26042019 - Why police misuse arms, kill on duty —IGP

44 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, APRIL 26, 2019
Biden’s 2020 bid reshapes White
House race
FORMER U.S. Vice
President Joe Biden
entered the 2020 Democratic
presidential field on
Thursday as an instant
front-runner, drawing momentum
away from other
leading candidates and
putting new pressure on
underperformers to find
ways to stay relevant.
Biden, 76, a longtime U.S.
senator who served two
terms as former President
Barack Obama’s No.2, announced
his bid in a video
describing the high stakes
of the race to take on President
Donald Trump in next
year’s election.
“We are in the battle for
the soul of this nation,”
Biden said. “I believe history
will look back on four
years of this president and
all he embraces as an aberrant
moment in time. But if
we give Donald Trump
eight years in the White
House, he will forever and
fundamentally alter the
character of this nation, who
we are, and I cannot stand
by and let that happen.”
Trump responded in a post
Biden
icans and his partnership
with Obama, Biden could
also affect the candidacy of
U.S. Senator Kamala Har-
on Twitter, saying “welcome
to the race Sleepy Joe” and
slamming Biden’s intelligence.
Biden joins U.S. Senator
Bernie Sanders, a self-described
“Democratic socialist,”
atop the 20-candidate
field. With Biden positioned
to be Sanders’ chief rival,
the resulting clash could lay
bare the conflict in the Democratic
Party between its
moderate and progressive
wings.
Although Biden has yet to
lay out policy proposals as a
candidate, he backs many
causes valued by progressives,
including raising the
minimum wage, combating
climate change, banning
assault weapons and free
public college. He has not
come out in favour of a Medicare
for All plan advocated
by Sanders and others.
Kyle Kondik, a political
analyst at the University of
Virginia, says it remains
unclear if Biden can build
on his loyal base of support.
If that happens, it could
come at Sanders’ expense.
Given his longstanding
support from African-Amerris,
who is widely regarded
as a serious contender
for the nomination.
Biden’s entry also threatens
to derail the rise of Pete
Buttigieg, the mayor of
South Bend, Indiana, who
has benefited from a surge
of media coverage in recent
weeks. And it further presses
candidates such as former
housing Secretary Julian
Castro, U.S. Senator Kirsten
Gillibrand and former Colorado
Governor John Hickenlooper,
who have failed so
far to register with voters, to
come up with ways to stay
in the game.
Sri Lanka reduces death
toll from attacks to 100
SRI Lankan officials re
vised the death toll
from Easter Sunday bombings
down by about 100 on
Thursday, blaming the difficulty
in identifying body
parts at bomb scenes for the
earlier inaccurate number.
The new official figure
was 253, down from an earlier
359, Deputy Defence
Minister Ruwan Wijewardene
said. He blamed inaccurate
data provided by
morgues for the discrepancy
Ȧnil Jasinghe, the director
general of Sri Lanka’s
health services, told Reuters
any figure was an estimate:
“It could be 250 or
260. I can’t exactly say.
There are so many body
parts and it is difficult to give
a precise figure.”
The suicide bomb attacks
on three churches and four
hotels have exposed an intelligence
failure, with accusations
that warnings had
not been acted on and feuds
at the top levels of government
had undermined security
cooperation.
Defence Secretary Hemasiri
Fernando resigned over
the failure to prevent the
attacks, although he insisted
on Thursday that the authorities
had been acting in
response to intelligence tips
from India warning of imminent
attacks.
Sudan risks counter
coup without deal
on transition
—Opposition leader
SUDAN could face a
counter coup if military
rulers and the opposition
do not reach agreement
on a handover of
power to civilians, leading
opposition figure and
former prime minister
Sadiq al-Mahdi said on
Thursday.
Mahdi, Sudan’s last
democratically elected premier,
said hardliners in
ousted president Omar
Hassan al-Bashir’s National
Congress Party (NCP)
and its allies in the army
would try to exploit the uncertainty
to seize power.
Drug Trafficking: 19
Nigerians arrested in 5
countries in 3 weeks
By Charles Kumolu
NO fewer than 19 Nigerian citizens have been ar
rested in five countries for drug trafficking since
the beginning of this month, findings by Vanguard revealed.
