Sahara Reporters Latest News Friday 26th July 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Friday 26th July 2019

Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 26/07/19

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target=_blank>BREAKING: Nigerian Troops, Boko Haram Insurgents In Fierce Gun Battle Over Attack On Borno IDP Camp

Internally displaced persons fleeing camp

Internally displaced persons fleeing camp

The Nigerian troops have repelled an attempt by Boko Haram Terrorists to overrun Dalori internally displaced persons (IDP) Camp in Maiduguri on Thursday night, security sources said to SaharaReporters.
A reliable source noted that hundreds of the IDPs had fled in Dalori axis Maiduguri city in fear of the attack. 
SaharaReporters gathered an unspecified number of persons including soldiers might have been killed with Boko Haram insurgents losing its members too.
The source said, “The invaders came at about 2045hrs along with suicide bombers and thereafter, there were heavy gunshots.
“After about an hour that the gun battle has subsided, hundreds of the IDPs from Bama council could not be found as it appeared they fled their tents to avoid being killed.”
The security personnel are evaluating the damage incurred including loss of lives.

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target=_blank>EXCLUSIVE: Ondo Ex-lawmaker In Detention For Alleged Kidnapping, Illegal Arms Possession

Akpoebi Lubi, the Special Adviser to Senator Nicholas Tofowomo on Strategy and Special Interest, is currently in detention for alleged involvement in kidnapping and illegal arms trading.
Lubi, a former member of the Ondo State House of Assembly from Ese-Odo Local Government, was also the Special Assistant to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu on Niger Delta Affairs.
He was also a former Caretaker Chairman of Ese-Odo Local Council Area.
The police told SaharaReporters that he was arrested in Ore, Ondo State by the Special Tactical Squad and Counter-Terrorism Unit on the order of the Inspector General of Police on allegations bordering on kidnapping and arms trading.
It was gathered that after his arrest, he was first taken to an undisclosed location in Benin City.  
Thereafter he was moved to Asaba where Chief Bibopere Ajube, who once served as a top official of the  Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND), and Government Ekpemupolo Tompolo, a former Niger Delta militant commander, reportedly tried to influence his release.  
Angered by these shady moves, the policemen, moved him to Abuja for further interrogation.
SaharaReporters also gathered that the Deputy Governor of Delta State, Kingsley Otuaro, also pressurized the police to release him. This pressure, however, precipitated his swift movement to Abuja by the security operatives.
A source, who pleaded anonymity, said: “Every notable leader in Arogbo Ijaw knows about this incident. People are afraid to talk about this; they are not even willing to give the police any information for fear of being molested in town.”
When contacted by SaharaReporters, Mr Donald Ojogo, the Ondo State Commissioner for Information and Orientation, said, “He is Senator Tofowomo’s Adviser on Strategy and Special Interest, rather than call the
Ondo State government for reaction, why not call the person who appointed him? We are neither the police nor are we his principal, please.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Fran Mba, confirmed that the report of the ex-lawmaker’s arrest was true.
Speaking in an interview with SaharaReporters, Mba said, “Yes, he was arrested in connection with the illicit purchase of pistol.” 

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target=_blank>Nigerians React To Claim Leah Sharibu Is Dead, Presidency Keeps Mum

Nigerians on social media are reacting to claims by Grace Taku, an aid worker abducted by Boko Haram terrorists that Leah Sharibu, the only Dapchi schoolgirl in Boko Haram, captivity is dead.
Taku made the revelation in a video released by the insurgents in which she called on the Federal Government of Nigeria not to abandon her as they abandoned Leah and Alice which resulted in their deaths.
The Federal Government has yet to react to the claim.
A Nigerian on Twitter, @FakhuusHashim, said, “Leah Sharibu has reportedly been killed by Boko Haram. A tragedy! Leah was the only girl left behind during the rescue of Dapchi girls. May her soul find peace! The Nigerian state has failed her.”
@Thedabigal  wrote, “We as human and as a country failed Leah Sharibu. This news, if true, is heartbreaking. We are just a bunch of people living in a failed system and with zero humanity.”

