Debating legality of lockdown by Buhari a distraction, PGF boss tells Falana, Soyinka, others

A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the director general of the Progressives Governors Forum (PGF) Dr. Salihu Lukman, has described as needless and distraction those criticising President Muhammad Buhari over the lockdown in Abuja and Lagos to curb the spread of Coronavirus.

Among those who have openly criticised decision taken by the President include Ebun-Olu Adegborunwa, Femi Falana, Prof. Wole Soyinka, among others

Lukman said the action of the President could be liken to the principles of doctrine of necessity more urgently needed now that human life is at risk.

In a statement the director general released Wednesday in Abuja, said All the energy some critics expend to question the legality of decisions of government to lockdown Abuja, Lagos and Ogun states with the highest potential to spread Covid-19 virus to every part of the country may only serve to distract the attention of government from the critical issue of ensuring effective response to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“The current debate around legality are needless and only confirms Prof. Honig assertion that ‘everything is justifiable and there can be no cause for regret when our survival is at stake.’

“All the energy we expend to question the legality of decisions of government to lockdown these three cities with the highest potential to spread Covid-19 virus to every part of the country may only serve to distract the attention of government from the critical issue of ensuring effective response to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“Rather that asking the question whether locking down Abuja, Lagos and Abeokuta is sufficient to contain the spread of Covid-19, we are seeking to undermine the government. Good enough, our state governments are responding in a way that expand the jurisdiction of the lockdown to cover virtually all parts of the country.”

While describing the situation as one that requires urgent intervention, Lukman said: “If in 2010, our activist lawyers, including Mr. Falana, could come up with doctrine of necessity, in the face of the refusal of late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua to transmit a letter informing the National Assembly about his medical trip outside Nigeria based on which the then Vice President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan could be empowered to act as President, isn’t the same principles of doctrine of necessity more urgently needed now that human life is at risk so much that we could with all certainty argue that any meeting of the National Assembly is even a potential danger? This is assuming that our constitution and our laws don’t any act of lockdown.

“No need to play to the gallery. Certainly, both Messrs. Adegborunwa, Falana, Soyinka and all those criticising the current lockdown of Abuja, Lagos and Abeokuta, may have some unselfish reasons to express opposition. So long as however such opposition is not substantively disputing the efficacy of the lockdown as a strategic requirement for ensuring enforcement of isolation and social distancing in order to contain the spread of Covid-19 in the country, it simply project behavioural discrepancy, which conflict with the new emergency timeline that Covid-19 imposes on the world.

“This is the time when our primary survival instinct should be about saving human life. Except if we are saying that Covid-19 is not a pandemic as declared by WHO, or we are saying that isolation and social distancing are not what is required to contain Covid-19, the debate about legality of the current lockdown is just a distraction.”

Lukman believe that all the debate about whether the President should seek the approval of the National Assembly before declaring the lockdown were “simply unrealistic in the circumstance.

“Without necessarily arguing that those canvassing for the declaration of state of state of emergency through the approval of the National Assembly are cheaply doing so to attract public attention, one is tempted to ask what will be their response (Messrs. Adegboruwa and Falana) if the President were to request the National Assembly to reconvene for the purpose of considering any proposal for declaration of state of emergency in this era whereby scientifically it is not advisable for any session of the National Assembly to hold? If the operative norm requires isolation and social distancing for the country to be able to contain the spread of Covid-19 virus, anybody, including Messrs. Adegboruwa and Falana, will be dishonest to canvass for any sitting of the National Assembly to enforce the issue of social distancing and isolation to contain the spread of Covid-19.

“Could it be that social distancing and isolation could be achieved without lockdown? From all the arguments, it doesn’t appear this is the point of contention. One readily conclusion therefore is that the argument against the lockdown as declared by the President is on account of the lack of recognition of the emergency timeline which Covid-19 has imposed on the world. Leaders across the world are struggling to respond to this new timeline. Largely because it is a challenge that border on saving human life, citizens are required to work in partnership with governments.

“In our context, working to save Nigerians from the spread of Covid-19 shouldn’t be the responsibility of government alone. It should be the responsibility everyone, especially those of us with some claims to knowledge and pro-people consciousness. If, as late Samora Machel, the first President of Mozambique has argued, ‘science and knowledge should be instrument of progress’, containing the spread of Covid-19 should require innovative application of knowledge and law. This is what the Covid-19 emergency timeline dictates. It is not about rigid applications of knowledge and laws.

“To miss the reality of this, may mean being reckless. It would appear many of us, including very experienced elder statesmen such as our Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, are still operating in the old activist timelines of being in opposition to government. Covid-19 doesn’t allow us the luxury of government vs citizens dichotomy. This is not in any way suggesting that government or the President should exercise absolute powers. To the extent that so far, across the world, as recommended by World Health Organisation (WHO), the three recommended best practices are testing, contact tracing and isolation, our knowledge and our laws should be deployed to compel citizens to observe isolation and social distancing. Under no circumstance should we seek to apply our knowledge and laws in manners that portends potentials to compromise the lives of citizens.”

Exclusive: Blackmailing Buhari is the new crude oil 

By Abubakar Shehu

As world economies brace for the financial impact of the COVID-19 virus and with Nigeria steeling itself for the economic strain that will come from slump in crude oil prices, persons recruited to blackmail and malign President Muhammadu Buhari are set to pocket huge payouts that rival crude oil revenue.  

Details that have leaked from the circuit involved in the anti-Buhari propaganda indicated that paid activists, opinion influencers, public commentators and others that have been recruited for the purpose get paid as much as $10,000 for each round of damaging story that they deliver to undermine the president.  

A favourite target for these reputational hitmen is the military against which they have coordinated series of damaging reports in recent days, ostensibly in an effort to indirectly undermine the image of the President, whose re-election campaign hinged significantly on restoring security to Nigeria’s troubled northeast region and other parts of the country where there are security breaches.  

