Code Of Conduct Tribunal And Sen. Saraki

Making a preemption that the close door meeting between Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Senate President Bukola Saraki was instrumental to the decision of the Code Of Conduct Tribunal to adjourn the trial of Sen. Bukola Saraki indefinitely, indeed denigrates the powers of the CCT, casts a huge shadow of crass stupidity and idiosyncrasy on us as a people.


No doubt, the freedom of Sen. Bukola Saraki who is currently standing a 16 count charge allegation bordering on false asset declaration and abuse of office to continue to wine and dine in the corridors of powers and maintain high political relevance beats our expectations, cast a huge shadow on the transparency and equity of our judicial institution, and ticks the 'ingenuity' of the President Buhari led "i belong to nobody, i belong to everybody" anti-corruption crusade.


We dey observe, but many Nigerians will give up on the sincerity of President Buhari led anti-corruption crusade, if Sen. Saraki's case among others is not pursued to a logical end...


In the news: The tribunal Chairman, Danladi Umar had on May 25, deferred the trial till today for further cross-examination of the principal prosecution witness, Michael Wetkas.


Hey! i have no personal glitch for the Senate President, i am only concern about the unbalanced politics, the future of my generation and that of generations yet unborn.

Sulaiman Kazeem
Twitter & Instagram: @MrSteam_

Wike Appoints Yobo Senior Special Assistant on Sports Dev

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt

Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, has appointed Former Super Eagles Captain, Joseph Yobo, as Senior Special Assistant on Sports Development to the governor.

The governor also appointed Mr Chibuzor Aholu as Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Financial Matters.
A statement issued by the Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor on Electronic Media Simeon Nwakaudu, yesterday said both appointments take immediate effect.

Last Friday, Yobo held his international testimonial match at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, an event that was listed as part of programs to celebrate one year anniversary of the administration of Wike.

The match brought international football stars, journalists, administrators and enthusiasts together in Port Harcourt to celebrate the peace, security and development of Rivers State.

Some of the stars at the Yobo Testimonial International Match include Samuel Etoo, Austin Jay jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu, Sulley Muntari, Stephen Appiah, Ahmed Musa, Efe Ambrose, Vincent Enyeama, Ike Shorunmu, Augustine Eguavoen, Joel Obi and Coach Amodu Shu’aibu.

Former Manchester United Manager, David Moyes, Emmanuel Emenike, Danny Shittu and Club Proprietor, Ifeanyi Ubah were also on ground to celebrate Yobo during the testimonial match hosted by the Rivers State Government.

Nollywood Star, Osita Iheme (Paw Paw) and Ace Comedian, AY were on hand to add spice to the match while music stars like Humble Smith, Harrysong and home-boy, Duncan Mighty provided the needed entertainment.
Yobo retired from football at the World Cup in Brazil in 2014 after chalking up 101 caps at the Super Eagles.
The Ogoni-born ex-international also had an illustrious club football career that saw him play ten years at English Premiership club Everton.

Credit: THISDAY

Waging War against Drug

Conversations about the realities of the nations’ policies against drugs was at the centre of discourse at a recent annual conference organised by Students for Sensible Drug Policy, an international grassroots network of students in Virginia, United States of America. Writes, Funke Olaode

What is the effect of drug on the youth, young adult, future generations and especial the social-economic wellbeing of a nation? Is it a cultural thing? Or a norm. Is drug abuse an addiction or health issue? And why are the government policies to combat it counterproductive? These are questions without a definite answer as many societies still grapple with the effects of drug and there seems to be no end in sight winning the war.

No doubt, the drug war is an age-long war that has survived many generations. Most leaders of the world and anti-drug agencies spend fortunes every year battling the use of drugs with some of the wealth that could be utilised to better the lives of citizens. The fact still remains that the impact of drug abuse has on the communities is enormous and the war on drugs is failing this generation.

Students for Sensible Drug Policy, a non for profit organisation as an international grassroots of network of students is committed at providing education on harms caused by the war on drugs and at the same time mobilises and empowers young people to participate in the political process, pushing for sensible policies to achieve a safer and more just future, while fighting back against counterproductive drug war policies, particularly those that directly harm students and youth. With a vision to develop leaders who advocate for policy changes based on justice, liberty, compassion and reason. The SSDP holds annual conference where young people meet to have open and honest conversations about the realities of the drug war.

