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ENDSARS: After public outcry, police withdraw suit to stop state judicial panels

Lukman ABOLADE
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ENDSARS: After public outcry, police withdraw suit to stop state judicial panels

THE Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has applied for the withdrawal of a suit it earlier filed to the Federal High Court, Abuja seeking to stop various state panels probing allegations of misconducts and extra-judicial killings by operatives of the force.

The application for withdrawal of the suit on Friday followed public outcries on social media by Nigerian youths who said the government has reneged on its promise on fulfilling the demands of the ENDSARS protesters.

Muhammad Adamu, the Inspector General of Police had on Thursday denied knowledge of the suit adding that investigation would be opened in the suit.

Adamu in a statement “expressed the disapproval of the Force Management Team on the matter and ordered investigations into the alleged role of the Force Legal Section including its Head”.

In the original suit filed by Nigeria police through its counsel, O. M. Atoyebi, the force challenged the constitutionality and legality of state governments to set up judicial panels to investigate the activities of a federal establishment.

Atoyebi prayed the court in the suit to restrain the Attorneys-General of the 36 states in the country and their various panels of enquiry from continuing with the probe into alleged police misconduct.

The NPF charged the court to also declare the actions of the governors of the states over the panel as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

Furthermore, Atoyebi sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the state Attorneys-General of the 36 states from making or conducting any investigations, sittings, and inquiries in connection with the Nigeria Police force or its officials.

The decision to constitute the state judicial panels was made after the Federal government during the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting held on Thursday, October 16 made the resolution.

Nigerians across many states are protesting extra-judicial killings and various illegality perpetrated by operatives of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and the police force in general.

So far, over 1200 petitions have been submitted to state panels stating different horrific encounters with men of the Nigerian Police force.

Imo bye-election: Courts issue contradictory judgements on APC senatorial candidate in Imo North

Amos ABBA
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Imo bye-election: Courts issue contradictory judgements on APC senatorial candidate in Imo North

THE Court of Appeal sitting in Owerri, Imo State, on Friday, dismissed Senator Ifeanyi Araraume as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for the Imo North senatorial bye-election to be held on Saturday.

The decision of the court which was delivered by the presiding judge, Justice Uchechukwu Onyemenam is coming on the heels of the bye-election barely 24 hours away across 64 wards in the six local government areas of the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission INEC is set to conduct the senatorial bye-election in the state on Saturday, to fill up the seat that became vacant after the death of Benjamin Uwajiomogu, who initially won the primary election.

Frank Ibezim was declared the authentic candidate of the APC ahead of the elections after a legal tussle with Ifeanyi Ararume, another aspirant who disputed his emergence.

On November 6, the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja in a judgement had sacked Ibezim and announced Araraume, who represented the senatorial district between 1999 and 2007 as the rightful winner of APC primary election.

Justice Onyemenam had ordered INEC to immediately enlist Ibezim’s name as the candidate of the party for the bye-election.

Also on Friday, in another simultaneous judgement delivered by the Federal High Court in Abuja, Ibezim as the candidate of the APC in the bye-election for making a false declaration in the documents he submitted to INEC.

In his ruling, Justice Inyang Ekwo, the presiding judge, said the affidavit and documents submitted by Ibezim were falsified and uncertified photocopies of the West African Examination Council, WAEC, certificate.

The judge held that the documents of the candidate bear two different and irreconcilable names – Ibezim Chukwuma Frank and Ibezim Francis Chukwuma.

Ekwo directed INEC to remove Ibezim’s name from the list of candidates for the bye-election.

However, bye-elections is expected to be conducted simultaneously by INEC in 10 other states across the country.

Court remands Maina in Kuje prison till end of trial

Lukman ABOLADE
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Court remands Maina in Kuje prison till end of trial

FOLLOWING the extradition of Abdul Rasheed Maina, a former chairman of the Pension Reform Task Team (PRTT) from Republic of Niger, a Federal High Court in Abuja has on Friday ordered his remand in Kuje Correctional Centre until the end of the trial.

