Yobe State governor Ibrahim Gaidam has threatened to expose those behind ghost workers in the state.
The governor who spoke at the swearing in ceremony of members of the Judicial Service Commission in the state on Thursday lamented the level at which the local government was been short-changed by top government officials and senior citizens of the state.
Governor Gaidam said that he has the names top level government officials who have put their wives and children illegally on the local government payment vouchers and are collecting the salaries and called on them to remove those fake names with immediate effect.
“I am aware of some top government officials in the state that are involved in this kind of mess. Some of them have put the names of their wives and children on payment voucher. My advice for them is to remove those names before it’s too late or else will expose them by publicly announcing their names,” Gaidam threatened.
The governor also hinted on the possibility of handing over the culprits to law enforcement agencies for prosecution should they continue in their business, while admitting that the damage started a long time ago.
” The damages has been done over a long period of time. It has been over a period of 10 to 15 years. The situation has been that bad since we came in in 1991. But we say we must start somewhere to correct the damages but if we are able to get those people who committed the offence, we are definitely going to hand them over to the police or the appropriate security operatives.
“The warning is that when some of them are prosecuted and sent to prison, others will learn from them. I think that is the kind of warning they want now. They should learn from the experience of what will happen to this people now,” he said.
The governor was also optimistic that much money would be saved at the end of the exercise with a projection of over N2billion annually.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) has won the Damaturu/Tarmuwa/Gujba/Gulani federal constituency by-election in Yobe.
Prof. Sunday Alao,Returning Officer of the election on Saturday in Damaturu declared APC candidate, Hon Abdullahi Kukuwa as the winner.
Kukuwa scored 23,745 votes to be declared as winner against Hon Nasiru Hassan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 6,990 votes to emerge second.
Adamu Dina of the Advance Congress for Democracy (ACD) scored 163 votes while Jibrin Ladan of the National Conscience Party (NCP) scored 139 votes.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the election was conducted on Saturday to replace Hon. Khadija Bukar, who was appointed minister in the federal cabinet.
Mr Zannah Ibrahim, Yobe Commissioner of Police said there was no violence recorded in any of the four participating Local Government areas.
NAN reports that Yobe would head for another by- election following the return of Abdullahi Kukuwa who currently represents Gulani constituency in the state assembly as winner of the just concluded by-election. (NAN)
The bye election held in Yobe State on Saturday had more displaced people coming to votes than residents of Damaturu the state capital.
Our correspondent who went round the metropolis saw a multitude of intending voters at both Government Day Secondary School and Phase I, two designated voting centres for the IDPs from Gujba Local Government.
The situation was however a contrast across other centres meant for residents of Damaturu as many people were not keen to vote in the election.
As at noon, many polling units in the town have recorded less than fifty votes in their polling units. At Ajari I, II & III, the presiding officers informed that only 15, 24, and 19 people were accredited and voted.
The National Assembly seat for Gujba, Gulani, Damaturu and Tarmuwa Federal Constituency was left vacant by the minister of state foreign affairs Hon. Khadija Bukar Ibrahim.
Meanwhile, the election was held amidst tight security with streets of Damaturu and other affected council areas deserted. Businesses were also shut down in the four local council area to allow security operatives ensure a hitch free election.
Elections officers arrived polling stations in good time as accreditation and election commenced on schedule.
Khadija Bukar Ibrahim while casting her votes at the Emir of Damaturu polling station commended INEC and electoral officers for the conduct of the exercise.
She also praised the conduct of the electorate who she said conducted themselves in orderly manner.
The National secretary of the All Progressives Party, Mai Malla Buni, Senator Bukar Abba Ibrahim and Hon. Bukar Goni were all in the state to cast their votes.
More than 600 households comprising of over 3600 people earlier displaced by the Boko Haram crisis in a Yobe State have returned to their liberated Communities.
Yobe State has over 300,000 IDPs scattered across the state, including about 28,000 living in IDPs camps.
Our correspondent who visited some of the liberated towns observed that life has picked up in Katarko and Gujba communities hitherto taken over by Boko Haram.
