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Tag: Justice

  • Primaries: Allow aggrieved APC members approach court for justice – Buhari tells Oshiomhole

    President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday said any aggrieved member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the right to approach the court for justice.

    The President has just reacted to the recent threats by the National Working Committee of the APC to punish members who dragged the party to court in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina.

    Reacting to the position of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which recently forbade members from dragging the party to court, the president said:

    “We can’t deliberately deny people of their rights. We agreed that party primaries should be conducted either through direct, indirect or consensus methods, and if anyone feels unjustly treated in the process, such a person can go to court. The court should always be the last resort for the dissatisfied. For the party to outlaw the court process is not acceptable to me.”

    The APC, in a decision ascribed to the National Working Committee (NWC) had last week threatened to punish members across the country who had dragged the party to court over various issues.

    According to a statement, “The Party intends to activate constitutional provisions to penalise such members as their action is capable of undermining the Party and hurt the Party’s interest.

    “We hereby strongly advise such members to withdraw all court cases, while approaching the appropriate party organs with a view to resolving any outstanding disputes. In addition to this, aggrieved members are urged to take full advantage of the reconciliation committees the Party has put in place.

    “APC members should understand that as a progressive party that operates on the principle of change, it is not a matter of choice to keep to the rules.”

    In a related development, President Buhari has also advised members to work with the reconciliation committees empanelled for the six geo-political zones by the APC, and not a purported presidential committee on reconciliation, stressing that the party is the only body authorised to constitute such committees.

     

    Details later…

  • CAN to Buhari, El-Rufai: Bring those behind fresh Kaduna killings to justice

    The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) on Monday challenged the Federal and Kaduna State governments to end impunity in Kaduna by bringing masterminds of the killings there to justice.

    CAN expressed shock over the killing of the paramount ruler of Kachia, the Agom Adara, Dr Maiwada Galadima, and his security aide and driver by suspected kidnappers.

    The Christian body in a statement in Abuja on Sunday, by its media aide to CAN President, Pastor Bayo Oladeji, asked the government to stop politicising the crises and sanction those behind them.

    It said, “We have it on a good authority the killings in Adamawa, Benue and Plateau states in the last two years have been going unchecked as if nothing unusual is happening? Many were even unreported.

    “This is a sad commentary on the part of the government. Has Nigeria become a lawless state? Are those hoodlums better equipped and more organised than our security agencies?

    “We ask the political class to stop politicising the orgy of killings and for both state and Federal Governments to stop rationalising the mass killing of innocent Nigerians and sanction those responsible for this horrifying bloodshed.”

    CAN demanded an overhaul of the security architecture and replacement of the security chiefs.

    It also asked for the implementation of all the White Papers on ethno-religious uprisings in the country and the prosecution of those apprehended for the killings in Southern Kaduna two years ago.

    The group further demanded compensation for the bereaved and victims of all ethno-religious conflicts in the last five years.

  • 2019: Only enthronement of justice can solve APC crisis, Dogara tells Oshiomhole

    The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, has warned the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) that it is only by enthroning justice and equity that it will be able to silence voices of dissent and opposition within the party.

    According to a statement released by his spokesperson, Turaki Hassan, Dogara spoke on Thursday at a meeting between APC members of the House and members of the newly elected national working committee of the party, led by the chairman, Adams Oshiomhole.

    He said the meeting took place at the National Assembly.

    According to the statement, Dogara noted that although there is no human endeavour that is perfect.

    “APC lawmakers only expect justice, which is indivisible and universal.

    “In every family whether it is a nuclear, extended or an organisation there is bound to be problem and that is because we humans that are running those institutions are not perfect ourselves. So we don’t expect perfection from any quarters.

    “Our only expectation is the issue of justice and justice is indivisible. What is justice to the executive should be justice to the legislature and it should be justice to the judiciary,” Dogara was quoted to have said.

