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ECOWAS experts meet to validate logistic depot policies for standby force

Democracy in Nigeria is democracy for sub-region, continent…..President ECOWAS Commission 

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Labour Party Chieftain support call by TY Danjuma for communities to arm and defend themselves Danjuma Attah, Gombe A chieftain of the Labour Party and Governorship candidate in the 2024 general elections, Keftin E Amuga, has reiterated to his people in Billiri, the call by General TY Danjuma on communities to stand up and defend themselves against terrorists and land grabbers. Keftin Amuga made the call in a press statement sent to our Correspondent and gave reasons for reiterating TY Danjuma’s call to the continued attack on his people in Billiri LGA of Gombe State Amuga, also the Gombe State Chairman of the Middle Belt Forum, while condemning what he described as the barbaric, wicked and inhumane Easter Monday Suicide truck attack on the Christians faithful of Billiri, condoled families of victims of the attack. According to him, “this deliberately planned attack which left five dead and 13 injured is about the third one, two of which were deadly. Essentially the attack was born out of pure hatred and intended to maximize deadly impact on Christian faithful’s of Gombe State”, he stated. Recalling two similar attacks on Christian in the State in the past, the Easter celebrations in 2019 and the Christmas celebrations of 2024 when Christians were attacked by moving vehicles, Amuga said the recent attack during this year’s Easter celebrations indicated a pattern in the attack. He said, “the third and most current one which occurred on the 21st April, 2025 by another fanatic named Usman Muhammad aged 28, a resident of Afghanistan Quarters (a name synonymous with the hometown of the Late Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden) killed over 5 persons and injuring scores of Christian youth during the Easter Monday celebration. “Yet the Police PPRO came up with another narrative that was uncalled for after a very shallow investigation into the incident. “The question is, why this recurring decimal? Ironically while investigation was supposed to be going on, some government security outfits had already announced the conclusion of the investigation and the arrest of some Tangale youth for alleged vandalism at the scene of the suicide attack, insisting that the incidence was only a vehicular accident! This is very sad indeed”, he decried. Questioning government’s actions towards the Tangale people of the State, Amuga said, “When one recalls the unprovoked incident, with the state Government, following the aftermath of the Tangale Chieftaincy crisis in 2021, whereby the Tangale people were denied the choice of Dr. Musa Idris as the Mai (Chief) Tangle, because he is a Christian and further arrested some youth, some of whom have died in prison and others are rendered useless due various illnesses while still in prison, one begins to wonder, which of the law is in use in Gombe State, the Nigerian constitution or the Sharia Law? “Accordingly I have no option than to support and call on the ethnic nationalities, the Christians and Tangale people in particular, that in their own interest, they should comply immediately with the Clarion call made in May 2018 and repeated this April 2025 by our Elder Statesman, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, that all indigenous ethnic nationalities of the nation should stand up to defend themselves and their God given land, otherwise very soon, there may be no land and communities to call our own”. He then called on all the elected and appointed political representatives who have benefitted in one way or the other from the support and votes of the Tangale people, the Christian population and the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Gombe State, to as a matter of duty required by the Oath of their various offices, prevail over Governor Inuwa Yahaya to put an end to the discrimination, persecution and maltreatment against the Tangale people, the Christians and the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Gombe State. He also called for the release without delay of all prisoners of conscience and politics, related to the Tangale Chieftaincy crisis and the recent Easter Monday Suicide Truck attack, recognize Dr. Musa Idris, as recommended by the Tangale Traditional Council, as the legitimate Choice for the stool of the (MAI) Chief of Tangale, thereby rendering unnecessary the present court case and Institute without delay a “Truth and Reconciliation committee” to fence-up the deeply fractured population down the line along Tribal and religious cleavages. End.