With the return of the IDPs, Yobe State Government through the Resettlement Committee has embarked on the provision of food relief materials and the restoration of basic amenities like water and food with two sub-committees putting the issues in the frontline.
The sub-committee on the restoration of water to the liberated communities headed by the General Manager of the State Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Bukar Lawan has so far resuscitated three boreholes in the two communities of Kartarko and Gujba with additional ones coming on stream in Buni Yadi, Buni Gari, Gotala, Gotomba etc.
In the same vein, the sub-committee on distribution of relief materials headed by the Hon. Commissioner for Home Affairs Information and Culture Aji Yerima Bularafa over the weekend took four truck load of assorted food and none food relief materials to the returnees of the two communities.
The food items distributed include; rice, beans, millet, maize, noddles and vegetable oil while the non food items were; blankets, mats and bathing soap.
The items were handed over to the Village Heads of the two communities by Aji Bularafa charge them to ensure that every returning IDP gets a share from the materials.
He assured them of the commitment of the Yobe State Government to continue to provide succor to them as they pick up the pieces of their lives.
In his remarks, the Chairman of Gujba Local Government Kyari Batrama expressed happiness that his people have started returning to their ancestral communities to re-start their normal lives.
He called on the Federal Government to assist Yobe state in bringing back some of the essential amenities like the health facilities, schools, electricity and water that were destroyed by the Boko Haram insurgents.
The Executive Secretary of Yobe State Emergency Management Agency Musa Idi Jidawa called on donor agencies and spirited Individuals to partner with SEMA in order to bring succor to the distraught IDPs returning back to their communities.
According to him, “the job must be seen done to the finish”, adding that: “The donors, NGOs and our partners have worked tirelessly to keep these people afloat throughout the difficult times they were displaced. It is therefore important to point out that this last stage of resettlement is very crucial I the life of these people and so the job must be seen done to the finish.”
The Station Manager of Forte Oil former African Petrol (AP) in Damaturu, Yobe State capital was on Saturday night beaten up by unidentified soldiers for refusing to sell fuel to them in jerry cans.
The Manager, Auwulu Hassan who is now on admission with injuries at Gen. Sani Abatcha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu told journalists who visited him at the hospital that he was beaten in front of the Divisional Police Officer of ‘A’ Division where he ran to when the soldiers descended on him in front of his filling station.
“I was about leaving the station when some soldiers approached me that they are coming from Brutai and going to Maiduguri so I should get them fuel. I told them we have close but I can get them 30ltrs that will take them to Maiduguri, but they said no, they want the fuel in jerry cans. Then I told them I can’t give them in jerry cans and urged them to accept the 30 liters that would help them to get to Maiduguri.
“While we were arguing over this, one of them called one among them to go and bring the jerry cans. Within that time, I found a way of escaping from their sight because I noticed they were not ready to listen to me.
“I went and did my evening prayers, came back and sat opposite the filling station then I saw five soldiers coming towards me. Before I could say anything, they started beating me up and everybody there were surprised. One of the people wanted to call with his phone and they collected the phone and started beating him.
“It was at that point that I ran to ‘A’ Division Police Station. They followed me to the Police Station and in front of the DPO they were still beating me,” Auwulu narrated.
The Independent Marketers in the state through their Chairman Alhaji Audu Girgiri have vowed not to open their fuel stations or receive any supply if the soldiers are not apprehended.
Alhaji Girigiri who spoke with reporters at the Amenity ward of General Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital where he went to sympathize with his member, described the action of the soldiers as “primitive and uncivilized”.
“We cannot condone this kind of treatment on our members. If the military authority does not take action to punish those soldiers within the next 48 hours, all fuel stations in Damaturu and the entire Yobe will be close,” Alhaji Girigiri warned.
The Chairman also expressed reservation over the performance of the petroleum taskforce in the state describing it as a failure.
“I think the Petrol TaskForce in the state is a failure because it has created more problems to the common people than solution. It is this task force that is causing scarcity and hardship for people in Damaturu presently unlike before when fuel us to be available,” he explained.
