Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 22nd April 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/04/22
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E2%80%99t-be-tolerated Nigerian Police Deploy More Assets To South-East, Warn That Attacks On Stations Won’t Be Tolerated
IGP Usman Baba Alkali
The Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Usman Baba Alkali, has warned against attacks on police officers and facilities in the country, especially in the South-East region, saying such would no longer be tolerated by the force.The police boss, who lamented the destruction of the facilities, other police operational assets across the country, and the killing of officers, also ordered the deployment of additional assets to support the fight against the criminals.
IGP Usman Baba Alkali
“Consequently, the IGP has ordered the immediate deployment of additional operational assets to complement officers and men attached to Operation Restore Peace in the South-East, and other launched operations, with the aim of flushing out criminal elements who hide under the guise of aggrieved citizens to perpetrate criminal acts,” a statement issued by the Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi on Thursday, read.“The IGP warned that attacks on police officers in the line of duty would no longer be tolerated under whatever guise, as the Force holds the lives of its personnel sacrosanct, and such unwarranted attacks would be strictly treated in accordance with extant laws.”Adejobi quoted the IGP as reassuring of the police’s resolve to protect lives and properties in the country.He said, “It is vital to respect the lives and fundamental rights of Police officers and other security operatives, in order to enable them to advance their sacred mandate of serving and protecting the citizens better.”The IGP’s warning followed incessant attacks on police formations across the country, especially in the South East, in recent months.While gunmen have killed scores of officers in the region, civilians have also died due to the rising level of insecurity in the area.Aside from police officers, other security operatives have lost their lives while public facilities including that of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were also targeted.Although no group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, the group leading the separatists’ agitations in the South-East – the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) – has persistently denied reports linking it to the assaults.Several state governments in the region, notably, Anambra, have launched plans to quell the rising insecurity in the South East. Governor Charles Soludo, who recently assumed office, has equally offered amnesty to the gunmen.
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E2%80%93-obasanjo-tells-buhari-government State Police Is Way Forward To Tackle Insecurity – Obasanjo Tells Buhari Government
Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has disclosed that amid the growing insecurity in the country, the creation of state police would be a better option than community policing.Obasanjo made this disclosure when the leadership of the National Association of Ex-local government chairmen in Nigeria paid him a courtesy visit in Abeokuta on Wednesday.
Olusegun Obasanjo
A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Kehinde Akinyemi hinted the visit was led by the pioneer National chairman, Hon. Albert Asipa.Obasanjo, who commended the initiative behind the formation of the body, said that the development clearly showed that some local chairmen in the country were better than even the top elected leaders.The former President while responding to one of the speakers, Chinwe Monu-Olarewaju’s submission on creation of community police to curb the wave of insecurity quipped that the idea needed to be changed.“Our situation in Nigeria concerns everyone, particularly, the case of terrorism. The case has got over the issue of community police. It is now State police. It is from that State Police that we can now be talking about community police,” he said.He also spoke on the need to strengthen the traditional system and the local government administration, “which I prepared during the popular Murtala/Obasanjo administration, because I believe that there is need to enable that tier of government to work truly as a local governmen. They have their own Executive, Judiciary and Legislature.“They were working and they were very visible, building and managing roads, looking into education, health, local administration, agriculture, but they were all gone,” Obasanjo said.He said that the experience the former chairmen had in local government administration was enough to aspire for higher posts, stressing that some of them have the competence, ability and integrity to get to these posts.Obasanjo, who was presented with a letter of a life patron, assured that he would look into their request, assuring further that he would be available on request for their needs at all times.Ashipa had earlier told the former President why they decided to come together in all the 774 local governments in the country, declaring, “we can also contribute to the economy and political developments of the country.“And realising your position as father of local government in Nigeria, we need you to actualise our goals, hence this all important visit. And to come and say happy 85th birthday celebrations.”
