Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Saturday 28th November 2020
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 28/11/20
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Group Writes NCC, Demands FoI Request On Blocked #EndSARS Website
Paradigm Initiative Nigeria, a social enterprise that builds an ICT-enabled support system and advocates digital rights in Africa, has written a Freedom of Information request to the Nigerian Communications Commission demanding information on the alleged secret blocking of the domain names of #EndSARS related websites by the Nigerian Government.
On Thursday, website of popular women’s right group, Feminist Coalition, and two others allegedly suffered a cyber attack and became inaccessible to Nigerians.
When accessed with a Nigerian mobile network, the websites cannot be reached but when a user uses a VPN, the sites become accessible.
PIN in a statement on Friday described the action as violation of constitutionally and globally guaranteed rights of freedom of expression and access to information.
The statement reads, “Websites related to the campaign have been inaccessible as reported by many citizens and from independent checks carried out by Paradigm Initiative. These attempts are an unacceptable violation of constitutionally and globally guaranteed rights of freedom of expression and access to information.
“In a similar development that occurred in October 2017, we monitored and challenged the Nigerian government’s censorship directive through the Nigerian Communications Commission, an agency which is supposedly independent.
“The NCC must not continue to offer itself to be used by the Federal Government under any guise to intimidate citizens who engage in legitimate protests and exercise their digital rights by leveraging digital platforms for the protest.”
The group’s Senior Program Manager, Adeboye Adegoke, added, “Section 39 of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria expressly provides that every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference. Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights provides similarly that everyone shall have the right to freedom of expression.
“This right shall include freedom to seek, receive and impart information and ideas of all kinds, regardless of frontiers, either orally, in writing or in print, in the form of art, or through any other media of his choice.”
Speaking also, ‘Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of PIN, said the group had sent a FoI request to the NCC to answer key questions such as who ordered the recent blocking of websites, the reason for the blocking, disruption, or restriction on the websites.
He said, “We want to know under which legal provision this is being carried out and if the NCC authorised the blocking, disruption, or restriction of these websites. We also need to know if the owners of the websites were informed that their websites will be blocked, and if they were given an opportunity for a fair hearing.
“Another question that must be answered is: Did the NCC act independently or was it acting on behalf of other government institutions? In a country with increasingly closed civic spaces and one that must do more work to protect freedom of expression and press freedom, a dangerous precedent could be set if the NCC continues to carry out the restriction of access to websites that are critical of the government or that support citizens’ right to contribute to our democracy.”
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Troops Foil Attempted Kidnap Of Passengers On Abuja-Kaduna Highway
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Troops of Operation Thunder Strike under the auspices of the ongoing Operation Accord have foiled an attempted kidnap of passengers on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway by armed bandits.Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement on Friday.
According to Aruwan, most of the bandits escaped with bullet wounds.
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He said, “The troops on aggressive patrols engaged the armed bandits who dispersed in disarray while the troops pursued them off the road. Many of the bandits seems to escaped with bullet wounds. Troops are still trailing them and citizens will briefed on the development.
“The rest of the troops manned the road to ensure dissolution of the traffic that built up following their engagement. The Kaduna State Government apologizes to motorists and other road users who suffered delays as a result of the security response. The incoveniences were an unintended consequence of efforts to protect lives and property.
“As at the time of this security update, traffic is flowing on both lanes of the highway, and the troops are sustaining aggressive fighting patrols to deny the criminals freedom of action.”
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ASUU Agrees To Call Off Strike After Eight Months
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has agreed to call off its eight-month long strike.
The strike had crippled activities in public universities across Nigeria.
The union leadership reached the consensus during a meeting with the government team led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, in Abuja, on Friday, PUNCH reports.
The decision comes after the Nigerian Government agreed to pay the striking lecturers N70bn and would be exempting them from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, which was one of ASUU’s major demands.
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Donald Trump Gives Condition To Vacate White House
United States President, Donald Trump, says he will relinquish power if the Electoral College affirms Joe Biden’s win but he signals he may never formally concede defeat.
According to Bloomberg, the 74-year-old Republican candidate, who lost his re-election bid, also declined to say if he would attend Biden’s inauguration next year as is the custom for an outgoing President.
“I’ll be honest, I know the answer, but I just don’t want to say it yet,” he said, adding that it is “not right” that Biden has begun picking a cabinet.
Trump fielded questions from reporters on Thursday for the first time since his election defeat, speaking at the White House after a Thanksgiving teleconference with members of the military.
When asked by reporters gathered at the White House’s diplomatic room if he would physically leave the building should the Electoral College affirm Biden’s victory, Trump replied, “Certainly, I will, and you know that.”
