General News
Chibok Parents, Leaders Fight Over FG’s N100m Cash Gift
Parents of the abducted Chibok schoolgirls and the community’s leader are at loggerheads over the sharing of the N100m cash gift allegedly given to the parents of the students by President Goodluck Jonathan.
The money was allegedly given by the President after a meeting in Abuja on July 22.
But Dr. Reuben Abati , special adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, denied the report that money was given to the Chibok delegation.
But the BBC Hausa Service said that the sharing formula for the N100m cash gift sparked a serious disagreement between some of the parents and leaders of the Chibok community in Abuja as the parents complained of being shortchanged in the sharing of the money.
There were reports that the Presidency allegedly released the fund to the leaders of the Chibok community in Abuja, as a palliative measure, for onward distribution to parents of the kidnapped girls after the meeting.
However, trouble started when some of the parents who felt cheated with the sharing of the largesse accused the leadership of the community in Abuja of shortchanging them.
One of the parents told BBC Hausa Service: “I got only N200,000 out of the said N100m allegedly received by our leaders in Abuja. Some of us got N300, 000 and some less than that,” he said.
The aggrieved parent said that he was not happy with the way the money was shared as he felt shortchanged.
“Our leaders in Abuja are using the girls to enrich themselves. In fact, some of the parents were screened out of the entourage by the Chibok leaders in Abuja. Many of them are residents of Abuja, not parents of the kidnapped girls,” he said.
Another parent, who was screened out of the delegation that visited the President, said he got only N7,000 out of the money that was shared.
“I was at the farm when they brought the N7,000 to my house and I collected it. Some of us got even less, N300 and below,” he said. aggrieved parents stressed that they were not selling their daughters and that the money from the President just came to them without their asking or expecting it.
One of the community leaders, Pobu Bitrus, who is also a member of the House of Representatives, was at the meeting with the President.
Bitrus told the BBC that after the meeting with the President, money was distributed to the parents in envelopes.
“After we met with the Presidency, the parents were given money in envelopes and that’s all. All other things they are saying about N100m, I don’t know about that,” he said.
Tsambido Abana, chairman of the community, described as false allegations that the money was shared among the parents and that some were short changed by the leadership of the association.
Abana, in a telephone interview yesterday, said there was no truth in the report that Presidential officials doled out N100m to the parents and the escaped girls that held a parley with the President.
He said: “There is no iota of truth in that report. I don’t even want to talk about it because I don’t know how such a story came about. The money that was shared to the parents was handled by presidency officials who gave out envelopes to the parents, so I was not involved in the sharing and I can’t say anything about it.”
In his reaction, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati denied the report that money was given to the Chibok delegation.
“Nobody distributed any envelope after the meeting. The meeting was held in the Villa, a public place. After the meeting, the President left and the parents as well as the children went into their buses in the presence of the media,” he said.
According to him there was no time for money to be given after the meeting.
“The President is not part of will never do anything to bribe anybody. This issue is not about money. We are talking about human lives here.
“The allegation is completely wild. What they are claiming is unknown to the President. Whoever is claiming it should prove it because no such thing happened.
“The commitment of the President is to get the girls back safely. It is not about bribing anybody. This is a very serious matter and we will like to appeal to those who want to play politics with it, using all kinds of tricks to ridicule the efforts of the administration, to always appeal to their individual conscience and realise that what we are dealing with here is a very serious matter and not a matter of mischief,” he added.
Meanwhile, not fewer than eight persons were said to have been killed and a major bridge in Yobe State destroyed when gunmen suspected to be members of the Boko Haram sect attacked Katarko village on Monday, residents and a security official said.
According to reports, the gunmen, who came in large numbers, could not be matched by the soldiers at a check point about 300 metres away from the village.
“They came at 7:30pm,” said Lawan Ali, a resident of Katarko who spoke from Buniyadi, the headquarters of Gujba Local Government Area of the Yobe State, where he sought refuge after the attack.
“They stormed our village with some vehicles and many motorcycles, shooting and chanting Allahu Akbar (God is great).
“Some of them could be mistaken for solders because of their dressing which resembled that of the Nigerian soldiers. “The soldiers in Katarko had to flee after seeing the large number of the attackers.
“After attacking the village and killing about eight persons and injuring others who were not so lucky to escape, we later heard a thunderous explosion at the location of the bridge; we all fled into the bush. But in the morning, we found out that the bridge had been destroyed with bombs,” Lawan added.
Residents of the village lamented that with the destruction of the bridge, the village would be cut off from other part of Yobe State as the rain intensified.
The attack on Katarko village was the first on the community despite its proximity to Sambisa forest.
Abbas Gava, a member of the Nigerian vigilante group in Borno State, who also confirmed the incident, said he was communicating with his colleagues in the state on the incident.
The meeting took place after a meeting with the visiting Pakistani teenager, Malala Yusoufai, who champions the cause of girl-child education.
National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA) is set to commence the implementation of its space regulation and licensing mandate following the approval of a N20 billion take-off fund by President Bola Tinubu.
Speaking in an interview, Dr. Matthew Adepoju, director-general, NASRDA, emphasised that the agency’s regulatory functions, as outlined in the NASRDA Act (2010), have remained unfulfilled since its establishment in 1999.
