News
Disquiet in NIS as CDCFIB promotes retired ACG to DCG

Disquiet in NIS as CDCFIB promotes retired ACG to DCG
By: Michael Mike
The promotion of Assistant Comptroller General of Immigration, Garba Bello, who retired in June, to Deputy Comptroller of Immigration, is causing disquiet in the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS).
Many senior officers, who were overlooked in the recent promotion exercise, faulted Bello’s promotion as illegal and vowed to petition President Bola Tinubu over his recall from retirement.
Bello with NIS number 10892, was born on June 3, 1964, enlisted in the service in 1990 and retired on June 3, 2024, having clocked 60 years.
This was in line with the Public Service Rules, which pegged the mandatory retirement age at 60 or 35 years in service, as the case may be.
As part of his retirement, the service management held a send-forth ceremony for the former ACG in charge of investigation at the NIS headquarters in Abuja.
However, in what appeared to be a violation of the Public Service Rules, the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board listed Bello as one of the ACGs elevated to DCG.
Apart from Bello, other promoted ACGs include Anietum Essien, Umanah James, Micheal Dike, George Dikel, Tukur Umar, Afolayan Ayeni and Usman Nagado.
A letter with reference number, NIS/HQADM/4193/II/204 dated August 2, 2024, announced that Bello and seven others would be decorated with their DCG rank on Wednesday at the NIS headquarters.
The letter, titled, ‘Decoration of newly appointed Deputy Comptrollers General of Immigration,’ was signed by ACG Didel, on behalf of the Comptroller General of Immigration (CGI) Kemi Nandap.
It read, ‘’Further to letter ref: CDCFIB/APPT/CG&DCG/61/VOL.V/59 of July 29, 2024, on the forwarded list of newly appointed Deputy Comptrollers General of Immigration, I am directed to request your presence at the decoration ceremony of the under-listed senior officers scheduled to hold as follows:
‘’Date: Wednesday, 7th August, 2024; Venue: Muhammad Babandede Conference Centre, Service Headquarters, Abuja. Time: 11am prompt. Accord top priority, please.
It was further gathered that some junior officers were promoted over their seniors in the promotion exercise.
A look at the seniority list indicates that Didel, Umar and Ayeni were elevated above ACGs Sadiq Adebowale and Ngozi Odikpo, who are their senior in service.
While Didel, Umar and Ayeni were promoted to ACG in January 2023, Adebowale and Odikpo had been on the ACG rank since January 2022.
Commenting on Bello’s recall, a senior officer, who did not want to be named for security reasons, said, ‘’The Supreme Court had held that once a civil servant has retired, his employment with the government ends and he cannot be re-appointed or promoted within the civil service. Any subsequent engagement is treated as a new contract.
‘’In Federal Civil Service Commission vs Laoye, the court reiterated that promotions are part of career progression within active service and cannot apply to someone who has retired. So, the board cannot justify this illegality.’’
When asked why Bello was recalled from retirement and promoted, the NIS spokesman, Kenneth Udo, simply said, ‘’Because he wrote the (promotion) exams.’’
Asked to justify the decision, he said, ‘’But I am not part of the process. We have a board that handles promotion and the minister is the chairman. So, this enquiry should be directed to them.’’
But the Secretary to the CDCFIB, Ja’afaru Ahmed, could not be reached for comment on Monday as calls to his phone indicated it was unavailable. He had yet to respond to a text message seeking his comment on Bello’s recall and promotion.
Disquiet in NIS as CDCFIB promotes retired ACG to DCG
News
DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo
By: Zagazola Makama
A wave of coordinated security offensives in Imo State has barbecued the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with the killing of key kingpins and the dislodgement of notorious terrorist camps in forested parts of Njaba and Isu Local Government Areas.
Zagazola Makama understand that The offensive, which began on June 29, was spearheaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in close collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, special forces, and local tactical units.
It was launched after the arrest and detailed confessions of two ESN commanders Uchenna Opara, popularly known as Ntanta Miri, and Ozioma Ihedoro, a.k.a OZ, both natives of Umuaka community in Njaba LGA.
Acting on actionable intelligence, the joint team raided and obliterated several terrorist enclaves, including Umuele Umuaka, Ezioha, and Ugbele Umuaka, known safe havens of the separatist group.
A fierce gun battle ensued as operatives stormed the camps. Three ESN fighters were neutralised during the confrontation, while others reportedly escaped with bullet wounds. Their bodies were later recovered along the Ugbele Umuaka axis.
