 Bandit's attack Nigerian Defence Academy killed two officers and abducted another from residential area. We hear they are now asking for ransom. A military veteran is joining us this morning to discuss how this could have happened. The People's Democratic Party gets new chairman in the person of Yemi Akinwumi, the South National Deputy Chairman. The question is, is this the end to the party's leadership crisis? And also, coming up is Off the Press, our top trending stories and a look back at events in history. Glad to have you join us on the breakfast this morning on Plus TV Africa. I am Osao Ghie, Ogboa. And I am Annette Felix, and good morning to you. And thank you for joining us at our gig. Fantastic, beautiful day today. Both wearing red as well? Yes, both wearing red as always. It somehow just always happens, except yesterday, though. It was a little different yesterday. All right. So our top trending stories this morning, beginning with both stories in Lagos. First of all, is that the news we're getting about the COVID-19 situation is very, just very sad, right? And particularly about this one, we heard right from the horse's mouth, the Lagos State Governor, Governor Babajudisar, who gave COVID-19 updates, saying that over a thousand international passengers, people who had come into Nigeria, had absconded from the COVID-19 isolation centres across the states. He says they're coming from red alert states, including, he mentioned Brazil, he mentioned India. He said they were also coming from South Africa, they were coming from Turkey. These countries, we know that they've had some of the highest COVID-19 figures globally. So basically they were supposed to self-isolate after doing the COVID-19 test and all of that, but he says that they have absconded. So lots of questions really for me. How did they find their way out? You know, lots of people would chip in, you know, this idea to say, there's a corruption thing in Nigeria where it's possible that you go ahead and settle the guards, pay them some amount of money, allow them to, you know, let you go. Others say it's possible that the state of the facilities, you know, just below standard, these people are coming from, you know, developed countries where they have been exposed to, you know, high standards of living and maybe the COVID-19 isolation centres was just somewhere they couldn't stay in, just different speculation regarding why these people may have fled and what would have, you know, assisted that abscondment. But really the fact is that over a thousand returning passengers, and specifically 1,073 inbound passengers out of 88,000 who returned to Lagos have fled isolation centres in Lagos state. He also put out a warning that those who have fled those isolation centres are putting other Nigerians at risk because, like I mentioned, you're coming from high-risk states or high-risk countries. So even if you never exhibited any symptoms of COVID-19, we know it's asymptomatic, you could be a carry of the virus, you could be going around greeting your family and friends who've come around to say hello to you and to tell you, you know, welcome, you know, and just celebrate your return, but you're putting them at risk because you did not properly isolate in the country. Well, first of all, when the way it's described, you know, first start with saying that it's not, the isolation centres are not, like, heavily guarded, you know, prison yards where you put people in and expect that, you know, if you try to escape, you'll be shot. It's not, you know, that kind of situation here is not any of the Nigerian correctional facilities look alike. So when they say that they escaped, you know, they probably just, you know, found a way to sneak out and you don't never, you know, came back. So that's one. And then also, it's, I think it's also important to know exactly what the format is or what the mode of operation is with regards to passengers, incoming passengers and, you know, they need to isolate. Is it still entirely necessary that they present a COVID-19 test result from the countries that they're returning from? Because I know that a lot of people complain about how expensive it is to travel because of the number of tests that you need to do. Bear in mind that when you do a test here in Nigeria, it costs about $50,000 an hour, you know, somewhere around that. So those are some of the questions that I feel that need to be asked. You know, did they come in with a COVID-19 test result showing, you know, that they are negative? And after they get into the country, they, I believe, are still made to do a test when arriving. And so do those tests show that they are positive? Are these people who have been, who have tested positive that the governor is saying have escaped, or these are people who are simply just made, or, you know, the rules just say that they should isolate themselves in those isolation centers for 14 days before they are allowed to leave, regardless of whether they test positive or not. Those are the things that are a little confusing because if you've done a test when arriving and you seem to be negative, a COVID negative, then what are you isolating for? What are you staying in that place for 14 days for? But if you have done a test and you have shown to be positive, then obviously you definitely should, you know, be isolated. And yes, I agree with him, you know, if any of these people have tested positive or, you know, asymptomatic, then they are putting, you know, the larger, you know, population