Sahara Reporters Latest News Thursday 7th November 2019
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 07/11/19
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Detained Journalist, Agba Jalingo, Seeks Modification Of Order Given To Mask Witnesses
Lawyers representing Agba Jalingo have filed an application seeking to modify the order of the court, which granted leave to the prosecution to mask its witnesses.
Justice Simon Amobeda of the Federal High Court, Calabar, Cross River State, had on October 23 granted the request of the Nigerian Government allowing it to hide the identities of the seven witnesses listed to testify against Jalingo.
Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika (SAN), counsel to Jalingo, said that the defense was relying on the ruling of the court, which said the terms can be modified from time to time.
In his argument, Olumide-Fusika submitted that, “In making that pronouncement, the proof of evidence which is before your lordship shows that the identities and location of witnesses number 1 to 6 are incapable of being hidden considering that they are materials already on the proof of evidence.”
Continuing, he said the allegation that someone threatened should not have been heard as there was no way a witness not known to the defense could have been threatened.
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Masked Witnesses To Testify Against Journalist Agba Jalingo
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The prosecution had claimed that a witness was threatened on August 28, 2019; six days into the detention of Jalingo but the charges were filed on August 30, a situation Olumide-Fusika argued was not possible.
However, the prosecution counsel, Dennis Tarhemba, objected to the application relying on section 232 subsection 2 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
He challenged the jurisdiction of the court to entertain the application.
He urged the court to dismiss the application of the defendant as well as award an N100,000 as cost of transportation for the seven witnesses, who were in court as the prosecution was ready to proceed.
However, Olumide-Fusika quickly objected, pointing out that the counsel to the prosecution had said only two witnesses were in court when the matter was called and appearances announced.
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Agba Jalingo Listed In World’s 10 ‘Most Urgent’ Cases Of Threats To Press Freedom
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He wondered why the list suddenly increased to seven.
In his ruling, Justice Amobeda adjourned to November 12 and 21, 2019 for ruling on the application and continuation of trial.
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Lagos Fire: ADP Charges Government, Firefighters To Be More Proactive In Combating Fire Incidences
Following a fire outbreak at Balogun Market in Lagos on Tuesday, the Action Democratic Party has called on the Federal Fire Service and government to be more proactive in combating fire disasters, which has now become rampant across major markets in recent times.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Prince Adelaja Adeoye, decried the rate of fire incidences in the country, noting that it was becoming alarming.
Adelaja said, “On the part of the government, there must be serious investment in the procurement of firefighting kits and training of firefighters, which should be stationed in strategic locations, markets and pubs across the country to immediately arrest any fire disaster especially now that the festive season is around the corner.
“Balogun Market is one of the busiest markets in Nigeria with several corporate organisations surrounding it, which should ordinarily have standby fire and other disaster management equipment, but that was not the case.
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Firefighters Still Battling To Contain Balogun Market Inferno
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The fire ravaged a section of the market for over seven hours before an attempt was made to put it out.”
The party commends the United Bank for Africa and others whose fire departments were helpful in the fight against the fire disaster.
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77-year-old Blind Man Arraigned For Allegedly Selling Indian Hemp In Osogbo
A 77-year-old visually-impaired man, Kareem Adebayo, was on Wednesday arraigned before a Magistrates’ Court sitting in Osogbo, Osun State, for alleged possession of a substance believed to be Indian hemp, according to a report by PUNCH.
Adebayo appeared before Magistrate Risikat Olayemi on two counts bordering on possession of Indian hemp.
The accused, it was learnt was caught on November 5, 2019, around 6.30pm with a bag containing a large quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp.
He was also alleged to have conducted himself in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.
The offences were said to be contrary to and punishable under Sections 430, 249 (d) of the Criminal Code Cap 38c volume 11 laws of Osun State of Nigeria, 2003.
The accused pleaded not guilty when the charges were read to him.
Addressing the court, police prosecutor, Rachael Idowu, explained that the accused had been arrested twice in the past by operatives of National Drug Law Enforcement Agency and made to face trial during, which he spent several months in remand.
But upon regaining freedom, Idowu said Adebayo would return to the business of dealing in illicit drugs.
The accused did not have legal representative when he was arraigned.
Magistrate Olayemi in her ruling, transferred the case to Okuku Magistrate Court for mention on November 11, 2019 because the offences were committed in the Okuku Magisterial District.
She also said police should grant the accused bail because of his age and health status pending his arraignment.
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Buhari Denies Sidelining Osinbajo After Sacking VP’s Aides
President Muhammadu Buhari has rubbished talks that he had relegated Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, to the background in the running of critical aspects of the country in recent times.
The denial came shortly after Buhari approved the sacking of 35 aides of Osinbajo.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on National Assembly Matters (Senate), Senator Babajide Omoworare, on Wednesday in Abuja said that Buhari had not sidelined the VP by travelling outside the country without transmitting a letter to the National Assembly to empower Osinbajo to act as President while he was away.
Omoworare said, “He has no reason to do so. I don’t think there is any way or manner that the office of the Vice President has been relegated.
“The President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can work from anywhere he is in the world.”
On Monday, Chief of Staff to President Buhari, Abba Kyari, had reportedly taken a bill to him to sign in London, attracting criticisms from far and near.
As a way of countering those ‘missiles’ from enraged citizens, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, on Tuesday said that the President could “rule from anywhere”.
Buhari is currently away in the United Kingdom on a “private visit” – a trip observers say is for medical purpose.
A source in the Presidency, while confirming the sack of Osinbajo’s aides, said, “It is true that many of VP’s aides were given termination letters last night.
“However, I cannot confirm the exact number because it was not done in public. But you know it is political.”
Though both camps continue to deny any rift in their midst, observers maintain that a strong cabal within the Presidency was working tireless to reduce the influence of Osinbajo in the Buhari administration.In September, Buhari took away the Special Intervention Programmes from the VP’s office and handed it to the newly created Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development.The SIPs housed the Home-grown School Feeding Programme, Government Economic Empowerment Programme, N-Power and Trader Moni with an annual budgetary vote of N500bn.
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E2%80%98your-excellency%E2%80%99-only-god-says-lagos-governor-sanwo-olu I Am Not ‘Your Excellency,’ Only God Is, Says Lagos Governor, Sanwo-Olu
Governor of Lagos State, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has asked residents to stop addressing him as ‘Your Excellency’ because according to him, only God can be addressed that way.
In a statement on Wednesday, Sanwo-Olu said he preferred to be addressed simply as ‘Mr Governor’ to foster close ties with the people of Lagos he has been elected to serve.
He said, “It has come to my consciousness to review certain features of citizen-government relations which impede the genuine expression of the democratic spirit of our society and the meaningful exercise of the sovereignty of our people.
“The Office of the Governor has been celebrated as the paragon of excellence, a temple of perfection and a throne of purity.
“This demi-god mystique spreads over the entire machinery of the executive arm of government, symbolising an authoritarian disposition on the governed.
“It has deformed the orientation of elected and appointed persons who are paid from the taxes of the people to see themselves as oppressors who can do no wrong and must be served, rather than serve the people.
“Only God, the Almighty, the Creator, the Protector is the Most Excellent. No man can share His eternal qualities.
“Thenceforth, I wish to be addressed simply as Mr Governor, a title that will constantly remind me that I have been chosen out of so many fellow compatriots to lead a collective salvage of our political economy.
“To give official effect to this announcement, I shall issue tomorrow an executive order that will formally ensure full compliance with this new policy.”
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BREAKING: DSS Turns Back Bailiff, Sowore’s Lawyer After Perfection Of Bail, Says We Close At 3:30pm
Lawyers to pro-democracy activist and Publisher of Sahara Reporters, Omoyele Sowore, were unable to secure his release from the Department of State Services on Wednesday despite perfecting his bail condition and securing a court order to that effect.
Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court, Abuja, had issued an order directing the DSS to immediately release Sowore, and Olawale Bakare widely known as Mandate, after the two of them perfected their bail conditions.
However, upon arriving at the DSS facility around 4:30pm, the court’s bailiff alongside Sowore’s lawyers were turned back by the secret police, which claimed they had closed for the day since 3:30pm – one hour before the court official and lawyers arrived.
They agency said it could therefore no longer process the order for the day.
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Falana Expresses Confidence Sowore Will Be Released Today
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The court bailiff and Sowore’s lawyers were asked to return to the DSS facility on Thursday (tomorrow) by 10:30am to serve the order.
The DSS is charging Sowore on seven counts bordering on treasonable felony, cyberstalking President Muhammadu Buhari among other offences.
The defendants’ trial had been adjourned to December 5 and 6 for trial.
Sowore was arrested in Lagos on August 3, 2019 by the DSS for calling on Nigerians to take to the streets in peaceful protests to demand a better country from President Buhari’s administration.
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#Don’tForgetSowore: Timeline Of An Activist’s 90 Days In DSS Detention
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UAE Jets Suspected Of Being Behind Attack On Nigerian Migrants In Libya
Sources have told the BBC that fighter jets from the United Arab Emirates might have launched the precision missile, which killed nine Nigerians and 44 other migrants in Libya in June.
A confidential report to be presented to the United Nations Security Council on Wednesday did not name the country involved but said it is highly probable that a foreign jet launched the guided weapon on behalf of Khalifa Haftar’s Libyan National Army.
The report said, “An unknown number of Mirage 2000-9 fighter jets were operating from two airbases inside Libya at the time of the strike.
“It is highly probable that the air strike was carried out using precision-guided missiles by a fighter jet operated by a UN member state acting in direct support of Haftar Armed Forces.”
The UN mission in Libya said it shared the coordinates of migrant centres with both warring factions to avoid them making any collateral errors.
The UN said in September that it would repatriate about 4,000 migrants from Libya to Rwanda but it has been so far impossible to find out how many of them are Nigerians.
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E2%80%99s-planned-censorship-social-media Deji Adeyanju Condemns Buhari’s Planned Censorship Of Social Media
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Convener, Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, has rejected plans by the President Muhammadu Buhari administration to censor usage of the social media in the country.
Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, had on Tuesday said there was no going back on plans by the administration to regulate activities on social media in Nigeria.
But rejecting the move, Adeyanju in a post on Twitter, lambasted the Nigerian Senate for even considering a bill to censor the social media in the country.
He said, “We reject the attempt to censor the social media in Nigeria. This is a tyrannical legislation.
“We will mobilise Nigerians against the anti-social media bill just reintroduced in the National Assembly.We will mobilize Nigerians against the Anti Social Media Bill just reintroduced in the National Assembly. We killed it before & we must kill it once again. This is an assault on Freedom of Expression enshrined in section 39 of CFRN.— Comrade Deji Adeyanju (@adeyanjudeji) November 6, 2019
“We killed it before and we must kill it once again. This is an assault on freedom of expression enshrined in section 39 of CFRN.
“The anti-social media bill will affect everyone. It will take away our freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without government interference.”
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13 Suspected Rapists, Robbers Arrested In Zamfara
The police in Zamfara has said that it arrested 13 persons specialised in raping women as well as snatching cars and motorcycles.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, Commissioner of Police in the state, Usman Nagogo, said the suspects were arrested at different locations by operatives attached to the Operation Puff Adder unit.
According to him, the gang specialised in robbing victims of their vehicles at gunpoint and also rape their family members in their presence.
Nagogo added that four vehicles snatched and sold in the Niger Republic have so far been recovered by the police.
He said, “On October 4, Operation Puff Adder attached to Tudun Wada Division arrested the hoodlums who had been terrorising the people of Gusau and environs with criminal activities ranging from armed robbery, house/shop-breaking, snatching of vehicles/motorcycles at gunpoint.
“All the vehicles were stolen at gunpoint and in some of the robberies, women were raped and subjected to all forms of humiliation.”
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Nigerian Woman Steals Identities Of Over 20 Women In Canada To Commit Large-scale Fraud
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A Nigerian woman, Deborah Oguntoyinbo, is currently being investigated In Canada for stealing the identities of over 20 women in the Toronto area in the last two years alone.
Described as one of the most prolific identity thieves ever encountered by the York Regional Police, Oguntoyinbo is also facing more than 50 fraud-related charges in Toronto as well as nearby York, Peel and Halton regions, according to court records.
A CBC News investigation has uncovered details about Oguntoyinbo after she was recently arrested following an attempt to flee a luxury apartment complex in Toronto where she had tried to rent a condo with the proceeds of fraud.
York Region Police allege that Oguntoyinbo tried to rent the condo using the name Natalia Bozic and a forged certified cheque.
Bozic, 24, a self-employed esthetician from Mississauga, Ontario, reported that someone used her personal information to get into her bank account, applied for loans and credit cards, changed all her passwords and wreaked havoc on her life.
The bank told her $1,200 was stolen from her account.
She said, “It was June 10, and it told me to call the phone number listed. So I called them, and they told me to come to the bank.
“They investigated and put my account on freeze. They told me nobody can put money in and nobody can take money out.
“Someone reset passwords, reset security questions, reset my phone to a new phone number, created a new email address so I don’t get notified my password changed.”
Twice more, money was drained from Bozic’s account. Some was sent to a bank account in Vancouver. In all, about $4,000 went missing, according to bank records.
Police in Halton, further west, have accused her of stealing the identities of 11 people.
Toronto police say they have two outstanding arrest warrants for Oguntoyinbo in connection with the thefts of two identities and other frauds.
The police said the young Nigerian lady used stolen cheques to buy a Mercedes Benz and a BMW.
They also seized numerous forged drivers’ licences, social insurance numbers and passports in the names of other people from her.
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