Headline
NAF critical to success of government’s 8-point agenda – Minister
(Photo: Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hassan Abubakar, receives the Minister of Human Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, at NAF Headquarters in Abuja.)
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, Dr Betta Edu, says the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) remains a key enabler to the successful implementation of the 8-point agenda of the President Bola Tinubu-led administration.
A statement issued by the NAF Spokesman, Air Commodore Edward Gabkwet, on Wednesday said the minister said this when she paid a courtesy visit to the Chief of the Air Staff (CAS), Air Marshal Hasan Abubakar.
Edu said that President Bola Tinubu had remained committed to reducing the number of Nigerians in dire need of humanitarian assistance irrespective of their location.
She said the commitment would only be realisable if the ministry could have easy access to some of the victims who reside in inaccessible areas.
According to her, it is in view of the difficulty experienced in gaining access to these locations that she was at the NAF Headquarters to seek for assurance and solicit for assistance in the delivery of relief materials to the needy in areas hindered by difficult terrains or insecurity.
The minister promised that families of NAF veterans as well as those who paid the supreme price while on active duty would be captured in the new expanded poverty alleviation programme set to be rolled out in some weeks to come.
She called for the establishment of a humanitarian desk officer at Headquarters NAF for ease of liaison with her Ministry during the compilation and submission of the list of beneficiaries to ensure that the appropriate NAF beneficiaries were captured under the programme.
Edu commended the NAF for its assistance to the ministry and its parastatals in the areas of casualty evacuation, distribution of relief materials as well as evacuation of stranded Nigerians in conflict areas overseas.
Responding, Air Marshal Abubakar said the NAF and the ministry had a long history of collaboration either directly or through its numerous agencies.
Abubakar assured the minister of NAF’s readiness and willingness to assist her achieve the mandate of the Ministry and called for effective coordination which, he said, was the cornerstone of any successful humanitarian operation.
He also proposed some key areas where NAF and the ministry could strengthen their partnership.
According to him, the two organisations can partner in the areas of joint training and capacity building as well as optimise disaster response protocols to enable us act swiftly, minimise duplication of efforts and ensure more efficient allocation of resources.
He added that close collaboration would ensure that aid get to those in need in a timely and efficient manner.
The minister, who was accompanied by senior officials of her ministry, also took time out to lay a wreath at the NAF Memorial arcade.
The Minister of Justice, Lateef Fagbemi, SAN has warned against obstructing the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from carrying out its lawful duty .
Fagbemi’s warning is contained in a statement in Abuja.
“This is a matter of very grave concern, it is now beyond doubt that the EFCC is given power by the law to invite any person of interest to interact with them in the course of their investigations into any matter, regardless of status.
“Therefore, the least that we can all do when invited, is not to put any obstruction in the way of EFCC, but to honourably answer their invitation.
“A situation where public officials who are themselves subject of protection by law enforcement agents will set up a stratagem of obstruction to the civil and commendable efforts of the EFCC to perform its duty is to say the least, insufferably disquieting’’.
He added that running away from the law will not resolve issues at stake but only exacerbate them.
“Nigeria has a vibrant judicial system that is capable of protecting everyone who follows the rule of law in seeking protection.
“I therefore encourage anyone who has been invited by the EFCC or any other agency to immediately toe the path of decency and civility by honouring such invitation instead of embarking on a temporising self-help and escapism.
“This can only put our country in bad light before the rest of the world’’.
He said institutions of state should be allowed to function effectively and efficiently.
“I stand for the rule of law and will promptly call EFCC, and indeed any other agency to order when there is an indication of any transgressions of the fundamental rights of any Nigerian by any of the agencies’’.
NAN reports that the EFCC had on Wednesday warned members of the public that it was a criminal offence to obstruct officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties.
Section 38(2)(a(b) of the EFCC Establishment Act makes it an offence to prevent officers of the Commission from carrying out their lawful duties. Culprits risk a jail term of not less than five years.
The warning , the EFCC said, became necessary against the background of the increasing tendency by persons and groups under investigation by the Commission to take the laws into their hands by recruiting thugs to obstruct lawful operations of the EFCC.
On several occasions, the anti graft agency said, operatives of the Commission have had to exercise utmost restraint in the face of such provocation to avoid a breakdown of law and order.
Some unknown gunmen have kidnapped Joshua Rogers, the ChannelsTV reporter in Port-Harcourt, the Rivers State capital.
Politics Nigeria learnt that Rogers was picked up close to his residence at Rumuosi in Port Harcourt and to an unknown destination by the gunmen around 9pm on Thursday, April 11.
The reporter was driving his official ChannelsTV branded car when the hoodlums accosted, pointed a gun at him and took him away in the same vehicle.
Rogers was said to be returning from his official assignment in Government House after a trip to Andoni for a government event when the incident happened.
Already, the gunmen were said to have contacted his wife and demanded a N30million ransom for bis release.
His cameraman confirmed the incident and appealed to his abductors to set him free unconditionally.
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