Sahara Reporters Latest News Monday 18th February 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 18/02/19
Read also
target=_blank>VIDEO: Customs Officer Tries To Escape After Shooting Civilian ‘Because Of N5,000’
Video of Customs Officer Tries To Escape After Shooting Civilian 'Because Of N5,000'
Customs Officer Tries To Escape After Shooting Civilian ‘Because Of N5,000’
A video has surfaced online showing an officer of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) shooting an unarmed man, now simply identified by NCS as Godwin.
The incident was said to have occurred along the Sagamu Interchange in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
From the video, it didn’t seem like there was a physical struggle, although tempers were flayed, before the officer simply cocked his gun and fired.
The person who recorded the video was also threatened but he stood his ground, insisting that the officer had no right to confiscate his phone.
A lady who seemed like an ally of the deceased was heard lamenting that they had just returned from outside the country, and the man was shot because they refused to part with N5,000.
However, the NCS has taken a contrary position to what happened in the video, stating that the person who shot the gun is a friend of the NCS.
According to the statement by DC Joseph Attah, Public Relations Officer of the Comptroller-General of Customs, issued on Sunday, there were attempts to interfere in the NCS’ interception of a bus conveying passengers which contained smuggled bales of used clothing into the country, and that led to the death of the man, as well as injuries sustained by a Customs officer.
The statement read: “The attention of Nigeria Customs Service has been drawn to a disturbing video going viral with conflicting narratives.
“While it is painful and totally unnecessary to lose life in anti-smuggling operations, today at Shagamu interchange along Ijebu Ode, attempt to obstruct lawful performance of duty by passengers of a commercial bus (a white Toyota Hiace) suspected to be carrying bales of used clothing led to the death of a young man (Godwin) and serious injury of a Customs Officer, ASC1, Destiny Onebamho.
“Contrary to some narratives, the young man was not a passenger of the bus but a good citizen who always come to fetch water for Customs Patrol men anytime they return to the base.
“Preliminary findings indicate that it was during the skirmishes and struggle to disarm the Officer that the rifle discharged and hit the friend of the Customs (Godwin) who lost his life. The Service is already in touch with the bereaved family.
“Sadly, it should be noted that while attention shifted to the dead and the wounded, the passengers who filmed with inciting commentaries boarded their vehicle and left, leaving the wrong impression that it was one of them that was killed.
“While the wounded officer is under intensive care at the hospital, the patrol team has been recalled to the office for further investigation.”
CRIME
Human Rights
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SAHARA REPORTERS, NEW YORK
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Finidi George Endorses Sowore, Says ‘The Young Gentleman Will Take Nigeria To The Future’
Former Nigerian international footballer, Finidi George, has endorsed the presidential candidature of the African Action Congress’s Omoyele Sowore.
In a video posted on his Instagram handle @officialfinidi, Finidi, who played as a Nigerian right winger from 1999 to 2000, said: “Election is around the corner, my question is, ‘who are you voting for’? I know who I’m voting for; I’ll be voting for Sowore”.
On his choice of Sowore, Finidi said: “The young lad is vibrant, and he will take Nigeria to the future. Anyone who is over 60 cannot take Nigeria to the future. We are tired of voting the same old men that I think someday will sell Nigeria.”
He encouraged Nigerians to use their votes properly and vote for “the young gentleman who will take Nigeria to the future”.
#NigeriaDecides
Elections
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Okowa’s Kinsmen Protest Assassination Attempt On APC Reps Candidate
Kinsmen of Ifeanyi Okowa, Governor of Delta State, in Umunede kingdom, Ika North East Local Government Area of the state, on Saturday, embarked on a peaceful protest over an “assassination attempt” on Sebastian Okoh, the House of Representatives candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), for Ika Federal Constituency.
SaharaReporters gathered that the assassination attempt on the APC candidate, a former chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Okowa’s close ally, occurred in his Umunede hometown, where he and his family had gone to participate in the presidential and National Assembly elections, which were eventually postponed by one week.
