The Defence Headquarters (DHQ), yesterday said the coordinated onslaught against Lakurawa terrorists in Sokoto State by air and land components of operation Fansan Yamma were not responsible for the alleged civilian casualties.

The military said civilian casualties resulted from a secondary explosion, contrary to the erroneous media report that military airstrikes hit wrong location and killed no fewer than 10 armless and innocent citizens in a village in Sokoto state.

Also yesterday, the Nigerian military allayed fears of citizens over the acquisition of drones by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (BH/ISWAP) terrorists to attack troops’ locations.
On December 25, a coordinated joint operation was conducted between the air and land components of Operation Fansan Yamma to destroy Lakurawa terrorist groups in their hideouts at Gidan Bissah and Gidan Rotuwa in Jilukon Forest, in Sokoto State killing no fewer than 10 villagers.

Refuting the alleged killing of civilians during airstrikes in North-west operational theatre, the Director Defence Media Operations Major General Edward Buba, revealed that locals confirmed that the Lakurawa terrorists stayed in the village and used the area for the conduct of their operations.
Buba stated that intelligence surveillance and reconnaissance as well as human intelligence reports prior to the operation consistently indicated the hideout was a high concentration terrorist location.

According to him, “The air strikes at the end of the day had minor impact on the surrounding villages.

“The air strikes indeed hit logistic base of the terrorist which led to secondary explosions and it was these secondary explosions that led to some casualties that was earlier reported.
“The neutralised lakurawa terrorist combatants were burnt indeed beyond recognition because they were hit directly by the strikes”.

Buba noted that the terrorists are known to blend within the local populace.

“We knew about this and it is for this reason that we painstakingly made sure that we minimise civilian casualty in this strike and because the terrorists blend among the civil populace, it is often difficult to differentiate friend from foe.

“In summarising, I would say that troops target terrorists and not innocent citizens. Having said that, we must also remember that war is ugly and horrible in every sense. War is never beautiful and it is the worst human endeavor ever,” he stressed.

This, he said was the reason the military often explain what troops were doing in the field knowing that by so doing they have a better chance to deny the enemy to manipulate things and use it for their purposes or to their advantage.

Buba said every innocent soul lost in the course of their operation was a tragedy and they do sympathise with their loved ones and their families whenever such occurs.
“But we must be reminded that our troops are very professional in their actions and are indeed turning the tide against the insurgents and terrorists.

“We wouldn’t have been able to do it without their cooperation and the intel that they provided us. Thank you very much. The Armed Forces have to protect our citizens and it is for these reasons that we carry out our operations to make sure that citizens are protected and our territory and our territorial integrity is also secured.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian military yesterday allayed fear of citizens over the acquisition of drones by Boko Haram and Islamic State West Africa Province (BH/ISWAP) terrorists to attack troops locations.

The military said there was no cause for alarm as the drones used by the terrorists are not military-graded unmanned aerial vehicles.

Buba, said this while fielding questions from journalists during a press briefing in Abuja yesterday.

Buba said the drones used by terrorists were “toys” to harass civilians.

“The report about the usage of drones. I don’t think that there’s need for any unnecessary panic about the usage of drones.
“We are in war against terrorists and against insurgents across our country and all you need to know is not far from what you see happening in Ukraine, Russia, Israel, Hamas and all that. The use of drones in the battlefield is not new.

“Now when we are talking of drones, we don’t want unnecessary panic because these are not professional drones, not military-grade drones.
“These are toys that they went to buy and found a way to put one or two things on board and use them. How effective were they? They were not effective. Are we doing something about it? Yes, we are.

“Since we now know that this is where their thinking and their thoughts are going, we have to take measures to control such attacks. I don’t call them really attacks, I call them harassments,” he said.

Buba further clarified that there was no foreign military base in Nigeria, adding that Nigeria has refused to be a ground for any proxy war.

According to him, “We don’t have any foreign military base. We said this more than one time, we do not have any foreign military base in Nigeria. “Anyone who is saying that is trying to be mischievous… trying to be misleading and definitely he has an agenda.
“There is no foreign military base in Nigeria to be a ground for proxy war. We don’t want our country to be a ground for proxy war. You accept one person, the enemy of that person will start to woo you. That is a proxy war. We don’t want that.

“So anywhere you hear anybody talking like that, I think they are doing that as a distraction.”

To spend N35.68trn on capital projects, recurrent get N38.57 trn

•Lagos, Niger, Ogun, Delta, Enugu, A/Ibom emerge as heavy spenders

•Gombe, Yobe, Ekiti, Ebonyi, Nasarawa’re least spenders

•Lagos’ N3trn surpasses North-East six states’ N2.6trn

•Rivers, FCT yet to announce budgets

TO alleviate poverty and improve the fortunes of the citizenry in 2025, the Federal Government and 35 of the 36 states of the country have proposed to spend N74.249 trillion as budget next year.

Rivers State, which is enmeshed in political crisis and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Abuja, are yet to announce their budgets.

The N74.249 trillion could be more, by the end of 2025, as the Federal Government and most of the states’ proposals are yet to be passed by the legislature. There is also the likelihood of supplementary appropriations.

