TheNewsGuru

Tag: THUGS

  • Thugs invasion: Senate continues plenary with ‘improvised’ mace

    The Senate refused to stop plenary on Wednesday afternoon after some thugs suspected to be working for a suspended member, Sen. Ovie Omo-Agege invaded the Senate and hijacked the mace leading to commotion.

    An improvised mace was provided pending the recovery of the stolen one.

    However, the Senate leadership has alerted security agencies to fish out the culprits and also recover the mace within 24 hours.

    It also said the invasion and subsequent hijacking of the mace in an act of treason and all those behind it will be treated as such.

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki was not in Nigeria when the incident took place.

    The Senate, reacting in a statement said the invasion was a treat to the nation’s democracy.

    Read full statement below:

    Today, some armed hoodlums led by suspended Senator, Ovie Omo-Agege, walked into the Senate plenary and seized the symbol of authority of the Upper Legislative Chamber, the mace.

    This action is an act of treason, as it is an attempt to overthrow a branch of the Federal Government of Nigeria by force, and it must be treated as such. All security agencies must stand on the side of due process and immediately mobilise their personnel to retrieve the mace and apprehend the mastermind and the perpetrators of this act.

    This action is also an affront on the legislature, and the leadership of the House has come to express their support against this action.

    The Senate is now in an Executive session.

    An updated statement will be released immediately after the closed door session.

     

  • Several injured, properties destroyed as thugs invade APC gathering in Cross River

    Several injured, properties destroyed as thugs invade APC gathering in Cross River

    There was Pandemonium on Friday as thugs allegedly sponsored by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) invaded and attacked a gathering of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Obudu, Cross River State.

    A stalwart of the party, Venatius Ikem, was said to be making preparations to announce his intention to run for the governorship of the state in 2019 when the thugs struck.

    Mr. Ikem is from Obudu, where the Governor of the state, Ben Ayade also comes from.

    The thugs vandalised the APC secretariat, which was the venue of the gathering.

    They destroyed the party’s billboards, canopies, chairs, and public address system.

    The APC supporters were chased out of the venue.

    The incident was said to have happened around 12 pm Friday.

    Mr. Ikem told newsmen that the thugs came back a second time when the APC leaders and the party’s supporters went back to continue with the event.

    “Immediately we got there again and entered the secretariat and started chanting the party slogan so that we could start the programme, they came back. Apparently, they were monitoring us. They started attacking us again,” said Mr. Ikem.

    “They broke all the glasses and everything they could see in the party secretariat. They beat up people. Several people were taken to hospital.”

    Mr. Ikem said the police initially refused to grant their request for security, but that the police came and parked their vehicle across the road when the thugs invaded the APC office a second time.

    He said the police clashed with the thugs.

    Mr. Ikem said he eventually retreated to a private residence around the area to declare his governorship ambition.

    “We can identify those who led the attack,” Mr. Ikem said.

    “They were not masked, they are our town’s boys. Many of them are appointees of the governor. We have their names. In fact, we have a video of what happened.”

    The Chairman of APC in Obudu, Ugbelishor Mathias, corroborated Mr. Ikem’s claims. He said he had advised the party supporters not to attack back in order to avoid the escalation of violence.

    The Chairman of APC in Abi Local Government Area, Romanus Egbonyi, was among those wounded in the attack.

    Mr. Egbonyi condemned the attack as being unfair to the APC which he said has been law-abiding in the state.

    “I want to say that this will not deter us at all. We all came here to witness the formal declaration of Barr Venatius Ikem and got attacked as you all have witnessed.

    “If the powers that be in the state are confident of themselves, why do they have to descend so low to attack us in our own premises?” he said.

  • JUST IN: Thugs attack 2 serving senators in Kaduna

    Two Nigerian senators, Shehu Sani and Suleiman Hunkuyi, were on Sunday attacked by suspected thugs during a press briefing in Kaduna.

    Sani, the senator representing Kaduna Central, confirmed the development to newsmen on Sunday afternoon. He however alleged the attackers were sponsored by the Nasir El-Rufai led Kaduna State Government. TheNewsGuru.com is however yet to establish the authenticity of the allegation.