Okon Abang, the sitting judge on the case made the order following an application by Mohammed Abubakar, counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Earlier in July, the Court had granted bail to Maina but he has failed to appear for the ongoing trial on alleged pension fraud.

Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force and INTERPOL expatriated Maina back to the country on Thursday to continue the trial.

Ruling on the EFCC’s application, Abang said a bench warrant had already been issued against him for jumping bail.

“The defendant is already on bench warrant having jumped bail. So he shall be remanded in correctional centre pending the conclusion of the trial.” Abang said.

The ICIR had reported that Joe Gazama, counsel to Maina in the pension fraud and Adeola Adedipe, counsel representing Maina’s company, Common Input Investment Limited have withdrawn from the case.

While Gazama withdrew on the basis of not being able to locate Maina, Adedipe withdrew on the basis that he is yet to be paid for his services and he is also unable to locate him.

Adaji Abel, a lawyer, who has now taken over as Maina’s counsel in the case prayed the court to adjourn the case.

Abel said the adjournment is to enable him to prepare properly for the trail

Consequently, Abang ruled in favour of the defence counsel’s prayers and adjourned the trial to December 8, 2020.

Maina is facing prosecution by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) over N2 billion money laundering charges and use of fictitious bank accounts while serving as Chairman of the PRTT.

How Nigeria overtook UK’s population by 176 million in 60 years

Marcus FATUNMOLE
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How Nigeria overtook UK’s population by 176 million in 60 years

NIGERIA’s population quadrupled from 45.2 million in 1960 to 221.39 million in 2020, the Chairman, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), Dr. Ejike Oji, has said.

Addressing journalists at a media round table preceding the 6th Nigeria Family Planning Conference 2020 in Abuja recently, Oji said while the UK maintained 15 million leap in its population within the period, moving from 52.2 to 67.3, Nigeria’s grew by 176 million.

It thus implies that the UK has had an average of 250,000 annual population growth, while Nigeria’s jumped by nearly three million yearly.

Currently, the world’s 7th most populous country, Nigeria is projected by the United Nations to have over 400 million people by 2050; overtaking the US.

The current sharp rise in Africa’s most populous country has been attributed to many factors, including a high fertility rate and poor family planning.

Parading some of the worst health indices, highest maternal, child morbidity rate in the world, the country’s population appears to have been a burden, rather than a blessing in the past years, Oji said.

In his presentation titled: “Population Growth and the Challenges of Human Capital Development: Challenges and Opportunities, Oji decried poor governance, rising crimes, unemployment, corruption, poor health, education and other social amenities that have denied the nation of enjoying demographic dividends.

He cited the End-SARS protest that left in its trail deaths and destruction, including a high rate of crime, unemployment, overstretched infrastructures and other vices in the country as some of the ills arising from the nation’s largely unproductive population.

Quoting the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics (NBS), World Bank, Trading Economics and the UK Office for National Statistic (ONS), World Bank, Trading Economics, he said UK’s per capita income in 1960, was 1396.5948, and Nigeria had $1746.99.

Nigeria currently has a per capita income of $1,746.99 and the UK had 42,300.2671 USD in 2019. The unemployment rate in Nigeria in 1960, according to him, was 2%. It skyrocketed to 27% in 2020.

The FP2020 Focal Person for Civil Society Organization said in 1960, the UK had an unemployment rate of 1.7 percent, rising significantly to 4.1% in 2020, but at a much lower level than Nigeria’s.

The medical expert also revealed, against the much-touted 17 percent modern contraceptive rate (CPR) in Nigeria, that the nation’s official figure is 12%.
Nigeria had vowed at the 2012 London summit to achieve 27 percent modern contraceptive rate by the end of 2020.

He urged government and development partners to invest more in family planning to enable the nation to enjoy demographic dividends.
He also appealed to all people of reproductive age to embrace family planning.

In her presentation titled “The Future of Family Planning in Nigeria: Leading With Advocacy and Demand,” Portfolio Director, John Hopkins Centre for Communications Programme (JHUCCP) Nigeria, Dr. Mojisola Odeku called for Interventions that engage key decision-makers and influential leaders as change agents for shaping norms and creating a supportive environment for increasing contraceptive uptake in Nigeria.

