Category: News

Following his retirement, former Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu, was promoted to Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG).

Maigari Dingyadi, Minister of Police Affairs, stated this during a weekly ministerial briefing hosted by the Presidential Communication team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Police Service Commission (PSC) approved the former EFCC boss’s promotion on Monday, just days before he was set to retire from the force at the age of 60 on May 5, 2022.
Salami had since completed its report, in which it recommended Magu’s retirement in 2020.
When asked why he was promoted, the Minister stated that the PSC, which is under the Presidency, was responsible for providing the answer.

However, he confirmed that Magu has already retired, noting that his retirement will not exempt him from disciplinary action if necessary.

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According to the report, the incident occurred after Chidera and some of his classmates slipped into the pool while playing near the edge.

While verifying the incident, his father, Anthony, stated that the teachers, caregivers, and lifeguards were unaware that his son had fallen into the pool until he drowned.

“On Monday morning, I dropped my children off at the Redeemers Nursery and Primary School on Acme Road, Ogba, and went to work,” he said.

“I received a call from their head teacher, Mrs Adeola Oladipo, at 10.52 a.m., informing me that my son had been involved in an accident and had been rushed to the Ikeja Medical Centre.”

“I dashed down there, but all I saw was my son’s lifeless body.” When I asked the principal what had happened, she said she had no idea.

“When I asked what happened, the doctor said he was brought in dead. When I asked the club’s teachers, caregivers, and workers what had happened, they had no explanation.

“My wife came in while I was crying; I was trying to manage the information, but the head teacher had also informed her, and as she ran into the hospital, I was completely confused.”

Read Also: Deborah Samuel: CPFN calls for open preaching to Muslims against taking law into their hands

“I went to Area F police station, and we went to the club after the officers took pictures of my son’s body.”

“When we arrived, we discovered that they had taken the students to the adult swimming pool section.”

“I was alarmed, and while the cops were investigating, we discovered that the club had CCTV installed.” As a result, we demanded that the CCTV footage be examined, and it revealed everything.”

Anthony claimed that the footage revealed that his son was in the pool for more than 30 minutes before he died, and that his son’s body was discovered by another swimmer.

“We saw in the footage that the school brought over 15 children, took them to the adult side of the swimming pool, and forced them to sit at the tip with their legs in the water and without any protective equipment,” he said.

“On the video, we only saw one caregiver, and she was just going in and out, leaving the kids alone.”

“When my son slipped into the pool for the first time, he was at the back of the line, but he was able to pull himself out.”

“However, the second time he fell into the water, he couldn’t get out.”

“All of this occurred, and none of the teachers, caregivers, or lifeguards were aware of what was going on.”

“My son was submerged for more than 30 minutes, and we were all screaming while watching the video.”

“Another student fell into the water, but her classmates raised the alarm and pulled her out, and nobody noticed my son was in the water during this time.”

“My son died as a result of the carelessness of those who were supposed to look after him.

“I want justice to prevent something like this from happening again.”

“The caregivers, lifeguards, school administration, and the Ivory Health Club must be held accountable. He continued, “My son’s body has been deposited in the morgue.”

Benjamin Hundeyin, the state police public relations officer, stated that some members of the school and club staff had been arrested.

“A full investigation into the circumstances surrounding the boy’s drowning is ongoing,” he added.

The Christian Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria (CPFN) has urged Islamic leaders to educate their followers on the dangers of taking law into their own hands whenever they are allegedly infringed on their religious beliefs through open preaching in mosques and the media.

Pastor E.S Awojide, the CPFN’s National Chairman, issued a statement through Elder Segun Bamidele, the group’s National Publicity Secretary, in response to Deborah Samuel of Sokoto’s Shehu Shagari College of Education, who was stoned to death and burned for alleged blasphemy against Prophet Muhammad.

The Nigerian Christian Pentecostal Fellowship condemned the killing, calling it inhumane and illegal.

According to the statement, the Sultan of Sokoto, the spiritual leader of all Muslims in Nigeria, and other Islamic leaders should openly preach to all Muslims that they should never attack or kill anyone for any reason, but rather report any allegation of infringement of any law or custom to the police and not take laws into their own hands.

It was suggested that preaching openly in mosques and on national television would be effective in persuading Muslims that killing others for blasphemy was not the proper course of action.

According to CPFN, the Sultan’s statement condemning the killing of the student was insufficient for him and the head of Nigeria’s Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs.

“The Sultan should inform his followers of the consequences of violating all human rights guaranteed by the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s Constitution,” it said.

He strongly condemned what he called a “heinous incident” and demanded that all those involved, not just the two already apprehended, be investigated, arrested, and prosecuted.

According to the statement, the laws of the land prohibit anyone from taking the life of another human being for any reason.

