Jonathan in Denial on January Fuel Subsidy Protests

Protester in January’s Subsidy Riots

In a remarkable show of aloofness, President Jonathan has refused to accept the widely known fact that the January fuel subsidy protests were an independent and genuine reflection of the people’s anger towards his government for unilaterally hiking the price of petroleum products instead of fighting the corruption in the fuel subsidy process.
The President in a speech yesterday claimed that the presence of water, food, musicians and comedians at the fuel protests was an indication that the protests were politically motivated by his detractors and opponents. The president’s remarks are leading analysts to assume that the president is either building a cocoon in Aso Rock to insulate himself from the people  or his advisers are not being totally honest with him.
He said, “Look at the demonstrations back home, look at the areas these demonstrations are coming from, you begin to ask, are these the ordinary citizens that are demonstrating? Or are people pushing them to demonstrate?
“Take the case of Lagos, Lagos is a critical state in the nation’s economy, it controls about 53 per cent of the economy and all tribes are there.
“The demonstration in Lagos, people were given bottled water that people in my village don’t have access to. People were given expensive food that the ordinary people in Lagos cannot eat. So even going to eat free alone attracts people.
“They go and hire the best musicians to come and play and the best comedian to come and entertain. Is that demonstration? Are you telling me that that is a demonstration from ordinary masses in Nigeria who want to communicate something to government?
“I believe that that protest in Lagos was manipulated by a class in Lagos and was not from the ordinary people.”
 BusinessNews

