 The debate over a collection of value-added tags continues in Nigeria. What happens if rivers and Lagos states have their way? Who will lose and who will gain? We'll be getting answers on the breakfast this morning. Also coming up is a discussion about 5G technology. How much can we achieve with it? And is it harmful like some people claim it is? Find out later on the show. And also no more amnesty for bandits. And that's according to the Zamfara State Governor Billo Matawale. With that, we say good morning and welcome to another week here on Plus TV Africa. Thanks for joining us on the breakfast. I am Kusaw Yeh, a mom. And I am Annette Felix saying good morning to you. And thank you for joining us on the start of a beautiful week. How are you? I actually feel very good. I had a fantastic weekend. I enjoyed every bit of myself. And I am thankful to be alive. I can say the same. I walked all through the weekend. Except yesterday. The shift that I ran on Saturday feels like I won the weekend. So back to work again on Monday morning. We were on the same shift, right? Say that again. Yeah, so we're on the same shift, right? Absolutely. Fantastic. Anyway, let's get down to our major stories of today. One that seems like a comedy show. It makes me really laugh. And the other two that just reminds us of where we are regarding our security challenge. The first story. Zamfra State Governor Bill Matawale went on to announce that he would no longer grant amnesty to bandits. He said this when it was addressed to the congregation in the state. I'm saying that he's gotten intelligence that these bandits want to repent, but that they had turned down the olive branch before and that he has changed his mind. He's not going to, you know, reach out to it peace anymore and that the security agencies in the state would, you know, reach out to them with fire, you know, firepower, and, you know, use all their military might to flush them out. You know, so this is really what he's saying here. Zamfra State Governor Bill Matawale. And I don't know really how this comes across. I have questions regarding if this is a little too late because that's by the fact that we've had people like Sheikh Ahmed Gumi who has come out to say that the bandits feel left out. The bandits feel like, you know, the government has failed them and that's why they're now doing their own form of protest or strike. We're going ahead to kidnap people and cause chaos in the country regarding security and saying that, you know, the government should reintegrate them, forgive them. But lots of security experts that we've seen have condemned this saying this will only create a spiral of crime. People see that criminality seems to be rewarded and they will definitely continue crime and criminality. But it seems now that Zamfra State Governor Bill Matawale is leading towards, you know, the angle that this really isn't going anywhere. There's quite a departure from his earlier statements saying that we should either choose an ending war with bandits or we should choose to reintegrate them. I mean, that really made headlines when he made that statement that, you know, we had this choice. He said he was in a dilemma right here and you either war or you negotiate and that he wasn't going to choose war endlessly or he was going to negotiate. But now he's saying something different. Now he's saying something different, saying that he was actually going to go ahead and fight them to the last. Really, is this a little too late? Oh, well, two things I'll start with. You know, the first one is for Sheikh Gumi. You know, I don't think anybody has ever had any bandit say those things that Sheikh Gumi is pointing out that there's a reason for their atrocities against the Nigerian state. So I'm not sure why he's doing free publicity for them or speaking on their behalf to the best of my knowledge and everybody's knowledge. Sheikh Gumi is not a bandit or is not a part of, you know, that group of terrorists. So I really don't know why, you know, that expansion is coming from no one has ever interviewed any bandit and they said, oh, this is the reason they're, you know, committing these atrocities against the Nigerian state. That's one. And for the Zamfara state governor, I'm really not even sure who told him it was up to him to grant amnesty to anybody or to take, you know, the decision with regards how it will be handled. It's really not up to him. You know, a lot of times these governors have argued that they are not in control of the security agencies in their state. So who is it going to be sending to carry out attacks on the bandits in the first place? It's not up to him. No one needs his opinion in any way whether we'll grant amnesty to bandits or not. And it's sad that we're even having a conversation concerning granting amnesty to bandits, you know, and all of this madness started when, you know, the bandits and these terrorists were giving, you know, some soft landing and then people took it upon themselves to start carrying out free PR for terrorists and, you know, whitewashing them, you know, and giving excuses on their behalf as to why they have committed these very, very grave atrocities against the Nigerian state and, you know, and continue to, you know, give them that soft landing, then equating them to Niger Delta, you know, Avengers and the men and the rest of them, which was very, very unfair, you know, in my opinion. So that's when all of this conversation started about maybe there will be amnesty or not. Nobody asked, you know, any of these questions. I've always said it that the Nigerian state itself, you know, and first of all, all these conversations and all these talk about amnesty and what not. It's a huge insult to millions