News & Announcements

The Department of State Services has detained two political thugs of a growing political party in Kano for making threats of violence just 48 hours before the Nigerian governorship election.

The DSS named the suspects it had taken into custody as Sharu Abubakar Tabula and Isma’il Iliyasu Mangu in a statement signed by Dr. Peter Afunanya, its public relations officer.

The two men made video messages and uploaded them on the internet with a stern threat to deal harshly with anyone in Kano who votes for a different candidate and/or party on Saturday.

However, DSS agents pursued them and eventually apprehended them. The service then released photographs of the two men, aged 52 and 37, and issued a warning that anyone posing a threat to public tranquility during the election would face consequences.

The DSS said: “The Department of State Services (DSS) hereby informs the public that it has arrested the duo of Sharu Abubakar Tabula and Isma’il Iliyasu Mangu for deliberately inciting violence in parts of Kano State.

“In those potentially harmful messages, the two men specifically championed certain political interests and directly called on their supporters to violently attack those opposed to them, including security personnel during the 18th March, 2023 Governorship and House of Assembly election in the State.

“As a result of this development, a particular political party in Kano has threatened to organise protest march in the metropolis as well as storm offices of some of the security agencies on 16th March, 2023 in solidarity for the suspects.

“While the Service alerts the public of this planned illegal action, it calls on the concerned party to shelve it forthwith or be ready to face the consequences.

“The DSS assures that it will not idly watch misguided persons or groups undermine the peace and security of the state.

“The leadership of the said party should rein in its members and urge them to desist from conducts capable of causing a breakdown of law and order in Kano and its environs before, during and after the scheduled election.

“Meanwhile, the Service is collaborating with sister security agencies to ensure that adequate security is provided for a successful electoral exercise”.

You may recall that in addition to the two suspects in the political violence in Kano, the Service recently detained subversive individuals who had threatened to commit acts of violence in other regions of Nigeria.

But, it’s unclear whether they’ve been released or charged.

You may also recall that on March 8, 2023, the DSS urged lawmakers to avoid violence, false information, and hate speech before, during, and after the 2023 elections.

Yakubu Dogara, a former House of Representatives speaker and representative for the Dass/Tafawa Balewa/Bogoro Federal Constituency, has declared that, at least for the time being, he is not a member of any political party and only supports candidates for elective positions in the general elections of 2023 regardless of their political affiliations.

Dogara stated this on Wednesday while participating in the Politics Today program on Channels Television.

Dogara left the APC for the PDP after vehemently rejecting the latter’s Muslim-Muslim ticket and announcing his support for Atiku Abubakar, the PDP’s presidential contender.

When questioned if he belongs to the PDP or the APC, Dogara responded that neither party considers him to be “unstable character” and added that he is not politically unstable.

He said, “I am supporting candidates; I am not doing any political party for now, I am supporting candidates.

“Everybody knows that I backed Atiku Abubakar for the Presidency for reasons I told the whole world but in Bauchi State before the primaries were concluded, I had supported the aspiration of Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar who is the current APC governorship candidate and I have my candidates for the House of Assembly in my constituency.

“I have Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates that I helped midwife into those positions, and I can’t abandon them for political stability.”

Nonetheless, Dogara has voiced opposition to the PDP’s Bala Mohammed being re-elected as governor of Bauchi State and support for the APC’s Air Marshal Sadique Abubakar in the March 18 election in Bauchi State.

Facebook owner Meta announced a fresh wave of job cuts on Tuesday, part of what CEO Mark Zuckerberg called the company’s “year of efficiency” as the US tech sector continues to downsize.

In an email to employees, Zuckerberg said Meta would shed 10,000 jobs over the next few months, targeting middle management, and that 5,000 other roles would remain unfilled.

The cuts follow a cull of 11,000 jobs announced by the company in November.

“This will be tough and there’s no way around that. It will mean saying goodbye to talented and passionate colleagues who have been part of our success,” Zuckerberg said.

The first victims will be Meta’s recruitment department as the company officially puts an end to the hiring spree that came when big tech ramped up operations to meet high demand during the coronavirus pandemic.

In subsequent months, tech and business departments will also be affected and “in a small number of cases, it may take through the end of the year to complete these changes,” Zuckerberg said.

In January, Zuckerberg warned that further pain was coming when he told analysts the company’s “management theme for 2023 is the ‘Year of Efficiency’” and that he would focus on making the company “a stronger and more nimble organization.”

Meta had suffered a rough 2022 amid a souring economic climate, which forced advertisers to cut back on marketing, and Apple’s data privacy changes, which have reduced leeway for ad personalization.

