The Chairman of Nigeria’s Body of Benchers (BoB), Asiwaju A.S. Awomolo, SAN has asked Mr. Augustine Alegeh, a fellow Bencher and an ex-President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) to explain why he forcefully barged into the committee room and disrupted the Benchers Appointment  Committee meeting.

In a 24th May, 2024 letter addressed to Alegeh, Awomolo alleged “you forcefully  barged into  the meeting  room, and occupied  the chair  meant for Yusuf Ali, SAN, the Chairman, who was on  zoom. The  Chairman was forced  out  of the meeting  by your conduct and  the rowdy atmosphere of the meeting venue.”

Read the full text of of the letter.

It would be recalled that on 27 May, 2024, a Federal High Court in Lagos made an interim order of restraining the Chairman, Body of Benchers (BoB) Asiwaju A.S. Awomolo, SAN from removing Mr. Augustine Alegheh , SAN, a former President of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) or interferring with his duties as Chairman of the Body of Benchers appointment Committee.

The Court which held that nothing must be done to alter this appointment during his tenure from 28 March 2024 to 27 March 2027 pending the determination of the motion on notice for interlocutory injunction however refrained from the prayer that Awomolo be restrained from acting as “Chairman of the Body of Benchers pending the hearing and determination of the Motion on Notice for Interlocutory injunction.”

Listed as defendants in the suit are: Chief Adeboyega Solomon Awomolo, SAN, 1st Defendant and Body of Benchers, 2nd Defendant.

Alegeh who in the Origination Summons asked the court to determine “Whether having regards to the Body of Benchers Regulations, 2024, the 1st Defendant can unilaterally and in breach of the Regulations, alter and rename the Standing Committees of the 2nd Defendant listed and set out in Regulation I I (3) of the Body of Benchers Regulations 2024′, also made the following allegations:

“The 1st Defendant had stated severally that he is not bound by the Regulations of the 2nd Defendant and will neither respect and/or implement the aforesaid Regulations as the Chairman of the Body of
Benchers;

“The 1st Defendant has been accused of forgery, criminal misrepresentation, impersonation and fraud by the Body of Senior Advocates of Nigeria [BOSAN], which said allegations have ridiculed, brought dishonor, disrepute and odium to the revered Office of Chairman of the Body of Benchers and may likely lead to disciplinary measures against the 1st Defendant….

” On 29th April, 2024, an email was forwarded to all Benchers by the 2nd Defendant’s Secretary on the instructions of the 1st Defendant notifying all Benchers of the 1st Defendant’s unilateral and unlawful reconstitution of the membership of the 2nd Defendant’s Standing Committees and the shortening and/or reduction of the tenure of office of the Committee Members from three (3) years to two (2) years
in flagrant breach and violation of the Benchers Regulation. A copy of the aforesaid email dated 29th April, 2024 issued on the instructions of the 1st Defendant is pleaded and herewith exhibited as EXHIBIT P3.

“In the aforesaid email under reference, the 1st Defendant unilaterally and maliciously purported to remove me as Chairman of the Appointment Committee of the 2nd Defendant before the expiration of the term of three [3] years that I was appointed to serve.

” I wrote to the Secretary of the 2nd Defendant via email, drawing his attention to the obvious illegality of the 1st Defendant’s actions and the apparent breach of the Benchers Regulations. A copy of my Letter dated 2nd May, 2024 is pleaded and herewith attached as EXHIBIT P4.

” When I did not receive any response from the 2nd Defendant’s Secretary regarding my email, I forwarded the aforesaid email directly to the 1st Defendant for his attention and immediate action.

“When I still did not receive any response from the 1st Defendant to my email, on I 0th day of May, 2024, I sent a copy of my letter in reply to all the Benchers copied in the 2nd Defendant’s email of 29th April, 2024.

“Following my email of I 0th May, 2024, the 1st Defendant sent a private response to me via email stating that he just read my email and was unaware of my appointment as Chairman of the Appointment Committee of the 2nd Defendant, but rather sought my understanding and acceptance of his unilateral, unlawful and illegal decision on the matter. A copy of the 1st Defendant’s email to me dated I 0th May,
2024 is pleaded and herewith attached as EXHIBIT PS.

