President Muhammadu Buhari of Nigeria who is currently in a London hospital for treatment of undisclosed ailment has sent Eid-el-Fitr message to his fellow country people, urging them live in peace and avoid making reckless statements.
Buhari’s message was made available to journalists by his spokesman, Garba Shehu. It reads:
“I am immensely grateful to God for his mercy in guiding us successfully to conclude another Ramadan fast.
“My greetings to all Nigerian Muslims and our brother Christians on the occasion of Eid-el-Fitr.
“May the lessons of Ramadan namely; piety, self-denial, prayers and generosity to the poor and needy be with us for all time.
“I, again, appeal to all Nigerians to avoid reckless statements or actions against our fellow countrymen.
We should all resolve to live in peace and unity in our great country, which is the envy of many less endowed nations.
The leadership of Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Authority (KASTELEA) says it has dismissed 124 of its officers for offences ranging from extortion of motorists to abscondement from duty.
A statement by the General Manager and CEO, Abdulkadir Ahmed says, the move is part of the “continuous improvement effort geared towards the re-positioning of the Authority for better and efficient service delivery.”
The statement says the dismissed officers have up to two weeks to surrender the Agency’s property in their possession.
It also calls on road users to desist from giving money, to Road Marshals.
“KASTELEA wishes to assure members of the public of its relentless service to traffic safety in Kaduna State. And the general public is hereby warned not to give any form of gratification or monetary payment to Marshals of the Authority.”
Read Full Statement Below
The Board & Management of Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Authority (KASTELEA) has announced the termination of appointment of 124 employees (Marshals) as a result of various misconducts that do not conform to the ideals and the policies of the State Government.
Some of the Marshals were found wanting for extortion whiles others absconded from their duty posts.
Out of the 124 Marshals, one(1) was outrightly dismissed from service for extortion, another one for gross misconduct ,while 122 Marshals were relieved of their appointment for absconding from their duty posts.
The termination of the appointment followed all the laid down procedure as prescribed in the Terms and Condition of Service (TACOS) of the Authority.
The board said the move is part of its continuous improvement effort geared towards the repositioning the Authority for better and efficient service delivery.
To this end, the management has given all the sacked Marshals 2 weeks within which to return all KASTELEA properties in their position/care. Noting that failure to do so will attract severe sanctions from the Authority.
In this line, KASTELEA wishes to assure members of the public of its relentless service to traffic safety in Kaduna State. And the general public is hereby warned not to give any form of gratification or monetary payment to Marshals of the Authority.
Also the public is advised to be orderly and obey the law at all times, particularly during the Sallah holidays.
Let`s all continue to join hands to make Kaduna great again!!!!!
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), an ethnic pressure group in Northern Nigeria, says it supports the call by Middle-belt elders, asking for the establishment of 12 regions and 54 states in the country.
It noted that restructuring the country should not be viewed by Nigerians as a way of splitting the country, but a means of addressing the numerous agitations currently being made.
Speaking at a congress that had representatives from tribal associations, political parties, religious leaders and other professionals held at new choice hall Kafanchan, one of the speakers, Mr Samuel Tabara said Southern Kaduna people supports restructuring as the only way to amend the errors created by the colonial masters.
“We want the colonial arrangement to be redesigned. We identify with the Middle-belt elders, because that is where we belong,” Samuel said.
Also contributing on the debate, Nuhu Audu said Southern Kaduna must be moved out of North West region in the proposed restructuring to the North Central where the area originally belongs.
A youth leader in the region, Comrade Danjuma Bello Sarki said restructuring must come with a Southern Kaduna State to give the people a sense of belonging in the country.
While adopting the presentation of the Southern Kaduna people, the National President of SOKAPU, Barr Solomon Musa said the people of the area were desirous of a state in the proposed restructuring, adding that the area seeks to be in the North Central and not the North West region.
The Southern Kaduna people also agreed to float a private University and mandated the SOKAPU development committee to workout the possibilities of establishing the institution.
Factional Chairman All Progressive Congress, APC, in Kaduna State, Northern Nigeria, Mr. Mataimaki Tom Maiyashi, has lamented the action of Governor Nasir El-Rufai in scrapping 4,766 Districts and Village Heads in the state , saying it has the potential of generating crises.
According to Maiyashi, if government does not obey the court order restraining it from taking further actions on the traditional institution, it would be a bad omen for the image of the state government.
The APC chieftain was reacting to the Kafanchan Court ruling which restrained Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai from sacking the Districts and Village Heads in the state.
