TheNewsGuru

Tag: Protest

  • Respect my right, end SARS: Protesters bring Warri to a halt

    Protesters belonging to a Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) in Delta state have urged the Federal Government to restructure the entire Nigeria Police force for better performance.

    The groups made the call on Monday during a peaceful rally in Warri to mark the World Human Rights Day.

    The protesters, mostly boys and girls, converged at the Enerhen Junction, a boundary between Warri and Uvwie Local Government at about 11:00 a.m without obstructing vehicular movement and other commercial activities.

    They held placards with inscriptions such as: “We are Nigerians, our rights no bi privilege, respect my right, end SARS,” “I walk around with my laptop does not make me a Yahoo boy”.

    Others were: “Dreadlocks, Tattoos no be Yahoo boy,” “End SARS, reform Nigeria Police, “SARS must respect human rights in Delta,” among others.

    Addressing newsmen, leader of the protest, Mr Kehinde Taiga, said that the brutality of the Nigeria Police, particularly the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), was becoming unbearable in the society.

    Taiga, who is the Chairman, Committee for the Defence of Human Right (CDHR), Delta chapter, said that restructuring the police force was a better option to ending the menace.

    “Police should operate within the ambit of the constitution, they should not be violating the rights of the citizens. The brutality of the police is becoming unbearable.

    “We call on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to restructure the Nigeria Police and be given a guideline of operation.

    “The fundamental human rights are there to be exercised by every citizen, so police should stop violating those rights, the fundamental rights of Nigerians should be respected, ” he said.

    Taiga also said that the activities of SARS should be controlled by the State Commands rather than being supervised by a Police Commissioner in Abuja.

    Also speaking, Mr Collins Azuike, Lead Partner, “New Warri,” said the group made up of creative youths move about with the cell phones and laptops, adding that they suffered a lot of harassment from the police.

    “Of course, there are few bad persons among us that are doing fraudulent things but a good percentage of us are trying to create a better Warri.

    “We have our rights, that somebody is carrying a dreadlock does not make him or her a bad person, we want the police to join us to achieve this dream of New Warri where everyone’s right will be protected,” he said.

    Mr Igho Tietie, Convener, “New Warri”, said that there were laid down rules of engagement of the Nigeria Police, adding that the force floted those rules.

    “That a young man is carrying dreadlocks, tattoos and dress shabilly is not a yardstick to adjudge the persons as a criminial.

    “The police brutality is getting too much, when you try to protest for your right, they threaten to shoot you,” he said.

    Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Delta Command, Mr Andrew Aniamaka, on his cell phone for response was unsuccessful.

     

  • Kenyan opposition protester dies from gunshot wound, several others wounded…

    One man was shot dead and several others injured during protests in the western city of Kisumu, as opposition supporters try to stop Thursday’s elections, a nurse at the main government hospital said.

    “A young man, aged 17 or 18, was brought in heavily bleeding. We were giving him blood but he succumbed,” said Henry Omosa, head nurse for casualty unit.

    Omosa said the young man was one of four people admitted to the hospital on Thursday with gunshot wounds that occurred during clashes between police and protesters.

    Kenyan police clashed with opposition supporters who where burning barricades and gangs of youths who prevented voting in some towns in an election re-run, seeking to challenge the credibility of President Uhuru Kenyatta’s expected victory.

    In the western city of Kisumu, stone-throwing youths heeding opposition leader Raila Odinga’s call for a voter boycott were met by live rounds, tear gas and water cannon three hours after polling stations were meant to have opened.

    There were no immediate reports of casualties.

    The election is being closely watched across East Africa, which relies on Kenya as a trade and logistics hub, and in the West where Nairobi is regarded as a bulwark against Islamist militancy in Somalia and civil conflict in South Sudan and Burundi.

    By and large the security situation in the country is OK. Polling stations have been opened in over 90 percent of the country and voting has commenced,” Interior minister Fred Matiang‘i told Citizen TV.

    According to footage on the domestic NTV channel, in the western town of Migori, another opposition stronghold, several hundred young men milled around on a main road littered with rubble and burning barricades.

    The handful of polling officials who pitched up to work in Kisumu, the scene of major ethnic violence after a disputed election in 2007, cowered behind closed doors, unable to distribute any voting material.

    Such problems, already acknowledged by judges and the election commission, are likely to trigger legal challenges to the run-off and could stir longer-term instability in a country riven by deep ethnic divisions.

    The re-run follows an August vote whose result, a Kenyatta victory, was annulled by the Supreme Court due to procedural irregularities.

