News
State Governments Can Offset, Waive Minor Fines Owed By Inmates – Aregbesola
The Federal Government has revealed that state governors can offset or grant waivers to inmates with fines less than N1 million.
This is according to the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, during the commissioning of a 20-bed space medical facility at Port Harcourt maximum security custodial centre.
Aregbesola said while the Federal Government is finding long time solutions to the challenge of prison decongestion, the State Government can in the meantime provide basic supports, like offsetting the meager fines and debts, building court houses at the correctional services premises or try the defendants virtually from the Correctional Centres for speedy determination of cases.
He held that some of the inmates are held behind bars for minor offences that can be easily waved by the states.
The Minister further stated that he recently asked the comptroller of Correctional centres to compile the list of inmates whose reason for incarceration is a fine or a debt not more than one million naira that are meant to be paid to the state governments.
According to him, about 5,000 inmates where shortlisted under this category and most of them have stayed long enough in the care of the Federal Government to consume foods worth more than they are supposed to pay as fines and debt to the states.
According to him, in Rivers State, there are about 22 of such inmates and the 22 of them are collectively owing a little above 3million naira, an amount he thinks the State Government can offset or wave for the inmates to be freed.
The minister noted that apart from reducing the financial burden on the Federal Government, such decisions by the state will also help in decongesting the correctional centres.
He said for instance, the Maximum facility in Port Harcourt was built 1,800 inmates, but as of May 12, 2023 the centre was holding 3,100 inmates.
While emphasizing that the situation in Port Harcourt is a reflection of the cases in most of the facilities across the country, the minister said Additionally, the Federal Government is building 6 mega facilities with at least 3,000 capacity in the six geopolitical zones to further decongest the existing facilities.
The one for the South-South is located in Bori in Khana Local Government Area of the Ogoni ethnic group in Rivers State.
News
FG Launches Counter Terrorism Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030
For ours, the question is clear: How do we secure our nation, safeguard our people and set Nigeria irreversibly on the path of peace, growth and stability?“ The Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030 answers this question with vision, discipline and ambition.
The President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio has formally unveiled Nigeria’s Counter Terrorism Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030.
The Strategic Plan was put together by the National Counter Terrorism Centre in the Office of the National Security Adviser.
In his Keynote address, Akpabio said the occasion was not merely the launch of another policy document but a defining moment in the nation’s journey.
“It is a moment when Nigeria again reaffirms that our people deserve to live without fear, that our children deserve a future of peace, and that our nation must be secured to prosper,” he said.
The Senate President remarked that every generation faced a question that history demanded it must answer.
“For ours, the question is clear: How do we secure our nation, safeguard our people and set Nigeria irreversibly on the path of peace, growth and stability?“ The Strategic Plan 2025 – 2030 answers this question with vision, discipline and ambition.
It offers a framework for transforming our institutions, modernising our security architecture, strengthening national resilience and expanding partnerships across government, industry, civil society and the international community”
“As President of the Senate, I have seen how insecurity weakens the foundations of development. Investors withdraw, schools close, farmers abandon their fields, and hope retreats from the hearts of our young people.
That is why a pragmatic, forward-looking and implementation-driven plan such as this is timely, necessary and welcome.”
(Independent)
News
Delta Police Dismiss Bandits Invasion of Girls Secondary School Kwale
• Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda
The Delta State Police Command said that the rumoured invasion of Girls’ Secondary School, Utagba-Ogbe, Kwale, today was entirely false and misleading.
In a statement, the Commissioner of Police, Delta State Command, CP Olufemi Abaniwonda, clarified that upon receiving the report, the Command immediately ordered a coordinated response and deployed the DCO Kwale Division, SP Udofia Kufre, to lead a patrol team for immediate on-the-ground verification and security assessment.
The Vice Principal of the school and the security man on duty were interviewed, and both confirmed that no attack occurred and that the panic emanated solely from misinformation among students.
As a precautionary measure, adjoining schools within the Kwale axis were visited and all were found to be calm, safe, and in a normal academic session.
Parents who rushed to pick up their children are advised to remain calm, as the earlier rumour has been decisively addressed and normalcy has been fully restored.
CP Olufemi Abaniwonda warns strongly against the spread of unverified rumours capable of causing fear or disrupting academic activities.
The CP reiterated the Command’s unwavering resolve to respond swiftly to any credible threat while ensuring the safety of all educational institutions across the state.
He further urges school authorities to strengthen internal communication, promptly report suspicious observations to the nearest police formation, and maintain close collaboration with local security outfits to enhance monitoring around school environments.
News
Okonjo-Iweala Decries Kidnappings of school children, teachers
As a mother I am greatly saddened by the kidnappings in our country, particularly of our children and teachers from places of learning.
The Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has expressed worries over the escalating wave of kidnappings across Nigeria, particularly the abduction of schools children and teachers.
Okonjo-Iweala in a post on X said she was “greatly saddened” by the disturbing trend, stressing that the attacks on learning institutions have inflicted fear, trauma, and uncertainty on families nationwide.
“As a mother I am greatly saddened by the kidnappings in our country, particularly of our children and teachers from places of learning.
” My heart goes out to the children and all those kidnapped and to their families living in fear and uncertainty,” she said.
She prays for the safe return of all abductees and strength for parents and relatives enduring the ordeal.
“May those taken be found, rescued, and returned safely into the arms of those who love them.
We pray God for their protection and strength for every parent and relative waiting,” she added.
Her comments come amid a series of mass abductions targeting schools and farming communities in several states in Nigeria, which has led to renewed calls for urgent action to protect citizens and restore security nationwide.
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