Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Wednesday 22nd January 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 22/01/20
Read also
Ondo Government Confirms 84 Lassa Fever Cases, 16 Deaths
Lassa Fever
Lassa Fever
At least 16 persons have died in the last two weeks in a fresh Lassa Fever outbreak in Ondo State.
Dr. Steven Fagbemi, an epidemiologist in Ondo, revealed this on Tuesday in Akure, the state capital, stressing that the figure was among 84 cases already recorded.
Fagbemi noted that 47 patients were currently on admission at various government hospitals, adding that 21 persons among that number had been treated and discharged.
He said, “The 16 recorded deaths occurred at different local government areas when their cases had reached advance stages.”
Dr Yahaya Disu, a coodinator with the Nigerian Center for Disease Control, said Lassa Fever cases had been recorded in Owo, Akoko South-West, Akure South and Ondo West local government areas.
PUBLIC HEALTH
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
EXCLUSIVE: Nigeria’s Chief Of Naval Staff, Ibok Ibas, Allegedly Locks Up Navy Captain For Six Days In Toilet For Uncovering Fraudulent Act
Chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibok Ekwe Ibas, has been accused of locking up Navy Captain Emmanuel Ekpe Owen (NN1538) in toilet for six days after exposing his financial impropriety.
This was revealed in a 10-page petition to military authorities dated December 12, 2019 and signed by the victim, who is seeking justice.
The petition partly reads, “I regret to humbly state the victimisation and injustice of my person vide a petition on the present Chief of the Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ibot Ette Ibas, to the Commander-In-Chief of our great country Nigeria.
“The genesis of my problem with the present CNS could be traced to 1995 and 1996 when we were on national assignment in Liberia under the Economic Community of West African States Monitoring Group.”
A source familiar with the matter told SaharaReporters that Owen was assigned to ECOMOG as Supply Officer in 1996.
The Nigerian Naval Ship AMBE was said to have been assigned to ECOMOG fleet under the command of Retd Captain Dada Labinjo (then commander), with present CNS (Ibas) then a Lieutenant Commander and second in command.
On one of NNS AMBE’s trip to Nigeria in 1996 for Back Loading Military Ordinance, five officers and 33 ratings were dropped from the ship and assigned to various duties at Western Naval Command, Apapa, Lagos.
It was gathered that a total of 45 personnel were left onboard NNS AMBE, which eventually returned to Moronvia, Liberia, for continuation of ECOMOG duties.
The source said Captain Owen stumbled on the allowance file for the personnel onboard at the time and discovered that the present CNS had inflated the names of personnel to 85 instead of 45 with various rates attached to each recipient and already paid.
It was gathered that Owen summoned courage and confronted Ibas about the issue, insisting that the discrepancies in the ECOMOG allowance could put the ship in trouble and embarrass the Nigerian Navy.
Upon realising that Owen was in the know of his financial malfeasance with respect to the disbursement of allowances for 85 personnel instead of 45, Ibas ordered him locked inside a toilet for six days.
Ibas went further to accuse Owen of all sorts of offences including dereliction of duty.
At the moment, Ibas is said to be deliberately refusing to promote Owen but instead pencilled him down for early retirement next week.
Normally, Owen is expected to proceed on retirement in 2026.
The CNS is said to be responsible for the ordeal of Labinjo and his wife, who were detained for one year in an underground cell.
They have now been transferred to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for prosecution.
When SaharaReporters contacted spokesperson for the Navy, Suleiman Dahun, over the matter, he said he was not aware of the incident and declined further comments.
Corruption
Military
Exclusive
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Abuja: Police Allegedly Kill Passerby In Attempt To Disperse Shiite Protesters
The remains of the victim
The injured passersby
The remains of the victim
SaharaReporters Media
A middle-aged man has been shot dead by the police in Abuja during a protest by members of Islamic Movement in Nigeria popularly known as ‘Shiites’.
The incident occurred at the Berger roundabout on Tuesday when armed policemen opened fire on the protesters.
It was gathered that the victim was hit by bullet on the head and died on the spot.
Another person was said to have been shot on the leg.
