President Biden will sign his $1.9 trillion coronavirus relief proposal on Thursday afternoon, the White House announced, a day earlier than expected.
The White House issued an updated guidance on Thursday saying Biden would sign the American Rescue Plan, which passed the House on Wednesday in a party-line vote, in the Oval Office at 1:30 p.m. Vice President Harris is expected to attend but no additional guests are expected.
White House chief of staff Ron Klain tweeted that the relief bill arrived on Wednesday night, earlier than planned, and that the signing had been moved up as a result.
Once the bill is signed, the Biden administration will race to implement its numerous provisions, including sending out relief checks to tens of millions of Americans and aid to states and localities. The signing comes just three days before enhanced unemployment benefits are due to expire.
Biden is slated to deliver a primetime address Thursday evening to mark one year since the coronavirus lockdowns in the United States. He is expected to reflect on the sacrifices Americans have made and the lives lost and discuss his administration’s efforts to ramp up vaccine production, according to a White House official.
Biden also plans to “lay out the next steps he will take to get the pandemic under control, level with the American people about what is still required to defeat the virus and provide a hopeful vision of what is possible if we all come together,” according to the official.
President Joe Biden
The speech will also present an opportunity for Biden to take a victory lap following his first legislative accomplishment with the passage of his coronavirus relief plan.
The bill includes funding for $1,400 direct payments to Americans who qualify, funding for vaccines and school reopenings, an expansion of the child tax credit, relief for small businesses, assistance for state and local governments, among other measures.
The House approved the bill in a 220-211 vote on Wednesday afternoon. No Republicans backed the bill and one Democrat voted against it. The Senate approved the bill over the weekend.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki indicated Wednesday that it would take time for the bill text to reach the White House. She said it was expected to arrive sometime on Thursday and that Biden would sign the bill on Friday, a schedule that has now been moved up.
The Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Oyo State, has accused a former Minister of Aviation, Femi Fani-Kayode, of spreading lies and misinformation.
This was contained in a statement issued on Wednesday, March 10, by the OPC Coordinator in Oyo State, Mr Rotimi Olumo.
Olumo’s statement came in the aftermath of a claim by Fani-Kayode that the Fulani warlord, Abdullah Iskilu-Wakili, captured by OPC members on Sunday was not the real Wakili tormenting the people of Ibarapaland in Oyo State.
According to Olumo, Fani-Kayode‘s claim was misinformation taken too far.
An excerpt from the statement read, “Fani- Kayode is one of the politicians that thrive in telling lies. He has a reputation for using his social media page to foment trouble and cause disunity in Yorubaland. He had once said that the Yoruba language was Anago. How can you take such a person too seriously?
He lives in Abuja, romancing with the North, yet he was the first to refute the claim that the kidnapper was not Wakili. Where did he get his information?
“He should be warned to stop drumming the beat of disunity in Yorubaland. Fani-Kayode was one of the few people that called and congratulated our leader, the Aare Onakakanfo of Yorubaland, Iba Gani Abiodun Ige Adams on Monday, on the success of the operation of the OPC, and the following day, he twisted the story refuting the claim that the man apprehended wasn’t Wakili.”
Regarding the battle to capture Wakili, Olumo stated that the operation lasted over five hours, with a fierce battle ensuing between the OPC, the joint security operatives, and the suspects.
However, in the end, he said Wakili was apprehended, but his son, Abu, escaped using their cows as a cover.
The Governor of Kaduna State, Nasiru El-Rufai, has restated his administration’s commitment to supporting vulnerable people in the state to actualise their full potentials.
Speaking in Kaduna on Wednesday, while receiving the Country Representative, United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Ulla Mueller, who was at the Government House for a joint programme to mark the International Women’s Day, El-Rufai said his administration believed that disabilities and other circumstances should not be a hurdle to reaching a person’s full potentials.
“We believe in giving equal opportunities to all and to do that, the government needs to identify with those that are not able to assist themselves. The main purpose of government is to ensure that those who cannot help themselves are helped to achieve their full potentials.
We have invested in primary health care, we have introduced contributory health Insurance to give a pathway to universal health coverage and also the social protection policy,” he said.
The Governor said 63 per cent of the state budget in the first four years of his administration was invested in education, healthcare and assisting the poorest and vulnerable persons.
He told the UNFPA officials that the government was in the process of establishing a social protection agency, to target the poorest and ensure that they did not go uncared.
He thanked the UNFPA for its unique approach of reaching out to women and other works that touched the lives of the people.
Earlier, Mueller said they chose to celebrate the day in Kaduna because the state has 43 per cent women in leadership positions.
“The 43 per cent I notice is more than what is obtained in most developed countries. My country has 29 per cent of female in cabinets although we have a female prime minister and 14 per cent women in a leadership position.” She congratulated the governor for the feat, saying “when you focus on equality and when you are mindful, deliberate about the decisions you make, you steadily prosper.”
She pledged to work with the Kaduna state government and find ways to support its efforts to drive sustainable development.
Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.), has said there was an urgent need to strengthen regional and international cooperation, to identify and manage emerging trends in drug trafficking.
Marwa who made this call during the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in Kyoto, Japan, on Wednesday, said the new trends was through increased online criminal activities, in a bid to navigate the global shutdown of traditional trafficking routes following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement by the agency’s Director Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Wednesday in Abuja, Marwa said criminals and organised criminal groups had deployed new strategies
There is, therefore, an urgent need to strengthen regional and international cooperation to identify and manage the various jurisdictional manifestations of this ugly trend,” he said.
The NDLEA boss said the country was addressing and countering illicit trafficking in drugs through an integrated and balanced approach implemented under the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP).
“The NDCMP outlines strategies to neutralise threats to law enforcement efforts by strengthening regional and international cooperation in countering illicit trade and trafficking in narcotic drugs. One example of such is ‘Operation Eagle,’ which is a joint operation with select countries to counter the menace of illicit drugs.
Nigeria has adopted a holistic national anti-corruption strategy that provides an entry point for both state and non-state actors to contribute to the fight against corruption at all levels. We are actively implementing the Justice Sector Reform Strategy covering issues such as International Cooperation Mechanisms, Mutual Legal Assistance and reform of the Criminal Justice System,” Marwa added.
According to him, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act enacted in 2015 has expedited the trial of corruption cases and resulted in deterrent sanctions for the corrupt.
Chairman, National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Brig. Gen. Buba Marwa (Rtd.), has said there was an urgent need to strengthen regional and international cooperation, to identify and manage emerging trends in drug trafficking.
Marwa who made this call during the 14th United Nations Congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice, in Kyoto, Japan, on Wednesday, said the new trends was through increased online criminal activities, in a bid to navigate the global shutdown of traditional trafficking routes following the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a statement by the agency’s Director Media and Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, on Wednesday in Abuja, Marwa said criminals and organised criminal groups had deployed new strategies.
“There is, therefore, an urgent need to strengthen regional and international cooperation to identify and manage the various jurisdictional manifestations of this ugly trend,” he said.
The NDLEA boss said the country was addressing and countering illicit trafficking in drugs through an integrated and balanced approach implemented under the National Drug Control Master Plan (NDCMP).
“The NDCMP outlines strategies to neutralise threats to law enforcement efforts by strengthening regional and international cooperation in countering illicit trade and trafficking in narcotic drugs. One example of such is ‘Operation Eagle,’ which is a joint operation with select countries to counter the menace of illicit drugs.
“Nigeria has adopted a holistic national anti-corruption strategy that provides an entry point for both state and non-state actors to contribute to the fight against corruption at all levels. We are actively implementing the Justice Sector Reform Strategy covering issues such as International Cooperation Mechanisms, Mutual Legal Assistance and reform of the Criminal Justice System,” Marwa added.
According to him, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act enacted in 2015 has expedited the trial of corruption cases and resulted in deterrent sanctions for the corrupt.
“Nigeria recently enacted a Mutual Legal Assistance Law, and the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit Act to create a stand-alone Financial Intelligence Unit. Other necessary legislation such as the Proceeds of Crime and Whistle-Blower Protection bills are receiving urgent attention.
“We have also launched two significant initiatives: The open treasury initiative, which establishes a financial transparency portal to keep the public informed about financial transactions and a pilot beneficial ownership register focused on the extractive sector,” he said.
Marwa noted that the private sector was not left out in the various reforms and current interventions being introduced by the government, as Nigeria adopted a Code of Corporate Governance in January 2019
This Code, which covers the private sector entities, including professional bodies, strengthens regulatory oversight and monitoring by accountability and anti-corruption agencies. Our focus is building institutions to combat corruption including its links with drug trafficking, illicit financial flows, money laundering and other forms of organised crime,” he added.
