The Nigerian currency, naira has hit an all-time low after exchanging for N530 against the dollar, at the parallel market on Thursday.
The local currency, which stood at 526/$1 on Tuesday, fell to 530/$1 at the parallel market on Thursday from 528/$1 on Wednesday.
The naira dipped to 720 against the pound at the parallel market from 717/£1 on Wednesday, while the euro rose to N620 from N616 on Wednesday.
At the I&E window, the naira weakened further to 411.67/$1 on Thursday from 411.50/$1 on Wednesday, according to FMDQ Group.
No less than 55 per cent to 60 per cent of Nigerian forex transactions are traded at this window, which is used by the CBN and most exporters and investors, according to Financial Derivatives Company (FDC) Limited.
“It serves as not only a source of price discovery but also a barometer for measuring potential and actual CBN intervention in the market. Some of the exchange rate determinants are balance of payments, capital inflows and trade balance,” the FDC said.
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Kabirat Olokunde, a Nigerian migrant worker, planned to spend her birthday with friends in the city of Abu Dhabi. Instead, she turned 28 in a frigid prison cell, one of about 700 Africans imprisoned by Emirati authorities without charge.
In unparalleled mass arrests, the workers were jailed with "no legal justification" on the night of June 24-25, and later started being deported, said ImpACT International for Human Rights Policies and the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.
UAE flag flies over a boat at Dubai Marina, Dubai, United Arab Emirates May 22, 2015.REUTERS/Ahmed Jadallah "I celebrated my birthday in chains, with no mattress," Olokunde told Thomson Reuters Foundation by phone from the Lagos, Nigeria, where she was deported on August 3.
"I still have the trauma in me," added the single mother, who had been working as a bus attendant and caretaker at an international school in Abu Dhabi.
She was deported without access to her belongings, and is now jobless and unable to support her son, siblings and parents.
The Abu Dhabi government communications office, and the Nigerian embassy in Abu Dhabi, did not immediately respond to requests for comment on the rights groups' report, published on Thursday.
The Gulf monarchy, a regional trade and tourism hub and one of seven emirates which form the United Arab Emirates (UAE), tolerates little criticism.
Human rights groups have previously documented the imprisonment of hundreds of activists, academics and lawyers in the UAE, often following unfair trials on vague charges. The UAE has dismissed those accusations as false and unsubstantiated.
The UAE is home to nearly 10 million people, more than 80% of whom are expatriates who send remittances home to their families, according to the United Nations.
Workers from developing countries often live in shared residencies in Abu Dhabi with separate wings for different nationalities, like La Gym, where Olokunde was arrested. African and Asian workers have highlighted stigmatisation and racism in the past, but the two rights groups said the June raid was a marked escalation.
"The scale of this racially motivated deportation is completely unprecedented," said Michela Pugliese, a migration researcher at Euro-Med Monitor.
"The victims and other migrants who aspire to work safely in the UAE have had this right unjustly revoked. Its consequences will be felt for years to come."
The investigation, based on interviews with more than 100 migrant workers, found that Abu Dhabi's Rapid Intervention Forces (SWAT), Criminal Investigation Department and police carried out mass arrests in at least four apartment buildings.
The subsequent forced deportations were illegal, Pugliese said, as many of the workers had valid residency permits and work visas and were denied due process or access to their personal property.
About 100 individuals remain in detention, and more African workers have been arrested in recent weeks, Pugliese added.
The two human rights groups said they sought clarification from the UAE interior ministry on the reasons behind the arrests and deportations, but received no response.
Migrant workers told researchers that the arresting units used excessive force against them, including stun guns, and touched women's bodies inappropriately.
Olokunde said she was arrested in shorts and a bra, and was not allowed to dress before being transported to the jail.
When she and other women went on a hunger strike to demand justification for their arrest, they were chained for seven days, including her birthday, Olokunde said.
Two workers who spoke to the Thomson Reuters Foundation said they slept on the floor in large, group cells, but were not given masks to protect against COVID-19 infection.
In jail, the report said, detainees were denied access to health care and sanitary pads while women had their periods.
The rights groups said detainees were not granted access to lawyers or told why they had been arrested - but some were indirectly accused of prostitution, which is a crime in the UAE.
During her single, brief interrogation, Olokunde said she was asked, "How much do you charge for a massage?" According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), migrants are entitled to challenge their arrest in their country of residence.
"The abuses outlined demonstrate that migrants have had their rights to due process violated, and their detention conditions could amount to ill-treatment," said Rothna Begum, HRW's women's rights researcher in the Middle East.
"It is horrific that the UAE authorities appear to be conducting a secret campaign of mass arrests of African migrants, without any clear legal basis for such arrests or detention," she added.
Kenneth Rubangakene, a 31-year-old Ugandan clerk who had lived in Abu Dhabi since 2017, also said he was taken from his La Gym apartment to prison.
He said guards scanned his fingerprints and retinas without explanation, chained his hands and feet for three days, and imitated the sound of a couple having sex, asking if he had ever heard that noise at La Gym.
"They told us Africans are spoiling their country, they want to get rid of Africans from the street, we Africans are stupid," he said.
He was deported from Dubai International Airport on July 29, according to a printed booking confirmation that Rubangakene shared with the Thomson Reuters Foundation, which he said was given to him by prison guards.
"It was so shameful at the airport. You are arriving in a prison uniform, in prison sandals," he said.
The Ugandan embassy in Abu Dhabi did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Rubangakene said he has about 6,000 dirham ($1,634) stuck in a bank account in the UAE that he cannot access, as his bankcard - along with teaching certifications he would need to apply for new jobs - all remained in his room.
