A retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Mary Peter-Odili has distanced herself from an allegation that she is influencing judges of the court of appeal and the Supreme Court to ensure that President Bola Tinubu gets a favourable judgment at the Presidential election petition tribunal.
The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, flagbearer of the Labour Party (LP), Peter Obi and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) are challenging Tinubu’s victory in the presidential election held on the 25th of February, 2023.
A Twitter user, Jackson Ude had alleged that Peter-Odili is helping Tinubu secure a favourable judgement at the tribunal.
Reacting to the allegation in a press statement signed by her spokesperson, Felix Enebeli, Odili described the claim as “false and malicious”.
The statement reads, “While the defamation arising from the false allegation has been referred to the lawyers of her lordship to deal with in accordance with the law, we consider it appropriate, particularly for the sake of the public, to issue this unequivocal denial of the false allegation.
“We deny every allegation contained in the publication and state that the publication is false, malicious, mischievous and a deliberate attempt at smearing the integrity and solid reputation of her lordship.
“We say nothing of the fact that the publication has the potential of inciting the public against her lordship on an issue of grave national importance.
“For the records, her lordship is neither a judicial consultant to anyone nor is she in any way connected with or involved in any of the presidential election petitions or any other election petition whatsoever. The public is hereby urged to disbelieve, disregard and ignore this false publication”.
Enebeli added that Odili’s lawyers are on the issue and have demanded a retraction and public apology from Ude.
According to Enebeli, a redress would be sought in court if Ude failed to retract the story.
The Oyo State House of Assembly has passed and approved a bill to grant special public holidays for traditional worshippers in Oyo State to celebrate Isese Day annually.
The bill was passed on Wednesday (today) to adherents of traditional religion in the state, Naija News understands.
The motion was read before the lawmakers today by the Majority Leader, Hon. Sanjo Onaolapo.
The lawmakers stressed the importance of dedicating a day for adherents of traditional religion to celebrate as it is for Christians and Muslims across the country.
The lawmaker also noted that some states in the Southwest region had already done so, stressing the need to respect the beliefs of traditional religious worshippers.
Naija News understands that the State Governor, Seyi Makinde, had promised to sign the bill into law once passed by the state House of Assembly.
In July, the Ogun State House of Assembly approved a special holiday for Isese in the state years after their predecessors in the chamber had declined requests to do so.
The holiday was fixed for August 20 annually for adherents of traditional religions to celebrate.
The Kogi State Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the November 11 election, Dino Melaye, has predicted the outcome of the forthcoming polls.
Naija News reports that the PDP chieftain on Wednesday, after a meeting of Kogi PDP stakeholders from the three Senatorial Districts of the state with the members of the National Working Committee (NWC), said the party would win because things have never been this bad for citizens in the state.
Melaye lamented the poor state of healthcare, education, and general standard of living under the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in the state.
While giving a charge to the party’s stakeholders, Melaye told them not to be intimidated by members of the ruling APC in the state.
He noted that “My charge to the people of Kogi State is that they should not be Intimidated by the APC. The threat, violence, and humiliation by the APC should not deter them from exercising their democratic rights. I want to assure you that we will protect our people.
“The PDP is going to win the election in Kogi State because we have never had it so bad in the state’s history. Our people are impoverished, salaries have not been paid, pensions have not been paid, gratuities have not been paid. The health sector is non-existent. In fact, all the general hospitals in the state are mere consulting clinics.
“Education has gone moribund, and this is what the PDP is coming to ameliorate and palliate. I want to assure you that by the grace of God. With the resolutions of this meeting, with the strategy adopted in this meeting, the PDP is good to go in Kogi State. “
Speaking on behalf of the NWC, acting National Chairman of the PDP, Umar Damagum, said signs were evident already that the PDP was the party to beat in the forthcoming governorship election in Kogi State.
He submitted that “We have already seen prospects in the coming election in Kogi, so this meeting is to know your challenges and to know how to work on the reconciliation before the election
“This reconciliation will take three stages from the ward, local government, and state. I am glad most of the senior stakeholders are here, and they are supposed to anchor that reconciliation. Because we that are from the state can only encourage you to work on the reconciliation.
“I am delighted to tell you that the Osun State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, who is the Chairman of the Kogi Campaign Committee, has promised to go to each zone to sit down with you on a zonal basis. He will campaign in all these places, and he is very much alive to this responsibility in Kogi.”