She also advised that a huge investment be made in evidence-based advocacy and demand generation to improve the modern contraceptive prevalence rate and overall quality of life in the country.

The 6th Nigeria Family Planning Conference 2020, which holds next week, will draw experts from Nigeria and the diaspora.



Again, Senator Elisha Abbo assaults another citizen

Vincent Ufuoma
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Again, Senator Elisha Abbo assaults another citizen

ELISHA Abbo, senator representing the Adamawa North Senatorial District, in the National Assembly, has again been caught in a viral video assaulting a young man.

The video which was seen by The ICIR on Twitter was posted by Debo Adebayo, a Nigerian comedian popularly known as Mr Marcaroni.

In the video, the senator, who just defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressive Congress (APC) was seen slapping a young man repeatedly and shouting at the top of his voice ‘you are very stupid.’

This is coming after 19-months the senator was also caught in a viral video assaulting a nursing mother in the presence of a policeman in an adult shop in Abuja in May 2019.

Following a public outcry, Abbo was later arraigned before a Magistrate Court in Zuba, Abuja on a one-count charge of assault.

Abdullahi Ilelah, the Magistrate, upheld the no-case submission filed by the lawmaker and dismissed the case, despite video evidence.

However, Osimibibra Warmate, the lady she assaulted, instituted a separate civil suit at the FCT High Court and on September 28, Samira Bature, the presiding Judge, convicted Abbo and ordered him to pay N50 million as compensation to her.

 

Arik Air sacks 300 workers

Vincent Ufuoma
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Arik Air sacks 300 workers

THE management of Arik Air says it has disengaged 300 of its workers.

Adebanji Ola, Arik corporate affair manager, revealed this in a statement sent to The ICIR on Friday morning.

Adebanji said the decision was owing to the economic impact of COVID-19 which has affected the airline from carrying out its routine maintenance on its aircrafts and limited revenues against operational costs.

“Arising from the devastating impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to the constrained ability of the airline to complete heavy maintenance activities and return its planes to operations, stunted revenues against increasing operational costs, the management of Arik Air (In Receivership) has declared 300 staff members redundant to its current level of operations,” he said.

“The leadership of the impacted unions have been contacted to negotiate a redundancy package for the affected staff.”

The airline noted that over 50 percentage of its workforce of over 1,600 staff have been on furlough in the past six months on a base allowance, adding that the decision to “let go off staff is naturally a difficult decision. Arik Air wishes the impacted staff well in their future endeavours.”

Consequently, the airline apologised to passengers whose travel plans were disrupted by the protest carried out by the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), yesterday.

The protesters reportedly disrupted operations in Lagos and prevented the airline from processing passengers at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Domestic Terminal 1 and 2.

National Open University gets new Vice Chancellor

Editorial
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National Open University gets new Vice Chancellor

 

By, Temi OHAKWE, Abuja

 

 

A Professor of Chemistry, Olufemi Peters has emerged as the newly appointed Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria , NOUN.

 

This was made known in a statement signed and made available to Journalists in Abuja by the university’s Director, Media and Publicity, Ibrahim Sheme.

 

The 64-year-old former Deputy Vice Chancellor of the University beat six other candidates to clinch the coveted seat in a keenly contested race at the nation’s only single-mode Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institution.

 

He is to take over the reins from the outgoing Vice-Chancellor, Professor Abdalla Uba Adamu, whose five-year single tenure elapses on 10th February, 2021.

 

Professor Peters’ experience spanned over three decades, including many competencies in the area of ODL.

 

The newly elected VC, who is of Ogun state origin, holds a Bachelor’s degree (Second Class Upper) in Chemistry from University of Ibadan (1979), a Masters’ degree in Polymer Science and Technology from Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, (1982) and a PhD (Degradation and Stabilisation in Polymers) from Victoria University of Manchester, Institute of Science and Technology (1988), United Kingdom.

 

He has over 60 published works, 44 of which are Journal articles, and the remaining are peer reviewed published proceedings and technical reports in the fields of chemistry, polymer science and technology, agriculture and in ODL in peer reviewed international and local journals.

