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Good road network, critical in fighting terrorism – FG
The Federal Government has raised the imperative of good road networks in war against terrorism in Nigeria, saying those involved in the crime, usually exploited the fact that some of the roads in the country are in bad shape.
Both Kashim Shettima, Nigeria’s Vice President and Dave Umahi, Minister of Works, David Umahi, at the weekend alluded to this factor while defending the government investment in road infrastructure, saying President Bola Tinubu is using strategic highway projects to tackle insecurity and improve military operations.
Umahi, citing the rehabilitation of the Bama-Banki and Dikwa-Gamboru-Ngala roads in Borno State, among several others scattered nationwide, said at the official flag-off of the projects at Muna City Gate along the Maiduguri-Dikwa-Gamboru Road, the initiative formed part of Tinubu’s overall strategy to tackle insecurity through critical infrastructure development.
Stressing that the roads would not only reconnect communities and stimulate economic activities but also enhance military operations in the North-east, he explained that that Tinubu had demonstrated the political will to revive long-abandoned strategic road projects that previous administrations were unable to complete.
To him, the Kano-Maiduguri highway, parts of which were awarded as far back as 2006, as well as the Bama-Banki and Dikwa-Gamboru-Ngala roads awarded in 2021, are now being actualised under the current administration, adding that the projects were designed to support the government’s security objectives by improving access to border communities and strengthening logistics for security agencies.
His words: “These road infrastructure projects are part of the larger programme of President Tinubu in fighting insecurity. When these projects are completed, our people in the North-east will benefit because they lead to Chad and Cameroon. But the greater interest is that our military forces will have roads to combat whatever might be left of the insurgency.”
Shettima, who represented Tinubu at the event, described the projects as infrastructure of strategic national importance, saying poor roads also constitute a security challenge, arguing that roads that difficult for citizens to use equally hampered the ability of security personnel to patrol and secure affected areas.
Shettima, who commended Umahi and Bello Goronyo, the Minister of State for Works, for driving the implementation of the projects, stated that the strategic road corridors would improve access to neighbouring Cameroon and the Republic of Chad, creating new opportunities for trans-Saharan trade and expanding cross-border commerce.
He called on all stakeholders to work closely with the people of the North-east to ensure the successful execution of the projects, while assuring Nigerians that his administration would continue to invest in infrastructure that stimulates economic growth and national development.
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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