Lawyer
Arabic inscriptions on naira doesn’t threaten Nigeria’s secular status – central bank tells court
The Central Bank of Nigeria has vehemently opposed a suit before the Federal High Court in Lagos praying that the Arabic inscriptions on naira notes be removed. A Lagos-based lawyer, Chief Malcolm Omirhobo, who filed the suit before Justice Mohammed Liman, contended that having Arabic inscriptions on the naira notes portrays Nigeria as an Islamic state, contrary to the country’s constitutional status of a secular state. Omirhobo, who said he does not know what the Arabic inscriptions mean, is praying the court to order the CBN to replace the Arabic inscriptions with either English language, which is the country’s official language, or any of Nigeria’s three main indigenous languages – Hausa, Yoruba or Igbo. According to the lawyer, with the Arabic inscriptions on the naira note, the CBN ha...
Why Donald Trump lost U.S. election
Donald Trump won more than 70 million votes, the second highest total in American history. Nationally, he has more than a 47% share of his vote, and looks to have won 24 states, including his beloved Florida and Texas. He has an extraordinary hold over large swathes of this country, a visceral connection that among thousands of supporters has brought a near cult-like devotion. After four years in the White House, his supporters studied the fine print of his presidency and clicked enthusiastically on the terms and conditions. Any analysis of his political weakness in 2020 also has to acknowledge his political strength. However, he was defeated, becoming one of only four incumbents in the modern era not to get another four years. Also he has become the first president to lose the popular vot...
#EndSARS: 15 policemen arrested protester in Lagos – sister
No fewer than 15 armed policemen arrested a promoter of the #EndSARS protest, Eromosele Adene, after invading his apartment on Adeleke Street, in the Allen area of Ikeja, Lagos State, on Saturday. PUNCH Metro gathered that a protest had been slated to hold at the Allen Junction in Ikeja when the policemen besieged Eromosele’s house and whisked him away. His sister, Florence, who spoke to newsmen on Sunday, said one of the policemen deceived her by claiming that he had a parcel to deliver to their father around 7am on Saturday. “When I met them, they told me that they were actually looking for my brother and instructed me to take them to our house, but I refused. They said they did a business with him and sent money to his Zenith Bank’s account but the commodity was not delivered. I told th...
Abuja court remands six protesters in custody
File Photo A magistrate in Abuja has remanded six detained protesters in custody on ‘trumped up charges,’ according to their lawyer. Newmen earlier reported that a small group of protesters were attacked by security forces at the National Assembly as they were rounding off their protest demanding widespread governmental reforms. Six protesters were arrested, including five males and one female. Human rights lawyer Tope Akinyode, who is defending the accused, told newsmen that the protesters were being held on “allegations of unlawful assembly and wanting to distort the societal peace.” “Of course, those are clearly trumped up charges because the protesters protested in accordance with the law,” he said. The magistrate in charge of their case decided to strike out the lawyer’s oral applicat...
Gold rises on renewed US stimulus hope, dollar falls
Spot gold rose 0.3 percent to $1,910.56 an ounce at 3:37pm, New York time, after falling as much as 0.5 percent. Gold rose on renewed optimism for a preelection aid package in the U.S., while the dollar fell to a one-week low. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said a bill for a compromise stimulus package is being written as she awaits a key phone call with Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said his chamber would take up a comprehensive coronavirus package if an accord is struck. The Bloomberg Dollar Spot Index headed for the third straight decline. Pelosi said in a Bloomberg Television interview that while there are areas where more work is required to get a compromise, she was pleased with the Trump administration’s latest position on coronavirus testing ...
Jail break: Lawyer wants Benin prisons closed
With the dust over the jail break at Oko Prison in Benin City on Monday yet to settle down, a Human rights lawyer Jefferson Uwoghiren, has called for the immediate closure of all the prison houses located inside the ancient city of Benin, Edo state capital. Uwoghiren in a statement made available to newsmen Monday said “it is shocking how the prison inmates who escaped from the cells promptly fused and melted like butter with the crowd, into the City into our homes, and into our surrounding bushes since morning”. According to him, “This record breaking jail break is horrendously made worst, by the ominous silence of the Prison authority, Warders, sorry nothing correctional about them. The overwheming incompetence of the Prison Officers is detonatingly enabling by the official silence of al...
