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ISWAP Fighters Arrest More Shekau’s Commanders Over Supremacy Battle

Saladin Babagana
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ISWAP Fighters Arrest More Shekau’s Commanders Over Supremacy Battle

Fighters of the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) have sustained their aggressive onslaught against the Abubakar Shekau’s faction of Boko Haram, killing and arresting some of the rival sect’s Commanders and terrorists, Sources familiar with happening among the terrorists groups have said.

They also captured some top Commanders of the Shekau faction like Mustapha Krimima Jaysh, Ba’akaka, Malkin Tijjani, Hirasama and Mallam Ballu who refused to surrender and attempted to escape.

The Sources said a large number of terrorists on gun trucks were recently sighted at Marte, East of Tumour, Tumbumma and Tumbuktu Triangle in Sambisa, after a heavy gun battle of supremacy between ISWAP and Shekau’s Boko Haram fighters at Garin Malam.

Meanwhile, series of meetings are being held in Sabeel Huda camp in the heart of Sambisa forest between ISWAP Commanders and other surrendered senior Boko Haram members.

It was gathered that the fate of the arrested Boko Haram Commanders and fighters would be decided by Albarnawy’s disciplinary Committee, headed by one Muhammad Malumma, ISWAP’s Chief Judge.

The ISWAP leadership has vowed to eliminate all terrorists belonging to the Shekau group if they refuse to surrender.

An intelligence operative disclosed that an intercepted communication between two leaders of ISWAP indicated that a committee led by one Abu-Mosad Albarnawy, a self-proclaimed appointee of Amirul Mu’uminoon, (ISIS Caliphate Leader) had dissolved all formations and structures of Shekau’s Boko Haram in an aggressive raid in Sambisa Forest, recently.

It further revealed that the fight is being coordinated by the Wali of ISWAP, one Muhammad Dawud, who is also known as Abu Hafsat, with four other ISWAP Fiye (Service Chiefs), and Khalids, (Commanding Officers) from Lake Chad, Timbuktu and Marte.

According to the operative, the ISWAP Service Chiefs and its Commanding Officers are all under the supervision of Abu-Mosad Albarnawy, who is coordinating the mission.

Multiple sources reported that Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau had died or mortally wounded in a confrontation with ISWAP fighters, a group that separated from Shekau’s Boko Haram in 2016.

The Nigerian military has not offiong confirmed the reports but said it is investigating.

Only Restructuring Can End The Escalating Criminality, Banditry, Others In Nigeria

Udehi Alambo
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Only Restructuring Can End The Escalating Criminality, Banditry, Others In Nigeria

Mr Peter Obi, on Tuesday said only restructuring can end the escalating criminality, banditry and other forms of insecurity in Nigeria.

Obi who said that those fighting against restructuring are beneficiaries of the near failed state of the nation added that the greatest fight against insecurity in the country is to put food on the tables of Nigerians.

He made this known at the Princess Alexandra Auditorium, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, during the Association of Nsukka Professors’ 4th Adada Lecture, tagged ‘Restructuring, Security Challenges and Development.’

He equally bemoaned the rising poverty index in the country, adding that Nigeria has more poor people than China and India put together.

He also said that if Nigeria must grow, the nation must diversify the economy and equally invest in her youths to acquire a knowledge-based economy.

According to him, “Security is the most vital ingredient in a country’s existence. Any government which fails to secure the lives and properties of the citizens has failed. Unfortunately, today, we have seen the impact of insecurity in our country.

“Now that we have found ourselves in this mess, the best thing to do is to restructure the country. People do approach me to contest for the presidency in order to fix Nigeria, but I had always told them that I am not the solution to our problems. If you have a car that has an engine problem, would you change the driver instead of the engine? The engine of our problem in Nigeria is restructuring and until that is done, things would continue to go wrong. It is when we do this that national development can take place.

