The idea of a child marrying an adult is quite creepy. We hear about it happening in some Muslim countries and several American conservatives use such accounts to condemn the leaderships of these countries. What someone would expect when such conservatives talk is that such things don’t happen in the United States or if it does then these same people would come out to strongly condemn perpetrators.
But it appears like these conservatives are selective when applying their principles.
Last week Friday, The New York Timespublished a story that got the whole world talking. That’s the story of Sherry Johnson, a female who got pregnant after being raped by a 20-year-old male member of her Florida-based church. That incident and the ensuing pregnancy would teach her that Christianity can at times be protected so much even to the extent of breaking the very morals it upholds.
Florida: The child bride pictured on her wedding day | All Christian News
“It was forced on me,” she told the Times. Because she was only 10 years old, authorities were already snooping around to establish what was really happening. The church had to look for a way to save its face and they agreed that the best thing to do was to marry the young girl to her rapist.
Fortunately for the church, and unfortunately for humanity, the girl’s parents were so deeply into the religion that they gave in to the church’s plan.
“My mom asked me if I wanted to get married, and I said, ‘I don’t know, what is marriage, how do I act like a wife?’” Johnson remembers this question to this today, years later. “She said, ‘Well, I guess you’re just going to get married.’”
A Tampa, Florida government clerk declined to marry the two despite the practice being legal. This forced the wedding ceremony to be transferred to the nearby Pinellas County, where the clerk agreed to issue them with a marriage certificate, clearly indicating the bride’s age.
Johnson was raped by both a church minister and a parishioner and the judge willingly gave a nod for the young girl to be married to the rapist in order to bring a halt to investigations that were already ongoing into the matter.
“What we want is for you to get married,” said the judge to the young Johnson.
“It was a terrible life,” Johnson says, noting that the situation saw her miss school to focus on taking care of children.
Why was this allowed to happen? Because the law allowed it. In a number of states, it’s legal to marry a minor. In some states, however, laws have been enacted limiting the age to 16 or 17 and over.
There are some American leaders who’re very good at talking down other nations yet they fail in their own backyards. A good one is New Jersey Rep. Governor Chris Christie, who’s on record stopping a legislation that would set the minimum age of marriage to 18. Why would he do that? Well, according to the governor, he was basically protecting “religious freedom.”
Last year, the United States, in a State Department document, referred to child marriage as a “human rights abuse that contribute to economic hardship.” Making such a statement is a good thing and all that good citizens are demanding is that the statement be transformed into action.
Although the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has accused Yahaya Bello, governor of Kogi state, of taking part in the ongoing continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise, the governor has denied doing so.
Some days after he issued his denial, Solomon Soyebi, a national commissioner of INEC, said the commission carried out investigation and discovered that the governor did registrations on two occasions.
Soyebi said while Bello’s first registration was done in Abuja on January 30, 2011, the second one took place at government house, Lokoja, on May 23.
He vowed that the staff who registered Bello the second time would be sanctioned.
But speaking with reporters after observing Ju’maat prayer at the presidential villa in Abuja, Bello advised INEC not to allow “some elements” tarnish its image.
He said he was in Dubai “on a short break” when he saw reports of him registering twice.
“I travelled on 19th (of May) to Dubai for a brief break and I saw the press release and I was taken aback that I did double registration on 23rd. Probably it is my ghost that did double registration,” he said.
“I think INEC has earned itself a very high reputation and I think and I am very confident that the leadership of INEC will not allow some elements to drag the name of the commission into the mud.
“Surely, that’s a falsehood. I did not do double registration.”
On the demand of Dino Melaye, lawmaker representing Kogi west senatorial district, that Bello should step down for committing electoral fraud, the governor said, “I will respond when a human being is speaking.
“I don’t think I have to waste my time responding to distractions. Honestly speaking I’m too focused to be distracted.
“Kogi state suffered for over 25 years before I came onboard and the good people of Kogi are really appreciative of the efforts we are putting forward to make sure that the state is well developed… Go to Kogi state website to see what we have done in the 15 months that we have been in the office.
” So, any side distraction is not something I should pay attention to, because the people are with me.”
He also spoke on the resolution of governors to clear salary arrears and pension backlog when the second tranche of the Paris Club Refund is released.
“The issue of salary arrears is a very worrisome problem to all of us, the governors and Mr President,” he said.
“The other tranche of Paris Club Refund will be paid to all the states now. We all met and we resolved to make use of substantial part of that refund to clear some of the salary arrears.”
Two Chibok schoolgirls who escaped from their Boko Haram abductors in 2014 have graduated from a high school in Washington DC.
The two girls, known by their first names, Debbie and Grace, on Thursday, June 1, 2017 graduated after completing junior year (11th grade) and senior year (12th grade) at a prestigious private international school in the Washington metro area in America.
This was disclosed through a press release on Friday by Emmanuel Ogebe, a US-based human rights lawyer and the International Director of Education Must Continue Initiative, a Nigerian non-governmental organization involved in the care of the girls.
Debbie, one of the Chibok girls who escaped from Boko Haram graduates high school in DC
According to the release, Debbie and Grace were among 57 girls who escaped from the terrorists after the mass abduction of almost 300 of them at Government Girls State School in April 2014. .
Unlike most of their colleagues who jumped out of the trucks in which they were being herded away into captivity, the two girls arrived the terrorists camp in Sambisa forest before escaping back home in a terrifying journey that took about a week with their captors in hot pursuit.
They were the last to escape until Amina Ali also escaped last year after two years with the terrorists. The two schoolgirls were among a dozen Nigerian girls sponsored to schools abroad by the NGO with the help of Mr. Ogebe.
The NGO is run by victims of Boko Haram helping other victims to overcome the impact of the insurgency. “By this graduation, Debbie and Grace became the first escaped Chibok girls to graduate from an American high school with diplomas after completing and meeting academic standards,” Mr. Ogebe stated
Fourteen persons have been shot dead while several others were injured in Sime, Tai Local Government Area of Ogoniland, Rivers State, after a bloody clash between cult gangs in the community in the early hours of Friday, June 2, 2017.
Bob Uelor Nkue, the caretaker committee chairperson of Tai Local Government who confirmed the massacre regretted the dastardly incident which is coming barely a month after Governor Nyesom Wike extended a second round of amnesty programme to the four local government areas for members of various cult groups to renounce their membership and surrender their weapons.
Nkue asked the Sime community not to panic as adequate security has been put in place to forestall further clash and ensure protection of lives and property in the area.
Investigations also revealed that a lot of resident of the area fled their homes to escape the shootings.
“I totally condemn this attack that led to the death of 14 persons, because the governor has given a second chance to cultists and criminals in Ogoniland to embrace the amnesty programme.
Few days ago, two persons were also killed by cult gangs. I am using this opportunity to call on the people of Sime not to panic as the police and other security agencies are on top of the situation,” Nkue assured.