Between April 15-18 this year, the organisation converged on Holiday Inn Roselyn, Arlington, Virginia, United States of America. The 2016 SSDP conference brought together over 400 students and young people from all over the world and largely America. Being a youth gathering, it was a weekend of fun, serious talks, meeting, networking and sharing ideas. Nigerian chapter of SSDP were represented by Blessing Aigbe Davids and Ononuju Okwaraogoma Silver who also shared the Nigerian experience.

While the conference lasted, the participants noted that several anti-drug policies and laws are in enactment but unfortunately, the war on drugs is failing by the day as drug abusers continue to feel our courts, hospitals, and prisons noted Blessing Aigbe Davids.

“The drug trade still causes violent crime that ravages our neighborhoods, children of drug abusers are neglected, abused, and even abandoned. The only beneficiaries of this war are organised crime members and drug dealers. A question to ponder on this: Is why some drugs are legal and other drugs are illegal today? When many are currently illegal drugs, such as marijuana, opium, coca, and psychedelics have been used for thousands of years for both medical and spiritual purposes. It’s not based on any scientific assessment of the relative risks of these drugs – but it has everything to do with who is associated with these drugs.”

While many countries adopt several measures to counter this menace, the United States has focused its efforts on the criminalisation of drug use. The government has, to no avail, spent countless billions of dollars in efforts to eradicate the supply of drugs. Efforts of interdiction and law enforcement have not been met with decreases in the availability of drugs in America. Apart from being highly costly, drug law enforcement has been counterproductive.
On efforts being made by the Nigerian government on its crusade against drug war, Davids said over the past five years, as stated by Alex Klein, in his book- Review of Nigerian Political Economy No 79:51-73, the Nigerian government has taken dramatic steps to improve the country’s reputation as an international drug trafficking centre, as most of the emphasis has fallen on low enforcement and repression, there has been a sharp increase in arrest rates and the prison population.

In spite of such severe measures, she noted that a correlative fall in consumption has not been registered. “There is a danger that Nigeria is not only repeating the unsuccessful strategies employed by the U.S but is also failing to take account of the very different conditions in the local drug scene. It follows that the ostensible outcome of drug control-reduced consumption and trafficking- has become secondary to the manipulation of drug law enforcement for the extension of state authority and to effect societal and political control.”

In recognition of this failure, Davids stressed it has become expedient that a new approach to drug use and the war against it is sought. “There is a need for a fundamental shift in the nation’s and indeed every nation of the world’s policies against drugs. Drug policies should be formed and reformed based on health, compassion and human rights. Current drug laws that criminalises drug use and addiction need to be relaxed and nations need to shift spending from law enforcement and penalisation to education, treatment, and prevention,” she said.

In another Nigerian participant’s view, Ononuju Okwaraogoma Silver, he was of the opinion that drug use and related issues are cultural-based even though concerns about the effects of drug policies on drug users are general. He said it was cultural-based in the sense that Africans view drug involvement from an immoral perspective. “It is a child that is not properly guided that becomes wayward and by peer influence, gets into drug use and addiction. With this in mind, Africans are mindful and careful to steer clear except in cases that are out of their control. While this may be the case for westerners too, the level of immorality associated with drug use in Africa is not the same in the western world.

“The level of freedom and advocacy for human rights in the West has made the use of drugs and eventual addiction a norm. This of course is responsible for the resultant effects that drug use and addiction has on both the users, their families and the communities they live in. With this, the reason for American government’s commitment and very likely many governments of the western world in creating a war on drugs through funds and various harmful policies is not far-fetched.”

At the end of the conference, the participants agreed that harmful policies have never and cannot end the drug war. And this is why SSDP members agreed in unison that irrespective of the cultural background, they stand together to say policies should be formed based on love, care, support, compassion bearing in mind that drug addiction is not a crime but a health issue.”

 Credit: THISDAY

Senate Slams Fashola over Poor Power Supply

• Govt plans staggered sale of 10 NIPP plants

Chineme Okafor and Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
The Joint Senate Committee on Power, Employment, Labour and Productivity Tuesday lamented the deplorable state of power supply in the country and told the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, to live up to his responsibility.

