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  • Falana warns against illegal agreement with foreign countries

    Human Rights Lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) has warned Nigeria against entering into what he described as illegal agreements worth billions of dollars with foreign countries that may be challenged and set aside.

    Falana was speaking at a news conference in Abuja on the decision of the people of Western Sahara to challenge the “illegal” importation of tons of phosphates and other natural resources from the their country into Nigeria by Morocco.

    He said that Nigerian government must be weary of agreements and treaty it signed with Morocco as such violates the rights of the Saharawi people.

    He disclosed that none of the treaties and agreement signed between Nigeria and Morocco is enforceable in the country as the Nigerian government has not deposited same with the National Assembly to adopt and enact them into law as required by section 12 of the Nigerian constitution.

    He warned on parties entering into such agreements to immediately cancel them and “respect the human rights of the people of Western Sahara to enjoy their natural resources as recognized by article 20 and 21 of the African charter on human and peoples rights.”

    He said: “We are going to start with Nigeria because currently, tons of phosphates are being imported into the country from Western Sahara on the basis of illegal agreements entered into between the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the Kingdom of Morocco as well as certain companies. We are warning such parties and we are alerting them of the decision of the people of Western Sahara to defend their rights to their resources.

    “The government of Nigeria has not; until now deposited any of the bilateral agreements entered into with the Kingdom of Morocco with the National Assembly. By virtue of section 12 of the Nigerian constitution, no treaty or agreement between another country and Nigeria can be enforced without same being adopted and enacted into law by the National Assembly.

    “We are warning the government of Nigeria that is still battling with the award of $9.6 billion by an artibtration tribunal in the United Kingdom. We are drawing the attention of Nigeria to the illegal agreements worth billions of dollars that may also be challenged and set aside.”

    Addressing the news conference earlier, former National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and National Coordinator of the Nigerian Movement for the Liberation of Western Sahara, Dr. Dipo Fashina said the movement was “determined to bring to book, all companies in Nigeria currently receiving phosphates stolen by the Kingdom of Morocco from Western Sahara to produce fertilizer.”

    Fashina said that the legal option was one of the many steps to ensure that Nigeria does not continue to be a receiver of stolen goods ad make profit from such “unholy theft”.

    Read Also: Shiites have right to practice faith – Falana

    He said “this Movement supports the development of Nigeria, but not with stolen resources. We insist that although our country needs fertilizer, but not that produced with the blood of our brothers and sisters in Western Sahara. About this, we are definite.

    “This   principle is planted in the Nigerian culture of  non-exploitation of other peoples and defender of colonized peoples as we did in the struggle for the liberation of countries like Guinea Bissau, Mozambique, Angola, Zimbabwe,  Namibia and South Africa.

    “Nigerians are freedom-loving peoples, not accomplices  of leaders of a country like Morocco who against all known tenets of African brotherhood, religious obligations and social justice, would invade and occupy a member country of the African Union, dehumanize its people and plunder its resources which it sells to European Union (EU) countries and companies in Nigeria.

    “We put all those dealing in stolen Western Sahara natural resources including their fishes on notice that they cannot continue to do business as usual. After giving this notice to the Nigerian companies dealing in stolen Western Sahara resources, we will picket them across the country and bring them before our courts.

    “This also includes super markets selling sardines and fishes from Morocco because   92 percent of these fishes are stolen from the Western Sahara coast.”

    Fashina said the Moroccan monarchy and leadership should be called to order and brought to book for gross human rights violations in Western Sahara, while the consent and permission of the Saharawi people through the SADR government must be secured before the natural resources of the country is utilized or traded in any form.

    He also asked the African Union to defends its member SADR by giving  Morocco a timeline to vacate Western Sahara and if it fails, to expel  and impose stiff sanctions against it as we did to Apartheid in South Africa, while the United Nations should  expand the mandate of the UN Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to include human rights violations so its Mission can protect the Saharawi people.

    He also wants the Moroccan government prevailed upon to vacate the parts of Western Sahara it is occupying and allows the Saharawi people, like other Africans and peoples of the world to freely govern themselves and develop their country without any interference.

