Crime
Sowore knocks Nigeria Police Force After Releas, Describes it as “Irresponsible Organisation”
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The controversial activists and 2023 presidential candidate of the African Action Congress(AAC), Omoyele Sowore, has described the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) as an “irresponsible organisation” that routinely takes the law into its own hands, following his release from detention after meeting his bail conditions on Monday.
Speaking shortly after regaining freedom alongside 12 others, including Nnamdi Kanu’s lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, and Kanu’s brother, Emmanuel, Sowore accused the police of acting outside their constitutional mandate by enforcing a court order in which they had vested interest.
“If a court gives an order and there’s a contravention, you go back to the same court to complain to the judge. It’s not the job of the police to enforce a court order that it has an interest in,” Sowore said.
Even if they don’t have interest, the right thing is still to go back to court. The police, being an irresponsible organisation in Nigeria, took the law into its own hands,” he added.
The activist maintained that neither he nor others were served with any restraining order before their arrest, accusing the police of impunity and disregard for due process.
“I can guarantee you that those court orders were never served on us. If you check the schedule, it says serve them by Friday. No order was served,” he insisted.
Even if it was, our courts understand there are boundaries you cannot cross when it comes to fundamental human rights.”
Addressing reports that his prolonged detention was linked to his description of the Inspector General of Police as “useless,” Sowore defended the remark as a justified critique of a failed system.
“Was I wrong? The justice system itself is useless when you see what happened — people beaten, brutalised, denied access to lawyers,” he said.
This is not new. There have been countless police attacks on me since 1992. Ironically, some of the same officers who brutalised me in the past recently had to fight for their retirement benefits.”
Sowore said the recurring persecution by the police would not deter him from his activism.
“Those attacking us today will meet their Waterloo soon. But we’re not distracted. Our goal is to fix this country, not to trade words with individuals or agencies,” he stated.
He dismissed police spokespersons’ defence of the crackdown, saying they lacked understanding of their roles in a democracy.
“I cannot be bandying words with a police PRO who doesn’t know his left from his right, or with an IGP who’s no longer even a legitimate officer,” he said.
“I’ve lived under about seven presidents and several IGPs since 1992, some I even assisted while in office. So this isn’t new. Anyone doing what I do knows that your second vacation home is prison.”
Sowore also criticised President Bola Tinubu over his handling of national security and the appointment of service chiefs, referencing former Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, who once proposed fencing Nigeria’s borders.
“I was the first to complain about that one who said they wanted to fence Nigeria — Musa. That one doesn’t know his left from his right,” Sowore said.
“He should have been fired if Tinubu were serious. But honestly, I don’t care what Tinubu does with his illegitimate regime.”
Reaffirming his commitment to challenge injustice and authoritarianism, Sowore warned that Nigeria was sliding deeper into repression.
“We cannot fix a country by obeying illegal orders or bowing to tyranny. Our mission remains the same — to build a just, free, and accountable Nigeria,” he said.
Sowore, who has faced repeated arrests and prosecutions since 2019 over his #RevolutionNow campaign, vowed to pursue legal redress for his latest detention, describing it as part of a broader effort to silence dissenting voices under the Tinubu administration.
Crime
Communal Clash: Ebonyi Gov Sacks Government Appointees, Withdraws Monarch Certificates, Others
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Abakaliki- The Ebonyi State, Governor Francis Ogbonna Nwifuru has visited Okporojo in Oso Edda in Edda Local Government Area, Ebonyi State, where five persons were killed and beheaded, many people kidnapped and several properties were razed with fire by unidentified armed men, allegedly from Amasiri in Afikpo Local Government Area Ebonyi State.
Following the ugly incident, Governor Nwifuru has ordered the immediate removal from office of all Government appointees from the Amasiri community of Afikpo Local Government Area.
They include Members of the State Executive Council down to Management Committee Members who are from the community.
The Governor also approved the immediate dissolution of the Town Union Executive and Village Heads and withdrawal of the certificate of recognition/ Staff of Office from the traditional ruler.
He directed those affected to immediately hand over government properties in their possession including official Vehicles to the Secretary to the State Government.
