Governors of the South-East have reiterated their support for establishing state police given the current security challenges in Nigeria.
Chairman of the South-East Governors Forum, David Umahi, disclosed this on Sunday, in a communique issued at the end of the governors’ security meeting with opinion leaders in the region in Enugu.
The governor noted that the forum had set up a committee to work out acceptable modalities for state policing and would submit the same to the National Economic Council (NEC).
The meeting is in support of restructuring, the setting up of state police and other national issues as discussed at the last NEC meeting.
A committee has been set up to work out acceptable modalities and submit the same to NEC in its next meeting,” he said.
He added that the meeting reiterated its support for adopting a common joint security outfit code-named ‘Ebube Agu’ with its regional headquarters in Enugu.
According to him, the regional outfit will work with police and other security agencies to protect lives and property in the South-East.
Umahi said; “We agreed on the structure and operational modalities of Ebube Agu and also set up an advisory board for the security outfit.”
He explained that the forum had directed attorney generals and justice commissioners in the South-East to amend existing state laws to give legal backing to the joint security outfit.
The governors stated that they had directed the President General of Ohaneze Ndigbo, George Obiozor, to form two committees to ensure peaceful coexistence in the South-East.
The two committees are Peace and Reconciliation Committee and Strategy and Welfare Committee.
“We condemn the recent attack on the home country of Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo and other state infrastructure.
The governors and leaders sympathised with the governor and called on the federal government to fish out the perpetrators and ensure their prosecution,” he said.
Unknown gunmen have reportedly attacked the Ibadan residence of Yoruba rights activist, Sunday Adeyemo aka Sunday Igboho in the early hours of Monday. Igboho’s media aide, Olayomi Koiki, made this known on April 26, while accusing Nigeria’s security forces of carrying out the attack. There were reported sporadic shootings around Soka, the Ibadan residence of Igboho, as some heavily armed gunmen stormed the area.
Koiki claimed that the residence was besieged by men of the Nigeria Army with the aim of arresting the activist.
Koiki said, “There is a situation right now where the Federal Government of Nigeria tried to invade our residence. We are telling the world that the war that the Federal Government is waiting for might start today. “The war that the Federal Government think they are expecting from the Yoruba people; let’s tell the whole world. As I speak to you, there is an ongoing incident but we are more than capable. “We cannot be caught unguarded. You cannot threaten us. Chief Sunday Igboho is fine.” The Police PRO in Oyo State, Adewale Osifeso, could not be reached as of the time of filing this report.
Gunmen have abducted an undisclosed number of students from the Federal University of Agriculture Makurdi, the capital of northcentral Benue State.
The institution confirmed the incident on Monday noting that nothing has been heard from the students or their captors since the incident occurred.
“The university has reported the incident to the police and all relevant security agencies,” a statement signed by the university’s Director of Information, Protocol and Public Relations Unit (IPPR), Rosemary Waku, reads. “The university has not heard anything from the students or their captors since the unfortunate incidence took place.” Kidnapping for ransom and banditry are fast becoming a mainstay in the West African country with school students in Nigeria’s northeast, northwest and northcentral regions becoming targets in recent times. Only recently, about twenty students were abducted from Greenfield University in Kaduna State. Three of the students were however killed by the abductors. On March 11, 2021, gunmen attacked the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Igabi local government area of Kaduna, kidnapping at least thirty students.
The soldiers who were reinforced from Ngandu village were said to be on their way to Mainok, headquarters of the Kaga Local Government Area of Borno state which was under attack by militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād.
A Air Force fighter jet on a mission against Boko Haram extremists mistakenly bombed men of the Nigerian Army on Sunday, killing over 20 officers, a military source has said.
The soldiers who were reinforced from Ngandu village were said to be on their way to Mainok, headquarters of the Kaga Local Government Area of Borno state which was under attack by militants from the Islamic State-backed faction of Boko Haram, the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP), formerly known as Jamā’at Ahl as-Sunnah lid-Da’wah wa’l-Jihād.
SaharaReporters had on Sunday reported how the gunmen attacked a Nigerian Army location at 156 Battalion in the community, killing over 30 soldiers.
The terrorists who came in no fewer than 15 gun trucks also burnt down the military base.
A source told SaharaReporters that a reinforcement team of the Nigerian Army sent to the community was mistakenly bombed by an Air Force fighter jet.
