₦airaland Forum

The Kano State Hisbah Board has said it will henceforth request intending Muslim couples undergo marriage counselling courses and get certified before consummating their unions.

Harun Ibn-Sina, Hisbah’s commander-general on Thursday said the proposal was necessary owing to the increasing rate of divorce among couples in the state.



He noted that the couples would also be required to undergo health checks to ascertain their status.

"The board is trying its best to reduce divorce to the barest minimum, sensitise couples on how to love and understand each other,” the commander said at a one-day seminar for married couples in Kano.

“Most of those divorced are young mothers with four to five children, left alone to take care of themselves,” he noted further, advising that there was a need for couples to love and tolerate one another.

Ibn-Sina said the board took the initiative as cases of marital conflicts the board was receiving were becoming too rampant.

“Divorce has led many young children to mingle with bad friends which has led them to engage in social vices.

“Couples need to love and tolerate each other for the sake of their wards,” he said.

The commander urged parents and Islamic scholars to continue to preach peace among couples.

On her part, the Assistant Deputy Commander General, Women and Marriage Unit, Hafsat Waziri, said that mothers need to be prayerful and patient in their marriages.

“Marriage is not a bed of roses, both husband and wife need to support one another.

“The rate at which women are being divorced now is very alarming and there is a need for both couples to do whatever it takes to stick together,” she said.

In the same vein, Wazirin Kano, Alhaji Sa’adu Shehu, thanked the board for the awareness programme, pointing out that a lot of marriages will be saved.

You don’t need to be a politician to hate or love President Muhammadu Buhari. If there is one time and season where the saying: “The rich also cry”, applies, it is now! It is so because there is no special place or market for the rich and the poor. Everybody faces the same situation across board. What differs is the capacity to accommodate the harsh vagaries thrown at us. While the poor are simply withering, the rich and not-so-rich are sweating. Everybody is crying. The difference is that those close to President Buhari are merely groaning and grumbling in silence, while those far from him, and many are they, are just wailing and screaming. The times are rough and tough! Thomas Hobbes may have had the Nigeria of today in mind when he wrote about life being nasty, brutish and short. And those who are curious enough are asking how we got here.

High Inflation

There appears to be a conspiracy of seen and unseen elements to maximally frustrate Nigerians, chief of which being the ever-rising inflationary figures.

The Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS), earlier this week, announced a minor drop in the inflationary figures from 18.17% last month to 17.93% this month. Perhaps the difference is too slim to reflect in the price of things in the market. Suddenly, the cost of living has spiraled upward so much that people are no longer able to afford even two measly meals in a day. They are almost now eating from the dustbin, as Umaru Dikko would prefer.

And many who cannot understand the interplay of macro-economic forces simply lament: this Buhari government na die. They really do not need to understand macro-economics. Life should just be bearable and liveable. But the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) does not seem to care a hoot. The Naira is on a steady and sure fall. It is weakening almost everyday against the stronger currencies of the world like the United States Dollars, the UK British Pounds, the Euro etc. The Naira is literally on a free fall. With Naira exchanging for about N500/$, what can any average home do in an economy that is heavily hinged on importation? Nigerians can hardly see what the managers of the economy are doing. With no Foreign Direct Investments (FDI), no new companies, no financial security or easy access to capital (without a crushing interest rate), the economy is bound to flounder and flap in a tottering state.

It is true that the hungry man is an angry man. President Buhari must realize that hunger is at the base of most of the anger and disquiet in the land. The advent of the Corona Virus pandemic which fatally hit most businesses last year, still has its effects on the economy. Jobs were lost. Companies were shot down. Businesses shrank , if not choked to death. The World Bank recently released a report saying that over 7 million Nigerians have been thrown into poverty by the Buhari administration, even as President Buhari claims that his administration has lifted ten million people out of poverty. Strange! We hardly can feel the latter.

Even the 774,000 persons employed by the FG have had problem receiving their N20,000 monthly stipend.

Life and living has simply become tougher. If people can’t build houses (with cement selling for N4000 per bag) can’t they even eat at home?

President Buhari does not need to be an Economist to know that Nigerians are gnashing their teeth in his administration. They now pay more for petrol, diesel, kerosene, pay more for electricity, pay more for food items, ditto every other thing, yet income is either static or even unsure, so why won’t there be frustration? Why won’t there be crime? And every month, the CBN merely reels out jaded statistics in annoying banking jargons that neither sooth our nerves nor offer hope of a better tomorrow.

Insecurity

The second most troubling concern to many Nigerians is the issue of insecurity. That the state of insecurity in the country is parlous is simply an understatement. First, it was just the Northeast that was under siege, being the operational base of Boko Haram terrorist gang. Then it spread to north Central, with Plateau and Benue states bearing the brunt of herders and farmers’ clashes. Then Banditry came over the northwest, spread to the South west, South south and even South east. There were isolated cases here and there at the beginning. Not anymore. Just everywhere appears under siege now. People are being killed and hacked to death right in their farms and on the highways. Many persons suddenly go missing, sometimes forever. A young man, Anifowose Opeyemi Ebenezar left his Abeokuta home for Lagos last month, and suddenly got missing before getting to Lagos. Till date, there is no trace of him anywhere. There are many such cases across board.

Farmers can’t go to their farms anymore. Either they are killed or they are kidnapped, after their wives have been raped or kidnapped or even killed. Little wonder cost of food items have gone really high. In all cases, the suspects are “unknown gunmen”, a running epithet that has come to describe Fulani herdsmen. The Governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom has literally shouted himself hoarse, over the reckless killing of his people by Fulani herdsmen. But nobody seems to be listening. Two of his fellow governors, Bala Mohammed (Bauchi) and Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna) even believe Ortom is just making noise.

Everywhere, kings and plebeians are being kidnapped. There is no sacred mark on any forehead. In the north, especially Kaduna, Zamfara and Niger States, school children have become endangered species, as they get kidnapped every now and then. Right now, some Islammiya pupils, some as young as four years, have been in custody of their abductors in Niger State for over two weeks now. The other day, parents of abducted Greenfield University students raised N180 million as ransom before their children were released by their abductors.

Five of the students were shot dead by the abductors. What state of insecurity can be worse than that? We hardly remember the remaining Chibok girls or even Leah Sharibu, except on their abduction anniversaries. Cry beloved Nation, Cry!

What Boko Haram and ISWAP and bandits are not able to do in the South east, IPOB (Indigenous People of Biafra) and ESN (Eastern Security Network) are very well filling in the gap. The amount of killings and destruction of government and private infrastructure in the South east along with the rounds of fatal attacks is astounding.

In all of these, Mr President is either seeming aloof, or indifferent or even non-committal. He hardly speaks on the issue. He’s completely ignored the call for a security summit. His rather frequent meetings with his security chiefs have led us no where in the true sense of it.

He’s given orders that those carrying AK 47 rifles should be shot on sight. But is it not a wonder that all along, no herdsman or bandit wielding these high caliber weapons has been shot? Is it that the soldiers and the policemen are not seeing these AK 47-weilding brigands? Or is it that they feel that the body language of Mr President does not accord with his utterance? Otherwise, what explains the continuous killings everyday across the land?

Poor Electricity Supply

Yes, this problem predates the Buhari administration. But truth is that we have not made any significant progress in six years. Apart form increased payment for electricity service, there is also increased hours of darkness. There are many neighbourhoods that have no electricity supply for days and weeks unend. Yet they pay even more. The so-called unbundling of the PHCN has led us nowhere in terms of improved services. Nigerians cannot understand why it appears a jinxed project for us to have steady power supply, in spite of all the huge monies poured into the project by every succeeding government. What is in the technology that is actually beyond Nigeria? The pall of darkness is choking and frustrating Nigerians. Those who live in Government Houses may not feel the pinch. But the fact is that the darkness is killing Nigerians instalmentally.

Government’s Insensitivity

One thing that seems to rile many Nigerians is what comes across as government’s insensitivity. It is bad enough that a child experiences what makes him/her to cry, but it is doubly bad to forbid that child from crying when so provoked.

Some of the actions and utterances of government are indicative of not allowing the child to cry even when beaten.

The ban on twitter as well as the move towards monitoring Internet Content are seen as being insensitive by government. Yes, some of the social media operators are reckless and mischievous, attempting to place a seal on all social media platforms as the Information Minister, Mr Lai Mohammed is attempting to do, will be tantamount to throwing away the baby with the bath water.

The other day, Mr Abubakar Malami, the Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, had drawn a parallel between a ban on Open grazing by Southern governors with the sale of Spare parts in the North. Such a warped and dwarfed intellectual manifestation!

The pronouncement of Mr President during the ARISE TV interview, on grazing routes smacks of great insensitivity. Here is a case of Fulani herdsmen encroaching in people’s farms, destroying their crops and even killing them, rather than speak to such barbaric and despicable act, the President talks about looking for first republic grazing routes in the 21stcentury. This is coming at a time when there is much talk about cattle ranching, but our President is still tethered to grazing routes of 1961. That is quite insensitive!. The talk about teaching the Biafra boys some lessons and talking to them in the language they will understand, also smacks of insensitivity. Yes, nobody supports the wanton destruction of lives and public property in the east, yet, threatening them with sulphur and brimstone hardly solves the problem. Indeed, many argue that if Mr President has capacity to speak in the language brigands will understand, he should speak same to Boko Haram terrorists or the so-called bandits raining terror on Nigerians.

He further challenges governors to work out their own security arrangements and not run to him every now and then. Does he not realize that they run to him because he is the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces? Do the governors control any lever of law enforcement bodies?

Yes, the governors, with their huge security votes should be seen to be doing more, yet, they would need the support of the federal government to rein in the mindless criminals in their various states. Meeting with traditional rulers, youths and other stake holders in the state can only produce a template of operation. Without the support of Mr President and the armed forces, such a template will remain what it is: template!

Queer Politics

Those who do not sufficiently understand the President and his style are wont to accuse him of being selfish.

How does he not care of what Nigerians think of his government and the political party that brought him to power? Nigerians, largely, are not only angry with President Buhari, they are also angry, if not angrier, with the All Progressives Congress (APC) for deceiving them into thinking that the CHANGE they promised was a positive one. They have not quite seen any positive change. The indices of a defective change are all over the place. So what is Mr President doing to shore up the image o the party for the 2023 elections?

More than a year after sacking the Oshiomhole-led APC, the interim body has not been able to organize a congress for a new executive. Presently, there appears some confusion as to which zone will produce what. Mr President, in his characteristic way, remains quiet about the raging storm. Is Mr President concerned about the future of democracy in general and his party (APC) in particular?

The above and a few other matters are those causing the anger against the sitting government. Perhaps, the presidency can commission a rating agency to assess its acceptability , if nothing else, to reset its perception and recalibrate its operations and policies. It still has about two years to redeem itself. No politician worth itself can afford to ignore the grumblings of those who voted him/her to power.

Bandits have abducted some students at Federal Government Girls College, Birnin Yauri, Kebbi State.

Details of the incident are still sketchy but there are reports that a security operative was shot dead during the operation.

Daily Trust cannot independently verify that a security operative was killed.

The attackers, who rode on motorcycles were said to have stormed the school from neighbouring Rijau forest.

They were said to have overpowered the mobile policemen guarding the school.


At least 30 students and three teachers were abducted, according to security sources.

This is the third known attack on a school in the country in the last three weeks.

On May 30, pupils were abducted from an Islamic School in Tegina, Niger State.

Two weeks later, bandits abducted staff and students at Nuhu Bamali Polytechnic in Kaduna State.

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, is currently currying the favour of the National Assembly's top echelon by awarding to them Bureau de Change licences.

SaharaReporters learnt that principal and vocal members of the National Assembly have been awarded the licences by Emefiele so that they could mellow down on the several probes of infractions and misappropriations concerning the CBN.

SaharaReporters gathered that some of the legislators used third-party companies to obtain the licences from the CBN while others who did not have the required financial deposits were also assisted by the CBN governor to access government loans.

Top sources familiar with the incident decried the CBN gaffes, lamenting that Emefiele is scandalising the operations of the apex bank because his administration was indicted in the alleged mismanagement by the Nigerian Incentive-Based Risk Sharing Systems for Agricultural ending (NIRSAL) Microfinance Bank and the diversion of public fund.

The attempts by the National Assembly to probe into these CBN NIRSAL allegations had reportedly prompted the 'settlement' by the CBN governor.

An insider source said, “The latest in these probes is the settlement of the principal and vocal members of the National Assembly with Bureau de Change licence by the CBN governor who is under investigation for several infractions before the same Assembly.

“The governor has issued the licences to these legislators through the companies of their choice and many used third party companies. Some of the legislators who claimed to lack the required financial deposits were also assisted to access loans by the CBN governor.”

Other sources listed infractions involving the CBN governor and his role in diverting the traditional agricultural insurance responsibility of the government insurance company to private companies in which his family members have an interest.

“The 9th Assembly of National Assembly under Senator Ahmad Lawan and Femi Gbajabiamila can better be described as a compromised and silenced legislative arm of government under the current dispensation. No thanks to free access to contracts, cash, and patronage from strategic revenue-generating agencies under the legislative supervisory power of the legislators.

“The legislators and their principal officers have graduated from constituency project implementation to allocation of slots in employment, where the current Minister of Humanitarian Affairs also settled them with N-Power and conditional Cash Transfer slots contrary to principles guiding the projects,” another source stated.

Many of the people recruited from all the local government areas of the country for the federal government’s 774,000 three-month job that ended in April have not been paid, Daily Trust reports.

Our correspondents report that 1,000 people were picked from each of the 774 LGAs in 36 states under the Extended Special Public Works (ESPW) programme.

Thousands of the selected participants are yet to receive the monthly N20,000 promised each of them while some were paid for only one month.

While some of those penciled for the job said they were not posted to anywhere to work, others said they were short-changed during the one month payment and called on the federal government to investigate the anomaly.

Daily Trust reports that the three months programme was approved by President Muhammadu Buhari last year to mitigate problems associated with lack of employment in rural areas through a short-term engagement.

Participants were recruited largely from the pool of unskilled persons from each of the 774 local government areas.

In return, the beneficiaries had reportedly carried out public works such as sweeping of streets after the programme was launched amid pomp and pageantry and elaborately covered by the media.

The framers of the public work said those that participated were expected to save the N60,000 given to them within three months so that they could use it as seed money for other endeavours.


‘We are yet to receive our stipends’

An investigation by Daily Trust revealed that many of the selected beneficiaries in the states who have completed the public works within the three months provided (February to April) are yet to be paid the N20,000 promised them.

In Borno State, some participants said they were paid for only one month.

Hajja Fanna from Gamboru in Ngala Local Government Area who was among the 27,000 unemployed youths said she was still waiting to collect her remaining N40,000.

Another beneficiary from Jere LGA, who would not want to be named, said he participated in the programme but still awaits his payments.

The Coordinator, National Directorate of Employment (NDE) in Borno, Mrs Mairo Aliyu, who is also the Secretary, Borno State Selection Committee of the Extended Special Public Works Programme, said 1,000 unemployed youths were recruited from each of the 27 local government areas of the state.

She confirmed that each participant was supposed to receive a monthly payment of N20,000 through some select banks and that even though the three-month programme had been completed, some of the banks were still processing payments due to some unforeseen reasons.

In Kaduna State, investigation revealed that many participants were yet to receive their payment months after the programme was flagged off nationwide.

One of the beneficiaries from Kaduna North who simply identified himself as Jibril said he had not received any allowance since the programme started.

“Most of us from Kaduna North Local Government have not been paid and we don’t know why because the programme had ended in April,” he said.

State Coordinator of NDE, Sani Maiwada, said some of the banks had already paid the beneficiaries one month salary while some were yet to pay the money.

In Oyo State, only about 30 per cent of the applicants who were using one of the stipulated banks got N20,000 stipends, Daily Trust gathered. Some of the applicants said they didn’t get any information from the NDE in Oyo State on the mode of operation for the job.

A housewife, who refused to be named, said: “I have not been paid. Even my friend had done her own documentation but she had not received anything from the bank. I am not convinced that they will pay because we are currently not doing any job.

“I think the scheme is a scam; it is possible some people have collected our money because nothing is impossible in Nigeria.”

The chairman and coordinator of the programme in Oyo State, Ope Salami, said that about 30 per cent of applicants had been paid for one or two months.

In Rivers State, it was gathered that 23,000 persons from the 23 LGAs of the state were selected for the special public works projects.

A source from the management committee of the project told our reporter that about N1.38bn was released but could not confirm if it was accessed by the participants.

However, the source who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said equipment for the applicants had been distributed to local government councils through the NDE.

Findings showed that most of the participants in Cross River State have not received the monthly stipends of N20,0000. Some of them who spoke with Daily Trust said they were to be paid through one of the second generation banks but they were yet to be paid even though they had completed their documentations.

Miss Regina Akpabio who resides in Calabar South said she had visited the bank a number of times and filled the required forms but no luck.

Another participant, Dopse Edet, expressed dismay that months after the payment was supposed to have started, they were yet to receive even one month pay.

Chairman of the project in Cross River State, Barrister Maria Ukpayang, said it was difficult to immediately ascertain the number of those registered in the state and those currently receiving the monthly stipend.

Some beneficiaries of the NDE public works programme in Ondo State alleged that they were paid N16,000 instead of N20,000.

“The money was given to us by hand instead of being paid into our bank accounts,” noted one of the benefactors from Owo Local Government Area.

Another participant from Akoko South -West told Daily Trust that they were yet to be paid.

In Taraba, participants said they only received payment for one month. Adamu Bashir and Hakimatu Muktari from Gassol Local Government Area; and Haruna Munkailu from Karim-Lamido who participated in the programme told Daily Trust that they were paid N20,000 each only once.

The NDE coordinator in Taraba State, Alhaji Iliya Yakubu Illelah, however, declined comment on the payment and referred our correspondent to the Federal Ministry of Finance which he said was shouldering the payment through some banks.

“I don’t want to comment on payment issue because the Federal Ministry of Finance is responsible for the payment of participants through banks and not NDE Taraba office,” he said.

Similarly, participants in Benue State were worried over non-payment of their stipends.

While some of them told our correspondent that they have not received any monies as stipends for the project which ended in April, others said they were paid for one month and yet to get the remaining two months.

A participant, who simply gave his name as Eddy, claimed that he had not received any money to show for his labour over the three months period.

The state coordinator of the scheme, Arc. Samuel Gberindyer confirmed that some of the participants were paid for one month and admitted that some have not.

In Plateau State, the coordinator of the programme, Mr Rufus Bature, confirmed that some of the beneficiaries had received their stipends but others were yet to receive theirs due to technical issues.

Bature said the issues were linked to some selected banks but said the affected banks were working assiduously to resolve the glitches.

One of the beneficiaries in the state, Aisha Sani, told Daily Trust that she only received one month stipend from her bank.

Another beneficiary, Abubakar Audu said since the completion of the programme, he hasn’t received anything even though he had been given an ATM card from his bank.

In Kwara State, beneficiaries of the public work scheme across local governments complained of irregularity and what they described as outright denial of their payments in some instances.

While some of the beneficiaries acknowledged payment of one month stipend, others complained about deductions from what they got from the banks.

One of the beneficiaries, Ahmed Adijat, said: “I only received one month which was paid around the middle of April during the last Ramadan.”

Another beneficiary, Medinat Naallah, complained that although one month stipend was paid on April 18, she was able to access it a week after.

“We were told that we would be paid three months, but we only collected one and have not received anything since then and this is June,” she said.

More than 20,000 youths who were selected for the job have not been paid months after completing the work in Bauchi State, Daily Trust gathered.

The non-payment of the participants had plunged both the state implementation committee and monitors who supervised the projects into a running battle with a threat to revolt against the delay.

A participant who wouldn’t want to be named told Daily Trust that after devoting their precious time and energy “some ungodly elements are planning to siphon the little contributions of government using flimsy excuses.”

He said they were planning to hold a peaceful demonstration against what he called “injustice.”

State coordinator of NDE, Lawal Yaya, told Daily Trust that the delay in paying the participants had thrown the committee into difficulties including threats of demonstration and street protests.


Banks delaying payments — NDE

Contacted, the Director-General of the National Directorate of Employment (NDE), Abubakar Nuhu Fikpo, confirmed that not all the 774,000 participants received their stipends.

According to him, the banks handling the process were the ones delaying the payments, saying they have not concluded the authentication of the names of participants, their account numbers and Bank Verification Numbers (BVN).

“Yes, it is true; we are in the process of paying the participants for one month because that is the funds we have received that are in our custody. Of course, we received part of the money that was meant for the projects. The money was meant for the stipends as well as the purchase of the equipment in the execution of the projects.

“You know it is a special public works programme which involves the maintenance of infrastructures. Therefore, it requires equipment for the participants to use.

“So, out of what they gave to us, we have used part of it to buy equipment and what was left was just adequate to pay for one month. As such, we have been in the process of paying their stipends for that one month,” he said.

Asked for the timeline given the banks to complete the process, he said, “In fact, the expectation of the agency is not for them to just respond quickly and expeditiously but we went further to even write the banks. We told them to hasten this process because these people are due for payment.”

The positions of Governor Aminu Bello Masari of Katsina State and his Kano State counterpart, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, on what is next for them on the expiration of their tenures, come May 29, 2023, have set tongues wagging in the political arena in the two states and beyond.

With a total of 710 days left for the two governors, who are from the same political party, All Progressives Congress (APC), same geopolitical zone, North West and both 71 years old, the duo let the cat out of the bag on what they are likely to do when they leave the government house.

The two septuagenarians made their positions known during events to mark this year’s Democracy Day in their respective states.

While addressing newsmen as part of activities to mark the event, Masari, a former speaker of the House of Representatives said he would quit active politics and return to the farm.

“My people from Katsina, like the late Umaru Musa Yar’adua, contested for president and won; Muhammadu Buhari the same thing, he even served as military Head of State. I think it is better we leave the stage for other people from other places.

“After I have satisfactorily succeeded in doing that, I will retire to my farm,” Masari said apparently re-echoing his 2019 position on retirement.

Masari, had in December 2019, while speaking to State House reporters, said he would quit active politics on the expiration of his second tenure.

In sharp contrast to Masari’s position, however, about 48 hours later, Ganduje said he was not ready to retire on the expiration of his second tenure. He was responding to questions during an interactive session with journalists in Kano.

Specifically, Ganduje said: “You want me to tell you whether I will retire as well. Well, I am not tired. Whether I will resign or not, time will tell. But you should know that I have been in politics since 1978. So, even if I resign or retire, I think my ears are on what is happening.”


Lone option for Masari

Since President Buhari hails from Katsina State same as Masari, the only option for Masari in the political scene is the Senate. But the governor, by his statement, is opting for retirement. Since 2007 when the first set of governors completed their second tenure, the Senate has become their ‘retirement’ home. But none of the former speakers of the House of Representatives has crossed over from the Green Chamber to the Red Chamber.

From 1999 to date, eight persons including Salisu Buhari, Ghali Umar Na’Abba, Aminu Bello Masari, Patricia Etteh, Dimeji Bankole, Aminu Waziri (present Sokoto State governor), Yakubu Dogara and Femi Gbajabiamila, have served as speaker of the House of Representatives.


Ganduje considers two options

Unlike Masari, Ganduje, according to pundits and others around the political scene in Kano State, has the Senate as one of his options. His two predecessors in Kano State government house, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (estranged political godfather of Ganduje) and Ibrahim Shekarau crossed over to the Senate on the expiration of their tenures.

Ganduje, who was deputy governor for eight years under Kwankwaso, and is completing his second term of eight years as governor in 2023, will have an easy ride if he decides to vie for Kano North Senatorial seat.

Absurd as it may look, pundits say the governor may pair with the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is being touted as one of the top shots in the ruling party eyeing the presidency.

Tinubu, the former Lagos State governor celebrated his birthday in Kano recently. His posters for the presidency were sighted on the streets of Kano on Saturday.

But as stated by Ganduje, whether he will retire or not, only time will tell.

Ajibola Basiru, spokesman for the Senate, says there is no grazing-route law in Nigeria.

Basiru said this following the statement of the President on the farmer-herder crisis.

The President while fielding questions in an interview with Arise Television on Thursday, said: “What I did was ask him (AGF) to go and dig the gazette of the first republic when people were obeying laws.

“There were cattle routes and grazing areas. Cattle routes were for when they (herders) are moving up country, north to south or east to west, they had to go through there.”

But speaking with The PUNCH, Basiru said the gazette that Buhari was referring to was a product of a decree promulgated in northern Nigeria in the 1960s, adding that the Land Use Act recognised by the constitution has rendered it ineffective.

“Nigerians should be concerned over whether the Nigerian president is actually getting the correct legal advice from his attorney-general and the legal team,” the senator said.

“As far as I am concerned, as a legal practitioner, there is nothing like grazing routes or grazing reserve law, in the laws of the federation of Nigeria. There is nothing like that.

“There is no federal legislation that the president can implement over such matter. The executive powers of the president merely rely on the powers of the National Assembly to make laws, when you look at Section 5 of the constitution.

“Any area where the National Assembly cannot make laws, and there is no express grants of powers to the president under the constitution, a purported exercise of power by the president in that regard, will be null and void because it is inconsistent with the constitution by section 1(3) of the 1999 constitution.

“I am aware that there is a northern Nigerian law on reserve and grazing routes which was promulgated by a 1964 decree by the premier of the defunct northern Nigeria region.”

The legislator said there is no way a decree for Northern Nigeria will be implemented as a federal law.

“It is not a federal law unless the legal adviser to Mr President is equating a northern Nigeria law, which is not applicable in the west, mid-west, and eastern region or in anywhere in the southern part of Nigeria, to be a federal or a Nigerian law,” he said.

“The president does not have the power to implement that law because it is not a federal law. He can only implement federal legislation made by the National Assembly or deemed to have been made by the National Assembly.

“The grazing routes law is not a National Assembly law, so there is nothing for the president to implement. It is regrettable that the president has not been properly advised by his attorney-general and the legal team.

Comfort Benjamin, a teenager living with her family in Jos, Plateau State, went out on May 22, a day to her 16th birthday, and never returned. Two days later, her corpse was found dumped on the street. The sister of the deceased, Magdalene, tells GODFREY GEORGE the family is distraught


What is your name?

My name is Magdalene Otega Benjamin. I am from Delta State but I live in Jos, Plateau State. I am the elder sister to Comfort Benjamin, the teenager who was murdered and her body dumped on the street.


How did this happen?

My sister went out a day before her birthday and didn’t come back all day. We called her lines and they were all switched off. We made contact with everyone around who we thought should know her whereabouts, but our efforts were all futile as no one seemed to have seen or heard from her. We kept calling till it became so late and she still wasn’t back.


How old was your sister?

She was going to be 16 on May 23, 2021. She is the most considerate and caring human I have met and would not just leave have without saying anything to anyone. I am still in shock.


When you did not see her all day, what did you do?

She was around in the afternoon. I saw her at 1pm that Saturday. The next morning, being Sunday, May, 23, 2021, my parents and I went to report to Laama Police Station, Rock Haven, Jos North, Plateau State. They told us to write a statement about all we could remember and where we thought Comfort could be. They also said they would need to wait for another 24 hours before she could be declared missing. So, we gave all the information needed and went home.

Before then, I had gone on Twitter and made a post that my sister was missing. I dropped her pictures and my phone number for people to reach out to me.


Did help come?

The next day I got a call from a man who said he was a patrolman. He said he saw my post on social media and that he had information concerning my sister. He told us to meet him at St. Michael Junction. Before we got there, he was not there anymore. So, we went to the Nasarawa Gwong Division of the Police Force close to the junction. Officers there showed us pictures of my sister lying naked and lifeless on the streets covered in her own blood.


What happened after that?

