News
Nsukka communities cry out over brutality *Demand withdrawal of soldiers
Nothing short of immediate withdrawal of soldiers from their communities would satisfy the people of Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area of Enugu State, who say they are currently living in hell from the brutal treatments they are receiving from soldiers posted to the area.
Apart from directing their demand to Enugu State Governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) of 82 Division, Enugu, Umar Musa, they are also calling on the Chairman of the council, Ejike Itodo, Member, House of Representatives, representing Igbo-Eze North/Udenu Federal Constituency, Simon Atigwe, and all other political and traditional leaders to secure the area from further attacks by hoodlums and rampant deadly attacks by security agents, who have turned molesters of the local population they were detailed to protect from attacks unknown gunmen.
Articulating their demand through the IGN Speakers, a Civil Society Organisation (CSO), the communities want “immediate and decisive steps” towards removing soldiers in order to ease the tension in the area and prevent a breakdown of law and order that could result from a possible clash between the soldiers and members of communities.
In a statement entitled: Let soldiers remove their knees that our women may breathe, signed by its spokesmen, Emeka Mamah and Felix Oguejiofor Abugu, the group bewailed the ugly lot of the people since the soldiers and related government security agents were deployed to the area in August 2022, following an attack by gunmen that killed two policemen.
“Since then, however, villagers have constantly alleged that the security agents deployed to the local government have become their worst enemies, explaining that several deaths in several villages in IGN have been traced to extra-judicial killings by government security agents themselves.”
They particularly pointed to a viral video which hit the social media on Friday, November 25, 2022 and in which soldiers on special duty in the area, were captured torturing local women who had gathered at Ogrute, the headquarters of the LGA, to protest against insecurity and killings in the area, lamenting that Nigerian soldiers “who have mothers, sisters and daughters” could descend so low as to torture unarmed local women whose only offence was protesting against insecurity and other social ills in their communities.
“We urge leaders of the LGA to do something about the ugly situation in IGN. It is difficult to explain the rationale behind the high-handedness with which the soldiers handled the women’s protest by the women of Igbo-Eze North. Is it that the women had no right to protest or that the governments in Igbo-Eze North and Enugu cannot be protested against by aggrieved citizens? Exactly what security threat did unarmed women all clad in black and marching against insecurity in Igbo-Eze North, pose to a detachment of Nigerian soldiers on assignment in the area?”
Reports say the women from different villages in Igbo-Eze North, a sprawling, one-town LGA, on November 25, had gathered at Ogrute, the council headquarters to march against insecurity in the area including massive arrests of their sons and detention without trial, while calling for the removal of soldiers.
Alleging that the security situation had had deteriorated since the soldiers came, the women who wore black attires started the demonstration from Imufu- Ogrute Junction, and trekked to the local government headquarters before they were joined by other women from neighbouring communities.
Chanting solidarity songs in Igbo, they had demanded the stoppage of extra-judicial killing of their sons, often branded IPOB followers or members.
The women’s protest came against the backdrop of a deteriorating security situation in IGN where corpses of youths are routinely picked from bush paths and other major roads almost on a daily basis.
However, the soldiers, said to be from 82 Division Enugu, who claimed the protest was staged without police permission, were seen in the viral video brutalising the women, a development that generated a lot of outraged in the public.
Dwelling on the outcome, the CSO queried: “Pray, all that brutality against women was to make exactly what point? For us, the action came as another low for the Nigerian army, indeed, another degrading outing in peacetime Nigeria by an otherwise well-trained and professional army, under the watchful eyes of civilian authorities.
“Time has come to remove soldiers and other malevolent security agents from Igbo-Eze North, as their presence no longer provides any assurance of safety for communities in the local government. There is no tenable reason any more to keep soldiers and other malevolent security agents in IGN.
“In truth, of what use are the soldiers in the security arrangement in Igbo-Eze North? “Rather than the solution, soldiers, indeed practically all the security forces, have become the main source of insecurity in IGN. Today, the hoodlums they were invited ostensibly to protect our people from are no longer our problem but soldiers and the rest of the security forces agents who have turned their inexplicable anger–and their weapons – against the very people they were supposed to protect.
“Soldiers now torture (as evident in the viral video) and extort the local people, sometimes watching in feigned helplessness as masked ‘security’ agents kill, maim and rob our people with impunity.
