Court
Israeli court limits use of spy agency to track coronavirus cases
Israel’s top court ruled Tuesday the government must curb its use of the domestic spy agency to track coronavirus infections, saying “draconian” surveillance constituted a blow to democracy. The government began using the Shin Bet’s surveillance technologies in March 2020, when Covid-19 infections began to spike. But the supreme court quickly blocked such practice, saying legislation was needed to authorise the programme. Tracking was discontinued in June but the following month, amid another infection surge, parliament passed a law allowing the surveillance when “an epidemiological investigation cannot be completed otherwise”. Initially approved for three weeks, that has measure has been repeatedly extended since while details of how information was obtained were kept secret. Critics crie...
Court dismisses NUT’s suit against Kaduna governor over competency test
Nigeria Union of Teachers The Kaduna Division of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria has dismissed the case between the Nigerian Union of Teachers and Governor Nasir El Rufai for lacking in merit and substance. A statement titled, ‘Teachers sack: Court dismisses NUT’s suit against KDSG,’ issued by the Commissioner of Justice and Attorney General of Kaduna State, Aisha Dikko on Saturday, said that Justice S.O. Edeniyi delivered judgment on the matter on February 2. The statement which said that NUT and Comrade Audu Titus Amba were the claimants, further said that they sought nullification of the termination and compulsory retirement of those who failed the competency test for all primary school teachers. The Attorney General recalled that “in the bid to restore the competency of the te...
Court orders Ekiti university to reinstate sacked workers
File Photo The National Industrial Court in Akure has ordered the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State, to reinstate 85 non-teaching staff members sacked by the institution in December 2019. The judge, Kiyersohot Damulak, also gave the university a 30-day ultimatum to pay the reinstated workers their salaries, emoluments, and allowances from the date of their unlawful disengagement till date. In the judgement delivered on January 28, a copy of which was seen by newsmen on Wednesday, the court also directed the university to pay the workers the three months salary they were being owed before they unlawfully disengaged. Damulak also ordered the university to pay each of the sacked workers N50,000 as the cost of prosecuting the case. The award totaled N4,250,000 for the 85 wo...
Court remands ‘student cultists’ for assaulting teachers
An Osogbo Chief Magistrates’ Court, on Wednesday, ordered the remand of three students of Ifeoluwa Co-Educational Grammar School in Ilesa Correctional Centre for allegedly assaulting teachers and students of the school. The defendants are: Adeniyi Timileyin, 18; Tajudeen Akinlolu, 20 and Waheed Abbas, 19, according to newsmen. The students, however, pleaded not guilty to the seven-count charge of conspiracy, assault, malicious damage, breach of peace, unlawful possession and threat to life. The Magistrate, Isola Omisade, ordered the remand of the defendants in the correctional centre due to the magnitude of the offences preferred against them. He, thereafter, adjourned the case till March, for judgment. The State Counsel, Moses Faremi, had told the court that the defendants committed the o...
Man handed 15-year prison sentence for murder of Maltese journalist
Vince Muscat, one of three men accused of murdering Maltese investigative journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia in 2017, was sentenced to 15 years in prison on Tuesday after changing his plea to guilty. The judge accepted the plea bargain presented by Muscat’s lawyers and prosecutors after he had told the Valletta courtroom that he was admitting to all charges, in a shock development that could prove crucial in the high-profile murder case. Muscat must also pay 43,000 euros (52,240 dollars) in court fees. Muscat is one of three men accused of planting and detonating the bomb that killed Caruana Galizia in her car in October 2017. A fourth man, business tycoon Yorgen Fenech, stands accused of having paid the three men to carry out the assassination. He denies the charges. In a statement read ou...
Appeal Court strikes out Facebook’s appeal against trademark judgment
The Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos, Tuesday, dismissed Facebook’s appeal challenging the judgment of a Federal High Court, Lagos, which awarded N10 million against it (Facebook) in favour of a Nigerian firm, Double Paws Enterprise, as damages for unlawfully interfering with the use of the firm’s trademark. The appellate court justices that decided the matter were Justices Haruna Tsammani, Oluwayemisi Williams-Dawodu, and Abdullahi Bayero. Justice Bayero read the lead judgment. Facebook had appealed the lower court judgment through its counsel, Jackson Etti. However, counsel to the respondent, Double Paws Enterprise, was Mr Gideon Okebu. Facebook challenged the competence of the appeal and urged the Appeal Court to dismiss the same for being fundamentally flawed. Justice Bayero in the lea...
