03082019 - Worsening Insecurity: Suspected herdsmen kill Catholic priest in Enugu

SATURDAY Vanguard, AUGUST 3, 2019 — 5
Your emotional appeal a gambit doomed to
fail, presidency tells Atiku
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
T hePresidency
yesterday described
as laughable efforts by the
presidential candidate of
the People’s Democratic
Party, PDP, in the February
23 elections, Alhaji Atiku
Abubakar, to appeal to the
emotions of Nigerians,
particularly members of the
judiciary, thinking it would
in any way influence
decision in the ongoing
legal tussle over the result
of the presidential poll.
Special Adviser to the
President on Media and
Publicity, Chief Femi
Adesina in Abuja, stated
that “first, it was laughable,
now it gets progressively
pitiable,” to see and hear
Alhaji Abubakar making
such emotional appeal.
Adesina said when the
nation’s apex court, the
Supreme Court recently
pronounced the All
Progressives Congress
(APC) candidate as due
winner of Osun State
gubernatorial contest, Alhaji
Abubakar, a former Vice
President, had chided the
court, saying it should have
considered “the pulse of the
nation,” and reflected it in
the judgment.
According to him, that
was when the jigsaw puzzle
began to fall in place.
He stated: “Were most of
the challenges in the
country being orchestrated
by hidden hostile hands,
who think such would
influence the judiciary,
which would consider the
so-called “pulse of the
nation” in arriving at
judgment on the
presidential poll?
“Before and after the
Osun State judgement, the
PDP candidate had always
been quick to play up
negative developments in
the country, the latest of
which is the tendentious
story by Wall Street Journal,
alleging that about one
thousand Nigerian soldiers
had been recently killed by
Boko Haram and Islamic
State of West Africa
terrorists, and secretly
buried by Nigerian military
authorities.
“The military has duly
countered the story,
educating the Wall Street
Journal on the hollowness
of its publication. But Alhaji
Abubakar has quickly
weighed in on the matter,
as part of his gambit to whip
up emotions, and perhaps
get the judiciary to reflect
the “pulse of the nation” in
its judgment.
“According to the PDP
candidate, who lost the last
February poll by nearly four
million votes, as released by
the electoral umpire, he
could “not fathom that in
the space of a year, scores
of great patriots were killed
and buried secretly without
their families being told.”
“In an apparent
afterthought and
doublespeak, he added that
he was hesitant to believe
that “such grand scale of
deceit is even possible
under a democracy, such as
Nigeria is expected to be.”
“The above, rather than
mitigate Alhaji Abubakar’s
position, gives him out as
someone who denigrates
the country’s democracy,
which he was part of
building, in his heyday,
before unbridled ambition
blinded him.
“Yes, soldiers fighting
insurgency and terrorism
are great patriots. But the
same can’t be said of anyone
quick to believe any
negative story about his
country, however fictive and
lacking in verity as the story
could be. Well, except such
person had the motive of
whipping up negative
sentiments, so that the
judiciary could respond to
the “pulse of the nation and
reflect it.”
“We have told Alhaji
Abubakar and his fellowtravellers
that the judiciary
would always come to
conclusions, drawing from
matters of the law placed
before it, and not sentiments
or so-called “pulse of the
nation.”
“Therefore, in vain does
anybody labour to devalue
the government and its
military, thinking it would
fall into a grand plan to get
into office through artifice.
The campaigns and
elections for 2019, are long
over. The country has
moved on. And those who
know it actually know it.”
I‘ll commit suicide if the case is
settled out of court — Rape victim
By Shina Abubakar,
Osogbo
Asixteen year-old girl
who was allegedly
raped by an Islamic cleric
in Ede, Osun State has
threatened to take her life
should the case instituted
against the cleric was
settled out of court.
The victim was said to be
a student in the cleric’s
Arabic school.
The cleric was arrested by
the Osun State police
command in June after
which attempt was made to
settle the matter within
family circle.
The cleric, it was gathered
was arraigned at the
magistrate's court sitting in
Ede and had till yesterday,
August 2, 2019 to report to
the Magistrate A. A
Olowolagba to explain
whether the case has been
settled.
However, as both parties
did not reach an agreement
when the case came up
yesterday, the magistrate
further adjourned the
matter till August 24, for
report of settlement or
commencement of definite
hearing.
The victim, however,
insisted that all she needed
was for justice to take its
course.
“I am not interested in any
settlement. I want him to be
punished for what he did.