These paid activists, who must have proven portfolios of consistently being pro-opposition and antagonistic of the present administration, were specifically commissioned to work on actions that will generate news reportage that beam a negative light on the incumbent government.  interfaces were created between them and select media organizations that are ready to publish the contents they generate and also amplify same using their social media assets.

In the space of one week, the recruited activists have launched major offensives on the President using incidents like the handling of COVID-19 Pandemic, Boko Haram attack on government troops in Yobe state, the routine transfers conducted in the army, donations from private sector for managing the corona virus spread amongst others. These offensives were responsible for the seeming lack of coherence in the claims being made against the president and the military like when the same activists that drew attention to the Boko Haram attack became angry with the army for re-organizing for efficiency. 

By replicating these misleading information on various platforms and delivered by different activists, the mercenaries are able to create the impression that the view they are pushing is widespread and reflects the preponderance of perception in Nigeria. 

A media analyst, who did not want to be identified because of the sensitivity of the matter, noted that the public opinion space is being poisoned by the mercenaries as they now make it impossible for people to make logical deductions based on the facts in the public domain. He said “It is amazing that the people who have anointed themselves as experts in the way President Buhari, through the military, is handling the war against Boko Haram, are able to report and celebrate 50 to 70 troops killed in an attack without minding to spare one line to mention the more than 120 terrorists that were killed in that operation.  

“it is a grave danger that a few people, flush with bloodstained dollars, can totally dictate what the populace focuses on, including manipulating the mainstream media to point that they became incapable of independently verifying facts. When a neighbouring country, Chad, suffered a worse casualty count, these propaganda urchins stayed silent possibly because there was no dollar credit for maligning the Chadian President,” he stressed.  

Clergy Involved   

A consequent outcome of manipulating the mainstream media on the scale that the crisis entrepreneurs have done is a resounding loss of credibility. Media platforms have been compromised over time such that those that sponsors of these propaganda onslaughts want to believe their lies can no longer be reached by these same media.   

This has compelled them to recruit some pastors into their ranks so that they are able to use the credibility of their pulpits to push the propaganda messaging at their members. Such pastors attempt to whip up sentiments against the government in their sermons like telling congregants that the present government is the most wicked and insensitive in history. 

Some clergymen have also been lined up to put up defiance against measures announced to contain the spread of COVID-19, like keeping their churches opened in violation of the directive on social distancing. The activists have been quick to cite religious persecution in defence of such pastors by claiming that their freedom of worship should not be infringed upon.  

Tenfold Incentive 

A few of the mercenaries received their $10,000 payouts without being able to make the kind of dent expected of them in tarnishing the reputation of President Buhari and when they were queried over their failure they reported back that the amount was insufficient to do the job and still leave some profits for the hitmen.   

The outcome was increasing the reward system by ten folds. Those that were able to convincingly push damaging contents about the military get the base $10,000 while those that are able to take on the credibility of President Buhari get ten times that amount, which is $100,000 or N40 million.  

Leaked information indicated that these paid activists are positoned to further demonize the military by questioning any roles they are assigned in curbing the spread of COVID-19 especially as it pertains to enforcing the shutdown of several states of the federation, which would necessitate the enforcement of the restiction placed on movement as part of the social distancing strategy.  

Several countries that have taken huge fatalities from the virus were compelled to activate their military to enforce quarantine and movement restrictions that have been found to help slow down the virus. In other places, the military was strategic in setting up emergency field hospital, which the military in Nigeria is also capable of.  

But to ensure that President Buhari’s response to the virus is constrained, they have launched first wave of attack in the form of asking questions about the legality of the Federal Government shutting down FCT, Lagos and Ogun in response to the virus. Legal practitioner, Ebun Olu-Adegboruwa, SAN, had led the charge among those questioning the legality of the shutdown. While it appeared that these critics backed down from their criticism after being schooled by the attorney-general and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, in reality they have set down the groundwork for questioning any roles that the president assigns to the Army in countering coronavirus.  

Suppressed content   

The mercenaries hired to undermine the president suppress more than the execution of their own projects as seen in the climbdown on asking about the legality of the shutdown. They are also implementing a strategy of dampening news about any exploit recorded by the administration, especially the military. The aim of this is to ensure that only negative news about the government and the military are promoted in order to drown out whatever positive achievements is recorded. 

The killing of top Boko Haram commander, Abu Usamah, on March 22 is one of such instances. When Boko Haram terrorists make any seeming gains, these activists and their associates are quick to grant media interviews, pen analyses and produce other media contents that keep such attack in the news and allow it to maintain currency. But with the Military making such a significant kill, the activists deploy a tactic of first belittling the importance of the incident on social media and then churning out unrelated and irrelevant contents that will drown out the development in the media space.  

This approach has proven dangerously effective in diminishing the work that the military has been doing especially when online searches will return negative contents about the troops and their commanders. 

Need to Act 

The antics of these activists are known to those in authority but there does not seem to be any action against them. This reluctance on the part of the government to curb their anti-Nigeria activities have made them bolder as they increasingly take on newer briefs to further undermine the office of the president, which is effectively undermining the integrity of Nigeria as a country, a major crime in any jurisdiction. 

Checks revealed that authorities do not need to go after the activists since this will be interpreted as clamping down on them, which would be a proven instance of suppression of human rights by the government. What the paid activists are aware of and have extensively discussed in their circle is the capacity of government to identify the source of their funding, shut it down and take in those responsible for terrorist financing. Doing this will automatically kill off the contracts that have been undermining not just the president but also the military by limiting their ability to respond to threats.  

