Insecurity
Sheikh Khalid: Politicians, religious leaders behind Nigeria’s insecurity
Renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Muhammad Nuru Khalid, on Thursday, alleged that some influential people, including religious leaders and politicians, were the real sponsors of insecurity in some parts of the country. He stated this in Abuja during the public presentation of a book titled, ‘The Infinite Light, The Pride of Humanity,’ authored by Sheikh Fathullah Gulen a spiritual leader of Hizmet. Khalid claimed that bandits, who were predominantly youths of northern extraction, had been terrorising innocent citizens because they were getting engaged by some prominent politicians and religious leaders working towards the Balkanisation of the nation. So, he urged the government to address the issues of education and unemployment as a solution to the security challenge. The Muslim scholar sa...
Senator Mark urges Nigerians to bury religious, ethnic differences
News Agency of Nigeria A former President of the Senate, Senator David Mark, has charged Nigerians to bury their religious and ethnic differences and come together to establish a common front against forces threatening the peaceful coexistence of the people. Mark said it was time for all men and women of good conscience to rise to the occasion and proffer lasting solutions to the lingering insecurity that has enveloped the entire country. The former Senate President stated this at a mass on Thursday to mark his 73rd birthday at St. Mulumba Catholic Chaplaincy, Apo, Abuja. According to him, Nigerians can no longer deny the current level of insecurity and disharmony rocking the nation. He said: “Though we have different reasons to celebrate at different times, we cannot shy away from the pre...
Zamfara governor: We rescued 2000 kidnapped victims through dialogue
The Zamfara State Governor, Bello Mohammad Matawalle, says his administration has secured the release of over 2000 kidnapped victims. He said this was achieved through dialogue and peace process initiated in the state. He said since he assumed office, over 62 bandits have accepted and embraced peace. The Governor, through his newly appointed Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Magaji Dosera, disclosed this at a news briefing in Kaduna on Friday. He said the repentant bandits are also helping in campaigning and convincing those who are yet to accept the dialogue and reconciliation process to do so. “They (repentant bandits) are also helping in the identification of the leaders of the recalcitrant bandits, including their camps and location for dialogue and reconciliation. Since the...
Niger’s new president blasts terrorists for war crimes
Niger’s new president Mohamed Bazoum lashed out on Friday at jihadists who have carried out devastating attacks on his country, accusing them of “war crimes” after he took the helm of the troubled nation. The inauguration marked the first-ever transition between elected presidents in Niger’s six decades of independence from France — a historic moment that has been widely praised. But the Sahel country’s problems were deeply underscored in the run-up to Friday’s ceremony, after a string of jihadist massacres and an alleged attempted coup just two days before the handover. Bazoum hit out at “terrorist groups whose barbarity has exceeded every limit.” These groups “carry out large-scale massacres of innocent civilians, and in doing so, commit real war crimes,” Bazoum declared. Niger is being ...
Easter: With God’s help, Nigeria will triumph over insecurity – NILDS chief
The director-general, National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS), Prof. Abubakar O. Sulaiman, has felicitated Nigerians, particularly of the Christian faith as the world celebrates Easter. The DG urged Nigerians to emulate the virtues and teachings of Jesus Christ, as he assured them of God’s ability to see them through whatever challenges or difficulties they might be experiencing; emphasizing that the insecurity in Nigeria would soon be a thing of the past and Nigeria would surely be victorious. According to a statement by the media office of NILDS on Friday, Prof Sulaiman noted that the crucifixion and resurrection is a strong message to the people and charged them to remain hopeful for a better Nigeria. He further urged the citizenry to strictly observe the publi...
CSOs: Bandit attacks a risk to food security in Nigeria
Bandit attacks heighten risks for acute food crisis in Nigeria, stakeholders from the civil society and the media have said. This is even as they vowed to unite against terror rather than do anything that could promote it. “In addition to displacement, insecurity has hampered agricultural activities and heightened the risk of acute food uncertainty in the country”, they said in a communique issued on Thursday after a meeting of civil society groups and media in the nation’s capital. But they insisted that the adoption of new approaches by the government will address the specific political, economic, and social challenges that encourage banditry and terrorism in the country. The communique co-signed by Gbenga Onayiga and Adamu Ladan, the Acting Chairman and the Executive Director of the Vis...
