The Edo Police Command has recovered more than 32 sophisticated guns with several ammunition from suspected criminals in the last five months.
Police Inspector General, Solomon Arase
The State Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Tuesday in Benin.
Ezike said that the command also arrested 100 suspected criminals – kidnappers, rapists, armed robbers and cultists- within the period in review.
He said the feat was recorded following the renewed efforts of the command at ensuring safety and security of lives and property.
Ezike also attributed the achievements to the cooperation of traditional rulers and working synergy with the local vigilance groups.
“We identified that hunters and vigilance groups are critical stakeholders in our quest to rid the state of criminal elements.
“As soon as we established that understanding, we took the fight straight to the den of these criminals.
“The success recorded at the Igarra bank raid was an icing on the cake.
“Our renewed efforts accounted for the calm the state witnessed during the yuletide,’’ he said.
On the forthcoming governorship election in the state, the commissioner said that the Police would work in synergy with political parties and other stakeholders to achieve hitch free poll.
Indications emerged, yesterday, that more heads may roll over the disappearance of $2 billion meant for the procurement of arms and ammunition for the country’s armed forces in the office of the National Security Adviser under the last administration.
Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki
Vanguard learnt that no fewer than 20 top officials of the previous administration, who were alleged to have played active roles in the pilfering of funds meant for the procurement of weapons for the armed forces were taken into custody by the Economic and Finance Crimes Commission, EFCC, for questioning.
Top among those in the kitty of the anti-graft agency, were the former Minister of State for Finance, Ambassador Bashir Yuguda and a former Director of Finance in the Office of the National Security Adviser, Shuaibu Salisu.
A credible source in the EFCC indicated that Yuguda was arrested around 4p.m., yesterday, and taken to the Commission over some spurious payments said to have been made by him for the purpose of arms procurement.
The former minister, who worked under Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was still being questioned by operatives of the EFCC in Abuja as at the time of going to press last night.
Mr. Shuaibu Salisu, described as a very powerful officer in the office of the former NSA, was said to have been arrested and detained for sometime over the various payments that were causing ripples in the office of the NSA.
Operatives of the Commission were said to have extended their dragnet to a former Sokoto State governor, Atthahiro Bafarawa, whose sibling was said to have been identified as one of those who received huge financial payment from the office of the NSA for arms supply.
The operatives were also said to be angling to probe a former defence minister and a one-time national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Halilu Bello, in connection with the arms issue.
A source in the EFCC confirmed that the sons of many top-ranking PDP officials were also found to have received various sums of money under the guise of supplying weapons for the armed forces but did not deliver.
ABUJA — FORMER National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki, retd, whose arrest was ordered by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday over allegations of fictitious award of arms supply contracts, yesterday, countered the Federal Government. He alleged a deliberate campaign to rubbish him by the present administration.
Former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki
President Buhari ordered Dasuki’s arrest after receiving an interim report of the panel set up on August 31 to probe arms procurement between 2007 and 2015, which allegedly indicted him and others.
Asserting that he is neither a thief nor treasury looter, Dasuki alleged that a number of prominent actors of the present administration were key participants in the purchase of arms, even as he stated his readiness for trial to prove his innocence.
The response from Dasuki was his second in as many days and followed the first rebuttal late Tuesday to the presidency’s statement ordering his arrest.
Meanwhile, to enforce the presidential directive, operatives of the Department of State Service, DSS, have stepped up their presence in the residence of the embattled former National Security Adviser.
My story, by Dasuki
Dasuki in his statement denying the allegations against him said: “In a theatrical manner, the Presidency fed the public with many allegations against my person and yet-to-be-named former public officers.
“To draw sympathy, the presidency quoted some absurd findings including extra-budgetary interventions; award of fictitious contracts; 53 failed contracts; payment for jobs without contractual agreements; non-execution of contracts for the purchase of four (4) Alpha jets, bombs and ammunition.
“For undiscerning Nigerians, they may tend to assume that the allegations were true and pronounce the former National Security Adviser guilty as charged.
“The statement issued by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity (to the President), Mr. Femi Adesina, who should know better as a former President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors and a witness to history, was nothing short of propaganda to cast aspersions on Dasuki.
“To set the records straight, Nigerians should appreciate that the AVM John Ode-led panel did not invite the ex-NSA under any guise before arriving at its ambiguous findings. At least, fairness demands that the panel ought to hear from Dasuki instead of its recourse to hasty conclusions. If the panel had been more patient and painstaking, it would have been availed of all relevant documents on some of the jaundiced findings.