The media analysts cited earlier is of the view tht time is of essence if the government must prevent permanent damage, not just to the perception of the president and the military but to the corporate integrity of Nigeria. Those damaging the military’s reputation in their bid to blackmail the president for money have to be stopped lest the country pay a steep price for it in the foreseeable future.

Army Routine Deployment: A Note for Wailers & Hailers

By Charles Ibekwe

On Tuesday, the Nigerian Army redeployed some top generals and senior officers in a move meant to reinvigorate and enhance synergy as a tradition in its operations.
Among those redeployed is the theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi who until his redeployment was in charge of leading the onslaught against Boko Haram terrorists and other forms of insurgency in the Northeastern part of the country.
The redeployment of personnel came at a time the Nigerian army which has recorded several victories against the remnants of what is known as the Boko Haram, needed to reposition to round off the onslaught in strategic military style.
But because the redeployment came few days after a foiled ambush by the Boko Haram terrorists on the convoy of the now TC of Operation Lafiya Dole, it has been given all sorts of interpretation that are strange in military circles.
The Boko Haram terrorists had tried to attack the convoy of the then theatre Commander but were immediately repelled in the process as many of them fell to the superior firepower of the troops in the convoy, with a significant number fleeing and abandoning their weapons which were recovered by troops of the Nigerian army.

Unfortunately, the Nigerian army lost two of its men in the attack but the devastation in the camp of the terrorists was such that they could not re-engage the soldiers as they had wanted to but ran with their tales between their legs.
Mischief makers are however already in town with all sorts of insinuations with a certain online publication, based in the US and run by key political opposition figures in Nigeria, Sahara Reporters, leading the rumour mill by trying to link the current redeployment of personnel to that incident.
The attempt to link that foiled attack with Tuesday’s redeployment has produced a mass of rubbish that neither makes any sense nor appeals to any sense of reasoning. Apparently concocted to deceive the gullible and put the army on the defensive, many Nigerians have seen through the tale and have since written it off as ludicrous.

General Adeniyi, as stated in the release by the army has now been redeployed from the theatre command in the North-east which he headed to the army research centre in Abuja while Major-General, F. Yahaya, will now lead the Boko Haram war as theatre commander of Operation Lafiya.
The affected personnel are in high spirits because they understand that deployment in the military , the world over, is routine and is done to rekindle spirit of the officers and to enhance professionalism.
It could also involve the movement of forces within operational areas, outer positioning of forces into a formation for battle or relocation of forces and material to desired operational areas.
In the US army usage, deployment encompasses all activities from origin or home station through destination, specifically including intra-continental United States, intertheater, and intratheater movement legs, staging, and holding areas and can last from 90 days to 15 months.
It can also mean the return of service members in a combat zone to their prior station.
The current deployment of the generals as well as other top military officers in Nigeria, therefore is another normal exercise meant to reinvigorate the system for greater professional effectiveness and professional efficiency.
It is also aimed at injecting new hands to further actualize the vision of the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusufu Buratai as Chief of Army Staff, .the Nigerian army has benefited from such movements and have helped in terms of new strategies to prosecute the war against terrorism and insurgency in Nigeria.

In 2019, the Chief of Army Staff, approved the redeployment and posting of senior officers to different positions.
In that exercise, E.O Ogunkale, a major-general, was moved from Command Army Records, Lokoja to Defence Headquarters as Chief of Defence Standards and Evaluation and A.O. Uthman, also a major-general, was redeployed from Nigerian Army School of Signals, Apapa, Lagos to Defence Headquarters as Director, Defence Communications; while Maj.-Gen. O.O Soleye was moved from Defence Headquarters to Headquarters, Command Army Records, Lokoja as Commander.

In 2018, the Nigerian Army also redeployed 103 officers including Major General Abba Dikko,the Commander, Theatre Command of Operation Lafiya Dole while a Deputy Vice Chancellor was appointed for the newly established Nigerian Army University Biu, NAUB.
In 2017 the Nigerian Army redeployed and amended postings of seven major generals, 45 brigadier generals and 597 other officers in one of its most far-reaching shake-up exercise in recent years
To further demonstrate the regularity of such exercises, the Army cancelled the redeployment of Adeniyi Oyebade, two months after he was transferred from being General Officer Commanding of Nigerian Army 1 Division, Kaduna, to Army Headquarters in Abuja as chief of logistics.
Many who are aware of military drills and operations know that deployment of personnel is a constant feature.
That is why innuendos by mischief makers and other publications like Sahara Reporters to taint the recent exercise has failed to find accommodation on the minds of rational beings.
It has been exposed as yet another attempt to find faults when there is none and a failed attempt to award credit to those fighting Nigeria where they do not deserve and it is a shameful and most unfortunate thing anybody could try to wish for his country.

Ibekwe is ex- US marine and public affairs analyst based in Lagos.

Amnesty International, Foreign Newswires as Nigeria’s Second Coronavirus

By Ahmed Danfulani

Fear has been sold to the world with the outbreak of pandemic of Coronavirus (CONVID-19) in Wuhan, China. In just a few weeks, the entire world has been reduced to one huge symbol of deaths and of mass graves.

The phobia of Coronavirus is real and deafening. The victims are as scary as much as the non-victims. Like a verse in the legendary South African reggae star, Lucky Dube, everybody “is the next victim,” unless the haunting image of Coronavirus is pulled down globally. It has reached the shores of Nigeria with about 30 reported cases of infected people, with one death so far.

Regrettably though, Nigeria has seen enough mass deaths in her history in a decade to the extent the global alarm over Coronavirus induced deaths is mincemeat or child’s play in the psyche of Nigerians. Boko Haram insurgency, with its latest tincture, ISWAP terrorism have made mass deaths a regular menu in the country.

