News
‘Emergency Rule Alien To Adamawa’
A cell phone dealer at the Jimeta Shopping Complex, Yola, Mr Boda Kassim, on Saturday said that the state of emergency imposed on Adamawa was alien to the people of the state.
Kassim made the observation in Yola in an interview with newsmen.
He said the emergency and communications shutdown in the state had seriously affected cell phone dealers to the extent that some of them had stopped opening their shops.
He said that before the emergency, the traders used to receive a significant number of customers daily, but with the emergency and the communication shutdown, they found it difficult to sell a single cell phone in a day.
Mr Audu Zira of Zira Communications, a dealer of GSM recharge cards on Ahmadu Bello Way, Jimeta, said he had more than 2,000 customers across the state who usually purchased cards from him.
According to Zira, the communication shutdown has seriously affected their business.
Commenting on the importance of the emergency rule, he said: “initially I supported the emergency thinking that it will not last long as it was introduced based on security challenges.
“But now the situation has crippled our business and we have nothing to do because we learn that the emergency was imposed on the state by Mr President,” Zira said.
He also appealed to the authorities to look into the peoples’ needs and ease the situation.
However, Mr Augustine Mako in Numan Local Government Area, said the emergency should continue until the security situation was normal.
“I used to remember that sometimes back there was crisis and killings of innocent lives in Adamawa, even in churches and markets.
“And what is happening now in the state in respect of the state of emergency should still go on for the time being.”
According to him, if the security operatives feel that the challenges are over, they should go ahead and lift it.
Meanwhile, business and other activities are now in full gear in Damaturu, Yobe, two months after the declaration of emergency in the state.
The Federal Government had declared a state of emergency in Yobe, Borno and Adamawa states to contain the activities of Boko Haram terrorists.
A correspondent of the News agency of Nigeria (NAN), who went round the state capital on Friday and Saturday, reports that activities at the markets within the city were in top gear as traders and customer were fully engaged in selling and buying.
Similarly at the Central Motor Park along Potiskum Road, hundreds of passengers were seen boarding vehicles to various parts of the country.
Our correspondent also reports that popular bus transport companies from around the country have also resumed operations from the city.
Speaking to newsmen, the Chairman of the Bus Section of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Alhaji Usman Saleh, said he was happy that the situation in the state was normalising.
“In recent days, we have been recording influx of passengers travelling to different parts of the country and we sometimes run short of vehicles to convey the passengers,’’ he said.
He said that his members were not facing any problem with the security agents deployed to the state, adding that there was a mutual and cordial relationship between them and the security.
Alhaji Usman said that the union understood that certain measures had to be taken to ensure that security of lives and property in the state and had been cooperating with the authorities to ensure smooth operations.
“Personally I am in total support of maintaining check-points on the streets as well as the withdrawal of GSM services in the state as this will help check the activities of the insurgents,’’ Saleh said.
Also traders and customers who spoke to newsmen yesterday at the market said that they were delighted with the remarkable improvement in the security situation in the state.
“We now operate fully and we do not entertain much fear of attack as we used to,’’ a tomato seller, who declined to give his name, said.
Similarly all the banks in the capital have fully resumed their operations as customers were seen in many banking halls transacting businesses.
Commenting on the security situation in the state, the Special Adviser on Information and Media, Alhaji Abdullahi Bego, thanked the Federal Government for the declaration of the emergency, which he said saw to the deployment of more soldiers to the state.
He said that the state government would continue to assist the security agents to ensure the success of their assignment.
Also speaking to newsmen, the Joint Task Force Commander in the state, Col. Ibrahim Ali, said that the task force was able to achieve relative stability in the state since the declaration of emergency.
He said that there was no major encounter with the insurgents since the declaration of the emergency.
He thanked the people of the state for assisting his team with useful information which had led to the arrest of many suspects.
Our correspondent reports, however, that the state is still on a dusk to dawn curfew to enable the security agents curtail the activities of the insurgents.
Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) said it has embarked on the distribution of food items to people affected by the insurgency in the state.
The Agency’s Zonal Coordinator for North East Zone, Alhaji Muhammed Kanarr told newsmen in Damaturu that already it has distributed the relief materials in Damaturu, Potiskum, Bunu Yadi,Gaidam and Babban Gida towns, while distribution in Macina, Yunusari and Gashua will follow later.
Kanar said that item distributed included rice, millet, sorghum and beverages, adding that the distribution was targeted at women and children.
Nigerians were among more than 140 residents injured after Iran launched multiple ballistic missiles and unmanned aerial vehicles at the United Arab Emirates, at the weekend.
This raised fresh fears for thousands of Nigerians living and working in the Gulf nation.
The UAE Ministry of Defence disclosed last Saturday that its air defence systems intercepted several missiles and drones fired from Iran, describing the attack as a major escalation in the ongoing regional tensions.
In a statement posted on its official X handle, the ministry said its air defence units engaged nine ballistic missiles and 33 drones during the latest assault on March 14.
It added that the attacks left six people dead and 141 others injured, including foreign nationals.
“The UAE air defence systems on March 14 engaged nine ballistic missiles and 33 UAVs launched from Iran,” the ministry stated.
“Since the onset of this blatant Iranian aggression, UAE air defences have engaged 294 ballistic missiles, 15 cruise missiles, and 1,600 UAVs launched from Iran,” UAE added.
According to the ministry, those killed in the attacks included citizens of the UAE as well as foreign nationals from Pakistan, Nepal and Bangladesh.
“Although the authorities did not specify the exact locations where the casualties occurred, the ministry said the injured victims were from several countries, including Nigeria.
Others affected include residents from Egypt, Sudan, Ethiopia, the Philippines, Pakistan, Iran, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.
The list also included Azerbaijan, Yemen, Uganda, Eritrea, Lebanon, Afghanistan, Bahrain, Comoros, Türkiye, Iraq, Nepal, Oman, Jordan, Palestine, Ghana, Indonesia and Sweden.
The Tide reports that this development has sparked concern among Nigerian communities in the UAE, where thousands of citizens live and work in sectors such as construction, hospitality, logistics and trade.
Data from Nigeria’s diaspora commission shows that the UAE remains one of the largest destinations for Nigerian migrants in the Middle East, particularly in the emirates of Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah.
The Nigerian government had in recent years raised concerns over the safety and welfare of its citizens in the country following diplomatic tensions and visa restrictions affecting Nigerians.
Saturday’s attacks have now heightened anxieties within the diaspora community, especially as the Gulf region faces growing military confrontations.
In its statement, the UAE Ministry of Defence said the country remained fully prepared to confront any threats to its security.
“The Ministry of Defence remains fully prepared and ready to deal with any threats and will firmly confront any attempts to undermine state security in a manner that ensures the protection of its sovereignty, security and stability, and safeguards its national interests and capabilities,” the ministry said.
In a separate update, the ministry noted that its defence systems were still actively intercepting missiles and drones.
“UAE air defences are dealing with Iranian ballistic and cruise missiles and drones,” it said.
Regional media reports indicate that the attacks form part of a wider escalation of hostilities between Iran and Western-backed forces in the Middle East.
According to Al Jazeera, Iran has continued sustained missile and drone strikes across the Gulf despite protests from neighbouring states.
The strikes were said to be in retaliation for military operations launched by the United States and Israel against Iranian positions in the region.
Tehran targeted several Gulf countries, including Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the UAE, late on Friday and into Saturday.
The attacks also caused infrastructural damage in parts of the UAE.
Meanwhile, Iran’s elite military wing, the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, warned that US interests in the UAE would remain legitimate targets.
Iranian state media reported that the group issued the warning after US forces attacked Iranian-controlled islands.
The IRGC specifically mentioned ports, docks and military installations linked to the United States as potential targets.
