Headline

Plateau Crisis: Military Taskforce Receives Report On Peace

Published

4 years ago

October 23, 2021

The Special Peace Committee set up by the military taskforce responsible for the maintenance of peace in Plateau State, codenamed Operation Safe Haven (OPSH), on Saturday, submitted its reports to the Commander of the taskforce, Major General Ibrahim Ali.

The Committee was also mandated to identify the root causes of the crisis that has engulfed the state over the years.

The OPSH’s Commander had on September 11th, 2021, inaugurated the 36-man committee to proffer lasting solution to the lingering insecurity in the state.

Presenting the report on Saturday in Jos, Mr Robert Ashi, chairman of the special committee, thanked the commander for the opportunity granted them to serve.

He explained that the committee, which consists diverse people, brainstormed, engaged critical stakeholders and came up with a 94-page report.

He said that the committee through rigorous exchange of ideas identified multifaceted root causes of the increasing spate of insecurity in the state.

He advised the Commander to implement the numerous recommendations made by the committee to the latter.

“All the recommendations are well guided to address the security challenges facing the state.

“We want to urge the commander to be religious in implementing the report; we count on you to do justice to it.

“These recommendations are like the dreams of the good people of Plateau, so sir, we will be very happy if this dream comes to fruition,”he said.

In a brief message, the Brra Nggwe Rigwe, Rev Ronku Aka, commended the commander for the initiative, adding that it would promote peaceful coexistence in the state.

He promised to support the commander in the implementation of the recommendations made by the committee.

Similarly, Hardo Wada Waziri expressed optimism that the recommendation put forward by the committee would lead to lasting peace in the state

Receiving the reports, the Commander said that the idea to have the committee is part of its non kinetic approach towards achieving peace and peaceful coexistence in Plateau.

Ali, who explained that lasting peace can be achieved through Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), added that the initiative aimed at a more virile society.

He promised to carefully study the recommendations made by the committee, with a view of implementing them for the overall interest of all.

“Today marks another important day in the annals of this state because lasting peace can only be achieved through alternative dispute resolution.

“I am highly delighted today to receive this report because it is part of our non kinetic approach towards entrenching peace on the Plateau.

“This report will serve as another take off point and cornerstone to our subsequent actions as security agencies in addressing the lingering issues on the Plateau.

“We are going to meticulously study the report, work with a think-tank and come up with actions that will enable Plateau to regain its lost glory of being the home of peace and tourism,” he said.

The Commander thanked members of the committee for sacrificing their time and successfully completing the assignment.

DAILY POST reports that he promised to continue to work assiduously, without fear or favour towards the actualisation of lasting peace in the state.

Headline

Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

9 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

10 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP