Today’s News from Nigeria-May 14, 2021

Custom officers kill five in Oyo

• Officers of the Nigerian Custom Service allegedly shot five persons in Iseyin, Oyo State yesterday,
• The Custom officers were said to be pursuing suspected smugglers. According to residents, the Customs men started shooting and bullets hit people who were out celebrating the Eid-ul-Fitri, and five of them died.
• The killing of these innocent civilians was said to have sparked some protests. Sources say that the NCS Office in Iseyin was razed and some cars were burnt too.
• Efforts to reach the Public Relations Officer of the NCS, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Mr Kayode Wey, were unsuccessful. However, the Aseyin of Iseyin, Oba Abdulganiyy Salau, condemned the killings. 

Buhari appeals for understanding, says bandits will not be a threat to food security 

• President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to Nigerians for understanding while pledging that the security issues in the country will soon be a thing of the past. The president stated this while speaking to newsmen at the State House shortly after observing the Eid prayer.
• The President says his administration will use all available resources and manpower in dealing with bandits to ensure access to farms and food production in the coming growing season.
• According to him, the menace of bandits and kidnappers will be addressed to ensure that the nation’s food security is not threatened.
• While explaining ongoing efforts to tackle the security situation in the country by the administration He appealed to Nigerians for more understanding of the current situation in the country.

Source: Vanguard Newspaper 

Southern governors move to ban open grazing is an act of betrayal, says ex-governor 

• Abdullahi Adamu who is the ex-governor of Nasarawa State and The Chairman, Senate Committee on Agriculture has said that the southern governor’s forum are overdoing things by demanding for restructuring.
• The two-term governor of Nasarawa State alleged that the southern governors betrayed their oath of office and loyalty to Nigeria, by their conduct and utterances.
• The ex-governor said this during an interview with journalists in his country home, in Keffi, on Thursday.
• Recall that State governors from the southern part of the country, on Tuesday, met in Asaba and issued a communique in which they demanded the immediate restructuring of Nigeria and the banning of open grazing in their areas of jurisdiction.

Source: Punch Newspaper 

Nigeria’s diaspora remittances fall 27.7% in 2020 — World Bank

• The World Bank has reported that remittances by Nigerians in diaspora fell by 27.7 per cent to $16.8 billion in 2020 from $23.24 billion.
• The World Bank disclosed this in a report titled, ‘Migration and Development Brief’, which also revealed that remittance flows to low- and middle-income countries fell by 1.6 per cent to $540 billion in 2020 from $548 billion in 2019.
• The report noted that despite COVID-19, remittance flows remained resilient in 2020, registering a smaller decline than previously projected.

• The World Bank said that the relatively strong performance of remittance flows during the COVID-19 crisis also highlighted the importance of timely availability of data.

Source:Vanguard Newspaper