ASUU urges undergraduates to acquire skills, travel, have fun

 The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has given undergraduates seven pieces of advice on how to spend their time because of the union’s indefinite strike.

The union in a Twitter post advised the students seize the strike opportunity to get a skill and add value to their lives.

“This strike is an opportunity for any undergraduate to get a skill.
Students should always seize opportunities to add value to their life. At no time will conditions be favourable. Successful people only seize opportunities.

“Here are 7 ways you can make the most of this period.

1 Intern or get a small-time job
This may be a great time to draft your CV and pitch yourself to employers. Already, there are a couple opportunities since the announcement of this strike.

2.Join the family business
Some of us have ‘family businesses’. This the business our parents have been doing for some time. It can be a big-time company or a small supermart. Whichever one it is, it’s not a bad idea spending holiday working here. It’s one way to give back and also add to your professional experience.

3. Learn a new skill
I have an engineer friend who makes a living today from graphics design. He learnt it while we were in school. There’s almost no limit to the skills you can learn during holidays. If anything, start with learning basic and intermediate computer operations(if you don’t know that by now). Code schools are also popping up
everywhere so you can join one. You can also join the growing community of Nigerian freelancers and hone your skills.

4. Be active in church or mosque, other groups
Refuse to be an onlooker anywhere you find yourself. Be a part of people who make things work. Join a group in church, your community, and be active in it. These experiences also contribute shaping the person you’ll be in the future.

5. Travel
There’s no harm in travelling if you can afford it. Travelling is also a form of learning. If you happen to have relations scattered around Nigeria and abroad, consider travelling. Life’s too short to not explore more places.

6. Read books
We don’t mean only course-related books. Take up a novel, read a book on investment, study Nigerian history, look up spiritual books. Read far and wide.

7. Have fun
Well, you still have to catch some fun. Plus, it’s perfectly okay to spoil yourself a little. You can binge watch your favourite TV series, play football, go to more events etc etc.

- PM NEWS

At least 74 refugees drown after Europe-bound boat capsizes near Libya

At least 74 refugees have drowned after their Europe-bound ship capsized off the coast of Libya on Thursday, the United Nation’s migration agency has said.

Only 47 people were rescued by the Libyan coast guard and fishermen from the boat, which was carrying over 120 people including women and children off the coast of the port of al-Khums, according to the International Organisation for Migration.

The IOM said 31 bodies have been retrieve so far and the search for the remaining victims continues.

"The mounting loss of life in the Mediterranean is a manifestation of the inability of States to take decisive action to redeploy much needed, dedicated Search and Rescue capacity in the deadliest sea-crossing in the world," said Federico Soda, IOM Libya chief of mission.

At least 900 have already drowned this year attempting the crossing, according to the agency.

Since Muammar Gaddafi was ousted and killed in an uprising in 2011, war-torn Libya has been a major transit point for refugees and migrants hoping to reach Europe from Africa and the Middle East.

Desperate families are often packed into rubber boats that stall and founder in the central Mediterranean.

At least 20,000 people have died on that route since 2014, according to the IOM.

On Tuesday, 13 African refugees including three women and one child drowned in a similar shipwreck off the Libyan coast.

The IOM has recorded a recent surge in the number of departures from Libya, with over 780 arrivals in Italy since the beginning of October. More than 11,000 refugees have been intercepted and returned to Libya, where the IOM said they face the risk of human rights violations and detention.

"IOM maintains that Libya is not a safe port for return and reiterates its call on the international community and the European Union to take urgent and concrete action to end the cycle of return and exploitation," it said in a statement. 

IOM and the UN refugee agency UNHCR have both said Libya should not be considered a safe port of return, and that refugees rescued or stopped at sea should not be taken back there.

- UK INDEPENDENT

Fuel scarcity looms as PENGASSAN begins nationwide strike

 

Oil workers under the aegis of the Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) have commenced a nationwide indefinite strike.

This is contained in a letter released on Monday and signed by Lumumba Okugbawa, PENGASSAN general secretary.

The letter dated November 8 is titled “Re: Breach in Agreement on IPPIS Implementation and Redundancy in Baker Hughes”.

The association directed oil workers to withdraw services from Sunday night as the seven days ultimatum given to the government had elapsed.

“We refer to the above letter dated November 2, 2020, where we gave seven days ultimatum and a further extension to the relevant government agencies and institutions,” the statement reads.

“In view of the above and with the expiration of the ultimatum and subsequent extension, you are hereby advised to withdraw services effective at 12 midnight on Sunday, November 8, 2020.

“Please ensure that your branch members fully comply with this directive while you await further directive. All zonal offices are to monitor compliance and report same to the national secretariat.”