 

Owner of a Google scholar index of 8, the newly elected VC has supervised a total of 16 postgraduate students, seven of whom were doctoral candidates (four of whom are now professors).

 

He has contributed to scientific innovations by co-designing and constructing a locally made (made-in-Nigeria) 600 Gloss-metre for determining gloss levels of surfaces, including that of the human skin, and, by leading the team that patented a diatomaceous earth (DE), non-toxic grain-protectant, trademarked NSPRIDUST® which can protect stored agricultural grains for 16 months.

 

Professor Peters is a member of the Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN) and a Fellow of the Society as well. Aside from having been a member of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (2007), he is also a member of other professional bodies: The Polymer Institute of Nigeria (PIN); the African Council for Distance Education (ACDE); the Materials Science & Technology Society of Nigeria (MSN), and the Institute of Public Analysts of Nigeria (IPAN).

 

He has over 40 years of post-graduate experience in teaching, research, administration and management of higher education in general and in Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL) in particular. His work experience spans 20 years at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria (1982 – 2002); 16 years at the NOUN (2003 – to date); a visiting Professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Lagos, Lagos (2012 – 2013), and a five-year tenured appointment  as Executive Director and Chief Executive at the Nigerian Stored Products Research Institute (NSPRI), Ilorin (2014 – 2018), an agency of the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development.

 

#ENDSARS: IGP denies suit stopping ongoing judicial inquiry into police brutality by states, orders investigation

Vincent Ufuoma
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#ENDSARS: IGP denies suit stopping ongoing judicial inquiry into police brutality by states, orders investigation

MOHAMED Adamu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), says he is not aware of any suit challenging to stop various constituted Judicial Panel of Inquiries by states across the country investigating alleged misconducts by men of the defunct Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigerian police.

The ICIR had reported how the Nigeria police through its counsel, O. M. Atoyebi, had filed a suit at an Abuja Federal High Court challenging the constitutionality and legality of state governments to set up judicial panels to investigate the activities of a federal establishment.

Atoyebi prayed the court to restrain the Attorneys-General of the 36 states in the country and their various panels of enquiry from continuing with the probe into alleged police misconduct.

The police prayed the court to declare the actions of the governors of the states over the panel as unconstitutional, illegal, null and void and of no effect whatsoever.

Furthermore, Atoyebi sought an order of perpetual injunction restraining the state Attorneys-General of the 36 states from making or conducting any investigations, sittings, and inquiries in connection with the Nigeria Police force or its officials.

The report has since generated a lot of backlashes and criticisms for the police and the Nigerian government by Nigerians on social media.

But in a statement on its official Twitter account on Thursday evening, the police said the IGP has directed an immediate investigation into the suit.

The statement stated that the IGP has “expressed the disapproval of the Force Management Team on the matter and ordered investigations into the alleged role of the Force Legal Section including its Head.”

While stating that the force is committed to fulfilling all its obligations with regards to the disbandment of the defunct SARS, the ongoing Judicial Panels and all other police reforms, the statement added the Force Legal Officer has been queried and may face further sanctions if found guilty of dereliction of duty.

Protest, demands, government’s response

In October, there were a series of protests across major cities of Nigeria, when the youths demanded an end to police brutality and police reforms.

The protesters issued a five-point demand which included the release of all persons arrested and justice for victims of police brutality.

Other demands are “setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10 days), psychological evaluation of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed, and increase in police salary so that they can be adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens.”

In response, President Muhammadu Buhari directed Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to disband the dreaded unit of the police.

Also, Some state governors except Borno, Kebbi, Kano, Sokoto, Yobe, Jigawa and Zamfara have set up Judicial panels of inquiry to investigate the acts of police misconduct perpetrated by the operatives of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) and to give reprieve to the victims of police brutality and their families.

 

Court grants EFCC extra time, to present Diezani in court before March 3

Amos ABBA
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Court grants EFCC extra time, to present Diezani in court before March 3

ON Thursday, Justice Ijeoma Ojukwu of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja agreed to grant the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, more time to bring Diezani Alison-Madueke, former petroleum minister to face charges of money laundering.

