Gaza ceasefire talks resume in Cairo, with no sign of progress

Gaza ceasefire and hostage negotiators discussed new compromise proposals in Cairo on Saturday, seeking to bridge gaps between Israel and Hamas, but there was no indication of progress after hours of talks.

"The talks in Cairo didn’t make any progress. Israel is insisting to keep eight positions along the Philadelphi corridor," one Palestinian official close to the mediation effort told Reuters, asking not to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.

The Cairo talks came as the humanitarian situation in Gaza deteriorated, with malnutrition soaring and polio discovered in the Palestinian enclave.

Israeli military strikes in Gaza killed 50 people on Saturday, Palestinian health authorities said, with victims trapped under rubble or lying on roads where fighting continued.

A Hamas delegation had arrived in Cairo on Saturday to be nearer at hand to review any proposals that emerged in the main talks between Israel and mediators Egypt, Qatar and the United States, two Egyptian security sources said.

A U.S. official said negotiators from the United States met with Egypt, then with Egypt and Qatar on Saturday, and believed that representatives from Egypt and Qatar were meeting with Hamas.

The Hamas delegation returned to Doha, Qatar, after the briefing on the round of talks ended, the Palestinian official said.

Months of on-off talks have failed to produce a breakthrough to end Israel's devastating military campaign in Gaza or free the remaining hostages seized by Hamas in the militant group's Oct. 7 attack that triggered the war.

The Egyptian sources said the new proposals include compromises on outstanding points such as how to secure key areas and the return of people to north Gaza.

However there was no sign of any breakthrough on key sticking points, including Israel's insistence that it must retain control of the so-called Philadelphi Corridor, on the border between Gaza and Egypt.

Hamas has accused Israel of going back on things it had previously agreed to in the talks, which Israel denies. The group says the United States is not mediating in good faith.

In Israel, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has locked horns with Israeli ceasefire negotiators over whether Israeli troops must remain all along the border between Gaza and Egypt, a person with knowledge of the talks said.

DISEASE SPREADING

Continuing the war will worsen the plight of Gaza's 2.3 million people, nearly all of them homeless in tents or shelters among the ruins, with malnutrition rampant and disease spreading, and risk the lives of the remaining Israeli hostages.

The Oct. 7 attack killed 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel's Gaza campaign has killed more than 40,000 people, Palestinian health authorities say.

U.N. humanitarian agency OCHA said in a Friday update that the amount of food aid entering Gaza in July was one of the lowest since October, when Israel imposed a full siege.

OCHA said that in July the number of children with acute malnutrition in northern Gaza was four times higher than in May, while in the more accessible south, where fighting is less severe, the number more than doubled.

The World Health Organisation said on Friday that a 10-month-old baby had been paralysed with polio, the first such case in the territory in 25 years, raising fears of a wider outbreak given the lack of proper sanitation for people living in ruins.

More warfare also risks major new escalations, with Iran still weighing retaliation for the assassination of Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh on its territory last month.

Meanwhile, U.S. Air Force General C.Q. Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, began an unannounced visit to the Middle East on Saturday to discuss ways to avoid any new escalation in tensions that could spiral into a broader conflict, as the region braces for a threatened Iranian attack against Israel.

Fighting between Israel and Iranian-backed Hezbollah since Oct. 7 has ramped up recently, including with Israeli strikes across southern Lebanon and into the Bekaa, and with more Hezbollah rocket fire into northern Israel.

Reuters

WESTERN PERSPECTIVE

Zelenskiy touts new 'drone missile', calls Putin 'sick old man'

President Volodymyr Zelenskiy touted a newly developed Ukrainian "drone missile" on Saturday that he said would take the war back to Russia and scornfully derided Russia's Vladimir Putin as a "sick old man from Red Square".

As Ukraine marked 33 years of post-Soviet independence, Zelenskiy said the new weapon, Palianytsia, was faster and more powerful than the domestically made drones that Kyiv has so far used to fight back against Russia, striking its oil refineries and military airfields.

"Our enemy will ... know what the Ukrainian way for retaliation is. Worthy, symmetrical, long-ranged," he said.

Zelenskiy said the new class of Ukrainian weapon had been used for a successful strike on a target in Russia, but did not say where.

He used derisive language to describe Russia's 71-year-old president and the nuclear rhetoric coming out of Moscow.

"A sick old man from Red Square who constantly threatens everyone with the red button will not dictate any of his red lines to us," he said in a video on the Telegram messaging app.

Russia, which has attacked Ukraine with many thousands of missiles and drones since it invaded in February 2022, has decried Ukraine's drone attacks as terrorism. Moscow's troops are advancing in Ukraine's east and occupy 18% of the country.

Zelenskiy has been pressing Kyiv's allies to allow him to use Western weapons deeper in Russian territory such as to strike airbases used by Russian warplanes that pound Ukraine with missiles and glide bombs.

"I want to stress once more that our new weapon decisions, including Palianytsia, is our realistic way to act while some of our partners are unfortunately delaying decisions," Zelenskiy told a news conference.

Ukrainians say the word "Palianytsia", a type of Ukrainian bread, is too difficult to pronounce for Russians and it has been used - sometimes humorously - during the war as a way to tell Ukrainians and Russians apart.

"It will be very difficult for Russia, difficult to even pronounce what exactly has hit it," Zelenskiy said of the drone missile.

TOP COMMANDER PROMOTED

In a decree, Zelenskiy promoted his top commander, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi, to the rank of general, a tacit gesture of praise after Ukraine's lightning cross-border incursion into Russia's Kursk region launched on Aug. 6.

Slammed by Russia as an escalation and major provocation, Ukraine's incursion has captured more than 90 settlements in the Kursk region according to Kyiv, the biggest invasion of Russia since World War Two.

Speaking at a joint news conference with Poland's and Lithuania's leaders, Zelenskiy told reporters the operation had in part been a preventive move to stop Russian plans to capture the northern city of Sumy.

Apart from capturing prisoners of war and creating a "buffer zone", Zelenskiy said the operation had other objectives that he could not disclose publicly.

Polish president Andrzej Duda confirmed that Polish PT-91 Twardy tanks given to Kyiv by Warsaw were taking part in the fighting in Kursk region.

"We are touched to see how the PT-91 Twardy tanks, given by Poland (to Ukraine) more than one year ago, are defending today Ukraine on the battlefields, fighting in the Kursk region," he said.

Russia has strongly condemned the use of western weapons for the incursion, which Putin has said will receive a "worthy response".

Independence Day has surged in importance for Ukrainians during the invasion, which has spurred widespread patriotic sentiment.

This year the public holiday took place after the U.S. and German embassies issued warnings of a heightened risk of Russian missile and drone attacks across the country.

There had been no major strikes as of 2200 local time, but the air raid siren sounded at least twice in Kyiv over the afternoon and evening.

To mark the date, Zelenskiy ratified the Rome Statute, paving the way for Ukraine to join the International Criminal Court, one of many steps needed to join the European Union, accession to which Kyiv sees as a priority.

