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Tag: Jigawa

  • Withdraw anti-riot policemen from Jigawa villages, Reps order IG

    Withdraw anti-riot policemen from Jigawa villages, Reps order IG

    The House of Representatives, on Thursday, called on the acting Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mohammed Adamu, to withdraw the contingent of anti-riot policemen from Gagarawa farmlands and some villages in Jigawa.

    This followed a motion under matters of urgent public importance by Rep Muhammed Zoro at plenary presided over by Speaker Yakubu Dogara in Abuja.

    Zoro, who represents Gumei/Gagarawa/Mai Gatari/Sule/Tankarkar Federal Constituency, said the call became necessary in order to forestall unnecessary killings or maiming of innocent lives and destruction of property.

    According to him, this will also put a stop to the harassment and intimidation of my constituents.

    “The house is concerned by the renewed harassment, intimidation and detention of helpless peasant farmers by a contingent of gun-wielding, anti-riot (mobile) policemen deployed to Gayawar Malam, Garin Chiroma, Kore Sabuwa, Dan Nani and other villages and farmlands at the behest of a Chinese company- Northern Agri-Business ltd.

    “The house is aware that the act of massive land-grabbing under the guise of developmental projects has been a principal source of internal displacement everywhere.

    “This is prohibited by both the United Nations Guiding Principles Against Displacement and the African Union Convention for the Protection and Assistance of Internally Displaced Persons in Africa (Kampala Convention) both of which Nigeria is signatory to.

    “The house is conscious of the fact that no Nigerian will be allowed to dispossess Chinese of their own land in China.

    “Therefore, as a patriotic Nigerian citizen and a legislator, it is part of my constitutional responsibilities to defend the interest of my country and its people even at the expense of threats to my life,” he said.

    According to him, the Lee Group of Companies of which Northern Agri-Business Ltd., is a member has so far grabbed no less than 100, 000 hectares of farmlands in its predatory activities in Jigawa alone and most of which has only been fenced in the last 8 years without utilisation by Nigerians or the Chinese invaders.

    Zoro alleged that the Chinese company might have disposed Nigerians of an estimated 500, 000 hectares worth of farmlands according to private investigations into its unacceptable activities in Jigawa, Kano, Bauchi and Niger states.

    “The house is aggrieved that the affected peasant farmers have not been given suitable and alternative farmlands, or were forced to receive paltry compensation as low as N3, 000, or swindled by local collaborators and state authorities,” he said.

    When the Speaker, put the motion on voice vote, the members unanimously supported it.

    The house, therefore, urged the I-G to render the police report which investigated complaints of bribery and corruption associated with the compensation exercise earlier conducted by state and local authorities.

    It also invited the Board and Management of Lee Group to appear before the ad hoc committee of the house in order to unravel the truth about the matter.

    The house called on the ICPC and the EFCC to investigate the allegations of massive bribery, corruption and money laundering leveled against local, state and federal collaborators in the case.

  • How Police Commissioner supervised rigging of 2019 elections for APC in Jigawa – Sule Lamido

    The immediate past governor of Jigawa State and a People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Sule Lamido has accused the Jigawa State Commissoner of Police Bala Senchi of supervising the rigging activities of the All Progressives Party (APC) in the just concluded elections in the state.

    He said the police boss unjustly arrested and detained over one hundred members of the PDP in the state, including his aide on new media, Mansur Ahmad, during the presidential, governorship and state of assembly elections.

    “The police framed up my media aide. They planted INEC specimen ballot papers on him on the election day. He was handcuffed and sent to prison, and his picture went viral on the internet,” Lamido, said.

    “During the elections, the police commissioner became partisan and turned to (an) evil demon unleashing terror on innocent voters for identifying themselves with the PDP. I wish he would live long to reap the evil things he has done to us. May he and his family never experience peace, in return for what he did to the people of Jigawa”

    Lamido said this late Thursday, at his residence in Dutse, the state capital, shortly after he hosted a stakeholders meeting with members of the PDP across the state, who reviewed on the outcome of the general elections in the state.

    He stated that, the police commissioner was transferred out of the state, but the governor, Mohammad Badaru, quickly reacted and ran to Abuja and halted the movement because he needed him to rig the election in favour of the APC in the state. “He has done his assignments perfectly,” Lamido said.

    He gave an instance, in Gantsa town in Buji Local Government Area, where an aged man and his wife, including two of their children studying at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, were incarcerated by the order of the police commissioner in the state just because they stood up in defence of the PDP in their locality.

    Also in Garki Local Government Area, a PDP agent was manhandled with the aide of the police after he protested an incidence of over voting in a polling unit, and the results was later recorded to the APC.

    “APC in Jigawa cannot justify the votes they got in the elections, judging by the poor performance of the governor, Mohammad Badaru in his first time in office. Jigawa only witnessed few substandard projects that can’t stand the test of time in comparison to the projects executed by the PDP led administration in the state.