  • BREAKING: Governors meet over N614bn bailout deductions, others

    The over N614 billion bailout deduction is expected to dominate discussions at Nigeria Governors Forum (NGF) Wednesday evening meeting.

    The meeting is slated to start any moment from now in Abuja.

    Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, had hinted on the plan to deduct from source the bailout handed out to 35 states as budget support facility.

    Ahmed had said that deduction will commence in September 2019 during a Public Consultation Forum on the draft 2020-2022 Medium Term Expenditure Framework in Abuja.

    The federal government gave the conditional budget support facility to the states through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) in 2017.

    Read Also: Analysts discuss N614b bailout funds for states

    It was to enable the states to meet their financial obligations to civil servants and pensioners.

    The money was provided at a nine per cent interest rate, with a grace period of two years.

    Ahmed had said the repayment will be taken from the affected states’ allocations during the next Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) meeting this month.

    She said the refund is not going to be treated as revenue to be used to fund the 2020 budget.

    According to her: “It was a loan that was advanced by the Central Bank of Nigeria to the states.”

    She added that because the payment was made by the CBN, the recovery process is for the loans to be deducted from the FAAC allocations of the states and remitted back to the CBN.

    Ahmed said the process will not require a consideration of the fiscal strategy paper (FSP) implementation but to ensure the states stayed on the path of fiscal sustainability.

    “This will not be a condition for the deduction. We will deduct direct at source and remit to the CBN,” she said.

    It was gathered this has not have gone down well with the governors who are determined take a common position on the issue at the meeting.

    Besides, the NGF meeting is coming ahead of the 97th National Economic Council meeting slated for Thursday 19th September 2019.

    Those in attendance are: Babatunde Sanwo-Olu (Lagos); Samuel Ortom (Benue), Bala Mohammed (Bauchi),  Sirake Dickson (Bayelsa), Abubakar Badaru, (Jigawa), Ifeanyi Okowa (Delta), Emeka Ihedioha (Imo), Seyi Makinde (Oyo), Dapo Abiodun (Ogun), Aminu Masari (Katsina) and Bello Matawalle (Zamfara).

    The Deputy Governors in attendance are Nasarawa and Kaduna.

    Details shortly…

  • Mixed reactions trail President’s Economic team

    Key players in the economy on Tuesday x-rayed Monday’s decision by President Muhammadu Buhari to replace the Economic Management Team (EMT) headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo with the Economic Advisory Council (EAC) that will report directly to him.

    The Manufacturer Association of Nigeria (MAN) and the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) praised the President for taking the decision on the economy.

    But a former Executive Director at Keystone Bank Limited, Richard Obire differed, saying it was strange not to have the Vice President on the economic management team.

    Former Education Minister, Oby Ezekwesili, said nothing has changed with the dissolution of the old team and the constitution of the Doyin Salami-led EAC.

    According to her, the President has always been in charge of the economy.

    The Director-General of the LCCI, Muda Yusuf, who hailed the setting up of the EAC, said it will help to give the desired direction to the nation’s economic management. The stature, pedigree and the independence of the members of the council are clearly not in doubt, adding that they are tested technocrats.

    He said: “At a time like this, the economy needs such a team to pull the economy back from the brink. The management of the Nigerian Economy needs to be anchored on tested economic principles that will propel sustainable growth and development. The economy craves a critical mass of private sector investment to stem the current slide and declines in the economy. We need to boost the confidence of investors for such private capital flows to happen. The economy desires policies that are coherent, consistent, coordinated, synchronised and transparent”.

    He advised that the economy should be managed in such a way to harness the bountiful entrepreneurial energies and resourcefulness of the Nigerian people.

    Read Also: Buhari dissolves panel for recovery of Public Property

    According to him, hard choices are inevitable to ensure that we build an economy that is sustainable, diversified and inclusive. He appealed to the President to give the Advisory Council ample scope, responsibility and authority to provide the much needed guidance and advice on policy choices.

    To the MAN, the formation of an EAC was both timely and commendable.