    “What is justice to the President and the Vice President should be justice to the Governor and it has to be justice for the members of the National Assembly, because you can’t divide justice. Once you begin to divide justice you don’t have justice.”

    “And once we are able to get these things in their proper perspectives to some extent, we will be able to silence the voices of dissent within the party.

    “But that we have problems is perfectly okay, but we mustn’t allow our problems to define us. Rather, we should define our problems as a party.”

    Dogara expressed optimism about the ability and capacity of the new APC chairman, Oshiomhole, to tackle the challenges confronting the party.

    He said, “I know that you come well prepared; we can only wish you well and pray for God’s additional wisdom because human wisdom won’t be enough as you navigate very treacherous terrain.

    “We pray God wisdom for you.”

    For his part, Mr Oshiomhole told the lawmakers that “every person matters in our party because all party members voluntarily moved from various political platforms, and dissolved those platforms in order to give birth to the All Progressive Congress.”

    He said that the idea of delivering the greater good for the greater number of Nigerian citizens is what binds the APC together and “defines us in spite of the teething problems we were bound to experience that every new organisation goes through.”

    Recall that Oshiomhole had on Wednesday held a similar meeting with the Senate caucus of the party.

    The meeting came as some members, including associates of leaders of the National Assembly, gathered at a hotel in Abuja and announced the formation of the Reformed APC.

    The party later on Thursday formally reacted to the emergence of the group, describing it as a mischievous attempt to create an impression that the APC was factionalised.

  • Evans, TB Joshua, Rev King, others won’t escape justice – LASG assures

    The Lagos State Government on Wednesday said suspected kidnapping kingpin, Chukwudumeme Onwuamadike, popularly known as Evans will not escape justice.

    It also assured that the duo of Prophet T.B. Joshua, founder of The Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN) and Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King, General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly would receive their judgements from the courts soon.

    Recall that Evans, who was arrested at his mansion in Magodo area of Lagos last year, is being prosecuted by the State Government in court alongside others for masterminding and executing series of high profile kidnappings and murder in the State.

    The State’s Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeniji Kazeem, who said this at the ongoing Ministerial Press Briefing held in Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria, said the State Government was committed to ensuring the logical conclusion of all pending cases in court and serve justice to the people.

    “On the Evans’ matter, the cases filed against him are ongoing in court. The issue is that the lawyer representing him is trying to play some games to delay the matter but in all his games, we have been defeating him in court.

    “We have filed different cases. Some are for kidnapping and some bordered on murder and his lawyer is fighting all the cases but what I can assure the people is that we are committed to ensure the matter is concluded and defeat him at the end of the day,” Kazeem said.

    While reeling out activities of the agencies under the Ministry in the last one year, the Attorney General said the State Government received and treated a total number of 11,451 cases through the Special Task Force Against Land Grabbers, Domestic and Sexual Violence Response Team (DSVRT) and the Special Offences (Mobile) Court in the last one year.

    He said the government also received 316 inquiries through the recently unveiled first state-owned DNA and Forensic Centre with 71 active cases currently ongoing bordering on homicide, rape, toxicology, child trafficking, serology, among others.

    According to Kazeem, the Anti-Land Grabbers Task Force designed by the present administration to fight the menace of forceful take-over of properties received 1300 petitions out of which 855 were concluded and 530 currently at various stages of resolution.

    “In the period under review, over 35 arrests of suspected notorious land grabbers were effected while 26 criminal prosecution cases against suspected land grabbers are presently ongoing,” the Attorney General said.

    Besides, the Attorney General said in a bid to enhance due diligence in property transaction, the State Government introduced the Real Estate Electronic Litigation Database designed for the provision of access to information primarily on properties which are subject of litigation, adding that since its launch, the portal has recorded over 1,000,000 hits and over 10,000 consistent users from Nigeria, United States, United Kingdom, South Africa and others.

    He added that through the Citizens’ Mediation Centre (CMC), the State Government received a total number of 47,292 new cases free of charge out of which 25,191 were resolved with others at various stages of resolution.