Power outage causes chaos in Spain and Portugal A massive power cut hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, causing widespread chaos and disruption. The outage left millions of people without electricity, while internet and phone networks were also down. Trains were cancelled and evacuated in some regions, and traffic lights stopped working as delays mounted at airports. With shops, homes and restaurants plunged into darkness – and some people stuck in lifts – Spain’s electricity network said by mid-afternoon that restoring power could take several hours. Spain’s political leaders said the cause of the disruption was still unknown but there was no indication of a cyber attack. When did the outage begin? The first reports of an outage began around midday (10:00 GMT) on Monday and its impact quickly escalated. As the scale of the disruption became clear, residents of Madrid were warned to stay put, keep off the roads and not to call emergency services unless “truly urgent”. A Spanish operator said power restoration would take up to 10 hours, while Portugal’s power firm REN said getting back to full power could take up to a week. Queues formed at cash machines as card payments were affected by the outage, and there were reports that some petrol stations are closed. Spanish media reported that some hospitals had implemented emergency plans, including halting routine work, news agencies reported. By early evening and after several hours of blackouts, residents in some parts of the country reported the lights are back on. Power was being restored “in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian] peninsula”, the Spanish grid operator said. The authorities in Spain and Portugal are still trying to work out what caused the power cuts. “There are no indications of any cyberattack” at this point, the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said. As panic spread earlier in the day, residents of Madrid were warned to stay off the roads. In a video on social media, the mayor of the Spanish capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, told residents to “keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear.” People should only call emergency services if it is “truly urgent”, he said. “If emergency calls go unanswered, go to the police and the fire stations in person, where they will try to deal with all the emergencies.” What has been the impact? The country’s nuclear power plants automatically stopped when the blackout hit, and the Spanish oil company Moeve said it halted operations at its oil refineries. Flights were also impacted, with delays and cancellations at some airports. EasyJet said it was experiencing some disruption to operations at Lisbon and Madrid. It said the situation was “fluid” and told customers to check local advice. Aviation data company Cirium said 96 flights departing from Portugal – and 45 from Spain – had been cancelled. Businesses have been severely affected. Some Ikea branches in Spain switched to backup generators and stopped customers from entering its stores. The Madrid Open Tennis organisers have decided to cancel Monday’s event. Elsewhere, Andorra and parts of France were also hit, but the Balearic and Canary Islands were not affected.

By: Mercy Peter

 

Government experts’ from the Economic Community of West African States are meeting in Abuja to finalise its Logistics Depot policies for equipping the regional standby force.

The ECOWAS Logistics Depot based in Lungi, Sierra Leone is expected to be commissioned anytime this year

Speaking at the opening of the validation exercise, Amb. Abdel-Fatau Musah, Commissioner, Political Affairs Peace and Security, ECOWAS Commission said the increased acts of terrorism, violent extremism and political instability within the region has necessitated the urgent need for fully functional and operational static depot.

Musah who was represented by Dr. Sanni Adamu Mohammed, Acting head of peace support operations in ECOWAS, said that the project remains a critical one for peace support operations, explaining that the depot is expected to warehouse all the equipment that are supposed to be deployed for peace support operations .

He said: “The ECOWAS Commission has injected substantial resources towards the construction as well as the operationalisation of the depot, and it remains a critical flagship project for ECOWAS region’s peace support operations infrastructure.
“The increased act of terrorism, violent extremism, and political instability being experienced in a number of our countries, with heavy and dire consequences, are a clear testament to the urgent need for a well-resourced logistics strategy with a fully functional and operational and static depot.”

On why it took the Commisson this long to put in place the Depot, Musah said, “not because of reluctance on the part of management, but because of the need to mobilise the required resources that will enable the Commission to actually put in place a depot that will be, you know, consistent with not only continental but also global best practises. So the depot we are happy is in place now in Lungi, Sierra Leone

“It’s a coastal depot, so anywhere, from anywhere we are shipping, you know, equipment to the depot either by land, air, or sea, we’ll be able to comfortably, you know, evacuate them and put them in the depot in Lungi, Sierra Leone. Well, the ECOWAS standby force is already fully activated. It’s in place.

Like, you know, we have two missions that are currently running in Guinea-Bissau as well as the Gambia. The missions are there, and the troops, you know, from the standby force are the ones there. The activation of the ECOWAS standby force to fight terrorism is actually what we are now currently planning to do.

“We need to have the required resources. Already member states have given us the troops that will populate, you know, the contingent that will move, you know, in activation of the standby force in its kinetic form. So we are up and doing to be able to deliver on that task.

“Well, currently, you know, there are a number, multiple processes we need to engage. Firstly, with our various governments to be able to mobilise the resources. We want to see that resources are mobilised internally.

“This is a fight that you need to have internal resources to allow you, you know, comfortably confront the challenges. Instead of relying on external funding that will not be always sustainable. Sir, I want to ask you something.

“The depot we are talking about, is it for the standby force to fight terrorism or the peacekeeping? No, the standby force and the peacekeeping, this is a comprehensive depot that will enable, you know, ECOWAS to put in place equipment, you know, relevant equipment, you know, for deployments. Either during peace support operations or also during fighting. If you are fighting terrorism.