What followed was a methodical clearance operation targeting the B44 camp cluster, long considered one of ESN’s strategic base networks. The camps, codenamed B44 Tangle 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9, were all successfully dislodged by the joint force.
A caterpillar operator working with the team was tragically killed in the line of duty when the group came under sudden fire while approaching the B44 main camp. He was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, but later confirmed dead by a medical officer on duty.
Items recovered from the operation included:
One AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of live ammunition, pump-action shotgun, two locally made IEDs, one human skull and a Biafran flag
In addition, two suspected ESN members were arrested during the combing of nearby bush paths. The duo Emeka Ogene Sabinus of Ezi Isu in Isu LGA and Nnabuike Emmanuel of Ohofia Oduma in Aninri LGA, Enugu State were said to bear tribal incisions associated with the proscribed militia.
The collapse of the B44 cluster was significant in the counterinsurgency drive in the South-East, where pockets of armed resistance have posed growing threats to residents, security personnel, and national assets.
“The terrain is difficult, but our operatives are relentless,” a senior official close to the operation said. “We are targeting leadership figures, supply chains, and safe havens.”
Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to apprehend fleeing fighters, with mop-up operations continuing in adjoining forest belts across Orlu, Njaba, and Isu corridors.
The Imo offensive adds to a growing list of successes by joint intelligence-led operations aimed at stabilising regions grappling with armed separatist violence, kidnappings, and the weaponisation of local grievances.
DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo
News
FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions
By: Zagazola Makama
The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested three most-wanted bandits and kidnappers operating across Abuja and neighbouring parts of Kaduna State.
According to a police sources, the arrests were carried out on June 29 between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., by operatives of the Scorpion Squad led by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, following actionable and digital reconstructive intelligence.
The sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects were identified as: Abdulkadir Abubakar, a native of Mpape, FCT, Mohammed Tasiu Sani, of Rigina, Kaduna State, Suleiman Jibrin, 27, of Sabon-Gayan, Kaduna State.
The three suspects, all Fulani by tribe, have been on the command’s most-wanted list for
their roles in multiple kidnapping and banditry operations, particularly in Jere, Kajuru, the FCT and its environs.
During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting victims and moving them to detention camps in Kachia and Rigina forests in Kaduna State. Some victims, they admitted, were held for months, while others were killed at will.
The sources revealed that one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Abubakar, provided disturbing details of internal executions within the gang, in which some members were killed by their own leaders over mistrust and betrayal.
An operational motorcycle, popularly referred to by locals as the “Boko Haram Motorcycle,” was recovered during the raid. The suspects are currently assisting operatives in ongoing efforts to recover arms and ammunition, and to track down other gang members still at large.
FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions
News
Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun
By: Zagazola Makama
A 20-year-old farm labourer identified as Solomon (surname yet unknown) has been found dead with gunshot wounds after he was allegedly shot by a member of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, along the Ilesa/Iperindo Road in Osun State.
The incident, which occurred on June 29, followed the reported confrontation between a local security operative and a group of five farm labourers on their way to a farmland.
According to Temidayo Olowookere, the employer of the deceased, the labourers were accosted around 11:00 a.m. by an Amotekun operative, one Ajayi Ibukun, who accused them of extorting money from passersby. Two members of the group were apprehended, while the remaining three fled into the bush.
Olowookere said the detained workers were later released to him in the afternoon. However, later in the evening, when two of the three fleeing labourers returned, Solomon remained missing.
A search party was immediately organised. His body was discovered in the bush with gunshot wounds on his back, raising suspicions that he may have been shot during the initial confrontation.
His remains were evacuated to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the morgue for autopsy.
Police say efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the security operative allegedly involved in the shooting, while the community continues to call for justice.
Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun
-
News1 year ago
Roger Federer’s Shock as DNA Results Reveal Myla and Charlene Are Not His Biological Children
-
Opinions3 years ago
THE PLIGHT OF FARIDA
-
Opinions4 years ago
POLICE CHARGE ROOMS, A MINTING PRESS
-
News1 year ago
EYN: Rev. Billi, Distortion of History, and The Living Tamarind Tree
-
Columns1 year ago
Army University Biu: There is certain interest, but certainly not from Borno.
-
ACADEMICS1 year ago
A History of Biu” (2015) and The Lingering Bura-Pabir Question (1)
-
Opinions1 year ago
Tinubu,Shettima: The epidemic of economic, insecurity in Nigeria
-
Politics3 weeks ago
2027: Why Hon. Midala Balami Must Go, as Youths in Hawul and Asikira/Uba Federal Constituency Reject ₦500,000 as Sallah Gift