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President Buhari And The APC Are Corrupting Democracy By Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN
The staggering sum of #100 million fixed by the APC NEC for its presidential nomination form has rightly sent shock waves of righteous indignation across the country. The APC had fixed #30 million for the “expression of interest form” and #70 million for the “nomination form”, making a total of #100 million. The party hopes to rake in #1.5 billion from the 15 aspirants that have so far declared interest in the presidential race. By this singular act, the APC has shown a shocking insatiable bacchanalian propensity to corrupt democracy, democratic ethos, and also scam the entire country. The vulgarity of this exercise lies not just in the abominable fee prescribed, but more in the party’s pretentious mantra of fighting corruption, using a well-orchestrated and carefully oiled Hitler’s Goebel’s propagandist machinery of dubious pedigree. It is the more abhorrent when we realize that this is miles apart from (indeed more than double) the price fixed by the party’s whipping child, the opposition PDP, which has fixed its at #40million –#5 million for the nomination of interest and #35 million for the nomination form. The #100m is also over 100% of the #40 million fixed by the same APC for 2018, presidential nomination form.President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC have, by this singular act, exhibited a very odious and unpleasant example of how not to fight corruption. They have managed to convince Nigerians that politics is indeed the art of grand deception, double-dealing, duplicity, beguilement, sham and self-contradiction. They have justified the cliché that diplomacy is the clever art of telling a person to go to hell in such a way that he actually eagerly looks forward to the journey.
Nigerians should recall that in the prelude to the 2015 presidential elections, president Buhari had trenchantly criticized the #27.5 million levy imposed on his party aspirants for presidential nomination form. He had pooh pooed it as exorbitant. He has now supported #100 million for the same exercise.With the new amended Electoral Act of 2022 fixing the #5 billion limit for presidential campaign as against the earlier #1 billion under the 2010 Electoral Act, as amended, Nigeria’s politics and democracy have been completely monetised with a swing towards anti-people capitalist mercantilism. It has been turned into a marketplace bazaar of bare-faced monetary banditry reserved only for state captors, who have cunningly cornered our collective commonwealth. It is so shameful and so disorientating that Nigeria can ever find herself in this despicable state of nadir.Under the Buhari government, Nigeria has since become the poverty capital of the world, outstripping India. Nigeria ranks the number 149 most corrupt country in the world out of 180 countries surveyed, as adjudged by Transparency International, under its Anti-Corruption Perception Index. The macroeconomic environment has been badly fouled, leading to a free-for-all fall of the exchange rate of the naira which now exchanges between #580 and #700 to the dollar, as against #180-#190- Buhari met it in 2015. Nigeria daily experiences an uncontrollable inflation rate that defies any economic sense, analysis and solutions.To aspire to be a Governor under Buhari’s “puritanic” APC, an aspirant must cough out #50 million; while aspirants to the Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly must vomit #20 million, #10 million and #2 million, respectively.With this circus of Baba Sallah’s Alawada Kerikeri histrionics and sheer theatrics, President Buhari and the APC successfully completed their disdain for, mockery and denigration of Nigerians and our hard-earned democracy.Buhari and the APC must tell us where they hope that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, whose present annual salary is #12.126 million as recommended by the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission set up under section 32(d) of part 1 of the third schedule to the 1999 Constitution, will Obtain 100 million from when he would require 99 months (eight years and three months) to earn the #100 million price for the nomination form. It will take President Buhari himself whose salary is #14.05m 84 months (7 years) to get #100m. They must explain to Nigerians where aspirants like Dr Chris Ngige and Rotimi Amaechi who are ministers with an annual salary of #2, 026, 400 (#168,867 per month) will get 100 million for a presidential form, when it will take them nearly 50 years to earn #100 million. Let Buhari and the APC explain to Nigerians how Kayode Fayemi (Ondo State Governor), Yahaya Bello (Kogi State Governor), David Umahi (Ebonyi State Governor) and Rochas Okorocha (ex-Imo State Governor), whose salary per annum is #2, 223, 705, will cough up #100 million when it will take each of them 45 years