Narrating the incident, a political associate of Okoh said: “The ugly incident happened when Okoh was in his residence with his family for Saturday’s elections, when suddenly heavy shooting rented the air and bullets started hitting his building. In the process, there was serious damage to vehicles parked inside and outside the compound.
“It was a clear case of assassination attempt on Okoh, because his acceptance and popularity is becoming overwhelming for his political opponents in the federal constituency. Following the incident, his followers, supporters and indigenes of his community staged a mass protest with a clarion call to fish out the perpetrators of the heinous crime against our son. We thank God for saving him and his family from the war-like situation that lasted for a few minutes and we are also using this medium to appeal to his teeming supporters to remain calm, because God has saved him and preserved him for a purpose.”
It was learnt that Okoh reported the presence of suspicious individuals in his community to the Agbor area command of the Nigerian Police.
Locals, who spoke with SaharaReporters on the issue, said at the time of the report, ACP Cordelia Ikejiani, the commandant of the Agbor area command, has since visited the scene of the incident, noting that the Police would carry out detailed investigation into the incident with a view to bringing the perpetrators to justice.
CRIME
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>The Cost Of Postponing The General Elections By Ehi Braimah
I woke this morning and my wife told me the elections had been postponed. I replied her by saying that must be another piece of fake new because we have too many misleading and false stories in circulation these days. After I checked several news outlets, it turned out my wife was right.
And I asked myself a very simple question: what’s going on here? Clearly, the postponement looked like a joke taken too far; the kind of stunt you pull on April Fool’s Day. To start with, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has put our lives on hold even if the electoral umpire had good grounds to postpone the elections – the same announcement at the eleventh hour could have been made last week; at least one week before the elections. It is now evident that INEC was not prepared to conduct these elections or they were just deceiving Nigerians and other stakeholders.
Unfortunately, what INEC has done has become a familiar pattern; an egregious culture of impunity at all levels and we are supposed to just accept what has happened as normal and move on with our lives. But it is not that simple. The economy has been practically shut down because of the elections – movements are usually restricted. This is actually strange in the age of information technology and social media opportunities; so many degree programmes are now run online without students seeing the four walls of a classroom. We can now also run virtual meetings without the participants physically coming together.
February 23 is a special day in the Rotary calendar because that was the day in 1905 that Rotary, a global humanitarian service organisation, was founded by Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney. The Rotary family worldwide marks the day with different activities. Here in District 9110 Nigeria, a public lecture had been planned for February 23 – venue booked; chairman, guest speaker, discussants confirmed and invitation cards printed. When we received news of the postponement, the planning committee of the event immediately reached out to all our guests to confirm a new date that was not agreeable to some of them for obvious reasons. In fact, our guest speaker and chair of the occasion have scheduled trips outside Nigeria but we had to appeal to them to accommodate the new date. Please begin to count the cost of the postponement – economic activities that are grounded at a time the economy is coming out of recession; lost time, anger, frustration, disappointment and so on. Next Saturday, we are required to just vote and sit at home; no economic activity will take place. Each time the economy is shut down, commercial activities cannot take place and the country bleeds.
I have friends who travelled so they could vote where they registered and you can imagine their sense of frustration and negative reactions to the postponement. The same thing can be said of election monitors/observers and journalists on assignment around the country and wedding ceremonies and other events shifted from February 16 to February 23 because of the elections. I have checked with family and friends in different places, it is the same story of woes and disappointment everywhere. What will be the impact of the postponement on the elections now scheduled for February 23? Your guess is as good as mine.
I watched Prof Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chair, on television announcing the postponement of the elections and I was not impressed. I could tell from his body language that he was not sure whether he was doing the right thing – he did not appear convinced; he looked disengaged, distracted and worried. The INEC chair said the postponement was a very difficult but inevitable decision for them to take but the last minute decision is very suspicious. Prof Yakubu, the postponement at the time is was announced damages the credibility of the entire electoral process and makes us look very bad on the world stage.
