The Nation Newspaper

Tag: INSECURITY

  • NAF reactivates C-130H to tackle insecurity in North

    The Nigerian Air Force (NAF) on Monday relaunched its newly refurbished transport aircraft, the C-130H, into its fleet and deployed same to supply weapons, others to battlefields in the Northeast and Northwest.

    The relaunch followed an intensive Periodic Depot Maintenance (PMD) at the Aircraft Maintenance Depot (ACMD) in Ikeja, the Lagos State capital, the first of its kind since the acquisition of the American four-engine turboprop aircraft in the 1980s.

    The NAF had attempted an in-country PDM when Nigeria suffered international embargo on the supply of military hardware.

    Relaunching the C-130H yesterday, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar said he was happy that the intensive PDM was concluded successfully within a year and some months.

    Aside the huge foreign exchange the NAF saved the country by doing the PDM locally, Abubarkar said it also enhanced the capacity of personnel of the unit who took part in the exercise.

    He said: “In-country maintenance is very important because it is all about building capacity. This is the first time in the history of the NAF that we conducted a very successful PDM within Nigeria. It sends a good message that though we have technical partners, we also have Nigerian technicians who participated to ensure the PDM was conducted locally.

    Read Also: Fight against insecurity, collective efforts – NAF

    “It has saved us foreign exchange. If we were to carry this aircraft to outside Nigeria, we would have to pay for cargo. For it to be moved, it would have to be dismantled and then we would have limited number of personnel that would be sent abroad for that.

    “But now that it was done in Nigeria, everybody in that unit had the opportunity to really be part of the process. In that wise, we are so excited.

    “We have just flagged the PDM of the second one, which is 912. The Pakistani Air Force is here with us because they fly the same aircraft and have the capacity we believe we can tap from. In Kano, we did life extension of three fighter aircraft locally and in Port Harcourt, we are perfecting one of the helicopters.

    “So, overtime, I see us having the right capacities to conduct these things locally by ourselves. This aircraft will be deployed immediately to the Northeast and Northwest.

    “Without this C-130, you cannot have a successful operation. How do you carry bombs, rockets? Which aircraft will carry them? It is the C-130 that carries them. Apart from that, how do you discharge food materials? Because of the shortage resulting from conflict, distribution of food items is done by the C-130.

    “Outside Nigeria, we were in Gambia during the crisis and it was the C-130 that carried our troops, including the Army and Navy personnel. So, it is a very critical machine when it comes to conduct of war.”

    Noting that the C-130H brought to 20 the number of refurbished aircraft in the fleet of the NAF, Abubakar said gradually, the 910 and 914 would also undergo PDM locally.

    He added: “The C-130H fleet in particular has been one of the key fulcrums in providing sustainment to our troops involved in the current internal security operations through airlift and movement of troops, equipment, armament and other material.

    “The C-130H has also been critical to NAF’s response to emergencies or in fulfilling Nigeria’s responsibilities to international peace keeping operations and ensuring stability…”

  • Insecurity

  • Anambra school laments insecurity, poor infrastructure

    Teachers of Ezeike High School, Ezeawulu Nibo in Awka South Local Government Area of Anambra State have raised the alarm over insecurity and lack of basic infrastructure in the school.

    They said the ugly situation has adversely affected academic activities and general wellbeing of the pupils, calling for government’s urgent intervention.

    A teacher in the school, who spoke to The Nation on condition of anonymity, said as a result of insecurity in the school pupils and teachers were exposed to attacks by hoodlums.

    She said though a perimeter fence was being constructed round the school, the pace of work was slow. “The location of the examination hall in the school has made it a no-go-area as it has been converted to Indian hemp smoking joint by the boys in the area.

    “Sometimes, they enter the classrooms, break students’ lockers and cart away their property,” she lamented.

    The teacher further revealed that some pupils hired thugs to attack classmates with whom they had issues. “You see pupils scamper for safety whenever they see those hoodlums who usually come into the school with weapons,” she said.

    Another teacher, who also did not want her name mentioned, lamented the hurdle the pupils faced in getting water as the school had no borehole.

    She said: “Most times when we resume in the school, we will see faeces scattered all over the classrooms, and there’s no way students can stay in such an environment to learn.

    “Some of them wouldn’t even mind going to the stream to fetch water to wash the classrooms.”

    On the issue of power, she said the school has not had power supply for several years.

    She said the laptop donated by the past administration had not been used for a long time. “The students offering computer science have been studying only the theory without the practical aspect of it,” she said.

