Students and a lecturer of the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba in Ondo state recently ran for their lives after some of the students in their class came in dressed as terrorists for a presentation they were having on terrorism.
The students who dressed in military camouflage and had their faces covered while carrying “guns”, came into the lecture room for their presentation.
The lecturer and the students said they thought they were under attack, making everyone scamper for safety.
A student of the school who gave an insight into what happened wrote..
Bola Tinubu, one of the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential aspirants, has said that he will fight terrorism and insecurity in the country if elected as the next president in 2023.
He said this on Tuesday while addressing the party’s delegates at its special convention and presidential primary election at the Abuja Eagle Square.
Mr Tinubu commended the other aspirants in the race for conducting what he described as a decent campaign, saying that the competition would eventually make the APC stronger.
He described himself as a unifier and the one which the current moment in the country calls for.
“Nominate me as the party’s presidential candidate for 2023 because I’m competent and courageous to serve Nigeria, and deliver good governance,” he said.
Mr Tinubu, a former two-term governor of Lagos State said he had the experience, record of achievements, and the ability to deliver good governance if elected as the country’s next president.
He added that true reform and progress lie not in copying others, but in identifying our own opportunities as a nation.
“I have done this in Lagos State as governor for two terms. I humbly ask you to allow me to use these skills and experiences to advance the nation.
“I come to you with a coherent vision on how to improve our nation, such that our schools, industry, agriculture, and infrastructure will become the pride of all.
“Ours shall be a land where all Nigerians will have equal chance and no one is excluded because of his ethnic background, religious creed, place of origin, or social status, we are all Nigerians.
“By this statement, I seek your help and support to become our party’s nominee and standard-bearer in the coming February 2023 presidential elections.
“To lead Nigerians is a sacred trust, which I do not take lightly or seek selfishly, by giving me the party’s mandate, I hereby make solemn vow to make Nigeria the best home for its citizens,” he said.
Mr Tinubu expressed optimism that as an indivisible united country, Nigerians shall overcome the destructive forces attempting to steal the destiny of the nation.
Also speaking to the delegates, Ahmad Lawan, President of the Senate, said he would build on President Muhammadu Buhari’s achievements if elected as the country’s next president.
“I am running for the office of the president of the country because this party has been built well around ideas which we all share,” he said.
He appealed to the delegates to elect an aspirant that would build on Buhari’s achievements.
Earlier, Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo assured that the party’s presidential primary election would be free, fair, and transparent.
Mr Uzodinma is the chairman of the Central Planning Committee of the APC special convention and presidential primary election.
“Our party has always proved the opposition parties wrong and we will prove that today with a free, fair, and transparent election, ” he said.
Rotimi Amaechi, the immediate past Minister of Transportation and a former two-term governor of Rivers while speaking to the delegates, said he was the most qualified aspirant to be the country’s next president having served in various capacities.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that contrary to speculations, all 23 APC presidential aspirants that bought the party’s Expression of Interest and Nomination forms were asked to sell their candidacy to the delegates.
Meanwhile, Ibikunle Amosun, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti, Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa, Godswill Akpabio, Dimeji Bankole and Uju Ken-Ohanenye, the only APC female presidential aspirant, all stepped down for Tinubu.
Yahaya Bello of Kogi, also a presidential aspirant, reiterated his ability, experience, and what takes to ensure electoral victory for the APC in 2023, saying that he remains in the race.
He appealed to the delegates to elect him as the party’s 2023 presidential candidate, adding that he had the support of women, youths, and persons with disability in the country (NAN)
The Ekiti State Governor, Kayode Fayemi, claimed on Friday that he has a template to end the country’s insecurity.
Insecurity has been a major challenge in Nigeria since President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office in 2015 with the Boko Haram insurgents, bandits and other criminals pillaging communities across the country.
Fayemi is one of All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirants eyeing the party’s presidential ticket at this month’s primary slated for Abuja.
The governor, according to a statement issued by the Head of Campaign Organisation, Femi Ige, stated this during his visit to Borno, Yobe and Gombe States as part of consultations ahead of the party’s presidential primary.
