Inside Stuff With MARTINS OLOJA

It is becoming ‘curiouser and curiouser’ that this industry called banditry being nurtured by an art called ‘sophistry’ and gift of the gab called ‘oratory’ will dominate public affairs in Africa’s richest and most populous nation for a long time. The reasons are not too far to seek. Even immediate past Army Chief of Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai had looked into the seeds of security and defence times and seen frightening dimension: that it could take up to 20 years before the newly integrated business genre, insurgency and banditry could be tackled. At least, this artistry, sorry sophistry has earned him a brand new promotion as Nigeria’s ambassador to a significant foreign land. ‘Seest thou a man who is diligent and oracular on his military beat? He will not be idle a day longer than necessary immediately after retirement! As politicians who have power of oratory can be hailed and hailed, public and military officers who can see tomorrow too can snatch promotion as oracles. Where are the powerfully anointed men of God who can lay hands on more people to be transformed from oratory (power) to be oracles? As it has been widely noted here, orators speak the mind of the people while oracles speak the mind of the gods. General Buratai too has been rewarded among the prophets of our time! Awesome, isn’t it?

So as banditry has ben identified as business that will be for us as data is to the First World, the combined effects of power of sophistry nurtured by oratory will be critical factors that will shape the future of the country.

These are tools, sorry powerful weapons that our leaders are now employing to be prominent, even if they are eventually insignificant, after all. And here is the thing, in the new dispensation in this country, this phenomenon called banditry that has displaced militancy and insurgency, has become a front pager and prime time news lead. And so leader (editorial) writers cannot ignore the power of banditry and then the sounds of sophistry and oratory that nurture the business that has forced Global Rights Group supported by McArthur Foundation to come out with a report on ‘Mass Atrocities Report: 2020’. Despite all these factual reports on the state of the nation, the masters of sophistry and orators on banditry that is also setting off ‘mass atrocities’ are also dominating discussion points on development issues. Who wouldn’t be thrilled by a contrasting story I saw the other day when Volkswagen, a German auto giant opened a factory in Rwanda at the time Nigeria’s governors were asking for decentralisation of police operations power to be able to deal with banditry that has assumed a national character. Rwanda, a country ravaged by genocide in 1994 barely nine years after our leader was removed from office as head of state, has attracted a remarkable foreign direct investment (FDI). Despite our ‘excess love’ for Japanese cars, Toyota, Honda, etc, everywhere we go in this country, there is no factory for any of the Japanese products. What is worse, there is no auto factory for any of the common cars and SUVs, etc we use in the most populous black nation in the world. We now have ‘modular factories’ for bandits as banditry appears to be the fastest growing industry in the country. Professor Pat Utomi is in a better position to write a lamentation story on the fall of Volkswagen in Nigeria where he was deputy managing director some decades ago, when there was a country.

Let’s return to the brass tacks of banditry and the crisis entrepreneurs who would want to continue to resort to sophistry and oratory to be relevant for 2023. It is a time to deconstruct and reconstruct the ‘merchants of banditry’ and their strategies at this time.

Banditry. Sophistry. Oratory. These are powerless powers that have ruined empires and can destroy ours.

Banditry, according to some journals, is a type of organised crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery and murder, either as an individual or in groups. Banditry is a vague concept of criminality and in modern usage can be synonymous for gangsterism, brigandage, marauding and thievery.
The term bandit (introduced to English via Italian around 1590) originates with the early Germanic legal practice of outlawing criminals, termed *bannan (English ban). The legal term in the Holy Roman Empire was Acht or Reichsacht, translated as “Imperial ban”. In modern Italian, the equivalent word “bandito” literally means banned or a banned person.
The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles (NED) defined “bandit” in 1885 as “one who is proscribed or outlawed; hence, a lawless desperate marauder, a brigand usually applied to members of the organised gangs, which infest the mountainous districts of Italy, Sicily, Spain, Greece, Iran, and Turkey”.

In modern usage, the word may become a synonym for “thief”, hence the term “one armed bandit” for gambling machines that can leave the gambler with no money.

In the same vein, “social banditry” is a term invented by the historian Eric Hobsbawm in his 1959 book Primitive Rebels, a study of popular forms of resistance that also incorporate behaviour characterised by law as illegal. He further expanded the field in the 1969 study Bandits. Social banditry is a widespread phenomenon that has occurred in many societies throughout recorded history, and forms of social banditry still exist, as evidenced by piracy and organised crime syndicates. Later social scientists have also discussed the term’s applicability to more modern forms of crime, like street gangs and the economy associated with the trade in illegal drugs.

The following definition is quite distinctive: Banditry is used to refer to acts of robbery and violence in areas where the rule of law has broken down.

