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Tag: killing

  • APC condemns killing of Emir of Gwoza

    The All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday condemned the killing of the Emir of Gwoza, Alhaji Idrissa Timta, by suspected Boko Haram gunmen. The party described the sect as the nation’s enemy, and not a group set up by some imaginary opposition parties or elite to bring down the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

    In a statement in Lagos, its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the killing of the Emir is the clearest indication yet that the Jonathan administration misdiagnosed the Boko Haram menace from the outset.

    When the indiscriminate activities of Boko Haram insurgents are placed side by side with other facts: that the group started in 2002 when Olusegun Obasanjo was President and flared in 2009 when the late Umar Yar’Adua was President, one would realise how deceitful and diversionary it is for anyone to portray it as an attempt to make Nigeria ungovernable under Jonathan.

    “Boko Haram is not a northern response to a southern presidency, as some would have us believe. Boko Haram is an enemy of Nigeria; whether Christians or Muslims, southerners or northerners, the lowly or the elite, the young or the old, the poor and the rich. They must be seen for what they are: fringe elements who happen to have linked up with other terror groups around the world to acquire training and weapons which they are now using to terrorise a whole nation.

    “That Emirs, who are Muslims and symbols of power in the North, can be so dastardly attacked, with deadly consequences, should convince those who would rather engage in the blame game than fight the bandits that what the country faces is neither a strictly religious nor elite war, and make them to change their jaundiced mindset.

    “If indeed Boko Haram was sponsored by the so-called northern elite against Jonathan, how come they are not even sparing the same elite? If indeed Boko Haram is sponsored by the North against Jonathan, why are their deadly attacks concentrated in the North, where they have killed thousands and destroyed facilities and infrastructure worth billions?

    “Let us all see Boko Haram for what it is, and come together as a people to fight the insurgents, rather than engage in denial, blame game and finger-pointing that can only weaken our resolve as a nation to tackle this fringe group squarely,” APC said.

    The party said the insurgency has festered because the government started off by not seeing it for what it is, thus losing valuable time to combat it, adding that when it started dawning on the government that the nation faces a serious problem, it responded by seeking to make political gains out of it.

    ‘’Those who saw Boko Haram, erroneously, as a political trump card have now suffered a boomerang, and today the Jonathan administration is seen globally as incompetent, clueless and rudderless largely because of its inept handling of the Boko Haram insurgency, especially the unfortunate abduction of innocent school girls which has lingered. This is what you get when you play politics with a serious national problem,” it said.

    APC restated its demand for a national security conference, as different from a gathering of all parties, to help forge a common front against Boko Haram.

    “We also reiterate our offer to join hands with the government in a non-partisan effort to battle the menace of Boko Haram, even though the government has yet to reach out to us since we made that offer,” the party said.

    Also yesterday, Senate President David Mark, decried Timta’s murder.

    Mark was quoted in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, in Abuja, as saying: “This unabating  bloodshed is senseless and needless.”

    The Senate President also renewed his appeal to Boko Haram to listen to the voice of reason and drop its weapons in the interest of peace and unity.

    Consoling the government and people of Borno State, he prayed that God would expose the perpetrators of the crime.

    Mark also urged the security agencies not to be deterred by the challenges but to be strengthened more in the battle to defend the country.

  • PHOTO: Massacre in Yobe college

    PHOTO: Massacre in Yobe college

  • Police arrest four persons for rapping, killing mother of five in Ogun

    THE Ogun State Command of the Nigeria Police Force have arrested four persons for raping and killing a 50-year old woman. The victim, a Beninese and mother of five, was said to have been gang-raped by the suspects when they broke into her home at Oniyanrin area of Abeokuta. To cover up the crime, the suspects slaughtered her. The neighbours were said to be unaware of the attack until yesterday when her lifeless body was found on the bed with bloodstains on the bed and floor. It was gathered that the victim, who was identified as Mama Friday, lived alone in the boys’ quarters within the main building, while her husband, a bricklayer, stays somewhere else. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Oluimuyiwa Adejobi, said four persons have so far been arrested. Adejobi, who said investigation into the crime has commenced, added that the woman was slaughtered.

