Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 23rd October 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 23/10/20
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Bandits Kidnap Family, Slaughter One Person, Steal Valuables In Katsina Attacks
Gunmen suspected to be bandits have attacked Sabon Gida residential quarters on the outskirts of Katsina metropolis, kidnapping a man, his wife and their two children in the early hours of Wednesday.
According to Katsina Post, the gunmen later released the husband and the two children but the wife identified as Hajiya Rayya was still with them.
In a similar event, suspected Fulani bandits rustled more than 50 bulls and carted away 17 motorcycles in an attack on Thursday around 1:00am at Rafin Iwa community under Sabuwa Local Governnent Area.
This is in addition to another attack by the suspected bandits earlier on Wednesday around 11:00pm at Albasun Alhaji Iro Dantaushi community in the same LGA where they killed one person called Danmalam.
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Despite Contrary Evidence, President Buhari Accuses #ENDSARS Protesters Of Looting, Killings
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has accused #ENDSARS protesters of being behind the looting and killings in the country in recent days.
This is despite video and pictorial evidence revealing #ENDSARS protests have been peaceful and have not caused any harm.
President Muhammadu Buhari
The President in his nationwide broadcast on Thursday night, said protesting Nigerians abused the democratic rights to demonstrate and are engaging in vandalism and destruction of properties.
Buhari noted that there was no way whatsoever to connect these bad acts to legitimate expression of grievance of the youth of Nigeria.
He said, “The result of this is clear to all observers: human lives have been lost; acts of sexual violence have been reported; two major correctional facilities were attacked and convicts freed; public and private properties completely destroyed or vandalised; the sanctity of the palace of a peacemaker, the Oba of Lagos has been violated.
“So-called protesters have invaded an international airport and in the process disrupted the travel plans of fellow Nigerians and our visitors.
“All these executed in the name of the ENDSARS protests. I am indeed deeply pained that innocent lives have been lost. These tragedies are uncalled for and unnecessary.”
Recall that government-sponsored thugs seized the protests to foment trouble in different states across the country.
Many peaceful demonstrators were killed in the process while public properties were damaged by the thugs.
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E2%80%99s-speech-reveals-he-remains-heartless-adamant-says-african-action President Buhari’s Speech Reveals He Remains Heartless, Adamant, Says African Action Congress
The African Action Congress has condemned the speech by President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, saying it revealed he was heartless and adamant.
AAC knocked the President for failing to commiserate with victims of the shooting by the Nigerian Army.
The party added that while the President’s speech was welcomed with so much expectations, he further showed that he detests democracy.
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BREAKING: President Buhari Fails To Talk About Lekki Killings, Says Nigerians Took Scrapping Of SARS As Weakness By His Administration
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Oshioks Philips, National Organising Secretary of AAC, in a statement said, “In all the minutes of the much expected speech of President Buhari amidst the current revolts and state-sponsored counter violence, there is no mention of condolence with the #LekkiMassacre.
“This means that President Buhari and the Lagos State Government must have ordered the killings. No wonder the army has called the videos of the #LekkiMassacre “a photoshop by children”.
“A sensitive government would have been modest enough to admit guilt as obvious evidences show that the massacre was planned.
“But Buhari keeps insulting the protests and abusing people’s rights to say no to a system that have turned the country to the world headquarters of poverty.
“AAC is not disappointed as there the regime has shown that it is bereft of conscience and keeps to its avowed fascism.
“We know that the Buhari regime detests democracy and is hell-bent in forcing Nigeria to war.”
The party avowed that the Buhari-led government will be defeated by the people’s unity of purpose and actions.
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#EndSARS: Get Facts Right Before Making Hasty Pronouncements, President Buhari Tells US, UK, Others
President Muhammadu Buhari
President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the United States of America, United Kingdom, Canada and other countries in the developed world to make adequate findings before commenting on issues going on in Nigeria.
