₦airaland Forum

Residents of Agila community in Ado Local Government Area in Benue State have fled their homes following an alleged attack by their Ngbo neighbours of Ebonyi State. Our correspondent reports that the two border communities of both states have engaged in an age-long dispute over land to such extent that many people lost their lives in the past

Parish Priest of St. Peters’ Catholic Church in Agila, Father Emmanuel Onoja, told newsmen in Makurdi on Tuesday that his church came under heavy attack by the Ngbo militia following a renewed crisis.

“There was heavy shooting in the Church. Since the crisis started, this is the first time, I am experiencing this. They wrote an inscription on the wall telling Agila people to depart the land. They nearly killed a young man who was farming behind the Church.

I called the Deputy Governor Engr. Benson Abounu who promised that the government will send soldiers to the area, but as I speak to you nothing has been done. We are living in fear. Several persons have deserted the area and fled to safety,” he said.

On his part, the Ado Council Chairman, James Oche, alleged that the fresh attack on his people by Ngbo community was an attempt to frustrate the boundary demarcation between Benue and Ebonyi States as well as Enugu and Benue States

He added, “This is the second attack in a week. They attacked Government Secondary School, Agila, and a Catholic Church. Though there are no casualties, basically, they are carrying out these attacks to frustrate the Federal government’s effort at re-beaconing the Benue/Enugu and Benue/Ebonyi boundaries.”

Dangote Group has entered into a long-term agreement with an Enugu-based automaker, Transit Support Services Limited, for the supply of Shacman trucks being assembled at the Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company Limited’s factory in Emene, Enugu.

Already, the group has purchased 3,500 trucks from the automaker worth N63bn, according to the Managing Director of the Transit Support Services, Mr Frank Nneji.

Nneji, who spoke with journalists on Saturday after a facility tour of the truck assembly line at the ANAMMCO plant, said the supplies amounted to over 90 per cent of all Shackman trucks assembled at the factory since the revival of the plant after a long period of abandonment.

“About 90 per cent of trucks produced here are for Dangote. Right now at the dump, we have about 300 units. Since last year, we have done 800 units. Dangote Group since inception has bought about 3,500 units from us. It also patronises the Shackman trucks for its refinery currently being built in Lagos,” he said.

He said the project had also kept busy the Onne port, which was dormant for many years.

According to him, the port is used for the delivery of vehicle components supplied to the ANAMMCO plant by its partner from China, Shaanxi Heavy Duty Automobile Import & Export Company.

Nneji, who is also the MD of ABC Transport Plc, the franchise holder of the Shacman Nigeria, said the Dangote/Shacman truck deal had benefited the people in the area immensely through job creation and training of young school leavers.

He said, “This has been of tremendous benefit for the people in the South-East. For more than seven years, this place was shut down.

“There was no activity until Shackman came and we made an agreement with the Shacman Group and we started skeletally.”

He added, “We were only able to start full production of trucks when we offered logistics solutions to the Dangote Group. That was in 2016 when we started the first agreement for 500 trucks.

“With this, many workers of ANAMMCO who had been at home had to come back to work; some local suppliers of lubricants, electrolyte and the rest had to return to business.”

Nneji noted that the resuscitation of the ANAMMCO plant was made possible through the establishment of the auto policy which encouraged local production of automobiles

The General Manager, Corporate Communications, Dangote Group, Mr Sunday Esan, said Dangote was satisfied with the quality of Shacman trucks and assured of continued patronage.

Herdsmen may form own security outfit soon – Bodejo, Miyetti Allah Boss

National President of Miyetti Allah Kautel Hore socio-cultural organisation, Abdullahi Bodejo, has said that the arrest of some Fulani leaders over the recent crisis in Plateau State where about 20 persons were killed, was discriminatory. Bodejo told VINCENT KALU, in an interview that if the Nigerian authorities don’t stop the operations of Amotekun and Shege ka fasa, his group would come up with its own security outfit to protect its members. “If we are pushed to set up our own security outfit, nobody can control it because nobody knows how many Fulani are in Nigeria; we are more than every tribe in this country, we are in every corner”, he warned.

The Plateau governor, Simon Lalong has called for the arrest of Fulani leaders in the state following the killing of more than 20 people in the state by herdsmen. How do you react to this?

