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What began as a way to describe misinformation was quickly diverted into a propaganda tool. The BBC's Dave Lee examines how "fake news" went mainstream.

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A woman accused of hiding needles in strawberries may have wanted revenge, a court hears.

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Six more bodies are found in the north of the state, taking the death toll to 31 with 200 missing.

Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted claims that he was asked by the Department of State Services (DSS) to resign his position.

He stated this on Sunday, when he featured on Politics Today, a television programme aired on Channels Television.

Confirming that he met with the DSS, Oshiomhole said the security agency could not have asked him to resign his position, as he wasn't hired by them.

His words: "I wasn't hired by the DSS and I cannot be requested by DSS to resign or to retain the job. APC is a structured party; we have organs. I know the procedure and I believe the DSS also understands their own role in the system. It's not up to them to demand the resignation of a party chairman, whether that party chairman is the chairman of a ruling party or chairman of an opposition.

"But I believe it is their right to have a conversation with anyone, who in their opinion, can assist them in discharging their mandate so that Nigeria is safe and secure, particularly as we move towards 2019 elections. 

"I met with the DSS on Sunday at about 3pm and I drove there on my own."

Oshiomhole, however, did not expressly confirm or deny if he met with the President on the DSS matter, when questioned on the subject.

He continued: "On my meeting with the President, the President is the President of Nigeria and he is elected on the platform of our party, which I am privileged currently to be the Chairman of. I visit the villa at least two to three times a week. I have a duty to brief Mr. President on what were doing in the party. I have the privilege of learning from the President what the government is doing as it relates to what the party expects of the government elected on our platform.

"Meeting the President is not news at all. Those are my privileges and I think it will continue to be so as long as Mr. President is gracious enough to give me the privilege to want to know what we're doing in the party, and also to hear my own suggestions on a variety of issues as it affects governance, our party and the country."

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Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted claims that he was asked by the Department of State Services (DSS) to resign his position.

He stated this on Sunday, when he featured on Politics Today, a television programme aired on Channels Television.

Confirming that he met with the DSS, Oshiomhole said the security agency could not have asked him to resign his position, as he wasn't hired by them.

His words: "I wasn't hired by the DSS and I cannot be requested by DSS to resign or to retain the job. APC is a structured party; we have organs. I know the procedure and I believe the DSS also understands their own role in the system. It's not up to them to demand the resignation of a party chairman, whether that party chairman is the chairman of a ruling party or chairman of an opposition.

"But I believe it is their right to have a conversation with anyone, who in their opinion, can assist them in discharging their mandate so that Nigeria is safe and secure, particularly as we move towards 2019 elections. 

"I met with the DSS on Sunday at about 3pm and I drove there on my own."

Oshiomhole, however, did not expressly confirm or deny if he met with the President on the DSS matter, when questioned on the subject.

He continued: "On my meeting with the President, the President is the President of Nigeria and he is elected on the platform of our party, which I am privileged currently to be the Chairman of. I visit the villa at least two to three times a week. I have a duty to brief Mr. President on what were doing in the party. I have the privilege of learning from the President what the government is doing as it relates to what the party expects of the government elected on our platform.

"Meeting the President is not news at all. Those are my privileges and I think it will continue to be so as long as Mr. President is gracious enough to give me the privilege to want to know what we're doing in the party, and also to hear my own suggestions on a variety of issues as it affects governance, our party and the country."

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 
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Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has faulted claims that he was asked by the Department of State Services (DSS) to resign his position.

He stated this on Sunday, when he featured on Politics Today, a television programme aired on Channels Television.

Confirming that he met with the DSS, Oshiomhole said the security agency could not have asked him to resign his position, as he wasn't hired by them.

His words: "I wasn't hired by the DSS and I cannot be requested by DSS to resign or to retain the job. APC is a structured party; we have organs. I know the procedure and I believe the DSS also understands their own role in the system. It's not up to them to demand the resignation of a party chairman, whether that party chairman is the chairman of a ruling party or chairman of an opposition.

"But I believe it is their right to have a conversation with anyone, who in their opinion, can assist them in discharging their mandate so that Nigeria is safe and secure, particularly as we move towards 2019 elections. 

"I met with the DSS on Sunday at about 3pm and I drove there on my own."

Oshiomhole, however, did not expressly confirm or deny if he met with the President on the DSS matter, when questioned on the subject.

He continued: "On my meeting with the President, the President is the President of Nigeria and he is elected on the platform of our party, which I am privileged currently to be the Chairman of. I visit the villa at least two to three times a week. I have a duty to brief Mr. President on what were doing in the party. I have the privilege of learning from the President what the government is doing as it relates to what the party expects of the government elected on our platform.

"Meeting the President is not news at all. Those are my privileges and I think it will continue to be so as long as Mr. President is gracious enough to give me the privilege to want to know what we're doing in the party, and also to hear my own suggestions on a variety of issues as it affects governance, our party and the country."

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An official staff car belonging to Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, has been involved in an accident.

According to the Army, the accident occurred at Jere town, on the way to Kaduna, on Sunday evening.

The car was in a convoy alongside other vehicles, when a lone civilian vehicle veered off its lane and rammed into the car. 

Although Buratai wasn't in the car, the ADC sustained minor injuries and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

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An official staff car belonging to Lieutenant General T.Y. Buratai, the Chief of Army Staff, has been involved in an accident.

According to the Army, the accident occurred at Jere town, on the way to Kaduna, on Sunday evening.

The car was in a convoy alongside other vehicles, when a lone civilian vehicle veered off its lane and rammed into the car. 

Although Buratai wasn't in the car, the ADC sustained minor injuries and was rushed to the hospital for treatment.

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Officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have assisted a wife in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in moving out of her home after she was threatened by her husband with a machete.

The wife had made a distress call to the Police on Sunday, concerning the incident. She also requested Police protection to enable her move her belongings out of the house.

A team of policemen was immediately dispatched to her home and the incident was brought under control.

Although, the identity of the couple was not revealed by the Police, ACP Yomi Shogunle directed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to provide security for the wife, and she is now in a "safe place".

