The ’38 herders’ killed in airstrikes in January in the Rukubi village in Doma Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, according to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), were terrorists and not civilians.

The NAF which had kept mum over the incident widely reported in the media about six months ago, said those killed were trying to wreak havoc, particularly the kidnapping of many school children at a secondary school in the location before they were eliminated.

Air Commodore Ayodele Famuyiwa, the spokesman of NAF, who spoke shortly after the bi-weekly press briefing at Defence headquarters, Abuja, said the air troops only eliminated the terrorists after thorough surveillance that took days.

In January reported how controversy trailed the killing of some herders in the Rukubi community while they were returning from Makurdi, the Benue State capital, where they went to retrieve over 1,000 cows seized by the Benue Livestock Guards.

The Human Rights Watch in a report recently released criticised the Nigerian military for failing to own up to the airstrikes.

The HRW described the military’s delay in accepting responsibility for the attack as unacceptable, demanding an urgent, independent, impartial, and transparent inquiry.

The organisation also called on the military to ensure financial compensation and livelihood assistance to the victims and their families.

But Famuyiwa, while answering a question from our correspondent at the briefing, challenged Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) and others who claimed some herders and cows were killed during the airstrike to come out and show the pictorial evidence of dead animals and the deceased persons to the world.

“On the 24th of January, even before then, there had been intel from several reliable sources of the activities of terrorists in that particular area. You are all aware of the nefarious activities of the criminal elements in that part of the country.

“You are also aware that there is an ongoing operation i.e. the Operation Whirl Stroke and the intel here from several sources and even to the commander of that operation, to the air component, that there was a plan by the terrorists within that area to carry out massive attacks.

“There was a secondary school in question that they also planned to kidnap students too. To that extent, the Air Force carried out surveillance. Remember there had been several intel that built up to that. But this particular intel, there was surveillance and the surveillance confirmed terrorists. I mean terrorists!

“And how did we know that they were terrorists? Because they have tactics they adopt, you see them coming on bikes in triples, converging at a location and after that, they disappear hiding under the forage. That surveillance continued almost throughout the day until later in the evening when a truck appeared in that scene.

“The truck was suspected to have brought logistics to them. And that was why the approval was given by the appropriate authority that, that truck should be checked out and in truth, it was taken out.”

“If you say people died, where is the truck? Where are the cattle? There was a truck. Where is the photograph of the dead bodies?

“The position with the Nigerian Air Force is that terrorists were struck that day and whether it is Miyetti Allah or whatever group that thinks there were innocent people, let them provide the evidence.

“If you think the military is going to give you the evidence of that operation for now, you won’t get it because there are some information that cannot be declassified now but let’s put the burden on the people. If they came there to collect their cow, where are the cows? Where is the picture of the truck that was struck? How did those people die?

“I think the press needs to do better than this. And if you look at it, after that particular incident, have you heard of any terrorist activity, or attack in that area? I think we need to do much better. No innocent person was killed.

“Let the people who said innocent people were killed provide the evidence and let the press do that analysis and let the truth come out.”

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu Policy Advisory Council has recommended the declaration of a state of emergency on revenue generation in the country.

The council also proposed the merger of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, Nigerian Customs Service, and the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency into the Nigerian Revenue Service in order to enable an efficient collection of all direct and indirect taxes, as well as levies on behalf of the Federal Government.

According to submissions made by the National Economy Sub-Committee, the policy will be aided by the passage of an Emergency Economic Reform Bill which will grant the President special powers to drive the economic reform agenda and support the delivery of sustainable and inclusive economic growth.

The council further outlined the removal of fuel subsidy, sale or concession of select government assets, transition to a transparent and unified foreign exchange rate system, deepening tax collection and optimization of operating expenditure to reduce cost, as targets to be pursued by the President towards the achievement of some milestones within the first 100 days in office.

Members of the Policy Advisory Council are Senator Tokunbo Abiru (chair), Dr Yemi Cardoso, Sumaila Zubairu and Dr Doris Anite. A copy of the report submitted by the panel was obtained by our correspondent on Friday.

The council’s report, which focuses on fiscal and monetary policies, industry, trade and capital market reforms, emphasised that changes in the Central Bank of Nigeria and temporary increases in fiscal circuit breakers such as debt limits would help achieve N1trn Gross Domestic Product growth and over 50 million jobs for citizens in eight years.

