The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Enquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS related abuses and other matters Tuesday delivered its first judgment: it dismissed a petitioner’s N300million compensation claim.

Panel chair Judge emeritus Doris Okuwobi came down hard on the petition, filed by Mr Bonu Pascal against the Federal Special Anti-robbery Squad (FSARS), on the ground that it was a ‘judicial trap’ intended to deceive the tribunal.

The panel had been sitting since November 3, and had yet to conclude any of its 210 petitions.

Pascal’s petition, the fourth on the day’s list was filed on Monday.

It sought the Tribunal’s assistance to recover the N300m judgment sum awarded Paschal as compensation for the 2018 killing of one Jimoh Kehinde.

The sum was awarded against the police in 2018 by Justice Rilwan Aikawa of the Federal High Court in Lagos, but was subsequently reviewed downwards on appeal.

Before the petition could be heard, Police counsel Joseph Ebosereme raised a preliminary objection.

He informed the panel that the matter was already the subject of a civil suit that had been litigated up to the Supreme Court, before which it was pending.

“It is an abuse of court process presenting a matter already pending before a competent court. It amounts to double jeopardy in our constitution,” the police lawyer said.

According to him, the petitioner was aware that the N300m judgment debt had been slashed by the Court of Appeal in Lagos.

“The police filed an appeal, judgment was delivered at the Court of Appeal reducing the amount from N300m to N30million,” Ebosereme said.

He informed the panel that the Police had even approached the Supreme Court to further challenge that decision.

The counsel explained that Paschal attempted to enforce the judgment by obtaining a garnishee order nisi from Justice Aikawa.

“We’ve applied that the garnishee order be set aside too,” Ebosereme said.

He added: “They are canvassing seriously that they want to garnishee N300m and then come back and garnishee N30m. They have invariably increased the judgment sum to N330m. My lord it is high time counsel are warned so that they will stop to deceive the court. This is deliberate. This is deliberate.”

He prayed the panel to dismiss the petition, arguing that “If this panel allows this petition, it will affect the matter that is pending in court. It will the open the floodgates. All matters before courts will come before the panel. We’re praying that the petition be struck out.”

But applicant’s counsel Olalekan Ghazzali opposed him. He contended, among others, that Paschal had a right to be heard.

In a bench ruling, Justice Okuwobi upheld Ebosereme’s argument that the petition was an abuse of process.

She said:” On the reply of the petitioner’s counsel that it is within the petitioner’s right….to present its petition, this panel must subject itself to the jurisdiction of the appellate court and must not attempt to take any proceedings which will overreach the decision of the appellate court.

“The fact that there is a pending appeal at the Supreme Court against Appeal CAL/91A/2018 IGP vs Bruno..& Anor, is clearly established by the notice of appeal dated 7th October 2020. There is also an application in court for the setting aside of the garnishee order made by Aikawa J of the Federal High Court.

“For the petitioner in his petition to seek redress for restitution against police brutality and enforcement of the judgment sum in the petitioner’s favour by requesting for enforcement of N300m, is a grave abuse of process of court.

“The enrolled judgment of the Court of Appeal reducing the judgment to N30m is crystal clear and the petitioner’s counsel (Olukoya) Ogungbeje Esq was before the Court of Appeal when the judgment was delivered. To now (petition) for enforcement of N300m is a grave misrepresentation and non-disclosure of the actual state of affairs with the case. The notice of appeal to the Supreme Court was endorsed in the first place by… Olukoya Ogungbeje Esq. I find that the…documentary evidence before the court so glaring that the process before the court is one that constitutes serious abuse.

“The panel cannot be called upon to secure obedience to a judgment which has been varied by the appeal court and subject to a further appeal to the Supreme Court.

“The attempt to pull a wool over the eyes of the panel is respectfully resisted by the respondents. On the whole we find this petition lacking in merit and one intended to put the panel on a collision course with proceedings pending before appellate courts. We will not fall into this judicial trap. The petition is incompetent, lacking in merit, and accordingly hereby dismissed for being an abuse of process of court.”

The federal government will review conventional ways of handling security challenges, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo said Tuesday.