How do you plan for an election that has a cycle of four years and issues of postponement would arise in this day and age? I thought it would be different this time because Prof Yakubu and his colleagues ought to know the implications of the postponement in a country where we are highly suspicious of each other. This is the same man who said many times over that there would be no postponement because INEC was fully ready to conduct the elections. So, what do we believe? As a friend noted, this is Nigeria and anything can happen.
This is precisely why we should begin to ask ourselves very hard questions about building strong institutions that can stand the test of time and protect the integrity of our democracy as well as the future of our children. The good news is that Nigerians – both at home and abroad – are becoming more aware of the roles we all have to play in the task of building a better country. The stakes in this election and in every subsequent election would be high because of the increased awareness – we need redemption to change the culture of engagement that would lead to progress and a better society.
It has never happened before in the history of this country that you will find several young presidential aspirants seeking to make a difference in the way the affairs of this country is run; it’s a new culture taking root and I can predict that in the foreseeable future, the scale will tilt in favour of these ‘angry young men and women’ with winning mindsets who are determined to chart a new course for Nigeria. More of their tribe would change the narrative that ‘politics is a dirty game’; instead of staying away from politics, this new generation who live on ideas day and night would go into politics and take control of the destiny of our country because the world runs on ideas. Their mandate would be to tackle key issues such as unemployment, poverty and a stagnating economy.
Their number one goal, in my view, would be to dismantle the so called ‘vested interests’ holding the rest of us captive and this characteristic was demonstrated by some of the young presidential aspirants during their campaigns and media interviews – you could feel their energy, sense of purpose and vision for a better Nigeria. The answer to Nigeria’s numerous problems will come from Nigerians – and that would be very soon. It might take some time to build a critical mass required but it will surely happen. May God bless Nigeria.
Braimah is public relations and marketing strategist based in Lag
I woke this morning and my wife told me the elections had been postponed. I replied her by saying that must be another piece of fake new because we have too many misleading and false stories in circulation these days. After I checked several news outlets, it turned out my wife was right.
And I asked myself a very simple question: what’s going on here? Clearly, the postponement looked like a joke taken too far; the kind of stunt you pull on April Fool’s Day. To start with, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has put our lives on hold even if the electoral umpire had good grounds to postpone the elections – the same announcement at the eleventh hour could have been made last week; at least one week before the elections. It is now evident that INEC was not prepared to conduct these elections or they were just deceiving Nigerians and other stakeholders.
Unfortunately, what INEC has done has become a familiar pattern; an egregious culture of impunity at all levels and we are supposed to just accept what has happened as normal and move on with our lives. But it is not that simple. The economy has been practically shut down because of the elections – movements are usually restricted. This is actually strange in the age of information technology and social media opportunities; so many degree programmes are now run online without students seeing the four walls of a classroom. We can now also run virtual meetings without the participants physically coming together.
February 23 is a special day in the Rotary calendar because that was the day in 1905 that Rotary, a global humanitarian service organisation, was founded by Paul Harris, a Chicago attorney. The Rotary family worldwide marks the day with different activities. Here in District 9110 Nigeria, a public lecture had been planned for February 23 – venue booked; chairman, guest speaker, discussants confirmed and invitation cards printed. When we received news of the postponement, the planning committee of the event immediately reached out to all our guests to confirm a new date that was not agreeable to some of them for obvious reasons. In fact, our guest speaker and chair of the occasion have scheduled trips outside Nigeria but we had to appeal to them to accommodate the new date. Please begin to count the cost of the postponement – economic activities that are grounded at a time the economy is coming out of recession; lost time, anger, frustration, disappointment and so on. Next Saturday, we are required to just vote and sit at home; no economic activity will take place. Each time the economy is shut down, commercial activities cannot take place and the country bleeds.