The committee’s rebuke of Fashola coincided with THISDAY’s findings yesterday that the federal, state and local governments, owners of the 10 NIPP plants, have decided to stagger their sale to private entities.

Lamenting the state of power supply in the country, the Senate committee accused Fashola of defending what it perceived as an unjustifiable increase in electricity tariff, lashing him for unnecessarily defending, pampering and protecting the power firms.

The committee expressed its anger at a public hearing it organised on the hike in electricity tariff in the country. Fashola was accompanied to the hearing by the acting Chairman, Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Anthony Akah.

The minister, who had argued that adequate consultations were carried out among stakeholders in the power sector before the new tariff was fixed, asked those expecting the federal government to reverse the 45 per cent increase in electricity tariff to perish the thought.

According to him, doing so would be counter-productive.
He said it was too early to judge the effectiveness of the privatisation of the nation’s power sector, which was done only in 2013 by the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
He asked the Senate to study the report of the House of Representatives, which he said had earlier carried out a similar public hearing, noting that the report would give the Senate a comprehensive knowledge of events, which led to the hike in electricity tariff.

He defended the 45 per cent tariff increase done by NERC, regretting, however, that the destruction of pipelines in Niger Delta region by some militants had continued to frustrate efforts to improve power supply.

He said: “Let me say again with all relevancies and for the purpose of those who will benefit from this public hearing that today there is no (Power Holding Company of Nigeria) PHCN anymore. And we must migrate because we have moved on from it. As a minister, I inherited a power sector where government interests had been illegally sold and therefore, I don’t control how power is distributed. I don’t control how power is generated as was possible to do in the past.

“They are now largely private businesses except those where government now has some minority shares and so, government is now a minority shareholder in businesses where there are majority shareholders and we can only exercise collaborative pressure to get things done, but things must be done now on a commercial basis.”

Fashola said in the past, it was easy for government managing the distribution access to say “give power to the people; don’t collect money”. But he said this was no longer possible because government had become a minority shareholder in the business.

“Government’s control is limited and it is largely exercising regulatory activities through the NERC, which sets the tariff. So, my interventions here would be largely to express why I support what NERC has done and to help amplify my understanding of it,” the minister said.
According to him, “The distribution companies (DISCOS) were making it very clear to us that if we did not give them the market reflective tariff, it meant that government would have to carry the continuing cost that accumulated in the region of about a trillion naira.

“We are not insensitive to Nigerians owing to their challenges. We are looking for the best way to solve what has become an over 60 year’s problem since 1950 when Electricity Company of Nigeria was first created.”
Fashola said one of the reasons why tariff had to go up was that a major component, a significant number of the nation’s power plant depended on gas, adding that there were only three hydro out of about 26 power plants.

“We were heavily dependent on gas, people were exporting gas because gas was selling outside the country at $4 and it was selling for domestic use at $1. Government reviewed that price to a total of $3,” he said.
In his submission, Akah said NERC painstakingly engaged power firms and as well as carried out wide and extensive consultations with relevant stakeholders before fixing the new tariff.

He listed those consulted to include the organised labour involving the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), which has persistently called for the reversal of the tariff, disclosing that labour did not raise any formal objection in writing before or after the increase.

But the representatives of labour at the public hearing, Messrs Chris Okonkwo of TUC and Joe Ajaero of NLC, insisted that power supply was better off before the tariff hike than now as they viewed the increase as exploitative.
Meanwhile, THISDAY learnt that the 10 gas power stations built under the National Integrated Power Projects (NIPP) by the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC) Plc might be sold in bits.

The paper yesterday exclusively gathered from top government sources who are aware of the new development that barring any last minute changes in advanced discussions on how to salvage the almost messy privatisation of the plants, a staggered sales strategy has been picked as the most viable option to conclude the process.
The sources explained in Abuja that by this, the owners — federal, state and local governments — had agreed to now sell the plants to the already preferred bidders one after the other.

They noted that any of the plants that is ready and its preferred bidders that are also ready to continue with the suspended negotiations would now be allowed to be sold independently instead of waiting for a collective conclusion of the transaction as it was the case before.
THISDAY was however told by the sources that the office of the Vice-President Yemi Osibanjo had been busy with key stakeholders to push forward the transactions and that the result of the engagement was the option of staggered privatisation.

