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Order IG to Enforce Benue Anti-Open Grazing Law, Reps Tell Buhari

Published

6 years ago

March 9, 2018

Eric

The House of Representatives on Thursday asked President Muhammadu Buhari to direct security agencies to immediately begin the enforcement of the Open Grazing (Prohibition) Law in Benue State and halt the killings by herdsmen.

The House passed the resolution in Abuja as lawmakers again condemned the latest attacks on villagers in the Okpokwu Local Government Area of the state where 26 more lives were lost on Monday.

The session, which was presided over by the Speaker, Mr. Yakubu Dogara, stated that the government must recognise the fact that as a state, Benue was covered by the 1999 Constitution (as amended) to make laws for the good governance of its existence.

It stressed that there were no alternatives to enforcing a law duly passed by a state assembly and called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, and heads of other security agencies to implement the anti-open grazing law.

An All Progressives Congress member from Benue State, Mr. Hassan Saleh, had drawn the attention of the House to the latest killings, blaming the actions of the herdsmen on the “refusal of the police and other security services” to enforce the law.

The development came as another APC member from Edo State, Mr. Johnson Egwakhide-Oghuma, faulted the use of quota system in recruitment into the country’s security agencies.

“Security is a specialised issue. You don’t recruit people into security services on the basis of quota system.

“Security is not necessarily a matter you use for the mere sake of providing employment.

“It is a specialised duty where you do not compromise merit, education and the willingness to do the right thing,” Egwakhide-Oghuma stated.

Leading the debate on the killings, Saleh, who represents Ado/Okpokwu/Ogbadibo Federal Constituency, told his colleagues that the police and other security services simply turned their backs while the herdsmen continued to hack down defenceless citizens.

He said, “The government has not restricted the herdsmen. These same herdsmen and their cultural organisation, Miyetti Cattle Breeders, have vowed to continue the killings until the anti-open grazing law is reversed.

“The IG and other security services must arrest these killers and prosecute them. We are playing with the future of this country.

“I have received about 700 calls since Monday alone; people are telling me that they are willing to defend themselves. I have to keep pleading with them.

“We must be careful. Mr. Speaker, if we don’t arrest this situation of insecurity all over the country, one day it will consume all of us.

“Mr. Speaker, when it starts, you and I will not be able to sit here in Abuja.”

Dogara did not allow further debate on the motion. He quickly referred it to the ad hoc committee already set up by the House to look into insecurity cases in the country.

However, on his part, Egwakhide-Oghuma called for a review of the recruitment process into security services to play up merit, intelligence and the ability to respond to training.

The lawmaker argued that a government that used job creation as a criterion for recruitment into its security agencies was not prepared to combat crime.

Though, he commended Buhari for the efforts of his administration to recover all territories hitherto occupied by Boko Haram insurgents, Egwakhide-Oghuma insisted that the government must do more.

The House also passed a separate resolution calling for adequate security cover for international aid agencies working in the North-East, particularly Borno State.

The Punch

Headline

Breaking: Wike Plans to Attend Thursday’s PDP NEC Meeting

Published

2 days ago

April 17, 2024

Eric

By Eric Elezuo

The immediate past Governor of Rivers State, and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mr Nyesom Wike, may have concluded plans to attend the much advertised National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), billed to hold on Thursday, in Abuja.

Impeccable source, who is in the know, told The Boss that the minister, whose membership of the PDP is yet to be revoked even as he frolicks with the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and serving in the President Bola Tinubu government as a minister.

The Source told The Boss that Wike’s impending presence at the NECeeting on Thursday is not unconnected with plans, already hatched with some governors, to weaken the opposition PDP.

“Yes, we have on good authority that FCT minister, Wike is planning to attend the NEC meeting tomorrow all in a bid to weaken the fabrics of the PDP, and pave the way for the continuation of the Tinubu administration come 2027, and by extension, relapse Nigeria to a full blown one party state.