The spokesman of 3 Div (Tactical Headquaters) Damaturu Col. Ogunsanya in a text message said that he was not aware of the matter.
The beaten station manager later Sunday evening said some high ranking military officers have visited him at the hospital to apologize on behalf of the soldiers and promised to fish them out for appropriate punishment.
The National Youth Service Corps will re-open orientation camps in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states before the end of 2016, the Director-General (DG), Brig.-Gen. Johnson Olawumi, has said.
Olawumi told newsmen on Thursday in Katsina that the decision followed the successes recorded in the fight against insurgency in the north eastern part of the country.
‘’Since the insurgency has been reduced drastically, we are resuming orientation in Gombe state beginning with this batch ‘A’ of 2016.
‘’Adamawa state will resume with the next batch, while Borno and Yobe orientation camps will be re-opened before the end of the year,’’ he said.
Olawumi said that the states had some of the best facilities for orientation in the country, but had to be closed down due to insecurity.
He advised corps members to discharge their duties at their places of primary assignment diligently.
The DG called on state governments to ensure prompt payment of allowances to corps members to boost their morale for effective service delivery.
Yobe State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) on Saturday organised a circumcision ceremony for boys aged from five years to 10 years at Pompomari Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in Damaturu.
The Executive Secretary of SEMA, Alhaji Musa Jidawa, said 60 boys were circumcised according to the tradition and custom of the people.
“Circumcision of boys as we all know is the first initiation (rite) of the boy to manhood which is his right and we have just given them this right today,” Musa said.
The secretary said some of the boys lost their parents to Boko Haram attacks on their villages, while others were with their parents in the camp.
“The agency provided each of the circumcised boys with a blanket, a set of new clothes and a chicken as is done traditionally.
“We have made adequate medical arrangements at the camp clinic to provide them with medical treatment and needs for speedy healing.
“The agency in conjunction with the community leaders and parents agreed to circumcise them at this period of cold season because it heals faster,” Musa said.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the displaced persons put behind their pains and celebrated the event with fanfare.
The parents expressed appreciation for the circumcision of the chidden and said that it had given them a sense of belonging.
Bulama Muhammadu, a community leader, said SEMA had always made the displaced persons feel at home.
“Since we were admitted into this camp, SEMA has been very supportive, it has been further proved today that SEMA is making us feel at home away from home,’’ he said.
Hauwa Goniri, a widow whose two children were circumcised, said SEMA took over the responsibility of her late husband, which was transferred to her after his death.
Goniri said that they were highly grateful for the important event in the lives of the children.
Setting up a Quran research centre, the Yobe State University aims to boost knowledge in Islam as well as restore interest in the Holy Book for which the old Borno Empire was well known. DUKU JOEL reports
If some of Yobe State’s old fame in Quran education returns, its Muslim faithful will have their state government and university to thank for it. In the old days when Kanem Borno Empire covered today’s Yobe and Borno states the whole of Africa respected the empire for its depth in Islamic studies, complete with Quran recitations and commentaries. A lot of that has been whittled down over the years but the Yobe State University, with help from the state government, is set to recover what was lost.
The state institution has established the Centre for Research in Quranic Studies in order to develop a Quranic education system that will suit modern development and technological advancement in the region, the country and the Islamic world in general.
•Participants at the workshop
The centre, according to the Vice Chancellor of Yobe State University Prof. Musa Alabe, would also serve as a counter-insurgency measure to the Boko Haram crisis in the region and the immediate university community.
“There are many dimensions to solving problems of Boko Haram and the other sides of insurgency. You can use money to say you want to remove the people from poverty which is one of the problems driving the insurgency. But one of the fundamental factors driving the Boko Haram is the ability to be able to know the Quran and apply it as it’s supposed to be. We have a large group of people who have memorised this Quran but do not know how to apply it.
“So what the centre intends to do is to bring these people together, teach them this Quran and make them useful members of the society by integrating them, by certificating them and allowing them to participate in the growth of the society,” Prof Alabe informed.
