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Matawalle receives UK delegation on Security, appeals for more support to end Banditry
Zamfara State Governor, Bello Matawalle, said the security challenges he inherited from the previous government has posed a great deficit in achieving the desired goals of his administration and has virtually affected all aspects of life.
He said the action taken by his administration has brought about relative peace enjoyed in Zamfara and neighbouring states
The Governor said, to bring sanity and prevent escalation of lawlessness in the state, his administration approved an immediate declaration of proclamation on the entire State, which emanated from the ‘shoot on sight” order by President Muhammadu Buhari on anybody person or group in possession of firearms unlawfully.
Governor Matawalle disclose this when he received a delegation from the United Kingdom High Commission in Nigeria led by the Head of Governance, conflict and Social Development Sam Weldock
The British team were in Zamfara as part of their visit to Nigeria’s North west states affected by Banditry and other related crimes to ascertain the root causes of the crisis and provide possible solution to the problem.
Gov Matawalle commended the UK Government for its support on security and general well being of Zamfara State and Nigeria in general, noting there is no country in a better position to support the state than the UK considering its position in the area of security.
He also urged British Government to continue to sustain its cooperation with Nigeria’s Government and other states in the fight against insurgency, Banditry, Kidnapping and other security threats
The Governor who briefed the delegation on the security challenges bedeviling the state and his Administration’s commitment to restore the lost glory of Zamfara as the most peaceful State, said his model of dealing with security challenges includes a combination of negotiation with bandits and the use of kinetic power.
He further thanked the UK Government for all it has been doing in terms of support and cooperation to the State and Nigeria as a whole.
Earlier, the leader of the UK High commission delegation Sam Weldock said aim of the visit is to extend more support to Zamfara State and other North-Western States on Security issues in the region in order to restore lasting peace and tranquility.
He noted that, the UK Government is worried about the rising security challenges facing Zamfara state and will give it all the needed support it to ensure it overcome the problem.
The team led by Sam Waldock has Sophie Stevens, Conflict Adviser, and Alice Gore in the entourage .
The meeting has in attendance the Zamfara State Head of Service Kabiru Balarabe, the overseer, Ministry for Security and Home Affairs DIG Mamman Ibrahim Tsafe (RTD) Permanent Secretary ministries of Finance Kabiru Muhammed Gayari, Budget and Economic planning, Garba Ahmed Dauran, Abubakar Muhammed Barmo and Principal Private Secretary to the Governor, Lawal Umar Maradun among others.
June 3, 2021
Sokoto Strengthen Ties With UK
By Muhammad Goronyo, Sokoto
Expressing gladness for receiving the United Kingdom Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sam Wadock, governor Tambuwal said there is a very important issue that is bedeviling of lives of the people of Sokoto state and Nigeria in general that needs the immediate assistance of UK.
“We thanked UK government through you for taking interest in Sokoto state and all the partnership and support in the past and as well to show common interest in the security of Sokoto state and Nigeria in general”, averred the Governor.
He also said he ones had a meeting with the High Commissioner in the UK Commission office and acknowledged the contributions accorded to help Nigeria out of the security challenges the country is facing adding that looking at the security structure of the UK, there is no better country to move Nigeria towards the establishment of peace despite the efforts Nigeria is making towards banditry, kidnapping and all unnecessary activities.
He appealed on them to them to do more than they had done to Nigeria in the past.
Earlier, the UK Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Sam Wadock commended the Governor for the hospitality accorded them and that they were in Sokoto to express their support in the security challenges saying the old existing relationship with Sokoto will be strengthened.
” We would do all we can to assist in the fight against insurgency and other related vices”, said Mr. Sam.
June 1, 2021
UK Hold off Asylum policy for IPOB, MASSOB

There were indications, yesterday, that the United Kingdom (UK) Government had suspended its asylum policy as it concerns the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and other Biafra splinter groups.

This followed an e-mailed statement signed by Senior Communications Officer, Newsdesk, at the Home Office, Hannah Dawson, in which the UK Home Office said the policy was being reviewed and would be uploaded once ready.

