Month: September 2022

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SERAP sues Buhari over $23m Abacha Loot

The Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has filed a lawsuit against President Muhammadu Buhari over the $23m looted by ex-Head of State, General Sani Abacha.

In suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/1700/2022 filed last Friday at the Federal High Court in Abuja, the group is asking the court to “direct and compel President Buhari and Mr Abubakar Malami to release and widely publish a copy of the agreement on the Abacha loot with the U.S.”

This was disclosed in a statement on Sunday by SERAP Deputy Director Kolawole Oluwadare, who said the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN) is joined in the suit as respondent.

The United States government had August signed an agreement with the Federal Government to repatriate $23 million Abacha loot to Nigeria. The $23 million is in addition to the $311.7 million Abacha loot repatriated from the U.S. to Nigeria in 2020.

“The Nigerian Constitution 1999 [as amended], the Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international obligations impose transparency obligations on the Federal Government to widely publish the agreement on the $23 million Abacha loot,” SERAP argued in the suit.

“Publishing a copy of the agreement with the U.S. would allow Nigerians to scrutinise it, and to monitor the spending of the repatriated loot to ensure that the money is not mismanaged, diverted or re-stolen.

“The repatriated $23 million Abacha loot is vulnerable to corruption and mismanagement. A substantial part of the estimated $5 billion returned Abacha loot since 1999 may have been mismanaged, diverted, or re-stolen, and in any case remain unaccounted for.

“Publishing a copy of the agreement would ensure that persons with public responsibilities are answerable to the people for the performance of their duties including the management of repatriated loot.”

The suit filed on behalf of SERAP by its lawyers Kolawole Oluwadare and Ms Atinuke Adejuyigbe, said the Nigerian Constitution, Freedom of Information Act, and the country’s international obligations rest on the principle that citizens should have access to information regarding their government’s activities.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

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Police hunt student who allegedly killed both parents in Anambra

An unidentified student of one of the institutions in Anambra State has allegedly; killed his father and mother and abandoned their corpses in a room.

The incident happened in the Nnewi area of the state.

It was gathered that the corpses of the deceased had; already started decomposing when they were; discovered by neighbors after a foul smell started oozing out from their room.

Although, no one could ascertain the period the incident took place, the corpses, which were; discovered on Thursday, had thrown the community into mourning.

A source in the area told journalists that the student was; the only son of the parents.

The source said, “The corpses of the man and his wife were; discovered by neighbors after perceiving an offensive smell from the room. They must have been; killed by their only son.”

The state police spokesman, Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said a manhunt has been; launched for the suspect.

Ikenga described; the incident as an act of man’s inhumanity to man, adding that the corpses were; discovered with machete cuts.

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, described the discovery of the already; decomposing dead bodies in an apartment in Nnewi on 22/9/2022 at about 5:20 pm with machete cuts, as an act of man’s inhumanity to man.

“He has ordered an immediate manhunt of the suspect. He further directs the immediate transfer of the case to the State Criminal investigation department for discreet investigation.

“However, the decomposing bodies have been; recovered and deposited in the morgue.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos High Court, Ikeja, has sentenced a Nigerian police officer, Olalekan Ogunyemi, to life imprisonment for killing a football fan, Kolade Johnson.

Ogunyemi, who was attached to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, shot Johnson in the lower abdomen on March 31, 2019, at a viewing centre at Mangoro, Ikeja, Lagos.

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IGP orders the arrest of professor who assaulted female orderly

The Inspector-general of Police, IGP Usman Baba, has ordered the prosecution of a legal practitioner and human rights activist, Prof. Zainab Duke Abiola and her domestic staff, comprising the house maid, one Rebecca Enechido, following their assault on a female police officer, Inspector Teju Moses.

The third suspect, a male who is presently at large, is also expected to be apprehended and prosecuted.

The IGP has equally tasked the investigative team to ensure that the fleeing suspect is arrested and made to face the wrath of the law.

The IGP further ordered that the case be properly prosecuted in court; after vehemently condemning Mrs Abiola’s grievous assault on the female police officer.

Recall that a video clip showing the female officer on the floor bleeding had gone viral since Wednesday night.

Zainab was reported to have said that there will be no consequences; as she is a friend of the wife of the Inspector General of Police Usman Alkali Baba.

Reacting in a statement on Thursday, Force spokesman, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, said that the Inspector-General of Police has ordered the withdrawal of all police personnel attached to the professor.

The IGP also expressed consternation at the fact that a human rights advocate could violate the rights of another individual.

