Category: Lead

Suspected gunmen on Thursday killed three anti-riot policemen near the popular Agor Market, along the Igarra-Auchi Road in Edo. 

Another operative was reportedly injured when the gunmen opened fire at a police checkpoint. 

Eyewitnesses said the unsuspecting policemen put up a gallant fight to exchange fire with the gunmen. 

In the exchange of gunfire, it was gathered that one of the attackers died while another sustained injuries. 

The injured gunman was said to have been quickly moved by policemen to an undisclosed hospital for treatment and interrogation.

Six rifles belonging to the attackers believed to have come from Okenne in Kogi State were recovered from their hideouts by vigilante members. 

Head of the vigilance group in the area, Ibukun Dogo, told The Nation the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) called his men were  attacked, making him to quickly mobilise vigilantes to the scene. 

Dogo said he and his men saw bodies of the three policemen and they traced the attackers to their hideouts. 

But Edo Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) Chidi Nwabuzor, a Superintendent of Police (SP), said he was yet to get details of the incident. 

Former Enugu Governor Senator Chimaroke Nnamani, on Thursday, berated proponents of Interim National Government (ING), saying that it is treasonable and an affront to the sensibility of Nigerians.

Nnamani, in a statement in Abuja, described ING as absurd saying it has no place in the modern day democratic rule submitting that those behind the plot are enemies of Nigeria.

He said: “The presidential election has been conducted and a winner has been declared. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will be sworn-in as President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria on May 29, 2023. ING is a needless distraction.”

Nnamani, who is the Senator representing Enugu East, reiterated that “Asiwaju will be sworn-in on May 29, 2023 and he will hit the ground running”.

Nnamani said he believed that Tinubu will not deviate from his avowed commitment to the programmes of Social Protection, National Transformation and Restructuring.

Read Also: Nnamani blasts Obi for weaponising religion, ethnicity for politics

Nnamani, a contemporary of Tinubu as Governors in the 1999 set, said he is optimistic a Tinubu- led administration will address critical infrastructural development, youth unemployment and youth bulge, women empowerment as well as the challenges facing the girl-child.

The former Governor predicted that a Tinubu-led government will give priority to budget enhancements needed to address complex issues in the Health, Education, Social Service sectors, including portable drinking water and environmental sanitation.

He expressed optimism that the forthcoming administration will rejuvenate International recognitions and awareness that will attract other nations to invest in Nigeria and consequently, turn the nation’s economy around.

He enjoined Nigerians across the divide to support the incoming administration which he hopes will be a government of national unity where no section of Nigeria will be marginalized or shortchanged in the scheme of things.

A former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Kingsley Moghalu has described Nobel laureate, Wole Soyinka as a principled fighter for justice.

Moghalu’s comments were against the backdrop of sharp criticisms of Soyinka’s statements by supporters of the Labour Party (LP). 

The Nation reports Soyinka said he warned the presidential candidate of the LP, Peter Obi, that his supporters — dubbed ‘Obidients’ — may cost him the election.

Soyinka’s statement earned him criticism and abuse from the ‘Obidients’, on social media platforms, especially Twitter. 

Reacting, Moghalu said: “Nobel Laureate Wole Soyinka is a principled fighter for justice in our country and around the world.

“He is a phenomenon that unlettered and uncultured people may not fully understand in an age of lazy social media in which many don’t read or think deep.

Read Also : Wole Soyinka slams Baba-Ahmed over ‘unbecoming’ outbursts

“His endorsement of my 2019 presidential candidacy in my short-lived but impactful foray into Nigerian electoral politics remains one of the greatest honors of my life. 

“I view very dimly any criticism of him simply because he’s OBJECTIVE. He survived dictators. He will survive you.” 

• ‘I warned Peter Obi that his supporters would make him lose the election’

To make the needed impact, President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu must decentralized power Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka canvassed yesterday.

Soyinka, who again accused Labour Party (LP) Vice-Presidential Candidate Datti  Baba-Ahmed of denigrating the nation’s judiciary, also said he would want a total reinforcement of the civil society. 

There should be devolution of power to arms of government, states and local governments.

He spoke while featuring on Arise TV News Morning Belt programme.

The eminent playwright said: “Decentralisation, that is all I want out of the incoming government. Whichever it is, let us have a genuine, not rhetorical, but a genuine, practical, detailed decentralisation.

“The real devolution of power, more devolution of power to the various arms, various tiers of government, state, local governments, the reinforcement of civil entity, civil society, in the various groupings, that is the kind of structure which I want. You can summarise it in that one word, decentralisation.”

*I warned  Obi  about  Obidients 

Prof. Soyinka, 88,  who won the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1986, also said that before the February 25 presidential election,  he warned LP presidential candidate Peter Obi, that Obidients could make him lose the poll.

“My rejection of fascism is nothing new. On three occasions, I was able to send a message to Peter Obi that, if he lost the election, it would be his followers who lost it for him, “ Soyinka stated.

On Baba-Ahmed’s controversial television interview, he said: “I’ve never heard anyone threaten the judiciary on TV the way Datti did.”

Soyinka also denounced a viral social media post which claimed he endorsed a presidential candidate in the run-up to the election.

He described the post as “nauseating and praise-singing tracts.”

“Please, beware of fake news. A lot of damage is being done by fake news. Even as recently as a few days ago. Some garbage, verbiage, nauseating and praise-singing tracts which we have seen so many times before have been resurrected and attributed to Wole Soyinka. It makes me sick. If people want to be praise singers let them do it in their own father’s name and leave Soyinka out of it.” 

“I want to use this opportunity to announce a reward of $1, 000 to anyone who can finger successfully the author of some of the tracts which have been attributed to me over the past six months.”

The  world-acclaimed author explained that he was disappointed that  interview with Channels Television  recently  was taken out of context and misinterpreted by different media houses.

The playwright had in a statement on Tuesday condemned the physical violence inflicted on those designated ‘strangers’ in Lagos in the lead-up to and during governorship elections.

The statement titled: “Media Responsibility”, said: “What I have read – at least, thus far – this(Tuesday) morning, extracted from a one-and-a-half-long interview, conducted a week ago with Channels, brings once more to the fore, the critical responsibility of the media in transmitting the spoken, even recorded – word to the public.

“This is especially crucial in a time of civic uncertainty. When remarks are taken out of context, spliced into a new one, or provided a sensational headline, distortions become stamped on public receptivity, and the central intent of one’s remarks becomes completely unrecognisable.

“I denounced the menacing utterances of a Vice-Presidential aspirant as unbecoming. It was a gladiatorial challenge directed at the judiciary and, by implication, the rest of the democratic polity.”

• Leaders battling forgery case

A major crisis has hit Labour Party (LP) as a court yesterday suspended its National Chairman Julius Abure.

Three other key members of the National Working Committee —National Secretary, Alhaji Farouk Ibrahim; National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara; National Organising Secretary, Clement Ojukwu and—were also stopped from parading themselves as officials of the party by a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) in Maitama, Abuja.

The LP presidential candidate, Peter Obi came third in the February 25th presidential election, winning over six million votes.

Justice Hamza Muazu, in a ruling, held that the restraining order made ex-parte, shall subsist, pending the hearing and determination of a motion on notice for interlocutory injunctions.

The ruling was on a motion ex-parte marked: M/7082/2023 filed along with the substantive suit instituted by the eight aggrieved members, including the Chairman of the party in Abure’s ward – Ward 03, Arue, Esan North-East Local Government of Edo State, Martins Esikpali John O. and the party’s Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Arabambi.

The eight plaintiffs, who raised allegations of corruption, perjury and forgery against the four national officers of the party, are contending among others, that their continued stay in office is detrimental to what the party stands for and the interest of its many supporters.

Justice Muazu said having read the motion supporting affidavit and accompanying documents, and listening to the lawyer to the applicants, he was convinced that the motion was meritorious and ought to be granted.

The judge issued “an order of interim injunction restraining the 1st to 4th defendants (Abure, Ibrahim, Opara and Ojukwu), their agents, privies, servants, employees and representatives’ whatsoever and howsoever described from parading themselves as the National Chairman, National Secretary, National Treasurer and National Organising Secretary of the 5th 

defendant (LP), pending the determination of the motion on notice.”

Justice Muazu also issued an order abridging the time within which the defendants shall enter appearance to the originating summons and file their defence and other relevant processes from 42 days to eight days. 

He also granted accelerated hearing of the suit and adjourned till April 17 for hearing.

Other plaintiffs in the case are: Lucky Shaibu, Isah Zekeri, Omogbai Frank, Abokhaiu Aliu, Ayohkaire Lateef and Joe Elomah.

In a supporting affidavit, the plaintiffs stated that upon their complaint to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), policemen “conducted investigation into the matter and indicted the 1st to 4th defendants as having established a prima facie case of forgery, perjuring and conspiracy against them”.

Arabambi, in the supporting affidavit, said he applied for the certified true copies (CTC) of the police investigation report on March 6, 2023, adding that by a letter from the Office of the Commissioner of Police, F.C.T Command, dated March 9, 2023, a CTC of the police report was given to him and in which the 1st to 4th defendants “were criminally indicted for forgery, perjury and conspiracy”. 

Arabambi added: “I also received a certified true copy of a disclaimer from the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, dated 8th November, 2022 wherein, the court denied ever issuing any affidavit sworm to by Imaseun Paul Murphy on 8th July, 2022 of his intention to withdraw his candidacy on the platform of the 5th defendant (LP) for the 2023 election into the Federal House of Representatives. 

