Television Nigerian

The United States has condemned  Saturday’s killing of 43 rice farmers in Borno State, stating that it stands with Nigeria against terrorism.

The U.S. also offered condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

The US Embassy in a statement on Monday titled, ‘US condemns attack in Borno State,’ said, “The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed or kidnapped.

“These abhorrent attacks are a stark reminder of why the United States stands with the Nigerian government and people as they fight to defeat terrorism and work to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Forme Senate President, Anyim Puis, has alleged that Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, is after his life.

The ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation made this known in an open letter addressed to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Inspector –General of Police; Director – General, State Security Service and Chief of Defence Staff.

This was a reaction to allegations against him and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party by the governor who accused them of plotting to incite violence in the state.

Mr Umahi, had last week Friday after the state security council meeting, accused Mr Anyim; senators, Sam Egwu and Obinma Ogba, and PDP acting Vice Chairman, South-east, Ali Odefa, of plotting to use members of IPOB to unleash mayhem in the state.

“I want the media to note, that I reported an allegation that some Ebonyi people are engaging cultists and according to them some IPOB Members to start killing and causing crisis in Ebonyi State in the name of fighting Ebonyi State Government and the governor.

“Their leader is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and their members are Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, Mr. Ali Odefa and others. The same Senator Anyim Pius Anyim fought the former Governor Sam Egwu and many people were killed.

“I have also directed security agencies to ensure the implementation of policies on tinted glasses of vehicles in the state, the use of a siren and then their police escort. If they try to fight the State, this will be their last fight, they will not fight again,” Mr Umahi had said.

Mr Umahi recently caused ripples in the PDP, when he defected to the APC over alleged marginalisation of the South-east by the former ruling party.

A spurned PDP and one of its governors, Nyesom Wike, of Rivers State had accused Mr Umahi of leaving the party in a quest to secure a presidential ticket in 2023.

Meanwhile, Mr Anyim in the open letter described Mr Umahi as a “prisoner of his greed and inordinate ambition.”

The open letter was titled, “Governor David Umahi on his wild, infantile, and utterly senseless accusations against my person”.

“Gov. Umahi is pitiably delusional. He is a prisoner of his greed and inordinate ambition. Here is a drowning man looking for who to drag down with him. Gov. Umahi has made his worst mistake after his latest misadventure by taking on me and other noble and respectable sons of Ebonyi State who have served and continued to serve our dear State with resolute commitment, dedication and integrity,” he said.

Mr Anyim also denied Mr Umahi’s claim that he agreed to defect with him “but later refused”.

“The case at hand is his defection to APC on the 19th of November, 2020. The discerning public knows that he has been on the plan for a long time and when he decided to consummate it, he suddenly concocted an accusation against PDP, that PDP was not willing to zone Presidency to the South-east.

“People who know Gov. Umahi know that he normally starts this way whenever he is hatching a sinister plan. He raises dust, makes wild allegations and accusations against people just to divert the attention of the public before he strikes.

“It is public knowledge that Gov. Umahi had been planning his defection to the All Progressive (s) Congress, APC for a long time. In his delusion, he believed his own lies that he is the only man who matters in Ebonyi State. He did not consult with anybody notable before consummating his defection to APC. After his defection, no person of note followed him.

“Unable to contain and manage the unsavory reactions from the public he ran to my home in the company of some high-profile people, on the 20th of November 2020, and pleaded with me to defect to APC, saying that if I do, others will follow suit.

“I pointed out to him that his approach has made it almost impossible for anybody to defect. He pleaded with me that if I cannot defect now, I should not attend any PDP meetings, and I said no, I must attend PDP meetings as long as I am in PDP.

“He realised that he could not persuade anybody when he saw the crème of Ebonyi Elders and citizen that gathered for the inauguration of PDP Caretaker Committee. He could no longer sleep and declared war on every one who has refused to defect with him.

“I would not have taken his present spew of baseless allegations seriously, but because I suspect he is under a spell and perhaps something is pursuing him. He may have been told that he will need to kill before he would achieve his present enterprise and so to build up a scenario for him to kill, he will need to spew allegations of killings even when they make no sense.

“I have no doubt that Governor Umahi may have been told that he needed blood to accomplish his present enterprise, otherwise how can a man in his 6th year as Governor of a State suddenly realise that a former President of the Senate, a former Governor of the State and two-time serving Senator Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, two time serving Senator, are now cultists and IPOB members.

“Gov Umahi’s modus operandi are well known and his moves are easily predictable.

“To notify the public that I fully understand that what Umahi meant by *“this will be the last fight I will fight”, is that he will kill me so that I will not live to fight again*. While I invite the security agencies to note this plan, I want to assure Gov. Umahi that my blood is not available for him in pursuit of his ambition,” Mr Anyim said.

