Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN

I have just read the press release by the Spokesperson to the Governor of Osun State, Mallam Olawale Rasheed.

Governments at all levels and the general public should not allow bloggers and internet idlers to mislead them to unnecessarily harrass, villify and attack the judiciary through dissemination of half truths and outright lies.

The report that the prisoner was convicted and sentenced to death for stealing a fowl is a pure lie and cheap blackmail that was packaged with a view to secure freedom for the prisoner through a backdoor.

The prisoner was a member of a notorious gang of armed robbers that were terrorising the people of Odo-Otin local government area of Osun State before he was arrested, arraigned and tried before the high court of Osun State where he was convicted and sentenced to death by hanging. It was very fair trial and there was no appeal against the judgement since same was delivered about 14 years ago.

It must be made clear that I am not disputing the right of any Governor or even the President to grant pardon to any convict as same is a constitutional provision. However, it is unconstitutional for any Governor or President to investigate the circumstances under which any judge delivered his judgement and or the reason(s) and or proprietary or otherwise of the judgement. The executive lacks such powers. It is a clear usurpation of the powers vested in the judiciary by the Constitution.

It is always deeply traumatic whenever Judges are being bullied and harrassed on the internet for performing their lawful duties, moreso when such attacks are even premised on falsehood and rumours.

We must avoid exposing our Judges to dangers and risk of being attacked by criminals which can lead to loss of lives.

Governor Ademola Adeleke of Osun has unlimited powers to set free the convict in question and any other convicts for that matter without any reason, but that unconstitutional investigation must be stopped fortwith. It is my hope that the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of Osun State shall properly advise his principal on this matter.

Dated 18th December, 2024

Mutalubi Ojo Adebayo, SAN
Asiwaju of Ita-Ege & Idi-Aro,
Ward 5,
Ibadan South-East Local Area of Oyo State, and
Agbaofin of Orile-Igbon,
Surulere Local Government Area of
Oyo State
Email- [email protected]
+2348033275495
+2348181585848

With the recent revelation from the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) that about N2.23 trillion was paid in the last 12 months as ransom in Nigeria, public affairs analysts reckon that this figure may exceed the transaction value of the trans-Atlantic slave trade.

Perhaps, African historians and statisticians will provide answers in due time.

In his reflections on the matter, Chris Kwaja, a Senior Lecturer and Researcher said: “With an estimated N2.22 trillion reportedly paid as ransom between January and November 2024 in Nigeria, it means the ‘the ransom economy’ sucked the country dry.

“Unfortunately, it raises two troubling questions. First, the role of the CBN in the drive towards a cashless economy, in the midst of the ‘ransom economy’, that is evidently surviving on ‘cash transfers.’

“Second, the unseen hands of government agents and other persons/groups involved in mediating between ransom givers and ransom collectors. This is huge pandora box that must be frontally confronted.”

The NBS disclosed on Tuesday that about 51,887,032 crime incidences were experienced by households nationally between May 2023 and April 2024.

According to the Crime Experienced and Security Perception Survey (CESPS) 2024 report released by the statistical agency, the average amount paid as ransom was N2.67 million, while about N2.23 trillion was paid in total within the reference period.

The study further stated that the North-west reported the highest incidences of crime, with 14.40 million cases, followed by the North-Central, with 8.77 million, while South-east recorded 6.17 million incidences.

The report also showed that crime incidence in rural areas stood at 26.52 million, higher than 25.36 million in urban areas.

The report disclosed that 4.14 million home robbery cases were experienced in the review period. It said less than half (about 36.3 per cent) of the households, who were victims of home robbery, reported their experience to the police.

According to the study, the most common reasons for not reporting crimes included a lack of confidence in law enforcement and the belief that police intervention would not result in meaningful action.

At the individual level, 21.4 per cent of Nigerians reported being victims of crime, the most common crime being phone theft, which accounted for 13.8 per cent.

About 90 per cent of victims of phone thefts reported to the police, and only 50 per cent of the victims expressed satisfaction with police responses, NBS added.

