February 2022 – Page 26

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Putin Orders Russian Troops Into Ukraine ‘For Peacekeeping’

The crisis between Russia and Ukraine took a new dimension on Monday when President Vladimir Putin ordered his defense ministry to send troops into Ukraine. According to the Russian leader, the troops are to maintain peace in two breakaway regions of Donetsk and Luhansk. According to a decree published earlier on Tuesday, Putin has said Moscow would recognise the independence of the regions. The decree says the troops are to remain in the territory until both separatist states sign treaties about “friendship, co-operation, and mutual aid”. According to Financial Times, the White House said President Joe Biden would soon issue an executive order that would ban new investment, trade and financing by US people and entities in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions of Ukraine. “This EO [executive order] will also provide authority to impose sanctions on any person determined to operate in those areas of Ukraine,” said Jen Psaki, White House press secretary. “We will also soon announce additional measures related to today’s blatant violation of Russia’s international commitments.” Psaki said the measures were separate from the economic sanctions the US has threatened to impose if Putin invades Ukraine. “We are continuing to closely consult with Allies and partners, including Ukraine, on next steps and on Russia’s ongoing escalation along the border with Ukraine.” European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Charles Michel also condemned Putin’s decision, saying it is a “blatant violation of international law as well as of the Minsk agreements.” UK foreign secretary Liz Truss also said sanctions were on the way. “Tomorrow we will be announcing new sanctions on Russia in response to their breach of international law and attack on Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity,” she said in a tweet. NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg condemned the move, saying “this further undermines Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, erodes efforts towards a resolution of the conflict, and violates the Minsk Agreements, to which Russia is a party.” French president Emmanuel Macron called for targeted European sanctions and a meeting of the UN Security Council. He condemned Putin’s decision, and said it was “clearly a unilateral violation of Russia’s international commitments and a violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty”, according to a statement from the Elysée in Paris.

Post Date : February 22, 2022

2023: ‘He was misunderstood’ — aide clarifies Tinubu’s ‘fight dirty’ comment

Tunde Rahman, media aide to Bola Tinubu, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), says his principal’s comment on being “ready to get dirty” over his presidential bid was misunderstood. Speaking on Sunday when he visited Lekan Balogun, the Olubadan designate, in Ibadan, Tinubu had said no intimidation or blackmail can stop him, adding that is “ready to get dirty”. “I’m out to become the president of Nigeria. No intimidation, no blackmail can stop me. I have read about a Greek philosopher that if you want to fight a pig, you must be ready to be smeared and I’m ready to be dirty,” Tinubu had said. But in a statement issued on Monday, Rahman said Tinubu’s statement was misunderstood. “In continuation of his consultations and engagements with the traditional rulers and critical stakeholders across the country, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu on Sunday, February 20, 2022, visited the Alaafin of Oyo, Iku Baba Yeye, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, and on his return from ancient Oyo town, he paid a courtesy call on the Olubadan-Designate, Senator Lekan Balogun,” the statement reads. “Speaking at the residence of Olubadan-Designate, the All Progressives Congress National Leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, referring to some of the unwarranted attacks against him used the metaphor of wrestling with the pig, saying “if you decide to wrestle with the pig, you must be ready to get dirty.” He said he had accepted to take the insults and dirt thrown at him by some people as a price to pay for venturing into politics and seeking to be President of Nigeria. “Sadly, the wrong headline and story have been latched on by some online platforms/blogs and commentators to pour invective on Asiwaju Tinubu. These commentaries and remarks are unfortunate because they are groundless, misinformed and misdirected. Hence, this clarification has become imperative. “It bears restating that at no time during the visit and in his speech did Asiwaju indicate that he would fight dirty for his presidential ambition. His words were carefully chosen. “For clarity and avoidance of doubt, this is what the APC leader told Olubadan-Designate High Chief Balogun: “Kabiyesi, all I have come for is to beg you to continue to pray for me, the entire Yoruba race and the country. Now I am out. Out for what, Kabiyesi? I am out to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. There is a wise saying that if you want to wrestle with the pig, be ready to get dirty and deal with the poo-poo. I am ready to get dirty. No intimidation, no blackmail, no sort of insult will get me angry to the extent that I will say no more, I don’t want again.” “This statement is comprehensible and clear enough. Our appeal to the media is that as the 2023 election approaches, and indeed at all times, they should not allow their mediums and platforms to be deployed in the desperate smear campaigns and campaigns of calumny by politicians. They owe themselves and our society to report accurately and objectively without fear or favour. The duty of the media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm is a sacred one that must be guarded jealously.”

