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ENDSARS protests would continue until authorities listen to the people says rights activist, Awosanya

Lukman ABOLADE
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ENDSARS protests would continue until authorities listen to the people says rights activist, Awosanya

SEGUN Awosanya, a human rights activist has said that the ongoing ENDSARS protests demanding for the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad  (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force would continue as long as the Nigerian Government fails to listen to the voices of the people.

Awosanya whose social media profile shows as the convener of ENDSARS stated this on Saturday morning when he appeared on Channels Television Programme, Sunrise Daily.

“It will go on because the authorities are not listening to the people, if they listen enough, these things that we are seeing today, we have actually mentioned it to them long before now that it is going to get to this point (protest) if they continue to be insensitive to the call of the people,” Awosanya said.

Speaking on the demands of the protestants, Awosanya said the objective behind the call for ENDSARS  was to stop the culture of impunity in the country.

UPDATED: Extrajudicial Killings caused by SARS (2016-2020)

“What are the people asking for, they are saying shut down impunity, end the culture of impunity where people get away with crimes. If an armed robber commits a crime with a gun we know what the penalties are but what about the police officers who are paid by taxpayer’s money who use the state’s weapons to rob innocent citizens and they get transferred and we keep seeing them,” Awosanya noted.

He also lamented that Nigerians have lost confidence in SARS due to the continuous victimization and misconduct perpetrated by its operatives.

“If super corrupt people or cultist are seen wearing police uniforms and brandishing guns, what kind of confidence or perception do we think the people would have about SARS or special operatives.

“If you call a unit within the police system whether SARS or Special Tactical Squads, Special Anti-Cultism or Anti-Kidnapping and they are no longer special, they are all over the place taking bribes, seizing people, indiscriminately killing people. How do you want people to feel towards that? Awosanya asked rhetorically.

The activist added that the government has come out to announce reforms within the police at different times but there has not been any change in the SARS or the police system.

“We have heard you talk about reform, in 2015, 2016 down to 2020 and nothing has changed on the ground, people are still being assaulted, killed and raped in the police station.

“In as much as we understand the objective of the call is to shut down impunity, that is, all tactical squad who are acting as a law unto themselves, the holistic and the end goal about reforming the entire police in Nigeria,” he further stated.

On the street and on social media, Nigerians are calling for the disbandment of SARS on basis of misconduct, murder and other human rights violation.

The protest has also attracted the attention of foreign media and celebrities who joined the protesters to demand action from the Nigerian government.

LIVE: Ondo State Governorship Election 2020

Editorial
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LIVE: Ondo State Governorship Election 2020

Ondo State, Nigeria was created on 3 February 1976 from the former Western State. Akure is the state capital.

ENDSARS: CDD condemns attack on youths, demands dissolution of SARS

Lukman ABOLADE
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ENDSARS: CDD condemns attack on youths, demands dissolution of SARS

THE Centre for Democracy Development (CDD), has condemned the attacks on Nigerian youths while demanding for the dissolution of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police Force.

The Centre said this in a statement on Friday, as many Nigerian youths across different states took to the street and social media to demand an end to brutality and misconduct of the FSARS.

“CDD West Africa unequivocally condemns the brutality, extortion, murder, and rape that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad has consistently inflicted on the Nigerian youth. We call for the immediate dissolution of SARS and for investigations and punitive action to be taken against offending officers,” the statement read.

According to CDD, it was disheartening that the very individuals entrusted to protect us have become ‘trigger happy, bloodthirsty extortionists’.

The Centre said Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari has been silent on the issue, urging him to perform his duty and respond to the youth who constitutes over 50 per cent of the voting populace who elected him.

It also urged  Mohammed Adamu, the Inspector General of Police, to take swift action to #ENDSARS.

“The youth have spoken, and you must listen to them Inspector General of Police, Governors, Legislators, and President Buhari.

#ENDSARS protests cannot be ignored. This is a democracy; there is ZERO room for police brutality,” the statement further read.

Ondo Election: Women, youths, party leaders sue for peace at Agboola’s home town

Olugbenga ADANIKIN
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Ondo Election: Women, youths, party leaders sue for peace at Agboola’s home town

Olugbenga ADANIKIN reporting from Ondo State

RESIDENTS of Kiribo, Ese-Odo Local Government Area of Ondo State have agreed to exercise their voting rights peacefully to ensure that the governorship election holding in the state on Saturday is free, credible, and fair.

Youths, women, and party leaders in the community who spoke during separate interviews with The ICIR, Friday assured that the election would be violent free.

