Akpabio, Ojugboh and the 40 thieves, By Fejiro Oliver

By Fejiro Oliver

"When I saw corruption, I was forced to find truth on my own. I couldn’t swallow the hypocrisy"

... Barry White

My Dear President

I bring you Calvary greetings. Before I start, I swear that everything you will read here is nothing but the truth and a reflection of the minds of well-meaning sons and daughters of the Niger Delta extraction. So help me God.

When you set up the Interim Management Committee (IMC) to oversee the affairs of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) after stepping down the initial names sent to the National Assembly, we didn’t scream down the heavens because we were already tired of the thieves who masqueraded as MDs and Executive Directors of the commission over the years and truly yearned for the long awaited forensic audit to be carried out.

Little did we know that the worst sets of rogues that will make Lawrence Anini look like a Saint that will ever grace the NDDC and turn the place into what Warri folks call “their cocoyam farm”. Since Godswill Akpabio was appointed the Minister of Niger Delta, the place has known no rest. He has imported the looting syndrome that he inflicted in Akwa Ibom into the NDDC and abandoned the other works that his ministry is supposed to do and channeled all his energy on NDDC.

With his appointing of Cairo Ojugboh, a known soldier of liars as the Acting Executive Director of Projects, the restiveness became worse than the actual days of agitation and struggle for the recognition of the Niger Delta as the region that lays the golden eggs. Rather than sanitizing the place, the duo has turned it into their conquered kingdom, awarding contracts to friends and cronies. Contractors daily cry out on how they pay Cairo Ojugboh 30% of payments made to them and anyone who does not agree to this is not paid. It is an open secret that for years, 10% was the norm but the Minister and Cairo have been alleged to up the game by taking more from these contractors who borrow money from banks to finance these projects. How do we expect them to deliver quality jobs when they know that Akpabio and Godswill are by the corners like hungry vultures waiting to descend on the monies that will be paid them?

Mr President, this is not the time for you to turn blind eyes to these wanton stealing of the NDDC funds especially to the tune of over N50 billion that Akpabio and Cairo have squandered on irrelevant projects that makes no meaning to any Niger Deltan? How do we begin to explain in future to our children that a certain Cairo Ojugboh and his gang of 40 thieves paid themselves N1.5 billion under the time of COVID-19 while they shared only noodles to the people and it was under your reign? How do we tell the next generation that you were the President and Akpabio alongside his Man Friday Cairo paid almost N1 billion for image management and reputation that were never done but money channeled into their private purses and you did nothing? Pray Mr President, how do we write the history of Niger Delta and say that you appointed a Minister who imposed IMC on you and awarded media jobs to a shabby engineering company, awarded procurement of Lassa fever kits to a roadside company that sells electric bulbs in Port Harcourt as well as another company that sells hair creams in same Port Harcourt? Just imagine the curse those unborn kids will place on you and Yusuf for watching while their future was toyed with by two failed professionals; one who read law but never practiced. As a matter of fact, his call to bar certificate do not bear correct names and he’s not aware till date, except now that he will be reading this article. The other one read Medicine and didn’t also practice but jumped into politics where he has turned to political Hushpuppi. Maybe you can begin to ask him about some properties that his godfather Tony Anenih showed to him but are nowhere to be found today.

That a former Acting MD of the Commission, Joi Nunieh, who should know better and truly know has accused the Minister of bombing pipelines just to sabotage the economy and he has not been picked up by the security agencies makes one begin to wonder if he has not placed the Presidency under a spell from the mystical city of Punjab, India. In his days in Akwa Ibom as a governor, he was serially accused of practicing mbiam which is diabolical. He is yet to deny it till date. Could he have blown the mbiam breeze on Mr President during one of their meetings or via handshake? If he has, may Allah in his infinite mercy open upon your eyes to do the needful and save NDDC from total collapse.

Joi Nunieh did not just make allegations but backed it up with witnesses from the Presidency and staff of the commission. They are too grave to be ignored. 

For Cairo Ojugboh, you should truly believe when Joi alleged that he said he can kill for Akpabio before asking the reason why he sent him on such a dangerous mission. Mr. President, it is said in Delta North that Cairo is a dreaded killer who masterminded the murder of security details attached to Nduka Irabor during their tussle for the House of Representatives. That incident left a lifetime emotional trauma on Irabor that he never contemplated running for any election again as long as Cairo Ojugboh remains alive. If that was a one off gist, stories abound on how he slapped a former Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Martins Okonta with magical hands during a shouting bout that almost made him run mad. I don’t believe in fairy tales but the bible admonishes that in the mouth of two witnesses, truth is established. Perhaps, we can begin to source for these witnesses who will tell us how dangerous it is to have Cairo Ojugboh as a member of NDDC even on part time basis.

For anyone to begin to insinuate that the Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege who has been your biggest supporter from the South South is behind the scandals surrounding the IMC NDDC is enough for Mr President to not only dissolve the entire board but even shut down the entire NDDC for one year. For heaven sake, has Cairo Ojugboh no honor left in him that he will accuse the most performing Senator from the Southern part of the country of instigating crisis when he has never benefitted one contract from NDDC, has no payment there that the forensic audit will expose and does not even know the MD’s office to send people to collect jobs.

Just like every well-meaning Niger Deltans, the DSP is concerned that 20 years after establishing the NDDC, it has no meaningful projects to claim and just when he though the IMC is the Daniel come to judgment, he began to weep when he began reading of allegations of billions missing. It is natural that as the major representative of the South and political leader of the South South which includes both PDP and APC, he backed his colleagues in the hallowed chambers to support the probe of the IMC. I do not believe that as a President, you sent Godswill there as the supervising minister to steal ahead of his Vice Presidential aspiration for 2023 or Cairo Ojugboh to loot ahead of his 2023 Senatorial ambition. It is important that even the watchman is watched.

Ibrahim Magu as Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who watched over the anti-corruption agencies was also watched by the SSS and NFIU. Today, their reports which the Presidential panel is acting on has led to his suspension and possible dismissal. If you could order Magu’s arrest, detention and investigation, Godswill Akpabio and Cairo Ojugboh should be immediately arrested. They cannot continue to seat in the same office where they have every opportunity to doctor documents, steal files and destroy evidences against them. 

Mr President, without sounding undemocratic, I will urge you to just switch your brain back to 1985 and tell SARS to pick up Akpabio and Cairo, tie them to two drums and have ten SARS officers stay in front of them and behind them to be shot to death. Their looting has caused many deaths to Niger Deltans and we will not shout as sons and daughters of the soil for ordering the shooting of these two useless sons that God mistakenly sent to our soil instead of Iraq. They need no fair hearing again Sir, for Joi Nunieh statement and many reports in the public is all that is needed to do this. If this is done Mr President, I can assure you that in years to come, we will reap the benefit of this benevolence and probably name the NDDC building after you, and God willing even name the commission to Muhammadu Buhari Development Commission (MBDC). 

