TheNewsGuru

Tag: Report

  • Army reacts to report on voluntary retirement of soldiers

    Army reacts to report on voluntary retirement of soldiers

    The Nigerian Army says it will not be deterred by mischief makers and enemies of the country trying to create disharmony in the service.

    The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig;-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, said this in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja.

    Nwachukwu was reacting to a fake report by some online media that the voluntary retirement of some personnel was due to corruption, poor condition of service and low morale in the Army.

    The spokesman said the enemies of the country have again failed in their efforts to dampen the morale and fighting will of loyal, dedicated and patriotic fighting force of the Nigerian army.

    Nwachukwu said that Nigerian army was not a “conscript army”, but an organisation entered into voluntarily and with clear policy on discharge and retirement of soldiers and officers.

    He said that Army personnel have the right to apply for voluntary discharge, when they deemed it fit and also met the terms and conditions.

    The Army spokesman advised the mischief makers to be abreast of the Army’s 2017 revised Harmonised Terms and Conditions of Service of Soldiers/Ratings/Airmen, so as to stop embarrassing themselves in the eye of the public.

    “It is thus, the inalienable right of a personnel to voluntarily or on medical grounds, apply for discharge, if they meet the terms.

    “It is therefore not an aberration that the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), Lt;-Gen. Faruk Yahaya, granted approval for 91 NA/32/4792 WO Ndagana Ishiaku and 242 others to voluntarily discharge from the Nigerian Army, as being unprofessionally manipulated by some media,” he said.

    Nwachukwu said that the COAS had made critical intervention on troops welfare to raise their morale in the theatre of operations.

    He added that the interventions included provision of car and housing loans, construction and renovation of accommodations, as well as residences and vehicles for Regimental Sergeant Majors.

    Others include the provision of scholarship to children and wards of fallen heroes and other unique interventions in the theatres of operation to sustain and heighten the morale of troops, he said.

    “These interventions evidently account for troops’ game changing onslaught in the North East.

    “It must also be mentioned, that the quantum of equipment that have been injected into the theatres and prompt payment of operational allowances, have all turned the tide against the insurgents.

    “Also worthy of note is the welfare flight for troops, which has significantly reduced the burden of troops travelling in and out of the theatres.

    “In addition to huge commitment on the medical needs of wounded-in-action soldiers and the barracks communities.

    “Equally important, is the fact that troops are now being regularly and consciously rotated from the frontline, hence, issues of overstay and battle fatigue are gradually being overcome,” he said.

    Nwachukwu said that some of the recently discharged soldiers were beneficiaries of the COAS’ giant strides in welfare interventions.

    He said that the COAS congratulated the those leaving the Army for their gallantry, patriotism, loyalty and courage while in service and wished them the very best.

    Nwachukwu said the COAS would continue to make direct impact on the welfare and wellbeing of both serving and retired personnel.

    He said a luncheon has been planned for retired commanders to honour them for their services to the nation.

  • NNPC Limited releases financial report for October 2021

    NNPC Limited releases financial report for October 2021

    The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) has released its monthly financial and operations report for October 2021, which shows the company supplied a total of 594 million standard cubic feet of gas per day (mmscfd) to gas-fired power plants in the country as against the 557mmscfd supplied in the previous month of September 2021.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the NNPC Limited’s Monthly Financial and Operations Report (MFOR) for October 2021 is the 75th in the series since the company started publishing the report in 2015.

    According to a statement released by Garba Deen Muhammad, Group General Manager, Group Public Affairs Division of NNPC Limited, the total gas supply to power for the month translates to an average power generation of about 2,944Mega Watts (MW) compared to 2,701 MW for the previous month.

    “A further breakdown of the gas production and supply matrix for the period under review shows that a total of 197.71 Billion Cubic Feet (BCF) was produced, while 121.05BCF was commercialized. Of the commercialized volume, 34.93BCF went to the domestic market while 86.13BCF was exported. This implies that 62.54% of the average daily gas produced was commercialized while the balance of 37.46% was re-injected, used as upstream fuel gas or flared,” the statement reads.

    In the Downstream, the report shows that a total of 1,101.02million litres of white products were sold and distributed by Petroleum Products Marketing Company (PPMC) in the month of October 2021, compared with 1,390.19 million litres in the month of September 2021. This comprised 1,098.17mil lion litres of PMS and 2.84million litres of AGO which also translates to a sales revenue of #147.36 billion.

