Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Monday 23rd August 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 23/08/21
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E2%80%94ascab-tells Ranching: Be Fair To Other States, Approve N6.25Billion For Them Like You Did For Your State—ASCAB Tells Buhari
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The Interim Chair of the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond (ASCAB), Femi Falana (SAN) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to do unto other states in the country what he did for his home state, Katsina, regarding the establishment of ranching.
The group, in a statement by Falana on Sunday, reminded Buhari about a July 16, 2021 newspaper report, which disclosed that the President had approved the “sum of N6.25 billion for the immediate establishment of ranching in Katsina state”.
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It noted that the disclosure was contained in a statement issued by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu in Abuja.
ASCAB said, “In confirming the disclosure, Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State said that ‘Mr President has graciously approved the sum of N6.25 billion for ranch development purposes in Katsina State. Part out of this amount, N5 billion, is already in the account of the state government and within few weeks you will see advertisement calling for interested companies and consultants that will participate in construction.
“The implication of the special allocation of the sum of N6.25 billion to the Katsina State Government is that President Buhari has adopted ranching to replace open grazing in line with the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government. However, since what is good for the goose is good for the gander, we call on the President to approve the allocation of the same sum of N6.25 billion for every other State Government for ranch development purposes. This demand is in consonance with section 17 (1) of the Constitution which stipulates that the people of Nigeria shall have equality of rights, obligations, and opportunities before the law.”
Buhari last Thursday approved the recommendations of a committee to review “with dispatch, 368 grazing sites, across 25 states in the country, and to determine the levels of encroachment.”
Presidential spokesperson, Shehu, confirmed this in a statement in Abuja.
But the move has been criticised by Southern state governors.
The governors in a swift reaction tackled the President over the order to review with dispatch 368 grazing sites in 25 states across the country.
Several southern groups, including Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere; Igbo socio-cultural group, Ohanaeze; and the Pan Niger Delta Forum, have also condemned the move.
The Southern governors and groups have always insisted that herders interested in raising cattle in their region must embrace ranching to curb herders-farmers’ clashes.
The group further noted, “However, since the Northern Governors Forum and the Southern Governors Forum have rejected open grazing and adopted the National Livestock Transformation Plan of the Federal Government including ranching, the Alliance on Surviving Covid-19 and Beyond is compelled to urge President Buhari to jettison the planned implementation of grazing reserves in 25 States. It is time the attention of the Federal Government was drawn to the position of the law to the effect that while the land in the Federal Capital Territory is vested in the President the land in the each State of the Federation is exclusively vested in the Governor pursuant to the provisions of the Land Use Act, Cap. L5, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
“The fact of the matter is that the federal government has no business reviving ‘grazing reserves’ on its own as it doesn’t control land use. Instead of chasing the shadows of grazing reserves, the federal government should support the state governments to develop ranches on their own as it has done in Katsina. There should be a proper articulation and implementation of ranching as a solution to the problems arising from the obsolete agricultural practice of open grazing.”
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PHOTONEWS: Deplorable State Of Government-owned General Hospital Tsafe In Zamfara State Where Patients Are Treated Under Leaky Roofs
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BREAKING: National Hospital Abuja Releases 4-Year-Old Girl Detained Over Unpaid Bill After SaharaReporters’ Story
The National Hospital Abuja has released the four-year-old girl, Success Isiah Aleburu, who was detained by the management of the hospital over the inability of her parents to pay the outstanding medical bill.
Success was released on Sunday alongside her mother around 4:00pm after they were told that the hospital management had offset half of the medical bill and that she was free to go home.
Meanwhile, the parents were asked to sign an undertaking, pledging to pay the balance whenever they have it.
SaharaReporters had reported how Success was admitted to the hospital on July 2, 2021 following second degree burns she suffered on her body when her brother mistakenly pushed her towards a charcoal stove on which was a pot of hot water.
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PUBLIC HEALTH
National Hospital Abuja Detains Four-year-old Girl Over N275,000 Bill
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The accident occurred on Wednesday, June 30, 2021 at the Sabongari area of Bwari Area Council in the Federal Capital Territory.
She was rushed to the Bwari General Hospital but the health workers on duty told the parents they could not handle her condition, so she was referred to Wuse General Hospital.
She was also rejected at Wuse General Hospital due to the severity of her injury.
Success was thereafter admitted to the emergency ward of National Hospital for treatment and taken to the Intensive Care Unit. On August 5, she had skin grafting to remove some bad tissues.
Skin grafting is a surgical procedure that involves the removal of skin from one area of the body and moving it to a different part of the body.
The surgery was carried out to enable her to walk and it was successful.