It was also learnt that some of the preferred bidders are quite comfortable with the new strategy and had expressed their willingness to go on with it.
The new approach, they further explained, would now allow the transaction team comprising the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), NDPHC and CPCS Transcom International Limited – the transaction advisors — to pick a plant and solely conclude its privatisation, thus sidestepping the former strategy of collective sale of the 10.

It was further learnt that in line with the discussions on this, the Calabar and Geregu stations have been pencilled down as the first two on which this strategy will be tried out.
The choice of the two plants, they said, was based on their level of operation, having reportedly been completed and in the case of Geregu, already generating power to the national grid.

According to them, the strategy will subsequently be used to privatise other plants that are ready or will be ready.
The government’s privatisation of the 10 power plants had been suspended for reasons relating to poor or lack of gas supply to some of them, amongst others, and for which their preferred bidders have held on to, thereby withholding the completion of their payments for the plants.

On November 8, 2013, the NDPHC and BPE received 66 proposals for the 10 generation plants which have over 5,000 megawatts (MW) installed production capacity.
The financial bids for the plants were then opened on March 7, 2014, and preferred and reserve bidders were determined afterwards.

However, the transaction had not gone beyond that stage when the preferred bidders alleged that the government raised some issues that were not part of what government promised them upon their entry into the transaction.
Some of the preferred bidders for the plant include AITEO Consortium, which bidded $902,000,000 for Alaoji; EMA Consortium, which put in $580,000,000 for Benin station and $625,000,000 for Calabar plant; Dozzy Integrated Power Limited with its $415,075,000 for Egbema; and KDI Energy Resources with $340,000,000 for Gbarain.

Others are Yellowstone Electric Power Limited with $613,111,113 for Geregu; Daniel Power Consortium has $531,777,777 for Ogorode; ENL Consortium Limited put in $751,240,000 for Olorunsogo; Shayobe International Limited Consortium has $318,710,840 for Omoku and Omotosho Electric Power, which tabled $659,999,000 for Omotosho power plant.

Credit: THISDAY

Buhari to CBN: No Objection to Flexible Exchange Rate

• Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Declines to N2.72tn from N3.51tn

Bolaji Adebiyi, with agency report, James Emejo in Abuja, David-Chyddy Eleke in Awka
Faced with an economy nearing recession and inflation at the highest in almost six years, President Muhammadu Buhari has backed down on his refusal to allow the naira to weaken.

The President, according to Bloomberg, has given the Central Bank of Nigeria the go-ahead to introduce a more flexible exchange-rate system even as he remains against a devaluation of the naira.

The foreign news agency quoted the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, “The president is opposed to devaluing the naira, he has said so repeatedly…but he has given them (CBN) the leeway to introduce what he has called ‘flexibility in managing the currency’s value.”

The President had said in his Democracy Day speech on Sunday that he supported a stable currency, though he would keep “a close look at how recent measures affect the naira and the economy.”

Buhari’s media aide’s comments, which came days after the Central Bank of Nigeria said it planned to introduce a more flexible exchange-rate regime, cleared traders guess on whether the President supported the bank’s plan.

Bloomberg quoted a money manager at Aberdeen Asset Management Plc, which sold all its Nigerian government debt in response to currency controls, Kevin Daly, as saying, “The authorities are acknowledging they need to do something. “They realize this policy is doomed. The question now is how you implement it and how you save face.”

Nigeria has held the naira at 197-199 per dollar since March 2015, even as other oil exporters from Russia to Colombia and Malaysia let their currencies drop amid the slump in crude prices since mid-2014. Foreign reserves dwindled as the central bank of Africa’s largest oil producer defended the peg, while foreign investors, fearing a devaluation, sold Nigerian stocks and bonds.

Three-month non-deliverable naira forwards have weakened about 35 naira to 283 per dollar since the central bank announced its change of direction, suggesting traders anticipate the currency may trade near that level in the event of a devaluation.

The Central Bank Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had said on May 24 that policy makers were considering a two-tier currency system, with the naira trading nearer a market-related level in the interbank market while the central bank would continue to allocate dollars to strategic industries at a fixed rate, adding that the new system would be implemented shortly.

