Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Tuesday 7th December 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 07/12/21
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E2%80%93-nigerian-government COVID-19 Vaccines Should Reach 70% Of Citizens Before 2022 Ends – Nigerian Government
The Nigerian government has said it is prepared to vaccinate 70 per cent of Nigerians against COVID-19 before the end of 2022.
The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and Chairman, Presidential Steering Committee (PSC) on COVID-19, Mr Boss Mustapha, said this on Monday in Abuja.
According to Daily Trust, Mustapha spoke at the National COVID-19 Summit with the theme: “Pushing Through the Last Mile to End the Pandemic and Build Back Better”.
“We are now in the era of vaccines and non-pharmaceutical intervention measures.
“We need to encourage all eligible persons to get vaccinated and keep observing washing of hands, wearing of face masks, keeping physical distance and avoiding crowded areas. Nigeria has invested in vaccines that can cover over 70 per cent of our population before the end of 2022.
“These vaccines are safe and efficacious; it is better and safer to be vaccinated against this virus, now,” Mustapha said.
He said that at the end, the committee was expected to have carried out the review of the country’s COVID-19 response from February 2020 to November 2021 to identify successes, gaps and lessons to be learnt; and also to identify resources and develop strategies that will actualise the country’s expressed international commitments toward ending COVID-19 by 31st December 2022 among others.
The SGF said that other expectations were an articulation of actionable recommendations to President Muhammadu Buhari on the governance structure, resources and policies needed to end COVID-19 in Nigeria by 31 December 2022.
He said that the recommendations would include how to rebuild the health system and the economy for a better response to future threats.
He said, “Nigeria’s COVID-19 response has been driven by science, data and experience since then till date.
“The national response has been driven by a multi-sectoral process which facilitated expansive and in-depth consideration of issues as well as speedy decision-making.
“The process enjoyed the overwhelming support of partners from the private sector and the international community. Through these partners, Nigeria was able to put in place critical infrastructure nationwide, procure scarce medical equipment, test kits and personal protective materials.”
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E2%80%99s-military-reduces-prison-sentence-ex-leader-suu-kyi-two-years Myanmar’s Military Reduces Prison Sentence Of Ex-leader, Suu Kyi To Two Years
The military in Myanmar has reduced the prison sentence of deposed leader, Aung San Suu Kyi, to two years.
Suu Kyi was earlier sentenced to four years in prison by a court in the country on Monday over multiple charges of corruption, violations of a state secrets act and a telecoms law that altogether carry a maximum sentence of more than a century in prison.
She, however, received a pardon from the military later on Monday, according to state media, MRTV.
Suu Kyi is set to serve time in detention at an undisclosed location.
Also, President of the country, Win Myint, had his sentence reduced to two years from four.
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BREAKING: Myanmar Court Sentences Former Leader, Suu Kyi To Four Years In Jail
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Myint and Suu Kyi were deposed by the military in a coup on February 1.
Monday’s ruling is the first in a dozen cases the military has brought against 76-year-old Suu Kyi since it deposed her civilian government.
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Nigerian Army Recovers Explosive Devices Planted On Orlu-Owerri Road For Motorists, Says IPOB Responsible
The Nigerian Army has said that its troops uncovered four Improvised Explosive Devices, adding that they were planted by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra for motorists and other road users along the Orlu-Owerri Road in Imo State.
The army said on Monday in a release obtained by SaharaReporters that the troops, who were on a reinforcement mission to Mgbidi/Awo Mmama, detected the IEDs planted at about 15 meters apart on both sides of the road and safely defused them.
The army spokesman, Brig Gen Onyema Nwachukwu, added that no casualty was recorded during the defusing of the bombs.
He said, “Troops conducting Exercise GOLDEN DAWN Sector 3 have thwarted an attempt by members of the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, Eastern Security Network (ESN) to unleash mayhem on residents of Mgbidi and Awo Mmamma communities in Oru East Local Government Area of Imo state. The group targeted terrorising the people for lawfully refusing to observe the illegal sit-at-home order foisted on them on Monday 6 November 2021.