at risk because they're going to be moving around Lagos without showing any symptoms. But in fact, in other people, I heard of a case of someone who died, you know, but he, unfortunately, was the only one who died. All of his family was positive and that was because they had gone for a wedding. In that wedding, one person was positive and, you know, basically didn't show any symptoms, spread it to, you know, to every other person and they eventually lost a father. So I think it's just important to know if these people have tested after arriving in the country because you are meant to pay for a test and you actually carry out a test. So did they test positive and is it these people have tested positive who have now as absconded? Or it is simply a protocol that once you get into the country regardless of whether you have tested positive or not, you must isolate and stay there for 14 days. And yes, I would, you know, have to agree with, not necessarily agree, but you understand when people say that well, those isolation centers aren't necessarily the most comfortable places, you know, on earth. And so it's not very, very, you know, interesting to tell a person to stay here for 14 days. Does Lagos really even have enough isolation centers to take as many passengers that come in every day and force them to isolate for 14 days? In other countries, I believe that, you know, you may, you know, just be given, you know, after being tested, be asked to, you know, isolate for a couple of days. We may have to change some of all those rules and just tell people to be more careful after testing negative and all of that. So if there's some clarity on whether they have tested after arriving, then it might be easier to understand the severity of this. Indeed, yes. We need all that details, all that clarification regarding if they tested negative or positive. But then Lagos would insist that this is a mandatory isolation. So they didn't really make any distinction regarding your COVID status. But moving on now, something we see quite often in Nigeria is, you know, law enforcement agencies, the police, LASMA, climbing onto people's cars to prevent them from driving off, you know, and then to stop them and, you know, maybe ask any questions they want to ask, check your particulars and all of that. We've seen pictures like that surface on the internet. But one particular one that has gone viral now is a video of a LASMA officer holding onto a truck, you know, just by the passenger's door, holding onto that truck. That's the much we know. So if, if maybe we had seen or the person recording has started from when this whole incident occurred, we might have more clarity regarding what's going on there. But what we know definitely or what we can infer is that it's possible that the man had tried to, you know, maybe ask questions, maybe, you know, just maybe ask questions. And that man wasn't having it. The LASMA official climbs onto the truck and the guy just speeds off. And what we see there is him holding on for dear life, hanging onto that truck. And the truck just keeps moving and it slows down at a particular point. We see him step on the brakes there. And then in the next few seconds, we see the LASMA official just fall to the ground, just landing with his back. And I can imagine how hurtful that would be. But really, like I mentioned, it's something we've seen a lot in the country. We've seen lots of pictures, videos of police officers hanging onto cars. So lots of questions that I have. First of all, is this even legal? Is this legal for a LASMA official to go ahead and do this? Is this legal for a LASMA official to do that? Is this part of your job description? Because when I read through the duties and responsibilities of the LASMA official, I see that they're basically there to ensure no smooth flow of traffic. They're not even there to check your particulars. LASMA official, it's beyond the authority. It's beyond your jurisdiction to go ahead and check your particulars, ask for your permit. That's not their job. But I think it's also important that we know what started this. Exactly what I said. We do not know what built up to that. But what I'm saying is, is it even worth him risking his life all the way? I mean, something could have happened. That could have been worse. He could have lost his life. Something drastic could have happened. So was whatever, you know, that spread that action worth it for you to risk your life so? So I think it's both parties are wrong, the LASMA official and the driver of that truck. But these things really just show that we're still having very, very crude means of enforcing traffic laws in Nigeria. You would expect that in 2021, there's certain things that shouldn't be necessary anymore. You simply would get the person's plate number and track them or find them wherever they are or send their fines to them. And they know that they are all in the state so-and-so amount for breaking the traffic law, whatever that law was. But we still don't have any of those things going on. And that's why you see people, you know, a LASMA official jumping on a vehicle. And it's also because a lot of times people have seen that LASMA officials, you know, will somehow, some way. So even when I was going home a couple of days ago, I saw someone beat the traffic light. LASMA, you know, blocked the admiralty gate, the gate into lekkie phase one. They immediately sprung up and the guy stopped and started to, you know, reverse back into traffic. It was very, very