Bianca raises hope Tinubu will free Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South-East

The Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Bianca Ojukwu, has appealed to President Bola Tinubu’s government to release the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu.

Mr Kanu, who has been in the SSS custody since 2021, is being tried for alleged treason.

Ms Ojukwu said that the release of Mr Kanu would help to ensure the total restoration of peace in the South-East. According to her, if Mr Kanu is released, the region’s development will be fast-tracked.

The wife of the late Odumegwu Ojukwu made the call at her husband’s memorial on Tuesday in Owerri. She advised the people of the South-East to look inwards and appraise the Igbo race that made them who they are.

“In the olden days, we had Igbo unions in places like Kano, Lagos and Kaduna, among others, where people discussed matters affecting them and why they must unite.

“Today, we are celebrating Ojukwu, our uncommon man, a man who stood for peace and equality for every person,” she said.

Ms Ojukwu expressed dissatisfaction that the peaceful atmosphere which Igboland was known for was no longer obtained in the region.

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“There are so many killings, unrest and kidnappings going on today in the region, which is not how it used to be,” Ms Ojukwu said.

She regretted that many people from the region could not go home again to bury their dead or give their children out to marriage due to the spate of unrest and insecurity.

Ms Ojukwu urged the people perpetrating the evil acts to desist from it and embrace peace. She pointed out that some of the perpetrators were from the region and urged them to allow peace to reign.

She condemned the act of killing people in the region “in the name of a sit-at-home directive from non-state actors.”

“Many people from the South-East have left the region for other cities like Lagos and other places due to the spate of insecurity in the area. I was sad when an Igbo person in the U.S. told me that they are making donations in America to buy burial grounds to bury their dead relations as insecurity in the region doesn’t allow them to do that at home come home,” the minister stated.

The event organiser, Raph Uwazuruike, urged Mr Tinubu’s government to release the IPOB leader.

Mr Uwazuruike, the leader of the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra, stressed that Mr Kanu’s release would help the region experience peace again.

He said the memorial service was to commemorate Mr Ojukwu’s legacies, adding that “all the good things he stood for will not be forgotten.”

Bianca raises hope Tinubu will free Nnamdi Kanu to restore peace in South-East

(NAN)

EFCC to arraign Yahaya Bello today for alleged N110bn fraud

Immediate past governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello may be arraigned before the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, today, Wednesday, November 27.

Bello, who was declared wanted by the anti-graft agency in April over an alleged N110bn fraud, was finally grilled after all efforts to have him arrested and stand trial proved abortive.

The former governor on Tuesday submitted himself to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in company of his lawyers.

Immediately after he turned himself in, the anti-graft agency held on to him for some clarifications and preparatory for his arraignment.

He is to be docked before Justice Maryan Anenih of the FCT high court sitting in Maitama.

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Justice Anenih had fixed November 27 for arraignment based on the request of the EFCC and had issued public summons against him on October 3 in respect of the fresh case filed against him by EFCC.

EFCC’S Head of Media and Publicity, Dele Oyewale confirmed that Yahaya Bello would be docked at the FCT high court but declined to give a specific date.

At the last hearing before Justice Anenih, Counsel for EFCC, Jamiu Agoro had said the order of the court, given on 3rd October had not elapsed.

After listening to all counsel, the judge granted the EFCC’s application for adjournment and fixed November 27 as the return date.

EFCC to arraign Yahaya Bello today for alleged N110bn fraud

Court dismisses Sanwo-Olu’s suit to stop EFCC from arresting him after tenure expires

The Abuja Division of the Federal High Court has struck out the fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State against the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

Justice Joyce Abdulmalik struck out the matter after counsel who appeared for Mr Sanwo-Olu, Gbenga Femi Akande, moved the motion for the discontinuance of the case.

Ms Abdulmalik had, on October 29, fixed November 26 (Tuesday) for further mention.

The adjournment followed the submission of the EFCC’s lawyer, Hadiza Afegbua, that she was yet to see the fresh originating summons served on them by Darlington Ozurumba, who filed the suit on the governor’s behalf.

However, it was observed that the matter was not listed on today’s cause list, and no governor’s lawyer was in court.

Out of the 10 cases scheduled for hearing before Ms Abdulmalik, the suit number FHC/ABJ/CS/773/2024 between Mr Sanwo-Olu and EFCC was not on the Tuesday cause list.

When a correspondent asked the court workers why the matter was not listed, it was learnt that the case had been struck out on October 31 after it was withdrawn.

Meanwhile, there was a mild drama as the EFCC lawyer, Ms Afegbua, was sighted in court for the matter.

The anti-graft counsel, who had been appearing in the matter, was disappointed to see that the case was not on the cause list.

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Besides, she was taken aback when informed that the suit had been struck out on October 31.

Ms Afegbua, who refused to speak with journalists, left the court disappointed.

However, the enrolled order made on October 31 showed that only the plaintiff’s lawyer, Mr Akande, was in the proceeding, leading to the striking out of the case.

Again, while the notice of discontinuance of the suit was dated and filed on October 30, the hearing notice issued to parties for November 26 (today’s) sitting was equally dated October 30.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, through his counsel, Mr Ozurumba, had sued the anti-graft agency as a sole defendant over the alleged threat to arrest, detain and prosecute him after his tenure as governor.

In the originating summons, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/773/2024, dated and filed June 6, the governor raised seven questions and sought 11 reliefs.

He sought an order restraining the EFCC from harassing, intimidating, arresting, detaining, interrogating or prosecuting him in connection with his tenure as the governor of Lagos State, among others.

But the EFCC, in its counter affidavit, urged the court not to grant the reliefs sought by Mr Sanwo-Olu, describing it as speculative.

The anti-corruption agency, in the application dated October 30 but filed on October 31 by its lawyer, Ms Afegbua, said contrary to the governor’s claims, the EFCC neither threatened, invited or took any step at all to infringe on his right to freedom of movement nor violated his right to private and family life and personal liberty.

Court dismisses Sanwo-Olu’s suit to stop EFCC from arresting him after tenure expires

(NAN)