A case of "threat to life" has been recorded against the husband.

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Officers of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have assisted a wife in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, in moving out of her home after she was threatened by her husband with a machete.

The wife had made a distress call to the Police on Sunday, concerning the incident. She also requested Police protection to enable her move her belongings out of the house.

A team of policemen was immediately dispatched to her home and the incident was brought under control.

Although, the identity of the couple was not revealed by the Police, ACP Yomi Shogunle directed the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) to provide security for the wife, and she is now in a "safe place".

A case of "threat to life" has been recorded against the husband.

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The Federal Government has responded to the claim by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that he was "intimidated" during a check at the airport on his return to Abuja from Dubai.

The former Vice-President had claimed that he and members of his staff were subjected to "intimidation" during the security screening at the Abuja airport on Sunday.

However, a statement by Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation on Sunday, noted that the screening was a routine process and only the President was exempted from such checks.

The Aviation Minister said the "claim by Atiku is a mischevious attempt to grab the headlines", noting that the search was part of standard procedure.

The statement published in a series of tweets, read: "The claim by @atiku is a mischievous attempt to grab the headlines. Nigerians need to know that one of the resolutions of the Atiku team at their recently-concluded Dubai retreat was to embark on scaremongering. This is one of such.

"For the records, all incoming passengers on international flights go through Customs, Immigration, health and security screening. Where the aircraft is using the private, charter wing, as the PDP candidate did, such arrivals are met by a team of the Immigration, Customs and other security agencies.

"They go to the arriving aircraft as a team. The airport authorities confirm that this is a routine process, applying to all international arrivals, including Ministers, unless the passenger is the President of Nigeria. The President, the Vice President and passengers aboard planes on the Presidential air fleet use the Presidential wing of the airport.

"It is also important to state that even in the Presidential Wing of the airport which the President of Nigeria uses, there is the presence of Immigration and other security officials who must stamp his or her passport on arrival.

"By standard procedure, all aircraft on international arrivals must first of all park at the international wing of the aircraft. They can move to the domestic terminal only upon the completion of the arrival processes."

The minister affirmed that the PDP presidential candidate was subjected to the check, and insisted that he was "accorded full respect as a former vice-president".

The statement continued: "While it is true that the Task Force on Currency at the airport did the routine action of checking the former Vice President’s travel bag, he was accorded full respect as a former Vice President of Nigeria.

"These checks are mandatory, conventional, internationally applied and routine. No one is excused from them under our laws. These checks are carried out on all international arrivals and President Buhari does not get involved in them.

"Law-abiding citizens are encouraged to respect the laws of the country and our VIPs should not seek to be treated over and above the citizens they wish to serve."

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The Federal Government has responded to the claim by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that he was "intimidated" during a check at the airport on his return to Abuja from Dubai.

The former Vice-President had claimed that he and members of his staff were subjected to "intimidation" during the security screening at the Abuja airport on Sunday.

However, a statement by Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation on Sunday, noted that the screening was a routine process and only the President was exempted from such checks.

The Aviation Minister said the "claim by Atiku is a mischevious attempt to grab the headlines", noting that the search was part of standard procedure.

The statement published in a series of tweets, read: "The claim by @atiku is a mischievous attempt to grab the headlines. Nigerians need to know that one of the resolutions of the Atiku team at their recently-concluded Dubai retreat was to embark on scaremongering. This is one of such.

"For the records, all incoming passengers on international flights go through Customs, Immigration, health and security screening. Where the aircraft is using the private, charter wing, as the PDP candidate did, such arrivals are met by a team of the Immigration, Customs and other security agencies.

"They go to the arriving aircraft as a team. The airport authorities confirm that this is a routine process, applying to all international arrivals, including Ministers, unless the passenger is the President of Nigeria. The President, the Vice President and passengers aboard planes on the Presidential air fleet use the Presidential wing of the airport.

"It is also important to state that even in the Presidential Wing of the airport which the President of Nigeria uses, there is the presence of Immigration and other security officials who must stamp his or her passport on arrival.

"By standard procedure, all aircraft on international arrivals must first of all park at the international wing of the aircraft. They can move to the domestic terminal only upon the completion of the arrival processes."

The minister affirmed that the PDP presidential candidate was subjected to the check, and insisted that he was "accorded full respect as a former vice-president".

The statement continued: "While it is true that the Task Force on Currency at the airport did the routine action of checking the former Vice President’s travel bag, he was accorded full respect as a former Vice President of Nigeria.

"These checks are mandatory, conventional, internationally applied and routine. No one is excused from them under our laws. These checks are carried out on all international arrivals and President Buhari does not get involved in them.

"Law-abiding citizens are encouraged to respect the laws of the country and our VIPs should not seek to be treated over and above the citizens they wish to serve."

Politics Travel News AddThis :  Original Author :  SAHARAREPORTERS, NEW YORK Disable advertisements : 
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The Federal Government has responded to the claim by Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), that he was "intimidated" during a check at the airport on his return to Abuja from Dubai.

The former Vice-President had claimed that he and members of his staff were subjected to "intimidation" during the security screening at the Abuja airport on Sunday.

However, a statement by Hadi Sirika, Nigeria's Minister of Aviation on Sunday, noted that the screening was a routine process and only the President was exempted from such checks.

The Aviation Minister said the "claim by Atiku is a mischevious attempt to grab the headlines", noting that the search was part of standard procedure.

The statement published in a series of tweets, read: "The claim by @atiku is a mischievous attempt to grab the headlines. Nigerians need to know that one of the resolutions of the Atiku team at their recently-concluded Dubai retreat was to embark on scaremongering. This is one of such.

"For the records, all incoming passengers on international flights go through Customs, Immigration, health and security screening. Where the aircraft is using the private, charter wing, as the PDP candidate did, such arrivals are met by a team of the Immigration, Customs and other security agencies.

"They go to the arriving aircraft as a team. The airport authorities confirm that this is a routine process, applying to all international arrivals, including Ministers, unless the passenger is the President of Nigeria. The President, the Vice President and passengers aboard planes on the Presidential air fleet use the Presidential wing of the airport.