President Bola Tinubu and the former Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi are currently in a meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Naija News understands that the meeting is coming hours after Sanusi returned from the Niger Republic where he went to meet the Niger coup leader.
The former Emir of Kano met with the military leaders, led by the coup leader, General Abdourahmane Tchiani, in Niamey, the nation’s capital, to discuss the current political impasse occasioned by the recent coup in the country.
Recall that the military coup leader seized power from the democratically elected President, Mohamed Bazoum.
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi arrived at the Presidential Villa at about 8:25 pm immediately after a high delegation of the Nigeria Islamic Ulama met with the President.
The former Emir when asked about his visit to Niger simply said, ‘it’s fine.’
At the time of filing this report, Sanusi was still meeting with the President.
The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested three suspects in connection with a gruesome killing of a policeman, Pc Bala Nazifi Magaji, in Konkiyel village, Darazo Local Government Area of the state.
Spokesperson of the command, SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, who disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, August 9, 2023, said the arrested suspects have confessed to the gruesome murder of the officer with a machete and sticks.
According to the PPRO, Magaji, who was attached to Darazo Divisional Police Headquarters was attacked on the 25th of July, 2023 while on active official duty at Anguwar Abuja in Konkiyel village.
“The unfortunate incident led to a painstaking investigation by the Command to unravel the circumstances that surrounded the death of the officer.,” the statement read.
"Consequently, three suspects were arrested during the investigation. These are: 1. Aminu Mohammed aka Kangado m 35 years old of Anguwar Sarkin Baka Konkiyel village (the principal suspect perpetrator of the Dastardly act) 2. Abdullahi Abubakar aka Duna m 23 years old of Bakin Kasuwa, Konkiyel village and 3. Balarabe Abubakar 'm' 34 years old. While six (6) others were at large.
"The investigation also revealed that all the suspects have confessed to the gruesome killing of the officer with a machete and sticks. One of the suspects, Aminu Mohammed aka Kangado in his confession narrated that they took advantage of the dark hour and stabbed the officer multiple times in the back with a machete, while other accomplices used stones and sticks and hit the officer on the head. As a result, he sustained multiple injuries and lost blood.
“The officer was immediately evacuated to the General Hospital Darazo where he was certified dead by a medical doctor. Meanwhile, investigations into the case are ongoing, while efforts aimed at arresting other members of the gangs who are still at large is being intensified.”
The deposed Emir of Kano, Khalifa Muhammadu Sanusi II, visited and engaged in a private meeting with the leader of Niger Republic’s Military Junta, General Tchani, to deliberate on the situation in the country.
It is not clear in what capacity Sanusi II embarked on the trip to Niger, which is currently having a running battle with ECOWAS and has severed diplomatic relations with Nigeria.
A billionaire tech guru who planning to 'live forever' has shared details about his complex daily routine to extend his life as long as possible.
Bryan Johnson, 45, a California-based tech mogul spoke to Steven Bartlett on the Diary of a CEO Podcast this week.
He believes that always sleeping at the same time, never eating after 11am, and taking 111 pills are the keys to eternal youth.
The mogul added that his main goal in the 21st century is to 'not die' and he does anything possible to extend life - which has included injecting his 17-year-old son's plasma.
'I'm revolting against the culture of death,' he said on the podcast.
'I was born to introduce this new idea to humanity,' he told Dragon's Den star Steven.
'In the 21st Century, the only goal is not to die. It's the rallying cry for the 21st Century, those two word: "don't die",' he added.
Speaking this week, he also revealed how being born Mormon and struggling with depression and suicidal thoughts lead to his success now - but said that he worries that previously not looking after himself earlier in life could have caused damage.
Bryan added that he thinks it's 'absolutely possible' to 'live forever' and that he makes all his decisions via algorithm, so he does not give his mind 'authority' to make decisions.
Bryan also said that sleep is the most important thing for him and that he measures the quality of his sleep, getting 100 percent quality for six months straight.
The mogul revealed that he goes to bed at 8.30pm everyday, which can be detrimental to his social life - but said that it is worth it.
When he wakes up, he often doesn't speak to anyone for four or five hours so he's able to 'think'.
'I probe myself to deep levels, but you can get knocked off so fast. 'Someone saying "How are you, how was your sleep" can knock me off.'
The father-of-one also allocates 2250 calories to eat a day, which is strictly plant-based, eating everything between 6am and 11am.
Wine, he says, should also be drunk in the morning and limited to 3oz a day.
'I've built my life around sleep,' he explained. 'That's the opposite of cultural norms, most people will blow their bedtime if they want to go out with friends.
'I've made the hard decisions. There's a bunch of small things. 'My last meal of the day is at 11am, by the time I go to bed I have more than eight hours of digestion.
'I ran a few hundred experiments on this. I sleep best with an empty stomach'.
He added that he 'never shares a bed' with anyone and won't have sex after 8.30pm either.
'I'm single, I've tried to date before, I've given them a list of 10 things that will make them impossible to like me.'
Bryan also said that he grew up in 'typically American' and 'not healthy' way where he ate many sugary cereals, but now eats zero cane sugar because it has 'no benefits'.
'We're baby steps away from creating super intelligence, we cannot model out what the future is like in any way, shape or form,' he explained.
'The only thing we can play is don't die, don't kill each other. And don't underestimate AI.'
Discussing his diet, Bryan said he eats 2250 calories a day and 'every calorie has to fight for its life'.
He starts his day with a bowl of 'super veggies' which includes broccoli, cauliflower, garlic, ginger, and hemp seeds with extra virgin olive oil and cacao. He doesn't add any salt or seasoning except potassium chloride.
Eating around a kilogram of vegetables a day, he says that he adds dark chocolate to put off any sweet cravings.
He then has a 'dessert' of macadamia nuts mixed with berries and proteins.
Three tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, as well as a drink of 'green giant' are also part of the diet as well as 111 pills.
Bryan spends $2million (£1.6m) a year on a team of more than 30 doctors and medical experts that oversee and test almost every one of his organs. Their aim is to engineer his body into that of an 18-year-old.
He has taken 33,537 images of his bowels and monitors everything from his bone weight to his number of nighttime erections.
He and his doctors claim that in two years he has reduced his overall biological age by more than five years and now has the heart of a 37-year-old, the skin of a 28-year-old, and the lung capacity and fitness of an 18-year-old. His medical team is led by Oliver Zolman, a 29-year-old doctor researching aging therapies in Cambridge.
In his 30s, the entrepreneur founded Braintree Payment Solutions, a hugely successful company that he sold in 2013 for $800million.
Mohamed Bazoum, the democratically elected president of Niger, said he is being kept isolated and forced to eat dry rice and pasta by the military junta who overthrew him and are refusing to bow to international pressure to cede power.
In a series of text messages to a friend reportedly seen by CNN, Bazoum said he has been “deprived of all human contact” since Friday, with no one supplying him food or medicine.
Bazoum said he has been living without electricity for a week, a normal occurrence for all Nigeriens after Nigeria cut off electric power in response to the coup.
Bazoum says all of the perishable food he was supplied with has since gone bad, and he is now eating dry pasta and rice.
Though denied the chance to speak with acting US Deputy Secretary of State Victoria Nuland during her visit to Niamey, the Nigerien capital, on Monday, Bazoum has been in contact with the outside world.
Ouhoumoudou Mahamadou, the prime minister in Bazoum’s government, told French TV that the president was in good spirits despite being held in a “catastrophic situation.”
Nuland’s meeting on Monday with senior coup leaders lasted more than two hours, consisting of “extremely frank and at times quite difficult” conversations. A Tuesday face-to-face meeting that was supposed to take place in Niamey between the junta and representatives from the United Nations, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) was canceled at short notice.
Junta leaders said in a letter that postponement of the meeting was “necessary” in “this atmosphere of threatened aggression against Niger.”
However, Mahamadou, Bazoum’s prime minister, told French state-funded broadcaster TV5-Monde that the junta would like to continue dialogue with ECOWAS, the bloc that has been leading the regional response to the political crisis in Niger.
ECOWAS leaders are due to meet on Thursday in Nigeria to discuss the coup, though specifics regarding the gathering remain unclear.
The regional bloc had given the junta one week to return to their barracks and reinstall Bazoum, but that deadline came and went on Sunday without any change.
Justice Ahmed Mohammed of the Federal High Court Abuja has fixed August 30, 2023, to deliver judgment on the suit by a former Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle, seeking to stop an investigation against him.