    “The police manhandled and intimidated members of the PDP. They chased people and went away with PDP agents, together with the ballot box. During the elections, the police provided a security guard to an APC chieftain, Isa Gerawa, moving in a heavy motorcade of security personnel buying votes and intimidating our party members.

    “Before, during and after the elections in Jigawa, we got over five hundred reports cases of police brutality, harassment and intimidation, the police commissioner ordered that any political cases in the state must be reported to his office and that’s how he worked for the APC in the state.

    “We have petitioned the police IG and police service commission including the human right commission. We wrote to them that the police commissioner is unprofessional, ungodly and evil, he is more APC than the president, Muhammadu Buhari. He has brought so much pain and anguish to families in Jigawa and we pray to God almighty to punish him the way he punished innocent people in the state, Sule Lamido said.

  • Gunmen abduct INEC’s senior staff in Jigawa

    A senior staff of the Independent National Electorate Commission (INEC) in Jigawa state has been kidnapped in the state.

    He was reportedly kidnapped last Friday.

    The kidnapped staff identified as Mr. Mahadi Hassan, is a Pension Desk Officer of the Commission in Jigawa State INEC office.

    It was gathered Hassan was picked by gunmen along Gwiwa road Gwiwa local government area in the state.

    The INEC Head of Department voter education and Publicity Mr John Kaiwa confirmed the incident.

    He lamented Hassan has been missing since Friday.

    He added that the kidnappers were yet to contact the commission or the victim’s family on any amount of ransom.

    When contacted, Jigawa Commissioner of Police Bala Zama Senchi‎ said the command was yet to receive any report related to the kidnap of INEC staff in the state.

    “As I am speaking to you, we have not received any report in relation to the kidnap of any INEC staff. I just heard it for the first time from you,” he said.

    The commissioner promised to contact all people related to the matter and get back with updates.

  • PDP hints on boycotting governorship election in Jigawa

    The leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said it may not participate in the March 9 governorship election in Jigawa State unless the state’s police commissioner, Bala Senchi is redeployed.

    The party alleged rigging, vote buying and police intimidation in the state during the presidential and National Assembly elections.

    Mustapha Lamido, a defeated senatorial candidate for the PDP, said this Wednesday night in an interview with Freedom Radio Dutse. Mr Lamido is a son of a former governor of the state, Sule Lamido.

    The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the elections in the state on February 23, picking all the state’s seats in the National Assembly.

    Lamido was the Jigawa North Central senatorial candidate for the PDP, but lost the election to the APC candidate, Muhammad Sabo. Sabo polled 224,543 votes to defeat Lamido who scored 143,611 votes.

    Lamido said the APC’s sweep of the state happened because the police and other security agencies were partisan during the elections.

    He said police officers escorted APC chieftains to polling units where it said they beat up and intimidated the opposition and engaged in vote buying.

    “We will boycott the election if the police commissioner, Bala Senchi, remains in Jigawa because he has already been compromised,” the younger Lamido said.

    “We don’t see the reason why the police commissioner is still in Jigawa despite his redeployment from the state,” he said.

    Recall that the acting Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu on February 6 ordered the redeployment of some senior police officers to zones, formations and commands.

    The commissioner of police in Jigawa State, Senchi, was affected by the exercise. His replacement in the state, Rabiu Ladodo, is yet to report at his new duty post, leading to the speculation of political interference.

    Lamido alleged the police arrested and intimidated many members of the the PDP in the opposition party’s strongholds.

    “I personally stood up and defended many innocent voters arrested by the police until they were released,” he said.

    “I called the police commissioner five times on different occasions, telling him that a particular person in a particular place snatched a ballot box but he was reluctant about the issue.

    “The police and other security agencies colluded with the APC to defraud the people of Jigawa of their mandate through unjust arrest and detention of PDP stakeholders at various wards across the state,” Lamido said.

     

  • 2019: Man electrocuted while hoisting Buhari’s banner in Jigawa

    An All Progressive Congress (APC) member in Jigawa State was electrocuted while hoisting a banner hosting the pictures of President Mohammadu Buhari and Governor Mohammad Badaru on an electric pole on Saturday.

    According to a report by Premium Times, the incident occurred at Kudai community, one of the ruling APC’s strongholds in Dutse Local Government Area of the State.

    Jigawa police spokesperson, Audu Jingiri, confirmed the incident to on Wednesday. He said the deceased was identified as 25-year-old Jamilu Tukur and is survived by parents.

    According to police, the incident was reported by one Nasiru Sani of Kudai community who said the late Jamilu climbed an electric pole to tie the banner and in the process was electrocuted.

    “The victim was rushed to Rashid Shekoni Specialist Hospital Dutse but died immediately on arrival at the hospital. No foul play suspected, case under investigation,” the policeman said.

    Mr Tukur, father of late Jamilu said he regarded the death as destiny.

    “No one can change what Almighty God has destined to happen, the late Jamilu is a good Samaritan loved by all.

    “The number of people that registered their condolence in my house is a justification that my late son has a good rapport with people. My thanks goes specifically to Governor Mohammad Badaru for sending me N100.000 and Dutse council chairman for the gift of N15.000 and two bags of rice, one carton of Spaghetti, and a gallon of cooking oil,” he said.

    A younger brother of the deceased said the incident happened on Saturday night.

    ”The news really shocked my ‘sensitivity’. The late Jamilu has a friendly relationship with everyone including us his juniors ones, we really loved him,” he said.

    Leader of a community-based organisation, ‘Jigawa Ina Mafita’ in Dutse, Yusif Mohammad, explained that the deceased was a die-hard member of APC in the community.

    ”He has contributed a lot towards the development of the party, he was not among the people that were selected to paste the banners, he suddenly appeared and agreed to climb and hoist the banner,” he said.

    Another eyewitness, Abdulwahab Nasiru said: “the banner carried the pictures of the president and governor Badaru, as you can see every corner in this community is decorated with APC banners and posters.

    “We have a long history supporting the APC. When the party was formed, we made history when we elected the only councillor under APC in Jigawa, we defied the then PDP administration in the state. Unfortunately, despite our support, we didn’t have a single person representing us in the APC administration in the state,” Mr Nasiru said.

  • 900 PDP members defect to APC in Jigawa

    No fewer than 900 members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kaugama Local Government Area of Jigawa on Monday defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    Receiving the defectors in Kaugama, the State Deputy Governor, Alhaji Ibrahim Hassan, urged them to work for the party’s victory in the 2019 general elections.

    “Your defection to APC shows that this party is becoming stronger and stronger as we approach the general elections,” he said.

    The council’s APC Chairman, Alhaji Yusuf Ubali, commended the defectors for their decision, saying that the party’s doors were still open for more defectors.

    “We will do justice to anyone who has joined the APC or interested in joining the party,” he said.

    Ubale thereafter appealed to the APC members who lost in the recent party primaries to be patient, assuring that the party leaders would reward them for their loyalty.

    Responding on behalf of the defectors, Alhaji Sale Marke and Alhaji Baffa Yusuf, thanked the party leaders for their hospitality and pledged to be law abiding members.

    Marke and Yusuf were close allies of the PDP’s Jigawa Northeast Senatorial candidate, Sen. Ubali Shitu.

    NAN

  • New bill on Child Rights before Jigawa House of Assembly, says official

    New bill on Child Rights before Jigawa House of Assembly, says official

    Alhaji Rabiu Nasoro, the Director of Social Welfare, Jigawa Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development says a new child rights bill is before the State House of Assembly for domestication.

    Soro who made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday in Dutse, explained that the bill if passed into law, will give a child some rights and privileges.

    The Director stated that the new bill is also aimed at curtailing street begging and child abuse in the state.

    Nasoro explained that government also was worried over cases of abandoned children.

    “We record cases of abandonment. Babies are being thrown into gutters, streets or road side, this is very unfortunate,

    “We suspect that these children were born out of wedlock and the parents were ashamed to keep them,” he said.

    “Once we pick up these babies, we give them up for adoption on demand,”

    “We normally request for full biography and socio-economic status of the person to asses if he or she can shoulder the responsibility.”

    NAN reports that on Oct. 12, the Deputy Speaker, Jigawa House of Assembly, Ahmad Garba, explained why the state had yet to enact a new child rights act saying the initial law was repealed because it did not follow due process before enactment.

    He said once due process was followed, the state would pass any bill that would adequately take care of children.

    Garba also gave reasons for the cancellation of the previous law.

    This he said included inadequate input from citizens and ambiguous sections that needed explanations.

    He also said the bill, a domestication of the federal act, was signed into law by the then secretary to the state government (SSG) which was not the right procedure.

    He explained further that the initial bill was passed in 2012 and signed into law by the SSG who was then the acting governor.

    “The law was in place before it was later repealed in the same year 2012,” he added.

    “The power of Nigeria’s constitution authorises the state governor or his deputy in an acting capacity to sign the law into being.

    This is the major reasons why the child rights act was repealed by the state House of Assembly.

    NAN reports that after debates by the Parliamentarians, the bill was eventually passed into Law by the National Assembly in July 2003.

    It was assented to by the then President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in September 2003, and promulgated as the Child’s Rights Act 2003.

    The Act is a legal document that sets out the rights and responsibilities of a child in Nigeria and provides for a system of child justice administration.

    However, only 23 states in the country have passed the Act for onward enforcement.