    The association said it was by far, a clear demonstration of the determination of Mr. President to re-energise the management of the economy in his second term.

    Its Director-General, Segun Ajayi-Kadir, said Nigerians and indeed, the private sector, were highly desirous of an effective and knowledge-driven team that will lead on the economic front.

    He said the beauty of this team, apart from their pedigree, was its composition of private sector citizens who “We believe will operate independently and effectively.”

    “The team, we believe, will not be shackled with the bureaucracy of government and hopefully, the political interference and correctness of our clime. They are more likely to be receptive to a wide range of opinions and innovations, even if deferring from the norm.”

    MAN, therefore, proposed that the team in partnership with the private sector should carry out a critical and comprehensive review of the current policy initiatives that drive the actions of government and urgently harmonize the outcomes.

    According to the Association, this will help to craft an agenda that will guide the management of the economy going forward.

    “Already on ground are policy initiatives such as the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP), the 2020-2022 Medium Term Fiscal Framework and Fiscal Strategy,” MAN pointed out.

    It added that it behoves the Council to recommend pragmatic programmes that will improve upon the achievements already made in some areas such as Ease of Doing Business in the country.

    “The EAC is coming on the heels of the promised National Action Committee on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). The AfCFTA is unarguably, the most pressing preoccupation of continental economic actors in Africa today.

    “The right composition of the Committee will augur well for the needed synergy with the Council to boost our chances of being net gainers in the continental free trade area. We eagerly look forward to this prospect,” MAN said.

    The Association also said the fact that the EAC will have monthly technical sessions as well as scheduled quarterly meetings with the President may guarantee the attention of government and implementation of their advice.

    “The Organised Private Sector (OPS), particularly MAN, is adequately prepared and eager to engage the Advisory Council in a bid to achieve the desired growth and development of the nation’s economy,” the statement concluded.

    Obire said he had never seen a thing like that “in my knowledge about politics where the number two man seems not to count”.

    He said: “There is need to treat the number two person with dignity and support. The number two person is the next after the President. If the president is not available, the Vice President takes charge. In this case, the number two person has been cooperative.”

    The former bank chief cited a case where a sitting minister was reassigned while she was away meeting with foreign investors, and she immediately resigned her appointment. The former bank director said such practices are not proper and do not promote trust in government.

    He said what is happening now, could be a way to clip the wings of political gladiators ahead of the 2023 elections.

    On the EAC, he said some members of the team are well known and have deep knowledge of the economy.

    “Doyin Salami, Chukwuma Soludo, Bismark Rewane are personally known to me. They have the experience and I am confident that they will do the job well. But remember that their role is advisory and when they advise the President, he may or may not take their advice,” Obire said.

    Continuing, he said even where the President takes the EAC advice, the next phase which is implementation goes to the bureaucrats who may not give it the best shot.

    Obire said the EAC should focus on subsidy removal, reform of the civil service, decongestion of the ports and unifying the exchange rates.

    He said that removal of petrol subsidy and reform of the civil service will save huge funds needed to provide key infrastructure and support the economy.

    “We need to make investments in the ports, railways. We need to decongest Lagos ports to reduce cost of operation for companies. All these are areas the team should focus on. Also, exchange rate should be transparent. We do not need exchange rate that gives room for round-tripping.”

    Mrs. Ezekwesili said the setting up of council of economic advisors is in itself one of the features of the American Presidential system which we copied.

    “Strong membership and that’s really great. I hope the first thing they do is tell the President how he mismanaged the economy in the last four years. For those who will jump on this timeline to say, ‘it was not the President that was in charge of the Economy. It was the VP chairing the Economic Team” please don’t bother. The President was managing the Economy. All those bad Monetary Policy decisions were made by him,” she twitted.

    According to her, the President was managing the economy, adding that all those strange Fiscal Policy decisions were made by him.

    ”Both the CBN Governor and the Minister of Finance were not acting based on any Economic Management Team decisions.

    Now at least the pretense is over about Economy,”she twitted.

    The Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sofunix Investment and  Communications, Sola Oni, described  every member of the team as a game changer, saying that the  team’s pre-occupation would be to offer the Federal Government realistic measures to revive an ailing economy.

