Police Launch Grand Offensive against Criminals Nationwide
· Orders tight security around schools, hospitals, public infrastructure
· NAF fighter jets hit terrorists enclave in Niger
· We’re as aggrieved as other Nigerians, says Lukman
· Northern group plans mass protest against NSA Wednesday
Kingsley Nwezeh, Adedayo Akinwale, Sunday Aborisade in Abuja, John Shiklam in Kaduna, and Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, at the weekend, ordered the deployment of watertight security arrangements to cover all schools, hospitals, health workers, and critical national infrastructure across the country. This was contained in a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
Baba also ordered regular patrols, stop-and-search, raids, and show of force by tactical commanders to clamp down on crime and criminality in the country.
The IGP directed Assistant Inspectors-General of Police and the 36 police commissioners in the federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to prioritise the use of intelligence gathering networks, particularly traditional/local intelligence, to locate criminal hideouts and flush them out before they could strike.
Relatedly, Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets on internal security operations hit another terrorist enclave at Kurebe in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, neutralising many of the criminals.
That was as National Vice Chairman of All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Salihu Lukman, said members of the ruling party were as aggrieved as other Nigerians over the alarming rate of insecurity in the country.
At the same time, the Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA), concluded plans to embark on a peaceful protest on Wednesday in Abuja, to demand the resignation of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Mungono, over the spate of insecurity.
A statement by Force Headquarters said the IGP gave the directive while reviewing the general security situation in Nigeria following reports from commands and formations across the country.
The statement said, “He has equally charged all officers and men to be on the offensive, and take the fight against crime to the doorposts of suspected criminal elements, including bushes and uncompleted buildings, profile them, and charge those found wanting to court accordingly.
“Against the backdrop of this development, Nigerians are hereby urged to cooperate with the police, as many police operatives will be seen at strategic areas, routes and communities, in order to suppress the antics and criminal activities of men of the underworld.”
The IGP also warned officers and men of the Nigeria Police to be civil, professional and humane in the course of their duties.
It said, “The Inspector-General of Police, therefore, reiterated his commitment to the protection of lives and property of well-meaning members of the public by decimating the activities of rogue criminal elements, particularly, those who target schools, hospitals, and other critical national infrastructure, in a bid to strike fear into the hearts of good citizens in the country.
“He has similarly charged police officers to protect with courage and serve with compassion in line with his administration’s policing theme.”
NAF Fighter Jets Hit Terrorist Enclave in Niger
Nigerian Air Force (NAF) fighter jets recently hit another terrorist enclave at Kurebe, in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, and neutralised many criminals at the location. NAF Director, Public Relations and Information, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, who disclosed this, in a statement on Sunday, said the terrorists had assembled at Kurebe for a meeting hosted by Aminu Duniya, a Boko Haram terrorist commander.
Gabkwet said the strike at Kurebe came barely hours after a coordinated joint air and ground operations neutralised several terrorists operating around Damba-Galbi axis in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The NAF spokesman stated, “Over the weekend, NAF aircraft struck a terrorists’ gathering at Kurebe in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State after intelligence revealed that the terrorists had assembled for an important meeting hosted by Aminu Duniya, a Boko Haram terrorist commander.
“Aminu Duniya was said to have invited the terrorists to his enclave at Kurebe to the meeting, which obviously attracted numerous terrorists, who came in large numbers on their motorbikes. Sources revealed that the air strike was successful and resulted in the death of many terrorists, though it remains unclear if Aminu Duniya was also neutralised in the strike.
“It should be noted that Kurebe is a known terrorist haven, as the local inhabitants of Kurebe have since vacated the villages in and around the area after the terrorists drove them away in 2021.
“The strike at Kurebe came barely hours after a coordinated joint air and ground operations neutralised several terrorists operating around Damba – Galbi axis in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State. The activities of the terrorists continued to make life unbearable to locals in the area.
“So, when intelligence revealed that the terrorists had planned to overrun a nearby village within the vicinity, the military saw that as an opportunity to surprise them. While NA troops laid siege around the location, NAF aircraft were directed to the suspected location of the terrorists, which was then attacked. Several terrorists were confirmed killed after the strike.”
Lukman: We’re as Aggrieved as Other Nigerians
National Vice Chairman of the APC, Dr. Salihu Lukman, said members of the ruling party were as hurt as other Nigerians over the frightening spate of insecurity in the country.
Lukman said until the federal government introduced a no-work, no-pay policy, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would continue to hold the country to ransom with incessant strikes.
Lukman spoke on Sunday in Abuja during a media interaction with some journalists. He stressed that as a party aspiring to continue to govern Nigeria, APC needed to address the challenges plaguing the Muhammadu Buhari administration.
The party chieftain, however, cautioned against politicising the security challenges facing the country, saying it is untrue that APC politicised the issue of security to get into power prior to the 2015 elections.
Lukman stated, “People wrongly said we used the same approach in 2014/15 against (Goodluck) Jonathan, it is not true. 2014/2015, Jonathan and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were completely in denial about those security challenges.
“If you remember when the Chibok thing happened, there was a delegation from Borno, led by the governor himself, Kashim Shettima, then he was a sitting governor. What was the response of Patient Jonathan? Kashim had to shed tears publicly.