“In the light of the foregoing, THE SPEAKERS are calling for a thorough investigation of the torture incident as well as similar cases of ill-treatment and extra-judicial killing of innocent people in Igbo-Eze North by security agents sent to secure them from attacks by hoodlums.
“We demand an investigation to know who ordered the onslaught on the women. We believe that that will help to stop such impunity from the forces on rural people.
“Going forward, IGN women/citizens, if they so choose, must be allowed to engage in peaceful demonstrations as guaranteed by the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and their right of free expression and assembly.
“We also demand that the Enugu State Government, in particular, Igbo-Eze North Local Council issue a public apology and compensation to the women who have been harassed, detained, and violated. We believe that the security challenges facing IGN do not need the high-handedness and escalation that government security forces have brought to bear on the management of the situation, to resolve. What they need is a more conciliatory approach by the relevant authorities, with the Local Government Chairman leading the charge.
“We believe that the local Government Chairman, as the Chief Security Officer of the local government, working in tandem with the Governor and the political leader of Igbo-Eze North/Udenu, in the person of Hon. (Engr.) Simon Atigwe, should be able to dialogue, not shoot us out of our current security mess. Let, therefore, the soldiers who came in peace go back in peace to where they came from.”
President Bola Tinubu, on Tuesday, secured the nod of the House of Representatives to borrow $516,333,700 million in syndicated financing from Deutsche Bank AG.
The approval was consequent upon the presentation of a report by Abdullahi Rasheed, Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debts Management, who said that the loan is expected to fund the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway.
Tinubu in a letter to the National Assembly, last week, seeking the $516.3 million loan from Deutsche Bank to support the construction of the road, had said the facility, to be sourced from a syndicated financing facility, would fund sections 1, 1A, and 1B of the project, which covers about 120 kilometres.
Tinubu requested a resolution in line with Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2011, to enable the Federal Government to secure the financing for Sections 1, Phase 1A, and Phase 1B of the project.
The project is a flagship initiative of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is targeted at enhancing national connectivity, improving the movement of goods across key economic corridors, and drastically shrinking travel time.
The 1,000-kilometre road will link Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, connecting Illela in the northwestern state to Badagry.
According to him, the financing arrangement will be backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC).
He said the Federal Government will provide counterpart funding of over ₦265 billion for land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
The former Lagos governor said the loan is structured for nine years and includes a three-year grace period.
It has an interest rate pegged at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange SOFR plus 5.3 per cent per annum.
Already, the Federal Executive Council (FEC), Nigeria’s apex decision-making and advisory body to the president on policy, has approved the financing plan.
The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited has denied reports that it is selling scrap materials, equipment, or components from its refineries to individuals and private companies.
A Friday statement titled ‘Fraudulent Claims on Sale of Refinery Scrap and Equipment’ issued by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Andy Odeh, in Abuja, described the circulating reports as misleading and false.
“The Company wishes to categorically state that this information is untrue. NNPC Limited has not issued any request for bids, tenders, expressions of interest, or approvals for the sale of scrap materials, refinery components, or any items from the warehouses or inventories of any of its refineries”.
It also distanced itself from persons reportedly presenting themselves as the company’s representatives or agents, claiming to facilitate the sale of so-called “scrap metals” or refinery equipment.
“These individuals are not authorised by NNPC Limited and are attempting to mislead members of the public.”
The Company therefore advised the public, corporate organisations, and industry stakeholders to disregard any such claims or solicitations and to exercise caution in dealing with anyone making such representations.
“For the avoidance of doubt, NNPC Limited is not conducting, nor has it authorised, any sale of scrap metals, equipment, or refinery components from any of its facilities”, the statement added, saying that any legitimate disposal of assets by NNPC Limited will only be conducted through established and transparent processes, publicly communicated through the Company’s official channels and in accordance with applicable regulations.
“Members of the public who encounter individuals or entities making such claims are encouraged to report the matter to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.
“NNPC Limited remains committed to transparency, accountability, and the responsible management of national energy assets”, the statement added.
“Disorder cannot be rebranded as authenticity simply because it occurs in public. The allegations regarding judicial interference are equally speculative and irresponsible,” were the words with which the Presidency, pushed back on Saturday to the allegation suppression of democracy in Nigeria by the African Democratic Congress (ADC).
Sunday Dare, spokesman to President Bola in a quick riposte after the ADC’s National Legislators Serving and Former Forum criticised President Bola Tinubu over remarks describing the convention as “noise and a street convention,” dismissed the coalition party as suffering from internal disarray.