In the emailed statement, the British Government, however, did not give a timeframe as to when the updated policy would be uploaded to their website.

The email read: “Our country policy and information notes are published on the gov.uk website. They are kept under review and updated periodically.
“We publish our notes as our decisions on protection claims can be appealed to the public immigration courts, so it is clearer and fairer to all involved (applicants, their lawyers, judges, stakeholders, such as the UNHCR) to know what our position and evidence base is.
“Our note on Biafra separatists has been taken down for review; an update is expected shortly.” It would be recalled the UK Visas and Immigration (UKVI) recently released new guidelines to its decision makers on how to consider and grant asylum applications by members of Biafran secessionist groups.

In the guidelines, asylum was to be granted to “persecuted” members IPOB, a group that the Nigerian government had designated as a terrorist organisation.

According to the guidelines, asylum was also to be granted to the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB).

Although the offer was rejected by IPOB and MASSOB, it was, however, condemned by the Federal Government, saying it was disrespectful of Nigeria as a nation.

Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who stated this while fielding questions at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) flagship interview programme in Abuja, said the decision was unacceptable to Nigeria and amounted to sabotaging the fight against terrorism and generally undermining Nigeria’s security.

He stated: “Let me say straight away that this issue is within the purview of the Minister of Foreign Affairs and I am sure he will handle it appropriately.
But as the spokesman for the Federal Government of Nigeria, I will say that if indeed the report that the UK will grant asylum to supposedly persecuted IPOB and MASSOB members is true, then something is wrong somewhere.
“Against the background of the fact that IPOB is not only proscribed, but also designated as a terrorist organisation here in Nigeria, the UK’s decision is disrespectful of Nigeria as a nation.
“The decision amounts to sabotaging the fight against terrorism and generally undermining Nigeria’s security. It is not only unconscionable, it is inexplicable.”
Mohammed stressed that there had recently been heightened attacks against security agencies in the Southeast, which alleged, are linked to IPOB, in spite of its denials.
“For the UK to choose this time to give succour to IPOB, beggars belief and calls to question, the UK’s real intention.
“If we could go down the memory lane, what the UK has done is like Nigeria offering asylum to members of the IRA (Irish Republican Army) before the 1998 Good Friday Peace Agreement,” he added.
In reaction to the Nigerian Government’s compliant, the British High Commission had explained that all asylum and human rights claims from Nigerians were carefully considered on their individual merits in accordance with the UK international obligations.