Yours in Anti-Corruption struggle

These little things matter

Fejiro Oliver, an investigative journalist can be reached on +2348022050733 (SMS ONLY). He tweets with @fejirooliver86 and IG Handle @kingofqueendom

DISCLAIMER 

Every expression, claims, narrations, impressions and opinions narrated in this article purely represent that of the writers and Not of this website '. 

Revealed: How Sahara Reporters Received $25m To Ridicule FG's Fight Against Corruption

By Dansu Peter 

An online publication, Sahara Reporters has been accused of working underground to frustrate the anti-corruption war of President Mohammadu Buhari's administration.

 

Equity And Justice In Politics And Governance Movement, at a press conference in Abuja, accused the online publication of receiving $25m to tarnish the image of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN, and the anti-corruption fight.

Dr Musa Moses Attah, 

National Coordinator of the movement said for the benefit of those who do not know the modus operandi of Sahara Reporters, their stock in trade is to peddle FAKE News and millions of Nigerians already know this.

Dr. Attah said the attack on the person of the AGF is not the first on government officials by Sahara Reporters and therefore should not be taken seriously.

''The AGF is a fine gentleman who has performed his duty creditably well since his appointment into that office in 2015 and because of his sterling qualities and performances, President Buhari found him worthy of re-appointment.

''It may interest Nigerians to note that this is not the first time Sahara Reporters will be publishing FAKE News against government official''.

He said the medium once reported the death of Ghali Umar Na'abba, former House of Representatives Speaker and later retracted the report and apologized to the former speaker.

''With all that we have stated above, it is our view that the FAKE News published by Sahara Reporters against the AGF should not be taken seriously by Nigerians as the leading publisher of FAKE news against government officials is out to tarnish the image of the well respected AGF.

''For instance the sponsored photos of houses supposedly "owned" by Malami in Kano and other places have turned to be a hoax and misbegotten as the minister has disconnected himself from allegation of purchasing a property for his son in Abuja. It might interest you to note that a photograph of a center in Kano built over 30 years ago was allegedly attributed to Malami. Another property on Ahmadu Bello Way/Gidado Road Kano ascribed to Malami is owned by a serving Military officer under investigation. The lies are many.

''As a private legal practitioner, it is a known fact that Malami has been into businesses and even owned Rayhaan Hotels long before serving as a Minister. Is it expected that the  business will crumble simply because he was chosen to be a Minister?

''We at the movement are worried that the rate at which Sahara Reporters is going, journalism may be dragged into the mud.  We therefore, call on Online Publishers Association of Nigeria (OPAN), Guild of Corporate Online Publishers, (GOCOP), Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Nigerian Press Council (NPC), and the Broadcasting Organisation of Nigeria (BON) should call Sahara Reporters to order before the noble profession of journalism is destroyed.

''Before bringing this press conference to a close, we want to put it on record that we have it on good authority that Sahara Reporters collected $25m (25million dollars) to tarnish the image of government officials and to ridicule the government of President Mohammadu Buhari, who is doing his very best to ensure that Nigeria is rid of corruption'' he said.

You came at a time Nigeria needed you most, proud citizen hails 'mother' Sadiya Farouq in open letter

By Dansu Peter 

A well-meaning Nigerian has described Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Farouk as an "epitome of true motherhood" who came at a time Nigeria needed her the most.  

Priscila Guoti, who simply dubbed herself as a 'proud Nigerian' made this known in an open letter to the minister, published on her social media platforms. 

Established in August 2019, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, was among others, tasked with providing humanitarian policies, coordinating humanitarian interventions and ensuring strategic disaster mitigations. 

Hajiya Sadiya was saddled with the responsibility of piloting this infant ministry and Guoti believes that decision by President Muhammadu is a shrewd one. 

Guoti said Hajiya Sadiya's "passion to work for the upliftment of the vulnerable in the society" propelled her into writing the letter. 

Outlining the minister's impact barely one year in office, Gouti added that the " efforts you put in during the Covid-19 lockdown saw to the delivery of palliatives to thousands of persons". 

She further disclosed that, "your initiative not to relax the school feeding programmes but to extend it to homes was another brilliant idea that helped indigent families to continue the mental and physical building of their children".

According to the Lagos-based lady, the minister's biggest achievement yet is the introduction of the N-Power Batch C sheme which could potentially benefit 4,000 young Nigerians.

While applauding her dedication and commitment to the job, Gouti, however, urged Hajiya Farouq not to relent or distracted by enemies of humanity, assuring her of the prayers of Nigerians. 

Read full letter below:

It is said that when a child looks into a mother's eyes while being carried in her arms, you'll know that is the purest love he has found on earth; because, a mother's arms are made of tenderness and love.

Though you are not our biological mother, the brief period you have stayed in office has given us; we, the women of Nigeria, the kind of joy a child gets when in the arms of a loving mother.

Since you were appointed a minister in the cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari and given a portfolio that requires compassion and love for the people,  I have noticed your passion to work for the upliftment of the vulnerable in the society and that is why I have decided to write a public letter to you.

I apologise if my action will cause you any embarrassment, but I think it will be the height of ingratitude to see something going well and fail to commend it for fear of being labelled.

Honourable Minister, I have seen the uncommon intellect you have brought to bear in the ministry of humanitarian affairs and the energy you have devoted to working out programmes that would see to the development of the society at large and I commend your efforts.

President Buhari is indeed a visionary leader for him to have created a ministry that would take care of emergencies and appointed you as its minister even when there was no outbreak of the coronavirus Pandemic.

One cannot imagine what would have happened if the ministry of humanitarian affairs was not created and you appointed as a minister when the pandemic broke out.

The efforts you put in during the Covid-19 lockdown saw to the delivery of palliatives to thousands of persons and the ministry was able to reach out to an equal number of households with relief items.

I am based in Ikeja,  Lagos State, and as a small scale business owner who was compelled to close her shop for months, I have seen the effect of your work on our women who collected various sums of money and food items that helped them in surviving the lock down period.

Your initiative not to relax the school feeding programmes but to extend it to homes was another brilliant idea that helped indigent families to continue the mental and physical building of their children.

This has turned out to be a most welcome idea because of the impact on children and the relief it brought on their parents who were under pressure to provide for them when no economic activity was going on was massive. 

Honourable Minister, one of the most important things you have done which promises to profoundly affect the lives of people positively is the introduction of the Batch C, N-Power Scheme.

The programme when it was introduced in 2016 sounded to us like a fairly tale until we started seeing beneficiaries making good use of their earnings under the programme to start businesses and raise the living standards of their families. 

By the time we began to appreciate how the government was helping people, it was too late for those of us who had not applied.

Honourable Minister, if not for you, the 5,000 beneficiaries of the first and second phases of the programme would have continued even when many of them have been able to establish their own businesses while some of us that missed the first and second flights would have been left stranded at the airport.

But your intervention, has opened a window of opportunity for fresh set of 4,000 people to enrol and our joy knows no bound.

Though our applications are yet to be confirmed, the hope that there's a possibility for some of us to qualify and be paid about N30,000 a month means a lot to us.

