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Buratai Highlights Factors Fueling Insecurity, Suggests Ways Out

Published

2 years ago

October 22, 2021

Former Chief of Army Staff, LT Tukur Buratai, has highlighted factors fueling insecurity and suggested ways out.

Buratai spoke on Friday while delivering a lecture in Adamawa State capital, Yola.

Speaking on the topic, ‘The Nigerian Front in the War on Terror: Security or Development, during the lecture segment of the 24th, 25th and 26th Combined Convocation of Modibbo Adama University Yola, Buratai mentioned low human development and widespread poverty as a major predisposing factor to insecurity.

He similarly identified porous international borders which encourage influx of weapons and other dangerous materials, and tendency by the masses to leave the anti-insurgency war for the military as some of the reasons for persisting insecurity.

Buratai stressed that low human development presents a rich breeding ground for poor nationals who become prone to acts that cause insecurity.

“The quest for security must go with development,” Buratai said, adding that terrorism thrives in the Northeast particularly because it is the poorest region of the country.

“The Northeast lacks development in all areas. That is one of the major factors fueling the insurgency and insecurity in the region,” he said.

He said even as the country engages the Boko Haram terrorists militarily, it must address the factors, including low human development, that feed insecurity.

“This must be anchored on a strategy that recognizes the security and development nexus as central to counter-insurgency and counter-terrorism in Nigeria,” he said.

Faulting the tendency for Nigerians to see the Boko Haram war as a fight between the insurgents and the military, Buratai said it is not a Boko Haram versus military war but Boko Haram versus Nigeria.

He said although the military had reduced the power of insurgents and render them able only to harass soft targets, even such residual powers of the insurgents need to be taken from them.

Suggesting how this could be done, Buratai said, “There is the need to curtail sporadic attacks and bring the conflict to a permanent conclusion. This requires the synergy, political will, sacrifice and commitment of all: government, CSOs, CBOs, FBOs, traditional rulers and the populace.”

(DAILY POST)

Headline

Grammy Winner Found Dead In Her Apartment

Published

1 hour ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

Grammy-winning singer Mandisa, who rose to fame on season five of “American Idol,” has died.

She died on Thursday, April 18 at the age of 47, her representative said Friday.

“We can confirm that yesterday Mandisa was found in her home deceased,” her representative said in a statement. “At this time we do not know the cause of death or any further details.”

“We ask for your prayers for her family and close knit circle of friends during this incredibly difficult time,” the statement concluded.

A post on the artist’s Facebook page said early Friday: “Mandisa was a voice of encouragement and truth to people facing life’s challenges all around the world. She wrote this song for a dear friend who had passed in 2017.”

“Her own words say it best. I’m already home / You’ve got to lay it down / ‘cause Jesus holds me now— / And I am not alone.”

Born and raised in Citrus Heights, California, Mandisa studied music in college before auditioning for Idol in 2005.

Mandisa’s shot to stardom after placing ninth on “American Idol,” alongside favorites like Katharine McPhee, Kellie Pickler, Chris Daughtry, Paris Bennett, Elliott Yamin and eventual winner Taylor Hicks.

After her Idol elimination, Mandisa went on to release her debut album, True Beauty, in 2007. The LP debuted at No. 1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, a historic feat that made Mandisa the first new female artist ever to debut on the top of the chart’s 27-year history.

True Beauty was the first six albums Mandisa would release throughout her career, including an acclaimed 2008 holiday record, It’s Christmas, and her most recent offering, 2017’s Out of the Dark.

She went on to win a Grammy for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album in 2014 for her album “Overcomer.”

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Man Sets Self On Fire Outside Trump Trial Venue

Published

3 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A man set himself on fire Friday outside the court where Donald Trump is standing trial in Manhattan, with officers rushing to extinguish the flames.

Burning clothes were strewn in the park, which was locked down by authorities, while ambulances lined up nearby on standby, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw, describing a strong smell of burning chemicals.

The scene unfolded moments after the full panel of 12 jurors and six alternates was selected for the trial of the former president in a hush money cover-up case.

“A male did light himself on fire outside of the Supreme Courthouse. We’re still gathering details from the field,” said a New York Police Department spokesman.

The fire department did not respond to a request for comment, but media reported the man had been taken away for medical treatment.

The incident happened in a park opposite the 100 Centre Street courthouse, which has been used by authorities to corral protesters, both pro-Trump and anti-Trump, as well as by some members of the media.

The park, which is close to several courthouses and other buildings, is a popular local lunch spot.

Trump’s criminal trial, the first of a former president, is being conducted amid tight security in a 15th-floor courtroom swarming with Secret Service officers as well as court police.

New York’s police department had promised a major deployment to ensure the trial passes off safely, with the force’s head of intelligence John Hart calling it a “major challenge.”

AFP

Headline

Police Storm Iranian Embassy In Paris After Man ‘In Suicide Vest’ Threatened To Blow Himself Up

Published

8 hours ago

April 19, 2024

Editor

A man has surrendered to police after he reportedly threatened to blow himself up at the Iranian consulate in Paris with a suicide vest.

According to Mail Online, the man gave himself after 2pm, walking out of the consulate with his hands in the air and giving himself over to police at the scene.

‘He had no explosives or weapons on him,’ said a security source. ‘He was placed under arrest immediately and taken away to a secure police station for questioning.’

Specialist BRI officers continued to swarm around the area, together with sniffer dogs, just in case explosives had been hidden in the area.

‘The security perimeter will be maintained for a while yet,’ said the source.

The individual was for a time holed up inside the building in the French capital’s 16th arrondissement in a room with the ambassador, one report said.

He was said to be wearing an explosive belt and equipped with an object that resembled a grenade, Europe 1 and other sources reported earlier.

The area was cordoned off and evacuated, with a police source saying that an ‘intervention was imminent’.

This suggested officers had been preparing to storm the building.

‘A witness saw a man enter carrying a grenade or an explosive belt,’ a source told France’s AFP news agency, adding that an elite police unit had been mobilised after the consulate requested an intervention.

‘The man presented him at the consulate, and then removed his coat, to show off an alleged explosives vest,’ another security source said at the scene.

‘He said he was carrying a grenade, and then placed a national flag on the floor. He said he wanted to avenge his brother.’

Police ordered the city’s Metro Line 6 to be interrupted as a safety measure.

Europe 1 reported that the embassy contacted the police requesting assistance, reporting that the man was inside the building. It said he was holed up in a room inside the consulate ‘in the presence of the ambassador’.

There were no reports of an explosion.

The incident came amid increasing tensions between Israel and Iran, with the Jewish state today launching strikes against the Islamic Republic.

This was in response to Iran launching over 300 missiles toward Israel on Saturday, 99 percent of which were intercepted by Israel and its allies.