Ogoniland, like many parts of Rivers state, in recent times, has been a hotbed of cult gang fights.
In the first round of the Rivers state government amnesty programme, most of the criminal gangs refused to surrender their weapons. A second chance was extended to them but the number of weapons surrendered were small compared with the dangerous weapons suspected to be in hands of gangs in the area.
The state police command is yet to comment on the incident as at the time of filing this report.
The federal government may ask a federal high court in Abuja to revoke the bail granted to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, on grounds of alleged breach of the conditions of the bail granted him in April.
According to Punch newspaper, top sources in the Federal Ministry of Justice, the body prosecuting the IPOB leader, had indicated that alleged breaches of the bail conditions by Kanu were “being noted”.
They said the prosecuting authorities were taking records of the alleged breaches, reviewing them and would take “the necessary step at the appropriate time.”
According to The PUNCH, a source in the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, indicated without details, “Kanu had been found to have flouted some of the conditions (he was given).”
The source also added, “We are taking note of his conducts which were in breach of the conditions of the bail granted him.
“We are reviewing them and we will take the necessary action at the appropriate time.”
When asked if part of “the necessary steps” would be to ask for the revocation of the bail, the source said “of course, the consequence of any breach of bail conditions is the revocation of the bail.”
“But anybody who has been following the events would clearly see the breaches.”
Although, his co-accused had also filed separate bail applications, Kanu was the only one granted bail, among the four defendants standing trial on charges bordering on Biafra agitation.
The other accused persons charged along with Kanu were the National Coordinator of IPOB, Chidiebere Onwudiwe; an IPOB member, Benjamin Madubugwu, and a former Field Maintenance Engineer seconded to the MTN, David Nwawuisi.
After the judge struck out six out of the 11 counts preferred against the defendants on March 1, 2017, the defendants were left with five charges.
The charges included conspiracy and treasonable felony by allegedly conspiring among themselves to broadcast on Radio Biafra agitation for the secession of Republic of Biafra from Nigeria.
They were also accused of improper importation of goods and illegal possession of firearms.
Among the charges was also publication of defamatory matter by allegedly referring to the then President-elect, Maj-Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and now President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, as “a paedophile, a terrorist, an idiot, and an embodiment of evil” in a broadcast on Radio Biafra on April 28, 2015.
Justice Nyako had after the case was transferred to her denied bail to all the four defendants.
But they filed their bail applications again after part of the charges preferred against them were struck out by the court.
In her ruling on April 25, 2017, Justice Nyako only granted bail on health grounds to Kanu, who had been in detention since 2015.
The judge, however, barred the IPOB leader from granting press interview while on bail.
The judge also gave a stern warning to the defendant not to participate in any rally or be found in a crowd of more than 10 persons in the course of the bail and had also ordered Kanu to submit to the court monthly reports on his health status while on bail.
Flouting his bail conditions, Kanu had addressed a crowd of supporters, who were more than 10, at his father’s palace in Abia State as his father is the traditional ruler of Isiama Afara community in the state.
Al Jazeera had also published an interview where Kanu was quoted as describing his bail conditions as too stringent and saying, “I don’t care”, when asked if the interview could put him in trouble.
His view was also backed by his lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor who referred to the bail conditions as unconstitutional. He also added that it was not for the prosecution to determine whether or not his client had violated the bail conditions, The PUNCH reports.
The IPOB leader had also declared a sit-at-home campaign in the South-East on Tuesday to protest against alleged marginalisation of the region by the Federal Government.
Meanwhile, a group, South-East Peoples Assembly, in a letter signed by its President, Prince Chukwuemeka Okorie, had on Wednesday, asked the court to revoke Kanu’s bail for violating its conditions.
The Muhammadu Buhari-led government has has urged Nigerians to be extra vigilant in view of the “worsening cases of fake news being spread by unscrupulous persons”, who are bent on destabilizing the polity and causing disunity among the country’s various ethnic and religious groups.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, June 4, 2017, Lai Mohammed, the country’s minister of information and culture, said that over this weekend alone, several major cases of fake news were recorded, each of them capable of causing panic, triggering chaos or setting one group against the other.
He said a gory video of a blast that occurred many years ago is being circulated along with the false news of a bomb blast in Abuja, while news of a non-existent bomb blast in Lagos was also widely circulated, forcing the police to promptly debunk the fake news.
Mr. Mohammed also said the latest strategy being employed by the purveyors of fake news is to attribute to top government officials improbable statements that are capable of destabilizing the polity, causing tension and threatening the country’s unity.
“This is why we are appealing to Nigerians not to ever engage in a knee-jerk reaction to any news, and to subject every information to a very serious scrutiny by checking with security agencies and government spokespersons,” the minister is quoted as saying in a statement signed by a media aide, Mr. Segun Adeyemi.
The minister described the fake news phenomenon as ‘the scourge of our times’ which will probably get worse in the months ahead, hence the need for all Nigerians to be very vigilant so that fake news purveyors do not succeed in their quest to sow the seeds of chaos and confusion.
He also appealed to the traditional media, which has a reputation to protect, to join the campaign against the purveyors of fake news, especially because the websites of many reputable media organizations are being parodied and used to spread false information in order to gain some modicum of credibility.
“On our part, we will not relent until we have exposed those who are behind this fake news phenomenon and brought them to justice,” Mr. Mohammed said.
At least nine people have now been confirmed killed and at least 48 injured in a terror incident in London in which three male attackers were also shot dead by police.
A white van hit pedestrians on London Bridge at about 22:00 BST on Saturday, June 3, 2017 before three men got out and stabbed people in nearby Borough Market.
Armed officers shot the suspects within eight minutes of the first call.
The injured were taken to five hospitals. More than 80 medics were sent to the scene.
One of the injured is an officer from British Transport Police who was stabbed after responding to the incident. His condition is serious, but not life-threatening.
A bomb disposal team was called to Borough Market and local residents told to leave their homes.
Commissioner Mark Rowley said: “The suspects were wearing what looked like explosive vests but these were later established to be hoaxes.”
He said it was currently believed there were only three attackers involved.
“We are treating this as a terrorist incident and a full investigation is already under way,” he added.
The incident is the third terror attack in the UK in three months following the car and knife attack in Westminster in March, which left five people dead, and the Manchester bombing less than two weeks ago, in which 22 people were killed.
Prime Minister Theresa May described Saturday night’s as “dreadful” and will chair a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee later.
We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are. Things need to change, and they need to change in four important ways. pic.twitter.com/szq25idIC7
Sadique Abubakar, the chief of air staff of Nigeria, over the weekend reiterated the commitment of the Nigerian Air Force, NAF, towards the welfare of the families of deceased personnel as he honoured Corporal Omaka, a fallen hero.