The Head of Research at Sterling Capital Markets Limited, Sewa Wusu, has, however, criticised Buhari’s positions as contradictory. “How do you say you don’t believe in devaluation if that is what will create a fair price or bring about a market-determined rate?” Wusu told Bloomberg by phone from Lagos. “The government should come out clearly and say what it wants,” he said.

Nigeria’s Foreign Trade Declines in First Quarter

Nigeria’s total merchandise trade continued its downward trajectory, falling to N2.72 trillion in the first quarter of the year (Q1 2016), representing a 22.6 per cent decline or N793.5 billion compared to N3.51 trillion in the previous quarter. Foreign trade was recorded at N4.02 trillion in Q3 2014.

According to the Foreign Trade Statistics for First Quarter, which was released by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) yesterday, falling exports as well as sharp decline in imports caused a negative trade balance within the period.
It said the steep decline in exports brought the country’s trade balance down to a negative value of -N184.1 billion, or N548.7 billion less than what obtained in the preceding quarter.

According to the NBS, the country’s crude oil component of total trade decreased by N716.7 billion or 46.6 per cent against the level recorded in Q4 2015.

The value of exports totalled N1.26 trillion in Q1, representing a decrease of N671.1 billion or 34.6 per cent over the N2.07 trillion recorded in the preceding quarter.
Year-on-year, exports dropped by N1.39 trillion or 52.3 per cent against the export value recorded in the corresponding quarter of 2015.

The country’s export trade was still dominated by crude oil exports, which accounted for 64.7 per cent or about N821.9 billion of total domestic exports.
According to the statistical agency, quarter-on-quarter exports fell 34.6 per cent and 52.3 per cent year-on-year while imports dropped 7.8 per cent and 15.8 per cent.

On the other hand, import trade stood at N1.45 trillion, representing 7.8 per cent drop from the N1.57 trillion recorded in the previous quarter and a further decrease of 273.7 billion or 15.8 per cent year-on-year.
India, Spain and the Netherlands are Nigeria’s major trade partners respectively in Q1 while China, India and the USA constituted major sources of the country’s imports.

Meanwhile, the federal government has said it hopes to achieve the 3.7 per cent projected general growth outlook for the African continent through enhancing global competitiveness of locally made products.
The Minister of Industry Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelama, said this at the one-day sensitisation workshop yesterday.

Enelama who was represented by a director in the ministry, Adesola Olusola, said the 25 per cent subsidy on standardisation was targeted at ensuring that the economy is diversified through the export of globally competitive finished products as set by the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON).

“The decision of SON to embark on the 25 per cent subsidy programme is particularly auspicious given the current concerns on the need to make Nigerian products competitive in the domestic and export markets, a veritable strategy for the federal government to achieve the diversification of the national income base.

“At the heart of this effort are the twin issues of standard and quality of our locally manufactured goods and services, inadequate attention to them over the years has been a major challenge to their competitiveness and the country’s ability to achieve the projected 3.7 per cent growth outlook for the African continent in 2016,” he said.

Enelama called on manufacturers to freely and voluntarily key into the project and urged Nigerians to generously patronise certified made-in-Nigeria products to further empower the people economically and create jobs.
On their parts, some indigenous manufacturers lauded the SON for enhancing the minimum standard of Nigerian products through effective monitoring.

Head Marketing, Research and Development of Chikason Industries, Mr. Amechi Chukwu, said making local products attain global standards would enhance the employment generation of indigenous industries.
Chukwu who said the company currently had no fewer than 2,449 employees in Nigeria alone, urged the Federal Government to ease the cost of doing business in the country.

Also speaking, Mr. Jude Ike, Head, Marketing of Tummy Tummy Foods Industries, said the 25 per cent subsidy on standardisation if implemented would go a long way to help entrepreneurs stay in business.
Ike who described the attitude of Nigerians to consuming quality local goods as satisfactory, bemoaned the high cost of production especially due to poor supply.

He said the Tummy Tummy brand remained committed to minimum industrial standards as set by SON and urged the Federal Government to ease the access to forex to enable local firms procure standard raw materials that were sourced abroad.
Earlier in his speech, the Acting Director General of SON, Mr. Paul Angya, said the organisation would continue to protect Nigerian consumers from fake and substandard products.
Angya said the subsidy scheme was aimed at enhancing the viability Nigeria-made products and enable firms conform to standards.