"It is also important to state that even in the Presidential Wing of the airport which the President of Nigeria uses, there is the presence of Immigration and other security officials who must stamp his or her passport on arrival.

"By standard procedure, all aircraft on international arrivals must first of all park at the international wing of the aircraft. They can move to the domestic terminal only upon the completion of the arrival processes."

The minister affirmed that the PDP presidential candidate was subjected to the check, and insisted that he was "accorded full respect as a former vice-president".

The statement continued: "While it is true that the Task Force on Currency at the airport did the routine action of checking the former Vice President’s travel bag, he was accorded full respect as a former Vice President of Nigeria.

"These checks are mandatory, conventional, internationally applied and routine. No one is excused from them under our laws. These checks are carried out on all international arrivals and President Buhari does not get involved in them.

"Law-abiding citizens are encouraged to respect the laws of the country and our VIPs should not seek to be treated over and above the citizens they wish to serve."

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Dr. Adamu Babayo, Chairman of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS), the ASUU chapters of the ATBU and Bauchi State University, Gadau, have said.

Vice Chairman of the association, Dr Ibrahim Maina, decried Babayo's detention when he addressed a press conference in Bauchi on Sunday.

According to NAN, Maina alleged that Babayo was detained by the DSS operatives on Sunday, when he was invited to the department’s headquarters in Bauchi.

“The ASUU Chairman, Adamu Babayo was invited through a Short Message Service (SMS) which is not a formal way of invitation.

“On Friday, he received a text message requesting him to report to the DSS office in Bauchi on Sunday. He went to the office together with some of the executives of the association. The DSS operatives requested other members of his entourage to leave and detained him in their office," he said.

Stating that the chairman's detention was a violation of his rights, he said: "Let them explain to us why he was detained. That will give us the idea of what needs to be done.

“If the detention is in connection with the ongoing strike, it is a nationwide strike embarked on by the universities in the country and not a peculiar or personal problem. What wrong have we done by pressing for our rights through the strike?"

However, a DSS official, who preferred not to be named, insisted that Babayo was not detained but only invited to answer some questions.

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Dr. Adamu Babayo, Chairman of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has been detained by the Department of State Services (DSS), the ASUU chapters of the ATBU and Bauchi State University, Gadau, have said.

Vice Chairman of the association, Dr Ibrahim Maina, decried Babayo's detention when he addressed a press conference in Bauchi on Sunday.

According to NAN, Maina alleged that Babayo was detained by the DSS operatives on Sunday, when he was invited to the department’s headquarters in Bauchi.

“The ASUU Chairman, Adamu Babayo was invited through a Short Message Service (SMS) which is not a formal way of invitation.

“On Friday, he received a text message requesting him to report to the DSS office in Bauchi on Sunday. He went to the office together with some of the executives of the association. The DSS operatives requested other members of his entourage to leave and detained him in their office," he said.

Stating that the chairman's detention was a violation of his rights, he said: "Let them explain to us why he was detained. That will give us the idea of what needs to be done.

“If the detention is in connection with the ongoing strike, it is a nationwide strike embarked on by the universities in the country and not a peculiar or personal problem. What wrong have we done by pressing for our rights through the strike?"

However, a DSS official, who preferred not to be named, insisted that Babayo was not detained but only invited to answer some questions.

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Sunday Adefonou Anani, the 22-year-old Togolese cook accused of killing Chief Opeyemi Bademosi, has confessed to perpetrating the crime, the Police have revealed.

Bademosi, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Limited, was stabbed to death at his residence in Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate in Lagos State. See Also CRIME Ondo CEO Stabbed To Death In Multiple Places 'By Togolese Cook' 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

A statement by CSP Chike Oti, Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State, on Sunday, noted that Anani killed his boss after an attempt to rob the latter's home.

In the confession statement made available to newsmen by the Police, the suspect said he got into an altercation with his boss during the incident and initially stabbed him by accident with a knife he had brought along.

Anani was, however, said to have eventually got hold of the knife and stabbed his boss repeatedly, resulting in his death. Thereafter, he fled the scene of the crime.

THE FULL STATEMENT

HOW I KILLED MY BOSS  ---Togolese Cook

In keeping with its promise to brief members of the public of what, why and  how Chief Opeyemi Bademosi, aged 67 years was killed at his No. 3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, the Nigeria Police, Lagos State Command hereby gives a brief of what transpired in the deceased's home on Wednesday, October 31, 2018.

The journey that eventually ended the life of one Opeyemi Bademosi, a business mogul and an Ondo State indigine, began in Ondo town, in the deceased's home state, on 25/10/2018, when one Kofi Friday, 27, returned from Togo to Nigeria and called his compatriots, including the murder suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani, aged 22 years to his house at Yaba area in Ondo town to deliver messages from home.

When the suspect came to take his message, the said Kofi Friday who happens to be his cousin, delivered the good news that he has secured him a job as a cook in a rich man's house in Ikoyi Lagos through one Agbeko Ayenahin, a male friend of his. The suspect was subsequently taken to the deceased's house in Ondo State on Friday, October 26, 2018; it is important to mention that the deceased usually went home every last weekend of the month. So, on Sunday, October 28, 2018, he brought the suspect, Sunday Adefonou, 22, to Lagos to start work as his cook. 

Three days after, Wednesday, October 31, 2018, the suspect with the intention to rob the deceased, made his way to his room through the kitchen, to the lobby and then to the room which was the scene of crime, when he observed that the woman of the house, Mrs Ebunola Bademosi, left home for a transaction  in a neighbourhood bank called Polaris Bank, Falomo branch. 

According to the suspect, when he got to the deceased's room and met him on the bed, he said "Chief, I am not here to kill you". The deceased asked him "what do you want?" and he replied "money". The deceased said he had no money in the house. At this point, the suspect said he tied him up with a cloth and put him on the floor. He went further to say that the deceased, while still on the floor, kicked him causing the knife he tucked inside his pants to fall off. He added that the deceased crawled to pick the knife but he (suspect) was faster; that he struggled with him and the knife accidentally pierced the deceased.