to earn #100 million. Where will non-wealthy members of the APC, like Gbenga Hashim Olawepo get such money from?This APC party and President Buhari must tell Nigerians where Senator Orji Uzor Kalu and former Senate President Dr Ken Nnamani would fetch #100m from, when their salary as Senators was and is #750,000 per month (aside from humongous allowances). It would take Kalu and Nnamani 135 years to earn 100 million. In the final analysis, APC is probably zeroing in on Orji Uzor only a few presidential candidates in the persons of billionaires like Kalu and Bola Tinubu. The Director-General of Tinubu’s Support Organization (TSO), Kebbi-born Aminu Suleiman, has already signed a cheque for the #100 million. To them, it is “chicken change”. Nigeria is haemorrhaging badly. It is just like the case when Rome was on fire while Nero fiddled away. The price tag of #100 million has obviously conscripted the political space, marginalized, emasculated, and excluded the youths and women from the APC political space. Yet, this is the critical segment of the society that ought to enjoy inclusiveness and a liberalised political space to ensure their full participation in politics and engagement in the national conversation.Where is the place of the “Not-too-young-to-run” policy signed into an Act of Parliament by Buhari on May 31, 2018? The APC’s mockery of democracy has certainly thrown up nothing but money-baggism, godfatherism and crass opportunism by those who have captured the State and our commonwealth.I now frontally challenge any of the aspirants who will purchase these forms, to show us the source of the fund and also publicly display their tax returns in the last three years. The APC’s Shylock’s “pound of flesh” extortionist #100 million levy is politically insensitive to the already vanquished Nigerians, having regard to the present grinding poverty, unending insecurity, unabated corruption, melancholy, disorientation, hunger, thirst, pains, pangs, blood, hopelessness and haplessness, with which the party has afflicted Nigeria and Nigerians in the last 7 years. Nigeria has never found herself in such battered and tattered doldrums since Lord Lugard forcefully amalgamated the disparate enclaves of Northern and Southern protectorates on January 1, 1914, to found the contraption called Nigeria. The exorbitant sum of #100 million is a direct invitation to bare-faced thievery and political brigandage when these aspirants eventually win elections and emerge leaders. The price tag constitutes direct and brazen discrimination against other pauperized Nigerian members of the APC party, especially the youths and women, contrary to section 14(2)(b) of the 1999 Constitution, which provides that “participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”. It is also provided that “the Federal Republic of Nigeria shall be a State based on the principles of democracy and social justice” (section 14(1) of the Constitution).While “the state social order is founded on ideals of freedom, equality and justice” (section 17(1) of the Constitution); section 42(1) prohibits a citizen of Nigeria from being discriminated against on the basis of s**, community, ethnic group, place of origin, religion or opinion. This is precisely what the APC has done to the youths, women and disabled members of the party. This is more so because the Constitution does not permit independent candidacy. Members of the APC, except the select deep pockets, money bags and nouveau rich, are automatically cut off from the party’s various elective offices.The problem with the tune, tone and template now set by the APC is that politics has become the exclusive preserve of the high, mighty and wealthy members of the society; and not for the poor. This has devalued democracy and institutional morals. The APC is now rabidly promoting plutocracy (government of the wealthy); gerontocracy (government of the oldest members of the society); and oligarchy (government of a select few). If President Buhari and the APC are genuinely interested in widening and deepening the political space, they should immediately call for a NEC and NWC meeting of the APC to rescind and cancel this obnoxious policy of deliberate exclusion of critical segments of their ruling party. It is a policy that is only fit for the national museum of monuments and artefacts.
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Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN
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Governor Matawalle Sponsors 97 Clerics To Saudi Arabia To Pray Against Banditry In Zamfara
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle
The Governor Bello Matawalle-led Zamfara State government has sent 97 clerics to Saudi Arabia on Lesser Hajj to “pray for a stoppage of banditry.”The clerics were to engage in prayer sessions in almost all strategic holy places of worship in the cities of Makkah and Madina with a view to also restore peace in Nigeria in general.
