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Deborah Samuel: Don’t Overlook Atiku, Tambuwal’s Action In 2023, Group Warns

Published

3 years ago

December 13, 2022

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, on Tuesday, urged 2023 voters not to ignore the failure of Peoples Democratic Party PDP’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar; and his Director General of Campaign, Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State to get justice for slain Deborah Yakubu seven months after her carnivorous killing by Muslim zealots for alleged blasphemy.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement, said the killing of Deborah, a 200-level Home Economics student of Shehu Shagari College of Education in Sokoto, North-West Nigeria, in May will always remain in the subconscious memories of Nigerians of good conscience irrespective of their religious affiliation.

The group said Atiku and Tambuwal value politicking and campaigns beyond getting justice for the slain Christian student who was lynched by Islamic extremists in broad daylight on her school campus.

HURIWA added that Nigerians will never forget how the Nigeria Police Force have so far played games with the case, arrested and released prime suspects in the heinous offence, and the case disappeared from the court, silenced by the muteness and complicity of the northern political class who supports the killing of Christians in the region.

The group lambasted Atiku over his defence on Sunday for saying he deleted his initial tweet on the murder of the Christian student because he did not approve the tweet.

“I asked the tweet to be deleted because I normally approve every tweet. So, since I didn’t approve it, I said, ‘delete it’. If you read my subsequent statements on that murder, I condemned it.

“There is nowhere it is said or it is an injunction in the Islamic faith that you can go and take somebody’s life, nowhere, it has to be through due process,” the former Vice President said during Channels Television’s Town Hall programme.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “Atiku’s defence and bad image laundering efforts have again fallen flat as the whole public can now see the hypocrisy of the northern political class dominated by radical Muslims. So, Atiku has tacitly supported the killing of Deborah with his statement that a person can be killed for alleged blasphemy if only “due process” is followed? This is preposterous! Highly condemnable of a presidential candidate!

“The obvious fact that Sokoto State governor has denied Deborah justice yet the governor is director general of Atiku’s campaign shows that he values regional politics more than dispensing justice to a victim of mob attack. Atiku and Tambuwal are treading on the wrong path of history and Nigerians will never forget their doublespeak which is apparently to offend northern Muslims whom they bank on the exhume votes for the February 25, 2022 presidential election.

“HURIWA calls on the police to do the right thing and resume the prosecution of the prime suspects in the matter. The legal system must ensure stiff punishment for the culprits to send strong signals that Nigeria is not a Banana Republic where carnivorous entities showcase animalistic tendencies.

“The 2023 electorate should watch out for leaders with tendencies to have blasphemy-related killings increase under them and reject them with their thumbprint at the ballot next year.

“Finally, HURIWA will declare Deborah a martyr for human rights because her killing is unjustifiable under any laws locally and internationally. The memories of Deborah must be immortalised for remembrance of the injustice of the northern Muslim-radicalised political class dominated by Atiku, Tambuwal, amongst others.”

Headline

US Revokes Visas Of Foreigners Who Mocked Kirk’s Assassination

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

The United States has revoked the visas of several foreign nationals who publicly mocked or celebrated the killing of American conservative activist Charlie Kirk, officials confirmed on Tuesday.

The State Department said the decision followed an internal review of social media posts deemed “offensive and contrary to U.S. values,” adding that the country “has no obligation to host foreigners who wish death on Americans.”

Kirk, 31, co-founder of the conservative youth group Turning Point USA and a strong ally of former President Donald Trump, was shot dead during a political rally on 10 September.

His killing drew widespread condemnation across the political spectrum, with many describing the act as a targeted attack on free speech.

According to U.S. authorities, at least six individuals from Argentina, South Africa, Brazil, Paraguay, Mexico, and Germany had their visas revoked after making comments online that celebrated Kirk’s murder or insulted his supporters.

Examples cited by officials included posts calling Kirk a racist who deserved it, and messages mocking grieving Americans.

