Sahara Reporters Latest News Today Thursday 4th February 2021
Sahara Reporters Latest News Today and headlines on some of the happenings and news trend in the Country, today 04/02/21
Read also
Sunday Igboho Apologises For Calling Ooni Of Ife Slave To Fulani
Yoruba rights activist, Chief Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho has asked for forgiveness from the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, over a statement he made about the monarch’s visit to President Muhammadu Buhari.
Igboho, who had issued an ultimatum for Fulani herdsmen to vacate Oyo State over their alleged criminal activities, had criticised the monarch saying he failed to tell the President the truth about the crisis during the visit.
Speaking on Wednesday morning at a virtual ‘Townhall With Yoruba In Diaspora’ monitored by The PUNCH, Igboho expressed surprise that the monarch decided to tackle him instead.
He said, “When Ooni met with Buhari over the herdsmen issue, Ooni should have told Buhari the truth, but he did not. When Ooni returned, he started tackling me to leave the remaining task to the government to finish. Can you imagine that kind of talk?
“Alaafin of Oyo has asked me to meet him over the matter. Alaafin should have been the one invited to meet Buhari, but since the Ooni was invited, he should be bold to tell the President the whole truth and make the Yoruba people’s demands known to the President.
“The Ooni disappointed himself. Some politicians are behind Ooni’s latest move. He invited me to his palace, but I refused to go. I would have gone if he had represented us well, but he did not. I won’t honour any monarch who does not cooperate with me. Enough is enough; the Fulani have done enough.”
After the town hall meeting, Igboho, in an interview with Isokan Omo Oodua TV monitored by The PUNCH, denied insulting the monarch.
However, he begged for forgiveness if whatever he said appeared as an insult to the monarch he described as a father to him.
“They said I insulted the Ooni of Ife. I and the monarch, as well as the Olugbon, have spoken on the phone,” he said.
He continued, “The Yoruba tradition doesn’t permit the insult of elders. But because the issue pained me, my tongue was caught up in the moment. I spoke according to how pained I was. It wasn’t the Ooni alone I directed my words at, I also did to other elders.
“It’s a case of father and child. I and the monarch have spoken as well as the Olugbon. I did not insult the Ooni. And if it appears as if I did, he should forgive me.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
SaharaReporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%94-afenifere Nobody Will Lose Sleep If Herders Return To North — Afenifere
Yinka Odumakin
The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has said nobody will lose sleep if Fulani herdsmen decide to return to the North.
The Northern Elders Forum had earlier asked Fulani herdsmen to relocate to the North if they feel insecure in their host communities.
Yinka Odumakin
SaharaReporters Media
But reacting on Wednesday, the Afenifere’s National Publicity Secretary, Yinka Odumakin, said: “Buhari has no issue protecting southerners who are being persecuted on their land.
“He should spread all his wings to protect the Fulani persecutors. Nobody will lose sleep if the killers decided to return to Futa Jalon.”
Also reacting, the guild of farmers from South-West, Agbekoya Farmers Society of Nigeria, described the call by the NEF for herdsmen to return to the North as shameful and disappointing.
Speaking after the emergency meeting of the National Executive Council and the Iwarefa-in-Council of Agbekoya, its President-General, Kamorudeen Okikiola, bemoaned the utterances of the northern leaders claiming that the entire country belongs to the Fulani race.
He said that rather than address the menace of armed herdsmen, bandits and kidnappers perpetrating all manners of criminalities, they are making “unguarded hate speeches”.
Okikiola said: “Southerners and the Yoruba people in the South-Wests have been living with Fulani herdsmen for many years without any problem.
“But the sudden change in the events and circumstances, especially the issues of destruction of farm produce by cattle, kidnapping and killing of farmers and innocent citizens by armed Fulani herdsmen and bandits brought about a twist and turnaround in the relationship between the southerners and the Fulani.
“Northern leaders should address the issues of herdsmen carrying firearms and other weapons, kidnapping and collecting ransoms, raping and killing of innocent people in the villages.
“Yoruba people are always ready to live with other tribes, but not with criminals.
“Agbekoya calls on the northern leaders to find positive and lasting solutions to the problems of armed Fulani herdsmen, bandits, and kidnappers who are killing innocent people all over the South and South-West rather than asking them to come back home.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%93-brother-soldier-killed-boko-haram I Told Him To Join The Police But He Insisted On Nigerian Army – Brother Of Soldier Killed By Boko Haram
Isaac Tobi, the elder brother of Lawrence Tobi, a soldier who was killed by Boko Haram terrorists, said he advised him against joining the Nigerian Army.
