IYANDA'SBLOG

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
People living in Australia’s largest city to remain under stay-at-home orders until July 30.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
A preliminary investigation found the property owner had privately modified the building's structure.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
The announcement comes as the West hardens its stance over alleged human rights abuses in the region.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
New York-based Iranian-born journalist Masih Alinejad says she was targeted for abduction.

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.

Okorocha’s suspension was communicated in a letter dated July 12, 2021, and signed by Mai Mala Buni and John Akpanudoedehe, national chairman and secretary of the APC caretaker committee, respectively.

Rochas Okorocha

According to the letter, the decision to suspend Okorocha, senator representing Imo west, was in line with the decision of the state chapter of the party and results from the former governor’s involvement in “anti-party activities.”

He was also accused of abusing the person and office of the President of Nigeria.

“This is to communicate to you, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Party ratification of your suspension by the Imo State Chapter of our great party for anti-party activities,” the letter addressed to Okorocha reads.

“The suspension follows after the recommendation by the Imo State Disciplinary Committee set up to investigate allegations of gross anti-party activities against you, which is in line with Article 21 (B) I-VI of our party’s constitution.

“Below are the anti-party activities on which the investigation and subsequent suspension were relied upon. Continuous, discrete meetings with the opposition party both at the state and national level.

“Flagrant public abuse on the person and office of the President, Republic of Nigeria (An APC-led government).”

Politics Breaking News News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Ov8mOZ

The National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has suspended a former governor of Imo State, Rochas Okorocha.

Okorocha’s suspension was communicated in a letter dated July 12, 2021, and signed by Mai Mala Buni and John Akpanudoedehe, national chairman and secretary of the APC caretaker committee, respectively.

Rochas Okorocha

According to the letter, the decision to suspend Okorocha, senator representing Imo west, was in line with the decision of the state chapter of the party and results from the former governor’s involvement in “anti-party activities.”

He was also accused of abusing the person and office of the President of Nigeria.

“This is to communicate to you, the National Working Committee (NWC) of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Party ratification of your suspension by the Imo State Chapter of our great party for anti-party activities,” the letter addressed to Okorocha reads.

“The suspension follows after the recommendation by the Imo State Disciplinary Committee set up to investigate allegations of gross anti-party activities against you, which is in line with Article 21 (B) I-VI of our party’s constitution.

“Below are the anti-party activities on which the investigation and subsequent suspension were relied upon. Continuous, discrete meetings with the opposition party both at the state and national level.

“Flagrant public abuse on the person and office of the President, Republic of Nigeria (An APC-led government).”

Politics Breaking News News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Ov8mOZ

The Imo State Government on Tuesday shut Rochas Foundation College, Orji, in Owerri, the state capital.

The government officials arrived at the location, which is the old quarters of the staff of Imo Broadcasting Corporation and sealed it.

Rochas Okorocha owns the college.

It was observed that the state government had taken over the massive property.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Imo State on Print Media, Modestus Nwamkpa, who confirmed the development, said the governor, Hope Uzodinma, was committed to recovering properties of the state allegedly “looted by Okorocha and his family members.”

Nwamkpa said that the governor was implementing the recommendations of various White Papers by committees set up by the state government.

The governor’s aide confirmed the seal off “is true,” adding that “Governor Hope Uzodinma is committed to recovering all the properties of the state stolen. This is not a personal war it is just the implementation of the recommendations of the whitepapers of the various committees set up the government.”

But Okorocha’s spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, when contacted, said that Okorocha’s enormous political capacity jolted Uzodinma.

Speaking with Punch, Okorocha’s aide said, “This is the fourth time Imo State Government has announced sealing that place. EFCC had also announced that they had closed it but the truth is that Uzodinma should wake up. There is hunger in the state.

“This is just the renewal of his war against Okorocha after Okorocha and other strong APC chieftains in Imo State visited APC National Secretariat. Each time Uzodinma realizes that the people are not happy with his style of governance, he uses Okorocha’s name to distract the people but the truth is poverty and hunger pervade the atmosphere. He should be humble enough to consult Okorocha on how to govern the state.”

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3aNtA7s

The Imo State Government on Tuesday shut Rochas Foundation College, Orji, in Owerri, the state capital.

The government officials arrived at the location, which is the old quarters of the staff of Imo Broadcasting Corporation and sealed it.

Rochas Okorocha owns the college.

It was observed that the state government had taken over the massive property.

The Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Imo State on Print Media, Modestus Nwamkpa, who confirmed the development, said the governor, Hope Uzodinma, was committed to recovering properties of the state allegedly “looted by Okorocha and his family members.”

Nwamkpa said that the governor was implementing the recommendations of various White Papers by committees set up by the state government.

The governor’s aide confirmed the seal off “is true,” adding that “Governor Hope Uzodinma is committed to recovering all the properties of the state stolen. This is not a personal war it is just the implementation of the recommendations of the whitepapers of the various committees set up the government.”

But Okorocha’s spokesperson, Sam Onwuemeodo, when contacted, said that Okorocha’s enormous political capacity jolted Uzodinma.

Speaking with Punch, Okorocha’s aide said, “This is the fourth time Imo State Government has announced sealing that place. EFCC had also announced that they had closed it but the truth is that Uzodinma should wake up. There is hunger in the state.

“This is just the renewal of his war against Okorocha after Okorocha and other strong APC chieftains in Imo State visited APC National Secretariat. Each time Uzodinma realizes that the people are not happy with his style of governance, he uses Okorocha’s name to distract the people but the truth is poverty and hunger pervade the atmosphere. He should be humble enough to consult Okorocha on how to govern the state.”

Politics News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3aNtA7s

Friends and family members of Gray Ekpezu, a final-year student of Genetics and Biotechnology of the University of Calabar, who was shot dead by a trigger-happy soldier, have called for justice.

 

A source told SaharaReporters that Ekpezu was with his friends on Friday night in front of his compound at Edibe Edibe, Calabar South, Cross River State and was accosted by a yet-to-be-identified soldier, who ordered that they all lay on the floor.

It was stated that Ekpezu was shot on the back by the soldier, who immediately left the scene afterward.

 

 "Gray was shot dead on the 9th of July by a soldier. He was out with seven of his friends, including my elder brother; they were there around 9 pm when a soldier came and asked all of them to lay down with their faces to the ground. Suddenly, the soldier pulled the trigger and shot Ekpezu on the back. His friends wanted to rush him to the hospital but he was already dead.

 

"We later learned that the soldier was taken to Afokang Prison. The community people went to Afokang prison in Calabar South. They insisted on seeing the culprit, but the military men there said the soldier was newly posted to the area that he dropped the uniform and his rifle and fled. We don't even know what the truth is. 

 

"We heard that the same soldier was apprehended at a Car park in Calabar and we don't want this issue to be swept under the carpet. That is why we are seeking justice.

 

"They told us that once the guy has been apprehended, justice will take its course but you know Nigeria. They said he would be arraigned in the martial court but there is no date for now. The military even told the wife to visit the prison on Monday but the guy's father said they should hold on till he returns from a journey.

 

"He was shot in cold blood; please we want justice for Ekpezu. He has a four-year-old son who keeps saying his father was shot."

News AddThis :  Original Author :  SaharaReporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/2Vu3vVN

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
A man died in the unrest that began on Sunday, but witnesses deny official accounts of the incident.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
British backpacker Peter Falconio murdered killed in the Australian outback 20 years ago.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
A BBC investigation found that children, whose parents supported IS, are caught in a conveyor belt of incarceration.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Thousands of stories have emerged of Australian students sexually assaulted by fellow pupils.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
People caught in the middle of the violence say their city is "on fire" - and they feel abandoned.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Questlove's directorial debut uncovers lost gigs with Sly Stone, Stevie Wonder and Nina Simone.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
A debate over communion for the second Catholic US president renews questions of religion and politics.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Saudi Arabia's crown prince was shunned after the 2018 killing, but the kingdom is back in business.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
The private-sector scheme allows companies to vaccinate their Colombian staff, regardless of need.

https://ift.tt/eA8V8J
Rebecca transforms people's old and unwanted dolls and then gives them away for free.

I must commend the National Assembly, particularly the distinguished members of the Senate who have today given Nigerians reasons to keep believing in our nascent democracy by rejecting the nomination of Madam Lauretta Onochie for a position within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). By this singular action, the Senate has affirmed its commitment to the rule of law and equity, and have displayed uncommon impartiality in the discharge of its legislative mandate as a pivot for the check and balancing of executive powers in the country.

Madam Lauretta Onochie’s nomination rankled the country for its bare audacity and posed a threat to the integrity and impartiality of Nigeria’s electoral body if her nomination had indeed sailed through. Therefore, the Senate’s recognition of, and alignment with, the objective opposition to her nomination championed by well-meaning members of the public and civil society organisations must be commended and indeed puts the Red Chamber in good public stead.

