Attacks occurred during Eid celebrations 

President Muhammadu Buhari has directed fierce military operations against bandits in Sokoto State. He gave the directive in reaction to the attack on residents of Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

Reports had it that about 70 people were killed by the bandits who invaded five communities in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the State during the Eid-Fitr celebrations.

The bandits invaded the communities barely 24 hours after the state Governor, Aminu Tambuwal visited the local government.
 However, Buhari in a statement signed by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, vowed to crush these criminal elements and bring them to their knees. The President commiserated with families whose loved ones were killed by the bandits. He also prayed that those who sustained injuries during the attack recover quickly.

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Buhari lamented that the attack was coming at a time Nigeria was battling to curb the spread of Coronavirus, describing it as unfortunate and tragic.

He said: “As the world and Nigeria battle Coronavirus pandemic, it is tragic and unfortunate that bandits have remained active in parts of the country, killing innocent people and throwing families into despair.

“We will not abandon you to your fate because we are determined to bring these mass murderers to their knees and crush them totally.’’

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The President stated that a major military operation code named “Operation Accord” was launched by the military, and was aimed at flushing out bandits and criminal elements attacking the North-West and North Central states.

“This operation will be a full time and sustained military offensive that is intended to deny the bandits any breathing space to reorganize and regroup,’’ he said.

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Buhari Orders Fierce Military Operation Against Bandits

Armed Fulani herdsmen attacks on farming villages in the Kaduna state of Nigeria have continued as reports suggest that at least 20 people were killed in a series of attacks last week. 

The National President of the Adara Development Association, Awema Maisamari, announced last Friday that four days of attacks from May 18 to May 22 targeting several villages in the Kajuru local government area have led to the deaths of at least 20 people. 

“There were daily attacks and destruction from Monday to Thursday in the remote settlements of Magunguna, Idazo, Ungwan Galadima, Ungwan Guza, Etissi, Ungwan Ma’aji, Ungwan Dantata, Ungwan Araha 1 & 2, Ungwan Goshi, Ungwan Shaban, Ungwan Jibo, Ungwan Maijama’a, Ungwan Sako, Ungwan Maidoki and Ungwan Masaba,” Maisamari said in a statement.

The Adara, a majority Christian people group, is one of the largest ethnic groups in southern Kaduna.

“As of [last Friday afternoon] 20 persons have been killed, several others are either injured or missing," the Adara Development Association head added.

Maisamari said the “traumatized community members are reeling in pain” and “wondering why this contrived anarchy is still being condoned by the powers that be.”

“Since January, killings, maiming, burning, looting and kidnapping have continued unabated from village to village,” he said. “There have been 63 terrorist attacks and kidnapping incidents, more than 107 people killed, about 49 persons injured, more than 66 men, women and girls abducted for ransoms, more than 111 houses burned. Thirty-two villages were destroyed and 20,000 persons displaced, especially in the last two weeks.”

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 Kajuru resident Alheri Magaji, who leads the nonprofit Resilient Aid and Dialogue Initiative and is the daughter of the current leader of the Adara Chiefdom, said that she has heard of at least five people who were killed in the latest round of attacks in Kajuru. 

She said that as many as 4,000 people are internally displaced in the Kallah district in Kajuru following the last spate of attacks. 

“They are literally ones with nothing to eat tomorrow,” she said. “I’ve been trying to make a few calls to see what we can raise for them."

Human rights groups have since decried the carnage going on in the state, and the failure of the government to address it. A coalition of Human rights and Democracy organisations in the Southeast has condemned the level of carnage in the Southern part of Kaduna State, saying it has assumed the status of a state-aided genocide. 
 In a statement signed by Emeka Umeagbalasi on behalf of the coalition’s leaders, including Intersociety, Civil Liberties Organisation, Igbo Ekunie Initiative (UK) and International Solidarity for Peace and Human Rights, Enugu, among others, the groups stated that under the international law, “the attacks, killings, looting, plundering and sexual violence are nothing short of jihadist genocide perpetrated under state cover and protection.”
 The groups said they are saddened that the orgy of ethno-religious cleansing has been perpetrated and deepened, despite clear-cut provisions in the 1999 Constitution and numerous treaty laws signed and ratified by Nigeria, stressing that both Kaduna State governor and President Muhammadu Buhari swore to uphold the Constitution.

