Foreign

Ministry of Defence Offers Military Support to Armed Met Officers

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The Ministry of Defence is offering soldiers to support armed police in London after dozens of Met officers stood down from firearms duties.

According to reports, more than 100 officers have turned in permits allowing them to carry weapons, there are more than 2,500 armed officers in the Met.

Police said the action was being taken after an officer was charged with the murder of unarmed Chris Kaba, 24.

Met chief Sir Mark Rowley welcomed a Home Office review into armed policing.

In an open letter to the home secretary, he said it was right his force was “held to the highest standards” – but the current system was undermining his officers and suggested they needed more legal protections.

A Met Police officer appeared in court on Thursday.

In a statement, the Met said some officers were “worried” about how the Crown Prosecution Service decision to bring a charge “impacts on them”.

The MoD said it received a request – known as Military Aid to the Civil Authorities MACA – from the Home Office to “provide routine counter-terrorism contingency support to the Metropolitan Police, should it be needed”.

A MACA is offered to the police or the NHS in emergency situations – the military helped medical staff in the Covid pandemic and covered for striking border staff and paramedics last year.

The Met said it was a “contingency option” that would only be used “in specific circumstances and where an appropriate policing response was not available”.

Military staff would not be used “in a routine policing capacity”, it added.

Last saturday, the Met said its own officers still make up the vast majority of armed police in the capital but they were being supported by a limited number of firearms officers from neighbouring forces.

According to London Assembly figures, in April there were 2,595 authorised firearm officers in the Met Police.

It is a figure which has steadily decreased every year since 2018 when there were 2,841 licenced to carry a gun.

Announcing the review, Home Secretary Suella Braverman said the public “depend on our brave firearms officers to protect us”.

“In the interest of public safety they have to make split-second decisions under extraordinary pressures.”

She said that officers have her “full backing”.

“I will do everything in my power to support them,” she added.

In his letter to the home secretary, the Met Police commissioner said that a system where officers are investigated for “safely pursuing suspects” should not have been allowed to develop.

Sir Mark said he would “make no comment” on any ongoing legal matters, but “the issues raised in this letter go back further”.

He said firearms officers are concerned that they will face years of legal proceedings, “even if they stick to the tactics and training they have been given”.

Previous reviews have not delivered change, he added.

“Officers need sufficient legal protection to enable them to do their job and keep the public safe, and the confidence that it will be applied consistently and without fear or favour,” he wrote.

But in instances where officers act improperly, Sir Mark said the system “needs to move swiftly” rather than “tying itself in knots pursuing good officers through multiple legal processes”.

Former Greater Manchester Police chief constable Sir Peter Fahy said any review would “not be wide enough”, adding he believed there are issues around morale and how police prevent organised crime.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

Politics

Gabon: CAN Offers Panacea for Checking Coup

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By Dayo Adu

The Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, has advised political office holders to rule with human face so as not to give the military the impetus to stage a coup.

The Oyo State Chairman of CAN, Apostle Joshua Akinyemiju, gave the advice while reacting to the Military take over of power in Gabon.

Apostle Akinyemiju explained that the military enjoy robust welfare and emoluments under the civilian administration compared to when they’re in power.

He noted that when the commonwealth of the citizens is embezzled by the politicians thereby creating hardship situations for the the people, call for Military intervention becomes the song on the lips of the masses and it could propel the armed forces to forcefully take over.

The CAN Chairman, enjoined the ECOWAS under the Leadership of President Bola Tinubu to train it’s members on the importance of delivering dividend of democracy in their respective countries so as to forestall the spate of coup detat ravaging the African continent

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Security

War Prospect as Tinubu Seeks Senate’s Support for Military ‘Action’ in Niger

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President Bola Tinubu has written to the Senate seeking its support for military intervention against the military junta in the Niger Republic.

He also sought the backing of the legislature on the cutting off of electricity to the country.

This comes on the heels of the toppling of Niger’s democratically elected president, Mohamed Bazoum, by his guards and the seven days ultimatum given to the junta by ECOWAS.

Tinubu, Nigeria’s president and the Chairman of the Economic Community of West African States, had on Sunday met with some fellow ECOWAS leaders to discuss appropriate ways to restore democracy in Niger.

The leaders of the West African regional bloc met to discuss sanctions to be placed against the military personnel who toppled Bazoum on July 26, 2023.

The President’s letter read, “Political situation in Niger. Following the unfortunate political situation in Niger Republic culminating in the overthrow of its President, ECOWAS under my leadership condemned the coup in its entirety and resolved to seek the return of the democratically elected govt in a bid to restore peace, ECOWAS convened a meeting and came out with a communique.”

