Headline

IPOB: Soludo Under Attack As Plan To Release Nnamdi Kanu Backfires

Published

3 years ago

January 22, 2023

A week after calling for the release of the embattled leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, Governor Charles Soludo of Anambra State has come under attack by prominent Igbo leaders and groups.

Soludo had while speaking at the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, campaign rally in Awka, a week ago, admitted that Kanu was central to the resolution of the insecurity devastating the South East and urged the FG to release the separatist leader unconditionally.

He had assured that if Kanu could not be released unconditionally, he would stand surety for him.

Kanu has been in detention since his repatriation from Kenya in June 2021. The FG has refused to release him despite multiple court orders.

Recall that the Appeal Court sitting in Abuja had on October 13, discharged Kanu of all counts of terrorism charges preferred against him by the government.

This is after the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Arbitrary Detention, had in July, directed the FG to immediately and unconditionally release the IPOB leader from the unlawful detention and pay him adequate compensation for the flagrant violation of his human rights.

The international body also indicted the Kenyan and Nigerian for the unlawful abduction, torture, rendition, and continued detention of Kanu.

Soludo is a coward —Ohanaeze Youth

The Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, the apex socio-cultural youth organization of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide, yesterday, described Soludo’s call for the release of Nnamdi Kanu as an insult to Ndigbo and a mockery of the self-determination struggle by the IPOB.

The OYC, through its National President, Comrade Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, said Soludo’s call was a mere political statement to excite people, noting that his words could not be taken seriously.

According to him, the governor’s outburst was a mere show-up which lacked executive honour.

He said: “It’s not in the blood of an Igbo man to be a coward. If Soludo is not a coward, he could have respected his office and paid a special visit to President Mohammadu Buhari and demanded the release of Kanu like Chief Mbazulike Amaechi did.

“Soludo has demonstrated cowardice. Soludo could bring out his time and write a volume of pages about how Peter Obi will not make it for the Presidency, but he couldn’t make out the same time to write to Mr President why they should obey the court order and release Nnamdi Kanu.

“I am still waiting when the Anambra governor should show bravery like a man, put down in writing why Nnamdi Kanu should be released and summon the courage to visit President Buhari and secure the release of Kanu”.

‘Laundering battered image’

Similarly, Igbo youths under the aegis of Coalition of South East Youths Leaders, COSEYL, picked holes in Soludo’s volunteering to surety the detained IPOB leader saying the offer was not borne out of pure motive.

President General of COSEYL, Comrade Goodluck Ibe, told Sunday Vanguard that the former Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, boss only wanted to use Kanu to possibly launder his battered image following his recent unwarranted media attacks on the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi.

He argued that instead of volunteering to stand surety for Kanu, Soludo should rather be mounting pressure on the government to comply with the court judgements which ordered the unconditional release of the IPOB leader.

“The demand is not borne out of a genuine desire to defend Igbo interest but to enhance his political interest. Soludo just wants to use Nnamdi Kanu for political advantage and to launder his image”, he asserted.

Soludo not sincere —INC

Igbo National Council, INC, through its National President, Chilos Godsent, on its part, stated that Soludo was not sincere in his demand for the IPOB leader’s release.

According to INC, Soludo’s action was an attempt to repair his alleged battered image in Anambra State.

He stressed that Kanu had since been discharged and acquitted by a competent court and there was no need for anybody to beg for his release.

The pro-Igbo group said: “The INC views the demand as a political strategy for Soludo to regain his bartered political image and reputation.

“Nigerians will recall that Soludo has lost popularity and acceptance in his state and South East since his open opposition against the candidature of Peter Obi of the Labour Party, LP.

“Soludo is not sincere. His call is part of his media populist strategy to deceive the Igbo Nation and Nigerians at large.”

Call unnecessary — Okeke, ex-PSC boss

For Chief Simon Okeke, a former Chairman of the Police Service Commission, PSC, the call by the Anambra governor was unnecessary since he has been discharged and acquitted by the court.

He, however, agreed with Soludo that Kanu’s release would ensure peaceful elections in the South-East as IPOB is not against the election in the region.

“Soludo’s readiness to sign surety for the release of Kanu is unnecessary since he has been discharged and acquitted by the court. The continued detention of Kanu is a breach of fundamental human rights because he has been discharged and acquitted of all charges.

“So Nnamdi Kanu should be released without further delay, that is my view and it should be the view of every responsible and peace-loving Nigerian, I believe strongly that his release will ensue peaceful election in South East as IPoB is not against elections in the region”, he stated.

FG’s silence worrisome — Okoro

Meanwhile, Professor Okee Okoro of the Department of Library and Information Science, Imo State University, Owerri, expressed dismay over the silence of the FG on Soludo’s request.

He said: “As a premier governor statesman, it is unbelievable that the government remained askance and adamant to Soludo’s presentation. We urge the FG to respect the judgements of courts of competent jurisdictions; pleas of well-meaning persons across the globe; appeals by ebullient individuals and stakeholders as a way of restoring peace in the South-East and Nigeria”.

Welcome development — Ezeife

But for a former governor of Anambra State, Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife, Soludo’s demand was a welcome development and a call that should be fully supported by other Igbo leaders.

According to Ezeife, the cases against Kanu “have been quashed. We, therefore, beg President Buhari to release the IPOB leader, especially and because of the 2023 election, and for it to go well in South East and for people not to be afraid of coming out to vote.”
VANGUARD

Headline

White House Threatens Mass Firings Amid Stalled Shutdown Talks

Published

24 hours ago

October 2, 2025

Editor

Efforts to swiftly end the US government shutdown collapsed Wednesday as Democrats in Congress went home without resolving a funding stand-off with President Donald Trump and the White House threatened public sector jobs.

Federal funding expired at midnight after Trump and lawmakers failed to agree on a deal to keep the lights on, prompting agencies to wind down services, while the White House warned of “imminent” firings of public sector workers.

Senate Democrats — who are demanding extended health care subsidies for low-income families — refused to help the majority Republicans approve a House-passed bill that would have reopened the government for several weeks while negotiations continue.

Voting in the Senate is now adjourned until Friday, frustrating hopes for a quick resolution.

Around 750,000 federal employees are expected to be placed on furlough — a kind of enforced leave, with pay withheld until they return to work.

Essential workers, such as the military and border agents, may be forced to work without pay and some will likely miss their checks beginning next week. The National Air Traffic Controllers Association voiced fears for air safety as more than 2,300 members were sent home.

The crisis has higher stakes than previous shutdowns, with Trump racing to enact hard-right policies that include slashing government departments and threatening to turn many of the furloughs into mass firings.

Spokeswoman Karoline Leavitt told reporters the administration was “working with agencies across the board to identify where cuts can be made… and we believe that layoffs are imminent.”

The Department of Energy announced plans to terminate clean energy projects, all in blue states, according to White House official Russell Vought, who said the slashed funding had been used to advance “the Left’s climate agenda”.

The Department of Transportation also froze nearly $18 billion in federal funding for major infrastructure projects in New York, which Governor Kathy Hochul called “political payback”.

– ‘Ridiculous’ –

Shutdowns are a periodic feature of gridlocked Washington, although this is the first since a record 35-day pause during Trump’s first term in 2019.

They are unpopular because services used by ordinary voters, from national parks to permit applications, become unavailable.

“I think our government needs to learn how to work together for the people and find a way to make things not happen like this,” said Terese Johnston, a 61-year-old retired tour guide visiting Washington from California as the government shut down.

“You compromise. You find ways. So everybody gives a little bit, everybody takes a little bit, and things work.”

Democrats — spurred by grassroots anger over the expiring health care subsidies and Trump’s dismantling of government agencies — have been withholding Senate votes to fund the government as leverage to try and force negotiations.

As the messaging war over the shutdown intensified, Vice President JD Vance took center stage at a White House briefing normally headed by Leavitt to upbraid Democrats over their demands.

“They said to us, ‘we will open the government, but only if you give billions of dollars of funding for health care for illegal aliens.’ That’s a ridiculous proposition,” Vance said in a rare appearance in the briefing room.

US law demands that anyone who presents at a publicly funded emergency room is treated, regardless of their ability to pay. But it bars undocumented immigrants from receiving the health care benefits Democrats are demanding, and the party has not called for a new act of Congress to change that.

– No compromise –

Republicans in the House of Representatives have already passed a stop-gap funding fix to keep federal functions running through late November while a longer-term plan is thrashed out.

But the 100-member Senate does not have the 60 votes required to send it to Trump’s desk, and Democrats say they won’t help unless Republicans compromise on their planned spending cuts — especially in health care.

Senate Republican leaders, who have just one rebel in their own ranks, need eight Democrats to join the majority and rubber-stamp the House-passed bill.

They got three moderates to cross the aisle in an initial vote Tuesday and were hoping to peel off five more as the shutdown chaos starts to bite. But Wednesday’s result went the same way.

Congress is not voting Thursday out of respect for the Jewish Yom Kippur holiday but the Senate returns to work on Friday and may be in session through the weekend.

The House is not due back until next week.