dangerous. And on lawful also. But, you know, it's Nigerian. This is some of the things that Nigerians will do because, well, you know, there's not enough of these laws to checkmate some of these things. We simply should do better with regards to our traffic laws and the ways that we apprehend or, you know, find people so that, you know, they stop putting their lives at risk like this. I don't think it's worth it if he had died, you know, or he had injured himself in that fall. Obviously, LASMA doesn't have enough money to go through, you know, the full medical treatment or therapy that he will need. And so it's really not worth it. But it once again shows that we still have very, very, very backward ways of enforcing traffic, you know, laws and regulations across Nigeria. And that also includes the FRSC. So true. It doesn't need to get to this level. You simply need, all you need to do is get the plate number of the vehicle and find them. There's no proper documentation for some of all these things. A lot of these vehicles aren't registered and people also feel very, you know, a lot of times vindicated by, or, you know, aggrieved by these LASMA officials including, you know, the, what are the other ones that wear white and black called, can't remember their names now. There is a lot of those people that Nigerians and Ligoshans feel very, very, you know, upset with because of how sometimes very bitter they are. If you have committed a traffic offence, you should pay a fine. 10,000, 15,000, 20,000. A couple of months ago, the Ligosta government put out new laws that people need to adhere to and, you know, the fines that were, you know, attached to them. But we need to find better ways of finding people who have committed these offences, breaking traffic laws, over speeding, whatever it is. And, you know, and that's it. So I think one of the first things is how many Nigerians actually went to driving school? How many Nigerians actually know these traffic laws? Because we know how people learn how to drive in Nigeria. It's informal. Your friend teaches you, your dad teaches you, your uncle teaches you. If you're not, if you don't go through the proper way, see, I have friends who share their experiences with me about how they get their driver's license abroad. It's a rigorous process. You go through rigorous checks. You have to know the laws. You have to know the signs. You have to know how to obey them. You have to know how to respond to them. But it doesn't happen like that in Nigeria. You have people who can arrange your driver's license in 24 hours just for you to have the money to pay. So you don't even need to know how to drive. You don't need to know how, you don't need to have an understanding of the traffic laws. It's just, everything just happens as, as, as you have the money for it, you know? So that's the first thing. People need to have your orientation regarding traffic laws because people could be breaking a traffic law unintentionally and unknowingly. Traffic laws is really no excuse anyway. That's why I say the first thing is for people to be able to understand that you need to learn these traffic laws, go to a proper driving school and learn how to drive because that's how people put others at risk and others in danger, road accidents and things like that. So that's the first thing. Second of all, when these traffic laws went, like for example, the new ones you talked about, how many people know about them? How much publicity do they get? You know, to put them in the faces of the people who should be obeying them. Also, you have the situation where a traffic official would wait for you to fall into the trap rather than correct you and say, no, this is a one-way street. You can't go that way. They would not correct you. They would not do the duty. They would wait for you to fall into that trap and then they send their colleagues to block you in front and extort you. So there's the issue of extortion. So because of that issue of extortion, that's why you have situations where you see that these traffic enforcers, they do not do their job because they want you to break the law of extortion. There's a couple of places on the island here that are one-way or have suddenly become one-way streets or roads that there's no sign showing but there's people who are patiently waiting in every corner, waiting for you to get on that road so that they can of course extort you, like you said. Yes, I understand that ignorance is no excuse but there's many places, there's one of them that I know that's just after the road that there is no sign to say that this is actually a one-way street but they don't tell you that. So they wait for you patiently set that trap and wait for a car to drive in and then they of course, you know, block your vehicle and ask that you pay $50,000 or something. Eventually you negotiate and maybe pay $10,000 or $15,000 and that's it. But once again the processes through which we enforce traffic laws need to be changed or need to be worked on. We cannot continue to live in these times where you need to jump on a person's vehicle to enforce, to ask them to stop. It doesn't make any sense. There's also not enough of these vehicles to even chase a traffic offender if necessary but even if you don't need to chase get his plate number, you know his address, you know where he's registered, you know everything about every single vehicle. The so-called cameras that are meant to even capture those things, they don't even work. So that's why we see these