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NANS slams Court ruling ordering suspension of ASUU strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has been ordered by the Industrial Court to end its seven-month strike, but the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has challenged this order.

On Wednesday, the Nigerian National Industrial Court ordered the ASUU to end its protracted statewide strike.

Since February 14, ASUU has been on strike to raise awareness of its demands; which include more financing for universities and a reassessment of professors’ pay among other things.

ASUU and the Federal Government had held a number of discussions that came to a stalemate.

However, Giwa Temitope, the National Public Relations Officer for NANS, revealed that the decision breaches equity.

The student union representative argued that the court should have directed the Federal Government to resolve the issues with the striking lecturers; rather than ordering ASUU to return to the classroom.

NANS further alleged that this government cannot handle a crisis because they had to take ASUU to court.

The statement read, “Our attention has been drawn to news of a court judgment mandating the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its 7-month strike. As an association, we feel disturbed to read the news of the judgment because we believe that it betrays equity.

“Ordinarily, the Federal Government is not meant to have dragged ASUU to court. But, the fact that they had to drag ASUU to court is a signal that this government cannot handle crisis. And, we want to state categorically that the court cannot force members of ASUU back to lecture theatres.

“And, as it stands today, with that court judgment; we maintain that the court has not resolved the problem…We reject the judgment in strong terms. The court could have said that the Federal Government should go and pay; rather than say that lecturers who are on strike should go back to classrooms. We were expecting the court to have understood that lecturers are on contract of personal service. Hence, they cannot be compelled to render a service they don’t want to render.

“The only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.”

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Nigerians react to Court sentence of controversial kidnapper, Evans to 21 years

Following the judgment of the Ikeja Special Offences Court which sentenced, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans to 21 years imprisonment, Nigerians including Senior Advocates of Nigeria had been reacting to the verdict preferred against the controversial kidnapper and his accomplice.

Speaking with our correspondent, Prof Sam Erugo (SAN), said the court had the discretion on what sentence to pass, adding that in the case of Evans who had multiple charges pending before different courts, for as long they pass the judgments, they would run concurrently.

Erugo added, “I think 21 years is virtually life imprisonment; people arguing that the sentence should be stiffer, even a life sentence doesn’t mean that he will be there all his life. After a certain time, they may exercise some leniency and let the person go.

“21 years is still a very stiff penalty so even after spending the 21 years in prison, the other conviction of life sentence will still hold him there until if we have a lenient governor, maybe in one of the jail releases, they can let him go. 21 years is not a small sentence, it depends on what was before the court.”

Also reacting, Olu Daramola (SAN), however, said the sentence made no difference because Evans was already serving a life sentence.

“If somebody is sentenced to death and in other counts, he is exonerated that he did nothing, the fact still remains that he is facing the hangman.

“He already had the stiffer punishment you can get after death in the earlier judgment; he may still be sentenced to death because even if he is sentenced to life imprisonment in all the cases, he can only serve one, because he just has one life,” he said.

Describing the judgment as a positive development, a lawyer, Isiaku Olagunju (SAN) said the judgment would serve as a deterrent to other criminals.

“I am glad that justice has been made. However, there is no way I can criticize the judgment because I was not involved, and I have not read the judgment,” Olagunju added.

In his reaction, Ifedayo Adedipe (SAN), however, said Evans still had; the right to appeal the judgment at a higher court.

He said, “More often, most people have been; tried on the pages of newspapers and social media; before the actual trial, thus I didn’t know the facts, but I am sure the judge would have; considered all the available facts.

“In this case, he still has the right of appeal at the Court of Appeal, to the Supreme Court. Sentencing is a question of law based on the available facts. If you have 21 years in jail, I think that is okay because sometimes criminals do repent. So, if you sentenced someone to life imprisonment, how will the society get the benefits of their repentance?”

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Imo State House of Assembly Removes Speaker (See Details)

The Imo State House of Assembly has removed its speaker Kennedy Ibe and replaced him with Emeka Nduka.
Emeka Nduka was elected today, September, 19.

Nduka, who represents the Ehime Mbano State Constituency, was immediately sworn-in by the Clerk of the Assembly, Chinelo Emeghara.

Ibe, who represents the Obowo State constituency was elected as speaker in November 2021, after Paul Emezim was impeached as the speaker.

Ibe was on suspension when he was elected as the number one man of the legislature.

The Imo State House of Assembly has now had four speakers in three years following Nduka’s election.

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Queen Elizabeth II Finally Buried At Windsor Castle

Queen Elizabeth has been buried at Windsor Castle after her funeral procession went through the streets of London with huge crowds lining the route.

