Author: BT Afrika

BT Afrika Is an Indigenous News Site That Promotes The Rich Cultural Heritage Of Igbo, Biafra and Afrikan People and Also Tells The Stories Of Afrikan People.

Categories
News Politics politics

Umahi imposes curfew on Ebonyi land borders

April 28, 2021

Dave Umahi

By Thankgod Ogbonna, Owerri

Ebonyi has imposed a curfew from 8 pm to 6 am at all entry and exit points with neighbouring states.

It also banned all social events such as wake keeping and nightclubbing from 6 pm, warning defaulters will be fined N1m.

Governor David Umahi announced the order on Wednesday while briefing reporters after the state Executive Council meeting.

He also ordered all native doctors to register with security agencies in the state immediately.

The Governor also ordered traditional medicine dealers to register with the Ministry of Health.

He warned anybody who fails to adhere to the directive will be prosecuted.

Umahi exonerated the security arm of the proscribed secessionist group Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Eastern Security Network, from the recent attacks on security agencies in the state.

The Governor lamented fake news purveyors were complicating the scenery challenges by spreading fake news through social media.

He directed security agencies to henceforth arrest and prosecute anybody spreading fake news capable of causing a crisis on social media.

He said: “We have agreed that all native doctors in the state and traditional medicine dealers must within seven days today register with the Commissioner for Border Peace, with the Commissioner for health and with the CP.

“There will be an executive order to this event and anyone that is caught doing otherwise will be arrested and will be prosecuted.

“We are aware there are some killings over the weekend; a policeman was killed, two army men were killed and I think one civilian and their killers are pure bandits.

“They do this killing and put it in social media that they are members of IPOB or ESN.

“Without standing for either IPOB or ESN but they continue to deny that they are not into violence but for me, criminality is criminality and I have directed security agencies to crack down on all criminal activities in the state.

“And for those who did the killings, the security agencies must bring them to book within 72 hours, they must do that.”

Categories
Articles News politics

Nigeria can’t afford another civil war –Osinbajo

April 28, 2021

Vice President, Yemi Osibanjo

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says Nigeria cannot afford another civil war because it will not augur well for the country.

Osinbajo said this at an interactive forum of All Progressives Congress Anambra governorship aspirants organised by the state chapter of APC Patriots in Abuja.

“The thing about the kind of conflict in this part of the world, developing countries, is that it is usually a war without end.

“Everyone who thinks he has some monies stored up somewhere will eventually run out of money.

“Everyone who thinks he can go and hide somewhere, won`t even find a place to hide, in the end, everyone will suffer.

“Even if you don’t suffer, parents, children, young and old people, and relations will suffer. We cannot afford another civil war in this country, we can`t afford it,” he said.

Osinbajo said the political elite must rise up to the challenge by speaking the truth and taking action to address the situation in the country.

“I pray that our country will never know conflict, but I know that every conflict is as a result of elite failure to speak up the truth and tell the truth to their communities.

“At the end of the day, it is the political elite that determines what happens in every society, keeping quiet could lead to a more dangerous situation,” he said.

The Vice President said that the elite could make a great difference just by the words they speak.

“If we don`t speak up against disunity, if we keep quiet and remain under the radar, the enemies of peace and those who want to promote disunity will have their ways.

“And when this happens, we will find ourselves running helter-skelter,’’ Osinbajo said.

He, therefore, urged the political elite in the country to always speak up and stand for the interest of the country and the general public.

Osinbajo assured the APC aspirants that the leadership of the party would ensure a level-playing field for them at the primary election slated for June to ensure that the best aspirant emerged as the candidate.

He, however, charged them to work in unity and commitment to the party.

“No one politician can win an election all by himself. I also want to advise you against the winner takes all syndrome,” he said.

NAN

Categories
Articles News

SAD: Behold Akwa-Ibom Man Who Was Killed By Unknown Gunmen

Marcus Otobong

This is Marcus Otobong from Akwa Ibom state he was killed by IPOB/ESN last night

IPOB/ESN masquerading as Unknown Gunmen ambushed them last night at Portharcourt Road and killed him.

He is from Akwa Ibom state and just returned back from Maiduguri  last month from a SPECIAL DUTY.

Categories
News

AFRICOM: Things You Need To Know About US Africa Command

April 28, 2021

Buhari, Blinken

The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), urged the United States to reconsider relocating the US Africa Command (AFRICOM) from Stuttgart, Germany, to Africa.

Buhari made the plea in a virtual meeting with the U.S. Secretary of State, Anthony Blinken, on Tuesday.

Since Buhari made the appeal, many Nigerians have expressed different views over the president’s demand.

