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Tag: Zamfara

  • Police confirms fresh attacks on Zamfara communities

    Police confirms fresh attacks on Zamfara communities

    The Police Command in Zamfara has confirmed fresh attacks by arm bandits on some communities in Shinkafi and Maradun Local Government Areas of the state.

    The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) for the command, DSP Muhammad Shehu, made the confirmation to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gusau on Sunday.

    Shehu said the attackers had on Nov. 16 and Nov.17 Nov invaded Gidan maidawa, Wari and Tungar baure, Mallamawa villages in Shinkafi and Maradun Local Government Areas, killing many people.

    He said the command was still gathering data of the victims of the attack, from the affected communities.

    The police image maker promised that the command would disclosed to the public accurate figure of the deceased and injured persons, after the exercise.

    “So far in the record we have, three people were killed in Maradun Local Government Area, we are still compiling comprehensive figures of the victims from other villages attacked and make them available to the pubic later,” he said.

    He said command had deployed its personnel to the affected areas, in collaboration with other security agencies.

    ‘’So based on the report we have now, peace has been restored in the area”.

    Shehu urged members of the public in the state to continue to support the police and other security agencies with vital information from that could lead to the arrest of criminals.  (NAN)

  • Customs intercepts 365 bags of smuggled rice in Sokoto

    Customs intercepts 365 bags of smuggled rice in Sokoto

    Mr Nasiru Ahmad, the Controller of Nigerian Customs Service ( NCS ) in Sokoto /Kebbi/Zamfara Area Command, said the command had intercepted two trucks with 365 bags of foreign rice.

    Ahmad, represented by the command’s Spokesman, Mr Magaji Mailafiya, said on Thursday that the seizures were made last week Thursday and Friday along Illela-Sokoto road.

    Ahmad said the seized trucks belonged to Dangote Group, while the duty paid value of the 50kg bags of rice was N8.7 million.

    He said the foreign rice were among the items prohibited from entering the country through land boarders, adding that the action contravened Federal Government’s fiscal policy on rice importation

    He said that the contraband rice were arrested as a result of the vigilance of his men on border patrol.

    “The contraband has a Duty Paid Value of N8, 748,320 and the two suspected importers along with the contraband items were arrested.

    “They are in our custody and will soon be prosecuted accordingly,” Ahmad said.

    He urged Nigerians to complement government’s efforts on rice cultivation and other agriculture development programmes by establishing processing industries  geared toward viable economic development in the country.

    He enjoined individuals, traditional and community leaders as well as groups to assist government to achieve “smuggle-free” society.

    Ahmad described smuggling as “cripplers of nation economy which deterred employments, revenue and nation’s security progress”.

    NAN

  • Army confirms ambush on soldiers in Zamfara

    The Army yesterday confirmed an ambush by suspected bandits on its anti-terrorism team on Friday, near Maru Local Government of Zamfara State.

    Army spokesman Brig-Gen. Sani Usman confirmed this to reporters on the phone.

    He said none of the soldiers was killed during the attack.

    Usman said army headquarters was still gathering intelligence on the development.

    Bandits have continued to terrorise people in the state, especially in rural communities, but troops have made their criminal operations uncomfortable.

    A source at the 223 Light Tank Battalion, Gusau, told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that one soldier was injured and two vehicles burnt by the hoodlums.

    The source said many hoodlums were killed, while some escaped with bullet wounds.

    “Soldiers are on top of the situation,” the source said.

     

  • Army confirms ambush on soldiers in Zamfara

    Army confirms ambush on soldiers in Zamfara

    Nigerian Army on Sunday confirmed an ambush by suspected bandits against its anti terrorism team on Friday around Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara.

    Its Spokesman, Brig-Gen. Usman Kukasheka, made the confirmation on telephone.

    He, however, said none of the soldiers was killed during the attack.

    Kukasheka also said the army headquarters was still gathering intelligence on the unfortunate development.

    Bandits had continued to terrorise innocent citizens in the state, especially in rural communities but the troops made their criminal operations uncomfortable.

    A source at the 223 Light Tank Battalion of the Nigerian Army, Gusau, said that one soldier was wounded and two operational vehicles were burnt by the hoodlums.

    The source also said a number of the hoodlums were killed by soldiers, while some escaped with bullet wounds.

