Connect with us

NEWS

FGN Closes In On Protests’ Champions

Published

on

 

There are indications that the Nigerian government has started closing-in on the perceived masterminds of the looming mass protests, with some arrests already made.

Recall that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s top media aide, Bayo Onanuga took to his verified handle on micro-blogging site, X to share identities of those suspected of spearheading the looming protests.

He seemed to have directed the Security Operatives to swing into action to nip the protesters in the bud.

Onanuga stated, “The police and DSS ought to have arrested the man for making a brazen threat to political opponents.”

It appears that the directive is being carried out with ‘arrested’ topping the trends on social media in Nigeria on Sunday morning.

ALSO READ: BREAKING: Utomi Dresses Onanuga Down

Onanuga wrote, “REVEALED: Peter Obi’s supporters are the people planning mayhem in Nigeria: Obi should be held responsible for anarchy

“Don’t be fooled: the malcontents planning to stage nationwide protests are supporters of Peter Obi, the failed presidential candidate of the Labour Party. And he should be held responsible for whatever crisis emanates from the action.

“The protest planners are also the same people who were instigated by IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu to launch the destructive ENDSARS protest in Nigeria in October 2020. ENDSARS began as a genuine protest by youths against the Police Special Anti-Robbery Squad, notorious for its high-handedness. IPOB members planning to extricate the South East region from Nigeria infiltrated the protest and hijacked it for their own agenda. Lagos still bears the scar of the malicious destruction by IPOB elements until today.

“Two years after ENDSARS, the IPOB and the gullible innocents joined the Labour Party in 2022 to support Peter Obi, a sympathiser of their cause.

“They are the people spreading the hashtags ‘EndBadGovernance’, ‘Tinubu Must Go,’ and ‘Revolution2024’. They are not democrats but anarchists. They are attempting to call out our people via propaganda because their Messiah, Peter Obi, failed to win the Presidency in the 2023 election. As bad losers, they don’t have the patience to wait for another election in 2027; they would rather destabilise Nigeria by staging a civilian coup against President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

“If they understand the meaning of their hashtags, they will realise they are clarion calls for treason. Wanting to end an elected government is high treason. Wanting revolution is a call for a coup d’etat, which is also high treason.

“I have been on the trail of one of the protest planners, who is nameless but claims to have an internet radio station, PTM100.88 Abuja. The anonymous person joined X in August 2022 and has 520 followers today, among whom are FS Yusuf, another rabid Obi supporter, and Professor Pat Utomi, a Labour Party chief and a guy on X who goes by the pseudonym Peter Obi’s First Son. PTM’s profile image has someone holding the inscription ‘Certificate Forger Not My President,’ with a photo of Peter Obi as an inset. Only Obi’s supporters will be talking about certificate forgery long after the Supreme Court dismissed the allegation.

“In the past 24 hours, this faceless X user has been whipping up the gullible to join the protest being planned and also posting the activities of his Messiah, Peter Obi. He retweets Peter Obi often.

“In one of the posts, a video shows a teenager, who is said to be in the North, printing T-shirts emblazoned with “EndBadGovernance in Nigeria 2024′.

“There is also a retweeted post by Babatunde Gbadamosi, a failed and frustrated politician in Lagos. In it, he refers to his earlier post urging people “to identify APC members, sponsors, supporters, enablers, thugs, promoters, and appointees.” The police and DSS ought to have arrested the man for making a brazen threat to political opponents.

There is “General Oluchi,” a woman who goes by the screen name “A Field Marshall of the Han Dynasty.”

“She has been sending out letters of mobilisation. She even pinned a “Week 6 “ letter urging Nigerians to wake up and take control of their country, using the language of IPOB, Peter Obi, and his supporters.

“Another member of the malcontents is Brother Bernard, also known as Mikael C. Bernard. He is not based in Nigeria because he was once busted over Binance and fraudulent crypto businesses in Nigeria. Bernard was the man who once wrote that the naira should go down to zero.

“In a reaction to Oluchi, he said the protesters should remove the increase in salaries for the armed forces as part of their demands.

“If they want an increment in salary, let them launch their own protest. It is not our job to fight for enablers of evil”, he wrote on X.

“According to our law, men of the armed forces don’t protest, an X user reminded him. He posted a sarcastic response: ‘By law, they can slap people wearing cams (camouflage) and shoot at protesters ba?”

“Security agents should, by now, begin to interrogate these agents of destabilisation. There is no country in the world where people are not going through some economic challenges and where the cost of living is not a major issue. No country is immune from economic turbulence at the moment. Civilised and democratic people wait for another election to make leadership changes. They don’t trigger mayhem in their countries by staging protests, the end of which nobody can predict.

