Amnesty International Nigeria has described as a travesty of justice, the committal of a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong, to prison by the Akwa Ibom State Chief Judge, Ekaette Obot. The advocacy group called on Nigerian authorities to immediately release the incarcerated lawyer and drop all charges against him. Mr Effiong was on 27 July sentenced to 30 days imprisonment over what Mrs Obot described as “unruly behaviour” after the young lawyer objected to the presence of armed police operatives in court. Amnesty, in a message posted on Twitter on Tuesday, said the committal process was bereft of due process. “The entire process was a travesty of justice and direct affront on his lawful professional duty as a lawyer.” Minutes before Mr Effiong was committed to prison, Mrs Obot had ordered a police officer to confiscate the phone of a PREMIUM TIMES reporter, Saviour Imukudo, who was covering the court proceedings. Mr Imukudo was subsequently detained on Mrs Obot’s order and taken to a nearby police station, where he wrote a statement to the police. The reporter was doing a discrete audio recording of the court proceedings, which he said was to ensure accuracy in his report. The audio file was later deleted as demanded by Mrs Obot before the reporter was released and his phone returned to him. Amnesty also condemned the judge’s action, saying it was fair for journalists to record court proceedings and report to the public. “The right to fair and public hearing must be observed at every turn during judicial proceedings. This includes access to the courts and by extension to journalists who wish to observe, record, report and disseminate court proceedings for the public.” Background Mr Effiong, a Lagos-based lawyer, was at Mrs Obot’s court to defend his client in a defamation case in which Governor Udom Emmanuel is the claimant. Mr Effiong had in previous proceedings requested the judge to recuse herself from the case. The lawyer on the 27 July hearing objected to the presence of two armed police operatives who were brought into the court on the order of the chief judge. In court proceedings released after she was sued, Mrs Obot said, she committed Mr Effiong to 30 days imprisonment for his “unruly behaviour.” Mr Effiong served the first two weeks of his sentence at Ikot Ekpene Custodial Centre in Akwa Ibom State. He was later transferred to Uyo Custodial Centre to serve the remaining days. The lawyer was reportedly abused by prison officials who scraped his hair and beard. The lawyer’s incarceration has attracted condemnation across the country. Several groups have staged protests in Uyo, calling for his release. The Nigerian Bar Association and the Nigeria Labour Union have also faulted the procedure adopted by Mrs Obot in jailing the lawyer.

  The federal government has asked states to use their monthly budgets for emergency management to address issues of flooding. Owing to the effects of climate change, several communities across Nigeria that are prone to flooding have been partially submerged, with residents displaced. Commenting on the development, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesperson, in a statement on Tuesday, said the lives and properties of Nigerians are at stake. He asked state governments to urgently face their duties and ensure flooding within their regions is adequately managed. “As many communities continue to reel under floods across the whole federation, President Muhammadu Buhari assures that the situation is under continuous monitoring and the government at the centre will keep sending teams to assess the situation with a view to rendering all necessary help,” the statement reads. “The president extends heartfelt condolences on behalf of the nation to communities in towns and villages, many of whom have lost dear relatives, suffered extensive damage to property, and endured the destruction of crops and farm lands. “While expressing his concerns over the hardships being faced by people due to this natural calamity, the president noted that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had written to each of the 36 states of the federation, through the states’ respective governors, advising on the appropriate action to take in view of the gloomy forecasts of the rains this year. “The structure of the response mechanism on this issue is clear: the government at the center should step in to directly address national-level emergencies and that local government councils and the states are the first responders in all situations. “Calls for the federal government to respond to all outbreaks of natural disaster do not just display an understanding of Nigerian law. “While not a national-level emergency, the ongoing flooding is an emergency nevertheless. Nigerian lives and property are at stake. We call on governors of those states that have swung into action and engaged the necessary gear to continue with their efforts, and those that have not, to immediately face their duties of managing the flooding within their jurisdictions – that is, the job that the president, governors and council chairmen have been elected to do.” Shehu said all state governments are placed on monthly allocation for addressing emergency cases, adding that 2.32 percent of derivation funds is kept aside for ecology and disaster management.   “Each of the three tiers, the local government, the state government and the federal government has a sizeable budget at its disposal, allocated monthly precisely for dealing with these state-level natural emergencies, as well as federal agencies dedicated to doing the same,” he added. “It is not clear why some of the state governments in question are not already drawing upon those funds to tackle the current emergency, and the general population is misguidedly calling on the federal government to intervene in all situations. If those monies are, for whatever reason, no longer available, the affected states and local councils must immediately contact the relevant authorities to explain what has happened with those funds. “Under the prevailing revenue allocation formula, 2.32 percent of derivation funds is set aside for ecology and disaster management”.