According to Vanguard’s summation of the various budgets, the sum of N35.676 trillion or 48.05 per cent would be spent on capital projects while recurrent expenditures were allocated N38.573 trillion (51.95 per cent).

Indeed, most of the 35 states allocated more funds to capital expenditure except Ekiti , Osun and the Federal Government (see table).

Ekiti State proposed to spend N183.464 billion of its N375.790 billion budget on capital projects and earmarked N192.327 billion for recurrent expenditure.

On its part, Osun State proposed N390.028 billion, voted N144.231 billion for capital expenditure, and N245.797billion for recurrent.

At the centre, the Federal Government unveiled a N49.74 trillion proposal made up of N30.45 recurrent expenditure and N19.29 trillion capital expenditure.

The recurrent budget consists of N16.33 trillion (debt servicing) and N14.12 trillion (non-debt recurrent). And the capital expenditure includes N14.85 trillion (projects) and N4.44trillion (statutory transfers).

Among the states, the heavy spenders are Lagos (N3.005 trillion), Niger (N1.5 trillion), Ogun (N1.0545 trillion), Delta (N979.2 billion), Enugu (N971.8 billion) and Akwa Ibom (N955 billion).
The least spenders include Gombe (N320.11billion), Yobe (320.811 billion), Ekiti (N375.79 billion) Nasarawa (N382.57billion) and Ebonyi (N396.59 billion).

Among the zones, the South-West came tops with N6.202 trillion and the least is North-East with N2.610 trillion.

The others are North-West (N4.382 trillion), North-Central (N4.0265trillion), South-South (without Rivers) has N3.807 trillion, and South-East N3.481 trillion).

As the economic nerve centre of the nation, the N3.005 trillion budget of Lagos surpasses the N2.610 trillion proposed by the six states (Adamawa, Bauchi, Borno, Gombe, Taraba and Yobe) of the Northeast.

The Lagos figure is about N476 billion less than the entire budgets of the five (Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu and Imo) South-East states (N3.481 billion)

In line with the recommendations of the State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy, Governor Ademola Adeleke has exercised prerogative of mercy towards 53 convicts serving various convictions within the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The letter of commutation dated December 24th, 2024 and which has since been received and acknowledged by the relevant prison authorities read as follows:

"WHEREAS: the inmates whose names are set out in the schedule to this order have been convicted to various terms of imprisonment to wit.

(i) Simple offences and have served substantial portions of the sentences, 

(ii) Convicts sentenced to death

"(having spent a minimum of 10 years in custody.)

"AND WHEREAS: following the recommendation made to me by the state advisory council on the prerogative of mercy that I should exercise my power in relation to the said inmates in order to mark the 2024 Christmas celebration.

"AND WHEREAS: in the case of the 30 (thirty) inmates convicted of simple offences, I have decided in accordance with the said recommendation to remit and forgive the remainder of the said sentences in whole.

"AND WHEREAS: I have decided in accordance with the said recommendation to grant outright pardon to 12 (Twelve) inmates convicted of simple offences.

"4 (Four) Convicts have their sentences commuted from death to outright pardon. AND WHEREAS: I have decided in accordance with the said recommendation to commute the sentences as follows;

"1 (One) convict has his sentence commuted from death to 15 (Fifteen) years imprisonment.

"6 (Six) Convicts have their sentences commuted from death to outright release.

"Now know ye therefore that, I Senator Ademola Jackson Adeleke, the Governor of Osun State of Nigeria, in exercise of the power conferred on me by paragraph (a), (c) and (d) of subsection (i) of section 212 of the constitution of the federal republic of Nigeria, 1999 (as Amended), I am pleased to extend my grace and mercy unto the said inmates.

"My will and pleasure thereof, is that you commute the death, life and years of imprisonment as indicated herewith in the schedule"

Those in the schedule are as follows:

CONVICTS RECOMMENDED FOR OUTRIGHT PARDON (SIMPLE OFFENCES)

1. OLABOMIJI NURUDEEN

2. MUSTAPHA ISAH

3. OLALEKAN ABDULLAHI

4. AYOMIDE OLOJEDE

5. AKEEM RAPHAEL

6. ADEYEMI ABIODUN

7. OLADIPUPO SEGUN

8. OMISAKIN SUNDAY

9. ADEMOLA ADIO

10. TUNDE OLAPADE

11. LATE CHIEF WOLE OLA

RUFUS OJO

12. OMOLOYE OLAJIDE

OLAYEMI

CONVICTS RECOMMENDED FOR OUTRIGHT RELEASE (SIMPLE OFFENCES)