    “The total value of settlement of debt related matters achieved by the Centre during the period under review from May 2017 to April 2018 as settlement between parties was N1,352,745,391,” the Attorney General said, among other achievements by the State Government in the justice sector.

    Speaking on Hotel and Restaurant Consumption (Fiscalization) Regulations 2018, Kazeem clarified that it was neither a new law nor an additional tax, but a regulation aimed at ensuring that government gets due revenue.

    “It is a regulation and not a new law. It was made pursuant to an existing law that was already in operation. What this regulation essentially seeks to do is to allow the government to put certain equipment in the restaurant and hospitality organizations to properly monitor the revenue that is coming so we can know what exactly is due to the State Government.

    “It is not an additional tax; it is just to enhance transparency in collection of taxes that are due to the State. So, I want to clarify that carefully,” Kazeem said.

    On other high profile cases, he said it was gratifying to report that the cases were progressing in court, saying the Synagogue Church case for instance on the collapsed building which killed people was progressing well, adding that a no case submission filed by the accused persons instead of defending the case was recently dismissed by the Court, while the General Overseer of the Christian Praying Assembly, Rev. Chukwuemeka Ezeugo, a.k.a Reverend King who is presently on death roll imposed by the court would have his fate determined in due course.

  • Benue massacre: Seek justice and reparation for victims of attacks by herdsmen, SERAP tells Buhari

    Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that “any efforts by his government to prevent and combat attacks by herdsmen across the country is grounded in the rights of victims of unlawful killings and their families. It’s important to ensure that any policy to tackle the problem is not used as a ploy to undercut the possibilities of meaningful justice and reparation for victims and their families.”

    The National Assembly yesterday condemned the killings in Benue and other parts of the country, and called on the Federal Government to take decisive action against those behind the killings.

    In a statement today signed by SERAP deputy director Timothy Adewale the organization said, “So far attempts by the government to address the persistent attacks by herdsmen in Benue, Taraba, Adamawa states and other parts of the country has overlooked the plight of the victims and their families. But it has to be made clear that victims of attacks apparently by herdsmen are entitled to effective remedies regardless of whether they bring their claims against the government in an individual or collective capacity.”

    The organization said, “It is an imperative demand of justice that the responsibility of the perpetrators of the unlawful killings and destruction of property be clearly established and the rights of the victims and their families sustained to the fullest possible extent. Establishing a trust fund for victims of attacks by herdsmen will be an important first step towards justice for victims and their families.”

    According to the organization, “Victims’ right to an effective remedy and reparation is a legally enforceable human right and not a matter of charity. It is no coincidence that the Nigerian Constitution of 1999 (as amended) and human rights instruments such as the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to which Nigeria is a state party refer to victims’ right to effective remedies, including access to justice, reparation and guarantee of non-repetition.”

    “As the President of the Republic and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, SERAP believes that Buhari is in a powerful position to end the unlawful killings and destruction of property apparently by herdsmen across the country if he really wants to do so. Buhari needs to speak directly to Nigerians and particularly to the countless victims and their families.”

    “Continuing refusal of Buhari to speak directly to Nigerians on the matter and visit the states such as Benue, Taraba and Adamawa, that have been most affected by these attacks by herdsmen is feeding into the propaganda that this government may be shielding suspected perpetrators from justice and, more importantly, undermines the rule of law and facilitates continuing attacks.”

    “Under international law, a victim is defined as anyone who suffers individual or collective harm (or pain) such as physical or mental injury, emotional suffering, economic loss, or generally any impairment of human rights as a result of acts or omissions that constitute gross violations of human rights, or serious violations of humanitarian law norms.”

    “A victim does not necessarily have to be the person that has suffered the harm, as a dependent or a member of the immediate family or household of the person that has directly suffered harm can indirectly be characterised as a victim.”

