Crimes
NOA urges all leaders to de-escalate tension, preach peace
File Photo Responding to the spike in violent crimes and insecurity across Nigeria, the National Orientation Agency (NOA) has urged political, ethnic and religious leaders to take deliberate steps to de-escalate tensions and promote peace, unity and tolerance among the citizens. In a letter of appeal signed by the Director General of NOA, Dr Garba Abari, the agency said the present situation called for leaders across political, religious, traditional, professional and the social landscape to do all within their powers to arrest the situation to avoid further deterioration. The letter reads in part: ‘At these very challenging times, all the nation and its citizens need are deeper reflection and sobriety in what we do and say, as truly, the forces of disunity and national disintegration are ...
NAPTIP chief seeks renewed regional collaboration against illegal migration, trafficking
The Director General of National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, Imaan Sulaiman Ibrahim, as called for renewed regional collaboration against illegal migration and human trafficking. This was as he expressed sadness over the incessant mishap involving hundreds of irregular migrants on the Mediterranean Sea enroute Europe describing it as huge loss that could be avoided. She called stakeholders across the World and specifically in African to join hands with the Agency in its renewed efforts to scale up sensitization and awareness campaign as a way of remedying the situation. Mrs Suaiman Ibrahim, according to a statement, Wednesday, by Stella Nezan, Head, Press and Public Relations Unit of NAPTIP, “made the call in Abuja while reacting to the recent human casual...
US Senators urge Joe Biden to impose more sanctions on Myanmar junta
A bipartisan group of U.S. senators on Tuesday urged the Biden administration to slap more sanctions on the military junta in Myanmar, including choking revenues to a state energy company, in response to its coup and violent crackdown on protesters. Senators Jeff Merkley, a Democrat, and Marco Rubio, a Republican, and four others urged Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen in a letter to “explore new avenues to support the people of Burma in their ongoing struggle for democracy in the face of escalating crimes against humanity.” They want the Biden administration to stop royalties flowing from businesses including U.S. energy major Chevron to Myanmar Oil and Gas Enterprise, or MOGE, an agency within the energy ministry, that provides financial support to mil...
NGF: We’ll fish out attackers of Imo governor’s residence
The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has condemned the attack on Governor Hope Uzodinma of Imo state’s residence, saying all hands must be on deck to fish out perpetrators of the crime. Gunmen had on Saturday attacked and killed many people, including three security personnel, and set the country home of the governor at Omuma, Oru East Local Government Area of the state ablaze. Chairman of the NGF and Ekiti State governor, Kayode Fayemi, in a statement on Sunday, sympathised with Governor Uzodinma and all those who had been injured, maimed or had someone close killed during the attack. “The Forum calls on all good citizens to cooperate with the nation’s security forces and the government in trying to build a civil, safe and secure environment for our citizens. “For those behind these crimes,...
Ekiti: Police arrest five ‘cultists’ during rituals of initiatgion
Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) of the Ekiti State police command have arrested five students suspected to be members of BLACK AXE (AIYE) secret confraternity during rituals of initiation in the state. The state’s commissioner of police, Tunde Mobayo, in a statement signed by the command’s Public Relations Officer, Sunday Abutu, to Daily Sun on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti, disclosed that the five suspected cultists who are all males, claimed to be students of Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado-Ekiti, were arrested during an initiation ceremony behind the institution’s campus on Sunday, while others are at large. The statement read, “On 25th April, 2021 at about 0130hrs, information was received by the Police Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Ekiti State Command, that some members of the BLA...
Edo: Police charge 331 suspects to courts in two months
The Police Command in Edo on Wednesday disclosed that no fewer than 332 suspects have been charged to courts in the last two months. Mr Phillip Ogbadu, the Commissioner of Police in Edo, disclosed this at a media briefing in his office in Benin, on Wednesday. “From Feb. 5 till date, we have charged 332 suspects out of the 357 arrested within the period to various courts”, Ogbadu said. He explained that 58 suspects were arrested for alleged kidnapping, while 100 suspects were arrested for alleged cultism. He further explained that 81 suspects were also arrested for alleged armed robbery, and six suspects arrested for alleged rape. “We arrested 50 suspects for alleged murder, seven suspects for alleged defilement. “We also arrested 16 suspects for unlawful possession firearms, 13 suspects we...
