Govt okays N52b for e-monitoring of borders

From Abuja, where the Federal Executive Council (FEC) met yesterday, to Bauchi, Ebonyi and other states, security was a major concern, report Vincent Ikuomola, Abuja; Kolade Adeyemi, Kano; Ogochukwu Anioke, Abakaliki and David Adenuga, Bauchi.

FEC okays N52b for

e-monitoring of borders

The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved N52 billion for e-border solution to monitor the country’s porous borders.

The weekly meeting was presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Interior Minister Lt. Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd) said the contract would cover 86 border posts and all the 1,400 illegal routes being used for smuggling and other crimes.

He briefed alongside Budget and National Planning Udoma Udoma, Water Resources Minister Sulieman Adamu and Information and Culture Lai Mohammed.

He said the pilot system has already been installed at two border posts, disclosing that the information would be available real-time 24 hours a day and seven days a week.

Dambazau said: “Council approved N52 billion for eBorder solution. This process started in 2012 but we picked it up to move forward when we came in. The project is to be completed within the next two years.

“There is a pilot project already which has been very successful; it was installed to monitor two borders.

“This project is going to cover 86 border posts in the country. We will be able to also monitor 1,400 illegal routes that are used for smuggling and all kinds of cross border criminal activities.

“The Nigeria Immigration Service will work very closely with other services. When it comes to response, with the Air Force and the Army units deployed near the borders, with the Customs in terms of smuggling. The information will be available real-time 24/7,” he said.

On the National Social Investment Programme, Udoma said Council approved two memos on National Social Investment Programme. The two approvals were in the sum of N977,807,194 million.

The first, according to Udoma, was for the award of the consultancy service contract for the provision of training services and integrated supply of starter packs for N-Creative Trainees in the Northern states of Nigeria in favour of Messers Patigon Services Ltd in the sum of N652,318,104 inclusive of five per cent Value Added Tax (VAT).

The training, he said, “will be held in Abuja for 1,500 beneficiaries with integrated starter packs distributed to the trainees at the end of the training.

“The four thematic creative areas and their respective beneficiaries distributions are as follows: script writing – 150, graphic illustration 375, animation – 750 and post-production -225.”

The second memo was also under the National Social Investment Programme for the award of consultants service contracts for the provision of training services and integration supply of starter packs for the N-Tech Software trainees in Southern Nigeria, in favour of UCH Ltd at the sum of N325,489 million. This same training has been provided for the northern states already, so this is for the southern states.  The training is for 2,000 beneficiaries.

Adamu said the memo from his ministry was for augmentation of consultancy services for two water projects. The first, according to Adamu, “is Igawa Dam Project In Katsina State which is 50,60 per cent completed. Last year, we got a total reversal cost of the project and extension. Aligning everything together, the supervising and consultancy services also have to be extended to correspond with the completion period. To that effect, the Council approved augmentation of over N91 million for consultancy service supervision in favour of Messers Cosidon Consultancy Service Ltd. This now raises the consultancy fee from N125.7 million to N217.4 million.

“The second memo is in respect of Mangu Dam project which has attained about 70 per cent completion. We also had Revise Estimated Cost Approval last year which also approved an extension period for the work. In the same vein, the consultancy period has to be adjusted to correspond to the completion period. An augmentation of N111.6 million to raise the consultancy service supervision from N104 million to N215 million with an extension period of 24 months in favour of AIM Consultants Ltd.”

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39 suspected criminals

held in Bauchi

No fewer than 39 suspected criminals were arrested in Bauchi yesterday. The arrest was carried out by men of the “Operation Adder”.

Bauchi State Commissioner of Police Ali Janga said the operation was in compliance with the directive of the Acting Inspector General of Police Mohammed Abubakar.

Janga spoke at the police headquarters while parading the 39 suspected criminals arrested in connection with different crimes such as kidnapping, armed robbery and kidnapping.

Exhibits recovered from the suspects include five Dane guns, nine cutlasses, one sharp knife, three motorcycles and 29 blocks of wrapped dry leave suspected to be Indian hemp.

The suspects were said to belong to different gangs known as Sara Suka, and Babell .

Ali explained that the special squad codenamed “Operation Puff Adder” would prevent the influx of criminal elements.

He said “Operation Puff Adder” would be directly under his supervision while all the police units would be involved.

He mentioned the units as Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorist Units (CTU), Special Protection Unit (SPU), Rapid  Response Squad (RRS), Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Anti-Kidnapping Unit (AKU), State Intelligence Bureau (SIB), the conventional police and State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID)

Janja added that the operation is yielding positive results with the total number of suspected criminals arrested so far.

“So far the operation is yielding positive results as a lot of criminal activities in the state were nipped in the bud while a total of 39 suspects were arrested in connection with different crimes and exhibits recovered during the operation,” he said.

He appealed to the public for support, cooperation and understanding for the continuous success of the operation.