SaharaReporters gathered that Lawrence was among the soldiers killed last Friday when the insurgents engaged the Nigerian military in a four-hour battle to take control of Dikwa community in Borno State.
The attack happened a few hours after Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai handed over to Major General Ibrahim Attahiru as the Chief of Army Staff.
The gun battle started around 6:00 pm and lasted till around 10:00 pm. It claimed many casualties, including Lawrence’s.
A soldier who had just got married, Abdullahi Bhuwa Usman, was also killed during the attack.
Speaking to SaharaReporters, Isaac said he told the deceased to join the Nigeria Police Force but he declined, insisting on joining the army.
He said, “Tobi Lawrence was my only brother. My mother had five children, three girls and two boys. I am the first child while Tobi Lawrence was the last born of my mother. In 2015, he told me he wanted to join the Nigerian Army but I told him to join the Nigeria Police Force instead.
“He came back to me and said he didn’t want to join the police and insisted on being a soldier. So, I had no option but to support him. We started the journey (to get him to become a solider) but he couldn’t make it because he was not shortlisted.
“So, the following year, that is 2016, he told me we should still continue with the race for him to be enlisted as a soldier. So we started consulting, we spoke to someone named Fidelix at Ogida Barracks in Benin. It was the man that actually helped us, he made my late brother to get enlisted into the Nigerian Army.
“Last week, my brother called me that they were going to the forest, that they were told to carry some things along to meet those who were already inside the forest. Usually when they go in the morning, they return late in the evening.
“The day he was killed, he called me in the morning to say they were on their way. So in the evening, I waited for him to call me but he didn’t. I became worried because he had promised to call me in the evening. I tried his number several times, it did not connect. The next day which was a Saturday, I started calling him but it was the same thing. Then someone called me with a strange number and asked if I was Tobi Isaac, I said yes. Then he told me what happened. I asked him how and he told me it was Boko Haram attack.
“I miss him very well, he used to help me. Once I call him and say my brother, I don’t have any cash, he would send money to me. He was so helpful to me financially.”
In the past months, Boko Haram insurgents have targeted soldiers, mostly waiting in ambush for them.
The Boko Haram insurgency has caused over 40,000 deaths and displaced millions of individuals mainly in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe States.
The terror group wants an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria.
On January 22, 2021, the group ambushed and fired machine guns at a Nigerian army patrol in Borno State, killing seven soldiers and injuring others. Also, an ATV and ammunition were stolen by the gunmen.
The attack occurred barely five days after the gunmen activated seven IEDs against a Nigerian Army convoy of Armoured Personnel Carriers and other vehicles, escorted by a foot patrol in Gorgi, Borno State.
According to military sources, over 30 soldiers were killed during the ambush.
The gunmen also destroyed three vehicles, including an armoured one.
Military
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Suspected Fulani Herdsmen Kill OPC Member, Abduct Farmer In Ondo
Gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen have killed a member of the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) in Ondo State, identified as Adejuyigbe Daniel.
Daniel was reportedly killed in Iju community, Akure North Local Government Area of the state.
The deceased was part of the search team organised to secure the release of a farmer, Solomon Akinmeji, who was kidnapped at Okeji farm settlement last Saturday.
Youths of the town and members of the OPC had formed a search party to secure the release of the farmer but Adejuyigbe went missing during the search.
Speaking on the incident, the youth leader in the town, Ogundeji Ayodeji, stated that it occurred on Saturday when Akinmeji went to his farm and was allegedly abducted by some Fulani herdsmen while some other men with him escaped with bruises.?
“We discovered that one of us was missing on Tuesday and we returned to the forest only to find Adejuyigbe’s dead body in a tent erected by the criminals, blindfolded and with his legs and hands tied,” he narrated.
The remains of the deceased have been deposited at the morgue while the whereabouts of the abducted farmer are unknown.
Ayodeji lamented the continued destruction of farms in the area and the abduction of farmers and residents of the community.
Spokesperson for the Ondo State Police Command, Tee Leo Ikoro, confirmed the incident.
He said investigation had commenced into the matter and that some detectives from the state had been drafted to comb the forest.
The incident happened two weeks after the state governor, Rotimi Akeredolu, ordered herdsmen to vacate the state’s forest reserves within seven days and banned night and underage grazing and the movement of cattle on the highways and within cities in the state.