I am not asking for any favours or undue considerations over others, my concern is that more people would have the opportunity that others have had which have stabilised their families and given them a legitimate source of livelihood.

Even if I don't qualify, the fact that some other people would, gives me great joy as the overall impact would also trickle down on me.

I have heard some people trying to criticise the initiative due to one reason or the other but I will advise you to remain focused and not shift ground because you have taken the right decision that would broaden the scope of poverty alleviation in our country and bring succour to many.

You have come a time when Nigeria needs you most as the post-pandemic era threatens to come with its challenges.

We implore you Honourable Minister to once again use your out-of-the-box calculus to see to the success of the N-Power Batch 'C' programme or introduce new schemes that will focus on the plight of rural women.

Honourable Minister, you must not be distracted by whatever names the enemies of humanity are calling you.

You must remain focused and committed to the virtues of accountability, humility and kindness to succeed as the success of the programmes you have embarked on so far all bear testimony to your courage and integrity.

Do not relent and I can assure you that we will continue to pray for you to succeed. 

International NGOs complicit in Boko Haram activities in North-East Nigeria, report reveals

By Dansu Peter 

A report by the Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights (CALSER) says some international non-governmental organizations (INGOs) are culpable of unlawfully aiding Boko Haram/ISWAP activities in North-East, Nigeria. 

Instead of providing humanitarian assistance to victims of the Boko Haram crisis, CALSER said these INGOs bolster and encourage the carnage being perpetrated by the insurgent group. 

This and other findings were made public on Tuesday in a report compiled by CALSER and signed by Executive Director Dr. David Idoko in Abuja.

The centre raised alarm over the number of INGOs in operation in the North-East under various nomenclatures. 

According to CALSER, there is multiple evidence that funds from the coffers of these INGOs - most of which come from Francophone countries - end up in the hands of terrorists,.

While some of these groups divert food and other relief items meant for the IDPs to the camp of the Boko Haram terrorists, the centre added that others provide them with medical services.

More baffling, though, the centre disclosed that certain INGOs engage in propaganda on behalf of the Boko Haram group, especially when they come under heavy bombardment from the Nigerian troops. 

Among others, however, CALSER urged relevant authorities to compel international NGOs operating in the North-East to disclose their sources of funding as well as their mission. 

It added that INGOs that have operated for more than five years and made no significant impact in tandem with their mission should be expelled from the country.

Meanwhile, those found to be aiding and abetting the activities of Boko Haram terrorists should be proscribed and expelled from the country with immediate effect. 

Read full report below: 

Introduction: 

The war against insurgency in Nigeria has come with its attendant socio-economic consequences in the economy of North-East Nigeria since 2009 when the Boko Haram group began its violent campaign.

There have been concerted efforts by the federal government in Nigeria to address the challenges, and this has seen to the deployment of troops to the theatre of operations in North-East Nigeria. Aside from these interventions by the government, some international NGOs have also been involved in mitigating the effect of the war in the region by providing humanitarian assistance to compliment the efforts of the government.

This is on the heels that the role of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in wars situations and the consequences of their presence for the dynamics of these conflicts cannot be overemphasized. More important for their influence is the financial resources that they can command, which, in no small extent, derive from their close association with donor governments, as their implementing partners.

This complex relationship between donor governments and NGOs has contributed to an increasingly political role of NGOs and has undermined some of the benefits resulting from their non-state character.

This is aside the fact that the presence of NGOs in conflict zones is hardly a new phenomenon. The International Committee of the Red Cross has cared for the victims of modern conflict situations for some time. More recently, a number of international humanitarian organizations like Care International, Oxfam, ActionAid among others have been highly visible players in coping with disasters. 

What is different about the human rights NGO activism in zones of conflict is that many groups are now playing a leading role in trying to defuse nascent or full blown conflicts, as opposed to just cleaning up the human suffering that results. 

NGOs have developed a wide range of conflict prevention and resolution activities including monitoring conflict and providing early warning of new violence; opening dialogue between adversarial parties; playing a direct mediating role; strengthening local institutions for conflict resolution; and helping to strengthen the rule of law and democratic processes in countries affected by violent conflict.

Like international relief agencies, NGOs focusing on conflict resolution respond to major failures on the part of the international community to deal effectively with global problems. Too often, intergovernmental bodies and agencies have proved too slow and cumbersome in dealing with emerging urgent crisis situation as demonstrated in Bosnia, Rwanda, Somalia, DRC and Darfur. Also, both international agencies and governments often have institutional and political limitations that hamper their effectiveness in situations of enormous complexity and delicacy.

NGOs facilitate up to date extensive fact-finding missions, engage in dialogue with a wide range of groups involved in conflicts, map out strategies for defusing conflict and galvanize action by national governments and international organizations to help stabilize tense situations. Situations in Burundi, Northern Uganda, Southern Sudan, Darfur, DRC and Rwanda provide examples of where NGOs have played a decisive role in heading off major conflicts.

However, despite the critical role that NGOs have continuously played in helping to stabilize the conflict situations, the future engagement of NGOs within the international agencies and governments, remains vague. Partnerships between NGOs and governments or international agencies are inherently difficult and awkward. NGOs are on one hand strong critics of these agencies and government policies. 

In the case of Nigeria, there seem to be widespread condemnation of some of the activities of INGOs wherein accusations have been made by the government and the citizens alike on the culpability of these organizations in the ongoing Boko Haram crisis in North East Nigeria. This situation has brought about mutual suspicion on the role of international NGOs in the fight against Boko Haram Insurgency. Consequently, this report seeks to examine the role of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in the Boko Haram conflict in North-East Nigeria and the consequences of their presence for the dynamics of these conflicts. 

Issues:  

Provision of Humanitarian Assistance:

The role of non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in humanitarian relief has thrived in recent years, but that rise has been characterized by a changing and increasingly difficult strategic and operating context for these entities.

Paradoxically, while perhaps never more significant, relief organizations now confront more opaque and more problematic strategic environments as well as a variety of enduring and bedeviling operating level challenges. At the strategic scale, NGOs are dependent upon the often unpredictable decisions of critical states for funding, are enmeshed in a service delivery structure characterized by competition, complexity, and diffuse authority and accountability and are divided as well by growing differences in how participating organizations define their identities, especially in light of more than a decade of experience with human rights-related humanitarian interventions. 

The case of Nigeria presents a very delicate situation for a number of reasons. The number of INGOs in North East Nigeria is alarming and under various nomenclatures. The activities of some of these INGOs runs short of providing humanitarian assistance to victims of the Boko Haram crisis, but rather they seem to bolster and encourage the carnage been perpetuated by the insurgent group. 

Findings from the theatre of operations in North East Nigeria corroborates this position, which has led to a running battle with the military authorities striving to begin the profiling of some of these organizations in a bid to identifying those with clearly defined mission and objectives and those acting as spies or carrying out espionage activities on behalf of the Boko Haram group. 