Air Marshall Abubakar gave this assurance while commissioning a new block of 12 by one-bedroom flats for airmen and airwomen at NAF Base, Abuja. The new building was named after late Corporal W. I. Omaka.
According to an e-mailed statement to The Trent on Sunday, June 4, 2017 signed by the newly appointed spokesperson for the Nigerian Air Force, Air Commodore, Olatokunbo Adesanya, the chief of air staff, who was represented by the chief of administration, Air Vice Marshal Lawal Alao, said that the naming of the building after the late Corporal WI Omaka was to honour the late airman who died in 2016 while on Internal Security operations in Minna, Niger State.
The Nigerian Air Force building named after Corporal W. I. Omaka, a fallen hero
He added that the NAF would continue to remember and support families of fallen heroes to serve as a morale booster to other personnel.
It is recalled that the NAF, under its current leadership, has witnessed the commissioning of several residential accommodation blocks across its bases all over the country.
According to the director of administration, Air Commodore Nelson Calmday, accommodation sufficiency in the NAF has improved from “45 per cent as at 2015 to over 63 per cent at the moment”.
Meanwhile, the commander of 053 NAF Camp Abuja, Air Commodore Garba Yusuf, used the opportunity to express appreciation to the CAS for the provision of additional residential accommodation for NAF personnel within Abuja.
The leadership of Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law, Intersociety, is not surprised at the negative reactions of the federal government led by General Muhammadu Buhari and its Nigerian Army as well as some unfriendly media practitioners sympathetic to the present federal government and its suppressive and annihilative policies against the Igbo Ethnic Nationality in Nigeria. The unfolding negative reactions of the referenced are clearly borne out of huge successes that followed the May 30, 2017 sit-at-home protest organized by the leaderships of IPOB and MASSOB, which recorded 95% success in the targeted areas and cities in Igbo Land and other Igbo populated and business areas in Nigeria.
We make bold to say that the negative reactions are not unexpected and clearly borne of frustrations, humiliations, surprises and shocks received by the unrepentant ethno-religious cleansers; forcing them to deploy all arsenal they think they have so as to register their frustrations and humiliations. Since the end of the hugely successful sit-at-home protest, we have been following the referenced negative reactions with no iota of surprise.
While the media branch of the named sworn Igbo enemies have heightened a smear and inciting campaign, claiming that “Citizen Nnamdi Kanu has flouted his bail conditions and should be re-arrested and sent back to prisons”, the military branch of the referenced sworn Igbo enemies, represented by the Nigerian Army, has gone gaga and uncontrollable telling the whole world how “it escaped IPOB and MASSOB’s ambush” and how “IPOB and MASSOB and their int’l collaborators have transformed into armed militias”.
Totality of these is not unexpected of a set of genocidal people kitted and armed with lethal weapons and chronically commissioned to slaughter at any slightest opportunity members of Igbo Ethnic Nationality in furtherance of their decades’ long genocidal and annihilative policies. Which explains why despite killing over 3.5million innocent and defenseless Igbo citizens since 1945, they are yet undone and always in the look for bloods of Igbo people in Nigeria or any part thereof.
The truth of the matter leading to the present litany of frustrations and negative reactions by the referenced, strictly lies on two successes recorded in the all important sit-at-home protest: (a) successful and masterful change of protest strategy; from open street protest prone to mass murder by Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, SSS, Navy and Police SARS, etc, to sit-at-home or ghost street protest; and (b) huge compliance or approval voluntarily given by 95% of the urban Igbo people to the sit-at-home call by the leaderships of IPOB and reformed MASSOB.
Consequently, we at Intersociety make further bold to say that Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s bail conditions are intact, inviolable and strictly adhered to. Those calling for his re-arrest or revocation of his bail conditions have failed woefully and shall continue to fail. The issue of bail conditions ordering a beneficiary citizen to quarantine himself/herself to indoor or cave and not be seen among a crowd exceeding ten citizens is not only a judicial disaster, but intensively and extensively unknown to the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999.
No court order or judicial pronouncement releasing a detained citizen on bail can invalidate his or her constitutional right to freedom of association and assembly. Ordering Citizen Nnamdi Kanu “not to be found in a crowd numbering over ten persons” expressly means that he cannot worship or be found in the midst of his lawyers, siblings, his father’s palace, among his father’s cabinet chiefs, with his wife and his in-laws, in sporting arena, inside a plane or public vehicular transport, in a motor park, in a meeting of his kinsmen, peer group and social and political associates, etc.
By Section 1 (3) of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution, any pronouncement of the court in Nigeria that rises in conflict with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution is totally dead on arrival, particularly if such judicial pronouncement is made as ratio decidendi. Such unconstitutional ratio decidendi should not only be trounced but also expressly treated as orbita dictum or dicta. No court in Nigeria under the 1999 Constitution must issue an order undermining the 1999 Constitution particularly its justiciable rights to freedom of expression, assembly and association.
As for recent ranting of the Nigerian Army, represented by its 82nd Division in Enugu, it is a clear case of pathological emptiness of Nigerian soldiers in modern soldiering and military science particularly as it concerns military-public relationship and policing of public assemblies in Nigeria. The frustrations of the 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army and its satellite formations in the Southeast are clearly understandable.
Here is a supposed Army of multi ethno-religious composition of the Federation of Nigeria, but defiantly and lopsidedly composed and peopled presently by brigades and battalions of ethno-religious cleansers within the Hausa-Fulani Muslim stock. The 82nd Division of the Nigerian Army is utterly angry and frustrated because streets and roads in the Southeast that had last year’s 29th and 30th May provided same with an opportunity to shed and spill the bloods of over 140 innocent and defenseless Igbo citizens at Nkpor, Onitsha and Asaba; grossly disappointed and denied it of same violent opportunity on 30th of May 2017; leading to its present frustrations, humiliations, shocks and disappointment.
We had in September 2016, issued a public enlightenment advocacy statement in which we stated and pointed out clearly that the Nigerian Army is the most atrocious and barbarous military under any credible democratic country in Africa, South America and Asia, Europe and North America. It is also backwardly and illiterately composed and commanded.
In policing public assemblies including peaceful and even unlawful or violent assemblies in Nigeria or any part thereof, Nigerian Army has no iota of role or responsibility. The gross ignorance of the Nigerian Army in policing public assemblies in Nigeria other than armed rebellion, is further exposed when it claimed that “its violent crackdown of innocent and unarmed pro Biafra campaigners, and their nonviolent processions and street protests leading to over 270 deaths and 370 injuries in less than two years (August 2015-January 2017) is in line with military’s rules of engagement”.
