THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has hinted at another strike action, saying that the federal government has breached the agreement reached with the union in December 2020.
According to a report by The Punch, Ayo Akinwole, chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan, said this on Sunday, stating that another strike action might be inevitable.
Akinwole was quoted to have said that the government had refused to pay the salaries of some of its members.
The ASUU chairman said the government’s action was a breach of ‘no victimisation clause’ agreement reached before the nine months strike was suspended.
“The suspension of the strike was based on an agreement reached and a ‘Memorandum of Action’ signed in good faith between the government and ASUU at the stakeholders’ meeting held on Tuesday, 22nd December 2020,” Akinwole said.
However, he lamented that the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation had made the payment difficult due to the demand for ‘loads of paper work’ from the union and bursary units of various universities.
“The requested documents have consistently been provided on a monthly basis, yet the salaries remain unpaid. In the University of Ibadan, March 10, 2021, about 67 ASUU members that are on regular nominal payroll have their salaries ranging from two to 10 months still unpaid as of March 10, 2020.
“Over 80 ASUU-UI members in the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine have their medical allowances of over eight months still unpaid,” Akinwole added.
Biodun Ogunyemi, national president of ASUU, was not available for comments as calls and text messages sent to him were not responded to as of the time of filing this report.
Residents say they heard gunshots, then everyone scampered for safety. Some moments later, Usman was found lying unconscious in the market, blood oozing out of his skull. He had been hit.
ON Thursday, April 9, 2020, ten days after Nigeria entered a partial lockdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic, officers of the Nigeria police, army, correctional service and others had extra-judicially killed 13 while enforcing the curfew – the virus had only claimed six lives by then. By May 4, when the government eased the lockdown, about 20 persons had been killed in similar circumstances. For three months, investigative journalist, Kemi Busari, followed the trails of these arbitrary killings which have left many families devastated, with no hope of justice. This is the last part in the series.
When not in school, Usman Abdulkadir, would either go for Arabic lessons, play with other children in his father’s compound or engage in this third activity, one most of his family members are not aware of.
“Usman was only a boy that was industrious,” says his father, Abdulkadir Sulaiman. “I did not know (he engages in this third activity) until after the incident. He was there, only helping people to put animals in the car. You buy a goat, he helps you put it, at least you give him N5. That way, he thought he could do something for himself.”
On April 20, 2020, a time most of Jigawa State was on lockdown, 10-year-old Usman had left home to engage in menial labour at Sankara market located in Ringim Local Government. The market, covering a small expanse, opens every Monday and thrives around the evening. Although there was a lockdown in force, residents of Sankara had trooped out to stock up.
The assault on Sankara market is similar to that which happened in Trikania Kaduna. The police had first approached the traders to tell them to clear off the market but only a few did. On a return, the officers unleashed terror.
Residents say they heard gunshots, then everyone scampered for safety. Some moments later, Usman was found lying unconscious in the market, blood oozing out of his skull. He had been hit.
Kamal Abdulrasaq, an older friend, was the first person to reach Usman.
“I was already running but when I heard gunshots, I came back and saw the boy laid there; I took him up,” Kamal says. ‘’I even thought he was not the one, then I realised it was him, Usman. We took him, ran towards there (pointing in a direction) boarded a bike, and rushed him to the hospital.”
Kamal said he witnessed Usman being ‘hit’ by a tear gas shell fired by the policemen, other residents say it was a bullet.
Kamal poinitng to the spot he picked Usman from
Usman was quickly taken to the Sankara Primary Health Centre, some 500 metres away. By this time, none of his family members was yet aware of the tragedy. Abdulkadir was taking in the evening breeze when the news filtered in.
“I witnessed the pour (influx) of sympathisers crying that Usman was shot in the market by the police. I quickly rushed out to find where he was, he was at the primary health centre in Sankara here. I went down there, I met another crowd of people. When I entered the hospital, I saw him on their bed screaming in pain. I saw the shot (wound) under his ear.”
Usman was given a first aid treatment at the Sankara Primary Health Centre and thereafter transferred to Ringim General Hospital for further treatment.
Sankara Primary Health Centre
Two days later, noticing that his health condition was not improving, medical personnel at Ringim General Hospital advised that he be taken to Rasheed Sekoni Specialist Hospital in Dutse, the state capital.
The family heeded but he was, same day, referred to Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital, Kano where he was to undergo surgery on his skull.
