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Adesina’s Attack On Clergy: Afenifere Knocks President’s Aide

Published

4 years ago

November 6, 2021

Editor

The Pan Yoruba Socio-Political Group, Afenifere, has tackled the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, for alluding that those criticising the President were doing so because he’s a Fulani man.

Its Secretary-General, Chief Sola Ebiseni in a statement in Akure, the Ondo state capital kicked against such ethnic allusion.

Recall that Adesina had latched at clergymen whose habit was to criticise the performance of the president and compared them to Pastor Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Ministry.

Ebiseni’s statement was entitled ‘Buhari’s Performance And Femi Adesina’s attack on the Clergy.’

He said; “Femi played some odious ethnic music when he alluded that many who were criticising the lacklustre performance of his boss were only doing so because they didn’t like being ruled by a Fulani man.

“There is no need reminding him that northern Nigeria which is now rendered asunder in ethnic relationships, as a result of Buhari’s government’s clueless or permissive treatment of security matters, was once ruled as One North, by Sir Ahmadu Bello, Sardauna of Sokoto and scion of the Fulani Uthman Dan Fodio caliphate.

“Buhari is not more Fulani than Shehu Shagari, the mantra of whose government, as President of Nigeria, was One Nation, One Destiny. Umaru Yar Adua, as Fulani and President of Nigeria, did not spend two years to solve the problems of agitation amongst the youths of the Niger Delta.

“His Government toured the creeks, dialogued and sought understanding. He did not hold the whole of the people of the South-South responsible for the agitation for which he would have called the territory “water logged” and the people to be treated in the language they would understand, neither did he unleash state terrorism on the residence of any agitator as Buhari Government would want Sunday Igboho killed.”

Going biblical, Ebiseni said “From the days of Prophet Samuel to Saul; Nathan to David when he killed Uriah and took his wife Bathsheba; Elijah who told Saul that he and his household were the troublers of Israel, up to modern days Martin Luther king, Desmond Tutu, Archbishop Okogie, Bishop Gbonigi, Matthew Kukah and all, the commission of God to His prophets does not exclude speaking truth to earthly rulers.

“Of course, while these true men of God speak truth to power, there are legions of men, like the 400 prophets of Ahab against Micaiah and of Baals who lurk around power to massage the egos of rulers and cause them to sin the more.

“Such advisers abound in this Government who make the President believe he has power over land use and some who would advise the people to choose between their lives and land and deceive the President that peaceful agitators like Sunday Igboho have capacity for territorial secession or that killing Nnamdi Kanu would stop Biafran agitation. Only God can save rulers from such counsels as He did of Ahithophel.

The group noted that Adesina’s “desperation for excuses appears not to spare any institution no matter how sacred.

“This time around, Femi has chosen to hide behind a patronising statement on Pastor Kumuyi of the Deeper Life Ministry to latch at the clergy for speaking truth to power.

“lt is absolutely within his right, for Femi to choose not to go to any church as long as he serves the Buhari’s government, but he cannot deliberately misrepresent Pastor Kumuyi to set him up as examples of prominent personalities who would see no evil or say nothing about evil in order that they may not be seen as denigrating government and men in power.

“He was particularly unkind to the Pastor of his own church which church he exited particularly because he chose not to stop criticising President Buhari after most of the abducted Dapchi schoolgirls were released.

“Power must have done some incalculable damage to the psyche of Femi Adesina that he would not remember that five of the girls were brutally murdered and that in the release negotiated by the Federal Government, Leah Sharibu was singlehandedly and permanently denied her freedom for refusal to renounce her Christian faith.”

Ebiseni said; “Yet, Femi expected his own Pastor, as a leader in the same faith, to applaud Buhari for doing nothing extraordinary to bring Leah to freedom, if only to demonstrate that he is the father of all faiths despite his records of being a sharia agitator”.

Related Topics:#Femi Adesina Buhari President's aide

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Family Of Five Killed In Iranian Missile Strike After Fleeing Ukraine For Safety In Israel

Published

9 hours ago

June 28, 2025

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A Ukrainian family of five who fled Russia’s war in search of safety were killed in Israel by an Iranian missile — the very conflict they thought they had escaped.

Mariia Pieshkurova had brought her 7-year-old daughter, Anastasiia, to Bat Yam, a suburb of Tel Aviv, hoping to get lifesaving cancer treatment and refuge from the violence at home.

Along with Anastasiia’s grandmother, Olena Sokolova, and two young cousins, Illia and Kostiantyn, they had started over — believing they were finally safe.

But on June 15, an Iranian missile tore through their apartment building during a retaliatory strike on Israel, killing them all.

“I really thought they’d be safe,” said Artem Buryk, Anastasiia’s father and Mariia’s former partner. “I never thought they’d go to Israel to escape war — and find it there.”

The missile attack, part of Iran’s response to Israeli airstrikes on its territory, collapsed much of the building in Bat Yam.

It took four days to recover Mariia’s body from the rubble.

Their deaths marked a heartbreaking intersection of two wars — Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Iran’s conflict with Israel — both of which had already tested the family’s will to survive.

Mariia had moved to Israel in late 2022 after Anastasiia was diagnosed with leukemia.