While condoling with the leaders of Adara Development Association, led by Mr. Awema Dio Maisamari and the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), led by Mr. Jonathan Asake, as well as the entire predominantly Christian communities in Kaduna State, the Southeast Based Coalition said time has come to expose the killings in their area in the past four months and three weeks.
READ ALSO, Buhari Approves Restructure of Nigeria Police
 The statement read in part: “The leaders of the Southeast based Coalition of Human Rights & Democracy Organisations (SBCHROs), a body of over 20 rights and democracy groups based in the Southeast part of old Eastern Nigeria, are strongly alerting the world, including Western democracies, local and international human rights organisations, internationally respected personalities and people of good conscience.
“We are concerned about the ceaseless, systematic and coordinated attacks on mostly indigenous Christian communities in Southern Kaduna, an area with seven Local Government Councils and not less than 67 registered ethnic nationalities. Our hearts are bleeding over combined and coordinated efforts by concerned state actors and Jihadist herdsmen to wipe out the indigenous peoples of Southern Kaduna. These, they anarchically seek to achieve through ethnoreligious cleansing of alarming apogee.

“We have watched with total dismay and deepest concerns the level of state conspiracy, cover and protection in the jihadist genocide in Southern part of the state. These are perpetrated with utter alacrity, because the perpetrators and their patrons must have concluded wrongly that with foisting of a mole at the Presidency of the International Criminal Court, their days for justice or accountability are totally sealed and never to come.”
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 The groups recalled how the Adara Community, “the group victim of the latest butchery, had on October 26, 2018, lost its Christian traditional ruler, HRH, the Agom Adara, Maiwada Galadima,” saying he was killed by his abductors seven days after his kidnap by suspected herdsmen.
 “We, therefore, make bold to say and conclude that malicious state actors at federal and state levels in Nigeria are copying and replicating ‘the Omar Al-Bashir era Janjaweed jihadism and ethnic cleansing’ in Sudan; perpetrated grisly at ‘industrial scale’ in the country’s Darfur Region.
“The state actors’ conspiracy in the Southern Kaduna butcheries is circumstantially and vicariously depicted by their total inaction and nonchalance; to the extent that 50 persons were killed in the same area in the past two weeks, with the state actors, especially the Government of Kaduna State and the State Police Command and the military pretending as if nothing happened.”

Human Rights Groups Decry Massacre in Southern Kaduna

In his capacity as Chairman of the Nigeria Police Council, President Muhammadu Buhari has given the approval for the Nigeria Police asset, Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) to be detached from the Force Criminal Investigation Department (FCID). As a result of this, the FIB will become a full-fledged department.

President Muhammadu Buhari gave the approval in a memo signed by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu. 

The Police chief announced that the President has ordered an immediate restructure of the Nigeria Police. Adamu hinted that after the FIB is excised from FCID, a Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) will be appointed as the Head.

The IGP said the development is expected to inject intelligence “to the community policing initiative in addressing the threats that the dynamics of crime poses to the country”.

Adamu, in the memo titled, “Force Reorganization”, explained that with the president’s authorization, the NPF now has eight departments.

Buhari also approved the creation of additional five Zonal Commands. This is to bring police service closer to citizens in all parts of Nigeria. They are Ondo/Ekiti Commands with the Headquarters in Akure; Enugu/Anambra/Ebonyi Commands with the Headquarters in Awka.

Others are Bayelsa/Rivers Commands with the Headquarters in Yenagoa; Yobe/Borno Commands with the Headquarters in Maiduguri; and Katsina/Kaduna Commands in Katsina.

Adamu said: “In order to enhance the capacity of the four premiere Police Colleges in Kaduna, Ikeja, Maiduguri and Rivers towards meeting the training and capacity development projection of the Force in relation to junior cadre officers, Mr. President approved that the status of the Commandants of the Colleges be upgraded to the rank of Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG)”.

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He expressed confidence that the development will strengthen administration, enhance the commitment of staff, and engender a higher level of discipline and the quality of training at the Colleges.

“These approvals were granted by the President in furtherance to the need to expand and strengthen the Intelligence Department towards driving the intelligence-led policing strategy of the Force leadership and to aid in the entrenchment of the community policing practice as approved by the Federal Government,” IGP Adamu noted.

Buhari Approves Restructure of Nigeria Police 

The Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 has declared that it will soon release guidelines for the reopening of schools across the country.