Kiribo is the ancestral home of Agboola Ajayi, the current Deputy Governor of the state and a governorship candidate for Saturday’s election. He is contesting under the platform of Zenith Labour Party (ZLP).

Ojodu Samuel, one of the youth representatives said proactive steps were taken by the youth groups to foster a peaceful poll.

While disclosing that there has been a consensus reached among the chiefs and elders, he said representatives went around the town with megaphones warning the people against violence.

“There won’t be violence in tomorrow’s election. We have taken needed steps this morning to go round the community to ensure the election is peaceful,” Samuel said.

“We did not campaign for anyone this morning but we just told them to visit the polling unit, and vote for people of their choice.”

Oluwatobi Nupe, shared a similar view with the assurance that the poll would be credible.

“Vote for whoever you want and return home peacefully, that’s what we were told,” he noted.

Though, Agabo Bamidele, another youth leader in the area recognised voters at the various polling units have always been violent during elections, he said the peace meeting commenced early in the week.

Oba’s Wife takes peace talk to the market square

Queen Asere Ajayi, wife to the traditional ruler of Kiribo also acknowledged some of the peace moves. She told The ICIR how she has been advocating for a truce ahead of the poll in the market square and among youths.

“I was still at Kiribo market this morning encouraging women to support the peace efforts,” she said adding that they were told to advise their wards,” Ajayi said.

According to her, people can only benefit from the government if they are alive.

Etofo Pius, a retired Nigerian Telecommunications Staff was optimistic about a peaceful poll. He said the community has been looking forward to the poll.

The 72-year-old adduced to earlier assertions of how respective party leaders met to discuss and agreed for the election to be peaceful.

“The youth leaders and the Excos went round the town preaching peace about the election,” he added.

Iwapele Tolo, a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the community prayed the incumbent governor wins the election.

Though he expressed concern about the population of security personnel drafted to the state, it’s for the voters’ interest.

As of 4 pm when The ICIR visited the Local Government Area (LGA), Agboola Ajayi was yet to arrive at his home town. The entire community was peaceful.

We are not partnering with NURTW to rig Ondo election – INEC

Niyi OYEDEJI
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We are not partnering with NURTW to rig Ondo election – INEC

Niyi OYEDEJI reporting from Ondo State

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has discredited a claim that the Commission is partnering with the National Union of Road Workers (NURTW) to manipulate the governorship Ondo election holding in Ondo State on Saturday.

Festus Okoye, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Voting Reformation and Education, said this during an interview with journalists on Friday.

“INEC is partnering with NURTW to convey over 17,000 Adhoc staff who will be taking sensitive materials to about 3009 polling units across the 18 local governments of the state,” Okoye said.

“The hiring of vehicles from the union did not start today, it has been in existence in the past elections, even in 2015 and 2019.”

“The commission cannot afford to get the buses that will convey that number of ad-hoc staff to their respective polling units.

Okoye explaied that the INEC signed a Memorandum of Understanding(MoU) with the union and vehicle owners’ association, saying, ” there’s no personal interest whatsoever in the dealings, it’s a collective affair.”

According to him, it is the staff of the Commission who would be taking the materials, the NURTW is only to provide logistics.

“It seems impossible to convince all his men to tamper with the materials they are conveying bearing in mind that most of the vehicle owners are political partisan and will not condone manipulation because of interests,” Okoye noted.

“Besides, our staff are the ones taking the materials to units in the local governments.”

He added that the Commission has also hired boats for its staff who would take materials to riverine areas and motorcycles for observers who will be touring the polling units across the local governments of the state.

Okoye noted that necessary stakeholders including security agencies are on standby for the smooth running of the Ondo election.

However, he urged residents who would vote in the election to conduct themselves, wear their face masks and come out en masse to vote.

Atiku asks Buhari to withdraw 2021 budget proposal over violation of Fiscal Responsibility Act

IHUOMA Chiedozie
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Atiku asks Buhari to withdraw 2021 budget proposal over violation of Fiscal Responsibility Act

ATIKU Abubakar, a former Nigerian Vice President has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to withdraw the 2021 budget proposal which he presented to the National Assembly on Thursday for consideration and passage into law.

Ahmad Lawan, Senate President had already assured Buhari of a quick passage of the budget but Abubakar, in a statement he personally signed on Friday, said the proposed 2021 appropriation bill should be recalled and revised for contravening provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

Buhari proposed N13.08 trillion total expenditure for 2021. Total federally distributable revenue for 2021 is estimated at N8.433 trillion, while the total revenue available to fund the budget, including grants and aid of N354.85 billion as well as the revenues of 60 Government-Owned Enterprises, is estimated at N7.886 trillion.