“The 1st Defendant, in his aforesaid email response to me, also stated that he had unilaterally and unlawfully created an ‘Executive Committee for the Body of Benchers’ which he claimed had approved all the projects and programs of his administration.

“That I replied the 1st Defendant’s email drawing his attention to his apparent breach of the Benchers Regulations, with particular emphasis on the creation of an ‘Executive Committee’ for the Body outside the contemplation of the Benchers Regulation. A copy of my email to the 1st Defendant dated I 3th May, 2024 is pleaded and herewith exhibited as EXHIBIT P6.

“On Wednesday I 5th May, 2024, the 1st Defendant sent me a text message inviting me for a meeting to discuss the matter. I responded via WhatsApp and we agreed to meet at his office at 10am on Thursday, 16th May, 2024. I visited the 1st Defendant’s Office for the meeting, in the company of my Learned Brother Silk and Life Bencher, Joe Agi SAN and left at about I I am after the 1st Defendant failed to
turn up for the meeting he fixed in his own office. The 1st Defendant was well aware that I moved my flight from 8.40 am to I pm to enable me meet with him to resolve the matter.

“Surprisingly, shortly after I left the 1st Defendant’s Office, I received a call from the 1st Defendant who said that he was now in his Office and that he would discuss the matter with me over the phone.

“That Immediately the 1st Defendant called me I activated my speakerphone so that Joe Agi, SAN who was with me in the same vehicle would be fully aware of all our discussions. The 1st Defendant informed me over the phone to the hearing of Joe Agi, SAN as follows:

a) That Honourable Justice Mary Odili DSC Rtd.] did not inform him that I had been appointed the Chairman of the 2nd Defendant’s Appointment Committee and consequently my appointment was not binding on him.

b) That as Vice Chairman to Honourable Justice Mary Odili DSC Rtd.], he was informed of all appointments made by the latter. Hence, my appointment made during the tenure of Honourable Justice Mary Odili DSC Rtd.] without his knowledge, was null and void as he was the center of power at the material time.

c) That he had personally interviewed all the people who he appointed as Chairmen of the various Committees and selected them on the basis of their commitment to help him achieve his projects and programs during his one [I] year tenure and had assigned them to the Committees they had
indicated an interest in.

d) That he is not bound by the Benchers Regulations and that it is his decisions as Chairman that is important, not the Benchers Regulations.

e) That in his thirty [32] years as a member of the 2nd Defendant, no member of the 2nd Defendant had challenged any decision or action of a Chairman of the 2nd Defendant and I should do whatever I wanted but his decision cannot be challenged.

“That my suggestion to the 1st Defendant that he is bound by the Benchers Regulations and the rule of law infuriated the 1st Defendant and he got very angry on the phone.

“GENESIS OF 15t DEFENDANT’S MALICE TOWARDS THE PLAINTIFF

“That I met the 1st Defendant in the course of conducting campaigns for election as President of the Nigerian Bar Association.

“That I told the 1st Defendant that I was a son of a Policeman who served the Force meritoriously for 35 years and retired in 1985.

“That the 1st Defendant told me that he was a former Policeman but did not tell me how long he served in the Police Force and/or the circumstances that led to his exit from the Police Force.

“That when I became the President of the NBA in 2014, the 1st Defendant approached me and requested me to recognize him as a Past President of the NBA on the basis of his claim that during the period of interregnum of the Bar in 1991, he was the Chairman of the Committee of Chairmen that presided over the affairs of the Bar during the period of Interregnum.

“I informed the 1st Defendant that I would consult with Past Presidents and Bar Leaders over the issue and that if his claim was correct, I would present the issue before the NBA National Executive Committee [NEC] for its decision on the matter.

” Upon consultation with Past Presidents and Bar Leaders, I discovered that the 1st Defendant was not a Chairman of any branch of the NBA at the time. That the Bar could not have had a Past President during the period of Interregnum occasioned by a dispute over elections.

