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Insecurity: Change Security Chiefs Before It’s Too Late, Group Tells Buhari

Published

4 years ago

December 12, 2021

The Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to rejig the internal security architectures of the country to reflect federal character.

HURIWA made the call against the backdrop of killings by terrorists in the Northern part of Nigeria.

The right group said religious and ethnic bigotry by security heads was responsible for killings and terrorism in Nigeria.

A statement by HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko reads: “Following the serial blood cuddling butcher and slaughter by terrorists in the North West of Nigeria of civilians including travellers and the persistent failures of intelligence gathering capacity of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a call has gone to the President and Commander-In-Chief President Muhammadu Buhari to rejig, reorganise and reshape the internal security operations especially the hierarchies to reflect the Federal CHARACTER Principle as enshrined in section 14(3) of the 1999 Constitution.

“HURIWA believes that religious and Ethnic bigotry by heads of the internal security operations is why there are a lot of terrorism and killings by armed non state actors aided by serving members of the armed forces.

“Specifically, Section 14 (3) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria said thus: “The composition of the Government of the Federation or any of its agencies and the conduct of its affairs shall be carried out in such a manner as to reflect the federal character of Nigeria and the need to promote national unity, and also to command national loyalty, thereby ensuring that there shall be no predominance of persons from a few State or from a few ethnic or other sectional groups in that Government or in any of its agencies.”

HURIWA accused Buhari of being a habitual abuser of this law by not only concentrating strategic internal security appointments to Muslims but “he even violated with ignominy the law in making top two appointments into the Federal Character Commission which is an agency to address Federal character issues.”

The group tasked Buhari and the National Assembly to investigate the allegations that the Nigerian Army and Air force deliberately began uncoordinated and poorly executed military actions against terrorists hibernating in Zamfara State and deliberately created escape routes for them to escape the theatre of fire into Sokoto State where they are now transferring their unjust aggression to target civilians and innocent citizens.

The statement added: “It’s shocking that for over six years, President Muhammadu Buhari refused to listen to the voice of reason and stop the religious and Ethnic bigotry which characterised the formation of the heads of the entire agencies of government in charge of internal security operations, thereby allowing only Muslims and mostly Hausa/Fulani to head strategic internal security operations as the Nigerian Customs Service, the Nigerian Immigration, the Nigerian Civil Defence Corps, the Nigerian Correctional Centre and the Nigerian Police Force and a South West fanatical Moslem heading the ministry of internal Affairs.

“It is disheartening that the heads of Department of State Services and the Nigerian Intelligence Agency are all headed by Fulani Muslims but yet sophisticated weapons have flooded into Nigeria from the North and these officers perfectly pretended not to know what they are doing whilst terrorists have overwhelmed the entire North, but it took pressures for the government to lazily proceed to the Federal High Court to belatedly classify these suspected Fulani armed militia in the North West as terrorists.

“Why is President Muhammadu Buhari comfortable and sleeping peacefully whilst Nigeria is turned upside down by killers and all kinds of armed non state actors and the Muslim-controlled internal security architectures that have failed and indeed compromised against national security are left intact in their offices as if the government is actually happy that blood is flowing all over the nation? Mr. President, sack these incompetent officers who cannot protect Nigerians. These persons are delegitimising your administration because any administration that is unable to defend the defenceless is a fraud.

“HURIWA is asking the President to appoint qualified Nigerians from all religions and ethnicities to man the internal security operations of Nigeria because empirical evidence now shows that the all Muslim-internal security team have acted like compromised bunch of Islamists who have permitted the infiltration and flooding of Nigeria by all kinds of armed bandits, terrorists and Islamists and it seems these bunch of killers are waging Jihad in Nigeria against Christians whilst a few of them are engaged in the terrorist acts of kidnapping of civilians and destruction of communities”.

(DAILY POST)

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Anxiety As Trump Gives Russia 50 Days To Make Ukraine Deal

Published

3 hours ago

July 15, 2025

Editor

US President Donald Trump told Russia on Monday to end its war in Ukraine within 50 days or face massive new economic sanctions, as he laid out plans for infusions of weaponry for Kyiv via NATO.

Trump said he was “very, very unhappy” with Vladimir Putin, underlining his insistence that his patience had finally snapped with the Russian leader’s refusal to end the deadly conflict.

“We’re going to be doing very severe tariffs if we don’t have a deal in 50 days, tariffs at about 100 percent,” Trump said during an Oval Office meeting with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte.

The Republican added that they would be “secondary tariffs” that target Russia’s remaining trade partners — seeking to impede Moscow’s ability to survive already sweeping Western sanctions.

Russia’s top trading partner last year was China, accounting for about 34 percent, followed distantly by India, Turkey and Belarus, according to the Russian Federal Customs Service.

Trump and Rutte also unveiled a deal under which the NATO military alliance would buy billions of dollars of arms from the United States — including Patriot anti-missile batteries — and send them to Ukraine.

“This is really big,” said Rutte, as he touted a deal aimed at easing Trump’s long-held complaints that the United States is paying more than European and NATO allies to aid Ukraine.

Germany, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, Norway, Sweden and Britain were among the buyers helping Ukraine, added the NATO chief.

