Inspector-General of Nigeria Police, Ibrahim Idris
By Amos Tauna
Determined to ensure total success of operations Absolute Sanity currently ongoing on Abuja-Kaduna Highway, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has ordered the immediate redeployment of Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, on Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Highways
Others to be redeployed are Inspectors and Rank and Files serving in the Police Divisions, Police Stations and out posts along the highway, starting from Zuba Division in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja to all Divisions and Police Stations and Posts in Niger State to Kaduna, and those other Police Divisions, Police Stations and Outposts throughout the Highways to Kaduna and Zaria City in Kaduna State.
A statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, CSPJimoh O. Moshood, explains that the redeployment is meant to rout out gangs of kidnappers and armed robbers terrorizing Abuja-Kaduna Highway.
It says that the new Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, other superior Police Officers, Inspectors and Rank and Files have been posted to take over from the outgoing ones, explaning that the redeployment was to bring in new experience and fresh impetus to the fights against kidnappings, armed robberies and other violent crimes on these Highways, and ensure full execution of Operations Absolute Sanity’s strategies in achieving the stipulated mandates of the operations.
In another development, the Inspector General of Police had promoted post-humously late Inspector Idris Musa to the rank of an Assistant Superintendent of Police for act of bravery, gallantry and supreme sacrifice of losing his life in active service to his fatherland, Nigeria and the Nigeria Police Force.
The statement notes that the late Police Officer would be remembered as one of the heroes of the Nigeria Police Force in the fight against Boko-Haram insurgency in Nigeria.
Inspector Idris Musa died on 24th July, 2017 from injury he sustained along with two (2) other Police Officers who survived when they came under IEDs attack from the remnant of Boko-Haram insurgents who were moving out to attack public centres, place of worships and other locations in Kano metropolis in the early hours of 23rd of July, 2017.
The Inspector General of Police has directed that the late Inspector Idris Musa be given a befitting burial.
The Senate on Tuesday unanimously approved the inclusion of former presidents of the Senate and former speakers of the House of Representatives as members of the Council of State.
The decision of the Senate followed an electronic voting on the report of the committee on Constitution review which sought to alter certain sections of the 1999 Constitution.
According to the decision of the Senate, the council of state which usually comprises serving and pasts presidents and heads of state as well as the serving president and speakers of the legislature will now include past presidents and speakers.
All 95 Senators who were present voted in favour of the bill.
However, only past leaders of each of the chambers that were not impeached during their tenure are eligible to become members of the council.
The Senate also approved the alteration bill seeking to reduce from six months to three months, the period of time within which a president can authorise withdrawal from the confederation account before the passage of the budget of a particular year.
The Senate for the second time also approved financial autonomy for State Houses of Assembly to get their funding directly from the federation accounts rather than rely on the state government to be funded.
During the last Constitution review, the National Assembly approved financial autonomy for the states, however in a turn of events, the State Assemblies themselves rejected the autonomy having voted no to financial autonomy when the matter was brought before them as part of the process of Constitution amendment.
The upper legislative chamber also approved the abrogation of joint accounts for States and Local Government and provided for Local government to operate their special accounts called the Local Government Account.
The Senate also approved the alteration that only democratically elected local government councils will be recognised and funded from the federation account.
Also approved was granting of immunity to lawmakers and indemnify them from anything they say during the course of plenary or committee meeting.
The Senate also approved that the president and governors should have a time frame after taking office within which to submit ministerial nominees or list of commissioners in the case of the governors.
The Senate however rejected the alteration which would have mandated states to ensure that 20 per cent of state commissioners appointed are women.
The Senate also approved the change of name of the Nigerian Police Force to the Nigeria Police to reflect their core mandate. 87 out of the 96 lawmakers present voted yes.
The inclusion of independent candidates to contest elections was also okayed by the Senate as 62 senators voted in favour of the Independent Candidature Bill.
Any person who functioned in capacity as acting president or governor can only serve as an elected president or governor only once.
This implies that that once the individual is re-elected into the office which he had served in acting capacity, he cannot contest an election into that same office.
If this approvals sail through the entire process of the amendment, it means that former President Goodluck Jonathan can no longer contest the presidential election having acted as president and served a fresh 4 year term afterwards.
The Senate also approved the separation of the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation from the Office of the accountant general of the Federal Government.
Following the rejection of the lawmakers, a woman who married out of her state or Local government of origin will not have the choice to decide if to contest an election as an indigene of her place of origin or her place of marriage.
This will also apply in the case of political appointment as the woman would not have the choice whether to be appointed as an indigene of her place of origin or her place of marriage.