Governors of the six states in the South-South geopolitical zone are in disagreement with the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Senator Godswill Akpabio, on the inauguration of a substantive board for the Niger Delta Development Commission.
The South-South Governors Forum had after their meeting in Government House, Port Harcourt on Monday night, frowned on the ongoing management structure of the interventionist agency, saying it was shortchanging the region and lacked due process.
The governors advised President Muhammadu Buhari that in the absence of a substantive board for the commission, funds for the NDDC beyond the payment of salaries should be put in an escrow account.
Meanwhile, Akpabio in a media parley in Port Harcourt, on Tuesday, ahead of the formal inauguration of the new headquarters of the NDDC scheduled this Thursday in the city, said most of the governors in the zone were running their local government areas with caretaker committees, rather than conducting elections.
Specifically, he said the governors lacked the moral standing to issue such directive to the President on issues of the NDDC.
In a statement released by the Special Assistant on Media to the Rivers State Governor, Kelvin Ebiri, Chairman of the South-South Governors Forum and Governor of Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, had read the position of the governors at the end of the forum’s meeting, saying it had become a thing of concern that the NDDC, over a year, was run by an Interim Caretaker Committee, and now, by an interim administrator.
He said, “It means that the NDDC is run in such a manner that it is actually not truly beneficial to our people, because there is no stakeholders’ input in the running of the affairs of the NDDC.”
However, Akpabio insisted that the Federal Government had never denied the states of funds despite the governors running their local governments like caretaker committees. He further said it was abnormal for governors, who belonged to an opposition party to give directives to the President in a ruling party, which he said has performed beyond expectations.
Kaduna State Governor, Nasiru El-Rufai, has urged operators of Almajiri schools that oppose the mode of operation of the government to relocate.
El-Rufai stated this on Tuesday during the inauguration of the Kaduna State Child Protection and Welfare Committee in Kaduna that the government would not condone their operation in the state.
He said, “We are working on the Almajiri system and many people do not agree with what we are doing, but we are very confident and sure of the rightness of our actions.
So, my message to all those that have almajiris in Kaduna State, you have a choice to relocate otherwise sooner or later we will get you.”
Speaking on the social protection policy, he said “We want the poorest people to benefit. Politicians often get involved with their ‘slot mentality’, and when we give them those slots, they don’t give them to the poorest.
“So, we must find a way to identify who is poor and who is vulnerable and target this kind of assistance to these kinds of households,” he said.
He disclosed that the social register has, so far, more than one million vulnerable households, and assured that every government intervention would be channeled to those on the social register.
The Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, has given a detailed rationale on Tuesday, March 9, as to why the loot recovered from former Delta State Governor, James Ibori will be used for federal projects.
Ripples Nigeria had reported that Malami, earlier on Tuesday with the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, announced the return of £4.2 million recovered from Mr. Ibori and his friends.
The funds, set to arrive in the country within two weeks, are expected to be used for the construction of the second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano road, and Lagos-Ibadan Express road and not returned to the Delta State Government where it was pilfered from.
The major consideration relating to who is entitled to a fraction or perhaps the money in its entirety is a function of law and international diplomacy,” Mr. Malami said during his Tuesday appearance on Channels Television’s Politics Today.
Furthermore, Malami stated that the law which was alleged to have been breached by Ibori was a federal law and that the parties of interests involved in the repatriation of the funds were national and not sub-national governments.
“All the processes associated with the recovery were consummated by the federal government and the federal government is, indeed, the victim of crime and not sub-national,” he said.
When pressed on whether the British government had insisted that the money be spent on certain projects, Mr. Malami said it was not “a matter of insistence but a matter of negotiation between two sovereign states.”
Ibori was convicted by a UK court in 2012 after pleading guilty to 10 charges of fraud and money laundering.
But the negotiations for the repatriation of his looted assets lasted for over seven years, due to what Mr. Malami described as “judicial processes” which require all appeals to be exhausted before final forfeiture is granted.
“This hampered the speedy recovery of the looted assets,” he said.
Mr. Malami, who also doubles as the Minister of Justice, said the government is pursuing the recovery of other looted assets, including more Ibori assets amounting to over £100 million.
Throughout Myanmar’s month-long demonstrations against the resumption of military rule, artists have helped shape how the protests are expressed visually, from moving illustrations of demonstrators who have died, to huge murals, roadside artworks and satirical protest signs mocking coup leader General Min Aung Hlaing.