    “Indeed, the Basic Principles of Justice for Victims of Crime and Abuse of Power provides some guarantees for victims (including family members of direct victims), such as those that suffer ‘substantial impairment of their fundamental rights’ through acts or omissions of governments.”

  • NJC sacks Justices Ademola, Tokode for misconduct

    NJC sacks Justices Ademola, Tokode for misconduct

    The National Judicial Council (NJC) has recommended the compulsory retirement of Justices A. F. A. Ademola and O. O. Tokode, both of the Federal High Court, for misconduct.

    A statement issued on Thursday in Abuja by Soji Oye, NJC’s Director of Information, said the decision was taken at the Council’s 84th meeting on Dec. 6.

    The NJC is chaired by the Chief Justice Nigeria, Justice Walter Onnoghe.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that Ademola had on same Dec. 6 written a letter notifying the council of his decision to voluntarily retire from the bench.

    Ademola was due for retirement on April 9, 2018, when he would attain the mandatory retirement age of 65 years.

    The council said its decision was pursuant to its findings on the allegation in the petition written against Ademola by Committee of Anambra State PDP House of Representatives Members-Elect.

    The council said the petition had alleged gross misconduct in the handling of a matter they filed before Ademola.

    The council urged the public to disregard news circulating that Ademola had voluntarily retired.

    “The purported voluntary retirement is clearly an afterthought as council had taken action before his decision to forward any voluntary retirement letter.”

    The council further said that Justice Tokode was also recommended to the President for compulsory retirement with immediate effect.

    It said this followed its findings on the allegation contained in petitions forwarded by Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) and Miss Abimbola Awogboro.

    “The petitioners accused the judge of misleading the Federal Judicial Service Commission and the National Judicial Council.

    ” This was by submitting six judgements he claimed to have personally conducted while practising as a lawyer; a pre-requisite for his application for appointment as a judicial officer, and was so appointed.

    “The investigation committee of council, however, found that the judge personally conducted only one of the six cases submitted.

    ” Therefore, Council decided to recommend his compulsory retirement and the refund of all salaries and allowances he earned since his purported appointment to the position of a Judge to the coffers of the Judiciary.”

    The council said in the interim, both judges were suspended from office with immediate effect.

    The council similarly issued warning letters to Justices A. N. Ubaka of the National Industrial Court, Justice A. M. Lawal of Lagos High Court and Zainab Sadat of the High Court of Niger and placed them both on a watch list.

    It dismissed the petition written by Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff accusing Justice A. Liman of the Federal High Court of corruption.

  • Photo: Ex-Supreme Court Justice, Coommassie, buried in Kaduna

    The body of ex-Supreme Court Judge, Justice Saifullahi Coommassie, was laid to rest in his hometown, Zaria, Kaduna State, on Friday.

    Coommassie died on Thursday evening in Zaria at the age of 71 after a brief illness.

    The funeral prayer was performed at the Emir of Zazzau’s palace.

    Dignitaries at the funeral included the Emir of Zazzau, Dr Shehu Idris, Yariman Zazzau, Alhaji Munnir Ja’afaru, and the Adviser to Gov. Nasiru El-Rufa’i of Kaduna State on Political Matters, Alhaji Lawal Sama’ila-Yakawada.

    Others were judges and prominent politicians.

    The late Coommassie initially trained as a teacher and taught Arabic and English languages in Zaria and Kaduna.

    He left the teaching profession as the Principal of Provincial Arabic School in Fada, Zaria, after spending many years on the job.

    He obtained an LL.B in 1976 from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1977.

    He was a State Counsel with Ministry of Justice in Kwara from 1977 to 1978 and Kaduna State in 1978.

    Between 1978 and 1988, he was with the High Court of Kaduna State in various capacities and rose to the rank of Chief Registrar.

    Prior to joining the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 2008, he was a judge of the Court of Appeal and served in Port Harcourt, Jos, Abuja, Ilorin and Benin divisions of the court.

