B division Police office in Awka, Anambra state have come under heavy attack by gunmen.
An eyewitness account said the gunmen whose number couldn’t be estimated, stormed the police office around 8pm shooting sporadically into the air.
The details of the attack is still sketchy but the witness told our correspondent that the entire area has been deserted and security agents have been drafted to the place.
The station is very close to the Government House, Awka by Aroma junction.
Meanwhile,INEC office close to B Division and Ekwueme square was also attacked .The report is still sketchy .
One fascinating thing about a brand is that it has a lifecycle. A brand is more than a physical product. It is further imbued with emotional values that make consumers buy it over and over again. A Brand moves from introduction, growth, maturity and finally, to decline. At all the stages, it strives to have top of mind awareness (TOMA) in its interfaces with its target market. More often than not, brands become household names at the maturity stage.
Brand Soludo Solution today, is at the maturity stage. Getting here has not been a day’s job. It has been a long and gritty journey of scholarship, meritorious consulting at the global scale and outstanding public service; achievements which have widely been acknowledged as stellar.
The outcome of the foregoing is that Soludo today, has become a household name in Anambra with the highest top of the mind awareness, loved, preferred and trusted. How come?
Soludo Solution brings happiness to homes, offices, markets…in short, everywhere, because it has the capacity to solve problems. Soludo is truly going by his track record, a man who sees tomorrow. He is a thinker and doer; rare attributes you hardly find in one person. He has been severally called upon at national and international levels to help humanity resolve some nagging issues. He was part of the eggheads that the world looked up to, in order to halt the 2008/2009 global financial meltdown. The implementation of the NEEDS document which he anchored assisted Nigeria to secure debt relief from the Paris Club.
Since joining APGA, Soludo has been working assiduously in helping the party win electoral victories and achieve growth.
When he ran for governorship election in 2010, Soludo stretched the imagination of Ndi Anambra with his African Dubai Taiwan (ADT) development model. Ndi Anambra are yearning for Dubai. They are yearning for Taiwan.
Years after, Ndi Anambra in their numbers, unanimously realised that they need him after the current government, because of the demand for this uncommon gift and skill sets. More than 24 self funded groups are all over the place, drumming support for his Governorship bid. His party, APGA, aware that he has the state wide positive appeal to win both the primaries and the main election, is looking in his direction as their flag bearer. This is a wise and proper thing to do, because the reason for being of a political party is to wrestle and control the machinery of government.
Today, as parties prepare for their primaries, the conversations out there everywhere you go in Anambra is about Soludo and the others in regard to the November 6, 2021 governorship election. And it has become for Soludo, an endorsement galore for him from not just key stakeholders, but from common folks in the streets. As they say, it shall end in praise.
A military Beachcraft 350 aircraft has crashed at the Kaduna International Airport on Friday evening around 6pm, claiming a total of eleven souls onboard including the newly appointed Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Ibrahim Attahiru.
According to the report,top military officers died with Chief of Army Staff. The late Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Attahiru (a Fulani Muslim from Northern Sharia region of Nigeria), was until his last appointment before his unhappy demise , the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Enugu.
It was not yet clear the actual cause of the crash as at the time of this report .Meanwhile , the list of those who died in the plane crash has been released viz Full list of those who died in the Plane Crash:
1. LT GEN I ATTAHIRU.
2. BRIG GEN MI ABDULKADIR.
3. BRIG GEN OLAYINKA.
4. BRIG GEN KULIYA.
5. MAJ LA HAYAT.
6. MAJ HAMZA.
7. SGT UMAR.
CREW
8. FLT LT TO ASANIYI.
9. FLT LT AA OLUFADE.
10. SGT ADESINA.
11. ACM OYEDEPO
Yes, it is the proper thing to do, because both bring happiness, and because both have and continue to touch lives positively. Both have been stellar in improving lives by deploying mass-oriented public policies. It is a case of birds of identical plumage that are flocking together. Sure, nothing is ”broken”, so those pretending they are searching for something to fix or mend have better look elsewhere.
APGA has ushered Anambra into the A list in the comity of states in Nigeria, since it wrestled power from a lackluster, clay-footed and utterly destructive PDP government.
APGA is doing more – launching Anambra as a bold and proud member of the global village.
