Indications are that Adams Oshiomhole, the embattled National Chairman of the All Progressives congress, APC, may have reached a new low in his relationship with the governors under the aegis of the party who are battling him over his conduct of party primaries. Early this week, he was said to have been arrested by the Directorate of State services, DSS, based on petitions by the governors that he took bribes in connection with the primaries. bribery of the magnitude being spoken about should ordinarily fall under the activities of the economic and Financial crimes Commission, EFCC, but it appears they have kept mum on the issue, although it is not clear whether the Agency was petitioned to by any person or group.
But information reaching this Magazine indicate that even the DSS extended no written invitations, that he was brought in to the Abuja office quietly. Upon interrogations, it was said, he was found to be culpable, and the DSS had told him to resign his position. He allegedly declined and insisted that there is no action taken by him that the Presidency is not in cohort with, and that he can only resign if the President says so. Immediately he was released on Monday, 5th November 2018,, he ran to the president to brief him. the president was said to be alarmed and insisted that he “is not aware” of the invitation, and promised to look into it.
All these were happening before the president became busy receiving the Heir apparent of the British monarchy, Charles Tudor, the Prince of Wales, and his consort, Carmela. The reception was, however, done without the presence of the wife of the President, Aisha Buhari, who ordinarily should have been hosting the wife of Charles. This has done a lot to fuel the conspiracy theory of an estrangement with his wife for undisclosed reason. The last time Aisha went on a trip with the President was to China in what some claim was a private business trip under the umbrella of the Trade delegation.
Beyond the Governors allegation, Oshiomhole was said to have not been forgiven by the former DSS boss, Lawan Daura, for his ouster as the head of the spy agency. It was said that the action taken by Daura was in collaboration with Oshiomhole, and that Daura was the one that was used as a fall guy. Given that Daura was said to have been consulted in the appointment of the new man, Yusuf Bichi, who had retired under Daura and said to be a security consultant for the DSS when Daura allegedly recommended him. Recently, Daura was invited for a closed door meeting with the President. Although details of the meeting was not known, it is believed that it is not unconnected with the security anf the 2019 general elections.
If Oshiomhole finally bows to pressure and resigns, the mantle may still fall on a South south APC politician believed to be in the good books of the APC governors forum.
Adamu Aliyu Mohammed, a former Comptroller , Seme Command, and now Comptroller Federal Operations Unit, FOU, Zone A, may have come with very high hopes of fostering good working relationships between officers and men of the Command in order to translate to improved performance .
His ambition, according to a source, was to beat the track records of Mohammed Uba Garba, a former Comptrollers of the Command and who incidentally is the new Comptroller of Seme Command. He however could beat his chest that he was on the road of breaking records when he detained over a dozen of exotic vehicles and a seizure of 3000 bags of foreign parboiled rice of 50kg each in two weeks. The Customs Comptroller saw it as a good start in FOU, Zone A, Ikeja, and thus, promised to sustain the record.
In keeping with his promise, within the next two weeks, he showcased another 25 exotic vehicles including nine bullet proof jeeps which was evacuated from a private residence in Victoria Island, Lagos but detained in the Command premises. The bullet proof vehicles were said to have been evacuated from the private residence in Victoria Island acting on information, forcing officers to describe him as a ”man of his words”. The Command also made a seizure of 11,000 of 50kg bags of foreign rice within the two weeks .
Many had expected the beehive of activities in the Command to continue to sustain the bi-weekly mouth watering seizure of Contrabands and detention of exotic vehicles to continue but he appears to leave everybody in the dark. The first and second two weeks of September had come and gone but nothing has been heard from the Comptroller, who his aides claim had been too busy in the office. Perhaps, he may be tidying up his usual two weeks record of performance to the Headquarters. A visitor to the Command premises and the warehouses at Ikeja, last Thursday, would be surprised at the dearth of edetained vehicles .
A source told the Magazine the Customs Comptroller had evacuated the exotic vehicles including two bullet proof jeeps detained at the instance of the Command Operations and Lagos Roving team headed by Riks Lura, a Chief Superintendent of Customs to the available space at the back of the Command office Complex to pave way for new arrivals. The source disclosed that Lura may have assured him of plans by his patrol officers on bush operations to transfer new intercepted vehicles to the Command. By Tuesday, November November 6, 2018, the much of the available space in front of the Command office had been taken over by vehicles supposedly arrested and transferred by the Operation and Lagos Roving officers. Most of the vehicles were said to be very dirty showing that they were intercepted from smugglers in the bush. The Command Strike Force officers were also said to be making appreciable impact in the Customs anti-smuggling war.
A school of thought believes that Mohammed, the Customs Comptroller is doing well which may have endeared him to Hammed Ali, a retired Colonel and Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS. Their major worry, however, was the erratic nature of the FOU, Zone Customs boss.