“So it’s a comprehensive depot, which is multidimensional, you know, in nature. And it’s going to house, you know, all the necessary needs, you know, that will be required. When deploying, either you want to address internal crisis in member states or you want to fight, you know, these terrorist activities.”

He added, “Well, the ECOWAS stand by force is a stand by arrangement where countries in the ECOWAS region contribute their capabilities and capacities to meet challenges, security challenges in the region. Challenges could vary from one form to the other. Whichever one that is prevalent now, we are trained to come together and bring our capacities to respond to it.

“Whichever one it may be, but we must be well trained and equipped with the kind of task, the kind of task that we are not well equipped for. And that’s why this workshop or meeting is to bring all our capabilities for logistics so that we can support operations in the region, be it in peacetime or non-peacetimes, in terms of emergencies, humanitarian situations and other emergencies in the region.”

Air Commodore, Sampson Eyekosi, who is the meeting Chairman said ECOWAS standby force is not taking the role of the Multinational joint taskforce, stressing that Security is a connected thing.

“You cannot work in isolation. It’s not taking any role. We all work together for the attainment of peace and security in the region.”

On the number of personnel to deployed as standby force, Eyekosi said the number would be determined by the threat.

“It is not fixed. The threat determines how big the force will be. But units in member states are placed on alert based on what is pledged to the collective effort. And they are trained together, they are prepared, they are deployed as the situation requires.

He therefore added: “As we all know, it is imperative that the conduct of Peace Support Operations (PSO) in the ECOWAS region requires to be properly guided by a well thought out and proven logistics procedures and processes.

“Likewise, the need to look closely at the nitty-gritty of all essential that is required to be in place to ensure that the ECOWAS Logistic Depot (ELD) at Lungi, Sierra Leone become functional and attains full operational capability in the shortest possible time. “In order to properly structure and organise it up to fully and effectively support on-going and future peace missions in the region. Especially as the ELD is now at the verge of being commissioned this year, with over ninety percent of expected infrastructural work already completed on the facility.
“Furthermore, Distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, our beloved region calls us now to duty and have deliberately brought together, the brightest professional logistics, administrative and management minds here to brainstorm and produce a final product that will indeed stand the test of time in the real world. This unique opportunity therefore, requires that we all bring to bear our wealth of experience in various aspects or gamut of logistics, administration and management to give back for the interest of our region. Particularly, as it relates to Peace Support Operations in West Africa and Africa as a whole,” he added