“The swift response of troops compelled the attackers, mounted on two Sienna Buses and a Toyota Hilux truck to abandon their mission and withdrew in disarray. Troops are currently on the trail of the criminals.
“In a separate development, troops have uncovered four Improvised Explosive Devices planted by members of the proscribed IPOB/ ESN, in their desperate effort to inflict harm on unsuspecting motorists and other road users along Orlu – Owerri road. The vigilant troops, who were on a reinforcement mission to Mgbidi/Awo Mmama detected the IEDs planted at about 15 meters apart on both sides of the road and safely defused them. No casualty was recorded during the defusion.
“The troops also recovered four wraps of unexploded ordnances, one motor cycle battery, two vehicle alarm devices, one detonator, wires and batteries. The road has been safely cleared and motorists have resumed plying the road.
“We urge all law abiding citizens to go about their normal businesses and disregard the illegal sit at home order. We also appeal to the good people of Mgbidi, Awo Mmama and Omuma Communities to report any suspected movement of members of the irredentist group, who may be seeking a safe haven, to relevant security agencies.”
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Three Killed, Many Injured As Farmers, Herdsmen Clash In Jigawa
No fewer than three persons have been killed while many others sustained various degrees of injuries in a violent clash between farmers and cattle herders in Kirikasamma Local Government Area of Jigawa State.
The local government information officer, Sunusi Doro, said the government and security agencies had swung into action to restore law and order in the area.
Doro said the incident happened at Madaci and Iyo communities but that officials were still awaiting the report of what led to the deadly clash.
A resident, Idris, told Premium Times that the clash began on Wednesday following an encroachment into farmlands by herders which led to destruction of crops.
He said the encroachment provoked the farming communities to come out enmasse to protect their crops which are already ripe for harvest.
Idris said two people were murdered in Madaci, naming the victims as Abba Ali and Umar Sani.
He also identified one other person he said was killed at Iyo community as Aliso. He said the victim was a labourer from Kazaure local government area working as a farm hand in Kirikasamma.
The source said the herders used arrows and machetes to kill the three people.
He added that the injured victims were taken to neighbouring Kano and Yobe States for treatment.
He said the injured victims were taken to Nguru in Yobe and the Mallam Aminu Kano Teaching Hospital in Kano, while some others were in Hadejia responding to treatment.
“The hospital in Kano is requesting N300,000 to remove the arrow from the body of a victim and we are now contributing money but we are yet to meet the amount,” Idris said.
The police spokesperson in Jigawa, Lawan Adam, said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.
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E2%80%99s-now-crime-be-fine-cars-look-good-%E2%80%93-imo-residents-lament-rising-police-harassment It’s Now Crime To Be In Fine Cars, Look Good – Imo Residents Lament Rising Police Harassment, Extortion
Residents and youths in Owerri, Imo State, have raised concerns over their safety following a rise in harassment and highhandedness by policemen in the city.
The youth say policemen often dressed in T-shirts and ripped jeans have made it a custom to now accost young people in sleek cars and those in commercial vehicles before intimidating them with guns and batons.
The police falsely accused those accosted to be internet fraudsters or members of cult gangs in order to forcefully extort money from them, it was gathered.
In a video of one of such incidents that took place on Saturday around Rapour Junction, a popular section of the city, some policemen wielding AK-47 rifles could be seen assaulting and rough-handling a bunch of young men in a salon car they had chased to the spot.
Firing several shots into the air to scare away onlookers, the policemen brutalised some of the youths in the vehicle when they dared to ask what their offences were.
As the beating and gunshots went on, one of the guys could be heard crying for help on top of his voice.
The team of policemen later led the young men away in their vehicle to an unknown destination as the crowd of onlookers grew around the scene of the assault.
The incident, the latest of such in recent times, has sent many of the city’s residents in panic mode ahead of the Yuletide.
