Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Sunday 3rd January 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 03/01/21
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E2%80%94group Arrest, Assault on Sowore, Others Confirm #EndSARS Protest Demands Not Met—Group
Injured Sowore in custody of the Nigeria Police
The Socialist Workers and Youth League, a civil society organisation, has joined the growing voices calling for the immediate release of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, and his colleagues, Juwon Sanyaolu, Michael Adenola, Peter, and Kimrere.
The SWL on Saturday described the arrest and brutalisation of Sowore and others by the police on New Year’s Eve as a clear indication that “the basic conditions for the #EndSARS revolt last year still persist”.
Injured Sowore in custody of the Nigeria Police
The SWL, in a release by its National Secretary, Lai Brown, said, “The Socialist Workers and Youth League calls for the immediate release of Omoyele Sowore, Juwon Sanyaolu, Michael Adenola, Peter, and Kimrere.
The five activists of the African Action Congress were unjustly arrested at Gudu junction in Abuja during a peaceful crossover demonstration.
“We want to make it abundantly clear to the Nigerian police and the ruling regime that protest is a fundamental democratic right. A violent attack on peaceful protesters is an attack on one of the most important tenets of democracy.
“It must also be pointed out that protests and mass uprising become inevitable with the continued failure of the current regime and neoliberal capitalism.
“The arrest and brutalisation of Sowore, Juwon and Michael in the early hours of the New Year by the police from Abattoir Division, Abuja, are a clear indication that the basic conditions for the #EndSARS revolt last year still persist.
“The retired Major General Buhari-led government continues to attack poor people and violate fundamental rights. But also, the arrest demonstrates the weakness of the bosses’ state given the failure of their system to address the genuine agitations and demands of the Nigerian masses.”
SWL noted that people who are in the working class and the youth had the power and the will to change the oppressive system and win their total liberation through struggle.
The group said, “The #EndSARS revolt demonstrated to us the power to bring to birth social change from below and a Nigeria that works for all and not for the interest of some few.
“It is on this basis that we call on working-class people and student organisations to join in demanding for the immediate and unconditional release of the arrested comrades.
“And also that we mobilise to fight for a real and total change. Obviously, the current regime and bosses generally have resolved to intensify attacks and place more burden on the people.”
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E2%80%93-falana Police Refused Sowore’s Bail Application, Awaiting Order From Above – Falana
Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr. Femi Falana, who is also lawyer to the detained human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has said the police authorities have flagrantly refused his client’s application for bail.
Falana noted on Saturday that his client had given his counsel permission to sue all the police officers involved in the brutality.
In an interview with Punch, the renowned human rights lawyer said, “Since Mr Sowore’s fundamental right to dignity has been recklessly violated by the police, we have his instructions to press for charges against all the officers who subjected him to physical and mental torture in contravention of the letter and spirit of the provisions of the Anti-Torture Act of 2017.
“Sowore, who was covering an event at the time of his arrest, has maintained that he did not breach any of the COVID-19 regulations. He has been detained indefinitely on the basis of order ‘from above.’”
The lawyer said his client had been tortured and locked up in a detention facility along with armed robbery suspects.
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Falana added, “The police officers who arrested Mr. Omoyele Sowore in Abuja on January 31, 2020, subjected him to severe beating and left him with bruises all over his body. As if that was not enough, he has been locked up in the midst of armed robbery suspects at a notorious detention facility called abattoir, maintained by the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad in Abuja.
“The physical torture of Mr. Sowore was prolonged by the refusal of the police to provide him with medical attention. Although Mr. Sowore’s injuries are being treated by his personal physician, the police authorities have refused the application of the detainee for bail even though the alleged offence of breaching COVID-19 regulations is ‘bailable.’”
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Youth Group Tackles Buhari Over Continued Police Detention Of Sowore, Others
The author, Omoyele Sowore
The Youth Rights Campaign has condemned the arrest of human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, and his colleagues, Juwon Sanyaolu, Damilare Adenola, Peter and Kimrere by policemen on New Year’s Eve, for staging a peaceful protest.
The YRC added that such a repressive action showed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s New Year speech to listen to the youth and Nigerians with divergent opinions lacked sincerity.
