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CSO-PTF Support Group queries commissioning of substandard police equipment

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The CSO-PTF Support and Oversight Group has expressed dismay over the Commissioning by President Buhari of alleged substandard police equipments that were alleged to be fraudulently purchased by the Nigeria Police Trust Fund (NPTF) Management.
In a joint statement by the group, they indicated that fighting corruption is one of President Buhari’s signature commitments and the mantra on which he campaigned to be elected President.
However, they said they were at a loss as to why president Buhari will commission the equipment despite the widely reported scandal associated with the procurement
“It is unbecoming of the President that despite the alleged scandal associated with this procurement which allegedly breached due process and despite the ongoing investigation by the ICPC over the petition alleging fraud and corruption, the President went ahead to commission those equipment.
“Our concern arises from the fact, not only that the said equipment were fraudulently purchased in utter violation of the PTF Act, but also that the equipment are currently subjects of ongoing investigation by the Independent Corrupt Practices & Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)”
The investigation they said is based on a petition alleging abuse of due process, corruption and mismanagement of funds by the PTF Management.

“Several news media reported this scandal. According to the Vanguard Newspapers report of September 20, 2021 captioned “N11bn police equipment contract fraud: How infighting within NPTF management led to ICPC’s petition, investigation” over N11 billion substandard equipment were fraudulently purchased for the Nigeria Police by the management of the PTF.

“The report further revealed that ‘sharing formula of proceeds from the fraudulent purchase of substandard equipment led to the petition’.
“The Chairman of the PTF Board of Trustees former IGP Abba Suleiman was reported to have testified before ICPC investigators as a witness, during which he made startling revelations of fraud, abuse of due process and mismanagement of the PTF funds by the management.
According to the statement, the Management staff of the NPTF have also been invited by ICPC over the matter.

“It was further alleged that a former Deputy Governor who is a serving Senator eyeing 2023, and a Minister were fingered in the substandard equipment purchase.

“It was, for instance, alleged that the bullet proof vests that ought to possess double sided shields were found to only possess shield on one side.
“It was further alleged that the helmets were too small and the Toyota Buffalo vehicles procured were largely substandard.”

The statement indicated that the chairman of the board was quoted to have denied knowledge of the procurement process and that the management of the NPTF has been frustrating him from resuming work with his staff at the office provided by the Nigeria Police Force.
The statement asked rhetorically, “Is it that the President is unaware of these facts depsite being widely reported in the media or is it that someone or a group of people are misleading the President?
“We, the undersigned members of the CSO-PTF Support and Oversight Group have received with serious concern the news of President Muhammadu Buhari’s commissioning on the 13th of January 2022 of 200 Buffalo Toyota operational vehicles and other equipment purchased by the Police Trust Fund for the Nigeria Police Force through alleged contract fraud.

“We note that President Buhari was represented at the commissioning by the Minister of Police Affairs who was quoted to have described the provision of the equipment as part of the ongoing reformation of the Nigeria Police Force. “How can the commissioning of equipment that are alleged to be substandard and capable of exposing police personnel to grave danger if faced with criminals be part of any reformation?

“The Minister, speaking for President Buhari also commended the Board of Trustees, Management and Staff of the NPTF “for meticulously and meritoriously completing the project.”
“We dare to ask: what can be meticulous and meritorious about an alleged fraudulent act that breaches the laws of the country?
The group also quoted the IGP, Usman Baba in his remark during the commissioning to have said that ‘the items provided for the force are largely in line with requisite operational specification, tested and found to be standard that would enhance effective and efficient policing’.

“Again, we dare to ask: on what did the IGP base this assessment? We are not aware that the ICPC has concluded or made public the outcome of its investigation into allegations that the equipment were substandard and unsuitable, in fact dangerous, for use by the police.
“Again the IGP’s remark is preemptive of and prejudicial to the ongoing ICPC investigation.
“Was the IGP under pressure or in cahoots with those accused of mismanagement of police trust fund?

The group therefore called on the ICPC to expedite action, conclude its investigation into the serious allegations of fraud and mismanagement of PTF funds and make its findings public.
“All those found to be involved in the allegations should be brought to account.
They said, ICPC owes Nigerians the legal, moral and sacred duty of ensuring that nobody or group of individuals or groups, no matter how powerful, should be allowed to interfere with or derail the investigation

“We in the CSO Observatory will continue to monitor and regularly update Nigerians on the progress of this investigation and generally on the operations of the PTF.”
This they said they would do to ensure transparency and accountability in the management of the PTF and to ensure that the purpose of establishing the fund- which is to fill the funding gap for the Nigeria Police with a view to enhancing their operational capabilities to effectively discharge their functions of securing and protecting Nigerians from crimes and insecurity is achieved.