Buhari disclosed this on Thursday night after being forced to address Nigerians following days of peaceful protests that eventually plunged into violence and killings after armed thugs and security operatives were unleashed on demonstrators demanding an end to police brutality in the country.
President Muhammadu Buhari
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In the wake of the attacks on peaceful protesters and Buhari’s silence, the US, UK, Canada and others, who condemned the killings, called on the Nigerian Government to address the demands of the young citizens asking for a better country.
Prominent persons around the world including a former US President, Bill Clinton, Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, and United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres also condemned the attack on peaceful protesters.
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BREAKING: President Buhari Fails To Talk About Lekki Killings, Says Nigerians Took Scrapping Of SARS As Weakness By His Administration
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As a result of the crisis, the United States shut its Consular office in Lagos while Delta Airlines cancelled three flights earlier scheduled to fly out and come into Nigeria within the period.
But describing the position of these countries on the issue as “hasty pronouncements”, Buhari said his administration will continue to take decisions that are best for the country.
He said, “On Monday 12th October, I acknowledged the genuine concerns and agitations of members of the public regarding the excessive use of force by some members of SARS.
“To our neighbours in particular, and members of the international community, many of whom have expressed concern about the ongoing development in Nigeria, we thank you and urge you all to seek to know all the facts available before taking a position or rushing to judgment and making hasty pronouncements.
“Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests.
“We will continue to improve good governance and our democratic process, including through sustained engagement.
“We shall continue to ensure that liberty and freedom, as well as the fundamental rights of all citizens are protected.”
On Tuesday, Nigerian Army personnel killed over 10 peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate area of Lagos, sparking a national and global outrage that saw angry citizens turn their anger on public buildings and infrastructure.
Ahead of his address to citizens on Thursday, some Nigerians were hopeful that Buhari will condemn the killing of innocent citizens demanding their legitimate rights but throughout the broadcast, the President refrained from showing empathy, instead telling the people that his government will no longer tolerate the breakdown of order in the country.
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#EndSARS: A Revolution Foretold! By Ozodinukwe Okenwa
SOC Okenwa
When Comrade Omoyele Sowore mooted the idea of a non-violent revolution last year he was promptly hunted down and arrested and charged to court for his temerity to use the word ‘revolution’. For calling out poor and dehumanized Nigerians to demonstrate peacefully against the Buhari regime and its policies and programmes that kept worsening the Nigerian socio-economic political condition the exuberant SaharaReporters publisher was detained for months. And presently he is still consigned to Abuja with little or no freedom of movement and association.
Today there is a mini revolution happening in Nigeria following the storied atrocities of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS). In many southern cities and towns young Nigerians have continued their #EndSARS protests defying natural and unnatural elements on the streets and voicing out their collective bottled-up frustrations against the Buharian system that is not good at development and progress but sowing tears, sorrow and blood.
Today Nigeria is at war with herself. And Nigerians are at war with ourselves, at war with our leaders and the endemically corrupt elite. The unheeded warnings from prophets, marabouts and critics about the time-bomb (hunger, unemployment, corruption and leadership failure) waiting to explode upon the nation had manifested themselves in reality fashion attracting global attention.
SOC Okenwa
What started as a demonstration against the extra-judicial killings and torture and extortion of the disbanded SARS had snowballed into a national conflagration reminding us of recent revolutions in Algeria, Mali, Sudan, Lebanon and Belarus. Scores had been killed and hundreds more injured yet the die remains cast.
The recent Lekki Toll-Gate massacre in Lagos by the military had opened the federal government up for international condemnations exposing the anti-democratic tendencies of the Buhari regime. That bloody incident could pass off easily as a tipping point in the campaign for radical change in the way and manner we have been led.
Armed men in military uniform had last Tuesday opened fire on peaceful protesters demanding an end to police brutality and state repression at the Lekki Toll Gate area of Lagos. Why using live bullets when rubber ones were available? And was there a pre-meditated plot to inflict maximum damage in order to intimidate the protesters off the streets?
