Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Wednesday 18th May 2022
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 18/05/22
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E2%80%99s-anti-graft-agency-efcc-arrests-grills-ex-speaker-patricia-etteh-over BREAKING: Nigeria’s Anti-graft Agency, EFCC Arrests, Grills Ex-Speaker, Patricia Etteh Over Alleged Fraud
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission has arrested a former Speaker of the Nigerian House of Representatives, Patricia Etteh.
Etteh is being grilled by EFCC’s special duties unit for her alleged involvement in a solar power electrification scam in Akwa Ibom State worth N240 million.
The former speaker was said to have received N130m through her personal account.
The contract was awarded by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
Etteh, the only woman to have been elected into the position, was elected Speaker in 2007 but resigned only after a few months amid allegations of financial misappropriation.
The EFCC on Monday arrested the Accountant-General of the Federation (AGF), Ahmed Idris, over an N80 billion fraud.
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Drug Baron Who Cooks, Sells Crack Cocaine Arrested In Her Mansion In Delta
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), said on Tuesday it had arrested a wanted drug baroness in Delta State. The agency, in a statement issued by its Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, titled ‘NDLEA arrests wanted drug baroness, seals her mansion, drug bunks in Delta’, stated that the suspect was arrested on Sunday with nine staff members.
The suspect which the agency said was a major cartel distributing drugs in Delta and adjourning states had been under surveillance for weeks after her identification as a major distributor of illicit drugs in the South-South state. Babafemi, who gave the name of the suspect as Bridget Oghenekevwe Emeka, aka Mama, was arrested on Sunday with nine employees at her palatial mansion where she cooks and distributes crack cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit substances. The statement read, “The backbone of a major cartel distributing drugs in Delta and adjourning states was broken on Sunday, 15th May, following the arrest of a wanted 59-year-old drug baroness, Bridget Oghenekevwe Emeka, a.k.a Mama, by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, at her palatial mansion where she cooks and distributes crack cocaine, methamphetamine and other illicit substances. “No fewer than nine of her staff and associates were arrested along with her in coordinated simultaneous operations at her expansive residence and drug bunks where she accommodates drug users and sells illicit substances to them and others in parts of Warri, Delta state. “Apart from various quantities of crack cocaine, methamphetamine, Molly, and Loud seized from her home and drug bunks; a pump-action gun, 15 cartridges, documents, two cars, mobile phones, drug paraphernalia such as sodium bicarbonate and polythene wrappings were also recovered for further investigation.” It added that “while five of her staff that cook, cut, package and distribute the drugs were found in her house located at Favour Street, Otukutu, Effurun Warri, four of her associates were equally arrested at her drug bunks in other parts of the town during the raids by Strike Force officers of NDLEA supported by the military. “The drug baroness has been under surveillance for weeks after her identification as a major distributor of illicit drugs in the South-South state. Bridget cooks cocaine into crack cocaine for local distribution and consumption in drug joints. “Some of the paraphernalia for making crack recovered from her house include sodium bicarbonate, which is the main adulterant and recipe for making crack cocaine, as well as transparent nylon used in wrapping the finished product,” the statement read. NDLEA spokesman said that the Chairman/Chief Executive of the agency, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (retd.) commended the officers and men involved in the operation that led to her arrest. He quoted the chairman to have also commended the armed forces for their unwavering support for the agency in the execution of their operation.
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E2%80%98ipob Group Petitions Army Commander Over Unlawful Detention Of Civilian Accused Of Selling ‘IPOB Boots’, Calls For Probe
The Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) has petitioned the General Officer Commanding, 81 Division of the Nigerian Army over the 3-month-long detention of a civilian, Jude Eze Ibe at the Dodan Barracks in Lagos . RULAAC, in the petition signed by Okechukwu Nwanguma, the Executive Director of the group, said Ibe had been illegally detained at the cell on the orders of the Commandant of the military police, Brigadier-General M.L Abubakar.