Declaring the event open, Gov Willie Obiano called for the building of a standard test laboratory in Anambra as it had a thriving industrial sector.
Obiano who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Prof. Solo Chukwulobelu, lauded the SON for its pro-activeness and promised to continue collaborating with the agency.

Credit: THISDAY

We Acted in Self Defence over Biafra Day Killings, Says Military

• Igbo leaders meet Buhari
• Catholic Bishops protest
• IG directs police to disarm activists

Dele Ogbodo, Senator Iroegbu, Paul Obi, Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja and Charles Onyekamuo in Awka
The Nigeria Army on Tuesday gave reasons for the killing of some members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), saying the security forces acted in self-defence when their intervention to restore law and order was resisted by the agitators.

The military alleged that the protests were designed by the sponsors to mar the Democracy Day celebrations held nationwide on Sunday.

The Deputy Director of Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Nigerian Army, Enugu, Col. Hamza Gambo, stated this while giving an account on what transpired.

He said the incident that led to the drafting of soldiers to quell the violent protests left about five members of IPOB/MASSOB dead, while several others were injured on both sides.

But the Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) said the killings could not be justified no matter the provocation.
Also in an apparent show of concern, a delegation of Igbo leaders met with President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The delegation was led by former president of the Senate, Ken Nnamani, under the aegis of the Southeast Group for Change.
Although no statement was made after the meeting, it was believed that last Monday’s killings was the focus of meeting.

The delegation included former Senators Ifeanyi Ararume and Osita Izunaso; former House of Representatives member, Sharon Ikeazor; former Executive Vice-Charman of Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), Ernest Ndukwe. Others were the All Progressives (APC) National Vice-Chairman (South-east), Hon. Emma Eneukwu; member of the APC Board of Trustees, Chief Austin Edeze; Dr. Uzoma Obiyo; and Chris Akomas.

“Instructively, troops of 82 Division Nigerian Army as the lead agency of the security agencies had to invoke the extant Rules of Engagement (ROE) to resort to self-defence, protection of the strategic Niger Bridge, prevent re-enforcement of the pro Biafran members apparently surging ahead from the far side of the strategic Niger Bridge at Onitsha,’’ Gambo stated.

Gambo, who said the protests were orchestrated to mar the Democracy Day celebrations and had to be put down because the protesters were endangering the peace of Onitsha and the lives of the people in the area, explained that all efforts to disperse the crowd were abortive.

“In the aftermath of the fire fight that ensued, many of our troops sustained varying degree of injuries. The injured troops are currently receiving treatment at our medical centre. Similarly, five members of MASSOB/IPOB were killed, eight wounded while nine were arrested for due legal actions,” he said.

The Army spokesman explained that the security agencies, including detachments of the Nigerian Navy, Nigeria Police, Department of State Services (DSS) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), were compelled to intervene to put down the protest, adding that the protests had created panic among the populace, in consonance with constitutional provisions of aid to civil authority where and when such occasion demands.
“The overarching imperative to ensure a reign of peace, security and stability in this circumstance was most starring,’’ he said.

Gambo further claimed that the members of MASSOB/IPOB, who had earlier assembled at a school location on Ataa Road near Saint Edmunds’ Catholic Parish Maryland Nkpor-Agu in Anambra State, resorted to fierce attacks against the intervening security agencies who were carrying out their legitimate mandate.
The nature of these attacks, he disclosed, involved brazen employment of various types of fire arms and all sorts of crude weapons, volatile cocktail such as acid and dynamites.

Gambo, however, assured the people of Anambra State of the military’s professional commitment to the protection of lives and property and indeed across its entire area of responsibility in tandem with the recent directive of President Muhammadu Buhari.
But the CBCN expressed concern over the killing of IPOB, MASSOB members and the current siege in the Niger Delta region following the bombings of oil installations in the region.

The CBCN President and Archbishop of Jos, Ignatius Kaigama, said the crises in the two regions portend great danger and bad omen towards the unity of Nigeria as an entity with a common identity.
According to Kaigama, “It is not very good news for us. I just returned from Germany. Everywhere I went, I was asked about what the problem was with Nigeria? We are still struggling with Boko Haram, now we are talking about Niger Delta Avengers (NDA) and IPOB, the solution is not to intensify the crises.”