Crime
Lagos Monarch Raises Alarm Over Activities of Illegal Traditional Chiefs in Otta – Ikosi Ejinrin
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The olota of Otta -ikosi Ejirin in Ikosi/Ejinrin local Government Development Council {LCDA}, Oba Elias Adedapo Ijelu has raised the alarm over the activities of impostors who are parading themselves as traditional chiefs of the town without the consent of the traditional ruler and the rule guiding obas and chiefs of Lagos state.
The monarch was speaking against the backdrop of the development which was termed barbaric and an affront on the constituted traditional institution as well as state government laws which express the functions of traditional rulers in the obas and chiefs’ law of the state.
He stated the unscrupulous activities of the group have, over the years, affected the progress and peace as well as co-existence of the town as many of them were involved in nefarious and land-grabbing activities.
Oba Omoloro explained that he had on many occasions cautioned the mischiefmakers to desist from the act capable of bringing chaos and making the town governable, noting that the warning usually fell on their deaf ears as they felt they were untouchable.
He further added that it is absurd to learn that mischiefmakers are the ones behind land grabbers in the town by backing the perpetrators of this unscrupulous act and dragging the development in town backwards.
The traditional ruler emphasised that the illegal traditional chiefs have through nefarious acts and land-grabbing activities disobey the Lagos state anti-land-grabbing law established to curtail the menace of land-grabbers in the state.
He noted that he has written several letters to the state government and the police authorities, but nothing tangible was achieved.
“Most of these illegal chiefs have nothing to do for themselves. Rather, they had created a nuisance as surety and signing for landgrabbers in the communities.”
The Lagos State Council obas had also interfered in matters and instructed the particular illegal traditional chief to go back to the traditional ruler and do the needful if he really wanted to be a baale in Otta, Ikosi -ejinrin
Oba Omoloro maintained that part of the reason why the illegality continues is the vacuum the Interregnum period has created before he ascended the throne, noting that the illegality had given mischief-makers undue opportunities to perpetrate illegality.
He called on the Lagos state government, and the Nigeria Police Force to, as a matter of urgency, help restore the rule of law and secure the lives and properties of ordinary citizens in the area.
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Benue State authorities have arrested 41 suspects over an alleged slaughterhouse in Makurdi, following viral claims that people were lured and killed there during the Yuletide season.
Police are investigating, while the state government plans to assess the area, citing it as a poorly planned slum with congestion issues.
Confirming the arrests, the Benue State Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Udeme Edet, said the suspects were taken into custody for screening as part of preliminary investigations.
Edet noted that the arrests were aimed at unravelling the circumstances surrounding the allegations and determining the authenticity of claims circulating on social media.
Meanwhile, the General Manager of the Benue State Urban Development Board, Ternongo Mede, said the state government had already planned to visit the area for assessment, describing the location as a densely populated and poorly planned slum.
Providing an update on Sunday via telephone, Mede said, “Actually, we have planned to visit that area because it is a slum area. If you get to the place, you will discover that most people cannot access their homes.”
He explained that the area had become severely congested due to unregulated development and overlapping land claims.
The place is overdeveloped, too choked. All these things are coming out as a result of the railway corporation claiming its lands and the Jukun also claiming their lands,” he said.
Mede further alleged that some individuals were allocating land without government approval, compounding the problem.
“The Jukun people are giving plots of land to individuals without recourse to government input. So, we noticed all these things, and we have been planning to visit the place and do an update of the area,” he added.
He disclosed that Governor Hyacinth Alia had directed relevant agencies to look into opening up access roads in the area to improve mobility and security.
“We will only go there to see how we can create access roads in the areas that are choked, reduce them, and make the place habitable,” Mede said.
On the specific allegation of a slaughterhouse, the urban development boss said he had not personally seen the facility but acknowledged the need for a thorough assessment.
“I have not seen the alleged slaughterhouse; I only heard about it. I feel it is wise that we assess the area so that in case the governor calls, we can provide a reasonable brief,” he stated.
Authorities say investigations are ongoing to establish the facts surrounding the claims, while residents have been urged to remain calm as security agencies continue their work.
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