of lives that have been affected, both those who have been killed and those who have been, you know, banished to IDP camps over the years. It's a huge insult to those lives that have been affected by the actions of these ones. So whoever it is that decides to be doing publicity on their behalf, you know, basically is very, you know, I would say very, very inhumane and very out of touch with the amount of damage that these people have caused, you know, in one way or the other. I've always said it, you know, that we need to understand what the Nigerian government stance is with regards to terrorism. There's no double standards with terrorism, you know, and there has to be a stance that the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people will take concerning terrorism, you know, naming, giving them different names on known gunmen, kidnappers, bandits, whoever you do, whatever you decide to call them, it's all terror and they are all terrorists. And so the Nigerian government needs to take a stand against terrorists, setting up different programs every day to either, you know, bring them back into society or, you know, give them new clothes or give them noodles and all of that is not going to be the answer to some of these challenges. The Nigerian government needs to take a stand and it's not up to any governor in the country. It's not up to any governor, wherever, to give anybody self-landing. These are crimes against the Nigerian state and there's no double standards. If you have killed, then there is, you know, a place in constitution and criminal justice act that sets aside, you know, punishment for things like that. If you have stolen, if you have, if you have russoed, if you have, you know, chased people who are living in villages, like the Nigerian army base and killed soldiers, which, apparently in the news, I think I saw yesterday, happened yesterday. There is very, very clear punishment for some of all these things and, you know, we cannot be saying this for these people and then totally different schools for other people. I don't know where the conversation on amnesty is coming from and it's really not up to governor matawale, you know, to grant anybody amnesty or consider whether it's going to give them amnesty or not. Definitely, definitely. So, you know, the rule of law should apply to everyone, regardless of who they are in society. And I believe that this issue with terrorism has just dragged on for too long because I want to believe that Nigeria, you know, our military have the capacity to flush out these bandits. I mean, we hear the president give statements almost every week asking, you know, those in charge of security in the country to go ahead and flush out this and deal with them decisively. You know, I can almost read what the templates of, you know, these press releases by the Nigerian army and the Nigerian police is because we see them every day, you know, they're awarded the same, you know, they have promised to, you know, decisively deal with these bandits a short residence to go about their lawful activities. Well, how can people go about their lawful activities where, you know, there is no guarantee that it will come back home alive? What's the guarantee that someone who's traveling, one state to another just to conduct business would not be kidnapped and held for ransom and maybe even killed after ransom is paid? So all these uncertainties regarding our security is very worrisome. Like I said, I want to believe that Nigeria should have a level of hold on what security should look like in this country. I mean, I have friends who plan to come into the country, they call me and say, oh, is the country safe? What is the situation like? Can I come in now? Is it safe to come in now? What part of Nigeria can't I go to? And I say, oh, major cities like Lagos. I mean, if people have to rely on such information, if we'll have other countries issuing press releases, wanting their residents not to travel here, if we seek travel advice, we're saying do not come into Nigeria because of so-and-so. How then can we begin to talk about things like investments and stuff like that in the country? The government needs to do something and do it fast. And our next stop-training story this morning is a shocker, right? A representative of a forensic company it calls itself the Sentinel Forensic Limited have shown that bullets fired on the night of October 20th, 2020 at the Lakitu Gate match that of the Nigerian Army. And this comes as a surprise to many people because we've heard several statements from the Nigerian Army regarding what happened on the night of that day. We've first heard statements from them denying that they were ever present there. Then we had statements saying that the only one there to enforce the curfew and we heard statements there saying that they didn't shoot at the protesters, they only fired into the air. And then they said, what they fired into the air were just blanks. Even from the side of the Lagos state government, we continue to hear contradictory information regarding was there any loss of life? How many loss of life did we record? Some said one, some said three. But people who testified at the judicial panel of inquiry went on to say that they received as much as 90 dead bodies from the Lakitu Gate site on the 20th of October, 2020. So it's been a lot of information here and there. But this information we're getting from this forensic company the Sentinel Forensic Company Limited really just puts everything we know about this leaky protest in doubt. It says that the blanks that were fired on the nights of the Lakitu Gate massacre as it's been called did not match any of the Nigerian army's records that it had. And my God