The Federal Government of Nigeria has extended the current phase of the eased lockdown by a period of one month.

The Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on COVID-19 in Nigeria and Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha announced the extension at the National Joint Media briefing in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

According To him, the PTF is still reviewing the guidelines which will be communicated to the public soon.

“In view of the fact that our numbers are not abating, all extant measures prescribed in these guidelines are (subject to some modifications) extended by a period of one month with effect from Tuesday 26th January 2020,“ he said.

Mr Mustapha, therefore, urged Nigerians to take personal responsibility by adhering to all medical advisories given by the experts.

PIAK

The Nigerian government is deploying all available resources to fight criminal elements across the country and the effort is yielding positive results.

This was disclosed by the country’s Information and Culture Minister, Lai Mohammed during a press conference alongside the Minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola on Monday in Abuja.

The Minister also revealed that the country was now safer than what it used to be, particularly with respect to Boko Haram terrorist activities in the North East.

While answering a question, Mohammed further stated that before the advent of the present administration, Boko haram terrorists were in control of a swath of territories in the North East, particularly in Borno state.

The Minister who accepted that there are challenges in the area of security still applauded the country’s security agencies for their great performance and urged citizens to continue to support them to do more.

“The police and other security and intelligence agencies are ramping up their efforts to enhance the security of lives and property across the country, and the results are beginning to show…they deserve our commendation and support when they live up to their billing, as they are doing presently,” the Minister said

He added that the successes being recorded by the security and intelligence agencies in fighting insecurity did not come cheap.

“They have come as a result of the unrelenting efforts and sacrifices of the gallant officers and men of the military as well as other security and intelligence agencies that conduct operations across the country.”

According to Mohammed, since the beginning of 2021, the Armed Forces of Nigeria have neutralized 158 criminal elements across the country.

“This is in addition to scores of other terrorists and armed bandits killed during air strikes. Some 52 criminal elements were arrested, with scores of arms, ammunition and equipment recovered.

“Troops have also rescued a total of 17 kidnapped victims across the country. In addition, a total of 684,856 barrels of stolen crude oil, 1,724,000 litres of stolen Automotive Gas Oil (AGO) and 500,000 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK) have been recovered.

“A total of 1,184 of 25kg bags of Yaraliva Nitrabor Fertilizer were impounded by the troops of the Armed Forces of Nigeria. Many other criminal elements were incapacitated and their camps destroyed.,” the Minister disclosed.

Successes achieved

The Minister also revealed that in the North-West, 118 armed bandits were killed in action and a total of 11 kidnapped victims were rescued since the beginning of the year.

During the same period, the Nigerian government’s spokesman said a cumulative total of 358 livestock and 5 assorted rifles were recovered from the armed bandits by the gallant troops in the zone.

“In the same vein, a total of 11 arrests were made, and those arrested include high profile armed bandits, gun runners and bandits’ collaborators.”

Moving to the successes recorded in the North-East, he said within the period under review, 30 terrorists, including some of their commanders, were killed by troops, apart from the scores who were killed by air raids/attacks.

“Several gun trucks were captured in addition to the 13 recently captured at Marte in Borno State, while some others were destroyed by the gallant troops.

“Also, a total of 13 assorted rifles and 2 Anti-Aircraft guns were recovered from Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists, in addition, several arrests were made – including high-value targets – within the period.

“During the past week, five Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists were eliminated by troops as they attempted to overrun Abbagajiri and Dusula towns in Damboa Local Government Area of Borno.

“The troops, from the 402 Special Forces Task Force Brigade, had on Wednesday encircled some terrorists’ enclaves at Abbagajiri and inflicted heavy casualties on them.”

“Many other terrorists escaped with gunshot wounds, while the troops also captured several guns and some Improvised Explosive Device (IED)-making materials,” he added.

Giving the success records in the North-Central, Mohamed said within the period a total of 6 kidnapped victims were rescued, while 5 armed bandits, including militia gang leaders, were killed in action.

“Equally, 11 armed bandits were arrested in the zone. Only on Saturday, the Air Component of Operation THUNDER STRIKE neutralized several armed bandits at Chikwale Forest in the Mangoro area of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

“The operation followed credible intelligence reports indicating the significant presence of armed bandits in the area, which is about 20Km West of the Kaduna-Abuja Highway.”

The Minister said in the South-South, troops of Operation DELTA SAFE conducted anti-crude-oil theft and illegal-oil-bunkering operations, in addition to anti-illegal-maritime activities.

“In the course of their operational activities, 24 illegal refining sites, 11 wooden boats, 142 metal tanks, 17 dugout pits and 45 ovens were destroyed.

“Also, 30 suspects were arrested while 14 pumping machines, 13-speed boats and 13 outboard engines were recovered.