Ibe was reportedly arrested and detained in connection with some desert boots retrieved from a shop at the Army Market, Oshodi (Arena), according to his wife’s account. Trouble started when the military police visited ‘Arena’ on March 5 to recover debts from someone in the market. According to Amarachi, the wife of the detained person, the military personnel sighted some desert boots which Ibe had kept in his neighbour’s shop because his shop was filled with goods recently imported from China. Upon sighting the boot, the military personnel seized the goods, ordering Ibe to report to their office the following day. He obeyed, visiting alongside a friend and sales attendant. However, they were detained on allegations of supplying boots used by members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). She said the other men were however released two weeks after while her husband remained in detention on the excuse that he had not obtained a license before involving in the sale of the boots. Amarachi called for the immediate release of her husband, stating that his continued detention has affected his ailing father. She added that her husband was also hypertensive as she expressed concerns over his health. The petition from RULAAC urged the GOC 81 Commander to ensure Ibe’s immediate release and ensure appropriate disciplinary actions are taken against the officers who illegally detained the businessman. The petition reads, “Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre (RULAAC) writes to bring to your attention and to seek your intervention to order the immediate release of Mr. Jude Eze Ibe, a civilian businessman who trades in footwear at the Army Market Oshodi known as ‘Arena’ and has been detained at the Dodan Barracks VI for over 3 months allegedly on the orders of the Commandant of the Military Police, Brigadier- General M.L Abubakar. “Mrs. Favour Amarachi Ibe, the wife of the detained businessman, informed us that her husband was arrested by some military police personnel on March 5, 2022, and has been detained at Dodan Barracks over some boots they saw and impounded from his shop. She informed us that her husband sells ‘rubber palm slippers’ (flip flops) at the ‘Arena’. “According to Mrs. Ibe, the military police personnel had come to the ‘Arena’ to recover debts allegedly owned a Chinese by her husband’s neighbour in the market. They saw some boots in the neighbour’s shop which she said her husband had given to him to keep for him in his shop because his own shop was filled with goods he had just imported from China. “She said her husband kept 77 pairs of Desert Boots in the shop of the man that the military police personnel came to arrest and they saw and took the boots and asked him to report at their office. “He reported and was locked up by the military police, alongside his friend and sales boy who accompanied him. They released them the next day and asked them to report again the next day with her husband. They reported again on the 7th of March 2022 and were informed that ‘they got a call from Abuja that they should hand them over to 81 Div. Ikoyi. “They took them to Dodan Barracks. Two weeks after, they let his friend and the other boy go, and my husband is still detained.” According to Mrs. Ibe, “they have done all the necessary investigations and said they saw nothing, but the investigating officer said that the ‘Oga’ (boss) is tagging him the person supplying IPOB boots”. She said the only basis for tagging him supplier of boots to IPOB is simply because he is an Igbo man. “We are not aware that the military police are a debt recovery agency. They have been with his phone. They have also come to their shop and saw nothing implicating. They have not established any link between the detained man and IPOB except that he is an Igbo man. “He was arrested because of the Desert Boots, about 20 pairs of which are camouflage.” “According to further information from Mrs. Ibe, the detaining officers are saying he is supposed to get a licence before selling the boots. She said the boots are not actually in her husband’s line of business, only that he stumbled on them while buying goods in China and felt they could sell since he trades within the army market. “She added that the boots are expired, which is why since 2020 till date, no one agreed to buy them. Mrs. Ibe has visited several times to secure the release of her husband to no avail. She informs us that her husband is the only son of his parents and the sole breadwinner. “His prolonged and unlawful detention has denied his aged father the medical attention he urgently needs. He himself is also in need of urgent medical attention. He is hypertensive and his wife is seriously concerned about how he is faring in health. She demands that her husband be released immediately. “They could at worst have handed him over to the police if they believe he has committed any offence under the law. “RULAAC requests you to order his immediate release and ensure appropriate disciplinary actions against the officers who illegally detained him as well as involving themselves in debt recovery.”
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IPOB Is A Terrorist Group, Stop Members From Using Your Platform To Incite Hate, Violence, Buhari Government Tells Facebook
Nigeria’s Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has asked Facebook to stop allowing the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to use the platform to incite violence and instigate ethnic hatred in Nigeria. The Minister made the demand in Abuja on Tuesday at a meeting with a team from Facebook.
