News

S’East ‘ll Be Peaceful If Troops Go After Herdsmen, Igbo Women Tell CDS

Published

3 months ago

April 29, 2025

The Indigenous Igbo Women Assembly, says, if the Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa is genuinely committed to the restoration of peace in the zone, he should ‘move his men to the bush to combat the killer herdsmen killing farmers and raping women and girls.’

The women made this known following recent advice by the CDS to the people of the South East against promoting the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, particularly through social media.

The CDS, represented by Group Captain Ibrahim Bukar, during a recent engagement in Anambra State, had said that the spread of unverified information “not only endangers the region but also poses a threat to national unity and peace”, adding that “IPOB’s actions are detrimental not just to the South East, but to Nigeria as a whole,” and should not be supported in any form.

However, in a statement, IWA’s National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, challenged the CDS that IPOB is not a terrorist group, but a peaceful movement protesting the marginalisation and continued exclusion of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria, urging him to advise the federal government to listen to the agitations of IPOB and engage the group in dialogue with a view to addressing its genuine concerns, instead of resorting to propaganda to blackmail its members.

According to the statement made available to newsmen in Umuahia on Sunday, the women said, “We want to remind Gen. Musa that IPOB members are not terrorists but our children who are protesting the ill-treatment and marginalisation of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria. Since the civil war up till now, the South East has been grossly marginalized by the Nigerian State.

“From 1966 after the assassination of Gen. Aguiyironsi till date, no Igbo man has been President of Nigeria. Ndigbo have grossly been marginalized in political appointments by successive administrations in the country. They have been denied their rightful promotion especially those in the security agencies. And that’s part of the reasons Igbo youths are losing interest in military recruitment. They have refused to join the military and even the police because they hardly get promoted like their colleagues from other tribes”.

Expressing their concern further, the women asked, “Why is the federal government killing IPOB members but granting amnesty to bandits and mass murderers who have not stopped killing innocent citizens, including security agents? Why is the government killing our youths during peaceful protests, but allowing armed herdsmen on a killing spree to keep roaming our communities with guns?

“What is the rationale behind the constant release of captured terrorists who claim to have repented, while peaceful agitators like IPOB members are held in perpetual detention? Fulani herdsmen do not need AK-47s in the South East because there has never been any incident of cattle rustling in the region. For them to carry AK-47s about, shooting people shows they have an evil agenda because they don’t shoot and run, but shoot and stay.

“What IPOB is demanding is legitimate. It’s their right. Those causing mayhem in the zone are criminal elements and killer herdsmen. If the CDS truly loves the restoration of peace in the South East, let him advise the federal government to listen to IPOB and engage the youths in sincere dialogue and address their grievances.

“Gen. Musa should understand that the problem of the South East is not IPOB: our problem is the rampaging Fulani herdsmen busy displacing communities across the zone. If Gen. Musa wants to maintain peace and order in the South East, he should move his men to the bush to combat the killer herdsmen killing our farmers and raping our women and girls”.

IWA traced the genesis of the tension in the South East to the deployment of the military to the zone during a special military operation codenamed Python Dance, stating, “May we remind Gen. Musa that prior to the drafting and deployment of the military to the South East by President Muhammadu Buhari, we had absolute peace in Igbo land. South East was the most peaceful region in Nigeria before then.

“When the federal government abducted IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya, the problem became worse. IPOB members in protest declared a Monday sit-at-home protest but relaxed it after appeals from the elders. During President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a lot of them were shot and killed in Port Harcourt for celebrating Trump. Many were also killed in Onitsha and Aba for merely praying and carrying out peaceful protests.

The Igbo women also decried the continued migration of youths from the South East who are fleeing intimidation and humiliation by security operatives, especially at roadblocks and condemned reprisal attacks on innocent communities any time security agents come under attacks by criminals in South East, stating, “While the security operatives deployed to the South East were busy crushing our youths, criminals were busy spreading insecurity in the South East.

“There have been several attacks against security agencies in the North but how many Northern villages were sacked in the aftermath unlike here in the South East? Awo Idemiri and Eke Ututu market in Imo State were all attacked. These made our youths to migrate from the South East in their droves. What the security agents are doing is to systematically chase our youths away so that we will not have those to defend us when the rumoured jihad eventually starts.”

IWA further raised alarm over the influx of aliens in the South East and urged security agents to investigate their mission, stating, “There is an invasion of the South East by strange faces doing all sorts of menial jobs and surveying our land. These strange faces are not IPOB members. In some villages, some of these jobless wanderers outnumber the owners of the land. What’s the Nigerian Government doing that has not stopped these marauders who are moving about with guns and killing innocent citizens at will?”

Igbo women, therefore, demanded the immediate dismantling of security roadblocks across the South East, which, they said, have become extortion points, causing traffic delays.
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News

LG Chairman Drags Niger Govt To Court Over Alleged Tenure Reduction

Published

8 hours ago

July 25, 2025

Editor

Alhaji Aminu Yakubu-Ladan, the Chairman of Chanchaga Local Government Area (LGA) in Niger, has sued the state government over alleged reduction of tenure of local government chairmen and councillors.

Yakubu-Ladan, in the suit filed at the Federal High Court in Abuja, sought an order restraining the Niger State Independent Electoral Commission (NSIEC) and its co-defendants from conducting the scheduled LGAs’ election until the expiration of their tenure.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NSIEC has fixed November 1 for the conduct of the local government poll across the state.

However, the plaintiff, in the suit, named the Attorney-General of Niger State, the House of Assembly, NSIEC, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Inspector-General (IG) of Police as 1st to 5th defendants respectively.