We went straight to the mortuary at the Jos University Teaching Hospital, where she had been kept and saw how bad her remains had got. Her body was not well-handled. It was left at the entrance, unclad and quite dishonourably. I felt so bad with the way things were. My mom couldn’t help it, she fell to the ground and began to roll. I had never seen anything like that since I was born.


Were there any eyewitnesses who could tell you how her body got to the street?

The vigilantes guarding the area said they saw a tricycle push a body out and zoomed off. They chased after the tricycle but couldn’t get it as they were ill-prepared for the emergency. They checked who was pushed out and saw a young teenager. That was when they called the patrol guard in the area who took pictures of the corpse and took it to the police.


Did your family run an autopsy on the body?

Yes, we did. The doctors at JUTH, when they examined her said there were marks of strangulation around her neck and undue pressure on her head. And from the blood around her private parts, she must have been raped. They also said she struggled to the point of death from the restrictions from her blood vessels. She also had bruises around her body.

My sister was raped and killed for just being a happy teenager. They didn’t let her celebrate turning 16. The pictures she snapped for her birthday were what we used to announce her death. A girl full of life and dreams is gone just like that.


Did she discuss what she wanted to be in future?

She was in Senior Secondary School 1 when she died. She said she wanted to be a flight attendant, so she could travel around the world and see different places.

Before she got missing, she was with me and we talked about her wishes for her ‘sweet-16.’ It is such a sad thing that she is gone now.


What are the police doing about the case?

They said they are having ‘discreet investigations’ to identify the prime suspect, whom they have conviction must be from her circle on social media. We told them we have access to Comfort’s Facebook account and we were told to provide these details, and investigations will go on from there. They also said they needed to track her number.

It has been two weeks, and she has been buried, but we haven’t heard anything from the police since then, but we have never stopped going to the station. They keep telling us they are investigating, but we don’t see them doing anything.

The Police Public Relations Officer of the state told me that they were working closely with your family to have the case investigated…

See, I don’t know about all that. My parents most times skip work and go spend time at the station, but nothing fruitful comes out. Initially, they demanded that we pay N25,000 for the tracking of the phone and other ‘miscellaneous.’ After a while, we saw them arguing and said we should forget about it. Today (Wednesday, June 2, 2021), I went with my family to meet them and they said they needed N10,000 for another investigation.

We haven’t given them any money, so they are dragging their feet. Not even a single arrest has been made, no concrete report has been given. All we hear is, “Madam, relax, we are investigating!” We want justice for our sister! She cannot just die and go like that. My family has not been the same since she left. She was the last child, so lively and a happy child. I see her in my dreams, most times, and it makes me angry, that about a month after her death, nothing is being done.

Nigeria's President Muhammadu Buhari secretly plans to visit Maiduguri, the capital of Borno this week, SaharaReporters has learnt.

Borno is the epicentre of insurgency war in Nigeria.

A source in the Presidency told SaharaReporters that the planned visit is deliberately kept a secret because it is believed that the President will attract protests in the troubled state.

Borno and adjoining states have been at the end of incessant deadly attacks by terrorist groups–Boko Haram and the Islamic State West African Province (ISWAP), and many residents have grown frustrated with the Buhari government.

Ahead of his election in 2015, Buhari promised to defeat Boko Haram but six years into his government, that promise has not been fulfilled.

Borno is a stronghold of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), which won presidential elections in the state in 2015 and 2019.

"Buhari has a secret plan to visit Maiduguri this week but they don’t want to announce it to prevent a situation whereby protesters in Maiduguri will embarrass him," the source said.

Protesters in February 2020 booed Buhari when he travelled to Maiduguri to "sympathise" with its residents over recent Boko Haram attacks.

A video circulated on social media showed hundreds of protesters on the road while the president's convoy drove past.

"Buhari, we don't like you. We don't want you anymore," some of the protesters chanted in Hausa.

On Saturday, June 12, there were protests in many states across the country, with protesters chanting 'Buhari Must Go', and lamenting worsening insecurity, poor living standard and other vital indices of national growth.

Buhari's planned visit to Borno may be part of an alleged strategy developed by the Presidency for the President to leave the Presidential Villa, where he had been holed up for so long, a bit more, considering his dwindling popularity.

Last Thursday, the President was on Arise TV where he granted an interview.
He was also in Lagos to inaugurate the newly constructed Lagos-Ibadan Railway project.
And on Friday, he granted another interview to NTA, though as usual, making controversial statements in both interviews.

By Bolaji Ogundele


President Muhammadu Buhari will this evening feature in an exclusive interview on the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA).

A statement by Special Adviser to Buhari, Mr. Femi Adesina, said the interview session, which is expected to be on air from about 8:30pm, would be revealing.

“President Muhammadu Buhari grants Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) an exclusive interview, from 8.30 pm, Friday, June 11, 2021.

“It promises to be revealing and educating. Kindly keep a date,” the statement said.

A man whose identity is being withheld from Amaigbo in Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State on Thursday hanged himself after he was caught having canal knowledge of his daughter.

A source from the community who confided in our correspondent narrated that the man has been forcing her 17 year old daughter to sleep with her for a very long time before the burble burst on him.

According to the source, the villagers who have been suspicious of his incest with his daughter had earlier approached him but he denied it blatantly.

Not satisfied with his denial, some of their kinsmen decided to keep their eyes on the father and daughter. Fortunately, they were not disappointed by their suspicion as both were caught on the act.

The angry youths around were able to catch the man who attempted to jump out from the window of his building,the source said.

He was later dragged to the palace of the traditional ruler of the area where he was said to have confessed to the crime.

He was made to atone the gods of the land by performing traditional sacrifice, but realising the shameful act he has landed himself he hanged himself on a tree in a nearby bush.

The man was said to have told his daughter to forgive him but also told her that he can not live to bear the stigma of his act.

Her daughter on interrogation claimed her father has been threatening to kill her if she expose their secret affair to the public.

“She told us that her father has been sleeping with her since she was 16 years, she even threatened to kill her if she reveal their affair to the mother who is a trader.

”Her mother takes her goods to the market everyday, she does not know what is going on between them.”

Meanwhile,the source has also revealed that such incest has happened in the community before and a proper punishment handed to the culprits but he said he was surprise despite the punishment meant to serve as a deterrent, another abomination reared its head in the community.

A now suspended Virginia Tech footballer, David Etute, has been charged with second-degree murder for the death of a man he met on dating app, Tinder.

Etute, who has Nigerian roots, had allegedly beaten a transvestite sex worker to death after discovering that ‘she’ was actually a man, Richmond-Times Dispatch reported.

Etute’s statement to the police revealed that he was matched with someone named ‘Angie’ on Tinder.

The footballer had visited the victim’s apartment on April 10 and he revealed that they both engaged in MouthAction.

On returning to the apartment on May 31 for more intimate sexual activity, he discovered that the ‘Angie’ he was matched with was a male who was later identified as Jerry Smith, a restaurant worker.

Etute told the police that upon his discovery, he punched Smith five times in the face and kept on punching him victim till Smith hit the ground.

Though he heard “bubbling and gurgling”, Etute left the apartment and didn’t call the police after the incident.

Two days later, the police found Smith’s body in his apartment at Blacksburg, Virginia.

Autopsy revealed that all the bones in Smith’s face were broken and his teeth were also missing.

Smith also sustained cranial fractures and the medical examiner revealed that he died from blunt force trauma transmitted to the head.

In the Montgomery County General District Court on June 2, Etute was charged with second-degree murder for Smith’s death.

Etute was granted bond during the hearing but the Chief Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney, Patrick Jensen, filed an expedited appeal to keep Etute in jail for five more days.

According to a release by the Commonwealth’s Attorney, Mary Pettitt, the court later agreed on Wednesday to release Etute on a $75,000 secured bond under house arrest and electronic monitoring.

When asked about how he felt, Etute revealed that the situation affected him “real hard”.

He said, “I’m trying to stay strong for the people that support me. I feel like I’ve let a lot of people down… I’m truly sorry for my actions.”

There was drama at the Police College, Ikeja, Lagos State, on Thursday, as policemen prevented two of the Chiefs who accompanied Oba Rilwanu Akiolu of Lagos, from the arena where President Muhammadu Buhari handed over some equipment to security agencies.

Only one of the chiefs followed the monarch into the venue where the equipment were handed over to the state police command.

The monarch was an Assistant Inspector-General before he retired from the police.

However, Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, Iyaloja-General of Lagos, got to the venue in the company of three persons who were all allowed into the venue.

The Iyaloja-General is the daughter of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who was absent at the event.

It is unclear why Tinubu was conspicuously absent during the historic visit of Buhari to Lagos.

Among the items handed over to the police were 150 Double Cabin Vehicles; 30 Saloon Patrol Vehicles; 1,000 Ballistic Vests; 1,000 Ballistic Helmets; 1,000 Handheld Police Radios/Walkie Talkies and 100 Security Patrol Bikes.

Others were two Armored Personnel Carriers (APCs); Four High Capacity Troop Carriers; Two Anti-Riot Water Cannon Vehicles; Office/Command Furniture and other Ancillary Support Resources
They were donated by the state government.

Speaking at the event, Buhari charged the Inspector-General of Police to rebuild confidence in his men, who have been demoralised as a result of a series of attacks since the #EndSARS protests.

“I charge the Inspector-General to leave no stone unturned in rebuilding the morale of his officers and men, especially in the aftermath of the mindless violence associated with the EndSARS protests, as well as the recent spate of attacks on Police Stations in some parts of the country.

“A nation that turns its Police personnel and infrastructure into targets of violence and destruction is a nation on the path of self-destruction. We will act firmly and decisively against any and all persons fomenting or carrying out attacks on our Police Force and other security personnel.

“As Commander-in-chief, my primary responsibility remains the security of the country and the safety of all citizens. Despite the many challenges we are facing, I want Nigerians to rest assured that we will secure this country. We will secure our infrastructure, our highways, our communities, and our forests, and we will secure the lives of our people,” the president said.

President Muhammadu Buhari again on Tuesday blamed the past administrations for the country's economic woes, stating that they had huge revenue from oil between 1999 and 2014, but failed to put infrastructure in place.

Buhari wondered why Nigerians are not questioning the past administrations and demanding for accountability, despite the fact that his government had spent six years in the saddle.

He stated this on Thursday in an interview on Arise News Television in Abuja, adding that "there has been no infrastructure despite the high numbers of earnings."

Buhari added that Nigerians should be concerned about the waste and lack of accountability under the past administrations.

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged governors to stop waiting for him to solve every problem for them, saying they should stop attacks by herdsmen in their states.

Many states have been experiencing deadly attacks on agrarian communities by Fulani herdsmen, putting pressure on the President as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces with the power to control the country's centralised security system.

Since he is Fulani, many Nigerians have also accused him of bias and lacking the political will to curb attacks by the nomadic herdsmen, who are also largely Fulani.

But Buhari in an interview with Arise TV on Thursday, recalled two South-West governors recently visited him to complain about encroachment by herdsmen on farmlands in their states.

Describing it as a threat to food security, Buhari said, “You know these people more than I do, and you are democratically elected to protect your people. Don’t sit idly expecting me to do everything, take action."

The Nigerian Bar Association is set for a legal battle with the Federal Government over its decision to suspend operations of the micro-blogging and social media platform, Twitter.

The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Dr Rapulu Nduka, in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Lagos, said a 13-member committee had been set up to handle matters relating to the suit the association planned to file against the Federal Government.

Nduka stated this as The PUNCH on Wednesday learnt that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Isa Pantami; and his counterpart for Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, would lead talks with Twitter.

The Federal Government has been under fire since Friday when the minister of Information and Culture, in a statement by his spokesman, Segun Adeyemi, suspended Twitter operations on the grounds that the platform was undermining the country’s corporate existence.

On Saturday, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, SAN, directed the Director of Public Prosecution in his ministry to begin the process of prosecuting violators of the suspension order.

But before Malami gave the directive, the NBA had on Friday threatened to institute a suit against the Federal Government over the suspension of Twitter’s operations.

Its President, Olumide Akpata, in a statement made via the social media platform, said government lacked constitutional authority to back its decision.

He said if the suspension was not reversed, the NBA would sue government to protect the country’s democracy.

The NBA National Publicity Secretary, Nduka, in the interview with The PUNCH correspondent, said the suit was delayed by the strike by judiciary workers.

He, however, stated, “A committee has already been set up by the NBA to handle matters related to the intended suit. The members of the committee will do whatever it takes to address the issue.”

According to Nduka, the committee in charge of the suit is the NBA Public Interest Litigation Committee.

On Wednesday, he stated, “The mandate of the committee, among other things, is to actively take steps to reinforce the faith of society in law, bring solutions to societal issues and most especially, to check the abuse of power.

“The committee is chaired by Dr Charles Mekwunye, with Dr Olumide Ayeni (SAN) acting as its co-chairman. Other members of the committee include Dr Paul Ananaba (SAN), Kunle Edun, Aderemi Oguntoye, Boonyameen Lawal, Solomon Oho, Gloria Ballason, Malachy Odo, Olumide Babalola, Baba Isah, Amaka Ezeno, and Auwal Yau.”

He said the court, among others, would determine if the Federal Government had the power to suspend the operations of a company like Twitter just because the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), was hurt by its policies.

Nduka added, “I must also confess that from the look of things, the Federal Government is trying to soft-pedal on the situation. We are watching and waiting for the courts to resume in order to take actions.”

The NBA spokesman said government initially stated that the ban was indefinite, but later claimed it was temporary.

He stated, “Hopefully, the government will retrace its steps and do the right thing. Whichever way it goes, issues like these need to be taken to court so that judicial principles can be made for future purposes.

“We do not only have the present administration in mind, some of these issues may arise in another administration and we do not want history to repeat itself.

“The motto of the NBA is ‘promoting the rule of law.’ It is unbelievable that the government has threatened to prosecute any Nigerian caught violating its order. I think the threat may have been made out of anger without recourse to its consequences.

“In the first place, under what law would such Nigerians be prosecuted? Also, what happens to the freedom of expression enshrined in our constitution which is a fundamental human right?

“In this light, we vow to protect and defend any Nigerian who will be prosecuted for tweeting, in violation of the Federal Government’s order. In essence, they have not committed any crime and we hope to defend them when the time comes.”

Senate keeps mum on Twitter ban

As the public outcry greeted the suspension, the Senate on Wednesday kept sealed lips on the issue.

Investigations by one of our correspondents revealed that the matter was discussed at an executive session of the Senate on Tuesday and the lawmakers resolved to keep silent on it.

The Spokesperson for the red chamber, Senator Ajibola Basiru, refused to say the position of the senators when contacted on Wednesday.

He said since he did not have the mandate of the Senate to speak, journalists should wait till the matter would be discussed at plenary.

Ignore Twitter ban, opposition National Assembly members tell Nigerians

But the Joint Minority Caucus of the Senate and the House of Representatives urged Nigerians to ignore the Federal Government

The opposition lawmakers stated this in a statement by the Senate Minority Leader, Enyinnaya Abaribe and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Ndudi Elumelu.

The group condemned the ban on Twitter by the All Progressives Congress-led Federal Government, saying it was draconian and unacceptable.

The group called on Nigerians to go ahead and use their Twitter as they would not be contravening any law in Nigeria or any international

Ubani plans to sue Malami, others over Twitter ban

Also, the Chairman of the NBA Section of Public Interest and Development Law, Dr Monday Ubani, on Wednesday said he would sue Malami over the ban.

While speaking to The PUNCH, Ubani said Buhari’s regime had violated his rights.

He stated, “As a Nigerian citizen with full rights as guaranteed by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), I shall be proceeding to the court alongside other Twitter users whose rights have been violated, to seek immediate remedy to the wrongs meted out to us by this illegal ban.”

A Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, has asked the ECOWAS Court of Justice to void the suspension.

In the suit he filed on Wednesday, the lawyer contended that through the suspension order, the Federal Government had denied him access to his Twitter and thus violated his “rights to freedom of association, speech and expression.”

The Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu, Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka, waited in vain for the Department of State Services to bring a formal invitation to him on Monday.

A source in the church added on Tuesday that the priest would not visit the office of the DSS until he received formal invitation.

Operatives of the DSS had on Thursday, June 3, stormed the Adoration Ministry to deliver a letter of invitation to Mbaka to come to Abuja for interrogation.

Although they did not meet the cleric, the operatives were asked to return on Monday to see him.

The PUNCH learnt on Tuesday that Mbaka waited for the security operatives on Monday, but they did not show up.

A priest, who was with him on that day, told our correspondent that Mbaka did not go out of his ministry ground, adding that he purposely waited to receive the invitation from the operatives.

“Fortunately, as of 6.30pm on Monday, we did not see anybody or letter. So as it is now, Fr Mbaka has not been served any letter of invitation from the DSS,” the source added.

Asked if Mbaka would go to the Abuja office of the DSS, he said, “No, he will not go to the DSS office. Father told me that he will not go to Abuja until they bring him an invitation.”

The cleric recently stated that God had rejected the President and was unhappy with his leadership.

Mbaka, who resumed activities in his ministry on Sunday after a 30-day suspension order from his Bishop, Most Rev. Calistus Onaga, had flayed the DSS over the summons, saying “the mother church (Catholic church) is both a lamb and a lion.”

Also, reacting to the development, the Catholic Diocese of Enugu said it had yet to see the DSS letter summoning the priest.

The diocese Communications Director, Rev, Fr. Benjamin Achi, said, “The church will react if the DSS serves Fr. Mbaka the invitation letter or come to arrest him. He is our priest and it is our duty to protect him.

“He (Mbaka) waited yesterday (Monday), but he didn’t see anybody.”

By Abankula


President Muhammadu Buhari has been dragged to ECOWAS court over “the unlawful suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

The legal fight is being spearheaded by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and 176 concerned Nigerians.

Nigeria’s leading human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana is representing the 177 plaintiffs.

They sued Buhari for criminalisation of Nigerians and other people using Twitter, and the escalating repression of human rights, particularly the rights to freedom of expression, access to information, and media freedom in the country.”

Following the deletion of President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed last week announced the suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

The government has also threatened to arrest and prosecute anyone using Twitter in the country, while the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) has asked all broadcast stations to suspend the patronage of Twitter.

In the suit No ECW/CCJ/APP/23/21 filed today before the ECOWAS Community Court of Justice in Abuja, SERAP and the concerned Nigerians are seeking: “An order of interim injunction restraining the Federal Government from implementing its suspension of Twitter in Nigeria.

The 177 Nigerians also seek a stay order on government from subjecting anyone including media houses, broadcast stations using Twitter in Nigeria, to harassment, intimidation, arrest and criminal prosecution, pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit.”

In the suit filed by Solicitor to SERAP, Femi Falana SAN, the Plaintiffs contend that “if this application is not urgently granted, the Federal Government will continue to arbitrarily suspend Twitter and threaten to impose criminal and other sanctions on Nigerians, telecommunication companies, media houses, broadcast stations and other people using Twitter in Nigeria, the perpetual order sought in this suit might be rendered nugatory.”

The suit, read in part: “The suspension of Twitter is aimed at intimidating and stopping Nigerians from using Twitter and other social media platforms to assess government policies, expose corruption, and criticise acts of official impunity by the agents of the Federal Government.”

“The free communication of information and ideas about public and political issues between citizens and elected representatives is essential. This implies a free press and other media able to comment on public issues without censor or restraints, and to inform public opinion. The public also has a corresponding right to receive media output.”

“Freedom of expression is a fundamental human right and the full enjoyment of this right is central to achieving individual freedom and to developing democracy. It is not only the cornerstone of democracy, but indispensable to a thriving civil society.”

“The arbitrary action by the Federal Government and its agents have negatively impacted millions of Nigerians who carry on their daily businesses and operational activities on Twitter. The suspension has also impeded the freedom of expression of millions of Nigerians, who criticize and influence government policies through the microblogging app.”

“The suspension of Twitter is arbitrary, and there is no law in Nigeria today permitting the prosecution of people simply for peacefully exercising their human rights through Twitter and other social media platforms.”

“The suspension and threat of prosecution by the Federal Government constitute a fundamental breach of the country’s international human rights obligations including under Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and Article 19 of International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to which Nigeria is a state party.”

“The suspension has seriously undermined the ability of Nigerians and other people in the country to freely express themselves in a democracy, and undermined the ability of journalists, media houses, broadcast stations, and other people to freely carry out their professional duties.”

“A lot of Nigerians at home and abroad rely on Twitter coverage of topical issues of public interest to access impartial, objective and critical information about ideas and views on how the Nigerian government is performing its constitutional and international human rights obligations.”

“The implication of the decline in freedom of expression in Nigeria is that the country is today ranked alongside countries hostile to human rights and media freedom such as Afghanistan, Chad, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Zimbabwe and Colombia.”

Some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s social media aides may be sacked as Presidency sources said they are now jobless after last Friday’s ban on social microblogging giant, Twitter, in the country.

SaharaReporters learnt that some of the top shots in the Presidency, who have an axe to grind with the overzealous social media aides, have been silently pushing for their sacking since Twitter was banned and the aides deemed to be idle.

SaharaReporters gathered that the aides that may go include Bashir Ahmad, who tweets through @bashirahmaad, and is the Personal Assistant to the President on Digital and New Media, and Lauretta Onochie, Personal Assistant to the President on Social Media. Others are Tolu Ogunlesi, who is Special Assistant on Digital and New Media to the President.

“Some of them will be asked to go. They are lobbying too to keep their jobs. Some top presidency chiefs believe these guys just sit on Twitter and do nothing. They only send out controversial tweets which ridicule Buhari the more. When you remove Twitter and Instagram from them, some of them are idle and useless,” a top source stated.

“Since last Friday, some of the social media aides have been trying to change their portfolios and add new responsibilities, so that they can remain relevant. They are presently idle.”

Last Friday, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, announced the suspension of Twitter in a statement signed by his Special Assistant, Segun Adeyemi, citing the “persistent use of the platform for activities that are capable of undermining Nigeria’s corporate existence”.

The Minister said the Federal Government had also directed the National Broadcasting Commission (NBC) to immediately commence the process of licensing all OTT and social media operations in Nigeria.

The development comes after Twitter deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s tweet where he threatened to treat Nigerians in the South-East “misbehaving” in “the language they understand”.

Buhari had in a tweet on Tuesday stated that his government would get “harder” on those hell-bent on destroying the country.

He said those wanting to destroy his government will receive the shock of their lives as his administration will do everything possible to ensure they fail.

The president had said the sponsors and orchestrators of insecurity in the country are doing so because they want his administration to fail.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War. Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand,” he had said.

SaharaReporters had also on Monday reported that a number of Buhari’s loyalists worked hard to ensure the emergence of their new micro-blogging site, , and also made sure that the administration took a firm decision to suspend social media giant, Twitter, in Nigeria.

SaharaReporters learnt that at the heart of is a former presidential aspirant, Adamu Garba, but he has other forces behind him, to push the agenda.

“The first group of Buhari’s loyalists were those who were bitter by last year’s October EndSARS protests which almost tore apart the Federal Government and where the mobilisers and sponsors of the protests made use of Twitter effectively to lead a massive campaign. So, they use Adamu Garba to file a suit against Twitter,” a top source had revealed to SaharaReporters.

“The second group of Buhari’s loyalists who support the emergence of and actually funded it and worked hard to ensure Twitter sank are those who are bitter by the rising campaign of the Indigenous People of Biafra on Twitter and their international web of collaborators and sponsors. They believed that by banning Twitter, there would be a deep communication gap between Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) diaspora and IPOB at home,” another source had stated.

DAAR Communications PLC has vowed to challenge the National Broadcasting Commission’s directive on the suspension of Twitter as announced by the Federal Government.

The owners and operators of Africa Independent Television, Raypower FM and Faaji Radio, made this known in a statement issued on Monday.

The management said the issue will be decided in court once the strike by the Judiciary Staff Union of Nigeria is over.

Although AIT, Raypower and Faaji Radio have suspended the use of their Twitter handles but believed the NBC violated their rights.

NBC, in a statement on Monday, had directed all broadcast stations across the nation to suspend their patronage of Twitter and stop using it as a source of news.

The directive also demands that they deactivate their accounts on the microblogging site.

This followed the ban of Twitter operations in Nigeria by the Federal Government over the use of the platform for ‘activities that are capable of undermining the corporate existence of Nigeria’.

NBC quoted from Sections 2 (1), 3.11.2 as well as 5.6.3 of the NBC Act.

By Ameh Ejekwonyilo


The threat by the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to prosecute “violators” of the government’s ban on Twitter operations in Nigeria lacks legal basis, some lawyers have argued.

The government, through the information minister, Lai Mohammed, had on Friday suspended Twitter operations in the country.

The crackdown on Twitter came two days after the social media platform deleted President Muhammadu Buhari’s controversial tweet seen as a veiled threat of violence against the Igbo ethnic group.

It is seen by many Nigerians as an attack on citizens’ right to freedom of expression and a step closer the execution of the government’s years-long ambition to impose regulations on the social media space in the country.

But since the ban on Twitter on Friday, many Nigerians have been using various Virtual Private Network (VPN) applications to remain active on the microblogging site.

Mr Malami, in reaction to the development on Saturday, ordered the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Umar Muhammed, to begin the prosecution of those bypassing the ban.

He directed the DPPF to liaise with the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy, National Communication Commission (NCC) and other relevant government agencies to ensure the speedy prosecution of the “offenders without any further delay”.

‘No constitutional backing’

But in separate telephone interviews with our correspondent on Saturday, lawyers argued that there were no constitutional provisions to support Mr Malami’s directive to the DPPF to try Nigerians for alleged breach of the government’s suspension of Twitter operations.

A legal practitioner and human rights activist, Malcolm Omirhobo, said it was unfortunate that the attorney-general was unable to offer sound legal advice to President on the Twitter matter and other issues in the country.

“The inability of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, to distill issues so as to guide the President and government properly on what decisions to take in issues of law and many others in the country is most unfortunate.

“Mr Malami’s directive to the DPP of Nigeria has no legal backing,” Mr Omirhobo said.

‘Use of Twitter not codified as an offence’
Also a constitutional lawyer, Daniel Bwala, agreed with Mr Omirhobo, that the use of Twitter had not been defined as an offence by mere suspension of the social media platform by the federal government.

According to Mr Bwala, “unless the use of Twitter is codified in law as an offence, you (the government) cannot prosecute any Nigerian for the use of Twitter.”

He explained, “The law of the land says nobody will be convicted or prosecuted for any offence that is not defined by law for which the punishment is prescribed in a written constitution.”

In a video post on Facebook, Mr Bwala, agreed with the government’s suspension of Twitter operations on the grounds the firm’s “double standards” in allowing other alleged violators of the company’s policy, but urged Nigerians to “discard the assertion by the AGF that people can be prosecuted for the use of Twitter” in Nigeria.

‘Tending towards dictatorship’

Another lawyer, Silas Onu, queried what law would be violated if a Nigerian used Twitter.

He noted that the action of the AGF was tending towards dictatorship.

“What law will be broken if someone uses Twitter? Some things done by this Attorney General truly do not deserve any response. Nothing is an offense unless it is clearly stated as such and punishment also prescribed for breaches. Therefore, the action of the AGF is tending towards dictatorship,” Mr Onu said.

‘Disregard prosecution threat’

While lampooning the minister on Twitter on Saturday, Inibehe Effiong, urged Nigerians to disregard his threat.

In his tweet, Mr Effiong, a human rights lawyer, said inter alia, “…this is supposed to be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. Nigerians, ignore this infantile statement. It is brutum fulmen. Using VPN to bypass illegal suspension of Twitter is not a crime.”

‘Amounts to crime against humanity’

On its part, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), in a tweet said “arresting and misusing the criminal justice system to prosecute Nigerians using Twitter in Nigeria (on the basis of a public statement by the Federal Government) would amount to a CRIME AGAINST HUMANITY.”