we're doing it to get to the bottom of this don't you agree? I don't have to call them blanks but the first I'm sure a lot of people who saw this story would first of all be thinking to themselves the panel is still sitting. A lot of Nigerians also didn't have much fate in the panel and what it will be able to achieve. Justice for whichever victims and the victims of the 20th of October 2020 we have a lot of people didn't believe that there was going to be anything tangible that will come out of that because of the very information and testimonies and the lack of truth and clarity it first of all wasn't necessarily up to the Sentinel group to carry out that the government should have its own forensic investigation and forensic team but private security firms can also carry out forensic investigation either by themselves I believe or by the government but some things that I would point out the Sentinel group also released another statement the spelling, the news reports and the way that it was stated the way that it was put out it was stated that the Nigerian army bullets and some of the cases that were found there definitely belong to the Nigerian army and the reasons for those dead bodies that were found there or that to happen that night so they put out the counter statement saying that their findings and their testimony didn't necessarily indict anybody and didn't necessarily say that the Nigerian army killed anybody that everybody is sent until proven guilty that they were only just sharing the fact that those cases that they found there were actually belonging to the Nigerian army did you expect anything else? No I'm just saying they had to put out a counter statement because of the way that the story was shared we saw a similar story when a doctor from I think the Reddington hospital went on to testify about the number of bodies he saw and then we saw a counter statement from the hospital denying such just to clarify I don't want to leave that part of the conversation out so they put out a counter statement saying that nobody is guilty they have not indicted anybody they were only sharing their findings from their own forensic reports and that the Nigerian army is not guilty nobody is guilty, nobody has been indicted at all but one thing that I would point out is the fact that they carried out these forensic investigation 87 days after the incident I'm not sure what they expected to find after 87 days there was traffic and there was movement across that place one day or two days after that incident happened it was already a very very damaged crime scene I believe and nobody including Fashola investigative Fashola I don't know what to call him now Agent Fash including Agent Fash would have been able to find any evidence there one or two weeks or three weeks later not 87 days later so I'm not sure what the Sentinel group was really looking to find 87 days after but maybe that's the time that they had and if you look at all the clients reports that come out years later and still be able to prove someone guilty but I would just with respect to those who lost their lives on that day and all through the period of the ensar's protest because of course I want to believe that it's our duty as press and as Nigeria that somehow some way justice will be found or served for those lives that were lost and so out of respect to those people too far let the panel continue with its findings and with its research and whatever is necessary and hopefully somebody will be indicted somebody will be made to answer questions it's just sad that we live in a country where a lot of times these things happen nobody really gets to answer these things if you remember in 2015 I always mentioned this there was a bombing in Iran in Borno State by the Nigerian Air Force that they owned up to and said oh that their pilot misfire and that led to the death of 150 people in Borno State when they fired into a gathering IDP camp or something to date I haven't seen or nobody has seen that anybody has been made to pay for those deaths or nobody has been fired nobody has been asked real questions with regards to what happened on that day but 159 Nigerians died on that day and we've moved on pretty much the same thing with the Shiites in Massaka in Zaria 347 people according to the Nigerian Government figures all the people there would say up to a thousand people that were killed on that day on those two days still nobody has been asked serious questions nobody has been found guilty nobody has been really really challenged with the rules of engagement of the Nigerian Army were there any army casualties because you can't kill 300 people and not get any casualties at all it means that the other side were armed that's what it simply means so looking at those experiences you know even OD you wouldn't really expect that anybody will be asked serious questions with regards the death and crimes on that scale but let's hope I will continue to encourage the panel to do what it can and put out the as close as possible truth with regards what happened on the 20th of October 2020 and our final top trending story we know that last week Monday September 6th we saw videos of a Boone State Governor Dave Umahi speaking to journalists after a meeting with President Mohammed Buhari where he went on to carry out what some would say seems like a prayer session for the country and for the presidency we have Dave Umahi on camera saying that he prays that Nigeria has a president that has a good heart like President Mohammed Buhari and that you know it was going to be for the good for the interests for the unity of Nigeria and that Nigeria needs a president with that anointing an anointed president he put out all those prayers let's actually