Speaking with SaharaReporters, some of them said they were afraid to move around the city as a result of police harassment.
“Attacks on young people by policemen in Owerri are becoming too many. The moment they see you in a fine car and looking good, they will accost you and look for a way to extort money from you by falsely accusing you of being a Yahoo boy (Internet fraudster).
“There is not a day in Owerri that this incident doesn’t happen. If it continues, many of our brothers may not come home for Christmas and New Year celebrations,” Nwabueze Fidelis, a resident, said.
Chux Oguzie, another resident of Owerri, said, “There is serious police brutality going on in Imo State, Owerri precisely.”
Earlier in October this year, SaharaReporters revealed how some young men were arrested and subsequently harassed by police officers in Owerri.
Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director of Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Center, a non-profit group, had in a statement revealed that policemen accosted one Victor, who had travelled from Lagos to Owerri en route Mbaise for a burial and forcefully collected N60,000 from him for no offence.
He disclosed that Victor and one of his cousins, who had come to pick up from the airport in Owerri, were arrested at Enyiogugu and thown into a police van.
The young men were taken to a Point of Sale operator were they were forced to withdraw the money and settle them.
Victor identified their vehicle number as NPF4605D.
The disturbing trend of police harassment had become so worrisome that young people across the country in October 2020 poured out to the streets to demand an end to police brutality.
In response, the police authorities dissolved the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad whose personnel were majorly responsible for such atrocities.
But a little over a year after the disbandment of SARS and the police authorities promised reforms and more respect for the rights of citizens, nothing has changed as ordinary Nigerians especially young people remain at the mercy of rogue policemen desperate to maim, kill and extort.
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Sowore’s Lawyer Writes Buhari Ahead Of Tuesday’s Court Sitting, Says Government-hired Thugs Plotting To Assassinate Activist
Tope Temokun, counsel for human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has written to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to ensure the safety of the life of the activist as thugs hired by government security agencies are plotting his assassination.
The lawyer warned the Buhari government that on Tuesday, December 7 when Sowore would appear before the Court of Appeal, Abuja for the hearing of his application challenging further his stringent bail conditions, his safety must be guaranteed and he must not be attacked by hoodlums.
The letter, obtained by SaharaReporters on Monday, added that intelligence already revealed that the security agents had mobilised thugs to be conveyed to the court of appeal tomorrow (Tuesday) to attack Sowore to prevent him from having his day in court.
The letter to Buhari reads, “We act as Solicitors to Mr. Omoyele Sowore, a pro-democracy activist and social justice crusader (hereinafter referred to as “Our Client”), on whose behalf and express instruction we write this open letter to you.
“On Tuesday, the 21st day of October, 2021, while our client was at the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja to observe and witness the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, he was attacked by some men, armed with petrol bombs and other lethal weapons, who alighted, with no caution, from a vehicle with registration number BWR 812 KM that had conveyed them down to the Court.
“Our client informed us that he was amidst the officers of the Nigeria Police Force and operatives of the DSS on the premises of the Federal High Court, Abuja, when these suspected sponsored thugs launched the attack on him.
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“Following this incident, petitions dated the 25th of October 2021 and the 29th of October 2021 were submitted to the Police Service Commission and the Inspector-General of Police on the 28th of October 2021 and the 29th of October 2021 respectively complaining about this incident and the complicity of the security agents, particularly the police officers present at the scene, led by one CSP ABDULLAHI ABUBAKAR HASSAN, the DPO of the Federal Secretariat Police Station, Abuja. Copies of these petitions were sent to Ambassador Mary Beth Leonard, United States Ambassador to Nigeria and Ambassador Keti Karlsen, EU Ambassador to Nigeria.
“While the Police Service Commission has not responded to the petition to our knowledge, we received invitation from the IGP X-Squad Abuja on our petition that the IG had directed our petition be investigated and on the 22nd of November 2021, we were at the office of the IGP X-Squad where our client, Mr. Omoyele Sowore gave his statement to the police on the attack on him on the court premises and the complicity of the security agents present.
