Negotiations for the release of no fewer than 287 abducted pupils and teachers of the Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga 1, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State, have begun, according to PUNCH report.

A highly placed source in the Kaduna State Government House, who is close to the negotiations but pleaded not to be identified because of security reasons, confided in PUNCH that the state government had reached out to the bandits through a private negotiator (names withheld) for the release of the pupils and their teachers.

The private negotiator is a highly influential negotiator who has been involved in negotiating several abductions with bandits in the past.

Bandits had stormed the LEA Primary School, Kuriga, around 8.30am on Thursday shortly after the assembly gathering and abducted the pupils and some staff members of the schools.

It was learnt that the secondary school was relocated to the primary school premises as a result of insecurity in the area.

Governor Uba Sani, who visited the school on Thursday, gave an assurance that the abducted pupils would be rescued unhurt.

Sani while addressing the community members said, “In my capacity as your elected governor, I am assuring you that by the grace of God, all the children will return unhurt.”

However, less than 48 hours after the abduction, which triggered national outrage, an official source said the government had reached out to the bandits for negotiations to release the 287 abducted pupils and the staff members of the school.

The source said, “The military has begun combing the forests in search of the children kidnapped by the bandits. Security agents have cordoned off the area and they have started searching for the abducted pupils.

“The government is doing all it can for the speedy release of the abducted school pupils.

“The government has established contact and reached out to the bandits for negotiation through a popular bandit negotiator. The negotiator was the one who worked for the return of some of the students abducted some years back.

“He (the negotiator) had negotiated the return of so many abductees in the past. He negotiated the return of those students abducted in Katsina State years back.”

Two other government officials confirmed the development to one of our correspondents but insisted on not being identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue.

They also refused to provide additional information as they insisted that doing so might frustrate the ongoing efforts to secure the victims’ release and put them in harm’s way.

One of them said, “You know this is a highly sensitive issue. I can’t give more information on the negotiations because of the security implications. We don’t want the bandits to harm the pupils and their teachers, and we don’t want to put the lives of the negotiator and the security operatives at risk.

“The only thing I can say is that the Kaduna State Government will do everything humanly possible to secure their release, just as the governor promised on Thursday when he visited the affected community.”

It was gathered that an emergency security meeting was convened by the governor on Friday but details of the discussions were not available to journalists.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mansir Hassan, confirmed the security meeting and said details would be provided later.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Shehu, did not take his calls and had yet to respond to a text message sent to him on the development as of the time of going to press.

At least two worshippers were killed during Friday’s prayers at Anguwar Makera in the Kwasakwasa community, Birnin Gwari Local Government Area of the state.

The incident happened around 2pm on Friday, according to locals in the area.

A community leader, Hudu Kwasakwasa, who confirmed the incident, said the bandits opened fire on the worshipers.

He said the worshippers were in the second raka’at of the Salat prayer when they were attacked, forcing the remaining people to run for their lives.

He added that a few days ago, bandits abducted about nine persons from the Angwar Kanawa community.

Kwasakwasa appealed for help from the authorities concerned, adding that bandits were raiding the communities unchallenged.

The state government and the police command were yet to react to the mosque incident as the PPRO could not be reached on the telephone and had yet to reply to a text message sent to him seeking confirmation as of the time of filing this report.

When Saturday PUNCH established contact with one of the parents of the kidnapped pupils through a Joint Task Force operative, who availed one of our correspondents of the use of his mobile telephone, the traumatised father, who spoke in the Hausa language amid sobs, said, “I never knew I would be in this situation. I heard of things like this, but I never knew I would be a victim.

“What have I done to deserve this? Please I’m not myself. I should die.

“I pray for the governor to fulfil his promise of my son’s release along with the other innocent children, otherwise, we are finished.”

The JTF source informed Saturday PUNCH that the villagers saw over 100 bandits conveying the pupils on motorcycles.

This claim was also corroborated by a community leader, Alhaji Idris Abdurra’uf.

According to Abdurra’uf, a community leader from Birnin-Gwari, a neighbouring community to Kuriga, residents of the community are fleeing the area for fear that the bandits may return.

Abdurra’uf, who expressed concern over the latest incident, added that Kuriga was the same community where a school principal, Idris Abusufyan, was killed and his wife and two children abducted about three weeks ago and were still being held hostage by the bandits.

He also disclosed that residents of Doka village, which the terrorists used as a pathway to Zamfara State, said they spotted scores of the bandits on motorbikes carrying the abducted pupils.

The community leader told Saturday PUNCH that the residents were yet to ascertain the number of the abducted pupils abandoned by the terrorists on their way to Zamfara State.

According to him, as of Thursday night, they were told that some of the abandoned schoolchildren had been evacuated to Birnin-Gwari “and after profiling, we’ll be able to know how many students were abandoned and they would be reunited with their parents.”

He added that the situation at Kuriga was tense even before the latest abduction of the pupils, noting, “Most residents have evacuated their families and they have become Internally Displaced Persons, some in Birnin-Gwari and others in nearby Igawa.

“Kuriga village, which is not more than 26 kilometers from Birnin-Gwari town in the Chukun Local Government Area, is situated along the Kaduna Birnin-Gwari highway.

“The village is not far from the terrorists’ enclave in Manini, which is the gateway to Niger State through River Kaduna; the terrorists from Zamfara pass through that place to Manini to Alawa and Shawara in Niger State.

“Three weeks before the abduction of the pupils, the terrorists had killed the principal of the Government Secondary School Kuriga around 4am, while his wife and two children were abducted. The wife and children are still in captivity.

“The secondary school was the first structure you would see on the road when you are coming from Kaduna before you enter Kuriga, but because of the proximity to Manini (six kilometres), the school was relocated to the main town of Kuriga where the primary school is also situated; that was why when the terrorists struck, they took away pupils of both the primary and the secondary schools.”