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Aid Worker Abducted By B’Haram Claims Leah Sharibu Is Dead

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@Nonso_ tweeted, “I don’t know what’s worse, people politicizing Leah Sharibu’s death or those calling her a martyr. She was a child, a child full of promise.  The least we could do at this moment is to pay our condolence. She didn’t deserve this. Nobody deserves this. I hope she is finally at peace.”
@DrChiemeziem said, “Hearing that Leah Sharibu has been killed in captivity breaks my heart. Some of the things Buhari has gotten away with were things y’all crucified Jonathan for. Now, where’s the outrage? Y’all are silent? As expected. Keep it up.”
Some Nigerians questioned the efforts the Federal Government claimed to have put into rescuing her.
@MartinsAniobi said, “What effort did the retired man of God, Professor Yemi Osinbajo put to facilitate her release? Buhari has failed Nigerians. If Osinbajo had a conscience, he would resign. RIP Leah Sharibu.”
@hand2ome tweeted, “Nobody holds Buhari responsible for anything. Nigeria is a wicked place. I pray this news of Leah Sharibu is false.”

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Abducted Aid Worker In Borno Cries For Help In New Video

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@Iammisterpaul said, “In a sane clime, the President would have resigned.  Truth is if Buhari wanted Leah Sharibu released, she would have been released a long time ago. It’s a sad day, a very sad day. Rest in power, Leah! We won’t forget you.”
A former presidential aide, Reno Omokri, has, however, urged Nigerians not to jump to conclusion with the news.
He wrote on Twitter, “I watched Boko Haram’s video in which one of the abducted aid workers, Grace Taku, alleged things about Leah Sharibu’s state of life. Don’t jump to the conclusion. I am trying to verify her claim. A journalist with access to Boko Haram doubts the claim. But I am still  investigating.”

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target=_blank>Send El-Zakzaky To US For Treatment, Iran Tells Nigerian Govt

The Prosecutor-General (Attorney-General) of the Islamic Republic of Iran, Mohammed Montazeri, has asked the Federal Government of Nigeria and the judiciary to allow the leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria, Shiekh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, to come to Iran for medical treatment.
According to AhlulBayt News Agency, an Iran-based news organisation, Montazeri said this in a letter on Saturday.
The Iranian official also called on the judiciary, which is the last hope of the common man, to grant bail to El-Zakzaky who is the leader of all Shi’ites in Nigeria.
Montazeri also criticized the Federal Government’s handling of the crisis, adding that El-Zakzakky’s current medical condition had become a source of worry.
The letter read in part, “I, as the prosecutor general of the Islamic Republic of Iran, urge the Nigerian judicial authorities (to take steps) in line with their judicial independence and support for a captive citizen, and provide the ground for his release and transfer him to the Islamic Republic of Iran for treatment.”
Sheikh El-Zakzaky, who is in his mid-sixties, lost his left eye when Nigerian government forces raided the northern town of Zaria more than three years ago.
The raid started after Shi’ites refused to allow the convoy of the Chief of Army Staff, Lt.Gen Tukur Buratai, to ply a road.
His wife also sustained serious wounds while more than 300 of his followers and three of his sons were killed in the violence that ensued.
The cleric has been kept in custody along with his wife and a large number of his followers ever since.
El-Zakzky’s followers have for the last two years been holding protests mainly in Abuja, calling for his immediate release. 

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target=_blank>Put Akpabio, el-Rufai, Amaechi On Visa Ban List, HURIWA Tells US Govt

Following the announcement of United States Department of States to begin imposing visa restrictions on Nigerians undermining democracy, the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) has called on the US to include the Governor of Kaduna State, Malam Nasir Elrufai, and the ministerial nominee from Akwa Ibom State, Mr Godswill Akpabio in the list.
The civil society organization said any list that does not include the duo is incomplete and should be reconsidered.
HURIWA stated that the US visa ban would significantly help the advancement of democracy but was quick to remind the USA that President Muhammadu Buhari had ordered a violent crackdown on members of the protesting Shiites Islamic Movement of Nigeria demanding the release of their detained leader.
HURIWA, in a statement jointly signed by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, and media director, Miss Zainab Yusuf, noted that the Nigerian media recorded some of the politicians who made utterance capable of undermining the democratic process in the country.
The group said the leading opposition Peoples Democratic Party was culpable because its national chairman threatened war should the incumbent President went ahead to rig the presidential polls.
HURIWA listed other politicians who actively made open threats of violence before the polls to include the then minister of transportation, Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi who staged a so-called traditional war dance in PortHarcourt Rivers State and the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Adams Oshiomhole, and his Peoples Democratic Party’s Uche Secondus.
The CSO also mentioned that the Nigerian Army in the oil-rich Rivers state was reportedly accused of causing considerable chaos and violence in Rivers state with the Army commanders allegedly gave unlawful orders that resulted in fatalities.
HURIWA also recalled that “on February 6, 2019, Governor Nasir el-Rufai of Kaduna State threatened that foreign nationals who interfere in the forthcoming general elections would be given a “body bags treatment.”
HURIWA explained that “a body bag” is used for carrying a corpse from a battlefield or the scene of an accident or crime to either a mortuary or place of burial
The Rights group said El-Rufai, who sought re-election under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke on a live programme on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) anchored by Cyril Stober.
It also stated that on January 31, 2019, Secondus, threatened that there would be war in the country if the 2019 presidential election is rigged.
HURIWA also mentioned that Secondus threatened war while campaigning for election.
Secondus had said: “Today, by your mandate, we warn INEC and we believe there are good people in INEC… we know that government is pressuring INEC to rig this election, but if they rig this election, they’re looking for war.”
The CSO also cited words of the information minister who wrongly hinted that it had intelligence information indicating that plans had been hatched by opposition elements to truncate the general elections by instigating violence across the country.
HEDA had a couple of weeks ago demanded the immediate withdrawal of the US entry visa issued to a former Governor of Gombe State, Senator Danjuma Goje.
The group said Goje was facing corruption charges, a N25bn scam until the Office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation made a dramatic withdrawal of the charges.