Here are some things you should know about AFRICOM

– U.S. Africa Command, with partners, counters transnational threats and malign actors, is created to strengthen security forces and respond to crises in order to advance U.S. national interests and promote regional security, stability, and prosperity.

– U.S. Africa Command, headquartered in Stuttgart, Germany, is one of 11 U.S. Department of Defense combatant commands, each with a geographic or functional mission that provides command and control of military forces in peace and war.
– AFRICOM employs the broad-reaching diplomacy, development, and defense approach to foster interagency efforts and help negate the drivers of conflict and extremism in Africa.

– A full-spectrum combatant command, AFRICOM is responsible for all U.S. Department of Defense operations, exercises, and security cooperation on the African continent, its island nations, and surrounding waters.

– The area of responsibility consists of 53 African states, more than 800 ethnic groups, over 1,000 languages, vast natural resources, a landmass of 11.2 million square miles (three-and-a-half times the size of the U.S.), and nearly 19,000 miles of coastland.

– AFRICOM began initial operations October 1, 2007, and became fully operational October 1, 2008.

– US Africa Command has approximately 2,000 assigned personnel, including military, U.S. federal civilian employees, and U.S. contractor employees.

– The command also has liaison officers at key African posts, including the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States, and the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping and Training Centre in Ghana.

Categories
News

Ohanaeze, Middle Belt Forum, Coalition of Northern Youths, Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, express concern over insecurity

April 28, 2021

Prominent Nigerians and groups including Ohanaeze, Middle Belt Forum, Coalition of Northern Youth Groups and Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, yesterday, decried the deteriorating security situation in the country.
They all called on the government to immediately halt the situation.
While some said the government has totally lost control of the security situation, others attributed it to lack of capacity and political will by President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

Ohanaeze, the apex socio-cultural organisation of Ndigbo expressed concern about the security situation , particularly the recent development in the South East.
National Publicity Secretary of the organisation, Alex Chidozie Ogbonna regretted that before now, the South East was the safest zone in Nigeria.

He however said: “But I believe that government would soon be able to halt the situation, We have not been used to this level of insecurity and that is why many are surprised.
“However, several efforts are being made to check insecurity in the country. In the East for instance, Ebubeagu, a security outfit has been launched and bills are being sent to the various state assemblies to back it up with a law/ So, I believe all these would stop with time.”

National Publicity secretary, Middle Belt Forum, Dogo Isuwa, said the government has the capacity to protect lives and property of Nigerian but noted that the armed forces are not given the enabling environment and the kind of cooperation that could enable them carry out their duties.
He warned that unless the government takes steps that would ensure the problems are resolved, there would be no solution. “The issue of tribalism and religion cannot and will never solve the problem,” he added.
President of Arewa Youths Consultative Forum, Yerima Shettima also believes that the government can protect the lives and property of citizens but only needs the will power to do that.

He said: “The government as the strongest institution in the world cannot be said to be overwhelmed by this situation. So, they need the will and determination to do it and I know that they can do it. All we need to do is to support them and boost the morale of the men on ground; once they are down, it means the country is completely down; so we must boost their morale and they must be all out to address this issue once and for all,” he said.
Former President of Aka Ikenga, Chief Goddy Uwazuruike said the administration of President Buhari has failed in its responsibilities and might even be complicit in the ugly development.

He said: “I don’t know the people master-minding the insecurity in the land, but I want to remind people that we lived through the Gen Sani Abacha years and it took the Justice Chukwudifu Oputa Panel to expose who was behind all the insecurity then. As far as I’m concerned, something is happening in this country and it is too bad if the government knows what is happening but prefers to look the other way. Some people are creating a sense of insecurity just for the purpose of creating opportunities for themselves.”

Taking a similar position, the former chairman of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, said the current administration has zero capacity to manage or contain insecurity. He added that the situation has been worsened by President Buhari’s incapacity and lack of presence.
“Only a fool will still believe that the government is still up to the task. The Buhari administration has worsened the insecurity. Before 2015, we never heard of Boko Haram attacking military formations the way they are doing today. This government has zero capacity to manage or contain insecurity, not to talk of overcoming it and it is bad news for everybody. “

Categories
News

22 Northern Groups Ask UN, Others To Back Biafra Agitation

April 27, 2021

Biafra Flag


According to the group, Northern Nigeria has never experienced the present level of exposure to criminals and bandits under the régime of Buhari.

A coalition of 52 northern groups on Monday called on the global community to intervene in persuading the Nigerian government and United Nations to facilitate the final actualisation of the Biafran dream by the Igbo.

While describing as empty and of no effect “threats and promises” by President Muhammadu Buhari, the CNG said “between December 2020 and April 2021, over 970 students were abducted from their schools in the northern part of Nigeria with a substantial number still in captivity and some violently executed.”