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle
Addressing the clerics before their departure, the state’s deputy governor, Hassan Nasiha, admonished them to consider the state and its people in their prayers.This, he said, they should do with the hope that God would cause an end to multiple problems of the nation.Delivering a sermon at the departure, a cleric, Dr Atiku Balarabe, briefed the pilgrims on how best to concentrate on their worship and prayers in Saudi Arabia.Earlier in the month, Matawalle distributed more than 200 Cadillac 2019 models to traditional rulers in the state.
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Governor Matawalle Sponsors 97 Clerics To Saudi Arabia To Pray Against Banditry In Zamfara
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle
The Governor Bello Matawalle-led Zamfara State government has sent 97 clerics to Saudi Arabia on Lesser Hajj to “pray for a stoppage of banditry.”The clerics were to engage in prayer sessions in almost all strategic holy places of worship in the cities of Makkah and Madina with a view to also restore peace in Nigeria in general.
Zamfara State Governor Bello Matawalle
Addressing the clerics before their departure, the state’s deputy governor, Hassan Nasiha, admonished them to consider the state and its people in their prayers.This, he said, they should do with the hope that God would cause an end to multiple problems of the nation.Delivering a sermon at the departure, a cleric, Dr Atiku Balarabe, briefed the pilgrims on how best to concentrate on their worship and prayers in Saudi Arabia.Earlier in the month, Matawalle distributed more than 200 Cadillac 2019 models to traditional rulers in the state.
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More Than 20 People Dead As IS Fighters Bomb Afghan Cities
At least 16 people were killed in two Afghan cities on Thursday by bomb blasts that were claimed by the Islamic State group (IS).Since Taliban fighters seized control of Afghanistan last year after ousting the US-backed government, the number of bombings has fallen but the jihadist and Sunni IS has continued with attacks — often against Shiite targets.
Earlier this week, at least six people were killed in twin blasts that hit a boys’ school in a Shiite neighbourhood of Kabul.On Thursday, 12 worshippers were killed in a blast at a Shiite mosque in the northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, said Ahmad Zia Zindani, spokesman for the provincial public health department in Balkh.He added that 58 people were wounded, including 32 in serious condition.Grisly images posted to social media showed victims of the attack being carried to hospital from Seh Dokan mosque.“Blood and fear are everywhere,” Zindani told AFP, adding “people were screaming” while seeking news of their relatives at the hospital.“Many residents were also coming to donate blood,” he said.The blast occurred as worshippers were offering midday prayers during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.In a statement, IS said “the soldiers of the caliphate managed to get a booby-trapped bag” inside the mosque, detonating it from afar.In a separate blast on Thursday in the city of Kunduz, at least four people were killed and 18 wounded. Police spokesman Obaidullah Abedi told AFP that a bicycle bomb exploded near a vehicle carrying mechanics working for the Taliban.Late on Thursday, IS claimed that attack too but said its fighters set off an explosive device on a bus carrying Kunduz airport employees.
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E2%80%93-national-assembly Petroleum Minister, Sylva, NNPC Boss, Kyari Sabotaging Probe Of Refineries – National Assembly
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipreye Sylva and the Group Managing Director of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Mele Kyari, have been accused by the House of Representatives of sabotaging refineries investigation.The Chairman of the House adhoc committee investigating rehabilitation of the refineries, Ganiyu Johnson, affirmed that Kyari and the minister were frustrating efforts by the parliament to unravel why Nigeria’s refineries are not working despite billions of dollars spent on their rehabilitation.