‘Sophistry’refers to the use of clever but false arguments, especially with the intention of deceiving.Sophistry is the deliberate use of a false argument with the intent to trick someone or a false or untrue argument. An example of sophistry is when you use a fact in an argument to make your point even though you know the point is false. It is plausible but fallacious argumentation. Some experts have written about ‘intellectual sophistry too: it is derived from the ancient Greek sophistēs, meaning “wisdom,” is the practice of employing appealingly sound reasoning in the defencee of a conclusion that is inherently false or subjective by nature.

While ‘Oratory’ is defined in various journals as ‘the art of speaking in public eloquently or effectively: It is public speaking that is characterised by the use of stock phrases and that appeals chiefly to the emotions. Oratory is also defined as a long, formal speech. Often one that’s a bit puffy and overblown, making you think the speaker really likes the sound of his own voice. Oratory is from the Latin word oratorius for “speaking or pleading”.

We can see from these definitions and references that these three words are so weaponised in the country at the moment. And so we need to be careful and prayerful to the God of all grace for us to be delivered from the power of banditry that sophists and orators among our leaders, opinion leaders and even writers are struggling and scrambling to feed upon.

The political and religious leaders, traditional rulers and even not-so-independent publishers and some influential ‘men without chests’ are using sophistry to defend and speak for bandits who are common criminals. Some orators even among the governors who see themselves as leaders of tomorrow are resorting to sophistry to defend even the indefensible banditry in a rat race to please the powers in Abuja. Some others are curiously employing ‘intellectual sophistry’ to claim that banditry is the same with ‘freedom fighting or militancy. This is clearly intellectual dishonesty that should qualify for one of those four things the earth would not tolerate as revealed in Proverbs 30: 21-23 (MSGB):
‘Three things are too much for even the earth to bear, yes, four things shake its foundations – when the janitor becomes the boss, when a fool gets rich, when a whore is voted “woman of the year,” when a girlfriend replaces a faithful wife’.

When a governor of a state who has sworn to defend the only federal constitution we have is using sophistry and his power of oratory to claim that bandits should be allowed to carry the powerful AK-47 that the law doesn’t allow as a metaphor for the defence of the Fulani nation, there is a cause for concern for the security of our nation.

When a governor of a north-central state who chairs the north’s governors’ forum is publicly claiming that even some farmers carry AK-47 instead of calling his Bauchi state’s colleague to order, then it is a time to demonise sophistry. When the governor of a neighbouring state to Ondo begins to speak in tongues using power of sophistry about atrocities committed in his state, then the southwest governors need to remove the logs in their eyes first before crying foul about others. If the governor of Oyo state, an opposition, indeed a pace-setter state is hiding under the power of oratory and even sophistry about a clear and present danger in the state, then there is every reason to believe that there is no more ‘tigritude’ in the tiger that the Western Nigeria used to be before Fulanisation kicked us in the face. Oh truth, where is thy power? I have read in some journals of social justice that, ‘truth is the most powerful force on earth’. I have written here several times that you may use your power of oratory to put ‘truth in a grave’ but it won’t stay there: it will certainly come out. It hasn’t been disproved.

Where have the southwest federal legislators and other sundry representatives been in Abuja since the president of the Senate, Senator Ahmed Lawan used unguarded sophistry to blast southwest governors for their ‘bad verses’ he claimed have triggered violence in the region bandits are desperate to rule? What manners of representatives do the southwest region now have in Abuja’s bicameral legislature? Are they afraid of suspension by the chairman of the joint session of the National Assembly? The deliverable from all of this is this: let our leaders note that the power of sophistry and oratory they now resort to won’t salvage negative perception that they are dealers and not leaders in this age of banditry. They should seek the power that truth can give, not sophistry and oratory in defence of banditry.

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By Robert Egbe

Three daughters of the late the Alaye-Aba of Aba, Aiyepe, Ogun State, Oba Rauf Adebayo Raji-Suleimon, have sued the unincorporated Osugbo Society of Ijebuland (known as the Ogboni) over the alleged hijack of the late monarch’s corpse.

In a suit filed at the Federal High Court, in Abeokuta, they are seeking N50 billion against the Osugbo Society.

The claimants, Mrs Aderonke Egunjimi, Mrs Tiwalade Abass and Mrs Adeyemi Joseph, filed the fundamental rights application through their lawyer, Chief Bolaji Ayorinde SAN.

They stated that Raji-Sulaimon was a devoted and practising Muslim in his lifetime, performing pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina and had several awards and recognitions by Muslim Societies because of his contributions to the Islamic faith.

They claimed that on January 24, 2021, the family had dug a grave, set up canopies for visitors and concluded funeral arrangements to bury their father according to Islamic rites when the members/representatives of the society forcibly took their father’s corpse away.

In their application, they accused members of the society of infringement on their rights to privacy and family life and depriving their father of a befitting burial.

The applicants are seeking an order of mandatory injunction compelling the society to return the corpse forthwith to their custody at the applicants’ Family House being at No 1, Alaye Aba Street, Aba Quarters, Aiyepe, Ogun State.

