A Nigerian Police Officer Kills Groom 3 Days To His Wedding In Anambra State

A Lagos based businessman identified as Sam Belonwu Dim pictured above left, was killed by a drunk police sergeant on Sunday, December 27, at Uruagu Nnewi, three days to his own wedding.




According to a report by Sunday Sun, the deceased had gone for a wedding of one of his In-laws when he encountered the drunk police officer who killed him. Father of the deceased, Chief Lazarus Dim while narrating what transpired said his son had reluctantly agreed to attend the wedding of an inlaw. Sam had received a call from a friend of his identified as Eloka who convinced him to attend the wedding.

Reluctantly, Sam attended the tradition­al wedding with one of his friend, Sunday Oguego. On arrival at the ceremony, Elo­ka received him and Oguego and as Sam was about to sit down under a canopy set up outside for guests, a mobile police sergeant just pointed his gun at Sam and shot him. The bullet went through his heart and exited from the back. At the sound of the gunshot, everybody scampered for safety, including Eloka, who invited Sam to the event.

It was Oguego who summoned the courage and began shouting for help when Sam slumped. As the bullet exited through Sam’s back, it hurt another person, who miraculously survived, and was said to have responded to treatment in a hospital. Till date, no one knows the reason why the police sergeant shot at the deceased.

Chief Dim is demanding the Nigeria police to launch a full scale investigation into the matter and fish out the sergeant that shot his son. He lamented the way police and other security agents were allowed to carry guns freely at ceremonies.

He charged the Inspector General of Police to look into this anomaly, querying: “Why should the number of police escorts at many events be more than the number of invited guests?” Since the tragic incident hap­pened, the Sam’s would-be-bride has been inconsolable. At the fami­ly home of her late groom, she has been speechless and downcast.

Fury in Iranian press

Newspapers in Iran have reacted with anger to the killing of the Shia cleric, warning it could bring down the Saudi ruling family but Saudi papers insist the authorities have the right to mete out punishment to those who do not obey the rules.
The killing "has brought the weak foundations of the bloodthirsty government of Saudi Arabia closer to collapse", says Iran's hard-line Vatan-e Emruz.
The authorities in Riyadh must now accept that the supporters of the cleric in the region "will take revenge", warns conservative Hemayat.
But reformist Sharq fears the "irresponsible" act could exacerbate sectarian tensions in the region and warns Tehran not to get drawn into Riyadh's "dangerous game".
In Saudi Arabia, Al-Riyadh is adamant that "the homeland's security, unity and prestige are non-negotiable" and no "incitement of harm or sedition" should be tolerated irrespective of the culprit's affiliations.
Finally, Al-Jazirah, says the "firm, strong verdict" has made the country "safer and more stable".

---

Iran - Saudi Arabia's main regional rival - has led condemnation among Shia communities over the execution.
The foreign ministry in Tehran said the Sunni kingdom would pay a high price for its action, and it summoned the Saudi charge d'affaires in Tehran in protest.
Some of the protesters at the Saudi embassy in Tehran hurled petrol bombs and rocks. Forty people have been arrested, officials said.
The road where the embassy sits has been renamed as "Sheikh Nimr Street".
There have also been demonstrations in Saudi Arabia's Eastern Province, where Shia Muslims complain of marginalisation, as well as in Iraq, Bahrain and several other countries.
The top Shia cleric in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani described the execution as an "unjust aggression".
For its part, Saudi Arabia complained to the Iranian envoy in Riyadh about what it called "blatant interference" in its internal affairs.
The execution has worsened long-running tensions between the two Middle Eastern nations, which support opposite sides in the Syrian and Yemen conflicts.
The US and UN have both called for restraint.
In a statement after the executions, US state spokesman John Kirby appealed to Saudi Arabia's government to respect and protect human rights, and to ensure fair and transparent judicial proceedings.
Mr Kirby also urged the Saudi government to permit peaceful expression of dissent and, along with other leaders in the region, to redouble efforts to reduce regional tensions.

