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  • DSS arrest major financier, armourer of kidnap gang in Kogi

    The Department of State Services ( DSS ) said it had arrested Lawal Mohammed, a suspected major financier and amourer of the dreaded Basalube kidnap gang in Kogi.

    A statement issued by an operative of the service, Mr Tony Opuiyo, on Tuesday in Abuja, said the suspect was arrested on March 23, at Japama in Obajana Local Government Area of Kogi.

    Opuiyo said that the suspect was apprehended with two other members of the gang, Mohammed Tukur and Abubakar Ibrahim, by the joint team of the Service and the Military during the operation.

    He said that Tukur was identified as the Chief surveillance officer of the gang who coordinated the gang’s movement across Rivers, Edo, Delta, Kebbi, Zamfara, Kaduna, Kogi and the Federal Capital Territory, preparatory to the execution of their operations.

    The operative said that items recovered from the suspects include: three cell phones and 25 bottles of psychotropic inducers.

    In a related development, the DSS said it had also arrested five suspected members of the Basulube kidnap gang at Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta.

    The suspects are: Ali Abubakar, a top ranking member of the gang, Abubakareem Idrisa,Bashir Tsoho, Sanusi Abubakar, Nuhu Muhammadu and Abubakar Abdulhammeed.

    “This arrest was effected while Abubakar was perfecting plans to carry out kidnap operations in Obajana, Kogi,“he said.

    He said that in its determination to decimate the gang, the Service on on March 26 arrested Abubakar Danlansu, driver and weapon courier of the group at Dikko area of Niger.

    “The suspect was arrested enroute Edo from where he was to convey weapons to Obajana in Kogi for the gang’s planned kidnap operations.

    He said that the service had arrested Matthew Ekam, 39, in connection with the kidanap of Obianuju Onyema in Yenagoa on March 12 and later released by the kidnappers on March 18.

    Opuiyo said the suspect is a native of Ogoja, Cross River and a driver of a heavy duty truck operating between Bayelsa and Rivers.

    He said that on March 24, the service arrested a suspected Boko Haram terrorist, Mohammed Bello on the outskirt of Wudil Local Government Area of Kano State.

    Read Also: How we secured Dapchi schoolgirls’ release —DSS

    He said Bello was believed to be carrying out surveillance activities for the extremist group in the area.

    “At the point of his arrest, several handsets, multiple identity cards including those of a Police Constable and neighbourhood vigilante member and N37,857.00 were recovered from him,“he said.

    “The arrest of these suspects hold major significance for law and order and safety of persons.

    “It is instructive to note that the activities of kidnappers and armed robbers on the Lokoja-Okene and Abuja-Kaduna corridors have relatively reduced as a result of sustained counter operations of the Service and sister security agencies,“he said.

    Opuiyo said that the recent arrest of Abubakar and other members of the dreaded Basalube kidnap gang would apparently result in the complete elimination of violent and other allied crimes in those regions.

    “The successes so far recorded by the Service are geared toward providing a safe and peaceful environment for law abiding citizens to pursue their legitimate endeavours.

    “We wish to reassure the public that the tempo of these operations will be continually reviewed, strengthened and sustained.

    “The Service, therefore, wishes to reiterate its stance that all perpetrators of violence and criminality against the Nigerian State and its law-abiding citizens will be made to face the full course of law no matter how long it takes, “he said.

    NAN

  • Ahmed advocates greater media freedom

    Kwara Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, has described media as strong instrument of change in attitude, perception and governance, saying they had moved beyond just information dissemination.

    He, therefore, called for strengthening of freedom of the press in the country to enable it to continue to play the reform role at all times and unhindered.

    Ahmed made the call on Tuesday in Ilorin, when he received members of the International Press Institute ( IPI ) led by a former Director-General of Nigeria Television Authority ( NTA ), Dr Tony Iredia, visited him.

    He said that the media were very critical to development and should be factored into processes of governance in the country.

    He advised that any government that wanted to impact on the people must allow for freedom of press.

    According to the governor, the moment information was not allowed to flow freely the populace will be cut-off from government.

    He pointed out that it would be difficult for positive changes to take place without free-flow of information.

    “I feel that the role Nigeria press is playing, it requires to be strengthened as it is more needed now than ever.

    Read Also: Ahmed to support IPI congress 2018

    “Information dissemination is critical to stability and that is why anything that has to do with information dissemination must be taken seriously,” Ahmed added.

    He urged the IPI members to use the instrumentality of information dissemination to ensure good governance and stability in the country.

    The governor also charged the media to showcase achievements in Nigeria and its people to the international community.

    Earlier, Iredia had said that the delegation was in Kwara to sensitise government and the people to the forthcoming conference of the Institute.

    He announced that the conference would hold in June in Abuja and expressed hope that it would change the perception of foreigners about Nigeria.

