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Angry Dickson to Senators: Tell Tinubu the truth *Nigeria worse than war situation
A visibly incensed Seriake Dickson, former Governor of Bayelsa State, now representing Bayelsa West, in the Senate on Wednesday tackled his colleagues in the Red Chambers for having the temerity comment President Bola Tinubu at this time in the country when the people could hardly sleep as a result of the parlous state of insecurity.
The former governor’s angry riposte came against the backdrop of the Senate’s reaffirmation on Wednesday of a motion a day before sponsored by Senator Asiru Yisa (Kwara South), praising Tinubu’s “exemplary leadership” after dozens of abducted worshippers and schoolchildren were rescued in Kwara and Niger states, while calling for the creation of a Joint Task Force for the Kwara–Kogi corridor and investigations into the withdrawal of soldiers in Kebbi.
But beating back against the decision, which he saw as not only “provocative” but “ill-timed,” Dickson, said in a statement after plenary, that the rise in school kidnappings, attacks on communities and the killing of soldiers, including a brigadier-general, showed that Nigeria was facing a situation “even nations at war do not experience.”
Hear him: “The calls for the President to be commended over security efforts, is ill-timed, insensitive and provocative. It is very clear that not only our democracy is under threat, but the nation itself is being reduced, belittled, and threatened. I believe that the president needs to be told the truth. There should be no sugar-coating or unnecessary political correctness.
“I do not agree with the request in the motion, supported by the majority of speakers from the majority party, that the President and the government should be commended. I disagree with it. As I said, we are the Senate of the Federal Republic with powers to oversight the President and the military, including the ministers and the security leaders. And that we must do.
“That is our responsibility to the nation and the people of Nigeria who are presently under attack, displaced, traumatised, killed and apprehensive. Senators must focus on oversight of defence spending to ensure appropriated funds are used effectively by the security agencies. The Senate must investigate into the withdrawal of soldiers from Kebbi and into the killing of Musa Uba, a brigadier general, by ISWAP fighters.”
Also expressing distress over an attempt by Godswill Akpabio, Senate President, for repeatedly attempting to stop him from expressing his views, he declares: “No senator is under obligation to say things the way and how the senate president wants it. We will not give up until people learn that in a democracy, the majority may have their way but the minority must have their say. I condole with the families of security personnel and civilians who have lost their lives. I urge strong political will and decisive leadership to address the country’s insecurity.”
The echoes of the drums rolled out to celebrate the rescue of the 44 teachers and students, kidnapped from some schools in Oyo State, after 56 days in the bush, would surely be disrupted abruptly, with the divergent echoes of a fresh abduction, this time coming from Kogi State.
Reports indicate that the gunmen, struck on Tuesday at the Government Secondary School, Odo-Ekina, in Dekina Local Government Area of the state, abducting four students, the school principal and a National Examinations Council (NECO) ad hoc staff member.
Authorities of the Kogi State Police Command, who immediately unleashed their operatives in hot pursuit of the abductors, said the attack occurred at about 5:25 p.m. while the students were writing their NECO examination.
Saliu Oyiza Afusat, an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) and spokesman of the command, said a combined team of police personnel and other security agencies has launched a search-and-rescue operation following the incident.
Informing that one of the students was actually rescued immediately, she said efforts were ongoing to secure the release of the remaining victims and apprehend the attackers, adding that Naziru Bello Kankarofi, the state Commissioner of Police, alongside the Brigade Commander and the State Security Adviser to the Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Rtd), were already on the way to the scene for an on-the-spot assessment.
Oil prices are expected to go down now with the announcement of Donald Trump, US President that he will no longer impose a 20 percent “safe passage” fee on ships passing through the Strait of Hormuz.
The POTUS, hinged his reversal of the decision on the intervention from some Gulf countries, who pleaded with him not to toe the line due to the massive economic impact the decision would make on the region.
Indeed, oil prices had shot up immediately Trump announced the new levy on Monday while declaring the US ‘the guardians of the Hormuz strait,’ a measure which he said was to pay for the cost of guarding the volatile area in order keep supply of oil flowing.
Reports said that Gulf allies of the US worked frantically to get Trump on the phone in time to talk him out of the idea altogether, while a flurry of appeals came from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Qatar.
In response, the POTUS, posting on his Truth Social platform, wrote: “Based on highly productive conversations with Middle East leadership, I have decided to replace the 20% United States Reimbursement Fee with Trade and Investment Deals that the various Gulf States will be making into the United States.”
Trump, who said the investments would be “MASSIVE but, at the same time, extraordinarily good for them, and their future,” added that the deals would see factories, plants, and equipment pour into the US at “Historic levels.”
The Gulf nations have committed to invest trillions of dollars in the US, though it remains unclear how much of that they will actually spend over the next several years.
Meanwhile, the US continues to bomb Iran in what appears to be a resumption of active conflict between both countries, despite an ongoing roadmap to end the conflict.
Reports say operatives of the Osun State Police Command, and those of the Department of State Services (DSS) had tracking the trail of Adeniyi Adeyemi, controversial Director General of the Presidential Foreign Intervention Promotion Council (PFIPC), for weeks, before he was eventually pulled out of his hole on Tuesday.
However, the duo, were said to have pulled back after failing to track him through his mobile phones, which he had reportedly switched off for about two days, making it difficult to locate him, leaving the stage for the members of the Police Intelligence Response Team (PI-RT) led by Moses Lohor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP).
Lohor, said to have previously served as the Commander of the Anti-Kidnapping Squad of Osun State, and reported to have been involved in high-profile security operations and controversies, after taken over fielded his men to pick up signals from their well-oiled signal networks.
Regarded by many Osun residents as one of the key security officers who contributed significantly to the peace and stability enjoyed in Ilesa and other parts of the state during his tenure, he was said to have relied on his contacts before his transfer out of the state, said to have raised concerns from the public about the security situation he would be leaving behind.
His exit from the state was said to be hinged on an incident in 2024, in which he allegedly shot one Iyanda Alowonle, then Chairman of Osun State Motor Transport System, in the stomach at the police station in the state prompting an order for his arrest by then Inspector General of Police (IGP).
His effort was said to have paid off when he successfully tracked down the controversial PFIPC, boss, who was seen on Tuesday evening, in a shot video on social media undergoing interrogation, and eventually handed him over to Ibrahim Gotan, Commissioner of Police in the state.
The PUNCH quoted one of the sources as saying: “The arrest (of Adeyemi) took place on Tuesday morning by the IRT squad, who immediately moved him to Abuja. After he was arrested, he was taken to Ibadan and from there to Abuja.”
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