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Submit Your Illegally Acquired Weapons or Get Killed, COAS Warns Mangu Residents
The Chief of Army Staff, Taoreed Lagbaja, has warned residents of troubled Mangu Local Government of Plateau State to submit all illegally acquired weapons or risk being killed.
The army chief warned on Saturday during a meeting with representatives of ethnic and other groups held at Pilot Primary School in Mangu town.
More than 300 persons have been reportedly killed, and about 80,000 persons were displaced from 11 communities in the area since clashes between farming communities and pastoralists in the area started in late April.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the major interest groups in the area, including the Mwaghavul Development Association (MDA) and Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN), Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) and Jama’atu Nasril Islam from the area.
The meeting, according to the Nigerian army, was part of the continued efforts to find a lasting solution to the crisis that had engulfed the town and surrounding communities.
During the meeting, the army chief advised residents of the area to submit all illegally acquired weapons or risk being killed.
“We have youth carrying illicit small arms and light weapons all over the place, here in Mangu and the entire state. If you have your children carrying weapons. Call them to order as quickly as possible. Collect those weapons from them and submit them to the military. If you don’t do that, they will get killed, and they get killed, there would be no compensation,” Mr Lagbaja, a major general, said.
“So, collect the arms from them and warn them. The government has the charge, the responsibility to organise, train and equip and maintain the military, which is in the hands of the government. And the government has done that. The law does not allow you to hold military weapons. Report your problem to the appropriate channel, ” he added.
Mr Lagbaja further drew the attention of the residents to the effects of violence on the children’s future, adding that with crisis, their children will not have the opportunity to become leaders of tomorrow.
Representatives of the Mwaghavul and Fulani communities explained some of their differences.
“If they agree that we are peaceful people, they must be responsible that there must be some outsiders. Because so long as we don’t tell each other the truth, this will continue. If my dear brother, the chairman of Miyetti Allah, is telling the truth, he must reflect that in action,” Joseph Gwankat, National President of MDA, said.
“All Fulani herders in the area of Ampan and Mongul district have been chased away. I don’t know where they are at the moment. If what we are saying is true, what have the Fulanis in these areas done to deserve what they have witnessed? I am the leader of Fulani in the LGA; if something happens in some of the areas where Fulanis were chased away, who should I call to investigate? We have to stop this. It wouldn’t take us anywhere,” Bellow Shanono, MACBAN chairman, Mangu, said.
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Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