“While investigation on this serious matter is supposed to be ongoing or believed to be ongoing, our client briefed us that on Thursday, 2nd of December, 2021, armed thugs wielding dangerous weapons attacked him on the premises of the Federal High Court Abuja and damaged his vehicle while he narrowly escaped being assassinated by these thugs he believed were mobilized to the Court by the DSS working in collusion with some police units.
“Tomorrow the 7th of December 2021, Our Client is to appear before the Court of Appeal Abuja for the hearing of his application challenging further his stringent bail conditions which had restricted him to Abuja since 2019 and information at Our Client’s disposal this minute is that the security agents have mobilized thugs to be conveyed to the court of appeal tomorrow to attack him to prevent him from having his day in court.
Sowore’s Lawyer Writes Buhari Ahead Of Tuesday’s Court Sitting, Says Government-hired Thugs Plotting To A**… by Sahara Reporters on Scribd
“Having exhausted all the hierarchical facilities of complaint against this act of barbarism and brigandage in which the DSS have kept mute despite the open outcry of Our Client of their complicity in these serial attacks and the police too have not come out with the helpful result of their investigation, we are constrained to write to you Mr. President to lay before you the hatched assassination attempts on our client by forces enjoying the backing the law enforcement agents under your government. We therefore call for your intervention as silence in this case by all authorities and the presidency will lead to no other conclusion than that the attack is coming by order from the above.
“We commit the safety of Mr. Omoyele Sowore to the hands of the government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria under you, Mr. President, as he pursues social justice through the Courts that we all agree and believe is the last hope of the common man and with full confidence, that all forms of intimidation notwithstanding, in the fullness of time, the course of justice shall mature and justice shall prevail.”
SaharaReporters had on Sunday chronicled the series of attacks carried out by government-backed hoodlums on Sowore in the recent years.
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ATTACK ON LIBERTY: Tracking Nigeria Police, DSS’ Continued Attacks On Sowore On Court Premises
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For instance, on February 6, 2021, a police officer who had tortured and broken Sowore’s nose during #CrossOverProtest on January 1 came to court with the same squad to intimidate the activist.
On July 26, 2021, the Nigeria Police Force and DSS unleashed violence on Sowore as he arrived at the Federal High Court in Abuja to witness the trial of Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
On October 21, the DSS also colluded with thugs to attack Sowore in the same court after he was denied entry by policemen during Kanu’s trial.
It took the intervention of some journalists covering the event to rescue the activist from his attackers, who had arrived on the scene in vehicles.
But to the surprise of everyone, the security agents including the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) of Federal Secretariat Police Station looked on as the activist was being assaulted.
On December 2, the DSS added to the already swelling list of attacks against Sowore’s liberty on court premises.
Last Thursday’s attack was not the first time the DSS would be mobilising thugs to go after Sowore – the latest incident only adds to an already swelling list.
Armed thugs hired by the DSS attacked Sowore as he made his way out of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
Immediately they sighted him, the thugs rushed towards Sowore and started throwing stones at the activist and the people with him.
As he navigated his way out of the court premises, the thugs rained several more stones on his car, damaging the shields, windows and some other parts.
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Strike Looms As Nigerian University Lecturers, ASUU Give 24 Hours To Declare Action
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on a strike action if the Federal Government fails to act urgently.
The development trails the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum it handed to the Federal Government to implement its demands.
The National President of ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, said the Federal Government would hear from the union in the next 24 hours concerning its next line of action, Tribune reports.
According to him, consultations were already in place with the various branches for a final position to be made known to the public soon.
Osodeke disclosed that the meeting of the principal officers of the union which was held on Sunday, resolved to proceed on consultation with branches, adding that the consultation would be through within the next one day after which the union would come out with its position.