Can Nigerians excuse themselves from gory and nauseating memories of mass deaths and graves spurred by vicious armed bandits, armed separatists campaigners, herders/ farmers conflagrations, communal upheavals, militancy or religious extremists and even political thugs or violent election riggers? These memories are evergreen and recurs from time to time.

However, it should not be misconstrued that recounting these orgies of recurrent circle of violence and deaths in Nigeria implies an endorsement or preference for it than the epidemic of Coronavirus. But it’s simply, a parodic attempt to establish how Nigerians are inured to mass deaths in other more demonic forms in the country than Coronavirus.

And to date, Nigeria has been grappling with silent, but very sophisticated layers of Coronavirus in other colorations. Nigeria has been battling things far more deadly and contagious than Coronavirus which neither the military nor the civil authorities have fully appreciated its intensity in recent times.

The determination of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration to blight insecurities in Nigeria, especially insurgency is unflinchingly consistent. And the unquenchable zeal and courageously gallant outings of the Nigerian military to also eliminate Boko Haram/ ISWAP terrorism in Nigeria is self-evident. But again, it is variously frustrated in more stealthy ways than the global invasion and spread of Coronavirus pandemic.

Many Nigerians may not be aware of the dark forces against the resurgence and festering of Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism in the country. The problem with these latest security threats is not because insurgents or terrorists are so powerful to the level of repressing the Nigerian military. It is also beyond the contemplation that the FGN has not done commendably enough to terminate the reign of insecurities in Nigeria.

The major issues in the Northeast are not really the Boko Haram terrorists who, who like Coronavirus, sneak to hack people to death at will, abduct and destroy public infrastructures in the region. It is also not the evil men who masquerade under the cover of NGOs to subject the already traumatized, frail and suffering victims of insurgency to inhumane and degrading treatment after taking so much from the outside world to assist them survive.

More than a few will also be shocked that it is also not the usual political actors who appear on the stage only when Boko Haram is at the losing end with their crocodile tears. But they initiate nothing to get youths off the streets to divert their attention from conscription as foot soldiers of terrorism.

From these ponders, one will therefore hastily guess that it is Coronavirus pandemic that is Nigeria’s problem. But the real problem in the Northeast shockingly is not Coronavirus. After all it hasn’t been discovered in Nigeria beyond manageable stage, after the first case in Lagos.

On the contrary, the greatest existential threat to Nigeria now in respect to her battles with terrorism and insecurities is the role of Amnesty International (AI) and some foreign cables such as Reuters and AFP. They have constituted the worse stumbling blocks to Nigeria’s match towards exculpation from insurgencies and insurrections.

AI and these foreign online platforms have been the major disasters that our country has faced in its war against Boko Haram and it is hideously more potent and lethal than Coronavirus. And insurgency has attracted more deaths in Nigeria than Coronavirus has ever recorded anywhere in the world outside Wuhan in China.

There is every clue to suspect AI and these foreign newswires as agents and fake news purveyors for terrorists and their external sponsors. Not only that they fabricate and circulate fake news on the FGN and the Nigerian Military’s confrontations with Boko Haram, but their extreme focus of propaganda on Nigeria on the fake side of news is repulsive.

AI has morphed into a daily news medium in Nigeria; inventing and syndicating news about terrorism and the Nigerian military encounters with terrorism in the Northeast. The common denominator among them all is that their published reports are permanently crafted to indict the Nigerian troops and Military authorities.

It does not usually have named attributions, but speculative and propagandic. It drapes with everything which conveys the message that these actors are into active promotion of cyberspace terrorism. And the world frowns at it and there are laws which prohibits it.

Nonetheless, these vicious enemies of Nigeria make generous, but unprovable allegations against the Nigerian military such as human rights violations, extra-judicial killings, sexual abuse of women, use of child soldiers, starvation of Boko Harm suspects in military detention facilities, unlawful arrests and detentions and sundry such constructions of offences of war crimes.

But sadly, while they level such allegations on the military, these suspected agents of terrorists are less bothered to confirm their findings from military authorities before rushing to the press with the scanty findings from what they usually term “eyewitness” account. And the “eyewitness accounts” are usually their planted agents in the theatre of war in the Northeast or outrightly cooked sources.

Therefore, they reel out very alarming and unsubstantiated casualty figures. When terrorists triumph against troops or not, a news story is crafted to give credit to the “invincible” might of terrorists, to cause anxiety in Nigerians and dampen the spirit of troops. These agents are normally the first to break the news of Boko Haram attacks on any community, an indication that they might be privy to such attacks before its occurrence. It means they are likely working closely with terrorists.

In its 2015/2016 annual report on Nigeria, AI levelled such senseless allegations of war crimes against the Nigerian Army prosecuting the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast as well as other security agencies.

However, when several probe panels invited them to substantiate the allegations, AI hedged and adduced excuses on lack of trust in members of the Panel. From its reaction, it was clear that AI was functioning like an opposition party or alternative government in Nigeria. And it had no evidence to prove the allegations.

And the scheming of AI and its apostates is to perpetually and falsely accuse Nigerian Military of war crimes in prosecution of the counter-insurgency combats in the country. And therefore, frustrate plans by countries of goodwill to sell weapons to Nigeria to battle Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, citing human rights violations and war crimes against Nigeria.

So, AI and these online newswires are Nigeria’s worse version of Coronavirus more than the pandemic itself. Any country will be glad to accept Coronavirus, but pray fervently never to have these agents of darkness gang-up or occupy their country in the guise of anything.

Nigerians should not forget that AI and these newswires as well as their external sponsors are very determined to set the people against themselves. Over the years, this has been the game plan, which is designed to finally plunge Nigeria into an interminable war like in Syria or Sudan. But the plans have so far not succeeded because Nigerians are aware and have refused to fall for their cheap propaganda. Nigerians are urged to remain steadfast and vigilant.

Danfulani wrote from Yola, Adamawa State.

