Ekiti State governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi has said governors are frustrated over the security challenges facing the country.

The governor stated this on Tuesday when he led some governors on a condolence visit to their Borno state counterpart, Babagana Zulum, over the recent Boko Haram attack in the state.

Fayemi, who is the chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), said the military is overwhelmed in handling Nigeria’s security challenges, adding that efforts to tackle insecurity must involve local communities.

A statement on Wednesday by Fayemi’s Chief Press Secretary, Gbenga Oyebode quoted him as saying the killing of 43 farmers over the weekend by insurgents is “beyond any imagination.”

“It was a massacre and it was one that none of us could come to terms easily with.

“The reality we can all say, and I personally as security scholar, the reality I can see is that our military is overwhelmed. Our military is no longer in a position to single-handedly tackle this menace effectively.

“It is not a criticism of our military, if one were to suggest a coalition beyond that will even include our neighbouring countries, who are probably more experienced in fighting an asymmetrical war. It will not be a loss of our pride as a country,” the governor said.

The NGF chairman said the governors were in Borno as “an expression of our own frustration.”

“We can’t bring back the people we have lost in the last couple of days, but if we do not take the necessary steps the entire nation will be consumed by this insurgency,” Fayemi added.

At the weekend, Boko Haram insurgents struck in Borno, killing more than 40 farmers in a community, about 20 kilometres from Maiduguri, the state capital.

The President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Mr Olumide Akpata, has called for better ways to hold erring police personnel accountable for their actions in the country.

He made the call on Thursday during his appearance on a Police Reform Townhall organised by the Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre (PLAC), in collaboration with Channels Television.

Akpata believes while the efforts to pass and sign the Police Act 2020 into law are commendable, the Act lacks some vital components.

“In this new Act, there does not appear to be a clearly laid out accountability framework and that for me, is a major concern.

“The Act is full of prescriptions; it is loaded with prescriptions as to what standard operational procedures should be regarding policing,” he said.

The NBA president added, “There are no consequences for bad behaviours and rules that govern how a policeman will be held accountable for their actions.”

He stressed the need for grassroots policing, saying it was important for the police to gain the trust of the citizen who they protect.

Akpata advised the police authorities to lead the enlightenment campaign aimed at educating the people as to what their rights were, as contained in the Act.

He stated that this was important in gaining the people’s trust, as the implementation strategies for the Police Act 2020 would determine its success.

The legal practitioner said, “The ever-widening trust deficit between the police and the citizens that they are meant to be protecting; speaking as a lawyer, I also know that this cynicism is a function of even just the relationship between the police and lawyer, you will be shocked to find out how abysmal that relationship is at the moment.”

“The trust between the police and even the lawyers has broken down, not to talk about police and the citizen.

“I am hoping that if we get those implementation strategies right, we should be able to arrive at our promise land,” he added.

…Earmarks N37.8 Bn to public order and safety in 2021
…Kidnapping cases reduce in Lagos, CP

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has compensated the families of six police officers lynched in Lagos State in the wake of the violence that trailed the recent nationwide EndSARS protests with N10 million each, totaling N60 million.

The compensation was in fulfillment of the state government’s pledge made during an earlier meeting with police officers at the state police command.

As part of the promise to the families, Sanwo-Olu also announced scholarship awards to the children of the deceased officers up to the university level.

Sanwo-Olu presented cheques to the wives and children of the slain officers at the 14th Town Hall meeting on security, held at Civic Centre, Victoria Island on Thursday.

The yearly event with the theme: “Lagos Security: Resilience in the Face Adversity”, was organised by the Lagos State Security Trust Fund, LSSTF.

The late police officers are: Yaro Edward, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP), Inspector Ayodeji Erinfolami, Inspector Aderibigbe Adegbenro, Inspector Samsom Ehibor, Sergeant Bejide Abiodun and Inspector Igoche Cornelius.

Sanwo-Olu described the slain officers as “heroes”, saying the deceased sacrificed their lives to secure lives and properties in the State.

He said the compensation was the state government’s modest reward for their gallantry, stressing that the gesture would help the families to heal from the loss.

According to the governor, “Some of our gallant police officers paid the supreme price for our security and safety during the recent EndSARS protests. These are the officers deployed to protect our families from hoodlums but they were lynched in the violence. Today, I am happy to announce and present N10 million compensation through LSSTF to each family of the officers. All their children have also be placed on scholarship up to university level, courtesy of the State Government.”

Sanwo-Olu, at the event also received the report of security activities across the state in the last 12 months from Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, expressing his delight at the downward trend observed in sophisticated crimes, such as kidnapping and armed robbery, in the last one year.

As Lagos embarks on rebuild effort, Sanwo-Olu reiterated that security would remain a top priority for his Government. He noted that Lagos was on the verge of bridging technological and logistical gap in its security architecture before the violence that trailed EndSARS protest erupted.

The coordinated arson of the past weeks, the governor said, had necessitated the need to tighten security across the state, giving assurance that his administration would invest more in intelligence-led policing and improve operational capacity and welfare of personnel serving in Lagos.

He said: “We must sustain the steady progress Lagos has recorded in security of lives and businesses. The issue of security is a shared mission. The more we are able to engage the citizens, the better we will become at nipping crimes in the bud. Our Government will continue to proactively engage all stakeholders as part of ongoing exercise to address all security concerns.

“We have taken proactive measure of making the necessary budgetary provision for security. We will be committing N37.8 billion to Public Order and Safety in 2021 because we fully understand the correlation between development and security.