In an interview with Channels TV, Festus Osifo, PENGASSAN president, had queried the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) platform, saying there was nothing wrong with the Government Integrated Financial and Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform being used to pay salaries and emoluments of members.

“Today (Monday), members of PENGASSAN have commenced strike, and letters have been sent to zonal levels for our members to commence strike starting from today and to monitor its compliance following the government’s failure to meet our yearnings,” he said.

“We have exhausted all our diplomatic means to resolve the issue. We sent different letters to all the concerned stakeholders including the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige but it doesn’t seem they are ready. We appeal to Nigerians to bear with us while the strike lasts.”

PENGASSAN is not the only association on strike over IPPIS implementation. Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had also kicked against the payment platform, citing “irregularities”.

- THECABLE

End SARS: Nigerians no longer trust Buhari govt – Ex-APC Legal Adviser, Banire

 Muiz Banire, a former All Progressives Congress National Legal Adviser, has said Nigerians no longer trust the federal government.

Banire made the remark while faulting the court order that froze the bank accounts of some End SARS protesters across the country.

Appearing on Channels Television’s Politics Today, Banire wondered why a judge will grant an order for freezing of accounts before the complainant goes back for investigation and inquiry.

Recall that the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, had prayed an Abuja Federal High Court to freeze the bank account of some End SARS promoters.

The application was granted by Justice Ahmed Mohammed.

Reacting to the court order, Banire said: “In my very strong view, the order is flawed. The order granted by the judge enables the Central Bank of Nigeria to carry out inquiry and investigation. How will you freeze somebody’s account and then go back to investigation and inquiry?

“I am sure it is a case of putting the cart before the horse. Beyond that itself, the law does not even say that. What the law says is that even where you do so, you must investigate the matter through the Nigeria Police or any of the security agencies.

“My expectation is that the Federal Government, as promised by the President in his speech should have just gone ahead, engage them in respect of the five demands of the youths.

“Beyond that also, the government should try to build confidence in these youths. The truth of the matter is that Nigerians generally tend not to trust the government in anything.

“In a situation like this when the youths come out to say ‘look, we do not trust you,’ the least that we can do post the protest should have been to engage them to put this trust.”

- DAILY POST

Shocker: Lover Segun kills, buries girlfriend Oritoke in Lagos

 The Lagos State Police Command has arrested Segun Titilayo, 29, for killing and burying the corpse of his girlfriend, Oritoke Manni, 26, a Bar attendant at K.C Hotel, Apakin Town, Lekki, who was declared missing by the police.

A statement issued by Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi on Thursday said on 13th October, 2020, at about 11am, it was reported that the suspect, Segun Titilayo, put a call to the deceased and went to Segun’s house but that Oritoke could not be traced or seen afterward.

“The police recorded a case of missing person for the deceased. The police Wireless message on the case was widely circulated to all police formations across the state for search and necessary police action as a practice.

“However, on 7th November, 2020, one Engineer Adegbago David,m, of Adron Homes and Properties, reported to the Police Station at Akodo Area, Lagos State, that while the company was excavating its site at Otolu Town, their Caterpillar exhumed a decomposing corpse.

“The police detectives swung into action and the corpse was identified by the staff of the hotel to be Oritoke’s.The corpse was evacuated to a public morgue for autopsy,” he explained.

Adejobi said the police placed a manhunt on the suspect and was later arrested and is being detained at the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID Panti, adding that the suspect was giving useful information to help the police in its investigation.

“The Commissioner of Police, Lagos State, CP Hakeem Odumosu, has condemned the crime and directed the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of the State CID, DCP Yetunde Longe to carry out thorough investigation into the matter,

“CP Hakeem Odumosu therefore cautions the youths, especially ladies, against keeping unscrupulous and destructive friends. He also encourages Lagosians to promote moral values and shun crimes and criminality,” he said.

- PM NEWS

Medical doctor arraigned over alleged rape of married woman

 

A medical doctor has been arraigned before a Yola Chief Magistrate for allegedly raping a married woman.

The doctor who owns a private clinic and also works at the Adamawa State Specialist Hospital, Yola, allegedly raped the woman in the course of medical checks in his private clinic.

The suspect, Dr Phillips Duru, came before the court on Thursday, with the police prosecution specifying that the doctor perpetuated the act in the lab of his private clinic located near the state Specialist Hospital.

After preliminary hearing of the case, the presiding Magistrate, Aliyu Bawuro, adjourned further hearing to November 26.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Sulaiman Nguroje, who spoke on the suspect, said the plaintiff had reported the alleged rape, prompting the police to take it up.

