Sahara Reporters Latest News Saturday 2nd February 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 02/02/19
Read also
target=_blank>NDF Asks DSS, Police To Arrest Secondus Over War Threat
The National Democratic Front (NDF) has called on the Department of State Security Service (DSS) and the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) to immediately arrest Uche Secondus, National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to the group, Secondus should be arrested for “threatening war should his party lose the February 16 presidential election”.
NDF said the threat by the PDP National Chairman implies that he expects that his party must be announced the winner of the election, even when it loses.
A statement by Bolaji Abdukadir, Secretary-General of the group, noted that such utterance was not justifiable under any circumstances in a country where there are laws.
He said: ‘”It will, however, seem that the PDP with its officials and chieftains are resolute on doing everything to undermine the elections, degrade their credibility even before they are conducted, and reject results that they are already projected to lose. They see shadows behind every wall and have become pathetically hysterical to the point of handing the country over to foreigners.
“This hysteria on the part of the PDP and its mercenaries has put the entire country on edge with the constant sabre rattling over the election while creating the impression that it has to be a war situation of a do or die affair, when the entire process is in reality about citizens exercising their right to decide who leads them.
“The PDP is aware of its low acceptability among Nigerian voters because of its record of wasted opportunities, so it has now resorted to threats to force itself on the country.Constantly creating the impression that the general election would be rigged in favour of the ruling party has therefore become the stock in trade of the PDP to the extent that not even its members take the party seriously anymore hence the ill-advised strategy of threatening war against the country.
“The implication of the threat from PDP is that it would unleash violence on the country when the results are announced and it loses fairly and squarely. Several groups with a few individuals and the Minister of Information, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, had raised the alarm in the past that the PDP has perfected plans to cause widespread violence as part of a plot to force an interim government on the country, because it knows it will lose the election. Secondus’ threat is the clearest confirmation yet that this plot is real and is now in its implementation stage.
“NDF consequently calls on the DSS and the Nigerian Police Force to immediately arrest and question Secondus to explain what he meant by declaring war. It is our belief that this matter should not be treated with levity, given the earlier revelation that the PDP has positioned terrorists, extremists, separatists and foreign mercenaries to unleash violence in different parts of the country.”
“A failure to arrest Secondus and any other person that threaten war against Nigeria over the elections will make these law enforcement agencies accessories to any breakdown of law and order carried out by the PDP.”
The NDF, however, urged all political parties and their candidates to “honour the peace pact they signed as part of ensuring violence free elections,” adding that “There are judicial avenues for ventilating grievances, which is what parties and their candidates should explore and not threaten or unleash violence on Nigerians.”
Elections
Police
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Association Of Democratic Lawyers Berates Buhari, Onnoghen For Abusing Court Process
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADL) has berated President Muhammadu Buhari and Walter Onnoghen, the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), for abusing court process.
Onnoghen was suspended by the President on a directive by the Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT). He is standing trial before the CCT over allegations of fraudulent declaration of assets.
A statement by Jiti Ogunye, Chairman, NADL Board of Governors, dated January 31, 2019, noted that both the Nigerian government and the suspended CJN abused court processes in the matter.
According to the group, they expected that since the charges had been filed, the executive arm of government should have respected the rule of law. For Onnoghen, the group said: “The desperate resort to the National Industrial Court and the Federal High Court by the CJN, his allies and lawyers to obtain ex-parte orders of injunction, which were procured and granted with astounding and unusual alacrity to gag the CCT, so as to prevent the arraignment and trial of the CJN Onnoghen is condemnable.
“It is an abuse of court process. The NADL hopes that at the appropriate time, the NJC shall revisit the actions of the Judges who granted these orders.”
The group also condemned the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) for its stance on the issue, which it said “restricted itself to flaying the action of the Executive Branch of Government, mouthing hackneyed phrases about rule of law, due process, independence of the judiciary, separation of powers and adherence to constitutional principles, without paying equal attention to ethical demands in a legal profession that prides itself as honourable, integrity and credibility in the Judiciary and how to effectively combat cases of corrupt practices in the legal profession, Bar and Bench”.
