A coalition of Arewa youth has said that “the Yoruba are the most ungrateful stock in Nigeria”, in a statement signed on behalf of the group by Muhammed Shehu and Tanko Abdullahi, after an emergency meeting called by the coalition in Daura, Katsina State, on Tuesday, June 27, 2017.

In what may be the most inflammatory statement of the times, the Northern youth group, which said that they speak for the youth of Northern Nigeria, said “having given power to the Yoruba on a platter of gold in 1999 as a way of compensating them for the June 12 saga, it is quite worrisome and unfortunate that they have lived up to their legendary reputation of backstabbing and betrayal by supporting the divisive calls for restructuring or dismemberment of the nation against the will and desire of the north”.

“We gave the late Chief MKO Abiola the mandate in 1993 but shortly after that, as it is with the Yoruba as a culture, they immediately started circling around Abiola plotting on how to emasculate the north and strip us of every access we had to the politics and economy of this nation,” the Arewa group said in the statement which was e-mailed to The Trent.

“They had also raised a secret army of their elites to carry out these sinister plans against the north if Abiola eventually became president. It was this army that was unleashed on the nation in the guise of NADECO during the June 12 impasse.

“May we remind the Yoruba that without the willingness and magnanimity of the north, there was no way Abiola could have purportedly won that election, and that all the Yoruba have now as assets in the south west, especially Lagos, were given to them by our leaders out of our own usual magnanimity. However, time and time again, the Yoruba have always turned their back on us whenever their support is needed. They have chosen to pitch tent with the Igbo this time around just to spite us, but we shall not succumb to their antics.

“We are very much aware that all the attacks against President Muhammadu Buhari were planted in the media by the Yoruba and spread by southerners generally just to discredit the north in order to pave way for their son, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo to become president. But their plans will fail insha Allah.

“We shall resist every of such plans and ensure by all means possible, that the north completes its eight-year tenure and possibly even continue after then, and that the federal structure of Nigeria as it currently is, is not tampered with by secession mongers and their collaborators,” the statement concluded.

An inspiring documentary detailing the recent visit of Nigerian Prophet T.B. Joshua to the South American nation of Ecuador has been released on YouTube, showing rare footage of the cleric’s adventurous trek through a rainforest on a mammoth humanitarian mission.

The clip shows Joshua being warmly received by Ecuadorian military officials and then meeting the nation’s Vice President Jorge Glas, before embarking on an intrepid journey through a dense tropical rainforest to the indigenous community of San Salvador de Los Chachis.

After the earthquake that struck the nation in April 2016 had destroyed the only school which previously served the entire community, Joshua, alongside his ‘Emmanuel TV partners’ rebuilt the school and refurbished it with new equipment.

The cleric is seen officially opening the school, encircled by hundreds of grateful local students whose academic pursuits have been rekindled by the philanthropic act.

The journey back to Ecuador’s capital Quito provides viewers with unique insight into the pastor’s personal travails as his vehicle breaks down due to adverse weather and Joshua is forced to walk on foot for several hours through the muddy terrain.

“We are going on a mission and it is not all missions that are smooth,” he tells viewers. “We went to give food; we are running out of food now… What a rare privilege to suffer for the needy.”

In stark contrast, another ceremony is held days later and attended by top government and military figures within Ecuador where Joshua is honoured for his humanitarian gestures.

Since the video’s release, hundreds of comments have been shared, especially noting Joshua’s humble demeanor and endearing message amidst the harsh conditions.

Earlier reports revealed the finances donated by Emmanuel TV for the refurbishment of the school alongside the immediate disaster relief aid to Ecuador exceeded $500,000.

Click on any image to enlarge. 

Ihechukwu Njoku is a freelance Nigerian journalist who writes about the Synagogue Church of All Nations.

The Anglican Church of Nigeria has during its 3rd session of the 16th Synod urged the Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari to resign if he feels he can no longer serve as the Nigerian president.

As part of the decisions reached during the meeting, the Enugu Diocese of the Anglican Communion called on the president to vacate office as his continuous absence from the country is hurting the nation.

The call comes after the president left the country on May 7 for the United kingdom on health grounds.

As part of the decisions made by the church during her 3rd session of the 16th Synod which held at the Christ Redemption Church, WTC, Enugu, the Anglican church in a communiqué issued, signed by the Archbishop of the Enugu Province and Bishop of the Diocese, Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Chukwuma, Ven. Augustine Orah, the Synod Secretary and the Registrar, Sir, (Barr) H.B.C Ogboko, the Church said President Muhammadu Buhari’s ill health “has kept him out of office for long, thereby impeding the growth of the nation.”

It added in the comminique released after the meeting: “The synod thereby prays God to grant him divine healing. The synod, however, observes that in the event where the President is unable to discharge his duties and or perform the functions of his office owing to ill health, he is enjoined to resign from the office.”

Reacting to the quit notice issued to the Igbo living in the North by the Arewa Youth and a Coalition of Northern Youth Groups, CNYG, the church warned against “the repetition of the pogrom of 1967 whereof the Igbos were massively and brutally massacred in the Northern Nigeria and calls on the Federal Government to ensure adequate protection of the lives and properties of Ndi Igbo residing in the Northern part of Nigeria.”

It further registered its sadness and disappointment that “despite the huge outcry and condemnation of the violent activities of Fulani herdsmen, they are found carrying arms used to attack, kill and maim innocent citizens in various communities across the nation.”

The statement added: “The Synod, therefore, implores the Federal Government to take proactive steps rowards check-mating the activities of these Fulani herdsmen.

“The Synod is deeply dissatisfied that the power situation in the country is degenerating and poor services being rendered by the DISCOS, yet electricity tariff is on the increase.

“The synod calls on the Federal Government to compel the DISCOS, particularly the EEDC to provide customers with prepaid metres and avoid imposition of estimated bills.”

While commending Buhari on the heightened war against corruption which the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was playing a vital role in, the church warned the agency “to stop media trials of suspects in their custody and ensure the conclusion of investigations before arraignment and prosecution of alleged offenders.”

Read more at Herald.

Dambaba Suntai, a former governor of Taraba State, who survived an air crash at the Yola Airport in Adamawa State in 2012 has died. He was 55 years old.

 Suntai died at home where he was undergoing rehabilitation for brain injuries arising from the plane crash.

A former commissioner of information in the state, Emmanuel Bello confirmed the news of his demise to an online news platform.

He ran for governor and won on the platform of the People’s Democratic Party in 2007. He was sworn in as governor on May 29 of that year. He was re-elected in 2011.

Suntai, a trained pilot, was flying the plane when it crashed in neighbouring Adamawa State in 2012. Some of his aides passed away in the tragic incident.

He never returned to office after the accident and his deputy served out his tenure as acting governor.

In 2015, it was reported that the former governor had suffered a stroke. In the last days of his life, his wife was reportedly his only constant companion.

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, says one of its operatives who is investigating corrupt judicial officials has escaped death by the whiskers.

The anti-graft agency said some gunmen opened fire on him in Port Harcourt, Rivers state on Monday, June 26, 2017.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, Wilson Uwujaren, EFCC spokesman, said Austin Okwor, the operative who works in the property fraud section of the EFCC zonal office in Port Harcourt, “had closed late for the day and as he left the office, he was suddenly accosted by a gang of hoodlums who opened fire on him”.

