopping up illicit small arms since there has been a pattern of upsurge in crimes related to these firearms in the aftermath of elections. We understand that some unscrupulous politicians usually distribute arms to youths, which they then divert into commission crimes once elections are over since the politicians are unable to retrieve same from them. The Army should please ensure that such weapons are not used during the elections and certainly not used after the elections.

The group further charged Nigerians to support the exercise in their various states to ensure free and fair general elections.

http://www.streetreporters.ng/python-dance-iii-gets-igbos-support-army-hailed-over-operation/

Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, retired Commissioner of Police has described as a betrayal of national security a recent story published by Daily Trust on military operation in Baga, Borno State.

Tsav, who was also erstwhile Commissioner, Public Complaints Commission, Abuja joined other Nigerians to chide the newspaper for publishing such sensitive report, especially at a time when the nation was gradually winning the war against insurgency.

The elder statesman in a statement personally signed on Thursday, warned Daily Trust against being misled by the retinue of international organizations that have been taking turns to berate the Nigerian Army for its reaction to its indiscretion.

Tsav said, “I have resisted joining the fray since our esteemed newspaper, which we regard as championing the affairs of Nigerians, north of the Niger, Daily Trust published the now contentious story titled “Military prepares massive operation to retake Baga, others”.

“But the continued berating and vilification of the military over its response to the story has made it impossible for me to remain indifferent.

"As someone whose entire career was in law enforcement and security, my initial reaction upon reading the story was to cringe at the implications of what I was reading.

“If Daily Trust is allowed to get away with the story without acknowledging that it did something wrong and without a commitment to cease and desist from further compromising the operations of the military then the capacity of Nigeria to respond to and counter security threats is forever endangered. This is no time to allow political, ethnic or religious orientation to push Nigeria into committing certain suicide.

“From the viewpoint of a policeman, it is like the newspaper running a story that police is about to raid the hideout of wanted criminals. The reputation of the newspaper would make the criminals treat the information with all the deserved seriousness and by the time the team of policemen arrive the hideout the wanted criminals would have escaped or worse still they could ambush the policemen with the likelihood that the casualty on the police side would be higher than would have been the case had the hardened criminals not been officially tipped off.

“What happened in the case of the military, however, has far more grievous consequences for which certain parties should accept responsibility. This is especially so when a crucial opportunity to take down the terrorists, given the magnitude of the planned operation as reported by the Daily Trust and confirmed by the high command of the military, has been irretrievably lost.

“Daily Trust should accept the responsibility for this glaring failing. It should have, in practice with the norms of journalism, crosscheck its story with the relevant military spokespersons, who would have advised on the sensitivity of running with the story when the planned attack has not been launched since the element of surprise would be lost.

“Even where it does not have cordial interaction with the military, there was the option of consulting security experts before the story was published and it would have still been warned as to the dangers of prematurely revealing information that was that strategic. The international publications and news services that Daily Trust aspires to replicate follow this procedure where security of their nations is concerned. So, following this route would not have been an exception.

“Daily Trust must not allowed itself to be misled by the retinue of international organizations that have been taking turns to berate the Nigerian Army for its reaction to its indiscretion. In reality, the criticism of the military by these organizations is condemnable, and should be so condemned by anyone that is interested in seeing Nigeria get rid of Boko Haram terrorists.

“Equally condemnable is the news report that disclosed sensitive military operation. It is abhorrent and should be condemned in its totality.

“It unacceptable that foreign agents and entities would persist in promoting neo-colonial agenda by rushing to criticize the Nigerian military for carrying out its duties while being sabotaged by a section of the media. No organization, for any reason, should sabotage national security which is paramount even in the course of a news organization performing its duty. We know that no newspaper will dare what Daily Trust did in other countries so the foreign merchants of tainted freedom of the press are free to go encourage such unacceptable behaviour in their country.

“There is, however, no need crying over spilt milk. The task of ridding Nigeria of terrorists remains ahead of us all. The Nigerian Army and Daily Trust should move forward by heeding the admonition of Mr President to resolve the contention over the story through dialogue, which does not rule out the importance of ensuring that no organization or individual should again publish classified operational information about the military operations against Boko Haram.

“The Army should on its part, using advantage of technology and in collaboration with other agencies, exploit the incident to unveil those that that have been passing out information about military operations into the wrong hands.”