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target=_blank>Gbajabiamila Appoints Reps Standing Committees, Special Panels

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has named leaders of standing committees of the lower chamber of the National Assembly, ThePunch reports.
At the plenary on Thursday, the Speaker appointed chairmen and vice-chairmen of the committees.
Gbajabiamila also appointed several ad hoc committees and investigative panels.
He said the Public Account Committee would be headed by Wole Oke, while Mouktar Aliyu will chair Committee on Appropriation, adding that the Committee on Nigerian Army would be chaired by Abdulrazak Namdas.
For Banking and Finance Committee, Gbajabiamila announced Victor Nwokolo as chairman, while the Committee on Communication would be headed by Akin Adeyemi.
Gbajabiamila said that the Defense Committee would be headed by Jimi Benson while Federal Judiciary Committee would be headed by Luke Onofiok.
The speaker announced James Faleke as Chairman of the Committee on Finance while the Committee on Interior would be led by Nasril Daura.
He said the Committee on Health Institutions would be led by Paschal Obi while Committee on Anti-corruption would be headed by Nicholas Shehu.
The Committee on Solid Minerals would be headed by Micheal Okon, while Committee on Sports would be headed by Olamide Osoba, the speaker said.
At the end of the announcement, members were seen in various group discussions while others thronged the speaker’s seat in what seemed to be a protest.

 

 

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target=_blank>Customs Destroys N14.7bn Worth of Tramadol, Other Drugs

The Nigeria Customs Service has destroyed 58 containers of tramadol and other prohibited drugs worth N14.7bn.
The officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), the National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforcement Agency (NESRA) carried out the exercise on Wednesday in Ogun State, according to Punch newspaper.
Hameed Ali, the Comptroller General of the NCS, said the seized drugs were intercepted at various Customs formations across the country.
He spoke through Kathleen Ekekezie, the Zonal Coordinator of Zone A, during the burning of the drugs.
He said: “The menace of such drugs in our society cannot be underestimated. Having caused huge negative impact both on the economy and human lives, it is imperative that it must be swiftly curtailed.
“I call on all and sundry to assist our officers and other relevant agencies by providing real-time information at all times to help fish out the perpetrators of this negative act of smuggling dangerous drugs.”
Aminu Dahiru, Assistant Comptroller General of Customs in charge of Enforcement and Drugs,  said the idea of forming a team came from Ali who had stressed the need for synergy between government agencies aiding Customs in the fight against the importation of dangerous drugs.
Dahiru, who is the Chairman, Joint Committee on Destruction of Seized Tramadol and other Pharmaceutical Products, said the seizure was in line with the Federal Government’s vision to rid Nigeria of dangerous drugs.
He added that the seizure had helped in stemming the spate of kidnapping, armed robbery, terrorism and other social vices.
He said over 50 per cent of drugs seized in the country were confiscated in the South-West.
According to Dahiru, the destruction will continue in Kaduna, Port Harcourt and Bauchi in the next two weeks.
“The seizure is not without risks; a senior customs officer was trailed by smugglers and warned to desist from destroying their business or face the consequences,” he said.
Mojisola Adeyeye,  Director-General, NAFDAC, who was represented by Monica Eimunjeze, the Director, Registration and Regulatory Affairs Directorate, noted that the abuse of drugs was a serious issue in Nigeria and had far-reaching implications on health.
She said: “This committee has a specific duty, the destruction of tramadol.
50mg to 100mg of tramadol is the approved requirement for importation; importation of any dosage higher than that is prohibited.
“However, you see people importing 225mg like the one we are destroying today. At a very high dosage, when abused, the drug impacts on society in a very dangerous way.”
Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor, who was represented by Olufemi Afilolu, the Director (Pharmaceuticals), Ministry of Health, said the seizure of the drugs was in the best interest of the country.
He urged more collaboration between government agencies, security agencies and stakeholders, saying, “You don’t know whose child could get involved in drugs.”