To address this, Adepoju submitted a memorandum to President Tinubu advocating for enforcement of space regulation, leading to the recent approval of funds.
Adepoju highlighted the urgency of regulating Nigeria’s space sector to prevent misuse, particularly regarding security-sensitive activities.
The regulatory framework will oversee:
Satellite image providers
Geographic information system operators
Satellite-based telecommunications and broadcasting services
He warned that unregulated geographical data intelligence could be exploited by non-state actors, underscoring the importance of strict oversight.
NASRDA has set up a licensing platform open to public and private sector operators in the space industry.
The regulation will cover Nigeria’s three space segments:
Upstream – Deep space activities
Midstream – Satellites and orbital objects
Downstream – Ground stations and space service users
Although the agency has yet to access the N20 billion fund, Adepoju confirmed that regulatory and licensing functions have commenced.
Amazon has released more details on Project Kuiper, its plan to establish a satellite internet service resembling Starlink. The first launch of satellites for Amazon’s Kuiper project is set to ascend as soon as April 9, less than a week away.
27 satellites are planned to be deployed using an Atlas V rocket, which will blast off from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station in Florida.
This is just the earliest beginnings of the system, which Amazon says will be made up of 3200 satellites in low-Earth orbit. And that’s just for the “first-generation” system that will provide home internet to, according to Amazon, “virtually any location on the planet”.
Amazon has more than 70 additional launches for Project Kuiper planned over the next few years, including sending satellites on rival SpaceX’s rockets.
“We’ve designed some of the most advanced communications satellites ever built, and every launch is an opportunity to add more capacity and coverage to our network,” says Rajeev Badyal, Vice President of Project Kuiper.
“This will be the first time we’ve flown our final satellite design and the first time we’ve deployed so many satellites at once.”
Despite being quite early on in establishing the satellite array required for a functional satellite internet system, Amazon expects to be able to start offering the service “later this year.”
Project Kuiper vs Starlink
Rival Starlink currently has more than 7000 satellites in low-Earth orbit, and future plans include expanding that array to a count of 34,400.
Starlink has also become the leading provider of space junk, with the company’s satellites falling out of orbit “almost every day” according to Space.com.
Satellite internet services like those of Starlink and Project Kuiper require a satellite receiver, which currently starts at £300 for Starlink models.
Starlink charges £75 a month for home internet, which can provide up to 220Mbps typical internet speeds, according to the company’s website.
Satellite internet can often be a workable solution for homes not covered by optical fibre or 4G/5G mobile internet.
The company has also supplied Ukraine with internet connectivity since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022.
“My Starlink system is the backbone of the Ukrainian army. Their entire front line would collapse if I turned it off,” SpaceX CEO Elon Musk claimed on X. He has since claimed he does not plan to deactivate Ukraine’s access to the service.
Nigerian Military, in partnership with Briech UAS, a communications company, has unveiled the first and largest indigenous attack drones and bombs in Nigeria and Africa.
Briech UAS, alongside the Nigerian Army, demonstrated these attack drones and bombs at the company’s headquarters in Abuja on Wednesday.
General Christopher Musa, chief of Defence Staff (CDS), hailed the initiative as a significant milestone in Nigeria’s progress toward self-reliance in defence technology and a crucial step in enhancing national security.
Musa highlighted the importance of developing combat drones, particularly for intelligence gathering. He pointed out that these drones would play a pivotal role in addressing complex and asymmetric security threats.
“These force multipliers will greatly enhance the operational effectiveness of our military, especially in a world where global politics complicate the procurement of advanced military hardware,” he stated.
“Countries that do not produce these solutions face bureaucratic and diplomatic challenges when acquiring essential platforms. We are directly addressing this challenge.
“If we do not produce what we need, we will be at the mercy of others, even if we have the financial resources to acquire them.
“By manufacturing these drones locally, Nigeria reduces dependence on foreign resources, ensures faster acquisition, and strengthens its ability to respond to security threats swiftly.
“With the brilliant minds we have, particularly among our youth, we can create outstanding technology that competes on a global scale,” Musa said.
Plateau Governor Caleb Mutfwang underlined the importance of supporting indigenous products for Nigeria’s growth.
He stressed that the drones would be vital in safeguarding the country’s sovereignty, particularly in Plateau State, where some of these technologies have already been deployed to enhance the efficiency of ground forces.
Mutfwang also revealed that his state was collaborating with local bomb and drone manufacturers like Briech UAS to counter insurgency with domestically produced weapons.
“As a nation, we made a mistake by allowing non-state actors to acquire capabilities nearly on par with state actors,” he stated.
“We’ve entered into a partnership that has led to the deployment of these facilities in our state. We’ve seen substantial improvements in the effectiveness of our security forces.
“It was a mistake to let non-state actors gather capabilities that could almost overpower legitimate state forces. We must correct that imbalance.
“We must ensure no one within our borders has capabilities that surpass or match those responsible for protecting our national sovereignty,” he added.
Earlier, Dr Bright Echefu, chairman of Briech UAS, noted that insurgent groups like Boko Haram and ISWAP have been using commercial drones for reconnaissance and attacks.
“These drones have been used to track and attack our troops, coordinating ambushes and executing crude aerial strikes,” he said.
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