Nelson Ugwuagbo

Suspected bandits have attacked Yar Nasarawa community in Faskari local government area of Katsina State, killing six persons, including a traditional ruler.

The attackers also burnt houses, vehicles and abducted about 38 residents of the area.

A credible source, who is a resident of the area, said about 10 persons also sustained various degrees of injuries, while eight commercial vehicles, six houses and shops were burnt in the community that is less than five kilometres from the Army Super Camp in Faskari local government area.

Residents said the terrorists abducted about 38 residents, including women and children and left 10 residents with gunshot injuries.

He said, “The assailants came prepared, I have never seen them in such number.”

An eyewitness, Auwal Liman, also said that he narrowly escaped to the bush during the attack. He explained that while some bandits were shooting indiscriminately, others were setting vehicles and buildings ablaze.
 
“We are in a sorrowful situation, we can’t go to the farm. And even when we decided to stay off from our farms and local markets, the terrorists still follow us to our communities and kill us. Our lives hardly matter,” he lamented.

Findings revealed that the terrorists stormed the community around 11pm and blocked all entry and exit points to ward off support from the military and members of the Community Watch Corps in the area.

The State Police Command’s spokesperson, Abubakar-Sadik Aliyu, confirmed the attack but did not provide the details.

The Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) has decided to suspend its planned nationwide strike following a meeting with the Federal Government and stakeholders on Monday.

The strike was intended in response to the harsh economic conditions affecting tanker drivers, who had halted operations and refused to transport petroleum products.

NARTO members had threatened a countrywide shutdown starting Monday due to the exorbitant cost of automotive gas oil (diesel), which is essential for fueling their trucks used in transporting petroleum products across Nigeria.

In the wake of the current high level of hardship in the country, the Nigeria Customs Service, NCS, has disclosed plans to distribute seized food items to Nigerians.

The Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, said the food items will be distributed after they have been certified fit for consumption.

In a statement by Customs National Public Relations officer, Abdullahi Maiwada on Tuesday, Adeniyi reaffirmed his commitment towards advancing President Bola Tinubu’s food security agenda.

“Furthermore, to alleviate the hardships faced by Nigerians and improve access to essential food items, the Nigeria Customs Service will facilitate the direct disposal of food items forfeited to the Federal Government.

“These items will be certified fit for consumption by relevant agencies and made available to ordinary Nigerians nationwide through equitable distribution in our Areas of Operations,” he said.

The statement, however, did not disclose when the planned distribution will commence.

Civil servants in Niger State, operating under the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC, have resolved to embark on an indefinite strike action to express their grievances to the state government.

The strike is expected to commence by 8am on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, following the failure of the state government to meet the demands presented by the NLC, despite previous negotiations.

The NLC, in a letter addressed to Governor Mohammed Bago and signed by the NLC Chairman, Idrees Lafene, and the Trade Union Congress Chairman, Ibrahim Gana, expressed disappointment over the government’s failure to meet their demands and reiterated their commitment to the strike action until their demands are met.

The letter read in part, “We are writing in furtherance to our earlier letter of ultimatum Ref no. OL/NS/040/GEN/Vol 4/29 dated 20/12/23 and the deadlock on settlement of issues as a result of negotiations with the Niger State Government Committee.

“We wish to formally inform the government that effective 8am on Wednesday, February 21, 2024, Niger State workers will commence an indefinite strike action until our demands are comprehensively met.

Among the key demands of the union are the reversal of disputed appointments, including those of Executive Directors, Chairmen, members, and permanent commissioners of the Local Government Service Commission and Civil Service Commission, as well as Directors General of some agencies.

They also called for a clear statement from the government regarding the payment of wage awards.

The NLC also stressed the need for the government to cease the appointment of Permanent Secretaries from outside the civil service, insisting on career progression from within the service.

They also called for an end to the victimization of teachers and members of the educational sector following a recent debate by primary school pupils in Agaie LGA.

