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  • Air Force promises enhanced security for Oyo

    Air Force promises enhanced security for Oyo

    During a working visit to Oyo State, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshall Sadique Baba Abubakar, visited Governor Abiola Ajimobi. He promised more deployment of airmen to the state for security purposes. Assistant Editor SEUN AKIOYE reports

    The meeting between the Oyo State governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and the Chief of Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar began and ended like a meeting between friends. They  laughed, shookhands and made promises of mutual benefits.

    It was Air Marshal Abubakar’s first visit to Oyo State where the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) has a detachment; and as the governor would put it, the “first CAS to visit Oyo State, even as he called him the “son of the soil.”

    The meeting, which held at the Presidential Lodge of the Oyo State government, had all the trappings of warmth and friendliness while the two men appreciated each other and expressed the willingness not only to work together for the development of the state, but also to find mutually acceptable recipes for it.

    The Air Chief expressed great appreciation to the governor for the assistance the NAF unit has been receiving from the state government.

    “I want to thank the government and the people of Oyo State for all the support we have been getting for our unit here in Ibadan.

    “Ibadan, to me, is like a second home. I was here in 2008 at the University of Ibadan after my War College Programme in Abuja. At that time, I used to nurse the ambition to come and settle down fully in Ibadan after I leave the service because the town is peaceful and foodstuffs very cheap. I am still nursing that ambition,” he said.

    This was good news to the governor and his several aides who were present at the meeting, as the CAS also promised to help Oyo State in the area of security by strengthening the detachment and deploying more airmen and women.

    “We have a detachment here, we want to expand it, and we are looking at the secondary school here too. I have directed the commander that we must do everything possible to make sure that Oyo State is secured because without security, there could be no development.

    “Since we have increased the number of people coming into the service, I want to assure you that once the first batch passes out in January, we are going to send more airmen and airwomen to Oyo State,” he further said.

    While appreciating Air Marshal Abubakar for the visit, Governor Ajimobi restated that his administration will continue to accord security top priority for development.

    “We regard security as the foundation for our development,” he said.  The governor also promised to sign the title deeds to the land acquired by the NAF as soon as possible.

    “Regarding the title deeds to your land, I see no problem in signing the documents at all. We will do that,” he assured.

    But the Air Chief’s main focus was an inspection tour of the Air Force Comprehensive Secondary School in Lagelu, Ibadan. The school, which was established to cater for the academic well-being of children of the personnel, is fraught with some challenges which the CAS is determined to solve.

    As the Air Chief moved from one section of the school to another, he would point out a fault on a building, suggest corrections in a structure or instruct that certain things should be put in place.

    The school has challenges concerning electricity, water and classroom infrastructure. The CAS instructed the commander of the unit that everything possible should be done to ensure the challenges are surmounted.

    “The kitchen looks nice and neat, but the issue of water is very important. Even if it means drilling another borehole, please just make sure you do it,” he said.

    Highpoint of the inspection was a visit to the school’s dining hall where the CAS had lunch with the students.  The CAS insisted on sitting with the children and eating the same food and using the same kind of plates they used. He addressed the students afterwards.

    “I am here to find out some of the challenges you are experiencing with regard to electricity, water and so on. I want to assure you that we will address all these challenges so that you can study in an environment conducive to teaching and learning.  But I want you to promise me that you will always put in your best in your academic work, do you promise that?” he asked. There was a resounding yes from the students.

    Concerning the visit, the CAS said: “I have not been to Ibadan since I came on board as the Chief of Air Staff because of certain challenges we are trying to address in other parts of the country. But now that we have some breathing space, I decided to come here and see our units here in Ibadan, particularly the secondary school. The commandant and commander of the unit are doing well. We notice a number of challenges and I promised we are going to address them.”

