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Category: #EndSARS

  • BREAKING: EndSARS: Lawyer Who Filed Case Towards Pastor Adeyemi, Davido, Falz, forty seven Others Is Pretend, Says NBA

    BREAKING: EndSARS: Lawyer Who Filed Case Towards Pastor Adeyemi, Davido, Falz, forty seven Others Is Pretend, Says NBA

    The NBA stated Okeke was not referred to as to the bar and the NBA would additional take legal and prosecutorial steps towards Okeke within the case.

    Alawyer, Kenechukwu Okeke, who filed a criminal complaint before an Abuja Magistrate Court over the actions of 50 persons, including celebrities during the October 2020 EndSARS struggles, has been confirmed to be fake and never called to the bar.

    The Nigerian Bar Association confirmed on Monday that Okeke was fake and not on the list of directory of lawyers in Nigeria.

    At the hearing of the matter on Monday, the case was called up and there were introductions from the celebrities, others and applicant, Deji Adeyanju’s lead counsel, Samuel Ihensekhien and Kenechukwu Okeke, who appeared as the first defendant, and as a counsel for himself.

    The NBA Abuja Capital Chairman, Chukwuemeka Clement, also appeared in this case as amicus curea (a friend of the court).

    At the commencement of the case, Ihensekhien informed the court that in view of the avalanche of court process filed by all parties in the case, there was a need for a clear date to be taken by the honourable court to hear all pending applications.

     

    This application by the applicant’s counsel was acceded to by the court, and he further informed the court that by an official letter filed by the NBA the chairman of Abuja capital  that the purported first defendant in the case, Okeke, who has been filing different court processes all over Nigeria was actually not a lawyer.

    The NBA said Okeke was not called to the bar and the NBA would further take legal and prosecutorial steps against Okeke in the case.

    Reacting  to the above, the NBA Capital Bar Chairman, Chukwuemeka and a representative of the NBA aligned with the applicant’s counsel’s submission and informed the court of an official NBA letter evidencing all the submissions above and further documentary evidence and authentication from NBA website that Okeke was not a lawyer.

    He  informed the court that the NBA would be prosecuting Kenechukwu Okeke for impersonation in the case, and in view of all the above, the FCT High Court presided by Justice Bello Kawu then adjourned the case to March 30, 2021.

    Okeke, who appeared in court, was visibly angry and seen by people in court to be behaving in an unruly manner and shouting, and the presiding judge had to caution him to be careful as the honourable court was in charge of its proceedings. Consequent upon this, the court adjourned the matter.

    Okeke failed to grant an interview to newsmen as he had promised before court sitting and was seen rushing away from the FCT court.

  • Mr Macaroni, End SARS protesters arrested for conspiracy

    Mr Macaroni, End SARS protesters arrested for conspiracy

    Veteran Nollywood actor, Richard Mofe-Damijo, RMD, has described the arrest of Mr Macaroni and End SARs protesters as a shame.

    It was reported earlier that police operatives deployed to Lekki toll gate had arrested some protesters including Nigerian Instagram comedian, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni.

    The protest was instigated after Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on the End SARS granted the Lekki Concession Company, LCC, permission to reopen the Lekki toll gate.

    Read Also:  End SARS protests: Ortom condemns Lekki Toll Gate killings, calls for probe, prosecution of perpetrators

    The toll gate was closed after the October 2020 incident that led to the killings of some End SARS protesters.

    RMD in a post on his Instagram page on Saturday said there is a huge problem in Nigeria if the government fails to recognise the right of citizens to protest in a democratic nation.

    His post read: “I will not dignify the police by reposting the video meant to dehumanise and rubbish @mrmacaroni1 and other protesters, no I would not.

    “I will not celebrate the brokenness of our society or the misplaced priorities of this government. The shame of our country is too damaging.”

