News

Invasion: DSS, Others To Pay Kanu’s Lawyer N107m

Published

2 years ago

July 22, 2022

Justice Hyeladzira Nganjiwa of a Federal High Court in Anambra on Friday awarded N102 million compensatory damages in favour of Ifeanyi Ejiofor the lawyer to the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, for gross violation of his fundamental rights and cost of litigation.

The court also awarded him N5 million being the cost of his Toyota Camry car which was burnt by security agencies.

The IPOB lawyer had in a fundamental rights enforcement suit with No: FHC/AWK/CS/56/2021, dragged the government to court to challenge the invasion of his ancestral home in Oraifite, in the state on June 6, 2021, by security personnel during which his aide was killed.

The Nigeria Police Force; the Inspector General of Police; the State Security Service; the Director-General, State Security Service; the Nigerian Security And Civil Defence Corps; the Nigerian Army; the Chief of Army Staff and Chukwuka Ofoegbu (a.k.a. Ijele Speaks) were joined as first – eighth defendants in the suit.

Delivering judgment, Justice Nganjiwa declared the brutal invasion by the agents of the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th respondents as oppressive, and gross violation of the rights to life, dignity of human person, fair hearing, right to private and family life of the plaintiff.

He also declared as illegal, oppressive and unlawful, the taking away and subsequent burning of Ejiofor’s Toyota Car with registration number: YAB 60 CB together with the dead body of his domestic staff, Samuel Okoro, and other vital documents and valuables seized from his house by government agents.

The court further made an order restraining the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th respondents either by themselves, their agents, privies, and howsoever called, from further harassing him, threatening, and/or taking further steps in an attempt to terminate his life and/or destroying the properties of the plaintiff.

The Judge also restrained the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th respondents either directly or through their agents, privies and howsoever called, from further harassing, intimidating, and/or threatening to illegally arrest and torturing him.

While directing the 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 6th, 7th and 8th respondents, to issue public apology to him in two national newspapers, for the gross violation of his fundamental rights, Justice Nganjiwa directed the Inspector-General of Police, Chief of Army Staff and the Director-General of State Services to immediately identify their personnel involved in this gruesome act and appropriately sanction them in line with the extant laws.

Reacting to the verdict, Ejiofor wondered what was his offence to deserve such level of brutality.

He said, “All the petitions I wrote to the heads of security agencies including the DSS, the police, and the Army for a thorough investigation of this dastardly act were never attended to. Rather, all the security agents involved in these crimes against humanity have maintained sordid and disturbing silence till date.

“Today (Friday), justice has prevailed and there is no hiding place again for any of those perpetrators because this judgment must be executed to the letter.

“Interestingly, I can now authoritatively confirm to the whole world that the three of my domestic staff abducted during this bloody invasion of my ancestral home as earlier named, are being detained in solitary confinement at the facility of the DSS National Headquarters, Abuja.

“Even though the DSS have repeatedly denied both in their court affidavits and every one of their correspondences, of holding my domestic staff, compelling evidence available at our disposal is irresistibly pointing to the fact that they are being held in the DSS facility, which evidence was equally submitted before the court.

“May I respectfully, and strongly relying on the strength of this judgment, call on the Director-General of DSS, Abuja, to immediately direct for the unconditional release of my above named domestic staff being held in their custody, and accordingly, comply with all terms of this judgment.

“Further to this demand, may I remind the DG of the DSS, who is also a party to this suit, and well represented throughout the proceedings, giving rise to this judgment, to, in compliance with the positive orders of the court, direct for the immediate arrest and prosecution of the DSS personnel involved in this bloody invasion of my ancestral home.

“I had before now, forwarded to the DSS, a clear clip of the CCTV footage of this bloody invasion of my ancestral home, which showed the clear view of the invaders, as it would enable the DSS to identify their personnel involved, for necessary action.

“Judgement will soon be delivered on other sister separate suit, which I filed to challenge the extrajudicial killing of my Personal Assistant, Samuel Okoro, as well as other grave infractions.”

One year after the invasion of his house by security personnel, Ejiofor had demanded the release of his three staff members who were still being kept in detention.

While describing June 6, 2021, as “Black Sunday,” he said the attackers on his house in Oraifite were “aided by two native doctors whose bodies were dotted with charms.”

According to him, “the murderers in security uniforms” scaled through his fence and laid siege to his ancestral home from about 2:30am until past 3:30 am, during which time they fired sporadically in different directions and viciously expended live ammunition on his domestic staff.

He had said during the invasion, his chief driver, Felix Okonkwo, and two of his domestic staff namely, Lawrence Ugochukwu and Ikenna Chibuike, were also bundled away and are still in the custody of security personnel..

PUNCH

News

Uganda President, Museveni Blasts Western Countries, Says ‘You Fund Seminars But Won’t Aid Manufacturing In Africa

Published

2 mins ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni delivers a speech at the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) summit for African Heads of State, held earlier this week in Nairobi, Kenya

President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda took a bold swipe at world leaders during his speech at the World Bank’s International Development Association summit for African Heads of state, held in Nairobi, Kenya, on Tuesday.

In his remarks, Museveni opined that most of Africa’s problems predicted over 60 years ago were a result of philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic mistakes.

He alleged that a fundamental African problem is that aid from the World Bank and other Western bodies was majorly for profiteering.

“The crisis which is in Africa today is because of philosophical, ideological, and strategic economic mistakes which we have been talking about since the 1960s. It is not an accident when you see the crisis in many African countries, the collapse of States. We predicted this in the 1960s – philosophical, ideological, and strategic mistakes. I don’t have time to amplify each one but I was very happy to hear the president of the World Bank talking about prosperity instead of profiteering.

“Aid has been for profiteering, this has been the problem. Now, the World Bank people and other groups have been talking about sustainable development. Even in your documents, I have seen those words there, sustainable development”, Museveni stated.

He argued that what Africa needed to thrive as a continent was not sustainable development as always suggested by the World Bank, and other key players in economic development, but social and economic transformation.

He urged the World Bank and world leaders to quit pushing sustainable development as a key factor in achieving a more developed African continent.

“I would ask you to change those words in your documents. Africa does not need what you could call sustainable development. Africa needs social and economic transformation. The main reason why there’s no growth is because the growth factors are not funded, they are not even understood. What are the growth factors, we now talk of private sector growth. Yes, but for the private sector to grow what does it need? It needs a low cost of production”, he said.

In his opinion, the main reason Africa remains underdeveloped is because the growth factors are not funded and they are not understood by the Western world.

He added that for Africa to be more developed and independent, the private sector needs funding. According to him, adequate funding for the transportation, power and agricultural sectors will boost low production costs.

“Ministers of finance, what are the low costs of production? Number one is transport. You must have low transport costs. Where do low transport costs come from? The railway? If you don’t fund the railway how will you get low transport costs?

“Wonderful people, IMF, where will low-cost operations come from if you don’t have a railway? If you don’t fund the railway, how would you get low transport costs? I have been here for the last 64 years, I have been watching as a student leader, as a freedom fighter and now as the leader of a country. How many railways have been constructed or funded in Africa? The few that have been was by China, the Tanzanian railway to Zambia, and recently, another one here in Kenya. Tanzania on their own is building a railway line. So if you’re talking of developing Africa, fund the railway. If you fund the railway, you will have a low cost of transport and you can produce cheap products which can be bought all over the world.

“The second cost pusher is electricity. If you don’t fund electricity and you talk about sustainable development, what are you then talking about? We must have low-cost electricity not exceeding 5 cents per kilowatts, per hour. That is what I insist on in Uganda. I am tired of all these stories, I have put my foot down saying I don’t want to hear those stories. Uganda is a developing country and it will continue to develop because I don’t entertain nonsense anymore.”

Speaking further, Museveni who has ruled Uganda for over 40 years accused the World Bank and Western leaders of refusing to lend him money for capital projects such as the establishment of the Uganda Development Bank.