“We must invest in human development through education because the more educated a society is, the more development it can attract. The per capita income of Nigerians has kissed the dust. In 1980, Nigeria’s per capita income was $875, China was $ 190. This is to show that China was far below Nigeria then. Today, China’s per capita income has risen to about $12,000, while Nigeria is about $2000. This is one of the reasons we should restructure Nigeria in order to put things right,” he said.

Earlier in his address, the President, Association of Nsukka Professors, ANP, Prof. Osy Okanya, said the lecture became necessary in order to provide solutions to the heightened and fragile security situation in the country.

He also said “… perhaps it is correct to admit that Nigeria’s political architecture has become so dislocated and disrupted that without urgent structural and institutional re-alignment, Nigeria, likened to a floating Calabash, will on its own implode sooner than later. What is, however, depressing and frightening is that while a vibrant section of the Nigerian State has continued to point at the official actions and inactions that accentuate the fault lines, certain sections of the state appear impervious to the steady manifestations of symptoms of state failure and collapse

Also, in his address, the chairman of the occasion, Sir Chinyeaka Ohaa, charged members of ANP, to use their platform to explore all the areas of life necessary for the growth and development of their environment and the nation at large.

Ohaa equally enjoined the association to champion the reactivation of Ogurugu River Jetty, which according to him, was the landing post for the British colonial influence in the region.

Northern Elders Accuse Southern Governors Of Building Ethnic Monsters

Uche Kingsley
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Northern Elders Accuse Southern Governors Of Building Ethnic Monsters

The Northern Elders’ Forum has accused governors in the Southern region of building “ethnic monsters” and hiding behind them to whip up sentiments.

The forum also alleged that the governors, who swore to protect the constitution and defend the unity and integrity of Nigeria, have surrendered to the secessionists.

This was contained in a statement made available to journalists by its spokesman, Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the forum berated Southern leaders over the ban on open grazing, saying they are making a desperate but futile attempt to split the north.

The statement reads in bits, “It is now clear that elected people who swore to protect the constitution and protect the unity and integrity of Nigeria have decided to surrender to deeply divisive or outrightly irredentist and secessionist tendencies and movements.

“Governors are building ethnic monsters and hiding behind them to whip up sentiments in a crude attempt to extract concessions no one is in a position to give or guarantee. A desperate but futile attempt is being made to split the North along lines that suit people who ignore its complexities and plurality when it is convenient to lump all Northerners and submit them to humiliation or attacks.

“In the South East, governors are yielding their political turf and mandates to secessionists, criminals and subversives who think they can exterminate federal presence and northerners from the region, and achieve dubious political goals related to 2023, or break away from the country.

“In the South West, elected leaders and pampered ethnic bullies are closing ranks to provide a front that apes the do-what-we-want-or-we-leave-the-country strategy of the marginalized leaders of the South East.

“The South South is squeezed between fear and uncertainty, and its leaders are gambling that they can benefit from further weakening the federal administration and the North if it rides along with the rest of the South.

“The forum supports a citizen-driven national dialogue and a campaign to get the government to accord its outcome the respect it deserves.

“The forum extends its hands to groups that genuinely believe that Nigerians should demand and design the type of country we want, and should not wait for people we elected to set the boundaries and conditions of our existence.

“The forum restates that the North will not be cowed and stampeded into escorting political ambitions of politicians at the cost of its rights, security and dignity.

“It demands that President Buhari asserts the powers our constitution gives him to protect our territorial integrity and secure citizens, or accept that he is incapable of leading the nation through these unprecedented challenges.”

Residents Recount Ordeals As Gunmen Kill Over 100 In Benue

Saladin Babagana
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Residents Recount Ordeals As Gunmen Kill Over 100 In Benue

Hundred of people have been killed by suspected gunmen who stormed many communities in Katsina-Ala Local Government areas of Benue State between Saturday and Sunday.

While local authorities said at least 100 bodies were recovered from some villages, a witness from one of the affected villages said he counted 70 dead bodies in the area he lived, while another man said over 150 people were killed in his locality.