ECWA: Terrorists tactically taking over Northern Nigeria
The Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) has raised the alarm, saying terrorist groups are tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the North. Addressing a press conference in Jos on Wednesday on the insecurity ravaging the country, ECWA President, Dr. Stephen Panya, said “Boko Haram and ISWAP have destroyed tens of thousands of lives and displaced hundreds of thousands of Nigerians and many Christians and Christian communities have been deliberately targeted and destroyed. “It is clear that these terrorist groups are gradually but tactically expanding their activities and making incursions into other parts of the north and even beyond, and the apparent lack of unity in the fight against these terrorist groups, and the inability of government to deal...
Governor Makinde: Nigeria’s redemption will begin from Oyo
Governor of Oyo State, ‘Seyi Makinde, has declared that God will redeem Nigeria from its current challenges of insecurity, ethnic and religious tension starting from Oyo State. The governor, who dwelt on the uniqueness of figure seven, said that God will use the seventh election in the Fourth Republic coming up in 2023 to get Nigeria to perfection. According to him, the fact that Oyo State currently produced the Seventh President of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), the Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (PFN), as well as the Worldwide President of the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) is a sign that God loves Oyo State and would redeem the country starting from Oyo. A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor also challenged Nige...
Conference of speakers advocates community policing
The Conference of Speakers of State Legislatures of Nigeria on Saturday decried the spate of insecurity in Nigeria even as they advocated for community policing as a way out of the current security challenges bedeviling the country. They also commended the Federal Government on its efforts at fighting the insecurity in the country, calling on the goverment to beef up the security architecture in the country to reflect the demographic reality of Nigeria. This was contained in a communiqué issued by the Conference at the end of its general meeting held at the Hazibal Event Centre in Bauchi, the Bauchi State capital, which had representatives of the 36 states in attendance. The communique, which was signed by the chairman of the Conference, Right Honourable Suleiman Y Abubakar, who also doubl...
Senator Abaribe: It’s shameful that Ihejirika joined APC
The Senator Representing Abia South Senatorial zone, Sen Enyinnaya Abaribe, says it is a shame that a former Chief of Army Staff, Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika (rtd), campaigned for the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Aba. Speaking in a radio interview, Abaribe described APC as a party that has so much disdain for the South East. He added that with the level of insecurity the country is being faced with, no APC Senator from the region has summoned the courage to speak up. “PDP government recognized Igbos in the military by making him the Chief of Army Staff for the first time in history.” “The same man is supporting a party that has so much disdain for Igbos. That Ihejirika is with APC that has pushed out our people to a point that you hardly see any Igbo in the top rank of the military and ot...
Group urges service chiefs to fish out criminal elements
Following the activities of armed bandits in the country, group has charged the new service chiefs to address the current Insecurity situation in the North East, particularly Maiduguri, which they noted,was the epicenter of insecurity in the country. By way of appeal the group urge the new security heads adopt a new strategy, hit the ground running by relocating to the theatre of the war against terrorists for at least six months in the first instance and not national tour. In a statement, Wednesday, the experts operating under the aegis of Coalition of Concerned Nigeria Security Experts noted that two months after the current security chiefs assumed office, insecurity was assuming a new dimension. In the statement by its National Coordinator, Prof. Otedola Adekunle and National Secretary,...
Yoruba monarchs warn Nigerians to stop making inflammatory comments
Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and the Oluwo of Iwoland, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Akanbi, yesterday, cautioned Nigerians against making inflammatory statements that could ignite ethnoreligious crisis in the country. The monarchs gave the warning during the visit of Oba Akanbi to the Alaafin’s palace, in Oyo. Asking those stoking ethno-religious crises to have a retrospective look at the past, the monarchs advised that anything that could fan the embers of discord should be avoided. They said: “Nigerians must exercise restraints; they must bear in mind Nigeria’s long history of ethno-religious conflicts, as people use this type of deep-seated animosity in their speech precisely because of the culture of impunity which reigns in the country.” “What is more, hate speech is an agent provocateur ...