“It’s true. The matter was reported to the police through a complaint by the victim who said she and her husband visited the Specialist Hospital and met the doctor over a health challenge,” Nguroje said.

He added that the man was invited and then charged to court after due investigation.

- DAILY POST

Nigerian journalists ‘recorded 160 attacks’ within two years

 

Journalists in Nigeria were attacked at least 160 times in the last two years, according to a new report from Premium Times Centre for Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ).

The report said journalists in north-central were attacked 47 times, making them the most endangered in the country.

The report, which covered the period of 2018 to 2020, made use of data from the PTCIJ press attack tracker.

The centre said the attacks ranged from physical assault to arrest, seizure and search of work equipment as well as threats.

It added that Nigeria – which ranked 115 out of 180 countries on the 2020 Press Freedom Index – has remained a difficult terrain for journalists to operate in.

S/N	REGION	FREQUENCY OF ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS
1	North-central	47
2	South-west	36
3	South-south	32
4	South-east	17
5	North-west	15
6	North-east	13

‘ATTACKS ON JOURNALISTS GO UNPUNISHED’

PTCIJ said while the data would “name and shame” authorities and “put them on their toes by this spotlight,” it would also serve as advisory to journalists and media organisations.

It noted that police officers were the highest perpetrators of attacks on journalists, followed by thugs, political figures, civilians and other security agencies – in that order.

“At 46.8%, physical attack where journalists are roughly handled, beaten, shot and experience other forms of torture, is the preferred approach to silencing journalists in the country,” the report read.

“Almost all of these attacks go unacknowledged, unpunished and continue with impunity. Physical attack is followed by arrests (24.7%) and detentions often without recourse to due process.

“The attacks continue with impunity because media organisations and journalists literally cannot afford to protect themselves against these attacks and … this leads to a far more dangerous form of media repression and self-censorship.”

Tosin Alagbe, PTCIJ programme director, condemned the attacks, pointing out that “a free press is vital for every democracy.”

She said the threats and attacks faced by journalists in Nigeria have been worsened by “prohibitive legislative proposals” such as the anti-hate speech and social media regulation bills.

- THECABLE

Sowore says his life in danger, marked for arrest or murder

 

Publisher of Sahara Reporters and convener of #RevolutionNow campaign cried out on Wednesday night that he has been marked out to be either arrested or assassinated.

Sowore was arrested last year November and later charged with treason, for calling out a nationwide march against the government.

The trial has gone through fits and starts.

The activist and former student unionist, who contested the 2019 election is now under bail but restricted to Abuja.

In a series of tweets, he said he has information that the Defence Intelligence Agency of Nigeria has put a bounty on his head.

According to him, the agency, which is the primary military intelligence agency of the country, wants him to be “arrested or murdered” in the next 24 hours, if he resisted arrest.

“This is from the Defence HQ here is Abuja! Be it known that this can’t affect the struggle for freedom”, he wrote defiantly.

“Over the week their minions wrote press releases, letters to foreign embassies, @TheNationNews was generous in claiming some “Genuine EndSars” people want me arrested. The @HQNigerianArmy had a team of @twitter influencers on Sunday suggesting I should be assassinated”, he said on Twitter.

In an update, he doubled down on the accusation, claiming that the plot to arrest him or terminate him has been hatched for weeks.

“The plot against me has been on for weeks now, and I’ve been aware until the signal sent to security agencies leaked tonight. The is a businessman linked with the @mbuhari regime who’s threatened me for weeks unending since #endsars started.

“The @policeng team dispatched to the NASS on Friday opened fire on me and stole one of my vehicles, they refused to return it even it was meant for PRESS duties. The FCT Police Commissioner, Bala Ciroma told me the car committed a crime and will be charged. It was shocking”.

The DIA has not reacted to the serious allegation.

- PM NEWS

Boko Haram: I’m disappointed with Buhari govt – Senator Ndume

 

Senator Ali Ndume, Chairman of the Senate Committee on Army, has said that he is disappointed with the President Muhammadu Buhari government for rehabilitating repentant members of Boko Haram.

Ndume spoke on Wednesday at the closed-door budget defense session with the Nigerian Army.

Ndume, who has always seen the government’s deradicalizing of ex-Boko Haram members as a misplacement of priority, insisted that it was wrong for this administration to be resettling and pampering former terrorists while the country is still at war.

“I am in disagreement with the government,” Ndume buttressed.

The lawmaker, who represents Borno South, noted that members of the dreaded terrorist group who are captured during military operations can be kept as prisoners of war and later tried in accordance with the law.

Ndume pointed out that the recent “Damboa attack was carried out by a repentant Boko Haram member.”