The family arranged for the transfer with high hopes that Usman would get better care. Barely 24 hours after, on Thursday, April 23, Usman breathed his last.
Shortly after Usman was taken to Sankara Primary Health Centre, residents of the community trooped out to protest what they believed was a case of extra-judicial killing of an innocent boy by a police officer. They heard reverberation of gunshots; one of the shots must have hit Usman, they believe. But the police have a contrary narrative.
“The bullet scratched the place (skull) brushed him and went out…I went and confirmed. That was not a stone,” says Abdulkadir.
Abdulkadir added that a stone, as claimed by the police, ‘’would not make a passage through the skull as did the bullet that hit Usman’’.
Seeking some answers, PREMIUM TIMES traced the medical officer who first attended to Usman at the primary health centre. Salisu Musa said he only administered first aid on Usman but couldn’t ascertain if it was or wasn’t a bullet wound.
“I just gave him a first aid treatment and referred him to Ringim General Hospital for further management,” he said. “I don’t know whether it’s a gunshot or stone.”
Musa
Since it was only a primary health centre, where such complicated cases rarely surface, the centre lacked facilities for the treatment and kept no such record.
We then made a request, backed by the family, for Usman’s medical record at the Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital. The hospital was yet to issue the information as of the time of publishing this.
Tear gas shell, bullet or stone? The puzzle of what or who killed Usman still hangs in the balance.
No justice
For several months we tried, Abdulkadir turned down this newspaper’s attempt to have him talk about the incident. “I’ve left everything to God,” he would say. He made his reasons known when he finally agreed to an interview.
“I virtually did nothing because I know the kind of society we are living in,” he said adding that the denial by the police is enough pointer to what he would face if he sought justice.
Abdulkadir
Usman’s sister, Summaya, a 400-level law student of Bayero University Kano, does not entirely believe in the efficacy of the system but still wants justice.
“At that time I tried to take legal actions, to go to court and seek justice. Only one thing is that at that time, there were lockdown and corona(virus) issues so I couldn’t do anything but always I’m thinking of what to do,” she said.
Summaya wants the police to take responsibility, identify the erring officer and charge him to court. Should the police fail, she is open to initiating litigation by herself or collaborate with any concerned party.
Cover-up or pseudo investigation?
Two days after Usman’s death, the police released a statement where it promised an investigation, particularly into the allegation that shots fired by officers killed the 10-year-old.
Mr Jinjiri then said all the officers who participated in the lockdown enforcement at Sankara market ‘’were under investigation’’.
“The command has no intention to cover any of its personnel found violating rules of engagement and the outcome of the investigation would be known publicly soon,” Mr Jinjiri said.
About one year after, however, the police are yet to circulate the outcome of their investigation. The current PRO of Jigawa, Aminudeen Zubair, said he only assumed office in January 2021 and has no details of the incident.
When PREMIUM TIMES reached Mr Jinjiri, he asked that all enquiries be directed to the state command as he no longer has the mandate to speak for the police.
The Abdulkadir’s residence
Police denials notwithstanding, the blemish on the officers that stormed Sankara market that day and, at large, the country’s number one security institution will remain until conscious efforts are made to bring closure to the killing.
Abdulkadir says: “It was definite that it was the police but in their usual way, they’ll never accept that they did anything. Coronavirus did not kill as many people as the police did or security operatives did in Nigeria.”
Blood on uniforms
Nigerians continue to air their views on the high-handedness and impunity of the nation’s security forces. This investigation is another pointer to these concerns.
Of the 18 cases tracked, that of Onyedikachi Agbatuwa inclusive although it occurred after the lockdown, none of the victims has gotten justice.
The ‘best records’ were perhaps dismissals of personnel which only happened in Abia and Rivers.
For others, such as the officers who killed five in Kaduna, the warders who opened fire on inmates in Kaduna Correctional Centre, the drunk officer who killed a 22-year-old and inflicted on another life injury in Anambra, justice is yet to be served.
There is also the NSCDC officer who killed a breadwinner, the unknown assailant of a teenager in Ebonyi, the soldier who chased and killed a father of one in Delta and police officer whose actions led to the killing of a 10-year-old brilliant schoolboy. For now, in these cases, it is either denial, zero or slow attempt at justice or a complete cover-up.
Apart from the NSCDC officer who has now been dismissed, all others involved in the cases mentioned above are still in active service feeding off the sweat of Nigerians who pay taxes.