1. OLUBO SUNDAY

2. ISAH UMAR BIODUN

3. FAWAS KAREEM

4. OMIRIN TEMITAYO

5. OLARENWAJU AYOMIDE

6. DARE SUNDAY

7. OLADAPO TUNDE

8. GANIYU SAHEED

9. ADEWUMI SODIQ

10. ADEBAYO ADEOYE

KEHINDE

11. LASIS KAZEEM

12. DAUDA OJO (59 YEARS)

13. ISMAILA RAJI

14. OSENI MICHEAL

15. AJAYI KOREDE

16. ABIONA NURUDEEN

17. OSHI SAMUEL

18. SHEU YUSUF OLATUNJI

19. OJO AANU

20. MUSTAPHA KEHINDE

21. LASIS ABEEB

22. ALEXANDRA IORLAHA

23. OJO TAIWO

24. AZEEZ MUJEEB

25. AKINYEMI DAVID

26. ADEOSUN ADEKUNLE

27. OLAOBAJU SAMUEL

28. ADURA ADEFEMI

29. PAUL BASIL

30. KUNLE DAVID

CONVICT RECOMMENDED FOR OUTRIGHT PARDON FOR GOOD CONDUCT (CAPITAL OFFENCES) - 4 (FOUR)

1. SUNDAY MORAKINYO

2. SEGUN OLOWOOKERE

3. TUNDE OLAPADE

4. DEMOLA ODEYEMI

CONVICT RECOMMENDED FOR OUTRIGHT RELEASE ON HEALTH GROUND, (CAPITAL OFFENCES) -

1 OLUWAFEMI FAGBEMI

2 BEWAJI SUNDAY

3. AMEHIN GEORGE

4. AYOMIDE ARULOGUN

5. TAIWO OLUWATOBI STEPHEN

6. ABUBAKAR ABDULAZEEZ

CONVICT RECOMMENDED TO BE COMMUTED FROM DEATH TO 15 YEARS IMPRISONMENT HAVING SPENT AT LEAST 10

YEARS IN CUSTODY

1. OJEKUNLE TIMOTHY

Signed

Mallam Olawale Rasheed,

Spokesperson to the State Governor.

The National Bureau of Statistics has earmarked N35m in its 2025 budget proposal for “Capacity Building on Cybersecurity and Data Centre Management.”

This allocation comes at a critical time as the agency grapples with the aftermath of a cyberattack that compromised its website on December 18, 2024.

The breach, which was publicly disclosed via the bureau’s official X (formerly Twitter) account, led to a warning for the public to disregard any information on the platform until the situation is resolved.

This incident has raised significant concerns about the vulnerability of the bureau’s digital infrastructure, especially considering its crucial role as Nigeria’s primary source of statistical data.

In addition to the cybersecurity allocation, the NBS’s 2025 budget proposal includes several other projects aimed at improving its operational efficiency, modernising infrastructure, and enhancing service delivery.

For instance, the bureau has allocated N55m for the National Agricultural Sample Survey, N20m for the Compilation of Tourism, Education, Health, and Natural Resources Satellite Accounts, N50m for Tracking the Implementation of the 8-Point Agenda, and N50m for the System of Administrative Statistics Reports.

Other notable allocations include N60m for the National Integrated Survey of Establishment, N45m for Reform and Service Delivery Capacity Building, N35m for SDG Tracking, and N30m for the Revision of the Statistics Act.

Additional allocations of N25m each have been designated for Financial Management Capacity Building and Sustainable Procurement Methods Capacity Building, while N10m has been earmarked for developing capacity in creating infographics and statistical reports.

One of the most significant allocations in the budget is N500m for the Labour Force Survey.

The Compilation of Quarterly GDP by Production, Expenditure, and Income has been allocated N60m.

N15m has been allocated for the Waste Generated Statistics Report in Nigeria, while the NBS Annual Report and Quarterly Progress Reports have been allocated N10m.

Also, N80m has been set aside for the National Consultative Committee on Statistics, an initiative that facilitates collaboration among stakeholders in the national statistical system.

The Annual Abstract of Statistics has received N15m, while the Production of Demographic Statistics Bulletin has been allocated N9m.

N36m has been allocated for the Quarterly Production of Foreign Trade in Goods and Trade Intensity Index, while Producer Price Index Production, which measures changes in the prices of goods and services at the producer level, has been allocated N40m.

Similarly, the Consumer Price Index  Production, a critical measure of inflation, has been allocated N80m, reflecting its central role in economic analysis and policymaking.

The bureau’s total expenditure proposed amounts to N9.85bn, with personnel costs constituting the majority of the allocation.

A significant portion of the budget is directed towards personnel costs, which account for N6.65bn.

With the website hack lasting for about a week, this may lead to delay in the release of critical reports by the government agency.

The NBS, a critical government agency responsible for collecting and disseminating statistical data on Nigeria’s economy, governance, and development, plays a pivotal role in informing public policy and decision-making processes.

The cyberattack highlights the increasing vulnerability of government institutions to digital threats.

Earlier, The PUNCH reported that Nigeria, Africa’s largest economy, is under siege from cybercriminals, with organisations facing an average of 3,759 cyberattacks weekly.

This was according to the latest 2024 African Perspectives on Cyber Security Report by Check Point Software Technologies.

The report paints a grim picture of the country’s vulnerability as it increasingly embraces digitalisation, with critical sectors such as finance, government, and education bearing the brunt of the attacks.

The report noted that government institutions are not spared, with public sector entities experiencing an average of 1,791 attacks weekly.

Ransomware and botnet activities dominate the threats to this sector, which plays a crucial role in managing the nation’s economy.