The 90-page document further proposed that reforms in the CBN will help achieve about $50bn-$60bn in external reserves, with a monthly inflow of at least $6bn-$8bn from export earnings and other forms of capital inflow, to support the policy at an exchange rate of N500-N600/$.

On fiscal policies to be implemented, the council advised on the need to achieve a domestic refining capacity of two million barrels per day, while creating economic opportunity for the host communities.

They also proposed one-off Personal Income Tax reliefs for low-income earners for up to one year as non-cash palliatives to cushion the effect of fuel subsidy removal.

The advisory read, “Ramp up production capacity to four million barrels from offshore and onshore assets within four years and grow crude oil revenue and savings into ECA and NSIA.

“Formalise illegal refineries and encourage modular refineries to create economic opportunity for the host communities.

“Aggressively grow domestic refining capacity to 2 million barrels per day in the next 8 years, including modular refineries.

Other fiscal recommendations proposed include, “a policy directive that ensures proceeds from the sale of assets to settle existing FGN debt obligations.

“List shares of strategic and profitable NNPC subsidiaries. Privatise, concession or sell down FGN’s stake in corporate assets to partners and other investors (possibly with a buyback option) to generate liquidity in the short to medium terms (focus on sub-optimal assets e.g., NNPCL refineries).

“Leverage blockchain to create and provide access to a Government land registry and regionalise and concession the power transmission grid.”

Furthermore, the advisory council proposed the extension of old naira circulation till December 2024 in order to resolve the cash shortage situation, if required.

It also advised a five per cent monthly gradual removal of the old notes and replacement with new notes through the deposit money banks.

They said, “Extend the December 31st, 2023 deadline to December 31st, 2024 (if required), and bring in new notes through the deposit money banks by 5% monthly and take out the old notes through the deposit money banks by the same 5 per cent to solve cash shortage.”

The policy added, “ To transform Nigeria to become Africa’s most efficient trading nation, decongest the area up to 4km around the ports and designate them for cargo, roads and railway, enforce the Presidential directive on 48hr clearance of goods at seaports in line with Executive Order 001, redefine the performance measures of key agencies of government to emphasise trade facilitation and set up a whistle-blowing mechanism that enables and empowers transporters to report and escalate issues with the various authorities while transporting food and other critical items.”

One Balogun Olawale, a staff of Federal Medical Centre, Idi-Aba, Abeokuta, Ogun State has been arrested by Operatives of the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

He was arrested alongside forty-seven (47) others for their alleged involvement in internet fraud.

According to EFCC, the suspects were arrested on Wednesday, at Idi-Aba area of Abeokuta following intelligence on their alleged fraudulent activities.

Items recovered from the suspects include seven exotic vehicles, several mobile phones, laptops, hi and apple wrist watches, among others.

The suspects arrested alongside Olawale are, Sodiq Iremide, Abiona Solomon, Moshood Sakiru Olamide, Olalekan Sodiq Olawale, Adebayo Ifeoluwa Timilehin, Joshua Gilbert, Adeleke Oluwafemi, Lawal Yusuff Abiodun, Olaleye Adedolapo Emmanuel, Opaleye Olanrewaju, Kazeem Oladimeji, Akinlosotu Ayodeji Ayomiposi, Omowale Haruna, Akinsolotu Kolade Olayinka, Soremikun Ibrahim, Kolawole Boluwatife Daniel, Olufunkunmi Emmanuel, Olatunji Uthman Alabi, Afeez Jimoh Akorede, Lateef Abdulmujeeb Akanbi, Boladale Olajide James and Enitan Tolulope John.

The rest include Orunsolu Sodiq Babatunde, Lamidi Micheal Akolade, Lateef Rahamon Olamilekan, Idowu Micheal Oluwasegun, Peter Adio Olakunle, Ahmod Kazeem Olayemi, Okewole Daniel Olayiwola, Ogundeyin Faruq Olamilekan, Edunjobi Toheeb Ayobami, Simon Dare Tosin, Ahmod Mustapha Olawale, Oladende Mubarak Olansile, Olanrewaju Kabiru Olamilekan, Olowookere Abeeb Lolade, Dolaoso Uthman Olamilekan, Kodagbese Emmanuel Aduragbemi, Simon John Seyi, Idemudia Lucky, Ahmod Waheed Olamide, Olowookere Soburu Ademola, Agboola Oladimeji Taofeek, Awoniyi Segun Gbenga, Babatunde Mathew Ayodele, Alaye John Saheed and Odediran Oluwole Ayomide.