Nationwide, about 1.4 million experienced sexual offences, which occurred mostly in someone else’s home (27.7 per cent), followed by the victim’s home (22.2 per cent).

The study also showed that sexual offences were less likely to occur at a public transport station (0.9 per cent), and only 22.7 per cent of victims reported to the police.

Public perception on safety showed that 9.6 per cent of Nigerians believed they might be a victim of crime in the next 12 months.

In rural areas, 13 per cent of the population believed they could be victims of crime compared to seven per cent in urban areas.

Security agencies’ average response time to emergencies was a key indicator of effective crime prevention, the study noted.

Nationally, 33.1 per cent of the population reported that the average response time to an emergency call by security agencies was less than 30 minutes. About four out of 10 households had at least one interaction with state or local security forces within the reference period.

Similarly, one out of two households had contact with the Nigeria Police, and 25.7 per cent reported the incidence of crime to the police after experiencing a crime.

The report further revealed that satisfaction with police responses was notably low, particularly for crimes like livestock theft (42.9 per cent) and crop theft (42.4 per cent).

In rural areas, many households relied on local vigilante groups, the report added.

CESPS, a household-based survey, provided an in-depth understanding of crime in the country.

The target population comprised household members 15 years and older. The survey was carried out to produce estimates at national and zonal levels, covering both urban and rural areas, for a 12-month reference period – May 2023 to April 2024.

The findings provided crucial insights for security agencies, stakeholders, and policymakers to improve public safety and align with the Sustainable Development Goals.

Also, the Senate, on Tuesday, urged the federal government to fund the establishment of modern ranches across the country. It said the idea would enhance safety and economic productivity for both herders and local residents.

The upper chamber also resolved to enact a law that would define the limits of economic activities under the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) treaty.

The resolutions followed a motion, titled, “Urgent need to address incessant banditry attacks/killings and displacement of innocent Nigerians in some villages at Billiri Local Government Area of Gombe State,” moved by Senator Anthony Siyako Yaro (Gombe South).

Yaro called for urgent action to address the recurring banditry attacks in Billiri Local Government Area of Gombe State, following the killing of several residents and widespread destruction of property by suspected herders on December 11, 2024.

He decried the attacks on villages, including Sansani, Kalindi, Powishi, and Lawushi Daji, where armed assailants killed residents, burnt houses, and destroyed food supplies and livestock, leaving scores of people displaced.

Yaro cited Sections 33 and 41 of the 1999 Constitution, which guaranteed the rights to life and freedom of movement for all Nigerians, emphasising that the government has a primary obligation to protect its citizens’ lives and property.

He said the attacks not only destabilised the affected communities but also threatened the peace of neighbouring states, such as Taraba, Bauchi, and Adamawa.

Yaro added that the attacks had disrupted food sufficiency and major economic activities in the region.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Jibrin Barau, stressed the need to do something about the bandits, particularly in the northern parts of the country.

Barau said, “For us in the North-west, it’s nothing new. It’s something we face daily. But to have it extended to some parts of the North-east, where this problem did not exist before…

“I think it’s something that all those that are given the responsibility to restore peace and order in that area should stand up and deal with this matter so that it doesn’t get to the stage we are now in the North-west.

“I agree with the mover of the motion, and I also support that all that needs to be done should be done to make sure that it does not happen any longer.”

Barau added, “Of course, Senator Abdul Ningi raised an issue that the government should come in. Yes, the government should come in, and as was said by the senate president, the issue of security is everybody’s business.

“The federal and state governments, every individual, should come in to help, to assist the people of that area, to make sure that it doesn’t happen again, and to extend every assistance possible to those affected by the nefarious act of these bandits. We shouldn’t allow them to remain alone; we should support them.”

Senator Seriake Dickson, in his contribution, advocated the establishment of modern ranches funded by the federal government.

Dickson argued that such facilities would enhance safety and economic productivity for both herders and local residents.

He urged a comprehensive approach, involving key government agencies, to develop a proposal for implementing the ranching initiative across the country.

Highlighting the economic plight of herdsmen, who trek long distances, like from Sokoto to Lagos or Bayelsa, the senator described ranching as a legitimate business opportunity.