Some officials alleged that the attacks were perpetrated by some militants loyal to the notorious Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as ‘Gana’, who was killed by Nigerian troops in September 2020.

They alleged that the attacks were carried out in cohort with suspected herders.

‘We recovered over 100 dead bodies’

The Chairman of Katsina-Ala LGA, Alfred Atera, told journalists in Makurdi on Monday, that over 100 people were killed during the weekend in the four wards of Mbayongo, Yooyo, Utange and Mbatyula/Mberev in a coordinated manner.

Atera said security personnel, though did their best were allegedly overwhelmed by the combined forces of Gana boys and herders.

“More than 100 people have been killed in different places. Some people were able to claim the corpses for burial. I told the military that the attackers have developed a strategy; they are not attacking one place, if they attack a place now, the next thing you hear is that they are in Yooyo and at the same time they are attacking Utange.

“So, the military is going here and there. Before they could get to a particular place, the attackers would have finished and got to another point, that is the situation in Katsina-Ala.

“There is no military connivance, but I am suspecting the existing bandits here and I think they are trying to win cheap popularity. They are conniving with the Fulani herders so that we (government) will consider them, which we have refused to do. The Gana remnants are conniving with them to cause the havoc and unrest in our area,” Atera said.

Speaking further, his spokesman, Tertsea Benga, listed the initial communities attacked between Saturday and Sunday to include: Vingir, Tse Nyipila and Tse Guji all in Mbayongo ward, adding that the attackers proceeded to Kenvanger in Mbatyula council ward and that by Sunday afternoon, most of the corpses were recovered from the bush.

Before the latest attack, Benga recalled that half of the communities in Yooyo council ward were earlier sacked by the alleged armed invaders who killed many people.

Residents recount horrific experiences

Residents of the affected communities have recounted their experiences.

Some of them, who spoke to our correspondent by telephone on Monday, claimed that more villagers were still missing while the actual number of those killed could not be ascertained as several communities were currently under attacks by armed invaders.

A resident of one of the affected village, David Zungwe, said his Kenvanger community in Mbatyula Council Ward was completely ravaged by the invaders who besieged them on Saturday.

“They killed more than 70 people in my community, many others are still missing and I can’t even say where some of my relations are right now.

“I am talking to you from a hideout right now. Everybody has left my village. The few people who sneaked in today (Monday) came under attack by cattle herders and seven persons were killed,” he alleged.

Meanwhile, a clergy of an NKST Church, Rev. Jacob Bende, described the attacks as horrific, stressing that in his Atumbe village and surrounding communities in Mberev Council Ward, over 150 people were killed while many houses were burnt.

Bende added that many of his church members in Aker were missing following Saturday’s invasion which caused pandemonium.

“They (attackers) were moving from one place to another. As they trekked along the villages, they attacked and killed people they come across on the way. It was such a coordinated thing so that everybody was on the run and we have no one to intervene for us.

“Our farms were destroyed; lives and property are gone. My members are taken away and now we have fled to Tor Donga, a border town with Taraba State for refuge.”

Also, Josh Nyipila, of Tse-Atsethem in Mbayongo Council Ward, whose uncle was killed while struggling to flee, said it was disheartening that the invaders could unleash such terror on the locals at midday.

“They (attackers) came unexpectedly in broad daylight and in a highly coordinated manner. By Sunday, an attempt was made to quickly go and bury him after his body was found but while the few youths who went to scout for the fallen bodies were in the process of burial, the attackers came back and were shooting heavily so they ran away.

“When the shooting stopped, they again mobilised and went to the village to pick up the corpse during which they also identified few more corpses and took it away. As we speak, no unarmed person can go there.

“Families don’t know where other members are and sadly, there is ongoing killing in the area. All the villagers have fled to Tor Donga for refuge,” Nyipila said.

