14th Headies host, Bovi pays homage to Lekki shooting victims with outfit
Comedian and host of the 14th edition of music award show, Headies on Sunday reminded viewers of the shootings at Lekki Toll gate on 20th October, 2020, during the #EndSARS protest.
Bovi wore a white dress shirt with the bloodstained Nigerian flag used to design the front.
The image of the bloodstained flag was one of the viral images from the night of the Lekki shootings.
Already, Twitter users are ready to crown Bovi the best dressed celebrity at the event based on that singular outfit choice.
Twitter users have called on the military to stop its bombardment of Orlu, a town in Imo State.
Videos of the bombardment have been trending on the social messaging platform, causing users to wonder about the presence of the military in the town.
On Thursday, the Nigerian military confirmed that it has deployed helicopters and other gadgets to identify camps occupied by the personnel of Eastern Security Network linked with the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra.
The army spokesperson for the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Owerri, Imo State, Babatunde Zubairu, however, said that civilians were not being harassed.
However, that assurance held no weight with Twitter users, as they continue to tweet under the #Orlu hashtag, calling for an end to the military operation.
Popular Twitter user and social activist, Aisha Yesufu tweeted, “What is this reports of Nigerian military dropping bombs in Orlu? Is that the Sambisa forest?”
Dr Emmanuel tweeted, “Orlu in Imo state is not a forest. It’s an urban settlement. I do not understand what the Nigerian military is doing there. It is the second-largest city in Imo state after Owerri. This is war and nothing short of it! The FG has declared war on Nigerians.”
Another Twitter user, David Moore wondered what was going on. He tweeted, “There is currently air bombardments in Orlu Imo State by Nigerian soldiers. What’s going on in Nigeria na!!”
Fadahunsi Olaoluwa tweeted, “More than 36hrs after a kidnap in Kagara, Niger State, the military is busy conducting airstrikes in Orlu, Imo State when they ought to be following after the kidnappers tail. Maybe there’s a direct flight to Kagara from Orlu.”
The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has named Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as the new Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He has therefore requested the Senate to confirm Bawa’s nomination.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday titled “President Buhari requests Senate to confirm Abdulrasheed Bawa as EFCC boss.”
The statement read, “President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the Senate to confirm Mr Abdulrasheed Bawa as substantive Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
“In a letter to President of the Senate, Ahmad Ibrahim Lawan, the President said he was acting in accordance with Paragraph 2(3) of Part1, CAP E1 of EFCC Act 2004.
“Bawa, 40, is a trained EFCC investigator with vast experience in the investigation and prosecution of Advance Fee Fraud cases, official corruption, bank fraud, money laundering, and other economic crimes.
“He has undergone several specialised trainings in different parts of the world and was one of the pioneer EFCC Cadet Officers in 2005.
“Bawa holds a B.Sc degree in Economics, and Masters in International Affairs and Diplomacy.”
The statement is silent on the fate of Ibrahim Magu, a police officer, who was suspended as the commission’s acting chairman last year.
The General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries International, Apostle Johnson Suleman, says he bought his third jet during the raging COVID-19 pandemic, which pushed the country into economic recession.
Suleman said this in a recent sermon. Although the date of the sermon could not be verified, the video has gone viral on social media.
The cleric further stated that he was praying for the pandemic not to end because he was prospering and resting.
He said, “In COVID (pandemic) I bought a jet; the third one. I have three. I was praying for COVID-19 not to end because I was resting. While people were complaining, my wife asked, ‘Can life be this sweet?’ Am I talking to somebody here?
“No stress. I read on the Internet that there’s a rumour going around that I have a machine that prints money. I like that rumour. They say, ‘He should be investigated. He has a machine that prints money’.
“Somebody asked if it’s true and I said it is true. They said, ‘It’s risky o’. I said I didn’t know it’s risky because I already bought the machine. When you speak in tongues, you’re printing money.” Suleman has been enmeshed in an adultery scandal in recent times with one of his former pastors, Mike Davids, accusing him of sleeping with his wife, an allegation which Suleman has denied.
Delta Poly Yahoo Boy Tries To Use His Roommate For Rituals
Undergraduate Yahoo Boy Tries To Use Roommate For Rituals; His Mother’s Photograph Also Found Inside Calabash
An undergraduate of the Delta State Polytechnic, Otefe-Oghara simply identified as Maro was allegedly caught trying to use his roommate(name withheld) for rituals.