Governor Willie Obiano is fiercely and unrelentingly finishing strong. He is deservedly grinning from ear to ear, having decimated his traducers with deadly sucker punches in unimagined achievements. He is shooting on all cylinders; upscaling commerce, industry, tourism, the new economy that includes sports, and recording great strides in other areas as derivatives of his legacy projects.
APGA, a party that has over the years, evolved a culture that guides its leadership recruitment process, has listened to the people’s choice and is poised to hand over the baton to a man that is globally acclaimed to have the Solution to the multitudes of challenges that confront us as a people to go get victory in the November 6, 2021 governorship poll, so that the beautiful story of taking Anambra to the world and getting the world to come to Anambra will continue.
Soludo, who no doubt is the most loved, popular and trusted political leader in Anambra today, has assured Ndi Anambra and APGA that he is ready and willing to go for them. He is not pretending that the journey to the Promised Land is not bumpy but admits that it is going to be exciting and rewarding for everyone.
Soludo is urging Ndi Anambra to, hey, come ride with me on this tough but rewarding journey to our Promised Land. So, everyone is invited either as a delegate or voter. Thank God it’s Friday, and be of good cheer!
Senator Abaribe has blasted AGF Malami for his position on Southern Governors resolution to ban open grazing .In a statement signed by Uchenna Awom ,the media adviser to the senator and released to the press ,the statement reads “While the local “bureau de change” business mostly done by the Fulanis are operating in all parts of Nigeria, why have they not elicited any resentment of other Nigerians?
“It is simply because they live and do their business peacefully without any problem. It is the murderous activities of Fulani herders that have given rise to the current demand for laws that will bring about peaceful coexistence of all Nigerians.
“What’s the correlation between spare parts sellers in a rented shop or government properly designated area and marauding Fulani herders destroying farms, killing and raping thus trampling on people’s private properties and means of livelihood? Such a divisive statement from a top federal government official, infact the Chief legal adviser to the federal government at that, exposes a very dangerous mindset . This disposition has no doubt raised the tension in Nigeria to a frightening level.
“Why should an Attorney general of the federation be so fixated in evoking ethnic/regional fault lines when duty calls for him to be a statesman. It is disheartening that Mr Abubakar Malami has chosen to debase our country. He has indeed questioned Nigeria’s unity. Very unfortunate”, Senator Abaribe said when asked his views on what Malami said” the statement concluded.
The Federal High Court, Abuja on Thursday affirmed the right of Nigerian states to implement anti-grazing laws in their domains.
This position weakens that of the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, who had said such a ban is unconstitutional and infringes on the rights of movement enshrined in the nation’s laws.
The court indicated this when it rejected a suit seeking to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to direct security agencies to enforce the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Law of 2017.
In her judgment delivered during virtual proceedings, the judge, Ijeoma Ojukwu, held that the court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the suit.
The judge, in the judgement, also said the enforcement of the anti-grazing law having been validly passed by the Benue House of Assembly, for instance, “lies with the state government”.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the judge, in dismissing the suit, said the matter is not justiciable, implying that it is not a matter that a court of law can adjudicate on.
‘It’s matter of misconduct not triable by court’
For her, the matter of the enforcement of the law borders on the issue of non-compliance with the oath of office and misconduct which the National Assembly is empowered to deal with.
“In my view, the courts do not have the jurisdiction to entertain any suit bordering on compliance with the oath of office of the president for the reason that it is not justiciable.
“When the person, in this regard, the president, fails to abide by the oath, the National Assembly, in line with the set down procedures, may consider it a misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office and take the appropriate measures under the constitution,” the judge ruled.
The suit was instituted by Mathew Nyiutsa against the President on the grounds that the President, by his oath of office, incurred a mandatory obligation to uphold and preserve the laws of the land.
He, however, said that the president failed to abide by his oath of office when he refused to implement the Benue Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching Law.
The plaintiff maintained that despite the existence of the law, herders had remained unrelenting in practising open grazing, engaging in killings and destructions of property in Benue.
He added that the President had failed or refused to enforce the law, in view of his oath of office by using the security and enforcement apparatus within his powers.
‘Government should enforce the law’
Mrs Ojukwu said the case is not one the court can adjudicate on, but added that the enforcement of the anti-grazing law having been validly passed by the Benue House of Assembly, lies with the state government.