This can’t repair the
damages he has done to
me. I will kill myself if the
case is eventually settled out
of court. All I want is justice,
that is all I want,"the
distraught teenager said.
The complainant in the
matter, Muyideen Oloyede
said concerned members of
the family were yet to be
contacted for settlement,
adding that even if they did,
they were not ready for
settlement.
He said, “ We are aware
that he (the accused
person) has met with elders
in the family who have
been pushing for the case
to be settled out of court.
They even held a meeting
of recent where not even
myself as the complainant
or the victim was invited.
His brother who attended
was not allowed to say a
word. Those of us who are
directly involved want
justice, though there have
been pressures from
community leaders and
some well respected clerics.
If we must shift ground, he
must admit he committed
the crime and clear all the
falsehood he has been
peddling about the innocent
young girl.“
The counsel to the
complainant, Rasheed
Maisolati who spoke after
the hearing said that the
accused family had reached
out to the victim’s family
before arraignment and
they were given terms of
settlement which they were
yet to agree to. He added
that the accused’s family met
with the elders in the family
in a bid to encourage
members to agree to their
own terms.
Pix: From left: Mrs. Angela Emesomi Okotie-Eboh, widow. Dr. Mrs. Clara
Roli Akele,nee Okotie-Eboh;Paulette Okotie; Dr. Mrs. Dere Awosika, elder
sister and Dr. O. O. Awosika, during the funeral service for Late Chief Joseph
Adolo Okotie-Eboh, at Ikoyi Baptist Church, Ikoyi, Lagos,yesterday.
Photo: Bunmi Azeez.
From left: Chief Brown Mene, Chief Kofi Kartey and Paul Okotie, during
the funeral service for Late Chief Joseph Adolo Okotie-Eboh, at Ikoyi Baptist
Church, Ikoyi, Lagos, yesterday.
Shi’ite protest: Buhari sends delegation to family of
killed DCP
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru
PRESIDENT Muhammadu
Buhari
yesterday sent a threeman
delegation from the
Presidency to pay
condolence visit to the
family of Deputy
Commissioner of Police,
Usman Umar, who was
killed during the protest by
members of the Islamic
Movement of Nigeria
(IMN) popularly known
as Shi’ites.
The shi'ites were
Amnesty Int’l vows to continue campaign against
rights violations
By Michael Eboh with
Agency Report
Amnesty
International,
yesterday,
said it would not be cowed
by sponsored protests
against its activities in
Nigeria, and vowed to
continue to highlight
human rights violations in
the country.
The international
human
rights
organisation stated this in
protesting to compel the
Federal Government to
free their leader, Sheikh
Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, who
has been in detention since
December 2015.
The delegation included
State Chief of Protocol to
the President, Ambassador
Abdullahi Lawal Kazuare,
the Senior Special
Assistant to the President
on Media and Publicity,
Mallam Garba Shehu and
Special Assistant on
Domestic Affairs to the
President, Seriki Abba.
The delegation was
reaction to a protest staged
in its office in Abuja, with
protesters calling on the
organization to leave the
country immediately.
In a statement by its
spokesperson, Isa Sanusi,
Amnesty International,
AI; dismissed claims by
the protesters that it was
seeking to destabilise the
country and was working
with individuals and
groups opposed to the
present administration.
Sanusi insisted that AI
received by Usman Belel,
elder brother of the late
Cop, who is also a
commissioner of police.
The widow of late Umar,
Busrah was also on hand
to receive the delegation.
Besides Umar, Precious
Owolabi, a Corp member
serving with Channels
Television in Abuja, was hit
by stray bullet, which
eventually led to his death.
DCP Umar, was in
charge of Operations at the
Federal Capital Territory
Police Command.
is a human rights
organisation and not
affiliated to any political,
religious or commercial
interests.
He said, “We have been
working on Nigeria since
1967—our role is to hold
governments to their
obligations to respect and
protect human rights, and
to ensure that anyone
whose rights are violated
has an effective remedy.
“For this reason, the
organisation continues to
call on the Nigerian
government to use its
authority and resources to
investigate all allegations
of human rights violations
and abuses, including
rape, torture, arbitrary
detentions and unlawful
killings, to ensure
reparation for the victims,
to hold the perpetrators
accountable, and to
ensure non-repetition of
the violations.”
Sanusi said the
protesters staged the
demonstration outside its
Abuja office, around noon
and demanded its
immediate exit from
Nigeria.