THE Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA) has alerted Nigerians of more flooding, appealing the 36 states to prepare for the upcoming flooding as the Rivers Benue and Niger keeps rising.
Director-General Clement Nze who disclosed the situation at a briefing in Abuja on Wednesday said more flooding was expected to occur in the country due to continuous heavy rainfall, according to the Nation.
He projected a high probability of more states in the country experiencing a lot of both rivers and urban flooding in the coming months.
Nze added that the river flooding would start in the next month. This he said would be as a result of an increase in water from Rivers Niger and Benue, the two longest rivers in Nigeria.
Rainy season flooding has become a recurrent issue in Nigeria. In 2018, NIHSA was forced to declare flooding a natural disaster when it led to more than 100 people’s death.
According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), 34 out of the 36 states in Nigeria witnessed severe flooding in 2018. It stated that the incident happened due to the overflowing of the two rivers into the surrounding communities.
Altogether, the agency approximated that floods affected 1.9 million residents, destroyed 82,000 houses, displaced 210,000 people, as well as destroying many crops and livestock.
With the continuous rainfall in 2019, going to its peak in August, Nigeria has since counting losses.
According to the daily situation update of the flooding by the European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), relying on media reports, as of August 6, Eight Nigerians have died.
It stated that seven people died with 20 houses damaged in Yola, Adamawa State. One person died in Abuja leaving several injured. ECHO even projected that the rain would continue till August 7, affecting central and eastern regions.
It should be noted that behind the numbers were people. Friday, August 2, was the fateful day FCT High Court Finance Director Tony Okecheme, died after being swept off by flood on the road in Galadimawa Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Four students of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) drowned and died on Tuesday when a pedestrian bridge collapsed in the school premises. It was reported that heavy downpour had caused flooding, resulting in the collapse.
The National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in its National Contingency Plan, listed flooding among some of the trigger events that can lead to washed away roads and collapsed bridges.
Environmentalists had long called on the government to attend to the drainage system issue in Nigeria. Many areas where drainages are available are poorly maintained while lots of suburb communities lack drainages.
A story by The ICIR in May confirmed that most drainages in Abuja were clogged with a mass of wastes, causing water to find unplanned paths to pass.
“Once you block the natural path where water can pass, what it would result to is flooding,” said John Harry, National Secretary of the Nigerian Environmental Society.
THE Kaduna State Government has expressed dissatisfaction over the ruling of the State High Court granting leader of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife, Zeenat permission to seek medical trip in India.
“We are filing an appeal against the decision tomorrow (Wednesday).We are also filing along with it terms of agreement on the trip,” said Dari Bayero, the state’s Director of Public Prosecution.
According to The Punch, Bayero said the government would file the appeal against the decision of the court along with “terms of agreement” for Zakzaky’s planned foreign trip.
This was despite commitment by the Department of State Services (DSS), which had been keeping custody of the couple since 2015, to comply with the court’s order.
Meanwhile, Femi Falana, El-Zakzaky’s lawyer, said he was uninformed of any impending terms of the agreement to be filed after the “clear and unambiguous” ruling of the court permitting his clients to embark on the foreign medical trip.
Falana said he would go by the declaration of the authorities and the DSS to fully comply with the court order.
He noted if anyone was dissatisfied with the ruling of the court, then they knew exactly what to do, saying he stood by the court order.
Kaduna State High Court on Monday, August 5 granted bail to the detained IMN leader and his wife to seek medical attention in India.
His health has been reported deteriorating since December 2105 when he was arrested and detained.
THE Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on Tuesday declared five young internet fraudsters ‘Wanted’.
The anti-graft agency also declared a 50-year-old man, Donald Olorunkoyede among those on the Wanted list to make six culprits on the EFCC search.
According to information on the EFCC verified social media handle, the accused persons are Frank Kosi Edekobi (23) from Obikporo village, Onitsha-North Local Government Area of Anambra State; Victor Chuka Edekobi (29) also from the same origin, was earlier arrested but released on administrative bail, yet failed to comply with the terms of his administrative bail.
Others are Okuafiaka Bright Onyebuchi (28) from Delta State accused of impersonation and obtaining of money under false pretence; Akpodemaye Ikolo (29) from Edo State was also accused of the same offence.
Owootomo Tomilola Sunday, (22) from Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State was accused of theft, money laundering and impersonation while Olorunkoyede, is wanted in an alleged case of obtaining money under false pretence as well as criminal breach of trust.
Until he was declared wanted by the anti-graft, the accused was the Country Director of Social Exchange Market International Network Limited. Olorunkoyede allegedly used his platform to defraud members of the public through Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) and Cooperative Societies, ‘under the pretence of helping them to register model micro-finance banks.
“The suspect has failed to honour several invitations from the commission and is currently evading arrest.
“50-year old Olorunkoyede hails from Abeokuta South Local Government Area, Ogun State and speaks Yoruba and English fluently”.
The anti-graft agency has recently increased the rate at which internet fraudsters, otherwise known as yahoo-yahoo are being arrested across its 12 offices nationwide.
On May, the EFCC arrested a proprietor of yahoo-yahoo school, identified as Frank Chinedu, with his students numbering eight in Lagos State.
Two months later, 15 accused internet fraudsters were also arrested at Ibadan, among which a suspect attempted to flush his phone via water closet.
The ICIR had earlier reported extreme situations internet fraudsters were willing to undergo to succeed in the incriminating act.
ON Tuesday, the federal government reiterated its commitment to review the revenue allocation procedure for Federal, States and Local Governments to meet the current economic demands Chairman, of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, Elias Mbam disclosed in Abuja according to a NAN report.
He stated that the new sharing formula is expected to allocate States and Local Governments more monies with a long term plan to expand and increase the scope of revenue collection.
“My agenda is to expand the sources of revenue for the federation. I will like to expand the cake that we are sharing so that people will get a reasonable quantity.
“So, we will encourage states and let them know what is available outside oil and gas so they can develop those aspects of the economy to their own benefit,’’ he said.
While 13 per cent of oil and gas federally collected revenue is returned to the oil-producing states as derivation revenue to compensate for ecological disasters arising from oil production.
Revenue from the federation account is shared between the three tiers of government with the federal government staking claim to 52.68 per cent, the 36 state governments share 26.72 per cent and 20.60 per cent is allotted to the 774 local governments.
Proceeds from oil constitute about 90 per cent of the country’s total revenue, however, the 2019 budget, signed by President Muhammadu Buhari in May, was based on oil production of 2.3 million barrels per day with an oil benchmark price of $60 per barrel.
In October 2018, Brent crude (Nigeria’s crude type) hit a record high of $86.74 per barrel, a development that prompted the Federal Executive Council to lift the price of crude oil for the 2019 budget at $60 per barrel, up from $50.5 for the 2018 budget.
Declining crude oil prices, in the global market currently pegged at $59.79 per barrel, is likely to affect the federally generated revenue distributed across the three tiers of government.
Mbam stated that the commission plans to constitute a standing committee by next week to review the revenue sharing formula after repeated failed attempts in the past.
“I intend to do this through diversification in areas outside oil and gas, and that includes solid minerals, agriculture and manufacturing,” he said.
OYO State Governor, Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday approved the sum of N500,000 each as a bursary to 120 Oyo indigenes in the Nigerian Law School.
This was contained in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary(CPS) to the governor, Mr Taiwo Adisa, who quoted the governor as saying that he was approving the sum of N60 million to cater for the 2019/2020 backlog of Oyo state indigenes in the Nigerian Law School.
He said that his decision was aimed at assisting the students to achieve greatness and encourage the students.
Representatives of Oyo State indigenes at the Nigerian Law School during their visit to Governor Seyi Makinde, on Tuesday, said the last time the state indigenes in the Law School received a bursary of N100,000 was in 2012.
While speaking to the students’ group, Governor Makinde urged them to ensure that they come back home to make contributions to Oyo State after their studies.
The governor maintained that Oyo State has, by the gesture, made an investment on the Law School students and would love to make returns, advising them not to be carried away by the allure of Lagos and other cities.
In his response, the leader of the delegate, Olaniyi Ogunlade, appreciated the governor, promising that he and his colleagues would make the best result in the history of Oyo State students in the Law School and will be proud to present the results to the governor in the not too distant time.
The governor also confirmed the statement through his official Twitter handle @seyiamakinde adding that his administration would continue to prioritise education as the foundation upon which sustainable development will be built.
Our administration will continue to prioritise education as the foundation upon which sustainable development will be built. pic.twitter.com/tw94xjNE7s
Similarly, in a meeting with labour leaders led by the Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, Oyo State, Mr Bayo Titilola-Sodo, various issues regarding the welfare of workers and pensioners in the state were discussed and the governor further reiterates his desire and commitment to fulfil campaign promises to prioritise the welfare of workers and pensioners in the state.
JUSTICE Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Tuesday, August 6, 2019, ordered the freezing of the sum of N9.9bn belonging to the Lagos State government.
Tony Orilade, acting Head, Media & Publicity made this closure on Tuesday in a statement.
According to him, the funds are domiciled in First City Monument Bank, FCMB, account number 5617984012; Access Bank account number 0060949275 and Zenith Bank account number 1011691254, respectively.
Justice Chuka Obiozor gave the order, following an ex-parte application filed by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
The EFCC had prayed the court to freeze the account pending the conclusion of investigation and possible prosecution of Adewale Adesanya, the Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Chief of Staff to former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.
The applicant, EFCC, in an affidavit deposed to by Kungmi Daniel, an operative of the Commission, stated that there was “a huge inflow of N9,927,714,443.29” from the state accounts into an FCMB bank account opened on September 17, 2018 during the administration of the immediate past governor of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, and operated by Adesanya.
It was further stated that the schedule of the FCMB account showed how Adesanya and other signatories to the account made fraudulent transfer from the accounts of the Lagos State Government and dissipated the funds housed in the said accounts.
In his submission, counsel to the EFCC, Mohammed Abbas, said “The trend in the account is that the account always witnessed huge inflow from Lagos State Government in the above scheduled accounts managed by the respondent (Adesanya)”.
Abbas, therefore, prayed the court to grant an order to temporarily attach and take over the accounts to enable it conclude its investigations.
“There have been concerted efforts and attempts to dissipate the contents of the accounts listed in the schedule to this application.
“Without freezing the nominated accounts and temporarily forfeiting the money to the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, there is no way the fraud being perpetrated using the scheduled accounts can be stopped,” he further told the court.
Consequently, Justice Obiozor granted the prayers of the counsel to the Commission.
The Judge adjourned further proceedings to September 9, 2019.
THE Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, on Tuesday disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari will inaugurate his new cabinet members on August 21.
Prior to the inauguration, a 2-day retreat would be organised for the cabinet members on Monday 19th and Tuesday 20th August.
In a statement broadcast by ChannelsTV, the SGF made public the plans of the Federal Government shortly after the list of all 43 ministerial nominees, submitted to the Senate for screening scaled through the legislative process.
President Buhari sent the list of prospective cabinet members to the lawmakers 55 days after his inauguration.
The National Assembly had to suspend its recess slated for Friday, July 26 to screen all the nominees.
Critics of the government are unhappy with the number of women representation, which is barely 16 percent. Seven women made the list from the 43 ministers.
The SGF has invited all ministers-designate and government functionaries to a 2-day induction retreat to be presided over by President Buhari for two days.
The objectives of the retreat, he said, include building a strong platform for synergy and teamwork, sensitizing appointees on the status of the implementation of policies, programmes and projects of government from 2015 till date.
He said the retreat will also help “acquaint the appointees with the roadmap for delivery of government’s priorities and next level agenda and deepen the understanding of participants on best practices in conducting government business.”
THE management of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi State, has closed down the University following the collapse of a pedestrian bridge in the school premises that led to the death of four students, leaving many injured.
An earlier report put the number of deaths as two, however, during a press briefing, Vice-Chancellor Muhammad Abdullazeez confirmed the death of four students.
“I regret to announce the death of four of our students on August 5th, 2019,” he said.
The Vice-Chancellor said the incident that led to the demise of the students occurred late on Monday night at the Gubi Campus of the University.