I am at once proud of all members of the Senate and must express my satisfaction with the alacrity with which they discharged their sworn duty to the Nigerian people and the constitution. Indeed, contrary to widely held reservations about the autonomy of the National Assembly, their action and decision in this one instance dispels the public's despair and assures of a legislative chamber peopled by distinguished members with the best interests of Nigeria and Nigerians at heart.

I want to express the hope that this is a sign of more legislative dividends to come and the timing could not be better. At this moment in time, Nigerians need a National Assembly it can hope on to keep the exercise and excesses of executive powers in check, and the Senate have indeed demonstrated capacity when the bell tolled the loudest for their intervention in the best interests of our democracy. 

It is also on record that the obnoxious NBC and NPC amendment bills were withdrawn by its sponsor today having perhaps read the room and recognised the Senate’s commitment to oppose anti-people bills. This is really commendable and is an exemplification of Abraham Lincoln’s popular description of a democracy. 

I want to also specially congratulate the general public; individuals, groups, civil society groups and others, whose strategic outrage kindled the democratic fibres of the Senate. As a people united in voice and action, there are simply no limits to the imposition of our preferences in our democratic experience. Good job and well done.

Pelumi Olajengbesi, Esq. is a Legal Practitioner and the Principal Partner at LAW CORRIDOR, Abuja. Lawcorridor@gmail.com

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Pelumi Olajengbesi Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3kb8V2p

The Kaduna Police Command has rescued one of the students of Bethel Baptist School, Kaduna, and two other victims from their abductors.

 

The victims were rescued during a routine patrol mission by the operatives around the forest of Tsohon Gaya village of Chikun Local Government Area of Kaduna.

File photo used to illustrate story.

The Command’s Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Mohammed Jalige, said  this in a statement that the two other rescued victims were kidnapped recently along Kaduna – Kachia Road.

 

The statement read in part, “On the 12th July 2021 at about 3:40 pm, the Operatives of the Command alongside Civilian JTF during a routine rescue patrol around the forest of Tsohon Gaya village of Chikun LGA of Kaduna State stumbled on three kidnapped victims roaming the bush extremely exhausted and weak.

 

“The victims were safely evacuated and rushed to Police Clinic Kaduna where they are currently being resuscitated and will subsequently be handed over to their immediate families.”

 

The police identified Zaharaddeen Ibrahim, Nura Nuhu; victims kidnapped recently along Kaduna – Kachia Road and Abraham Aniya, and one of Bethel Baptist Secondary School students, Kujama kidnapped the previous week.

 

The Command reassured the public of its resolve to ensure more victims are rescued within the shortest possible time.

Police News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3ejCwne

Despite being found guilty of abuse and assault, Olympian Chika Chukwumerije is expected to lead the Nigerian Taekwondo contingent to the 2021 Tokyo Olympic Games, SaharaReporters has gathered.

 

“Can you imagine that the same person found guilty of abuse and assault is leading the Nigerian Taekwondo continent to the Olympics? Someone that ought to be in prison now.

“Instead of taking action against him, the Nigerian government, Sports Ministry, and the National Sports Commission (NSC) decided to reward coach Chika Chukwumerije,” a source at the ministry said.

 

Justice Peter Kekemeke of the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyanya, Abuja, had dismissed a N500m libel suit by Chukwumerije against Yemi Adeyemi-Enilari and Delateur Foundation on May 31.

 

The claimant had filed the suit on December 22, 2015, against the defendants, claiming that they (defendants) published on Nigeria Taekwondo Black Belt College Facebook page a letter dated Monday, October 5, 2015, purportedly addressed to “President, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation” concerning him with the caption “Petition: Abuse and Assault of Taekwondo Athletes.”

 

He claimed that the alleged publication, which accused him of physically assaulting athletes, especially females, during the camping of Taekwondo athletes in Abuja, attracted hate, ridicule and contempt to his personality.

 

Adeyemi-Enilari, Chairman of Delateur Foundation, alleged in the post that Chukwumerije assaulted female athletes, Fatimah Abdullahi and Esther Uzoukwu, who were in camp at Febson Hotel, Wuse Zone 4, Abuja in preparation for the 2015 African Games.

 

In his ruling via Zoom, Justice Kekemeke of the Abuja court stated, “The law is that when such a defense is raised, the burden is on the defendant to prove the truth of the words complained of. The defendant must prove that the defamatory imputation is true by justifying the precise imputation complained of.