The urged the court to declare the conduct and practice of the 1st to 15th unconstitutional, illegal, vexatious, barbaric, obnoxious, immoral and repugnant to the dictates of civil order as enshrined in the constitution and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights 2004.

The applicants are further asking the court for an order restraining Ijebu Traditional Council from giving any directions or orders to the 1st to 15th respondents contrary to the reliefs sought by the applicants.

The defendants in the suit are; Chief Adeleke Adetola Dako (1st defendant), Chief Mojid Ogunmefun (2nd defendant), Lekan Adekoko (3rd defendant), Chief Ebenezer Ogunlala (4th defendant), Chief Fagbola Adeniyi (5th defendant), Kazeem Adeleke (6th defendant), Taorid Jimoh (7th defendant) and Abiodun Adeleke (8th defendant).

Others are Monsuru Eleku (9th defendant), Chief Safiriyu Adeleye (10th defendant), Jamiu Salawu (11th defendant), Chief Sodiq Osiyemi (12th defendant, Chief Eji Ademeji (13th defendant), Chief Adebisi Opanuga (14th defendant, and Chief Ayo Olubukola (15th defendant), (sued jointly and severally as members and representatives of the unincorporated Osugbo Society of Ijebuland specifically in Odogbolu Local Government,  Ijebu Ode Local Government,  Ijebu East Local Government, Ijebu North Local Government, Ijebu North East Local Government,  and Ogun Waterside Local Government) and Ijebu Traditional Council (16th Respondent).

In an affidavit in support of Originating Motion on Notice deposed to by the deceased’s younger brother, Alhaji Yisa Oloyede Sulaimon, he stated that traditionally, members of the Osugbo Society act as enforcers of the decisions of Obas in Ijebuland.

No date has been fixed for hearing of the application.(Thenationonlineng)

The Federal Government has taken a bold step to boost science and engineering infrastructure development.

It has invoked the section of the Act establishing the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) prescribing how it should be funded.

The section, which has been observed in the breach for 29 years – since the establishment of NASENI – will now become operational following President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive.

The President has ordered the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to remit the levy turnover of commercial companies to the agency.

The deduction of the levy affects commercial companies with N100million turnover.

According to NASENI Establishment Act 2004, a quarter per cent of the levy on turnover, collected by the FIRS, should be remitted to the agency.

The letter to the FIRS followed a meeting of the Governing Board of NASENI on January 26, presided over by President Buhari in his capacity as the chairman of the agency’s board.

The meeting reviewed a December 30, 2020 presentation of its Executive Vice Chairman (EVC), Prof. Mohammed Sani Haruna, on the need for compliance with the establishment law of the agency.

Haruna requested the implementations of the Statutory funding of the Agency as provided for in NASENI Act to finance its projects and activities.

After the session, President Buhari directed Minister of Finance Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, and the FIRS to release statutory funds due to NASENI to it forthwith.

In a follow up letter to FIRS dated February 8, the Presidency demanded immediate compliance with the presidential directive.

The letter to the Executive Chairman of FIRS by Chief of Staff to the President, Prof. Ibrahim A. Gambari, reads in part: “I write to inform you that on 24th January 2021, Mr. President approved the prayers of the Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) on the funding of NASENI activities.

“In accordance with the NASENI Establishment Act, one of the prayers of the EVC relates to the funding of the agency via a levy on income or turnover of commercial companies and firms with turnover of N4million (later increased to N100million) by the NASENI Governing Board) at the rate of a quarter per cent( 1/4 %) of turnover.

“Accordingly, you are kindly requested to act on the implementation of this provision of the NASENI Act as soon as possible.”

A source in the Presidency said: “The President only took steps to make history by enforcing what is in NASENI Establishment Act. In the last 22 years, successive administrations have not complied with the Act because of politics.

“The agency has been going cap-in-hand to the government for funds to execute science and engineering infrastructure. You can appreciate why we are lagging behind many nations in science and technology.

“The Governing Board has been impressed with the innovations and products of NASENI despite its lean resources. If the Act is fully implemented, the agency will do better.”

NASENI was established by the National Assembly Establishment ACT, 2004 CAP N3 Laws of the Federation (formerly Decree 1992 Decree of ex-President Ibrahim Babangida’s Military regime)

(2) The funding mechanism for the Agency is stipulated under Financial Provisions; PART VI, Section 20 of the ACT. It states thus:

(1) The Agency shall establish a fund from which shall be defrayed all expenditure incurred by the Agency for the purpose of this ACT.

(2) There shall be paid and credited to the fund:

(a) 1 per cent of the Federation Account in the first instance, to be increased to 2 per cent by the year 2000.

(b) Levy on income or turn-over of commercial companies and firms with turnover of N4 million and above, which shall be-

(i) At the rate of quarter per cent in the first instance:

(ii) Collected by the Federal Board of Inland Revenue or by any other suitable means as may be specified by the Agency; and

(iii) Credited to the account of the Agency.

