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Organ Harvesting: Ex-Nigeria Immigration Boss, Babandede Reacts To Ekweremadu’s Arrest
Published
2 years agoon
By
EditorFormer Comptroller General of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), Muhammad Babandede, has reacted to the arrest of ex-Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu amid controversy of alleged organ harvesting.
Babandede, who appeared on Arise TV on Friday morning, insisted that Ekweremadu’s issue is a case of trafficking and not only a passport issue, adding that it needs to be analyzed.
Ekweremadu and his wife, Beatrice, were arrested at Heathrow Airport, London, and tried in court for allegedly plotting to harvest the kidney of a Nigerian minor.
But, the duo pleaded not guilty to the charges at the Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court.
Magistrate Lois Sheard remanded both defendants in custody ahead of their hearing on July 7th.
However, the Nigerian lawmaker denied the allegations of organ harvesting, while sharing a letter to the UK High Commission in Nigeria requesting a visa for the alleged minor involved.
“I will be very specific to you that this issue is a case of trafficking issue, not only passports. The Metropolitan police are accusing Mr and Mrs Ekweremadu of trafficking a person for organ harvesting. And when we talk about trafficking, there are many issues involved, we are talking about the act itself, the process and the purpose,” Ekweremadu said.
“So you need to analyze this before you even talk about the passport. Trafficking simply means you take a person from one place to another place by force with the intent of exploitation.
“So the issue is that even if that person was a child, let’s assume like it is being circulated because we cannot say it is in the court of law.
READ ALSO: Apostle Johnson Suleman Reacts To Ike Ekweremadu’s Arrest Over Alleged Organ Harvesting
“The truth of the matter is that what you declare to the Immigration is what the Immigration gives if we can prove that the person left Nigeria as a child and a passport was obtained to him as an adult even if he is a child.
“It means his consent was irrelevant even if he has given consent that he wants to donate because I have seen a letter circulated on social media which says that Ekweremadu has given a letter to the British High Commissioner that he wants to take him out in terms of transplant which means consent is there from the adult.
“So in trafficking, even if an adult consent is given, it could still be in the UK as a case of trafficking, but if that person was a child it has been circulated that the child was a 15-year-old somebody forged the passport in Nigeria. It depends on cooperation between Nigeria and the UK.”
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The presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi has explained why the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, servers failed to work during the 2023 presidential election.
He said the ‘establishment of criminality’ made the INEC servers not work during the last last general elections.
Obi stated this, while addressing the issues of the 2023 elections, including the IREV servers, in Canada during the weekend.
READ ALSO: Underbridge Tenants: Lagos Govt Uncovers Identity Of Ring Leader
The Labour Party flagbearer in 2023 said people must intensify engagement with all the stakeholders to make the system work.
The former Anambra State governor explained that Amazon testified there were no glitches recorded globally on the day of the presidential election.
He said: “Where did we go wrong in the last election? We didn’t go wrong anywhere. We did the right things.
“But as I can always tell people: when you bring a change, you fight all those who live off the old order. They don’t go away; they gang up. And don’t think it’s a straight race to remove an establishment.
READ ALSO: PDP Crisis: Why Party Members Are Resigning – Sule Lamido
“It’s a long-distance journey anywhere in the world. Go and check anywhere, whether you are looking at what happened in India, with Mandela in South Africa, or America. No change has happened overnight, it takes time.
“I urge all of you, if you really want change, we have just begun. We just have to continue from where we are.
“Yes, there might be one or two things we will correct, those things we will correct. I assure you we are correcting them without naming them.It’s not going to be easy.”
The Ijaw National Congress (INC) says time has come to internationalise the “Ijaw struggle” beyond rhetoric.
Prof. Benjamin Okaba, President, INC, said this in a communique of the 2024 edition of the Ijaw National Day celebration held in Bayelsa.
Okaba said that the vexatious factors that provoked grievances between the late Maj. Adaka Boro and the federal government in the improper management of the oil political economy of Nigeria, have remained unmitigated.
He noted that the situation had worsened with its attendant impunity.
READ ALSO: Ijaw Not Biafra, Count Us Out Of Your Planned Attack Military, INC Warns IPOB
According to him, the Ijaw environment continues to bear the brunt of petroleum resources exploitation-related pollution without concomitant remediation or reparations of the heavily despoiled ecosystem.
“Instead, Ijaw communities still face the adverse effects of uncontrollable spills, perennial flooding, ocean encroachment and so on,” he said.
The INC president noted that at different forums, it had been made clear that the Ijaw agenda of self-determination was premised on resource and environmental justice.
“What all Ijaw people seek is for a fair, just and justifiable reward for our resources and sacrifices.
“The Ijaw Congress has articulated a set of prescient conditions for its continuous commitment to the Nigerian project and these include restoration of true federalism (fiscal federalism).
READ ALSO: Ijaw Group Tackles OPC, CSO Over Call For Review Of Tompolo’s Surveillance Contract
“Devolution of power and repel of all obnoxious and discriminatory environmental and resource related laws (Land Use, PIA), as well as restoration of Ijaw Territory as non-balkanised, administrative and politically generated unit(s).
“This is for the reassurance and promotion of Ijaw developmental pursuits by creating at least two additional states, more local government areas and wards for the Ijaws.
“Remediation of our massively polluted and endangered environment and the enforcement of adherence to international environmental best practices by IOC’s operating in Ijaw territories,” he said.
Okaba also demanded for the relocation of the administrative headquarters of all oil companies and their subsidiaries to their operational bases in Ijaw territory and Niger Delta.
READ ALSO: Ijaw Demand Environmental Clean-up Before IOCs Exit Niger Delta
He further called for proper funding and management of the Interventionist Agencies such as the Presidential Amnesty Programme and Niger Delta Development Commission.
“We call for the promotion of modular refineries owned by our people.
“We also want a balance in appointment at the federal levels (the civil service, military and oil companies) as well as equitable distribution of critical infrastructure, to reflect the true principles of federal character.”
He said it was against this backdrop that the theme of the 2024 Ijaw National Day “Re-Invigorating Our Resolve to take the Ijaw struggle for Self-determination beyond Rhetoric” was derived.
News
Drake Gives Condition To Quit Music As Feud With Kendrick Lamar Thickens
Published
7 hours agoon
May 5, 2024By
EditorUS rapper Drake has vowed to quit his music career if allegations regarding a secret daughter are substantiated.
The controversy started when rival artiste Kendrick Lamar, in his diss track ‘Meet The Grahams,’ levied accusations suggesting Drake’s involvement with an 11-year-old secret daughter.
Lamar branded the Canadian rapper a “deadbeat” for purportedly neglecting his paternal responsibilities
Renowned American media personality Akademiks, however, disclosed rapper’s response to the allegations during a recent broadcast.
According to Akademiks, Drake denied the claims, going as far as promising to leave the music industry and work for Akademiks if any evidence of the alleged secret daughter emerged.
During his Saturday night show, Akademiks shared the rapper’s direct message, stating, “Drake hit [texted] me, he said, ‘Ak, if you or anybody can prove that I have an 11-year-old daughter, I’ll quit rapping and come work for you.’”
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