He also signed legislation banning the activities of religious groups linked to Russia, creating a legal instrument for the government to ban a branch of the Orthodox Church seen as linked to Russia.

Ukraine and Russia also said they had each secured the release of 115 prisoners of war in an exchange. The Russian Defence Ministry said its freed servicemen had been captured during Ukraine's attack in the Kursk region.

RUSSIAN PERSPECTIVE

Ukraine has lost two thirds of US-supplied tanks – media

Ukraine has lost two thirds of its US-supplied Abrams M1 main battle tanks in the space of only half a year, Military Watch Magazine has reported.

The outlet said in an article on Thursday that, according to its estimates, “close to 20” out of 31 tanks provided to Kiev by Washington have already been destroyed by Russian forces.

The latest Abrams was blown up in Russia’s Kursk Region, Military Watch Magazine said, based on videos uploaded by Russian Telegram channels. It appears to be the first American tank lost by Ukraine during its ongoing incursion into internationally recognized Russian territory, it added.

The M1 in question had “a significantly improved” explosive reactive armor, as Ukraine took steps to increase the protection of the US-made tanks, “particularly after they took heavy losses in their first engagements with Russian forces in February-April 2024,” the report read. However, the Abrams still could not withstand a projectile from a handheld anti-tank missile system, likely a Kornet, with which it had reportedly been hit, it stressed.

Military Watch reminded subscribers that Ukrainian troops operating the M1s had previously complained to Western media about “technical issues, including vulnerability of electronic components to condensation, as well as their vulnerability to Russian fire.” 

The outlet described the Abrams, the German Leopard 2, the British Challenger 2 and the Soviet era T-80 tanks as “the scarcest tank classes in Ukrainian service.”

But it also pointed out that, while Kiev expects a replacement for its destroyed Leopards from the EU nations, “there have been few indications that the US could make further deliveries of Abrams tanks.”

Russia’s Defense Ministry said on Saturday that, since the start of its incursion into Kursk Region on August 6, Ukraine has already lost more than 5,550 troops and hundreds of units of military equipment, including 71 tanks.

Reuters/RT

Have you ever read Heidi Holland’s Dinner With Mugabe? It was published in 2012 by a Zimbabwean journalist and columnist who worked with Illustrated Life Rhodesia magazine. The book is a very penetrating portraiture of Robert Mugabe. It is a psychobiography of a freedom fighter, liberal lawyer and revolutionary who later became, first Prime Minister and later, President of Zimbabwe. The book’s title was a product of a 1975 sudden call from a Holland friend. He wanted her to arrange dinner and meeting with a friend she had no idea who he was, in her home in Salisbury, now Harare, then capital of white Rhodesia. “It wasn’t until we stood under the veranda light and looked up as we greeted each other that I recognised him. It was Robert Mugabe,” she wrote in the Preface to the book. “He swaggered awkwardly as he does still. His shoulders were stooped a bit and he looked lean and agile, as if ready to sprint.”

Mugabe had a train to catch that night and intermittently looked at his wrist-watch. He had just come out of an eleven years prison and was about to escape through the border into Mozambique to begin war against white rule. Holland, who later became a leading authority on the enigmatic mind of Mugabe, drove Bob that night to the railway station.

For over 30 years, Holland observed Bob morph from a guerrilla-leader-in-waiting into a sadistic and grotesque dictator. Page by page, the psychobiography uncovers how tyranny took hold of Mugabe and the roots of his ruthlessness. It gradually unfolds the horrific consequences of his presidency of Zimbabwe. She interviewed many people to be able to construct the total picture the world has of Mugabe. This included an obscure younger brother of his, a Catholic priest who took his confession and then, a lengthy interview she later had with Mugabe as president. In all this, Holland reveals that Mugabe had a more complicated persona than his fearsome image the world had. She concluded that the tragedy he later became, especially his anglophobia and despotism, came out of his tortured relationship with Britain; that his hurt anger was that of a spurned friend. Mugabe was notorious for venting his fury on white farmers and Zimbabweans at large. He called the farmers “Britain’s children” and his cold-hearted governance was perhaps reflective of the poverty of his upbringing in a Shona family in Kutama, Southern Rhodesia. 

Heidi’s psychobiography unwittingly shows that emergence of leaders is through two routes. First are the ones whose portraits are known, pre-power, ab-initio and without psychoanalysis. Such leaders the Yoruba call the e-ti- m’oko-l’óko-ikún-kí-e-tó-gbin-èpà-si type. Ikun, the land squirrel, is a rodent smaller than the widely known species called ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́. It lives on the ground as against trees that ọ̀kẹ́rẹ́ is known by. This rodent is renowned for its obsession with devouring nuts in a groundnut plantation. If a farmer knew that the plantation he was about to cultivate was in a squirrel-infested field, and, yet sowed his seeds in it, when he whimpers at its devastation by squirrels, Yoruba blame him for his stupidity. He should have known that a fatal failure awaited him; what the Yoruba, again, call “ofo l’ehin oja.”

The second kind of leadership is Mugabe’s, as profiled by Heidi. At the outset, they wear the garb of innocence. Suddenly, these leaders transmute into wearing the visage of Dracula. They then pounce on the people with their ferocious teeth.

When life is as sour as 2024 Nigeria, the Yoruba compare existence to the taste from licking the sour seed of Iyeye. Iyeye is however Janus. As sour as its seeds are, its generational benefits are legends of folklores. Botanically named spondias mombin, in English, Iyeye is the hog plum. In Igbo, it is Ijikara while Hausa call it Tsardar masar. Its seeds are sour-sweet but the medicinal barks and leaves are used for inducing labour in women. In those days in Iwo, old Oyo State, I picked two songs that still ring in my head till today. As pupils of Ajangbala D.C. Primary School, we sang, while marching from the “Assembly” to our classes, “Odíderé eye Ìwó, Àlùkò eye Òsà, Lékelèké eye Òsun, ìwà re wù mí, màá bá e lo...” (Parrot, the bird totem of Iwo people; Woodcock, bird of the Sea and Cattle egret, bird of the Osun River goddess, your characters fascinate me and I will go with you, wherever you go…).

The other was mostly sung by our mothers in eulogy to the Iyeye. They sang, “Ewé ìyeyè, igba ni o, owó tí mo ní, kò ‘ì tó o, omo tí mo ní, kò ì tó o, ewé ìyeyè igba ni” (as the leaves sprouting out of the Iyeye are two hundred-fold, (may) my wealth and the children I will birth be similar in number; the ones I have are not enough). While the Iyeye song espouses and extols the multiplicity of children that a good tree begets, the two songs, taken together, speak to character and pedigree. The first extols the desirability and aesthetics of character of birds. Odidere, for instance, also called Ayékòótó, (the world scoffs at the truth) is a friend of man and the Iwo. It is domesticated and is said to understand and speak the language of man. It mirrors the purity of mind that its trustworthiness connotes. Such trust is reflected in the deep Yoruba saying that, Odidere should remember the tenets of the agreement it entered into with its master (Odíderé, t’ó bá j'oungbé, má j'oùngbé o!). The birds’ sterling character binds, like a twine, a whole people in friendship with the Parrot, Woodcock and Cattle egret birds.