The Senate also approved for the establishment of the Investment and Securities Tribunal.
The age qualification for persons contesting for elective offices was also reduced approved for reduction by the Senate.
The upper legislative Council further approved that the president or governor must submit the appropriation bill of the proceeding financial year not later than 90 days before the expiration of the current financial year.
The Decree that established the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was also deleted from the Constitution to allow for its amendment.
Other decrees which the senate approved for deletion for the Constitution were the Public Complaint Commission and State Independent Electoral Commissions.
However, the bill seeking to delete the Land Use Act from the Constitution was rejected by the lawmakers as only 44 senators voted in support of the bill.
Following the passage of the Bill establishing the Nigerian Peace Corps Bill, NPC, by the National Assembly, Nigerians have expressed joy with the laudable move taken to ensure youths are gainfully employed.
The Bill, which was sponsored by Senator Bayero Nafada, said the passage of the Bill was to empower and provide employment for the youths, facilitate peace, volunteerism, community services and nation building.
Most of those who spoke to AFRICA PRIME NEWS in Kaduna, northern Nigeria on Wednesday noted that the passage of the Bill by the National Assembly was a welcome development, stressing that members of the Senate have listening ears to the cry of Nigerians on the alarming rate of unemployment particularly among the youths in the country.
Saleh Mairiga, a trader in Kaduna Central market, noted that though not all the youths would be employed, stressed that some of them will be off the streets doing something to earn a living.
He called on government at all levels to explore ways of engaging the youths in gainful employment, pointing out that present social vices being experienced in the country could be as a result of idleness on the part of the youths.
Binniyat Francis, a retired civil servant, praised steps taken by the National Assembly towards the passage of the Bill establishing the Nigerian Peace Corps, NPC, noting that the members of the National Assembly should ensure people’s oriented programmes that have direct bearing on the people.
A Youth Corper serving in Kaduna State, Emmanuel Okekwuku, praised the move made the Senate in adopting the passage of the Bill. He added the youths in Nigerians are going through trying moments especially graduates roaming the streets without anything do to help themselves.
Officials of Nigerian Peace Corps (NPC), Kaduna had rolled out their drums celebrating the passage of the Bill establishing the NPC by the National Assembly.
Kaduna State Commandant of (NPC), Sunday Baye, who led others appreciating the National Assembly, said, “Parents are happy, youths are happy, you can see the way people are jubilating as a result of the passage of the Bill.”
He expressed the appreciation of personnel of NPC for the foresight shown by the National Assembly in the passage of the Bill, stressing that it would go a long way in addressing problems among the youths and give them a sense of belonging in the society.
The Nigerian Army on Wednesday said it has rescued a team of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) staff who were ambushed by suspected Boko Haram terrorists on Tuesday.
It also added that it recovered and evacuated the corpses of the Officer, 8 soldiers and a civilian to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.
“Yesterday Tuesday 25th July 2017, at about 3.00pm, suspected Boko Haram terrorists ambushed the escort and team of Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) staff returning from oil exploration at Barno Yasu, Magumeri Local Government Area of Borno State.
“On receipt of the information, the Brigade mobilized and sent reinforcement, search and rescue party that include the Armed Forces Special Forces and guides that worked and pursued the terrorists throughout the night,” Army spokesperson, Brigadier General Sani Kukasheka Usman, pointed out in a statement.
“So far, they have rescued all the NNPC staff and recovered the corpses of the Officer, 8 soldiers and a civilian have been evacuated to 7 Division Medical Services and Hospital.
Items recovered from the suspected terrorists include four (4) vehicles one of which include a gun truck mounted with an Anti-Aircraft Gun, two (2) white Hilux taken away from NNPC staff and one (1) blue Hilux belonging to CJTF.
The team also recovered large quantities of arms and ammunition, several spare tyres, many jerry cans containing Petroleum, Oil and Lubricant, assorted drugs, Improvised Explosive Device (IED) making materials, reflective jackets and a Motorola handheld radio, among others.
Leak of intelligence Information divulged to Nigerian police have led to the killing of 18 villagers who volunteered information on kidnappers along Abuja – Kaduna express way.
“Everybody knows in this community that in the process of giving out information to the security, we have lost 18 people. There was one of us who was seen as a very brave man. He gave list of suspects to the security and he was cut into pieces three days after, in the presence of his wife,” said a resident of Rijana, a community along Kaduna-Abuja express way, to visiting Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau.
The villagers who felt betrayed by the police said, synergy with security personnel in the area could no longer be guaranteed.