  • Takeaways from Dakar Forum on African Peace and Security

    This year’s Dakar International Forum on Peace and in Security in Africa, the third in the annual series attracted the participation of President Muhammadu Buhari along with some other African leaders. It was an important opportunity to strengthen relations between Africa and its development partners.
    In addition to all things, President Buhari owed to his Senegalese counterpart to be present on account of the visit, at least three times that I know, that President Mackey Sall came here on our government’s invitation. President Buhari was received with a lot of warmth. It was clear from the actions and pronouncements of the hosts, that President Sall and his government were very pleased that President Buhari had at last reciprocated by visiting.
    Besides the diplomatic gains of the visit, what other major gains were made by Nigeria by having our President in attendance?
    As a background, the meeting had in attendance, high-level stakeholders, including, as earlier stated, Presidents and heads of government as well as ministers responsible for internal security, defence and foreign affairs.
    Others were heads of security and defence institutions on the continent, regional and international organizations, business leaders, scholars, experts and the civil society. Dozens of workshops were held on security related issues affecting Africa. It was an intense two-day engagement, and for those who mistake the presidential trips as pleasurable junkets, the President’s plane left Dakar in the dark hours of the second day of the visit, to land in Abuja early the following morning.
    The President had raced back home to swear in the new commissioners he appointed for the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC and to preside at the Wednesday meeting of the Federal Executive Council, FEC.
    The Forum attached a central importance to experience-sharing.
    Now, this is an area in which Nigeria has the dubious honour of being a leader, given our ongoing engagement with Boko Haram terrorists. Routing the Boko Haram terrorism is one of the priorities of this administration. The President has defined the challenges of terrorism in Nigeria as being Boko Haram in the North-east and militancy in the South-South.
    In the speech he read, and his various responses to questions at an interactive forum, President Buhari offered to the continent this county’s recipe for a lasting solution to the challenge of terrorism. His speech was further expanded in details by officials on the delegation.
    In the series of briefings, African leaders were given the essentials of the two-way approach to fighting terror put in place by the current administration.
    One is that there is a “Soft Approach.” This approach has a blueprint tagged as “National Counter-terrorism Strategy”. As a part of this, government has a de-radicalization programme coordinated by the Counter Terrorism Centre. De-radicalization basically entails the various ways to rehabilitate and re-orientate repentant terrorists and to fight the ideological influence of terrorist organizations.
    An implementation mechanism, the Presidential Committee for North East Initiative (PCNI), for economic empowerment through provision of emergency assistance, social stabilisation, economic reconstruction and redevelopment has also been put in place.
    There is also in place, a Victim Support Fund and a National Trauma Centre to collate data on victims of Boko Haram insurgency, and provide assistance to them.
    Government is also engaging in the sensitization and orientation of the civil populace to disabuse their mind against the negative propaganda of the Boko Haram group.
    There is also a Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Resolution of Security Challenges in the North East to engage the Boko Haram insurgents and win their hearts through dialogue. The committee has engaged the insurgents in various prisons and detention centres with a view to cultivating them to accept the dialogue option. As a result of this engagement, 21 Chibok Girls were released on October 13 through negotiations. Efforts are being intensified to ensure the safe release of the rest of the Chibok Girls and other victims.
    Government has also established a Presidential Committee on Small Arms and Light Weapons (PRESCOM) specifically to address the proliferation of small arms and light weapons in the country.
    Almajiri schools (integrated western and Quranic schools) in the 19 states of the north to facilitate enrolment of street children who are vulnerable to recruitment by Boko Haram and other terrorist groups have established. Through the implementation of Safe School Initiative, SSI, protection of schools in the states affected by Boko Haram is being paid attention to, with an initial funding of US$20million.
    Other measures put in place include wider Foreign Intelligence Cooperation (Liaison Relations) at the regional and sub-regional levels in view of the trans-national and cross-border nature of terrorism and related crimes. In this regard, a Regional Intelligence Fusion Unit (RIFU) and National Intelligence Fusion Centre for coordinated action against terrorism, including intelligence sharing in response to the security challenges posed by Boko Haram insurgency and Terrorism have been put in place.
    As an indication of the success of this experiment, the RIFU achieved 98 per cent increase in intelligence sharing in 2016, with more countries seeking to join the unit.
    The second approach to the threat of terrorism by Nigeria is tagged the “Hard Approach.”
    The Forum was briefed by our officials on ongoing intensification of Air and Ground Military Offensive against the Boko Haram group and its bases.
    President Buhari made it clear that the fight against corruption in his country aims at addressing factors that promote terrorism and violent extremism. “Corruption”, said the President “deprives the citizens including the youth of their right to basic necessities of life including education, health and employment.”
    He informed them that his administration had put in place an empowerment program targeting 500,000 youth, of which 200,000 have been employed in the first instance.
    Following this excellent presentation, many countries expressed their appreciation of Nigeria’s anti-terrorism mechanisms and efforts.
    A major objective of the Dakar Forum is the strengthening of African Unity with a view to finding their own solutions to the problems of security on the continent. This is in line with the theme for this year’s meeting which is “Africa Meets Its Security Challenges: Viewpoints for Efficient Solutions.”
    To achieve this, the leaders agreed to use common security platforms to achieve the goal of a unified African approach.
    Some of these will hopefully see African Navies and Maritime agencies working together to secure international waters. It has since been recognized that a stable maritime environment is critical for regional and global security and that states acting in isolation of one another have tended to achieve very little.
    The threat of sea-borne terror and piracy continues to pose a strong challenge, with pirates moving from Somalia to the Gulf of Guinea. The meeting recognized the efforts of Nigeria and her maritime neighbours to counter the situation. Going forward, African navies should be working more closely with each other.
    The meeting also provided an opportunity to learn from each other on how best to get international partnerships to work together for common solutions to shared problems. To this end, defence and security establishments will march together to confront the new challenges facing the continent and will cooperate with one another by sharing intelligence, training and synergy.
    The model of cooperation put in place by the leaders of the Lake Chad Basin Commission Countries, and the impressive success recorded by the Multinational Joint Task Force, MNJTF will serve a strong motivation for the actualization of a continent-wide mechanism for military intervention in crisis situations. Each country has however been implored to start by taking charge of their territories and resources to avoid their falling into the hands of terrorists.
    To confront the threat of the spread of hate speech, radicalisation and violent extremism, the Africa leaders will each in their countries keep an eye on the internet. In an important decision taken, the forum noted that rising connectivity has helped the growth of extremism and radicalization, and leaders were urged to make state institutions to be more mindful of those seeking to incite violence using social media platforms.
    African private sector has equally been urged to key into the efforts to build new pillars of economic activities on the continent to reduce joblessness and crime. Participants agreed that the private sector is an equal stakeholder in peace and security in Africa and for this reason, businesses on the continent must brace up for more involvement in this regard as part of their corporate social responsibility.