Blackmail as new cash cow for activists

Human right and social- justice crusaders, otherwise known as activists have moved up the social ladder in Nigeria.

They are no longer the harassed and brutalised lot locked up in dungeons, sacrificing their comfort for any cause they believe in.

They have joined the upwardly mobile in Nigeria who drive exotic cars and spend their evenings at lush gardens in the Federal Capital, Abuja with movie and pop stars.

That lifestyle used to be the exclusive preserve of con men also known as 419 and later internet fraudsters who stage scams to swindle the unsuspecting public of their hard earned money.

The crusaders for democracy and social justice in Nigeria have had their reputation tainted by desperation to make it and have found a gold mine in the offer by corrupt politicians to blackmail either the president of Nigeria or the military.

Investigations revealed that blackmailing the Nigerian president was discovered to be a gold mine shortly before the 2019 elections which the president won with a big margin.

The desperation to taint the image of the military especially that of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai is another goldmine, due to the success of the military operation in the Northeast which has shored up the credibility of the president in delivering the promise he made to the electorate in 2015.

President Buhari had won the 2015 election partly due to the belief that his wealth of experience in the army would help in curbing the terror being unleashed on Nigerians by the Boko Haram terrorists.

Our investigation found out that opposition politicians shortly before the 2019 general elections, in the bid to detract from the high points of the Buhari administration decided to destroy the main thing standing for him; his credibility. This is as all polls conducted before the election indicated that Buhari stood a better chance of winning the election due to his popularity.

The plot was contrived to work on staining his image before the electorate and the international community.

The strategy is said to be aimed at cutting down on his large followership in the northern part of the country and to make it impossible for him to penetrate the southern part which he seemed set to do.

The inclusion of the international community was to regurgitate the age old fable about not being a democrat so that his foreign support base which helped in 2015 would be weakened.

Top opposition figures, our findings revealed, reached out to some individuals and organisations who were known activists for that purpose while offering to pay good money for the ‘project.’

As hard currencies were being mobilised for the purpose, sources in the opposition disclosed to our correspondents that the buzz caught the attention of other intending freeloaders who also aimed to make something for themselves and before the elections would come, the queue of activists demanding a deal became quite long.

Our investigations showed that the bait dangled before the activists who became steeped in the project was responsible for some of the negative publicity against the Nigerian president in the media during the 2019 elections.

An Abuja based social crusader who partook in one of the campaigns and made ‘good money’ for himself, told our correspondent on grounds of anonymity that he knew from then that the business will not go away in a hurry due to the money in their circulation and the desperation of the opposition to paint the president in bad light.

Rather than abate after the elections, things got more serious when the processes of litigation over the election commenced.

The opposition was hopeful that it would get a favourable judgment and intensified its bid to win ‘in the court of public opinion.’

He said that was boom period for the activists as the desperation of the opposition took another dimension.

Another activist who said he got a slice of the action after the elections admitted that he got introduced into the business by a friend who was an associate of an opposition politician

” I was with them one day when they now asked me if could use my creativity to earn something for myself and I said yes.

“That was how I stated and we held several meetings and I was assigned a particular task and topic; I performed well and was paid and the game continued,” he said.

But even as the opposition lost at the courts, the business of blackmailing the president and the military has not stopped.

This is because the military was not unrelenting in making the president proud by defeating insurgency.

Only last week, our reporters stumbled on a meeting in the Wuse area of Abuja where people were being asked to turn in their scripts for vetting and possible reimbursement

Our reporter found out that the activists are usually given topics to develop and blackmail the president and that any that gets the go ahead of the opposition receive as much as $10, 000.

The delivery could either be in form of a news story written against the president or military which is circulated to the mainstream media or by direct confrontation with constituted authority.

An insider told our correspondent that “what you get depends on your target. For PMB they pay as $100, 000 which is about 38million naira while for the military the pay as much as $50,000.

It is not immediately clear whether such activists are working in cahoots with the insurgents terrorising Nigeria in the Northeast but an insider told our reporter that ‘for now it is the politicians trying to get at the president.’

The recruitment of the activists for the purpose of destroying the image of the President our finding revealed is done in two stages.

The first is call up those who have for one reason or the other fallen out with the president and the second is to reach out to the camp of the supporters of the president to give the campaign of calumny a modicum of credibility.

Sources also revealed that even some clerics have also been recruited into the business.

Attempts to confirm if the police is aware of this did not yield fruit but police sources say the authorities may soon swoop in on the activists as what they were involved in was criminal

A top member of the ruling party who asked not to be named when contacted, said the party is aware and will soon take an action on those involved.

CSOs kick over SaharaReporters antagonistic stand on Army

The Conference of Civil Society Organisations for Peace, Security and National Development has criticised the continuous stand of an online news portal, Sahara Reporters to ridicule the efforts of men and officers of the Nigerian Army who are in the battle field to end the Book Haram scourge in the north east region.

The CSOs in a statement signed by its conveners, Mike Msuaan and Comr. Adamu Kabir Matazu reacting to a video clip published by the news portal alleging that the Army was overpowered by the insurgent in the war front maintained that the current global challenge occasioned by the dreadful corona virus ought to ignited humanity in the management of the news portal explaining that their actions were not only unpatriotic but barbaric.

The news portal had alleged that by the admission of the Theatre Commander of Operation Lafia Dole that over 100 RPG’s and Mortars were fired by Boko Haram Terrorists showed that they possessed more superior weapons than the Army.

But the CSOs argued that the news portal and its co-travellers failed to acknowledge the gallantry of the Army that over powered the terrorists that engaged them with sophisticated weapons but was rather quick to insinuate that the men and officers were weak and incapable of taking on Boko Haram Terrorists.

