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Tag: crackdown

  • U.S to crackdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    U.S to crackdown on Nigerians, Brazilians, others with overstayed visas

    A crackdown on visitors with visa overstays is imminent in the United States of America with Nigeria, Brazil, Venezuela, China and  Colombia listed as countries with the most total overstays that do not participate in the visa waiver programme.

    The Trump Administration says it has a problem with visa overstays in the country and is now determined to step up enforcement to try to cut down on the violations.

    Consequently, the government is introducing a face scan for all US citizens travelling abroad.

    The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this is aimed mainly at better tracking visa overstays and also at tightening security.

    The agency said it’s the only way to successfully expand a programme that tracks non immigrant foreigners.

    A report in May showed that more than 54 million visitors checked in last year – and nearly 630,000 of them didn’t go back home.

    John Wagner, the Customs deputy executive assistant commissioner in charge of the programme, confirmed in an interview that U.S. citizens departing on international flights will submit to face scans.

    The number of visa overstays was about 200,000 higher than the previous 12-month period.

    Libya, a country of special interest because of terrorism concerns, saw 43 percent of its students refuse to leave on time, while a staggering 75 percent of students from Eritrea broke the terms of their deal, the report said.

    Jessica Vaughan, policy studies director at the Centre for Immigration Studies, said those kinds of rates should force a rethink at the State Department, which issues visas, and should spur immigration officials to put more effort into deterring and deporting overstays in the U.S.

    “The fact that more than 700,000 visits were overstayed last year shows just how much we need to step up interior enforcement to create more of a deterrent, not only by identifying and deporting overstays, but by weakening the job magnet by cracking down on employers who hire illegal workers,” she said.

     

  • In Abia, crackdown on criminals continues

    Criminals have continued to keep the security community in Abia State busy, but the outlaws, themselves, have not quite been having fun either. Kidnappers, armed robbers and human traffickers, among other hoodlums, have not given up their thirst for criminality. A  lawmaker even called for a state of emergency on violent crimes in the state. But the police, sometimes working in concert with the military and other security agencies, have been battling them, busting their gangs, destroying their camps and tools, and arresting a number of them.

    As the onslaught continues, the state police command under the leadership of Mr Adeleye Oyebade has reiterated its commitment to making the state safe for business and economic activities. Oyebade, during a visit to some of the police divisions under his command, promised that his command would tackle kidnapping, armed robbery, child theft, human trafficking and other criminal activities in the state.

    The command’s spokesman, Geoffrey Ogbonna said the command has made some arrests and have recovered some stolen items.

    He reeled out the police efforts and results: “On 06/06/2017 at about 2100hrs, operatives of Special Anti-Robbery Squad attached to Area Command Umuahia on a tip-off, raided the houses of Ugochukwu Okereke ‘m’ of Umeremeze Village Nkwoegwu and Obilor Icha of Umueze Road Umuahia, where they recovered one locally made pistol and a pump action rifle buried in the ground.

    “On 08/06/2017 at about 1300hrs, patrol team attached to Central Police Station Aba while on patrol along Aba Main Park, accosted the duo of Chibuike Nwoke 20yrs ‘m’ of Umuduruji Obohia Ahiazu Mbaise Imo State and Chukwuebuka Okafor 29yrs ‘m’ of Umuezechi Bende L.G.A Abia State, with a big Sumec Generating Set, which account they were not able to give. On interrogation, the suspects confessed to have burgled the house of one Emeka Ikeafuama (alias Tuma Wowowo) ‘m’ of Ahiazu Mbaise based in USA and have brought the generator to Aba for sale.

    “On 09/06/2017 at about 0215hrs, men of Counter Terrorist Unit (CTU) on patrol responding to a radio message from the control room, recovered one Toyota Lexus Jeep with reg. no. FST 202 ER, black in Colour which occupants abandoned during a hot chase by the CTU patrol team and ran into the bush at Agalaba Road in Osisioma. Effort is intensified toward the arrest of the fleeing hoodlums.

