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Atiku Boosts Campaign Against SARS

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Former Vice President, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has joined the campaign against operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) over the arbitrary arrest and harassment of Nigerians.
Atiku, on his verified twitter handle, yesterday, said the arbitrary harassment of young Nigerians by police has no place in a democratic society.
“The arbitrary harassment of young Nigerians by police (who should be protecting them) has no place in a democratic society.
“The #EndSARS protest shows Nigerian youth are upset and the matter needs urgent attention,” Atiku tweeted.
Atiku’s comment on SARS brutality followed complaints by many Nigerians on the social media that operatives of SARS should be called to order and stopped from brutalising innocent Nigerians.
Some are even calling for the outright scrapping of the anti-crime outfit.
It would be recalled that following serious complaints of harassment by SARS in the social media, the Nigerian Police Force Public Complaint Rapid Response Unit (PCRRU), last Saturday, called on Nigerians to feel free to voice their complaints about the operations of SARS.
The police statement reads: “Do you have any complaints about your contact with SARS? You don’t need to know their names, all we need you to provide are details of the occurrence (action/act) with DATE, TIME & PLACE. Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) #BailisFree #NoToImpunity. Please share this message,” the tweet read.
The police also requested Nigerians to report any infraction by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) through the #BailisFree #NoToImpunity channels.
The channels listed for Nigerians to report any cases of lawlessness, impunity, abuse of office, among others include, 08057000001 and 08057000001 for calls; 08057000003 for SMS and WhatsApp messages; and 2BA2B5DE for BlackBerry messages.
The police gave the assurance that all complaints will be treated swiftly.
As a result of this, many Nigerians expressed their opinions on Twitter.
Many posted tweets and videos of police brutality and harassment by SARS operatives on social media calling on the police authorities to scrap the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known by the acronym SARS.
The Tide reports that the move by the PCRRU may be connected to the public outcry, especially in Rivers State, that has trailed the activities of many SARS officials in recent times.
Over the last couple of months, the Rivers State Government, Rivers State House of Assembly, federal lawmakers, and residents of the state, have been calling endlessly on the police high command to redeploy the Commander of SARS in the state, CSP Akin Fakorede, and overhaul the unit to check the operatives’ war against Rivers people and ensure improved efficiency and effectiveness.
Late in October, 2017, a 2015 graduate of Kwara State Polytechnic, Ekwere Imoh, was shot by policemen attached to SARS, Oyo State Police Command. The policemen also shot a female friend of his, identified simply as Doris, who was with him. There were no concrete reasons for shooting the duo as they were neither criminals nor under arrest for any offences.
Earlier in the same month, a lady, Kachi Anifela Zion, accused officers of SARS in Ilorin of sexual molestation.
She alleged that a male SARS official under the pretence of searching her, dipped his hand in her underwear.
She further revealed that the SARS official threatened to beat her if she shouted, adding that the officer continued to fondle, rough handle and humiliate her for several minutes.
The SARS official implicated in the matter was later arrested.

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FG Ends Passport Production At Multiple Centres After 62 Years

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The Nigeria Immigration Service has officially ended passport production at multiple centres, transitioning to a single, centralised system for the first time in 62 years.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, disclosed this yesterday while inspecting Nigeria’s new Centralised Passport Personalisation Centre at the NIS Headquarters in Abuja.

He stated that since the establishment of NIS in 1963, Nigeria had never operated a central passport production centre, until now, marking a major reform milestone.

“The project is 100 per cent ready. Nigeria can now be more productive and efficient in delivering passport services,” Tunji-Ojo said.

He explained that old machines could only produce 250 to 300 passports daily, but the new system had a capacity of 4,500 to 5,000 passports every day.

“With this, NIS can now meet daily demands within just four to five hours of operation,” he added, describing it as a game-changer for passport processing in Nigeria.

 “We promised two-week delivery, and we’re now pushing for one week.

“Automation and optimisation are crucial for keeping this promise to Nigerians,” the minister said.