The lethargy of the police cannot be overlooked. In all of the cases, the police promised an investigation. Further, they promised to make the investigation public.
One year down the line, none of such investigations was made public.
These inadequacies by the police snowballed into the famous #EndSARS protest which rocked the country in October 2020.
Addressing protesters, President Muhammadu Buhari assured that the excesses of the police would be checked and that the “fundamental rights of all citizens are (would be) protected.”
But it was only a matter of time after Mr Buhari’s weak assurances, the police has killed again.
THE Nigerian diaspora community is petitioning the leadership of the House of Representatives to clarify its position on the privileges of citizens residing in other countries.
This is in reaction to comments made by Ahmed Idris Wase, deputy speaker, who stood in for the speaker during a plenary session on Thursday, where he said that Nigerians sitting in their comfort zones abroad were not eligible to file petitions against the federal government on issues affecting their kinsmen back at home.
Wase had summarily rejected a petition by the Mutual Unions of Tiv in America (MUTA) on insecurity in Benue, Nasarawa and Taraba states, saying that he was not convinced about the eligibility of MUTA to make such a petition which was brought to the attention of the House by the lawmaker representing Gwer East/Gwer West constituency, Mark Gbillah.
“Did you say Tivs in America? What do they know about Nigeria? They cannot sit in their comfort zones and know what is happening in Nigeria. I will refer you to the functions of the committee on Diaspora. If you go through that, it is nothing relevant to what you are now presenting. I am not convinced that we have to take that petition,” said the deputy speaker.
However, in a letter signed by Nigerians in diaspora worldwide, which was addressed to the speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, dated 14th March 2021, and made available to The ICIR, the organisation described the comments as ‘an affront to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’ and sought to know whether Nigerians in diaspora were merely seen as ‘cash cows.’
“We, the Nigerians in Diaspora worldwide (Nigerians in Europe, Americas, Asia, Oceania, Middle-East and Africa), are totally appalled by these statements of the Deputy Speaker, Hon Ahmed Idris Wase. His inference, his body language, his facial expression and posture are totally disgusting,” the letter read in part.
It added that it was equally disturbing that none of the House members spoke up during the plenary session to call Wase’s attention to the contributions of Nigerians in diaspora to the development of the country, as well as their rights and privileges, wondering if the view and position expressed by the deputy speaker were the same as those of other members of Nigeria’s political elite.
The organisation is demanding a full retraction of Wase’s comments and an unconditional public apology to the Nigerians in diaspora. It is also asking that Gilbah be allowed to present the motion for and on behalf of MUTA as a concerned group of Nigerians in diaspora and that the speaker convene an urgent virtual meeting with the Nigerians in diaspora community to address this issue and to reassure them of his full support.
“Rt. Honourable Speaker, being someone that had lived and worked in the Diaspora, we request that you personally address this issue openly to allay the fears of Nigerians Diaspora on the true position of NASS and your leadership on all aspects of the relationship between the Nigerian Diaspora and the Nigerian Government, including the pending Diaspora voting right bill,” the letter stated.
It added: “We would like to state that falling short of the above within 14 days upon the receipt of this letter, we might be compelled to take further actions, which might include but not limited to calling out all Nigerians in Diaspora to withhold further home remittances with immediate effect.”
Last month, Godwin Emefiele, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, disclosed that weekly diaspora remittances surged by 500 percent from 5 million to 30 million dollars.
THE Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) has called for an independent framework that will help to resolve and manage disputes between the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) and the business community.
Muda Yusuf, LCCI director-general, said this in a statement addressed to President Muhammadu Buhari and made available to The ICIR on Sunday.
Yusuf said matters of product valuation and harmonised system of product classification by the NCS was one of the most distressing encounters experienced by investors in the Nigerian economy.
He said the absence of an independent, credible and prompt appeal mechanism with the NCS was a major shortcoming in Nigeria’s international trade process.
“It is a situation that is hurting investment and weakening investors’ confidence. Importers are left entirely at the mercy of the Customs in the absence of a credible, independent window for dispute settlement between the Customs and the private sector. Under the present arrangement, the Customs Service is the accuser and the judge.”
Such a mechanism, Yusuf said, was unfair to investors and not consistent with the principles of natural justice. He said many companies had been compelled to pay outrageous additional charges on imports, thus distorting their investment plans and projections.
