IGP disbands police monitoring units in Lagos, Port Harcourt

 

The acting Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Alkali Baba, has ordered the immediate disbandment of the IGP monitoring satellite offices in Lagos and Port Harcourt.

The police boss gave the order after Nigerians complained that the officers in the units were harassing them and operating beyond their briefs.

IGP says he will improve from where his predecessor has left. Photo: @PoliceNG

He made the disclosure on Thursday, April 15, at his maiden meeting with command police commissioners and zonal Assistant Inspector-General (AIG)'s in Abuja.

Baba said the disbanded units will be re-organised.

The IGP took the action 24 hours after he met with Musiliu Smith, chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), to discuss ways of increasing the efficiency of the police force.

Meanwhile, the IGP Baba has disclosed that the security situation in the southeast and south-south geopolitical zones in Nigeria is critical to his tenure. 

Baba disclosed this on Friday, April 9, in Abuja at the opening of a meeting with police strategic commanders in the zones.

He said the meeting was aimed at discussing security issues affecting the two regions of the country. Baba noted that after the meeting, the commanders would go back to their zones to implement the outcome of the meeting.

In another report, some unknown gunmen have killed three police operatives in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.

According to the report, the operatives were shot while on duty at about 7:30 pm on Wednesday, April 14 along Nwezenyi road in the state capital.

The officers who sustained bullet wounds during the attack were later confirmed dead by doctors at the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital Abakaliki. Commissioner for internal security and border peace, Stanley Okoroemegha, confirmed the incident.

Royal Dutch Shell Lowest Payout to Nigerian Government in Three Years

 

Royal Dutch Shell subsidiaries' payment to the Nigerian government declined last year as the company paid less when compared to the previous fee disbursed. In 2020, the company paid $3.24 billion.

The reduction in Shell's payment was also recorded in other countries where the company operates. However, the payment made to Nigeria is the highest payout from the oil and gas company to 24 nations last year.

But when compared to the preceding years, the combined payment of the subsidiaries to Nigeria dropped from $6.39 billion in 2018, to $5.63 billion in 2019 and $3.24 billion.

Shell tanker. Photo: Yegor AleyevTASS

The last time Shell paid lower than $4 billion to the Nigerian government was in 2016 and 2014, when the company disbursed $3.64 billion and $3.02 billion respectively.

According to the company's report on Payments to Governments Report for the Year 2020, the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation received $2.28 billion last year, against the $3.77 billion in 2019.

Federal Inland Revenue Service got $440.39m as taxes from the company in 2020, lower than the $1.28 billion of 2019. These are some of the payouts from the company which suffered a loss of $21.68 billion last year, in contrast with the $15.84 billion profit Shell recorded.

Meanwhile, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has received a court order from the Federal High Court to freeze the accounts of companies and persons.

The affected are eleven in number. The CBN had made the request last month in order to restrict the financial activities of the companies. It was stated on Wednesday, April 7, 2021, that the order had been given.

According to a statement from the financial regulator, the request to freeze the accounts was due to suspicious activities which the CBN intends to investigate.

Economy : Nigeria records highest inflation rate in four years

 

Nigeria’s inflation rate increased by 18.17 % (year-on-year) in March 2021.

The COVID-19 pandemic dealt a blow to the Nigerian economy. Photo: @sgyemikale/Twitter, Femi Adesina/Facebook

This is 0.82 % points higher than the rate recorded in February (17.33 percent), which makes it the highest reported in four years since April 2017.

The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reported the new figure in its Consumer Price Index (CPI) March 2021 report released on Thursday, April 15.

According to the NBS report, increases were recorded in all Classification of Individual Consumption by Purpose (COICOP) divisions that yielded the headline index.

On a month-on-month basis, the headline index increased by 1.56 % in March 2021.

This is 0.02 percentage points higher than the rate recorded in February 2021 (1.54 %).

The percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12 months period ending March 2021, over the average of the CPI for the previous 12 months period was 14.55%, representing a 0.50% point increase over 14.05 % recorded in February 2021.