The lawmaker said that “the repentant Boko Haram member was feeding the terror group information regarding the movement of the army.”

He said that it was unfair to have the government waste its resources on those who threaten the peace of the nation.

- DAILY POST

Devil pushed me to kidnap my 8-year-old pupil – Ogun teacher

 

A 29-year-old teacher, Odugbesan Ayodele Samson, has told the police that it was the devil that pushed him to kidnap an eight-year-old pupil in Ogun State.

The teacher, DAILY POST reports, was arrested by men of the Ogun State Police Command for kidnapping his former pupil, who the police identified as Rasaq Akeeb on November 4, 2020.

Ogun police spokesman, Abimbola Oyeyemi, told DAILY POST on Wednesday that the teacher was arrested following a complaint lodged at Ajuwon divisional police headquarters by the mother of the victim, Fatimat Akeeb.

The mother had reported that her son went to school at Arifanla area of Akute in Ogun State, but did not return home till around 6pm that day.

She was reported to have told the police that she received a phone call from an unknown person, asking her to be ready to pay the sum of N200,000 if she wished to see her son alive.

“She stated further that the caller told her that the boy was brought to him by somebody and he will not release him until the said amount is paid,” it was learnt.

Upon the report, the DPO of Ajuwon division, SP Andrew Akinseye, had immediately directed his detectives to embark on a technical and intelligence based investigation, which Oyeyemi said led to the discovery of the suspect’s hideout.

“In order not to harm the victim, the suspect was lured out with part payment of his demanded ransom; he was subsequently apprehended and he took the police detectives to where he kept the victim and he was rescued unhurt.

“On interrogation, he confessed committing the crime but blamed it on the devil,” the PPRO stated.

The Ogun Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered, therefore, that the case be transferred to the anti-kidnapping unit of the state CIID for further investigation and prosecution.

Ajogun appealed to parents to be mindful of their children’s movement to and from school in order not to make them an easy prey to those he described as wolves in sheep’s clothing.

- DAILY POST

CSOs to FG: Stop intimidating #EndSARS activists — focus on reforms

 

A coalition of 32 civil society organisations (CSOs) has accused the federal government of clamping down on #EndSARS campaigners rather than addressing demanded reforms.

The coalition, in a statement on Tuesday, expressed concern about the attacks targeted at human rights activists and pro-democracy campaigners especially since the start of the #EndSARS protests.

The coalition said they are of the view that the #EndSARS protests focused on legitimate demands of the Nigerian youth.

“Unfortunately, instead of focusing squarely on the necessary administrative reforms to meet the short and long term demands of the protesters, the authorities have begun resorting to underhand tactics to coerce and clamp down rights activists, pro-democracy campaigners and other voices of dissent calling for systemic reforms, which will promote good governance,” the statement read.

The coalition said they have documented several “illegal” steps taken by the government which infringe on the fundamental rights of citizens.

“Increasingly, protest organisers are being intimidated and coerced by various state institutions,” the CSOs said.

“There have also been situations in which travel bans, which have no basis in the rule of law, have been slammed on individuals for their alleged roles in the #EndSARS protests.

“Our Coalition strongly condemns the resort to acts of intimidation, profiling and coercion of citizens who have done no wrong.”

The coalition said it is unacceptable that the Nigerian authorities resorted to targeting the bank accounts of individuals who are said to have supported the protest.

“The reliance on ex parte applications to freeze accounts of citizens is antithetical to the principle of fair hearing and proper judicial oversight,” they added.

The coalition called on the international community to take measures to ensure that the Nigerian authorities act according to the rule of law.

The CSOs listed in the statement are: Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Enough is Enough (EIE) Nigeria, Partners for Electoral Reform, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Resource Centre for Human Rights & Civic Education (CHRICED), Centre for Information, Technology and Development (CITAD), Yiaga Africa, Global Rights, Project Alert and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre (WARDC).

Others are Paradigm Initiative (PIN), Rule of Law and Accountability Centre (RULAAC), HEDA Resource Centre, African Centre for Media & Information Literacy (AFRICMIL), Community Life Project (CLP), Protest to Power, Social Action, Right to Know, Lawyers Alert, Private and Public Development Centre, South Saharan Social Development Organisation, and Partners West Africa- Nigeria.

Also included are Centre LSD, Connected Development (CODE), Stakeholders Development Network (SDN), BUDGiT, CWCW Africa, Peering Advocacy and Advancement Centre in Africa (PAACA), Invictus Africa, Prisoners’ Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), Resource Centre for Human Rights (CHRICED), and Reboot Design.

