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Assault On Member: Rights Group Demands Aresst, Presecution Of Perpetrators

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… Wants Edo Gov, Benin Monarch To Intervene On Resuscitation Of Proscribed CDA

Following assult on one of its members which was allegedly masterminded by one Etinosa Ighodaro, rights group, Edo Civil Society Organizations (EDOCSO), Tuesday, June 23, demanded, as matter of urgency, arrest and prosecution of the aforementioned and his activities by Edo State Government.

The group also appealed to the Oba Benin, Ewuare II, to interrogate the activities of Ighodaro who happens to be youth leader of one Iyowa community, and if possible strip him of the office which the group alleged he (Ighodaro) has subjected to abuse.

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Addressing the press on the activities of Ighodaro, Coordinator-General, EDOCSO, Leftist Omobude Agho, said with the activities of Ighodaro and his cohorts, he foresee a rebirth of Community Development Association (CDA) which has been long proscribed by the Oba of Benin.

READ ALSO: Amotekun Bursts Attempts By Armed Intruders To Invade Osun

According to Agho, the group received a petition from one Iguikhimwin community over a lingering boundary crisis with Iyowa community for a peaceful resolution in order for it not to escalate to violence and possible blood bath.

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He noted that after informing the Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Hon. Monday Osaigbovo, a meeting was organised by the group between the two communities with a view to broker peace in the area but unfortunately Ighodaro and his men, in one of the meetings, unleashed mayhem with dangerous weapons on some members of the other community and one of its members.

Leftist Omobude Agho, Coordinator-General EDOCSO (middle), addressing the press while his exco members watch

He said, ” It was agreed in a last meeting that representatives of the two communities, the Commissioner and members of EDOCSO are to go back to the area under dispute and map out the extent of encroachment and other on-the-spot findings for further action.”

Agho continues, ” All party were present. Not sooner than the aforementioned representatives converge on the disputed area with the representative of the Commissioner who was unavoidable absent that Etinosa Ighodaro who is the youth leader (Okaighele) of Iyowa community and his thugs started to unleash mayhem on Iguikhimwin community members and human rights present with sporadic gunshot from assorted caliber weapons and the use of other dangerous weapons.”

READ ALSO: PHOTO NEWS: Oba Market Benin Gutter By Fire

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While noting that the Commissioner representatives was lucky to have narrowly escaped attack by Ighodaro and his thugs on that faithful day, the Coordinator-General said their member, Comrade Aimuamwonsa Igbinomwanhia, and three members from the other community were unlucky as they were allegedly attacked, adopted and whisked away by their captors.

Agho lamented that due to injuries sustained by his members during adoption and beating the Comrade is currently battling with series of life threatening health challenges, just has he (Agho) threatened to take the battle to “Ighodaro and his thugs for the liberation of others that his has kept in bondage for years.”

The assaulted member of the group

The Coordinator-General further emphasized the need to arrest, investigate and prosecute Ighodaro and his armed thugs for alleged possession of firearms, and the unprovoked attack on his member, whom according to him was part of a resolution team.

He further appealed to Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, to prevail on Ighodaro to allow proper constitution of a community leadership that will comprise odionwere and elders council.

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Contacted on phone, Ighodaro denied him sending thugs to unleash mayhem, just as he said, “I am not a party to that.”

READ ALSO: Drama As CP Blocks Ondo Deputy Gov From Moving His Belongings Out Of Govt House

He continues, “I am a peace loving person, and I cannot do that. Anyone involves in that act should be arrested and prosecuted. I am not a party to that which you are saying.”

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Edo: Need For Waste Management Policy Takes Centre Stage As ERA/FoEN Convenes Stakeholders’ Workshop

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In an effort to addressing poor waste management and attaining zero waste in Edo State, the Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) on Thursday in Benin convened a workshop for stakeholders.

The enlightenment and sensitisation programme held at Oredo Local Government Area of Edo State was themed: ‘Our Waste and Burden on the Environment.’

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In his opening remarks, the Executive Director, ERA/FoEN, Barrister Chima Williams, said the workshop, anchored on ‘zero waste’, was necessary due to the porousity of waste management in the state.

A cross of participants at the workshop.

READ ALSO: Demand For Liability, Payments For Carbon Debts – ERA/FoEN Tells African Govts

Williams, who was represented by Babawale Obayanju, Programme Officer, Media and Communication in the organisation, noted ERA/FoEN was not just concerned about attaining zero waste in the state but the need for government to put policy controlling waste in the state.

According to him, managing waste was a culture that all need to imbibe for a clean and healthy environment.

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He said as an environmental advocate, ERA/FoEN had developed a seven year zero waste plan that could help the state overcome the environmental challenge.

The executive director regretted that the state did not leverage on the potentials in waste recycling to make fortune for the state and the people.

Plastics generation, he said, was becoming extremely high in the state and would soon begin to negatively impact the ecosystem.

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“It is a fact that plastics do not degrade, but it photogrades, the substance which is found in the seas, impose hazard on the fish.

“We may not feel the effect now, but we will soon begin to see it because we all eat fish,” he said.