The urban inflation rate increased by 18.76 % (year-on-year) in March 2021 from 17.92% recorded in February 2021, while the rural inflation rate increased by 17.60 % in March 2021 from 16.77 % in February 2021.

On a month-on-month basis, the urban index rose by 1.60 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate recorded in February 2021, while the rural index also rose by 1.52 % in March 2021, up by 0.02 compared to the rate that was recorded in February 2021 (1.50 %).

This is higher than 14.66 % reported in February 2021, while the corresponding rural inflation rate in March 2021 is 13.99 % compared to 13.48 % recorded in February 2021.The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index is 15.15% in March 2021.

Meanwhile, the claim that Nigeria printed N50-N60 billion last month to cushion its financial trouble has been denied by the federal ministry of finance, budget, and national planning as well as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

P.M News reports that Osita Nwanisobi, the spokesperson of CBN, on Sunday, April 11, said he was not aware of any money printed by the government. He disclosed this while speaking to journalists.

Aisha Buhari an unusual First Lady and agent of unity - Osinbajo, Tinubu

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has described the First Lady, Hajia Aisha Buhari, as an unusual person whose spontaneity has redefined the role of the office.

The Vice President spoke on Thursday during the presentation of the book titled “Aisha Buhari: Being different” by Senior Special Assistant to the President on Administration and Women Affairs, Office of the First Lady, Dr Hajo Sani, at the State House Banquet Hall, Abuja.

Osinbajo noted she had taken steps outside the box of what used to be the personage and traditional roles in Nigeria’s presidential history, adding that her unusual approaches had endeared her to the public.

According to him, Mrs. Buhari has regaled the Nigerian public with many firsts, including opening up her office through social media outlets and connecting with the public in real-time.

“It’s unlikely that any First Lady in Nigeria’s history has, in such a few short years, captured the imagination of Nigerians as profoundly as Aisha Buhari.

“She’s, of course, the first First Lady to be on Twitter, on Instagram, and other social media platforms, getting her unfiltered views across to the Nigerian people and she’s probably the first to receive, in real time, the opinions of Nigerians on her views.

“With her views, forthright, crisp, truthful and once in a while controversial, she has established an ongoing conversation with the Nigerian people.

“The issues that concern them most, the issues that concern us the most; good governance, security, putting food on the table, the education of our children, prompt payment of pensions to army veterans, drug abuse, the violation and victimisation of women and every once in a while she airs her own personal struggles, her annoyance, in a manner, probably unprecedented in the role of the First Lady anywhere.

“There is no question that Aisha Buhari is different. Her difference has been empowering for the Nigerian people and there is never any question that her comments come from a good place, a place of genuine love and respect for the Nigerian people and our several concerns.

“But it’s unlikely that Aisha Buhari would ever be forgotten and even if there was a chance of this happening, this well written attempt to document her life and times and her contributions as First Lady to national life, through the causes that she has promoted, removes that possibility,” the Vice President

Earlier in his address the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has heaped praises on First Lady, Aisha Buhari, who he described as an agent of unity and development.

He hailed her for dignifying the office of the First Lady, which he said used to be a subject of controversy.

Tinubu, who chaired the presentation, said: “Given the First Lady’s achievement, no one can reasonably question the role of a First Lady any longer. Remember that there were those who argued that the constitution does not assign any official role to the First Lady. With Dr Aisha Buhari, their concerns have been forever laid to rest.

“First lady has played an uplifting, unifying role both in symbol and substance. She has been a voice of conscience calling us to be of our better self for the good of the nation and for the vulnerable among us.”

Buhari, who is in London for routine medical check-up, is being represented by his Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, his wife, Dolapo as well as Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege; and Mrs Folorunsho Alakija who is the Special Guest of Honour, are some of the dignitaries at the event.

Nigerian Air Force Airstrikes Eliminate ISWAP Leaders Amir Abu-Rabi, Mohamer Likita

 The Nigerian Air Force has eliminated top leaders of the Islamic State of West Africa Province (ISWAP) and scores of their fighters in Borno state.