2015 Presidency: Still A Game Of Suspense

DAVID AGBA

Recent reports bordering on the 2015 presidency suggest that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may implode in its power game. GEORGE AGBA, in this report examines the situation within the backdrop of the body language of key players.
A mild drama acted by state governors last week Thursday at the presidential villa may have trivialized certain political ambitions being insinuated ahead of the 2015 presidential poll; but it suggests the enormity of the issue on the minds of key players in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Although President Goodluck Jonathan, who himself is said to be constitutionally fit to seek for a second term in the said election, has warned severally that political fireworks for 2015 should cease for now to enable him concentrate on his transformation agenda and the deliverables he promised Nigerians in the last presidential election, keen observers of goings-on within the domain of the ruling party say they are afraid that the concordance, even in the face of internal discord, which usually characterises the selection and nomination process of PDP candidates at its national convention, may not turn out in 2015.
The scene of the governors’ farcical play was at the First Lady wing of the presidential villa. The president was going to hold a meeting with governors of the 19 states of the North to deliberate on security and other bedeviling issues in that part of the country. As they throng in that night, the governors were being ushered to take seats reserved for them at the conference table. Not quite long, after a good number of them were already seated and waiting anxiously for the president, Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State walked into the meeting room.
As he got set to start exchanging pleasantries and banters with his colleagues, Governor Suswam sighted his Jigawa State counterpart, Sule Lamido sitting at the far middle of the table. Jokingly, he paused and then shouted in a mellow tune, “Mr President”, as he ignored other persons seated at the upper side of the conference table and walked briskly towards where Lamido was seating. In a manner which is typical of greeting the president, Suswam took a slight bow, while shaking Lamido.  Thrown into a frenzy of excitement by the governor’s comic relief, all other governors present, including some Aides to the president burst into uncontrollable laughter, except Lamido himself, who only smiled mildly while trying to explain how he felt when he first saw the report linking him and his Rivers State counterpart, Rotimi Amaechi to the 2015 presidency. As Chinua Achebe puts it in Arrow of God an old woman is always uneasy when dry bones are mentioned in proverbs.
Governors Sule Lamido and Chibuike Rotimi Ameachi of Jigawa and Rivers states were in the news recently over their purported endorsement by some groups and individuals as presidential and vice presidential candidates of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2015 election.
Suswan was apparently reacting comically to report in the media on the 20th of last month that former President Olusegun Obasanjo had endorsed Governors Lamido and Amaechi as a pair for the PDP presidential ticket. According to the report, while Obasanjo was drumming support for a power shift to the North on the grounds that the region deserved the highest position in the land, 2nd Republic Senate President, Chief Joseph Wayas was also reported to have urged Lamido to accept Obasanjo’s proposed Lamido/Amechi presidential ticket in 2015. But the former president has since denied ever proposing Lamido/Amaechi presidency.
Wayas reportedly said this when he led The Albinos Foundation (TAF) on a courtesy visit to Governor Sule Lamido at the Government House in Dutse. “No matter what, don’t dare reject the people and statesmen like Obasanjo who proposed the Lamido /Amechi ticket. You are not only a Jigawa State material but national material. You need to answer the people’s call to serve Nigeria”, he was quoted to have said. Northerners Caucus in the South-West geo-political zone also took a cue from what had been reported when they rose from a meeting in Ibadan, Oyo state capital, only to declare its support for calls on Lamido to declare his intention for 2015.
After the meeting between President Jonathan and the Northern governors which ended at about 11:00pm last Thursday night, Governor Lamido told newsmen that he had nothing to do with the rumour. He described the said report as a mere expression of feelings or opinions by people. He added that, although he was not bothered about what had been widely reported, he must be grateful to God that, at least, people have started mentioning his name out of a population of 167 million people.
Lamido said, “I feel highly flattered. You see, in a country of 167 million people, if your name is mentioned, you should be flattered. You should thank God. People are free to speculate, to make whatever comments they like. That is their own business.  But certainly, to me, I am not bothered when people are expressing their opinion or feeling. I just feel flattered. You know. So it is true that people can now see me? You see, if I was the one saying all that and you ask me, I will say yes. But what I am saying is that it is something that I am hearing just as you are hearing it. So what I can say is I don’t know whether it is fortune or misfortune of being fingered. But frankly speaking, I don’t think we should waste our time and energy talking about 2015 now. The man there is very healthy, he is doing very well as far as I am concerned and power comes from God”.
By this pronouncement by Governor Lamido himself and the comic drama put up by Governor Suswam, it is becoming unclear whether the two governors said to have been tipped for the job actually are nursing any presidential ambition or, worse still, whether PDP governors are really interested in fielding a presidential candidate for the job from among themselves. Besides, some pundits believe strongly that, with news filtering in at the weekend that the governors stayed away from a book launch of the National Chairman of the PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, there was the possibility of a deep-seated infighting within the party.
Majority of the governors elected on the platform of the party were conspicuously absent at a book presentation ceremony packaged to mark the 77th birthday anniversary of party Chairman Bamanga Tukur. The governors who were in Abuja for a scheduled meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, were said to have boycotted the book launch last Saturday, save Governors Theodore Orji of Abia, Isa Yuguda of Bauchi and Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna.
Governors Jonah Jang of Plateau and Ibrahim Shemaof Katsina also sent their deputies to the event. Political commentators say this development has fuelled speculation that all was not well between Tukur and the governors, who felt slighted that the PDP chairman was imposed on the party by President Goodluck Jonathan. In the past, the governors had ganged up to enthrone successive chairmen of the party.
Political observers at Aso Rock presidential villa, however, share a different opinion in the matter. They wonder why those peddling report in this direction are after the president’s job. The thinking is that, while the party has declared categorically that the party’s ticket for the 2015 general elections will be issued based on merit, President Jonathan has consistently appealed that they should allow him time to do his job which, he believes, will speak for him beginning from mid next year.
As it is, issues concerning the 2015 presidency are still cloudy with key actors describing whatever the media report on it as mere speculations grinded by the country’s rumour mill. While Nigerians are watching with ecclesiastic passion, the president has maintained his ground that there was nothing to talk about 2015. It is still a game of suspense in the country’s political scenery you may say.
Leadership

Revenue sharing: Reps to strip Jonathan of powers

By Victor Oluwasegun and Dele Anofi

Speaker of House of Reps, Aminu Tambuwal

The House of Representatives is set to enforce its power to review revenue sharing formula as a bill for the amendment of Section 162 (2) scaled second reading on Tuesday.