Although the guideline has not been released, an official said the schools will resume in phases with a batch resuming before the other. The government is also considering morning and afternoon classes, the official said.

The chairman of the PTF, Boss Mustapha, while speaking at the daily briefing on Wednesday, said the nation was faced with the challenge of millions of out-of-school children before the COVID-19 pandemic.

This, he said, has been compounded by the compelling need for closure of schools as part of the measures to limit the spread of the virus.

“Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the nation was faced with the challenge of out-of-school children. This has now been compounded by the compelling need for closure of schools as part of the measures to limit the spread of the virus.

“​The PTF has been deliberating on this situation and wish to inform Nigerians that the Federal Ministry of Education will roll out measures to be put in place for safe re-opening of our schools,” he said.

The federal government had on March 19 ordered the closure of all schools to contain the spread of the COVID-19 virus.

At the briefing, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, said the country is not ready to take the risk of reopening schools.

He said the Nigerian government will rely on the opinion of experts and the guidance of WHO before announcing any school resumption dates.

“Until we are sure that our children can go to school and return safely without taking COVID-19 home, we are not ready to take the risk of opening schools,” he said.

He, however, said plans are in place to ensure children return to schools in phases.

He said the plan includes physical and social distancing in schools as well as ensuring proper sanitation and hygiene is maintained.

He noted that the plan entails adopting a two-shift system and allowing those who will write exams to return earlier than others.

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“We may have classes in the morning and classes in the afternoon so that we will have the whole of the infrastructure divided.

”I am not sure we will have classes at night. But we can do with morning and afternoon for now,” he explained.

He urged state governments and owners of private schools to plan ahead on how to ensure maximum safety for students when the resumption plan is unveiled.

Students Might Take Morning, Afternoon Classes- FG

"This is necessary to survive the pandemic"

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has advised banks to suspend dividend repayment to shareholders during the pandemic.

In an article published on its website, Kristalina Georgieva, IMF managing director, said the decision is necessary to help banks reinforce their capital buffers against the shocks caused by the pandemic.

“As we brace ourselves for a deep recession in 2020, and only partial recovery in 2021, this resilience will be tested. Having in place strong capital and liquidity positions to support fresh credit will be essential,” she said.

“One of the steps needed to reinforce bank buffers is retaining earnings from ongoing operations. These are not insignificant. IMF staff calculate that the 30 global systemically important banks distributed about $250bn in dividends and share buybacks last year.

“This year they should retain earnings to build capital in the system.”

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Although Georgieva said dividend suspension could have unpleasant implications for shareholders, she urged them to view it as a situation where “shareholders who sacrifice now will prosper when growth restarts”.

According to the MD, IMF staff calculations show 30 global systemically important banks distributed about $250bn in dividends and share buybacks in 2019.

“Of course, this has unpleasant implications for shareholders, including retail and small institutional investors, for whom bank dividends may be an important source of regular income,” she said.

“All stakeholders will ultimately benefit if banks preserve capital instead of paying out to shareholders during the pandemic. Protecting the banking sector’s strength now means that, once the recovery picks up, shareholders can expect large payouts — indeed the more profits retained now, the larger the eventual payout

“The public sector is doing what it can to help prevent another banking crisis from happening again. Shareholders have both an interest and an obligation to do the same.”

Banks were also advised to make the decision collectively as investors could penalise banks that take the decision on their own.

IMF Advises Banks to Suspend Dividend Repayment to Survive Repression

"Overwhelming amounts of unlawful detention of children and adults- Crime against humanity”

Amnesty International (AI), in a report on Wednesday told Nigerian government to urgently address its failure to protect and provide education to an entire generation of children in the Northeast.

According to a 91-page chilling report released, the Northeastern region has been devastated by “years of Boko Haram atrocities and gross violations by the military”.

The document titled ‘We Dried Our Tears’, addressed injustice against northern children, examined military’s “detention and torture” of kids in Borno, Adamawa States, and crimes against humanity perpetrated by Boko Haram.

It also revealed how international donors have bankrolled a “flawed programme that claims to reintegrate former alleged fighters, but which overwhelmingly amounts to unlawful detention of children and adults”.

Joanne Mariner, Acting Director of Crisis Response at Amnesty International, lamented that the past decade of bitter conflict between Nigerian military and Boko Haram has been an assault on children.