ASUU also stated that the Federal Government only met one out of the demands of the Union which is the NEEDS assessment; the revitalisation funds of N30billion which it claimed N20billion was paid to the universities.
He said, “It is the principal officers that met yesterday (Sunday)”, explaining that, “following our procedures, we are going to the branches to consult them and then we will come to take the final decision.”
Recall that on 15th November, 2021, ASUU had given the Federal Government three weeks to accede to its demands or face another round of strike.
It was, however, gathered that the Federal Government through the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, is making efforts to stop the imminent strike action.
Recall that ASUU had threatened to embark on another round of strikes following the Federal Government’s failure to implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) agreed upon.
ASUU President, at a news conference at the union’s National Secretariat, University of Abuja, had called on parents and all patriotic Nigerians to hold the Federal Government responsible if it failed to address the issues within three weeks after the news conference.
He said despite the unions meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, on October 14, on major outstanding issues which include, funding for revitalisation of public universities and earned academic allowances.
Other outstanding issues, he said, were University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) promotion arrears, renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and the inconsistencies in IPPIS payment, which up till now had not been addressed.
“ASUU is fully committed to upholding academic integrity in the universities and is working to make them more globally competitive.
“We are equally committed to promoting industrial harmony in the Nigerian university system for as long as all stakeholders are willing and committed to play their part.
“We call on all vice-chancellors, as the main drivers of the system to join us in this mission to safeguard the waning image of our universities.
“They have no business trading honorary degrees and academic positions for personal and immediate gains; thereby smearing the collective integrity of committed scholars and other patriots who are working day and night to uplift the system that produced them.
“Our union shall not shy away from taking the fight to administrators of Nigerian universities as well as internal and external agents who are bent on compromising the standards ASUU has consistently laboured to protect and improve.
“Government of Nigeria should be held responsible should ASUU be forced to activate the strike it patriotically suspended.
“Finally, we call on all patriotic Nigerians and lovers of Nigeria to prevail on the federal and state governments to act fast to prevent another round of industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities,” he had said.
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Nnamdi Kanu: The Yuletide In The Gulag! By Ozodinukwe Okenwa
When the news came in suddenly online, last week, to the effect that the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, was scheduled to re-appear before Justice Binta Nyako at the Federal High Court in Abuja in what was described as abridgement of time application for a fast-forwarding of trial not a few Nigerians had thought that Kanu’s freedom was nigh. Those ‘celebrating’ in advance were given a rude awakening at the end of the day however.
Kanu’s leading lawyer, Barr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, had approached the Court with an application seeking an order of the court to accommodate the trial in November and December this year as against the earlier January 19, 2022 date set aside by the court for resumption of hearing.
Following the recent high-powered visit of some Igbo greats led by the First Republic legislator and former Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, to President Muhammadu Buhari in Aso Rock tongues had started wagging as to possible amnesty or presidential grace for Kanu who is facing trial for treason and other criminal activities. The nonagenarian and other statesmen and men of God on the delegation had implored the President for a political (rather than a military) solution to the Kanu saga.
President Buhari, while confessing the difficulty of the situation and acknowledging the constitutional separation of powers, had nonetheless promised his guests that he would consider their demand. The embattled President must have been humbled by that particular supplication.
So on that day many Nigerians had wrongly believed that President Buhari had intervened presidentially (prior to his departure abroad yet again) by prevailing on the judicial high command to give Kanu a soft-landing by granting him bail.
While the Department of State Services (DSS) did not consider it propitious bringing Kanu to court Justice Nyako objected to the fast-forwarding of the trial ruling instead that the matter would come up for hearing on the 18th rather than 19th and 20th January next year as previously scheduled. Besides, the court cited crowded pending cases as basis for its inability to grant the wish of lawyer Ejiofor and co.
Recently, grandpa Amaechi and His Grace, Bishop Sunday Onuoha, had gone to the DSS detention facility in Abuja to see Kanu. Their intervention may not be unconnected with the underground ‘politicking’ aimed at freeing Kanu from his solitary confinement and consequent psychological torture he is enduring daily.