“We also wish to stress that the idea of appointing Permanent Secretaries who are not eligible and within the service will no longer be tolerated by the Organised Labour.

“Accordingly, we call on the government to withdraw the recent appointment of a Vice Principal on secondment as a Permanent Secretary to allow for career progression from within.

“We also call on the government to desist from victimising teachers and members from the educational sector as a result of the recent debate by some primary school pupils in Agaie LGA.”

The organised labour said their doors remain open for negotiation, provided the government meets their conditions, and expressed their continued commitment to Governor Bago’s New Niger Agenda.

However, NLC noted that there had been no response to their previous correspondence, leading to the commencement of the strike action.

The Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Wale Edun, announced this at the ongoing Public Wealth Management Conference organised by the Ministry of Finance Incorporated on Tuesday in Abuja.

Edun also stated that the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited has been asked to improve oil production to boost revenue.

He added that a bill will soon be presented to the National Assembly that will authorise the removal of all taxes and levies that constitute nuisance from the country’s tax system as a measure to wean itself from future Ways and Means indebtedness.

The government, Edun added, will pursue policies that will allow it to harvest revenue in real-time from government-owned enterprises and Corporate entities.

Edun said, “We have to stem liquidity. The Central Bank has led the way in pointing out that the ways and means have to be tailed down and eliminated and that is what we agree with.

“We are doing in that direction, there was an inherited amount of N22.7trn in backlogs. We are auditing it and it is like when I am ready to pay a loan from a bank and I ask for an audit before finding the agreed sum to pay.

“But apart from that, how do you get your ways and means down? We have to get revenues up and expenditure reduced as much as possible.”

Ways and Means is the money that the Central Bank of Nigeria lends to the Federal Government in the meantime to augment spending based on the time the revenue is generated.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Olayemi Cardoso, has said that the apex bank will no longer give Ways and Means to the President until the previous loans are repaid.

Olayemi noted that it was one of the measures taken by the apex bank to curtail the economic downturn currently plaguing the country.

Details later…

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, on Tuesday warned against any protest in the Southeast over the current spate of hunger and economic hardship ravaging Nigeria.

IPOB warned that anyone who organizes protests across the Southeast will regret such an action.

The spokesman of IPOB, Emma Powerful, said the current economic hardship and hunger was part of the reason the group has been agitating for the actualization of Biafra.

A statement by Powerful reads: “Following the unprecedented hardship in Nigeria, we the global family and movement of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by the great leader, Mazi Nnamdi Okwuchukwu Kanu hereby caution the people of Biafra not to join any Nigerian to protest against hunger in Nigeria in any Biafran territory. Any Nigerian agent who dares to organize any protest in Biafraland will regret it.

“The current hardship in Nigeria should be the concern of Nigerians, not Biafrans. Biafrans are no longer interested in the affairs of Nigeria. Biafrans were abused, intimidated, beaten, killed and denied voting rights during the election of this present government.

“Ndigbo were told to wait that it is their turn to rule, not the turn of Ndigbo. The aftermath of the fraudulent elections was the demolition of Ndigbo’s properties and investments in the West and Northern parts of the zoo called Nigeria. Has anyone or groups organized a protest against the demolition of Ndigbo’s properties in the West and North? Anyone who organized any protest against economic hardship in Biafraland will put Biafrans in danger.

“We understand that Biafrans are equally affected by the economic hardship arising from the reckless and thoughtless economic policies of Emilokon, but God Almighty Chukwu Okike Abiama is still seeing Biafrans through. We are worried about the suffering of other tribes but there is nothing we can do.

“The current situation is why Biafrans are fighting for freedom. Nevertheless, we must apply wisdom. Biafrans have gone far for Biafra restoration Independence, and it must materialize very soon. Biafrans have gone through the worst economic crisis and emerged victoriously during their planned war of annihilation against the Igbo race.”

