BREAKING: Okonjo Iweala Lands Common Wealth Appointment

Nigeria’s former Minister of Finance, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has been appointed into a High Level Group on Governance of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Prof. Ben Maloney, Communications Officer, Commonwealth Secretariat, said in a statement that the High Level Group would make recommendations on governance of the Commonwealth Secretariat.

The Commonwealth, however, denied that the group was constituted to secretly begin considering who might succeed the Queen as its head.

“At their last Summit in Malta, Commonwealth heads of government directed the Secretary-General to form the Group.

“Today members are discussing the scope of the group’s work and the areas of governance it will examine over the coming months.

“The process is open and the High Level Group reports to the heads.

“The issue of succession of the Head of the Commonwealth is not part of the Group’s mandate,” the statement said.

The group is chaired by Anote Tong, former President of Kiribati from 2003 to 2016.

Okonjo-Iweala, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy during the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan, is among the seven-member group.

Others are Lord Howell, former British Energy Secretary; Louise Frechette, former UN Deputy Secretary-General; and Robert Hill, former Australian Defence Minister.

Dame Miller, former Deputy Prime Minister of Barbados and Dr George Vella, former Foreign Minister of Malta are also members of the group.

The group operates independently of the London-based Commonwealth Secretariat and would report only to the heads of Commonwealth governments.

However, further members may be appointed, the Secretariat said.

The group is expected to report to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in London in April, which is likely to be the last that the Queen would attend. (NAN)

BOKO HARAM: 94 Girls Still Missing In Yobe School Attack

Ninety four 94 students are missing after suspected Boko Haram terrorists attacked a girls’ secondary school in Yobe state Monday night, Dailytrust is reporting.

The attack on Government Girls Secondary School Dapchi came after sunset when some of the students were breaking their fast which they usually observe on Mondays.

A source in the school told Daily Trust yesterday that the number of missing students was established in the afternoon after a head count.  

“After the roll call, 610 out the total number of 704 students have returned. We are still searching for the remaining 94 students”, he said.

On whether the students were abducted, he said: “We cannot say, because the insurgents went into the students’ hostel, and many of these students scaled the fence and escaped into the bushes. No one can tell if they are abducted or not.”

He said some parents had reported to the school authorities that their children, who fled into the bushes, had returned home safely.

 “We are calling on parents to help the school update its list by reporting immediately their children arrived home safely”, he said.

The Yobe State Police Commissioner Abdumaliki Sunmonu said no case of abduction had been established yet.

The State Commissioner of Education, Lawan Ali, who is outside the state for official assignment, said senior officials from the ministry had been dispatched to the school.

“The team is profiling the students to know those who are missing? And, how many of them were able to return or ran home to their families,” he said.

The attack evoked memories of the kidnapping of 276 girls from Chibok Girls Secondary School by the insurgents on April 14, 2014. 

A teacher in the school, who escaped the attack, said the insurgents stormed the school around 7:00pm through the eastern part of the town.

Parent besiege school as early as 6am

Parents besieged the school as early as 6:00am to know the whereabouts of their children. 

One of the parents, Lamuwa Yadi, said he has two daughters in the school but could only find one of them. "We have no idea where she's now, her sister said they were at the hall when the insurgents struck, and it was the last time she saw her. 

"We are calling on the state and the federal government to act fast before it gets worst."

A mother of one of the students, Amina Usama, who could not trace her daughter, said she cannot forgive herself at the turn of event.

"I forced her to go back to school against her wish, unknown to me that this calamity is awaiting her here. My daughter always complained that there was no security in the school", she said 

Government shuts down school 

The Yobe State government has closed the school for one week and send the students home so as ease tension  

Announcing the closure, the state commissioner of Education, Alhaji Mohammed Lamin, who was represented by his permanent secretary, called on the parents to take solace as the government is doing its best to search for the missing students.

He said that over ninety percent of the students have returned to the school while others have reached their parent safely.

Students vows not to return

Some of the students told Daily Trust that they would not return to the school until government stations security operatives in the school.

Maimuna Lawan, an SSS3 student said the insurgents stormed the gate around 6:30pm, “They were shouting that we should not run. We got terrified by the gunshots and scale the fence, we are not sure if they abducted some student but we suspected they did because, they were calling some students when I ran away"

Meanwhile the Local Government chairman, Alhaji Zannah said he had sent security personnel to trace those still missing "We believed they are in the bush and we will intensify our search until we find them, God willing" he said.

FG Rejects Cattle Colonies

No regrets whatsoever - Wike

The House of Representatives which is an equal organ of the Government has thrown its weight  behind the establishment of cattle ranches across the country, as panacea to clashes between herdsmen and farmers.

