Headline

Military Under Fire For Deploying Soldiers To ‘Protect’ Cows In Ondo

Published

4 years ago

April 6, 2022

Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has cried out over the deployment of soldiers to protect cows belonging to Fulani in Ondo State.

Recalls that soldiers from the 32 Artillery Brigade, Ondo State and operatives of the State Security Network dubbed as Amotekun Corps, on Tuesday evening, clashed over the seizure of over 100 cows by the latter in Akure, the state capital.

The human rights advocacy group lamented that these soldiers should ordinarily be sent to confront terrorists who are on rampage in Kaduna State.

HURIWA made the observation in a statement on Wednesday by its National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko.

The group said that it was a blatant misplacement of priority the military deployment of soldiers in the entire Southern region of the country to protect Fulani and their animals.

For this reason, HURIWA called on the military authorities to, without further delay, recall a sizable percentage of troops posted to Southern Nigeria.

HURIWA said these soldiers should instead be redeploy to Kaduna to fight terrorists since Governor Nasir el-Rufai and other top leaders, including a spokesman to the President, Femi Adesina, have identified the North West as a war zone

HURIWA wondered why men of the 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Akure, are in Ondo and why they are demanding the release of cows seized from Fulani herders by the Ondo State Security Network Agency also known as Amotekun Corps.

The cows were said to have been seized for violating the state anti-open grazing law.

HURIWA said the deployment of soldiers in relatively peaceful Southern states was a misplacement of priority.

Onwubiko said, “It is an established fact that Kaduna State is a war zone going by the carnage committed by terrorists in the last two weeks, especially and going by the description of el-Rufai; as well as presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina.

“The onslaught by audacious terrorists is unprecedented in the entire North-West and akin to the Boko Haram/ISWAP ferocious attacks in the North-East.

“However, instead of deploying most of its men to the theatre of war to stamp out terrorists overrunning Kaduna State and having a field’s day, the Nigerian Army, sadly, is more concerned about the safety of trespassing cows than the thousands of innocent Nigerians killed by insurgents in Kaduna State month in, month out. This is most unfortunate,” HURIWA said.

HURIWA accused the President Muhammadu Buhari Federal Government of allegedly elevating cows to a sacred position far above the sanctity of life in its seven years.

“HURIWA urges the service chiefs to face reality and put away ethnic sentiments. Kaduna needs all the soldiers that the military can muster now. War, aside weapon sophistry, is also about numerical strength,” the group added.

Headline

Strait Of Hormuz: US Announces Sanctions Against Iran

Published

12 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States Treasury has announced sanctions against Iran’s Persian Gulf Strait Authority.

Treasury Secretary, Scott Bessent, said this in a statement on Wednesday.

The statement extended the threat of sanctions to anyone paying the fees, saying they may be providing support to and receiving services from Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, and therefore may be exposed to sanctions risk.

“The Iranian military’s latest attempt to extort global maritime trade is proof that Economic Fury has left the regime desperate for cash.

“Treasury has deprived the Iranian regime of revenue for their weapons programs, terrorist proxies, and nuclear ambitions,” Bessent said.

Bessent added that the US has succeeded in disrupting tens of billions of dollars’ worth of revenue from being accessible to Tehran.

Headline

US Launches New Airstrikes On Iran

Published

15 minutes ago

May 28, 2026

Editor

The United States has launched new airstrikes in southern Iran.

The strike shot down four one-way attack drones that posed a threat around the Strait of Hormuz and then a ground control site.

A US official revealed that American forces struck an Iranian ground control station in Bandar Abbas that was about to launch a fifth drone.

The official described the strikes as purely defensive, saying the US intended to maintain the ceasefire.

Report says this is the second time in three days that the US has carried out self-defense strikes against Iranian military targets in southern Iran.

Recall that on Monday the US carried out airstrikes against Iranian missile locations and boats that US Central Command said were preparing to launch mines in the Strait of Hormuz.

Headline

Woman Passes Out After Receiving 100 Strokes Of Cane

Published

4 days ago

May 24, 2026

Editor

A woman has passed out after she and her partner were each flogged 100 times in public for engaging in sex outside marriage under strict Sharia laws in Indonesia’s Aceh province.

The woman, whose identity was not disclosed, was later carried away after the punishment was carried out in Banda Aceh, located at the northern tip of Sumatra island on Thursday.

A masked official dressed in brown robes administered the caning before members of the public who gathered to witness the punishment.

Her partner was also seen wincing in pain while receiving the lashes.

The pair were among several individuals punished for violating Sharia regulations in the province.

Authorities from the Banda Aceh Sharia Court and the Prosecutor’s Office handed down punishments ranging from 25 to 100 lashes for offences including extramarital sex allegedly arranged through online applications.

Aceh remains the only province in Muslim-majority Indonesia operating under Sharia law, where unmarried couples are prohibited from having sexual relations.

Caning is commonly used in the province as punishment for offences such as gambling, alcohol consumption, same-sex relations and sex outside marriage.

Under Aceh’s Sharia regulations, child rape offenders face some of the harshest penalties, including up to 200 strokes of the cane, a prison sentence of as long as 200 months or fines equivalent to two kilograms of gold.

The punishments are usually carried out publicly as a way of shaming offenders in addition to inflicting physical pain.

Such canings are often conducted outside mosques or in open public spaces, with residents watching and taking photographs during the exercise.

Human rights organisations have continued to condemn the practice, arguing that it causes emotional trauma and violates international human rights standards.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch have repeatedly criticised the punishments, saying they conflict with Indonesia’s constitution and global legal obligations.

Amnesty said in a statement: “Caning contravenes Indonesia’s constitution and is in clear violation of international human rights law and standards.

‘It constitutes a cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can amount to torture in violation of the UN Convention against Torture and other international covenants, to which Indonesia is a State Party.’”

Despite the criticism, local authorities have defended the punishments as part of Aceh’s religious and cultural identity, insisting they serve as a deterrent against immoral behaviour.

Earlier in January, another couple in the province reportedly received 140 lashes each after being found guilty of drinking alcohol and engaging in sex outside marriage.

(Daily Mail)