    “On 09/06/2017 at about 1220hrs, one Nissan Pathfinder Jeep with reg. no. ABM 297 FK, Navy Blue in colour, snatched from Pastor Chinonso James ‘m’ of Omoba by four armed men within the early hours of date was recovered by a patrol team attached to Omoba Division along with one Toyota Highlander Jeep with reg. no. WWR 275 SV suspected to be the operational vehicle of the hoodlums.

    “On 10/06/2017 at about 0530hrs, operatives attached to Ndiegoro Division arrested one Chidera Nwachukwu ‘m’ for stealing a Laptop belonging to one Jolly Ledesi of the Nigerian Army whose Military uniform, the suspect had sometime stolen and used in robbery incidents. It is apposite to state that the suspect had earlier escaped in a reported case of armed robbery, murder and personating sometime in March, 2017.

    “On 10/06/2017 at about 0900hrs, following a report at Area Command Aba, that from 2300hrs of 09/06/2017 to 0300hrs of 10/06/2017, cultists numbering up to 14 besieged a compound in Egbelu Street Aba with arms and axe. Consequent upon the report, operatives of Anti-Kidnapping Section attached to Area Command, Aba swung into action and arrested five (5) boys and two (2) girls, two locally made pistols and weeds suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered in the process. Suspects will be arraigned in Court as soon as investigation is concluded.

    “On 12/06/2017, one Stephen ’m’ reported that he was robbed of his Gionee M2 phone valued N28,000, along Uzuakoli Road, Umuahia on 11/06/2017 by three men and a lady, one of whom was dressed in military uniform. Based on the report, one Nwadi Paul was arrested by combined efforts of patrol teams of 28PMF and Central Police Station Umuahia. Subsequently, on 13/06/2017, the fake soldier identified as Okezie Chukwuebuka was arrested with one Gift Johnson, a female member of the gang and the following items were recovered from them: Two pairs of Army camouflage uniform, Two Itel phones, Cash sum of N23,000.00, UBA cheque leaves belonging to Uwajumogu Ikechukwu, Fidelity Bank and Skye Bank cheque leaves belonging to Eni Virginia Enyinnaya, One Peace Corps ID card for Nwadi Paul, One UBA ATM card belonging to John Oluchi, One Diamond Bank ATM card belonging to Paul Nwadi, Two wraps of weed suspected to be Indian hemp, Four passport photographs of Paul Nwadi, One voter’s card of Paul Nwadi. The suspects confessed being members of a gang terrorizing Umuahia residents and dispossessing them of their valuables. Suspects will soon be arraigned in court.

    “On 13/06/2017 at about 1540hrs, Operatives attached to Ugwunagbo Division recovered one white Toyota Hilux van with reg. no. FKJ 853 BH in a bush at Umugwu Umuodo village, Ugwunagbo. Documents found inside the vehicle indicated that the Hilux van belong to one Colonel Orire Nikiro (rtd) and his phone number was also seen on the documents. The Officer was contacted through the phone number and he disclosed that the vehicle was removed from where it was parked on Sunday, 11th June, 2017 in Elimbi Rivers State. Investigation conducted so far has confirmed that the incident took place in Rivers State Command.

    There were several other inroads the police made in keeping criminals at bay in the state, according to the police spokesman, but enjoined members of the public to provide information about the activities of suspected hoodlums within their neighbourhoods.

    With more work from the police and cooperation from the public, crime would be unattractive in the state.

     

  • Police plan crackdown on revenue collection violators

    Police plan crackdown on revenue collection violators

    •Emergency phone numbers released
    •State to introduce POS for revenue collection
    •Govt to employ first batch of 10,000 collectors

    The Edo State Government has released emergency phone lines to the public to report violators to the ban on the collection of revenue for immediate arrest.

    A statement yesterday by the Chief Press Secretary (Interim) to the Governor, Mr. John Mayaki, confirmed the development.

    The police special lines, the statement said, are: 08115808360, 08115808361, 08115808441,  08115808442.