“I informed the 1st Defendant of the result of my findings and he was clearly displeased with the outcome as he told me it his life ambition to be recognized as a Past President of the NBA

“In the heat of campaigns for the NBA Presidency in 2020, I was yet again approached by the 1st Defendant who informed me that he would deliver a political masterstroke which will guarantee Olumide Akpata’s victory at the Polls.

“That I dismissed his statement at the material time as I considered him to be an elder of the “Egbe Amofin” group of the NBA which had already endorsed Dele Adesina, SAN as their preferred candidate in the elections.

“That I told the 1st Defendant of Dele Adesina SAN’s endorsement by Egbe Amofin but he dismissed it as he stated that he was not in support of Dele Adesina, SAN’s candidacy as Dele Adesina, SAN was Chief Wole Olanipekun SAN’s stooge and would be unable to perform creditably in Office.

“That a few weeks to the conduct of the NBA elections, the 1st Defendant authored a letter in which he claimed that the Presidency of the NBA be ceded and reserved exclusively for Senior Advocates of Nigeria. A copy of the 1st Defendant’s aforesaid letter is pleaded and herewith exhibited as EXHIBIT P7.

“That following Olumide Akpata’s emergence as the President of the NBA, the 1st Defendant once again approached me to convince Olumide Akpata to recognize him as a Past President of the NBA He stated that his letter according to him, was the master stroke that gave Olumide Akpata victory at the Polls and that I should put pressure on Olumide Akpata to grant his request. He stated that he believed Olu Akpata would accede to my request as he was very close to me.

“That I immediately told the 1st Defendant that I could not raise such a request with Mr. Olu Akpata for the same reasons I declined to accede to his request during my tenure of office as NBA President between 2014 and 2016. The 1st Defendant was visibly displeased and unhappy with my position and stated that I had betrayed him a second time.

“I firmly believe that the above-mentioned facts collectively constitute the basis for the malice and bad faith being exhibited by the 1st Defendant against me and which has led to 1st Defendant’s unlawful and illegal move to remove me as Chairman of the 2nd Defendant’s Appointment Committee…”

Click here to download the originating summons, motion and all.

An 80-year-old has been officially recognized by the Guinness World Record as serving the ‘longest career as a female language teacher’ of 64 years and 33 days.

Gatekeepers News reports that Yeyu Ying began her teaching career at the age of 17 in a rural elementary school in Zhejiang, China as a way of supporting her family who were poor.

Despite initially retiring in February 1999 at the age of 55, her passion for teaching led her to found Yuying Elementary School, where she continues to teach to this day.

Yeyu Ying currently still teaches six Chinese language classes each week. Her commitment to lifelong learning is evident in her constant updating of teaching methods and resources, even as she grows older.

She recalled “remember seeing record challenges on TV long ago and thinking about my own passion for teaching. I always believed my lesson plans were the most meticulous in the world. Maybe I harbored a secret desire to challenge the record but never dared to speak it out loud for fear of being laughed at.”

“Earlier this year, while chatting with my daughter, we watched some Guinness World Records challenge clips again. I decided to discuss applying with my colleagues, and to my surprise, we succeeded!”

Reflecting on her achievement, Yeyu Ying who couldn’t hide her joy said: “This recognition is a testament to my lifelong passion. Coming from a rural village in southern China, establishing a school in Lishui in the 1990s, and receiving such an honour for what seemed like an ordinary career fills me with gratitude.”

Yeyu Ying has always faced life’s challenges with courage and never thought of giving up. At 17, she was tested by mischievous students. After retiring, she faced the challenge of founding a school on her own, moving locations three times in four years. Over her decades-long teaching career, she was faced with physical difficulties as walking to school became hard.

Even as a principal, Yeyu Ying would rise at 5 a.m. and be at school by 7:30 a.m. to monitor teachers’ and students activities before starting her teaching duties. When teachers were away for meetings or training, she would step in to save on school expenses.

She further recalled “In any spare moment, I was preparing lessons. Unlike today, we didn’t have convenient electronic devices. Every lesson was meticulously handwritten with a calligraphy brush, taking six hours to prepare each class. If I wasn’t satisfied with my handwriting, I would tear up the pages and start over.”

Chai Yuanzhi, who helped Yeyu Ying with her application described her as the most responsible and determined person he has ever met.