“As if acting a script, the Presidency alleged that the panel accused Dasuki of awarding fictitious contracts between March 2012 and March 2015. Contrary to this claim, Dasuki was not the NSA in March 2012 and he could not have awarded any contract in whatever name. The ex-NSA was appointed by ex-President Goodluck Jonathan on June 22, 2012.
“All contracts and accruing payments were with the approval of the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces. Once the ex-President approved, the former NSA paid. So, there was due process for every purchase in line with regulations guiding arms procurement for the Armed Forces.
“And Nigerians should note that all the services generated the types of equipment needed, sourced for suppliers most times and after consideration by the Office of the NSA, the President will approve application for payment. For sensitive sectors (military/security), there was no room for awarding fictitious contracts. The conclusions of the panel were presumptive, baseless and lacked diligence.
“There were no fictitious contracts; contract sums were not diverted and the relevant services in writing acknowledged delivery of equipment. For all procurements, the Nigerian Army, the Air Force and the Nigerian Navy have their contractors.
“While awaiting judicial process on these allegations, it is proper to make some references to show that the presidency was just desperate to hang some former public and military officers who served this nation at the risk of their lives.
Delivery of purchased aircraft, arms, ammunition
“It is laughable for the panel to assume that 4 Alpha jets and 12 helicopters were undelivered. In a memo to the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA), referenced NAF/905/D/CAS of November 28, 2014, the immediate past Chief of Air Staff, Air Chief Marshal Adesola Amosu acknowledged the receipt of the 4x Alpha jets attack aircraft and the helicopters.
“On October 21, 2014, the Chief of Air Staff also confirmed the receipt of F-7 N1 aircraft combination of 250kg bombs and accessories at $2,894,000 with the cost of freight at $1,200,000. The same Air Force confirmed getting 2xTri Shield 36DG Tactical radars.
“In another letter of December 1, 2014 signed by L.S. Alao (on behalf of the Chief of Air Staff), the Air Force said it received five containerized fuel storage and dispensing units with equipment.
“The Nigerian Army wrote the ONSA to acknowledge the delivery of 14 armoured tanks. In a December 13, 2014 memo, the Brigade of Guards thanked ONSA for releasing N30m for RCA, Operation allowance for Troops on Op Urban Sweep II for third and fourth quarters of 2014. This is apart from the installation of CCT Cameras at the Brigade Headquarters, 2 backscatter bomb detection vans and other equipment.
“On November 26, 2014, the immediate past Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh sought for approval of the award of one pair of uniform(in the interim) for the Armed Forces at N165, 375 to El-Jahab Mubarak Nigeria and N330,750,000 for two pairs.
“These are some of the acknowledgement letters submitted to me by the end-users (the services). It is not for me to go and find out whether the equipment were delivered or not. I am not the one keeping the inventories.
“To show that I have nothing to hide, I submitted a comprehensive list of all requests for procurements by the services, the items bought and those equipment being awaited to His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari long before I left office. If there were issues, I should have been questioned. I was just the clearing house; I did not award contracts to my company or proxies. There was no contract awarded or equipment bought without approval from the then President and Commander-In-Chief. I am not a thief or treasury looter as being portrayed.
“In order not to endanger the nation’s security, there are many salient issues and contracts which I cannot put in public domain. I am ready for trial on all these allegations in order to prove to Nigerians that I did nothing untoward in office. We will certainly meet in court.
“I have a lot to tell Nigerians but in the interim, they should not believe some of the allegations as the gospel truths. The good thing is that some of the key actors in the present administration were parts of the past process being viciously challenged.
“As for my tenure as the nation’s NSA, I acted in the interest of the nation and with utmost fear of God. I did not use the office for any self-serving agenda. I occupied the Office of the National Security Adviser at a difficult moment in Nigerian history when terrorism was at its peak and I am leaving posterity to judge me accordingly”.
DSS closes in on Dasuki, increases presence in his home
Meanwhile, a visit to the ex-NSA’s house on 13 John Khadiya Street in the high scale Abuja neighbourhood last night, showed that the DSS had reinforced its presence since Tuesday evening.
Vanguard correspondent found out that no fewer than six DSS men had taken various positions around the neighborhood. But only an operational truck of the service was left by the side of the entrance to the massive compound while two service men sat there discussing.
A few metres away, another service truck with armed operatives parked by, observing movements in and around the area but they did not speak to anyone.
Three other vehicles with unknown persons inside, were also parked nearby but the occupants merely discussed among themselves.