I have friends who travelled so they could vote where they registered and you can imagine their sense of frustration and negative reactions to the postponement. The same thing can be said of election monitors/observers and journalists on assignment around the country and wedding ceremonies and other events shifted from February 16 to February 23 because of the elections. I have checked with family and friends in different places, it is the same story of woes and disappointment everywhere. What will be the impact of the postponement on the elections now scheduled for February 23? Your guess is as good as mine.
I watched Prof Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chair, on television announcing the postponement of the elections and I was not impressed. I could tell from his body language that he was not sure whether he was doing the right thing – he did not appear convinced; he looked disengaged, distracted and worried. The INEC chair said the postponement was a very difficult but inevitable decision for them to take but the last minute decision is very suspicious. Prof Yakubu, the postponement at the time is was announced damages the credibility of the entire electoral process and makes us look very bad on the world stage.
How do you plan for an election that has a cycle of four years and issues of postponement would arise in this day and age? I thought it would be different this time because Prof Yakubu and his colleagues ought to know the implications of the postponement in a country where we are highly suspicious of each other. This is the same man who said many times over that there would be no postponement because INEC was fully ready to conduct the elections. So, what do we believe? As a friend noted, this is Nigeria and anything can happen.
This is precisely why we should begin to ask ourselves very hard questions about building strong institutions that can stand the test of time and protect the integrity of our democracy as well as the future of our children. The good news is that Nigerians – both at home and abroad – are becoming more aware of the roles we all have to play in the task of building a better country. The stakes in this election and in every subsequent election would be high because of the increased awareness – we need redemption to change the culture of engagement that would lead to progress and a better society.
It has never happened before in the history of this country that you will find several young presidential aspirants seeking to make a difference in the way the affairs of this country is run; it’s a new culture taking root and I can predict that in the foreseeable future, the scale will tilt in favour of these ‘angry young men and women’ with winning mindsets who are determined to chart a new course for Nigeria. More of their tribe would change the narrative that ‘politics is a dirty game’; instead of staying away from politics, this new generation who live on ideas day and night would go into politics and take control of the destiny of our country because the world runs on ideas. Their mandate would be to tackle key issues such as unemployment, poverty and a stagnating economy.
Their number one goal, in my view, would be to dismantle the so called ‘vested interests’ holding the rest of us captive and this characteristic was demonstrated by some of the young presidential aspirants during their campaigns and media interviews – you could feel their energy, sense of purpose and vision for a better Nigeria. The answer to Nigeria’s numerous problems will come from Nigerians – and that would be very soon. It might take some time to build a critical mass required but it will surely happen. May God bless Nigeria.
Braimah is public relations and marketing strategist based in Lagos
Opinion
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Ehi Braimah
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99t-have-kind-money-i-can-steal-says-tinubu target=_blank>AUDIO: Buhari Doesn’t Have The Kind Of Money I Can Steal, Says Tinubu
Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been captured on audio saying President Muhammadu Buhari doesn’t have the kind of money he can steal.
The former Lagos Governor said this in an audio recording of an event that seemed to have taken place on February 14, 2019, during which he addressed a crowd of supporters and told them whoever could mobilise votes would be adequately compensated for their efforts.
He made reference to President Muhammadu Buhari, stating that the latter did not have the kind of money required for “mobilisation” of voters.
He also made reference to the elections in Osun, noting that his efforts on it paid off.
Speaking in Yoruba, he said: “Today is Valentine’s Day, the day of love. Today is for the women. They said I must put on this cap and I had to because of you, the women. This is the cap of the children of our mother, the children of Okoro, (and he greets the crowd ‘Igbo kwenu!)
“Let’s make things snappy because I still have to attend another meeting before I go to Abuja. Those of you that say you come to Bourdillon for mobilisation, it’s mobilisation we’re doing here. Or don’t you understand?