The House adopted a motion on the need to educate herdsmen on the benefits of ranching, specifically opted for the establishment of cattle ranches across the country.

Consequently, the Green Chamber urged the Executive to liaise with interested states and work out modalities of establishment of  ranches.

The House also directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Natural Resources to liaise with state Ministries of Agriculture to urgently educate  and encourage herdsmen on the benefits of ranching.

The chamber urged government to consider a soft loan scheme for herders, to enable them buy land as incentive to embrace ranching.

The House mandated its Committee on Agriculture Production and Services to ensure implementation of the resolution and report back within eight weeks, for further legislative action.

In his lead debate, sponsor of the motion, Mohammed Ogoshi Onawo said most of the clashes between herdsmen and farmers across the country were fallout of the herders roaming about in search of pastures for their cattle and in the process trespassing into farmlands and damaging crops.

Onawo said the incessant clashes  between herdsmen/ farmers across the country has presented  serious security challenges for the nation. Besides, the lawmaker argued that open grazing also exposes the herdsmen to dangers, as they sometimes fall prey to cattle rustlers and kidnappers.

He contended that the decision of the government to set up cattle colonies across the country as a measure to stop herdsmen/ farmers clash is a “violation of  Section 42 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as amended) and the Land Use Act.”

Meanwhile, Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, declared that he would not apologise to anyone for rejecting cattle colony in the state. 

Wike stated this yesterday, during a solidarity rally organised by Rivers East senatorial district, at Yakubu Gowon Stadium, Elekahia, Port Harcourt.

GRAZING LAW: Taraba Backs Down

Taraba Governor, Darius Ishaku, has agreed to suspend and, in the process, receive the state’s grazing law. The Sun reports.

Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, disclosed this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Emmanuel Uzor, yesterday.

Umahi said Ishaku,  as well the leadership of Miyetti Allah,  farmers and stakeholders agreed to review the grazing law in the state.

He also said end to intermittent clashes between farmers and herdsmen across the country, especially in Benue,  Nasarawa and Taraba states, are in sight, following a ceasefire agreement reached by the parties in the affected states, to drop their weapons and return to table for dialogue. 

As part of the National Economic Council (NEC) sub-committee set up by the Federal Government,  led by Umahi, on fact-finding mission to Taraba state, yesterday, both farmers and herdsmen agreed ceasefire and return to the negatiation table, to enable the committee broker final peace. 

Addressing the media at the Executive Council chambers in Jalingo, Umahi said after several hours of meetings and deliberations involving farmers,  leaders of Miyetti Allah,  Taraba state government and the House of Assembly,  the committee was able to plead with Ishaku and Speaker  Peter Abel Diah to revisit the anti-open grazing law, to accomodate Fulani herdsmen. 

Governor Umahi further disclosed that in the cause of a closed-door meeting with security chiefs in the state,  it was discovered that the latest crisis at the Mambilla Plateau hadnothing to do with farmers and herdsmen clash but was purely a land issue which he said the state government has shown enough commitment to solving. 

The governor blamed the leadership and members of Miyetti Allah for boycotting the public hearing on the grazing law, which he identified as one the problems that culminated into the crisis,  and cited  ignorance of the said law as another reason why the crisis persisted. 

“We are here as part of fact-finding, to ascertain the remote cause of the crisis between farmers and herdsmen across the state. In the cause of our assignment,  we met with the Taraba state government led by governor  Darius Ishaku,  the leadership of Miyetti Allah,  farmers, stakeholders and security agents and we arrived a far-reaching solution to the crisis and the parties agreed that there should be ceasefire and that all the parties should dialogue.

“There were so many issues raised and the committee, after much deliberation with those concerned, was able to make some recommendations, including our request for some amendment to some sections of the law which the herders considered against them. 

“We agreed that all cases pending in court be withdrawn, to enable the committee conclude their assignment,” Umahi said.

The governor also said the herdsmen agreed to observe ranching but requested that state and federal governments should come to their aid, to adapt to the new exercise,  and added that the herdsmen should start making use of already-existing ranching facilities in Mambilla while the state government start  the pilot ranching programme in the three senatorial districts of the state. 

BREAKING - Police Arrests Gang Leader of Benue Killings

The suspects were also arrested over the killings of Sgt Solomon Dung and other police officers. The command said the arrest was in line with the directives of IGP Ibrahim Idris who had ordered that all Persons involved in the killings in Benue state and those in possession of AK47 Rifles and other prohibited arms should be arrested, TVC news reports.