Insecurity
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
2023 Presidency: APC Denies Wooing Jonathan To Succeed Buhari
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has denied widespread rumour that it plans to field the immediate former President Goodluck Jonathan as its candidate in the 2023 presidential election.
A report published last week had said some northern governors were working hard to ensure that Jonathan got the APC ticket.
However, the party has denied the claim, describing the story as fabricated by some people.
Mai Mala Buni, Governor of Yobe State, who also doubles as the Chairman of the APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee, said in an interview with the BBC Hausa service, “Those peddling such information, they are afraid. But for now, there is nothing in the APC which has anything to do with the aspiration for 2023.”
“Even if someone wants to base assumption on our recent visit to him (Jonathan) during his birthday, we were there because of his capacity as a former President of Nigeria.
“Again, even if there is nothing, when we are talking of peaceful coexistence, we must give credit to former President Jonathan on the issue of peace. How he accepted defeat in 2015 and resigned to fate. That has qualified him to be a statesman and he is now among our fathers.”
Governor Buni said it was customary to visit other people and exchange pleasantries.
“Our visit to Jonathan was pronounced because of his status as a former president; that could be why some may think there was something beneath.
“There were numerous such visits to leaders of Peoples Democratic Party and the APC; why are others not being mentioned but Jonathan?” he asked.
But when asked if the APC would be willing to accept the former President if he shows interest in joining the ruling party and being its candidate for the 2023 presidential election, Buni said that would be a new discussion entirely.
“Even in America where we got this democracy, I’ve not seen where people are being confined to a limit,” he said.
And when asked if the APC was indecisive on Jonathan, Buni said, “You are talking of democracy and at the same time talking of giving him, don’t forget even when President Muhammadu Buhari went to revalidate his party membership in Daura, he said it is the people at the grassroots that will select leaders upwards, that no one should expect to be crowned from Abuja. This has shown that in the APC now, it is from the lower level upwards, not that people will be imposed from the top.
“Then who are we to say we are considering Jonathan? How? It has to be a party affair and once it is a party affair, then we are talking about the people. So, we have nothing like that on our agenda. What we have now, and is of importance to us, is to ensure peace amongst party members. Also, (it is) to bring members of other political parties, whichever party it might be, whoever wants, should come into the APC. This is our plan for now. We have yet to start talking about aspirants, we are not in any discussion about aspirants.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99s-successor-will-spend-tenure-fixing-ethnic-religious-divisions-%E2%80%93-governor-wike Buhari’s Successor Will Spend Tenure Fixing Ethnic, Religious Divisions – Governor Wike
Rivers Governor Wike
Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State has berated the President Muhammadu Buhari administration for the worsening state of insecurity and tension in the country, saying his successor will spend his tenure fixing the ethnic, religious and socio-economic problems created by the All Progressives Congress-led government.
The governor noted that since the APC administration assumed office in 2015, religious intolerance and ethnic divisions had deepened. He added that security had also been politicised.
He stated this during the official presentation of a letter of nomination to him for the “ 2020 Extra-Ordinary Personality of the Year Award” by the management of Silverbird Group at the Government House, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday.
Wike said despite the glaring poor insecurity, and religious and ethnic divisions in the country, officials of the Nigerian government have continued to live in denial by insisting that Nigeria is now more united and secure than ever.
The Rivers State governor maintained that whoever becomes President in 2023 will spend his entire reign trying to resolve the various socio-economic crises caused by the present administration.
The governor blamed the seeming inability of the military to end insurgency in the North-East and other parts of the country to the involvement of sacked Service Chiefs, particularly former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Tukur Buratai, in politics.
Rivers Governor Wike
He said, “You were witnesses to how under Buratai, the army was exposed to politics, which had never happened in the history of this country. The army began to carry ballot boxes. I had never seen that. Before, we used to talk about the police, now it’s no longer the police.
“Professionalism is no longer there and that is why it is difficult to fight insecurity. Instead of concentrating and mapping out a strategy, what they are interested in is Rivers State. Who will we send there to make sure the election is rigged? The former Chief of Army Staff will even call the Independent National Electoral Commission to cancel the Rivers State election because of his interest. I had never seen this kind of thing in my life.”
The governor said it was regrettable the former Chief of Army Staff failed to condemn his personnel who invaded the INEC office in Port Harcourt a day after the state governorship election in 2019, allegedly in an attempt to subvert the wishes of the people.