take a closer listen we should have that clip I think we can play that clip he prays I said I said I said I said I said what has gone wrong I mean I mean he meant there shouldn't be a circuitry check on that governor he said circuit fancy and he knows the president know that you are telling lies I said I said he prays I said I said I said I said what has gone wrong I mean the governor they actually responding to Dave Umahi who called for prayers asking for an anointed president you heard him describe Umahi as a psycho fund and a liar you know saying that he also needs a psychiatric check yeah well so with Nigerian politics there is always big space for psycho fancy and it's not new it happens in every sphere of the Nigerian political space there's always space there's those who know that you are complete completely useless with regards state governorship or local government leadership or whatever level you would always have supporters that would blindly maybe because of their own personal interest or because they want you to see them and favor them somehow some way it is only not expected when you see coming from a person as high as a governor who's not able to speak truth but I would also say that regardless of how many Nigerians see the way that governments have be run under the current administration since 2015 regardless of how many people have been affected and lives that have been lost, businesses have been closed, those who have been affected by the social media banned, there's so many of these challenges there is also those who believe I don't know how they do it but there's those who believe that this is also one of the best you know governments that we've had in Nigeria, somehow some way from their own understanding and I don't want to rule out the space of that existing there might be one of those people that regardless of what you think believes that oh this is one of the best governments that we've had in Nigeria for a very very long time there's a lot of indices that might prove otherwise with regards to our security and with our economy and with corruption and health care and education and so many other things but there will always be those who believe that it is the very best I've spoken with a few people some time who believe that oh you know this is one of the great best, mostly because of how it affects them so there's those who might be affected because there's now trains between Lagos and Ibarra there's those who might be affected because some people are now buying their local rice there's those who might be affected and I mean positively now because of those tiny tiny things here and there but if you want to look at what governments truly is the bigger picture, you know what really it should be for a president what you expect from a person who made those promises in 2014 and built up to the elections you may rate it completely different and so I understand where Governor Wike is coming from countering Governor Omai's views and saying that you're very likely that person needs psychiatric evaluation because he completely doesn't agree and there's many people who also would be on the same side with Governor Wike it's just his politics it's the way that it happens Governor Omai is also one of those who in whispers here and there saying oh well there was whispers about him maybe aspiring to be president at some point and so they will play politics they will be psycho funds because of what they feel they can achieve in the next couple of years or in their own bigger picture which might be different from the bigger picture of another another person we would always expect that there would be leadership we would be able to speak truth to power that would be able to at least be honest with the people be able to put themselves or position themselves in a way that we can see honesty and see truth there's people in that boy who his wife may not even agree with him with what he's saying but that's where they are let's now take a listen to that clip where Dave Omahi was giving prayers for the presidents of the country Lord we also give to the next president who has good hearts like President Buhari for the good of this country we need God's own anointing our anointed president for the interest and unity of this country God will give us a president who has anointing who has a good heart like the president and it makes me really ask what really is the line between politics and religion for 2023 should we be expecting anointing or a presidential election not that we're going to be voting any pastors either I really want to understand where he's coming from he has what's the word now move to the APC we saw the same thing with Remitinubu who was trying to shut down another sitting senator and saying are you now moving ships and so you're with the APC you never publicly condemn the leader of the party and the president it's expected there's nothing new there the only decent thing that people would expect is okay well at least be honest at least be honest I'm not necessarily saying that you should go out there and say all sorts of rubbish about a person but at least be honest somehow or at least stay silent well at least at least stay silent so if you're not going to be totally honest then at least stay silent but once again there's people in Nigeria that still believe that this is the best presidency and this is the best thing that's happened to Nigeria and you can't take that away from that the president already said it absolutely because of how they've been affected personally by the government might be in the smallest way but there's always those people so that's it on our top trending stories this morning let's take a break and return with off the press stay with us