As usual the Army high command had denied involvement in the shooting that reportedly killed about twelve youths injuring dozens more. Nigeria boasts of rogue soldiers and police officers! Who deployed the ‘zombie’ soldiers? And who gave the order for them to open fire on unarmed compatriots holding the green and white national flags and singing the national anthem?
When the late great Afro-beat musician, Fela Anikulapo-Kuti’s mother was thrown out of the window of a storey building in Lagos many decades ago the then General Olusegun Obasanjo regime had concluded after a futile investigation that “unknown soldiers” could have carried out the murder of an old woman living in her popular talented son’s house! Nothing came out of it in terms of justice or compensation or apology or whatever. The late Abami Eda buried his mother and life went on.
Years later Fela came out with a hit song he called ‘zombie’ which sought to denounce the criminal state complicity in the killing of his mother by questioning the command and control chain of the army hierarchy. The song remains evergreen even today.
The scrapped SARS had committed unpardonable crimes against innocent citizens from Lagos to Abuja, Port-Harcourt to Enugu. Thousands must have been brutally assassinated in cold-blood at wee hours of the night. And thousands more taken in as prisoners. Yet as SARS went about their atrocious duties butchering people and settling land disputes and ordering erring parties to part with millions of Naira as ‘bribe’ for freedom no effort was ever made by superior powers or authorities to challenge their heinous activities.
If a thorough investigation is carried out about the criminal activities of SARS the federal and state governments would be shocked to discover that more than half of SARS members were fake police officers recruited to do ‘business’ with the lives of Nigerians.
In my own state opf Anambra SARS, based in Awkuzu, was said to be the deadliest den in the entire SARS security structure across the federation. In fact the facility was a graveyard containing shallow graves of scores of murdered victims! Cruel tales had been told by survivors of the Awkuzu SARS mad men’s exploits spanning years.
The Anambra State Governor Willie Obiano had, while addressing anti-SARS protesters in Awka, declared that a former Anambra SARS Head of Operations, a retired Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP) James Nwafor, had been relieved of his duty promising that his administration would ensure immediate release of illegal detainees in SARS’s detention camps across the state.
He also made it clear that CSP Nwafor would be prosecuted alongside other defunct SARS officials who were allegedly found wanting in the discharge of their duties as SARS operatives in the state.
In the end the success or otherwise of this #EndSARS revolution, something foretold, must be measured not by the promises or concessions President Muhammadu Buhari and his misruling gang have made but a definitive end to the predatory culture in the current security system in the country.
The#EndSARS demonstrations are legitimate. And they could lead to the Nigerian renaissance. The Nigerian youths have made a huge point. But more points must be made going foward.
Buharism must be made to surrender the Nigerian democratic space for the future generation having abused and wasted theirs. Something must give!
SOC Okenwasoco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
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President Buhari, Say Something By Niyi Osundare
Niyi Osundare
Dear President Buhari,
It is now two days since members of the Nigerian Army opened fire on youthful protesters at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, mowing down twelve of them (according to press reports) and injuring many others. Before this final military ‘solution’, Nigerian youths had embarked on a largely peaceful demonstration against police brutality, much to the admiration and support of the public. Then came that brutal Tuesday night and the impenetrable darkness that covered and enabled the murderous act. As is to be expected, the aftermath of the Lekki Gate massacre has been an outbreak of civil riots and arson in many parts of the country, especially the Southwest. Once again, the country is on fire.
Niyi Osundare
President Buhari, can you see the fire and the smoke from the remote grandeur of Aso Rock? Can you sense the ghosts of the slain, the groans of the wounded, the wails of the bereaved, and the miasma of Nigeria’s shame as it spreads across the world? Mr. President, your silence is so loud that it is bursting the nation’s ears.
Many see your silence as a sign of contempt; others say it is due to lack of concern. You have an urgent, even existential reason to prove them wrong. Tell us: who ordered the Lekki Massacre? Who oversaw its execution? What sanctions are you putting in place for those perpetrators? The Nigerian people are waiting to know. The whole wide world is waiting.