In the amended originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/753/2023 the State Security Service; Nigeria Police Force; Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Nigerian Immigration Services, and the Attorney General of the Federation are the first to sixth defendants respectively.
Mattawalle, a ministerial appointee of President Bola Tinubu, in the suit sought a declaration from the court with regard to the judgments delivered by Justice Aminu Aliyu on May 31, 2023 in Suit No: FHC/GS/CS/30/2021 between The government of Zamfara and the EFCC and others, the fourth Defendant, has no authority or power to conduct an investigation, direct or cause to be directed, any inquiry or investigation and/or prefer any charge against the Plaintiff, his family, associates, and contractors to the Zamfara State Government, in respect of any money or funds belonging to the Zamfara State Government.
Also, based on the judgment and sections 4, 6, and 7 of the Zamfara State Anti-Corruption Law No. 12, 2021 he prayed the court to declare that any other body other than the Zamfara State Anti-Corruption Commission has no authority or power to conduct an investigation bordering on any alleged corrupt practices/financial crimes against him or his administration as Governor of Zamfara State.
In an affidavit in support of the originating summon Matawalle’s counsel, Kehinde Akinlolu (SAN) held that the totality of the purported findings and conclusions of the Defendants, particularly the 4th Defendant, by which they alleged corrupt practices and diversion of public funds of Zamfara State against him are utterly false and contrived to render him unworthy of leadership and public trust.
He argued further that all contracts awarded by his administration as Governor of Zamfara State were awarded through due process of law, properly documented and records were well kept.
He asserted that unless restrained, the defendants will arrest, detain and prosecute him, in breach of the extant Zamfara State Anti-Corruption Law and his constitutionally guaranteed right to fair hearing.
The counsel for the first defendant, O.A Aderohumu, asked the court to strike out the SSS name from the suit, while the counsel for the fourth defendant, M. K
Hussein prayed the court to dismiss the suit, describing it as unconstitutional and lacking in merit.
Legal counsel for the third and sixth defendants were absent during the Tuesday proceedings.
The representative of counsel for the fifth defendant M. B Kannap in an oral application said Immigration was empowered by section 31 of the Immigration Act 2015 to prohibit the departure of any person who is yet to satisfy an order of a court of competent jurisdiction or against whom a warrant of arrest had been issued.
In his ruling, the presiding judge, Ahmed Mohammed, reserved judgment on the matter till August 30.
In a bid to cushion the negative impact of the harsh operating environment on business caused by the removal of petrol subsidy, the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Tax Policy and Fiscal Reforms, Taiwo Oyedele, has said that the Value Added Tax on Automotive Gas Oil also known as diesel should be suspended.
Oyedele said this when he appeared on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme on Wednesday.
Oyedele, a former Fiscal Policy Partner and Africa Tax Leader at PriceWaterhouseCoopers was appointed by President Bola Tinubu to head the committee whose scope includes fiscal governance, tax reforms and growth facilitation.
His suggestion is coming barely 24 hours after President Bola Tinubu inaugurated his committee with a charge to boost revenue to a level where Nigeria’s tax to Gross Domestic Product ratio will rise to 18 per cent in the next three years.
Oyedele explained further that the nation’s fiscal governance covers issues ranging from debt limit to the ratio of deficit to Gross Domestic Product (as indicated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act), reporting revenue generation and the quality of spending.
He stated further that there is a significant tax gap of over N20trn, adding that many people that are within the tax net have been evading payment of taxes.
He said, “What the President wants us to do is that within the first 30 days, there are those low-hanging fruits that people have generally agreed that this is a problem but nobody has done anything about it.
“Personally, for example, this is not promising that it would be done, but I think that we should suspend VAT on diesel because we removed fuel subsidy on petrol and prices are going up.
“We are going to table it before the committee. These are the things we want to do in the first 30 days.
“Some of them are in the tax net with one or two fingers. In fact, our plan is to repeal many of the taxes that currently make doing business difficult without introducing new ones, and yet collect more.”
Oyedele stated that Nigeria’s revenue generated through tax is one of the lowest in the world, noting that there is need to correct this in a manner that would boost revenue to finance key programmes of government.