The group which is a Civil Society Organisations Observatory on the Implementation of the Police Act 2020 and the Police Trust Fund Act 2019 is a coalition of over 200 civil society organisations and activists spread across Nigeria and committed to promoting transparency and accountability in the implementation of the NPTF Act.

The group is established to act as a catalyst to spur the Police Trust Fund to deliver on its mandate and to carry out vigorous and sustained sensitisation to create public awareness across the geo-political zones on the existence of Police Trust Fund and its mandate.

The 33 CSOs who jointly signed the statement include:

  1. Rule of Law And Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC), Lagos
  2. International Peace And Civic Responsibility Centre (IPCRC), Anambra State

3.Conscience for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution. Lokoja, Kogi State

  1. Centre For Human Rights And Ethics in Development (CHRED), Oyo State
  2. Initiative For Gender Equality And Advancement, IGEA/ Edo Civil Society Organization, Edo State
  3. Community Outreach For Development And Welfare Advocacy (CODWA), Kwara State

7.Human Rights Social Development And Environmental Foundation (HURSDEF), Rivers State

  1. COMPPART Foundation For Justice And Peace Building
  2. Habitatcare And Protection Initiative
  3. Centre For The Advocacy of Justice, And Rights (CAJR), Plateau state
  4. Civil Liberties Organization (CLO), Lagos State
  5. Foundation For Environmental Rights Advocacy And Development (FENRAD) Nigeria, Abia State
  6. Young innovators And Vocational Training Initiative (YIVTI), Kaduna State

14.International Solidarity For Peace And Human Rights Initative, Enugu State

  1. Vivacious Development Initiative, Abia State
  2. Vision Spring Initiatives, Lagos
  3. Anthony Opara, a private citizen
  4. Civil Rights Realisation and Advancement Network (CRRAN), Enugu
  5. Elixir Trust Foundation, Benue State
  6. Centre for Environment, Human Rights and Development (CEHRD), Rivers State
  7. Social and Integral Development Center (SIDEC),
    Anambra State
  8. African Centre for Entrepreneurship and Information Development (ACEIDEV), Abuja
  9. Centre for Mmadu on Human Rights, Enugu
  10. Grassroots Development Monitoring and Advocacy Centre (GDMAC), Ilorin Kwara State
  11. Women Environment and Youth Development Initiative (WOYODEV),
    Kwara State
  12. Legal Awareness for Nigerian Women, Kaduna State
  13. Legal Defence and Assistance Project (LEDAP), Lagos
  14. Nnabuihe Azinkpali, Activist, Abuja
  15. Initiative for Safety Security and Educational Development (IPSSED NETWORK), Enugu State
  16. Centre for Transparency Advocacy, Abuja
  17. Koyenum Immalah Foundation, Benin
  18. ONYIGBUO, Stephen Uche, Private, Enugu.
  19. Social Intervention Advocacy Foundation (SIAF), Lagos
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Okiro insists, State Police is not feasible under Nigeria’s current setting

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Mike Okiro
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***State govt can hardly pay workers salary

**may work only with the Canadian Model

The much talked about decentralisation of the Nigeria Police Force can not achieve its desired objective as the inherent factors that led to its failure in the past have not been addressed, Retired Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mike Okiro has indicated

Okiro spoke with journalists on the sideline of the 2023 Convention of the Old Seminarians Association of Nigeria (OSAN), hosted by the Clerk to the Senate, Mr. Chinedu Akubueze, in Abuja.

The former IGP explained that at the inception of the Nigerian police, authorities of the sub regional institutions had their own police separate from the ones being controlled by the central government.

According to him, the state police idea can not work due to paucity of funds at both the state and local government areas.

He wondered how the states and local government areas that cannot effectively pay the salaries of their workers would be able to fund their own police.

Okiro, however said the only way the state police could work was for Nigeria to adopt the Canadian model.

The Canadian model, according to him, would involved the states recruiting the police personnel who would be funded by the Federal Government.

He said, “The only way we can have state police in Nigeria is to adopt the Canadian model, where every region has its own police employed by the region and paid by the federal.

