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Military will flush out bandits, terrorists, other criminal gangs  from Northwest – Matawalle

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6 months ago

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The Federal Government will get rid of bandits, terrorists and other criminal gangs terrorising the Northwest.

The Minister of State Defence, Dr Bello Matawalle, made this known while speaking to newsmen in Sokoto on Wednesday.

Matawalle said he was in Sokoto to lead another onslaught against bandits, terrorists and other criminals in Northwest states.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the initiative was part of President Bola Tinubu’s directives on the minister alongside military chiefs to relocate to Sokoto and ensure flushing all the culprits that terrorizes the areas.

” As directed by Mr President, I am back in Sokoto state to  coordinate this  assignment of flushing all bandits and other criminals.

” We have recorded some level of achievements. Our troops killed notorious gang leaders and group members in different places. Relative peace has so far been restored specifically in Sokoto, Zamfara and Katsina State.

” I am optimistic that our gallant troops will sustain the strides and continue to record success through  the operation Fansan Yamma, which is ongoing in the fight against these criminals in the Northwest, ” Matawalle said.

He assured the people of the Northwest states on unwavering commitment toward ensuring that operations have achieve all the necessary successes in the fight against all forms of security challenges bedeviling the region.

” We will never leave you alone and be assured that we will win this war against bandits and those supporting them to unleash terror against the people.

” The federal government will continue to boost the morale of  our soldiers and other security agencies  to bring an end to this menace.

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” We appreciate the sacrifices and gallantly fight against insecurity by our teeming military personnel and other security agencies, ” the minister said.

Matawalle commended Gov. Ahmad Aliyu of Sokoto state for his support to the success of the operations and called on other governors, political leaders, clerics and stakeholders to support the presidential initiatives.

He underscored the importance of the collaboration with the federal government in the fight in order to achieve the targeted goals.

” We must collaborate together to bring these bandits down through use of kinetic and non-kinetic methods to crush them entirely.

” We will never be intimidated, rest or give the criminals breathing space. We must stop them from moving freely no matter how they blackmailed or make  propaganda, mischief against our operations.

” We will never be distracted in securing lives and properties of our people, ” he added.

He cautioned the media and other platforms against propagating banditry, terrorism and kidnapping activities which he said supported their evils.

The minister said that he will also visit Katsina, Zamfara and Kebbi .

”We are calling for support from our governors, religious, political and community leaders toward achieving the desired success on the task ahead,” he said.

NAN reports that  President Tinubu on Aug. 31, ordered Matawalle and other military chiefs to move to Sokoto state to rid the Northwest region of activities of bandits, kidnappers and terrorists.

The federal government said the relocation, is part of an intensified effort to rid the region of the menace of banditry, kidnapping and terrorism.

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NAN reports that on Sept. 13, the Nigerian Air Force said a notorious terrorist kingpin, Halilu Sububu alongside 38 others were killed by its special forces.

One of his audacious attacks was on a military base in Katsina in 2021 where many soldiers were killed.

Although based in Zamfara, Sububu terrorises communities in Sokoto, Niger, and Kaduna States.

Sububu’s death is coming a few hours after the Nigerian Army announced the death of another terrorist kingpin in Zamfara State, Halilu Buzu. (NAN)

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JUST IN: Supreme Court sets aside judgment recognising Abure as LP’s National Chairman

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2 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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The Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).

In a unanimous judgment on Friday, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the LP having earlier found that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.

It held that issue of leadership was internal affair of a party over which courts lacked jurisdiction.

The court allowed the appeal filed by Senator Ester Nenadi Usman and one other and held that it was meritorious.

It proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure faction of the LP got being unmeritorious.

Details shortly…

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Hakeem Baba-Ahmed resigns as presidential political adviser

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3 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, special adviser on political matters to Vice-President Kashim Shettima, has resigned from his position, According to Daily Trust.

The newspaper quoted sources as saying that the former spokesperson of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) resigned two weeks ago.

President Bola Tinubu appointed Baba-Ahmed as special adviser on political matters to Shettima in September 2023.

Baba-Ahmed is the elder sibling of Datti Baba-Ahmed, vice-presidential candidate of the Labour Party (LP) in the 2023 election.

Baba-Ahmed served as chief of staff to Bukola Saraki, former senate president, from 2017-2019.

CONFRONTATION WITH MATAWALLE OVER NEF

In April 2024, Bello Matawalle, minister of state for defence, described the NEF as a “political paperweight” after the group stated that the north made a mistake voting Tinubu in 2023.

In his reaction to Matawalle’s remarks, Baba-Ahmed said it would have served the Tinubu administration better if Matawalle had listed his achievements as minister — and the achievements of the other northern appointees — instead of attacking NEF.

“Scathing criticism of NEF by a junior minister of defence, Matawalle, is ill-advised. He could have done a better job for this admin if he identified contributions of especially northern ministers and other appointees like me to improving security and reducing poverty in the North,” Baba-Ahmed said.

In a riposte, the minister said any appointee must defend and promote the administration they work for.

“Dr. Baba-Ahmed’s relationship and affinity with Northern Elders’ Forum (NEF) is well-known,” Matawalle said.

“The fact now is that he is an appointee of the administration as Special Adviser and it is incumbent on him to work for the success of the government he is part of, protect and defend the government against unjust and vicious attacks from those who hide under ethnic and other primordial interests to heat up the polity for myopic reasons.

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“It is pertinent to state that every appointee of President Tinubu including Dr. Baba-Ahmed owes the government a copious duty to promote, elucidate and advance the good works and commendable efforts of the government across all sectors.”

He added that northern appointees must defend the government or take their exit.

Matawalle is a native of Zamfara while Baba-Ahmed hails from Kaduna.

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INEC: We are not partisan in failed recall of Natasha

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4 hours ago

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April 4, 2025

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has denied being partisan in handling the failed recall of the Senator representing Kogi Central, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan.

The Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, Rotimi Oyekanmi, who was on Channels Television’s Politics Today on Thursday, explained how the Commission handled the process.

“In the case of the Kogi Central District, we received a petition and a cover letter and of course what Nigerians were saying was that we were taking sides,” Oyekanmi said on the programme.

INEC logo and Senator Natasha Akpoti (Kogi-Central PDP)
INEC logo and Senator Natasha Akpoti (Kogi-Central PDP)

“But what happened was that in the covering letter, the representatives of the petitioners did not include their address as required in our regulations and guidelines and what we just did was to ask them to supply their address, it has nothing to do with the petition.

“And of course, there is nowhere in the law where INEC is asked to reject a petition just because the cover letter did not contain the address. So, there was no hanky-panky in what we did.”

Earlier on Thursday, INEC rejected the petition to recall Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan, saying that it has not met the requirements.

The electoral commission said the petition to recall Senator Natasha did not meet constitutional requirements.

Senator Natasha was suspended for breaching Senate rules, prompting some of her constituents to initiate her recall. They claimed the move was to ensure their constituency did not lack representation following the suspension of the 45-year-old senator.

Asked whether there could be a repeat of the recall process, the INEC spokesperson said the law did not specify if the process could be repeated and how many times.

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“The law just talks about the threshold, the threshold meaning that if you want to recall, you must have, in addition to your petition, 50 per cent plus one signatures. The law did not specify how many times you can undertake that,” he said.

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