Owing to its collective and administrative backwardness and illiteracy, the Nigerian Army is thousands of miles away from realizing the fact that rules of engagement under the UN System and int’l law such as int’l humanitarian law and the Laws of War or Conflicts, popularly called the Geneva Conventions of 1949; are strictly not applicable to policing public assemblies or non war civil assemblies; even if such assemblies turn violent other than armed rebellion. The Nigerian Army’s gross ignorance and illiteracy further darkens its eyes and sense of reasoning to the effect that rules of engagement is solely applicable in inter State or intra State conflicts or wars and that it was founded on three war doctrines of jus ad bellum, jus in bellum and jus post bellum. The word “bellum” literally means war or armed conflict.
These are the reason behind the Nigerian Army’s recent claims, as it has always done that “IPOB and MASSOB are violent and armed independent people of Biafra” and that “they and their int’l collaborators have transformed into armed militias”. The link to the said public enlightenment on policing public assemblies in Nigeria is here:http://thenigerialawyer.com/public-awareness-on-managing-peaceful-assemblies-in-nigeria-and-dangers-of-their-stigmatization-and-criminalization-by-nigerian-security-forces-and-unprofessional-print-media/
We therefore call on the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court to ignore any frivolous petition from any quarter asking it to stampede Hon Justice Binta Nyako into revoking Citizen Kanu’s bail. The Federal Ministry of Justice is also warned not to undermine the sacred provisions of the 1999 Constitution in the like manner. As we have always done successfully, we shall oppose with utter advocacy vehemence any attempt to unjustly revoke Citizen Nnamdi Kanu’s bail or return him to prison. The heightening surveillance around Citizen Kanu’s Afara-Umuahia Community and its environs as well as his movement by soldiers and SSS must be totally discontinued.
Hon Justice Binta Nyako must reverse herself when judicially approached by releasing the trio of Citizens Benjamin Madubugwu, Dave Nwawuisi and Chidiebere Onwudiwe on bail. The IPOB legal team is also advised to appeal the judicial decision of Hon Binta Nyako, refusing the trio bail and get them released on bail. As a matter of fact all the spurious charges preferred against Citizens Nnamdi Kanu, Dave Nwawuisi, Chidiebere Onwudiwe and Benjamin Madubugwu should be quashed or withdrawn and discontinued by the Federal Ministry of Justice.
The charges are not only spurious and uncalled for, but also a situation whereby no single member of Fulani terrorist group that has killed with automatic weapons over 4000 innocent and defenseless Nigerian citizens since the inception of the Buhari Administration in June 2015 has neither been arrested or prosecuted; amounts to killing, prosecuting and persecuting the innocent and law abiding and protecting and rewarding murderers and genocidists.
It is also shocking as why a citizen who possess a self-defensive non prohibited firearms in the category of Pump Action Guns with a valid license, which has since been tendered in court; will be held without trial or bail since two years whereas no single member of Fulani terrorist group has been arrested and put on trial for possession of prohibited firearms such as AK-47 assault rifles or sub or machine guns.
Finally, we call on the Akwa Ibom State Directorate of SSS to as a matter of uttermost immediacy comply with an Akwa Ibom Federal High Court judgment, ordering for unconditional release from its custody of Citizen Bright Chimezie (an IPOB chieftain), who was arrested since 16th September 2016 or a period of over eight months, in Uyo and detained under its custody without trial since then. If the directorate has murdered him in its custody through close range shooting or torture, the directorate is called upon to release his corpse publicly to IPOB, his lawyers and family.
Signed:
For: International Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)
British Prime Minister Theresa May called on Sunday, June 4, 2017 for a stronger response to Islamist extremism after three attackers drove a van into pedestrians on London Bridge and stabbed others nearby, killing seven people and injuring 48.
London’s Metropolitan Police arrested 12 people in the Barking district of east London in connection with the attack and raids were continuing there, the force said.
The attack occurred five days before a parliamentary election and was the third to hit Britain in less than three months. May said the vote would go ahead as planned on Thursday.
“It is time to say enough is enough,” the Conservative leader said in a televised statement outside her Downing Street office, where flags few at half-mast.
“We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are,” May said, calling for a beefed-up counter-terrorism strategy that could include longer jail sentences for some offences and new cyberspace regulations.
We cannot and must not pretend that things can continue as they are. Things need to change, and they need to change in four important ways. pic.twitter.com/szq25idIC7
Less than two weeks ago, a suicide bomber killed 22 children and adults at a concert by U.S. singer Ariana Grande in Manchester in northern England. In March, in a attack similar to Saturday’s, five people died after a man drove into pedestrians on Westminster Bridge in central London and stabbed a policeman.
On Saturday night, police shot dead the three male assailants in the Borough Market area near London Bridge within eight minutes of receiving the first emergency call shortly after 10 p.m. (2100 GMT).
Eyewitnesses described harrowing scenes as the attackers’ white van veered on and off the bridge sidewalk, hitting people along the way, and the three men then ran into an area packed with bars and restaurants, stabbing people indiscriminately.
Accounts emerged of people trying to barricade themselves in a pub while others tried throwing tables and other objects to fend off the attackers.
May’s government announced that a nationwide minute of silence would be held at 1000 GMT on Tuesday to pay respect to the victims of the attack and flags would remain at half-mast on government buildings until Tuesday evening.
At an apartment block in Barking, a resident told Sky News he heard controlled explosions early on Sunday morning as police gained access to the building. A Reuters photographer later saw four women being removed from the building, shielding their faces as they stepped into police vans.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the London Bridge attack.
Islamic State, losing territory in Syria and Iraq to an advance backed by a U.S.-led coalition, had sent out a call on instant messaging service Telegram early on Saturday urging its followers to carry out attacks with trucks, knives and guns against “Crusaders” during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.
Islamist militants have carried out scores of deadly attacks in Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia and the United States over the past two years.
Not Connected To Manchester, Westminister Attacks
“We believe we are experiencing a new trend in the threat we face as terrorism breeds terrorism,” May said.
“Perpetrators are inspired to attack not only on the basis of carefully constructed plots … and not even as lone attackers radicalised online, but by copying one another and often using the crudest of means of attack.”
She said the series of attacks were not connected in terms of planning and execution, but were inspired by what she called a “single, evil ideology of Islamist extremism” that represented a perversion of Islam and of the truth. She said this ideology had to be confronted both abroad and at home.
“While we have made significant progress in recent years, there is – to be frank – far too much tolerance of extremism in our country,” she said, urging Britons to be more robust in stamping it out in the public sector and in wider society.
U.S. President Donald Trump, taking to Twitter on Sunday, urged the world to stop being “politically correct” in order to ensure public security against terrorism.
Police officers guard the approach to Southwark Bridge after an incident near London Bridge in London, Britain June 4, 2017. | Reuters/Neil Hall
Most of the main political parties suspended election campaigning on Sunday, but May said this would resume on Monday. The anti-European Union UK Independence Party said it would not suspend its campaign because disrupting democracy was what the extremists wanted.
London Bridge is a major transport hub and nearby Borough Market is a fashionable warren of alleyways leavened with bars and restaurants that is always bustling on a Saturday night.