“Luckily for him, he was able to shake off his assailants but not without sustaining some bullet wounds as they kept firing at him. He was rushed to a private hospital in Port Harcourt where he is receiving treatment,” he said.

“According to Ishaq Salihu, head of the zonal office, the incident has already been reported to the police in Port Harcourt.

“Okwor is one of the operatives investigating some sensitive cases including that pertaining to corrupt judicial officials.

“Before the incident, the officer had been receiving threat messages. One of such messages which he received sometime in May 2017 was reported to the police.

“This incident underlines the hazards which operatives of the commission are daily exposed to in the discharge of their duties.

“In 2010, precisely September 14, the head of the commission’s Forensic Unit, Abdullahi Muazu was shot and killed by unknown gunmen in Kaduna. Six months earlier a team of prosecutors returning to Enugu after a court appearance in Owerri, Imo state was attacked by gunmen who opened fire on them. Sergeant Eze Edoga the police escort was cut down while a senior counsel with the commission, Joseph Uzor was critically wounded but survived.”

Security agencies in Bayelsa State are probing the identity of Suoyo mentioned by the notorious billionaire kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeje Onwuamadike, aka Evans, as one of his gang members in the state.

Evans, in one of his numerous confessional statements, named Suoyo as one of the active members of his gang, who had the assignment of buying arms and ammunition for their operations.

He said: “When Suoyo, who lives in Bayelsa State, called me and expressed fears, I also assured him that nothing was going to happen. I told him I was making plans for another operation and needed him to go into the creeks and buy a new set of arms and ammunition”.

But security commanders in Bayelsa were said to have met over the weekend to analyse Evan’s confessional statement to unmask the real identity of Suoyo.

In the meeting which held in Government House in the presence of Governor Seriake Dickson, the security commanders were said to be certain that that the Suoyo mentioned by Evans was the same person recently arrested by the operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) in the state.

Suoyo  Dickson was arrested and paraded on Thursday by the state Commandant of NSCDC, Mr. Desmond Agu, in connection with the recent attack on a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian Agip Oil Company (NAOC).

Suoyo, popularly known as Hustler, reportedly led a gang of vandals that attacked the Agip pipeline at Lagosgbene, Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of the state on May 30, 2017.

He was, however, arrested on June 16, 2017 at Agbigiba community in Southern Ijaw.

Suoyo, in his confessional statement, also admitted having some criminal camps in the creeks saying he led an oil and gas task force operating in Southern Ijaw to destroy the camps but became frustrated when the task force failed to reward him.

On how he attacked the pipeline, Evans said;: ”I used two handsaw blades and handsaw to open up the point, I cut the handle in the valve, I fetched 20 litres of petrol, I lit spark lighter and threw it into the pipe and burnt it.”

”I burnt the pipeline because the task force  did not keep to their promise of employing us after making us to show them our bunkering camps and the subsequent destruction by the military.

”We showed them our camps, eight of them. All the camps did not belong to me. Three were mine while other groups have five. After showing them, the task force engaged the military to destroy our camps.

”The other groups, whose camps were destroyed were not happy with me. They said I betrayed them and they started planning to kill me and my family members. The situation put me under pressure more so the employment they promised all of us after seven days did not materialize”.

It was gathered that Agu, after parading the suspect, handed him over to the Joint Task Force, Operation Delta Safe (ODS) for further investigations.

A security source, who spoke in confidence, said at the meeting of the security commanders in Yenagoa, which was attended by the heads of ODS, the police and NSCDC, it was agreed that Suoyo should be subjected to further investigations.

Following Evans’ confession, the security heads were said to be linking him to the theft of service rifles of security operatives especially policemen in the state.

They recalled many attacks on operatives by criminals, who only fled with arms and ammunition handled by their victims.

“The security heads also agreed to compile a list of such stolen arms and ammunition in the state and send it to the Force Headquarters to know whether they were among the ones  recovered from Evans.

“The Suoyo mentioned by Evans seems in all ramifications to be the same suspected arrested by the NSCDC recently in connection with attack on a pipeline. The security heads in the state believe so and they will surely carry out further investigations to determine his linkage with the Evans’ gang.”

Read more at The Nation.

The executive committee of the National Union of Adamawa State Students, NUADSS, were brutally beaten by the police officers at the state government house on Sallah day, Monday, June 26, 2017.

The exco’s were at the government house to congratulate governor Muhammad Jibrilla on the successful completion of the holy month of Ramadan and join in the celebrations of Sallah with the governor and other state officials.

However, the celebratory day turned out to be a sad one for the students who sustained various forms of injuries as a result of heavy blows dealt on them by the government house police officers acting on the order of the Adamawa state commissioner of higher education Hon Rufai Ahmed Abubakar.

The present exco’s trouble with the commissioner and by extension governor Bindow’s administration could be traced back to march 2017 when comrade Bilal Abdullahi defeated  comrade Mustapha Ahmed to become the president of the union. The former was the preferred candidate of Muhammad Ahmad Marafa, the special assistant to the governor on student liaison since that moment, Marafa was restless in his efforts to sabotage comrade Bilal tenure.

Moreover, the election which brought comrade Bilal to power was supervised by NUADSS zone C chairman Usman Umar Barambu and chaired by Pita Pwa Vokito.

It was described as free, fair and credible by the representatives of various security agencies at the event which include the police force, DSS and the civil defense corps. Therefore the legitimacy of Comrade Bilal ascension to leadership was not in question.

Interestingly, the defeated candidate, Mustapha Ahmed conceded defeat and pledged to support the winner in the best interest of the union and its goals of advancing the interest of Adamawa state students. But Marafa would not let things be.

The unfortunate event left a number of the exco’s with injuries including the president, comrade Bilal who sustained a head injury.

Below are official documents concerning the claims in this freelance report.

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The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has condemned plans by the federal government to increase school fees in thirty eight universities saying that such a move would be met with maximum resistance”.

In an e-mailed statement to The Trent, on Wednesday, June 28, 2017, Chinonso Obasi, the president of NANS called the planned fee hike as the “last straw that would break the cycle of obnoxious levy on learning and pursuit education”.

“NANS received the report that about 38 tertiary institutions have concluded plans to jack up tuition fees in their institutions with utter pain and disgust, because over the years Nigerian students have been made to bear the brunt of poverty ideas and administrative ineptitude of managers and chief executives of tertiary institutions,” the statement said.

“In saner climes education funding include revenue from researches and consultative collaborations. Implementation of UNESCO strategies, particularly commercializing research findings should occupy Nigeria educational institutions rather than constant hike in tuition fees payable by hapless students.

“However NANS believes that the planned hike in tuition fees would be the last straw that would break the cycle of obnoxious levy on learning and pursuit of education.

“We regret to note that the President Muhammadu Buhari administration has not fully committed the government to justify the confidence of Nigerian students within the two years of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in power.

“This oversight becomes very painful despite the positive contributions of Nigerian students to the success of the administration’s key policies and programmes, such as, the fight against corruption, maintenance of peace and unity of the country, as well as campaign for local government autonomy.