The National Judicial Council (NJC) was also not spared. While commending the NJC for “eventually taking charge of the damaging allegations against the suspended CJN”, the group expressed “serious reservations about the patent lack of exhibition of urgency by the NJC in the consideration and resolution of the crisis”.
THE FULL STATEMENT
The National Association of Democratic Lawyers (NADL) hereby issues this statement in reaction to the ongoing crisis of confidence rocking the Nigerian Judiciary, arising from the filing of charges bordering on violations of the provisions of the Code of Conduct for Public Officers contained in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended, against the Chief Justice of Nigeria ( CJN) ,Hon. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen, at the Code of Conduct Tribunal; his suspension from office, and appointment of Hon. Justice I.T. Muhammad as Acting Chief Justice of Nigeria by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari; and the investigation of both the suspended CJN, and Acting CJN by the National Judicial Council ( NJC), for acts of misconducts.
The NADL, a body of lawyers, being major stakeholders in the justice administration sector and in the operation of the rule of law in Nigeria, has good reasons to critique the ongoing processes embarked upon to straighten the ethical bearings of the Nigerian Judiciary, and offer suggestions on the way forward.
1. The NADL disagrees with the filing of charges against the suspended Chief Justice of Nigeria, Hon. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen by the CCB before the CCT. In Nganjiwa v F.RN, 2018, 4NWLR, Part 1609, 301 at 341 and 349, the Court of Appeal ( Lagos Division) had held that before a judicial officer in Nigeria who is accused of an act of misconduct which may constitute a criminal offence could be investigated, prosecuted and tried in a court of law in Nigeria, the judicial officer so accused first must have been subjected to the administrative disciplinary jurisdiction of the NJC ( under Sections 153 and 158 of the Constitution, and Part 1 , Paragraphs 20 and 21 of the Third Schedule to the Constitution ) , and removed from office, and stripped of his judgeship. The Judgment, in the view of the NADL is a protectionist judgment, calculated to grant judicial officers a cloak of immunity, similar to the executive immunity granted under Section 308 of the Constitution, thereby shielding judicial officers from criminal investigations of prosecutions. In spite of the fundamental objections of NADL to the judgment of that Court of Appeal, now on appeal at the Supreme Court, every authority and person in Nigeria is bound by that Judgment. For this sole reason, therefore, the CCT charges against Hon. W.S.N. Onnoghen ought not to have been filed. The NADL, therefore, continues to call for the withdrawal of the charges.
2. However, since the charges nevertheless had been filed, the NADL expected both the Federal Government of Nigeria (the Executive Branch of Government of the Federation) and Hon. Justice W.S.N. Onnoghen to shun abuse of court processes and abuse of powers in prosecuting and defending the charges at the CCT, the judgment of which is appealable to the Court of Appeal. Thus, the desperate resort to the National Industrial Court and the Federal High Court by the CJN, his allies and lawyers to obtain ex-parte orders of injunction, which were procured and granted with astounding and unusual alacrity to gag the CCT, so as to prevent the arraignment and trial of the CJN Onnoghen is condemnable. It is an abuse of court process. The NADL hopes that at the appropriate time, the NJC shall revisit the actions of the Judges who granted these orders.
3. In this connection, the NADL find as bizarre the order ex-parte that was said to have been obtained on the 23rd of January, 2019 by the Executive Branch of Government (the CCB and their lawyers), mandating the President to suspend the already charged but yet to be arraigned CJN Onnoghen, from office, pending the conclusion of his trial, and his immediate replacement, in an acting capacity, by the most senior justice of the Supreme Court, next to CJN Onnoghen. The CCT had a hearing on the matter on the 22nd of January, 2019, when a motion on notice praying for the same orders purportedly sought and granted ex-parte was adjourned with the entire proceedings to 28th January, 2019. It was, therefore, odd that in the intervening period, a motion ex parte was granted and an order was given, which the President claimed he relied upon to take his decision suspending Onnoghen, CJN and appointing an acting replacement for him.
4. The NADL condemns the suspension of CJN Onnoghen from office, and his replacement, as aforesaid by the President of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari. Under Section 292 of the Constitution, judicial officers, including the suspended CJN, have security of tenure, which guarantees that and they can only be removed or suspended from office in accordance with the dictates of the Constitution. The NADL, therefore, calls for the rescission of the decision of the President, suspending CJN Onnoghen, and replacing him with an acting CJN.