Two Chinese nationals

kidnapped in Ebonyi

Two Chinese, Sun Zhixin and Wang Quing Hu, have been kidnapped in Ebonyi State.

The two men are employees of Tongyi Construction Company.

They were working on a road project in Ohaozara Local Government Area of Ebonyi State when they were forcefully whisked away by armed gunmen.

They were taken off the construction site around 3:30 pm on Wednesday by a group of masked armed men.

It was gathered that the Chinese nationals were in a ditch at a place called Ivo river when the gunmen invaded the place with arms, forced the workers out of the pit and took the two Chinese to an unknown destination.

The company is constructing the road which links the Ohaozara community called Ogwu with Ivo local government and Okpanku community in Enugu.

Police spokesman Odah Loveth confirmed the kidnap of the two Chinese.

She said that police have dispatched its men for possible rescuing of the kidnapped victims unhurt.

“The State Commissioner of Police, Awoshola Awotinde on receiving information of the kidnap personally led a tactical team to the construction site,  owned by Tongyi group of companies located at Ivo river at the boundary between Ebonyi and Enugu state, where Sun Zhixin and Wang Quing Hu both male, Chinese nationals were forcefully taken away.

” The area was combed to track down the bandits but no result, a track down rescue team has been dispatched to move on in other to rescue the Chinese nationals unhurt”, she said.

The spokesman appealed for adequate information from the general public that will help the police in their investigation.

She expressed shock that the company moved to such a lonely site without applying for security from the police.

DSS seeks inter-agency collaboration

The Department of State Services (DSS) has called for inter-agency collaboration to tackle contemporary security threats confronting the country.

The Director-General of DSS, Mr Yusuf Bichi, made the call at a meeting of Forum of Spokesmen of Security and Response Agencies (FOSSRA) yesterday in Abuja.

“As part of global best practice and effective approach to security management, partnership and collaboration among stakeholders are imperative,” he said.

He said the current security challenges confronting the nation required joint efforts to combat them.

“Inter-agency synergy has, no doubt, become the new paradigm of law enforcement and security management in today’s world.

“Today, our country is bedevilled with varied security challenges. We must, therefore, be resolute and remain strong in the face of these challenges,” he said.

He urged security agencies to bring their wealth of experience and comparative advantage to complement each other.

“With the unity of purpose, we can surmount the challenges and keep Nigeria one and free from violence and crime,” he said.

He urged them to bring up ideas that would build trust and promote public confidence in security agencies.

“Remain steadfast, committed and loyal to the cause, I, therefore, charge you to rededicate ourselves to the service of your fatherland,” he said.

The Executive Secretary, Centre for Crisis Commission (CCC), retired Commodore Yusuf Anas, said that the meeting was an opportunity for members to share ideas on security.

He commended the DSS for the services it has been providing on issues of national security to the country.

The forum was established in 2014 to enhance cooperation and effective communication among security agencies in the country.

Police launch ‘Operation

Puff Adder’ in Abia

The Police Command in Abia yesterday launched ‘operation Puff Adder’ to combat robbery, kidnapping, and other criminal activities.

Police Commissioner Ene Okon, who launched the operation in Aba, urged police personnel to be law-abiding and avoid intimidation of residents.

“The operation was inaugurated as a launching pad to stamp out kidnapping, robbery and other criminal activities in the country.

“We have all the strategies put in place to implement the vision of the Inspector General of Police as far as the operation is concerned.

“So, inaugurating it here will go a long way in curbing kidnapping, robbery, cultism and other violent crimes in the state.

“The operation will be basically done with intelligence gathering, surveillance and monitoring,” he said.

He promised that the operation would yield positive results by tackling incessant kidnapping, robbery and other crimes in the state while calling on residents to assist by volunteering information on suspected criminal hideouts.

Mr Charles Esonu, Interim Chairman, Aba South, Local Government Area (LGA), said the operation indicates that the police meant business hence criminals should either repent or relocate.

He urged residents to volunteer information that could help police make the project successful.

Two arrested for

selling petrol to bandits

in Katsina forests

The police in Katsina State arrested two persons, Bello Lawal, 30, and Mohammed Bature, 20, for allegedly selling petrol to bandits in Danmusa Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer, SP Gambo Isah, disclosed at a news conference on the achievements recorded by the command yesterday in Katsina.

He said the suspects were pump attendants. They were arrested in Yantumaki, Danmusa area with 12 Jerry cans of petrol on two motorcycles heading towards the forest in the area.

Isah said the police were making efforts to arrest other members of the syndicate.

He also said that the police attached to Operation Adder arrested one Haruna Ibrahim, 25, for fabricating locally made guns for the bandits in Kankara Local Government axis of the state.

According to him, the suspect fabricates the weapons in Sherere village, Kankara local government area.

The police spokesperson added that the police recovered eight locally made guns displayed at his shop during the investigation.

He urged the public to continue to provide more useful information to the police about the hideout and activities of bandits in their areas for prompt action.