The parents of the girl were able to pay the sum of N37,000 out of N312,000 medical bill, leaving them with the burden of paying N275,000 balance, which they could not afford.
Following the failure of the parents to offset the bill, the hospital authority detained the little girl and her mother, Grace Isiah at the female and children ward on the third floor of the Trauma Centre in the hospital.
They were not allowed to leave the ward as hospital security guards and nurses diligently monitored their every move to ensure they did not escape.
Speaking to SaharaReporters on Sunday evening, Isaiah Aleburu, father of Success, expressed appreciation to Nigerians for their support and financial donations towards their plight.
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Apostle Suleman Reacts To Allegations Of Sleeping With Nollywood Actress Twice, Paying Her N500,000
Apostle Suleman
The General Overseer of Omega Fire Ministry (OFM), Apostle Johnson Suleman has said he did not watch a video in which Nigerian actress, Chioma Ifemeludike alleged she had s** with the cleric twice and was paid N500,000 for her troubles.
He, therefore, stated that he could not be discouraged by what he did not see.
Apostle Suleman
The preacher said this while telling his congregation that he was not angry at those attacking him on social media.
WATCH: I Slept With @ApostleSuleman Twice and He paid Me N500k For Hookups â??Nollywood Actress, Chioma Ifemeludike Opens Up On ‘Tormenting Experience’ With Pastor At Oriental Hotel In LagosFULL VIDEO: Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) August 21, 2021
Nollywood actress, Chioma Ifemeludike had alleged that she slept with the popular clergyman on two occasions and was paid a sum of N500,000, but the memory has continued to torment her.
Reacting, Apostle Suleman implored his congregation and followers not to send him any encouraging messages again.
“Why are you encouraging a man that is not discouraged? I’m upset since yesterday. I saw messages saying that I should not worry. Read my countenance, when you see me moody you can encourage me.
“Do I look like somebody who needs encouragement? I’m not discouraged at all and I’m not angry at those insulting me on social media,” he said.
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How Apostle Suleman Slept With Me Twice, Gave Me N500,000 – Nollywood Actress, Ifemeludike
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The clergyman said he was focused on his task and the people who insulting him, only did that because of what they read online.
“They are reacting to what they read. They are reacting to what they see and not what they know. You can’t know me and not like me, it’s impossible. Keep doing what you are doing and I’ll keep doing what I’m doing. I must do the work of he that sent me,” Suleman said.
He further added that he intentionally ignored all the videos made against him.
“My wife can bear witness, all the videos done against me, I’ve not watched one. Many of you have watched it but me, the subject matter, I’ve not watched one. What I don’t see cannot affect me.
“Somebody sent me a video from a blog yesterday, that was the last time it was on my phone. I guard my heart so that I can have fellowship with God. Stop all these rumours and gossips. What will not encourage me, I don’t give attention to it,” Suleman said.
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Gunmen Attack Fulani Community To Seek ‘Revenge’ After Killing Of 14 In Southern Kaduna
No fewer than 14 people have been reportedly killed in an attack on Mado village in Atyap Chiefdom of Zangon Kataf Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
It was learnt the fresh attack occurred on Saturday night during which some houses were burnt.
But in a swift reaction, there was an attack on a Fulani settlement and the assailants were said to have stated that they were avenging the death of their people – the 14 people killed in Southern Kaduna.The Chairman, Atyap Chiefdom Peace and Security Partnership Committee, (ACPSPC), Mr John Bala Gora, who spoke to Daily Trust on the development, expressed disappointment that incessant attacks occur despite efforts at restoring peace.
He, therefore, renewed his appeal to security operatives to redouble efforts to secure the “defenceless and peace-loving people of the chiefdom”.
A Fulani settlement in Kankada, Madakiya District in Bajju Chiefdom of Zangon Kataf local government area, was reportedly completely burnt down on Sunday morning in a reprisal.
Halima Haruna, a female resident of the settlement that was razed was rescued and taken to Zonkwa Divisional Police Station.
She narrated how the attackers surrounded their community in the early hours of Sunday.
Also, Haruna, wife of the Ardo of Kankada, said she saw two corpses, man and a woman, on her way to hide.
“We were forced to run and hide somewhere while some of our people ran to the bush for their safety.”
“We don’t know what happened to them; as I am speaking with you now, we spent three hours before the security (operatives) arrived and took us to the Police Station here in Zonkwa. Our houses were totally razed,” she said
She explained that the attackers told them that they wanted revenge for what was done to them on Saturday night in Samaru Kataf.
She said they knew nothing about the said attack.
