Angry youths have stormed the residence of a suspected informant for bandits and beat him to death in Kaduna State.
Speaking to reporters on Tuesday, state Commissioner of Internal Security and Home Affairs, Samuel Aruwan, said the youths inflicted severe injure on the victim, Abdullahi Mohammed Gobirawa before he died.
The commissioner added that the mob also killed the victim’s wife and son, before burning their home.
Aruwan said the youths killed Gobirawa’s family over their suspected collaboration with bandits, especially in relation to recent kidnappings in the area.
He said on receiving the reports, Governor Nasir El-Rufai expressed his sadness and deep worry at the violent actions of the citizens, and strongly condemned the extra-judicial killings.
Aruwan stressed that lawful means alone should be adopted in confronting suspicions of criminality, as the destructive practice of self-help would only result in greater harm.
He said the state government had directed security agencies to conduct a thorough investigation into the incident, and urged citizens to maintain order.
The commissioner cautioned against stereotyping of any sort and appealed for consistent recourse to the constituted agencies as investigations into the incident are in progress.
Consumer Protection Agency Bill Scales Second Reading at Lagos Assembly
Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Tuesday intensified moves to repeal the State’s Consumer Protection Agency law and replace it with an amended version that is more people-friendly and aimed at strengthening the rights of residents.
The bill, which also aims to eliminate substandard and hazardous products in the state, scaled second reading with Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. (Dr) Mudashiru Obasa, committing it to the Committee on Commerce and Industry.
Lawmakers at the sitting described the proposed law as one that further proves that the House will never joke with the lives of those they represent.
The Chairman of the House Committee On Commerce and Industry, Hon. Bisi Yusuff, who introduced the bill, noted: “Today in Nigeria, especially in Lagos, there are hazardous products and so many people are falling victims. The implementation of the existing law needs to be seriously addressed.”
Citing an example, the lawmaker said: “What we call soft drinks today, if they are subjected to laboratory test, 95 percent of the content is sugar. The implication is that we consume so much sugar which is not healthy and it is going on because nobody takes them to court.”
In his contributions, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa 2) described the bill as that which benefits the people because it would help to protect the interest of Lagosians that have had horrible experiences from service providers.
“This amendment has created more robust fine and penalties against offenders,” he added.
In his submission, Hon. Femi Saheed (Kosofe 2) said if the bill was passed into law, it would help the economy of the State and also create employment.
Leader of the House, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade (Ikorodu 1), in his contribution, said there was need to repeal the existing law and re-enact it to block some loopholes exploited by operators and service providers.
According to him, the bill would ensure value for products bought or services paid for by consumers.
“It is a balanced procedure for both consumers and producers of products. The bill if passed into law will empower the agency more in achieving its stated mandate,” he argued.
On his part, the Deputy Speaker of the House, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, said that the bill would give room for social media engagement between the agency and the general public to enhance quick response to their complaints.
“This is what is obtainable at the federal consumer protection agency. We can replicate same in Lagos and this will make the public to have confidence in the state agency,” he said.
Hon. Lukman Olumoh (Ajeromi Ifelodun 1) maintained that the bill would enhance consumer confidence.
He added: “I will suggest that offenders of the law should be well-punished. The position of General Manager (GM) should also not be limited to legal practitioners or State Counsel alone.
“Furthermore, the enforcement offices should be sited across the state and not be restricted to one place as it is right now”, he suggested.
The Former Emir of Kano state, Sanusi Lamido has stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is meant to be impeached for paying millions of dollars on fuel subsidies without appropriation.
He disclosed that this is contained in Nigeria’s Constitution.He stated this while speaking virtually as a panelist on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) at the just concluded Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja.
In his words: “Every year, the government spends millions upon millions of dollars on fuel subsidies without appropriation. Under the constitution, this is enough ground to impeach the President. But nobody is holding them to account. The National Assembly is not holding them to account,” he said.
The former CBN Governor continued: “Those in government must understand that there are times that you have to make some decisions not because they are popular but because they are right. We have to decide to run a developmental state and not a rental state; not a populist state.”
“We are pursuing a populist policy: we want to have cheap fuel, cheap electricity, a strong Naira. That is populism. At the end of the day, what price are we paying by taking money out of education in order to subsidise petroleum products?”.