In his speech, Mr Kessingston Osifo, Chairman Oredo Local Government Area of Edo, described zero waste as a great initiative that all should embrace.

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A cross section of participants at the workshop.

READ ALSO: ERA/FoEN Pushes For Zero Waste Environment

The problem of waste generation, he said, had become a major challenge facing the council as a result of indiscriminate dumping of refuse in unauthorised places.

Also in her goodwill message, Mrs Blessing Ehigiator, Head of Department, Environment in the local government area urged the participants to adhere to the principle of Rs in environment, which include Rethink, Reduce, Reuse and Recycle among others.

Ehigiator, however, sought the support of non-state actors on environment in the area of equipment just as she noted that waste management was always capital intensive.

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Edo Election Tribunal Receives 13 Petitions

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The Edo Election Petitions Tribunal says it has received 13 petitions from aggrieved parties and candidates in the just-concluded National Assembly and State Assembly elections.

The Tribunal Secretary, Mr Muazu Sanusi, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Thursday in Benin.

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Sanusi said that the petitions were filed within the 21-day period allowed by law.

READ ALSO: APC Suspends SGF Boss Mustapha Indefinitely, SWC Kicks

He said that the petitions were filed by the Peoples Democratic Party, All Progressives Congress and Labour Party as well as their candidates.

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He said,  “As at today, the tribunal has received a total of 13 petitions.

“Out of the 13 petitions, three are on senatorial election, 10 were received with regard to House of Representatives election.

“One petition is, however, emanating from the conduct of the state House of Assembly election, and the results were announced on March 21, 2023.”

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The secretary said that the petitions were expected to be filed on or before 21 days after declaration of results.

READ ALSO: FEC Approves N454bn For Kano-Niger Republic Rail, Others

Sanusi said that the time within which to file petitions as regards the House of Representatives and Senatorial polls had lapsed.

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The secretary said, however, that the tribunal was still expecting petitions from aggrieved candidates and parties in the Edo House of Assembly election.

Sanusi could not say exactly when the tribunal would begin sitting.

According to him, it will start sitting when processes have been exchanged among the petitioners and the respondents.

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[BREAKING] Alleged Incitement: Keyamo Petitions DSS, Demands Peter Obi’s Arrest

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Minister of State, Labour and Employment, Mr Festus Keyamo SAN has petitioned the State Security Services SSS, demanding the arrest and prosecution for “incitement and treasonable felony”, the Labour Party LP Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates, Messrs Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed respectively for comments he described as incendiary and capable of causing rebellion.

In the petition addressed to the Director General State Services DGSS and dated March 23, the minister who is the Chief Spokesperson of the All Progressives Congress APC Presidential Campaign Council PCC said in a post-election period such as this, there is a need to soothe frayed nerves, lower the temperature and begin the healing process.

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“The President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu issued a statement to this effect a few days ago. However, it appears the President and Vice-Presidential Candidates of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed are not prepared to toe this conciliatory path for the sake of peace and national cohesion, whilst exercising their rights to pursue duly laid down constitutional means of addressing their grievances”, he stated.

READ ALSO: BREAKING: Anti-Tinubu Protesters Ground Abuja, Demand Interim Govt, Fresh Polls

Keyamo noted that since the declaration of the Presidential election results, the duo have been hopping from one media house to the other making incendiary comments and claims about the declaration of the President-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC.

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According to him, “These comments and claims are made, not just within the boundaries of exercising their rights to freedom of speech and the freedom to air their grievances publicly, but they have since crossed the line to call for the outright truncation of democracy by insisting on the adoption of other processes outside the contemplation of our Constitution.

“In some cases, their privies have even called for the establishment of an Interim Government.

“The latest of such are the comments made by Datti Baba-Ahmed on behalf of himself and Mr. Peter Obi on Channels TV on Wednesday, March 22, 2023, wherein he threatened that if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023, it would ‘signal the end of democracy’. Posing as an accuser, a judge and a jury all by himself, he unilaterally declared the duly elected President-elect as ‘unconstitutional’ and, in a subliminal manner, threatened mayhem if the President-Elect is sworn in on May 29th, 2023.

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READ ALSO: BREAKING: Ike Ekweremadu, Wife, Daughter Found Guilty Of Organ Trafficking

“I also have it on good authority that Mr. Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have camped some youths in a popular hotel in Abuja with the sole aim of instructing them to push out inciting messages everyday on social media in order to cause panic and fear within the federation and to incite people to riot and social unrest.

“It is noteworthy that Peter Obi and Datti Baba-Ahmed have submitted Elections Petitions to the courts for adjudication, but their conducts and utterances amount to a subversion of the processes they have instituted in court and a subversion of our Constitution and the laid-down processes for addressing disputes and grievances. These conduct and utterances are a build-up to something more sinister and it is important you rein them in now!

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“In the circumstance, I submit this petition in my personal capacity as a patriotic Nigerian to invite/arrest, interrogate and after investigation, if necessary, charge both individuals to court for their conduct which amounts to incitement and treasonable felony”.

 

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