Due to worsening insecurity and fear of attack by bandits, the Federal Government Girls College, Bwari, Abuja, on Friday, instructed parents to pick their children from the school. Earlier this week, a source told FIJ that the military prevented criminal Fulani herdsmen from making entry into Bwari after killing at least eight people in a neighbouring community. Some school administrators in some Abuja communities, afraid that their facilities would be invaded by bandits, killing and abducting staff and students, closed down. “Yes, I see some students who attend boarding schools around Bwari area returning home. They said that they were told to return home because of the insecurity,” said an Abuja resident who does not want to be named. Over 200 unknown men suspected to be bandits were dropped by a truck in Sabon Wuse area of Niger State, a border town with Bwari in Abuja, Leadership newspaper reported. But the Kaduna State government, according to a report by Premium Times, claimed that the people seen were unarmed Fulani herders moving with their families from Niger to their permanent based in Jos and Bauchi.

Gunmen suspected to be members of Indigenous People of Biafra, working in collaboration with the Eastern Security Network on Saturday attacked a Divisional Police Headquarters in Odoro Ikpe in Ini Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State and killed six persons. It was gathered that the police station was set ablaze and operational vehicles and other valuables destroyed in the attack which occurred in the early hours of that fateful day. The Police Public Relations Officer, Odiko Macdon, who confirmed the attack said five police officers and a wife to a police officer were killed. He said the police authority in the state is already in Ini LGA for an on-the-spot assessment of the attack. “Yes, there was an attack at the Divisional Police Headquarters, Odoro Ikpe, in Ini Local Government Area. Six persons including five officers and a wife of an officer were killed. I am at the station as we speak,” he said. Our correspondent reports the attacks is latest in the series of attacks against security personnel by suspected members of IPOB and ESN in the state. It was gathered that no fewer than 11 security personnel have been killed and police vehicles and others infrastructures destroyed in the renewed onslaught against the security operatives in the state. The Chairman, Ini LGA, Mr Isreal Idaisin, has roundly condemned the invasion adding that necessary steps have been taken to restore normalcy. In an unsigned statement that is already trending on the internet, he said the armed bandits invaded the police station with sophisticated weapons. “The gunmen who came in two buses and a Sienna, numbering more than 40, arrived Ini LGA with sophisticated weapons and broke into the police facility at precisely 2:45 am, killing five policemen on duty, burning vehicles while inflicting injuries on others.” He alleged that the police officers who attempted to repel the gunmen were overrun. He however commended the youths of the LG whom he said were proactive in raising the alarm which helped to reduce the number of casualties. Seven officers killed as gunmen attack police stations in Rivers Gunmen have killed seven police officers in Rivers state. Nnamdi Omoni, Rivers police spokesman, confirmed the incident on Saturday. He said the attack occurred on Friday night at two police stations and a checkpoint, adding that vehicles belonging to the Rivers command were also set ablaze. Two of the attackers were also said to have been shot dead. “The incident which led to the death of seven Policemen occurred last night at about 2030hrs, where unknown gunmen driven in two branded Hilux vans, attacked the special checkpoint at Choba bridge, where in a surprise attack, killed two Policemen on duty and set ablaze a private car belonging to one of the Policemen,” Omoni said in a statement. “A similar attack was launched at Rumuji Police Station by the same hoodlums who killed two Policemen on duty and burnt a Police patrol vehicle. However, a stiff resistance by the Police prevented the hoodlums from gaining access into the Police station. In the course of exchange of fire, two of the attackers were fatally wounded and died on the spot. “The third attack at Elimgbu Police Station was equally resisted by the Police, though three officers were killed in that attack, but the serious fire engagement made them to abandon their bullet riddled Hilux van, while they escaped with various degrees of gunshot wounds with a snatched Sienna bus. “The continued engagement by the Police, also forced them to abandon the Sienna car they were using to escape at the Refinery junction, while their remnants again escaped with bullet wounds.” The police spokesman added that the corpses of the deceased officers have been deposited in the mortuary, and calm has returned to the area. He also noted that Eboka Friday, Rivers police commissioner, has launched an investigation into the incident, while a police team is currently on the trail of the attackers. “It is pertinent to note, that in all three attacks carried out last night, no Police Station/formation was burnt. Regrettably, a total of five assault rifles were lost in the incident,” he said. “The Public is hereby enjoined to increase their security consciousness and report any person or persons with gun wounds to the nearest Police Station.” Despite a curfew imposed in Rivers to forestall such attacks, the latest incident comes days after nine security operatives of the army, police and the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) were killed at various checkpoints around the state.

