August 2021 – Page 21

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Imo Radio Presenter Kidnapped after Criticising OCDA Vows to Take Legal Action

Sunny Uma Anderson, a radio presenter kidnapped after criticising the Owerri Community Development Agency (OCDA,) has promised to take legal action against his abductors. Anderson was abducted on his way home on July 2 after a programme on the Reach FM, where he criticised the high-handedness of the community agency. Speaking with FIJ on Friday, Anderson said although he was yet to identify his enemies, he had a plan to engage them in a legal battle. “The reason we have not made any statement yet is that we are uncertain, up till this moment, as per who the enemies are. We want the situation to settle before I issue an official statement. A time will also come when I will initiate a legal battle against them,” he said. Following Anderson’s presentation, members of the OCDA stormed the premises of the Reach FM and got into altercations with workers. Some properties of the radio station were said to have been destroyed in the process. After close to two weeks with his abductees, the radio presenter was released on July 14. On Friday, Anderson broke a period of trauma-induced silence after his release and appeared in a video on his Facebook page thanking the people that stood by him during his trying time. He announced that his radio programmes would no longer be held in the evening but 10 am in the morning. Anderson also said that while on air, Tuesdays and Thursdays would be dedicated to issues relating to human rights violations and abuse. “The situation I just came out from is strictly that of human rights abuse. Therefore, I have decided that, going forward, my Tuesday and Thursday presentations would be dedicated to people who are being oppressed, humiliated or threatened by people who believe they have the power to do so,” he said in the video. He also said that he would be partnering with several organisations, including the Nigeria Police and the National Human Rights Commission, to ensure that oppressed people got justice. Anderson revealed that he already had many lawyers who were willing to take up Pro Bono cases for the oppressed. According to him, a part of the programme would be dedicated to youth empowerment. Credit: F.I.J

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Nigerian Polytechnic Student Kills Pregnant Girlfriend, Buries Her In Shallow Grave

A polytechnic student in Nigeria, Mumini Abubakar has killed his girlfriend, Franca Elisha, and secretly buried her remains in a shallow grave. Abubakar was said to have allegedly killed Franca, a Diploma II student of the Federal Polytechnic, Mubi, Adamawa state, in the process of aborting her pregnancy. Federal Polytechnic, Mubi. SaharaReporters learnt that the late Franca had informed her boyfriend, Abubakar of her pregnancy, and the latter decided to terminate it. He was said to have allegedly sought the help of his friend, Huzaifa Shu’aibu, a student of the College of Health Technology, Mubi, who injected Franca with a drug to terminate the pregnancy. The duo and one other accomplice have been arrested in connection to the crime, as revealed by the police. Spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Suleiman Nguroje, on Saturday, confirmed to SaharaReporters that Mumini Abubakar, Huzaifa Shu’aibu, and Rabi’u Adamu were apprehended in connection to the crime. Abubakar, a resident of Sanda ward under the Yola-South Local Government Area had allegedly treated the late Franca like his wife, leading to the pregnancy. However, when he was informed by Franca of the pregnancy, he decided to abort it. He reportedly took the deceased into his room located at the students’ community behind Adamawa State University, Mubi, for the abortion on August 6, 2021. A friend of the deceased who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “To carry out their planned abortion, the accused invited his friend and a student of the College of Health and Technology, Mubi, Huzaifa Shu’aibu, who supplied an injection for the abortion. “Huzaifa injected Franca with a powerful drug for abortion after which she fainted immediately, but as God would have it, she later regained consciousness. “In order to perfect the termination of the pregnancy, Huzaifa gave the late Franca a second round of the injection after she had regained her consciousness, but unfortunately she fainted for the second time and subsequently died. “Thereafter, the duo invited one of their friends and a student of the polytechnic, Rabiu Adamu, and the trio waited until midnight to Bury the corpse in a shallow grave. “The remains of Franca were buried along with a mobile phone and a National Identity Card, belonging to the deceased in an effort to destroy evidence.” However, the father of the deceased, Elisha Iliya, a resident of Sabon Gari, Mubi, told our reporter that “my daughter left home on the fateful day for school, but did not return home as usual”. “We searched everywhere as well as made contacts, but to no avail. “We decided to contact her friend and fellow student, who told us she last saw my daughter with Abubakar on the day she was killed while running to the hostel because it was raining. “It was the girl who helped us to locate the whereabouts of Abubakar, to effect his arrest. “Abubakar was arrested while playing football as if nothing had happened. He however led the police to my daughter’s shallow gravesite,” he said. Confirming the incident, Nguroje, said, “The death of the lady was reported to the command after which the Commissioner of Police, Adamu Alhaji, ordered the investigation and arrest of the suspects. “Investigation so far revealed that it was Mumini Abubakar who impregnated her and that it was Huzaifa Shu’aibu, who administered the injection, while Rabiu Adamu assisted in burying the corpse,” he said.