“This money coming from petrol belongs to the federation account, and the federal government doesn’t have the constitutional right to pay subsidy on behalf of the federation. So it is a fundamental constitutional issue because this is money that should go to the federal, states and local governments. Yet money that belongs to the federation is carried out as federal government expenditure. So, there are so many complex issues, legal and economic issues. We need to stop these issues” he said.
The Lagos International Festival of Animation, LIFANIMA has received the endorsement of the Lagos State Ministry of Tourism and Culture. The State further pledged the collaboration of its agency, The Lagos State Films and Video Censors Board. This was conveyed in a letter signed by the Executive Secretary of the Board, Mrs Bukola Agbaminoja. According to her, the endorsement is based on the festival’s strategic intent to:
• To promote the rapid development of the Animation industry in Nigeria and across Africa
• To improve the movie industry through increased inclusion of animation content
• To provide a platform for the promotion of local animators and development of the quality of animation
• To expose animators to the latest technologies in animation hardware and software
In its 5th year, LIFANIMA has been working for the promotion and development of the Animation Industry in Lagos State, Nigeria and across Africa.
The submissions for the 5th edition of the Lagos International Festival of Animation, LIFANIMA closed on the 30th of September 2021 with 1,105 entries from more than 100 countries, including 17 African countries. The festival has also introduced a new category for submissions, the STOP MOTION ANIMATION CATEGORY. Prior to now, the festival had four categories, namely 2D ANIMATION SHORT, 3D ANIMATION SHORT, ANIMATION COMMERCIAL and VISUAL EFFECTS.
For the current year, the festival received the highest number of entries in the 2D ANIMATION category, which recorded 676 entries, while the newly introduced category, STOP MOTION ANIMATION pulled 240 entries.
“Last year we had to do a virtual festival due to the pandemic but this year we are excited at the possibility of having an onsite festival. We are also happy at the rapid growth of LIFANIMA into what is today one of the top two animation film festivals in Africa. We are even more excited at what this means for the African film industry. LIFANIMA is bringing African animators together and we are poised to see greater collaboration that will culminate in the successful production of proudly African animation features that tell the African story” Says Muyiwa Kayode, Festival Director, who is also the creator and Executive Producer of the multiple award-winning animation series Turtle Taido.
LIFANIMA is scheduled to hold on November 11th and 12th at Freedom Park, Lagos.
LIFANIMA has the objectives to promote the rapid development of the animation industry in Nigeria and across Africa; to improve the movie industry through increased inclusion of animation content; to provide a platform for the promotion of local animators and development of the quality of animation and to expose animators to the latest technologies in animation hardware and software.
The Animation specific film festival was founded by Muyiwa Kayode in 2017 to promote the Animation genre and support its practitioners in the continent. Over the years, it has seen a steady increase in submission of films across the categories of 2D, 3D animation, animation commercials and visual effects. The 2019 edition received over 400 films from more than 70 countries in the continent and Diaspora while last year, more than 900 entries were submitted for the festival.
The festival will feature Screening of Selected Works, Award Presentation, Networking and Entertainment, and will attract Animators; local and foreign, Film makers, Investors, Financial Institutions, Advertising agencies, Musical Video Producers, Media Practitioners, Digital Marketing professionals, Government agencies, Information Technology companies/manufacturers and the public.
Infamous for his propaganda, Mr Mohammed himself has been caught circulating fake news previously as opposition spokesman and now as cabinet information minister.
Lai Mohammed, President Muhammadu Buhari regime’s head of propaganda and state-sponsored disinformation, says his perennial agitation for social media clampdown in Nigeria is to prevent another global war.
On Monday, Mr Mohammed, who has called for social media to be regulated in Nigeria, insisted that the platforms spread fake information.
“With fake news today and misinformation — I have always said here that the next world war will be caused by fake news,” he said while defending his ministry’s 2022 budget before the house of representatives committee on information, national orientation.
While recounting the means of disseminating information decades ago, the minister explained that Nigerians had deserted the old means by embracing the “unseen enemy,” social media.
“Information is not what it used to be, 20 to 30 years ago if the state or federal government had a television or radio and probably a newspaper, that was what we needed,” he noted.
According to Mr Mohammed, the Buhari regime will always be criticised if it refuses to take adequate measures to regulate social media content.
“The people today, they don’t read newspapers, they don’t watch television — it’s social media. And it is most expensive; the most unseen enemy, they are there every moment, and until we go to the same battlefield with them, there is nothing the government will do that will seem right,” he said.