The United States has said there is no plan to relocate its Africa Command from its current base in Germany to Nigeria or any other part of Africa despite the worsening state of insecurity in the region. The US gave the response barely two weeks after the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), appealed to the US government to consider relocating AFRICOM to Africa to assist Nigeria and other adjoining countries to combat worsening terrorism, banditry and other security crises. The President made the plea in a virtual meeting with the US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, on April 27. Germany-based Africa Command (AFRICOM) is the US military headquarters that oversees its operations in Africa. Buhari’s request followed a series of recent military casualties in Nigeria’s decade-long fight against Boko Haram terrorists, fresh expansion of the insurgents’ bases to Niger and Nasarawa States, and heavy waves of abductions and killings by bandits in the North. Buhari said, “The security challenges in Nigeria remain of great concern to us and impacted more negatively, by existing complex negative pressures in the Sahel, Central and West Africa, as well as the Lake Chad Region. “Compounded as the situation remains, Nigeria and her security forces remain resolutely committed to containing them and addressing their root causes. “The support of important and strategic partners like the United States cannot be overstated as the consequences of insecurity will affect all nations, hence the imperative for concerted cooperation and collaboration of all nations to overcome these challenges. “In this connection, and considering the growing security challenges in West and Central Africa, Gulf of Guinea, Lake Chad region and the Sahel, weighing heavily on Africa, it underscores the need for the United States to consider relocating AFRICOM headquarters from Stuttgart, Germany to Africa and near the Theatre of Operation.” However, the US government on Thursday ruled out any plan to relocate AFRICOM from its current base in Germany to Nigeria or any part of Africa. According to the United States Department of Defence’ Pentagon, previous studies have shown that the cost of relocating AFRICOM from Germany to Africa is very huge. In an emailed response to Saturday PUNCH, the Pentagon said although it would continue to value Nigeria and other countries in Africa as important partners, the American government would not consider relocating AFRICOM to any part of the African continent at the moment. This newspaper had asked if the US would consider Nigeria’s request to relocate AFRICOM to the continent. “It would be inappropriate to speculate on any future actions. However, at this time, moving this headquarters (AFRICOM HQ) to Africa is not part of any plans, but USAFRICOM’s commitment to their mission, our African and other partners, remains as strong today as when we launched this command more than a decade ago,” US Pentagon spokesperson, Ms Cindi King, said. King also ruled out any plan to consider Buhari’s request in an ongoing global US defence review. She said, “Although there is an ongoing Global Posture Review, the relocation of Combatant Command headquarters is outside the scope of its assessment. In the case of AFRICOM, previous studies have concluded that the cost associated with the relocation of this headquarters is significant and likely to incur the expense of other engagement opportunities and activities that more directly benefit our valued African partners. “We greatly value the partnership with Nigeria and appreciate President Buhari’s recognition of the United States’ positive contribution to African peace and security, as well as other regional partners that have made similar past pronouncements. The United States remains committed to continuing our close partnership with African countries and organisations to promote security and stability.”

The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, says the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government has dragged Nigeria 50 years backward due to its “abysmal” performance. Wike alleged that the APC had mismanaged the opportunity Nigerians gave them to make a difference and deserve to be voted out in 2023. Nigerians gave them to make a difference and deserve to be voted out in 2023. READ ALSO: We didn’t bathe for 56 days in kidnappers’ den –Freed Kaduna students The governor also alleged that Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State was reaping from the evil he plotted against Rivers State in the past He stated this when the Vice President of the Rotary Club of Port Harcourt, Obiageli Ejezie, led other leaders of the association to the Government House, Port Harcourt, to confer on him the 2019/2020 Good Governance Award for his outstanding achievements in project execution in Rivers State. The governor, in a statement by his media aide, Kelvin Ebiri, told the delegation that in 2015, the APC convinced Nigerians that they were going to offer better governance than former President Goodluck Jonathan. He argued that after assuming the top office, the ruling party had continued the country on the path of retrogression. “There can’t be good governance without security and this is based on the rule of law. All of us are living witnesses that in 2015, it was alleged that the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan could not perform. “So, Nigeria needed a change. What has happened to the change? They have taken Nigeria back by 50 years,” he said. Wike wondered for how long the APC-led Federal Government would allow the needless killings and abduction of innocent Nigerians to continue. The governor said, “Now, you wake up every morning, students are being kidnapped in so-and-so state university; people have been killed in so-and-so state. It has become the norm. “Just wake up in the morning and the first thing you will see on the front page of the dailies is ‘10 people have been kidnapped in Niger State; 20 have been killed in Zamfara State, five have been killed in Imo’ and this happens virtually every day. So, where are we heading to?” He accused the Federal Government of instigating security crises in Rivers, saying the APC governors had visited the Presidency to demand the withdrawal of a commissioner of police from Rivers. “Now, in order to cause crises in our state, they brought the CP they wanted. At the end of the day, God did not allow them to have their way. But see what is happening in his state now. When you are plotting evil against somebody, evil will visit you. And that is the problem Governor el-Rufai is facing today in Kaduna State.’’ “I remember when I came in 2015, when they were honouring one of their friends as a minister on live television, Channels, el-Rufai had the temerity to say (my) election could not stand in Rivers State and that they would kick me out,” Wike said. Earlier, Ejezie said the Rotary board of directors had approved Wike as best suited for the 2019/2020 Good Governance Award for his sustainable projects, saying there were “many laudable and sustainable development projects of your government scattered across Rivers State.” Meanwhile, efforts to get the reaction of el-Rufai’s Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Muyiwa Adekeye, to Wike’s allegation proved abortive as multiple calls to his number did not go through, while a text message sent to his number was still not answered as of press time.