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Fresh batch of 15 Kaduna Baptist school students freed by bandits

Fifteen of the remaining 80 abducted students of Bethel Baptist High School, Damishi, Kaduna have been released from captivity. Joseph Hayab, chairman of the Kaduna state chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), confirmed their release to TheCable on Sunday. According to Hayab, the students were released on Saturday night by the bandits. On July 5, 2021, bandits had invaded the school located some few kilometers away from Kaduna metropolis and abducted 121 students. The Kaduna CAN chairman said the remaining students still in captivity are now 65. Hayab said there would be no reunion ceremony for the freed students, adding that their parents will simply pick them up and go home. The bandits had said that the students would be released in batches when they freed the first batch of 28 on July 25, 2021, after they were said to have collected a ransom of N100m. After the release of the 28 students in July, the bandits were said to have demanded another N80m for the release of the remaining 80 students. It was learnt that an undisclosed amount of money was paid before the 15 students were freed. Israel Akanji, president of the Nigerian Baptist Convention (NBC), had earlier said no ransom will be paid for the release of the students.

Post Date : August 22, 2021

SERAP sues Buhari, others over ‘missing N106bn in 149 MDAs’

Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project has filed a lawsuit against the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), “over his failure to probe allegations that N106bn of public funds are missing from 149 ministries, departments and agencies.” The suit followed the grim allegations by the Office of the Auditor-General of the Federation in his 2018 annual audited report that N105,662,350,077.46 of public funds are missing, misappropriated, or unaccounted for across 149 MDAs. Joined in the suit as Respondents are Mr Abubakar Malami, SAN, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation; and Mrs Zainab Ahmed, Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning. In the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/903/2021 filed last week at the Federal High Court in Abuja, SERAP is seeking “an order of mandamus to direct and compel President Buhari to promptly investigate the alleged missing N106bn of public funds, ensure prosecution of anyone suspected to be responsible, and the full recovery of any missing public money.” In the suit, SERAP argued that “Recovering the alleged missing public funds would reduce the pressure on the Federal Government to borrow more money to fund the budget, enable the authorities to meet the country’s constitutional and international obligations, and reduce the growing level of public debts. “Directing and compelling President Buhari to ensure the investigation and prosecution of the alleged grand corruption documented by the Auditor-General would be entirely consistent with the government’s own commitment to fight corruption, improve the integrity of MDAs, and serve the public interest. “The alleged missing public funds have hampered the ability of the indicted MDAs to meet the needs of average citizens, as the missing funds could have helped the government to invest in key public goods and services, and to improve access of Nigerians to these goods and services.” SERAP is also seeking an order to compel the president “to publish full details of the yearly budgets of all MDAs, and issue regular updates that detail their expenditures, including by making any such information easily accessible in a form that can be understood by the public.” No date has been fixed for the hearing of the suit.

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Resident doctors reject MoU presented by FG to end strike

6The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) has rejected the new memorandum of understanding (MoU) presented by the federal government to end its ongoing strike. On August 1, resident doctors embarked on a strike over the alleged failure of the federal government to implement an agreement bordering on salaries and allowances. Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, had dragged the association before the national industrial court over the strike. The Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), on Friday, led the resident doctors to a meeting summoned at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari to resolve the nationwide strike. Speaking with journalists on Sunday after the closed-door meeting with representatives of the federal government, in Abuja, Okhuaihesuyi Uyilawa, NARD national president, said he could not sign the MoU as a result of an undisclosed clause. “We rejected the MoU; we didn’t sign it because we feel we are being punished for the failures of those in government,” he said. He said the nationwide strike would continue and the association would proceed with the court case. He, however, added that NARD leadership has to present the new MoU to its members before he could sign the document. On his part, Ngige said that all other unions in the negotiation including the NMA and the Medical and Dental Consultants of Nigeria have signed the new agreement. The minister noted that the meeting did not discuss the issue of ‘No Work No Pay’, but that all parties at the meeting agreed to an out-of-court settlement. He added that the federal government will begin implementation of the MoU on Monday. “The meeting agreed that we need to let this matter. Therefore, the Budget Office of the federation should start from the 2021 service vote to start paying. And if we have any leftovers, we roll it into the 2022,” Ngige said. “Coming to hazard allowance, everybody agreed that the discussion is still ongoing and therefore government wants to finish it up. ”We agreed with NMA position to us that they don’t want to discuss holistically anymore as an association and that they have their own peculiarities that are not same with other health workers. “We are going to do two meetings, one for NMA and affiliates and one for JOHESU. But we are taking the meetings concurrently so that we don’t run into troubled quarters. We are starting next week.” Ngige said the NMA has been directed to submit a written position on the controversial withdrawing of doctors under the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and house officers from the scheme of service to point out the anomaly in the circular.

