One Officer, Three Others Killed As Gunmen Attack Imo Police Station, Deploy Explosives

Three gunmen have reportedly been killed in a shootout with the police during an attack on Thursday night at Orlu in Imo State.

 

The gunmen burnt Orlu Police Station with the aide of explosives and petrol bombs, killing one police inspector. 

Imo Command Police Public Relations Officer, CSP Mike Abattam, made this known on Friday in a statement. 

Abattam noted that around 9.35 pm, the armed bandits, in their numbers attacked and threw explosives and petrol bombs on the roof of Orlu Police Station, damaging the roof and burning the station.

Mike also noted that the fire affected some of the vehicles on the premises of the station. 

The command’s tactical teams on the ground engaged the bandits in a gun duel and due to the superior firepower of the police, the bandits were subdued, Abattam said. 

“Three of the bandits were neutralised and their guns, one pump action gun and two locally made double-barrelled pistols were recovered while others escaped into the bush with bullet wounds.

“Unfortunately, a police inspector lost his life in the attack."

IPOB berates security agencies over Enugu killings, vows to fight back

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has lampooned the police and other security agencies over the ethnic cleansing in the South East while turning blind eye to the killing of innocent people by Fulani herdsmen in Enugu State.

In a statement, yesterday, IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, claimed that no fewer than eight persons, including a pregnant woman, were killed and several others injured on Sunday night, when suspected Fulani herders invaded Ogbuji community in Isi-Uzo Local Council, Enugu.

The incident, according to him, was the second in the council, as the herdsmen had earlier attacked Eha-Amafu community.

Entitled ‘Fulani killer herdsmen slaughtering farmers in Enugu State will be taught a lesson in the language they understand’, the IPOB statement reads: “The renewed barbaric and unprovoked attacks on different communities in Enugu State by terrorists masquerading as herdsmen have, once again, exposed the hypocrisy of the Nigerian military, police and other security agencies supervising the ongoing ethnic cleansing of Biafrans.

“The same Nigerian security agencies hunting the operatives of the Eastern Security Network (ESN) are watching Fulani herdsmen as they continue their killing spree across Biafra land. Instead of halting these genocidal attacks against innocent Biafrans, the security agencies take pleasure in hunting and killing our volunteers defending our ancestral land.”

The unchallenged massacre of innocent Biafrans at Eha-Amafu on Wednesday morning by the security agents, IPOB added, is another confirmation of the role of the Nigerian security agencies in the Fulani agenda in Nigeria.

IPOB, therefore, reminded the suspected “Fulani jihadists” masquerading as herdsmen and their mentors that they would not succeed in Biafra land as long as it exists.

It threatened: “Our gallant men will again teach them in the only language they will understand. We did it before and they attested to that, and we shall do it again. Since the Nigerian security agencies have chosen to provide cover for known terrorists killing law-abiding and innocent citizens, it has become an existential duty on IPOB to keep defending our ancestral land, no matter the cost.”

“The army, police and Department of State Services (DSS) are quick to use their bombs and tanks against us, but look the other way when Fulani jihadists masquerading as herdsmen embark upon their pillage and massacre of innocent Biafrans.”

Culled from guardian.ng

Kano Elders Ask Court To Compel Nigeria's Senate President, Attorney-General Malami, Others To Allow Exit Of 'Biafra Republic’

A group of elders and politicians from Kano State has asked a court to compel the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Olufemi Gbajabiamila to hasten the exit of the South-East from Nigeria before concluding ongoing amendment to the country’s constitution.

 

The request formed one of the three prayers sought in a suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/538/2021 instituted at the Federal High Court in Abuja.

The politicians include Nastura Ashir Shariff, Balarabe Rufa’I, Abdul-Aziz Sulaiman and Aminu Adam.

 

They averred in a supporting affidavit that their action was informed by the need to stem the tide of violence and destruction allegedly occasioned by the agitation for secession, championed by the Nnamdi Kanu-led Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

 

Listed as defendants in the suit are the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) (Abubakar Malami), the Senate President (Lawan), the Speaker of the House of Representatives (Gbajabiamila) and the National Assembly.

 

The plaintiffs prayed the court for the following reliefs: “A declaration that, by the combined effect of the provisions of Section 4 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), and Articles 1, 2, and 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004, the 4th defendant (the National Assembly) is empowered to set in motion a framework for a referendum to allow the South-eastern region of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to decide on their bid for self-determination.