He lamented the rate at which loans are promptly approved and grated for frivolities but not for serious projects that would yield economic gains.

He said, “Borrowing, for what? Capacity building! Imagine! They call you to a hotel where you eat Chapati and mandazi, and they say that is capacity building. Capacity building should be on the ground and not just in seminars. So, the second point your Excellencies is electricity. The third one; is for those people who talk about private sector growth, I have been trying to borrow money for our Uganda Development Bank, a bank which funds manufacturers, but no, I don’t get support for that.

“They say they want my people to go to commercial banks. Those commercial banks are to encourage import because the only person who can borrow money from a commercial bank and pay it back is a trader who goes to China, Dubai buys goods, sells them quickly and pays the loan back. So, if you are serious, I need it here, about the low-cost funding for manufacturing, not stories.”

“How about funding for irrigation? Because if you want to stabilise agriculture, a country like Uganda is very rich, we have got everything. But sometimes, we have some erraticness because of the rains. So, to stabilise irrigation I’ve been trying to look for a loan for irrigation but I can’t easily get it, it is very difficult to get. But a loan for seminars is very quick.”

PUNCH

News

Naira Abuse: EFCC, Cubana Chief Priest To Settle Out Of Court

Published

16 mins ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and celebrity barman, Pascal Okechukwu, popularly known as Cubana Chief Priest, have reached an agreement to resolve the naira abuse charge outside of court.

The out-of-court settlement was disclosed when the proceedings resumed on Thursday.

Cubana Chief Priest appeared before Justice Kehinde Ogundare, facing three counts related to abusing the national currency at a social gathering.

These actions violate the Central Bank Act of 2007.

He allegedly sprayed and tampered with the naira notes during a social event at the Eko Hotel in Lagos.

He pleaded not guilty to the charges preferred against him and was granted bail in the sum of N10m.

Justice Ogundare gave Okechukwu seven days to perfect the bail conditions, saying if he failed to perfect the bail conditions within seven days, he would be remanded at the Nigeria Correctional Service.

The judge then adjourned the case until May 2, 2024, for a hearing of the preliminary objection and trial.

When the matter was called on Thursday, Cubana Chief Priest’s counsel, Chikaosolu Ojukwu (SAN) informed the court that the parties are exploring settlement and have applied that the matter be settled under the provisions of Section 14(2) of the EFCC Act.

EFCC’s prosecution counsel, Mrs Bilikisu Buhari, confirmed that the parties were discussing a settlement and that the application was still being considered.

EFCC had, during arraignment, told the court that the defendant committed the alleged offence on February 13, 2024, by spraying the Naira at the Eko Hotel while dancing during a social event.

The commission also told the court that Cubana Chief Priest, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying the same for two hours.

According to the anti-graft agency, the offence committed is contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007.

In a related incident, cross-dresser, Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye, popularly known as Bobrisky, was sentenced to six months imprisonment in April without the option of a fine for abusing naira.

News

VIDEO: Lagos Uncovers Another Under-bridge Apartment

Published

48 mins ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Thursday, said the state government uncovered an illegal settlement under the Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi, Lagos State.

Wahab shared this information via a post on X.com on Thursday, along with videos.

Sharing a video, the commissioner wrote, “Another illegal settlement was discovered under the Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi.

“Lagos State Environmental Sanitation Corps #LAGESCOfficial (KAI) commenced immediate clearance operation.”

This comes shortly after reports from PUNCH detailed a similar find under the Dolphin Estate Bridge in Ikoyi, where tenants were reportedly paying annual rents of N250,000.

Wahab specified that the under-bridge apartment comprised 86 partitioned rooms, varying in size from “10×10” to “12×10”.

Watch video below courtesy The PUNCH.

VIDEO: Lagos Uncovers Another Under-bridge Apartment
The Lagos State Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Tokunbo Wahab, on Thursday, said the state government uncovered an illegal settlement under the Osborne Bridge, Ikoyi, Lagos State.
Wahab shared this… pic.twitter.com/2zxaY4Cohy
— Punch Newspapers (@MobilePunch) May 2, 2024