Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Friday 30th October 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 30/10/20
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E2%80%94okonjo-iweala I Remain Positive To Lead WTO Despite United States Opposition —Okonjo-Iweala
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Nigeria’s candidate for the position of Director-General of the World Trade Organisation, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has said she remains positive of clinching the top job as the seventh head of the global trade group despite opposition from the United States.
Okonjo-Iweala disclosed this in a tweet on Thursday.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
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United States Opposes Okonjo-Iweala’s As WTO DG, Backs South Korean For Position, Final Decision To Be Announced November 9
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On November 9, the WTO General Council, which is the highest decision-making body of the WTO after the Ministerial Conference, is scheduled to ratify the report of the WTO DG selection panel (Troika), which overwhelmingly identified Okonjo-Iweala as the candidate preferred by most of the members of the group to head the organisation.
The former Managing Director (Operations) of the World Bank, said she felt humbled to have been declared the candidate with the largest votes amongst the 164 member states of the 25-year-old global trade organisation.
Happy for the success & continued progress of our @wto DG bid. Very humbled to be declared the candidate with the largest, broadest support among members & most likely to attract consensus. We move on to the next step on Nov 9, despite hiccups. We’re keeping the positivity going!— Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (@NOIweala) October 29, 2020
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#EndSARS: Group Asks Buhari To Sack IGP, Service Chiefs
A group, New Nigeria Network, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to sack Mohammed Adamu, Inspector-General of Police, and all service chiefs.
The group in a statement condemned the attacks on #EndSARS protesters by police operatives, Nigerian soldiers and hired thugs in order to deprive citizens of their right to hold peaceful protests.
It also asked for the immediate reversal in electricity tariff and fuel price.
The statement reads, “In the wake of the severe massive rampage that became the fall out of the #EndSARS protest, opinions had become divided about the protest itself and execution.
“There is the school of thought blaming the #EndSARS protesters for the huge social trauma the nation is experiencing now on account of their alleged intrasegients of not stopping the protest in due time even when “common sense” dictated that. According to this school of thought, if the #EndSARS protesters had called off the protest in face of government “speedy and positive” acceptance of their “5 for 5” demands there won’t have been an opportunity for any escalation or graduation of the protest to the level of mass riot.
“Many in this school of thought justified and approved of the military action taken in Lekki, on the ground that no protest involving the barricade of roads and stoppage of free movement of other citizens should be allowed by any reasonable authority to go on indefinitely. They therefore conclude that it is in the best interest of the nation that the #EndSARS struggle must end with no continuation in any other form or by way of other protest to avoid further breakdown of law and order. They further contend that doing otherwise will open a great opportunity for both internal and external enemies of Nigeria interested in the destabilization of the country for sinister reasons.
“The New Nigeria Network, on our part, considers the position of the second school of thought valid, acceptable and concludes that the #EndSARS protest a.k.a Soro soke is a work in progress and cannot end until it has fulfilled its mission. This position is reinforced by the revelational consequences of the #EndSARS protest as highlighted before.The protest is evolutionary and revolutionary at the same time. It is evolutionary in the sense that it is not a one point static protest but a protest against multi-layer level of challenges in the Nigerian state and it is essentially a demand for the full citizenship status of all Nigerians and the curbing of executive lawlessness, governmental lopsided profligacy and entrenched impunity. It is all about “misgovernance of system and a system of misgovernance”.
“Before we round off, it should be noted that it was not only at Lekki that the military operated in Lagos in the night of Tuesday, 20th October, 2020, but also at the Alausa frontier or barricade of the EndSARS protest. The military on two separate occasions on the same day had made reconnaissance to the Alausa barricade, first at about 3:00pm involving about 15 soldiers. Second, at about 7:30pm involving about 45 soldiers and seven pick up vans. Later at about 9:00pm, under the cover of darkness, a combination of the police and the military stormed the protesters with teargas and guns, so many escaped with their lives but wounded while the police and military were shooting and chasing them about. Reports of two possible deaths as a result of these two attacks still under investigation.
“In conclusion, NNN is of the firm belief that the struggle must continue.”
#EndSARS
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Ondo Government Orders Reopening Of Schools
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
The Ondo State Government has ordered the reopening of schools in the city.
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu had on October 20 ordered that all schools in the state be shut down due to the tension from the nationwide protest and asked parents to comply with the directive.
Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu.
In a statement on Thursday, Commissioner for Education, Science, and Technology in the state, Femi Agagu, said the governor has directed that all schools be reopened for normal academic activities starting from Monday, November 2, 2020.