Video of #NigeriaDecides: Tinubu Caught On Tape Promising To 'Pay Money That Will Surprise' Voters
#NigeriaDecides: Tinubu Caught On Tape Promising To ‘Pay Money That Will Surprise’ Voters
#NigeriaDecides: Tinubu Caught On Tape Promising To ‘Pay Money That Will Surprise’ Voters…
“Definitely, if you know people in your neighbourhood, who are our members, you should be able to call them out. If you’re a registered member, go out and vote. Vote and let it be much, and when I see the result, that’s when I’ll bring out money that is worthwhile for you. Even if your footwear is worn-out, as long as you can deliver on votes, I guarantee that I’ll pay you money that will surprise you. May we not lack!
“They said I used my mouth to speak anyhow. However, that rough-handedness paid off in Osun. They claimed that we brought candidates from Lagos to become governors in Osun; people like Aregbesola and Oyetola. If we train your children, and they become experts in their fields, won’t we ask them to come home to make things better? How much is your money that I’ll embezzle? You can’t match my pocket. I told them so, and their traditional rulers were seated. They were even recording the incident and published it. Let me not say something like that again today. However, Buhari doesn’t have the kind of money I can steal, neither does he have the money I can collect. He doesn’t even have the money for Lagos votes. So, whatever I promise, it’s for real and is coming from my pocket. It’s not until I go to Alausa before I get money to give you.”
Corruption
Money
Politics
Scandal
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>CISLAC Wants National Assembly To Urgently Investigate Postponement Of Elections
The Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) has called on the National Assembly to “urgently investigate” the postponement of the 2019 elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The demand was contained in a statement sent to SaharaReporters by Auwal Ibrahim Musa Rafsanjani, the Executive Director of the organisation, on Sunday.
CISLAC, which is the branch of Transparency International in Nigeria, said it is perturbed by the sudden postponement, and accused the electoral body of abuse of its independent powers.
The statement read: “We are not unaware of systemic conflict of interests and questionable procurement process imbibed by the various positions in the Commission creating tendency for mutual sabotage among the three (3) levels of appointees—National Commissioners, RECs and appointed relatives to the Directors in various Departments.
“We are concerned by the wastages and losses the postponement would have caused the country, civil society and international community that have committed whopping financial and human resources to deployment and observation missions to ensure free, fair and credible elections that will be acceptable to all.
“Given large presence of youth deployment for anchoring electoral processes and international electoral observation missions across the country, such abrupt postponement is a huge setback to our nation’s democracy which may breed electoral apathy and distrust at all levels.
“With the new electoral dates, giving the space of a week extension, we are as well worried for the safety and integrity and security of elections materials which have been disseminated across the country.
“We therefore call on the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency constitute an ad hoc Committee to investigate the sudden postponement to clear the Commission of public doubt that her decision was not informed by desperate desires of unjust individuals or groups, who want to assume or sustain power by all illegitimate means.
“We demand adequate security for both materials and human resources deployed by the Commission so far to the field to avert susceptibility to violations and attacks by unpatriotic individuals or groups across the country.”
The group also called on INEC to apologise to Nigerians and international observers for the postponement.
“We call on the Commission to tender unreserved apologies to Nigerian and international observers, who have committed their time, presence and financial resources to monitor the electoral process with assurance that elections would hold as earlier scheduled. These apologies must also be rendered to Nigerian voters who have invested time and resources to sacrifice the day for them to discharge their civic responsibility.
“We demand immediate assurances by the Commission that the new electoral date—February 23rd—is certain, and the distributed sensitive materials will be kept under appropriate supervision and security till the new date.
“We further encourage civil society groups, media, national and international observation missions to sustain surveillance on the electoral process to promote free, fair and credible elections that will be acceptable to all.”
Elections
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>El-Rufai: Those Politicising Kajuru Killings Are ‘Irresponsible, Bigoted Busy Bodies’
Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, says those minimising the casualty figures or denying the killings in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state, are “bigoted busy bodies”.
He also condemned the “attempts to politicise the killing”, stating that “only irresponsible and insensitive people can recklessly dismiss the deaths of members of a community with whom they have no contact”.