“The Boko Haram terrorists disguised in military uniform and gained access to the camp. They came in different groups and could not be counted. The Nigerian Army were pinned down, they requested for reinforcement, the reinforcement got on their way only to get smoked by the Nigerian Airforce.
“The (reinforcement team) was coming from Ngandu and were killed by an airstrike. The Air Force mistook them for Boko Haram as both were cladded in similar military uniform and operational vehicles,” a source said.
Villagers in the past have reported some civilian casualties in near-daily bombardments in North Eastern Nigeria.
Recently, a military jet that came to repel an attack by Boko Haram dropped a bomb that landed in a compound where civilians were holding a naming ceremony.
Some of the Chibok schoolgirls kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014 and freed last year also said three of their classmates were killed by Air Force bombardments.
In furtherance of the Buhari administration’s support for small businesses during the COVID-19 pandemic under its Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), payment would be made to the next batch of beneficiaries of the ESP Survival Fund’s Payroll support track and the one-off General MSME Grant of N50,000 as from this week.
Sadiq Sanga Yusuf, one of the three students of the Greenfield University, Kaduna killed by suspected bandits has been buried amid wailing and tears by family members and friends.
SaharaReporters gathered that Sadiq was the son of Malam Yusuf Mu’azu, a Director of Kaduna Ministry of Works.
He was buried with outpouring of condolences to the father, who was also a former chairman of Jemaa Local Government Area in Kaduna state.
Sodiq’s body, along with those of Dorathy Yohanna and Precious Nwakacha were on Friday found in Kwanan Bature village, a location not too far from the school premises.
The bandits had earlier demanded N800 million.
Kaduna is one of the states in Nigeria most affected by rampant kidnappings by bandits.
The invasion of the university was the third attack by bandits on schools in Kaduna in 2021.
Meanwhile, a Twitter user, @ydcoalhas narrated the painful ordeal of finding his sister-in-law, Dorathy among the three students who were killed.
In a series of tweets directed at Tolu Ogunlesi, Special Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, he said, “People’s children have become sports for bandits and kidnappers. I’m very angry right now because there’s just so much I don’t understand anymore. What’s the purpose of life as a Nigerian? What’s the sole responsibility of a government for/to the people?”
Nigerian actress, Omotola Jalade-Ekeinde has reacted to reports of her being in an amorous relationship with former National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole.
The Nollywood veteran who is married to Captain Ekeinde, spoke in a recent interview with BBC Yoruba, saying that she is not one who likes to attend events and insisted that she has never met Oshiomhole before.
Omotola said; “People do not know that I don’t like to go out. I am either at home or at the office. I only like to go out on official purposes. I don’t know Adams Oshiomhole. I have never met him. End of the story.” Speaking further, the mother of four said that any lady who does not have a source of livelihood should not consider marriage because she is automatically preparing herself to be imprisoned in the union.
Asked if she would allow any of her children to marry at the age of 18 like she did, to which she answered; “I was at the age of consent when I got married and above all, I was mature when I met my husband. Currently, I have only one child that is 18 years old, so the question is late. He is a boy and peradventure, he says he wants to get married, I will not allow it because he does not have his own money now. One must apply wisdom or common sense in everything one does. People cannot say that because I married at 18, therefore they can also do it. The question is, ‘are you ready for marriage’? When I was at that age, I was ready. I had been working since I was 15-years-old and I had become a millionaire at the age of 18. That is a fact that a lot of people don’t know.
“I had my own money. I was not dependent on any man. Moreover, my father died early, so I was already responsible for my younger siblings. I was like their mother at that time, so I was very mature and financially prepared.
One should not marry a man when one is not financially stable. If one does that, one would be going into slavery or better still, prison. If any of my children, after considering all these factors, say they are ready for marriage, we (parents) would meet the person and if we like them, we would give them our blessings.”
The gunmen who invaded the governor’s village house in Omuma in the Oru East Local Government Area of the state in early hours of Saturday killed two security men on duty before torching it.
Our correspondent’s investigation revealed that one of the security men killed was an operative of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps.
According to a village source who pleaded anonymity, cars parked at the compound and part of the building were affected by the fire.
According to the source, the security men on duty repelled the gunmen, leading to the death of the two cops.