“As a result of the criminal activities of the 1st defendant (Abure), in collaboration with the 2nd to 4th defendants, the Ward Executive of the 5th Defendant in Ward 03, Arue, Esan, North East Local Government Area, Edo State passed a resolution on the 31st March, 2023 suspending the 1st defendant from the 5th defendant.  

“Inspite of the suspension of the 1st defendant for forgery, perjury and anti-party activities and conspiracy, in line with the constitution of the 5th defendant, as well as indictment of the 1st defendant by the police, the 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants have continued to parade themselves as the National Executives of the 5th defendant. 

“By the indictment of the 1st to 4th defendants by the police as weil as the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, the 1st to 4th defendants lack the vires; moral and legal standing to continue to act as the executives of the 5th defendant.”

Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the February 25 election, Peter Obi, yesterday said an audio which was circulated by a section of the media (not by The Nation) of him having a conversation with Pastor David Oyedepo of the Living Faith Church Worldwide was fake.

In a statement issued via his Twitter handle, Obi said he has instructed his lawyers to take action against those behind the fake audio.

He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of attempting to divert attention from the outcome of the election, which he is challenging.

The statement reads: “The present attempts by the APC as a party, and the APC Led-government through some government officials and agencies to divert our attention from our blatantly stolen mandate is unfortunate and sad.

“These have come and continued to manifest in different ways, such as the malicious accusation of the Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, the circulation of a fake doctored audio call, and a pressure on me to leave the country.

“Let me reiterate that the audio call being circulated is fake, and at no time throughout the campaign and now did I ever say, think, or even imply that the 2023 election is, or was a religious war.

“The attempt to manipulate Nigerians is very sad and wicked. Our legal team has been instructed to take appropriate legal actions against Peoples Gazette and others.

“While we call on all concerned Nigerians and the International Community to implore the APC and the APC Led-government to stop their nasty attacks, my focus and commitment to lawfully and peacefully retrieve our mandate to secure and unite our nation, take Nigeria from consumption to production, pull millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty, especially in the North, and jumpstart prosperity through agricultural, industrial, and technological revolution remain unchanged.”

“Elections are over, and we are in court to retrieve our stolen mandate. Let me reiterate that we are doing so through all lawful and peaceful options in line with our legal system and constitution, and I continue to implore all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.

“Those fixated on heating up the polity, creating divisions, tensions and hatred within and outside Nigeria should remember that Nigeria is our only country.

“Our focus should be on how to address the litany of challenges facing us, such as flawed electoral processes, the parlous state of our economy, unsustainable debt burden, lamentable unemployment and inflation, insecurity, and multi-dimensional poverty. A New Nigeria is indeed POssible, and God will help us. –PO”

Also yesterday, the LP Presidential Campaign Council spokesperson, Yunusa Tanko, said Obi was under “immense pressure” to leave the country or face arrest.

The full statement reads in part: “Most unfortunately, in the past few weeks, Mr Peter Obi has been contacted by associates, elder statesmen, family and friends with concerns for his personal safety.

“These concerns have increased intensely in the last few days as immense pressure has been mounted directly on Mr. Obi to leave the country, no doubt from sources allied to the APC and its agents in the security services…

“As part of the grand design, they are circulating a fake doctored audio call. At no time throughout the campaign and now did Mr Peter Obi ever say, think or even imply that the 2023 election is or was a religious war.

“Despite the public denunciation of the fake audio call, its contents have been translated to other Nigerian languages and circulated in most parts of Northern Nigeria with some of our Muslim clerics deceived and instigated to use the contents for their sermons at various Mosques during the usual Friday prayers.

“This is a dangerous development at a time when the APC led-government and the APC should be more concerned in addressing the ethnic and religious frictions unfortunately created by the outcome of the elections…

“There are many more campaigns of calumny against Mr Peter Obi planned for the near future both before and during the court process.

“However, we want to make it clear to the APC party, APC led-government and its agents that Mr Peter Obi a widely travelled man has no intention to leave the country at this time irrespective of the pressure on him and his family.

“He is determined as he had stated in his first and only press conference after the election to challenge the outcome of the election and the process has begun. It is his fundamental right!

“While we call on all concerned Nigerians and the international community to caution APC and the APC Led-government to stop their nasty attacks, Mr Obi’s focus and commitment to lawfully and peacefully retrieve our mandate to secure and unite our nation, take Nigeria from consumption to production, pull millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty, especially in the North and jumpstart prosperity through agricultural, industrial and technological revolution remains unchanged.”

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has written the Central Criminal Court in  Old Bailey, London asking for clemency for Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his wife Beatrice.

