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Okuama killing: Released monarch not fully cleared yet – DHQ

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Clement Ikolo, traditional ruler of Ewu Kingdom, on Friday, got into the safe hands of Ede Dafinone, Senator representing Delta North at the National Assembly, ending a three-week ordeal in the custody of the Nigerian Army, who named him as one of those linked the brutal murder of four officers and 13 soldiers in Okuama community, Ughelli South Local Government of Delta State, on March 14, 2024.

But, there is a caveat – nobody is full exonerated yet over the incident, Defence Headquarters, said on Friday, adding that his release was because nothing had been connected to him yet, coupled with the fact that some prominent people from his kingdom have come out to speak to his good character.

The traditional ruler was earlier declared wanted by the Defence Headquarters (DHQ) alongside seven others on March 28, a day after he turned himself in, for their alleged involvement in the killing of the soldiers in Okuama community of Ughelli South LGA of the State while on peace mission.

Onyema Nwachukwu, a Major General and spokesman of the DHQ, who handed the monarch over to the Senator, explained that the Army took the decision after painstakingly reviewing every available information on the incident, and came to the preliminary observation, that while the culpability had not conclusively established anything against him, there was insufficient evidence to exonerate anyone at this stage.

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He however added that due to the intervention of eminent personalities, and the fact that the monarch voluntarily turned himself in, he has released to Dafinone on the condition that he would always assist in the ongoing investigations.

Others declared wanted, included Prof. Ekpekpo Arthur, Andaowei Dennis Bakriri, Akevwru Daniel Omotegbo (Aka Amagben), Akata Malawa David, Sinclear Oliki; a traditional ruler, Clement Ikolo Oghenerukeywe; Reuben Baru, and Igoli Ebi.

Before surrendering himself to the police, who eventually handed him over to the military, the monarch, had in a public statement, claiming innocence of complicity in the murder of the 17 military men: “I am very surprised that my name as the monarch of the kingdom will appear in the list of wanted persons.

“I have no hand in the killings, I have no hand in encouraging anybody to kill anybody. It is against my philosophy as a human being and my faith as a Catholic. It is a serious crime against humanity. They need to look at the appropriate places and do thorough investigation to know all those who committed this, bring them to book and let justice prevail.

“I am not a party to this. And like I have said earlier, the state government is aware of the turbulence I have been going through. And as I speak, an arrangement was made by the government to invite the opponents recently just before these happenings.

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“(The arrangement was) To invite those who are fighting me in the kingdom to reconcile the differences and allow me to go into the kingdom and start to rule as the monarch of the place. I have not been able to set up anything. Not even my traditional council.

“I have done nothing in the kingdom. So I barely know anything right now. I have no information, I know nothing. I’m only just in the process of setting up a structure to enable me rule in the kingdom.”

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BREAKING: Death penalty for fake drugs! *NAFDAC to push new law at NASS

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Those peddling fake and substandard drugs in Nigeria should be ready for the hangman’s noose, if the thinking of the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), becomes the new law.

Mojisola Adeyeye, Director General of the body, who said on Friday that no other form of punishment is fitting enough, gave instances of where the application of such dangerous substances in form of health drugs, had led to fatalities.

Advocating that only stiff penalties would deter peddlers especially when deaths of children became involved, the NAFDAC boss, who appeared as a guest on The Morning Brief, a breakfast programme on Channels Television, said: “Somebody bought children’s medicine for N13,000 or something like that, another person was selling about N3,000 in the same mall. 

“That raised an alarm. Guess what? There was nothing inside that medicine when we tested it in our Kaduna lab. So, I want the death penalty. Because you don’t need to put a gun on the head of a child before you kill that child. Just give that child bad medicine.”

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Advocating that the National Assembly and the judiciary to make the proposal a reality, adding that the agency was open to partnering with lawmakers and other stakeholders on the matter, she added: “You cannot fight substandard, falsified medicine in isolation. The agency can do as much as it can but if there is no deterrent, there’s going to be a problem.

“Somebody brought in 225mg of Tramadol that can kill anybody, fry the brain and you give a judgment of five years in prison or N250,000. Who doesn’t know that that person will go to the ATM and get N250,000? That is part of our problem.

“There are no strict measures to deter [people] from repeating the same thing. We can do as much as we can but if our law is not strong enough, or the judiciary is not strong enough to stand up, we’re going to have a problem.

“So, our judiciary system must be strong enough. But we are working with the National Assembly to make our penalties very stiff.  But if you kill a child by bad medicine, you deserve to die. We have a lot on our plate in stemming drug peddling.

“Withe about 2,000 staff members nationwide and limited funding, NAFDAC is constrained in carrying out its activities. So, when it comes to staffing, you’re right on the point. We are short-staffed and I am hoping things will be better.”

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Give us electoral offences tribunal to take care of heist – INEC  

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Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday, made a fresh push for the creation of an electoral offences tribunal, to curb the cases of attacks on the Nigerian democratic system.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC Chairman, told reporters at the commission’s first regular quarterly consultative meeting with the media that the tribunal had become important owing to the backlog of electoral offence cases.

He said: “A major obstacle to the speedy dispensation of justice in this regard is that electoral offences are not time-bound as is the case with post-election offences through the tribunals. Furthermore, they are solely prosecuted by the Magistrate and State High Courts in the jurisdiction where the alleged offences are committed,” the INEC chief told the gathering.

“No priority attention is given to such cases as the courts deal with a variety of other cases. Consequently, electoral offences are carried over from one General Election to another which may sometimes affect the diligent prosecution of the cases. It is therefore imperative to renew our call for the creation of the Electoral Offences Tribunal that have a specific jurisdiction and limited timeframe for the speedy dispensation of cases.”

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Bemoaning the delay in the justice delivery system, citing the conviction of a returning officer in Akwa Ibom after six years in court, the INEC boss, said: “The recent successful prosecution of a Returning Officer in Akwa Ibom State is a case in point.

“The Commission has been diligently pursuing the case which arose from the 2019 General Election. In this particular case, it took nearly six years to achieve the successful prosecution at the trial court.

“Through our collaboration with the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) cases involving 774 alleged offenders from the 2023 General Election are being prosecuted. So far, successful prosecutions have been recorded in Kebbi and Kogi States while our collaboration with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on vote-buying has yielded similar results in Lagos, Kwara, and Gombe States. Yet, many cases are still pending.”

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Again, terrorists attack Sokoto, kidnap 10 worshippers at a mosque

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A mosque in Bushe community, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State, fell into the hands of bandits on Friday, after which 10 worshippers including the Imam were spirited away, adding to growing cases of terrorist attacks.

Channels Television reports that the gunmen invaded the mosque on Thursday while worshippers were performing their early morning Subhi prayer, quoting residents as saying that the gunmen had been molesting the people of the community for some time now, even with the presence of security agents.

Ahmed Rufai, spokesman of the Sokoto State Police Command, who confirmed the attack on Friday, said the police authorities were working with other security agencies to rescue the abducted victims.

A member of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, representing the Sabon Birni B state Constituency who also confirmed the attack, commended the security agencies for their timely intervention.

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