Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the 17 Assistant Inspector Generals of Police in the Force to deploy all the recently trained members of the Special Weapon and Tactical Team, SWAT, for routine patrols with immediate effect.
According to a Vanguard report, the IGP gave the order in a message to the AIGs which was also addressed to the commissioners of police in the states of the federation.
A senior police source revealed that the patrol by the SWAT operatives was part of the security measures being put in place to checkmate the increased spate of insecurity across the country.
The statement with reference number CH:5350/IGP.SEC/ABJ/VOL.20/340 was tagged “Deployment of Newly Formed Special Weapon and Tactical Team operatives.”
Adamu said the SWAT operatives would be deployed for the time being pending when they are embarking on their primary operations.
The statement read: “The Inspector General of Police directs that all recently selected and trained Special Weapon and Tactical Team (SWAT) operatives are to be deployed for routine duties across areas of responsibility immediately.”
Nigerian singers, Omah Lay and Tems were arraigned before the Makindye Division court today for flouting COVID-19 guidelines in Uganda.
Nigerian Singers, Omah Lay, Tems arraigned in Uganda s
The fast-rising stars were on Sunday December 13, arrested together with their managers and four other Ugandans for holding an illegal concert at Ddungu resort in Munyonyo where they gathered big crowds, contrary to President Museveni’s directives on the prevention of the spread of Covid-19.
They were charged with doing “acts that are likely to cause the spread of infectious disease, Covid-19,” according to Assistant Superintendent of Police and Deputy Police Spokesperson, Luk Owoyesigyire, Kampala Metropolitan Police.
They were remanded in Luzira prison till Wednesday, December 16.
In a series of tweets after his arraignment, Omah Lay questioned why he wasn’t given a right to a fair hearing in court. He also claimed that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nigeria has been trying to secure their release but the Ugandan officials have refused to speak with them.
Earlier in March, Museveni banned all music concerts, closed down bars, banned fans at all sporting events, and reduced the number of people who could attend church services
One of the students abducted by unknown gunmen in Kankara Secondary school, Katsina, has recounted how he escaped from the bandits after he and other students were dragged into the bush.
The 17-year-old student recounted his experience in an interview with BBC Hausa on Monday morning, December 14. The student’s father refused his name to be shared during the interview.
In his words, the student said:
“It was on Friday night around 9:30pm after we came back from our classes for night reading when we heard gunshots. Initially, we thought it was not in our school but later we began to see them coming towards us.
We then began to run and crossed the school fences but they used torch lights on us saying that we should come back.
We thought they were security personnels but later when they gathered us at one place, we realised they were gunmen”.
He said they were 520 that were abducted.
“After they have gone to the bush with us they asked one of us to count us and there were 520 pupils. Because it was in the night, I didn’t know where they were taking us to. They beat us and we spent almost the whole night trekking inside the bush despite the thorns. It was around 30 minutes to the morning when they asked us to sleep” he said.
On how he escaped from the bandits, the student said only God knows how it happened and that he was lucky to hide behind a tree and later crawled out of the bush.
“When they asked us to sit down I was then lucky to escape and hide behind a tree. After they move with my colleagues I then started crawling to the main road and to the nearby town.
From then I moved on, I couldn’t see anything again. I didn’t know where they took my colleagues to. They just moved inside the bush with them.” he said.
The Nigerian Army has provided detailed account and sequence of events leading to the death of the erstwhile General Officer Commanding 6 Div., Port Harcourt, Maj.-Gen. John Irefin on Dec. 10.
The Acting Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Sagir Musa, in a statement on Sunday, said the explanation was essential to ward off insinuations of unwholesome act on the sad incident.
Musa said that the sudden death of the late general was no doubt a great loss to the Nigerian Army, his family and the country at large.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to inform the public the sequence of events that led to the death of the late senior officer,” he announced.
He said that the just concluded Chief of Army Staff Annual Conference 2020, which started on Dec. 7 after the virtual declaration by President Muhammadu Buhari has all principal officers, GOCs, commanders, commandants and directors, among others, as participants.
