BIAFRANS NEWS : Three killed, LGA chairman escapes, monarch beaten as cultists sack two communities

Two communities in Bangha clan, Khana Local Government Area were sacked over the weekend by suspected members of rampaging cult gangs in the area.          Despite appeals by stakeholders and re-enforcement of police personnel, cult gangs have continued to run riot in Khana Local government area of Rivers state.       Sources told DAILY POST that cult gangs invaded Luu-Mene community, killed unknown number of persons, destroyed houses and beat up the Paramount Ruler, identified as Mene BARISUA, and then extended their attack to Kere-Bangha community where they also committed arson.

An indigene of Kere-Bangha, Lucky Deekae, who confirmed the attack, said several inhabitants of his community and their neighbouring Luu-mene community fled their homes for fear of reprisal attacks.

Meanwhile, the Rivers state Police Command has denied that the number of casualties recorded in the attack in communities in Khana LGA was high.

Spokesman of the Command, DSP Nnamdi Omoni was reacting to reports that 16 persons lost their lives in the gang attack on the two communities.

Omoni, in a statement made available to DAILY POST, said the figures being bandied in some sections of the media, is fake news capable of stirring disaffection and causing panic and tension in the State.

However, while confirming the incident, Omoni stated that three persons were killed in the two attacks but officers were able to capture two suspected cultists; thirty-three-year-old, Demwua Karagbara and twenty-three year Old, Dinee Prince.

The statement reads, “The attention of the Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to the above ‘Caption’ making the rounds on Social and Traditional media on the State of affairs in Opuoko and Lumene Communities in Khana LGA.

“Ordinarily, this distorted news should have been ignored as the Command is not given to frivolities and fake news capable of stirring disaffection and causing panic and tension in the State.

“However, in order that the public will not be immediately misinformed and hold erroneous impression resulting from the fake news, we have therefore deemed it necessary to put the records straight and state as follows.

“That today 18/8/19 at about 0630Hrs, information got to us that a group of Cult boys invaded two Communities in Khana (Opuoko and Lumene) where they attacked and killed one person in Opuoko and two in Lumene, altogether three persons died.

“The houses of the LGA Chairman and the former Youth Leader came under attack.

“The attackers on sighting the Police took to flight but were chased and two of them arrested, while the trail for others is still on.

“Exhibits recovered from them include: Assorted Phones and Military Camouflage.

“So far, calm has returned in both Communities.

“The CP has ordered Investigation into the incident with a view to ascertaining the remote and immediate causes of the attack and to bring perpetrators to justice.

“We are again appealing to the public to help us with useful information that can lead to the arrest of these mindless criminals.”

BIAFRANS NEWS : Ekweremadu’s attack confirms North sponsoring Nnamdi Kanu against Igbo presidency – Deji Adeyanju

Adeyanju said the attack on the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu by IPOB members in Germany was a proof that Kanu and his group were being sponsored to compromise the South East.       Convener of Concerned Nigerians, Deji Adeyanju, on Sunday reiterated his claim that leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, collected money from Northerners to ensure an Igbo man never becomes Nigeria’s President.     Senator Ekweremadu was to give a keynote address at the Second Igbo Annual Cultural Festival and Convention organised by Ndi-Igbo Germany in that city when a mob, which identified itself as members of IPOB, invaded the venue and attacked the former Deputy Senate President.

Reacting to the attack, Adeyanju, in a statement he signed, said: “For those defending the attack on Ekweremadu, all I can do is laugh. Don’t complain tomorrow when others attacks IPOB or Nnamdi Kanu. I have said severally that Kanu collected money from the government to compromise and run away and I maintain this argument.

“He’s a business man looking for where to collect. He’s not driven by ideology or love for the Igbos. The attack on Ekweremadu justifies the stand of those who have repeatedly said “you can’t trust the Igbos with power”. And your guess is as good as mine.

“Those sponsoring Kanu from the North are those who want the Igbos perpetually divided and those who don’t want an Igbo man to ever be president of this country which is what many of us have canvassed for over the years.

“At a time when many are saying it’s the time of the Igbos to rule in 2023, you find some clowns saying they don’t believe in Nigeria and attack one of their own sons who honored their invitation.

“How best can we explain the conspiracy? When we ask them how they will achieve Biafra, all we get are insults. Is it by war or osmosis?

“How will you amend the constitution to give way for secession? These are the question Kanu and his gang of fraudsters can never answer. They are only doing the bidding of their paymasters.”