Yeyu Ying’s daughter, Ye Zi recalled her mother carrying her as a three-year-old to teach in a mountain village school, where students from five grades were taught in a single room.

She said, “My mother devoted her entire life to education, never leaving the classroom.”
“After retiring, she established Yuying Elementary School to continue teaching.”

Remarkably, even at 80, Yeyu Ying still plans to dedicate her life to society by opening a nursing home.
She added “plan to open a nursing home next, dedicating my remaining life to society and helping the elderly live their final years with joy.”

Yeyu Ying further revealed that she is currently conducting social research for her new project.

• Abuse or justice served?

Would you consider this a well deserved punishment or an abuse of his rights?

In this short video, a man who was caught stealing is being treated to an unusual meal. The community elected to feed him with fresh pepper and hot water.

The unfortunate man can be seen eating the pepper and washing it down with hot water as if he were having bread and tea.

The university town of Akungba Akoko in Ondo state was recently hit by tragedy when a middle aged woman, Omolara Jamiu allegedly smashed her husband’s head in his sleep with a pestle over alleged infidelity.

Omolara was said to carried out the morbid act over an allegation that Seidu Jamiu her husband has a secret lover.

An elder from Ibaka community of Akungba and the Seriki musulumi, Chief Awesu said some residents of the town raised alarm after seeing the body of Seidu in a pool of his own blood.

According to Chief Awesu, when the deceased was rushed to hospital but was com dead on arrival.

Police in Akungba Akoko have reportedly arrested the wife, omolara and the case has been transferred to Police headquarters in Akure.

When newsmen visited the home of the couple in Akungba, many sympathizer were seeing in the area with some of them describing the late Seidu Jamiu as a nice person who took care of the wife to the best of his ability to the extent of buying her a car and building a house.

The Ondo Police spokesman, Funmilayo Odunlami-Omisanya, stated that the wife reported the incident at the police station, claiming that unknown individuals killed her husband. No arrests have been made, but an investigation is ongoing.

The police spokesman clarified that the wife’s involvement in the incident is still being investigated, and no conclusions have been drawn yet.

Claudia Sheinbaum, former mayor of Mexico City and a physicist who was part of a United Nations panel of climate scientists that received a Nobel Peace Prize in 2007, will become Mexico’s first female president after winning a landslide election victory and promising to continue the work of her mentor and outgoing leader Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador whose help for the poor made him highly popular.

Former Mexico City mayor Sheinbaum, 61, won the highest vote percentage in the history of Mexico’s democracy, according to preliminary results from the electoral authority.

Her party’s victory was so extensive that markets fell on concerns that the ruling coalition would secure a congressional super-majority, which initial results suggested was possible, allowing them to pass controversial constitutional reforms such as in the energy sector unchecked.

Mexico’s peso lost as much as 4% against the dollar on Monday, later recovering a bit, trading down 3%. Mexico’s stock market was down 3% in morning trade.

Sheinbaum secured between 58.3% and 60.7% of votes, according to the INE electoral institute’s rapid sample count released late Sunday night.

In her victory speech on Sunday night, Sheinbaum thanked Lopez Obrador, calling him “an exceptional, unique man who has transformed Mexico for the better.”

Lopez Obrador doubled the minimum wage, reduced poverty and oversaw a strengthening peso and low levels of unemployment – successes that made him popular and helped Sheinbaum to victory. But analysts believe Sheinbaum will find it difficult to follow in his footsteps.

“We made history!” Sheinbaum told a crowd early Monday morning in the Zocalo square in the heart of Mexico City.

Her victory is a major step for Mexico, a country known for its macho culture and home to the world’s second-biggest Roman Catholic population.

“It’s a historic moment, especially for women,” said Arlyn Rivera, a 24-year-old student, as she celebrated Sheinbaum’s victory in the Zocalo plaza. “Mexican politics deserves more than what we have had in recent years.”

Main opposition rival, Xochitl Galvez, conceded defeat after mustering just 26.6%-28.6% of votes, according to preliminary results.

Sheinbaum, who will take office on Oct. 1, is the first woman to win a general election in North America, comprising the United States, Mexico and Canada.