According to AFP, the company is also under pressure for making a huge gamble on the metaverse, the world of virtual reality that Meta believes will be the next frontier online.

The problems last year sent the company’s share price down by an astonishing two thirds over 12 months, but the stock has recovered in 2023, with investors satisfied by Zuckerberg’s pledge to run a leaner company.

Meta’s share price shot up a further 5 percent after the announcement of the latest job cuts.

Meta’s CEO and founder said he “will make our organization flatter by removing multiple layers of management” which would mean many managers will be ordered to become “individual contributors.”

Zuckerberg explained he was pleasantly surprised by the benefits of running a more tightly organized operation where “many things have gone faster” with the elimination of lower priority projects.

“A leaner org (sic) will execute its highest priorities faster. People will be more productive, and their work will be more fun and fulfilling,” he said.

Voters in the upcoming gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections in Katsina and Kaduna states have been reassured that their ballots will be very well protected.

At a news conference in Katsina on Wednesday, Abdulrahman Ahmed, the Assistant Inspector General in charge of Zone-14, provided the assurance.

He claimed that the purpose of the briefing was to tell the populace about the logistical support that Usman Baba, the Inspector General of Police, has promised the zone.

He explained, “When I assumed office as the AIG Zone-14 for election duty, I discovered that the zone did not have even a single motorcycle, not to even talk about vehicles.

“Upon that, I left for Abuja to meet the IGP and appealed to him to provide us with the means of transportation, arms and ammunition, and immediately he approved.

“We got two patrol vehicles and also a brand new Armoured Personnel Carrier (APC) vehicle with all its capabilities for operations, enough arms and ammunition and anti-riots equipment.

“Now with these, the headquarters of the zone is equipped to compliment the efforts of the commands under it, and we are very ready to police the governorship and house of assembly elections.”

Assuring the people of the two states that the IGP is prepared to provide them with a secure atmosphere large enough for each and every one of them to exercise their franchise, Ahmed continued that they are prepared.

Additionally, he gave assurances to the various political parties running in the elections that there would be no concessional candidates and that the police would not favor any one candidate over another.

“Everybody is equal before the police, and especially they will be given level-playing ground to exercise their constitutional rights.

“Unfortunately, it has come to my ears that some politicians are crying wolf that the police are not fair. I challenge such people to bring one single incident that the police have not been fair to them.

“And they will see at my own level what I will do. We will investigate, and any police officer or group of policemen found wanting, they will be handled according to the law.

“We are here for justice and fairness, and everyone is considered equal before us. There’s no preferred candidate or political party. We are God fearing, especially under IGP Baba-Alkali,” said the AIG.

Ahmed stated that the police must be seen to treat everyone fairly and added that they have no fear other than that of the creator, therefore they would carry out their tasks without hesitation or favor.

The country’s fuel subsidies have been eliminated, according to the Ghana National Petroleum Authority.

The country has implemented regulatory measures to ensure stability in its downstream industry, one of which is the removal of the subsidies.

This was stated by Abdul Hamid, the Chief Executive Officer of NPA, during a presentation at the currently taking place Africa Refiners and Distributers week 2023 in Cape Town, South Africa.

According to Hamid, the NPA on behalf of the Ghanaian government has also eliminated energy subsidies.

“We have removed subsidies and deregulated our markets. Industries were shutting down because the government was finding it hard to find the money to provide subsidies and to this day industry is being powered by investments in the private sector and there are no complaints of supply.

“We are ensuring affordability and security for the vulnerable consumers through the removal of energy subsidies,” he said while speaking on more reforms implemented in the NPA.

He said that the plans were put into action in response to the policies surrounding the energy transition and the global oil and gas market volatility brought on by the Russian-Ukrainian war.

“For the first time in 30 years, we have installed fuel caps as a measure to intervene and to control market instability,” he disclosed.

In order to fulfill the nation’s expanding need, Hamid continued, the NPA has also established a special fund to help refineries increase their capacity to 50 barrels of oil.

No less than 25 broadcast stations have received penalties from the National Broadcasting Commission for breaking the law on coverage of the general elections in 2023.

16 other broadcast stations have received final warnings from the commission for a variety of violations.

This was said by NBC’s Director-General, Balarabe Ilelah, during a news conference held on Tuesday in Abuja prior to the elections for the State Houses of Assembly and governor on March 18.

He claims that while 16 stations have received a final warning, NBC sanctioned 25 stations during the surveillance of the 2023 presidential election.

A station was also fined for breaking Section 5.33 of the NBC code for announcing the election results before the Independent National Election Commission had done so.