And another controversial politician with dubious intentions, ex-Governor Orji Uzor Kalu (OUK) was also reported to have visited Kanu behind bars. OUK as a politician of fortune is seen generally in the South-east as a compromised corrupt unprincipled power-hungry businessman who ventured into politics as a sure source of self-aggrandizement.
Over time post-governorship of Abia State he had had his days in court and served a quality time in prison for economic crimes valued at millions of Dollars! Even his successor, an estranged ‘godson’, Theodore Orji, is also accused of looting Abia state treasury during his 8-year governorship.
Today OUK is a free man, the Chief Whip of the Senate; he is hobnobbing with another executive crook in Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, towards the 2023 presidential poll. The latter, the godfather of Lagos politics, had recently visited Kalu at his residence in Abuja!
The OUK and MNK interface in Abuja had been denounced by both lawyer Ejiofor and the IPOB management. They frowned at the surreptitious way and manner Senator Kalu gained access to Kanu in the DSS office without the presence of his lawyers. They equally flayed the statement Kalu issued following his interaction with the IPOB champion.
While Barr. Ejiofor challenged Senator Kalu to tell the world how he went in fraudulently to talk things over with their client IPOB via a statement issued by Spokesman Emma Powerful had declared that Senator Kalu would be held responsible should anything untoward happened to their incarcerated leader.
Accusing him of being one of those that “bankrolled and sponsored the extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria” the Powerful statement querried Kalu’s mission and the reason for the visit.
Senator Kalu’s intervention, given his credibility deficit, would have little or no impact on the protracted struggle for the Biafran nationhood. Elder Amaechi’s own intervention is bound to produce positive result.
Months ago the Onitsha-based ‘prophet’ Chukwuemeka Ohanaemere (aka Odumeje) had prophesied that Mazi Kanu would be released well before Christmas promising to celebrate same with him in person. He said so as he hosted lawyer Ejiofor in his church. But now that Yuletide is around the corner, weeks separated from now and then, it remains to be seen how Kanu would enjoy Xmas a free man in Onitsha or Afaraukwu-Umuahia.
For Mazi Kanu, therefore, spending the Yuletide inside the DSS gulag remains something terribly plausible unless a miracle of extraordinary proportion operated by God (or devil!) happens sooner than later. He may not believe in Christmas as a worshipper of Judaism yet Kanu deserves freedom before the rest of us celebrate the glorious birth of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ, come December 25th.
SOC Okenwa
soco_abj_2006_rci@hotmail.fr
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Oil Spill: Bayelsa Communities Protest, Ask Nigerian Government To Declare Pollution Areas As Disaster Zone
The apex socio-cultural group of the Nembe ethnic Nationality, Nembe Se Congress, has protested and demanded that the Federal and Bayelsa State governments should designate the impacted areas in the Santa Barbara Oil Spill as a major disaster zone.
The President of the body, Prof Godwin Egein, who made the call at a briefing in Yenagoa, said the November 1, 2021, spill from the high pressure Aiteo’s Oil Mining Lease 21 located in Worikuma-Kiri has continued to spew poisonous substances into the environment over a month after its occurrence.
The group also called on relevant regulatory agencies to compel Aiteo to ensure a stoppage of the spill and a comprehensive cleanup of the affected areas.
The Nembe Se Congress described the spill as one of the biggest disasters in the history of oil and gas exploration and exploitation of the country.
Egein stressed that with dangerous hydrocarbon fluids still gushing out from the well head and destroying the environment in the process, there was a need to declare the area a major disaster zone.
In an eight point demand, Prof Egein also urged for speedy end and remediation of the spill site while advocating the constitution of a joint investigation visit team to ascertain the cause of the incident.
He called for more relief materials and a comprehensive health care arrangement for the people while urging residents in the various fishing and farming settlements along the spill site to relocate to safer locations in view of the health implications.