But he swiftly maintained that there was “massive fraud and massive rigging” in the election, insisting that the court cases challenging the election outcome will continue.
Trump was further pressed on whether he would ever acknowledge defeat but said it would “be a very hard thing to concede,” even if the Electoral College confirms Biden’s victory.
“If they do, they’ve made a mistake,” he said. “This election was a fraud.”
The Electoral College electors in each state are due to vote on December 14. Certificates recording the electoral vote results in each state must be received by the President of the Senate no later than December 23.
Biden is certified as the winner or leading in states totalling 306 electoral votes, well above the victory threshold of 270, while Trump got 232 electoral votes.
Trump acknowledged that the whole world is watching what becomes the fate of American democracy.
“The whole world is watching and the whole world is laughing at our electoral process,” he said
He, however, declined to say if he would seek the presidency again in 2024 as has been widely rumoured.
“I don’t want to talk about 2024 yet,” he replied.
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Gunmen Kill Policeman In Ekiti, Abduct Chinese Expatriate
Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers on Friday shot dead a policeman in Ekiti State and abducted a Chinese expatriate.
Another expatriate is also said to have sustained gunshot wound.
The Chinese nationals are employees of a construction firm working on a road project in Ado-Ekiti.
Police Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident.
He said the police had put machinery in motion to ensure the rescue of the abducted expatriate and bring all culprits involved in the killing to book.
He said, “It’s confirmed that a kidnapping incident occurred today at about 4:30pm where one civilian was kidnapped, one shot while one policeman was shot dead.
“Our operatives are already combing the bush for possible apprehension of the perpetrators.”
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E2%80%99s-bala-usman-during-2015-general Bank Documents Expose How Dangote Wired Funds To NPA’s Bala Usman During 2015 General Elections
In the heat of the 2015 general elections in Nigeria, Aliko Dangote transferred N200m to a bank account run by Hadiza Bala Usman, a BringBackOurGirls activist, who has been the Managing Director of Nigerian Ports Authority since 2016.
According to Peoples Gazette, the transactions were sent in two tranches from two different bank accounts of Dangote to Usman’s account with Access Bank.
Usman received the first N100m transfer on February 6, 2015; while the second N100m came through three days later on February 9.
The transfers carried ambiguous descriptions that made it difficult to conclude their purpose.
Since November 3, neither Dangote nor Usman clarified the purpose of the transactions to the newspaper despite multiple requests for comments.
Dangote’s spokesperson, Tony Chiejina, declined to confirm or deny his principal initiated the transfers.
But Usman pointedly denied knowledge of the transactions despite being told of the date, amount and the specific bank account with which the funds were received.
“I am not aware of any such payments made to my account,” she told Peoples Gazette.
Even though Dangote and Bala Usman declined to clarify the transactions, at least two sources close to the APC campaign told the newspaper that the N200m was part of the campaign donations channelled to the opposition campaign through proxies like the NPA boss.
Usman largely restricted herself from partisan politics during the 2015 elections.
She was widely known at the time as a key voice in the #BringBackOurGirls campaign for which she was profiled by the Financial Times and other Western media outlets.
Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s former military ruler, was seeking a return to power in the election that was initially scheduled for February 14, 2015 but when the exercise was postponed on February 8, Buhari’s allies flooded the country with claims that the then-ruling Peoples Democratic Party was trying to starve them of funds.
The APC was reported to have exhausted its campaign war chest before the elections were extended for another six weeks until March 28.
The APC was, however, able to sustain the campaign until its victory on March 28, buoyed by alarming rates of insecurity, ineptitude and corruption that characterised the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
Sources told Peoples Gazette that Usman’s rapid rise through political ranks, first as Chief of Staff to Governor Nasir El-Rufai of Kaduna and later as MD of NPA was largely as a result of her political mobilisation for the then-opposition party.
“Those who have been grumbling that she was handed a juicy position like NPA even when she did not campaign with us have a minimal understanding of the role she played in 2015,” one of the sources said.
Usman’s account also reflected multiple transfers to other APC players, including Balarabe Abbas Lawal, El-Rufai’s cabinet secretary.
At least nine transactions worth nearly N400m went to Mr Lawal during the 2015 elections.
Dangote himself has long endured allegations of oiling his vast industrial empire by keeping friends with people with policymakers and potential policymakers.
Two weeks ago, the billionaire was widely criticised after his company received a special waiver to export its product through Nigeria’s land borders, which have been closed to all companies since August 2019.