According to a statement signed by his spokesperson, Segun Adeyemi, Mohammed said since IPOB had been proscribed and classified as a terrorist organisation, Facebook has no justification for yielding its platform to the organization to further its campaign of hate and destabilisation of the country. “I have called this meeting to enable us to discuss the increasing use of Facebook by separatists and anarchists, especially those of them based outside the country, to instigate violence and ethnic hatred in Nigeria,” Mohammed was quoted as saying. “For whatever reason, they seem to have now chosen Facebook as their platform of choice. And their tools include disinformation, incendiary statements and hate speech. They use Facebook broadcasts to reach their followers, who are in thousands. They tag those opposed to their violent ways as ‘saboteurs’ who must be attacked, maimed and killed. “They use both English and their local language as it suits them. He said the actions of the proscribed group have real-life implications. By purveying hate and inciting violence, people are getting killed while private and public property are being attacked and destroyed. Security agencies and other symbols of government are their choice targets.” The Minister said despite the numerous complaints to Facebook about the activities of IPOB, nothing has been done by the company to curtail the group’s excesses on the social media platform. “Our social media people have been monitoring these separatists, anarchists and purveyors of hate, and have been reporting their atrocious actions to Facebook, but all they get are default responses that their complaints have been received and are being looked into. Most often than not, nothing is done about such complaints. The truth is that whatever Facebook is doing to check these people is mere tokenism and is totally ineffective,” he said. Mohammed said the government would be monitoring Facebook and other platforms closely in the days ahead to ensure compliance with the demand, as it steps up the campaign for the responsible use of social media.
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Terrorists Abduct 30 Passengers Along Abuja-Kaduna Highway, Shoot Others
At least, 30 passengers have been abducted by terrorists along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, SaharaReporters learnt.An unspecified number of persons were said to have been shot during the attack. The attack came barely two months after bandits derailed a Kaduna-bound train, killing scores and kidnapping several persons including pregnant women, some of whom are still in captivity.
The attack reportedly happened around 4:30 pm on Tuesday, leaving many injured, including women and children. “The victims were writhing in pain by the roadside while cars were parked on the highway,” a source said. Passengers of a Zamfara State Transport Authority 18-seater bus, one Peugeot 406, two Toyota Corolla, a Golf car, and several other vehicles were attacked by the terrorists. The terrorists had left the scene before the arrival of security operatives, a source informed.
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How Soon Can Nigeria’s Reclamation Begin? Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye
President Buhari’s regime has about a year to hit its expiration point. Perhaps, the only thing that still retains the capacity to squeeze out some smiles on a couple of faces today is the faint hope that the president might fulfill his pledge to firmly resist the deadly attraction of that poisoned fruit called “tenure elongation.” Indeed, many Nigerians are willing to take the risk of entertaining some optimism about this. Despite the blizzard of outrageous claims roughly thrown at Nigerians every other day, it has become just impossible to muster any bit of expectation that the Buhari regime might still be able to shock Nigerians with any edifying impact on their lives before it exits. Perhaps, the only reassuring feeling out there emanates from the palpable wish that the days and months might develop wings and fly away so fast so that with brightened faces and deep relief, Nigerians can happily embrace and congratulate one another that, eventually, the nightmare is over. The relief alone will be highly therapeutic, in fact, capable of increasing many lifespans. Interestingly, this is one regime for which quite a number of Nigerians and non-Nigerians had staked their well-cultivated reputations to saddle with a salvaging mission, without, however, pausing to determine whether the loud power cravers had, at least, a simple direction or the capacity to comprehend the most basic issues in governance, or even just a sincerity of purpose. In fact, Barack Obama must be wondering how his administration got itself so easily seduced with drab propaganda that it had to naively advertise undue partisanship in Nigerian politics to aid the emergence of a regime under which everything a nation should hold dear and sacred has been so incredibly devalued, in fact, far below what anyone could have imagined was possible in a country with a constituted authority. In their favour, Candidate Buhari and his party were quite unable to disguise the obvious fact that they were too absorbed with capturing power to bother about what to do with it, but, sadly, their intoxicated supporters were too infatuated and mesmerized to notice all the red flags. And so, when the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) surprised the APC with the news that they have captured the presidency, for over six months, Nigerians could only watch a piteously dazed gaggle of power seekers still stuck in a campaign mood, dissipating excess energy attacking the former regime and looking bewildered like kids that just