The Kaduna State Government had through the recommendation of a committee dropped 4,766 Districts and village heads. The state government also said that it will only recognised 77 Districts and 1,429 Village Heads that existed in the state before 2001.
“The court injunction has restrained our fears and apprehension on the Governor’s policy. From fillers, this thing has a lot of interests and resentment on what the government has done.
“To have sacked 4,766 District/Village Heads in the State is disheartening. The process in which the government took to bring about this policy is not to the best interest of the general public, we knew there is going to be disenchantment, and our fears is that this thing should not degenerate to a level whereby it could create chaos and anarchy in the State.
“The proper thing that should be done has now been done. Those that are aggrieved with this policy can go to court which is the most civilised thing to do, which has now given room for government to have a second look on what it has done and maybe, modify its ways or do something else,” he explained.
The APC Chieftain urged the public to give the state governor the benefit of the doubt to conduct himself in a more responsible manner and be a model of obedient to what the law of the land said.
“If government does not respect court order, it is invariably saying that any other person can take the law into his hands, and that will be a very dangerous precedence for the government.
“So, government should obey the court orders for the interest of the people, her image and integrity.
“We commend this process that has been taken, and we are appealing to the entire citizens of Kaduna State to take this thing calmly, because it has the potential of degenerating into crises.
“We also want to called on the traditional rulers to calm their people so as to ensure that peace prevail and let justice take its course to a logical conclusion,” Maiyashi advised.
He observed that with the court injunction restraining the government from sacking the District/Village Heads, they would now continue their normal official duties, while the court proceedings continue until further court ruling.
Over 100 people are feared buried after a landslide smashed through a mountain village in southwest China’s Sichuan Province early Saturday, local officials said, as they launched an emergency rescue operation.
Some 40 homes in the village of Xinmo were swallowed by the cascading debris after the side of a mountain collapsed, blocking a two kilometre (one mile) stretch of river, according to a statement from the Maoxian government news office.
An emergency response “to the first class catastrophic geological disaster” is under way, the statement said, adding that the full extent of the landslide was at yet unclear.
A report from the state news agency Xinhua said that “part of a mountain” in the Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture of Aba had collapsed.
Landslides are a frequent danger in rural and mountainous parts of china, particularly at times of heavy rains.
At least 12 people were killed in January when a landslide smashed into a hotel in central Hubei province.
In October landslides battered eastern China in the wake of torrential rains brought by Typhoon Megi, causing widespread damage and killing at least eight.
Search and rescue efforts were underway. State broadcaster CCTV said more than 400 rescuers, including police, are involved.
Following the deepening crisis between Etisalat and a consortium of 13 Nigerian Banks over a syndicated loan of about US$1.2 billion granted the telecom company by the banks, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Friday, said the apex Bank and the Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC) decided to intervene in the crisis in order to prevent job losses and asset stripping.
Confirming the intervention of the two regulators in the loan dispute, the CBN Spokesman, Isaac Okorafor said: “Although it should ordinarily not be the role of a regulator to decide how individual bad loans are resolved, the CBN believes that Etisalat is a systemically important telecommunications company with over 20 million subscribers that if not well handled, may have negative implications for the banking system itself.
He further explained that the CBN and NCC, sensing that banks might go ahead in the usual way and downsize the company’s over 4,000 staff, reached an agreement to intervene and implore the consortium of banks to be reassess its position in dealing with Etisalat.
Okorafor described some media reports insinuating high-handedness by CBN on the issue as “the height of mischief and insensitivity” explaining that the collaborative move by the regulators was aimed at preventing job losses and asset stripping and to ensure that Etisalat remains in business and is able to pay back the loans.
According to him, the CBN and the NCC, in the coming days, will meet with the syndicate of banks and the IHS Towers, the tower managers and the equipment suppliers, in order to achieve what he termed “a win-win outcome” for all stakeholders.
It will be recalled that Etisalat has been embroiled with a consortium of 13 Nigerian Banks that gave it a facility of about US$1.2 billion, on which the company has been unable to meet its repayment obligations in line with agreed terms of the facility, PR Nigeria reported.
Given the inability of Etisalat to come to an acceptable agreement with the banks, the largest shareholder in the company, Dubai-based Mubadala Development Company of the United Arab Emirates, has now pulled out of the company as well as the ongoing negotiations, leaving only their local partners, led by Hakeem Belo-Osagie, to carry the burden.