Mariner said Nigerian authorities risk “creating a lost generation unless they urgently address how the war has targeted and traumatized thousands of children Boko Haram has repeatedly attacked in schools and abducted as soldiers or ‘wives,’ among other atrocities”.

She stated that, “From mass, unlawful detention in inhumane conditions, to meting out beatings and torture and allowing sexual abuse by adult inmates – it defies belief that children anywhere would be so grievously harmed by the very authorities charged with their protection.”

AI recalled that between November 2019 and April 2020, it interviewed more than 230 people. 119 were children when they suffered crimes by Boko Haram, soldiers, or both. 48 children were held in military detention for months or years while 22 adults had been detained with underage.

Citing the abduction of hundreds of schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014, AI decried that Boko Haram continues to force parents to hand over boys and girls, under threat of death; continues to forcibly “marry” girls, young women, and continues to murder people who try to escape.

A 17-year-old girl who escaped Boko Haram after being abducted and held in captivity for four years described life in the Sambisa forest: “[My] wicked ‘husband’ always beat me. My daily activities included praying, cooking if there was food, [and] going for Quranic lessons. No movement was allowed, and no visiting friends.

“It was a terrible experience, and I witnessed different punishments, from shooting to stoning to lashing. I’d like to go to school, but there’s no money. The biggest help for me would be to go to school.”

She and most other former child “wives” interviewed — including some who returned with children born during captivity — had received little or no assistance in returning to school, starting livelihoods, or accessing psychosocial support.

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On military detention, the report said the United Nations (UN) told AI it had verified the release of 2,879 children from military detention since 2015, although it previously cited a higher figure of children detained between 2013 and 2019.

“These statistics are likely to be a vast underestimate, and the UN has said its access to military detention is restricted so it cannot provide the actual number. Children are never charged and are denied the rights to access a lawyer, appear before a judge, or communicate with their families. The unlawful detentions may amount to a crime against humanity.

“Almost everyone fleeing Boko Haram, including children, is “screened” by the military and Civilian Joint Task Force – a process that, for many, involves torture until the person “confesses” to affiliation. Alleged members and supporters are held, often for months or years, in squalid conditions in detention centres including Giwa Barracks in Maiduguri and Kainji military base in Niger State.”

The report disclosed that every former detainee interviewed offered consistent, highly specific descriptions of the conditions: extreme overcrowding; a lack of ventilation amid stifling heat; parasites everywhere; and urine and faeces on the floor, because of the lack of toilets.

It bemoaned that tens of thousands of detainees have been held in these conditions and that the situation, “so extreme that they constitute the war crime of torture”, remains the same even after mass releases in late 2019 and early 2020.

AI quoted a 14-year-old boy Boko Haram abducted as a child before he fled and kept in military detention, as saying: “The conditions in Giwa are horrible, they could make you die. There’s no place to lie down, it’s hot. All your clothes were wet, like they put you in a river. Nobody has told me why I was taken there, what I did. I wonder, why did I run from [Boko Haram]?”

AI also documented violations at Operation Safe Corridor, a programme backed by millions of dollars in support from the European Union, United Kingdom, United States of America and other partners. The detention centre outside Gombe was set up in 2016 to rehabilitate alleged Boko Haram fighters or supporters.

In mid-May, Nigeria’s Defence Headquarters referred to repentant terrorists in the Deradicalization, Rehabilitation and Reintegration programme, as “clients” during a briefing by the Coordinator of Media Operations, Maj.-Gen. John Enenche.

Enenche confirmed that 280 “clients” have successfully undergone the programme and reintegrated into the society.

He added that 25 of them were repatriated to Niger Republic, while “603 clients are due to pass out in June 2020.”

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In its findings, AI remarked that conditions are better at the Safe Corridor than other military detention-locations. Former detainees spoke positively about the psychosocial support and adult education there.

“But most of the men and boys there have not been informed of any legal basis for their detention and still lack access to lawyers or courts to contest it. Their promised six-month stay has in some cases extended to 19 months, during which time they are deprived of liberty and under constant armed guard.”

AI revealed that medical care was sorely lacking. ”Seven detainees died and the authorities did not even notify their families; released detainees conveyed the information instead.