Unlike Iwo, Sea and Osun River’s friendship with the above birds, our land has always been unlucky to be in besotting friendship with the Abyssinian hornbill bird. Yoruba call this bird Àkàlàmàgbò or Àkàlà. Àkàlà is a bird in whose veins, metaphorically, blood does not flow. It is audaciously bold in doing the unthinkable. It enjoys eating sumptuous sacrifices, food of the gods. These sacrifices are products of the innermost recess of pains suffered by those who offer them. Àkàlà also feasts on carrion, corpses of human and carcasses of non-human beings.

How did Nigerians get here? It is as a result of the fatal consequences they always suffer due to their uncritical profiling and friendship with their leader-tormentors. They once wanted a man who didn’t have shoes while growing up. They ended up with a man who scarcely knew his left hand from his right. Again, they desired a Spartan. They got one whose brain was as vacant as a Venetian graveyard. Lastly, they mis-read, mis-profiled and mistook Akala for the Odidere, the latter a bird whose sense of character imposes remembrance of agreement. Have they forgotten that the Vulture comes from a family of sacrifice and cadaver eaters (ìran Igún níí je’bo, ìran Àkàlà a j'òkú)? Why did they think they could make the corpse walk, apologies to James Hadley Chase, by reshaping the fatal consequences of their own hypocritical estimation? They deified a Capon whose heart is as cold as mutton as a potential Messiah. Now, they are wailing. Right by their bedside is their choice, the one they knew so much about, yet so little of the fatal damage that his pedigree they knew so well could do on their lives.

On Thursday, as fuel was being funneled inside my car, I 'prayed' for everyone who brought this tragedy on Nigerians. To me, my blood was the petrol from the expensive nozzle majestically flowing into the car. It was N1,000 a liter! It is a very distressing time to be a Nigerian. I instantly remembered that, on October 10, 1998, almost 26 years ago, in Yaba, Lagos, with Nigeria locked in a similar chokehold of petrol scarcity, I asked today's bird of carrion, who, pretending to be Odíderé, had just flown back to Iwo, what his impression of Nigeria was. In his usual cockney, he thundered: “Retrogression, rolling backwards, on reverse gear; that is my impression. Sad! That people are still queuing at the petrol stations, spend more productive hours at the petrol stations than in economic sector. It is a very sad story… You see poverty, glaringly on the faces of the people, in a nation that has so much resources to thrive on. It hurts.” I wrote this and more in my offering of December 10, 2023.    

If poverty and suffering (glaring on the faces of the people) can be measured, I wonder which would be plentier – the ones now or the gnashing of teeth under the military in 1998? But, in unmistakable warnings, we foretold this tragedy. I did in a viral piece published on January 16, 2022. We were Heidi Holland and we literally had dinner with the harbingers of the present pains. Unlike Holland, whose portraiture of Mugabe was post-mortem, ours was ante-mortem. We were demonized as prophets of doom. Nigerians said they had discovered, right on their thumbnail, a great builder who could turn ruins to Ruby. His bio, they said, spoke volumes. Didn’t we know he built Òkun (the Sea) and Òsà (the Lagoon) from nothing and made both a glittering expanse of aquatic modern wonder?

In their excitement, they even foretold life in abundance and plenty under the incoming builder. So they excitedly sang “L’áyé Olúgbọ́n…”, a historical song sung in the old Oyo Empire during the reign of Aláàfin Abíọ́dún. The song was to buttress their anger at what they called our  prophecy of doom. Indeed, during the reign of King Abiodun of Ọ̀yọ́-Ilé in the Empire, his government typified the height of an empathetic and benevolent administration. It prioritized the people’s welfare. There was plenty. There was peace, economic growth, prosperity and development. People praised and sang the goodness and huge financial stability that Oyo witnessed under him. So, women were renowned for singing this hate-laced, scurrilous attack song against the opposition to Abiodun: “During the reign of King Olugbon, we had such plenty that we bought and sewed seven exotic scarves; during the reign of King Aresa, we bought and sewed six scarves; during the reign of Abiodun, we bought and sewed velvet, silks and other pricey clothing materials…” (L’áyé Olúgbọ́n, mo dá’borùn méje, e ó maa ko yìi l’órin, l’áyé Arèsà, mo dá’borùn méfà, e ó maa kò yí l’órin, l’áyé Abíódún, mo ra kókò, mo rà’rán baba aso, e ó maa kò yí l’órin…” They ended their mockery-laced song by calling us lazy drones who only foretold hunger and pain. They asked us to carry our baggage and seek comfort in another land: “Àf’òle l’ó le pé ilè yìí ò dùn; eni bá pé ilè yìí ò dùn, k’ó yára k’érù s’ókò, k’ò gb’oko lo.”

We didn’t relent in telling them how wrong they were. We told the people that no one can build, nor renew any skyscraper of hope on a cracked pedigree. The “Oba Abiodun” they were bringing to sit on the Rock was actually Alaafin Aole. You can check who the original was. He would steal, plunder and despoil farmlands plus their future. He was a lover of the good things of life and would go on a saturnalia with your patrimony, we warned. The modern builder they trumpeted to high heavens, we warned, was a nondescript Amukun. The Amukun is the knock-kneed whose ways are foretold by his own structural calamity. We warned, they scoffed at us and called us names. But, now is our time to scorn them! We would have done this gladly, drinking drums of palmwine as we laugh at a people’s foolishness. However, as Bob Marley sang, when the rain comes, it doesn’t fall only on the nice man’s house. So does hunger and devastation. We are drenched in this downpour of pain, hunger and rulership calamity. We are the Babalawo who divined famine who is also buying famine for N1000 per morsel - just like those who scoffed his divination. Our fates are conjoined. 

Today, the land tastes like a sour Iyeye fruit (Ìlú kan gógó). As our elders say when there is famine and maladministration, our birds chirp in awkward manner; our rats squeak in ways they had never done hitherto. Our situation is almost synonymous with the biblical Samaria where parents entered into consensus to eat their children. Hope is the scarcest on the horizon. The people suffer needlessly. They queue in serpentine, snake-like kilometers-length to buy fuel that oozes out of their own soil. Nothing seems to work. Yet, the people in power live recklessly the proverbial 

fàmíl’étèntu’tó life. They fly glittering jirigin sama, a $100m-worth ACJ330-200, VP-CAC (MSN 1053), while their people wallow in abject squalor and poverty. Those who daily eat eggs forget easily that the cock that lays the eggs suffer anal pains. Like Mugabe’s, ours is Zimbabwe where, unto the Leviathan, the legislature and judiciary bow. In our face, they flaunt the latest Cadillac Escalade and tell us to go jump inside the lagoon. A country where the groaning of the people does not grate the ears of their leaders is gasping for breath. Being a Nigerian at this time is like wearing a thorn-filled crown and carrying the heavy biblical Jesus’ cross.