She has promised to expand the welfare policies that have driven Lopez Obrador’s popularity and her triumph, a tricky task while inheriting a hefty budget deficit and low economic growth.

The in-coming President has vowed to improve security but has given few details and the election, the most violent in Mexico’s modern history with 38 candidates murdered, has reinforced massive crime problems. Many analysts say organized crime groups expanded and deepened their influence during Lopez Obrador’s term.

Sunday’s vote was also marred by the killing of two people at polling stations in Puebla state. More people have been killed – over 185,000 – during the mandate of Lopez Obrador than during any other administration in Mexico’s modern history, although the homicide rate has been inching down.

“Unless she commits to making a game-changing level of investment in improving policing and reducing impunity, Sheinbaum will likely struggle to achieve a significant improvement in overall levels of security,” said Nathaniel Parish Flannery, an independent Latin America political risk analyst.

U.S. RELATIONS

Among the new president’s challenges will be tense negotiations with the United States over the huge flows of U.S.-bound migrants crossing Mexico and security cooperation over drug trafficking at a time when the U.S. fentanyl epidemic rages.

Mexican officials expect these negotiations to be more difficult if Donald Trump wins the U.S. presidency in November. Trump has vowed to impose 100% tariffs on Chinese cars made in Mexico and said he would mobilize special forces to fight the drug cartels.

At home, Sheinbaum will be tasked with addressing electricity and water shortages and luring manufacturers to relocate as part of the nearshoring trend, in which companies move supply chains closer to their main markets.

She will also have to wrestle with what to do with Pemex, the state oil giant that has seen production decline for two decades and is drowning in debt.

“It cannot just be that there is an endless pit where you put public money in and the company is never profitable,” said Alberto Ramos, chief Latin America economist at Goldman Sachs. “They have to rethink the business model of Pemex.”

Lopez Obrador loomed over the campaign, seeking to turn the vote into a referendum on his political agenda. Sheinbaum has rejected opposition claims that she would be a “puppet” of Lopez Obrador, though she has pledged to continue many of his policies including those that have helped Mexico’s poorest.

“There is an expectation that she will continue the policies of Lopez Obrador, but also become her own president at the same time,” said Jason Marczak, senior director of the Atlantic Council’s Adrienne Arsht Latin America Center.

“I see her administration as being more technocratic than a Lopez Obrador administration, one that is less dependent on the ultimate whims of the president and more about the structure that she has created around her,” he said, highlighting Sheinbaum’s reputation for efficiency when she was Mexico City mayor.

Political analyst Viri Rios said she thought sexism was behind criticism that Sheinbaum was going to be a puppet.

“It’s unbelievable that people cannot believe she’s going to be making her own decisions, and I think that’s got a lot to do with the fact that she’s female,” she said.

Reuters 

The Rivers State Police Command said it has arrested one suspect, Emeka, who was suspected to have masterminded the gang raping of a pregnant woman, Mrs. Chigbewejim Steward, to death.

The suspect was said to have come with a gang of men who raped the victim to death in Abarikpo community of Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state.Our correspondent gathered that the suspect had a disagreement with the deceased on February 12, 2023, after which he led his gang to break into the victim’s house at midnight to kidnap her.

City Round learnt that Chigbewejim who was five months pregnant at that time was taken to an unknown location where Emeka and his gang were said to have raped her to death.

Emeka was said to have fled from the community after discovering that the police were on his trail.

However, he was arrested 15 months later following police discovery of his whereabouts.

Chigbewejim’s husband, Lawyer Steward, who was a pastor in Abarikpo community, during an interview with newsmen in Port-Harcourt on Thursday, confirmed the arrest while appealing to the government to ensure that justice was done in the matter.

He said, “Emeka, the masterminded of the death of my wife, quarrelled with her because he said that my wife called him a wicked man. He told my wife that she would see wickedness that day.

“That night around 1 am on Sunday, February 12 2023, those bad boys came to my house and broke the door and took my wife away.

“My wife was five months pregnant. Emeka and his gang raped and strangled her to death. The Police arrested him on Thursday. Now he is in the Police Custody. I have gone to the station to give my statement. I want the Government to intervene so that justice will prevail.”