According to the report, the brutal and precision-guided airstrikes were conducted by the Air Task Force Operation Lafiya Dole.

The report further revealed that the airstrikes targeted three major ISWAP hideouts at Kusuma, Sigir in Ngala, and Arijallamari in Abadam local government areas of Borno state.

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Accordingly, the strikes neutralized the two terrorist leaders Amir Abu-Rabi and Mohamer Likita, and dozens of their bodyguards and fighters.

While Abu-Rabi coordinated tax collection on behalf of the ISWAP in Lake Chad, Likita is among commanders coordinating attacks on military formations.

A military intelligence officer quoted in the report said:

“The attacked locations, especially Kusuma and Sigir were notorious havens used by ISWAP for coordinating and training fighters on preemptive attacks on military positions and civilian areas.

“Some of the recent attacks at Damasak, Malam Fatori, Munguno, Dikwa, and Marte axis were coordinated from the areas.

“The airstrikes and artillery bombardments on the ISWAP camps have pushed the surviving and wounded terrorists to Jibularam and Sabon Tumbu riverbank areas.”

The breakthrough by the Air Force comes almost a week after its aircraft on a routine mission in Borno state was declared missing.

NAF spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet in a tweet seen by Legit.ng late Wednesday, March 31 said the Alpha Jet was no lost radar contact.

A day after, the Chief of Air Staff (CAS) Air Marshal Oladayo Amao arrived in Maiduguri, the Borno state capital to coordinate search and rescue efforts.

On arrival, Air Marshal Amao was briefed on ongoing search and rescue efforts by those on ground.

Meanwhile, after NAF has dismissed claims by the terrorist group, Boko Haram, that its fighters brought down the jet.

The Air Force said the aircraft crashed due to an accident while accusing the insurgents of deliberately doctoring a video to give a false impression that the aircraft was shot down.

Professor expelled from his new country years after renouncing Nigerian citizenship

 

Edwin Ijeoma, a professor of public sector economics at the University of Fort Hare, has been left stateless after his South African citizenship was revoked, Times Live reported.

Professor Ijeoma who used to be a Nigerian had reportedly renounced his Nigerian citizenship after arriving in South Africa in 1998 to study.

The academic's South African citizenship was revoked by the country’s ministry of home affairs after he was founding guilty of fraudulently relying on a bigamous marriage to a South African woman to obtain citizenship by naturalization.

 Ijeoma, however, divorced his South African wife in 2007.

Professor Edwin Ijeoma's. Photo credits: Twitter/@cbngov_akin1, Times Live

The professor's alleged citizenship fraud was exposed when he was joined in South Africa by a Nigerian woman named Anne Tomo.

The woman inadvertently exposed Ijeoma by attaching a copy of her 1993 marriage to the professor in Nigeria in her application for permanent residence in South Africa.  

Bigamy committed

Following the development, the ministry of home affairs accused Professor Ijeoma of marrying the South African woman solely to acquire citizenship.

The ministry further stated that Ijeoma had lied on two previous occasions to South African immigration authorities.

The academic had reportedly listed Anne Ijeoma as his sister, not wife when asked to indicate his immediate family member who is still living in Nigeria.

Court finds Professor Ijeoma guilty

In protest, Ijeoma filed a suit against the home affairs ministry before the Bhisho high court.

The court, however, restated the ministry position as it found Ijeoma guilty of falsifying his marital status, thereby making his South African citizenship null and void.

The academic had claimed that as an African man, he believed he was entitled to marry more than one wife.The court noted that Professor Ijeoma had presented conflicting reasons for his bigamous marriage.

He also argued that he presented himself as single because he was not aware that South Africa recognised customary marriages.

According to the court, Ijeoma concealed his marriage in Nigeria from officials on three occasions: when he applied for permanent residence, when he got married to the South African woman and when he applied for citizenship.