Abdurra’uf added, “As it is now, we’re yet to ascertain the number of the primary school pupils the terrorists abandoned on their way to Zamfara. Yesterday night (Thursday), some of the locals in Doka, which is also the root of the terrorists in Zamfara, said that they saw over 100 motorbikes carrying the kidnapped students.

“As of last night, we were told that some of the abandoned schoolchildren of Kuriga were evacuated to Birnin-Gwari, and after profiling, we’ll be able to know how many students were abandoned and they’ll be reunited with their parents.

“We gathered that 220 students from both the primary and secondary schools were abducted.

“The situation in that town was highly tense even before the kidnapping of the students. Most people have evacuated their families and they’ve become IDPS; some are in Birnin-Gwari and others are in nearby Igawa, which is also a town on the Kaduna highway, and Buruku close to the Kaduna International Airport, all in the Chikun Local Government Area.”

The abductors of the over 200 IDPs from the Ngala camp, Gamboru-Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State have not contacted the families of the abductees for ransom.

Immediately after the report of the abduction, the state government sent a fact-finding team led by the Director-General of the Borno State Emergency Management Agency, Dr Barkindo Saidu, to the Nigeria-Chad border town.

Saidu told newsmen in Maiduguri on Friday, “No abductor has up to this moment called for any ransom on the abductees.

“We don’t even believe that they were abducted. If they were abducted, the abductors would have by now called for ransom; but nobody has called anybody for any ransom yet.”

The DG argued that the IDPs probably lost their way back home from wherever they went in the bush, adding that some of them had already returned to the camp.

“Already, the IDPs, who could trace their way back home, are trickling back home. Even when I returned to Maiduguri from there yesterday (Thursday), I was called and told that two of the so-called abductees had found their way back to the camp,” he added.

The military refused to say anything other than the initial assurance by the spokesman for the 7 Division of the Nigerian Army, Lt. Col. Ajemusu Jingina, on Wednesday that troops, with the help of the air component of Operation Hadin Kai, had been despatched for search-and-rescue operation for the abductees.

Whenever the issue of the putsch of 15 January 1966, is raised, there is no way it will not awaken emotions and ugly memories for its horrors. Equally merciless and even more bloody and horrendous is what has been referred to as the revenge coup, given the number of deaths, and the rage that swept through parts of the Northern Region. This is why deliberate efforts must be made at reconciliation from deep our hearts, springing from our souls. Careless and impassioned pronouncements cannot be tools of reconciliation and the balm to heal wounds.

The question that has been asked for nearly six decades is what was the objective of the coup? The question could not have been answered better than by those who planned it. Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu, the leader of the coup makers, said in his broadcast that the aim of the putschists he called the Revolutionary Council was to clean up the country and “establish a strong, united and prosperous nation free from corruption and internal strife.” On the indignity to which Nigerians were subjected internationally, he said: “We promise that you will no more be ashamed to say that you are Nigerians.” They were poised to fight those who made the country “look big for nothing… “Our enemies are the political profiteers…those that seek to keep the country divided permanently so that they can remain in office as ministers or VIPs at least…”

Was it an Igbo coup? Major Adewale Ademoyega, one of the three masterminds of the coup answers the question in his book, “Why We Struck”: “Contrary to the load of wicked propaganda that had since been heaped upon us, there was no decision at our meeting to single out any particular ethnic group for elimination or destruction. Our intentions were honourable, our views were national and our goals were idealistic. We intended that the coup should be national in execution so that it would receive nationwide acclamation. We planned that the use of force should be minimal so that our methods could at once be seen as superior to those of the politicians, who simply went on killing the very people that they were called upon to govern.”

The Daily Times which was the leading newspaper at the time reflecting the relief and joy of the nation in its issue of 18 January 1966, said in its Front Page Comment: “For some time now—almost right from the day we came onto our own, the country has been, as it were, at the sick bay. We have been groping along—rudderless, hesitant, unsure which foot to put forward first. For some time now—almost right from that day in October 1960 when we put out flags and bunting in celebration of the dawn of a new era—our experiment in parliamentary democracy, Westminster fashion, which we watched our old masters practice may have flourished, but it certainly did not appear to flourish. Opposition was virtually reduced to a position of nullity.

“For a long time, instead of settling down to minister unto the people’s needs, the politicians were busy performing a series of seven days’ wonders as if the art of government was some circus show. John Citizen was not amazed, but he was powerless, he was helpless.

“Indeed, at one period, it seemed as if the country had reached the famous last days about which Paul wrote to Timothy—the days when men become lovers of selves, covetous, proud, without natural affection, truce-breakers, false accusers, fierce, despisers of those that are good, heady, high-minded.

“Still we groped along as John Citizen watched politicians scorn the base by which they ascended. We groped from one trouble to another; from one calamity to another. It was too much, it was enough, but none there was to bell the cat, until the last straw that broke the camel’s back. Today, there is a new regime in the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a new military regime. About time, too.

“Something just had to be done to save the Federation. Something has been done. It is a surgical operation which must be performed or the patient dies. The operation has been performed. It has proved successful. And it is welcome.”

Ethnic consideration did not cross the minds of the initiators of the coup. Ademoyega made strenuous efforts to convince the world that it was not an ethnic agenda. It began with him sleeping and waking up thinking about revolution and he found himself, in accordance with the Law of nature, drifting towards kindred spirits. When he appeared before the Selection Board of the Nigerian Army to be enlisted, he met Uche Chukwumerije. It was only both of them that came from outside and were to be tested and interviewed to join the Army. The others were already cadets who had gone through the Military Training College in preparation for further training overseas.