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target=_blank>Nigerians, We Are Stronger Together By Churchill Okonkwo

Brothers and sister, I know that the result of the 2019 presidential election was a cause for sorrow and worry for millions of Nigerians. While for others, it was a moment to exult and rejoice. The unfortunate implication of this is that the gulf between supporters and opponent of Buhari and the APC administration grew as large as the gap between the minimum wage of Nigerian workers and the security votes of state governors. 
Now, we must contend with two distinct and irreconcilable Nigerians aiming guns at each other, sizing each other up and tearing each other down. Even families are being torn apart. We are increasingly unable to agree on common meanings for truth. By so doing, we pose an unprecedented threat to ourselves. 
Brothers and sister, I am disturbed by the bitterness and rhetoric in our political discourse even when it is bordering on serious issues such as the present insecurity in the land. Too many of us are too angry to listen, to learn or find out facts before joining in spreading propaganda materials aimed at dividing Nigerians. 
But while we so quickly point to and yell at our real and perceived opponents, the real threat is ourselves – that we are losing faith in our commonalities and trust in each other. Brothers and sister, we cannot afford to be divided in this fashion. That’s why I am here to let you know that we are stronger together than we are alone. 
Brothers and sister, the truth is that what unites us as Nigerians is so much greater than the divisions implied by doomsayers and agents of destruction bent on igniting ethno-religious violence in Nigeria. Even though we have lived side by side for ages, we still have a lot to learn about each other. 
Fellow Nigerians, we all have limited resources and can’t use them battling each other. No matter how hurt our feelings are, how offended we might feel that other Nigerians are not ideologically in line with us or culturally sensitive enough, that’s nothing compared to what is on the horizon when the Armageddon we are courting arrives.  
That goes for everybody. Tiv bodies, Jukun bodies, Igbo bodies, Yoruba bodies, Ijaw bodies, Gwari bodies, Hausa bodies, Kanuri bodies, Christian bodies, Muslim bodies, etc. For a peaceful and sustainable Nigeria, we should all work together to create prosperity for all. The fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results is working together. Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.Brothers and sisters, now is not the time for sectional division or dogmatic idealism. We are not at our best when we are ‘against’ something, but rather, we at our best when we are ‘for’ something. Let us as
Nigerians, together, preserve our resources for the big battles for good governance at all levels of government. There is strength in working together as Nigerians. When we take time to help one another up the mountain, we will scale the mountain ourselves. We are stronger, together. 
Brothers and sisters, the more narrowly we define ourselves, the worse off we are. If we can act collectively as a broad coalition of people who do not want to live in a corrupt system, that’s a LOT of people. A lot of people are harder to control than a few people. Let’s open the tent for all Nigerians. Better still, let’s ditch the tent and build a partnership of Nigerians across all ethnicities to rescue our nation. We are stronger, together. 
Brothers and sisters, let us remember that the more willing we are to trash each other, or other ethnic group or religion, the less likely we are to succeed. We have what it takes to stop the rapid decline of our cohesion and brotherhood, as imperfect as it may be, if we act strategically, together. There are many battles to be won to save the soul of Nigeria, but we should battle them together.
Brothers and sisters, let us put a stop to this new-found love in the promotion of hate and violence. With love, we can overcome our fears. With love, we can confront them, together. That’s the only way we can defeat the oppressors in Lagos, Kano, Abia, and Adamawa. We are stronger, together. 
As Nigerians being oppressed by the corrupt political class that has no religious or ethnic predisposition; as Nigerians living together without access to clean water and electricity; as Nigerians without access to health care; as Nigerians sickening and then dying together, we must overcome our differences for us to rise, together, as a nation. 
Brothers and sisters, I’m fully aware that not everyone shares in my sense of love and concern for Nigeria but quantum physics and spiritual texts tell us that we are all one. Let us, therefore, come together and let our voice be heard by the oppressors in our government houses, state and national assemblies. We are stronger, together.
Brothers and sisters, even with our differences, we still share common hopes for our children and grandchildren even if not for the nation. I, therefore, invite everyone to work together. There is a way forward. It is not the path of tribal or religious politics. Nor can it be the path of constantly wishing for evil to befall Nigeria. Rather, it is the straight path which begins with the biblical precept of love as a good touchstone to judge our actions. 
Christianity, Islam, and even Judaism, the new religion of brother Nnamdi Kanu, all share the notion that we stem from common ancestors: Adam and Eve. We are, thus, one great family of Nigerian citizens, no matter what religion, what God we worship, or how we worship. If we could but do for our neighbours as we wish for ourselves, guarantee equity and justice, we will be stronger, together. 
Fellow Nigerians, one foot isn’t enough to walk with. Let us join hands and walk together. We need to constantly remind ourselves that family names are like flowers; they blossom in clusters. If we see ourselves as one big Nigerian family, we will blossom. 
Finally, fellow Nigerians, though tribe and tongue may differ, We Are Stronger, Together. Still.
Together, we can
You can email Churchill at Churchill.okonkwo@gmail.comor follow him on Twitter @churchillnnobi