    He said: “The team should come up with appropriate policy framework to align fiscal and monetary policies, especially, where there are disconnects. The members should address the issue of domestic fund mobilisation through measures such as realistic interest rates on domestic savings, wholistic integration of informal activities into formal sector and more efficient banking and insurance sectors.

    ”The team should also propose strategy for easy access to domestic credits by investors while provision of relevant incentives for domestic and foreign investors should be addressed. The members should conduct impact analysis on Economic Recovery and Growth Plan (ERGP) for enhanced implementation. They need to engage with the capital regulators and operators to identify measures to leverage the capital market to boost economic growth and development,”

    The team should reverse the recent increase in Value Added Tax (VAT) without further delay as it will do more harm than good in the present circumstance. In advanced economies, people pay tax with ease because infrastructures are provided to aid economic and entrepreneurial activities. But it is a reverse logic in Nigeria where majority of private sector operators are struggling to survive and purchasing power of consumers is shrinking by the day. The whole situation makes tax issues appear punitive.

  • Two die in Port Harcourt, Asaba accidents

    One person died on Monday night after a car plunged into a river on the NLNG/Nkpogu road, Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

    There were just two occupants. A middle-aged woman drowned, while the driver was found by the shore unconscious.

    Local divers and the police retrieved the vehicle from the river yesterday morning.

    A resident, who pleaded for anonymity, said: “This incident happened on Monday night between 10 and 11pm during the rain. We thought it was a minor accident until the fishermen started shouting that there was a car with human beings inside it this morning (yesterday).

    “We brought the driver out alive but unconscious before the police arrived. Before we knew what was happening, everywhere was filled with people and they brought a crane to retrieve the car from the river with the help of some local divers.”

    Read Also: #ProtectPHGirls trends as Nigerians react to ‘serial killer’ in PH

    The driver was said to be receiving treatment at an undisclosed hospital.

    Efforts to reach police spokesman Nnamdi Omoni were unsuccessful.

    One person also died on Monday after a concrete slab caved in at a construction site at the Anwai Campus of the Delta State University, Asaba.

    There was confusion, putting a halt to academic activities.

    Anti-riot policemen were called in to restore order and dissuade aggrieved students from protesting.

    Commissioner for Higher Education Prof. Patrick Muoboghare, who visited the scene, lamented the disaster.

    The victim’s family has been contacted while the injured was rushed to the hospital.

    Muoboghare said someone stepped on a wet concrete slab, leading to the collapse of the section on a worker scooping sand.

    His words: “The workers were setting up a concrete slab. It had not dried before one worker mistakenly stepped on it while carrying a load. You know when you are setting blocks, it must be allowed to age. The concrete must be dry. This has nothing to do with the integrity of the building, as the building is intact.”

  • More South African returnees recount ordeals

    More returnees from South Africa on Thursday recounted their bitter experiences in the Rainbow Nation as another batch of 315 returned aboard Air Peace.

    They were received by Chairman, Nigerian Diaspora Commission,  Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa who said efforts were on going to reintegrate them into the society.

    She said state governments have been directed to assist their indigenes even as they returnees could access the several intervention programmes of government.

    Representatives of Lagos State Government , Jamil  Sanwo- Olu, said the administration will assist the returnees with N20,000.00 each.

    Read Also: Ogun tops list of South African returnees

    He said the state government will continue to assist the returnees by creating a window for them in skills acquisition and entrepreneurship programmes.

    The Senior Special Assistant on Diaspora Matters to the governor said government will consolidate its different social intervention programmes to assuage their plight.

    Also speaking, Senior Special Assistant to Ondo State Governor on Diaspora matters. Mrs Olasiende Vincent, said the state was ready to assist its Indigenes affected by their sudden return to Nigeria.

    In his remarks, Chairman, Air Peace,  Allen Onyema said the airline will not relent until all Nigerians were safely evacuated.