“A vocational training programme that is part of Safe Corridor may amount to forced labour, since most detainees, if not all, have never been convicted of any crime and make everything from shoes to soap to furniture for no pay. Some detainees suffered serious injuries. A 61-year old former detainee said, “The caustic soda is dangerous. If it touches your body, it will remove the flesh”.

Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, expressed dismay that none of the major donors to Safe Corridor – EU, UK, USA and others – would “sanction such a system of prolonged and unlawful detention for its own citizens, so why do they do so in Nigeria?”

“Nigeria’s armed forces must release all children being arbitrarily detained and halt other violations that appear aimed at punishing thousands of children, many of whom were also victims of Boko Haram’s atrocities. A commitment to children’s education and psychosocial recovery could pave a new path for the Northeast”, Ojigho counselled.

Nigeria, Boko Haram, Creating A Lost Generation- Amnesty International

Barely 24 hours after the World Health Organisation, WHO, suspended all clinical trials for hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has said the trial will continue in Nigeria. 

The Director-General of the agency, Mojisola Adeyeye, stated this yesterday in an interview on a private television station. The UN agency had on Monday said it had ‘temporarily’ suspended the clinical trials of hydroxychloroquine as a potential treatment for COVID-19 over safety concerns, adding that the decision followed a study in The Lancet that the use of the drug on COVID-19 patients could increase their likelihood of dying. 

“The Executive Group has implemented a temporary pause of the hydroxychloroquine arm within the Solidarity Trial while the data is reviewed by the Data Safety Monitoring Board,” WHO Director-General, Tedros Ghebreyesus had said. 

Chloroquine is a synthetic drug introduced in the 1940s.  It is a member of an important series of chemically related agents known as quinoline derivatives. Hydroxychloroquine is a related compound that was introduced in 1955. But Mrs Adeyeye said there were proven records that hydroxychloroquine had been effective in the treatment of COVID-19 patients.

According to her, this is most effective in those at the mild stage of the virus.  “There is data to prove that hydroxychloroquine worked for many COVID-19 patients. Therefore, we would continue our own clinical trials in Nigeria. Hydroxychloroquine has been proved to work at a mild stage. So the potency depends on the severity of the disease in the patient’s body,” she said.

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Nigeria Won’t Suspend Hydroxychloroquine Trial for COVID-19 — NAFDAC 

The Federal Government has threatened to dismiss officers caught leaking official documents on social media.

It said recent “unfortunate unauthorised disclosure of official documents on social media” was embarrassing and therefore unacceptable. The warning was issued by the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Dr Folasade Yemi-Esan, in a circular marked HCSF/109/S.1/120 with the title, ‘Unauthorised circulation of official documents/information on social media.’

Yemi-Esan issued the threat barely a week after a query she issued the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr Mohammed Bello Umar, for allegedly buying what she described as “uncompleted carcass” building for the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development in the sum of N7bn became a public knowledge.

READ ALSO, Boko Haram Raze 90 houses, Church, Shops in Borno

The HCSF had claimed that Umar superintended over the transaction for the purchase when he was still the permanent secretary in the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

She also accused the permanent secretary of giving out seven deep drilling rigs for borehole procured at N1.3bn to some unnamed individuals under “fraudulent arrangements.”

Umar’s six-page response to the query dated May 14, 2020, in which he denied all the allegations levelled against him and described them as mere concoction based on malice also found its way into the media.

The text of the April 28 nationwide broadcast of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on measures being taken to curtail the spread of COVID-19 was also leaked on social media platforms some hours ahead of the 8pm broadcast time.

Yemi-Esan, in the May 22 circular, however, described leaking of official documents as “an act of serious misconduct” which attracts dismissal as contained in the Public Service Rules.

The circular read, “The attention of the Office of the Head of Service of the Federation has been drawn to the recent unfortunate unauthorised disclosure of official documents on the social media.

 “In some cases, official documents that have been minuted on are also leaked. This irresponsible and reckless action is an act of serious misconduct with a penalty of dismissal from service as provided for in Public Service Rules Nos. 030401 and 030402.

“The ugly development is embarrassing to government and therefore not acceptable. Any public officer caught engaging in this act of serious misconduct will be severely dealt with in accordance with the provisions of the Public Service Rules.

“Permanent secretaries are to draw the attention of all their staff to the content of this circular and the consequences of breaking the rules.”