Referencing Section 36(12) of the 1999 Constitution, another lawyer, Festus Ogun, explained,

“Malami’s order for the arrest and prosecution of Twitter users has no stand in law. Section 36(12) of the Constitution provides that an arrest and prosecution cannot be made except by a law.

“Is Malami now a law unto himself?,” the lawyer wondered, adding that Nigerians would resist any attempt to deny them of their liberty.

Condemnation

Meanwhile, a group known as Youth Rights Campaign, has condemned the ban on Twitter, describing it as “an attack on democratic rights.”

In a statement by its national coordinator, Adaramoye Michael, the group demanded an immediate reversal of the ban.

“The Youth Rights Campaign (YRC) strongly condemns the recent suspension of Twitter in Nigeria. This declaration of suspension is dictatorial and a direct attack on the democratic rights of Nigerians to freely express themselves.

“We hereby call on the Federal government to reverse this suspension immediately. At the same time, we call for a halt to all attacks on democratic rights including reversal of the social media bill and indeed all measures aimed at curtailing civil liberties. We also demand the unconditional release of all political detainees.”

Nseobong Okon-Ekong

Oyo State Governor, Mr. ‘Seyi Makinde, has said his government would not comply with a recent Supreme Court ruling on the local government administration, because contrary to the constitutionally recognised 33 local governments, there are additional 35 local council development areas, making it 68, a number he claimed he couldn’t work with.

He, therefore, said the former council chairpersons might have to approach the apex court again to determine which of them should be paid.

However, in a related development, the governor has doubted the possibility of the ongoing amendment to the constitution, saying any amendment to the 1999 constitution without restructuring would be nothing, but a waste of time and as such, an exercise in futility.

The Supreme Court, last month, overturned Makinde’s sack of the council chairpersons in the state. Removal of the 68 council chairpersons, who were elected in 2018, was one of the early decisions of the governor as soon as he was sworn in, in May 2019.

The officials, drawn from the 33 local government areas (LGAs) and 35 local council development areas (LCDAs) and their councillors, were members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

The court also decided that the replacement of the sacked officials with caretaker committees was illegal and therefore fined Mr. Makinde’s administration N20 million.

But the court appeared to favour Makinde by noting that the tenures of the sacked council chairmen and councilors had expired. It, however, ordered that all their outstanding salaries and allowances must be paid with immediate effect.

Speaking to THISDAY at the Government House, Ibadan, Makinde said, “The Constitution of Nigeria recognises 33 local government areas and 351 wards in Oyo State. The previous administration created local development areas and increased the number to 68. We couldn’t work with that, so, we scrapped it and put in place caretaker committees before proper elections were held in the 33 constitutionally recognised local government areas.”

Makinde, who further broke down his understanding of the court judgment, posited that, “What the Supreme Court invariably said is that it is its policy that governors should not dissolve local government administrations. They expected me to approach the court to argue the unconstitutionality of the 35 LCDAs.

“If I had gone to court, it would have taken this length of time for them to reach a decision by which time they would have served out their tenure. They have to go back to court to determine, who among them should be paid. And I doubt if that matter can be decided during my tenure. I may be out of here by that time,” he added.


Defending himself and his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), against alleged manipulation in the recent local government elections in the state, in which the PDP won all the 32 local government areas, where elections were held, said it was by choice that he resisted pressure to manipulate the elections.

“I deliberately appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria as Chairman of the Oyo State Independent Electoral Commission, because I know he will be independent-minded. I have not even spoken to him after the election. I did not know him before the appointment. People told me it was the first time they are taking part in local government election. Even my own people told me it is not done that way. They wanted us to write figures and announce results. I refused to do that,” he said.

On his position that the constitution review would be an exercise in futility, he said he was ready to stake his future political career on the prediction that nothing fruitful would come out of the exercise,which he described “as an annual jamboree to waste money.”

His words: “If this constitution amendment succeeds, that will be the end of my political career. That is how strongly I feel about the waste of time and one that is going on. Former President Goodluck Jonathan supervised the production of a document, which many Nigerians agreed is the best document for our civil relations, he did not sign it into law, because he thought he was going to return as President. That document is there and this administration has refused to do something about it.”

He explained that true federalism goes beyond resource control, adding: “It is the fundamental of how we develop as a people. We should not say because these people are backward, then, you bring everybody to the same starting line. A country must allow its people to develop at their pace.”

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC) has asked all Managing Directors of banks, their deputies and Executive Directors to submit their asset declaration forms.

The Nation learnt they have up to two weeks to do so or risk 10-year jail term.

The top executives are first on the list of bankers expected to declare their assets.

According to a top source, the directive to the Managing Directors, Deputy Managing Directors and Executive Directors are contained in a June 1, 2021 letter to them.

The source said: “In line with the decision of the Executive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Abdulrasheed Bawa to demand for the assets declaration forms filed by bankers beginning from June 1, 2021, the commission has demanded for the assets declaration forms of the executive management of all banks in the country.

“The request for the assets declaration forms of the top executives of banks is contained in a letter to the managing directors of the banks dated June 1, 2021.

“Listed among the officers whose assets declaration forms are expected by the Commission are managing directors, deputy managing directors and executive directors of all the banks.

“The request is pursuant to the Bank Employees, Etc. (Declaration of Assets) Act, 1986, which mandates bankers to declare assets upon employment and annually thereafter.

“Violators of the law risk imprisonment for a term of up to ten years.”

Prophet Temitope Balogun of the Synagogue Church of All Nations is dead.

The popular televangelist died on Saturday night, his church confirmed in a statement.

In the statement, the church said the last words of the prophet were: ‘Watch and pray.’

“As Prophet TB Joshua says, “The greatest way to use life is to spend it on something that will outlive it”.

“Prophet TB Joshua leaves a legacy of service and sacrifice to God’s Kingdom that is living for generations yet unborn.

“The Synagogue, Church Of All Nations and Emmanuel TV Family appreciate your love, prayers and concern at this time and request a time of privacy for the family.

“Here are Prophet TB Joshua’s last words: “Watch and pray.” One life for Christ is all we have; one life for Christ is so dear,” the statement read.

Born on June 12, 1963, the deceased hailed from Akoko area of Ondo State.

Abubakar Bello, governor of Niger state, has travelled out of the country.

TheCable has not independently confirm the mission of the trip but the development comes less than 24 hours after bandits abducted some schoolchildren from Salihu Tanko Islamic School in Rafi LGA of Niger state.

The bandits invaded the school on Sunday evening.

They were said to have arrived in their numbers on motorcycles and started shooting sporadically into the air.

The incident is the second in the state this year and among the series of abductions of schoolchildren by bandits in the northern part of the country.

They had abducted dozens of children from Government Science College (GSC) Kagara and released them a few weeks after.

In a statement on Monday, Mary Noel-Berje, chief press secretary to Bello, said the governor assured the state of the rescue and safe return of the students.

She added that the governor is expected back in the country “within the shortest period”.

“Governor Sani Bello also assured all Nigerlites that Government will continue to do all it can to protect the lives and property of its citizens while guaranteeing the continued peace and stability of the state,” she said.

“While assuring the parents of the abducted children of their safe return as the security agencies have been directed to do all it can to bring back the children as soon as possible, the Governor also urged the citizens to cooperate and share intelligence and information that will help in the quick rescue of the children.”

Gov Ben Ayade of Cross River State has sacked four commissioners over their refusal to defect with him from PDP to APC.

He has also sacked five other special advisers for the same reason.

Their sack was conveyed in a statement signed by Christian Ita, chief press secretary to Ayade, and released Monday.

One of the commissioners was Rita Anyim, who conspicuously identified with former governor Liyel Imoke and other PDP stalwarts when they public disclaimed Ayade for forcibly converting PDP state Secretariat to APC Secretariat using armed policemen.

Others are former commissioner for information, Asu Okang, Ntufam Donatus Etim and Mike Usibe who all frowned at Ayade’s actions.

The personal aides and special advisers who were relieved of their appointments are Leo Inyambe, Orok Otu Duke, Victor Okon (aka Alausa), John Etim Bassey, and former House of Assembly member, Agbiji Mbeh Agbiji.

Governor Ayade has ordered that all of them should immediately return government properties with them, including official vehicles, documents and houses.

Many more of his aides and commissioners who equally are uncomfortable with the governor’s defection might soon be shown the way.

Meanwhile, the governor met with the cream of APC stalwarts on Saturday over new appointments of core APC chieftains and repositioning of the party.

The immediate past vice-president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Emmanuel Osodeke, has emerged as the new president of the union.

Mr Osodeke, a professor of soil science at the Federal University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, was elected early Sunday morning during a three-day conference of the union which held at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State.

He took over from Biodun Ogunyemi, a professor of education at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State.

Other members of the union, who were elected alongside Mr Osodeke, include Chris Piwuna of the University of Jos as vice president; Olusiji Sowande of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB), Ogun State, as treasurer while Ade Adejumo, a professor from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, was elected as financial secretary.

Also, a lecturer at the University of Port Harcourt, Austen Sado, was elected as investment secretary; Adamu Babayo from Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, was elected the union’s internal auditor while Stella-Maris Oke from Cross Rivers State University of Science and Technology, was elected as the new welfare secretary.

Mr Ogunyemi will continue to serve in the new executive committee as an ex-officio, apparently to guide the new leadership.