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target=_blank>The Buhari In All Of Us By Bright Ogundare

In recent weeks the country has been rent with drums of war, ethnic suspicion and other jingoist sounds. From the Oduduwa people’s congress and Afenifere to the Ohaneze Ndigbo to the Arewa Consultative Forum to the Myetti Allah to the Christian Association of Nigeria to the Muslim Right Council; not a day will pass without a sociopolitical or religious group threatening another. 
In the midst of these chaoses, everyone have been quick to point the accusing fingers at one man who is said to be the root cause of the problem; President Muhammadu Buhari. From the cries of Fulanization in the South to Islamisation by Christians, President Buhari is painted as a bigot who is the root cause of all bigotry in Nigeria. No doubt, President Buhari has shown tendency of ethnic and religious bigotry especially in the handling of the farmers/herdsmen crisis and political appointments; however, we need to ask ourselves, is Buhari an alien from Jupiter who came to rule Nigeria and imposing bigotry on a Nigerian system devoid of it?
The mentality of the average Nigerian man is purist in nature, the belief that your ethnic group and religion is superior to others and anyone not sharing them with you is subhuman. The Nigerian child is trained to belief he is superior to people of different faith and ethnicity, the appreciation of diversity is lost. From strictly Christian or Muslim secondary schools to the university, people of other cultures are demonized as savages. Infact, the Christian Association of Nigeria  (CAN) which would call a world press conference accusing President Buhari is fanning religious divisions are full of members in whose church owned universities, only the chapel of the owner denomination is allowed, other Christian denominations cannot have branches there talkless of other religions; the laws guiding worship are so strict that students are punished for missing church service. To the average Nigerian child, anybody worshipping in the traditional African way is evil.
Adulthood is therefore a stage to further strengthen and enforce the jingoistic trend. Many intending couples have been denied of marriage by family members because the intending couples are not from the same ethnicity or religion. So high is this hypocrisy that some groups punish their members for marrying someone outside the group. The average Nigerian prefers to patronize his kinsman or his religious compatriot over others. Many Nigerians cannot even conceive the idea of living in the same room with people of other religion or ethnicity for they are in his sight ungodly criminal savages.
Nigerians are quick to overblow crisis tagging it with a ethnic or religious group. At the dawn of internet fraud, the average Ibo man became guilty of fraud by association as Ibos became synonymous with fraud. At inception of Boko Haram, every Muslim became guilty of terrorism even though they are the ones who are the major victims of the terrorists attacks. Now that the Fulani herdsmen saga is in the news, every kidnapping and killing in Nigeria is allegedly perpetrated by the Fulanis; we’ve forgotten that kidnapping, assasination and insecurity have been around for about 2 decades even before the emergence of President Buhari. We’ve so much received the herdsmen crisis with paranoia and hysteria, that what is at best few cases of kidnapping and killing have been painted as a daily occurrence. 
All these have invariably contributed to Nigeria being a multicultural society with purist cultural lines. Many Yorubas have an axe to grind with President Olusegun Obasanjo not because he failed just like almost everyone that ruled Nigeria but because during Obj’s 8 years the patronages associated with the office of the President were not massively channeled into Yorubaland. In reality, President Buhari is just a product of this system of biases and he is just a scapegoat because it is only him that his bigotry is having a national impact. 
Historically, the prospect of multicultural societies with purist lines like ours is damning, the Yugoslavia civil war is a recent pointer of how societies with so much mutual suspicion between different groups can in a twinkle of an eye degenerate to barbarism and genocide. 
Bright Ogundare is a social commentator, a secular humanist and he can be contacted via brightogundare@gmail.com