For the nation’s economy to benefit from revenue generation, he said the collection of revenue should be assigned primarily to the Federal Inland Revenue Service, while reducing the revenue generation burden on the Federal Government’s Ministries, Departments, and Agencies.
He added, “At the Federal Government level alone, we had 63 MDAs that were given revenue targets in the 2023 budget, these agencies are being distracted from their primary function which is to facilitate the economy.
“Every state should just have one law that covers everything collectible by local government and the state government.”
He said the laws that would be created for tax collection should be transparent.
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The Central Bank of Nigeria has said that Nigeria is still doing better than most African nations despite the high inflation witnessed across the country.
Acting Governor of the CBN, Folashodun Shonubi said this at the 2023 Zenith Bank International Trade Seminar in Lagos on Tuesday, August 8.
Shonubi who was represented by the Deputy Governor, of Economic Policy at the CBN, Kingsley Obiorah, said Nigeria’s inflation rate stood at 22.8 per cent, adding that the International Monetary Fund expected the country to have a growth moderation of 3.2 per cent in 2023.
Also outlining the various factors that have caused inflation witnessed in the country, the acting CBN Governor said;
“Now, when you come down to Africa and neighbouring Ghana, At the last count inflation there is at 42.5 per cent. We have it at 31 per cent in Ethiopia and 36 per cent in Egypt.
“So, in our dear country, we are at 22.8 per cent. When you hear these figures, it tells you that we’re not doing as badly but all of this has also affected economic growth itself. Today, the IMF has revised growth downwards from 3.5% per cent to three per cent this year and 3 per cent next year.
“For Sub-Saharan Africa, they expect growth to moderate from 4.1 per cent last year to 3.5 per cent this year, but to take back again to just slightly over 4 v next year. In Nigeria they expect us to do 3.2 per cent this year.
“We know that the war between Russia and Ukraine is contributing a lot as the two countries are very important commodity exporters. Both of them account for 30 per cent of sunflower exports in the world. So, when such a region is at war, you know what will happen to food prices worldwide.
“We know too that there’s been a shift in demand from goods to services; services are usually more expensive. There’s also the disruption going on in China today with their zero COVID policy, power cuts as we know, and then the switch from coal to more renewable energy has also meant that power is not as valuable as it used to be.”
Shonubi also claimed that the high rate of investment in property services in China has also led to disruptions in the supply chain.
He said;
“We see too in China today some correction in the property market. A lot of Chinese don’t have quite the kind of investment vehicles that say the average American has.
“A lot of them have put their savings into property. But that has meant an oversupply of property in China today. There are 65 million empty apartments in China.
“That’s enough to take the entire population of France. So that correction is also leading to supply chain disruptions.
“In the decade between 2001 and 2011, the non-oil exports to GDP ratio for Nigeria was 0.8 per cent. And you can imagine that in the next decade, so, from 2012 to 2022, we were still at 1.2 per cent, showing an increment of 0.4 per cent over 20 years.
”We need to be growing much faster. Countries that are way smaller than us are doing much better.”
Also explaining why Nigeria has to do better in exports, Shonubi said;
“The Netherlands has a land size of 34,000 square kilometres. So, if you add water, you go to 42,000. It might interest you to know that non-oil exports from the Netherlands is 29% of their GDP. Most times they do $108 billion in non-oil exports.
“Now keep in mind the Netherlands is smaller than Niger State, actually the size of Niger State. I’ll give you another example. Ireland is a country that sits on just about 70,000 square kilometres, and they routinely do non-oil exports of $170 billion so we can do better.”
The former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, has paid a closed-door visit to President Bola Tinubu at the State House, following the Senate’s decision to withhold his ministerial nomination.
El-Rufai reportedly arrived at the Presidential Villa accompanied by ex-Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike, whose ministerial nomination was successfully confirmed by the Senate.
The Senate’s decision to withhold El-Rufai’s nomination and that of two other nominees had generated reactions within political circles.
Yemi Adaramodu, the spokesperson for the Senate and representative of Ekiti South Senatorial District, had indicated that there might be a re-screening process for the pending nominees.
He shared this during an appearance on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily programme.
“The question raised about them is an ongoing issue. So, once the Senate is satisfied, definitely, if we need to invite them to the chamber for re-confirmation and re-screening, then we’ll do that.”
