Daily Watch – Minor Army reshuffle claims Dikwa commander, Debt-laden Sudan devalues currency

A Nigerian Air Force aircraft has crashed at the airport in Abuja. Aviation minister, Hadi Sirika said via his twitter handle that the military aircraft, a Beechcraft KingAir B350i, crashed after reporting an engine failure en route Minna on Sunday. “A military aircraft King Air 350 has just crashed short of our Abuja runway after reporting engine failure en route Minna,” he tweeted. Also confirming the crash, Ibikunle Daramola, Nigerian air force spokesman, said the Chief of Air Staff has ordered an immediate investigation into the incident. “While urging the general public to remain calm & await the outcome of investigation, the CAS, on behalf of all NAF personnel, commiserates with the families of the deceased,” he said. The Nigerian AirForce NAF201, a B350 aircraft departed Abuja at 1033UTC with 6 persons on board including 2 crew. The Aircraft reported engine failure at time 1039 and crashed landed on the final approach path of Abuja Runway 22 at time 1048UTC. Fire services are already at the scene of the accident. All 6 persons on board reported dead. A video of the scene posted online showed residents frantically gathering at the crash site. The area has been enveloped with thick smoke with rescue efforts ongoing.

Nigerian military counter insurgency headquarters have replaced the commander of a super camp after Islamic State insurgents overran two bases in Borno. The military command relieved Y. Ibrahim, a Brigadier General, of his position as the Brigade commander of Nigerian Army 22 Brigade Super Camp Dikwa and replaced him with Brigadier General AGL Haruna. The change is coming on the heels of attacks by Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP)  on the Army Super camp in Dikwa and 153rd Task Force Battalion in Marte on Friday. According to security website HumAngle, the military is “setting in motion” plans to strengthen its presence in New Marte after a series of setbacks and the overrunning of the base located at the Lake Chad Basin Quarters. Chief of Army Staff, Major General Ibrahim Attahiru has arrived in Maiduguri, the state capital for a briefing with the Theatre Commander and other commanders of the country’s counter-insurgency operation against Boko Haram and ISWAP.

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry, on Friday, gave a cheque of ₦10 million each to two petitioners who fell victim to stray bullets fired by men of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad. One of the compensated victims was a 35-year-old hairdresser, Mrs Hannah Olugbodi, who told the retired Justice Doris Okuwobi-led panel that she ended up on a crutch after her left leg was shattered by a stray bullet fired by SARS cops who were attempting to arrest a young man with tattoos in June 2018 in the Ijeshatedo area of Lagos. Olugbodi, who presented her case before the panel on November 28, 2020, told the panel that she had been rendered incapacitated since the incident happened and pleaded with the panel to help her get justice. “I can’t walk properly; I feel pain every five minutes. When I sat there (in the hall), I felt the AC (air conditioner) inside my bone; I had to go out for a while. “The panel should compensate me and my two kids. It is only my husband that is doing everything,” Olugbodi had said. In a positive response to her plea, the panel presented the million naira cheque to Olugbodi, who was accompanied by her lawyer, Akeem Fadun. The second petitioner, Abayomi Adebayo, who also got a ₦10 million cheque, had last year narrated to the panel how his mother was killed in the Mushin area of Lagos in 2016 by a SARS stray bullet. “She was killed where she was selling things at the tollgate in Mushin,” Adebayo said. The petitioner said the policemen who killed his mother were from Olosan Police Station, adding that the police initially denied responsibility but later admitted, with Lagos police commissioner Fatai Owoseni paying his family a condolence visit. He said though Owoseni pledged that his family would get justice two years after, nothing had been done. In addition to the cheque offered to Adebayo, the panel also awarded scholarships to the children of the deceased. Furthermore, the panel ordered the prosecution of the policemen responsible for the stray bullet that killed the woman and also asked the police authorities to tender an apology to the family of the deceased.

Sudan devalued its currency Sunday, meeting a major demand by international financial institutions to overhaul its battered economy. The change is a key reform demanded by foreign donors and the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was delayed for months as shortages of basic goods and rapid inflation complicated a fragile political transition. The move is the boldest economic measure taken by the joint military-civilian government that has ruled the African country after a popular uprising. Sudan has since been on a fragile path to democracy with daunting economic challenges representing a major threat to that transition. The move could provoke a popular backlash as the price of goods and services rise in response to the fall of the pound’s value and a possible hike in the price of fuel and other essential goods. There have already been sporadic protests over dire living conditions in the past couple of weeks in the capital, Khartoum and other parts of the country. The US dollar had been trading at over 350 Sudanese pounds to the dollar on the black market, while its official rate was at 55 pounds to the dollar. Sudan’s currency will now fluctuate according to supply and demand, according to a statement by the Central Bank. The bank said the move would help the “normalisation of ties with international and regional financial institutions and friendly countries to ensure the flow of grants and loans.” The decision is not a float, but a policy of flexible management,” said the central bank’s governor, Mohamed al-Fatih Zainelabidine. A donor-funded family support programme meant to soften the blow of subsidy cuts was delayed due to the exchange rate gap, though Zainelabidine said funds to be spent at the new rate would be disbursed to the finance ministry from Monday. Sudan hopes to win relief on its foreign debt, which currently stands at $70 billion. Last year the government lifted most fuel subsidies, meeting another key demand from lenders Sunday’s move came after Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok, a former respected UN economist, announced a Cabinet reshuffle to add rebel ministers.  The reshuffle was part of a deal the transitional government struck last year with a rebel alliance. The country’s annual inflation soared past 300% last month, one of the world’s highest rates. The country was plunged into an economic crisis when the oil-rich south seceded in 2011 after decades of war. It took with it more than half of public revenues and 95% of exports.