President Tinubu Complains Of Blackout At Plateau Airport During Condolence Visit

Blackout at Plateau airport. Amnesty International berated Mr Tinubu for failing to protect lives.

President Bola Tinubu, on Thursday, lamented the blackout at Plateau airport during a condolence visit to the state over the Palm Sunday attack that left at least 30 people dead.

“Please be seated,” Mr Tinubu said. “You have no light at the airport, and I have to fly back within the next 10 minutes.”

The president, who limited his visit to just the airport, met with the families of Anguwan Rukuba attack victims and other political stakeholders in the state.

“To the victims, there’s nothing I can give you, whether money in billion, but promise you this experience will not repeat itself,” Mr Tinubu said.

Against the backdrop of the attack on Anguwan Rukuba, People Gazette reported that at least 119 people have been k1lled in various coordinated attacks in Plateau State.

Frequent attacks and the surging death toll have sparked reactions and public outrage from within and outside Nigeria, with many berating Mr Tinubu’s government for failing in its core responsibility of protecting life and property.

Citing the Palm Sunday attack and others recorded in Plateau State in recent times, Amnesty International berated Mr Tinubu for “failing to protect lives.”

Electricity

“With the death toll from the Palm Sunday attack in central Nigeria surpassing 30 people, the Nigerian authorities must investigate the inexcusable security lapses that enabled the horrific attack by gunmen on motorbikes on Anguwan Rukuba community of Jos North LGA of Plateau State.

“The area, nature of the attack and timing show how increasingly vulnerable people are to being k1lled anywhere and anytime. More dead bodies are still being found and conveyed to the morgue. Plateau State is increasingly becoming unsafe,” Amnesty International said in a statement on Tuesday.

Restructuring: Femi Falana Advises FG To Give Oil Blocs To States, LGs, Not Individuals

Femi Falana advises FG. Mr Falana alleged that individuals have become dangerously rich, not because they are hardworking.

Legal luminary Femi Falana has urged the federal government to give oil bloc licenses to state governments rather than individuals, so they can better perform their responsibilities, including the payment of salaries to civil servants.

Speaking during the 5th Comrade Yinka Odumakin Memorial Lecture on Thursday in Ikeja, Lagos State, on the topic, “Can Nigeria’s Democracy Work Without Restructuring?”, Mr Falana alleged that individuals have become dangerously rich not because they are hardworking.

Mr Falana said, “You take oil resources from the Niger Delta, and you give licenses of oil blocs. You don’t know they give oil blocs to themselves? The owners of oil blocs are the richest people in Nigeria. There’s a lady in Lagos, they say she’s the richest lady in Africa, why? She has an oil bloc, not that she’s more hardworking than your mother, no.

“There is a general, a pensioner, he’s the richest pensioner in Africa, he has an oil bloc. In fact, in his own case, they don’t invest in oil bloc, they just take it offshore, and sell the licenses to the Chinese or Europeans, then he’ll come home, a multi-billionaire.”

Femi Falana

Alleging that state governments do not want to control their resources but privatise them, Mr Falana recalled that, “when state governments could not pay salaries, I asked the FG, why are you giving oil blocs to individuals? Give them to states and local governments. Today, more and more people are becoming dangerously rich at the expense of all of us.”

According to Mr Falana, those who have oil blocs are now being given licenses to mine solid minerals, adding that many communities are now being degraded by those who are mining mineral resources.

Tinubu Orders Installation Of 5000 Surveillance Cameras In Plateau Over Insurgence

President Bola Tinubu has ordered the installation of at least 5,000 cameras across Plateau State to help law enforcement agencies identify and track rampaging terrorists.

Mr Tinubu stated this on Thursday during his visit to Plateau State following the deadly terrorist attack in Angwan Rukuba in Jos North on Palm Sunday.

“We are going to immediately install a network of cameras that will help law enforcement agencies identify troublemakers instantly—over 5,000 of them,” the president said.

Scores of residents were killed, and several others severely injured after rampaging terrorists attacked Angwan Rukuba last Sunday, drawing widespread condemnation from the international community, calling on the government to step up strategies in the fight against terrorism.

The president, who described Jos as once a peaceful city that hosted various political activities with ease, tasked the security agencies with apprehending the perpetrators and bringing them to justice.

“I’m glad the IGP is here, I’m glad the Chief of Army Staff is here, and I’m glad the Minister of Defence is here. Our dear leaders, I have been to Jos, I have enjoyed Jos, and Jos is a city of peace. We have held our political activities here.

“I thank the men and women of the Armed Forces for what you are doing and for what you are about to do. You must go out and find the killers—not merely to console and create widows and widowers,” he added.

While noting that he was elected to secure lives and property, Mr Tinubu pledged to restore peace in the country rather than routinely offering condolences.

President Tinubu

“Governor, you and I were elected on the promise of peace and prosperity—not to comfort and create widows and widowers, but to bring prosperity as promised, to ensure inclusiveness in government, to share hope and aspirations with everyone, and to lead our youths. And to those represented here, let me give this assurance: I don’t want to be here merely commiserating and consoling. I want to be here to establish peace,” the president added.

Mr Tinubu has come under heavy criticism over his failure to stem repeated killings and kidnappings across the country as required by the constitution. Critics also accused his administration of treating rampaging terrorists with kid gloves.

Meanwhile, defence minister Christopher Musa (retd), on Tuesday, called on troops on the battlefield to take a more aggressive stance in the fight against insurgencyttps by eliminating Boko Haram members wherever they are.