Who was Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr?

Sheikh Nimr's execution prompted an angry response from Shias across the region  

• In his 50s when he was executed, he has been a persistent critic of Saudi Arabia's Sunni royal family
• Arrested several times over the past decade, alleging he was beaten by Saudi secret police during one detention
• Met US officials in 2008, Wikileaks revealed, seeking to distance himself from anti-American and pro-Iranian statements
• Said to have a particularly strong following among Saudi Shia youth

Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr: Figurehead Shia cleric

---

Most of the 47 executed by Saudi Arabia were Sunnis convicted of involvement in al-Qaeda-linked terror attacks last decade.
Saudi Arabia carried out more than 150 executions last year, the highest figure recorded by human rights groups for 20 years.
 

Iran: Saudis face 'divine revenge' for executing al-Nimr

Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran, burning images of the Saudi king 

Saudi Arabia will face "divine revenge" for its execution of a prominent Shia cleric, Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has warned.

Ayatollah Khamenei described Sheikh Nimr al-Nimr as a "martyr" who acted peacefully.
Protesters stormed the Saudi embassy in Tehran late on Saturday, setting fire to the building before being driven back by police.
Sheikh Nimr was one of 47 people executed for terrorism offences.
But Ayatollah Khamenei said the cleric had been executed for his opposition to Saudi Arabia's Sunni rulers.
"This oppressed scholar had neither invited people to armed movement, nor was involved in covert plots," the ayatollah tweeted.
"The only act of #SheikhNimr was outspoken criticism," he added, saying the "unfairly-spilled blood of oppressed martyr #SheikhNimr will affect rapidly & Divine revenge will seize Saudi politicians".
Sheikh Nimr had been a figurehead in the anti-government protests that erupted in the wake of the Arab Spring up to his arrest in 2012.
 

Nigerian charged in sophisticated email scam is in custody in Dallas

A Nigerian man living in the U.S. on a student visa faces federal wire fraud charges in connection with a sophisticated email phishing scam targeting businesses.
Amechi Colvis Amuegbunam, 28, of Lagos, Nigeria, was arrested in Baltimore in August and charged with scamming 17 North Texas companies out of more than $600,000 using the technique. He remains in federal custody in Dallas. If convicted, he faces up to 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $1 million.
He is accused of sending emails that looked like forwarded messages from top company executives to employees who had the authority to wire money. Amuegbunam tricked the employees into wiring him money by transposing a couple of letters in the actual company email, authorities said.
The FBI issued an alert earlier this year about the new cyberattack it called the “Business Email Compromise.” The FBI said it is a “growing fraud that is more sophisticated than any similar scam the FBI has seen before.”
Federal officials say more than 7,000 U.S. businesses have been scammed out of a total of about $740 million.
“It’s a prime example of organized crime groups engaging in large-scale, computer-enabled fraud, and the losses are staggering,” said Maxwell Marker, an FBI agent who oversees an organized crime section, in a recent bulletin.
The FBI said it’s the work of organized crime groups from Africa, Eastern Europe and the Middle East.
The Dallas investigation began in 2013 when two North Texas companies reported falling victim to the scheme, each losing about $100,000, according to an FBI complaint.
In the case of Luminant Corp., an electric utility company in Dallas, an employee with the authority to wire money received an email from someone who appeared to be a company executive, the complaint said.
But the email domain name had two letters transposed. For example, someone created the email with a domain name of lumniant.com.
The duped employee wired $98,550 to a bank account outside Texas.
The FBI subpoenaed information about the email account and learned it was created by someone named Colvis Amue, the complaint said.
Agents determined that person was Amuegbunam and that he scammed another company out of $146,550, according to the complaint. A third company realized the phishing email was fake and did not send the $381,903 requested.
“The Dallas FBI quickly learned that this was a widespread scheme,” the complaint said.
The FBI has identified five other conspirators who live in Nigeria who are subjects of the investigation.
In these scams, “money mules” are employed to accept the initial transfers into their personal bank accounts. They then are told to quickly transfer the money elsewhere, usually to a bank account outside the U.S. The money usually ends up in Asian banks, including those in China and Hong Kong, the FBI alert said.
The criminals have become experts at imitating invoices and accounts, agents say. The fraudulent emails are typically well worded and specific to the type of business being targeted, the FBI says. The phrases, “code to admin expenses” and “urgent wire transfer,” are frequently used.
In one recent case provided by the FBI, a company accountant received an email from her chief executive, who was on vacation outside the country. He asked her to transfer money for a “time-sensitive acquisition” before the day’s end, according to the FBI. The executive said a lawyer would contact her with more information.
The accountant said such requests were not unusual.
The lawyer sent her an email with her CEO’s signature on a letter of authorization with the company’s seal that was attached. The email gave her instructions to wire more than $737,000 to a bank in China.
The accountant learned about the scam when the CEO called the next day, saying he knew nothing about the wire transfer request.
The FBI said criminal groups usually target businesses that have foreign suppliers or regularly make wire transfer payments.
“They have excellent tradecraft, and they do their homework,” Marker said. “The days of these emails having horrible grammar and being easily identified are largely behind us.”