To worsen matters, subterfuge and a coterie of lies are official responses to our anger. When you are seen as one who heaves a tall ladder (àbà) to the furrows in order to climb a heap (ebè) you are an Alágàbàngebè – a serial liar – so say the Yoruba. A person or government which lives a life of decet; one who daily tells scores of lies, is labeled Ajíp’ogúnn’ró. We must be bothered about the moral imperatives and implications of government's deliberate falsehoods. We seem to live now in a post-truth, post-fact era Nigeria. Truth and fact are casualties of a government whose widely known alias is Ajíp’ogúnn’ró. For those who know what reputational harm can do to a government trapped timeless times spinning falsehoods, this is really scary.

Jamaican reggae music sensation, Peter Tosh, was at the emotional crossroads we are today as Nigerians. A very religious Rastafarian, Tosh preached redemption through his songs for decades, yet none came. He was often brutalized by the police. So, in frustration, he asked a rhetorical question in the track, Jah Se No,“Must Rastas bear this cross alone and all the heathens go free?” No. There is redemption. History tells us so. To ram home the fact that no evil goes unpunished, the Yoruba say nemesis is next door for every enemy of the people, Ìtàdógún kù sí dèdè, ojó elésìín k’òla.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime ~ Daniel 6:10.

Introduction

Every excellent position naturally attracts big opposition. Some negative forces will conspire against you if truly there is anything enviable in your destiny. Nevertheless, with God on your side, your head will still be above water, no matter the adversaries. But you must stand your ground in faith and become who you were made to be, or else enjoying total triumph in Christ and moving to the next level of glory may remain a mirage.

God created you to be a wonder and a superb praise upon the earth.  However, under the cover of darkness, evil alliances are constantly arrayed against your distinctions, and they enact negative decrees, which must be abrogated before destiny can be fulfilled. These evil conspiracies must not be allowed to truncate your destiny.  And for this reason, it is incumbent upon you to be conversant with the spiritual art of dispersing evil alliances against your joy of destiny. That’s a fundamental wining wisdom!

Wicked Hearts and Wicked Decrees

In the psychology of human interactions, it’s found that wicked hearts feel uptight and insecure about the success of others. This was what gave birth to the experiences of the three Hebrew children in the fiery furnace, and of Isaac in the hands of Philistines (Daniel 3:1-30; Genesis 26:12-16). And yes, the notorious dream killers in the life of Joseph were even his blood brothers.

Very painfully though, these enemies always appear tireless in their wickedness. With their raging envy, they continuously devise how to further their wicked works. As found in the story of Daniel, they may even bring political powers into their nefarious plots, and back their conspiracies with draconian laws and decrees (Dan.6:1-10).

Laws are supposed to be instrument of order and peaceful existence. But this is not the case with evil laws, which are drafted to oppress poor and the innocent (Psalms 94:20-21). Evil laws are dark products of evil conspiracies, and they are deceptive, onerous and opposed to liberty and peace. Above all, evil laws constitute a wedge between man and God’s covenant provisions. I pray that God shall arise in fury against every throne of iniquity that stands against our lives, our communities and nations in Jesus’ name. Amen.

Vital Spiritual Dimensions 

Now, there are vital spiritual dimensions to all of these. Evil conspiracies as described above share a striking similarity with many contemporary occult practices that hide to afflict and plunder destinies. 

These may find no offense in you other than their discovery that God has begun to help you, or that your star is beginning to shine, or even simply that you are enjoying peace. In their diabolical operations, these Satanic agents oftentimes conspire to project evil on their victims. Of a truth, this world lies in wickedness, but our God shall continue to turn their counsels backward in your favour, in Jesus’ name. Amen. 

This battle is spiritual in nature, and containment is its high goal (John 10:10; 2 Cor.10:3-4). In Ephesians 6:10-12, we are commanded to be strong in the Lord and the power of His might, putting on the whole armour of God. This clearly indicates that the conflict of life is not a ‘banger’ fight. It is a battle between saints and rebel spirits who are opposed to God and His plans for humanity. We must, therefore, be actively engaged in this battle to see breakthrough in our lives, as failure in spiritual conflict will leave anyone on the sad wings of destiny on earth.

The Divine Pronouncement In Your Favour

It gives such a big relief to know that God already pronounced woe on anyone that decrees an unrighteous decree (Is.10:1). This divine judgment - ‘woe’ - defines the sure destiny of wicked, which is still very valid and effectual till today. 

In the redemption pacts, from Colossians 2:13-15, we are shown that all negative decrees against our lives and destinies – past, present and future – are already abrogated by the death of Christ on the cross. That is the ‘legal’ side of the issue, but it is our duty as candidates for total triumph to work out the ‘vital’ details of this through persistent prayers and militant faith, taking our stand for God and His kingdom.

At the end of Daniel’s story (just as with Joseph and Isaac before him), we found that the evil decrees failed, and he laughed at last! However, please keep in mind that before the triumph and the attendant lifting of Daniel, he never let down in his devotion (Dan.6:10) — and we must do the same if we will enjoy similar victory.

Moreover, in his readiness to stand for God, he despised fear, even the fear of death (Dan.6:16). Furthermore, Daniel recognized the existence of the laws of God, and he judged every ordinance of the land in the context of these higher laws (Matt.24:35; Col.2:14). Again, we must emulate these for our stories to end like those of Daniel, Joseph and Isaac.

Conclusion

Triumph is the sweet end of every conflict. However, your understanding must increase before you can access the joy of triumphant living. No man ever got to his defined place in destiny through ignorance. You just must know your onions, and live by the examples set forth in the scriptures. If you are to reach your destination as you travel on the slippery paths of life, you must walk the way Jesus walked. Friends and brethren, you shall not fail in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Happy Sunday!

____________________

Bishop Taiwo Akinola,

Rhema Christian Church,

Otta, Ogun State, Nigeria.

Connect with Bishop Akinola via these channels:

Facebook: www.facebook.com/bishopakinola

SMS/WhatsApp: +234 802 318 4987

If God asks you to do something, do not do it. Ask Him to do it for you. God will never ask you to do what you can do. He will always ask you to do what you cannot do.

Let us be instructed by the psalmist who says: “I will cry out to God Most High, to God who performs all things for me.” (Psalm 57:2).

If God performs all things for us, then we have no free will. 

For example, Jesus says: “Give to him who asks you.” (Matthew 5:42). But no man has ever obeyed this simple command. Indeed, no man can. We do not always give to him who asks us. We only do so sometimes.

Jesus knows we cannot do it on our own. He tells us: “Without Me, you can do nothing.” (John 15:5).

How about this one: “Be perfect, just as your Father in heaven is perfect.” (Matthew 5:48).

Has anyone achieved this? No!

“If you want to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven; and come, follow Me.” (Matthew 19:21).

Did the man do it? No!

So, I repeat. If God ever tells you to do anything, do not even try to do it. Ask Him to do it for you. He will do it through you.

Stop Trying

Stop trying to be good. You can never be what you try to be. You cannot be what you are not. You can only be what you are.

God says: “I AM WHAT I AM.” Paul says: “By the grace of God I am what I am.” (1 Corinthians 15:10).