    In Kisumu Central, constituency returning officer John Ngutai said no voting materials had been distributed and only three of his 400 staff had turned up for work.

    One nervous official described his work in the city as a “suicide mission”.

    “We don’t have any options,” Ngutai told Reuters as he and two presiding officers sorted thousands of ballot papers into piles, work that should have been completed the previous day.

    Kisumu businessman Joshua Nyamori, 42, was one of the few voters brave enough to defy Odinga’s stay-away call but said intimidation had put paid to his desire to cast his ballot.

    A decade after 1,200 people were killed over another disputed election, many Kenyans are ready for trouble although on the eve of the vote Odinga backed off previous calls for protests and urged supporters to stay out of the way of police.

    “We advise Kenyans who value democracy and justice to hold vigils and prayers away from polling stations, or just stay at home,” Odinga said.

    Odinga’s National Super Alliance coalition, which has been accused of harassing polling staff in the run-up to the vote, is likely to present a lack of open polling stations as proof the re-run, organised in less than 60 days, is bogus.

    The head of the election commission said he could not guarantee a free and fair vote, citing interference from politicians and threats of violence against his colleagues.

    One election commissioner has quit and fled the country.

    Kenyatta, the U.S.-educated son of Kenya’s founding father, has made clear he sees Thursday’s vote as legitimate.

    In central Nairobi, where support for the two protagonists is more mixed, turnout was significantly down on the August election.

    Anti-riot police were patrolling in Kibera and Mathare, two volatile Nairobi slums.

    Nearly 50 people have been killed by security forces since the August vote.

  • Graphic Photos/Video: 10 year old boy, two others die in Owerri market protest

    Reports reaching the TheNewsGuru.com now have it that a violent protest is going on in Owerri, the Imo State capital sequel to the demolition of the Eke Onunwa market by the Rochas Okorocha led state government leaving a ten year old boy and two others dead.

    A video exclusively sourced by the TheNewsGuru.com from impeccable sources at the scene of the incident showed armed police officers shooting at protesters sporadically.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Governor Rochas Okorocha had earlier issued an evacuation order to the traders advising them to relocate to a new site to make way for development at the market site.

    The efforts were resisted by the natives of the area who fought the relocation of the market by the state government.

    However, the market was demolished in the middle of the night by bulldozers already stationed at the scene despite the efforts of the natives.

    This sparked several protests which turned violent.

    According to an eye witness who spoke in confidence to TheNewsGuru.com, violence started when one of the protesters, a young boy, was hit and killed by a stray bullet fired by security operatives deployed to maintain order in the melee which ensued after the demolition.

    The death of the young boy was not taken lightly as Owerri natives proceeded to set fire to the property belonging to some residents.

    This led to a fight between the residents and those protesters resulting in the death of two others.

    Military and police personnel have however been deployed to restore order.

    Efforts to reach the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Andrew Enwerem for comments as at press time was not successful as he was said to be out of the state on official assignment.

     

  • NANS protests, rejects JAMB’s 120 admission cut-off mark

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has rejected the cut-off points for admission into tertiary institutions, describing the reduction as a gross misplacement of priority and exercise in futility.

    NANS Vice President Olamide Odumosu, spoke at a protest by the group at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) in Bwari, on Thursday.

    Odumosu said that the reduction in the cut-off points would only lead to corruption as well as worsen the level of academic performance of students.

    He added that NANS had supported the present administration in its fight against corruption, but the recent development was an act of exploitation on Nigerian students.

    “JAMB in conjunction with Vice Chancellors and Provosts is exploiting Nigerian students, thereby reducing the level of education in the country.

    “JAMB giving us 120 as a cut-off mark for Nigeria universities is a slap to our country.”

    Odumosu added that the association would mobilise students across the 36 states, including the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to stage a protest if nothing was done to all of their plights.

    Also, Idowu Odebunmi, National Public Relations Officer of the association, accused the board of conniving with Vice Chancellors in bastardising the standards of Nigerian education.

    Ajayi also said that the increment in the regularisation fees by the board from N5,000 to N10,000 should be reviewed.

    Inscriptions like: ‘‘NANS say no to 120 cut-off marks,’ ‘say no to corruption in our education sector,’ ‘say no to post UTME fraud,’’ were written on the placards carried by the group.

    Meanwhile, the National President of the association, Chinonso Obasi has condemned the cut-off marks reduction by JAMB and stakeholders.

    Obasi, in a statement, said the review from 180 for universities and 165 polytechnics, now 120 and 100, respectively was uncalled for.

    According to him, knowledge acquisition is a function of determination and hard work.