They claimed that he may have learnt his lesson from the treatment meted out to his predecessor, Mouhammed, who was petitioned against by fifth Columnists in the Command, who would not want the right thing to be done but to impose their will on others, which if not done means the person is cutting corners. The petition may have forced Ali, the Comptroller General to send a Headquarters investigation team to the Command to look at the Command records over their detained vehicles . The Comptroller was said to have been absolved and commended for his uprightness. Perhaps, to avoid playing into the hand of these fifth Columnists who had abused his predecessor accommodating nature and human sympathy, he may have opted to be erratic in his actions to scare people away from coming to him including Journalists. But officers who knew from the Headdquarters, Kwarra/Niger and Seme Command confirmed that ”it was his nature”. They said officers and visitors to the Command are lucky that he is gradually mellowing down to relate with people.
As a prelude to watching over the office Complex and the warehouses for security purposes, , he was said to have overhauled the Close Circuit Television, CCTV, in his office. Initially, he was said to have stationed some of the Command Task Force officers , armed to the teeth, at one end of the Command office Complex to keep vigil over the exotic vehicles transferred to the back of the office Complex building.
Compt. Aliyu Mohammed: Give Smugglers a Run For Their Money
The officers who were said to be very harsh did not hesitate in shouting at agents who had come over to the Command to sort out their Container problems , visitors or their Colleagues on mufti found on the corridor leading to the back of the building to ”keep moving” as the Comptroller is watching over them ,through his CCTV”.
The Customs Comptroller, according to a source, was very particular about the security of officers and men of the Command. He fears that an aggrieved smuggler whose vehicle was arrested and transferred to the Command premises could trail officers of the patrol team to Ikeja to lay ambush for them.
He was said to have to have told the patrol team officers to be” their brother’s keeper” to avoid to losing any officer to smugglers. The Comptroller may have put the officers on the red alert because of security reports about plots by smugglers to kidnap officers carrying out their legitimate duties. The Comptroller ‘s advice may have encouraged patrol team officers to be in group in their operations, and armed to the teeth. The era where a patrol team driver could go out with an officer is over. It would be recalled that last year a driver attached to the then Lagos Roving headed by Jack Okpabi, a Chief Superintendent of Customs was kidnapped by smugglers at Sango Otta after an operation and not been found.
Mohammed may not have allowed people’s impression about him as he moves to sanitize the warehouses where laborers harbored by the Command were said to have been doing whatever they like over the years. Some of them were said to be cronies to officers and thieves on their own right. There had been several instances in the past where there had been incidents of stolen goods in the warehouse but no one was said to have been brought to book. Muhammed , the former Area Comptroller , was said to have started the process of cleaning up the warehouses and putting it under firm control by deploying more officers to the warehouses to be patrolling it day and night to ensure adequate protection of detained vehicles and Containers. Mohammed, the Current Comptroller , may have taken the last option of asking the laborers to quit the warehouse and then reapply. He believes if he needs the services of the laborers he could hire them for the particular job and pay instead of allowing them live in the warehouse which exposes all the detained and seized smuggled goods in the warehouses to them.
He was said to have extended quit order to the hawkers , vulcanizers, mechanics and car washers around the Ayinde street . He did not spare the woman who was said to have been provided a space to sell food by a former Comptroller of the Command as part of the clean up exercise of the Command and its environs.
He was said to have stationed operational vehicles along the Ayinde street to ensure that the sacked intruders on Customs land did not return. The Magazine sighted the food seller under a tree behind the Command office Complex, with traces of worry on her face .
The Command’s weekly meetings where the Comptroller meets with the sectional Heads, Patrol and Surveillance Team leaders as well as the officers in-charge of checkpoints which ought to have been an avenue for the Customs Comptroller to listen patiently to the various patrol leaders to know what they are going through in their respective teams and checkpoints and how best to help them, according to a senior officer who spoke to The Magazine , has turned out to be a” blame game and talk shop for the officers”.
The sectional Heads and Patrol team leaders were said to have seen it as an opportunity to outline their achievements , particular the Patrol team leaders who give records of their spectacular seizures, since that is what the Comptroller wants to hear to win his heart.. It is not surprising why some of the team leaders always get fully prepared with their records before the meetings to answer questions emanating from the Management team.
With less than two weeks to the 2019 African Cup of Nations Qualifiers match between Stuart Baxter led Bafana Bafana of South Africa and three time AFCON champions, The Super Eagles of Nigeria, the coach of the former apartheid country is not leaving any stone unturned as he has named a strong 23-man squad that will trade tackles with Gernot Rohr side in Pretoria on Saturday November, 17th, to know who tops Group E.