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Again, Ortom rejects grazing routes in Benue

Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom has again rejected the reopening of grazing routes and grazing reserves being planned by the Federal Government in Benue State. President Muhammadu Buhari a few days ago directed a review of grazing routes and grazing reserves in 25 states of the federation, with a directive that it be handled with “dispatch.” Governor Ortom, who spoke yesterday in Yandev, Gboko Local Government Area during the burial of Mr Emmanuel Amaatimin, said Benue people reject the policy in its entirety. In his words, the governor maintained: “Let the President know, that Benue State has the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranches Establishment Law in place and we are not going to allow any other thing outside this in Benue. “In the first place, the Federal Government and the President do not have the right to preside over the land of Benue State. The constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria allows governors to hold in trust the land that belongs to the states. “If the President wants land in Benue, he will seek my permission and I will in turn seek the consent of Benue people. The President cannot say that cattle routes and grazing areas will be designated in Benue State. We say no to it and I say that on behalf of Benue people.” Ortom wondered why President Muhammadu Buhari has not come out to condemn the actions of the Fulani in the country, saying he should be the President for all and not only Fulani. While condoling with the bereaved family, Governor Ortom prayed God to grant the deceased eternal rest and the family the fortitude to bear the loss.

Post Date : August 22, 2021

“She’s the Spy Girl of ESN Militants’ — Police Defend Enslavement of 21-Year-Old Lady

The Nigeria Police Force has admitted to arresting and detaining Gloria Okolie, a 21-year-old lady, in Imo State. Gloria was arrested on June 17 by operatives of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) as bait to get a member of the Indigenous People Of Biafra (IPOB) and kept in detention for several weeks as a maid. Harrison Gwamnishu, the Director-General of Behind Bars Initiative, posted about the lady’s unlawful detention on Facebook, narrating how she was turned into a ‘maid,’ washing clothes and cooking at the IRT office in Owerri. “Miss Glory Okolie, who enrolled for the 2021 JAMB exam, has been in police detention from 17th June 2021till date. She left the house and never returned,” he said. “Since 17th June, her family had searched for her in hospitals and mortuaries but couldn’t find her. Ending of June 2021, a young man who was freed from the IRT office, Tiger Base, Owerri, told the Okolie family that he saw Glory in the custody of IRT officers cooking and washing clothes for them.” On Friday, Usman Baba, the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), ordered an investigation into the illegal detention and enslavement of Glory, following social media uproar. However, the Police Force Headquarters, Abuja, on Sunday, said the lady was arrested and detained for “her complicity in the series of deliberate and well-coordinated attacks on security formations, other critical national infrastructure, including INEC offices, and killing of security operatives in the South-Eastern part of the country”. According to a press statement signed by CSP Aremu Adeniran, the Imo State Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, Glory was arrested “following ongoing investigations and implementation of the special operation, Operation Restore Peace, to amongst other things, break the information, drugs and arms supply chain to the outlawed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network in the South-East region”. “Police Investigations revealed that Gloria Okolie is a member of IPOB/ESN in Imo State, who worked closely with one Benjamin Uzoma Emojiri a.k.a “Onye Army”, one of the ESN commanders earlier declared wanted by the Police, for his lead roles in planning, coordinating and executing the attack on the Imo State Police Command Headquarters and Imo State Headquarters of the Nigerian Correctional Service,” the press statement read in part. “Her arrest and the revelations from her confession assisted the Police in the arrest of ‘Onye Army’, a major breakthrough in the quest to restore law and order in the South-East region.” The Police also claimed that Gloria was taking advantage of her gender and innocent looks to carry out espionage against military and police targets on behalf of IPOB, serving as an “intermediate person, who receives cash, drugs and weapons on behalf of IPOB/ESN and delivers the same to their commanders in their camps”. “Through her clandestine criminal activities, she actively aided and abetted the multiple acts of murder, arson and malicious damage to both private and public property by the ESN. A lot of the deadly and unfortunate attacks on security personnel and assets, with numerous fatalities, have the imprimaturs of Gloria Okolie, the spy girl of ESN militants.”

