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HURIWA Wants Army Chief To Stop Soldiers From Killing Civilians In Imo

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Buhari Mourns Chief Of Army Staff, Others

A civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has urged the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Ibrahim Attahiru to stop the indiscriminate use of firearms  by his officers and men in parts of Imo State which has resulted in the killing of scores of civilians.

The rights group said such killings constituted crimes against humanity and  gross violations of the constitutional rights of freedoms of the citizens.

The rights group particularly condemned the conversion of the Government House gate in Owerri into a killing field by armed soldiers who have in the last 48 hours murdered scores of innocent bystanders and a bus driver.

It said it would officially be writing to the chief of army staff to demand redress for these heinous crimes of extra legal executions of citizens and to serve him a notice that he could be dragged before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands should he fail to get his officers to operate in accordance with the laws of Nigeria and in line with the rules of engagement in all internal military  operations and in compliance with the best global practices.

HURIWA cited the killing by soldiers in Owerri of Miss Divine Nwaneri, a 24-year-old student of the Imo State University (IMSU), Department of Soil Science and Biotechnology, who died, after she was hit by a stray bullet allegedly fired by military personnel, on Sunday, April 25, 2021.

The rights group said not even at war time should soldiers be seen using fellow human beings for games as if they were in a hunting expedition just as the rights advocacy organisation said even in war time the military ought to respect the Vienna Declaration and avoid all acts of extra legal executions.

HURIWA said eyewitness reports noted that the 100-level student was hit by a stray bullet while she was on her way home at about 10:00 p.m. The bullet was allegedly fired by one of the soldiers who were keeping guard at the Government House in Owerri.

The civil  society organisation said it was further gathered that the soldiers were shooting at a car when Miss. Divine and others were hit by stray bullets. She was rushed to the Federal Medical Center (FMC), Owerri, where she was confirmed dead. Others are currently receiving treatment at the hospital.

The rights  group is therefore demanding justice and the fishing out of the perpetrators so they face the full wrath of the law.

HURIWA also condemned the killing by sodiers of a bus driver who was reportedly conveying pigs and drove through the Government’s House road in Owerri unaware of the blockade imposed arbitrarily by the Nigerian Army banning all traffic on that hitherto busy road .

” This innocent bus driver was simply killed just for driving through a government road constructed from taxpayers money and apparently killed by soldiers maintained at the expense of the Nigerian taxpayers”, the group said.

HURIWA described this as atrocious,  unwarranted, and primitive.

It also condemned the alleged burning of houses of traditional rulers in Benue State during a military raid, noting that arbitrariness and such illegality had no place in the military of the 21st century just as it wondered if the Nigerian army was being returned to the state of nature whereby might is right.

According to HURIWA, the hierarchy of the army should effectively get interested in expanding the frontiers of dialogues between civilians and soldiers because that is how to get the citizens to fully appreciate the sacrifices of the men and women in uniforms.

It said : ” If the army respects the human rights of civilians there won’t be need for the army spokesman to start crying wolf that people display indecent photos of soldiers killed in the most gruesome manner in the theatre of war because the bulk of the citizens will be willing to speak and defend the integrity of the army.”

In a media statement by the National coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf,  HURIWA strongly reminds the Nigerian Army that the Nigerian military does not perform its roles in a vacuum as it derives them from the constitution, currently the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 which is binding and supreme.

HURIWA  restated that the Nigerian Constitution of 1999  is the grundnorm or supreme law that voids any other law that is inconsistent with it to the extent of the inconsistency even as the rights group tells the chief of army staff that the roles of the military do not include arbitrary and unlawful application of firearms against civilians but that legally in Sections 217-220, the Constitution provide for the establishment, roles, command and operational use of the armed forces and related matters.

READ ALSO: Governor Abiodun Hints Of Becoming A Pastor After Politics

HIRIWA then proceeded to recall the specific roles of the military as follows: “For the avoidance of semantic doubts,  sections 217(1) and (2) provides as follows:

“(1) There shall be armed forces for the Federation which shall consist of an Army, a Navy, an Air Force and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly. (2) The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of (a) Defending Nigeria from external aggression; (b) Maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea or air; (c) Suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, subject to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly; and (d) Performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.”

HURIWA also quoted from expert opinions to inform the army chief that soldiers are not above the law because it says that the doctrine of compact means that they can be charged both in military judicial forum and criminal justice system because as was further explained by Justice Willes in Dawkins v. Lord Rokeby, who opined thus “But with respect to persons who enter into the military state, who take His Majesty’s pay, and who consent to act under his commission, although they do not cease to be citizens in respect of responsibility yet they do by a compact which is intelligible and which requires only the statement of it to the consideration of any one of common sense, become subject to military rule and discipline.”

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Arrest Interim Govt Plotters Now – Governors

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Tambuwal Emerges Chairman Of Governors' Forum
Governor Tambuwal

Governors of the 36 states have asked the Department of State Services (DSS) to arrest and prosecute those involved in a plot to put in place an interim government as part of moves to truncate the nation’s democracy.

Condemning the move, the governors under the auspices of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum assured of their commitment to continue in the defence of Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

In a statement on Friday by NGF Chairman and Governor of Sokoto State, Aminu Tambuwal at the end of the 4th meeting of the Governors, he warned the DSS against issuing statements without arrest as that amounts to heating the polity.