We are what we are and not what we try to be. So, stop trying to be good. You are either good or you are not. Goodness is not amenable to effort. A man can only be good if God makes him good.

Goodness is not in man. Goodness cannot be found in man. Goodness is a fruit of God’s Holy Spirit. Therefore, a man can only be good if he is born of God and is vested with the Holy Spirit.

Jesus says: “Make the tree good and its fruit good, or else make the tree bad and its fruit bad; for a tree is known by its fruit.” (Matthew 12:33).

But only God can make the tree good and its fruit good. A man who is born again is a good man by the grace of God. He must be careful not to fall from grace by trying to be good.

A Woman Is A Woman

A woman is a woman because God made her a woman. She does not have to try to be a woman. She does not have to prove she is a woman by getting pregnant. If her boyfriend asks: “How do I know you are really a woman? I cannot marry you unless you first get pregnant for me.”

Tell him to take a hike: “BYE, BYE!”

The devil told Jesus: “If you are the son of God, jump down from this high place.” Do not bother with him. “My jumping will not make me a son of God. I am either a son of God or I am not. My jumping will just make me a dead son of God.”

Righteousness of Man

According to man, the righteous man is the man who does good works. This is nonsense because we are not what we do. We are what we are.

Man, in his ignorance, says the good man is good because he is eager to lend a helping hand. He is generous. He is respectful. He gives money to the poor. He does not fight. He goes to church regularly. He is faithful to his wife. He takes good care of his family.

But all these good deeds are dead works because it is a man who does them. A man can never do anything good. Man is congenitally bad.

Jesus says we are evil: “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks.” (Matthew 12:34). He says furthermore: “Out of the heart proceed evil thoughts.” (Matthew 15:19).

Jeremiah concurs: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.” (Jeremiah 17:9).

This ensures that the righteousness of man is unrighteous to God. The Bible says the Lord is righteous in all his ways. (Psalm 145:17). But man is completely different: “We are all like an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are like filthy rags.” (Isaiah 64:6). “As it is written: “‘There is none righteous, no, not one.’” (Romans 3:10).

Jesus told the scribes and the Pharisees who brought to Him a woman caught in adultery and asked if she should be stoned to death: “He who is without sin among you, let him throw a stone at her first.” (John 8:7).

Nobody could stone her because nobody is without sin. “All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23).  

Only God

Jesus says: “No one is good but One, that is, God.” (Matthew 19:17). But Jesus Himself claims to be good so He must be God: “Is it not lawful for me to do what I wish with my own things? Or is your eye evil because I am good?” (Matthew 20:15).

That is why we must not receive praise from men. No man deserves praise. Only God is praiseworthy.

Nothing a man does pleases God because man is imperfect and God only wants perfection.

I have discovered that absolutely nothing I do impresses God. I have tried repeatedly to please God by doing righteous things: but I have never been able to impress Him. Nevertheless, I have seen people who do bad things, and they are full of testimonies about God. And I know they are not lying.

We get no commendation from God for doing even what He tells us to do. Jesus says: “When you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, ‘We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do.’” (Luke 17:10).

Frank Sinatra sang a million-dollar song: “I Did It My Way.” Nothing is further from the truth. There are only two ways. We either do it God’s way or the devil’s way. Man’s way does not exist.

Since I met Jesus, I have discovered that what I call good is bad. What I call right is wrong. Solomon says: “There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.” (Proverbs 14:12).

Like Job, we must surrender to God and acknowledge that it is unwise to pontificate about things we do not understand. It is unwise to talk about things that are too wonderful for us to know.

God is always right, even when we think He is wrong. He is always fair, even when we think He is unfair. He is always kind, even when we think He is unkind.

Men do not know what it means to be right or wrong, fair or unfair, and kind or unkind. We must leave all this to the Holy Spirit to decide for us.

God’s Ways

The ways of God are not the ways of man. “The Lord does not see as man sees.” (1 Samuel 16:7). What makes a man good in the eyes of men makes him evil in the eyes of God.

Jesus says: “What is highly valued among men is detestable in God’s sight.” (Luke 16:15).

You are busy making up, doing your hair, putting on lipstick. You are wearing exquisite clothing and expensive jewelry because you want to look good. But God, your Bridegroom, is not interested. He is only looking at your heart.

Therefore: “Do not let your adornment be merely outward — arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on fine apparel — rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God.” (1 Peter 3:3-5). 

Good and Evil

We say this one is a good man: and that one is a bad man. But it is all poppycock. The man we call a good man also does evil. And the man we call evil also does good things.

Every man has the good and the evil in him. But God’s standard says, for a man to be good, he must be good all the time: “The person who keeps all of the laws except one is as guilty as a person who has broken all of God’s laws.” (James 2:10).

For a man to be good, there must be nothing evil about him. To be good, we must do the right things at all times. But no man can do this. To be good, we must always be good. We must not change. We must be good yesterday, today, and forever.

James asks: “Can a fig tree, my brethren, bear olives, or a grapevine bear figs? Thus no spring yields both salt water and fresh.” (James 3:12).

But man produces both salt water and fresh water. We have all eaten the forbidden fruit from the tree of the knowledge of Good and Evil. Therefore, we cannot be good because we are good for one minute and bad for the next.

Jesus says: “Every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a bad tree bear good fruit.” (Matthew 7:17-18).

Therefore, a man cannot be a good tree because men bear bad fruit.

This is how the Bible presents the predicament of man, even regenerated man:

“I know that in me (that is, in my flesh) nothing good dwells; for to will is present with me, but how to perform what is good I do not find. For the good that I will to do, I do not do; but the evil I will not to do, that I practice.” (Romans 7:18-19).

“I delight in the law of God according to the inward man. But I see another law in my members, warring against the law of my mind, and bringing me into captivity to the law of sin which is in my members. O wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?” (Romans 7:22-24).

Only Jesus can deliver us. CONTINUED.

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Elon Musk is publicly offering his own interpretation of Jesus’ teachings with an Old Testament twist.

“Christianity has become toothless,” the billionaire posted recently on his X social-media platform. “Unless there is more bravery to stand up for what is fair and right, Christianity will perish.”

As Musk tweeted about Christianity, a friend of his, Jason Calacanis, replied jokingly: “If you’re going into your born again era we’re so here for it.”

Responded Musk: “I believe in the principles of Christianity like love thy neighbor as thyself (have empathy for all) and turn the other cheek (end the cycle of retribution).”

For all of his pursuits, Musk isn’t generally thought of as theologian.

With the Tesla and SpaceX chief executive’s recent political transformation, however, we are increasingly seeing Musk invoke religion as he discusses his worldviews on topics ranging from parenthood to freedom of speech.

He has talked about his core beliefs several times this summer, including this past week when describing how he defines empathy and its place in governing.

Raised Anglican in South Africa, young Musk got an early taste of differing religious views attending a Jewish preschool. “I was just singing ‘Hava Nagila’ one day and `Jesus I Love You’ the next,” he jokes.

As he grew older, Musk has said, he turned to the great religious books—the Bible, Quran, Torah, some Hindu texts—to deal with an existential crisis of meaning. And he looked to philosophers such as Arthur Schopenhauer and Friedrich Nietzsche.

