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Buhari to Nigerians: You won’t miss me too much, Tinubu will maintain my momentum

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Pesident Muhammadu Buhari on Monday urged Nigerians to be hopeful of more developmental strides as the incoming adminstration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, would continue to build on the momentum he left in the last eight years he ran a government on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC). The President, told participants at the Presidential Fleet Review, 2023, at the Naval Dockyard Limited, Victoria Island, Lagos, that he was pleased with the Nigerian military’s combat readiness.

Assuring that he had the confidence that the Tinubu, who was due to take over from him on Monday next week, three months after being declared winner of the February 25 presidential election would continue to provide crucial support to the Nigerian Navy, maintaining the positive trajectory achieved during his own tenure, he expressed immense satisfaction with the array of naval assets on display and combat readiness of the Nigerian military.

The last of such exercise in his tenure, the Presidential, said he ecognied the nation’s pride in the navy’s numerous achievements during his eight-year administration.

His words: “I have no doubt that the incoming administration of President-elect, His Excellency, Bola Ahmed Tinubu will sustain the current tempo of my administration in giving the Navy necessary support to effectively carry out its assigned tasks. My best wishes to our Navy for protecting our maritime domain and the economic prosperity of Nigeria. As I leave office on 29th May, I wish you all fair winds. ONWARD TOGETHER and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.’’

Stressing that under Tinubu’s leadership, the Navy would continue to acquire new assets, expand shipbuilding for export purposes, promote indigenous production, intensify the fight against piracy, and address issues pertaining to crude oil theft in Nigeria’s maritime domain, he noted the significant reduction in piracy over the past seven years, leading to Nigeria’s removal from the list of piracy-prone countries by the International Maritime Bureau in March 2022.

Buhari, while applauding the application of technology in securing the maritime domain, which facilitated intelligence-driven deployment of naval ships and enhanced their effectiveness, specifically commended the diligent prosecution of MT HEROIC IDUN, which was detected and apprehended for attempting to load crude oil without authorization offshore Bonny in August 2022.

He noted that this successful interdiction further reaffirmed the navy’s commitment to protecting the country’s resources, acknowledging the significance of the diverse ships and helicopters on display, which he noted symbolised the nation’s maritime power and its preparedness to carry out the Navy’s constitutional roles.

Praising the impressive combat displays staged by elements of the Nigerian Navy Special Boat Service, alongside a combination of assets from the Nigerian Navy and the Nigerian Air Force, he said: ‘‘I expect this to translate into actual capability to dominate Nigeria’s maritime environment and secure the vast resources therein for the socio-economic development of our great country.’’

The President, while highlighting the strong link between maritime security and economic prosperity, said given that the maritime environment served both as a storehouse of resources as well as medium for maritime transport in the country, the importance of the safe and secure utilisation of these resources to drive national prosperity and support Nigeria’s aspirations for a thriving Blue Economy, must not be lost.

On the administration’s efforts in recapitalising the Navy Fleet in the last seven years, the President listed the acquisition of 20 capital ships for the Navy, comprising encompassing Offshore Patrol Vessels, Landing Ship Transports, Hydrographic Survey Vessels, Seaward Defence Boats, helicopters, as well as over 300 Inshore Patrol Vessels and Assault Craft.

The President, who also inaugurated several notable additions to the Navy’s fleet, including a new helicopter, NN410, manufactured in Italy, as well as the landing ship transport NNS KADA, constructed in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates, thanked the People’s Republic of China for the generous donation of NNS IBENO, highlighting the importance of mutual military cooperation with partner nations, which has also encouraged local shipbuilding efforts by the Nigerian Navy.

He declared that the Nigeria Navy’s endeavors in indigenous shipbuilding, in line with the nation’s local content development plan, have yielded positive outcomes, stating: “Our naval engineers were wholly responsible for building 3 Seaward Defence Boats namely, NNS ANDONI, NNS KARADUWA and NNS OJI. In December 2021, I performed keel laying foundation for the construction of 2 Seaward Defence Boats, which will be ready by 2024.

‘‘At this rate, I have no doubt that our Navy will soon commence construction of larger ships for itself and other navies in the region and beyond. This achievement is a great pride to Nigeria and an impressive contribution to national development.”

Dwelling on the theme for the 2023 Fleet Review, Fleet Readiness for National Prosperity, the President explained that it emphasised the Navy’s ability to respond to threats in maritime spaces and the Gulf of Guinea, highlighting its pivotal role in promoting national prosperity.

He commended the Navy for effectively deploying these vessels, resulting in successes in combating crude oil theft, conducting counter-drug operations, and addressing piracy, while also expressing  gratitude to the Government and people of Lagos State, as well as other maritime stakeholders, for their crucial support in facilitating the Fleet Review.

He added that more than half of Nigeria’s maritime trade passed through Lagos ports, which served as a lifeline for the nation’s industry and economy, which made fostering cordial working relations becomes even more imperative, while congratulating the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Awwal Gambo, and the entire naval personnel for their exceptional organisation of this historic event.

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Imo massacre: Armoured vehicles procured for police used to rig elections – LP

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Labour Party, palpably in anguish at the slaughter of eight soldiers in Imo State on Tuesday by some rampaging gunmen, has raised questions over the whereabouts of the nine Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) Athan Achonu, it claimed its governorship candidate for the November 11 election, repaired and donated to the authorities in the state.

The party, all but called out the leadership of the Imo State Police Command, to whom they claimed the equipment were handed over, alleging that the last time they APCs were seen was during the last general elections, where they were used by members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party in power in the state to snatch ballot boxes for candidates in the national and state assemblies.