He made this known on Thursday during a press briefing in Abuja, stressing that the Minister, the Group Managing Director and Managing Director of Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Warri Refineries have refused to appear before the committee on three different occasions.While summoning them to appear before the House on Thursday, April 28, Johnson said if those concerned had nothing to hide from Nigerians, they would have honoured the invitation from the parliament, adding that failure on their part to honour the invitation is a sign of disrespect for the National Assembly.The Committee was constituted by the Speaker of the House in January to investigate why the nation was still depending on the importation of petroleum products and a huge amount of money spent on the rehabilitation of the refineries.According to Daily Post, he said the NNPC recently awarded contracts for the rehabilitation of the refineries in Kaduna (1.3 billion dollars), Port Harcourt (1.5 billion dollars) and Warri (900 million dollars).The Committee Chairman said, “You may all recall that the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila in January 2022 constituted this Committee to determine the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries and what is needed to bring them back to maximum refining capacity.“The Committee was mandated to determine the true state of the Refineries, ascertain the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries and what is needed for the refineries to function at maximum refining capacity.“The Committee therefore relying on relevant laws and pursuant to the provisions of sections 62, 88, and 89 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended), requested the GMD of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) to forward a Status Report on the Nation’s Refineries and the actual cost of rehabilitating the refineries from 2012 to date.“The Committee specifically requested the GMD to provide relevant information and documents that will help in the investigations.“We are compelled to make this Press Statement because of the continued refusal and flagrant disregard of the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries to the invitations to appear before the Committee.“We consider this continued refusal and negligence to appear before the Committee as disrespect to the Leadership of the National Assembly of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.“The Committee is worried that the Port Harcourt Refining Company (PHRC), Warri Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (WRPC) and Kaduna Refinery and Petrochemicals Company (KRPC) had all been operating at gross losses since 2010 before they were finally shut down in 2019.“This Committee has the mandate of the House of Representatives and the Constitutional responsibility to demand accountability from those in positions of managing our resources.“It is worrisome that the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries have refused on three invitations to appear before the Committee to account for the Billions of Dollars spent on the rehabilitation of the refineries over the years.“The Committee is aware that the NNPC recently awarded contracts for Rehabilitation of Refineries (WRPC $900 Million, PHRC $1.5 Billion and KRPC $1.3 Billion).“As Chairman of this Honourable Committee, I hereby summon the GMD of the NNPC, the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the General Managers of Port Harcourt, Warri and Kaduna Refineries to appear before the Committee on Thursday 28 April, 2022 to avoid legal, constitutional and parliamentary measures to be taken against them in order to compel them to appear.“As members of the National Assembly and Representatives of the people, we have the constitutional duty to name and demand from those responsible; the Hon. Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, the GMD of NNPC and the Operators of the Refineries to let us know the problems besetting our refineries in order to proffer solutions for a sustainable future and for the benefit of all Nigerians.“We represent the people and we own the people this responsibility and until they appear, they are stalling our investigation unless they have something to hide. Otherwise, by now, we should have made progress. So this should be the last time we are calling on them to appear. Why is the refinery not functioning if they do not have anything to hide.”
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EXPOSED: Multi-billion Naira Property Located In Ikoyi Owned By Nigeria’s Labour Minister, Chris Ngige, Unbothered Amid Ongoing Varsity Lecturers’ Strike
Chris Ngige
A multi-billion naira property owned by Chris Ngige, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment has been uncovered.SaharaReporters gathered that the sprawling edifice under construction is located at number 23, Milverton Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Chris Ngige