 

“A declaration that in view of the provisions of Articles 1, 2, 4, 14 and 20(1) of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act 2004, the 2nd and 3rd defendants (the Senate President and House of Reps Speaker) have the power to call for a joint session of both Chambers of the 4th defendant to deliberate on the agitation for self-determination by the Southeastern states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“An order directing the 2nd, 3rd and 4th defendants to provide a framework that will pave the way for the self-determination of the South-eastern states so as to leave the geographical entity called Nigeria before any further step is taken to further amend the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“Even before the emergence of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), there was a group at the south-eastern part of Nigeria known as the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) under the leadership of one, Chief Ralph Uwazuruike.

 

“The main objective of the group mentioned in the immediately preceding paragraph is also the creation of the Independent State of Biafra, away from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“Long before the emergence of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Movement for the Actualization of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB), there was a move by the people of the south-eastern part of Nigeria formerly Eastern Region led by the late Col. Odumegwu Ojukwu to secede from the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The secession attempt by the people of the then Eastern Region under the leadership of the late Col. Ojukwu was directly responsible for the first Nigerian Civil War between 1967 and 1970. The said civil war had claimed many innocent lives from both sides of the divide as well as destruction of properties worth billions of naira which was detrimental to the growth and development of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The lessons of the civil war have faded in the minds of many Nigerians and a repeat of the carnage of the civil war is not necessary, going forward. The IPOB’s agitation for self-determination has turned violent against both the people of the south-east who are against their agitations and other Nigerians carrying out their lawful businesses within the south-eastern states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The IPOB through its militant arm — Eastern Security Network (ESN) — is responsible for the killings, expulsions and destruction of properties of other Nigerians not belonging to the Igbo tribe. Resolving, with finality, the existential question of self-determination of any part of Nigeria is now more urgent, imperative and prevails over and above the issue of amending the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

 

“The Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria can be further amended at any time after the question of self-determination must have been resolved by Nigerians.”

 

The case has been assigned to Justice Inyang Eden Ekwo and has been fixed for November 1, 2021 for hearing.

Nigeria's Secret Police Showed Us Sample Of How Igbos Suffer Daily In Nigeria — Israeli Filmmaker Detained For 20 Days

 One of the three Israeli filmmakers arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), Rochman Rudy, has said the torture they suffered at the hands of the Nigerian secret police shows the suffering of the Igbos in Nigeria.

In July, Rochman a Zionist activist was arrested alongside filmmaker Noam Leibman and French-Israeli journalist, E. David Benaym by officials of the DSS on allegations that they supported the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

They were arrested at Ogidi village, Idemili North Local Government Area of Anambra State while shooting a documentary titled, “We Were Never Lost”, which explores Jewish communities in African countries such as Kenya, Madagascar, Uganda, and Nigeria.

The filmmakers reportedly spent 20 days in detention without being charged to court by the Nigerian government.

However, in a statement released on his official Instagram page on Saturday, Rudy explained that they had set out to tell the story of the Igbo Jews before their unlawful arrest, NAN reports.

“We only managed to film for two days out of the two weeks planned in Igboland when armed militants wearing black ski masks forced us at gunpoint into a van, stripping us of our phones and passports. We didn’t see the light of day or had any form of communication with the outside world till we were released 20 days later,” he wrote.

Rudy also expressed the need to reset focus on the Igbos who have been living in the reality of the 20 days of the ill-treatment they suffered at the hands of Nigeria’s secret police.

“Now that we are back, it’s important to reset and focus on the Igbo Jews who’ve faced what we went through their whole lives and still live with that reality daily,” he added.

The Israeli further disclosed that he and his team have been blocked from subsequent visits to Nigeria.

Igbos under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration have constantly complained of marginalisation and maltreatment.

In May the Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, launched a special operational action plan code-named, Operation Restore Peace, to quell the Indigenous People of Biafra and its militant arm, Eastern Security Network, over the uprising in the region.

The police said the IGP launched the special operation at the Michael Okpara Square, Enugu as part of efforts targeted at returning “the South-Eastern region to its historical pride of place where its people are known to be peaceful, tolerant, innovative, industrious and entrepreneurial.”

In the same month, a controversial tweet from Buhari threatened to deal with Igbo youths over the destruction of government facilities in the region.

The president, before the ban on the microblogging platform, Twitter, vowed that “those misbehaving” would “soon have the shock of their lives,” while referencing his role during the 1967 Biafra war where over a million people were gruesomely killed.

“Many of those misbehaving today are too young to be aware of the destruction and loss of lives that occurred during the Nigerian Civil War,” his deleted post said. “Those of us in the fields for 30 months, who went through the war, will treat them in the language they understand.”

