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I’m not a fugitive, I travel to US freely – Tinubu *Atiku, PDP oppose Chicago varsity certificate in court
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, on Tuesday presented several visa approvals and details of some trips to the United States of America up to 2021, as a proof that he was not a fugitive in the country, where he claimed to have lived permanently previously.
The presentations were made at the Presidential Election Petitions Court (PEPC), where Atiku Abubakar and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are not only challenging his declaration as the winner of the 2023 presidential election, but his eligibility to contest in the first place.
Tinubu, who was declared the winner of the election by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on March 1, six days after the election held on February 25, was sworn in as President on May 29 as Nigeria’s 16th President, replacing his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Atiku who hinged part of his challenge against the President’s eligibility on the forfeiture of $460,000 alleged proceeds of criminal drug deals by the former Governor of Lagos State, to the US authorities, had put up spirited efforts to bar him from tendering the documents.
Regardless, the five-man PEPC panel, headed by Justice Haruna Tsammani admitted them as exhibits, including the Chicago State University credentials, where he claimed to have obtained his university certificate together with the admission letter offered to him byt the institution among others.
Wole Olanipekun, his lead lawyer, who tendered the credentials also provided his American visa documents to prove that he visited the United States unhindered between 2011 and 2021, as well as all documents of the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) which cleared him for the US trips.
Besides, Tinubu’s legal team, also tendered a letter by the US Embassy, dated April 4, 2003, containing a response to a letter from the Nigeria Police Force dated February 3, 2003, which allegedly cleared the President of having criminal records in their country, which was also admitted in evidence.
It was also on the same day that INEC and the All Progressives Congress (APC), who are the first and third respondents in the petition did not object to the admission of all the documents.
Besides the educational records, the court further admitted an originating summons of a suit instituted at the Supreme Court by the Attorneys General of Adamawa, Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa, Delta, Edo And Sokoto states challenging the educational background of Tinubu to stand for the 2023 presidential election.
Having laid the documentary evidence to establish its case, lawyers to the President asked for an adjournment to enable them to call oral witnesses.
Earlier in the day, the electoral umpire closed its defence in the petition filed by the Labour Party after calling one witness at the Tribunal.
The witness, Lawrence Bayode, an ICT expert, admitted that some of the results downloaded from INEC’s portal were blurred, however, insisted under cross-examination that the results of the presidential election released by the commission are authentic.
But the lawyer to the Labour Party, Patrick Ikwueto disagreed, saying the results cannot be authentic when they are largely unreadable.
It was another day of misery in Kwara State, when daredevil terrorists reportedly stormed Yashikira Community in Baruten Local Government Area of Kwara State, and as has been the case in many of the attacks, abducting scores of residents including women and children.
But, apparently to register their authority, the gunmen, who were said to have operated for hours without challenge from the security operatives, were said to have torched the palace of the Emir.
The attackers, which reportedly occurred late Sunday night were said to have announced their presence through heavy firing and after storming the palace of the monarch during the period, set it on fire before whisking away their victims, but a similar attempt at the police station in the community, was repelled.
While some of the residents, narrated how the spent hours without resistance, leaving behind destruction and fear in the border community, another account said the villagers were caught unawares as the gunmen invaded the town under the cover of darkness.
However operatives made up of the police and military personnel, were said to have launched a manhunt immediately for the immediate rescue of the victims, including throwing a cordon in the area as part of the mission.
“The suspect offered ₦500 million to the SPU commander in an attempt to make the team stand down and allow him to contact his associates to move the consignment elsewhere. The offer was rejected immediately and properly documented for further investigation.”
These were the exact words of Olohundare Jimoh Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG), with which he detailed how operatives of the Zone 2 Command of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) scoffed at a N500million bribe to turn their eyes off the importation of a huge consignment of drugs imported into the country.
This was part of the details of a major breakthrough by the operatives after bursting a major drug trafficking syndicate in Lagos, which led to the seizure of suspected illicit drugs estimated at ₦7.8 billion and arresting several suspects, including the alleged kingpin.
In the operation, reportedly carried out by officers of the Special Protection Unit (SPU) in collaboration with divisional police detectives, the operatives, were said to have stormed a house in Mende, Maryland area of Lagos, following months of surveillance and intelligence gathering coordinated by the Zone 2 Headquarters.
The recovered drugs consisted of hundreds of bags of suspected Canadian Loud, allegedly stored in the residence of the prime suspect, Jimoh, said disclosing that the suspect was apprehended on May 19 after weeks of strategic monitoring by operatives.
Offering further details, he said the operation was executed with technical support and guidance from the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, alongside coordinated efforts between the SPU and divisional police teams.
Jimoh revealed that during the operation, the suspect allegedly attempted to bribe the SPU commander with ₦500 million to compromise the mission and allow the movement of the drug consignment.
The AIG described the development as a reflection of the renewed professionalism and operational discipline being entrenched in the Force under the current policing strategy.
He noted that the success of the operation underscored the importance of deploying specialized police units alongside conventional divisional teams in tackling organized crime.
According to him, the operation demonstrated the effectiveness of rapid containment strategies, intelligence-led policing, and professional conduct among the operatives involved in the raid.
“Rapid containment was achieved as the Special Protection Unit worked with divisional teams to secure the perimeter and prevent escape or interference with evidence.
“The operation was intelligence-driven, following months of surveillance and technical monitoring before the raid was carried out.
“The immediate rejection and documentation of the bribe attempt also reflect the standard expected from redeployed personnel at the divisional level,” Jimoh added.
Reacting to the development, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Disu, commended the operatives for their professionalism, saying the success of the operation validated the ongoing redeployment of personnel to divisions and units across Lagos and Ogun states.
The IGP noted: “Policing must be close to the people, and our specialized units must work side by side with divisional teams on the ground.
“The professionalism shown by the SPU commander in rejecting a ₦500 million bribe and following due procedure is the standard we expect. It shows that when you put your best foot forward at the grassroots, you get results and restore public trust.”
Disu further assured that the Force leadership would continue to reward integrity while holding officers accountable to the highest ethical standards.
Police authorities said exhibits recovered during the operation have been properly documented and will be tendered in court. The suspects are currently in custody while investigations continue to track down other members of the drug trafficking network.
Slavery is a wound on the memory of the Universal Church, Pope Leo XIV, said on Monday, as he issued a fresh apology over the participation of the the Catholic Church in the centuries-long delay in condemning slavery.
The pontiff stressed the position of the church after his predecessors had offered similar apologies, said: “For this, in the name of the Church, I sincerely ask for pardon.”
Writing in a major text that warned about “new forms of slavery” behind the digital economy, the joined John Paul II, who denounced slave trade in 1992 before issuing a sweeping request for forgiveness for historical injustices in 2000 and Pope Francis who also repeatedly denounced contemporary forms of slavery.
In his own vein, Pope Leo, pointed out that the Church owned slaves until the Middle Ages and it also advised European sovereigns on how to justify the enslavement of “infidels.”
He stressed in “Magnifica Humanitas” (Magnificent Humanity), a document focused primarily on the rise of artificial intelligence, that it was only in the 19th century that “a formal, absolute and universal condemnation of slavery was clearly articulated.”
Hear him: “It is true that past events cannot be judged anachronistically, as though the moral criteria that matured over time had always been available. Yet neither can we deny or diminish the delay with which both society and the Church came to denounce the scourge of slavery. This constitutes a wound in Christian memory, one from which we cannot consider ourselves detached.”
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