“For example, in Nigeria every governor wouldl employ their own police, equip them while they would be paid by the Federal Government.

“Before the advent of what we have now, we had ‘dandoka’,  we had police in the West, we also had police in the East.

“Local governments had their Police, but because of the behaviour of the local police officers, during the time of former Head of State, General Yakubu Gowon in 1971 or thereabout, he turned it to the Nigeria Police Force.

“I am opposed to the state police because of the benefit of hindsight, how they behaved in those days, unless you want to throw away the benefits of history”, he said.

The former IGP lamented that the police is going down the drain, confronted with so many problems.

He said, “There is no equipment, no manpower, no welfare. They are demoralized, and  frustrated.

“We need to ginger the police to do something, by encouraging them”.

“I have equally said time without number, everything has advantages and disadvantages, merits and demerits.

“If you adopt state police, the state government that cannot pay teachers, nurses and doctors, can they pay the police?

“You cannot afford to owe police one month salary, insecurity will be at the highest level in that state. If the state governments can’t  pay the civil servants, I wonder how they can pay the police.”

He appealed to the Federal Government to invest heavily on equipping and training of the police in order to tackle the current insecurity in the country.

Okiro said, “There is gross insecurity in the country. You know Nigeria is part of the world. Insecurity is a global issue, but every country sits down to plan and to devise methods to check   insecurity.

“In Nigeria, the government is equally trying to check insecurity. You cannot get 100 per cent but you can be sure you have done your best and leave the rest to God.

“The government should ensure that security agencies are well equipped and trained. Police is short of manpower, they should recruit more people and give them equipment to solve the problem.

“You cannot solve the problem of insecurity with bare hand. We are in a modern, digitalised world.

“So, you fight insecurity with technology. The government should do something to ensure that security agencies are well equipped to confront these criminals, because the criminals go to the internet, they read. So, they are ahead of the security agencies.

“For you to succeed, the security agencies should be ahead of them and tackle them before they do what they want to do.”

The Clerk to the Senate in his welcome address, identified lack of patriotism among Nigerians as a major ill bedeviling the country.

Akubueze said, “The Nigerian society is bedeviled by self-imposed ills. occasioned by our lack of collective sense of patriotism which, ordinarily should emphasize love for the nation rather than undue recourse to ethno-religious cleavages and clannish leanings.

“Here in OSAN, we are set to chart a new course of national consciousness aimed at cementing the bonds that hold us together as Nigerians rather than the dissimilarities that tend to tear us apart.

“Our sense of fraternity is one that recognizes the fact that we are of diverse ethnic extractions, yet bonded together by a common heritage, a scenario that has helped in fostering love, camaraderie and collective sense of responsibility and purposefulness within our rank and file.

“Of course,we have no doubts whatsoever that OSAN is an Association whose future prosperity is guaranteed, a brotherhood of likeminded individuals whose members would, within the next few years, seize the opportunities open to them to advance their wellbeing as well as that of the larger Nigerian society.

“To actualize our dreams within a record time, all hands must be on deck. We must pull resources together, both human and material in order to create a prosperous and glorious future.”

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Nabena asks Security agents to arrest Sheik Gumi over attack on Wike

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***Says Niger Deltans are not inferior to Northerners in Nigeria

.Former Deputy National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Hon. Yekini Nabena, has charged security agencies to swing into and arrest a Kaduna based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, inciting the public against the minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Nyesom Wike.

The APC chieftain condemned what he called sense of entitlement by some ‘ethnic and religious bigots’ in the Northern part of Nigeria.

Nabena warned that no evil must befall the minister throughout his tenure, adding that Sheik Gumi and others like him will be held responsible by the Niger Delta people if anything goes wrong.

On Thursday, the Cleric had in a video sermon of over 14 minutes posted on his official Facebook page, labelled Wike as “Satan” for receiving the Israeli Ambassador to Nigeria in his office. The cleric in the sermon also asserted that President Tinubu would be stopped from serving for eight years.

Reacting to the development through a statement released to newsmen on Sunday in Abuja, the Bayelsa born APC chieftain said some Northerners’ sense of entitlement is not only dividing the Nation but making them to see Southerners as inferior to them in a country where everyone supposed to have equal rights.

Nabena said the people of Niger Delta and Southerners in general will no longer fold their arms while the likes of Sheik Gumi spit on their faces irrespective of political or religion beliefs.

According to the APC chieftain, No Nigerian is more a Nigerian than anybody in Nigeria.