 

“It is not necessary to prove the truth of every word in the libel. If the defendant proves that the main charge or gist of the libel is true, he needs not justify the statements, which do not add to the sting of the charge. See Dumbo Vs. Idugboe (1983) 1 SC NLR 29.

 

“The gist of the charge is that the claimant assaulted athletes who were in camp at Febson Hotel, preparatory to the All African Games in Congo Brazzaville; that they were psychologically and mentally traumatized. A justification of the truth of the substantial imputation by the defendant is sufficient though it does not extend to every epithet or term of general abuse that may be found in the description or statement of the imputation.

 

“In the instant case, it is my view that the defendants have justified the precise imputation complained of and I so hold. The defendants have proved that the gist of the libel is true. In the circumstance, the suit crumbles and it is accordingly dismissed.”

 

One of the athletes, Abdullahi, had in an interview with SaharaReporters in 2016 said the Taekwondo training camp became “a sad experience” because of the assault “by one of our coaching crew Mr. Chika Chukwumerije.” 

 

According to her, the abusive coach “used a rope tied with paper to beat” athletes “if you did not do certain things correctly.”

 

She stated that the abuse reached a more disturbing stage when Chukwumerije “wanted to use a tiny iron rod to beat us.” 

 

She also alleged that there were instances where the coach slapped her for not performing the way he expected.

 

In a recent interview with PUNCH, Abdullahi said Chukwumerije, a bronze medalist at the Beijing 2008 Olympics, boasted that nothing would come out of the case.

 

“I have only been getting help from Master Yemi (Adeyemi-Enilari); nobody in the federation has been supporting me; this is a case of fighting with someone more powerful than you. When we reported to the grandmaster and the grandmaster called him, he boasted to the man, saying, ‘I am spending for taekwondo and I will continue to spend for taekwondo; nobody can control me.’ Ever since nobody talked about it again,” she said.

 

George Ashiru, President, Nigeria Taekwondo Federation at the time of the alleged assault, said the report of the panel’s investigations was presented to the sports ministry, but added that there was no feedback from the ministry before he was controversially impeached in December 2015, prompting Delateur Foundation, an NGO, to take up the matter on behalf of the athletes.

 

“Complaints were made and the federation took it up, but there was no feedback from the ministry until our tenure was over, so we don’t know what happened after that,” Ashiru said.

 

“What I can recollect is that some athletes complained to their state associations that they were assaulted and the state associations requested the federation to comment on that. Later on, an NGO decided to join the case, saying they were also fighting on behalf of the athletes.

 

“As president at that time, we had a disciplinary committee and the norm was to pass the matter to that committee to investigate, which we did and the committee submitted their report at the board meeting.

 

“Unfortunately, the day the report was to be provided by the chairman of the committee was when they decided they didn’t want to hear anything apart from impeaching me.

 

“We were never formally informed about all the actions that were taken subsequently, till the end of our tenure, which I presume is the reason the NGO decided to make it public, to try to force the government to do something about it.”

 

According to the PUNCH, the head of the disciplinary committee, Gideon Akinsola, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, said Chukwumerije was found guilty of the allegations by the committee.

 

“When the athletes complained against him, we checked and saw the evidence that he was physically assaulting them,” Akinsola said.

 

“(Sunny) Obot was the secretary of the federation then and secretary of the committee that investigated the matter and we submitted our report to the federation, who said we shouldn’t use a sledgehammer to kill a cockroach; that we should take it easy to avoid division because they were preparing for the African Games.

 

“But Chukwumerije didn’t help matters and started looking for a way to impeach the president and it led to our tenure coming to an abrupt end.”

 

A copy of the disciplinary committee’s report titled ‘SITUATION REPORT ON CASE OF ASSAULT BETWEEN MR CHIKA CHUWUMERIJE AND SOME FEMALE ATHLETES’ signed by then NTF secretary-general, Sunny Obot, and addressed to the Director, FEAD, National Sports Commission, stated that Chukwumerije physically abused the athletes.

 

 The report, dated December 11, 2019, read, “After carefully looking at the two (2) statements from the athletes and the discussion between the Secretary-General and Mr. Chika Chukwumerije in camp, it was evident that the act was committed but since Chika could not talk to the committee, it became relatively difficult for the committee to determine his intention which could have given it a soft landing.

 

“Therefore, it was thus decided that: (1) Chika should apologize to the athletes, including the Taekwondo Community, for assaulting female athletes (2) Where he fails to do so; he should be suspended from all Taekwondo activities for three months.”