Hadiza Bala Usman’s Access Bank account statement by Sahara Reporters on Scribd
Source: Peoples Gazette
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E2%80%98sinners%E2%80%99-kano Hisbah Conducts Door-to-door Search To Fish Out ‘Sinners’ In Kano
Officials of Hisbah in Kano State on Friday conducted a door-to-door search at Hills and Valley, a holiday and relaxation resort located at Dawakin Kudu, Kano metropolis.
SaharaReporters gathered that staff of the resort were made to take Hisbah personnel round all parts of the building.
During the search, operatives of the Islamic security outfit searched all rooms and spaces to detect ‘sinners’.
PHOTONEWS: Hisbah Conducts Door-to-door Search To Fish Out ‘Sinners’ In Kano | Sahara Reporters pic.twitter.com/funR0VT5O2— Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) November 27, 2020
Despite condemnation from Nigerians, Hisbah group has continued its push for Islamic agenda in the North.
The agency established to enforce Sharia law in some states in the region recently banned stylish haircuts, sagging of trousers, playing of music at social events by disk jockeys and seizing tricycle from riders for adorning them with pictures considered to be obscene and against the tenents of Islam.
Hisbah also banned commercial motorcycle and tricycle riders from carrying two women at a time.
This was in addition to other unusual directives reeled out by the Islamic police.
Hisbah recently made headlines for shaving stylish haircuts of young men in Kano and arresting people for improper dressing
Earlier in the month, the group destroyed bottles of beer worth over N300m in Kano, Kaduna and Katsina states.
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Hisbah Police Warns Radio Station To Stop Using ‘Black Friday’ For Sales Promo In Kano
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E2%80%99t-allow-any-type-endsars-protest-again-says-igp-adamu BREAKING: Nigeria Police Force Won’t Allow Any Type Of #EndSARS Protest Again, Says IGP Adamu
IGP Mohammed Adamu
The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has said that the force will not allow a repeat of the #EndSARS protest that rocked the country in October.
Adamu disclosed this on Friday after he met with all Commissioners of Police in the country.
IGP Mohammed Adamu
The IGP said the force was ready to face anyone, who organises or participates in such protests across the country.
He said, “Remember, even our constitution does not accept violent protests, so, those people that are planning to come up with another protest, if they’ve planned it to be a violent one, they should re-think, otherwise, we have prepared to face them.
“We will never allow this type of #EndSARS protests again. It was violent. Peaceful protest is allowed in our constitutions. When this process started peacefully, we provided security for them.
We were moving with them to make sure they were not molested by any group of people and it was going on well until it turned violent.
“When it turned violent, they then attacked the people that were even giving them protection. So, we shall never allow any violent protest in this country again. When you talk of peaceful protests, yes, it is allowed but violent protests, never!
“We’re to protect this country from hoodlums. We’re to protect this country from violence, and we want every Nigerian to work with us, to prevent what had happened as aftermath of the end of SARS in terms of destruction of public properties, loss of lives, businesses of individuals were crippled, corporate institutions were destroyed.”
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#ENDSARS: Lawyer Tells Lagos Judicial Panel To Summon Fashola For Discovering Camera At Lekki Toll Gate
Lagos judicial panel sitting today, 27th of November.
Mr Adesina Ogunlana, a lawyer, has asked the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on police brutality to summon Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing, for discovering a ‘hidden’ camera at the Lekki Toll Gate after the October 20 attack by soldiers on peaceful protesters.
Ogunlana made the request on Friday while cross-examining Mr Abayomi Omomuwa, Managing Director of Lekki Concession Company.
Lagos judicial panel sitting today, 27th of November.
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He appealed to the panel led by Justice Doris Okuwobi (retired) to call the minister to appear before the panel, stating that the camera found by the minister could be useful in the ongoing investigation.
Responding, Justice Okuwobi said Ogunlana must follow the proper procedure before Fashola could be summoned by the panel.
Fashola in company with Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and some South-West governors “discovered” a solitary unburnt camera resting on the ruins of the damaged toll gate.Fashola said the camera must have been planted by “some subversive elements”.
He picked up the device with a handkerchief and handed it over to Sanwo-Olu.
He said, “I think this will help with the ongoing investigations into the shootings at the Lekki Toll Gate. It requires forensic analysis and could be used in the investigations to unravel the mystery surrounding the shootings at the toll gate, I believe.”
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Nigerians Mock Babatunde Fashola Over “Discovery Of Secret Camera” At Lekki Toll Gate After Killing Of Peaceful Protesters
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E2%80%98sinners%E2%80%99-kano PHOTONEWS: Hisbah Conducts Door-to-door Search To Fish Out ‘Sinners’ In Kano
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