While full details of the occurrence were being awaited, he said the University Senate at an emergency meeting had decided to close down the school in honour of the deceased comprising three males and one female.
“For now, we learnt that while the students were trying to return to their hostel in the midst (sic) of the rain last night, the connecting bridge between their reading area and their hostel collapsed and the four students drowned.
The collapsed bridge that took the life of four students. Photo Credit: Twitter/@IndependentNGR
“We closed down the school because we are mourning,” said Abdulazeez.
The students were requested to vacate the campuses for the 13-days break.
The reopening date was fixed for Tuesday, 19 August.
Before the University declared the break, students were undertaking the first-semester examination.
The injured students are currently receiving medical treatment at the university medical centre, while the rescue team is still searching to recover bodies of the victims, according to the University authorities.
Students had blamed the incident on the institution’s authorities. Speaking to journalists about the incident, Naziru Mohammed, President of the Student Union Government (SUG), said the management failed to repair the bridge even after weeks of complaints.
A heavy downpour that occurred on Monday caused flooding, later the bridge gave way.
DESPITE constitutional provisions that guarantee Nigerians’ freedom of expression, association, and assembly, the Federal Government under President Muhammadu Buhari, several times, has demonstrated it has no regard for such provisions.
In the nearly five years of the Buhari administration, journalists have been arrested and detained without trial, protests have been met with force by the government agents, voices of dissents have been stifled by the government, and court orders, ignored.
Critics have upbraided him for banning protests, while calling attention to how he led civil disobedience before the 2015 elections against the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
“The same President Muhammadu Buhari that took the Nigerian Police to court for stopping his peaceful protest and got a judgment that police have no right to give permission (and that) only a notification to them was required for protest, is the same person using the police to shut down protesters,” wrote Aisha Yesufu, a social critic.
While the constitution is clear about the role of the press and journalists in holding government accountable, the law also spells out clearly the duties, rights and obligations of the citizens in a democratic setting. But the government disregards this rights and privileges of Nigerians from time to time.
The ICIR takes a look at some of the constitutional provisions that guarantee freedom of speech and of association and of the right to protest, as well as the instances of violation of these provisions by the Buhari government.
Section 22: The press, radio, television and other agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the fundamental objectives contained in this Chapter and uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people.
Section 39: (1) Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression, including the freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of subsection (1) of this section, every person shall be entitled to own, establish and operate any medium for the dissemination of information, ideas, and opinions:
Provided that no person, other than the Government of the Federation or of a State or any other person or body authorised by the President on the fulfillment of conditions laid down by an Act of the National Assembly, shall own, establish or operate a television or wireless broadcasting station for, any purpose whatsoever.
(3) Nothing in this section shall invalidate any law that is reasonably justifiable in a democratic society –
(a) for the purpose of preventing the disclosure of information received in confidence, maintaining the authority and independence of courts or regulating telephony, wireless broadcasting, television or the exhibition of cinematograph films; or
(b) imposing restrictions upon persons holding office under the Government of the Federation or of a State, members of the armed forces of the Federation or members of the Nigeria Police Force or other Government security services or agencies established by law.
Showore arrested over planned #RevolutionNow protest
File photo: Omoyele Sowore arrested and detained for planning #RevolutionNow protest
Government is not backing down on its anti-democratic behaviours— the latest was the Saturday arrest and detention of Convener of #RevolutionNow protest, Omoyele Sowore.
The crack down on Sowore, publisher of Sahara Reporters and presidential candidate of African Action Congress (AAC) in the last general elections has shown the extent to which the government disregards constitutional provisions for citizens to exercise their rights.
Sowore was coordinating a national protest, which he called ‘a day of rage’ in 21 states on Monday August 5 against the government of President Buhari over the maladministration and insecurity in the country.
Former Politics Editor arrested over Facebook post supporting #RevolutionNow protest
Dan-Halilu, former Politics Editor, Daily Trust
After Sowore’s arrest, other Nigerians have also been picked up by security operatives for their support or involvement in the #RevolutionNow protest.
A former Politics Editor at Daily Trust newspaper, Ibrahim Dan-Halilu, was arrested on Monday by the Department for Security Service (DSS) in Kaduna for allegedly supporting the activities of #RevolutionNow in a Facebook post, according to PRNigeria which broke the news.
Dan-Halilu a former staunch supporter of President Muhammadu before the 2015 elections was once a communication specialist with USAID, Information Assistant at the US Embassy and a Regional Communication Specialist for Family Health.
Operatives of DSS, it was gathered stormed his residence in Rigachikun, Kaduna State, on Monday night and whisked him away at about 2 am.
He had posted on his Facebook timeline that he endorsed and supported the activities of #RevolutionNow.
The post reads: “I feel I should share because it resonates with me. If resonates with you too, please share until all oppressed people of Nigeria get the message and domesticate it. This is #Not the Nigeria of My Dream.
“Somebody asked me why we need a revolution now, this was my reply: The aim of the revolution is to challenge the uncommon hardship why we have 16 m children on the street; challenge why we have become the poverty capital of the world; challenge why we have 20 persons with corrupt cases as federal legislators and would-be Ministers.
“We need to restructure the country. We need to put an end to trillions spent on electricity while we live in darkness and pay an estimated bill for electricity and meters. Why do we have huge oil reserves but our refineries are dead and we are re-importing what we exported as crude oil? It is time to ask why those in government travel abroad for medical care when they have left our hospitals dilapidated; why they send their children to school abroad when our children learn under mango trees.
“We are revolting against the continuing killings that have left 20,000 Nigerians dead while those in office move around under state-paid security and do nothing. We are revolting against the because over a thousand Nigerians soldiers killed by Boko Haram have been secretly buried without identifiable graves, dignity or honour. $16m was purportedly spent on mosquito nets but our children die daily from malaria. $320m Abacha loot was purportedly distributed to the poor. Where is the verifiable list? N500bn was purportedly distributed to the poor as so-called Trader-moni. Where is the verifiable list?
“…With divine grace, God gave us about 40 natural resources spread across the length and breadth of the country. No country on mother earth is as blessed! The persons destroying Nigeria in and out of government are less than 10,000. For how long will the 201 million of us be silent? Forever? It will be sheer stupidity and very unfair of us to be silent and bequeath today’s sorry Nigeria to our children. For how long shall we continue to endure bad leadership from certificate forgers, election riggers, ritualists and yahoo politicians, hoping upon hope for a better tomorrow when things get worse by the day? We are too rich to be poor. We are too blessed to be a mockery of the world!!! No!!!”
Arrest and detention of Premium Times reporter, Samuel Ogundipe
Samuel Ogundipe
Samuel Ogundipe, a defence correspondent with Premium Times spent three days in detention after he was arrested by the police.
“I laid on the rough knitted polyester blanket at the benevolence of the cell president inside the police Special Tactical Squad detention centre in Abuja, sweating profusely as I read an old copy of a Christian daily guide printed by Paul Enenche’s Dunamis Gospel Centre,”Ogundipe recounted his ordeal after gaining freedom.
His story about the then Inspector-General Ibrahim Idris’ interim report to then Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on the State Security Service’s siege on the National Assembly on August 7, 2018, landed him in trouble with the police.
In his account of what led to his arrest and detention, Ogundeji said he wrote the piece on the night of August 9, after receiving the report from a source and successfully getting two high-ranking police officers to help authenticate.
“The police had no complaints about the accuracy of the story,” he had said, but, “They only assumed it was not meant for public consumption.”
While working to hold government accountable, in accordance with section 22 of the 1999 constitution, he was incurring the wrath of the government.
The journalist’s arrest and detention attracted public and widespread condemnation and forced the government to release him after three days in detention.
That was the second time the government agents would harass journalists working with Premium Times.
On January 19, 2019, police raided Premium Times head office in Abuja and arrested the newspaper’s publisher. Dapo Olorunyomi alongside the paper’s judiciary correspondent, Evelyn Okakwu.
Plain-clothed officers conducted a search at the office shortly after 5 p.m. Thursday and said they were acting on a complaint filed by the Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai.
The arrests came days after Premium Times turned down the army’s demand to retract news stories about the Nigerian Army and its operations.