 The matter came up for deliberation during the first plenary of the second session of the 7th Assembly.

The  'bill for an Act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 in Section 162 (2) to provide for the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission's  (RMFAC) to table directly before the National Assembly the commission's proposals for revenue allocations was unanimously adopted by the lawmakers.

Sponsor of the bill, the Chairman of the House Committee on Rules and Business, Albert Sam-Tsokwa, said the current arrangement that allows for five year review among other provisions has given too much room for interested party's interference and bureaucratic procedure. 

According to him, the option given to the commission to present the proposal to the President before being forwarded to the National Assembly by the President was erroneous.

In his contribution, Chairman, House Committee on Finance, john Enoh, noted that it was unfortunate for the House not to have reviewed the revenue sharing formula since 1999 contrary to constitutional provision that stipulates five year review by the legislators.

"It is unfortunate that the House has not debated the distribution of the revenue since 1999. It is a shame but I can assure that the RMFAC is ready and willing to present its proposals to the NASS if mandated to do so," he added.

 Abike Dabiri-Erewa, who emphasized that "something has to change" noted that the concept of true federalism has been negated by the current arrangement whereby the Federal government takes too much compared to the other tiers of government. 

The Nation

Kufour: Imbalanced Devt Causes Insecurity in Nigeria

President Goodluck Jonathan welcomes former Ghanaian President John Kufour at the Independence Day Lecture in Abuja.

By Muhammad Bello and Damilola Oyedele

Former Ghanaian President John Kufour has identified imbalanced development as a major cause of insecurity in Nigeria saying the situation is forcing the country to pay a higher price than it should to sustain its role as the giant of Africa that it could and should be.

This is as President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan harped on the need for a crises free Nigeria in order to transform the country in line with the agenda of the incumbent administration.

Both presidents spoke at the 52nd Independence anniversary lecture titled: ‘Nigeria: Security, Development and National Transformation’ held Tuesday at the premises of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Abuja.

According to Kufour, who observed that only a government that delivers on security and development could ensure its longevity in office, the resourcefulness of Nigerians is yet to have full impact on the development of  the nation.

He said this shortcoming is also detrimental to the country claiming its rightful position as ‘giant of Africa’ from which other nations on the continent could benefit from or copy from as a role model to model or gauge their development.

His words: “Naturally, imbalanced development that involves horizontal inequalities is an important source of conflict and that is costing Nigeria the opportunity to be the giant nation that it can and should be.”

“Nigeria has globally acclaimed assets which it needs to evolve into a strong, stable state with powerful strategic influence, spanning the entire continent of Africa and far beyond. The question then is why Nigeria does not seem to get its act together to play its role of destiny for itself and for the rest of Africa,” he queried

He said: “The challenge is to accelerate the pace of development by using institutions of the federal Constitution as a nursery ground for producing leaders who are national in outlook and with a missionary zeal to transform this nation.

“This will help to mould the contending ethnic and religious groups into harmony and help to remove the perceived mutual distrust among them.

“Leaders so emerging would not be limited to championing the causes of their home state, tribe or religious group, but rather focused on deeds and pronouncements which convincingly and positively impact on the entire citizenry of the federal republic.

“Nation building is the systematic evolution of the political, economic, social and cultural well-being of all the various component parts of the state.

“Indeed the transcendent factor should be the common citizenship of all the stakeholders no matter the tribe, gender, religion, economic or social status as your Constitution stipulates.

“If there is no security, there is no liberty and if there is no liberty, life is not meaningful and society reverts back to the law of the jungle i.e. the survival of the fittest and man’s primary objective of forming a state is defeated

In his own speech, President Jonathan attributed the current insecurity in the country to the handiwork of those who, despite the government's achievements in transforming Nigeria, employ every means to discredit it, stressing that there is no way any government can record progress with incessant security breaches such as the ones that characterise the Nigerian polity today.