    He said Police Commissioner Haliru Gwandu would enforce the implementation of the ban on collection of revenue by private individuals, following Governor Godwin Obaseki’s directive.

    Gwandu said: “I will send out 20 squads that will go round and ensure there is diligence and compliance of the ban.

    “You have heard the pronouncement and I am sure the people are happy. I can also assure you that the police will not rest on their oars.

    “Very soon, I will hold a meeting with my Divisional Police Officers (DPOs). I implore the people of Edo State to do the right thing and ensure that there is sanity. I will enforce the order to the letter.”

    Obaseki has perfected modality for the employment of the first set of 10,000 persons in fulfilment of his avowed electioneering promise to create 200,000 jobs.

    The governor, who spoke last Friday in Benin, the state capital, said his administration would introduce the Point of Service (POS) electronic platform for revenue collection via scratch cards for those who do not have ATM cards.

    Obaseki directed heads of local government administration to forward names of contractors initially collecting revenue to the Government House to jumpstart the job scheme.

    A government statement last Friday said the submission of the contractors’ names was part of the government’s avowed commitment to streamline tax  collection across the state.

    The statement said government’s decision followed Obaseki’s meeting with stakeholders at the Government House last Friday.

    Addressing reporters after the meeting, the Chairman of Edo State Internal Revenue Service, Chief Oseni Elamah, said the contractors were those previously selected to collect revenue on behalf of the local governments.

    Elemah said the contractors were also required to supply the names of their workers, phone numbers and passport photographs.

    He said: “This is with a view to capturing their details in our employment database.

    “In addition to this, the managing directors of those engaged as consultants or contractors have also been directed to supply the names of those people who were involved, the workers they used, their numbers and their photographs so that we can consider them for employment under the first 10,000 youths’ employment programme the government is working on.

    “They will undergo training before eventual recruitment will be made.”

    The chairman noted that: “under this, we are also working towards eliminating cash as a means of revenue collection”.

  • Imo sustains crackdown on vice

    Imo sustains crackdown on vice

    The message is clear: the heat is on criminals in Imo State. Early last month, we reported a major operation the state launched against suspected criminals in Owerri, the state capital. Security agents moved into an area said to be a haven of kidnappers, drug dealers, robbers and common thieves, and tore it down, arresting some suspects.

    Midway into the month, a shanty district allegedly a den of shady characters in Okigwe was also destroyed.

    Now, a similar clean-up has been carried out in Ohubaa in Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Area of the state. There, bulldozers have been pulling down buildings and shanties patronised by people believed to have put residents through severe pain.

    As the bulldozers tore down  gigantic and palatial buildings owned by suspected kidnap kingpins, neighbours were stunned as stern-looking policemen and soldiers supervised the demolition.

    A handful of villagers who watched from a measured distance, swore that they never suspected that the men who often came home with exotic cars and a retinue of friends were kidnappers. But the security agents were not deceived by their feigned ignorance as they insisted that they were aware of the heinous crime but chose to conceal the information from the police.

    The exercise elicited widespread jubilation in Ohubaa, a sleepy community, which has earned notoriety as a major hideout of dangerous kidnappers and hardened criminals.

    Some of the elderly men and women were more forthcoming. They danced and hailed the security operatives for liberating the community from the clutches of the men of the underworld, who had long tormented them.

    They said, “We have been living in fear as they have taken over the community and no one can challenge them or dare report them to the police, even when we know what they were doing but for the fear of our lives we cannot say anything. But today we are happy that at last the security men have caught up with them and we are ready to point out their properties.”

    During the operation tagged “Operation Osheebe” led by the Imo State Deputy Governor, Eze Madumere and the State Police Commissioner, Taiwo Lakanu and the Commander 34 Artillery Brigade Obinze, Brigadier General Kay Isiyaku,  over ten houses were pulled down the in the agrarian community.

