APA – Lagos (Nigeria)
The report that outrage over the rising insecurity in the country grew on Thursday as stakeholders demanded tough actions by the Nigerian Government against kidnappers is one of the trending stories in Nigerian newspapers on Friday.
The Punch reports that outrage over the rising insecurity in the country grew on Thursday as stakeholders demanded tough actions by the Federal Government against kidnappers.
Those who advised the Federal Government on the kidnapping epidemic included the Supreme Council for Sharia, South-South governors, residents of affected communities, and the National Association of Nigeria Students.
Abductions, which were previously restricted to the North-West, have in recent times spread to other parts of the country including Lagos, Ogun and Delta states as well as the Federal Capital Territory.
The crisis came to a head last week when bandits took their battles to the Federal Capital Territory of Abuja when they kidnapped 23 people in the Bwari area of the Nigerian capital city.
The newspaper says that foreign airlines repatriated N795.48bn from Nigeria in six months, quoting data from the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Data from the apex bank’s Balance of Payment compilation revealed that airlines withdrew (as debits) $1.76bn (converted to naira at N451/$) in the first and second quarters of 2023. Total credit to the Balance of Payment account from airline travel was $19.39m (N8.75bn).
The amount on the debit side of the balance of payments includes how much was spent on tickets by passengers (N779.61bn), cargo ($10.22bn), and others (N5.65bn).
According to an explanatory note on the apex bank’s website titled, Note D, Balance of Payments is “defined as a systematic record of economic and financial transactions for a given period between residents of an economy and non-residents.”
The National Bureau of Statistics would in a document titled ‘International Trade and Balance of Payments Statistics’ added, “In other words, it is a record of all the receipts and payments in respect of merchandise trade, invisible (service) trade, transfer payments, short-term and long-term capital movements and movement of international reserves between the reporting country and other countries.”
Despite this, foreign airlines have complained consistently about their inability to repatriate all their funds. As of November 2023, these airlines disclosed that about 90 per cent of their $783m trapped funds have not been paid.
The Chairman of the Association of Foreign Airlines and Representatives, Mr Kingsley Nweokoma, stated this during a stakeholders’ forum with the Minister of Aviation and Aerospace Development, Festus Keyamo.
The Guardian reports that the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare has declared its readiness to work with Re-Orientation Advocacy of Nigeria (RAN) and other stakeholders to strengthen prevention programmes on drug abuse and treatment.
The ministry said the partnership would specifically target people with drug use disorders.
The Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Mohammed Ali Pate, made this known at a partnership meeting with RAN, on Thursday in Abuja.
Pate, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Ms. Kachollom Daju, expressed the readiness of the Ministry to play a major role in addressing the issue of drug abuse.
This, the minister said, would be targeted among the youth, women and adolescents in the country, in line with the Renewed Hope Agenda of the President Bola Tinubu’s administration.
He said concerns had been raised from many quarters about the rise in drug and substance abuse among youth and women in the northern and southern parts of Nigeria.
He said that RAN’s involvement on the issue was timely and sacrosanct.
Pate, who commended the efforts of relevant government and non-governmental organisations working on addressing the issues, maintained that all hands must be on deck to bring the situation under control.
The newspaper says that the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria (SCSN), on Thursday, met with President Bola Tinubu, commending his economic policies and advocating for the deployment of all resources to combat threats to national security.
Speaking to newsmen at the State House after the meeting, the Vice President of the Council, Bashir Aliyu Umar, said besides coming to show solidarity, they also used the opportunity to appeal to President Tinubu to expedite actions to cushion the effect of the hard economic decisions.
According to Umar, the group paid the courtesy call to show solidarity with the President, commending him on the decisions he has been taking on behalf of the country.
“We are here today on courtesy call to the President and to show our solidarity and commendation for the hard decisions he is taking for the country.
“And also to request that he expedite action to cushion the effect of the hard economic decisions that were taken and also to request that he brings out everything that is in the arsenal to face the problem of Insecurity and to also achieve food security,” he said.
Umar disclosed that the Supreme Council for Sharia also submitted the communiqué of its just concluded conference, which post mortem the 2023 elections to the President.
He added that the Council reviewed the nation’s last general election to create a consensus and proffer way forward to perceived contending issues in the last elections.
GIK/APA
Nigerian press spotlights growing public outrage as kidnapping epidemic worsens, others

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