“It is not the duty of this court to adjudicate on. The plaintiff may have genuine concerns in respect of the facts averred, but there are procedures set out by law to address issues concerning citizens’ rights and violations.
“There is no contest that the Open Grazing Prohibition and Ranching establishment law 2017 was validly passed by the Benue House of Assembly and that the law is still in force, especially as the law has not been struck down by any court of law or court of competent jurisdiction.
“The implementation, therefore, lies with the machineries of the state and law enforcement agencies like the police, whose duty is to maintain law and order and to secure lives and properties in accordance with Section Four of the Police Act,” she ruled.
The judge said that it was the responsibility of the people of Benue State and law enforcement agencies and the task force “to employ all legitimate means to implement the anti-open grazing law”.
According to her, it is not the duty of the defendant, it is only where there is an infraction of the provisions of that law that the court may be invited to impose the prescribed sanctions.
“In so far as the president has not issued any executive order, which runs contrary to the said law, this court cannot hold him accountable,” the judge said.
Mrs Ojukwu equally held that by the provisions of Section 308 of the 1999 Constitution, the plaintiff was wrong to have sued the president in his personal capacity on an issue related to the performance of his official responsibilities.
“The immunity provided in Section 308 of the Constitution is to protect the occupier of the offices named in the section against the institution of either civil or criminal suit against him/her and from being sued in a personal capacity while in office,” she held
She held that the plaintiff went outside the official capacity by adding the personal name of the person currently occupying the office to the suit as a defendant.
“The proper defendant in this case ought to have been the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria.
“The life of this suit cannot be sustained if, for any reason, President Muhammadu Buhari ceases to be in office.
“This cannot be the position of the law since governance is a continuum and does not terminate because the tenure of office of a particular office holder has elapsed.”
She added that the proper defendant in the alternative, should have been the Attorney-General of the Federation, and the defendant on record (Buhari) would have been a nominal party.
Counsel to the plaintiff, Terhemba Agbe, thanked the judge for the judgment saying it was very educating.
The judgment comes amid raging controversy over the recent resolution of southern governors prohibiting open grazing in their states, with AGF Malami, saying such ban would infringe on constitutional right to freedom of movement of the herders.
Speaking for the southern governors, however, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo State dismissed the AGF’s comment, insisting that the decision banning open grazing in their states was irreversible.
Aside from Benue State, there are other states particularly in the southern part of the country that have put the anti-open grazing law in place to check rampant kidnappings and killings associated with some criminal herders in their domains.
The aspect of Thursday’s judgment affirming the power of state governments to enforce the anti-open grazing law in their states comes as impetus for the implementation of such a statute where they are already in place and an inspiration for others to seek to have it.
The contest over who becomes the gubernatoral candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance APGA in the November 6th election is currently being jolted by an alleged N2 billion bribe offered to some members of the party to throw up the member representing Ihiala Federal Constituency Mr Ifeanyi Momah as the candidate of the party.
Reports currently trending on social media has it that the party is making a u- turn to drop Prof Charles Soludo and replace him with Momah and that by the end of this week it would have been perfected.
When contacted Ifeanyi Momah has not declared to contest in the election and according to one of his aides he has not mentioned it to us and we should be the first to know.
But the shadowing organization in support of Soludo known as the United Anambra Youth Assembly U- AYA and the United Anambra Women Assembly U-AWA has described the report as the hand work of fifth columnist who were allegedly paid the sum of N 2 Billion to unsettle the party to the advantage of the of the opposition party.
According to a release signed by the National Vice President of the two organizations Chief Ogochukwu Egolum the groups stated that the party believes in the Democratic process of nominating it’s candidate
That our party has made public the guidelines and time table for the conduct of its primary election; hence cannot impose a candidate on itself.
That some faceless elements in the opposition parties have approached some people in our party with an offer of N2billion to unsettle the party with internal crisis.
That Prof Charles Soludo is given to a free, fair and credible primary election to nominate the candidate of our party.
That members of the public and our dear party should discountenance such stories coming from undemocratic fifth columnists whose stock in trade is to unleash anarchy on the party.
That Prof Charles Soludo remains the best candidate for the task of taking Anambra State to the next level.