    Sani said he and Mr. Hunkuyi, Kaduna North, had organized the press conference over alleged “manipulation of the party (APC in the state)” by Governor Nasir El-Rufai with whom he has been having a running political battle.

    The lawmaker said journalists were also attacked and that one of them was receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital.

    Details later…

     

  • Politicians sponsor thugs, prostitutes, non-Muslims on Hajj – MURIC

    …Says states, federal governments should stop sponsorship of Hajj pilgrims

    Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC), an NGO, has advised the federal and state governments to stop sponsoring Muslims on hajj as it would be counterproductive on the long run.

    The MURIC Director, Prof. Ishaq Akintola, in a statement issued in Lagos on Wednesday, said that Muslim Ummah should determine their destiny by taking care of their hajj fare.

    “Every intending pilgrim must be compelled to pay a particular amount to the coffers of the Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA) before they leave for hajj.

    “Those going for ‘Umrah’ should pay something higher. As we round up, we reaffirm our belief that it is time to correct misconceptions about hajj among Muslims.

    “Hajj is once in a life time; but we ignore this principle and rush to Saudi Arabia almost every year. ‘Umrah’ (lesser hajj) is not compulsory but we force it on ourselves as an annual ritual.

    “We must open a new leaf. Gone are the days when anything goes. We must do what is right at all times.

    “ Politicians have hijacked it. They sponsor political thugs, hoodlums, riffraffs, mistresses and prostitutes, who may not even be Muslims.

    “This category of ‘pilgrims’ become recalcitrant in Saudi Arabia. Some members of the National Assembly seize those privileges meant for hajj officials. This practice should cease forthwith.

    “We are poised to monitor the procedure with the aim of identifying NASS members who engage in this immodest behaviour. Enough is enough.’’

    The director said that allegations of suspicion and distrust against National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON) were products of misinformation.

    “Our investigations reveal that 98 per cent of the services rendered by NAHCON in Saudi Arabia are determined in U.S. dollars.

    “Although 2016 official exchange rate was N197, recession and the attendant fall of the naira forced 2017 official exchange rate to N305.

    “Whereas a pilgrim needed just 4,003 dollars in 2016, his need in 2017 has risen to 4,805 dollars; if we multiply 4,805 dollars by N305, what we will get is N1,465,525 (approximately N1.5m).

    “This is why NAHCON has pegged the 2017 hajj fare at N1.5 million. Further investigation has also revealed that air ticket from the North is 1,600 dollars while that of the South is 1,700 dollars.

    “The cost of accommodation in Makkah is 933 dollars while that of Medina is 430 dollars. These are easily verifiable.

    “MURIC opposes further subsidy for hajj this year for three reasons. Firstly, the Federal Government has already subsidised 2017 hajj because the official exchange rate is N368 whereas government allowed N305.

    “Pilgrims would have had to pay N1,768,240 (approximately N1.8 million) at the prevailing bank rate of N368 per dollar, if Federal Government had not subsidised at all.”

    Akintola urged Muslim Ummah to have it at the back of their minds that the country is in recession.

    He said they must be prepared to make sacrifices as government could not afford to play the prodigal son at a time like this.

    “About N34 billion would be needed to subsidise if pilgrims were to enjoy the 2016 rate of N197 per dollar but this cannot be rationalised in the face of the current recession.

    “MURIC is, therefore, constrained to tell the 2017 intending pilgrims in particular and all Muslim faithful in general that hajj is for Muslims who have the means.

    “This means hajj is not mandatory on those who do not have the money to perform it but it becomes compulsory once a Muslim has the means.

    “Does a Muslim who has the money to perform hajj need government’s subsidy or sponsorship? The answer is capital ‘NO’.

    “However, subsidies and outright sponsorship of citizens on hajj may be rationalised in an Islamic Republic but Nigeria is not one.”

    Akintola noted that Nigeria is among countries with the largest number of pilgrims in Saudi Arabia every year.

    According to him, Nigeria accounted for 76,000 of the more than two million Muslims from 183 countries who performed hajj in 2016.

    “But how many out of this number contribute anything to the growth, development and welfare of the Ummah back home?’’ he queried.