The Eagle Online reports that those arrested were Alhaji Laggi, 40, the mastermind and gang leader of the herdsmen group, Mallam Mumini Abdullahi, 34; Muhammed Adamu, 30; and Ibrahim Sule, 32. The suspects who were said to have confessed to the killings and mentioned gang members in possession of police rifles they took from the slain officers and others in possession of arms were arrested in Tunga town in Nasarawa state between February 16 and 19, 2018 by the IRT. 

The attackers invaded five villages in Guma and logo local governments where they killed 73 persons and displaced 50,000 others. 

Idris, who paid a courtesy call on the Tor Tiv, James Ayatse in Makurdi, said that security agents were already combing all corners toward apprehending the gunmen. He called on traditional rulers to cooperate with security agencies in the efforts to restore law and order in Benue. The police boss said that operational numbers had been released to the general public and urged the monarch to mobilise his subjects to use them to assist the police. Idris condoled the people over the human and material losses, and promised to ensure an end to such carnage. 

Buhari's Govt. Abandoned My Husband After 2015 Election Victory - Senator Remi Tinubu

As the national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, begins to reconcile warring sides in the ruling party, his wife, Senator Oluremi Tinubu, has decried that her husband was “trashed” after the party won the 2015 elections.

President Muhammadu Buhari had mandated Tinubu to reconcile aggrieved party members ahead of the 2019 general elections, an assignment the former governor of Lagos State has since begun.

El'Rufai Demolishes APC Faction Office that Suspended Him

Incoming reports say that the Kaduna State government has demolished a building housing the offices of a faction of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.

The building is said to be owned by the APC factional leader, Senator Suleiman Hunkuyi representing Kaduna North.

The faction had only two days ago, announced that it had suspended the governor, Mallam Nasir El’Rufai for failing to respond to a query that was issued to him.

details soon

Nigerians Are Now Denying Ownership of Their Properties.

President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday said that all looted assets recovered would be sold and the proceeds deposited in the treasury.

The President told members of Daura Emirate coalition who paid him a condolence visit at his country home, Daura, Katsina State, that many suspected looters of government resources had been denying ownership of their ill-gotten assets.

He said he was not surprised by the increasing number of those denying ownership or disclaiming the properties traced to them by the anti-corruption agencies.

“Some years back one of my schoolmates in the primary school who worked at a cottage company before his demise predicted that we will come to a situation when looters will deny their loot in Nigeria.

“So, as a civil servant, you have 10 houses in Abuja and even in Kaduna and abroad, the more you show them the properties the more they will swear that it does not belong to them.

“And we are still following the process; you know democracy, you have to follow due process and respect the rule of law.

“If you are following, you will hear that some of these looters were arrested, and for those who deny their loot, then instead of what happened before, this time around we will sell those stolen properties and the proceeds will be deposited in government treasury,’’

“If the money is in the government treasury I will see who will come back after we’ve left and reclaim them,’’ he said.

The President pledged that government would ensure availability of fertiliser and other farm inputs to sustain the success recorded in the previous farming seasons.

Buhari said: “Please tell Nigerians that we are trying our best, and I thank God, the rainy season is blossom. We will try to add more money to farmers, and ensure the availability of fertiliser and other farm inputs.

Boko Haram Wrecks Havoc On Girls School In Yobe State.

Boko Haram jihadists launched an attack on a girls boarding school in northeast Nigeria but the students and teachers fled to safety, witnesses said Monday.

A convoy of fighters in pickup trucks descended on Dapchi village in the Bursari area of Yobe state around 6 pm (1700 GMT) targeting the school, resident Sheriff Aisami told AFP.

“When they stormed the village they began shooting and setting off explosives,” Aisami said.

“This drew the attention of the girls in the Girls Science Secondary School, so the girls and the teachers were able to escape before the attackers got into the school.”

Unable to kidnap the girls, the Boko Haram fighters looted the school before fleeing.

“There was an attack on the girls secondary school in Dapchi by BokoHaram,” said a member of a local civilian militia battling the extremists.

“Obviously the attack was meant to abduct school girls but luckily they found none of the girls as they were taken away by teachers before they arrived,” said the militia member, who declined to provide his name for safety reasons.

“Military jets were deployed and are in pursuit”, he added.

It’s unclear whether anyone was killed in the violence.

The attack recalls Boko Haram’s audacious kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls from the town of Chibok in April, 2014.

The kidnapping drew the world’s attention to the jihadist insurgency in northeast Nigeria.

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari, a former general, came to power in 2015 on a platform promising to stamp out the Islamist movement.

But despite retaking swathes of territory from Boko Haram, the group continues to stage attacks targeting both civilians and military targets, and frequently uses young girls as suicide bombers.

Since 2009, the Boko Haram insurgency has left at least 20,000 dead and made over 2.6 million more homeless.

AFP.