He noted that discretionary interpretations of product classification and valuation posed enormous corruption risks in Customs processes in Nigeria.
“Indeed, the biggest corruption risks in the interface between the Customs and the business community are around these two issues. This situation is hurting investors across all sectors – manufacturing, agro-allied, ICT, construction, Services etc.
“It is a disincentive to domestic and foreign investment; it creates uncertainty and aggravates investment risk, undermines economic diversification prospects, depresses capacity utilisation, and limits the scope for job creation. It is also not consistent with the vision to make Nigeria a top investment destination.”
He said that the Nigeria Customs Service had a weak trade facilitation culture and an absence of customer service orientation, stressing that the disposition was hurting investment, frustrating trade, and creating a negative investment sentiment.
He stated that a presidential intervention had become inevitable, especially with the start of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), noting that there was a need to ensure a balance between regulatory controls, revenue generation and trade facilitation functions of the NCS.
Yusuf asked President Buhari to issue an executive order creating the independent dispute resolution to restore the confidence of investors in the international trade process in Nigeria.
The federal government has directed telecommunications providers to put the proposed suspension of unstructured supplementary service data (USSD) on hold.
Femi Adeluyi, technical assistant (information technology) to Isa Pantami, minister of communication and digital economy, gave the directive in a statement on Saturday.
He said Pantami had called for a meeting on Monday with all stakeholders, including the Central Bank governor, executive vice chairman of the Nigerian Communications Commission(NCC), as well as mobile network operators (MNOs) and financial institutions.
Adeluyi said the purpose of the meeting was to ensure an amicable resolution of the impasse.
“The outcome of the meeting will determine the next steps regarding the status of USSD financial services,” the statement said.
Adeluyi noted that the minister had sent a letter with respect of the isssues to the CBN governor on March 3rd, 2021, regarding the need for the banks to do the needful.
The Association of Licensed Telecommunications Operators of Nigeria had announced on Friday that it would disconnect banks from USSD services Monday due to debt, which waa over N42 billion.
RAGING feud between Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria (MDCN) and chief medical directors (CMDs) of tertiary health institutions in Nigeria took a toll on house officers in the country who were owed salaries for three months.
The feud, which began in December 2020, left house officers without December to February salaries. They only began to receive their three months’ salaries on March 12, 2021.
Investigation by The ICIR revealed that the house officers had been engaged and paid by the hospitals until recently when the federal government took over the posting and payment of the doctors to avert alleged abuse.
Government’s decision did not go down well with the CMDs who then refused to forward the list of the interns to MDCN for vetting and onward salary payment.
House officers are graduates of medical schools who are employed for the purpose of receiving further training for a period of one year. The process, known as housemanship, enables the interns to acquire more practical knowledge by working in hospitals and getting paid. The housemanship programme is required to enable doctors to participate in the compulsory one-year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) programme. Experience garnered during the housemanship helps the practitioners to excel in places of their primary assignment.
Checks by The ICIR showed that many of the doctors went through pains while being owed their salaries. A picture of Okorie Venetus, one of the interns, went viral on social media on Saturday March 6, after he reportedly collapsed at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital, Rivers State. He was said to have worked uninterruptedly for 72 hours, yet was owed three months’ salaries.
Uyilawa Okhuaihesuyi, president of National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD), an umbrella body of medical practitioners that cater to the welfare and other needs of the interns in Nigeria, told The ICIR that Venetus was just one out of many house officers who had bitter experiences during the period.
He accused some heads of public tertiary hospitals of refusing to submit the list of interns in their facilities to the MDCN for vetting and onward transfer to appropriate authorities for payment of their emolument – an attitude he alleged spanned three months.
His allegation was confirmed to The ICIR by Yusuf Sununu, chairman, House Committee
Femi Gbajabiamila, Speaker, House of Representatives. Source: Channels TV
on Health Care Service, who chaired the meeting of stakeholders where a directive on immediate payment for the interns was issued.
The NARD president said, following failed efforts to get the attention of government to ensure that the interns were paid, after engaging different means to end the stalemate, including writing to the National Assembly, leaders of NARD resorted to embarking on strike.
In order to avert the strike, the House of Representatives, through Femi Gbajabiamila, its speaker, convened a meeting of stakeholders which eventually made some resolutions on the crisis. The meeting took place between Tuesday, March 9 and Wednesday, March 10, 2021, at the National Assembly Complex.