The area remained cordoned off and patrolled by armed police and counter-terrorism officers on Sunday, with train stations closed. Forensic investigators could be seen working on the bridge, where buses and taxis stood abandoned.
At several points outside the cordon, people started laying flowers and messages of grief and solidarity as the day progressed.
Ariana Grande and other music stars were due to give a benefit concert at Manchester’s Old Trafford cricket ground on Sunday evening to raise funds for victims of the concert bombing and their families. Police said the event would go ahead as planned though security would be increased.
“Today’s One Love Manchester benefit concert will not only continue, but will do so with greater purpose,” Grande’s manager, Scooter Braun, said on Twitter after the London attack.
Manchester police said a minute’s silence had been held at the start of a charity soccer match at Manchester United’s stadium to honor the victims of both the concert and London Bridge attacks.
Fake Explosive Vests
The three attackers on Saturday night were wearing what looked like explosive vests that were later found to have been fake. May said the assailants’ aim had been to sow panic. The BBC showed a photograph of two possible attackers shot by police, one of whom had canisters strapped to his body.
The London Ambulance Service said 48 people had been taken to five hospitals across the capital and a number of others had been treated at the scene for minor injuries. Police said some of those in hospital had life-threatening injuries.
London Mayor Sadiq Khan said the official threat level in Britain remained at severe, meaning a militant attack is highly likely. It had been raised to critical after the Manchester attack, then lowered again days later.
“One of the things we can do is show that we aren’t going to be cowed is by voting on Thursday and making sure that we understand the importance of our democracy, our civil liberties and our human rights,” Khan said.
Roy Smith, a police officer who was at the scene during the unfolding emergency, expressed his shock on Twitter.
“Started shift taking photos with children playing on the South Bank. Ended it giving CPR to innocent victims attacked at London Bridge,” he wrote, adding a broken heart emoji.
In tweets, Trump offered help to Britain but also leveled apparent criticism of Khan for saying there was no need to be alarmed. Khan had earlier said Londoners would see an increased police presence on the streets of the city and people should not be alarmed by that.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Emmanuel Macron and Russian President Vladimir Putin were among those who sent messages of condolences and made statements of solidarity.
Pope Francis invited thousands of pilgrims who attended mass in St. Peter’s Square in Vatican City on Sunday to pray for the victims of the London attack.
Four French nationals were among those injured in the London attack, French officials said. Australia said two of its citizens were caught up in it and one of them was in hospital.
The Manchester bombing on May 22 was the deadliest attack in Britain since July 2005, when four British Muslim suicide bombers killed 52 people in coordinated assaults on London’s transport network.
Bilkisu Saidu, the senior special assistant to Acting President Yemi Osinbajo on legal matters, has dismissed recent nepotism charges credited to a faceless social media contributor using the name Ismaila Farouk from Zamfara State regarding appointments made by her principle into some federal agencies and the ones done in the office of the vice president.
Dr. Saidu, regarded as one of the foremost aides to the Professor Osinbajo, spoke on “Shirin Safe’’, an interview programme on BBC Hausa Radio on Sunday, June 4, 2017. She was a law teacher from the Usmanu Dan Fodiyo University Sokoto before she was named as an aide in the Office of the Vice President in 2016.
She described the nepotism charges as simply laughable, untrue, unfair and should not be taken seriously.
According to her contrary to Mr Farouk’s conclusions, most senior positions on the Vice President’s office are held by Muslims including by individuals who are from the north.
Said she, “If you are talking about religion, the most senior official or position in the Office of the Vice President apart from the Vice President himself, is the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and the name of the person occupying that office is Abdulrahman Ipaye and he is a Muslim.’’
“The positions following the chief of staff’s in the order of hierarchy are the special advisers in the office of the vice president. Here there are three special advisers and two out of the three special advisers are Muslims, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Barrister Mariam Uwais from Kano State,’’ she added.
Dr. Saidu said that a cursory look at the other senior positions in the vice president’s office indicate that religious consideration was never a factor in the appointment of the officers, noting that “If you look at the remaining senior positions in that office, most of them are in the hands of Muslims from the north.’’
“For instance the person in charge of Protocol (i.e. the director of protocol) is Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary from Yobe State; those in charge of welfare and health in the office of the Vice President are mostly Muslims and from the north,” she said.
“Worthy of note are the stewards, those who serve the Vice President’s meals, they are mostly Muslims, so what do the critics mean when they talk about religion.’’
Dr Saidu concluded that when non-progressive minded people fail to win public support on their personal agenda they often resort to making some nepotism charges by the use of religion given its sensitivity among Nigerians.
According to her, “when people lack what to use or have exhausted all avenues to speak evil against perceived opponents or ridicule the good works that they are doing, they resort to use of religion or other means possible to damage the image and reputation of that opponent.’’
The faceless Ismaila Farouk from Zamfara State recently criticized Acting President Yemi Osinbajo’s recent outings and appointments made in his office describing them as sectional and not in the interest of the north.
The Benue State Independent Electoral Commission, BSIEC, announced on Sunday, June 4, 2017 that the All Progressive Congress, APC, had won all the 23 local government chairmanship seats in the election held on Saturday, June 3, 2017.
It also announced that the party won all the councillorship positions, with some of the candidates returned unopposed.
John Tsuwa, BSIEC chairman, who declared the results in Makurdi, the state capital, however, declined to release details of votes scored by the candidates.
“The figures are not ready. I will not entertain questions because this is not a press conference,,” he told curious reporters.
Tsuwa said that eight political parties participated in the exercise and listed them to include Accord Party, APC, PDP, SDP, ACB, PPP, LP and NNPP.
He thanked security agencies for ensuring a smooth conduct of the elections, and expressed happiness that no case of violence or snatching of ballot box was reported throughout the exercise.
Hamza Al-Mustapha, ex-chief security officer to Sani Abacha, former head of state, says a camera at the presidential villa in Abuja captured the last moments of MKO Abiola, acclaimed winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential election.
Abiola died under suspicious circumstances shortly after the death of Abacha. He was due to be released on July 7, 1998.
Speaking with reporters in Ibadan, Oyo state, after the third south-west annual lecture titled, ‘Developing leadership abilities in youth’, Al-Mustapha said the existence of the tape was known to a few Nigerians.
He said those who threw him in detention plotted to destroy the video tape.
Al-Mustapha said he was incarcerated for 15 years without given the opportunity to defend himself on the media.
“On October 21, 1998, I was arrested because of a video cassette, not because of the late Kudirat Abiola. But something happened, which a particular camera in the villa captured,” he said.
“So, they wanted to take the videotape and burn it so that Nigerians would not know what happened. That was the beginning of my travails.”