    According to Police sources, most of the kidnap incidents in the State are coordinated from a massive forest located in the community, where the victims are kept in connivance with the villagers who conceal the information from security agents.

    The Deputy Governor in his speech stated that the operation was in line with the determination of the State government to give priority to the security of life and property of the people living in the State.

    He said that the State government will not rest on its oars until those behind the unwholesome acts of kidnapping, armed robbery and other crimes are brought to book.

    Madumere who was shocked by the massive buildings owned by the kidnappers, said that the demolition exercise is a strategy that will have a lasting effects in the minds of the people so serve as a deterrent to others.

    He noted that it will be an unpardonable error on the part of the government if it allows those known for ill gotten wealth to continue to show off with their wealth, adding that, “such will be contradicting the cherished value and the very foundation of the society.”

    The Commissioner of Police, in his speech, noted that the strategy of demolishing the homes of criminals and their accomplices will send a warning signal that whoever indulges in crime and those abating and protecting them will not go unpunished.

     

  • Police threaten crackdown on illegal users of siren, tinted glass in Lagos

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, has threatened arrest illegal users of siren and tinted glass cars without official permission.

    Aderanti gave this warning on Wednesday while parading suspects who allegedly posed as operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to rob bureau de change dealers of their hard-earned currencies.

    His threat followed the recovery of a siren-installed vehicle used by an alleged leader of a six-man gang, Princewell Eze, who paraded himself as Senator Nwobodo when he and his gang wanted to rob a bureau de change man.

    Members of his gang also allegedly wore vests with EFCC logo to intimidate their victims by demanding to see their licence. They were also accused of using guns to threaten victims.

    Aderanti said he would constitute a committee that would be responsible for setting up the squad that would arrest anyone driving tinted glass vehicles and siren-installed cars without permission, as well as those who use walkie-talkie to intercept police signals when the police are pursuing criminals.

    On the reckless granting of bails to criminals who ought to be remanded in prison pending their conviction, the CP said he would meet with the Chief Judge of Lagos State to find a way of stopping the suspects charged to court for armed robbery, kidnapping and murder but were granted bail.

  • Emerging-market stocks fall on regulatory crackdown

    Citic Securities Co. and Haitong Securities Co., China’s two biggest listed brokerages, dropped by the 10 percent daily limit in Shanghai after they were suspended from lending money to new clients. A gauge of technology companies headed for the highest close since November after India’s Wipro Ltd. reported better-than-estimated earnings. The ruble rose after Standard & Poor’s delayed a decision on whether to cut Russia’s sovereign rating to junk. The Ibovespa snapped a two-day rally.

    The MSCI Emerging Markets Index declined 0.3 percent to 954.25 at 10:57 a.m. in New York, its second day of losses. The gauge is down 0.2 percent since the start of the year as a plunge in Brent crude outweighed a bigger-than-forecast increase in Chinese exports. Crude, which slumped almost 50 percent last year, dropped from a one-week high in London and New York today as Iraqi production rose to a record.

    Chinese regulators moved to cool down the stock market by tightening norms for trading with borrowed money. Their action came after outstanding margin loans in the country almost tripled since June and bank lending to companies for investing in financial markets surged to the highest on record.

    “A tighter grip on margin lending is having a big impact on the market,” Maarten-Jan Bakkum, an emerging-market strategist at ING Groep NV in The Hague, said by e-mail. “It shows once again how much the Chinese market has been driven by liquidity and technicals. Risk remains high there. The rest of the emerging world is not really affected by this.”

    The Shanghai Composite Index, which had rallied 67 percent in the 12 months through last week, plunged 7.7 percent today. That was the biggest retreat since June 2008 and pushed the 30-day volatility on the measure to the highest level in five years. The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index of mainland stocks traded in Hong Kong tumbled 5 percent, the most since November 2011. The yuan weakened 0.2 percent versus the dollar.

    Citic, Haitong and Guotai Junan Securities Co. were suspended from lending money and stocks to new clients for three months, the China Securities Regulatory Commission said on Jan. 16. The regulator punished nine other brokerages for offenses including allowing unqualified investors to open margin-trading accounts. The China Banking Regulatory Commission banned banks from lending to companies for trading.