…But the most permanent form of protest is, perhaps, the tattoo.
From big cities like Yangon and Mandalay, to Shan state’s Nyaung Shwe, a small town near the popular tourist spot of Inle Lake, protesters are getting inked for democracy.
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, has revealed that President Muhammadu Buhari issued a two-month ultimatum to terrorists regarding their surrender.
This was contained in a state-wide broadcast by Matawalle on Tuesday, March 9.
Matawalle said the president also ordered the deployment of 6,000 troops to crush the bandits if they failed to surrender their arms.
He stated this a few hours after traditional rulers in the state told the service chiefs, who were visiting in the state, that there were over 30,000 bandits in Zamfara forests, a number that far outweighs the less than 10,000 troops deployed to the state to tackle the age-long insecurity.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the mandate by President Buhari came about a week after he declared Zamfara a no-fly zone and halted mining activities to stem what presidency officials described as “arms-for-gold swap” activities in the state.
In his broadcast, Matawalle explained he undertook a four-day working visit to Abuja to brief President Buhari and other critical stakeholders on the security situation in his state.
“In my discussion with President Muhammadu Buhari and the security higher commands in Abuja, it was resolved that 6,000 additional troops will be deployed to complement the effort of other security forces in tackling the security challenges in the state.
The troops will soon arrive in the state for their operations and we are grateful to the federal government.
“The president has agreed to a time frame within which the recalcitrant bandits should surrender their weapons and key into our peace initiative…The peace deal initiated by my administration has recorded successes including the disarmament, securing the release of hundreds of kidnapped persons, reopening of markets and the resumption of other economic activities across the state.
“Even though we are enjoying relative peace as a result of this dialogue and reconciliation programme, some armed bandits refused to key into the programme and they sustain their attacks on our communities. The government has equally observed that there is sabotage by some unscrupulous elements within and outside the state,” he said.
The governor also directed traditional rulers and local council administrators to remain in their domains to monitor the movement or influx of suspicious characters.
“Conveyance of more than two persons on a motorbike is hereby banned with immediate effect. No movement of motorcycles in groups in all the nooks and crannies of the state and security operatives are directed to apprehend the violators of this order,” he said.
Governor Matawalle further reaffirmed the ban on the activities of Yan Sakai (local self-help groups) in the state, adding that whoever was found with a gun would be dealt with accordingly.
The Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation is not investigating the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Bola Tinubu, the AGF, Abubakar Malami (SAN), has said.
Malami said this during an interview with Channels Television’s Politics Today’ programme on Tuesday.
The AGF, however, said he could not say if the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Code of Conduct Bureau were investigating Tinubu since the two agencies had statutory powers to commence probes and prosecute people.
Responding to a question, he said, “The Office of the AGF, as you rightly know, has not taken any decision, has not filed or instituted any action before any court in the land relating to Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
But then, within the context of the law, as you rightly know, the EFCC and the Code of Conduct Bureau are all statutory bodies vested with statutory powers to act within the context of the law establishing them. So, I am not in a position to give you a precise answer.
“The Office of the AGF and its arm, which is the Director of Public Prosecutions, has not initiated any proceedings and no investigation has been instituted at its instance by any agency of the government be it EFCC or the Code of Conduct Bureau.”
The EFCC had in November 2020 written a letter to the CCB requesting copies of Tinubu’s asset declaration form.
The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) will commence a nationwide strike on Wednesday, March 10 (today) over the decision by the National Assembly to remove the national minimum wage from the exclusive to the concurrent legislative list.
According to the NLC during a media parley with journalists on Tuesday, the protest would hold at the 36 states’ Houses of Assembly and at the National Assembly in Abuja.
It added that the protest would start from the Unity Fountain, Abuja, at 7.30 am to the National Assembly complex.
Ripples Nigeria had reported that a bill seeking to remove the negotiation on minimum wage from the exclusive list to the concurrent list passed the second reading in the House of Representatives on February 23.
According to the sponsor, Garba Mohammed (APC Kano), the bill is to allow both the federal and state governments to freely negotiate minimum wage “with their workers in line with our federalism.”
However, the NLC registered its opposition to the plan, describing the bill as an attempt to undermine Nigeria’s working class.
The invitation read, “The Nigeria Labour Congress and its allies will tomorrow (Wednesday) embark on a nationwide protest against attempts by some elements at the National Assembly to remove the minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list. In Abuja, it will mobilise from the Unity Fountain at 7.30 am to the National Assembly.”