5. The NADL also expresses serious reservation about the hasty disposition of Hon. Justice I T. Muhammad, Acting CJN in accepting to be appointed and sworn in as Acting CJN, when judges of the lower bench who in the past had demonstrated that grave error of judgment or seeming unbridled ambition had, in the past, been visited with career terminal sanctions by the NJC.
6. The NADL blames the suspended CJN Onnoghen for frustrating the holding of the 88th Statutory Meeting of the NJC on the 15th January, 2019, a day after 14th January, 2019, when the CJN Onnoghen was scheduled to be arraigned in Court, by an inexplicable indefinite postponement. By that heedless postponement, the NJC was denied of the earliest opportunity it could have had to discuss the CJN’s code of conduct challenges, and charges that were filed against him. If that meeting had held, perhaps, the NJC, based on the I.N. Okoro, J.S.C. and N.S, Ngwuta, J.S.C precedents, could have been placed on suspension, for undergoing a quasi-criminal trial, like an interdiction in the public service. NADL assumes that the said postponement must have goaded a restive Executive Branch of Government into reaching for the misguided suspension of the CJN on Friday, the 25th of January, 2019.
7. Following the realization that there was fire on the mountain of the Nigerian Judiciary, the NJC, which was prevented from having a meeting on the 15th January, 2019, had to meet on Tuesday, 29th January, 2019 , by requisition. The meeting, from which suspended CJN W.S.N. Onnoghen and Acting CJN I.T. Muhammad recused themselves, and which was chaired by Rtd Hon. Justice Abdullahi, PCA, decided amongst other resolutions, to query both CJN W.S.N Onnoghen and Acting CJN I.T. Muhammad regarding the petitions submitted against them; one petition against the CJN regarding the code of conduct infractions, and two against the Acting CJN regarding his presenting himself for appointment and swearing in by the President, upon the suspension of the CJN by the President. Both of them were given seven (7) days an abridgment of time from the regular fourteen (14) days query answering period to answer the queries, to enable the NJC determine the matters on the 11th February, 2019.
8. While the NADL commends the NJC for eventually taking charge of the damaging allegations against the suspended CJN, the NADL has serious reservations about the patent lack of exhibition of urgency by the NJC in the consideration and resolution of the crisis. The Judiciary in Nigeria today is in a state of emergency. The NJC and its members would not have sacrificed too much for Nigeria and the Judiciary, if it had elongated its sitting, accelerated its proceedings and conducted an expedited hearing and fast track determination of the petitions. The petitions could have been reacted to in one day, the focal issues being whether the suspended CJN fully and faithfully declared his assets, and if not why; and whether the Acting CJN offered himself for appointment, and if so why? . Thus, a verdict in the form of recommendations to the Executive Branch of Government (the President) could have been rendered in three (3) days. By extending the petitions resolution period, the NJC, wittingly or unwittingly, is elongating the nightmare of the legal profession community in Nigeria and the people of Nigeria. The adjournment of the NJC Meeting to 11th February, 2019, four (4) days to the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections will further generate an avoidable state of paralysis, uncertainty and acrimony in the Judiciary, in the legal profession and in the polity.
9. The NADL condemns the leadership of the Nigerian Bar Association for its handling of the CJN Onnoghen charge and suspension issue. In its statements, pronouncements and resolutions, the NBA Leadership has restricted itself to flaying the action of the Executive Branch of Government, mouthing hackneyed phrases about rule of law, due process, independence of the judiciary, separation of powers and adherence to constitutional principles, without paying equal attention to ethical demands in a legal profession that prides itself as honourable, integrity and credibility in the Judiciary and how to effectively combat cases of corrupt practices in the legal profession, Bar and Bench. By this lopsided disposition, the leadership of the NBA Leadership has helped in portraying Nigerian lawyers as supporters of infamous conduct in the Judiciary, before the Nigerian people, especially non-members of the legal profession.
