Nigerian Police

MRA’s Office Burgled, Valuables worth Millions of Naira Stolen

MRA’s Office Burgled, Valuables worth Millions of Naira Stolen

By Daniel Adaji Media Rights Agenda (MRA) announced today that its office in Lagos was burgled and ransacked over the weekend by a group of unidentified intruders who made away with nine laptop computers and other valuable equipment worth millions of naira. In a statement issued in Lagos, the Head of MRA’s Legal Department, Ms. Obioma Okonkwo, described the incident as shocking and frightening attack on the organization, saying it was still trying to determine whether the action was simply a robbery incident or a more sinister effort to cripple MRA’s operations or access its records and information since only…
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The Blunder in Not Having State Police

The Blunder in Not Having State Police

By Eric Teniola The non inclusion of State Police in the Constitution was an error. It was a grave omission. The lapse occurred in 1976, forty-six years ago. No one could have imagined forty-six years ago that our security challenges would become so grave to this level, that we now live in perpetual fear at the mercy of terrorists, kidnappers, Boko Haram, ISWAP, political thugs, armed robbers and the rest. Who could have imagined that our country will be so mismanaged like this, to the extent that we are experiencing depression and bewilderment of crippling fear like a nagging hound…
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‘Why Chibok Schoolgirls were abducted’- by former Borno State Governor Shettima

‘Why Chibok Schoolgirls were abducted’- by former Borno State Governor Shettima

(This is an excerpt of an interview Governor Shettima granted Theophilus Abbah and published in Daily Trust on Sunday in May 2014) It’s about two weeks since Chibok schoolgirls were abducted by Boko Haram. Is there any good news for their parents? ‎That incident is one nightmare that troubles me so much as a father and as a leader. It remains the worst in my entire life. As a father, I can imagine what a parent feels when a daughter is in the hands of abductors who are very capable of forceful marriage, rape, slavery and who are against education.…
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The Unseen Forces Behind Terrorist Fighters

The Unseen Forces Behind Terrorist Fighters

By Theophilus Abbah On February 4, 2022, no fewer than 25 terrorists, fleeing airstrikes by the Nigerian military,  drowned in a deep river located within the Marte axis of the Lake Chad basin in Borno State. On February 10, 2022, a  military fighter jet and helicopter gunship eliminated some bandit leaders and terrorists in Niger State. On February 11, 2022, air troops of ‘Operation Thunder Strike’ eliminated no fewer than 20 armed bandits at the general area of the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) in Kaduna. The military has recorded successes like these in recent times, and from my tally, between February 1…
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‘How to curtail insecurity in South-East’

‘How to curtail insecurity in South-East’

Barrister Charles Odenigbo is a veteran journalist and lawyer. He is enthusiastic about unity, justice and economic development in Nigeria. In this interview, he speaks on what both federal and state governments should do to stem insecurity in the South-East.   How does the current insecurity affect national cohesion and the economy of the South-East? Insecurity is a state of being subject to danger and uncertainty. Nigerians in all spheres of life are living in self-doubt and vulnerability due to poor welfare from the government, lack of good healthcare facility and service, unemployment of over 100 million citizens, terrorism by…
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The Intelligence Community and the New Challenges

The Intelligence Community and the New Challenges

By Eric Teniola The crisis is an opportunity to make good on big changes. So never waste a good crisis. The late British Prime Minister, Sir Winston Churchill (30 November 1874-24 January 1965) once wrote,” never let a good crisis go to waste”. After the brutal assassination of General Murtala Ramat Mohammed (8 November 1938 – 13 February 1976), GCFR, on February 13, 1976, the central government realized that the coup d'etat caught the government unawares. To rectify the situation and to prevent future occurrence, the government decided to reform the security apparatus in the country. Earlier the internal security…
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5 Reasons Why Nigeria Scored Low on Corruption Perceptions Index 2020:

5 Reasons Why Nigeria Scored Low on Corruption Perceptions Index 2020:

  …What should be done to improve it The 2020 Corruption Perceptions Index (CPI) released globally by Transparency International (TI) recently has shown that Nigeria yet again, records a decline in the CPI in 2020. In the report published exclusively in Nigeria by the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), the National Chapter of TI, the index reveals that Nigeria scored 25 out of 100 points in the 2020 CPI, falling back by one point compared to last year. In the country comparison for this year, Nigeria ranks 149 out of 183 countries -three places down compared to 2019 results.…
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Boko Haram, Zulum’s eruptions and classified outbursts

Boko Haram, Zulum’s eruptions and classified outbursts

By Dr. Nuruddeen Muhammad "I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom that I provide and then questions the manner in which I provide it" That was Jack Nicholson when he starred as Col Nathan R Jessep in the blockbuster military thriller 'A Few Good Men'. While this statement might sound offensive or even totally bizarre to democratic norms, assumptions, and sentiments, the fact is, that is how a typical soldier thinks. They all have some deeply embedded disdain for 'civilians', and most…
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ISS: New insights into how communities resist Boko Haram

ISS: New insights into how communities resist Boko Haram

By Akinola Olojo, Senior Researcher, ISS Communities affected by violent extremism are frequently considered to have risk factors linked to socio-economic deprivation, bad governance, and religious radicalization. These factors prevail across the whole of northern Nigeria, and in the north-eastern Bauchi and Gombe states. However, despite Boko Haram’s factions being active in this zone, Bauchi and Gombe haven’t experienced the levels of violent extremism that other states in the same area have in the past decade. Field research conducted by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) examined the factors that have helped Bauchi and Gombe resist Boko Haram. Although religion…
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Aid workers’ execution: Zulum deeply pained, sends delegation to families

Aid workers’ execution: Zulum deeply pained, sends delegation to families

...Says victims died as heroes Borno Governor, Babagana Umara Zulum, is deeply pained by insurgents’ execution of aid workers whom he described as heroes that were gruesomely killed in the course of serving humanity. Zulum’s spokesman, Malam Isa Gusau, said in a statement released Thursday morning, that the Governor was informed of the execution on Wednesday evening, while he was at headquarters of Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in Abuja to discuss introduction of civil-defence volunteer programme and the deployment of more agro rangers to secure farmers in Borno State. Zulum departed Maiduguri same Wednesday and on arriving Abuja,…
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Regrouping Sokoto bandits force thousands out of their communities

Regrouping Sokoto bandits force thousands out of their communities

Recent military operations in Sokoto has seen bandits regrouping away from their usual hideouts. In retaliation for aerial bombardments by the Nigerian Air Force, they have been attacking villages, displacing thousands of farmers.  Our correspondent speaks to some of the people displaced by this latest twist in the bandits’ crisis. Recent military bombardments of bandits’ hideout in Kagara Forest of Sokoto State has had a dire impact on the people of Isa Local Government as dislodged bandits had regrouped and attacked residents of the area, forcing hundreds to flee their homes. Following the air assault, especially around Isa and Sabon…
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Magu and albatross around EFCC chairmen’s neck

Magu and albatross around EFCC chairmen’s neck

By Theophilus Abbah Nuhu Ribadu booted out, demoted (2008). Farida Waziri sacked! (2011). Ibrahim Lamorde removed, under probe (2015).  Ibrahim Magu arrested, detained, grilled (2019). With these fragmented statements and reads-on that scream from the headlines of dailies, each chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), was, with bleary eyes, ingloriously booted out of the seat of the fire. Were they round holes in square pegs? Were they hypocrites, double-faced, or impostors? Did they come under the spell of powerful witches or wizards who have put a curse upon the executive chair? The answer may be none of…
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