Metro

Katsina Massacre: You Made Mockery Of Your People, Group Slams Buhari Over Rally

Published

1 year ago

February 7, 2023

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Tuesday, lambasted President Muhammadu Buhari over his persistent failure to secure the lives and property of citizens nearly eight years of his administration.

HURIWA, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, said the presidential campaign of the All Progressives Congress in Katsina on Monday despite the killing of over 100 vigilantes in Gidan Gamji village, Danmaidaki ward of Kankara Local Government Area of the state is the height of insensitivity by the ruling party.

The group said if the APC is sympathetic to the plight of the people, the party should have suspended its campaign in Katsina with the unprecedented killing of over 100 vigilantes by bandits in the North-West geopolitical zone, saying campaigning while people are mourning is a mockery of the sensibility of the indigenes.

The group also scolded the President over the redesign of three naira notes and the new deadline of February 10, saying the scarcity of naira notes has led to the death of at least one customer who slumped and died after hours of waiting in Agbor, Delta State.

The group said millions of Nigerians have been stranded in the last few weeks, with Point of Sale operators charging as high as N2,000 when people come to withdraw just N10,000. This is scandalous and exorbitant and totally avoidable if the CBN and its governor, Godwin Emefiele had done the needful to release the needed new notes to the populace.

President Muhammadu Buhari has just scored another infamous own goal and has earned a treacherous medal as the Head of State under whose watch Nigerians were killed or died whilst struggling to pull out their savings in the Nigerian deposit banks following the ill-advised, ill-timed decision by the Governor of the Nigerian Central Bank Mr.Godwin Emefiele to redesign the Naira notes and phase out three of the most important and popular Naira notes of N1,000 Bill, N500 Bill and N200 Bill.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said the January 31 deadline for the invalidation of old N200, N500 and N1,000 notes is not workable and feasible under any condition, pointing out that even in the developed parts of the world like the United Kingdom which changed the image on four polymer banknotes (£5, £10, £20 and £50) upon the demise of Queen Elizabeth II last year and replaced her with that of the new monarch, King Charles III.

The group also sought a one-year extension deadline by the CBN for all Nigerians, especially those in remote and unbanked areas to exchange their old notes for new ones, citing the example of the United Kingdom which unveiled its new notes on December 20, 2022, but gave the deadline of 2024 for banks to still swap old pound sterling for the new ones.

He said, “We have read the condemnation of the President on the Katsina attack by bandits where over 100 vigilantes were killed in cold blood. Yet again, the incapacitated President who can’t protect Nigerians is busy wailing. He would go ahead to attend a presidential rally in the state just while the people are mourning. If that is not a mockery, then it is what?

“It remains a wonder why the National Assembly is so dysfunctional that it is heavily bribed by the executive arm to overlook the failures of President Muhammad Buhari to protect lives and property and then stop him from using soldiers and police to kill protesters.

“We call on the international community to take diplomatic steps to sanction President Buhari over these actions.”

Metro

[JUST IN] PICTURES: Hoodlums Clash In Lagos, Set Market On Fire

Published

2 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

Many people were injured after hoodlums clashed in the Ile-Epo area of Lagos State.

Punch Metro gathered that a fight started in the market situated in the area on Wednesday night and continued till Thursday morning.

Some shops were set on fire while some goods were destroyed in the process.

The PUNCH correspondent who visited the scene of the incident gathered that an early intervention by the police was restricted by the hoodlums.

A fire service truck that drove into the market this morning was also forced to reverse after being pelted with stones.

Metro

Protest Rocks Edo Community Over Plans To Withdraw Security

Published

7 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

Indigenes of over 22 communities in Inikorogha, Ovia South West Local Government Area of Edo State, on Wednesday, staged a peaceful protest over plans to withdraw the security agencies maintaining peace in the area.

The protesters who came out in large numbers carried different placards with various inscriptions such as, “Come to our aid, Mr Governor”; We need peace to do our business in Inikorogha”; and “Armed robbers come here to rape & rob our wives and women” among others.

Addressing journalists on Wednesday, the Chairman of Inikorogha community, Friday Benson, appealed to Governor Godwin Obaseki to see to the extension and increase of security personnel in the community instead of withdrawing them.

He said, “What we are saying in essence is that nobody should truncate the effort of the governor with plans to remove security operatives from our communities. We know some highly placed individuals are behind this move but it won’t work. Security has greatly improved in the last one and a half years.

“In the past, we suffered serious attacks by criminal elements but now, we have a strong presence of security personnel with the deployment of special forces at Mile 3. Their presence has halted the activities of unscrupulous elements in the area.”

The Chairman of the Elders Council, Philip Polo, called for more deployment of security operatives while commending the governor for the road construction in Inikorogha.

He added, “We want to first of all thank Governor Obaseki; he has performed well in terms of infrastructure but sadly that has given birth to some unscrupulous criminals that have made Inikorogha uninhabitable.

“But when the security personnel came, everybody was relieved. The situation now is that these same people are trying to pull the strings from behind. We have information that they are trying to ensure that the special forces are withdrawn,” he added.

Metro

19-year-old Convicted For Dating, Impregnating 14-year-old Sister

Published

15 hours ago

May 2, 2024

Editor

A 19-year-old man arraigned before Mutawatawa magistrate on charges of having sexual intercourse with his 14-year-old sister in Uzumba, Zimbabwe, has been convicted.

It was gathered that in January 2023, the 19-year-old man decided to take things a notch up bizarrely as he chatted with his sister. He asked his sister to be his girlfriend. Strangely, the 14-year-old admitted to feeling the same way for her brother.

The two decided to hit it off and start dating. They decided to keep their relationship under wraps, knowing how much trouble it would attract if ever known.

During their relationship, the 19-year-old man convinced his sister to have sex with him. She agreed, and the two did the act on different occasions, both at home and in the garden. However, the girl later got pregnant and this was noticed by their grandmother.

Upon being questioned, she revealed her brother was responsible. The grandmother reported the case to the police, leading to the 19-year-old man’s arrest for incest. He appeared in a Mutawatawa Court, where the Magistrate sentenced him to 14 months in jail. Two months were struck off, and he will serve an effective 12 months.