"I came back with nothing. I'm starting from zero," he said.
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Two graduates of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) have been killed in an accident on the Lokoja-Abuja Road.
It was learnt that two others sustained injuries in the accident the graduates had on their way to report at the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) camps in Kaduna and Kano states.
A 21-day orientation course in camps across the country is part of the requirements for graduates to fulfil to partake in the mandatory one-year service to Nigeria.
It was gathered that three of the graduates were posted on Wednesday by the NYSC to Kaduna State while one was posted to Kano, to undergo the orientation course, when the crash occurred.
The Public Relations Officer of the University, Ademola Adesoji, told The Punch that immediately the accident occurred on Wednesday, the survivor contacted the institution.
“And we immediately informed the management of National Youth Service Corps Scheme.
"Four of our ex students were involved. Three of them are male and one female. Two died in the accident. But we spoke with the two that survived and monitored their movement up to hospital.
"Our Students Affairs Unit also notified the NYSC leadership and the management of the scheme responded immediately. The two that died were heading to Kaduna NYSC Orientation Camp. The four of them travelled in a vehicle they hired from Osogbo," he said.
Adesoji expressed his condolences to the families of the deceased on behalf of the university management.
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A former United States Ambassador to Nigeria, John Campbell has expressed fear that the recently acquired Super Tucano fighter jets may be hijacked by bandits and terrorists.
Mr Campbell relates his prediction to the fall of the Afghanistan government and the takeover of similar high-grade military jet fighter by the Talibans.
The Afghan government had also acquired 23 Super Tucanos from US to combat the Talibans but with the collapse of the Afghan government and the fall of Kabul, not all of the aircraft have been accounted for. Some Afghan pilots flew their planes out of the country. However, at least one Super Tucano is now in the hands of the Taliban.
Mr Campbell who wrote for CFR, explained the instances of how terrorist groups seized other military equipment in Nigeria, expressing worries on whether the aircraft will be used to combat terrorism or used against other targets such as the Biafran agitators or Delta militants.
“Though it seems unlikely at present, there is also the potential that a Super Tucano could fall into the hands of a jihadi terrorist group.
“Now that the Super Tucanos are part of the Nigerian Air Force, an issue will be how they are used. Will they be used only against jihadi terrorists in the North, or will there be the temptation to use them against other targets, such as Biafran separatists, Delta militants, or even cattle rustlers? Broader use increases the potential for civilian casualties.
“A Biafran separatist movement, the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), is suing to block the sale in a Washington, D.C. court,” he said.
Nigeria separatist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) had sued U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin over the sale of attack planes.
IPOB said the Nigerian government will use the warplanes to attack its supporters.
Also some critics, human rights groups and some members of the U.S. Congress had opposed the sale of the aircraft to Nigeria, citing the constant abuse of human rights by the regime of Muhammadu Buhari.
NAF officially inducted the six A-29 Super Tucano fighter jets on Tuesday, to aid its fight against insecurity in the country. Nigeria was said to have purchased the A-29s at about $500 million through Foreign Military Sales (FMS) programme. The American embassy in Abuja had described it as the largest sale in sub-Saharan Africa.
During the induction ceremony of the Super Tucano jets where journalists were denied entrance, U.S. Department of Defence leaders who were also present said that the “aircraft will assist the Nigerian Air Force in their fight against violent extremist organisations including the Islamic State West Africa Province.”
U.S. is providing $36.1 million in infrastructure as support at the Kanji Air Base, where the Super Tucanos will be housed a statement by the embassy disclosed.
No few than 64 Nigerian pilots have been trained at an American air force base on how to handle the aircraft.
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Years of coal mining in some communities in Enugu State and attendant negligence of those mining sites are now leading to dangerous environmental degradation that threatens those communities. In this report, Ben Aroh, who visited Enugu North, Udi and Ezeagu local government areas of Enugu State where the mines are located, captures the fears of the residents and threats posed by the abandoned coal mines.
Mr Onoh's house located between colliery and Amuzam mines.
‘We are sandwiched by landslides’
Anthony Onoh and his family are marking time—their only home, sandwiched by abandoned mines, may sooner than later be swallowed by the mines. When it will happen is what they don’t know.
Onoh’s home is situated between Amuzam and Colliery, both at Ngwo in Enugu North Local Government Area, Southeast Nigeria, where the defunct Nigerian Coal Corporation (NCC) had mined coal. Coal mining in Enugu started in 1916, eight years after coal was discovered, and long before Nigeria made a discovery of crude oil in commercial quantity at Oloibiri in 1956 in the present-day Bayelsa State.
The house, Onoh says, is showing signs that its days are numbered, but he and his nuclear family has nowhere to relocate. “We live here because we don’t have options. We access our house through impassable routes. The foundation of our building is cracking and falling off. Surely, it will fall if nothing is urgently done to remedy the situation,” he said.
“By our right is the abandoned Colliery mine,” he continued. “Behind us is the Amuzam site. We can’t farm here anymore. There are no more sources of livelihood here. When we built this house, the gully was not spreading with this pace.”
Mercy, Anthony Onoh’s wife, says they see every day as the last for their house because the approaching erosion occasioned by the abandoned coal mines recently pulled down the perimetre fence of the house.
“A few days ago, the remaining part of our fence fell down,” Mercy Onoh said. “Our cries have not been listened to at all. Some property owners around here left many years ago because of the dangers therein. You wake up and see that a part of your house has collapsed.