The governors are the chief security officers of their respective states; any one that calls for the arrest of anybody may have a reason for that. I read in the newspapers that Governor Lalong has called for the arrest of Fulani community leaders in the state, and not Miyetti Allah leaders.
I call for the arrest of the troublemakers in the state. The arrest shouldn’t be one sided. It was not fair to have arrested only the Fulani leaders over the crisis; the other people were spared. I don’t think these people they arrested are killers, let the police do a proper investigation. See how the Fulani are being treated, you hear the Amotekun promoters calling for the arrest of Miyetti Allah leaders, the same rubbish Ortom was using during his electioneering campaigns.

We can defend the Fulani if you want to rubbish our ethnic group, which is why we are leading this Miyetti Allah socio cultural association, we won’t allow anybody to just damage Fulani name. If a Fulani man commits crime, we support he should be tried and if found guilty, he should be jailed, but not when you arrest innocent people and you try to give them a bad name, we will rise to their defence.

You can’t stop the police from arresting people, but these Fulani leaders they arrested were called for a meeting and you arrested them, but the other side was left out. The arrest was an injustice and discriminatory, and it is totally wrong. They came for a peace meeting because they believe in peace only for them to be arrested. It is totally wrong. The implication is that if there is a crisis in future and you call them for a meeting, they will not come.

The police have been managing the crises, but this time around, for them to call the leaders for a peace meeting and it turned out to be another thing; they will shun it next time, and when you ask them they will tell you that all the Fulani are in the forest. I plead with the governor to carry everybody along.

Ahead of the public hearing on the Amotekun bill slated for Monday across all the states in the South-West, state chapters of the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria, an umbrella body for herdsmen in the country, have expressed their readiness to attend the hearing.

They said it would be an avenue to make their positions known on the issue.

The association had expressed its reservations over the setting up of the Western Nigeria Security Network, codenamed Operation Amotekun, claiming that the initiative was aimed at flushing out the Fulani tribe from the South-West. But the South-West Governors’ Forum had in its reaction dismissed the claim as misplaced and unnecessary.

In the South-West and some other regions, there had been clashes between herders and farmers, while some herders had also been accused of killing and kidnapping innocent villagers. In their response to the rising killings and kidnappings by criminals and some persons alleged to be herders, the governors of the six states in the region had launched Operation Amotekun on January 9, 2020, to provide security for the people in the region.

The Attorneys-General of the six states in the South-West had approved a draft bill for the establishment of Amotekun, noting that each state would enact its own law and establish its own operatives to be known as Amotekun Corps.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, had also said at the South-West security meeting on community policing, convened at his instance about a week ago that Amotekun would no longer be a regional operation but state-based.

After passing first and second readings in most of the states’ Houses of Assembly, the public hearing is scheduled to hold on Monday.

In an interview with one of our correspondents on Friday, the Chairman of Miyetti Allah in Ogun State, AbdulMumin Ibrahim, said he would be at the public hearing to share his thoughts on the bill.

He, however, suggested that the membership of Amotekun corps should not be for Yorubas alone, adding that since the initiative would address the farmers-herders clashes, their members should be considered.

He said, “I will be at the public hearing on Monday because I wish to share my thoughts. We want it to be all-inclusive. We don’t want it to be run like Oodua People’s Congress where only a tribe is in charge. When we wanted to join OPC, we were told that it was meant for only one tribe. If it is in the interest of peace, all the tribes must be involved. We will appreciate if our members are incorporated into Amotekun as corps.”

Also, the Ondo State chapter of Miyetti Allah has said its members will attend the public hearing.

The state chairman, Alhaji Garuba Bello, told one of our correspondents on Friday, “Whatever the government wants us to do we will do. We will go there (for the public hearing) and present our position too. We are with the government.”

In Osun State, the Chairman, Fulani Association in the state, Alhaji Oluwatoyi Sulaimon, said the group would meet on Sunday to take a position before attending the public hearing.

He said, “I have an invite for the hearing. We are going to meet on Sunday and take a position. We will attend and make our position known there.”

In Oyo State, the Organising Secretary II of the association, Adam Abdulkadri, also said they would attend the public hearing, adding that they had maintained a good relationship with the government over the years.

He added, “We comply with government’s directives and we maintain mutual relationships with other groups within the state. They attend our meetings and we attend their meetings too. Our message to the public is that in Oyo State, the challenges of security are for all of us to address. We should jointly work for peace and security. If we don’t work towards that, we won’t be upholding the dictates of the constitution.”

Meanwhile, one of the umbrella bodies for herdsmen in the country, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has said it will not hesitate to go to court if any provision in the bill violates the rights of its members.

In an interview with Saturday PUNCH on Thursday night, the National Secretary, Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Saleh Alhassan, said herders would have no problem with the bill as long as it doesn’t infringe on their rights.

Alhassan said, “As stakeholders, we have expressed our reservations and fears because if we are not able to do that, then we are not operating a democracy.

“We should not allow the proliferation of militia groups, whether in the name of vigilance groups or not, because if you outsource security to non-state actors, at the end of the day, the country could be in serious crisis.

“We would wait to see the nature of the bill when it’s passed. However, if it infringes on our fundamental human rights such as freedom of movement or economic pursuit, we will approach both local and international courts. But as long as the bill doesn’t affect us, we won’t have any problem with it.

“We also have the option of creating our own organisation to protect the interests of our people.”

At a public function last year, the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Mohammad Tanko raised concerns over the heavy workload on justices of the Supreme Court.

The CJN pointed out that it would be difficult for the justices to cope with the volume of cases before them if nothing is done urgently. Although not expressly stated by the CJN, one of the core factors responsible for the issue raised by him is the number of justices at the apex court.

At the moment, there are 13 Justice of the Supreme Court, whereas section 230 (2) (b) of the 1999 constitution provides that; “ The Supreme Court of Nigeria shall consist of such number of Justices not exceeding 21 as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.” Successive governments have also overlooked the need to have the maximum 21 justices as stipulated by the constitution.

Law and Human Right investigation revealed that seven out of the current 13 Supreme Court Justices would most likely retire on or before 2023 having reached the 70 years mandatory retirement age. The CJN who was sworn in 2019 would retire in 2023 going by his age. He was born on December 31, 1953.

Other six Justices of the Supreme Court, who are also expected to retire on or before the election year include Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, Justice Mary Odili, Justice Musa Muhammad, Justice Amina Augie and Justice Paul Galumje.

The most senior Justice among the remaining six is Justice Olukayode Ariwoola who was born on August 22, 1958 and appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2011.

In this edition, we profile the jurists who have served the country well and would soon bow out.

Justice Tanko Muhammad, retires 2023
Justice Tanko Muhammad was born on December 31, 1953. He hails from Doguwa, Giade Local Government of Bauchi State. After serving as magistrate, he was appointed as Kadi (Judge) of the Sharia Court of Appeal, Bauchi State in 1991.

He was elevated to the position of Justice of the Court of Appeal from 1993 to 2006. He was appointed as Justice of the Supreme Court in 2006 and was sworn in on January 7, 2007. He became Chief Justice of Nigeria is 2019.

Justice Olabode Rhodes-Vivour, retires 2021
Justice Rhodes-Vivour was born on March 22, 1951. He rose through the ranks. On February 18, 1994, he was appointed to the Bench as a High Court Judge. He was elevated to the Bench of the Court of Appeal on April 25, 2005.

In 2008 on secondment by the Federal Government, he was posted to Sierra Leone Judiciary as a Justice of the Supreme Court of Sierra Leone. At his return to Nigeria, he was appointed as a Justice of the Supreme Court on September 16, 2010.

Justice Sylvester Ngwuta, retirement 2021
Justice Ngwuta was born in 1951 in Amofia-Ukawu, Onicha Local government Ebonyi State. He had his basic education in the Eastern part of Nigeria and got his LLB in University of Ife (Now Obafemi Awolowo University). lle-ife and BL at the Nigerian law school in 1978.

He started his private legal practice at Abakaliki in July 1978-October 1995, from where he was appointed a judge of the High Court Abia state in October 1995. He was promoted to the Court of Appeal on May 22, 2003, and was sworn-in as Justice of the Supreme Court in May 2011.

Justice Mary Odili, retires 2022
Justice Odili was born on May 13, 1952 at AmudiObizi, Ezinihitte – Mbaise L.G.A. of Imo State. Her previous professional appointments/positions includes: Pupil State Counsel, Ministry of Justice, Abeokuta, Ogun State (1977 – 1978); Magistrate Grade III, Benin, Bendel State (1978 -1979); Chairman, Juvenile Court, Benin, Bendel State (1978 – 1979), Chief Magistrate Grade I (1981 – 1992); Judge, High Court of Rivers State (1992 – 2004); Justice, Court of Appeal, Abuja Judicial Division (2004 – 2010) and Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal, Kaduna Division (2010 – 2011). Justice Odili was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court on June 23, 2011.

Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, retires 2028
Justice Ariwoola was born on August 22, 1958. He was appointed a Justice of the Supreme Court in 2011. He was a Justice of the Court of Appeal between 2005 and 2011 after having been elevated from the State High Court of Oyo State.

Justice Ariwoola was first appointed a Judge of Superior Court of record in Oyo State in 1992 from private legal practice. Before his elevation to the Supreme Court, he served as Justice of Court of Appeal in Kaduna, Enugu and Lagos Divisions.

Justice Muhammad, retires 2023
Justice Muhammad was born on October 27, 1953 in Chanchaga local government area in Minna. After his primary and secondary education, he proceeded to Abdullahi Bayero college (now Bayero University) Kano 1972-1973 for pre-degree certificate.

He got his LLB (Hons) at Ahmadu Bello University (Faculty of Law) Zaria 1973-1976, and his BL at the Nigerian Law School 1977. He proceeded to Warwick University Coventry UK for his LLM 1982-1983, and also institute of Advance Certificate in Practice procedure. After years as a judge, he was appointed to the bench of the Supreme Court on July 2012.

Justice Kekere-Ekun, retires 2028
Justice Kekerr-Ekun was born on May 7, 1958. She was appointed a Senior Magistrate Grade II, Lagos State Judiciary in December 1989. She was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Lagos State in July 1996.

She served as Chairman Robbery and Firearms Tribunal, Zone II, Ikeja, Lagos from November 1996 to May 1999. She was elevated as a Justice of the Court of Appeal on September 22, 2004. She was appointed a Justice of Supreme Court on June 8, 2013.

Justice Okoro, retirement 2029
John Okoro (born July 7, 1959) is a Nigerian jurist and Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. His appointment as justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria was confirmed by the Senate on October 2013.

He was sworn in on November 15, 2014 by Justice Aloma Mukhtar, the former Chief Justice of Nigeria. He was arrested by the department of state security services (DSS), on October 8, 2016 on allegations of bribery and corruption and later reinstated after he was cleared of the allegations.

Justice Nweze, retires 2028
Justice Nweze, a native of Obollo, Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State, was born on September 25, 1958. Having practised at the private Bar from 1985 – 1995, he was elevated to the High Court Bench of Enugu State in November, 1995.

He was appointed a Justice of the Court of Appeal of Nigeria, February 15, 2008; and served thereat until October, 2014, when he was, finally, elevated to Nigeria’s apex court as a Justice of the Supreme Court on October 29, 2014.

Justice Amina Augie, retires 2023
Justice Augie was born in Anne Eva Graham on September 3, 1953. She is from Kebbi State, in the North-Western part of Nigeria. She served as a Senior State Counsel in the Office of the Chief Counsel to the then President, Alhaji Shehu Shagari, after which, she was appointed Lecturer by the Nigerian Law School, Lagos.

In 1988, she was appointed Chief Magistrate in the Sokoto State Judiciary. Justice Augie was elevated to the Court of Appeal Bench in 2002. She was later elevated as Justice of the Supreme Court on the November 7, 2016.

Justice Ejembi Eko retires 2024
Justice Ejembi Eko was born on the May 23,1952. He hails from Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State. He was appointed Judge of the Benue State High Court on February 9, 1989 and rose to become Acting Chief Judge of Benue State from November 2005 – February 2006. He was appointed Justice of the Court of Appeal in December 2007.

He joined the Court of Appeal Bench in February 2008 and served in various Divisions of the Court of Appeal before he was elevated to the Supreme Court Bench on November 7, 2016.

Justice Paul Galumje, retires 2020
Justice Galumje was born on the April 21, 1950 at Didan in Kurmi Local Government Area of Taraba State. Justice Galumje was appointed Acting Magistrate Grade II, in the then Gongola Judiciary.

He became a Substantive Magistrate Grade II on July 8, 1980 and rose to become Chief Magistrate Grade I in 1987. On April 11, 1990, Galumje was appointed High Court Judge. He was elevated as a Justice of Court of Appeal on November 22, 2005 and to the Supreme Court on December 5 2016.

Justice Uwani Musa Abba Aji, retires 2026
Justice Aji was born on November 7, 1956 in Gashua, Yobe State. After private practice and working in the state ministry of Justice, she was appointed Higher Court Judge of Yobe State in December 1991 making her the first Lady Judge at Yobe State Judiciary, a position she held until July 2004 when she was elevated to the Court of Appeal.

Before her elevation to the Supreme Court on January 8, 2019, she was the Presiding Justice, Court of Appeal Kaduna Division, a position she held for four years.

Nigerian Ambassador To Norway Facilitating Unjust Deportation Of Nigerians Without Any Offence

A fresh report has emerged on how Nigeria’s Consul General in Sweden, who is also in charge of Norway, Adeyemi Oyetade, connives with foreign governments to ensure the deportation of Nigerians.

Nigerians in the Diaspora have continued to lament the lack of assistance by Nigerian embassies and Consul Generals and how the country’s ambassadors had on several occasions refused to come to their aid when in distress.

In July 2019, SaharaReporters had published how Titi Festos, a Nigerian living in Norway since 2016, was framed up and deported by the Norwegian Police.


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2pm2I6EbSw

Festos was denied help by the Nigerian embassy when he ran to the commission in Oslo, Norway, and eventually had his documents confiscated.

Recently, 12 Nigerian ladies trafficked to Lebanon for slavery have been left stranded by the Nigerian embassy when they ran there for help.

They are still stuck in Lebanon with no hope of how to return home as the embassy has refused to help.

As it stands, they are at risk of being re-captured by their traffickers and even killed for disclosing their secrets.

In this new case, a Nigerian, Abimbola Omolara Samuel, who has been living in Norway since 2013, is at risk of being deported as the Nigerian ambassador, Oyetade, has issued all document to fast-track her deportation to Nigeria.

Samuel, married with two kids, is afraid of losing her children, husband and business due to the deportation.

She said that the Norwegian Government had agreed to issue her required document to continue her stay in the country but it required the validation of Ambassador Oyetade, which has not been forthcoming.

Narrating her ordeal, she said that she had a meeting the Norwegian Government and Oyetade where the ambassador identified her as a Nigerian and promised to facilitate her stay in the country but he backtracked after the meeting and issued travel documents for her to be deported.

“We were called into a meeting in Bergen (Norway) with the consular from Nigeria and three police officers.

“At the meeting, we got a good connection and I explained that I can’t leave my man and kids to go to Nigeria to file for a family reunion from there when I have my family here in Norway. He understood me and right in the meeting in front of the police, he promised that he would help me.

“Since I went to the meeting with my husband and two girls, the discussion was centred around applying for a reunion from Norway. We got good information about how we should do it and the meeting ended. We contacted our lawyer and we began the process.

“When I was to finalise the application, unknowingly to me, the consul general had gone behind our back to issue my deportation and travel documents to the police,” the woman narrated.

She lamented that if deported, she had no place in Nigeria and would not be able to unite with her family.

She berated the ambassador for failing to protect and assist Nigerians within his jurisdiction.

“What this means is that I have to leave where I have stayed for many years. I have to leave my house and family and stay in Nigeria where I have no father and mother or place to stay.

“Consular Adeyemi Oyetade in Stockholm, Sweden, has in his own way made it possible for the Norwegian Police to send me back to Nigeria. 

“He put us in a situation where we all will be harmed and to think that this man occupies a position where he should help Nigerians,” she added.

Samuel and her husband are calling on the Nigerian Government as well as Nigerians in the Diaspora to look into her case and compel the ambassador to retract the travel documents he issued and stop her deportation as she has not committed any offence during her stay in the country for seven years.

Communal crisis: Cross River community begs Ebonyi neighbour to reopen roads, market

The indigenes Adamma of Abi local government area of Cross River have  appealed to their neighbour in Ndiagu-Amagu in Ikwo local government area in Ebonyi state to reopen roads linking them as well as the markets  for easy movement and business transaction. South East Trust gathered that the roads and the popular Nwangagbo market were closed since 2016 when crisis erupted between the communities.

The President of  the Adamma Youth Association,  Mr. Sunday Eni made this appeal during a joint sensitization campaign on the need for peaceful co-existence between members of the two communities. The meeting was held at St. Francis Catholic Church in Ochiayim Amagu in Ikwo local government of Ebonyi state under the auspices of Cross River-Ebonyi Youth Development Movement.

Mr. Eni explained that both communities have lost businesses worth billions of naira especially in agriculture.

Since we signed and called for reopening of the transit routes, I will beg that you people should abide and implement the agreement. “Because as I speak the Ebebeye Road  and the popular Nwangagbo market, which we traverse and trade together are yet to be opened by Ochiayim Amagu. “Therefore, on behalf of my people as the youth leader, l appeal to you (Ochiayim Amagu) to do so. We cannot continue to live in fear because peace has finally returned. “Again, we have lost so much essentially in the area of agriculture since this crisis started,” he explained. In his address the President of Cross River-Ebonyi Youth Peace Development Movement, Barr. Paschal Nnaji Nwenyi, assured them of his readiness to bring permanent peace to the area. “We are committed and totally committed to end this crisis. I want to assure you we are not going back on our resolutions reached at Calabar, we are going to form a villigante in each village that is affected in this crisis.

“Their duty is to supervise, monitor and report any person or group that tries to thwart our communiqué,” he said. Our correspondent who visited the two communities on Thursday observed that  normalcy has returned in the area.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it would give effect to today’s Supreme Court judgement sacking the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) candidate as the winner of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye, told Daily Trust exclusively today in Abuja that the commission would back to its Operation Department to determine the party that meet up the Apex Court ruling.

“The Supreme Court has directed the commission to issue the Certificate of Return (CoR) to the political party that placed second in the Bayelsa governorship election and which also has the geographical spread in the election.
“So, what the commission would do is to go back to its Operation Department and make a determination on which political party came second in the election and which political party got the geographical spread in the election.

“Based on that, we would carry out the judgement of the Supreme Court. We would do that when we get the judgement of the Supreme Court, so that we would know clearly what the Supreme Court want us to do and we would carry it out,” Okoye told Daily Trust.

The Supreme Court earlier today sacked the Bayelsa State governor-elect, David Lyon of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and his running-mate, Biobarakuma Degi-Eremienyo 24 hours to their inauguration on February 14.

A five-man panel of the apex court led by Justice Mary Peter-Odili ordered INEC to withdraw the Certificate of Return (CoR) issued to the APC candidate as the winners of the November 16, 2019 governorship election in the state.

Accordingly, the apex court in its unanimous judgement delivered by Justice Ejembi Eko, also ordered INEC to issue fresh certificates to the candidates of the party with the next highest votes and with the required constitutional spread of votes in the results of the election.
Lyon was sacked for presenting a running mate with fake qualification.

Soldiers have reportedly blocked the entrance of the family residence of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), ahead of his parents’ burial.

Amnesty International (AI) quoted residents as saying the soldiers are also harassing residents in the area ahead of the funeral scheduled for Friday.

TheCable could not immediately verify claims about the blockade, but gathered that there is indeed a heavy security presence in Afara Ukwu, Kanu’s community.

In a statement on Wednesday, AI said it gathered from some persons that “they saw soldiers harassing people at Bank road while another man said he was prevented from going to his house by soldiers who blocked the road entrance to Eze Kanu’s palace.”

Osai Ojigho, Amnesty director in Nigeria, called for caution, and asked the security agencies to “deescalate the rising tension” in the Abia community.

“The Nigerian security forces must exercise restraint and prevent a repetition of the September 2017 events that left at least 20 people killed and some still missing, when the military attempted to arrest Nnamdi Kanu in his home in Afara Ukwu”, Ojigho said.

“While law enforcement officers are within their rights to carry out their lawful duties, the use of force should be proportional and strictly limited to those situations where it is absolutely necessary. Both IPOB supporters and security forces must at all times respect and protect human rights of all.

“Concerns about possible violence during the funeral must be addressed within the framework of human rights and rule of law.”
Since the burial was announced, there has been a hot exchange between the police and IPOB, which was banned and declared a terrorist organisation last year.

While the group has insisted on attending the event, Ene Okon, Abia commissioner of police, has vowed that the funeral would not take place if IPOB members attempt to attend it.

Kanu, who has been on the run since 2017, is, not contemplating attending, but said the burial will be broadcast live.