    He was awarded the Time News Magazine Nigeria merit award in 2006; he was on national assignment as a member of the Karibi Whyte Disturbance Tribunal in Abuja (1986-1987).

    Coommassie attended several workshops and seminars on Sharia and other aspects of law and was a member of the Nigerian Body of Benchers.

    He is survived by two wives and two children.

     

    NAN

  • Nigerians don’t have effective access to justice – Saraki, CJN, others

    Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Walter Onnoghen, Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (AGF), Abubakar Malami (SAN) and Solicitor General of the Federation (SGF), Taiwo Abidogun, on Thursday lamented the inability of the nation’s court system to ensure prompt justice delivery.

    They urged that efforts should be directed at ensuring that the judicial system functions for the benefit of all.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Saraki, Onnoghen, Malami and Abidogun spoke at the National Summit on Justice in Abuja.

    Saraki, who was represented by Senator David Umoru, said Nigerians were in agreement that the justice administration system urgently requires serious reforms to enable it cope with current day challenges.

    He said: “Criminals have become smarter with technology. There is an upsurge in terrorism and crimes, hitherto unimagined like the senseless and brutal kidnapping of Nigerians. This was a crime never envisaged in the past.

    “It is my clear belief that in order to restore confidence amongst Nigerians in our justice system, judicial reforms need to be institutionalised. It must be constantly reviewed to reflect the constant dynamics of the society.

    “It should not be treated like a one off project or a talk show, but a workable template must be adhered to.

    “The success of an effective judicial system is measured not only by the number of cases that it manages to dispose of, but also, and more importantly, by the amount of litigation which is avoided because the rights and obligations of parties are ascertainable in advance.

    “Ensuring effective access to justice is one of the most important issues facing our justice system today.”

    Onnoghen, who was also represented by Justice Mary Odili of the Supreme Court, said the perennial delay in the judicial process could be effectively eliminated where rules of procedure in courts are well streamlined.

    He noted that although it may be difficult to achieve uniformity of court procedure nationwide because of existing differences in religion, culture and legal procedures, efforts should be directed at ensuring a system that guarantees fair play and equity.

    He said: “The common man should see the justice system as impartial. There should be improved justice dispensation, elimination of delays and reduction in cost of litigation.

    “It is hoped that the policy will achieve this goal of building consensus among justice sector institutions and practitioners for the purpose of addressing collectively, the major challenges facing the justice delivery system in the country.”

     

  • We will expose, bring fake news perpetrators to justice

    The Muhammadu Buhari-led government has urged Nigerians to be extra vigilant in view of “worsening cases of fake news being spread by unscrupulous persons”, who are bent on destabilizing the polity and causing disunity among the country’s various ethnic and religious groups.

    In a statement issued in Abuja on Sunday, June 4, 2017, by Lai Mohammed, the country’s minister of information and culture, said several major cases of fake news were recorded, each of them capable of causing panic, triggering chaos or setting one group against the other.

    He said a gory video of a blast that occurred many years ago is being circulated along with the false news of a bomb blast in Abuja, while news of a non-existent bomb blast in Lagos was also widely circulated, forcing the police to promptly debunk the fake news.

    Mr. Mohammed also said the latest strategy being employed by the purveyors of fake news is to attribute to top government officials improbable statements that are capable of destabilizing the polity, causing tension and threatening the country’s unity.

    “This is why we are appealing to Nigerians not to ever engage in a knee-jerk reaction to any news, and to subject every information to a very serious scrutiny by checking with security agencies and government spokespersons,” the minister is quoted as saying in a statement signed by a media aide, Mr. Segun Adeyemi.

    The minister described the fake news phenomenon as ‘the scourge of our times’ which will probably get worse in the months ahead, hence the need for all Nigerians to be very vigilant so that fake news purveyors do not succeed in their quest to sow the seeds of chaos and confusion.

    He also appealed to the traditional media, which has a reputation to protect, to join the campaign against the purveyors of fake news, especially because the websites of many reputable media organizations are being parodied and used to spread false information in order to gain some modicum of credibility.