Source: https://dailygazettengr.com/2019/01/10/boko-haram-how-daily-trust-report-on-baga-operation-betrayed-national-security-tsav/

The National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) has saluted the Chief of Army Staff Lt. Gen Tukur Yusuf Buratai and his men for sense of patriotism and dedication in their fight against insurgency in the country.



The religious group admitted that members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect had intensified their attacks on the country in the last few weeks of last year, but the Nigerian Army, as usual, rose to the task and sent them packing.



Bishop Sunday Garuba, President of NIFROP at a press conference on Sunday, called on other religious leaders in the country to back the Nigerian troops with prayers as they sweat it out to restore peace to the nation.



The cleric observed that the damage the Nigerian troops inflicted on the terrorists in the past year might have been underreported but patriotic citizens that are interested in the truth are still able to read between the lines to appreciate what has been done on their behalf.



According to him, “It is reassuring that the military has proven that the sacrifices of these ones were not in vain as they had shown the terrorists that the army of a sovereign nation is not to be toyed with by terrorists even when they have foreign support.



“The Nigerian Army has been able to rise above the blockade against its ability to procure weapons to dedicatedly deploy its inventory to tackle the menace of Boko Haram irrespective of how the group has rebranded to incorporate other killers from the Middle East and North Africa in their folds.



“The Nigerian Army has triumphed against the evil support that the terrorists enjoy from organizations that masquerade as good when the essence of their work reeks of evil. The merchants of lies that offer the terrorists help by way of making their crimes appear lesser have failed to prevail against the Nigerian state and it is all thanks to the professionalism of the Nigerian Army, which has remained dedicated in spite of the scheming against it by these foreign merchants of grief.



Speaking on the efforts of the COAS, Garuba said, “It is on this note that we salute the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt. General Tukur Buratai. We commend the efforts of the Nigerian troops fighting Boko Haram under the COAS’ direction. The superlative delivery of valour could not have been possible without the commitment of the commander, his officers and troops.



“The message of the National Inter-Faith and Religious Organization for Peace (NIFROP) for the year 2019 is a charge to General Buratai and the troops to sustain their offensive against fleeing elements of Boko Haram. These killers had thought they could use the Yuletide to inflict pains on Nigerians but their plot was defeated by the Nigerian Army. We anticipate similar and more intensive defeat of whatever evil the terrorists plan in the year 2019.”



The group urges General Buratai and indeed the Nigerian Army not to be daunted by the seeming difficulties that stand in the way of fighting the terrorists to a conclusive end, saying “we are also not unaware of the apparent lack of appreciation from certain quarters and individuals that should know better. It is akin to the scenario of a prophet not being honoured in his homeland but those that know what is good are already appreciative of the great job the military is doing and we believe that this great work should continue.”



“We appeal to Nigerians to increase whatever support they had been given the army in the past. Those that do not previously support should count it as part of their New Year commitment to turn a new leaf and contribute their own quota to an organization that is making them safe.”

By Andrew Jimoh

One of the events that shocked Nigerians most in 2018 was the Offa Robbery in which 33 citizens, including policemen, were killed by a bloodthirsty gang that carried out what in reality amounted to a terrorist attack going by a review of the CCTv video footage that emerged in its aftermath.

Two days after the April 5, 2018 robbery, Senate President, Senator Bukola Saraki was at the palace of the traditional ruler of Offa on a condolence visit. Police was to later confirm that leaders of the gang, Ayoade Akinnibosun aka AY, Ibukunle Ogunleye aka Arrow and Adeola Abraham were on Saraki’s entourage to Olofa’s Palace during the condolence visit.

Later in 2018 the disappearance and later confirmed death of a former Chief of Administration of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Idris Alkali (retired) in Du-Radu Jos, Plateau state was another shocker for the year that ended with the sad killing of former Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh (retired) on his way from his farm in Nasarawa state. These are sad deaths considering their violent nature but the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has been dancing Hula Kahiko practically on the graves of the departed.

The song the PDP is dancing to was composed by and performed by the International Strategic Studies Association (ISSA), apparently directed by the party. The report ridiculously concluded that Badeh and Alkali were killed to cover up corruption in the military. This was even as useful arrests have been made by law enforcement agencies and the suspects have confessed to the roles they played in the separate incidents. This same report, with all the gaping holes in its analysis, is what the PDP has been all over town ululating over.