The vice-president who was reacting to last weekend’s massacre of 43 farmers on their farms in Borno State by Boko Haram, made this remark in Lafia, while on a one-day official visit to Nasarawa State.
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Answering questions from reporters on the development, Osinbajo echoed the president who had earlier described the Boko Haram insurgents who killed the farmers as insane.

According to a statement by his media aide, Mr. Laolu Akande, Osinbajo described the attack as tragic.

He said: “As the President said, this group of people have acted insanely in such a dastardly manner, killing innocent people, people who had gone to their farms to work.

“I spoke to the Governor, Governor Babagana Zulum and the former Governor, Senator Kashim Shettima to express my condolence, but more importantly, to try and think through ways of dealing with this kind of random attacks.

“It’s important to understand also that we will probably need to keep reviewing the conventional means of dealing with some of these issues, these security challenges, especially the randomness, which is why the president has said that he is taking a serious look at how to deal with the issues, especially the randomness.

“Some insane persons go into a place and shoots people, that is not the sort of thing that you are prepared for conventionally.

“We have to do a lot more local intelligence and some of the community policing efforts we are planning on, so that information is supplied faster, especially at the local level and then a reaction will then be possible.

“”It is a major tragedy; it’s a very unfortunate thing and our hearts are with the family of those who were killed in such a terrible manner.

“We are very confident and the Federal Government will continue to do what it needs to do especially in terms of trying to ensure security in the Northeast and all over Nigeria.”(thenigerialawyer)

Former Ekiti state governor, Ayo Fayose, has reacted to the decision of the House of Representatives to invite President Buhari over the worsening security situation in Nigeria. 

Reacting via his tweets, Fayose said the lawmakers demanding the citation should expect EFCC invitation, freezing of their accounts, or arrest.

His tweet reads

”I will be surprised if the President honours the House of Reps invitation. The National Assembly that is supposed to be representing the people should know by now that in the eyes of this President, they only exist on paper because they are mere toothless bull dogs.

Some of those Rep members at the forefront of the invitation of the President to appear before the House should expect EFCC invitation, freezing of their accounts or arrest for plotting to bring down legitimate government of the President. I warned.”

Thepoduimmedia

Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai, on Monday, regretted a situation where a sizeable number of officers of the Nigeria Police Force who should be fighting criminal elements in the country are involved in non-police duties like carrying the bags of the wives of Very Important Personalities.

El-Rufai also expressed frustration over the incessant killings in his state, adding that the situation at hand has overwhelmed the police.

There are over 300,000 policemen in the country but a number of them are attached to VIPs and government officials.

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, in an apparent move to boost the Force responsiveness to crime, had earlier in the month ordered the withdrawal of policemen attached to 60 VIPs.

El-Rufai, therefore, urged the National Assembly to consider amending the 1999 Constitution to enable states to have their own police.

The governor argued that since the state governments fund the operational cost of the police, it is clear that they have the capacity to run the force.

El-Rufai stated this while featuring on Channels Television’s Police Today programme.

According to him, “We’ve always made a very strong argument that one centralised police in a federation does not work. Nigeria is the only country in the world that is a federation that has only one police force.

“We have made the argument that states should be allowed to have their own police and that even local governments should be allowed to have their own community policing.

“The number of policemen we have in Nigeria is inadequate; it is less than half of what we need and a lot of them are engaged in non-police duties like carrying the handbags of the wives of very important people.

“We need to have a large footprint of policing in Nigeria and the only way to achieve that in a fast-track manner is to amend the constitution and put police on the concurrent list as recommended by the APC True Federalism Committee so that we have more policing.

“In any case today, more state governments are responsible for the running cost of the police. The Federal Government only pays the salaries of the policemen but the running cost, the logistics, their vehicles, their fuel are all the responsibilities of state governments.

“So, what are we afraid of? Let us just amend the constitution and allow state policing and in fact, go further and allow the local governments to have their own police. That way, we will have more security footprints.” (tgnews)

The singer was taking a good-time sound to the world – but after his song Fem became the anthem of the EndSars protesters, he joined them on the streets

have blown the African dance-pop genre on to the global stage over the last decade; his songs have become the feelgood soundtrack of Nigeria’s nightlife, and made him one of his continent’s biggest pop stars.