“You can see that we are surrounded by gullies. Environmental officials have been coming. Some said they came from Abuja. But nothing much has been done. The Enugu State government is trying, but the speed this gully is spreading demands more action.”
Like Onoh’s family house, a worship centre, Rivers of Life Int. Mission Centre, sited near the Colliery landslide, is also waiting to be consumed by the threatening gully erosion. “The fear is that the gully is expanding daily without the corresponding intervention. If nothing is done urgently, this church may be pulled down. This is not our prayer,” says a member of the centre who identified himself as Nnamdi.
Coal mines abandoned after civil war
When it was discovered, Nigerian coal was exported to neighbouring Ghana, United Kingdom, Egypt and South Africa. But the production was crippled by the discovery of other sources of energy, Nigerian Civil War, and unsuccessful privatization attempts. “Nigeria Civil War negatively impacted on coal production,” the Nigerian Tourism Board was quoted in a report.
Coal Camp, Enugu State.
Following the war, production never completely recovered and coal production levels were erratic. Attempts at mechanizing production ended badly, as both the implementation and maintenance of imported mining equipment proved troublesome. It adversely affected production. After the civil war, the Nigerian coal industry has not been able to return to its peak production of the 1950s, the tourism board stated.
Several privatization attempts−to salvage the coal mining sector−including the one by former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999 up until 2004, did not bring back the fortunes of the once-flourishing industry. All these, including the selling-off of its assets by the NCC to settle debts owed its staff members, meant that the mines were forever abandoned.
The abandoned mines are now threatening human existence; and residents of the affected areas are helpless. “It is pathetic that we have been abandoned since coal became less fancied in this country,” Mr Onoh said. “My father told me that our area was a centre of attraction during the coal exploration. Thousands of people earned their living here.”
Gully leading to Coal camp
‘Flood washed away our relatives, homes before government’s interventions’
Amuzam, one of the abandoned coal mines, is littered with relics of collapsed buildings. Residents say the once-lively community could have gone into extinction because of the coal mines, but for the reclamation by the Enugu State government and the World Bank.
“You can see many collapsed storey-buildings. Some people also lost their lives. I recall a few that were swept by floods. Some of their corpses were never recovered. The outcry forced government’s intervention,” a resident, Paulinus Ossai, told our correspondent. He added that, “Without the reclamation done by the state government in collaboration with the World Bank, Amuzam would have gone into extinction.
Collapsed building at Amuzam
“The construction company did a good job in filling the gullies. But many affected areas are yet to be covered.”
Communal efforts to reclaim their lands yielded little or no result, says John Enwu, a community leader. Their farmlands have equally been taken over by the environmental degradation that the abandoned coal mines have brought.
“Our farmlands and residential buildings were destroyed before this reclamation,” Enwu told our correspondent. “Another community which this ecological problem has adversely affected is Umueze-Asata, where farmlands have been washed away and getting very close to residential buildings.”
James Eze who lives in the same community shares his experience: “We tried all that we could. The erosion has gone beyond our local efforts. We dig holes just to slow down water pressures and water currents. We also fill bags of cement with sands just to hedge it off, but the water pressure is always too much.”
At Okpuno-Nsude in Udi Local Government Area where Okpara mines are located, residents live in constant fear during rainy seasons. Unlike Amuzam, the intervention at Okpuno-Nsude is still in the pipeline.
This hitherto agrarian community has become a ghost of itself as the landslides spread meteorically. The natives adopt various erosion-control measures to curtail it, but it keeps spreading. “We are worried that the underground tunnels that have been there for many years may cave in one day,” Sheddy Ozoene, a native of the village, said.
Titus Ozoani, another villager, corroborates Ozoene and said they live in fear. “We live in fear every day. Through communal efforts, we plant bamboo trees to ameliorate the situation. Although it curbs the excesses, a lot need to be done,” he told our reporter.
Bamboo trees planted in gullies to check erosion expansion at Okpuno Nsude
“There was a time the authorities of the World Bank came to supervise it. Ever since then, we have remained expectant. They are yet to return again. This erosion has killed our farming activities. The effect is devastating,” he said.
At the moment, the state government, under the Enugu State-Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (NEWMAP), a World Bank assisted project, is carrying out reclamation, channelling, and remediation at Colliery gully erosion site. It is being handled by Anbeez Services Ltd. The work at Amuzam gully site was also carried out by the same company.
Walking in the shadow of death
Seven communities under Agbaja cultural zone−Nsude, Obioma, Amuzam, Nachi, Eke, 9th Mile, and Ngwo−all with abandoned coal mines, have an undetermined and dangerous hollow beneath them.
Leaders of the areas, known as Agbaja Leaders of Thought, engaged the services of environmentalists and geologists. They say they were told that there are danger zones that could cave in like earthquake. They are demanding the mining maps to determine these red zones.
Agu Gab Agu, a professor of law and secretary of the group, says the mines were shut hurriedly without due processes. Agu blamed the Nigerian government for failing to do the right thing in reclaiming the affected areas at the time the coals were shut down.
“These mines were shut hurriedly without due processes,” he said. “Usually, when mines are being closed, there should be props or trees to hold the openings in the bowel of the earth. They are large openings that when they start to cave in, they will bring down everything on their top.
“The mines travel many kilometres, as far as Ebe, Obioma, and Nachi. So we are on top of them without knowing that the underneath is hollow. Some communities, like Nsude, will soon cave in.”
They are apprehensive of what could happen soon. So they are seeking to have the map of the area. “We have commissioned some work by environmentalists and geologists on that,” Agu says. “Our query is that those who did this thing should give us the maps. We want to know the danger zones.