(c) Contributions from the organized private sector;

(d) Foreign aid and instance from bilateral and multilateral agencies;

(e) Fees charged for services rendered by the Agency;

(f) All sums accruing to the agency by way of gifts, endowments, bequest or other voluntary contributions by persons and organizations.

Credit:thenigerialawyer

(Reuters) – New York Governor Andrew Cuomo called on Saturday for an outside review following a report of sexual misconduct allegations against him by a second former aide, compounding problems for one of America’s most well-known Democratic politicians.

Charlotte Bennett told the New York Times that Cuomo had asked her questions about her sex life, including whether she was monogamous in her relationships and if she had ever had sex with older men.

Cuomo, in a statement, denied making sexual advances.

Reuters has not independently verified the account and accusations by Bennett. She worked for the governor as an executive assistant and policy advisor for nearly two years until November 2020, according to her LinkedIn profile.

“I was trying to be a mentor to her. I never made advances toward Ms. Bennett nor did I ever intend to act in any way that was inappropriate,” Cuomo said in a statement on Saturday.

He called for “a full and thorough outside review” led by a former federal judge and said he would have no further comment until it was completed.

Bennett did not immediately return a request for comment sent via Twitter.

Cuomo rose to national prominence for his leadership at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, when New York was the country’s COVID-19 epicenter.

The latest accusations came just days after another former aide, Lindsey Boylan, wrote in an online essay that the governor made several “inappropriate gestures” toward her while she worked for the state government from 2015 to 2018.

They ranged from sending her a rose on Valentine’s Day to kissing her on the mouth, she said.

Boylan is now a candidate for Manhattan borough president.

Cuomo denied those accusations in December and issued another denial this week. Multiple attempts to reach Boylan have been unsuccessful.

Bennett, who is 25, told the Times that Cuomo said to her in one encounter in June that he was open to relationships with women in their 20s.

Bennett said she discussed the interaction with Cuomo’s chief of staff Jill DesRosiers and was subsequently transferred to a job as a health policy advisor to the governor. She also provided a statement to a special counsel to the governor, Judith Mogul, in June, she told the Times.

Beth Garvey, special counsel and senior advisor to Cuomo, said in a statement that Bennett had been “consulted regarding the resolution, and expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the way in which it was handled.”

“The determination reached based on the information Ms Bennett provided was that no further action was required which was consistent with Ms Bennett’s wishes,” Garvey said.

Allegations about his conduct with female aides follow another major controversy that has dogged Cuomo in recent weeks.

A report from the state attorney general’s office last month cast doubt on the Cuomo administration’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis in nursing homes, saying that the state health department significantly undercounted the toll and implemented policies that may have contributed to it.

A top aide to Cuomo later told lawmakers the administration had delayed providing requested data about COVID-19 death toll among nursing home residents for fear of a politically motivated investigation by the Justice Department under the then-president, Republican Donald Trump.

Credit:thenigerialawyer

Zamfara, Kaduna, Niger worst hit S/East, S/South record least cases Benin-Auchi, Zaria-Sokoto-Gusau, Benin-Ore, Keffi- Akwanga roads emerge hotspots VICTIM: Captors now sell abductees By Charles Kumolu, Deputy Editor No fewer than 720 persons have been kidnapped across Nigeria since the beginning of 2021, research commissioned by Sunday Vanguard revealed. The findings, which covered Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, South-West, South -East, South-South, North-Central, North-East and North-West including Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, represent the reported cases. By Clever Advertising Of the zones, North-West led with more than 400 cases while North-Central had 250. This was followed by the North-East, FCT, South-West, South-South, and South-East. The South-East had the least reported cases. The total figure represents the confirmed cases by the Police and eye witnesses’ accounts, which were eventually reported by the media.

Sunday Vanguard learned that other unreported incidents may have taken place, especially in Niger, Zamfara, Sokoto, and Katsina states. Thus, the sum total may well be above 720 if the cases were all captured. Pattern The pattern of abduction remained the same in the North, where victims were often kidnapped en mass during attacks on remote villages and schools. Mass abduction of travellers on the highways emerged as the latest model of operation by gunmen who have become more daring.

This is not prevalent in the North alone as highways in the South-West and South-South have become hot spots. Those identified include Benin-Ore Highway, Benin-Auchi-Okene Highway, Keffi-Akwanga Highway, Akure-Owo Expressway, Abuja-Abaji-Lokoja Road, Zaria-Sokoto-Gusau, Bauchi-Tafawa-Balewa Highway, Wukari-Takum Road, and Minna -Kotongora Road among others. In the South-West where herdsmen have been accused of most of the incidents, abductees were often abducted on the highways and forests while a few cases took place at victims’ farms. The varying modus operandi in North and South was further highlighted in a 2020 SBM report.

