Nigeria News
Coup In Egypt: Nigerian Leaders Warned
As citizens of Egypt continue to celebrate the successful military ousting of their President, Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood, last night, Nigerians have warned political leaders in their own country against thinking they are immune from such an anti-government action.
Prominent Nigerians who spoke with P.M.NEWS Thursday morning warned that the country was on the brink and that the incident in Egypt could happen in Nigeria.
They also warned Nigerian political leaders against the continued belief that the citizens of the country are docile and would not react when the challenges of the country become unbearable.
Former Governor of old Kaduna State and Chairman of the Conference of Nigerian Political Parties, CNPP, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said the lesson to be learnt from the coup is that against the belief by the west that military coup is out of date in spite of misgovernance, “the incident in Egypt shows that we can still have it and nothing can prevent it.
“We can’t expect stability when even simple issues like free and fair elections is not possible in this country.
“If it can happen in Egypt, it can happen in Nigeria and South Africa, no matter their place in the African continent,” Musa said.
Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Bamidele Aturu, said the lesson has always remained that where politicians misbehave continuously, they cannot always assume that they cannot be overthrown by other forces.
“Politicians are a very rare breed who hardly see the handwriting on the wall. Many of them think Nigerians are docile and that they could continue to act with impunity, but the truth is that we are not docile and they must not take Nigerians for granted,” he said.
He warned Nigerian politicians against derailing the country’s democracy, reminding them that in the event of a revolution or coup, they would be the biggest losers
“They must put an end to the culture of impunity and stop deceiving themselves that military coup or a revolt is not a possibility here. They would be living in a fool’s paradise to think so,” he said, adding that he is looking forward to the day Nigerians would decide to “really take over their government and make the country a better place instead of the government of impunity currently in existence.”
Another Lagos lawyer and aspirant for the governorship seat in Delta State in 2015, Festus Keyamo, warned Nigerian leaders to always be conscious in their activities that the military is never too far away.
Keyamo, who condemned the military intervention in Egypt, warning the Egyptians to learn from the injury caused Nigeria by the military, expressed fears that the revolt that occurred in Egypt could begin to spread across Africa.
Spokesperson of the Afenifere Renewal Group, ARG, Yinka Odumakin, said to avoid such an occurrence in Nigeria, the country’s leadership must immediately address “the nationality question” and organise a national conference where a roadmap would be carved.
He lamented that since the era of General Ibrahim Babangida, the nationality question had remained unanswered and that this had continued to fracture the country’s system.
He explained that Mohammed Morsi emerged from the Muslim Brotherhood, a body which conflicts with the tenets of democracy like the Boko Haram group in Nigeria and as a result, he was challenged right from when he took over.
“Before we celebrate the cetenary, we must have a national dialogue so as to address the nationality question,” he said.
The Chairman, Committee on Judiciary, Complaints and Public Petitions of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Sanai Agunbiade, urged Nigerian leaders to always reflect on how many people sacrificed their lives for the current democracy.
The lawyer and former rights activist, who condemned the military action in Egypt, however, said he would not support a democratically elected person who decides to go against the will of the people that elected him.
He wondered how Morsi could have continued when he was already making himself autocratic by declaring his disregard for the country’s judicial system.
He recalled how the people jubilated after the coup last night, warning that this is what happens when those elected into power breach the laws of the land.
“Now that we have democracy, the leadership of this country must not do anything to usurp it. They must play by the rules and be disciplined in all their actions,” he said.
Social commentator and rights activist, Barrister Chris Nwaokobia, said the coup was a testament of the people’s power in the 21st century to unseat any leader that decides to relegate them.
“It also shows the shallow fallacy that the worst civilian rule is better than the best military rule,” he said, citing the how the Asian Tigers evolved through military rule.
While celebrating with the Egyptians, he said: “until the Nigerian leadership understands the anatomy of the people’s power, then such revolution is knocking at our door.”
President of the Arewa Youth Consultative Forum, Alhaji Shettima Yerima, said the coup pointed to the fact that there is a limit to what people can take from their leaders.
“Nigerians are daily being pushed to the wall, but the leaders forget that incidents like this widen the scope of the citizens.
“People must rise up and tell themselves the truth. There is high rate of suspicion between the Nigerian political class and the people and this cannot stand for long,” he said, adding that what happened in Egypt is a sample of what could happen if Nigerians decide to rise up someday.
“The government must understand that we are long overdue for a revolt and it should be a big lesson because we are already in urgent need of solutions to our problems,” he added.
—Eromosele Ebhomele
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Posted in Nigeria News. A DisNaija.Com network.
Source: PM News
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Nigeria News
Kano Transfers Over 1,000 Almajiris To Different States Amidst COVID-19 Pandemic
The Kano State Government on Saturday said it has transferred 1,098 ‘almajiris’ to different states of the country.
The commissioner for local government, Murtala Garo, disclosed this while presenting a report before the state’s task force on COVID-19 at the government house, Kano.
Almajiris are children who are supposed to be learning Islamic studies while living with their Islamic teachers. Majority of them, however, end up begging on the streets of Northern Nigeria. They constitute a large number of Nigeria’s over 10 million out-of-school children.
Mr Garo said the Kano government transported 419 almajiris to Katsina, 524 to Jigawa and 155 to Kaduna. He said all of them tested negative for coronavirus before leaving the Kano State.
Despite the coronavirus test done in Kano for the almajiris, the Jigawa government earlier said it would quarantine for two weeks all the almajiris that recently arrived from Kano.