He said that while exiting the room, the deceased took the knife to stab him, so he kicked him and he fell down. He then took the knife and stabbed him twice on the chest which added to three knife stabs.

When he was done killing the man, he entered his bathroom and threw away his apron already stained with blood and the kitchen knife used as murder weapon. He, thereafter, heard a knock on the kitchen door. 

Sensing it must be the deceased's wife, he ran out of the room and exited from the sitting room door. 

He was confronted by the guard at the gate, one Nura Mamudu, who asked him where he was hurrying to and he replied that "madam sent me on an errand".

Finding himself on the street, he came across men loading cement into a Dangote truck. He assisted them and they rewarded him with a lift to Ondo State and the sum of five hundred Naira  (N500.00) given to him by the truck driver in appreciation. 

Investigation into the case revealed the following facts: That the incident occurred on 31/10/2018, at about 0810hrs;

That the suspect committed the offence when the deceased's wife, Mrs Ebunola Bademosi went to Polaris Bank, Falomo branch, Lagos for a transaction; 

That the suspect fled the crime scene when he heard knocks on the door of the kitchen door to Ondo State for refuge;

That the deceased's wife entered the crime scene through the sitting room after knocking several times on the kitchen door without response from the suspect;

That the deceased's wife, Ebunola Bademosi, reported the incident to Police after she found her husband in a pool of blood on 31/10/2018;

That the deceased, some minutes before his death, called his wife, Ebunola Bademosi on phone, complaining that the suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani barged into his bedroom uninvited; 

That the suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani, stabbed the deceased severally on the thoracic region (chest); 

That the the scene of crime which is the deceased's bedroom, was scattered and stained with blood;

That after killing the deceased, the suspect stole his Samsung phone and fled to Ondo State, where he was later arrested on 02/11/2018;

That the stolen Samsung phone was recovered from the suspect upon his arrest in Ondo State; 

That the kitchen knife used in killing the deceased was found inside the deceased's toilet; 

That the suspect's apron found at the scene of crime was soaked with blood;  

That the suspect broke down in tears and confessed to the act after he was confronted with evidence of the CCTV footage;

That the suspect led the investigation team to the crime scene demonstrating/reconstructing how he carried out the crime;

That samples recovered from the scene of the incident have been handed over to Forensic and DNA Department of Ministry of Justice for examination and analysis;

That the autopsy report attributed the cause of death to (a) Bilateral Haemothorax (b) Laceration of the lung and intercostal vessels and (c) Multiple sharp force trauma to the chest;
That the suspects Kofi Friday, Agbeko Ayenahin, Salisu Hussein and Nura Mamudu are not linked to the crime. 
Inconclusion therefore, investigation has established a prima facie case of armed robbery/murder of one Opeyemi Bademosi, male, aged 67 years against Sunday Adefonou Anani, male, 22 years. 

It is evident that the suspect single-handedly committed the crime by stabbing Mr Opeyemi Bademosi to death with a kitchen knife with intent to steal from him. To this end, the suspect will be arraigned in court, while the other suspects who are not linked to the crime will be released to reliable sureties. 

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Edgal Imohimi, has directed that the case file be duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for vetting and legal advice.

He thanks Lagosians for keeping faith with the police and for their patience throughout the duration of the murder investigation which took the Command a record two days to unravel and apprehend the author of the crime, Sunday Adefonou Anani.

He enthused that criminal investigation has gone beyond the era of rule of thumb to an era scientific and research based investigation in Lagos state Police Command.

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Sunday Adefonou Anani, the 22-year-old Togolese cook accused of killing Chief Opeyemi Bademosi, has confessed to perpetrating the crime, the Police have revealed.

Bademosi, Chief Executive Officer of Credit Switch Limited, was stabbed to death at his residence in Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate in Lagos State. See Also CRIME Ondo CEO Stabbed To Death In Multiple Places 'By Togolese Cook' 0 Comments 1 Week Ago

A statement by CSP Chike Oti, Police Public Relations Officer, Lagos State, on Sunday, noted that Anani killed his boss after an attempt to rob the latter's home.

In the confession statement made available to newsmen by the Police, the suspect said he got into an altercation with his boss during the incident and initially stabbed him by accident with a knife he had brought along.

Anani was, however, said to have eventually got hold of the knife and stabbed his boss repeatedly, resulting in his death. Thereafter, he fled the scene of the crime.

THE FULL STATEMENT

HOW I KILLED MY BOSS  ---Togolese Cook

In keeping with its promise to brief members of the public of what, why and  how Chief Opeyemi Bademosi, aged 67 years was killed at his No. 3B, Onikoyi Lane, Parkview Estate, Ikoyi, Lagos, the Nigeria Police, Lagos State Command hereby gives a brief of what transpired in the deceased's home on Wednesday, October 31, 2018.

The journey that eventually ended the life of one Opeyemi Bademosi, a business mogul and an Ondo State indigine, began in Ondo town, in the deceased's home state, on 25/10/2018, when one Kofi Friday, 27, returned from Togo to Nigeria and called his compatriots, including the murder suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani, aged 22 years to his house at Yaba area in Ondo town to deliver messages from home.

When the suspect came to take his message, the said Kofi Friday who happens to be his cousin, delivered the good news that he has secured him a job as a cook in a rich man's house in Ikoyi Lagos through one Agbeko Ayenahin, a male friend of his. The suspect was subsequently taken to the deceased's house in Ondo State on Friday, October 26, 2018; it is important to mention that the deceased usually went home every last weekend of the month. So, on Sunday, October 28, 2018, he brought the suspect, Sunday Adefonou, 22, to Lagos to start work as his cook. 

Three days after, Wednesday, October 31, 2018, the suspect with the intention to rob the deceased, made his way to his room through the kitchen, to the lobby and then to the room which was the scene of crime, when he observed that the woman of the house, Mrs Ebunola Bademosi, left home for a transaction  in a neighbourhood bank called Polaris Bank, Falomo branch. 