    “Soldiers are on top of the situation,’’ the source insisted.

    NAN

  • Zamfara has spent over N57bn on Federal roads – Nalado

    Zamfara has spent over N57bn on Federal roads – Nalado

    The Zamfara Government on Thursday said it had spent N57.3 billion on the reconstruction of 600 Kilometers of roads belonging to the Federal Government in the state.

    The state Commissioner for Works, Alhaji Mu’azu Nalado, told newsmen in Gusau shortly after the Senate Committee on Works, led by Sen. Kabiru Gaya, visited the state for an oversight function.

    Nalado said that the committee during the visit inspected some of the roads reconstructed by the Zamfara state government.

    He said the state government had already submitted the reports containing all the names, locations and total length of the roads and money spent on each.

    According to the commissioner, there are still areas of contention over the ownership of some of the roads reconstructed by the state.

    He told the committee that the Federal Ministry of Works had indicated that any road not gazetted and without route number would not be considered as federal government road.

    “But we at the state government level have considered all the reconstructed roads as federal government roads because they are all federal government roads.

    “We have already presented this issue to the senate committee and they promised to look into the matter and resolve it amicably,’’ the commissioner said.

    Nalado said the state government had also spent about N200 million for emergency repairs of washed away sections of Gusau-Sokoto and Kaura-Shinkafi-Sabonbirni Highways owned by the federal government.

    He said the state government had spent N20 billion for the construction of various state owned roads, saying some were completed while others were ongoing.

    “When the present administration in the state under the leadership of Alhaji Abdul’aziz Yari came into power in 2011, almost all the roads in the state both federal and state government owned were dilapidated.

    “Therefore, we have no option than to embark on road construction to address one of the major problems affecting our people,” he said.

    The commissioner listed the reconstructed federal roads as Sokoto-border-Dakitakwas-Kebbi border, Dakitakwas-Mayanchi junction, Gusau-Kasuwar Daji and Kauran Namoda-Gidan Jaja roads.

    He said that the other road was the Wanke-Keta-Danjibga- Bilbis-Kucheri, inaugurated by President Muhammad Buhari in 2016.

    “We also have Talata-Mafara-Rini-Faru-Jambako-Gora-Boko-Lambar Book road which was completed in 2013 and also inaugurated by President Muhammad Buhari when he was a presidential candidate.”

    NAN

  • Restructuring needs constitutional amendment- Dogara

    Restructuring needs constitutional amendment- Dogara

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives Yakubu Dogara on Wednesday night said that any meaningful restructuring in the country will still require amendment of the 1999 constitution.

    He made the remark while speaking to State House correspondences after briefing the Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) led by Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz Yari.

    On what he discussed with the Governors, he said “I was asked to see them so that we can talk about some of these constitutional alterations in the National Assembly so l came to meet them so that we can talk on most of the Bills we are considering.

    “Even though l am the Speaker, l can tell you that l can only speak where majority of our members have agreed upon. So it is a bit early for me to conclude. But this is a democracy and in a democracy, the majority matters.

    “We are aware of the ongoing agitations in the country. Some are calling for restructuring while some call it true Federalism. This is an an issue on the manifestos of the APC. It is our feeling as a very responsive and responsible representatives of the people to ensure that this debate is done.

    “And I agree like l said before that the position of the President that most of this matters and issues should be canvassed at the levels of the National Assembly.

    “This is because some of the structural imbalances that we are talking about that need what they call restructuring cannot be corrected just by a stroke of the pen. Some of them are actually embedded in the provisions of the constitution.

    “Even by pedestrians description of the function of government, the Executive cannot make laws, they cannot amend the constitution. They can only initiate the process in an Executive bill, but it ultimately revolves within the powers of the legislature.

    “So, even the committee that is set up by the APC leadership on true federalism, by the time they conclude their work, most of the issues they come out with will require a kind of tinkering of the constitution.

    “So, our feeling is that we should not just close the windows to the yearnings of majority of our people. We should listen again to all the stakeholders, listen more to Nigerians and at the end of the day, we will come up with an exercise that meets the expectations and yearnings of our peoples.

