Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya, Chief of Army Staff, launched off three Nigerian Army Field Training Exercises in Emene, Enugu state, on Monday.
The Exercise in the South-East, dubbed ‘Exercise Golden Dawn,’ is heightening tensions, as the army and police in the state conducted an Operation Show of Force, forcing people off the highways and streets.

The COAS said the Exercises, which are being held simultaneously in South South, South East, South West, and North Central Nigeria, are designed to address the country’s complex and modern security problems.

Despite the show of power, hoodlums pounced on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) sit-at-home order in several regions of the South-East, according to reports.

Schools, stores, banks, and restaurants were all forced to close due to the tension.

Meanwhile, the Southern and Middle Belt Alliance has instructed soldiers to display moderation during the exercise and to preserve civilians’ human rights.

In a statement, the group also urged President Muhammadu Buhari and other south-eastern governors to track down and apprehend the sponsors of the “unknown gunmen” terrorizing the region.

Read Also:  330,000 Nigerians seek refuge in Chad, Niger, and Cameroon due to insecurity – FG

“Scores of lives have been lost, and government and private properties worth billions of naira have been destroyed,” the organization claimed in a statement signed by its Spokesperson, Mr. Rwang Pam.

“Every person has a right to life, and no one shall be deprived intentionally of his life, except in the execution of a court sentence in respect of a criminal offence of which he has been found guilty in Nigeria,” according to Section 33 of the 1999 Nigerian Constitution (as amended).

Similarly, Section 14 (2b) stipulates that “the primary goal of government shall be the welfare and security of the citizens.”

“This administration has failed in that duty, and it will continue to fail until it meets its obligation to all Nigerians.

It is heartbreaking that recent events in Anambra State, as well as the rest of the South-East, have violated this right.”

The Army, through Col Abdulkarim Usman, Commander 302 Artillery Regiment (General Support), said the exercise will be standard training in several geographical zones in the South-East.

“The military, in collaboration with other security agencies, would exploit the golden opportunity to curtail the present security risks in Anambra State,” he said.

Read Also:  Gbajabiamila: We must band together to combat insecurity

Secessionist agitation by the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra, the Indigenous People of Biafra, and the Eastern Security Network are among the threats.

Banditry, abduction, cultist activities, land disputes, communal confrontations, chieftaincy concerns, assassinations, and youth restlessness are among the others. To combat these numerous security threats, the unit has always maintained a strong posture.”

Dr. Mike Uyi, President General of Global Peace Movement International UK, praised Senator Godswill Akpabio, Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, for his outstanding leadership and commitment to the development of the Niger Delta region on Wednesday.

According to Dr. Mike Uyi, Akpabio’s leadership style has demonstrated that there are still good Nigerians who can be trusted to lead the country to its rightful place.

In a statement issued in London, Uyi stated that given Sen. Akpabio’s accomplishments as Minister of the Niger Delta, it would not be inappropriate to consider Akpabio for a higher position.

He stated that the coast is now clear for the people of the region to enjoy the benefits of democracy, particularly following the NDDC’s successful audit.

Read Also:  Reps form technical committee to Probe Sports Ministry’s failed doping test

“Akpabio is the Niger Delta’s lion, who will stop at nothing until a successful audit is completed without fear or favor, despite all the distractions.”

“In the history of Nigerian politics, Akpabio is the only politician with the initials GSM, and this is only possible because of his exceptional track record of transparent and people-oriented leadership.”

“Right present, a country in Europe is considering incorporating Godswill Akpabio’s developmental stride of Uncommon Transformation into its school curriculum beginning in 22/23 as a National study in all schools,” Uyi said.

Read Also:  Katsina appoints DG for the newly formed State Traffic Authority

“As we know him, the Minister has been a detribalized and generous individual. His personal aides and laborers come from several states across the Niger Delta and the country. Furthermore, the minister is known for providing opportunities to people only based on their abilities.”

“Since his emergence as a minister, he has brought all players in the Niger Delta together with him, and as a result, the region has stayed peaceful.”

The Federal Government stated that the accusation that it was handling bandits with child gloves was false and deceptive.

Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information and Culture, revealed this on Tuesday during an appearance on the Nigeria Television “Good Morning Nigeria” program.

On a program monitored by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, the minister said banditry was a form of criminality that had nothing to do with religion or philosophy.

He claimed that the federal government’s military strategy to dealing with criminals did not distinguish between bandits and terrorists.

“I believe we have been circling around nomenclature; a criminal is a criminal, whether a bandit or a terrorist, and they are treated the same way.

“That is why the accusation that the federal administration is kinder to bandits than separatists and other criminals is ludicrous to us.

“This is a falsehood, fake news, and misinformation all rolled into one, and this is the kind of divisive language advocated by some naysayers,” he stated.

Read Also:  Yahaya Bello’s Security Template Recommend by Kwara Leaders

It was absurd, Mohammed remarked, for the military to treat bandits who were murdering soldiers and police officers with child gloves.

He went on to say that the military’s approach to combating criminality on land and in the air will make it impossible to distinguish between bandits and other criminals.

They were winning the war, Mohammed added, with the heightened offensive against bandits and specific measures implemented by the governors of the states where bandits were operating.

He claimed that the governors had learned from their previous mistakes and vowed not to bargain with bandits, but rather to pursue them and not spare them.

Mohammed claimed that measures such as the suspension of mobile telecommunication networks in some places and the prohibition on the sale of petroleum products in jerry cans and at filling stations near land borders were bearing results.

He went on to say that restrictions on the usage of “junction motor parks” in the states, as well as a ban on the sale of fairly used motorcycles in specific markets, were also yielding benefits.

Meanwhile, President Muhammdu Buhari was pressed by the House of Representatives on Tuesday to show adequate political will by revealing the identify of the member of the supreme legislature, the National Assembly, who he claims is funding terrorism.

This came after Hon. Ben Igbakpa (Delta, PDP) proposed a motion of privilege, expressing significant concern about Mr. President’s serious charge against a serving member of the 9th Assembly.

Read Also:  Reps form technical committee to Probe Sports Ministry’s failed doping test

Hon. Igbakpa stated that Section 17(a) of the Legislative Houses (Powers and Privileges) Act, 2017 confers on the House the constitutional obligations of lawmaking as outlined in Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

The legislator who requested House intervention voiced his displeasure with the gravity of the allegation leveled against the Legislative branch of government by the President of the United States.

While noting that no arm of government is superior to the other under the principle of separation of powers, Hon. Igbakpa emphasized the importance of the House leadership meeting with its Senate counterpart in order to interface with Mr. President in order to name the serving member of the National Assembly who is sponsoring terrorism, as he claimed in paragraph 33 of his nationwide broadcast to Nigerians.

He also asked the House to urge President Buhari to “immediately initiate the prosecution of the individual and, if convicted, to be completely shamed.”

“As reported by media houses around the world, President Buhari in his Independence Day speech reminded the world that one of us is funding terrorism,” Hon. Igbakpa remarked while recounting his ordeal at the Ghana airport. IPOB is a terrorist group in the eyes of the law today, even if we have misgivings, because the laws of the land and the courts have spoken.

“Mr. Speaker, that implies 469 National Assembly members are criminal suspects. On that terrible day, I traveled to Akure to attend the funeral service of Hon. Expensive, a colleague of ours.

Read Also:  Police officers accused of stealing their phones after arresting protesters

“On Saturday, I had to honor a wedding invitation in Ghana, Mr. Speaker, and you will be amazed at what I experienced at the hands of Ghanaian officials.

“They detained me for about four hours, saying they were trying to confirm something; I stayed at the airport for four hours, missed the wedding I was supposed to attend, and at the end of the day, one of them walked up to me and said sorry sir, there has been an announcement in Nigeria that a member of Parliament is sponsoring terrorism, and we have been put on red alert to ensure that no member of Parliament comes here to hide or evade detection; at the end of the day, one of them

“I had no choice but to return home disheartened. They’ve been phoning me from all over the world, informing me who among you is funding terrorism, my friends have been telling me. Any father who names and shames a child who is causing division is doing the right thing. But instead of shaming or naming that person, Mr. President listed 469 members.

“Because we’ve always collaborated and Nigeria has a lot to deal with, I’m appealing, if it’s not the correct thing to do, to invoke Section 28 of the constitution so they can tell us who among us is funding terrorism.”

“Everyone here is a prime suspect. I urge the House leadership to work with their Senate colleagues to arrange a meeting with the President so that he can learn who is funding terrorism among us.

Read also:  Reps form technical committee to Probe Sports Ministry’s failed doping test

Hon. Igbakpa encouraged the President to go ahead and pursue and convict that person.