  • Trial of traditional ruler, 11 others over killing of UNIPORT 4 opens

    Trial of traditional ruler, 11 others over killing of UNIPORT 4 opens

    The trial opened yesterday in Port Harcourt of the 12 suspected killers of four undergraduate students of the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) at Aluu community, Ikwerre Local Government Area.

    Ugonna Obuzor (18, Theatre Arts), Lloyd Toku Mike (20, Civil Engineering), Chiadika Biringa (20, Theatre Arts ) and Tekena Elkanah (21, Education), were murdered by a mob at Omuokiri, Aluu near UNIPORT on October 5, last year. They were alleged to have stolen telephone handsets.

    The prosecution, led by the Solicitor-General and Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Justice, Rufus N. Godwins, opened the case when he swore in the first prosecution Witness (PW1), Raphael Ezeji, a senior police officer, who led the investigation into the killings.

    Two sets of people –one set charged with murder and the other with negligence – are standing trial.

    Charged with murder are: Lawal Segun, ex-Sgt. Lucky Orji, Ikechukwu Louis Amadi (aka Kapoon), David Chinasa Ogbada, Abiodun Yusuf, Joshua Ekpe, Abang Cyril and John Ayuwu. They are the first set of those on trial.

    The traditional ruler of Aluu, Alhaj. Hassan Welewa; Okoghiroh Endurance, Ozioma Abajuo and Chigozie Evans Samuel are charged with negligence.

    Ezeji, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), who is the second in-command in the Homicide Department of the Rivers State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), told Mr. Justice Latam Nyordee of a State High Court part of his findings on the death of the four youths.

    DSP Ezeji said: “I am a staff (employee) of Rivers State Police command, attached to the SCID, Port Harcourt.

    “I have worked as a Police officer for more than 25 years, and as a registered detective officer for over 15 years.

    “As a criminal dictation officer, my job entails investigation of murder (homicide) cases and other responsibilities assigned to me. On October 5, 2013; my department received a report of the gruesome murder of four undergraduate students of UNIPORT at Aluu.

    “The report we received was that these four boys were stripped naked, paraded with jubilation and about to be set ablaze (lynched) at Omuokiri Aluu. As a result of this (report), the police division Isiokpo dispatched a combined team to rescue the victims, but because of the distance between the scene of crime and Isiopkpo, they had hung condemned tyres on their necks, while some others were with dog, hounding them.”

    “The crowd they met on the scene when they arrived were shouting ‘kill them, kill them. Before the police could rescue them, they had already poured petrol on them and lit fire,” he told the court.

    Ezeji said photographs of the remains of the deceased and the streets on which they were paraded naked were taken during the investigation.

    He added that extracts from the video clips of the killing, posted on the internet, formed part of the exhibits attached to the case file submitted to the prosecution. The internet clips were concealed in a CD plate.

    Efforts by the prosecution to tender copies of the photographs and thier negative copies as exhibits were objected to by 10 of the 12 defendants.

    The court fixed the ruling on the admissibility of the exhibits for later date.

    Midway into the hearing, the court allowed time to hear applications for bail of each of the accused persons.

    All the 12 accused persons in their independent applications urged the court to admit them to bail. They told Mr. Justice Nyordee that bail is their constitutional right irrespective of the gravity of the offence they were alleged to have committed.

    They noted that they were presumed innocent until proven otherwise.

    The fifth accused person, 16-year-old Abiodun Yusuf, urged the court to grant him bail, considering his age.

    His counsel, G.B.Sanusi, told the court that Yusuf, being a minor, was not supposed to be tried together with other accused persons in the open court.

    In their applications, counsel for the second set of defendants, including the Aluu monarch, Alhaji Hassan Welewa, urged the court to grant them bail, saying their offences carry lighter punishment of two years, if convicted.

    They argued that they had already spent close to one year in detention.

    They were charged with negligent, to wit felony to prevent murder, crime and misdemeanour.

    The prosecution objected to the bail applications and urged the court to dismiss their applications for lack of merit.