He said, “Mr Governor has directed that all schools should resume on Monday, November 2, 2020 now that the state has become peaceful.
“Parents and the public are to note this directive and all schools are to comply.”
The directive came after parents asked the state government to cancel third term for both pupils in the state.
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Scores Injured, 10 Vehicles Burnt As Petrol Tanker Explodes In Lagos
Scores of persons have been left injured after a petrol tanker exploded at Mile 2, along the Oshodi/Apapa Expressway in Lagos on Thursday.
The incident left many vehicles burnt as well.
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Goods worth several millions of naira were also destroyed by fire.
It was gathered that the affected truck, which loaded the substance from one of the tank farms along the expressway, was heading outward Apapa.
However, on reaching a failed section of the road, the tanker overturned, spilled its content and went up in flames.
The loud bang rattled some drivers, who were sleeping in their trucks, awaiting the right time to hit the road.
They scampered in different directions for safety.
Unfortunately for drivers of other trucks behind, they could not manoeuvre their ways because of the failed section.
They abandoned their trucks and managed to run for their lives.
The fire also affected some trucks on the other side of the road waiting for their turn to drive into the port.
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SUP Condemns Rise Of Dictatorships In Nigeria, Guinea, Silence Of AU, ECOWAS
The Vanguard Student Unification Party at the University of Liberia has frowned at the rise of what it described as ruthless dictatorships in Nigeria and Guinea.
Momo Peters, Chairman of SUP, in a statement condemned the continued silence of the African Union and Economic Community of West African States, calling on the United Nations and international community to expeditiously intervene to restore harmony and tranquility in both countries.
The statement reads, “SUP categorically frowns at the ruthless, brutal, bloody, and outrageous rise of dictatorships in the West African nations of Nigeria and Guinea. These unprecedented, unprovoked and disgusted killings of fellow Africans which have been perpetuated by the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria President Mohammedu Buhari, and the President of the Republic of Guinea, Alpha Conde; are vicious, sinister and disdainfully inimical to the peace, stability, economic viability and tranquility of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) region and Africa at large.
“Comrades, in 2016 a conscious movement was launched in Nigeria which have been calling for the unconditional and uncensored disbandment of the Federal Government security agency named Special Anti-Robbery Squad widely known in Nigeria as SAR. These calls by conscious and courageous young Nigerians to end SAR came as a result of the security unit repeated and unfrighten instances of rape, torture, abused of power, extortion, harassment, murder, brutality, anarchy, and arm rubbery against innocent and harmless Nigerians.
“However, since 2016, the Government of President Buhari has claimed to have implemented reforms and restructurings so as to avoid those malicious reoccurrences of incessant crimes in a Federal security guard, but to the opposite, nothing has substantially been done since then and more peaceful and harmless Nigerians continue to be hijacked by these gangs of security whilst the people of Nigeria continue to live in an unending and unrestricted state of terror and horror.
“Comrades, while we are yet to authenticate the so-called pronouncement by the government of Nigeria on its claims that it has disbanded the unit, we downrightly condemn the most recent efforts by President Buhari to clampdown on the protesters in which live bullets were shot at peaceful protesters in LekkiToll Gate, Lagos in which several are reported dead and scores more injured.
“The black-fascist in President Buhari has so far killed over 56 persons since this historic and leaderless campaign to End SAR begun. This senseless, inhumane and touted rise of violence against the people of Nigeria by the Buhari regime is immoral and intolerable. This is pure madness, and SUP sees this as a vicious attack against international laws and treaties. This malicious and callous attack and killings of peaceful Nigerians violate Article: 3, 20, and 28 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article: 1, 6, and 7 of the African Youth Chapter, and chapter 4, Article: 4. sec. 1, and 2, and chapter 6, Article: 15. sec. 3 of the African Chapter on Democracy, Elections and Governance.”
On Guinea, the party said, “Comrades, since the 82 years old mindless dictator in President Alpha Conde of Guinea announced his plans to amend the constitution of the Republic of Guinea in early 2020, the capitol of the sisterly nation of Guinea has been rippled with mass protest against such move, accompany by premeditated police brutality and unrepentant violence against the people of Guinea.
“This violence continues to persist despite calls from local and international bodies scolding President Alpha Conde to halt his politically motivated constitutional amendment. Comrades, the recent wave of elections related violence in the sisterly nation of Guinea is atrocious and horrendous to the peace and stability of the ECOWAS region. President Alpha Conde has continued to reckon voices of dissents, chase and incarcerate opposition leaders, kill peaceful protesters, and is currently making every attempt to falsify the just ended elections result and to criminalize his way to power so as to accord himself a self-proclaimed elections victory.