“We will not tolerate foreigners who promote or celebrate acts of violence against U.S. citizens,” a State Department spokesperson said.

The move underscores Washington’s growing use of immigration powers to respond to online behaviour perceived as threatening or disrespectful towards the country.

The Department said it continues to monitor social media content for evidence of incitement or endorsement of violence.
Civil liberties advocates, however, have questioned the decision, arguing that revoking visas for social media comments could set a worrying precedent.

Officials maintained that the visa cancellations were lawful, limited in scope, and aimed at protecting national integrity.

“Freedom of speech does not extend to foreigners seeking the privilege of entry while glorifying violence,” the spokesperson added.

The United States has increased visa scrutiny in recent years, requiring applicants to disclose social media handles and online activity.

The policy, officials say, is designed to prevent extremist sympathisers or those expressing hostility towards the country from entering its borders

Headline

Israeli PM Netanyahu Back In Court For Graft Trial

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was back in a Tel Aviv court on Wednesday for the latest hearing in his long-running corruption trial, which opened in May 2020.

The prime minister kept a smiling face as he and his entourage of several ministers from his conservative Likud party were heckled by protesters en route to the tribunal.

It comes after US President Donald Trump suggested on Monday that the Israeli premier should be pardoned in his three separate corruption cases.

His latest appearance at the Tel Aviv court also follows the return of the hostages taken by Hamas as part of Trump’s US-brokered plan to end the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.

In one case, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods, including champagne, cigars and jewellery, from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

In two other instances, Netanyahu is also charged with attempting to negotiate better press coverage from two Israeli media outlets. He has denied any wrongdoing, claiming to be the victim of a political plot.

During his current term, which started in late 2022, Netanyahu has proposed far-reaching judicial reforms that critics say sought to weaken the courts.

Those prompted massive protests that only abated after the onset of the Gaza war, sparked by Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.

In an address on Monday to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, Trump told the chamber that Netanyahu should receive a pardon in the graft cases.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump joked, before asking his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog: “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The Israeli premier is also subject to an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on suspicion of ordering war crimes in his government’s assault on Hamas militants in Gaza.

Netanyahu holds the record for the most years spent at the head of Israel’s government, having served 18 years in several stints as premier since 1996.

AFP

Headline

FULL LIST: US Set To Carry Out Four Executions This Week

Published

2 days ago

October 15, 2025

Editor

A Florida man convicted of murdering two women he hired for sex was put to death by lethal injection on Tuesday, one of four executions to be carried out in the United States this week.

Samuel Smithers, 72, was sentenced to death in 1999 for the 1996 killings of Christy Cowan and Denise Roach in Tampa. They had been beaten and strangled and their bodies were found in a pond.

Smithers was executed at a Florida state prison at 6:15 pm (2215 GMT), the 14th execution in the southern state this year.

Another convicted murderer was also put to death by lethal injection in the midwestern state of Missouri on Tuesday.

The execution of Lance Shockley, 48, was carried out at 6:13 pm (2313 GMT) for the 2005 murder of a police sergeant, Carl Graham.

Graham was gunned down in an ambush at his home. The officer had been investigating a fatal car accident involving Shockley at the time.

Shockley maintained his innocence but his appeals were rejected by numerous courts, including the Supreme Court. Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe rejected his clemency request on Monday.

Two other executions are scheduled this week.

Charles Crawford, 59, is to be put to death by lethal injection in Mississippi on Wednesday for the 1994 rape and murder of Kristy Ray, a 20-year-old college student.

Richard Djerf, 55, is to be executed by lethal injection in Arizona on Friday for the brutal 1993 murders of four members of a Phoenix family.

In a letter last month apologizing for the crime, Djerf said he was ready to die and would not seek clemency.

“If I can’t find reason to spare my life, what reason would anyone else have?” he wrote.

There have been 37 executions in the United States this year, the most since 2013, when 39 inmates were put to death.

Florida has carried out the most executions with 14, followed by Texas with five and South Carolina and Alabama with four.

Thirty-one 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.”