    Mr. Godwins averred that bail was at the discretion of the court but insisted that due to the serious nature of the offence the accused are charged with, it would be unusual for any court to consider granting them bail, without convincing reasons.

    On the first set of accused persons (first to eighth) who were charged with murder, the prosecution said: “It is unusual to contemplate to admit a person charged with murder to bail. This is because murder is a very serious offence. For them to be granted bail, they must show cogent reasons to be granted bail. And it must be on the grounds of health.

    “In this one, none of them has given any serious reason to be admitted to bail,” he insisted.

    He noted that although the offences the second set of accused (ninth to tenth), were charged with are not capital in nature, “however, even in the simplest of offence, bails are not just granted; the decision is strictly at the discretion of the court.”

    “The ninth accused person (Alhj. Welewa), is the paramount ruler of Aluu, the scene of crime. He has much influence in his community and most of our witnesses come from there; if he is granted bail, he will use his influence to negatively affect the cause of justice in this matter.

    “Moreover, some of the accused persons in this case are still at large, and they live there; so granting him bail will seriously affect the prosecution of this case,” Godwins submitted.

    Eighteen suspects were originally held in connection with the killing. The DPP advice last February exonerated seven.

    The prosecution added John Ayuwu (aka Johny Barbar) to bring the number of those on trial to 12.

    They were arraigned before the court last month with each of the accused pleading not guilty to the charges of murder and felony to prevent crime, preferred against them. The court adjourned till yesterday for bail application.

    It was somewhat rowdy yesterday, following the sudden change in the original agreement at the last sitting.

    The court at the last session adjourned for motion for bail, but at the resumed sitting yesterday, the prosecution mounted a projector screen to express its readiness to open the case..

    He insisted that the PW1 was in court and that the court could begin hearing the matter and midway, motion for bail taken. After some arguments, the court agreed with the prosecution against the wish of the defence.

    The case was adjourned till October 17 for ruling. The courts in Rivers are to begin their yearly vacation on Monday.

  • NGO condemns killing of Nigerians

    Unity and Tolerance Initiative (UTI), a non- governmental organisation (NGO) committed to promoting Nigeria’s unity, has condemned the killing of thousands of innocent Nigerians, foreigners and security officials by the Boko Haram sect.

    The organisation made this known during a press briefing during which it unveiled its intention to halt the tide of Nigeria’s internal crises, which have snowballed into dreadful terrorism, religious intolerance and politically-induced killings.

    It said that the killings, which have claimed so many lives, destroyed properties worth billions of Naira and displaced hundreds from their homes, is unacceptable and alien to Nigerians.

    UTI firmly supports the emergency rule declared on three states in the nation by President Goodluck Jonathan and said that they are committed to tackling head on the problems that threaten Nigeria’s unity such as religious intolerance, killing and ethnicity by inculcating positive attitudinal change in Nigerians.

    The group said: “Our cardinal objective is the promotion of unity among all Nigerians; irrespective of religious, ethnic, cultural and geographical diversities and take necessary steps to change the mindset of Nigerians from negative and stultifying state to a positive and progress engendering attitude”.

  • Killing of health workers condemned

    The national leadership of the Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) has demanded justice for the killing of 10 health workers.

    It decried the murder of 10 women in Kano State during the national programme on immunisation against polio. Nine women died immediately in the attacks in different locations, while the last victim, who was seriously injured, died yesterday morning.

    The victims were Sadi Mohammed, Jamila Yusuf, Naja’atu Salisu, Hadiza Ibrahim and Ramatu Abdullahi, all members of MHWUN. Others were Hauwa Abdulrazaq, Binta Salisu, Rabi Abubakar and Hadiza Ibrahim, all health volunteers.

    According to a statement signed by the National President of the union, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, the incident is a pointer to the need for the Federal Government to stop insurgency.

    The union enjoined the Federal Government to end insurgency.

    It said: “This tragic incident has exposed the need for the Federal Government to stop insurgency.

    “We demand that justice should be done. The perpetrators should be arrested and prosecuted.

    “We make bold to say that this is not about religion, but about the lives of Nigerians and its continuity as a united entity. Health workers in the country stand for a united Nigeria.