     

     

     

    A gauge of information-technology companies, the best-performing industry group this year on the emerging-markets index, rose 0.9 percent. Wipro advanced the most since July 2013. India’s S&P BSE Sensex Index climbed to a six-week high.

    Brazil’s Ibovespa index lost 0.8 percent as consumer stocks slid. Analysts reduced their outlook for Brazil’s economic growth in 2015 to 0.38 percent from 0.40 percent, according to the median forecast in a central bank survey published Monday.

    Nigeria’s benchmark index rallied 2.5 percent, its biggest gain since Christmas. Thai shares advanced 1.2 percent, led by a 9.7 percent rally in Bank of Ayudhya Pcl.

  • Crackdown or cock up?

    Crackdown or cock up?

    A little over a week ago, the Nigerian newspaper industry woke to shocking reports that across the country, delivery vans were being seized by soldiers. Troops invaded sales points where publications were being distributed to agents and impounded copies. Hapless vendors were set upon and their products.

    Military authorities explained that their strange action was the consequence of intelligence reports which indicated that Boko Haram was about to use the newspapers delivery chain across the country to distribute its weapons of mass destruction.

    Interestingly, since the operation targeting newspaper sales lines began, not even a firecracker has been found in any of the distribution vehicles. In most cases, even when nothing incriminating was found, the vehicles, their drivers and bundles of harmless newspapers were detained until it was virtually impossible to sell that day’s edition. Bear in mind that the shelf life of the average daily newspaper is roughly six hours.

    After reports of the crackdown emerged, the president’s public affairs adviser, Doyin Okupe, sought to rationalise the soldiers’ action by saying we live in difficult times, and that certain actions that may be taken by security agents could cause temporary discomfort.

    Granted that all over the world where the authorities are battling terrorists there are disruptions. But what has happened over the last one week was not just a surgical security operation. Just take the example of delivery vans seized early in the morning and kept in military custody till late afternoon even when there’s no justification for the detyention.

    It almost like saying you received intelligence that Boko Haram was ferrying its deadly ordnance into Abuja via the road from Kaduna. Such a report would necessitate searching all vehicles plying the road. But would you impound all vehicles and keep them in your custody for the better part of a day when nothing was found in them? What would be the point?

    Even more curious was the assault on vendors found carrying certain ‘marked’ newspapers. They were attacked by soldiers and the papers they had on them seized. In what ways is national security enhanced by such actions or by the disruption of a private company’s legitimate business when it has not broken any laws?

    There is no question that the government and the military have not been thrilled by the critical coverage of the insurgency by the media. Matters have been made worse by the intense presence brought upon the authorities by the searchlight of the international press.

    From the viewpoint of the authorities, daily reporting of the latest atrocities of the Boko Haram amounts to celebrating terrorists, while exposure of the shortcomings of the military operation in the North East is akin to trying to bring down the institution.

    Add to the mix the conclusion within the ruling party and the administration that the insurgency is political and being fuelled by the main opposition APC and disgruntled northern politicians who were determined to wound the incumbent president ahead of the 2015 polls, and you have the perfect setting for scapegoating. And what better scapegoat than an increasingly uncontrollable media?

    The solution would be simple ‘deal with the unfriendly press.’ To do that you don’t need to tamper with the personal liberties of journalists as that would make for even more sensational headlines. Go instead after the businesses, disrupt their operations and hit them in the pocket.

    But whoever came up with this idea might as well have delivered an IED into the innermost sanctuary of the administration itself. No one can convince me that Nigeria is safer today after the pointless seizures of newspaper parcels and detention of delivery vans. None of these actions have brought back the Chibok schoolgirls nor has it prevented the demented Boko Haram killers from rampaging through the remote villages of the North East.