Infamous for his propaganda, Mr Mohammed himself has been caught circulating fake news previously as opposition spokesman and now as cabinet information minister.
Angered by Mr Mohammed’s notoriety for spreading misinformation, a lawmaker in January described the minister’s statements as “senseless and unpatriotic.”
“You can see even the U.S. that use to pride itself on the freedom of the press is now questioning the role of the social media,” he added.
Mr Mohammed had hailed former U.S. President Donald Trump for endorsing Mr Buhari’s Twitter ban on June 4.
“Congratulations to the country of Nigeria, who just banned Twitter because they banned their President,” Mr Trump had said after Mr Mohammed announced the ban of the social media platform primarily used to gather information and contribute to issues of national interest.
“Donald Trump has congratulated Nigeria,” Mr Mohammed said. “If that means anything, that that is what we ought to have done. But that’s just by the way.”
While defending the 2021 budget proposal of the Information sector of his ministry in October 2020, Mr Mohammed had reasoned that Nigeria should also go the way of China to tackle misinformation.
“If you go to China, you cannot get Google, Facebook or Instagram, but you can only use your email because they have made sure that it is regulated,” he said.
Stating that there was an urgent need for a policy to curb fake news on social media, the minister said, “We need a social media policy that will regulate what should be said and posted and what should not.”
He added that “We also need technology and resources to dominate our social media space.’’
Arrested before payday, deported without paperwork, and now stonewalled by their former employers, hundreds of African migrants booted out of Abu Dhabi are attempting to restart their lives without essential documentation and funds.
The UAE claimed detention and deportation of over 400 persons in early September for offences such as human trafficking, assault and extortion — a claim that both migrants and human rights organisations have dismissed as false.
In the UAE, mass deportations of migrant workers regularly result in “wage theft”, with workers returning home without weeks, if not months, of unpaid wages.
Daniel Ojo, a 31-year-old maintenance worker, said his former employer owed him two months’ salary by the time he was deported to Nigeria.
“They owe me around AED 4,500 (N502,544). I chatted to my boss, then he stopped responding to my messages,” Ojo said. “He’s ready to not pay me because I’m not there anymore.”
Workers must be paid regardless of whether they were deported or had a criminal record, according to Saeed Alhebsi, director of the UAE’s foreign affairs ministry’s human rights department.
“Termination of residency rights would not preclude employees from pursuing complaints against employers for the non-payment of wages through legal channels. Complaints must, however, be filed within one year,” Alhebsi said in written comments.
The UAE has a population of almost 10 million, with over 80 per cent of them being expatriates who send money home.
Nigerians have taken to social media to react to a viral photo of veteran Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu donning his Biafra regalia once again.
A Twitter user, @Ozii-baba shared the picture claiming that the movie star stepped out over the weekend wearing the same outfit that got him into trouble with the Nigerian Amy and DSS.
He captioned; ”Chiwetalu Agu no dey hear word. His ears na for fancy
As Egedege dey trend, Mazi made sure he wore his cloth of the rising son.”
Massive reactions trailed the post as some netizens hailed Chiwetalu Agu for his courage, while others advised him to thread with caution.
See some comments below..
@papalolo2123; They encouraged him the more .. If something never happens to you , you will be more afraid of it .. but when it finally happen and goes away , the fear dies . The fear of military and dss no dey chiwetaluagu mind again , he don overcome that stage.. same thing for sowore
@Iraborchijioke; Passion and Compassion is what drives him.. He is a great Man.
@sgdavo; A Man must stand for something or fall for anything
@ellissmenia; Nice one. it’s not a crime to wear clothe
@okwudilionoh; This is a fabric of many colour without description of the meaning of the colour. Any interpretation you get it is left for you.
@ezeghiee; All this our Legends, even Queen Theresa Onuoha should also put on the rising son. I love her so much. Legendary.
@Anayo_Ella; Exactly Hundred points symbol They have given him licence to wear it without fear.
@beyondkhaleb; The reason why the state has lost its monopoly of violence is that it has gone after soft targets and hardened them. What fear can a man who has seen the peak of embarrassment from security agents have again?
@great_onuoha; u didnt listen to his interview wt bbc wen he said next time in d dss ell he would try nd see nnamdi kalu …..Anu la ta echi bu nta ……..he is a true nd fearless elder
Chairman, Southern Governors Forum and Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu has said security agencies are scared of shooting herders wielding AK-47 because of who they are and where they come from in disobedience to President Muhammadu Buhari’s order.