     

     

  • Stop ranting and face parliamentary business, youths warn Gbajabiamila

    The Arewa Citizens for Democracy (ACD) has cautioned Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, to concentrate on his legislative duties and quit recklessly delving into issues.
    The group of northern youths gave this warning in a press conference held on Sunday in Kaduna to address what it described as “the naked dance of shame, embarked upon by the Speaker”.
    In a statement signed by President, AbdulGafar Usman, the Arewa Citizens for Democracy called out Mr Gbajabiamila over recent outburst in reaction to the xenophobic attacks on Nigerians in South Africa.
    Mr Gbajabiamila had threatened to report Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyema, to President Muhammadu Buhari over heightened onslaught on Nigerians in the Rainbow nation.
    Instead of embarking on such ranting spree, the group revealed that there are better ways the Speaker would have handled the situation on the ground.
    The Arewa youths, therefore, cautioned the ex-Minority Leader to avoid throwing away the honour accruable to his person and position to the ground and forthwith pay more attention to his legislative duties.
    The statement reads in part:
    We express our disappointment with the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila, who threw all the honour accruable to his person and position away to cast aspersions on the office and persons of our great nation’s security chiefs. The Speaker, under the guise of ventilating his anger over the non-appearance of the military chief before the House, threatened to report them to President Muhammadu Buhari. He also went ahead to castigate them not minding that these are men that have given more to Nigeria in the past five years than the Speaker can give in five lifetimes even if he lives to be a thousand years in each life.
    Arewa Citizens for Democracy (ACD) is of the view that rather than throwing decorum to the dogs and embark on the ranting show he put on for the entire world, the Speaker should have search deep within himself and his institution, the National Assembly, to understand why the Military chiefs did not show up even when invited.
    We make this point without prejudice to the reasons that kept the security bosses away, especially when they made it their duty to delegate worthy and competent representatives to appear before the lawmakers. We shall call the attention of the Speaker to a few some realities that he may be deliberately ignoring but which right thinking Nigerians are aware of.
    We all know that there is not much that happens when the House of Representatives invites public office holders and heads of agencies to appear before them. It is often nothing but an extortion racket, something they use to blackmail the invited persons to pay bribes to lawmakers from the budget of their organizations.
    It is on record that even when the public officers in question do appear before the House or its committees, it is often the subordinate officers with jurisdiction for the areas of interest that eventually answer all the question being posed. The office holder is only compelled to put in appearance to make sure he is on ground to negotiate the bribes to be paid.
    For a country that is battling a terrorist insurgency Gbajabiamila should have known better than trying to coax money out of the military chiefs.
    In addition to monetary considerations, the other thing that makes lawmakers summon office holders to appear before them in person is usually to shore up their fledging images. With Nigeria running smoothly under the able leadership of President Muhammadu Buhari, the lawmakers have been removed from the limelight, which is an opportunity the should have exploited to do their legislative duties. But it seems the Speaker is unable to survive in this manner and had to go shopping for another made for television reality show that the House of Representatives has over time proven to be addicted to. Taking on the military bosses is nothing but cheap grandstanding for publicity. The Speaker can do better and he should.
    The fact that Gbajabiamila could only threaten to report the service chiefs to President Buhari is an admission of his screaming impotence. He is aware that he does not possess the powers he attempted to exercise over the military. He bluffed and the military commanders who knew who they are called his bluff hence the face saving resort to threatening to report them to Mr. President as they were some schoolyard bullies to be reported to the Principal by a whimpering nerd.
    But these are security chiefs that are doing their best such that there is currently no security threat that is not been handled decisively.
    We must not neglect to look at the security ramifications of what the Speaker and his colleagues wanted to do. They wanted to subject discussion of sensitive security operations to the vagaries of a political circus. They would have of course held ceremonial session before devolving into a closed door session. The only problem is that the House has its fair share of closet Boko Haram members who will divulge details of such meetings and other security strategies to the terrorists. It will not be surprising if the pressure to have the military leaders appear to discuss their strategy is because of the losses the terrorists have suffered in recent times.
    Gbajabiamila must therefore not use the House as the leaking conduit to extract and pass information to Boko Haram. The Speaker is now under obligation to clearly come out and defend himself in this matter of his recent naked dance of shame because his conduct suggests that he was the mole that many of his colleagues had hinted at in the run up to the Speakership election.
    From the foregoing, it is glaring that Rt, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila is yet to appreciate that he is no longer the minority leader, he is not even in the opposition anymore yet he behaves with all the absence of decorum that characterized that fraction of politicians in Nigeria. He must wake up to the reality of being the Speaker of the House of Representatives and stop throwing the kind of tantrum that is not even seen among pre-schoolers. His duty includes finding practical solutions to whatever shortcomings exist, assuming he finds any, and not grandstand.
    It is our fervent hope that the Speaker will rediscover the decent part of himself and meet off camera with the security chiefs to tender his unreserved apology to them. They deserve to hear it from him and there is no need to continue making a matter for public discourse of because it has potential to distract everyone from the task at hand.
    Instead of making trouble for the military or anyone within the security architecture, the Speaker with the other members of the House should come up with innovative ways of providing a budget that  makes it possible for the military to get the equipment needed to fight terrorists.
    The parliament must also look at how to amend existing terrorism related legislation especially changes that will block foreign financing of terrorists and curtail the unwieldy influence of international organizations that are making the counter-terrorism operations difficult.
    We hope that Mr Speaker has learnt his lesson to think before speaking.