    “We will try our best to ameliorate the pains of the victims’ families.

    “The women were killed in their prime while serving their fatherland as part of the national immunisation programme aimed at kicking out polio.”

    MHWUN commiserated with the families of the deceased and the Kano State council of the union.

    The Paediatric Association of Nigeria (PAN) has also decried the killing of health workers in Kano State. It described the act as inhuman and barbaric.

    In a statement jointly signed by its National President, Prof. Adebiyi Olowu and National Secretary, Prof. Jerome Eluyan, the association condoled with the families of the affected health workers and enjoined the Kano State Government to compensate their relations.

    They noted that as an association, whose primary goal is to care for and promote the health of every Nigerian child, “we condemn this barbaric and inhuman act of these evil-minded people. The majority of the childhood diseases and deaths in our country are vaccine-preventable. Immunisation of children remains pivotal to the attainment of the health-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly MDG 4.

    “Nigeria is one of the few countries where the wild polio virus is still ravaging our children. It is disturbing that health workers that should be motivated to do this sacred job are attacked and killed with reckless abandon.”

    The statement said government should bring the perpetrators to book.

    It added: “Justice must not only be done but must be seen to be done. Security should be provided for health workers performing their legitimate duties and government at all levels should remain undaunted, resolute and committed to the immunisation of the Nigerian child.”

  • The killing of health workers in Kano

    The killing of health workers in Kano

    SIR: A man’s house is on fire and a concerned neighbour ran with a bucket of water to quench the fire. The man whose house is on fire turned and stabbed the neighbour with a bucket of water to death. The above scenario pictured the recent killings of health workers in Kano and Yobe states. How can one explain the madness behind the killings of those health workers who came to save lives of brothers and sisters of these unknown gun men?

    To exonerate the dreaded Islamic fundamentalist organisation “Ahlan Sunnah Lid Da’ Waati Wal Jihad Yaanaa”, also known as Boko Haram from this nefarious act is like exonerating anterior placenta from the survival of a foetus in a woman’s womb.

    This insane act reminded me of a recent report from a journalist from Somalia. The journalist Ghaith Abdul-Ahad in Mogadishu reported that a procession of famished mothers with their skeletal children burdened further with outsized bellies travelling many miles on foot across the desert to get food were driven back home by al-Shabaab: “They told us it was better to wait for God’s mercy than to beg for food from the unbelievers.” Why? Because Western aid is a sin and so is western knowledge of routine immunization, and the polio eradication programme in Northern Nigeria.

    Boko Haram is wielding the same guns and bombs (the only instruments in which western education is not a sin) and spreading hate and insecurities in Nigeria.

    Boko Haram, how do you want poverty and high rate of illiteracy to be eradicated in your area? When you are causing local and foreign investors to flee? The Yorubas will say: ‘ronu’ meaning think. Please, Boko Haram members, you should think deeper so to heal the past wounds instead of inflicting deeper wounds.May the souls of those innocent health workers killed in Kano and Yobe states rest in peace, Amen.

     

    • Eyeke Solomon Eyeke.

    Department of Mass Communication, University of Nigeria, Nsukka.

     

  • Sanusi, are you killing the banking sector?

    Sanusi, are you killing the banking sector?

    SO far, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has emerged as the most controversial Governor the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) ever had. More than any of his predecessors, he seems to have been demonstrating supremacy that suits his will beyond the purpose of his office and the benefit of the citizenry.

    Last week, it was reported that CBN has set new deposit limits for all categories of account holders and introduced three-tier Know Your Customer (KYC) requirements for banks. The new policy is creating three levels of depositors and what would be allowed as deposits. It nails the newly-created Low Value Account to a maximum single deposit of N20,000 and maximum cumulative balance of N200,000. For its tagged Medium Value Account which is on Level Two, N50,000 will be the maximum single deposit while the maximum cumulative balance would not be permitted to go beyond N400,000. But for the wealthy who would be operating the Level Three High Value Account, the cumulative account would be unlimited – no ceiling for what could be deposited.

    Talk of controversial banking policies, Sanusi’s administration has been terrific. As soon as he assumed office, in his bid to reform the banking sector, he knocked out some hitherto seemingly flourishing top bankers, especially his perceived adversaries. Many hailed him then for the daring steps. But today, the positive impact of his banking reformation on the nation’s economy remains debatable.

    Before long, Sanusi pronounced his intention to integrate Islamic banking into the nation’s system. After a prolonged roar, the policy became dormant, and still remains sleeping till date. Soon, he came up with cashless policy, with Lagos as starting point. Today, the workability of the guiding principle can hardly be branded as remarkable accomplishment. Not long ago, it was his pushed idea of N5,000 currency note and coins that started rocking the already battered nation. Many regarded it as elitist policy that would further ruin the long devastated naira. The presidency had to step in to suspend the distracting controversy. It still remains shelved even after it was believed contracts for printing the constitutionally unapproved currency note had been awarded.

    As if Sanusi was appointed to stir controversies in all forms, one day he came into his corporate office in his traditional chieftaincy regalia, showcasing his dream to replace the incumbent alive and well Emir of Kano who was attacked by terrorists few weeks ago. Shortly before the heartrending incident that has now taken the Emir and his injured princes out of the country, the CBN boss openly advocated the outlaw of notable religious and regional groups like CAN, JNI, ACF, Afenifere and so on. How such ban would transform the baking sector he is heading remains inexplicable and puzzling.

    As if all these diversionary tendencies of the contentious banker were not enough, he has now again brought forth a horrific policy at the wrong time when the people are groaning in penury. First, why should bank customers be categorized based on their savings? Is he working to widen the already diversified class gap and create a new class war? Why limiting only the low and medium value customers, leaving the high value category where he belongs unlimited? Did Sanusi think many are earning his level of fat salaries and allowances? How many non-corrupt civil servants will have N200,000 as cumulative? This is a blatant discrimination against the poor.

    To the average Nigerian, this complicating policy is hard to comprehend and amounts to nothing as it would only make more people keep their monies at home in contention with the same administration’s yet-unworking cashless policy. The argument that the proposed deposit limits will reduce the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism is hollow and dismal. The reality is that the common Nigerian will continue to suffer incalculable hardship in banking operations which will favour only those who become big as beneficiaries of the nation’s flapping corruption.

    It is obvious that it is only the moneybag politicians, public servants and business tycoons that have money to launder. A truly devoted CBN administration ought not to think of widening the gap between the idle rich and the maneuvered poor. It should focus more on rational policies that will improve the standard of living of the people. Actualising CBN’s position that small scale enterprises should not benefit financial support from banks because of the nation’s poor infrastructure will only tie the economy down the miry valley. Rather than help to re-build the nation’s economy, coming up with weird and outlandish economic theories and policies amount to protecting self interest, leaving the masses to continue suffering in the midst of plenty.

    Since Sanusi is not the Finance, National Planning or Trade and Investment Minister, he should be counseled to pay more attention to his obliged official responsibilities without propelling unrewarding controversies. He should not be allowed to kill the weakened banking sector by discouraging customers and his own cashless policy. If he knows things would not work his own unconventional way, let him relinquish the banking chair and sit back to await his aspiration to becoming the Emir of Kano.

    Yes, please fight demons and cabals

    PROFESSOR Chinedu Nebo, former Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka says he is ready to go into spiritual war against the many demons and cabal sabotaging the nation’s power sector. This was the assurance he gave the Senate as a nominated minister, preferably to take charge of the Power Ministry where Prof. Barth Nnaji was recently flushed out. He declared he would launch spiritual warfare against those frustrating the essential power sector that keeps dragging the nation and the economy down.

    Prof. Nebo did not sound as a greenhorn. Aware of the challenge facing the nation, he was quoted: “In this country, some highly placed people are believed to be witches responsible for the problems in our power sector; I believe God will give me the power to chase out these demons.” First was his recognition of the banana peels that swept of Prof. Nnaji in spite of his commendable professionalism; second was also that the sector is not working because of the exasperating selfish interest of some people called “highly placed.”

    Significantly was his spiritual trust in God’s ability to overcome the demonic activity being manipulated against the glory of a nation originally destined for greatness. Demons are lovers of darkness. It is in it that they hide to destroy the good of the land. The “highly placed” witches Nebo referred to are the prime corrupt leaders in and out of government, using their positions and links to scoop the nation’s treasury. Failure of the power sector that has kept the nation’s economy depressed has been source of wealth to the business and government witches – which is why they manipulate sustenance of the people in destitution. It is encouraging that he knows he needs Divine support to flush them out.

    Nebo was wise by not hastily assuring, like others before him, uninterrupted power supply, if appointed as power minister. He asserted the need to first have full knowledge of what is on ground in the sector before making proclamation of when light would begin to shine upon the darkened nation. Recall the tenureship of late Chief Bola Ige who, with his determined heart, was unable to make any meaningful impact in the power sector under Obasanjo administration.

    Beyond fighting the power cabal, Nebo’s optimism is that the power reform programme of the Jonathan administration would only turn around the sector if implemented to a logical conclusion. To him, “we need the political will to do so.”

    Truly, if President Goodluck Jonathan could just make the power sector his focus and ensure the accomplishment of bringing uninterrupted light across the nation to the level of what was being enjoyed in neighbouring Ghana since more than two decades, he might need less sweat in his campaign for re-election. This is what could give practical meaning to his transformation agenda.

    Aftrall, we now know that Nigerians appreciate impactful efforts of whosoever performs well while in power.

  • Anger over gruesome killing of family’s breadwinner

    Who are the real killers of our father and why was he killed in such a dastardly manner? This is the mystery that the questions that the aggrieved family of late Johnson Olanrewaju is yet to unravel. And members of the family are more traumatised by the “suspicious” manner the police have been handling the matter.

    The late Olanrewaju, who until his death on January 17, worked at Cardinal Securities, Lagos, was said to be on his way back home after the day’s work when three heavily armed gunmen reportedly intercepted his blue-coloured Toyota Avensis Wagon car, just a stone’s throw to his 27, Adeyemi Street, Alakuko, Ogun State residence.

    Before the very eyes of his wife, Modupe and Tunde, their little son, 63-year-old Olanrewaju was bundled into the trunk of his car and driven off after the gunmen had dispossessed the trio of their valuables, including phone sets and money.

    After a frantic search for their breadwinner, his four children got the shocking news of his death the next day at the Sango Police Station, where his car was also parked. It was there the children got the disheartening news from some policemen: “Your father was killed along Ota Road.” The body of the victim has since been deposited at the Ifo General Hospital’s morgue by the police.

    Anger and grief were all over victim’s children and mother-in-law when they took their agony to the Lagos Headquarters of The Nation yesterday. Both Oluwakemi Olanrewaju who works with Intels Nigeria Ltd, Warri, Delta State, and her brother, Olalekan fought tears while bemoaning their plight on the incident.

    Oluwakemi told The Nation: “On his way from work that fateful night, our father had gone to take our mother back home from her shop at about 9.45 pm. On getting to Oluwatobi Junction along FPF Campbell Road near our house, according to our neighbours, they were intercepted by three heavily armed gunmen who took all they had on them before driving our father away in the booth of his car. Immediately, our mother rushed to Alakuko Police Station to report the case.

    “The next day, our mother went with us to Sango Police Station following directives from Alakuko Police Station. There, we saw our father’s car. It was parked intact. There some policemen told us that our father was shot dead by armed robbers the previous night.”

    Olalekan, who corroborated his sister, lamented that “we saw hell in the hands of the police before our father’s car was released to us on January 22, five days after. More annoying and shocking is the fact that the police did not give us a copy of the bond we signed as the normal police report on the incident.”

    He further said: “It is still surprising that the police have not told us the exact spot where our father was killed. All we were told was that he was shot dead along Ota Road. They also told us that they took our father’s corpse to the morgue after extracting a bullet from his body. They are yet to tell us the whole truth about how our father was killed. It is still a puzzle to us.