Governor Akeredolu stated this on Monday, at the 27th Nigerian Economic Summit held in Abuja with the theme: “Securing Our Future: The Fierce Urgency of Now.”
Speaking on the contentious issue of grazing, the Governor blew hot, asking, “Grazing routes? Grazing routes to where? It is not going to work. There are things we had in the past.
“Don’t let us imagine it now. Time changes. Grazing with AK-47 is an assault. Ban on open grazing; we are doing it effectively in Ondo State,” he said.
According to him, “Nomadic pastoralist is not a new thing. There were nomadic farmers all over the world. I know of people, high ranking who have ranches today. They can showcase their cows.
“Why are we pushing these people out? It is a culture that must be discouraged in the interest of those who are involve
“Even with the President order that anyone with AK-47 should be arrested, how many have been arrested?” he queried.
He also warned against using semantics to romanticise terrorism, noting that the various criminal activities of kidnapping, bombing and assault on the people in some parts of the country which are being referred to as banditry must be appropriately addressed as terrorism
Governor Akeredolu and his Kaduna state counterpart, Malam Nasir el-Rufai, and others were among the panelists at the summit which centred on addressing the security challenges in the country.
Akeredolu said: “In Ondo State, we don’t have terrorism. Our problem is farmer/herder clashes and kidnap for ransom.
“We have drug abuse and agitation for self determination. We have always preached the multi-level policing in Ondo State. We believe in layers of security”.
The governor, who explained that although there are criminal trespasses which can be treated by the state, stressed that before the Amotekun corps was established, the Police were not always ready to make arrest.
“Today, if you trespass on other people’s land, the Amotekun will go after you and arrest you.
“They pay compensations to the farmers and when they fail they are in court. It is the only way you can send signals to the people.
“When you commit a crime and the hands of law doesn’t catch up with you, another person will repeat it.
“I can assure you that when you do not have an effective policing system, there is little or nothing a Governor can do.
“And the criminal trial is taking too long,” Governor Akeredolu said.
The Minister of Youths and Sports Development, Sunday Dare, called on security agencies to be on alert over threats made by former World Boxing Champion, Bashiru Ali popularly known as Bash Ali.
Ali at the weekend had released a video accusing the minister of extorting ‘millions of naira’ from him as part of the process to organise a world boxing title fight for him.
Ali in his video had alleged that the fight was allegedly directed by President Muhammadu Buhari.
However, Dare in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Multimedia Toyin Ibitoye described Ali’s claims as defamatory, false, and unsubstantiated.
The minister said he would go ahead with the N5 billion suit against Bash Ali for defamatory allegations made in the past
The statement said, “This recent video is irrespective and in disregard of a pending libel suit initiated by the minister claiming damages to the sum of N5 billion against Bash Ali for defamatory allegations made in the past.
“Apart from aggravating the previous defamatory acts, in the present video, Bash Ali has threatened violence and disruptive acts against a functional unit of the Federal Government of Nigeria.”
The statement added that “as a responsible public office holder, the minister will not sit back and allow the threats materialize. If Bash Ali could have the effrontery to make and publicize a video where he not only made allegations against the person of the minister but also threatened to halt the operations of the Ministry of Youth and Sports development, then, it is compelling that the security agencies are put on alert so as to avoid a future situation of regret where things are taken for granted.”
Dare said he would, “on a personal note, diligently press his libel claims against Bash Ali and will also seek further remedies that the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria avail him.
“To this end, he has briefed Bode Olanipekun (SAN) of the law firm of Wole Olanipekun & Co to continue with the prosecution of the case.”
He said the statement became “necessary so to as inform discerning members of the public to disregard this latest antics, which is in continuation of a pattern from Bash Ali against two past Ministers of Youth and Sports Development and the current one. We also alert media outlets about the risks and consequences of disseminating such false and malicious stories.”
Islamic Cleric Sheikh Ahmad Gumi on Sunday warned that declaring bandits as terrorists will mark the end of Nigeria as a sovereign and united entity.
Mr Gumi, a retired army military officer and mufti, admitted that the devastation inflicted by rampaging bandits in Nigeria’s northwest amounts to terrorism, but President Muhammadu Buhari’s labelling them as such will invite additional consequences that will consume the entire country.
“The acts the bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism,” Mr Gumi said in a Facebook post on Sunday night.