An unconfirmed news also has it that the gunmen killed two other security men at Oguta-Mgbidi Junction, a road that leads to the governor’s country home.
Nigeria has overtaken the Democratic Republic of Congo with 25 percent of people without access to electricity, making it the country globally with the highest number of citizens that lack access to power.
World Bank Group Practice Manager, West and Central Africa Energy, Ashish Khanna, disclosed this in his presentation during a virtual engagement with power reporters in Abuja on Wednesday, April 21.
According to him, “Nigeria now has the largest number of unelectrified people globally and the trend is worsening; of the electrified, the supply is very unreliable with widespread blackouts.
Electrification, which was growing at 1.1% yearly since 2010, has not kept pace with the population growth of 3% yearly. This has increased the deficit by 3 million people to 85m which is 57% of the population. Nigeria now has 25% more unelectrified people than the 2nd most unelectrified country (DRC – in absolute terms).
The power sector is operationally inefficient with unreliable supply exacerbated by high losses and lack of payment discipline. Businesses in Nigeria lose about $29 billion annually because of unreliable electricity while Nigerian utilities get paid for only a half of electricity they receive.”
US President Joe Biden will travel to the UK and the EU in June for his first overseas trip, the White House said on Friday.
White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said the trip aims to “highlight his commitment to restoring our alliances, revitalising the transatlantic relationship, and working in close co-operation with our allies”.
Mr Biden will attend the G7 summit in Cornwall, England, set for June 11 to 13, followed by a visit to Brussels, where he will hold meetings with European Union leadership and attend the June 14 Nato Leaders Summit.
“While in Brussels, President Biden will participate in a US – EU Summit, which will underscore our commitment to a strong transatlantic partnership based on shared interests and values,” Ms Psaki said.
“The leaders will discuss a common agenda to ensure global health security, stimulate global economic recovery, tackle climate change, enhance digital and trade co-operation, strengthen democracy and address mutual foreign policy concerns.”
The meetings with the country’s closest allies come after Mr Biden invited Russian President Vladimir Putin to a summit in the coming months in a third country, though no date has yet been set.
Recent American presidents selected North American neighbours for their first cross-border trips, though former president Donald Trump, whose penchant for unilateral action and open scepticism of the Nato alliance unsettled American allies, made his first overseas stop in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen tweeted that she was looking forward to Mr Biden’s trip, saying, “We have much to do together.”
Together with @eucopresident Michel, I will be happy to greet US @POTUS Biden in Brussels for the EU-US summit on his next trip to Europe in June 2021.
We have much to do together, from climate change to health, from trade and multilateralism to geopolitical challenges.
Britain’s parliament has become the latest government to declare China’s treatment of its Uighur citizens as genocide, attracting the condemnation of Beijing.
Lawmakers in the British House of Commons passed a motion unopposed after a three-hour debate Thursday declaring that the Uighurs and other ethnic and religious minorities in the northwestern Xinjiang autonomous region of China “are suffering crimes against humanity and genocide.”
MP Nusrat Ghani, who China sanctioned along with four other members of parliament last month, introduced the bill telling lawmakers that while they must never misuse the term genocide they must also never fail to use it when warranted.
“Today, this parliament has a historic chance, together — regardless of party difference in most other matters — to hold its head up, stand tall and stand for those who have no voice,” she said in her introductory remarks. “Let us make the statement today, loud and clear, that the UK has not forgotten the Uighurs and others and that we will stand for them and insist that our government do exactly the same by calling this a genocide.”
Beijing has been accused by the United States, the European Union and other mostly Western nations of interning more than a million of its Uighur citizens in Xinjiang camps where they are subjected to forced labor, torture and sterilization.
It has also been accused of unlawful killings, forced disappearances and other human rights crimes — all of which China vehemently disputes, arguing the camps are to stamp out terrorism while demanding the foreign nation to stop interfering with its international affairs. The governments of Canada, the Netherlands and the United States have all said China is committing genocide.
However, the government of British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who has criticized China for its treatment of Uighurs, has been reluctant to call it a genocide stating such a declaration is for the courts.
“A finding of genocide requires proof that relevant acts were carried out with the intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnic or religious group,” Nigel Adams, the minister of Asia, said during the debate. “For these reasons, we do not believe it is right for the government to make a determination in this, or in any other case where genocide or crimes against humanity are alleged.”