    “We will not just amend the constitution for the sake of amending. We will want the exercise to be very impactful. The only way we can get that done is to listen and listen and listen more.” he said

    Yari, at the end of the meeting, said that the forum met with Dogara, towards facilitating amendment of the 1999 Constitution.

    The forum had few weeks back received briefings from the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu over the proposed amendment.

    Yari said: “As a follow up to the briefing by Mr. Deputy Senate President, Mr. Speaker briefed us on the version of the House of Representatives on the constitutional amendment which very soon they will soon harmonise.

    “As critical stakeholders, they visited us and gave us their input on the other critical areas that are not touched like the area of restructuring, devolution of power etc. all those are going to be looked into and considered for the betterment of our country.”

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    The governor also disclosed that the forum received briefing on how to tackle cash crunch in their states through issuance of bonds.

    “We also received briefing from the Stock Exchange on how to address the issue of cash crunch on the nation. They spoke to us on the need to raise bond. Globally is the borrowing from outside that you use to for infrastructure not the borrowing from within.

    “So the stock exchange has given us opportunity for some states that are ready to go into the stock exchange to raise bond to finance some projects.

    “Because what is tied to the bonds is our income and our income is shrinking. Through the bonds we can finance projects that will impact on the water supply and sanitation etc.

    “We are putting a committee in place made up of the members of the stock exchange as well as from the NGF secretariat to work together on that.” he said

    He also debunked the media reports claiming that President Muhammadu Buhari was not happy with governors over salaries arrears.

    He said “We briefed the members about our meeting with Mr president yesterday, which I’m surprised some of you turned it upside down. You got the full briefing from me and then some of your people went and said they got from inside, I don’t know which inside that the president is not happy with the governors. It is very unfortunate.

    “We had a very fruitful meeting with Mr. President and Mr. President accepted all our requests. The only thing Mr. President said that he was not a technical person, and that we should wait for the minister of finance to return, and the chairman of the economic council to be around so that they can give him update and support on what he is going to say to us.

    “So he said we should reschedule this meeting until when he returns from Turkey. I think this is what I told the press yesterday but I wonder how they turn it around. Please we have to be serious with our job, this is Nigeria we are working for, we are working for our country, working for our people so we shouldn’t misinform the public and should be guided with the things discussed.”

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  • Reps want FRSC officers to bear arms

    Reps want FRSC officers to bear arms

    THE House of Representatives said yesterday that officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission ( FRSC ) should bear arms in a bid to effectively carry out their responsibilities of saving lives.

    The Green Chamber noted the increasing cases of violent attacks, harassment and intimidation of personnel and officers of the FRSC by highly placed individuals, motorists and hoodlums across the country, particularly in Zamfara, Jigawa, Abia and Lagos states.

    The members noted that from 2015 to date, there have been 149 cases of attacks on personnel and 201 cases of damage to properties and equipment of the commission.

    They, therefore, urged the Federal Government to facilitate the procurement of arms and ammunitions for FRSC officers.

    The resolution of the House was sequel to the passage of a motion by Hon. Solomon Maren titled: “Need to Curb Incessant Attacks on Personnel of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC)”.

    Maren while moving the motion noted that despite Section 19 of the FRSC (Establishment) Act, 2007, which stipulates that personnel of the commission who are exposed to high risk in the enforcement of the provisions of this Act, shall have same powers, authorities and privileges, including power to bear arms, as are granted by law to members of the Nigeria Police Force, the Federal Government has not provided road safety officers with arms to enable them protect themselves in the course of performing their duties.

    When he Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara called for a vote on the motion, it was passed without dissent.

    The House subsequently mandated the Committee on Federal Road Safety Commission to investigate cases of attacks on personnel of the FRSC and also ensure implementation of the resolution to arm the officials.

    The committee is to report back within four weeks for further legislative action.

  • Senate summons Fayemi over Zamfara lead poisoning

    Senate summons Fayemi over Zamfara lead poisoning

    The Senate on Tuesday, summoned the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Kayode Fayemi, to appear before it and brief on the ministry’s mining roadmap and implementation framework.

    The minister is also expected to brief the upper chamber on how the ministry intended to ensure protection of the residents of mining host communities against lead poisoning and other hazards.

    This followed the resolution of the Senate sequel to a motion by Sen. Oluremi Tinubu (APC-Lagos) and four other senators.