He said they could address the challenges and boost local economies, even as he emphasised the importance of tackling the root causes of the herdsmen crisis.

Dickson, who cited the recurring nature of conflicts and the need for a sustainable solution, concluded that the initiative could transform livestock management in Nigeria, promote peace and foster economic development nationwide.

Senator Adams Oshiomhole reminded his colleagues of the senate’s prior agreement to hold a national public hearing to explore legislative solutions for addressing security challenges tied to economic activities and movement.

Oshiomhole expressed concern about criminal activities perpetrated by individuals entering Nigeria under the ECOWAS framework. He stressed the need for stricter regulations to curb such incidents.

The former governor of Edo State called for swift action to create laws that would regulate movement and economic activities, as well as safeguard the rights and safety of Nigerians.

The senate observed a minute’s silence in honour of the deceased victims of attacks by herdsmen and other bandits.

It also urged the Inspector General of Police, the Chief of Army Staff, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services (DSS) to investigate the attacks, arrest the perpetrators, and prosecute them.

Press Release

A group of Nigerian activists, and organizations in Nigeria and the diaspora have come together to coordinate support for Dele Farotimi in his current fight against corruption in the Nigerian judicial system.

Members of the coalition include Omoyele Sowore former AAC presidential candidate and publisher of Sahara Reporters, Rudolf Okonkwo, Professor Odinkalu, Barrister Deji Adeyanju and Dr Malcolm Fabiyi of Governance Advancement Initiative for Nigeria, GAIN.

According to Dr Fabiyi, spokesperson for the coalition, their work is aimed at supporting the coordination of efforts towards ensuring Dele Farotimi gets justice.

“Everyone knows that the Nigerian judicial system is corrupt. The politicians say it. The people know it. Even judges have come out to decry the corruption within the system. In the polling that we do at GAIN, the judiciary and the police consistently rank at the top of Nigerian’s ratings of the most corrupt institutions in the country”

Dele’s offense it seems is to have had the audacity to provide names and context to this patently obvious corruption.

Dr Fabiyi noted the irony that Dele Farotimi’s treatment so far has further confirmed his allegations that the system is corrupt.

How is a man jailed in Ekiti for not attending court proceedings that he received no notifications were taking place? How does a man get charged for an offense of criminal libel that legal scholars like Professor Odinkalu tell us does not exist in Ekiti state law? And most egregious of all, how does a team of police men from Ekiti travel past multiple states to arrest a citizen of Lagos state, within Lagos state?

This is a train of illegalities mounted and layered upon one another, yet the person whose rights have been abused is the one in chains and in prison! This is real time confirmation of the allegations that Dele has made.”

The coalition announced that its work will be focused on three things. These are
First, the setting up of a Legal Defense Fund to ensure that Dele Farotimi will have the means and resources to robustly defend himself. Secondly, the coalition will coordinate Global Action in Support of Dele’s Cause.

Thirdly the coalition announced a new Whistleblowing Initiative aimed at encouraging insiders with knowledge about corruption within the judicial system especially as it pertains to Dele’s assertions of judicial corruption against Chief Afe Babalola and some judicial officers, to provide such information.

According to Dr Fabiyi, the coalition will provide a secure platform for information sharing and provide monetary incentives for the whistleblowers.

For every act of corruption there is a clerk who moves files, there is a court registrar that was asked to make corrupt administrative alterations. There are emails, letters, notes and text messages. There are bank workers who are aware of secret transfers. If the system thinks that by shutting down Dele Farotimi they have scared Nigerians into silence, they are mistaken. They will be unleashing a Pandora’s box of catastrophe on themselves.

The coalition will have an online meeting later today at 7PM Nigerian time to which the general public is invited using the link https://bit.ly/Farotimi.

Dr Malcolm Fabiyi
Spokesperson,
Justice for Dele Farotimi Coalition

The mother of Luigi Mangione made a shocking admission to police before the suspected assassin was arrested, it was announced on Tuesday.

The NYPD had been searching for the man who killed UnitedHealthcare CEO Brian Thompson, 50, at point-blank range for several days – and released surveillance images of the suspected shooter.