The Southern Africa country had earlier defeated the Super Eagles 2-0 at the Godswill Akpabio Stadium in Uyo last year, to top the group, and had also convincingly defeated the Seychelles 6-0 at the Port Elizabeth stadium in Durban, before playing a goalless draw in Victoria.
The Super Eagles sit atop the log with Nine points from four games while the South Africa team has Eight point to sit second on the log.
Baxter has called up goalkeepers Itumeleng Khune, Ronwen Williams, Darren Keet as well as defenders Ramahle Mphahlele, Motjeka Madisha, Siyanda Xulu, Thulani Hlatshwayo, Innocent Maela, S’Fiso Hlanti,Buhle Mkwanazi, Thamsanqa Mkhize.
The midfielders are Vincent Pule, Lebogang Maboe, Hlompho Kekana, Fortune Makaringa, Teboho Mokoena, Samuel Mabunda, Thembinkosi Lorch, Thulani Serero and the strikers are Themba Zwane, Lebo Mothiba, Dino Ndlovu, Percy Tau.
Baxter said on the team’s Twitter handle, “It has really been a tough task to select the team to face Nigeria without some of our regular players, but we have to soldier on.”
Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has alleged that assassins are after his life and that of his entire household. The Enugu born politiican told the media that his wife and child escaped assassionation by a whisker on Monday, 5th November, 2018 around 4pm.
According to the statement made available to the media by the Special Adviser on Media to Ekweremadu, Mr Uche Anichukwu, said the armed men evaded the security at Ekweremadu’s Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja residence to gain entry into his house.
“The attackers, who could not immediately shoot in order not to attract the attention of the security personnel on duty, took hold of his son and commanded him to lead them to the Senator’s bedroom.
“It was at the Senator’s bedroom that a struggle ensued, leading to the arrest of one of the assailants with dangerous weapons and housebreaking devices, while the rest managed to escape.
“The arrested member of the gang has, however, refused to divulge any information on the operation and has been handed over to the police.
“Ekweremadu, his wife, and one of his sons were in the house as of the time of the attack.”
Anichukwu recalled that Ekweremadu narrowly escaped an attempt on his life in Abuja on November 17, 2015.
“Although the 2015 incident was reported to the security agencies, nothing has been heard about the matter till date,” he alleged.
During the stolen mace saga few months back, it will be recalled that Ekweremadu alongside principal members at the Senate raised alarm over alleged assassination plot on their lives and that of their families.
He never saw it coming, neither was it predicted that he was going to meet his death on the turf where he eke his livelihood.
Christian Daghio was knocked unconscious during a fight in Thailand.
The 49-year-old, who had won seven world titles during his career, was knocked out twice in the final round of his WBC Asia title fight against Don Parueang last month, reports.
After his second knockdown, Daghio was immediately treated by medical staff inside the ring but didn’t get up.
The Italian had earlier boasted to win the fight against his opponent in Bangkok, unfortunately, he was knocked down to a pulp, before he was carried away from the ring.
He was subsequently taken to hospital in Bangkok where he spent two days in a coma before he died.
“He died as he wanted to die,’ Daghio’s brother, Fabrizio, told Il Resto del Carlino.
“I have no regrets because he was like that. He said he wanted to fight until he was 80.”
“The ring was his life and he died as a champion.
“My brother had a girlfriend in Thailand and a five-year-old girl,” he added.
The Senate has set up an AD-HOC committee to investigate the $3.5bn NNPC subsidy money, and to ascertain what the money was used for.
This disclosure was made in a tweet on the verified Twitter handle of The Nigerian Senate, @NGRSenate.
“Senator Bassey Akpan cited Orders 43 and 95 and drew the attention of the Senate to the various emails and complaints from the general public on the unauthorised withdrawal of $3.5bn by NNPC from the NLNG account,” the Senate added.
“I ask that the Senate Committee on Gas immediately investigate this matter,” Senator
Bassey Akpan said; while Senator Emmanuel Paulker urged that “The ad hoc committee that was set up should carry on with their work, while the Committee on Gas should also investigate the matter.”
It would be recalled that there was attack and counter attacks from the different quarters as regards the issue, that became a major debate in the polity.
It has emerged that the alarming unpopularity of Imo state Governor, Rochas Okorocha among the people of the state and its possible spiral effects on candidates presented by the governor for next year’s elections was the main reason the All Progressives Congress, APC moved against him and his Son- in- Law, Uche Nwosu by refusing to forward the latter’s name to the Independent National Electoral commission, INEC as APC gubernatorial candidate for the state.
Hawks in the party are even said to be mulling substitution of the governor with another candidate for the Imo West senatorial zone election. Okorocha picked the APC ticket for the zone which is currently represented by Senator Hope Uzodinma.
