₦airaland Forum

Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the lead counsel to Nnamdi Kanu, the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has said that the Nigerian government “admitted” before the Court of Appeal, Abuja, that it deployed huge resources to capture and transfer the IPOB leader, Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria.

Recall that the Nigerian government on June 27, 2021, rearrested Kanu in Kenya through collaboration with Interpol on the order of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Since his re-arrest, Kanu has been confined in the custody of the Department of State Services (DSS) in Abuja, as he is being tried before Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court for treasonable felony charges against him by the government.

SaharaReporters reported on Tuesday that the Court of Appeal reversed its judgment on the remaining seven count charge pending against Kanu.

Recall that Kanu had approached the appellate court, urging it to dismiss the Nigerian government’s seven counts charge bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony.

But after the Tuesday sitting in which the case was adjourned indefinitely by the Appeal Court, Ejiofor said, “It is interesting to note that the Federal Government admitted before the court, of expending huge resources to criminally abduct and extraordinarily rendition Onyendu Mazi Nnamdi Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria.

“The Federal Government further admitted viva voce, that they have amended the charges seven times, which is a clear indication and admission that they do not have any case whatsoever against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“They are only interested in keeping him in custody indefinitely, but the Court of Appeal is their final bus-stop.”

SaharaReporters had reported that Kanu, who is currently facing trial before the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, had through his team of lawyers led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), approached the appellate court to interrogate the legal competence of the charge pending against him.

Justice Binta Nyako of Federal High Court Abuja had struck out eight of the 15 count charge Federal Government filed against the IPOB leader.

But Kanu's lawyers appealed against the ruling of the trial court on April 8 and sought the appellate court to review the ruling and struck out the remaining seven-court pending in the lower court.

The lead Counsel of the IPOB leader, had insisted that the charge FG entered against his client had no basis in law, in the appeal dated April 29 and marked CA/ABJ/CR/625/2022, applied to be discharged and acquitted.

Kanu equally urged the appellate court to order his release on bail, pending the determination of his appeal.

Though the appeal was initially fixed for October 11, following an application the embattled IPOB leader filed for abridgement of time, the appellate court brought the matter forward for hearing.

When the matter was called up on Tuesday, a three-man panel led by Justice Jummai Hanatu, said it had no need to delve into the issue of bail since the substantive appeal was ripe for hearing.

Arguing the appeal, Chief Ozekhome, SAN, alleged that his client was forcefully abducted from Kenya and illegally renditioned back to the country.

He told the court that his client was first arraigned on December 23, 2015 and was later granted bail on April 25, 2017.

After it had listened to both sides, the panel said it would communicate a date for the judgment.

Socio-economic activities were on Tuesday[b] grounded in the South-East region of Enugu, Abia, Ebonyi, Imo and Anambra states following a sit-at-home order issued by the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) in solidarity to its leader, Nnamdi Kanu's appearance in the Appeal Court[/b], Abuja.

Military helicopters were seen flying over the sky conducting reconnaissance in Enugu State capital, in obvious attempts to secure the President who was visiting the Imo State.

Although Monday’s usual sit-at-home has been rescinding gradually, many residents were still observing the weekly sit-at-home.

The Tuesday's sit-at-home order was declared by the Biafran group in solidarity with its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

IPOB’s spokesperson, Emma Powerful, had, in a statement, during the weekend, ordered that banks, schools, markets, shops should remain closed, while civil servants and other workers remain indoors as the court hearing lasted.

He had said the sit-at- home was in solidarity with the leader of the group.

As a result, businesses and several other activities did not open in the South-East. In Imo State, despite the presidential visit, the state was grounded.

SaharaReporters observed for instance in Enugu only few commercial and private vehicles plied the streets, even as the police and soldiers were seen in strategic locations during the lockdown in the state.

Military helicopters were seen flying over the sky conducting reconnaissance in Enugu State capital.

Similarly, economic activities in Owerri, Imo State, were grounded in obedience to the sit-at-home order.

Some of the residents said they were afraid of being attacked by the enforcers of the order should they attempt to come out.

Economic activities came to a halt and only a few vehicular movements were seen in parts of the state capital despite the presidential visit to the state.

Professor Uju Anya, who is under fire for wishing the late Queen Elizabeth II 'excruciating' death before the longest-serving monarch in British history died, has explained why she made the remarks.

Anya on hearing the news of the deteriorating health of the Queen last Thursday before her eventual death made the controversial tweet which the management of the microblogging app later deleted, saying it violated its rules.

“I heard the chief monarch of a thieving raping genocidal empire is finally dying. May her pain be excruciating,” Anya had tweeted.

However, despite the deletion of the tweet by Twitter, it continued to generate heated debate with many tweeps condemning her outburst while many others defended her.

While some, including Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, criticised her for her tweets, many, especially citizens of various African countries and the Irish, stood with her.

Reacting to Anya's tweet, Jeff Bezos wrote, “This is someone supposedly working to make the world better?

“I don’t think so. Wow."

But the Carnegie Mellon University professor who quickly defended her tweet responded to Bezos, writing, "Otoro gba gbue gi (Dysentery kill you). May everyone you and your merciless greed have harmed in this world remember you as fondly as I remember my colonisers.”

Uju in an interview with The Cut, published on Saturday, accused Queen Elizabeth II of sponsoring the “genocide” that led to the displacement of her family in Southeast Nigeria. 

She revealed that half of her family members were killed with weapons given to the Nigerian Army by the late British government with the support of the late monarch during the Biafran War of 1967-1970.

She said, "This wasn’t just something I just read about. I was born to colonial subjects on both sides of the family — one parent from Trinidad, where the British enslaved people, and one parent from Nigeria. 

"They met in England at university and moved back to Nigeria after independence in 1960. My parents were survivors of this genocide. My three siblings, two of them under the age of 10 at the time, were survivors. My mother was pregnant with my brother, who was born during that time; he was a war baby. This was the legacy I was born into in 1976. 

"I spent the first ten years of my life living in Nigeria, and there was always this specter of who was lost. My earliest memories were from living in a war-torn area, and rebuilding still hasn’t finished even today. Half of my family was slaughtered with guns and bombs that this queen sent to kill us."Queen Elizabeth was representative of the cult of white womanhood. There’s this notion that she was this little-old-lady grandma type with her little hats and her purses and little dogs and everything — as if she inhabited this place or this space in the imaginary, this public image, as someone who didn’t have a hand in the bloodshed of her Crown. How did she have that Crown? Even the crowns she wears are looted, plundered from the lands they exploited and extracted from. The entire treasury is a legacy of thievery that was achieved by murder, by enslavement, and it didn’t stop after independence," she added. 

When asked how the backlash over the tweets affected her, She continued: "I’m trying to do okay. I haven’t been on Twitter because I’m locked out, but the hate is coming into my email inbox. People are saying, “Oh, I don’t know what you’re on about because the queen oversaw the independence of Nigeria and Trinidad.” That’s meaningless. 

"They were still Commonwealth nations. They have independence in a figurehead way, while Britain installed puppet leaders that bowed to the queen. Even the name Nigeria is from the British. They created this fiction of a country by just arbitrarily drawing lines around territories and saying, “Okay, this belongs to the British; this is what we’re going to call it,” and joining independent nations who had nothing to do with each other, didn’t speak each other’s language. 