“Additionally, a total of 684,856 barrels of stolen crude oil and 1,724,000 litres of illegally refined Automotive Gas Oil (AGO), as well as 500,000 litres of Dual Purpose Kerosene (DPK), were recovered.

“A total of 1,184 of 25kg bags of Yaraliva Nitrabor Fertilizer suspected to have been smuggled from the Republic of Cameroon were impounded.”

“Similarly, in the South-West, troops of Operation AWATSE destroyed several illegal refining sites and arrested 8 boats engaged in illegal activities,” the Minister stated.

He further disclosed that the issue of the clash between the South West regional security outfit, Amotekun is being addressed presently, using both security and political approaches for the good of all.

In addition to the kinetic military operations, which led to the successes enumerated above, the Minister said the Armed Forces of Nigeria routinely carry out non-kinetic operations in form of Civil-Military Cooperation Activities (CIMIC), fostering several stakeholders’ relationship and reconciliation between hostile communities and carrying out medical outreaches in host communities.

When asked about immigration and border control, the Minister of Interior Mr Rauf Aregbesola said Nigeria was investing heavily on modern-technologically driven border control and management system which will soon be in operation to tackle some the challenges.

It would be recalled that in his new year address to the nation , President Mohammadu Buhari promised that the security apparatus and personnel of the armed forces and the police will be re-energized and reorganized, with a view to enhancing their capacity to dismantle the operations of both internal and external extremist and criminal groups waging war against communities in some parts of the country.

PIAK

The  National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) says Nigeria has more data protection experts per capital than any other African country.

The Director-General NITDA, Kashifu Inuwa disclosed this Abuja at a virtual meeting where he gave a review of the agency’s implementation of the country’s National Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) and the agency’s activities for the National Privacy Week.

Inuwa noted that “With the direction, we are moving on NDPR audit compliance filing, we are very glad that we have set out in the right way. Our strategy of licensing DPCOs is yielding bounteous fruits as Nigeria now has more data protection experts per capita than any other African country. Our survey also reveals that wealth is being generated through the DPCO scheme. Interestingly, this aligns with the President’s Muhammadu Buhari’s vision to diversify the economy, create sustainable jobs and develop the digital economy.”

The DG stated that the agency’s audit reports for the period 2019-2020 show the percentage of compliance among the number of filing entities.

These sectors include: Financial Services  – 35%, Fast Moving Consumer Goods – 14%, Energy – 10%, Consultancy – 9%, ICT – 8% and Transport and logistics – 5% with others – 19%

He revealed that in the absence of a data protection Act, the agency will create a credible and workable framework to endure data protection.

“NITDA’s strategy is to create a workable, credible implementation process that would assist the National Assembly in its quest to pass a Data Protection Bill.”

According to him, Nigeria is now a full member of the Common Thread Network

“In December 2020, NITDA was appointed as a full member of the Common Thread Network (CTN). CTN is a network of Commonwealth nations’ data protection authorities. The CTN is hosted by the UK Information Commissioner’s Office. This strategic alliance would provide needed support in capacity development, mentoring, and cross border enforcement. The impact of this development will be amazingly limitless,“ the NITDA Boss stated.

He said while we await the passage of the Data Protection Bill, NITDA will continue to lay necessary structures to deepen data protection implementation in Nigeria.

“In light of the above, permit me to present some of our visions for the year 2021 as follows: Development of sectorial implementation toolkits – The objective here is to get sector stakeholders to agree on a single, workable template for compliance in their sector.

“Standardization of NDPR courses and training – We shall engage vigorous and experienced Nigerian based institutions that would help us standardize and accredit data protection and information security training and certification. We hope to develop a multi-billion naira sector that would create thousands of jobs for trainers, content providers and other professionals,“ Inuwa reiterated

The NITDA boss explained that the implementation of the NDPR has been faced with some challenges such as publicity, capacity and enforcement.

He, therefore, promised to vigorously work harder to improve on them this year.

“Our publicity and awareness still need more improvement. We will work more with you, the media to upscale our efforts. Another issue is capacity. While we have a few very dedicated staff, we still need a lot of capacity development and cross-breeding of ideas. We hope to get more partnership and support this year in order to fill this gap.

“Enforcement is another sour point. Our current efforts at enforcement is salutary but not nearly enough. We are considering all options to ensure we do not kill businesses, while also ensuring businesses do not kill Nigerians through wanton abuse of their data,“ the DG maintained

He used the opportunity to remind data controllers and processors of the annual audit report is March 15th this year.

“I want to use this opportunity to remind all data controllers and processors that the deadline for the filing of their annual data audit report is 15th March 2021. Non-filing is a punishable offence and we are set to fully enforce this provision this year,” Inuwa added.

PIAK