NEWS UPDATE : Mbaka asked Buhari for contract as reward – Presidency

 

The presidency has alleged that the Spiritual Director of the Adoration Ministry (AMEN), Ejike Mbaka had visited President Muhammadu Buhari at the States House seeking for contract.

Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, made the allegation on Friday.

 reports that the allegation followed the clergy’s call for the President to resign for failing to address the deteriorating security situation across the country

According to Shehu, Mbaka once brought three contractors to the President and insisted he must be rewarded for his support to the President. However, Buhari informed him that due process must be followed.

Shehu said: “Father Mbaka is everything apart form what he claims to be… an outsider distilling the avalanche of verbiage will be surprised that after supporting the President two times to win the Presidency, Father Mbaka has made a complete U-Turn, preposterously asking President Buhari to resign or be impeached,” Shehu said.

“Here is the point of departure: Father Mbaka asked for a meeting and to the shock of Presidential Aides, he came accompanied by three contractors. The President graciously allowed them in, and to everyone’s surprise, Father Mbaka asked for contracts as compensation for his support.

“Anyone familiar with President Buhari knows that he doesn’t break the laid down rules in dealing with contracts or any other government business for that matter. He requested the appropriate authorities to deal with the matter by laid down rules.

“Inside the Villa, discretion prevailed, that if those pictures and requests were made public, the followers will turn against the religious leader. None of it was released. Now, this is what is eating Father Mbaka.”

BIAFRA NEWS : IPOB Reacts To Miyetti Allah’s Threats, Says It Will Be Blood For Blood

 

The IPOB said this in reaction to threat by the herders' group that they would avenge the death of every herdsman killed in the South-East. The Indigenous People of Biafra says members of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore will meet their demise if they attempt to hurt any Nigerian of Igbo extraction in the country.

While speaking through a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, the Nnamdi Kanu-led group said the Miyetti Allah will lose if it tries to carry out its threat.

 The IPOB said this in reaction to threat by the herders' group that they would avenge the death of every herdsman killed in the South-East.

SaharaReporters had earlier reported how the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore vowed to take both legal and cultural actions in avenging the killing of its 50 members, it said had died in the hands of the IPOB in the last one month.
 
Spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, disclosed this while reacting to the killing of one of the commanders of Indigenous People of Biafra gunned down by security operatives last Saturday.
 
Alhassan, speaking on Thursday had said, “The security agencies should intensify efforts in dealing with all those terrorists killing Fulani herders, burning police stations, prisons and destroying institutions in the South-East.” 

 Alhassan said at least 50 herders had been killed in the South-East in the last one month, adding that his group would avenge the death of those members.
 
He said, “So far, more than 50 herders have been killed in the South-East in the last one month, we have the record and the Igbo terrorists led by Nnamdi Kanu will pay for everybody they killed.
 
“It is unfortunate that they have forgotten history, how we saved a lot of Igbos in the North during the Civil War but now they are killing our people. They are making a grievous mistake. We will take necessary steps, both legal and cultural steps, to avenge the killings of our members.”

Reacting on Thursday night, the IPOB said such an intimidation was meant for the South-East governors, not for the pro-Biafra group.
It added that it would 'be blood for blood.'
 
"Miyetti Allah, hear this: IPOB is not South-East Governors that you can threaten and get away with. We are the same IPOB that collapsed the #Zoo," the IPOB partly said in the statement.

It further reiterated that its major task is to kill the Fulani murderers marauding as herders.
 
"We are after every killer herdsman. We’re after you Fulani terrorists and murderers masquerading as herdsmen. 

"If you implement this your threat, it shall be your last. We no longer believe in turning the other cheek, it is now blood for blood and you will lose," the statement concluded.

BIAFRA NEWS : We’ll Avenge Death Of Every Herdsman Killed In South-East By Nnamdi Kanu’s IPOB, Miyetti Allah Threatens

Miyetti Allah spokesman lauded the security agencies, adding that they should “intensify efforts” in dealing with all terrorist elements in the country.  

One of the umbrella bodies of herdsmen in Nigeria, the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, has urged security agencies to deal with “terrorists killing” Fulani herders in the South-East.

Spokesman for the group, Saleh Alhassan, disclosed this while reacting to the killing of one of the commanders of Indigenous People of Biafra gunned down by security operatives last Saturday.

Police operatives and their counterparts from the Nigerian Army and Department of State Services had killed an IPOB leader, one Commander Ikonso and six other militia members in Imo state.

The IPOB men, who were members of the secessionist group’s security arm, the Eastern Security Network, were killed during an early morning raid on their hideout at Awomama village, Oru East Local Government Area of the state last week.

