Nigeria News
Thousands Rally For Mursi In Cairo, Clashes In Rural Egypt
Thousands of supporters of ousted Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi rallied in a protest camp around a Cairo mosque on Friday, defying warnings from the army-installed government that they should give up and leave.
Leaders of Mursi’s Muslim Brotherhood mounted a stage at the Rabaa al-Adawiya site to demand that he brought back to power. “Soldier, your place is not in politics,” senior official Ahmed Aref said as the people pumped fists in the air. Despite international concern that a violent confrontation was imminent, security forces were nowhere to be seen. But in the rural province of Fayoum, police broke up clashes between several hundred supporters and opponents of Mursi with teargas, security sources said. Seven protesters and five policemen were hurt. And in separate incidents in the Nile Delta province of Gharbiya, four people were injured in fights between pro-Mursi protesters and residents near an army base, state-run Al-Ahram newspaper said. Thirteen Mursi supporters were arrested. The Rabaa camp in northeast Cairo is the major potential flashpoint of the political crisis brought on by the military overthrow of the Islamist Mursi and establishment of an interim government five weeks ago. Crowds chanted “Down with the coup, the coup is terrorism” as thousands streamed in from other mosques in columns. Security forces have warned the protesters to leave peacefully or face action. But the camp has been turned into a virtual fortress, protected by sandbag-and-brick barricades. “Kill as you like. We will not move from here,” a preacher told worshippers at Friday prayers in the mosque. “This is a revolution. You who are present will make the decision on whether you will disperse.” Despite the clashes elsewhere, an undeclared truce seems to have taken hold at Rabaa over the Eid al-Fitr holiday, which celebrates the end of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan and finishes on Sunday. No police or troops could be seen in the immediate vicinity on Friday afternoon and after the speeches, the event took on a festive air, including performances of traditional dance. Some Egyptians felt the security forces would not attack before the end of Eid as this would be sacrilegious. But a diplomat from a European country said his country was worried about the risk of violence this weekend. “It’s a dangerous situation. There is a concern that things could turn serious on Saturday and Sunday,” he told Reuters. Mursi took power as Egypt’s first democratically elected president in June 2012. But fears he was trying to set up an Islamist autocracy and his failure to ease economic hardships led to mass street demonstrations which triggered the army move. The crisis reached a dangerous new phase after the collapse this week of an international effort to bridge the gap between the two sides and avert bloodshed. Mursi and many other leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood remain in prison. TANKS AND BULLETS At Rabaa, groups of men armed with sticks guarded the camp entrance. One man, a 43-year-old employment agent named Mohamed, said they would defend their position until Mursi was restored. “We are not afraid because we are right. We are all martyrs in the making. Those who rape the rights of the people are the losers. We are not terrorized by tanks and bullets,” he said. Despite the brave words, the weapons on display would prove little match for the security forces. The government says, however, that the Muslim Brotherhood is heavily armed. Many women and children were also present. Young girls had their hair made up for Eid with bright pink, yellow or blue hair bands and colorful new dresses. The government has said the children were being used as human shields. Almost 300 people have been killed in political violence since the overthrow, including dozens of Mursi supporters shot dead by security forces in two incidents. Diplomats say any settlement would have to involve a dignified exit for Mursi, Brotherhood acceptance of the new situation, the release of political prisoners arrested since the takeover, and a future political role for the Brotherhood. So far, the Brotherhood has refused to accept what it calls the illegal coup and has publicly demanded Mursi’s return. Senior Brotherhood figure Mohamed El-Beltagi reiterated those demands before the Rabaa crowd and said those responsible for the protesters’ killings must be prosecuted. In Paris, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius spoke on Thursday with various Egyptian players by telephone. He underlined the need for dialogue and compromise rather than fuelling tension or inciting violence, a French spokesman said. The European diplomat said the Egyptian army was under enormous pressure from hardliners in its ranks and from part of the populace to take harsh action against the Brotherhood. On the Brotherhood side, some, too, advocated a tough stand. “They have people among them who are ready to go to the limit,” the diplomat said. European diplomats were stressing to the new leadership that they were damaging their own and Egypt’s image. But no meetings in Egypt or elsewhere were planned at this stage since the breakdown of the international mediation, the diplomat said.
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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
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
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.
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
Nigeria records 55 new COVID-19 infections, total now 165,110
Military, Police Ring Abuja to Forestall Boko Haram Attack
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