Approach The finding stated thus: “It would appear that in the south, while kidnapping may be frequent, the selection of victims is more targeted and the kidnappers see it more like a business transaction, trying hard to extract money from their criminal activities. This targeted approach makes their victims less expendable as they are usually fewer in number at a time. In the North, the modus operandi is more likely that a larger number of people are simply rounded up and then ransoms demanded en masse. Because of this approach, victims that are unable to pay up as quickly as expected are more likely to be killed by the kidnappers.” Official statistics of incidents within the time under review could not be obtained as Sunday Vanguard gathered that the data is often released quarterly by the Police. Meanwhile, last Friday’s abduction of Government Science College, Jangebe, Talata Mafara, Zamfara State, schoolgirls underscored how established kidnap for ransom has become in Nigeria. In its familiar tone, the Police in a statement by Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba, condemned the incident, promising to rescue the girls. “The IGP, while condemning the barbaric and callous abduction of the innocent female students, has assured that the Police and other security forces will not relent until the abducted students are successfully rescued and reunited with their families. The joint rescue operation is being carried out by the Police, the Military and other members of the law enforcement community with support from the State Government and other stakeholders, “the Police said. Clear strategy Sunday Vanguard notes that after each mass abduction state and federal governments condemn the attack in strong terms, with promises to rescue abductees. But if the revelations of released victims were anything to go by, governments’ usual claims of not paying ransom are false. Without any clear strategy for arresting the scourge, which has spread to every part of the country, authorities and individuals pay huge sums to kidnappers. For instance, the SBM said Nigeria paid $18.3 million, N7 billion, between June 2011 and March 2020. “SBM Intelligence analysed data covering the period from June 2011 to the end of March 2020 using a collection of public sources, police and media reports, as well as SBM’s extensive research network spread across the country. What we have found shows that between June 2011 and the end of March 2020, at least $18.34 million has been paid to kidnappers as ransom. Even more frightening is that the larger proportion of that figure (just below $11 million), was paid out between January 2016 and March 2020, indicating that kidnapping is becoming more lucrative, “the report added. N3 billion, ransom Last year, a committee set up by Governor Bello Matawalle to find solutions to banditry in Zamfara State, disclosed that over N3 billion was collected by bandits as ransom from relations of abducted victims in the state. Chairman of the committee, Mohammed Abubakar, made the disclosure while presenting the committee’s report to the governor. He said the report covered the period from June 2011 to May 29, 2019. Abubakar said the money was collected from 3,672 victims whose relatives paid to secure their freedom. The former Inspector General of Police ,IGP, said a total of 4,983 women were widowed, 25,050 children orphaned and 190,340 persons displaced by banditry over the period in the state. In a related development, Dan-Aji community of Faskari LGA of Katsina State, where bandits abducted 26 girls, countered the claim by the Zamfara State government that no ransom was paid to secure their release from captivity. The community said N6.6m ransom was paid for the release of the girls. Captives Sunday Vanguard also learned that some abductors now sell their victims to another set of people who are big in the business. The new buyers in turn place huge  ransom on the captives. According to a victim who resides in Sokoto, the pattern seems to be the trend among kidnappers at Abaji, Lokoja, and Okene axis of Kogi State. “Apart from Shika and Giwa axis on Zaria-Gusau-Sokoto Road, another dangerous place is Abaji area close to Okene. The kidnappers in that area are not herdsmen. They kidnap travellers and sell to herdsmen who now negotiate with victims’ relatives,” the victim who pleaded anonymity said. The kidnapped Public Relations Officer of Edo State Command of Nigerian Immigration Service, Mrs. Bridget Esene, even alluded to this while narrating her ordeal. “I was later sold to another set of gunmen who then took me deep into the forest,” she added. The timeline below shows how threatening kidnapping has become to Nigerians. JANUARY 4: Kidnappers abducted a Senior Protection Assistant with the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, UNHCR, Abubakar Idris, popularly known as Alooma, along Damaturu Road, Borno State. On the same day, gunmen kidnapped a medical doctor, Akindele Kayode, from a Health Care Centre at Tapa in Ibarapa North Local Government Area, LGA, Oyo State. January 5: In Niger State, residents of Yakila community in Rafi LGA were attacked by bandits, who kidnapped the village head, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdul –amid, a nurse and her two kids. No fewer than 40 persons were kidnapped in Birnin Gwari, Kaduna State. Birnin Gwari Progressive Union said the victims were in kidnappers’ den in Niger State. Gunmen killed one person and abducted over 20 others along Mungi Buga in Gwari Gadabule village in Toto LGA, Nasarawa State. A traveller was abducted while his driver was killed along Ise Isua -Akoko Highway, Ondo State.