“For 15 years, I didn’t have the chance to defend myself in newspaper, radio and television. So, the belief was Mustapha had committed an offence, even before my arrest. But the actual thing that happened to the late MKO Abiola is in that cassette that they want to see, that is why Mustapha was subjected to punishment and I was called names. They have wanted to know the whereabouts of that tape in the last 17 years.
“I appeared before 14 judges in Lagos. As soon as the matter was about to finish, they would stop it and take us to another court. For 15 years, I was in that state. Out of the 15 years, five years and two months, I served in detention with torture. The remaining was between Ikoyi Prisons, Kirikiri Prisons and Kuje Prisons.
“Many people, particularly lawyers, took money from those who were looking for the cassette. They would go to radio and television stations to rain abuses on me, rather than coming to court. But they did not know what was going on in the court of law.”
He also denied being involved in the death of Kudirat, Abiola’s wife, saying the Abiola family was very close family to him.
Al-Mustapha alleged that Barnabas Jabila, better known as Sergeant Rogers, was influenced to give false testimonies against him.
Rogers was a member of the strike force and presidential bodyguard, which were specialised military squads believed to have been used by Al-Mustapha to get at the opponents of the Abacha regime.
Prominent personalities were killed under Abacha.
“On the late Kudirat Abiola, Rogers himself confessed in a court of law along with other witnesses how much money they were given. Rogers confessed he was told to do so. He was given money. He was given a house. He was given a car every six months, and he was promised to be taken outside Nigeria,” he said.
“The plan was as soon as Lagos court pronounced me guilty and I was to be hanged, then they would rush me to prison and hang me without giving me the option to go for appeal. That was what happened.
“I thank God Almighty everything that happened in Lagos State Court was compiled and signed by all the 14 judges. We are putting it together. My father has already put the book together in three volumes. You will see them soon.”
Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of UNFPA, has died at 68.
The former Nigerian minister of health is reported to have died on Sunday, June 4, 2017.
His deaths has been confirmed by family and UNFPA sources.
Before he became health minister, Osotimehin, was the director general of National Agency for Control of AIDS (NACA)and was also a former Provost of the College of Medicine at the University of Ibadan.
At least 1,000 people were injured, seven seriously, after a bomb scare triggered a stampede among Juventus fans assembled to watch the Champions League final in Turin, police said Sunday, June 4, 2017.
The incident occurred in one of Turin’s main squares were injured when loud bangs created a panic and mayhem.
About 400 people were being treated for slight injuries, Italian media reported. About five people were seriously hurt, including a seven-year-old boy who was trampled, Sky TG24 reported.
Thousands of fans had gathered to watch the Champions League final in front of a giant screen in San Carlo Square.
Juventus fans leave San Carlo’s square at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus and Real Madrid, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, June 3, 2017. | Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA/AP
During the second half of the match, which local club Juventus went on to lose 1-4 to Real Madrid, video cameras show a sudden rush in the middle of the crowd that caused a surge that flung people against barriers.
Many fans then began to run out of the center of the square, screaming in fear.
Juventus supporters evacuate Piazza San Carlo after a panic movement in the fanzone where thousands of Juventus fans were watching the UEFA Champions League Final football match between Juventus and Real Madrid on a giant screen, on June 3, 2017in Turin. | AFP
The panic may been started by the explosion of a loud firecracker that was mistaken for a bomb, a Reuters witness said.
Afterwards shoes and bags littered the ground, people were seen limping and searching desperately for friends and relatives, the witness said.
Juventus fans leave San Carlo’s square at the end of the Champions League final soccer match between Juventus and Real Madrid, in Turin, Italy, Saturday, June 3, 2017. | Alessandro Di Marco/ANSA/AP)
Police have set up an information point to help people find their loved ones, and they are investigating what caused the panic.
This tragedy mirrors the sad incident in Calabar, Cross River State of Nigeria when over 30 persons watching the Europa League football match between Manchester United and Anderlecht perished in the evening of Thursday, April 20, 2017 as an electric cable fell from a power line.
According to news reports, and photos from the scene of the incident, many of the victims were electrocuted.
Students of tertiary institutions in Ekiti State, on Monday, June 5, 2017 staged a demonstration against what they described as an attempt by former governor of the state and current minister of minerals and steel development, Kayode Fayemi to use the judiciary to shield himself from answering questions on allegations of corruption levelled against him and demanded that the ex-governor must present himself for questioning by the Judicial Commission of Inquiry recently constituted by the state government.
It would be recalled that Governor Ayodele Fayose, at the instance of the Ekiti State House of Assembly recently inaugurated a Judicial Commission of Inquiry to investigate Dr Fayemi on allegations of fraud and diversion of public funds.
Fayemi has, however, approached the courts to stop the commission from carrying out its duty against him.
The angry students who represented all indigenes of Ekiti from such students’ associations as the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, Federation of Ekiti State Students’ Unions, home and diaspora (FESSU) and other students’ unions from tertiary institutions across the country among others, marched from the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium in Ado-Ekiti, state capital to Ojumose to address the press and from there to other parts of the city.
They sang hate songs against Fayemi and carried placards with agitating inscriptions such as “Ekiti students support Fayemi’s probe,” Fayemi, where are the N1 billion flowers”,” We say no to corruption” and “Fayemi don’t hide, come to Ekiti to exonerate yourself!” among others.
Speaking on behalf of the students, Idowu Peter, President, FESSU, said: “we are protesting endemic corruption of political office holders in Nigeria and we are demanding that the fight against corruption by the federal government should be across board and not sectional or restricted to only the opposition party.
“We are also calling on immediate past governor Kayode Fayemi to come to face the judicial commission of enquiry set up to probe his activities in government. He must come to defend himself against the allegation of misappropriation of the N850 State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) funds levelled against him and others.
“He shouldn’t hide under a court injunction to stop the panel if indeed his hands are clean.”
Also speaking, Owolabi Temitayo Alexander, chairman NANS Joint Campus Committee (JCC), Ekiti axis, said: “If former governor Fayemi knows he has no skeleton in his cupboard, we demand that he appear before the state judicial commission of enquiry set up to make him answer to allegations of graft. He should not hide under a shield by the
judiciary.
After all, he himself signed this law of judicial commission of enquiry into the constitution of the state, so he should have the moral courage to face the. Commission and not run away from it.
“Can you imagine a situation whereby someone who signed the law establishing a commission of inquiry in 2012 to probe his predecessor, Engr Segun Oni begin to run from the same law in 2017?”
Aridiogo David Olaitan, President of the Students’ Union Government, SUG, Ekiti State University, and Ogundipe Adewale, SUG, President College of Education, Ikere Ekiti, also corroborated their colleagues’ views, saying, “The federal government must impress it on Fayemi to present himself for probe before the Ekiti State Judicial commission of enquiry if indeed it is sincere with its anti-graft fight in the country. There shouldn’t be a sacred cow in this fight. That Fayemi is an appointee of the President doesn’t not shield him from being probed,” they said.
