Blog

(FLOWERBUDNEWS)  Six bandits detained by security agencies have been released by the Katsina State Government as part of a peace deal with bandits terrorising eight local government areas in the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Dandume, Sabuwa, Faskari, Kankara, Safana, Danmusa, Batsari and Jibiya local government areas in the state have come under intense bandits attacks for long.

The situation prompted the state government to initiate dialogue with leaders of the bandits a week ago, during which agreements were reached including the release of some of the bandits held by security agencies.

Gov. Aminu Masari recalled during the handover of the six bandits that for the last one week, he and Security Chiefs had been visiting the LGAs that shared borders with Rugu forests, which served as hideout for the bandits.

Masari explained that part of the agreement was the handover of bandits in detention who had not been prosecuted.

According to him, the bandits would in return, handover to government people they kidnapped and were in their custody.

He said the process started on Monday, with the release of five people, two females and three males, while 20 more will be released before the end of Sept. 10.

He added that many more kidnapped victims would be released as part of the peace deal.

Masari expressed the hope that the process would be completed within the next one or two days, so that government would start the second phase of the peace initiatives which started with his visit to their hideouts.(NAN)

(FLOWERBUDNEWS) The Plateau National and State Houses of Assembly Election Petition tribunal has dismissed a petition filed by the PDP, challenging the election of Sen. Hezekiah Dimka of the APC as Senator representing Plateau Central in the Feb. 23 election.

Delivering judgment, Justice J.I. Nwoye, chairman of the tribunal, dimissed the petition filed by a former Immigration Boss, Mr David Paradang of the PDP.

Paradang had prayed the tribunal to declare him winner of the election following an alleged election malpractices that characterised the election.

But Justice Nwoye, held that the petitioners could not prove any of the allegations.

He held that the petition was incompetent.

The tribunal, therefore, expunged all evidence presented by the PDP from its record.

“This honourable tribunal has to expunge all the petitioners evidence because  they failed to proove all

“Consequently, this petition is therefore struct out and dismissed for lacking in merit, ” Nwoye held. (NAN)

(FLOWERBUDNEWS)  Security was beefed up on Wednesday within the vicinity of the Court of Appeal, Abuja, as the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal delivers judgment in the petition filed by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Atiku Abubakar challenging president Muhammadu Buhari’s victory in the Feb. 23 general election.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that security personnel comprising mainly men of the Nigeria Police, the Department of State Services and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps mounted security checks at both ends of the stretch of the road to the court.

NAN reports that lawyers and journalists who arrived the court premises located in the Three Arms Zone, were subjected to checks by security personnel.

NAN reports that tribunal on Aug.21 reserved judgment in the petition after parties adopted their addresses.

Justice Mohammed Garba, Chairman of the five-man panel of justices had stated that the judgment date would be communicated to parties.

NAN reports that the president was declared the winner of the election after scoring 15,191,847 votes as against Atiku’s 11, 262,978 votes.

While adopting his address, Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN, Counsel for Buhari, had described the petition as a sham as it lacked substance and merit.

“I have handled a few electoral petition cases, this is one petition that yarns for help, for assistance and for evidence but could not get any.

“Apart from the hype the matter has generated, there is nothing in law to support the allegations before the tribunal, Olanipekun said.

On the qualification of the president, Olanipekun said Section 131 (b) had settled that matter.

“I make bold to say that the Constitution and case laws had not compelled the candidates of the election to tendered certificates or attached same to INEC form before submission.

“The laws only mandate any person contesting election in the country to have gone to school up to Secondary School level,’’ he said.

On the issue of election results transmission by electronic means, the counsel said the use of such technology must be provided for in the Electoral Act.

“The allegation on the management of server by INEC is vague. Where is the server? This is a million dollar question that the petitioners could not substantiate.

“My Lords, this petition was not properly diagnosed, the action was ill-advised, I therefore urge the tribunal not to bow to sentiment or public opinion that does not represent the law.

“This petition is liable to be dismissed with a considerable cost’’, Olanipekun said.

On his part, Mr Lateef Fagbemi, SAN, Counsel for All Progressive Congress (APC) said he could not help but take the liberty to align himself with the submissions made Olanipekun.

“My Lords it is disheartening to see that this petition still remains watery at this stage.

“The petition made allegations they could not proof. We have done a table showing how the petitioners have proven the case so far.

“The election took place in 119,976 Polling Units, 8,901 Wards in 774 Local Government Areas across the country.

