The General Overseer of Living Faith Ministries aka Winners Chapel International, David Oyedepo, has endorsed the ongoing #EndSARS protests in the country against the excesses of the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS).
Before its disbandment, SARS, a police unit, was known for its human rights abuses and extra-judicial killings.
Mr Oyedepo, during a sermon video on Sunday morning circulated online, stated that the Nigerian youth have the right to express their displeasure on the current state of affairs in the country.
He said he had been silent on the issue so far because he warned Nigerians in 2015.
“Every man has a right, legitimately so, to express their displeasure and pains
“I kept quiet for a while because in 2015 I warned this nation, vehemently, consistently, because I saw the dangers ahead and you can tell. The most gruesome season in the history of the nation is the last 5 years where lives have no value, wanton killings here and there.”
“Now they have faced the youth and because they don’t know who is next, they have the right to say ‘enough is enough’. Any system that has no value for human lives is irrelevant. If they were killed when they were youths, would they be where they are today?”.
“It would be a sacrilege to shoot the protesters who are not looting, who are not ravaging”.
Nigerians across the globe have taken to streets and online since last week to protest against police brutality, killings, extortion and harassment by the rogue Special Anti-robbery Squad (SARS) of the police force.
Nigerian influential Christian clerics like Enoch Adeboye, Sam Adeyemi, Tunde Bakare, Johnson Suleiman, have issued public statements on the #EndSARS movement.
Despite the disbandment of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) last Sunday and the formation of Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) to replace it, protesters have continued to make their demands known to the Nigerian government.
President Muhammadu Buhari is meeting with the leaders of the National Assembly over the ongoing #EndSARS protest against police brutality.
At the meeting with the President at the State House Abuja are Senate President Ahmad Lawan and Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila.
“President @MBuhari currently meeting with Senate President, @DrAhmadLawan and Speaker, @femigbaja on the ongoing #EndPoliceBrutality protests,” Bashir Ahmad, Personal Assistant to the President on New Media, disclosed this in a tweet Sunday
EFCC has finally got conviction and jail sentence against Keystone Bank over N855milion share fraud. More details emerged at the weekend on how BankPHB (Now Keystone Bank) in cohort with two of its top staff, Mr. Anayo Nwosu and Mr. Olajide Oshodi defrauded the Chairman of Dozzy Oil and Gas, Sir Daniel Chukwudozie N855 million.
Nwosu leveraging on the relationship between his wife and the wife of the Dozzy Group chairman brought in Nulec Industries Limited owned by Indian Businessman, Asok Israni that is indebted to the bank and several other banks and sold a phantom share purchase scheme to him.
Even without the initial consent of Chukwudozie, Nwosu got his wife to transfer N855 million to Istani’s account for the share purchase. The transfers were, however, later ratified by Chukwudozie.
After several appeals for his money to be refunded to him failed, Chukwudozie wrote a petition to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission. The commission found the petition meritorious and consequently mandated it’s operatives to investigate the scam.
After investigation was concluded, charges were filed against Anayo Nwosu, Ashok Israni, Olajide Oshodi, Sunny Obazee, Bank PHB Plc/Keystone Bank Ltd and NULEC Industries Limited.
One of the counts reads: “That you, Anayo Nwosu, Ashok Israni, Olajide Oshodi, Sunny Obazee, Bank PHB Plc/Keystone Bank Ltd and NULEC Industries Limited, Anayo Nwosu, Ashok Israni, Olajide Oshodi, Sunny Obazee, Bank PHB Plc/Keystone Bank Ltd and NULEC Industries Limited, between July 14 and July 31, 2008, in Lagos within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, did fraudulently convert to your use the sum of N285, 000, 000 being the property of Dozzy Oil and Gas Ltd, when you credited the account of NULEC with the said sum to defray its debt owed to Bank PHB Plc as against paying the sum into the Private Placement Account of NULEC, which sum was to be used as payment for the purchase of shares of NULEC Industries Limited under a Private Placement.”
