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Gov Fayemi Escapes Death As Police Shoot Convey

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The Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi and members of All Progressives Congress (APC), on a campaign rally yesterday were attacked and tear-gassed by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs and mobile policemen led by their commander, Selenkere Michael.
The policemen tear-gassed the governor and his convoy, as well as the cream of APC members who thronged the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, for a sensitisation rally round the major streets of the town, shooting sporadically to disperse the crowd forcibly.
The attack resulted in the death of an APC member from ward 12 in Ado-Ekiti while several others were seriously injured.
The APC members, who were led by the interim Chairman of the party, Chief Jide Awe, had gathered at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, for a sensitisation rally ahead of the forthcoming elections in the state.
The hitherto peaceful procession turned bloody when mobile policemen led by their commander in the state, Selenkere Michael, an indigene of Bayelsa State, pounced on the APC members, tear-gassing and shooting at them.
One APC member, who was shot in the head by the O/C Mopol lost his life in the process while many sustained varying degrees of injuries.
Three campaign buses of the APC were also badly damaged.
The interim Chairman of the APC, Jide Awe, and two members of the National Assembly from the state, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Hon. Oyetunde Ojo, who were part of the rally, tried to dialogue with the O/C Mopol, but he told them off, warning that he was acting on orders and would not hesitate to shoot at them.
The Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, arrived the scene where the rally had earlier been disrupted 45 minutes later to intervene, but was also tear-gassed and his convoy shot at by the mobile policemen.
The O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, was involved in an altercation with the governor, saying he has orders from above, and threatened that he could even arrest the governor.
For more than an hour, the mobile policemen shot in the direction of the governor’s convoy, while the O/C Mopol kept uttering obscenities, one of which was that President Jonathan is his brother and that he was protecting his interest.
The Police Commissioner, Mr. Felix Iyanna, surfaced over an hour later after he was reportedly intimated of the action of his O/C Mopol by the governor.
Apologising profusely, Mr. Iyanna denied knowledge of the action of the O/C Mopol.
“I am here to protect you,” said the police commissioner to the governor.
“You are here to protect me and your men were shooting at me. I am the Chief Security Officer of this state and your men were firing at me. You have killed someone now! You have killed someone! Whose interest are you protecting? Whose interest are you protecting?” asked the governor who could not hide his disdain and anger at the top of his voice.
Lending his voice, the senator representing Ekiti Central, Babafemi Ojudu, said the presidency was desperate to impose Fayose on Ekiti people.
“They want to impose Fayose on us. We will not allow this! We will fight back!” Ojudu warned.
The interim chairman of the APC, Chief Jide Awe and the Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, later jointly addressed a press conference where both the Commissioner of Police, Felix Iyanna and the O/C Mopol, Selenkere Michael, were given 24 hours to leave the state, otherwise the people may be tempted to rise against them.
Awe said he, Ojudu and Oyetunde Ojo tried to no end to dialogue with the O/C Mopol whose eyes were bloodshot and was clearly out of control.
“He warned us that he was not ready to listen to us and that it was the order of Mr. President that we should disperse. We wanted to dialogue with him but he replied us with bullets. One of his bullets hit one of us and the person died immediately. Three of our vehicles were badly damaged.
“The governor came about 45 minutes later and got his own treatment. One of his security aides were forcefully arrested by the O/C Mopol, who struggled to snatch his gun from him. All efforts to reason with the O/C Mopol failed. He went ahead to tear-gas the governor who stood his ground.
“Even if the Mopol Commander has the order of the president, this is Ekiti. The governor called the commissioner of police who reluctantly came an hour later. We have been hearing this…The information at our disposal is that the June 21 election in Ekiti is not just going to be against the PDP, but against the police and the Nigerian Army.
“What we witnessed this morning has confirmed this. That is why we are calling on Nigerians to prevail on the president. He was here yesterday (Saturday). While leaving, he stationed some of his men here.
Awe said if the president wanted to go to war, he should go to Chibok to battle Boko Haram.
“When a good president visits, it is to commission people-oriented projects. That is not the case with President Jonathan. He was here yesterday (Saturday) to commission his men to kill Ekiti people. We advise him to go back to Chibok if he wants to wage war. If they are looking for a state to hijack, not Ekiti. If we are backed against the wall, we will bite.
“We use this medium to tell the police commissioner and the O/C Mopol who have been instructed to shoot Ekiti people and who have demonstrated that this morning to leave Ekiti State within 24 hours. The people’s army are greater than the police or the Nigerian Army. The nonchalant attitude of the commissioner is to say the least unfortunate. If we are going for election in 14 days’ time and we are witnessing this, it is unfortunate,” Awe said.
The Director-General of the Kayode Fayemi Campaign Organisation, Hon. Bimbo Daramola, recalled how the O/C Mopol had harassed three members of the APC who were arrested a couple of months ago in their cell.
Daramola said: “You would recall that I said that this same O/C Mopol, not only is he from Bayelsa, not only is he well-acquainted with Mr. President, he went into the cell to tell these people that he has a matching order to hunt us down. The experience of our people this morning has shown that there is a script. They even said they anticipated that we would come out this morning. We call on Mr. President to be indeed responsible. Leadership demands responsibility.
“We are used to adversity. Nobody should test our wills. Neither Selenkere nor President Jonathan has a stake in Ekiti.”
It would be recalled that Vice President Namadi Sambo at a PDP gathering in Abuja had said his party was going to the warfront in Ekiti and Osun states.
It was gathered that the Vice President had waited behind in Ado-Ekiti where he reportedly spent the night after the PDP rally on Saturday.