    The report also shows that a total of 28 vandalized points were recorded on the company’s pipelines in October 2021, representing a 33.33% increase compared to 21 pipeline breaks recorded in September 2021 with the Mosimi and Port Harcourt Areas accounting for 96% and 4% respectively.

  • Vanguard Newspaper report on my speech inaccurate — Tinubu

    Vanguard Newspaper report on my speech inaccurate — Tinubu

    Sen. Bola Tinubu, former governor of Lagos State, has said that the Vanguard newspaper report on his speech was inaccurate and erroneous.

    Tinubu, reacting in a statement by his Media Aide, Mr Tunde Rahman, on Monday in Lagos said that the lead report by Vanguard newspaper captioned, “I’m ready to get dirty – Tinubu” was taken out of its right context, claiming he vowed to fight dirty if there were plans to halt his presidential ambition in 2023.

    The All Progressives (APC) Chieftain, had on Sunday, Feb. 20, gone on consultation and engagement visit to the Olubadan-Designate, Sen. Lekan Balogun, in Ibadan.

    Speaking during the visit, Tinubu, referring to some of the unwarranted attacks against him, used the metaphor of wrestling with the pig, saying “if you decide to wrestle with the pig, you must be ready to get dirty.”

    The statement, however, explained that the APC chieftain’s statement was taken out of its right context claiming he vowed to fight dirty if there were plans to halt his presidential ambition in 2023.

    “This caption and report are inaccurate and erroneous. Sadly, the wrong headline and story have been latched on by some online platforms/blogs and commentators to pour invective on my person.

    “These commentaries and remarks are unfortunate because they are groundless, misinformed and misdirected. Hence, this clarification has become imperative,” he said.

    Tinubu stressed that at no time during the visit and in his speech did he indicate that he would fight dirty for his presidential ambition.

    He added that his words were carefully chosen stating that the people did not lend credence to such interpretation as given by the Vanguard newspaper.

    For clarity, Tinubu, while addressing the Olubadan designate, said: “Kabiyesi, all I have come for is to beg you to continue to pray for me, the entire Yoruba race and the country.

    “I am out to become the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and there is a wise saying that if you want to wrestle with the pig, be ready to get dirty and deal with the poo-poo.

    “I am ready to get dirty. No intimidation, no blackmail, no sort of insult will get me angry to the extent that I will say no more, I don’t want again.”

    He, therefore. appealed to the media as the 2023 election approaches, and at all times, not to allow their mediums and platforms to be deployed in the desperate smear campaigns and campaigns of calumny by politicians.

    Tinubu stated that the people of the Fourth Estate of the Realm owe themselves and the society to report accurately and objectively without fear or favour.

    “The duty of the media as the Fourth Estate of the Realm is a sacred one which must be guarded jealously,” he said.

  • White Paper on Lekki massacre report, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    White Paper on Lekki massacre report, By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    By Sonnie Ekwowusi

    Most of those who run our affairs in Nigeria are minutely making us a laughing stock before the civilized world. Most of us admit this unpleasant fact about our country. In his classical essay entitled, Common Sense, Tom Paine maintained that the English government was evil. “Society is produced by our wants and government by our wickedness: the former promotes our happiness positively by uniting our affections, the latter negatively by restraining our vices. The one encourages intercourse, the other creates distinctions. The first is patron, the other punisher”, he opined.

    To a striking degree in line with Tom Paine’s thought, our government in Nigeria is an engine of fraud if not complete evil. For example, the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry set up to investigate the 2020 Lekki Toll Gate Massacre (#Lekki Massacre) has recently submitted its Report to the Lagos State government. The Report is a damning incitement on the Buhari government as well as the Lagos State government.

    Not unexpectedly, the Federal government through Information Minister Lai Mohammed has rejected the Report of the Panel. Why? Because the Report indicts the Federal government. The Report finds the Nigerian soldiers and policemen culpable in the massacre of young protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate despite the fact that some of them were waving the green-white-green Nigerian flag as a testament to their national pride and unalloyed patriotism and loyalty to their country. Perhaps the saddest aspect is that right now some members of the Panel are either receiving death threats or are being physically assaulted in broad daylight in the streets for letting truth and justice prevail or come to light in the Report of the Panel. I can’t understand this country. If one waves the Biafra flag or the Oduduwa flag one is hounded and killed by blood thirsty and trigger-happy State agents. Now if one waves the green-white-green Nigerian flag one is also shot at and killed by the same blood thirsty and trigger-happy State agents. So what is happening in Nigeria? What should a true Nigerian patriot do in the face of oddities? Stand hands akimbo, jaw dropped and watch the oddities unfold? Must the truth offend?