Ukeje, on the heels of the ADC national convention recently at the Rainbow Event Centre in Abuja, despite a last-minute alleged attempt to block the gathering had argued that Nigeria is at a critical democratic juncture and accused the administration of shrinking political space.
The group also referenced Tinubu’s past as an opposition leader who once advocated political pluralism and judicial independence, saying his current leadership posture appears inconsistent with those democratic values.
Dare, who described the ADC as a party struggling to maintain “coherence and balance” in a statement titled: ‘WHAT’S THAT NOISE! Response to Hon. Nnenna Elendu Ukeje and the ADC Forum of National Legislators- Nigeria’s latest bunch of conspiracy theorists,’ wrote: “Even before the official commencement of the election season and before the Polls open, the “opposition”, a hurriedly stitched together contraption in search of a launch pad are screaming blue murder.
“The script is familiar: attack and blackmail the President, discredit and second guess the electoral process and hold Press briefings to flaunt unsubstantiated allegations and lies against the administration.
“All of these so that the international community will “help” them. In Honorable Nnenna, the ADC legislators found someone fit for the role. As former chair, foreign affairs committee, 7th and 8th House of Representatives she was their best voice.
“Sadly, ADC will need more than the sophistry and phonetics in her delivery. Let’s begin to tear apart her claims and that of her ADC Forum. The so-called ADC National Legislators Coalition delivered an outing remarkably full of theatrics but expectedly short on substance, restraint, and constitutional fidelity.
“What Nigerians just witnessed from the ADC motley crowed is not a principled defense of democracy, but a calculated attempt to weaponize rhetoric, manufacture outrage, and distract from internal disarray within a political party struggling to maintain coherence and balance. Ironically, the ADC press conference began on a note of truth.
“In their own words, they painstakingly chronicled the democratic credentials of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu—his historic role in strengthening opposition politics, expanding democratic space, defending pluralism, and standing firm even under military and authoritarian pressures.
“They reminded Nigerians that he mobilized resistance, nurtured political contestation, and remained a central pillar in sustaining democratic governance.
“On that point, they were correct and that is because they could not change that solid democratic foundation and narrative of President Bola Tinubu. Let’s give them some acknowledgement for stating it plainly.
“But having established those facts, they took a curious turn—attempting, without evidence, to portray the very same individual as a threat to the democratic values he has consistently upheld.
“That contradiction is not just weak—it is intellectually untenable. A leader’s record is not a switch that flips overnight. The same discipline, convictions, and democratic instincts that defined President Tinubu’s political journey have not suddenly evaporated.
“You cannot spend the first half of a press conference affirming a man’s lifelong commitment to democracy, and the second half alleging—without proof—that he has abandoned it. It simply does not hold.
“On the specific issue that triggered this reaction: the President did not mention the ADC—by name or by implication. His remarks were general, as is consistent with his style as a national leader addressing a broad audience.”
Dare noted that the decision by the ADC to assume those remarks were directed at them is, at best, an exercise in self-indictment. If the description of “noise” resonates, perhaps the issue is not with the statement—but with the conduct it reflects.
“This is not a matter of suppression; it is a matter of standards. Democracy thrives on competition, yes—but it also demands organization, coherence, and credibility. Disorder cannot be rebranded as authenticity simply because it occurs in public. The allegations regarding judicial interference are equally speculative and irresponsible.
“Nigeria’s judiciary remains constitutionally independent, and no amount of conjecture can substitute for evidence. Attempting to cast doubt on the integrity of the courts based on political disagreements is a dangerous path—one that weakens institutions rather than protects them.”
-
Columns2 weeks agoAbike Dabiri: Did Obi raise a monster or you’re drunk on Tinubu’s poisoned chalice?
-
Columns3 weeks agoSeun Okinbaloye saga: How does Tinubu survive if Wike resigns?
-
News3 weeks agoStop using Latin phrases, make clear, unambiguous orders – NBA tells courts
-
Columns1 week agoBe the hero that saved Nigeria! Open letter to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar
-
News1 week agoJandor: Tinubu didn’t endorses Hamzat *I’ve briefed President on my ambition
-
News3 weeks agoNafiu Gombe: Yes, I have sponsors! *I can’t fight ADC big men alone!
-
Columns3 weeks agoCentus Nweze (JSC): Death of legal purist, irony of Nigerian judiciary
-
Columns1 week agoNow VDM has become Sowore’s nemesis, does Peter Obi need anther advocate?