Headline

DSS Withdraws Suit Against Ex-terrorists Negotiator, Tukur Mamu

Published

1 year ago

November 24, 2022

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The Department of State Services, on Thursday, withdrew a suit filed at a Federal High Court, Abuja to detain the former terrorists’ negotiator, Tukur Mamu, for 60 more days after his arrest.

DSS’ counsel, A.M. Danlami, told Justice Nkeonye Maha shortly after the matter was called for hearing.

The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1619/2022 between SSS and Tukur Mamu, was listed for further proceedings on the day’s cause list.

Upon resumed hearing, Danlami, who sought to withdraw the case, said that the matter has been overtaken by events.

“My lord, this matter is slated for hearing today. However, the matter has been overtaken by events. We wish to withdraw the suit,” he said.

Following the application, Justice Maha struck out the suit.

“Application of the learner counsel succeeds. The application is hereby struck out having been withdrawn,” she ruled.

NAN reports that the security agency, through its lawyer, Ahmed Magaji, had, on Sept. 13, moved a motion ex-parte, which sought an order of the court to detain Mamu for 60 more days in the first instance, pending the conclusion of its investigation.

The motion marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1617/2022, was dated and filed on Sept. 12.

It urged the court to grant its reliefs to enable it to conclude its investigation on Mamu, who had been leading the negotiation with the terrorists for the release of the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers kidnapped in March.

NAN reports that almost six months after the Abuja-Kaduna train passengers were kidnapped by Boko Haram terrorists, the remaining 23 kidnapped victims finally regained their freedom on Oct. 5 following the Federal Government’s intervention.

Mamu was, on Sept. 6, arrested in Cairo, the capital of Egypt, with his family members by foreign security agents.

Mamu, who was on his way to Saudi Arabia for lesser Hajj, was detained at Cairo International Airport before being repatriated back to Nigeria.

Meanwhile, the DSS, in the affidavit in support of the ex-parte motion, alleged that its preliminary investigation established the offences of the logistic supplier, aiding and abetting acts of terrorism against Mamu.

The security outfit, in the affidavit deposed to by Hamza Pandogari, a legal officer with the service, said it was necessary for Mamu to be detained for 60 days pending the conclusion of the investigation of various acts of terrorism against him.

It alleged that the investigation established an act of terrorism financing against the former terrorists’ negotiator.

It alleged that Mamu, “the self-acclaimed Kaduna train negotiator exploit the opportunity to perpetrate, aid and abets as well as render support to both local and international terrorist organisations,” among others.

The DSS had warned Nigerians over making comments on its arrest of Mamu.

The DSS, in a statement by its Spokesman, Peter Afunaya, asked the public to leave the agency alone and allow it to concentrate on the investigations which it said the outcomes had been “mindboggling.”

This came hours after the Islamic cleric, Sheik Gumi, to whom Mamu is an aide, had faulted the arrest of the negotiator.

Gumi, at a religious gathering on Friday in Kaduna, had asked the security agency to charge Mamu to court if it had any evidence against him, rather than keeping him in custody.
NAN/PUNCH

Headline

400 Bodies Found In Mass Grave In Gaza Hospital

Published

12 hours ago

April 28, 2024

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The government in Gaza have concluded their search of mass graves at a hospital in the south of the strip and said they have uncovered a total of 392 bodies, including some still wearing surgical gowns.

Speaking at a Thursday news conference at Rafah, on April 25, an official from the Palestinian Civil Defense in Gaza said workers have identified 165 bodies at the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis, following the withdrawal of Israeli forces from the area earlier this month.

According to Mohammed Al Mighayyer, they are still examining the remaining 227 bodies to determine their identities.

“We found three mass graves, the first in front of the morgue, the second behind the morgue, and the third north of the dialysis building,” he added.

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) said any suggestion that it had buried Palestinian bodies in mass graves was false, and that a grave at the Nasser complex was dug by Palestinians in Gaza some months ago.

The Gaza Civil Defense acknowledged that around 100 bodies were buried in graves at the Nasser hospital before the IDF operation there.

CNN reports that people had buried the bodies of family members who had been killed on the grounds of the hospital as a temporary measure in January but when they returned after the Israeli military withdrew on April 7, they discovered the bodies had been dug up and then placed in at least one collective grave, not all in the initial spots they were buried in.

The Palestinian Civil Defense also showed graphic images on a TV screen at the news conference showing several almost unrecognizable bodies at the complex and bodies of decomposed children.