    Another teacher described the school environment as no man’s land. “Most of the teachers had abandoned the staff quarters to the corps members serving in the school for the safety of their family members,” she said.

    One of the corps members, who spoke on condition of anonymity, canvassed for a police post in the area or a police patrol to be deployed to wade off miscreants and safeguard lives and property of residents.

    He said: “Even though there are street lights around the school area, but it doesn’t penetrate the school environment.

    “We’ve recorded cases of theft and burglary by hoodlums in our lodge. They even go to the extent of attacking some of us with machete and razor.”

    On his part, the principal of the school, ThankGod Ekwunife, said several efforts to draw the attention of the government had not been fruitful.

    He said:”The morning they gained entrance to my office through the burglary proof, I saw my drawer outside with documents including results printouts. They carted away sports wears, footballs and computers.

    “I wrote to the Commissioner for Utilities concerning borehole and installation of transformers but noting has been done.

    “I contacted the President-General of the community and a vigilance group was sent to us. They parade occasionally. But presently, they are not showing up.”

    He called on the government to come to their rescue to safeguard the lives and future of both the students and teachers.

  • Insecurity: Nigerians must unite to combat menace- Clark

    Elder statesman and former Information Minister, Chief Edwin Clark, has called on all Nigerians to support President Muhammadu Buhari in the bid to contain insurgency and other forms of insecurity in the country.

    Clark, who decried the alarming state of insecurity, warned that should the people fail to queue behind the president in this difficult time, things might degenerate and it will not be for the good of the country.

    The Ijaw leader who turned 92 years old yesterday however challenged the president to come to terms with the facts that efforts of his security apparatus is grossly inadequate.

    He therefore urged Buhari to convene a national dialogue on national security involving past and current leaders of the country in seeking ways of tackling the issues.

    Clark who refused to celebrate his birthday as a result of the alarming insecurity across the country also frowned at the way apprehended culprits are handled.

    Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari and former President Goodluck Jonathan has extolled the virtues of the the elder statesman on the occasion of his 92nd birthday anniversary.

    In his tribute to Chief Clark, who served as Information Minister during the regime of General Yakubu Gowon, Buhari noted “even if you don’t agree with the elder statesman sometimes, you must acknowledge his patriotism and commitment to peace.”

    In a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, Buhari said: “Peace building is one of the greatest contributions we should expect of our elders, and I am proud that Chief Edwin Clark has played this role remarkably during trying times in our country.”

    He described the nonagenarian as a man of strong convictions who doesn’t hesitate to speak his mind on national issues and added “this gentleman expresses his mind without malice, one of the outstanding virtues of a statesman that he is.”

    In a goodwill message he personally signed, former President Goodluck Jonathan noted that Chief Clark has made significant contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development, adding that the nonagenarian has continued to work for the nation’s unity and progress.

    REad also: “FG, govs should dialogue with traditional rulers, clergymen over insecurity”

    A statement by Ikechukwu Eze, the former President’s spokesman further described Clark as a respected leader and statesman who has been at the forefront of peace-building initiatives in the country.

    The message read: “I join your family members and other well-wishers to congratulate you on your 92nd birthday. I am grateful to God for blessing Nigeria and the Niger Delta with someone like you.”

    Clark had said in a message, “In ending my 92nd birthday message on the “State of the Nation”, I call on President Muhammadu Buhari to honestly come to terms with the stark truth, that his current efforts with his security apparatus is grossly inadequate for the task. I call on Mr. President to urgently convene a sober National Discourse on National Security, of former Heads of State and leaders, women and selected youths, in Nigeria to work out a consensual and amicable resolution of this long, seemingly intractable, challenge affecting the country since the entry of Boko Haram menace in the national psyche. ”

    While also pleading with Boko Haram sect and the herdsmen to stop the dastardly act, Chief Clark enjoined “all Nigerians to join in praying fervently for our nation for God’s mercy. We do not have other country to call our own, “he said.

    He blamed rising cases of insecurity for his refusal to rollout the drum to celebrate his birthday, for the second time in the last five years. “I feel grateful to God for the gift of good health, physical strength. Even more gladdening to me is the very active life I have lived spanning nearly all facets of our national life. But there are too many issues in the country that erode the enthusiasm of celebration,” he said.