Of the 19 suspects, nine were apprehended in Asian
countries, while 10 were nabbed in a European nation.
Specifically, they were variously arrested in Hong Kong,
Philipines, United Arab Emirates, UAE, and Italy within
the time under review.
The alarming figure did not include eight Nigerians,
who were sentenced to death in UAE for armed robbery
less than a week ago.
A breakdown of the findings showed that two Nigerians
were arrested by Philippine Police with about N125
million worth of methamphetamine on April 21.
According to Phillipino media, the <strong>police</strong>men arrested a
Nigerian businessman identified as Azubuike Onwigbolu,
32, a resident of Angeles City, Pampanga, at 2:15 a.m. on
April 21.
Onwigbolu was arrested through a buy-bust operation,
wherein a Philippine National Police ,PNP, personnel acted
as a buyer and bought 200 grams of methamphetamine
amounting to P400,000.
The other Nigerian identified as Mbaneto Sopuluchukwu
alias “Hermann Kurt Philip,” 22, was arrested alongside
his accomplice, Judith Balaquiao-Camacho, 46, from
Bombon, Camarines Sur, in another sting operation.
On April 1, Dubai-based newspaper Khaleej Times said
five Nigerians barged into a bureau de change and smashed
the glass barrier between the customers and the staff, stole
money in multiple currencies and fled. When converted,
the money was N225.4million.
A few days after the execution of a Nigerian woman in
Saudi Arabi for drug trafficking, another person was arrested
at Jeddah Airport, in Saudi Arabia, for allegedly smuggling
about 1,138g of cocaine. The woman was arrested on
April 5.
On April 18, customs officials in Hong Kong arrested a
Nigerian woman, who landed at the Hong Kong International
Airport with more than half a kilogramme of cocaine
hidden in her body.
The officers first recovered 215 grams of cocaine contained
in condoms and plastic bags found in her vagina.
Similarly, Police detectives in Italy arrested 10 Nigerians
for allegedly selling marijuana on the streets of Gallarate
city. The Federal Government had at different times, condemned
these questionable acts.
However, many believe the onus is on the government to
create an enabling environment that would make travelling
abroad for greener pastures less attractive. For instance,
pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, had while
reacting to last week’s incident in Dubai, said Nigeria is not
conducive for people to prosper.
...Two charged in U.S. over
cryptocurrency fraud
The attorney for the United States District of Oregon,
Billy Williams, has announced that two Nigerian
nationals, Kelvin Usifoh, 24, and Onwuemerie Gift of
unidentified age, are facing criminal charges for allegedly
defrauding people in an online scheme, bitcoin.
A statement published on the website of the U.S Attorney’s
office for the district of Oregon, on Wednesday,
said the duo are facing a 13-count charge of conspiracy
to commit wire fraud and money laundering.
The attorney’s office also said between December 2017
and June 2018, the duo had defrauded three victims,
one residing in Oregon and two in California, of 10.88
bitcoins worth approximately $59,000 (N21,269,500.00).
INTERPOL: Data expert cautions
Nigeria on information sharing
A
data expert, Mr. Adewale Omoniyi has urged the
Federal Government to exercise restraint on the recently
signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the International
Criminal Police Organisation, INTERPOL, on information
sharing under the West African Police Information System
(WAPIS).
Omoniyi, in a letter written to President Muhammadu Buhari
on the INTERPOL MoU, said the government should rather
adopt an internal mechanism of data collation through e-government,
rather than exposing the information base of the country
and her citizens to external forces.
The Minister of Interior, Abdulraham Dambazau, had last
week signed on behalf of Nigeria a Memorandum of Understanding
with the International Council of Police Organisations,
INTERPOL, on the project. Omoniyi said: “Nigeria is a very big
country and it appears that we are undermining the importance
and sensitivity of data for a nation of our size. When you are
trying to find a solution to a problem, you shouldn’t initiate a
counterproductive solution that may even create another web of
problems. The long term effect of this WAPIS agreement might
become costly to the nation.