Connect with us

News

Bauchi Has Zero Students Abduction Cases – Police

Published

on

The Bauchi State Police Command has said that the state has recorded zero students abduction cases in the state.

Sani-Omolori Aliyu, the Commissioner of Police in the state stated this in Bauchi on Wednesday during an official familiarisation visit by the Assistant Inspector General (AIG) of Police, Abubakar Aliyu in charge of zone 12.

Advertisement

According to him, this, has reflected the impact of the visibility policing and intelligence led operations of the police in the state.

The CP added that, in line with the Inspector-General of Police’s initiative to provide a secured atmosphere for institutions of learning across the country, the Command is on the verge of launching the IGP’s Safe School Protection Squad in Bauchi state.

READ ALSO: Bauchi Emir Turbans Former Governor Abubakar As 1st Makama Baban

Advertisement

“It may interest you to know that the Command has recorded zero student abductions, reflecting the impact of our visibility policing and intelligence-led operations.

“In a bid to consolidate these gains, and in line with the Inspector-General of Police’s initiative to provide a secure atmosphere for institutions of learning across the country, the Command is on the verge of launching the IGP’s Safe School Protection Squad.

“This squad will be equipped with state-of-the-art, real-time intelligence-gathering tools and highly trained personnel dedicated to safeguarding educational institutions across the state,” he said.

Advertisement

He also explained that in line with the IGP’s vision to reduce crime to the barest minimum, the Command has adopted and implemented several strategies.

READ ALSO: Police Assure Evidence-based Investigation Process In Bauchi

These, he said, included; enhanced patrols and visibility policing, such as mounting nipping points in crime-prone areas and conducting joint patrols, a focus on community policing through engagement with community leaders, quasi-security outfits, and the public to gather actionable intelligence;

Advertisement

Others he said included; quick response to distress calls through the deployment of standby operatives from the Rapid Response Squad, Anti-Kidnapping Unit, Operation Restore Peace and Public Sensitization Programmes targeted at educating the citizens on crime prevention and reporting mechanisms.

He expressed confident that the AIG’s visit will serve as a beacon of inspiration, offering strategic insight, renewed purpose, and a shared sense of mission in light of the evolving security landscape especially, in the state.

Also speaking, the AIG, said that Bauchi state is one of the peaceful states in the country and tasked officers and men to always support the IGP’s visions of reducing crime and criminality.

Advertisement

The AIG who is overseeing Bauchi and Gombe states, reminded the officers and men that they would be accountable for their actions and inactions, urging them to discharge their duties with the fear of God.

Advertisement

News

Sowore Vows Not To Delete anti-Tinubu Tweet

Published

on

Human rights activist and presidential candidate of the African Action Congress in the 2023 elections, Omoyele Sowore, has vowed not to delete a tweet critical of President Bola Tinubu, despite a reported request from the Department of State Services to X, demanding its removal.

Sowore disclosed this in a post on his X account on Sunday morning, revealing that the social media platform had formally contacted him about the DSS request.

Advertisement

Sowore, a human rights activist, journalist, and publisher of Sahara Reporters, is known for his outspoken criticism of successive Nigerian governments and advocacy for good governance.

He contested the 2019 and 2023 presidential elections under the African Action Congress and has been at the forefront of several pro-democracy campaigns.

The PUNCH earlier reported that the DSS had written to X Corp., demanding the immediate takedown of Sowore’s post, claiming it disparaged Tinubu and posed a threat to national security.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:DSS Gives X Ultimatum To Pull Down Sowore’s Tweet

Vowing not to play to the DSS’ gallery, he wrote, “This morning, X (formerly Twitter) officially contacted me about the despicable threat letter they received from the lawless DSS over my Tweet on Tinubu. One option I will NOT be taking is deleting that Tweet. Thank you, @X,” Sowore wrote.

He also shared the message sent to him by X, which confirmed that the platform had received a legal request from the Nigerian secret police concerning his post.

Advertisement

The message read, “Hello @YeleSowore. In the interest of transparency, we are writing to inform you that X has received a request from the Department of State Services regarding your X account, @YeleSowore, that claims the following content violates the law(s) of Nigeria. @YeleSowore, we have not taken any action on the reported content at this time as a result of this request.

Dane guns, sticks won’t work, Ndume cries out over Borno killings
No consensus to unseat Tinubu in 2027, Lagos APC replies Tambuwal
“As X strongly believes in defending and respecting the voice of our users, it is our policy to notify our users if we receive a legal request from an authorised entity (such as law enforcement or a government agency) to remove content from their account. We provide notice whether or not the user lives in the country where the request originated. This page provides more information: https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/defending-and-respecting-our-users-voice.