Another count reads: “That you, Anayo Nwosu, Ashok Israni, Olajide Oshodi, Sunny Obazee, Bank PHB Plc/Keystone Bank Ltd and NULEC Industries Limited, sometime in 2008 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of N855, 000, 000 from Dozzy Oil and Gas Ltd, on the false pretence that NULEC Industries Limited was inactive profit-making manufacturing and trading activities, thereby purporting same to be payment for the purchase of shares of the said NULEC Industries Limited under a Private Placement.”
The defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges, thereby leading to their full trial.
During the course of the trial, the prosecution counsel, Rotimi Jacobs, SAN, presented witnesses and tendered several documents that were admitted in evidence by the court. The complainant also testified for the prosecution during the trial.
Delivering her judgment, Justice Kudirat Jose discharged and acquitted the fourth defendant, Obazee.
The Judge, however, convicted and sentenced the first, second and third defendants to five years imprisonment each on counts 1, 3, 4, 7, 9, 10 and 13 of stealing.
The companies were also ordered to pay a fine of N20m to the Federal Government on counts 1, 10 and 13. The judge also ordered the convicts to restitute the sum of N395 million to the victim of the fraud.
The judge found the defendants except the 4th defendant guilty of stealing.
She held: “Based on the analysis above it is my view that the three ingredients of stealing have been proved against the 1st, 2nd. 3rd ,5th and 6th defendants. They are therefore found guilty as charged. The charge not having been proved against the 4th defendant he is discharged and acquitted of count 1.”
The judge found that the money paid by Chukwudozie for the shares was spent and no allotment of shares was made.
The General Overseer of Champions Royal Assembly, Brother Joshua Iginla has declared his support for the #EndSARS agitators across the country.
In a live video shared on his page, the popular prophet frowned at the rate at which young men are being killed as a result of police brutality.
He explained that most of them are being killed simply because of their dress code and ownership of laptops, which according to him, is terrible.
“Some of our youths have been killed innocently and Massacred recently over dress code and for holding a laptop. We all know we are in a digital era where you transact business via mobile. Its not everyone holding a badge that is into cyber crime.
The rate at which young men have been killed, bastardized and destroyed is terrible. We Need to look at it seriously”
He made it known that the government also need to pay attention to the salaries of security operatives and work on flushing out bad eggs, while praising the good ones among them.
“Pay the soldiers and pay attention to them. That is not to say that fighting the corruption in the police force is not important.
Seriously. Its not a one way thing. its is two way thing from the salary of the police to the abuse of power from some few bad eggs among them.
Its just like the stigmatization we pastors are facing that all prophets are corrupt. Its everywhere. lets not generalise it . let’s deal with the bad eggs, flush them out and reform them.
I feel its not just about brutality of police but bad governance we should Deal with. When we have bad government their will be issues of poor governance or poor attention to things that matters. Imagine we have one person having houses scattered all over the world like Dubai, Canada amongst others.
They loot our money which can be used to pay police and boost their morals and make them discharge their duties effectively”
Also, He praised Nigerian youths for pursuing a good course but adviced them to be constructive in the protests
“In my own words, they are doing well but we need to be careful during this protest So we don’t just heat up the moral of these people saddled with the responsibility of protecting us.
The reason is that it will get to a point they won’t be able to discharge their duties and crime rate will increase and a LOT OF LIVES WILL BE IN TROUBLE.
Right now, a lot of people are being kidnapped here in Abuja and the rate of standard of living has gone down tremendously, lets be careful. Am talking to the youths too lets be careful with the way we do and ensure we are constructive in all we do.
Let’s balance our criticism so we can sit around the table and dialogue, That does not mean that the vision i see should not be given attention toby the government of the day.
if you don’t give that vision attention we will have what we might not be able to Handle.
if our leaders dont treat the source of these symptoms…. what we are seeing now are just symptoms, there is no way we won’t get to a point where we will define or decide whether we staying together or not.
You can not continue to suppress the voice that cries for justice when their is injustice.