“The UK has a proud history of providing protection to those who need it, in accordance with our international obligations under the Refugee Convention and European Convention on Human Rights.
“Our country policy and information notes are published on the gov.uk website and are kept under constant review and updated periodically. An update to the Biafra separatist note is expected shortly.
“We publish them since our decisions can be appealed in the immigration courts, which are public, so it is clearer and fairer for all involved (applicants, their lawyers, Judges, stakeholders such as the UNHCR) to know what our position and evidence base is.”
April 24, 2021
Buhari to proceed on routine Medical Check-up in UK
President Muhammadu Buhari will on Tuesday proceed to London, the United Kingdom for a routine medical check-up.
This was announced in a statement issued on Monday night by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina.
Before departing the country for the UK, President Buhari would meet with the security chiefs in the morning.
He is expected back in Nigeria during the second week of April 2021.
President Buhari had embarked on several medical trips between 2015 and 2019. During one of his trips in 2017, he spent 103 days in London with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, acting as the president then.
His long absence sparked rumours that he had passed on – speculations which were denied by the presidency.
Buhari’s health became a subject of debate in the last election in February 2020 when the opposition claimed he was not physically fit to govern — but Buhari won a second term.
The president’s state of health became a sensitive subject in Nigeria after former leader Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, died in 2010 and it emerged that his ailment had been kept secret for months.
March 30, 2021
BREAKING: UK to return ‘£4.2m Ibori loot’ to Nigeria
The British Government has resolved to return to Nigeria £4.2million being part of the funds so far recovered from friends and family members of former Delta Governor, James Ibori.
The British High Commission to Nigeria, Ms. Catriona Laing, who disclosed this on Tuesday in Abuja, said this was the first tranche of such planned returns.
Laing said what is currently being returned were retrieved from friends and family members of Ibori.
She noted the Ibori case is complicated and the United Kingdom authorities were still working on the total actual amount involved in the case.
Laing, who spoke at a ceremony for the signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) between both countries in Abuja, assured more of such recoveries from the Ibori case would be returned to Nigria in due course.
Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, who signed for the country, disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed the returned loots be deployed to completion of the second Niger Bridge, the Lagos to Ibadan express way and the Abuja to Kano express way projects.
March 9, 2021
UK Sanctions Four Zimbabwe Leaders Over Death of 23 Protesters
Britain on Monday slapped sanctions on four Zimbabwean officials following the deaths of at least 23 people protesting against the regime of President Emmerson Mnangagwa.
Applying a new sanctions regime following its exit from the European Union, Britain said the travel bans and asset freezes showed it was determined to protect human rights in its former African colony.
“These sanctions send a clear message that we will hold to account those responsible for the most egregious human rights violations, including the deaths of innocent Zimbabweans,” Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said in a statement.
“These sanctions target senior individuals in the government, and not ordinary Zimbabweans. We will continue to press for the necessary political and economic reforms that will benefit all Zimbabweans.”
The four named were Minister for State Security Owen Ncube; Central Intelligence Organisation chief Isaac Moyo; Zimbabwe Republic Police Commissioner General Godwin Matanga; and Anselem Sanyatwe, a former commander of the presidential guard.
Ncube and Sanyatwe were already targeted for US sanctions in March last year.
The officials are accused of responsibility for the deaths of 17 Zimbabweans in January 2019, when the army attacked protesters marching against a hefty fuel price hike.
They were also allegedly complicit in soldiers opening fire on unarmed demonstrators who were protesting a delay in election results in August 2018, killing six.
That attack prompted international outrage against President Mnangagwa, who initially appeared willing to break from the brutality of longtime dictator Robert Mugabe, whom he ousted in November 2017.
February 1, 2021
Nigerian doctor suspended for flogging son in UK reinstated
A Nigerian consultant anaesthetist Adekunle Okunuga based in the United Kingdom has been reinstated following his suspension from work for beating his son.
The 59-year-old medical personnel, who was arrested after the incident in June 2014, blamed his cultural upbringing in Nigeria for the act, Daily Mail UK reports.
He said corporal punishments are common in Nigeria.
Okunuga caned his son for misbehaving in school and made him stand one leg with his arms in the air while he kicked him.
He also caned the boy’s open palms with a walking stick.
The boy got into trouble in school for not submitting homework, lying to other pupils, using the word ‘rape’ and for stamping in any injured girl during PE lesson.
In 2015, Okunuga’s name was ordered to be removed from the medical register after he was found guilty of professional misconduct by a disciplinary panel.
The doctor, who has been working at the National Orthopaedic Hospital in Lagos, is now free to return to work at the University Hospital Coventry.
“My actions embarrassed the medical profession and brought it into disrepute and as a member of the medical community, I should be role model. I apologised sincerely to the GMC and the wider public,” he was quoted to have said.
“My behaviour was born out of my cultural upbringing, I should have known better and I take full responsibility for my actions.
“If I were to witness a similar occurrence by one of my colleagues, I would be the first to speak up and take action and report it to the appropriate authorities.
“I have been working abroad but have always given full disclosure of my sanction to all employers and the relevant medical authorities.
“I have attended courses in order to maintain my professional development and am clinically ready to resume practice in the United Kingdom where I could be of tremendous support to the medical community.”
After the incident, he was arrested and convicted at Leamington Spa magistrates court for ill- treating a child and was sentenced to eight weeks in jail and ordered to complete 160 hours unpaid work.
The boy was temporarily put in foster care and was later returned to his family.
January 18, 2021
UK to close all travel corridors Monday
All travel corridors to the UK will be closed from Monday, the Prime Minister has announced, ending the quarantine exemption for arrivals from selected nations.
The announcement comes after it was confirmed that a new variant of COVID-19, which emerged in Brazil, had been discovered in the UK.
The new policy, which comes into effect from 4am on Monday, means that arrivals from every destination will need to self-isolate for 10 days, or receive a negative result from a coronavirus test taken at least five days after they enter the UK.
January 16, 2021
UK Issues Travel ban on 11 African countries over Covid-19
The United Kingdom has extended the ban on travellers entering England to 11 African countries in a bid to prevent the spread of a new COVID-19 variant identified in South Africa.
This was contained in a press statement titled, ‘Travel restrictions update: South Africa ban extended, Israel (and Jerusalem)’ on the UK’s government website.
It stated that the restriction will take effect on Saturday and remain in place for two weeks.
The UK had on December 23, 2020, imposed a travel ban on South Africa.
Part of the statement read, “Entry into England will be banned to those who have travelled from or through any southern African country in the last 10 days, including Namibia, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Eswatini, Zambia, Malawi, Lesotho, Mozambique and Angola – as well as Seychelles and Mauritius.
“This does not include British and Irish Nationals, longer-term visa holders and permanent residents, who will be able to enter but are required to self-isolate for 10 days on arrival along with their household.
“The government has therefore also removed Botswana, Seychelles and Mauritius from the travel corridor list, with the changes coming into place from 4am on Saturday 9 January 2021.
“Any exemptions usually in place – including for those related to employment – will not apply and those British nationals arriving into England from the other southern African countries, Seychelles and Mauritius after 4am on Saturday 9 January cannot be released from self-isolation through Test to Release.
People sharing a household with anyone self-isolating from these countries will also have to self-isolate for 10 days.
“Ministers have also removed Israel (and Jerusalem) from the government’s travel corridor list, as data from the Joint Biosecurity Centre and Public Health England has indicated a significant change in both the level and pace of confirmed cases of coronavirus. The decision to remove Israel (and Jerusalem) has been made following a sustained and accelerating increase in COVID-19 cases per 100,000 of the population, similar in trajectory to the UK.”
January 8, 2021
COVID-19: UK PM Announces Fresh Lockdown in England
UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson has announced a new national lockdown until at least mid-February to combat a fast-spreading new variant of the coronavirus.

