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‘I Will Consider Releasing Nnamdi Kanu But’… – Buhari

Published

4 years ago

November 19, 2021

Editor

President Muhammadu Buhari has said releasing Nnamdi Kanu unconditionally will negate the principles of separation of powers between the Executive and Judiciary.

The President, has, however, promised to consider the request of some Southeast elders who were at the statehouse earlier on Friday to discuss the security situation in the region.

Buhari had made the promise when he received a group under the aegis of Highly Respected Igbo Greats, led by First Republic parliamentarian and Minister of Aviation, Chief Mbazulike Amaechi, at State House, Abuja.

Chief Mbazulike Amaechi had pleaded for a political, rather than military solution, for the situation in the southeast, requesting that if Kanu was released to him as the only First Republic Minister still alive, he would no longer say the things he had been saying.

The nonagenarian said he could control Kanu, “not because I have anything to do with them (IPOB), but I am highly respected in Igbo land today.”

He had described the situation in the Southeast as painful and pathetic, lamenting that businesses have collapsed while education is crumbling with fear everywhere.

Chief Amaechi said twice he had interfaced with Nnamdi Kanu in the past and the latter rescinded orders earlier given on civil disobedience.

“I don’t want to leave this planet without peace returning to my country. I believe in one big, united Nigeria, a force in Africa. Mr President, I want you to be remembered as a person who saw Nigeria burning, and you quenched the fire.”

In response to the request by the elder statesman, President Buhari promised to consider a lighter resolution but worried that such would interfere with the principles of separation of power between the Executive and Judiciary.

Buhari said, “You’ve made an extremely difficult demand on me as leader of this country. The implication of your request is very serious. In the last six years, since I became President, nobody would say I have confronted or interfered in the work of the Judiciary. God has spared you, and given you a clear head at this age, with a very sharp memory. A lot of people half your age are confused already. But the demand you made is heavy. I will consider it,” he said.

Stressing his policy of non-interference with the Judiciary, President Buhari said when Kanu jumped bail, got arrested and was brought back to the country, he did not interfere but allowed the system to take its course.

“I said the best thing was to subject him to the system. Let him make his case in court, instead of giving very negative impressions of the country from the outside. I feel it’s even a favour to give him that opportunity.”

Other members of the delegation to the President include Chukwuemeka Ezeife, former Governor of Anambra State, Bishop Sunday Onuoha of the Methodist Church, Chief Barrister Goddy Uwazurike, former President of Igbo socio-cultural group, Aka Ikenga, and Mr Tagbo Mbazulike Amaechi.

Headline

20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

2 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

2 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP

Headline

China’s Trade Surges Despite US Tariff Threats

Published

2 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

China’s overseas trade grew at a faster pace than expected last month, official data showed Monday, amid fresh fears of a major escalation in the tariff war between Beijing and Washington.

Exports jumped 8.3 per cent year on year in September, the General Administration of Customs said, beating a Bloomberg forecast of 6.6 per cent.

Imports rose 7.4 per cent, the data showed, significantly outpacing a Bloomberg forecast of 1.9 per cent.

The figures are a promising sign for the Chinese economy, which has in recent years been mired in a persistent spending slump just as pressure on its export-reliant manufacturing sector intensifies.

Shipments to the United States — the world’s largest consumer market — picked up last month to reach $34.3 billion, the data showed.

The figure marked an 8.6 per cent rise from the $31.6 billion recorded in August.

Concerns spiked over the weekend that this year’s trade war between the world’s top two economies will worsen further following US President Donald Trump’s threat to impose additional 100 per cent tariffs on all Chinese goods.

Beijing, in turn, accused Washington of acting unfairly, with its Ministry of Commerce on Sunday calling the threat a “typical example of ‘double standards’”.

Trump struck a more conciliatory tone on Sunday, writing in a social media post that the United States “wants to help China, not hurt it”.

AFP