IPOB has since threatened “madness”, saying the Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma, will “pay dearly” for the killing of its commander.

But speaking on Thursday to Punch, the Miyetti Allah spokesman lauded the security agencies, adding that they should “intensify efforts” in dealing with all terrorist elements in the country.

He said, “The security agencies should intensify efforts in dealing with all those terrorists killing Fulani herders, burning police stations, prisons and destroying institutions in the South-East.”

Alhassan said at least 50 herders have been killed in the South-East in the last one month, adding that his group would avenge the death of those members.

He said, “So far, more than 50 herders have been killed in the South-East in the last one month, we have the record and the Igbo terrorists led by Nnamdi Kanu will pay for everybody they killed.

“It is unfortunate that they have forgotten history, how we saved a lot of Igbos in the North during the Civil War but now they are killing our people. They are making a grievous mistake. We will take necessary steps, both legal and cultural steps, to avenge the killings of our members.”

Free Speech : 44 Civil Rights Groups Vow To Shut Down Nigeria Over Insecurity, Buhari Government’s Clampdown On Free Speech

 

The coalition, in a statement titled ‘State of the Nation: A Call to Action’ and signed by all 44 members, on Thursday, decried how the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had ignored its demand that it should provide good leadership amid the growing insecurity and other crises in the country. he Civil Society Joint Action Coalition, a coalition of 44 civil rights groups, has vowed to shut down the country from Monday, May 26, 2021 along with other anti-government actions scheduled to express their displeasure with the state of Nigeria.

The coalition, in a statement titled ‘State of the Nation: A Call to Action’ and signed by all 44 members, on Thursday, decried how the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government had ignored its demand that it should provide good leadership amid the growing insecurity and other crises in the country.

It said, “We are appalled to note that in spite of our strongly worded statement, President Buhari’s government has failed to heed our call to fulfil his role as Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces and Nigeria’s democratically elected President. We are therefore left with no other option than to take action to drive home our call to the government.

“We are therefore calling on all Nigerians to register their displeasure with the state of affairs across the country by participating a national shutdown from Monday, the 26th of May, 2021, participate in solemn assemblies across the country to commemorate the 4th National Day of Mourning and Remembrance of Victims of Mass Atrocities on May 28th, 2021 and boycott all Democracy Day activities on May 29, 2021 in protest of the deplorable state of our democracy.

“We again call on the Federal and state governments to rise up to their constitutional duties as enshrined in S14(2)(b), to ensure the security and welfare of all Nigerians, and pull the nation back from the path of destruction.”

The coalition had in February called on the government to “end impunity for abuse of power and sectionalism through his appointments by balancing the need for competence with the federal character principle. In this way, he will demonstrate that every part of Nigeria matters as sectional appointments appear to fuel sectional violence.

“Take responsibility and end the persecution of the media and free speech both of which are foundations of a democratic state.”

Speaking on the level of insecurity in the country, it stated: “In the first quarter of 2021 (January to March), we recorded an all-time quarterly high of almost 2,000 fatalities from mass atrocities incidents across the country. This week, across the 6 geopolitical zones, there were escalated combustions of violence resulting in even more deaths.”

In February 2021, the had catalogued the assortment of mass atrocities plaguing the country.

The issues highlighted by the group include: “The unending war in the North East with our troops often bearing the brunt of this government’s security failures, gross injustices by President Buhari’s government against the Nigerian people such that peaceful protesters are threatened and attacked by the government’s security agents while terrorists carrying out mass murder, rape, maiming and kidnapping of Nigerians including women and children are feted, molly coddled, granted ‘amnesty’ and paid by the government and industrial scale kidnappings all across the country.”

The group had also asked the government stop the “terrorist herder attacks on unarmed farming communities and reprisal attacks in the face of government inaction and failure to bring the terrorist herdsmen and their funders to justice; large scale terrorist attacks in the North West irresponsibly tagged by the government as ‘banditry’ in a bid to downplay their criminality; extrajudicial killings by State Security agents in various forms; inter-ethnic violence; and menace of political cult gangs and ethnic militia.”

Entertainment : Baba Ijesha Maximum sentence must be passed on actor – FG

 

The case of Baba Ijesha defiling a teenager has gotten the attention of Chairman of the Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NIDCOM), Abike Dabiri-Erewa.

In the past few days, heated arguments have ensued between entertainers in Nigeria as they expressed divergent views on the matter.

While some appeared sympathetic to Baba Ijesha’s plight, others are drumming support in the fight for justice for the defiled minor.

Dabiri-Erewa in a thread on Twitter described the act by Baba Ijesha as despicable.