  • Ambode to host 10th annual town hall meeting on security

    Ambode to host 10th annual town hall meeting on security

    Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode will on Tuesday host the 10th Edition of the Annual Town Hall Meeting on Security under the auspices of the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).

    The Town Hall Meeting, which would hold at the Civic Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, would focus on the theme “Optimizing Security Funding in a Recession.”

    Executive Secretary/CEO of the LSSTF, Dr. Abdurrazaq Balogun, in a statement on Sunday, acknowledged the remarkable achievements made in the outgoing year by the Fund owing to the massive support from donors and partners, a development he said has continued to put Lagos as the cutting-edge in urban crime fighting.

    Balogun, however, noted that sustaining the funds in the face of recession might be a tough task, hence the need to fashion out new strategies to help donors and partners continue to see the need for supporting the organization.

    According to him, these strategies will form the thrust of this year’s meeting, with discussions centering on the economic benefits of maintaining a safe and secured business atmosphere.

    “For us at the Fund, our focus in the past year has been in the direction of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s tripod strategy of security, job creation and improved infrastructure. With security at the forefront, Lagos State increasingly becomes attractive to businesses and investors, which in turn will generate more taxes and pave the way for more infrastructural development.

    “We really cannot emphasize this enough; and this is why a lot of resources has been committed to the Lagos State Police Command and other security agencies in the State, and will continue to do so with the support of our partners and donors”, Balogun said.

    While stating that funding and supporting security agencies was the bedrock of peaceful co-existence in the State, Balogun added that involvement of every level in the society was also critical, from the community level to all corporate organizations.