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Politicians who attended Buhari’s son’s wedding with hired jets are not different from bandits ― Gumi

An Islamic scholar, Sheikh Ahmad Abubakar Gumi has said politicians who attended the wedding of Yusuf Buhari with hired jets are not different from bandits. “People think only those in the bush (bandits) milk us dry, no! Even our leaders milk us dry. Where did they get the money to hire all these jets?” he said Recall, the president’s son, Yusuf, married Zarah Nasir Bayero, the daughter of Emir of Bichi, Nasiru Bayero in a grand ceremony that was witnessed by creme de la creme in Bichi and Kano on Friday and Saturday. ‌ Speaking during a preaching session at Sultan Bello mosque, Kaduna on Friday evening, Sheikh Gumi described the hiring of private jets to attend the wedding as a waste of public funds. Citing example with one of the disciples of the holy Prophet Umar bn Kattab, he said the Caliph of Islam (Umar) once took 16 dinar, which is equivalent to N2,040,000 today, from the treasury as estacode to Hajj. However, after he returned he (Umar) admitted to Abdallah that they wasted public funds. “Somebody told me private jets in Nigeria were all hired for the wedding of Buhari’s son. With your money, you can’t get a private jet because they were all booked. “Some people are in captivity in both the bush and cities. Hunger is everywhere. People are facing all manner of problems, yet politicians spent public funds on private jets. “First it was not an obligatory religious gathering. Umar bn Kattab went to Hajj and yet he admitted it was a waste of public funds. Here we are, public funds were taken to hire the private jets.” He also took a swipe at some religious leaders saying politicians have corrupted some clergymen. “Some of the religious leaders have become subservient to politicians,” he declared. “Some religious leaders cannot survive without behaving in servile manner towards politicians. “Politicians have spoilt the clerics. Atrocities are committed in the country but no one can speak up. “You are spending money to hire jets to go to wedding, while criminals are holding people to ransom in the bush. The criminals (bandits) are milking the people. “Some people have never earned N1million in their life, but bandits would demand N10million. How many people sold their houses, farms, everything… and collected loans to pay ransom? “People think only those in the bush (bandits) milk us dry, no! Even our leaders milk us dry. Where did they get the money to hire all these jets? “In one of the states, some pictures of a dilapidated hospital were sent to me. The roof was blown off and a patient was lying on the bed. That governor is in Kano to attend wedding. “How many schools were rehabilitated? The money that should be used to cater for the people is the one they hire private jets to junket around. Are you not also a bandit? “We vent our anger against ourselves, other tribes. People are left killing themselves because of poor leadership,”

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Anambra poll: Obiano plans to finance Soludo’s campaign with N60bn – ZLP

The Zenith Labour Party has accused the Anambra State Governor, Willie Obiano, of sourcing about N60bn to fund the election of Professor Chukwuma Soludo of the All Progressives Grand Alliance as his successor. The opposition alleged that the governor was seeking the fund in form of supplementary budget from the State House of Assembly. The accusation was contained in a statement by the ZLP Publicity Secretary, Campaign Council, Afam Ofomata. But in a swift reaction, the state Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba, described the allegation as intelligible. Adinuba said, “It sounds unintelligible for someone to think so. Every government in Nigeria, including the Federal Government, goes for supplementary budget annually. “So, it will be wrong and unintelligible for anybody to accuse the state governor of seeking a supplementary budget to fund election.” But the ZLP, in the statement, insisted that the governor planed to funnel out N60bn belonging to the state, two months to the November election under the guise of a supplementary budget. The opposition’s statement partly read, “A detailed review of the so-called supplementary budget reveals very opaque content that cannot translate into development investment reality for the benefit of the people, thus exposing an evil design to defraud the state and suppress the wishes of the people of Anambra State at the election.”

Post Date : August 22, 2021

Bandits Abduct District Head In Zamfara

Armed bandits have again invaded Adabka community under Bukkuyum Local government area of Zamfara State. A source from the community told Channels Television that the bandits attacked the community on Saturday about 12pm and operated till around 4pm before whisking away the district head of the community, Alhaji Nafiu Shehu. He said nobody was killed during the attack. The source also said the mobile police unit that was stationed in the community was moved out of the community last week which gave the bandits opportunity to enter the area. Adabka is about 165 kilometers from the state capital, Gusau. The police in Zamfara are yet to confirm the latest incident.