Yet “Fem”, meaning “shut up” in pidgin, has taken on a different meaning. Last month, Lagos governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu pleaded with EndSars protesters, who had taken a stand against police brutality. The largest protest movement in Nigeria for decades had erupted, incensed at the abuses by the infamous and since disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad (Sars). As the protesters outside the government secretariat in Lagos grew impatient, a DJ at the demonstration suddenly played Fem, already a hit across the country. Scores began belting out his lyrics, drowning out the governor’s futile pleas. In a culture where reverence for authority figures can be brutally enforced, protesters recast the song into a defiant statement.

“It was crazy watching it,” Davido reflects from his home in Banana Island, a luxury property enclave in Lagos. “I never expected it would turn out as it did, but the song has an energy that spoke to people.” Prizes and plaques line the shelves and walls of his home. His hit songs tend to focus on love, lust and party life; he is the son of one of Nigeria’s richest men, the energy, farming and manufacturing magnate Adedeji Adeleke. Yet in recent years, a fraught period in Nigerian life – with a worsening economy plunging millions into poverty and unrest alongside increasing government repression – has impelled even the more apolitical voices such as Davido to speak out, forcing a breezy, larger-than-life figure into an unfamiliar space.

Like many in Nigeria, he supported the EndSars protest movement and marched with protesters to meet police chiefs. Many lauded his involvement but some protesters were critical, wary of police attempts to make deals with unappointed protest representatives. Other artists, such as Burna Boy, attracted criticism for being slow to speak out in support of the protests. In a charged and complicated climate, artists have needed to work out how best to express themselves.

“For any artist, as you grow, you find your voice,” he says. “People know me for being that guy – the life of the scene – but we’re in mad times. You can’t be happy with how things are going.” When he watched the news footage of Nigerian soldiers shooting at hundreds of protesters in the Lekki area of Lagos, “I was just at home crying,” he says.

He acknowledges his privilege, ensconced in Banana Island, and travelling with his own security detail. “It’s not something we experience – it’s not the rich they’re doing this to. The masses, they’re the ones bearing it. It has to stop. Why should police be abusing people when they should be protecting them? It doesn’t make sense. You hear the atrocities these guys commit, it’s crazy. They should get justice, but look at what is happening.”

The EndSars protests are inspiring – you see how people are affected, feeling angry, refusing to just take itDavido

He reflects on police brutality incidents in the US where he was born – “It’s a global thing … I’m just tired.” But he wants to continue to speak out for change, too. Further fuelling him is elevating Africa’s music scene around the world. “What really drives me now is leaving a legacy. You see artists like Fela who challenged the system, his sons are still making music, his album covers sell for thousands of dollars. People still look to him now.”

Like Fela Kuti before them, Davido and his peers are taking their country’s music way beyond its borders, with Nigeria’s Wizkid, Tiwa Savage, Burna Boy and Mr Eazi also signed to major international labels. They and others have created a golden age for Afrobeats, a broad term that threads various African pop styles with R&B, dancehall and more, and differs from Fela Kuti’s polyrhythmic Afrobeat. Collaborations alongside British and American superstars, less common a decade ago, are now normal: Davido’s new album features songs with Nicki Minaj, Nas, Lil Baby and Chris Brown. High-profile projects such as Beyoncé’s The Lion King: The Gift album, meanwhile – made with musicians from across Africa – are released at a time when African Americans are increasingly exploring their African origins prior to slavery, and capitalising on the cultural appeal of African collaborations.

Despite being born in the US where he was schooled between stays in Lagos, this recent cultural capital for African music and fashion in the west is both satisfying and bemusing to Davido. “When we were kids, Africans were made fun of. When I was going to Nigeria for holidays people would joke, like: Africa, how are you getting there, by boat? But now they’re the ones coming here. Everyone wants what we bring to the table.”Advertisement

The interest has not translated to major chart success for him in the US or UK yet, though A Better Life debuted in the US Billboard 200 for the first time, and he sold out London’s O2 Arena in January 2019. A quest for validation in the west has pitfalls, he says. “When I first signed to Sony in 2016 that was kind of my aim, to get validation from the western world,” he says. “I wanted plaques, and to go No 1 all over.” Yet creative control was a battle, when breaking America often meant compromise. “Sometimes this pressure to make music that will be popular elsewhere makes you do things differently, but really you have to make the world come to you. My biggest single in the US is Fall, which I did by myself, not with all the features with US artists. It’s local, it’s Nigeria. You realise that’s what people in different parts of the world appreciate: being yourself.”