Diezani, who is believed to have left the country for the United Kingdom shortly after leaving office in May 2015, had refused to heed the summons of the court to face trial.

Justice Ojukwu had issued criminal summons against the former petroleum minister to appear in court on July 24 but declined to grant the EFCC a warrant for her arrest, citing the commission’s failure to enforce the criminal summons she had earlier issued against the defendant.

She said the criminal summons ought to be sufficient for the commission to process her extradition to Nigeria to face her trial.

On Thursday, EFCC’s prosecuting counsel, Farouk Abdullah, pleaded for more time to enable the anti-graft agency to enforce the summons issued against the former minister.

“The prosecutions have taken steps to ensure that the orders are complied with. That has not come to fruition yet, but steps have been taken.

“In view of this, may I humbly apply that this matter be adjourned to enable the prosecution to comply fully with the order of the court,” he said.

Justice Ojukwu adjourned the case till March 3 for a report of the prosecution’s effort to produce the defendant in court and for possible arraignment.

The EFCC alleged that Diezani escaped the country shortly after her tenure as the former Minister of Petroleum Resources got wind of the plan to charge her with various offences.

Dieziani is charged by the EFCC on 13 counts of money laundering to justify the bid to have her extradited to Nigeria.

She is alleged to have unlawfully taken into her possession, the sums of $39.7 million and N3.32 billion when she reasonably ought to have known that the money formed part of the proceeds of unlawful activities.

Soyombo wins Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism

Editorial
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Soyombo wins Kurt Schork Award in International Journalism

FISAYO Soyombo, an investigative journalist and former Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Reporring (ICIR), has been named winner of the Local Reporter category of the 2020 Kurt Schork Awards in International Journalism.

Soyombo won the award for his undercover investigation on Nigeria’s criminal justice system funded by TheCable and the International Centre for Investigative Reporting (ICIR). Now a freelance journalist, Soyombo spent two weeks in detention — five days in a Police cell and eight as an inmate in Ikoyi Prison — to track corruption in Nigeria’s criminal justice system, beginning from the moment of arrest by the Police to the point of release from prison.

To experience the workings of the system in its raw state, he adopted the pseudonym Ojo Olajumoke and feigned an offence for which he was arrested and detained in police custody, arraigned in court and eventually remanded in Prison.

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The judges — comprising Tina Rosenberg, a Pulitzer Prize-winning author and journalist; Christiane Amanpou, CNN’s Chief International Anchor; Jeremy Bown, BBC’s Middle East Editor; Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor of Channel 4 News; Peter Maass, Senior Editor at The Intercept; and The New Yorker’s Jon Lee Anderson — commended Soyombo’s “vivid and compelling three-part series” which exposed “the everyday corruption and abuses of Nigeria’s criminal justice system”.

This was the third time in six years, the others being 2014 and 2016, that Soyombo had been short-listed for the Kurt Schork awards, which recognise excellence in courageous reporting of conflict, corruption, human rights transgressions and other related issues.

Pakistani journalist Shah Meer Baloch and Syrian journalist Kamiran Sadoun were also named winners of two other categories — Freelance and the recently-introduced News Fixer award — respectively. The three winners will each receive a cash prize of US $5000.

Nigeria’s Philip Obaji was among the eight finalists for the Freelance category won by Baloch, while TheNation Newspaper’s Olatunji Ololade, one of Nigeria’s most decorated journalists, was a finalist in the Local Reporter category won by Soyombo.

The latest international recognition for Soyombo is a continuation of a stellar year for the investigative journalist, who, this year alone, has either won or been short-listed for the Fetisov Journalism Awards (Outstanding Investigation category), the West Africa Media Excellence Award (Investigative Reporting category), the WJP Anthony Lewis Prize for Exceptional Rule of Law Journalism, the One World Media Awards (International Journalist of the Year category) and the People Journalism Prize for Africa (PJPA).

Soyombo, a three-time winner of the Wole Soyinka Award for Investigative Reporting, has won numerous other awards at home and abroad.

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