Agbakoba on June 12: Kingibe, a big-time traitor, benefited from what he did not fight for

Olisa Agbakoba, former president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), says Babagana Kingibe benefitted from the June 12 struggle despite not being a part of the agitation.

Kingibe, alongside MKO Abiola, was recently conferred with the Grand Commander of the Order of the Niger (GCON). He was the running mate of Abiola during the June 12, 1993 presidential election.

In an interview with PUNCH, Agbakoba, a prominent human rights activist, described Kingibe as “a big-time traitor”.

He berated Kingibe for accepting a foreign minister position in the government of Sani Abacha, late military head of state.

Agbakoba said he warned Abiola that Kingibe could not be trusted but he did not listen to him. He said Abiola would have been president if had heeded his warning.

He said: “He is a traitor; he is a big time traitor. I warned Abiola. Abiola didn’t listen to us, that was the problem. If he had listened to us, he would have been the president. We said this guy, we were not sure about him o. But Abiola is also at fault because he was so driven to become president that he lost sight of some very fundamental points. Then, he made a mistake of not following the advice of the pro-democracy community. Rather, he was listening to the politicians who wanted to be ministers. That was all they wanted.

“So having failed to follow advice, he very quickly fell into many errors, the first being that he now kowtowed to Abacha.

“It was Kudirat who had a great sense of decency; Abiola was a bit a too ambitious in wanting to become president. He went to Aso Rock to meet with Babangida in the course of which Babangida’s wife and Kudirat started fighting. It led to a fight. Babangida and other people had to rush out to separate them. My point is that Abiola really failed to see some of the pitfalls.

“I had meetings with Kingibe to say ‘don’t you think that being appointed foreign minister under Abacha’s government when the mandate was still alive and being pushed for, betrayed the mandate?’ He tried to justify it by saying it was Abiola who caused it. He said Abiola was not communicating with him, strategy, what to do, blah blah blah. So (he) said okay, ‘if Abiola himself has virtually rubbished the mandate, then why would he be fighting for it?’ Those are the circumstances under which he took the appointment.

“I said ‘I don’t think anything justifies it, I think you should have stood by the mandate notwithstanding what Abiola did. But you see, the irony today is that he is benefitting from something he did not fight for even for one day. That is the irony of life. He didn’t fight for it for one day, but well, he is entitled since he was Abiola’s running mate.”

When asked if Kingibe deserves the national honour, Agbakoba said: “I would say he should not have been given because he didn’t believe in June 12 and why would I give somebody who didn’t believe in June 12 an honour? For me, it is an irony.” - Cable Nigeria

Angry mob beat car snatcher to death at burial ceremony in Anambra

An angry mob, Thursday evening beat to death a yet to be identified man for stealing a Honda CRV car at a burial ceremony in Ukpor, Nnewi South local government area of Anambra State.

DAILY POST learnt that the owner of the vehicle, Mr Ifeanyi Obiaku had parked the vehicle but later saw it being driven out by an unknown person, prompting him to raise alarm.

His alarm attracted the attention of guests at the ceremony, who quickly blocked the suspect from leaving with the car, while descending on him.

It was learnt that the suspect was beaten by the mob, and dumped in a corner, where he was later picked by police officers from Ukpor division who had rushed to the scene upon hearing of the incident.

Luck, however, ran out on him, as he was confirmed dead by a medical doctor, upon arrival at the hospital.

Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Haruna Mohammed confirmed the incident, saying that, “At about 18:20hrs, one
Ifeanyi Obiaku, male of Nnewi town reported at Ukpor police division that he went for a burial ceremony at umudike village Ukpor and parked his Honda CRV jeep, milk in colour with reg. no KJA -224-BJ, all a sudden he sighted unknown person reasonably suspected to be a thief moving out of the venue with his car at about 17:15 hrs of same date.

“Complainant raised alarm which attracted irate mob numbering over a hundred who descended on the suspect instantly and beat him to a state of coma.

“Meanwhile, police patrol team attached to Ukpor division visited the scene and rushed the suspect to Nnamdi Azikiwe University Teaching Hospital, Nnewi for medical attention but he was confirmed dead on arrival by a medical doctor and corpse deposited in the mortuary.”

Mohammed said the identity of the deceased was yet to be ascertained, while the stolen vehicle and a fabricated master key were recovered as exhibits, while the case was under investigation. 

He condemned the actions of the irate mob, saying it was wrong for them to have taken the laws into their hands, adding that the command was determined to fish out perpetrators of the incident in order to bring them to justice. - Daily Post

.Jungle republic !!! 3 die as soldiers, police clash in Abia

Three persons were on Friday reported dead in Aba, the commercial nerve of Abia State.