The CPFN expressed its condolences to Deborah Samuel’s family, as well as all Christians in Sokoto State and Nigeria at large, and urged them to remain calm and orderly in the face of the crisis.

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The national chairman also urged Governor Aminu Tambuwal of Sokoto State and President Muhammadu Buhari to bring the perpetrators of Deborah Samuel’s gruesome murder to justice as soon as possible.

The statement suggested that the perpetrators should face the law in order to serve as a deterrent to other criminal elements who use religion as a cover.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Wednesday, struck out the amended six-count treasonable felony charge the Federal Government preferred against the detained leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu.

Trial Justice Binta Nyako struck out the charge, after it was withdrawn by the Prosecution counsel, Mr. K. E. Kaswe.
Kaswe, who is from the Federal Ministry of Justice, withdrew the charge after Kanu’s team of lawyers led by Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, accused FG of deliberately frustrating the speedy determination of the case.

Ozekhome, noted that the amended charge was served on him, barely 48 hours to the court proceeding.
He maintained that FG introduced fresh issues in the amended charge, including additional documents and proof of evidence that was not originally attached to the case.

“My lord, in one of the attachments, pictures of lawyers waiting to have a meeting with the defendant at the DSS facility, were snapped with secret camera and displayed.
“Names of his lawyers- Ifeanyi Ejiofor and Maxwell Opara- were also mentioned. They have brought new issues and even changed the wordings of the charge. The fact that the court sustained only seven counts in the previous charge and the have now reduced it to six counts, means that the charge has already been altered”, Ozekhome submitted.

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He, therefore, said it was wrong for the Prosecution to insist on proceeding with trial, without firstly rearraigning the defendant.
Owing to Ozekhome’s contention, FG’s lawyer, Kaswe, applied to withdraw the amended charge to enable the matter to proceed on trial.

Kaswe told the court that his first witness was available and ready to testify.
Consequently, Justice Nyako struck out the charge

My Lord the Hon. Justice Ibrahim Tanko Muhammad JSC, who is now the Chief Justice of Nigeria, made an interesting statement. He said:

“The Islamic religion is not a primitive religion that allows its followers to break the law and commit jungle justice.
Instead, Islam has a judicial system that hears and decides cases, including criminal cases, and anyone accused of committing a crime against the religion or against a fellow Muslim should be brought before a court (either a Sharia or a common law court) for adjudication. Only after a person has been found guilty and sentenced by a court of law will he be subject to a punishment that will be carried out by a competent authority (in prison).”

“Although there is a provision in Risala that prescribes the death penalty for any Muslim who insults the Holy Prophet,” he continued, “such punishment can only be imposed by the appropriate authority (i.e. the court), not by any member of the society, whether a Muslim or not.”

The relevant provision is as follows: ‘If someone speaks disrespectfully of the Messenger of God (sabb-an-nabiy), he should be put to death without accepting his repentance,’ according to the “Risala (treatise on Maliki law)” translated and annotated by Joseph Kenny – Chapter 37, paragraph 37.19, page 173.

“37.01 No one may be put to death for homicide unless he is convicted… (1) adequate testimony (bayyinat) or (2) his own admission (lgrar), or (3) as sworn indictment (qasama) if that is necessary…” says the first paragraph of the chapter.

It’s also worth noting that in the Risala, the chapter immediately following chapter 37 (i.e. chapter 38) provides for “procedure and accessibility” In the following chapter, it is made very clear that judges make decisions on cases, including criminal cases, based on testimony or evidence (bayyina), admission (Iqrar), or oath (Yamin) – see Aththamarud Dani (Commentary on Risala) pages 604-707…

All of the above explanations of the Risala rule relied on by the appellants in their action demonstrate that it is the responsibility of the Judge (who is qualified to adjudicate) or the court of law to apply the judgement.

He went on to say that the Accused were nothing more than a bunch of bloodthirsty militants or religious fundamentalists who were all out to exact revenge on the deceased.

According to him, “In my opinion, it is the appellants, not the deceased, who have committed an offence against Islam or Sharia by their unjustified actions, which portray Sharia as an uncivilised and primitive system that allows or permits the killing of people without due process of law.

The Supreme Court sentenced Shalla and his friends to death for killing Abdullar on the grounds that he insulted the Holy Prophet.

Each of them described their roles in detail. The 3rd accused admitted striking the deceased in the neck with a matchet, the 5th accused admitted slaughtering the deceased with a knife, the 6th accused admitted holding and pulling the deceased to the final destination, the 1st accused admitted giving the authority to kill the deceased, and the 2nd and 4th accused admitted going up and down to make sure the deceased was punished. They were all given death sentences.

All those who actively or passively support the murder of Deborah Yakubu in Sokoto, in accordance with the Supreme Court’s decision, should face this fate.