“SUP believes that the move by President Alpha Conde of Guinea who continues to perpetuate himself in power and to impose his monocratic regime on the people of Guinea must never be tolerated and should be resisted by all progressive minds. Gone are those days on the African continent when brutal and horrific dictators will have a breeding ground and an airy inch of survival. President Conde’s actions clearly violate Article: 1, 5, and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article: 1, 6, of the African Youth Chapter and Article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights. The current happenings in Guinea possess a potential rise of tension in the West African region, and could further becloud the future of democracy in the region. An urgent step must be taken now to help the people of Guinea.”
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Mark Zuckerberg, What Really Happened At Lekki? By Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa
Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa
The Lekki Toll Gate incidence has raised a lot of controversy. The certainty of what really happened has become caught in multiple narratives. While many stick to it that a massacre occurred, the government insists there was only a shooting of blank bullets and where there were few civilian casualties.
On the night of the incident, the news was first that 49 Nigerians or more had been shot dead by the Nigerian Army at Lekki Toll Gate while trying to enforce a curfew that was first fixed for 4pm, then 7pm and being moved towards 9pm when the soldiers moved in and fired.
Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa
Nigerians were shot and even if only one person (there were more but the death toll is another confusion) the government should face sanction.
The CCTV footage is what can resolve this controversy but it is in custody of the Federal Government of Nigeria. Thus, there is a need to ask someone else who may have the data of what happened.
The ENDSARS protest mobilised massively with the use of the internet. Many of those who were present at Lekki Toll Gate were internet enabled and many of them have a Facebook, WhatsApp or Twitter account! Anyone of age these days has an account on these platforms.
If there are exceptions, there are only a few who do not have such an account on an android phone. These days, everyone owns an Android and when you do, you open an account with Gmail, Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram and other app preferences.
We can now turn to Mark Zuckerberg and ask him if any account has not been operational since the shooting/massacre occurred. He has this data and can reveal their names even if truly the Nigerian army has hidden bodies. Their phones would have stopped working hours after and would not have been opened since then. Thus, the accounts of the deceased can be easily discovered through Facebook’s system.
Facebook also has a system that works with the GPS location of a phone device. Can Facebook not check the location of all those who posted #ENSARS and were at Lekki tollgate but no longer active? This would be known because they cannot open their social media accounts since they are dead!
This means it would prove more factual than other ones. Mark Zuckerberg can use the data in his hand for good and let Nigerians know if we have a case of International Human Rights and crimes against humanity to settle with President Buhari whose government claims they shot in the air to scare people away. The government admits only one death so far and few casualties.
Nigerians deserve to know which FB, Twitter or Whatsapp accounts are no longer working and were in use during or before the Lekki shooting that has caused media controversy!
Facebook was flagging the news as false! Has Facebook done any research?
Facebook has the best access to such information. They know the social media accounts and details of the 49 reportedly shot. They can check if those accounts have been operated since the Lekki shootings. If they are flagging the shootings as fake.
Is it not possible Facebook also has a video recording of how it went down? Perhaps through a phone of even the soldiers brought there. The shooting in this modern world can be unravelled by the use of technology.
Google Maps as an example can show you if there is a go-slow on the express by checking how many phones are close to each other inside the cars on a section of the road.
This technology is powerful enough to tell us what happened fully at Lekki.
As parts of efforts to know the truth, Mark Zuckerberg and Facebook (WhatsApp, Twitter) must come to the aid of Nigerians and be involved in this investigation on the Buhari government in the interest of humanity!
Koye-Ladele Mofehintoluwa is a Tech enthusiast and recent Law Graduate from Obafemi Awolowo University. koyetolu@gmail.com. Tweets @Koye_tolu
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Win Or Lose, Trump Is A Danger To Africa By Azu Ishiekwene
Azu Ishiekwene
If Donald J. Trump were President of Wakanda on the eve of an election, that country would have received several warnings from the US State Department on the need for free and fair polls, and the necessity for all parties to play by the rules.
But what is playing by the rules if parties will not accept an orderly transfer of power?
During two recent off-cycle state elections in the South of Nigeria, for example, the US Embassy threatened to invoke visa restrictions on candidates, agents or security officials who impede the electoral process. It was not an empty threat and the junket-obsessed political elite knew it.
Yet, as this welcome US fore-finger was wagging at Nigerian politicians, four other fingers of the same hand were pointing back at the US, where its own President, Trump, has threatened that he would not accept the result of the November 3 election, if he loses.
He made the same threat in 2016, saying he would not accept the outcome in the race against Hilary Clinton because the system was “rigged”. We may never know what would have happened since he won.
