By Suleiman Yakubu

Niger State Governor, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, has given a marching order to the state Commissioner of Police to go after hoodlums and bring them to book.
He also ordered that anyone who was found selling drugs would have his building confiscated and demolished.
The governor handed down the orders when he donated 20 operational vehicles to security operatives to curb crimes in Minna metropolis.
Governor Umaru Bago, who handed over the vehicles at Government House, Minna, expressed concern over the security challenges faced in the state capital and said he was optimistic that the vehicles would help curb the menace.
The governor directed the Commissioner of Police (CP), Niger State Command, Ogundele Ayodeji, to make effective use of the vehicles to address insecurity within Minna metropolis.
"I am giving you a matching order from this point to go after the hoodlums and bring them to book".
"This is intended to flush out the hoodlums and criminal elements within the metropolis in particular and the state as a whole, and again, we have realised that a lot of drug trafficking and drug-related issues are happening in Minna, and therefore anybody that is keeping or selling drugs on his premises is at his own risk", he warned.
In a press release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mal. Bologi Ibrahim, and made available to Newsline, the governor emphasised that his administration will have zero tolerance for drugs and other forms of criminality.
While responding, CP Ogundele Ayodeji, who commended the governor for providing the operational vehicles to aid their work in ensuring the safety of lives and property of the citizenry, assured that the people of the state will breathe a sigh of relief as his men and other sister security agencies will swing into action immediately.
Governor Umaru Bago made a symbolic presentation of the keys to the commissioner of police for onward distribution to other sister agencies.
Out of the 20 operational vehicles branded "Operation Flush", 12 were given to the Nigeria Police, while the State Security Service (SSS) and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) will have two each. The Vigilante Group of Nigeria (VGN), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the Hunters Group, and the Anti Drug Committee (ADC) received one each.

By Suleiman Yakubu

Niger State Governor, Hon. Mohammed Umaru Bago, has, during the flagging-off of the sale and distribution of fertilisers, warned officials against diverting the products as relevant security agencies, including the EFCC, DSS, ICPC, and the Police, were invited to monitor the exercise.
The governor, who was accompanied by the Deputy Governor, Comrade Yakubu Garba, and other top government officials, said anybody caught diverting fertiliser and other farm inputs would be severely dealt with.
He said his administration was poised to boost agricultural activities, disclosing that each of the 25 local government areas will soon get ten tractors.
The governor then announced that 60,000 bags of fertiliser had been procured to be sold to farmers at a subsidised rate of N18,000, revealing that his farming policy of each government official cultivating one hectare of land was a sure way of boosting agricultural activities in the state.
Gov. Umaru Bago enjoined civil servants to go back to farming, as he himself will soon be acquiring land to farm.
He said, "Every civil servant who doesn't want to suffer must go back to the farm. I enjoined you today to at least cultivate one hectare of land because I myself will go back to farming".
He said the entire farming space would be cultivated as measures were put in place to ensure the lives and properties of farmers were protected, and he announced the donation of 300 hand pumps to farmers by the Bago Foundation.
Earlier in his remarks, the chairman of the All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), Alh. Shehu Yusuf Galadima, expressed appreciation to the governor for the gesture. He said the scheme will help crash the prices of foods on the market.
He pleaded with officials in charge of the distribution of the fertilisers to put God first and ensure that only genuine farmers benefitted from the products.
He then advised farmers against selling the products and called on the government to renovate the 13 irrigation sites in the state to encourage dry season farming in the state, while also commending the governor for taking measures that help improve security in the state.