Party sources told this Magazine that findings by the party showed that any candidate Okorocha put forward; or any candidate that openly identifies with him stands the risk of defeat as over 90 per cent of the people of the state have no good commentary about him. So, not ready to loose Imo state which it considered its only stronghold in the South east, the APC, it was learnt decided to ditch Okorocha by not adopting his son inlaw as its governorship candidate.
Uche Nwosu: Quicksand guber ambition
The party feared that with Nwosu tarred with the same brush as Okorocha, if presented as governorship candidate will be massively defeated by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate and former Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha. Jolted by this reality, the top echelon of the national leadership of the APC thus made a volt-face and settled for Senator Uzodinma as its governorship candidate.
The Senator had emerged as APC governorship candidate in the October 2 primary election conducted by the Ahmed-Gulak led electoral committee of the party. However, amidst controversies APC was forced to cancel the excise and a repeat primary four days later which Uzodinma; Imo state Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere and all the other aspirants who took part in the first exercise boycotted, produced Nwosu as candidate.
Senator Uzodinma, a veteran of many political battles using the judiciary, was to secure a favourable Abuja High court ruling which asked the APC to show cause why his name would not be submitted to INEC as its Imo governorship candidate. Last week, the Deputy Governor, Prince Madumere who is also set to be picked by Uzodinma as running mate, obtained an Owerri High court order forbidding the APC from forwarding to INEC,the name of any other person other than the aspirant that won the October 2, 2018 governorship primary election.
Nwosu on his part also has a High Court order asking the APC to recognise him as its candidate but because the courts have coordinating or equal juridiction and powers, it was gathered that the National leadership of the APC obeyed the court orders favourably to Uzodinma inline with its resolve to undo the Imo state governor.
Apart from the Okorocha odium which the party feared will affect its chances if Nwosu is given the ticket, APC strategists and stakeholders agree that Uzodinma has what it takes to fend off challenge from his main opponents in the guber, two heavy weights- PDP’s Ihedioha and All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA’s Ifeanyi Ararume.
“We went for Uzodinma not really because of the need to stop Okorocha from building a political dynasty in Imo as our Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole claimed; it is not because governor Okorocha wanted his inlaw,
Nwosu to succeed him, afterall our national leader, Bola Tinubu has a sprawling political empire in APC; the real reason the national leadership of APC opted for Senator Uzodinma as it gubernatorial candidate is because Okorocha has totally lost goodwill of Imo people; nobody has any good word about him or wants to hear his name in the state. We risk losing Imo to the PDP or even to APGA if his son in law flies our governorship flag. That young man is regarded as an extension of Okorocha and it is very clear Imo people do not want to have anything to do with him and his father in law”, a member of APC’s National Working Committee, NWC said.
Hope Uzodinma: Pundits give victory to him.
Meanwhile, political pundits and followers of Imo politics are predicting that the state may go to the APC in the governorship election and PDP in the presidential. While the Atiku/ Obi PDP presidential ticket is intensely popular in the state, Uzodinma’s personal good will and political configuration of Imo in terms of number of local governments per senatorial zone and huge voting populations of some local governments in the state, according to analysts, may swing victory for him.
Uzodinma’s Orlu senatorial zone Imo (West) which he represents in the Senate has 12 out of the state’s 27 local governments while Owerri and Okigwe zones combined have 15 local governments. With the exception of Okorocha’s Ideato South local government and Nwosu’s Nwangele axis which may vote the party the governor and his son inlaw eventually adopted, and the Oguta axis- Oguta and Ohaji Egbema local governments-where Ihedioha’s Deputy, Gerald Ironna, hails from, the remaining eight other local governments in Orlu zone, pundits opine, will be clinically won by Uzodinma.
While Ihedioha who hails from Mbaise with four local governments, according to analysts will harvest bloc vote there, Madumere, a prince from a royal family in Mbaitolu local government which is the most single populated council in the state with overwhelming voting population, is most likely to secure his council’s vote for his principal, Uzodinma.
The implication here is that while Orlu zone is safely in Uzodinma’s kitty, Owerri zone where Ihedioha comes from will be a battle ground with Uzodinma sharing a large chunk of votes there.
Similarly, both Uzodinma and Ihedioha will turn the heat on Ararume’s Okigwe zone. Here again, both candidates are expected to share the zone’s vote with the APGA candidate.
If Senator Uzodinma succeeds in his governorship quest next year, he will be the third governor Orlu zone has produced since democracy was restored in 1999.The other two are Achike Udenwa (1999-2007) and Okorocha (2011-2019).Okigwe zone had a shot at the governorship for four years in the person former governor Ikedi Ohakim (2007-2011) while Owerri zone is yet to occupy the office.