"The key issue we are discussing is about peace and development and of course we all know that there is no way you can talk about development when you have a lot of crisis. In fact some people make more money when there is crisis and when there are crisis is like a country in a state of emergency, anything goes.

"Crisis is one aspect but generally if there is no peace is extremely difficult for the ordinary people to survive though big players in economy may survive. Ordinary citizens having small and medium enterprises cannot come out to do business during crisis and of course it affects the economy. So you must have peace to develop.

"Peace is one of the cardinal marks of a leader. In the monarchy in the olden days, the king had maximum power but for your kingdom to be stable you must have the military strength. So without stability of any state we cannot development.

"I agree totally with President Kufour who really gave us the break down of the kind of security situation that we have.

"When you talk of insecurity of using bombs and guns to kill people what has been described as physical security but in terms of social security, food security, health and the justice system all have to do with the security of individual.

"But I believe what we face in Nigeria though not peculiar to us, one of our greatest problems is what I described as political security. Government can continue to provide physical security but also very important is the political security. When you have an ending political conflicts in Nigeria, the country cannot develop.

"I believe political security is a big issue. There is this axiom that the pen is mightier than the sword. The sword is used to kill and destroy but what we use the pen to do is also very critical. When you have society with these unending political conflicts, it is there on the media whether print, electronic or social media, it brings a lot of insecurity to the system and some times people begin to doubt your government.

"For example when we were contesting election we promised it will be free and fair, I was convince I must do that even if I will loss the election. After our election in 2007, even the presidents in our neighbouring West African states were finding it difficult to congratulate us because the observers felt the election was not properly done. That haunted us even when we travelled out and I promised myself that if I have the opportunity to preside over an election, I will do something different even at my expense at least for the sake of the country. And we did that but unfortunately, even though there were crisis in some parts of the country, observers felt the election was reasonably free and fair compared to others. But immediately after that election, not quiet six months, the kind of media hype that started hitting us made us to stop and ask where is this coming from?

"I said I did not just come out from the blues to contest the election, I was deputy governor for six and half years, I was a governor for one and half years, I was a vice president, and before election, I was the president up to April when the elections were conducted, people knew me. So within this period including when I even acted, if I was that bad will people have voted for me? So for Nigerians to have voted for me overwhelmingly that means there must have been something they were expecting and definitely six months would have been too short to pass any valid judgement. But the media condemned me.

"And I believe is not just the media, like when we talk about the Boko Haram, we have political Boko Haram, religious Boko Haram and criminal Boko Haram. So also in the media, you have the professional media and the political media. That is why I talk about the political media, because of the interest of 2015 whatever you do is immaterial, the government must be brought down. And that mentality cuts across most African countries and even outside Africa.

"So addressing insecurity is critical in developing African state. When you have this ending political conflict especially in a country like Nigeria that is highly religious and with high ethno-tribal sentiments, it becomes very potent to even create a lot of problems for government.

"So I will plead with us as Nigerians that whenever we elect government into power at whatever level, at least for the sake of the country allow the government to work before going into unnecessary overheating the system.

“So as government we are committed to creating the environment. I'm pleased with the way President Kufour spoke on the issue of transformation. I agree that the leader must be the key actor for transformation but those who will implement are the citizens. For instance, during the election, we advocated one man one vote, we were totally committed and I said it that nobody should rig election for me. But Nigerians believed that we were sincere and because they knew we were sincere, that took the life of its own. No I don't need to go and preach again. We have monitored elections in Edo and other places, nobody wants to compromise with his vote. Is government that created that environment but is not government that will enforce it, it is the citizen.

"That is why we are a bit worried that sometimes when government create the environment, whether economic, social or even the media, but how the citizens use those privileges matters so much.