Speaking on the prospects of the centre and how many people are expected for the take-off, the Vice Chancellor said, “At the beginning we hope to start small with 50 or 60 but with time, and gradually we hope to blow into hundreds and hundreds of thousands because we hope it would enrich our coverage to cover the entire northern states and Nigeria at large. But at the beginning, we have to start with a small number to be able to manage it and also study the challenges and prospects of the general outlook and develop a system that can sustain this noble ambition that we have.
“We are really lucky the Director of Kano Centre, a sister centre, is a friend and a brother so that gives us that leverage to draw strategies from them and they have willingly agreed to partner and cooperate with us for the growth of the two centres. Suffice to say that with this kind of support, we are starting on a good footing and in the near future, we would be able to overcome the lack of understanding and the application of the Quran within the large population of Yobe and Borno states.
The problem of apathy by some of the scholars towards western education and modernity, according to the Vice Chancellor, has been taken care off by bringing on board some of such people as members of the decision making bodies of the centre.
He explained, ”We want to integrate the university and the town and one of the strategies is to bring them as board members and players in the field as decision makers. We will blend them and take decisions together with them so I don’t think the apathy will be there any longer.”
As part of measures by the Centre to announce her arrival to the community, the Centre organised a one day workshop which has the theme, ‘Towards Establishing Sustainable and Developed Quranic Education System in Yobe State’ with participants drawn from across Tsangayas schools across the state who converged at the Ibrahim Gaidam Multi-Purpose Hall of the Yobe State University, Damaturu.
The Director of the Centre Prof. Moussa Oumar Keita explained that organising the workshop is one of the ways of exposing the centre to the host community and to also unveil its objectives.
Prof. Keita noted that apart from the Centre raising the standard of Tsangaya schools in the state; it will also build a solid Quranic Data base for research and documentation in the institution that will become a global reference.
The Director, Centre for Quranic Studies, Bayero University, Kano, Prof. Ibrahim Mohammad called on the Yobe community to take advantage of the opportunities the centre offers in order to be integrated into the modern society. He regretted that Yobe and Borno states which made up the Kanem Borno Empire and a symbol of Islamic civilisation has now been turned into a theater of war due to the Boko Haram insurgents.
Well, the new centre will be hoping to reverse and restore the region to its old glory.
The Army in Damaturu, Yobe State has explained that the decision to close all weekly market activities across the state has led to blocking of logistics supply to Boko Haram terrorists in the bush and the arrest of some of their major logistics suppliers.
The commander of 27 Task Force Brigade, Col. Dahiru Bako in Yobe State at a press briefing in Damaturu noted that serious progress has been recorded in the on-going operation against the insurgents.
Col. Bako explained that “the massive onslaught has made the insurgents to be on the run everywhere. That is one area that we require the cooperation of the general public.
“The insurgents are on the run and are now filtering into the communities. This is a very serious issue and we are appealing to the communities and the general public to without delay report such criminal elements and not harbor them so that they would be picked up,” Col. Bako explained
“On the issue of the closure of Sunday Market in Damaturu and other weekly markets across the state, the Commander said; the issue of the closure of the markets is very crucial because, it has helped us in blocking logistics supplies to the terrorists in the bushes. It has also helped us in picking up most of their logistics suppliers.
“We are appealing to the people to understand that we are not doing this to punish anybody but it is for the safety of everyone. But I must add that the military has only stopped the operations of weekly markets across the state where people normally converge in large numbers,” Col. Bako said.
In another development, Col. Dahiru Bako also informed that three of the top wanted Boko Haram members have been arrested by men of the 27 Task Brigade in Yobe State.
Though he did not state details of their arrest apart from locations, he however informed that one of the wanted kingpins was picked while he was pretending to be working as a tailor at Don Etiebet Housing Estate in Damaturu while the other one was picked in Jakusko in Jakusko Local Government of Yobe State. He added that the third wanted Boko Haram terrorist was arrested at a checkpoint on his entry into Damaturu from Maiduguri.
He commended the local hunters and vigilante, describing them as crucial partners to the success of the operation.
He also represented the poster of the 100 wanted Boko Haram terrorists to the public.