Luck reportedly ran out against him after burning the candles and incense required for the sacrifices at their Alvino hostel in the staff quarters area of the institution.
According to reports gathered, the young man already made provision for large ‘Ghana-must-go’ bags that would be used to carry the money after the rituals.
The expected proceed from the ritual act was speculated to be a whopping fifty million naira as his mother’s photograph was also found inside the ritual calabash that contained other fetish substances.
University of Nigeria Nsukka Suspends Lecturer For Impregnating Four Students Within 4 Years
A lecturer with University of Nigeria Nsukka, Mr. Chigozie Odum has been suspended
This is coming after the lecturer allegedly impregnated four students of the Institution within his four years of being appointed as a lecturer.
His suspension was signed by the deputy registrar of the institution, Mrs F. C. Achiuwa for the Registrar.
In the suspension letter obtained, the suspended lecturer was asked to stay away from his duties until the conclusion of investigation and verdict is issued by management on the matter.
He has been equally placed on half salary within the period of investigation.
His agitations for a better Nigeria and utter hatred for looters of Nigeria’s wealth have seen him arrested, detained, and in many cases, brutalised.
For over three decades, human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, has consistently screamed at the ineptitude of government institutions and overly corrupt politicians in Nigeria.null
At 12, he learned to ride a motorcycle so that he could go to the lake to go fishing for food for his entire family every morning before going to school. Born into a polygamous family with sixteen siblings, Sowore developed his passion for the media in the days of military rule in Nigeria.
According to him, the vibrant criticism from the media then towards the ruling government gave him a sense of direction of what he wanted to do.
Omoyele SoworeSaharaReporters Media/Dotun Olawoye
ACTIVISM In 1989, Sowore took part in student demonstrations protesting the conditions of an International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan of $120 million to be used for a Nigerian oil pipeline. Included among the conditions of the IMF loan, was a reduction in the number of universities in Nigeria from 28 to 5.
As the students’ union president of the University of Lagos between 1992 and 1994, he led a series of protests and demonstrations against the then military government. His agitations for a better Nigeria and utter hatred for looters of Nigeria’s wealth have seen him arrested, detained, and in many cases, brutalised.
Acknowledging Sowore’s stride in the June 12 struggle in his memoir, a journalist, Niyi Babade, said, “Unannounced they came out of an unmarked grey vehicle and saw the ugly scenes then opened fire on all of us.
I spent some quality time in my resting place (in the) the gutter till I heard the singing voices of the students of the University of Lagos led by Yele Sowore heading to (Moshood) Abiola’s house. I crawled out of my hiding and tried to get an exclusive shot when the hoodlums among the students attacked me and wanted to confiscate my camera but with the heroic effort of Sowore I was spared and allowed to join them as one of the hoodlums and a journalist which then gave me unlimited access to exclusive footage of the day till we got to Moshood Kashimawo Olawale (MKO) Abiola’s house.”
After being expelled twice for political reasons and because of his student activism, Sowore graduated in 1994, got his final results in May 1995. He had his National Youth Service Corps programme in Yola, Adamawa State, from 1995-1996 but was never given a discharge certificate to date.
“It was purely political. The first time I was expelled was because of my participation in the Babangida Must Go/anti-SAP (Structural Adjustment Programme) protests that grounded Nigeria. The second time was after the military authorities targeted the student leadership by empowering and employing the services of cult gangs on campuses against us. It was at the height of the June 12 protests against the regime of General Sani Abacha,” he said in an interview in 2016.
The activist fled Nigeria to the United States in 1999 for urgent medical treatment of his vital organs.
Speaking on how he founded Sahara Reporters, he said, “The idea was inspired by citizen journalism that emerged out of anti-WTO (World Trade Organisation) protests in Seattle, Washington the US. I was totally taken by the fact that ordinary citizens could tell the riveting and powerful stories of an unfolding event that had been ignored by the mainstream media. I started thinking really hard about replicating that experience for Nigerians and Africans, but with a particular focus on corruption.
“Before establishing Sahara Reporters I had tried a few collaborations with others, but those efforts went nowhere.
What collaborations and with who? My first collaboration was with Jonathan Elendu, founder of Elendureports.com. I also sought to pitch my investigative reports to several Nigerian newspapers. One or two newspapers picked a report here and there, but the papers were mostly not interested, or they were too scared to pick up the explosive reporting I was sending to them.