    At first the Federal government washed its hands off the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry Report on the illogical contention that it was purely a Lagos affair. Now the Federal government argues that since none of the relatives of the murdered protesters has come before the government to claim compensation, the Report lacks merit and therefore should be rejected. This is laughable. It is also an infantile afterthought. It is on record that the soldiers, police, other State agents and the Federal government itself freely submitted to the jurisdiction of the Judicial Panel. They freely participated in the proceedings of the Panel. Each was represented by a lawyer of its choice. Each was given ample time and opportunity to argue its case before the Panel. Each called its witnesses, examined them in chief, re-examined them as well as cross-examined the opponents’ witnesses. Why is the Federal government through Lai Mohammed rejecting the Report of the Panel simply because it indicts the Federal government? The refutation of the truth contained in the Panel Report by the State may be an instruction that our country Nigeria is built on criminal foundation otherwise why should anybody in his right senses continue to say that the shooting, killing and maiming of Lekki young protesters which we all watched on that live streaming in the night of October 20 2020, is “a massacre without bodies”.

    At the Press Briefing organized last week by Civil Society on harassment and intimidation of the members of the Lagos Panel, an NGO called the Corporate Accountability & Public Participation Africa (CAPPA) distributed one of its publications where some of the Lekki Massacre survivors gave detailed accounts/testimonies of what transpired during the shooting. Hear them. “We were hinted that soldiers were coming…we began to hear gunshots…My friend was shot in the chest in my presence” (Edwin Augustine Ekene); “They were shooting up and down, and suddenly they began to shoot towards our direction. They said they used rubber bullets but how can that lead to amputation(Faleye Olalekan, an amputee); “Patrick Ukala was by my side when I was shot. We have known each other for a long time before the protest. We live in the same area. When it happened, I turned to him saying, Patrick they don shoot me o…The blood of protesters lost in the struggle is crying for justice” (Nicholas Anthony); “They shot my son in the forehead” (Ayedungbe Olufunmi); “They came to kill, not to scare protesters away” (Ajumobi Olajide); Soldiers will tell people to run and as they go, they shoot at them” (Dabira Oluwa); “My brother was killed at Lekki Tollgate”;(Nathanial Solomon); “We were still singing our national anthem and holding our flags but the worst happened at exactly 6.14-6.40 pm, the soldiers attacked. They started shooting at us straight, they said it was blank bullets, how can a blank bullet penetrate and kill somebody, how can a blank bullet pull someone’s skull up?” (Ibeh Perpetual Kamsi). I can go on reeling out the Lekki Massacre victims’ accounts.

    The foregoing evidence and the evidence contained in the Report of the Panel are overwhelmingly incriminating. Where in any civilized world are agents of the State dispatched to kill or main peaceful protesters? Where in any civilized world are agents of the State dispatched to carry out a nocturnal raid of the residences of the Supreme Court justices or, indeed, the residence of any citizen for that matter? Mind you, the Lekki shooting and killing of unarmed civilians is not the first and certainly would not be last of its kind in Nigeria. The Nigerian soldiers and Nigeria police have gained notoriety across the world for opening fire and killing unarmed civilians. If the military only fired blank bullets in the thin air as Lai Mohammed claims, how come there were mutilated human corpses lying in the pool of human blood after the shooting? If the military didn’t shoot at the protesters, why were the Nigerian flags carried by the protesters smeared with human blood? If the military didn’t fire live bullets, why was the scene of the crime littered with bullet casings and pellets after the shooting and murder?.

    Therefore the Lagos State government is humbly advised to release the White Paper on the Lekki Massacre forthwith. The Paper, firstly, should commend the Judicial Panel for a job well done. The White Paper should order that all those culpable in the Lekki Massacre, whether soldiers, police, personnel of the Lekki Concession Company, big men or big women, should be brought to justice forthwith. Nobody is above the law. It should order that all the relatives of those who lost their loved ones and victims of the Lekki Massacre in general, including amputee Faleye Olalekan, should be adequately compensated. Considering that the commercialization of the Lekki Toll Gate further prompted the Lekki Massacre, the White Paper should ban further collection of tolls at the Lekki Toll Gate and recommend that the Toll Gate should be converted as a national monument in remembrance and immortalization of the victims of the Lekki Massacre. The White Paper should also order that no member of the Panel should henceforth be harassed, intimidated, visited with death threats or otherwise be made to suffer any disadvantage or inconvenience or fatality. Finally, the Paper should recommend that October 20 of every year should henceforth be declared in Nigeria as #EndSARS Remembrance Day in honour of the victims of Lekki Massacre. The Lekki Massacre has cut deep into the heart of the nation. No Lai Mohammed lie, denial, or dirty politics or pseudo-rationalization can erase away the murder from our collective memory.

