Lai Mohammed unhappy media is underreporting military success against bandits

Lai Mohammed says the military has already drastically reduced banditry.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, has called on the media to give more attention to the military’s offensive against bandits in the northwest region.

Military operations against them have been stepped up in recent weeks, with the government shutting down telecommunications services in many parts of Zamfara, Katsina, and Sokoto to cut off the bandits’ information flow.

Mohammed said during a meeting with the Katsina State government on Tuesday, September 21, 2021 that the strategy is working, and has already drastically reduced banditry.

Lai Mohammed unhappy media is underreporting military success against bandits

The minister however lamented that the government’s positive efforts have not received the kind of media attention given to the bandits.

“There is no doubt that the table is turning against the bandits, since Katsina and other affected states came up with a number of novel measures that got the bandits boxed in, and the military stepped up its kinetic approach,” he said.

The 69-year-old said the government’s success ‘should be trumpeted’ so as to encourage more states to adopt similar measures, and boost the morale of security agencies.

He said the government is very worried about the wave of violence in the northwest region, and expressed confidence the military will soon put an end to it.

Reps to investigate exclusion of Rivers from World Bank loan benefits

House of Representatives on Wednesday called for investigation into the alleged exclusion of Rivers from projects to be financed by a fresh World Bank loan.

Solomon Bob (PDP-Rivers) had alleged in the house that Rivers is the only state that would not benefit from the loans.

He stated that the report, if true, rendered the Federal Government’s action as contrary to the spirit and letters of the 1999 Constitution.

He added that it would be discriminatory against the people of Rivers and capable of creating a sense of alienation, exclusion and discontent.

Bob added that the house had a responsibility to ensure that the affairs of the federation were conducted in accordance with the Constitution and the law of equity and fairness.

This, he said, should be followed with an overriding responsibility to deploy its Constitutional powers to ensure compliance on the part of the Executive.

He added that Nigeria is a federation that professes equity, fairness and social justice and that there were several constitutional provisions prohibiting all forms of discrimination on the basis of partisan leaning, religion, place of origin or tribe.

Reps to investigate exclusion of Rivers from World Bank loan benefits

He said that some sections of the Constitution imposed a duty on the Federal Government to ensure equitable distribution of resources and projects across the federation.

The consequently mandated its Committee on Aids, Loans and Debt Management to liaise with the office of the Adviser on National Assembly Matters to the President to ascertain the veracity of the allegation.

It also mandated the committee to revert in 14 days for further legislative action.

The house noted that if other states were listed, Rivers should be included to benefit from the projects to be executed with the fresh loan.

(NAN)

Nemesis Is Coming On Those Attacking Me, Benue People – Gov Ortom

Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has expressed optimism that those attacking him for voicing out the criminal activities of suspected Fulani herdsmen would one day face the nemesis of their actions.

In an interview with DAILY POST, the governor expressed hope that the Supreme God would vindicate him following the attacks he had suffered while defending his people, stressing that the day of reckoning is coming.

The Governor accused some political actors in the state of sabotaging the interest of the people just to remain as Minister or gain the position of a party’s national chairman.

Nemesis Is Coming On Those Attacking Me, Benue People – Gov Ortom

He said, “I will say it’s well. God will help us. All these things they are doing; the day of reckoning is coming. I can assure you. All these injustices; all the things that I have suffered on behalf of my people; the day of reckoning will come for all these blackmailers who have come out now to cause confusion in Benue State.

“The same people had benefited immensely from our people who voted them, but they are now turning our state into IDPs camps.

“God will judge us. And because they want to be National Chairman, they want to remain as Ministers, they do press conferences, they insult the people and walk on their graves and across their dead bodies. The day of reckoning is coming. Watch my words! I serve the living God”.

DAILY POST recalls that the governor had recently been in war of words with the presidency and the Minister of Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Senator George Akume over his calls on President Muhammadu Buhari to tackle the security situation in Benue and other parts of the country.