A major resolution made at the meeting was immediate payment of the trainee doctors. The majority of them had got their salaries as of the time of filing this report on Saturday, NARD president said.
More accusations from NARD
According to Okhuaihesuyi, there was a shortage of house officers which he said stemmed from the feud between the MDCN and the CMDs.
The rift “is more like a rift between the chief medical directors and the MDCN. Because of that, they have not paid the house officers for over three months. We have written to federal ministries of health and labour, speaker of the House of Representatives and the Senate president,” he said.
According to him, there should be between 10 and 15 house officers in each unit of hospitals, but there were only about two.
He confirmed that the doctor who reportedly collapsed in Port Harcourt worked much more than the duration he should work, resulting in his collapse.
Uyilawa further alleged that the CMDs were “more like sabotaging the Federal Ministry of Health and the MDCN so that they can reverse the payment to them.”
“The CMDs know that if they do not submit the list, the house officers would not be paid. If they are not paid, the CMDs know that the house officers will react and will probably call for a strike,” he said, adding that “that is their aim. They know that with that, they will reverse the payment to the CMDs.”
He said only 19 of the CMDs submitted names of their officers for payment.
According to him, there were 2,136 house officers affected by the payment delay.
He also said only 5, 000 naira was being paid to doctors by the federal government as hazard allowance, while federal lawmakers were getting over a million naira.
Reaction by Sununu, Chairman, House Committee on Health Care Services
The lawmaker told The ICIR in a telephone interview that his committee was able to mediate in the matter within the first sitting because of the confidence that NARD had in the leadership of the House of Representatives.
He said: “When they came, we were able to find out what the problem was. The problem was based on the policy of the federal government to centralise recruitment and posting of house officers because many house officers were roaming the street and were not employed. Federal government moved posting and recruitment to Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria because of that.
“However, there was a delay by committee of CMDs and MDs to submit the list of the serving house officers to Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria so that the council can identify those who were recruited and were to be paid.
“And then, the MDCN issued a circular to stop payment of house officers. So, we now had two crises, not employing house officers and not paying those who were recruited. Based on that, the NEC (of NARD) resolved to go on strike.”
Following those actions, he said his committee invited the stakeholders namely, the Federal Ministry of Health; Budget Office of the Federation; Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria;Committee of CMDs; Nigerian Medical Association, and NARD to a meeting.
Many public hospitals in Nigeria are in poor state and health services are worsened by strike by doctors and other health workers. Source: Guardian
At that meeting, he said the committee “sounded a strong warning that all the CMDs must submit the list to the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria within 48 hours, and all those in hospitals that were delaying should immediately be paid since there is budgetary allocation to that.” He vowed that the committee would follow its decision up with sanctions on any erring party.
According to him, the trainee doctors were paid within 24 hours after the committee’s directive.
But he advised that government must always conclude all processes involved in any subsisting programme before switching to another.
Reacting to allegation of doctors being paid 5,000 naira hazard allowance, he said: “We were all frank, especially before Mr. Speaker that N5,000 hazard allowance is not acceptable, and that we are working with the Federal Ministry of Health, Ministry of Labour and National Salary and Wages Commission to ensure they review the hazard allowance. Not only that, recently, you will also note a lot of brain drain in the country, and even the Ministry of Labour identified that as a major challenge.” He noted that “the need to review the hazard allowance cannot be over-emphasised.”
He revealed that COVID-19 led to brain drain of doctors in the country, resulting in vacuums in public health institutions. He said recruitment was ongoing and that government had been getting doctors to assist.
“Then, the other issue is (that) there is embargo on employment. Employment is only following waiver and there are a lot of bottlenecks. The hospitals need to obtain waiver for them to recruit, and it can take you more than six months to obtain a waiver,” Sununu stated.
Asked to express his view about the general health care system in the country, the lawmaker said the health system “is weak” and that a lot needed to be done to ensure that quality health care services were offered to people in the nation.
Response from Registrar, MDCN
After parrying questions from our reporter during a telephone interview, Tajudeen Sanusi, registrar, MDCN, said his organisation had no issue with anybody. He insisted he would not respond to our reporter’s question which sought his reaction on the issues.
After much prevarication, he said, “Do not force words into my mouth. MDCN did not say ‘transfer this to us.’ There were problems and government wanted to resolve these problems. That was why they said MDCN should take over. MDCN taking over is not that they give us money. No, our own is to scrutinise the list and forward to the Accountant-General Office where further action would be taken on the interns’ payment.”