Jones Abiri: Arrested and detained for two years without trial
Jones Abiri. Photo by Premium Times.
Jones Abiri, a journalist based in Yenagoa, the capital of Bayelsa State, was arrested on July 2016 for alleged terrorism. He was detained at the DSS headquarters until July 2018, when the Service took him to court on charges of criminal intimidation.
He was briefly remanded at the Kuje Prison in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, and was later released on bail.
However, while his case with the DSS is still ongoing at a magistrate court in the Wuse District of Abuja, Abiri filed a human rights enforcement suit at the Federal High Court, demanding that the DSS should pay him N200 million for violating his rights. The suit was filed on Abiri’s behalf by popular human rights lawyer, Femi Falana.
When the case was decided, Justice Nnamdi Dimgba of the Federal High Court, Abuja, awarded the sum of N10.5 million against DSS over the illegal arrest and detention of Jones Abiri.
Delivering the judgment Justice Dimgba held that the DSS acted outside the provisions of the law regarding the terrorism prevention Act.
The government was forced to release the journalist in September 2018 after public outcries kept coming. But he was later arrested by DSS, and he still in detention till date.
Police arrest Deji Adeyanju while leading protest in Abuja
File photo: Deji Adeyanju, during one of the many protests he led.
For staging a protest demanding that the police should be neutral in the 2019 election, Deji Adeyanju, Convener of Concerned Nigerians, was arrested on November 2018 by the officers of Nigeria Police.
The protest was tagged ‘Police Are Not Politicians, Save Our Democracy’ in Abuja.
Adeyanju was picked up alongside two others at 10:55 am by armed policemen stationed in front of the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
He was with some of the protesters at the premises of the building and while they were arranging the banners and placards in preparation for the rally, the police arrested him.
The activist was later released early December same year and later got picked up for trumped-up charges and spent 78 days in Kano Prison before he was released in March after the conduct of the general elections. His arrest on December 13, 2018 was linked to a homicide case that was concluded in 2009.
Police tear gas BringBackOurGirls protesters in Abuja
Police fire tear gas at protesting members of BBOG in Abuja. Photo Credit: Twitter
Members of BringBackOurGirls (BBOG), a movement campaigning for the release of abducted Chibok Secondary School girls were dispersed by police on April 23, 2018, on a protest demanding government to secure the release of the girls in captivity of terrorists.
Police fired tear gas at the protesters who gathered at the Unity Fountain, Abuja. The BBOG members as they are known gathered at the Unity Fountain for daily sit-out to deliberate on the abducted schoolgirls and demand they should be rescued by the government until recently when security operatives took over the place, preventing them from gathering.
Soldiers invade Daily Trust Headquarters
Members of staff and management of Trust Media, publishers of Trust titles in Abuja also have had raw deal from the present administration. January 6, 2019 is a day they would not forget quickly.
Earlier that day, some armed soldiers had stormed the Maiduguri office of the newspaper arrested its regional editor, Uthman Abubakar, and a reporter, Ibrahim Sawab over a publication the Army Headquarters was uncomfortable with.
The newspaper said the invasion might be connected to its lead story on a particular Sunday which focused on military operations in the North-East
While the whereabouts of the two journalists were yet unknown, some other armed officers of the Nigerian Army invaded the Daily Trust Headquarters in Abuja.
During the Gestapo-like operation, the armed soldiers packed away computer sets while ordering all members of staff to leave the newsroom.
“About two dozen armed soldiers came in five vehicles invaded our Utako Headquarters about 6 pm. They didn’t manhandle anyone, but they ordered all of us out and asked of Hamza [the reporter]. They took some laptops. They have taken over the office and asked us to leave,” a journalist with the newspaper had said.
A line editor at the newspaper told The ICIR that some of the soldiers came in plain cloth, and ordered everyone to leave the premises as they started to pack all the computers they could find.
“Though Jonathan administration also mistreated our paper by seizing some of our publications a few months to the election, it never went as bad as shutting down our office,” he said.
The Army bowed to public outcry and pressure and releasedthe arrested journalists. While Abubakar was released on January 8, Sawab had gained his freedom earlier.
He was taken back to the Maiduguri office by an unnamed Army major who handed him over to security staff at the paper’s office.
Refusal to grant El-Zakzaky bail despite court pronouncements
File photo: Protesters demonstrating against detention of El-Zakzaky and wife
Before Monday, August 5, when Kaduna High Court granted leave to the detained leader of Shiites, Ibrahim El-Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat, to seek medical attention abroad, the Federal Government had refused to release the IMN leader from prison even when the court ruled he should be released.
El-Zakzaky and his wife were arrested by the military on December 14, 2015, after a clash between his followers and officers of the Nigerian Army. At least 347 Shiites were killed with no army officer charged for the crime ever since. But, El-Zakzaky and his wife have remained in detention following the event.
On December 2, 2016, the Federal High Court in Abuja ordered El-Zakzaky and his wife released from detention, citing that the continued detention violates their rights and is against Section 35(1) of the constitution which provided “every person shall be entitled to his personal liberty and no person shall be deprived of such liberty save…in accordance with a procedure by law.
This Government is anti-Constitution, writes Liberty Africa, a blog dedicated to advancing individual freedom, peace, and prosperity in Africa. It was complaining about the continued detention of El-Zakzaky and his wife.
The Nigerian government detained El-Zakzaky using the exemption provided in Section 35 (1)(c), that an individual can be detained “…upon reasonable suspicion of his having committed a criminal offense.” “But El-Zakzaky’s continued detention is against the other provisions of the constitution,” African Liberty argues.
Subsection 4 of the same section states that “any person who is arrested or detained in accordance with subsection (1)(c) of this section shall be brought before a court of law within a reasonable time…,” and according to subsection (5), “…the expression ‘a reasonable time’ means –
(a) in the case of an arrest or detention in any place where there is a court of competent jurisdiction within a radius of forty [40] kilometers, a period of one day; and
(b) in any other case, a period of two days…”
It took the government two years to get El-Zakzaky a hearing before the court.
Therefore when he and his wife were granted leave to travel abroad for medical attention, not many Nigerians believed the government would obey the ruling.
“I hope the government will respect the court ruling and let him travel for his medical…” said Kayode Ogundamisi, a strong supporter of the Buhari administration.
THE Nigerian Communications Commissions (NCC), on Tuesday, sanctioned Airtel and 9mobile with N136 million fine for violation of its regulation.
The NCC accused the telecommunication companies of breaking the do-not-disturb directive, the automatic renewal of data subscription, as well as wrongful disconnection of an interconnect carrier.
“In the course of monitoring compliance with the Do-Not-Disturb (DND) Direction, the Commission discovered that EMTS & Airtel subscribed and billed 13 and 56 MSISDNs respectively on full DND to Value Added Service (VAS) in the contravention of the DND Direction,” 2019 First Quarter Enforcement Report of the commission says.
“Following this discovery and subsequent correspondence with the licensees in which both claimed to have had technical/software challenges and to have disconnected the affected MSISDNs, the Commission rejected their responses and consequently sanctioned both EMTs and Airtel ₦5, 000,000 each on February 26th & 27th, 2019 respectively for breach of the Direction.”
Specifically, Airtel was also sanctioned N121 million for disconnecting a firm, Exchange Communications Limited, without seeking approval from the NCC.
“Airtel Networks Ltd having contravened, the provisions of the Quality of Service (QoS) Regulations 2013 and Enforcement Processes Regulations, 2005 by disconnecting Exchange Telecommunications Limited without the Commission’s approval was sanctioned on March 28, 2019, to pay the sum of ₦121, 000,000 to the Commission.”
Members of the National Assembly early this year summoned the Commission over poor quality services rendered by telecommunication operators in the country.
The regulatory body, also, last year issued warning to the operators to check frequent automatic and unsolicited renewal of data package of customers aside from forceful subscription of customers to value-added services.
The report also criticised unauthorised transmission on 5.4GHz Frequency Band by a private firm, Trefoil Network Limited as well as the problem of multiple taxations through the issuance of Environmental Impact Assessments (EIA) by the state government and the Federal Ministry of Environment, among other concerns.