It was not clear if Dasuki was in the expansive compound, sandwiched between the Akwa Ibom Governor’s Lodge and the home of late ex-Bayelsa governor, DSP Alamieyeseigha.
Dasuki’s neighbours have been subjected to the sustained presence of the DSS officials in the past four weeks following the attempt by the service to arrest and prevent him from traveling abroad for medical attention.
The siege to his home has prevailed despite a subsisting court order directing that he be allowed to travel outside the country to get medical help.
The DSS claims that the matter for which he is being wanted has nothing to do with the court order and that he must appear and answer to allegations of mismanaging huge defence budget running into over N600 billion.
The panel, which probed the contracts said to have been awarded by Dasuki, turned in its findings on Tuesday, indicting him and others yet to be unveiled.
THERE were strong indications on Monday that the United States would soon lift the current arms embargo placed on Nigeria.
Buhari and Obama
The Head of a Delegation of the US Congress Committee on Judiciary to the country, Mr. Darrel Issa, said this while speaking with journalists after an indoor meeting with the nation’s defence and military chiefs at the National Defence College, Abuja.
Issa said that the US had commenced the process of lifting the restrictions of the Leahy Law on Nigeria because of the recent moves to professionalise the military by the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Gen. Abayomi Olonisakin, and the service chiefs.
The Leahy Law is a human rights law of the US, which prevents the US State Department and the Department of Defence from selling arms and ammunition to countries whose military are believed to have committed brazen acts of rights violation.
The refusal of the US government to sell arms to the country because of the Leahy law had made Nigeria under former President Goodluck Jonathan to explore other options, including the Black Market, to get desperately needed arms and ammunition to halt the advances of the Boko Haram insurgents in 2014.
Issa added that most of America’s support for Nigeria in the area of training, technical support and equipment provision was not tied to the Leahy and had not been stopped.
He said that the US was relying on President Muhammadu Buhari and the military chiefs to rebuild the trust of Nigerians in the military as an institution that would protect the citizenry.
The US congressman said that Nigerian military chiefs and the American delegation had discussed the issue of additional support, especially in the area of aerial surveillance critical to the fight against insurgency and the theft of the nation’s crude oil.
He said, “There are a number of things that we discussed today. Basically, there was the need for additional technical support, including overhead surveillance. This is important for Boko Haram but it is also important to stop the theft of this country’s oil by pirates and others.
“The fact is that this new regime with the new general staff has begun the process of ensuring that military professionalism in all post-civilians and combats has been made in a way that we can both be confident that the rule of law is being obeyed.
“So the process has begun to lift the restriction of the Leahy. But let’s understand that the vast majority of support that the US provides and would provide would be provided regardless of those. Our technical support, our training and most of the equipment we supply have never stopped and will continue.
“But we are looking forward to the President, with the new General Staff to work to make sure the people of Nigeria can have the confidence in the professionalism of the military, something the people rely on when the military is trying to clear insurgents and protect civilians.
“That is important to the new President; that is important to our President. So those are some of the areas that we discussed but we are very much looking forward to a great difference in the relationship, a proactive relationship and one in which we can provide a much greater level of support. Many of the items we discussed today are new and enhanced items that would be provided to this government.”
Issa said that the leadership of the military had been showing an understanding that the war against terrorism involved getting the people out of the insurgency and securing the communities as well as creating the environment for them to have trust in the government rather than the Boko Haram.
He stressed that the Boko Haram had not only disrupted the peace of the area, it had also caused famine in the affected communities.
He added that USAID “would be providing assistance as the military close areas and make it safe for communities to be rebuilt.”
The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Defence, Alhaji Aliyu Samaila, said that the visit of the American delegation to the country was a follow-up to President Buhari’s recent visit to the US.
Samaila said that the President’s visit was of great gain to the country and that it rekindled the hopes and aspirations of both the US and Nigeria.
He said, “This is a delegation from the United States Congress; they are on a visit to Nigeria and this is a follow-up to Mr. President’s visit to the US. We have said it again and again that the visit of Mr. President was of great gain to this country. It has rekindled the hopes and aspirations of the two countries.
“The United States believes in Nigeria; they have trust in our President and the government of the people of Nigeria. And they are also very concerned about the security situation in Nigeria and the Lake Chad Basin area.
“And that is one of the reasons they are here to discuss with us and the military, that is, the services. We have discussed the issues concerning the insecurity in Nigeria and also the issue of human rights. They are pleased with the discussions. We hope that at least we would continue to build on this. Gaps that had been created before have been identified and they are definitely going to work on them.”