This attracted a lot of outrage from Nigerians, especially those of the Igbo extraction who considered this genocidal. 

Tension As Gunmen Behead Two Residents, Display Corpses In Imo Market

Residents of Okporo Orlu in the Orlu Local Government Area of Imo State were shocked on Wednesday after suspected gunmen beheaded two residents identified as Felix Okechukwu and Berechukwu Udemba.

The assailants allegedly cut off the victims’ heads after killing them and displayed them at Orie Okporo market, Daily Post reports.

An eyewitness said, “They were killed in the early hours of Wednesday and the bodies were displayed at Orie Okporo market.

“The 70-year-old man is from Ududu in Orlu and was a retired motor mechanic, while the other victim, who is a palm-wine tapper, hails from Amanato-Okpuru community in Orlu.”

It was gathered that the assailants invaded the homes of their victims in the early hours of Wednesday and severed their heads.

The reason for their killing was yet to be ascertained at the time of filing this report.

ECOWAS Court Gives Buhari Government 30 Days To Respond To Suit Against Its Moves To Gag Media Stations

The ECOWAS Community Court of Justice sitting in Abuja has given the Nigerian government 30 days to respond to the suit filed by One Love Foundation seeking damages and orders to prevent the government from gagging the media. 

The suit, filed through human rights lawyer, Samuel Ihensekhien Junior on behalf of the group's president, Patrick Eholor, also seeks damages and restraining orders against Nigerian government, to prevent it from enforcing Sections 5, 4, 3, 1 of NBC code on all broadcasting stations. 

The sections relate to reportage and giving details of security issues and persons affected by insurgency and terrorism in Nigeria. 

But the group argued that the actions offend all relevant laws and the African Charter on Media and Broadcasting Rights and Freedom of Press.

The foundation had in a suit No. ECW/CCJ/APP/43/21 sought an order of court directing the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government and the National Broadcasting Corporation, a government agency, to desist from enforcing Section 5, 4, 3, 1 of the NBC code on all broadcasting stations. 

In a "Notice of Registration" dated July 28, 2021, sighted by SaharaReporters, the court asked Nigerian government to file a defence within thirty (30) days after service of the application. 

The notice read, "Notice is hereby given that an application between Patrick Eholor and the Federal Republic of Nigeria was lodged by the applicant and registered by the court on the 28th July 2021 

"You are required to lodge a defense within thirty (30) days after service of this application on you and take note that in default of your so doing, the applicant may proceed herein and judgement may be given in your absence." 

The suit is also challenging the clampdown on broadcasting organizations by the Buhari government and the NBC, an action which the suit said contradicts Sections 24, 33 of the Nigerian Constitution, 1999 (as amended in 2011), which guarantees the rights to freedom of press, expression and information as also contained in Articles 8 and 9 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Constitution of Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended in 2011. 

Facebook Restricts New IPOB Page After Shutting Down Nnamdi Kanu’s Page

Social networking service, Facebook, has restricted a new account belonging to the Indigenous People of Biafra.

According to Vanguard, this was disclosed by a member of the group, Simon Ekpa, on Tuesday.

“Our new Facebook page has been blocked, restricted by Facebook,” Ekpa wrote.

In January 2020, the separatist group had alleged that Facebook shut down the page of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu.

The group had in a statement by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, alleged that the shutting down of Mazi Kanu’s Facebook page by Facebook Nigeria was linked with the fact that it had become a rich resource for people determined to expose the alleged misrule in Nigeria and the evil perpetrators of the regime.

IPOB had berated Facebook Nigeria that it was more corrupt than the Nigerian government it was defending.

It had added that Biafra suffered immeasurably as a result of denial of media space in the late 60s, warning that IPOB is not prepared to allow such suffering in the present 21st century.

Vanguard also noted that Kanu opened another Facebook account which hit 5,000 friends limit within six days, following the sudden deactivation of his official page by Facebook.

However, the leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, is currently facing 11-count charge of treason, treasonable felony, terrorism and illegal possession of firearms, among others, after he jumped bail in 2017 and left the country.

He was extradited from Kenya to the country by the Nigerian government as claimed by IPOB and Kanu's family.

He has been remanded in the Department of State Services (DSS) custody and his next appearance in court is October 21.

This came after Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court, Abuja, adjourned the case, for the failure of the secret police to produce him in court on Monday.

BREAKING: Benin Republic Court Declines Extradition Of Sunday Igboho To Nigeria, Orders Him To Remain In Cell

The Court D’Appal of Cotonou has ordered Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, to be kept in prison custody pending further investigation.

The court, however, declined the extradition of Igboho to Nigeria.