10. The NADL commends the Court of Appeal, Abuja Division for striking out, on Wednesday the 30th of January, 2019 the appellate request for stay of proceedings of the CCT, made by CJN Onnoghen, in affirmation of the inviolability of Section 306 of the Administration of the Criminal Justice Act, and in obedience to and fidelity with the decisions of the Supreme Court in Olisa Metuh v. FRN, 2017, 11 NWLR, Pt. 1575, 157.
11. The NADL calls on political power holders and interest groups to refrain from further politicizing the current crisis in the Judiciary. The current “clash of power” is between the Executive Branch of Government and the Head of the Judiciary. It is not a clash of power with the entire Nigerian Judiciary. Even if it was assumed that it was a clash of power between the Executive and the Judiciary, the Legislature is not, at this stage, involved in the dispute to warrant the rumoured bid of the Senate or National Assembly to trigger the original jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Section 232 of the Constitution by filing an action in the Supreme Court of Nigeria. Bringing an action between the National Assembly or Senate, under contemplation, to the same Judiciary will mean that the three arms of government will be entangled in a suit, the outcome and dimension of which may be unpredictable. To be clear, there is no cause of action between the Senate and the President on the CJN Onnoghen issue yet, as the Senate is yet to sit or have any session to adopt a resolution on the matter since CJN Onnoghen was charged to the CCT or suspended by the President. The statements being made “ from the throne” by the Senate Leadership cannot be a substitute for sittings and resolution, as the power to confirm the appointment of a CJN or to remove him from office resides in the collectivity of the Senate, and not in the Senate Leadership. In the same vein, it is very doubtful whether the Senate Leadership can institute an action in the Supreme Court under the Original Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court without a formal authorizing resolution to that effect. If such an action is ever permitted by the Supreme Court, the Court may render itself open to individual senators a groups of senators bringing applications to challenge the competence of such an action, which being an action akin to a representative action must have the concurrence of all the unnamed represented parties.
12. In the prevailing situation, the NADL calls on CJN Onnoghen to seriously consider a resignation from office in the interest of the Nigerian Judiciary. While doing so, he may wish to explore the plea bargaining provisions under Section 270 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act and other similar provisions that may enable him wrap up his planned prosecution and earn himself a dignified and orderly exit from his current travails. In making this suggestion, NADL believes in the presumed innocence of the suspended CJN Onnoghen under the law and the Constitution. The NADL does not deem or adjudge him guilty.
13. The NADL urges Nigerians to continue to repose confidence in the judiciary. As bad as allegations of misconduct and corrupt practices in the Judiciary are, Nigerians must realize that sleaze is not the defining characteristic of the Nigerian Judiciary. Corruption in the Judiciary is not the norm. It is an exception. The Judiciary is an institution of integrity and decency.
14. Finally, the NADL believes it is time to revisit the constitution and composition of the NJC in a constitutional amendment. The NJC has twenty-two (22) members, including the CJN and a Supreme Court Justice next to him in ranking. The CJN appoints twelve (12) out of the twenty members. The obvious difficulty in making the NJC work to sanction Supreme Court Justices in deserving cases, let alone exercising disciplinary control over the CJN, except when pushed and forced as it is the situation now, demands that the oddity of having serving Supreme Court Justices, largely exercising disciplinary control over themselves be cured in a creative constitutional re-engineering exercise. The time has, therefore, come for retired jurists, including retired Supreme Court Justices, Court of Appeal Justices, eminent legal scholars and professors of law and lawyers of impeccable integrity to be the members of the NJC, including the Chairman and Deputy Chairman of the NJC.
Corruption
Legal
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Amnesty International Reveals Boko Haram Killed 60 People In January 28 Attack On Rann
Sixty people were killed in Monday’s attack on Rann, Borno State, by Boko Haram, Amnesty international has said.
The agency said analysis from satellite images revealed the figure, just as it feared that camps for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) were also affected in the attacks.
In a statement released on Friday, the human rights organisation noted that the murdered persons were people who came to Rann to seek protection.
The statement read: “At least 60 people were killed following the 28 January devastating Boko Haram attack on Rann, a border town in Borno state, northeast Nigeria, Amnesty International has confirmed.