    The actor while calling for an end to bad governance in Nigeria warned that no matter how the government tries to justify its action, you cannot ‘Outlaw peaceful protesters’

    “You can NOT OUTLAW PEACEFUL PROTESTS NO MATTER HOW YOU TRY TO SPIN IT!!!

    “There is a reason it’s called a democracy and if you don’t understand that reason, then we have a huge problem,” his post read.

  • Angola Suspends Travel From 4 Countries Over Coronavirus Variant

    Angola Suspends Travel From 4 Countries Over Coronavirus Variant

    Angola has suspended air, land, and sea connections with South Africa, Australia, Nigeria, and the UK due to the discovery of the new coronavirus variant SARS-CoV-2.

    The directive took effect at midnight on December 26.

    READ ALSO: Budget 2021:Information Ministry to Spend N1.3bn on Travel, Miscellaneous, Refreshment, Others

    The decision was made public through a joint statement by the country’s interior, foreign affairs, health, and transport ministries.

    READ ALSO: Coronavirus – Nigeria: COVID-19 case update (27 November 2020)

    As of December 26, Angola had recorded 17,149 coronavirus cases with 6,776 cases still active. It had also recorded 399 deaths and 9,976 recoveries.

    The country, with a population of 30 million spread across its 18 provinces, recorded its first Covid-19 cases on March 21 when two people tested positive for the virus.

  • PDP, APC Exchange words over Ebonyi violence

    PDP, APC Exchange words over Ebonyi violence

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Progressives Congress (APC) at Ebonyi State are in a war of words over the current violence from the state.

    Nine persons are killed in what the authorities and authorities explained as ‘cult-related’ killings.

    He explained: “The PDP notes serious issues the dreadful developments in Ebonyi State in the past couple of weeks, that has resulted in the departure of many innocent men and women.

    “On November 27, Governor David Umahi made wild allegations from our party leaders, stating I had to increase an alert because lives will be lost’. True to his hazard, hardly three days then televised danger, a faithful associate, Shedrak Nwode, by Umuezoka, Ezra South inspector, together with his fiancée, were murdered by a senior officer of Umahi’s authorities.

    Read also: #EndSARS Protest: Hoodlums shoot two Policemen, burn Police Stations, release eight suspects in Ebonyi

    “The overdue Nwode’s offense was not able to shout ‘APC –Change’ in a marriage. Three days following Nwode’s death, on December 4, three notable supporters of the celebration in the Ugwulangwu community were detained on trump up charges of sponsoring cultists and the proscribed Native individuals of Biafra (IPOB). It took serious consequences, such as a danger to protest nude in Abakaliki by older ladies, for them to be published.

    “…our associates yet again endured harms with cars vandalized and several lost their valuables”

    Odefa also accused the safety of becoming passive and apparently unconcerned.

    Acting Chairman Stanley Okoroemegha stated the nine men were murdered in cult clashes.

    According to him, the governor has given an ultimatum to detain and prosecute the offenders.

    Okoroemegha, who’s also Commissioner for Internal Security and Border Peace, stated the Umahi-led authorities believe in freedom of association.

    He explained: “It’s an erroneous accusation. There’s freedom of association. In reality, Ebonyi is still the number one location in which it’s being practiced.”

    Read also: CSOs demand domestication of Child Rights, Violence Against Persons Prohibition Acts

  • Labour activists list how #EndSARS campaign redefines radicalism in Nigeria

    Labour activists list how #EndSARS campaign redefines radicalism in Nigeria

    Labour activists listed how the #EndSARS campaign is redefining labour activism in Nigeria through its disruptive nature.

    Speaking at a memorial lecture in honour of late pioneer Director General of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Dr. Yima Sen, in Abuja, Director, Mac Arthur Foundation’s Africa Office, Dr. Kole Shetimma, observed that while the exemplary life of the late Yima symbolised that of struggles which traversed the political landscape, the recent #EndSARS campaign had provided a fresh definition of activism in Nigeria that relied on the social media and other means of communication.