    “Upon further investigations, we were told that the gunmen raped a trader’s 13-year-old daughter after dispossessing her of her money. Then, our father was said to be in the booth of the car. While they were descending on the trader, we were told that our father attempted to escape and at the point, the gunmen shot at him. We now wonder how our father could have opened the car’s trunk that was firmly locked. And strange enough, there is nobody to tell us the location where exactly he was shot dead. All these account for why we believe that the police have things to hide on the matter.”

    Shell-shocked and distraught, Olanrewaju’s wife was said to have spent three days at the hospital after the incident. Now, members of the family are demanding an autopsy to ascertain the truth about the sudden loss of their breadwinner.

    However, when contacted on the matter yesterday, Adepoju Ilori, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), denied knowledge of the case, saying that if it was reported at his station, an entry would have been made for it.

    However, Ogun State Police Spokesman, Muyiwa Adejobi admitted that the police were already on top of the matter, saying: “It is a clear case of armed robbery and we are doing our utmost best to fish out the man’s killers and ensure that justice is done. Since the case occurred and we got wind of it, we have made special arrangements to get the man’s killers arrested and brought to justice. The era when an innocent citizen would be killed like a fowl without anything done is gone.

    On the police’s suspected culpability in the matter, he retorted: “Whoever points accusing fingers at the police in this matter is not being fair to the police institution. We will not rest on our oars in an attempt to get at the root of the dastardly killing of the family man.”

    Now, the bereaved family awaits justice even as it continues to live with the trauma of the sudden departure of its breadwinner.

  • Killing SMEs

    Killing SMEs

    •The CBN governor should refrain from statements that do not nurture the economy

    The hope of thriving small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country seems to be hanging in the air. For decades, the SMEs have struggled for meaningful existence to no avail. Successive administrations have only made rhetoric of their commitment to the scheme, despite the fact that hundreds of millions of naira get budgeted for the purpose annually.

    The current administration, like its predecessors, has mouthed its commitment to salvage the ailing SMEs. Yet, those small-scale businesses cannot access money budgeted for them as loans by the banks. And there seems not to be any light at the end of the tunnel for them. At the recent Bankers’ Committee Retreat, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), rather than come up with the panacea to the problems of the SMEs further compounded the situation by reeling out excuses justifying government’s inability to revive them.

    Sanusi said: “…Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) only thrive in an environment that is conducive. If you want vibrant SMEs that can borrow from banks, we must fix the power problem, we must fix the agricultural value chain problem. Banks cannot continue to lend to SMEs that are not profitable because they have to continue to run on generators and buy diesel, with bad roads and insecurity. So, the environment has to be fixed and that would encourage banks to lend to SMEs.”

    With the numerous hurdles that Sanusi has placed at the doorstep of the SMEs, they look beyond redemption simply because those impediments have over time been intractable, even when they are not insurmountable. Yet, the SMEs in well-focused climes ought to, ordinarily, be the soul of the economy. But here, the government does not easily realise their significance and this is hurting the country’s economy. The SMEs are found wanting in the country because most of them cannot access loans for their growth due to institutional impediments. Sanusi worsened matters by justifying banks’ refusal to do business with them, saying that the SMEs are not vibrant due to the unfriendly environment they operate in.

    Sanusi cannot say without equivocation that the country is at the moment enjoying financial stability. He was appointed head of the nation’s apex bank to provide workable and beneficial monetary policy and not to dabble into micro-economic matters that are ultra vires his brief. Even though he is a member of the Economic Team of the current government, he should quietly make his opinions known to the team at its meetings with President Goodluck Jonathan rather than consistently make statements that are capable of inflaming an already fragile polity.

    Mallam Sanusi should realise that he was not appointed to dissect problems; he should rather proffer solutions that are intra vires his powers on how to make the SMEs and other monetary creations work for the betterment of the economy. For example, we expect him to come up with a sustainable single digit bank lending rate; he should further restore sanity into the banks. The CBN governor should find out why the banks are not giving out loans to SMEs which is due largely to their demands for unattainable collateral while they would gleefully give out such to shady businessmen.

    We want to know why banks prefer to lose money to the CBN than lend out such to farmers in the country. What the nation demands of Sanusi is not combustible statements but realistic actions that can inspire stability of her financial system.