“The action of the news portal smacks of professionalism and patriotism. It is sad that any sane human being would at a time when the world is literally shorting down as a result corona virus that is ravaging would decide to take side with terrorists to demoralise the troops.

“A cursory review of the video will reveal that the Theatre Commander was encouraging an officer who was becoming demoralised as a result of the attacks, but the news portal rather reported that the men and officers were weak and running away from the battle field. We find this deliberate mischief disturbing and should be condemned by all well meaning citizens.

“In a war situation, there must be casualties and we are not oblivious of this fact. However, misrepresenting facts deliberately to demoralised the troops and emboldened the terrorists is to say the least unfortunate and condemnable”, the statement noted.

The CSOs also urged the Chief of Army Staff never to allow himself to be distracted by those who have elected cause mayhem and work for the disintegration of the country.

Foreign-backed Sahara Reporters instigating mutiny amongst troops – CATE

The Coalition Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) believes there is a deliberate agenda by online medium, Sahara Reporters, to trigger mutiny amongst Nigerian troops on the frontlines.

CATE says it came to this conclusion having examined the Omoyele Sowore-owned portal’s reportage on the military and the insurgency war in the last three years.

In a statement signed by president Gabriel Onoja on Tuesday, CATE described SR as an enemy of Nigeria, promoting external interests against the country, doing so by also violating ethical standards.

The centre cited two recent instances where Sahara brought its devious motives against Nigeria to the fore; a report claiming that soldiers have been infected by coronavirus and another alleging troops maltreating civilians.

CATE, therefore, warned Sahara Reporters to quit cyberspace terrorism, having been known to embrace foreign interests against Nigeria’s fight against Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism.

It further advised the medium to be mindful of the legal provisions of their actions.

Read full statement below:

The Centre Against Terrorism and Extremism (CATE) observes with utmost dismay the deliberate intentions of an online Newswire with an identity as “Sahara reporters” to perpetually cosset actions against the Nigerian Military, which by every interpretation constitutes supportive acts of Cyberspace terrorism.

In the last one month, when the entire world has been brought down by the global Covid-19 pandemic, with economies of even super world countries grounding to a sudden halt and a corresponding reduction in sponsorship of international terrorism, Sahara reporters has enlivened it in Nigeria.

Nigerians must know that before this era, Sahara reporters had satisfactorily established themselves as masked agents of foreign sponsors of terrorism in Nigeria by their reportage. This online publication has assertively asserted itself over the years as the greatest and unrepentant enemies of Nigeria and Nigerians to the extents it promotes external interests against the country so brazenly.

Those abreast with how Sahara reporters begun and its funding to date should not be surprised at the replay of this information. And the Sahara reporters’ medium does it in more ways than imagined, especially on Nigerian troops battling Boko Haram criminals and ISWAP terrorists in Nigeria’s Northeast.

They satisfy their external paymasters through invention or contraption of outright falsehood or fake news and rush to hasty publications of same about terrorists “triumphant” strides. But in all their reports in the last three years, the medium freely violates ethical standards by quoting unverified death figures against the Nigerian Military or Nigerians in the Northeastern part of the country without confirmation from appropriate authorities.

Sahara reporters most favourite past time now is when it promotes all manner of fake news against the Nigerian military battling to preserve the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Nigeria. No one needs a soothsayer to know, the medium has perfectly aligned itself with their agents of darkness, fabricating and publishing falsified terrorists attacks on Nigeria to embolden terrorists. It’s done with fake and escalated casualty figures to celebrate the death of soldiers and dampen morale of troops together with their superior officers.

Even as the professionals as Sahara reporters lay claims, they write such stories with nameless attributions, just targeted at derailing the counter-insurgency operations and dampening the spirit or resoluteness of the Nigerian military or troops to terminate terrorism in the country. CATE has noticed that Sahara reporters is all out to instigate or trigger mutiny amongst troops who will find handy excuses to abandon their duty posts at the frontlines in Nigeria’s Northeast.

CATE is astounded with Sahara reporters’ consistent focus of sexed-up reports on anti-terrorism combats in the Northeast. If they find nothing or notice that Nigerians are enjoying some respite and recovery from the insurgency ravaged Northeast, through the courageous efforts of troops, the online medium cooks anything to rekindle the confidence of their external masters.

For instance, in the March 28, 2020 edition of Sahara reporters with the screaming headline, “BREAKING: Two Nigerian Soldiers Test Positive For Coronavirus In Borno.” It was a three-paragraph story and it said nothing outside scratching the surface. The opening paragraph said, “Two Nigerian soldiers have tested positive for Coronavirus in Monguno, Borno State, Sahara reporters can confirm.”

What is new about Covid-19? Did Nigeria invent Covid-19? To what extent has Sahara reporters investigated Covid-19 in Nigeria to report to Nigerians that it has found it expedient to negatively profile Nigerian troops at the warfront? Its part of the medium’s conspiracy with their foreign sponsors. Terrorists themselves dread Covid-19 and it explains why the tempo of terrorism in Nigeria has waned because Iranians can no longer sponsor them.

And to further betray the medium’s devious motives against Nigeria, Sahara reporters, again wrote in the same story; “It is unclear if the Nigerian Center for Disease Control (NCDC) had tallied the newly recorded cases to the number of confirmed cases in the country….” The basic rule in journalism is that, when in doubt, leave out the aspect in the story. But they played it because they are on a mission.

Please Nigerians, CATE is sampling just two recent reports from Sahara reporters. The second report from same medium is even worse. The medium quoted the Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Major Gen. Olusegun Adeniyi, as lamenting how Nigerian troops “recorded heavy casualty during a recent encounter with the hoodlums.” The report branded terrorists “hoodlums” and not terrorists anymore. This is barefaced mischief.