    Iredia emphasised the importance of free press in the country and called for an attitudinal change towards the media by allowing them access to information.

    He also called for good remuneration for journalists, saying that would enable them to perform their duties effectively.

    Iredia commended the governor for the infrastructure development in the state, especially the ongoing Diamond under-pass project at Geri-Alimi area.

    NAN

  • NUT urges FG to address shortage of teachers in schools

    The Nigeria Union of Teachers ( NUT ) has called on the Federal Government to employ qualified teachers to address the shortage of teachers in schools in the country.

    The Secretary-General of the union, Dr Mike Ike Ene, made the call in an interview with the News men in Abuja on Tuesday.

     We have professional teachers but the problem is that the government are not taking any step to filling up these yearning gaps we have in our schools.

    “If you go to some schools you will find out that we still have situations where you get one teacher to a hundred pupils or one teacher to 70 students.

    “Yet we have colleges of education, universities, other educational faculties and departments that are churning out quality, qualified professional teachers.

    “These teachers are not being employed; people are using employment as political patronage instead of employing the right people.

    Read Also: Dapchi Girls: NUT urges FG to provide adequate security in schools

    “If Liberia says they want this quality, qualified and professional teachers and we think we have ( them ), instead of staying here to waste away, we should be able to allow those who are prepared to go there to do so.

    “After all there is always this exchange programme that is based on bilateral agreement.

    “But  I want to advise that you do not give somebody the nose which you are using to breath. “Rather, let  our  government do everything in its power to keep these teachers by employing them and posting them t the schools that need them.’’

    The News men reports that Liberian President George Weah had requested Nigeria to help fill the 6,000 teacher deficit in his country.

    Weah said that the government needed to make up the teacher deficit at the federal, state and local government levels.

    NAN

     

  • Video: Freed Dapchi schoolgirls sing National Anthem in Abuja

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday received 106 released Dapchi schoolgirls and one boy at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The insurgents, Boko Haram, had abducted 110 school girls from Government Girls Science and Technical College, Dapchi, Yobe State on the 19th of February, 2018.

    Dapchi girls

     

     

    Read Also: Buhari receives 106 Dapchi schoolgirls, one boy in Aso Rock

  • Melaye recall: INEC releases time-table

     

    The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, on Wednesday announced time-table for commencement of the recall process of the member representing Kogi West at the National Assembly, Senator Dino Melaye.

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kogi State, Prof. James Apam stated in Lokoja, that following the appeal court ruling that INEC can commence the recall process, the commission has fixed the last Saturday of April, 2018 as the verification date.

    It fixed the first Saturday of May 2018, for the referendum to be conducted in line with the electoral laws.

    Apam who spoke during a stakeholders forum in the state capital, said the process begins with thr invite all the electorate that signed the recall register to come forward and identify their signature”.

    According to him, if the process is successful, the commission will proceed to the next stage where a referendum of all registered voters would be conducted.

    He continued: “Here, voters will be asked to vote either Yes or No, to the question of whether they want Senator Dino Melaye recalled.

    Read Also: INEC set to take decision on Melaye’s recall

    “If the answer is able to meet the constitutional requirements of 51 percent Yes, the process moves to the next stage, but if it fails, the process stops”.

    The Court of Appeal sitting in Abuja, had last week ruled against Melaye’s suit challenging the move to recall him.

    “As a law abiding people, INEC will not do anything outside the dictate of the law. That is why we have to wait till after the judgement before going ahead with the process”, Apam said.

    On the continuous voters registration, he said that 210,000 Permanent Voters Cards were ready for collection, and employed the owners to collect them.

     

  • 2018 Budget: Lawmaker defends NASS over delay

    A member of House of Representatives, Mr Nicholas Ossai ( Delta-APC ), on Wednesday urged Nigerians to hold the Executive accountable for the delay in the passage of 2018 Appropriation Bill.

    He told News men in Abuja that apart the Bill being late November, 2017, Ministries, Departments and Agencies ( MDAs ) had refused to go before relevant committees of the legislature to defend their budgets.

    Ossai, therefore, said that it was unfair for the Executive to blame the lawmakers for delay in passing the budget, insisting that it could not be approved without MDAs defending their needs as contained in it.

    According to him, the National Assembly cannot address issues regarding the Appropriation Bill in a hasty manner, particularly when the Executive that made the inputs in the budget are reluctant to come and defend them.

    On the intended January – December fiscal year, the lawmaker said “I don’t really agree with the executive’s assertion, whether budget year or not budget year.

    “The most critical issue is that the budget was brought late November, and so there was no way the National Assembly could have addressed the matters in the Bill in one month.

    “January to December is not supposed to be an issue but bringing the private sector to bear when budgeting is the issue.

    “This is because the economy is run not only from the public sector but also the private sector.

