We will always keep our eye on Bokoharam - Osinbajo says

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo said yesterday the Nigerian security agencies will keep up their vigilance against Boko Haram terrorists.

Noting that the terrorists have been degraded, he said they still carry out suicide bomb attacks against soft targets.

Fielding questions from reporters after receiving briefing from Service chiefs, Osinbajo said: “ As you know, the Boko Haram as a military force has been degraded. They are not holding territory at the moment. Our armed forces have been able to dislodge them from practically all territories they were holding in the past.

“What is happening now is just once in a while attack by suicide bombers. By the nature of asymmetric warfare, we are not able to say it has ended now. But I think that militarily they have been contained. There is no question at all that Boko Haram as a fighting force has been degraded.

“We are still vigilant because of their capacity to do damage with suicide bombers. I am very satisfied with what the military has done so far.   And the briefing has shown graphically that they are really on top of their game and that they are doing excellently well in the Northeast.”

He explained the fact that he received the security briefing did not mean that President Muhammadu Buhari would not return soon.

According to him, the security briefings are routine.

“Besides, the President is a process person and certainly I am going to speak with him here on developments here. So, it is not an indication of anything. It is only an indication that we are committed  to the security of the nation.  The primary duty of government is to ensure lives and properties, and that is why we have to be regularly briefed.

“The good thing is that our men are going extraordinarily well in the Northeast and that Southern Kaduna has also been contained. The peace building process is also going on very well.”

Minister of Defence, Mansur Muhammad Dan Ali said: “We have trashed most of the security issues that concerns the country at the meeting, including the Southern Kaduna and the Northeast and other parts of the country.”

On whether Nigeria is now safe, he said: “Nigeria is very safe and I believe with the concept of the security agencies, all the security challenges have been surmounted.”

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Biafra: Nigeria is a country of animals, savages – Nnamdi Kanu [VIDEO]

The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has said Nigeria is a country of savages and animals.

He stated this on Wednesday after Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja, threw out six charges filed against him by the Federal Government.

Six out of the eleven count criminal charges the FG filed against Kanu and three others, were quashed by Justice Nyako.

Justice Nyako held that the six charges were not supported by the proof of evidence the prosecution adduced against the defendants.

However, the court sustained five other charges against the IPOB leader and three other pro-Biafra agitators – Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.

Kanu, who was dressed in a Jewish apparel, speaking afterwards said that Nigeria is a country that does not “obey the law”.

Video Link:

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Ebonyi justifies decision to demolish billboards

Ebonyi State government has justified its decision to mark billboards erected in Abakaliki and other cities for demolition.

Commissioner for the Environment Chief Moses Nome told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abakaliki most billboard owners failed to meet the stipulated conditions before their erection.

He said most billboard owners failed to pay tariff to the government, as agreed, before the billboards were erected.

“Most of the billboards are substandard. The Governor Dave Umahi administration has adopted a standard for the erection of billboards and signposts.

“This will enable the state compete with other states in aesthetic and even outshine them,” Nome said.

The commissioner said the government took steps to address the menace of dilapidated structures in Abakaliki and other towns.

”We have met house owners under the aegis of Ebonyi State Landlords Association, to inform them of our plans to remodel Abakaliki and other towns.

“We instruct them that the frontage of houses on major roads be cemented, to stop erosion.

“We arrange with landlords, who do not have money to conform to our designs, to renovate such buildings and deduct the cost from their rents until they recoup their expenditure,” he said.

Nome said the government acquainted the landlords with its intention to paint fences of buildings, adding that the exercise had started.

”Those who have money to paint their buildings can still do so, while those who don’t have money can register with us so that the painting can be done,” he said.

The commissioner said those who had registered with the government would have their buildings renovated.

”We will fence, plaster and paint the buildings. This partnership will debunk the wrong notion in certain quarters that the government wants to confiscate the beneficiaries’ buildings,” Nome said.

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Court brought out six charges against Nnamdi Kalu and Others - see detail

A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, struck out six of the eleven count criminal charges brought against leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

Six out of the eleven count criminal charges the Federal Government filed against Kanu and three others, were quashed by Justice Binta Nyako of the Abuja Federal High Court.

However, the court sustained five other charges against the IPOB leader and three other pro-Biafra agitators – Chidiebere Onwudiwe, Benjamin Madubugwu and David Nwawuisi.Justice Nyako held that the six charges were not supported by the proof of evidence the prosecution adduced against the defendants.

The five sustained charges border on conspiracy, treasonable felony, publication of defamatory matter and Kanu’s alleged importation of goods contrary and punishable under section 47(2) (a) of the Customs and Excise Management Act, Cap C45, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.

Kanu entered a fresh plea of not guilty of the five charges.

The federal government alleged in three of the remaining charges that Kanu had in a broadcast he made in London on April 28, 2015, through Radio Biafra, referred to President Muhammadu Buhari as “a paedophile, a terrorist, an idiot and an embodiment of evil.”Justice Nyako said in her ruling that there was no evidence before the court to prove that IPOB was an unlawful society.

Meantime, March 20 and 21 have been fixed for commencement of full-blown trial of the defendants.

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