The disbandment of SARS is not the real issue. when you have a place producing oil and they are battling with water, air pollution and their needs not attended to, or the resources from this place are taken away to develop other section of the country and the owners are not enjoying the benefits of these resources, it’s injustice. we cannot continue to have people who feels we are part of this country and they have never ruled this country before.
If there is injustice we will be having issues.
We should rotate it until the right leadership does the right thing but if they continue to use police to suppress the voice of justice and this suppression has limitation. that’s why its good for all stakeholders to talk about the injustice happening to some regions”
The North West zone of Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) has arrested Julius Olamide in Illela ,Illella local government area of Sokoto state, which is border with Republic of Niger.
On Monday, October 12th 2020, NIS arrested and intercepted one Julius Olamide, age 24years a native of Epe in Lagos state, Julius Olamide and Peace Imoisili.
Mr peace imoisili and Julius Olamide were on July 31st, 2016 declared wanted by police over gay activities in Benin City Edo state.
The NIS, spokesperson, Mr Sunday James who disclosed that Olamide who has been in a hideout in Yola, Adamawa state over possible arrest for gay activities.
The suspect Julius Olamide, was arrested in Nigeria border with Republic of Niger in Illela local government area, Sokoto state.
according to NIS Olamide was trying to cross Nigeria border to Niger with a help of Mr. Garuba Alli , a human trafficker in the area while others managed to escaped.
Olamide and Garuba Alli was handed over to the Sokoto state command of Nigeria police.
The police commissioner in charge of Sokoto state command, Mr. Kamaldeen Okunlola on 14th October 2020 at a press conference in disclosed on July 31st, 2016, that some men together with others now at large were engaged in group homosexuality in a location in Benin, Edo state.
According to him, the police received credible information that some men were engaged in an orgy of same sex activities.
Some policemen in Benin command, Edo state on July 31st, 2016 were immediately mobilised and getting to the scene ,they arrested 16 of them while Imoisili and Olamide managed to escaped from the scene.
Those earlier arrested on July 31st, 2016 are Paul Osahon,Endurance Igbinovia,okoro Joseph, David Edobor, Haruna Abas,Iziegbe Joshua and Ibrahim idris .
Others were, Igbinadion Osaretin, Edosa Richard, Sadon Johnson, Musa Musa ,Abu Marcus, Festus Omokaro and Daniel Obi.
Peace imoisili declared wanted by the police.based on confession and cooperation of the suspects Imoisili and Olamide were declared wanted by the police.
The 16 suspects who were earlier arrested in Benin City Edo state were charged to federal High Court in Benin, and 10 of the suspects were sentenced to 14 years in prison, while 6 others were sentenced 10years sentenced in prison in September 2019.
Olamide and Imoisili have been on the run and the police after a long time chase declared them wanted.
In a statement by the police, Julius Olamide will be charged to federal High Court in Sokoto for homosexual offence, while the where of Imoisili is still unknown.
The police commissioner said they are working with other sisters security agencies and different institutions in the country to track and bring Imoisili to book and face persecution.
The practice of gay or homosexuality or same sex marriage is a criminal offence which attracts 14 years in imprisonment on conviction.
In the 12 Northern state’s that has adopted Sharia law (Bauch,Borno,Gombe,kano, zamfara, katsina, kaduna, sokoto, Niger,kebbi Yobe,Jigawa)punishment for same sex activity include execution by stonning, as well as canning and imprisonment
The police, therefore, call on members of the public to reports all gay activities to the nearest police station wherever they are seen.
He added that gay in Nigeria usually face mob attack if suspected as both Christians and Muslims, in the country hate gays sex-same union.
The police said they have so far arrested 17 persons what 16 convicted in September 2019 before apprehending Olamide who has been on the run since August 2016.
The Olowu of Kuta in Ayedire Local Government area of Osun state, Oba Adekunle Oyelude Makama has asked political leaders and elders of the North East to demand from President Muhammadu Buhari the declaration of a state of emergency in Borno State as a way of clearing out terrorists from the state, the traditional ruler made the call during a stakeholders meeting with leadership of various cso’s in Lagos.