Musa said that the late Irefin was among the senior officers who were at Giri where Army Cyber Warfare Command Headquarters was virtually inaugurated by President Buhari.
He explained that while at Giri, the general started complaining of discomfort.
“In spite of the discomfort, he was at Phase 2 in Life Camp for the ground breaking of housing scheme for families of killed-in-action officers and soldiers from where he left the venue for his accommodation.
“He was later taken to Defence Medical Centre same day at about 21:25 hours, having complained of fever, headache and mild cough.
“Medical history revealed that he was treated for malaria with parenteral artemether a week ago at 6 Division Medical Services and Hospital Port Harcourt where he was the GOC.
“He had fever but oxygen saturation was normal at 99 per cent.
“Other vital signs were essentially stable on presentation,” he said.
The army spokesperson further said that a working diagnosis of drug resistant malaria to rule out lobar pneumonia and COVID-19 infection was made, adding that he was also placed on cefriaxone and COVID-19 test was requested.
He noted that in the morning of Dec. 8, the fever and cough subsided and he was eating well.
“On the same day, he was discharged after his sample for COVID-19 test had been taken and was requested to self isolate pending the out come of the test.
“On Dec. 9, the result of the COVID-19 test conducted on him was positive.
“As a result, he was taken to 063 Nigerian Airforce Hospital, Abuja, where his oxygen saturation was noted to be well reduced.
“He was then immediately taken to Gwagwalada Specialist Hospital, Abuja, by the Commander 063 NAF Hospital for further management.
“At the hospital, he was immediately admitted and placed on high flow oxygen.
“An initial improvement of 80 to 82 per cent oxygen saturation was noticed.
“He was then commenced on Anti viral agent remdesivir based on the COVID-19 test result.
“Other treatment included the usual COVID-19 treatment cocktail.
“Unfortunately, in spite of these efforts, at about 05:10 hours on Thursday, Dec. 10, the Commander 063 NAF Hospital Abuja was informed that the senior officer desaturated again and eventually died.
Musa said that the cause of Irefin’s death was reported as respiratory failure secondary to the complications of COVID-19 infection.
“This explanation is essential in order to ward off mischievous and wicked insinuations from certain quarters alluding unwholesome act as responsible for the death of the respected senior officer.
“The Nigerian Army wishes to once again console and extend its condolences to the family he left behind.
“May his gentle soul rest in perfect peace Ameen,” he said
Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu has disagreed with Katsina State Governor, Bello Masari, over the number of boys abducted from Government Science Secondary School, Kankara, Katsina State.
The Governor , on Sunday, while briefing a Federal Government delegation led by Minister of Defence, Maj Gen Bashir Magashi (retd.), said, “The children so far kidnapped cut across the state because of the boarding school houses all children from all parts of the state and some even from outside the state.
“It has a population of 839, and so far, we are yet to account for 333 students. We are still counting because more are coming out from the forest and we are calling those parents that have phone numbers to find out whether or not their children have gone back home.”
However, BBC Hausa Service, in a bulletin on Sunday, quoted Shehu as saying only ten boys are with the bandits.
The BBC Hausa bulletin read, “The Government of Nigeria has said its security forces have surrounded the location where gunmen have kept schoolchildren abducted from a secondary school in Katsina State.
“Spokesman for the President, Mallam Garba Shehu told the BBC only ten children were remaining in the hands of the gunmen according to their colleagues who escaped from the gunmen.
The number is below figures released by school authorities at the beginning. Garba Shehu said the school children who escaped said 10 of their friends were still with their abductors.”
The General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, has said the Nigerian currency, Naira will regain its strength among the league of currencies.
Adeboye disclosed this on Saturday during the RCCG annual Holy Ghost Congress held at its International Headquarters along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
The renowned cleric asked God to intervene in Nigeria’s financial sector and change the hearts of policymakers who deliberately devalue the nation’s currency.
Adeboye recalled that there was a time, some decades ago, he needed N5,000, during the church’s inaugural convention when the naira was powerful and N5,000 was a lot of money.