BIAFRAN NEWS : Mahmood-led INEC partisan, uses APC members to write election results for Buhari – PDP alleges

It also alleged that the development confirmed that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, used APC members to write figures for President Muhammadu Buhari to win the February 23, presidential election.       The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Sunday alleged that Frankland Briyia’s declaration of governorship ambition for Bayelsa State while in office as the Cross River State Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, has exposed INEC as being partisan under the chairmanship of Prof. Yakubu Mahmood.    The opposition party’s spokesman, Kola Ologbondiyan, made these claims in a statement in Abuja.

PDP maintained that “the manifestation of Mr. Frankland Briyia, the erstwhile Cross River state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), as an All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Bayelsa state, while still in office, is a direct confirmation that the APC used its members to write figures for President Muhammadu Buhari in the February Presidential election.

“The party notes that Mr. Briyia’s governorship ambition on the platform
of the APC, which he announced while still in the confines of his office as REC, amply exposed INEC as a partisan electoral umpire under the watch of Professor Yakubu Mahmud.

“The PDP states that the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari did not sanction Mr. Briyia, even after he brazenly announced his ambition right in INEC facility, betrays APC’s embedded interests in the commission, which manifested in the manipulation of processes related to the Presidential elections.

“The PDP invites Nigerians to note that INEC, in a recent statement, denied receiving any resignation letter from Mr. Briyia at the time he announced his governorship ambition.”

PDP also challenged Buhari to come out clean on the real reason he failed to sanction the Cross River REC in line with the law.

It also urged the President to speak out on allegations in the public space that his Presidency failed to sanction Briyia because of the role he allegedly played in favour of the APC in the Presidential election.

PDP, however, insisted that INEC must be sanitized, and called on the National Assembly to open a public hearing on the issue as well as effect amendments in the Electoral Act to check the appointment and retention of persons with political leanings as electoral officers as well as recommending stringent sanctions for infringements in that direction.

IPOB : Police free 100 agitators arrested during meeting with Asari Dokubo

The group was heading for the inauguration of the Biafra National Council, BNC, officiated by Chief Asari Dokubo, former Niger Delta militant leader, when they were arrested by police operatives of the Rivers state.           No fewer than 100 members of the Biafra Nations Youth League, BNYL, who were arrested yesterday along Bayelsa junction, have been released.        Confirming the development in a statement made available to BIAFRANS NEWS on Sunday, National Leader of BNYL, Princewill Richard said: “The group took off on a convoy from Ahoada East, in Rivers State where all members who came from Bakassi, Ikom, Ikot Ekpene and Delta were lodged ahead of the event.

“Two of the buses which were carrying the Bakassi and Ikom members were signalled to reverse. Those rounded up and arrested by the Police were members from Ahoada, Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni and Ikwerre chapters of BNYL.

“Members were jubilant upon their return from police State Criminal Investigation Department (CID).”

The Police had invaded the venue of the meeting and whisked away Chairman of the BNC Coalition, Dokubo immediately he inaugurated the Council.

He was later granted bail at the Police Headquarters yesterday.

BIAFRA : Atiku vs Buhari: UK police, DSS petitioned over Cambridge certificate

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the February 23, presidential election, Atiku Abubakar and his party had questioned the certificate.          The Department of State Services (DSS) and the London Metropolitan Police Service have received petitions to investigate the documents President Muhammadu Buhari at the presidential election tribunal.          Abba Kyari, Buhari’s chief of staff, had told the election tribunal that he obtained the president’s “assessment” documents from Cambridge University.

The separate petitions both dated August 14, 2019, and which were forwarded by a legal practitioner, Kalu Agu.

The lawyer questioned the authenticity of the “certifying statement” said to have been obtained from the Cambridge Assessment International Education.

He asked the UK police and the DSS to probe the following: “Where did Mr. Abba Kyari get the certificate which he enclosed alongside his application form for the issuance of the said certifying statement which he claimed he procured from Cambridge Assessment International Education.

“Whether Mr Abba Kyari as an individual can apply for the said certifying statement not being an academic institution or an employer of the candidate.

“Whether the said certifying statement can be delivered to Mr Abba Kyari by hand as he claimed he signed and personally collected same by hand in the UK.

“Evidence of the said application and of the candidate’s authorisation to the Cambridge Assessment International Education for the release of the said certifying statement to Mr Abba Kyari.”

He added that “in the circumstance that the certifying statement is found to be forged, it will be of great service to both Nigeria and the United Kingdom that Mr. Abba Kyari is arrested and arraigned in a court of competent jurisdiction for forgery.”

Atiku and PDP had in a 43-page final address filed by their lead counsel, Dr Levy Uzoukwu SAN, Atiku and PDP claimed to have established the fact that Buhari does not possess the requisite academic qualification for the position of President of Nigeria.

In Final address filed on August 14, the petitioners said even Buhari’s own witnesses under cross examination admitted to the fact that Buhari does not possess a school certificate, being the basic requirements for contesting for the office of the president.