    Read also: $10 unit operating cost will guarantee more oil revenue for Nigeria – Wunti

    Shettima, who chaired the occasion, declared that the #EndSARS generation had actually issued a generational retirement for the activists who drove radicalism from the late 1970s to the mid 1990s.

    Shettima argue that if the power elite in Nigeria today is still holding on its escapist narrative of the #EndSARS generation as what opposition, enemies of government and cultists put together, then they have got a different thing coming

  • Re: How a bloody night of bullets quashed a young protest movement

    Re: How a bloody night of bullets quashed a young protest movement

    By Richard Murphy

    Cable Network News, CNN’s caption for a five minutes flick it produced on the Tuesday October 20, 2020 incident at Lekki Toll Gate in Lagos, Nigeria read like the title of a fiction and that is exactly what it is. The title is thus more amenable to being forgiven than the actual content of the video, which is a mishmash of footages that is intended to play on the emotion and milk a reaction of condemnation from unsuspecting audiences.

    Lekki Toll Gate became symbolic for the still contentious incident in which people protesting against police brutality under the #EndSARS brand were thrown into panic as a result of gunshots, which resulted in pandemonium. Lagos State Government set up a judicial panel of inquiry that is still hard at work trying to unravel what transpired in Lekki. It could be that the CNN video is an attempt to sway the findings of this panel, but it did a bad job of it.
    To appreciate the deviousness of this international broadcaster one needs to get some background information that gives an idea of the extent to which it can be trusted. CNN’s only claim to relevance is that the President of its home country, Donald Trump, regularly throws shade at it. The logic  by which the TV obtains relevance is thus that “if Donald Trump hates it then it should be liked even when it is grossly unprofessional”.

    CNN is that station that created the stereotype of Africa as the continent of horror, persistently depicting the continent as a place of squalor, malnutrition, dictatorships and everything negative. The only exceptions, of course, are the few countries that are able to bribe CNN by way of tourism advertisement that keeps such patronizing countries in the network’s good books for as long as their subscription to that service subsists. Once the payment lapses then CNN begins to see the “ugly side” of that nation. The exception of course is when the war machine or war entrepreneurs have decided that it is time to sell weapons and arms in a particular country – CNN always go for the highest bidder and the war machine pays big. So, it is well known that CNN has unilaterally, with a little support from its aping associates, plunge entire regions into crisis.

    We are talking here about an international network that has fallen on hard times and it knows it. In the days when its identity as a warmonger was little known, it had misled its viewers with the hype of breaking news. It was revered as a credible source. But now? The only thing that is broken is CNN itself. It is broken to the extent that it can run three minutes of content consisting mainly of panning over one still picture with other transition effects while its automatons called anchors drone on while relaying information that they barely comprehend not to talk of being able to substantiate.

    The active content on its services consists mostly of interest addled talking heads whose only role in life is to defend the interests of blocs that thrive only by making life bitter and unbearable for the 99% of the earth’s population. These are the “experts” CNN bring to its horror show to reel in the already gullible people who are yet to realize that they are being fed a diet of propaganda on steroid.
    It is to CNN’s credit however that it somehow realized to the detriment of its audience that by adding a generous dose of curated social media posts to its offering, it is able to create that misleading sense of making its media space democratic. What it does in reality is to create a spiral of silence whereby those aligned with its curated posts – the ones that tallies with the CNN agenda – are emboldened to make more of such vile posts while those who hold contrary views are forced to retreat into silence.

    This is precisely what this Criminal Nuisance Network did with the Lekki Toll Gate incident. It created a collage of barely cohesive elements, including embellishment with graphics, to tell a story that is a lie. It miraculously found footages of soldiers leaving their base in Bonny Camp, did a Hollywood cut to their convoy arriving at Lekki Toll Gate, used those graphics to show the soldiers were firing into the air and suddenly realized it preferred them to be shooting into the crowd, and the story goes on.