“Nigerian citizens must consider the government’s attitude and concern about the cost of living crisis when deciding whether to join the protests by the Labour Party and IPOB supporters.

“The Tinubu government has not been found wanting in this regard. The minimum wage has been increased by more than 100 percent. Loans are being disbursed to students in tertiary schools. A credit corporation has been launched to promote consumption credit. Palliatives, including the latest distribution of 740 trucks of rice to the 36 states and Abuja, are being rolled out. Businesses, such as pharmaceuticals, are being assisted. The Federal and state governments are investing heavily in agriculture to produce more food.

“The economy is improving, inflation is slowing, the national debt has been reduced in dollar terms, and the FIRS has increased revenue generation to record levels. Investors are coming back to our country. Our stock market is the best in the world, with a 33 percent return on investment.

“President Tinubu has a four-year mandate to run his agenda. Those calling for protest should wait till 2027 to either re-elect him or elect their Messiah, Mr Peter Obi.”

Some of those fingered, including Prof Pat Utomi have already reacted to the statement.

However the matter seems to gathering momentum with social media brimming with ‘arrested’ on Sunday.

Key figures like Publisher of Sahara Reports, Omoyele Sowore have been very active pushing for the revolution.

@dr_dabo1 wrote, “DSS has been tracking the location of the people advocating for this upcoming protest and arresting them, 4 days ago Abusalama was arrested and detained because he called for the protest.”

NEWS

BREAKING: Sen Kingibe Weeps Over Arraignment Of Minors In Adult Court

Published

on

 

The Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, Ireti Kingibe, has wept openly that Nigeria has ‘become a nation that turns against its own children’.

The senator was reacting to the “arraignment of over 100 young boys, aged between 10 and 16, who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest,” in an adult court, against established legal standards.

She took to her verified handle on micro-blogging site, X, on Saturday, to shed tears and register her strong disappointment with all the parties involved in the shameful and illegal act.

ALSO READ: #EndBadGovernance2024: Atiku Decries Dehumanisation Of Minors

According to Sen Kingibe “How can a government tasked with protecting its citizens justify holding minors in correctional centers, treating their peaceful protest as a criminal offense?”

On the law enforcement agencies breaching the law, Sen Kingibe pointed out that, “According to Nigeria’s Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), minors between the ages of 1 and 17 should never be arraigned in adult criminal courts but instead in juvenile courts, which have exclusive jurisdiction over such cases. Yet, these minors were held in maximum correctional centers for over 85 days before being charged with treason.”

She expressed her firm position that all relevant stakeholders must “urgently unite to secure the immediate and unconditional release of these minors.”

Sen Kingibe wrote, “As the Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, I condemn in the strongest terms the recent arraignment of over 100 young boys, aged between 10 and 16, who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest. These minors, who bravely voiced their grievances against the unbearable hardship and hunger ravaging our land, are now being charged with treason — an offense that, if found guilty, carries the death penalty.

“When did we become a nation that turns against its own children — our very hope for tomorrow? When did we lose our compassion and humanity to the extent that we humiliate, arrest, and drag young children into court for the “crime” of speaking out? This shameful prosecution of our youth is not only unjust — it is a betrayal of our humanity and an assault on our future. How can we stand idly by as the dreams of our children are crushed under the weight of oppression? This must end.

“This is utterly disgraceful, and everyone involved should feel ashamed. We owe our citizens, particularly our children, not just protection from external threats but also from unjust treatment within. Children deserve quality education, better healthcare, and protection from domestic violence and abuse, not brutal treatment for exercising their constitutional rights. According to Nigeria’s Criminal Procedure Act (CPA), minors between the ages of 1 and 17 should never be arraigned in adult criminal courts but instead in juvenile courts, which have exclusive jurisdiction over such cases. Yet, these minors were held in maximum correctional centers for over 85 days before being charged with treason.

“How have we, as leaders, stooped so low? Instead of addressing the root causes of their protest, we prosecute those who cry out against them. How can a government tasked with protecting its citizens justify holding minors in correctional centers, treating their peaceful protest as a criminal offense? When did peaceful protest — a fundamental right of citizens — become a crime in Nigeria?

“Numerous videos circulating on social media and news platforms show malnourished children with visible collarbones, countable ribs, fainting, crying, hungry, sick, and, most horrifically, being manhandled. This has turned us into an international embarrassment. If we cannot protect our own citizens, how can we expect to safeguard foreign investors whom we are actively trying to attract to our country?