“NANS feels that Nigerian students do not merit such harsh punishment as fee increases, which would further limit the capacity of the students to dream of a better future.

“Consequently the National President, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, in agreement with Nigerian students and the National Executives of NANS wish to serve notice to the authorities concerned that Nigerian students will never endure any increase in tuition at this time of the nation’s socio-economic challenges.

“If administrators of Nigeria’s educational institutions have run out of  ideas of funding and sustaining educational institutions in the country, they should feel free to liaise with students to explore new ways of funding, instead of the usual resort to internal revenue generation through increased tuition fees.

“While we express our readiness to dialogue with chief executives of tertiary institutions, NANS wishes to reiterate the fact that Nigerian students has been patient with PMB administration and our patience has reached the elastic limit. The President Buhari administration should recognize that this time to reward the understanding and cooperation of Nigerian students with education subsidy, proper funding of education and adequate welfare initiatives for students and resisting the temptation to increase tuition fee.

“However NANS wishes to inform Nigerians that any attempt by this administration to increase tuition fee in our tertiary institutions, will leave Nigerian students with no other option than passing a vote of no confidence on the APC led Federal Government.

“NANS is prepared to resist this blatant sabotage against the educational rights of Nigerian students and future youths.

“We therefore call on all well-meaning individuals and stakeholders of education to hasten and find lasting solutions to the deplorable attitude towards education in the country and put smiles on the faces of the most marginalized group of Nigerians, the students,” the statement ended.

The Borno State Police Command has refuted reports that Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram has captured sixteen police women or wives of senior police officers.

In an e-mailed statement sent to The Trent on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 signed by its spokesperson, Isuku Victor, reiterated the position of the commissioner of police of Borno State which is that no police women or wives of senior police officers were captured by Boko Haram has claimed in a YouTube video issued by Abubakar Shekau.

“The attention of Borno State Police Command has been drawn to media reports over the attack by Boko Haram terrorists on Military/Police escorted convoy at Abari/Dalwa village Maiduguri/Damboa highway on 20th June, 2017 at about 1130hrs,” the statement said.

“According to one of these reports, that “sixteen (16) female passengers in the bus trailing the ambulance carrying late Sgt Rahila’s corpse were Police women and wives of Policemen asked to accompany the burial party.

“And all of them were taken away by Boko Haram terrorists.

“In another recently released video on You-Tube where Boko Haram claims responsibility for the attack on military convoy, its leader Abubakar Shekau, claims to have women police personnel and wives of Senior Police officers in the custody of the Boko Haram.

“For avoidance of doubts, and to put records straight, there are no police women under Boko Haram terrorist’s captivity as claimed by the sect leader. The Command wishes to reiterate as contained in an earlier Press Briefing by the Commissioner of Police, CP Damian A. Chukwu, on 20/06/2017 that:

“Police lorry with Reg. No. NPF 2677 D was carted away.

“Occupants comprise personnel, relations and burial party for late Sgt Rahila Antikirya.

“Driver of the Police lorry, Sgt Kubura Mwada, was shot and injured on his back. He was able to jump down from the lorry and escaped.

“Personnel missing are Inspr Fatsuma Sale and Cpl Abubakar Haruna. There is no evidence in the video clip indicating that they are in the captivity of the sect.

“Other occupants of the lorry are either relations or sympathizers of the deceased, and were all reported missing in the earlier press briefing. They took advantage of the space in the lorry conveying personal effects of the deceased Police woman and joined the burial party.

“The Command therefore wishes to advise media organisations and the general public to disregard the claim(s) in the video, as well as social media reports as they are not a true representation of that unfortunate incident,” the statement ended.

The Christian Association of Nigeria, Youth Wing, on Thursday, June 29, 2017 called on the federal government to probe the attack in the building of the T.B. Joshua led Synagogue Church of All Nations, SCOAN in Ikotun-Egbe, Lagos and the recent incident on House on the Rock in Abuja.

The organisation said it had uncovered, through intelligence reports, desperate plans at official quarters to silence Christianity.

The attack on SCOAN took place on September 12 2014, when its founder and general overseer, Prophet T.B. Joshua, was delivering a sermon.

The national President of YOWICAN, Daniel David Kadzai, raised the alarm at a press conference in Abuja entitled “CLASSIFIED INTELLIGENCE AVAILABLE TO US CONFIRM A GANG-UP TO SUBMERGE, SUBDUE AND POSSIBLY WIPE-OUT CHRISTIANITY FROM NIGERIA.”

The text of the press conference reads: “This intelligence further indicates that attacks such as the mystifying collapse of a major building of the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) in Ikotun Egbe, Lagos State on the 12th of September 2014, the aberrant fire of the House on the Rock Church in Abuja on the 25th of June, 2017, the unobtrusive removal of the subject – Christian Religious Knowledge (CRK) from the curriculum of the Nigerian educational system, the killings in southern Kaduna this year, the attack this week on a pastor of the Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) serving under Keffi District Church Council (15 Kilometers from the Federal Capital Territory Abuja) and the most recent one yesterday, the 28th of June 2017 bombing of the Missionary Hospital in Bornu State all indicate the verisimilitude of this intelligence.

“Further public outcry made by some influential Christians in Nigeria (most especially Mr Femi Fani Kayode) regarding what we saw in the past as mere “accidents” confirm our intelligence and presents a clearer picture which is most disturbing, that most of these happenings where not mere “accidents” after all.

“The Youth Wing of the Christian Association of Nigeria (YOWICAN) and the entire congregation of Christians in Nigeria conclude, therefore, that there is a conscious and vehemently sustained move to submerge, subdue and systematically exterminate the existence and sustainability of Christianity and Christians in Nigeria. We wish to emphatically make this point clear, “that we are not naive of these machinations and that the time of political correctness, where such matters when known were swept under the carpet and played as low as possible is over.

“YOWICAN with this statement wishes to draw the attention of the public in Nigeria as well as the international community on this development which we in the past thought were mere attacks or calamities lacking coherent sequence.

“In the same vein however, this statement is also meant to inform both the perpetuators and sponsors of these heinous schemes (religious fundamentalists and their sponsors who we now know are some highly influential countries of the world), that the Christian community is fully aware of their strategic plans and are watching closely to further bring to further clarity, their intents.

“It is in this same vein that YOWICAN calls on the government of Nigeria to mobilise as a matter of urgency, all it’s law enforcement and diplomatic apparatuses for the purpose of further investigating the matter, beef up security and begin enquiry and ascertain their position on the matters raised here whilst also using and effectively engaging their benefit of “state power” to probe most of these countries and groups who are involved in these crimes against the Christian community in Nigeria. From a national security perspective however, we believe that any systemic plan aimed at submerging any religion in this country constitutes a threat to the unity of this country. YOWICAN wishes to again affirm, that it will keep a keen watch over the government of Nigeria to see how judiciously, it reacts to matters raised in this statement.

“Also, the Nigerian government should also open up investigations as soon as possible to ascertain the immediate and remote cause of specifically, the SCOAN building church attack, to bring those culpable of this heinous crime to this church to book and also come up with an appropriate compensation to SCOAN for the embarrassment and damage to both the image of this church and Christianity in Nigeria.

