Connect with us

Headline

Buhari, IGP Usman Baba Under Fire Over new Hijab Dress, $1m Donation To Islamic Country

Published

on

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has reminded the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba that Hijab does not protect female officers from AK-47 bullets.

HURIWA, in a statement on Sunday, also faulted the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari to gift $1 million to Afghanistan through the Organisation of Islamic Countries, OIC.

The civil rights advocacy group lambasted Usman Baba, over the introduction of Islamic dress code for female police officers in the country.

Advertisement

Similarly the group said it was unconstitutional for President Buhari to donate $1 million of public fund without appropriation to the OIC for onward disbursement to the Islamic regime that came to power by the barrel of a gun in Afghanistan.

The rights group said Section 10 of the Nigerian Constitution makes Nigeria a secular State, wondering when President Buhari will similarly play “his illegal father Christmas role by donating to the World’s Council of Churches or to adherents of African Traditionalists.”

HURIWA said the attempt by Buhari and Usman Baba to project Nigeria to the World as an Islamic nation will backfire because millions of Nigerians who have no religious affiliation “and the other organised religious group of Christians and ATR will never accept this sinister plots which will lead to avoidable disaster,” just as the rights group asked the duo to retrace their steps before it is too late.

Advertisement

“President Buhari and all the pro-Islamic fanatics including those who hitherto professed loyalty to al-quaeda and taliban Islamists but are still in Buhari’s regime should consider the consequences of their actions because the rest of the population that do not share same faith won’t let themselves be enslaved and conscripted to be citizens of an Islamic State when the Nigerian Constitution rules out the practicability and legality of elevating any religion as State religion in Nigeria,” HURIWA said in a statement signed by Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, its National Coordinator.

“These government officials had better have a change of hearts, respect the Constitution for the sake of national security and stability because Nigerians are watching and will take appropriate steps to preserve their religious freedoms,” he added.

HURIWA said the new dress code for female officers in the police, which include the use of hijab and studded earring, would not in any way increase the efficiency of police officers nor protect them from flying AK-47 bullets fired by daring criminals and bandits in the country of late.

Advertisement

READ ALSO: Adegboruwa Faults New Police Dress Code

Recall that the IGP on March 4, 2022, unveiled the new dress code for female police officers, saying it is in line with international best practices.

However, HURIWA’s Onwubiko declared that the new dress code is illegal, unconstitutional and sectarian, noting that it is an apparent move to fulfill the Islamization agenda of President Muhammadu Buhari.

Advertisement

Onwubiko said, “Despite the many challenges including declining staff numbers, low morale, poor training and poor welfare confronting the Nigeria Police Force under IGP Usman Baba, it is unfortunate that he chose to prioritise religious adornment over weightier matters.

“HURIWA wonders how the new dress code is of any usefulness to the shrinking 300,000 police officers in the country whose salaries are barely paid by the government and whose dilapidated barracks are unfit for pigs let alone human beings.

“Logically speaking, to what intent and purpose is the use of hijab for female police officers chasing criminals on the streets of Lagos or combating bandits on the Abuja-Kaduna Expressway? Would the hijab deflect AK-47 bullets fired by bandits from hitting the officers? The IGP should get serious.

Advertisement

“The Nigeria Police has been in existence since 1945 and wearing of hijab for female police officers is illegal and unconstitutional as the religion of public officers, including members of the security agencies, should be a private matter to them.

“Section 10 of the 1999 Constitution stipulates that government and all its agencies should be neutral in religious matters while Section 42 of the same Constitution forbids discrimination in all its ramifications.

“The IGP, being a Muslim from Borno State where Boko Haram operates freely, should not use the post he currently occupies to enthrone Islam on the plurality of members of the Force comprising Muslims, Christians, Catholics, traditionalists, etc.

Advertisement

“The IGP should respect his oath of office and desist from fanatism and the hijab controversy that has sharply divided and inflamed states such as Osun, Kwara, amongst others. He should desist from such fanatism as demonstrated by the government-backed Hisbah Police in northern Nigeria.

“If the Muslim female officers are allowed to wear hijab, how should policemen and women who are in the Celestial Church dress up when the practice of their church is against wearing shoes at all? And how should traditionalists who are in the police force dress up, with charms and amulets round their uniforms?

“It is curious that the IGP who has woefully failed to instill discipline and professionalism amongst his operatives and footdragged in the case of alleged notorious fraud accomplice and cop Abba Kyari is the same person introducing a new dress code for female police officers.

Advertisement

“Had things function well enough in Nigeria, the IGP should have been prosecuted for crime against humanity committed by his operatives in Imo state as documented by Amnesty International but President Buhari who too is a bigot and who donated $1million of Nigeria’s money to Afghanistan left the bigoted IGP in office and now his most important job is to introduce hijab even when his operatives behave like robbers like unknown gunmen in South East and many places.

“This IGP is a failure and deserves to be sacked so he can very well go back to North East to become his local Imam in his local mosque.