Adeboye said, “During our first convention here at the Redemption Camp, I ran out of money. My wife came to me in the morning, ‘Sir, we need N5,000.’
“Naira was powerful then. It will become powerful again. Those who are deliberately devaluing our naira, before tomorrow morning, God will intervene.
“I asked my wife, ‘Do you need it today or later?’ She said ‘today’. I didn’t have a kobo. I told her to go. I cried to God. It wasn’t long after that; one man drove in.
“He asked what’s going on and then he put his hands in his pocket and brought out an envelope with some money.
“I then called on my wife and asked her, ‘How much do you say you need?’”
Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State has tested positive for the deadly COVID-19 pandemic.
The state health commissioner, Akin Abayomi announced on Saturday.
Recall that the governor had gone into isolation on Friday following contact with persons infected with the infection.
Akin Abayomi said the Governor is currently experiencing “mild symptoms and fatigue typical of a mild case of COVID.”
In a statement, he added that, Sanwo-Olu is receiving treatment and is being closely monitored at home by a clinical team from the Infectious Disease Hospital in Yaba.
“Mr. Sanwo-Olu is doing well on treatment and rest and we are confident that he will recover quickly and clear the virus,” the statement said.
A young medical doctor, ThankGod Odo who was due for his mandatory one year youth service has reportedly drowned in the swimming pool of a popular hotel in Abakaliki, the Ebonyi state capital.
The deceased was until his death, a medical house officer doing his housemanship with Alex Ekwueme Federal University Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki.
He was said to have rounded up his one-year housemanship and due to sign off on Friday December 11 or Saturday, December 12.
The incident happened on Thursday, December 10, when the Ebonyi State University graduate went to the hotel to swim with his friends.
It was gathered that Odo, said to be a good swimmer was teaching his friends how to swim that same day when he suddenly got drowned.
Chairman, Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr. Ewa Richard, who confirmed the sad incident said Odo was doing his one-year housemanship with the hospital and was due for graduation for his National Youth Service Corps.
“Dr. ThankGod is one of the house officers dedicated and hardworking. Most of them will finish on the12th that is tomorrow and am sure he would have been among those finishing today, or tomorrow because they have started signing off to move on to the next level which is national service,” said Richard.
”If he had finished that one year today or tomorrow he would have seized to be staff as we have signed him off. We don’t have information of what killed him but what we heard was that he went for an outing with his friends in one of the hotels in town and was swimming with other people and the next thing he was drowning and eventually they brought him to the hospital but by the time they reached the hospital he was already dead. His body has been deposited in the mortuary.” he added.
Spokesperson of the Ebonyi State Police Command, Loveth Odah, who confirmed the incident, said the deceased was confirmed dead in the hospital.
“The DPO B division reported that on 10th December by 5 pm, there was a distress call from a hotel that a doctor has got himself drowned in a swimming pool and he rushed there and the doctor was brought out but unfortunately getting to the hospital a fellow doctor on duty confirmed him dead,” she stated.
“Nevertheless the commissioner of police has ordered a full investigation to unveil what warranted the death. No arrest has been made, for now, it is recorded as a case of sudden unnatural death (SUD) but we are not relying on that, police is investigating the matter.”
Meanwhile friends and colleagues have taken to Facebook to mourn him. Nwangele Peter described the young doctor as a genius.
“The nothingness of this world
Life is not just fair at all
How can I just say RIP to Doctor Odo ThankGod
Ebsu medical medical school school has lost a genius.
Some suspected bandits on Friday evening attacked Government Boys Science Secondary School, Kankara, Kankara Local Government Area of Katsina State and reportedly abducted an unspecified number of students from the boarding house.
The attack occurred few hours after President Muhammadu Buhari arrived Katsina enroute his home town, Daura.
Eyewitness accounts said the bandits had earlier attacked the Kankara town at about 10 pm and apparently failed in their bid to abduct some of the residents.