"And also electing certain groups they favored to be the rulers. This is the history of the monarchy, and the queen was the head of the monarchy. Whether she was involved in day-to-day decisions or not, she existed because of those decisions. She never once opened her mouth to say sorry for the role of her government in the slaughter of 3 million civilians."

Nigerian Governor’s Son Reopens Debate Over Power Equation in an ethnically and religiously charged political atmosphere 
The son of the governor of Kaduna State, Bashir El-Rufai, has stirred controversies after he expressed gratitude to the late Queen of England, Elizabeth for placing the Northern part of Nigeria above every other region in the power equation of the country.

The younger ElRufai, in a tweet via his handle Friday evening, while paying tribute to the late Queen, said he would forever be grateful for the decision of the colonial masters to place the North at the peak of power.

“The British Colonial establishment placed the North at the peak of power in my dear country. For that I’ll always be indebted to the British Royal Crown and the method of indirect rule for my people & our dear Monarchs. Rest In Peace Queen Elizabeth,” El-Rufai tweeted.

The British Colonial establishment placed the North at the peak of power in my dear country. For that I’ll always be indebted to the British Royal Crown and the method of indirect rule for my people & our dear Monarchs. Rest In Peace Queen Elizabeth.

— Bashir El-Rufai (@BashirElRufai) September 9, 2022
The Queen died on Thursday bringing an end to 70 years of reign.

Nigeria became an independent country on October 1, 1960, eight years after she was crowned the Queen of England.

In Nigeria’s 62 years of independence, there have been mutual suspicion by other ethnic groups of the Northern bloc of an intention to be in power.

Many historical accounts had claimed of an intention by the then British colonial masters to hand over power to the Northern establishment in the interests of the British continued interest in holding the levers in the Nigeria’s political and economic calculations.

 His tweet had generated angry responses from some Nigerians who have expressed disgust with his claim.

“This Bashir ElRufai’s speech is a direct message to Tinubu in connection to his candle in the rain ambition and the return of power to the North. The emi lokan supporters in the West need to check out with Bashir why power in the North is more interesting  than power in Nigerians,” a twitter user, David Eboh with the handle @DavidEbo replied.

Another twitter user, Sani Ahmad Kaitafi with the handle @KaitafiS responded thus: “Thought after touching Ka’abah, you will cases fire? Haba Bashari,”

Yet another twitter user Kenechukwu with the handle @Echi_di_ime shared images of poor out-of-school children usually called almajiris in the North with the caption: “Those are the peak of Power in my dear country.

Another user Swiss, with the handle @Swiss89779194 demanded “Does this stop the almajiri littered all over your cities, you are doing yourselves. That so called region no send your papa.”Another responder, Jerry Douglas with the handle, @JerryDouglas19 wrote,  Why did Britain feel at ease with this decision?
Cos they were not educated and could easily suffer manipulation.
Read reasons for the success of Indirect Rule in northern Nigeria.
Also read reasons why it failed in woefully in the East but succeeded partially in Western Nigeria.”

Senator Oluremi Tinubu, wife of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate in the forthcoming general elections, is trending in a viral video across blogs and social media platforms.

In the video, Mrs Tinubu, clad in Ankara attire with a scarf to match, was in the company of other individuals who were laughing as she boasted that the deities of Lagos would be summoned to drive out the Igbos. The video has generated several reactions.

She said the Igbos residing in the state “were proving difficult despite the love shown to them.”

“We will entreat all the deities of Lagos to chase Igbo people out. Igbo who didn’t marry Yoruba, we will inherit them. Given how much we love Igbo, you now want to spoil everything.


“You are not the only tribe in this place, Hausa are here, we accommodate them, Calabar are here, we accommodate them. But Igbo are proving difficult. We will inherit you. Despite the love we have for you… others are here and we accommodated them.”

Verification

Preliminary investigations by Daily Trust revealed that the video is an old one being recirculated. The video was shot in 2019 ahead of the general elections held at the time.

Though Senator Remi spoke in Yoruba language, many tweeps and those who reacted to her comments say her tone was only misjudged and the whole conversation misconstrued to achieve an ulterior motive.

One Twitter user, @BadmusAdeyemi12 said, “She was just joking in the video. She didn’t mean what she was saying. That could be seen in her gesture.”


On his part, @4eyedmonk said, “…How can you say Remi Tinubu hates Igbo when in the same video she said, ‘Pelu ba she nife yin to,’ meaning, ‘considering how much we love you Igbo?'”

Similarly, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) where she serves as a pastor has reacted to the viral video. This is even as some individuals have called out the Senator and pastor for featuring in different ‘hateful’ videos. Some also questioned the status of her ordination.

A twitter user @Nwafresh wrote: “For the fact that Remi Tinubu is an ordained pastor in RCCG and still maintains her position after different hateful videos against the Igbo makes me understand why the Bible said that judgment will start from the house of God. Remi is an Antichrist.”

The RCCG Head of Media and Public Relations, Pastor Olaitan Olubiyi who spoke with The Punch said the church was not aware of the video.

He said, “We are not aware(of the video) and I’m sure Remi Tinubu was not speaking as a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.”

“I’m not in a position to answer that because the church knows what it considers before ordination and social media does not dictate to the church what the church should do. She has her life,” he concluded.

Verdict

The video is actually true but old. However, it is being interpreted by many on social media as a fresh statement by the senator.

Conclusion

Having reviewed the facts about the viral video, Daily Trust can confirm that the video is an old one being recirculated.

A murder suspect, Wahab Hammed, 28, has disclosed that he conspired with his friend, Adegoke Ayobami, 31, to kill one Oguntade Wasiu because the deceased was making more money than the two of them.

Fielding questions from journalists during the parade of suspects by Osun State Police Command at its headquarters in Osogbo, Hammed said he and Ayobami were friends to the deceased and also engaged in Internet fraud, which fetched Wasiu more money than the two of them.

His words: “I am a tailor by profession and I have a shop but I also operate motorcycle for additional income. I am from Modakeke in Adesiyan compound. I also engaged in Internet fraud but I have never hit any money.

“Wasiu was a friend to Ayobami. I knew him through Ayobami and he was into Internet fraud. He has been into yahoo before our friendship more than a year ago.

“I and Ayobami killed Wasiu because he was always telling us about his achievements, about how much money he was making from internet fraud and how he flaunted his successes like opening a shop for his wife, buying gold and many more. All these grieved my heart and made me envy him.

“And I have always wanted to collect his money so that I can use it to cater for my need.

“We killed him on August 8, 2022. We lured him to a new site because he came to me that he wanted to buy a piece of land.  Ayobami and I took him to a site at Modakeke. After we inspected the land, on our way back, I was in front, Wasiu followed me and Ayobami was at the back. Ayobami held him at the jugular and while he was shouting he hacked him on the head with a cutlass.

“We never had a plan to kill him but to collect money from him, but Ayobami eventually killed him. I went to report myself at the police station days later.”

The Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, said the suspects would be arraigned in court after the conclusion of the investigation

The cleric was reportedly shot at his residence on Sunday and died on Monday night.

An Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ibrahim Iyiorji, in Isu, Onicha Local Government Area of Ebonyi State has been murdered by gunmen.
The cleric was reportedly shot at his residence on Sunday and died on Monday night.
Reacting to Iyiorji’s death, the Muslim Rights Concern, Abuja chapter, charged the authorities to arrest and prosecute the killers.
In a statement jointly signed its chairman, Salahudeen Ustaz Yunus and spokesperson, Luqman Leleye, MURIC also condoled with the Ebonyi State Muslim community.
“May Allah enable the Government do the needful in getting to the root of the circumstances surrounding his attack by the dare-devils.
“May Allah make it easy for each and every one of us to strive hard in pleasing Allah before our destined period of death,” the statement read.
Also reacting to the incident, Disu Kamor, the Executive Chairman of Muslim Public Affairs Centre (MPAC Nigeria) said, “As we mourn the death of the Shaykh, and commiserate with his family and immediate community, we call on the governments of the South-Eastern region of Nigeria to take responsibility for the lives and properties of the Muslims living in the region, and save them from incessant attacks by those determined to exterminate them and eradicate the practice of Islam in the region.
“We call on the Nigerian government to act now to ensure that no Nigerian carries a price tag as a result of the religion he or she practises anywhere in Nigeria.”

A 26-year-old suspected ritualist, Olaolu Falowo, has confessed why he killed a farmer, and removed his body parts for money rituals, at Kuseru Village via the Odigbo council area of Ondo State.

The victim’s body part found in his house includes human limps (2 legs and 2 arms hands)  while a human skull in a sack was recovered from his father’s house during a search by police detectives.

Police sources said that the victim who was a farmer was murdered and his body parts removed by the suspected ritualist in collaboration with his father.

Falowo, who was paraded in Akure, the Ondo state capital, by the state police command, said he killed the victim, who, he claimed was a lunatic, to reduce his pains.

In an interview, the suspect claimed that the victim was a madman, who was sick and about to die in the forest.

” The victim is a sick madman. I killed him to reduce his pains and also took part of his body to use it for sacrifice.

However, a family member of the deceased refuted the suspect’s claim, saying that his brother was hail and hearty before he was gruesomely murdered by the suspect on his farm.

He told newsmen that his brother” is a farmer who went gone to farm at Kuseru village.

The state police spokesperson, Funmi Odunlami, said that “the suspect, was in police custody for a case of attempted car theft and when a search was conducted in his house, Human limps (2 legs and 2 arms hands) were recovered while a Human skull in a sack was recovered from his father house.

Odunlami added that two suspects, (father and son) are in police custody.

The police spokesperson, also said that a 17-year-old, Arije Dare, has been arrested for defiling two of his neighbour’s children aged four years old, at Ikoya/Ilutitun road, Okitipupa, area of the state.

Odunlami said that the victims “were playing in their compound at Ikoya/Ilutitun road, Okitipupa, when one Arije Dare went to their house to get water, met the children in the house and lure them to an uncompleted building and defiled them.

”  Three days after, one of the girls complained of pains, when her mother inquired from the daughter what happened, she explained her ordeal and mention the suspect as the culprit.

The police image maker said that “During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the commission of the crime,  he will soon be charged to court.

Gunmen on Saturday abducted scores of travellers on Benin-Owo Expressway in Ifon, the headquarters of Ose Local Government Area of Ondo State.

The number of victims could not be ascertained as some sources said the victims were over 40 while others gave their number as 32.

One of the sources at the town who disclosed the incident to newsmen on Sunday said the victims were traveling in a coastal bus from Benin to Ondo State where they went for the burial ceremony.

“But on getting to Ifon area, the hoodlums ambushed and whisked all the occupants of the vehicle into the bush.

“All the occupants of the vehicle were kidnapped since yesterday (Saturday) and nobody has heard anything about them since then,” a relation of one of the victims said.

While confirming the incident on Sunday, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Ondo State Command, SP Funmilayo Odunlami, said she could not ascertain the number of the victims.

According to PPRO, men of the command and other security agencies in the state had begun the search for the victims in the forest.

” Our men and other security agencies are already in the forest to rescue the victims unhurt while the investigation into the incident has commenced,” Odunlami said.

Nigeria budgeted a total of N11.18tn for security from 2015 to 2022, investigations by The PUNCH have revealed.

Despite the high budgetary allocation, however, the country remains the second most attacked country by the Islamic State terrorist group globally, according to the data by Jihad Analytics.

Jihad Analytics specialises in global and cyber jihad, open-source intelligence and data.

In its report covering January to June 2022, the group said Nigeria recorded 305 attacks with Iraq being first (337) and Syria third (142).

This is happening against the backdrop of the claims by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), that his regime was winning the counter-terrorism war.

The PUNCH had reported the activities of ISWAP terrorists and bandits in the North-West, North-Central and attacks in South-West.

The group claimed responsibility for the attack on the Kuje Medium Security Correctional Centre, Abuja, on July 5, during which hundreds of suspected Boko Haram commanders and other criminals escaped.

 Its fighters were also believed to have masterminded the attack on the elite Guards Brigade troops in Abuja in which five soldiers died.

Since Buhari assumed office on May 29, 2015, his regime had allocated approximately N11.18tn as security budget.

This figure covers budgetary allocations to the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Interior, Ministry of Police Affairs, National Security Adviser and the Police Service Commission.

Based on the 2015 Appropriation Act available on the website of the Budget Office of the Federation, a total of N626.39bn was allocated.

It rose to N978.72bn in 2016, N1.12tn in 2017, N1.26tn by 2018, N1.33tn in 2019, N1.71tn in 2020, and N1.87tn in 2021 for all aforementioned ministries and agencies.By 2022, the budgetary allocation increased to N2.27tn, showing an increase of 262.39 per cent when compared to the allocation in 2015.

Meanwhile, the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), on April 4, 2018, approved $1bn for military equipment, following a meeting with security chiefs at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The PUNCH reported that the Ministry of Defence had purchased equipment for the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Navy, and the Defence Intelligence Agency worth $99.5m, out of the $1bn approved by the President.

In 2018, Buhari told the National Assembly that he had ordered the payment of $496m to the United States Government for the purchase of 12 Tucano aircraft ahead of legislative approval to withdraw the $1bn fund from the Excess Crude Account.

However, in March, the $1bn arms fund was engulfed in controversy when the National Security Adviser, Maj Gen Babagana Monguno (retd.), alleged that the $1bn meant to purchase arms to tackle the insurgency had gone missing.

The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute describes Nigeria as one of the largest spenders in the area of military expenditures.

Analysts speak

A Development Economist, Aliyu Ilias, said the increase in budgetary allocation was in line with the increasing insecurity in the country.

 “Security (budget) keeps increasing and there is the need to buy more equipment, so it is understandable that there is an increase in budget allocation,” he said.

A Professor of Economics at the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Prof. Sheriffdeen Tella, also agreed that the rising level of insecurity led to the increase in budgetary allocation.

“The level of insecurity has been rising. Definitely, there is the quest for more equipment. This is responsible for the increase in the budget. It simply means the level of insecurity is rising, which should not be,” he said.Terrorism: Nigeria ranked second despite N11tn security budgets

The presidency has reacted to Governor Samuel Ortom’s latest comment about the insecurity in Nigeria.

The Benue helmsman said a top security official informed him that President Muhammadu Buhari warned security forces not to move against violent Fulani herdsmen.

A statement on Wednesday by presidential spokesman Garba Shehu called the ridiculous claims “patently untrue”.

“If he is as brave as he claims to be, let him name names. Let him name the military personnel who told him this story’, he noted.

Shehu said despite describing himself as a child of God who believes in being lawful and respects the constitution, Ortom spread “a divisive lie”.

The presidency advised political leaders to work to bring citizens together, not risking further violence by promoting ethnic or religious division.

“The cheap, dog whistle politics behind Ortom’s falsehood are plain for all to see.”