"Take the media environment for instance, we signed the Freedom of Information bill into law, it became the freedom of Information Act, but are we using it in the way we are suppose to use it? Are some of us not abusing the privileges? The media environment that should have helped our transformation agenda are being used negatively, these are some of the issues we need to address.

"The way Nigerians challenge and abuse me, yes the president has enormous power but if you use that enormous power to some extent you will look like a dictator. In a democratic setting, you want to create an environment where people can create their opinion and that is why people are allowed to talk freely and demonstrate. But are we doing so properly"

One of the discussants, Prof. Ihedu Ivwerebo, said Nigeria has been attempting to enshrine democratic system which is a culture. He said all the past 13 years experience was part of the culture.

He stated that the challenge facing the country was leadership infidelity. "The elites are unfaithful to Nigeria that made them. They go out and speak evil of the country," adding that impatience of Nigerians that we ought to have arrived was also contributing to the challenge.

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, said the lecture marked another critical milestone among programmes of independence. He said deeper knowledge of national issues would offer solutions to national problems, assuring that the President will remain committed to discussions and that the anniversary lecture has come to stay.

ThisDay

Atiku Advocates Return to Regionalism

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar

Chuks Okocha 

Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar Tuesday called for a review of Nigeria’s political system with the country returning to the regional structure that obtained in the First Republic.

Atiku said that the current three-tier structure, comprising the federal, states and councils should give way to a two-tier system made up of the six geopolitical zones with states serving as provinces.

He called for decentralisation of power to other lesser tiers of government so that the people would have a greater say in governance, but disabused the notion that decentralisation could lead to a breakup of the country.

The former vice-president spoke at the annual Leadership Newspapers Awards in Abuja where former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, called for the scrapping of the Senate as a way of reducing the cost of governance, while former Minister of Defence, Lt-Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, decried the overweening influence of governors in the polity.

The former vice-president, in his address, advocated the restructuring of the federating units in such a way that it would strengthen the various geopolitical zones.

According to him, “I want to recall that during the 1994-95 Constitutional Conference, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, the Second Republic vice-president of this federation, introduced and canvassed for the concept of geopolitical zones.

“I was among those who opposed it because I thought that Ekwueme, coming from the defunct Republic of Biafra, wanted to break up the country again.

“Now, I realise that I should have supported him because our current federal structure is clearly not working.  Dr. Ekwueme obviously saw what some of us, with our civil war mindset, could not see at the time.  There is indeed too much concentration of power and resources at the centre.

“And it is stifling our march to true greatness as a nation and threatening our unity because of all the abuses, inefficiencies, corruption and reactive tensions that it has been generating.

“There is need, therefore, to review the structure of the Nigerian federation, preferably along the basis of the current six geopolitical zones as regions and the states as provinces.

“The existing states structure may not suffice, as the states are too weak materially and politically to provide what is needed for good governance.”

Atiku also weighed in on the ongoing debate over the desirability or otherwise of decentralising the nation’s police force, saying there was nothing wrong with each state having its own police unit so long as it could be insulated from and is independent of the state or regional government.

“Should we abolish the Nigerian Police because it is often abused by those in power at the federal level?  Should we abolish the state treasuries because governors abuse them? And should we also abolish local governments for the same reason? No. We should, as a people, struggle for and put in place institutional safeguards against abuse of power by those in power at all levels.

“We have a chance now to put many of those safeguards in a new constitution. The argument that governors will abuse state police is rather specious,” he added.

On decentralisation of power, he said: “Why should we be talking of federal roads and federal secondary schools?  Decentralisation is not an invitation to the breakup of the country and national unity should not continue to be confused with unitarism and concentration of power and resources at the federal level.

“Of course, I am aware that some of the main beneficiaries of our erstwhile regional parliamentary democracy have been hiding behind the call for restructuring to push for the breakup of the country because of their proximity to a finite natural resource and transient political power.”

Atiku said because of excessive centralisation and the military rule that facilitated it, the Nigerian president is the most powerful leader in the world.