The Police said the body of the driver was recovered and deposited at the mortuary in Ikare. January 6: A fashion designer’s apprentice in Ondo town, Ondo State, Temitope Adeniyi, kidnapped his lover’s three months –old- baby girl. January 5: Zamfara State Police Command said kidnappers struck at Kaduari village in Maru LGA and kidnapped six children of one Alhaji Sabi Gyare. January 12: A lecturer with Ken Saro Wiwa Polytechnic in Bori LGA of Rivers State, simply identified as Mr. James, was abducted by gunmen at his residence in Ugwurutali, Ikwere LGA of the state. January 13: Gunmen kidnapped four nursing mothers alongside 14 others in Mando village, Birnin Gwari LGA, Kaduna State. Chairman of Birnin Gwari Emirate Progressive Union, BEPE, Salisu Haruna, in a statement said the adductors invaded the area with AK47 rifles, raided a number of houses. January 14: An Ekiti-based petrol dealer, Suleiman Akinbami, was kidnapped and his abductors demanded N60million ransom. January 15: A kidnap attempt claimed the lives of Alhaji Yinusa Gambo and Mallam Surajo at Chikaji village, Igabi LGA, Kaduna State. The state Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruan, said the duo lost their lives when they tried to escape from bandits who tried to abduct them at the residence of the Alhaji. January 20: Dean, Faculty of Science and Education and Head of Department of Mathematics, Federal University Dutsin-Ma, Katsina State, Professor Johnson Fatokun, was abducted at 9pm along Akwanga-Keffi highway at Kurmi Shinkafa village. January 23: 25-year-old son of Bauchi State Auditor-General, Ziilkifiru Muhammed, escaped from kidnappers’ den. Mohammed was kidnapped alongside his father’s friend, Tiyasu Suleiman, along Bauchi- Tafawa Belewa highway after the Auditor General, Abdu Aliu was shot. He later escaped the next day while the abductors were sleeping. His father could not escape with him for age reasons and the beatings he received from the abductors. January 24: Bandits invaded Kafin Koro and adjourning villages in Paikoro LGA of Niger State killed five persons and abducted one while 10 others sustained various degrees of injury. January 24: A spokesperson for Nigeria Immigration Service, Edo State Command, Mrs. Bridget Esene, was kidnapped by unknown gunmen in Benin. She said her abductors sold her to herdsmen.

