Headline

Banditry: Stakeholders Fault Gov. El-Rufai’s Call For Carpet-bombing Of Forests

Published

4 years ago

January 9, 2022

Editor

Reactions have continued to trail Governor Nasir El-Rufai’s suggestion that forests inhabited by bandits be carpet-bombed.

The Council of Imams and Ulamas in Kaduna State through its Secretary-General, Dr.Yakubu Yusuf Arigasiyu, believed that the issue of segmented attacks would not yield any positive result, stressing that there is a need for clear tactical plan to understand the strategic locations of these bandits and deal with them once and for all.

According to the Imams and Ulamas, the military know of this and nobody should tell them what to do, stressing that perhaps it is because of personal benefits some people are getting out of it they do not want to see to the end of this calamity.

They believe that three months is too much for the Nigerian military to make banditry history in Nigeria.

According to Dr.Yakubu Yusuf Arigasiyu, “I really appreciate and support the suggestions made by his Excellency the Governor of Kaduna State.”

The Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN) in Northern states and Abuja, Rev. Joseph John Hayab, while commenting, observed that what many groups including CAN have been calling on the governor to do since 2018 but he (Governor) has always viewed the suggestions as coming from those he has scores to settle with.
He explained that if El-Rufai had done what he is saying now over three years ago, Kaduna state would have been safe and the many lives and properties lost would have been averted.

According to Rev. Hayab, “The Governor’s call now may be coming from fear he is having that he will soon be out of office and be a free citizen like us not knowing what his fate would be with these evil people.”

The state chairman of CAN believed that Governor El-Rufai is championing that they (bandits) should be wiped out completely for self-protection and interest first, not a sign of concern for the suffering of the masses, adding that the governor knows that many will support this suggestion though it is coming late after the state had suffered many losses.

Rev. Hayab added that CAN Kaduna State is urging him (Governor El-Rufai) to go ahead and wipe the bandits and terrorists out of the forest but with less noise since they seem to know what he discusses even in his bedroom, stressing, “We believe the best way to get at these enemies of the people and the state is by action, not noise making.”

On his part, Anthony Sani, immediate past Secretary-General of Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF), agreed with the strategy of taking the fight to the bandits and smoke them out of their hideouts in the forests, pointing out that such tasks are not as easy as the governor sees it.

He explained, “This is because the bandits and gunmen are all over the forests across the nation while there are not enough trained and equipped security personnel who are well-motivated to secure the whole country. As a result, the spread of the security personnel to man all the communities across the nation are too thin for any serious engagements in asymmetric conflicts.This is not conventional conflicts requiring only the use of hard power of military war but that of guerrilla war where some of the enemies live among the people.”

In the same vein, the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum ( AYCF) told Governor Nasiru Ahmad El-Rufai that carpet-bombing has never been a successful military operation in history.

Alhaji Yerima Shettima, President of the AYCF, in a statement explained that what the governor was advocating as a means of exterminating the bandits occupying the ungoverned forests, could best be described as his personal opinion.

He explained that he sees Governor the El-Rufai suggestion as his personal opinion and not drawn from any example known to historians studying conflicts, insurgencies and banditry bombing campaign.

“So, it is easier said than done and I thought El-Rufai would seek the opinion of historians or run a random search in the archives to find where carpet-bombing has ever succeeded,” he exclaimed.

Headline

Saudi Arabia’s Grand Mufti Is Dead

Published

3 hours ago

September 23, 2025

Editor

The Grand Mufti of Saudi Arabia, Sheikh Abdulaziz, has died at the age of 82.

According to a statement from the Royal Court, the revered cleric passed away on Tuesday morning.

Born in Mecca in November 1943, Sheikh Abdulaziz rose to become one of the most influential religious authorities in the Kingdom.

He served as head of the General Presidency of Scholarly Research and Ifta, as well as the Supreme Council of the Muslim World League.

Headline

Antitrust Trial: US Asks Court To Break Up Google’s Ad Business

Published

1 day ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

Google faces a fresh federal court test on Monday as US government lawyers ask a judge to order the breakup of the search engine giant’s ad technology business.

The lawsuit is Google’s second such test this year, following a similar government demand to split up its empire that was shot down by a judge earlier this month.