“Nobody can discountenance that the problem of Ugwu Onyeama may be part of this development. If it passed through 9th Mile, with the ongoing development there, it means that one day, it will just go down. Most of those lands may not be useful to the owners again. They ought to be restituted.”
Nigerian Mining Act 2007, although does not specify the penalties for non-reclamation of mined areas, is explicit in ensuring standard practices at mine zones, particularly by those who worked on the mines.
Chapter Four of the Act, entitled ‘Environmental Considerations and Rights of Host Communities, states that, “The minister shall by order require the grantee of a mining lease to restore any area in respect of which mining operation has been, is being, or is to be carried out, on or after the date on which this Act comes into operation.
“Where land which is subject of a mining lease has been exploited, the reclamation of mined-out areas shall be restored by the applicant under the condition of its grant, otherwise the relevant provision of section 10 of this Act shall apply.”
Government Interventions
Barr Vincent Egechukwu Obetta, project coordinator of Enugu State-NEWMAP, revealed that, “The project intervention on the erosion areas in Ngwo communities has commenced with the award of contracts for the six sites.”
However, for that of Ugwuto-Nsude, the project was successfully handed over on October 2018, on completion, to the host community, Obetta further said.
Investigations by this newspaper show that intervention work is ongoing at four fingers of the abandoned mines located at Isata, Colliery, St Theresa’s and Amuzam, although at a snail’s pace.
This, according to findings, is a result of paucity of funds towards the counterpart funding scheme. “The reclamation of Amuzam and ongoing works at some other affected sites of the landslides show that Gov Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi has not forgotten these areas,” a local source who did not want to be named said.
A publication of Enugu State-Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project shows that former governor Sullivan Chime paid a counterpart fund of N30 million and another N30 million in 2013, and later approved N200 million in 2014 for NEWMAP projects as counterpart funds with the World Bank.
– This story was produced in partnership with Civic Media Lab under its Grassroots News Project
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The court-ordered routine visit of the lawyers representing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu took another dimension as the operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) prevented them from seeing him yesterday.
According to a statement issued by Kanu’s lead counsel, Ifeanyi Ejiofor and obtained by SaharaReporters on Friday, the DSS said "that the person assigned to receive us during yesterday's visit was on a special assignment.” Nnamdi Kanu Ejiofor stated that he was in the secret police’s office with a constitutional lawyer from the United States (US), Bruce Fein, but they were prevented from seeing the separatist leader despite meeting formal notification and existing procedures on visitation.
Fein had in May filed a lawsuit on behalf of IPOB in the US to revoke the six A-29 Tucano fighter jets sold to the Nigerian government and also block the remaining six from being conveyed to the country.
Both Ejiofor and Fein were not allowed to see Kanu on Thursday.
Ejiofor, in the statement, described the action as “ridiculous and a clear violation of the court order on guideline for visiting our client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”
The statement read, “Yesterday's court-ordered visit to our client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was aborted by the officials of the State Security Services (also known as the Department of State Services, DSS) for a reason we find extremely ridiculous.
“Following the arrival of Mr. Bruce Fein, a foremost American trained Constitutional Lawyer and IPOB's Attorney in the United States of America, the game obviously took an interesting twist.
“Despite our formal notification to the Service, in line with the existing protocol, and in compliance with the Court-Ordered guideline, the officials of the Department of State Services came up with an excuse, 'that the person assigned to receive us during yesterday's visit was on a special assignment', and as such, the visit cannot be conducted.
“This is not only ridiculous but a clear violation of the Court Order on guidelines for visiting our client, Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
“For the records, we have been consistently visiting our client on the specified days and time of the week, and there hasn't been any time we were denied access to him on the ground that an individual assigned to receive us was not available.
“Needless to mention, that no one individual has been specifically assigned to receive us on any of the visits. They are fully aware that the visit takes place every Monday and Thursday.
“Thankfully, we have another date for Monday, and we do hope that this individual will be available on Monday to receive us, whilst we have taken steps to formally bring this latest infraction to the attention of the Court.
“We will continue to update you all, while we continue to urge for your relentless prayers and understanding. We are winning, you can be assured.
“Thank you all and remain blessed.”
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The Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has expelled the party’s Caretaker Chairman of Yola South Local Government Area, Adamawa State, Sulaiman Adamu.
His expulsion from the party takes immediate effect.
SaharaReporters Media
This was contained in a statement titled “APC Expels Yola South LGA Caretaker Chairman, Alhaji Sulaiman Adamu,” signed by the party’s National Secretary, Senator John Akpanudoedehe, in Abuja, on Thursday.
He explained that the decision was part of the resolutions reached at the 16th meeting of the CECPC held at the Party’s National Secretariat, Buhari House in Abuja on Wednesday, September 1, 2021.
Akpanudoedehe said, “The CECPC received and deliberated on the report of his infractions and recommendations of the 7-member disciplinary committee set up by the Adamawa State Working Committee to investigate the offences committed by Alhaji Sulaiman Adamu against the interest of the party.
“Recall the viral video in which Alhaji Sulaiman Adamu made unwholesome utterances on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Leader of the Party.
“He was also found guilty of bringing the image of the party to disrepute thereby creating doubt on his leadership quality and loyalty to the party.
“The CECPC calls on party members to always demonstrate self-discipline and restraint by desisting from acts and utterances that are inimical to the interest of the party."
SaharaReporters had reported that Adamu, in leaked audio, said he wished the deadly COVID-19 had killed President Muhammadu Buhari.
