By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi,Abuja

A former chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Dr Jackson Lekan Ojo, has called on President Bola Tinubu to declare State of Emergency in the entire Northern states due to the recurrence of the activities of bandits and terrorists, saying “enough is enough.”

In a message sent to President Tinubu through his Facebook page, Ojo, who is a certified security expert, said Nigeria is becoming a laughing stock in the comity of nations because of the failure of the government to protect its citizens from brazen attacks by bandits.

He, however, gave a caveat that the state of emergency in the North he is advocating for should not affect democratic institutions in the affected states.

“I am lending my voice to the request by the Northern Elders Forum last week that Mr. President should declare State of Emergency in the entire Northern Nigeria.

“I think it is high time this is done. You heard what the governor of Borno State has just announced about the number of people that were slaughtered in the last two days. This is unacceptable.

“I think it is time for Mr. President to militarise the entire Northern Nigeria to smoke out all these bandits and snuff out life out of them.

“Enough is enough. No matter the sponsors, no matter the backers, no matter the informants, these people can not be greater than the Nigerian government.

“Mr. President should over-police the entire Northern Nigeria. We should smoke out these people (bandits) and send them back to their creator.

“Enough is enough. Enough of other countries turning Nigeria into a laughing stock. Mr. President should hack to this clarion call.

“Mr. President can declare the State of Emergency on insecurity without anything that will affect the Democratic institutions in Northern Nigeria.

“We can not take this again. Enough is enough.”

“God bless Mr President, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and God bless Nigerians.”

 

By Our Correspondent

The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed grave concern over the increasing use of law enforcement agencies to harass and intimidate opposition leaders, while criminal violence continues to devastate communities across the country. The party condemned the politically motivated police summons issued to former Governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, as well as the shocking attack on the former Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami’s convoy in Kebbi State, which left many party members injured and terrified.

In a statement signed by Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, the National Publicity Secretary of the ADC,on Friday,the party described these developments as an assault not just on individual politicians, but on Nigeria’s democracy itself. It warned that the Nigeria Police Force has seemingly become a willing tool of political suppression for the federal government rather than a national security department, that is truly focused on rooting out bandits and other criminals across the country.

The full statement reads:

“At a time when terrorists and criminal gangs freely operate in large parts of the North, the Nigerian Police appears more interested in silencing opposition leaders than protecting citizens. After the recent attack in Kaduna, where the former Kaduna State Governor, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai and other ADC leaders were attacked; in Kebbi, the convoy of former Minister for Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN) was violently attacked in broad daylight around the GRA area of Birnin Kebbi—barely meters from a police outpost. Despite the seriousness of the attack, no arrests have been made, and the perpetrators remain at large.

“This growing trend is disturbing — and all Nigerians should take note. In Kaduna, the police reportedly looked away as thugs—armed with stones and cutlasses—attacked a peaceful ADC gathering. Instead of arresting those responsible, the police are now targeting the victims with summons.

“Every hour spent harassing El-Rufai and shutting down ADC offices is an hour not spent confronting the terrorists and criminals destroying lives across the North, and the urban bandits destroying the nation.”

“To make matters worse, police authorities in Kaduna sealed off the ADC party offices ahead of a planned meeting of zonal leaders—a deliberate attempt to stifle our constitutional right to assemble and organize.”

Continuing, “The ADC wishes to place this on record: These acts by the police are not isolated. They represent a systematic attempt to criminalize opposition politics, especially in states where the ruling party feels threatened by the growing influence of the ADC.

“In this regard, the ADC calls on the Federal Government and the Inspector General of Police to immediately withdraw the politically motivated summons issued to Nasir El-Rufai and other ADC leaders in Kaduna State. These invitations are not about justice or security, they are about silencing dissent and should therefore be halted without delay.

“We demand that the police authorities unseal the ADC office in Kaduna State, and stop the illegal obstruction of lawful political activity. No democracy can thrive where opposition party structures are routinely shut down under vague pretexts.”

The statement added,”The Nigeria Police must also publish the names of those who filed complaints that triggered these recent investigations and summons. The public deserves to know who is behind these attacks on political freedom, and what interests they serve.

“We further demand that security agencies arrest and prosecute those responsible for the attack on Abubakar Malami’s convoy in Kebbi State, as well as the violent thugs who disrupted our stakeholders’ meeting in Kaduna. The failure to bring these perpetrators to justice only emboldens further violence.

“In addition, we call for an internal disciplinary process within the police to investigate officers who were present during these incidents but failed to act. Those who stood by and allowed political violence to occur should not be wearing the uniform of the Nigerian state.

“Finally, we urge the Federal Government to redirect the focus of the Nigeria Police toward their primary duty—protecting the lives and property of all Nigerians— instead of being used as a tool of political manipulation.

“Our party will stand with our leaders and members. We will not be intimidated.”

 

By David Owei,Bayelsa

A 20-year-old student of Federal University Otuoke, FUO, Blessing Daniel, has narrated how alcohol influenced the maltreatment and almost murder of her friend in a viral video that sparked condemnation recently on the social media.

Our Correspondent , gathered that the suspect with three of her friends lured the victim, Miss Nancy Wilfred, to their apartment, assaulted, stripped her naked, and humiliated her while one of them filmed the attack which was intentionally released on social media.

Speaking during a parade at the Bayelsa State Police Command Headquarters in Yenagoa, the lead suspect who spoke on behalf of her friends said they attacked the victim because she lied about her doing charms to attract men.

She said though her actions were later regretted, the victim (Nancy) was spreading false narrative about her that was why she attacked her.

“We were four, but favour that sparked the attack is on the run. We didn’t it was going to be this bad. If we were in our right selves we won’t have gone this far. She lied to people that I did “Kayamata” so I confronted her and she didn’t say anything, so I slapped her and she pushed me and we started fighting”

We called her that the laundry man who does our washing wanted her to come and get her stuffs, so when she came , we were arguing inside the house before the incident occured. Favour sparked the anger in me that made the attack worst”

Earlier, in a briefing in his office, the Commissioner of Police, Bayelsa State Command, CP. Alonyenu Francis Idu, commended the state governor, Sen. Douye Diri, the wife of the governor, Mrs Diri, the Gender Right Activist, MBA, FIDA, and other community based organisations for the commitment in ensuring a crime free state.

He stated that criminal investigation into the incident in ensuring the culprits are brought to justice was already on, noting that it’s a case of indecent assault, attempted murder, grievous hurt, cyberbullying, cyberstalking and abduction of the victim.

He said “This is a case of conspiracy to murder, abduction, cyber bullying and others which we will not take likely. There four girls and we have three arrested, we are on the trail of the four person”

We are working to ensure at the end of this investigation into this unwholesome acts, we will present a complete and detailed results and allow the judiciary to take over .