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BREAKING: Aisha Buhari Withdraws Case Against Aminu

Published

3 years ago

December 2, 2022

The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has withdrawn the case against the final year student of the Federal University, Dutse, Aminu Mohammed, following pressure and condemnation by activists, Amnesty International, the National Association of Nigerian Students, and other citizens.

The prosecution counsel Fidelis Ogbobe, withdrawing the case on behalf of Mrs Buhari, said the First Lady, being the mother of the nation, decided to withdraw the case, following the intervention of “well-meaning Nigerians.”

Moving a motion for the withdrawal of the case, Ogbobe cited section 108 subsection 2(a) of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.

Justice Yusuf Halilu of the FCT High Court commended Mrs Buhari for withdrawing the case.

Halilu, while issuing the release warrant, called on parents to always monitor their children to avoid recurrence

According to a police report, Mr Muhammed was arrested at Federal University Dutse on November 18, 2022, after Mrs Buhari instructed a team of police detectives to track him down.

The PUNCH reports that the Presidency had earlier barred visitors from visiting inmates at the Suleja Correctional Centre, Niger State, following the arrest of Aminu.

Our correspondent who visited the facility, on Thursday, as an undercover journalist, observed heightened security presence, with a note that reads “No Visitation,” pasted at the entrance.

A security operative who attended to our correspondent at the facility noted that there was an order from the Presidency barring all forms of visitation following Aminu’s arrival at the facility.

Speaking anonymously, he said, “We can’t let you into the facility. No one is allowed to see Aminu. In fact, since he was brought in on Tuesday, no one has been allowed to visit inmates within the facility. You can read the note on the wall, no visitation is allowed, and I don’t want to lose my job.”

The officer, however, noted that Aminu has lacked food since he arrived at the facility on Tuesday, adding that he only had N2000 on him which had been spent, and could not afford to get food since no one has been allowed to visit or call him.

He added, “I feel for the boy, he arrived here with just N2000, and it is finished. He complained of hunger today, but there was nothing we could do since no one has been allowed to visit or call him. He only ate bread this morning.”

Amnesty International Nigeria had also condemned the arrest and alleged torture of Aminu Muhammed, adding that the 500-level undergraduate of the Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa must be released and the charges against him, which it described as bogus, be dropped. The PUNCH reports.

Following reports that he has allegedly been subjected to torture and other ill-treatment, including severe beatings, since being detained, AI said, “The Nigerian authorities must urgently release Aminu Muhammed and drop all charges against him. He is a student accused of defaming Aisha Buhari, the First Lady of Nigeria, on Twitter.”

According to a police report, Aminu was arrested at the Federal University Dutse on November 18, 2022, after Aisha Buhari instructed a team of police detectives to track him down.

He was then held in an unknown location and denied access to his family and lawyer, in clear violation of international human rights law.

Reacting to this, the Director of Amnesty International, Nigeria, Osai Ojigho said, “It is beyond disgraceful that the Nigerian authorities have arrested and allegedly tortured Aminu Adamu Muhammed after he merely Tweeted about the First Lady of Nigeria. This deeply repressive act brazenly violates his human rights.

“The bogus charges against Aminu must be urgently and unconditionally dropped. The authorities should instead order an investigation into his unlawful detention and abusive treatment. The fact that he was detained incommunicado highlights the rampant impunity enjoyed by the Nigerian authorities.

“Aminu’s final exams are scheduled for December 5, 2022, at the Federal University Dutse. He must be urgently freed and be able to finish his degree.”

On November 29, 2022, Aminu was charged with Cybercrime, Cybersquatting, Computer Related Forgery, Conspiracy and Criminal Breach of Trust.

Amnesty International noted that, although President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) ratified the Anti-Torture Act in 2017, torture and other ill-treatment remain pervasive in Nigeria, with police and state security agents continuing to subject detainees to torture and other cruel, inhumane, or degrading treatment.

Ojigho added, “The heavy-handed mistreatment of Aminu is a clear attempt to strike fear into the hearts of young Nigerians who use social media to hold the powerful to account. The Nigerian authorities must urgently respect and uphold the right to freedom of expression.

“Amnesty International is concerned by the growing number of attacks on freedom of expression in Nigeria. The authorities are increasingly using unlawful arrests and ill-treatment to stifle those who criticize the state. This must stop now.”

Headline

Georgia Arrests Two Over Attempt To Sell Weapons-grade Uranium

Published

5 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Editor

Georgia has arrested two men for allegedly attempting to illegally sell weapons-grade uranium, officials in the Caucasus nation said on Thursday.

Counter-intelligence and special operations units detained a Georgian and a foreign national while they were allegedly trying to sell radioactive uranium that “could be used to manufacture explosive devices or carry out terrorist attacks”, the security services said.

The two men were seeking $3.0 million for the uranium when they were arrested in the Black Sea port city of Batumi, the services said.

Headline

Israeli Strike On Gaza’s Only Catholic Church Kills Two

Published

6 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Editor

...I’m deeply saddened – Pope Leo XIV

An Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church killed two people on Thursday, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as Israel said it “never targets” religious sites and regretted any harm to civilians.

Pope Leo XIV said he was “deeply saddened” by the attack, which came as Gaza’s civil defence agency reported that Israeli strikes across the Palestinian territory killed at least 20 people.

“With deep sorrow the Latin Patriarchate can now confirm that two persons were killed as a result of an apparent strike by the Israeli army that hit the Holy Family Compound this morning.

“We pray for the rest of their souls and for the end of this barbaric war. Nothing can justify the targeting of innocent civilians,” it said in a statement.

Gaza civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said “two citizens from the Christian community” were killed in an Israeli strike on the church in Gaza City, with which the late Pope Francis kept regular contact through the war.

AFP photographs showed the wounded being treated in a tented area at Gaza City’s Al-Ahli Hospital, also known as the Baptist Hospital, with parish priest Father Gabriel Romanelli with a bandage around his lower leg.

Christian Palestinian mourners take the body of a loved one for burial from the city’s Arab Ahli, also known as Baptist Hospital, following an earlier Israeli strike on the Holy Family Church, in Gaza City on July 17, 2025. An Israeli strike on Gaza’s only Catholic church killed two people on July 17, the Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said, as Israel said it “never targets” religious sites and regretted any harm to civilians. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The patriarchate, which has jurisdiction for Catholics in Israel, the Palestinian Territories, Jordan and Cyprus, condemned the strike and said it “destroyed large parts of the complex”.

“Targeting a holy site currently sheltering approximately 600 displaced persons, the majority of whom are children and 54 with special needs, is a flagrant violation of human dignity and a blatant violation of the sanctity of life and the sanctity of religious sitses, which are supposed to provide a safe haven in times of war,” it said.

Israel expressed “deep sorrow” over the damage and civilian casualties, adding that the military was investigating.

“Israel never targets churches or religious sites and regrets any harm to a religious site or to uninvolved civilians,” the foreign ministry said on X.

– ‘Serious act’ –

Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said attacks on civilians in Gaza were “unacceptable” while her Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani called the church attack “a serious act against a Christian place of worship”.

Out of the Gaza Strip’s population of more than two million, about 1,000 are Christians. Most of them are Orthodox but according to the Latin Patriarchate, there are about 135 Catholics in the territory.

Since the early days of the war which erupted in October 2023, members of the Catholic community have been sheltering at the Holy Family Compound in Gaza City, where some Orthodox Christians have also found refuge.

Pope Francis repeatedly called for an end to the war and in his final Easter message, a day before his death on April 21, he condemned the “deplorable humanitarian situation” in the Palestinian territory.

– ‘Totally unacceptable’ –

Monsignor Pascal Gollnisch, the head of Catholic charity l’Oeuvre d’Orient, told AFP the raid was “totally unacceptable”.

“It is a place of worship. It is a Catholic church known for its peaceful attitude, for being a peacemaker. These are people who are at the service of the population,” he said.

“There was no strategic objective, there were no jihadists in this church. There were families, there were civilians. This is totally unacceptable and we condemn in the strongest possible terms this attitude on the part of Israel.”

More than 21 months of war have created dire humanitarian conditions for Gaza’s population, displacing most residents at least once and triggering severe shortages of food and other essentials.

The war was triggered by a Hamas attack on Israel, which resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, most of them civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s retaliatory military offensive has killed at least 58,573 Palestinians, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency and other parties.

AFP

Headline

French Army To Leave Senegal Amid Africa Downsizing

Published

8 hours ago

July 17, 2025

Editor

France will on Thursday formally hand back its last military bases in Senegal, leaving the French army with no permanent camps in west and central Africa.

Ending the French army’s 65 years in Senegal, the pull-out comes after similar withdrawals across the continent, with former colonies increasingly turning their backs on their former ruler.

Around 350 French soldiers, primarily tasked with conducting joint operations with the Senegalese army, will leave the west African nation after a three-month departure process. France started ceding its bases to Senegal in March.

After storming to victory in 2024 elections promising radical change, Senegal’s President Bassirou Diomaye Faye demanded France withdraw troops from the country by 2025.

Unlike the leaders of other former colonies such as junta-run Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger, however, Faye has insisted that Senegal will keep working with Paris.

In a ceremony in Dakar, France will return Camp Geille, its largest base in the country, and its airfield at Dakar airport.

Senegal’s Chief of General Staff, General Mbaye Cisse, and General Pascal Ianni, who commands France’s troops in Africa, will attend.

– ‘Sovereignty’ –

After gaining independence in 1960, Senegal became one of France’s staunchest African allies, playing host to French troops throughout its history.

Faye’s predecessor, Macky Sall, continued that tradition.

Faye, who ran on a ticket promising a clean break with the Sall era, has said that Senegal would treat France like any other foreign partner.

Pledging to make his country more self-sufficient, the president gave a deadline of the end of 2025 for all foreign armies to withdraw.

“Senegal is an independent country, it is a sovereign country and sovereignty does not accept the presence of military bases in a sovereign country,” Faye said at the end of 2024, while maintaining that “France remains an important partner for Senegal”.

Faye has also urged Paris to apologise for colonial atrocities, including the massacre on December 1, 1944 of dozens of African troops who had fought for France in World War II.

– Continent-wide pull-out –

With governments across Africa increasingly questioning France’s military presence, Paris has closed or reduced numbers at bases across its former empire.

In February France handed back its sole remaining base in Ivory Coast, ending decades of French presence at the site.

The month before, France turned over the Kossei base in Chad, its last military foothold in the unrest-hit Sahel region.

Coups in Burkina Faso, Niger and Mali between 2020 and 2023 have swept military strongmen to power. All have cut ties with France and turned to Russia instead for help in fighting the Sahel’s decade-long jihadist insurgency.

The Central African Republic, also a former French colony to which the Kremlin has sent mercenaries, has likewise demanded a French pull-out.

Meanwhile the army has turned its base in Gabon into a camp shared with the central African nation.

Only the tiny Horn of Africa nation of Djibouti will be home to a permanent French army base following Thursday’s withdrawal.

France intends to make its base in Djibouti, with some 1,500 people, its military headquarters for Africa.
(VANGUARD)