  • “FG, govs should dialogue with traditional rulers, clergymen over insecurity”

    A retired army officer, Maj. Gen John Gbor has called on both the Federal and State governments to engage traditional rulers in order to address the country’s insecurity challenges.  He spoke during the book fair and exhibition of Christ Embassy Abuja, showcasing audio-visual works of its founder, Chris Oyakhilomhen. He said it was wrong to blame the country’s present security challenges solely on the federal government. State governors, he said should share in the blames for their inability to maintain peace in their states.

    He said: “We must stop blaming the federal government for our security challenges. There is something wrong with this country. We don’t have to be blaming government for everything. We have governors that are nearer to the people than the federal government. Things that happen in places like Zamfara, Katsina, Kano, Sokoto, in my opinion, it simply means that the governors are idle. They are not doing what they are supposed to do. They are the nearest to the people in their community. You cannot keep them out if you want to have maximum security in this country.

    “If government wants to get rid of insecurity in the country they must bring traditional rulers and clergymen – Muslims and Christians into focus.”

    Pastor Tom Amenkhienan, said that the church has sold over two billion copies of its daily devotional book, Rhapsody of Realities since its publication in 2001.

     

     

  • Insecurity: APC stalwart tasks Buhari to do more on intelligence in second term

    As the first tenure of Buhari-led administration is winding down in just less than three weeks, a chieftain of ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo State, Stanley Osifo, has called on the President to do more in the area of intelligence in his second term to subdue the spate of insecurity that had plunged Nigeria into a dangerous adventure in the last few years.

    Speaking with The Nation in a telephone chat in Lagos yesterday, Osifo said in  view of myriad of security challenges inherited by Buhari administration in 2015, the President has done his best and deserves commendations from Nigerians.

    The business mogul turned politician noted that the issue of security is a collective effort of every Nigerian to join hands with government to ensure a safe society.

    Osifo warned that politicisation of security issue in Nigeria is one major problem that must be condemned by all Nigerians to let the nation off hooks of various degrees of crimes that bedevilled the nation.

    The APC stalwart noted that given the reports that were issued by the military, one may not be far from truth that security challenge in Nigeria has a political undertone.

    Responding to the case of unemployment and poverty which many adjudged as factors responsible for proliferation of terrorist groups in the country, he opined that those factors should not be yardsticks to join band wagon and unleash mayhem on society.

    He urged Nigerian youths on collaborative efforts with government  to harness opportunities waiting for them in an enabling environment which Buhari-led administration has been doing its best to provide.

    He tasked the President to look beyond party line for his cabinet members in second term and get the right persons for the right positions who will reflect the uprightness he is known for across the globe.

    “The issues of security challenge has always been in the country and most time politics usually comes in to create division among Nigerians along ethnic and religious considerations. “

     

     

  • The state of insecurity

    Today, reader, we are talking seriously, because things are grave indeed; and if we are not to consign this country to the grave, then we need to act now. Everybody agrees that the country’s insecurity is in the red. Why, it’s got so bad now that people don’t know which of the three ‘trades’ to follow because they are all paying so well now: kidnapping, armed banditry or insurgency. Look at the week’s headlines: 34 killed in four states; Cult war claims 11 in Edo; Boko Haram kills 11 in Borno; Herdsmen kill 11 in Taraba; Gunmen kill monarch in a Sokoto community, etc. The people who have been fingered with proof in crime have been unbelievably ordinary. They are like you and me. Take this example.

    In the newspapers, there was the story of a woman who went to the bank and in the hall, she recognised someone who looked quite familiar until she recollected just where she had known him. I told you the story before? Good, then I’ll tell you again; I like repeating myself. Anyway, she eventually remembered him as the man who had abducted her sometime before.

    Naturally, the woman’s instinct took over and she gave vent to her voice. She shouted. The securities came and naturally, the man denied and said he was just an ordinary tailor. The woman however told them to look for a certain scar on a certain part of his body. It was found. It was also found he had well over N90 million in his account. That man was just an ordinary man like you and I.

    Now, how do we tell which one among us has an extraordinary appetite for evil? Ladies and gentlemen, the time has come for us all to admit the unthinkable: we have a problem. What is worse, all our problems are self-inflicted. That’s right. Our security problems are self-inflicted. I would like to state that we made our insurgents, bandits and kidnappers. We created our own monsters, and, unfortunately, we have all become their victims.

    Someone once said something to the effect that the most brilliant among us become doctors and lawyers and engineers and professors. The not-so-brilliant become politicians. The ones who are not interested in reading become robbers and assassins. The ones who cannot read and are not interested in reading become medicine men. And now, the medicine men control the robbers; the robbers control the politicians and the politicians are controlling the doctors, lawyers, engineers and professors. How true.