The College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti Students’ Union President, Ogundipe Adewale in his address said he was in support of the commission of inquiry set up by the state government adding that Dr. Fayemi has no reason to run away from his people if he’s not guilty.
“Under normal circumstances, if you make a law, the moment it is made, the law becomes older than you. The law has no senior brother, everyone is equal before the law. Dr. Fayemi should be answerable for his deeds while in office, he should desist from this hide and seek game if indeed he has nothing to hide. He should come back and jawjaw with the people he ruled for four years,” Ogundipe said.
The protest which kicked off at the Oluyemi Kayode Stadium saw the students sing protest songs round Ojumose, Okeyinmi, Old Garage before dispersing by Ijigbo junction in Ado-Ekiti.
The National Judicial Council, NJC, has recalled Justice Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court who was suspended with seven other justices in November 2016.
In a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday, June 3, 2017 by the council’s director of information, Soji Oye, said the council also recalled Justice Uwani John of the Court of Appeal, Justice Adeniyi Ademola, Justice Hydiazira Nganjiwa and Justice Musa Kurya of the Federal High Court.
Justice Agbadu Fishim of National Industrial Court of Nigeria also benefited from the council’s decision.
Only three of the affected judges have been charged to court, but only Ademola’s case has been concluded and he was discharged and acquitted.
Oye said the decisions were taken at the NJC’s 82nd meeting held on May 31 and June 1 presided over by the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghen.
You may read the full press statement, which was e-mailed to The Trent, below:
The National Judicial Council, under the chairmanship of Hon. Justice Walter. S. N. Onnoghen, GCON, at its 82nd Meeting which was held on 31st May and 1st June, 2017, considered the case of eight Judicial Officers who were directed to recuse themselves from duties on the request of the Attorney-General of the Federation pending the outcome of investigations against them. To maintain the integrity and sanctity of the Judiciary and sustain public confidence, the Judicial Officers were directed to recuse themselves from office with effect from 2nd November, 2016.
After deliberation, Council noted that out of the Judicial Officers directed to recuse themselves from performing their official duties, only three have been charged to Court. They are:-
• Hon. Justice N. S. Ngwuta, CFR, of the Supreme Court of Nigeria;
• Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court; and
• Hon. Justice Rita Ofili-Ajumogobia of the Federal High Court.
The trial of Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola has been concluded and he has been discharged and acquitted of the charges filed against him.
In view of the foregoing, Council decided that the various Heads of Court should direct the following Judicial Officers to resume their judicial duties with effect from Wednesday 7th June, 2017, as there are already backlog of cases in their various Court for the past eight months:
1. Hon. Justice John Inyang Okoro of the Supreme Court;
2. Hon. Justice Uwani Abba Aji of the Court of Appeal;
3. Hon. Justice Hydiazira A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court;
4. Hon. Justice A. F. A. Ademola of the Federal High Court who has been discharged and acquitted;
5. Hon. Justice Musa H. Kurya of the Federal High Court; and
6. Hon. Justice Agbadu James Fishim of National Industrial Court of Nigeria.
Council also at the Meeting, decided to warn Hon. Justice M. N. Esowe of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, Hon. Justice Adolphus Enebeli of the High Court of Justice, Rivers State and Hon. Justice Bassey Frank Etuk of the Akwa-Ibom State High Court for different offences and place two of them on the “Watch List” of the Council.
Council’s decision to give Hon. Justice Esowe a serious warning and put her on its “Watch List” for one year, was sequel to a petition written against her by Mr. Jimmy Dirisu Aliu, alleging injustice for failing to deliver ruling in Suit No. NICN/ABJ/394/2013, until Eight (8) months after the final address of counsel on Notice of Preliminary objection to his Suit.
Council also decided to give Hon. Justice Adolphus Enebeli serious warning and place him on its “Watch-List” for three years following its ‘findings’ that Hon. Justice Enebeli violated the Code of Conduct for Judicial Officers of the Federal Republic of Nigeria by granting ex-parte order in Suit No. PHC/983/2016, preventing the swearing-in of Victoria Wodo Nyeche as a member of the Rivers State House of Assembly, when the claim in the Suit did not border on qualification or pre-election matter. The Hon. Judge was said to have granted the ex-parte order on 19th April, 2016, three days to the swearing-in ceremony and adjourned the case to 21st April, 2016 when the ceremony had been concluded.
Hon. Justice Bassey Frank Etuk was warned following a petition written against him by Oro Youth Movement for failure to deliver judgment in Suit No. HOR/FHC/97/2014, a Fundamental Human Right case, after hearing it to conclusion and adjourned same for judgment to the 8th June, 2015. The Hon. Judge then proceeded on National assignment as an Election Petition Tribunal member and did not deliver the judgment even after his return in November, 2015, when he transferred the case file to the Chief Judge for it to start de-novo.
The Suit was filed by two officers of the Movement to prevent the police from arresting them after they were reported for embezzling the sum of N20, 000.000.00 (Twenty Million Naira) from the account of the movement.
The decision of the Council is with immediate effect.
Council also considered and dismissed petitions written against twelve other Judicial Officers.
Council dismissed the petitions because three (3) of the Petitioners withdrew their petitions against Hon. Justice T. U. Uzokwe, Chief Judge, Abia State, Hon. Justice Okoroafor of the Abia State High Court and Hon. Justice Judge Okeke of the FCT High Court of Justice.
One petition written against Hon. H. A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court was also dismissed for subjudice.
Other petitions written against Hon. Justices Adamu Abdu-Kafarati and O. E. Abang, both of the Federal High Court, Hon. Justices Mobolaji Ojo, and E. O. Osinuga, both of the Ogun State High Court, Hon. Justice B. A. Oke-Lawal of Lagos State High Court, Hon. Justice A. A. Aderemi of Oyo State, Ntong F. Ntong of Akwa-Ibom State High Court and the second petition written against Hon. Justice Bassey Frank Etuk of Akwa-Ibom State High Court of Justice were found unmeritorious.
A little girl from Tuscon, Arizona in U.S. who suffered from a rare condition causing such debilitating and dangerous seizures that she was put into a coma, has been cured by cannabis.
Annalise Lujan, 12, was taking part in a gymnastics class when she began vomiting and lost all feeling in her legs.
She suffered a severe seizure and was rushed to hospital where paramedics put her in a medically induced coma to stop any further damage being caused to her brain.
The youngster was flown to a specialist unit at Phoenix Children’s Hospital where she was diagnosed with febrile infection-related epilepsy syndrome (FIRES), an incredibly rare condition affecting just one in a million children.
Annalise Lujan, 12, with her mother after her treatment with cannabis cured her rare-form of epilepsy
Her mother, Maryann Estrada-Lujan, told KVOA : “One day, she was just a healthy young lady, going to school, participating in her community and her gymnastics, and the next day – fighting for her life.