According to the suspect, when he got to the deceased's room and met him on the bed, he said "Chief, I am not here to kill you". The deceased asked him "what do you want?" and he replied "money". The deceased said he had no money in the house. At this point, the suspect said he tied him up with a cloth and put him on the floor. He went further to say that the deceased, while still on the floor, kicked him causing the knife he tucked inside his pants to fall off. He added that the deceased crawled to pick the knife but he (suspect) was faster; that he struggled with him and the knife accidentally pierced the deceased.

He said that while exiting the room, the deceased took the knife to stab him, so he kicked him and he fell down. He then took the knife and stabbed him twice on the chest which added to three knife stabs.

When he was done killing the man, he entered his bathroom and threw away his apron already stained with blood and the kitchen knife used as murder weapon. He, thereafter, heard a knock on the kitchen door. 

Sensing it must be the deceased's wife, he ran out of the room and exited from the sitting room door. 

He was confronted by the guard at the gate, one Nura Mamudu, who asked him where he was hurrying to and he replied that "madam sent me on an errand".

Finding himself on the street, he came across men loading cement into a Dangote truck. He assisted them and they rewarded him with a lift to Ondo State and the sum of five hundred Naira  (N500.00) given to him by the truck driver in appreciation. 

Investigation into the case revealed the following facts: That the incident occurred on 31/10/2018, at about 0810hrs;

That the suspect committed the offence when the deceased's wife, Mrs Ebunola Bademosi went to Polaris Bank, Falomo branch, Lagos for a transaction; 

That the suspect fled the crime scene when he heard knocks on the door of the kitchen door to Ondo State for refuge;

That the deceased's wife entered the crime scene through the sitting room after knocking several times on the kitchen door without response from the suspect;

That the deceased's wife, Ebunola Bademosi, reported the incident to Police after she found her husband in a pool of blood on 31/10/2018;

That the deceased, some minutes before his death, called his wife, Ebunola Bademosi on phone, complaining that the suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani barged into his bedroom uninvited; 

That the suspect, Sunday Adefonou Anani, stabbed the deceased severally on the thoracic region (chest); 

That the the scene of crime which is the deceased's bedroom, was scattered and stained with blood;

That after killing the deceased, the suspect stole his Samsung phone and fled to Ondo State, where he was later arrested on 02/11/2018;

That the stolen Samsung phone was recovered from the suspect upon his arrest in Ondo State; 

That the kitchen knife used in killing the deceased was found inside the deceased's toilet; 

That the suspect's apron found at the scene of crime was soaked with blood;  

That the suspect broke down in tears and confessed to the act after he was confronted with evidence of the CCTV footage;

That the suspect led the investigation team to the crime scene demonstrating/reconstructing how he carried out the crime;

That samples recovered from the scene of the incident have been handed over to Forensic and DNA Department of Ministry of Justice for examination and analysis;

That the autopsy report attributed the cause of death to (a) Bilateral Haemothorax (b) Laceration of the lung and intercostal vessels and (c) Multiple sharp force trauma to the chest;
That the suspects Kofi Friday, Agbeko Ayenahin, Salisu Hussein and Nura Mamudu are not linked to the crime. 
Inconclusion therefore, investigation has established a prima facie case of armed robbery/murder of one Opeyemi Bademosi, male, aged 67 years against Sunday Adefonou Anani, male, 22 years. 

It is evident that the suspect single-handedly committed the crime by stabbing Mr Opeyemi Bademosi to death with a kitchen knife with intent to steal from him. To this end, the suspect will be arraigned in court, while the other suspects who are not linked to the crime will be released to reliable sureties. 

The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Edgal Imohimi, has directed that the case file be duplicated and forwarded to the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for vetting and legal advice.

He thanks Lagosians for keeping faith with the police and for their patience throughout the duration of the murder investigation which took the Command a record two days to unravel and apprehend the author of the crime, Sunday Adefonou Anani.

He enthused that criminal investigation has gone beyond the era of rule of thumb to an era scientific and research based investigation in Lagos state Police Command.

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In what appeared to be a response to the criticism against its operations by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Air Peace has blamed aviation politics for its inability to commence designated international routes.

At the fifth stakeholders’ forum held in Abuja last Thursday, Sirika had taunted Air Peace for its inability to begin flying designated international routes and wondered why an airline would acquire aircraft for international operations without using them.

Sirika had insisted that the Fly Nigeria Act may not work until the country’s carriers put their acts together.

Air Peace had, earlier in 2017, acquired a Boeing B777 aircraft in anticipation of the commencement of its international routes. However, nine months after the acquisition, the airline is yet to commence flights to any of the routes.

Also, a few months ago, Air Peace announced the acquisition of another B777 aircraft, bringing the total number of Boeing 777 in its fleet to two.

On the acquisition and non-deployment of the two airliners, stakeholders at various forums had said it was a bad business plan for the airline, saying that either flown or not, some rotables in the aircraft would require change.

In a statement on Sunday, Chris Iwarah, spokesman of the airline, faulted the minister and attributed its inability to commence the routes to aviation politics.

The Federal Government had deployed Air Peace to London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Dubai and Sharjah over three years ago, but the airline was yet to operate into any of the long-haul routes.

Iwarah quoted the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the airline, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, as saying that the authorities of most of the international destinations the carrier had been designated to operate, were either "deliberately foot-dragging in processing its application or imposing frustrating conditions to discourage it from flying into their domains".

Some of the destination countries, she said, responded to the airline’s application only after about two years.

According to her, where the destination countries reluctantly approved the airline’s application to fly into their domains, "their authorities imposed impossible charges on it to frustrate and discourage it from acting on such approval".

The high charges imposed on Nigerian airlines by other nations, she said, were unfortunately not responded to back home, regretting that the foreign airlines were "rather pampered" in Nigeria and given approval to operate to multiple destinations.

She dismissed the claims that domestic airlines lacked the capacity to take advantage of the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) Nigeria signed with different countries.

In demonstration of its capacity, she said Air Peace was at the moment consistently operating into 14 domestic and five regional destinations, including Accra, Banjul, Dakar, Freetown and Monrovia.

Olajide maintained that Air Peace had capacity to operate into all destinations approved for it, announcing that the airline was concluding arrangements to launch its Dubai and Sharjah services before the end of the year. 