“I’ve always been a communicator, as a matter of fact. As a student union leader at the University of Lagos, I served 27,000 students. To lead that many students demand a great deal of flair for mass communication. And we did a lot of communicating. In my foray into social media, I’d say the Internet provided an opportunity to reach vastly more people. I started with the emergence of this great technology that has disrupted the status quo.
“In some ways, I am by nature somebody who questions and challenges and disrupts unfair orders or systems. So everything came together very well. I also realised that when people are far away from home, living in a variety of foreign countries, they frequently yearn to know what’s happening at home. In a sense, I started by acting as a reporter to and for those kinds of people.”
Sowore was arrested by men of the Department of State Services, a domestic intelligence agency with a history of repression on 3 August, 2019 ahead of a planned nationwide #RevolutionNow protest.
A couple, Ebiesuwa Abayomi Fredrick and his wife, Tinuola Idayat Oyegunle, have been sentenced to 40 years imprisonment each.
Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court sitting in Ibadan, Oyo State on Monday, found them guilty on all four counts of conspiracy and obtaining by false pretence brought against them by the Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
The couple, in a classic advance fee fraud scheme, fleeced one Dunni Olateru Olagbegi N53, 713, 260.00 (Fifty-Three Million, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty Naira) in cash and bank transfer through a spiritual cleansing gambit in order to avoid calamitous consequence of mysterious sudden death having heard conversation by a syndicate about a Ghana- Must –Go bag stuffed with United States Dollar bills in the boot of a car.
She was also tricked into bringing funds to cleanse supposed USD bliss
The victim had sometimes in May 2013, boarded a taxi cab with three other passengers who, unknown to her, were members of a syndicate of fraudsters.
In the course of investigation, It was discovered that over N9m ( Nine Million Naira) was paid into the second defendant, Tinuola Idayat Oyegunle’s account domicile in one of the third generation banks; apart from other funds traced to the first defendant, Ebiesuwa Abayomi Fredrick’s account.
It was also discovered that the first defendant built Victoria East Park Hotel & Suite located at Igbogbo, Ikorodu, Lagos State from the proceeds of the crime.
In his judgment on Monday, Justice Abdulmalik found the couple guilty of the four-count charge and sentenced both of them to 10 years imprisonment on each of the four counts.
However, while Ebiesuwa’s prison term takes effect from June 19, 2017 when he was arrested, Tinuola’s time in the Custodial Centre will start counting from May 26, 2017 when she was arrested.
The Judge also ordered that Victoria East Park Hotel & Suite, be sold and the proceed, if not up to N53, 713, 260.00 (Fifty-Three Million, Seven Hundred and Thirteen Thousand, Two Hundred and Sixty Naira) be returned to the victim in the case and if it exceeds, the balance be paid into the Federal Government’s account.
FG, Lagos, police talk tough as organisers vow protests will hold The Federal Government and the police on Thursday gave strong warnings to youths, who planned to protest at Lekki toll gate, Lagos on Saturday.
But the young Nigerians, under the aegis of #EndSARS Season 2, vowed to defy government’s order banning the protest.
Another group, under the aegis of #DefendLagos had a few weeks ago threatened to organise a counter-protest at Lekki toll gate.
But Federal Government warned those behind the #OccupyLekkiprotest to desist, saying it would not allow act of violence under the guise of protests.
Also, the Lagos State Government warned that it would no more tolerate destruction of lives and property in the state.
Recall that youths protesting killings and other human rights abuses of a unit of the Nigerian Police, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, on October 7, 2020 began a demonstration tagged #EndSARS at the Lagos State Police Command headquarters.
The following day, the protest spread to other cities including Abuja, Benin, Abeokuta and Port Harcourt.
The matter came to a head on October 20, 2020, when heavily armed soldiers shot protesters at Lekki toll gate killing many people.
On Thursday, the youth said they would go ahead with their plan to stage a protest on Saturday against the reopening of the Lekki toll gate.
One of the youth, Ajayi, told The PUNCH that the protest would hold, assuring Nigerians that it would be peaceful.
He said, “Nothing can stop an idea whose time has come. We are not just calling for the protest, we are ensuring that it does not go haywire. The protest is like rain that cannot be controlled. We want a constitutional peaceful protest; the working people have agreed to make it peaceful, except the state wants to make it otherwise as they have always been doing.