'Africa's biggest Jesus statue' unveiled in Nigeria

The nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa, is unveiled in Abajah, southeastern Nigeria on January 1, 2016 

Nigeria on Friday unveiled a nine-metre tall statue of Jesus Christ carved from white marble, thought to be the biggest of its kind in Africa.

Standing barefoot with arms outstretched, the "Jesus de Greatest" statue weighs in at 40 tonnes.

More than 100 priests and hundreds of Catholic worshippers attended the nine-metre (30-foot) statue's official unveiling in the village of Abajah in southeastern Nigeria.

It was commissioned by Obinna Onuoha, a local businessman who hired a Chinese company to carve it and placed it in the grounds of a 2000-capacity church that he built in 2012.

In his homily at a Mass before unveiling the statue, presiding bishop Augustine Tochukwu Okwuoma said it would be a "very great symbol of faith" for Catholic worshippers and passers-by alike.

"It will remind them of the importance of Jesus Christ," said Okwuoma.
The cost of the statue has not been revealed.
Earlier in the week, Onuoha told AFP it would be "the biggest statue of Jesus on the continent."
The 43-year-old boss of an oil and gas distribution company timed the statue's unveiling to coincide with his parents' 50th wedding anniversary.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous country with 170 million people, is split between a more prosperous Christian south and a poor Muslim north -- an occasional source of tension.

More than 17,000 people have been killed in Islamist group Boko Haram's six-year quest to create an independent state but the violence has been mainly confined to Nigeria's Muslim-majority north.

And even as Nigeria rings in 2016, the ever-present threat of violence by Boko Haram hangs heavy over the country, despite official claims that the battle against the Islamist group has been "technically" won.

"We think religions can exist side by side," Onuoha said. "We hope that people can live in harmony."

He said the idea of building a giant statue of Jesus came to him in a dream nearly 20 years ago.

And when his 68-year-old mother fell seriously ill a few years ago, she made him promise that he would build a church if she survived.
 

PDP reacts angrily to claim it insulted Buhari, says president “not God”

