“His tenacity, bravery, ingenuity and forthrightness have been rewarded with this great feat. Surely this is hope renewed for Nigerians.”
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Appeal court frees Lagos doctor convicted for defiling wife’s niece
Appeal court frees Lagos doctor convicted for defiling wife’s niece
The Court of Appeal in Lagos has acquitted and discharged the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Dr Olufemi Olaleye.
The court upturned the decision of the Lagos State Sexual Offences and Domestic Violence Court which had sentenced Dr Olaleye, to life imprisonment for defiling his wife’s 16-year-old niece.
Justice Olukayode Bada who read the lead judgment which was adopted by the two other justices on the panel held that the trial court erred in convicting Dr Olaleye based on “tainted” and ‘unreliable’ evidence of his estranged wife, Oluremi and the alleged survivor.
The other members of the panel were Justice Zainab Abubakar and Justice Abdulazeez Dogo.
The appellate court agreed with the submissions of Olaleye’s lead counsel, Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Kemi Pinheiro, who insisted that there were material contradictions in the evidence gathered by the prosecutions which should not have been relied on by the lower court.
The court also faulted some other parts of the evidence of the prosecution during the trial, which was from a child forensic specialist, a medical doctor from the Mirabel centre and the investigating officer, which were found to be “worthless”
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For the appellate court, the trial judge, Justice Rahman Oshodi also descended in the arena and interfered in the proceedings to bridge what it described as “the yawning gaps in the prosecution’s case”.
In the judgment, the court of appeal also queried why the prosecution failed to present material witnesses such as two family members who were said to have witnessed the appellant’s alleged confession.
The court added that a trial within trial ought to have been conducted during the trial to verify the voluntariness of the appellant’s confessional statements while he was in police custody, especially as he said he made it under duress after he had been detained for six days.
The court of appeal determined all five issues of appeal against the prosecution and in favour of the appellant.
Appeal court frees Lagos doctor convicted for defiling wife’s niece
metro
Excitement in Nigeria as Okonjo-Iweala gets reappointed WTO DG
Excitement in Nigeria as Okonjo-Iweala gets reappointed WTO DG
World Trade Organization chief Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala was reappointed Friday for a second term, in the shadow of the coming return of Donald Trump and his disdain for international trade rules.
Okonjo-Iweala, the first woman and the first African to head the WTO, was the only candidate in the race, and had been all but assured a second term.
The organisation’s 166 members “today agreed to give incumbent Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala a second term as director-general,” the WTO said in a statement.
The 70-year-old Nigerian’s reappointment was approved by consensus during a special meeting of the organisation’s General Council, held behind closed doors, the WTO said.
Her current term ends in August 2025, and the appointment process for the next mandate had initially been scheduled to take months.
But with Okonjo-Iweala the only candidate, African countries called for the process to be speeded up, officially to facilitate preparations for the WTO’s next big ministerial conference, set to be held in Cameroon in 2026.
The unstated objective is to “accelerate the process, because they did not want Trump’s team to come in and veto her as they did four years ago”, said Keith Rockwell, a senior research fellow at the Hinrich Foundation.
The common practice of appointing directors-general by consensus made it possible in 2020 for Trump to block Okonjo-Iweala’s appointment for months, forcing her to wait to take the reins until after President Joe Biden entered the White House in early 2021.
– Fear of a void –
The overwhelming support for Okonjo-Iweala’s second term came “not so much (because) everyone loves Ngozi”, a source close to the discussions told AFP.
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Rather, members were “worried that if she doesn’t get reinstated, then it’s possible that the administration in Washington would slow things (or) block other contenders”, leaving a void at the top, the source said.
“The alternative of no-one leading the organisation is unacceptable to them.”
Excitement in Nigeria as Okonjo-Iweala gets reappointed WTO DG
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Four NSCDC officers killed in Kaduna bandit ambush, one missing
Four NSCDC officers killed in Kaduna bandit ambush, one missing
The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has confirmed the death of four officers ambushed by bandits in the Farin-Kasa area of Chukun LGA in Kaduna.
The NSCDC spokesperson, Babatunde Afolabi, in a statement on Friday, said the four officers were part of the seven officers declared missing during an ambush on November 18.
Some operatives of the NSCDC were attacked during surveillance and monitoring of the national grid installations at Shiroro LGA of Niger state.
“As of today, out of the seven missing officers, four dead bodies had been recovered, two men returned back to base unhurt while one personnel is still missing in action,” said Mr Afolabi.
The spokesperson added that the NSCDC commandant general, Ahmed Audi, commiserates with all officers and men of the corps nationwide, given the unfortunate attack and the loss of lives.
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“Audi assured that the Group Personal Accident/Group Life Insurance will be facilitated to cushion the effects of the unfortunate incident on the affected personnel,” he said.
Mr Afolabi said the NSCDC boss, while paying a visit to some injured officers at the corps’ medical facilities on Thursday evening, saluted the courage of the men.
“He also condemned the bloody terrorist attack and described it as a brutal and devastating act of violence which must not be allowed to fester considering the number of security operatives that have fallen,” he said.
The statement said Mr Audi charged personnel not to be discouraged by the incident.
He also urged them to pray for God’s protection, be vigilant, and ensure that all safety procedures are followed in their fight against insecurity in Nigeria.
Four NSCDC officers killed in Kaduna bandit ambush, one missing
(NAN)
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Fani-Kayode accuses private operators of undermining Port Harcourt Refinery
Fani-Kayode accuses private operators of undermining Port Harcourt Refinery
Former Aviation Minister, Femi Fani-Kayode, has alleged that private operators seeking monopoly in the petroleum refining sector are working to discredit the Port Harcourt Refinery Company (PHRC), which was reopened on Tuesday.
In a post on his X handle, Fani-Kayode said: “It is a pity that some elements in the private sector who are new in the field are doing all they can to undermine and understate this great victory for Nigeria. The oil business is not the same as selling sugar, spaghetti, cement, or rice, and no matter how hard you try, you cannot muscle your way and create a monopoly on the sale of refined products as you did for other commodities over the years.”
Fani-Kayode described the revival of the refinery as one of the most promising developments in Nigeria’s petroleum sector in years, crediting the achievement to President Bola Tinubu and the Group Chief Executive Officer (GCEO) of NNPC.
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He expressed optimism that the Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) would continue to grow and, once its other refineries are fully operational, bring relief to Nigerians.
He said: “Let the new kid on the block flourish but let the NNPC refineries flourish too. That should be our goal, not a squalid attempt to discredit NNPC and its leadership.
“Every optimistic and true lover of Nigeria’s progress and President Tinubu’s renewed hope agenda must be proud of the GMD Mele Kyari.
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