Rijana, a small village along Abuja-Kaduna highway has been a hot bed of kidnapping, armed robbery and rustling.
The fear of the high cases of the kidnap among others had led many travelers plying Abuja—Kaduna expressway resort to travelling by train.
Reports of the constant kidnappings and attacks have led to the deployment of a special force by the Inspector General of Police Ibrahim Idris,
Visiting Minister
Minister of Interior, Abdulrahman Danbazzau who was on an official visit to the community on what he called fact finding mission, sympathised with the villagers, and described the Kidnappers as terrorist, who must be crushed by all means.
He observed that there was the need for synergy between the locals and the security operatives deployed to the area by the federal government to put an end to the heinous acts.
Responding to the complaints laid before him by the locals, General Danbazau assured that everything possible would be done to put the situation under control.
According to the Minister, “We are here on fact finding mission because of the incessant kidnapping going on in this area.
“Government is interested because it is its responsibility to protect lives and property and besides, it is a promise this government made before it was elected into office. So I’m here to meet with the community and see how the ongoing special operation is going.
“We see this as an act of terrorism because every element of terrorism is reflecting and it must stop. I’m aware that most of the people involved are foreigners but they cannot succeed without connivance with those that reside here in the community.
“Many of the youths are unemployed which is partly responsible for their connivance with criminals to terrorise their victims. We will look at your complaints.
“Government has resolved to end this kidnapping. It is a promise and we will do everything possible to address the situation. We will also protect our informants.”
Community Voice
Earlier, a former Special Assistant to former governor Ahmed Makarfi on Rural Development who spoke on behalf of the community, Abdulsalam Abubakar, said though the presence of security chiefs and other top government functionaries had brought some relief to them and expressed worry over killing of his people for attempting to provide police with information on kidnapping activities.
According to him, “Sincerely, we have started getting relief with the presence of security chiefs and top government officials like you who have come to show concern about what is happening in our domain.
“What is happening on this road is very disheartening and we members of the communities around are living in fear and anxiety specifically we members of the Rijana community are very interested in supporting this operation with useful information but, we are in serious trouble in this community.
“Its not that we don’t have information to give but we are scared because we can’t see reasons why 600 security personnel will be around here and they will not be able to enter the bush and flush out the criminals. Our youths are now spoilt. They have mixed with criminals and they have been corrupted by them.
“But our major problem is the fear of death. Our people are now scared to give information to the security. We have hitherto been giving information to the police but instead of seeing improvement and progress in the area of security, it is the other way round.
“There was a gentleman, Mallam Abdulrahman, who also gave information to the security he was also macheted to death. Same with Yakubu, Sani and Solomon, son of a village chief (Galadima). All died through information given to the security agents.
“Wallahi Tallahi, there are bad eggs among the security personnel especially the police. Whoever tells you Honourable Minister that these bad eggs do not exists in the police is telling you lies.
“Our patriotic Inspector General if Police has done very well because we have observed that at every u-turn along this express way, there is a police patrol van with minimum of ten personnel.
“Unfortunately, you will hear that in-between there are cases of armed robbery or kidnapping. And if you tell the policeman that robbery or kidnapping is ongoing somewhere close by, he will tell you point blank that he will not go because he does not carry the weapon criminals carry.
“It is very disturbing that IGP has deployed 600 policemen to this area and not even a common chicken has been arrested. We believed that, our police have requisite intelligence to tackle this problem.
“Since the last IGP’s visit, I have not been sleeping in my house because I’m scared that the way I spoke before the IG that day, the criminals will come after me.”
Gombe (Nigeria) — In an effort to curb malnutrition, Gombe state government in northeast Nigeria has flag-off its Food and Nutrition Policy, and a five-year work plan on malnutrition programme in the state.
The policy and the 5-year implementation plan was developed by the state government with support from Save the Children International, who provided technical and financial resources.
Investigation reveals that from January to December 2016, a total of 13,059 children (6,483 males and 6,570 females) aged 6 – 59 months were admitted in health facilities, out of which 11,031 were treated, 833 defaulted, 149 non-recovered and 105 died.
From January to June this year 6,330 malnourished children were admitted, 4,470 treated, 25 deaths while 101 defaulted.
Speaking at the flag-off, State Commissioner for Economic Planning, Mohammed Danladi Pantami, said, malnutrition remained a great challenge particularly for mothers and children, adding the NDHS 2013 has revealed that half of million children death each year, or about one out of every 2 child deaths in the country are as a result of malnutrition.