But not until the boy discovered science fiction, he says, did he begin to find what he was looking for. In particular, he says, it was the lesson he took away from the “The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy” that the purpose of life wasn’t so much about finding the big answers but asking the right questions.

“The answer is the easy part,” Musk said during a public event this year. “The question is the hard part.”“If we can expand the scope and scale of consciousness then we are better able to figure out what questions to ask about the answer that is the universe and…maybe we can find out the meaning of life or even what…the right question is,” Musk said last year during a conference.

Physics has long been almost a religion for Musk, with the First Principles approach to problem solving infusing his businesses and guiding his approach to entrepreneurship.

In 2022, a spiritual side began to emerge publicly as he acquired Twitter-turned-X. He turned more political, airing worries about liberal policies becoming too extreme.

“A new philosophy of the future is needed,” Musk tweeted that summer. “I believe it should be curiosity about the Universe—expand humanity to become a multiplanet, then interstellar, species to see what’s out there.”

A couple of minutes later, he followed up: “This is compatible with existing religions—surely God would want us to see Creation?”

After taking over Twitter a few months later, Musk turned to invoking Jesus as he dealt with the artist formerly known as Kanye West, who appeared to be testing just how far the new owner was willing to go with pledges of defending free speech.

That December, the rapper, known as Ye, gave a rambling interview that included praising Adolf Hitler and during which he tweeted: “I love the first amendment! Long live Ye! I pray to Jesus that Elon is for real…” He followed that up with a tweet that included a photo of that original message and a new one that read: “Jesus is King.”

To which Musk responded uncharacteristically: “Jesus taught love, kindness and forgiveness,” he posted. “I used to think that turning the other cheek was weak & foolish, but I was the fool for not appreciating its profound wisdom.”

In a sign, perhaps, of how out of character it was for Musk, a Tesla fan club quickly replied: “Do you believe in God.”

Musk didn’t respond.

Last month, author Jordan Peterson got the chance to ask Musk directly about religion during an interview streamed on X.

“While I’m not a particularly religious person,” Musk said, “I do believe that the teachings of Jesus are good and wise.”

In particular, Musk again pointed to the New Testament teachings of forgiveness, but with a caveat from a man who has described being bullied as a kid that strength is sometimes needed in a way that sounded very much like the Old Testament’s eye-for-an-eye.

“With respect to bullies at school, I think you shouldn’t turn the other cheek—punch them in the nose,” Musk said. “They need to stop bullying you and a punch in the nose will stop that. And then thereafter, you know, make peace.”

Describing himself as “cultural Christian,” Musk indicated his guiding belief goes back to that of seeking greater understanding. “That is my religion, for the lack of a better way to describe it, it’s really a religion of curiosity,” he said. “The religion of greater enlightenment.”

And then applying his First Principles mindset, Musk extrapolated that what follows from that goal is to have “consciousness expand in scale and scope” by increasing population and allowing differing perspectives. Or put differently, more babies and free speech.

“There is the argument that when a culture loses its religion, that it starts to become anti-natalist and decline in numbers and potentially disappear,” Musk said.

The topic of faith came up again this past week when Musk on X interviewed Donald Trump, whom he endorsed last month for a second term in the White House shortly after a would-be assassin opened fire on the former president at one his rallies.

During their livestreaming event together, the two men discussed how Trump narrowly averted death by turning his head just at the right moment to look at a chart related to immigration. “For those people who don’t believe in God, I think we got to all start thinking about that,” Trump said. “I’m a believer, now I’m more of a believer.”

Musk, who shares concerns about illegal immigration, replied: “Maybe it’s a sign.”

They both laughed.

As they talked more, Musk returned to his ideal of empathy, suggesting liberals have misplaced feelings when it comes to dealing firmly with criminals—what he called “shallow empathy.”

“There’s a lack of empathy for the victims of the criminals and too much empathy for the criminals,” Musk said. “That’s why you want to have deep empathy for society as a whole, not shallow empathy for criminals.”

The Musk Theology: An eye for an eye, then peace.

Wall Street Journal

Kudirat Kekere-Ekun was inaugurated on Friday as the acting Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), pledging to spearhead reforms to restore public confidence in the Nigerian judiciary.

She disclosed the highlights of her agenda while speaking to journalists after her inauguration by President Bola Tinubu at the State House.

Among other promises, Ms Kekere-Ekun expressed commitment to restoring public confidence in the judiciary, a goal she intends to achieve through collective efforts and collaboration with stakeholders.

“We will make sure that people have more confidence in the judiciary, and I believe that it is not a one-man job. We all have to be on board because we all see the areas that need improvement.

“I believe that there will be maximum cooperation because we all want to see a better judiciary,” she said.

Kekere-Ekun spoke from her wealth of knowledge of the ills of the judiciary.

Waning confidence in judiciary

The Nigerian judiciary is plagued by delays, inconsistent and questionable court decisions, budgetary and financial opacity, disciplinary and appointment processes shrouded in secrecy, and political interference, among other problems.

A Nigerian senator, Adamu Bulkachuwa’s open confession in June 2023 of how he influenced the decisions of his wife, Zainab, as a judge and the President of the Court of Appeal offered rare insights into the behind-the-scenes dealings that give rise to many of the perverse decisions that emanate from Nigerian courts.

The confession came at a time when the Nigerian Supreme Court had yet to fully recover from the reputational damage it suffered from the judgement delivered by Ms Kekere-Ekun in January 2020, sacking Emeka Ihedioha as the elected Imo State governor and replaced him with Hope Uzodinma who came a distant fourth in the result declared by INEC.

Since then, the Supreme Court and the entire Nigerian judiciary have faced more public rebukes from many decisions, including the February 2023 decision affirming former Senate President Ahmad Lawan as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Yobe North senatorial district.

These have contributed to the dwindling public confidence in the judiciary, which is believed to have dipped further during the tenures of Ms Kekere-Ekun’s last two predecessors – Tanko Muhammad and Olukayode Ariwoola.

The confidence crisis the judiciary has been enmeshed in is well-known within and outside the legal profession.

Taking stock of Muhammad’s tenure, which abruptly ended in June 2022 amid a protest against his leadership by his colleagues on the Supreme Court bench, then-president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) Olumide Akpata called for an urgent reform of the judiciary.

“Beyond this, there is near-universal agreement that public confidence in the Judiciary and, indeed, the legal profession is at an all-time low,” Akpata said.

Also speaking to the loss of public trust in the judiciary in March last year, preparatory to the hearing of the presidential election petition cases, the outgoing NBA president, Yakubu Maikyau, who succeeded Akpata, urged the presidential election court to allow a live transmission of its proceedings to “help to regain lost public trust.

The court eventually rejected the petitioners’ application for live transmission of proceedings.

Public trust in the judiciary never stopped waning.

Fourteen months later, in May this year, Maikyau reacted in a statement seething with anger to another development that dealt a fresh blow to public trust in the institution.

At that time, it was the embarrassing conflicting court judgements regarding the Kano Emirship tussle.

