NIGERIA: Gunmen killed 36 in attacks in northern Nigeria

Armed bandits killed people, burn down houses in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states.

 

Gunmen killed 36 people in two attacks in northern Nigeria on Wednesday, a day after fighters fired rocket-propelled grenades amid worsening security in Africa’s most populous nation, officials and residents said.

The series of attacks by armed bandits occurred over the past 60 hours with 18 people killed each in villages of Kaduna and Katsina states and several others injured.

The assailants burned down houses, displacing the villagers.

In a statement quoted by the Daily Post website, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs Samuel Aruwan said the attacks in that state followed an air operation by security forces in which “several armed bandits” were killed.

 

Hundreds of people have been killed in northern Nigeria by criminal gangs carrying out robberies and kidnappings.

The attacks have added to security challenges in Nigeria, which is struggling to contain insurgencies in the northeast and communal violence over grazing rights in central states.

The latest attack comes less than a month after President Muhammadu Buhari replaced his longstanding military chiefs amid the worsening violence, with the armed forces fighting to reclaim other northeastern towns overrun by fighters.

Last week, unidentified gunmen killed a student in an attack on a boarding school in Nigeria’s north-central Niger state and kidnapped 42 people, including 27 students.

 

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NIGERIA: Insurgency and visa-on-arrival policy

Members of the Lassa vigilante group, in Borno state. Photo credit: Center on Conflict and Development

Boko Haram, ISIS, bandits, kidnapping, yahoo-yahoo boys did not come to Nigeria because of the implementation of visa on arrival policy.

The Nigerian government in March 2020 suspended its visa on arrival policy over fears of further spread of coronavirus. The Secretary to the Government of the Federation Boss Mustapha made the announcement at a media briefing on Wednesday, March 20, 2020.

Visa on arrival is not a bad policy in itself, but the concern is whether the country has developed the right capacity to implement it without undermining Nigeria’s national security and assets. It is unfair to place the emergence of Boko Haram on the implementation of the visa on arrival policy.

Nigeria’s visa policy was first presented by President Buhari on February 4 2020, at the Council chambers of the Presidential Villa, Abuja. The policy, according to Buhari, was announced to attract innovation, specialised skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity in Nigeria. “The new visa policy provides an avenue to achieve African integration by the introduction of visas on arrival for short visits to Nigeria for holders of passports of African Union (AU) countries.”

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, recently gave an unfair assessment by calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately proscribe the Miyetti Allah groups existing in the country as was done to IPOB as the first step to ending the raging herdsmen crisis in the country. The association also urged the federal government to review its open visa or visa arrival policy as it had allowed armed herders from West African countries easy access into the country.

There is no link between visa on arrival policy and the emergence of Boko Haram. Visa on arrival policy started in 2020 and Mohammed Yusuf founded the sect that became known as Boko Haram in 2002 in Maiduguri, the capital of the north-eastern state of Borno. He established a religious complex and school that attracted poor Muslim families from across Nigeria and neighbouring countries. ... Yusuf’s arrest elevated him to hero status.
 
The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 was intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones. NVP 2020 is a global visa system that will boost internal security because there is biometrics linked to online applications for each applicant. Chances of criminals beating the system are negligible. Biometrics is to be conducted at the port of entry which is a major boost to Nigeria’s national security. The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 has security identity number which is like the national identification number, or national insurance number which helps to boost internal security which is used by the governments of many countries as a means of tracking their citizens, permanent residents, and temporary residents for the purposes of work, taxation, government benefits, health care, and other governmentally-related functions.

I wish to throw more light on the issue of visa on arrival as many people are not aware and usually get embarrassed about it. One cannot acquire a visa on arrival without a letter of approval from the delegation of national security in the country of your origin. So you need somebody to do this at least one or two weeks before your arrival. The Visa on Arrival policy will not compromise the country’s security, that this government together with the relevant stakeholders such as the Office of the National Security (ONS), International Police Organization (INTERPOL), and the Immigration Department will profile visitors to make sure that they do not have a questionable character before entering the country.

The Minister of Interior, Ogbeni Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, has said that the visa policy took into consideration the specific needs of foreigners who would want to visit the country, without compromising the security of the country. The minister said the policy had followed a process that considered the security, economy and territorial integrity of the country, and would only be issued after due diligence with other security components of the country. “Especially, the new visa policy will be helpful to diaspora Nigerians by birth who can now use other passports to visit the country because some countries do not allow dual citizenship,’’ he added.

In a technical presentation, the Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, said the service had already put in place a technological hub, called the Migrants Information and Data Analysis (MIDAS), to ensure strict compliance with the conditions for the issuance of the visa. Babandede assured that issues of corruption or bribery will be controlled by the automated system while allaying fears of possible infiltration of the economy by criminals and terrorists.

He said the new policy has 79 categories, which include health, education, tourism etc, pointing out that the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, National Intelligence Agency (NIA) and Interpol also made inputs into the system, and would be carried along in the processing before approvals. The policy as not being a bad policy said they are concerned about the intelligence level of the Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, to track those coming in with wrong intentions.

President Muhammadu Buhari last year in Abuja explained that the new Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 aims at attracting innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement local capacity. The President said, “The implementation of the Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council.’’