“Worthy of mention also, is the recent outrageous approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC ) the sum of N4 billion for the purchas of Metro Plaza in Abuja to be used as National Hajj Commission National Secretariat. Whilst emphasising that we do not have a problem with any donations made to a religion outside Christianity, we wish to reiterate that we are skeptical as to why such huge sums of money would be approved for a particular religion while Christianity has only received meager financial empowerment. We understand this and have made a correlation between this donation and the aforementioned calculated scheme to quieten Christianity in Nigeria.

“Finally, we wish to make it clear that as a religion, known and practised in many countries of the world, and one that has track record of championing peace and respect of humanity and life as evident in the teachings of our Lord and saviour Jesus Christ, a religion that is known for selflessness, one that has helped reinvigorate nations and bring succour and hope to millions of people, Christianity and Christians in Nigeria refuses to be intimidated by any uncivilised conquest of any fundamentalist religious sect and their so-called sponsors.

“We demand a response to this statement by the government of Nigeria in the weeks ahead with a detailed response to reflect the following (1) what their findings as regards the matters raised above are and (2) what they have done or will do (using the privilege of “state power” in seeing to the stemming of such further embarrassments to our nation, our churches, Christians, and the religion of Christianity in Nigeria.

“May God bless and continue to foster the unity, peace and prosperity of Nigeria,” the statement ended.

An Ekiti State High Court, Ado Ekiti, has sentenced a former vice principal of St. Mary’s Girls Grammar School, Ikole-Ekiti, Taiwo Ajayi, to life in jail for raping a 12-year-old student of the school.

The court found Ajayi guilty of raping a minor contrary to Section 31(2) of the Child Rights Law of Ekiti State 2012, Punch reports.

The convict was the vice principal (academics) at the time he committed the offence on March 18, 2014.

It was learnt that Ajayi lured the girl into his office, locked the door from behind and raped her on the table while blocking her mouth with a cloth. One of the teachers knocked the door but the convict refused to open the door and threatened her not to tell anybody.

RELATED: Rapists, Wife Beaters To Get Life Sentences 

Two teachers stormed the rapist’s office finding the door locked but gained entrance after about 30 minutes and to their shock find the vice principal having carnal knowledge of the girl.

Justice Oluwatoyin Abodunde held that the prosecution had proved the case beyond every reasonable doubt on the strength of evidence placed before the court.

The prosecution was led by Mr. A. E. Arogundade of the ministry of justice while the defence was led by Mr. Sule Longe.

The convict was first arraigned in court on October 14, 2016, and he pleaded not guilty to the charge.

In the judgment, Justice Abodunde rejected the convict’s counsel plea for leniency on grounds that his client was a first-time offender, father and breadwinner of an aged mother.

“The cases of child defilement has been on the increase lately and to serve as a deterrent to others, my view is that the punishment stipulated by the lawmakers was deliberate to deter the offence and protect the right to dignity of the child.

“The defence counsel is pleading for leniency and praying for fine instead of the due punishment. My question is: who pays the victim for the lifetime scar of the trauma and torture of rape.

“I am unable to deviate from the provisions of the law in this instant. The defendant is found guilty as charged and sentenced to life imprisonment.”

Exhibits tendered included a medical report, statement of the accused, report of the panels set up by the school authorities and Teaching Service Commission, medical report from the police clinic and statement of the victim, among others.

Two panels set up to investigate the matter indicted Ajayi and he was subsequently suspended from service and later arrested and arraigned in court.

Read more at Punch.

The All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, has decried Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, leader, Nnamdi Kanu’s call on Anambra people to shun forthcoming gubernatorial poll in the state.

The party, in a letter to Kanu, signed by its national publicity secretary, Ifeatu Obiokoye, and made available to the media in Awka on Monday, June 26, 2017 said the call was irresponsible and devoid of intellectual focus.

It said that Kanu had no authority to speak for the Igbos of the South-East, although APGA acknowledged him as the leader of IPOB.

It explained that Biafra’s concept was a metaphor for the demand for equity and fair play in the Nigerian state and not a separatist movement.

“Nnamdi Kanu’s call for a boycott of elections in the South-East, beginning with the governorship polls scheduled for November 18, 2017 in Anambra is irresponsible, irredentist and totally devoid of any focus.

“You must appreciate that for different logical reasons and perception, the Biafra concept has attracted favourable comments among our people, ostensibly borne out of the marginalisation of Ndigbo in the Nigerian state.

“While youths of the East are agitating for Biafra, the Arewa youths are equally restive; the same goes for Níger Delta youths and youths from Oduduwa states.

“In this popular agitation for Biafra, Ndigbo have not instituted a separatist movement or a terrorist gang as it were. We are more concerned about the continued existence of Nigeria under the present structural arrangement,” it said.

The party said that it stood for restructuring and implementation of the 2014 National Conference resolutions “as a certain way to peaceful co-existence among ethnic nationalities and for dousing tension.

It urged Mr. Kanu not to be carried away by the success of the May 30 sit-at-home call, which was attributable to many reasons, including fear.

It demanded a re-visit and implementation of the report of the 2014 national conference, which arguably addressed the parameters for the restructuring of the nation.

The party reminded Nnamdi Kanu that the right to vote and be voted for was a universally declared right under the United Nations Charter of People’s and Citizenship Right, and in the 1999 Constitution (as amended).

It advised the IPOB leader to drop his “emperor” perception of himself “and humble yourself to the true leadership of Ndigbo for a proper and better articulation of the Biafra struggle”.

The internet is accessible to anybody and everybody. Is this really true when you consider the existence of the dark web? Dark web is an entire internet that can’t be viewed through traditional browsers and requires special software to access. Consequently, it can be used to do all sorts of activities both legal and illegal. Therefore, it is important to know some truths about the dark web due to the unlimited stories that have been told about it.

Here are 5 truths about the dark web.

Access what others cannot

Due to the fact that dark web is masked and veiled with the help of software, people perform all sorts of illicit things. You can access anything you so desire notwithstanding if it is good or bad. This is why the government are always after them but they are very sophisticated.

RELATED: What’s The Difference Between The Deep Web And Dark Web?

It is penetrable

With the right software, you can access the dark web. Law enforcement agencies have arrested hundreds of dark web criminals. But be careful simply because the dark web is accessible doesn’t mean it’s safe.

Home for Hackers

When hackers invade your system and you cannot find any trace or the source of the hack,  it may have come from the dark web. So, you need to enhance the security of your systems and network.

It is not safe

The dark web is not safe. Except you are looking to do some nefarious things, you do not need to go there. For the layman or novice, all your information can be stolen and your system hacked if you are careless.

It is not 100% anonymous

The anonymity on the dark web is not 100%. Your cover can be blown, again, with the use of the right program. A good example of this is the Silk Road founder, Ross Ulbricht who left several digital artifacts, including his Gmail address, on clearnet forums related to his Dark Web activity. Ulbricht’s digital breadcrumb trails helped the FBI uncover his IRL identity and he was arrested and sentenced to life in jail. Silk Road is a marketplace for buying drugs.

Be beautiful, but naturally beautiful. Be forever young, but age gracefully. And while you’re trying to do all of those impossible things at once, the men who have ascended to the highest offices in your nation might just take away your health care.