Maikyau said the conflicting court decisions “brought utter disgrace and shame to the profession” and “have exposed the entire legal profession in Nigeria to public ridicule and opprobrium.”

In what will stick as a parting remark as he leaves office in a week, Maikyau urged Nigerian judges to justify their new pay rise by making “a deliberate and conscious effort to work back into the hearts of Nigerians and revive public confidence in the Judiciary.”

He said the NBA has consistently pushed for reforms in “matters of appointment, discipline and elevation of judicial officers”.

Whatever Ariwoola might have achieved during his two years as CJN was eclipsed by the controversial appointment of family members, including his son as a federal judge, to top positions in the judiciary institutions that he directly or indirectly superintended over.

Maikyau said there is a need to strengthen judicial oversight bodies, expressing hope that his successor, Afam Osigwe, the NBA president-elect, will prioritise the issues when he takes office this month.

More promises

Kekere-Ekun said on Friday that she looked forward to securing internal cooperation to achieve her goals. She called for a concerted effort to pinpoint and address deficiencies within the judiciary.

She said improvements in the judiciary would have a positive ripple effect across the nation.

Addressing concerns regarding the appointment process and judicial discipline, she vowed to tackle these issues comprehensively.

She promised to leave behind a judiciary that the country can proudly stand behind, marked by enhanced operational efficacy and public trust.

Tinubu also speaks on integrity of judiciary

During the inauguration ceremony on Friday, President Tinubu similarly stressed the importance of strengthening mechanisms that will uphold and enhance integrity, discipline, and transparency in the judiciary.

He urged the new acting CJN to defend the independence of the judiciary and promote the cause of justice.

He tasked her with upholding the highest standards of integrity and fidelity to the Constitution.

Tinubu also encouraged reforms to bolster public trust in the judiciary.

The president also expressed support for the judiciary, citing the December 2023 appointment of 11 new Justices to the Supreme Court.

He said the expansion has restored the Court to its full complement of 21 Justices for the first time in decades.

Sixty-six-year-old Ms Kekere-Ekun has four years to stay in office as Nigeria’s 23rd chief justice, 18th CJN and the second female CJN after Aloma Mukhtar to realise her dreams of a Nigerian judiciary.

From schoolchildren to VIPs, no one is safe from the pervasive menace of kidnapping ravaging the entire length and breadth of the country. Despite efforts from security agencies, gunmen still loom large on the horizon, as Nigerians live in constant fear of the unknown.

Kidnapping has become one of the most pressing security concerns in Nigeria. The criminal enterprise touches every corner of the country.

Abduction for ransom was rare until the emergence of Niger Delta militants in the early 2000s. The militants engaged in various forms of criminal activities under the pretence of resisting environmental degradation and absence of basic social amenities in the oil-rich communities.

The militants targeted mostly expatriates and Nigerians in the oil business for abduction. Public analysts believed that activities of the Niger Delta militants were political tactics to compel the government to address issues affecting the region.

According to a report by an academic publisher, Scientific Research, the first major case of kidnapping in the Niger Delta happened in April 2002 when 10 workers of the Shell Petroleum Development Company were abducted by some youths from the Ekeremoh Local Government Area of Bayelsa State. But the criminal act subsided in the region after the amnesty granted to the Niger Delta militants in 2009.

However, the northeastern part of Nigeria took over the kidnapping act, with Boko Haram insurgents using it to execute their victims, demand ransom, extort families of victims, and in some cases, the government. The abduction of the Chibok girls on the night of April 14–15, 2014, remains unforgettable in the minds of many Nigerians.

No place is spared or too sacred, including schools, mosques, churches, highways, and homes. The crime has continued to stretch security agencies, especially the police, while Nigerians believe they have been overwhelmed.

No fewer than 17,469 Nigerians were abducted between 2019 and 2023, according to the Civil Society Joint Action Group in a January 2024 report. Findings by Saturday PUNCH also revealed that between January and July 2024, at least 2,140 people were reportedly kidnapped across 24 states.

Over the seven months, gunmen also kidnapped 193 people in January, 101 in February, 543 in March, 112 in April, 977 in May, 97 in June, and 117 in July, totaling 2,140. The most recent kidnap is the abduction of 20 medical students in Otukpo, Benue State.

They were abducted on August 16, 2024, while going to the annual convention of the Federation of Catholic Medical and Dental Students in Enugu. The students have yet to be released as of the time of filing this report.

Some Nigerians thought that the arrest and incarceration of the billionaire kidnapper, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans, would reduce kidnapping in the country but that has not been the case. Evans was arrested at his residence at No. 3, Fred Shogboyede Street, Magodo, Lagos, on June 10, 2017.

He and his accomplices were sentenced to life imprisonment on February 25, 2022, by Justice Hakeem Oshodi of a Lagos State High Court. Evans was again, on September 19, 2022, sentenced to 21 years imprisonment by Justice Oluwatoyin Taiwo of the Ikeja Special Offences Court for kidnapping one Sylvanus Hafia.

Many Nigerians, according to a report by a research and analytics organisation, NIOPolls, say the government is not doing enough to address kidnapping. In the report published on February 15, 2024, the organisation said six out of 10 Nigerians stated that the “authorities are not doing enough to curb kidnapping”.

The kidnappers have been making and receiving calls and collecting ransoms in cash at designated locations. There were cases where the kidnappers’ demanded foodstuffs, motorcycles, and other tangible materials as ransoms.

Many Nigerians believe that security agents should be able to track the kidnappers through telecommunications networks. Concerned citizens, who frowned on the display of strength by security forces during attacks on #EndBadGovernance protesters, maintained that the kidnappers had always left clues and actionable information for the security agents to act on.

Probing why kidnapping has continued to rise, findings by Saturday PUNCH show that the root causes are multidimensional. Security experts say the two main causes of kidnapping are poverty and unemployment, adding that it is prevalent due to the failed criminal justice system, the proliferation of small arms and light weapons, weak security institutions, and a lack of political will.

The Chief Executive Officer of Beacon Security and Intelligence Limited, Kabir Adamu, said environmental factors such as the presence of ungoverned spaces, the collapse of the value system, and the failure of the criminal justice system to arrest and punish offenders were key contributors. He stated that the government must show political will and address socio-economic issues such as unemployment and poverty to stop kidnapping.

He noted, “The government’s response has been haphazard. The Terrorism Prevention Act says no payment of ransom, but there is enough evidence to show that some top government officials negotiate and pay these criminals. Kidnapping has three elements: the kidnappers’ will, the protection around the victims, and the ransom.

“In all three, the government’s approach does not sufficiently address the core issues. The police and other security ministries, departments, and agencies are not held accountable by the Presidency and the National Assembly. The consequence management by the incumbent and previous administrations is weak.”

Asked why the kidnappers have been making calls and receiving ransom without being caught, Adamu disclosed that the police had not been tactical in their approaches.

In his opinion, a former Director of the Department of State Services, Mike Ejiofor, believes that increased security patrols by the police will go a long way in reducing the activities of kidnappers, stating that the random nature of their operations made it difficult to crush them.