Days ago, Abubakar Malami (SAN), the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) granted an interview to Channels Television in which he faulted Southern Governors’ ban on open grazing. The AGF is wrong; Southern Governors are right, and here’s why:
Before one can graze, he must be a cattle rearer or a herdsman. The herdsman would have to enter another person’s land. If the herdsman is grazing on his own land, it does not implicate any legal, safety or economic issues because the land belongs to him. But when he goes upon another man’s land to graze without permission or some leave and license, he commits trespass, civil and criminal trespass to boot.
Conversely, there is no written law in Nigeria that permits herders to enter into another man’s land without the owner’s permission. Not even the Nigerian Constitution cited Malami. The part of the Constitution he relied on allows freedom of movement of persons, not animals, whether goats, pigs or cattle. And such freedom must be exercised in a peaceable and legal manner, not by force, not by trespass, not by terror.
Most people think that trespass is only a civil wrong in which you go to a civil court to claim monetary damages and have the trespasser expelled from your property through a civil court order. It is much more than that.
In Northern Nigeria where the Attorney-General and these herdsmen hail from, Section 342 of the Penal Code (applicable to Northern Nigeria) provides that ‘Whoever enters into or upon property in the possession of another with intent to commit an offence or to intimidate, insult or annoy a person in possession of that property, or, having lawfully entered into or upon that property, unlawfully remains there with intent thereby to intimidate, insult or annoy such person or with intent to commit an offence, is said to commit criminal trespass’.
Open grazing intimidates, insults and annoys. And in this era, it terrorizes, kills and destroys properties. What more do you need before understanding that it’s a crime in all its ramifications.
Criminal trespass is punishable by arrest, arraignment, prosecution and imprisonment. Again, this is northern Nigeria where these herders hail from. There are other laws of Nigeria that border on assault, manslaughter, murder, malicious destruction of property, disorderly conduct, breach of the peace and laws on land use that are violated whenever herdsmen graze without permission and oftentimes with violence.
So, without any new law banning open grazing, Southern Governors can assert their authority under these extant laws, including particularly under Section 1 of the Land Use Act, which provides that “Subject to the provisions of this Act, all land comprised in the territory of each State in the Federation are hereby vested in the Governor of that State … ”.
Additionally, AGF Malami appears to be unaware of the highly celebrated 1969 ruling by Justice Adewale Thompson. That the ruling was never set aside or varied makes it part of the laws of Nigeria when it comes to open grazing. It’s pertinent to state that the ruling was made in the context of the ‘farmer-herder conflict’ of that era. That is what we used to have then. What we have now is ‘herder-terrorism’ that requires new measures that should more drastic than the purports of that ruling.
In the ruling, Adewale’s court heard that it is the custom of the Fulani to move cattle from place to place and graze openly. The judge ruled that if that is the custom, it is a bad one because it is against public policy; that the custom has the tendency to lead to breach of law and order and unconscionable destruction of another’s property. You might add that, in this day and age, it has gone from mere destruction of property to destruction of lives.
That judgment is sound because it is consistent with the common law of Nigeria that says that any custom that is against public policy shall be set aside. A custom is not cast in stone. Nigerian laws only allow good customs. Bad customs like killing of twins are no longer allowed. In the same vein, bad customs like open grazing that destroys properties and human lives should be banned.
That something is a custom does not automatically make it legal. Therefore, that open grazing is customary to the Fulani does not make it legal or permissible, especially if it comes with the prospects of criminal trespass or terror. And in comparison to the spare parts dealers Malami mentioned, he forgot that they rent their shops and they conduct their business sans trespass, violence, rape and terror.
Further, as a Northerner and a high-ranking government official with access to intelligence, AGF Malami should not pretend that he doesn’t know that a significant number of these herdsmen are foreigners. Some notable Northern leaders (including the Presidency) have publicly confirmed as such. On this score, did AGF Malami consider what happens to Nigeria’s sovereignty when he argued that banning open grazing is unconstitutional? Is he suggesting that foreigners now have more constitutional rights than Nigerians, especially Southern Nigerians?
Not just that, these foreign herdsmen come into Nigeria with a swag to graze on Nigerian lands without permission and they are ever prepared to kill their host if he dares resist such brazen criminal trespass. And the federal government does nothing to check it. But once the herders get in trouble, such as now with Southern Governors, the same federal government jumps to their defense, as AGF Malami just did.