Shehu added that Ortom is not the first politician who has attempted to sow discord amongst the people in the run-up to an election.The aide told the governor that Nigerians do not believe his claim that top security personnel shared high-level confidential information with him.

Opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has warned that Nigerians should not commit the management of the country's security architecture to Senator Kashim Shettima, the running mate of the All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

The PDP said it recalled that the Chibok schoolgirls were kidnapped during Shettima's reign as Borno State Governor, an incident which became a global phenomenon.

On the night of April 14, 2014, 276 mostly Christian female students aged from 16 to 18 were kidnapped by the Islamic terrorist group Boko Haram from the Government Girls Secondary School at the town of Chibok in Borno State.

Anthony Ehilebo, the PDP's Head of Digital, mentioned this on Channels Television during an interview, stating that it was unconstitutional for any president-elect to delegate the security power of the country to his vice.

Senator Shettima had earlier said at the recently concluded National Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association, that if elected, he would oversee security while his principal, Tinubu, would oversee the economy.

Ehilebo said, “How can you come to the NBA programme and announce on live TV that you will take care of security and your principal will handle the economy?

"Section 130(2) of the 1999 Constitution specifies that it is the role of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. And if he decides to delegate the power, it must be to the armed forces. But here we have a VP candidate telling the world he wants to be in charge of our security.

"This is the same man in charge when the issue of Chibok Girls happened. Shettima ignored the directive to move the students and the terrorists took advantage.

"It is also a fact that a suspected terrorist, Kabiru Sokoto, was arrested in the Governor’s Lodge by the DSS. Today, we have not been able to dissociate him from all that. Unfortunately, Nigerians are more interested in his sneakers and what he wore to the NBA than his statement.”

Suspected cultists, yesterday, in Lagos ambushed a member of Musiliu Akinsanya, MC Oluomo’s led Parks Management Committee, in Owode area of Mile 12, Lagos, and hacked him to death.

 The deceased, identified as Onaopemipo Lawal, popularly known as Ariku, was on a motorbike when three suspected cultists stopped the bike and attacked him.

From the video of the attack, the assailants were seen hitting him with dangerous weapons such as scissors, sticks and knives until he was motionless. Report had it that  they also shot him and abandoned him in the pool of his blood to die.

Eye witnesses had it that while the attack on Ariku was ongoing, two other members of the gang were on the look out to wade off any intruder. When news of the attack reached Ariku’s members at Mile 12, they stormed the scene and rushed him to the hospital, where he was confirmed dead.

His death sparked protest as his aggrieved friends took to the streets protesting, causing panic around Mile 12, as text messages alerting Lagosians on the incident and warning them to avoid Mile 12 went viral.

Contacted, Akinsaya’s media aide, Buhari Jimoh, confirmed that late Lawal was their member, stating that he could have been killed by those who suspected he was always reporting their criminal activities to the Police.

On his part, Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Benjamin Hudenyin, said policemen were  deployed to the area to avoid any likely breakdown of law and order.

As at 7.30 pm, some police patrol vehicles were mounted at strategic points in the area.

The All Progressives Congress (APC), South Africa chapter, says the placement of Southwest states in the recent West African Examinations Council(WAEC) performance index depicts downward trend in the quality of education in the region.

The Chapter’s Chairman, Bola Babarinde, in a statement on Sunday in Osogbo, expressed concern over poor performance of students in the Southwest states at the 2022 West African Senior School Certificate Examinations (WASSCE).

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the 2022 WASSCE result showed that Nigerian students performed five per cent worse than what they did in 2021 nationwide.

Babarinde said there was urgent need for the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN) Commission to organise educational summit, where all stakeholders in the education sector would proffer solution to the problem.

He said the Commission created by the six states of Lagos, Ogun, Ondo, Oyo, Osun and Ekiti should also set up agenda for increase in school enrollment with provision of educational facilities.

“With proven and recorded advantages and achievements of gathering the intelligentsia in proffering solution, just like was done by the Security Summit organised to improve our security architecture and circumstances.

“We suggest that the DAWN organise an educational summit where all stakeholders in the education sector in both public and private sub-sectors; and international education bodies like UNICEF and UNESCO gather to engage and deliberate on solutions.

“We also advise and encourage the Commission to set the agenda for increase in school enrollment and better educational facilities.

“Making public education attractive and competitive with privately funded counterparts.

“We also call for the involvement of non profit organisations in assisting government educational institutions in the rural areas, especially in adult literary and vocational training by funding and supply of equipment and materials,” he said.

Babarinde said being a past President and Assistant Governor of Rotary Club of Pretoria West, Pretoria, South Africa, with tremendous network with international organisations on partnerships, he was ready to support the Southwest states on sustainable development in the education sector.

“We are calling on leadership in the Southwest to quickly swing into action in stemming the tide in the deplorable state of education in the region to avoid total collapse of our public education, especially primary education.

“The Nigerians in Diaspora are willing to work with the DAWN in bringing about the quality of education to the glorious era of Chief Obafemi Awolowo in the region”, he said.

According to him, DAWN since inauguration has recorded feats in its efforts towards bringing about regional socioeconomic development and integration by organising programmes in pursuit of its mandate.

Babarinde commended the Commission for conceptualising the security summit that birthed Amotekun Corps and its subsequent gains in the security affairs of the region.

“DAWN has organised summits to engage intellectual powerhouses to deliberate and proffer solutions to lingering issues such as the rural security problems that bedeviled the region few years ago.

“We commend the Commission’s role in midwifing the regional security network called Amotekun Corps that has helped in mitigating security issues in the region.

“DAWN has enjoyed efficient leadership since inception which has been sustained and continued with by the present Director-General, Mr Sola Oyeleye, a technocrat and strategic manager of human and material resources,” he said.

Southwest placement in WAEC performance index worrisome’

Igboho lamented that the current security situation in Nigeria is worse than that of war-torn Ukraine.

The Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has called for international support for the actualisation of the Yoruba and Biafran Nations.

Igboho, who made the call in a statement by his Spokesman, Olayomi koiki, alleged that Fulani people, through the support of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government, have taken over everything in Nigeria, enslaving the Southern region of the country in the process.

Igboho lamented that the current security situation in Nigeria is worse than that of war-torn Ukraine, adding that whereas war zones in Ukraine are clearly known, every part of Nigeria has become a war zone with people being killed indiscriminately.

Parts of the statement made available to newsmen on Monday read, "My people (Yoruba) are going through the most difficult time. I studied how the League of Nations became the United Nations and the reason why they exist. Furthermore, I know the role Super Powers are playing in the Stability of this world and it is very commendable, countries like the USA; Russia; China; UK and France, their role as Security Council and so on. 

"I want to now speak to the indulgence of the establishment and the world at large to please come to our aid. We Yoruba want to pull out of this "British Made Union" called Nigeria. This is the time and the world's bodies should not ignore these callings in order to avoid bloodshed.

"The country called Nigeria was coined by British colonial power more than 100 years ago. Forcing together 3 major Nations, Igbo, Hausa and Yoruba. Today, none of these nations is thriving. The Fulani that came into the scene with the sneaky name "Hausa-Fulani" has managed to seize total control of everything, with the help of many nations called Northern Nigeria and their greedy politicians from Southern Nigeria. 

"Today the world knows Nigeria is a failed State. It no longer exists. Economy is dead and can never be revived. Security is worse than even some war zones like Ukraine. At least in Ukraine, you know the war zone and the civilian zone. In Nigeria everywhere is a war zone and no one is safe anymore.

"To make the matter worse, opportunist groups like radical Islamic group, ISIS, Al Qaeda, ISWAP and so on have now joined with Boko Haram and Fulani Militia, with a common goal of taking over the entire failed country and killing and terrorizing as many people as necessary to achieve this.

"We Yoruba are now saying we have seen this coming 2 years ago when I started this activism. Churches have never been attacked in Yoruba land. Today we have seen it in Owo, there was another major clash that took many lives in Kwara State recently, involving this same Fulani.

"The Federal Government of Nigeria has told the Media Houses in Nigeria to deliberately underreport genocide, this is why they revoked the licenses of some TV and radio stations recently. But the social media is there and that is the direct news from the victims.

"So, I call on the world; Brazil; Cuba and all the Latin American countries that we share some religious bonds with. And this also includes Ghana; South Africa and other African countries as well. We Yoruba cannot achieve our country in isolation, we need your cooperation and assistance. 

"Yoruba descendants are all over these countries and many more countries in the world. You all already know who we are and how we behave and that is our resume to the World. You can deduce from that what kind of countries will be added to the World by us Yoruba.

"This Nigeria that we were forced to be part of by colonial power is dead and if we don't save ourselves now, it will take millions of citizens down with her. It is not safe also for the world communities to allow Africa's most populous country to be hijacked by terrorists, and it becomes the new terrorists breeding ground. 

"So, I call on the UN; USA, Russia, China and all international bodies, to carefully examine our case, and help us achieve our own nation, Yoruba Nation, and also the Igbo wants their Biafra Nation. Let us have our countries and it is safer for the World.

"We have more reasons than ever to dissolve this Evil Union, and let everyone go back to their true nationhood.

"My name is Sunday Adeyemo. I appeal to the World Community to look into my communiqué as this is on behalf of my people. I also want the whole world to ignore what the Fulani Government and our Politicians are telling them, as it is all cover-up. 

"The world saw the crowd that I pulled during my peaceful rallies last year before the Federal Government of Nigeria made an assassination attempt on my life. The crowd is a true reflection of my YORUBA people's wish. The elections continuity is just a false view to the World by the Federal Government of Nigeria and the people with an agenda.

"We want our YORUBA Nation back as we are no more interested in the Nigerian Union anymore. And we need the World's help."

Guards Brigade Nigerian Army, and the entire Barracks community was on Thursday  thrown into state of  mourning as the remains of Captain Attah Samuel and four other soldiers who recently paid the supreme price  during a clearance operation in Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were laid to rest.

The soldiers were buried at the Guards Brigade Cemetery, Maitama , Abuja. The Captain and the soldiers were killed after terrorists ambushed their patrol team  along the Bwari-Kubwa road.They had been dispatched to the Nigerian Law school in Bwari to make preliminary findings after the terrorist sect threatened to attack the institution in a letter.

Until their demise, the gallant soldiers  were  serving with 7 Guards Battalion, Lungi Barracks Maitama and 176 Guards Battalion  Gwagwalada in the Federal Capital Territory  Abuja respectively.

While reading the funeral oration of the deceased officer and soldiers, the Commanding Officers of 7 Guards Battalion Lt Col Salim Yusuf Hassan and Commanding Officer 176 Guards Battalion, Lt Col Joshuah Kolowale Adisa described the late Captain and Soldiers as thoroughly bred Infantrymen who were genuinely committed to their duties in defence of Nigeria and whose contribution and services would be greatly missed.

They asked God to console the families left behind stressing that while the Brigade and the Nigerian Army mourns, the families should take solace in the fact that they have fought a just fight and their souls shall continue to rest with the lord till the resurrection morning.

Highpoint of the event was the presentation of accoutrements by the  representative of the Chief of Army Staff, Maj Gen James Alilu Ataguba to the next of kins of the deceased personnel and lowering of the remains of the fallen heroes. There was also the blowing of the last post and gun salute to bid the departed heroes fair well

The burial process started with christian wake keep and funeral service held in honour of the fallen heroes at St John’s Military Church (Protestant) before the final Internment at the Guards Brigade Cemetery Maitama Abuja.

The solemn ceremony was witnessed by senior officers of the Nigerian Army, Commanding Officers,Staff Officers of the Brigade, Bwari Area Council Chairman, Hon John Gabaya as well as family members and the barracks community.

Photo highlight

The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Festus Keyamo, in 1999, sued the Lagos State House of Assembly for clearing then Governor Bola Tinubu of allegations of certificate forgery and perjury.

According to The Africa Report, Keyamo, who is now the Spokesman for the Tinubu Campaign Organisation, had in the case with suit number ID/639M/99, dragged all 41 members of the House before Justice C.O Segun of the Lagos State High Court.

He had argued that the court should determine that only the chief judge could investigate Tinubu for certificate forgery.

Earlier, Gani Fawehinmi had accused Tinubu of forging his school certificates and sought an order from the court compelling the police to investigate him. The court ruled that because Tinubu enjoyed immunity at the time, only the Lagos State House of Assembly could investigate him.

The Assembly subsequently investigated him and within a week, he was cleared of all wrongdoing.

Dissatisfied with the resolution of the Lagos Assembly, Keyamo, who was a protégé of Fawehinmi sued all the members of the state legislature for clearing Tinubu.

In the origination motion, Keyamo noted that Tinubu had in the forms he submitted to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stated that he attended Government College, Ibadan, from 1965 to 1968 and then proceeded to Richard Daley College, Chicago, Illinois, USA, from 1969 to 1971 before completing his studies at the Chicago State University in 1979 but that the certificates were lost.

Keyamo recalled that based on the allegations that the certificates were forged, the Lagos State House of Assembly set up a five-member panel that investigated Tinubu for only four days and could not have done a thorough job. 

He added that the Assembly lacked the constitutional power to investigate perjury and its findings were thus null and void.

He, therefore, sought four reliefs including a declaration by the court that “the final report submitted by the said five-man panel on Monday, September 27, 1999, to the defendants which in its totality cleared the Governor of Lagos State, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu of allegations of forgery and perjury is null and void and of no effect.”

However, the court struck out the matter because it was not supported by an affidavit. Keyamo took the case to the Court of Appeal where he lost again and then to the Supreme Court where he was finally defeated.

In his response to The Africa Report, however, Keyamo said he only challenged the right of the Lagos Assembly to clear Tinubu and not the actual findings of the report.

Personnel of Islamic police, Hisbah in Kano have forcibly shaved off the hair of some secondary school pupils in the state for being ‘unIslamic'.

Some of the pupils were also punished for dressing in ways the officials consider to be offensive to Islam.

In some pictures seen by SaharaReporters, officials of the Islamic police could be seen shaving off the pupils’ hair on the school premises.



Despite condemnation from Nigerians, the Hisbah group has continued its push for an Islamic agenda in the North.

The agency, established to enforce Sharia law has banned stylish haircuts, sagging of trousers, playing of music at social events by disk jockeys and tricycle riders from adorning their vehicles with pictures considered to be obscene and against the tenets of Islam in some states in the North.

A barber and his customers were in 2021 arrested for giving and having haircuts which were considered to be offensive to Islam.

Hisbah officials are also notorious for destroying truckloads of alcoholic drinks.

After it was knocked by the public for being silent on the photographs of the bridal shower of President Muhammadu Buhari’s daughter-in-law, Hisbah responded by prohibiting the sharing of the bridal shower photographs.

SaharaReporters in 2021 reported that some Nigerians highlighted Zahra's gown, part of which was made from a transparent material, while others pointed out that she did not have her hair covered as is expected of Muslim women.

The Kano State Hisbah Board has also banned the use of mannequins by fashion houses, stores, boutiques and tailors to display clothes.

Hisbah Commander-in-Chief, Ustaz Harun Muhammad Sani Ibn Sina, had said the use of mannequins by tailors, boutique owners and others contravenes the provision of Islamic injunctions.

He added that the agency would educate offenders on how Islam frowns on the use of mannequins. He said offenders would be arrested and prosecuted.

Two members of the Ebubeagu militia in Imo State were reportedly captured at the boundary between Izombe and Agwa communities in Oguta local council following a fierce gun battle Sunday.

The Ebubeagu operatives had reportedly positioned themselves on the way from Amakpuruedere Izombe village to Ogborafor Izombe market, trying to prevent the village from participating in the market outing of the yearly Okorosha Izombe festival.

A source confirmed to our correspondent that following an exchange of gunfire between the gunmen and the state militia, which lasted for about two hours, the operatives abandoned three of their vehicles and fled.

According to him, “the operatives of Ebubeagu Security Outfit felt that the event would be an avenue for them to come and arrest the masterminds of Friday’s Agwa Police Station destruction where four policemen were killed and vehicles burnt with explosives, some whom they felt would be there because of the closeness of Izombe to Agwa.

“On getting to the venue of the cultural festival, the Ebubeagu operatives made attempts to disrupt the event which was resisted by the people. Unknown to them, some gunmen who got information about their presence in Izombe rushed down to the boundary between Izombe and Agwa where they laid ambush for them. When they later came down to the boundary after their futile attempt to disrupt the festival, they were confronted by the unknown gunmen who engaged them in a gun duel. This eventually led to the capture of not less than two Ebubeagu operatives by the unknown gunmen, while some scampered for safety”, the eyewitness disclosed.When contacted for comment, spokesman of the Imo State Police CSP Mike Abbattam was yet to confirm the incident as of press time.

Abubakar Kawu Baraje, a chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress, (APC) on Monday traced the origin of the current insecurity in the country to the influx of Fulani from neighboring countries like Sierra Leone, Mali, Senegal, Niger and Chad brought into the country for election purposes in 2015.

He said this in Ilorin as part of activities to mark his 70th birthday anniversary

He also backed self-help initiatives of the south west governors, stating that re­sponses of Sunday Igboho to the herdsman menace were necessary because the Federal Government failed in its prin­cipal responsibility to secure life and property

On the recent moves by some ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) governors to woo former president, Good­luck Jonathan, Baraje said that the ruling party was only wast­ing its time.

According to the former PDP chairman, who also once served as the party’s national secretary and chairman of the breakaway faction of PDP that formed the nucleus of the current ruling party, the Fulani men causing havoc in the country are not aboriginal to Nigeria.We are not asking the right question on how the same Fu­lani we have been living with suddenly turned out a menace.

“We also must ask how they had access to their guns,” the ex-party chairman asked.

Baraje said that the Fulani men wreaking havoc in the country are not the Nigerian Fulani.

“The security agencies have not been open about the nature of the problem.

“They have made arrests. Why haven’t they told the pub­lic who the terrorists are?” asked Baraje.

According to him, the Fu­lani causing security problems in the country were brought in to help facilitate victory in the 2015 election.

“After the election, the Fu­lani have refused to leave. I and other like minds wrote and warned those we started APC with that this was going to hap­pen but nobody listened,” he explained.

Tens of students could be seen lying on the ground down in the school compound while two soldiers flog them with whips.

Some lawless Nigerian soldiers have brutalised and dehumanised students of Command Day Secondary School, Enugu for allegedly not being present at a graduation ceremony.

The incident occurred last Thursday. 

SaharaReporters had reported that a student of the same school was flogged to death by a soldier in May this year. Although the family of the student, Master Eneh Chinemerem, said they had left the killing of their only son to God as they can't fight the Nigerian Army, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Enugu State chapter has taken over the matter.

In a video seen by SaharaReporters, tens of students could be seen lying on the ground down in the school compound while two soldiers flog them with whips.

Voices could be heard in the background saying, "This is happening at Command Day Secondary School, Enugu.

"Lawless Nigerian Soldiers brutalise, dehumanise and flog students for refusing to be present at graduation because they have not finished their NECO (National Examination Council) examination."

Another voice was heard saying, "They are flogging students. If you don't come for graduation, they will flog you."

SaharaReporters earlier reported that a pupil of the school, Master Eneh died after a soldier, identified as Lieutenant Nweke allegedly hit his head with a stick repeatedly for having 'bushy hair'. 

Shortly after the beating, Eneh's head started swelling and he was moved to several hospitals before he died a few days later. 

His mother, Adaeze Chibuzo took to the Nkanu People of Enugu State Nigeria Facebook platform to share the news with pictures of the boy with a swollen head before his demise.

She had written, “It is still very hard to believe that you are gone my son but one thing I know is that God will surely fight for us, rest in peace my son.”

Meanwhile, efforts made by SaharaReporters to speak with the Deputy Army Public Relations, 82 Division, Col Abubakar Abdullahi, proved abortive as he didn't answer his calls.

The Police Command in Lagos State on Saturday said no INEC official was arrested on Friday in connection with the ongoing Continuous Voter’s Registration (CVR) exercise  in the state.

The command’s spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday , while reacting to the incident.

NAN reports that some online media on Friday reported that thugs invaded INEC CVR centre situated at St. Bridget Catholic Church, ljesha, in Surulere, and catered away INEC enrollment machines.

Hundeyin, however, said that Police got information about the presence of some INEC officials in a church, stressing that the DPO, police division in Ijeshatedo, swung into action and brought the INEC officials and materials to the station.

He said the DPO decided to bring the officials and others around to the station, because the church was not conducive for such investigation, to avoid break down of law and order.

The spokesman noted that after the DPO’s  findings, there was a mix-up of address location and he requested the INEC officials to move to the correct address.

Hundeyin pointed out that the police carried INEC materials and officials out of the church, not hoodlums as being  speculated on  social media.

“The INEC officials were assigned to Imam Thani Street, by House No. 9A for the exercise. They were, however, found within the church premises. Residents raised concerns and informed the police.

“Preliminary findings show that a resident of the area who volunteered to transport the officials from their office to the center,  was responsible for the mix-up, deliberate or not, further investigation will reveal.

