Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff, Gen. Lucky Irabor, yesterday, reiterated that there was no going back on the presidential directive to shoot-at-sight anyone found bearing AK-47. Irabor disclosed this at Asaba while addressing journalists after a courtesy visit to Governor Ifeanyi Okowa at the Government House. While noting that Nigeria as a country forbade illegal bearing of arms, he cautioned that anyone found with such weapons was an enemy of the state and would be treated as such. Irabor said: “The mandate of the President for dealing with everyone holding AK-47 illegally is a mandate that must be enforced because we are a state that does not condone illegal bearing of arms.

President Muhammadu Buhari has yesterday said, his services Chiefs are doing their best to keep the country safe amidst the insecurity that is troubling the country. Buhari stated this while speaking to Journalist shortly after he arrived from his London Medical trip that lasted for two weeks, where he also gave insight on issues surrounding the appointment of the new Inspector general of Police (IGP).

The Governor of Ebonyi State and Chairman of South East Governors’ Forum, David Umahi, has raised the alarm on plots to incite war in the South East. He urged the people not to fall for such plans. He spoke on Channels programme Sunrise Daily breakfast show, yesterday. The governor while reacting to the rising insecurity in the Southeast, where gunmen have attacked several police stations and killer-herders have sacked communities, especially in Ebonyi, said bandits were committing crime in the Southeast under the guise of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), a security arm set up by the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). He emphasized that governors would not allow what he termed illegality to reign in the region, which was why they launched the Ebube Agu vigilante outfit. The governor claimed there was a plot to incite war in the Southeast, asking the people not to fall for such plans.

The outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Yesterday criticized southeast governors over the newly established security outfit Ebube Agu, calling it a waste of resources. IPOB insisted that the Eastern Security Network (ESN) is the duly formed outfit for the zone. IPOB’s spokesperson Emma Powerful, who made the pronouncement on Tuesday said the governors, “belatedly announced the formation of an abstract security outfit called Ebube Agu to secure the zone” “How can you launch a security outfit without first assembling the personnel and equipping them? “When Amotekun was formed, it was not abstract. The personnel and their equipment were handy. When our leader floated the gallant ESN, the men were on the ground. Describing Ebube Agu as a huge joke and waste, IPOB encouraged youths and others in the zone to disregard and distance themselves from the security outfit.

The Federal Ministry of Aviation yesterday, expressed worry over plans to attack some airports across the country. Worried airport authorities have projected that owing to the recent escalating senseless attacks with special reference to those of Kaduna Airport by kidnappers during which members of staff of the Federal Airport Authority (FAAN) were abducted and the attacks on police stations in Owerri, other airports in the country may be targets of attacks by criminals. The Aviation Ministry had alerted FAAN over the necessitated tightening of security measures at airports. Though the security around airports has been beef up these concerns still prevail. The situation which has trended on social media was birth by a memo dated April 9, 2021, and signed by FAAN’s Deputy General Manager, Administration, and Logistics, S. M. MAMMA.

Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami, has denied reports that the United States allegedly placed him on a ‘terror watch list’ for alleged ties with the late Boko Haram founder, Mohammed Yusuf. He noted that he has been preaching against Boko Haram, its ideologies, doctrines, and practices for the past 15 years. Pantami, an Islamic cleric, was alleged in a viral report to have been a mentor to the founder of the militant Islamist group, who was killed in 2009 in the North-East.