Asked if the federal government policies towards the two regions might have engineered the current agitations, Kaigama said: “I don’t know what criteria they used in appointment or allocation of projects, when you are marginalised, short changed, the culture of dialogue is the best way to go, I’m not sure when we are going to dispense with these regional agitations.

“If a leader comes from the south, others will make his government difficult, when somebody from the north comes to power, others will target his government. It is so sad. Where is the rational behaviour in that? No matter how shortchanged, no matter how marginalised you are, violence and resorting to crisis is not the best solution.”
On the application of force by the government, the CBCN president advised the National Assembly to rise up to its responsibility of defending the people.

Also speaking, the Executive Director of Caritas International, an arm of the Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria (CSN), Rev. Fr. Evaristus Bassey, advised the federal government not to approach the dispute with military option.
“Why are we having these crises? It is because of the structure of the country. We still need to look at the structure of the country and see how we can address some of these challenges,” he said.
According to him, “It was very disappointing for President Buhari to say that he will discard the National Conference report to the archive. He has not even read it; I see it as careless. There are fundamental things we should sit down and address.”

Meanwhile, the Inspector General of Police (IG), Solomon Arase, yesterday directed the assistant inspectors general of police and the commissioners of police in the affected areas to disarm members of the group immediately.
In a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Assistant Commissioner of Police Kolawole Olabisi, the IG was quoted as accusing members of the IPOB of premeditated attacks on police officers engaged in peaceful operations in both zones.

“The Inspector-General of Police, IGP Solomon E. Arase, has directed the Assistant Inspectors General of Police and the Commissioners of Police in the affected area to disarm members of the group operating with firearms immediately,” it stated.

It added that: “The IGP noted that the targeted attacks on police personnel, who have been performing their statutory functions in the most professional and civil manner since the latest resurgence disorder, portrays the IPOB activists who are orchestrating the insurrection as having crossed the threshold in their misguided attempt to test the common will of the nation.”
In its reaction yesterday, the Anambra State government said it did not issue a shoot-on-sight order to the security forces.

The state Commissioner for Information and Communication Strategy, Mr. Tony Nnaecheta, said at a press conference in Awka that though the peaceful demonstration by the Biafra agitators was hijacked by hoodlums, it did not order anybody to shoot at the protesters.
“The state government is not blaming anybody who is demonstrating peacefully but the miscreants who infiltrated the procession. But even at that, the state government didn’t order anybody to shoot at the protesters,” he said.

He said that within 24 hours of the incident, the state government had empanelled a team of its officials to ascertain what transpired between the agitators and the security personnel, adding that preliminary reports available to government showed that majority of the protesters were not from the state and that no church was burnt in Nkpor.
“Our investigation confirmed that many of the young men who came to participate in the procession arrived from outside the state. Some came from Delta, Abia, Cross River, Ebonyi, Imo and Enugu States,” Nnaecheta said.

Also speaking on the crisis yesterday, the Deputy Senate President Ike Ekwerenmadu advised security agencies to handle various unrests in the country with caution to avert persistent and unnecessary waste of innocent lives.
Ekweremadu, who gave the advice while raising a point of order on the confrontation between security agents and pro-Biafran protesters in the South-east and South-south on Monday, said the brutal attacks against civilians who were staging peaceful protest were misplaced.

According to him, the protests by members of MASSOB, which were followed by the onslaughts of security agents in Delta and Anambra States on Monday ought to have been handled with extreme caution as he lamented the uncivil approach of the agents to the matter.

He said: “I will like to use this opportunity under Order 43 to say that the security agencies must apply caution in trying to quell disturbances. We have had so much of blood bath in this country under different circumstances and we cannot continue to lose young men and women because the future of this country belongs to them.

“It is important that this Senate rises to condemn any act of killings in any part of this country especially the one that concerns the major part of our future which remains the youth. We are now in a democracy and people should be entitled to speak their minds to assemble under responsible circumstances. Security agencies must also be responsible in dealing with those circumstances to ensure that lives are not lost unnecessarily.”

In his reaction, Senate President Bukola Saraki described the bloody encounter as unfortunate, pointing out that prompt action needed to be taken to address the issue raised by Ekweremadu.
“But I think that the point he has raised must all draw our attentionto see what necessary action will be taken in order to address this matter,” he said.

Credit: THISDAY