Sahara reporters proceeded to circulate the re-circulated videos of soldiers maltreating civilians at no named place and attributed it to Nigeria. All over the world soldiers use same camouflage uniform (khaki). The Sahara reporters photographer would have convinced Nigerians by showing at least a label of a signpost where they claimed Nigerian troops manhandled civilians. But no, because the news medium is on a hatchet job.

Unfortunately, none of any verisimilitude sign that could be linked to Nigeria was indicated in the video which Sahara reporters posted on their website. It’s possible that the medium lifted the photograph from Chad, Niger or even Cameroun and impinged it on Nigeria to serve their known agenda for their external paymasters. This is an uncharitable and unpatriotic act.

This is very unprofessional and unethical. Sahara reporters should settle their grudge elsewhere, but spare the Nigerian military at frontlines. Nigerians have no time to play politics now with issues of security.

CATE is unequivocally stating that Sahara reporters is promoting mischief, falsehood and dishonest objectives to ruin the gains so far made on the war against insurgency in Nigeria. Nigerians beware!! The medium is into active promotion of cyberspace terrorism, by using foreign interests against Nigeria to surreptitiously support Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorism. Sahara reporters regrettably has marketed itself as the terrorists’ chief propaganda corps in Nigeria.

But let Sahara reporters be reminded about the Nigerian law, gazatted as “Terrorism (Prevention) Amendment Act 2013,” Section 5, subsection 1, A & B which says; “Any person who knowingly, in any manner, directly or indirectly, solicits or renders support (a) for the commission of an act of terrorism, or (b) to a terrorist group, commits an offence under this Act and is liable on conviction or imprisonment for a term of not less than twenty years…For the purposes of this section, “Support” includes incitement to commit a terrorist act through the internet .”

CATE pleads with Sahara reporters to be mindful of the legal provisions, its implications and draw a distinctive line between journalism and support of terrorists individuals/groups through their online (internet) publications.

Understanding Sahara Reporters and the interest of terrorists

By Idoko Ainoko

When the matter borders on the security of Nigeria, Sahara Reporters has on several occasions acted as if it does not care about the peaceful and cooperate existence of the country. 
Going by the way the online medium  concoct stories, twists facts and embellish negative occurrences in favour of insurgents, terrorists and other the enemies of Nigeria, one can say without fear of contradiction that Sahara Reporters is not serving the interest of Nigeria.
The medium has been consistent with this style of reportage that one cannot but ask in whose interest it is carrying out the all the negative press about Nigeria and its security agencies. 
Last year, a national daily inadvertently reported details of the preparation by the Nigerian army to crush the Boko Haram terrorists and many media managers rose in condemnation of the act of indiscretion by the media house.
In a paper presented at a workshop for the media and the military in Kaduna, chairman of the editorial board of Thisday newspapers, Segun Adeniyi categorically stated that what the media house did was wrong.
But because it was a one off case, the military and other concerned stakeholders immedlaiey put the episode behind them and moved ahead.
That cannot however be likened to the case of Sahara Reporters which consistently takes sides with the terrorists in the reportage of conflicts in the North eastern part of the country.
When a media organisation allows itself to be biased to the extent that it is seen as the mouthpiece of criminal and u patriotic elements, then it should bow its head in shame. 

The media is expected to inform the general public, but such information must be factual and for common good.
The Nigerian army, on the other hand has a statutory duty to protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and it has since 2015 when the current administration was inaugurated being doing that successfully. 
The army has successfully liquidated the base of the Boko Haram terrorists, set many of their captives free and recaptured seized territories from them.
It has also made it difficult for the insurgents to attack communities at will and has recently been able to foil such attempts in Biu, Garkida and Maiduguri among other places. 
But Sahara Reporters most times when the Nigerian army makes such commendable move against the insurgents, prefers to go to sleep.
It closes its eyes when troops overrun invading forces of the insurgents and turns a blind eye when the insurgents suffer casualty. 
But any move by the insurgents or acts of error by the Nigerian army is never missed by Sahara Reporters as it is embellished and blown out of proportion to make them look like they are having an upper hand in the war.
Two months ago, Sahara Reporters reported that the Boko Haram dealt the Nigerian army a heavy blow when the terrorists attempted to ambush one of the theatre Commanders but were subdued and neutralised. 
The army felt embarrassed by the way Sahara Reporters reported the  incident that it had to clear the air on the matter saying it was rather the Boko Haram insurgents that were decimated at the site of a failed ambush sprung against the theater Commanders’ Convoy.
The army said, “In a clear display of misguided desperation to stage a reprisal following the recent neutralisation of several of their top commanders by troops of Operation Lafiya Dole, on 6 January 2020, some marauding elements of the criminal Boko Haram insurgents laid and eventually sprung an ambush against the convoy of the Theater Commander Operation Lafiya Dole, Major General Olusegun Adeniyi.
“The Theatre Commander’s convoy came under the criminals ineffective and uncoordinated fire from Anti-Aircraft Guns, Machines Guns, Rocket Propelled Grenades and some of their foot soldiers about 2 Kilometers to Auno in Kaga LGA of Borno State while returning from Jakana where he visited troops’ location following his earlier meeting with the Executive Governor of Borno State, Professor Babagana Umara Zulum at Auno.
“In a commendable demonstration of bold action in battle, the Theatre Commander led the gallant troops of his convoy to engage the criminal Boko Haram Insurgents with superior firepower, subduing them and thereafter assaulting the ambush site with his men thereby causing the criminal insurgents to flee the location in disarray.”
In that incident alone, 20 rounds of 7.62mm Special ammunition, 2 rounds of 7.62mm NATO ammunition, one camouflage trouser, one Nigeria Police Force fragmental jacket, 2 AK 47 Rifles and 3 AK 47 Rifle magazines were captured from the fleeing insurgents by the army. 
But Sahara did not see all of that. 
Before that, Sahara Reporters on its website had also published a story with the caption “Nigerian Army Presents Unverified “Lt Col” To Refute Petition Against Military Hierarchy” on its website to disparage the army.
In this report as noted earlier, Sahara Reporters committed itself to support for terrorism and fighting Nigeria, its people, its military and particularly the Nigerian Army.
This is because no such thing happened because the serving officer was found not to be the author of the petition as the officer in question dissociated himself from the so-called petition in a press conference he personally attended.
When the army called a press conference to clarify the matter, Sahara Reporter chose not to attend. 
The type of stories you are sure to see on Sahara Reporters website about the Nigerian army are fabrications about defeat, glorificarion of insurgents and any act of misdemeanors by any soldier.
The onlibe news platform has obviously become a mouthpiece of the enemies of Nigeria. 
When they are not obsessed with the choice of President Buhari on who serve the nation as service Chief, they are  providing full support for the terrorists just to see that the nation is defeated or they are serving as a platform for the disintegration of the country .
This is clearly not just unethical and unprofessional but unpatriotic. Those behind Sahara Reporters should realise that they can achieve nothing in the long run if they continue on this path of perfidy and should as a matter of insurgency retrace their steps. 