The claim, was made when Nick Opara-Ndudu  and Nnaemeka Onyeka Obiareri , chieftains of the party appeared as guests on The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on Arise Television to sell the candidacy of Achonu, whom they said would never have allowed the type of insecurity in the state to endure under his watch.

Both men, who said that Achonu, whose highest political office so far, was his short stint in the Senate, where he served via the 2015 election before he was removed through the courts, remained the only solution not to the insecurity, in the state and even the South East,  but the one to rescue the people from years of underdevelopment from poor leadership.

Obiareri, spokesman of the LP in the state, argued that if the APCs had been in place, Tuesday’s incident in which the military men were killed alongside some policemen and officials of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), would probably not have happened, said a check on the social media would reveal how they were used by party men of the APC for rigging the 2023 general elections.

He said: “The military men that were killed if they had armoured vehicles patrolling, they wouldn’t have been shot by those criminals. Athan Achonu, go and confirm from Innoson, paid hundreds of millions of naira to Innoson, Innoson is still alive, you people can still go and interview him, to repair nine armoured vehicles for the police. Five were supposed to be in Okigwe zone. Till today, we don’t know where those nine armoured cars are.

“If you go to Youtube, you’ll see Youtube record of members of the House of Assembly in Imo State using those APCs to carry ballot boxes. It’s there on Youtube, you can search it out. What Athan Achonu will do is very simple. Every local government area will have one humvy vehicle for the police. Police stations had been totally burnt in Imo State and Athan repaired most of those police stations.

“Then, there will be community vigilante. We’ll train those 50 youths per community – train them, equip them and arm them. They should guard their communities. When you have over 50,000 hectres of land, reclaimed from the bandits, and you have youths who are not only just farming, but who are trained to protect their communities, they’ll do the job.

“Then, we have to set up a security trust fund. Ndi-Imo are not scared. As at today, there are some communities in Imo State, where bandits – unknown gunmen, are ransacking and collecting levies from the communities. Basically, Athan Achonu will provide training, recruitment for people donated by the communities. Communities know those who are the terrible ones in their midst. And I tell you, in six months, they will flush them out.”

Opara-Ndudu, who dismissed the claim by the state governor, Hope Uzodimma that the carnage and other killings in the state were politically-motivated, blamed the governor for misplacing his priorities and failing to provide jobs for the teeming youth population in the state, questioning why nobody had been arrested and prosecuted fully in the courts if the insecurity in the state was all about politics.

Hear him: “The security problem has to do with objective conditions in the state. The young people are frustrated. The government is not making any investments in the areas that are required. We’re busy pursuing projects that are designs in deception. Look at the roads that are being done in Imo State, you know for you to deal with the problem of poverty and other economic challenges, you have to deal with the problem of infrastructure.

“In Imo State, the government has dedicated all of its time and half of its time to reconstructing federal roads without any attention – little or no attention paid to the rural areas. If you go to length and breadth of Imo State – Ngor Okpala, Ezinifte Mbaise, even in the governor’s local government – everywhere in Imo State, you find that the rural areas are looking desolate and abandoned.”

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Police find body of missing female student dumped in the bush, vow to get killers

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Operatives of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), command, have vowed to fish out the killers of a university student, Blessing Karami, whose body was said to have been picked up from the bush days after she was declared missing on September 11.

The FCT police, which released the painful news on Thursday, said in a statement by its spokesman, Josephine Adeh that the remains were found in the woods in the Karimu area of the city.

The police spokesman acknowledged that her disappearance was reported to the police authorities last,  Thursday, September 14 added that 26-year-old Blessing, a student of the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), was declared missing after leaving her place of work in Garki, Abuja.

She said in the statement: “The body of Blessing Karami Moses, a 26-year-old woman who had been missing since September 11, 2023, was tragically discovered in a wooded area in Karimo. Her disappearance was reported to the authorities on September 14, 2023,” the statement read.

She said Commissioner of Police, FCT, Haruna Garba, had directed that command should conduct a thorough and impartial investigation into the circumstances surrounding the incident, adding: “While we are working closely with the Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) to facilitate the respectful retrieval of the decomposed remains acknowledging the sensitive nature of this task, we will continue to provide updates to the public as our investigation progresses.”

Adeh, a Superintendent of Police (SP), also commiserated with Blessing’s family and loved ones over the incident.

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Ogun cult massacre: DSS raid home, pick up PDP lawmaker, five others

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Damilare Bello Mohammed, a serving member of the Ogun State House of Assembly (OGHA), is currently telling operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) his side of the story, after he was picked up over his alleged involvement in the rival secret cult clashes that occurred in Sagamu town.

Mohammed, recently elected on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) to represent Sagamu State Constituency 1, was picked up on Wednesday by the agency over the incident in which at least eight persons were killed last weekend during the violent clash in the town, alongside five other suspected cultists allegedly involved in the cult violence.

The five other suspects; Debbo Animashaun, Bamidele Saheed, Ismaila Onitire, Adewale Otesanya and Tobi Owoade, were arrested by the DSS operatives during a sting operation after a tip-off at the early hours of Thursday within the residence of the lawmaker.

Lekan Adeniran, spokesman to Dapo Abiodun, the Ogun State governor, announced the development in a statement on Wednesday, saying the secret police tracked the six suspected cultists to the official residence of the lawmaker.

Accusing the lawmaker of providing shelter to the cultists, Adeniran, said in the statement, that the suspects were presently undergoing interrogation in DSS custody after many dangerous weapons, including guns, were recovered from them.

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