Metro

Nigerian govt claims over 1,000 kidnapped victims rescued without ransom payments

Published

1 month ago

April 16, 2024

The Nigerian government claims that no fewer than 1,000 victims of abductions in the country have so far been rescued by the President Bola Tinubu administration without the payment of any ransom.

National Security Adviser (NSA), Nuhu Ribadu, who disclosed this on Monday when he received 22 kidnapped students and staff of the Federal University of Gusau, Zamfara State, who were rescued on Sunday by security operatives, said the Tinubu administration had vowed never to pay ransom in any form to criminals so as not to encourage the proliferation of such cases.

The NSA, who recieved the freed victims in his office in Abuja, commended the security operatives who carried out the rescue operation without losing any of the abducted students or paying any ransom.

“On behalf of the President, I thank all those involved in the successful rescue of the victims without losing anyone of them or paying any ransom” Ribadu said.

“This is yet again a success story in our efforts to free all those being unlawfully held in captivity.

“We have so far released over a thousand such victims without noise and with complete respect to their privacy and safety.

“This occasion marks a final juncture in a series of rescues we have undertaken in the last few months, to free victims of recent cases of mass abductions.

“Going forward, we are strengthening law enforcement and security measures to prevent these abductions and strengthen physical security across vulnerable communities.”

On Friday, September 22, 2023, suspected bandits riding on about 50 motorcycles and armed with sophisticated weapons, had invaded three students hostels in Sabon Gida Village near the Federal University, Gusau, Zamfara State, where they kidnapped a number of students and staff of the institution and whisked them to an unknown destination.”

Seven of the students were initially rescued by the police while two escaped, leaving a total of 22 others in captivity.

But on Sunday, April 14, the 22 captives, comprising 15 students and seven workers of the university, were rescued in an exercise coordinated by the National Counter-Terrorism Centre.

The National Coordinator, NCTC, Maj-Gen Adamu Laka (retd.), who briefed the NSA on the rescue mission, said search and rescue operations conducted by security agencies led to the release of the students in three batches.

“Search and rescue was conducted by a combined team of law enforcement agencies and the abductees were subsequently released in three batches, after 207 days in captivity.

“The first batch was rescued on March 15 the second batch was rescued on April 12 and the last batch rescued on April 14.

“All the abductees were profiled at NCTC while the ONSA Medical Team examined them and administered minor treatments on the bruises sustained by three of them.

“Four of them were diagnosed with malaria and are being treated. None of the females was molested and all the females tested negative for pregnancy test,” Laka said

Click to comment

Metro

Nigeria targets 10,000MW hydropower through sustainable power project

Published

4 hours ago

May 16, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

Nigeria’s Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu, says the federal government is targeting10,000 megawatts through its Sustainable Power and Irrigation Project for Nigeria (SPIN) in collaboration with the World Bank.

Adelabu who disclosed this at during the African High-Level Roundtable on Sustainable Hydropower in the African Renewable Energy Mix of the 21st Century, held in Abuja on Wednesday, said the “primary objective of the project is to enhance the utilisation of existing storage facilities for both irrigation and hydropower generation.”

He added that the project aims to strengthen institutional frameworks related to integrated water resources management within Nigeria.

“SPIN aims to unlock additional 10GW combined capacity from existing dams with provision for hydro but not fitted, partially incomplete dams with provisions for hydropower, Greenfield projects and existing multipurpose dams that can be modified/redesigned and retrofitted,” Adelabu said.

The Minister who acknowled the immense potential for hydropower development in Africa, said it is important to also consider responsible development.

“We must address environmental concerns around dam construction and ecosystem disruption, alongside social impacts on local communities. This requires a commitment to sustainability, stakeholder engagement, and innovative solutions to financing these large-scale projects.”

The Minister also stated that for several decades, hydropower has played a significant role in Nigeria’s energy supply, contributing approximately 20 per cent to the nation’s total grid supply as of now.

Adelabu emphasised Nigeria’s wealth of water resources across its various basins while the country’s hydropower capacity is estimated at 14 GW, only around 15 per cent of this potential has been harnessed.

“The country has over 340 dams spread across different geo-political zones, under the management of the three government tiers and many are not optimally utilized or at risk of damage.

“For the small hydropower, a multitude of river systems, providing about 70 micro dams, 126 mini dams, and 86 small sites, supply a technically exploitable capacity of 3.5GW, but only 1.7per cent (0.06GW) of these resources are currently being tapped, while there are about 10GW of potential untapped capacities from the large and medium-sized hydropower,” he added.

Metro

Zambian opposition New Heritage Party accuses govt of dictatorship

Published

20 hours ago

May 15, 2024

Akanimoh Etim

One of Zambian opposition parties, the New Heritage Party (NHP), has accused the government of dictatorship after the police insisted on a written list of speakers for the party’s upcomng rally in Lusaka’s Mandevu area.

NHP’s President, Chishala Kateka, who made the allegations in a statement on Tuesday, said the National Police also requested a registration certificate from the party before considering their request for approval to hold the rally, an action she said was dictatorial.

The NHP leader said the party had, in a letter to the police, it had expressed its intention to hold a mass rally in Mandevu on June 1, and also submitted their registration certificate to the police.

Kateka however, described the police response to the party’s request as a colonial-era policing of rallies before Zambia’s independence.

“Raphael Musamba’s police command has now demanded the New Heritage Party to provide them with an official list of speakers for the Mandevu rally on June 1, 2024,” Kateka stated in the statement.

Kateka said the NHP would indeed provide the list of its speakers at the rally but expressed concerns that the intention behind these demands might be to prevent any United Kwacha Alliance (UKA) presidents from speaking at the Mandevu rally.

“We are aware that President Hakainde Hichilema and his police are apprehensive about UKA and are striving to divide the alliance using State institutions and operatives, including registering a fake UKA,” she further alleged.

Kateka also argued that the law does not require a political party to produce both a registration certificate and a written list of speakers to hold a mass rally.

“This is simply dictatorship on display. Unfortunately, President Hichilema and his lieutenants within the police force are willing to breach the law of the land to serve their agenda,” she stated.

Kateka also expressed her concerns that the police’s actions appeared to be an attempt to dictate the proceedings of political party associations.

“Today, it’s the New Heritage Party, UKA alliance, and the Church facing persecution. Tomorrow, it could be NGOs and Civil Society Organizations,” she warned.