Read more at HuffPost.

A disgruntled doctor armed with an AR-15 rifle and wearing a lab coat went on a rampage on Friday, June 30, 2017 in the Bronx hospital where he had worked, killing a doctor and wounding six other people — five of them seriously — before setting himself on fire and shooting himself in the head, the authorities said.

The furious attack by the doctor — identified by the police as Henry Bello, 45, who was born in Nigeria — sent workers at the hospital, Bronx-Lebanon Hospital Center, diving behind desks and doors as gunshots and smoke filled the hallways of a place devoted to healing. Witnesses described medical workers’ ripping a fire hose from the wall to use as a tourniquet on one victim’s leg, while others recalled the horrific sight of the gunman, his torso aflame, running down a hallway.

Some of the images in this story are of a graphic nature. Viewer discretion is advised. 

Dr. Bello had a troubled past, having worked at the hospital for about six months before quitting after being accused of sexual harassment, officials said. And years earlier, he was arrested and charged with sexual abuse after assaulting a woman in Manhattan.

The attack appeared to be the type of mass shooting by a lone gunman that has struck communities around the United States.

“He’s shooting! He’s shooting!” one woman yelled in the frantic initial moments of the afternoon assault, as recounted by a mother in the pediatric emergency room who had cowered with her five children, ages 1 to 10.

Some believed that the death toll would have been far higher had the shooting occurred anywhere but where it did — a hospital filled with state-of-the-art medical equipment, and with doctors and nurses who rushed to victims and performed triage where they fell, in staircases and hallways, even as the gunman was still at large.

“The situation unfolded in the middle of a place that people associate with care and comfort,” Mayor Bill de Blasio told reporters outside the hospital, on the Grand Concourse in the Claremont Village neighborhood. The gunman acted alone, Mr. de Blasio said, adding that it appeared to be a workplace dispute that ended when the gunman committed suicide — “but not before having done horrible damage,” the mayor said.

The police did not identify the victim, other than as a woman and a doctor. The five seriously injured patients were “fighting for their lives,” said the police commissioner, James P. O’Neill. The sixth had a gunshot wound to the leg.

Dr. Bello was armed with a rifle, an AR-15, that investigators believe he sneaked into the hospital under his lab coat, police officials said.

While investigators were still trying to determine a motive, one official said, “Most likely it’s a workplace violence on the part of a former disgruntled employee.”

Dr. Bello was hired in August 2014, according to Errol C. Schneer, the hospital’s vice president, and left in February 2015, in lieu of being terminated. The police said he resigned after an accusation of workplace sexual harassment.

In 2004, Dr. Bello was arrested and charged with sex abuse and unlawful imprisonment after a 23-year-old woman told officers he had grabbed her crotch area outside a building on Bleecker Street in Manhattan and tried to penetrate her through her underwear, a law enforcement official said. The woman told officers that Dr. Bello had lifted her up in the air and dragged her while saying, “You’re coming with me.”

Court records indicate that Dr. Bello pleaded guilty to unlawful imprisonment in the second degree, a misdemeanor, and was sentenced to community service. The felony sexual abuse charge was dismissed.

Mr. Schneer said on Friday night that the hospital did not know about Dr. Bello’s criminal past when he was hired. “At that time, and as a result of a human resources and security department background check, which includes fingerprinting, there was no record of any conviction for sexual abuse,” he said.

Dr. Bello was a graduate of Ross University School of Medicine on the Caribbean island of Dominica, a New York State official said.

The state’s Education Department said Dr. Bello had received a limited permit to practice as an international medical graduate in order to gain experience so that he could be licensed. The permit was issued on July 1, 2014, and expired on July 1, 2016. He also had an expired pharmacy technician license, issued in California in 2006.

The carnage took place around 2:50 p.m. Friday on the 16th and 17th floors of one of the Bronx’s largest hospitals, which has 1.1 million patient visits and over 140,000 emergency room visits a year, according to its website. Witnesses said that on Friday afternoon, Bronx-Lebanon’s rooms and corridors were filled with patients and visitors.

As the situation developed, emergency workers were at first prevented from entering the building. At least one of the wounded was being treated by people inside the hospital who had tied an emergency fire hose as a tourniquet, a Fire Department official said. At one point, the police escorted into the building a group of emergency workers wearing armor, as the gunman was still being sought.

Dr. Sridhar Chilimuri, the physician in chief at the hospital, said the doctor who was killed had been shot in the chest. Of the five victims in critical condition, one is a family services physician, three are medical students and one is a gastrointestinal specialist. Dr. Chilimuri said he had treated some of the victims, who were friends and colleagues. The situation was “extraordinarily difficult,” he said.

Click on any image to enlarge.

Hattip to The New York Times,  New York Daily News

Public Interest Memo To:  Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN Acting President of Nigeria & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces

Presidential/Aso Rock Villa, Three-Arms-Zone

Abuja, Federal Capital Territory, Nigeria

Sir,

Public Interest Memo Seeking For Criminal Actions Against Gen Buratai And Other Perpetrators Of Heinous Crimes/Gross Rights Abuses In Nigeria And Allied Matters (2)

(Intersociety, Nigeria, 1^st July 2017)-It is recalled that the leadership of our Organization (Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law: www.intersociety-ng.org) had two days ago (29-6-2017) written and successfully submitted a 17-page detailed memo to Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, in his official capacity as the Acting President of Nigeria & Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces.

The memo seeks to draw his Government’s attention formally or officially to raging gross abuses of human rights in Nigeria and associated heinous crimes especially since 29th May 2015 when the sixth central civilian Government which he now heads in acting capacity came on board. For easy public reading, comprehension and analysis, the memo was segmented with its first part published same date. The link to it is here: HERE.

Thankfully, the special memo which was copied electronically to over 30 national and international institutions, bodies and respected personalities for their immediate attention and necessary diplomatic and int’l oversight actions have already generated prompt responses and acknowledgments particularly from international bodies and members of the diplomatic community copied. Among those that have responded or acknowledged are Office of the Prosecutor for Int’l Criminal Court in Hague, the Netherlands; the US Consulate in Abuja and the Right Hon Boris Johnson, MP and UK Secretary of State for Foreign & Commonwealth Affairs.

Below is a reply received from the ICC, dated 30^th June 2017 at 11.17am:

“Dear Sir/Madam, Thank you for your message. Please note that the International Criminal Court has a very limited jurisdiction. The Court may only address the crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes as defined by Articles 6 to 8 of the Rome Statute that have occurred after 2002, and can only exercise jurisdiction in the countries that have ratified it. For more information on the Court’s jurisdiction and the full text of the Rome Statute, please refer to page 2 of the attached document and our website as well as our address, www.icc-cpi.int. We encourage you to carefully review this information.

If, after your careful review, you still believe the ICC is the correct place for your case and would like to submit a claim to the Court, then please follow the directions for how to do so on page 1 of the attached document. If you decide to submit information, kindly use only this email address: otp.informationdesk@icc-cpi.int.

