Presidential delegation visits Yelwata graves as police probe fresh abduction in Benue

By: Zagazola Makama

A Presidential Medical Delegation on Monday arrived Yelwata in Guma Local Government Area of Benue to inspect the graves of victims of the June 2025 attack on the community.

Security sources said the delegation visited the site where those killed in the 2025 incident were buried, and the graves were duly identified. The remains are scheduled to be exhumed on Feb. 24 as part of ongoing investigative and medical review processes.

The sources said that adequate security measures have been put in place to ensure a peaceful and hitch-free exercise.

Meanwhile, at about 1:01 p.m. on Feb. 23, one Waziri Waau, 38, a commercial driver from Ankpa, Kogi State, reported at Naka Division that his vehicle developed a mechanical fault at about 11:02 a.m. while en route from Ankpa to Lafia, Nasarawa State, with nine passengers onboard.

According to sources , after fixing the fault and preparing to continue the journey, four persons riding on two motorcycles reportedly surrounded the vehicle and abducted one of the passengers, identified as Mohammed Jafaru of Lafia, Nasarawa State. The abductors allegedly claimed they wanted to verify the victim’s identity before taking him away.

The Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in Naka, accompanied by detectives, visited the scene to gather further information, while the driver has been detained to assist in investigation.

Police said efforts were ongoing to ascertain the identities of the suspects, secure the release of the victim and effect arrests.

Presidential delegation visits Yelwata graves as police probe fresh abduction in Benue

Troops intercept vehicle carrying suspected ISWAP logistics along Maiduguri–Gubio road

By: Zagazola Makama

Troops of the Forward Operating Base (FOB) Chabbal of Operation HADIN KAI, North East, have intercepted a vehicle suspected to be carrying logistics linked to Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP).

Sources said that the troops, conducting routine checkpoint and search operations at about 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 26, stopped a Toyota pickup truck along the Maiduguri–Gubio main supply route.

During the search, the troops recovered large textile fabrics reportedly used by terrorists, 20 Hilux tyre tubes, motorcycle spare parts, 10 cutlasses, and three mobile phones, all hidden under planks in the vehicle. The tyres were also suspected to be linked to ISWAP logistics operations.

Three male occupants of the vehicle were detained and, along with the recovered items, handed over to the 7 Mechanised Infantry Brigade for further investigation and intelligence gathering.

The source emphasized that the arrest and seizure were part of ongoing efforts to disrupt ISWAP’s supply networks and curb terrorist activities across the North East region.

Troops intercept vehicle carrying suspected ISWAP logistics along Maiduguri–Gubio road

Why Ogun State Government Must avoid its fire brigade game with pensions and return to status quo

By: Bodunrin Kayode

More details have emerged from the stable of the Voice of the Association of New Ogun Civil and Public Service Retirees (ANOCPSR).on why the state government must stand down on its desperation to implement the contributory pension scheme.

The ANOCPSR in its second release in its series this month have pointed out several gaping holes in the foundation of the transitional reliefs planned by the government to navigate retirees from the old to the controversial new pension scheme which would actually rob retires of their hard earned sweat.

They agued that the engagement the government claimed to have had with all stakeholders which resulted in a recent news release did not take into cognizance most of their fears and anxieties as retirees which is why the government must do the needful by clearing all the doubts if they indeed want to be transparent as they claim to be.

In their release made available to newsmen, the ANOCPSR said that they have carefully gone through the recent Release of the Government on its proposal to give reliefs to the 2nd July 2025 to date retirees.

The association went further to state that “Our careful comparative study of the old pension scheme – Defined Benefit Scheme (DBS) with the newly introduced – Contributory Pension Scheme versus rebrand Additional Pension Benefit, (CPS-APB) still revealed a wide gap.

“Under the DBS, a retiree is entitled to 80% of his monthly gross salary as monthly pension and will be waiting for a compensatory allowance named gratuity which is 300% of his annual emolument.

“With the proposed CPS-APB, the percentage to calculate the compensatory allowance is to range between 116% and 280% of annual emolument as additional benefits. Retirees will still access just 25% of the peanut in the retirement savings account

“This is grossly inadequate for workers who have committed their youthful strength to serve the government for 35 years meritoriously. It is upon this arithmetical implications that some categories of workers were exempted from the killer scheme. Why ?

“As good as all these plans about the Contributory Pension Scheme cum the Additional Pension Benefit is; as recommended, it cannot be implemented on those who retired effective 2nd July, 2025 to date owing to some reasons:” said ANOCPSR.

Reasons why those who retired effective 2nd July 2025 will be grossly underpaid in the proposal

The association went further to reel out a litany of anomalies that already exists in the foundation of the old pension system which needs to be fixed quickly if the transition to the new one no matter how good it sounds to labour watchers will become a reality to all retirees of the Ogun state service. These errors which must be corrected include the following:

[1] Past Governors didn’t take the implementation of CPS as a serious issue and as such failed to pay the accrued rights into the workers’ retirement savings account as of January 2008 of its test-run.

[2] Monthly pension deductions from workers’ salaries and the percentage contributions from the government were not remitted consecutively as stipulated by the CPS implementation law. This actions already jeopardized using those who retired from 2nd July 2025 to date as part of the scheme.

[3] Workers are not allowed to choose Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) of their choice. This acts also betrayed the law governing the implementation of the scheme and must be corrected.

[4] Monthly pension deductions from workers’ salaries were not remitted to their retirement savings account (RSAs) for 17 years. The PFAs could not report the government to the PENCOM. There’s no evidence of payments of 2% sanctions for government’s failure to remit the deductions latest 7 days of every month after the salaries have been paid. This according to the law is a criminal act that jettisons the implementation of the CPS.

[5] This present administration also failed to remit workers’ deductions for nearly 7 years but only to commence doing so after the pronouncement that the CPS takes effect from 2nd July 2025.
All the deductions that were remitted to various RSAs after retirement have not fulfilled the intention of the establishment of the CPS.

[6] The balance in the workers’ retirement savings account are grossly inadequate to commence the CPS. It really exposed government’s weakness and nonchalant attitude to adhering strictly to extant laws governing the implementation of the Contributory Pension Scheme.

[7] What the State Government called Additional Pension Benefit to leverage the discrepancies between the old pension scheme – Defined Benefit Scheme and the Contributory Pension Scheme, is just a proposal. The scheme has not been submitted to the PENCOM for due consideration and approval. Such arrangement cannot be accepted from the government that has taken the CPS implementation as a child’s play from inception.

“Conclusively, it would be better that the government seeks legal advice on this controversial fire brigade implementation of the CPS so as to guard her from unwarranted embarrassment from an undiluted and uncompromised interpretation of laws associated with workers’ rights.

“We will advise the Executive Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency Prince Dapo Abiodun CON, to consider the prayer of the affected retirees and allow status quo remains, thus ordering the commencement of monthly pension to retirees under the Defined Benefit Scheme which takes cognisance of their good welfare better than the CPS-APB.

“The Governor has been so magnanimous in paying gratuities owed by the past Governors. This act is highly commendable as he upholds the principle of taking assets and liabilities. The Incoming Governor will definitely continue wherever he stops in 2027.

“The Governor should also protect his good name by shifting the proposed implementation of CPS-APB to a later year when all aspects of the Law governing the scheme would have been properly obeyed.” The association posited.

Why Ogun State Government Must avoid its fire brigade game with pensions and return to status quo