Adamu, who made the remark during a meeting of some APC chieftains, said if he was asked to choose between Buhari and the Vice-President, Yemi Osinbajo, he would rather go for the latter.
Sources revealed that high-profile party members at the meeting included the immediate past Governor of Adamawa State, Muhammadu Bindow, and the immediate past Speaker of Adamawa State House of Assembly, who is the incumbent member representing Yola South constituency in the state House of Assembly, Kabiru Mijinyawa.
Other APC stalwarts present at the meeting are Yusha’u Adamu who served Bindow as adviser and Abubakar Sirimbai, who is a former development area chairman.
Sources privy to the development said the meeting took place on Sunday, August 8, 2021, at the residence of the former Commissioner of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, under the Bindow administration, Mustapha Barkindo-Mustapha.
In the leaked audio clip, the APC chieftains were heard making spiteful and denigrating remarks against Buhari without let or hindrance.
“I don’t know why coronavirus did not kill Buhari. If the president is placed side by side with Osinbajo, I will pick Osinbajo and leave Buhari,” the chairman was heard lamenting in Fulfulde.
Also lambasting the president, Abubakar Sirimbai, said, it is better for the “accursed president” to die so that Osinbajo could take over power.
“It is better for the accursed president to die so that his deputy can assume the reins of power. We sold our properties to help the president win the election. We bought underwear, braziers, and cosmetics which we used to give him a makeup. If I’m averse to Osinbajo becoming the president, may God not give me the privilege of living till evening.
“Buhari has achieved nothing in Adamawa in the last six years. APC in Adamawa thrives on the legacies of Bindow. We heard that Buhari used to be extremely happy whenever he learnt someone has gone bankrupt. We can’t be worshipping him like others,” Sirimbai was quoted as saying.
Also, the former Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mijinyawa in apparent approval of what others said, added that “Osinbajo is our own.”
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Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has called on residents of the state to pray more for God’s intervention to end banditry in the state.
Matawalle made the call during a state-wide prayer session organised by the Ulamau Consultative Committee.
Governor Bello Matawalle of Zamfara-state
The governor also said people "must seek Allah's forgiveness", NAN reports.
"Prayer is the only powerful weapon that can solve any calamity on the people,” said Gusau Central Mosque.
“We must seek Allah’s forgiveness," he added.
The special prayer session was observed in all the Juma’at mosques in the state with Matawalle noting that it was important for residents to support the government and security operatives in tackling banditry.
In August, the police warned that
In late August, the police had revealed that bandits’ attack on the Tsafe local government area was imminent, forcing security agencies, including the military, to intensify joint ground and air surveillance patrols on the Gusau to Tsafe-Yankara road.
“There was an abduction of students just now in Kaya town, Maradun Local Government Area of Zamfara state. The gunmen who were in large number came to Kaya Junior Secondary School and abduct large number of students,” a source told SaharaReporters.
Niger, Katsina, Zamfara, Sokoto and many other states in North-west and North-central Nigeria are bedevilled by bandits’ attacks.
Bandits kill and kidnap at will in Zamfara.
Many people, including students have been kidnapped by rampaging bandits in the state.
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The Lagos State government has revealed the extent at which domestic and sexual related offences are being carried out across the state.
The State Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) said it recorded 10,007 cases of domestic and sexual related cases in just two years.
This was pronounced by the Chairman of the Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team and the Lagos State Commissioner For Justice and Attorney-General, Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN) on Wednesday, during a press conference held at the Bagauda Kaltho Press Centre, in Ikeja.
The event was to commemorate the Domestic and Sexual Violence Awareness Month.
According to Onigbanjo, the offences recorded were often perpetrated against adults and children.
Since May 2019, the agency has been recording an average of 150 new cases monthly.
''Under Mr. Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu's administration, DSVRT has received a total of 10,007 reported cases which include domestic violence and sexual violence perpetrated against adults and children.
''From May 2019 till August 26, 2021, the team has handled 4,150 domestic violence; 177 rape; 255 attempt to commit rape/sexual assault; 246 sexual assault by penetration/threat; and 877 others cases (separation, not taking responsibilities of child(ren), neglect, custody of the child, non-GBV).
''The team also handled 436 child abuse/physical assault, 271 defilement cases; 13 defilement by minor to minor; 454 child labour; abduction neglect/others; and 148 sexual harassment/molestation cases.
''Also, a total of 2,980 children have experienced emotional abuse (that is these children have been exposed to domestic violence within the home). Some of these children had been taken through counselling programmes, to ensure they were able to psychologically deal with the events they had witnessed, without it having a permanent and negative impact on them,” he said.
Onigbanjo also disclosed that the team witnessed an increase in cases reported from other states including Ogun and Oyo states.
According to the Attorney-General, in the past two years, a total of 526 cases occurred outside Lagos state and such cases were immediately directed to the relevant agencies in their respective states.
Meanwhile, the Office of the Public Defender, Lagos Public Interest Law Partnership (LPILP), as well as the International Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) provided free legal representation to 188 survivors of domestic violence.
He said the free legal representation ranged from judicial separation, divorce, custody of children, mediation and settlement.
The team in 2021 provided services to 10 persons with disabilities who in one way or the other, experienced a form of gender-based violence.
Such reports were reported to the police as well as the Chief Coroner of Lagos State, for a coroner’s inquest to be conducted, with a view to ascertaining the cause of death, the outcome of which would greatly strengthen the case of the prosecution.
Prosecution was ongoing on three of such cases while the remaining two suspects are still at large.