It also urged residents in the UAE to evacuate areas around ports and military facilities to avoid civilian casualties.
Security analysts say the growing exchange of threats and strike across the Gulf could destabilise the region’s economic and aviation activities if the conflict escalates further.
Nigeria’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has yet to issue an official statement on the incident as of the time of filing this report.
Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has charged the five new commissioners sworn-in last Wednesday to put in their best for the development of the State.
Fubara gave the charge during the swearing-in of the commissioners at the Executive Council Chambers of the Government House, Port Harcourt, last Wednesday.
This followed the successful screening of the five commissioners by the Rivers State House of Assembly, last Tuesday.
The five commissioners are Tonye Bellgam, Prof. Temple Nwofor, Dr. Peters Nwagor, Mr. Lekue Kenneth, and Sir Amairigha Edward Hart.
The Tide reports that the governor had sent nine commissioner-nominees to the Assembly for screening, but the Assembly confirmed only five nominees and rejected the nomination of four over various allegations.
Those rejected by the Assembly are Prof. Dantonye Alasia, Mrs. Charity Demua, Mr. Tamuno Williams, and Otonye Amachree.
The governor congratulated the new commissioners on their appointment, noting that their thorough screening by the Rivers State House of Assembly was a proof of their capabilities.
He urged them to deploy their wealth of experience in various fields and put the State on a fast lane of development.
“Ordinarily, I am supposed to charge you on your responsibilities and how to operate. But that has been taken care of by the screening at the Assembly.
“I believe that going through one of the most rigorous screenings, it is enough to say that for those of you who succeeded, you are fit and ready to deliver to our dear State.
“So there is no further charge. The screening was the charge, so I wish you the best as I don’t expect anything less than the best from you,” Fubara said.
The Nigerian Navy has intensified its crackdown on crude oil theft and illegal bunkering, destroying a reactivated illegal refinery site in Rivers State and intercepting suspected stolen petroleum products in Calabar, Cross River State.
The Director of Naval Information, Capt Abiodun Folorunsho, disclosed this in a statement released in Abuja, yesterday.
Folorunsho said personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship SOROH, operating under Operation DELTA SENTINEL, destroyed a reactivated illegal refinery site at Okolomade Community in Abua-Odual Local Government Area of Rivers State.
He said the action followed credible intelligence that a previously dismantled illegal refining site had resumed operations.
According to him, an Anti–Crude Oil Theft team deployed to the location discovered that the dismantled refining oven had been reconstructed.
“Further exploitation of the area led to the discovery of additional refining equipment and storage facilities containing about 3,000 litres of product suspected to be illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO),” he said.
Folorunsho added that the illegal refining infrastructure, including ovens, storage tanks, hoses, connected pipes and newly acquired metal components used for illegal refining, was destroyed in line with operational procedures.
He said personnel of the Nigerian Navy Ship Victory, in another operation, intercepted about 3,950 litres of suspected stolen petroleum products at the Nigerian Ports Authority area in Calabar, Cross River State.
He said the interception was based on credible intelligence on suspected siphoning of petroleum products from vessels berthed at the port.
The naval patrol team, according to him, swiftly deployed to the area and traced the illegally siphoned products to a trailer park within the port facility.
“On sighting the naval patrol team, the suspected perpetrators fled the scene, after which the area was cordoned off and the illegally siphoned products secured,” he said.
Folorunsho said further inspection led to the recovery of about 3,950 litres of Automotive Gas Oil stored in drums and jerrycans, which had been evacuated to the naval base for further necessary action in line with extant regulations.
He noted that the successes aligned with the directive of the Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Adm. Idi Abbas, to intensify operations against crude oil theft and other maritime crimes across Nigeria’s maritime domain.
Folorunsho reiterated the Navy’s commitment to sustaining the operational tempo of Operation DELTA SENTINEL through intensified surveillance, patrols and intelligence-driven operations aimed at combating crude oil theft, illegal bunkering and other forms of economic sabotage.
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