He said: “My intervention in the recent controversial statement is not about the FCT Minister, Nyesom Wike alone, it is about the right of the Niger Delta people and the Southerners in general. At this stage, we expect all the voices of reasoning to speak out because the sense of entitlement of the likes of Sheik Gumi is becoming more satanic.

“How can you justify the rationale behind some Northerners heading some positions that are naturally meant for the people of Niger Delta and the South? Up till date a Northerner is still the GMD of NNPCL.

“If religious and ethnic bigots like Gumi and others are saying a Southern Christian, especially from the oil rich Niger Delta, can not hold the positions of FCT Ministry and the Senate President, we demand explanations on what qualifies a North Muslim in the leadership of agencies like NIMASA, NNPCL, NPDC, NLNG, NPA, and so on”

While cautioning against “reckless public comments” that could lead to a more divided country, Nabena called on the presidency to urgently make a bold statement and reaffirm the right of any Nigerian to hold public office anywhere in Nigeria.

“I will call on the presidency to deliberately caution Sheik Gumi and his co-travellers against statement that is capable of causing disunity and encourage sense of entitlement.

“I will also call on the security agencies to take Gumi’s reckless but deliberate statement serious. Sheik Gumi should be arrested, questioned and prosecuted.

“Let it also be on record that we the Niger Delta sons and daughters will hold Sheik Gumi responsible if any evil befall Nyesom Wike throughout his days in office as FCT Minister,” Nabena wa

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Gov Radda gives reasons why citizens should be allowed to bear arms

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Governor Dikko Umaru Radda of Katsina State has urged the federal government to allow citizens to allow citizens to buy arms to protect themselves since bandits freely buy weapons such as AK-47 and RPG in the market illegally

He said governors should not be blamed for the security challenges bedevilling their states because they are chief security officers without the authority to command the military forces, the police and other security agencies to deal with security issues in their states.

Governor Radda asked the federal government to play a more critical role in the security of lives and property in the country adding that his administration had legally established a ‘community watch corps’ to deal with banditry in conjunction with the military.

The governor, at a media parley on Thursday in Abuja, said bandits are hardened criminals who must be eliminated in Katsina, stressing that his administration would not leave any stone unturned in ensuring they are exterminated.

He said some traditional rulers in the state are under investigation over their alleged “romance” with bandits, stressing that whoever is found to be a sponsor or ally of bandits would not be spared no matter how highly placed.

He said, “We governors are so-called chief security officers of our states, but we don’t have the authority to command the military, police or civil defense. They receive orders from above.

“In our efforts, we have come up with the intelligence unit within the Katsina Community Watch Corps. This intelligence unit, even the corps members don’t know them. The reason for setting it up is to check the excesses of the Watch Corps and also to gather information.

“There are some traditional rulers who have been identified, adding that they are already under scrutiny. So, we are not sparing anybody even commissioners in my regime, we are not going to spare anybody found to be involved in one criminal activity or the other.

“We are talking about the lives of over 10 million people not one single individual. No single individual is more important than 10 million people or the lives of an innocent person in the village. We are trying as much as possible to gather a lot of information together with the intelligence we are getting from the DSS so that we can build a network that we can arrest and prosecute any person found wanting.

“It is a double-edged sword. We cannot fold our arms and say we will not protect ourselves because we don’t have the sophisticated arms that these bandits have. We have the numbers, we have the zeal and the determination, and you should remember, if they are going for any outing, it is just like the way it was done in Borno through the Civilian JTF.

“They will be covered by the police and the military who are heavily armed. So, I think it is a concerted and joint effort. And I think gradually, we are working within what the law allows us to possess.

“We are driving towards that, and we are seeking reforms within the federal government in that regard. If a bandit can go to the market and buy AK-47, RPG, and all of those weapons, what of the people that want to protect themselves? They, too, should equally be allowed to do so. These people are holding it illegally, we are trying to hold it legally. Why can’t the government allow the people to hold this thing and equally confront the challenges?

“Negotiations with bandits is a no go area in my perspective but I said if I am at the point of advantage, if the bandits come out and say look, ‘we are dropping arms, let us sit down and talk’, we could reintegrate them back into the society.

“But I will not go begging bandits to come for negotiations. Let us deal with the situation. If they are weak, let them come out, let us negotiate, and we will reintegrate them back into society. They are our people, our brothers, but we cannot protect a criminal.”

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