Wike said instead, he chose to shield them from prosecution. The
“If there is a country that means well for its citizens, the former General Officer Commanding in Rivers State would have been dismissed from the Army, but because he was sent by his so-called leaders, they had to protect him. That is the country that we are in, and that is why we think the media should come up and tell the world some of these stories.”
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Italian Court Accepts Evidence Indicting Former AGF, Adoke In $1.1billion Malabu Deal
Mohammed Bello Adoke
An Italian court in Milan, Italy has accepted as evidence, electronic mails involving former Nigerian Attorney General of the Federation, Adoke Bello, and JPMorganChase bank officials in the Malabu oil deal.
The court prosecutors acquired the evidence from the United Kingdom authorities where it emerged that the former AGF under former President Goodluck Jonathan sent instructions of transfer of OPL245 $1.1billion paid by Eni and Shell from the email address of Mr. Aliyu Abubakar, known as “Mr. Corruption”.
Mohammed Bello Adoke
The Milan court denied Adoke’s claim that the email was not his.
The international corruption case against Eni, Shell and some officials of the companies resumed in the Milan court on Wednesday.
Public prosecutors responded to conclusions by the defence lawyers from previous hearings.
The trial is about to come to an end and a court judgment is expected on March 17, 2021.
Despite opposition by the oil companies at the last sitting of the court, the Milan court has accepted as evidence relevant in the trial, emails involving former Nigerian Attorney General, Adoke Bello, and JPMorganChase bank officials.
Milan public prosecutor, Fabio De Pasquale, said, “Internal email of senior compliance officer at JPMorgan denies Eni’s claim that the bank got a green light for the transfer of OPL245 money by SOCA, the UK financial intelligence authority preventing money laundering.”
Adoke had last week issued a statement, accusing the Italian prosecutor of fabricating evidence against him.
He said, “I have read with dismay reports of the attempt by the Italian prosecutor to tender fabricated evidence concerning me in the on-going OPL 245 proceedings before a Milan court to which I am not a party.
“I wish to categorically declare that the so-called email is a figment of imagination of the Italian prosecutors.”
According to the evidence presented by the prosecutor, the former AGF shared with JPMorgan an unofficial copy of the resolution’s agreements of OPL245, then signed by the Nigerian government of Nigeria with Eni, Shell and Malabu of Dan Etete.
Lawyer Lucio Lucia, representing the Republic of Nigeria as civil party, also responded to objections of defences, saying, “Contrary to the claim that Eni’s then Chief Executive Officer, Scaroni, interrupted negotiations for OPL245, emails show that current CEO Descalzi was instead pushing to go ahead.”
The court was adjourned till February 24 when Eni and Shell managers and companies’ defence lawyers would have their final response to prosecutors and the federal republic.
Officials said that might be the last hearing before the verdict expected on March 17.
Corruption
Legal
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Islamic Cleric, Sheikh Gumi Meets Over 500 Bandits In Zamfara, Begs Them To Repent
Popular Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Dr. Ahmad Gumi, has met with some notorious bandits in Zamfara State.
The bandits are said to be those terrorising Shinkafi Local Government Area of the state.
The meeting was in continuation of the peace moves by Gumi.
The Islamic cleric began his peace moves with visits to the hideouts of bandits terrorising Zaria-Giwa roads as well as Birnin Gwari area in Kaduna State earlier in the year.
See Also
Insecurity
Nigerian Government Has Failed Us, We’re Not Afraid Of Death – Zamfara Bandits Commander, Turji
0 Comments
5 Hours Ago
Speaking during the meeting, top armed commanders of the group, Kachalla Turji of Shinkafi and Kachalla Muhammadu Bello, lamented that security personnel had killed many of their family members, with many of them losing virtually all their possessions through cattle rustling, extortion by security agents and military bombardments.
As a result, they lamented that thousands of their youths do not have anything to do and there is no means of livelihood hence their decision to go into arms struggle.
They accused the government of not being sincere in ending instances of banditry and kidnappings.
The cleric pleaded for their understanding and urged them to cease all hostilities and allow him to reach out to President Muhammadu Buhari to see how their legitimate grievances could be addressed immediately.
Gumi told them that they should not expect magic from him as his success would depend on the cooperation or otherwise that he would get from the Nigerian government which has the authority over decision making.
He presented them with Islamic books, including copies of the Qur’an and wrappers. He said everything he was doing was being funded by a foundation and with the help of other well-meaning individuals and not the government.