This was owing to a bloody clash between personnel of the Nigerian Army attached to the Ngwa High School Forward Operation Base (Charlie Coy) and personnel of Mobile Police Force (PMF 55) unit in Osisioma Local Government Area of the State.

Two mobile policemen and a soldier were reported dead in the melee.

According to the Nation newspaper, one eyewitness, Chinyere Ikem said the incident forced many shop owners to quickly close for business while many petty traders along the Expressway abandoned their wares to scamper for safety as lorry load of mobile and regular policemen arrived the scene that was already charged with gunshots.

Ikem said that while some passengers going to different parts of the country that were yet to board vehicles to their locations were trapped in the shootout, others coming into the country, used alternative routes to avoid being caught in the web of the crisis.

“It happened like what we used to watch in American movies. It happened in a flash and before you know what is happening, trucks of army and police vans were everywhere.

“Police and army were shooting themselves face-to-face. From what we later learnt, two policemen and a soldier died in the gun duel. It is better seeing that being told. I don’t know what is happening at this Osisioma junction. Don’t forget that some time ago, police and army clashed here and shoot at each other leaving one policemen dead.

“I saw some people running with blood stain and I guess that they were hit be stray bullets. Police and army leadership in the state should call themselves to order. They are sister agencies and I don’t think that it is in their own interest to be fighting among themselves when they are supposed to be working hand in hand with each other especially as the state Governor is doing his best in tackling insecurity in the state,” Ikem stated.

While normalcy has since returned to the area, shop owners were yet to open for business as people in clusters recount their experience of the incident.

However in a swift reaction, Abia State Government in a press release through the commissioner of information in the state, Chief John Okiyi said that the state received with sadness “disturbing reports of an unfortunate confrontation between a group of soldiers and police officers at the Osisioma area of Aba earlier today (Friday June 15).”

Okiyi, who said that the state government was working with heads of security agencies to bring the situation under control, also assured that investigation was ongoing to know the cause of the incident and to fish out those behind the incident.

“We are working with the heads of the concerned security agencies in the state to ensure that the situation, which has been brought under control, does not repeat itself or escalate within the state.

“Governor Okezie Ikpeazu has also directed full investigation of the circumstances that led to the breach of public peace with a view to preventing future occurrence of such armed confrontation that endanger the lives of innocent citizens and security agents working in the state.

“While we are currently working with law enforcement agencies to review the immediate and remote cause of the incidence, members of the public are advised to go about their normal duties as the situation around the area has been pacified.

“Those responsible for this breach of public peace will certainly be unraveled and punished according the law,” Okiyi added. - Daily Post

148 others including 9 pregnant women return from Libya

Another batch of 157 Nigerians, including nine pregnant women, on Friday voluntarily returned from Libya with the assistance of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM).

Mr Abraham Tamrat, Programme Manager, Migration Management Unit, IOM, Lagos, confirmed the development to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Tamrat said that the Nigerians arrived at the Cargo Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos at 4.15a.m. aboard a chartered flight.

He said that the returnees comprised 89 males and 62 females, including three children and three infants, with six medical cases.

Tamrat said that the Nigerians returned from the Libyan cities of Janzour, Salah Adden and Tajoura.

According to him, they were received by officials of government agencies including the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigeria Immigration Service.

He said that officials of the National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria and the police were also on ground to receive the returnees.

He said that the IOM had assisted the return of no fewer than 8,500 Nigerians from the North African country where they had been stranded enroute Europe.

Tamrat noted that Friday’s arrival brought to 514, the number of Nigerians who have voluntarily returned from Libya in June under the Voluntary Return Assistance Programme. - Daily Post

CSOs: Those who killed a herdsman were arrested but killer herdsmen still on the prowl

Two civil society organisations (CSOs) have expressed concern with the way those alleged to have killed a herdsman in Adamawa were arrested while suspects wreaking havoc in different communities across the country are yet to be brought to book.

Last week, a court in Adamawa imposed a death sentence on five persons reportedly arrested in connection with the death of a herdsman.

In a statement on Friday, Nigeria Mourns and the Joint Nigeria Crisis Action Committee (JN-CAC), the groups, called on the government to use a wholistic approach to tackle killings.

Abiodun Baiyewu, Chidi Odinkalu and Yemi Adamolekun, representatives of the CSOs, called on security agencies to fulfill their constitutional obligation of  protecting lives.

“This week, Nigerians received news of the conviction by the High Court of Adamawa state five persons on charges of culpable homicide punishable with death for the killing of a pastoralist in Demsa local government area of Adamawa,” the statement read.

