By Tosin Omoniyi

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has indicated its intention to carry out intensive crime prevention training for registered private guards in the country.

It said that this would go a long way in nipping in the bud the high rate of crime presently experienced in the public and private sector.

The disclosure was made by the new Commandant General of the NSCDC, Abdullahi Gana Muhammadu, when he received a team of academicians from the University of Abuja and the National Open University.

The team visited the CG to intimate him on the steps they were taking to establish a Professional Development Program on Law Enforcement and Security Governance at both institutions.

Leader of the delegation, Amuche Madu, explained that part of the reason for the proposal was to ensure that agencies of government are knowledge based institutions.

He noted that security training improves morals and credentials of participants and also curtails excessive expenditure on foreign training by officers when the same services were available and affordable in the country.

In his response, the NSCDC boss said the corps would partner with the two educational establishments to ensure the program takes off.

Muhammadu said with the establishment of the College for Security Management by the corps in Abeokuta and other similar institutes in the country, management and personnel of private security guards in the country would be mandated to undergo regular capacity building and
training programmes on modern trends in crime prevention at the institutions.

He said this will aid the security of lives and property in private and public institutions.

“Criminals are not only posing threat through physical engagements but have devised other strategies through online and social media for their nefarious activities. The only way to contain and curtail them is through training and retraining of our staffs as well as private security guards on the new methods and technique to address the threats,” Muhammadu said.

He said that the corps would continue to partner with other institutions in providing training for public officers and potential students on various fields of security consciousness and disaster management using the latest techniques and technology.

Nigeria and its neighbor, Republic of Benin will today begin talks on how to tackle challenges raised by dispute over ownership of some border communities.

Kebbi State governor, Atiku Bagudu, will today visit Benin for a three-day official visit to initiate talks with the country on an amicable settlement of border dispute between the two neighbors.

According to the the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, the visit is on the instruction of Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, who had earlier discussed the matter with his Beninois counterpart, Boni Yayi, during a recent trip to the county.

Bagudu was accompanied on the visit by Benin Republic’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Muhutalo Laleye; director general of the National Boundary Commission, Mohammed Ahmed; and some consular officials.
The delegation will be received at the Nigeria/Benin Republic border at Illo by that country’s Prime Minister, Lionel Zinson, before moving to Cotonou for the crucial meeting.

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Bagudu has expressed the hope that the meeting would find a lasting solution to border dispute between the two nations.

The governor has also pledged to construct a road to link the two countries, as part of efforts to enhance social and economic relations.

It would be recalled that the two countries are currently having dispute over ownership of some communities in Bagudu Local Government of Kebbi in Nigeria and Maladil in Benin.

At least 44 deaths and 521 injuries have so far been confirmed after a fire at a warehouse containing dangerous chemicals sparked a series of explosions in Binhai, China.

According to reports monitored on The Guardian, thousands of people have been rendered homeless by the blasts.

Zhang Yong, a Chinese official based in Binhai is quoted as saying that the Communist Party was mobilizing all its available resources in response to the disaster.

He said about 3,000 people had been put up in government-run shelters after being forced from their homes on Wednesday.

“Tonight there will be 6,000 people in those shelters,” he said.

According to reports in the media, armed troops and elite military units trained to handle nuclear, biological and chemical disasters have been deployed to contain the crisis.

Tempers are high as a CNN reporter who attempted to take pictures of the victims was attacked by an irate mob.

By Thursday afternoon, it is expected that at least 1,000 firefighters would be on ground to bring the flames under control around the main disaster zone.

Around 10,000 medical staff are also working round the clock at 10 different hospitals to treat survivors, Zhang Yong said.

An additional four vehicles carrying 214 soldiers trained to deal with nuclear, biological and chemical tragedies have been sent to Tianjin, a community about 160 kilometres from Beijing.

China’s Public Security Minister, Guo Shengkun expressed the government’s sadness at the tragedy, promising that all will be done to prevent future reoccurrence.

“Every possible measure would be taken to prevent further loss of life or injury. Deep lessons must be learned,” Guo said.