“There are quotas allotted to these people. You see, if you have a quota of 40 and you go and employ 80, what do you want me to do? That is the situation. You have a quota of 40, you are employing 80. The quotas were allotted based on available human and material resources, and they have no right to adjust the quota themselves unless they invite Council for re-accreditation. Let us get things right in our society. People should not indulge themselves in acts of illegality, trying to legitimise the act of illegality. No, our Council will never allow that. That is just it. “
Chairman, CMDs group in Nigeria speaks
Jaf Momoh, chairman of CMDs and chief medical director, National Hospital, Abuja, said in an interview with The ICIR that nobody would accuse the CMDs of training medical doctors to enable them get their licences.
Dr Osagie Ehanire, Minister of Health. Source: Punch newspaper
His words: “Nobody can accuse us of trying to train a medical doctor for his licence and that you are over-recruiting. What happened to those who have finished training? So, they should go and roam the streets? A doctor who spent seven years training, his training should not be completed? It’s only one year. That is why the federal government decided that the training should be centralised, that everybody will be absorbed. The responsibility of MDCN is to get placement for all of them.”
He then spoke on the new resolutions of the Sanunu-chaired mediation team of the House of Representatives: “MDCN has been given three months by the National Assembly to get placement for all of them. There can be no issue of over-placement. It is like NYSC, it is one year. Are you going to say NYSC corps members are being over-placed? Everybody who is due is supposed to get a placement. People are misunderstanding it, thinking that it is employment – it is not employment.”
Momoh denied accusations by NARD and House of Representatives committee which said some hospitals having house officers failed to forward their names to the authorities to enable them get paid.
Immediate past NARD president gives more insight into crisis
Meanwhile, Aliyu Sokomba, immediate past president of NARD, gave more insight into the crisis.
He said the new policy emerged because government wanted to centrally place house officers as they did to graduates participating in the National Youth Service Corps in the country.
He said NARD felt there was a need for government to do a proper planning before implementing the decision.
He said government stopped sending emolument of the house officers to hospitals and decided to be paying them by itself without any concrete arrangement on ground.
Sokomba explained that government had stopped recruitment of new doctors, leading to an acute shortage of house officers in hospitals.
He said there could only be two house officers in a hospital, causing them to work uninterruptedly for many days.
He suggested that if government could not pay the doctors in the new plan, it should revert to the old method where hospitals paid.
NARD had embarked on a strike in June 2020 over lack of personal protective equipment (PPE) and poor welfare for its members amid the nation’s fight against COVID-19. The group also proceeded on similar action in September 2020 over unpaid allowances.
JOINT efforts of military, police and local vigilante have foiled an attempted kidnap and attack at Government Science Secondary School, Ikara in Kaduna State.
According to Samuel Aruwan, state commissioner for internal security and home affairs, the criminals invaded the school in early hours of Sunday, but their plot to abduct students was foiled by the quick response of the security operatives.
Aruwan confirmed that all 307 students of the school were safe.
“Between the late hours of Saturday and the early hours of today, suspected bandits stormed the Government Science Secondary School, Ikara, Ikara Local Government Area, in an attempt to kidnap students. Fortunately, the students utilised the security warning system in place, and were thus able to alert security forces in the area.
“The security forces comprising the troops of the Nigerian Army, police and some security volunteers moved swiftly to the school and engaged the bandits, forcing them to flee. The attempted kidnap was foiled,” he said.
The incident happened two days after 39 students were abducted from the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of the state.
Last week, soldiers prevented gunmen from abducting students of a Turkish school in Kaduna.
Also, an attempt to abduct some persons at the quarters of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) in Kaduna was foiled.
PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has issued a ‘stern’ warning to bandits operating in Nigeria, saying that the country would not allow destruction of the school system.
Buhari said this in a statement issued by Garba Shehu, special assistant to the president on media and publicity on Saturday.
According to Shehu, Buhari also commended efforts of the Kaduna State government and ‘early response’ of the military that led to the rescue of 180 students, including eight staff members.
Buhari likewise urged the military to intensify efforts to ensure that others declared missing were found and returned safely to their families.
He also commended efforts and contributions of local intelligence in combating kidnappers in the country.
“Our military may be efficient and well-armed, but it needs good efforts for the nation’s defense and the local population must rise to this challenge of the moment,” the statement read in part.