Ghani told lawmakers that she brought the motion to the parliament because the government says the determination can only be made by a court, for which every route has been blocked by China.
“We need to take back control,” she said. “Our route to declaring genocide cannot be controlled by China.”
China’s embassy in Britain on Friday admonished the politicians, calling the declaration “an outrageous smear against the development achievements of Xinjiang” and its policies.
The embassy in a statement reiterated its stance that Xinjiang-related issues are in nature about counter-terrorism, de-radicalization and anti-separatism, stating the accusations of a handful of British MPs “is the most preposterous lie of the century, an outrageous insult and affront to the Chinese people and a gross breach of international law and the basic norms governing international relations.”
The move is excepted to further fray relations between the two nations that have already become strained as Britain has repeatedly taken action against China for its treatment of its former colony, Hong Kong.
Following a year of mass protests in the city, Beijing imposed a draconian national security law upon Hong Kong last summer and this spring overhauled its electoral system reducing the number of elected officials and permitting only so-called patriots to hold office.
London said these measures violate conditions to maintain Hong Kong’s high-degree of autonomy guaranteed in the Sino-British Joint Declaration that returned the city to Chinese sovereignty in 1997.
In response, Britain has launched a new visa for specific Hong Kong residents with a pathway to citizenship.
U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez, chairman of the Senate foreign relations committee, said the British parliament has shown the world “the egregious abuses the Chinese state commits against the Uighur people.”
“We owe it to the victims of this genocide to call out the Chinese Communist Party’s brutal persecution of the Uighurs,” he said. “The free world must be united in holding the Chinese government to account for these abuses.”
The World Uighur Congress, an international organization of exiled Uighurs, celebrated Britain’s declaration.
“Uighur survivors have begged for recognition of what is happening to them,” WUC President Dolkun Isa said in a statement. “It is an important step in the right direction that British MPs have joined the momentum and called it what it is: a genocide.”
The federal government says it is turning around the entire passport application process by the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) and shortening passport processing time to six weeks.
The statement from the ministry of interior promises that the process will now be seamless and transparent; and that it will accord human dignity to applicants and fulfil citizenship integrity, in line with the mandate of the ministry.
The passport application and processing system in Nigeria is often a tortuous, rigorous and bribe-induced one, with touts often milling at passport offices.
During a meeting with the Comptroller General of Immigration, Mohammad Babandede, as well as the attaches in Nigeria’s Missions abroad, Minister of Interior Rauf Aregbesola said, “We have had several challenges in the past, including shortage of booklets, touting, racketeering, inflating the cost, passports being issued to ineligible persons, among others.
“It has become imperative therefore to review our operations and rejig our system, in order to be able to offer excellent services to our clients.”
The minister added that efforts are underway to embed visible and invisible security operatives in all passport offices. “They will wear body cameras. They will detect and report any form of solicitations, inflation, improper communications, extortion, diversion, hoarding and other corrupt practices. Those caught will be dealt with according to the law,” he stressed.
Aregbesola
The minister disclosed that an ombudsman will also be created for members of the public to receive complaints and reports on officers trying to deviate from prescribed guidelines and subversion of the process.
“Therefore, I am declaring a zero-tolerance stance to all forms of touting. No applicant will be made to pay any illegitimate fees,” Aregbesola declared.
Minister of information, culture and tourism, Lai Mohammed says it is in the best interest of Nigerian elites for the country to remain united. Mohammed stated this on Wednesday when he featured on a NAN flagship interview programme, NAN Forum. He accused elites of fanning the embers of disintegration in the country, and warned that they will bear the greater consequences if Nigeria breaks up. According to him, some elites who have attained professorial status may be left with no option than to work in bakeries in neighbouring Togo just to survive. Our challenge is more with the elites, not with the common people. Go to the remotest part of Nigeria today, you will see Nigerians from different tribes, culture and religion living together peacefully. “Elites ought to take the lead in cementing the unity of the country. But when the elites start preaching tribal hatred, people believe them because they think they know better. “Nigeria accounts for 70 percent of West Africa’s population, and if Nigeria should disintegrate today, we are going to overrun Benin Republic, Togo, Niger and other neighbouring countries. “The elites will suffer more because some professors could be working in bakeries in Togo just to survive. We saw it happen when the Liberians came here during their civil war. It is in their own enlightened interest that they should work to fix Nigeria. Many of them have more than one passport — American, British, Irish — and at the first crack of trouble, they are gone,” he said.