Kind regards,

OTP Information Desk

International Criminal Court “

The second part of the special memo is continued as follows:

• Nigeria’s regional and international obligations to its citizens in non-war situation or peacetime:

Nigeria as a State Party to UN and AU is strictly bound by numerous regional and international human rights treaties or conventions including the African Charter on Human & Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) of 1981, ratified and domesticated in 1983; the UN Covenants on Civil & Political Rights (ICCPR); and Economic, Social & Cultural Rights of 1976 (ICESCR), ratified in 1993. Nigeria is also a State Party to UN’s anti Genocide and Torture Conventions of 1948 and 1985 respectively as well as the UN’s Women and Child’s Rights Conventions of 1984 and 1990 respectively, to name but a few.

Sir, Nigeria as a leading member of the UN and international community is also bound by the Basic Standards of International Law & Humanitarian Principles. Under this are the ten basic rules or standards for policing public and peaceful assemblies in any member-State; which expressly recognize the rights of the citizens of all Member-States of the UN including Nigeria, to peaceful assemblies and expressions other than armed conflict and strictly outline ways through which these assemblies shall be managed or policed by policing agencies excluding the army.

Under the ten basic standards of international law made mandatory for policing agencies of Member-States of the UN for management of civil assemblies and free speeches as well as arrest, detention and prosecution of citizens accused of commission of municipal crimes of relevant municipal code definitions; the following rules must be observed and strictly applied:

(1)everyone is entitled to equal protection of the law without discrimination on any grounds, especially against violence or threat..; (2) treat all victims of crime with compassion and respect, and in particular protect their safety and privacy; (3) do not use force except when strictly necessary and to the minimum extent required under the circumstances; (4) avoid using force when policing unlawful but nonviolent assemblies; (4) when dispersing violent assemblies, use force only to the minimum extent necessary (i.e. in line with proportionate use of force and avoidance of application of excessive force on unarmed but violent or aggressive assemblies).

Others are (5) lethal force should not be used when arresting nationals suspected of committing municipal or local crimes except when strictly unavoidable in order to protect your life or lives of others; peaceful or provoked violent assemblies do not amount to commission of municipal crimes other than insurrection, mutiny or armed struggle; (6) arrest no person unless there are legal wounds to do so and ensure that the arrest is carried out in accordance with lawful arrest procedures; (7) ensure that all detainees have access, promptly after arrest to their families and legal representatives and to any necessary medical assistance; (8) all detainees must be treated humanely and avoid infliction, instigation or toleration of any act of torture in any circumstance and refuse to obey order to do so; (9) do not carry out, order or cover up extrajudicial executions or disappearances of the arrested or the detained and refuse to obey any order to do so; (10) report all breaches of these basic standards to your senior officers and to the office of the public prosecutor and do everything within your powers to ensure steps are taken to investigate these breaches.

In policing or managing such civil assemblies and free speeches, particularly if they become uncontrollable and capable of breaching public peace and safety, policing agencies and their officers must apply the following modern crowd control methods or kits and equipment: tear gas, rubber bullets, pepper spray, electric tasers, batons, whips, water cannons, long range acoustic devices, aerial surveillance, police dogs, etc; and they must be bodily aided or protected by body protective devices such as anti crowd helmets, face visors, body armor (i.e. vests, neck protectors, knee pads, etc), gas masks and anti crowd shields. Sir, it is crystal clear from the above that these fundamental rules were observed in grave breach in the instant case.

• Regional and international obligations of Nigeria to its citizens under armed conflict or war situation:

Under circumstances of war or situations of widespread or clustered internal conflict, Sir, the military and humanitarian handling or management of same are strictly regulated regionally and internationally. On humanitarian and use of force aspects, Nigeria is a party to UN Statute on Refuge of 1951 and allied treatments of IDPs. Nigeria is also a State Party to the Statute of the International Criminal Court of 1998. Nigerian armed forces and police are also strictly bound by the UN’s Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials of 1979 and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials of 1990.

In the area of intra and inter-State armed conflicts, Nigeria is bound by the Geneva Conventions or Laws of War of 1949 and their Four Protocols including the doctrine of rules of engagement and its principles of use of force, self defence, and others already highlighted above. Nigeria is also a State Party to anti Genocide and anti Torture Conventions of 1948 and 1985 respectively.

Sir, as you may professorially be aware or unaware, the Rules of Engagement traditionally and universally associated with internal and inter -State violent or armed conflicts or wars are the integral part of the Geneva Conventions of 1949 or Laws of War and their Four Protocols of 1977. They originally came from the three war related doctrines of Jus Ad Bellum (justification and ground for going to war); Jus In Bellum (ethical rules of conduct during war, such as ethical standards expected of soldiers or combatants in wartime or rules of engagement); and Jus Post Bellum (regulations on how wars are ended and facilitation of transition from war to peace).

Another name for the Rules of Engagement is the Standard Rules for the People of the War. The People of the War here literally means parties in the conflict who occupy the conflict areas such as fighting parties, non-combatants or civilians or IDPs and Refugees as well as other third parties directly or indirectly participating or affected by the conflict.

Further, Sir, key features of the internationally standardized Rules of Engagement strictly applicable in war or conflict situations are (1) legitimate use of force, (2) proportionality of use of force, (3) legitimate self defense, (4) treatment of prisoners of war or conflict, (5) avoidance of attacks on non-military necessity or civilian targets or properties, (6) avoidance of attacks on civilians or non-combatants, (7) treatment of the wounded, (8) avoidance of attacks on culture symbols or places of worship, (9) avoidance of attacks on humanitarian agencies and personnel/human rights activists; (10) treatment of other peoples of the war (i.e. spies and journalists).

• Nigeria’s obligations to UN and its citizens under UN System:

Sir, the UN’s new concept of sovereignty as a responsibility or citizens’ sovereignty and maintenance of international peace and security as the core foundation of the Purposes of the 193-member Organization; is inviolably binding on Nigeria as a key Member-State. Nigeria is also bound by the Customary International Law under UN System particularly those that are inviolable by virtue of their doctrine of “substantial uniformity by substantial number of States” or “Opinio Juris”.

Example of UN and Int’l Law’s hallowed doctrine of Opinio Juris or substantial uniformity by substantial number of States is a general belief binding on all Member-States of UN that a non-treaty is legally binding on States. Also, Nigeria as a leading and one of the most populous UN Member-States is inexcusably bound by the principle of “Jus Cogens” (i.e. absolute rules of general international law binding on UN Member-States for which no derogation is permitted). These include use of crude, deadly or asymmetric force against vulnerable and unarmed populations; perpetration of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity; massacre of unarmed and defenseless citizens in non war situations, slavery, torture, etc.

• Reasons for Writing:

It shocks and saddens us; Sir that till date no single person in connection with these atrocious crimes above mentioned has been punished or arrested and prosecuted by the present Federal Government of Nigeria which you now head in acting capacity. The living victims or survivors and families and relatives of the slain have also been totally abandoned with several of them passing through post traumatic stresses and disorders. It is totally saddening that the present central Government now under your acting leadership has turned blind eyes; in addition to conspiracy of silence maintained by Nigeria’s leading human rights groups and activists particularly those concentrated in Lagos and environs.

