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Tinubu copying Buhari’s apathy in tackling terrorism, we’re watching – ex-military boss

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Hassan Stan-Labo, a retired officer of the Nigerian Army, has accused President Bola Tinubu of toeing the line of former President, Muhammadu Buhari, who he said did nothing to fight terrorism in Nigeria and therefore gave room for the massive escalation of insecurity across the country in the last eight years.

Labo, who rose to the rank of a Colonel in the army, and now a security consultant and defence strategist, who left no kind words for the former President, himself a General in the same army and former military Head of State, spoke as a guest of The Morning Show, a breakfast programme on ARISE NEWS.

Referring to the recent attack on communities in Plateau State, where more than 200 were killed between December 24 and Christmas Day, he regretted that Tinubu treated the incident the same way Buhari had treated the numerous cases of killings across Nigeria during his time.

Hear him: “I agree with the opinion that General Buhari in the last eight years or thereabout did virtually nothing, and I mean virtually nothing in our fight against terrorism. If anything, he promoted and enhanced our hardship as far as the fight against terrorism was concerned. It was a period where Nigeria had no political leader.

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“There were ministers and governors in the past administration, especially in the north who had some sort of romance and an unholy relationship with terrorism, but these individuals were still allowed to keep their posts in government. The offer of amnesty to terrorists, who were allegedly repentant, came as a shock. We are soldiers. Our duty is not to come here and grant repentance, our duty is to hasten your appointment with God, to heaven or hell, where He will grant you penance.

“Now we have a new administration in place. In the last six or seven months, I have not seen a change, so to speak from what has been happening in the last eight years. We hope that the President now is not listening to some ill-advice coming in from some elements or people who have sympathy with the last administration to him as to how to fight terrorism. We have an ample opportunity now to change the guard in how we fight terrorism.”

Part of the suggestions of the retired officer, who fought extensively in the ECOMOG contingent that liberated countries like Liberia, was for government to decentralise the security agencies and introduce state and community policing to make for a seamless security operation.

He added: “I’m afraid that what we have on ground isn’t working, and what do we have on ground? I think it’s all about the over-centralisation of the security architecture. Looking at our police for instance, which is supposed to be the lead agency – when we talk about security agencies now, considering the role that the military is playing all over the country now, it’s actually the role of the police – if we decentralise to the point where we have state police introduced into our system and community police in itself gaining ground adequately, I think to a greater extent, so much pressure will be taken off and there will be a level of seamlessness in the way we forge ahead.”

He said that the matter of state policing should have been worked on in the first year of Buhari’s administration and went on to urge President Tinubu to look into the setting up of state policing seriously, that the state of Nigeria’s security calls for drastic actions as there is a lack in the independence of latitude of action.

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Nafiu Gombe: Yes, I have sponsors! *I can’t fight ADC big men alone!

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Nafiu Bala Gombe, the man on whose behalf the African Democratic Congress (ADC), is currently in a prostrate state, has admitted to getting outside help in prosecuting his legal matters against the David Mark camp.

Recall that Mark, former Senate President and Rauf Aregbesola were, last week, derecognised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and had their names struck out based on the case filed by Gombe on September 2, 2025.

The commission had relied on the pronouncement of the Court of Appeal, which ordered parties in the case to maintain status quo ante bellum, which it interpreted to mean that it should not deal with either side.

Against the backdrop of the dust the matter had raised across the country, the embattled ADC leadership, had accused the former Deputy Chairman of being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to play the spoiler role to enable President Bola Tinubu have no challenge in the 2027 presidential election.

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Bolaji Abdullahi, spokesman of the Mark camp, had last week, stated this much when he wondered how Gombe, who on his own could not afford an ordinary lawyer, going by his financial status, would now be hiring more than three Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) to represent him, which would probably run into tens of millions of naira.

Reacting on Tuesday, Gombe admitted getting outside help, but added that such assistance was not coming from government quarters or the APC, but from public-spirited individuals and Nigerians averse to the injustice being meted out to him.

Abimuku Monday, spokesman to Gombe, who spoke during an appearance on Morning Briefs, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, on Tuesday, told his host: “Before now, they were saying these people are big weights and we’re light weights. Now, we’re suddenly being seen as human beings. Earlier, we were seen as nobodies – as boys who don’t have capacity to challenge this in court.

“They say Nafiu Bala does not even have money to pursue his case. You see, that’s how they reduce people by their own estimation. They don’t find out who people. They have forgotten that for you to seek legal actions, there are so many ways to go about it.

“It is either you use your own money or your personal relationship with people. Does it mean that somebody in politics cannot have his own friends or cannot have lawyers as his friend or cannot have other members of the society as his friends.

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“These are not members of the APC. They don’t belong to any party. They’re citizens of this country, who mean well for Nigeria. Nobody is scuttling the coalition. The fact remains that if you have a challenge, people will rally around you knowing it’s a good cause you’re fighting. People will rally around you to give you the necessary support that you need. They even called my principal a small boy.”

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Woman returns N1million discovered in purchased items to owner  

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Serah Luca, a Christian woman, has returned N1 million she unknowingly took along with goods purchased from a trader at Terminus market in Jos, Plateau state capital.

Luca, a petty trader, reportedly said she made the purchase on Friday and only discovered the hidden cash after getting home.

She said her decision to return the money was driven by fear of God and her belief that she could not keep what did not belong to her, especially knowing the hardship that comes with losing money in business.

“I am a petty businesswoman. I know what it means to suffer loss. If I put that kind of money into my business, I believe God would punish me,” Daily Trust quoted her as saying.

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The trader, Abubakar Dola, who deals in polythene bags at Terminus market, expressed surprise at the woman’s honesty, noting that he had no idea where the money went after mistakenly placing it inside the bag she bought.

Dola said he had planned to transfer the cash through a point of sales (POS) operator but became worried when he could not see the polythene bag where the money was kept.

“I mistakenly included it in what she bought. I didn’t realise until days later, and I had already given up hope. For her to return it after three days is remarkable. I pray Allah rewards her and gives us more people like her.”

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Strait of Hormuz: Comply now or you’ll be history – Trump warns Iran

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“The entire country could be taken out in one night, and that night might be tomorrow night,” were the words with which US President Donald Trump, flashed the redlight signal over what could be the fate of Iran in the coming hours, after a month-old war, which saw leaders of the Islamic nation, all but totally obliterated.

The POTUS, who on Saturday, gave Iran 48 hours to to open the Strait of Hormuz to shipping traffic approaches, or comply or risk facing “hell,” later threatened that the US would blow up Iran’s power plants and bridges if Tehran failed to adhere to his warning.

However, in his latest threat on Monday, Trump told reporters that Iran had until Tuesday at 8 p.m. ET (1 am WAT) to make a deal, adding: “We have a plan, because of the power of our military, where every bridge in Iran will be decimated by 12 o’clock tomorrow night, where every power plant in Iran will be out of business – burning, exploding and never to be used again, I mean complete demolition – by 12 o’clock. And it’ll happen over a period of four hours if we want it to. We don’t want that to happen.”

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