Official Chinese reports have blamed the blasts on hazardous chemicals stored in a warehouse owned by a company called Ruihai International Logistics.

An online national database of companies appeared to have been disabled on Thursday afternoon making it impossible to identify the owners of the firm where the explosions took place.

By Jefferson Ibiwale, Benin

The Court of Appeal, Benin Division, on Wednesday upheld the victory of Peter Akpatason, candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, at the March 28 National Assembly polls for Akoko Edo Federal Constituency, as earlier declared by the Edo State Election Petition Tribunal.

The tribunal, headed by Justice A. R. Ozoemena, had on June, 8, 2015, struck out the petition of Bankole Balogun of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, against Akpatason’s victory, for lack of merit.

The tribunal held that though the petitioner signed his column in the petition, his party, the PDP did not sign, which it said was a negation of the Electoral Act.

Bankole Balogun had subsequently appealed the judgment and approached the appellate Court to contest the judgment.

However, the three-man Appeal Court panel, headed by P. Ekpe, in its judgment, agreed with the judgment of the tribunal.

It pointed out that the issue bothers on Section 4.1, Schedule of the Electoral Act, which provides that the petitioners or their counsel must sign petition brought before the tribunal.

The court, while dismissing the argument of the petitioner that the lower court did not give him fair hearing on the issue of the signing of the petition, held that though the first petitioner signed his column, his party did not sign.

It held that this negated the conditions stipulated by the Electoral Act.

There was wild jubilation by members of the APC as the court rendered its judgment.

In his reaction, counsel to Akpatason, Ken Mozia, described the judgment as victory for the rule of law.

“This judgment is going to be a reference point in all the Election Petition Tribunals. The issue of signing of petitions now is a serious matter, it is no longer business as usual,” he said.

Chadian President Idris Derby on Wednesday said the Boko Haram sect has a new leader who is willing to negotiate with the authorities to end the insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives in the West African region.

Although he would not give details of the whereabouts of the well known leader of the insurgents, Abubakar Shekau, the Chadian leader identified the new leader of the fundamentalist sect as Mahamat Daoudu.

According to reports on BBC, he said Daoudu had already indicated his willingness to end the insurgency.

“There is someone apparently called Mahamat Daoudu who is said to have replaced Abubakar Shekau and he wants to negotiate with the Nigerian government,” For my part I would advise not to negotiate with a terrorist,” Derby said.

Addressing reporters in the Chadian capital, N’Djamena during the country’s 55th Independence ceremonies, Derby said the rapid onslaught on the militants by troops from the affected country has weakened their ability to wreck havoc and had reduced them to carrying out sporadic attacks showing their desperation.

“Boko Haram is decapitated. There are little groups scattered throughout east Nigeria, on the border with Cameroon. It is within our power to definitively overcome Boko Haram. The war will be short, with the setting up of the regional force, it will be over by the end of the year,” Derby assured.

The former Boko Haram leader, Shekau, in several videos released on social media in the past had vigorously rejected the notion of negotiations with the authorities.

While reacting to an overture of amnesty by the past Goodluck Jonathan administration, Shekau had insisted that it was the government that required amnesty rather than members of the sect.

Shekau took over as the group’s leader after the founder, Muhammad Yusuf, died in police custody in July 2009.
He had been reported killed several times by the military authorities in the past only to resurface in subsequent videos, more aggressive.

Shekau had celebrated the sect’s violent attacks in the past, vowing that the attacks would continue until the group’s demand of the establishment of an Islamic caliphate was met.

He had also vowed that the more than 200 Chibok schoolgirls abducted in April 2014 would be married off.

The last time he came out a video recording was in March when he released an audio message pledging allegiance to the Islamic State .
Earlier in the month, a video of an unidentified young man, speaking in Hausa but with a Kanuri accent and claiming to be speaking on behalf of the Islamic State in West Africa, had appeared in the social media.

He had assured listeners that the campaign of terror was yet to end and that the militants were still in control.

Boko Haram has already sworn allegiance to ISIS in an attempt many see as a military tactic to curry support from the much deadlier terrorist organization.