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Abba Kyari Demands N500M Damages, Apology From NDLEA

Suspended police chief, DCP Abba Kyari has demanded N500 million in damages and also a written apology to him in two national dailies from the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) over alleged unlawful arrest and detention. In a motion on notice marked:FHC/ABJ/CS/182/22, filed before Justice Inyang Ekwo of the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, dated February 16 and filed February 17 by his lawyer, C. O. Ikena, Kyari sought an order “restraining the respondent (NDLEA), its agents, servants, privies, police or anyone acting on their behalf from further harassing, detaining, intimidating, arresting the applicant unlawfully. “An order of this court directing the respondent to pay the sum of N500,000,000.00 (Five Hundred Million Naira) to the applicant, for unlawful violation of the applicant’s constitutional right provided for in Sections 35 and 36 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (As Amended). “A declaration that announcing the applicant in the press without giving him right to fair hearing nor establishing a prima-facie case against him is illegal, unlawful and an infringement on his fundamental right. “A declaration that declaring the applicant syndicate of the suspect without establishing a prima-facie case against the applicant is unlawful and an infringement on his fundamental right. “A declaration that torture, degrading and inhuman treatment given the applicant by the agent of the respondent is illegal, unlawful and an infringement on the applicant fundamental human right. “A declaration that refusal to grant administrative bail to the applicant on alleged bailable offence is unlawful and infringement on the applicant’s fundamental human right.” (NAN)

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Imo Appeal Court Judge Escapes Kidnap Attempt

Justice Rita Pemu, a presiding judge of the Court of Appeal, Owerri Division, has escaped kidnap attempt on Monday along Azia-Orsumoghu-Ihiala. This was disclosed in a statement by the Secretary of the Nigeria Bar Association, Owerri Branch, Chinedu Agu. The statement said the judge was traveling to Owerri from Benin City and was kidnapped along Azia-Orsumoghu-Ihiala Road by Kidnappers at about 11am and her driver is yet to be found. Part of the statement reads; “When the Chairman of the Bar, J.I. Ogamba and the Secretary, Chinedu Agu, paid His Lordship a visit at 5 pm today, the Secretariat gathered that the Kidnappers double-crossed His Lordship’s vehicle at a Speed Break, disembarking her and ordering her to lie prostrate on the road, while pointing guns menacingly on her head”, the statement said. “Justice Pemu, who by happenstance was rather in her Hiace Bus instead of her SUV and was dressed in a simple, spartan and free-flowing gown was mistaken by the Kidnappers as one of “oga’s stewards,” as they kept demanding to know in which car their “oga” was. READ ALSO 2023: Orji Kalu Hosts PDP Presidential Aspirant, Anyim Pius “While she was matched into a thick forest, one of the Kidnappers, the Secretariat gathered, was boasting that he would have wasted their oga if he were there. “As his Lordship was matched into the bush-like a death-destined Sheep to the slaughter, gunshots and concomitant cries of anguish pervaded the bush, which heightened her apprehension. “As the Kidnappers backed out for his Lordship to continue the Golgotha walk into the depth of the bush, where perhaps she would face the doomed fate of others, she detoured and took safety elsewhere, and was hurried back to Orlu town in disguise from where she found her way into Owerri. “As of the time of this report, His Lordship’s official cars, her Driver, her personal property inside the car are yet to be found”

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Gunmen kill two officers, bomb police station in Imo

Isu Police division of Imo state command, Monday, came under heavy attack by on known gunmen leaving two officers attached to the station dead. The deadly attack was confirmed in a statement issued on Monday by the command’s commissioner of police, CP Rabiu Hussaini, through Michael Abattam, the command’s spokesperson. Hassaini said the gunmen attacked the station with “petrol bombs and improvised explosive devices (IED)”, which led to the death of the two officers, while another officer sustained gunshot injury. Following the attack, he said the police operatives went after the gunmen who were tracked to “Golden Suite Hotel and Isu Villa Hotel”. Hassaini said the two hotels were sealed off and raided, adding that 12 motorcycles, and two Lexus SUVs believed to have been used by the hoodlums were recovered. The CP said that 17 males and a female were subsequently arrested and are currently undergoing interrogation. “On 20th February, 2022, at about 23:30 hours, armed men suspected to be members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB)/ Eastern Security Network (ESN) in their numbers came in two (2) Toyota Sienna Buses, a Toyota Camry Car and unspecified number of motorcycles, attacked the station from the rear axis, because the station has no perimeter wall, shooting sporadically, threw petrol bombs and Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) that ignited the station,” the statement reads. The police commissioner thanked residents for their support and urged security operatives not to relent in their efforts to reduce crime in the state.