READ ALSO:Sowore Accompanies Lagos Corper To NYSC Office Over Viral Video Controversy

Advertisement

We understand that receiving this type of notice can be an unsettling experience. While X is not able to provide legal advice, we want you to have an opportunity to evaluate the request and, if you wish, take appropriate action to protect your interests.

“This may include seeking legal counsel and challenging the request in court, contacting relevant civil society organisations, voluntarily deleting the content (if applicable), or finding some other resolution. For more information on legal requests X receives from governments worldwide, please refer to this article on our Help Centre and our biannual Transparency Report: https://help.x.com/en/rules-and-policies/x-legal-faqs https://transparency.x.com.”

The PUNCH reports that Sowore has frequently accused the DSS and other government agencies of clamping down on dissent and free speech, insisting that his criticism of the Tinubu administration falls under constitutionally guaranteed rights.

Advertisement

The DSS, Nigeria’s domestic intelligence agency, has in the past been accused by rights groups of targeting dissenting voices and clamping down on free expression. Sowore himself was arrested by the DSS in 2019 over his “RevolutionNow” protest movement and was detained for several months despite court orders granting him bail.

RESA ALSO:JUST IN: DSS Writes X, Wants Sowore’s Account Deactivated Over Tweet Targeting Tinubu

X (formerly Twitter) has a stated policy of notifying users when it receives legal demands from governments requesting the takedown of content. The platform has also faced pressure in Nigeria before — most notably during the 2021 Twitter ban by the Federal Government, which accused the company of undermining national security after it deleted a tweet by then-President Muhammadu Buhari.

Advertisement

Sowore’s latest confrontation with the DSS highlights the ongoing tension between government authorities and citizens’ digital rights, particularly regarding criticism of public officials online.

His insistence on keeping the tweet online could spark renewed public debate on freedom of speech, government surveillance, and the limits of dissent in Nigeria’s democracy.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

News

Russia Launches Massive Air Attacks On Ukraine’s Cabinet Building

Published

on

Russia fired its biggest-ever aerial barrage at Ukraine early Sunday, killing two people and setting the seat of the Ukrainian government in Kyiv ablaze in an attack President Volodymyr Zelensky warned would prolong the war.

An AFP reporter saw the roof of Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers in flames and smoke billowing over the capital.

Advertisement

Drone strikes also damaged several high-rise buildings in Kyiv, according to emergency services.

Russia has shown no sign of halting its three-and-a-half-year invasion of Ukraine, pushing hardline demands for ending the war despite efforts by the United States to broker a peace deal.

Residents in Kyiv spoke of their frustration following the strikes.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Russia Hits Out At Macron For Calling Putin ‘Ogre’

This is already routine for us, unfortunately,” Olga, a 30-year-old resident of a damaged building, told AFP.

The Russians first “grab they Shaheds (Iranian-designed drones), then the rockets come,” she said.

Advertisement

The attack on Sunday was the first to hit Ukraine’s cabinet of ministers, a sprawling government complex at the heart of Kyiv.

An AFP reporter saw helicopters dropping what appeared to be buckets of water over its roof, as emergency services rushed to the scene.

Ukraine’s military-industrial complex and transport infrastructure” in the attack, without mentioning the government building.

Advertisement

Police cordoned off the area surrounding the building, the roof and upper floors of which sustained damage.

READ ALSO:Troops Kill 10 Terrorists Near Nigeria, Cameroon Border

We will restore the buildings. But we cannot bring back lost lives. The enemy terrorises and kills our people every day throughout the country,” Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko said.

Advertisement

Russia fired at least 810 drones and 13 missiles at Ukraine between late Saturday and early Sunday, in a new record, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Zelensky said emergency services were working across the country.

Such killings now, when real diplomacy could have already begun long ago, are a deliberate crime and a prolongation of the war,” he said on Facebook.

Advertisement

The attack drew condemnation from European leaders, including Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk and EU chief Ursula von der Leyen.

READ ALSO:NAF Air Strikes Destroy IED Factory, Terrorists’ Gun Trucks In Borno

Once again, the Kremlin is mocking diplomacy,” von der Leyen wrote on X.

Advertisement

Strike kills six

AFP reporters heard explosions over the capital early Sunday.

A strike on a nine-story residential building in the west of Kyiv killed at least two people, a mother and her two-month-old son, prosecutors said.