On Friday, February 13, 2019, el-Rufai had announced that 66 people lost their lives in an attack that occurred in Kajuru.
However, the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) have insisted that the Governor gave false information on the incident.
Meanwhile, a statement by Samuel Aruwan, the Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to the Governor, dismissed the claims, stressing that they are “specious arguments”.
The statement, issued on Sunday, read: “The Kaduna State Government notes the concerted and apparently coordinated efforts by bigoted busy bodies to deny the Kajuru killings, or to minimise the casualty figures, and the specious arguments being deployed in this despicable quest. The Kaduna State Government condemns in the strongest terms attempts to politicise the killings. Only irresponsible and insensitive people can recklessly dismiss the deaths of members of a community with whom they have no contact. Private individuals and unelected actors cannot be allowed to reduce weighty matters of state security to the province of their limited networks, inexperienced lenses and narrow agendas.
“The government of a state cannot be detained by parochial, ethno-religious, partisan or electoral calculations from doing its duty to provide security, confirm incidents of security breaches, take steps to reassure affected communities and ensure that perpetrators are arrested and brought to justice.”
El-Rufai was also said to have visited the scenes of the Kajuru killings on Saturday, accompanied by Major-General Faruk Yahaya, GOC 1 Division of the Nigerian Army, Air Cmdr. I. Sani of the Nigerian Air Force, Police Commissioner Ahmad Abdurrahman, State Director of the SSS, A.I. Koya, and Cafra Caino,Chairman of Kajuru local government council.
He also warned against reprisals and urged communities to shun violence and respect the right of everyone to live in peace.
According to the statement, “Gen. Yahaya briefed the governor on the recovery of 66 corpses by soldiers in the Maro and Iri axis of Kajuru local government. The general conducted the governor around the scenes of the crime which were littered with the burnt wrecks of buildings and dead animals.
“Police Commissioner Ahmad Abdurrahman confirmed that some arrests had been made in connection with the incident and that the suspects will be charged to court as soon as investigations are completed.
“Before visiting the scene of the killings, the governor, accompanied by the security chiefs, stopped in Kasuwan Magani for a meeting with village heads and community leaders from Kajuru LGA.”
CRIME
Insurgency
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>El-Rufai ‘Deliberately Orchestrated’ The Killings To Inflame Yet Another Cycle Of Bloodshed, Says SOKAPU
The Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has accused Nasir el-Rufai, Governor of Kaduna State, of plans to “produce yet another cycle of bloodshed”, as a result of his comments on the killing of people in Kajuru Local Government Area of the state.
El-Rufai had announced the deaths on Friday, hours before the presidential and National Assembly elections.
See Also
Breaking News
BREAKING: Sixty-Six Killed In Kaduna On Eve Of Presidential Election
0 Comments
2 Days Ago
However, the Kaduna chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), as well as the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), say the Governor lied, as the killing occurred days before it was announced.
See Also
Politics
‘It Was A Rumour To Instigate Violence’ — CAN, NEMA Say el-Rufai Lied About Killing Of 66 People In Kaduna
0 Comments
13 Hours Ago
In similar fashion, SOKAPU also noted that the Governor’s claims were not true, as the killings occurred on Sunday, February 10, 2019, and lasted till the following day.
A statement issued by Yakubu Kuzamani, National Public Relations Officer of SOKAPU, over the weekend, read: “The attention of the Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU) has been drawn to a report credited to Governor Nasir Ahmad el-Rufai over alleged killings of 66 Fulani in Kajuru Local Government Area. We are at a loss as to the real motive behind the governor’s disclosure, made public less than 24 hours before the commencement of national polls that were postponed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). We are of the view that el-Rufai’s comments over the Kajuru killings were deliberately orchestrated to inflame ethnic and religious sentiments to produce yet another cycle of bloodshed.