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Mrs Deborah Mbi was robbed on her farm in 2020, but surprisingly she saw the faces of the young herdsmen who robbed her on Facebook.
On Tuesday, August 31, 2021, the herdsmen who robbed Mbi posted pictures of themselves on Mbi's Facebook wall, with one of the pictures showing cattle in the background.
The herdsmen had taken pictures with her phone and uploaded them on her Facebook wall, not bothering to open their own Facebook account.
Mbi, who is a civil servant, was robbed on her farm in Adamawa State.
Her profile says she finished from Adamawa State University.
Some of her friends who were surprised to see the strange pictures posted on Mbi's Facebook wall asked her how they came about and she narrated that she was robbed on her farm by the young men who were "not smart enough to open their Facebook account".
“Don’t mind the idiots! They forcefully collected my phone last year and are not smart enough to open their own Facebook account. Though l think they are daring me. The Fulani man thinks he owns this country and can do anything,” she said in her reaction to one of the comments.
"Thieves," she added.
She, however, did not say if she reported the incident to the police or why she did not report if that was not done.
One of her friends had asked, "My sister, long time, who and who be these charming young lads again?"
"Hmmm na then be this Fulani boys that steal your phone in the farm aunty (sic)," another friend had said.
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The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and Department of State Services (DSS) have seized a type of drug identified as one of the most notorious stimulants being taken by ISIS terrorists and other violent insurgents in the Middle East.
The hard drug is called Captagon.
Captagon, popularly known as Fenethylline, is also called "The Amphetamine Fuelling Syria's War" or "The Jihadists' Drug" by the media.
Captagon is used by the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS or ISIL) and other extremist groups to enhance their soldiers' abilities, keep them awake for long, dull their pain, and create a sense of euphoria.
Area Commander of Apapa Command, Comptroller Malanta Yusuf, disclosed this in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer of the command, Abubakar Usman, in Lagos on Wednesday.
According to Yusuf, the drug traffickers attempted to smuggle the drug into the country by hiding it inside an imported machine coming through Apapa Port in Lagos.
The crime was busted through a joint operation involving the NCS, NDLEA, and DSS after they dismantled the machine and deployed sniffer dogs for assistance.
“Further dismantling of cylinders in the machine is ongoing. The operation which involved heads of the three services will be sustained in the fight against all forms of smuggling and infractions.
“One suspect in connection with the seizure was arrested while further examination and counting are ongoing before more details will be released,” he said.
He said the long-term use of the drug led to serious side effects; the most common of which are extreme depression, lethargy, insomnia, occasional palpitation of the heart, blood vessel toxicity, and malnutrition.
He stressed that the drug had been identified as one of the most notorious stimulants being taken by ISIS fighters and other insurgents to cause unrest in the Middle East.
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Nigeria’s leading opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party, has reached out to former President Goodluck Jonathan not to abandon the party amid thickening plot by the ruling All Progressives Congress to field him for presidency in 2023.
The acting National Chairman of the PDP, Yemi Akinwonmi, alongside some other leaders of the party paid a visit to Jonathan in his residence in Abuja.
ex-President Goodluck JonathanCNN
Those on Akinwonmi’s delegation included Daisi Akintan, the former caretaker secretary of the PDP in the South-West and the secretary of ex-officio forum and a member of the National Executive Committee, Helen Taiwo.
The three-member team met with the former President behind closed doors but it was gathered that the visit was designed to acquaint Jonathan with current happenings within the party and seek his advice on how best to find an amicable solution to the crisis.
“The South West team were with the former President to appeal to him not to abandon the party.
“They also appealed to him to show more than a passing interest in the affairs of the party by becoming more actively involved in the activities of the party. The former President assured the team that he would not abandon the party,” a source privy to the meeting told Punch.
SaharaReporters had in February 2021 reported that the APC was considering giving a joint ticket to Jonathan and Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, for the 2023 presidential election.
Top sources within the party had told SaharaReporters that Jonathan was being considered as a strong voice in the southern region, while El-Rufai is being packaged to represent northern interests and later become the president when the presidency is again zoned to the North.
"There are plans already to pair El-Rufai with Jonathan for 2023. We believe both forces are strong and have goodwill in their regions and are good for the party," one of the sources had confirmed to SaharaReporters.
It was learnt that there had been pressure on Jonathan, to defect to the All Progressives Congress and run for president in 2023 on the ruling party's platform.
Some APC chieftains, including governors, had also visited Jonathan at his Abuja residence last November on his 63rd birthday.
The APC team's visit was led by the Chairman Caretaker/Extraordinary National Convention Planning Committee, who is also the acting national chairman of the party, Governor Mai Mala Buni.
Other members of the delegation include David Umahi, Ebonyi State governor, who recently defected from the PDP to the APC; Atiku Bagudu, Kebbi State governor, who is also the chairman of the Progressives Governors Forum; Abubakar Badaru, Jigawa State governor; Chief Ken Nnamani, a former Senate President; and Alhaji Kashim Ibrahim-Imam, ex-presidential liaison office to the National Assembly.
The APC leadership visit to Jonathan had generated speculations, which SaharaReporters have confirmed to be more than a friendly visit or a courtesy call on a former president.
It was learnt that the visit was a continuation of the APC scheme to woo Jonathan to the party by a caucus in the party that feels more comfortable to have the ex-President in power than the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu.
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A section of the Lokoja-Kabba Federal Highway in Kogi State has caved in, subjecting commuters to traffic gridlock and frustration.
The portion of the bad road is between Zariagi and Obajana cement factory.