Monday’s case focuses specifically on Google’s ad tech “stack” — the tools that website publishers use to sell ads and that advertisers use to buy them.

In a landmark decision earlier this year, Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that Google maintained an illegal grip on this market.

Monday’s trial is set to determine what penalties and changes Google must implement to undo its monopoly.

According to filings, the US government will argue that Google should spin off its ad publisher and exchange operations. The DOJ will also ask that after the divestitures are complete, Google be banned from operating an ad exchange for 10 years.

Google will argue that the divestiture demands go far beyond the court’s findings, are technically unfeasible, and would be harmful to the market and smaller businesses.

“We’ve said from the start that DOJ’s case misunderstands how digital advertising works and ignores how the landscape has dramatically evolved, with increasing competition and new entrants,” said Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google’s Vice President of Regulatory Affairs.

In a similar case in Europe, the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust enforcer, earlier this month fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.47 billion) over its control of the ad tech market.

Brussels ordered behavioral changes, drawing criticism that it was going easy on Google as it had previously indicated that a divestiture may be necessary.

This remedy phase of the US trial follows a first trial that found Google operated an illegal monopoly. It is expected to last about a week, with the court set to meet again for closing arguments a few weeks later.

The trial begins in the same month that a separate judge rejected a government demand that Google divest its Chrome browser, in an opinion that was largely seen as a victory for the tech giant.

That was part of a different case, also brought by the US Department of Justice, in which the tech giant was found responsible for operating an illegal monopoly, this time in the online search space.

Instead of a major breakup of its business, Google was required to share data with rivals as part of its remedies.

The US government had pushed for Chrome’s divestment, arguing the browser serves as a crucial gateway to the internet that brings in a third of all Google web searches.

Shares in Google-parent Alphabet have skyrocketed by more than 20 percent since that decision.

Judge Brinkema has said in pre-trial hearings that she will closely examine the outcome of the search trial when assessing her path forward in her own case.

These cases are part of a broader bipartisan government campaign against the world’s largest technology companies. The US currently has five pending antitrust cases against such companies.

AFP

Headline

Google Faces Court Battle Over Breakup Of Ad Tech Business

Published

1 day ago

September 22, 2025

Editor

Google faces a fresh federal court test on Monday as US government lawyers ask a judge to order the breakup of the search engine giant’s ad technology business.

The lawsuit is Google’s second such test this year after the California-based tech juggernaut saw a similar government demand to split up its empire shot down by a judge earlier this month.

Monday’s case focuses specifically on Google’s ad tech “stack” — the tools that website publishers use to sell ads and that advertisers use to buy them.

In a landmark decision earlier this year, Federal Judge Leonie Brinkema agreed with the US Department of Justice (DOJ) that Google maintained an illegal grip on this market.
Monday’s trial is set to determine what penalties and changes Google must implement to undo its monopoly.

Google will argue that the divestiture demands go far beyond the court’s findings, are technically unfeasible, and would be harmful to the market and smaller businesses.

In a similar case in Europe, the European Commission, the EU’s antitrust enforcer, earlier this month fined Google 2.95 billion euros ($3.47 billion) over its control of the ad tech market.
Brussels ordered behavioral changes, drawing criticism that it was going easy on Google as it had previously indicated that a divestiture may be necessary.

The trial begins in the same month that a separate judge rejected a government demand that Google divest its Chrome browser, in an opinion that was largely seen as a victory for the tech giant.

That was part of a different case, also brought by the US Department of Justice, in which the tech giant was found responsible for operating an illegal monopoly, this time in the online search space.
Instead of a major breakup of its business, Google was required to share data with rivals as part of its remedies.

The US government had pushed for Chrome’s divestment, arguing the browser serves as a crucial gateway to the internet that brings in a third of all Google web searches.
Shares in Google-parent Alphabet have skyrocketed by more than 20 percent since that decision.

Judge Brinkema has said in pre-trial hearings that she will closely examine the outcome of the search trial when assessing her path forward in her own case.

These cases are part of a broader bipartisan government campaign against the world’s largest technology companies. The US currently has five pending antitrust cases against such companies.