Speaking with Saturday PUNCH, Ejiofor said kidnapping had become a business in Nigeria, describing it as the criminals’ quickest way to make money. According to him, the kidnappers have also engaged in diversionary tactics to frustrate the efforts of security operatives.

“A lot of people have resorted to kidnapping to make money. It is now alarming, and you can see that they are not just engaging in random kidnapping as they used to. Some dignitaries are now targeted, and that’s not good for us.

“If the police had enough manpower, they should focus more on patrols, because the criminals already know where the checkpoints are, and they avoid them. So, it becomes very difficult for the security agencies to curtail their activities,” Ejiofor stated.

Analysing the intricacies of kidnapping in the country, the Director General of the International Institute of Professional Security, Tony Ofoyetan, declared that the Nigerian government had not shown the political will to stem the tide of kidnapping in the country.

Ofoyetan said abduction was thriving because it involved the connivance of some security agents, banking officials, and personnel of communications agencies. He described kidnapping as a syndicated business involving different categories of people, noting that the security agencies also lacked the culture of following through in the pursuit of the crime.

“The security agencies have been unable to stem the tide of kidnapping because it is a big, syndicated business that has different categories of people as participating criminals. Telecommunications personnel are involved, and some bankers are also not exonerated. Greedy security officers are not exempted either, and you have the actual perpetrators of all these crimes.

“It has also been easier for kidnappers to get away with their loot and other things in the act of kidnapping because the security agencies do not have the culture of following through in the pursuit of crime,” he stated.

Ofoyetan called on the government to be aggressive and pragmatic in addressing kidnapping by making use of telecommunications and the biodata of citizens to combat the menace. He lamented that the government had been reluctant to act decisively, saying it had the capacity and capability to track any phone, even without the battery in it, to pin down kidnappers.

The security expert explained that the hesitation of security agents in going all out against kidnappers might be due to concerns about collateral damage, which had been to the advantage of abductors.

Providing insight, Ofoyetan said, “Even if our security agents are going to launch operations, the kidnappers would have changed their location because there are moles who would have revealed the strategic approach of security agents to them. But it only takes the government’s strong political will to say enough is enough.

“There could be some level of collateral damage, but I can assure you that nobody wants to die. If the kidnappers realise that the government does not care about who they kidnap and is coming with full force, they will think twice. When the kidnappers know that they will not live to spend that money, kidnapping will reduce by at least 80%. No criminal wants to die.”

Ofoyetan called for a special operation to clear the forests and bushes that serve as hideouts for criminal activities across Nigeria. He also urged the government to identify and expose compromised security agents who collaborate with kidnappers, emphasising the need to make examples of them to deter others.

Meanwhile, attempts to reach the spokesperson for the Nigeria Police Force, Muyiwa Adejobi, for updates on police efforts to tackle kidnapping were unsuccessful, as calls were unanswered, while text and WhatsApp messages to his mobile phone were not replied.

However, in a previous interview with The PUNCH on June 28, Adejobi revealed that the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, had acquired new tactical equipment to confront the kidnapping scourge head-on.

On Monday, the IG also inaugurated no fewer than 169 officers of the newly established Special Intervention Squad to tackle banditry, kidnapping, and other crimes in the country. He explained that the SIS signified a significant advancement in police operational strategy, drawing from the best practices of globally successful law enforcement models.

Adejobi also highlighted that ransom payments had turned kidnapping into a lucrative enterprise. He explained that the police had been educating Nigerians on the dangers of making kidnapping profitable, noting that the payment of ransoms had emboldened criminals to continue their abductions.

According to Adejobi, kidnappers often manipulate the emotions of the victims’ families, warning them against contacting the police or other security agencies with threats of killing the captives. He urged Nigerians not to succumb to these tactics, insisting that the primary motive of kidnappers is financial gain.

“A kidnapper wants money. Any incident where the victim is killed is not about ransom or kidnapping,” Adejobi said. He called for broader investigations to understand the psychological aspects of these crimes, explaining, “Every kidnapper demands ransom because it’s a business. We don’t want people to play into the hands of these kidnappers.”

Punch

Thirteen persons have been confirmed killed in the latest deadly attacks by bandits in Niger State.

Habibu Wushishi, the spokesperson for the state’s Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Management, disclosed this in a statement issued on Thursday.

The fresh attack in Bassa and Anguwan Mai-giro in Rafi and Shiroro local government area of the state came on the same day that bandits demanded 130 motorcycles as ransom for the release of dozens of women they had earlier kidnapped in Allawa, a community in the Shiroro Local Government Area of the state, in February.

According to reports on the latest incidents in the state, the bandits laid siege to Bassa and Angwan Mai-giro villages for hours on Wednesday and Thursday.

Wushishi said the bandits looted three shops in the villages and also sacked some neighbouring farming villages.

“Over 12 neighbouring villages are currently in Erena IDPs camp with their number (of displaced persons) yet to be ascertained,” he said.

Visiting the areas on Thursday, the acting governor, Yakubu Garba, condemned the attacks and loss of lives.

According to a statement by his spokesperson, Bologi Ibrahim,

Garba “describes the attack as satanic, insensible, atrocious and callous.” He vowed that the government would restore security in the affected areas.

26 kidnapped women

On Thursday, a video emerged featuring two of the 26 women kidnapped five months earlier in Allawa.

In the video, the two women pleaded with their families to provide 130 motorcycles, which the bandits demanded as ransom for their release.

The 30-second video shows one of the women tied to a tree. Speaking in Hausa, she calls a relative named Abdulrahman to help provide the items.

“Umar, please talk to Abdulrahman. They have brought me to a service area now. They said they could not release me until the demanded items were delivered. They said I should talk so that you will hear my voice. I have injuries to my legs. For the sake of Allah and His Prophet, help bring the items. They said if you bring the items, they will release me along with Hajiya. I am here with Hajiya,” she says in the video.

Abba Usman, a resident of Allawa, confirmed that the women featured in the video are among the 26 kidnapped in February.

He said the bandits demanded five motorcycles for each of the 26 women, with each motorcycle valued at N2 million.

Usman said the families of the two women had already provided six motorcycles, but the kidnappers were demanding four more to release them.

He added that the families of the remaining 24 women could not raise money to buy the motorcycles.

“My mother and my sister are among those kidnapped seven months ago on Allawa-Pandogari Road. On that day, eight men were killed before the other women were taken away. The bandits have asked us to provide five motorcycles for each of the 26 women. We couldn’t raise the money, which is why they are still in captivity.

“They sent the video to confirm that the women are still alive and would be released once the additional motorcycles were provided. For now, we don’t even have anything left to sell to raise money for these motorcycles,” Usman explained.

PT

Israeli shelling in Gaza kills 12 Palestinians, Wafa says

At least 12 Palestinians, including two children and a woman, were killed early on Saturday morning by Israeli attacks east of Gaza's Khan Younis and in the Al-Nuseirat camp area, the official Palestinian news agency Wafa said.

At least 15 others were injured in the attacks, Wafa added.

Reuters