The president further sought support for, “Military buildup and deployment of personnel for military intervention to enforce compliance of the military junta in Niger should they remain recalcitrant.

“Closure and monitoring of all land borders with the Niger Republic and reactivating of the border drilling exercise.

“Cutting off Electricity supply to the Niger Republic, mobilising international support for the implementation of the provisions of the ECOWAS communique.”

“Preventing the operation of commercial and special flights into and from Niger Republic; Blockade of goods in transit to Niger especially from Lagos and eastern seaports,” he added.

Tinubu also told the Senate that the country was embarking on sensitisation of Nigerians and Nigeriens on the imperative of these actions, particularly via social media.

Punch/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Foreign

US, Canada Military Shoot Down Unidentified Object

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Another unidentified object has been shot down over North American airspace, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau has confirmed.

He said the latest object “violated Canadian airspace” and was shot down over Yukon in north-west Canada.

Both Canadian and US aircraft were scrambled to track down the object which Mr Trudeau says was taken out by a US F-22 fighter jet.

It is the third object to be shot down over North America in the last week.

The American military destroyed a Chinese balloon last weekend, and on Friday an unspecified object the size of a small car was shot down off Alaska.

Mr Trudeau confirmed on Saturday he gave the order and had spoken with US President Joe Biden.

“Canadian forces will now recover and analyse the wreckage of the object,” he wrote on Twitter.

The latest unspecified object was flying over central Yukon at about 40,000 ft (12,000m) and intercepted at about 15:41 local time on Saturday, defence minister Anita Anand told reporters.

She described it as “small” and “cylindrical”, but that recovery efforts are still being carried out to discover more details.

Ms Anand said it was taken out “about 100 miles” from the US border, adding it posed a “reasonable threat to civil aviation”.

She said it “appears to be smaller than the one shot down off the coast of South Carolina” last Saturday – meaning the giant Chinese suspected spy balloon that measured 200ft (60m) tall.

Posting earlier on Twitter, Prime Minister Trudeau thanked the North American Aerospace Defense Command (NORAD) which carries out air defence for the US and Canada and led the mission.

The White House said the object had been tracked and monitored “over the last 24 hours”.

“Out of an abundance of caution and at the recommendation of their militaries, President Biden and Prime Minister Trudeau authorised it to be taken down,” it said.

“The leaders discussed the importance of recovering the object in order to determine more details on its purpose or origin.”

Canada’s Minister of National Defence Anita Anand said the object posed a threat to civil aviation

Giving more details on the mission to take down the object, the US Department of Defense confirmed two F-22 jets took off from a military base in Anchorage, Alaska and the object was shot down with an AIM 9X missile.

Pentagon Press Secretary Brig Gen Pat Ryder added that the FBI will be “working closely” with Canadian police.

Separately on Saturday, the US military also scrambled fighter jets over Montana as some airspace was closed – but it turned out to be a “radar anomaly” and nothing unusual was found.

The latest object’s appearance over North America comes just a week after a suspected Chinese spy balloon was also destroyed by the US.

On Friday another unspecified object was tracked and shot down over Alaska at the orders of US President Biden.

In a short statement, the military said US troops, including from the Alaska National Guard, were still conducting search and recovery activities on sea ice for Friday’s object.

It said it had no further details about the object’s capabilities, purpose or origin but confirmed the FBI is helping with the recovery near the Alaskan town of Deadhorse.

“Arctic weather conditions, including wind chill, snow, and limited daylight, are a factor in this operation, and personnel will adjust recovery operations to maintain safety,” it added – and that the rescue operation will continue as weather permits.

Last weekend, defence officials told US media that debris from the Chinese balloon landed in 47ft (14m) of water – shallower than they had expected – near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

China has denied the balloon – which first entered US airspace on 28 January – was used for spying purposes, saying it was a weather device gone astray.

The US, however, said the balloon is part of a fleet of surveillance balloons that have flown over five continents.

The balloon incident has strained US-China relations, with Secretary of State Antony Blinken cancelling a planned trip to Beijing.

Chinese officials on Friday accused the US of “political manipulation and hype”.

In an interview on Thursday, President Biden defended his handling of the Chinese balloon, maintaining that it was not “a major breach”.

BBC/Simeon Ugbodovon

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Foreign

Ukraine: Biden to Announce Another Military Package

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In the US state of New Hampshire, President Joe Biden said that he’s not sure whether he’ll travel to Ukraine.

“The answer is, I don’t know,” Biden told newsmen.

“I’ve been to Ukraine many times, just haven’t been there recently.”

White House officials have been saying since last week that a senior official may travel to Kyiv to meet President Volodymyr Zelensky.

Report says, Zelensky has also invited Biden to personally make the trip.

White House Press Secretary Jen Psaki said that there are currently no plans for Biden to go.

She later added that if there were plans in the works, she would not tell reporters in advance anyway.
Officials say it’s more likely that the US will send the Secretary of State or Secretary of Defence.

BBC/Taiwo Akinola

News Analysis

Increasing Rate Of Air Crashes Involving Military Jets

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Since 1956, Nigeria aviation industry has experienced major air crashes, mostly involving passenger planes.

These include, Sosoliso, Dana, Aviation Development Company, ADC, EAS, Bellview and Okada Airline crashes among others.

On September, 27th 1992, the military system in Nigeria recorded its first major air mishap when the Nigeria force inaf jet c.130 crashed in Ejigbo, near Lagos after departing the Muritala Muhammed international airport killing around two hundred military personnel.

Again on September 17th 2006, twelve Nigerian military personnel, mostly high ranking officers were killed in a plane crash in Benue state.

To reduce the trend, former president Olusegun Obasanjo embarked on recapitalisation policy of the airlines while many aircrafts found to constitute threat to the public were grounded.

Frequent aircraft mishaps had thrown the entire country into periods of unpalatable mourning, wailing and gnashing of teeth whenever they occurred.

There was a moment of recipe, but it was not yet Uhuru from air accidents as the nation’s air space was poised to record more calamities.

The recent air tragedies in the country were recorded within a space of four months and they involved three Nigerian air force jet leading to death of military personnel.

On 22nd February 2021, a Nigeria air force jet, king air 350, crashed near the Nnamdi Azikwe international airport killing seven officers including the crew members.

Also in April, a Nigerian Air Force, NAF, alpha jet on combat duty in the Boko Haram ravaged Borno state in the north east of Nigeria disappeared and has been without trace since two crew members were said to be on board and are still missing.

The latest is the 21th, May NAF beech craft king air b 350 aircraft that killed eleven military personnel including the Chief of Army staff, COAS, General Ibrahim Attahiru who was on official trip to Kaduna state.

The plane crash landed near Kaduna airport due to bad weather as the initial report on the tragedy indicated.

The crash was a fatal blow to the nation especially the fight against terrorism, banditry and kidnapping that have been on the prowl for sometimes.

It is heartwarming that the experts at the Aviation Investigation Bureau, AIB, have taken over the investigation into the crash with a view to ascertaining the cause or causes of the incident.

However, for a nation that is prone to air mishaps, aviation authorities must make sure that Nigeria does not become a dumping ground for all sorts of outdated aircrafts that obviously pose dangers to the safety of air travel.

It is important for the country to improve on its disaster preparedness, coordination and management at the major international airports for a safer airspace.

The adhoc and standing committees carrying out oversight functions in the aviation industry should intensify their supervision, especially in the area of timely release of budgetary allocation.

There is the urgent need for the authorities of the Nigerian military to immediately overhaul its fleet with a view to grounding all obsolete and out of form aircraft that could do more havoc on its personnel.

It must raise the bar on the issue of standard, compliance and safety of all aircrafts in its fleet and take regular maintenance more seriously.

This will go a long way to ensuring a safe sky for jets in order to avoid crashes and untimely death.

 Tayo Sanni

Security

Military Pensions Board Debunks Reports Of Verification Exercise

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The Military Pensions Board (MPB) has debunked reports in some print and online media on commencement of a verification exercise for military retirees from November 26 to December 9.

In a statement, the Public Relations Officer, Military Pensions Board, Flight Lieutenant Olayinka Lawal urges military pensioners to disregard the said publication in its entirety.

The statement indicates that the stories making the rounds were based on a 3 year old news item which was published during preparation for a 2017 verification exercise. 

According to the Public Relations Officer, the Board is working towards conducting a verification exercise of military pensioners on its payroll in the near future, and no date has yet been fixed for the exercise.

He advises military retirees to remain calm as the Board will adequately inform them whenever the exercise is set to commence. 

Flight Lieutenant Olayinka Lawal enjoins all military pensioners to always rely on established official means of communication provided by the Board to source their information and also call the Board on 09087447782 or 09087994694 or send an email to info@mpb.ng in order to confirm any issue that concerns them.

He thanks the retirees for their usual support and understanding.

PR/Nofiu Busari