Azu Ishiekwene
As of the time of writing, Facebook was planning to implement stringent standards to prevent the shambles of 2016 or the likelihood of a repeat of Cambodia 2018 where the Prime Minister was accused of buying fake fans to boost his electoral chances – a clear indication of how low the US that prides itself on sterling democratic values has fallen.
By this time next week, the US presidential election would be over. But there are a number of reasons why even days after the election, voters may still not be able to say for sure whether Trump or former Vice President Joe Biden won.
One reason why is because aspects of the labyrinthine voting and counting process in US elections which gives states and counties considerable latitude in the conduct of elections are being challenged in court. While some states may still be counting mail-in ballots (and they would be significantly more in this COVID-19 year), others, especially Republican states, want mail-in ballot counting to end before or on voting day.
The main reason why this election is fraught, however, is because Trump has hinted darkly that he would not accept the result, if he loses. He said he could not guarantee an orderly transfer of power, if the outcome does not favour him. Trump’s base is listening and the violent elements among them are waiting. The US faces a dark winter of post-election chaos.
Trump’s threat not to accept defeat is the main fuel stoking the flames. Yet, what he is doing and what is being done in his name are much worse. In a number of states across the US, especially in the battleground states, Republican governors are still desperately trying to use the courts to block counting of mail-in votes beyond election day, even where the law allows it.
The Supreme Court weighed in with a precarious 4-4 ruling but the matter is not settled yet. The inauguration on Monday of the conservative-leaning Judge Amy Coney Barrett to the Supreme Court could tip over the final decision on mail-in votes – a consequential matter in a COVID-19 year and beyond.
In other states, various voter suppression methods, including stringent voter ID requirements and last-minute gerrymandering have become a part of the kitchen sink.
It doesn’t end there. Concerns about Trump’s race baiting, suspicion that he may yet again deploy the National Guard as he did after George Floyd’s murder, and the rush to confirm Judge Barrett on the eve of election, all look like ingredients from a dictator’s cookbook.
But he does not care. Trump has said over and over again that “the system is rigged”, that he suspects serious fraud with mail-in ballots, that China is helping the Democratic Party compromise the system, that he is a victim of an Obama spy ring, all with barely a shred of proof. Yet, he seems determined to use self-help, if the results don’t go his way.
At first, it was like a joke. But since he makes no distinction between opinions and facts, Trump has taught the world to take him by his jokes. He indulges in fiction, which he invents with a single-minded talent that beggars belief.
Insisting – up till last week – that he would not accept an orderly transfer of power if he loses the election, is frightening. He makes Guinea where President Alpha Conde has just foisted a third term on the country look like a beacon of democracy.
Conde can, at least, argue that the Guinean parliament extended his mandate, even though he obtained the extension by fraud. But for a sitting US president to repudiate the prospects of an orderly transfer of power if he loses, is not just a dangerous precedent for that country, it increases the chances of more Condes rising in Africa and elsewhere. Has anyone noticed that the AU has been resoundingly silent about Conde’s travesty?
If Trump does not believe senior government officials across party lines and even independent think tanks that have insisted that his claim of mail-in fraud or a “rigged system” is false, why should incumbents in Africa or elsewhere not undermine the electoral system in their own countries on the excuse that every ballot must match their testosterone specimen?
In the last two decades, a significant number of African countries have come under representative governments largely because of external pressure from the West, led by the European Union and the US. Even though more money has poured in from China – often with few questions or scruples – pressure from the west and improvements in technology have put more governments on the continent on the spot.
Politicians may not have been altogether pleased with the outcome of the elections, but because they have seen the consequences of chaos elsewhere, because they have seen the US live up to its pledge to punish persons responsible for deadly election violence whether in Kenya, Liberia or Cote d’Ivoire, they have yielded to orderly transfer of power.
Nigeria provided a spectacular example of orderly transition five years ago, when former President Goodluck Jonathan called Muhammadu Buhari and conceded defeat even before the final results were announced in an election that could have descended into chaos.
Despite deep misgivings in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party at the time that Jonathan was being wangled out of office by a conspiracy of the Northern elite, the former president endured his misery and walked away.
Kenya and Zimbabwe followed suit. When Yahya Jammeh of The Gambia refused to accept the outcome of elections in that country the regional body, ECOWAS, shooed the yam-head out of office. Until recent events in Mali, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea threatened to spoil the broth, Africa has been looking like the fireside where the world could at last light its candle.