Ainoko wrote this piece from Kaduna.

Lockdown: Your ID Card is Your Pass, Minister Tells Journalists

All working journalists and other media staff in Lagos and Ogun states as well as the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have been advised to
use their valid Identity Cards to access their places of work and assignment venues during the 14-day lockdown directed by the President
in the two states and the FCT.

In a statement issued in Abuja on Monday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said the clarification becomes
necessary in view of the inadequate time to properly accredit working journalists in the affected states and the FCT during the period.

He said members of the media are expected to continue to provide essential services during the lockdown, in order to keep Nigerians well updated on the COVID-19 pandemic.

Covid-19: Lukman backs Buhari over restriction in Lagos, Abuja, faults PDP, others

A chieftain of the All progressive congress (APC) and the Director General of the party’s governors forum, Dr Salihu Lukman has thrown his weight behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s decision to declare a state of emergency in Lagos and Ogun states as well as the federal capital territory (FCT) as part of measures to contain the spread of the Covid 19 infectious disease.

Lukman in a statement Monday in Abuja, faulted the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and a senior advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Ebun-olu Adegboruwa, who declared that the measures announced by the President was illegal and unconstitutional.

The PGF chief argued that the decision by the President was borne out of the urgent need to ensure the wellbeing of the citizenry against the threat posed by COVID 19 in line with international best practices.

According to him: “Clearly, these responses completely ignore the gravity of the challenges and imagine that the problems can be reduced to politics and legal arguments. They all miss the point, very conveniently, that the world, including Nigeria, is fighting a war that is a threat to human life in a manner that the world has never experienced before.

“It is an unconventional challenge such that the enemy, Covid-19, doesn’t respect politics, legality or recurse to any form of interest. It was in fact in recognition of this that the President declared that we are all as individuals the ‘greatest weapon to fight’ the war.

“After all the hue and cry, prior to the President’s broadcast, lamenting the slow responses from government in taking measures to protect citizens against the spread of the virus in the country, one would have expect some attempt to direct attention in the country to strengthen the capacity of the government to succeed in containing the spread of the virus.

” Or could PDP be arguing that there are other more effective measures to contain the spread of the virus, which the President has failed to take? Or could Mr. Adegboruwa be implying that there are legal provisions that could be invoked that would ensure containment of the spread of the virus while at the same time respecting the rights of citizens to move freely?

“Why should we, as Nigerians, be so unfair to ourselves and our leaders to the extent that it would appear we have lost sight of the fact that to be rational and logical, is first and foremost to ensure the protection of life. Once human life is at risk, we must take every step required to safeguard human life.

” Coincidentally, this was the point amplified by Lee Hsien Loong, the Sigaporean Prime Minister, on the same day of President Buhari’s broadcast, while featuring on CNN Global Public Square hosted by Fareed Zakaria.

“With Singapore today recognised as one of the successful countries to have controlled Covid-19, Mr. Loong stressed the point: “The key thing is that people must understand what we are facing and must support what we are doing and cooperate with us and have confidence in the government and we put lots of efforts in explaining to them what is happening, speaking to them and I have done it a few times directly on television.

“So people know that we are level and we tell it straight, we are transparent. If there is bad news, we tell you, if there are things which needs to be done, we also tell you. I think that we have to maintain that trust because if people don’t trust you, even if they have the right measures, it’s going to be hard to get it implemented.”

“The position of Mr. Loong underlines our problem in Nigeria, which is that we don’t trust our government and our leaders. With almost daily Ministerial briefing by the Minister of Health, Dr. Osagie Ehanire and his team, the Sunday, March 29 speech by the President should have given Nigerians the needed confidence to strengthen their belief about the commitment of government to fight and contain Covid-19. Instead, what we have is distrust and commitment to undermine initiatives of government.

“This would appear to be setting us up for failure in a way that will cost the lives of many citizens, which may include some of us that may unfortunately become infected by Covid-19.

“We deceive ourselves to imagine that some of us are free from the virus, on account of which we could be tempted to politicise the problem or indulge in legal arguments. Besides, one will be tempted to ask what legal process did we invoke either as pro-democracy activists or as unionists when we declared sit-at-home under Campaign for Democracy (CD) and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) in 1993, 2000 and in all the cases of our protest campaigns against the military and increases in petroleum prices?

“If the law gives us the right to protest, did we really follow the processes provided under the law to prosecute all our sit-at-home campaigns? Mr. Adegboruwa, being an active participant and leader in some of those campaigns may want to humbly reflect on some of those realities and candidly reassess his position about the so-called legal requirement for restriction of movement in Abuja, Lagos and Abeokuta.”