The affected lane on the road has been cordoned off, leaving motorists to a narrow section.
In a traffic alert notice, the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) advised the motoring public to avoid the road.
“Members of the motoring public and general commuters travelling from or to Southwest, through Lokoja-Kabba- Federal Highway are hereby notified of the caving in of a section of the road between Zariagi and Obajana cement factory.”
“This development has led to an obstruction of free flow of traffic. As all the concerned authorities are making frantic efforts to carry out emergency repairs to restore the normal flow of traffic, the emergency work may take some hours to complete.
“In view of the foregoing, motorists, travellers, and the general public are hereby advised to use Lokoja-Okene-Kabba, or Lokoja-Okene-Ogorimangogo as alternative routes to or from South-West.
“The Federal Road Safety Corps solicits maximum cooperation of the motoring public on this development. The Corps will also continue to update the public periodically on further developments on the ameliorative work going on at the failed portion of the road,” read the notice issued by Bisi Kazeem, FRSC’s spokesman.
Though a federal road, the affected portion subjects Kogi residents to lots of discomfort as the state governor, Yahaya Bello, also seemed not to have drawn the Federal Government’s attention to the deplorable state of the major road.
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Boko Haram terrorists and Islamic State-aligned fighters have invaded Rann community in Borno State, killing at least 17 people, including a soldier and an aid worker.
Security and militia sources told AFP on Tuesday that hundreds of fighters from the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) stormed the town of Rann on the border with Cameroon, pushing troops out of a base and occupying the town for several hours.
File Photo: A boy walks past the remains of a village burnt down by Boko Haram on the outskirts of MaiduguriAudu Marte/AFP/Getty
The attack provoked a mass exodus of residents towards Cameroon before the Nigerian troops regained the town with aerial support.
ISWAP which split from Boko Haram in 2016 has been consolidating its control since the death in May of Boko Haram leader Abubakar Shekau in clashes between the two rival factions.
Heavily-armed fighters "came in around 1:30 am on foot like a swarm of locusts and overwhelmed soldiers who had to abandon their base", said an anti-jihadist militia leader in the town.
"The insurgents killed 11 people in the attack," said the source who asked not to be identified.
The jihadists stole weapons before setting fire to buildings and vehicles, added the militia leader, in an account supported by a second militia member in the town.
A United Nations security source in the region said a soldier and a local volunteer with a foreign aid agency were among the casualties.
The Nigerian military confirmed the attack on the base, saying troops restored calm after they were initially dislodged.
Earlier on Monday the jihadists attacked nearby Ajiri town, killing six residents, the two militia sources said.
Rann, home to 35,000 people displaced by the jihadist violence, has been repeatedly targeted by ISWAP and rival Boko Haram.
In May, ISWAP attacked the town and killed 35 people, including five troops and 15 militia members.
The 12-year-long insurgency which has separated into parts of neighbouring Niger, Chad and Cameroon has killed at least 40,000 people and displaced around two million from their homes.
Senator Bala Na’Allah has disclosed details of a conversation he had with his son hours before he was murdered.
The senator’s eldest son, Captain Abdulkareem Bala Na’Allah, was found dead in his bedroom at Malali in Kaduna State on Sunday.
The 36-year-old pilot, who was said to have recently got married, was strangled while his assassins escaped with his vehicle and personal belongings.
Speaking at his Gwamna Road residence in Kaduna on Tuesday, the senator, who was abroad at the time of the tragic incident, said there needs to be an antidote for the evolving security challenges.
He said he had a discussion with his son on insecurity hours before he was killed.
“Since Abdulkareem’s death, so many things continue to happen that remove the pain of his death from me. I spoke to him around 9.27pm on Saturday. And I swear by the Holy Qur’an, the subject of our discussion was security. Little did I know that he had less than eight hours to live.
“This insecurity issue didn’t just come in a day and it is good we understand this because if we don’t understand it, we will continue to prescribe a medicine that will not cure it and the prescription, which is dangerous to me that I have seen so far, is for politicians to attempt to politicise the issue of security.
“So, courtesy demands that we advise ourselves and look at clearly what are the issues? How do they come about? Then with that information we can prescribe the correct antidote to our problem.”
Na’Allah, who said he has spoken frequently about insecurity, warned politicians against taking advantage of the situation.
“I have consistently talked about insecurity in this country because this insecurity just starts in one day.
“Politicians attempting to politicise the issue of insecurity is a major problem, because security is much more than that. Our issue has been evolutionary, evolutionary in the sense that for a long time, we took so many things for granted and created unwittingly.
“Civilised countries succeeded in doing what they were doing because they ensured justice prevailed, but we got to a point where a minister was killed in this country, we could not find his killers, so many other people have been killed and their killers are have not been found and because every security agent wants to escape from the investigation, they tag the killers as unknown gunmen. When will the unknown be known?” he quizzed.
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The House of Representatives Committee on Customs has threatened not to release the Nigerian Customs Service’s budget over $420 million unused scanners.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the committee issued a two-week ultimatum for the Customs to moderate its 18 cargo clearing phases to four to decongest the nation’s ports.
The committee chairman, Leke Abejide (SDC-Kogi), stated that the committee would not work on the Custom’s 2022 budget if provisions were not made to repair scanners in the ports.
Abejide observed that the government had invested over $420 million on the scanners, and the committee would not allow such investment to go down the drain.
After an interactive session with stakeholders, the committee, which made the resolution on Tuesday in Abuja, summoned the Customs Comptroller-General to appear before it in person to explain the processes.