The Nigeria INGO Forum: 

Findings revealed that the INGOs in Nigeria have come together under a platform called the Nigeria INGO Forum, with a mission to provide a joint platform for INGO members to promote a collective approach to efficiently and effectively coordinate interventions and address key issues of common interests.

To also provide a coordinated approach through which INGOs, the Government of Nigeria (GoN), the UN, donors and other external stakeholders can exchange information and shared expertise, and establish guidelines for a more coordinated, efficient and effective use of aid resources in Nigeria.

NIF was established in 2014 to facilitate the coordination and cooperation of humanitarian and development INGOs and between INGOs and external stakeholders including Government of Nigeria, Nigerian civil society, UN agencies, diplomatic actors, and donors. In 2014, membership of NIF was fourteen (14) agencies and by the end of 2019, NIF has increased to forty-seven (47) members including six (6) observers.

Findings also indicate that there are over 50 more of such INGOs that were not captured as members of the NIF, yet they are actively present in North East Nigeria. And this indeed calls to question on the activities of these INGOs. 

Funding for Terrorist activities: 

The peculiarity of the Boko Haram crisis in North-East Nigeria is such that the illicit flow of funds has mainly contributed to the festering of the Boko Haram crisis. It has been argued in some quarters that the Boko Haram group enjoys funding for their activities from the unlikely of sources that include politicians that are benefiting from the crisis, bank robberies, kidnappings for ransom, as well as funds from the terrorist network around the world.

This fact has been stated and evidence provided, especially with the array of INGOs in operation in North-East Nigeria. While it can be stated some of the INGOs have ulterior motives with regards to their operations in North-East Nigeria, it can thus be argued that indeed the activities of some of the INGOs in operation in North-East Nigeria portends grave danger if urgent and proactive steps are not taken to curtail their excesses by the relevant authorities.

The military authorities have not been successful in tracking the inflow and disbursement of millions of dollars that have passed through the coffers of the INGOs in North East Nigeria. The discreet nature of their transactions has made matters worse. 

While there are multiple evidence that suggests that funds from the coffers of these INGOs end up in the hands of the Boko Haram terrorist group, it was also established that most of these funds do come in the country from the francophone countries in cash. 

The military authorities have on numerous occasions intercepted huge foreign currencies meant for delivery to the Boko Haram group by some of the INGOs under the guise of purchasing relief materials for IDPs. 

Boko Haram has depended on financial donations from sympathizers and external funding for it operations. In 2002, Osama Bin Laden sent an aide to Nigeria with $3 million. Bin Laden’s aide was instructed to disperse the money among groups that believed in Al-Qaeda’s cause. The International Crisis Group reported that Boko Haram received some of that money, but the exact amount is undetermined.  

In March of 2015, the current leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau, pledged allegiance to Abu Bakr al Baghdadi, the leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). Later that month ISIS’s English-language magazine approved of the alliance with Boko Haram.

When ISIS accepted Boko Haram’s pledge of allegiance, an ISIS spokesman informed fellow Muslims looking to join its ranks that “a new door for you to migrate to the land of Islam and fight” had opened within Africa.

In April of 2016, the commanding general of the U.S. Special Operations Command Africa (SOCAF), Brigadier General Donald Bolduc, said that ISIS and Boko Haram are increasingly sharing “tactics, techniques and procedures.” General Bolduc highlighted that an ISIS weapons convoy was detected departing Libya and believed to be headed to the Lake Chad region to provide support to Boko Haram. 

Boko Haram has not only depended on external funding, throughout its movement it has received financial support from local sympathizers and politicians. Many Northern Nigerian politicians have also been accused of giving Boko Haram financial support over the years. 

Nigeria and the international community over the years have struggled to suppress Boko Haram’s ability to raise money. The Nigerian government has had some success in highlighting Boko Haram’s financial support network within Nigeria and internationally. Since the election of President Muhammadu Buhari in May of 2015, Nigeria has seen positive gains in its fight against Boko Haram. The MNJTF has been successful in regaining control of territory once occupied by Boko Haram, the majority of which is territory from which Boko Haram launched many of its kidnapping and bank robbery operations. Depriving Boko Haram of territorial safe havens will cut into its ability to generate funds. With recent military success and positive results in implementing follow the-money tactics, Nigeria, with the help from the international community, can further disrupt Boko Haram’s ability to fund its existence.

With Boko Haram’s illicit trafficking operations taking place across borders, the Nigerian government should enhance border security operations. Increasing border security will impact Boko Haram’s ability to move freely across borders and its ability to take part in illicit trafficking. Impacting illicit trafficking will need to be done through multilateral cross-border cooperation. The Nigerian government and its neighbors should be willing to work together to secure their borders to impact Boko Haram’s finances. 

The International NGOs in North-East Nigeria:

The number of international NGOs in operation in North-East Nigeria is indeed alarming according to findings from this report. More worrisome is the fact that most of these organizations have no clear cut description of their mission. 

Some come under various nomenclatures and enjoys massive funding from donor countries. Worthy of mention is the number of French NGOs in North-East Nigeria. This report was able to identify that these NGOs have been in operation for close to nine years, and most of them have paid for hotel accommodations for upward ten years at a go.

This statement of fact indeed buttresses the position of the Nigerian Military that indeed some international NGOs are aiding and abetting the activities of the Boko Haram terrorist group. A good example can be found in places visited like Maiduguri, where supposedly large shipments of humanitarian items are imported into the country by some International NGOs. These items end up in the camp of the Boko Haram group.

INGOs in the northeast provide humanitarian support to terrorists in violation of international protocol and laws:

It was also observed that INGOs in the northeast provide humanitarian support to Boko Haram terrorists in violation of international protocol and laws. They divert food and other relief items meant for the IDPs to the camp of the Boko Haram group. In most instances, some medical NGO have been reported to be providing medical services to injured Boko Haram members, which goes against the provisions in the International Humanitarian Law in armed conflict situations. 

This fact was buttressed from revelations from locals in some communities that stated that there are numerous instances where some INGOs move truck load of food items and medical supplies and abandon them in the middle of nowhere and before dawn these trucks and the items would disappear. 

It was stated that some INGOs move about with unmarked trucks which makes it difficult to track their identities. The reason for this it was gathered was to leave no trace behind for the military to trace. This is also on the heels that there have instances where the military intercepted such consignment and it lead to the suspension of one of the INGOs operating in North East Nigeria for distributing food and other essential items to the Boko Haram group.

 

INGOs in the northeast engage in the blackmail of the military:  

This report was able to uncover that the bulk of the information about the operations of the Nigerian military in North-East Nigeria are untrue. As a statement of fact, some INGOs engage in propaganda on behalf of the Boko Haram group, especially when they come under heavy bombardment from the Nigerian troops.

This much was gathered from multiple sources in North-East Nigeria, and it further lends credence to the position of the Nigerian Army and other critical stakeholders.