  • Alarming: ‘Gunmen, kidnappers killed 612 victims in August’

    Alarming: ‘Gunmen, kidnappers killed 612 victims in August’

    Nigeria recorded no fewer than 612 deaths across 103 local government areas in 29 states in August, a security report has revealed.

    The victims were reportedly killed by gunmen and kidnappers in various armed attacks, violent crimes and bomb attacks in Borno, Yobe, Kwara, Niger, Kogi, Plateau, Nasarawa, Federal Capital Territory, Benue, Sokoto, Zamfara, Kaduna, Rivers, Delta, Ebonyi, Imo, Osun, Ondo and other states.

    The report was released in Abuja on Saturday by Beacon Consulting, a Nigerian security consulting firm offering bespoke security advisory services, risk management, and resilience solutions.

    The firm explained that the August figure represented a marked reduction in the number of fatalities since the June figure (1,032), the highest for the year.

    The report presented by the Managing Director of Beacon Consulting, Kabir Adamu, read, “In August 2021, we recorded a diverse range of security incidents and a total of 612 fatalities in 29 states across 103 LGAs. The August figure of 612 represents another marked reduction in the number of fatalities since the highest for the year, 1032, in June 2021.

    “The thematic indications of the incidents that resulted in these fatalities include armed attacks and a continuation of the trend of several non-state actors successfully challenging the state’s monopoly of the use of force.

    “Findings suggest that for the reporting period, 76 per cent of kidnappings in schools happened in 2021 while 48 per cent of all abductions during these events also took place in 2021. Overall, 88 per cent of these events happened in northern Nigeria.

    “The region has been afflicted by conflict fueled by clashes over access to land and resources, among other factors. At least seven states in northern Nigeria have shut schools due to the rise in abductions and banditry in 2021,” the report noted.

    It further observed that August saw an increase in inter-community violence in Plateau State in spite of the ongoing security forces action to contain the cycle of targeted attacks and reprisals in Mangu, Riyom, Bokkos, Bassa, Barkin Ladi, Jos North, and Jos South.

    Beacon Consulting submitted that the cycle of conflict in Plateau as well as several other parts of the North- Central was driven by socio-economic and identity issues vis-à-vis the political dynamics of the states.

    While the North-East region recorded 70 deaths in six LGAs in two states, the North-West had 249 fatalities and 309 abducted persons, which occured in 26 LGAs in five states.

    The North-Central suffered 131 fatalities while 55 persons were abducted in 23 LGAs across seven states but the South-South region reported 32 deaths and six kidnapped victims in 14 LGAs in six states during the period.

    In the South-West, the report said 47 fatalities and eight kidnap incidents were recorded across 22 LGAs in five states, adding that political violence, criminality, including attacks on financial institutions and kidnap- for- ransom as well as the self-determination debate dominated developments during the reporting period.

    It added, “We recorded 83 fatalities and five kidnap incidents in 12 LGAs in four states in the South-East region as a result of the ongoing activities of the outlawed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, farmer versus herder conflicts, as well as the security forces operation in the region against the activities of these and other non-state actors.

    “It is assessed as credible that security forces’ operations in the South-East have intensified and reduced non-state actors’ freedom to operate. It is further assessed as credible that the likelihood for resumption of the activities of these non-state actors is high in the short and medium terms as the conflict dynamics in the region such as clashes between farmers and herders as well as between IPOB or ESN and the security forces are yet to be permanently resolved.”

    The security firm contended that attempts by non-state actors to challenge the supremacy of the use of force by the state through attacks on rural communities, mass abduction, and illegal checkpoints on travel routes in the North East, North Central, and North-West regions and attacks on security forces formations in the South-East would continue unless the Federal and state governments collaborate to enhance the administration of criminal justice in restoring social order and by addressing the root causes of these challenges.

    It also stressed the need for the Federal and state governments to collaborate in dominating the forested and other ungoverned spaces, which the bandits use as safe havens and to keep their victims.