I’m back to the classroom

Meanwhile, Mr Osodeke’s predecessor, Mr Ogunyemi, described his two-term tenure of office as a period of service to the nation.

Speaking on the phone with PREMIUM TIMES on Sunday, Mr Ogunyemi thanked the union and his colleagues for the support and encouragement.

He said whatever that was achieved during his tenure was a product of team work, and urged the successors to continue the tradition.

“Sure, I’m returning to the classroom to continue to do our own bit towards the development of this nation.”

Earlier on Friday, in his valedictory speech at the conference as reported by Punch Newspaper,Mr Ogunyemi highlighted some of the union’s activities including successes and challenges recorded within the last five years of his administration.

The tenure of office for elected ASUU leadership is a period of two years and Mr Ogunyemi spent two terms of four years. His tenure was, however, elongated by the dangerous Coronavirus pandemic which paradises activities for almost one year globally.

He said, “At a point of departure, we must place on record that COVID-19 did not spare our campuses. Many of our infected members had had to combat the COVID attack with resources from colleagues and other people of goodwill because their salaries and emoluments, as well as the union’s check-off deductions, were either withheld by the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation over the rejection of the discredited Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System.

“Our other comrades suffered the same fate in the hands of overzealous State University Vice-Chancellors and Visitors. As a matter of fact, we lost at least 30 members.”

He, however, said the union, in the last three years, has enjoyed tremendous goodwill from quarters he said were too numerous to mention.

Mr Ogunyemi said: “Despite being a government official, the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund has never denied his training in ASUU and the role played by the Union in midwifing the intervention agency.

“The Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission is also another rare breed who projects his clear understanding of ASUU’s mission at every meeting with the government. May their race multiply!

“We equally appreciate the intervention efforts of the Hon. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu as well as his Labour and Employment counterpart, Sen (Dr) Chris Ngige when it mattered.

“We cannot thank them enough. Our profound appreciation equally goes to the Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, who has continued to play significant roles in getting our matters resolved in the last one year.

“The NLC President and Global President of the International Trade Union Congress, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, has stood by us all the way. His strategic intervention, on behalf of the Congress to which we are an affiliate, always made the difference. Comrade Global President, may your shadow never grow less.”

By Adejumo Kabir
The United States government has uncovered more criminal activities involving Abidemi Rufai, the suspended aide of Governor Dapo Abiodun of Ogun State.

PREMIUM TIMES on Saturday obtained the U.S. government’s court filing submitted in connection with its pending Motion for Review of Detention Order.


‘Fraudulent claims for tax refunds’

The Acting U.S. Attorney, Tessa Gorman, said special agents from the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations had been investigating Mr Rufai for several years.

Ms Gorman said Mr Rufai was being investigated for allegedly making “fraudulent claims for tax refunds”.

“On May 26 and 27, 2021, special agents from the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations notified the United States Attorney’s Office that the IRS has been investigating the sandytangy58@gmail.com account for several years.

“IRS-CI determined that the sandytangy58@gmail.com account was used to submit fraudulent claims for tax refunds using American taxpayers’ stolen PII (Personal Identification Information).

“That is, Rufai filed tax returns in the names of taxpayers, using their stolen PII, and requested that tax refunds be paid out to bank accounts under Rufai’s control,” the document stated.

He was said to have filed 652 fraudulent tax returns, seeking approximately $1.6 million in fraudulent tax refunds, for the tax years 2016 through 2019.

“IRS-CI provided the United States Attorney’s Office with information establishing that the sandytangy58@gmail.com email account was used (employing the same ‘dot variant’ practice described in the Indictment) to file 652 fraudulent tax returns, seeking a total of approximately $1.6 million in fraudulent tax refunds, for the tax years 2016 through 2019,” the court document obtained by PREMIUM TIMES partly read.

“The IRS rejected many of the filings, but accepted returns seeking approximately $900,000. The IRS is calculating the amount of refunds actually paid out on these returns. This information increases the need for detention in several respects. First, now that the loss and attempted loss associated with Rufai’s conduct has grown substantially.

“Rufai faces an even longer prison sentence, and therefore an even stronger incentive to flee. This incentive is compounded by the fact that the Grand Jury has now returned an Indictment charging Rufai with five counts of Aggravated Identity Theft, which carries a two-year mandatory sentence consecutive to any other sentence.

“Second, the fact that Rufai filed 652 fraudulent tax returns significantly increases the scope and seriousness of Rufai’s conduct, meaning that both Rufai’s personal history and characteristics, and the nature and circumstances of his conduct weigh even more heavily in favor of detention.

“Third, the extent of Rufai’s possession and use of stolen PII, and the economic damage caused by it, establishes that Rufai presents an economic danger to the community,” Ms Gorman said.


Backstory

Mr Rufai was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) at John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York while heading to Nigeria on May 14.

He allegedly used the identities of more than 100 Washington residents to steal more than $350,000 in unemployment benefits from the Washington State Employment Security Department (ESD) during the COVID-19 pandemic last year.

At the end of a detention hearing held on May 19, 2021, the Magistrate of the District Court for the Eastern District of New York, Ramon Reyes, agreed with the government that Mr Rufai posed “a serious flight risk”, but found that the risk could be addressed by certain conditions of release, including a $300,000 bond.

The magistrate went on to issue an order releasing Mr Rufai based on the bond in which Mr Rufai’s brother, who is licensed as an attorney in New York, was proposed as surety.

But Mr Rufai was not released eventually because his brother did not sign the bail bond. The suspect was, therefore, remanded pending when he would provide an alternate surety.

Following the refusal by Mr Rufai’s brother to stand as a surety, the defendant’s lawyer, Michael Barrows, on May 21, presented Nekpen Soyemi, a registered nurse, whose family comes from Nigeria.

Ms Soyemi was later exposed as “suspect in an investigation into an email impersonation scheme”.

Her husband, Idris Soyemi, is also said to have been convicted for wire fraud in 2014.

The U.S. government on May 24 filed an emergency motion of stay release order before the United States District Court for the Western District of Washington at Tacoma, on May 24.

The United States District Judge, Benjamin Settle, on Tuesday, granted the government’s motion to stay release of Mr Rufai.

St Clairs Anglican Girls Grammar School, Offa, in Kwara State, was on Friday shut down following the alleged ‘Strange voice of Demons’.

The strange incident caused panic among students and teachers of the school.

Parents of students have been allowed to evacuate their wards, according to the Senior Principal, Mrs F.B Ogunwole.

DAILY POST gathered that the bizarre incident occurred at about 1200hrs, when students started shouting loudly after hearing strange voices suspected to from ‘demons’.

The students reportedly ran out of their classes and school hostels fell and rolled on the floor.

According to the account of the spokesman of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Afolabi, when we contacted the school, ” Mrs Ogunwole informed us that the incident took the school management by surprise, adding that she suspected ‘demons’, as the same ugly incident happened in 1978.”

A student, Uthman Mariam (17), who was a victim also told us that ” She saw some girls dressed in a different colour and calling her to join them, but she refused to answer their calls as they wanted to force her to mingle with them.

” That was why she was shouting and fell unconsciously on the floor,” he further stated.

Bureau De Change operators got the United States dollar from the Central Bank of Nigeria at N393 but sold it for N494 on Friday, an investigation by our correspondent has revealed.

Sources from some commercial banks told our correspondent that the banks were asked to fund the BDCs at the rate of N393/$ as of Friday.

A bank official, who spoke with our correspondent on condition of anonymity, said, “We are still giving them $10,000 per BDC twice in a week. As at today, we are giving them at the rate of N393/$.

“The CBN funds the BDCs through the commercial banks. They go to their banks to collect it. The CBN has been funding them through commercial banks to make the process seamless.

“We were asked to fund them at N393/$ in a circular to the banks as at today.”

Meanwhile, the naira slumped further on Friday to 494.7/$ at the parallel market from 490/$ as of Thursday evening.

Data obtained from the website of the CBN’s official rates for the BDCs, naijabdcs.com, showed that the naira was bought and sold at 493 and 494.7 per dollar on Friday at the BDCs.

The CBN recently adopted the NAFEX exchange rate of N410.25/$1 as its official exchange rate.

It confirmed this new official rate on its website on Monday night, days after it had removed the N379/$ rate.

A former Director-General, Chartered Insurance Institute of Nigeria, Richard Borokini, said what the CBN was trying to do was to close the gap between the black market and official rates.

He said, “Maybe because of the activities of some of the people in the financial sector, the bankers themselves and the owners of the BDCs, you cannot get naira at that N410/$ in the black market or in the secondary market; it will be more than that.

“It will not work because of the activities of those that are hoarding the dollars. The way it will work is if they scrap all those BDCs, and if anybody has needs for dollars, let him apply to the banks and the banks will give them at that price.

“As long as the BDCs are still operating, those rates cannot become real. The only way is just let everybody go to the banks and apply if they need dollar.”

The Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Dr Muda Yusuf, said the official rate was not a functional rate.


“Those who are doing business, none of them is getting it at that rate. The NAFEX rate that they have adopted now is about N410.25. Even that is still far from the open market rate or the parallel market rate which is almost N500/$,” he said.

CBN had yielded to the clamour to move towards convergence of the exchange rates which was a welcome development, he said.

In April 2017, the CBN established the I&E forex window as part of efforts to deepen the foreign exchange market and accommodate all forex obligations.

The purpose of the window was to boost liquidity in the forex market and ensure timely execution and settlement for eligible transactions.