    “On our part, we will not relent until we have exposed those who are behind this fake news phenomenon and brought them to justice,” Mr. Mohammed said.

  • Private prisons slam door on justice

    Private prisons slam door on justice

    By Jesse Jackson

     

    Next week, March 7, will mark the 52nd anniversary of Bloody Sunday, the historic march and shocking police riot in Selma, Alabama, that helped build public support for passage of the Voting Rights Act. Now, a half-century later, an avowed critic of that law — former Alabama Sen. Jefferson Beauregard Sessions III, who was born in Selma — has been confirmed as attorney general of the United States. In one of his first acts in office — reversing Obama’s order to phase out the federal government’s use of private prisons — he has begun to weaken civil rights protections.

    The decision on private prisons reflects Trump’s desire to repeal all things Obama. It expresses the ideological bias of reactionaries like Sessions toward privatizing public functions. It also reveals the pervasive corruption already apparent in the Trump administration. The two largest for-profit prison companies in the United States — GEO Group and CoreCivic (formerly Corrections Corporation of America) — and their associates have, according to Reason Magazine, contributed “more than $10 million to candidates since 1989 and have spent nearly $25 million on lobbying efforts.”

    When Trump stoked public fears of violent crime in our cities, called our prison system a “disaster,” and endorsed “privatizations and private prisons,” the industry ponied up hundreds of thousands of dollars to support his candidacy. Since Trump won the election, share prices of GEO Group and CoreCivic have soared more than 100 percent. In our corrupted politics, Sessions’ act helps consolidate their return on investment.

    Reviving private prisons, however, represents far more than mere anti-Obama venom, ideological preference or even political corruption. It tramples basic civil and human rights. And African Americans and Latinos, who disproportionately populate our prisons, will suffer the most.

    Incarcerating people in for-profit prisons is morally indefensible. Locking people up and turning them over to companies whose primary concerns are profits and return to investors is a recipe for abuse. And the record of private prisons demonstrates repeatedly that abuse is pervasive.In Sessions’ home state of Alabama, for example, whites constitute two-thirds of the total population but only 42 percent of the prison population. African Americans represent only one-fourth of the total population, but over half (54 percent) of the incarcerated.

    This is the cause of repeated upheaval and scandal. Private prisons suffer more violence. Underpaid guards too often punish prisoners without accountability. Private prisons, Obama’s Justice Department found, aren’t as safe for prisoners or for guards as public prisons. They lack the services that might revive hope rather than crush it, such as educational programs and job training. Despite their companies’ claims, private prisons don’t save government much money either.

    Worse, the thirst for profit overrides the needs of the incarcerated. Private prisons are notorious for skimping on food, facilities and health care. They gouge prisoners even for using the telephone to stay in contact with loved ones. Worse, the private companies generally demand that the government guarantee that their cells will be full, even if actual crime rates are falling or if harsh sentencing is rolled back. Nearly two-thirds of private prison contracts mandate that state and local governments sustain an occupancy rate — usually 90 percent — or taxpayers pay for the empty beds. At the federal level, the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) budget is mandated by the Congress to maintain detention beds for at least 34,000 immigrants daily.

    Sessions’ order impacts some 14,000 federal prisoners, a number that has been trending down in recent years. Most of the 2 million prisoners in America are sentenced and held at the state and local level. To them, Sessions is sending a strong signal. The federal government will be ramping up detentions, particularly of immigrants. It signals to states and localities — many of which have been souring on private prisons —that the federal government is all in for privatization.

    Trump has promised a new day for what he calls America’s “inner cities.” But what we’ve seen so far is a return to the failed policies of the past — law and order rhetoric combined with calls for tougher police tactics, harsher sentences, and now a corrupt and indefensible embrace of privatized prisons. With Sessions in the DOJ, Trump’s divisive racial rhetoric is about to turn into policy.