Youths numbering over 200 in the Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta state on Tuesday stopped the screening of supervisory councillors over allegations of imposition.
The protesting youths, drawn from the 13 wards of the local government area, were with leaves and placards that had different inscriptions accusing the commissioner representing Isoko North in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (DESOPADEC), Paul Oweh; local government Peoples Democratic Party chairman, Godwin Ogorugba, council chairman, Christian Iteire and a few other leaders of imposing candidates on the people.
SaharaReporters gathered that the protesting youths had last week got wind of the screening and swearing-in of the supervisory councillors billed for Tuesday at the legislative chamber and stormed the council secretariat.
They drove away the councillors, council chairman, and some PDP leaders, disrupting activities there.
Our correspondent gathered that the protesting youths almost lynched the council chairman for allegedly conniving with the DESOPADEC commissioner, Oweh, and Ogorugba to carry out the imposition.
Speaking with our correspondent, one of the leaders of the protesters who identified himself as Joseph Owhologbo, from Ellu ward, said they decided to embark on the protest following the imposition of supervisory councillors by the council chairman, PDP chairman, and DESOPADEC commissioner without proper consultation with other leaders in the local government area.
“We are protesting against the wrong selection and imposition of supervisory councillors billed for screening today, Tuesday and their swearing-in by the council chairman, Christian Iteire in connivance with the Isoko North PDP chairman, Godwin Ogorugba, DESOPADEC commissioner, Paul Oweh and a few other leaders.
“They selected and imposed the supervisory councillors without consulting other leaders like Emmanuel Ogidi, Comrade Ovuozourie Macaulay, Jude Omena Ogbimi, Kome Okpobor, Philip Adheke, Nelson Ejakpovi, Emma Egbabor and other leaders from the 13 wards in the Isoko North Local Government Area.
“This is absolutely wrong, we cannot fold our arms and watch this insolence act being done by the council chairman, Christian Iteire, Godwin Ogorugba, Paul Oweh and few others. To avoid any crisis in Isoko North Local Government Area, the council chairman and his cohorts should consult all leaders in the local government area before carrying out any selection of supervisory councillors,” he said.
Also speaking, a protester who simply identified himself as Karo, described the council chairman, PDP chairman and the DESOPADEC commissioner as trouble makers who did not mean well for the party.
“Ask Paul Oweh, what has he done since he was appointed as a commissioner in DESOPADEC? What has been his impact apart from amassing wealth? In Emevor, the only street he managed to tar was not done properly. It was a shoddy job and he got his kickback as always. What about the PDP chairman, he has nothing to offer other than to extort money from electoral candidates. We are saying no to any form of imposition on us,” he said.
In the same vein, a protester who identified himself as Lucky Okeremu from Emevor ward, also condemned the alleged imposition of the supervisory councillors on the people.
“In Emevor ward, we have two leaders, Paul Oweh and Nelson Ejakpovi who stood in all elections to deliver the PDP in Emevor ward. Paul Oweh has produced two councillors from Emevor and he again connived with the PDP chairman, Godwin Ogorugba and the council chairman, Christian Iteire to impose a supervisory councillor on us.
“This is an injustice being done to us all in Emevor ward. We are calling on the state governor, Ifeanyi Okowa to intervene and put to an end all these acts of injustice being done by the Isoko North council chairman, Isoko North PDP chairman, DESOPADEC commissioner, Paul Oweh and few other leaders in our local government area,” he said.
Following the protest, the screening and swearing-in of the supervisory councillors had to be suspended.
Pakistan’s government will seek a vote in parliament on Tuesday to decide the fate of the French ambassador, apparently appeasing a radical Islamist party which had threatened more protests unless the envoy was expelled.
The expulsion is one of the main four demands of a radical Tehrik-e-Labaik Pakistan (TLP) group, that has been protesting for over a week over cartoons depicting Prophet Mohammad (PBUH).
Interior Minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed said Tuesday a resolution on the diplomat would be presented to the National Assembly — the lower house of parliament which next meets on Thursday — and that Tehreek-i-Labbaik Pakistan (TLP) had agreed to “call off its protest sit-ins from the entire country,” according to Reuters.