AFP

Headline

NIS Begins Crackdown On Foreigners With Expired Visas

Published

1 day ago

October 2, 2025

Editor

The Nigeria Immigration Service has commenced a nationwide crackdown on foreign nationals who have overstayed their visas or breached entry conditions, following the expiration of a three-month amnesty granted by the Federal Government.

The amnesty, which opened on July 5 and lapsed at midnight on September 30, allowed foreigners with irregular immigration status to regularise their stay without penalties.

“With the expiration of the amnesty period, effective October 1, 2025, enforcement actions will commence nationwide against foreign nationals who have overstayed their visa or violated their entry conditions,” NIS spokesperson, Akinsola Akinlabi, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The exercise targets holders of expired Visa on Arrival, expired single and multiple-entry short visit or business visas, and individuals with expired Comprehensive Expatriate Residence Permits and Automated Cards.

Foreigners caught in violation face removal, daily fines, or entry bans. Overstayers of less than three months risk deportation, a $15 daily fine, or a two-year entry ban. Those who overstay between three months and one year face removal, daily fines, or a five-year entry ban, while individuals exceeding one year risk deportation and up to a 10-year or permanent entry ban.

The Service said the measures are aimed at safeguarding national security and ensuring strict compliance with immigration laws.

Interior Minister, Olubunmi, had earlier warned members of the diplomatic corps to advise their nationals to take advantage of the amnesty window, stressing that Nigeria’s immigration laws “are not meant to be abused but respected.”

The crackdown is part of wider reforms introduced in April, including a $15 daily surcharge for visa overstays, with a temporary moratorium to encourage compliance.

Headline

Earthquake Kills 72 In Philippines

Published

1 day ago

October 2, 2025

Editor

The death toll from a powerful earthquake in the central Philippines rose to 72 on Thursday, officials said, as the search for the missing wound down and rescuers turned their focus to the hundreds injured and thousands left homeless.

The bodies of the three victims were pulled from the rubble of a collapsed hotel overnight Wednesday in the city of Bogo, near the epicentre of the 6.9-magnitude quake that struck on Tuesday.

“We have zero missing, so the assumption is all are accounted for,” National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council spokesman Junie Castillo said, adding that some rescue units in Cebu province have been told to “demobilise”.

The government said 294 people were injured and around 20,000 had fled their homes. Nearly 600 houses were wrecked across the north of Cebu, and many are sleeping on the streets as hundreds of aftershocks shake the area.

“One of the challenges is the aftershocks. It means residents are reluctant to return to their homes, even those houses that were not (structurally) compromised,” Castillo said.

Cebu provincial governor Pamela Baricuatro appealed for help on Thursday, saying thousands needed safe drinking water, food, clothes, and temporary housing, as well as volunteers to sort and distribute aid.

President Ferdinand Marcos flew to Cebu with senior aides on Thursday to inspect the damage.

He also visited a partially damaged housing project in Bogo, built for survivors of the 2013 Super Typhoon Haiyan, one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the Philippines.

Eight bodies were “recovered from collapsed houses” in the project following the quake, a local government statement said.

A tiny village chapel in Bogo was serving as a temporary shelter for 18-year-old Diane Madrigal and 14 of her neighbours after their houses were destroyed. Their clothes and food were scattered across the chapel’s pews.

“The entire wall (of my house) fell, so I really don’t know how and when we can go back again,” Madrigal told AFP.

“I am still scared of the aftershocks up to now; it feels like we have to run again,” she added.

Mother-of-four Lucille Ipil, 43, added her water container to a 10-metre (30-foot) line of them along a roadside in Bogo, where residents desperately waited for a truck to bring them water.

“The earthquake really ruined our lives. Water is important for everyone. We cannot eat, drink, or bathe properly,” she told AFP.

“We really want to go back to our old life before the quake, but we don’t know when that will happen… Rebuilding takes a long time.”

Many areas remain without electricity, and dozens of patients were sheltering in tents outside the damaged Cebu provincial hospital in Bogo.

“I’d rather stay here under this tent. At least I can be treated,” 22-year-old Kyle Malait told AFP as she waited for her dislocated arm to be treated.

More than 110,000 people in 42 communities affected by the quake will need assistance to rebuild their homes and restore their livelihoods, according to the regional civil defence office.

Earthquakes are a near-daily occurrence in the Philippines, which is situated on the Pacific “Ring of Fire”, an arc of intense seismic activity stretching from Japan through Southeast Asia and across the Pacific basin.

Most are too weak to be felt by humans but strong and destructive quakes come at random, with no technology available to predict when and where they might strike.

AFP