Both were eventually selected and were to be trained at Mons Officer Cadet in Britain. They were meeting for the first time and instantly took to each other as if they had grown up together. Chukwumerije hinted him that he wanted to join the Army to stage a revolution. Both met Ifeajuna who had joined the Army in 1960. In their interactions, Ademoyega found that the three of them were birds of the same feather who were to flock together. Indeed, Ifeajuna and Chukwumerije had been together at the University of Ibadan. The latter meeting Ifeajuna was a pleasant reunion. To Ademoyega, too, Ifeajuna’s name rang a bell. He recalled his feat at the Commonwealth Games of 1954 in Canada where he won the gold medal in the high jump. When he got to Zaria to be enlisted in October 1961 he was met by Kaduna Chukwuma Nzeogwu who was the training officer. Lt. Nzeogwu as he then was, gave him a rousing welcome. Ademoyega was touched by what he described as his humbleness and humanity. And immediately they struck a lifelong friendship. Through their interactions, it did not take time for him to discover that he had found another kindred spirit. The four of them in separate discussions found that they shared the same vision of the political, social, and economic life of Nigeria and that revolution was the answer.

That was how the seed of revolution was sown which was to bear fruit albeit unsuccessfully on 15 January 1966. Chukwumerije was later to abandon his ambition to join the Army. He was successful in the selection test and interview in Kaduna quite alright. However, when he was making preparations to resume, he hinted a British professor at the University of Ibadan that he was going into the Army so he could launch a revolution using the Army platform. The Professor shocked him saying that the Army was a most conservative institution. If he wanted to realise his dream of a revolution he would advise him to look elsewhere. The conversation poured cold water on his spirit. Consequently, he backed out; he did not report for the flight with his colleagues to London, and his seat at the cadet college remained vacant. In other words, what was on the minds of the three principal coup plotters was how they could set off a revolution in Nigeria and from where any prospective participant in their operation came did not matter to them, especially at the last minute.

Mass education was top in their ideology and programme. They believed that mass education, formal and informal, was the answer to mass illiteracy in the land. “This was deemed essential to lift the vast majority of our people out of the bog of ignorance and disease, to make every individual a productive… liberate the minds of our people from darkness… Students and teachers must be made aware that they had a common cause “to destroy a common enemy—ignorance.”

One can begin to sense why they were rooting for Chief Awolowo, the chief driver of mass and free education in Nigeria. Nzeogwu said: “Neither I nor any of the other lads was in the least interested in governing the country… Chief Obafemi Awolowo was, for example, to be released from jail immediately and to be made the executive President of Nigeria.” Nwobosi was to say: “We planned after the coup, none of us was going to be Head of State. Awolowo was in Calabar prison and in our own minds this was the man we wanted to put at the helm of affairs of the Federal Government…We wanted to put somebody who was sincere. I don’t think he was even the best friend of Igbo. He wasn’t but we wanted the job done and we knew that the man who would do it well was Awolowo. You know Zik? Zik is from the next door to my place, from my town Obosi, but I wouldn’t trust Zik to do the type of things we had in mind. I’m telling you the honest truth.” The plan was kept to their chest, Awolowo did not know about it.

If a group had a programme meant to be of immeasurable benefit to the whole country and her peoples, such cannot be said to be an Igbo agenda, and therefore an Igbo coup. What was more, they preferred Awolowo, a Yoruba to Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Igbo, to be President to superintend over their programmes. They had arranged for an Air Force aircraft to be on standby to go to Calabar and fetch Chief Awolowo in the hope that their coup plan would succeed.

Law and order had broken down in the country, particularly in the Western Region following the Federal elections of 1964 and the Western Region elections of the following year, 1965. Both elections were regarded as a farce. Following frustrations with Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa’s administration there were party alliances to have him defeated in the elections. NCNC, Awolowo’s Action Group, Aminu Kano’s NEPU, and Joseph Tarka’s Middle Belt party, UMBC came together to form the United Progressive Grand Alliance to face Sir Ahmadu Bello’s Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) and Chief Ladoke Akintola’s NNDP together with MDF to form Nigerian National Alliance (NNA). Most of the candidates of UPGA were unable to file their candidacy papers because electoral officials made themselves unavailable. UPGA therefore boycotted the elections and insisted that they be cancelled and rerun elections be held. In some cases where elections were held, losers were declared winners. Government party candidates were announced to have won unopposed. NNA fought back, saying there would be no re-run elections. The President, Dr. Azikiwe, was asked to invite Balewa to form the government. The nation was kept in ominous expectation for days before reluctant Zik invited Balewa to form his government. These resulted in widespread rioting in most parts of the country; in addition to rioting were killings and arson in the Western Region reaching a crescendo in 1965. Nigerians yearned for deliverance. It was clear something must give as the upheavals were getting out of control and the capacity of the ant-riot police to restore law and order. While the Federal Government was planning a clampdown on the West in the third week of January, the putschists hastened their plan to intervene in the second week to pre-empt the clampdown.

The observations about the pattern and the unrepresentative spread of the killings were more of the problem and were not without merit; in many parts of the country, they remained unanswered questions. But then coup making is not what you advertise on billboards, in newspapers, or on television. So they used officers they could trust. The misgivings arose more from unfortunate coincidences and sabotage which led to the unrepresentativeness and presented the events as a continuation of ethnic rivalries among the diverse nationalities that make up the country that is Nigeria. The coup makers themselves were crest-fallen and they panicked. The complexities of our country and the unpredictability of human character stared them in the face. Some of their key officers were not at their duty posts on the night of action. Ademoyega says in his publication: “I recalled that about 14 hours before, five majors were gathered to start this action. Now only two of us were together. The remainder had vanished from our sight since half-past three in the night, that is to say, only four hours after we started and only one and a half hours since when action actually began. We had lost Ifeajuna and Okafor both of whom were our only source of troops, weapons, communication and confidence. If we did not have those two in the first place (in view of the strategic posts that they were holding), we would not have started at all. Now we were left in the lurch. Chuckwuka, too, had not joined us and Obienu did not report with his troops.”