Defending himself again, Professor Ijeoma claimed that he obtained a permanent residence permit because of his “good and sound character”, not through his marriage to the South African woman.

The court, however, countered his argument, saying it was stated clearly that he got the permanent residence permit because of the marriage.

Councilor appoints 18 aides, gives reasons as Nigerian graduate turns to akara frying business , hopes to succeed

There was a mild drama in Kano when a councillor in the state, Muslihu Yusuf Ali, did the unusual by appointing 18 persons who would work with him in carrying out his responsibilities.

Councillor, representing Guringawa Ward of Kumbotso local government area, inaugurated the 18 aides at the local government secretariat on Thursday, March 11, with the help of the vice-chairman of the council, Shamsu Abdullahi.

Speaking after the inauguration, Ali said it had always been his dream to bring changes if he had the opportunity, to carry everyone along and work for the development of his people.

Ali said, as a leader, there was a need for him to appoint even more than 18 aides so that they would assist him and report what the people needed at the grassroots.

A Kano state councilor has appointed 18 aides to help carry out his responsibilities. Credit: Daily Trust.

He added that the nature of the responsibilities they had as leaders that were close to the masses called for the appointments, hoping that it would bring positive change in his ward from which others across the country would emulate.

He explained that:

“This is one of my plans and I have been praying for it. If you look carefully, the system of representation from the National Assembly down to the state assemblies, lawmakers are not given the opportunity to appoint enough aides that will support them in their work – and they are those that are closer to the masses."

Ali who is the chief whip of the council, said the encouragement he got from the chairman of the council motivated him to go ahead with the appointments, adding that the work he was willing to do called for more aides that would assist him.

He added that a councilor is a servant of the people and he is in politics not because of money, but to bring positive development.On the ways he will source money to pay the aides, the councilor said politics was not always about money, but the development of people and their community.

Ali said he served as an aide to a governor and other political leaders and did not get paid because it was a voluntary service that provided faster development.

Meanwhile. Salihu Tanko Yakasai, a former special adviser on media to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state, described his sack as an "honourable exit".

It was reported that Governor Ganduje had sacked Yakasai for making a statement termed critical to the President Muhammadu Buhari administration. 

In a related story. Justice Emmanuel Onehi, a Nigerian  graduate went  into akara (beans cake) frying business  after he could not get a job with his certificate.

He revealed that he could never be discouraged from what he is doing, saying that he learned how to cook at home.In an interview with BBC News Pidgin, the man said that being the firstborn of seven children, he knew he had to make ends meet the hard way to look after his siblings.

The man said he is determined to succeed in his akara frying business. Photo source: bbcnespidgin

The akara seller said he realised that the business is what puts food on his family's table.

With a voice laced with strong determination, the man said that he one day hopes to stop using firewood and switch to gas as soon as he gets funds.

He added that his business would one day grow to the level that CEOs who refused him employment would come and buy his snack.

Ex-police commissioner’s wife murdered in Benue

 

Unknown gunmen have reportedly killed Eunice Aghanya, the wife of a retired commissioner of police, Ibezimako Aghanya, in her home in Makurdi.

Aghanya had served as the commissioner of police in Benue before he was transferred to Kogi where he retired several years ago.

 Aghanya was killed on Friday, March 12, at her residence off David Mark Bye-Pass in Makurdi, the Benue state capital.

Unknown gunmen have killed the wife of an ex-police commissioner in Benue. Photo source: @nigeria1sth

The deceased was believed to have been trailed home by her assailants as she reportedly returned to her house at about 4pm with her car parked outside of the gate.

A witness was quoted to have said:It was gathered that the late woman lived alone in Benue while her husband resides in Lagos.

“It was when the younger Aghanya got there that he had to break the door to enter the house because he saw her car parked outside. On getting inside, he met Mama Aghanya in the pool of her blood already dead. She was macheted on the head severally by her attackers.”

The ugly incident has been confirmed by the spokesperson of the Benue state police command, DSP Catherine Anene.

Anene added that the investigation into the murder is in progress.