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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The First Lady, Aisha Buhari, has withdrawn the case against the final year student of the Federal University, Dutse, Aminu Mohammed, following pressure and condemnation by activists, Amnesty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

Woman Wanted Over Mutilation Of Boyfriend’s Genitals In US

Published

13 hours ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

Authorities in Toledo, Ohio, United States, are searching for a 45-year-old woman, Jeanita Hopings, accused of breaking into her boyfriend’s home and attacking him with a sharp object, causing serious injuries to his genitals.

As reported by PEOPLE on Thursday, warrants issued for Hopings’ arrest show she faces charges of felonious assault and aggravated burglary in connection with the October 7 incident.

Investigators allege that Hopings “forcefully kicked open the front door” of her boyfriend’s home before entering “without permission,” according to one of the warrants.

Once inside, she allegedly attacked the victim with an “unknown instrument,” inflicting a deep wound.

“The victim’s testicle was clearly exposed as the result of the laceration,” the warrant stated.

The man was taken to a nearby hospital for treatment, police confirmed.

Hopings has not yet been arrested and has not entered a plea to the charges. Court records from Lucas County indicate that she has no prior felony history, though she has previously faced several traffic-related misdemeanour offences.

Police say Hopings remains at large as the investigation continues.

Headline

US To Execute Man Convicted Of Rape, Murder Of Teen

Published

17 hours ago

October 9, 2025

Editor

A 53-year-old man convicted of the 2001 rape and murder of a teenage girl is to be executed by lethal injection in the US state of Indiana on Friday.

Roy Lee Ward was sentenced to death in 2002 for the murder of 15-year-old Stacy Payne at her home in the town of Dale.

Payne was repeatedly stabbed and died of her injuries several hours after the attack.

Ward was arrested at the scene while still holding a knife.

The execution is to be carried out between midnight and sunrise on Friday morning at a state prison in Michigan City.

Ward will be the third person put to death in Indiana since the state resumed executions last year after a 15-year hiatus because of difficulties obtaining the lethal drugs used in them.

There have been 34 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2014, when 35 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions — 13 — followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Twenty-eight of this year’s executions have been carried out by lethal injection, two by firing squad and four by nitrogen hypoxia, which involves pumping nitrogen gas into a face mask, causing the prisoner to suffocate.

The use of nitrogen gas as a method of capital punishment has been denounced by United Nations experts as cruel and inhumane.

The death penalty has been abolished in 23 of the 50 US states, while three others — California, Oregon and Pennsylvania — have moratoriums in place.

President Donald Trump is a proponent of capital punishment and on his first day in office called for an expansion of its use “for the vilest crimes.”

AFP

Headline

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

Published

1 day ago

October 8, 2025

Editor

Trump Gives Update On Israel, Hamas Peace Deal

US President Donald Trump said Wednesday that he may go to the Middle East at the end of this week as a peace deal between Israel and Hamas in Gaza is “very close.”

Trump said during an event at the White House that he would “go to Egypt most likely” but that he would also consider going to war-torn Gaza.

“I may go there sometime toward the end of the week, maybe on Sunday, actually. And we’ll see, but there is a very good chance. Negotiations are going along very well,” Trump told reporters at the start of the event.

“Our final negotiation, as you know, is with Hamas, and it seems to be going well. So we’ll let you know, if that’s the case, we’ll be leaving probably on Sunday, maybe on Saturday.”

Near the end of the meeting, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio unexpectedly entered the room and handed Trump a note.

The US president told reporters the note said that “we’re very close to a deal” and that his presence was needed. “I have to go now to try and solve some problems in the Middle East,” he added.

Hamas and Israeli officials are having indirect talks in Egypt on a 20-point peace proposal unveiled by Trump to end the two-year-old war.

– ‘Very close’ –

Trump said as he began the event that he had come off the phone with officials in the Middle East, where his special envoy Steve Witkoff and son-in-law Jared Kushner had just joined discussions in Egypt.

“‘Peace for the Middle East,’ that’s a beautiful phrase, and we hope it’s going to come true, but it’s very close, and they’re doing very well,” Trump added.

“We have a great team over there, great negotiators, and they’re, unfortunately, great negotiators on the other side also. But it’s something I think that will happen.”

Asked if he would consider going to Gaza if a deal happens, Trump replied: “I would, yeah. I would. I might do that. I may do that. We haven’t decided exactly.”

Trump said he would insist on the release of hostages held by Hamas before traveling to the region.

Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said earlier that he had received “encouraging” signs and hailed the support of Trump.

Hamas too expressed “optimism” over the indirect discussions with its foe Israel.

Trump’s plan calls for a ceasefire, the release of all the hostages held in Gaza, Hamas’s disarmament and a gradual Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
AFP