Kidnappers attacked Raphael Orphanage Home in Abaji Area Council of the FCT, Abuja abducting at least eight children and three others. January 25: The wife of the late Zonal Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kogi State, Matthew Kola –Ojo, was among 14 people kidnapped between Ife and Egbeda in Ijumu Council Area of Kogi State. January 26: A former councilor in Nkari Ward 4 in Ini LGA of Akwa Ibom State, Benjamin Akpan, said four persons were abducted after an attack in the area. January 27: An aide to the member representing Oru West Constituency in Imo State House of Assembly, Dominic Ezerioha, was abducted by gunmen. The victim, identified as Chetachi Linus Igboenyesi, popularly known as London Biggy, was kidnapped while on his way to Uli in Anambra State. January 28: Barely 48 hours after the appointment of new service chiefs, bandits were on the rampage in Niger, Kaduna and Taraba state, killing persons and abducting others. No fewer than 83 persons were said to have been abducted, including 27 wedding guests who were abducted along Wukari- Takum Road in Taraba State. 56 were kidnapped in Niger State. February 1: Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Arwan said some people were abducted when bandits attacked Barawa village, Fatika District, in Giwa LGA of the state. Also, Peace Ogbogbo, the wife of an Ughelli businessman in Ughelli North LGA, Delta State, was kidnapped. Her abductors demanded N25 million as ransom. February 2: The Police in Abuja confirmed the abduction of John Makama, father of Gwari Local Council Chairman at about 1.00 am. The gunmen stormed the victim’s residence, shot sporadically into the air and abducted the man alongside his two siblings. February 6: A farmer, Solomon Akinmeji in Iju Akure North Council Area of Ondo State was said to have gone into his farm, only to be kidnapped by some herdsmen for objecting to their destruction of his farm. February 9: Gunmen attacked an ambulance conveying a corpse, killing an occupant and abducting one. The incident happened at Ahor, Benin Bye-pass, Edo State. February 13: The traditional ruler of Uruagu, Nnewi, in Anambra State was abducted. The victim, Obi Charles Afam Obi was kidnapped in Orafite on his way back from a burial ceremony. February 14: No fewer than 18 persons were abducted by bandits, who ambushed a passenger bus in Rah LGA of Niger State on Valentine’s Day. The bus, belonging to the Niger State Transport Authority was said to be taking the passengers from Kontangora to Minna when the incident occurred. February 9: Jimoh Folowosele, an indigene of Aramoko Ekiti, in Ekiti West LGA, was abducted while on official duty in Geidam, a border town in Yobe State. He was said to have been abducted alongside two of his colleagues and has been in captivity since February 9, 2021. A 46-year-old tipper lorry owner in Ilorin, Alhaji Musa Atere, was also kidnapped. Atere was kidnapped around 6 a.m. along Ogundele/Madi Road in Ilorin LGA of Kwara State. February 21: A student of the Sociology Department, University of Ibadan, Emmanuel Odetunde, was abducted around 5 pm while working at his father’s poultry farm in Oke Odan, Apete area of Ibadan, Oyo State. February 2: 40 people were kidnapped in a renewed bandit attack on Shiroro communities in Niger State. The incident occurred when gunmen on motorcycles stormed four villages of Kurege, Sabon Gida, Sararai and Rafin Kanya, killing some people and abducting others. February 10: Unidentified gunmen kidnapped seven travellers on Benin-Warri Highway. The incident occurred at the Sapele Oghara axis. February 15: No fewer than 20 villagers from different communities in Rafi LGA of Niger State were kidnapped. The bandits numbering over 50 invaded the communities on motorcycles, riding from village to village, shooting sporadically, which resulted in the killing of 11 persons, including the village head of Kusherki, Alhaji Masut Abubakar. February 17: 42 persons out of which are 27 students were among those kidnapped from Government Science College, Kagara in Rafi LGA of Niger State. February 20: The driver of Adamawa United Football Club, Kabiru Mohammed, was kidnapped on Benin-Ore Highway. February 18: Bandits invaded communities in Shiroro, LGA of Niger State, kidnapped no fewer than 10 persons after killing two. February 18: Gunmen were said to have kidnapped a 91-year-old traditional ruler of Kunduru community in Katsina State. 13 others were also said to have been kidnapped in Faskari LGA of the state on their way to Funtua to access poverty alleviation loans. February 22: A 24-year-old-man was abducted by bandits at a popular poultry farm, at Oke Odan, Ido LGA of Oyo State. It was said that the abductors who invaded the poultry shot severally before kidnapping the victim, who is the son of the owner of the farm. February 22: 81-year-old, Chief Bassy Iyamba was kidnapped from his house in Calabar South LGA, Cross River State. February 23: Also, a lecturer with the Department of Linguistics and Communication, University of Port Harcourt, Dr. Jones and a first-class traditional ruler in Rivers State were abducted by some suspected kidnappers, who also attacked journalists of the Rivers State Television, RSTV. The lecturer was kidnapped at Andoni Ogoni, Road Rivers State. The traditional ruler, King Aaron Ikuku, was kidnapped in Andoni LGA of the state. February 24: Scores of travellers were abducted by suspected Boko Haram members along Maiduguri-Damaturu Highway. February 25: No fewer than 317 students of Government Girls Science Secondary School, Jangebe, Talata Mafara LGA, Zamfara State, were abducted by bandits. February 27: Bandits killed six persons and kidnapped 15 others in renewed attacks on communities in two LGAs of Niger State. One of those killed was at Pandogari town in Rafi LGA where five people were abducted while another five were murdered in Gurmana in Shiroro LGA of the state.

Additional report by Kennedy Mbele

Vanguard News Nigeria

Vice Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Prof. Aliyu Shugaba, said at the weekend that about 70 professors have left the services of the institution as a result of the security challenges occasioned by activities of the Boko Haram insurgents.

The Vice Chancellor, who spoke through the Director, Alumni Services of the Institution, Prof. Shettima Mustapha Liberty, at the reunion meeting of 1999 graduates of Sociology and Anthropology of the institution also disclosed the institution has also lost quite a number of staff as a result of attempt by the insurgents to infiltrate or break into the institution.

He however said despite the security challenges, the management of the institution never considered closing down the institution for one day as doing so would amount to giving credence to the ideology of insurgents.

He also said despite the security challenges, the institution has continued to wax stronger and still receive applications for admission from across the country because the institution has remained a centre of unity.

While tasking graduates of the institution to continue to work with security agents to find lasting solution to the insecurity challenges , the Vice Chancellor said many of the Professors who left the institution as a result of the insecurity in Borno state have started returning to the institution.

He told the ex-students of the institution that “the university you left since 1999 is still standing and waxing very strong despite the huge security challenges. As you are aware, Maiduguri happen to be the epicenter of security challenges posed by the Boko Haram insurgents for the past 11 years now.

“But we never closed that institution for one day on account of this insurgency. We have been teaching, we have researching and our student are there. It is not that we have not been having challenges. There have been a lot of infiltration. They wanted to enter the university at various times and we have lost some of our staff, but yet that university continued.

“Aside the prayers, the secret has been our commitment because if we close the university on that account, we are furthering the ideology of Boko Haram because they are saying they don’t want education.

“So, if you closed the institution, you are helping them to achieve their aim and so, we have never closed that institution on that account.

“Our successive Vice Chancellors have worked extra hard to ensure that the vision and mission of the founding fathers are maintained. That is why today, despite the security challenges, people are still applying to the university from all over the country.