One image of the suspect with his mask down caught the attention of a San Francisco police officer who had been searching for Mangione, 26, since his mother, Kathleen, reported him missing in mid-November.

She claimed she had not spoken to her son since July 1, and noted that he worked for San Francisco-based TrueCar, an online automotive marketplace – apparently not realizing he had been laid off in 2023. 

Upon recognizing the suspect, the police officer called the FBI and provided the bureau with Mangione’s name – prompting New York officers working alongside the FBI’s task force to call Kathleen.

‘They had a conversation where she didn’t indicate that it was her son in the photograph, but she said it might be something that she could see him doing,’ NYPD Chief of Police Joseph Kenny said at a news conference on Tuesday.

He noted that the conversation happened ‘very late’ on December 7, and the  information was passed on to New York City cops the next morning – but he wasn’t arrested until December 9, while he was eating at a McDonald’s in Altoona, Pennsylvania.

Mangione has since been indicted on a murder charge as an act of terrorism for Thompson’s death.

Under New York law, such a charge can be brought when an alleged crime is ‘intended to intimidate or coerce a civilian population, influence the policies of a unit of government by intimidation or coercion and affect the conduct of a unit of government by murder, assassination or kidnapping.’   

The doomed CEO was shot dead as he walked to a Manhattan hotel where Minnesota-based UnitedHealthcare – the largest medical insurer in the United States – was holding an investor conference.

‘This was a frightening, well-planned, targeted murder that was intended to cause shock and attention and intimidation,’ Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg said Tuesday.

‘It occurred in one of the most bustling parts of our city, threatened the safety of local residents and tourists alike, commuters and businesspeople just starting out on their day.’

Mangione has two court hearings scheduled for Thursday in Pennsylvania, including an extradition hearing, Bragg noted.

He is not expected to fight extradition to the Big Apple at the hearing on Thursday, which means he could be sent back to New York City that same day, sources told Fox News. 

Some legal experts have previously suggested Mangione avoid arguing over his guilty and focus on getting himself a lesser sentence by claiming extreme emotional disturbance.

‘There is no likely path to him walking out a free man,’ said Manhattan defense lawyer Ronald Kuby told The Wall Street Journal. ‘The best he could hope for is mitigation of the crime and punishment.

‘Usually the defendant’s entire history, their grievances, their pain, their sufferings, that all comes before the jury.’

Investigators’ working theory is that Mangione, an Ivy League computer science grad from a prominent Maryland family, was propelled by anger at the US health care system.

Police have said he was found with a manifesto outlining his grievances against UnitedHealthcare. 

‘To save you a lengthy investigation, I state plainly that I wasn’t working with anyone. This was fairly trivial: some elementary social engineering, basic CAD, [and] a lot of patience,’ he allegedly wrote in the manifesto, according to the Daily Beast. 

He went on to say he had ‘respect’ for federal investigators, and apologized for causing any ‘traumas,’ but seemed to defend his alleged actions.

‘Frankly these parasites had it coming,’ the manifesto wrote. 

It claimed that the United States had the ‘most expensive healthcare system in the world,’ but blasted the system for making America only the 42nd in life expectancy.

Officers also said they matched a gun found on Mangione with the shell casings recovered at the scene and his fingerprints with a water bottle and energy bar wrapper found nearby.

Following news of the arrest, Mangione’s family released a statement saying they were ‘shocked and devastated.’

‘We offer our prayers to the family of Brian Thompson and we ask people to pray for all involved,’ it said ‘We are devastated by this news.’

None of the alleged assassin‘s family then appeared at his court hearing, and inside sources told Fox News that the 26-year-old has not had any meetings with relatives since his arrest. 

His influential Italian-American family is known in their community for their real estate fortune and nursing home empire, but he may not see any of the money his philanthropist grandmother left behind.

Her fortune, estimated to be worth at least $30million, was put into a trust where the trustees – one of whom is Mangione’s father – have the power to make distributions. 

One of the trust’s conditions is that anyone charged with a crime may not see any of the money, meaning Mangione may never get his share.