    The report forecast that criminal activities including kidnapping, violent and petty crimes as well as home invasions are likely to continue in the short and medium terms due to the deteriorating economic situation in the country. ,,

  • Hushpuppi: Panel concludes, submits report on suspended DCP Abba Kyari to IGP

    Hushpuppi: Panel concludes, submits report on suspended DCP Abba Kyari to IGP

    The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, on Thursday received the report of the panel set up to probe the bribery allegations against the erstwhile Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), Abba Kyari.

    This was disclosed in a statement by the Force spokesman, Frank Mba, who said the report was submitted by the chairman of the Special Investigative Panel, DIG Joseph Egbunike, at the Force Headquarters, Abuja.

    “The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, has received the report of the NPF Special Investigation Panel (SIP) investigating the alleged indictment of the erstwhile Head of the Police Intelligence Response Team (IRT), DCP Abba Kyari by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI),” the statement partly read.

    “DIG Egbunike, while presenting the report, appreciated the IGP for the confidence reposed on him and the members of the Panel to conduct the probe. He noted that the Panel commenced investigations immediately after it was inaugurated on 2nd August 2021 and the report submitted is an outcome of a painstaking, transparent and exhaustive investigative process.

    “He further revealed that the report presented contained the case file of the probe, evidence and findings as well as testimonies from DCP Abba Kyari and other persons and groups linked to the matter.

    “The IGP, who commended the Panel for the work done, stated that the essence of the probe was to carry out discreet investigations into the allegation levied against the officer to enable the Force leadership to be appropriately guided in its decision-making processes.

    “The IGP assured that a careful and expeditious review of the recommendations would be undertaken by the Force Management Team and thereafter forwarded to appropriate quarters for necessary action(s). He reiterated, as always, the commitment of the Force to justice for all.”

    Kyari, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), was suspended by the Police Service Commission on August 1.

    This followed the IGP’s recommendation to allow for an independent investigation after US court documents linked him to an Instagram celebrity, Ramon Abbas, better known as Hushpuppi.

    Three weeks later, the police authorities set up a panel to study in detail the available documents related to Kyari who was indicted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).

  • APC Anambra Primary Election Appeal Committee submits report

    APC Anambra Primary Election Appeal Committee submits report

    The Anambra Governorship Primary Election Appeal Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has submitted its report to the leadership of the party.

    Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe and Chairman of the committee, presented the report at a ceremony on Monday in Abuja.

    Yahaya said the committee received a total of five petitions from five aspirants, saying that they were diligently attended to in line with the party’s guidelines and constitution.

    He added that in spite of the limited time, the committee was able to get to all the aspirants and principal stockholders in the state chapter of Anambra APC.

    “We thrashed the issues and advised the party accordingly.

    “The summary of all our undertakings is what we have here as our report, plus some of the documents that we are able to get from members, in terms of either petitions or recommendations or advice,” he said.

    Yahaya said that the report was in the interest of the party and its members, saying it would guide the party towards winning the Nov.6 governorship election.

    “As I promised, we did justice to the assignment. We heard their complaints, we went through the petitions and we have written our report based on the materials we got that could help us to prepare our recommendations.

    “Virtually, all the aggrieved aspirants attended the meeting, we summoned all of them and even senior stakeholders from the South-East, particularly from Anambra,” he said.

    Emphasising that the report was a properly done working document, he thanked the party’s leadership for the opportunity to serve in the committee.

    Receiving the report, Sen. James Akpanudoedehe, National Secretary, APC Caretaker and Extra-ordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) assured that the report would be critically and objectively looked into by the party’s leadership.

    He appreciated the committee for delivering on its mandate within a record time, considering the urgency of the assignment.

    “We are a progressive party and the progressive parties are very straight forward; we are honest in our dealings.

    “I want to assure you that the committee will look critically with objectivity at this report.

    “Even though, I don’t know what is contained in it, at the end of the day, the party supremacy and the party direction will be guided by what you have done,” he said.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Sen. Andy Uba won the June 26 primary election conducted by the Gov. Dapo Abiodun-led committee.

    Fourteen aspirants took part at the primary election.

    They included Andy Uba, Nwokafor Daniel, George Moghalu, Paul Orajiaka, Edozie Madu and Chidozie Nwankwo, Maxwell Okoye, Geoffrey Onyejegbu, Azuka Okwuosa, Onwa Mokelu, Igwebuike Hygers, Godwin Okonkwo, Beneth Etiaba and Onunkwo Obinna.