Mr Garo said another 100 almajiris scheduled to be taken to Bauchi State also tested negative to COVID-19.
In a remark, Governor Abdullahi Ganduje said the COVID-19 situation in Kano was getting worse. He appealed for a collaborative effort to curtail the spread of the virus in the state.
Mr Ganduje, who commended residents for complying with the lockdown imposed in the state, said the decision was taken to halt the spread of the virus.
Kano State, as of Saturday night, has 77 coronavirus cases, according to the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control.
The decision to transfer the Kano almajiris is part of the agreement reached between Northern governors that almajiris in each state be transferred to their states of origin.
However, even before the latest agreement by the governors, the Kano government had been transferring almajiris to other states and neighbouring countries after it banned street begging in the state, most populous in Northern Nigeria.
Despite the transfers, however, no concrete step has been taken to ensure such children do not return to Kano streets as there is freedom of movement across Nigeria although interstate travel was recently banned to check the spread of the coronavirus.
Sourced From: Premium Times Nigeria
Nigeria News
COVID-19: ‘Bakassi Boys’ Foil Attempt To Smuggle 24 Women Into Abia In Container
By Ugochukwu Alaribe
Operatives of the Abia State Vigilante Service, AVS, popularly known as ‘Bakassi Boys’ have arrested 24 market women hidden in a container truck, at Ekwereazu Ngwa, the boundary community between Abia and Akwa Ibom states.
The market women, said to be from Akwa Ibom State, were on their way to Aba, when they were arrested with the truck driver and two of his conductors for violating the lockdown order by the state government.
Driver of the truck, Moses Asuquo, claimed he was going to Aba to purchase stock fish, but decided to assist the market women, because they were stranded.
A vigilante source told Sunday Vanguard that the vehicle was impounded while the market women were sent back to Akwa Ibom State.
Commissioner for Home Land Security, Prince Dan Okoli, who confirmed the incident, said that smuggling of people into the state poses great threat to the state government’s efforts to contain the spread of COVID- 19.
Sourced From: Vanguard News
Nigeria News
Woman Kills Her Maid Over Salary Request
Operatives of the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Yaba of the Lagos State police command have arrested one Mrs Nene Steve for allegedly killing her maid, Joy Adole
The maid was allegedly beaten to death by Nene for requesting for her salary at their residence located at 18, Ogundola Street, Bariga area in Lagos.
Narrating the incident, Philips Ejeh, an elder brother to the deceased said that he was sad when they informed him that his sister was beaten to death.
He explained that the deceased was an indigene of Benue State brought to Lagos through an agent and started working with her as a maid in January 2020.
‘’She reported that her boss refused to pay her and anytime she asked for her salary she will start beating her.
She was making an attempt to leave the place but due to the total lockdown she remained there until Sunday when her boss said she caught her stealing noodles and this led to her serious beating and death,’’ Ejeh said.
He called on Lagos State Government and well- meaning people in the country to help them in getting justice for the victim.
The police spokesman, Bala Elkana, stated that the woman and her husband came to Bariga Police Station to a report that their house girl had committed suicide.
Detectives were said to have visited the house and suspected foul play with the position of the rope and bruises all over the body which confirmed that the girl had been tortured to death and the boss decided to hang up the girl to make it look like suicide.
He said: “The police moved on with their investigation and found a lot of sign of violence on her body that she has been tortured before a rope was put on her neck.’’
He added that the police removed the corpse and deposited it in the mortuary for autopsy to further ascertain the cause of the death.
Elkana said the matter has been transferred from Bariga police station to Panti for further investigation while the couple have been arrested and will be charged to court.
Tribune
Boko Haram Attacks: Buhari Summons Urgent Meeting Of Service Chiefs
Ostensibly alarmed by the latest killings of dozens of soldiers by Boko Haram insurgents, President Muhammadu Buhari has summoned an urgent meeting of Service Chiefs to find ways to stop the trend.
He has also dispatched the Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali, to the neighbouring Republic of Chad for an urgent meeting with President Idris Deby and his defence counterpart.
Knowledgeable sources said in Abuja on Friday that the president is worried by on the deterioration of security situation on the Nigeria – Chad Border that has led to the recently increased Boko Haram terrorism in the area.
The sources which did not want to be named in Abuja said: “Nigeria has a Chad problem in the Multi-National Joint Task Force (MNJTF) put together to secure the Lake Chad basin areas and repeal the Boko Haram terrorist attacks against all the countries neighbouring the Lake.”
The sources noted that Chad is believed to be having their own internal security challenges and this has reportedly led to their pulling away their own troops manning their own border around Lake Chad, saying: “That lacuna is being exploited by the Boko Haram terrorists, who go in and out of Nigeria, Niger and Cameroon to launch terrorist acts. This is a clear illustration of the fact that terrorism is beyond national borders.”
When contacted, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, confirmed that the Defence Minister is going to Chad but said he is unaware of the purpose.
Meanwhile, the military authorities are said to be in the process of identifying the families of the latest victims with a view to making contact with them.
Credible sources revealed that it is the reason the president is yet to make any pronouncement on the matter.
“The President has called an urgent meeting with the Service Chiefs, as well as the fact that families of the latest victims of the Boko Haram are being identified and contacts made before a government pronouncement on the tragic attacks. This, it is understood, is the reason for the silence of the government over the incident,” the source said.
Sourced From: Tribune