things. I just hope that that last more official is safe. I think we should also chip in on the NDA incident. It's going to be one of our major topics this morning on the show but it was a really, really sad incident yesterday seeing reports of bandits attacking what they called bandits, attacking the Nigerian Defence Academy in Cardinal State and hearing that two officers lost their lives reports that I've seen in the last few hours showed that even the person that was kidnapped, this is not 100% verified but it says that the person that was kidnapped, that they're asking for $200 million and may have also died. It's very, very, very, very sad and I think one of the parts that is even more shocking I think is insulting and it's a slap on the face and you are almost speaking in the face of those who lost their lives yesterday by putting out a statement saying that the CCTV camera the guy who was meant to be watching the CCTV slept off. I've seen people say they don't know which is worse if it's the attack or it's that report or that story put out by the Army to say that somebody slept off and that's what happened. I don't know in any world so there's so much that I wish there was that we would be able to say about this but it's really just still pain and frustration seeing where we are currently with regard to security that bandits are now even bold enough it's not the first time it's happened to attack Army formations, to attack the Nigerian Defense Academy they are bold enough on that level so it's not just students now it's not people in universities, not primary school pupils who are being kidnapped or being attacked even the Nigerian Army itself is being attacked in broad daylight it's really, really, really sad and so CCTV you should never put out a statement that's not the first place that's not the answer to security if you put CCTV in every school it's not going to stop anybody from attacking it really just shows the capabilities of the Nigerian Army on that level and also tells you that there is no actual or no good enough intelligence with regards to the Nigerian Army to know when they are going to be attacked it's not CCTV that is the problem here it is the fact that we now have bandits bold enough to attack the Nigerian Army so this is one of the most daring news I've heard, one of the most outrageous news I've heard in recent time I've heard of students being kidnapped it's sort of become like a norm here sadly but this one about the terrorists taking it to the security officials the Nigerian Defense Academy is as daring as it can get but I want to say I'm exactly surprised because last week we shared a news on the Daily Trust newspapers that bandits, this is something I discussed with Mr Agouli, I said bandits are talking to other bandits telling them to begin to attack government officials military men and attack government installations, attack military infrastructure and that they should leave the kids alone, I asked Mr Agouli that question and he says maybe if this happens possibly they would sit up, we never knew that just a few days time they would actually follow through on their word and that's what we've seen today I don't wish for anyone to be attacked, I don't wish for anybody regardless of who they are to be attacked by bandits or to suffer from the security situation we are dealing with in the country but it still really just paints the very very very very clear picture of the truth with regards to where we are with security and the Ministry of Information or somebody other present is going to come out and say we've done exceptionally well with regard to security but these things paint a totally different picture I was also commenting yesterday saying that when the Nigerian soldiers are attacked or killed in different parts of the country you immediately see the army flooding that community with soldiers and anybody who they find in that time will suffer you know, barely, remember what happened in Benuist not long ago, it's happened in the former President of Odechigoba in that community that lost, that's Timayah sang about Odee, it happened in a couple of other places and the person was saying, why don't we have the Nigerian army do the same thing to these bandits, why aren't we having the same reaction when a soldier is killed the same people have shot down military aircraft twice this year already the same people have attacked schools, these same people have kidnapped hundreds, maybe even thousands of Nigerians these same people are all getting amnesty from the same people who are attacking the NDA, it will be sickening in a few weeks to hear that oh, there's amnesty or they're being forgiven or they're so rendering and some of all of that it just really is heartbreaking, someone also did a Google map now, the Google map the distance between the Nigerian Defense Academy and the Nigerian Air Force Base in Kaduna, it's a 16 minute drive so you mean to say that during this attack, there was no response there was nobody that was able to send any distrust or anything that NDA is actually close to the Federal College of First Room Mechanization, AFACA that bandits also invaded and kidnapped students so the NDA could not respond as far as we know so now when I was saying oh, the NDA could not save the children now the Air Force could not help the military attack the Air Force, who would we blame for not helping the Air Force so it's a mess to be honest but I guess we can take a break here and see what the papers are saying, we'll be right back