Metro

Nigerian journalist claims US govt filing confirms Tinubu as ‘CIA Agent’

Published

1 week ago

November 13, 2024

Nigerian journalist, David Hundeyin, has claimed the United States government has described President Bola Tinubu as a “Special CIA Asset” and as such, Nigerians do not have the right to access his past records.

Hundeyin, in a post on X on Tuesday night, narrated how the US refused to grant him access to Tinubu’s records following an application he filed last year seeking to compel top US law enforcement agencies to hasten the release of confidential information on President Tinubu.

According to Hundeyin, the US government, in a memorandum filed by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) before the United States District Court for the District of Columbia, denied him or any other Nigerian access to Tinubu’s past drug trafficking investigation records.

“Yesterday (Monday) in federal court, the CIA, FBI, and DEA filed a memorandum opposing our motion for summary judgment in the FOIA disclosure case about President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s drug trafficking investigation records, where we are seeking to have the redactions removed from the (partially released) files,” he wrote.

“In the filing, the CIA effectively confirmed that Nigeria’s sitting president is an active CIA asset. An excerpt from the CIA filing reads:

“Human sources can be expected to furnish information to the CIA only when they are confident the CIA can and will do everything in its power to prevent the public disclosure of their cooperation.

“In the case of a person who has been cooperating with the CIA, official confirmation of that cooperation could cause the targets to take retaliatory action against that person or against their family or friends.

“It also places in jeopardy every individual with whom the cooperating individual has had contact. Thus, the indiscretion of one source in a chain of intelligence sources can damage an entire spectrum of sources.

“As such, confirming or denying the existence of records on a particular foreign national, like Tinubu, reasonably could be expected to cause damage to U.S. national security by indicating whether or not the CIA maintained any human intelligence sources related to Tinubu, and identifying any access or lack of access any such sources had to intelligence concerning him”.

Hundeyin added: “And if that wasn’t bad enough, the DEA’s filing included a paragraph that literally said: “We oppose full, unredacted disclosure of the DEA’s Bola Tinubu heroin trafficking investigation records because we believe that while Nigerians have a right to be informed about what their government is up to, they do not have a right to know what their president is up to.’

“At this point, I think there is nothing more to be said about the direct role that the US government plays in ensuring that Africa is constantly destabilised and afflicted with terrible leaders who create poverty and devastation.”

Click to comment

Metro

Finland-based Nigerians in panic as authorities search for Simon Ekpa’s sponsors

Published

2 hours ago

November 23, 2024

Isaac Dachen

Some Nigerians based in Finland have been thrown into panic mode following the arrest and detention of the self-styled Prime Minister of the Biafra Republic Government in Exile (BRIGE), Simon Ekpa, who was arrested on Thursday by Finnish authorities on terror-related charges.

Ekpa was arrested alongside four other individuals by Finnish authorities on suspicion of terror-related activities, including incitement to violence and financing terrorism.

The dissident had made himself infamous by using the social media to promote violent activities in southeastern Nigeria, including attacks and murder of civilians and security personnel.

According to some Nigerians in European country, following the arrest of the separatist leader and the four individuals suspected to be sponsors of his group known as IPOB-AutoPilots, the police have begun a manhunt for other sponsors, thus creating panic in the Nigerian community and those who may have had dealings with the agitator.

Several sources who spoke to journalists, said Nigerians in the European country are afraid of commenting on the arrest of Ekpa over fear of being attacked.

A Nigerian community leader, who spoke on the condition of anonymity for fear of victimisation, said that the Igbo community in the was gravely affected by the violent acts of the secessionist group.

“Everyone is afraid to speak about Ekpa’s arrest. The key people in Finland and the Igbo community at large are not ready to lend their voices either,” he said.

He added that some persons were being accused of reporting Ekpa to the police and were being threatened.

“A particular person they accused now, they’re after him. This happened before he (Ekpa) was even remanded; what will happen when they imprison him? Everyone is afraid. These people are very deadly.”

Another Nigerian who spoke acknowledged that there was serious tension among Nigerians in the country.

“People don’t want to speak about Ekpa for fear of being hunted by his followers. We believe that they will hunt whoever comes out to talk about their leader. But the Finnish Government is trying to get rid of the situation.”

Metro

65% of Nigerian households lack money for healthy food—Survey

Published

1 day ago

November 22, 2024

Isaac Dachen

A survey conducted by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has revealed that around 65% of Nigerian households, which is about two-thirds of the population, lack the financial means to eat healthy food.

According to the survey by the agency, the decline is a reflection of the multidimensional poverty in the country and the impact of continuous reduction in the purchasing power of Nigerians due to rising prices of goods and services.

And as a result, two-thirds of households in the country lack money to eat healthy, nutritious food, the NBS said.

Titled “Nigeria General Household Survey – Panel (GHS-Panel) Wave 5 (2023/2024),” the survey examined demographics, education, and health trends in Nigeria, comparing data from Wave 4 (2018/19) and Wave 5 (2023/24).

On food insecurity, the survey stated:

“Approximately two out of three households indicated being unable to eat healthy, nutritious or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days.

“Similarly, 63.8 per cent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should.”

It added that between Waves 4 and 5, the proportion of households that reported being worried about not having enough food to eat because of lack of money increased significantly, from 36.9 percent to 62.4 percent.

On access to energy, the survey revealed said:

“82.2 percent of urban households have electricity, compared to 40.4 per cent in rural areas. Nigerian households face an average of 6.7 power blackouts weekly.

“Cooking typically involves traditional three-stone stoves (65.0 percent), primarily using wood as fuel (70.2 per cent), but with use of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) rising significantly.

“Many households lack toilet facilities and rely on tube wells or boreholes for drinking water. Waste disposal is mostly informal, with 45.6 percent of households using bushes or streets,” it added.