received a complicated toy from Daddy. And till today, the APC regime is yet to demonstrate that it possesses the capacity to fix the most basic problems plaguing the country. It still seeks refuge in infantile propagandas aimed at stampeding Nigerians into the false belief, against the glaring evidence on the ground, that a failed country is up, working and flourishing. But what is clear to everyone is: if some bit of edifying adjustment has occurred in the country in the past seven years, we would not require any statements, often couched in very clumsy phrases, from Abuja to know! If the APC regime had laboured, at least, to sustain the condition they met Nigeria in 2015, that in itself would have, in fact, amounted to a “monumental achievement!” At least, many families would still be able to purchase bags of rice and other food items at affordable prices, instead of being callously tantalized with a distasteful celebration of “Rice Pyramids” which has not translated to a lower price of the commodity. Also, the naira would not be gasping for breath each time it made contact with other currencies, some of which held it in high esteem only a few years ago. Yes, several new, direct investments would have been welcomed in the country to boost the economy and provide employment to the teeming number of jobless youths. At least, the National Grid would not have contracted the “falling sickness” (to quote Brutus in Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar), which regularly plunges the country into deeper darkness each time it collapses, killing industries by hiking the cost of production and joining hands with worsening insecurity to drive away foreign establishments to even less endowed African countries. Was it not shameful that the other day, the federal government was complaining that Ghana and other African countries were persuading foreign investors to avoid Nigeria and come to their own countries?If Nigeria was conducive for business, would any investor need any persuasion to take his investment elsewhere? Who wants to put his hard-earned funds in a country plagued by boundless insecurity and perennial darkness, where bandits, violent herdsmen and terrorists are treated with kid gloves instead of confronting them headlong and containing their menace? Life has become so worthless in Nigeria. People are slaughtered, maimed or kidnapped every other day; communities are razed and sacked; women and girls are brutally violated with chilling regularity. The federal government is still content with the banal condemnations it issues each time these tragedies occur, the dry condolence messages it throws at the families of the victims and the perfunctory assurance that “everything will be done to bring the perpetrators to book.” By the way, how many weeks did it take our smaller neighbour, Chad, under Idriss Deby, to flush out Boko Haram from her territory and even recover some Nigerian communities captured and annexed by the terrorists? Nigeria must by now be earning almost zero revenue from tourism. Is it not also a huge shame that Nigeria retains the star prize as the country with the worst electricity supply in the entire continent? To compound matters, Buhari has borrowed the country into dreadful financial enslavement. Yet, there is almost nothing on ground to justify such humongous indebtedness that can only keep the country perpetually stuck in the sticky mud of retrogression. Only recently, Gen Ibrahim Babangida, once reputed to have supervised over the worst corrupt regime in Nigeria, boasted that given the dizzying reports of massive corruption emerging with revolting regularity from the APC regime, his, then, was a regime of saints! Should it then be shocking that anybody that is able to put some sentences together today wants to be Nigeria’s president? The argument out there is: if Nigerians can endure the Buhari Kindergarten Show for eight years, then the presidency has simply become an all comers affair. In fact, the entry qualification has been lowered to zero! And so, Nigerians are insulted and scared each day by presidential aspirants assuring them that if elected, they will continue from where Buhari stopped. Indeed, it is only in a country like Nigeria that anyone can make such a dreadful threat and people outside a lunatic asylum would still suspend their ability to reason and cast their votes for him. How long will Nigerians suffer before they tell themselves the liberating truth, namely, that apart from the deceitful, ephemeral satiation that might come from the realization that the president, governor or lawmaker is their “brother” or “sister,” what else do they reap if not unmitigated disaster like everyone else if the person is clueless? Buhari is from Katsina yet at some point, people from the state were reportedly relocating to Niger Republic to escape worsening insecurity. Even, now that there is an overwhelming insistence that a South Easterner should become the president, every effort should be deployed to ensure that only the most qualified is elected. It is time for Nigerians to wake up, look at the track record of people seeking their votes and put them in office because of what they are very sure they can offer. Enough of allowing yourself to be driven by infantile sentiments and crude lust for contaminated crumbs to put remorseless undertakers in office who will only steal the treasury pale and dead to enrich themselves, families and cronies. Will a people be dumb and blind forever? Have Nigerians not suffered enough from corrupt and inept leaders to cause them to pull off the scales covering their eyes and use their brain for their own good for once? When will Nigerians rise as a unified force and commence the reclamation of their country?
Ugochukwu Ejinkeonye is Nigerian a journalist and writer (scruples2006@yahoo.com)
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E2%80%99s-murder-reflection-palestine%E2%80%99s-ongoing-nakba-suraya-dadoo Shireen Abu-Akleh’s Murder Is A Reflection Of Palestine’s Ongoing Nakba, By Suraya Dadoo
On 15 May, Palestinians commemorated the Nakba, or “catastrophe” – the ethnic cleansing of Palestine in 1948 to make way for the creation of the state of Israel.Israel’s creation entailed the forced expulsion of at least 750 000 Palestinians; the destruction of over 500 villages and cities; and the murder of about 15 000 Palestinians in a series of mass atrocities, including more than 70 massacres.But it’s difficult to look back when one can barely keep up with Israel’s fresh crimes against the Palestinian people. The Nakba never ended. Its latest manifestation is the recent murder of Palestinian journalist, Shireen Abu Akleh.Abu Akleh was killed by the Israeli army while reporting on a military raid in the occupied West Bank. At first, the Israeli government claimed that she was killed by Palestinians.Israeli military spokesperson, Ran Kochav, even suggested that Abu Akleh was at fault for doing her job! Kochav justified Abu Akleh’s murder by claiming that she was working amidst armed Palestinians and that she was “armed with cameras.” The Israeli government even released a video to support this. Within hours, the bogus footage was debunked. Eyewitnesses – including other journalists reporting on the raid – confirmed that Abu Akleh was not killed by Palestinians. Israel was forced to walk back its “the Palestinians did it” defence.Back in 1948, Israeli authorities – in an effort to conceal its terror campaign – claimed that Palestinians had sold their land willingly or they fled their homes and villages because Arab leaders had encouraged them to do so. The Israeli government has been gaslighting Palestinians for 74 years.Abu Akleh’s death is also a bloody reminder of the deadly system in which Israel has locked Palestinians for 74 years.It is the impunity granted to Israel by world powers for its initial war crime (the Nakba in 1948) that has paved the way for Israeli settler-colonialism and apartheid to systematically devalue Palestinian lives – whether Shireen Abu Akleh; or the lives of thousands of Palestinians under imminent threat of ethnic cleansing right now in Sheikh Jarrah or Masafer Yatta; or the 240 Palestinians killed in the Gaza Strip one year ago this month; or the 750 000 Palestinians depopulated by Israel 74 years ago.Israel was admitted to the United Nations on 11 May 1949 on three conditions. The first was that the status of Jerusalem would not be tampered with. Palestinians would also be allowed to return to their homes. Israel was to respect the borders established by the UN Partition Plan of 1947.These, and other UN conditions and resolutions, have never been met. For almost eight decades, there has been no concerted effort by the world’s powers to force Israel to meet its international legal obligations.This inaction contrasts sharply with the global reaction to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.Leaders, whose countries’ foreign policies have for decades justified – and even sponsored – Israel’s brutal occupation and annexation in Palestine now talk about the urgent need for international law to be upheld in Ukraine, and for a belligerent state like Russia to be held to account.Palestinians are amongst the first to agree.In the rubble of Mariupol, they see Deir Yassin village. When Palestinians see Ukrainian refugees crossing into Poland, Hungary and Moldova, they think of how they fled to Jordan, Lebanon and Syria. In Gaza, Palestinians still navigate the rubble from – not just one – but at least five major Israeli bombardments. The lame excuses now trotted out in official Russian propaganda to justify the bombing of civilian targets in Ukraine are all too familiar to Palestinians. Palestinians are also looking with interest at the speed at which comprehensive sanctions have been imposed on Russia to force it to comply with international law and withdraw from Ukraine.Since 2005, Palestinians have been asking for a similar course of action against Israel. Any talk of sanctions on Israel has – not only been rejected by the world’s superpowers – but criminalized in some cases.Israel has occupied the West Bank including East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan Heights for almost 55 years. Just as Russia has been accused of the war crime of transferring citizens into occupied Crimea, Israel has transferred more than 650,000 of its citizens into occupied territory. Russia and Israel have also transferred Ukrainians and Palestinians, respectively, out of occupied territory – also a violation of the Fourth Geneva Convention.Within weeks of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, major international companies shut up shop in Russia – but still trade in Israel, and many operate in its illegal settlements.Israel has been asked to investigate Abu Akleh’s killing. For 74 years, the world has expected Israel to investigate itself and self-correct. It has not done so. It is time to rescind Israel’s get out of jail free card. There must be international accountability for the Israeli apartheid regime.