According to a government official resident in the area who pleaded anonymity, “the bandits attacked Kankara town and wounded a number of people last night beginning from at about some minutes to 10 pm.
“But soldiers of Operation Sahel Sanity and Operation Hadarin Daji succeeded in repelling the attack following which the bandits fled and later abducted some students at the Government Boys Science Secondary School which is located on the outskirts of Kankara town.
Confirming the report to our correspondent, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) at the Katsina Police command, SP Gambo Isah, said that, “yes, it is true that some bandits attacked the school at about 11 pm last night but we are yet to ascertain the number of students abducted.
“The hoodlums broke down the school fence and in the course of the attack, some of the students fled the school with some of them seeking cover in the bush and other locations in the area.
“This morning (Saturday), the DPO in the area reported that some of the students have been sighted when they came out from hiding and that is why we cannot say for sure how many of them were abducted if any.
“A policeman was wounded at the school during the incident and he is currently responding to treatment,” the PPRO said. Kankara is one of the eight local government areas described as “front line” where suspected bandits and kidnappers exploit the proximity to the notorious Rugu forest to carry out their activities.
Some of the other local government areas include, the neighbouring Faskari which hosts the Army special squad, Operation Sahel Sanity, Jibia, Batsari and Dutsinma, among others.
Foremost traditional ruler in Nigeria, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, has unveiled an education Trust Fund tagged the “Ooni of Ife Tertiary Tuition Fund”, aimed at paying the tuition fees of five million students across Nigerian universities.
While unveiling the project at his Ile Oodua Palace, Ile-Ife, the monarch cited the current economic malaise as the motivation behind the gesture which is intended to assist students to return to school.
He expressed displeasure over the poor conditions of some of the students in tertiary institutions.
The Yoruba king said that an average of N50,000 in tuition fees is targeted for about five million students for a period of four years.
He explained that the tuition for the five million students would gulp N500 billion yearly.
The Ooni, who noted that youth empowerment has been his focus, warned that Nigeria is ‘sitting on the keg of gunpowder’ if urgent steps are not taken to address students’ problems.
‘I am putting together an education trust fund to support what the government is doing,’ he said.
‘We are not all safe. We have to cut our social activities and focus more on youth empowerment. It is better to stay and fix this country than to be running out of the country.
‘We are sitting on a keg of gunpowder if we do not look at how best to assist our youths. I have said it before and I will keep saying it. We all had a feel of their anger during the #EndSARS protests. We must begin to engage them productively,’ he added.
‘The COVID-19 [pandemic] has made many youths and their parents to be jobless, while the current recession in the country’s economy is another blow which has made the youths to be the most vulnerable group in Nigeria.
‘We have between seven to ten million of them in federal tertiary institutions and they need to pay close to N500 billion in tuition fees in January 2021. But how would this demand be met when the bulk of the parents of these students are petty traders, peasant farmers and other average Nigerian parents who might not be able to get the needed fees to return to school. That is the reason behind the project.
‘Earlier, I had personally assisted many in paying tuition fees, vocational training and other empowerment initiatives, but I have come up with this to bring more beneficiaries on board,’ the Ooni explained.
On how funds will be generated for the project, the spiritual head of the Yoruba people worldwide indicated that individuals and organisations home and abroad would be contacted for donations to ensure the success of the project.
‘I am appealing to all our people to let us come together and achieve this for our youths. I am promising that everything will be counted for to the last kobo, while details of beneficiaries would be verifiable for accountability,’ he noted.
Speaking on the prolonged Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, the Ooni assured that it would soon be called off and should be for the best of Nigerians.
He added that Nigerian traditional rulers are fully aware of the ongoing talks between ASUU and the Federal Government to end the industrial action.
‘You will recall that we traditional rulers from across the 36 states of the country recently held a meeting in Abuja on the state of the nation, the communique of which I submitted to President Buhari in my capacity as the Co-chairman of the National Council of Traditional Rulers of Nigeria, on behalf of others.
‘It is a part of it and I wish to assure that the Federal Government and ASUU are almost done resolving the grey areas,’ the monarch said.