Watch the full video of the shooting below.

Culled from Daily Mail online.

An ex-prison guard trainee who executed five women inside a Florida bank almost six years ago was sentenced to death on Monday as his judge called the slayings calculated, heinous and cruel.

Zephen Xaver, 27, appeared to gulp but otherwise showed no emotion as Circuit Judge Angela Cowden pronounced the sentence at the Highlands County Courthouse in Sebring. 

After a two-week penalty trial, a jury in June voted 9-3 to recommend that Cowden sentence Xaver to death.

According to Daily Mail Online, Cowden said the weeks of planning that Xaver performed before the 2019 murders at Sebring’s SunTrust bank, the enormity of the crime and the fear the victims felt as they were shot greatly outweighed the two dozen mitigating factors his attorneys had presented, including his history of mental illness, his benign brain tumor and his jailhouse embrace of Christianity.

‘May God have mercy on your soul,’ Cowden told Xaver.

Xaver pleaded guilty last year to five counts of first-degree murder for the slayings of customer Cynthia Watson, 65; bank teller coordinator Marisol Lopez, 55; banker trainee Ana Pinon-Williams, 38; teller Debra Cook, 54; and banker Jessica Montague, 31.

At gunpoint, Xaver ordered the women to lie on the floor and then shot each in the head as they begged for mercy.

Kiara Lopez told Xaver and the court that her mother Marisol had welcomed him into the bank with a smile, an act he repaid by murdering her.

‘You shattered me into a million pieces,’ Lopez said.

 ‘I will celebrate the day you die, whenever that might be. Let it be known that you will always be a killer, a coward, a nobody and a waste of human life.’

Michael Cook, Debra’s husband, also called Xaver a coward and told the judge, ‘I have absolutely no sympathy for him.’

Xaver´s lead public defender, Jane McNeill, had asked that Cowden spare her client, saying a life sentence would put an end to the case instead of dragging it out for a decade of appeals and possibly a retrial if the sentence is overturned.

‘The only way for this matter to be brought to an end so that the families of the victims and this community is able to move forward is a life sentence,’ McNeill argued. The sentence will be automatically appealed.

Under a new Florida law, death penalty sentences can be rendered by a jury vote of 8-4 rather than a unanimous recommendation. 

The change was adopted after the 2018 Parkland high school shooter could not be sentenced to death for murdering 17 people despite a 9-3 jury vote.

McNeill called the new law unconstitutional.

Xaver moved to Sebring, a city of about 11,000, in 2018 from near South Bend, Indiana.

In 2014, his high school principal contacted police after Xaver told others he was having dreams about hurting his classmates. 

His mother promised to get him psychological help.

He joined the Army in 2016. A former girlfriend, who met him at a mental hospital where they were patients, told police he said joining the military was a ‘way to kill people and get away with it.’ 

The Army discharged him after three months. 

In 2017, a Michigan woman reported him after he sent her text messages suggesting he might commit ‘suicide by cop’ or take hostages.

Despite his psychological problems and dismissal from the Army, Florida hired Xaver as a guard trainee in November 2018 at a prison near Sebring. 

He quit two months later, two weeks before the shootings and the day after he bought his gun.

Hours before the murders, Xaver began a long, intermittent text message conversation with a former girlfriend in Connecticut, telling her ‘this is the best day of my life’ but refusing to say why. Fifteen minutes before the shootings, he texted her, ‘I’m dying today’. 

Then, from the bank parking lot he texted, ‘I’m taking a few people with me because I’ve always wanted to kill people so I am going to try it and see how it goes. Watch for me on the news.’

Daily Mail

Nigeria’s Code of Conduct Tribunal (CCT) is embroiled in a sizzling confusion as both embattled chairman, Danladi Umar, and the newly-appointed chairman, Mainasara Kogo, are laying claim to its chairmanship.

A report by Daily Trust indicated that both persons had officially visited and held discussions with staff members of the tribunal without any clear directive on who is in charge.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had on July 13 appointed Kogo as the new chairman of CCT the same day he announced Omolola Oloworaran as the Director-General of the National Pension Commission (PenCom).