“Meanwhile, the officials were immediately released to proceed to the correct center to continue their assignment,” he said. (NAN)

Fifty-two pan-Arewa socio-politcal organisations under the umbrella of Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), on Friday condemned the United Nations’ call for the release of Nnamdi Kalu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).
The UN Working Group, in its opinions, had flayed the detainment of Kanu and called on the Nigerian government to release him unconditionally.
But CNG’s Spokesman, Abdul-Azeez Suleiman, at a press briefing in Abuja, urged the UN to steer clear of the country’s judicial system.
He said: “The Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), representing the vast equation of rights and civil organisations in northern Nigeria, notes with utter perplexity, the unwarranted interference of the United Nations with Nigeria’s internal legal processes and legitimate application of established criminal justice procedures by its recent demand for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu, leader of a duly proscribed terror group from the lawful custody of a sovereign Nigerian nation.
“It is unacceptable to Nigeria and Nigerians, and in particular to the North, that the United Nations will endorse the platform and space to be used by Kanu and IPOB in promoting anarchy and campaigning for genocide in Nigeria.”
Abdul-Azeez called on UN to “immediately withdraw the call for the unconditional release of Nnamdi Kanu from the lawful custody of the Nigerian authorities.
“To direct all member nations where Kanu, IPOB and other authors of mindless violence and separatism find comfortable cover to perpetuate an agenda that fans the embers of discord, call for war and violence in Nigeria, to take action in line with their domestic laws on hate speech and international laws on war and genocide instead of accommodating them;
“Call the attention of the United Nations and our friends in the international community to understand that bilateral friendships are guided by the principles of sovereignty, promotion of peace and the standards that guide legitimate interference;
“Caution the United Nations that their intervention, exclamations and actions should never be drawn to discountenance the effort of the Nigerian state to protect citizens from violence and to impose law and order;
“Call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to maintain the sanctity, dignity and integrity of Nigeria and uphold and defend its sovereignty by resisting and rejecting such demands from any quarter;
“Lastly, it is important to caution the United Nations to weigh the impact and consequences of backing these perpetrators of indiscriminate violence, wanton destruction and collective mayhem, that fervently hope it will engulf the entire country and bring about another civil war and mass killings and suffering of innocent people.

"We've killed 30 terrorists behind attack on presidential guard troops"- @DefenceInfoNG

Believe that and you will believe anything.

An unknown number of soldiers were said to have been killed on Thursday night by Boko Haram terrorists stormed an Army checkpoint around Zuma Rock, the border between FCT and Niger State.

Sources said the terrorists arrived Zuma Rock on the axis of Madalla and Suleija along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, at about 8.30p.m., and took the soldiers by surprise, opening fire from different angles.

“They were shooting continuously at the checkpoint for more almost one hour, and soldiers at the checkpoint were fighting back. But after a while, the shooting stopped,” a source said.

The sources said the terrorists later abandoned their mission of moving into Abuja and retreated towards Kaduna axis.

While retreating, the bandits who were said to be in several motorbikes, reportedly attacked some villages and shops in Madalla and carried foodstuff on their motorbikes before bolting.

Following the retreat of the terrorists, more troops and equipment from the Army base in Zuma Barracks were deployed for reinforcement to the scene.

Another source said a joint security operatives team were going on patrol around the axis when sounds of gunshot erupted and they moved towards the scene only to discover that it was an ongoing battle between soldiers and bandits.

The source said the security operatives immediately radioed the Army Barracks at Zuma Rock, resulting in the deployment of reinforcement to the scene.

The fighting reportedly caused severe traffic jam, as motorists remained trapped on the Abuja-Kaduna Highway.

The attack comes barely six days after terrorists carried out an ambushed a patrol team of presidential guards team along the Bwari-Kubwa Road resulting in the death of six soldiers and officers following intelligence report that they were planning to attack the Nigerian Law School in Bwari.

The attack and other kidnapping incidents have resulted in heightened tension in the FCT, with schools closed.

The management of Federal Government College, Kwali, asked parents to evacuate their children from the school as a result of an attack by bandits in a neighbouring community 24 hours earlier.

Recall that the terrorists began the attacks by invading Kuje Prison in Abuja with bombs on July 5, killing an NSCDC officer, blowing open the gates and freeing over 800 inmates including 66 Boko Haram/ISWAP terrorists commanders and members.

The terrorists had also threatened to abduct President Muhammadu Buhari and the governor of Kaduna State, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai.

With four days to the deadline of the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) ahead of the 2023 general elections, majority of eligible voters from northern states appear lethargic about the exercise as official figures show. 

Commensurate with their population, more northern states performed poorer than their southern counterparts in the latest figures analysed by Daily Trust, even as observers attribute the low numbers to insecurity and disenchantment by the voting population. 

Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, flagged-off the resumption of the online CVR, on 28th June 2021, to update the voters’ register after the 2019 general elections. 

The INEC register for the 2019 general elections had 84,004,084 voters. Breakdown of the register showed the North West had the highest number of registered voters at 20,158,100 or 24 per cent of the total [b]registered voters.

The South West came second with 16,292,212 registered voters or 19.39 per cent, while the North Central had 13,366,070 registered voters or 15.91 per cent and the South South registered 12,841,279 or 15.29 per cent of the total.

The North East and the South East regions come last with the total number of 11,289,293 or 13.44 per cent and 10,057,130 voters or 11.97 per cent, respectively.[/b]

INEC had extended the initial June 30 deadline for the ongoing exercise by four weeks to end on July 31. 

Some states have, at various times, declared work free days to enable workers to obtain the voter’s card. 

Also, many churches had variously mandated their congregants to participate in the exercise with some of them barring members without voter’s cards.

How the states stand 

According to INEC in its CVR Update Quarter 4, Week 15 as at 7am, Monday 25th July, 11,011,119 registered to obtain the voter’s card. 

Out of the total, 7,619,179 had completed physical registration while 3,391,940 had done online registration.  

Details of the completed registration show that Lagos leads other states with 508,936 registrants followed by Kano, Delta, Rivers, Kaduna and Bayelsa states.

Though Kano with its 14,253,549 people, according to the 2020 Demographic Statistics Bulletin of the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), is ahead of Lagos, whose population stood at 12,772,884, the state lags behind Lagos with over 8,000 voters, according to the INEC’s data. The completed registration for the state stood at 500,207 by Monday morning.

Delta, which stands third on the INEC chart, registered 481,929 new voters, in spite of its total population standing at 5,307,543, according to the NBS. The state recorded figures higher than many northern states with more population.

Katsina, with 9,300,382 people, according to NBS, recorded only 283,470 completed registration. Niger, whose population was projected at 6,220,617, registered 330,453 while Sokoto, with 5,863,187 people had 293,152 completed registration.

Kaduna, with 8,324,285 lagged behind Rivers, which registered 436,459  voters from its 7,034,973 people, as against Kaduna’s 417,427  new registrants. 

Bayelsa, with a population standing at 2,394,725, registered 416,519 voters, way above Plateau (323,960 out of 4,400,974), Sokoto (293,152 out of 5,863,187) and Adamawa (232,525 out of 4,536,948). States with the least number of completed registration were Imo (166,835), Yobe (134,002) and Ekiti (124,844).

For online registration, Osun leads with 708,968, followed by Delta (641,765), Lagos (640,560), Kaduna (574,804) and Bayelsa (550,208).

Kano recorded 369,587; Katsina, 119,137 and Kebbi, 81,082. Yobe, Enugu and Imo were on the bottom with 91,239, 72,167 and 71,180 online registrants, respectively.

Why northerners are disinterested in CVR – Fage

Reacting, a political analyst and professor of political science at Bayero University, Kano (BUK), Kamilu Sani Fage, said two reasons are basically responsible for the seeming disinterest among the northern populace regarding the CVR exercise.

He said the first was not unconnected to the disappointment of the people with the performance of the government, which made many believe that registering to vote will make little or no difference, especially looking at the crop of leaders presenting themselves to take over from President Muhammadu Buhari in 2023.

The second reason, according to him, was inadequate mobilisation by politicians and political parties, noting that if not for the efforts of INEC, media and some elites, the turnout would have been worse than what was being recorded.