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Bail: Abba Kyari diabetic, hypertensive, lawyer tells judge

Embattled Deputy Commissioner of Police, Abba Kyari, is a diabetic and hypertensive patient, the suspended cop’s lawyer, Cynthia Ikena, told Justice Inyang Ekwo of a Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday. The lawyer also prayed the court to release his client on bail but the judge refused the plea, saying the suit contained weighty allegations that would require the response of the Federal Government. Kyari was arrested by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency on February 14, 2022, for alleged links in drug-related crimes. Kyari, on Monday, dragged the Federal Government to court, seeking his release from NDLEA custody. In the suit marked FHC/ABJ/CS/182/22, the ex-head of the police Intelligence Response Team prayed court to compel the NDLEA to grant him bail on health grounds, pending the hearing and determination of his fundamental right enforcement application. Kyari’s lawyer, Ikena, claimed the ‘super cop’ is suffering from diabetes and hypertension. But Justice Ekwo refused the prayer and said, “Upon studying the process of the Applicant and averments in support thereon, I am of the opinion that the respondent should be put on notice.” The judge therefore ordered that all the relevant processes should be served on FG which was cited as the sole respondent. Justice Ekwo also adjourned the case till February 24 for hearing. The PUNCH had reported that the anti-narcotics agency on February 14, 2022, indicted Kyari, in alleged drug trafficking and related offences. The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Baba, subsequently handed over Kyari to the anti-narcotics agency for prosecution over alleged links in drug trafficking after the NDLEA released damning photo and video evidence to nail Kyari. The NDLEA said Kyari, the suspended IRT head, belonged to a drug cartel that operates the Brazil-Ethiopia-Nigeria illicit drug pipeline. The anti-narcotics agency also said Kyari contacted one of its officers in Abuja and struck a deal to secure the release of a total of 25kg seized cocaine and offered $61,400 bribe to NDLEA officers who played along until his arrest. The IGP in a statement had corroborated the NDLEA’s findings, saying incontrovertible evidence indicted Kyari in the drug crimes. The NDLEA had also said it would charge the cop and four others to court. The police commission had suspended Kyari on July 31, 2021, after the Federal Bureau of Investigation in the United States indicted the cop for his alleged role in a $1m scam allegedly perpetrated by alleged international Internet fraudster Ramon Abbas, aka, Hushpuppi and five others. The FBI had said Hushpuppi paid Kyari N8m or $20,600 for the arrest and detention of a “co-conspirator,” Chibuzo Vincent. The United States Attorney’s Office at the Central District of California had declared Kyari wanted but the Nigerian government has yet to extradite him to face prosecution in the US before the cop’s NDLEA ordeal.

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Strike: FG To Meet ASUU Today

The Federal Government and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) will meet today. This is as a result of the one-month warning strike embarked upon by the union. While declaring the strike, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President, blamed the government for failing to meet the demands of lecturers. The demands include the revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, and inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS) payments. On Monday, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Mr. Charles Akpan, confirmed that Sen. Chris Ngige, will be meeting with the executives of the union and other relevant government agencies over the strike. The meeting is scheduled for today by 1p.m. at the minister’s conference room.