That’s unfair because you are stoking a situation where States (especially Southern States) will be propelled to resort to self-help, which is exactly what Southern Governors have done by banning open grazing.
David Umahi, governor of Ebonyi state, says the south-east region does not want to secede from Nigeria.
The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) are both campaigning for the secession of the south-east from Nigeria.
IPOB was formed in 2012 by Nnamdi Kanu while MASSOB was founded in 1999 by Ralph Uwazuruike.
Umahi spoke at the presidential ministerial press briefing organised by the presidential communications team at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
The governor said though some of the agitations of the youth in the region are “rightful”, they have been hijacked and become violent.
Umahi, who is also the chairman of the South-east Governors Forum, said despite the security challenges plaguing the south-east, the region does not want any form of war but wants to be part of a peaceful Nigeria.
The governor said he believes in dialogue and called on aggrieved groups to come forward to air their grievances and demands.
“The situation in the South East is a mixture of reality, fake news and war propaganda. Are there rightful agitations in the Southeast? Yes. Has it turned violent? Yes. It’s been hijacked,” Umahi said.
“In the southeast we don’t want war, we don’t want to secede, we want to be a part of a fair Nigeria where justice, equity and freedom exist.
“I have offered, and all the south-east governors…present your demands, embrace and renounce and hand over to us.
“There is no region in the country today that does not have one thing or the other against the federal government.
“But we have not sat down to discuss and that is what we are demanding from our youth, whether banned or barred, let us hear your grievances. Give us six months to engage the federal government to address all these.
“I believe in dialogue, I believe we can sit as people, discuss and find what our differences are and we can also, together, discuss how we can strengthen our cooperation as a people.”
On the two offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that were razed in the state, Umahi condemned the action, describing the reason behind the incident as “a terrible mindset”.
“A lot of people have been brainwashed about Biafra; that there will be no elections in the region in 2023,” he said.
“INEC offices are not being burnt in other parts of the country. It’s a terrible mindset for anybody to be doing this. They are criminals.”
The governor also condemned the mayhem in the region, adding that Ebube-Agu, the south-east security outfit, has come to stay.
He asked the security operatives in the region to intensify efforts in curbing the security challenges in the region.
“Ebube Agu is a change of name. My state has signed our Ebube Agu into law and it has come to stay. It is to protect the people. Once you are not a criminal, you are safe,” he said.
No matter what name you bear, you are banned or barred and causing trouble in the south-east, Ebube Agu will address that with the security agencies.”
‘BAN ON OPEN GRAZING RIGHT DECISION’
Umahi said those against the southern governors’ resolve to ban open grazing want killings to continue in the country.
Abubakar Malami, attorney-general of the federation, had argued against it, saying the plan is equivalent to prohibiting spare parts trading in the north.
But Umahi said those against the southern governors’ resolve misunderstand the situation.
According to him, the south has no grazing routes, and allowing cattle to move freely would mean trespassing on people’s property,
He, therefore, asked the federal government to implement ranching and business models for livestock management.
The Chairman, Defacto Customary Government of Biafra (Implementation Committee), Alhaji Mujahid Dokubo Asari has urged the people of the South-South and South-East geopolitical zones of the country to unite for the actualisation of Biafra independence.
Asari who made this known in an interview with our correspondent maintained that the founders of Biafra were people of the South-South and South-East regions when the country had the duo regions as Eastern Nigeria.
He said, “the only economic and security solutions for the South-south and South-east are Biafra independence.
“The North and South-west have always used the experience of the war that Nigeria won against Biafra to underrate the South-south and South-east.
“They will continue to politically and economically marginalize us if we remain as one Nigeria.
“Central power will continue to revolve around the North and South-west in order to ensure that the South-south and South-east remain weakened and voiceless.
“It is unfortunate that the northerners and south-westers have succeeded in making the leaders of the South-south and South-east hate the Biafra struggle for independence.
“I make bold to say that the freedom which the South-south and South-east are in serious need of can only be realized in Biafra independence.
“However, we will not relent in our pursuit for Biafra independence despite the shortsightedness of some of the South-south and South-east leaders who have placed their personal interest above the interest of our present and future generations.”