  • PIB: Untold story of how Reps were not given copies of report

    PIB: Untold story of how Reps were not given copies of report

    …as Senators approve $500m for host communities annually

    ….Reps lament inability to actively participate

    By Emman Ovuakporie

    Many members of the House of Representatives were on Thursday denied from actively participating in the consideration and adoption of the Petroleum Industry Bill PIB as they were not given copies of the report.

    TheNewsGuru.com, (TNG) reliably gathered that the lawmakers were peeved when they discovered that only a few copies were made available.

    This development prompted one of the lawmakers, Hon Sergius Ogun, a PDP Rep to approach the House Committee Chairman on PIB , Hon Tahir Monguno to demand for a copy.

    Ogun told TNG that “all the lawmakers within the axis I was seated had no copies so we were just watching as the clauses were being considered”.

    TNG further gathered that the affected lawmakers have to get the roots of the matter and adequately address why they were denied copies.

    Meanwhile, the Senate approved $500 million dollars as funding for oil producing communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB).

    This was revealed by Senator Mohammed Sabo the chairman, Senate Committee on Petroleum Downstream.

    According to him, the half a billion dollars would be from the three per cent approved funds for the Host Communities Trust Fund.

    Sabo who disclosed this in Abuja on Thursday said; “As at today, what is going to the host communities is three per cent. And three per cent translates to over half a billion dollars annually. This is a lot of money.

    “The bill (PIB) came with two point five per cent recommendation and the committee recommended five per cent.

    There were series of consultations we have to look at 2.5 per cent and five per cent.

    You have to look at the quantum of money involved. After being briefed and further explanations, we discovered that 3 three per cent will adequately be in order in this circumstances.

  • US embassy warns Nigerians against fraudulent visa report

    US embassy warns Nigerians against fraudulent visa report

    The United States Mission to Nigeria has warned Nigerians against a fraudulent visa report being disseminated on social media.

    The fraudulent visa press release had said that the US was issuing a new type of work visa to Nigerians.

    But the US Mission on Friday in a visa fraud alert urged Nigerians to disregard information stating that a new work visa has been created.

    The statement read, “The U.S. Mission to Nigeria is drawing the general public’s attention to a fake “press release” claiming to offer a new type of work visa to Nigerians.

    “Scammers and fraudsters circulate this phoney information that the new work visa applies to Nigerian citizens aged 40-55.

    The U.S. Embassy in Abuja and Consulate in Lagos is warning Nigerians not to fall victims to the scam. It is the same old scam, but in fresh packaging – don’t become a victim!

    “If you have questions about whether visa information is legitimate, please refer only to official sources: travel.state.gov, ng.usembassy.gov/visas, and www.ustraveldocs.com/ng.”

     

  • Falana blasts U.S. Govt: Your report on Lekki Toll Gate shootings contradictory, misleading

    Falana blasts U.S. Govt: Your report on Lekki Toll Gate shootings contradictory, misleading

    Popular human rights activist and lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) on Thursday said a report by the United States of America (U.S.A) on Lekki Toll Plaza killings is contradictory and misleading.

    He also said the report was prejudicial in view of the current sitting of the panel of enquiry set up by the Lagos State government into the matter.

    The lawyer urged the panel members to ignore it.

    In a statement in Lagos, Falana said the report attempted to cover up the killings at Lekki and other parts of the state from October 20 to 27, 2020.

    He said: “On the one hand, the report claimed that the members of the security forces were enforcing curfew by firing into the air to disperse protesters at the toll plaza. On the other hand, the report states that some protesters had turned violent after criminal elements infiltrated them and so the security forces fired protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate.”

    The lawyer noted that the report did not mention the detachment of soldiers, who he said allegedly caused the mayhem.

    “Do soldiers shoot into the air to enforce curfew in the United States? How can the United States Government be allowed to treat the proceedings before a properly constituted Judicial Panel of Enquiry so contemptuously?” he asked.

    Falana added: “The report is prejudicial in every material particular. It should be ignored by the Judicial Panel as it is designed to preempt the evidence being adduced by the survivors of the barbaric attack.”

    TheNewsGuru.com, TNG reports that the United States Government had in its report on Wednesday said that information on the number of fatalities recorded during the #ENDSARS protests in Lekki Tollgate last year, is not available.

    According to the US Department of State’s 2020 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, “Accurate information on fatalities resulting from the shooting was not available at year’s end”.