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Borno Flood: Kashim Imam Begins Distribution of Cooked Meals to Victims

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Borno Flood: Kashim Imam Begins Distribution of Cooked Meals to Victims

By: Michael Mike

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s Parliamentary Liaison Officer, Alhaji Kashim Imam has volunteered to provide meals to large number of people displaced by recent flood the submerge more than half of Maiduguri, the Borno State Capital and its environs.

Imam, who is also a former Chairman of the Board of Trustees (BOT) of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration on Wednesday said the gesture became imperative in order to present many residents of the state who had been thrown into discomfort as result of the devastating flood, which has resulted in unprecedented devastation, with over 30 lives lost, 23,000 residential houses destroyed, and 414,000 people displaced, critical infrastructure, including bridges, roads, electricity systems, healthcare facilities, and schools, severely damaged, including approximately one million people losing their source of livelihood.

Imam. who is known for his philanthropic acts have had to relocate to Maiduguri to supervise the distribution to internally displaced persons camps accommodating the victims of the disaster in Maiduguri and its environs.

According to Imam who spoke during a brief press conference, “We are saddened by the shared numbers of lives lost, by our account, it’s running into hundreds and sadly their bodies are being discovered daily as water recedes. The carnage, the loss of lives, the loss of properties and unimaginable displacements.

“The immediate emphasis is on food, I have seen people crying they haven’t eaten in two days and this is an immediate concern of everybody, as water recedes and we count our losses then these other challenges will also come to the fore.

“In line with the appeal of Governor Zulum, we elected to focus on alleviating the suffering of those affected by providing food and water with immediate effect so I am happy to inform you that I am providing a total of 200,000 food packs we have already commenced with an average of 6,000 a day and we wish to scale to 10,000 packs every day,” Imam said.

Imam, who was at different times the gubernatorial candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the state before joining the All Progressives Congress (APC) said the food distribution is only the first step in his intervention pointing out that “ there are short, medium and long time plans of assisting the flood victims “.

He lamented that: “Almost every indigene of Borno is sad and saddened by the devastation that has befallen my home town Maiduguri . We are saddened by the sheer number of lives lost, which by all accounts running into hundreds. Nobody can give you exact accurate figures. Still and sadly there are bodies that are being discovered daily as the water recedes. Sadly nobody has the most accurate figures. It is very factual that it runs into hundreds of lives lost.

“Thousands of people are homeless. All there homes have been destroyed by the floods; nobody was prepared for this; our poele were caught unawares in the middle of the night. The floods came in the middle of the night and all accounts points at between midnight and half past midnight. Most people were already home in bed and most were asleep. All were caught unawares. Nobody saw this coming and nobody was prepared for this. The carnage, the lost of life, the loss of properties is enormous. Those that were rescued managed to escape with the cloths that they were wearing. And if you go round the metropolis, out of the 15 wards in Maiduguri, only four were not affected. Eleven were badly affected. In some of these wards, more than a week after people are still trapped they cannot come out.

Fatima Imam, one of the daughters of Imam who was part of the group that oversee the food packaging, revealed that members of her family have continued to work round the clock to ensure cooked food reaches all the victims.

She said: “We try to feed as many people as possible every day- sometimes we cook rice, stew and beef while other times Jollof rice. We cook at least 20 bags of rice every day – we sleep by 4 am and wake up by 6 am just to make sure we get food across to the flood victims.”

Borno Flood: Kashim Imam Begins Distribution of Cooked Meals to Victims

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5th ASWAN: Zulum calls for multifaceted approach to address crisis in the Sahel

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5th ASWAN: Zulum calls for multifaceted approach to address crisis in the Sahel

By: Michael Mike

Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum has called for a comprehensive and multifaceted strategy, hinged on broader regional cooperation, to tackle the escalating security and humanitarian crisis in the Sahel region.

Zulum made the appeal while delivering a keynote address at the roundtable discussion of the 5th Aswan Forum for Sustainable Peace and Development held in Aswan, Egypt.

The governor, whose state has been at the epicentre of Boko Haram insurgency in the Lake Chad Basin, argued that a purely military solution has proven insufficient. He emphasised that lasting peace can only be achieved by simultaneously addressing the root causes of the conflict.

He said: “The crises of instability, terrorism and displacement that plague the Sahel cannot be solved by kinetic means alone,” stating that: “We must look beyond the battlefield. There is an urgent need for a multifaceted approach that combines security, development, and humanitarian assistance in a synchronised manner.”

Zulum also called for broader cooperation among countries in the Sahel region. He stressed that extremist groups and other criminal networks operate across borders with impunity, and the response must be equally transnational.

He said: “In the Sahel context, you cannot address the challenges by just looking at two or three countries. You need to look deeper into the political region of the Sahel as defined by the United Nations Strategy, which covers 10 countries, including Mauritania, Gambia and Guinea, among others. Collaboration among the larger Sahel communities is paramount.”

Beyond security collaboration, the governor called for improved development in the Sahel countries. He identified poverty, lack of education, and climate change-induced scarcity as key drivers of recruitment for armed groups.