“Given the facts of the case, it would appear that the security agencies were diligent in the task of investigation as well as in arresting and prosecuting the culprits. We applaud their assiduousness in this particular case, and affirm our support for the rule of law and the administration of justice.

“However, we are reminded that in the first quarter of this year alone, more than 4000 Nigerians have been killed in violent attacks (including many women and children), by persons or groups described in various places as armed pastoralists, rustlers or bandits.

“In some cases, these perpetrators have decimated entire communities or laid to waste massive human settlements, including schools, hospitals and places of worship. In nearly all these cases, there have been neither arrest nor diligent prosecution.

“Government has a duty to affirm in words and in deeds, its commitment to the equal value of every Nigerian life and to the equal protection of all Nigerians. Where it fails to do this, it encourages the perception that it is unwilling to protect every Nigerian and unable to hold equally accountable anyone who violates a Nigerian life.”

The groups said the manner in which the Adamawa case was handled could give the impression that government is not fair.

“At the moment, it appears that the perception appears to exist that there is a lack of political will to apply to all suspected perpetrators, the same standards of diligence that has been demonstrated in this case in Adamawa state,” the statement read.

“As a result, large groups of armed and organised killers appear to be on prowl Adamawa,  Benue, Kaduna, Nassarawa, Plateau, Taraba, and Zamfara States with no consequences for the challenge that they pose to the safety of our communities, the coexistence of our people and the stability of our country.”

They reiterated their call on President Muhammadu Buhari to sack the service chiefs over “their inability to guarantee our safety and end the cycle of impunity”. - Cable Nigeria

MKO Abiola: Why we won’t vote for Buhari in 2019 – Afenifere chieftain, Adebanjo

A chieftain of the Yoruba socio-political organisation, Ayo Adebanjo, has said the President Muhammadu Buhari won’t get votes in the South West despite honouring the late M.K.O. Abiola.

The constitutional lawyer insisted that the Yoruba race will not be deceived into voting Buhari in 2019.

Speaking with ThisDay, Adebanjo said Buhari has not done enough to deserve a second term.

He said, “Thank you (President) Buhari for doing what is right, although belated. Full stop! Nothing more. If he is going to get any vote it will depend on his performance in the last three years, and not to give emergency recognition just to get votes, that doesn’t work with the people of Nigeria or of Yoruba land, we are no dunces.

“I appreciate this good thing he did; nothing will deprive me from saying that he has done well by doing this thing, although belated. I don’t want to read any meaning into it. It is a thing I have been agitating for, however belated. Even in his (Buhari’s) own case, he has been there for three years, but he didn’t do it until now. There is no question of drawing a red herring. If we begin to go into why he did it, it will defeat the benefit of the good thing that he has done. Let us acknowledge the good thing he has done and don’t read any other meaning to it.

“Yorubas are no fools. They can distinguish between good and bad. Nobody can bamboozle us on anything.

“I don’t think so. I didn’t think he even deserved the first term and his performance during the term confirms my belief. So, I’m not part of those to be asked if he deserves a second term. I am one of those who warned that it would be a tragedy to vote for him and he has proved me right.

“Those who voted for him should go and ask him what he has done in the first term, because second term is a question of performance.”

Adebanjo noted that what the nation needed, including the Yorubas, was good governance, “Which the Buhari administration has not provided.” - Daily Post

Four dead, 10 injured in Ogun road accidents

Four persons, including two women and a little girl, have died in a separate road accidents on Ogun State corridor of the Lagos – Ibadan expressway and Lagos – Ore expressway respectively.

The first accident occurred when a speeding Toyota corolla saloon car skidded off its track atop the Ososa dual carriage bridge along Lagos – Ore expressway and plunged into the river around midnight on Friday.

Two persons – adult male and a minor(girl) were said to have died in the process, while 10 others, including seven children sustained various degrees of injury.

It was learnt that the  saloon car driven by a police sergeant and carrying 12 people, including his seven children, lost control of the wheel while speeding and fell into the river.

The second accident which occurred on Saturday at the Fidiwo – Oniworo stretch of the Lagos – Ibadan expressway left two women dead and three others injured when two Sienna cars collided with each other.

The Public Relations Officer of the Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps(TRACE), Babatunde Akinbiyi, who confirmed the separate accidents to The Nation, said the one that occurred at Fidiwo involved two Sienna cars marked  LSD 266 CK and  AGL 554 EA.

Akinbiyi said one of the Sienna cars had break failure and both were coming from opposite direction on Lagos – Ibadan expressway when they collided.

While one of the women died at the accident scene, the other died on the way to the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH), Sagamu. - The Nation