The international pressures on President Buhari may continue this week as Prince Charles, the Prince of Wales and his consort, Carmela, will be visiting Nigeria November 6. The couple is expected to be in Nigeria from November six to November 8, 2018. Though the British High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr Paul Arkwright, has pinpointed the Herdsmen clashes as part of his concerns, it is believed that he is the last links in the line of diplomatic reach outs to the Nigerian presidency on elections issues. Most European leaders have visited Buhari, beginning with the French leader, Emmanuel Macron, followed by the Britsh Prime Minister Theresa May and German Chancellor, Angela Merkel. Now, the crown Prince of Britain is on hand to see Buhari.
Announcing his coming, Arkwright insisted that he is coming on a visit after several years. The last time was in 2006, twelve years ago. According to him, the trip is centered on conflict resolution.
“People do want to come together and if we can provide that kind of environment then hopefully, we can come up with some ideas and solutions to resolving some of these conflicts. Some of the issues like the farmers/herders crisis are deep-rooted and are about the economy, land resource, climate change and cultural issues. The Prince of Wales will be looking at the causes, talking to people who are working in this area and together, seeing if we can find solutions and move on,” he said.
Charles took over as the head of the commonwealth after the retirement of his father, who is the Queen’s consort. His mother the Queen was actually the head of the 53 member Commonwealth of Nations that Charles currently heads. He has visited 44 commonwealth countries. Carmela, however, is visiting Nigeria for the First time.
He arrives the country when the labor Unions are embarking on strikes based on disagreements with the government over minimum wage.
Britain herself has marginally increased the pay to assuage the effects of inflation. The pay rate will increase by 2.9% to £9 an hour across Britain and by 3.4% to £10.55 in London.
Ahead of the 2019 general elections and the recent clash between some members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, IMN, popular, the Shiites , and the Army at Zuba , an outskirt of Abuja, fear appear to have gripped Nigerians, particular, residents of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, over the safety of their lives. The people fear that the Shiites or any other religious sect, could strike at any part of the country at any time if they could find their way to Abuja which is well fortefied to strike. through any of the major roads to the City for religious procession.
Over the last couple of years, the Shiites, appear to have been testing their Spiritual might with security operatives by embarking on religious processions in different parts of Kaduna state against a standing government order banning religious procession in the state. The sect may have decided to extend their religious procession to Abuja, to attract President Muhammadu Buhari Attention to accede to their request to release their leader, Al-zakzaky. Their plan may have misfired as Turkur uratai, a Lt. General and Chief of Army Staff, CAS, and Ibrahim Idris, the Inspector general of Police, IGP, release their Combat officers to swoop on them.
Many believe that if security operatives were alert to their duties, the sect members could not have entered Abuja to hold procession because of its security implication to the nation. The sect religious procession was said to have disrupted vehicular movements in Abuja between Monday, October 29, 2018 and Tuesday, October 30, 2018.
The sect procession may have come at a time when an Armyescort team from the Defense Headquarters , DHQ, Abuja, has a mandate to escort some Communication equipment and missiles to the Army Central Depot , Kaduna. The soldiers were said to have met a stiff resistance from the sect members who had mounted a road block around Zuba Bridge. In a military fashion the soldiers had stopped to dismanle the illegal road block.
John Agim, a Major General confirmed that the sect members took offence over the soldiers action and attempted to overrun them with a view of ”carting away the Communication equipment and missiles”. Their plot may have provoked the soldiers to resort to the use of their weapons based on the United Nations , UN, Rules of Engagements, to defend themselves from the attackers. The shootout may have attracted troops of the 102 Battalion in the area to the scene to help force the protesting Shiites to flee .Eyewitness account disclosed that the sect members would never forget their experience in a hurry what they passed through in the hand of the Soldiers in Zuba and in the hand of the police at Wuse, Zone 2.
A resident of Nyanya, an ouskirt of Abuja, disclosed that the soldiers dealt with them as if they were fighting the Boko Haram insurgents in the north eastern part of the country . In a Statement, the DHQ, confirmed that three members of the sect were killed in the shootout ,while two soldiers sustained various degrees of injuries. But the sect claimed that the Army killed 27 of its members.
Giving a breakdown, the Shiites claimed that six of their members were killed on Sunday. October 28, 2018 and an additional 21 killed on Monday, October 29, 2018. Ibrahim Musa, the IMN, Spokesman , disclosed that the sect members were not violent in their organised procession, when the Army opened fire on them. An aggrieved Musa , said their procession , coincided with the yearly protes ,calling for the release of Ibrahim Al- Zakzaky, their leader , who had been in prison custody since 2015.
