Business
#EndSARS: FG wants Police reforms – Osinbajo
Following the EndSARS protest, the Vice President has revealed that the President has directed a reform of the Police.
The Vice President of Nigeria, Yemi Osinbajo said President Muhammadu Buhari wants to see reforms in the Nigerian Police force.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Presidency on Sunday evening after the Vice President met with the IG of Police.
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Vice President @ProfOsinbajo today met with the Inspector General of Police, on issues of police reform.
“We reviewed several of these issues. The President and I have had discussions on this, he is very concerned about it. He wants to see a reform.” — VP @ProfOsinbajo
— Presidency Nigeria (@NGRPresident) October 4, 2020
Nairametrics reported earlier that the Inspector-General of Police, M.A Adamu, has banned the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (FSARS) and other Tactical Squads of the Force, including the Special Tactical Squad (STS), Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Anti-Cultism Squad operating at the Federal, Zonal, and Command levels, from carrying out routine patrols and other conventional low-risk duties.
This comes after online outrage over the weekend, that saw Atiku Abubakar, Bukola Saraki, and other prominent Nigerians call for reforms, over the despicable actions of the SARS unit.
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The Vice President said he and the Police IG discussed on the topics of police reforms, “We reviewed several of these issues. The President and I have had discussions on this, he is very concerned about it. He wants to see reforms.”
“I am very concerned, in fact, very angry about what I see, happening to young men and women who are arrested, in some cases maimed or killed by men of the police force.”
The VP added that the violations are “completely unacceptable because these are individuals who are meant to protect Nigerians. The arrest, maiming, or killing of young people or anyone at all, is completely wrong. It is unlawful and illegal, and anyone involved in these acts ought to be investigated and prosecuted.”
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He said the Police force has issued a statement looking at all the issues, especially on the use of SARS for purposes of doing anything other than anti-robbery.
The VP also said that SARS responsibility is not arresting young Nigerians for Cybercrime, just because they are carrying their laptops and phones.
“We must see this as something we all must work together to achieve, as individuals, to bring to the attention of the police and government, where there have been violations.
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“and on the part of the government and the police; to ensure that every one of those allegations is properly investigated and those found responsible are prosecuted and publicized.“
“Cybercrime is electronic crime. I don’t see how you can investigate that by seizing people’s phones in a taxi or in their cars,” Osinbajo said.
Business
AfCFTA to reduce illegal gold mining in Nigeria – Minister of Mines
The Minister of Mines and Steel says that illegal gold mining would be stemmed by the implementation of AfCFTA.
The Nigerian Government announced that the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) would help reduce illegal mining in the country and also standardize Mining practices in Nigeria.
This was disclosed by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr Olamilekan Adegbite, at the NAN forum in Abuja on Sunday.
The Minister disclosed that the mining sector was ignored by the Federal Government after oil was discovered, which made it possible for artisanal miners to venture into the sector.
“Right now, many Nigerians are into artisanal mining and this was caused by the fact that when oil was discovered, Nigeria moved away from mining, which was the mainstream of the economy.
“Before oil and gas, Nigeria relied on coal and tin; we were exporting and were indeed, quoted on the London Metal Exchange.
“And that is basically what was giving Nigeria money in those days before oil came but when oil came, we moved away. We left mining behind,” he said.
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He added that the most mined commodity in Nigeria by artisanal miners is gold, which has created a lucrative black market for international buyers. He also said that with the AfCFTA, documentation of mining exports would be required, reducing illegal outflows.
“Gold is the most traded mineral in Nigeria and these people mine gold and get nuggets. There are several thousands of such miners, when you aggregate what they mine, it comes in large volume and several kilos of gold,” he said.
“To know the extent of the money they make in the gold business, they hire private jets to take them out illegally because they realise a lot of money.
“At the rate gold is selling, one ounce of gold is selling for $2,200 and by the time you carry a thousand kilogrammes, you are making several billions of naira.
“But with AfCFTA coming into effect, we hope that other countries will cooperate with Nigeria because now it is a free trade but there is documentation,” he added.
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The Minister said that with AfCFTA going into effect, the FG hopes it will help stem the problem because Nigeria is supposed to trade freely with Africa with documentation.
“We hope that other countries will cooperate with Nigeria. I will not allow such illegal activity to go on within those countries,” he said.
In case you missed it: Nairametrics also reported that the Mining Minister said a Nigerian-Canadian company, mining gold in Nigeria’s Osun State looks set to commence the exportation of gold in June this year.
Business
Insecurity: Nigeria needs to increase military spending – Senator Ali Ndume
Ndume has called on the FG to increase military funding so as to contain the rising insecurity in the country.
Denis blade
October 5, 2020 at 11:21 am
God punish this SARS,they must be stopped once and for all… There are really killing innocent people.