Post Date : February 22, 2022

Five Killed As Rival Cult Gangs Clash In Bayelsa

A fierce cult clash at Amarata community, Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State has claimed five lives while many others sustained various degrees of injuries. The deadly clash, which has persisted for over a week, is a confrontation between the suspected members of Icelanders and Bobos cult gangs fighting for the control of the area. A resident of the community, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Daily Trust that the security situation in the area is becoming worse on daily basis. He said the problem started on Sunday, February 13, when a member of one of the rival gangs was gunned down close to the popular Ebis Mechanic junction. He said: “They killed the first person on Sunday, February 13 at Ebis Mechanic junction and police came and took the corpse away. “The other group who are suspected to be on reprisal attack also went berserk, searching for the opponent cult group. “In the process, one young man suspected to be a member of Icelanders cult group was killed at OMPADEC road on Saturday, while the situation became worse on Monday when the other group stormed Ebis Mechanic and Success School road, killing one person and shooting the other one on the eye. “So far, five persons are said to be killed. “We plead with security agents to intervene promptly to forestall more killings, youths are just killing each other for nothing,” he said. Residents stay indoors Meanwhile, the residents of Amarata community have remained indoors, while shop owners have shut down their shops for fear of being robbed. Amarata is just a stone throw to the Creek haven, the Bayelsa State government house and also close to the police headquarters in the state at Ovom community. The police spokesman in Bayelsa State, SP Asinim Butswat, who confirmed the cult clashes, said only one death had been reported to the police. He said there had been no arrest for now but police detectives were investigating the matter to bring the perpetrators to book. The Police had last year set up a special squad to combat cultism in the state.

Post Date : February 22, 2022

2023: No presidential aspirant surpasses Tinubu, says Ganduje

Governor Abdillahi Ganduje of Kano State has said that the people of the Northern part of the country have no other presidential aspirant to support than the National leader of the All progressive congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Ganduje made the remark at the inauguration of an office for Northern Youth Professionals for Tinubu, (an organisation that Supports Tinubu’s presidential ambition) held along Hadeja Road in Kano on Monday. The Governor, who was represented at the occasion by the Managing Director of Kano Road Traffic Agency, Dr Baffa Babba Dan’agundi, said it has become necessary for Northerners to reciprocate the gesture done to them by the people of South-West in 2015 where they supported Retired General Muhammadu Buhari to become President. According to him, the North has no other presidential aspirant to support in the forthcoming presidential election come 2023 than the former Lagos State Governor, Tinubu. “Northern Nigeria has no option but to support the Yoruba race and Tinubu. if I ask you to give the name of one person who supported the Northern candidature of Muhammadu Buhari, it will be Tinubu. “It is time for us to show whether we are truly sons of our parents or not. This is the time and we are with Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “His Excellency Dr Abdillahi Ganduje is part and parcel of this struggle, so we’re with Bola Ahmed Tinubu. “It was Bola Ahmed Tinubu who persistently stood firm and ensured that the people of the South-West supported Muhammadu Buhari from the APC primary up to the presidential election where he was victorious,” Ganduje said. He said the time has come for the Northerners to show and tell the world that they are supporting Tinubu’s presidential ambition to enable him to take the country to greater heights. In his remark, the NYTP Coordinator, Abdillahi Tanko Yakasai, said the reason why they are in support of Tinubu’s presidential ambition was because of his love for the development of Nigeria. He noted that Tinubu is a patriotic Nigerian and if given the mandate to rule the country, he would address the lingering security challenges and bring socio-economic development to the country. “If we look at the various developmental projects and programmes he executed while he was the governor of Lagos State, we have no doubt that he has the capability to address the multi-faceted challenges facing the country. “Northerners have no better presidential candidate to support than Tinubu because he is the one who supported and empowered the youth by providing them job opportunities in addition to allowing them to participate in politics without any discrimination,” he said.

Post Date : February 21, 2022

Bayelsa Monarchs To Osinbajo: You Will Make A Good Presidential Material

The Obenibe of Epie Kingdom, HRM King Malla Sasime, has hailed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s qualities, saying the former Lagos State commissioner has what is needed to lead the country. He made the remark over the weekend during a courtesy call by the VP to the traditional rulers. “Vice President, your name has been called for very good reasons; and the reason why your name has been on is, maybe, people think that you have been very good, and we appreciate your efforts in governance,” the Vice Chairman of the State’s Traditional Rulers Council said. “If you come out for president (candidate), you will be a good material… we appreciate what you are doing, and we thank you for being a good vice president. We hope that you keep your relationship with Bayelsa in very good stead,” King Sasime noted on behalf of the council. Earlier, Osinbajo had assured that President Muhammadu Buhari’s government is committed to developing the Niger Delta region. According to him, ongoing projects in the area are an indication of the resolve. “As a matter of urgency, we are well on our way towards correcting historical lapses in this respect, through the collaborative efforts of the federal, state, and local governments, each one putting aside personal interests, and doing the best they can for the communities which have undeservedly suffered for so long,” he said in a statement issued by his media aide, Laolu Akande.