It was based on the attempt of the banks to take over the company that the financial and telecommunications regulators have moved in to intervene and forestall down-sizing and asset stripping.
The Department of State Service (DSS) on Friday said it has uncovered plans by suspected terrorists to stage series of coordinated attacks in Kano, Sokoto, Kaduna and Maiduguri during the Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebration.
The service also said it has arrested Yusuf Adamu and Abdumuminu Haladu in the early hours of Friday, in Sokoto. Adamu and his accomplice were to command the operation in Kano.
DSS spokesperson, Tony Opuiyo, pointed out that, the facilitator of the Kano attack, an explosive expert by name Bashir Mohammed was earlier arrested at Unguwar Barnawa, Shekar Madaki in Kumbatso Local Government Area of Kano State on 20th June, 2017.
He explained that, their plan, together with others now at large, was to assemble the explosives and use them to hit on soft targets such as markets, public parks, public processions, recreation centres, as well as worship centres especially the Eid Praying Grounds and other densely populated areas during the forthcoming Eid-el-Fitr Sallah celebration.
“On the arrest of Mohammed in Kumbatso, Kano, a search was conducted at his residence wherein the following dangerous weapons were recovered: Eight (8) AK-47 rifles, twenty (20) fully loaded AK-A7 magazines, twenty seven (27) hand grenades, seven hundred and ninety three (793) rounds of live ammunition, one (1) gas cylinder, three (3) laptops, one (1) GSM phone, one (1) Lifan motorcycle, one (1) Honda Civic Car (Ash), and one (1) printer.”
While calling on the public to remain very vigilant before, during and after the Sallah celebrations, he urged them to provide the security with any useful information regarding suspicious or criminal activities around their neighborhoods, stating further that the Service is working, in collaboration with other security agencies, to ensure that no section of the country is attacked during and after the celebrations.
Members of Islamic Movement of Nigeria in one of their processions
By Amos Tauna
A human rights organisation, Anti Corruption Network, has accused governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna State, northwest Nigeria of being intolerant to the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, also known as Shiite group.
The organization called on Governor El-Rufai to ensure fairness and justice in dealing with all and sundry in the state for peace, unity and development.
Executive Secretary of the Organization, Ebenezer Oyetakin, who was in Kaduna to monitor the procession of Shi’ite’s annual gudus day, said at a press conference Friday, after the Police had dispersed the group with tear gas and gun shots that allegedly hit one person and injured many, that the Shi’ite sect was not a violent group that any government should threaten their existence.
The Kaduna State Police and other security agents had dispersed the group who were said to be observing their annual qudus day through a peaceful procession with tear gas and gun shots with many injured and one young boy allegedly shot death.
He called on Nigerian government to thread with caution, to avoid the negative experiences of some countries when it’s citizens were pushed to the wall.
In the same vein, the convener of Concerned Nigeria, Prince Deji Adeyanju, who was also in Kaduna to monitor the procession as a way of authenticating or otherwise of the negative narratives about the shiite group, said, “What we experienced today is nothing but the height of impunity where security agencies saddled with the responsibilities of protecting her citizens decided to use tear gas to disperse a peaceful procession to the point of shooting with live ammunition.
“This is what we witnessed, police started with tear gas and fired live bullet and it is rather unfortunate. We are calling for the release of the leader of the IMN, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky and his wife in accordance with the court ruling.
“The same procession took place peacefully in Katsina, Gombe and Nasarawa with no fracas of any sort, why should Kaduna’s own be different. What transpired baffled me because it was a peaceful process.”
Earlier, one of the leaders of the group, Sheikh Yakubu Yahaya lamented why security agents would open fire on harmless citizens on peaceful procession.
He alleged that some governors may have been contracted to kill the Shi’ite group in Nigeria, stressing, ”We have taken our case to Allah and will continue to seek legal redress accordingly as law abiding citizens.
“The security agents loaded in about 15 trucks heavily armed descended on the harmless citizens on peaceful procession, as at now, we are aware that one person was shot and several people sustained various degrees of injuries.
Meanwhile, Police spokesperson, ASP Mustapha Mohammed confirmed that it was true that security agents stopped the procession to prevent break down of law and order.
He added that investigation into what transpired was on-going but however did not confirm any casualty as at the time of filing the report.
The leadership of Kaduna State Traffic Law Enforcement Authority (KASTELEA) says it has dismissed 124 of its officers for offences ranging from extortion of motorists to abscondement from duty.