The Oba, in a statement he issued on Thursday said he made the call in view of very many negative comments recently from leaders from that state on the insurgency war there which suggest that the state needs total concentration of the fighting forces.
Specifically, he called out Senator Kashim Shettima, former governor of Borno State, to “call the so called North East leaders to order, as we don’t have North East Army or Borno State Army but Nigeria army, which no section of the country has perogative of its leadership. The North East leaders should be grateful to the president for giving them so much, and to all Nigerians for sacrificing the lives of their children in Borno and the North east generally. They should show appreciation rather than daily sabotaging security operational efforts.
“It’s unpatriotic for any groups or the so called North East leaders to use the popular Endsars to blackmail the President in pushing through thier personal unpatriotic agenda. Their continuous hatred for the military leadership came to the fore when they openly condemned the Well planned Operation fire Ball recently declared by the Chief of Army staff.
“No individual or group has the right to question military operations exept the President who is the commander in chief. If the so-called North East leaders are patriotic as they claimed, we implore them to call on the authorities to declare a State Emergency and allow the military to clear the insurgents one and for all,” the Oba said.
He wondered why Borno has remained the odd one out of the states in the North East in terms of testoration of peace and appreciation of the sacrifices of members of the armed forces who serve there.
The Oba who recently asked the Senate to be more creative in finding solutions to the problems of insecurity, insurgency and banditry in the country said the Borno state governor and the elite there appeared not to appreciate the sacrifices being made by the nation’s armed forces in combating the over ten-year old insurgency in that part of the country.
He said he believed a full state of emergency would eliminate all distractions for the armed forces to quickly put an end to the suffering of the ordinary man in Borno and give the nation the much desired respite from the violent activities of the terrorists.
“Recently, the governor of Jigawa State, Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubakar, lauded the Nigerian Army for making his state safe after years of terrorism fears. He told a public gathering that his people could remember that there was a time when they could not go to mosque, farm and market without the fear of bombs.
“Also, a pominent politician from Gombe State, Alhaji Ali Goje recently spoke in same breath about his state saying before the current administration, his oeople were afraid to go about their normal businesses because of the activities of terrorists who had gradually crept into the state and were manifesting in many forms. The man said many parts of the state came under attack from the terrorists, the height of which he said was the attempt by Boko Haram to overrun Gombe in 2015. Be was thankful to the armed forces for making the state safe again.
“The same sense of appreciation is what has been coming out of Adamawa and Yobe states where our gallant troops have flushed out the terrorists and restored peace and order.
“It is therefore curious that the sore thumb has been Borno State where the elite appear to believe that terrorism would endure forever. God forbid. It is therefore my candid opinion that the problem of Borno be confronted headlong by the president. A desperate situation demands a desperate measure. The economy of the entire country is bleeding because of Borno and its insecurity. I strongly suggest a state of emergency there. Enough should be enough,” the Oba declared.
Stop using the popular endsars uprising to blackmailing the Army leadership and the President.
Contrary to the narratives being circulated across social media in respect of a bus belonging to Lagos Bus Services Limited, (LBSL) captured at the Secretariat Bus Stop this morning.
While giving a background to the video, the Managing Director of LBSL, Mr. Idowu Oguntona stated that bus 240171 in the video was heading towards Oshodi from Berger around 8 a.m when some armed individuals disembarked from a particular yellow vehicle in front of the bus at the Secretariat Bus Stop, on the Lagos Ibadan Expressway and headed towards the direction of the bus .
“One of our buses during the normal cause of operations ran into approaching armed people this morning. When the people were sighted armed and heading towards our bus, commuters in the bus scampered for safety due to the imminent danger. One of the passengers even tried to escape through the rear window of the bus.
The armed group, whose identity remain unknown, later went their way without attacking the bus. In fact, all the passengers were eventually commuted safely to their destination at Oshodi.”
In his words,” For the avoidance of doubt, no LBSL Bus was used to commute persons to disrupt the ongoing protests, Governor Sanwo-Olu has consistently spoken to protesters on their rights to peaceful protest, hence can not support thuggery in any form.