    Clearly, what we have today as this land of law and disorder, social dislocation and disingenuousness masking deviousness and monstrous evil did not start yesterday. It was planted right from the beginning of Nigeria’s history, but do not let us go into the remote causes. From time, no one really had any stake in Project Nigeria. That perhaps may have remotely given the ground for our shameful behaviour and failure to see today yesterday and tomorrow today.

    Even then, with the right orientation provided in excellent leadership, we could have leaped over our shameful negligence of yesterday, and prevented all the things that have now come upon us today: banditry, kidnapping, insurgency, callous political class, raping of women, intertribal war, chaos and disharmony. We have lived most carelessly and have behaved most atrociously as a people, and have brought upon us this state of insecurity.

    Until Nigerians are able to get past themselves, there can be no headway. To start with, as a people, we do not seem to be able to get the idea that the tribe or ethnic group or religious group we belong to cannot be superior to the interests of the country. Not one of these smaller units had or even has a recognised flag or a national anthem; yet the flag and anthem we all salute and sing are flagrantly disrespected. When the average Nigerian perpetually defends his tribe or religion against the interest of the flag, there is a huge problem. This problem was pointed out long ago, but the media were thought to be crying wolf.

    The natural consequence of this was of course that criminals and offenders against the flag could hide, and frequently did, behind their ethnic unit or group, which vociferously and blindly defended the unrepentant sinner, no matter the flagrancy of the offence. Now tell me, which among us, being so empowered by our unit, would not go out and strut and cause more mayhem? This is what is happening. People know that their ethnic or religious units are more powerful than the country; so their loyalties are more inward-directed. Our state creations have not achieved the desired purposes. The tribes still rule, ok! The religions still rule, ok!

    For another, the state has found it difficult to prosecute socioeconomic and sociopolitical offenders. The reason the law exists is to reign us all in. However, when the law fails to reign in the first wave of offenders, the rest will also go free. Since the law has failed woefully to successfully prosecute and punish the first wave of state offenders, there can be only one lesson to learn from that; that it is okay, folks, to commit fraud against the state. Your tribe or religion will set you free. They are not supposed to be the examples that the young ones follow, but they are.

    I understand that in China, newly appointed state officials are given a tour of the prisons so that they would know where they would end up should they misbehave. In extreme cases, I understand they may even be executed. What we have here instead is a baffling condonement and tacit endorsement of fraud. People are stealing the country blind in billions and trillions, and the state is making deals with them just to be able to get back ‘some of it’. It is unheard of! State governors who have robbed their states into stupors award themselves pensions in billions and we are still looking on! Politicians are earning N39m a month while the minimum wage is a mere N30 thousand a month. On account of these people, social amenities do not exist and we are all looking on! What kind of people are we?

    Add to that the fact that the young ones see the greedy hearts of their elders, and they want the same things these elders are flaunting before them, naturally. However, they become angry when they do not gain access easily because of lack of jobs, for instance, but they take it out on the equally hapless ones near them. This is not to excuse bad behaviour but to explain that we cannot plant thorns and hope to reap roses. The eighteen to twenty-somethings are the prime of a country’s work force but Nigeria appears to have donated its own prime age to crime because of the exampled greed of the country’s fathers. Nigeria needs to put in place a programme by which the young know they can access education, sustenance, and housing like any other citizen.

    The average Nigerian is greedy; it’s a heart thing. It is as much in the teacher, civil servant, lawyer, police, doctor, as it is in the politician, student, labourer, housewife, unemployed, or trader. The so-called Nigerian system breeds it and also permits its full exercise, but the time has come to tame that beast.

    The society needs to be sanitised. That is the only cure for this state of insecurity if we are to have any Nigeria to bequeath to the next generation. J. F. Clarke, a nineteenth century writer, says that ‘A politician thinks of the next election; a statesman thinks of the next generation.’ Time we started breeding statesmen as models to follow.

  • Local government autonomy and insecurity

    Sir: Worried that insecurity has impeded development in the rural areas, the Emir of Katsina, Alhaji, Abdulmumuni Kabir, urged the Federal Government to gather the courage and enforce the law on bandits and other criminal elements in the country. He stated this while receiving the federal government delegation that came to condole the government and people of Katsina State over the death of Justice Mamman Nasir on Monday.

    Conversely, the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) issued guidelines to stimulate the reduction of crime vulnerabilities created by cash withdrawals from local government funds across the country.