Windsor, where the Queen broadcast to the nation in wartime and spent so much of her time throughout her life, is her final resting place.

The Queen’s coffin was followed by King Charles, the Prince of Wales, the Duke of Sussex, the Duke of York, and Princess Royal during its procession to Wellington Arch.

The route is a three-mile (4.82km), tree-lined avenue leading from Snow Hill – where Henry VIII is said to have awaited news of the execution of his second wife, Anne Boleyn – through Windsor Great Park towards the castle itself.

The route was lined by the armed forces from Westminster Abbey to the top of Constitution Hill at the Commonwealth memorial gates.

Windsor Castle is a royal residence at Windsor in the English county of Berkshire.

It is strongly associated with the English and succeeding British Royal Family, and embodies almost a millennium of architectural history, NAN reports

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NANS grounds traffic at Lagos Airport Road in protest against ASUU strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities has been on a seven-month strike, and the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, stormed Murtala Muhammed International Airport in Lagos on Monday, September 19. to put pressure on the government to end it.

The student body had earlier threatened to halt operations at domestic and foreign airports nationwide starting on Monday owing to the walkout.

Students were sick of appealing with both parties to stop the strike, according to Ojo Raymond Olumide, chairman of the NANS National Task Force on “End ASUU Strike Now.”

“Nigerian students whose parents created the commonwealth cannot continue suffering at home alongside our lecturers while the few who gain from our sweat and blood have their kids abroad.

“We call on students to rise and join us as we take our destinies into our hands. Our demands remain consistently clear and simple,” the NANS spokesman had said.

The situation caused gridlock along the axis as the vehicular movement in and out of the airport was stalled.

The spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed that police officers have been deployed to the scene.

Also, the NANS National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Temitope, confirmed that policemen are at the protest scene.

“They are here to protect us. Nobody has been harassed but we are not relenting. No retreat, no surrender,” he said.

Meanwhile, Charles Soludo, the governor of Anambra State, on Sunday, September 18, provided an explanation for why kidnapping and insecurity are rampant in the state.

He claimed that Anambra’s economic standing among South-East states made it a target for criminals.

Further, he said that his administration has implemented many measures to combat the threat. Soludo made this known in response to the recent uptick in insecurity in the state.

In an interview with Channels TV’s Politics Today on Sunday, September 19, 2022; Soludo said that Igbo people are the ones committing crimes in the state.

In addition, the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria asserted that, in contrast to popular belief; criminals are both known and not unknown because they are frequently profiled in the media.

Soludo said, “They are plain criminals. Some of these criminals also hide under the cloak of agitation but IPOB has repeatedly distanced itself from the criminals.

“They are kidnappers and plain criminals and they indulge in these because it is lucrative. Anambra is without a doubt the richest state in the South-East so this is the state where kidnapping has the highest value and so you will have their highest concentration here.

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Prophet El-Buba declares his stance for Peter Obi at Plateau Mega Rally

The Initiative for a Better and Brighter Nigeria (IBBN), today 17th September took to the street on a rally and fitness walk for good Governance in Nigeria.

The initiative headed by Prophet Isa Elbuba started off at the Rwang Pam Township Stadium, Jos Plateau State.

Prophet Isa El-Buba in his address said “until yesterday I have received calls and offers to change my stand come 2023 but I am not to be bought and I will not just stand on the pulpit as the father of all but also on the field to fight for new Nigeria headed by the right person”

He solemnly declared his stand for Peter Obi the Labour Party presidential candidate come 2023, while raising the Nigerian flag, he added that “Peter Obi is not a messiah but a servant that will be sent to save Nigeria as power must be given to the people and not wicked politicians”

Prophet Isa El-Buba is the General Overseer of the Evangelical Outreach Ministries International, with headquarters in Jos, Plateau State. Further urged all supporters to deploy talent, time, and resources to recruit 40 million foot soldiers promising to train all those who are willing to be foot soldiers that will be deployed all over Nigeria.

He also advised them to be proactive, disallow anyone with a selfish desire to survive, and use their mouth to publicise the new Nigeria mantra.

Prophet El-Buba said that presidential candidate Peter Obi will be in Plateau State by 28th of September.

The clergy ended his address by saying his vision of a new Nigeria has been produced into a movie that can be accessed on his youtube channel adding that Peter Obi will be voted into the office of president at the federal level while at the state level credible and competent candidates will be voted for irrespective of the political party they belong to.