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US verdict on terror: Finally, the world is hearing our cry – MBF
The Middle Belt Forum (MBF), is upbeat about the vibes coming from the United States, highlighting the crimes being committed against Christians in the region, saying it reflected the harsh realities the people had been subjected to over the decades.
Bitrus Pogu, its Chairman, while reacting to the report of the US Commission on International Religious Freedom (USCIRF), which delivered a damning verdict on Nigerian government including the police and the military, said the report was consistent with the position of the body that some individuals within the nation’s security architecture are aiding the insurgents.
He said: “We have always maintained that there are people within the security services who are aiding insurgents in this country. It is a complex network. When you cannot explain how some things happen, especially seeing insurgents with military grade, armored personnel carriers, and lots more. We have seen that on the Plateau.
“Remember, was it 2019 or thereabouts, General T Y Danjuma said they (security men) are colluding with the insurgents. All these things are based on evidence. It is a known thing that we have people within our security network who are colluding and aiding these people.
“People within our political framework, governors, and so on, who are also aiding insurgents. It is an unfortunate development. Unfortunately, our government at the center, for whatever reason, seemed to have its hands tied and unable to do anything.
“Remember before President Jonathan left office, he said there were Boko Haram members or agents within his government. So Nigeria, whatever they (US panel) says in that regard, is justifiable. It’s known.
“All our prayer is that since they have greater intelligence and records of such things more than we do, in our cooperation or partnership with them, let them assist Nigeria in weeding out these criminal elements, so we can stop this, because every day, delay in this process strengthens the insurgents and they get more arms and ammunition as we go on.
“Again the sabotage within the security forces allows them to take over military installations and that also strengthens them as time goes on. So any delay is dangerous.
“We pray that with the information given now and the intelligence they (US) have, let them come to our aid and weed this country of the menace of insurgents. The conspiracy is too large for peace-loving components of the security agencies to deal with.
“You cannot explain why with all the technology available, the insurgents can just go in, run over even a brigade and get away with it. It means there are insiders within the security apparatus that are giving them intel and assisting them to demolish and destroy the country from within.
“So I agree with what the US Religious Freedom Panel said. And we pray that something will be done as early as possible to dismantle the criminality, to ensure that all arms that were imported, which have been diverted, are identified as well as who released the arms to the terrorists within the security forces and to do the needful. No stone should be left unturned in addressing this terrible conspiracy against the Nigerian nation.’’
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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