Zamfara State chapter of the Master Bakers Association, MBA, has ordered its members to stop production of bread until it settles with the State Government over the ban on motorcycles carrying breads.

The Association refuted the claim that the motorcycle riders carrying loaves of bread were supplying bread to bandits in the forests.

The State Government had recently banned any motorcycle carrying loaves of bread, saying that they were supplying the bread to bandits operating in the State.

The Government also banned the sale of petroleum in cans, pointing out that the breads and cans of fuel were encouraging the terrorists to unleash terror attacks on residents.

Addressing newsmen in Gusau, the State Financial Secretary of the Association, Mallam Habibu explained that the union would not resume production of bread until it settled the matter with the State Government.

“We have been holding a series of meetings with the State Government to resolve the issue. I am very much sure that very soon the issue will be resolved,” he added.

The Minister of Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, has asked illegal occupants at the proposed Abuja Technology Village site, along Airport Road, to vacate the area.

Wike gave the directive when he visited the area in Abuja on Monday.

The former Rivers State governor was accompanied by the Minister of Innovation, Science and Technology, Mr Uche Nnaji.

The minister said that he would direct the Department of Development Control to issue the illegal occupants an ultimatum to leave, adding that the indigenous community in the area had been compensated since 2015.

“I am not impressed with what I am seeing. We don’t lack the political will. If you don’t take action, people will not believe that anything is possible.

“I will call the Development Control Department and give them an ultimatum for these people to leave. They have been compensated since 2015.

“I urge those who settled here illegally to know that we will not hesitate to move them out. No amount of campaign will stop us from doing the right thing,” he said.

Wike advised the management of the Abuja Technology Village to take possession of the space, fence the area and show some level of presence.

He explained that he invited Nnaji to accompany him to the site so that he could take control of the place and see how investors could come in.

Wike asked the management of the Technology Village to send him an estimate of what would be required to erect a befitting office on the site.

The Nigerian Federal Government has begun setting up the E-Gates facility at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport located in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this through his official X account following his inspection tour of the installation work underway at the international airport in Abuja on Monday.

He said the E-gates facility will be implemented at all of Nigeria’s five international airports.

“Today (Monday), I took a tour of ongoing projects. First, the E-Gates facility is currently being installed at the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja”, he said.

Tunji-Ojo indicated that he evaluated the implementation of the E-border data and control centre at the Nigeria Immigration Service headquarters, targeting an enhancement of national security.

LeadingReporters learnt recalls that the Minister in November last year unveiled plans to implement E-gates in the Nation’s international airports by February 2024.

The National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC in collaboration with the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, PCN have sealed off 1,321 medicine stores for operating illegally in Kano.

Mr Francis Ononiwu, the Director Investigation and Enforcement NAFDAC, made this known while addressing newsmen on Monday in Kano.

He said the joint operations took place on Saturday and Sunday February 17 and February 18.

He said the stores were located in the Malam sealed Kato Square, Niger Street and Sabon Gari Market Kano.

“The enforcement action was to ensure medical dealers relocate to Coordinated wholesale centre, CWC in Dangwauro, along Zaria Road Kano.

“This is in line with our regulatory function of enforcement and ensure that only quality drugs are in circulation.

“We need to sanitize drug distribution system in the country. If drugs are not kept in a cooling premises it degrade into poisonous substances,” Ononiwu said.

He noted that most of the medicine premises visited were operating in an unventilated environment.

“Some drugs need to be stored In a refrigerator especially life saving drugs for quality output.

“Investigation revealed that some of this medicine outlet smuggle fake, narcotics products and banned products such as analgin injection illegally.

“The use of narcotics drugs contributed to the security situation in the country.

He called on the Medicine dealers to see their relocation as the survival of public health and as part of effort to continue to fight against substandard drugs.

“Medicine dealers relocation to CWC,the regulatory bodies could easily supervise any drugs coming in to address the issue of fake and substandard drugs,” Ononiwu said.