Biafran flag

The spokesperson of CNG, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, raised the views in a communiqué after an emergency meeting in Abuja.

According to him, Northern Nigeria has never experienced the present level of exposure to criminals and bandits under the régime of Buhari.

He said, “The CNG hereby resolves to call on our friends and the international community, the UK especially, to understand that our bilateral friendship is guided by the principles of sovereignty, promotion of peace and the standards that guide legitimate interference.

“Hence, their intervention, exclamations and actions should not be drawn to discountenance the effort of the Nigerian state to protect citizens from violence and terror.

“We finally wish to renew our request for the global community’s intervention in persuading Nigerian authorities and the United Nations to facilitate the final actualisation of the Biafran dream by the Igbo.

“The world should keep in mind that by far, a destabilised Nigeria will certainly threaten the peace and security of the entire sub-Saharan Africa.

“In the South, gangs of armed IPOB militia, violent secessionists and an assortment of militant groups appear to sense a huge vacuum in the capacity and political will by the Federal Government to challenge them, which they exploit with disastrous consequences on the nation’s security assets and specifically on northern communities and individuals living as minorities in the South while the presidency wallows in deflecting the issue.”

The CNG, however, attacked the Indigenous People of Biafra, saying it “is now taking a more ominous and repulsive form and context with an open declaration of violence and anarchy against other parts of Nigeria and the Nigerian State.”

Categories
News

Boko Haram imposes VAT, income taxes on Residents of Shiroro, other Niger communities

April 27, 2021

Apart from occupying communities in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State, Boko Haram insurgents generate income by imposing VAT and income taxes on residents, a police source says.

Niger has for many years battled Boko Haram insurgency, with Shiroro, which houses one of Nigeria’s electric dams witnessing some attacks.

Governor Sani Bello on Monday announced the displacement of many residents by Boko Haram insurgents around Munya and Shiroro local government areas.

According to him, over 3,000 people have been displaced by bandits and Boko Haram elements around the areas.

“There are some other communities that we think are safe but a vast majority of them will have to remain here because their villages and towns have been taken over by the Boko Haram elements,” the governor said.

“I just heard they have already placed their flag in Kauri which means they have taken over the territory,” he said, expressing fears that they could soon march on Abuja, which shares a border with Niger.

Also backing the governor’s confirmation, the police source who fled Shiroro told The Gazette that the community, Awasha, Chiri, and many others were under the control of Boko Haram insurgents, who also control trades.

Although many believe that it funds itself through kidnap for ransom and looting local communities, the police source stated that it generated income through taxation.

According to him, the insurgents now impose taxes on local farmers and fishermen who fish around the Shiroro lake, and residents made to pay VAT when local transactions are carried out.

Apart from paying taxes, residents also go farming for the insurgents.

Army spokesman Mohammed Yerima told The Gazette he was not aware of the development.

However, the state police spokesman, Wasiu Abiodun, told The Gazette on the telephone that he would make findings about the situation.

“Let me verify and get back to you,” he said.

The insurgents have in past years occupied dozens of villages around Lake Chad, thereby generating income from the residents.

Reports said a faction of the group, ISWAP, set up state-like structures in the Abadam, Kukawa, Guzamala, Marte and Monguno local government areas in Borno.

Categories
News

Government Will Call For Negotiations If Oil Is Stop From Flowing – Uwazuruike

As He Speaks About Ikonso’s Death, IPOB and Ebubeagu

April 27, 2021

Ralph Uwazuruike

By Mentus Ngwoke, Owerri

The Founder and the leader of Biafra Independence Movement and Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (BIM-MASSOB), Chief Ralph Uwazuruike, has condemned the killing of Ikonso the commander of Eastern Security Network (ESN). However, having said that, he pointed out that the strategy used by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in pursuit of their goals is wrong and will only lead to more death. He said that on Monday during an interview with BBC News Igbo.

On the killing of Ikonso, Uwazuruike said: “I am saying sorry to IPOB for the loss of one of their members. It is a human that died and we are one as we are all seeking for the freedom of Biafra. We are all seeking for the same thing so it touches us when one of us is killed despite being in different groups”.

Speaking further Uwazuruike said he served the late General Odumegwu-Ojukwu for 10 years before he started MASSOB and he learnt a lot during his time with the former leader of Eastern region. He said Ojukwu told him Biafra can never be achieved through violence and that is where IPOB led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is getting it wrong.

“Nnamdi Kanu lacks that experience which I got while serving Ojukwu. A sovereign state is too much, this is not what you can achieve through force, they know all you are doing,” said Uwazuruike.

He added: “The security agencies know where to find MASSOB members, they know where to locate IPOB members. They know where Nnamdi Kanu is sleeping today, they know who is cooking for him. If they want you dead they will kill you immediately, but they don’t do that.”