Four villages in Atyap chiefdom have come under separate attacks with scores killed, many injured and several houses burnt, in the past one week.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Kaduna Command, ASP Muhammed Jalige, who confirmed the incidents noted that policemen have been deployed in the attacked community.
He, however, urged the people of Southern Kaduna and Zangon Kataf in particular to stop taking the law into their hands.
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E2%80%93-masari Nigerian Governors Toothless Chief Security Officers Of Their States – Masari
Aminu Masari
The governor of Katsina, Aminu Masari, has described state governors as powerless chief security officers of their states because security is the responsibility of the Nigerian government as stated by the 1999 Constitution.
A statement by the governor’s Director General on Media, Abdul Labaran, on Sunday insisted that state governors are only chief security officers by name.
Aminu Masari
“In matters of security, a governor is the Chief Security Officer of his state only in name, because the various security chiefs working in the state take orders not from him, but from their superiors in Abuja.
“The only things they take from governors are the financial and material assistance (both solicited and unsolicited), which they extend to the security institutions in the states,” he said.
Masari also described as uncalled for the call for his resignation by some people and groups, including the state chapter of the Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) because he asked residents to arm themselves against bandits.
According to him, the call “betrays a sheer lack of the understanding of the letter and spirit as well as the workings of the Nigerian Constitution.”
“We must all rise up to counter the insecurity challenge, we must not sit and watch some people buying guns attacking our houses, we too should buy the guns and protect ourselves,” Masari had said.
He had earlier described terrorised residents of the state as cowards for expecting the government to protect them against bandits.
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IPOB Alleges Plot By Nigeria Police, Others To Attack South-East Residents On Monday
The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that security agencies are planning to attack residents of the South-East region on Monday.
In a statement by its spokesperson, Emma Powerful, obtained by SaharaReporters on Sunday, the group also alleged that security agents would also blame the assault on IPOB members and its militia wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN).
IPOB had on Monday, August 9 ordered South-East residents to ‘sit at home’ every Monday but by the following Monday, it announced that its detained leader, Nnamdi Kanu directed that the sit-at-home order should be observed only the day he appears in court.
However, as the separatist group reminded the people of the region to go about their businesses on Monday, it also warned security operatives that it would not tolerate assault on its members and well-wishers.
The statement reads, “The intelligence unit of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, has uncovered secret plots by the Nigeria security agencies, most especially the Department of State Services, DSS; and the police to disguise as IPOB and ESN operatives to attack traders who come out tomorrow for their legitimate business.
“We, therefore want to put the world, especially residents of Biafra land that (sic) IPOB has since two weeks ago suspended its initial declaration of Monday sit-at-home order. It, therefore, makes no sense that we will at the same time be enforcing the suspended order.
“IPOB restates that there is no longer Ghost Mondays in Biafra land in solidarity with our detained leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. Sit-at-home will only be observed on the days our leader will be making appearances in court. Such days will be well publicised ahead of time.
“Everybody is hereby placed on alert about this wicked plot. IPOB will not tolerate any attack on any Biafran or resident of Biafra under any guise. People should be allowed to go about their businesses without any molestation or harassment.”
In the statement titled, ‘IPOB Uncovers Plot by Security Agents to Attack People on Monday and Blame It on ESN’, the group enjoined market leaders to open for business, adding that security agents would be held answerable for any assault on people on Monday.
“We are warning politicians and traitors, including security agents who have designed to destroy IPOB and tarnish our hard-earned global reputation to retrace their steps. Biafrans are free to come out tomorrow and every Monday to do their normal business. All market leaders in Biafra land are advised to comply with this directive, and ensure their markets are open for business.
“Security agencies have perfected plans to unleash attacks on innocent people in the name of ESN and IPOB volunteers. We have no plans again to enforce any sit-at-home order.
“The Nigeria security agents are to be held accountable for any attack tomorrow on innocent Biafrans. They want to wear jean trousers and combat knickers jeans and brand it ESN and IPOB volunteers. Our people should resist any attempt by anybody to attack them tomorrow.
“We understand that all DPOs (Divisional Police Officers), DCOs, and other senior police officers in Enugu held meetings to perfect this plan to attack innocent Biafrans and tag it ESN attacks.
“Fleet of Hilux vehicles have also been set aside for this assignment tomorrow. Our people need to be cautious,” the statement added.
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E2%80%93-afenifere Buhari Behaving Like Roman Emperor Who Did Nothing While His Empire Burnt – Afenifere
President Muhammadu Buhari
The leader of Yoruba sociopolitical organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has likened President Muhammadu Buhari to Roman Emperor Nero, whom he said did nothing while his empire burnt.
