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Governors Should Not Be Allowed To Abuse State Police – PSC Boss, Arase

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With talks about the establishment of state police gaining momentum in the country, the Chairman of the Police Service Commission (PSC), Solomon Arase, has warned state governors not to abuse state police.

Arase, the 18th Inspector General of Police, made this known on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande aired on Channels Television on Friday.

On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu and the 36 state governors met and considered the establishment of state police as a way to solve the escalating security challenges and the booming kidnap-for-ransom menace in the country.

Speaking on the state police alternative, Arase said, “Policing is local. Crime is environmental. State police is what we should be thinking about but then, there must be some safeguards put in place like is the governor going to be the one to appoint a commissioner of police and deputy commissioner of police?

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“In order areas, the governor does not have control over the appointment of police commissioners. The truth about it is that of we are going to have state police, our political culture must be such that accommodate oppositions. Most of our governors, if they have control over police apparatus, their oppositions won’t be able to campaign anywhere.”

The police commission boss said there should be laws to check the excesses or otherwise of governors who abuse state police. He suggested that members of the civil society organisations, lawyers of repute, traditional rulers, religious leaders should be empowered to appoint police commissioners under the state police system.

He lamented that crimes will fester in a country where there are no consequences for crimes.

“We want to see more of prosecution; prosecution is a deterrence to others who want to go that route. The number of arrests in the past eight years is quite huge but it is not commensurate to the prosecution.

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“You cannot attract investment in a place where there is no consequence for crimes committed,” he said.

He said technology should be used to aid or supplement the deficiency in manpower within the various security agencies.

He said Police-public partnership should be encourage and a bill should be passed that having closed-circuit television will be a mandatory requirement of public buildings like residential estates, shopping malls and the likes.

Arase said the government should embark on mass recruitment into the security agencies, train them along professional lines and skill acquisition in semi-formal areas for them to be financially independent. He said thereafter the trained pool can be made reservists and be called upon when the country needs extra hands to combat security challenges.

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He reminded the President to actualise one of his campaign promises on mass recruitment into the Force, saying that may be the solution to the country’s internal disorder.

On police welfare, he urged the Federal Government to build units of two-bedroom flats for officers of the Nigeria Police Force to take care of their housing issues, especially after retirement. He also said there should be scholarships for the children of serving police officers.

“What will it cost the police management to start building two-bedroom apartments especially for the inspectors and rank and file; those are the ones I call the street managers because those guys are their come rain and come shine and even when it comes to shedding their blood?” he asked.

He further said the calls for right to bear arms by citizens should be discouraged because of mental health issues and the proliferation of firearms in the country.

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BREAK-IN ! Rivers boils as CSO sh0t d3ad by 5 gunmen with his 23-year-old son

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Gunmen have killed the Chief Security Officer (CSO) of the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium, Richard Timothy, and his 23-year-old son, Silas, at their residence in Igwuruta-Ali, near Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Timothy’s widow, Grace, said about five gunmen dressed in black attire attacked her husband as they drove into their residence.

She explained tthat her son, a new graduate of the University of Port Harcourt, waiting for the compulsory one year National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was also shot dead by the assailants.

Grace said: “Around 9pm on 31th January, we went to get some things. As we were coming and about entering the house, we called my son to open the gate.

“As he opened the gate we were about to enter, we saw people in black, fully armed entering with us in their car.

” They started shooting and immediately my husband opened the door, they shot him in the head, not once, not twice. They saw his son with him.

“I was able to escape but by the time I entered the house, I met my son who just graduated from UNIPORT ready to go for NYSC, his corpse on the floor.

“The police came and took his corpse and deposited at the morgue,”

The woman said the gunmen later took her into a nearby bush after shooting her husband and her son dead and requested she gave them money.

She said: “I was able to escape to the backyard. They came there, saw me and took me out of the compound towards the bush, like 50 meters from the house. At that time I knew there was no hope for me again.

“Then I tried to find out from them what the problem was and who sent them. They said they didn’t come for me but my husband. They now asked me to bring money. I told them I don’t have any money.

“Along the line they shot one of their members. So for them to be able to escape with the one with a gunshot, they left me and asked me to go back.”

She said her husband had hitherto received multiple threats from some individuals, who opposed his stance against the looting of properties at the Adokiye Amiesimaka Stadium.

She said: “The DPO (Divisional Police Officer) took me to the House and tried to find out a few things from me and said they will get back to me.

“They have been threatening him. If they go to the Igwuruta Police Station, I think they will have many files of those that have been threatening him, those that have been stealing from that stadium.

“If they (police) go there at least they will know where and how the case will look like. That will even help them because he has been going there to register all these threats in the police station because he didn’t want them to empty the Stadium.

“I think on one or two occasions around June, July he arrested two people, one from the Stadium, the other from his yard. Nigerians should help me, I don’t want my husband to die in vain because he fought for the truth.”

The Spokesperson of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko confirmed the incident saying investigation to ensure those behind the killings are apprehended and brought to book.

Iringe-Koko, in a statement said the police “received a distress call from late Timothy’s daughter about the attack and immediately dispatched its men who raced down and recovered three expended AK-47 ammunition.”

She said Timothy and his son were rushed to the hospital but were confirmed dead by the doctor on duty, adding Commissioner of Police had deployed necessary intelligence to ensure the arrest of the fleeing suspects and make them face the law.