“For the last 15 years, we have had many interventions in Borno State, but humanitarian support is not a sustainable solution. There is a need for longer-term sustainable solutions. We received many donors, partners, and non-governmental organisations, but most of them engaged in short-term humanitarian solutions.”

“There is a need for sustainable solutions, including development. The nexus between peace, development and security need not be overemphasised. If there is no development, there cannot be peace or security.”

The roundtable features other African leaders representing various countries, including H.E. Dr. Badr Abdelatty, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emigration, and Egyptian Expatriates; H.E. Abdoulaye Diop, Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and African Integration, Republic of Mali; and H.E. Karamoko Jean-Marie Traoré, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Regional Cooperation and Burkinabes Abroad of the Republic of Burkina Faso.

5th ASWAN: Zulum calls for multifaceted approach to address crisis in the Sahel

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MOTiON Condemns Violent Attack on Protesters in Abuja

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MOTiON Condemns Violent Attack on Protesters in Abuja

…Calls on Government, Judiciary and Security Agencies to Stop Weaponising Citizen Dissent

By: Michael Mike

The Movement for the Transformation of Nigeria (MOTiON) has expressed outrage at what it termed brutal suppression of peaceful free Nnamdi Kanu protesters in Abuja.

The group in a statement on Tuesday, alleged that citizens exercising their constitutional right to dissent were shot at, tear-gassed, chased and arrested, in a chilling display of state hostility toward free expression.

In a statement jointly signed by its Convener, Hauwa Mustapha, and Co-Convener, Chris Isiguzo; the group said eyewitnesses and media reports confirm that security agents deployed heavy-handed tactics to crush a lawful assembly instead of protecting the rights of Nigerians.

The group said security agencies must be reminded that when citizens take to the streets to demand justice, reform, accountability or welfare, their duty is to safeguard and not silence them, stressing that only a few weeks ago, protesters demanding improved welfare for police and retired officers were not treated as adversaries because their demands favoured the same security institutions. Yet this week, citizens voicing dissent against perceived injustice were met with force and contempt. This double standard exposes a dangerous politicisation of the right to protest.

MOTiON asserted that the courts and government must stop framing citizen protests as illegitimate attempts to destabilise the state, insisting that such narratives embolden repression, obstruct reform dialogue, and erode democratic confidence.

It stated that judiciary must refuse to rubber-stamp blanket bans on assembly, and the executive must refrain from treating civic space as a political battleground.

The group said: “We further call on lawmakers to rise above partisan silence and defend the sanctity of citizens’ constitutional freedoms. They must use its oversight powers to ensure that: A public guarantee is issued that peaceful assemblies will never again be treated as criminal acts; All court injunctions restricting protests are reviewed to prevent their misuse as tools of intimidation under the guise of “security”; and Security agencies adopt and enforce a human-rights-compliant protest management protocol, and the Nigeria Police must commit to protecting citizens during protests, and ensure Nigerians are never treated as enemies simply for raising their voices.”

MOTiON said it stands in unwavering solidarity with all Nigerians exercising their right to peaceful protest, whether they are workers, students, retirees, or ordinary citizens. “We will not stay silent while legitimate dissent is criminalised and voices for justice are violently silenced.”

MOTiON is a collective force of Nigerians from mass democratic organisations, workers’ organisations, pro-democracy movements, movements for social justice, women groups, citizens groups, NGOs, academia, students and youth groups, and climate action groups.

According to it, it is a movement of movements channeling shared anger, frustration and aspirations of Nigerians into purposeful action. Through concerted, strategic effort, engaging in citizens’ actions to address and overcome the root causes of Nigeria’s current state: elite capture, ineffective leadership, institutional corruption, insecurity, and the pervasive culture of impunity.

MOTiON Condemns Violent Attack on Protesters in Abuja

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Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest

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Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest

By: Zagazola Makama

A hunter in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a woman he mistook for a monkey while hunting in a forest.

Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident occurred on Monday at Basam Osokom community, when the hunter, identified as Otu Goodness Kanang, reportedly fired at what he believed to be a monkey perched on a tree.

According to the sources, Kanang said he heard a human cry after taking the shot and later discovered that he had mistakenly hit a woman identified as Victoria, whose other names were yet to be ascertained.

Detectives visited the scene, and with the help of community youths, evacuated the body to the residence of a local chief in Bansam for further action.

The suspect has been taken into custody as investigation into the incident continues.

Police said normalcy has been restored to the area and the Command remains calm.Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest

By: Zagazola Makama

A hunter in Boki Local Government Area of Cross River State has been arrested for allegedly shooting and killing a woman he mistook for a monkey while hunting in a forest.

Zagazola Makama learnt that the incident occurred on Monday at Basam Osokom community, when the hunter, identified as Otu Goodness Kanang, reportedly fired at what he believed to be a monkey perched on a tree.

According to the sources, Kanang said he heard a human cry after taking the shot and later discovered that he had mistakenly hit a woman identified as Victoria, whose other names were yet to be ascertained.

Detectives visited the scene, and with the help of community youths, evacuated the body to the residence of a local chief in Bansam for further action.

The suspect has been taken into custody as investigation into the incident continues.

Police said normalcy has been restored to the area and the Command remains calm.

Hunter mistakenly kills woman he mistook for a monkey in Boki forest

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