    Acting Chief Media Analyst of NFIU, Ahmed Dikko, announced that the effective date for operation of the guidelines was June 1. He urged all financial institutions, relevant stakeholders, public servants and citizens to ensure full compliance with the provisions of the guidelines which had already been submitted to the institutions.

    Dikko said that cash withdrawal and transactions from State Joint Local Government Accounts (SJLGA) “posed (the) biggest corruption, money laundering and security threats at the grassroots and to (the) entire financial system and the country.

    Since the inception of the 1999 constitution, local government councils have become the cesspools of corruption whereby the state governors’ arbitrarily steal from the funds that ought to accrue to these entities from the federation account and even the internally generated revenues of these councils are sometimes stolen. Auditors are also part of corruption schemes.

    The result of corruption in the local government areas is that the wealth redistribution becomes skewed in favour of only those who are exercising political authorities in the state capitals and the nation’s capitals. This is the fundamental cause of the insecurity we see in the local government areas which have ripple effects across board.

    To underscore the importance of local governments, the United Nations offices for public administration says that local government is “a political subdivision of a nation or (in a federal system) state, which is constituted by law and has substantial control of local affairs, including the powers to impose taxes or to exact labour for prescribed purposes. The governing body of such an entity is elected or otherwise locally selected”. Nigerian Constitution in section 7(1) defines democratic election as the only legal means of setting up local council authorities.

    The Supreme Court reinforced the essence of constitutional autonomy of the local government when it recently voided laws enacted by the states’ Houses of Assembly which allow governors to sack elected chairmen of local governments and councillors and replace them with appointed administrators.

    In a landmark judgment, the Supreme Court described the practice as “executive recklessness”, which must not be allowed to persist.

    The judgment by the five-man panel, led by Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour was on the appeal in relation to the dissolution of the 16 Local Government executives in Ekiti State, during Kayode Fayemi’s first term.

    Faulting the law purportedly relied on by Fayemi, the apex court held that Section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the governor to dissolve local government councils, whose tenure was yet to expire, violated section 7(1) of the constitution from which the state House of Assembly derived the power to enact the local government law. Justice Centus Nweze, in the lead judgment, said: “There can be no doubt, as argued by the appellants’ counsel, that the Ekiti State House of Assembly is empowered to make laws of Ekiti State.

    “However, the snag here is that, in enacting section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which empowered the first appellant to bridge the tenure of office of the respondents, it overreached itself.

    “In other words, section 23(b) (supra) is violative of, and in conflict with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra).

    “Hence, it is bound to suffer the fate of all laws which are in conflict with the constitution, section 1(3) thereof.”

    The judge said Section 7(1) of the constitution seeks to guarantee “the system of local government by democratically-elected local government councils and conferred “sanctity on the elections of such officials whose electoral mandates derived from the will of the people freely exercised through the democratic process”.

    “The implication, therefore, is that section 23(b) of the Ekiti State Local Government Administration (Amendment) Law, 2001, which was not intended to ‘ensure the existence of’ such democratically-elected councils, but to snap their continued existence by their substitution with caretaker councils, was enacted in clear breach of the supreme provisions of section 7(1) of the Constitution.

    “To that extent, it (section 23(b) supra) cannot co-habit with section 7(1) of the Constitution (supra) and must, in consequence, be invalidated.

    What we must do is to complete the constitutional amendments process to make local government councils autonomous because if they are autonomous, the chances of seeing public procurement practices that are relatively crime free is high. The chances of the local economy coming back on stream and providing the enabling environment for a revived sound local economy and job opportunities will significantly address some of the fundamental causes of insecurity and instability.

     

    • Emmanuel Onwubiko, <doziebiko@yahoo.com>

  • Nigeria in worst period of insecurity- Dogara

    Nigeria faces one of her worst periods of insecurity, the Speaker of the House Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.

    Dogara spoke at a conference with the theme “Press Freedom in Nigeria – Rule of Law, Media and Violent Extremism,” to mark the 2019 World Press Freedom Day in Abuja.

    According to him, “The theme of this year’s celebration is most apt as Nigeria now faces one of her worst periods of insecurity manifesting in violent extremism, rampant cases of kidnapping, cattle rustling, herder/ farmers violent conflicts and murderous campaign of bandits across Nigeria.”

    This, he said, poses a major challenge to media practitioners. “The media must constantly balance the need to inform the citizens with their equally weighty responsibility to ensure that their reports do not contribute to exacerbate an already dangerously tense and fragile situation.

    Journalists while doing their work face challenges, he said, but that nonetheless, free press is important to the survival of democracy.