He added that four stations had received sanctions for making controversial remarks, while 17 stations had received sanctions for broadcasting partisan party content after the required 24-hour stopping time by NBC.

Ilelah said, “In the course of our monitoring, the commission observed, with dismay, that some broadcast stations allowed their platforms to be used by some guests, callers, and analysts to score unhealthy political points inimical to our corporate existence.

“Ethnic and religious profiling became awfully rampant. Invectives and counterblasts were thrown freely by guests on the platform of broadcast stations at the detriment of the Nigerian people.

“Subversive discussions and reckless comments, capable of tearing us apart as a people were broadcast freely without proper gatekeeping. Ethics and professionalism were thrown overboard.

“The commission wishes to remind you that we have one country. And if we pave way for anarchy, we will all be affected. We are only in business because we have peace. Our diversity should be our strength, our assets, our power. We must guard this jealously. History shows that all civil wars ever fought by people of the same race, started in the media.

“The commission wishes to remind you that we have one country. And if we pave way for anarchy, we will all be affected. We are only in business because we have peace. Our diversity should be our strength, our assets, our power. We must guard this jealously. History shows that all civil wars ever fought by people of the same race, started in the media.

“When those who should dish out information become biassed and pitch camp with different groups, division is heightened.

He said that radio and television stations have a responsibility to uphold the nation’s unity, accentuate diversity as a particular source of pride, and support long-term democracy in Nigeria.

“We expect broadcast stations to exercise freedom of expression as agents of society, not for any personal or promote sectional rights, privileges and further their own or that of their proprietors, relatives, or supporters as highlighted in Section 3.1.3 of the Nigeria Broadcasting Code.

“For the avoidance of doubt, the National Broadcasting Commission, which was established by NBC Act CAP N11, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, to, amongst other responsibilities, license, monitor, regulate broadcasting in Nigeria and will not operate outside the precincts of this Act. The commission will continue to carry out its mandate without fear or favour,” he added.

Ilelah said that the report’s executive summary stated that 17 stations received sanctions for airing partisan content and that a broadcast station earned sanctions for disclosing results before authorized Returning Officers made them public.

“Three broadcast stations were sanctioned for inciting comments. Another four were sanctioned for divisive ethnic/religious content. 16 broadcast stations were given final warnings for various infringements,” he disclosed.

Ilelah issued a warning that all broadcast stations must abide by the provisions of the legislation on broadcasting before this coming Saturday’s elections for the State Assembly and governor.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof Isa Ali Pantami has said 12,988,978 cyber-attacks were carried out during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections period in Nigeria.

He said the attacks were from local and foreign sources, adding that they were made on public websites and portals and averaged around 1,550,000 daily, the said in a statement on Tuesday.

Pantami said the attacks hit 6,997,277 on presidential election day.

“It is worth noting that our (cybersecurity) centers successfully blocked these attacks and/or escalated them to the relevant institutions for appropriate action,” the minister said.

The minister disclosed that his ministry has established a committee to curtail the activities of cyber criminals during the elections started work on February 24, 2023, and ended work on February 28.

He said: “During this period, a series of hacking attempts were recorded, including Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS), email and IPS attacks, SSH Login Attempts, Brute force Injection attempts, Path Traversal, Detection Evasion, and Forceful Browsing.”

Pantami said in the run-up to the 2023 general elections, threat intelligence revealed an astronomical increase in cyber threats to Nigerian cyberspace.

Justice Ambrose Lewis-Allagoa of the Federal High Court, Lagos, on Tuesday, ordered the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police to pay an Uber driver, Adedotun Clement, the sum of N5 million as compensation.

Clement was allegedly assaulted by officials of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency and the Nigeria Police Force during the first anniversary of #EndSARS on October 20, 2021, at the Lekki Toll-Gate while he was carrying a passenger from the Island to the Mainland and was intercepted by the officials.

Following the pandemonium that ensued after policemen and the officers of the Lagos State Neighborhood Safety Agency fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the peaceful protesters and arrested many of them, Clement temporarily abandoned his car like other motorists and ran for his life.

But, by the time he returned to pick up his car, he was accosted, dragged, tortured and manhandled by the officers who refused to listen to his entreaties that he was an Uber driver and only wanted to retrieve his car.

The assault was captured on video which went viral on social media and it was also reported by media houses.

In their attempt to forcefully put him inside the vehicle of the Lagos State Task Force otherwise called Black Maria, the officials of the Lagos State Government in connivance with the police officers also used pepper spray on Clement who cried for help.

