Man who named dog Buhari sent to prison

...as the case was adjourned till September 19, 2016.

Iroko

The man who named his dog Buhari, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, was remanded on Monday at the Ibara Prison following his arraignment at the Ota Magistrate Court 2, Ogun State.

He was charged to court by the police with conduct likely to cause breach of the peace, in a case with suit number MOT/617c/2016.

The prosecutor, Inspector Itaita Ebibomini, said the accused committed the offence on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at the Hausa section of Ketere Market in Sango-Ota in the Ota Magisterial District.

The prosecutor told the court that the offence was punishable under Section 249 (d) of Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.

The accused, who was represented by a counsel, U. Michael, pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The charge read, “That you, Joachim Iroko, aka Joe, and others still at large, on Saturday, August 13, 2016, at about 5.30pm at the Ketere area, Sango, in the Ota Magisterial District did conduct yourselves in a manner likely to cause breach of the peace, by writing a name, Buhari, on a dog and parading same in the Hausa section of Ketere Market, Sango, thereby, committing an offence contrary to and punishable under Section 249 (d) of the Criminal Law of Ogun State, Nigeria, 2016.”

His counsel, however, pleaded that the accused should be granted bail. The prosecutor did not oppose the application for bail. The two witnesses in the case were present in court.

The Chief Magistrate, B. J. Ojikutu, admitted Iroko to bail in the sum of N50,000 with two sureties in like sum, adding that the sureties must be regular taxpayers in the state.

“They must attach four passport photographs each to the bail bond, depose to affidavits of being gainfully employed, and reside in the court’s jurisdiction,” he added.

Iroko, who had been formerly identified as Joe Fortemose Chinakwe, was arrested on Saturday, August 13, after one of his neighbours, who is of Northern extraction, complained that he named the dog after his father, Alhaji Buhari.
The suspect was first taken to the Sango Police Station, from where he was transferred to the state police command headquarters at Eleweran, Abeokuta.
However, as of press time, his family members had yet to perfect the bail for his release. He was subsequently taken to the Ibara Prison.

FAYOSE AND WIKE ARE BLINDED BY GREED....PDP CHIEFTAIN

The Political Adviser to Chief Bode George, Uthman Shodipe-Dosunmu, has described Governors Ayo Fayose and Nyesom Wike of Ekiti and Rivers states respectively as enemies of the Peoples Democratic Party blinded by greed.
A statement by Shodipe-Dosunmu, on Tuesday, also described the Lagos State governorship candidate of the PDP in the last general election, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, as an unsuccessful pharmacist.

George, a former National Deputy Chairman of the PDP, is eyeing the national chairmanship of the opposition party alongside Agbaje but a bitter feud has ensued between the two.

The statement said, “This is, indeed, a very sad period for the Peoples Democratic Party. The sky is dark and bleak. The party is now at the edge of a cliff, dangling before an imminent plunge into ruin and forfeiture.
“To be specific, Governor Nyesom Wike and Governor Ayo Fayose have both succeeded in forming an unholy alliance against the growth and the development of our party.

“Wike and Fayose have become so powerful and heedless, blinded by narrow provincialism, swept aimlessly on the creed of greed, hurried along the straight path to inevitable perdition.

“They are the strutting gods of the hour who are disdainful of any guidance, who deride any counsel, who mock every piece of advice with a sneer.”
The statement said Fayose and Wike wanted to impose Agbaje on the party, maintaining that the alleged plot would fail.

According to Shodipe-Dosunmi, Agbaje had never served in any position demanding intricate decisions and prompt administrative alertness.
Reacting, Wike described the allegation as wrong, unfortunate and without foundation.

Wike, who spoke through his Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr. Austin Tam-George, said, “Governor Wike is a democrat and has never been associated with the subversion of democratic will of the members of the PDP or of the general electoral process in the country.
“As a loyal party man, Governor Wike has demonstrated his commitment to the unity of the PDP. He will not join issues with Chief Bode George whom he holds in high regard as an elder statesman.”

KILLING OF A PASTOR, OTHERS IN THE NORTH: CAN REACTS, HOLDS EMERGENCY MEETING

General Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, 

Rev. Musa Asake

The Christian Association of Nigeria in the north has summoned an emergency meeting over Monday’s killings of eight persons in Talata-Mafara community in Zamfara State and the death of a pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Luka Ubangari, by suspected Fulani herdsmen in Unguwan Anjo, Kaduna State.

The meeting is being called as an islamic organisation, Nasrul-Lahi-il Fathi, also condemned the killings.

 The Northern CAN, in an interview with The PUNCH, said it summoned the emergency meeting to discuss the incidents and the failure of government to bring the perpetrators to book. The meeting is expected to hold in Maiduguri on August 26.

Eight people were killed on Monday, when a mob set the house of a man ablaze for rescuing an undergraduate, who was accused of blasphemy.                                                                                                          
Also on Monday, gunmen suspected to be Fulani herdsmen killed three persons, including Ubangari, at Unguwan Anjo in the Jema’a Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

CAN said the failure of the government to punish the perpetrators would mean collaboration between government agencies and Islamic extremists.

The Borno State Chairman of CAN and spokesperson for the 19 northern states’ CAN chairmen, Bishop Abubakar Naga, stated this on Tuesday while answering an enquiry by The PUNCH.

He said Christians would resist any plan to Islamise the country under any guise.
He said, “Islamisation of Nigeria is not possible. Christians will never allow that, Nigeria is a secular country and no religion will dominate others.