The man in Enugu, Oguchi, was a substitute. Major Chude-Soke originally assigned to there had proceeded on a course in India. It was from Enugu units that soldiers were to be sent to Benin. Seeing that the coup had failed in Lagos, foiled by Ironsi the G. O.C., Ademoyega and Anuforo group made the last desperate efforts to salvage what remained of the operation. They headed for Benin and Enugu. It was all unavailing. There were roadblocks manned by soldiers loyal to Ironsi in several places. By this time General Aguiyi-Ironsi having foiled the coup in Lagos, had also made his broadcast that the coup had failed. This meant they had lost Benin and the Premier of the Mid-West Region, Dennis Osadebay as well. Nzeogwu had taken over in the North and had broadcast to counter Ironsi’s announcement in Lagos. He prepared to invade the East and Benin from Kaduna. The Premier of Eastern Region, Dr. Michael Okpara could not be arrested because he was hosting the President of Cyprus, Archbishop Makarios who came to visit him after the conference of Commonwealth Heads of Government which had just ended in Lagos. Because of international implications in the event anything happened to Makarios, action on unsuspecting Dr. Okpara was put on hold until the visitor left. Troops led by Oguchi surrounded the Government Lodge and put him under house arrest. Orders came immediately from Ironsi and troops loyal to him dislodged those he called “unfriendly forces.”

Were the coincidences contrived? That remains the unanswered question to this day. But certainly not by Nzeogwu and Ademoyega. The North was unimpressed by the narratives and was boiling with anger. In the book titled “Fellow Countrymen—The Story of Coup D’états in Nigeria” by Richard Akinnola, journalist and author of several books, reports Richard Akinjide, then Balewa’s Minister of Education, as giving an account of development in the Ministers’ camp on the day. On realizing that the Prime Minister was missing, they decided to meet where they nominated from among themselves an Acting Prime Minister in the person of Zana Diphcharima. It was only Dr. Azikiwe, the President that could confirm him and swear him in as Prime Minister, and in his absence, by whoever was acting for him. Dr. Azikiwe was out of the country in the West Indies on medical grounds. But there was an acting President, Dr. Nwafor Orizu. When approached he declined to swear in Diphcharima as acting Prime Minister, saying he needed to contact Zik. “Orizu who did not cooperate with us later cooperated with Ironsi and he and Ironsi drafted the speech handing over the government to the Army.” The reasoning was that if their nominee had been sworn in, nerves would have been calmed and tension doused in the North with the assurance that Balewa’s government was still in place. Diphcharima was deliberately nominated being a Northerner. If Ironsi kicked them out it would amount to a second coup. But Orizu said they did not know where the Prime Minister, Balewa was, nor his fate at that point in time. His stance, however, added to the unwholesome speculations about ethnic consideration in the whole saga.

With Ironsi now fully in charge, there was clamour for the trial of the putschists, but they were not brought to trial. The position of the North was six months later to be displayed in an altercation between Major Theophilus Danjuma and the General Officer Commanding, GOC: “You organized the killing of our brother officers in January and you have done nothing to bring the so-called dissident elements to justice because you were part and parcel of the whole thing. G.O.C.: ”Who told you that? You know it is not true.” Major Danjuma replied: “You have been fooling us. I ran around risking my neck to calm ranks and in February you told us that they would be tried. This is July and nothing has been done.” (Excerpts from Danjuma: The making of a General by Lindsay Barrett). The rest as it is said is history. Before the encounter, there had been fighting in Abeokuta, and killings. The North said there were five Battalions in the country. Three were at first headed by Easterners and it rose to four. The fifth was by a Westerner, Lt. Col. Adekunle Fajuyi. There were grumblings that Easterners dominated the higher hierarchy of the officer corps. This broke open after the July revenge coup and Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon came to the saddle. Col. Adeyinka Adebayo as he then was, argued at a meeting of the Supreme Military Council that the way out to bring about balance and reduce the fear of domination was to have equal representation of five candidates per state being admitted at the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA). The recommendation was accepted.

Before the July coup, Major Nzeogwu held on to his own territory, determined not to surrender but to “liberate” the other parts of the country. He surrendered only after negotiations with Lagos. The Ironsi regime flew in a known friend of his who was a Military Attaché in London, Col. Nwawo, to do the negotiating and persuade him to let go. Nzeogwu spelt out his terms which included a guarantee for compensation to be paid to the families of officers and all men who lost their lives during the coup, a guarantee of safety for all his men–himself and his colleagues and the lower rank men who participated in the event of 15 January; a guarantee of freedom from prosecution; those overthrown would not be returned to power. There was the assurance that he and some of his men would be members of the government to drive their vision and programmes. The conditions were accepted by Ironsi on phone and personally accepted by his emissary. His friends Ademoyega and Anuforo soon arrived in Kaduna and they went through the agreement together with Nzeogwu. They were filled with optimism that all would not be lost after all. As it turned out it was all a ploy to get him arrested and locked up. There was a parade in his honour and after handing over to Lt.-Col. Hassan Katsina both of them embraced. Nzeogwu drove to the airport and flew to Lagos believing he was a free man. He landed in the midst of hostile faces and menacing guns and was driven straight to Kirikiri Maximum Prison where he found his colleagues earlier arrested. With Nzeogwu in the net, the search began for Adewale Ademoyega, Anuforo, and the others.