In apparent response to the claim that some foreign airlines operating in Nigeria had offered 20 pilots jobs, the Air Peace COO said the carrier had, so far, directly offered jobs to more than 3,000 Nigerians, besides impacting the nation’s economy in many other respects.

She also identified the inability of airlines to operate in most of the nation’s airports once it was sunset as a great disservice to the operational capacity of the carriers.

Speaking on the suspended national carrier project, which Air Peace had criticised as being out of fashion and a drain on public resources, Olajide wondered whether it would be fair for the Federal Government to confer the planned airline with advantages not available to the existing private carriers.

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In what appeared to be a response to the criticism against its operations by the Minister of State for Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Air Peace has blamed aviation politics for its inability to commence designated international routes.

At the fifth stakeholders’ forum held in Abuja last Thursday, Sirika had taunted Air Peace for its inability to begin flying designated international routes and wondered why an airline would acquire aircraft for international operations without using them.

Sirika had insisted that the Fly Nigeria Act may not work until the country’s carriers put their acts together.

Air Peace had, earlier in 2017, acquired a Boeing B777 aircraft in anticipation of the commencement of its international routes. However, nine months after the acquisition, the airline is yet to commence flights to any of the routes.

Also, a few months ago, Air Peace announced the acquisition of another B777 aircraft, bringing the total number of Boeing 777 in its fleet to two.

On the acquisition and non-deployment of the two airliners, stakeholders at various forums had said it was a bad business plan for the airline, saying that either flown or not, some rotables in the aircraft would require change.

In a statement on Sunday, Chris Iwarah, spokesman of the airline, faulted the minister and attributed its inability to commence the routes to aviation politics.

The Federal Government had deployed Air Peace to London, Guangzhou-China, Houston, Mumbai, Johannesburg, Dubai and Sharjah over three years ago, but the airline was yet to operate into any of the long-haul routes.

Iwarah quoted the Chief Operating Officer (COO) of the airline, Mrs. Oluwatoyin Olajide, as saying that the authorities of most of the international destinations the carrier had been designated to operate, were either "deliberately foot-dragging in processing its application or imposing frustrating conditions to discourage it from flying into their domains".

Some of the destination countries, she said, responded to the airline’s application only after about two years.

According to her, where the destination countries reluctantly approved the airline’s application to fly into their domains, "their authorities imposed impossible charges on it to frustrate and discourage it from acting on such approval".

The high charges imposed on Nigerian airlines by other nations, she said, were unfortunately not responded to back home, regretting that the foreign airlines were "rather pampered" in Nigeria and given approval to operate to multiple destinations.

She dismissed the claims that domestic airlines lacked the capacity to take advantage of the Bilateral Air Service Agreements (BASA) Nigeria signed with different countries.

In demonstration of its capacity, she said Air Peace was at the moment consistently operating into 14 domestic and five regional destinations, including Accra, Banjul, Dakar, Freetown and Monrovia.

Olajide maintained that Air Peace had capacity to operate into all destinations approved for it, announcing that the airline was concluding arrangements to launch its Dubai and Sharjah services before the end of the year. 

In apparent response to the claim that some foreign airlines operating in Nigeria had offered 20 pilots jobs, the Air Peace COO said the carrier had, so far, directly offered jobs to more than 3,000 Nigerians, besides impacting the nation’s economy in many other respects.

She also identified the inability of airlines to operate in most of the nation’s airports once it was sunset as a great disservice to the operational capacity of the carriers.

Speaking on the suspended national carrier project, which Air Peace had criticised as being out of fashion and a drain on public resources, Olajide wondered whether it would be fair for the Federal Government to confer the planned airline with advantages not available to the existing private carriers.

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Bola Tinubu Ynaija

Many would have thought the crises ravaging the Ladoke Akintola University, LAUTECH, Ogbomoso, would have ended, especially with the appointment of former Lagos governor and national leader of Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu as chancellor of the institution jointly owned by Osun and Oyo States. Many people, including students and staff of LAUTECH, had heaved sighs of relief. Rather, the crises have continued to fester, with no end in sight!

It all started in 2009, towards the tail end of the administrations of Governors Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Adebayo Alao-Akala of Osun and Oyo State respectively. In a bid to take full ownership of the institution, Alao-Akala, in whose hometown the institution main campus is situated, built another Teaching Hospital (TH) for the institution. The institution’s TH has always been in Osogbo, the Osun State capital. Soon, they started defaulting in the funding of the institution. Rather than nosedive when the administrations of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and Sen. Abiola Ajimobi began, things became worse, on daily basis.

I am concerned about the institution in many ways. I have close persons whose lives and survival are dependent on LAUTECH. Maybe I would have attended the institution if I were an arts student. The school was a pride to many people, including those of us who were not science students. Before 2009, the school, and its students, won many laurels, both within and outside the shores of Nigeria. From far and wide, people wanted to study there. Lecturers were eager to observe their sabbatical in the school. Practically, it was one of the sought after state universities in the country. If there were anytime the institution experienced industrial action, it didn’t have anything to do with funding or salary payment.

Since 2016, when the two brother governors of Oyo and Osun states have decided to be insensitive, the school has known no peace. It has been 10-month strike, 2-month academic activities. Everything has been grounded economically and academically. Some students have resorted to anti-social behaviors while lecturers have lost their remaining dignity. 

I know of lecturers who have had to transfer their wards to public schools as they are unable to pay school fees. Some lecturers dare not go home in daytime as they would be ambushed by their creditors. Many lecturers, and other workers, have been sacked. Some have left their jobs, for better offers and greener pastures. Some students have had to spend 4 years in the same level. Application to the school has dropped. Those who are there don’t even know when they would graduate. Those who have graduated don’t know when they would be mobilized for youth service. Some may not even be qualified for the few available jobs when they are done with service due to age factor. Those who have businesses on campus are counting their losses. Ogbomoso’s economy is in comatose because of the epileptic academic activities at the institution.