Oguntona added that it was quite disheartening that this incident was linked to the activities of some hoodlums. Despite the level of understanding shown by the state government since the beginning of the #EndSarsProtest.
The MD of the bus company said that in the interim, the company is forced to suspend temporarily, all bus operations for the safety of passengers and until it is safe to return to service. He pleaded for understanding from all esteemed passengers and reiterated the rights of people to peaceful protests and condemned any attack on people participating.
Twitter suffered a glitch that put so many of its users in the US and Great Britain into frenzy, the incident that happens yesterday evening caused the homepage of the leading interacting app to go blank for about four hours before it was restored.
In the first of a series of tweets by the twitter support handle, they claimed the down was due to trouble with internal system and that there are no evidence of security breach of hack.
This seems to become necessary as the tech giant has been in a running battle with some people loyal to President Trump over the admin’s decision to pull-down a cache of emails and other selected data purportedly from a laptop owned by Hunter Biden son of the leading opposition Democratic Party presidential candidate, Joe Biden which were published earlier by the New York Post.
Twitter had blocked links or images of the material which they said is in line with the organisation’s hacked materials policy. The fact that the app suffered the down time just when they were having such battle cause many to be looking the President Trump side with suspicious glance.
Others were also of the opinion that the glitch may not be unconnected to the announced app update barely a day before the down time.
Many twitter users had expressed their frustration about the glitch with a trending #TwitterDown which is currently topping the trending stories on the app, though the glitch has been announced solved people are still talking about the downtime while hackers and President Trump has been absolved of any wrong doing.
The council also directed that state governors should immediately establish a state-based Special Security and Human Rights Committee
State governments are to take charge of ensuring the Nigerian Police Force and all it’s tactical units comply with laid down rules and respect human rights henceforth.
This was part of the resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) which is headed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and includes all state governors and some ministers as members.
The NEC “directed the immediate establishment of State-based Judicial Panels of Inquiry across the country to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings with a view to delivering justice for all victims of the dissolved SARS and other police units.
“The council specifically resolved that state governors and the FCT Minister should take charge of interface and contact with the protesters in their respective domains,” the NEC said in its resolution sent to PREMIUM TIMES by Mr Osinbajo’s spokesperson, Laolu Akande.
“The council also directed that state governors should immediately establish a state-based Special Security and Human Rights Committee to be chaired by the governors in their states, to supervise the newly formed police tactical units and all other security agencies located in the state.”
The NEC resolutions were in response to nationwide #EndSARS protests by Nigerians calling for comprehensive police reforms.
The protests have been on since last week despite clampdown by security agencies.
Read Mr Akande’s full statement below;
STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE
OFFICE OF THE VICE PRESIDENT
*JUDICIAL PANELS OF INQUIRY FORMED TO INVESTIGATE POLICE BRUTALITY IN ALL STATES, FCT
*PANELS HAVE 6 MONTHS TO COMPLETE ASSIGNMENT
*COUNCIL ALSO DIRECTS SPECIAL FUND IN ALL STATES TO COMPENSATE VICTIMS OF BRUTALITY
Rising from its monthly meeting, the National Economic Council has directed the immediate establishment of State-based Judicial Panels of Inquiry across the country to receive and investigate complaints of police brutality or related extra-judicial killings with a view to delivering justice for all victims of the dissolved SARS and other police units.
The Council specifically resolved that state governors and the FCT Minister should take charge of interface and contact with the protesters in their respective domains.
At a meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and attended by state governors, the Judicial Panels which would be set up in all the states would include representatives of Youths, Students, Civil Society Organizations and would be chaired by a respected retired State High Court Judge.
The Council also directed that state governors should immediately establish a state-based Special Security and Human Rights Committee to be chaired by the governors in their states, to supervise the newly formed police tactical units and all other security agencies located in the state.
The idea of the Special Security and Human Rights Committee in all states of the federation and the FCT is to ensure that police formations and other security agencies in the state consistently protect the human rights of citizens.
Members of the Special Committee would also include representatives of youths and civil society. The head of police tactical units in each of the states would also be a member of the committee.
