By Bonaventure Melah

President Bola Tinubu has approved the reappointment of Prof. Abdullahi Mustapha as the Director General, National Biotechnology Research and Development Agency (NBRDA), for a second tenure of five years.

This is contained in a press statement issued by Toyin Omozuwa, Press Secretary to the NBRDA D-G in Abuja on Saturday.

According to the statement, Mustapha’s reappointment was conveyed in a letter signed by the Secretary to the Government (SGF), Sen. George Akume.

“Mustapha’s second tenure is with effect from 31st October, 2024 and is in line with the provisions of Section 10 (1) and (3) of the National Biotechnology Development Agency (Establishment) Act, 2022,” it said.

Omozuwa said that Industry experts consider the reappointment as an expression of President Tinubu’s confidence in Mustapha’s ability to drive innovation towards attaining food security

According to him, the reappointment would enable the DG to complete his work in enhancing pharmaceutical production, as well as positioning Nigeria at the forefront of the Fourth Industrial Revolution.

Mustapha is a Professor of Bioinorganic Chemistry and hails from Dambatta Local Government Area of Kano State.

The Catholic Diocese of Auchi in Edo State yesterday, announced the release of Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode from the hands of his abductors.

The Director of Communications of the Diocese, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa, in a statement, said Rev. Fr. Oyode was released at about 7.00p.m on Wednesday, 6th of November, 2024 at a village close to Ajaokuta, Kogi State.

Fr. Thomas Oyode was kidnapped on the 27th October 2024 when gunmen attacked the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary, Ivhianokpodi-Agenebode, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State, while the Priests and Seminarians were observing their evening prayers and Benediction.

“The Bishop of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Most Rev. Dr. Gabriel Dunia, expresses gratitude to all for the prayers and moral support received for the 11 days Fr. Thomas Oyode was held captive, including Catholic Faithful within and outside the Diocese, well-meaning Nigerians within and outside the country, friends and well wishers around the world, as well as security agencies, various vigilance groups and hunters who laboured day and night in search of Fr. Thomas Oyode.

“The Bishop also uses this opportunity to call on government at all levels to work to arrest the deteriorating security situation around the Edo North Senatorial District and Edo State and take pro-active steps to put in place measures that will guarantee that people return to their normal peaceful lives in their homes, in their farms and while on transit,” the statement said.

The the Special Independent Investigative Panel on Human Rights Violations in Counter-Insurgency in the North East, on Friday, submitted its final report to the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC.

The panel was inaugurated in February 2023 by the NHRC following report by Reuters reports which named several incidences of abuses on citizens allegedly committed by officers and men of the Nigerian military.

Reuters had alleged that the military committed abuses like forced abortions on women, saying victims were as many as 10,000. Other abuses include torture, rape, extra-judicial killings, abductions and illegal detention, among others.

In the report, the panel said most of the allegations allegations levelled against the military were false, including forced systemic abortions administered on women in the affected areas.

It indicted Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF of conducting illegal abortions on women in the North East, adding that Reuters ignored such infractions by MSF and some other non-governmental organisations.

The panel said it was unbelievable that the International Committee of the Red Cross, an organisation that oversees issues of human rights could refuse to appear to testify and provide relevant information to unravel the truth on such grave allegations.

It however that the military committed infanticide, the killing of infants in Barte community of Borno State.

The panel said some non-governmental organisations committed a lot of infractions in the North East whole disguising as community based organisations and pointed directly Doctors Without Borders, also known as Medecins Sans Frontieres, MSF for operating clinics where illegal abortions were administered on women.

In his opening remark, the chairman of the 7-man panel, Justice Abdu Aboki (rtd) thanked the Commission for setting up the panel aimed at getting the truth or otherwise of the allegations contained in the Reuters report.

He noted that the panel worked without any form of interference from the NHRC or any other government agency in the country

Giving details, Hillary Ogbonna, Secretary of the panel, said the report is in three volumes made up of main reports, summary of report and graphics.

He said the panel sat for 12 weeks spread across 12 months, with 199 witnesses making appearance before the panel, made up of military generals, officers and men of the military, medical personnel, local government and state officials and members of the public.

According to him, the panel sat in four different locations which are Maiduguri in Borno State, Damaturu, Adamawa and Abuja.

Speaking after receiving the report, the Executive Secretary of the Nation’s Human Rights Commission, Dr.  Tony Ojukwu, SAN, thanked the panel for the efforts put in the investigation which he said started in 2023.

He said the panel was set up in accordance with Sec. 5 and 6 of the NHRC Act 2010, as amended, as a response to the grave allegations contained in the Reuters report.

Ojukwu said the reports calls for clarity action as well as highlights the urgent need for transparency in security operations in the country as well as the need to protect citizens from impunity.

Ojukwu thanked partners and stakeholders including UNICEF and other UN bodies in Nigeria, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister for Justice, the Attorney Generals of Borno and Yobe States, the UN High Commission on Refugees, Norwegian Embassy, Canadian Embassy, Nigerian Air Force, US Embassy, Nigerian Defence Headquarters, management and staff of NHRC and the media for their contributions and sacrifices during the period of the panel’s work.

Details later…..