Sources said the apartments in the ongoing building are being sold for $3 million (N1.74 billion at the prevailing exchange rate of N580/$).A flyer designed in 2021 for the residential property which is being fronted by an estate developer for the minister read, “Luxuria Ikoyi is the most luxurious block of apartments in Ikoyi, Lagos, comprising 4-Bedroom Flats, 4-Bedroom Maisonettes, and 5-Bedroom Penthouses, located at the Milverton-Alexander intersection in Ikoyi.“Amenities at Luxuria Ikoyi include:. 2 Parking Spaces (Penthouse 3). 4 Bedrooms Ensuite (Penthouse 5). Two (2) fully fitted kitchen. Two (2) BQs/Maids rooms. Air conditioning. Innovative lighting system. Floor lights. Wall and Down lights. Picture lights. Statement open riser staircase. Breathtaking Lekki/Ikoyi views. Wrap around Balcony. Double volume Lounge. Light Filled space. Smart home system. 24 hours electricity. Smart Home set-up. 24 hours high-tech security. Exclusive lift accessibility. Reception/Lobby. Swimming Pools. Gym. Spa“The 4-Bedroom Flats are N380 million ($700,000). The 4-Bedroom Maisonettes are N450 million ($800,000). The 5-Bedroom Penthouse is N1.5 billion ($3,000,000).”Ngige had last Tuesday declared his intention to contest for President in the 2023 general elections before a crowd at Alor in the Idemili South Local Government Area of Anambra state.He said his experience in public office over the years gives him the capacity to perform well as president.According to him, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has not failed Nigerians and President Muhammadu Buhari is greatly misunderstood, especially in the South-East.“My dear friends, colleagues and comrades, many would wonder that after serving seven years as minister in one of the most difficult ministries of government, in a polity riddled with rising unemployment, bickering and economic disputes between workers and employers, in a famished economy, Dr. Chris Nwabueze Ngige would have asked for a deserved rest,” his media office had quoted him as saying.“Yes, a deserved rest would have been okay for me as a person but the zeal, the burning desire in me to see a prosperous, united and equitable Nigeria, where no man is oppressed, where there is no chasm between the haves and have-not, would not allow me to go home and rest.“Today, as I sit back to ruminate on the state of our country, I find a country led by a patriot — a good-hearted leader, Muhammadu Buhari — though greatly misunderstood, especially in the south-eastern part of Nigeria.“Permit me to say that I want to get the nomination of our party and to stand on its manifesto to actualise and execute the programmes of the APC.“Shall we say the APC as a party and as a government has failed? The answer is a big ‘no’. The three cardinal issues upon which Nigeria gave us a mandate in 2015 are infrastructure/economic development, security and anti-corruption. In properly assessing this government and our programmes, it is important we start from where we met Nigeria in 2015.“In obedience to your will and results gathered in my consultations, we are going to vie for the post of president of the federal republic of Nigeria.”So many strikes by labour unions were recorded under Ngige as Minister of Labour and Employment including the ongoing industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities which entered its 66th day today (Thursday).ASUU had on Monday, February 14, 2022, announced a four-week total and comprehensive warning strike following the inability of the union and the Nigerian Government to reach common ground on the demands of the university lecturers.Some of ASUU’s demands include the release of revitalisation funds for universities, renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university lecturers, and deployment of the UTAS payment platform for the payment of salaries and allowances of university lecturers.Following the expiration of the initial four-week warning strike, the union had gone ahead to declare additional eight weeks of industrial action, saying that it was giving the government more time to attend to its needs.
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Amid Rising Insecurity, Nigeria Deploys 173 Troops In Guinea Bissau
No fewer than 173 soldiers have been deployed to keep peace in Guinea Bissau as part the country’s contribution to global peace.This was known while speaking at the pre-deployment training graduation of Nigerian contingent to ECOWAS mission in Guinea Bissau, by the Chief of Operations, Army headquarters, Maj Gen Oluwafemi Akinjobi.
He spoke at the Martin Luther Agwai International leadership and Peacekeeping Centre Jaji, Kaduna State, said, “Since independence, Nigeria has contributed over 100,000 troops to over 40 countries on peace keeping missions.”Major General Zakari Abubakar, Akinjobi who represented the Chief of Operations, noted that Nigeria remains the beacon of peace and the gatekeeper of the ECOWAS sub-region.He maintained that Nigerian peacekeepers have helped restore peace in many conflict areas around the world, which have earned them many national and individual commendations from several missions.He added, “The nation continues to strive to ensure security and stability in Africa through collective security by contributing to International peace and security, which is essential to Nigeria’s defence policy.”He then warned the troops not to harbor any acts that will tarnish the image of the country while they are in the mission area saying, “You are going there as representatives of the nation so you must be of good behaviour.”Earlier, Commandant of the centre, Major General Auwal Fagge, said the aim of the pre-deployment training was to equip the earmarked unit with requisite skills and knowledge to function effectively and efficiently in their deployment to Guinea Bissau.He assured that the troops who have undergone four weeks intensive training including cordon and search as well as weapon handling are adequately equipped to keep the peace in the mission area.He charged the troops to carry out their duties bearing in mind the multinational, as well as cultural religious diversities of the operating environment, which underscores the need for courtesy and respect for others.