    Those expected at this year’s Town Hall Meeting with the Governor are leading donors to the Fund, captains of various industries, heads of various security agencies operating in Lagos and stakeholders in the sector.

    Among the speakers and panelists include the Assistant Inspector General of Police (rtd.) Ibrahim Manko; Managing Director, Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe; CEO of RTC Consulting, Opeyemi Agbaje; Managing Director of Skye Bank, Adetokunbo Abiru; and Thisday Law Editor, Mrs. Onikepo Braithwaite.

  • Lagos raises special security taskforce

    Ahead of the yuletide, the Lagos State government, in collaboration with leadership of markets and transport unions, has set up a special taskforce with the aim of ensuring adequate security, free-flow of traffic and safe business operation around the Central Business Districts (CBDs).

    Special Adviser to Governor Akinwumi Ambode on CBD, Agboola Dabiri, stated this at a stakeholders’ forum “Curtailing traffic/removal of all impediments to free human and vehicular movement in ensuring a free Yuletide for Residents”, held at the Onikan Youth Centre. The forum was attended by market associations and transport unions.

    Dabiri urged all to cooperate with the government as any violator would be dealt with in accordance with the state traffic and environmental laws.

    “All enforcement officers from all MDAs must improve on their performances through effective harmonisation in a way that traders, shoppers as well as other stakeholders, will have cause to appreciate fully, efforts of the state government for a working Lagos CBD,” he said.

  • Obaseki assures investors of security in Edo

    Obaseki assures investors of security in Edo

    Edo state Governor, Mr. Godwin Obaseki, on Wednesday, said the state government would continue to partner the Nigerian Police to guarantee conducive environment for investors, saying “it is the most important factor in attracting investment”.

    Obaseki said a crime-free environment would automatically translate to investors’ haven.

    The governor said this in statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr John Mayaki on Thursday, when he hosted the AIG Zone Five, Abubakar Muhammad, who was in Government House to announce his postin g to Benin.

    Obaseki said “once investors feel that their property and lives will be safe and that they can attract and execute contracts without fear of insecurity, investors will have no choice but do business with Edo state.’’

    According to him, “we spent eight years to build the foundation of this state and now, we are consolidating.

    “We need external investors in the state and we need security for safety of lives and properties.

    “For us, security is number one and we will do everything to support the police because our survival is on that.

    `We will want to work with you very closely. However, I want to commend the existing cooperation of the police with government and I want to sue for its sustenance.

    “I’m saying you couldn’t come at an opportune time because as a government, we are very clear on where we are going.

    “We have spent the last eight years laying the foundations for economic and social take off.

    “ We have built infrastructure like roads and schools and now we need to consolidate on those development for the future.

    “And to do it we are also aware that we have to rely on our own internal resources and to leverage those internal resources. we need to attract investors and investments.

    “My other life was about working on investment and attracting investors and I know that a single most important factor in attracting investment into any area is security.

    “ It is not the money. That is why we are very excited that we have you”.

    While admitting that the constitution of the federal Republic of Nigeria vests the responsibility of internal security with the Nigeria Police, Obaseki emphasized the imperative for concerted effort because the Nigeria Police clld not do it alone.

    Obaseki therefore harped on community policing arrangement with particular emphasis on intelligence gathering saying, “So, as a state, we will be rolling out our own internal security plan which will be linked to the federal plan.

    “Edo is changing Nigeria – Edo has a new king. We do that once in a generation.
    “We are blessed this year to witness one of the most colourful regal events of the continent and by the grace of God.

    “We had what we could determine a defining election in Edo State, an election that has defined the democratic direction of this country. It could be defined from different perspectives.

    “First, we are having people whom you will not term core politicians, that are professionals, people who are accomplished in other phases of life, who are now coming into politics to participate and therefore expand the political space.

    “It’s unfortunate that we are having a transition in the sense that we are moving from that era where politics was one excessively driven by violence.

    “The last set of elections before the one in Edo, we know the amount of bloodshed that occurred.

