IG ignores N’Assembly order, warns policemen against strike

There were indications on Thursday that the Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, had ignored a resolution by the House of Representatives to reinstate one Inspector Simon Anyanwu, who was said to have been wrongfully dismissed from service.

Anyanwu, who is currently hospitalised for diabetes, had petitioned the Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, over the termination of his appointment without recourse to police disciplinary procedures following which the House on October 16, 2014 directed the police to reverse Anyanwu’s dismissal and convert same to retirement with all his entitlements, salary arrears, allowances, gratuity and pension paid.

Egypt urges UN, Lift embargo to arm Libya forces.

Egypt called Wednesday on the United Nations to lift an arms embargo on Libya as Cairo pushes for greater international efforts to combat jihadists in its war-torn neighbour.
In talks in New York ahead of a UN Security Council meeting, Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry told fellow diplomats that Libya’s internationally recognised government needed to be better armed to take on Islamist militias who have seized large parts of the country.
Sameh is calling on the Security Council to “assume its responsibilities in regards to the deteriorating situation in Libya” and to “reconsider the restrictions imposed on the Libyan government on arms deliveries,” the ministry said in a statement.
He also “underlined the need to allow countries in the region… to support the Libyan government’s efforts to impose its authority and restore stability”.
Egypt is seeking UN backing for concerted international action after it launched air strikes on Islamic State group targets in Libya in response the jihadists beheading a group of Egyptian Christians.
Libya’s internationally recognised government claims its efforts to control the country have been hobbled by a UN arms embargo imposed at the start of the 2011 uprising that ousted and killed dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Libya has since descended into chaos, with the government forced to flee to the country’s east and Islamist-linked militias in control of Tripoli and other main cities.
Shoukry, who the ministry said had met with the UN envoys of the five permanent members of the Security Council, also called for steps to be taken “to prevent armed and terrorist groups from obtaining weapons illegally.

Customs, Immigration deny closure of borders

The Nigeria Customs Service and the Nigeria Immigration Services have denied that the Federal Government did not close the border posts in Sokoto and Kebbi states.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the officers in charge of Customs and Immigration at the Illela border post in Sokoto State made this known when they spoke with newsmen in Illela on Tuesday.

NAN reports that the denial followed speculation that the Federal Government had ordered the closure of the borders in the two states for some undisclosed reasons.

“The border post had not been closed and no such directive was given by the Federal Government.

“Our officers and men are on duty diligently for 24 hours, non-stop,” Mr Agbetuye Peter, the officer in charge of Customs office at the post, said.

Peter promised to continue to work round the clock to secure the nation’s border with the neghbouring Niger Republic.

Also, Mr Toyin Saka of the Immigration Service corroborated Peter’s views, saying that the speculations were baseless and unfounded.

“As you can see, our officers and men are on duty for 24-hours and we are running three shifts to effectively secure Nigeria’s borders,” Saka said.

NAN observed that officials of Department of State Services, NAFDAC, NDLEA, Standard Organisation of Nigeria, Police, among others, were seen securing the borders.

Police to withdraw personnel from politicians, others

The police may soon withdraw all its personnel that were attached to politicians, individuals and Very Important Personalities, as part of measures to ensure full security for the forthcoming elections.
It was gathered that the thousands of policemen providing protection to VIPs and other private individuals would be redeployed for election duties.
The policemen serving as escorts to private individuals were usually assigned by the Special Protection Unit of the Nigeria Police Force on application from interested individuals.
Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, had said that about 300, 000 officers would provide security during the polls.
According to him the personnel had been trained on their roles during elections in partnership with the Independent National Electoral Commission and development partners.
“Policing the society has always been a challenge; all the police officers will be deployed in the elections; over 300, 000 officers will be used. The Commonwealth has also offered to help us in that respect of training by January 21. Some of the training are even train-the-trainers until it gets to the last person on their roles during the election,” he said.
Findings indicate that hundreds of policemen had been assigned to politicians, and political parties’ candidates in the last six months.
Checks show that the SPU usually assigns between two to four policemen to those requesting for special protection from the police, based on perception of threat to the applicant.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Emmanuel Ojukwu, on Monday confirmed that all the policemen on special protection duty would be redeployed for election security, adding that a signal would soon be sent to that effect.
He said, “We are going to withdraw all policemen attached to individuals; the election is a national assignment and all policemen will be on duty during the polls. They will be withdrawn before the elections.”
Meanwhile, the police have dismissed the threat by Boko Haram that it would disrupt elections in Gombe and other states in North-East, saying necessary security would be put in place to deter attacks on voters.
Ojukwu who described the insurgents’ threat as empty, noted that the security arrangement for other parts of the country is in place, adding that security in the north-east would be managed by the military.