    “The executive ought to bring the budget in the first week of October to give three months for the legislature to address the issues critically, looking at the books and performance of preceding budget.’’

    “Sometimes you blame the executive because you invite them to come and expatiate on the budget items and they find it very difficult. I don’t know what they are hiding from the legislature.

    “The Constitution has given us power to be able to look at the Bill; we are representatives of the people and the executive is to implement what the people have prescribed.

    “I think to some extent, the National Assembly has been dutiful enough to its job by creating value for money because without scrutinizing, you won’t be able to see value for money,” Ossai added.

    According to him, if certain amount is budgeted, it is also necessary to know how it is utilised based on the prescription of the national assembly.

    “If you are the executive and have budgeted a sub-head of N10, you should be able to feed us that the N10 we gave you last time, you used it and to what extent.

    Read Also: Akerele urges NASS to review gender rights bill

    “If you can defend that very effectively, then there is no reason why the National Assembly cannot prescribe further N10 or even give more depending on what you have presented.

    “But, in a situation where the executive budget performance is eight per cent or sometimes, 20 per cent and you are bringing a higher figure in a new budget, the National Assembly will ask questions.

    “Those are the reasons why our constituencies want to know why most of the budgets are not well implemented, especially when revenue generating agencies have met their target according to approval.

    “So, these are the issues we want to know and critically examine so Nigerians can get value for money,” he said.

    Ossai said that though implementation of 2017 budget was quite low at the end of the year, it had gone up to about 50 per cent due to queries by the legislature.

    “Today, I can tell you that over 50 per cent of the 2017 budget has been implemented.

    “This is because of the critical assertion by the House of Representatives in particular; the executive had to rush and hasten implementation of the budget.

    “You can see that the representation of the people counts a lot in a democracy; without being critical about the last year’s budget, there was no way the executive would have implemented it.

    “So, Nigerians should be patient with the National Assembly; we are trying to create value for money,” he said.

    NAN

  • Dapchi Girls: IGP absolves Police

    …Deploys Mobile Police to schools in Northeast 

    …IG gives 20th April as deadline for withdrawal of personnel

     

     

    The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris has absolved the Nigeria Police Force in the abduction of Dapchi school girls.

    Over 100 girls were abducted in February from Government Girls’ Secondary School, Dapchi in Yobe State.

    The IG also disclosed that Police Mobile Force would be deployed to all the schools in the northeast as part of measures to forestall future occurrence.

    The Police chief said this in Abuja on Tuesday at the Force Headquarters during a meeting with Squadron, Countet Terrorism Unit (CTU), and Special Protection Unit (SPU), Commanders.

    The meeting was held as part of preparation for the withdrawal of personnel from VIPs.

    On the deployment to schools in the northeast, the police chief said: “You are all aware of the abduction of Dapchi school girls by this horrible Boko Haram in Yobe States.  Though not the fault of the police, the incidence was a national embarrassment.

    “It is not the fault of the police because from what we had from the Commissioner of Police in the state, he said he was not informed or alerted before that attack took place but I think it is incumbent on us to take action.

    “Consequently, in compliance with the Presidential order, I have given a directive that all schools in Yobe, Adamawa and Borno state must have PMF personnel deployed to the schools. The PMF are to provide security in those schools.”

    Read Also: IGP withdraws policemen attached to VIPs, others

    The IG also said he will be going to the Northeast on Wednesday  (today) with the DIG Operations in order to have on the spot assessment of the deployment.

    On the withdrawal of Police personnel, the IG said the withdrawal would be nationwide.

    He said the men would be withdrawn latest 20th April, 2018.

    He said: “We are trying to seek the permission of the Commander in Chief before we conduct this withdrawal because it is going to be a massive withdrawal all over the country.

    “Of course you know the sentiment of people, whenever you take such actions; there would be lots of complaints. So, we are going to do it in a sound footing to make sure that once we withdraw people,  they are not taken back.

    “The Squadron and Commanders of PMF, CTU and PMF will sign an undertaken and any violation of those directives is going to be met with strict disciplinary action.

    “You have up to 20th April March to comply with these directives”, he added.

    The IG also described as worrisome attacks on Police personnel.

    He said the successes of the the attack shows that the personnel indulge in unprofessional conducts and poor training.

    The IG said: “Attack on Police personnel who are on official duties is quite worrisome. The rate at which personnel on special duties are killed and weapons carted away is alarming.

    “These incidences are due to lack of supervision, and unprofessional conducts by the men. They don’t have the training and therefore they don’t know what to do in the event of an attack.

    “They are never at alert and tend to forget themselves in the environment they operate. This attitude must be checked and solution must be found”.

    The IG said men posted to crisis areas must be fully kitted with guns, body armour, and enough ammunition.