With the official launch of the Nigeria Visa Policy (NVP) 2020 by President Buhari, here are some salient points to note:

• A greater part of 2019 was devoted to conceiving and enunciating the policy, with retreats, conferences and engagements with stakeholders by the Nigeria Immigration Service. These held in August, October, and December, in Lagos, Benin, and Abuja, respectively. It was, therefore, not a hasty decision.
• Visa on Arrival to be issued only at airports, not at land borders.
• There are three categories of visas: short visit, temporary, and permanent residence.
• From the previous six, there are now 79 classes of visa.
• There is Visa for Diaspora Nigerians by birth, with dual citizenship.
• Visa on Arrival is only for short visits, and there is little chance that visitors will come in to take jobs which should have been for Nigerians.
• The system is automated. No cash transaction, so the chances of corruption are reduced.
• NVP is part of a wider reform ‘NIS Border Strategy, 2019-2023.’
• It holds immense economic benefits for the country. 

As President Buhari said; “The Nigeria Visa Policy 2020 is intended to attract innovation, specialized skills and knowledge from abroad to complement locally available ones...it will support the attainment of a globally competitive economy for Nigeria by building on the efforts of the Presidential Enabling Business Environment Council. The policy is expected to improve the business environment, attract Foreign Direct Investment and boost tourism without compromising national security

 

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Suspected bandits strike in Zamfara, kill 28, injure others

By Amos Tauna

Suspected bandits have killed 28 while several others have sustained different degrees of injuries on Tuesday and Wednesday nights in recent attacks in Babban Rafi village of Gummi Local Government Area of Zamfara State.

The killing is coming on the heels of concrete steps taken by the state government towards ensuring peace and reconciliation in most parts of the state.

A community member of the village, who sought for anonymity, said large groups of bandits besieged the village last Tuesday night and surrounded the unsuspecting community, conducting a house to house maiming and killing of the occupants.

He alleged that in the operation, the bandits killed 21 on that night in complete absence of any help from the military or the police. As the bodies of the victims were buried the following Wednesday, members of the bereaved community never suspected that another danger was looming.

The source narrated that in the late night of that Wednesday, when people were in deep mourning over the loss of the 21 killed, he explained, “The killer bandits suddenly reappeared and once again surrounded the community killing seven in the operation.”

He said several households from the community fled the village for safety, regretting that despite the ongoing peace and reconciliation programme being run by the government, he explained, “Some unrepenting bandits are still attacking and killing innocent people dwelling in the remote areas of the state.”

The spokesman of the state police command, SP Shehu Muhammad, confirmed the invasion by the bandits, adding that according to available record, thirteen persons were confirmed dead in the attack.

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Nigeria acquires helicopter gunships to fight Boko Haram, bandits, others – Official

Nigerian Air Force Helicopter.

President Muhammadu Buhari held a crucial security meeting with his military chiefs and other heads of security agencies on Friday.

At the end of the meeting, an attendee told journalists that they “critically looked at everything ” and “are satisfied with the progress” being made to tackle the security challenges.

The Chief of Air Staff, Sadigue Abubakar, also told journalists at the State House in Abuja that the air force had acquired two helicopter gunships as part of the equipment to tackle the criminals including armed bandits in the North West.

“Some of the equipment we are acquiring have started arriving. For the Nigerian Air Force, two helicopter gunships have arrived on the 15th of January and we are now in the process of putting them together which will add to whatever we have,” he said.

Nigeria is battling with various forms of armed gangs and criminals across the country. These include the Boko Haram terrorists in the North-east, armed bandits in the North-west and armed kidnappers across the country.

At least 30 people were killed a couple of days ago and about 100 kidnapped when armed bandits attacked an emir’s convoy in Kaduna.

Friday’s security meeting is the first in 2020, the air chief said.

Read the full briefing by the air chief below.

“You recall that we had a meeting on the 30th December 2019 and today we held another one. The whole essence of the meeting is to critically evaluate what the armed forces of Nigeria, as well as other security and intelligence agencies, are doing with regard to ensuring that the territorial integrity of Nigeria is not undermined by any individual or group of individuals.

“We also looked at the emerging situations in some of our areas particularly acts of banditry in some of the North Western states and other parts of the country and we have critically looked at everything and we are satisfied with the progress we are making, we are satisfied with the support of the federal government is giving the armed forces and other security agencies in terms of procurement of platforms. Substantial number of these equipment are expected by the end of February. Some of the equipment we are acquiring have started arriving. For the Nigerian Air Force, two helicopter gunships have arrived on the 15th of January and we are now in the process of putting them together which will add to whatever we have.

“We are equally expecting other equipment like I said that are meant for the armed forces of Nigeria which we are hoping to get by the end of February. I am sure you are also familiar with the equipment acquisition by the Nigerian Police Force. I am sure you are also aware of the policy on community policing that was approved by Mr. President and it is going to be funded. The whole idea is to ensure that Nigeria is secured and Nigerians can go about pursuing their legitimate aspirations without any hindrance.

“I think basically that is what this meeting is all about and what we want to do here is to reassure Nigerians that the armed forces of Nigeria and indeed security and intelligence agencies in Nigeria are going to continue to work round the clock to ensure that our country is secured and to ensure that nobody undermines the territorial integrity and national sovereignty of Nigeria.

“We are going to keep a very close watch on what is going on and with the equipment that we are getting. Definitely, the challenges we are facing in some of the theatres of operation particularly the North-east will be addressed adequately.

“We are doing everything with the other sister countries in the Lake Chad Basin working together to ensure that the Boko Haram terrorism is brought substantially to an end as quickly as possible.

“I think our appeal is for all Nigerians and other stakeholders to join hands with the armed forces of Nigeria and other security and intelligence agencies to ensure that our country is secured rather than looking at other methods that are likely going to negate the national policy and community policing policy that the Federal Government has approved.

“What we expect is for all stakeholders, local government, state government, other stakeholders to join hands with us, let us work together to ensure that our country is secured.”

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