“This is because he can quite literally unleash all security agencies on an individual or organisation, undermine the National Assembly, and turn the judiciary into an almost pro-government and conformist organ.

“This is not in the realm of speculation; it has been happening in this country. Indeed, I drew attention to it when I was in office as vice-president and was having a political face-off with my boss. It is not healthy for democracy and must be changed,” he said.

Supporting Atiku’s position, Danjuma described governors as powerful sole administrators who command enormous powers.
He said the governors are in control of ministers appointed at the national level, adding that even in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the president has no power without the governors who control the delegates.

“Our governors are the most powerful. There is the need for a radical and drastic restructuring of the country,” he stressed.

In his speech, Tinubu who lamented the cost of governance, called for the scrapping of the Senate, saying only the House of Representatives should be retained, as it is more representative of the people.

He queried why the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should have a first line charge, when its chairman has no power to appoint resident electoral commissioners (RECs).

He said it was not in the interest of democracy for the president to be appointing RECs.

Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who received an award during the ceremony as Governor of the Year, however, told the gathering that there was hope in the country.

Fayemi, who spoke on behalf of the recipients of the awards, called on Nigerians not to lose hope in their country, adding that the desire to make the country better must be collective.

He said the opposition would make sure that they come together to provide an alternative to the ruling PDP.

The highlight of the occasion was the presentation of the Leadership Newspapers awards of Person of the Year to Danjuma, Governor of the Year to Fayemi and the Politician of the Year to House of Representatives Speaker, Hon. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

ThisDay

JTF Takes Over Boko Haram’s Command & Control Center - Report

 

The military Joint Task Force today further dealt a massive blow to the operational capabilty of the terrorist group Boko Haram following a successful operation launched at the group’s command and control center in Kano.

Reecall that two members of the sect had been captured yesterday after a gun battle with the military and officers of the SSS. One of those captured is believed to be Abu Qada, the group’s spokesman and “media coordinator.”




The JTF in a statement emailed to THEWILL said, “Following further operation in the suspects heavily wired IED hideout, the following items were recovered: Two AK 47 rifles, Two Pump Action Rifles, One Berretta Rifle, One Smoke Discharger, 433 rounds of 7.62 Nato ammunition, 80 rounds of 7.62 special ammunition, 2 AK 47 magazines, 36 Prepared IEDs, 13 Laptops, Two motorcycles, Four Printers, One photocopier, One 33 slots Zenith Disc writer, One TG 3900Ez Generator set, Religious Books, large quantity of CD plates, Two decoders, Two Satellite dish, One 21'' Television set, One DVD player, 2 Bags of Urea fertilizer, One Elite dry cell 12v battery, One blue gate UPS, One stabilizer, 10 Hand held Motorola radios and 5 Battery chargers.”

The JTF further said, “this latest encounter with the terrorist group have foiled its planned attack to wreck havoc on the good people of Kano state. It has equally further depleted the capacity of the terrorist group to operate. The JTF would like to use this medium to reiterate its resolve to continue to work assiduously towards the protection of lives and property in the state. 

“The relative peace which Kano enjoys today can be attributed to the collective effort and prayers of the good people of Kano State.”

The JTF appealed to the general public to continue to volunteer information while assuring the utmost confidentiality in dealing with such information. 

“Residents are therefore enjoined to go about their normal lawful business activity without any fear as security agents are ready and will respond swiftly to any treat to life and property in any part of the state,” the JTF added.

 THEWILL

The fear of armed robbers: How Lagos Island residents now live in silent pains

The recent deadly robbery incident in Lagos has brought to the fore the silent pains of some residents who had lately been faced with security challenges.
Although many would agree that the relative peace of the state was disrupted by the incident that left six persons dead and some others robbed of their goods and cash, however, some residents, particularly in and around Victoria Island, Agungi and the many estates along Lekki-Epe Expressway, expressed no surprise at the development.
Some of the residents said that they had endured terrifying experience with armed robbers in neighbourhoods and on the highways for a while, prior to the recent deadly attacks across Lagos, but were not taken seriously by the government and the police.
Therefore, police failure to curb the trend has been blamed for the chaos that unfolded across the state on September 9.
“It only shows that the robbers have grown in confidence,” said a victim of an armed robbery incident in his Victoria Island residence, three weeks ago.