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Labour Party Chieftain support call by TY Danjuma for communities to arm and defend themselves Danjuma Attah, Gombe A chieftain of the Labour Party and Governorship candidate in the 2024 general elections, Keftin E Amuga, has reiterated to his people in Billiri, the call by General TY Danjuma on communities to stand up and defend themselves against terrorists and land grabbers. Keftin Amuga made the call in a press statement sent to our Correspondent and gave reasons for reiterating TY Danjuma’s call to the continued attack on his people in Billiri LGA of Gombe State Amuga, also the Gombe State Chairman of the Middle Belt Forum, while condemning what he described as the barbaric, wicked and inhumane Easter Monday Suicide truck attack on the Christians faithful of Billiri, condoled families of victims of the attack. According to him, “this deliberately planned attack which left five dead and 13 injured is about the third one, two of which were deadly. Essentially the attack was born out of pure hatred and intended to maximize deadly impact on Christian faithful’s of Gombe State”, he stated. Recalling two similar attacks on Christian in the State in the past, the Easter celebrations in 2019 and the Christmas celebrations of 2024 when Christians were attacked by moving vehicles, Amuga said the recent attack during this year’s Easter celebrations indicated a pattern in the attack. He said, “the third and most current one which occurred on the 21st April, 2025 by another fanatic named Usman Muhammad aged 28, a resident of Afghanistan Quarters (a name synonymous with the hometown of the Late Taliban leader Osama Bin Laden) killed over 5 persons and injuring scores of Christian youth during the Easter Monday celebration. “Yet the Police PPRO came up with another narrative that was uncalled for after a very shallow investigation into the incident. “The question is, why this recurring decimal? Ironically while investigation was supposed to be going on, some government security outfits had already announced the conclusion of the investigation and the arrest of some Tangale youth for alleged vandalism at the scene of the suicide attack, insisting that the incidence was only a vehicular accident! This is very sad indeed”, he decried. Questioning government’s actions towards the Tangale people of the State, Amuga said, “When one recalls the unprovoked incident, with the state Government, following the aftermath of the Tangale Chieftaincy crisis in 2021, whereby the Tangale people were denied the choice of Dr. Musa Idris as the Mai (Chief) Tangle, because he is a Christian and further arrested some youth, some of whom have died in prison and others are rendered useless due various illnesses while still in prison, one begins to wonder, which of the law is in use in Gombe State, the Nigerian constitution or the Sharia Law? “Accordingly I have no option than to support and call on the ethnic nationalities, the Christians and Tangale people in particular, that in their own interest, they should comply immediately with the Clarion call made in May 2018 and repeated this April 2025 by our Elder Statesman, Gen. Theophilus Yakubu Danjuma, that all indigenous ethnic nationalities of the nation should stand up to defend themselves and their God given land, otherwise very soon, there may be no land and communities to call our own”. He then called on all the elected and appointed political representatives who have benefitted in one way or the other from the support and votes of the Tangale people, the Christian population and the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Gombe State, to as a matter of duty required by the Oath of their various offices, prevail over Governor Inuwa Yahaya to put an end to the discrimination, persecution and maltreatment against the Tangale people, the Christians and the indigenous ethnic nationalities of Gombe State. He also called for the release without delay of all prisoners of conscience and politics, related to the Tangale Chieftaincy crisis and the recent Easter Monday Suicide Truck attack, recognize Dr. Musa Idris, as recommended by the Tangale Traditional Council, as the legitimate Choice for the stool of the (MAI) Chief of Tangale, thereby rendering unnecessary the present court case and Institute without delay a “Truth and Reconciliation committee” to fence-up the deeply fractured population down the line along Tribal and religious cleavages. End.

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Power outage causes chaos in Spain and Portugal A massive power cut hit large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday, causing widespread chaos and disruption. The outage left millions of people without electricity, while internet and phone networks were also down. Trains were cancelled and evacuated in some regions, and traffic lights stopped working as delays mounted at airports. With shops, homes and restaurants plunged into darkness – and some people stuck in lifts – Spain’s electricity network said by mid-afternoon that restoring power could take several hours. Spain’s political leaders said the cause of the disruption was still unknown but there was no indication of a cyber attack. When did the outage begin? The first reports of an outage began around midday (10:00 GMT) on Monday and its impact quickly escalated. As the scale of the disruption became clear, residents of Madrid were warned to stay put, keep off the roads and not to call emergency services unless “truly urgent”. A Spanish operator said power restoration would take up to 10 hours, while Portugal’s power firm REN said getting back to full power could take up to a week. Queues formed at cash machines as card payments were affected by the outage, and there were reports that some petrol stations are closed. Spanish media reported that some hospitals had implemented emergency plans, including halting routine work, news agencies reported. By early evening and after several hours of blackouts, residents in some parts of the country reported the lights are back on. Power was being restored “in several areas of the north, south and west of the [Iberian] peninsula”, the Spanish grid operator said. The authorities in Spain and Portugal are still trying to work out what caused the power cuts. “There are no indications of any cyberattack” at this point, the President of the European Council, Antonio Costa, said. As panic spread earlier in the day, residents of Madrid were warned to stay off the roads. In a video on social media, the mayor of the Spanish capital, José Luis Martínez-Almeida, told residents to “keep their movements to an absolute minimum and, if at all possible, to remain where they are. We want to keep all roads clear.” People should only call emergency services if it is “truly urgent”, he said. “If emergency calls go unanswered, go to the police and the fire stations in person, where they will try to deal with all the emergencies.” What has been the impact? The country’s nuclear power plants automatically stopped when the blackout hit, and the Spanish oil company Moeve said it halted operations at its oil refineries. Flights were also impacted, with delays and cancellations at some airports. EasyJet said it was experiencing some disruption to operations at Lisbon and Madrid. It said the situation was “fluid” and told customers to check local advice. Aviation data company Cirium said 96 flights departing from Portugal – and 45 from Spain – had been cancelled. Businesses have been severely affected. Some Ikea branches in Spain switched to backup generators and stopped customers from entering its stores. The Madrid Open Tennis organisers have decided to cancel Monday’s event. Elsewhere, Andorra and parts of France were also hit, but the Balearic and Canary Islands were not affected.

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