He said the security agents arrest and lock up activists from time to time and could easily add what will kill them in the next five or six years to the food they serve them but they don’t do that.

“The State don’t come out to kill an activists maybe because of international protocols. But we come out to say we are hiding, we are protecting ourselves, we have security. If they (The State) want your security to kill you, your security will kill you,” he said.

He said the only way to get the government to come to the negotiation table is by stopping the flow of crude oil from the Niger Delta. “Even if you get Biafra by pointing gun at people the international community will not recognise you,” he added.

Speaking about Ebubeagu, he said the South East governors got it wrong when they said Ebubeagu will work in collaboration with the police. Explaining what he meant, he said members of the security outfit are supposed to be only Igbos whose job will be to go into the bushes and forests to arrest criminals with AK-47 and hand them over to the police because they have no power to prosecute.

According to him, people will not have confidence in Ebubeagu if members of the police who are from different tribes are part of the security outfit. He added that people will think they are killer herdsmen in police uniforms when they see them in the bush and they can’t communicate with Igbo language.

Source: BBC News Igbo

Categories
News

Deeper Life Pastor, Kumuyi warns against calls for Nigeria’s breakup

April 27, 2021

Pastor Kumuyi

The founder of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi has warned against the call for secession in Nigeria.

Kumuyi warned that secession has a way of hampering God from solving Nigeria’s challenges.

He spoke while addressing journalists after his crusade in Abuja yesterday.

The clergyman pointed out that Nigerians should have hope that the country would fly again.

According to Kumuyi: “The point is these people that received this divine touch they did not give up, did not think is all over, they knew that God can still do something, the country would have to adopt that same mindset, and know that whatever we are going through stop accusing this and accusing that and while we are pointing accusing fingers we are trying to say let this be on their own and let me be on my own; let the East go and let the West go, and this one go.

“If we are thinking like that we will not expect the solution God wants to give us but when we have hope and we know yet we have gone through some deep waters things are going to change, our God has the possibility to make things change. I believe that we will fly again.”

Categories
News

Boko Haram takes over 50 Niger villages, hoists flag

•Villagers flee to Minna, state capital

April 27, 2021

Niger Governor, Abubakar Sani Bello, yesterday, confirmed that Boko Haram terrorists have seized a territory in Kaure village in Shiroro Loca Government Area and have hoisted it flag there.

The governor also said the terrorists have extended their attacks to some communities in Munya Local Government Area.

The governor disclosed this when he visited Internally Displaced Peoples (IDPs) camp at Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) Primary School in Minna.

According to him, no fewer than 50 communities across the two local government areas have fallen under the Boko Haram control with about 3,000 villagers displaced in the last three days.

Three military camps in Allawa, Bassa and Zagzaga in the two local government areas have been sacked by the Insurgents in the last one months of renewed attacks.

The governor said: “I am confirming that there are Boko Haram elements around Kaure in Shiroro local government. They have taken over the territory. They have equally installed their flag. I am confirming to you now that they have taken over the wives of people by force.”

Governor Bello who described the situation in the state as “critical and pathetic” added that over 3,000 villagers escaped to Minna on Sunday night while several others were in other camps in Gwada and other places.

“Majority of the displaced persons will have to remain in this camp in Minna because their villages have been taken over by Boko Haram terrorists/ bandits. Their wives have been seized from them and forcefully attached to Boko Haram elements,” he said.

He warned that Boko Haram terrorist were trying to make Kaure their home and headquarters like they did to Sambisa forest, stressing that the danger is that while Sambisa forest is several kilometres away from Abuja, Kaure is only two hours drive to Abuja.

This, he warned, makes the federal capital unsafe if nothing urgently is done to curtail the situation

He explained that his administration has been engaging the Federal Government to come to the aid of the state in dealing with insecurity which has brought the state to its kneel in the last six years, adding that such efforts have not yielded desired results thereby making it possible for the terrorists to now occupy area of the state.

“I have been engaging the Federal Government and unfortunately it has got to this stage and if care is not taken even Abuja is not safe. We have been saying this for long and all efforts have been in vain.”

Addressing the governor at the IDPs camp, a youth leader, Bulus Esu said his people in Kuchi, one of the most populated town in Munya local government have been locked down by the terrorists for the past three weeks.

“For three weeks now there is no person living in Kuchi town and there is no food for the fleeing villagers. The bandits have entered very deep into the area and have overran several villages. They have occupied Kuchi where they now sleep as their homes.”

Esu said the bandits two weeks ago demanded five million ransom from the people of Kampana to bail themselves from being kidnapped, adding that “the people did this to avoid kidnap. However, when they came back the next time, they asked the women to cook for them after which they still raped them.”

Design a site like this with WordPress.com
Get started