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Itunu Babalola: FG, Family Reject Autopsy, Demand Justice
The federal government and the family of the late Itunu Babalola, the Nigerian lady who died in Côte d’Ivoire after she was wrongly jailed, have rejected the autopsy on the cause of her death.
The Chairman, Nigerians in Diaspora Commission (NiDCOM), Mrs Abike Dabiri-Erewa, and the father of the deceased, Mr Emmanuel Babalola, yesterday gave this position at a meeting at the NiDCOM office in Lagos.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that 24-year-old Itunu from Oyo State reportedly died on November 14 and Nigerians took to social media to express their angst over her death.
Itunu reportedly got entangled in a legal battle when she reported to the police that her house in Bondoukou, Cote d’Ivoire had been burgled.
She was said to have been charged to court and the prosecutor, in collaboration with the police, allegedly compromised the case and accused her of human trafficking.
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Itunu was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison which was later reduced to 10 years, but she died two years into her jail term.
Speaking, Dabiri-Erewa pointed out that the autopsy left so many questions unanswered.
“I am not a doctor but when I looked at the autopsy report itself, “Sepsis Complicated by Acute Respiratory Distress”, that is not acceptable even to me without being a doctor and I don’t think that should be acceptable.
“This autopsy, even to me does not appear acceptable. So, I hope that we would not let the case go like that. We are not going to relent. That police officer must be questioned.
“I am sure the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Geoffrey Onyeama) will take the next necessary steps to demand from Cote d’Ivoire a lot more information than they have given about what happened to Itunu’s case.”
Dabiri-Erewa stressed the need for African countries to treat one another with respect, decency and dignity.
Earlier, Babalola, who commended the federal government’s efforts to get her late daughter released from the prison before she died, said he was not satisfied with the autopsy.
Babalola said that doctors informed him that what the Ivorian government claimed killed his daughter could not have killed her within 24 hours.
He called on the foreign affairs minister and the National Assembly to intervene in the case.
NAN reports that Dabiri-Erewa presented a cheque of an undisclosed amount to Babalola as support from NiDCOM to the family. (NAN)
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200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
The Chief of Defence Staff, General Christopher Musa, has disclosed that about 200,000 repentant terrorists have so far dropped their arms and surrendered to troops in the North East, noting that the twin strategy of kinetic and non-kinetic operations was responsible for this achievement.
The CDS made this known at the Security and Justice Symposium organised by the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) in collaboration with the British High Commission, which began at the National Counterterrorism Centre in Abuja on Tuesday.
He disclosed that the theme of the symposium, ”Securing Peace, Ensuring Justice, Protection, Conduct, and Accountability,” speaks volumes about the deluge of security challenges the armed forces and security agencies are facing.
His words, “All the challenges we are facing today have to do with fairness, equity, justice, and accountability.
“There will not be peace without justice, equity, fairness, and accountability. In our operations, we are conducting both kinetic and non-kinetic strategies, which have to a large extent yielded significant successes, and we want to particularly thank the National Security Adviser for his great support in this regard.
“Nigeria is going through so many challenges, and we feel we’re able to address this, and everybody has a sense of belonging. A lot of the security challenges we are having, we are sure, will go down. I want to thank the National Security Advisor for all the support he’s given us, both the kinetic and the non-kinetic.
“We have said it; the kinetic aspect is just less than 30%. The non-kinetic has a lot to play. The non-kinetic, because when you have democracy, people must have the evidence of democracy. As long as it tells people to sleep well and be peaceful, and they are hungry, their children cannot eat, and all this creates more problems.
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“The issue of informants. We have to look at how we tackle this issue of informants. Because these are the people who have created the issue.
200,000 repentant terrorists surrender, drop arms in North East – CDS
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Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
The spokesperson for the police in Delta State, SP Bright Edafe, has confirmed the death of two robbery suspects in the state.
Mr Edafe, who disclosed this to journalists on Tuesday in Warri, said that the deceased were killed from the bullets shot by their gang members.
According to him, the incident occurred on Wednesday at Effurun, Uvwie Local Government Area of the state.
Mr Edafe explained that the deceased were leading the police surveillance team attached to the Ekpan Division to their hideout when they were caught during a shoot-out.
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“The suspects were arrested at Effurun roundabout with a bag containing 57 live cartridges and other items. They were leading the surveillance team to their hideout at Warri/Sapele road when their gang members, on sighting the vehicle of the police team, engaged them in a shootout.During the gun duel, the arrested suspects that were leading the police team were fatally wounded by the gun shot of their colleagues. The two injured suspects were taken to the hospital and later died while receiving treatment,” he said.
Mr Edafe said that items recovered from the hoodlums hideout included: one English pump action gun, one locally made cut-to-size gun and eight live cartridges.
Others were: six iPhones, Smart phones and a Rolex wrist watch.
He said that the command had intensified manhunt on the fleeing members of the gang.
Robbers kill two members in shoot-out with Delta police
(NAN)
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