12042019 - I N S E C U R I T Y: Buhari launches offensive; orders ruthless action

Vanguard, FRIDAY, APRIL 12, 2019—41
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Buhari launches offensive;
orders ruthless action
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The House resolved that
failure to address the
people within the
stipulated period of 48
hours would leave it with
an impression that the
president and his
“administration are
incapable of permanently
curtailing the incessant
killing of innocent
Nigerians by killer
herdsmen.”
The parliament also said
that it would mean that the
president and his
administration have failed
in their primary
constitutional responsibility
of ensuring the security
and welfare of the citizens
of Nigeria.
The resolutions were
reached by the members of
the House at plenary,
yesterday, after considering
and adopting a motion
entitled “Resurgence of the
Incessant and Annual
Massacre of Innocent
Nigerians Across the
Country by Alleged
Bandits and Killer
Herdsmen, the Gradual
Occupation of Affected
Communities by These
Attackers And The Lack of
Adequate Rehabilitation
and Relief Materials,”
sponsored by Mr Mark
Gbillah, representing Gwer
East and Gwer West federal
constituency of Benue
State.
Gbillah, while moving the
motion, told the members
that the people were
disappointed that the
government and the armed
forces have failed to protect
them.
On a similar note, the
House mandated its
committees on Army,
Human Rights, Justice and
Police Affairs to probe the
killings of some ad-hoc
staff of the Independent
National Electoral
Commission, INEC, in
Rivers State during the last
general election. The
decision was sequel to a
motion by Mr Kingsley
Chinda from Rivers State.
Again, 15 killed, houses,
cars, motorbikes burnt in
Benue
No fewer than 15 persons
were feared dead,
yesterday morning, when
armed men dressed in
black alleged to be Jukun
youths supported by
armed herdsmen invaded
and sacked Vaase
community in Ukum Local
Government Area of Benue
State.
An eyewitness, who said
he narrowly escaped death
in the latest attack which
came on the heels of a
recent peace initiative by
the federal and state
governments, said the
armed invaders stormed
Vaase as early as 6a.m.,
yesterday, shooting
sporadically and burning
down houses and
farmlands in the
community.
The witness said: “This
morning (yesterday) over
150 well armed men
dressed in black marched
into Vaase from
neighbouring Taraba State.
It was as if they were
prepared for war. Sporadic
gunshots were fired from
different directions and
people who were woken
up by the sound of the
gunshots ran for safety.
“They mindlessly shot at
anyone they caught up
with, including women
and children who were
unarmed. They did not
stop there, they burnt
down over 50 houses and
looted the people’s
property after which they
retreated to Taraba State.
As we speak, 15 corpses
have been recovered from
the deserted community
but the number may
increase because we are
still searching the
neighbourhood for more
bodies or survivors.”
Corroborating the
account, a former state
Commissioner of Trade
and Investments, Prof.
Terso Kpelai who is an
indigene of the area, said
he lost loved ones in the
fresh attack.
Kpelai said: “They
attacked my village this
morning (yesterday) about
6a.m., and killed several
persons. Three cars and 11
motorcycles were burnt
and so many houses were
razed. From what we
Naira stable at N359/$
in parallel market
By Elizabeth Adegbesan
THE Naira, yesterday, was stable at N359 per
dollar in the parallel market.
However, the Naira appreciated by 22 kobo in the
Investors and Exporters (I&E) window even as the
volume of dollars traded dropped by 39 percent.
Data from FMDQ showed that the indicative
exchange rate for the I&E window dropped to N
360.14 per dollar from N360.33 per dollar on
Wednesday, translating to 19 kobo appreciation for
the Naira.
The volume of dollars (turnover) traded yesterday
dropped by 39 percent to $204.80 million from
$335.03 million sold on Wednesday.
gathered, it was a combined
team of armed herdsmen
and Jukun militia that are
working on one strategy to
unleash mayhem in our
communities and it is a
serious matter.
“Before now, I had called
on the Security Adviser to
ensure the deployment of
security personnel there
because we got prior
information that they
planned to launch an attack
on the community.
“The chairman of the local
government council also
met the Commissioner of
Police over the matter and
on Wednesday, the Deputy
Commissioner of Police was
there to assess the situation
and promised that he
would reinforce his
personnel because the team
he took there was small but
before the deployment of
more personnel, the people
struck this morning
(yesterday).
“Those killed were of the
same grandfather with me
because we have a large
family,” Kpelai said in an
emotion-laden voice.
When contacted, the State
Police Public Relations
Officer, PPRO, Catherine
Anene, disclosed that police
personnel were actually
moved to Ukum on
Wednesday for deployment
to various flash-points,
adding that the command
was yet to receive
information from the
Divisional Police Officer in
charge of Ukum on the
latest development.
Revolutionize entire
security apparatus,
PANDEF tells Buhari
Also, PANDEF, in a
statement by its National
Secretary, Dr. Alfred
Mulade, said: “There is no
wisdom in concentrating all
the service chiefs and the
security infrastructure in one
part of the country.
“Security is too expensive
to be handled from a
particular section of the
country. Again, this
resonates the question of
restructuring of the country.
State policing is an integral
part of the restructuring,
which the President should
implement without further
delay.
“The present structure
has failed. Instructively, the
National Assembly is fully
in support of the state
policing. The president
must devolve powers to the
federating states so that the
governors would also have
the authority to exercise
requisite security
responsibilities to secure
their respective states.