Al-zakzaky was arrested and jailed in 2015, after the sect deadly clash with the motorcade of Buratai, the CAS, in Zaria, Kaduna state. The sect had confronted the soldiers in a gun battle in Zaria for daring to stop their procession. The Army was said to have killed over 300
Ibrahim Idris: Inspector General of Police
members of the sect in that confrontation which was condemmed both within and outside the country . The Amnesty International had lent its voice condeming the killing.
Many had expected the Shiites to have learnt their lesson from the Zaria incident to avoid any further confrontation with the Buratai controlled Army because of its implication. This is because Buratai, the current CAS is a no nonsense officer who would not want the Army to be challenged by any religious sect under any guise.
His experience in Borno state , speaks volume. It is not surprising why the Army are not taking chances with religious sects involved in religious procession in the country because it could degenerate to crisis.
Investigation by the Magazine shows that barely two weeks after the IMN members deadly confrontation with the Army , security had been tightened at Abuja and other major Cities in the country to restore Confidence in the mind of Nigerians.
It was learnt that Buhari, and who incidentally is the Commander -In-Chief of the Armed Forces, C-In -C, has given a matching order to the Service Chiefs and the IGP, to ensure adequate security in all nooks and crannies of the country ahead of the 2019 general elections. He may have given the Presidential Order to the Service Chiefs and the IGP to ensure a free and fair elections in the country because the International Community are watching .
The Presidential order may have forced Idris, the IGP, to read the riot Act to the Commissioners of police and their officers . At a recent Conference with the Commissioners and other senior police officers at the Force Headquarters, Abuja, the IGP urged them to be” ready to deal with any security challenges that may erupt ahead of the 2019 general elections in the country”.
The GP , who was worried over the recent clash between the Army and the IMN members at Zuba area, an outskirts of Abuja and the police at Wuse, Zone 2, warned that he would” no longer tolerate laxity from the Commissioners who fail to be proactive in dealing with emerging crisis and other violent crimes in their area of responsibility”.
the tough talking IGP, insists that the” police must live up to its responsibilities of ensuring adequate security in the country from now until the end of the 2019 general elections and beyond”. He was said to have frowned at a situation where the police Commissioners have abandoned the use of intelligence to detect crisis before they happen” , stressing that if the police had applied their intelligence gathering techniques, the IMN members, could not have had any opportunity of entering Abuja to embark on a religious procession that would disturb public peace.
The IGP riot Act may have forced Bala Ciroma, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, Commissioner of Police and his men to move into action to fish out the sect members involved in the Tuesday, October 30, 2018, clash with the police at Wuse, Wuse Zone 2.
At the last count, about 400 of the sect members were said to have been arrested and detained. The FCT , police Commissioner disclosed that the suspects were detained for ”discreet investigation”. He confirmed that petrol bombs, illicit drugs and other dangerous weapons were recovered from the arrested sect members.
Hopes for the release of the detained sect members look slim, an indication that the suspects may be charged to Court for prosecution. The Army Brigade Commanders may have have also taken a cue from the action of the Commissioners of police in their respective areas of jurisdictions to look out for flash point areas and suspected Military training Camps to put a close watch on them .
Only recently, Sani Adamu, a Lt. Colonel and Commanding Officer of the 20 Model Battalion of the Nigeria Army in Serti, Taraba state said it has discovered an illegal training Camp in the area. Adamu disclosed that that Agyo Wapan. a Colonel, rtd, and the state governor’s Special security Adviser, had been invited as part of their investigation into the training Camp discovery in Serti.
But Wapan said there was nothing to worry about the alleged training Camp in Serti, because the military, police and the Department of State Security, DSS, personnel, were at the state security meeting where the issues of the training of the Marshalls, their uniform and knitting were discussed and agreed upon without a dissenting voice.
The information volunteered by the taraba state governor, Special Security Adviser may not have stopped the officers of the 20 Model Battalion in the state from looking out for other training Camps . Adamu , the Battalion Commander, fears that the trained Marshalls may be used for political purposes in 2019, and therefore not ready to allow the training Camp to continue with the exercise.
Darius Ishaku. the All Progressive Congress, APC, governor of the state, appears to have kept a closed lips to the Serti training Campfor Marshalls. Insiders told the Magazine that the governor is waiting for the issue to be tabled, at the National Security Council, NSC, meeting to give his response. For now, he has refused to join issues with Adamu, the 20 Model Battalion Commander in Serti.
By way of introduction, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje is the governor of Kano state. Many Nigerians don’t know the names of their governors. And may not even be able to identify them physically. In 2017, during an interview at the Police Academy Wudili, Kano, to select candidates – Cadet ASPs – for that session, I had asked a candidate from Zamfara state the name of his state governor. I drew blank. When I insisted, he mentioned the name of a former governor of the state.