“SOKAPU has reached out to the various community leaders in Kajuru, including officials of the Adara Nation to ascertain what actually happened. On Sunday, February 10, 2019, the Adara natives residing in Ungwar Barde in Kufana District of Kajuru Local Government Area came under attack by gunmen suspected to be herdsmen. The attack lasted from 10pm of Sunday to 4am of Monday February 11, 2019. By the time the merchants of deaths and destructions were through with their mission, no fewer than 11 lives, including a pregnant woman, were lost. Scores of victims of the attack on Ungwar Barde sustained injuries, with some of them presently receiving treatment at some health facilities in the state capital. We have been informed that the attackers, seven of them in number, were arrested by a team of policemen. Sadly, not a statement was issued by el-Rufai over that gruesome attack on Ungwan Barde.
“Following the Sunday attack on Ungwan Barde, residents of Ungwan Busa and Doruwa located in Kajuru LGA deserted their villages for safety. Presently, the District Head of Kufana and four of his village heads, on the directive the governor, have been summoned to Kaduna and ordered to produce persons behind ‘reprisal attacks’. However, the monarchs have told their interrogators that they are unaware of any ‘reprisal attacks’ and, therefore, unable to identify persons behind such attacks. Apart from the 11 corpses of Adara natives that were killed during the Sunday attack, the community leaders have denied knowledge of any attack.
“Arising from the above, SOKAPU is shocked at the deliberate falsehood by el-Rufai who found it convenient not to inform the world of an earlier attack that claimed the lives of 11 Adara natives. SOKAPU is convinced that Governor el-Rufai is on an irrevocable journey of inflaming ethnic conflagration that has always been in line with his deliberate chronicle of profiling Southern Kaduna people as favourably disposed to violence.”
The group berated el-Rufai for deliberate attempt to incite violence and called on the Police and the Department of State Service (DSS) to carry out independent investigation and “tell the world the truth”.
The statement continued: “We wish to inform Nigerians and the world that it has always been in the character of the governor to promote violence through spreading hate speech for the advancement of his waning political survival. If the governor, who was aware that Adara natives were killed on Sunday, neglected to come public, then Nigerians and the world are well placed to understand the nebulous and evil motives of el-Rufai who once shocked Nigerians on national television that he had paid whopping sums of money to foreign herdsmen involved in attacking communities in Southern Kaduna.
“SOKAPU is calling on the Inspector General of Police and the Director of Department of State Service (DSS) to carry out an independent investigation and tell the world the truth of what actually happened in Kajuru. We are startled that it was the governor and not the police that announced the alleged killings in Kajuru. Let Nigerians and the world know that, should there be any breakdown of law and order in Kaduna State, Governor el-Rufai should be held responsible.
“We wish to appeal to Kaduna State people to remain calm and not react to any form of provocation, including the current attempt to incite ethnic and religious brushfire. We call on our people, comprising diverse ethnic members of various religious persuasions, to be steadfast in our collective resolve to stand together and not allow ourselves to be divided by this divisive governor. We call on men and women of good conscience to condemn el-Rufai’s dastardly antics as he attempts to goad our state down the slippery slope of yet another round of unprecedented crisis.”
CRIME
Insurgency
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
target=_blank>Those Who Had A Grip On INEC Have Inputted A Failure Mechanism Into It, Says Bayelsa Deputy Gov
Real Admiral John Jonah (rtd), Deputy Governor of Bayelsa State, has expressed disappointment over the postponement of the presidential and National Assembly elections, stating that it is a setback to the nation’s electoral process.
The elections were postponed hours before they were scheduled to begin on Saturday, February 16, 2019.
Speaking in his country home in Nembe Local Government Area of the state, Jonah said people who had a grip on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) have inputted a failure mechanism into the agency.
He urged the electorate to be patient and steadfast in ensuring the success of the elections. He, however, decribed the action of INEC as shameful and disappointing.
“The postponement is a setback to national development of the electoral process. It has shown that Nigeria has not learnt in the area of logistics management. I am ashamed as a person who has a deep knowledge of logistics management, especially in the build-up to the election process,” he said.