“The working people will be out. We have passed through this stage before. During the #EndSARS protest, before October 20, they started killing people. The more they killed, the more the people came out. They started from Ogbomosho, went to Delta and deployed thugs in Abuja. The more the violence, the more the people will come out because they feel you cannot enslave them in their own country. It’s about the working people of Nigeria represented by the new youth, who do not even see a future, let alone having one.”
Also, organisers of the protest, in a statement on Thursday, accused the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, of seeking to cover up the alleged killing of scores of protesters at the toll gate on October 20, 2020.
The youth, in the statement, titled, ‘EndSARS Season 2: Why we will #OccupyLekkiTollGate on Saturday’, said they remained undaunted despite the threats from security agents and the state government.
They also highlighted reasons for the renewed protest.
The statement said, “After committing genocide by killing scores of people who were peacefully protesting at Lekki toll gate and other parts of Lagos, Governor Sanwo-Olu and other oppressors want to spit on the dead and dance on the blood of the innocent by reopening the gate to be collecting their blood money again.
“We say no! We are undaunted! We will be occupying Lekki toll gate again starting from Saturday, February 13. We urge all well-meaning Nigerians to storm back all the barricades, as our rulers have shown that they can never change. Since the #EndSARS, they are yet to effect any of the promises. Police brutality is still raging and SARS is still operating.
“Despite overwhelming and highly compelling evidence showing how several protesters were shot by the military, no single military official has been brought to book. Deaths have been established and many victims of the Lekki shootings have surfaced, yet neither the victims nor families of our deceased colleagues have got justice.
“After close to five months of sitting, the judicial panel meant to inquire into the Lekki massacre has refused to deliver justice to victims of the massacre most of whom have either lost their limbs due to gun wounds or have become deceased.”
The organisers also cited the high rate of unemployment among the youth and the ban on cryptocurrency, a means of income for some young people.
The group lamented the high rate of poverty in the country and the purported plan to increase petrol price to N190 per litre.
The youth called on other residents to come out for the protest.
“The Nigerian government now negotiates and enriches terrorists and bandits while chasing after, arresting, shooting and killing protesters. It is to this end that we call on you all to come out en masse to demand not just justice for victims and fallen heroes of the October 20 killings, but that all involved in this heinous criminality be brought to book,” the statement added.
As a counter-measure, youths under the aegis of the #DefendLagos announced plans to organise a counter-protest at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday.
One of the promoters of the #DefendLagos protest, Olusoga Owoeye @olusogaowoeye said, “Show your love for our Lagos. Get your friends and your neighbours to be there. Join the DefendLagos Rally at the Lekki toll plaza on the 13th of February. We will not cede our city to criminals and insurrectionists. Lagos is our pride.”
FG vows to stop planned #OccupyLekki protest
But the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, said government would not allow any further resort to violence in the name of #EndSARSprotest.
Mohammed, who stated this during a press conference in Abuja, admitted that peaceful protests are the constitutional rights of Nigerians. According to him, violent protests are not.
In the text of the briefing tagged ‘Perpetration of violence under the guise of #EndSARS: Never again – FG,” he said the chances that any peaceful protest would be hijacked at this time were very high.
The minister claimed that based on the intelligence at the disposal of the Federal Government, some Nigerian activists had linked up with others outside Nigeria, “including subversive elements”, with a view to destabilising the country.
We won’t allow violence in the name of #EndSARS, FG vows
He stated, “We cannot and must not allow this to happen.”
Mohammed said, “Any further resort to violence in the name of EndSARS will not be tolerated this time.
“The security agents are ready for any eventuality. A situation in which six soldiers and 37 policemen were murdered in cold blood by hoodlums will not repeat itself. The attack, looting and razing of 269 private and public properties will not happen again. The killing of 57 civilians will not be re-enacted.
“We therefore strongly warn those who are planning to re-occupy Lekki Toll Gate on Saturday to desist. We know that many of those who have been loudest on social media in advertising the plan to reconvene in Lagos on Saturday are not even in Nigeria.
“They are elsewhere around the world fanning the embers of violence and inciting gullible people back home. No one should fall for their antics. No government anywhere will allow a repeat of the kind of destruction, killing and maiming wrought by the hijackers of EndSARS protests last year.”
