Month: November 2025

In a bid to maintain a clean and safe environment across Plateau State, the Plateau State Environmental Protection and Sanitation Agency (PEPSA) conducted a focused two-day sanitation and roadside clearing exercise yesterday and today. The initiative brought together about 300 workers from communities across the state, supported by PEPSA’s internal sanitation staff.

The exercise focused on areas where overgrown shrubs and bushes were obstructing roads, creating hazards for both motorists and pedestrians. Teams worked along major routes and nearby communities, including Polo to Hill Station Roundabout, Old Airport, Secretariat to Airforce Base–Yingi Road down to Rayfield, Rayfield Resort to Gut-Dwoi Road, Murtala Way, and Millionaires Quarters Road–Lamingo Road. The agency plans to extend the sanitation exercise to other parts of the state.

During the operation, blocked drainages were cleared, overgrown vegetation was trimmed, and roadside spaces tidied, improving accessibility and safety along the affected roads. PEPSA staff provided continuous supervision and coordination to ensure the smooth progress of activities.

Speaking on behalf of PEPSA’s Director General, Samuel Dapiya, Mrs. Naomi Longlam, Director of Waste Management, urged residents and business owners along the cleared routes to actively maintain the cleanliness of their surroundings. “We encourage everyone to trim shrubs, remove debris, and support this effort. Keeping Plateau clean is a collective responsibility that requires the participation of all,” she said.

PEPSA highlighted that such exercises prevent bushfires, reduce pest breeding grounds, enhance road visibility, and contribute to a healthier environment for residents. The agency reaffirmed its commitment to working with communities to sustain cleanliness and environmental safety across the state.

Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Thursday, said the recent presidential directive withdrawing police personnel from Very Important Persons (VIPs) is a strategic realignment aimed at strengthening frontline policing and protecting vulnerable communities across the country.

Egbetokun made the remarks while addressing journalists in Abuja at a meeting with senior police commanders.

He said the decision to recall officers from VIP security duties was not driven by sentiment but by the urgent need to channel manpower to areas where public safety demands are highest.

According to him, the move aligns with the core mandate of the Nigeria Police Force, which is the protection of citizens, communities, and public order.

He added that a total of 11,566 personnel withdrawn from VIP duties had been redeployed.

“In line with the President’s directive, we have withdrawn a total of 11,566 personnel from VIP protection. These officers are being redeployed to critical policing duties immediately,” he said.

The IGP explained that the withdrawal would enable the police to expand manpower deployment for rural and township security, large-scale population protection, intensified patrols, intelligence-led operations, and rapid response to emerging threats.

He warned that the implementation of the VIP withdrawal directive would be carefully managed to prevent misinformation, impersonation, or exploitation by criminal elements.

Detailed guidelines, he said, would be released soon.

“The withdrawal is not a retreat from responsibility, but a reclamation of it,” Egbetokun added.

He noted that recent security incidents—including abductions in Kwara, Kebbi, and Niger states—have reinforced the need to reposition the force and strengthen visibility and deterrence across the country.

Egbetokun said that although security agencies responded swiftly to the attacks, the incidents created the impression in some quarters that the police were not doing enough.

“We may not be doing enough, but it is not that we are not working. We are actually doing something. But as leaders, we must hold ourselves to a higher standard,” he said.

The IGP disclosed that the force had achieved notable operational successes in recent weeks, including the arrest of 8,202 suspects for various offences and the rescue of 232 kidnapped victims.

He added, “The Nigerian Police Force has achieved multiple operational outcomes across strategic formations and tactical response structures, including 451 armed robbery suspects, 356 kidnapping suspects, 534 murder suspects, 129 culpable homicide suspects, 173 persons for unlawful possession of firearms, 312 suspected rapists, and 282 suspected cultists. In addition, 6,094 other suspects were arrested for various serious offences.”

He also listed the recovery of 249 firearms, nearly 21,000 rounds of ammunition, and 238 vehicles.

Egbetokun said the police were adopting stronger intelligence frameworks, deeper community engagement, and enhanced inter-agency collaboration to outmanoeuvre criminals.

With the festive season approaching, he directed all state commands to activate enhanced patrols, highway visibility operations, and community-focused policing strategies, including the deployment of drones and AI-driven surveillance tools.

“As we approach the festive season, the nation will witness its highest annual travel activity. Citizens returning home to celebrate with family and communities, criminals will seek to exploit the roads.

“Therefore, the roads must be decisively dominated by proactive policing and preparedness. I hereby charge each state command to activate festive deployment and operational plans.

“This will include expanded highway patrol teams, reinforced foot patrol units at motor parks, anti-robbery dragnet patrols on high-traffic roads, intelligence-backed vehicular patrols for rural corridors, and inter-service collaboration patrols to guarantee route safety across all national highways. It will also cover township entry and exit points, market transit routes, and community travel corridors.

“Employ the use of artificial intelligence in policing strategies, including drones and other technical assets. Every command must track operational hours and presence metrics as performance indicators for the December deployment,” Egbetokun said.

The Nigerian Senate on Tuesday approved far-reaching security measures, formally categorizing kidnapping and banditry as terrorist acts and endorsing the death penalty for all offences connected to abduction.

The decision followed a heated plenary session presided over by Senate President Godswill Akpabio, sparked by a motion of urgent national importance introduced by Senator Ashiru Oyelola Yisa (Kwara South) and later amended by Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele.

In one of its toughest security stances in years, the Senate resolved that “all kidnapping-related laws be designated as terrorism, carrying a maximum death sentence, with no option of fine or judicial reduction.”

To give legal backing to the new classification, Senate Leader Opeyemi Bamidele was instructed to present an amendment bill “as soon as possible.”

Lawmakers also approved the establishment of a Joint Task Force (JTF) to bolster security within the Kwara–Kogi axis, with new Forward Operating Bases proposed for Eruku, Babanla, Oke-Ero, Isanlu and Wasagu in Kebbi State.

Additionally, the Senate urged the Federal Government to strengthen local vigilante operations and to review the country’s firearm regulations in line with practices in “over 175 nations where responsible citizens are allowed to possess firearms.”

A key part of the resolutions includes a directive to conduct a thorough investigation into the withdrawal of troops from a Kebbi school shortly before it was attacked by bandits.

All Senate security committees were assigned to probe the troop withdrawal, examine the circular surrounding the killing of Brigadier-General M. Uba in Maiduguri, and report their findings within two weeks.

These resolutions reflect the Senate’s growing concern over the alarming rise in kidnappings, school attacks, and banditry nationwide.

Recently, 4wardwego reported widespread panic in Eruku, Ekiti Local Government Area of Kwara State, after terrorists invaded a Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) branch, killing three worshippers and abducting several others, including the pastor.

This incident follows a series of mass abductions earlier this month in Kebbi and Niger states.