Similarly, two suspected ‘yahoo boys’–Adeniji Samson Adebayo and Ayoola Olawale Samson– were arrested same day at Idi-Igba area of Ibadan, Oyo State by operatives of the EFCC, Ibadan Command.

They were found in possession of two cars and other valuables.

Also, the Oyo State Command of the Nigerian Police arrested and handed over a cybercrime suspect, Andrew Olasunkanmi, to the EFCC.

Andrew was arrested at his house on suspicion of involvement in fraudulent activities. A Honda Civic car and mobile phones were recovered from him.

The suspects will be charged to court as soon as the investigations are concluded.

Workers at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Amaku, Awka are jittery and apprehensive as Governor Charles Chukwuma Soludo installs Time and Attendance Machines to check lateness to duty, truancy, unnecessary absenteeism and ghost workers respectively.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr. Ben Afam Obidike who disclosed the strategic plan to ensure efficient service delivery at the hospitals as the governor directed, said the time and attendance machines would be installed in all the General Hospitals in Anambra state to enable the government to track and trail workers’ response to duty calls.

Obidike who spoke exclusively with our correspondent, said the government has started installing the regulatory machines at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Amaku Awka but according to him, workers at the hospital seemed not comfortable with the new technology.

The Commissioner maintained that from investigations, workers expressed reservations at the innovation and tried to find out if the time and attendance machines could be bypassed so as to maintain the status quo.

He said the government found out most workers seldom come to work and when they do, they either came late and leave before the close of work or report for duty only to disappear from the workplace and return at closing hours to sign out. While some do not come to work at all but received salaries at the end of the month.

The Commissioner stated that the government would also carry out Biometric Capturing of workers in all the General Hospitals to enable the government to monitor their movements after clocking in at the workplace each day, adding that the new innovations would checkmate redundancy and complacency while increasing productivity.

Meanwhile, the contractor handling the installation of the time and attendance regulatory machines at Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital Amaku Awka, Mr. Chidi Okafor, who is the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer TramSecure Resources Nigeria, revealed that about 20% of workers at Amaku Teaching Hospital do not come to work at all and at the end of the month they receive their salaries.

Okafor noted that it was as a result of it that the Anambra State Government decided to install the devices to ascertain if the workers actually come to work and to also sieve ghost workers off the system.

The contractor said workers at COOTH Amaku Awka were apprehensive when the regulatory devices were being installed on Tuesday 13th June, saying that about 95% of the workers were not comfortable with the devices as it was no longer business as usual.

Elder statesman and seasoned Nigerian politician, Malam Tanko Yakasai described his support for President Bola Tinubu as a good decision.

Yakasai stated this at a briefing after meeting with the President.

Yakasai, 97, is a human rights activist and former Liaison Officer to the late President Shehu Shagari.

The elder statesman noted that Tinubu has the pedigree and capacity to change the state of things in the country.

Yakasai said that Nigeria required at this time a man that has a track record of good governance and a well-versed politician to get it out of the woods.

According to Yakasai, with the precedence set in Lagos State when Tinubu was the governor for eight years, Nigerians should expect good times in the next six to 12 months.

He said, “Right from the time he declared his intention, I had supported Tinubu’s aspiration to lead the country.

“My support was borne out of a personal conviction that a real politician will be the only one that can solve the myriad problems of the country.

“In the past few days of his inauguration, I became more convinced that my support was not lost.

“The few decisions and laws signed as well as appointments has further singled him out as one of the best presidents to rule Nigeria,” he said.

Yakasai, however, called on Nigerians to continue to pray for the new administration to succeed, adding that the gains of the recent pronouncements would soon manifest.

He said he believed that Nigerians would have cause to smile after the many benefits of the decisions taken by Tinubu begins to be harvested.

Yakasai said that his visit to the President was to facilitate with him on his victory at the polls and a successful inauguration.

He said, “I came with some members of my family to facilitate with Mr President on his success at the polls and to pray for success of his administration.

“I will want Nigerians to stand by him in order enjoy the kind of development that happened in Lagos,” he said.

The suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Godwin Emefiele has spent his sixth day in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) with the secret police keeping mum over whether he will be charged to court or not.

Emefiele was arrested by the DSS last Friday evening shortly after he was suspended by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

On Saturday, DSS spokesman, Peter Afunanya, confirmed Emefiele was in their custody for investigative reasons.

Though he did not state the reasons, it was gathered Emefiele’s travails had to do with allegations of terrorism and financial impropriety at the apex bank.

The Service last December attempted to get a court order to arrest the CBN Governor over alleged “acts of financing terrorism, fraudulent activities and economic crimes of national security dimension.”

This was however unsuccessful as the court decided the DSS did not provide any concrete evidence to substantiate its claims that Emefiele was involved in terrorism financing and economic crimes.

The Service, it was reported, was expected to approach the court last Tuesday to obtain an order to keep the embattled CBN Boss longer in custody to enable it to carry out a comprehensive interrogation.

However, at of the time of filing this report, it could not be established that such an order had been obtained.

“This is a sensitive matter and I cannot say much. But the DSS is working to ensure it establishes a watertight case on this matter. Investigations are ongoing. I can’t say more for now. Let us watch and see how it unfolds,” the source said.

The DSS also invited Mr. Abdulrasheed Bawa, the suspended Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday.

Afunanya, in a statement late on Wednesday, said Bawa was in custody.

“Bawa arrived a few hours ago. The invitation relates to some investigative activities concerning him,” Afunanya said.

He did not give further details.

Former president of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, SAN, has asked President Bola Tinubu to remove from office the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu.

Agbakoba in a statement, yesterday, said the INEC boss must leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the electoral reform task in Nigeria would be impeded.

In the statement signed by his Media Assistant, Niyi Odunmorayo, Agbakoba commended the President for getting rid of Godwin Emefiele as governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and AbdulRasheed Bawa as chairman of Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.

He said: “Full congratulations go to President Tinubu for getting rid of Emefiele and Bawa, fuel subsidy and forex corruption. Endemic corruption has suffered a massive blow.

“Next is for the president to dismantle INEC. Everyone will agree that logistically, the 2023 elections are the worst in our history.

“I do not refer to the merits of the results of the elections. Many results are disputed and are in tribunals. Both petitioners and respondents suffered in the hands of an incompetent INEC.

“As we await rulings from the courts, massive reforms of the electoral framework ought to begin but this means that the INEC chairman will have to leave office by resignation or removal, otherwise the reform task will be impeded.

“I add very quickly that the suggested reforms have nothing to do with the merits of election results at all. Both winners and losers of the elections were victims of the failure of INEC. Confidence in Nigeria’s democracy will be enhanced by a deep cleansing of INEC.”

The election conducted by the present INEC had been described by both local and foreign observers as the worst ever held in the country.

Then President Muhammadu Buhari appointed Yakubu as INEC chair in November 2015 to succeed Attahiru Jega, who supervised the 2015 general elections.

A new World Bank report has explained how trillions of dollars spent on subsidies can save the people and the planet.

The global bank said $577 billion was spent in 2021 to lower the price of polluting fuels, such as oil, gas, and coal.

The report, titled: Detox Development: Repurposing Environmentally Harmful Subsidies, says the subsidies were wasted on agriculture, fishing and fossil fuels.

The report puts the global direct government expenditures in the three sectors as $1.25 trillion a year, adding that redirecting the subsidies could unlock at least $500 billion towards more productive and sustainable uses.

The Senior Managing Director of the World Bank, Axel van Trotsenburg, said: “People say that there isn’t money for climate, but there is – it’s just in the wrong places. If we could repurpose the trillions of dollars being spent on wasteful subsidies and put these to better, greener uses, we could together address many of the planet’s most pressing challenges.”

The problem, a statement by the bank said, is bigger than direct government expenditures.

“The report assesses the harmful impact of implicit subsidies, which amount to $6 trillion each year. These represent the costs on people and the planet from pollution, greenhouse gas emissions, road congestion, and the destruction of nature ultimately resulting from the subsidies.

“In agriculture, direct subsidies of more than $635 billion a year are driving the excessive use of fertilisers that degrade soil and water and harm human health. Subsidies for products, such as soybeans, palm oil, and beef, cause farmers to push into the forest frontier and are responsible for 14 per cent of forest loss every year.