In a communiqué issued at the end of the emergency meeting of its National Executive Council penultimate Tuesday, the NLC said it had empowered the National Administrative Council to declare and enforce a national strike action, “especially if the legislators continue on the ruinous path of moving the national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list to the concurrent legislative list.”
President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter, Zahra Buhari-Indimi, has issued a week’s ultimatum to Sahara Reporters to publish a retraction regarding “an injurious and defamatory publication” against her.
Zahra issued this ultimatum via a letter to the newspaper and signed by her counsel, Nasiru Adamu, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on Tuesday, March 9.
In the letter, she also demanded a public apology from the media outfit.
Sahara Reporters had reported that Nasiru Danu, a close ally of President Buhari and some top officials of the Nigeria Customs Service, recently defrauded the Nigerian government of N51 billion.
The newspaper also said the N51 billion was meant “to improve Customs’ revenue.
It said N2.5 billion was also transferred to a foundation owned by Mrs Indimi for which Mr Danu is a signatory.
However, in her response, Zahra denied all the allegations and demanded a retraction.
According to her, there was no way Mr Danu could be a signatory in a foundation she owned.
“Our client equally unequivocally states that no any foundation owned by her was transferred or credited with such amount of money (N2.5 billion or any amount) by the said Alhaji Nasiru Haladu Danu or anybody from the purported President Muhammadu Buhari’s oil mafia group and that it is equally not possible for the said Danu to be a signatory to any foundation owned by our client,” the letter said.
Stakeholders in the Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have agreed to embrace peace in the interest of the party.
Ripples Nigeria gathered that the Ekiti PDP had been polarized along the lines of loyalty to former Governor Ayodele Fayose and Senator Biodun Olujimi.
This was contained in a statement signed by Fayose’s media aide, Lere Olayinka, in Ado Ekiti, on Tuesday, March 9.
According to Olayinka, the feuding party leaders took the decision to let peace reign after a recent meeting in Lagos.
The spokesman also listed party leaders who attended the peace meeting to include: Senator Duro Faseyi, Chief Dipo Anisulowo, Otunba Yinka Akerele, Tunji Odeyemi, Gboyega Oguntuase, Alhaji Lateef Ajijola, Deji Ogunsakin, and Mrs Funmi Ogun.
He said the two groups also resolved that “the journey to lasting and genuine reconciliation of the two groups have begun and continual and in the light of the above, all party followers of the two groups are hereby requested to sheath their sword forthwith and desist from any attack on all the leaders in the party.”
Furthermore, the stakeholders also “unanimously agreed that only with true dialogue that we can achieve victory in our coming elective elections in Ekiti State” and “that we shall continually seek all avenues for peace and resolutions of all crises in the party within the ambit of the law.”
Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmed Gumi, on Tuesday, March 9, clarified his earlier statement accusing the Nigerian Army of religious bias.
Gumi stated that his earlier comments were misunderstood, blaming media reports for the misunderstanding.
According to the cleric, he had a good understanding of the Nigerian Army, adding that many things have not changed since he left the force.
In a clip, the Islamic scholar was seen telling the bandits that soldiers are divided into Muslims and non-Muslims.
However, the Nigerian Army cautioned Gumi against making divisive and disparaging utterances against the military institutions.
In his response, the army spokesman, Brig. Gen. Mohammed Yerima said the army did not deploy its troops along ethnic or religious lines as stated by the cleric during his interaction with bandits.
In his statement titled, ‘Nigerian Army does not deploy its troops along ethnic or religious lines,’ Yerima had admonished the cleric and other “opinion merchants” to exercise restraint and not drag the image and reputation of “one of the most reliable national institutions to disrepute.”
But Gumi said, “I saw the Army’s response. What I will say is that there is a misunderstanding in the issues. When I speak about the religious issue in the Army, I am not referring to today’s Army.
“The issue is from 2010-2015 when some people were in-charge and a lot of bad things happened.
It is during that time that there were bombings everywhere. It happened in Jaji and we lost a popular Muslim general. Even, I was saved by God because they planted a bomb for me,” Gumi told BBC while reacting to the Army’s response.
Governor of Ondo State, Oluwarotimi Akeredolu has suspended all activities of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in the state till further notice, and ordered all members of the union to immediately vacate all motor parks across the state.
