Folarin Kehinde

The United States embassy in Nigeria has warned Americans in the country to be cautious of their movement in response to elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja.

In a security alert issued on Sunday, the US advised its citizens to avoid all non-essential travel or movement, stay alert and avoid crowds.

The statement read “There is an elevated risk of terror attacks in Nigeria, specifically in Abuja.

Targets may include, but are not limited to, government buildings, places of worship, schools, markets, shopping malls, hotels, bars, restaurants, athletic gatherings, transport terminals, law enforcement facilities, and international organizations.

“The U.S. Embassy will offer reduced services until further notice. Actions to Take: Avoid all non-essential travel or movement. Stay alert. Avoid crowds.

“Review your personal security plans and keep your cell phone charged in case of emergency. Carry proper identification.”

There was tension in Abuja months ago when terrorists overran the Kuje Correctional Centre and set free 800 inmates, including all the Boko Haram suspects in detention.

After that, troops of the Presidential Guards Brigade were killed in an ambush within the nation’s capital.

The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, had ordered a beef up of security in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in order to fortify the nation’s capital against terrorists.

There have been several leaked memos of intelligence agencies on the plots to attack the nation’s capital.

Stakeholders under the auspices of the Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities (FNMHC) has call for a meaningful dialogue, understanding and peaceful resolution of the conflict currently brewing between Kogi State Government and Dangote Cement Company Ltd.

FNMHC in a joint statement on thursday noted that It is imperative that peace reigns even if for the fact that it is the host communities and not any of these two giants
that will suffer a conflict of such magnitude if it were left to continue.

Explaining, FNMHC stated that they have watched with dismay the repeated violations of the rights of mining host communities and have repeatedly advocated a more comprehensive and totally robust approach to the way the mining of solid minerals is
conducted in the country with the imperative to put the needs, wishes and aspirations of the mining communities foremost with the aim of strengthening sustainable mining host communities in Nigeria.

According to them, they believe that the recent events have served as a reminder once again, that where there are
mining companies (manufacturing companies) in any community, it is necessary to keep possible
conflicts at a minimum.

Similarly, FNMHC stated that the amendment of the mining act which is long overdue when amended would reduce the conflict as some safeguards against conflicts are strongly worded in the Nigeria Minerals and Mining Act (NMMA), which they agree is long overdue for review but is nonetheless very relevant today.

“It is our fervent request that it does its utmost best to have the amendment of the Act concluded and
effected before this Government leaves the leadership saddle”.

Continuing, they said while private companies are encouraged to explore commercial exploitation
activities in host communities, there must be honest and diligent scrutiny of;
A. Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) activities and ensure that these companies
actually carry out this EIA as a prerequisite to obtaining operational mining licenses.

Also, Community Development Agreements, (CDAs) and whether it is drafted in the best
interests of the host communities is key; it becomes imperative to the sector
regulators to ensure that the letters of the CDAs are being strictly adhered to.

“We wish to call on stakeholders in the mining industry to set up a template for arriving at people-centric CDAs and give room for a wide spectrum of stakeholders per community, to determine and negotiate what is best for them instead of allowing a
few individuals to pocket the destinies of the unborn generations coming behind them”.

They however assured of the commitment of the Federation of Nigerian Mining Host Communities, (FNMHC) to the ideals
expressed herein is total and unwavering and shall continue to be at the vanguard of our collective citizenry.

The Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, said that God is responsible for floods that have submerged various parts of the country, plunging communities into unparalleled devastation for the third week continued.

Speaking at his ministry’s budget defence conference on Wednesday, Mr Adamu said rainfall constitutes 80 per cent of the flood crisis across the country and not the Lagdo dam in Cameroon as insinuated by some quarters.

“All these stories I’ve been seeing on social media, I just laugh because they are misleading. The contribution of the Lagdo dam to flooding in this country is only one per cent. Sometimes they release the water without notice and when they do that, it has an impact on communities downstream.

“But it is not the main reason we have floods in this country — 80 per cent of the floods in this country is water that we are blessed with from God from the sky,” he said.

Although Mr Adamu said that Cameroonian authorities have not been entirely honest with the Nigerian side on the opening of the dam and release of water, he maintains that Cameroon cannot be blamed for the flood and that there is no feasible end in sight to the crisis.

“This year’s flood, I can assure you, we cannot blame it on Cameroon, to be sincere. We’ll continue to have floods on the river Niger and Benue basins. We signed the MOU with the Cameroonian authorities, but since then, every year, it is the Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) that calls them, ‘what is your level in Lagdo?’ “Even this one when he called them, I was communicating with the DG NIHSA,

I said, ‘what’s happening in Cameroon?’ He said he has been calling them, and they said they had not released any water, but they said they would inform us. Finally, they said they would inform us tomorrow, they didn’t inform us; they informed us 24 hours after they had released the water.

“They did the same thing two years ago, I wrote to the minister of foreign affairs, and Nigeria had to write a protest letter to the Cameroonian authorities that they did not inform us. It was after our rains had gone down, suddenly we saw floods in Adamawa area, and we were asking them.

For two weeks, they were denying that they had opened the reservoir. Of course, it didn’t go to the confluence, it was limited to the areas of Adamawa state and Taraba. Because, as I said, the contribution to the flood by Lagdo dam is not so high.”

According to figures released by the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), more than two million people have been affected by the flood, with over 500 deaths. Several communities have also been cut off from trade and food supply due to a lack of access to their communities.

President Muhammadu Buhari has sacked Effiong Akwa as the sole administrator of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).

A statement issued on Thursday by the spokesperson of the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, Patricia Deworitshe, said Mr Akwa’s sack, which has been approved by Mr Buhari, takes effect from 20 October.

The ministry supervises the activities of the NDDC.

The statement said Mr Akwa was appointed interim administrator for the duration of the forensic audit into the operations of the commission and that the audit has been concluded, apparently justifying his removal.

“President Buhari has also approved the constitution of a new Management Team and Governing Board of the NDDC in line with Section 5(2) of the NDDC Act, 2000.

“The names of the nominees for the new management team and Governing Board are to be transmitted to the National Assembly for approval,” the statement said.

Details later….

Nigerian troops have arrested two officials of the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC), who had visited the Gagamari Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) camp in the Niger Republic to register non-Nigerians.

This was disclosed on Thursday by Major General Musa Danmadami, Director of Defence Media Operations, during the military’s bi-weekly press briefing at the Defence Headquarters in Abuja.

“On 13 October 2022, troops in conjunction with the Nigeria Police and NIS (Nigeria Immigration Service) operatives intercepted 2 suspected fake National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) officials. It was revealed that the suspects had visited Gagamari IDP camp in Niger Republic to register non-Nigerian in the IDP camp.

“Items recovered from the suspects include National Identification Number (NIN) registration machine, printing machine, laminating machine, a computer tracking machine and a generator set among other items,” Danmadami said.

He added that “during the weeks in focus, 31 suspected Boko Haram/Islamic State of West Africa Province members were neutralized, while 10 were arrested and 2 civilians rescued”.

“Furthermore, a total of 366 Boko Haram terrorists and their families comprising 23 adult males, 112 adult females and 231 children surrendered to troops at different locations within the theatre.

All recovered items, arrested terrorists, logistics suppliers and rescued civilians have been handed over to the appropriate authority for further action while the surrendered Boko Haram/Islamic State of West Africa Province terrorists and their families are being profiled for further action,” he added.