“She was put on a ventilator, and put into a medical coma, and, we haven’t talked to her since.
“We had no idea that our whole world would be 180-degrees turned around in such devastation, such heartache, such confusion.”
The condition was causing Annalise to suffer constant seizures which can prove to be fatal, but normal epilepsy medication was ineffective against FIRES.
Doctors were not able to bring her out of her induced coma until they found a method of controlling the seizures.
Her mother began researching alternative remedies and discovered a cannabis-derived drug, Cannabidiol, which had been successful in previous epilepsy cases.
She lobbied for the drug, which has low levels of THC which is the active ingredient making people ‘high’, to be given to her daughter.
Doctors had to rush through its approval with the FDA and DEA as the drug was not yet approved.
After just three treatments the schoolgirl was able to be brought out of her coma, and no longer suffers from the crippling seizures.
Her mother said: “She opened her eyes, and she was scared. She was afraid. She cried. And, I whispered to her that she was very strong, she’s beautiful, and she’s strong, and she needed to keep breathing, and she did.”
Philomena Odama, a native of Yala local government area in Cross River State, has accused one Usman Adamu of murdering Joy, her daughter, “under the guise of funding her university education”.
In a petition seen by TheCable, Odama accused some officers of the Nigerian police force in Abuja of shielding Adamu.
She said she last saw her daughter, who was a second-year student of Cross River State University of Technology, on December 20, the day the man reportedly requested that she (Joy) come to his house at Ibro Quarters, Old Karmo village, Abuja – to help look after his sick housemaid.
“On the 18th December 2016, one Elizabeth from Ogoja LGA, Cross River state, who is my daughter’s friend visited us and told Joy to accompany her to see one Usman Adamu who she said was a philanthropist that gives scholarship to young students,” the petition read.
“Knowing Elizabeth as a long time friend and without any suspicion, she innocently followed her to the said Alhaji’s house. On getting there, my daughter called me that the Alhaji wants to see me… that the Alhaji wants to help her with her education with other girls who lives in the neighbourhood who are there with their parents.”
She added that two days after, the man called and requested for Joy’s assistance at his place of which Joy obliged and went on her permission.
Odma said she got disturbed when her daughter was not picking her calls. She added that all her efforts to reach Adamu on telephone did not yield the desired result until the next day when he answered his call.
The woman said Adamu pretended not to know who she was and even feigned ignorance about Joy.
She said it was later that Nkem Raphael, divisional police officer (DPO) of Karmo police station, informed her that Joy had died and he allegedly threatened her not to make any case.
“On getting to the police station, the DPO informed us that all the girls that went to Alhaji’s house are all unconscious; that one is not responding to treatment while the others are responding. We requested to see Joy but we were turned down and asked to come back the next day,” she said.
“The next day I went back to the police station in the company of relatives and a lawyer who is a close family friend. To my utter shock, I was told that my daughter was dead and had been taken to the mortuary.
Joy Odama, the victim
“We asked to know how, why and what led to Joy’s death and the DPO declined further comments. Our lawyer asked if the Alhaji had been arrested but he bluntly told us that as far he was concerned, Alhaji was not culpable, no crime had been committed, that my daughter died a natural death and he cannot arrest Usman Adamu.
“He told the lawyer to take the matter to his superiors but that he had already informed them about the matter and as far as they were concerned, Alhaji could not be arrested.
Odama said the DPO directed her to the Federal Medical Center, Airport road, Abuja, where he said her daughter’s corpse was deposited.
The woman revealed that she was informed that her child’s body had been embalmed.
“When we asked why my daughter’s body was embalmed without our knowledge, one of the attendants confided in us that Usman Adamu first brought the dead body in the early hours of December 21, claiming to be the father of the girl,” she said.
“But on seeing the body, they suspected foul play and insisted that they will not admit the body until they see a police or doctor’s report.
“He left and came back with Nkem Raphael, the DPO, who ordered them to immediately embalm the body. We also discovered that the other girls the DPO claimed were on admission in the hospital were not there.”
Odama said when she went back to the station, she met Martha, one of the girls who was supposed to meet Adamu, but could not make it on the day he called her.
“Martha explained how she was not able to visit the man on that day, and how she went the next day,” Odama said.
“She said she saw my daughter lying lifeless on the floor and the other girls were stooling and vomiting. She became afraid and tried to run out of the house but Alhaji and some [persons] inside the house held her back and brought her to the police station.
“When I was about asking her further questions, some policemen shouted at her to stop talking and whisked her away.”
Odama said she inquired from the DPO why her child was embalmed without her consent, but that he reiterated his initial position and “bluntly told us not to pursue this case further, that he would advise us to dialogue with Usman Adamu for our daughter’s burial.
“He insisted that he had nothing more to do with us until we agreed to meet with the Alhaji.”
She said reluctantly she agreed to meet with the man and on the fixed date, but that she went with a lawyer.
“We were at the police station with our lawyer but on sighting the lawyer, the DPO lied that the meeting had been postponed. When the lawyer asked why, he said that the Alhaji was not around and that his number is not connecting, that he will call the lawyer and inform her of the next date for the meeting.
When the lawyer asked why, he said that the Alhaji was not around and that his number was not connecting, that he would call the lawyer and inform her of the next date of the meeting.
“Immediately the lawyer left, the DPO quickly called us inside his office and we were so surprised to see Usman Adamu sitting right there. The DPO told us to put off our phones and drop it on his desk, that he does not want the meeting to be recorded. In attendance was the DPO and Michael Obiora, a police inspector.
“TheDPO was the first to speak. He said if we knew what was good for us, we should agree to whatever the Alhaji will offer us and desist from further pursuing this matter. Adamu then offered to settle the matter with N300,000 and we became infuriated, and there after which we briefed the lawyer.
“The lawyer insisted that further investigation be carried out. The DPO again called for a second meeting where we met with Umoru Usman Shehu; an assistant inspector general of police in charge of intelligence at force headquarters.
“Umoru told us bluntly also that investigation in this matter had been closed and could not be reopened. He asked Adamu to add an additional N100,000 to his initial offer but Adamu told us harshly that, that was the best he could do and that it was his final decision.
“At this point, apparently sensing the threat in his tone, a family friend present called us aside and advised that we collect the money to give them a false belief that we had agreed to their terms while we go home and think of the next line of action, including having it as an exhibit.”
Odama said it was obvious that Adamu had people in high places within the Nigerian police force “and have connived with them to deny our poor family justice”.
She appealed for the intervention of the federal government, claiming that Joy “is not the first girl that Adamu killed on the pretext of rendering help.”
Efforts by TheCable to reach Adamu through the telephone number given by Odama, did not yield the desired result, as the line was switched off.
Manzah Anjuguri, police spokesman in the federal capital territory (FCT ), could not be reached for comments because he neither answered his calls nor responded to the text message sent.