  A 300 Level student of the Federal University Dutsinma, Katsina State has clubbed his stepmother to death, and at the same time broke his father’s leg and arm, using a pestle for trying to stop him. Sources privy to the incident said 24 years old Najeeb Umar Shehu had on several occasion expressed his disdain for their step mother, Hajiya Hasiya Galadima, a retired civil servant with the Katsina State Government, promising to kill her one day. Najeeb’s mother, a Fulani woman from Daura and his father, Shehu Umar Balele, a Zonal Inspector of Education with the Katsina State Ministry of Education have for long gone their separate ways. Najeeb who is known in the neighbourhood for taking all kinds of drugs and substance, according to reports is alleging that his stepmother is responsible for their separation. Narrating the ordeal to Vanguard, Mustapha Shehu Umar, the eldest child in the family, who also lives in the compound said: “We have been having several issues with him (Najeeb). We took him to the police several times. Whenever we wanted to take action on him, our Dad would refuse because he is the last born and he wanted him to study. “He has told our stepmother several times that he doesn’t like her, vowing that he was going to kill her one day. “We took the report to the Police but no serious action was taken against him. Unfortunately he smokes and take all kinds of drugs. “So on Thursday, when I was not around, My sister came around from her husband’s house. She use to come every Thursday, to keep our stepmother company. “Immediately my sister entered the house, Najeeb closed the entrance gate. “Then he went to our Dad’s sitting room and tricked him to his bedroom with the intention to lock him up in the room to avoid him from obstructing his plans but that failed. “He proceeded to the kitchen and took a pestle and returned to the sitting room where our stepmother was seated with two of her maids and her daughter and closed the door leading to the sitting room. “Then he said to her: ‘Remember that I promised to kill you one day.’ Without wasting time, he hit her with the pestle twice on the head and she fell to the ground and fainted. “My sister quickly held him, and they started struggling. God so kind, she was able to push him down, unlock the sitting room. door and ran out. He got up immediately and chased her. “Our Dad heard the noise, came out and saw him holding the pestle. While trying to protect his daughter, Najeeb knocked him down with the pestle and he also fainted, with his leg broken. “God so kind, our sister was able to open the compound’s gate and ran out to one of our neighbour’s house. “Seeing that she ran away, Najeeb went back inside the sitting room, realizing that our stepmother was still alive, he used the pestle to pound her until he was sure that she is lifeless, disfiguring her face in the process. “As if that was not enough, he went to my apartment inside the compound. When he saw my wife, he started chasing her but God so kind she was able to escape to our neighbour’s house with some other women and they locked themselves inside one of the rooms. “He fillowed them to the compound but was unable to unlock the door. Then he came to the frontage of the house, threatening that anyone that is bold enough should come out and challenge him. “Neighbours who saw him now alerted the police and when they came, they combed the area and finally arrested him around the government house area and took him to the GRA Police Station.” “Our father is currently being treated at the Orthopaedic Unit of the Katsina Teaching Hospital. While our stepmother has been buried according to Islamic rites,” The eldest child of the family said.

  President Muhammadu Buhari Tuesday condemned what he called “the unprovoked and cold-blooded murder of a Yobe-based Islamic cleric Sheikh Goni Aisami, by a callous soldier he had offered a lift as confirmed by the police.” The President, in a statement issued by his media aide, Garba Shehu, said the “barbaric murder of a compassionate man” by a soldier he had assisted had no place in the military training as soldiers. He said the act negated” the entire ethos of military life” anchored on discipline and respect for the sanctity of innocent lives. President Buhari called on the military authorities to punish the perpetrators of the heinous crime without delay, and flush out other elements with such criminal tendencies. According to the President, “as the Commander-in- Chief, I am personally outraged by this criminal and wicked act by a law enforcement official trained to protect life. “By our training, we are guided by a code of conduct that frowns on this kind of reckless and criminal act. It is not in our character and training to put innocent citizens in harm’s way. Of course, the action of this soldier is an isolated incident involving an individual, but it is capable of staining the collective image of our military. “This incident is capable of making our fellow citizens to be fearful of assisting soldiers, thereby destroying the bond of trust between our military and the civilians.” He condoled with Yobe State government, people of the state and family of the victim of this tragedy.