Although the staff members complained about the lull in the work of the tribunal since the controversy over Umar’s removal began, it was observed that corruption cases involving public servants were still being taken with several charges listed on the course list either for trial or arraignment.

However, senior staff members of the tribunal, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told Daily Trust that they are confused about who to work with as both men have spoken with them and they are only civil servants who obey instructions.

“We are civil servants and we believe we can work with anyone that comes,” a staff said.

“We have not seen any letter to the effect of these changes. We believe there is a procedure for the removal and appointment of a new chairman of the CCT.

“We know that the president and the two arms of government have made pronouncements but we don’t know if invisible hands are working on these but we know there is a process,” he added.

One of the officials said the process is for the appointee to go through the screening by the Federal Judicial Service Commission (FJSC), who recommends to the National Judicial Council (NJC) and then to the President, who approves and forwards to the Senate for confirmation.

The senior official said there has been a pile of unattended files arising from a lack of clarity on the chairmanship of the tribunal.

“He came today and left and the entire judiciary is now on holiday so we have taken the liberty to adjourn all the outstanding cases to January,” the witness said.

However, a former staff of the tribunal, who pleaded anonymity, criticised Umar for visiting the office after what he said his valid removal.

“Why is he still coming to work seeking to sign some documents and approve payments to contractors?”

He said Umar’s visits were illegal as he was no longer the chairman of the commission.

Umar’s removal was endorsed by Senate and Reps

After the presidential announcement removing Umar, both the Senate and the House of Representatives in separate plenaries on November 20 and 26, also endorsed his removal as CCT chairman on allegations of misconduct and corruption.

Both resolutions were hinged on Section 17 (3) Part 1, Fifth Schedule of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 22 (3) of the Code of Conduct Bureau and Tribunal Act 2004 for the decision.

The section provides that “A person holding the office of chairman or member of the code of conduct tribunal shall not be removed from his office or appointment by the president except upon an address supported by 2/3rd majority of each house of the national assembly praying that he be so removed for inability to discharge the functions of the office in question (whether arising from infirmity of mind or body) or for misconduct or for contravention of this code.”

The legal dispute over Umar’s tenure is being tested in a suit before a Federal High Court in Abuja by the Community Rescue Initiative, Toro Concerned Citizens and Relief Foundation, who are contending that by the provisions of sections 1(1) and (3), 6(6), 153 (1) (e) & (i) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) as well as Paragraph (3)(a) (vii) and (b) of the Third—Schedule thereof, the purported concurrence of both Senate and the House of Representatives was null, void, unconstitutional and of no effect whatsoever.

Lawyers say Umar has not been validly removed

Lawyers have picked holes in the process that has created the situation in the CCT with both Umar and Kogo claiming leadership of the tribunal.

Reacting, Sunusi Musa (SAN) said the president did not announce Umar’s removal as provided by the constitution, which states that he can only do so after a resolution of two-thirds of the two houses of the National Assembly.

He explained that at the same time, there have been no further announcements about Kogo’s appointment by the NJC after Umar’s purported removal.

“Where is he getting the powers to visit the tribunal if he has not been appointed by the NJC and has not been inaugurated as the chairman of the tribunal?,” he asked.

Similarly, Dayo Akinlaja (SAN) said if the newly announced chairman has not been issued any letter, which ought to be an instrument of appointment, his appointment is not binding.

He said a letter of appointment would imply that removal has been done which the person affected could then challenge “Not by taking the laws into his hands but through the judicial process.”

In his submission, Haroun Eze, Esq said there are some irregularities in the purported removal of the CCT chairman, Umar.

“The removal did not accord with the procedure for the removal of the CCT chairman and that is why the National Assembly provided that aspect by their resolutions for the removal,” he said.

“Even the resolution, to what extent does it conform to the provision of the Code of Conduct Tribunal Act, particularly Section 22?”

He said the Attorney General of the Federation ought to have commenced an action to establish a case of misconduct against the CCT chairman, which would have given the National Assembly the leeway to pass the resolution they did.

Credits: Daily Trust