“Usman Baba should focus on combating crime, improve citizens engagement and help guaranty safety of lives and property. The religious preferences of policemen and women should be their private matters,” DAILY POST quoted the statement.

Advertisement
Advertisement
Comments

Headline

Eswatini Jails 10 Africans Deported From US

Published

on

The African kingdom of Eswatini said it received and jailed 10 more deportees from the United States on Monday as part of a US scheme to expel undocumented migrants.

Eswatini took in a first group of five men in July, with Ghana, Rwanda, and South Sudan also accepting US deportees in recent months in a programme criticised by rights groups.

The tiny southern African nation agreed in May to accept up to 160 deportees in exchange for $5.1 million to “build its border and migration management capacity”, according to a deal signed with the United States and seen by AFP.

Advertisement

Its correctional services department said in a statement Monday it “confirms the arrival of ten (10) third country nationals from the United States of America”.

It did not give details but said they had been “securely accommodated in one of the country’s correctional facilities” and the government would “facilitate their orderly repatriation”.

A US-based attorney representing some of the deportees said the new group included “three Vietnamese, one Filipino, one Cambodian”.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:US Deports Six Nigerians For Various Offences

The lawyer, Tin Thanh Nguyen, represents two of the Vietnamese nationals who arrived Monday.

“One of my clients … tried to assert a reasonable fear of harm being deported to Eswatini, but ICE (US Immigration and Customs Enforcement) ignored him and put him on the plane anyways,” he told AFP.

Advertisement

He also represents a Vietnamese and a Laotian who were part of the first group which also included nationals from Cuba, Jamaica and Yemen.

– ‘Legal black hole’ –

The deal that Eswatini signed with the United States on May 14 says that the US deportees may include third country nationals “with criminal backgrounds and/or who are designated suspected terrorists”.

Advertisement

Washington said the first group of men had been convicted of crimes in the United States, including child rape and murder, but their lawyers told AFP that all five had long finished serving their sentences.

READ ALSO:Venezuelan Deportees: US Embassy Gives Reason For Reducing Visa Validity For Nigerians

Eswatini jailed them in its maximum security Matsapha Correctional Centre which is notorious for holding political prisoners and for overcrowding.

Advertisement

One of them, a 62-year-old Jamaican who had reportedly completed a sentence for murder in the United States, was sent back to his country around two weeks ago.

Nguyen said Eswatini was a “legal black hole” and the deportees were denied legal counsel.

His two clients had been detained since mid-July without a charge, he said.

Advertisement

“I cannot call them. I cannot email them. I cannot communicate through local counsel because the Eswatini government blocks all attorney access,” he told AFP.

Lawyers and civil society groups in Eswatini have gone to court to challenge the legality of the detentions.

READ ALSO:Judge Halts US Govt Effort To Detain Student For Deportation

Advertisement

A local lawyer on Friday won a court ruling allowing him to visit the four men still detained, but the government immediately appealed, suspending the ruling.

US President Donald Trump has overseen a drastic expansion of the practice of deporting people to countries other than their nation of origin, notably by sending hundreds to a notorious prison in El Salvador.

But rights experts have warned the deportations risk breaking international law by sending people to nations where they face the risk of torture, abduction and other abuses.

Advertisement

Human Rights Watch last month urged African governments to refuse to accept US deportees and to terminate deals already in effect, saying they violated global rights law.

Eswatini, formerly known as Swaziland and landlocked by neighbours South Africa and Mozambique, has been led by King Mswati III since 1986 and his government has been accused of human rights violations.

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Headline

Russian Strikes Kill Five In Ukraine, Cause Power Outages

Published

on

Russian strikes Sunday on Ukraine killed five people and badly damaged energy infrastructure, temporarily severing power supplies to tens of thousands and prompting neighbouring Poland put ground defence on high alert.

Russia has stepped up strikes on energy networks, increasing fears Moscow would resume its widespread campaign of attacks on power facilities, which have plunged millions into darkness in past winters.

Russian forces fired 496 drones and 53 missiles at Ukraine, the majority of which were shot down, according to the Ukrainian air force.

Advertisement

“Sadly, five people were killed. My sincere condolences to everyone who lost loved ones to this terror,” Ukraine’s leader Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Strikes killed four people near Lviv, which lies in western Ukraine and is hundreds of kilometers from the front line, and has been largely spared the attacks that have hit cities further east.

“Near Lviv, an entire family of four was killed in their home, including a teenage girl,” Foreign Minister Andriy Sybiga said.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Emergency services released photos showing firefighters battling flames in a destroyed building, and helping elderly residents to safety.
Attacks also killed one person in the southern region of Zaporizhzhia and wounded people near the eastern front, local authorities said.
“Russians once again targeted our infrastructure -– everything that ensures normal life for our people,” Zelensky said.

The strikes cut power to over 110,000 subscribers across several regions, Ukraine’s emergency services said, with the hardest hit being Zaporizhzhia.

Advertisement

– ‘Gas, heat and light’ –
Overnight, more than 73,000 people in Zaporizhzhia were left without electricity, regional head Ivan Fedorov said, though power had been partially restored by the afternoon.

Ukraine’s state-run gas company Naftogaz network also reported damage to its network.
These maniacal terrorist strikes are aimed solely at one thing — depriving Ukrainians of gas, heat, and light,” Naftogaz CEO Sergii Koretskyi said in a statement.

READ ALSO:Badenoch Unveils Strict UK Immigration Plan, Targets 150,000 Yearly Deportations

Advertisement

The Russian army said it launched an attack “against enterprises of the military-industrial complex of Ukraine and gas and energy infrastructure facilities that ensured their operation.”

Russian attacks have also rattled Ukraine’s European allies after a spate of alleged Russian airspace violations into Europe.

NATO boosted its defences along its eastern borders throughout the month as it accused Moscow of testing the alliance’s air defences with drone incursions into several members and by flying military jets in Estonian airspace.

Advertisement

Overnight Poland’s armed forces said on X that they had mobilised planes and put ground defences on high alert to secure the country’s airspace, especially in areas close to Ukraine.

Ukraine also said Russia was intensifying a campaign of air strikes on its railway network in an attempt to isolate frontline communities ahead of winter.

Russia launched drones at two passenger trains in Ukraine’s northeastern Sumy region on Saturday, killing one person and wounding dozens, according to Ukrainian officials.

Advertisement

 

Continue Reading

Headline

Badenoch Unveils Strict UK Immigration Plan, Targets 150,000 Yearly Deportations

Published

on

Kemi Badenoch, leader of the United Kingdom’s Conservative Party, has unveiled an aggressive immigration reform plan aimed at detaining and deporting 150,000 illegal migrants annually, in what she described as the “toughest reforms Britain has ever seen” in border policy. The announcement was made in a video message posted on her X account on Sunday.

The plan, dubbed the Radical Borders Plan, envisages the establishment of a new Removals Force modelled after the United States Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE), which would replace the current Home Office Immigration Enforcement unit. According to Badenoch, the Removals Force will have a mandate to remove all illegal entrants, foreign criminals, and undocumented migrants, while also monitoring illegal work. She stated, “My message is clear: if you’re here illegally, you will be detained and deported.”

Badenoch sharply criticised previous administrations, accusing both Conservative and Labour governments of failing to manage the migration crisis effectively. “Successive governments have failed on immigration. Labour promised to smash the gangs. Instead, in just a year, they delivered record small boat crossings, over 50,000 illegal arrivals, 32,000 people in asylum hotels, billions wasted. It’s pure weakness. Britain needs a serious, credible plan and the backbone to deliver it,” she said.

Advertisement

READ ALSO:Badenoch Slams UK’s Palestine Recognition Decision As ‘Absolutely Disastrous’

The proposed plan includes several controversial measures. Asylum claims from illegal entrants would be banned, the Human Rights Act repealed, and the United Kingdom withdrawn from the European Convention on Human Rights. Badenoch added that all new illegal arrivals would be deported within a week, with legal obstacles to mass removals removed and visa sanctions imposed on countries that refuse to repatriate their citizens. She also pledged to “shut down the asylum hotel racket,” which she said would save taxpayers billions and restore public confidence in the UK’s border controls.

The Removals Force, if approved, will operate with an annual budget of £1.6 billion, double that of the current Immigration Enforcement unit, funded by savings from the closure of asylum hotels and other measures within the asylum system. The force will have sweeping powers, including the use of facial recognition technology without prior warning, and will integrate closely with the police. Priority for removals will include new illegal entrants, foreign criminals, failed asylum seekers, visa over-stayers, and others identified as residing in the UK illegally.

Advertisement

In an interview on BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg, Badenoch faced criticism for her refusal to specify the destinations to which deported migrants would be sent. She responded, “I’m tired of all of these irrelevant questions about where they should go. They will go back to where they should be or another country, but they should not be here.” When pressed further, she added, “They will go back to where they came from.”

READ ALSO:Badenoch Slams UK PM For Cutting Defence Funding Amid Global Threats

According to the Conservative Party document detailing the plan, the proposed measures are intended to increase removals from the current 34,000 per year to approximately 150,000, marking a five-fold increase in enforcement activity. The party argues that the reforms are necessary to address what it describes as uncontrolled migration and to strengthen public trust in the country’s border system.

Advertisement

Badenoch’s announcement has intensified the ongoing debate in the UK over immigration policy, balancing border security with human rights considerations. Critics have expressed concern over the repeal of the Human Rights Act and the use of facial recognition technology without oversight, while supporters have welcomed the proposed measures as a decisive step in tackling illegal immigration.

The Radical Borders Plan is expected to be submitted for parliamentary consideration in the coming months, with its implementation contingent on legislative approval and coordination with existing law enforcement structures.

 

Advertisement
Continue Reading

Trending