Obasanjo, in a letter dated April 3 and addressed to the Chief Clerk of the court, urged that the relationship between Nigeria and the United Kingdom(U.K.) be considered.

He added that the health of Ekweremadu and his 25-year-old  daughter, Sonia,  be also taken into consideration by the court.

An international Affairs scholar-   Prof. Bola Akinterinwa and a retired Nigerian Envoy, Adamu Emozozo – welcomed Obasanjo’s intervention. 

The British court had a fortnight ago convicted the  Ekweremadus and a medical doctor, Obinna Obeta for attempting to deceive a 21-year-old Lagos street trader, David Nwamini, into donating a kidney for Sonia.  

Sonia was, however,  cleared by the court which set the sentencing of her parents and Obeta for a later date. 

The Ekweremadus ordeals began in February 2022, when Nwamini was falsely presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital in London as Sonia’s cousin in a bid to convince doctors to carry out an £80,000 transplant surgery.

While the six-week trial lasted, the prosecutor Hugh Davies KC, told the court that the Ekweremadus and Obeta had treated Nwamini and other potential donors as “disposable assets – spare parts for reward”. Davis accused them of  entering an “emotionally cold commercial transaction” with Nwamini.

The behaviour of the Ekweremadus, said the prosecutor, was  “entitlement, dishonesty and hypocrisy.”

But in his letter, Obasanjo pleaded that the  punishment that might  be passed on the Ekweremadus  should   “take their  good character and parental instinct and care into consideration.”

The five-paragraph letter, a private correspondence, is titled “Re: Ike Ekweremadu.” 

It reads in part: “Mr Chief Clerk, I am very much aware of the current travails and conviction of Ike Ekweremadu and his wife in the United Kingdom resulting from their being charged with conspiring to arrange the travel of a 21-year-old from Nigeria to the U.K. in order to harvest organs for their daughter.

“I do realise the implications of their action and I dare say, it is unpleasant and condemnable and can’t be tolerated in any sane or civilised society.

“However, it is my fervent desire for the very warm relations between the United Kingdom and the Federal Republic of Nigeria; for his position as one of the distinguished Senators in the Nigerian Parliament, and also for the sake of their daughter in question whose current health condition is in danger and requires urgent medical attention, you will use your good offices to intervene and appeal to the court and the government of United Kingdom be magnanimous enough to temper justice with mercy and let punishment that may have to come to take their good  character and parental instinct and care into consideration.”

Akinterinwa, a  former director-general of the  Nigeria Institute of International Affairs (NIIA), said Obasanjo’s letter fits perfectly into international diplomatic decorum. 

He said he personally liked how Obasanjo structured his letter along three issues.

First, he said the letter was symbolic because it took care of the questions – who is writing and what is his locus standi?

Akinterinwa noted that he was happy with how Obasanjo introduced himself as an officer commissioned into the West African Frontiers Force in 1958 and the fact that he rose to the rank to become a full General. He added that it was also noteworthy that the former President informed the court that he received the surrender of the Biafra Government, which led to the end of the Nigerian Civil War.

He also took note of Obasanjo’s self-introduction that he was a former head of state and thereafter elected twice as Nigeria’s president.

According to the former NIIA boss, Obasanjo also showed that he knows Ekweremadu very well as a former deputy Senate President and as a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) like him. According to him, Obasanjo also confirmed that Ekweremadu and his wife have a non-governmental organisation they are managing.

He submitted that international criminal can still be pleaded for and that did not mean the judge would not apply the law.

“I like the structure and simplicity of the issues he raised. It fits perfectly into international diplomatic decorum,” he said.

Emozozo, who was an ambassador, the Embassy of Nigeria, Brasília Area, Brazil and former Director of Multilateral Economic Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, said “Obasanjo’s letter to the court is in good fate.”

According to him, Obasanjo is not interfering in the case, adding that he has done the right thing pleading for mercy as a father, former Nigeria’s president, and international diplomat. 

He noted that Obasanjo’s intervention is acceptable in international diplomacy.

Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has pleaded leniency for former Deputy Senate Ike Ekweremadu who was found guilty of organ trafficking in the United Kingdom.

Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice with a doctor, Dr. Obinna Obeta, were found guilty of facilitating the travel of a young man to Britain with a view to his exploitation after a six-week trial at the Old Bailey.

They were found to have criminally conspired to bring the 21-year-old Lagos street trader to London to exploit him for his kidney on March 23, 2023 by the jury.

Read Also: Ekweremadu: From lawmaker to jailbird

Ahead of the sentencing of the trio, Obasanjo, in a letter the Chief Clerk of The Central Criminal Court Old Bailey, London dated April 3, 2023 said the urgent need of medical attention by Sonia should make the United Kingdom temper justice with mercy.

 See the full letter below: