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Outrage in Enugu as teachers allege forced APC registration under threat of job loss

Fresh allegations of political coercion have emerged in Nsukka Local Government Area of Enugu State, where teachers and civil servants are accused of being pressured to compulsorily register with Nigeria’s ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) under threat of job loss.

According to multiple accounts circulating on social media and local networks, staff of Nsukka Local Government—both teaching and non-teaching—were directed to attend a mandatory APC electronic registration exercise at Adada Hall, with explicit instructions to present their National Identification Number (NIN), voter’s card and bank account details.

A message allegedly sent to head teachers, seen by this publication, described the directive as “urgent” and “mandatory,” warning that non-compliance could attract sanctions. The message instructed school heads to organise staff attendance in batches to avoid leaving pupils unsupervised, suggesting the order applied across schools within the local government.

The directive has sparked outrage among rights advocates and residents, who argue that compelling public servants to register with a political party violates constitutional protections of freedom of conscience, association and political choice.

“No government—local, state or federal—has the legal or moral authority to force citizens to trade their political beliefs for economic survival,” one civil society activist said. “Public service is not conditional on party loyalty.”

Critics also questioned the demand for sensitive personal information, including bank details, describing it as alarming and potentially unlawful. Nigeria’s constitution and electoral laws do not mandate party registration as a condition for public employment, nor do they permit political parties to collect financial data from citizens as part of membership drives.

The allegations have deepened fears of creeping authoritarianism ahead of the 2027 general elections, with observers warning that forced registrations could be aimed at inflating party numbers or laying groundwork for voter manipulation.

“Political participation must be driven by conviction, not fear,” another local resident said. “Election season has not even begun, yet intimidation is already being deployed.”

The development has renewed debate about the politicisation of local government structures in Nigeria and the vulnerability of teachers and low-level civil servants to political pressure. Education unions and labour groups are being urged to intervene, while legal experts say affected workers may have grounds to challenge the directive in court if the allegations are substantiated.

As of press time, the Nsukka Local Government authorities had not issued an official response to the claims. The APC has also not publicly addressed the allegations.

For many residents, the controversy underscores a broader concern: that democratic participation in Nigeria is increasingly being shaped not by persuasion, but by coercion.

From Terror Intel to Ethnic Scapegoating: How the NYT Sokoto strike story fuels ethnic blame

By Charles Ogbu

This is the digital age when every information on any part of the globe is just a few click away. We all watched as Reverend Dachomo cried daily on both national and international media including Piers Morgan Uncensored showing videos of mass burials of Christian victims of Fulani genocidal onslaught across Nigeria

We all watched as both local and foreign NGOs such as Equipping The Persecuted did numerous live videos and comprehensive reports about Fulani genocidal attack against northern Christians.

We all watched as the Catholic bishop of Makurdi accompanied by a reverend father REPEATEDLY visited the US to testify before a Congress Committee looking into the Christian genocide in Nigeria.

We all watched as U.S team led by Congressman Riley M. Moore visited Nigeria and Benue state and gave a chilling reports of what he witnessed.

We equally watched as the Nigerian foreign affairs minister who is from the North publicly issued a statement saying that the Nigerian government collaborated with the U.S and provided the intel as well as the consent for the Sokoto bombing against Islamic terrorists.

We all saw Franc Utoo consistently visit the US congress to give a detailed account of the genocide against his Benue people as well as the complicity of the Ahmed Tinubu govt

All the above events happened few months and weeks ago and were witnessed by all.

Yet,

In spite of all these, some people within the Nigerian establishment still contracted some writers to author a report in the The New York Times claiming that it was an Igbo man that provided the intelligence the US president Donald J. Trump relied on to bomb terrorist enclave in Sokoto. As in, these soulless writers and their paymasters simply want to tell the north that it was the Igbos they should blame for the U.S Christmas strikes on Sokoto and of course, the likes of Shehu Sani are already distributing the jaundiced piece.

Please don’t bother trying to make sense out of the nonsense that one screwdriver trader in Onitsha convinced the most powerful leader on earth with the most sophisticated intelligence agency, to bomb a bunch of terrorists butchering innocent Christians in some Nigerian town. Those behind the report know their audience as well as the agenda they are pushing.

I simply urge you to consider this;

If they could be this shamelessly and illogically brazen at this time and age when all the facts are staring everyone in the face, imagine what they did to the Igbos in the 1960s when they were effectively in charge of the media and in full control of the narrative with no internet???????????

By the way, have you noticed that all the Igbo turncoats pretending to be neutral analysts and public intellectuals are LOUDLY silent on this very dangerous narrative?????

Nakwanu echeki

Copied from the FB page of Charles Ogbu.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

RE: The screwdriver salesman behind Trump’s airstrikes in Nigeria by Franc Utoo, Esq.

The story told in that New York Times article is not just wrong; it is an injury added to an open wound. It tries to turn survivors into suspects, truth‑tellers into propagandists, and a decade of blood into a clever “narrative” to be managed by consultants in Washington and Abuja.

It will not stand.

Who really asked America to wake up?

The article leans into a lazy, convenient fiction: that Nigeria’s designation as a Country of Particular Concern was some side‑effect of Igbo separatist agitation or partisan games in Washington. That is a lie.

It was not drawn up in an office in Abuja or dreamed up in a back room in DC. It was born in the ashes of burned churches, homes, and in the dust of mass graves.

  • It came from priests who have buried their parishioners by the hundreds, who have watched altars reduced to rubble and sanctuaries turned into slaughterhouses.
  • It came from survivors from places like Yelewata, Guma, Logo, Agatu, Plateau, Southern Kaduna—people who have fled through the bush at night with bullets behind them and children in their arms.
  • It came from witnesses like Bishop Wilfred Anagbe of Makurdi diocese, who stood before the United States Congress and described what his diocese has suffered.
  • It came from survivors like me, Franc Utoo, who stood in the halls of Congress not once, but multiple times, carrying the cries of my village, my tribe, my state, my people, and the entire persecuted Christians of the Middle Belt.

The CPC designation is not a toy of separatists. It is the exhausted, desperate plea of persecuted communities begging the world to finally tell the truth.

The violence they try to rename

The article dances around the heart of the matter, hiding behind vague terms like “conflict” and “clashes,” as if Nigeria were dealing with a minor misunderstanding over farmland.

But in village after village, the pattern is brutally clear.

Heavily armed Fulani Islamist militias do not “clash” with unarmed sleeping families. They descend in the night. They shoot, burn, and hack. They torch churches, mow people down as they run, and leave behind smoking ruins and bodies hastily buried in mass graves.

These are not anonymous “incidents.” They have names and dates and faces.

  • The old woman who refused to abandon the church.
  • The mother whose three children were killed in her arms.
  • The catechist who died ringing the church bell to warn the village.

There are registers in parishes, lists in IDP camps, testimonies recorded in whispers because the people speaking them still live in danger. This is not a narrative you invent in a think‑tank. It is a reality carved into the land.

Who Truth Nigeria and Equipping the Persecuted really are

And then comes the most indecent twist: to smear the few people who actually go where the killing happens.

Truth Nigeria and Equipping the Persecuted are not sitting in air‑conditioned offices theorizing about “frames” and “messaging.” They are out on the red earth, in the heat and dust, at the funeral masses and in the camps, listening, recording, helping.

  • Truth Nigeria exists so that stories the big media never bother to hear can be told in full voice. It puts a microphone in the hands of the villager, the widow, the priest, the youth leader, and says: “Tell the world what they did to you.”
  • Equipping the Persecuted goes into dangerous zones with food, medical help, and practical support. It helps rebuild burned churches and shattered lives. It collects evidence that would otherwise disappear in the chaos.
  • Judd Saul and his team are not “playing politics.” They are walking into places most correspondents will never see, then walking into offices in Washington to say, “Look at this. Listen to them. Do not turn away.”

Call that “propaganda” if you dare—but then look a widow in the eyes and tell her that the only people who came when she was starving and alone were actually just pushing a “narrative.”

The 9‑million‑dollar eraser

Behind the article’s tone you can almost hear the rustle of contracts.

The government of Nigeria has signed away millions of dollars—not to rebuild destroyed communities, not to support widows and orphans, not to secure justice for the dead—but to hire a Washington firm to polish its image and “correct the record.”

They do not deny the graves. They simply try to talk around them.

This is the plan:

  • Take years of documented atrocities against Christians.
  • Take the anguished testimony of bishops and survivors.
  • Take the overwhelming pattern of impunity and state failure.

Then run it all through a machine of consultants, poll‑tested phrases, and friendly editorials until what comes out sounds respectable:

“Security challenges.”
“Complex inter‑communal tensions.”
“Government efforts to protect all citizens.”

And anyone who says, “No—this is targeted, this is systematic, this is about faith and identity,” is suddenly rebranded as an extremist, a separatist, or a naïve pawn in someone else’s game.

The contract’s real product is not peace. It is doubt. It is confusion. It is the ability of powerful people to shrug and say, “Well, the situation is complicated,” and then carry on doing nothing.

Survivors will define the story, not spin doctors

But there is one thing the Nigerian government and its paid collaborators cannot buy.

They cannot buy our memories.

They cannot buy the scars on our body.
They cannot buy the names on tombstones in Benue and Plateau.

They cannot tell a mother whose children were slaughtered that she didn’t see what she saw.

The future of this story does not belong to those who pen careful half‑truths from afar. It belongs to the people who have walked the killing fields, who have counted the bodies, who have lifted away the rubble to pull out whoever was left alive.

So this is the reply that must ring louder than any carefully crafted article:

  • We, the survivors of Fulani Islamist attacks, were the ones who begged America to call this crisis by its name.
  • We, the priests and pastors and lay leaders who have buried our people, were the ones who pleaded with Congress for the CPC designation.
  • We, the advocates from Yelewata, Makurdi, Jos, Kwande, Kafanchan, Taraba, and countless other communities, are the ones carrying our dead into the public conscience, not to win an election or redraw a map, but simply to keep their memory from being buried twice.
  • We, alongside organizations like Truth Nigeria and Equipping the Persecuted, will keep telling the truth until no government, no lobbyist, and no newspaper can pretend not to hear.

The government of Nigeria can keep buying words.

You, and the people you speak for, carry something that cannot be bought and cannot be spun: the raw, stubborn, unnegotiable truth of what has happened in your land.

And as long as that truth is spoken—before Congress, in churches, in the media, and in every forum that will listen—no campaign, no contract, and no article will succeed in wiping it away.

Franc Utoo Esq. KofC,
Media Relations Associate, Equipping the Persecuted USA.
-Native of Yelewata .

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Fact, Fiction or Framing?  Nigeria pushes back as New York Times report on U.S. Sokoto airstrikes triggers media ethics debate

A growing controversy has erupted over a New York Times report on recent U.S. precision airstrikes in Sokoto State, with Nigerian officials, rights groups and political figures disputing the paper’s account and raising broader questions about foreign media reporting in conflict zones.

Nigeria’s Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, has since stated that the strikes—targeting two Islamic State (ISIS) terrorist enclaves—were carried out with the approval of President Bola Tinubu. The Nigerian government has described the operation as a coordinated counterterrorism effort conducted in collaboration with U.S. forces.

However, the New York Times report suggested that the strikes were influenced by intelligence supplied by a civilian researcher rather than through formal Nigerian security channels—an assertion that has been forcefully rejected by Nigerian authorities and civil society organisations.

The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has accused the New York Times and its West Africa Bureau Chief, Ruth Maclean, of factual misrepresentation and of attributing statements to the organisation that it says were never made.

In a statement signed by its chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi, Intersociety said it was “shocked and deeply disappointed” by what it described as a report “riddled with injurious falsehoods,” published on January 18, 2026.

According to the organisation, the report followed an interview conducted on December 16, 2025, but it insists that key claims attributed to it—including suggestions of political motivation or unverified data—were neither stated nor implied during the interview.

Intersociety said its work documenting attacks on Christians in Nigeria since 2009 adheres to United Nations and African Union human rights documentation standards and has no connection to U.S. domestic politics or partisan interests.

“Our reports are rooted strictly in religious freedom and human rights documentation,” the statement said. “They are not shaped by foreign political considerations.”

The group also rejected what it described as an artificial linkage between the December interview and U.S. airstrikes carried out on December 25, noting that both the Nigerian and U.S. governments publicly acknowledged the operation as a joint military action.

Beyond the factual dispute, the controversy has broadened into a debate over journalistic responsibility in conflict reporting—particularly the risks of framing narratives that may inflame ethnic tensions or undermine state sovereignty.

Some Nigerian commentators have questioned whether the report unfairly implicated Igbo individuals or organisations, warning that such framing—if unsupported—could expose sources to security risks in an already volatile environment.

Intersociety said it had clearly explained its data-gathering methods during the interview, including the use of field researchers in areas such as Southern Kaduna, Taraba, the South-East and South-South, alongside verified third-party sources where access was limited.

The organisation also clarified that it documented an estimated 19,100 churches attacked or destroyed since 2009, countering claims that it suggested Nigeria had nearly 20,000 churches in existence.

On the question of Boko Haram’s victims, Intersociety disputed assertions that most casualties were Muslims, pointing to earlier phases of the insurgency in which Christian communities in northern Nigeria were disproportionately affected.

In a sharply worded section of its statement, the group warned that it would hold the New York Times and its West Africa Bureau Chief “vicariously liable” should any harm come to its chairman, his family or its offices, citing concerns about potential backlash resulting from what it considers misrepresentation.

Meanwhile, former Nigerian Aviation Minister and ambassador-designate Femi Fani-Kayode has also condemned the report, describing the suggestion that the United States acted without Nigeria’s knowledge as implausible and damaging.

Fani-Kayode argued that no serious military operation—particularly one involving foreign airstrikes—could be conducted based on information from a private individual using open-source tools, without formal intelligence cooperation.

He said Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Yusuf Tuggar, had confirmed that the operation was conducted in coordination with Nigeria’s Armed Forces and intelligence services, adding that he personally spoke with Tuggar shortly after the strikes.

At the heart of the controversy is a larger ethical question confronting international journalism: how foreign media report on military operations in fragile states, and the consequences of speculative or poorly contextualised narratives.

Media law experts note that while investigative reporting plays a vital role in accountability, conflict reporting carries heightened obligations of accuracy, sourcing transparency and harm minimisation—particularly when reports may affect diplomatic relations, ethnic cohesion or individual safety.

As insecurity continues to plague parts of Nigeria, critics argue that international reporting must balance scrutiny with responsibility, ensuring that journalism does not inadvertently amplify misinformation or destabilising narratives.

While the New York Times has yet to issue a formal response to the allegations, the episode underscores the growing tension between global media institutions and local actors over who controls narratives in conflict zones—and at what cost.

Nigerian journalist recounts how police detained his children for 10 Hours until ₦150,000 ‘bail’ was paid

A senior Nigerian journalist has accused police officers in Anambra State of unlawfully arresting and detaining him, his wife and their two underage children for 10 hours, allegedly forcing him to pay ₦150,000 in what he described as extortionary “bail” before they were released.

Jude Egbas, deputy editor of TheCable, said operatives attached to the Otolo Nnewi Divisional Police Headquarters arrested his entire family on Sunday, December 28, 2025, following what he described as a domestic dispute within his wife’s extended family.

According to Egbas, he, his wife Ogechukwu Chukwujekwu, their children—Munachukwu, 13, and Adela, three—and a caregiver were bundled into a police van, beaten, verbally abused and held without food, water or access to their phones until payment was made.

Read Also: “So I Can Collect Money”: Child’s viral joke lays bare Nigeria’s police corruption crisis

The journalist said the incident occurred in Ndiakwu Otolo Community, Nnewi North Local Government Area, where he had travelled to spend Christmas with his wife’s relatives.

Egbas recounted that the situation began in the early hours of the day when a heated argument broke out between his wife and her uncle, Collins Okechukwu Anya, a U.S.-based relative visiting Nigeria. The disagreement, he said, escalated into physical violence when Anya allegedly slapped his wife twice during a quarrel over an alternative power supply arrangement in the house.

He said other family members attempted to intervene as tempers flared, adding that his wife damaged a television in self-defence during the scuffle—an act he said further inflamed tensions that should have been resolved privately within the family.

Ogechukwu Chukwujekwu later told TheCable that the uncle had a history of physically assaulting her, citing a similar incident during Christmas 2023 when he and another relative allegedly beat her.

Following the altercation, Egbas said Anya contacted members of a local vigilante group, Agunechemba, who stormed the compound. Attempts to explain that the incident was a family dispute failed, he said, as the vigilantes allegedly began beating occupants of the house indiscriminately.

Egbas said his wife’s younger sister was slapped, stripped of her clothing and humiliated, while he was assaulted after protesting the treatment of women. He alleged that vigilantes pointed a gun at him during the confrontation.

As the family attempted to leave the premises for safety, police officers from the Otolo Nnewi Division arrived at the scene. Egbas said the situation deteriorated further.

He alleged that the police team, led by a superintendent of police identified as Onyebuchi Isiwekpeni, arrested him and his family on instructions, dragging him into a police van “like a common criminal” while officers allegedly beat his wife and threw his children into the vehicle.

Egbas said their phones were seized and that his three-year-old cried throughout the journey to the station.

At the station, he said he tried to explain that the matter was a family dispute and identified himself as a journalist. He alleged that the officer in charge responded with insults, ridiculed journalism as a “useless profession,” and verbally abused his wife, including slut-shaming her.

For 10 hours, Egbas said the family was held behind the station counter without food or water, as officers demanded money for their release.

He said he was initially asked to pay ₦220,000, which was later reduced to ₦150,000 after prolonged pleading. With night approaching and threats of detention in police cells, he said he had no choice but to comply.

Because officers allegedly refused bank transfers, Egbas said he was allowed to leave the station briefly to withdraw cash, which he returned in a black polythene bag. He said officers still compelled him and his wife to write statements and an undertaking before counting the money and releasing the family.

When contacted, Anambra State Police spokesperson Tochukwu Ikenga told TheCable that the journalist should submit a formal complaint, adding: “You can do the story and then we would react.”

Nigeria Police Force spokesperson Benjamin Hundeyin similarly directed the paper back to the state command and, when informed of Ikenga’s response, reportedly said: “Do the story, sir.”

The incident comes amid growing public anger over allegations of routine police extortion and abuse across Nigeria.

That frustration was echoed recently in a viral video of a young Nigerian girl who, when asked what she wanted to become in the future, replied that she wanted to be a police officer “so I can block the road and collect money from keke riders.” While the remark drew laughter, many Nigerians described it as an unfiltered reflection of everyday encounters with law enforcement.

Across highways and city streets, commercial drivers and commuters frequently complain of being stopped repeatedly at checkpoints and forced to pay unofficial fees to avoid harassment or arrest. Rights groups say such practices are rarely punished and have become deeply normalised.

Analysts warn that the danger lies not only in corruption itself, but in how early citizens internalise it.

“If children already see police as toll collectors rather than protectors,” a civil society advocate said, “then public trust in the state is already broken.”

As insecurity worsens nationwide, critics argue that systemic police misconduct continues to undermine confidence in law enforcement—leaving official warnings hollow and accountability elusive.

David v the people of Lagos State: Simplifying the bail process in criminal prosecution (2)

By Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, SAN

THE ESSENCE OF BAIL

The facts of this case have brought to the fore an urgent and a compelling need for holistic reforms in the administration of the criminal justice sector and proper training for all institutions involved in the investigation of crime and criminal prosecution. The enactment of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act in 2015 was supposed to bring some reprieve to prosecutors and defendants alike but this has not been so, due to so many factors ranging from lack of funding, absence of institutional will to enforce the law, and congestion in the courts to absence of functional infrastructure. The view is still valid that prosecuting agencies and prosecutors in our clime deploy the criminal justice system as a tool of punishment and oppression against the defendant at the behest and promotion of the complainant.

There is always a desire by the nominal complainant to have the defendant incarcerated by all means and for long periods of time. There is a particular force that makes the complainant unsatisfied each time he sees the defendant walking around in the street as a free man. The culture of vengeance has crept ominously into the criminal justice system, resulting in persecution and not prosecution. Nigeria eagerly awaits the day when the prosecutor will be the one to apply for bail for the defendant in order to focus more on his due trial and possible conviction rather than secure his temporary remand. That should be the essence of bail pending trial or appeal. The moment a defendant spends one month or two years in custody before fulfilling the conditions imposed for his bail, then the purpose of bail has been defeated.

Even in charges with offences bearing the maximum punishment, bail is still available at the discretion of the court, based upon the facts and circumstances of each case. Agreed that each case may present very peculiar facts, but there must be some universal concept or principle agreeable to all stakeholders involved in criminal cases which should be applicable across board. In minor offences amounting to misdemeanour, bail should be a right that is granted automatically. In cases of felonies with some degree of seriousness, bail should be granted with minimal conditions that will guarantee the attendance of the defendant in court for his trial. In cases with capital offences, such as murder, kidnapping, terrorism, treasonable felony, etc., bail should be granted based on the discretion of the court. Except in very exceptional cases, the prosecutor should never oppose bail, as a matter of standing policy.

ENSURING DILIGENT PROSECUTION

What on earth can you do as a prosecutor or defence attorney if the facts of the case are against you, or your witnesses are not available and when they do appear in court after a long period of time, they collapse like a pack of cards in court when put in the witness box? A major factor in criminal law practice and procedure is the efficiency of the prosecution built upon painstaking forensic investigation by the law enforcement agency in charge of the case. The law puts the sacred onus on the prosecution to prove the ingredients of the offence with which the defendant has been charged, in the absence or weakness of which the court will find for the defendant. This case failed mainly because PW2, the investigating police officer, did not appear to conclude his testimony. This ugly scenario is not strange in criminal trials at all. Some defendants, faced with the severity of the charge against them, the weight of evidence and witnesses assembled by the prosecution and the likelihood of a conviction, devise other extrajudicial means to frustrate the trial.

Naturally, some police officers get posted from one location to another as a routine procedure or they may be away on official assignments such as election monitoring, peace-keeping missions abroad, attending training school, writing promotion examinations, etc, but the IPO’s absence can also be manipulated by the defendant. In this case, the IPO had given his evidence in chief but he failed to appear for his cross-examination, the consequence of which was that his evidence was expunged and rendered weightless. It could also be true that the police officers fabricated the charges against the defendant upon his refusal to pay the sum of money demanded to secure the bail of the original suspect and being unable to defend his watery story, he absconded from his cross-examination.

Whichever is true, the gap in this case is that the police failed to work together as a team, or else the absence of a single police officer should not defeat the case of the prosecution, as any other officer in the investigation team is competent to take the witness stand to narrate the story to the court. As is the case with the EFCC and other latter-day prosecuting agencies, the prosecution should front-load as many witnesses as possible since they are not bound to call all the witnesses. It is, at best, a case of surplusage, which hurts no one in the course of trial.

Read Also: David v The people of Lagos State: Simplifying the bail process in criminal prosecution (I)

Whether Retrial Will be Ordered Where Criminal Trial Declared a Nullity:

Where a criminal trial has been declared a nullity, an order of retrial is not automatic. The discretion of the court in deciding whether to order a retrial must be exercised judicially and judiciously after a consideration of the entire facts of the case.

The Burden and Standard of Proof of Crime and How it is Discharged:

The duty of the prosecution in any criminal trial is to establish the guilt or culpability of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt. In order to discharge the burden, it is required to establish every ingredient or essential element of the offence charged. This requirement is predicated on the accused person’s presumption of innocence as guaranteed by section 36 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, (as amended). In the instant case, the finding of the Court of Appeal that the offences with which the appellant was charged and convicted by the trial court were not proved against him by the respondent was conclusive and the Court of Appeal should have discharged and acquitted him.

Proof of Crime and Resolution of Doubt in Criminal Trial:

Where there is a doubt as to the guilt of an accused person, the doubt must be resolved in favour of the accused.

Whether Court Can Convict on Evidence of Single Witness and Effect Where Commission of Crime not Proved:

Where the evidence adduced is credible, a conviction may be based on the evidence of a single witness. On the other hand, where, upon a consideration of the totality of the evidence before it, one of the ingredients of the offence is not proved or the court entertains some doubt as to the guilt of the accused, the doubt must be resolved in his favour as the prosecution would have failed to discharge the burden of proof placed on it. In the instant case, the Court of Appeal found that there was a breach of the appellant’s right to fair hearing arising from the inconclusive cross-examination of PW2, who was the investigating Police Officer from the Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad; PW2, a key witness for the respondent, had abandoned the case before he was cross-examined by the appellant’s counsel which situation, as rightly found by the Court of Appeal, rendered the entire proceedings before the trial court a nullity. The absence of PW2 was not the fault of the appellant and he should not be made to suffer for the inability of the prosecution to provide witnesses to conclude evidence in proof of its case against the appellant. The Court of Appeal was wrong not to have discharged and acquitted the appellant instead of making an order for a re-trial

Duty on Court Not to Speculate:

Courts of law have a duty not to speculate.

The Effect of Finding of Court not Appealed:

In an appeal, a finding of court not appealed against is deemed accepted as correct and binding on the parties and the court. In this case, the finding by the Court of Appeal that the prosecution did not prove the ingredients of the offence required to secure a conviction was not appealed against by the respondent. The finding was deemed accepted as correct and binding on the respondent and the court.

NOTABLE PRONOUNCEMENT:

Need for Courts Not to be Forum for Oppression but Rather a Temple of Justice:

Per UMAR, J.S.C. at page 113, paras. C-D:

“The courts should not be a forum of oppression, rather a temple of justice and fairness where the individual rights of litigants are protected within the ambit of the law. It will counter the spirit of justice to continue to retry an accused in whom no guile is found for there must be an end to litigation.”

CONCLUSION

The injustice of this and other cases of its kind is that the police officers involved got away with their acts of injustice to the appellant, who spent a gruesome 17 years defending a trumped-up charge of armed robbery simply because he refused to pay the sums of money demanded for the bail of the suspect that he originally stood for as his surety. There will likely be other victims such as the appellant, who may still be in custody or facing trial at the instance of crooked police officers or investigators. The Police Service Commission and the other levels of authority in charge of the police should take this case as the justification for a drastic overhaul of the system to rid it of corrupt elements whose conduct dents the image of the force.

An Imam and humanity’s true definition

By Suyi Ayodele

A Muslim friend, at the weekend, drew my attention to a 58-second video of how Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) responded to the woman who daily hauled debris at the Prophet whenever he passed by her house.

According to the narrator, the woman, who lived in Mecca during the time of the Great Prophet (PBUH), disliked the Prophet so much that every morning, whenever the Prophet passed by her house, she would throw debris at the man. The Prophet, the narrator said, would silently walk through the debris, saying nothing. That act went on for a long time. 

Then one day, Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) walked by the woman’s house and he noticed that nobody threw any debris at him. The Prophet found that unusual and asked about the woman. A neighbour told the Prophet that the woman was sick. There, on the spot, the Prophet entered the woman’s house to inquire about her health.

The woman, upon sighting Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), was said to have broken down in tears and asked: “You came to help me, even after all I did to you?” The Prophet’s response is my key point here: “Yes. Kindness, my way.” The Prophet responded! The video ended. I asked those knowledgeable about Islam what happened thereafter, and I was told that the woman became the most adherent follower of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH) and his teachings.

Because of the way and manner, the Islamic religion was introduced to my part of the country in the 19th century, the people responded to the new faith with a lot of resentment. They labelled the practitioners of the religion as ìmòle (people of religion of force). Converting many of the people to Islam became a herculean task.

The adherents of the religion, too, did not relent. A lot of efforts were made to disabuse the minds of the people about the religion, its tenets and outlook. One of such efforts resulted in the composition of the following lyrics:

E má pe Mùsùlùmí ló ni ìmòle – Don’t call Muslims as people of religion of force

Èsìn àlááfià kìi se ìmòle – A religion of peace is not a religion of force

Ení bá pe Mùsùlùmí ló ni ìmòle – Whoever calls Muslims as people of religion of force

Kò kéwú, kògbedè aláìmòkan ni – Is he who does not learn Quranic recitation, nor understands Arabic, a complete ignoramus

The above is known as Waka in Yoruba Language. The Islamic-oriented Yoruba music genre was introduced to convince the people then that contrary to the perceived forceful nature that generation of adherents of Islam adopted in selling the new faith to the people, the religion is peaceful after all.

Waka, therefore, became a praise song to sermonise the peaceful nature of the religion, and the fact that whatever negative connotations ascribed to it were fuelled more by ignorance than the reality of the nature of the religion. It is mostly sung during crusades known as Waasi, and other social gatherings where Islamic scholars of yore often quoted relevant verses of the Quran to show that the religion does not allow anyone to kill anybody based on his or her faith.

 In our contemporary time, nothing demonstrates the message contained in the lyrics more than the 2018 episode in Nghar village in Barkin Ladi Local Government Area of Plateau State, where an Islamic leader and Chief Imam of the village, Imam Abdullahi Abubakar, saved the lives of 262 Christians who were on the verge of being killed by some Islamic fundamentalists.

Imam Abdullahi Abubakar, who died on Thursday, January 15, 2026, at the ripe age of 92, was 84 years old when he risked all he had to save the lives of the Christians in his community. The story of Imam Abubakar’s heroic deed went global. Ten communities in the locality were under attack during the June 2018 crisis in Plateau State.

Gunmen who claimed to be Islamic fundamentalists subjected the Christian communities in the area to untold hardship. Many were pursued and killed in brutal manners. The news of the attack spread like wildfire. When it got to Nghar village, Imam Abubakar did what the Holy writ, Quaran, stipulates in Quran 68:8, to wit: Non-Muslims of goodwill and peace should not be targets of war simply due to their faith.

While other people in the village shut their doors against the fleeing Christians who had suddenly become endangered, Imam Abubakar opened not just the doors of his mosque, but those of his home to shield the would-be victims from their attackers.

I have tried to picture the situation in my mind. I have tried to imagine a frail-looking 84-year-old man standing by the door, talking to gun-wielding men and some others carrying other lethal weapons. What was he telling them? How did he summon the courage to hide those 262 Christians? What verse of the Quran did he recite to convince the murderous crowd?

Again, and more importantly, what if the attackers had overpowered him? What would have been the fate of members of his immediate family who were equally holed up in the mosque and the house where the fleeing Christians were quartered? Who takes such a risk Imam Abubakar took when he refused to surrender the victims to their attackers even when he came under direct threat of the assailants?

One account of that incident stated that Imam Abubakar told the assailants that, having sought refuge in his mosque and home, the Christians inside had automatically become Muslims and the Holy Prophet, Mohammed (PBUH), forbade anyone to kill them. He was said to have further argued with the bloodthirsty assailants that the Christians running into the mosque and his home could be likened to the holy flight of Prophet Mohammed (PBUH), from Mecca to Medina, adding that Islam supports the concept of asylum. How persuasive could an 84-year-old man be?

Tragically, about 80 other Christians who could not make it to Imam Abubakar’s abode were mercilessly slaughtered by their attackers. If the Islamic cleric had not risked his life for the ones who sought refuge in his house, the casualty figure would have been 342 souls lost to cold hands of death in the hands of those who claimed to be fighting Allah’s battle! What a beautiful soul Imam Abubakar was!

While reflecting on Imam Abdullahi Abubakar’s life and times, two issues defined his heroic deed of June 2018. The first is humanity, and the second is patriotism. On the issue of humanity, especially as preached by many great Islamic scholars,

This narrative is the real definition of humanity. Humanity without a touch of kindness amounts to bestiality. The Holy Prophet (PBUH) says: Yes. Kindness my way”, no matter the circumstance. Only a man with milk of kindness would risk his life for the safety of people of a different faith the way Imam Abdullahi Abubakar did in 2018. There is no record to show that he was lettered. He was simply a man convinced about the tenets of his faith

Today, in the same Nigeria where Imam Abubakar lived and died, we have professors and PhD holders, who, if they found themselves in the position of Imam Abubakar, would have supplied the machetes for the mass slaughtering of the 262 Christians the Imam saved.

And we should get this right: Imam Abubakar did not protect those hundreds of Christians because they were Christians. He protected them because the milk of kindness, which epitomises humanity, runs in his veins. If Imam Abubakar were to hail from my part of this country, his name would have been: Ìwàlèsìn (Character is religion). Only a man of character, not faith, does what the Islamic leader did. Little wonder he lived to a very good ripe age amid his people. Isiah the prophet says: “Tell the righteous it will be well with them, for they will enjoy the fruit of their deeds” (Isaiah 3:10). That prophecy, I submit here, is fulfilled in Imam Abubakar!

And this brings us to the late Imam’s sense of patriotism. Reflecting deeply on that June 2018 heroic deed, I concluded that the late Abdullahi Abubakar’s sense of patriotism must have been top-notch! One could imagine the ripple effects if he had allowed the attackers access to their would-be victims. How would the people from the ethnic stock of the victims have reacted?

Patriotism goes beyond the denotative implication of ‘one being devoted to or supportive of one’s country’. It entails giving all for the betterment of one’s nation. Sadly, this is the most important quality our leaders lack. Beyond singing the National Anthem and reciting the National Pledge, our leaders have nothing speaking for them in terms of patriotism. That is why they don’t blink while pilfering our patrimony.

Nigeria today is a Federal Republic because some men and women fought a gruesome 30-month civil war to keep the nation one. During that war (May 1967-January 1970), over two million Nigerians were killed on both sides of the divide (Nigeria and Biafra). To commemorate the sad event, a day was set aside on January 15 of every year to honour the memories of those who paid the supreme price for Nigeria to be one.

Known as Armed Forces Remembrance Day, this year’s own was celebrated without the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Nigerian Armed Forces, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, being present. Pray, which nation celebrates its Armed Forces Remembrance Day without its C-in-C in attendance? That is how unpatriotic our leaders could be!

The argument advanced for the absence of the President at such a national memorial event is that he was in a foreign country on an assignment for the economy of the nation. But like the proverbial crab and its-three-year-labour at the mill without its palm oil filling a small tin (Odún méta tí alákàn ti ńse epo, kò kún agolo, òfo ló já sí) what has been the benefits of the numerous globe-trotting by President Tinubu since he assumed office in 2023?

Good enough that Tinubu remembered to pay tribute, despite his ‘tight schedule’ overseas, to Imam Abubakar at his passing. It is incumbent on us, therefore, to impose it on the President that it is not enough to use flowery words to describe the late Islamic leader as a man who “stood firmly on the side of peace, benevolence, and conscience”, choosing “humanity over division, love as opposed to hatred, and embrace rather than rejection.”

President Tinubu should walk the talk by showing that level of ‘benevolence’ displayed by Imam Abubakar. The President should have pity on the hapless citizens who suffer daily under the weight of the traumatic economic policies of his administration. He should save Nigerians from imminent deaths from hunger and starvation the way Imam Abubakar rescued those 262 Nigerians from the jaws of death. That is humanity; that is kindness.

Tinubu should also stand on the side of good ‘conscience’, be humane and also ‘exemplify’ “the kind of humanity and moral courage” Imam Abubakar exhibited by staying focused in confronting the problems bedevilling this nation. The greatest tribute our President can pay to Imam Abubakar is to halt his decoyed medical tourism and the vomitous act of disappearing without notifying the people as if he were not elected by human beings. Even if he has succeeded in capturing the nation and its people, President Tinubu should stop flaunting that at our faces all the time!

Imam Abdullahi Abubakar died a hero. His children and relations alike should be consoled that, in addition to reaching a ripe age, their patriarch represented the true definition of humanity. Theirs is a glorious and proud heritage! In my small library are two portraits of my father and my father-in-law, two men whose deeds indicated that humanity exists. I am adding a third portrait, and you can guess whose it would be: Imam Abdullahi Abubakar, the Grand Humanity of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (GHFRN). He showed us what humanity looks like in its physical form! Rest on, Imam Abdullahi Abubakar.

The views expressed by contributors are strictly personal and not of Law & Society Magazine.

Okutepa drags Qatar Airways over alleged visa deceit, abandonment, and wrongful denial of boarding

Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Chief Jibrin S. Okutepa, has dragged Qatar Airways before the Federal High Court in Abuja, accusing the airline of contractual breach, negligence, and what he describes as “unconscionable and oppressive” treatment that left him stranded across two continents.

In a suit filed on January 19, 2026, Okutepa alleges that Qatar Airways failed to honour multiple representations tied to a business-class Abuja–Toronto–Abuja ticket purchased for his attendance at the 2025 International Bar Association (IBA) Annual Conference in Canada.

According to court documents, the senior lawyer paid for the ticket after receiving promotional emails from the airline advertising a package that included transit visa assistance for Doha, hotel accommodation during stopovers, and related travel support. Okutepa says those representations formed the basis of a binding contract of carriage between himself and the airline.

The suit claims that after payment, Qatar Airways requested documents to process the promised transit visa and later issued confirmations, including a Stopover for the Purpose of Connection (STPC) receipt, detailing hotel bookings in Doha. However, the airline allegedly failed to process or provide the transit visa despite repeated assurances.

On October 29, 2025, Okutepa was reportedly checked in without issue at Abuja’s Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport and boarded the Doha-bound flight after ground staff assured him the visa would be ready upon arrival. That assurance, the suit alleges, proved false.

Upon landing in Doha, Okutepa says he was informed that no transit visa had been processed, forcing him to endure an overnight eight-hour layover at the airport without access to hotel accommodation. He claims to have incurred over $500 in feeding and incidental expenses as a result.

The ordeal allegedly worsened on his return journey. After completing his participation at the IBA conference in Toronto, Okutepa says Qatar Airways staff at Toronto Pearson International Airport refused to check him in for the return flight on November 10, 2025, citing the same missing transit visa—despite the airline’s earlier assurances that visa processing was its responsibility.

The plaintiff claims that all appeals, including to the airline’s station manager, were rejected. When he requested a ticket amendment to avoid transiting through Doha, the airline allegedly demanded a $5,000 fee. Upon his refusal to pay, Okutepa says he was denied boarding entirely and abandoned at the airport without alternative travel arrangements.

Left stranded, he says he paid for an overnight stay at a Toronto airport hotel before purchasing a fresh Ethiopian Airlines business-class ticket costing over $3,600 to return to Nigeria.

In the suit, Okutepa accuses Qatar Airways of negligence, breach of duty of care, wrongful denial of boarding, and unfair trade practices. He further alleges that the airline’s conduct reflects a pattern of treating Nigerian passengers with “scorn, contempt and indignity,” in violation of basic corporate governance and international aviation standards.

Among the reliefs sought are multiple declaratory orders, a public apology to be published nationally and on the airline’s website, refunds and special damages exceeding $7,000, ₦500 million in general damages, $500,000 in exemplary damages, interest at 21 percent, and ₦50 million in legal costs.

The suit also seeks a court order compelling Qatar Airways to publicly commit to improved customer care, compliance with international best practices, and responsible corporate conduct.

As of the time of filing, the airline had allegedly failed to respond to a formal pre-action demand letter sent by Okutepa’s lawyers.

The case is expected to test the obligations of international carriers operating in Nigeria and could have far-reaching implications for passenger rights, airline accountability, and consumer protection in cross-border air travel.

Court of Appeal deploys 40 Justices to Lagos in major push to clear backlog of 360 cases

In an unprecedented move to tackle mounting delays in Nigeria’s appellate system, the Court of Appeal has deployed 40 justices to Lagos for a special sitting aimed at clearing a backlog of appeals, with 360 cases listed for hearing before 16 panels.

The special session, which began on Monday, is part of activities marking the Court of Appeal’s 50th anniversary and reflects what the court described as a deliberate and sustained effort to improve efficiency in the administration of justice.

Presiding over the session, the President of the Court of Appeal (PCA), Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, said Lagos—Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre—generates an unusually heavy volume of litigation, making proactive intervention necessary to ease congestion and reduce prolonged delays.

According to her, the 16 panels were constituted from justices drawn from different divisions of the Court of Appeal across the country. The panels will sit throughout the week at both the Lagos Division of the Court of Appeal and the National Industrial Court Complex.

Justice Dongban-Mensem noted that the exercise required significant institutional sacrifice, as several divisions across the country were left with reduced judicial strength to ensure the success of the Lagos sitting. She urged legal practitioners to treat the exercise with seriousness and ensure that all appeals scheduled for hearing were fully prepared.

Recalling a previous special sitting where several cases could not proceed due to poor preparation by counsel, the PCA warned against unnecessary delays, stressing that the exercise was strictly for work and not a ceremonial or leisure engagement.

“This sitting is not a vacation. It is a deliberate effort to work,” she said, urging lawyers to carefully review their court processes and eliminate any defects capable of stalling proceedings.

Justice Dongban-Mensem also commended the Lagos State Government, particularly the Office of the Attorney-General, for providing critical logistical support, noting that the court’s limited resources would not have been sufficient to accommodate the large number of justices deployed for the exercise.

She further acknowledged the National Industrial Court for making available courtroom facilities and residential accommodation for the visiting justices, describing the collaboration as a reflection of collective goodwill within the judiciary.

Beyond case management, the PCA cautioned against actions capable of eroding public confidence in the justice system, warning that loss of faith in the judiciary could fuel lawlessness and undermine the rule of law.

Speaking on behalf of the Bar, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, described the special sitting as historic and unprecedented for the Lagos Bar. He assured the court of the Bar’s full cooperation to ensure speedy and efficient hearings, noting that the exercise was in the best interest of both legal practitioners and litigants.

Adegboruwa also congratulated the Court of Appeal on its golden jubilee, highlighting persistent funding and infrastructure challenges facing the judiciary, and pledged continued collaboration between the Bar and the Bench to strengthen Nigeria’s justice system.

‘The Last Emperor of Fashion’:  Valentino Garavani, legendary Italian designer who defined modern couture, dies at 93

Valentino Garavani, the last of the great 20th-century couturiers whose designs clothed royalty, Hollywood icons and global high society, has died at the age of 93.

His death was announced Monday by the Fondazione Valentino Garavani e Giancarlo Giammetti, which said the designer passed away peacefully at his home in Rome, surrounded by family.

Often referred to simply as “Valentino,” Garavani ranked alongside Giorgio Armani and Karl Lagerfeld at the pinnacle of global fashion. His creations were worn by some of the most famous women of the last century, including Elizabeth Taylor, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, Nancy Reagan, Julia Roberts, Sharon Stone, Gwyneth Paltrow and Cate Blanchett.

The foundation said Valentino will lie in state at Piazza Mignanelli from January 21 to 22, with his funeral scheduled for January 23 at the Basilica of Saint Mary of the Angels and Martyrs in Rome.

Born in Lombardy in May 1932, Valentino moved to Paris at just 17 to study at the Chambre Syndicale de la Couture Parisienne. He later worked under fashion legends including Jacques Fath, Cristóbal Balenciaga, Jean Dessès and Guy Laroche before founding his namesake fashion house in 1960 alongside his longtime business partner and confidant, Giancarlo Giammetti.

Valentino quickly became synonymous with luxury, opulence and elegance, building a global empire defined by structured silhouettes, lavish fabrics and his signature hue—“Valentino red.” Inspired by a trip to Spain, the colour became the house’s defining symbol and cemented its place in fashion history. For his final runway collection in 2007, every model appeared in red for the closing finale.

His work bridged aristocracy and celebrity at a time when monarchy was fading and mass media was rising. He dressed Jacqueline Kennedy for her marriage to Aristotle Onassis in 1968, designed the outfit Farah Diba wore while fleeing Iran after the fall of the Shah in 1979, and created the gown Bernadette Chirac wore when her husband was sworn in as French president in 1995.

Valentino’s designs also became etched into pop-culture history: Elizabeth Taylor’s feather-trimmed column gown at the Rome premiere of Spartacus in 1960, Julia Roberts’ black-and-white Oscar gown in 2001, and Cate Blanchett’s one-shouldered yellow silk taffeta dress when she won an Academy Award in 2005.

Dubbed “the Sheik of Chic” by fashion editor John Fairchild and “the last emperor” in a 2008 documentary of the same name, Valentino cultivated an image of unapologetic glamour. Perpetually tanned, impeccably groomed and often trailed by a retinue of aides and pugs, he embodied the La Dolce Vita ideal that defined postwar Italian elegance.

“In Italy, there is the Pope — and there is Valentino,” Walter Veltroni, then mayor of Rome, famously said in 2005.

Unlike designers driven by provocation or trend-setting, Valentino remained devoted to beauty and discipline. “I always look for beauty, beauty,” he told Charlie Rose in 2009. “I try to make my girls look sensational,” he said in a 2007 interview with The New York Times.

Beyond couture, Valentino and Giammetti helped secure Italy’s place in the elite world of Parisian fashion, paving the way for brands such as Armani and Versace. The Valentino label became the first designer brand listed on the Milan Stock Exchange and achieved what few fashion houses manage—a graceful transition beyond its founder’s time on the runway.

In December 2023, Valentino was honoured with the Outstanding Achievement Award at the British Fashion Awards at London’s Royal Albert Hall, a final public tribute to a man whose vision shaped global fashion for more than half a century.

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