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Tinubu Orders Security Chiefs To Restore Peace In Plateau, Benue, Borno

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President Bola Tinubu has ordered a security outreach to the hotbeds of recent killings in Plateau, Benue and Borno States, to restore peace to areas wracked by mass killings and bomb attacks.
National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, disclosed this to State House correspondents after a four-hour security briefing with the President at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Wednesday.
“We listened and we took instructions from him. We got new directives…to go meet with the political authorities there,” Ribadu told reporters, adding that Tinubu directed them to engage state-level authorities in the worst-hit regions.
Director-General, National Intelligence Agency, Mohammed Mohammed; Chief Defence Intelligence of the Nigerian Army, Gen. Emmanuel Undianeye; Director-General, Department of State Services, Oluwatosin Ajayi and Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila, appeared for the briefing.
The Tide’s source reports that in Plateau State, inter-communal violence between predominantly Christian farmers and nomadic herders spiralled into gory slaughter when gunmen stormed Zikke village in Bassa Local Government early on April 14, killing at least 51 people and razing homes in a single night.
In Benue, at least 56 people were killed in Logo and Gbagir after twin assaults blamed on armed herders.
Meanwhile, in Borno State, eight passengers perished and scores were injured when an improvised explosive device ripped through a bus on the Damboa–Maiduguri highway on April 12.
Ribadu explained that after an extensive briefing, intelligence chiefs received fresh instructions to restore peace, security and stability across Nigeria.
“In particular, Tinubu had ordered immediate outreach to the political authorities in Plateau, Benue and Borno States, and the defence team had gone round those States to carry out his directives and report back.
“We gave him an update on what has been the case and what is going on, and even when he was out there, before coming back, he was constantly in touch. He was giving directives. He was following developments, and we, in charge of the security, got the opportunity today to come and brief him properly for hours. And it was exhaustive.
“We listened and we took instructions from him. We got new directives. The fact is, Mr. President is insisting and working so hard to ensure that we have peace, security and stability in our country. We gave him an update on what is going on, and we also assured him that work is ongoing and continues.
“We also carried out his instructions. We went round, the chiefs were all out where we had these incidents of insecurity in Plateau State, Benue State, even Borno, these particular three states, and we gave him feedback, because he directed us to go meet with the political authorities there,” the NSA explained.
Ribadu described Tinubu as “worried and concerned,” and said he directed that all security arms be deployed around the clock.
The government, he added, believes these steps have already produced measurable improvements, even if the situation is not yet 100 per cent safe and secure.
“He’s so worried and concerned, he insisted that enough is enough, and we are working and to ensure that we restore peace and security and all of us are there. The armed forces are there, the Civil Police, intelligence communities, they are there.
“They are working there 24 hours, and we feel that we have done enough to believe that we are on the right course, and we’ll be able to be on top of things,” Ribadu stated.
The NSA emphasised that combating insecurity was not solely a Federal Government responsibility.
He stated, “The issue of insecurity often is not just for the government. It involves the subunits. They are the ones who are directly with the people, especially if some of the challenges are more or less bordering on community problems.
“Not entirely everything is that, but of course it also plays a significant role. You need to work with the communities, the local governments, and the governors, especially the governors.
“The President will continue to direct that. We should be doing that, and that’s what we are able to. We are very happy and very satisfied with the instructions and directives given by Mr. President this evening.”
In Borno State, the NSA noted that while violence had surged in recent months, the insurgents refused to accept defeat.
He warned that most recent casualties there resulted from improvised explosive devices—”cowardly” IED attacks targeting civilians—and from opportunistic raids that follow any lull in fighting.
“We are getting the cooperation of the leadership at the state level, and everybody. It’s not 100 per cent…but we are going there.
“When you are having peace and you are beginning to get used to it, if one bad incident happens, you forget the periods that you enjoyed peacefully,” he added.
He paid tribute to the “many who do not sleep, who walk throughout, who do not go for any break or holiday”—the soldiers, police and intelligence officers whose sacrifices have created the fragile calm Nigerians now experience.
“They will continue to be there,” he said, adding, “Things have changed in this country…we are on the right track and we will not relent. We will not sit down; we will not stop until we are able to achieve results.”