The circular was addressed to the Chief of Staff to the President; Deputy Chief of Staff to President, Office of the Vice President; all ministers; Secretary to the Government of the Federation; all permanent secretaries; and service chiefs/lnspector-General of Police.

Others are the Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria; chairmen of the Federal Civil Service Commission, Police Service Commission, Code of Conduct Bureau, Code of Conduct Tribunal, Federal Character Commission, Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, Independent National Electoral Commission, National Population Commission, Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, Federal Inland Revenue Service and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.

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Others who were copied are the Clerk of the National Assembly; Secretary, National Judicial Council; Auditor-General for the Federation; Surveyor-General of the Federation; Chief Registrar, Supreme Court of Nigeria; as well as Directors-General and chief executives of parastatals/agencies.

Workers Leaking Official Documents Will Be Dismissed- FG

Reports from Biu local government area of Borno State, northeast Nigeria, on Monday evening, revealed that suspected Boko Haram fighters have attacked three villages, bringing down houses, shops and places of worship.

Residents of the areas claimed that about 90 residential houses, a Church, Clinic, 9 shops, and other properties worth millions of naira were destroyed during the attack.

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The District Head of the area, Alh Mohammad Maina Bukar while briefing the Borno State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Umar Usman Kadafur, who paid a sympathy visit to the affected communities, said they have lost source of livelihoods as a result of the attack.

The communities blamed the attack on lack of telecommunications network in the area.

They, however, informed the deputy governor that local hunters repelled the attacks and succeeded in killing three members of the insurgents, while one resident sustained a bullet wound.

“There was no civilian casualty,” they added.

The district head said, “The insurgents stormed the villages at about 6:30 pm to 10:25 pm simultaneously; they burnt down 90 residential Houses, 9 shops, 1 church, 1 dispensary/Clinic, 1 tractor and carted away essential commodities, as well as food items.”

While sympathizing with the people of the communities, the deputy governor urged them to take the incident as an act of Allah (God) and continue to pray for lasting peace.

He also said that the vigilante group would be well equipped and provided with monthly stipends to help them operate side by side with the security operatives in defence of their communities.

Boko Haram Raze 90 houses, Church, Shops in Borno

"Almajiri children may be the future of Northern Nigeria"

Governor Nasiru Almad El-Rufai of Kaduna State has stated that all the 218 Almajirai who were recently repatriated to Kaduna State would be compulsorily enrolled in primary schools, restored full human rights, dignity and hope as children.

 He declared this yesterday concerning the former child urchins. “Every child in Kaduna has equal opportunity and access to 12 years of free and compulsory education in our public schools,” he said. 

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This is even as the pan-Northern socio-cultural organization, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, and Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, threw their weights behind the governor, declaring that they would support any policy that would rehabilitate the Almajirai for good. 

However, the Joint Association of Northern Youth Groups said unless Northern governors revived the programme former President Goodluck Jonathan put in place for the Almajiri children, the desired objective might not be achieved. 

Governor El-Rufa’i said on his Facebook page that he was “pleased to see our Almajiri children, the batch of 218 from Kano, Nassarawa, Plateau & Gombe States looking well & free of COVID-19. With the support of @UNICEF_Nigeria, AMA Foundation, other NGOs & philanthropists, they are being restored full human rights, dignity & hope as children!"

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The governor disclosed that the next step was for the Commissioner of Human Services and Social Development, Mrs Hafsat Baba, and her team to return the Almajirai to their parents in collaboration with local government chairmen and traditional rulers. “All the children are to be compulsorily enrolled in the primary school nearest to them so they have modern education and life skills in the morning, and continue their Quranic or Islamic education in the afternoon and over the weekend. “That is how many of us got our education. That is what the Northern States’ Governors’ Forum decided. These children may be the future of Northern Nigeria,” he said. 

The National Publicity Secretary of Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Emmanuel Yawe, reacting to El-Rufa’i’s statement on the Almajiri children, said: “It’s a wonderful idea; any policy that will turn the Almajirai into useful citizens the ACF will support it.” It could be recalled that the ACF had earlier declared support for the Northern Governors on Almajirai repatriation. ACF spokesman had said: “The decision to repatriate Almajirai to their states was taken by the Northern Governors Forum and we have no quarrel with that because we don’t believe in the almajiri system. 