“From every indication, Wike and his co-travellers, are bent on unleashing the same crisis ravaging the third force, Labour Party, and Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso’s Nigerian National People’s Party (NNPP) on the PDP for the APC to remain the only political party in the country, and ensure that Tinubu has no challenger, come 2027,” the Source said.

It would be recalled that Wike has boasted over and again that there’s no opposition against Tinubu’s re-emergence in 2027, and that they have made sure of that. He has been compensated with the Ministerial job after he withdrew support for his party, and supported the APC and Tinubu to emerge as national government.

The Source further revealed that in the attempt to actualize the intended one party state, a lot of funding is ongoing to ensure that concerned stakeholders are ‘settled’ handsomely.

Wike, prior, during and after the 2023 general elections, has been floating in between the two major political parties; the APC and the PDP. While he claim to still be a member of the PDP, he is functioning as a minister in an APC government, mocking the inability of his party to discipline him.

Political stakeholders have concluded that the outcome of Thursday’s PDP NEC meeting will determine the path Nigeria’s political trajectory will take, and that it may portend the end of multi-party system and political democracy if Wike succeeds in his plan.

Headline

Bribery, Corruption: APC Suspends National Chairman, Ganduje

Published

4 days ago

April 15, 2024

Eric

The All Progressives Congress ward in Ganduje, Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, has suspended the party’s National Chairman, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje.

The party ward legal adviser, Halliru Gwanzo, announced the suspension while addressing newsmen in Kano State on Monday.

Gwanzo cited allegations of bribery against Ganduje levelled by the Kano State Government as the reason for the suspension.

“We decided to suspend Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje from the party due to the seriousness of the allegations against him,” Gwanzo said.

Meanwhile, efforts to contact the Chief Press Secretary to the APC National Chairman, Mr Edwin Olufo, failed as his mobile phone was unreachable.

Headline

Akpabio Commits to Collaboration with Tinubu, Governor Umo Eno

Published

1 week ago

April 12, 2024

Admin

The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, has stated his commitment to working closely with Nigeria’s President, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and Governor Umo Eno to ensure the delivery of democratic benefits to the people of Akwa Ibom State.

Akpabio stated this in his country home, Ukana, Essien Udim Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom, while briefing his constituents on the journey so far as their representative in the red chamber.

He assured the people of Akwa Ibom North West Senatorial District of his commitment to their welfare in appreciation of their total support for him, President Bola Tinubu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in last year’s election.

The Highpoint of the constituency briefing was the distribution of over 10,000 bags of rice and other essentials for his constituents from the wards, to the local governments.

A statement by his Special Assistant on Media, Jackson Udom, quoted Akpabio as saying, “I am here once again, to thank you for standing by me, our President and the party, before, during and even after last year’s elections. I have come to say thank you and also bring Renewed Hope to you all.

“As the President is doing his own, the Senate President is also doing his bit and being complemented by the state governor, Akwa Ibom would be the better for it. We have finished elections and politics, we are now into governance. The governor of the state must touch you, because he is the governor of all the people in the state irrespective of political affiliation.

” As I am touching you now from the political angle, I will also touch the state without any political party affiliation. Most of the projects we are putting in place would be used by people resident in the state. Relax, things are getting better.”

The former Governor of the state, assured his constituents that his current position as the Senate President would be used for the development of the state in collaboration with the President and the Akwa Ibom State Governor.

Hear him: This Senate President is not the one that would be fighting the state government. I will collaborate with , I will collaborate with , to make the state better for us all. We cannot be out of government for a long time. You have to go to a government that carries you along”

Akpabio promised to work for his constituents and Nigeria with all his strength, noting that, “as the President of the Senate, I am for the Southern region and the entire country. I may not come here regularly to tell you what I have been doing for you, but you will be feeling the impact on way or the other. Our unemployed youths would be gainfully employed. I will construct a mini stadium in all the local governments in the district, for our youths to develop their sporting potentials. ”