Security

We’ve Turned Heat on Criminals – Makinde
News, Nigeria, Press Statement, Security

We’ve Turned Heat on Criminals – Makinde

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has said his administration has turned the heat on kidnappers and other criminals in Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun. He added that the government would flush them out of the state. Makinde, speaking in Ibarapa where he engaged the people in town hall meetings, said his administration would get the criminals to account for their heinous acts. He said Oyo State could not afford to lose more people to insecurity, noting, however, that any action that must be taken must be guided by the realisation that a wrong solution must not be proffered in order to avoid unintended consequences. According to a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Makinde spoke in Ibarapa land during meetings at Idere, Igangan and during visits to the ho...
No Fixed Date Yet to Appoint New IG – Presidency
News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

No Fixed Date Yet to Appoint New IG – Presidency

The Presidency has said no date had been fixed for the announcement of a successor to Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Adamu who reached retirement age on Monday. Presidential spokesman Garba Shehu said on Monday during a Channels Television programme that he was not aware of any imminent announcement. He said the appointment of the next IGP would not be based on ethnic considerations. “The President returns to Abuja on Tuesday. He should be at his desk by Wednesday. I don’t know when he will do this. One thing I can assure you is that in places sensitive like that, there is no vacuum that will subsist. So, the system will take care of itself. “The President will rather have an IGP who will make you and I safer, protect life and property than one who is more pronounce...
If Colombia can Have State Police, Why Not Nigeria – Obasanjo
News, Nigeria, Security

If Colombia can Have State Police, Why Not Nigeria – Obasanjo

Olusegun Obasanjo, a former President of Nigeria has lent his voice to the call for state police, saying it will make the establishment of Amotekun unnecessary. Obasanjo though agreed that there were different views on restricting, said devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources had become necessary to allow for healthy competition among states. He disclosed this on Sunday during a virtual interview hosted by a historian and columnist, Toyin Falola. The erstwhile president had been against the establishment of state police, saying it was not right for the country. Obasanjo was quoted to be of the view that the such would take the country back to the 1950s. During the interview, the elder statesman, however, reportedly aligned with a statement credited to the Govern...
We Do not Have Chibok Girls with Us —Irabor
Boko Haram, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Terrorism, Violence

We Do not Have Chibok Girls with Us —Irabor

The Chief of Defence Staff, Major-General Leo Irabor, says there are no freed Chibok girls in the custody of Defence Headquarters. He spoke in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, on Sunday when he, alongside, other commanders, paid their first operational visit to the theatre of the Boko Haram war. Boko Haram insurgents had on April 14, 2014, attacked a Government Secondary School in Chibok, Borno, and took away over 276 schoolgirls from their hostels. Rescue efforts and negotiations between the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the insurgents led to the release of 107 in batches – one in May 2016; 21 in October 2016; and 82 in January 2017 – leaving 112 in captivity. However, there were reports of late that some of the 112 Chibok girls regain...
Uncertainty Greets Police Hierarchy as IGP’s Tenure Ends Today  
News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

Uncertainty Greets Police Hierarchy as IGP’s Tenure Ends Today  

There is palpable confusion among the Hierarchy of the Nigeria Police Force, NPF, as the tenure of the Inspector-General of Police, Abubakar Adamu expires on Monday (today) while President Muhammadu Buhari has failed to convene a meeting of the Nigeria Police Council for the past 21 months. Though Adamu who has reached the mandatory retirement age is billed to leave office, the silence from the Presidency and failure of the council to meet are giving confusing signals in the police. Punch reports that council last met on May 23, 2019, when it ratified the appointment of Abubakar Adamu as the substantive Inspector-General of Police at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The President had on January 15, 2019, appointed Adamu as acting IGP following the retirement of IGP Ibrahim Idris. ...
Seven to Eight Kidnappers Arrested Are Fulanis – Sultan of Sokoto
Fulani Herdsmen, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