“We will stop at nothing to flush out criminal elements whose sole aim is to foment chaos and perpetrate crimes. Lagos will offer no hiding place for bandits and criminals.”

Sanwo-Olu disclosed that the Government would be committing funds to social protection to address contributing factors to crimes, including substance abuse, unemployment and poor education. He said the State remained focused on addressing issues that led to recent youth agitations, adding that programmes would be rolled out to cultivate young people’s trust and get them to embrace participatory governance.

Odumosu, in his extensive report, said his men rose to the occasion of effectively combating crimes in Lagos because of constant logistics supplies from the State government.

Giving the breakdown of crimes recorded in Lagos from October 2019 to last September, Odumosu said the Command foiled 273 cases of armed robbery, arresting 1,181 robbers in operations. He said 27 robbers were killed in the encounter during the period.

The police boss said the state recorded a sharp decline in kidnapping in the past year, an effort he linked to improved intelligence-driven operations. He, however, said cases of cultism and drug abuse were on the rise, promising to beam focus to the issues.

Executive Secretary, LSSTF, Dr. AbdulRazaq Balogun, observed that there was a decline in donations to the Funds in the current year, a factor he linked to the outbreak of Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and establishment of similar trust funds agencies by other States.

He said LSSTF had provided 90 patrol vehicles and six units of outboard engine boats for security operations across the State in addition to logistics support provided for the personnel.

Former US presidents Barack Obama, George W. Bush and Bill Clinton are volunteering to take a coronavirus vaccine on camera if it will help promote public confidence.

Obama, in an interview with SiriusXM radio, said he would be inoculated if top US infectious disease expert Anthony Fauci signs off on a Covid-19 vaccine.

“If Anthony Fauci tells me this vaccine is safe, and can vaccinate, you know, immunize you from getting Covid, absolutely, I’m going to take it,” Obama said.

“I promise you that when it’s been made for people who are less at risk, I will be taking it,” he said.

“I may end up taking it on TV or having it filmed, just so that people know that I trust this science, and what I don’t trust is getting Covid,” Obama said.

Freddy Ford, Bush’s chief of staff, told CNN the former president also wanted to help promote vaccination.

“First, the vaccines need to be deemed safe and administered to the priority populations,” Ford told CNN.

“Then, President Bush will get in line for his, and will gladly do so on camera.”

Angel Urena, Clinton’s press secretary, told CNN the former president would also be willing to take a vaccine in public on television

Vaccines developed by Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna-NIH are expected to be approved by US authorities shortly and a top science official said Wednesday the United States hopes to have immunized 100 million people by the end of February.

AFP

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) told a Federal High Court in Abuja on Thursday that it has taken steps to execute the summons issued to compel the appearance of the fleeing ex-Minister of Petroleum Resources, Diezani Alison-Madueke.

EFCC’s lawyer, Farouk Abdullah told the court, at the mention of a charge the commission filed against Diezani, that his agency was working on ways to ensure the full execution of the order made by the court.

The court made some orders on the last date that this matter came up.

“The prosecutions have taken steps to ensure that the orders are complied with, but that has not come to fruition yet. But steps have been taken.

“In view of this, may I humbly apply that this matter be adjourned to enable the prosecution comply fully with the orders of the court,” he said.

In view of Abdullah’s application, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu adjourned till March 3 next year for report of compliance with the orders or arraignment of the ex-Minister.

The judge had, in July this year, acceded to the request made ex-parte by the EFCC for the issuance of summons on Diezani for her to attend court for the purpose of her arraignment on the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/208/2018.

To ensure that Diezani, said to have fled Nigeria for the United Kingdom (UK) was aware of the invitation, Justice Ojukwu ordered that the court’s summons be published on the website of the EFCC and a national daily in a conspicuous manner.

The judge however rejected a further request by the EFCC on October 28, this year for the issuance of an arrest against Diezani.

Justice Ojukwu noted that the EFCC failed to show before the court, with affidavit evidence, that the earlier summons issued failed to achieve its purpose despite the agency’s efforts.

The judge recalled that the EFCC had informed the court that the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) indicated that the arrest warrant was needed to further give the international police (INTERPOL) the impetus to bring the defendant to Nigeria to answer to charges against her.

The judge directed the EFCC to put its house in order in its handling of the case because court orders were not made in vain.

Families of the 48 farmers killed at a rice field in Borno State have been given N600,000 each by Borno State Government.

The bereaved families were also given bags of food items by a committee assigned by Governor Babagana Zulum to share donations received on their behalf.

The funds came from combined support of N20m by the northern governors forum, and N5m by the North East Development Commission (NEDC).

The Committee chaired by Borno’s Commissioner for Youth and Sports, Saina Buba, carried out Thursday’s distribution in Zabarmari.

Also in the Committee are a member of the House of Representatives representing Jere federal constituency, member of Borno Assembly representing Jere, two Special Advisers and chairman-elect, for Jere local government area.

Zabarmari, where the victims lived, is located in Jere, central part of Borno State.

A total of 13,000 Bag of rice, maize and beans, 1,300 cans of vegetable oil, 2116 cartons of seasoning cubes, 1,083 tomato and 650 sachet of salt which were donated by the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development were also distributed.

Buba noted that the N600,000 cash and food items to each family were not compensation for the death of their loved ones, but to reduce hardship resulting from gaps in access to livelihoods created by the death of mostly male victims, who were breadwinners of those affected.