While the agenda of El-Rufai’s meeting with Tinubu remains unknown at press time, the timing of the visit, following the Senate’s decision, suggests he may be seeking Tinubu’s intervention over his pending ministerial confirmation.
The suspended Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) governor, Godwin Emefiele has asked a Federal High Court Sitting in Lagos to stop the Federal Government from further prosecuting him on the charge of illegal possession of a firearm and ammunitions or on any other charge for that matter.
He’s also seeking an order of the court discharging him of all offenses prosecuted by the Government who is in “brazen disobedience” of the subsisting orders of the court granting him bail on July 25, 2023.
Emefiele also asked for a further order prohibiting the FG from continuing to enjoy any form of indulgence from the courts except and unless it complies with the bail ruling.
Through his lawyers led by Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Joseph Daudu, the suspended CBN Governor filed an application to this effect before Vacation judge, Justice Nicholas Oweibo who had admitted him to bail after his arraignment.
The application was filed pursuant to Section 6(6)(a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), relevant sections of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015 and under the inherent powers of the court.
Emefiele asked Justice Oweibo to stay further proceedings in the present charge until he exhausts all the remedies available to him in law to compel the government & the DSS to obey the order of the court admitting him to bail or remanding him in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Centre until he perfects his bail terms.
A member of the defence team, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Victor Opara confirmed that the application which was filed yesterday, Aug 8th, has been served on the FG, today.
The application seeks to invoke the jurisdiction of the court to enforce its orders so as not to be seen as a toothless bull dog or paper tiger.
The applicant also says that the processes seeks to preserve and protect the efficacy, majesty and integrity of the court as well as the rule of law in our democracy
Channels Television has also gathered that the Federal Government, last week, filed an application before the court seeking leave to appeal against the order granting bail to the suspended CBN governor.
Justice Oweibo has fixed Thursday, Aug 10 to hear the application.
In the application filed on Aug. 3rd, by a deputy director of public prosecutions of the Federation, Nkiru Jones-Nebo, the FG also asked the court to stay execution of the order remanding Emefiele in the custody of the Nigeria Correctional services and to make an order remanding him instead in the custody of the DSS.
The National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, says the administration of President Bola Tinubu will give special attention to the safety and security of students and schools in the country.
Ribadu stated this on Wednesday in Abuja at a Strategic Forum On Achieving Safer Schools organised by the Nigeria Police Force.
The programme was themed, ‘Imperative for a safer teaching and learning environment for the future of Nigeria’s national development: the need for national collective action’.
It was aimed at strengthening synergy amongst security agencies towards tackling the myriads of security challenges including mass kidnapping in schools within the country.
At the Forum, Ribadu said, “Undoubtedly, education has always been the cornerstone of progress in any society and as we strive to build a prosperous country for the future of our children and the generation yet unborn, it is critical that we prioritise the safety and security of our educational institutions at all levels.
“The administration of President Bola Tinubu pledged to work with both state and local government authorities to reform and retool the nation’s educational system by giving special attention to security of our schools, welfare and training of teachers and students.”
Ribadu, who was represented at the event by Major Gen A.M Dikko (rtd), said the invasion of schools by bandits and other armed persons has impacted on school enrolment in the country, especially in the northern region.
He tasked all the security agencies in the country on the need for intelligence gathering and sharing to curb the menace.
The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, who was the host of the programme, said the Tinubu administration is determined to protect students and give them safe learning environment.
Others at the event include the Chief Of Defense Staff, Maj-Gen C G Musa represented By Air Vice Marshal A.V. Ndache; the Chief Of Army Staff Maj Gen Taoreed Lagbaja; the Chief Of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Emmanuel Ogalla represented by Commodore S.M Ahmed; the Chief Of Air Staff, Air Marshall Hassan Abubakar represented by Brig Gen G.O Esho.
Mass abduction of students by bandits was one of the major security challenges that confronted the administration of ex-President Muhammadu Buhari.
In February 2021, bandits abducted over 300 schoolgirls in Jangebe in Zamfara State. In the same month, bandits kidnapped dozens of students and workers of Government Science College in Kagara, Niger State.
In 2020, bandits abducted over 300 schoolboys from Government Science Secondary School in Kankara, Katsina State. Aside from Jangebe, Kankara and Kagara, non-state actors previously abducted hundreds of secondary school girls from Chibok, in Borno State; and Dapchi in Yobe State.