  • Wase sworn-in as ECOWAS Parliament first Deputy Speaker

    The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mr Ahmed Wase (APC-Plateau), has been sworn in as the first Deputy Speaker of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Parliament

    The swearing-in was performed by the Speaker of the Parliament, Hon. Moustapha Cisse Lo, at the opening of the second extra-ordinary session of the Parliament in Monrovia, Republic of Liberia

    This was contained in a statement issued by his Spokesman, Mr Umar Puma, and made available to newsmen in Abuja.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Wase replaced the former Deputy Speaker, Mr Yusuf Lasun, who did not seek re-election to the Nigerian House of Representatives after the end of his tenure.

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    The statement said that Wase, as Lasun’s successor, was unanimously adopted by the Nigerian delegation to the Parliament as well as other members of the regional legislative body.

    In his response after the swearing in, Wase promised to join hands with his colleagues in the Parliament to work towards the integration of the sub-region.

    Wase thanked his colleagues for the confidence reposed in him, assuring that he would bring his wealth of experience in the Nigerian House of Representatives to bear on the sub-regional parliament.

    “I am grateful to my honourable colleagues for unanimously adopting me as the First Deputy Speaker of the ECOWAS Parliament.

    “My priority is to work harmoniously with my colleagues, especially the honourable speaker, Moustapha Cisse Lo, to advance the integration of the West African sub-region.

    “I hope to bring my years of experience in the Nigerian legislature to bear on the ECOWAS Parliament”, he stated.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the second ordinary session of the Parliament will hold between November and December, in Abuja, Nigeria.

    (NAN)

  • Tribunal judgment: No grudge against anyone, says Bello

    Governor Abubakar Bello of Niger State on Wednesday says he holds no grudge against any individual or political party that filed petitions against his re-election.

    Bello, who spoke to newsmen in Minna shortly after the election petitions tribunal upheld his re-election, also promised to run an inclusive government.

    The governor added that he would continue to be fair to all parts of the state in the distribution of amenities for the benefit of residents.

    The News agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Umar Nasko, the PDP candidate in the March governorship election in the state and his party, had dragged the APC candidate, Bello and his deputy Ahmed Ketso, before the tribunal.

    The petitioners alleged that the duo presented forged academic and declaration of age certificates to the Independent National Electoral Commission, to contest the election.

    But the tribunal dismissed the petition for lack of merit and evidence.

    Read Also: Buhari gave me N30.8 billion to pay salary arrears- Gov Bello

    Bello in his reaction described the tribunal judgment as “a very fair judgment” and called on people to join hands with him to move the state forward.

    “Like I said after I was declared winner in March, that we should all come together because we are all Nigerlites as I am more concerned about the welfare of our people.

    “The judgment has been passed and I hope we can come together as one because I have no grudges against anyone as I am more concerned about the development of our state,” he said.