The report also revealed that some foreign interest contracted some well-known INGOs in Nigeria to act as the intellectual arm of the Boko Haram group through the issuance of press statement and reports accusing the Nigerian Military of human rights abuses. These tactics are meant to cause a distraction when there seems to be intense pressure on the Boko Haram group.  

Multiple sources in North East Nigeria corroborated this fact wherein it was stated some INGO often visit IDP camps with recording devices and throw food items in the air for IDPs to scamper for while recording them to paint a picture despair.  

It was also gathered that the bulk of the rape allegations made against the military in IDP camps were fabricated by some INGOs who offer young girls and women monies to appear before the camera to make such allegations.

 

It was also discovered that the reports by some INGOs is intended to present Nigeria as a country with a military that has no good reputation, which would in turn make the country ineligible for international support. The strategic aim of the INGOs is to scandalize the military to a point where the only option left is to withdraw troops from areas where they are operating, which would create an environment that would be conducive for a Boko Haram comeback to terrorize people in these places. 

INGOs engage in human rights abuses: 

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) was unanimously adopted and proclaimed by the United Nations through the General Assembly Resolution 217A(111) on the 10th of December, 1948. Since its declaration, it has become fashionable for most countries of the world (Nigeria inclusive) to entrench the catalogue of rights in their national constitutions. Regrettably, in Nigeria, some INGOs have been carrying acts against the provisions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through their activities in North-East Nigeria. 

The activities of INGOs in North-East Nigeria also transcend the various allegations of complicity in the festering of the Boko Haram crisis. It was also gathered that most of the INGOs are perpetrators of gross human rights abuses.

Some INGOs in North-East Nigeria are actively involved in human trafficking and exploitation. There is a particular case of a French NGO that carries out documentaries in IDP camps depicting a picture of gloom as against the wishes of women and children and they consequently send these documentaries to donor organizations soliciting for funds.  They are also notorious for other inimical acts that are dehumanizing to IDPs in their various camps. 

Some INGOs in North East Nigeria have also been identified to be notorious for making locals go against their wishes to coercing them into making submissions and divulging information about their communities which ultimately ends up in the hands of the Boko Haram group to aid their operations. 

It was discovered that extracting such sensitive information about the movement of the military in the area on security surveillances ultimately leads to the series of ambush carried out by the Boko Haram group against the military.   

Conclusion: 

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights after an extensive review of the activities of some INGOs in North-East Nigeria concludes that they have not helped much in line with their mandate. What can be seen in any case is a betrayal of these roles and responsibilities and a total waste of donors’ resources in pursuing narrow interests in the country.

These INGOs have acted against all known international protocol in rendering humanitarian assistance to victims of the Boko Haram insurgency in North-East Nigeria, as they have turned the crisis to a viable business venture and this has seen to the perpetuation acts that undermine the efforts of the Nigerian military towards decimating the Boko Haram terrorist group.

Recommendations: 

The Centre for Africa Liberation and Socio-Economic Rights in the light of the forging recommends the following to be implemented by the relevant agencies in Nigeria in a bid to address the various challenges posed by the activities of INGOs in North-East Nigeria. 

INGOs operating in North-East Nigeria must be made to disclose their sources of funding to the Nigerian government in a bid to entrench a regime of transparency and accountability. 

INGOs operating in the country must make full disclosure of their mission and comply with strict laws and regulations to be put in place. 

INGOs that have operated for more than five years and made no significant impact in tandem with their mission should be expelled from the country.

INGOs found to be aiding and abetting the activities of Boko Haram terrorists should be proscribed and expelled from the country with immediate effect. 

INGOs should publish periodical financial transactions in line with the National Financial Intelligence Unit and other extant laws.

The Nigerian government and international community must adapt and find ways to prevent Boko Haram from funding its operations.

Breaking: Protest rocks US Embassy over Hushpuppi as Nigerians demand forensic investigation of Atiku, Timi Frank over links with alleged cyber-fraudster

By Dansu Peter 

Some well-meaning Nigerians, on Monday, protested to the US Embassy, Abuja, demanding a forensic investigation over ex-Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, associate, Timi Frank and some Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftains link to alleged fraudster, Raymond Abbas Igbalode, popularly known as Hushpuppi. 

The group, under the aegis of Concerned Citizens Forum (CCF), numbering over 500 persons submitted a letter to the US Ambassador and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, urging a thorough probe of Hushpuppi’s political allies who are all in the PDP.

Recall that the All Progressives Congress (APC) had alleged “criminal conspiracy linking the top echelon of the opposition” to Hushpuppi.

According to the APC, ” the PDP leadership turned Dubai into their ‘Strategic’ meeting place ahead of the 2019 general elections

In its petition signed by Comrade Adamu Kabir Matazu, the peaceful protesters called on the US, through relevant agencies, to investigate the connection between these high profile Nigerians and Hushpuppi so as to recover fully the proceeds of crime or make it difficult for such monies to be laundered in Nigeria.

The group reasoned that Atiku's frequent reliance on cyber experts and reference to internet server and frequent trips to Dubai prior to last year's elections may not be unconnected to Hushpuppi. 

It, therefore, urged the US to go after Atiku, Timi Frank and other PDP stalwarts who through their actions and associations with the fraudster may have helped to launder the proceeds of crime.

Read full statement below:

Permit us to congratulate you on your appointment as the United States ambassador to Nigeria by US President, Donald Trump, and for the successful presentation of your credentials to Nigeria's President, Muhammadu Buhari in December, 2019.

We are a group of eminent Nigerians with keen interest in building a positive image for our country through the promotion of credible best practices and exposure of acts capable of soiling the image of Nigeria.

In the light of the fact that we share common ideals of accountability and good citizenship, we wish to bring to your attention, certain facts that will further build citizens' capacity for best practices.

Dear Ambassador, we are sure you are aware that within the period you arrived Nigeria and shortly before that, some of our citizens have been arrested for alleged criminal activities like cyber crime, internet fraud and money laundering in many countries in Europe, Asia and America including your country, the United States.

The biggest and most recent of such, is the arrest of Mr. Raymond Abbas Igbalode, the Instagram celebrity, also known as Hushpuppi and 12 others who are alleged to have scammed over 1.9 million people across the globe of over $35 million.

We commend the international community for the vigilance which has led to the arrest of these persons whose activities have deprived many of their legitimate sources of livelihood and brought shame to Nigeria.

Dear Ambassador, following the extradition of Hushpuppi and his associates to the US to undergo trial for alleged cyber fraud, we wish to offer our suggestions on how the investigations would be thorough to achieve the goal of exposing all those suspected to have either aided the fraud or those who have through their actions and associations with the fraudsters, helped to launder the proceeds of crime.

This, we believe would ensure that all those involved  in the crime are brought to book so as to serve as a deterrent to others.

You will agree with us, dear Ambassador, that all the global instruments on financial crime including FATF, clearly identity several ways in which proceeds from financial crimes can be whitewashed and presented as legit.

Some of these processes include association with politically exposed persons, channeling the resources through existing organisations and partnering with already established businesses.