Concerned by the development, certain members who expressed an interest in contributing to the motion were denied the opportunity to do so because it was brought under the heading of ‘Privilege.’

The Speaker, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who presided over the House plenary, responded by saying that the motion of privilege had been “noted” and that he would “get back to you on that.”

Hon.Olumide Osoba, Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Sports, announced yesterday that a Technical Committee had been formed to investigate the activities of the Federal Ministry of Sports in relation to the failed doping test by Nigerian athletes at the recently concluded Olympic Games in Tokyo.

After a closed-door meeting with Minister of Sports and Youth Development, Mr. Sunday Dare, in which the Minister declined to answer questions about the meeting’s outcome, Osoba made the announcement before the National Assembly.

According to him, the report of the Technical Committee, which is chaired by Hon. Rauf Modibbo, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Sports, will be submitted alongside the Ministry’s own committee.

Read Also:  Economy: Business leaders must pay close attention to public sector leadership – NESG

In two weeks, he claims, the Minister of Sports and Youth Development will appear before the Committee.

“Let me explain how the parliament works: a motion was moved, and a committee was formed to look into what actually transpired. The Committee now requires all of the information in order to complete its task.

“What we did was establish a Committee to investigate the events that occurred, and I discussed with the Ministry that we want the report of that Committee along with the report of our Committee, and members would go over both reports, and then we would call the Ministry, the Committee, and some athletes back, and we would have a proper interactive session with them.

“We want to do a comprehensive job, so we’ll need all of the details regarding what happened. We don’t have to rush through a work that isn’t thorough.

Read also:  As WhatsApp, Facebook, and Instagram experience global outages, Zuckerberg suffers a $7 billion loss

“They’ll come back in two weeks, when enough information will have been shared with the members for them to perform a complete job. We would not begin an interactive session unless we have all of the necessary information. We don’t want to do anything half-assed. All of you will be invited in two weeks when they appear in front of Parliament.

“A motion has been filed, and they must appear in front of the House of Commons. You will all be called back and we will have that session once we have all of the information we need to complete our task.

“There are two committees,” he claims. This is being investigated by our own committee, a sub-Committee. The sports committee is our name. We don’t need to inform you about the investigation panels we formed.

“The entire House gave us a briefing to go investigate. As a result, we’ve formed a technical sub-Committee to look into it. They have their own committee as well, the Ministry has established its own investigation committee. Both reports would be combined, and we’d go over them before calling them to explain what’s going on.

Sponsor of the motion on the ‘Need to examine operations of the Federal Ministry of Sports and Youth Development over failed drug tests by Nigerian athletes at the recently ended Olympic Games in Tokyo,’ responded to a query after the meeting.

Hon. Lawrence Ayeni stated that the Committee did not provide adequate warning to members prior to the Chairman’s emergency meeting.

Read Also:  Nigeria is not on UK COVID-19 red list countries to visit — FG

“We would have been prepared for the meeting today if we had known about it earlier,” he said. And because not all of the members were present in the Chamber today, there were only three of us, we decided to postpone the meeting to another day.

“But I can’t tell what the minister is here for right now because we’re in budget season, and I’ve learned that the committee’s issue with doping is one of them, but I don’t think we’ll be hearing from them today. Right now, I’m unable to provide you with a date.

“I am not the Committee’s Chairman. The Chairman has the authority to say anything else. However, I am aware that the Minister is prepared to come and address any questions. I’m confident they’ll return,” Hon. Ayeni stated.

Hon. Ayeni expressed grave concern in his opening debate about the turn of events in which the World Athletics’ independent anti-doping arm, Athletics Integrity Unit, slammed the door on no fewer than ten Nigerian athletes, including the highly rated Blessing Okagbare, who had represented the country proudly at various international competitions.

He bemoaned the fact that ten Nigerian athletes were among the 18 athletes from “high-risk” countries who were excluded from competing in the Tokyo Olympics after failing to meet out-of-competition drug testing rules.

According to him, Blessing Okagbare, who won her first heat in the Women’s 100 meters on Friday, tested positive for human growth hormone, according to a statement released by the Athletics Integrity Unit.

Read Also:  EFCC investigating charges of N157 billion pension scam

Ayeni, who expressed displeasure with the development, also expressed concern that, despite the large sums of money made available on a yearly basis for Regulatory Agencies in the Sport sector, there is no specific facility that will allow Nigeria to enter Category A, which is reserved for countries that have made “significant improvements” in anti-doping efforts.

