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Boko Haram: Rep Urges Co-operation With Security Agents
Member representing Degema/Bonny Federal Constituency in the National Assembly, Dr. Sokonte Davies, has called on people living where members of the Islamic sect, Boko Haram are operating, particularly in some Northern parts of the country to co-operate with security agencies to bring the scourge under control.
Davies who made the call in an interview with The Tide in Port Harcourt said there was the need for people living around where members of the sect were operating to offer useful information to security agencies in order to address the security challenges facing the nation.
He noted that this was imperative because members of Boko Haram were human begins, who were known by the people and living among them, and not spirits, as some people want Nigerians to believe.
To this end, to be able to address the Boko Haram scourge, the lawmaker emphasised that the people around where they operate, should be ready to co-operate with security agencies.
According to him, it would amount to criminal conspiracy of silence if the people where Boko Haram members operate, continue to harbour them, without giving them up for arrest and prosecution.
He said unless people readily co-operate with security agencies to tackle the scourge, Boko Haram members would continue to have a field day, stressing that arrest so far made by security agencies was made possible by persons who offered useful information.
The lawmaker foreclosed the possibility of dialogue with Boko Haram members, because, as he puts it, “you don’t dialogue with somebody you don’t see”.
He, however, called on leaders of the North to borrow a cue from Niger Delta leaders, by taking the initiative to reach out to members of the sect to dialogue and convince them to drop their weapons.
“Why I say so is because at the peak of the Niger Delta issue, many people came out and said, “deal with us, discuss with us”. And we were able to reach some of those our sons to make sure that militancy was brought under control. In the Boko Haram issue, nobody is coming up, nobody is willing to take that responsibility”, he said.
The federal parliamentarian further noted that the fact that the sect had not properly articulated its demands had further made the security challenges which it had posed to the country more complex, saying, “until we determine and decide what they are fighting for, talking of solving the problem will be a little bit presumptuous”.
He expressed disappointment that Boko Haram’s attacks were targeted at Christian places of worship, a development he said had punctured the notion that its struggle was economic, saying, “if they are sponsored, as being said and believed, the people who are sponsoring them want to use religious issues to gain political points.”
According to him, “people who are attributing Boko Haram to lack of jobs are over simplifying a complex issue. Joblessness is not restricted to one section of the country. It is a national issue”.
Davies, however, condemned the reprisal attacks that trialed the recent bombing of churches in Kaduna, saying, “as Christians, we are the salt of the earth and the light of the world. We show leadership and direction”, and alleged that sympathizers of Christianity who were fed up with the spate of bombings might have committed the act, and not churches.
Donatus Ebi
Rivers State Head of Service, Dr (Mrs) Inyingi Brown, has called on rural communities in the State to embrace the Rural Access and Agricultural marketing project (RAAMP) with a view to improving their living conditions.
This follows the ongoing sensitization campaign by the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) visits to Degema, Abonnema, Afam headquarters of Degema, Akuku Toru and Oyigbo Etche and Omuma local government areas respectively.
Dr Brown who was represented by the Deputy Director, Special Duties in her office, Mrs Dein Akpanah, said RAAMP was initiated by the Federal Government and World Bank to economically empower rural dwellers.s
She said the World Bank understands the plights of rural farmers and traders in the State, and therefore came up with the programme to address them.
According to her, RAAMP will improve the conditions of farmers, traders and fishermen, and therefore, behoves on every rural communities in the State to embrace the programme.
The Head of Service also said the programme would support the youths to be gainfully employed while bridges and roads will be built to link farms and fishing settlements.
Also speaking, the State project coordinator, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the programme has the potential of creating millionaires among farmers and fishermen in the State.
Kpakol who was represented by Engr. Sam Tombari, said RAAMP would help farmers and fishermen to preserve their produce.
According to him, the project will build cold rooms and Silos for preservation of crops and fishes while access roads will also be created to link farmers and fishermen to the market.
He, however, warned them against any act that will lead to the suspension of the projects by the World Bank.
Kpakol particularly warned against acts such as kidnapping, marching ground, gender based violence and child labour, adding that such acts if they occur may lead to the cancellation of the project by the World Bank.
During the visit to Oyigbo local government area, Mr Joshua Kpakol, said the team was there to let them know how they will benefit from the Raamp.
The coordinator who was personally at Oyigbo said the World Bank introduced the project to check food insecurity in the State.
He said already 19 states in Nigeria are already benefitting from the project and called on them to embrace the project.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in the three local government areas have commended the World Bank for including their areas in the project.
They, however, complained over the incessant attacks by pirates on their waterways.
At Degema, King Agolia of Ke kingdom said land was a major problem in the kingdom.
King Agolia represented by High Chief Alpheus Damiebi said many indigenes of the kingdom are willing to go into farming but are handicapped by lack of land.
Also at Degema, the representative of the Omu Onyam Ekeim of Usokun Degema kingdom, Osoabo Isaac, said Degema has embraced the programme but needed more information on the implementation of the programme.
Similarly, while High Chief Precious Abadi advised that the project should not be narrowed to only crop farming, a community women leader, Mrs Orikinge Eremabo Otto, called for the construction of cold rooms in all fishing settlements in the area.
At Abonnema, Mr Diamond Kio linked the problem of the area to incessant piracy along waterways.
He also expressed fears over the possibility of the project being hijacked by politicians.
Also at Abonnema, a stakeholder, Ikiriko Kelvin, called on the World Bank to design an agricultural project that will suit the riverine environment, while at Oyigbo, HRH Eze Boniface Akawo expressed satisfaction with the project.
John Bibor
The political mudslinging between the Senate leadership and Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan continued yesterday as the Senate named Senator Aniekan Bassey as the new Chairman of the Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations.
Senate President, Godswill Akpabio, announced the appointment during yesterday’s plenary, confirming Bassey’s replacement of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan, who is currently on suspension.
Akpoti-Uduaghan was reassigned to the Diaspora and NGOs Committee in February after she was removed as Chair of the Senate Committee on Local Content during a minor reshuffle.
Bassey is the senator representing Akwa Ibom North-East Senatorial District.
Although no reason was given for her removal yesterday, the change is believed to be connected to her unresolved suspension.
In May, Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court ordered her reinstatement and directed her to tender an apology to the Senate.
However, the Senate has insisted it has not received a certified true copy of the court judgment.
Akpoti-Uduaghan who represents Kogi Central, has yet to resume her legislative duties despite a recent court ruling that voided her suspension.
In a televised interview on Tuesday, Akpoti-Uduaghan said she was awaiting the Certified True Copy of the judgment before officially returning to plenary, citing legal advice and respect for institutional process.
Although the Federal High Court described her suspension as “excessive and unconstitutional”, a legal opinion dated July 5 and attributed to the Senate’s counsel, Paul Daudu (SAN), argued that the ruling lacked any binding directive to enforce her reinstatement.
Akpoti-Uduaghan, one of only three female senators in the current assembly, said the continued delay in allowing her return was not only a denial of her mandate but also a blow to democratic representation.
“By keeping me out of the chambers, the Senate is not just silencing Kogi Central, it’s denying Nigerian women and children representation. We are only three female senators now, down from eight,” she said.