The Peoples Democratic Party has accused the All Progressives Congress of not being able to accept, with equanimity, constructive criticisms of ​its administration.
In a statement on Saturday, the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, said it was unfortunate that the APC and its leaders, who gleefully and unjustifiably poured invectives on former President Goodluck Jonathan in the guise of playing the role of an opposition party, would now not want to condone criticisms.
“Unlike the APC that denigrated the office and person of former President Jonathan by wrongly depicting him as ‘clueless and incompetent’, the PDP remains the most decent, mature and constructive opposition party in our democracy and we have evidenced great respect for the person and exalted office of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“During the Goodluck Jonathan presidency, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, while in the saddle as interim Deputy National Secretary of the APC, in a post on his twitter page, described President Jonathan as ‘lazy, docile, incompetent, clueless, hopeless and useless leader.’ Other APC leaders made raining abuses on Jonathan a past time.
“The PDP is a very responsible opposition party; our leaders are mature; and we have demonstrated so in our critique of the
​p​resident’s responses during the maiden Presidential Media Chat. We have reviewed President Buhari’s performance and concluded that it was uninspiring​.​
“The entire world listened to President Buhari during the chat and went away with different impressions. We did and came up with the theme of our initial reaction that portrayed him very appropriately as a tyrant. And for purpose of clarity, a tyrant is a ruler who has complete power over a country and who uses the power in a cruel and unfair way, which was why we recommended the suspension of the operation of the constitution so he can rule for the next four years as a maximum ruler.
“In its reaction, his party National Chairman, John Oyegun​,​ magisterially and dictatorially warned that ‘we (APC) may not condone such anymore.’ Our position in the PDP is that we are in trouble as a nation. All we hear from the APC regarding our freedom is ‘we won’t tolerate’, ‘we won’t condone.’ Are these words used by democrats or tyrants?
“So, the PDP too is being warned and coerced on what to say as opposition party. The PDP must be commended for the civil, responsible, mature, issue-based opposition it has played. The nation knows how the APC rained insults on former President Jonathan and that the PDP, during that time, never used words like ‘it would not condone…’
“Some have even criticised the PDP style of opposition as being too civil considering the tyranny we are facing. That is why Chief John Oyegun could term a dictionary word-‘tyrant’- as insulting. Nigerians do not need the PDP or anyone else to make them decide if President Buhari’s APC government fits the definition of a tyrant.
“The real trait of the President was unraveled during the media chat. He has repeatedly shown his scorn for the Legislature, an independent arm of government while sanctioning security agencies’ disrespect for court orders and the impunity of continuous incarceration of people who have been granted bails by the courts.
“Also from his responses, the p​resident has even pronounced a guilty verdict on Col Sambo Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu of Radio Biafra even before the hearings by the courts. Sadly, even the international community has noted this brazen scorn and disdain for the independence of the judiciary.
“Furthermore, how do we describe a president who openly denigrated an entire race as he did in the media chat when he suggested that the Igbos were insatiable with the appointments his government has so far given to them? Indeed, the timing and the tenor of the ​p​resident’s comment, given the security and political situation in the land, remain worrisome, especially at a time a nerve-soothing statement from the father of the nation could have reassured the agitators of the need for peace and unity in the nation.
“Besides, it is sad and embarrassing that President Buhari’s anti-corruption crusade has now been reduced to a war between the APC and the PDP as declared by the Office of his spokespersons.
Since they have confirmed that this is what the anti-corruption crusade is all about, the APC is obviously seeking to destroy the PDP so that it can push through Buhari’s second tenure in 2019 without opposition from the PDP.
“This has also confirmed our concern that this is the reason the Federal Government is persecuting, and not prosecuting, Col. Sambo Dasuki. The APC and its leaders fear that Dasuki, given his vast political and security network, may be harbouring a presidential ambition, more so that the PDP has zoned its presidential ticket to the north.
“The PDP is conversant with the sinister plan by the APC-led Federal Government to completely decimate our party by raking up all manner of allegations of corruption against the Goodluck Jonathan administration and leaders of the PDP with a view to taking them to court on orchestrated charges.
“Finally we are aware that President Buhari has directed security agencies to be more vicious in dealing with our members and has continued to subtly coerce the Judiciary to convict those being charged to court. But what gives us joy is that President Buhari is not God and we will not worship him.