    These include; Abia, Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Cross River, Delta, , Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Kwara, Kogi, Lagos, Nassarawa, Niger, Ogun, Ondo, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Rivers, and Taraba.

  • I nearly ran away with huge debts, uncompleted projects Lamido left behind – Jigawa Governor

    Governor Abubakar Badaru of Jigawa State on Monday said he nearly abandoned his job after going through huge debt profile and uncompleted projects left behind by the immediate past governor of the state, Sule Lamido.

    The governor said the debts were in excess of over N31.3 billion.

    “The first day I went through the handover note submitted to me by the then PDP administration, I felt like running away because of the gravity of problems contained in the document,” he said.

    Badaru stated this in an interview with journalists at the government house, Dutse, marking the activities of his third year in office. He outlined his achievements as well as the challenges he encountered since he came on board.

    “Since 2015, we have spent N51billion on road projects comprising N31.3 billion on inherited projects and N19.3 billion on new project as well as N841 million in road rehabilitation,” he said.

    Badaru said the efficient way he employed in managing public treasury has earned him so many foes even within his party (APC). He said this has not deterred him from delivering his campaign promises.

    “With the little resources available, I have been able to complete 90 per cent of the inherited capital projects and commenced new ones,” he said.

    He said the austerity measure his administration embarked upon was to prevent the state from backlog of salaries and pensions, adding that, the approach has successfully negotiated a discount of over N11 billion on inherited projects. He said he ploughed the savings into new projects.

    “Prior to my swearing in, the opposition PDP dug a hole for the incoming administration to fall. They left only N16 million in the treasury thinking that we can’t even pay salary. However, with prudence and God willing, Jigawa is among the states paying workers salary unfailingly on 25 of every month and now paying leave grant.

    Badaru went further to rank himself high in agriculture where he said his efforts have resulted in the commencement of large investment in sugar, rice, livestock and poultry whose combined turnover will be in excess of N250 billion with at least 30,000 direct and indirect Jobs.

    On healthcare, he said Jigawa is 31 primary healthcare centres away from achieving a one healthcare facility per ward target of the federal government. He also said he has increased to 500 per cent, budget intervention for pregnant women and children below five years.

    On education, he said his administration started by unlocking federal counterpart funding for basic education. It followed up with a N9.8 billion capital spending to construct and upgrade 4,520 classrooms, 411 toilet cubicles, 6 administrative blocks and 97,659 set of pupils furniture, 3,416 sets of teachers furniture, 188 staff houses, 4 hostel blocks and 79 hand pumps.

    On water supply, he said an addition of 9.2 million litres daily to the township water supply through a series of intervention, has been achieved.

    Also, as part of the activities marking his third year in office, the governor launched the construction of an 18-room corps members’ lodge to be constructed in the 27 local councils across the state. The building, if completed, will accommodate almost 4,000 corps members, he said.

     

  • BREAKING: Buhari arrives Jigawa on working visit [PHOTO]

    BREAKING: Buhari arrives Jigawa on working visit [PHOTO]

    President Muhammadu Buhari has just arrived Jigawa State for a two-day working visit.

    Buhari landed at the Dutse International airport on Monday, and was received by the state governor, Badaru Abubakar, who was joined by Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano state, Ministers of Aviation, Interior, state minister of Budget, among others.

    The President will be commissioning some projects executed by the state government in Hadejia, Auyo and Dutse.

    Buhari’s Personal Assistant on New Media, Bashir Ahmad made the disclosure via his Twitter handle.

    Ahmad wrote: ”President @MBuhari starts a two-day working visit to Jigawa State this morning, during the visit he is expected to commission some projects executed by the State Government in Hadejia, Auyo and Dutse. ”

  • Buhari to visit Jigawa May 7

    President Muhammadu Buhari is to pay a one-day official visit to Jigawa on May 7, Governor Muhammad Badaru, has said.

    Badaru, who made the disclosure while interacting with journalists in Dutse on Tuesday, said during the visit, the president was expected to commission some projects.

    He said the state government had made arrangements to give President Buhari a rousing welcome to the state.

    The governor explained that the president will inaugurate some roads and water projects within and outside the state capital during the visit.

    According to him, the president will also flag-off the operations of the state social committee which was recently established by law.

    Badaru stated that under the law, each of the 287 polling units across the state will receive a token of between N50, 000, and N100, 000, monthly as stipends to rehabilitate critical infrastructure including health care, education and other facilities in the area.

    The governor said the president will also inaugurate the revived dairy products processing company in Birnin Kudu as well as commission the newly constructed 80 healthcare facilities.

    He said facilities were put in place by the state government in line with the Federal Government’s policy of providing at least one health care facility in each political ward of the country.

    Badaru urged residents of the state to come out enmasse to give Buhari a rousing welcome.