“We therefore submit that all the purported evidence led by the 2nd respondent (Buhari) to prove that he attended a secondary school or a primary school or that he attended some courses, is irrelevant because he did not rely on any of those purported qualifications in exhibit P1, he relied on primary school certificate, WASC and Officer Cadet.

“Equally futile is his attempt to prove that he can speak and write in the English language. That is all irrelevant to his inability to produce his primary school certificate, secondary school certificate or WASC and his Officer Cadet qualification, whatever that means. Officer Cadet is not a qualification or certificate under the Constitution and Electoral Act; nor is it known to any law.

On the purported Cambridge University certificate tendered by Buhari before the tribunal, the petitioners asked why, “it was easier for Buhari to go all the way to Cambridge in the United Kingdom to obtain a bogus documents that his own witnesses said was not a certificate, instead of just driving down the street in Abuja to the Army Headquarters or placing a phone call to the Secretary of the Military Board in Abuja to hurry over with his certificate or certificates.”

Still on the Cambridge University documents, the petitioners submitted that, “A comparison of the purported Cambridge Assessment International Education Certifying Statement of the purported West African Examination Council (WAEC) certificate and a certified true copy of the purported confidential result sheet of the University of Cambridge West African School Certificate of 1961 for the Provincial Secondary School, Katsina reveals many discrepancies in the suppose result.

BIAFRA : PDP attacks Buhari over directive to CBN on food imports

PDP stated that Buhari’s directive will worsen food scarcity, exacerbate the already-harsh economic situation and the general depression, frustration, resentment and despair in the country under President Muhammadu Buhari’s watch.       The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, on Thursday described President Muhammadu Buhari’s directive to the Central Bank of Nigeria to stifle food importation into the country as mean, ill-timed and completely against the wellbeing of Nigerians.    Buhari had, on Tuesday, warned the apex bank to stop providing foreign exchange for the importation of food produced locally in the country.

The President maintained that foreign reserve will be conserved and utilized strictly for the diversification of the economy, and not for encouraging more dependence on foreign food import bills.

Reacting, the main opposition party stated that Nigerians do not in anyway “deserve such suffering being foisted on them by such directive on food”.

In a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, PDP said: “It is indeed appalling that instead of bringing solutions to the depreciating living conditions in our nation, President Buhari is rather imposing more suffering by ordering the removal of subsidy on food even when it is manifestly clear that he had failed on all fronts to achieve any level of food security despite the huge resources available to his administration.

“By the directive, the Buhari Presidency and the All Progressives Congress (APC) have again demonstrated their insensitivity towards millions of Nigerians who are already suffering acute hunger and starvation due to severe food shortage and high prices brought by President Buhari’s misrule.

“Such situation will only breed further despondency among our citizens, heighten our security challenges and put more pressure on compatriots, many of who, in the face of suffering occasioned by APC misrule, are resorting to suicide and slavery mission as options.

“Instead of removing subsidy on food and putting more suffering on Nigerians, the PDP urges President Buhari to cut the billions of naira being wasted on luxuries in his Presidency and free the funds for the welfare of the masses.

“Furthermore, the PDP urges President Buhari to recover the over N14 trillion siphoned by APC interests under his administration including the stolen N9 trillion detailed in the leaked NNPC memo and channel the resources towards food security for Nigerians.

“It is a complete disservice to Nigerians for the government to place restrictive directives on food for the masses, while
interests condoned by the same administration are frittering our common patrimony.

“PDP wants to believe that while Mr. President enjoys the comfort, luxury, sufficiency and safety of the government house, he is barely aware of the sufferings of Nigerians. Our party therefore charges President Buhari to immediately rescind his directive before it inflicts more damage on the polity.”    

BIAFRA : Fani-Kayode reacts as suspected IPOB members beat up Ekweremadu in Germany

BIAFRA NEWS MEN  reported that Ekweremadi was on Saturday disgraced by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).   Femi Fani-Kayode, a former minister of aviation has reacted to incident that befell Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu in Germany on Saturday.    The incident is believed to have taken place in Nuremberg, Germany.  WATCH THE VIDOE HERE

Ekweremadu was dragged around and stoned with different objects, around the venue of the event.

The lawmaker was later whisked away in a car, after several attempts to stop him from escaping.

In the video, one of the attackers was heard saying “imagine, people are dying on a daily basis, people are wailing on a daily basis and we are here enjoying.”

Reacting, Fani Kayode, who took to his Twitter page, described the incident as an eye-opener to every southern leader.

According to him, “What happened to my friend and brother Sen. Ike Ekweremadu in Nuremberg, Germany at the hands of IPOB is an eye-opener and clear signal to every political leader in southern Nigeria!

“The people of the south are getting angry and you either stand up and defend them or stand aside!”