The Nigeria Police Force has clarified that the Constabularies who staged a protest in Ilorin , Kwara state, recently, claiming nonpayment of their salary by the state government , were not personnel of the Force. Rather, it stated that the scheme was meant for gainfully employed members of the public who indicated interest to assist the Police, voluntarily. Recall that about 1,056 Constabularies who were clad in black Police uniform, had their bodies covered with leaves as they marched on the streets of Ilorin. They complained that they had not been paid any salary by the state government since the completion of their training in April 2021. But the Police Force Relations Officer, CSP Muyiwa Adejobi, described the protest as a rude shock, informed that the protesters were Community Policing Constables, rendering voluntary services in their respective communities. He said, ” due to the imperativeness of addressing and clarifying issues surrounding the recent protest of Community Policing Constables in Ilorin, Kwara State, the NPF wishes to state unequivocally that the Community Policing Constabulary Scheme of the Force is a purely voluntary service commenced by the Federal Government to train and incorporate individuals with prior paid employment ,who desire to spend their spare time assisting the police in its simple police tasks within their various communities. “It therefore came as a rude shock that members of the scheme were protesting non-payment of salaries in Kwara State recently when the ultimate purpose and rule of engagement of the scheme is to promote community partnership in crime control via the presence of respected members of the public, with a source of livelihood, partnering with the Force under the scheme to render voluntary service for better and improved policing within their communities. “The scheme clearly delineates the roles of the Community Policing Constables, who are not direct employees/personnel of the Police but of their respective communities, at both divisional and state levels to include assisting the police in crime detection and prevention, conflict resolution, intelligence gathering and dissemination to local Police Commanders, maintenance of law and order, deployment to complement conventional police officers in patrolling their communal public space, advising the public on safety, crime prevention, and security tips, dealing with minor offences and social vices, working with relevant stakeholders on crime control, and traffic management and school safety duties. “The Nigeria Police therefore re-emphasizes the fact that the scheme is voluntary and no payments were agreed with the individuals under the scheme neither were paid terms of appointment discussed prior to its commencement. “Subsequently, considering the fact that a protest for payment ,when there is no basis for such is mischievous and ill-conceived; the Force however, will be taking adequate measures to review the effectiveness of the scheme as soon as possible”, he stated.

  The outgoing President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Olumide Akpata, has said some lawyers stole phones and other items at a week-long Annual General Conference. Akpata disclosed this on Friday in reaction to the viral video showing some disgruntled lawyers destroying conference booths and looting conference materials on Tuesday night. Scores of lawyers attending the 62nd NBA-AGC at the Eko Hotels and Suites, Lagos state, on Tuesday night, protested over the inadequate supply of conference materials as some of them could not get the conference bags. The aggrieved legal practitioners, who did not get their conference materials on time, invaded the collection centre and looted the booths. However, Akpata, while speaking at the conference on Friday, said some aggrieved lawyers stole phones, and bags, and beat some staff. The NBA President stated that any lawyer found culpable for the theft of phones, and assault on officials will be punished. “Our colleagues stole bags, phones, beat up staff because we have video evidence. We are going to get the experts to look into those videos. “Anybody found culpable for embarrassing our association and our nation like this will definitely be sanctioned,” Akapata said.

  The Niger State Police Command has described as fake, the news being circulated on social media that a foreign national who supplies weapons to bandits in Niger State had been arrested. In a statement by the spokesperson of the Niger State Police Command, DSP Wasiu Abiodun, the force reacted to a picture circulating on some social media platforms and other media outlets which claim that a foreign national pilot named “Juan Remy” who supplies weapons to bandits has been arrested in the State. “The Command, hereby, described such report as a piece of fake news and that such incident never occurred in the State. “It is also pertinent to state that there has never been a report of any foreign national with helicopter distributing weapons to hoodlums in the State,” Abiodun said. He urged members of the public to disregard the report, saying that it was aimed to create unnecessary chaos in the public domain. He also called on the citizens in the state not to relent in their support by providing useful information in tackling crime and criminality in Niger state.

  Adoption of foreign cultures, traditions and religions is at the base of the destruction of many African countries. The declaration was made by the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed at the opening of the sixth edition of the Edinburgh International Cultural Summit in Edinburgh, Scotland. He said that if the African continent had been left alone with its culture, tradition and religion, it would have developed better and at its own pace. At an interview he granted to newsmen at the summit, the minister underscored the importance of culture and its industry to development, civilisation, economy, stability and security of nations. A transcript of the interview was made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Saturday by Mr Segun Adeyemi, Special Assistant to the President (Media). Adeyemi is attached to the Office of the Minister of Information and Culture. “When we look back to what happened to us in Africa, we see that in trying to bring a new religion, they destroyed our cultures. “In destroying our cultures, they did not only destroy our ways of life, but also the essence of our lives. “Most of the destruction on the African continent today emanated from that action,’’ the minister was quoted as having said. Mohammed also told newsmen that a play written by Nobel Laureate, Prof. Whole Soyinka, “Death and the King’s Horseman’’ captured the essence of the destruction of African cultures and traditions through colonial incursion. “In the play, you would see that the British colonialists simply did not understand why the king’s horseman should die with the king and he was arrested. “In arresting him, they thought they were protecting him not knowing that they were destroying the whole cultural and traditional ecosystem,’’ he said. Alhaji Mohammed also noted that African countries’ medicines and healthcare systems were rooted in their cultures, but rather than the colonialists to understand them, they were frightened and destroyed their essence. The minister stressed that the summit was apt because it centred on diversity and equality of cultures and peoples. He said from submissions of participants at the event, the world had come to realise that peoples and their cultures might be diverse, but they must be treated equally. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the summit had “Culture and a Sustainable Future’’ as its theme. It focused on the urgent need for the construction of an investment plan for the future.