As at time of filing this report, the area had been deserted as people ran for fear of being hit by police bullets.
The injured passersby
SaharaReporters Media
Secretary of the Academic Forum of the Movement, Abdullahi Musa, confirmed to SaharaReporters that the victim was not their member.
He went ahead to condemn the brutality of the police for killing an innocent citizen for just no reason.
Calls put across to the Public Relations Officer of the FCT Command, Anjuguri Manzal, were not answered.
Human Rights
Police
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Amnesty International Condemns Killing Of Adamawa CAN Chairman
Amnesty International has urged the Nigerian Government to ensure that Boko Haram and other terrorist groups involved in crimes against humanity must not go unpunished.
AI said this in reaction to the killing of Rev. Lawan Andimi, Chairman of a local chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria by Boko Haram.
The rights group, in a statement, said it is appalled by the killing of Andimi, adding that the government must ensure that every member of the terrorist group must be brought to justice.
Amnesty said, “With this horrific murder and an increasing number of attacks in recent weeks, Boko Haram has again shown its brazen disregard for the sanctity of life.
“These deplorable crimes must not go unpunished.
“It is appalling that Boko Haram followed up the killing of Rev. Andimi on Monday with an attack on his village — in Chibok Local Government Borno State. Targeting civilians is a crime under international law.
“Boko Haram must immediately stop its attacks on civilians. All those responsible for war crimes and other human rights violations and abuses in Nigeria must be brought to justice in a fair trial.
“The Nigerian authorities must re-double their efforts to rescue the hundreds of civilians still detained by Boko Haram.
“Since December last year, Boko Haram has been escalating attacks on civilians, commuters, infrastructure and humanitarian facilities across North-East.”
Boko Haram
Insurgency
Terrorism
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
BREAKING: Nine Imo Lawmaker Defect To APC
Nine lawmakers in the Imo State House of Assembly has defected to the All Progressives Congress.
The lawmakers, who defected on Tuesday, used to be members of the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Grand Alliance, and Action Alliance.
Speaker of the state assembly, Collins Chiji, read their letters of defection on the floor of the house.
The lawmakers are Authur Egwim (Ideato North) from AA to APC; Chyna Iwuanyanwu(Nwangele), PDP; Chidiebere Ogbunikpa(Okigwe), PDP; Obinna Okwara(Nkwerre), AA; and Paul Emeziem (Onuimo) also from PDP to APC.
Others are Ekene Nnodimele (Orsu) from APGA to APC, Johnson Duru (Ideato South), AA; Ngozi Obiefule (Isu) AA; and Heclus Okorocha (Ohaji/Egbema) from PDP to APC.
Politics
Breaking News
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Declaration Of Causes: Why Yoruba Will Leave Nigeria By Bayo Oluwasanmi
Bayo Oluwasanmi
Bayo Oluwasanmi
This is Nigeria’s end time. The tyrannical regime of General Muhammadu Buhari will give way to secession. In the absence of a unifying national interest, Nigeria has become fragmented, lawless, disorderly, dangerous, and seemingly unliveable.
Predictions about the breakup of Nigeria have reached its crescendo. The Fulani controlled federal government headed by General Buhari continues to thumb its nose at Yorubas. With the formation of Amotekun, the Western Nigeria Security Network, Yorubas have obviously stated their declaration of causes why they will leave Nigeria.
In the declaration of causes, two major themes emerged: domination and internal colonisation. Other grievances include economic exploitation and blatant display of injustice. The Fulanis have never hidden their agenda to dominate the rest of the country. By October 1, it would be 60 years of independence from the Brits. Out of the 60 years, the Fulanis have been in charge of the central government for more than 40 years.
It means the control, misuse, and misappropriation of our collective God-given resources. It means the monopoly of federal government political appointments and federal agencies. Immigration, prison, customs, railways, EFCC, CCT, ICPC, FIRS, NTA, FRCN, federal civil service are headed by Fulanis. 99.99 per cent of federal judges are Fulanis. All the security agencies – military, navy, SSS or DSS, police, are controlled by Fulanis. Above all, the Fulani control of federal bureaucracy, agencies, and corporations mean utter waste of generations unborn and truncation of destinies.