Mohammed added that the government was watching the role being played by the various social media platforms in the renewed clamour for violence in the country.
He recalled that the social media platforms were the ones nudging the #EndSARS protesters on, until the situation got out of hand. Responding to a question, Mohammed said there was no way the toll gate could be left closed till when the panel would conclude its sitting and added that it would be wrong to expect such.
Asked what the government would do if the youth went ahead with the protest, the minister simply said, “Security agents will do their work.”
We’ll not allow Lagos to be pushed to carnage edge again, says Lagos
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government on Thursday warned that it would not allow the state to be pushed to the edge of carnage again and advised persons organising ‘Occupy Lekki Toll Gate’ and ‘Defend Lagos’ to desist from the planned action.
The state government specifically cautioned opposing groups planning protest and counter-protest at the Lekki Toll Plaza to perish such arrangement, saying, “It is not an auspicious moment for such action.”
It pointed out that government’s respect for the citizens’ rights to protest should not be seen as a licence to break the laws, warning that any individual or corporate organisation that incites an action leading to the destruction of public and private properties would be prosecuted and made to pay damages.
A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr Gboyega Akosile, indicated that the position of the state government was made known at a joint press conference at Ikeja Thursday by the Attorney General of Lagos, Mr. Moyosore Onigbanjo, SAN, Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, and Commissioner of Police, Mr. Hakeem Odumosu.
Onigbanjo stated that though government acknowledged the rights of the citizens to a lawful assembly and freedom to express their feelings as guaranteed by Sections 39 and 40 of the Constitution, such rights did not give any citizen the freedom to block highways and prevent other citizens from moving freely within the state.
He said, “Attention of the state government has been drawn to the planned protest scheduled for Saturday, February 13, 2021 at the Lekki Toll Gate for and against the opening of the Admiralty Toll Gate.
“The state is aware of Sections 39 and 40 of the 1999 Constitution (as amended), which guarantees the rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly. However, such right does not permit the violation of the rights of other citizens in the state.
“Any individual or corporate body that incites or condones any act leading to the destruction of public and private properties shall be prosecuted under the extant laws and in addition to any penalty the court might pronounce.”
Onigbanjo, therefore, directed the State’s Police Command to stop opposing groups from holding rallies in Lekki and any other parts of Lagos.
No protest will be allowed in Lagos – CP
In his remarks, Odumosu said no protest would be allowed in Lagos.
He stated that security intelligence gathered by the Police Command indicated the “Occupy Lekki Toll Gate” protest and planned counter-rallies would degenerate into a breakdown of law and order, and stressed that the police would not allow any group to carry out the action.
Also, the state Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Gbenga Omotoso, said the steps taken by the state government on the planned protest was not to take away the fundamental rights of the citizens, but to prevent re-enactment of the event that led to the destruction of public and private assets last October.
Also, the Managing Director, Lekki Concession Company, Yomi Omomuwasan, appealed to leaders of movements planning the protest to give peace a chance.
Omomuwasan who disclosed this during a press conference on Thursday said the decision by the Lagos Judicial Panel of Inquiry to return the Tollgate to the LCC had generated strong reactions from youth movements with a group threatening to occupy it and another pledging to defend it.
The MD, however, explained that the company had refrained from commenting since the unfortunate event of October 20, 2020, because it realised that tempers were high, and truth had become a major casualty.
While empathising with individuals and businesses that suffered losses during the unrest occasioned by the demonstrations in the state, Omomuwasan said the LCC approached the Judicial Panel of Inquiry to return the Tollgate to it in good faith and stem its losses.
Share your story with us: SMS, WhatsApp +2348165846659
16-Year-Old Boy Who Impregnated 33-Year-Old Girlfriend
Do you ever wonder why certain people get involved in strange and bizarre things? They often do these things without minding the opinions of other people or the general public.
Have you ever come across a 16-year-old boy being involved in a relationship with a 33-year-old lady?
One would think that a boy of that age should be focused on his studies in school or learning a handwork to better his future.
However, that isn’t particularly the case for the boy below.
One of the stories making the rounds several social media platforms and the internet space involves a 16-year-old boy who allegedly impregnated his 33-year-old girlfriend.
This has warranted a lot of opinions online with some claiming he is old enough to make his decisions while others arguing that it is point-blank irresponsible and disturbing.
Peak News 
You must be logged in to post a comment.