According to the foremost Yoruba group, Buhari has been making several errors in government.
President Muhammadu Buhari
A statement signed by Afenifere’s spokesman, Jare Ajayi, on behalf of Adebanjo said, “This attitude on the part of President Buhari ‘recalls to one’s mind, the story of the Roman Emperor Nero who was busy on the fiddle when his empire was burning’.
“Afenifere not only called on President Muhammadu Buhari to ‘redirect its administration adroitly, we advise his government to embrace democratic ethos immediately by pursuing only policies that are in the best interests of the people.”
Speaking on the need to restructure the country, Adebanjo noted that the only panacea for Nigeria’s various problems is for the government to “shun nepotism, confront insecurity and restructure the country immediately”.
“The administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has taken measures that were totally against the interests of the Nigerian populace.
“Contrary to the promises made during the electoral campaigns by the President and his party, the All Progressives Congress, the prices of commodities and services have skyrocketed while social services delivery and infrastructure kept receding,” he said.
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Afghans Killed Near Kabul Airport As Thousands Attempt To Flee Taliban Rule
Afghans have been crowding the Kabul airport in a desperate dash to flee the country after the Taliban took over.
At least seven people have been killed in the crowds near Kabul airport, Britain’s ministry of defence said on Sunday.
This comes as thousands of people try to flee Afghanistan and the threats posed by a new Taliban regime, FRANCE24 and AFP report.
Afghans have been crowding the Kabul airport in a desperate dash to flee the country after the Taliban took over.
AP Photo
“Our sincere thoughts are with the families of the seven Afghan civilians who have sadly died in crowds in Kabul,” the UK defence ministry said in a statement on Sunday.
“Conditions on the ground remain extremely challenging but we are doing everything we can to manage the situation as safely and securely as possible.”
Tens of thousands of Afghans were still racing to flee on Sunday as the United States warned of security threats at Kabul’s airport gates.
At least 20 people have been killed in and around the single-runway airfield since last Sunday, a NATO official said Sunday.
But terrified Afghans continue to try and flee, deepening a tragedy at Kabul airport where the United States and its allies have been unable to cope with the huge numbers of people trying to get on evacuation flights.
Britain’s Sky News on Saturday aired footage of at least three bodies covered in white tarpaulin outside the airport. It was not clear how they had died. Sky reporter Stuart Ramsay, who was at the airport, called the deaths “inevitable” and said people were being “crushed” while others were “dehydrated and terrified”.
Families hoping for a miracle crowded between the barbed wire that surrounds an unofficial no man’s land separating the Taliban from US troops. Roads to the airport were choked with traffic.
US President Joe Biden has described the situation as “one of the largest, most difficult airlifts in history”.
Circumstances were further complicated on Saturday when the US government warned its citizens in Afghanistan to avoid travelling to Kabul airport, citing “potential security threats” near its gates.
“We are advising US citizens to avoid traveling to the airport and to avoid airport gates at this time unless you receive individual instructions from a US government representative,” the alert from the US embassy in Kabul said.
The warning gave no further details but a White House official later said aides had briefed Biden on local “counterterrorism operations”, including against the Islamic State group.
As thousands of Americans and Afghans wait at the airport for flights or gather nervously outside its gates, there have been “sporadic” reports, confirmed by the Pentagon, of Taliban fighters or other militants beating and harassing people trying to flee.
The Biden administration said Sunday that commercial aircraft would be marshalled to help ferry people who have been evacuated from Afghanistan under the Civil Reserve Airfleet agreement – a partnership between the aviation industry, the Defense Department and the US Department of Transportation.
A Pentagon spokesman said the 18 aircraft – including from United, American Airlines, and Delta – would not fly into Kabul but be used to transport people who have already left Afghanistan.
Biden will provide an update on Sunday on the evacuation of American citizens and refugees from Afghanistan, the White House said. The president is to speak at 4pm EDT (2000 GMT), after meeting with his national security team to hear intelligence, security and diplomatic updates on the evolving situation in Afghanistan.
The US military said an Afghan woman gave birth aboard an Air Force C-17 upon landing at Ramstein Air Base in Germany after experiencing complications during the flight on Saturday. The military’s Air Mobility Command tweeted that airmen helped during the delivery of the child in the cargo bay of the aircraft. “The baby girl and mother were transported to a nearby medical facility and are in good condition,” a later tweet said.”