“The organization also analyzed satellite imagery which shows hundreds of burned structures in the town. Many of the destroyed structures only date back to 2017, suggesting they were shelters for internally displaced people who came to Rann seeking protection.”
Osai Ojigho, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, noted that they had “confirmed that this week’s attack on Rann was the deadliest yet by Boko Haram, killing at least 60 people”.
“Using satellite imagery we have also been able to confirm the mass burning of structures as Boko Haram unleashed a massive assault on Rann, most of which is now destroyed. This attack on civilians who have already been displaced by the bloody conflict may amount to possible war crime, and those responsible must be brought to justice. Disturbingly, witnesses told us that Nigerian soldiers abandoned their posts the day before the attack, demonstrating the authorities’ utter failure to protect civilians,” she said.
The organisation alleged that troops withdrew, which “triggered a massive exodus of civilians to Cameroon, as fear spread that Boko Haram would take advantage and attack the town”.
The statement continued: “At around 9am on 28 January, a group of Boko Haram fighters arrived on motorcycles. They set houses ablaze and killed those left behind. They also chased after those who attempted to escape and killed some people outside the town. Eleven bodies were found within Rann town, and 49 bodies were found outside.
“Amnesty International was informed that about 50 people have not been accounted for. Those who took part in the burial explained what they saw.”
Narrating the incident, an eyewitness said: “Ten of us Civilian Joint Task Force came from Cameroon to Rann for the burial. When we arrived, we found and buried 11 corpses within the town, but the soldiers told us that they buried several others yesterday 30 January who had decayed. Outside the town, we recovered and buried 49 dead bodies all with gunshot wounds.”
The United Nations had said 30,000 civilians fled for the border with Cameroon over the last few days. This is different from the 9,000 who had earlier fled Boko Haram’s previous attack on Rann on 14 January,
Amnesty International analysed satellite images from January 30, 2019, showing hundreds of structures burned in the east, south and southeast of Rann. The organisation also noted that environmental sensors detected fires in the area on January 28 and 29, 2019.
More than 100 structures were said to have been burnt in the January 14 attack, with other parts of the town “heavily damaged or destroyed”.
Amnesty International also called on Nigerian authorities to investigate the allegations that security operatives of the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) from Rann withdrew from the area.
“Boko Haram has consistently and deliberately targeted civilians in Rann, which makes the Nigerian authorities failure to protect people all the more unacceptable. The authorities on both sides of the border must provide the supplies and safety that these people require. The Cameroonian authorities must also desist from forcing people to return until conditions are safe and they choose to do so voluntarily,” Ojigho added.
Boko Haram
Human Rights
Insurgency
Military
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Suspected Ritualists Rape, Kill, Harvest Vital Organs Of Two Women In Bayelsa
Two women have been killed in Akenfa community, a suburb of Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, with their vital organs harvested by persons suspected to be ritualists.
The killings occurred in separate incidents in Akenfa community, and have caused panic in the area.
A mother of four and a fish seller identified as Glory Omo-Ohwo, an indigene of Delta State, was raped and her skull smashed. Her body was dumped in an uncompleted building at Akenfa 1 area on Wednesday.
This is coming barely a few days after a mother of four was gruesomely murdered, with her face unrecognisable and brains missing.
It was gathered that Omo-Ohwo woke up at about 5am on Tuesday, January 29, 2019, to smoke some of the fishes she had purchased.
However, when her children woke up at dawn, it was said that they found one of their mother’s slippers, and she was nowhere to be found.
Her lifeless body was later found in an uncompleted building next to the compound she resides in, with her skull badly damaged.
Another victim identified as a meat-pie seller, Goodnews Stephen, who is an indigene of Kolokumo/Opokumo Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, was found dead in the early hours of Friday, with her faced shattered and her brains missing.
Her decomposing body was found at a waste dump located at the back of Akenfa Community Secondary School.
When contacted, Asinim Butswat, spokesman of the state Police Command, said he had heard of the development and that investigation had commenced into the incident.
CRIME
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>The Economist Backs Atiku To Win But Says His Agenda ‘Too Monumental To Implement In Full’
The Economist Intelligence Unit has again predicted that Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), will win the February 16 election.
The forecast was published on its website on Friday.