Seven to Eight Kidnappers Arrested Are Fulanis – Sultan of Sokoto

The Sultan of Sokoto, HRH Muhammadu Sa’ad Abubakar III, has said that though seven to eight kidnappers arrested in Nigeria are Fulani, but that doesn’t mean every Fulani is a criminal. He stated this on Friday at a meeting of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association (MACBAN), The Nation reports. He said that it was unfounded to label all Fulani criminals because of the acts perpetrated by a few of them. He said, “I am a Fulani, and I am not a bad man. I am also not a criminal. Those engaged in one forms of crimes or another are across the country. It is not proper to refer to any tribe to describe individuals' crime. “For example, when they collected N10m, where and how do you spend this amount in the bush? The money is back in the city. I have told the Inspector General ...
South-West Governors Have No Business Going To Abuja To Beg Buhari – Falana
News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

South-West Governors Have No Business Going To Abuja To Beg Buhari – Falana

Femi Falana, SAN, a human rights lawyer has lampooned Governors Seyi Makinde of Oyo State and Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State for paying a visit to President Muhammadu Buhari in an attempt to find ways to address the herdsmen crisis rocking both states. He disclosed this on Friday during a Punch virtual interview programme, The Roundtable. Falana said that as chief security officers of their respective states as well as members of the Nigeria Police Council, both governors should make demands for security reinforcements from the council other than seeking same from the president. Earlier, The PUNCH had reported that after the meetings at the Presidential Villa on Wednesday, Akeredolu did not speak with State House correspondents while Makinde said he seized the opportunity of the m...
Inside PMS’s First Meeting With New Service Chiefs – Femi Adesina
News, Nigeria, Security

Inside PMS’s First Meeting With New Service Chiefs – Femi Adesina

Whenever you see them file in, it is always in this order: Chief of Defence Staff first, followed by Chief of Army Staff, then Chief of Naval Staff, and finally, Chief of Air Staff. It is an institution that scrupulously respects hierarchy, and that is how the Service Chiefs turn out. It was not different on Wednesday afternoon when the new leadership of the military visited the State House to have their first meeting with the President/ Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Muhammadu Buhari, himself a retired Major General of the Nigerian Army. Another Comrade-at-Arms was there also. In fact, he led the Service Chiefs in. He is Major General Bashir Magashi (Retd ), Minister of Defence. Call it an all military affair, and you won’t be wrong. Gen Magashi fired the first shot, add...
Sule Lamido Berates Tinubu, Fashola Over Treatment of Fulani
Fulani Herdsmen, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security

Sule Lamido Berates Tinubu, Fashola Over Treatment of Fulani

Sule Lamido, a former Governor of Jigawa State has called out the former governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu, claiming he has been indifferent over the alleged attack on Fulanis in the Southwestern region of the country. He disclosed this on Thursday in Kano while receiving 27 newly elected local government chairmen of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in Jigawa at his office, Vanguard reports. Lamido expressed displeasure with the treatment of Fulanis in the country, alleging that they are being persecuted, especially in the especially the southwestern because they are Buhari's tribe. He also criticised the Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, his counterparts in transportation and labour ministries, Rotimi Amaechi, and Chris Ngige for not defending Fulanis in their...
Makinde Deploys 200 Amotekun Men in Ibarapa
Fulani Herdsmen, News, Nigeria, Safety, Security, Terrorism

Makinde Deploys 200 Amotekun Men in Ibarapa

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde yesterday released a security strategy to be adopted in fighting insecurity and other security challenges facing Ibarapa zone. The strategies, according to the governor, were arrived at after a meeting with security stakeholders, including representatives from Igangan, Ibarapa land and Police Commissioner Ngozi Onadeko. Makinde, who made the disclosure on his social media handle, said the strategies include deployment of additional operatives of the Amotekun Corps; continuous dialogue; documentation of foreigners, enforcement of existing laws and collaboration with federal security agencies, among others. The governor said additional 200 members of the Oyo State Western Nigeria Security Network code-named Amotekun will be deployed in Ibarapa and Oke...