“Fisheries subsidies, which exceed $35 billion each year, are a key driver of dwindling fish stocks, oversized fishing fleets, and falling profitability. With more than 1 billion poor people obtaining most of their animal protein from fish, it is critical that the world’s fish stocks are restored to healthy status.

“The burning of oil, gas, and coal causes 7 million premature deaths a year around the world through the bad air that people must breathe. The burden falls mostly on the poor,” the bank said.

The World Bank’s Chief Economist of the Sustainable Development Practice Group, Richard Damania, said: “With foresight and planning, repurposing subsidies can provide more resources to give people a better quality of life and to ensure a better future for our planet.

“Much is already known about best practices for subsidy reform, but implementing these practices is no easy feat due to entrenched interests, challenging political dynamics, and other barriers.”

As Naira Exchanges At 702.19 To Dollar At Investors, Exporters Window

Traders said Thursday that demand for dollars at the black market has dropped after Nigeria’s bold move yesterday to float the naira.

The drop in demand in the black market comes as no surprise as several businesses that had turned to that market after being starved of dollars at the official market will now return to the official market for transactions.

That’s after the CBN directed commercial banks to start selling forex freely at market-determined rates in a breakaway from years of fixing the price. The naira fell to as low as N755/$ on the official window before closing at N664/$.

The move is expected to deepen liquidity in the official market and reduce transactions in the black market.

The lower demand in the black market hasn’t started reflecting significantly on prices with traders quoting the dollar at N760 Thursday.

With the current exchange rate, the gap between the official and parallel market has dropped to 96 from 301 previously.

Muda Yusuf, chief executive officer of the Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise, said rate unification does not imply that rates will be exactly the same in all segments of the market.

According to him, the objective is to ensure that the differentials are very minimal, possibly between 5-10 percent.

“it is important to reiterate that this is not a devaluation policy, it is a normalization of the foreign exchange policy regime and an adjustment of rate to reflect the fundamentals of demand and supply. It would be dynamic; and the naira will appreciate or depreciate depending on the fundamentals,” Yusuf said.

“In the short term, we expect a depreciation of the currency in the official window because of the huge demand backlog. But as the market conditions normalizes and moves towards equilibrium, the rate would moderate.

“We also expect the new policy regime to boost inflows and strengthen the supply side amidst elevated investors’ confidence. The component of forex demand driven by arbitrage, rent seekers, speculators and other economic parasites would also fizzle out, thus restoring stability to the forex market,” he said.

Meanwhile, naira traded as high as 790 to the dollar at the investors and exporters (I&E) window on Thursday — about 24 hours after the float of the local currency.

However, the naira appreciated after hitting a record low at the FMDQ trading platform to close at 702 to the dollar.

The market rate is expected to maintain a “willing buyer, willing seller” arrangement forthwith.

The United States Senate has confirmed Nusrat Jahan Choudhury, President Biden’s nominee for a federal judgeship in New York, making her the nation’s first Muslim woman to serve as a federal judge.

Choudhury, a Bangladeshi-American, will serve the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn.

She was confirmed on Thursday in a 50-49 vote, with Senator Joe Manchin the only Democrat to vote against her confirmation.

Before being nominated to the bench by Biden in January 2022, Choudhury spent her entire legal career with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She was most recently the legal director of the ACLU of Illinois.

She previously worked with the ACLU’s racial justice programme, filing lawsuits fighting racial discrimination around the country. That included against the federal government — charging the FBI “no-fly-list” violated due process — and against the New York Police Department over alleged discriminatory practices, among others.

Choudhury’s confirmation has been lauded by Muslim-American advocacy groups. She is the second Muslim to be confirmed to the federal bench after Zahid Quraishi in 2021.

“Representation matters. Too long, Muslim women in this country have not been adequately heard by the courts, leading to decisions such as an employer allowing discrimination against women wearing hijab because of the fear their customers might be Islamophobic,” Justin Sadowsky, a trial lawyer for the Council on American-Islamic Relations, said in a statement.

“Choudhury has a long history of commitment to the civil rights not only of Muslims but of all Americans,” he added.

“We welcome the confirmation of Nusrat Jahan Choudhury as a clear statement that American Muslims are part of the fabric of our society at all levels and that our judiciary is increasingly diverse,” said CAIR National Executive Director Nihad Awad.

(THEHILL)