The statement said: “The Rivers State Police Command is aware of a tragic incident which occurred on 31st, January, 2025, at about 2340hrs in Rivers State, where one Timothy, ‘m’ a 59-year-old Chief Security Officer of Adokiye Amieseimeka International Stadium, Omagwa, Port Harcourt and his first son were brutally murdered by unknown gunmen.

“The Igwuruta Division of the Rivers State Police Command received a report from Omolara, Timothy’s daughter, stating that four unknown gunmen ambushed her father and son, shooting them severely on the head, resulting in their death.

“The police swiftly responded to the scene, recovering three expended AK-47 ammunition. The victims were rushed to the hospital, but unfortunately, they succumbed to their injuries and were confirmed dead by the Doctor on duty.

“The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, has directed the deployment of all necessary intelligence to apprehend the fleeing suspects and bring them to justice

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SEE Today’s Black Market Dollar To Naira Exchange Rate – 5th February 2025

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Black Market Dollar to Naira Exchange Rate – 5th February 2025

What is the current Dollar to Naira exchange rate in the black market, also known as the parallel market (Aboki FX)?

Check out the latest black market exchange rate for the Dollar to Naira as of 4th February 2025 below. You can exchange your dollars for naira at these rates..

How much is 1 USD to NGN in the black market today?

According to sources from Bureau De Change (BDC), the exchange rate at the Lagos Parallel Market (Black Market) on Tuesday, 4th February 2025, is as follows:

Buying Rate: N1,595 per dollar
Selling Rate: N1,605 per dollar
CBN Exchange Rate for Dollar to Naira Today

It’s important to note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognize the parallel market (black market) for forex transactions. The CBN has advised individuals and businesses to conduct foreign exchange transactions through their respective banks.

Here are the official CBN rates for 4th February 2025:

It’s important to note that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not recognize the parallel market (black market) for forex transactions. The CBN has advised individuals and businesses to conduct foreign exchange transactions through their respective banks.

Here are the official CBN rates for 4th February 2025:

Highest Rate: N1,502 per dollar
Lowest Rate: N1,494 per dollar
Disclaimer: The exchange rates mentioned above may differ from the actual rates at which forex is bought or sold, as prices fluctuate frequently.

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Popular Activist Najatu Insists On Ribadu’s Corrupt Remarks Against Tinubu

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Popular activist and politician Najatu Mohammed has challenged National Security Adviser (NSA) Nuhu Ribadu to take legal action over her recent remarks about him

Mohammed had alleged that Ribadu previously described President Bola Tinubu as corrupt but has now aligned himself with Tinubu’s administration as NSA.

In response, Ribadu, through his lawyer Ahmed Raji, issued a letter dated February 4 demanding a public apology and retraction, stating that the claims had caused him “unquantifiable damage.”

The letter refuted the allegations, stating that Ribadu had never made such remarks about Tinubu, Senator George Akume, or Senator Orji Uzor Kalu. It also accused Mohammed of inciting public sentiment against him and attempting to damage his reputation.

The letter further warned that failure to retract the statement within seven days and publish an apology in five national newspapers would result in legal action seeking exemplary damages.

The letter read: “Privately or publicly, our client has never expressed the above viewpoint about President Tinubu and/or Senators George Akume and Orji Uzor Kalu, which you attributed to him.

“In fact, our client has never held such a viewpoint about the president; hence, it came as a complete surprise to him when his attention was drawn to the aforesaid publication by you against him.

“In the foregoing premise, our client hereby challenges you to provide evidence of your allegations therein against him; which have cast him as double-faced, duplicitous, and deceitful in the eyes of right-thinking members of the society.

“Although masked as a clarion call to the North to rise up to your perceived injustice against the North by the government of the day, your publication is also inciting violence towards our client.

“Given this far-reaching ramification of your publication, our client will not sit back and watch his hard-earned reputation and goodwill destroyed by your malicious decision to not only lay false allegations against him, but also to cause the same to be published for the world’s attention.

“Your intention to bring our client to public ridicule, opprobrium, scorn, and shame, etc., is laid bare when it is considered that you deliberately caused the same to be published on social media, where it has since gone viral.

“Surely, the damage occasioned to our client by your deliberate but ill-advised action is unquantifiable. However, our client will be assuaged if you retract the said publication and tender an unreserved public apology to him in at least 5 [five] national daily newspapers within 7 [seven] days of receipt of this letter.

“If not, we have our client’s further instructions to seek redress against you in a court of law where exemplary damages will be claimed against you. Kindly be advised.”

However, in a telephone interview with Premier Radio on Tuesday evening, Mohammed stood by her statement, insisting that Ribadu had made the remarks while serving as chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

“As EFCC chairman, Ribadu once said that Tinubu was among the most corrupt persons. And among the Nigerian governors, Tinubu was number one,” she claimed.

She added that the alleged statement was available in a YouTube video and maintained that she would not issue a retraction

“What is wrong if I said he is bowing to Tinubu? What is he doing as NSA? What security is he providing to the nation? He does nothing other than praising Tinubu to secure his position,” she asserted.

Mohammed reiterated her refusal to retract her remarks and openly challenged Ribadu to take her to court.

“Nuhu Ribadu should take me to the Nigerian Supreme Court, please,” she declared.

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