According to the report, Atiku will come to power with a “sweeping free market agenda”, which may be too “monumental to implement in full”.
The forecast read: “A general election on February 16th is expected to yield a change in government, although the poll itself, and particularly the prospect of a messy election dispute, comes with significant downside risks to political stability.
“Our baseline forecast is for Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party to win outright, averting crisis. He will come to power with a sweeping free market agenda, although the overhaul that this implies will be too monumental to implement in full.”
Elections
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>VIDEO: Enraged Youth Assault ‘Worst Ever’ Ondo South Senator Omogunwa
Yele Omogunwa, the senator representing Ondo South Senatorial District at the National Assembly, has been mobbed by enraged youth in his constituency.
The attack came a few days after Bamidele Baderinwa, the lawmaker representing Idanre/Ifedore Federal Constituency Area of Ondo State, was attacked by youth.
SaharaReporters gathered that the senator, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was assaulted in Okitipupa area of the state. Several witnesses said Omogunwa, who was accused of poor performance by his people, was attacked at the palace of the Jegun of Idepe, Oba Michael Adetoye.
He was in the company of Vice-President Professor Yemi Osinbajo at the palace, when he was assaulted. Our correspondent gathered security operatives of the Vice-President came to Omogunwa’s rescue by escorting him out of the scene.
Osinbajo was in Ondo State for a two-day visit to distribute the Trader Moni fund for traders in selected local council areas.
An eyewitness simply identified as Kayode told SaharaReporters that Omogunwa was attacked due to neglect of his constituents.
Video of VIDEO: Enraged Youth Assault 'Worst Ever' Ondo South Senator Omogunwa
VIDEO: Enraged Youth Assault ‘Worst Ever’ Ondo South Senator Omogunwa
“Senator Omogunwa was attacked and nearly lynched. I saw it with my two eyes. The youth, at a time, were even shouting ‘thief, thief’. Some of us were about taking a video recording of the attack when the security aides to the Vice-President told us to stop it and threatened to seize all our phones. The issue is that he (Omogunwa) is the worst senator we have ever had in this constituency. He has no meaningful constituency projects here.
“In the past three and a half years that he has been in Abuja, he has neglected us here and has been giving orders from his office at the National Assembly. I think I heard someone say he only presented one bill throughout his three and a half years, and there was a time he brought in an old truck to grade our road.
“Just imagine! He has no visible constituency office here in Okitipupa and he is not accessible. I always find it difficult to reach him on issues bothering us. Even on social media, he does not have any relevance. He is such an analogue senator. Now, election is coming, he and the other lawmakers are now seeking our votes. All of them are using the name of President Muhammadu Buhari and Yemi Osinbajo to canvass votes but we know where we are going.”
However, Jide Omogunwa, media aide to the senator, said the report of attack on the Ondo Senator was not true.
He explained that the youth demanded money from the senator, and were impatient and decided to cause a row.
“At the event, the youth came to ask for money. As he was trying to get them money, they thought he was trying to escape. So, some of these youth were now protecting him while some were pushing themselves. It doesn’t have any political undertone.”
Elections
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Police Fire Teargas Canisters To Control Big Brother Naija Crowd In Abuja
To prevent an imminent stampede at the Abuja venue of the Big Brother Naija 2019 audition, policemen have resorted to firing teargas canisters into the crowd.
The applicants shut down the area and surrounding axis on Friday, as they thronged the venue of the MultiChoice Nigeria office.
They were said to have come into Abuja from within and outside the city, and the crowd led to a major traffic gridlock in the area.
Human movement from Transcorp Hilton axis to Wuse II was a nightmare.
The situation almost resulted in a stampede, which was narrowly averted when the Police fired teargas canisters into the air with a view to controlling the ecstatic crowd.
SaharaReporters gathered that the process used to screen the applicants was very slow.
Many people scampered for safety whenever there was a surge in the crowd, arising from the impatient applicants who were pushing in an attempt to outdo one another to enter the audition hall.
Some of the applicants were said to have arrived Abuja on Thursday, ahead of the event.
Findings revealed that only five people would be selected from each centre.
The auditions are taking place in eight centres across the country: Lagos, Port Harcourt, Ibadan, Warri, Calabar, Enugu and Benin.