“It’s a retrogressive system. We don’t believe in it at all. It’s against the human development of the North and the development of the country. So, the ACF is against the almajiri system. The decision of the governors to take them to their states of origin and the state to find their families, we totally agree with it. This is because if somebody has given birth to a child, he should be in a position to look after that child and not throw the child onto the streets. We support that decision. But the only problem is with the implementation. The implementation is very clumsy and the governors should sit up and implement in a proper way.” 

Also reacting, Second Republic lawmaker, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, said he was throwing his full weight behind Governor el-Rufai. Dr Mohammed said the governor should be encouraged for doing the right thing. “I support it because clearly the issue has become a nuisance. As far as I’m concerned, whoever wants to send children to school should be encouraged. This is so because refusing to send the children to school or have education is like an abuse on those children. So I support it; I endorse what he plans to do,” he said. 

The Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, AYCF, also backed the governor on his mission. President of AYCF, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, urged other Northern governors to follow the footsteps of Governor El-rufai in this regard. He said, “We’re excited with the news because the Almajirai is not different from any other Nigerian child. So, Governor El-Rufai’s move is a welcome development to us. 

“However, it is a shame some people still do not believe the Almajirai should be fully integrated into the society so that they can become meaningful members. The Almajiri is a child with the basic rights to education. The Child Rights Act does not exist only for privileged children. The Almajiri boy may, indeed, hold the key to the future of this nation if properly educated. “So, we urge other governors to do replicate in their respective state what Gov. El-rufai plans to do for the Almajiris in Kaduna.” 

Murtala Abubakar, Convener of the Joint Action Committee of Northern Youth Associations, said the governor’s statement should be viewed with caution. “The governor is known for making promises regarding the education of children of the masses in the past just to make headlines. The problem militating against the almajiri system of education is lack of political will and consensus among the critical stakeholders. 

“What the governor is advocating is not going to work; the system needs reforms not abolition. Therefore, what the Northern governors need is to replicate President Goodluck Jonathan’s template and make improvement where necessary. Deportations of these children by one governor to another is not only counter-productive but also dehumanizing and stands condemned.” 

Parents Who Enrol Children in Almajiri System Will Be Jailed- El-Rufai

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, has said President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to extend the eased lockdown for another two weeks is to try and contain the spread of COVID-19, before the economy is fully reopened.

Mustapha, who is also the chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, stated this during the daily media briefing on Tuesday.

READ ALSO, FG Slashes Airport Workers Salaries

The first phase of the eased lockdown expired on Monday, May 18, and has now been extended by another two weeks until June 1.

Mustapha called on schools, places of worship, businesses, offices, etc to use this period to plan and adopt new strategies under a COVID-19 era in line with the guidelines.

According to Mustapha, the decision to reopen the economy slowly, is based on “current experiences from different countries and expert advice”.

He said: “Again, I wish to repeat that the decision is not punitive, we share your pains and also share your concerns. However, our future remains in our hands and compliance is one of the keys to opening that future.

“I must also emphasise that the two additional weeks should be utilized by businesses, offices, professional bodies, places of worship, educational institutions, etc awaiting reopening to plan and adopt new strategies under a COVID-19 era in line with the guidelines.

“Above all, behavioral change is a must for every citizen because COVID 19 has changed the world completely.”

The Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) on Tuesday night, announced 226 new cases, bringing the tally in the country to 6,401.

FG Gives Condition to Reopen Churches, Schools, Others 

The Federal Government has reportedly slashed the salaries of airport workers in the country .This was made known in a circular to staff dated May 19, 2020. The Management of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria said the reduction in salaries is due to airport closures occasioned by the coronavirus pandemic.

READ ALSO, Many COVID-19 Deaths Are From Home Care- FG

The memo signed by FAAN General Manager, Administration, M.D. Musa, read, “This is to notify all staff that due to the dwindling revenue generation amidst COVID-19 pandemic, management may not be able to pay full salary to staff as from May 2020.

“However, as soon as revenue improves, the balance will be paid. This measure is to ensure the survival of the organisation.”

It will be recalled that the country’s airspace and airports, both local and international, were shut in March by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), as part of measures to curb the spread of COVID-19.

The President’s directive, however, permitted emergency flights such as those for medical and humanitarian purposes.

On May 6, the Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19, Boss Mustapha, announced the extension of the closure of the country’s airports and airspace by four weeks.

Nigerian newspapers,on one page.