It was the end of their “revolution”. Memories began to run through Ademoyega. He recalled Uche Chukwumerije had warned him to be weary of Emmanuel Ifeajuna that he was not dependable and that he would let him down when he would need him most. He told Ademoyega of their days at the University of Ibadan and how Ifeajuna “deserted their group in the moment of action.” Ademoyega himself recalled that when he felt uneasy about the attitude of Donatus Okafor, he sought to take over the beat from him, but Ifeajuna prevailed on him with the assurance that Okafor would deliver. It was the two of them that failed the “revolutionaries” thus lending weight to widespread suspicion of ethnic colouration in the endeavours. Early in the life of his regime, Ironsi showed his hands as an ethnic jingoist. In the prison in Uyo, Ifeajuna and Ademoyega resorted to exchanging blows.

I am unable to see Ironsi’s short-lived regime as a continuation of the attempted coup of the Nzeogwu group which was driven by high-mindedness but curtailed by limited appreciation of the complexities of a heterogeneous country such as Nigeria. The accidental Ironsi regime was without a mission. Consequently, it got the earlier adventure compromised and labeled as an Igbo coup. Lt.-Col. Pam was cruelly murdered contrary to the assurance that where there was no resistance, an officer and a high-ranking politician would only be arrested. Pam surrendered and his wife pleaded in vain. His own plea that his family was young, the youngest of his children being only four and a half months old, fell on deaf ears. Why should Col. Shodeinde be killed with his expectant wife? Why should the first wife of Sardauna who came between the invaders and her husband be shot dead with her husband?

In his book, Cannon Fodder, Recollections of Life in Biafra, Emezuom Nworgu succinctly put it: “A coup spearheaded by Eastern officers turned out to have left Easterners marked out for elimination untouched and alive. This was the first of the many chills of 1966.

“The people of the North, not letting matters lie as it were, went on the warpath, letting the blood of their compatriots from the East.”

Mankind is obtuse and obstinate to reflect: Is this how our world is supposed to be and how it will continue? We have fallen short and the truth is not in us. Mankind has deviated from the Will of God; hence the world is upside down. Nature is not mute, it is man that is deaf, so says Terence McKenna. We should begin to listen to the voice of Nature. Putting the harrowing and ugly events behind us is one of its admonitions to us. Grasping it is so the Dark days do not continue to linger and anger does not continue to rage. We must cultivate love for ourselves, for our Neighbour. It is the way to close the ugly chapter of our history and end all recriminations.

It is with rude shock and disappointment that we read the Press Release issued by the Special Adviser to President Tinubu on Media to the effect that the President has signed an Executive Order allegedly aimed at carrying out further Reforms in the Oil and Gas (Petroleum) Sector of Nigeria with the reported sole aim of encouraging more foreign and local investments into this sector. This planned reform is only about providing more Fiscal Incentives to interested foreign and local investors in this sector.

As an Organisation that has experts in petroleum operations and business particular in the Upstream Sector and has for over three decades been involved in the monitoring of the operations of the various oil companies and NNPC in the Nigerian Sector, we here declare that this Executive Order is suicidal to our Nation’s hope for urgent economic recovery and our desire for increase in foreign earnings to halt the free fall of our national currency, the Naira. We are very convinced that Mr President was wrongly advised on this and therefore we call on him to rescind his decision and have this Order, dropped.

OUR OBJECTION TO THIS EXECUTIVE ORDER IS PREMISED ON THE FOLLOWING REASONS:

This Executive Order (further Fiscal Incentives) is not needed at all because if implemented, would deny Nigerians and Nigeria the urgently and much needed Foreign Earnings needed to shore up the value of our naira that has sadly been on free fall in recent months against foreign currencies causing unprecedented level of socio-economic hardship across Nigeria and threat to our National Security, knowing full well that the Petroleum Sector provides over 90% of the total foreign income needed to accelerate socio-economic growth, development and stability of Nigeria.

It is also a fact known and acknowledged by Petroleum Experts across the globe that the Nigerian Upstream Petroleum Sector is the most lucrative in the world guaranteeing the highest Rate of Return (Profit) on Investment primarily because of the relatively low cost of production and the fact that it is almost a free for all Petroleum Exploration and Exploitation Companies to loot and steal crude oil and deliberately under-declare and not even declare the actual quantity of crude oil and gas they produce and export. This is the reason for recent rush by the Multinational Oil Companies and some Nigerian owned Companies to Offshore Fields where they operate virtually unchecked by Nigeria. The recent move by SHELL Petroleum International to divest or sell off its Niger Delta Onshore Assets and Operations in order to move and concentrate Offshore further confirms this.

It is also a fact that the multinational and local oil and gas producing companies operating in Nigeria and particularly in its deep offshore fields have since the 1990s been awarded so many unmerited and unjustified fiscal and tax incentives by the Federal Government of Nigeria causing Nigerian to lose billions of Dollars it would have accrued to it from the exploitation of crude oil in these fields. It is for this reason that the National Assembly recently reviewed some of these incentives and made the Petroleum Industry Act in order to rightly increase Nigeria’s share of the profit accruing from these fields. Why then do the promoters of this Executive Order seek to reverse this if not for their selfish interests at the expense of Nigeria?

While we sincerely appreciate the intention of President Tinubu to increase expected foreign revenues accruing from the exploration and exploitation of our nation’s oil and gas, we hasten to say that achieving this is simply by exercising his powers as President and Minister of Petroleum Resources to declare total and full war against the perpetrators and perpetuators of Decades of Massive Crude Oil Theft, Looting, Fraud, and Corruption in Multinational and Local Petroleum Companies operating in Nigeria as well as in the NNPC now NNPCL. According to reports made public, an estimated over 80% of expected daily revenue from this sector has been and still being lost to these persons better referred to as Petro-Terrorists.

It is therefore our humble Advice and demand on him to immediately discontinue with this proposed Executive Order on the Petroleum Sector. In its place he should urgently sponsor an Executive Bill to the National Assembly to completely delete the sections of the Petroleum Industry Act (PIA) which established from the long existing Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), the now Nigerian National Petroleum Company Ltd, NNPCL, which is clearly a worst danger to the progress and development of the Petroleum Sector and Nigeria. We either kill the NNPCL now or it will kill Nigeria.

What is also needed now is return to NNPC as it was established in the early 1970s and be made to operate strictly in line with the Aims and Objective of OPEC. IT MUST OPERATE IN VERY TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE MANNER AND ALL ITS INCOMES BE PAID INTO THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA. There should be very severe sanctions put in place for any staff who engages in Economic and Financial Crimes against NNPC and Nigeria. Death Penalty should not be ruled out!

It is our prayer that under his Leadership, OUR NIGERIA SHALL OVERCOME AND MUST RISE AGAIN.

COMRADE (ENGR) IGBINI ODAFE EMMANUEL.
National President,
Vanguard for Transparent Leadership and Democracy (VATLAD)

Godwin Obaseki of Edo on Friday launched a N1 billion “Feed the Hungry Initiative” designed to provide food to the vulnerable and poor people in the state to cushion the current hardship in the country through religious leaders.

Obaseki who on the occasion met with Christian and Muslim leaders of the State, disclosed that the sum of ₦1 billion has been earmarked for the initiative.

He said the money would be lodged in a dedicated account which would be managed by the religious leaders.

The Governor further disclosed that the fund would be used to purchase food items for distribution to vulnerable citizens across communities in the 18 local government areas of the State through the religious leaders.

According to him, “I don’t want the scheme to be seen as pure government initiative or mixed it with politics.

“The food items should be purchased in the local communities in order to boost their businesses.

He added: “like I have always said, when citizens are in disress, very few can cross the government House to reach me, but they can reach religious leaders for assistance.

“The burden of the churches, mosques must be very high with the difficulty in the country. You know my position about what is going on in the country, and you know how I raised alarm of where we are today.

The Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) in Edo State, Irekpono Omoike, lauded the Governor, adding that christian blocs in the State will justify the confidence reposed in them.

Also, the Chief Imam of Benin Central mosque, Mallam Abdulfatai Enabulele, who led other Imams to the meeting, commended Governor Obaseki for the initiative, and pledged support of the Muslim community towards the success of the initiative.

In a brief remark, the Chairman of Edo State Muslim Pilgrims Welfare Board, Sheikh Ibrahim Oyarekhua, warned the Muslim leaders against diverting the food items.

As parts of efforts to tap from the carbon market, which has an estimated value of $2.5 billion, the Vice President Kashim Shettima, yesterday inaugurated the Intergovernmental Committee on Carbon Market Activation Plan.

The committee is expected to help create a blueprint to drive an efficient sustainable carbon market ecosystem in the country.

Inaugurating the committee on Thursday at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, Shettima said it was in fulfillment of the promise made by President Bola Tinubu to reduce Nigeria’s carbon footprint as well as plans by the federal government, in collaboration and support of the Africa Carbon Market Initiative (ACMI).

The inauguration of the committee, chaired by the Executive Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr Zacch Adedeji, followed the creation of the Intergovernmental Committee on Carbon Markets by the President at the COP28 in December 2023.

Shettima said the move is a justification of the Tinubu administration’s focus on natural gas as a transition fuel.

The Vice President noted that the Intergovernmental Committee on carbon market stands as a testament to the federal government’s dedication to developing a national carbon market strategy.

Shettima further stated that the initiative would attract crucial investments, catalyst emission reduction and foster sustainable development.

He stated: “However, the intervention we seek can’t be achieved unless the best minds of this nation come together to oversee our transition, and I have no doubt that we are on the right track, especially with the calibre of the technocrats that are in this room.

“We gather here today as part of the broader initiative to position Nigeria and, by extension, Africa in green growth manufacturing and Industrialisation. This underscores our commitment to sustainable development and environmental stewardship.

“This justifies our focus on natural gas as a transition fuel alone site investment in renewable energy sources. Our mission is to meet the needs of the present while safeguarding the future.

“The sincerity of our commitment to coordinating carbon-related market plans and initiatives has never been in doubt. The Intergovernmental Committee on carbon market stands as a testament to our dedication to developing a national carbon market strategy.”

The Vice President noted that the implementation of the carbon market mechanism represents a radical shift, stressing that each and every member of the committee must consider the initiative as a call for collaboration, innovation and collective action.

“Today, as we embark on the mission to translate innovative ideas from conference papers into tangible actions, we must recognise that our collaboration with the African carbon market initiative not only exemplifies our commitment to environmental stewardship but promises to reposition Nigeria as an investment-friendly destination for a high integrity carbon market.

“What we are making here is history that will expand our participation in the voluntary and compulsory carbon market. We are all aware that the carbon market offers a remarkable opportunity to unlock billions for the climate finances of Nigeria and Africa at large,” the VP added.

Earlier, in his remark, the co-chairman of the committee, Mr Zacch Adedeji, said the initiative holds immense promise for Nigeria’s sustainable future.

He commended the Vice President for his unwavering support and commitment to driving Nigeria’s carbon market agenda forward.

Adedeji assured that the committee would work hand-in-hand with the African carbon market initiative to harness Nigeria’s vast carbon potential which exceeds $2 billion.

Also, Director-General of the National Council on Climate Change (NCCC), Dr Salisu Dahiru, said the committee had swung into action since December 2023 when it was established by President Tinubu on the sidelines of COP28 in Dubai.

Dahiru explained that the issue of carbon market and trading is axiomatic to any country’s mitigation as well as adaptation efforts in terms of what it needs to do to contribute to global efforts for managing climate change.

President Bola Tinubu condemns the heinous incidents of abduction involving very vulnerable victims, internally displaced persons in Borno State, and students in Kaduna State.

The President directs security and intelligence agencies to immediately rescue the victims and ensure that justice is served against the perpetrators of these abominable acts.

This was contained in a statement signed by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Chief Ajuri Ngelale on Friday, 8th of March, 2024.

“I have received a briefing from security chiefs on the two incidents, and I am confident that the victims will be rescued.

“ Nothing else is acceptable to me and the waiting family members of these abducted citizens. Justice will be decisively administered,” President Tinubu says.

The President sympathises with the families of the victims, assuring them that they will soon be reunited with their loved ones.

Also read: VIDEO: Kaduna gov visits school, assures return of abductees

Recall that Suspected Boko Haram members had on Wednesday stormed an Internally Displaced Persons camp in Gamboru Ngala town in Borno State and abducted scores of the IDPs, most of whom are women.

Again on Thursday morning, bandits invaded the LEA Primary School, Kuriga, Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State and kidnapped scores of pupils.

The Federal High Court in Lagos on Friday fixed 22 March for continuation of the money laundering trial of a former Governor of Ekiti State, Ayodele Fayose.

The trial judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, told the prosecutor for the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Rotimi Jacobs, to inform an ex-official of the EFCC who had earlier testified as a prosecution witness in the case, to appear for cross-examination on 22 March.

Mr Fayose is being prosecuted by the EFCC alongside a company, Spotless Investment Ltd., on 11 counts of N6.9 billion fraud and money laundering.

When the case was called on Friday, Mr Jacobs, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), appeared for the EFCC, while Messrs Ola Olanipekun, a SAN, and Olalekan Ojo, also a SAN, appeared for the first and second defendants, respectively.

Mr Jacobs told the court that his 13th witness, Aliyu Madaki, who is to be cross-examined by the defence, was held up in Jos, the Plateau State capital, and unable to attend court.

He also told the court that the witness was no longer an employee of the EFCC.

Mr Jacobs said the witness now resides in Nasarawa State.

The prosecution informed the court that the witness had pleaded for another chance to be present on 28 March, a date the court had already scheduled for continuation of trial in the case.

Mr Jacobs, however, said he had just discovered that the court would be on Easter vacation by then, and he consequently, prayed for a new date.

Meanwhile, the second defence counsel, Mr Ojo, expressed displeasure at the absence of the witness, on the grounds that it showed great disrespect to the court.

Mr Ojo insisted that whatever issues preventing the witness from attending court did not happen today and so the prosecutor could not have kept silent till today before informing the prosecuting counsel.

In support of this position, the first defence counsel, Mr Olanipekun, also expressed dissatisfaction on the grounds that the prosecutor ought to treat the matter with the importance it deserved and informed the prosecutor earlier.

Although the prosecutor insisted that a date in March would not be sufficient for him to ensure attendance of the witness, the judge told the prosecutor to inform the witness that it is an order from the court.

Consequently, the court fixed 22 March for cross examination, and ordered the prosecutor to produce his witness on that date.

The court also fixed further dates of 25 and 26 April 25 and April for continuation of trial.

Mr Fayose is being prosecuted by the EFCC for alleged N6.9 billion fraud and money laundering.

He was first arraigned on 22 October 2018, before the former trial judge, Mojisola Olatotegun.

He was arraigned alongside his company, Spotless Investment Ltd., on 11 counts of fraud and money laundering.

Mr Fayose pleaded not guilty to the charges, and was granted bail on 24 October 2018, in the sum of N50 million with sureties in like sum.

The defendants were re-arraigned before the new judge, Chukwujekwu Aneke, on 2 July 2019, after the case was withdrawn from Ms Olatoregun, following a petition by the EFCC.

Mr Fayose, again, pleaded not guilty before Aneke, who allowed him to continue on the bail granted him by Ms Olatoregun.

The EFCC has since opened its case before the new judge and has since been calling its witnesses.

According to the charges filed by the commission, Mr Fayose and one of his aides, Abiodun Agbele, on 17 June 2014, took unlawful possession of N1.2 billion for the purpose of funding his governorship election campaign in Ekiti State.

The commission alleged that the sum formed part of crime proceeds.

Mr Fayose is also alleged to have received a cash payment of $5 million from the then Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, without going through any financial institution.

The EFCC also alleged that the former governor retained N300 million in his bank account and took control of the aggregate sums of about N622 million which formed part of crime proceeds.

It added that Mr Fayose got De Privateer Ltd. and Still Earth Ltd. to retain aggregate sums of N851 million which formed part of crime proceeds.

The commission also accused Mr Fayose of using about N1.6 billion crime proceeds to acquire property in Lagos and Abuja.

The former governor also allegedly used N200 million crime proceeds to acquire a property in Abuja in the name of his elder sister, Moji Oladeji.

The alleged offences, EFCC said, contravened sections 15(1), 15 (2), 15 (3), 16(2)(b), 16 (d) and 18 (c) of the Money Laundering Prohibition Act, 2011. (NAN)

The 2023 presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has said the abductions of women and students in Borno and Kaduna States are clear manifestations of the failure of governance.

Reacting to the two kidnap incidents in an X post on Friday, the former vice president said the problem of insecurity in the country is getting worse by the day and has turned Nigeria into one of the most terrorized territories on earth.

Atiku said the All Progressives Congress-controlled federal government has failed woefully to provide the people with security, shelter, and other basic things expected of a responsive government.

He stated that the Bola Tinubu government has continued to play the ostrich while the nation is plagued by insecurity, adding that while the weak and vulnerable are neglected, the government is making empty rhetoric about reforms.

Atiku, therefore, sympathised with the victims and their families over the sad developments and urged the security agencies to save the innocent citizens from their captors.

He wrote: “The problem of insecurity in Nigeria is getting worse by the day. The media has been awash with terrifying news of banditry, kidnapping, and bloodletting that has turned our country into perhaps one of the most terrorized territories on earth.

“Within one week, there have been many reported cases of mass abduction of hapless citizens in the Northwest and Northeast regions of our country. In the early hours of Thursday, school children numbering over 280, together with their teachers, were abducted in Kunga, Kaduna State, by bandits riding on motorcycles, without any challenge by security agencies.

“Earlier in the week, it was reported that scores of women and children fetching firewood were abducted by gun-totting bandits suspected to be members of Boko Haram. It was also reported that over 200 people, mostly women and children, were abducted from the IDP camp in Ngala in Bornu State. The cases are endless, and the problem seems interminable.

“The APC-controlled government has failed woefully to give the people the basic things expected of a responsive government. It is a clear manifestation of the failure of governance. The government has continued to play the ostrich while the nation is plagued by insecurity.

“While the weak and vulnerable are neglected, the government is making empty rhetoric about reforms. And while our young men are abducted, killed, or conscripted into the army of the terrorists and our women and girls are ravished and subjected to different forms of gender-based violence, the authorities do nothing.

“This is in negation of the constitutionally guaranteed commitment that the security and welfare of citizens is the primary responsibility of government.

“I stand in solidarity with my fellow citizens and sympathise with the victims and their families. I urge the security agencies to rise up to the challenge and save innocent citizens from the horrors of banditry and terrorism.”

President Bola Tinubu has assured Nigerians that things would soon turn around for their own good, in response to the present economic hardship in the country.

The President who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator George Akume, made the statement on Thursday, at the State House in Abuja at the official Unveiling of the Nigeria For Women Programme.

He said the government is aware that Nigerians are complaining about hunger, adding that his administration is pushing out palliatives to cushion the effect of hunger, is also ready to implement a new minimum wage.

He said: “My administration is committed to Nigerian women and this is reflective in my policies. It gladdens my heart to stand before you and tell you the future of women in Nigeria looks very promising. Ministry of Women Affairs is working day and night, leaving no stone unturned to ensure that all your needs are met and exceeded, the Ministry has embarked on several notable projects.

“As a government, it is our duty to prioritize interest around the most vulnerable citizens which are women and children, so that we’ll put this behind us.

“The federal government actively working to ensure that programmes designed for Nigerian women are impactful and accessible to the intended beneficiaries, we are nit just committed to women in Abuja and other urban centres, the government is committed to all women particularly the most vulnerable who live in the rural areas.

“I am gladdened by the use of technology in dispensing sustainable development for our women. Sustainable agriculture, empowerment and technology is key in driving national prosperity.

“I am calling on all partners here to take a pledge today to support my administration and the Minister of Women Affairs. Today I want to officially unveil the Nigerian for Women programme. In a few days time, as we go into Ramadan, we should all rise up and pray for our country, let us pray for a more united Nigeria, let us pray for peace, let us pray for our President and the continuation of our Federation.

“Today we complain about hunger, we would be pushing out palliative so that the effects of hunger can be brought to a minimum. Ours is a very complex Federation, based on three tiers of governments, we have the federal, state and local governments and all of them have direct access to the Federation account. So winning together we can do a lot for our people. Today things are a little bit harsh, but this is not forever.

“Things would soon begin to change as more food is brought to the table of our citizens and as we prepare to implement a new minimum wage.”

The Minister of Women Affairs, Barr. Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye explained that the programme intends to empower women in all states of the federation by providing them with machines to produce a lot of the things local women extert so much energy and time producing locally.

She said thee-market platform would be used to market the products of local women entrepreneurs all over the country for buyers and banks have already shown interest in assisting the women access their finances and payments digitally.

The Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi in his remarks, urged the government to look beyond Abuja when implementing programmes especially those that affect women.

He said, “Their is life beyond Abuja that we all come for the central position of governance, it is very important for all our people to feel governance. I would like to employ our women here, ably led by the Minister of Women Affairs, please do not let this thing be one off. Try as much as possible to leave your comfort zone to go and feel what people are feeling from time to time.

“We have a lot of political networks that you can actually connect to disperse these programmes that you want to actually give to our mothers, to the women of our dear country for them to continue to impact on how to instil morals in the society and how to better the lots in terms of empowerment.”

First Lady, Oluremi Tinubu has asserted that individuals convicted of abducting young people should face capital punishment.

She made this statement in response to the recent reports of approximately 200 women being kidnapped in Borno State and over 280 pupils and teachers abducted in Kaduna State.

Additionally, she condemned the actions of the kidnappers, labeling them as coward and evil perpetrators.

Calling on the state governors, the First Lady urged them to find a solution to the situation and ensure that any abductor apprehended is subjected to capital punishment.

The First Lady said, “Whoever is kidnapping young people is sick, cruel, and a coward.

“Enough is enough and I call on the state governors that once we take hold of them, they deserve capital punishment.

“Why don’t they take people their size? Why are they torturing our children? What they are trying to do is kill our future.

“We all know parents, when we are old we rely on our children.

“Why would you go and take them from schools? Right now, I think enough is enough. As a former lawmaker, I believe that any one of them captured deserves capital punishment.

“They are animals, they are evil and we should take them out of our midst.

“The state governors and the lawmakers should do something.”