    He said: “It was the witty Thomas Jefferson, one of the architects of the American Constitution who felt so strongly about the principle of free expression that he declared something that sounds absurd to non-democrats.

    “He said that ‘If it were left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter.”

    “The free press is so important to the survival of democracy that it is the only business the American constitution specifically protects under the first amendment.

    He dedicated the event to journalists who paid the supreme price or those that are being incarcerated for bringing information to the public or upholding the right of the people to know the truth about the way they are being governed.

    “In 2017, the International Press Centre (IPC) reported that two Nigerian journalists were killed and documented 14 assault cases involving journalists and media houses.

    “The slain journalists were Famous Giobaro of Bayelsa State-owned radio station, Glory FM 97.1, who was shot dead on April 16 that year and Lawrence Okojie of Nigerian Television Authority, Benin, who was shot dead while returning from work on July 8.”

    Dogara said documented assault cases involved the invasion of the premises of Premium Times, Abuja by armed police officers on January 19 resulting in the arrest of Dapo Olorunyomi the publisher and Evelyn Okakwu, the judiciary correspondent.

    He further said “The Committee for the Protection of Journalists, CPJ declared the year 2018 as the deadliest for journalists in the last three years. 2018 was marked by the high profile brutal murders of Saudi columnist, Jamal Khashoggi and Slovak data Journalist Jan Kuciak who was shot alongside his fiancé’.

    “At the end of 2018, 348 journalists were in prison with more than half of them detained in China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Turkey. It was also reported that 60 journalists were being held hostage across the world. Permit me on this auspicious occasion to salute the heroism of journalists who died in active service and those who have survived this brutal form of censorship.”

    Dogara said in all nations of the world, the citizens appreciate the role of the press to inform, educate and entertain, as well promote accountability of the government to the people.

    “The law, in all democratic settings, recognizes the watchdog role of the press in governance, which has earned it the appellation as “the Fourth Estate of the Realm.”

    He said “the press, radio and television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in the constitution and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people.”

    Dogara further said: “This means that it is the duty of the media to monitor the government as it carries out its assigned responsibilities under the constitution. The media is also saddled with further responsibility of relating its observations of government performance to the people.”

    He said this places a constitutional responsibility on the press. “In other words, the press is duty bound to perform its assigned constitutional responsibilities of holding government to account.”

    According to the Speaker, press freedom, “which is the focus of this celebration, is very fundamental to the sustenance of the principles of the Rule of Law, Open Government, Democracy, societal peace and order, as well as the delivery of good governance.

    “In conclusion, permit me to say that press freedom is not negotiable and direct violence to journalists is not the only threat. Those who attack the media as “fake news” or “enemy of the people” in order to erode the credibility of the press are as dangerous as those perpetrating violence against journalists.

    “As legislators, we will always stand up and speak out for pressmen and media outfits that uphold the ethics of fairness, objectivity, truthfulness and patriotism in their practice.

    “It is hoped that the 9th Assembly dedicate itself to enacting enabling laws that will prioritize the protection and welfare of journalists to enable them do the work of democracy.

  • Abuja/Kaduna road: Onaiyekan urges FG to step up security

    The Former Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, His Eminence John Onaiyekan, has urged the Federal Government to address the insecurity along Abuja/Kaduna road.

    Onaiyekan made the call in Abuja on Saturday at a pre-conference briefing with the theme “Action Against Irregular Migration of Nigerians” scheduled for May 7.

    According to him, it is sad that Nigerians are now at the mercy of kidnappers who carry out their criminal activities and demand ransom without fear.

    “The Abuja/Kaduna road. The government and police have told us several times that they have put up high level security checks and that they have cleared the road but the boys have come up and said that they are still operating on the road.

    “It is sad that the kidnappers operate regularly on the highway and demand ransom and not only that they go to the extend of collecting the ransom,” he explained.

    On the irregular migration, Onaiyekan stated that migration was a fundamental right of every human being but must be done in ways that would not violate the laws of any host nations.

    According to him, it is a thing of concerned for any government that the youths of the nation engages in irregular migration.

    He appealed to the Federal Government to address the hardship presently ravaging the country, which he said has become the cause of illegal migration and human trafficking.

    The cleric said that the poverty in the land makes Nigerian youths vulnerable in the hands of smugglers.

    He said that addressing the problem of irregular migration in Nigeria and elsewhere around the world would take a communal effort.

    “Because we know and see it, we must do something about it. Silence is not an option.”