Regarding the Judicial Panel of Inquiry, each state government is to set up the panel, chaired by a retired High Court Judge, with other members selected by the state governor as follows:
*Two representatives of Civil Society groups
*One Retired Police Officer of high repute
*One Youth Representative
*One Student Representative
*One Representative of the State Attorney-General and a representative from the National Human Rights Commission.
The terms of reference for the Judicial Panel is to –
*receive and investigate complaints of Police brutality or related extra-judicial killings;
*evaluate evidence presented/other surrounding circumstances, and draw conclusions as to the validity of the complaints; and
*recommend compensation and other remedial measures, where appropriate.
The panel’s assignment should be concluded within a maximum of six (6) months, unless it shows convincing reasons why the state governor should allow an extension.
There would also be Human Rights Public Complaints Team of between 2 to 3 persons to receive complaints on an ongoing basis. That team would be established by the Special Committee on Security and Human Rights.
It was resolved that each state government shall also set up such a Complaints Office to which members of the public can relate by telephone or social media channels.
It shall be the duty of the officers of the Complaints Office to liaise with the leadership of security agencies, attempt resolution of complaints or otherwise guide the complainants.
Also, NEC directs all state governors to immediately establish a Victims Fund to enable the payment of monetary compensation to deserving victims.
OTHER HIGHLIGHTS OF TODAY’S NEC MEETING:
Council also received update on Nigeria’s COVID-19 response efforts from the Director General of the Nigerian Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Chikwe Ihekweazu.
According to the report, states performance in testing in the last month showed that states testing in September compared to August recorded decline in 18 states and improved testing in 19 others.
The NCDC DG also listed priority intervention areas as, strengthening States’ Health Security Architecture (Strong State Epidemiology team, Functional EOC, Functional Molecular Lab, Defined Treatment Centre, Response Vehicles, Communication equipment, Resources to deploy) and the establishment and sustenance of sample collection sites.
UPDATE ON ACCOUNT BALANCES
The Honourable Minister of State for Budget and National Planning reported to Council that the under listed accounts as at 14th October, 2020 are as follows:
a. Excess Crude Account -$72,409,346.76
b. Stabilization Account -N47,193,630,556.96
c. Development of Natural Resources Account -N154,330,148,020.34
PRESENTATION ON STRATEGY FOR GROWTH OF MICRO, SMALL AND MEDIUM ENTERPRISES (MSMEs) AND JOB CREATION BY MINISTER OF INDUSTRY, TRADE AND INVESTMENT
Council received a presentation from the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment titled Strategy for Growth of Micro, small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) and Job Creation.
The objective of the presentation is to bring NEC up to speed on the Ministry’s Term Goals and Projects and seek NEC’s support in the resolution of key challenges to achieving our goals.
The presentation noted that part of the mandate of FMITI is to accelerate the growth of the industrial sector and enhance productivity and boost the development of MSMEs as engine of economic growth, etc.
Council was invited to:
Establish land banks in each state earmarked for investment in agriculture and agro –processing;
Ensure fair compensation for land, standardize and ensure clarity in compensation rates in each state;
Adapt the 2015 approved list of taxes and levies;
Set up an investment promotion agency/one-stop shop for investment-related issues including facilitating investment linkages.
MSMEs Council should be set up in each State. These Councils should build a database of the resident MSMEs which can be used to facilitate the integration of local MSMEs into the supply chains of large resident corporate.
PRESENTATION ON THE 2021-2023 MEDIUM-TERM EXPENDITURE FRAMEWORK AND 2021 FGN BUDGET PROPOSAL BY THE HONORABLE MINISTER OF STATE FOR BUDGET & NATIONAL PLANNING
According to the presentation, disruptions in the macroeconomic environment caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, necessitated Mr. President’s presentation of a revised 2020 budget on 28th May, 2020, which was signed into law on 10th July, 2020.
The Federal Executive Council (FEC) approved the revised 2021-23 Medium Term Expenditure Framework & Fiscal Strategy Paper (MTEF/FSP), as well as the 2021 FGN Budget, on the 30th of September, 2020.