We wish to inform you that since 2016 when Mr. Igbalode pulled his first heist and leaped into living a luxurious life of opulence, his major channel for laundering the proceeds of his crime have been through open association with notable Nigerian politicians as well as former and serving public officials. 

Such meetings are usually presented to the public through videos and other photos of the event which are usually held in posh hotels or other expensive venues around the world on Instagram and other online media.

The aim of such videos and photos, Dear Ambassador, as you are aware, is to further scam the public by presenting such fraudsters and their ill gotten wealth as clean business men with legit income that anybody can do business with.

The photo and video shoots from such events serve as open endorsements of such characters, making it easy for the proceeds of these cyber fraud to be brought into Nigeria and to be accepted by unsuspecting members of the public as normal which further makes it difficult for investigating agencies to track.

We wish to report you, dear Ambassador, that some of the persons who have lent their high profile personalities to cover up for such shady transactions include a former vice president of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former senator, Dino Melaye, and a top member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP,  Mr. Timi Frank and others.

Videos clips of their association with Mr.Igbalode have been posted and reposted on major internet outlets like Facebook, Internet and YouTube for all to see.

We have every reason to suspect that their open association with Mr. Igbalode (Hushpuppi), was not a coincidence as they are trying to make people believe, but was well planned to sell the fraudster to Nigerians as a legitimate businessman who associates with respected and eminent members of the society.

It is in the light of this, dear Ambassador, that we urge you,  to use your good office as the representative of the United States Government in Nigeria, to call the attention of the US government of the possibility that the major accomplices of Mr. Igbalode are still roaming about freely in Nigeria.

We call on the US Government to in the bid to help fight cyber crime, money laundering and possible terrorists financing, to draw the attention of the Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI, Mr. Christopher A. Wray and the  Secretary General of Interpol, Mr. Jürgen Stock to these facts.

We are aware that both the 

FBI and Interpol have range of legal authorities that enables them investigate federal crimes and threats to national security, as well as to gather intelligence and assist other law enforcement agencies in countries outside the US.

Hushpuppi is known to have defrauded millions of people across the world and is wanted for fraud crimes in Europe, the United States and Nigeria.

We are aware that Title 28, U.S. Code, Section 533, authorizes the Attorney General of the US, to appoint officials to detect and prosecute crimes against the United States. 

The investigation we are asking these agencies to carry out are clearly crimes against the United States as well as other countries and we are aware that the FBI, unlike many domestic intelligence agencies around the world, can investigate crime in other countries, more so as the investigative jurisdiction of the FBI extends to most federal criminal laws in more than 200 areas, including computer crime (cybercrime), embezzlement, money laundering, organized crime (including extortion and racketeering), piracy and hijacking, sabotage, sedition, terrorism (including ecoterrorism).

We are also aware that these agencies have helped in tracking down crimes in other countries.

We also know that the FBI has in the past worked with The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission in Nigeria, to identify and prosecute local partners of international fraudsters and had arrested 281 individuals, including 167 in Nigeria, for their involvement in fraudulent business email compromise (BEC) schemes.

Dear Ambassador you may wish to know that the EFCC in Nigeria, has said that details of Mr. Igbalode's money laundering transactions involves many high-profile cyber criminals facing trial in Nigeria.

We are happy that EFCC is also eager to engage with the EFCC in tracking victims of Mr.  Igbalode's fraudulent transactions and other fraudsters having direct involvement with him.

We are interested in having these persons investigated because we believe they may have aided in laundering the proceeds of crime by Mr.Igbalode either directly or indirectly, which if established, makes them accomplices in the crime.

Our suspicion is heightened by the frequent visits of these persons to Dubai in the United Arab Emirate, UAE, where Mr. Igbalode was arrested, at the slightest instance, one of which was the celebrated meeting of the associates of the former vice president shortly before the 2019 Nigeria general elections.

Again, we have every reason to suspect that the frequent reliance on cyber experts and reference to internet server by the former vice president and his associates, may not be unconnected with their relationship with these cyber criminals.

We therefore call on the US Government to assist through the relevant agencies to investigate the connection between these high profile Nigerians and the internet fraudster so as to recover fully the proceeds of crime or make it difficult for such monies to be laundered in Nigeria.

Boko Haram: Announce sanctions against organizations, corporations that support terrorism in Nigeria, Centre charges UN over helicopter attack

By Dansu Peter 

The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has called on the United Nations to change its approach to the Boko Haram terrorism and announce sanctions against organizations and countries promoting and sponsoring the group. 

CESJET gave this charge on Monday in a statement signed by Executive Secretary, Comrade Ikpa Isaac, following the recent shooting of a UN helicopter. 

While condemning the attack as " lowest act of cowardice yet on the part of Boko Haram terrorists", the centre said that this a wake up call to the UN. 

According to CESJET, the United Nations has smooched Boko Haram’s sponsors for too long and now is the time to quit playing the ostrich. 

It added that the Intergovernmental organization must accept the truth about the sponsors and promoters of the terrorist groups that are killing civilians in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. 

CESJET, therefore, called on UN to "announce actions that send strong signals to the countries that are sponsoring and supporting Boko Haram, including the non-profits and non-governmental organizations as well as corporations and big businesses that answer to these countries". 

Read full statement below:

The Centre for Social Justice, Equity and Transparency (CESJET) has followed recent development in the north-east of Nigeria with concerns, particularly the shooting damage of a helicopter belonging to the United Nations (UN) by Boko Haram terrorists. The attack is the final indication that the UN must change its approach to the handling of the Boko Haram menace.

CESJET is worried that the attack, which also resulted in civilian deaths, has not met with the expected level of outrage even from the United Nations that suffered damage from it. All that has been heard from the world body so far is the tepid statement from a lowly UN humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, giving updates and situation reports.

On our part, we condemn the attack as the lowest act of cowardice yet on the part of Boko Haram terrorists and we see such desperation to score a hit as indication that the terrorists will shoot at just about any target now that they are mortally cornered by the Nigerian Military that has taken the war to the heart of terrorists’ camps.

The attack on the helicopter is a wakeup call to the United Nations that it is time for a change in its stance of indifference to the crimes being committed by Boko Haram and by extension the corporations and the third party nations that are using the terrorists to pursue their geo-strategic agenda in the Lake Chad Basin. The UN had maintained an attitude of treating Boko Haram as Nigeria’s problem to which it was providing relief for civilian population caught up in the crisis instead of seeing and treating as the treat it is to humanity. 

The presence of the airship in the vicinity could easily be mistaken for the UN being engaged in something meaningful in ridding north east Nigeria of Boko Haram and all its mutations but in reality, this is far from the truth. What the UN is doing in Nigeria’s northeast, flying aid missions, is akin to constantly mopping a flooded room without taking steps to fix the broken pipe from which the water is spilling. It does not make sense that the world body is flying aid missions without taking a firm position against the countries that are manipulating Boko Haram to destabilize Nigeria.

If the UN had taken the difficult decision of crafting a resolution to curb the countries that are behind Boko Haram and bringing its hammer down on the sponsors and promoters of terrorism in Nigeria and the west Africa sub- region, then it would not need to fly humanitarian sorties that expose its equipment and personnel to terrorist gunfire. 

The United Nations has smooched the Boko Haram’s sponsors for too long while pussy footing on taking decisive actions against the group. If the UN had thought this approach will cast it as neutral and insulated from being a target, Saturday’s attack has now proven that the terrorists have no distinctions in the targets they select to attack as long as they can report back to their sponsors that they have again terrorized humanity.  

The UN must now quit playing the ostrich and admit that it is time for the world to accept the truth about the sponsors and promoters of the terrorist groups that are killing civilians in Nigeria and other parts of West Africa. It is time for the UN to lead charge in cutting off these terrorists from among humans like the cancer that they are in the region.

CESJET charges the UN to in the coming days announce actions that send strong signals to the countries that are sponsoring and supporting Boko Haram, including the non-profits and non-governmental organizations as well as corporations and big businesses that answer to these countries and are supporting Boko Haram. Should the UN fail to do this and continues with its tradition of indifference then it stands to reason that Boko Haram will henceforth specifically target UN’s interests in the region because it would have proven itself as a toothless world body.

Sahara Reporters and Its PMB Gripe, By Bassey Akpan

By Bassey Akpan 

For an organization or platform that prides itself as a new outlet, the only thing worse than being unprofessional is when the unprofessionalism is driven by an obsession to settle scores, which could be made even more sickening when such score settling is escalated into a proxy war. 

Sahara Reporters, a news platform that is hardly different from the persona of its publisher, Omoyele Sowore, is on this slippery slope and in a rapid slide into infamy owing to the way its unprofessionalism has been made worse in its obsession to settle scores with President Muhammadu Buhari. The sick dimension to it is that one of the ways the publication has decided to prosecute its “destroy Buhari” war is to persistently demonize the Nigerian military, particularly the Nigerian Army. The criminal dimension of this warped enterprise is the series of crimes that Sahara Reporters has committed in the strident bid to cast aspersion on the Army in order to tarnish the record of President Buhari.

Its laughable escapades are limitless, and instances abound. For example, it published the falsehood of the death of Ghali Umar Na’Abba, a former Speaker of the House of Representatives, and that of Sheikh Abdullahi Bala Lau, the National President of Jama’atul Izalatul Bid’a Wa Ikamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) while the man was busy conducting virtual preaching in Yola. In the desperation to validate its lies as the truth, the website went as far as locating the revered cleric’s death in Jos with photographs of a phantom funeral thrown in to make the inaccurate and false stories look respectable.

Granted that things had not always been the way they presently are between Sahara Reporters and President Buhari, there is no way to make excuses for its pure criminality garnished with a penchant for blackmail. At the height of the Goodluck Jonathan and his People’s Democratic Party (PDP) era, while President Buhari and a host of other then opposition figures were pointing out the failings of that government, Sahara Reporters was on the standby to air these voices. The arrangement served its purpose; a news platform that was then considered several layers below a news rag had the opportunity to report contents that were authentic and backed by reputable names as opposed to the diet of hogwash and leaks from embittered Jonathan cabinet members that it was feeding its readers. It has gone back to that junk status or below the rating of a news rag, only that it actually got worse.

Upon Jonathan’s sack by the electorates, Sahara Reporters, which in reality is a pseudonym for Sowore, perhaps thought that the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was spoil of war to be shared among just anyone that made haranguing Jonathan a past time. He was reportedly angling to be named the Minister of Information by President Buhari in his first term. Such pipe dreams. What he failed to realize, which Sahara Reporters is yet to appreciate till date, is that President Buhari is not in the mold of “your enemy’s enemy is my friend.” Mr. President, rather than embrace burning coal to his bosom, for that is what giving Sowore any appointment would have amounted to, settled for professionals and upright Nigerians to populate his government. The result of that is the crop of military chiefs that have met Mr. President’s expectations in many areas such that he has retained them even in the face of the campaign of calumny that has been sustained against them by the likes of Sahara Reporters.

Sowore responded to his failure to make the cabinet, and indeed any government appointment, by drawing an imaginary battle line against the government by launching a sustained campaign of misinformation and disinformation against the Army. Perhaps thinking that he has gained a cult following that will enable him leverage his anti-government rants to make a populist hijack of power, Sowore ran as a presidential candidate in the 2019 General Elections and the 33,953 votes he scored in a country of over 198 million and with 82,344,107  registered voters is confirmation that Sahara Reporters’ readership base is overhyped, consisting mainly of persons with questionable intellect and suspicious mental health. 

This explains why none of such gullible readers ever challenged or questioned the trail of hatchet jobs that Sahara Reporters is doing against the military. This was the platform that started, sustained and perpetuated the account that the Army killed harmless Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) militant members even though that group was to be later procedurally declared a terrorist organization. Sahara Reporters ran a similar racket for the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), another group that deservedly earned the label of a terrorist organization, it helped IPOB attribute mass graves from its atrocities to the Army and Nigeria Police Force after gory sights of hurriedly interred bodies were discovered in a forest. Its publisher, Sowore, was to later team up with IPOB’s fugitive leader, Nnamdi Kanu. After a meeting with the terrorist-on-the-lam, Sowore launched the #ReviolutionNow protest that was meant to overthrow a democratically elected government through mob action, a clear indication that he was in cahoots with terrorists with the singular agenda of destabilizing Nigeria.

Its anti-military, anti-Army campaign is so profound that Boko Haram recruiters are reportedly printing its webpages as recruitment literature and collaterals to convince prospective terrorists that Boko Haram has the upper hand in a war it is losing to government troops. If this usage of its content for terrorist propaganda is inadvertent, Sahara Reporters never did anything to correct the impression. Rather, it has shown a commitment to running propaganda for Boko Haram.

These foray into terrorists’ supporting propaganda has been explained away by some analysts as part of an elaborate destabilization agenda that is meant to make Nigeria a failed state. The logic is that the bouquet of foreign donor funding that is propping up the online publication are in reality a laundered form of payment for Sahara Reporters’ contribution to promoting terrorism in Nigeria in addition to being an anchor news platform for releasing contents that are meant to undermine the Nigerian state – a site that publishes contents meant to damage Nigerian institutions such that mainstream news organizations are then pressured as a result of competition to run a toned down version of such stories.

The analysts with this projection are not off the mark. What they did not add to their assessment of Sahara Reporters and Sowore is their demonic zealotry to malign the Nigerian Army as a conduit to get at President Buhari. They shop for stories to paint the military bad and have even been known to have funneled money to vulnerable ones among the troops to incite a contrived mutiny. They have in other instances used costumed actors to stage videos of discontent on the war-front in addition to propped interviews with faceless soldiers or alleged ex-soldiers all with a view to paint the government of the day bad and abuse the military for this purpose.