According to Johnson the move was necessary to aid the containing of the disease variant, even as Britain ramped up its vaccination program by becoming the first nation to start using the vaccine developed by Oxford University and drugmaker AstraZeneca.

Johnson on Monday, January 4, said people must stay at home again, as they were ordered to do so in the first wave of the pandemic in March.

“As I speak to you tonight, our hospitals are under more pressure from COVID than at any time since the start of the pandemic,” he said.
Johnson said there were “tough, tough” weeks to come in the fight against COVID-19.

Under the new rules, which are set to come into effect now, primary and secondary schools and colleges will be closed for face to face learning except for the children of key workers. University students will not be returning until at least mid-February.

All nonessential shops and personal care services like hairdressers will be closed, and restaurants can only operate takeout services.

As of Monday, there were 26,626 COVID patients in hospitals in England, an increase of more than 30% from a week ago. That is 40% above the highest level of the first wave in the spring.

On Monday, they reported 407 virus-related deaths in the UK to push the confirmed death toll total to 75,431, one of the worst in Europe.

The U.K.’s chief medical officers warned that without further action, “there is a material risk of the National Health Service in several areas being overwhelmed over the next 21 days.”

Today also,, Scottish leader Nicola Sturgeon also imposed a lockdown until the end of January.

Beginning Tuesday, people in Scotland will be required to stay at home except for essential reasons, to help ease the pressure on hospitals and intensive care units, Sturgeon said.
January 4, 2021