There have been several researched and thoroughly investigated reports by leading international and local human rights groups especially by Amnesty Int’l, Human Rights Watch and Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law and in spite of their several calls on the present central Government to fish out and bring the culprits to book and punish them accordingly and adequately compensate the living victims or survivors and dead victims through their families or relatives, nothing of such has happened till date. As a matter of fact, Sir, the perpetrators are still on the prowl with impunity.

For the avoidance of doubt Sir, there are special reports by Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch on Shiite Muslims’ massacre in Zaria as well as in-house investigations carried out by the authorities of the Shiite Muslims.

Till date, the leader of Shiite Muslims in Nigeria, Sheik Ibrahim Zaky El-Zaky and his wife-Malama Zeenatu are still being detained incommunicado or without trial or bail since 14^th December 2015; a period of 18 months. While the Shiite leader got shot and battered with eighteen live bullets removed from his body, his wife had four live bullets removed from her body as well (source: IMN leadership 2016).

The following are links to AI and HRW reports: HERE, HERE, HERE, HERE.

The link to IMN’s in-house investigation is here: HERE, HERE

There are also comprehensive reports of Amnesty Int’l on mass killing and maiming by Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and ors of defenseless pro Biafra activists in Southeast and parts of South-south Nigeria as well as the alleged death in Army custody of 240 civilians including 29 children aged between new born and five years in Northeast State of Borno.

The links are: HERE, HERE

On our part, Sir, we had also investigated and issued reports in all the killings and maiming above mentioned. Chief among them is our 12^th March 2017 Special Report: Welcome to Bleeding Republic of Nigeria: A Land Flowing with Blood and Tears. The link to the special report is here: HERE, HERE. The link to our statement on Rann IDP bombing and killing of 236 civilians is here: HERE

Yours in Service to Humanity,

For: Int’l Society for Civil Liberties & the Rule of Law (Intersociety)

• Emeka Umeagbalasi (Criminologist & Graduate of Security Studies)

Board Chairman

Mobile Line: +2348174090052

Email: botchairman@intersociety-ng.org

• Chinenye Florence Akubilo, Esq., LLB, BL

Head, Campaign & Publicity Department

• Obianuju Joy Igboeli, Esq., LLB,BL

Head, Civil Liberties & Rule of Law Program

• Chinwe Umeche, Esq., LLB, BL

Head, Democracy & Good Governance Program

           Address: 41, Miss Elems Street, 430003 Onitsha Nigeria

           Email: info@intersociety-ng.org

           Website: www.intersociety-ng.org

           Phone Lines: +2348182411462, +2349063500218

CC:

1. Chief Justice of Nigeria
2. Senate President of Nigeria
3. Deputy Senate President of Nigeria
4. Speaker of House of Reps
5. Catholic Secretariat of Nigeria
6. ECWA Church Worldwide
7. Christian Association of Nigeria
8. Ohanaeze Ndigbo
9. Islamic Movement in Nigeria
10. Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB Worldwide)
11. Ekwenche Group, Chicago, USA
12. Alaigbo Development Foundation
13. EU Mission to Nigeria
14. Executive Director of Human Rights Watch
15. Secretary General of Amnesty International
16. Chief Prosecutor for International Criminal Court, Netherlands
17. UK Foreign Secretary
18. US Secretary of State
19. UN Human Rights Council
20. UN Special Rapporteur on Torture
21. UN Special Rapporteur on Extra Judicial, Summary and Arbitrary Executions
22. The Council of Europe
23. Head of Division, Governance, Election & Human Rights of AU
24. Chairperson of AU
25. European Union, Brussels Belgium
26. AU Spokesperson
27. The African Union Commission on Human Rights
28. Senator Patrick Leahy, United States Democratic Party Senator for Vermont
29. World Organization Against Torture
30. The Ambassadors and High Commissioners of France, Germany, Switzerland, Netherlands, Canada, Australia, Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Belgium, Portugal, Spain and Japan, etc.

For parents, the task of protecting their children is a never ending job. Even when they have grown up beyond an age where they have their own children and hence can be certified enough to take care of themselves, parents are always known to watch their children’s back. But when they are small the parents have to more vigilant and more ever so, with the advent of the monster named the Internet, I am sure parents hardly get a night of peaceful sleep.

The internet and the risks tagging along with it:

The internet is the best thing that technology has ever conceived but only if used in the right direction. But instead of happening so people have been known to use internet for malpractices and hence there are some risks involved for kids that can affect not only their childhood but their whole future. The risks involved for children can be divided into 3 parts. Let us have a look at them:

1. Cybercrime:

The different types of cyber crimes your child can come across while using the internet are Trojan horses, phishing, computer viruses, spam emails etc. All of these crimes are performed by those financially hungry strangers, who can very easily induce your children to either be part of them or fall victim to these crimes. Statistics show an increase in the level of cyber crime every year and hence parents need to keep an extra watchful eye on the activities of their children on the internet.

2. Cyber bullying:

The threat of cybercrime was from people unknown but the threat of cyber bullying for your child can come from the very people he or she is familiar with. According to statistics, every year at least 20% of the children using the internet have to face cyber bullies because of which many children are either left scarred beyond repair while some end up suicidal.

      3. Online reputation:

Online reputation is the information about the person which is available on the internet which is derived from social networking profiles or an online membership profiles. This can be termed as an individual’s digital dossier which can make or break a person’s online image. This risk is more applicable to teenagers who are keen at showing off themselves as very cool online and regretting later on.

Fortunately, there are several options which you, as a parent can choose to keep your child safe from the risks of the Internet like using parental control apps which can help you to keep track of their activities on the internet as well as protect them from any unforeseen harm. If the Highster Mobile review is to be believed then this app can be the best spy app you can have for your child’s device ad which can send you immediate notifications for each and every communication and function performed on the Smartphone.

It is also true that using these spy apps is not a complete guarantee that your kids are safe and hence here are a few tips which you can try to work on which can help to make your kids aware of the risks of the internet and thus might keep them safe.

1. Make your internet password protected:

Keeping your home network secured and protected with a password is the very first step that you can take to fight off the Internet risks for your child. Make sure the password is unique and complex on every account on the Internet as well as the gadgets available in the house. If you have shared the passwords with your kids make them promise not to share them with anyone and if you feel they already have, immediately change them.

2. Logging out of the system:

Ask your children to logout of the system after they have finished using it for any type of work. Make it a habit for yourself also which will encourage them to do so. Logging off every time will ensure that no hacker can log onto your account to mess with it.

3. Teach your kids about cyberbullying:

Make your children aware of cyberbullying and how it can be solved without being afraid of these cyber bullies. Ask them to not to respond to the messages but also not to delete any of the messages as they can be provided as proofs to the right authorities.

4. Clicking unwanted links:

The best way to falling to cybercrime is by clicking on unwanted and unnecessary links. You as a parent should avoid doing so and teach the same to your children also. Some children are tech savvy enough and know that they have downloaded something that they shouldn’t have but are afraid to inform their parents about it. Talk to them about it and ensure them that they have your full support to fight off cyber crime.

5. Instill the right use of internet in your child:

Make your child that Internet should be considered as a blessing and a boon to bring prosperity to our lives and should not be used instead to ruin somebody else’s life. This would refrain them from themselves turning into cyber bullies.