If Tinubu has ever stepped on the soil of that institution, maybe once. I cannot even remember. This is the same Tinubu who is known for providing leadership during troubled times. The same Tinubu who led the opposition to unseat the incumbent. The same Tinubu whose Bourdillon street many successful politicians have visited for blessing. Guinea’s Alpha Conde and many other African presidents are his allies. 2019 elections are here and his names have continued to be dropped. Twice, in just one week, President Muhammadu Buhari has invited him to Aso Rock, for solutions to some problems.

For the mess to stop, don’t you think Tinubu has a lot to do? Forget those who are saying they will solve the problem few days after taking over as Governor. It is beyond that. It is just a mere campaign talk! No matter Tinubu’s achievements and popularity, history would be unkind to him regarding his silence on the LAUTECH issue. Whether people will describe it as political or not, this is the best time for Asiwaju to help solve these LAUTECH issues.

In fact, if it means resigning as chancellor of the institution, it will be an honourable thing to do. But that would amount to obvious lack of capacity to tackle issues for someone who ruled Lagos for 8 years.

If the assets and liabilities had been shared when Osun was carved out of old Oyo State, this present problem would have been avoided. I have an advise for Asiwaju and others. I may not have the experience in leadership but I believe my opinion may be useful. I know they know all these but they might have forgotten or not courageous to apply it. 

I learnt LAUTECH owes N5 billion. It is huge! How did we get here? The same school we were (sorry, I wanted to write ‘are’) proud of, especially in 2004 when it won several accolades. We can still bring back the good old days. As it stands, the two governors are helpless, not because they are ‘idealess’, they don’t have the financial muscle. I laugh when some people say Osun should concede the school to Oyo because they now have their own state university. Lame excuse I call it. In fact, any governor that does that will not be favored by history. 

This is not the best of times for Tinubu to be chancellor of the institution. He has been criminally silent on the matter. Despite that the two governors are his ‘boys’, he has refrained from making comments. 

I have a solution, sorry solutions. To rescue the university from his ‘onigbese’ state, Tinubu can bail them out with N3 billion. Yes, three billion naira! It is too much. And it is not. Tinubu can afford more than that, even from his personal purse. You want to ask I am his account officer? However, he need not use his personal money. God has shown mercy to Tinubu in many ways. He has a solid connection of useful friends, both within and outside the country. In Guinea, just like I said, he has Conde. In Nigeria, he has PMB and several governors and ministers. In the last election, the PDP made us to know he is the biggest landlord in Lagos. He can organize fund raising for LAUTECH and more than the N3b would be raised. The two governors should raise the remaining N2b between them. Some people will call this rubbish; that I am not being realistic. But that is not all.

After paying all the arrears and outstanding, a careful audit of the assets and liabilities of the school should be carried out. Heads should be made to roll. This is all in a bid to reposition the institution for greatness. However, if Oyo State is ready to pay what Osun demands, to hands off its shares of the ownership, it can be worked out.

Sikiru Akinola is the publisher of www.oyoinsight.com. He can be reached via 08021195118

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The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has confirmed that it has begun the process for the extradition of Deziani Alison-Madueke, Nigeria's former Minister of Petroleum, from the United Kingdom.

Acting EFCC Spokesman, Tony Orilade, disclosed this in an interview with NAN in Abuja on Sunday.

According to Orilade, EFCC’s Operations Department has made a presentation to the Legal Department to commence the process, and it is already in progress.

However, he noted that the action had to be processed through the office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, as it was not something the commission would commence and conclude on its own.

“It is ongoing. Within the next few weeks, the extent to which we have gone will be made known to the public," he said.

“It is not a fresh case; it is not a fresh petition that is just being looked into; the whole process is a total package. This extradition is just an aspect of Deziani’s investigation and commencement of trial."

The EFCC spokesman did not state the point at which it became necessary to seek the former minister's extradition.

In 2017, a Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the final forfeiture of N7.6 billion alleged loot recovered from the former minister to the Federal Government. Justice Abdulazeez Anka granted an application by the EFCC seeking the final forfeiture of the money to the government.

Granting the application, the judge had said: “I have read the motion on notice seeking the final forfeiture of the sum of N7.6 billion reasonably suspected to be proceeds of unlawful activity. I have also gone through the affidavit in support of the application.

“In the circumstances, I am of the view that the application has merit and is hereby granted as prayed. Parties have a right of appeal.”

In October 2017, Abubakar Malami, Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, had said Nigeria had no immediate plan to bring Allison-Madueke back home to face trial.

Allison-Madueke, who is being investigated in the UK, had urged the Federal Government to bring her back to the country to face corruption charges against her.

However, Malami said bringing her back to the country would jeopardise the investigation being carried on her in the UK.

“Steps have been taken by the United Kingdom authorities on issues bothering on corrupt practices involving Nigerians," Malami had said.

"If Nigeria feels strongly that there is need to bring Mrs Diezani Allison-Madueke here to face charges of corruption, government will not hesitate to do that. As things stand now, there is no need for that since the UK Government is already investigating her."

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Adebayo Raphael speaking at a public function.

It is no longer news that contemporary records of flagrant abuses of human rights have been synonymously identified with General Buhari's administration since he assumed the office of the presidency in May 2015. It is, however, disturbing that the degree of senseless persecution of citizens and groups for inane reasons has hit the skies with no comforting end in sight.

Disappointingly, numerous mental pygmies have proffered different kinds of rationalizations to these flagrant abuses in favour of the tyrannic regime of General Buhari. 

While I understand that the majority of those defending the existing tyranny that we see today are merely ensuring the continual security of their source of livelihood and that the rest are either too ignorant, sentimental or illogical to dissect and make dispassionate submissions about the situation; I have chosen to write this piece with the hope that such people and their sympathizers would be rudely awakened to the supremacy of humanism and the constancy of moral law in the entire human agency. 

My focus today is on the continuing confrontation between the Federal Government's forces and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN) or the Shia Islamic group as they are also called. 

Basically, there are two sides to the ongoing debates on the Government vs IMN: On the one hand, there are those excusing the killings of Shias by the state's forces as an inevitable act of violence in defence of Nigeria's unity and territorial integrity; and on the other hand, there are those claiming the contentious issue is mutually exclusive of common understanding. While I disagree that the contentious situation is not for public discourse, for there is no better way to reach amelioration than through this means; I must state that the debate is one that requires logical lucubration.