There can be no greater definition of double standard. Since the PDP is now saying the people that have been separately arrested for the two deaths, and those arrested for the other deaths insinuated in the ISSA report, are not the right suspects, it should be able to help.

The investigation should examine any photographs and video clips of condolence visits to the families of the deceased to profile those on the entourage of PDP chieftains. Saraki’s outing in Offa offers experience and precedence that should hold true in these cases since the PDP believes that the right killers are yet to be apprehended.

There is something else the party probably knows that the rest of Nigerians do not know. After all, the alleged corruption that Badeh was standing trial for took place under the PDP’s watch. He would have kept a date with the court sometimes this month had his life not been cut short. Since the period he was standing trial for was under the PDP there is no knowing how his testimony in defence of himself would have damaged the PDP beyond repairs.

The indictment of former National Security Adviser, Colonel Sambo Dasuki (retired), over the $2.1 billion armsgate has taught the PDP how one person can land the entire architecture of the party in trouble. It is something they are not willing to risk with Badeh, another top military brass that served the party’s government. If his death is then motivated by a quest to silence him from revealing the names behind the corruption that was alleged to have prevailed under his watch it is logical to hold the PDP as the party with a motive to snuff life out of him.

The PDP should then tell the world all that they know about the killing of Badeh. The party’s leaders should tell the rest of us what they know about Alkali’s death. They should come clean about who else they have murdered to keep a lid on the corruption that was the hallmark of their time in power. The PDP should explain why the former Chief of Defence Staff only met his untimely death when he was due to open the lid on what went down in a matter of days.

From what happened in Offa, it is glaring that the party’s chieftain have in the past mobilized and commissioned criminals that kill Nigerians without restrain. They have also shown the track record for keeping straight faces even when their hands are dripping with fresh blood.

The knowledge of this is perhaps behind the stridency with which they are trying to pin Badeh’s death on others when the pointers are all in their direction, assuming those that have confessed to the killing are not the actual suspects. It has the means, it has the experience and it certainly have the motive to kill Badeh and Alkali too.

The question then is: when will the PDP come clear of Badeh? When will they find the decency even in their depravity to give the family and his nation closure? The PDP should be kind enough to immediately explain its role in Badeh’s and Alkali’s deaths. It is the kind thing to do, an act of kindness that might yet redeem the troubled souls of the PDP leaders.

Jimoh is former PDP Youth Leader writing from Abeokuta.

Source: http://www.streetreporters.ng/when-will-the-pdp-come-clean-on-badeh-by-andrew-jimoh/

The National Democratic Front (NDF) a civil society organization, has condemned several moves to stop the proposed nationwide Operation Python Dance III exercise by the Nigerian Army.



The group said it is important to separate politics from real issue that would better the nation.



NDF through its Secretary General, Dr. Bolaji Abdulkadir said the action is aimed at truncating democratic process.



He said at a press conference in Jos that "While we cannot question his right and freedom of expression, we are however at a loss as to how putting measures to ensure smooth and peaceful elections has constituted into an infringement of rights and privileges as canvassed by Malcolm Omirhobo.



"It is our considered opinion that since the Nigerian Army is constitutionally mandated to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria, the introduction of Operation Python Dance 3 is not only in line with its constitutional mandate, but also a welcome development given the intended outcome of ensuring peaceful general elections.



" This much the Nigerian Army has stated for the introduction of Operation Python Dance 3 which is to tackle “challenges coupled with other security threats across the country such as terrorism, militancy, kidnapping, and banditry.” and also, criminal groups and elements planning violence before, during and after the 2019 General Elections.



"The NDF as an organisation is not in the habit of joining issues with individuals whose known antecedent is to cause a distraction on critical government business such as this, and in times past when he sued the federal government for stopping the sale of petroleum products in Jerry Cans.



"The NDF has stated in many forays that mixing politics with National Security is and has never been in the best interest of the country, and consequently wonders why such an act should be on the front burner as we approach the elections.



"It is, therefore, our opinion that those that went to court are nothing but agents of darkness who want to truncate our democracy at any given opportunity as exemplified by Malcolm Omirhobo.