We’ve No Hand In Benue Attacks , Miyetti Allah

Gladys Phillip
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We’ve No Hand In Benue Attacks , Miyetti Allah

The Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association Of Nigeria (MACBAN) has denied involvement in the heinous massacre of people in Katsina – Ala LGA of Benue State over the weekend.

Its secretary, Ibrahim Galma, told newsmen by telephone that though they heard about the killings going on in Katsina-Ala villages over the weekend, the association does not know the people behind the killings or their collaborators.

According to Galma, at present, there were no Fulani in Katsina-Ala, Kwande, Ukum and other LGAs around that axis of the state.

He added that as an association, they heard of the incident like every other person and that they also heard that some Fulani had been killed. He said the crisis was ongoing around Benue/ Taraba border.

“There are crises ongoing there and many Fulani are affected. I heard that a large number of people are even taken away by suspected bandits. I won’t be able to tell the real stories but security agencies and Taraba State government are in the best position to do so.

“There are issues there being perpetrated by bandits and to the best of my knowledge, there are no Fulani there. We can’t tell whether the Fulani are involved in what is happening in that boundary area. We cannot account for them because they are not from our state,” Galma said.

An audio circulated on WhatsApp purportedly leaked a conversation between Azonto, the militiaman alleged to have taken over from Gana and an alleged Fulani man identified as Dauda.

The audio, which could not be immediately verified, ‘established’ a link between the local militia and Fulani herders as Dauda was heard admonishing the said Azonto to ensure that no Fulani man should be killed or his cow cut whenever there were clashes between herders and farmers in his (Azonto) controlled turf.

Azonto on his part gave assurances that he would maintain the relationship his late boss, Gana, had with Dauda’s people.

The two spoke in Tiv language for 11 minutes and 46 seconds discussing banditry in the area.

Six Fighter Jets To Arrive In August , Says Emefiele

Shehu Danladi
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Six Fighter Jets To Arrive In August , Says Emefiele

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Godwin Emefiele, has disclosed that Nigeria will get 12 fighter planes from the United States of America to help fight insecurity in Nigeria.

He made this discloser while answering questions at the end of a two-day monetary policy committee meeting in Abuja on Tuesday.

Emefiele, however, lamented how the economy is being crippled by insecurity, stated that the arrival of the planes is in line with a pact made between the Nigerian government and the US government three years ago.

According to him; “If you want an economy to grow, the level of insecurity must be low because if there is a high level of insecurity like what we see today, the economy will suffer.

“Efforts are now targeted at South Eastern and North Eastern parts of the country. About three years ago, the Federal Government and the United States signed a pact that resulted in a government-to-government acquisition of military equipment

“Out of which, we are expecting 12 fighter planes that would help us solve our insecurity. I am aware that six of them are coming to the country in the month of July and August.”

He also advised bandits to drop their arms and be a part of the apex bank’s Anchor Borrowers’ Programme, which is in its fifth year, designed by the CBN to boost food production.

“I, therefore, would like to appeal to our brothers, who decide that they want to live in bushes and forests that they should please, begin to retreat, drop their arms and come and embrace the anchor borrowers’ programme.

“If they do so, it will help them; if they choose not to do so, they will be confronted by the security as this battle continues.

“I am optimistic before the end of the year, around the year of the end, the security challenges confronting the country will substantially abate,” he added.

Udom Emmanuel Dispels Defection Rumours To APC , Says ‘I Am Not Coming’

Grace Itodu
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Udom Emmanuel Dispels Defection Rumours To APC , Says ‘I Am Not Coming’

The Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Udom Emmanuel has dismissed reports of his imminent exit from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) following the defection of his Cross River counterpart, Professor Ben Ayade, to the All Progressives Congress (APC)

The governor was quoted as saying on Tuesday, “Do you know why they are writing that I will join them? They are looking for good people to repair their party.