Internally, the domination of Fulanis is on full speed. With the moral, spiritual, financial support, power, and influence of the presidency, the Fulani herdsmen terrorists killed, maimed, and raped our people. Appeasing the terrorists, General Buhari urged victims of Fulani carnage to learn to live in peace with their neighbours. The Northerners acting like custodians and owners of the presidency, gleefully thundered that “with Amotekun, Yorubas should forget the presidency in 2023. They even went further to demand that General Buhari the Commander-in-Chief of Fulani terrorists, should arrest Yoruba leaders because of Amotekun.
Yoruba Declaration of Causes include but not limited to the following why Yoruba is ready to leave Nigeria:
1. Nigeria is convulsed by internal violence. Yorubas are no longer safe. Nigeria can no longer deliver positive political goods to our people.
2. General Buhari’s tyrannical regime has lost its legitimacy, and by extension, Nigeria has become illegitimate.
3. Nigeria enjoys no stability and predictability. No one is in charge. Our democracy has turned dictatorship. Nothing works in Nigeria. Everything is in disarray.
4. All the ethnic groups are tense, deeply conflicted, dangerous, and contested bitterly by warring factions. There’s unprecedented disharmonies between communities and among states.
5. Nigeria is no longer or willing to perform its fundamental jobs of a nation-state. Nigeria exhibits flawed and failed institutions. Only the institution of the executive functions. If legislatures exist at all, they are rubber stamp machines. The judiciary is an annex of Aso Rock. We can no longer rely on the court system for redress or remedy.
6. Corruption flourishes on an unusually destructive scale. There’s a vacuum of authority. Nigeria is a mere geographical expression.
7. Nigeria is cursed by the discovery of oil. Failure and collapse of Nigeria is man-made. Ethnicity, economics, and ideology all fuelled our decision to leave Nigeria.
There’s no shortage of groups that want Nigeria to split up. Far from the contrary opinion of the Fulanis, secession is a populist option, it’s not a collection of cranky lonesome idealists. Nigeria is a phony country built on borrowed convenience. The looming secession will tear Nigeria to pieces. The pandemic, or an economic collapse, is driving the country to sauve qui peut secession – “let him save himself who can.”
Yorubas have no trust in General Buhari’s Nigeria. We don’t feel represented or belong in the Nigeria experiment. The only way to regain our socioeconomic and political destiny is to leave Nigeria and chart a brand new country that will guarantee our pursuit of happiness, liberty, peace, progress, and prosperity.
Under international law, Yorubas are qualified as “people” who have the right to self-determination, the ability to freely determine our political fate and form a representative government. Yoruba en masse really and truly want to secede, so legal arguments would be irrelevant. The present arrangement, the present General Buhari’s regime are not conducive to our freedom and democracy. We must leave the jungle!
If other nations broke up successfully, why would the Fulanis think Nigeria’s case is etched in stone? Here are some successful secessions:
Algeria broke away from France. East Timor seceded from Indonesia. Eritrea left Ethiopia. Bangladesh broke away from Pakistan. Uruguay left Brazil. Greece and Serbia left Ottoman Empire. South Sudan left Sudan. And Panama left Colombia. Let’s go there!
Opinion
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Bayo Oluwasanmi
Disable advertisements
:
BREAKING: Supreme Court Affirms Fintiri As Governor Of Adamawa
The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed Ahmadu Fintiri as the authentic governor of Adamawa State.
The apex court dismissed an appeal by candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Jibrilla Bindo, challenging the emergence of Fintiri as winner of the exercise for lacking in merit and failing to prove why its verdict should not stand.
Politics
Breaking News
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Organiser Of Nigerian Legal Awards Arraigned Over N20m Fraud
Lere Fashola
Lere Fashola
TodayNG
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arraigned Chief Executive Officer of Legal Blitz Ltd, Mr Lere Fashola, over N20m theft and issuance of dud cheques before Justice Sherifat Sholebo of Lagos Special Offences Court, Ikeja.
Fashola and Legal Blitz Ltd were arraigned on a three-count charge of stealing and issuance of dud cheques.
First defendant, Fashola, is the publisher of ESQ Legal Practice magazine and convener of the annual Esquire Nigerian Legal Awards, which honours outstanding lawyers across the country.
The Advanced Fee Fraud Section of the EFCC said the lawyer was arrested following a petition by Mr Adeyemi Adebola alleging that he obtained the N20m under false pretence in a property transaction upon representation that the property was assigned to the firm “by the dependents and administrators of the Estate of Alhaji Ganiyu Balogun”.
The property is located at Plot 732. Block XXVII (27), Omole Residential Scheme, Phase 2, Isheri in Kosofe Local Government Area of Lagos.
EFCC counsel, Mrs Joy Amahian, said Fashola and Legal Blitz Ltd between January 5, 2018 and February 28, 2018, in Lagos, “dishonestly converted to your own use the sum of N20m, property of Mr Adeyemi Adebola.”
It said the defendants’ conduct amounted to “stealing, contrary to Sections 278 (1) (f) and 285 (1) of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.”
The prosecutor also alleged that the defendants in the same period in Lagos “knowing that you had no sufficient fund in your Diamond Bank Plc account, issued cheque No. 53160448 dated June 4, 2018 in the sum of N10,000,000 (Ten Million Naira Only) as a refund in favour of Mr Adeyemi Adebola, which upon presentation was returned unpaid for lack of funds.”
Fashola also allegedly issued another dud cheque on July 4, 2018 which was also returned unpaid for lack of funds.
The prosecutor said issuance of dud cheque contravened Section 1(l)(b) and (i) of the Dishonoured Cheques Act of 2004.
Justice Solebo ordered that the award organiser be remanded in a correctional facility.
“Pending the hearing and the determination of the bail application, the defendant is ordered to be remanded at the correctional facility,” Justice Solebo said.
The case was adjourned until February 10, 2020 for hearing of the bail application.
Corruption
Legal
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
BREAKING: Supreme Court Affirms Ortom’s Election Victory
The Supreme Court on Tuesday affirmed the October 7, 2019 decision of the Benue State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, and the November 28, 2019 judgment of the Appeal Court, which upheld the election of Samuel Ortom as governor of the state.
In a unanimous ruling, a 7-man panel led by Justice Bode Rhodes Vivour held that the appeal by Emmanuel Jime and the All Progressives Congress was lacking in merit.
Politics
Breaking News
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Saraki Urges Court To Vacate Forfeiture Order On Property
Former President of the Nigerian Senate and two-term Kwara State governor, Bukola Saraki, has urged the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss a suit filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission praying for the permanent forfeiture of his Ilorin houses.
Saraki described the suit as an abuse of court process and a move to scandalise him.
He argued that it was a ploy by the EFCC to review the July 6, 2018 decision of the Supreme Court “discharging the applicant from culpability arising from the same money and houses which are the subject matter of this action.”
The EFCC had in the suit filed before Justice Rilwan Aikawa claimed that the houses – Plots No. 10 and No. 11 Abdulkadir Road, GRA, Ilorin, Kwara State – were acquired with proceeds of unlawful activities allegedly perpetrated by Saraki while he was Kwara State governor between 2003 and 2011.
Justice Aikawa had on December 2, 2019 ordered the temporary forfeiture of the houses to the Federal Government.
The judge adjourned for Saraki to appear before him to give reasons why the houses should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
In response, Saraki, through his lawyer, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), filed a preliminary objection, challenging the territorial jurisdiction of the court to entertain the suit.
Ogunwumiju said the new suit by the EFCC was an abuse of court processes because it was filed at a time when a suit on the same subject matter was still pending before the Federal High Court in Abuja.
According to him, in the Abuja suit, Justice Taiwo Taiwo had on May 14, 2019 made an order for parties to stay action on the subject matter pending the determination of an originating motion on notice.
The ex-Kwara governor said the new EFCC’s suit was meant to “irritate, annoy and scandalise” him and urged Justice Aikawa to dismiss it.
The judge on Tuesday adjourned until February 5 to take arguments on Saraki’s objection.
Corruption
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Read also
You can also check