Jonah, who is the leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the area, said the indigenes of communities in Nembe had gathered en masse to cast their votes, before the report of the postponement filtered in.
“We had all gathered to cast our votes. We are here to win, but some persons who had a grip on INEC input a failure mechanism into INEC. I’m ashamed. What they have done is to delay the inevitable and the doomsday. They have built-in mechanism for INEC to fail. I feel disappointed,” he added.
He called on the PDP supporters and Nigerians to be calm, and not lose hope, adding that “They have the belief that the election is to choose the right people to represent them; they should be steadfast and vote the right candidate.”
Elections
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
‘Owned By An APC Candidate’ — PDP Asks INEC To Re-evaluate Card Readers
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called for a re-evaluation of the card readers expected to be used in the elections scheduled to hold on February 23 and March 9, 2019, respectively.
Uche Secondus, the PDP National Chairman, made the request in a letter addressed to Professor Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), dated February 17, 2019.
At a conference in Abuja on Saturday, the PDP through, Osita Chidoka, had raised concerns over the issue that a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) was behind the company that manufactured the card readers used for the elections.
In a follow-up letter on the matter, the PDP had called for independent assessment of the card readers, and went ahead to suggest two independent firms.
The letter read: “We would like to pass on our thanks to you and your staff for the robust response to the logistical challenges you faced that led to the election postponement and for explaining the issues as well as your implementation plan to ensure free, fair and credible elections hold on February 23rd and March 9th.
“We support your decision to ensure full national elections and resist pressure to implement a partial postponement which would not have been in the best interests of democracy in Nigeria.
“On behalf of the PDP and our Presidential Candidate, HE Atiku Abubakar, I would like to follow up on the two questions we raised and the answers you gave.
“1. We ask INEC to confirm that Activate Technologies Ltd will have no involvement in the collection and reconfiguration of any card readers when they are taken to state-level to have the new date and time of the 23rd of February election programmed into them? Your reply did not answer the question so we have to assume this company will.
“You stated that you were aware and have no issue with the fact that Mohammed S Musa is both a Senatorial Candidate and Owner of this company that produces highly sensitive election materials including Card Readers and PVCs. This goes against every international and Nigerian convention and law of nature – it is the equivalent of letting the fox into the hen coop or getting a student to answer their own homework.
“So we have two supplementary questions: i. Why would you not require an individual who is participating in an election in which he is providing the means to count his own vote demand immediately that his contract is terminated? ii. Furthermore, in the spirit of transparency that you stated today that INEC works to, why would you hire a company where the owner hides his ownership of the company through proxy shareholders?
“2. Will INEC allow independent verification that none of the potentially compromised card readers supplied by Active Technology Ltd in the polling units in the 10 effected States have not been tampered with? We thank you for agreeing to this and hereby provide two ICT and audit firms who have the expertise to evaluate whether the Card Readers have been compromised. We would be grateful if you could confirm which one is acceptable to INEC and make provision for them to have unfettered access between 18-21st February as they are brought to CBN offices in the following States to do tests on units selected at random. We also asked and you agreed whether independent verification that the sensitive materials returned to the CBN offices at State Level have not been tampered with. We believe it makes sense to appoint one company to verify both issues or on the issue of sensitive materials we can use the Party officials and Observers.
“i. KPMG ii. Price Waterhouse
“As promised I attach the list of Polling Units which have had Card Readers supplied by Activate Technology Limited which we believe may have been compromised to receive multiple fake PVCs, provide slower operation (in PDP strongholds to suppress our vote), count one card multiple times or other such manipulation. Once the audit firm is agreed we would want to agree their methodology and the minimum number of units to represent a statistically significant number. Given the short time frame this appointment we believe will need to be made by Monday 18th February.
“Finally, in the Press Conference you stated you have evidence of ‘sabotage’ so we would be grateful if you could confirm the specific incidents you have identified?
“Affording you my best personal wishes.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Featured Image
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
You can also check
