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Sudan: How FG pulled strings to secure evacuation of fleeing Nigerians through Egypt
It has emerged that National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Monguno, actually sprung the genie in the majic lap that softened the ground, for authorities in Egypt to allow Nigerians fleeing from the internecine war in neighbouring Sudan into their territory, for ease of evacuation.
The Nation reports that Monguno, was the one who made the necessary contacts officials in Cairo to secure a passage through the Egyptian borders for Nigerians fleeing escalating hostilities in war-torn Sudan, where fighting among two factions, have led to the death of hundreds of people.
Amid reports of difficulties faced by Nigerian officials involved in the evacuation process, including demand by Egyptian authorities for visas before entry, a situation which left thousands of Nigerian evacuees stranded at the border since last week Thursday, the retired Major General was said to have activated a robust channel with the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Things had changed thereafter leading to the North African country throwing open their borders to Nigerians, following series of deft moves by top security and intelligence operatives in both countries, through some backdoor channels, the report, said., citing reliable security sources.
The paper, quote a very highly placed source in the security community, who spoke under conditions of anonymity, as saying that on Buhari’s instruction, the NSA, reached out to his Egyptian counterpart, Faiza Abou el-Naga, who pulled strings that have made the evacuation process smooth.
Although the details of the arrangements were not made public, the source said “this initiative, which was broached and complimented by the Egyptian National Security Adviser (NSA), Faiza Abou el-Naga, and her Nigerian counterpart, General Monguno, has so far allowed a smooth movement across the border into Egypt.
“Faiza told NSA Monguno that Nigeria’s request, which he submitted, had been graciously approved by President el-Sisi, who also sent his fraternal greetings to President Buhari. Consequently, the deployment of the NAF aircrafts and the one by Air Peace were to be allowed to proceed with evacuation plans.
“Conditions required for the evacuation plans included details and schedules of the aircrafts, capacity of the aircrafts, strong pledge that once Nigerians depart the border, they would be conveyed to the designated airport, comprehensive list of the evacuees with passport numbers, valid travel documents, i.e passport or emergency travel certificate, and lastly, the presence of Nigerian government officials at the point of embarkation”, the source disclosed.
Fighting, which broke out on April 15, 2023, between the Sudanese Armed Forces, led by General Abdel Fattah al-Burhan, and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) paramilitary group, led by Mohamed Hamdan Dagalo another, has claimed more than 400 lives, while another 3,500 persons have been reported injured.
Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.
Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.
Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall.
“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”
Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.
“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.
“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.
“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff. But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.
“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.
He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.
“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”
Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.
“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.
“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”
A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.
Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.
Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.
A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.
BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS
Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC
Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque
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