Raid on Lagos Islands
In the ordeal that lasted about an hour, the victim said he lost some cash and gadgets to the AK-47-wielding gang.
About two months ago, a Diamond Bank Plc Director was reportedly robbed at Oniru estate in Victoria Island, where two ladies were also said to have been raped by a suspected robbery gang.
Just last month, the remains of a robber, who was reportedly part of a gang that had brazenly attacked and killed two officers of the State Security Service (SSS) at an Alpha Beach hotel, made a spectacle at the Ilasan Police Station, Jakande, where he was taken afterwards.
Mohammed, an eyewitness working around the police station, said the rest of the armed robbery gang escaped following a shoot-out with some police officers on patrol. He also noted that reported cases of carjacking had been on the increase around Victoria Island and Lekki.
In May, Adaure Achumba, journalist and blogger, along with her friend, were robbed of their cash and phones at gun point while having a ride around Victoria Island.
Describing their mixed experience with the police afterward, Adaure said that some officers were uncooperative, while those eager to assist were ill-equipped to coordinate an effective chase, even while her phone’s tracking device displayed the robbers’ movement.
“As I reached deep inside me for my survival skills, the guy with the gun kept running towards us and pointing the gun,” she said, narrating her ordeal.
Such has, however, been the lot of some residents in these so-called rich neighbourhoods of Lekki, Ajah, Ikoyi and Victoria Island, with many now living in fear of being killed, robbed, assaulted or raped in their own homes.
Investigations also revealed that many of the car thefts have been occurring in the night, to residents nightclubbing or returning from work late.

The fear of armed robbers…
A recent victim, who did not want his name published, noted that many victims are afraid to share their experience with anybody, particularly with the press and the police.
Victims, according to him, are scared to have their faces or names on TV or in print, lest they get another visit from their assailants.
“It’s also a problem when the police are not in a position to help you or respond to where robbers are within 20 minutes, you cut your losses and move on,” he added.

Security concerns
Even though the Lekki Scheme 1 Residents’ Association said the spate of robbery incidents within the estate had reduced, Peter Taiwo, a member of its Environmental Taskforce identified a major threat to security in the greater Lekki area.
Lekki area is largely at a developmental stage, with reconstruction and new structures of various land uses springing up, almost by the day.
Taiwo said enough attention had not paid to the “kind of people that the construction efforts are drawing” to the estates, such as bricklayers, welders, among others.
According to him, checking the activities of such people, some of who squat in all kinds of places within the estate, could close some of the existing security loopholes.
He added that the residents’ association he belonged to were already considering controlling the influx of people into the estate “by reintroducing the Lekki Residents’ Sticker Programme” and providing labourers working in the estate with identification badges.
“This will control and monitor new construction and reconstruction — to know the labourers to work on a site and to monitor them accordingly,” he said. “If their work extends beyond six months, the badges will have to be renewed.”
However, some other residents have called for the closure of neighbourhood nightclubs, describing them as incompatible with residential areas. They argued that the proliferation of nightclubs in and around residential neighbourhoods in the state would present a good cover for robbers at night, suggesting that such clubs be restricted to commercial avenues.
A resident, Akeem Oladeji, who expressed displeasure with the situation, said improvement on security hinged on keeping nightclubs off residential areas.
“With the nightclubs,” Oladeji said, “robbers can hide their heads and still perpetrate all the evil they want.”
In her reaction, Ngozi Braide, state police command spokesperson, denied knowledge of robbery incidents around Lekki area, saying that the police were not “informed or aware of it.”
DailyPost