Earlier, some Nembe Se members comprising elders, youths and women groups had embarked on a protest walk from the Ekeki Park to the NUJ Press Center in Yenagoa to call for urgent attention to the ongoing spill in the Santa Barbara River.
Carrying placards with messages such as “Nembe We Bleed”, “Nembe Oil Spill is a National Disaster”, “We don’t have a second home”, “Federal Government take charge” amongst others, they called on Aiteo to ensure transparency in all matters concerning the disaster.
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Family Of Late Dowen College Student Hires Falana Chambers To Prosecute School As Another Parent Narrates Ordeal
The family of late Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, 12-year-old late student of Dowen College that was allegedly bullied by his seniors, has hired the firm of human rights’ lawyer, Femi Falana, SAN, to prosecute the case against the institution over the unfortunate death of their son.
According to a report by Premium Times, the Falana Chambers has since written to the office of Lagos State’s chief coroner, requesting an inquest into the circumstances leading to the death of the child.
The letter, which was dated December 6, 2021, and signed by Taiwo Olawale, was specifically addressed to the chief coroner, high court of Lagos State.
It was titled; “Request for Inquest into the Tragic Death of Sylvester Oromoni killed at Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos.”
The lawyer noted that based on the briefings by the family, the late student died as a result of injuries allegedly inflicted on him by his seniors at the school.
The letter reads in part: “Given the needless death of Sylvester Oromoni, we are compelled to request you to use your good offices to cause a coroner’s inquest to be conducted into the cause of death of this young and promising boy and make appropriate recommendations pursuant to Section 15 of the Lagos State Coroner’s Law 2007 that states that an inquest shall hold whenever a coroner is informed that the death of a deceased person within his coroner district is as a result of a death in a violent, unnatural or suspicious situation.
“We hereby request your lordship to conduct an inquest into the circumstance surrounding this tragic death and we are confident that your lordship will accede to our request with utmost urgency.”
Recall that the parents of the deceased petitioned the Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu seeking a proper investigation into their son’s death.
Meanwhile, a lady, Nikky Ufondu who claimed her son was enrolled in the school has taken to her Instagram page to narrate what she described as a scary experience of her then 10-year-old son at the school in 2013.
According to Ufondu, her son had complained bitterly about his experiences in the hands of those he described as bullies, who he accused of robbing his son of his money, provisions and other belongings.
She also said the bullying forced her to remove her son from the college after his first term in JSS1, accusing the school management of being concerned about school fees only and not the children’s wellbeing.
She added that her son’s case was not different from that of several other kids in the school, who she noted had faced similar bullying challenges and that she made the decision for her only son, whom she identified simply as Henry, to leave the college.
And just as the deceased’s father accused the school management of not asking after the late Oromoni junior, Ufondu also said, “After removing Henry, who is my only son, from the Dowen College, the school management never reached out to me, nor find out why I took my son away from the school; only his teacher who knew of the incident contacted me months after we withdrew the young man from the school.”
The death of the 12-year-old became of public knowledge when a relation to the deceased, Perris Oromoni said on social media that his cousin was beaten to death at Dowen College.
This attracted outrage from Nigerians with many demanding justice for the young boy.
Others called on parents to withdraw their children from the school following the incident.
The school in its reaction to the incident claimed that the deceased sustained injuries while playing football and was given immediate medical attention by its resident nurse.
Subsequently, the student complained of having pains in his hip and was attended to again by a doctor and nurse and thereafter taken to his house, the school said.
The victim’s cousin thereafter released photos and video evidence, showing Sylvester was bullied and beaten, leading to his death.
The video shared by the family of the boy before his death showed him in pain.
The deceased was also said to have been forced to drink an unknown substance by the bullies.
The father of the late student had alleged that the parents of pupils responsible for torturing his son had made arrangements for them to fly out of the country.
In another statement, the school claimed it was ready to work with the authorities during investigation into the matter particularly with the closure of the school by the Lagos state government.
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