Suraya Dadoo is a South African writer. Find her on Twitter: @Suraya_Dadoo. This piece originally appeared in IOL (South Africa).
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E2%80%99s-killing-group-asks-us-uk-others-slam-visa-bans-dangote%E2%80%99s-law-abubakar-bauchi Deborah’s Killing: Group Asks US, UK, Others To Slam Visa Bans On Dangote’s In-law, Abubakar, Bauchi Commissioner Over ‘Misguided Statements’
A human rights group, Concerned Nigerians, has written to the UK, US, Canada and European Union, asking them to place visa bans on Captain Jamil Abubakar and Aliyu Tilde for supporting the extrajudicial killing of Ms Deborah Samuel following allegations of committing blasphemy.Deborah, a Christian student of Shehu Shagari College of Education, Sokoto was killed and her body was burnt last Thursday by fellow students, who accused her of insulting Prophet Muhammad.
Abubakar, the son of a former Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, tweeted on Friday night on his verified Twitter handle, @CaptJamyl, that the “punishment for blasphemy is death! in most religions including Christianity”.Abubakar, who is also a son-in-law of Africa’s wealthiest man, Aliko Dangote, urged people to respect the religion of others.Tilde, the commissioner for education in Bauchi, also expressed support for the violent attack on Deborah by Muslim fanatics, saying,“Oh my god, oh my god The mouth cuts the neck. If you’re not provoked by this, visit a psychiatrist, please” on his Facebook page last weekend.In the letters dated May 16, signed by the Convener of the group and addressed to the British High Commission in Nigeria, US Embassy in Nigeria, Canadian Embassy in Nigeria and European Union in Nigeria, the group called for immediate visa bans on Abubakar and Tilde for “promoting extremist religious views in Nigeria and making inflammatory statements capable of setting the nation on the path of religious war.”The statement titled Request For A Visa Ban on Captain Jamil Abubakar and Mr Aliyu Tilde,’ reads in part, “We write the United States, United Kingdom, the Canadian Government and the European Union to place visa restrictions on the above-named individuals who supported the extrajudicial killing of Ms. Deborah Samuel a few days ago by a marauding group of misguided youths, on the allegation that she made a blasphemous statement against Prophet Mohammed, (S.A.W).“The attempt by the Nigerian Police to arrest the perpetrators of this heinous crime has been met with stiff resistance and violent protest by overzealous youths in Sokoto state.“While most Nigerians have largely called for religious tolerance and return to normalcy, a few notable Nigerians, have, however, chosen the path of infamy by justifying the gruesome murder of Ms. Deborah Samuel. In a country where Muslims and Christians mostly live in suspicion of each other, any misguided statement by a religious bigot is enough to set the country on fire, with dire consequences, and attendant refugee crises across Africa and the world.”The group said Abubakar’s statement “reinforces the long-held erroneous belief by most Muslims in Northern Nigeria that the punishment for blasphemy is instant death, even though Nigeria is a secular nation, where the Constitution, and not theocratic tenets, hold sway!”It said, “Barely few hours after the statement was made, thousands of followers on Twitter, particularly of the Muslim faith, aligned themselves with Captain Abubakar’s statement and justified the cold-blooded murder of Ms. Deborah Samuel.“Similarly, Mr. Tilde justified Ms. Samuel’s murder on his Facebook page also reported by many media platforms in the country, by stating that her murderers were provoked by the voice note she posted on her class WhatsApp platform. It is deeply disheartening that a serving commissioner and a sitting board member in one of the country’s most respected online news platforms will publicly hold such views.“We note that Captain Abubakar made a feeble attempt to tie Blasphemy as a mandatory requirement under Sharia law. However, he failed to take into cognizance the fact that Sharia law is only applicable to Muslim adherents. Ms. Deborah Samuel was a Christian! Even where there is an allegation of Blasphemy, it does not lie in the hand of the accuser to take laws into his hand. The suspect must be given the opportunity to defend himself before a properly constituted authority.“We, therefore, believe, that Captain Abubakar and Mr. Tilde’s statements were deliberately made with a view to inciting religious war in Nigeria. We are concerned that Captain Abubakar and Mr. Tilde, although fairly educated, hold extremist views that should not be advocated in any civilized world. In the circumstances, we strongly believe that a visa ban on them, will serve as a strong message to all those who seek to impose religious laws over and above the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.“Please accept our professional regards while we thank you for your continuous act of using the instrumentality of visa ban to strengthen the rule of law and religious tolerance across the world.”