“It is sad therefore to see that the petitioners only called 62 witnesses. Out of this figure, only five witnesses gave direct evidence of what happened in polling units on the day of election.

“I feel sad that this matter has been starved of evidence and therefore deserves to be dismissed,’’ Fagbemi said.

Also, Mr Yunus Usman, SAN, Counsel for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) urged the panel to uphold all of its objections raised against the admissibility of all pieces of documentary and oral evidence led by the petitioners.

Usman submitted that the electoral body conducted the Feb.23 presidential election in total compliance with provisions of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended).

He also urged the panel to disregard the petitioners’ claims that the results of the election were transmitted electronically to a central server managed by INEC, adding that it was the “greatest lie of the century’’.

He submitted that it was laughable when the petitioners made pleadings that suggested that only the PDP and APC and their candidates contested the election.

Usman prayed the tribunal to take judicial notice of the fact that the Electoral Act 2010 prohibited the transmission of election results electronically.

According to him, the law only provides for manual transmission of election results.

Usman said that all the witnesses presented by the petitioners admitted to the fact that transmission of election results electronically had no placed in the country’s statute books at the moment.

In countering allegations that INEC abandoned its pleadings by not presenting witnesses, the counsel said the commission simply extracted salient pieces of evidence from the petitioners’ pleadings to solidify its defence.

“It would have amounted to wasting the time of the tribunal for us to call witnesses when the petitioners could not discharge the burden of proof on allegations they had made,’’ he said.

Usman thereafter prayed the court to dismiss the petition for lack of merit.

Meanwhile, Dr Livy Uzoukwu, SAN, Counsel for the petitioners urged the tribunal to discountenance the addresses of the respondents, adding that the petitioners had indeed discharged the burden of proof.

He said the tribunal must exercise its powers in good conscience to uphold the petition and return Abubakar as president.

Uzoukwu further said the second respondent (Buhari) was unable to present his Secondary School Certificate before the tribunal in order to rest the allegation.

“My Lords, we pray the panel to judiciously and judicially evaluate our evidence in context of whether we have justified our allegation against Buhari’s certificate or not.

On the issue of server, Uzoukwu said INEC had operated, activated and stored the Feb.23 election results in a centrally controlled server.

NAN reports that the tribunal would have to rule on all pending interlocutory applications filed by parties before delivering judgment on the main appeal. (NAN)

Christian Aid (CAID), a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), says it has provided humanitarian intervention to 251, 513 persons displaced by the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast.

Amanda Mukwashi, the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organisation, told newsmen on Wednesday in Maiduguri, that the organisation was providing humanitarian services in the region since 2015.

Mukwashi disclosed that the interventions were designed to address malnutrition, shelter, education, hygiene and food needs of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in 14 Local Government areas of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe.

She said that she was on an assessment visit to IDPs camps in Borno, to appraise the achievements of the interventions with a view to fashion out strategies for sustainable longer term plans in areas of shelter and education.

The CAID’s boss lamented that many children in the IDPs camps were out of school due to lack of adequate learning spaces and teachers.

“We need to educate the young children to save ourselves from problems in future, CAID is ready to work with the government and other partners to educate and ensure brighter future of the children.

“Our humanitarian response programme aims at improving the conditions of persons affected by conflict or disaster by providing life saving interventions, to ensure quality of lives in the long term, while building resilience, livelihoods and peaceful communities in Nigeria,” she said.

Mukwashi noted that such collaboration was imperative to enhance interventions in areas of infrastructure, education, recovery and livelihood support to persons affected by the insurgency.

Quoting from statistics, she said the organisation had so far reached 251, 513 displaced persons with interventions in the region in the past four years.

Some of the projects included distribution of 22, 048. 78 metric tons of food items; construction of 25 water hand pumps, 13 boreholes and 155 latrines.

Other interventions include the distribution of hygiene kits to 1, 889 women while 9, 664 persons were reached under hygiene sensitisation exercise.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the police and other security agencies to fish out those behind the killing of Prof. Gideon Okedayo, found dead in a bush on Sept. 9.

Okedayo was a senior lecturer at the Ondo State University of Science and Technology (OSUSTECH), Okitipupa in Ondo State.

The Chairman of the OSUSTECH Chapter of ASUU, Dr Dipo Akomolafe, made the demand in a statement on Tuesday in Okitipupa.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Okedayo was kidnapped on Sept. 5 at Akoko Junction on the Igala-Auchi road in Edo.

The incident is another sad tale on the precarious security situation on major highways in Nigeria, where many people have been abducted and murdered in recent years.