Since his first album in 2011, Omo Baba Olowo (“child of a rich father” in Yoruba), he has spent much of his time in the US and touring around the world, but the pandemic has brought his schedule to a standstill, largely grounding him in Lagos. “I did a wedding in Ghana – just for a friend, just missing not being able to perform,” he says. “For you to just stop performing, in the life of a musician, the life of an entertainer – it’s just crazy. But there’s nothing we can do.”

Brand endorsements and investing in African tech companies has helped plug the financial loss, while being in Nigeria has rooted him: “I have different sounds on this album, don’t get me wrong, but also it felt like musically I was bringing it back home.” He, like thousands who have marched in the streets, are now figuring out what they want that home to look like. “The protests are inspiring, really,” he says. “You see how people are affected, coming out, just feeling angry, hurt by everything, refusing to just take it. It should be a thing of hope for the country.”

• A Better Time is out now on Sony Music.

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Former Senate President, Anyim Pius Anyim, has called for prayers for Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, who he believes is currently in the firm grips of some evil forces, while urging the governor’s relations to find a way of helping him out also.

It was a way Anyim, who was until May 29, 2015 the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), responded to the governor’s recent allegation that Anyim and others were planning to cause mayhem in his state using the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

Umahi, who also named former governor of the state, Sam Egwu and Senator Obinna Ogba in the said plot, warned the top politicians, all members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) not to undertake the project, as it would be the last fight they would ever engage with any government in the state.

But in a lengthy treatise on the matter, Open letter to Governor David Umahi on his wild, infantile, and utterly senseless accusations against my person, Anyim claimed that the situation had gotten so bad that the forces were probably demanding for the blood of high profile personality in the state as a sacrifice for him to attain his current ambition.

Umahi, currently serving his second term, after winning again last year on the platform of the PDP, recently defected to the All Progressive Congress (APC), the ruling party at the centre in what has been interpreted in certain quarters as part of his ambition to pursue his presidential ambition.

Stressing his belief that the governor was on verge of spilling blood to drive his ambition, Anyim, warned those he planned to use for the project, to be wary of the consequences as he would not only abandon them, but also work for their elimination in the end to cover his track.

Hear him: “It is clear that Gov. Umahi may have been told that he needs to kill a high-profile person in order to achieve his mad ambition. Ebonyians should be wise and those he is preparing to use for the killings should know that after using them he will also plan to kill them to cover his track. Examples abound.”

Promising to continue to pray for the governor, who he claimed to have “picked up, the former SGF, also admonished government officials at the federal level, particularly the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami, not to get involved in any sordid affair in the state in order not to soil his name.

Anyim wrote: Security agencies, the Honourable Attorney General of the Federation and Judges should note that Gov. Umahi had boasted as follows: That one of the gains of his defection is that he has been promised absolute use of the security agencies for all that he desires to do. 

• That the Hon. Attorney General of the Federation is his friend and will soon visit Abakaliki the second time and that he will use him to deal with those opposed to him using the EFCC.
•  That he will extensively use the courts to not only make it impossible for PDP to function in the state but also to frustrate those opposed to him including sending them to prison.

“My advice is that all those concerned should be wary of Gov. Umahi so that he will not taint their soul and ruin their careers, because all his actions and schemes have black sides. 

“To notify the public that I fully understand that what Umahi meant by  *“this will be the last fight I will fight”, is that he will kill me so that I will not live to fight again*. While I invite the security agencies to note this plan, I want to assure Gov. Umahi that my blood is not available for him in pursuit of his ambition. 

“To assure the street dinner Governor that no amount of blackmail or intimidation will compel any of us to follow him. Gov. Umahi should know that there is a record of those who died mysteriously, violently, and those who just disappeared since he became governor of Ebonyi State. On my own part, I will continue to pray for him to recover from his delusion.”

Source Whirlwindnews.com