He said: “Security will top my agenda as a security expert. I have a Ph.D. in War Studies and I consulted for Nigeria under President Olusegun Obasanjo, I was deeply involved in the resolution of the wars in Sierra Leone, Liberia, Rwanda, and Sri Lanka.
We have a template that we’ll use in bringing peace to our people so that we can farm in peace, school in peace, and live in peace. If I can do it outside, why not for the country that has given me everything?
“My focus would be on bringing peace to my fatherland and ensuring that the Ibadan man finds home in Sokoto and the Sokoto man finds home in Akure, Abakaliki, Onisha or Owerri. The Oweri man must find a home in Damaturu. This is the Nigeria I want to fight for and I’m confident it’s achievable.
“Any government who can successfully tackle this would have succeeded in bringing happiness to our country, discourage the urge to secede, and address our perennial problem of youth restiveness.
“I believe I have the education, the energy, the capacity, and the knowledge to tackle this problem.
“Nigeria is a diverse country and there is diverse competency. There are competent people across the country but in a multi-cultural, multi-dimensional, and multi-religious society, you also need zoning to build trust and confidence.”
A United States-based non-profit organisation, Global Advocates for Terrorism Eradication (GATE), on Friday urged President Joe Biden to designate President Muhammadu Buhari, former Lagos State Governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai and some officials of the Nigerian government as sponsors of terrorism in the country.
Also listed in the petition are former Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai, the Director-General of Department of State Services, Yusuf Magaji Bichi, former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, his Information and Culture counterpart, Lai Mohammed and the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami.
In a 26-page petition signed by GATE’s Principal Advocate, Robert Berry, and addressed to the US Secretary of State, Anthony J. Blinken, the group described the killings in several parts of the country as state-sponsored terrorism.”
It also alleged that the Nigerian government officials were “sponsoring terrorism by carrying out terrorist activities including training, funding, financing, and recruitment of terrorists using their offices as a safe haven, transit and operational base for terrorists.”
The petition read: “The Nigerian government officials have deployed the instrumentality of power and are using the veil of sovereignty in knowingly consenting and with malicious intent allowing and promoting the use of Nigeria as a breeding ground and recruitment nursery for international terrorism activities contrary to foreign relations authorizations act fiscal years 1988 and 1989 (P.L.100 to 204:22 U.S.C 2656f), as amended.
“The current Nigerian Government led by President Muhammadu Buhari is executing a global Jihadist agenda that is comparable, if not more insidious, than that of the Taliban’s of Afghanistan.
“It is even more dangerous because it is mixed with genocidal tendencies. It is in the best interest of the United States and all the democratic countries of the world to identify this threat early and address it now.
“This is to prevent the further spread of the global jihadist agenda of the Buhari government and to arrest an imminent ethnic and religious genocide.”
The group also gave Washington a two-month notice to act on its petition, saying it would be forced to head to the US Federal Court to apply for a Writ of Mandamus to compel Biden and Blinken to issue the designation in line with the provisions of law.”
Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Wednesday urged the new United States President, Joe Biden, to help Nigeria in its fights against terrorism.
Atiku made the call on his Twitter handle while congratulating Biden who was inaugurated as the US 46th President on Wednesday.
The ex-vice president expressed optimism that Biden’s administration would mark a new era in America’s regeneration and her reaffirmation as the beacon of democracy to the world at large.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain stressed that he looks forward to the removal of every travel restriction on Nigerian citizens in keeping with the good relations between the two nations.
Atiku wrote: “As Joe Biden begins his tenure as the 46th President of the United States of America, I am confident that this new era will mark America’s regeneration and her reaffirmation as the beacon of democracy to the world.
“As I congratulate President Biden and VP Kamala Harris, I urge them and their administration to strengthen US-Nigeria ties and help our beloved nation’s war on terror by providing every type of support required to win the war against the insurgency we face.
“I also look forward to the removal of every travel restriction on Nigerian citizens, in keeping with the good relations that have existed between our two nations beginning with the July 27, 1961 state visit of our first Prime Minister, Alhaji Tafawa Balewa, to President John F. Kennedy, and continuing over the decades since then.