Malnutrition statistics given by the NDHS 2013, which northeast has 43.5 percent and the state has the highest rate, he said that the government seeing the need to address the situation and prevent it.
He however said, “Throughout the years of our developmental efforts, Gombe state and Nigeria have undergone remarkable challenge, where more children are surviving, the economy is growing, girls are better educated, more children are completing school and mothers attending pre and post-natal care”, he said.
Mr. Pantami said Federal government has set up National Council on Food and Nutrition chaired by the Vice President, and National Committee on Food and Nutrition which is coordinated by the Ministry of Budget and National Planning for strengthened multi-sectoral approach to the malnutrition issues in Nigeria
He urged all the line ministries and agencies to ensure that they capture their sectoral interventions in their respective annual budgets and make sure that they also apply to secure the release of the funds for implementation of these interventions.
The Inspector General of the Nigeria Police Force, Ibrahim K. Idris, has deployed a Joint Police Team to checkmate the incessant cases of Kidnappings and other criminal activities on Abuja-Kaduna Highway with its Headquarters at Rijanah.
The Joint Team comprised of Special Police Force, Police Mobile Force, Counter Terrorism Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Units, Intelligence Response Team, Special Tactical Squad, Force Intelligence Branch, and the Police helicopters.
Spokesperson of the Force, Jimoh O. Moshood, in a statement pointed out that, the Joint Police Team are under specific and definite mandate to root out the kidnap for ransom gangs and armed robbery gangs that have been terrorizing the Abuja-Kaduna Highway in recent times.
He said the operation is to complement and augment the on-going Joint Police/Military operations on ground before now.
“To achieve success of the operations Absolute sanity, the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Department of Operations has been mandated to supervise the operation as overall Commander while the Deputy Commissioner of Police, In-Charge of the Police Mobile Force is the Grand Commander of the Operations.
“The Police personnel will be proactive and work on actionable Intelligence at the disposal of the Force and carry out massive deployment and twenty four (24) hours surveillance and patrol, continuous raids of identified and other suspected hideouts of the kidnappers with a view to arresting them promptly before they attack innocent people. They will also nip in the bud other violence crimes such as armed robbery, car snatching etc on Abuja-Kaduna.
“Police Helicopters will embark on aerial surveillance and guided missions to assist the operation Absolute Sanity’s personnel on the ground in covering difficult terrains,” the statement added.
While calling on the public especially travelers and those residing in areas along the highway not to panic on the mass deployment of Police personnel, the Inspector General of Police urged them to assist and cooperate with the officers in the discharge of their responsibilities.
Security operatives on Tuesday disrupted this year’s annual procession of members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, in remembrance of the killing of Zakzaky’s three sons and 31 other members in Zaria, northern Nigeria.
Police and Army coloured helicopters were also seen hovering the area, extending as far as Kaduna city.
This has raised questions among residents of Kaduna, as to what was happening – many expressing fear.
“We started the programme by 8am, around 10am, the security personnel mobilised themselves and met us there. The Army came first and surrounded the place. They didn’t say anything, so we continued,” said Sheikh Abdulhamid Bello, one of the organisers.
He said when the police came “They tried to provoke us, but failed. The ACP told his personnel to take position, then they came and told the person preaching that: ‘No problem, no trouble, conclude and go away’. Some of our members recording were stopped and a journalist’s camera was seized.
“They wanted to seize all the cameras but we questioned them because their people were recording, so they decided that even their people should stop recording,” he narrated.
The Sheikh informed that as at the time they were disrupted, they had about 10,000 members in attendance, with several others prevented from entering the venue.
“About 10,000 of us were there, had it been we were not peaceful, they wouldn’t have been able to disperse us,” he added.
One of those prevented from entering the venue, Sheikh Adamu Tsoho who travelled from his base in Jos to attend, described the situation as unfortunate.
“We arrived around 9:30am. We heard they had blocked the entrance but they didn’t allow us to enter. A lot of people were trapped outside,” he explained.
When reporters sought what attracted heavy deployment of security personnel, the Police Area Commander in charge of Zaria, ACP Ibrahim Abdullahi, told newsmen to leave the area that there was problem.
The event venue at Darurahama, Jos Road, Zaria, was besieged by the security operatives who were with over 18 trucks filled with their personnel
The Group’s leader Sheik El-Zakzaky has been in custody since December 2015. A Nigerian High Court has ordered his release on bail, but Nigerian government is yet to release him.
Determined to ensure total success of operations Absolute Sanity currently ongoing on Abuja-Kaduna Highway, the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has ordered the immediate redeployment of Area Commanders, Divisional Police Officers, on Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria Highways