It is important that parents use the internet wisely and responsible because their children are watching and they will do what they learn from their parents.

A leading public relations firm in the country, PRNigeria has won the African Excellence Award 2017 for the best PR Platform at a ceremony in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The public relations outfit had previously received SABRE African Public Affairs Award hosted by African Public Relations Association (APRA) in Casablanca, Morocco and Golden World Award (GWA) on Crisis Management from International Public Relations Association (IPRA) in Doha, Qatar.

Receiving the latest award including a Finalist Certificate of Excellence in West Africa region, the founder of PRNigeria, Yushau A. Shuaib commended the organisers for recognising the Press Release platform for the honours.

Shuaib said: “We feel honoured and humbled by yet another International Award for best PR practice. This recognition will further motivate us to always put in our best in satisfying our clients and the public with creative and innovative communication strategies.”

In a citation for the award, the organiser described PRNigeria as the most reliable and credible sources of official information from public institutions in the Nigeria.

The citation reads: “PRNigeria has devoted its platforms for syndication, publishing and sharing official press releases from critical institutions, especially Military, Security, Intelligence and Response Agencies and other government organisations in Nigeria.”

The Executive Secretary of a Nigerian based Centre for Crisis Communication (CCC), Air Commodore Yusuf Anas (Rtd) also received a Finalist Certificate on behalf of his organisation for its unique contribution to crisis communication and Public Affairs.

Other recipients of the African Excellence Award are global public relations and communication giants. They include Weber Shandwick, Ogilvy & Mather, FleishmanHillard, Marco de Comunicación, Edelman, Djembe Communications, Burson-Marsteller, Hill+Knowlton Strategies, Ogilvy Public Relations, Image Merchants Promotion Ltd, Stratcomm Africa, Clockwork Media and Magna Carta Reputation Management Consultants

The African Excellence Awards honour outstanding performance in a wide range of categories. With in-depth categories which cover everything from internal communications to public relations, as well as a wide scope of industries from all across Africa, the awards explore the full range of the profession and provide a comprehensive look at the most exceptional examples of communications.

The Global Excellence Awards are organised by German-based Quadriga Media, the publishers of Communication Director magazine for corporate communications and public relations, which is distributed worldwide.

A prominent human rights activist and Niger Delta leader, Annkio Briggs, has backed down on her call for the restructuring of Nigeria saying that it is too late in the life of country for it to work.

Ms Briggs called for the breaking up of the country into different regions of the country to go their ‘separate ways’.

In a position made known on Wednesday, June 28, 2017 amid the call for restructuring by several prominent individuals and groups, Briggs said the restructuring of the country should have been long done before the administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan or the National Conference held in 2014.

She said at the time, nobody understood why she stood on the side of restructuring the country.

“Going by the figures, the North is getting over 60 per cent of the total local government allocations and even when we come to the states as well they also receive far more than the Southern states,” Ms. Briggs said.

“Again, if you go to the National Assembly, they are far more in numbers, especially in the House of Representatives, and so by the time there is a motion or bill, which they are not in support of, ends up being frustrated or not being passed at all.

“A good example is the PIB that had to spent over 10 years in the National Assembly.

“How can this continue?”

According to the renowned advocate for resource control in the Niger Delta, the time for restructuring Nigeria was long gone owing to the fact that it had become another political tool in the hands of the ruling elites, whose plan is to increase revenue allocation to some parts of the country currently agitating, but then retain the same form of governance, which has bred institutional injustice in the country.

Briggs said: “For me, calling for restructuring now is too late we want to go our separate ways because you see what they are calling restructuring is not what restructuring is.

“Restructuring to them is that the status quo should remain and perhaps a little increase in revenue to agitating regions, but the real restructuring is when everybody keeps what you have, even if it is only water that you have, and if you can sell it, sell it.

“So anything apart from that is not restructuring.

“What is federalism?

“This is where you have the states, which are the federating units.

“So a federation means that every component is autonomous to itself within that nation.

“So how can the federal government be interested in building hospitals in Abia State or building a university in Rivers State?

“Nigeria is a good example of how impossible to run a government.

“How can one man alone, who is of a different culture, language, religion run or oversee the rest of the people of over 400 ethnic groups as if he is overseeing his own personal property or estate?

“He cannot do it right because he doesn’t know my culture and so how can he make decisions that will be 100 per cent appealing to me because the things I would put into consideration if I am to make the same decisions will be totally different.

“People even say that I don’t fight other people’s battle, but that is not true.

“I can fight the Igbo man’s battle because I understand his way of life and culture to a very large extent because my grandmother is Igbo and I can speak Igbo language well too, I can understand them, I can work with them and if I am working with them and I make decisions for my people and Igbo people, I won’t go wrong because I know what to do.

“Now reverse the case and ask me to make decisions for the Hausa-Fulani man or the Muslim man, I will make a terrible decision and this is because I don’t understand them.

“So this is what we are saying that someone who doesn’t understand a people cannot make any good decision for them.

“If this simple conditions are not met, governance will fail and that is what has happened in the real sense, it has failed in Nigeria.

“The then military leadership under General Abdusalami Abubakar had a rare opportunity of gathering Nigerians together to come up with a document meant to be the constitution, but it was bungled because what happened was that one man just sat down and made sure that the document was written to favour a particular section of the country and he called it the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The Nigerian constitution is the only constitution in the world that tells a lie against itself and its people, when its first sentence says: ‘We the people.’

“That statement is a lie.

“There was never a gathering of any people or group of persons to discuss any constitution.

“Do you also know that the constitution was designed to work against people who are not Muslims as the word Islam, Muslim, Sharia or Mosque was mentioned over 200 times, while the word Christian or Church was never mentioned in the constitution?

“And you say that same constitution is me?”

The Anambra Police Command on Saturday, July 1, 2017 paraded a vigilante operative alleged to have killed an unidentified person for ritual purposes.

Parading the suspect in Awka, the state’s commissioner of police, Garba Umar, alleged that the suspect later buried the remains of the victim in a shallow grave.

“On the night of June 22, 2017, the suspect while on duty as a security guard, on the premises of a distributor to NBL located along Oko road, Ekwulobia in Aguata Local Government Area, killed a person yet to be identified.

“The suspect buried the corpse in a shallow grave within the premises and failed to report the incident to anyone including his employer and co-workers,” he said.

According to him, on June 26, 2017, workers who perceived an offensive odour within the premises searched and uncovered an unusual sight at a portion of the premises.

Umar said workers confronted the vigilante with their findings and forced him to dig out the area after he denied knowledge of what was in the ground.

“He did and confessed to killing an intruder into the premises on the night of June 22.

“Preliminary investigation revealed the suspect beheaded the corpse, burnt it, before burying it in the shallow grave.

“The suspect is helping in the investigation as ritual killing is suspected,” Umar added.

He said items including a pump action, revolver gun, cell phones, sim cards, blood-soaked blanket and wrapper, among others were recovered from the suspect, who would be charged to court.

The police commissioner said that his administration owed the people of the state a duty of ensuring a peaceful and crime-free society; and was determined to make the state a no-go-area for criminals.

Umar said the command had put in place intelligence-led policing and crime prevention strategies to clamp down on criminals.