    “And so, if over the years, students were able to work hard to meet cut-off points, it doesn’t make any logical sense to now lower the standard.”

    He added that the inability of any student to meet the cut-off points was a function of outright indolence that should not be encouraged.

    According to him, the general phenomenon is that Nigerian graduates are not employable, lowering of standard will translate to a disastrous outcome in the future by churning out young people, who cannot fit into the labour demands and expectations of the 21st century.

    “Nigerian youths are intelligent and willing to learn because of the enabling environment provided by tertiary institutions abroad.

    “The 21st century is driven by innovation and competitiveness.

    “So, lowering the entering level into tertiary institutions will further contribute to reducing the productivity and peak performance of young people seeking admission into the country’s higher institutions of learning.”

    He, however, said that the challenge of the tertiary institutions in Nigeria was not in the prospects of entering, but largely dependent on the numerous challenges within the various institutions.

    Obasi decried the high level of inconsistencies in policy formulation and implementation in the educational sector.

    He called on government to mainstream and benchmark global best practices in educational policy formulation and implementation.

    He said that as critical stakeholders in the educational sector, the student body would vehemently resist the review.

    Obasi urged government to maintain status quo and endeavour to conduct a comparative study and analysis of policies from other climes that supports functional learning.

    However, Dr Yusuf Lawal, Director of Test Administration of the board, while addressing the group, said JAMB was ready to look at some of the issues.

    Lawal explained that the cut-off marks were unanimously decided by stakeholders at its policy meeting on Aug. 22 in Abuja.

    He added that JAMB would put some of the issues on a roundtable on re-engineering to reduce some of the cost in admission fees.

    “For the cut-off point, JAMB is a clearing house for tertiary institutions. The set up of the board is not to take over process or mandate of the tertiary institutions.

    “It was the tertiary institutions that met and that we should not dissipate energy on publicity, multiplicity of exam and multiplicity of admission.

    “We are already looking at how we can reduce application fee of the coming year,” he said.

    Lawal, however, said that it was not mandatory that everybody who scored 120 would be given admission but rather admission would be dependent on available courses in the tertiary institutions.

    JAMB had on Aug. 22 reduced university cut-off to 120, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education to 100 at a policy meeting with the Vice Chancellors, Rectors and Provosts of higher institutions in the country.

    NAN reports that Prof. Is-haq Oloyede, Registrar, JAMB, had at the policy meeting of the stakeholders of tertiary institutions in Abuja disclosed the reduction of cut off mark to 120.

  • BREAKING: CharlyBoy, others suspend our #OurMumuDonDo protest over attacks

    …plans to restrategise

    The #OurMumuDonDo movement has suspended their #ResumeOrResign protests following the Tuesday attack on them by hoodlums at the Wuse Market in Abuja.

    The group announced the suspension of further protests on Wednesday at the unity fountain, Maitama, saying they needed to restrategise.

    Members of the movement were attacked by a mob at the Wuse market when the co-convener of the protests led his group to the market to address traders.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that one of the leaders of the group, Charly Boy popularly addressed as AreaFada was about addressing the people when some suspected hoodlums infiltrated the crowd, shouting ‘Sai Baba’ and hurling stones at the group.

    Charly Boy was allegedly injured and his car damaged during the fracas.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the protest started nine days ago with the groups asking President Muhammadu Buhari to either resign or resume official duties that he was elected to perform.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that President Buhari traveled for medical check-up in London on Sunday, May 7, more than a month he came back into the country from a previous medical vacation.

     

  • I’ve no hand in anti-Buhari protest – Mimiko

    Former governor of Ondo State, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, on Sunday denied involvement with any protest against President Muhammadu Buhari.

    Mimiko, in a statement signed by Eni Akinsola, his media advisor, said he has no hand in any protest as alleged by a group which he said is out to either create mischief or blackmail him.

    “We are aware of an attempt to blackmail Dr Olusegun Mimiko by linking him to an anti-Buhari protest.

    “The blackmailers are out to bandy figures running into hundreds of millions as funds released for the phantom support,” the statement reads.

    The statement said “Mimiko is not interested in causes he cannot stand up to be seen as supporting.”

    While saying he is of the “firm conviction that the President, by transmitting power to the Vice President, has fulfilled the proper and constitutional requirement,” Mimiko, in the statement, reiterated that he has nothing to do with any anti-Buhari protest.

    One group professing to be pro-Buhari had alleged in a press conference that Mimiko and others are funding the anti-Buhari protests.