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PMB: Call HIM The Master Finisher: A Rejoinder to Femi Adesina By Umar Ardo (PhD)
I read with utter disgust, but not disbelief, the above-titled article credited to Femi Adesina, Adviser to President Mohammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, in which he extolled his principal as the master finisher of abandoned projects. Castigating former leaders of the country in the said article, Adesina said his principal has turned Nigeria into heaven of finished projects. Even though the Presidential Spokesman seems to be wallowing in self-deceit and fantasy, at least he is honest enough not to credit his principal as an initiator of anything.
Still, why Adesina cannot see things the way they are in the country today with regards to the leadership performance of his principal is also understandable – those whose eyes are veiled cannot see visibly! If not, what else could his principal possibly offer this country without security? People (men, women, children, babies) are all over the country being gruesomely killed, kidnapped, maimed daily; villages and towns ravaged and destroyed daily; schools are closed, markets and farms abandoned daily; deaths, cruelty and violence on the daily prowl everywhere; utter chaos and destruction pervasive everywhere; hunger, starvation and malnutrition pillaging the entire land, most especially in the North (apologies to the South); poverty, want and deprivation turning virtually all Nigerian communities into practically a destitute and disabled society; orphans of no orphanage, widows with no care littering and loitering our streets across the national landscape. Go to any mosque, church, market or hospital premises anywhere in Northern Nigeria (again apologies to Southern Nigeria) and I’ll shudder because I’ll see typical illustrations of dehumanised human beings wrinkling in penury, pains and suffering.
In contrast, let Adesina look at the lifestyle of his principal, of his children (all of whom are either married to billionaire husbands or getting billionaire princess to marry), relatives, family, in-laws, friends, appointees, public operators, etc. all living in extreme and obscene wealth, opulence, luxury and comfort rapaciously and insensitively reaping the country’s commonwealth like no-man-business. To this end, I agree his principal is a master finisher; first wanting to finish the Nigerian commonwealth onto himself and his own, and second aiming to finish Nigeria and Nigerians. But here, as in everything about governance, he’ll surely fail; Nigerians and Nigeria will not be finished – they will outlive him and his regime and come out even stronger!
Furthermore, taking Adesina on the so-called master finisher stunt, what is it that his principal did that is spectacular when the country is soaked in blood? Let his principal keep all the PIAs (the PIA {Petroleum Industry Act} itself is even a subject of dispute as it is rejected by its supposed first beneficiaries – the Niger Deltans), the so-called irrigation and dam projects (how have they impacted the lives of the people?) Any public project that cannot be seen to have impacted positively on the society, it’s all hot air (besides, what good is irrigation when the forests and waterways are taken over by deadly terrorists and bandits), the railways, the hydropower projects (besides, has his principal cleared the Boko Haram/ISWAP in the Shiroro dam area of Niger state?); let him keep all these and give Nigerians only one thing – security! The fundamental purpose for the formation of government – any government – is to first and foremost secure the lives and property of citizens, and second, to enhance their welfare. What of these two has his principal given Nigerians? It is self-evident that his principal gave none of the two fundamentals. So Adesina should not talk about completing abandoned infrastructural projects.
Besides, the infrastructure itself is in two categories – human infrastructure and physical infrastructure! Human infrastructure includes health and education, the number two category includes the rest – power projects, dams, roads, bridges, railways, etc. You therefore cannot jump one and go to two, because without one – two is unnecessary. And that’s exactly what his principal’s regime did – not that the infrastructure claim of his principal’s regime itself has been a success anyway! How many human infrastructures has he completed when schools are being closed? How many hospitals has he built when even the Aso Rock Clinic itself is without syringes (no thanks to First Lady)? Even the physical infrastructure claim is fraudulent. Has he rejuvenated and completed Mambila hydroelectric power project or Ajakuta Steel? Has he rejuvenated and completed any of the nation’s refineries? Has he constructed and provided electricity and stable water supply even to the federal capital city? Has he rejuvenated and returned Nigerian National Airline or National Shipping Line, or our Internal Waterways? Has he engaged the Republic of Cameroon for unlawfully blocking the Benue, a major international River, by erecting the Lagdo Dam at the head of the river thereby adversely affecting Nigeria’s waterway? Has he completed any railway line or dual carriage roads in any part of Northern Nigeria? Has he rejuvenated and completed the famous Shagari Housing Units abandoned all over the country as a result of the direct military intervention terminating that administration?
Please, Adesina should stop talking and insulting the intelligence of Nigerians. His principal’s regime is an unmitigated and disastrous failure in all ramifications. Let him allow Nigerians to leak their wounds in stoic silence in the hope that the mistake some of us made in bringing it into being will be forgiven even if not forgotten, and work towards bringing a better leadership in 2023.
Dr Ardo is a Public Affairs Analyst.
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