Entertainment
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99t-have-n50bn target=_blank>Deadlock! ASUU Strike To Continue Despite Meeting As Govt Says ‘We Don’t Have N50bn’
Core TV
The meeting between the Nigerian government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has ended in a deadlock again.
Both sides were in an emergency meeting earlier on Friday in Abuja.
Chris Ngige, Minister for Labour and Employment, said the Nigerian government had met the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) halfway.
He said this while addressing newsmen after the meeting between the striking lecturers and representatives of the Nigerian government in Abuja.
On the question of whether the government had met ASUU’s demand for N50billion, he said: “We have met it halfway. We have offered what we have; we don’t have N50 billion. The Minister of Finance has also said so, that the Federal Government cannot afford N50billion now.”
On his part, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, the ASUU National President, said the meeting made some progress, and they would present the government’s offer to members and provide feedback to government at its next meeting.
He also declined to provide details of the offer provided by government to the union.
He said: “We presented the feedback from members on the previous discussions with the Federal Government and we have another set of information for our members, and until we give them, we are not going to speak about it.”
The next meeting between the union and the government is scheduled for next Thursday.
Education
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%98because-atiku%E2%80%99 target=_blank>Enugu Schools Send Students Back Home ‘Because Of Atiku’
Schools in Enugu State were abruptly shut on Friday as the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) campaign rally berthed in the state.
According to students who spoke with NAN, public primary and secondary schools in the state were shut because of the rally.
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the PDP, was in the state with other chieftains of the party.
As early as 10am, the students were seen loitering about, as they were asked to go home.
A student from Day Secondary School, Independence Layout, said the teachers told them to go home because of Atiku’s visit.
The situation was the same in other public schools, including O’Connor Primary School, Queen’s School, Urban Girls Secondary School and Government Training College in Enugu town.
The students said they were not mandated to attend the campaign rally, which took place at Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium.
A parent, Mr. Francis Ogbu, expressed displeasure with the development, stating that it was wrong to suspend academic activities for political events.
Another parent, Mrs. Uzoamaka Onukwuburi, lamented that the decision was unnecessary, while one Mrs. Chinwe Eke commended the decision, stating that it was for the safety of the children in case of outbreak of violence during the rally.
Eke, however, stressed that the notice should have come much earlier to prevent the students from loitering about during the time they are expected to be in school.
When contacted, Professor Uche Eze, the state Commissioner for Education, declined to comment.
Education
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Court Orders Patience Jonathan To Forfeit N1bn To Nigerian Govt
A Federal High Court sitting in Kano has ordered the interim forfeiture of N1billion linked to Patience Jonathan, wife of Nigeria’s former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The interim forfeiture followed a court order secured by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The money was lodged in three deposits with Fidelity Bank Plc on May 20 and 25, 2015.
The court, presided over by Justice A. Lewis-Allagoa, issued the forfeiture order in response to a motion ex parte filed by the anti-graft commission.
The money was found in the account of Magel Resort Limited, a company linked to the former First Lady Patience Jonathan, following information received by EFCC that a bank account domiciled in Fidelity Bank, had a huge sum of money that was not accounted for.
After preliminary investigation, it was revealed that Mrs. Jonathan and some relatives of the former president were directors of the Company. Others named as directors are Oba Oba Tamunotonye, Goodluck Jonathan Aruera, Goodluck Jonathan Ariwabai and Esther Fynface.
In tracing the origin of the funds, it was discovered that N500,000 was deposited on May 20, 2015 by Fynface, alleged to be in charge of the company, while N1billion was transferred in two tranches on the May 25, 2015 from Pagmat Oil And Gas Nigeria Limited, a company said not to be incorporated with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC).
Justice Lewis-Allagoa held that: “An interim forfeiture order is granted to the Federal Government in the sum of N1,000,494,000 (one billion, four hundred and ninety four thousand naira only) in the bank account of the 1st respondent, Magel Resort Limited 4011019546, which is maintained with the second respondent, Fidelity Bank PLC.”
The court further ordered that the forfeited sum be deposited in the Treasury Single Account of the Nigerian government.
Corruption
Legal
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
You can also check