    “Thanks to you, to your men and other people of goodwill, we were able to have what we call a defining election in Nigeria when it took another turn when no one life was lost.

    “That feat has now be repeated in Ondo and we are hoping to see that trend continue. When this becomes the trend, then you find out that other good people;
    “People who mean well, who want to participate in politics will now begin to see politics differently – so that is also defining,” he said.

    Earlier, AIG Muhammad disclosed that they were in government house to introduce themselves to the Governor and acquaint him with the activities of the zone.

    He said, “Our coming today is to introduce ourselves and to tell what the zone is all about because you have the command with you.

    “The CP is here.  You are aware that the zone covers three states; Edo, Delta and Bayelsa and what we do in the zone is not to duplicate what the Commissioners of Police are doing in the states.

    “But to supervise, coordinate and support the activities of the three Commissioners of Police and one of our responsibilities is to liaise with the state governors in terms of how to strategize to suppress crime within each state.”

    He thanked the governor for the tremendous support that the State Police Command had been given in terms of infrastructure and gave assurance that the Zonal Command would improve on the security situation in the state.

    The AIG assured the governor that the command would not allow any form of criminal infiltration from other parts of the country and become economic sabotage in the state.

    He therefore sued for continuous support so that the officers and men would perform their duties maximally.

  • Expert canvasses policy on food security, nutrition

    A lecturer with the Department of Agronomy, Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Prof Julius Ipadeola Olaifa has said lack of coherent national food security and nutrition policy has serious implications on human survival, national growth and development.

    In a chat with Southwest Report, Prof Olaifa, who is a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) and the International Atomic Energy Agency, (IAEA) stated that if coherent national food security and nutrition policy the policy is put in place, it will be capable of transforming communities into healthy and productive food producers. This, he said, will ensure reliable and consistent access to affordable nutritious food.

    He pointed out that hunger has devastating effects on the health and economic productivity of more than 80 per cent of Nigerians, adding that even those with access to food often suffer

    terribly from malnutrition.

    “Children not only suffer from the effect of malnutrition, but also from increased susceptibility to disease and other health risks such as neonatal disorders, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria.  Under nutrition is the underlying cause of maternal mortality each year,” he said.

    He further said hunger and malnutrition also affect economic development in near and long-term, while illness, hunger and the need to care for ill children reduces income, particularly for

    women.

    Seeking a paradigm shift in issues of food import, he urged the Federal Government to spend less on food importation, saying that government should not be rhetorical but pragmatic in reducing food import bill in order to guarantee food security for Nigerians.

    “What Nigerians need is serious approach to revitalise the agricultural sector as is being done by the present administration.

    “Imagine billions of Naira wasted annually on importation of wheat, when the chain values of cassava is yet to be fully exploited, let alone other cash crop such as mango.  A lot of natural and agricultural resources abound in Oke-Ogun areas of Oyo State, for instance, but the government is not tapping them.

    “This is why it is imperative for state governments to rehabilitate all their farm settlements, in order to improve agriculture. These resources alone can generate employment for thousands of jobless youths,” he said.

    On how to transform the agricultural sector, Olaifa suggested increasing household access to agricultural inputs and credit, improving, natural resource management, and linking agricultural

    outputs with local, regional, and national markets.

    “Some of the ways to transform the agricultural sector are reduction of livelihood vulnerability, working with communities to increase access to water, as well as developing customised plans to ensure availability, ensuring that access and utilisation of food is stable and sustainable over a long period of time.

    “There should be a sustainable social welfare policy that would address problems that might arise when markets do not provide adequate mechanisms to deal with economic uncertainties.

    This, according to him, will ascertain the nature of the risks individuals experience in a given society, in order to tailor policies towards meeting these risks in a sustainable fashion.

    “Part of the considerations should be based on the fact that agriculture and informal economies are very important because they account for 70 per cent of employment for the teeming population.

    “This implies that social welfare programme should address issues on income uncertainties due to the fortuity of informal activities, which fluctuate considerably.”

    He lamented the limited coverage of social security systems in the country, which he noted raises serious equity issues, even as he said societal valuable resources and efforts are often targeted at small and privileged segment of the population.