This came after one person was reported killed in renewed clash between factions of the union in Akure, the Ondo State capital.
The victim was identified as Ademola Ademoyegun Shina while Adeyemi Samuel Ojuyobo and Akinyemi Bayo were injured in the process.
Officials of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Anambra State, have uncovered various quantities of cocaine and heroin stashed in the palace of a ruler in the state.
In a statement on Monday, the State Commander of the NDLEA, Muhammadu Misbahu Idris, said 58.5 grams of cocaine and 13.9 grams of heroin were concealed in the palace of the traditional ruler.
Although the statement did not give details of the monarch, it noted that security operatives at the palace were helping to trace the owners of the consignment.
“Investigations are ongoing to unravel how the illicit drugs were hidden in the palace and the palace security guards are helping in tracing the dealer behind the consignment,” Idris said.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA spokesman in the state, Odigie Charles, who did not also disclose further details on the issue, said the command would forward the report on the operation to its headquarters, as demanded by the new regime in NDLEA.
However, another source claimed the monarch involved in the case was the Igwe of Obosi.
“The drugs were recovered from his palace. We are still investigating his link to the consignment while the dealer said to be the owner is on the run. There is a manhunt for him at the moment,” the source said.
Obosi is a hilly area bordered by Onitsha to the North-West, Nkpor to the North-East and Oba to the South-East. Sources said apart from Nnewi, it is the biggest town in Anambra State.
Meanwhile, the NDLEA Lagos command, said its officials also arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Hassan Bishi Taiwo, with three parcels of cocaine in a false bottom in his suitcase.
He was intercepted at the E-arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, at the weekend.
Taiwo was arrested after he alighted from an Ethiopian Airlines flight at 1.30m on Friday, the agency’s spokesman Femi Babafemi, said on Monday.
Speaking on the developments, the Chairman/Chief Executive of the NDLEA, Brig-Gen. Mohammed Buba Marwa (rtd), commended the commanders and officers involved in the operations for their vigilance and charged them to continue with the vigour of the offensive action maxim of the new leadership of the anti-drug agency.
The Federal Government is working towards the establishment of specialised courts and judicial divisions that will focus on sexual and gender-based violence (GBV), Malami revealed.
The Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN made this known while speaking at a virtual session on `Special Event on Gender Dimensions of Criminal Justice Responses to Terrorism’ on Monday, March 8.
The event was organised by the UN Office on Drug and Crime as part of events commemorating the 2021 International Women Day holding in Kyoto, Japan.
It focused significant attention on the issue of sexual and gender-based violence.
Malami recalled in 2020, he inaugurated the Inter-Ministerial Management Committee on Eradication of Sexual and Gender-Based Violence with the hope that it will be an important tool in helping Nigeria to address gender-based crimes.
He said the Complex Case Group under his office, in collaboration with relevant stakeholders, leads in the efforts to bring suspected terrorists to justice.
‘`We also in collaboration with the military, police, and other security service investigators from the multiagency Joint Investigation Centre, in North-East worked to include sexual-violence related charges against Boko Haram suspects’’.
He said that the current administration knows well that giving a voice to women is an important aspect of development as women are important agents of positive change.
He noted with dismay that terrorist groups continue to kidnap and commit sexual and gender-based violence against women and girls.
Preventing these crimes and bringing those who commit these acts to justice remains a priority of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“Another emerging area of grave concern is the abduction and kidnapping of teenagers in boarding houses for ransom.
“The perpetrators target this group of people possibly to scare them from schooling and this is indeed a sad situation.
“We must work to prevent both male and female perpetrators from carrying out these acts and support those who have been victims,” he said.
Malami assured that the Nigerian armed forces and law enforcement agencies are working day and night to combat insecurity, terrorism, kidnapping and abduction of people in the country.
He added that in partnership with UNODC as well as the European Union, the federal government launched the “Nigeria Training Module on Gender Dimensions in the Criminal Justice: Response to Terrorism”.
According to him, the Module provides practical guidance based on Nigeria’s legal framework as well as international and African regional laws and good practices to support Nigerian officials in addressing the issues of gender in the counter-terrorism context.
He said the Nigerian National Action Plan for Preventing and Countering Violent Extremism” notes the important role women play not only as policy-makers and law enforcement officers but also wives and mothers in preventing violent extremism and in de-radicalisation, rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders.