    It is interesting to note how CNN likes to insult African countries. It showed close up of corpses, something it will not try in the western countries where it has operations. The close up of the corpses was not meant to only shock, it is also meant to mislead. By using close-up shots, the picture loses context, what is there to prove that the casualty was in Lekki? The interviews and angry utterances were professionally transitioned to deliver the special effect that the television network wanted. That is good for blockbusters but hardly the stuff that any decent organization should include in its broadcast. CNN gets away with it.

    DJ Switch, hardly the right subject to give soundbite in a serious news item had plenty talk time on the CNN flick. This raises question of how much editorial due diligence went into that work. The right checks would have revealed that DJ Switch was representative of the LGBTQ pressure, which implies CNN was deliberately out to question Nigeria’s Same Sex Marriage Prohibition Act through the backdoor. It should have also been obvious that she doubled as an operative of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a group that has been outlawed as a terrorist organization, one whose leader, Nnmadi Kanu actively coordinated the looting, arson and murder of policemen in the days after the Lekki incident. Again, that is another group to which CNN is beholden simply to rile Nigeria.

    It is willing to lie to achieve this purpose and lying is not alien to CNN. History recorded how in September of 2002 it discovered Iraqi dictator, Saddam Hussein had a cached of Weapon of Mass Destruction (WMD). Nations went to war, killed Saddam, ruined Iraq and destabilized the entire Middle East and North Africa only to discover there was never one gram of truth in the claim about CNN’s celebrated WMD. It got away because no one was watching, no one tracked back to demand why they were lied to.

    That leaves CNN in the business of telling lies and passing them off as special reports. So, in October 2020, it found Lekki massacre, which it is still searching for corpses to prove. This is against Nigeria and Nigerians must exact something to remind CNN that it cannot trample here.

    If CNN does not desire peace in Nigeria, as it has demonstrated, then it should not earn revenue from this country. Citizens can begin sending this message by notifying the businesses that run adverts on CNN of their intent to boycott the offending products and services. Banks, Telecom companies and other Nigerian businesses that patronize CNN should be made to take the brunt of this affront so that they can stop funding an entity that is resolute on plunging our nation into crisis.

    Murphy is a security expert and columnist writing from Calabar, Nigeria.

  • Reporting #EndSARS from Lekki: A Total Live Story

    Reporting #EndSARS from Lekki: A Total Live Story

    My name is Olumide Iluyomade and I am here on ground reporting to you from Lekki.
    I have no political, ethnic or religious motive – my only interest and concern are for Nigeria.
    I am writing this because this nation is at a dangerous and critical junction and we must now lend our voice to common sense and the reason so that peace may prevail.
    There is a lot of misinformation, rumours and untruth flying around and it is extremely dangerous!
    A lot of people are complicit in this – knowingly or unknowingly adding fuel to the fire.
    WhatsApp has become a powerful tool of manipulation and a source of mind control used to spread falsehood and fear!
    We need to be very careful.
    We all need to calm down and allow logic and verifiable facts to come to bear.

    Read also :#EndSARS: Stocks nosedive, investors lose N113.1bn
    In my own little way, I want to provide useful information for many who may be fearful or in a state of confusion or those who may be abroad – I am writing this to provide reliable and factual information of what I have seen, verified and confirmed.
    I have been very deliberate and slow to speak because there was a lot of emotion, confusion and no clear facts until now.
    I am neither interested in politics nor do I have an agenda beyond providing facts.
    I do NOT have ALL the facts yet however, the simple facts that I have been able to gather are as follows:

    1) Yesterday evening, Oct. 20, 2020, a sizable number of #EndSARS protesters remained on location at the Lekki toll gate in peaceful protest.
    For all intents and purposes, the protests remained peaceful and without rancour.
    2) Governor Sanwo-Olu had made an announcement yesterday that the State Government had ordered a curfew that was slated to begin at 4:00 pm.
    Unfortunately, this announcement was not made until sometime around 12:00 noon.
    3) At about 8.00 pm, a group of military personnel came to cordon off the protesters.
    They demanded that the protesters clear off from the street.
    Protesters refused and all sat down in unity.
    Shots were fired in the air and what seemed like fireworks was also used.
    Protesters banded together and stayed put! According to reports, the lights and CCTV installation suddenly went off.
    It was now dark and the soldiers were now at some distance from where the protesters sat.
    Quite suddenly, they open fire in a coordinated burst all at once! Many protesters were injured and one person has been confirmed dead!
    4) What happened at the Lekki toll gate, where the peaceful protesters have gathered, is quite a different story and has no bearing on events that happened in other parts of Lagos! In other parts of Lagos, thugs and hoodlums hijacked the initiative and started using it as an avenue to inflict damage, loot, burn assets and extort public. Many videos of people shot were of events in other parts of Lagos, not Lekki.
    5) Further upstream along the Lekki corridor, a lot of thugs and hoodlums also came out with nothing but malevolent intentions! Just today alone, they have vandalized, smashed and committed arson along the Lekki corridor, starting from the wanton destructions and lootings on Admiralty road, Lekki phase 1. Hoodlums and looters raided and emptied out SPARS, Circle mall and Ikota Shopping complex! Many other shops in between were also looted and smashed up!
    6) The Nigerian Army came out officially today to vehemently deny any involvement with the Lekki toll gate shooting. The Nigerian Army spokesman insists that there was no such order or official instruction given from HQ. Nigeria army also affirmed that it has deployed soldiers to patrol, provide security and engage protesters with strict instruction to de-escalate and defuse the tense situation.
    7) Lagos State governor, Sanwo-Olu, declared that he had no hand in the massacre! He insisted that he had given no such order and that the actions were by forces “Outside of his control”. Gov. Sanwo-Olu thereafter paid a visit to injured victims where he claimed, quite erroneously, that none had died. I can confirm that one person had died from the shootings at Lekki. The death toll above does not include many more victims who were gunned down or killed in other incidences away from the Lekki toll gate!
    😎 There were several attempts by hoodlums and thugs to enter VGC and inflict more damage to what they perceive to be the enclave of the “rich”. Attempts were repelled by VGC security and many were injured. The military patrol was called in whereupon the hoodlums melted away!
    9) According to conversation gleaned from my interaction with the Army general who happens to be an old friend and is currently in charge of the Lekki patrol, he estimated the cost of damage that had been inflicted by Hoodlums looting and vandalizing properties and assets to be “in excess of N2 billion”. Even as we spoke, he was called to attend to the needs of a burning Zenith bank!
    10) Bola Ahmed Tinubu does not own Oriental Hotel. It is false information. The hotel is owned by an affluent Chinese business family. Hotel is also for sale.
    11) Bola Ahmed Tinubu has vested interest in LCC (the toll collecting company) but does not own it.
    12) Bola Ahmed Tinubu does own a private jet with registration VP-CBT. The plane in question is a Dassault Falcon 900DX, not a Bombardier Global Express as earlier reported. The plane is registered to the Cayman Islands and owned by a shell company of Tinubu called Empire Aviation Group.
    13) A video showing that Buhari has sneaked to America is making rounds on WhatsApp. It is false information. PMB is in Abuja. I can not tell you, however, why he has been unable to address the nation. That is anyone’s guess.
    14) The following have been set ablaze or damaged in Lagos:

    1. Nigeria Port Authority Lagos – set ablaze
    2. Orile Police Post, Lagos – set ablaze
    3. Lekki Toll Gate, Lagos – totally destroyed
    4. BRT Terminal, Oyingbo – New Buses set on fire
    5. Television Continental, Ketu, Lagos – set ablaze
    6. VIO, FRSC Office, Ojodu – FRSC branded cars, generators set ablaze.
    7. BRT Terminal, Ojodu, Lagos – buses set ablaze.
    8. BRT Bus at Berger – set ablaze
    9. Lagos Television, Agidingbi, Ikeja – shut down
    10. Recreational Center, Oregun, Lagos – set on fire.
    11. Oba’s Palace, Lagos – burnt to ashes. His sceptre of authority seized.
    12. Sanwo Olu Mother’s House, Surulere, Lagos – set ablaze
    13 Kings college on fire
    14. Igbosere High Court – vandalized and looted
    15. Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island Lagos damaged with fire
    16. GTBank Branches burnt down
    17. AccessBank Branches burnt down
    18. Channels Television shut down
    19. Ajeromi Local Govt Secretariat
    20. Lagos-Island Local Govt destroyed
    21. Lagos-Island East LCDA Secretariat set on fire
    22. Lagos Mainland Local Govt Secretariat Destroyed
    23. Ibeju Lekki LCDA Secretariat destroyed
    24. Sanwoolu’s Uncle’s house on Lagos Island.
    25. Ejigbo LCDA burn.
    26. Many local council SECRETARIATS burn down now. in Lagos state.
    27. Circle Mall at Jakande, Lekki – totally looted!
    28. Ikota Shopping complex – many shops looted!
    29. SPARS complex at Elegushi – totally looted!
    Still counting…

    15) The following is my opinion, deduced after careful study, analysis and deliberation:
    a) The Lekki Toll shooting was most likely carried out by rogue elements of the Army or perhaps ones dressed in Army fatigue. Quite unfortunately, we might be looking at another incident of “unknown soldiers”, they remain unknown and at large! It is harrowing that no one can give a definite answer to the questions being asked – who ordered it?
    b) The “Unknown soldiers” were clandestine, stood aloof, disabled security surveillance and lights, opened fire in unison and simply disappeared! It was not anything like the engagements we have seen with other Army units operating in Lagos. It reeks of mischief! We hope that time and effort will reveal those behind it and prosecute them!
    c) There is the preponderance of a fifth column and several rogue elements within the situation in Lagos. Many people have diabolical intent and have found the perfect opportunity to unleash it. There are hungry and angry hoodlums and thugs who vandalize, loot, destroy and commit arson for no reason! There are the political pundits who see it as an opportunity for political gain. There are the ethnic bigots and separatists who see this as an opportunity to cause further acrimony and set the polity on fire so that there can be a better case for the fragmentation of the nation. There are the economic hackers who just quite simply see it as an opportunity to loot and self-aggrandize. There are those overcome with hate and those who just want a regime change – many of these ones are certainly not averse to devious tactics just to see things go their way!
    d) Neither Tinubu nor Sanwo-Olu has the authority to order an Army strike. The dastardly act of those soldiers could never have been something that occurred because of an “order” from the governor or Tinubu. Nigerian Army has a federal chain of command.
    e) Lagos state has lost tens of billions in assets and economic loss because the federal government refused to do the needful and failed to handle the protest properly with affirmative actions.
    f) The President of the Federation, Muhammadu Buhari, has been especially inept and indolent in handling this crisis. He has demonstrated no leadership whatsoever, even though the crisis in question was as a consequence of an agency directly under him! His conspicuous absence and unwillingness to confront and address issues directly, has had the effect of causing issues to fester and metastasize into national security threats! Quite honestly, in my opinion, PMB is liable and criminally negligent in the handling of his duties!

    I appeal to all well-meaning Nigerians to remain calm and desist from actions that further exacerbate the situation. More and more information is being revealed and in due time, all answers shall be made available. We must resist the temptation is to react on impulse and must not allow things to degenerate to the point where anarchy and chaos rule over logic. I must also appeal to those on the WhatsApp media to desist from scaremongering and spreading misinformation! Every time we do this (share and spread falsehood and misinformation), we are guilty of causing more chaos, confusion and fear! Most of the time, I have found that the reports and news is often exaggerated and far more dramatic than is the case in reality. Do not allow yourselves to be manipulated and used as tools and fodder in someone else’s agenda.