Metro

Terrorists kill eight farmers, abduct 10 in northern Nigeria

Published

1 year ago

June 24, 2023

No fewer than eight local farmers were killed and 10 others injured by Islamist extremist terrorists on Friday in the Mafa district of Borno State in North-East Nigeria, government officials said in a statement.

The terrorists who are suspected to be members of the dreaded Boko Haram sect, reportedly attacked the community after the residents who are mainly peasant farmers, failed to pay illegal levies imposed on them by the insurgents.

The statement said the farmers were ambushed in their farms by the terrorists who shot at them and went ahead to slit their throats.

The state Governor, Babagana Zulum who lamented the attack, said it was another attempt to “sabotage the successes of the government” which is struggling to have those displaced in the state to return to their villages and rebuild their lives.

“We must rise to our responsibility and address the situation. I’ve told the people to be resilient, and they should be security-conscious and avoid remote locations,” Zulum said.

A resident of the affected community, Modu Ibrahim, who spoke to journalists, said the terrorists spared one teenager whom they asked to “deliver the message” of the attack to other villagers and also let them know that if they failed to pay the levy, further attacks would be carried out.

The North-East region, as well as other parts of the West African country’s North, has been the stronghold of the Boko Haram and ISWAP terrorists for close to 20 years now which has overstretched Nigeria’s security forces as they continue to battle other crises across the country.

The Boko Haram sect launched an insurgency in Borno in 2009 to establish their radical Sharia Islamic law in the region and so far, over 50,000 people have been killed and more than five million displaced because of the violence by the militant group and ISWAP, a breakaway faction backed by the Islamic State terror group.

Their activities have also led to famine and food insecurity as they have targeted farmers.

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Metro

Zambia’s ruling party UPND warns against personal attacks on President Hichilema

Published

4 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Zambia’s ruling party, the UPND, has warned opposition politicians and critics against personal attacks on President Hakainde Hichilema as his meekness should not be mistaken for weakness.

Secretary-General of the UPND, Batuke Imenda, who gave the warning in a statement in Lusaka on Monday, urged political opponents to always engage in mature and issue-based discourse.

Zambia Monitor reports that Imenda’s warning, was directed at the leader of Zambia Must Prosper (ZMP) party, Kelvin Bwalya Fube, whose recent remarks Imenda described as “provocative” and a “feeble attempt to mislead citizens.”

“Provocative words uttered by Kelvin Bwalya against our party and President Hichilema are a clear demonstration of naivety,” Imenda said in the statement.

He further advised Bwalya to abandon personal attacks and focus on substantial political issues.

The UPND Secretary suggested that Bwalya’s attacks stemmed from a desire for relevance amid declining political fortunes, hinting at a possible alignment with former President Edgar Lungu.

“It appears KBF is hoping that Edgar Lungu might support his embattled political career by unjustly attacking President Hichilema,” he said.

Imenda defended the President’s record, highlighting that under Hichilema’s leadership, Zambia’s democratic space had expanded compared to the previous PF administration, which he accused of stifling freedoms.

He noted that while criticism was welcome, it should not devolve into baseless attacks, warning that opposition figures should not misinterpret Hichilema’s restraint as weakness.

Imenda also criticized Bwalya for overlooking the gains in transparency and justice since the change in government, claiming that past regimes were marked by resource mismanagement and corruption.

Metro

Following backlash, Nigerian govt withdraws treason charges against minors

Published

10 hours ago

November 5, 2024

Isaac Dachen

The Nigerian government has officially withdrawn the treason charges it entered against some minors who participated in the #EndBadGovernance protest that spread across the country from August 1 to the 10th.

The nation was thrown into shock on Friday when the Nigeria Police presented 76 protesters at the Federal High Court in Abuja on charges bordering on treason. Among the suspects were four minors who slumped before they could be arraigned before the court.

This caused serious uproar in the country with Nigerians condemning the government and calling for the unconditional release of the kids and the dismissal of the charges against them.

The decision to withdraw the charges against the underage accused came following a directive by President Bola Tinubu who ordered the immediate withdrawal of the charges and an in-depth investigation into what led to the arrest and detention of the minors.

Tinubu had also ordered the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi, (SAN) to officially take over the case file as well as review the cases following public outcry that came with the arraignment of the minors.

The charges were finally withdrawn on Tuesday at the Federal High Court in Abuja through an application for discontinuance filled by the Director of Public Prosecution of the Federation (DPPF), Mohammed Abubakar, on behalf of the AGF.

According to Abubakar, the discontinuance application was based on provisions of sections 174(1), (b) and (c) of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, and 108 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, ACJA, 2015.

The DPPF also applied for further proceedings to be conducted without the presence of the minors in the courtroom, in line with provisions of Section 266(b) of the ACJA, 2015, and Section 1 of the Childs’ Rights Act.

In response, human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Fanala (SAN), who stood in for the accused as well as other defence lawyers in the matter, did not oppose the applications which promoted the judge, Justice Obiora Egwuatu, to strike out the charges, while the four affected minors were also delisted from the charge sheet.