“Christians have become targets of attacks. So, we are having an emergency meeting in Maiduguri on August 26.
“The government must take action and if it does not take any action, it means there is collaboration between the government and the perpetrators of the killings.”

 No place for violence –Buhari
However, on his Twitter handle on Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari condemned the violence.
He stated, “I received news of the mob killings in Zamfara with great dismay. It is barbaric and unacceptable. I assure Nigerians that the law will take its course. Under my watch, we will work to ensure that there is no place for violence in the name of religion, ethnicity, or in any guise whatsoever.”

 Blasphemy not unlawful, says NASFAT
Also, the Chief Missioner, Nasrul-lahi-li Fathi Society, Alhaji Abdullahi Akinbode, described the Zamfara killing as a crime against God and humanity, and called for a proper investigation into the incident.
Aknibode told one of our correspondents on the telephone on Tuesday that blasphemy was not a crime in Nigeria, being a secular state. He added that the perpetrators of the act should be brought to justice.

 He said, “I have not been fully briefed about the incident. But whatever the case may be, life is sacred. God has not given anybody the right to take life, except the authority and the authority is the government of a nation if one has committed a crime that carries the death penalty.
 “No religion preaches that life should be taken except there is war. But there is no war and there can never be war. The stand of NASFAT is that life is sacred. The culprits should be apprehended and be made to face justice.

“Nigeria is a multi-religious country. You can only talk of blasphemy where there is one religion. A blasphemy case will only be established in jurisprudence if the state makes a rule that the state shall be a state of one religion. Blasphemy is not unlawful in Nigeria because it is a multi-religious state.”

The President, Campaign for Democracy, Abdul Usman, also condemned the Zamfara killings.

He said, “Those who fight the cause of religion should understand that Almighty God says in many chapters and verses in His holy book that He will protect His religion.
“In the days of the holy prophet, he was cursed right to his face without any reaction from him. Rather, he continued to preach peace.
“Today, ignorance has bedevilled the religion. The government should investigate the act and the perpetrators be brought to book. No religion preaches violence.”

On his part, the National Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, said it was a shame that people were getting lynched for blasphemy that is unknown to the laws of Nigeria.

He said, “Are these barbarians saying their God is not powerful enough to handle those who disrespect him.? The full weight of the law should be brought to bear on these murderers to end this nonsense.”

 ‘Security agencies not doing enough’
 A retired Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, blamed security agencies for the rising incidence of hate crime and religious bigotry, saying they were not doing enough to check it.
He added that the police lacked the requisite manpower to deal with the issue.
Tsav stated that the police no longer had personnel on street beats to deal with cases of mob attacks and other crimes.
He said, “It is my view that our security agencies are not doing enough to deal with cases of religious bigotry and herdsmen’s continued attack on farmers. The police may not be blamed for this, due to the acute shortage of manpower plaguing the force.
“The few policemen left are sent as orderlies and security to politicians. Accordingly, the police are left with insufficient manpower to provide security for the rest of the people.”
Tsav stressed that unless there was a substantial increase in manpower and improvement in training, “our policemen may be reduced to the status of boy scouts.”
A security consultant, Max Gbanite, attributed the killings to “primitive thinking and lack of enlightenment.”
He called on the Christian Association of Nigeria, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Catholic bishops and other religious bodies to enlighten the people on religious bigotry and hate crime.
Gbanite advised the families of the deceased to file a lawsuit at a Federal High Court or the International Criminal Court against the Federal Government, the Zamfara State Government and the Abdul Gusau Polytechnic for not protecting the victims.
The security expert also urged the National Assembly to promulgate a law against hate crime and religious bigotry.
He said, “I think the National Assembly should have a hate crime bill. This is an opportunity for CAN, NSCIA, JNI and Catholic bishops to enlighten the people that when two people are quarrelling, it should be seen as an issue between the two individuals.”
Gbanite carpeted Buhari for not showing enough concern over the spate of religious killings in the country, adding that the government should consider setting up police stations on campuses.
 “The President is behaving as if it is okay for Muslims to kill Christians. Security agencies cannot do much in this situation because they were called after the act, that is why we should begin to think of having police stations on campuses so that problems can be nipped in the bud,” he said.
 A Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Fred Agbaje, said there was no justification under the law for extrajudicial killing under any guise.
He said, “By now, the perpetrators should be in court fighting for their bail. It is a clear case of murder, extrajudicial killing. Religion is a personal thing. What they have done is the suppression of the right to life and right to property. It is outlawed by the constitution and it is also outlawed by the penal code.
 “Unfortunately, the government is not taking a decisive action because it believed that what happened is justified under a certain religion. No.
No religion tells anyone to go and kill.”

Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, building collasped, 20 feared dead

No life was lost...VC

Tragedy struck at Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil,as part of the building belonging to Department of Architecture which is under construction collapsed.

Earlier report had it that 20 people lost their lives while scores sustsined several degrees of serious injuries.
Reacting, the School management led by the Vice Chancellor of Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil, Professor Shehu Alhaji Musa, has dismissed as false, reports that 20 people lost their lives when part of a building under construction collapsed at the Department of Architecture.

Musa at a press conference, held at the NUJ Press Centre Kano, said that only five persons sustained injuries, while no life was lost during the incident.

The VC explained that of the five injured, two had already been discharged, while only one suffered a fracture.

The Don said, ”No student sustained injury during the building collapse.

”We want to assure parents that our students are safe. Immediately after the incident, we mobilised security agencies and Health workers from within and outside the University Community to the scene of the incident.”