He stressed that it was unfortunate that politicians and political parties who stand to benefit the most from higher voter registration were busy with who gets what and when of the internal political wrangling and left the role of mobilisation unattended to.

Fage feared that there will be a very high voter apathy during the 2023 election if nothing is done to mobilise and sensitise the electorate, saying the country is likely to witness what is called “voter’s protest” whereby even those that have the means to vote will choose not to vote to protest against the failure of the government and lack of faith in the options before them at the polls.

Low turnout signs of disenchantment, mistrust – CSOs

Speaking on the development, the Chairman, Transition Monitoring Group (TMG) and Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, said the low turnout by Nigerians particularly in the northern region of the country is worrisome.

“This, I believe will have a great implication in the way and manner in which elections will be conducted in Nigeria if say the trend does not change before the closure of the voter registration process,” he said.

He also attributed the failure of many Nigerians and especially those in the North to come out and register in the CVR to poverty, insecurity and failure of governance among others.

He said, “Most Nigerians have given up on the current Buhari led administration as they consider it a total failure because of the events happening everywhere ranging from Kidnapping, massive poverty and unemployment and high level of corruption. This is a huge disappointment in the eyes of Nigerians with particular reference to the northerners, especially considering the fact that the president hails from the region.

“Democracy ensures that the voice of every citizen count, hence the provisions in the rule of law for leaders to always operate within the purview of what the law provides. The rampant breaking of the law by the very people who claim to be lawmakers and policymakers and implementers is another factor that is hindering Nigerians from coming out for the CVR.

On way forward, Rafsanjani said, “The very first and most important thing that the government and all relevant stakeholders must do is to ensure that before the 2023 general elections, all the aggrieved Nigerians are addressed in a way that restores their confidence and trust in the government. 

“It all boils down to a gap in communication, people are fed up with lies and deception being told by leaders who always fail to keep up to their expectations and as such they become indignant. 

“Another important thing to do is to assure the people that when they do their CVR and eventually cast their votes, it is the people they voted for that will be in office because as stated earlier, most people have lost faith that even if they register and vote, it will be to no avail because the people whom they voted for might not be the ones who will lead them. 

“Equally important is the issue of the rampant insecurity that bedeviled the country. The government and all relevant stakeholders must work to ensure that people are guaranteed adequate safety and protection before, during and after elections as election security is of paramount importance because many voters even when registered are afraid to come out and cast their votes.” 

On her part, the Director Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Idayat Hassan, said the internal displacement of citizens in some states, especially in the North West may have contributed to the low registration numbers. 

She said, “Lack of voter education and mobilisation by the politicians may also contribute. The next few remaining days should be utilised to mobilise people to register.” 

Also, the Executive Director, Resource Centre for Human Rights and Civic Education (CHRICED), Dr. Ibrahim Zikirullahi, said that in the course of the various civic education activities we organised, many citizens expressed frustration and disenchantment about the failure of democracy to deliver on the most pressing issues facing them, particularly the high cost of living and the galloping inflation, which have made them poorer than the last time they voted. 

According to him, other people mentioned the prolonged ASUU strike as a reason for their lack of interest in registering to vote. 

He said, “On the whole, our independent assessment of the situation points to a disappointed, disenchanted and demoralised citizenry, which has no faith that voting again will lead to better outcomes with respect to the most pressing economic challenges they are experiencing.” 

Also speaking, the spokesperson, Coalition of Northern Groups (CNG), Abdulazeez Suleiman, told Daily Trust that northern groups have been worried by indications that there is obvious low participation in the ongoing voter registration in the northern part of the country compared to other regions. 

“The CNG is convinced that the low turnout of eligible people for the exercise is not unconnected to the huge disappointment being felt by northerners resulting from the failure by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to meet the incredible expectations he raised in the minds of the public in the buildup to the 2015 election. 

“The North from where the APC and Buhari extracted the bulk of their winning votes in 2015 is today unfortunately the most estranged, dejected section of the country with communities abandoned to the mercy of insurgents, bandits and sundry criminal gangs who operate freely and with ease,” he said.

INEC insists on July 31 deadline

Speaking on the development, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in FCT, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, said the deadline for the CVR exercise remains July 31. 

He also warned that those who register more than once would not get their PVCs, as such registration remains invalid. 

Bello said that all CVR activities except the collection of already printed PVCs would be suspended on Sunday, July 31 and that the commission increased the closing hours to 5pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.

According to him, this was done to accommodate the reawaking of those who now realised that they need their PVCs at the last hour of the programme that has been ongoing for over a year.

The Federal Ministry of Education, for fear of impending bandits and terrorists’ attacks, has directed the immediate closure of all Federal Government Colleges domiciled in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, while ordering immediate evacuation of students.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the decision was as a result of rising insecurity and threat to the lives, properties and well-being of the students therein.

While some schools had directed students to vacate latest on Wednesday, July 27, 2022, other schools disseminated messages to parents on Sunday asking them not to fail to come pick their children on Monday, unfailingly, due to rising fear and anxiety emanating from reported threats.

An unconfirmed report had trended on social media on Sunday, indicating that there were heavy shootings at Federal Government College in Kwali, Abuja, a report which prompted parents to rush down to the school to ascertain the safety of their wards and possibly return home with them until calm was restored.

Some members of staff at the Federal Government Girls’ College, Bwari, also confided in our correspondent that they received a directive from the Federal Ministry of Education to allow students vacate the school before Wednesday.

Members of staff also told our correspondent, in confidence, that the school would be shut down today not minding the Wednesday deadline as parents had been asked to come pick up their children before noon on Monday.

Efforts to reach the authorities for reactions to the incident have been futile; however, some parents, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, claimed that a message came from the school authorities informing parents to come pick up their children not later than Monday noon.

Although sources within the Federal Ministry of Education confirmed to our correspondent that the schools were directed to be closed due to security threats and fear of impending bandits and terrorists’ attacks, PUNCH Metro could not reach the Director of Press, Federal Ministry of Education, Mr Ben Goong, for comments on the situation, as the director did not respond to phone calls nor text messages.

Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Gani Adams, weekend, warned that Nigeria may cease to exist in the next two years, if nothing drastic was done to salvage the present situation.

Adams said this during the Okota Festival, at his home town of Arigidi-Akoko, in Akoko North-West council of Ondo State.

His words: “Amidst the present insecurity situation, economic crisis and downgraded institution, governance in the country has shown lack of coordination and Nigeria’s paths towards a unitary system will only cause the country’s problems to get continually worse.

“With the insecurity issues in the country, there is nothing that can be done if we do not have federalism. If we do not allow federalism based on regionalism, I’m afraid that, within two years, this country will break.

“You can see how the wave is coming. It is not only insecurity, but also the economy, depreciating institutions and lack of coercion in governance. There is danger ahead, if the Federal Government does not act fast to restructure Nigeria to regionalism.

“Regionalism will give the content of regional police, state police and local government police.

“If you do not work on the structure, there is no way you can stop insecurity.

“That is what is being done in the United States of America and many countries that have provinces and regions.

“Why are we dodging from reality and trying to push a country of about 250 million people into a unitary system? It cannot work. A country that has about 450 ethnic nationalities, it cannot work and that’s one of our problems.”

Akeredolu can boost tourism in Ondo

He, however, urged Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State to use cultural promotion template to improve tourism and economic development in Ondo state and its environs.

He said: “It is very important for the Ondo state government to use cultural promotion template to improve the tourism and economic development in Ondo State and its environs.”