  • Dankwambo, Mimiko, others funding anti-Buhari protest with N300m – Group

    A pro-government group under the aegis of Coalition for Truth and Justice, yesterday alleged that promoters of the ongoing protests against the continuous absence of President Muhammadu Buhari have been paid N300 million to carry out the exercise.

    According to the coalition, the N300 million paid to celebrity including Charles Oputa aka Charlie Boy, Deji (Adeyanju) and (John) Danfulani, by Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo, a former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko and other political actors in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), could have been better deployed to ameliorate the conditions of Nigerians facing economic hardship.

    The National Coordinator of CFTAJ, Charles Timothy, at a press conference in Abuja, called on security agencies to place them “under passive watch” because the protests were being sponsored to destabilise the country.

    He said, “It is true that the instalment death of the corruption industry is compelling Nigerians to live within their means, which some have interpreted as hardship in the land. Nigerians should, therefore, task these protesters to inquire from their sponsors if the N300 million paid to celebrity activists – Deji (Adeyanju), John Danfulani and Charles Oputa aka Charlie Boy couldn’t have been better deployed to ameliorate the condition of those facing economic hardship.

    “We therefore want to issue firm warnings. Because we know these protesters are mere fodders, tools in the hands of those that paid them to take to the streets, our warning is not directed at the protesters but at their sponsors. We therefore warn Gombe State Governor, Ibrahim Hassan Dankwambo and former Governor of Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko who are the brain behind the protest against the ailing President.

    “Both Dankwambo and Mimiko are entitled to throw away their humanity on the altar of ambition but they must be aware that whatever position they are desperate to attain is not worth plunging the country into crisis over. They are free to spend their money any way they want but financing urchins, riffraff and celebrity activists but truly patriotic Nigerians will not sit by and watch them plunge the country into trouble.

    “We urge the law enforcement agencies to place these men under passive watch same as their foot soldiers on the streets to ensure that there is no unexpected breakdown of law and order. This does not in any way suggest that the right of Nigerians to lawful assembly should be abridged, what we are saying is that criminal elements should not be encouraged to use President Buhari’s medical vacation as a cover to wreak havoc on the streets.

    “Nigeria is again at crossroads as those that are desperate to collapse the country are again at work. They have tried all manners of gimmicks in the past and woefully failed to compromise the integrity of Nigeria. Some of them have sponsored terrorism or militancy, depending on the region, and failed to use these to bring Nigeria down. They have now resorted to street protests under the guise that they are demanding President Muhammadu Buhari to cut short his medical vacation and resume duties.

    “For those who have not noticed, we want to point out that these protesters are not new. They had held similar protests in the past under different names and with multiple excuses. What they have simply done this time is to rebrand their name into #ourmumudondo and add a few more desperate celebrity activists to their ranks; their driving ideology for causing chaos has not changed one bit.

    “It is most unfortunate that these crowd of desperate people equated themselves with patriotic citizens that followed due process in staging a march to express their feeling about the performance of government. The patriotic citizens conducted themselves in orderly manner and cooperated with law enforcement to ensure their march was not hijacked. Same cannot be said for the #ourmumudondo protesters, whose thugs were confrontational against law enforcement agents from the start.

    “To Nigerians, our position remains to renew the invitation to pray for the recovery of President Muhammadu Buhari and for return of peace with prosperity to the country. We appeal to citizens not to buy into the campaign of negativity being financed by the likes of Dankwambo and Mimiko.

    “It is tragic that these protesters are victims of their own puppet masters, who are exploiting their joblessness to further personal political interests. We expect that people should, even when they are unemployed, interrogate the long-term plan of those asking them to take to the streets and cause mayhem. When protests degenerate into unruliness it is natural that the peace has to be maintained so these protesters were quite unawares that they were guinea pigs in their paymasters’ political experiment.

    “Another thing that these protesters are unaware of was that their sponsors have equally mobilized thugs to join the so-called protests for the sole aim of fomenting trouble. The strategy is for these thugs to deliberately clash with law enforcement and then cause widespread violence, arson and looting that will eventually result in a breakdown of law and order.

    “Even more worrisome is the specific request from these sponsors that the thugs must ensure there is loss of life from the protest so that they can claim that security agencies and by implication the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is killing protesters.

    “To prove that these protests have motives other than the one the protesters are presenting, even the explanation by the Senate that President Buhari has not breached any rule did not suffice to educate them to desist from their foolish ways.

    “Instead, they are heaping insults on the lawmakers simply because they could not have their way. Such intolerance smacks of people with a fascist bend of mind even when they masquerade that their actions were driven by a law for democracy. Unfortunately, their own brand of democracy does not accept a National Assembly.”