PDP reacts, slams Buhari as an “unrepentant tyrant”

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, says President Muhammadu Buhari’s responses at Wednesday’s Presidential Media Chat were not only “embarrassing”, but further exposed Mr. Buhari as an “unrepentant tyrant” who has no regard for the rule of law and the self-worth of Nigerian citizens.
The party, in a statement by its spokesperson, Olisa Metuh, on Thursday also said the president confirmed his partisanship in the much-vaunted war against corruption by openly absolving his ministers and party members of corrupt practices.
“Whilst we restate our respect for the person and office of the president, we note that President Buhari bared his true colours to the world as an unrepentant tyrant. Today, the world is no longer in doubt as to who is behind the prevailing recklessness, abuse of rights of citizens and outright flouting of judicial pronouncements by security agencies.
“A situation where the president openly pronounced persons facing trial guilty and sanctioned their continued incarceration despite being granted bail by the courts, presents a dangerous fascist practice obtainable only in totalitarian societies like Mussolini’s Italy, Hitler’s Germany, Idi Amin’s Uganda and General Than Shwe’s Burma.
“This extremely shocking dictatorial tendency being brazenly exhibited by the president in total disdain for our laws and judicial institutions portends great danger for our democracy and constitutionally-guaranteed rights of the people, and should be resisted by the citizens before it festers.
“The scorn for the principle of separation of powers, especially the independence of the legislature, is further manifested in the declared craving to regulate the funding and running of the National Assembly, a matter constitutionally vested outside the jurisdiction of the executive. We are most uncomfortable about his attempt at trying to whip up public sentiments against an independent arm of government, especially the one vested with the constitutional power of appropriation.
“Following from the foregoing, therefore, it may be necessary to suspend the application of our Constitution and allow the president to operate as maximum ruler for four years after which the nation can return to a democracy.
“On the issue of the Chibok girls, President Buhari’s embarrassing declaration of seeking information on the whereabouts and state of the girls betrays an obvious insincerity which is in total conflict with his campaign promises in that regard. Thus by this declaration, our dear president has accepted failure on this issue and should therefore apologise to Nigerians for all the insults, abuse and aspersions cast on the past administration by himself and the leadership of his political party.
“On the issue of devaluation of the naira, there is an obvious conflict between the budget speech wherein the president stated that the government is assessing the foreign exchange rate with a view to attracting foreign investments and his categorical pronouncement during the media chat that the naira would not be devalued. We invite Nigerians to note that the president obviously does not understand the currency that applies in the devaluation of the naira (laugh out loud).
“Furthermore, Nigerians were shocked by the President’s labeling Nigerians as ‘very difficult lot’ while responding to questions on the strategy to be adopted in implementing his promised N5,000 social welfare package.
“This unhealthy portrayal of the citizens by the very father of the nation, who has remained unrelenting in de-marketing his country through unguarded statements, is indeed a great disservice to Nigeria and its international image. Consequently, we reject this negative labeling of our citizens and reiterate our confidence in them, especially the millions who remain honest, hardworking and credible.
“Finally, Nigerians must take copious note of the fact that the president gave no inspiring answers to questions pertaining to his campaign promises, the fight against insurgency and rescue of the Chibok girls, the poor state of the naira, sudden plunging of the economy under his watch, and the gradual loss of democratic rights and freedom,” the PDP said.

