Air Peace makes history as first airline to land in Anambra International Passenger & Cargo Airport.
CEO of Nestoil, Ernest Obiejesi also landed with his private jet at the Anambra international airport.
Operation Lafiya Dole Changed To Operation Hadin Kai
The Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru has approved the renaming of the ongoing Counter-insurgency Operation in the North East from Operation Lafiya Dole (OPLD) to Operation Hadin Kai (OPHK).
This is premised on the fact that the Nigerian Army (NA) has made a lot of progress over the years and needs to re-align for better efficiency.
Also affected in the re-designation are the Army Super Camps which now reflect the nomenclature of the formations and units followed by the name of the locations they occupy while sub-units are redesigned as Forward Operating Bases (FOBs) followed by the name of their locations.
All these changes are with immediate effect.
The renaming is in line with the COAS Vision of having “A Nigerian Army that is Repositioned to Professionally Defeat all Adversaries in a Joint Environment”.
It is the believe of the COAS that the complete defeat of insurgency is a process that requires the participation of the entire nation using all elements of national power.
He further assured that the NA under his leadership will continue to pursue the path of jointness in prosecuting the counterinsurgency war.
Mohammed Yerima
Brigadier General
Director Army Public Relations
Florida Approves Bill Stopping Tech Companies From De-Platforming Politicians
Both houses of legislature in Florida have passed a bill that would possibly stop tech companies from de-platforming politicians, allowing tech platforms to only suspend accounts of the politicians for 14 days.
According to reports, the legislation is awaiting nod from Florida Governor Ron DeSantis who is considered to be an ally of former US President Donald Trump.
As per the media report, tech companies may be fined USD 250,000 per day under this legislation if they continued the de-platforming beyond the 14-days window.
Former US President Donald Trump was an avid user of social media. But he was given the boot by major tech platforms like Twitter, Facebook and others with His tweets often criticised.
After the elections, Trump spent most of his time at his Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida. He is believed to have been close with Governor DeSantis and other high-ranking Republicans in the state.
Turkish Police Detain Hundreds At Lockdown May Day Marches
Turkish police has detained 212 demonstrators after scuffles broke out at May Day marches on Saturday, according to the Istanbul governor’s office.
Some video footage showed video and images showed Riot police and plainclothes officers jostling with union leaders and other demonstrators, throwing some to the ground before detaining dozens of them near Istanbul’s Taksim Square.
The governor’s office said some labour unions were allowed to hold memorials to mark the annual holiday, while others who had “gathered illegally” in violation of the lockdown.
According to the State-owned Anadolu Agency said 20 protestors were also detained in the western city of Izmir.
Local media reported efforts by police in Istanbul and Ankara to block reporters from filming the May Day demonstrations and detentions, with officers citing a new police circular.
Turkey this week adopted a 17-day partial lockdown, including stay-home orders and the closure of schools and some businesses, to curb a wave of coronavirus infections.
On Friday, Turkish media reported that officers were instructed to prevent people from filming or recording security forces on smartphones while they are on duty, a move critics called unlawful and a threat to citizens’ rights.
Turkish police have not commented on the reports.
Arrests In Paris As Thousands Join May Day Protests
Demonstrators clashed with police in Paris on Saturday as thousands of people joined traditional May Day protests across France to demand social and economic justice.
Over34 arrests were made by Police in the Capital where garbage bins were set on fire and the windows of a bank branch were smashed, momentarily delaying the march.
Marchers, most wearing masks in line with coronavirus rules, were also voicing their opposition to government plans to change unemployment benefits.
Trade unionists were joined by members of the “Yellow Vest” movement, which triggered a wave of anti-government protests three years ago, and by workers from sectors hit hard by pandemic restrictions.
The Prefecture de Police, which deployed 5,000 officers in Paris, said it had prevented ‘Black Bloc’ anarchists from forming a group.
About 300 rallies were organised in cities including Lyon, Nantes, Lille and Toulouse.
Far-left leader Jean-Luc Melenchon and far-right leader Marine Le Pen, who both plan to challenge President Emmanuel Macron in next year’s presidential election, attended May Day events.
Le Pen, who had earlier laid a wreath in Paris at the statue of Joan of Arc, her party’s nationalist symbol, warned of “total chaos” if Macron is re-elected.
President Macron, has seen his reform agenda become bogged down in fights with unions, while the pandemic has halted his planned pension system overhaul.
US Starts Troop Withdrawal From Afghanistan To End War
The United States has formally started withdrawing its last troops from Afghanistan Saturday, bringing its longest war closer to an end, but amid an uncertain future for the country.
US officials on the ground say the withdrawal is already a work in progress but Washington has made an issue of the date because it is a deadline agreed with the Taliban in 2020 to complete the pullout.
The prospect of an end of 20 years of US presence in Afghanistan comes despite fighting raging across the countryside by and emboldened Taliban and in the absence of a peace deal.
US President Joe Biden wants to end what he termed as “the forever war”, announcing last month that the withdrawal of the remaining 2,500 American forces would be complete by the 20th anniversary of the September 11 attacks.