The chairman is challenging the constitutionality of the Niger State Local Government Law, 2001, which seeks to reduce the tenure of local government chairmen and councillors from four years to three years.

Yakubu-Ladan, in the originating summons marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1370/2025, dated July 10 but filed July 11 by his counsel, Chris Udeoyibo, sought eight questions for determination.

The chairman questions whether the state government can enforce inconsistent local government law, 2001 (as amended), which clashed with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022.

“Should Niger State Local Government Law Section 29 (2) be declared unconstitutional for clashing with the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the Electoral Act, 2022,” he said.

The plaintiff seeks a declaration that a four-year tenure for local government chairmen and councillors is constitutionally guaranteed by virtue of the Constitution and the Electoral Act, 2022.

The suit also challenged the NSIEC’s preparation for the local government elections slated for November 1.

The plaintiff, therefore, seeks an order restraining the defendants from the elections on Nov. 1 until the expiration of a four-year tenure for chairmen and councillors.

The suit also seeks to restrain INEC and the I-G from providing logistical support and security protection for the election.

Yakubu-Ladan argued that the state’s local government law, 2001, is inconsistent with Section 7 of the constitution and Sections 018 and 150 of the Electoral Act, 2022.

The suit is yet to be assigned to a judge as of the time of the report.

News

France’s Top Court Annuls Arrest Warrant Against Syria’s Ex-president al-Assad

Published

9 hours ago

July 25, 2025

Editor

France’s highest court Friday annulled a French arrest warrant against Syria’s ex-president Bashar al-Assad — issued before his ouster — over 2013 deadly chemical attacks.

The Court of Cassation ruled there were no exceptions to presidential immunity, even for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity.

But its presiding judge, Christophe Soulard, added that, as Assad was no longer president after an Islamist-led group toppled him in December, “new arrest warrants can have been, or can be, issued against him” and as such the investigation into the case could continue.

Human rights advocates had hoped the court would rule that immunity did not apply because of the severity of the allegations, which would have set a major precedent in international law towards holding accused war criminals to account.

French authorities issued the warrant against Assad in November 2023 over his alleged role in the chain of command for a sarin gas attack that killed more than 1,000 people, according to US intelligence, on August 4 and 5, 2013 in Adra and Douma outside Damascus.

Assad is accused of complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity in the case. Syrian authorities at the time denied involvement and blamed rebels.

– Universal jurisdiction –

The French judiciary tackled the case under the principle of universal jurisdiction, whereby a court may prosecute individuals for serious crimes committed in other countries.

An investigation — based on testimonies of survivors and military defectors, as well as photos and video footage — led to warrants for the arrest of Assad, his brother Maher who headed an elite army unit, and two generals.

Public prosecutors approved three of the warrants, but issued an appeal against the one targeting Assad, arguing he should have immunity as a head of state.

The Paris Court of Appeal in June last year however upheld it, and prosecutors again appealed.

But in December, Assad’s circumstances changed.

He and his family fled to Russia, according to Russian authorities, after he was ousted by advancing rebels.

In January, French investigating magistrates issued a second arrest warrant against Assad for suspected complicity in war crimes for a bombing in the Syrian city of Deraa in 2017 that killed a French-Syrian civilian.

– Indictment of ex-bank governor valid –

The Court of Cassation said Assad’s so called “personal immunity”, granted because of his office, meant he could not be targeted by arrest warrants until his ouster.

But it ruled that “functional immunity”, which is granted to people who perform certain functions of state, could be lifted in the case of accusations of severe crimes.

Thus it upheld the French judiciary’s indictment in another case of ex-governor of the Central Bank of Syria and former finance minister, Adib Mayaleh, for complicity in war crimes and crimes against humanity over alleged funding of the Assad government during the civil war.

Headline

Fashion Designers, IT Specialists: UK Opens Door To Foreign Talents With New Visa Rules

Published

9 hours ago

July 25, 2025

Editor

The United Kingdom has expanded its Skilled Worker visa route to include more than 70 mid-level occupations, opening the door for foreign professionals such as fashion designers, technicians, and IT specialists to work in the country with salaries starting from €29,000.

This move, which took effect on July 22, 2025, is part of the government’s strategy to tackle urgent labour shortages by easing access to roles traditionally considered outside the high-skilled visa category.

The update introduces a newly expanded Temporary Shortage Occupation List (TSOL), which comes with significantly lower salary thresholds and streamlined visa processes for eligible roles across sectors such as engineering, construction, healthcare, science, finance, creative arts, and information technology.

The changes reflect a deliberate shift to address staffing gaps in industries critical to the UK economy.

Under the revised rules, salary requirements now vary based on an applicant’s visa history. While standard

thresholds still apply to newcomers, those categorized as “new entrants,” PhD holders, or individuals with continuous Skilled Worker visas prior to April 4, 2024, can qualify at lower salary levels.

For instance, a pipe fitter who previously needed to earn at least £46,000 can now be eligible with £40,400. Engineering technicians are permitted at £34,700, down from £42,500. In the creative sector, fashion designers can now qualify with £29,100, while data analysts in tech are eligible at £28,600. Laboratory technicians in science and healthcare can apply with £25,000, reduced from the standard £33,400.

This restructured visa list is seen as a direct response to economic and political pressures surrounding skills shortages. It seeks to make the UK labor market more globally competitive while addressing domestic gaps in practical, mid-level roles.

Despite these new allowances, all applicants must still meet basic eligibility requirements, including having a confirmed job offer from a licensed UK sponsor and obtaining a Certificate of Sponsorship. Applications must also include proof of qualifications, salary information, and a valid job match aligned with the official occupation codes.

Although the government describes the updated list as temporary, no fixed end date has been announced.