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Illegal Demolition: Court Orders Lagos State Government To Pay N10m Compensation To Residents

The Lagos State High Court in Badagry has ordered the Lagos State Government and the Nigeria Police Force to pay the sum of N10m as damages to residents of Mowo area of Badagry whose houses were demolished by the state.  
Justice S.I. Sonaike, in her judgment, said the state was dishonest with its dealing with ht residents and old occupants of the land, according to Punch newspaper.
The judge said the state lied that the land was for public use, only for it to sell it to the Nigeria Police for N176 million.
Justice Sonaike held that apart from the fact that the residents, who owned the land, were neither properly notified about the acquisition nor duly compensated by government before their land was taken over, selling the land to the police for the purpose of a “Police Staff Housing Scheme” did not qualify as acquisition of land for public use.
“Going by the definition of the acquisition, does the purpose shown from Exhibit 10 qualify as the proper acquisition of private property for overriding public use? Especially when considered from the background of the evidence elicited from DW1, who gave examples of overriding public use, for which the states have acquired private lands, such as roads, hospital, residential houses that can be admitted for use by all and sundry (the whole citizenry) and the use of such land should not be restricted to a class of people,” Justice Sonaike noted in a judgment delivered on April 30, 2019.
The judge held that since the “Police Staff Housing Scheme” would not be accessible to all members of the public, the government could not claim to have compulsorily acquired the residents’ land for public use.
“I accordingly find that the acquisition of the said land is not within the intendment of the law, the notice of acquisition neither stated the particulars of the public purpose for which the land allocated under Exhibit 10 can be interpreted to mean public purpose,” the judge held.
The judge further stated, “I find that the 1st-5th defendants have not been honest in their dealings with the claimants, and the 9th-36th defendants on the acquisition of their land. It is, therefore, not in doubt that none of the communities was aware of the purported acquisition until the unlawful demolition of their properties, since there is no evidence of any service of required notices in accordance with the law, thereby denying the holder of the land compulsorily acquired from knowing the grounds upon which the government acquired their land, which failure contravened their constitutional rights as provided under sections 43 and 44 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended).”
The suit, marked BD/22M/2008, has 76 claimants, comprising individuals suing on behalf of themselves and their families.
Among them were Mr Fiyedenu Daniel, Mr Oyerinde Talabi, Mr Idowu Abati, Mrs Rachael Afolabi and Mr Joseph Abati.
Joined as 1st to 5th defendants were the Executive Governor of Lagos State; Attorney General of Lagos State; Commissioner for Physical Planning and Urban Development, Lagos State; Commissioner for Rural Development, Lagos State; and the Surveyor-General, Lagos State.
The Inspector-General of Police; Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone II Police Command; and Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, were joined as 6th to 8th defendants.
In the suit filed through their lawyer, Funmi Adeogun, the claimant told the court that the state and the police invaded their land on November 4, 2008.
They said no fewer than 900 houses alongside farmlands were demolished, adding that the police sold the rubble in truckloads to some buyers.
The claimants said as a result of the forceful takeover of their land and the demolition of their buildings some of the owners of the properties died out of shock.
Among others, they urged the court to declare that the Lagos State Government had no right, “without recourse to the relevant laws to enter, take over and unilaterally appropriate claimants’ large expanse of land measuring 26.72 hectares covered by Survey Plan No. OGA/2359/048P/2016/LA, dated 17/01/2017.”
They prayed the court to order the police “to account to the Mowo Phase II Development Association and ultimately the 14th-76th claimants all the money realised from the sale of the rubble from the demolished properties at the rate of N11,000 per truckload.”
They claimed that the police sold approximately 7,000 truckloads of the ruble and they were entitled to N77m, which they wanted to be paid with 22 per cent interest annum until final payment.
The residents prayed the court to award aggravated damages of N1bn and N100m damages for trespass against the Lagos State Government and the police in their favour.
But in the judgment, the court awarded only N10m in their favour, after holding that the takeover of their land was unlawful.
Justice Sonaike restrained the police “from further entering, surveying, trespassing, clearing and/or commencing any form of construction” on the land.
The judge also restrained the Governor of Lagos State from issuing document of title to the police in respect of the land.
The police were perpetually restrained from harassing, molesting, arresting or inviting the claimants.

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