“We have lost nearly 70 professors in the University to other institutions because of the security challenges. But the good news is that most of them are going back”. (Thenigerialawyer)

Gov. Bello Matawalle of Zamfara has said his administration “is going to continue with peace process with bandits considering its impacts in addressing security challenges facing the state,” despite last Friday’s abduction of 317 schoolgirls from by the criminals.

Many analysts have said that the abduction of the abducted students of Government Science Secondary School, Jangebe by bandits was evidence that the Governor’s policy of appeasing criminals with money and expensive gifts to dissuade them from engaging in criminal activities is not working.

President Muhammadu Buhari had also warned governors against appeasing bandits kidnapping and killing villages across the Northwest Nigeria with cash and vehicles to stop them from carrying out their nefarious activities.

The President had noted that such gifts will serve as incentives for the bandits to engage in more criminal action in a statement he released in reaction to the kidnapping of Jangebe students.

But while assuring that the abducted Jangebe students will be released very soon, the Governor indicated that he will continue with ‘peace process’ with the bandits.

Matawalle stated this in Gusau on Sunday while receiving the federal government delegation which was in the state for sympathy visit over the abduction of the children.

“We are using the leaders of the repentant bandits to rescue the schoolgirls from the kidnappers.

“Very soon we are going to witness the release of the abductees”, the governor said

He commended President Muhammadu Buhari for sending the delegation to symphathise the state over what he described as “ugly act”.

Special prayers were offered for the release of the schoolgirls during the visit. (Thenigerialawyer)

By Yemi Oyeyemi, Abuja

A Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, has ordered the final forfeiture of the sum of $919, 202 to the federal government being proceeds from sale of a seized vessel.

The court specifically ordered Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, Port Harcourt branch to remit the money into the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) federal government recovery account with number: 0020122561028 domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

A copy of the order of the court to that effect obtained at the Federal High Court Headquarters in Abuja, indicated that the money was lawfully kept in an interest yielding account with number: 0041443133 with Union Bank in Port Harcourt since 2014, when the seized vessel was sold on the order of court following the refusal of the owner of the vessel to show up for ownership claim.

A group of bunkerers had in 2014 abandoned the vessel loaded with stolen crude oil so as to escape the wrath of law in the economic sabotage related offences law.

Following their refusal to show up to claim the vessel, a federal high court had ordered it to be sold off and its proceeds to be kept in an interest yielding account pending when the suspected bunkerers will show up.

However, no one has come up to lay claim to ownership of the vessel prompting the federal government to apply for forfeiture of the proceeds to it.

Justice Ibrahim Sani, while issuing the order following an application by the federal government, directed that the money be paid by Union Bank into the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and that an affidavit of compliance must also be filed.

The ICPC acting on behalf of the federal government through its lawyer, Dr Agada Akogwu, had filed a motion on notice praying the court for an order directing the final forfeiture of the amount realized in the sales of the seized vessel to the federal government.

Respondents in the motion on notice are the Chief Registrar, Federal High Court of Nigeria, Deputy Chief Registrar, Federal High Court of Nigeria, Port Harcourt Division and Branch Manager, Union Bank of Nigeria PLC, Station road, Port Harcourt.

The respondents through their counsel, Mr Dumwa David Ayuba did not oppose the application for forfeiture of the huge sum.

In his ruling, Justice Sani ordered that the amount be immediately remitted to the federal government.

However, contrary to the claim by ICPC that the money was unlawfully kept in the interest yielding account, Justice Sani found that the money was actually directed to be lodged in the interest yielding account by an order of the Federal High Court issued in 2014, to the Deputy Chief Registrar of the Court in Port Harcourt division.

The federal government had in November last year, applied for and got an interim forfeiture order of the said money pending when anyone would show interest and cause why the money should not be forfeited finally to the government.

However, following the failure of anyone to show up and lay claim to the property the federal government applied for final forfeiture in the suit with number: FHC/PH/MISC/284/2020.

The order for final forfeiture was then granted as prayed on February 19, 2021. (Everyday)

At least nine government vehicles, including buses, are on their way to Anka town in Zamfara State to #BringBack317OfOurGirls who were abducted from the secondary school in Jangebe, Talata Marafa, Zamfara State.

An Everyday.ng correspondent on ground disclosed that though the girls had been freed, the state government has not confirmed their freedom.

He said the Governor, Bala Matawalle, was locked in a meeting in Gusau, the state capital, with traditional rulers, even as a federal government delegation is being expected to touch down soon.

The media has been reporting, for over an hour, the release of the girls, which Everyday.ng confirmed happened in a forest in Anka.

The reports say the girls were taken to the palace of the Emir of Anka.

The 317 female students of the Government Girls Secondary School were kidnapped by bandits three nights ago, igniting fears of a repeat of the yet unresolved abduction of girls from from a female secondary school in Chibok, Borno State. 112 of them are yet to return almost seven years after. (Everyday)