The campaign in a release signed on Saturday by its National Coordinator, Adaramoye Michael, and National Secretary, Francis Nwapa, noted that Sowore’s arrest showed that the Buhari government was not about to change its “dictatorial tendencies, rather it intends to sustain its attacks on democratic rights and state repression in 2021”.
The YRC said, “YRC condemns any form of continuous repression and attack on democratic rights by the Buhari-led government and demands the immediate and unconditional release of Sowore and other arrested ‘crossover’ protesters.
“We also call on the Nigeria Labour Congress, Trade Union Congress and all pro-labour organisations to condemn the arrest and demand their release. We call on the youth and the working people to wage relentless mass struggles against capitalist exploitation, corruption and attacks on democratic rights in the New Year.
“It is our belief that Omoyele Sowore’s earlier call on Nigerians to register their grievances against the Buhari-led Government in what he tagged #CrossOverProtest did not warrant the arrest and the level of brutalisation he and others were made to suffer.
“Protest, alongside rights to freedom of speech and assembly, is an inalienable fundamental human right. YRC reliably gathered that they were almost done with the procession before being rounded up by men of the Nigeria Police Force at Gudu junction, who brutalised and injured them before being whisked away to Abattoir Police Station in Abuja.
“We have also gathered that the police authorities are planning to arraign them in court on trumped-up charges. These heavy strong-arm tactics adopted by the Buhari regime to suppress freedom of assembly and dissent voices against the regime are a sign of a jittery regime which has lost its social base and can only keep itself in office through repression.
“YRC reiterates its opposition towards the Buhari-led government’s style of repressing activists and demands an immediate and unconditional release of Omoyele Sowore, Juwon Sanyaolu, Michael Adenola and others arrested now.”
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E2%80%93-nnamdi-kanu Real Enemy Of Biafra Is British Government – Nnamdi Kanu
IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu
Leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, has identified the enemies of the agitation for the secession of the South-East from Nigeria as the British government and not the Fulani.
Kanu revealed this in his New Year address to members of the proscribed IPOB in a broadcast on Radio Biafra on Friday.
IPOB Leader, Nnamdi Kanu
The statement was made available to SaharaReporters on Saturday by the Media and Publicity Secretary, Comrade Emma Powerful.
Kanu described the British government as hell-bent on supporting the unity of Nigeria, at the detriment of the “South-East region that is part of the components that hold the centre”.
“You people think we are fighting Fulani. Who is Fulani? Those stopping Biafra is (sic) Britain because they know what Biafra is all about. Because (Governor Dave) Umahi wants to be the vice president, then I must allow Fulani from Mali to come and kill our people.”
Kanu also said IPOB would resist any attack on its members.
He said, “Happy new year to all of you, according to the Gregorian calendar. It is even unfortunate that I am unable to come to you live on Facebook. We have done everything humanly possible, all to no avail.
Those that are for Facebook in Lagos and everywhere have compromised themselves.
“This evening broadcast is to take stock of what we have been able to accomplish so far.
“As the Janjaweeed are coming down from the North to engage us which I know they will, their (will) land be vandalised by the bandits.
“As I told you, there is a way to our madness. The Janjaweed army will come to the South to engage us, but this time around, we are waiting for them in our bushes, we are not going to fight them in our township.
“We will fight them in the bush and we will kill them, I want you to watch and see what we are going to do to the zoo.”
In September 2017, the Federal High Court in Abuja gave judicial backing to the executive order of President Muhammadu Buhari, outlawing IPOB and its activities in Nigeria.
The Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, granted the order proscribing the group, which declared that the activities of the group constituted an act of terrorism and illegality.
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E2%80%99s-all-lies-blackmail-%E2%80%93-ogun-commissioner-denies-sexually-harassing-16-year-old It’s All Lies, Blackmail – Ogun Commissioner Denies Sexually Harassing 16-year-old
Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abdul-Balogun
Embattled Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abdul-Balogun, has denied that he sexually molested a 16-year-old girl, Barakat, saying some people are trying to blackmail and destroy him.
The commissioner added that it was “just lies, blackmail and falsehood”, saying there was more to the allegation than meets the eye.
Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abdul-Balogun
Abdul-Balogun had been in the eye of the storm after a teenager alleged that the commissioner lured her to his apartment and allegedly fondled her breasts while muttering some incantations.
In the video confession to the police, the teenager noted that the commissioner’s aides lured her to his house and his bedroom, after which the commissioner came in, bolted the door and sexually assaulted her.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, the commissioner noted that it was a “game of local politics” some people were trying to play on him.
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He Fondled My Breasts, Recited Incantations – 16-Year-Old Recounts Alleged Sexual Harassment By Ogun Commissioner
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He said, “You know we are politicians and you know the game of politics, especially local politics, as people would want to destroy you once you have the visions. This is happening from my homestead. I have been in Ijebu for the past one week for the festivity. So, I am just getting back. So, it is all about some people; so, I know the game. But I can tell you that there is more to this than what we are seeing. It is just lies, blackmail and falsehood.
“Look at the video and see that somebody was asking leading questions from the girl in question. They are not her original words.”
In the video recording, believably done by a police investigator and obtained by SaharaReporters, the victim, a Senior Secondary School 3 student, had alleged that the commissioner allegedly caressed her body and offered her money.
She said she screamed, before she was eventually allowed to go.
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We Invited Ogun Commissioner For Alleged Sexual Harassment Of 16-year-old – Police
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She had said, “On December 31, one Mr Lasisi came to my grandparents in the area, and said he knew someone who needed a computer operator and asked if I knew how to operate a computer. I said yes. He now said I should get dressed and that we would go together to the place.
“When we got there, it was the honourable’s house. A lady, Maryam Odunnuga, came to pick me and took me to a living room. Mr Austin now came out and asked me to come over to a room. The honourable now came inside and Mr Austin went outside immediately.”
The teenager narrated further that the commissioner tried to entice her with money to get a chance to sleep with her but she resisted it.
She said, “The honourable locked the door instantly and put the key in his pocket. So, he now moved close to me and asked for the name of my school. He asked for the amount of money I was paying as school fees. I replied by saying N30,000. He asked me who was paying my school fees, I told him my daddy. He asked if I had thought of starting a business before going to school.
“I said I wanted to go to a higher institution. Then he said if I would need some money now, how much would I need? I said, any amount. He said I should state an amount. He now moved closer and pressed (fondled) my breasts. So, I moved his hand away. He now said won’t I cooperate. He now started pressing (fondling) my breasts and my body.
“I was struggling to free myself from him. Then he started reciting some incantations. He wanted to touch my head. I now moved his hand away so that he would not touch my head. He now wanted to force me inside his bathroom.
“But I struggled with him and started shouting. He did not want people around his house to know what was going on. He now left me and gave him four, N500 notes, that is N2,000 as my transport fare. I rejected the money.
“He said if I didn’t collect the money, he would not let me go. So, I collected it. He now asked Austin to drop me in our house. I want Nigerians to help me to take up this matter against him. This had never happened to me in my life. Right now, I am so shocked. I had never been harassed like that in my life.”
The police at Abigi Police Station had already invited the commissioner to come and answer to the allegations against him.
In the police invite sent to Abdul-Balogun, dated January 1, 2021, and signed by the Divisional Police Officer, the commissioner was to appear before 1pm on same day.
“You are invited to see the officer in charge of crime at the above-named police office in connection with a case reported, which this office is investigating.
“It is just a fact-finding invitation and your very cooperation will be appreciated. Upon arrival, please report to the Divisional Crime Officer, Abigi. Looking forward to seeing on or before 01/01/2021 at 1pm,” the police invite read.
‘He Fondled My Breasts’ –16-year-old Recounts How Ogun Commissioner Sexually Harassed Her@dabiodunMFR @OgsgTweets WATCH FULL VIDEO: mdash; Sahara Reporters (@SaharaReporters) January 2, 2021
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E2%80%94obasanjo COVID-19: Why God Spared My Life —Obasanjo
Olusegun Obasanjo
Former President Olusegun Obasanjo on Saturday asked Nigerians who survived COVID-19 and witness the New Year to thank God for His mercies.Obasanjo said he knew why God spared his life to witness the New Year despite the turbulence and challenges posed to humanity in 2020 by COVID-19 pandemic.
According to the ex-president, he was spared by God purposely to “serve Him and humanity more and more”.Obasanjo, the Asiwaju Onigbagbo of Ogun State, spoke at the second annual thanksgiving service of the state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria held at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta.The former president said he survived 2020 not because he was more righteous or cleverer than any of those swept away by the pandemic in Nigeria, Africa, and the rest of the world.He said it dawned on him that God purposely kept him alive to serve Him and humanity more and more.He said, “We must give thanks to God. You will be the most ungrateful person if you do not perform the duty of giving thanks to God.“In all circumstances, give thanks. Therefore, if you fail to give thanks, you are failing a very significant duty of yours as a Christian.“The last year 2020 was a very challenging year not only for us in Nigeria, not only for us in Africa but for the whole world.“The fact that you are alive calls for giving thanks to God. It doesn’t matter which way you look at it, that those who you know as a result of Covid-19 are no more here with us. It is not because you are better than they are, more knowledgeable than they are, it’s just by the grace of God.“And if God gives you that grace, to remain on earth, maybe for a purpose, I believe part of the purpose is for you to continue to serve humanity and to serve God. You cannot be a servant of God if you cannot give thanks to him.“The purpose of being here is to perform our duty as Christians by giving thanks to God,” Punch quoted him to have said.
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Bandits Kill Chief Imam, Two Others In Fresh Kaduna Attacks
Armed bandits have killed Sheikh Danleeman Isah, Chief Imam of Kawaran Rafi village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
The Kaduna State Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, disclosed this in a statement on Saturday.
Aruwan said the bandits invaded the village and moved straight to the Chief Imam’s residence, and in what appears to be a premeditated attack, shot him dead and left the location without taking any item or hostage.
He said the murder of the cleric has been linked to his vocal stance against the killing and kidnapping of people by bandits.
In a similar development, bandits also killed the Ardo Musa Layi of Kajuru Local Government Area, who was kidnapped by armed men in October 2020, reportedly for his stance against killing, kidnapping and cattle rustling.
In another development, security agencies have reported the murder of the Sarkin Yaki of Godogodo, Yohanna Abu, by a gang of kidnappers.
According to the report, the gunmen attacked Nisama village in the Jema’a Local Government Area of the state late on Friday night and abducted Mr Abu along with another resident, Mr Charles Audu.
A struggle ensued between the duo and the kidnappers, and while Mr Audu was able to escape, the kidnappers shot Mr Abu dead.
The commissioner disclosed that five persons have been arrested in connection with the killing, as security agencies continue to investigate the incident.
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E2%80%93-police We Invited Ogun Commissioner For Alleged Sexual Harassment Of 16-year-old – Police
The Ogun State Police Command invited the Ogun State Commissioner for Environment, Abiodun Abdul-Balogun, for allegedly sexually harassing a 16-year-old lady, Barakat, at Ita Otu, Ogun Waterside Local Government Area of the state on Friday for questioning.
The command, through the Abigi Police Station, sent an invitation to the commissioner to come and answer questions regarding the allegations against him.
In the police invite sent to Abdul-Balogun, dated January 1, 2021, and signed by the Divisional Police Officer, the commissioner was to appear before 1pm on the same day.
The teenager had recounted that the sexual harassment occurred on Thursday, December 31, in the commissioner’s apartment, where he allegedly fondled her breasts and ranted incantations, while she screamed and struggled to free herself from his grip.
The victim, in her confession statement to the police at the Abigi Division, had narrated that the commissioner’s aides lured her to his house and his bedroom, after which the commissioner came in and bolted the door.
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In the video recording, believably done by a police investigator and obtained by SaharaReporters, the victim, a Senior Secondary School 3 student, added that the commissioner allegedly caressed her body and offered her money.
She said she screamed, before she was eventually allowed to go.
“You are invited to see the officer in charge of crime at the above named police office in connection with a case reported, which this office is investigating.
“It is just a fact-finding invitation and your very cooperation will be appreciated. Upon arrival, please report to the Divisional Crime Officer, Abigi. Looking forward to seeing you on or before 01/01/2021 at 1pm,” the police invite read.
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The Thoughtless Arrest And Brutalization Of Omoyele Sowore And Others Over Crossover Protest By Stanley Imhanruor
Stanley Imhanruor Esq
Hate him or love him. Hate his methodology or like his methodology but one thing you can never take away from him is that: in him the man never DIES.