    He said: “The Nigerian population is young, and is expected to remain like that over the period between 40 and 50 years.

    “This age structure affects the behaviour and demand of social security services.  But alas, budgetary allocation for agriculture ought to have been increased from its present 30 per cent to 70 per cent.  If this age structure can be properly co-opted and coordinated into agriculture, it will not only prop-up employment generation, but will also reduce crimes, restiveness and other anti-social activities in our society.”

    Olaifa stated that there is hardly any state in the country that is not effectively productive.

    “Agricultural production is sustained by peasant farmers. We have good weather, no global warming, coupled with ample rainfall. These are what we need for production of crops such as cassava, maize and yam. We have fishery and poultry products in the Southwest. What of South-south and the Southeast that produce oil palm.  Equally too are the onion, pepper, goats, and sheep produced in quantity in the North and moved to the South. What of pepper, carrots, and others?’’

    “Politicians play politics with rice. They assume it is the only food commodity in the country. That is wrong. They have forgotten yams and plantains, which are produced locally, From Lagos to Maiduguri, Port Harcourt to Enugu and Ibadan, where is yam not taken as food? Yet, yam farmers across the country are not given the kind of attention given to rice until recently. The present administration is interested in rice, and is pragmatically improving its production locally,” he said.

    Prof. Olaifa, however, pointed out that the major problem confronting the country currently is food processing.

    ‘’What have we developed from yam, cassava and plantain, for instance, other than garri, fufu, and chips? It is the present generation that started garri, fufu, and even the chips. We should develop new products from these commodities. China, Malaysia and Indonesia have no other crops other than rice. They have thousands of products developed from rice. That is what we need now,” he stated.

  • 140 Nigeria policemen for Somalia poll security

    About 140 Nigerians policemen that have been training the Somali police force will be involved in that country’s election, it was learnt at the weekend.

    Also, the African Union Mission in Somalia (AMISOM) said it will require no fewer than 4,000 more troops from African countries to be able to liberate the remaining regions of Somalia from Islamic terrorist group Al-Shabab.

    Somalia is preparing for its first democratic elections in over 20 years after a conflict which has forced millions of the citizens to become refugees around the world.

    Somalia has one of the world’s most complicated democratic processes where clans and family heads elect members of parliament who in turn would elect the President.

    In the past two months, clans have been electing their representatives to the parliament while the presidential election will hold before next month.

    AMISOM spokesperson in Somalia, Lt. Col. Joseph Kibet told The Nation that security for the election is paramount for the AMISOM troops. “Security is calm now even though it is unpredictable, we have been able to drive Al-Shabab out of Mogadishu, but we are yet to liberate Juba Valley from them, also Bakoo and Hiraan and along the coastline.

    “What they are doing now is to carry our insurgency attacks using vehicle bombs and laying ambush for our troops, but we are in control of the situation and hopefully we will be able to drive them out. Currently, we have 21,000 troops and for maximum effect we need to double that but for the immediate job at hand we will need minimum 4,000 troops,” Kibet said.

    As Somalia prepares for the election, a result of which will have far reaching consequences for the fragile peace of the war-torn country, Al-Shabab continues to intimidate and plan attacks to disrupt the process.

    “What they are doing now to stop the election is to intimidate and kill prominent leaders in the country, they acquired Somali National Army uniforms and identity cards but we have been arresting them, we have launched a counter-Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) strategy and more than 70 of them have been discovered.  It is a struggle against a determined enemy, but we are also determined,” Kibet revealed.

    The spokesperson for the government of Somalia capital Mogadishu, Abdulfatir Oman Halare said the government is optimistic the indirect elections will be successful. “We are ready to hold the indirect elections not only in Mogadishu but also all over the country. The process has been on for a long time and nothing has happened to stop it, the Somali people hate Al-shabab and they have been giving us information about them, we have been arresting them and diminishing their ranks,” he said.