The Federal Government’s audit report has revealed irregularities of more than N1.2bn in the 2015, 2016 and 2017 finances of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo State, and  the University of Abuja.

The 2017 report from the Office of the Auditor General of the Federation titled, ‘Auditor General’s Annual Report on the Accounts of the Federation of Nigeria 2017,’ showed that FUTO had more than N611m  irregularities in its expenses between 2016 and 2017, while UNIABUJA  had over N560m for 2015.

The report noted that the vice-chancellors of the universities during the years under review must be made to answer for the money unaccounted for.

For FUTO, the report highlighted about 10 areas where there were financial infractions between 2016 and 2017. These ranged from “payments without raising payment vouchers put at N43,543,129; payment of unapproved allowances put at N244,325,021, and payment to contractor for jobs not done at N34,252,304.”

The report partly read, “During the periodic checks conducted at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, for the period January 1, 2016 to December 31, 2017, the following were observed; payments without raising payment vouchers – N43,543,129.34. Payments totalling N43,543,129.34 were made without raising payment vouchers, in violation of Financial Regulation 601 which provides that payment vouchers must be raised before any payment is made.

“Response from the university on the above issue failed to address the issue.

“The recommendation is that the vice-chancellor has been requested to account for the sum of N43,543,129. Also, sanctions stated in financial regulation 3106 should be imposed on the vice-chancellor.

“Also, payment of unapproved allowances put at N244,325,021.26. It was observed from sampled payment vouchers that a total of N244,325,021.26 was paid to staff as allowances for recharge cards, council incentives, security shift, contract addition allowances, etc., from personnel cost between 2016 and 2017. Documents conveying approval for such payments from the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission could not be made available during the periodic check.”

For the University of Abuja, the  report noted that the institution had unaccounted payments put at N17,924,585; payment of unapproved allowances at N84,748,382, among other infractions.

The report added, “During the periodic checks of the University of Abuja, for the 2015 financial year, the following observations were made. One, unaccounted payments – N17, 924,585; 27 payment vouchers totalling N17,924,585 were paid to a staff of the university for printing services and jobs. The amount should have been made direct to the University Bookshop or University Printing Press rather than personal account of the officer.

However, there was no record of utilisation of the various amounts collected by the payee in order to ascertain transparency, probity and accountability of the transactions. Our recommendation is that the vice-chancellor is required to account for the sum of 17,924,585 and forward evidence to me for confirmation.

“Also, payment of unapproved allowances is put at N84,748,382. Furthermore, there is diversion of funds through fictitious contract which is put at N23,921,250.”

A civil society, Paradigm Leadership Support Initiative, while reacting to the report, asked the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission and  Economic and Financial Crimes Commission to investigate the  universities and recover allegedly misused funds.

The PLSI Executive Director, Olusegun Elemo,  said in a statement, “Anti-corruption agencies, particularly the ICPC and the EFCC, should investigate the transactions and recover the money  and return it   to the federal  treasury.

“The university authorities should also ensure strict compliance with relevant fiscal provisions and procurement laws in the implementation of new contracts.”

When asked for comment,  spokeswoman for FUTO, Mrs Uche Nwaelue, asked our correspondent to forward to her a copy of the  report, while promising to get back to our correspondent.

However, she had yet to get back to our correspondent as of the time of filing this report.

Spokesman for UNIABUJA, Dr Habib Yakoob, could not be reached for comment on Tuesday as his line rang out.

Jubilation in Imo as Uzodinma gift Innoson motors to Head of service, permanent secretaries

The Imo state Head of Service, Chibuzo Iwuagwu, and his permanent secretaries of the various state ministries on Tuesday, received brand new cars manufactured by Innoson vehicles.

The keys of the white coloured cars were handed over to the permanent secretaries at government House Owerri, by Governor Hope Uzodinma.
The governor said it was in line with his 3rs of Rehabilitation, Reconstruction and Recovery agenda of governance to give Imo people happiness.

He said it would improve service delivery and further encourage the heads of the ministries to wholeheartedly put in their best in the economic development of the state.

The governor said that he believed that the civil servant workers deserved a better conducive environment to perform their responsibilities in making Imo greater in his administration.

Uzodinma’s gesture to encourage the workforce in the state civil service, is coming after his 18 days in office.

Recalled he visited the state secretariat last week and among other things said his interested in their welfare and would see to the renovation of the state ministries.