In response to the developments affecting the supply of foreign exchange to the economy, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) adjusted the official exchange rate to N360/US$1, and more recently to N379/US$1.
The projected aggregate revenue inflow into the Federation Account (Main Pool) is N6.77 trillion, while N1.70 trillion is the projected inflow in the VAT Pool Account.
Out of the Main Pool Account, FGN is projected to get N3.54 trillion while States and Local Governments are projected to get N1.80 trillion and N1.39 trillion, respectively.
From the VAT Pool Account, FGN is projected to get N255.46 billion while States and Local Governments are projected to get N851.52 billion and N596.07 billion, respectively.
CONCLUSION
Several measures are being instituted to improve government revenue and entrench a regime of prudence with emphasis on achieving value for money. The goal of fiscal interventions will be to keep the economy active through carefully calibrated regulatory/policy measures designed to boost domestic value-addition, de-risk the enterprise environment, attract external investment and sources of funding, etc.
Laolu Akande
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity
Office of the Vice President
15th October 2020
Angry, tired , fedup, frustrated and hopelessly losing faith in the leadership of this country called Nigeria, coupled with the non-functional system, the Nigerian Youths have taken their protest to a top notch by going spiritual .
With the birth of a revolution known as #endsars which has become a national phenomenon, spreading like wild fire, the Youth in their quest for a nation of their dreams have decided to touch the heart of God with a new movement known as #prayerwalk.
Inspired by gospel act, Samuel O.Imo widely known as Limoblaze, it’s a complementary protest to the #endsars which has United the Youths across the nation.
According to the organisers, the #prayerwalk is a movement to actualize the reasons behind nation wide protest. They believe that taking over the helms of affairs in the spirit realm is key which will transcend to the physical manifestation of their physical desires in the physical world.
Could this vision and mission be as a result of lack of confidence on spiritual fathers who some have called out to have been unusually quiet in the face of this phenomena? However, like a mustard seed, the dream and movement has yielded fruits as it’s now a national fire that is producing results .
According to the convener, Limoblaze on his official IG page two days ago, he said:
I and my brothers, @itsangeloh, @koch_dualedge, @amose_music, @kerusso418 made a call for a prayer walk two days ago and today over 600 Christian youths gathered to commune with the spiritual! My heart is filled with so much joy….
Surprisingly, checks revealed that most youth in most states have taken a cue and joined the prayer walk in the morning before going for the protest tagged #endsars.
And guess what? God gave them a sign that he is behind them . Few hours ago, Limoblaze posted a wonderful testimony they witnessed in Jos yesterday during the prayer walk:
This happened at Jos today and I am the most fulfilled … Earlier today, at the Kaduna #prayerwalk someone who walked in with crutches, dropped them off and was healed.
Interestingly, some Celebs too have identified with them . Delectable Nollywood actress, Toyin Abraham posted the movement on her official IG page , @toyin_abrahim with the caption “Peace Lord, Heal Nigeria Lord” which has garnered over 172,000 views with other celebs joining the movement.
Of a truth, with this movement, the Nigerian Youths are awake to their responsibility as the vehicle of change in a nation.
It would be recalled that the End Special Anti-Robbery Squad (End SARS) or #EndSARS is a social movement in Nigeria that started on Twitter calling for banning of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigerian Police Force. It is a call to end police oppression and brutality in Nigeria. The protests started as a social media campaign using the hashtag #ENDSARS to demand that Nigeria’s government should scrap and end the deployment of Nigeria Police Force Special Anti-Robbery Squad, popularly known as SARS. Within a weekend (9-11 October, 2020), the #ENDSARS hashtag had up to 28 million tweets. Nigerians have shared both stories and video evidence of how members of SARS engaged in kidnapping, murder, theft, rape, torture, unlawful arrests, high-handedness, humiliation, unlawful detention, extrajudicial killings, and extortion.
Femi Oyewale is the publisher of Sahara magazine, Sahara online and Saharaonline TV
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