If you admire him and his advocacy for good governance prior to 2015 general elections but suddenly you are mad at him for also deploying similar civil and peaceful means to call attention to the failings and inadequacies of the current government at the centre and generally, the joke is on you.
Stanley Imhanruor Esq
Make no mistake about it, he has the right to constantly protest peacefully on a daily basis whether alone or in company of other persons (if he so wishes) and irrespective of whoever maybe wearing a frowning face.
Protest is not a criminal offence.
The Police should either charge him and others to court immediately if they are of the opinion that have committed any “criminal offence(s)” by embarking on a peaceful protest by whatever name styled or release them immediately.
Peace or security of lives and properties is never the absence of peaceful protests or controversies or debates about good governance or the absence of good governance.
If anything, ideas about good governance or the absence of it must be allowed to continuously clash in the intellectual market place.
The best way to engender peace is to guarantee the right of citizens to singly or collectively protest peacefully at all times.
It is the constitutionally responsibility of the Police to protect peaceful protesters like in the instant case from attacks by misguided elements be they in Uniform or not and not otherwise.
You don’t expect everyone to be an hallelujah crusader or hallelujah boy or girl of the government in power and declare voices of dissent as “enemies” of the State.
The beauty of democracy lies in the plurality of opinions.
The way the protests and criticisms of some persons against the government offends you and your sensibility rightly or wrongly, is exactly the same way your praise singing or defence of the government offends some other persons too.
#Balance of dissatisfactions!
Consequently, if the government protects the praise singers, the least that is expected from the same government is to equally protect protesters and critics and not to seek to intimidate them by the coercive power of the State.
Every component of the society irrespective of perception or ideological bend constitutes a block in nation building and to build a viral and successful nation, all the building blocks must work together but they don’t necessarily need to agree on how the bigger picture (final product/building) must be achieved.
Protest / debate is an integral part of the building blocks of a democratic nation.
#FreeSowore&others.
Stanley Imhanruor Esq
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E2%80%93 Senior Students In Deeper Life School Put Hands In My Anus, Threatened To Kill Me If I Reported – Assaulted Pupil Narrates Ordeal
A pupil of the Deeper Life High School, Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Don Davis Archibong, who has been in the news over the alleged assaults he suffered in the hands of a teacher and some senior students of the school has finally spoken out, narrating his ordeal.
It would be the first time Archibong would be speaking publicly about what happened to him.
He narrated how pupils in his dormitory sexually assaulted him by putting their hands in his anus whenever others were sleeping.
Archibong added that the two bullies threatened to kill him if he ever reported the incident to the school authorities.
The pupil stated this during a Facebook video live session on Saturday.
The 11-year-old boy explained that because he was a bed-wetter, he was allegedly assaulted by his teacher, whom he identified as Akpan, saying he beat him with a belt, stick and stones.
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He said, “He beats me with anything he sees. Mr Akpan beats me because I wet my bed. One day that Mr Akpan was beating me, Mr Michael came to ‘bail me’. Mr. Michael asked me if Akpan wanted to kill me, Mr Akpan said he didn’t care.”
Archibong added that the same Akpan sent him back to the hostel whenever it was time to eat so that he would starve.
“Mr Akpan sends me to go back to the hostel to get something. It’s a way of starving me,” he added.
The young boy said he usually bought biscuits and soft drinks from the shop at the hostel to satisfy his hunger.
He said, “When I just resumed in school, I was asked to go to Senior Secondary School 1 Dormitory. There were two boys there, Ola and Shalom; they put their hands in my anus, brought out faeces from there. It made me feel somehow and they used the hands to beat me. They ask me to bend (over) so they could put their hands in my anus. They did it by 12am when everybody was sleeping.
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“They told me not to tell anybody or they would kill me so I never reported it. The house master didn’t know they did this; he would be asleep. If I had told the vice principal, they would have killed me.”
Archibong’s mother, Deborah Okezie, had gone public to announce that her child was allegedly assaulted and molested in the school and that even after the school authorities received complaints about it, nothing was done about it.
There have been calls for proper investigation and justice by Nigerians, particularly on social media.
The management of the school in December announced the suspension of the principal of the school, Solomon Ndidi, over the alleged molestation of Archibong, adding that investigation into the incident had commenced.
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