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E2%80%99s-death-while-duty-refusing-release Family Accuses Lagos Security Firm Of Covering Up Cause Of Son’s Death While On Duty, Refusing To Release CCTV Footage Of Incident
Family members of Surajudeen Olawale Ogunneye, a 37-year-old man from Ijebu Ode, Ogun State, have accused the management of Real Strikers Security Services of working in connivance with others to cover up the cause of the death of their son while on duty. The deceased person had resumed work on April 12, 2022, as usual. The he had gone about his duty of securing a telecommunications mast base station operated by IHS in the Obanikoro area of Lagos without any hindrance or complaint.
As the breadwinner of his family, the young man’s widowed mother and siblings looked up to him a lot for financial and moral support – and he never failed them. He was popular among colleagues and people, who lived around his workplace where he had eked out a living for over 10 years. Everything went on smoothly until the next morning, April 13, when Ogunneye’s younger sister, Zainab, received a call from a colleague of her brother informing her that he was ill and about to be rushed to a hospital in an ambulance. The young lady was asked to quickly make it down to their office at Obanikoro so that she could accompany her ailing brother to the hospital. But by the time she got to the place, it was the corpse of her brother with bruises all over it, that was shown to her. “I was told not to be afraid, that he was only sick and needed to be taken to the hospital, that was why they wanted me to come around. “But when I got there, my brother’s dead body was what they showed to me, telling me that they didn’t know how he died,” Zainab said while narrating the incident to SaharaReporters on Thursday. Suspecting foul play, the family reported the matter at the Ilupeju Police Station and subsequently had it moved to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department, Panti, Yaba, Lagos, for speedy findings into the cause of the victim’s death. However, since that period, the management of Real Strikers Security Services has allegedly been working tirelessly to frustrate police investigation into the incident. From denying the victim’s family and police access to the duty post of the deceased to retrieve his personal items to refusing to fund the cost of autopsy and also failing to provide CCTV footage of the day Ogunneye was said to have died despite several requests from the police for the video, the management of Real Strikers Security Services has allegedly employed various tactics to ensure they escape possible prosecution over the circumstances surrounding the death of the young man. “They have been playing games with us. The police asked the company to come with the CCTV footage to the station but they refused. The person that was supposed to take the police to the scene of the incident did not also show up.“The company has been frustrating all our efforts to find out the cause of his death. So far, nobody from the company has visited our family since this incident occurred. They are also insisting that we would be the ones to pay for the autopsy.“The company claims that the security camera is with their chief security officer but he has refused to hand it over to the police for analysis. They know that the moment they tender the CCTV footage, their lies will be exposed, so they have been doing everything not to release it to the police.“The management of the company claimed that my brother died in the process of stealing diesel. But if that is true and they have the video evidence, why are they afraid to release it.“He has worked at the place for over 10 years, how come CCTV never captured him stealing diesel for once? Why is it now that they are claiming he died in the process of stealing diesel? If they are sure of their claims, why are they reluctant to release the footage of that day?“Bruises were found all over his body when it was brought out of the tank. We are sure that he was killed. It was after then that they threw his body into the tank to make it look like he died while trying to steal diesel.“We are Muslims; we are supposed to have buried his body by now but the security company is frustrating all our efforts to get justice on this matter.“My brother had huge dreams but they cut them short,” Zainab added.An official of Real Strikers Security Services contacted by our correspondent over the issue declined comments, saying that the police were on the case. The spokesperson for the police command in Lagos, Benjamin Hundeyin, when contacted by SaharaReporters, said he was not aware of the case but promised to find out the progress made with the investigation and get back to our correspondent. He, however, advised the family of the deceased to hire a competent lawyer in their quest for justice over the death of their son.
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