Kaduna Govt Begins Negotiations For Release of Abducted Pupils, Teachers

Kaduna State government has begun negotiations for the release of the recently abducted 287 pupils and teachers in the state. The pupils were abducted from the Government Secondary School and LEA Primary School, Kuriga 1, in the Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State.  According to investigations carried out by Punch newspapers, a highly influential private negotiator who has been involved in negotiating several abductions with bandits in the past, has been contacted by the state government for the assignment.  A highly placed source in the Kaduna State Government House, who is close to the negotiations but pleaded anonymity due to security reasons, confided in newsmen said the state government had reached out to the bandits through a private negotiator (names withheld) for the release of the pupils and their teachers. The source said, “The military has begun combing the forests in search of the children kidnapped by the bandits. Security agents have cordoned off the area and they have started searching for the abducted pupils. “The government is doing all it can for the speedy release of the abducted school pupils. “The government has established contact and reached out to the bandits for negotiation through a popular bandit negotiator. The negotiator was the one who worked for the return of some of the students abducted some years back. “He (the negotiator) had negotiated the return of so many abductees in the past. He negotiated the return of those students abducted in Katsina State years back.” Two other government officials also confirmed the development secretly to newsmen, but insisted on not being identified because of the sensitive nature of the issue. They also refused to provide additional information as they insisted that doing so might frustrate the ongoing efforts to secure the victims’ release and put them in harm’s way. Bandits, on Thursday, shortly after the assembly gathering at around 8.30am, stormed the LEA Primary School, Kuriga, abducted the pupils and some staff members of the schools.

Road Blocked As Kaduna Residents Protest Bandits Attack

Residents of Goningora in Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna State have blocked the Abuja-Kaduna highway following the attack on the community by bandits. Following the attack on the night of Wednesday, February 28th, 2024, several members of the community were said to have been kidnapped and several injured. Channels Television reports that angry residents took to the streets on Thursday morning, blocking the busy Abuja-Kaduna highway. The development has caused heavy traffic on the road, with many motorists stranded. Two people, including a member of the Civilian Joint Task Force, were reportedly killed in the attack. The latest attack on the Goningora community comes barely a week after soldiers killed a notorious bandit, Kingpin, Boderi Isyaku and some of his fighters in the same Chikun local government. A military armoured vehicle was said to have been set ablaze by the bandits when soldiers attempted to repel them.

Remi Tinubu Speaks On To Kaduna Massacre

First Lady Oluremi Tinubu has expressed deep sorrow over the tragic incident in Tudun Biri village, Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.  The erroneous bombing, reported to be a drone strike by the Nigerian Army, resulted in devastating consequences, claiming the lives of 87 individuals and leaving 70 others injured, according to the Kaduna State Government. In a heartfelt statement shared via her official handle on Friday, Mrs. Tinubu conveyed her profound sadness and extended her sympathies to the affected families, Governor Uba Sani, and the entire populace of Kaduna State. She specifically reached out to the community of Tudun Biri Village, profoundly affected by the calamitous airstrike.”I share in this grief with a motherly compassion that connects me to every household affected by this tragedy,” expressed Mrs. Tinubu. She emphasized the profound loss experienced by the community and highlighted the human aspect of the lives lost – individuals who were cherished members of their community.Mrs. Tinubu urged solidarity and mutual support during this trying period, emphasizing the need to draw strength from each other.  She acknowledged the enormity of the pain felt by the families who lost their loved ones and assured them of her prayers and support.”To lose loved ones is an agony that transcends all boundaries, and in these trying times, we must draw strength from one another. “The lives lost were more than mere statistics; they were sons, daughters, mothers, and fathers—cherished members of our tightly-knit community.“My heart breaks for each family mourning the absence of their dear ones, and my prayers are with you”, she said. The First Lady concluded her message by calling for collective love, compassion, and support for those affected, aiming to find solace and healing through unity in the face of this heartbreaking event.

We collected N58.1bn revenue in 2022, not N77.1bn – KADIRS

The Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) has refuted the Auditor General Report on IGR which put the revenue generated by the state in 2022 at N77.1 billion. The Executive Chairman of the service, Dr Zaid Abubakar refuted the figure in a statement in Kaduna on Thursday. He said that the actual Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) for 2022 was N58.1 billion. The Citizens Accountability Report (CAR) on the implementation of the 2022 budget claimed that the government generated N77.1 billion IGR in 2022. According to the report disseminated to citizens on May 10, the N77.1 billion represents 87.1 per cent of the N88.5 billion targeted IGR for the year. CAR is a series of graphic and tabular illustrations of the content of the Audited Financial Statements prepared by the State Audit Office for citizens, to ensure accountability of public funds. The accountability report is based on the 2022 financial year and reports on state budget, revenue, and expenditure. Similarly, the 2022 4th Quarter Budget Performance Report, produced by the Office of Accountant General with support of the State Planning and Budget Commission, puts the IGR figure at N59.98 billion. According to the report, published on the Planning and Budget website in Jan. 2023, the N59.98 billion represents 80.5 per cent of the N74.5 billion IGR target for the year. Abubakar, however, said that the reports citing IGR collection figure for 2022 different from N58.1billion did not emanate from the authorised agency of the Kaduna State Government and should be disregarded. He said that the Kaduna state has maintained a steady trajectory of growth in its IGR – N44.9 billion in 2019, N50.8 billion in 2020, N52.9 billion in 2021 and N58.1 billion in 2022. “These remarkable strides owe much to the legal and institutional reforms undertaken since 2015 to strengthen the ability to collect revenues and to block leakages. “The Tax Codification and Consolidation Law enacted by Gov. Nasir El-Rufai Government appointed the Kaduna State Internal Revenue Service (KADIRS) as the sole collector of government revenues. “It also outlines all the taxes and levies payable in the state and prohibits the cash collection of revenue by any public officer. “These efforts have been remarkably successful, quadrupling the IGR from less than N13 billion in 2015 to N52.9 billion in 2021 and rising to N58.1 billion in 2022,” the chairman said. The KADIRS boss noted that the unprecedented levels of IGR collection in the state have been a notable feature of the El-Rufai administration. According to him, the reforms that led to the successes in IGR have created a viable platform for the incoming government to build on for further progress in expanding state revenues. Reacting to the conflicting 2022 IGR figures released by different government agencies, Mr Yusuf Goje, a public finance analyst described the development as “very disturbing”. Goje blamed part of the problem to the unrealistic budget of the government, leading to suspicion on the credibility of published budget performance data. He said the development shows lack of synergy and coordination around data management among relevant government agencies. Goje stressed that if KADIRS refuted the Budget Performance Report and Auditor General Report on IGR, “then it means someone is fabricating the data. Who could this be? “This calls for reform on information management such that responsible government agencies would validate all data before it would be made public,” he said. According to him, putting out conflicting data by different government agencies only deepens citizens’ suspicion on published government data. “This is disturbing because the essence of the Open Government Partnership that the state government signed unto is for citizens to have accurate and unquestionable data. “When we are talking about transparency, we are talking about data that is usable for citizens to effectively engage the governance process. “This conflicting data has cast a doubt on the credibility of official government data.” Goje called on the government to urgently explain the situation to rebuild citizens’ confidence on available government data.