What Nigerians and indeed the world should know is that believing one line of texts in Sahara Reporters’ publications is to fall for a scam. Let no one make any mistake that the selective attack on the Nigerian militray is anything professional or about the competence of the men and women who are in battle with the enemies of Nigeria day and night. Let no one make the mistake that the persistent attack on the military and government is about good governance in Nigeria. Let no one make any mistake that it is about what the government is not doing or has done. The brief Sowore’s Sahara Reporters has is simple. Demonize Buhari. Make Nigeria bad and let the country go up in flames to please the colonizers that this below-rag-status publication works for.

If the past ten years has taught anything about Sahara Reporters, it is that this organization is incapable of the introspection that will prompt a revert to editorial principles, which it never had for one day since inception. For Sahara Reporters, reporting falsehood is a tradition buoyed by the false sense of being able to abuse the ubiquity and limitless reach of the internet to push its misleading contents at Nigerians while remaining beyond the reach of Nigeria’s legal jurisdiction because it is ensconced in New York, United States, a country against which it dare not publish the kind of incendiary contents it publishes against the President of Nigeria, the state and the military. 

But it is time to leverage the relevant anti-terrorism legislation, same way the United States would have done, such that whatever presence the publication has in Nigeria could be held liable for the terrorist activities of its parent office in the US. The authorities should also exploit inter-agency cooperation to thwart the ability of this criminal enterprise to raise money for supporting terrorists with propaganda as it is currently doing – all that is required is freezing its banks accounts while placing the accounts of its staffers on a terrorism watchlist. 

Sahara Reporters is at liberty to hold grudges against President Buhari just as it is free to nurse its gripe against him and his government, but wittingly or unwittingly supporting the cause of terrorists in an attempt to demonize the military as a way of maligning President Buhari is a red line that few countries in the world will allow a news publication to cross. Why should Nigeria tolerate such?

Akpan is a pan- Africanist and wrote this piece from Uyo.

Insecurity: Understanding the Coalition of Northern Group as a Virus, By Adio Waziri

By Adio Waziri 

The biggest joke of the century is the so-called Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG) which issued an ultimatum to President Muhammadu Buhari to stem the tide of insecurity in the northern part of Nigeria or face mass protest. Ironically, the group is one of the reasons insecurity persists in northern Nigeria. 

A bunch of gerontocrats, who in their old age are claiming to belong to an age they have long crossed and are usurping the chances of the real youths in the society, have done more harm to the north than even some of the violent groups that have taken up arms against the Nigerian state. These mercenaries who hide under the guise of 'youths' to offer their services to political recidivists have again offered their discredited platform to the highest bidder to discredit the current administration. Their aim is to make the President Buhari-led administration look bad so they latched on to the recent security breaches witnessed in some northern parts of the country to make their kill. Unfortunately for them, however, this is one area people know they lack moral ground to issue any warning on as the leaders of this so-called Coalition have been the major cause of insecurity. 

Apart from encouraging laziness through thuggery, they have by their over-reliance on renegade and self-serving politicians built an army of followers from among an otherwise innocent, hardworking and unsuspecting lot and have come to make them believe the only way they can make ends meet is through violence and sabotage.

This group has done the worst service to northern interests by taking away the minds of the youths from usefully engaging in productive activities like farming and another semi-skilled labour and putting them on the streets in the name of hired protesters and some times nudging them into acts of violence. They are like Boko Haram that made young and promising northern youths to abandon school and tear their certificates with a promise of an Eldorado in brigandage and opportunism.

The CNG cannot be absolved from the corollary effect of the drug abuse that is killing northern youths as they have made these young and hapless recruits believe that the only way they can do the bidding of these misguided elements is to take mind-bending substances.

The height of the chicanery of this group, however, was the ultimatum they gave citizens of Nigeria some time back to vacate the North not minding the social, economic and security implication of that statement. To them, satisfying their paymasters to have more zeros added to their cheques was more important to them than the peace and unity of this country knowing fully well that their statement would have led to a major crisis of great proportions if not for divine intervention. 

It is this same set of people who want people to take them serious about the security situation in the north when it is clear to everyone that they are the problem. They cause a problem to happen and then hide behind one finger to pretend that they are doing something about it.

If that had been the only damage it would have been tolerable, but everybody knows that in this particular outing as in others, it is the voice of Jacob but the hands of Esau playing out and there's no denying the fact that they are being sponsored by the failed presidential candidate of an opposition party, who is doing his best to discredit the current administration. 

But that is not even the height of inanities. The stupidity of their position is exposed in the fact that they are issuing a threat to an administration that has done more than any other to secure Nigeria and every of its citizen wherever they find themselves. 

The CNG does not know and will not appreciate the much the government has committed to ensuring peace and security in Nigeria because they have been busy going around collecting money from political opponents and making all manners of careless statements to check. 

Neither would the group appreciate the much the government has done in terms of security when its leaders are busy misleading youths to abandon their lawful jobs to line up as thugs for politicians in the bid to line their pockets with filthy lucre.

However, CNG, even with its nonsensical posture and infantile pretence cannot say it did not know the efforts the current administration has put in place to ensure peace the last time it was asking certain citizens to vacate northern Nigeria. 

If only they know the shuttles top government officials had to engage in to suppress the angst of people and the number of efforts by security agencies to proactively nip the threats in the bud, they would not have been opening their mouths to comment on anything concerning security in the next five decades!

To be sure, the current administration does not need any reminder, least of all from an irresponsible bunch of useless adult delinquents to show commitment to security in Nigeria. President Buhari made it clear even in his inaugural speech that security, alongside the economy and fight against corruption would form the focus of his administration. He has not disappointed. 

The current administration has taken steps that dealt heavy blows on insurgency, banditry and related crimes. Troops recaptured all the local governments under the control of Boko Haram and checkmated the activities of criminal all over the country. 

CNG cannot pretend not to recognize the efforts of the Inspector General of Police Special Team led by ACP Abba Kyari which busted several hideouts of criminals including that of the most notorious kidnapper in the country, Evans, and arrested him or Nigerian troops sacked the Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists from Sambisa forest and established a base at camp Zairo and rescued school girls that were captured in Dapchi, Yobe State.

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt Gen Tukur Buratai to show the seriousness of the government towards curbing insecurity, relocated to the Northeast and has been fighting the insurgents with great success. Last week, when there was a security breach in Katsina, all the Service Chiefs went to reinforce their commitment which led to counter operations that destroyed the base of the criminals and many of them were captured.

The government did all these without waiting for any hired group to remind it of its responsibilities to its citizens. The Federal Government is alive to its responsibilities towards citizens and does not need a bunch of lazy adults who prefer to see themselves as 'youths' to remind it, hence they can keep their advice to themselves. 

At the juncture, however, it is right to advice these elders who want to see themselves as youths that the best way they can help in addressing the problem of insecurity is to stop running to politicians for sponsorship on mischief and begin to seek gainful employment. They can lead the youths by example through farming and agriculture or by engaging in other skilled or semi-skilled labour.

Waziri is a development expert based in Kaduna.