“If I was Vladimir Putin today and heard you speaking… I would reconsider that I should take negotiations about Ukraine more seriously,” said Rutte.

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said he had spoken with Trump and was “grateful” for the arms deal.

In a BBC interview published Tuesday, Trump expressed disappointment with Putin.

“I’m disappointed in him, but I’m not done with him,” the US president said.

When asked if he trusted the Russian leader, Trump replied: “I trust almost no one.”

– Growing frustration –

Trump attempted a rapprochement with Putin shortly after starting his second term, having campaigned on a pledge to end the Ukraine war within 24 hours.

His pivot towards Putin sparked fears in Kyiv that he was about to sell out Ukraine, especially after he and his team berated Zelensky in the Oval Office in February.

But in recent weeks, Trump has shown increasing frustration with Putin, as Russian has stepped up attacks rather than halting them.

Trump said his wife Melania had helped change his thinking about Putin.

“I go home, I tell the First Lady, ‘you know, I spoke to Vladimir today, we had a wonderful conversation,’” Trump said. “And she said, ‘Oh really? Another city was just hit.’”

He added of Putin: “I don’t want to say he’s an assassin, but he’s a tough guy.”

Washington has also U-turned on pausing some arms deliveries to Kyiv.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said Berlin would play a “decisive role” in the new weapons plan.

But EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said Trump’s sanctions deadline was too far into the future. “Fifty days is a very long time if we see that they are killing innocent civilians every day,” she said.

Beijing opposed what it called attempts at “coercion”, including “all illegal unilateral sanctions and long-arm jurisdiction.”

“Coercion and pressure will not solve problems,” foreign ministry spokesman Lin Jian said on Tuesday.

– ‘Better late than never’ –
US Republican Senator Lindsey Graham and Democratic Senator Richard Blumenthal, who are pushing a bipartisan bill on Russia secondary sanctions, praised Trump’s “powerful” ultimatum to Russia.

Trump’s special envoy Keith Kellogg arrived in Kyiv on Monday for what Zelensky called a “productive meeting.”

One Ukrainian soldier deployed in the war-scarred east of the country, who identified himself by his call sign Grizzly, welcomed Trump’s promise of fresh air defense systems.

“Better late than never,” the 29-year-old told AFP.

Russian forces meanwhile said on Monday they had captured new territory in eastern Ukraine with the seizure of one village in the Donetsk region and another in the Zaporizhzhia region.

Its forces also killed at least three civilians in the eastern Kharkiv and Sumy regions on Monday, Ukrainian officials said.

In Kyiv, Zelensky also proposed a major political shake-up, recommending economy minister Yulia Svyrydenko take over as prime minister, and appointing incumbent Prime Minister Denys Shmygal as defense minister.

AFP

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US Threatens Visa Overstayers With Lifetime Ban

Published

20 hours ago

July 14, 2025

Editor

The United States government has issued a severe warning to foreign nationals who overstay their visa validity.

The embassy also cautioned that such action could lead to deportation and a permanent ban from re-entering the country.

In a statement made available to the press on Monday, US immigration authorities reiterated their longstanding policy on visa compliance, saying, “If you remain in the United States beyond your authorised period of stay, you could be deported, and could face a permanent ban on traveling to the United States.”

This warning comes amid rising migration figures, especially among young Africans, many of whom travel to the United States in pursuit of better education and economic opportunity.

According to recent data from the US Department of Homeland Security, visa overstays represent a significant portion of immigration violations annually, prompting tighter enforcement measures and renewed public awareness campaigns by the US Citizenship and Immigration Services.

However, under US immigration law, individuals who remain in the country unlawfully for more than 180 days can face a three- or ten-year ban and, in some cases, a lifetime bar from returning.

For Nigerians seeking to relocate or study in the US, the warning serves as a reminder to comply strictly with immigration terms, especially as global scrutiny on migration grows fiercer.

Headline

US Will Send Ukraine Patriot Air Defense Systems

Published

1 day ago

July 14, 2025

Editor

President Donald Trump on Sunday said the United States would send Patriot air defense systems to Ukraine to help it fight off a Russian invasion, as his relations with Russian President Vladimir Putin soured.

“We will send them Patriots, which they desperately need,” Trump said, without specifying how many, just two weeks after Washington said it would pause some arms deliveries to Kyiv.

“I haven’t agreed on the number yet, but they’re going to have some because they do need protection,” he told reporters.

The weapons delivery will be part of a new deal which Trump says will involve NATO paying the United States for some of the weapons it sends to Ukraine.

“We basically are going to send them various pieces of very sophisticated military and they’re going to pay us 100 percent for them,” Trump told reporters.

The US president repeated that he was “disappointed” in Putin.

When he first returned to the White House in January Trump insisted he could work with the Russian leader to end the war, but grew increasingly frustrated as Russian missiles continued with no ceasefire in sight.

“Putin really surprised a lot of people. He talks nice and then he bombs everybody in the evening,” said the disgruntled Trump.

US special envoy Keith Kellogg is due to begin his latest visit to Ukraine on Monday.

Trump also said he would meet NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte on Monday, when he previously said he would make a “major statement… on Russia.”