Advertisement

More than a dozen others were wounded in Kyiv, according to the emergency service.

Among them was a 24-year-old pregnant woman, who delivered a premature baby shortly after the attack, and doctors were fighting for her life and that of her baby, state TV Suspilne reported.

Four more died, and dozens of others were wounded in overnight strikes across the country’s east and southeast, authorities said.

Advertisement

The attack also killed seven horses at an equestrian club in Kyiv’s suburbs, according to Ukraine’s foreign ministry.

READ ALSO:Russian Politicians Mock European Leaders After White House, Ukraine Talks

The world cannot stand aside while a terrorist state takes lives—human or animal—every single day,” it wrote on X.

Advertisement

The barrage came after more than two dozen European countries pledged to patrol any agreement to end the war, some of whom said they were willing to deploy troops on the ground.

Kyiv insists on Western-backed security guarantees to prevent future Russian attacks, but President Vladimir Putin warns that any Western troops in Ukraine would be unacceptable and legitimate targets.

Efforts in recent weeks by US President Donald Trump to end the war have so far yielded little progress.

Advertisement

Meantime, on the front line in the east, Moscow continued to claim territory in costly grinding battles, capturing another village in the Dnipropetrovsk region. Russia occupies around 20 per cent of the country in total.

Tens of thousands have been killed in three-and-a-half years of fighting, which has forced millions from their homes and destroyed much of eastern and southern Ukraine in Europe’s bloodiest conflict since World War II.

AFP

Advertisement

Continue Reading

News

NDLEA Busts Cartel, Recovers ₦6.4bn Drugs From Kingpins

Published

on

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency has dismantled an international drug cartel operating between Nigeria, the United Kingdom, Brazil, Australia and the United Arab Emirates, arresting three kingpins and intercepting narcotics worth over ₦6.4 billion.

The NDLEA, in a statement signed by its Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, and released on Sunday in Abuja, disclosed that the operation began on August 26, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos, when its officers intercepted 76 cartons of textile materials bound for Sydney, Australia.

Advertisement

Concealed within were 16 blocks of cocaine weighing 17.9kg, hidden alongside local charms allegedly intended to shield traffickers from detection,” the statement noted.

A freight agent, Olashupo Michael Oladimeji, was arrested in connection with the consignment, which NDLEA said carried a street value of over AU$5.3 million (₦5.3bn).

READ ALSO:NDLEA Nabs Wanted Drug Kingpin With 11.6kg Cocaine, Meth After Seven Years

Advertisement

Subsequent investigations led to the arrests of Muaezee Ademola Ogunbiyi, identified as the syndicate’s Nigerian coordinator, and Shola Adegoke, another senior member.

Ogunbiyi was picked up in Ikeja GRA on September 3, with officers later recovering 21 parcels of Canadian Loud cannabis, a pump-action rifle and cartridges from his Lekki residence.

Adegoke was arrested at a packaging house in Ikeja GRA, where officers also recovered 9.6kg of Loud from a Range Rover SUV.

Advertisement

NDLEA disclosed that Adegoke had previously served a jail term in the UK for methamphetamine trafficking, while Ogunbiyi had completed a 14-year sentence in Britain for murder.

READ ALSO:

The agency further identified Adebisi Ademola Omoyele, alias Mr Bee, currently based in Dubai, as the cartel’s overall leader managing overseas operations.

Advertisement

The statement further stated that the NDLEA operatives intercepted other shipments across the country.

At Onne Port, Rivers State, a joint NDLEA–Customs operation uncovered 160,200 bottles of codeine-based syrup hidden in ceramic sanitary wares, with an estimated street value of ₦1.1bn.

READ ALSO:Tinubu Orders Mandatory Health Insurance Across Ministries, Agencies

Advertisement

In separate raids, officers seized hundreds of kilogrammes of cannabis, Colorado and Loud in Lagos, Abuja, Kogi, Edo, Kaduna, Anambra, Niger and Taraba. Notably, 625kg of cannabis was recovered in Surulere, Lagos, while 18.7 tonnes of skunk were destroyed on two plantations in Taraba.

“Also at Lagos airport, Milan-based Nigerian Gabriel Michael was arrested attempting to smuggle 24,480 tramadol tablets to Italy. He told investigators the pills were meant to fetch €19,520”.

The NDLEA Chairman, Brig.-Gen. Buba Marwa (retd) commended the operatives involved and urged continued vigilance under the agency’s “balanced approach” of enforcement and its War Against Drug Abuse advocacy campaigns.

Advertisement

Continue Reading

Trending