Following public condemnation that trailed the viral incident, Lagos-based human rights lawyer and activist, Mr Inibehe Effiong, took up the case and sued the Lagos State Government, the Lagos State Neighbourhood Safety Agency, the Attorney General of Lagos, and the Nigeria Police Force.

While delivering judgement in the fundamental rights case with Suit Number: FHC/CS/1862/2021, Justice Allagoa held that the treatment meted on the applicant amounted to a violation of his right to dignity and awarded the sum of N5 million as damages.

The court condemned the torture of Clement by officials of the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force.
The applicant’s counsel, Effiong, in his reaction to the judgement, expressed appreciation to the court for upholding the rights of his client.

Effiong also called on the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babjide Sanwo-Olu, to comply with the judgement and pay the compensation in line with his public declaration that he had compensated victims connected with the EndSARS, and to reassure Lagosians that he believes in human rights.

In a major easing of travel restrictions in place since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, China will once again start issuing a range of visas to foreigners from Wednesday.

The move marks the latest step towards reopening China to the outside world, as Beijing breaks with the strict zero-Covid strategy that defined its pandemic response until a few months ago.

In addition to new visas being reviewed and approved, those issued before March 28, 2020 that remain valid will once again allow entry to China, said a notice posted Tuesday on a social media account affiliated with the foreign ministry’s consular affairs bureau.

Similar notices appeared on the websites of several overseas Chinese missions, including its embassies in the United States and France.

The updated policy will also allow for the resumption of visa-free travel for those arriving on cruise ships to Shanghai as well as for certain tourist groups from Hong Kong, Macau and countries within the ASEAN regional grouping, the notice said.

The move would “further facilitate the exchange of Chinese and foreign personnel”, it added.

China received 65.7 million international visitors in 2019, according to data from the UN World Tourism Organization, before sealing itself off from the rest of the world during the pandemic.

While most countries started fully reopening their economies and welcoming international travellers earlier, China only began emerging from its strict Covid-19 containment strategy in late 2022, after rare demonstrations against President Xi Jinping’s signature policy broke out across the country.

Those protests in late November expanded into calls for more political freedoms, with some even calling for Xi to resign, the most widespread opposition to communist rule since the 1989 Tiananmen Square uprising.

In early December, Chinese authorities effectively ended the regime of mass testing, lockdowns and long quarantines — but the abrupt reversal led to a spike in Covid cases.

Beijing announced in late December that inbound travellers to the country would no longer need to quarantine from January 8, but kept in place visa restrictions on foreigners.

At the time, Beijing said it would “continue to adjust its visa policy for foreigners visiting China in a scientific and dynamic manner in accordance with the epidemic situation”.

It also then resumed issuing Chinese passports for “tourism” or “overseas visits of friends”.

With cases surging in China around the New Year, several countries — notably Japan and South Korea — reimposed restrictions on Chinese visitors, provoking a tit-for-tat response from Beijing.

As cases waned in China, both sides subsequently eased those restrictions.

The announcement that China will resume issuing visas to foreigners comes on the heels of an important session of the country’s rubber-stamp parliament, which saw Xi confirmed to a third term as president and his close ally Li Qiang named premier.

Li on Monday admitted that achieving the country’s economic growth target of “around five percent” would be “no easy task”.
China posted just three percent growth last year, missing its stated target of around 5.5 percent by a wide margin as the economy strained under the twin impact of strict Covid policies and a property crisis.

The current strike by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in Imo has been put on hold for two weeks.

In a statement released on Tuesday in Abuja, NLC President Joseph Ajaero proclaimed the end of the strike.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the state chapter of the NLC went on strike on March 9 over claims that the state government had brutalized and harassed its employees.

The state administration was also charged by the labor congress with refusing to carry out prior agreements made with the unions starting in 2021, including the 20-month salary arrears owing to some employees.

Others, according to NLC, are non-payment of pensions for several months, non-remittance of check-off dues and other anti-union activities.

Ajaero credited the two-week strike suspension to what he described as continuous interventions from well-respected and well-intentioned Nigerians from both inside and outside the state, as well as pledges of atonement from state government representatives.

He added that the necessity to create a conducive atmosphere for citizens to carry out their civic duty during the gubernatorial and house of assembly elections on Saturday necessitated the postponement of the industrial action.

“On behalf of NLC, I hereby announce the suspension of the on-going strike in Imo State.

“The suspension is expected to last two weeks during which the state government or its agencies are expected to meet up with the demands of the workers in the state,’’ he said.

The NLC president added that the congress would be forced to resume the suspended strike with greater intensity if the state government did not take advantage of the window of opportunity.