Nigerian lady convicted in US for online fraud
Oyindamola Akinrinola, 23, a Nigerian resident of Lawrence, Kansas, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in online fraud schemes that targeted victims in the United States. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced her conviction Monday night, saying she will now face time in federal prison for her crime. “Akinrinola and her co-conspirator in Nigeria victimised individuals, several elderly, through a variety of online scams,” he said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes like these, no matter where they originate. “I also take this conviction as an opportunity to reiterate to all Kansans the vulnerability of our senior citizens to scams and con artists, who prey upon them. “We must all be v...
Nigerian lady convicted in US for online fraud
Oyindamola Akinrinola, 23, a Nigerian resident of Lawrence, Kansas, has pleaded guilty in federal court for her role in online fraud schemes that targeted victims in the United States. U.S. Attorney Stephen McAllister announced her conviction Monday night, saying she will now face time in federal prison for her crime. “Akinrinola and her co-conspirator in Nigeria victimised individuals, several elderly, through a variety of online scams,” he said. “We will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to prioritise the investigation and prosecution of fraud schemes like these, no matter where they originate. “I also take this conviction as an opportunity to reiterate to all Kansans the vulnerability of our senior citizens to scams and con artists, who prey upon them. “We must all be v...
Femi Falana: Bala Mohammed punished Abuja residents for trespassing but defends open grazing
Naijaloaded Human rights lawyer, Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), says Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, while serving as Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, demolished people’s houses because they encroached on government land. Falana, therefore, stated that it was funny that Bala could turn around to say that herdsmen have a right to stray into people’s land and reside in forest reserves without government permission. The senior advocate said this in a write-up he sent to newsmen on Saturday. He wrote, “Under the Bala Mohammed administration in the FCT, thousands of houses were demolished on the grounds that they were illegally built on landed properties belonging to the Federal Government. “The ex-minister wanted to demolish the entire Mpape housing over a million people. He had claime...
Police charge Lekki tollgate protesters with ‘breaching public peace, coronavirus protocol’
The police in Lagos have charged 40 protesters arrested at the Lekki tollgate on Saturday to court, for breaching public peace. The arrested protesters include, Debo Adebayo, popularly known as Mr Macaroni, Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, Damilare Adenola, Anjorin Joseph, Paul Terkuma and Anisere Sodiq. The protesters were charged at the Magistrate Court of Lagos State, Yaba. In the charge sheet obtained by newsmen, they were charged on three counts including failing to comply with the “Quarantine Law which prohibit any social gathering to avoid spreading and contacting of Coronavirus Disease”. The other charges are “breach of public peace, harassment, and causing unnecessary alarm to the public”. Newsmen earlier reported the arrest of the protesters and how they were manhandled by police officers. ...
DHS: U.S. to start reopening southern border to asylum seekers
The United States will next week begin reopening the southern border to asylum-seekers who the Trump administration forced to remain in Mexico while awaiting immigration court hearings. The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) said this in a statement on Friday. “Beginning on Feb. 19, the Department of Homeland Security will begin phase one of a programme to restore safe and orderly processing at the southwest border. “DHS will begin processing people who had been forced to ‘remain in Mexico’ under the Migrant Protection Protocols,” the statement said. The move marks a first step toward overturning the Trump administration’s Migrant Protection Protocols, also known as the ‘remain in Mexico’ policy, which since being implemented in January 2019 has forced migrants to wait in Mexico while t...
FIFA favours Patrice Motsepe for CAF presidency
FIFA have asked three candidates to back South Africa’s Patrice Motsepe in the upcoming Confederation of African Football (CAF) presidential election, a source close to one of the candidates told AFP. The previous incumbent Ahmad Ahmad was banned for breaches of FIFA’s ethical code, but has had the ban suspended by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. World body FIFA are keen for a fresh start in Africa, the source said. Motsepe is a South African mining billionaire and owner of reigning domestic champions Mamelodi Sundowns. According to the source, Augustin Senghor of Senegal and Ahmed Yahya of Mauritania are open to the idea of backing Motsepe and becoming vice-presidents themselves. Jacques Anouma of Ivory Coast would be offered a roll as advisor to Motsepe. “Motsepe is FIFA’s preferred ...