The United Nations on Monday recanted an earlier claim that 110 farmers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari community, Borno State.

Recall that Borno State government officials were quoted as saying at least 43 farmers lost their lives in an attack by insurgents on a rice field.

On Sunday, the Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, had during a mass burial of the deceased farmers, told journalists that 43 farmers were killed.

Later on Sunday evening, the UN issued a statement which quoted the head of the UN System in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, saying that at least 110 farmers were killed in the said attack.

The UN version of the death toll from Koshobe rice field went viral.

In the initial UN statement, signed by Eve Sabbagh, UN’s Head of Public Information at the OCHA in Nigeria, Mr Kallon said he was “outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri.”

He added that “at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”

However, in a new release on Monday, the UN said its initial statement was inaccurate.

The UN’s head, public information, said the earlier numbers quoted by Mr Kallon were not correctly sourced.

In an email circulated to reporters, Ms Sabbagh asked journalists to disregard the earlier statement.

“Please note the number of 110 civilians killed on Saturday’s attack is an unconfirmed number and the correct version of the statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is the one published yesterday on Reliefweb and used on OCHA Nigeria’s Twitter account”.

In the fresh statement, the humanitarian agency replaced the portion where it quoted “110 deaths” with “unspecified figure “.

This time around, Mr Kallon was quoted saying “tens of civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”

The remaining paragraphs of the one-paged statement remained the same.

The UN did not, however, add how it got the earlier figure it released and which was quoted by at least one international media outlet.

Global powers are deliberately blocking Nigeria’s moves to acquire needed armament to end terrorism and insurgency, Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said in Makurdi, the capital of Benue State, on Monday.

Speaking with journalists on the sideline of a visit he paid to Benue State’s Governor, Samuel Ortom, Mr Mohammed said the action of the world powers was deleterious and frustrating Nigeria’s resolve to end insurgency.

The minister, however, refused to mention the name of the global powers.

He said notwithstanding the frustrations, the Nigerian government would fight terrorism and insurgency to a logical conclusion.

“We will never stop protecting lives and livelihoods. However, we must also understand that we are dealing with terrorists who are financed globally and we also need more support from global partners.

“For instance, Nigeria had made attempts to acquire better and more effective platforms to deal with the terrorists, but for one reason or the other we have been denied this platforms,” he said.

The minister also condemned the “mindless killing of innocent Nigerian farmers by extremists in Borno last week’’.

“What actually happened in Borno was quite unfortunate, but we also have to look at the strategy of the terrorists.

“Terrorists use media and publicity as oxygen and so when they go on this kind of mindless killings, a dying terrorist group will suddenly spring to life.

“This does not mean the government is not doing enough.

“Terrorists everywhere have the same concept which is a group of people who are extremists and do not believe that you and I should be alive,’’ he said.

The minister also said the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari had done so much in addressing security challenges facing Benue State.

The minister’s visit to Makurdi was for the official handing over of the North Central Zone campus of the National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism (NIHOTOUR)

Mr Mohammed commended the state government for its commitment to the development of tourism and hospitality for improved revenue generation.

He said that tourism and hospitality sector contributed 4.8 per cent to Nigeria’s GDP and employed more than one million people.

The minister said tourism and hospitality sector ranked second only to agriculture as largest employer of labour in the country.

Mr Mohammed assured that the North Central campus of NIHOTOUR would train personnel in the sector for optimal output.

Insurgents, terrorists, bandits and kidnappers have been running riot in some parts of the country, killing Nigerians at will while they abduct several others for ransom running into millions of Naira.

Although the Nigerian government keeps claiming it is winning the war against insurgency and other violent crimes across the country, valid reports of people killed and abducted say otherwise.

(NAN)

US President-Elect, Joe Biden, is set to announce a Nigerian-born attorney, Adewale ‘Wally’ Adeyemo, as Deputy Treasury secretary, US-based media Bloomberg and Politico reported on Sunday.

Adeyemo, who is a former senior international economic adviser during the Obama administration, was nominated to serve under former Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen, as part of a slate of economic-team nominations he plans to announce on Tuesday.

Adeyemo’s appointment is one of many key cabinet positions Biden is expected to announce in the coming days.

Born in Nigeria, Adeyemo was raised in California where he obtained a bachelor’s degree before proceeding to Yale Law School for his legal education.

Before his appointment into the Obama administration, Adeyemo worked as an editor at the Hamilton Project, then served as senior advisor and deputy chief of staff to Jack Lew in the United States Department of Treasury.

He later worked as the chief negotiator for the Trans-Pacific Partnership and also served as the first chief of staff of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau under Elizabeth Warren.

He went on to become the first president of the Obama Foundation.

Mr Biden is also expected to name Cecilia Rouse, an African American economist at Princeton University, to lead the Council of Economic Advisers.