A US President threatening to impede an orderly transition of power, is a danger not just to his own country but also to politicians elsewhere who might copy his bad example. This year, out of five African countries holding major elections, the presidents of two of them – Alassane Quattara of Cote d’Ivoire and Conde of Guinea – have maneuvered themselves into positions for a controversial third term.
Which Trump would stand up to Quattara, Conde or any other political outlaw on the continent? The Trump begging China to help him win election at home or the one hiding his tax records in plain sight? The Trump crying wolf over a “rigged system” even before the first ballot was cast or the one that unleashed the National Guard on unarmed protesters? The Trump who bullies women and indulges in race-baiting or the one who pledged not to accept an orderly transfer of power, if he loses at the poll?
Which Trump is the world modelling on the eve of November 3?
After four years of “America First”, the world is learning to find its own path even in matters where the US used to provide leadership and direction. Yet, if this is the new face of American exceptionalism – a US presidential candidate who undermines the electoral system for the heck of it and refuses to accept an orderly transfer of power if he loses, then we must brace up for a bitter winter in global politics.
Not even in shit-hole countries is it fashionable anymore to insist on victory as precondition for elections. Who needs elections if they must win before the contest, anyway?
But that is what Trump insists on. It’s apparent that America’s problems are worse than shambolic race relations and COVID-19. Trump-mylitis or the new epidemic of electoral-victory-at-all-costs is also a new contagion the world must guard against.
Ishiekwene is MD/Editor-In-Chief of The Interview
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BREAKING: One Person Feared Killed As Rival Cult Gangs Clash In Abuja
One person has reportedly been killed following a fight at Tunduwada Lugbe in Abuja Municipal Area Council of Federal Capital Territory between rival cult gangs.
The fight was said to have started on Wednesday night when some gangsters stormed a popular relaxation spot in the area and butchered a young man.
It was gathered that the armed young men were on a revenge mission to the place and shot into the air upon arrival to disperse people before locating their target, who they hacked to death.
An eyewitness told SaharaReporters that the victim was attacked with machetes on his head and face and died from the injuries.
It was learnt that some members of the rival cult gangs had clashed at the same joint the previous day.
He said that it was as a result of the alleged death of their member that prompted the revenge mission.
Meanwhile, as at the time of this report, the entire area had been thrown into confusion and residents now live in fear as machete- wielding gangsters patrolled the vicinity in preparation for retaliation.
A resident, who asked not to be named, said they had put a distress call to Lugbe Divisional Police Station but the law enforcement officers failed to come around.
He said, “The cult members are everywhere on the streets and they are raiding shops and houses. We cannot come out and the police are not answering our calls. Please we need help in Tundunwada, Shuoka Khauta and Agwan Tiv axis now.”
Spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Matilda Mary, could not confirm the incident when contacted by our correspondent, promising to get back with details soon as she had such.
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Two Persons Killed In Fresh Terrorist Attack In France
A police officer and bystanders near the scene of the attack in Nice on Thursday morning
At least two persons have died and many others injured after a terror attack near a church in the Southern French city of Nice on Thursday.
French Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, said a police operation was underway in the city.
A police officer and bystanders near the scene of the attack in Nice on Thursday morning
FT/ AFP via Getty Images
Nice Mayor, Christian Estrosi, said the suspect behind the attack, which looked like a terrorist incident, had been arrested, Reuters reports.
This is the second terrorist attack on French soil in less than two weeks.
Teacher, Samuel Paty, was beheaded by an Islamist on October 16, fuelling anger in France.
Following the beheading, French President, Emmanuel Macron, took a tough stance on Islamists, causing the Turkish economy to plunge.
French diplomats are trying to quell the anger in Turkey and Arab nations amid anti-France protests and calls for boycotts of French goods in response to President Emmanuel Macron’s firm stance against Islamism in the wake of the beheading.
European allies have supported Macron while Muslim-majority countries are angered by his defence of cartoons they consider sacrilegious.
France’s national police have called for increased security at religious sites around the All Saint’s holiday this weekend, particularly noting online threats from extremists against Christians and moderate French Muslims.
Interior Minister, Gerald Darmanin, said on France-Inter Radio that the terrorist threat remains “very high because we have a lot of enemies from within and outside the country”.
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BREAKING: Lagos Government Reopens Public, Private Schools
Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The Lagos State Government has reopened private and public schools.
Folashade Adefisayo, Commissioner for Education in the state, in a statement on Thursday said schools can reopen from Monday, November 2, 2020.
Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The statement reads in part, “The Lagos State Government has approved the reopening of schools for all classes in public and private schools across the state beginning from Monday, 2nd of November, 2020 while boarders in public schools are to resume on Sunday, 1st of the same month.”
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