- THECABLE

HOPELESS COUNTRY !!! #EndSARS: Lawyer files petitions against Falana at ICC, seeks $2bn fine over ‘incitement’

 Joseph Nwaegbu, a Nigerian lawyer, has filed a criminal complaint against Femi Falana, human rights lawyer, at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Hague for his alleged role in the #EndSARS protest.

Violence trailed the #EndSARS protest across the country, leading to loss of lives and destruction of property.

In the petition dated November 4, 2020, and addressed to Fatou Bensouda, ICC prosecutor, Nwaegbu who claimed to be acting for his group, Make Nigeria Better Initiative (MNBI), described #EndSARS as “the mother of all protests in Nigeria.”

“On the recent #EndSARS protests which turned violent across the country, we beg to submit that the role played by Mr Falana before, during, and after what observers described as “the mother of all protests in Nigeria” is not only ignoble but criminal,” Nwaegbu stated.

“We have seen how the type of incitement spearheaded by Mr Falana worked in Rwanda and other parts of the world and the resultant effect was genocide.

“The misguided youths who acted based on Falana’s posture, character and utterances employed crude methods to illegally murder about 22 police officers in cold blood during the #EndSARS protests that lasted between the period 3rd October 2020 till 21st October 2020.

“At Oyingbo police station in Lagos alone, a total of 3 (Three) police officers were killed and roasted like Christmas goats with their facilities destroyed.

”It is our further submission that what Falana is doing gives room for suspicion that another brand of the terrorist group may be created to hide under the cover of “human rights activists” whilst sustaining the evils already bedevilling our people through the activities of the disbanded Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN), Boko Haram and Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).”

Nwaegbu urged the ICC to investigate Falana.

He added that upon conviction under the Rome Statute, the ICC prosecutor should compel the senior advocate of Nigeria to pay $2 billion as punitive damages for causing death, injury destruction of properties and all other things caused during the protest.

Mark P. Dillon, head of information and evidence unit, ICC, acknowledged receipt of the complaints.

Dillon said the complaint will be considered accordingly with the procedure and Rome Statute of the ICC.

Responding, Falana described the allegations against him as an “obnoxious rejoinder” hurriedly crafted “to divert attention from the crime against humanity committed by those who opened fire on peaceful protesters in violation of international humanitarian law.”

He said the Socio-Economic and Rights Accountability Project (SERAP), one of his clients, had earlier submitted a petition to the ICC against the Nigerian Army “for the brutal killing of peaceful protesters in Nigeria.”

“Before then, a London based human rights group had submitted a petition over the massacre of 347 Shiites in December 2015 by the Nigerian army. The suspects in both petitions believe that I instigated both petitions.

“But the cheap ploy will not work as the ICC does not entertain frivolous petitions that are anchored on conjecture or speculation.

“After all, the ICC is not unaware of the fact that the suspects who committed arson and willful damage to private and public properties in Lagos state and other places during the #EndSARS protests have been arrested, investigated and arraigned in criminal courts.”

- THECABLE

Nigerian politicians tell more lies than Satan – Burna Boy

 

Nigerian singer, songwriter Damini Ebunoluwa Ogulu, known professionally as Burna Boy said Nigerian politicians/leaders have told more lies than Satan.

He stated this on Wednesday via his verified Twitter page.

PM News notes that Burna Boy, Falz, Don Jazzy, and many others have been sued for allegedly sponsoring the #EndSARS protests.

Burna Boy also defended DJ Switch who is reportedly on the run after streaming LIVE footage of Lekki shootings. According to Burna, DJ Switch did not make any allegations against the Federal government.

He wrote; ”They say fake news fake news but you are the ones who have made fake promises and told more lies than Satan since the beginning of democracy. You see say this life no balance”.

”DJ Switch did not make any allegations. She streamed the shootings on Instagram LIVE” he added.

- PM NEWS

Alaafin of Oyo’s wife, Queen Anu alleges threat to life by monarch

 

Queen Anu, one of the wives of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi has said she is being threatened and constantly harassed by the monarch for walking out of the marriage.

Queen Aanu raised the alarm on her Instagram page on Wednesday.

She explained that she left the union because she can no longer continue to live in bondage.

The mother of two further warned that if anything happened to her and her children, the public should hold the monarch responsible.

“This is an outcry to protect my life. That I left the palace should not warrant a threat to my life. I can never deny my children the right to their father, however, it is only motherly to have them with me.

“I am appaled that my family is being harassed because my location is unknown to the king. The attempt to also have me kidnapped failed, and I can no longer keep my silence.

”I refuse to live in bondage and will do anything within my human right to be free. I just want to live and be the mother of my children,” she wrote.

- DAILY POST