He noted that the corpse of his late wife was discovered around a fishing pond hours after her abduction with multiple bruises and bleeding from her private parts.

Contacted for reaction, the spokesperson of the Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, said investigations were ongoing adding that, he (Emeka) has been arrested and the matter will be transferred to the State Criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department.”

PUNCH

“Someone dies and an unholy war erupts over who gets how much of the estate. It might be adult children contesting their late parent’s wishes, doing battle with a step-parent or challenging each other to claim a bigger piece of the financial pie,” writes Talin Vartanian for CBC News.

“Problems are most likely to crop up when people die without leaving behind a valid will that is up to date,” she adds.

However, following the bad blood, ruined relationships and even deaths occasioned by will contests, solicitors have been urged to consider filming clients making their will as an aid to resolving disputes that may arise later.

This was a suggestion made by a Kings Counsel (KC) at the Law Society’s annual private client conference.

Chairing an opening plenary session on dealing with disputes, Serle Court Chambers’ Constance McDonnell KC, who specialises in trust and probate disputes, told last week’s packed conference that wills are sometimes made for very low fees – but the duty of care remains the same. ‘Videoing the event is a very cheap way of recording what happened,’ McDonnell said.

Asked about it during questions, according to a report written by Monidipa Fouzder for Law Gazette UK, McDonnell said she failed to understand why videoing does not happen more often. ‘It’s cheap, easy. From the point of view of someone in court for probate trials, the judge wants to know what happened. Video is something they would watch immediately and an ideal way of showing them what happened.’

On concerns the client might get ‘stage fright’, McDonnell suggested solicitors could draft an attendance note along the lines of ‘Switched on camera, client was a bit nervous’.

She acknowledged it can go wrong, recalling a case where a lay person filmed the testator and ‘you could see the lady’s eyeballs moving because she was reading something’.

However, she added: ‘We’re in an age now where many of your clients do not use paper or pens, they’re used to being on camera, used to having a camera pointed at them…. Letters of wishes – imagine how powerful [it would be] if a matriarch or patriarch filmed why they wanted all their money to go to charity. It’s a resource that’s so underused.’

W

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), has condemned the killing of soldiers at a military checkpoint in Aba, Abia State, describing the perpetrators as “the real enemies of Biafra and Biafrans.”

While demanding a thorough investigation of the crime, IPOB advised the soldiers and other security agents to exercise the greatest restraint and operate within the acceptable rules of professional engagement, to avoid punishing the innocent for an offence they know nothing about.

The Lead Counsel of IPOB, Sir Ifeanyi Ejiofor, said IPOB has maintained its peaceful stance in their self determination quest for a Sovereign State of Biafra and could therefore not be responsible for the attack.

He said, “I roundly condemn in unmistaken terms, the unprovoked attack on military personnel at a checkpoint in Aba, Abia State on the 30th day of May 2024.

“While we pray for the repose of the souls of those who lost their lives in this dastardly act, carefully perpetuated by the real enemies of Biafra and Biafrans, I urge for all hands to be on deck to ensure that those responsible for this heinous attack are fished out.

“Unfortunately, the victims of the envisaged reprisal attacks and/or arrests from the soldiers, would be innocent citizens who know absolutely nothing about the incident.

“While we encourage a thorough investigation of this heinous crime, we shall at the same time urge the Soldiers and other security agents to exercise the greatest restraint and operate within the acceptable rules of professional engagement, to avoid punishing the innocent for an offence they know nothing about.

“Furthermore, it is unreasonable to attribute the commission of this dastardly act to the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), whom I am its Lead Counsel, even before any investigation has been conducted. IPOB has maintained its peaceful stance in their self determination quest for a Sovereign State of Biafra, and have at all times, distanced itself from the activities of the criminals claiming to be freedom fighters, who have publicly taken responsibility for this heinous crime.

“Whatever evil motive behind the actions of the evil souls that perpetuated this evil act, has no justification under any circumstance and stands totally condemned.

“The long arms of the law must surely catch up with those responsible for this heinous crime!”