As a result, the House’s Committee on Sports was charged with investigating the immediate and remote causes of the failed doping test in order to prevent future occurrences and enhance its oversight function.

Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), drew the battle line on Tuesday following the discovery of a N157 billion pension fraud.

He stated that the EFCC will put an end to the country’s pension system’s rot.

Abdulkarim Chukkol, the EFCC’s Director of Operations, revealed that the anti-graft agency had looked into alleged pension fraud cases worth over N157 billion.

Bawa said the commission would implement the anti-fraud rules, speaking in Abuja at the start of a two-day sensitisation seminar on eradicating pension fraud in Nigeria.

“Nigeria operated the Defined Benefit Scheme for many years until 2004, when President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration introduced pension industry reforms that announced the Contributory Pension Scheme,” he said (CPS).

Read Also:  Police officers accused of stealing their phones after arresting protesters

“At the time, the new design was seen to be the antidote to the old order’s issues and flaws. But, after two decades of operation, it is clear that, while we have made some progress, we are still a long way from our goal. We can’t say how much money is wasted due to pension fraud because the vast majority of cases go unreported or underreported. The EFCC, on the other hand, has examined and recorded hundreds of billions of naira lost to pension fraud.

“However, in addition to the monetary loss, there is also the incalculable loss of dignity in the retiree who must grovel and beg (and in some cases, die) in order to access his contributions. It is a national disgrace that those who have devoted their most productive years to us in various capacities must endure misery in retirement.

“At the EFCC, we find that a large portion of the cases we come across while investigating public sector corruption are inextricably tied to the worker’s frantic attempts to escape the pitiful situations he observes among today’s retirees.

Read Also:  Nigeria is not on UK COVID-19 red list countries to visit — FG

“As the coordinating agency for the enforcement of all economic and financial crime legislation in Nigeria, the EFCC is well aware of the rot in the pension system.

“Our sub-sector investigations, particularly in relation to the Police Pension Office and the Pension Office of the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, among others, exposed us to a mind-boggling spectrum of fraudulent acts that cut across all industry players.”

Bawa reassured everyone that the country’s pension system was about to turn around.

“I am firmly convinced that the turnaround of the Nigeria pension system requires a wide national consensus, which must begin with maximising the impact of this summit,” he continued.

“At the EFCC, while we are implementing our preventive mandate through this summit and other soon-to-be-launched programs, we will continue to strictly enforce all Nigerian anti-fraud legislation.

“I guarantee you that we are both willing and capable of doing everything possible now to ensure that when we all pass to the other side of the road in retirement, we will truly live the lives of the PFA models!

“In fact, I am highly optimistic that the pension administration and fraud prevention reforms that will be the natural outcomes of this summit will be quickly implemented by all stakeholders for everyone’s immediate and long-term benefit.”

According to the EFCC chairman, President Muhammadu Buhari has shown that he has the political will to fight corruption in the country.

Read Also:  EFCC arrests a suspect in connection with an N425 million internet fraud

“…I can tell you that one thing is unmistakable in Mr. President’s mind: when it comes to the fight against corruption, there is no shortage of political will to make painful decisions,” he said.

“Let me stress that the primary goal of this project, our entire hope, is for Nigeria to establish a pensions system that is transparent, responsible, and attentive to the requirements of the country’s most important, venerable, and vulnerable stakeholder – the retiree.

“We believe that by uniting our resources and knowledge, we can disrupt the Nigerian pensions system’s cycle of fraud, inefficiency, and mutual distrust.”

According to EFCC Operations Director Chukkol, there were 21 petitions filed between 2010 and 2016 alleging N111 billion in pension fraud.

“There was a case of 554 seniors’ pensions going into one person’s account,” he stated.

“The EFCC has looked into almost N157 billion in alleged pension cases. Including a N19.5 billion special case and a N5 billion lawsuit linked to a director.

Read Also:  EFCC’s retrial of Orji Kalu for suspected N7.1 billion fraud has been halted by the court

“According to our findings, 70% of the money intended to pay retirees ended up in private pockets. We gave it our all, and we were able to recover a significant amount of evidence and secure 11 convictions.

“We observed that many pension offices lack a database, and those that have don’t keep it up to date. There is always the possibility of diverting pension monies.

“The majority of those who work in the pension office are quite wealthy. We will try to ensure that the entire system is altered. In 14 zones, we have Pension Investigation Units. Investigators have been dispatched to all of the zones.”