President Muhammadu Buhari has indicated willingness to negotiate with the sect, particularly on the release of the Chibok girls, on the condition that only credible members of the group come forward.

A previous prisoner-swap attempt by the past administration was unsuccessful.

The Bayelsa State government, on Wednesday said that it would wield the big stick against Agip oil company if it failed to release the autopsy reports and remains of victims of the pipeline explosion which occurred at its Azuzuama oil field recently.

The government accused the oil firm of deliberating delaying the release of the relevant documents needed by the state government to assist the families of the bereaved to bury their loved ones.

The state commissioner for environment, Inirio Willis, in an interview said the government would take punitive measures against the company if it failed to comply with its request for the release of the death certificates of the victims.

He claimed that the refusal of the firm to do the needful had frustrated the plans of the various families to bury the victims.

“The managing director of Agip has refused to release the autopsy report, death certificate and collection cards for our staff’s remains, several weeks on. We find this to be grossly indecent and an aggravation of the Azuzuama tragedy that we and the families are still grappling with. The family continues to be in suspense and has had to change burial plans because of this,” Willis said

He said the action of the company was seen as a provocative act by the state government and it would react accordingly.

READ ALSO:

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• Man ‘Resurrects’ In Election Tribunal To Reclaim Mandate
• Court Affirms APC Victory In Akoko Edo Constituency
• Boko Haram Has New Leader, Ready To Negotiate – Chadian President

When approached for a reaction to the allegations, the public affairs manager of the Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, Dan Jumbo declined comments.

It would be recalled 14 people died in a pipeline explosion which occurred on July 9, 2015 at Agip’s oil fields in Azuzuama in Southern Ijaw local government area in Bayelsa.

Two regulatory officials from Bayelsa Ministry of Environment and National Oil Spills Detection and Response Agency, NOSDRA, also died in the incident.

Officials of NAOC, representatives of the host community and Bayelsa ministry of Environment were said to have been investigating the cause of a recent oil spill in the area when the blast occurred

By Tosin Omoniyi

The Nigerian Air Force, NAF, has launched a new security initiative in Adamawa State, one of those ravaged by insurgency in North east tagged, “See Something Say Something,” aimed at making people more security conscious.

The Air a force said that the initiative was also targeted at eliciting more support from the civil populace and to create more security awareness in the state.

The initiative was launched at a sensitization lecture which held for residents of Yola, Adamawa State.

A statement issued by the Director, Public Relations and Information, Dele Alonge, an Air Commodore, stated that “the objective is to get the civil populace to share information with security agencies or report the activities of suspected persons or members of the Boko Haram Terrorist (BHT) group. ”

“The initiative recognizes the collective role and responsibility of the people, military and civil alike, to fighting terrorism. It is thus a new approach by the NAF to enhance the effectiveness of the on-going counter insurgency operation in the North-Eastern part of the country,” the statement read.

It added that the lecture pointed out that terrorism only brings pain, regrets, poverty and underdevelopment to any community and that only a collective war against it could eradicate it.

“As such, the participants were urged to be actively involved in the on-going counter-terrorism campaign, and to help spread the message by educating their wards with a view to bringing all hands on deck to defeat the terrorists,” the statement said.

It also urges residents to know their neighbors and also question strangers who join their community from time to time.

It equally urged residents to be wary of unidentified luggage, abandoned vehicles and unplanned gatherings in public places.

President Muhammadu Buhari has instructed the Ministry of Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs to initiate efforts to reunite internally displaced persons, IDPs, around the nation with their families.

He gave the directive when he received a briefing from the permanent secretary in the ministry, Jamila Shu’ara.

The president said he was deeply saddened by the trauma most the IDPs were going through as a result of their displacement.

He said that it was the duty of the government to ameliorate their challenges, adding that reuniting them with their families would be a good first step.

The president specifically expressed concern for the welfare of children presently been accommodated at the various camps.

He said it was the collective duty of every Nigerian to ensure that the children are taken care of so that they do not create security challenges for the country in the future.