    The motion is on the “Update on Lead Poisoning in Zamfara and the need to prevent further propagation of the resources theory”.

    She said that the senate received with great distress, updates on lead poisoning which occurred in 36 villages and communities in Zamfara.

    “It was observed that besides Zamfara, mining host communities in states like Kogi, Niger and others have also been affected by the negative effects of mining practices.

    While noting that Nigeria did not qualify as a mining state, she said that the 2016 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) breakdown showed the mining sector’s contribution to the nation’s GDP as abysmal.

    “It revealed that the nation’s mining sector is almost redundant, that the Minister of Solid Minerals, Dr Fayemi, is working to resuscitate the sector, and that the ministry has approved a mining roadmap.”

    In his contribution, Sen. Magnus Abe (APC-Rivers) urged the senate to make use of the opportunity to address the situation before what happened in the Niger Delta repeated itself.

    “This is how the situation in the Niger Delta started and the communities paid for it, because there are no laws in the country governing mining of minerals.

    “The institutions are weak and ineffective and sometimes, we have the institutions running over themselves doing the same thing and the communities suffering for it.

    “We have to use this opportunity to set it right before it gets out of hand and before we have another Niger Delta situation in this country,” Abe said.

    In his remarks, the Deputy President of the Senate, Mr Ike Ekweremadu, who presided at plenary, said that the senate must pursue its mandate by putting things right.

    “We are aware that a lot of illegal mining is going on and we must set things right,” he said.

    After the debate, the lawmakers mandated its Committee on Environment and Solid Minerals to visit the affected communities to ascertain the level of damage done and report back.

    The senate further directed committee to investigate the activities of the Ministry of Environment as it affected the mining sector.

    The upper chamber equally urged the minister to ensure adoption of safer mining methods by mining concerns.

    NAN

  • Governors demand payment of Paris club refund balance

    Governors demand payment of Paris club refund balance

    Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF), led by its Chairman and Zamfara State Governor, Abdulaziz  Yari, on Tuesday  urged President Muhammadu Buhari to release the balance of their Paris exit refund balance in order to  capture it in their respective 2018 appropriation bills.

    A delegation of the 36 state governors were represented by one governor each from the geo-political zones.

    In the delegation are governors of Akwa-Ibom state Emmanuel Udom (S/south); Kwara, Abdulfatah Ahmed (N/Central); Rotimi Akeredolu (S/West); Kebbi, Atiku Bagudu (N/West); Bauchi, Mohammed Abubakar (N/East) and Ebonyi Deputy governor, Kelechi Igwe, who stood in for the S/East.

    On their mission to the President, Yari said “We are here on behalf of the 36 states governors and this is a result of the  collective decision to see the President after the National Economic Council meeting last month.

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    “We are here to thank Mr President for his concerns about the state economy and situation by giving us several support ranging from bail out,restructuring our debt, London- paris club exit payment. We also told  him that we think that  it was because of his  decision he has  taken, in which many Nigerians are accusing him, this is the reason why we got out of recession. You know that the 200 million citizens residing in Nigeria are residing in respective  states.

    “These support is going down to them, when you are taking the indices from the grassroots. We thanked the president for that and at the same time,as a father,  we said to him ‘Mr President you remember that in 2016, we presented to   you the numbers of London and Paris exit funds which we agreed, and you directed we be paid 50% and 50% open reconciliation.

    “Reconciliation is on since 2016, we are hoping that both DMO, ministry of finance, AGF and our consultants are concluding this reconciliation by November.

    “So therefore we want to crave your indulgence so that we can  factor the numbers in our 2018 budget so that we can use it for projects and other recurrent spending according to the specification given by our respective House of Assemblies and that’s why we are here.

    “Mr President was prompt being that he has a representative in the National Economic Council that is the Vice President and Minister of Finance is away. We are going to work with the numbers  when he returns from his trip. We are going to follow up this meeting with him so that we can conclude  on what is going to be done next,” he stressed.” he said

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  • Buhari, state governors meet in Aso Rock

    Buhari, state governors meet in Aso Rock

    President Muhammadu Buhari is meeting with some state governors inside the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

    The governors who are attending the meeting includes; Zamfara, Ebonyi, Bauchi, Jigawa, Kebbi, Ondo and Kwara States.

    Details later…