The court, which was expected to start hearing the case at 10:00am, barred reporters and supporters of Igboho who besieged the premises. The hearing commenced at about 5:00pm.

Daily Trust reports that supporters of Igboho were dispersed from the premises of the court later in the evening, prompting fears that he might be deported to Nigeria.

The government of Nigeria had accused Igboho of trafficking in arms, inciting violence to disrupt public peace, and agitating for secession. It also sought his extradition to Nigeria.

Igboho and his wife, Ropo, were arrested at the Cardinal Bernardin International Airport, Cotonou, last Monday while trying to catch a flight to Germany.

However, Ropo, who is a German citizen was set free by the court on Thursday while the self-styled agitator was remanded in the custody of Brigade Criminelle in Cotonou.

Igboho was placed on the wanted list on July 1 by the Department of State Services after its operatives raided his Soka residence in Ibadan, killing two of his aides. They arrested 12 others during the operation.

Father Locks 6-Year-Old Boy In Cage For Weeks Without Food

A six-year-old boy has been reportedly brutalised and abused by his father at the Jeddo area of Otokutu in Delta State. 

In a video obtained by SaharaReporters, the boy is interviewed. 

The boy, who has sustained head injuries, noted that he did not wear trousers because they were dirty. 

He said he did not have money to buy soap.

"I stay in Jeddo with my dad and sister. My daddy gave me all the marks (injuries) on my head, he said I am stubborn. I am not putting on trousers because they are dirty and I'm still looking for money to buy soap.

"I have not eaten since morning," he added. 

According to Warri Aproko Special, the neighbours said attempts to rescue the boy from his allegedly abusive father or prevent the abuse were not successful. 

A source said sometimes, the father would chain the little boy in a cage for weeks without giving him food. The source said the boy fed on the blocks used to build the cage.

Nigeria’s Secret Police Prevented Nnamdi Kanu From Signing Forms For UK Consular Assistance— IPOB Leader's Lawyer

The Department of State Services (DSS) has prevented the incarcerated leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, from signing a consular assistance form by the United Kingdom.

Special counsel for the IPOB leader, Aloy Ejimakor disclosed to SaharaReporters in a statement issued after visiting his client on Monday.

In the statement he titled, ‘Summary of my visitation with our Client, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu on Monday 19th July,’ Ejimakor expressed shock as the consular and diplomatic forms were returned to him unsigned.

The legal practitioner, therefore, called on the British High Commission in Nigeria and the British Government authorities to intervene in the matter, as he claimed the operatives of the DSS, which is Nigeria's secret police, have stopped Kanu from signing those forms.

The statement reads: “Last Saturday, when I visited Mazi Kanu, I expressed strong concerns about the inordinate delay in having Kanu sign the two forms I had taken to the DSS for Kanu’s signature some days before.

“Both forms relate to affirming his consent to consular and diplomatic interventions by the United Kingdom and her High Commission in Nigeria.

“Surprisingly, the forms were returned to me unsigned.

“Let me make it clear that the day I took the forms to the DSS, the officers on location were amenable to Kanu signing them until somewhere along the line, they tarried and decided to send it to the legal unit for vetting.

“So, my sense is that it’s the legal unit of the DSS that disapproved of Kanu signing the forms for reasons that were not given to me.

“As a lawyer, I don’t see any legal advantage the government of Nigeria stands to gain by blocking Kanu from signing those forms. The forms are but a mere routine in matters like this.

“Instead of any advantage, the refusal will help fuel the notion that the government of Nigeria is deliberately isolating Kanu from having consular and diplomatic access to the United Kingdom.”
Ejimakor condemned the act of the Nigerian government and its secret police by denying the fundamental human rights of the pro-Biafra separatist leader, who should appear in court on July 26.
The lawyer also said the DSS returned some Jewish prayer books and clothings he had taken to him last week to use.

“It does not comport with the best traditions of fundamental fairness that a detainee is being denied access to resources that will assist him in his defense. This is one of the things that will count in our reckoning as this matter continues to fold.

“For these reasons, I am now compelled to call on the British High Commission in Nigeria to banish every red tape and exert the full weight of its diplomatic clout in gaining immediate access to Kanu. This is especially important, given the prospects of better welfare, including adequate medical care for Mazi Kanu.

“Further, the prompt intervention of the High Commission will mean that Kanu will have another layer of human contact in addition to his legal team who are the only ones currently allowed to see him.

"They also returned some Jewish prayer books and clothings we had taken to him last week, explaining that he had to be the one to make the request through a certain department at the DSS that officially caters to his needs," Ejimakor said.