Ukraine’s hospitals were overwhelmed, and its largest children’s hospital was later destroyed in a missile strike.

In Israel, treatment began immediately. It was effective but costly. Mariia turned to Instagram, sharing photos of her daughter in treatment and videos of Artem pleading for help while serving on Ukraine’s front lines.

“Masha did everything for her little girl,” said Anastasiia’s godmother, Khrytsyna Chanysheva. “She dedicated her life to her, moved to Israel to get her full treatment.”

Despite the pain, Anastasiia always smiled at visitors.

“She was in pain, and she would close her eyes for a second,” said charity worker Lada Fichkovsi. “But every time I walked into her room, she would smile.”

Her cousins joined the family in May 2024 as the situation in Odesa deteriorated.

“The shelling made my children cry,” said Hanna Pieshkurova, Mariia’s sister. “I decided to let them go.”

Though Israel was at war with Hamas, Mariia had assured her sister that Bat Yam was calm. Air raid sirens were rare, and the Iron Dome defense system offered hope.

“Ukrainians often say, ‘This is not Ukraine, it’s not as scary,’” said Inna Bakhareva of Chance4Life, a charity helping sick children in Israel. “They felt secure due to the Iron Dome.”

That sense of security evaporated after Israel struck Iranian targets on June 12. Iran retaliated with missile attacks across Israeli cities.

“Dad, at night I saw how the missiles were falling,” Anastasiia told her father in a voice message the night before she died.

She and her mother had been scheduled to visit the hospital the next morning. The missile struck before dawn.

Mr. Buryk, who had just returned from the front lines near Sumy, received the news that same day.

“I still don’t understand what’s happening,” he said. “I still can’t believe it.”

He used to promise Anastasiia they’d go fishing together when peace returned.

“Every time I talked to her, I’d say, ‘Sweetheart, we’ll go fishing. Just us,’” he said. “And now I just don’t understand. I still don’t even grasp that she’s gone.”

“Last night,” he added quietly, “I sent her voice messages.”

(New York Times)

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Militia Attack On DRC IDP Camp, Kills 10, Mostly Women, Children

Published

20 hours ago

June 27, 2025

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An armed group at the centre of a long-running ethnic conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo’s northeast attacked a camp for displaced people on Friday, killing 10, local sources told AFP.

Bordering Uganda, Ituri province has for years been the scene of pitched battles between the Lendu, a group mainly made up of settled farmers, and the Hema people, typically nomadic herders.

The fighting has led to the deaths of thousands of civilians and the mass displacement of many more.

Friday’s assault on the Djangi displaced persons camp was carried out by the self-proclaimed Cooperative for the Development of Congo (Codeco), a Lendu-aligned militia responsible for previous civilian massacres, the camp’s head told AFP.

“They were many and armed with firearms and machetes. They surprised us, they killed 10 displaced people, most of them women and children,” said Richard Likana.

An employee of the Red Cross, who asked to remain anonymous, confirmed the attack, which took place around 60 kilometres (37 miles) from Bunia.

“They were cut up with machetes while others were shot,” the humanitarian worker added.

Congolese army Colonel Ruffin Mapela, the local administrator for Djugu territory where the camp is located, gave the same toll of 10 dead and put the number of injured at 15.

According to local and humanitarian sources, Codeco was responsible for an attack on February 10 which killed 51 people in Ituri province. Most of the victims were also displaced persons.

That raid was said to be a response to a strike by the rival Hema-led Zaire militia in the same area.

Violence between the Hema and Lendu killed thousands in gold-rich Ituri from 1999-2003, which only ended after European forces intervened.

The conflict erupted again in 2017, killing thousands more.

The violence has led to more than 1.5 million people leaving their homes, according to the UN.

AFP

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Israel Wants Global Action Against Iran’s Nuclear Plans

Published

20 hours ago

June 27, 2025

Editor

Israel’s foreign minister said on Friday that the world was obliged to stop Iran from developing an atomic bomb, days after Israel claimed it had “thwarted Iran’s nuclear project” in a 12-day war.

“Israel acted at the last possible moment against an imminent threat to itself, the region, and the international community,” Gideon Saar wrote on X.

“The international community must now prevent, by any effective means, the world’s most extreme regime from obtaining the most dangerous weapon.”

Israel and Iran each claimed victory in the war that ended with a ceasefire on June 24.

The conflict erupted on June 13 when Israel launched a bombing campaign, stating it aimed to stop Iran from developing a nuclear weapon—an ambition Iran has consistently denied.

Following waves of Israeli attacks on nuclear and military sites, the United States bombed three key facilities, with President Donald Trump insisting it had set Iran’s nuclear programme back by “decades”.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, in an address to the nation after the ceasefire, announced that “we have thwarted Iran’s nuclear project”.

However, there is no consensus as to how effective the strikes were.
On Friday, Iran rejected a request by UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi to visit the bombed facilities, saying it suggested “malign intent”.

The comments from Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi came after parliament approved a bill suspending cooperation with the UN watchdog.

In a post on X following the move, Saar said Iran “continues to mislead the international community and actively works to prevent effective oversight of its nuclear programme”.