Pakistan on Monday opened talks with the group. Officials from the group were not immediately available to confirm the remarks.
“After long negotiations with TLP, this has been agreed that we will table a resolution in parliament today to expel French ambassador,” said the minister, Sheikh Rashid Ahmad in a video recorded statement.
The TLP has waged an anti-France campaign for months since President Emmanuel Macron defended the right of a satirical magazine to republish cartoons depicting the Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) — an act deemed blasphemous by many Muslims.
That campaign erupted into bloody violence last week following the arrest of the TLP leader after he called for a march on the capital to demand the French envoy’s expulsion.
Lahore police said at least six officers had been killed, while 11 others were held hostage for several hours at a TLP mosque — where hundreds of party supporters are still holed out.
The TLP says several of its supporters died in clashes.
The French embassy last week recommended all its citizens leave the country, and on Monday a source at the foreign ministry said Paris was recalling all non-essential staff and their families.
The Pakistan government banned the TLP on Wednesday — effectively labelling them a terror organisation — and police arrested thousands of protesters during clashes, but Rashid said no action would be taken against them.
“Cases registered — including those under the fourth schedule — will also be withdrawn,” he said, referring to charges that fall under anti-terror laws.
Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday pleaded with the radical group to end its violent campaign to oust the ambassador, saying the unrest was harming the nation.
“It doesn’t make any difference to France,” he said in a recorded address shown on television.
“If we keep protesting our whole lives we would only be damaging our own country and it will not impact (the West).”
Still, calls for a nationwide strike in solidarity with the protesters were widely supported by mainstream religious groups in Lahore and Karachi Monday, with many shops and markets closed and some transport services halted.
Few issues are as galvanising in Pakistan as blasphemy, and even the slightest suggestion of an insult to Islam can supercharge protests, incite lynchings, and unite the country’s warring political parties.
Analysts say Khan’s policy of appeasement is risky.
“I think the prime minister has realised that appeasing the radical forces isn’t an easy task because when you try to please them they demand more and more,” security analyst Amir Rana told AFP.
“So far he has failed to maintain the balance.”
“There is no doubt there is a bind,” said political analyst Mosharraf Zaidi.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday resumed office after spending 16 days in the United Kingdom on medical vacation.
Upon his resumption on Monday, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo briefed the President on the state of the nation.
President Buhari left Nigeria on Tuesday, March 30, briefly after a security meeting with defense and intelligence chiefs, as well as other security sector managers.
He arrived in the country on April 15 via the Nnamdi Azikiwe international airport from the United Kingdom where he went on medical vacation for two weeks.
Before his departure, the Presidency had explained that Buhari’s travel to the UK was not on an emergency case and that the Nigerian leader was not sick, dousing insinuations from critics who raised the alarm that the 78-year-old was not feeling well.
“It is a routine medical check-up; the President has undertaken this with a set of doctors that he has retained over many years,” said Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.
He also explained that Buhari did not transmit power to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, noting that the President will not be away for so long to contravene the law.
“The requirement of the law is that the President is going to be absent in the country for 21 days and more, then that transmission is warranted. In this particular instance, it is not warranted,” the presidential aide said when he featured as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Buhari’s departure was also widely criticised by the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) which described the move as an indictment of his government.
“It is indeed worrisome that under President Buhari, even the hitherto highly rated State House Clinic, has become so moribund that it cannot provide a simple medical checkup service for Mr. President,” the PDP said in a statement in which it also accused the Buhari government of wasting taxpayers’ money.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State has inaugurated 25 power bikes procured by the Kano Road Traffic Agency (KAROTA) to control traffic.
Inaugurating the power bikes on Sunday in Kano, Ganduje said the bikes would be used to ensure that road users comply with traffic regulations.
He said the bikes would enable KAROTA personnel to move quickly to monitor traffic, trace violators and go around the city to fish out those smuggling illicit and substandard goods into the state.
The governor urged KAROTA officials to redouble their efforts in controlling traffic and apprehending those who break traffic rulesHe further urged them to ensure that those suspected to be carrying illegal items were traced and arrested.
Ganduje commended KAROTA Managing Director, Baffa Dan’agundi, for the initiative.
Dan’agundi had earlier stated that the agency bought the power bikes with the fund it saved from removing ghost workers from the pay list.
“Sometimes, we see a lot of things happening on the road, we see criminals carrying items in their vehicles but there are no vehicles to quickly trace them to their destinations.“However, with these modern power bikes, we will be able to arrest more criminals,” Dan’agundi assured the governor.
The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, has grounded a private chopper belonging to Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God at the Lagos Airport.
It was learnt that the aircraft, AgustaWestland AW139 chopper, with registration number 5N-EAA, was suspended from flying over two weeks ago, following the expiration of some of its papers and spare parts. The suspension, officials said, would also allow the regulator to conduct vital safety checks on its safety-critical components, especially some spare parts due for replacement.
Adeboye had, last Saturday during a special meeting with all ordained ministers of the mission at the RCCG, Region 21, in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, called for drastic action against corrupt practices in all facets of Nigeria.
The RCCG leader, who flew a chopper to the venue, said he arrived late for the meeting because someone had requested a bribe from him to fly his helicopter.
He said he had decided to embark on the trip via his chopper to avoid a possible gridlock on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, SundayPUNCH, reports.
The 79-year-old mathematician-turned-preacher said, “I don’t give excuses because I have discovered long ago that only failures give excuses. But you must pray for Nigeria.
“Something must be done about corruption in this nation. All I can say is that I am this late because somebody wanted a bribe. And you know if you are expecting a bribe from me, you have to wait forever.
“But the devil has failed. And the devil will continue to fail. I decided to come by helicopter so that there won’t be a traffic jam that would tie me down on the expressway because I know what the devil could do.
“Then, I ran into something else. But by the grace of God, we are here.”
Although Sunday PUNCH could not ascertain who requested the alleged bribe from the revered servant of God, investigations by the paper revealed that the cleric’s chopper was suspended from flying by the regulatory authority over safety issues.
Multiple aviation sources confirmed that Adeboye could not fly his chopper with registration number 5N-EAA to the Ibadan programme but had to fly another aircraft reportedly belonging to Bishop David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church (Winners Chapel).
A top official of the Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, who is close to the operations of the two choppers belonging to the servants of God, said, “The team relating directly with Daddy G.O. should have told the man of God on time that the NCAA had not cleared his chopper and, as such, it couldn’t go on the Ibadan trip.
Pastor Adeboye
“They shouldn’t have waited till the last minute. The NCAA (aviation regulatory agency) we have now is different from what it used to be. A new man in charge always insists that things must be done properly as far as the safety of lives is concerned. The church’s protocol team should have told him that the NCAA has not cleared the aircraft and it may not clear it within a short time because certain procedures must be followed. As such, an alternative arrangement should have been made.”
The NAMA official, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to talk about the matter, further said, “On that last Saturday morning, when it later became obvious that the jet was not cleared to fly, they had to make an alternative arrangement with Bishop Oyedepo’s chopper. They had to quickly begin that process by filing the flight plan, etc. It was Bishop’s aircraft that Pastor Adeboye later flew to the event. He could not use his own.”
A top official of Omni-Blu Aviation, the airline operating the chopper for Adeboye, confirmed the development.
The official, who chose to speak on condition of anonymity, said a letter from Italy-based Leonardo, the manufacturer of Adeboye’s AW 139 helicopter, requesting the NCAA to grant a time extension on some spare parts that are due for replacement came late.
The spare parts due for replacement have been ordered from the manufacturer but they have yet to be shipped into Nigeria because they are usually produced on demand, according to Omni-Blu Aviation.
He said, “The NCAA that we have now is different from what it used to be. It always insists on a standard. We don’t want any disappointing situation for anybody, especially for a globally reputed servant of God like Daddy G.O.
“It appears the man of God was not properly briefed. But we thank God an alternative arrangement was made to rescue the situation. Safety is first and paramount. No life is worth toying with, how much more that of a servant of God like Daddy G.O. As an airline, we won’t compromise safety no matter the pressure.”
The Omni-Blu official denied knowledge of any bribe request, either by the airline or aviation officials.
He, however, said it was not impossible that some people might have cashed in on the situation to demand a bribe.
“You know some people don’t fear God no matter what. They can even go to the extent of asking a servant of God for a bribe. So, it is not impossible. But on our part, I am not aware of such.”
As it stands, it is uncertain when Adeboye’s chopper will be allowed to fly.
However, findings revealed that the NCAA had directed maintenance and safety checks to be conducted on the aircraft.
As such, the operator has secured a date for this at Aero’s maintenance hangar.
When contacted for comments, the Director-General, NCAA, Captain Musa Nuhu, confirmed that the regulatory agency had suspended flights on the aircraft for safety reasons.
According to him, the NCAA does not often deal directly with individuals or owners of aircraft but the operator.
In this case, he said the NCAA only had business with the operator of the aircraft, Omni-Blu Aviation.
Nuhu said, “There are safety-related issues that must be resolved before the aircraft will be approved for resumption of flights. Safety is the paramount consideration in all approvals given by the NCAA. No matter what, we must not sacrifice safety for flights; that is the whole idea.”
When contacted, the spokesperson for RCCG, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi, said the matter was already resolved.
He said the church would not want to take issue with the aviation authorities on the bribery allegation.
Olubiyi said, “We will not want to take issue with the aviation authorities but I can assure you that an amicable solution is being found to the issue.”
The Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN) has called on the Presidency to disclose the health status of President Muhammadu Buhari, saying Nigerians have the right to have that information. The PFN also faulted Buhari over his recent trip to the United Kingdom for medical check-up amid various challenges in Nigeria’s health sector.
Its National President, Bishop Francis Wale Oke at the end of the body’s National Executive Council meeting in Lagos, said as a public servant, the president is answerable to his people.
Describing the attitude of politicians in the habit of going abroad for medical treatment as selfish, the cleric criticised the government for its failure to provide world-class hospitals for Nigerians.
He said, “Stop hiding the health status of the president, tell the whole nation so we know what to do. For some weeks now, our president has been out of the country on health ground. However, a few things give us concern about Mr President’s travel.
“We feel the nation is not being told all the truth about the health of Mr President. We asked the federal government and the presidency to leave the card on the table and tell us what is happening to our president.
“Mr. President is no longer a private person, he belongs to all Nigerians and we need to know what is happening to him so that we know what and how to pray.
“We are also concerned that whenever Mr President needs a health check-up, he goes out of the country. To us, that is a very major security risk. Does it mean that our president is safer in the hands of a foreigner than in our hands?
“Supposing those people in an attempt to undermine our nation, try to play games with our president, what can we do?
“Why should our elected officials be going abroad for medical treatment when they can inject the money into our health care system and bring it up to par with the nation they are going. Nigeria is blessed with intelligent medical personnel.
“The challenge is that we are not creating an enabling environment for them to practise. How many Nigerians can afford to travel abroad for medical treatment, federal government should please rise up and invest in our health care sector and bring our health system to a world standard.”
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed worry over recent attacks on security formations in Imo, Benue, and other parts of the country.
Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti and NGF Chairman made the concerns known at a briefing with newsmen at the end of the forum’s meeting on Wednesday night, April 14, in Abuja.
“NGF members are particularly worried following what happened in Imo state, the attacks on the correctional facility and the police command headquarters.
“The release of prisoners, and successive acts of violence and insecurity across the country, and the killings of soldiers at Benue.
“The forum has expressed its worry that it is time for us to revisit comprehensively, the nature and depth of this security crisis.
The crisis would have gotten worse if states had not been taking the actions they have been taking individually and collectively.
“It is the steps taken at the state level that have managed to reduce the depths and the enormity of the security challenges. Nonetheless, it’s still a worrisome development for us
“We feel we will need a special review of the entire gamut of the security issues that we are dealing with.
“We need to further engage the federal authorities both at the political level and federal authorities at the security level, in order to deal with this multifaceted challenges of security that we’re faced.”
In the first week of April, unknown gunmen launched multiple attacks on police formations in Imo State.
The attack occurred at the Mbiere Divisional Police Headquarters in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state.
Two similar attacks, including the one at the police headquarters and the prison headquarters in the state, have taken place before now.
The second attack was carried out a few hours after Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, accompanied by the then Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, visited the state to assess the damage done to the police headquarters.
During the last attack, the gunmen reportedly freed some suspects from the police detention facility and also carted away phones belonging to suspects and police officers.
A police spokesperson in the state, Orlando Ikeokwu, confirmed the incident but said the officers on duty repelled the attack.
The attack has brought to six the number of police facilities targeted in the state between February and April.
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