Army probes assault of Abuja couple by soldiers 

The Nigerian Army says it will investigate its officers allegedly involved in the assault of a couple on a street of Abuja

Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, ordered the probe on Wednesday.

A video has surfaced online and it went viral on Tuesday showing some soldiers, including a major general, beating up a couple in the nation’s capital.

Eyewitnesses said the soldiers stopped the couple for “unlawfully overtaking” their convoy.

The video showed men in military uniforms hitting the man as his wife protested.

“How did I bash your car? Oh God!!” the man said as he took one punch after another while writhing in pain.

Blood could be seen dripping from the man’s forehead following a slap from a soldier.

The couple said after the assault, the major general and his aide handcuffed them, shoved them into the trunk of a car, from where they were whisked to the Gwarimpa police station.

The soldiers reportedly ordered police officers to detain the couple indefinitely.

But in a statement on Wednesday, spokesman for the Nigerian Army, Onyema Nwachukwu, confirmed that the chief of army staff ordered an immediate investigation into the incident.

“The attention of the Nigerian Army (NA) has been drawn to a viral audio-visual recording circulating on social media platforms, purportedly showing a senior Army officer and 2 other soldiers in an altercation with a man and woman within the Abuja metropolis.

“The circumstances leading to this incident are not clear at the moment.

“However, the Acting Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Olufemi Oluyede, has ordered an immediate investigation to unravel the true circumstances surrounding this altercation.

“The NA remains committed to serving and protecting all law-abiding Nigerians as enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Therefore, we urge the public to be rest assured that due diligence will be applied to reach a logical conclusion on this matter.”

7 officers missing as NSCDC neutralises 50 Boko Haram elements

A special squad of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, yesterday, neutralised 59 bandits, who had ambushed them in Kaduna State, shortly after conducting a patrol of the national grid installation in Shiroro Local Government Area of Niger State.

The incident occurred about 3:40 p.m., when the convoy of the special monitoring squad comprising of nine officers and 71 other ranks drawn from the Commandant General Special Intelligence Squad, CG SIS, operatives, FCT Command and Kaduna State Command respectively, were ambushed at Farin- Kasa Area of Chukun LGA in Kaduna State.

Confirming the incident, Corps Public Relations Officer, Babawale Afolabi said seven personnel of the Corps were still “missing in action” as of the time of filing this report.

He said the team was crossing from the Shiroro axis after the surveillance of the installations.
Recall that the nation experienced total blackout recently due to the incessant collapse of the national grid as a result of continuous attacks on the facilities by bandits, a development which led to the setting up of the Special Monitoring Squad by the Commandant General, Dr. Ahmed Audi.

Afolabi said: “The combined team which embarked on patrol of the National Grid Installation from Shiroro along some flash points and vulnerable areas, however, came across some stranded expatriates in the bush around Dagwachi village axis returning from a mining site at Tutu area of Niger State, that joined the convoy in a bid to protect them through Farin- Kasa Area of Chukun LGA in Kaduna.

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“Unknown to them, over 200 armed Boko Haram elements had laid ambushed on a vengeful mission against security operatives who they claimed had been giving them problems. And from the top of a hill located at Farin-Kasa, they opened fire upon sighting the long convoy of the NSCDC monitoring team using different sophisticated weapons.

“The Combined NSCDC operatives in the ambush, however, not overwhelmed by terrorists, repelled the attack and successfully neutralized over 50 of the terrorists in the crossfire. Seven operatives of the NSCDC are currently missing in action and efforts are currently underway to locate them in the bush, while a few others who sustained various degrees of injuries are currently undergoing medical treatment in a medical facility.

“The NSCDC as the leading agency in the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure will not be cowed or be deterred by any attack by terrorist or any group of saboteurs trying to sabotage the efforts of government towards actualizing the renewed hope agenda of Mr. president in ensuring the revival of the power sector for a stable electricity supply nationwide.’

“In the meantime, the Commandant General while awaiting the full brief on the incident from the officers on the field described the attack on NSCDC personnel as callous, unfortunate and an attack too many on security operatives who have sworn to the defence of the country.”

7 officers missing as NSCDC neutralises 50 Boko Haram elements

ICPC tracks N610bn constituency projects in 21 states, FCT

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on Tuesday announced that it has kicked off the 7th phase of the constituency and executive projects tracking exercise involving 1,500 schemes valued at N610 billion.

The Spokesperson for the ICPC, Mr Demola Bakare, who disclosed this in a statement he issued in Abuja, said the exercise is an initiative of the commission that began in 2019.

He said it focused on how well money allocated to critical sectors like education, health, agriculture, water resources and power amongst others, were utilised.

”The 7th phase, involving 1,500 projects with a total project value of N610 billion, commenced on Nov.18 in the FCT and 21 states across the six geopolitical zones.

”They are Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Kebbi, Kano, Kaduna, Jigawa, Bauchi, Gombe, Borno, Lagos, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Cross River, Delta, Imo, Abia and Enugu States and FCT.

”The tracking exercise will cut across agencies of government, including intervention agencies such as North-East Development Commission (NEDC) and Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC),” he said.

READ ALSO:

• VIRAL VIDEO: Couple ‘assaulted’ by Army General in Abuja demands N150m
• Boko haram attacks military camp in Borno, kills soldiers
• Lagos: Court sends boy, 13, to prison for defiling 2-year-old toddler

He said other agencies were the National Agricultural Land Development Authority (NALDA), the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC), and the Rural Electrification Agency (REA).

Bakare said it also included the National Primary Health Care Development Authority (NPHCDA), the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) and the Ecological Fund Office.

He said the objective of the exercise was to deepen adherence to due process in the execution of government projects and improve value for money.

According to him, it is also to entrench the culture of compliance with the scope and specification as contained in the contract documents.

”The ICPC tracked a total of 1,900 projects valued at N500 billion in the 6th phase of the exercise across 24 states of the nation’s six geopolitical zones.

”The projects were tracked within the focal sectors of Education, Water Resources, Agriculture, Power, Health, Energy, and Roads.

”These projects in the 6th phase were awarded to a total of 1,355 contractors in 176 MDAs”, he said.

ICPC tracks N610bn constituency projects in 21 states, FCT