PRESIDENT Bola Tinubu has announced the cancellation of his scheduled trips to South Africa and Angola in order to address pressing security concerns in Nigeria.
He has consequently assigned his vice, Kashim Shettima, to represent him at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg.
The Vice President spokesperson, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement on Friday, November 21.
“Following the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, GCFR, to stay back in Nigeria and attend to security concerns in the country, Vice President Kashim Shettima has departed Abuja to represent the President at the G20 Leaders’ Summit in Johannesburg, South Africa,” Nkwocha said.
The summit, slated for Saturday, November 22, to Sunday, November 23, at the Johannesburg Expo Centre, is expected to gather leaders of the world’s top 20 economies, alongside representatives of the European Union, the African Union, and major financial institutions.
The president had initially been scheduled to depart Abuja for the summit, followed by a trip to Luanda for the 7th AU-EU Summit.
The latest announcement followed Tinubu’s earlier decision to postpone his scheduled trips to the two countries to await further security briefings on recent security incidents in Kebbi and Kwara states.
The ICIR reported that Tinubu postponed his scheduled trips to the two nations, citing “security breaches” in Kebbi and Kwara States.
On November 18, two people were confirmed dead and an unspecified number of residents abducted after terrorists attacked Eruku town, in the Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara state.
The Kwara State Police Command in a statement on Tuesday, November 18, said the attack left two men fatally shot and several others missing.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, Adetoun Ejire-Adeyemi, a superintendent of police, the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Eruku and his team, working alongside local vigilantes, swiftly mobilised after hearing gunshots from the outskirts of the town.
Earlier on Monday, November 17, gunmen stormed Government Girls’ Comprehensive Secondary School, Maga, in Danko/Wasagu Local Government Area, and abducted several students and killed the school vice principal.
Nanji is an investigative journalist with the ICIR. She has years of experience in reporting and broadcasting human angle stories, gender inequalities, minority stories, and human rights issues. She has documented sexual war crimes in armed conflict, sex for grades in Nigerian Universities, harmful traditional practices and human trafficking.