Insecurity
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
E2%80%99re-not-afraid-death-%E2%80%93-zamfara-bandits-commander Nigerian Government Has Failed Us, We’re Not Afraid Of Death – Zamfara Bandits Commander, Turji
Leader of the banditry group operating along Shinkafi/Sokoto Road, Zamfara State, Kachalla Turji, has said members of the group are not afraid of death.
Turji also accused the Nigerian government and Zamfara State government of reneging on a series of promises made to them.
He disclosed this during a peace meeting with popular Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi, on Tuesday at Makkai forest.
Turji lamented that Fulani were being singled out, impoverished and beaten on the road by indigenes of Zamfara.
He told Gumi that without reconciliation, there was no way the problem would end, adding that only God knows how many weapons they had and what they could do if they wanted to destabilise the state.
The top commander of the bandits added that they were not afraid to die and that even if he died, hundreds of people were available to take over leadership from him.
Sources told SaharaReporters that Turji was trained by Buharin Daji, a notorious bandit that was killed by security operatives about three years ago.
Turji took charge of the Shinkafi armed wing of the group after the demise of Daji.
Zamfara, like other North-West states, has in the last 10 years faced devastating attacks from armed bandits.
A committee set up to investigate the menace of armed banditry in the region, headed by Mohammed Abubakar, a former Inspector General of Police, reported that in Zamfara State between June 2011 and May 2019, 4,983 women were widowed; 25,050 children were orphaned; and more than 190,000 people were displaced as a result of armed banditry.
Insecurity
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Islamic Group Urges Nigerian Government To Fund Herders To Build Ranches
File Photo: Herdsmen.
The Muslim Rights Concern Rights Concern has asked the Nigerian Government to give bailouts to herders to buy land in states for ranching in order to curb herders-farmers’ conflicts and insecurity.
In a statement titled, ‘MURIC to FG: Give bailout funds to herders to buy land for ranching’, the Director of the organisation, Prof Ishaq Akintola, said if bailouts could be given to banks, airlines, vehicle producing companies, and petroleum importers, such financial assistance should also be extended to herders.
File Photo: Herdsmen.
He said, “Meanwhile, herders and cow owners may not be willing or they may lack the capacity to buy land for cattle grazing. As for the will, northern traditional leaders have a role to play in persuading herders and cow owners to change their mindset and become willing to operate ranches. Concerning financial capacity, this is where the Federal Government should come in,” Akintola said.
“Federal Government must be prepared to stoop in order to conquer. A huge bailout must be granted to herders and cow owners to enable them buy land and set up ranches.
“Such a bailout is not new and the herders/farmers’ conundrum necessitates it. After all, banks, airlines, private vehicle producing companies, petroleum importers and even farmers have received subsidies, bailouts and waivers in the past. It is now the turn of herders and cow owners and the time to do it is now.”
He said the herders-farmers’ conflicts do not have ethnic and religious connotations, and that cattle also destroy crops in the northern part of the country.
“For example, herders who destroy farms in Zamfara are northerners. It is also generally assumed that they are Muslims. Zamfara hunters and vigilantes who protect the farms and chase the herders are also northerners and Muslims as well. Bandits in Sokoto are also northerners while the local guards organised to keep the bandits at bay are also northerners,” he said.
“Therefore, there is no ethnic or religious factor in this ongoing herders and farmers’ crisis. It is neither Fulanisation nor Islamisation. It is an economic cum security problem; pure and simple.
“This has enabled MURIC to come to the conclusion that no religious or ethnic sentiment should be built around the herdsmen/farmers’ clash whether in Oyo, Ekiti or Ondo State.
“The reason Lagos has been spared to a large extent is the fact that it is not an agricultural state. The Lagos situation may also have been responsible for our earlier assumption that ethnicity and religious sentiments were at play in the herders/farmers’ quagmire.”
Calls for ban on open grazing amid incessant farmers-herders’ crisis in the country have continued to garner reactions in recent times.
On Monday, in an interview with SaharaReporters, Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria said the era of open grazing of cattle in the country was coming to an end.
The Secretary General of the association, Baba Usman, described it as inevitable considering the increase in population of humans and animals.
Several governors in the southern part of the country have also banned open and night grazing in their states to address banditry and farmers-herders’ crisis.
Politics
News
AddThis
:
Original Author
:
Saharareporters, New York
Disable advertisements
:
Read also
You can also check