“Nobody is saying, for instance, what happened to the railway between Kaduna and Abuja didn’t happen, nobody’s saying that attack on Kuje prison didn’t happen.
“If anything, we are as aggrieved as any other Nigerians. I come from Kaduna, I hardly spend two weeks without going to Kaduna, I could have been on that train. It doesn’t matter whether I’m in APC or PDP. I mean, it is the same security challenge we all face.
“I want this government to address the security challenge immediately because I don’t know whether it will consume me. This is the reason why we don’t need to politicise it. So as far as I’m concerned, we must prepare the campaign in such a way that there are answers to these challenges, which Nigerians can see and can commit themselves to.”
Lukman pointed out that there was need for the federal government to invest in education, adding that investment in public education is a necessity that should be taken for granted.
Northern Group Plans Mass Protest against NSA Wednesday
Arewa Youth Assembly (AYA) planned to embark on a peaceful protest on Wednesday in Abuja to demand the resignation of the National Security Adviser (NSA), Babagana Mungono, over the growing insecurity in the country.
In a statement on Sunday in Kaduna, the group maintained that for the past seven years since Mungono was appointed to the sensitive position of NSA, the security situation in the country had continued to deteriorate, as terrorists and other criminal elements unleashed mayhem on Nigerians.
The statement signed by AYA’s spokesman, Ali Mohammed, said there were enough reasons for Mungono to have resigned his appointment, “But he has refused to step down despite the mass killings across the country.”
The group lamented that Nigerians were no longer safe anywhere on the roads, farms, work places, markets and even their homes, as terrorists moved about freely kidnapping, killing and collecting millions of naira as ransom.
“As Nigerians are being killed mercilessly on daily basis, the NSA is comfortably occupying his office, enjoying uncompromised security, knowing these criminals cannot get to him,” the statement said.
According to the group, the Nigerians being killed by the terrorists are the people, who supported President Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure his election and re-election, in the hope that security will be improved and life will be better.
The group recalled that Buhari’s promise to address security challenges and tackle corruption were among the reasons Nigerians voted for him.
But it lamented, “To the greatest surprise and dismay of the people, the security situation in the country is even worst under the Buhari administration.”
The group attributed the worsening insecurity to the failure of the NSA to live up to the responsibilities of his office, saying it is disappointed at how terrorists outsmarted the government in the effort to secure the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers, some of who are still in captivity.
“Mallam Garba Shehu confirmed that terrorists demands were met, but the federal government’s demand was not met by these terrorists, which is freeing the kidnapped passengers of the Abuja-Kaduna train. This is an embarrassment,” the statement said.
Fadahunsi: More Angry Graduates Embrace Crime
Deputy Chairman, Senate Committee on Customs and Excise, Senator Francis Fadahunsi, said many idle, but well-educated youths in various communities in the country were engaging in criminal activities, including banditry and kidnapping.
Fadahunsi said the criminals’ main target was the elite and the ruling class, who mismanaged the country’s economy and caused unemployment.
The retired Deputy Comptroller of the Nigeria Customs Service made the assertions yesterday in Abuja during an interview with journalists. He said the worsening insecurity in Nigeria was not caused by the foreign Fulani alone.
The Osun East Senatorial District senator alleged that educated young Nigerians were forming kidnapping gangs and targeting the elite, the rich and those in government at all levels. He said investigations had revealed that the young Nigerians, having failed to make government improve the situation after the end-SARS protests in 2020, had begun to take laws in their hands.
Fadahunsi stated, “Education is no longer within the reach of the poor. The sons and daughters of the poor, who were going to public schools, are no longer getting quality education, because government had refused to fund public education.
“Regrettably, the children of the elite are going abroad to study while those who could not afford foreign education enrolled their children in high fee paying private schools from primary to tertiary.
“Meanwhile, there are many idle youths who are prone to criminality because they are into drugs and are taking up arms against the elite and their children in form of kidnapping.
“There is a case of unemployment galore, because children of the poor who are graduates of higher institutions could not get white collar jobs in public establishments, which had been flooded with sons and daughters of the rich and the elite.”
Cleric Decries Worsening Insecurity, Economic Woes
An Ilorin-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh AbdulRazaq Aduagba, at the weekend, decried the worsening insecurity and economic woes Nigerians faced. Aduagba said the situation was due to lack of capacity on the part of those at the helm of affairs.
Speaking in Ilorin during the Omoluabi Youth Summit to mark International Youth Day celebrations, Aduagba said the prevalent insecurity in the country was caused by the various economic policies being implemented for the masses of the country.
He said, “It is disheartening that a government that promised good economic policies could be giving N10,000 empowerment to the people of the country to establish petty trading.
“And a situation where the vice president of the country will be going around the nation to be doling out N10, 000 tradermoni to Nigeria masses is very unfortunate. This is one of the causes of insecurity in the country.
“The people of the country are not happy with this kind of policy and this, however, led to the breeding of bandits and terrorists in the country.
“These are the people that allegedly serve as informants to those people terrorising all the parts of the country and thereby causing serious harm to the innocent masses in the country.”