Akomolafe said the Edo State Police Command and other security agencies did not do enough to rescue the lecturer from his abductors.

The ASUU chairman added that security agencies also failed to contact Okedayo’s family members on developments on the abduction.

He described the death of the lecturer as shocking and mysterious as the abductors never contacted any family member or associate of the murdered lecturer for ransom until his decomposing body was later found.

The unionist said the death of Okedayo had exposed ”the inefficiency and ineptitude” of the security agencies as no information on Okedayos whereabouts was given until his death.

Akomolafe said that Okedayo’s demise was one death too many, recalling that another lecturer of the school, Prof. Adegboyega Obadofin, was roasted in an inferno sometime in 2018 without help from security agencies.

“Prof. Okedayo’s death has exposed the nakedness of our security system, the inefficiency and ineptitude of the nation’s security apparatus.

“It was clear that despite the efforts of the university administration and the union to see to his quick release, there was nothing to show that the security agencies we reported to did anything towards finding him.

“The police did not communicate with the university administration on their efforts towards identifying where he was kept until his decomposing body was later found.

“This is more than mere kidnap as we demand that the police and other security agencies should as a matter of urgency unravel the scenes behind this death,” Akomolafe said.

The Public Relations Officer of the Edo State Police Command, Mr Chidi Nwabuzor, who confirmed the recovery of Okedayo’s body, said the police did their best on the matter.

He said that the family of the lecturer did not report the kidnap to the police, disclosing that the command was contacting the person who reported the case to the police.

The spokesman said that investigation was going on to unravel the death of the teacher, adding that findings would be communicated to the media.

“Police are not magicians or spirits. We rely and act on information and intelligence gathering at our disposal to unravel criminal activities.

“There are several occasions when some suspects were arrested and they will confess to crimes committed 20 years earlier. So investigation is ongoing to unravel the death of the professor,” said Nwabuzor.

NAN reports that the police command had since recovered the late lecturer’s official car, a Toyota Corolla car with registration number 06X47 OD.

Okedayo was also the Acting Dean of the School of Post Graduate Studies at OSUSTECH.

NAN

By Isaac Aregbesola
The Consul General of Nigeria in Johannesburg, Godwin Adama, has said that the first batch of the Nigerian returnees from South Africa would depart South Africa for Lagos on Wednesday.

Adama told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview  that the first batch of returnees, are expected to depart South Africa by 9:00 a.m Wednesday.

The consul general also disclosed that Air peace had indicated interest to evacuate over 600 Nigerians that were willing to return to their country following the latest xenophobic attacks.

“The first flight leaves by 09: 00 hours  this Wednesday with about 320 passengers and the second batch will leave on Thursday all things being equal.

“We have over 600 who had indicated interest. All things being equal, without any hitches, the plane will take off by 09 : 00 hours this Wednesday.

“The manifest for the first flight is ready, and we are working on the next flight,” he said.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on Monday called for the immediate evacuation of  Nigerians willing to return home from South Africa following the latest attacks on Nigerians and other  nationals.

Buhari gave the directive when he received the Report of the Special Envoy to South Africa, the Director-General of the  National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Amb. Ahmed Abubakar.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Chairman of Air Peace Mr Allen Onyema, had last week volunteered to send aircraft to evacuate Nigerians who wished to return home without payment.

“Air Peace is willing to support the Nigerian Government’s efforts in this matter by deploying our B777 aircraft to evacuate Nigerians back home,” Onyema said.

The Chairman of the Air Peace also advised the returnees against making payment to anyone for their flights to Lagos.

Onyema urged the returning Nigerians to guard against unauthorised persons, reportedly collecting 1,000 dollars from them, adding that none of them should pay for the flights.

According to him, airline is particularly concerned about the safety of Nigerians in South Africans following the attacks.

“We have not designated or recruited any agent in South Africa to collect money on behalf of Air Peace.

“So, nobody should pay money to anyone or group of persons posing as Air Peace agent or staff.

“Any Nigerian who has paid money for repatriation to Nigeria with Air Peace should request for a refund and report to appropriate authorities,” he said.

The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa,  had also pledged  the Federal Government’s support to  any Nigerian that wanted to return home.

Dabiri-Erewa said this after a closed door meeting with the Senate Committee on Diaspora and Non-Governmental Organisations in Abuja.

She said that the returnees would be encouraged to enroll and participate in the various social intervention programmes of the government.

“We will encourage them to enroll in small scale entrepreneurial programmes with the Bank of Industry under the social investment programme . So, there are things that they can do’’, she said.

NAN