"The NDF as an advocate for democracy in Nigeria wishes to appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to view with suspicion, actions such as what Malcolm Omirhobo exhibited because it is not only questionable, it is an affront to the sensibilities of over 180 million Nigerians who have entrusted their security and safety to the government.



"The NDF consequently calls on the Court to rise in defence of the teeming Nigerians by shaming those agents of distraction and darkness hell-bent on truncating our democracy."

Source:
https://dailygazettengr.com/2019/01/03/pro-democracy-group-condemns-action-to-stop-operation-python-dance/

The nationwide Operation Python Dance is the military exercise by the Nigerian Army to provide additional support for the police and other security agencies for the period covering the 2019 general elections.


Incidentally, Operation Python Dance has its own track record, similar exercises, although confined to the south-east geo-political zone, recorded huge successes in its first and second iteration in the area covering Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo states in the south east, and stretching to Cross River and Rivers in some sessions.


For the duration of the exercise in the two consecutive years it has held in the area, even though promoted as training exercise, it has been credited with stemming some of the crimes that were once rampant in the areas covered.


It was Operation Python Dance that eventually curbed the menace of kidnap for ransom and armed banditry that were the dread of the states in the south-east. These are achievements that have been hailed by Nigerians from that part of the country for making it possible for them to work up the courage to visit their home states in the Yuletide season in the years referenced when in the past they were scared of venturing home for fear of being robbed or abducted.



It is therefore in order to say that the exercise remains one of the most successful military drills in the country going by its capacity to effectively send criminal elements away from the south-east and south-south.


Of note is that there were initial apprehension and rejection from these parts of the country where there was initially misconception that the troops being sent in will have run-ins with the civilian population. This fear was further heightened by the coordinated propaganda that was aimed at making the people hostile towards the exercise.


The only concern people could have had is the one about the potential for people to be brutalised by overzealous military personnel.


But in an age when troops have been trained to adhere to rules of engagement that meet global standards, such concerns have no place. The civility of the previous exercise is a reference point here. The civility of the exercise with its far reaching impacts rather give one a high impression about the Nigerian Army, its officers and men.


The assurance that this would be the case derives from the repeated efforts by the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) General Tukur Buratai, who has been consistent in discouraging soldiers and officers from meddling in politics and political activities in the country.


This should banish the thoughts of those that think soldiers are being deployed to influence the elections one way or the other when in reality Operation Python Dance is about ensuring that the present wave of criminality does not jeopardize the nation’s democracy since there is every tendency that persons with questionable intents would attempt to sabotage the votes by causing security breaches.


General Buratai has demonstrated even at the most difficult of times that the Army serves to uphold the nation’s democracy. He has in the course of his work demonstrated that the military is subservient to the civilian authorities. It is a trait that must be acknowledged because it is a critical step in weaning the military to know its place in our democracy.


With the positive attributes identified with Operation Python Dance and the professionalism displayed till date by those behind the exercise, it is logical to wonder why some people are expressing morbid fear about its imminence. Do people really have something to fear from the exercise holding across the country when it has in past held successfully in some parts of the country?


The answer can be found in the criminality that the exercise will curtail and the intentions of those that promote such criminality.


There are those politicians that deliberately sponsor violence in the hope that they can create an atmosphere that will not allow elections to hold so that they can in turn ask for absurdities like interim government and other aberrations that are alien to the constitution. Once the operations kicks off, troops will be[left][/left] able to suppress the plots to destabilize the electoral process once they ensure that all plans to cause outbreak of violence are diffused.


The operation will not give room for voters’ intimidation, gangster minded candidates will not be able to kidnap or abduct their opponents, while ballot snatching, disruption of polling units and other acts of violence meant to rig the polls.


Anyone that is afraid that the deployment for the operation will not allow these to take place should be investigated as to the nature of their true intentions.


Any true lover of democracy in Nigeria will therefore welcome Operation Python Dance with zeal given the good news it means for the peaceful conduct of elections in a country where some politicians have mobilized hoodlums to compromise the polls on an industrial scale.


They will not only embrace the exercise but will take the additional step of educating other citizens about the benefit of having the exercise to deal with the threats to the elections.



Idibia is a forensic psychologist based in Owerri, Imo State.

Good luck to her. Celebrity marriage is a task to remain married.