We will give pipeline vandals the Boko Haram treatment - Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari has warned that vandals blowing up oil and gas installations would be treated like Boko Haram terrorists by his administration if they failed to desist from their acts of sabotage.

Addressing members of the Nigerian community in China, President Buhari said that Nigerian Armed Forces would henceforth deal with pipeline vandals as they have been dealing with Boko Haram terrorists.

He vowed not to relent in the fight against corruption which he described as a strong enemy that has destroyed the lives of many Nigerians

His words;
“I ask for your support to make our vision of stamping out corruption a reality in the shortest possible time. Whoever is caught will not be spared. The government is still being dared, but those who are sensible should have learned a lesson. Those who are mad, let them continue in their madness.

“I am aware that in the last two weeks, the national grid collapsed a number of times. I hope this message will reach the vandals and saboteurs who are blowing up pipelines and installations. We will deal with them the way we dealt with Boko Haram.”

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FRSC to enforce speed limit device

The Corps Marshal of the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC, Mr Boboye Oyeyemi has directed road marshals to prepare for the imminent enforcement of the speed limit device across the country.

The FRSC boss gave the directive on Wednesday during a meeting with officers and men of the Kaduna Sector Command.

He announced that a Federal High Court in its judgment last week granted the FRSC the mandate to enforce the use of the speed limit device.

"As such, the legal hurdle has been cleared; we had a public hearing and President Muhammadu Buhari has given his approval for the enforcement of the speed limit device.

"We are just waiting for the House of Representative’s report before we commence enforcement.

"We need to cut down the speed of vehicles and any way we can do this should be a welcome development.

"We need to get it right because losing the active group of our population is not acceptable,” he said.

Oyeyemi noted that 50 per cent of crashes in the country were speed related, adding that President Buhari, worried about the situation, had given FRSC all the support it needed to meet its mandate, including provision of additional patrol vehicles, ambulances, administrative and recovery vehicles to ease operations.

"The government has shown its commitment. We must justify this trust by reducing road crashes, which is our major mandate,"’ he said.

NAN 

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Nigerian Airforce F-7NI fighter jet destroys Boko Haram logistics base

The Director of Public Relations and Information, Nigeria Air Force, NAF, Group Capt. Ayodele Famuyiwa, said in Abuja on Wednesday that F-7NI fighter aircraft  had struck Boko Haram's logistics base at Kangarawa in the north of Borno State.

"The NAF, in continuation of its employment of airpower to decimate the capability of the insurgents, has successfully taken off another logistics belonging to the insurgents.

"The latest air strike was carried out on April 11 by NAF F7-NI Fighter Aircraft against the insurgents," he said.

He added that the strike was yet another major setback for the insurgents, as well as a tangible proof of many of the recent successes of the Air component of Operation Lafia Dole.

NAN

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Buhari to ensure speedy completion of Mambilla power project

A statement issued Wednesday in Abuja by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu affirmed President Muhammadu Buhari's determination to speed up the completion of the Mambilla power project.

Buhari had on Wednesday in Beijing said that his government would honour all agreements entered into by Nigeria and China under previous administrations.

President Buhari made the pledge during a meeting with the Premier of the State Council of the Peoples Republic of China, Mr Li Keqiang.

Buhari said that Nigeria would honour the agreements in order to ensure speedy completion of outstanding joint ventures, including the 4,000 megawatts Mambilla Hydro-Electric Power Project.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports that Buhari told the Chinese Premier that his administration was "committed to the completion, in the shortest possible time, of all joint power, rail, road and aviation projects that would directly and quickly improve the lives of Nigerians."

NAN

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China offers Nigeria $6b loan for infrastructure

Minister of Foreign Affairs Geoffrey Onyeama has told reporters on President Muhammadu Buhari’s entourage that China has made an offer of $6b loan to support infrastructure projects in Nigeria.

“It is a credit that is on the table as soon as we identify the projects.

“It won’t need an agreement to be signed; it is just to identify the projects and we access it,” he said.

In another development, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China Ltd, ICBC , the world’s biggest lender, and the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN signed an agreement on yuan transactions on Tuesday, said a Chinese Foreign Ministry official.
“It means that the renminbi (yuan) is free to flow among different banks in Nigeria and the renminbi has been included in the foreign exchange reserves of Nigeria,” said Lin Songtian, Director General l of the Foreign Ministry's African Affairs Department.

The agreement was the outcome of a meeting between President Muhammadu Buhari and Chinese President Xi Jinping.

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Three killed in clash over farmland in Nasarawa State

The police in Nasarawa State on  Wednesday confirmed that three people were killed while one person was injured in a land dispute between Angwan Mamman and Dadere villages in Obi Local Government Area.

The Nasarawa State Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Lawal Shehu-Batsari told newsmen on Wednesday at
Tudun-Adabu near Dadere  after inspecting the crisis areas,  that the fight between farmers from warring areas started around 8 a.m.

“We got information that there was a fight over farmland between Sule Musawa of Dadere and the Akun’s family of Agwan-Mamman,” he said.

The Herald reports that "fracas erupted when family members of Musawa went to the farm and were attacked by members of Akun family in the early hours of Wednesday."

Sources said that the Akun family had leased the land from the Musawa family.

The Police Commissioner told newsmen that a second fight broke out at midday.

“But we were very proactive. We deployed our men to the crisis area to restore peace and order immediately and that is why everywhere is very calm now,” he said.

He appealed to residents of the area to remain calm as the situation had been brought under control.

“We are on top of the situation.
We observed that some people were packing from their houses and if this continues, it would send a wrong signal outside.

“That was why I personally led a team of security operatives to this area and I am impressed that the situation is calm.”

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DSS nabs notorious Boko Haram Commander

Barely a week after the Department of State Services announced the arrest of Khalid Al-Barnawi, the leader of  Ansaru, the breakaway faction of Boko Haram, the service has  arrested a notorious Boko Haram Commander in the person of Bello Danhajiya

Reports indicate that Danhajiya is a Fulani of Zamfara origin and a strategic accomplice of Al-Barnawi .

Preliminary investigations revealed that he is involved in gun-running, cattle rustling and other  criminal activities principally on the directives of  Al-Barnawi.

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