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E2%80%99t-retire-politics-until-i-become-nigerian-president-says-70-year-old-tinubu I Won’t Retire From Politics Until I Become Nigerian President, Says 70-year-old Tinubu
A presidential aspirant of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, says he will not retire from partisan politics until he becomes Nigerian President. Tinubu disclosed this on Tuesday while canvassing for the votes of the party’s delegates in Makurdi, the Benue State capital.
The APC National Leader said he would bring the experience he garnered as the governor of Lagos State between 1999 and 2007 to bear on the governance of the country if elected. “I won’t retire from politics until I am the president of Nigeria. I will bring the experience of my leadership in Lagos state as a Governor to bare on my leadership style in Nigeria,” he said. “Youths of Benue, be determined to get your PVCs (Permanent Voter Cards) revalidated. I’m with you and my other colleagues here are with you as well as many others who are not here are with you to ensure your posterity and the hope of a united prosperous Nigeria is yours. “So, we are of age and if you want us to retire soon but I won’t retire until I become president of Nigeria.” The former Lagos state governor insisted that he is the best man for the job and will surely win the presidential election irrespective of who becomes the candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
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British Royal Family Should Visit Southeast Nigeria, Compensate, Apologise For Abandoning Igbos To Fulani Terrorists —Nnamdi Kanu’s American Lawyer
Bruce Fein
Bruce Fein, an American legal practitioner representing the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, has urged the British Royal Family to visit Southeast Nigeria and apologise for allegedly abandoning the people to Fulani terrorists. His comment comes as an indigenous community in Canada called on the British Royal Family to formally acknowledge the harm colonisation had done to them. Britain’s Prince Charles and his wife Camilla are set to pay a visit to Canada this week.
Bruce Fein
A report by Reuters noted, “The royal couple will arrive in St. Johns, Newfoundland on Tuesday on a three-day trip that will include stops in Ottawa and the Northwest Territories and focus on the issues of reconciliation with indigenous peoples and climate change. “The impact of colonisation, the residential school system and the loss of lands is what the crown represents, Mary Teegee, the executive director of child and family services at Carrier Sekani Family Services in the province of British Columbia, told Reuters.” Teegee was quoted as saying, “They also have to understand that they are not the leaders in our nation,” adding that recognition of the harms of colonisation are needed rather than just a “trite” apology. Meanwhile, Bruce Fein who took to his Twitter handle on Tuesday said the British Royal Family must pay a similar visit to Biafrans and make reparations for also “abandoning them to Fulani terrorists”. He wrote on Twitter, “The British Royal Family is visiting Canada to acknowledge the UK’s inexcusable destruction of indigenous peoples by wrenching children from their culture. A more urgent visit is required to Biafra to apologize and make reparations for abandoning Biafrans to Fulani terrorists.” The Indigenous People of Biafra, a secessionist movement in the Southeastern part of Nigeria, seeks the breakaway of the region. IPOB was established in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu, a British Nigerian political activist who is currently detained by Nigeria’s secret police, Department of State Services (DSS), over alleged involvement in terrorism.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s government in 2017 proscribed the group under the Nigerian Terrorism Act.
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