Man Declared Innocent After Spending 48 Years In Prison

Published

2 years ago

December 21, 2023

A 71-year-old man has been declared innocent in the US state of Oklahoma after spending nearly 50 years in prison for a murder he did not commit.

Glynn Simmons, who is Black, served more time behind bars before being exonerated than any other inmate in US history, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

Simmons was released in July after serving a total of 48 years, one month and 18 days in prison.

Simmons and another man, Don Roberts, were sentenced to death in 1975 for the murder the previous year of a 30-year-old liquor store clerk during a robbery in Edmond, Oklahoma.

Their sentences were later commuted to life in prison.

Simmons and Roberts were convicted solely on the basis of the testimony of a teenage customer who was shot in the head during the robbery but survived.

She picked them out of a police lineup but a subsequent investigation cast significant doubt on the reliability of her identifications.

Both men had also claimed at trial that they were not even in Oklahoma at the time of the murder.

US District Court Judge Amy Palumbo threw out Simmons’ conviction in July and declared him innocent at a hearing in Oklahoma County District Court on Tuesday.

“This is a day we’ve been waiting on for a long, long time,” Simmons told reporters. “We can say justice was done today, finally.”

Roberts, Simmons co-defendant, was released from prison in 2008, according to The National Registry of Exonerations.

Simmons may now be eligible for compensation.

“What’s been done can’t be undone but there could be accountability,” he said. “That’s what I’m about right now. Accountability.”

Ghana Jails Three Nigerians For 96 Years Over Car Theft

Published

4 minutes ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

A court in Ghana has sentenced three Nigerians to a combined 96 years in prison for stealing cars in Kumasi, Ashanti Region.

The convicts – Francis Friday, Linus Agwazie, and Russell Ekenze – were arrested on June 20 after being accused of stealing parked vehicles.

According to the Ashanti Regional Police spokesperson, Godwin Ahianyo, the suspects were taken to court on July 22 at Atasemanso, where they were found guilty of car theft.

Tinubu, French President Macron Hold Private Meeting

Published

22 minutes ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday met with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron.

Tinubu met Macron for a working private lunch at the Élysée Palace, Paris.

This was disclosed by Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, via X.

According to Onanuga: “President Bola Tinubu, with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron, during a working private lunch at the Elysee Palace, Paris. Wednesday, September 10, 2025.”

At the time of filing this report, the agenda of the meeting had yet to be made public.

On September 4, Tinubu commenced his annual working leave.

He departed Abuja to commence his 2025 annual leave, which is expected to last for 10 working days.

During his leave, the president is expected to visit France and the United Kingdom before returning to Nigeria.

UN Report Places Nigeria 4th Globally In Attacks On School Children

Published

1 hour ago

September 10, 2025

Editor

Nigeria has been ranked fourth among countries with the highest levels of “grave violations” against school children in armed conflict, according to a United Nations report.

The UN Secretary-General’s 2024 report on children and armed conflict, released in 2025, revealed that it verified 41,370 attacks — the highest number of grave violations against children in nearly three decades.

The violations, which include abduction, recruitment, and sexual violence, placed Nigeria behind Israel (and the occupied Palestinian territory), the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), and Somalia.

According to the report, Israel recorded 8,554 cases of grave violations in 2024, followed by 4,043 in DRC, 2,568 in Somalia, 2,436 in Nigeria, and 2,269 in Haiti.

While non-state armed groups were linked to half of the attacks, the report noted that government forces were the main perpetrators of killings, maiming, attacks on schools and hospitals, as well as the denial of humanitarian access.

It further disclosed that attacks on schools surged globally by 44 per cent between 2022 and 2023, while the use of schools for military purposes rose by 20 per cent. Over 10,000 students and teachers were either killed, abducted, arrested, or injured during this period.

“These violations threaten not only individual lives but the future of entire communities,” the report said.

Virginia Gamba, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Children and Armed Conflict, warned that children caught in conflicts are being “robbed of their childhood” as governments and armed groups persist in violating international laws.

The report also revealed that more than 3,000 children were detained for alleged involvement with armed groups, an increase from the previous year. Gamba urged governments to treat these children primarily as victims and explore alternatives to detention.

It recommended the full implementation of the Safe Schools Declaration, calling on countries to strengthen resilient education systems.

The report’s release comes ahead of a high-level event in Geneva to mark the International Day to Protect Education from Attack.

Nigeria, which endorsed the Safe Schools Declaration in 2018, developed a policy on violence-free schools in 2021 and established the National Safe Schools Response Coordination Centre to oversee funding and coordination of security measures.

However, implementation has faced challenges, with the initiative’s enrollment rate reported at 11,000 by mid-2025.