Headline

Insecurity: Security Agencies Urged To Unite Against Terrorism In Nigeria

Published

3 years ago

October 7, 2021

Editor

The National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, on Thursday, tasked all security agencies to unite against terrorism and other related insecurity that is ravaging all parts of the country, especially now the 2023 general election is fast approaching.

Isiguzo made this known while addressing journalists from the 36 states of the country during the 7th triennial national delegates conference taking place in Umuahia, the capital of Abia State.

He expressed worries over the increasing insecurity in the country especially in the southeast region wherein some suspected hoodlums have continued to destroy valued properties worth millions of naira and killings of innocent citizens of the area.

According to him: “Let me commend the renewed determination by the Federal Government to end the protracted insecurity challenges ravaging some parts of the country, especially the insurgency in the North East and banditry, kidnapping in the North West and other acts of criminality that constitute a threat to the development of our nation.

“NUJ commend the courage and professionalism of our Armed Forces and appeal to Nigerians to unite against terrorism and other acts of insecurity rather than resorting to issues of politics that may not have any positive bearing in the fight against these evils.

“While we appreciate the fact that government has adopted new approaches that will tackle insecurity in the country, we urge that additional strategies be adopted to address the specific political, economic, and social challenges that encourage these security problems in general and the potential solutions that reduce them as the most reliable way forward.

“We encourage the government to listen to suggestions from well-meaning citizens who provide credible and workable alternative options in dealing with the devastating security situation and urge the government to be tolerant in dealing with the anger and frustration of the citizens.

“It is in this regard that we frown at the various comments of some highly placed Government officials that accuse the media of over-blowing security challenges in the country before the international community.

“We caution that lack of adequate information can, at any stage of a conflict, make people desperate, restless and easy to manipulate. However, there is also the need for caution on the part of media practitioners particularly in the South-East to be more circumspect in the news they disseminate to the public concerning the insecurity in the region. The news being churned out to the other parts of the country with regards to the insecurity situation in the region is far from the reality on the ground.”

The National President however declared his preparedness to review the constitution of the union to checkmate quackery and other irregularities that are being perpetrated by enemies of the union.

“The NUJ in the coming administration is going to take a critical look at this monster trying to rare its head before it dents the image of practitioners.

“The good news is the fact that our automated identity card is already addressing the issue of quacks and fake media practitioners. Any individual who wants to belong to the NUJ must adhere to the provisions of the constitution with respect to membership,” he stated.

Headline

Iran Gets Interim President After Raisi’s Death

Published

8 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei assigned vice president Mohammad Mokhber to assume interim duties after the death of president Ebrahim Raisi in a helicopter crash a day earlier.

“In accordance with Article 131 of the constitution, Mokhber is in charge of leading the executive branch,” said Khamenei in a statement, adding that Mokhber will be required to work with the heads of legislative and judicial branches to prepare for presidential elections “within a maximum period of 50 days”.

Recall that President Raisi was confirmed dead on Monday after his helicopter crashed in a mountainous region of the country.

Raisi was travelling with Foreign Minister Hossein Amir-Abdollahian who also died in the accident.

Rescue teams had been scouring the area since Sunday afternoon after a helicopter carrying Raisi, the foreign minister and other officials had gone missing.

Early Monday, relief workers located the missing helicopter, with state TV saying the president had died.

“The servant of Iranian nation, Ayatollah Ebrahim Raisi has achieved the highest level of martyrdom whilst serving the people,” state television said Monday, with Mehr news agency also saying he was dead.

State television broadcast photos of Raisi, with the voice of a man reciting the Koran playing in the background.

Iran’s vice president for executive affairs Mohsen Mansouri posted on X a Koranic verse used to express condolences.

Meanwhile, Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has announced a five days of mourning for President Raisi.

“I announce five days of public mourning and offer my condolences to the dear people of Iran,” said Khamenei in an official statement a day after the death of Raisi and other officials in the crash in East Azerbaijan province.

Headline

UK Threatens To Deport Physically-challenged Nigerian After 38 Years

Published

8 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The United Kingdom has threatened to deport a physically-challenged Nigerian man, Anthony Olubunmi George, over an alleged forged entry stamp in his passport.

George who has lived in the UK for 38 years, after he left Nigeria at the age of 24 in 1986, according to the Guardian UK.

The 61-year-old Nigerian has no criminal convictions and made several applications for leave to remain in the UK, which the Home Office has rejected, most recently on 7 May.

George’s case became the second African facing a huge disappointment with the UK Home Office after spending several years in Britain.

Vanguard reported last week that a 74-year-old Ghanaian Nelson Shardey, who has resided in the UK since 1977, was refused indefinite leave to remain despite being in the country for most of his adult life.

As the case of the Nigerian, he has never left the UK and has no criminal convictions, with the reports of having two strokes, which left him with problems with speech and mobility in 2019.

When George arrived, Margaret Thatcher was prime minister and Rishi Sunak is the ninth to hold office since George has lived in the UK.

He has endured many periods of homelessness and disclosed he has lost count of the number of friends who have given him shelter over the years, adding that he no longer has any close family in Nigeria.

The Guardian UK said in 2005, his previous solicitors submitted a forged entry stamp in his passport and have subsequently been reported to the police and the legal regulatory bodies.

George told the Guardian he knew nothing about the passport stamp until many years later. His current lawyer, Naga Kandiah of MTC Solicitors, cited his poor previous legal representation as the reason for George’s problems.

In his most recent refusal, Home Office officials said: “Unfortunately this is not something that is considered an exceptional circumstance.”

Kandiah has lodged an appeal against the latest refusal.

A previous Home Office rejection of his case states: “It’s open to your family and friends to visit you in Nigeria.”

George said, “I don’t know how many different sofas I’ve slept on – too many to count. I don’t have my life, living the way I’m living now. My health problems since I had my stroke are my biggest worry. All I’m asking for is some kindness from the Home Office.”

Headline

JUST IN: ICC Prosecutor Seeks Arrest Warrants For Netanyahu, Hamas Leaders

Published

9 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

The chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Hamas’s leader in Gaza for war crimes.

According to BBC, Karim Khan said there were reasonable grounds to believe that both men bore criminal responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity from at least 7 October 2023.

The ICC, based in The Hague, has been investigating Israel’s actions in the occupied territories for the past three years – and more recently the actions of Hamas as well.

Mr Netanyahu recently called the prospect of senior Israel figures joining the ICC’s wanted list “an outrage of historic proportions”.

Last week, 13 Western countries including the United Kingdom, Germany, Japan, Italy, Japan and others cautioned Israel over its resolve to launch a full-scale operation in Rafah.