“This is not only condemnable but an absolute disgrace, and it cannot stand. I demand that every relevant authority — the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, the Ministry of Justice, and the Chief Justice of the Federation — as well as the Human Rights Commission and all human rights lawyers, urgently unite to secure the immediate and unconditional release of these minors. I also call upon all mothers and women across the nation to rise in protest against this deplorable treatment of our children. This is not the Nigeria we dreamed of; we cannot allow our future to be sacrificed in silence.”

Continue Reading

NEWS

Strike Relief: FG Releases Funds To NASU, Retirees

Published

on

In a significant development aimed at resolving the ongoing strike by non-academic university staff, the Federal Government has released funds to settle the long-overdue salaries owed to members of the Non-Academic Staff Union of Federal Universities (NASU).

The funds will also cover outstanding pension payments for retirees under the Nigerian Union of Pensioners Contributory Pension Scheme.

READ ALSO: Banky W, Adesua Etomi Welcome Second Child [VIDEO]

Bawa Mokwa, Director of Press and Public Relations in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, confirmed the release in a statement on Saturday.

Mokwa stated that payments to NASU members have commenced, with numerous staff already confirming receipt of the funds.

The move comes after members of NASU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), operating under a Joint Action Committee, began an indefinite strike last Monday in protest over the withheld salaries.

The strike brought federal universities across the country to a standstill, with various academic and administrative services halted.

Several other unions and universities expressed support for the protest, amplifying calls for the funds’ immediate release.

Tensions between the union leadership and the federal government had escalated in recent days, despite a directive from President Bola Tinubu for payments to be made.

On Wednesday, SSANU leaders expressed frustration, stating that many top university officials, including vice-chancellors, bursars, and registrars, had yet to receive the outstanding salaries, further straining relations.

SSANU leadership vowed to keep university facilities shut until all owed salaries are fully disbursed.

“We will not resume activities in our universities until every last outstanding payment has been made,” SSANU leaders warned in a statement.

In his official statement, Mokwa reassured all concerned parties that the government has fulfilled its commitment to fund these payments, which he called “a priority move to alleviate the financial strain on university staff and retirees.”

 

Continue Reading

NEWS

#EndBadGovernance Protests: IGP Claims Suspects’ Collapse Staged To Sway Public Opinion

Published

on

The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun has alleged that the collapse of six suspects in court was a deliberate act intended to attract negative attention to law enforcement efforts.

The six individuals, part of a group of 76 mostly minor suspects facing charges related to the #EndBadGovernance protest, collapsed in the courtroom on Friday.

Related News: EndBadGovernance Protests: Court Sets N10m Bail Each For 67 Minors

Egbetokun, however, underscored that medical aid was promptly provided, highlighting the police’s commitment to the welfare of individuals in custody.

In a statement dated November 1 and signed by Force Spokesperson Muyiwa Adejobi, the IGP affirmed that under Nigerian law, individuals who reach the age of criminal responsibility are held accountable for their actions, irrespective of age.

“Today, an unexpected incident in court saw six of the suspects suddenly rush out and faint, drawing media attention in a deliberate and scripted manner to attract negative attention,” Egbetokun said.

“Medical aid was promptly provided to these individuals, demonstrating the Police Force’s commitment to the welfare of those in its custody, irrespective of the allegations they face.”

Recall that the court granted bail for each minor at N10 million, sparking criticism both domestically and internationally.

The arraigned individuals, many of whom appeared malnourished, are facing a series of grave charges including terrorism, arson, treasonable felony, and other allegations related to the destruction of public property and threats to national security.

The IGP emphasized that the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) remains committed to balancing justice with compassion, noting that the Force has adhered to legal procedures to ensure fairness.

“The NPF has rigorously adhered to legal provisions to ensure fairness and accountability under the rule of law,” he said.

“Throughout this process, the Police have worked to balance justice with compassion, ensuring that each suspect’s basic rights and privileges are respected, including access to medical care and other necessary provisions.”

In his statement, Egbetokun urged the public to avoid bias and pledged transparency throughout the legal proceedings.

“The NPF acknowledges public interest in this case and assures the public that our officers will maintain professionalism throughout the legal process.

“The public is encouraged to view this case without undue bias, as the Force remains focused on a transparent pursuit of justice.”

The police chief added that the Force is committed to aligning with international standards in justice, drawing comparisons to legal practices in countries like the United Kingdom, where young individuals facing serious charges are held accountable, though with empathy and respect for human rights.

 

 

Continue Reading

Copyright © 2022. Biztellers, powered by Alphaxristi.