    What the government has only succeeded in doing is shooting itself in the foot. As though it didn’t have enough troubles trying to bat away negative reports about its competence, it has now opened another front against an industry that is better as an ally. What it conceived as a crackdown has now turned out to be an almighty cock-up as it projects the Jonathan administration as insecure, desperate and intolerant.

    Even more damning is that the authors of the clampdown don’t have a proper understanding of the way information flows in today’s world. Even if you shut down all the newspapers and printing presses, you cannot obliterate all the websites. Even if you could, you cannot seize every mobile phone or monitor who is using Facebook or Twitter or whatever.

    The Nigerian media has never been and can never be a friend to terror. We have been some of the harshest advocates of a hardline against Boko Haram – long before the government woke up to declare “total war” against the sect.

    For our troubles, back in April 2012, Thisday newspaper headquarters in Abuja, and a complex in Kaduna housing the bureaus of The Sun, Vanguard and Moment newspapers were bombed. In between we have received threats to our premises and persons because of our coverage of the conflict which the insurgents were less than pleased with.

    This was what Abu Qaqa, Boko Haram spokesman back then said in justification of the attacks: “We have repeatedly cautioned reporters and media houses to be professional and objective in their reports. This is a war between us and the government of Nigeria; unfortunately, the media have not been objective and fair in their reports of the ongoing war; they chose to take side.”

    The Nigeria media has suffered at the hands of the terrorists. The authorities are wasting everybody’s time trying to impress unarmed press men with their power and might. The real enemy is in the Sambisa forest and those charged with responsibility of taking them down need to focus.

  • 2015: Govt crackdown on opposition leaders likely

    2015: Govt crackdown on opposition leaders likely

    ‘Buhari, Tinubu, ex-security chief are main targets’

    A  massive crackdown on opposition figures ahead of the 2015 general elections is on the way, The Nation learnt yesterday.

    The aim is to prevent the merger talks by opposition parties from being successful and constituting a problem for the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    In the coming wave of arrests, even members of the PDP whose political leaning is in doubt will not be spared, according to sources, who pleaded not to be named because of ‘the sensitivity of the matter”.

    The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday raised the alarm about “desperate measures being planned by the PDP-led Federal Government to discredit and silence key opposition leaders involved in the ongoing plans to form a formidable platform to confront the PDP in 2015”.

    A former security chief is believed to be one of those being targeted. He is to be hurled before a court and charged with contract fraud, among others, according to sources who pleaded not to be named.

    In a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the ACN said the paranoia over the merger plans has driven the government “to resort to imprudent and crude tactics aimed at tarnishing the image of key opposition leaders, especially the ACN National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and his CPC counterpart, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, as well as their close political associates.”

    The statement said “Tinubu is particularly a prime target of these evil machinations, because of his status as the leader of the country’s second biggest party, his progressive credentials as well as his electoral value, adding that as far as the PDP-led government is concerned, getting him out of the way is the best way to ruin the merger plans.”

    ‘’For the Jonathan-led Administration, and not minding its deceptive aloofness from it all, the race for 2015 has started in earnest and it is a do-or-die affair, and all means foul and unfair are on the table to cripple the opposition, by ensuring that nothing will be left of the integrity of its key leaders even if they are fortunate to make it to 2015.

    ‘’These opposition leaders are considered as constituting a clear and present danger to the electoral fortunes of the PDP in 2015, hence must be stopped at all costs and by whatever means,’’ the ACN said.

    The party said a fortune had been earmarked for the phased campaign, which has already started with a well-oiled media war, being waged especially online, denigrating these leaders.

    ‘’Some key government agencies have also been co-opted to dig up any dirt they hope can be plastered on the targeted leaders while foreign intelligence agencies have been contacted in a desperate attempt to unearth any information that can be used to discredit and disgrace these major opposition figures thus distracting them from the merger plans.

    ‘’Indications are that highly-combustible sectional and religious issues that are being manipulated by desperate forces to divide and destroy are not off the table as long as exploiting them can shut down the opposition. Or how else does one interpret a recent PDP statement that President Goodluck Jonathan is being criticised by the opposition because he is from a minority ethnic group?

    ‘’And what about the continuous efforts, which have failed so far, to portray a key opposition leader as a sponsor of Boko Haram? His nomination as a ‘facilitator’ of some phantom peace talks was not an accident, but was carefully choreographed to portray him as a religious zealot and terrorist not fit to preside over the affairs of the nation,’’ it said.

    The ACN warned that every action of the PDP-led Federal Government concerning the stated evil machinations will be put under the microscope henceforth, and called on all lovers of democracy and the rule of law to be on the alert in the days and weeks ahead to help forestall the evil plan.

    ‘’Those who either conveniently acquiesced or opted to dine with the devil when many progressives took to the trenches during the long, bitter and gruelling battle to enthrone the democracy we are now enjoying apparently do not value it, and will stop at nothing to endanger it on the altar of selfish personal interests and political expediency.

    ‘’It is, therefore, incumbent on all Nigerians, especially those who believe that all hands must be on deck to nurture and strengthen our democracy, to be vigilant. After all, it is said that eternal vigilance is the price of liberty,’’ the AC N said.

     

  • Crackdown on Boko Haram

    Crackdown on Boko Haram

    -JTF kills 35 members in Yobe,- Kingpin shot dead in Adamawa,

    -156 sect members arrested ,- Arms, ammunition recovered

    There was a massive security crackdown on the Boko Haram sect in the Northeast yesterday.

    A kingpin of the sect was gunned down in Adamawa State during a gun fight; 35 others were killed in Yobe.

    No fewer than 156 members of the sect that has been responsible for unprecedented attacks and the death of close to 1,000 people were arrested in the raids.

    Guns and explosives in various forms and shades, ammunition, army and police uniforms, mobile telephone SIM cards, vehicle number plate, and drugs were among the 67 items seized from the sect’s hideout in Yobe, according to the Joint Task Force (JTF).

    The Yobe JTF said a house-to-house search, which started at the weekend and lasted till the early hours of yesterday, to flush out the insurgents led to an “unprecedented success in the clampdown on suspected terrorists”.

    JTF Spokesman in Yobe Lt. Lazarus Eli, who said the operation was continuous, confirmed that 35 members of the sect had been killed.

    In Adamawa, the internal joint army-police security, “Operation Restore Sanity”, said it killed a key commander of the sect, Abubakar Yola, alias Abu Jihad, in a shoot-out early yesterday, in Mubi.

    Also arrested were 156 persons, including four believed to be unit commanders involved in the recent bombings of MTN, Globacom and Airtel base station masts.

    Five women and six children were rescued in a house believed to be an arms and ammunition dump.

    The Brigade Commander of 23rd Armoured Brigade, Brig.-Gen. John Nwoaga, in company with police commissioner and the director of State Security Services (SSS), said the kingpin was shot during a gun battle with his men.

    He said over 300 improvised explosive devices, 25 assorted brands of rifles, mostly AK 47 submachine guns, were recovered.

    There were over 2000 daggers, swords, bows and arrows seized.

    The compound at Shagari Low Cost Housing, Mubi was where the items were seized.

    But the sect members seem undaunted, in spite of the clampdown.

    The home of the Speaker of the Yobe State House of Assembly, Mr. Adamu Dala Dogo, was on Sunday night set ablaze.

    Also burnt down by assailants suspected to be Boko Haram members was the house of the younger brother to the governor, Alhaji Sheriff Gaidam, and Hon. Goni Bukar, a member of the House of Representatives from Yobe state.

    An eyewitness said two beheaded bodies were seen being carried away by security operatives yesterday morning.

    The home of the speaker and the two others are located at Shagari Low Cost Housing Estate on Gashua Road, one of the troubled areas of the city.

    The onslaught on the houses was said to have been lunched between 2am and 4am on Sunday night. The local security attached to the houses fled when the assailants came in a large number.

    “Nobody was killed because the Speaker, the lawmaker and the governor’s brother evacuated their immediate families soon after peace eluded Damaturu.”

    “The local guards attached to the houses also fled,” Kabiru Musa, a resident said, adding:

    “However, when I peeped through the window this morning, I saw a military pick up van zooming up with two beheaded bodies…it was a gory sight. I also saw smoke billowing in the direction of the house of the speaker.”

    A source at the Yobe State Police Command confirmed the burning of the three houses and the killing of the two civilians.

     

  • ACN alleges plot by Kwara to crackdown on members

    ACN alleges plot by Kwara to crackdown on members

    •PDP: defectors ’re not our members

    THE Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) yesterday raised the alarm over what it called an imminent crackdown on its members in Kwara State following the defection of members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Allied Congress Party of Nigeria (ACPN) into its fold.

    In a statement in Akure, Ondo State by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party expressed concern over the “sabre-rattling and provocative” statements that have been emanating from the PDP government controlled organs in the state before, during and after the defection of their former loyalists to the ACN.

    It has become fashionable for the PDP-controlled government in Kwara State to find in the ACN a ready scape goat for its maladministration, incompetence, profligacy and anti -people policies which have totally alienated the long suffering people from their under performing government, the party explained.

    According to the party, it is no longer a secret that Kwara State government is owing its workers several months of unpaid salaries.However, in its usual penchant for looking for a scape goat for its shortcomings, the state government has perfected plans to arrest and detain ACN chieftains whenever the workers go on strike as if the workers need to be instigated by anyone to demand their legitimate rights.

    To keen watchers of Kwara State politics, this will not come as a surprise as the ACN was also held responsible for the violent protest that greeted the ban of commercial motorcyclists in the state recently, and a strident call was made for the arrest of ACN chieftains when the representatives of the government were booed and pelted with missiles at the Muslim Praying Ground last August, the party added.

    The profligacy, scandalous massive deductions by the government of funds meant for local government councils, incompetence, cronyism and anti -people policies of the government has brought such untold hardship to the people and left the state under developed that the people are left with no choice than to leave the sinking PDP in droves and embrace ACN, the party explained.

    It went on: “For a government that has repeatedly proclaimed to the world that the opposition is dead in the state, the recent massive defection of its former loyalists was bound to jolt and send it to overdrive especially given the quality of the political giants that left to join” the ACN such as:

    “Chief James Ayeni, the first Chairman of Irepodun Local Government and a three-time Commissioner, the most recent tenure being under former governor Bukola Saraki himself.

    “Mr. Jide Usman, an engineer and two term Chairman of Ifelodun Local Government Council, the biggest local government council in the state.

    “Abiodun Dada, a lawyer and former Auditor of the PDP in Ekiti Local Government Area”.

    “Hon Ayo Idowu, a member the Kwara State House of Assmbly (2007-2011).

    “Chief J. S. Adedoyin, a former Director of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and a grassroots politician.

    “Akinmade Yahaya Abolarin, a lawyer and former Legal Adviser of ACPN.

    “Alhaji Issa Raji (alias Kingibe of Kwara State), a former member of Kwara State Independent Electoral Commission.

    “Mr Teju Titiloye, former member, Governing Council College of Education, Kotongora

    “B. A. Atolagbe, a lawyer and former supervisory councillor, Irepodun Local Government council and former member, Kwara State Scholarship Board and Olanrewaju Shuaibu arguably the most redoubtable grassroots politician in Irepodun Local Government Area, the party concluded.

    But the Kwara State chapter of the PDP described the allegation as tissues of lies and propaganda.

    In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Mas’ud Adebimpe, the party said, those the ACN paraded as defectors were never PDP members but impersonators.

    “For the avoidance of doubt, all those claiming to have defected are either members of ACN or ACPN. The only party acceptable to the people in the state is PDP”.

    The Peoples Democratic Party is undoubtedly formidable and on ground in Kwara State, it does not need to force people into its ever increasing fold, Adebimpe said.