Saying, “They want someone with projects as they don’t have any. They want someone that commissions projects. They have never commissioned any because they don’t have any. Tell them I am not coming

Akwa Ibom is PDP! PDP is Akwa Ibom! When you see them, tell them that Akwa Ibom is not like any other state. Akwa Ibom is PDP! I think a word Is enough for the wise.

You know, when they come and see the good roads that the governor has constructed, they are looking for a way for us to come and do the same there.

“Tell them that it is not the same. The kind of anointing that is in PDP cannot be found in any Party”.

Tell Us Where Recovered Loots Are, Sultan Tells FG:

Saladin Babagana
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Tell Us Where Recovered Loots Are, Sultan Tells FG:

The Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III has urged the Federal government to explain to Nigerians how much loots it had recovered and what they were being used for.

He made this known in Sokoto at the zonal dialogue with stakeholders on the National Ethics and Integrity Policy, organized by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, in collaboration with the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission for the northwest zone.

The Sultan, represented by the Wazirin Sokoto, Prof. Sambo Wali Junaidu, said keeping mute on the recovered loots would spell doom for the fight against corruption in the country.

According to him ; “The government owes Nigerians an explanation, we want to know how much billions of naira was recovered from our past leaders. Where the monies are and what are they doing with them?

“This explanation is necessary considering the state of our education and other infrastructure like roads which need serious government attention,” he said

He said the founders of the Sokoto Caliphate had written many books on corruption and how it could be addressed using Islamic ways.

The Sultan urged Nigerian leaders to obtain copies of those books in order to be guided in getting to tackling corruption.

The zonal head of ICPC in charge of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara States, Ibrahim Alkali said the national ethics and integrity policy was a child of necessity as “it was conceived and delivered out of the urgent need to resuscitate and rejuvenate our lost values of honesty and integrity as a nation.”

Also on Tuesday, the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee investigating the status of all recovered loots, movable and immovable assets from 2002 to 2020 demanded the details of the accounts of the recovered loots from the Accountant-General of the Federation, Ahmed Idris.

The Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who also appeared before the committee, said: “All these assets as recovered are indeed lodged with the CBN Account on Assets Recovery and the receipts of the amounts have been confirmed by the CBN.

“Recovered assets have constituted budgetary item that has been appropriated by the NASS and among other monies.”

Malami said the government the government had recorded some modest achievements regarding asset recoveries.

He said: “In that respect, we had succeeded in December 2017 to recover $322m from Switzerland. That asset recovered is known as Abacha loot.

“Again in May 2020, we succeeded in recovering $311, 797, 866.11 from the Island of Jersey and indeed UK. In October 2020, we recovered 5, 494, 743.71 Euros from the Republic of Northern Ireland in Nigeria known as Abacha Loot. And of recent, we succeeded in May 2021 in recovering £4. 214, 017 from UK known as Ibori loot.”

He said there were multiple dimensions to the status of recovered assets, both foreign and local.

For Impersonating FIRS Chairman, Director ,Female graduate, Lover In Police Net

Ola Akinola
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For Impersonating FIRS Chairman, Director ,Female graduate, Lover In Police Net

Two fraudsters, one Miss. Onuoha Onachi who claimed to be a graduate of Imo State University awaiting call-up for the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), and her lover, Chinedu Okoro, are currently cooling their heels in police cells in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Command.

This was following their arrest on Monday for impersonating the Executive Chairman, Federal Inland Revenue Service, Mr Muhammad Nami, on Facebook to defraud unsuspecting job-seekers.

Newsfocusng gathered that a team from the Intelligence and Investigation Unit of the FIRS nabbed the duo following a complaint by their victims and thereafter handed the suspects to the police. Okoro, who claimed to have been the owner of a failed boutique business, confessed that he took to the crime of impersonating the FIRS chairman on Facebook in March 2020 and created a phantom Director of the service with the name, Alhaji Tanko to dupe their victims.