The cleric warned that the moment bandits are designated as terrorists, “Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force.”
“Many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive. Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits,” he said. “This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim.”
Mr Gumi said, since Boko Haram has already gripped the North-East, separatist agitators in the South-East and South-West will easily seize on the lawlessness sweeping the northern regions.
“NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later.
“Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe.
“Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?” Mr Gumi said.
The mufti also dismissed his critics as “illiterates” for their failure to see his position since he started holding talks with bandits in their hideouts and publicly advocating for a civil resolution to their deadly exploits.
Presidential spokesman Femi Adesina recently smalled Mr Gumi as a “terrorist lover” for his open association with bandits killing and abducting civilians across the North-West.
The bandits carried out abductions of schoolchildren that forced school closures in Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi, Niger and Zamfara. The Nigerian National Assembly also urged Mr Buhari to declare them terrorists.
In July, the bandits shut down a Nigerian Air Force jet in Zamfara and also raided Nigerians Defence Academy Kaduna the following month.
Although Mr Buhari acknowledged bandits have been terrorising the country, his administration has been reluctant to declare bandits as terrorists because they have yet to declare a political or religious goal, a key requisite in designating a movement as terrorists under international regulations.
See Mr Gumi’s full statement below:
Nobody doubts that sentimentalism today overrides sensibility in our polity. For the sake of posterity, some people will have to speak out. The acts the Bandits are committing now in NW have gradually over time become tantamount to terrorism because wherever innocent people are fatal victims it’s pure terrorism.
Yet, innocence these days is relative. We agreed if their children and women are also killed, they are guilty by association or collateral damage, so also the bandits may think the same way. It’s right for vigilantes to lynch Fulanis herdsmen or anyone that looks like them by profiling but wrong for the herdsmen to ransack villages in retribution. They are pushed to believe it is an existential war and in war, ethics are thrown to the winds.
Yet again, the only helpful part that is against Bandits is that no other than them are attracted to join them in the NW because of its ethnic tinge and coloration. However, the moment they are termed Terrorist – Islamic for that matter, the direct foreign Jihadist movements will set in in force. And many teaming unemployed youths may find it palatable and attractive.
Shouting ‘Allahu Akbar’ plus AK47 against a ‘secular’ immoral society where impunity reigns are the magnet for extremists and downtrodden – the majority of our youth. Already these deadly terrorist groups are fighting for the soul of these bandits. This will give criminality a spiritual cover and remove the stigma of discrediting them with such crimes since now they are fighting a ‘Jihad’ as they will claim. In such a situation, does the larger society -as it is- has the moral high ground to fight back? This is the most probable consequence, the price of which is not worth it. Nothing stops the kinetic actions from going on without the controversy of semantics.
NE is already and is still devastated by this madness for over 12 years. If we allow, terror, to set in into these raw naïve unexposed bandits, NW will be in ruins sooner than later. Already IPOB are destroying SE, and Igboho has set the ball of confusion rolling in SW. For those who want to destroy the NW, it’s a good recipe. Turn bandits into religious zealots. Tell me, what then remains of Nigeria?
I have started to get these raw bandits out of their misadventure but unfortunately, I have few helpers and a mountain of antagonists. The psychology in fighting natives is to induce a motive for their struggle if they don’t have one already, a motive that is manageable, and it is so managed. Unfortunately, reactions to threat in our nation is always slow and incoherent.
I hope another Igbo clergy goes into the IPOB militants likewise and talk sense into them, and another Pastor of Oduduwa land talks against the Igboho secessionist tribal movement by way of sensitizing people to the values of a cohesive nationalism that will guaranty freedom, equality, and justice for all. Religious forces can permeate hardened hearts where secular forces cannot.
Regrettably, people just sit down in the comfort of their rooms or parlors and make useless passing comments that only add fuel to the inferno of ethnic jingoism and bigotry. In the 21st century, Nigeria is hijacked by semi-illiterates and half-baked tribal heroes that have nothing to offer besides promoting tribal xenophobia.
Nigeria has over 250 ethnic groupings, it’s not possible to divide such a nation into tribal enclaves. Nigeria is multi-religious, even with one same religion or sect there is no harmony and understanding that can build a prosperous unified nation where tranquility and development will flourish. We are tired of these bogus destructive fruitless slogans!
Nigerians are in a daydream so long they act by Nerval impulses not by the dictates of their cerebral cortex.