Al Mighayyer said the Civil Defense “witnessed the presence of children’s bodies in the mass graves at the Nasser Medical Complex, which proves crimes of genocide.” While the group says it is still examining the bodies, they suspect at least 20 civilians were buried alive in the complex, but it did not explain how it knows this, or offer proof.

Al Mighayyer also claimed there had been cases of executions of patients who had been receiving treatment at the hospital. He said several bodies were found with gunshot wounds to their heads and injuries to their bodies.

Al Mighayyer said at the news conference that the Palestinian Gaza Civil Defense in Gaza “discovered torture marks on [some] bodies.” CNN cannot independently verify these claims.

“Israeli forces buried several bodies in plastic bags at a depth of three meters, which made them decompose quickly.”

“The occupation deliberately concealed evidence of its crimes in the Nasser Complex by changing the plastic shrouds more than once,” he claimed. Video recorded by CNN shows bodies wrapped in three different coloured shrouds: white, black and blue.

Amnesty International has also called for an investigation into the mass graves at the two Gaza hospitals.

I’m response, the Israeli Defense Forces, IDF said:“During the IDF’s operation in the area of Nasser Hospital, in accordance with the effort to locate hostages and missing persons, corpses buried by Palestinians in the area of Nasser Hospital were examined. The examination was conducted in a careful manner and exclusively in places where intelligence indicated the possible presence of hostages.”

The IDF continued: “At the end of February, IDF forces conducted a precise and targeted operation against the terrorist organization Hamas in the Nasser Hospital area. During the operation, about 200 terrorists who were in the hospital were apprehended, medicines intended for Israeli hostages were found undelivered and unused, and a great deal of ammunition was confiscated. The activity was done in a targeted manner and without harming the hospital, the patients and the medical staff.”

Headline

Watch Of Richest Titanic Passenger Sells For £1.17m

Published

13 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

A gold watch found on the body of the richest passenger on the Titanic was auctioned in England for £1.17 million ($1.46 million) on Saturday.

It was a record sum for an object linked to the notorious 1912 shipping disaster, said auctioneers Henry Aldridge & Son.

A US buyer won the bidding war, smashing the auctioneer’s pre-sale estimate of between £100,000 and £150,000.

The watch, engraved with the initials JJA, belonged to the US business magnate John Jacob Astor.

Astor was 47 when he died as the Titanic sank in the early hours of April 15, 1912. He was reputed to be one of the richest men in the world at the time.

He died after having helped his wife, Madeleine, on board one of the lifeboats. She survived the disaster.

Astor’s body was found a week after the disaster, with the watch among his personal belongings.

“The watch itself was completely restored after being returned to Colonel Astor’s family and worn by his son,” said a statement from the auction house.

Headline

Popular Iraqi TikToker Umm Fahad Gunned Down Outside Baghdad Home

Published

14 hours ago

April 27, 2024

Editor

Popular Iraqi social media star Ghufran Sawadi, better known as Umm Fahad, was shot dead outside her home in Baghdad, the capital of Iraq, on Friday night.

According to CNN, a Baghdad police source disclosed that the attack occurred in the Zayouna area east of Baghdad.

The source added that the tragic incident was captured on video by a surveillance camera and shared on social media.

The video showed a gunman riding a motorcycle shooting and killing Sawadi on the spot. A Baghdad police source confirmed the authenticity of the video to CNN.

The country’s Interior Minister announced on Friday that it was “forming a specialized work team to find out the circumstances of the killing of a woman known on social media by unknown assailants.”

Sawadi was popular on TikTok, where she shared videos of herself dancing to pop music in form-fitting clothes. In the past, these videos were deemed inappropriate by Iraq’s judiciary.

Sawadi was sentenced to six months in prison for “the crime of producing and publishing several films and videos containing obscene and indecent language, violating public decency and morals,” an Iraqi judiciary statement said.

Other Iraqi social media personalities have previously been targeted in deadly attacks.

Most recently, another popular Iraqi TikTok personality, Noor Alsaffar, known as Noor BM, was shot dead in Baghdad in September 2023, an Iraqi security source told CNN at the time.

Alsaffar, who had over 370,000 followers across Instagram and TikTok, posted short videos about fashion, hair, and makeup, also often dancing to music.

Following news of the shooting, many posted comments lamenting Alsaffar’s death, though others applauded it, celebrating the man who fired the shot.

Alsaffar’s killing came as Iraq cracked down on LGBTQ expression and moved to criminalize it in law.