He noted that centralisation, in line with global standards, would improve uniformity and enhance the overall integrity of Nigerian travel documents worldwide.

Tunji-Ojo described the development as a step toward bringing services closer to Nigerians while driving a culture of efficiency and total passport system reform.

He said the centralised production system aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s reform agenda, boosting NIS capacity and changing the narrative for better service delivery.

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FAAC Disburses N2.225trn For August, Highest In Nigeria

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The Federation Account Allocation Committee (FAAC) has disbursed N2.225 trillion as federation revenue for the month of August 2025, the highest ever allocation to the three tiers of government and other statutory recipients.

This marks the second consecutive month that FAAC disbursements have crossed the N2 trillion mark.

The revenue, shared at the August 2025 FAAC meeting in Abuja, was buoyed by increases in oil and gas royalty, value-added tax (VAT), and common external tariff (CET) levies, according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting.

Out of the N2.225 trillion total distributable revenue, FAAC said N1,478.593 trillion came from statutory revenue, N672.903 billion from VAT, N32.338 billion from the Electronic Money Transfer Levy (EMTL), and N41.284 billion from Exchange Difference.

The communiqué revealed that gross federation revenue for the month stood at N3.635 trillion. From this amount, N124.839 billion was deducted as cost of collection, while N1,285.845 trillion was set aside for transfers, interventions, refunds, and savings.

From the statutory revenue of N1.478 trillion, the Federal Government received N684.462 billion, State Governments received N347.168 billion, and Local Government Councils received N267.652 billion. A further N179.311 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) went to oil-producing states as derivation revenue.

From the distributable VAT revenue of N672.903 billion, the Federal Government received N100.935 billion, the states received N336.452 billion, while the local governments got N235.516 billion.

Of the N32.338 billion shared from EMTL, the Federal Government received N4.851 billion, the States received N16.169 billion, and the Local Governments received N11.318 billion.

From the N41.284 billion exchange difference, the Federal Government received N19.799 billion, the states received N10.042 billion, and the local governments received N7.742 billion, while N3.701 billion (13 per cent of mineral revenue) was shared to the oil-producing states as derivation.

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KenPoly Governing Council Decries Inadequate Power Supply, Poor Infrastructure On Campus

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The Governing Council of Kenule Beeson Saro-Wiwa Polytechnic, Bori, has decried the inadequate power supply and poor state of infrastructural facilities and equipment at the institution.

The Council also appealed to the government, including Non-Governmental Organisations, agencies, as well as well-meaning Rivers people to intervene to restore and sustain the laudable gesture, dreams and aspirations of the founding fathers of the polytechnic.

The Chairman of the newly inaugurated Council, Professor Friday B. Sigalo, made this appeal during a tour of facilities at the  Polytechnic, recently.

Accompanied by members of the team, Prof Sigalo emphasised the position of technology, technical and vocational education in sustainable development.

He noted that with the prospects on ground, and the programmes and activities undertaken in the polytechnic, there is no doubt that the institution would add values to the educational system in our society and foster the desired development, if the existing challenges are jointly tackled.

This was contained in a statement signed by Deputy Registrar, Public Relations, Kenpoly,  Innocent Ogbonda-Nwanwu, and made available to The Tide in Port Harcourt.

The chairman who restated the intention of his team of technocrats to ensure that KenPoly enjoys desirable face-lift, said the Council would deliver on its core mandates, accordingly.

Earlier, the Rector, KenPoly Engr. Dr. Ledum S. Gwarah, commended the appointment of Professor Friday B. Sigalo as Chairman of the KenPoly Governing Council.

He described him and his team as seasoned technocrats and expressed confidence in their ability to succeed.

The Rector pledged the management’s support to the Council to ensure that KenPoly resumes its rightful place in the comity of polytechnics in the country.

Facilities visited by the Governing Council include KenPoly workshops, laboratories, skills acquisition centre, library, hostels and medical centre.

 

Chinedu Wosu

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