    The governor, however, commended the people for giving him their mandate, pledging that everyone irrespective of religion and political affiliations would enjoy the dividends of democracy.

    NAN

  • Three shot as police, vigilante clash in Onitsha

    A member of a vigilante and two others on Wednesday sustained gunshot injuries in an altercation between Policemen and some members of the Vigilante group in main market, Onitsha, Anambra state.

    The police were said to have gone to a plaza in the market named “Our lord plaza” to arrest a trader who allegedly bought a phone from a suspect who came with the police to point the trader he sold the phone to.

    The Nation gathered that the traders, angry over what they suspected to be conspiracy with the police, tried to prevent the police from arresting their colleague, insisting they must report to their leadership before he would be taken away.

    The traders action was said to have provoked the police who reportedly shot sporadically into the air which resulted in the gun shots injury by the victims.

    Confirming the incident, the Police spokesperson, Haruna Mohammed said the victims were taken to the hospital and were responding to treatment.

    He said, “There was an altercation between Policemen who went on inquiry at “our lord plaza” in Onitsha Main Market and some Vigilante group today at about 1:30pm.

    “As a result, a Vigilante member was shot on the leg and two other persons also sustained injuries.

    Read Also: Nine rescued in Anambra accident

    “Situation was brought under control through the concerted efforts of the Police led by the Area Commander Onitsha and market leaders.

    “Normalcy has been restored and people are going about their lawful business.

    “Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police CP John B. Abang has ordered for a discreet investigation to ascertain circumstances surrounding the incident after which perpetrators will be brought to book.”

  • ‘Police is investigating former Lagos chairman’

    The National President of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN), Comrade Eriyo Osakpamwan, has called on the members of the body in Lagos to remain calm as the crisis rocking the state chapter has been handed over to law enforcement agents

    Osakpamwan, who made the call at a press briefing at the national secretariat of the association in Abuja on Wednesday, also shed light on the cause of the crisis, alleging that the immediate past chairman of the Lagos chapter, Alhaji Musa Mohammad, was trying force himself back into office after his tenure has expired and his executive council declared dissolved, adding that he (Osakpamwan) had refused to ratify an illegality.

    Osakpamwan also described as illegal the announcement by a group of members of the association, including the embattled former chairman of the Lagos chapter, claiming that the national president and general secretary of the association had been expelled, noting that the group lacked the authority to make such decision or pronouncement.

    Explaining the sequences of the events that led to the faceoff, Osakpamwan explained that Mohammed’s executive council’s tenure, which was inaugurated in June 2014, had exhausted its five year tenure, adding that the Mohammed-led executive council was dissolved in Abuja at a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting in Abuja recently, with Mohammed present at the meeting.

    “The Lagos executive council was dissolved because their tenure has expired. Outside that, there are series of petitions from members of the association in Lagos, some of them alleging that the former state chairman, Alhaji Musa Mohammad, forged their signatures as well as trying to force them to support him for his second tenure. They wrote petitions on those allegations to this office as well as to the Ministry of Transportation.

    Read Also: Buhari beats Atiku in Lagos State

    “The former Lagos state chairman also invited me to Lagos to swear him in, based on the signatures he claimed his members had signed for his continuity. My own was to go ascertain if what he claimed was true; that the members are indeed the real owners of those signatures. I went to Lagos and found out there were serious issues on ground and I told him that there was no way I would swear him in because those he claimed to have given their signatures are the same people who said they are not in his support.

    “I called a NEC meeting, to which I invited everybody, to the Abuja off. He, as well as his executive members, was here. At the NEC meeting, we decided to dissolve the Lagos State chapter of the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria, to which Alhaji Musa was chairman, and set up a 23-man committee to run the Lagos affairs.

    “Surprisingly, I got a call from Lagos yesterday the the man invaded the Lagos office with thugs and policemen and we have since sent a petition to the Inspector General of Police. The matter has been passed on to the State Commissioner of Police for investigation. The true position is that the Lagos chapter executive council has been dissolved and it remains dissolved”, he explained.