As I said to your predecessor in office at another critical juncture in our nation’s history in 2015, the country you swore to protect and preserve is falling apart under your watch; so Mr. President, say something, do something! The time is NOW.
Your Compatriot,
Niyi Osundare Oct. 22, 2020
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Kwara College Of Health Technology Students Kick Against Illegal Fee, Extortion By School Authority
Students of the Kwara State College of Health Technology, Offa, have accused the management of the institution of extortion.
They also demanded an end to an illegal fee known as ‘state examination fee or final year payment fee’ from them.
“Final year students have been extorted constantly by paying a sum of N15,000 tagged state examination fee or final year payment fee. We have deemed it fit to beg you to come to our aid.
“School fees among many other legitimate fees have been paid by the students but haven discovered by the management that the final year students of the Dental Technology Department have not paid the said fee, the final examination which was supposed to start Monday, 19 October, 2020 was postponed indefinitely by the management.
“Every form of peaceful dialogue with the management have hit a big snag, the provost in company of his principal staff have vehemently refused to allow the student write their examination just because of their selfish gain,” one of them told SaharaReporters.
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Mob Set Fire To Warehouse Containing Undistributed COVID-19 Palliatives In Ondo, Two Persons Shot Dead
There is currently tension in Akure, the Ondo State capital, as a warehouse containing undistributed COVID-19 palliatives was on Thursday set ablaze by thugs.
SaharaReporters learnt that some residents located the warehouse in Akure before breaking into the place.
Various food items were carted away from the warehouse.
A resident, Miss Toyin Ajeigbe, who witnessed the action, said the action of the thugs created pandemonium in the city.
She said, “Many people stormed the warehouse after they noticed that it was where the government kept undistributed palliatives.
“And you know the people are already hungry and angry due to the indefinite curfew in the state.
“So, they break into the building and started bringing out food items such as rice, noodles and other items before some thugs set the warehouse on fire and this led to a heavy fight.
“I witnessed how they destroyed the building out of anger because the government refused to distribute the food to the people even when there is hunger.”
Some armed policemen enforcing the 24-hour indefinite curfew killed two protesters in Ondo and Ore communities.
One of the protesters was identified as Mr Ogunsakin Akinyemi.
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BREAKING: President Buhari Fails To Talk About Lekki Killings, Says Nigerians Took Scrapping Of SARS As Weakness By His Administration
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that many Nigerians took the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police Force as a weakness by his administration.
Buhari, who made the comment on Thursday night while addressing citizens, failed to speak about the massacre of peaceful protesters in the Lekki Toll Gate area of Lagos on Tuesday by personnel of the Nigerian Army.
Nigerians across the country had for almost two weeks poured out to the streets to demand an end to police brutality and state repression.
Rather than listen to their demands, the government unleashed security operatives and thugs on peaceful demonstrators, hacking many of them to death in the process.
Ahead of his address to citizens on Thursday, some Nigerians were hopeful that Buhari will condemn the killing of innocent citizens demanding their legitimate rights but throughout the broadcast, the President refrained from showing empathy, instead telling the people that his government will no longer tolerate the breakdown of order in the country.
He said, “Sadly, the promptness with which we have acted seemed to have been misconstrued as a sign of weakness and twisted by some for their selfish unpatriotic interests.
“The result of this is clear to all observers: human lives have been lost; acts of sexual violence have been reported; two major correctional facilities were attacked and convicts freed; public and private properties completely destroyed or vandalised.
“The sanctity of the palace of a peace-maker, the Oba of Lagos has been violated. So-called protesters have invaded an international airport and in the process disrupted the travel plans of fellow Nigerians and our visitors.
“All these executed in the name of the ENDSARS protests. I am indeed deeply pained that innocent lives have been lost. These tragedies are uncalled for and unnecessary.”
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LIVE: President Buhari Addresses Nigerians
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