Abejide said the process should be limited to the offices of the Comptroller Area Commander (CAC), deputy comptroller revenue (DCR), the officer in charge of bond and gate.
“Once it gets to the CAC, the CAC should minute it directly to the deputy comptroller revenue. From there, it goes to the officer in charge of bond and then to the gate for exit,” said Mr Abejide. “We have to do something about this. Let us bring down these procedures to four stages. Somebody is getting revenue illegally. But if we do this, we will cut away all these illegalities, and the revenue goes to the government.”
The Deputy Comptroller, Tariff and Trade, Talatu Isah, explained the necessity to probe the matter before taking action, saying the procedure should not be that cumbersome.
She mentioned that the service was working hard to ensure ease of doing business in the country and security by ensuring only approved goods got into the country.
Isah urged any dealer subjected to a cumbersome procedure to clear merchandise should report to the comptroller area commander.
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The Spiritual Director, Adoration Ministry Enugu Nigeria (AMEN), Rev. Father Ejike Mbaka, has said Nigeria is sinking with worsening insecurity.
And according to him, the situation may get worse except President Muhammadu Buhari takes drastic steps to address it.
Mbaka said the recent attack by bandits on the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA) was just the beginning of calamities that can befall Nigeria if Buhari did not change and God did not intervene.
Gunmen had last Tuesday attacked the Afaka campus of the NDA, which is Nigeria’ foremost military training school, killing two officers and abducting one Major Christopher Datung.
Another officer was hospitalised within the institution as a result of gunshot wounds.
The bandits later reportedly reached out to the military, demanding a ransom of N200 million for the release of the abducted officer.
Mbaka, however, said the arrest of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, who has been in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS), would not solve the problem of insecurity in the country.
He, therefore, called for his release, saying Kanu was not the cause of insecurity in the country.
Mbaka said this during Sunday Mass, describing the recent attack on the NDA as a preamble.
Mbaka said, “Did you not hear that yesterday (Saturday), bandits entered into our most secured place in this country, Nigerian Defence Academy? The NDA, the impenetrable place in Nigeria and killed some Nigerian military officers.
“And people are still talking of Father Mbaka and Adoration. And some Catholics are still attacking the worship of Blessed Sacrament through adoration; what are they going there to do? The country is sinking just as I told them last time. The arrest of Nnamdi Kanu; will it solve any problem? Will it stop any agitation? Now, the attack on the NDA; is it Nnamdi Kanu now?
“Is it not better he is released? Since he is still under their custody and NDA could be perforated, violated and mesmerised, what is the hope of this country if it can happen in Nigeria Defence Academy? Where else is safe?
“As I told you people last two months that what you are seeing is just the beginning of the trouble and that the main trouble is coming. This one that they did (NDA attack) is just the elementary part of it. The secondary part of it is still coming.
“I am only asking God to intervene because what is happening in Afghanistan right now; if God is not ready to help us, Nigeria’s situation will be worse in the future. You are free to attack Father Mbaka and criticise me, that one is your problem.
“I am doing my prophetic work, and I don’t need apology or affirmation or support or approval from anybody apart from the Holy Spirit who sent me on this risky assignment. Even if I want to stop it, I can’t even stop it.”
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Katsina State Governor, Aminu Bello Masari has ordered the “immediate and total closure” of the Jibia-Gurbin Baure Road to all motorists indefinitely.
This is effective from Tuesday, August 31, 2021.
File photo used to illustrate story.
“Travellers plying that road are advised to go through Funtua,” an executive order signed by Masari on Monday said.
He also closed Kankara-Sheme Road to commercial vehicles. Katsina is the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, but this has not stopped bandits from terrorising its poor communities.
For instance, 344 schoolboys were kidnapped from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara in Katsina State by bandits on December 11, 2020. They were released about a week later.
Bandits riding on motorcycles killed 12 persons and injured six others in Duba in the Batsari Local Government Area of the state on the night of Saturday, August 21.
However, regarding the new development, the governor explained that the closure of the roads and other measures were in the exercise of powers conferred upon him by sub-section (2) of Section 176 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
He tagged the notice, “Security Challenges (Containment) Order” and shall come into effect from August 31, 2021.
Regarding the closure of Kankara-Sheme Road to commercial vehicles, motorists were advised to go through Funtua. The order said, “Only private non-commercial vehicles are to ply the road and lorries, trucks carrying firewood from the bush are totally banned.
“Suspension of sale of all animals at the markets of the following Local Government Areas: Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Malumfashi, Charanchi, Mal’adua, Kafur, Faskari, Sabuwa, Baure, Dutsinma and Kaita.
“Ban on transportation of cattle trucks from Katsina State to any other state in Nigeria.
“Total ban on carrying three persons on motorcycles and more than three passengers on a tricycle.
“Total ban on the sale of second-hand motorcycles at the Charanchi market.
“Re-enforcement of the ban on the operation of commercial tricycles and motorcycles from 10.00 p.m to 6.00 a.m in the state capital and 6.00 p.m to 6.00 a.m in the frontline Local Government Areas.
“Re-enforcement of the total ban on the sale of petrol in jerry cans at filling stations.
“Only two designated filling stations are allowed to sell fuel of not more than N5,000.00 to motorists in Jibia, Batsari, Safana, Danmusa, Kankara, Faskari, Sabuwa, Dandume, Musawa, Matazu, Dutsinma, Kurfi, Danja and Kafur Local Government Areas.
“Identified essential workers (health personnel, security personnel and Journalists) could use tricycles and motorcycles beyond the banned periods.”
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