 

Obot stated that stand-in captain for the African Games, Ayodele Temitope had reported to him that “Chukwumerije slapped in particular, three (3) female athletes (Esther Uzoukwu, Ifeoma Dennis, Joy Ekhator – a police officer) for their inability to kick according to his instructions.”

News AddThis :  Original Author :  Saharareporters, New York Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3yYnudV

The Dunami incident is revealing enough. Some pastors are state agents, moles and instruments in the hands of Nigerian state for mass herding and brainwashing of the people. The same with some Imams. I also believe that if you open your eyes, you should find them too in the ranks of believers of the Ancient Ways.

Five young Nigerians attended a church service, wearing a T-shirt, which a political statement was inscribed on. The church found that sacrilegious. The church authorities worked itself to the Pinnacle of frenzy when the young men, reportedly, started taking selfies in church premises. 

We are supposed to get angry that the boys wore 'Buhari Must Go' T-shirt to a church service; the church must have believed we must necessarily get mad. A God loving country that Nigeria is, with God fearing church leaders and statesmen; we must feel affronted by young boys taking selfies before the God the nation's Bigmen worship. 
#FreeDunamis5 protest today

What baffling hypocrisy would that be, if the people were to believe that. And the people didn't believe that. The people have thought the response of Pastor Eneche excessive and suspicious. Why would anyone defend the honour of a discredited government that hasn't been honorable enough to keep its vows before God and Nigerian people to "secure the country", build the economy, and "fight corruption"? Why? If not for the subtle collaboration that has existed between the church and the state from the beginning of human history. 

The boys that took their political passion before God are not different from the pastors that speak freely from the altar about their political beliefs. Nigeria has its fair share of activist-pastors, even when it is a matter of great confusion to make sense of the huge difference between the words and actions of these clerics. We in fact have clerics that frolic with killers, and some clerics who die at the hands of killer-bandits. And we the people are liberal about it, we don't send hire-killers after them; why then should a Pastor send the alphabetised government's thugs after poor people that are doing even something lesser.  

Are we to assume then that political expression in churches or religious houses is a privilege only a cleric can exercise; are we to say some constitutional rights to freedoms of thoughts, expression and political association end at the doorsteps of religious organisations? 

Governors, politicians, the exact people that create the majority of problems that take Nigerians to churches, also take their supplications to God. So far, God has been answering the prayers of these politicians, which are also our  scariest nightmares. Should it then be unjust to take the prayers of the oppressed, the victims of the evil that sits in the front pews, to God? Should their cries for liberation be shielded from God? What if the oppressed want an oppressive government gone, should they be shielded by some priest who has not the slightest understanding of poverty and deprivation? 

It is the sons of an orange tree that make men strike the mother-tree. I would have kept some of my observations about the faith to myself, if this assault against the freedom of others has not taken place, if this rank hypocrisy has not occured. This same church has its members painting Instagram with vidoes of their members "Skabashing", fighting the devil in spiritual tongues, while the real devil in Agbada occupies a front pews in their auditoriums. Why should a selfie during "first-timer" call be a taboo then; why should it merit requesting government-thugs to go after the Congregation?

Dunami Church has no point to make. It only made itself available, (I know, not cheaply), to the Buhari government to repress citizens. What was the church thinking by bringing the DSS to arrest suspected protesters? Was Pastor Eneche unaware of the brutish, anti-protest credentials of a Presidency that mowed down EndSARS protesters at Lekki? Pastor Enenche took his sychophancy to earthly Powers too far this time by calling on "Government-murderers" to pick up "Anti-government" protesters?

 
Meanwhile such paranoia made Buhari to deploy a killer-squad against EndSARS protesters in October 20, 2020, whom he claimed wanted to remove him. Is the pastor even aware that he has thrown passionate young men, whose only offense was their desire for a country that works, to the claws of an insatiable Tiger? They are denied all their democratic rights to access their lawyers in detention, and no one can ascertain their wellbeing, including of a visually-challenged person among the Dunami-5. Pastor Enenche is responsible! Over what? Because young men came to pray, ashes in their head, mourning as the Prophets of yore did, begging the spiritworld to commit an oppressive government to the dust. They have every right to do so. And they should be freed now!

Wole Engels writes from Lagos, Nigeria. He can be contacted via: oluengels@gmail.com

Opinion AddThis :  Original Author :  Wole Engels Disable advertisements : 
https://ift.tt/3r0GrK2