According to Okoro, he opened two false Facebook accounts in the name of the FIRS chairman and the fictive Alhaji Tanko and populated one of the accounts with pictures of Mr Nami and the other with the internet-generated pictures of an innocent person to stand for Alhaji Tanko.

Through an elaborate scheme, Okoro proceeded to represent himself to unsuspecting job applicants whom he directed to one Kayode who in reality is the female suspect, Miss Onuoha. Speaking as the phantom Kayode, Miss Onuoha then redirected their victims to the fictitious Alhaji Tanko who in reality is Mr Okoro, the mastermind of the crime.

Speaking as Alhaji Tanko, Okoro then confirmed the availability of jobs at a price at the FIRS to the victims who were then cajoled to part with at least 60 per cent of a lump-some to secure their purported slots. Okoro confessed that he charged as much as N350, 000 per victim while Miss Onuoha admitted to having made N170,000 from the crime before being caught.

The suspects also confessed to have impersonated the Head of Service of the Federation to defraud job seekers in the past. They also confessed that the FIRS chairman knew nothing about their fraudulent activities as they have never met or had any kind of communication with Nami.

FIRS has consistently alerted the public in general to the activities of fraudsters like Okoro and Miss Onuoha through periodic job scam disclaimers published in national dailies and on many online news websites in the country.

1999 Constitution : A Fraud That Can’t Be Cured , Says Afe Babalola

Gladys Phillip
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1999 Constitution : A Fraud That Can’t Be Cured , Says Afe Babalola

A Legal icon and founder of the Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti(ABUAD), Aare Afe Babalola  has described the proposed amendment of the 1999 Constitution  by the Natiional Assembly as a worthless exercise which may not yield  meaningful result. 

He opined that, “The root cause of our problems, which has brought Nigeria to the brink of extinction, is the 1999 constitution foisted on it by the Military when it was exiting the reign of governance in 1999” 

This was contained in a statement  made available  to newsmen in Ado-Ekiti entitled “Proposed Amendment of the 1999 Constitution by the National Assembly,: A futile exercise ” argued that it was an attempt to cure what he termed ‘ A Fraud”.

According to the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) , another impediment to the proposed exercise was the inability to take the powers of the President on the control of public funds ,ditto the judicial powers .

Alternatively, Babalola  suggested that ” since amendment in law includes substitution for an existing document, why is it that the National Assembly cannot call for a Public Hearing on the substitution of the 1999 constitution for the 1963 constitution which was made with the consent of the people?” 

He said ” It is common knowledge that the 1999 constitution was made by the Military which in its wisdom claimed that it was made by the people. The constitution says among other things that: “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, having firmly and solemnly resolved…do hereby make and give to ourselves the following…”Of course, this claim is false.

“The truth is that there is no way the National Assembly can amend the 1999 constitution to cure the inherent defects in the 1999 constitution. First, you cannot cure fraud.

“Second, it is impossible, by way of amendment, to take away the military system of government under the 1999 constitution or the power and control of public funds by the President. Or can we, by way of amendment, change the Judicial powers of the President under the 1999 constitution? ” Babalola  said 

“The proposed amendment to the 1999 constitution, whichever way you look at it, is a futile exercise. We all know that previous sessions of National Assembly had made laws to convene National Conference. I therefore advise that the current National Assembly should call for a National Conference to discuss and make a new true federal constitution which will provide for a Parliamentary system of government.

“Against the background of the massive demand by Nigerians, home and abroad, for a true federal constitution made by the people and for the people, the National Assembly is calling for Public Hearing in the country’s six Geo-political Zones for people’s inputs on any issue of interest to enable the National Assembly to amend the 1999 constitution.

” The fact remains that you cannot amend a Coconut tree which has no branches to become and Iroko tree which has branches. It is a well-known fact that everything about the 1999 constitution is wound round the Presidential system of government. Why then is the National Assembly afraid of calling a National Constitutional Conference to fashion out a new true federal constitution and come up with a Parliamentary system of government like we had in 1963.” Babalola said

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