She demanded support for the victim’s foster mother, Princess, noting that his plea should not be accepted and that maximum sentence must be passed on him.

Her tweet read: “ So despicable! The act by Yoruba actor, Baba Ijesha who defied a girl, at 7 and later at 14 years!! Who knows how many the paedophile could have damaged if he was not caught. I sponsored the violence against person’s law. The penalty is nothing less than 14 years in prison.

“His plea bargain on some video I watched should not be acceptable. We should all do all we can to support the girl’s foster mother, Princess, to ensure this case goes to court, fully tried and maximum sentence passed on him.”

Meanwhile, the Lagos Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, on Thursday, while giving update on the matter said the allegation against Baba Ijesha was on sexual and indecent assault which is bailable, and not defilement.

He debunked news that Baba Ijesha would be released soon, adding that he was still being held at the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) Panti, pending legal advice from the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP).

 

BIAFRA NEWS : IPOB alleges secret killing of Biafrans in Akwa Ibom, Benue

 

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra of Biafra (IPOB) has accused the military and security operatives of allegedly killing innocent Biafrans in Essien Udim Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom and some parts of Benue states.

It said the army had claimed their victims were the phenomenal unknown gunmen behind the spate of attacks against security formations in the region.

 

In a statement from the Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, IPOB said the action had exposed the military’s hypocrisy and their backers within the Foreign and Commonwealth office in London.

 

The statement partly reads: “We, the Indigenous People of Biafra of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, wish to bring to the attention of the world how Nigeria government and her security operatives are massacring innocent Biafrans in Essien Udim Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State.

 

“In February, it was Orlu in Imo State where civilians were massacred using the same aircrafts supplied by western allies to aid the fight against Boko Haram and other forms of Fulani terrorism.

“Now it’s Essien Udim in Akwa Ibom. But an Islamic cleric has been dinning and wining with terrorists, taking pictures with them, yet the double-faced military cannot use the same aircraft to trace and bomb the location of these Fulani murderers.”

BIAFRA NEWS : IPOB Renames Imo Government House, Others After Late ESN Commander, Demands Official Compliance

 

While Nigeria’s security agencies claimed Ikonso was killed in a gun battle at ESN camp, the IPOB said he was murdered in his father’s camp while sleeping.  

The Indigenous People of Biafra has demanded that the Imo State Government House should be named after the Eastern Security Network commander, Ikonso killed by the security operatives on Saturday.

The group stated further that Douglas Road and Awomamma Junction where the joint operation that brought an end to his life happened should be named after him.

 

Ikonso and other six members of the ESN were killed by the operatives of the Nigerian Army, the Nigeria Police and the State Security Service on Saturday, though there have been conflicting accounts of how he was killed. 

While Nigeria’s security agencies claimed Ikonso was killed in a gun battle at ESN camp, the IPOB said he was murdered in his father’s camp while sleeping.

The IPOB, through a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful on Wednesday said Ikonso must be immortalised for his bravery in defending the people of Imo state against the terror of killer Fulani herdsmen.

In the statement entitled, ‘Imo Government House, Douglas Road Owerri Named After Ikonso The Brave ESN Commander Murdered By Nigeria Security Agents – IPOB,’ the group said all governmental institutions in the state must comply to re-christen such places after its fallen commander.

“We the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and Biafrans worldwide ably led by our great and indomitable leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, wish to announce to the world, our unanimous decision to rename the Imo State Government House, Douglas Road Owerri, and Awomamma Junction after the late heroic Commander of the Eastern Security Network (ESN), Ikonso, murdered in cold blood by cowardly Nigeria security operatives.

“The affected places will henceforth be called Ikonso Government House, Ikonso Way and Ikonso Junction respectively. This is with immediate effect and compliance is required of all ministries and parastatals beginning from today, the 28th day of April 2021.

“This decision is one of the ways IPOB members and Biafrans all over the world have agreed to immortalise the name of our brave Ikonso and his men killed by callous cowardly Nigeria security agents that flee from terrorists and bandits but derive pleasure in killing unarmed Biafra agitators.

“Ikonso and other fallen heroes with him did nothing to warrant their summary extrajudicial execution. They made the supreme sacrifice in defence of our ancestral land against Fulani terrorists, jihadists and killer herdsmen. Biafra shall never forget them.

“We, therefore, expect maximum cooperation from relevant government agencies, officials and the Imo State House of Assembly because we don't know who this Douglas is (such) that a road in Owerri was named (after him) but we know who Ikonso was. He defended Imo State with his life, for without him, most Imo indigenes would be in Internally Displaced Persons' camps by now courtesy of Fulani terrorists,” the statement read.