But the exit of US forces has only intensified the fear felt by ordinary Afghans with concerns that the country might go back to the dark days of the Taliban era.
Since the US withdrawal deal was struck the Taliban have not directly engaged foreign troops, but insurgents have mercilessly attacked government forces in the countryside and waged a terror campaign in urban areas.
However, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani insists that government forces, who for months have carried out most of the ground fighting against the Taliban,, are “fully capable” of keeping the insurgents at bay.
He said the pullout also means the Taliban have no reason to fight.
Colombia’s Former FARC Accept Responsibility For Kidnappings
Leaders from the now-demobilized FARC rebels on Friday accepted responsibility for tens of thousands of kidnappings during their group’s part in Colombia’s long internal conflict.
At least 13,000 members of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) were demobilized under a 2016 peace deal with the government with the group becoming a political party called Comunes.
Comunes official Carlos Antonio Lozada told a virtual news conference that FARC clearly assumes responsibility for kidnappings which took place and recognizes the suffering inflicted unjustifiably on victims.
Lozada who serves in the senate in a seat guaranteed by the peace deal, said Hostages suffered “precarious and difficult” conditions, and that some victims suffered sexual violence at the hands of FARC captors.
It was official FARC policy to take hostages in order to raise funds through ransom, pressure the government to conduct hostage exchanges, control territory and gain advantages by capturing security force members.
The comments came as the group turned in an official response to the JEP, which in January accused eight FARC leaders of responsibility for war crimes connected to kidnappings.
Under the accord, former rebels must provide information to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) tribunal about crimes committed during the conflict, including murders, kidnappings, sexual violence and forced evictions.
Former rebels who give full information about crimes to the tribunal may eventually face restrictions on their freedom for five to eight years.
Those who do not or who lie could be sentenced for up to 20 years in prison.
DR Congo Declares ‘State Of Siege’ Over Worsening Violence
The Democratic Republic of Congo has announced a “state of siege” late Friday in two provinces in the east of the country which have been sacked by violence from armed groups and civilian massacres.
Under DRC’s constitution, the president can declare either a state of emergency or a state of siege “if severe circumstances immediately threaten the independence or integrity of the national territory.
On Thursday, President Felix Tshisekedi said he was preparing “radical measures” to deal with the security situation in the east of the country.
That followed the prime minister suggesting on Monday that a state of emergency might be declared in the east, “replacing the civil administration with a military administration”.
In Paris on Tuesday, Tshisekedi asked France for help “eradicating” one of them, the Allied Democratic Forces, from the Beni region in North Kivu.
Branded a jihadist organisation by Tshisekedi and the United States, the ADF has killed more than 1,200 civilians in the Beni area alone since 2017, according to a monitor called the Kivu Security Tracker (KST).
The army has conducted operations against them in the region since October 2019, but has not been able to put a stop to the massacres of civilians.
An estimated 122 armed groups of varying sizes operate in mineral-rich eastern DRC, many a legacy of regional wars in the 1990s.
Somalia’s Lower House Votes To Cancel Term Extension
Somalia’s lower house of parliament on Saturday voted unanimously to cancel a two-year presidential term extension it approved last month in a move to end an armed stand-off in the capital Mogadishu.
The lower house vote was broadcast on Somali television and came shortly after President Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed addressed parliament, saying he was directing his prime minister to spearhead preparations for the election.
The term extension was approved by lower house lawmakers last month but rejected by the Senate, provoking a political crisis that intensified in the past week.
The crisis over the term extension has raised fears that al Qaeda-linked al Shabaab insurgents could exploit the situation.
Also, Militants from al Shabaab took over at least one Somali town in the past week, with heavily armed fighters moving from the countryside into the capital city.
Between 60,000 and 100,000 people were forced to flee their homes following clashes on Sunday that stirred fears of all-out war between heavily armed factions for and against the president.
News Analysts have said that the parliament’s vote and the president’s delegation of election preparations to the prime minister appeared to be a good compromise.
Opposition leaders had accused the president of stalling, and security forces loyal to the opposition refused to withdraw from fortified positions in the capital.
It was not immediately clear what those forces would do following Saturday’s news from parliament.
We die alone, burry our people alone, what we get are statements from govt – Kukah
The Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah, has again hit at the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration over the rising security situation in the country.
The vocal Bishop in his speech today, frowned at the government’s attitude to the death of fellow citizens, murder by bandits, kidnappers, armed men and other agents of death in Nigeria.
Kukah spoke at ‘The Platform’ organised by Pastor Poju Oyemade, monitored by Vanguard. According to him, “people are dying and all we get are simple statements from Government”.
For the past few weeks now, a good number of persons have lost their lives following insecurity challenges in the country. North-east is currently boiling with the continuous attack by Boko Haram terrorists.
There is no peace in the South-East and South-South either, following the invasion of Fulani herdsmen and their constant killing of Nigerians.
Nigerians no doubt have been waiting for President Muhammadu Buhari to make a national broadcast, condemning the rising deaths in the country and of course take part on the pain and sorrows the victims’ families are going through.
Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the president issues statements to condole anyone that loses a dear.