NIMASA: SPOMO act improving Nigeria’s image
The Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA) says the Suppression of Piracy and Other Maritime Offences (SPOMO) Act, is improving Nigeria’s image in its fight against piracy and sea robbery. Dr Bashir Jamoh, Director-General, NIMASA, said this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos. He said that the Act signed into law by President Muhammadu Buhari in June, 2019 was to end piracy and sea robbery in Nigeria and the Gulf of Guinea. He made this known at the maiden edition of the Nigerian Admiralty Law Colloquium organised recently in Lagos by the agency, in collaboration with the National Judicial Institute (NJI). The colloquium had the theme, “Achieving Maritime Safety, Security and Shipping Development (TRIPODS) through Enforcement of Legislations and the Implementation of th...
Ukraine denies killing of child in attack on separatists
Ukraine on Monday denied reports that its forces had killed a five-year-old child in an attack on pro-Moscow eastern separatists, after Russia said it would launch an investigation. “This is a gross, cynical, nasty and godless manipulation,” Ukraine’s defence ministry told AFP in a written comment on the claim, denouncing it as “fake news”. Separatist authorities had at the weekend accused Ukrainian forces of killing the child and injuring a woman in a drone attack. On Monday, the Russian Investigative Committee, which probes major crimes, said the Ukrainian army had attacked civilian infrastructure on Friday in the separatist-held Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) using heavy armament and drones. As a result of an explosion, a five-year-old child was killed while his 66-year-old grandmother...
Kosovo parliament elects new national president
Kosovo’s parliament has appointed a 38-year-old U.S.-educated female law professor and candidate of the ruling Vetevendosje party as the country’s new president, following an election in February. Vjosa Osmani took over as acting president of Kosovo last November when her predecessor, Hashim Thaci, resigned ahead of his impending war crimes trial in the Netherlands. Osmani’s initial mandate expired when the new government of Prime Minister Albin Kurti, the head of Vetevendosje, took over following the Feb. 14 election. On Sunday the 120-seat parliament voted in favour of appointing Osmani president by 71 votes. Opposition parties and civil society watchdogs have criticised her appointment, saying that having a president, prime minister and speaker of parliament all from the same party is n...
Troop arrests 23 ‘bandits’ in Plateau
The Operation Safe Haven also known as the Special Task Force (STF) has arrested 17 suspected kidnappers and five Armed robbers for attempted kidnapping and robbery in at Lishin village, in Pengana Chiefdom in Bassa and Lamingo in Jos North Local Government Areas of Plateau State. Commander, Operation Safe Haven, Major General Dominic Onyemulu stated this while parading the suspects at the Command headquarters in Jos and vowed to make his area of operation uncomfortable for kidnappers and other criminal elements. “On the 16 of March, troops of Operation Safe Haven responded to a distress call on an attempted kidnap of one Alh. Gambo Yawurp from his residence at Lishin village in Pengana Chiefdom Bassa LGA. “Troops in collection with vigilante members and locals foiled the attempt kidnappin...
Easter: NSCDC deploys 1,850 personnel in Ondo
THISDAY Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Ondo State Command has deployed no fewer than 1,850 personnel ahead of the Easter celebration in the state. The move was to ensure that there is adequate security, before, during and after the celebration in the state. According to the Corps Public Relations Officer, DSC Olufemi Omole, in a statement issued on Thursday “the situation of the country calls for collective efforts to ensure the protection of lives and properties.” He added that the State Commandant of NSCDC in the state, Eweka Edenabu urged the operatives who will provide security in various parts of the state to exercise caution in the discharge of their duties and exhibit a high level of professionalism in their dealings with the civil populace. The Commandant also dis...
US accuses Nigeria of significant human rights abuses
US Embassy in South Africa The United States has accusesd Nigeria of significant human rights abuses in its latest ‘’Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 2020’’, released Wednesday by the Department of State, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights and Labour. In the report titled ‘’’Nigeria 2020 Human Rights Report, Executive Summary’’, the US accused Nigeria of ‘’significant’’ human rights abuses, which include: unlawful and arbitrary killings by both government and non-state actors; forced disappearances by the government, terrorists, and criminal groups; torture and cases of cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment by the government and terrorist groups; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions. The 102-page report also accused the federal government of ‘’arbitrary d...