“There is no going back
on this if Nigeria must
experience peace again,
given the very clear inability
of the national police and
the central security system
to effectively secure the
peoples of Nigeria.
“Further delay in securing
the lives of the citizens is a
clear demonstration of
failure on the part of FG,
which retains and
monopolises the ineffective
‘franchise’ of providing
security of Nigerians.
“Human life is too
sacrosanct to gamble with.
The President must act now
to save lives of innocent
JAMB EXAM—Candidates writing the 2019 Joint Admissions and
Matriculations Board (JAMB) examination at Kaduna State University ICT
Center in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo: NAN.
Nigerians, who are being
hacked to death in their
numbers. This clearly goes
beyond political or regional
considerations and
exigencies. It is lack of
capacity and wherewithal
to deal with the situation.”
We’re not interested in
meetings but a secured
Nigeria —Afenifere
Afenifere’s National
Publicity Secretary, Mr.
Yinka Odumakin said: “We
are not interested in their
meetings; this is not the
first time they have been
meeting. All we want is for
Nigeria to be secured. We
want an end to banditry that
is going on all over the
country. The kidnappings,
killings and banditry are
enough, although there is
a fundamental issue we
have to address in Zamfara
and some Northern States.
“Now that we know that
gold is the main issue in
Zamfara, we want to know
what the gold is bringing
to the federation account.
We cannot be sharing
money from oil in the Niger
Delta or sharing money
from Value Added Tax and
only bandits and unknown
people are making money
from gold deposits in
Zamfara and other places.
That has to be addressed.
“The most important
thing we need now is a
secured country; we are not
interested in meetings. We
want Nigeria secured.”
Root problem needs to
be tackled —Ohanaeze
Reacting through its
National Deputy Publicity
Secretary, Chuks Ibegbu,
Ohanaeze noted that the
attempt by armed herders
to seize the land of host
farming communities is the
root cause of the killings by
armed herdsmen.
“Our porous borders that
facilitate entry of foreign
herders who join their local
kin to perpetrate anarchy in
the country is also a factor.
The overhaul of the
security architecture in the
country as in some cases,
security agents look the
other way when these
killers operate. We
however, commended some
security agents who have
at the risk of their lives
resisted these killer
herdsmen.
“Other forms of insecurity
in the land such as rituals,
cult- related killings and
armed banditry, should be
blamed on economic
factors, do or die politics,
failed values, get-rich -
quick syndrome,
wickedness in low and
high places and there is
need for a moral revolution
in Nigeria."
Northern Elders tackle
FG over worsening
insecurity, quality of lives
Key Northern leaders,
yesterday, converged on
Zaria, Kaduna State, and
reviewed the security
situation in Nigeria, with a
damning verdict that the
Federal Government has
not done enough to check
the spate of killings and
destruction of property
across the land.
In a communiqué at the
end of the meeting by the
Convener of the NEF, Prof
Ango Abdullahi, the elders
questioned the undue
priority given by the
government to politics over
human lives, blaming it on
what it calls ‘weak political
will and monumental
political corruption.’
He said: “Today, the
North still lives under
horrendous Boko Haram
threats, a situation, which
has been aggravated by
threats of banditry,
kidnappings, armed
robbery, marauding youth
gangs, herders and farmers
mini-wars and seemingly
overwhelmed or indifferent
governments.
“Agriculture, our pride
and national economic
comparative advantage,
the greatest employer of
labour and leading
contributor to GDP is in
ruins as animal husbandry
and crop and roots farming
are in the throes of war and
damage.
“Our rural folks live in
perpetual fear of attacks
from sundry terrorist
assassins without any
reprieve. Our major
highways
and
transportation systems are
being abandoned as they
have become death traps.
“Should the Nigerian
people continue to run and
hide from criminals under
an administration that has
enjoyed and received
support especially from
Northern Nigerians that it
cannot address their
existential and
developmental
challenges?” the elders
queried.
Traditional Rulers in
Zamfara involved in
mining of gold — IGP
The acting AGP, who
spoke at a meeting with
Strategic Police Managers
(Zonal AIGs & Command
CPs) which he summoned
to evolve new approaches
that will be potent enough
to effectively mitigate the
insecurity in the country,
particularly Zamfara State,
said “We saw a kind of
nexus between activities of
the bandits and the mining
fields. That is why the
Federal Government
banned mining.”
He disclosed that the
launch of Operation Puff
Adder was conceptualized
and launched on April 5,
2019 to address in the
shortest possible time, the
threat of kidnapping,
armed robbery and armed
banditry in Kogi, Niger,
Zamfara, Kaduna and
Katsina states as well as
FCT.
Falana threatens public
protests over State of
insecurity
Falana, who expressed
the concern of the human
rights community over the
worsening security
situation in the country
especially the increasing
rate of armed robbery,
kidnapping, killings,
terrorism and banditry in
the land, however,
informed the acting IGP of
the human rights
community plan to embark
on series of public protests
if the Federal Government
fails to take over the
monopoly of violence from
criminal gangs.
Thanking the group for
the meeting, the police boss
gave detailed explanation
on the combined efforts of
the police and other
security agencies to
confront the security
challenges.
On the new strategy of
the police force, Mr.
Adamu noted that the
police now works with
human intelligence, in
collaboration with the Air
Force and other sister
security agencies, including
the Civilian JTF, whom he
maintained have been of
immense assistance to the
various security agencies in
the onerous task of securing
the nation.