The N5.21 trillion deficit in the 2021 budget, representing 3.64 per cent, is to be financed with new borrowings amounting to N4.28 trillion.

Described as a budget for ‘Economic Recovery and Resilience’, the proposed 2021 appropriation bill is based on an estimated oil price benchmark of 40 dollars per barrel, daily oil production estimate of 1.86 million barrels (inclusive of condensates of 300,000 to 400,000 barrels per day) and an exchange rate of N379 per dollar. Oil revenue is projected at N2.01 trillion and non-oil revenue is estimated at N1.49 trillion.

A total of N3.12 trillion was earmarked for debt servicing in 2021, rising with about 50 per cent from the sum of N2.1 trillion allocated for the same purpose in 2020.

However, although some experts had already raised concerns over Nigeria’s public debt stock, with the country certain to sink deeper into debt with the planned N4.28 trillion new borrowings that will fund the 2021 budget deficit, Abubakar weighed in on the matter with an unusual call for the withdrawal of the budget.

“I call on the President, to recall this budget, and recalibrate it to reflect the provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007, and the current economic realities of the nation.”

“To do otherwise will not only be unpatriotic, it will also be catastrophic for our nation’s economy,” the former Vice President said in the statement entitled ‘2021 budget proposal contravenes Fiscal Responsibility Act, by Atiku Abubakar’.

Arguing his case for the withdrawal of the budget, Abubakar said the proposed 2021 appropriation bill  gave rise to a number of ‘very grave and perhaps disturbing issues’.

Specifically, he noted that the N5.21 trillion budget deficit amounted to just over 3.5 per cent of Nigeria’s 2019 GDP, and thereby contravening provisions of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007.

The Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007, provides in Part II, Section 12, sub-section 1 that “Aggregate Expenditure and the Aggregate amount appropriated by the National Assembly for each financial year shall not be more than the estimated aggregate revenue plus a deficit, not exceeding three per cent of the estimated Gross Domestic Product or any sustainable percentage as may be determined by the National Assembly for each financial year”.

Abubakar added, “Nigeria had a GDP of approximately $447 billion in 2019. Three percent (3%) of this amount is $13. 3 billion, which at the current official exchange rate of N379 to $1, gives you a figure of N5.07 trillion. So clearly, the budget deficit of N5.21 trillion, as announced by President Muhammadu, is above three per cent of our GDP and is therefore in contravention of the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007.”

“Even more disturbing is the fact that our GDP has fallen sharply from its 2019 figures, and has been projected by the World Bank and other multilateral institutions at somewhere between $400 billion and $350 billion. Meaning that in actual sense, the N5.21 trillion budget deficit is actually far above the three per cent threshold stipulated by the Fiscal Responsibility Act,” he observed.

The former Vice President, who lost the 2019 presidential election against the incumbent, Buhari, of the All Progressives Congress (APC), while contesting as the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), expressed concern that the Buhari-led Federal Government could not spot the violation of provisions of the FRA, 2007, in the proposed 2021 budget.

He also used the opportunity to knock Buhari for engaging a series of borrowings that had dragged the country into massive debt. Nigeria’s debt stock has risen from N12.12 trillion in June 2015 to N31 trillion ($85 billion) as of June 30, 2020, according to data from the Debt Management Office.

The amount includes N11 trillion external debt stock, and N19 trillion domestic debt portfolio.

The country’s debt stock is certain to continue rising with the new borrowings planned to fund the 2021 budget deficit.

Hitting Buhari for not taking provisions of the FRA, 2007, into consideration in the preparation of the budget, Abubakar said, “That this escaped the notice of the Buhari administration shows a glaring lack of rigour in the formulation of the budget. A very disturbing development.

“Furthermore, this deficit shows the precarious state of our national finances, which have since been overburdened by excessive borrowing on the part of the Buhari administration.”

The former Vice President went ahead to caution the National Assembly against raising the threshold of the budget deficit to a higher figure, an action which they are entitled to take by virtue of provisions of the FRA, 2007.

Should the National Assembly exercise the power, Abubakar argued that they would only be serving the interests of the Buhari government, and not that of the nation.

He said, “It has not escaped my attention that the Fiscal Responsibility Act of 2007 makes provision for the National Assembly to raise the threshold of the budget deficit from 3 per cent to a higher figure. However, if this is done, they will be serving this administration’s interests, not Nigeria’s, because the Act says that such a threshold must be sustainable. Is it sustainable when our budget makes almost as much provision for debt servicing, as it does for capital expenditure?”

Abubakar was Vice President of Nigeria from 1999 to 2007, during the presidency of former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Although he has not formally declared his intention to contest in 2023, all indications suggest that Abubakar, who has contested in all elections since Nigeria returned to democratic rule, would run for president again in the next general election.

One of his sons, Adamu Atiku-Abubakar, said Abubakar will contest for the number one office in 2023, and PDP National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondus, had said the floor is open for the former vice president to seek the party’s presidential ticket, once again, for the next election.

In what appears to be a calculated move to water the grounds for another bid for the presidency in 2023, Abubakar has, of late, been speaking out on most national issues.

Rivers court sentences ‘Port Harcourt serial killer’ to death by hanging

Amos ABBA
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Rivers court sentences ‘Port Harcourt serial killer’ to death by hanging

GRACIOUS David-West on Friday was convicted for killing nine women after he was sentenced to death in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

The presiding judge, Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the Rivers State High Court sitting in Port Harcourt who gave his verdict stated he was to die by hanging.

David-West was found guilty for the multiple murders of his female victims in a ten-count charge of murder and attempted murder.

David-West who hails from Buguma in Rivers State was a member of the Greenlanders popularly known as Dey Gbam, a street gang which is an offshoot of a disbanded armed militant group.

While delivering the judgement, Justice Enebeli said the sentence was based on the voluntary statement and confession of the David-West as well as the CCTV footage of the convicted which was tendered and admitted by the court during the trial.

The death penalty is not often carried out in the country as the last three executions occurred in 2016, according to a 2017 Amnesty International report.

The pattern of his killing, according to the police, was an indication of serial killing which involved having sex with his victims before binding their arms and feet with strips of white sheets.

Before using the strip of white cloth to strangle them, he also confessed to the murder of six other women but he was not charged for those murders for lack of evidence.

According to the prosecution team, he used low-cost hotels, with poor security and without CCTV cameras, in the city of Port Harcourt and its outskirts.

The women who were murdered include Maureen Ewuru, Jennifer Nwokocha, Blessing Effiong Linda Warifa Samuel, Dorcas Francis, Kelechi Bridget Onuoha Rose Samuel Anthonia Ibe, while Benita Etim who was the only known survivor.

 

Benita was not a witness during the entire trial as the police said her whereabouts are unknown despite being told not to leave the state.

Also, friends and family members of the deceased women never appeared in court, except for the father of one of the victims who only came on the opening day of the trial.

The court however discharged and acquitted the second defendant, Nimi Thankgod who was accused of dumping the remains of one of the victims of the serial killer in a dustbin.

Justice Enebeli held that the prosecution was not able to prove their case beyond doubts.

IPPIS: Polytechnic lecturers threaten to embark on strike

Vincent Ufuoma
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IPPIS: Polytechnic lecturers threaten to embark on strike

The Academic  Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has threatened to embark on a strike following challenges experienced by its members with the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

Anderson Ezeobe, President of ASUP, while addressing journalists in Abuja on Friday, said the National Executive Council (NEC) of the union has directed various chapters to hold Congresses with a view to taking drastic decisions on the way forward on the issue.

Ezeobe accused the government of insincerity, noting that it has failed to address the union’s grievances.

“We can’t be giving an ultimatum and be repeating an ultimatum; we decided to go back to our congress to take a referendum because we have to educate our congress,” he said.

“We understand that the pandemic has altered a lot of dynamics and so with the feedback we get from our members, we can come back and say, we are shutting down or giving a particular date. So we are waiting for directives that will come from our congress.”

On the proposed resumption of schools, the ASUP leader said the union would hold the government responsible “if anything happens to our members and the polytechnic community.”

This is coming shortly after the Joint Action Committee of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) commenced a 14-day warning strike Monday over the inconsistencies of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in the payment of salaries and the non-payment of earned allowances to their members.

As part of its reasons for embarking on strike since March, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has outrightly rejected the IPPIS citing the same reason by SSANU and NASU.

ASUU is however asking the government to adopt in paying its members, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), the one it developed as a replacement of IPPIS.

 

Sanwo-Olu grants Funke Akindele, husband, 56 others state pardon

Lukman ABOLADE
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Sanwo-Olu grants Funke Akindele, husband, 56 others state pardon

BABAJIDE Sanwo-Olu, the Governor of Lagos State has granted Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello and 56 other inmates a state pardon.

This was disclosed in a statement posted on the State’s official Twitter handle on Friday and signed by Moyosore Onigbanjo, the Lagos State Attorney-General.

Funke Akindele and her husband, Abdulrasheed Bello are both non-custodial convicts for offences related to the disobedience of COVID-19 lockdown regulations.

Onigbanjo said the state pardon followed recommendations by the Lagos State Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy.

According to the Attorney General, the State  Advisory Council acted under the powers conferred on the Governor by Section 212 (1) & (2) of the Constitution.

Onigbanjo stated that the recommendations were made after due examination of their case files and consideration of the length of time served, the gravity of the offence, old age, and ill-health among other parameters.

She enjoined the beneficiaries to be good citizens and stay away from crime.

The eight-member Advisory Council on Prerogative of Mercy is headed by Abayomi Finnih which was earlier inaugurated by Sanwo-Olu in December 2019.

The ICIR had reported that Funke Akindele and Abdulrasheed Bello were arrested and charged to court after a video surfaced on the social media showing the couple hosting a house party in clear violation of the social distancing guideline against Coronavirus.

Threats won’t make me back down from my professional duty says Salkida

Lukman ABOLADE
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Threats won’t make me back down from my professional duty says Salkida

AHMAD Salkida, a conflict and terrorism reporter and the Publisher of HumAngle Media says threats from some persons and institutions would not deter him from continuing his professional duty.

Salkida made this known in a statement made available to The ICIR on Friday.

“I have personally been under repeated threats. I once fled this country with my family on account of the threats to my life.”

“While out in exile, the Nigerian Army declared me a wanted man. I took a flight and presented myself. They had nothing on me.

“I will restate that I’m a journalist, and I am committed to making my contribution to making Nigeria a better place for all, I do this professionally through the instrumentality of news reporting,” Salkida said.

According to him, the reason behind the renewed threats was due to an investigation published by the HumAngle in September that revealed the detainment and arrest of husbands of some Borno State women.

“I worked with other team members in our newsroom to do an expose published on HumAngle on September 30.

“The investigative report amplifies the voices of women in Borno State whose husbands were ostensibly framed up, detained, tortured and in some cases disappeared by state actors while converting the women into sex slaves: Knifar: Women Facing Forced Family Separation By Soldiers Cry Out,” the statement read.

Salkida added that some groups, individuals and online platforms have also aided attempts to discredit his credibility and that of reports from his medium.

“On October 3, 2020, a platform, GCFR NG, seemingly a parody effort out to benefit from the time-honoured national honour rank, ran a misfit of a story, “Beware of Boko Haram agent, Ahmad Salkida-CAFA warns Nigerians.” The said report was derived from a random statement by a group that goes by the name, Citizens Against Fake Activists, (CAFA).

“One Comrade Richard Adie reportedly signed the statement. The group’s name is, however, not registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria. It does not have any physical address or functional website and has no tangible physical or digital footprints whatsoever. The names associated with it are shadowy, bearing imaginary ghost emblems,” the statement read.

Salkida stated that some newspapers including the Vanguard, Independent and Blueprint fell for the attempts to taint his work and declared him a terrorist.

“On October 7, another faceless group, International Human Rights Protection Forum, (IHRPF), cast in similar anonymity as the first and calling itself public interest lawyers, released a statement reportedly addressed to the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami, SAN to media houses.”

“As in the first, this group would want the government to classify Salkida as a terrorist and prosecute him. A few newspapers, including Vanguard, Independent and Blueprint, against the flow of the professional doctrines of satisfying factual and verifiable evidence in news reports, ran the statement,” Salkida stated.

He noted that the newspapers who published the said statement made no attempt to verify the claims of the author before the statement was published.

“No attempts were committed to verifying the claims and criminal allusions nor did any of the papers run a check on the identity of the platforms and individuals making the utterly vexatious claims,” he noted.

“The time tested ethos of the diligent process in news reporting seems to frequently suffer grave blows whenever the agents of fascism in Nigeria want to hang any spurious accusations on Salkida. This is deplorable.”

Salkida’s statement further read that ‘for the media platforms, in this particular case Vanguard, Independent and Blueprint, enmeshed in this unprofessional act of routinely doing the hatchet job for rogue officials, erasing all representations and manifestations of press freedom in a democratic country, I can assure you that posterity will mark you out for opprobrium’.

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