Buhari under fire over comment justifying disobedience of court orders

Nigerian activists and lawyers have berated President Muhammadu Buhari for saying the government will continue to detain two prominent detainees – former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki and the leader of the separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) – despite several court orders that they should be released from detention.
During Wednesday’s presidential media chat, Mr Buhari, while responding to a question by PREMIUM TIMES’ Ibanga Isine on the State Security Service’s has continued disregard for court orders on the release of Mr. Dasuki and Mr. Kanu, said the magnitude of their alleged crimes was too grievous that government cannot afford to release them on bail.
Mr Dasuki is facing corruption charges over alleged diversion of $2.1 billion meant for the procurement of arms while Mr. Kanu was charged for treasonable felony.
“If you see the atrocities these people committed against this country, we can’t allow them to jump bail. What of the over two million people displaced, most of them orphans whose fathers have been killed? We cannot allow that,” he said justifying while the SSS re-arrested Mr. Dasuki despite meeting bail conditions fixed by a Federal High Court.
On why Mr. Kanu was still being held, Mr Buhari said: “And the one you are calling Kanu, do you know he has two passports – one Nigerian, one British – and he came into this country without any passport? Do you know he came into this country with sophisticated equipment and was broadcasting for Radio Biafra?”
Most of those interviewed by PREMIUM TIMES believe Mr Buhari overstepped his power by openly defying the judiciary on national television.
Describing the comment as a “national embarrassment”, human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, said Mr. Buhari, a former head of a military junta, which ruled the country in the 1980s with an iron fist, proved by his open defiance of the judiciary that he remained a dictator at heart.
“We appreciate the President because he has spoken from his heart and gave us the correct impression of who he is,” he said.
“Under Section 287 of the 1999 constitution, all persons exercising judicial, executive or legislative power must have respect for the order of the court. It is not proper for the president to choose which order to respect or to obey. Given that the president assumed office through the rule of law, it is totally uncharitable to be humiliating the judiciary openly in a presidential chat,” he added.
He said the President’s comment was capable of undermining the judiciary and causing anarchy.
“The reason why this is very difficult is that once we resort to self-rule, once we resort to a situation where the leadership is breathing down lawlessness, then anarchy will come because if a president will not obey a court order, a business man will not obey it, policemen will not obey it.
“It would be promoting anarchy. I am sure in some quarters the SSS people are rejoicing. Overzealous security officials and rejoicing, and perhaps using the President’s comment as reason to put people in custody and breed impunity.”
While asking the President to apologise to Nigeria for making such a comment, Mr. Adegboruwa advised judges not to be intimidated by Mr. Buhari’s comment and to carry on with their job without fear.
Similarly, Lanre Suraju, Chairman of the Civil Society Network Against Corruption, (CSNAC), said the President’s comment was “unfortunate”, adding that his utterance was capable of undermining security agencies in their jobs.
“The utterance of the president yesterday (Wednesday) only shows that there is a government agenda specifically and deliberately skewed to perpetually keep the guy in detention. And that is most unfortunate. That is also not only pitching the judiciary against the executive, it is also showing that there would be a measure of arbitrariness on the part of the executive.
“The case of Nnamdi Kanu is also unfortunate. It is an extra-judicial action. Basically, if he is being charged for treason, there is also certain conditions that needs to be met before bail can be granted. If the lawyers of the government have failed to establish the magnitude of his offence, and the court in its own wisdom has granted that bail, the SSS has no basis and no reason under the rule of law to perpetually keep him in detention,” he said.
Lagos-based lawyer, Jiti Ogunye, said the President’s argument about the severity of the detainees’ alleged crimes is not a justification to disobey court order.
According to him Mr Buhari will be violating Section 287 of the constitution if he refuses to obey court orders.
“I have my gaze fixed on section 287 of the constitution which says that decisions of our courts are bidding on authorities and persons including the presidents,” Mr. Ogunye said.
He, however, added that there was no law stopping security agencies from rearresting a person released on bail if there are facts suggesting that he was involved in another crime.
“Do you know how many offences Dasuki has committed? Do you know whether another charge is being prepared against him now? So would you begrudge the state the right to charge him in as many offences as he has committed in his life time?” he asked.
“There is what is call prosecutorial discretion. It is in the interest of the public that they be charged for every corruption related offence.”
He also berated judges for being soft on politicians facing charges while applying the full weight of the law on other suspects.
“I’ve said fighting corruption is not a theatre. It is not a circus. I’m familiar with the disposition of our court when it comes to granting bails to few cases of people who are alleged to have been involved in bank fraud and for instance have stolen N20 million or whatever, they are remanded in prison custody. The judges would say they are not going to exercise their discretion.
“But in the case of politicians, they would saunter to the court, assured that they are going to be released and then the court will grant them bail. Do you know that Dasuki was first granted bail on self-recognition?”
Similarly, a former Chairman of Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Ikeja branch, Monday Ubani, said although the president must ensure that the independence of the judiciary should not be undermined, he has a right to express his opinion on certain national issues like every Nigerian.
According to him, what the president was trying to say by his comment was that the judiciary should desist from giving frivolous orders.
“The president has a right to say certain things because he lives in Nigeria and he knows that there some criminal trial since 2007 and up till now we have not gone beyond the preliminary stages. What I’m saying is that our system has an issue. We have not been able to handle our cases in manner that engenders confidence. A lot of cases are muddled up here where as if those cases are taken abroad they are handled within a timeline. So anyone has a right to be angry with what is going on in this country. There is problem with our administration of criminal justice in Nigeria.
“But having said that, the President cannot in anyway interfere with the judicial process. He must allow judicial process to run through,” he said.