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FG Laments Low Patronage Of Made-In-Nigeria Products

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A Federal Government agency – the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure, has decried the low patronage of Nigerian-made products by Nigerians.
The agency identified some challenges leading to the low patronage of the local products as affordability and public perception, among others.
Speaking during a stakeholders meeting organised by the agency in Akure, Ondo State capital, yesterday, the Deputy Director of Engineering at NASENI, Mr Joseph Alasoluyi, said Nigerians preferred buying foreign goods compared to local goods.
Alasoluyi, however disclosed that the agency had trained over 50 participants in the production of hand-made products, in a bid to ensure Nigeria-made products are patronised.
He explained that NASENI was set up to promote science, technology, and engineering as a foundation for Nigeria’s development and currently operates 12 institutes nationwide to achieve its objectives.
According to him, the aim of President Bola Tinubu, who is also the overall chairman of NASENI, was to ensure high production and patronage of “our local products thereby creating employment opportunities for many.”
He said, “The idea of this programme is to interface to ensure we produce products using our indigenous technology. This is what NASENI is out for, to ensure that homegrown technologies are encouraged.
“We are out there to ensure we integrate efforts to ensure that local technology is used to develop products within the resources we have.
“ The NASENI’s ‘3 Cs’ – Creation, Collaboration, and Commercialisation – that define NASENI’s strategic mandate: Creating innovations through research, Collaborating with partners to develop and refine products, and Commercialising these solutions to benefit the economy.
“Our achievements include the development of solar irrigation systems, CNG conversion centres, building machines capable of producing up to 1,000 blocks per hour, 10-inch tablets, locally made laptops, and electric tricycles (Keke Napep) set for market launch.”
In his remarks, the Deputy Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Prof. Samuel Oluyamo, blamed the Federal Government for not properly funding research in the varsities, also noting that many research outputs were left halfway due to lack of funding and weak linkages between research institutions and industry.
Oluyamo also queried the Federal Government’s commitment to funding research and development, saying many academic innovations remained on the shelve due to a lack of support for commercialisation and poor infrastructure.
“Until we upscale research into mass production, technological growth will remain elusive. The government is not funding research in the universities enough. Thank God for TETfund that is trying in this regime. The major interest in beefing up research in universities and research institutions is really not there,” he said.

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Nigeria Seeks Return To JP Morgan Bond Index

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The Director-General of the Debt Management Office, Patience Oniha, has said that Nigeria is in advanced discussions with JP Morgan to re-enter the Government Bond Index and renew investors’ confidence.
Oniha disclosed this on Wednesday at a Nigerian Investors’ Forum on the sidelines of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C.
The DMO boss explained that Nigeria has enjoyed favourable credit assessment among rating agencies in recent times on the back of the sweeping reforms initiated by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Fitch Ratings recently upgraded the Long-Term Issuer Default Ratings of seven Nigerian banks and two bank holding companies to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘, noting that the outlooks are Stable.
The affected issuers are Access Bank Plc, Zenith Bank Plc, United Bank for Africa Plc, Guaranty Trust Bank Limited, Guaranty Trust Holding Company Plc, First HoldCo Plc, First Bank of Nigeria Ltd, Fidelity Bank Plc and Bank of Industry Limited.
The upgrades of the Long-Term IDRs of the banks followed the recent sovereign upgrade and reflect Fitch’s view that Nigeria’s sovereign credit profile has become less of a constraint on the issuers’ standalone creditworthiness, the rating agency said.
Fitch also upgraded Nigeria’s Long-Term IDRs to ‘B’ from ‘B-‘ on 11 April, a decision that reflected increased confidence in the government’s broad commitment to policy reforms implemented since its move to orthodox economic policies in June 2023, including exchange rate liberalisation, monetary policy tightening and steps to end deficit monetisation and remove fuel subsidies.
“These have improved policy coherence and credibility and reduced economic distortions and near-term risks to macroeconomic stability, enhancing resilience in the context of persistent domestic challenges and heightened external risks,” Fitch said.
Nigeria was removed from the JP Morgan index in 2015 ostensibly due to its deviation from orthodox monetary policies and influence of capital control in its management of foreign exchange.
Principally due to reduction in oil revenues at the time, Nigeria introduced currency restrictions to defend the naira after it failed to halt a dangerous slide with burning of dollar reserves. The bank had earlier warned Nigeria to restore liquidity to its currency market in a way that allowed foreign investors tracking the index to conduct transactions with minimal hurdles.
“Foreign investors who track the GBI-EM series continue to face challenges and uncertainty while transacting in the naira due to the lack of a fully functional two-way FX market and limited transparency,” the bank said in a 2015 note.
Nigeria was listed in JP Morgan’s emerging government bond index in October 2012, after the Central Bank removed a requirement that foreign investors hold government bonds for a minimum of one year before exiting.
The JP Morgan Government Bond Index reflects investor confidence and opens doors to billions of investment flows, making Nigeria’s proposed re-entry a positive signal to the market and investors.
Oniha explained that talks with JP Morgan were ongoing and had gained momentum in recent times due to the stability created by the FX market reforms.
“With all the reforms that have taken place, particularly around FX, we have started engaging JP Morgan again to get back into the index. We think we are eligible now,” the DMO DG said.

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