  • Police fighting cultism frontally in Bayelsa – CP

    The Police Command in Bayelsa says it is fighting cultism in the state headlong with the collaboration of other security agencies.
    The state Commissioner of Police, Mr Don Awunah made the disclosure in an interview with the News men on Tuesday in Abuja.
    “The police, the state Government and other security agencies are fighting it frontally,’’ he said.
    The commissioner noted that, generally, the state was peaceful as it ranked the lowest among states in the country within the National crime index.
    “Bayelsa generally is a very peaceful state. Within the national crime index, the state ranks the lowest.
    “We have issues of cultism, a lot of misguided youths have formed all kinds of cult groups,’’ he said.
    The commissioner said that the few cases of crime in the state were driven by cultism that had permeated all strata of the state.
    Awunah said that all cases of kidnapping and armed robbery in the state were one way or the other linked to cultism.
    He said that the command had put in place “Operation Safer Bayelsa’’ as a measure to check crime and criminality in the state.

    Read Also: Police officer Ibrahim accused in ‘Apo six killing’ decorated

    “We have also put in place anti-cultism unit essentially streamlined to fight cultism and other related offences,’’ he said.Awunah blamed parents for not guiding their wards who had chosen to engage in cultism.

    “Our parents are not guiding their children enough. All we need to do is for people to cue behind the police to check cultism among youths in the state,’’ he said.
    On recovery of illegal arms, Awunah said that some members of the public had voluntarily submitted their arms to the police.
    The Inspector-General of Police,( I-G), Mr Ibrahim Idris, had directed all command Commissioners of Police to commence the recovery of prohibited firearms in the country.
    Awunah said that the command had recorded a huge success in the recovery of prohibited and illegally acquired arms in the state.
    The commissioner said that the state government had invested so much in security infrastructure.

    NAN

     

  • Tennis academy, key to building great stars in Nigeria – NTF

    Ifedayo Akindoju, President of Nigeria Tennis Federation ( NTF ), on Tuesday identified Tennis academy as key to building great stars in Nigeria capable of competing globally.

    The NTF’s president made this known in an interview with the News men in Abuja.

    Akindoju also said that centres for regular mental and physical training of players were imperative for excellence in tennis.

    “There should be academies for tennis tutelage and mentorship, where passion and interest should be regularised.

    “Our problem in Nigeria is that passions fizzle out due to lack of platforms to promote and sustain them,” he said.

    The Tennis federation chief, who called for sponsorship, said such would also serve as roadmap toward building great stars.

    Read Also: World Taekwondo confirms NTF Board

    He said that it required only the willingness of just 10,000 Nigerians to support with N5, 000 each to make the idea a reality.

    According to him, the federation can achieve greater results, at least in the area of periodic, competitions with Nigeria’s support.

    Akindoju urged Nigerians to take the responsibility of joining hands in rebuilding tennis.

    “Someone can take the responsibility of procuring rackets while some can help in building academies.”

    He restated the readiness of the federation to take Nigerian tennis higher with collective support of Nigerians.

    NAN

  • Buratai inaugurates committee on Arms Audit in Military formations

    The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai Monday inaugurated a committee to look into record-keeping of arms and ammunitions across its 17 units and formations nationwide.

    Lt Gen. Buratai said the exercise across all Nigerian Army formations remained highly valuable to the Nigerian Army, noting that the process is being carried out annually and as at when necessary.

    Inaugurating the committee at the Army Headquarters, Abuja, the Army Chief said the Nigerian Army has an existing procedure for checks and balances in which formations and units render computerised arms returns for accounting purposes.

    But regretted that the laid down procedures have over time been jettisoned or compromised for various reasons.

    He said: “The Nigerian Army has procured different types of arms for the conduct of training and operations. We have discovered that some of these weapons were delivered straight to various theatres of operation without following the proper process of documentation and accounting.

    “This has sometimes resulted in double accounting by many formations especially those involved in counter-insurgency and other military operations in aid of civil authority.

    “The resultant effect of these improper arms handling has necessitated the need to reconcile and constantly update returns in line with data bases held at Army Headquarters.”

    Gen Buratai urged members of the committee to go round all the Nigerian Army units, formations and verify their arms holding in other to have accurate records in various depots and arms stores.

    According to him the committee’s report would complement the existing accounting procedures with a view to enhancing efficient planning in support of ongoing Nigerian Army operations.

    He said: “As committee members, you have all been carefully selected based on your proven record of integrity and meticulousness.

    “I have no doubt that you will all do a great job and I have directed AHQ DAPP and the various formations to provide you with all the necessary logistics required for the completion of assigned tasks.

    “You are enjoined to visit all units and formations in your areas of assigned tasks and render a comprehensive report on completion of the verification exercise.

    “Let me hasten to add that arms and ammunition issues are secret matters, hence you are to treat this assignment with the seriousness and secrecy it deserves.”

    Read Also: Army dealing with security challenges, says Buratai