STRIKE: REPS, ASUU MEET OVER FACE-OFF WITH GOVT TUESDAY – THE NATION PG.1&4
The House of Representatives and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have scheduled a meeting for tomorrow to dialogue on the seven-month-old strike. ASUU is expected to submit a written presentation of its perspective on the matter to the House ahead of the meeting which is at the instance of Speaker Femi Gbajabiamila. The House resumes tomorrow after its annual recess. Gbajabiamila, in an invitation letter to ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke, said the House was worried by the failed negotiations between the Federal Government and the union.
NDLEA SEIZES 18 PUMP ACTION GUNS IN KOGI – THE NATION PG.7
Operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) in Kogi State have intercepted 18 pump action rifles and 2,300 cartridges billed for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and Kaduna State. The guns and ammo were intercepted on Okene-Abuja highway on Saturday in a J5 vehicle going to Kaduna-Zaria from Onitsha. Two suspects, Chukwudi Aronu, 51, and Shuaibu Gambo, 23, were arrested in connection with the intercepts, spokesman for the NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, said in a statement yesterday.
MAMU’S ARREST – THE NATION PG.5&29
The arrest and detention of Tukur Mamu, the Kaduna-based publisher of the Desert Herald, by operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) has rightfully raised concerns amongst the general public. Until his arrest, Mamu was better known as the person who negotiates with bandits for release of victims of the Abuja-Kaduna train attack.
NIGERIA: NBA TO MEET SECURITY AGENCIES’ HEADS OVER HARASSMENT OF LAWYERS – DAILY TRUST PG.3
The Nigerian Bar Association Section on Public Interest and Development Law (NBA- SPIDEL) Sunday decried what it called the continued harassment and intimidation of lawyers by security agencies. It particularly condemned the practice of compelling lawyers to drop their mobile phones before accessing the premises of the security agencies, describing it as “yet another misnomer in lawyers’ interface with security agencies.” “This practice has no legal backing. Most importantly, the reason advanced for the unconventional practice is not only laughable but illogical. What is the dire security implication of allowing a Nigerian citizen to use his telephone in police, EFCC or DSS office? Simply, there is none,” said the chairman of NBA-SPIDEL, Dr Monday Ubani.
NDLEA ARRESTS EX-CONVICT, OTHERS FOR PEDDLING DRUGS – PUNCH PG.5, DAILYSUN PG.5
The National Drugs Law Enforcement Agency has confirmed the arrest of an ex-convict, Onyeka Madukolu, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos, for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine concealed in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss into Nigeria. The agency’s spokesperson, Femi Babafemi, in a statement on Sunday, said Onyeka, who was sentenced to seven years imprisonment in Ethiopia for drug trafficking offences and released from prison in 2020, was again arrested on Friday, September 16, 2022.
KANU’S LAWYER, GOV’S AIDE DIFFER OVER IMO INVASION – PUNCH PG.14
The Indigenous People of Biafra, on Sunday, released gory videos and photographs of the attack on Orsu-Ihiteukwa community in Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State allegedly by members of the Ebubeagu security outfit. The organisation blamed the attack on Governor Hope Uzodimma, accusing him of ordering the security operatives to carry out the incident which included attacks on buildings, killing of citizens and burning of houses and shops. Counsel for Nnamdi Kanu, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, made the allegation in a statement titled, “Black weekend in Orsu-Ihiteukwa, Orsu LGA of Imo State.”
PRESIDENCY: WE PAID $311M ABACHA LOOT DIRECTLY TO CONTRACTORS – THISDAY PG.1
The presidency yesterday revealed that the $311 million loot by the late former military Head of State, General Sani Abacha, which was repatriated to the country, had been paid directly to contractors for various jobs executed for the government. It said the direct payment was to prevent the National Assembly and the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) from diverting the money. The federal government had in May received $311,797,866.11 as part of recovered assets of the former military dictator. The fund, which was repatriated from the United States and the Bailiwick of Jersey, was committed to expediting the construction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway, Abuja-Kano road, and the Second Niger Bridge,
FG BEGINS PROBE OF MDAS OVER ICPC REPORT ON GHOST WORKERS – THISDAY PG.5
The federal government has said it has commenced investigations into a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (ICPC) indicting some Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) of harbouring ghost workers and ripping government huge resources in form of emoluments. This was just as the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment said the administration was working towards establishing job centers in each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as the 774 Local Government Areas.
FALANA GIVES POLICE PRO 24HOURS TO WITHDRAW STATEMENT AGAINST CIVILIANS – THISDAY PG.46
Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana, SAN, has given the Police Force Public Relations Officer (PPRO), CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, 24 hours to withdraw the statement he made that ‘no Nigerian has the right to confront policemen or retaliate even if the policeman slaps him/her. Speaking through his Twitter account, the Force PRO, had advised any such victim of Police brutality to rather file a complaint with the law enforcement agency. In a statement titled: ‘Assaulting a Civilian by a Police Officer Attracts 25 Years Imprisonment’ Falana last night stated that, “If the statement is not withdrawn within the next 24 hours, the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, should not hesitate to replace Mr. Adejobi with another police officer, who has unqualified respect for the fundamental rights of the Nigerian people.”
EX-CONVICT ARRESTED WITH COCAINE AT LAGOS AIRPORT – DAILYSUN PG.4
The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested an ex-convict, Onyeka Charles Madukolu, at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA), Ikeja, Lagos, on Friday, September 16, 2022, for importing 5.90 kilograms of cocaine. The drugs were concealed in cans of deodorants and ladies’ lip gloss into Nigeria. The Director, Media and Advocacy, NDLEA, Femi Babafemi, who made the disclosure in a statement, yesterday, said Onyeka was released from an Ethiopian prison in 2020, after serving a seven-year sentence for drug trafficking offences. He was, again, arrested on Friday, at the Lagos airport on his return from Sao Paulo, Brazil, via Addis Ababa, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight.
ROAD TO 2023: BUHARI HAS PUT NIGERIA’S EXISTENCE AT RISK –PROF ODINKALU, EX-CHAIR, NHRC – DAILYSUN PG.13
Prof Chidi Odinkalu, a lawyer and an activist is a former chairman of the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC). In this interview, he dissects the challenges facing Nigeria and the hard choices the people must make at the 2023 general election. He also speaks on other national issues. Ahead of the commencement of electioneering campaigns on September 28, 2022, you noted in a recent TV interview that the 2023 presidential election, in fact, the entire process, is not a contest between good and evil, but a selection among flawed human beings. What should Nigerians look out for then?