  • U.S. election: Campaigns, normal activities ongoing with no security deployment

    U.S. election: Campaigns, normal activities ongoing with no security deployment

    U.S. witnessed normal government and commercial activities on Tuesday in the ongoing historic election with no security personnel deployed to polling stations.

    A correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in the U.S. reports that government offices, commercial banks, schools and other activities remained open with no restriction of movements.

    Working class individuals were also seen coming early to the polls to cast their votes before going to their offices.

    Elections officials told NAN that security personnel are not deployed to polling stations as violence are not usually anticipated.

    They, however, said that security personnel could be called should there be any hitch to the poll at any of the centres.

    NAN also reports that campaigns were ongoing at the polling centres with supporters of candidates publicly soliciting for votes.

    NAN, however, reports that guns could be carried into some polling centres like churches and other public places except schools, according to officials.

    The laws of some states in the U.S. permit carrying of guns except in mostly northeastern states.

    A commissioner at the Department of Elections, State of Virginia, Mr Edgardo Cortes, said that law enforcement officials are prohibited from being deployed to polling centres.

    “Law enforcement agents are not deployed to polling centres. They are not deployed to protect ballots; it is prohibited.

    “Law enforcement agents are only on calls to respond if there are disturbances, but we ask them not to set up speed stops or checks that could deter people from accessing voting places.

    “Holidays are also not declared,” he told NAN.

    He also said that campaigns are allowed at the polling centres within certain perimeters.

    “Campaigns are allowed outside 40 feet of the polling centres. There is no law banning campaigns on election day.

    “There is going to be campaigns going on as the voting is going on,” he said.

    At all the polling stations visited by NAN, no security official was sighted.

    Ms Joyce Gunderlach, Chief Election at Kiln Greek precinct in Newport News, said that the centre did not require any law enforcement official as no incidences of violence had been recorded there in history.

    Similarly, Mrs Linda O’Dell, Election, Chief Election Officer at Old Courthouse Way Community Centre, said she could call the police if their services are required but expressed confidence that such would not be necessary.

    Results from the elections are expected to be declared tonight while the president-elect would also be announced by major media networks later on Tuesday. (NAN)

  • Nigeria, Benin Republic ties exemplary – Buhari

    Nigeria, Benin Republic ties exemplary – Buhari

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday described the security and economic cooperation between Nigeria and Benin as very beneficial to both countries.

    He said the ties should serve as a model for other countries.

    The President spoke while receiving the outgoing Ambassador of Benin to Nigeria, Mr Mouftaou Laleye, at the State House, Abuja.

    According to a statement by the Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President promised to improve the historic relations between both countries on other key strategic areas for the benefit of their citizens.

    He said he was very pleased with people-to-people integration between Nigeria and Benin, adding that his administration will continue to pursue and promote friendly relations with neighbouring countries.

    He said: “I don’t take neighbourliness lightly, to promote mutual interests, both strategic and tactical; you have no option but to cultivate good relations with your neighbours.
    “Our countries and our two peoples have no alternative but to remain close,” the President said.

    He commended the outgoing ambassador for working hard to improve relations between the two countries in the past eight years, describing his long period of service in Nigeria as a mark of the confidence reposed on him by his country’s leaders.

    Ambassador Laleye said that he succeeded in his mission in Nigeria because of the strong support he got from Nigeria’s past and present leaders.

    He commended President Buhari for stabilizing relations between Nigeria and Benin, a relationship he described as brotherly.

  • NCC mulls cyber security response team

    NCC mulls cyber security response team

    The Executive Vice Chairman/CEO, Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC), Prof Umar Dambatta yesterday, said the regulator has concluded plans to establish a Cyber Security Incidence Response Team (CSIRT) exclusively for the telecoms sector.

    Represented by the Director, Public Affairs at the NCC, Tony Ojobo, during the National Cyber Security Awareness Month organised  by the American Embassy in Lagos, he said the establishment of the response platform was necessitated by the reality that all the communications infrastructure in the country are in the hands of the private sector.

    He said when the CSIRT is established, it will facilitate intervention, swift identification of threats/vulnerabilities and sharing of valuable information and resources to assist in fortifying the resilience of the national cybersecurity infrastructure.