Here is why:
Many governors hardly stay in their states. They govern from either Abuja, USA, Britain, Dubai or the Caribeans. Their subjects hardly see them. They are away governors. They are not known in their states. They are strangers. The little money that accrues to their states, they spend on estacode. They have government lodges and/or Liason offices in Abuja, but they would rather stay in hotels, where they occupy presidential suites which go for as high as N400,000 per night. Their subjects see them only during campaign and/or election period when they visit to ask for votes. We are fond of claiming that our democracy is modeled after the USAs. How many times does any governor of a US state visit Washington? Rare. They are busy in their states, working hard to improve the lot of the people.
Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state.
Ganduje is not one of those unknown governors. He is well known, not because he has done anything extraordinary. It is basically for two reasons. One: He is superintending over one of the largest states in Nigeria. And two: Ganduje is a controversial character. The latest controversy is the reason why he should either resign as governor, or publicly apologise to Kano state’s children whose rights he has brazenly abused.
I have, since he was sworn into office as a governor, kept a tab on him. My interest in Ganduje stems from the fact that he succeeded his former boss, Rabiu Kwankwaso in office – a rare occurrence in Nigeria. The two had come a long way, resulting in Ganduje becoming Kwankwaso’s Deputy, two times, and, in between, his Personal Assistant when he was the Minister for Defence.
But that was then.
Now, the relationship between the two men is that of mutual hatred, with Ganduje, mostly on the offensive. He has, almost, banned Kwankwaso from visiting Kano, thus confining him to Abuja. He has pushed him out of the APC. And, Kwankwasiya, a political group, founded by Kwankwaso, which member Ganduje was, has become endangered in the state.
The Police Service Commission, PSC, then, under the Chairmanship of Mike Okiro, IGP rtd, and which member I was, tried two times to intervene in the near-violence between the Ganduje group and the Kwankwasiya group. The Kwankwasiya group had petitioned the PSC against the Commissioner of Police, Kano state Command, over his alleged alignment with Ganduje to frustrate its group. The Commission, two times, held audience with the CP, who explained his helplessness. “I need to be careful, else the situation could turn bloody,” he tried to explain. We worried, and struggled to understand how a two-term governor, a former Minister for Defence, and a serving Senator, could be barred from visiting his state or constituency. The PSC’s intervention did not help much, for the two groups were bent on violence. Mercifully, the CP listened to the PSC, and restricted himself to his lawful duties.
Ganduje is talkative. And, he is very boastful. But recently, the talkative, boastful Ganduje has been quiet. It is like ice-water has been poured on him. He is fighting the political battle of his life. In more civilized climes, recent events would have marked his political death. He would have quit from office, to enable him concentrate on clearing his name. But, that’s not our style here. For the purpose of this write-up, l will briefly recap.
Jaafar Jaafar, Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of Daily Nigerian, had shocked an otherwise unshockable nation, when he displayed an uncommon courage, and up-loaded, for public consumption, scandalous photographs of Ganduje, allegedly, collecting bribes to the tune of five million US Dollars from a contractor. The photographs were degrading. They were humiliating. They were damaging. There, an alleged Ganduje was, in a less than gubernatorial position, smiling sheepishly, confirming the dollars in their bundles, and shamelessly stuffing them into the pockets of his big babariga dress. Those photographs reminded me of a scene I witnessed at a branch of the Zenith bank, Lagos, a few years ago.
One middle-aged man had come to withdraw the sum of six million Naira. When he was given polythen bags to pack the money, he politely rejected. We wondered. But as we watched, mouths agape, he stuffed the bundles of money into the pockets of his babariga, and quietly walked away. Now, that was the type of thing Jaafar alleged Ganduje did. He insists he has 15 clips of the alleged shame.
Expectedly, Ganduje denies the allegation with every weight he and his babariga can muster. He says the photographs are cloned, you know, photo-shopped. And yet, another set of photographs of an alleged bribe-receiving Governor has again appeared – this time, not from Jaafar, but from another source. But Ganduje says he would sue Jaafar and his publication for everything they have got. He is threatening fire, and more fire. I cannot confirm that Ganduje has approached even a magistrate court to seek redress. But the Kano state House of Assembly has intervened, and is probing.
Considering the fact that State Houses of Assembly are in the pockets of state governors – except Lagos state – many people are skeptical of what the outcome will be. But I opt to keep hope alive. Perhaps, one House of Assembly in Nigeria would redeem itself and, for a change, serve the interest of the people. The KSHA seem to have started well by inviting Jaafar to tell them his story. As I write this, Ganduje has also been invited. Jaafar did not disappoint the day he appeared. He told them of the spy camera he planted on a contractor friend of his, one of those who exposed Ganduje’s alleged penchant for ripping them off – between 15 to 25 per cent per contract. He confirmed that the photographs were not cloned. He confirmed they were photographs of Ganduje in flesh and blood. He confirmed they were neither edited, nor adulterated. He confirmed that he ran the the photographs by international bodies, including the Amnesty International and the BBC, Hausa Service. All the institutions confirmed their authenticity. He revealed that emissaries from Ganduje attempted to buy him out. He confirmed that he resisted their tempting offer. And now, he is staying in a safe house in Abuja. So, why is the caption of this write-up not something like: Resign, Ganduje Resign. Or, Why Ganduje should Resign. Why am I asking for the whereabouts of his children?
