Porbitas condemns military invasion of Dura Du in Plateau State - ITREALMS

ITREALMS:

Probitas, the Nigeria-based civil society group, has condemned the invasion of the Dura Du community in Jos South Local Government, North-Central Nigeria, by members of the Nigerian military, reports ITREALMS.

Communications Director, Probitas, Amaka Nwankwo in a press statement made available to ITREALMS, alleged that the soldiers who stormed the community three days ago, claim that they are searching for a missing retired General, Idris Alkali, who was reportedly last seen near a pond in the area. 

Probitas questions the legality of this action, which is capable of causing the loss of lives and property in an already volatile community.

The Nigerian Army must respect jurisdictional boundaries. The disappearance of a retired General is purely a criminal matter meant to be investigated by the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and not the Nigerian Army. The fact that Mr Alkali is a former Major-General, does not give the army the right to usurp the powers of the Nigerian Police.

This mission is being headed by Brigadier-General Umar Mohammed, the Chief of Staff of Operation Safe Haven. Brigadier-General Umar Mohammed's unilateral decision to drain a local pond, revered by community members, must be resisted by the government, civil society and environmental activists.

The right thing would be to hand this matter over to the police and to take into consideration the concerns of locals who fear that the army is planning a full-scale desecration of their community. The authorities must consider other alternatives to draining the community's pond such as using deep sea divers and underwater cameras. 

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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2019: INEC delivers 123,848 voters cards to Plateau State

ITREALMS:

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has delivered some 123,848 permanent voters cards to Plateau State INEC, reports ITRealms.

According to INEC, reports from its field officers have revealed a smooth exercise in all the 17 Local Government Area in Plateau State.

The Head of Publicity and Voter Education Department in Plateau INEC, Osaretin Imahiyereobo, told journalists in Jos that the distribution of the PVCs commenced in the 17 LGAs on May 21.

According to him, the PVCs were for those voters who registered with INEC between April and December 2017.

He said, “The exercise was flagged off at  the Jos South Local Government office of INEC by the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mallam Hussaini Halilu Pai. This was followed by the monitoring of the  exercise in Barkin Ladi and Riyom LGAs by the National Commissioner supervising Plateau State,  Prof. Anthonia Simbine.

“A breakdown of the PVCs received in Plateau State shows that Jos South LGA has 21,045, followed by Jos North with 15, 113; Wase, 11,118; Shendam, 10,990. Jos East LGA has the least number of PVCs.

“Reports from the various LGAs is mixed with response in the  collection of the PVCs. While reports from Jos North, Jos South and Wase LGAs showed initial enthusiasm in the number of PVCs collected, other LGAs has not shown marked improvement.

“So far Jos North has the highest rate of collection with 625, followed by Jos South, 520; Kanam, 485. Other available figures are Quan'Pan, 143, Riyom, 20, Langtang North, 96, Wase, 44, Shendam 144, Barkin Ladi, 300 and Pankshin, 36.

“Apart from the distribution of the new cards, others who registered before the 2015 elections are also collecting their cards. Other CVR activities such as registration, transfers, corrections and replacements are going on simultaneously.“

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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