On whether the Islamic Movement of Nigeria is indeed a threat to Nigeria: In times of war, commanders use different tactics to demonize their opponents and also win public sympathy. One of the potent tactics used is known as psychological warfare or Hearts and Minds or Propaganda. An effective psychological warfare or propaganda is like an opium; it can easily capture the mind of man and convince him to believe anything its proponents are propagating. And as has become evident in the General Buhari-led administration, there is presently an effective propaganda against the Shias in Nigeria. 

Among many, the group has been regarded as a violent group with members (especially women) allegedly walking around with knives tucked inside their abaya looking for people to stab. It has also been regarded as a group practising Bidah (in Islam) or doctrinal heresy. Another potent propaganda is that which promulgates the group as a radical secessionist movement intending to hand over Nigeria to Iran. At the epicentre of this propaganda, however, is a litany of carefully concocted fables intended to enforce a structural and cultural violence against the IMN members so as to demonize them in the sight of the people and eventually inflame the seething impetus of direct violence against the group. For many will refrain from associating with this group while many more will support whatsoever unjust act is carried out against them because of this propaganda. 

In spite of this propaganda which has considerably turned public sentiment against the distressed group especially at the grassroots, it is instructive to note that the Shias have been moderately calm with their temperament. Even in the face of extrajudicial killings and state-sponsored direct violence which has so far led to the death of hundreds of its members including six sons of its leader Elzazaky; the Shias have demonstrated zero proclivity for violence. 

For we have seen the mass killing and burial of over 300 IMN members in mass graves; the prolonged incarceration of its leader even with the court ruling otherwise; and the frequent clampdowns on peaceful protests organized by its members in different parts of Nigeria; yet we have also seen a great sense of self-suffering and non-violence that the world has not witnessed since Mohandas Gandhi and Martin Luther King's era in the Civil Rights Movement.

On the other side of the debate which attempts to foreclose this issue from public discourse: I think there can be no stronger attempt to shield impunity and glorify injustice than this hypocritical narrative from religious zealots. Surely, this narrative seeks to vindicate and sanctify the state's aberrant use of aggression against the IMN as though it were nothing. 

From a religious point of view, the continuous killing of Shias is indicative of the decades-long religious feud which exists between the two major Islamic groups in Nigeria; The Sunnis (commonly described as orthodox) and the Shias (commonly described as unorthodox). These two groups have fundamentally been entangled in several doctrinal disputes as the former believes its doctrines supercedes that of the latter. This has led to increasing tensions between both sides over the years. Painfully, the role of government in dousing the tensions between both groups as the arbiter of conflicts has drastically diminished since the beginning of the current regime of General Buhari; for his regime is more sentimental than neutral and has become an inciting element in the conflict as a result.

Interestingly, the increasing degree of aggression of the state against the Shias is a glaring disregard for PART II Section 23 of the CFRN which accentuates Religious Tolerance as one of the National Ethics of our country. In addition, Section 38 (1) of the same constitution says, "Every person shall be entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including freedom to change his religion or belief, and freedom (either alone or in community with others, and in public or in private) to manifest and propagate his religion or belief in worship, teaching, practice and observance." But the desperation of the Federal Government and its forces to clamp down on Shias as has been done to many other groups since 2015, knows no bounds. 

The consequence of the current approach of General Buhari's regime is that it might lead to bigger problems for the country. For we have learned from history that a people subjected to oppression and dehumanizing conditions are a people on the fringes of violence. 

Although I am not one to encourage the use of violence, I must warn that it becomes inevitable when one is left with no other option. For we can always learn from history that injustice and oppression make violence inevitable. Even now, we have seen the IMN transmogrify from a position of great vulnerability with no sign (and most probably intent) of attacking the state's forces, to a position of stone-throwing as a last resort for self-defence. And should the present injustice against the group continue, it may be extremely difficult to curtail or abate the angst of the group later. 

Instrumental to my point in the last paragraph is the fact that we have become a people of no sober reflections. As of today, we can wistfully recount the monumental ordeals that our country has had to go through as a result of religious extremism: From the religious violence of Yan Tatsine between the late 1970s to mid 1980s that led to the death of over ten thousand Nigerians with over 30, 000 displaced citizens across Kano, Maiduguri, Kaduna, Yola, and Gombe; to the Jos Riots of 2001, 2008, 2010 and 2018, and the massacres of 2004 and 2010 that altogether left roughly 7, 700 Nigerians six feet under; to the religious tensions in Kaduna that has led to several riots since 2000 up until now with at least 7, 000 to 10, 000 dead Nigerians; and the most calamitous Boko Haram extremists who have so far killed at least 20, 000 Nigerians with no less than 2.5Million people displaced and scattered across the country and even beyond its shores! 

Bearing this factuality in mind, I believe it is treasonous to country and extremely noxious to humanity for any government or leader; person or group of persons; to further stoke religious tensions or inflame the embers of violent religious extremism by perpetrating acts of great injustice against a group under the cloak of national security or whatsoever cock and bull story they so please to propagandise. But I believe it is very crucial at this point in our national trajectory that we call a spade by its name and never allow ourselves be driven into a shell of fear when our lives are endangered regardless.

Let it not be that we the people of Nigeria will continue to glorify the ignominious practice of canonising state violence against the people as just and demonising the people’s resort to the same as an act of terror. Whether Christian or Muslim; Buddhist or Sikh; Deist or Atheist; king or subject; legislator or constituent; rich or poor; President or not; we all possess the same inalienable rights of man which makes us incontrovertibly equal.  

As I passionately hope that we all are longing for a society of peace and religious tolerance, it is important to urge the citizens and government of Nigeria to take a leaf out of Immanuel Kant's categorical imperative of the Golden Rule. That in all our discussions and decisions, we will be guided by the imperative to treat others the way we want to be treated, too.


Adebayo Raphael is the National Secretary of the OurMumuDonDo Movement. He writes from Abuja and can be reached on Twitter via; @Asorosobioro.

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