Victor Giwa: AGF Malami ordered my arrest for refusing to implicate Ibrahim Magu
A lawyer, Victor Giwa, says the Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami (SAN), ordered his arrest because he refused to implicate the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu. Giwa said this in a statement on Sunday after he was released from the EFCC custody. The lawyer was arrested alongside one Fatima Hassan last week shortly after they testified before the Justice Ayo Salami-led panel which is investigating Magu. Giwa’s former client, Donald Wokoma, who was a Director at Damijay Integrated Services, had told the panel through a sworn affidavit that his bank account was frozen by Magu unjustly and he subsequently hired Giwa to sue the EFCC. Wokoma, who is a former special assistant to Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, had said after...
MFM Pastor Olukoya decries link with fraud
General Overseer of Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries (MFM), Dr. Daniel Kolawole Olukoya, has denied involvement in any fraudulent activities as being portrayed in some sections of the media, which he accused of being bent on churning out malicious stories against him and the church. Defending Dr. Olukoya, in a statement, his media aide, Mr. Collins Edomaruse, said the seven allegations laid against the general Overseer and the MFM were without foundation, but intent to damage his reputation and destroy the global image of the church. Edomaruse also said “It has become pertinent for the purpose of clarity to respond to the false allegations being peddled against the Mountain of Fire and Miracles Ministries and our General Overseer – Dr. D. K. Olukoya in the social media particularly...
Kidnap kingpin Evans’ co-defendants lose bid to quash charges
The Lagos State High Court in Ikeja on Friday dismissed the no-case submissions filed by co-defendants to alleged kidnap kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, alias Evans. The court, in a ruling by Justice Hakeem Oshodi, held that the prosecution had made out a prima facie case against the defendants which required that they put in a defence. The defendants are facing trial over the kidnap of the Chief Executive Officer of Maydon Pharmaceutical Limited, Donatus Dunu, in 2017. The prosecution said they collected €223,000 in ransom before freeing the businessman after 88 days in captivity. The six defendants are Evans, Uche Amadi, Ogechi Uchechukwu, Chilaka Ifeanyi, Okwuchukwu Nwachukwu and Victor Aduba. Due to his inability to pay legal fees, Evans had been having difficulty retaining a lawyer...
President Buhari presides over virtual FEC meeting
Expectedly, President Muhammadu Buhari Wednesday presided over his 10th virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) which also had in attendance his Vice, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, and eight ministers physically present. The meeting holding at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, is also being attended by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha, Chief of Staff to the President, Professor Ibrahim Gambari, and the National Security Adviser (NSA), Major General Babagana Monguno (retd). The ministers who are present are the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister for Justice, Abubakar Malami, Informatoon and Culture, Lai Mohammed, Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs. Zainab Ahmed, Aviation, Senator Hadi Sirika, Interior, Rauf Aregbesola...
Police: We are investigating killing of Kaduna lawyer
The police in Kaduna State have commenced investigation into the killing of a Kaduna-based lawyer, Haro Gandu, by gunmen at his Abuja Road residence on Sunday, 26 July, 2020 and abduction of his wife and son. It was gathered that late Gandu was an Assistant Director in the state Ministry of Justice. Timothy Gandu, a former Commissioner of Economic Planning in Kaduna State who revealed how bandits killed his brother, had disclosed that they gained access into the house by pulling down a window. They shot the victim on the shoulder as he was trying to escape. The spokesman of the police command, ASP Mohammed Jalige, told newsmen that the command has deployed its personnel to the area to rescue the victims. “Already efforts are on top gear and we have deployed security around the area with t...
Egypt female social media influencers get two-year jail terms
An Egyptian court Monday sentenced five female social media influencers to two years in jail each on charges of violating public morals, a judicial source said. The verdict against Haneen Hossam, Mowada al-Adham and three others came after they had posted footage on video-sharing app TikTok. “The Cairo economic court sentenced Hossam, Adham and three others to two years after they were convicted of violating society’s values,” the judicial source said. The ruling, which can be appealed, included a fine of 300,000 Egyptian pounds ($18,750) for each defendant, the source noted. SOCIAL DIVIDE Hossam was arrested in April after posting a three-minute clip telling her 1.3 million followers that girls could make money by working with her. In May, authorities arrested Adham who had posted satiric...