“As the playwright, George Bernard Shaw, once said, America and Nigeria are two nations divided by a common language. And millions of Nigerians and I wish to see that relationship sustained to the mutual benefit of both our democratic nations.
“Congratulations once again and may God bless both our nations and bring about a beneficial tenure for your administration.”
Borno State Governor, Babagana Zulum in an interview on Channels Tv , spoke about the Zabarmari Massacre and the rescue of the remaining Chibok Girls.
Zulum stated the following; “As of now, because of the impact made by the people and the Nigerian military, the people of Zabarmari are free to go to their farmlands”. “We are yet to ascertain the total figures of those affected by the massacre. But, as of now, they are about 43. The government will soon come up with modalities to ensure the families are well taken care of”.
“Between 2015 till date, we have started witnessing the gradual return of peace in Borno…but notwithstanding, we have certain challenges in the precinct of the Lake Chad, Sambisa Lake Reserves, and in the Mandara Hills.”
“The difficult situation we are in now is accessibility. Most of the local government headquarters are now accessible. But we want to ensure people have access to their means of livelihood, to go to their farmlands.”
The gunmen, who set fire to several houses, attacked the community at about 11.20 pm on Saturday for more than 30 minutes, without being checkmated by the police or military personnel.
Gunmen suspected to be Jukun militias have invaded Tor-Iorshaer community, Rafinkada ward in the Wukari Local Government Area of Taraba State, killing at least four persons who had just returned to their community based on the state government’s directive.
The gunmen, who set fire to several houses, attacked the community at about 11.20 pm on Saturday for more than 30 minutes, without being checkmated by the police or military personnel.
Survivors of the attack, who spoke with SaharaReporters, lamented that many of the residents had returned to the community, based on a directive of the State Governor, Darius Ishaku, that normalcy had returned to the areas and that the security agencies would ensure the protection of the lives and property of the indigenes.
The gunmen, however, struck on Saturday, sacking the Tor-Iorshaer community without any visible presence or intervention of the security agencies.
The deceased were identified as Godwin Meer, Oryina Sunday Mdooga, Alfred Sylvanus Mchivga and Ayar Chia.
A resident, who gave his name only as Bitrus, told SaharaReporters, “This attack is one of several attacks in the past that made us, the indigenous people of the community, to flee our homes to neighbouring states for safety. No security agent seems to be in view despite a military camp within the community.
“Many of us are returnees. We acted based on the Taraba State government’s directive that the crisis was over, that all displaced people should return. But on returning home, we were suddenly attacked again and killed by the Jukun militias.”
Another survivor noted that the community forwarded the letters of their return to all the relevant security agencies in the state, requesting for security presence, but got nothing.
“We had been displaced for close to two years without the government’s intervention. Meanwhile, it was the Taraba State Government, who issued the directive for the displaced persons to return home to their ancestral land that the crisis was over,” the survivor said.
A government official said the only way to resolve the crisis was to ensure that the security agencies do their work and do not take sides with any ethnoreligious interests in the state.
Pastor Enoch Adeboye,the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG), prayed that all terrorists and their sponsors will not see 2021 yesterday.
Adeboye also assured Nigerians that the Almighty God will arise against those pretending to be the country’s friends while planning to enslave the nation.
In his prayer, he said:
“Where they say there is no way, God will arise and make a way for Nigeria and everyone. Any form of stagnation in Nigeria will come to an end and every terrorist and their sponsors will not see the New Year in Jesus’ Name, Amen.”
Claiming that God has given the country victory over the Coronavirus pandemic, Adeboye admonished everyone to always praise God at all times.
He made a statement;
“We thank God for the victory over Coronavirus and we pray that the victory will be total and permanent.”
He said further;
“We also pray that God will help us to be united and let our tomorrow be alright.”
The RCCG General Overseer, who took his reading from the book of Psalms 68: 1 to 4, also said;
“God will fight for us, arise and make a way where there is no way.”
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