Online Petition asking Buhari to resign gathers momentum

An online petition calling on President Muhammadu Buhari to resign for disobeying court orders to release some high-profile detainees has gathered over 600 signatories in just over 48 hours of being created.
The petition, created by lawyer, Carol Ajie, followed comment by Mr. Buhari that a former National Security Adviser, Sambo Dasuki, who is being prosecuted in relation to an alleged misappropriation of $2.1 billion; and the leader of separatist group, Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, despite court orders that they should be freed during last Wednesday Presidential media chat.
So far, the petition has collected 680 signatures out of its 1,000 person target.
“On May 29th 2015, a former Military Dictator, Muhammadu Buhari, sequel to a contested election in March 2015 against a sitting President in Nigeria, the first time in Africa, an incumbent handed power peaceably, smoothly, heroically to a political rival,” the petition posted on Change.org read.
“Whereupon Mr Buhari then took the Oath of Allegiance to protect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and the President’s Oath of office to discharge his duties faithfully, in accordance with the Constitution and the Laws of Nigeria.
“Within President Buhari’s first year in office, too soon after he took the revered Oaths, he and state agents acting under his supervision, now demonstrate total lack of respect for Court Orders and at his maiden media chat on Wednesday 30th Dec., instant, Mr President made puerile attempts to justify these breaches, he said inter alia that some persons his regime locked up in cells dehumanized against court orders, Nnamdi Kanu had travelled without his passports.
The petitioner argued that the government should have deported Mr. Kanu or release him after detaining him for a period of not more than seven days instead of holding him indefinitely as stipulated by the Immigration Act or the Administration of Criminal Justice Act.
“But under the Immigration Act, the President or the Minister may deport anyone who travels without a valid travel document or detain for a period not exceeding 7 days. In holding Mr. Kanu beyond the required period they have infracted on the Immigration Act, the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 and subsisting court orders.”
She further stated that Mr. Kanu’s agitation for the emergence of a breakaway country called the Republic of Biafra is in line with the right of self-determination as stipulated by the United Nations Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which Nigeria is a signatory to.
“With regard to issues of “self determination”, the crux of Nnamdi Kanu’s campaign of the Independent People of Biafra, IPOB, having communicated IPOB’s intent to all and the United Nations as required by UN Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ratified by Nigeria, that people of any community or group may wish to exercise the right of self-determination with a view to pursuing their economic, social and cultural development; aware that their dignity as human persons had deteriorated and been consciously degraded under the present dispensation, sadly appearing power inebriate.”
She, therefore, called on Mr. Buhari to resign as President if he is not prepared to obey court orders or risk being impeached from office.
The Presidency declined to respond to the petition.
An official said it would be inappropriate for the presidency to dignify such a petition with a response.
He however said, “The truth is there are fresh charges against the detainees,” the official said.
“They were simply rearrested after they were released folowing the filing of fresh charges against them. So we don’t know what people are talking about when they talk about the government disobeying court order.”