He said Nigeria also has developed a National Action Plan on the Implementation of Security Council Resolution 1325 on the Women, Peace and Security agenda which he said was relevant to respond to the needs and promote the role of women in efforts to address terrorism.
The Niger State Governor Abubakar Sani Bello has pledged to procure arms for vigilante groups in order to tackle the menace of terrorism and insecurity.
Bello made this assertion during an address at Kasuwan Garba in the Mariga Local Government Area of the state with over 200 members of the vigilante in the area.
The Governor said the security volunteer groups would be armed to confront “these enemies of the people across the state.”
The visit was part of his morale booster for the vigilante groups across the state.
Attacks by bandits occasioned by killings and kidnappings are now a recurring decimal in the region, with the abductions of students adding a new dimension to the fragile security situation.
Some bandits in Niger and other states in the North West have called for the disbanding of the vigilante groups, saying that was the only condition for them to lay down their arms and embrace peace.
Towards this end, Governor Bello declared that all vigilante groups in the state would be provided with automatic pump-action guns to enable them take the fight to the bandits wherever they were hiding.
The governor said there was no amount of threat from the bandits that would force the government to disband the vigilante groups in the state.
“We are not going to disband the vigilante as a result of the threat from the bandits.
“Even when banditry activities in the state are stopped, the vigilante will still be there to provide security in the local government areas,” he said.
The Osun State Police Command has launched an intensive manhunt for criminals who attacked commuters along the Ibadan/Akure expressway on March 6.
The command’s spokesman, Opalola Yemisi Olawoyin, who disclosed this in a statement sent to Ripples Nigeria, said the state’s Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, has directed a combined team of police tactical units, Joint Task Force (JTF), local hunters, and vigilantes to comb the bush with a view to bringing the culprits to book.
The statement read:
Consequent upon the incident of 6th March 2021, around 7:00 p.m., where a gang of criminals/hoodlums intercepted and attacked a Toyota Previa commercial bus with registration number Ondo KTP 331 RG plying Ibadan/Akure expressway by Egbu Village Ikire, in which unsuspecting commuters were eventually dispossessed of their valuables and the driver and one other person abducted, the police in prompt response, engaged the criminals in a firefight which led to the arrest of three suspects, and the rescue of other commuters safely to Ikire Police Division. The arrested suspects are making useful statements.
Sequel to this report, the Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, immediately combined a strong reinforcement of Police Tactical units, JTF, local hunters, and vigilantes with the police teams on ground, to embark on a search/rescue operation which involves combing the bush for the two missing persons, and possible arrest of all other fleeing criminals.
“He further reiterates his resolve that all forms of criminal incendiary will be checkmated in all nook and crannies. He also warns criminals to have a rethink, as the command has declared total war on unscrupulous elements.
“Finally, the Commissioner of Police enjoined members of the public to support, cooperate, and collaborate with the Police in fighting crime to bring it down to the barest minimum, by providing us with creditable and prompt information.”
An MP from Angela Merkel’s party has stepped down from Germany’s parliament over a scandal about the purchase of face masks during the pandemic.
Nikolas Löbel announced he would leave the CDU party after it emerged that his firm had earned around €250,000 ($300,000) from the sales.
He initially planned to continue as an MP but said on Monday he was stepping down with immediate effect.
Another lawmaker is facing pressure over a similar case.
The news comes just a week before regional elections in two German states, including Mr Löbel’s constituency of Baden-Württemberg, where the sales took place.
As reports of the deal emerged last week, Mr Löbel said he would carry on as a lawmaker until elections in September.
However, he soon faced calls from senior politicians, including the leaders of the CDU and its Bavarian sister party the CSU, to resign his seat in parliament.
MP Lobel
“In order to avoid further damage to my party, I am resigning my parliamentary mandate with immediate effect,” Mr Löbel, 34, announced on Monday.
Another MP involved in a similar scandal about the purchase of face masks, Georg Nüsslein of the CSU, has also announced he is leaving the party and is also facing pressure to leave his seat in parliament.
The controversies come in a key election year for the CDU, with parliamentary elections scheduled for September and Chancellor Angela Merkel set to step down after more than 15 years in office.
However, a poll carried out for the Bild newspaper over the weekend found that support for the CDU/CSDU bloc had fallen to 32% – the lowest figure since the pandemic hit Germany last year.
While Germany was initially praised for its response to the pandemic, the country has struggled to contain a second wave and has been affected by the slow pace of vaccine roll-out across the EU.
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