School children protest, supporting Ganduje.
Until a court of competent jurisdiction finds him guilty of the allegations, he remains innocent. Until the KSHA finds him guilty and initiates an impeachment process, he comfortably remains the governor. I am, therefore, not worried about that yet. My worry here is the sacrilege committed by Ganduje and his lieutenants as Jaffar testified against him before the KSHA.
The unbelievable happened. Scores of primary and secondary school children trooped out in their hundreds, to protest against Jaafar. Initially, when I read the headline, I thought they trooped out to protest against the alleged bribe-taker; and/or in support of the KSHA which initiated the probe panel; or in support of Jaafar’s courage; or, to ask the KSHA to do a thorough job; or to ask for the protection of the lives of Jaafar and his family members.
Even if they trooped out for the above, I would still have worried. But they did not. Instead, the misguided children added pepper to injury. They poured petrol on a house already on fire. They trooped out in support of Ganduje. They trooped out in support of an alleged crime. They trooped out carrying placards bearing all kinds of messages denouncing Jafaar, and praising Ganduje. They said whether he took bribe or not, they would always support him. They said they would vote for him in 2019. They cursed out Jaafar. They called him a betrayer. And they called him a saboteur and a destroyer of anything good. See? They were cursing a man who thought he was doing the state a favour and, assuring the children’s future by exposing an alleged bribe-taker, a man who would, in a swoop, allegedly take a bribe to the tune of five million US Dollars, and more; A man who, because of the alleged bribe, would most likely, ignore a shabby job done by any of the contractors who allegedly, shook his hands with US Dollars. And these children, mostly underage, minors, are telling us that they would vote for the alleged bribe-taker again. So, they would vote? Minors?
But the questions are: Where were governor Ganduje’s children? He has a number of them. Did any of them join in the protest? If not, why? Afterall, the protest was for their father, and against their father’s tormentor, their father’s nemesis. They ought to have led that protest. They ought to have been in the forefront. Other children should have queued behind them. But they were nowhere near the centre of that scandalous activity. And we can guess where they were. They were in the best Private Schools in Nigeria; or some of the best schools abroad; or in their husbands’ houses; or in their air-conditioned offices. And the children of nobodies were sent out to the streets, under the blazing Kano sun, to go and protest against something they know nothing about.
Ask some of them why they were protesting. They wouldn’t know. Ask them to read what were written on the placards. They will be incapable of doing that.
Truth is, somebody organised them to troop out and support corruption, allegedly, committed by the highest office holder in their state. Some people wrote the messages on the placards. Some people asked the children of the poor, children of nobodies, to abandon their classes, and troop out to the streets while their own children were comfortably protected somewhere. We should hold these people responsible. Where were the teachers?They were directors in this irresponsible movie. They too supported the abuse of these children. So, what are they teaching them? Is sending them out to protest in favour of an alleged – bribe taker part of the children’s syllabus or curriculum? Was that why parents sent their children to school?
The Kano state Ministry of Education cannot, also, claim ignorance of this aberration. Otherwise, heads would have rolled in the schools involved. What role did the Commissioner for Education play? Otherwise, why has he not querried anybody – from SUBEB to the headship of those schools? And, what does the Governor, who has a PhD, know about the protest? Was he in support? Did he has any idea? Otherwise, why has he not fired his Commissioner for Education and others involved? What if anything had happened to any of those kids that day? And, their parents? Why have they not publicly asked questions? Ignorance? Or fear? You know, some of these governors have a way of instilling fear into everybody.
But this is our story in Nigeria. The story of the big man/woman versus the down-throden. That is why politicians keep their children away and recruit the children of nobodies as political thugs. They do that because they don’t think their lives are important. When they die, they die. It does not matter. Questions are not asked. They don’t count. And those they recruit are so stupid and ignorant they don’t ask them a simple question, which is: where are your own children?
But back to Ganduje. He should do one of two things. Either honourably resign because of those children sent to the streets to protest in his favour, or, publicly apologise to Kano state and the parents of the children.
Finally, if he chooses the latter option because Nigerians don’t ever choose former, he should fire all those who planned, and organised the children on his behalf, to abandon their classes to protest what they know nothing about, or even understand. It was Irresponsible of them.