This is coming a few hours after a viral video showed students captured by kidnappers pleading to the federal government for help.
The gunmen had abducted 39 students from Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation in Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
In the viral video, the kidnappers demanded 500 million naira for the release of the students.
On many occasions, Buhari has assured Nigerians of his commitment to end insecurity in the country, but his assurances are like water off the duck’s back, given the kidnappings, abductions and killings have worsened across the country.
KIDNAPPERS of students of Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation, Afaka, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have demanded 500 million naira for their release.
On Saturday, the criminals released a short video showing 39 students kidnapped from the college begging the state government to facilitate their release.
In the two-minute, six-second video, the gunmen were seen in military uniforms displaying their arsenal of weapons in a show of strength, threatening to eliminate their hostages if the government failed to pay the ransom or tried to secure their release by force.
“My name is Abubakar Yakubu. A student of the Federal College of Forestry Mechanisation Kaduna. I am appealing to the Governor of Kaduna State, the state government and the Federal government,” one of the students said.
Another abducted student appealed to the Nigerian government to come to their rescue by paying the 500 million naira demanded by their abductors.
She said, “Please, we need your help; they are asking for 500 million naira.”
On Friday, The ICIR had reported how the criminals kidnapped students of the college in the late hours of Thursday after breaching the parameter fence of the school.
However, in a statement on Friday afternoon, the Kaduna State government announced the rescue of 180 students by the Nigerian Army.
Samuel Aruwan, commissioner for internal security, disclosed that about 30 of the students were yet to be accounted for.
SENIOR lawyers are divided over who takes possession of 4.2 million pounds stolen by James Ibori, former Delta State governor.
While some of them say the money should be returned to Delta State, others affirm that it belongs entirely to the federal government.
The United Kingdom had, on Tuesday, signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the Nigerian government in Abuja, to return 4.2 million pound assets stolen by Ibori, who was convicted in the United Kingdom and jailed for corruption in 2012.
The UK has recovered huge sums of money from Ibori, returning it in parts to Nigeria. But part of his largesse has divided opinion in Africa’s most populous country characterised by institutional theft and entrenched corruption.
According to Abubarkar Malami, Nigeria’s attorney-general, the funds were expected to be used for the completion of the Second Niger Bridge, Abuja-Kano Road, Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and other key infrastructures in the country.
Malami’s disclosure has since generated a lot of controversies and debates among Nigerians, with many asking questions.
Some analysts have accused the federal government of short-changing Delta State by breaking with its precedent of returning looted funds to their state of origin.
They recall that in December 2007, the federal government handed over a cheque for 300,000 pounds ( about N72 million at the time) to Plateau State government, being part of the funds allegedly laundered in London banks by former governor, Joshua Dariye.
They further noted that more than 5 million pounds recovered from the funds stolen by former Bayelsa State governor Dieprieye Alamieyeseigha was handed over by the federal government to Bayelsa State government in 2012.
While Femi Falana, Babatunde Ajibade, Jiti Ogunye, all senior advocates of Nigeria, opine that the money should be returned to Delta State from where it was initially looted, other senior advocates disagree.
Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, said that the federal government lacked the ‘locus standi’ to determine how the loot recovered from Ibori should be spent.
“The federal government has no locus standi with respect to how the money is spent. That is left for the people of Delta State to monitor the government of that state to ensure that the fund is not relooted,” Falana said, as earlier reported by The ICIR.
Both Ajibade and Ogunye have argued, like Falana, that the government should immediately return the money to Delta State.
However, Yemi Candide-Johnson and Kunle Adegoke (SANs), during their appearance on a radio programme on Nigeria Info, on Thursday, explained why the state government had no valid claim to the money.
They argued that the UK government-owned the money in accordance with its laws authorising it to confiscate proceeds of crime from persons convicted via the British judicial system, such as Ibori.
Nigeria, they argued, could not breach the terms of that agreement without consequences.
“The strict legal answer is that the money belonged to the British government, ” Candide-Johnson said.
“The process by which the proceeds of crime is extracted from the hands of criminals such as a convict like James Ibori, the law is quite clear that the government is to deprive criminals of the proceeds of their crime, (and it) has the power to take that money wherever it can be found,:” he further said.
“Governments across the world take possession of proceeds of crime and that is like a fine.”
Adegoke also maintained the same position about ownership of the soon-to-be repatriated funds.