  • #OurMumuDonDo protesters, pro-Buhari group clash in Abuja

    There was a mild skirmish as #OurMumuDonDo protesters, led by Charles Oputa was also known as Charly Boy, clashed with supporters of President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja on Friday.

    The Charly Boy had for the last five days been protesting against the continued absence of President Buhari from the country, insisting that his absence was hindering key policy decision from being taken. The group is demanding Buhari return to Nigeria or resign.

    The Charly Boy group had earlier assembled at the Unity Fountain when the other group [pro-buhari] later arrived at the scene and reportedly confronted the other group.

    However, one of the conveners of the #OurMumuDonDo protest, Deji Adeyanju said the police officials at the incident stopped what could have degenerated to a fight between the two groups.

     

  • “Return or resign’’ protesters wants to derail anti-corruption war – Presidency

    The Presidency has described the “Return or resign’’ protesters as an illegal assembly formed to frustrate the ongoing Federal Government’s campaign against corruption in the country.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, stated this when he addressed members of the Centre for Civil Society and Justice (CCSJ), at the precincts of the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.

    Members of the Centre, a civil society coalition, staged a rally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari, who is on medical vacation in London.

    Shehu dismissed the “return or resign” agitation as an illegal assembly stealthily organized to deliver a body blow to the war against corruption.

    According to the presidential aide, any attempt to derail the war against corruption using subterfuge and bluff will not succeed.

    Shehu praised members of the coalition and other Nigerians for rising against “the chaotic rout of protesters’’ who assembled at the Unity Fountain demanding the return of President Buhari, dismissing such demands as unlawful.

    “”It might be taken for granted that the beneficiaries of the old order are fighting back. We have been warned that corruption will fight back.

    ““In a country where just one woman for having the opportunity to serve as minister has N47.2 billion and 487.5 million dollars of public resources in cash and property traced to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) you don’t expect the beneficiaries of that order to allow the Buhari administration some peace.

    “”They want to distract us. But what the Presidency wants to assure patriotic citizens is that the government will not bend.

    ““As far as the President is concerned, he has done the needful by handing the reins of authority to the Vice President. Since the law of the country does not give a time limit for the President’s return, it cannot be imposed by a saber-rattling musician,’’ he added.

    The Presidential spokesman commended the CCSJ for being orderly in their demonstration and urged them to shun all provocations by opponents of government.

    He said: “By divine intervention, Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly got elected with the ostensible mandate of reversing national decline and securing its future.
    “

    “He got into the Villa through democratic victory at election. Anybody desiring to replace him, whether you are wrestler, a hairdresser or a musician, you should go through that process. “In a democracy, threats don’t work.’’

    Speaking on behalf of the demonstrators, the convener, Comrade Prince Goodluck Obi said his group had “absolute faith and trust in President Buhari’s administration not machinations of corruption and destabilization.

    ““We are saying from today, Aug. 10, we will be holding a rally/protest march here at Unity Fountain for the next one month and beyond in order to send clear and unambiguous message to agents of chaos and unity, that Nigerians are solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration based on our democratic mandate entrusted to him on March 28, 2015.’’

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalls that the Senate on Tuesday via a statement signed by its spokesman, Sen Sabi Abdullahi, reacted to the protests by a coalition of civil society organizations, who are demanding for the resignation of President Muhammadu Buhari over his medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

    The Senate maintained that President Buhari had broken no law as he complied with the provisions of the nation’s constitution which stipulated that he must handover to the vice president and duly inform the two chambers of the legislature about his medical vacation.

    According to the statement, the National Assembly is satisfied that the president’s absence left no vacuum, and therefore cautioned the protesters against creating unnecessary tension in the country.

  • Just in: Police tear gas, injure Journalist, protesters seeking Buhari’s resignation

    A journalist and some of the protesters seeking President Muhammadu Buhari’s resignation were reportedly injured on Tuesday in Abuja, after policemen fired tear gas canisters at them.

    The protesters were demanding the return of President Muhammadu Buhari who had been on medical leave in London, the United Kingdom since May 2017.

    One of the conveners of the protest, Deji Adeyanju, tweeted a video of their visit to a Silverbird Journalist and another wounded citizen at a clinic situated at the Federal Secretariat complex.

    The coalition members were having their sit-out at the Millennium park opposite the Unity Fountain, Maitama, Abuja when the armed policemen fired tear gas canisters to disperse them.

    The participants, however, braved the assault and continued with their meeting for about an hour.

    The protesters who are members of about four civil society organizations were demanding that Buhari should return to the country or resign if he was incapacitated.

    Details soon…