Tambuwal said, “The Forum deliberated extensively on the alleged plot by some unscrupulous elements to install an interim government, as contained in the recent statement issued by the Department for State Services (DSS). Governors condemned in the strongest terms, any unconstitutional means of regime change and pledged its commitment to continue to defend Nigeria’s democracy as elected leaders.

“In addition, the Forum believes that issuing statements without arrests is akin to heating up the polity and causing unwarranted tension in the country. It called on the DSS to do its job by immediately arresting and prosecuting all those involved in the plot as a matter of urgency.”

Recall that the DSS had on Wednesday confirmed rumours that a section of the political class was planning for an interim government in order to truncate the result of the recently-concluded general elections.

The Spokesman for the DSS, Dr. Peter Afunanya in a statement said that the agency had identified some key players in the plot for an Interim Government in Nigeria but did not give the names of the masterminds.

The agency had said that the planners of the interim government had already held several meetings, during which they weighed many options to actualize their plot including sponsoring endless mass protests across Nigerian cities, securing a warrant to declare a state of emergency or a court injunction to stop the inauguration of the executive and the legislature at the federal and state levels.

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BREAKING:Lagos Govt Arraigns Chrisland School, Principal, Others Over Death Of Pupil Whitney Adeniran

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Chrisland pupil Whitney

The Lagos State government has arraigned Chrisland School, Opebi, its principal, vice principal and two other employees over the death of one of the school’s pupils, 12-year-old Whitney Adeniran.

On Wednesday, the government of Lagos State had filed charges against Chrisland School and four others over the death of the 12-year-old pupil, Whitney Adeniran.

The school and its workers were accused of involuntary manslaughter and reckless and negligent acts.

The workers who were arraigned before Justice Oyindamola Ogala of the Lagos State High Court in Ikeja include Ademoye Adewale, Kuku Fatai, Mrs Belinda Amao, Nwatu Ugochi Victoria and Chrisland School Limited.

The school principal, Mrs Belinda Amao, broke down in tears while in the dock as the court and counsel tried to agree on a date for the commencement of the trial.

Whitney died during the school’s inter-house sports competition at Agege Stadium in Lagos on February 9.

Blessing Adeniran, her mother, had accused Chrisland of negligence over her daughter’s death.

The school’s management, however, dismissed insinuations that there was foul play in the death, saying she slumped in public.

Chrisland also argued that Whitney complained about “not-too-buoyant health” a few days before she died.

However, an autopsy conducted at the Lagos State University Hospital (LASUTH) confirmed that the deceased died from “asphyxia and electrocution”.

In the charges filed on behalf of the state government by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP), Babajide Martins, who disclosed that their negligence killed Whitney because they failed to ensure her safety.

The charge also disclosed that they all acted in a reckless and negligent manner that endangered human life.

The offences are contrary to Sections 224 & 251 of the Criminal Law, C17, Vol.3, Laws of Lagos State, 2015

If found guilty, the offences carry a penalty of life imprisonment and two-year jail terms respectively.

On Tuesday, the state government granted access to Chrisland High School, Opebi branch, to open for physical learning ahead of the school’s forthcoming examination after parents’ appeal.

The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu had ordered that the school be shut down on March 3, 2023, following the investigation into Whitney’s death.

Sanwo-Olu through the state Ministry of Education said the closure of the school would pave the way for unhindered investigation and afford all stakeholders, including parents, students, staff and friends of the deceased, time to grieve.

The reopening followed an appeal by the Parents of all Chrisland School Units who visited the Ministry of Education on Monday to seek the government’s understanding for “the sake of 500 plus students some of whom also have terminal examinations.”

The management of the school had tendered an apology over Whitney’s death.

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BREAKING: Abacha’s Ex-chief Of Staff Oladipo Diya Dies

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Diya

Retired Lt.General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya, the former Chief of Staff in General Sani Abacha’s military government, is dead.

His death was confirmed by Prince Oyesinmilola Diya. He said the former military administrator of Ogun State passed on to glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023.

Born on the 3rd of April, 1944, Diya was military Governor of Ogun State after the Buhari-Idiagbon coup of December 31st, 1983.

Diya joined the Nigerian Defence Academy, Kaduna and fought during the Nigerian Civil War.

He later attended the US Army School of Infantry, the Command and Staff College, Jaji (1980–1981) and the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies, Kuru.

While serving in the military, Diya studied law at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, where he obtained an LLB degree, and then at the Nigerian Law School, where he was called to bar as Solicitor and Advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

He held other top military posts like GOC, 82 Division and finally the Chief of General Staff (military Vice President) to Gen Sani Abacha

The statement read: “On behalf of the entire Diya family home and abroad; we announce the passing on to Glory of our dear Husband,Father, Grandfather,brother, Lt- General Donaldson Oladipo Oyeyinka Diya (Rtd) GCON, LLB, BL, PSC, FSS, mni.

“Our dear Daddy passed onto glory in the early hours of 26th March 2023. Please keep us in your prayers as we mourn his demise in this period. Further announcements will be made public in due course.

“Barrister Prince Oyesinmilola Diya, on behalf of the family.”

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