Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, the 14th Speaker of the House of Representatives of Nigeria, will present the Keynote Address at the 2021 House of Justice Summit & Banquet scheduled to hold on Friday 26 November,2021 at the Epitome Events Centre, Barnawa Kaduna State- Nigeria.
According to a statement jointly signed by Gloria Mabeiam Ballason Esq, the Host and C.E.O. of House of Justice and Deborah Bawa, Head of Administration, the 2021 Summit with the theme *Leadership, Governance & National Security* has Prof. Chidi Anselm Odinkalu as Chief Host and features panel discussants like former Nigeria Presidential aspirant Engr. Matthias Tsado, Dr. Leena Hoffman of Chatham House, Dr. Ann Kryzanek Kareth – an American Associate Professor of Comparative Politics, Dr. Kabiru Chafe, a former Director of Arewa House and a host of others.
The Banquet at the evening session is a Royal Blue Ball which holds in honor of Honourable Justice Gideon Isa Kurada, a sterling examplary jurist who retires from the judiciary.
In its sixth edition, the Summit & Banquet is the biggest annual event of the House of Justice and has in previous editions hosted Supreme Court Justice K.B. Akaahs, Bishop Matthew Hassan Kukah, United Nations Betty Murungi, Prof. Jerry Gana, Governor Ramalan Yero, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, Dr. Obadiah Mailafia, Senator Ben Murray Bruce, Senator Shehu Sani, Dr. Usman Bugaje and a host of others.
” Tickets, Corporate tables and sponsorship opportunities are available at +2347053842016, +2348036121560 or at info@houseofjusticeng.com,” the statement reads.
PROTESTS MALTREATMENT BY DSS OF IGBO LEADER AND FORMER GOVERNOR OF ANAMBRA STATE CHIEF CHUKWUEMEKA EZEIFE
The failure of the hierarchy of the nation’s Federal High Court to defend her independence from the stranglehold of the Executive arm of government represented by the Department of State Services (DSS) that has kept barring Journalists, stakeholders and Human Rights activists from accessing the courtroom for the trial of detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, is disastrous message to the World that the judiciary in Nigeria is in chains and is being controlled by the Presidency.
This position was expressed by the prominent Civil society and pro-democracy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) which carpeted the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court justice John T. Tsoho for abdication his authority and thereby allowing the operatives of the Department of State Services to dictate who should have access to the publicly funded Federal High Court Complex which contravenes the CONSTITUTIONAL PRINCIPLE OF SEPARATION OF POWERS as encapsulated in sections 4, 5 and 6 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended.
Besides, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) said the denial of access to the courtroom of the respected Igbo leader and former governor of Anambra State His Excellency Chief Chukwuemeka Ezeife shows the lack of equity in the administration of the Daura Katsina State born President Muhammadu Buhari and his entire internal security team headed by Northern Moslems with little or no respect for traditional, societal, prominent leaders of other Ethnicities such as the Igbo speaking Ethnicity because if the person of Chukwuemeka Ezeife was one of the prominent Northern Fulani leaders, the Department of State Services won’t subject him to the public opium of letting him sit on the barefloor outside of the Courtroom of the Federal High Court even when it is a notorious knowledge that he was nominated officially by the Igbo Ethnicity to stand in for the race to witness and observe the prosecution of one of the respected Sons of Igboland- Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
HURIWA protested the ugly scenario whereby access to the courtrooms built by the contributions and resources of taxpayers is now out temporarily under the control of the executive arm of government under President Muhammadu Buhari which is the plaintiff in the same matter of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the government of Muhammadu Buhari just as the Rights group said this singular act of cowardice on the part of the Nigerian judiciary which ceded the authority to let Nigerians have access to the Courtroom to the control of the Department of State Services headed by a Northern Moslem has open the judicial process to critical doubts regarding the independence and objectivity of the process before the Federal High Court just as the Rights group has asked the Chief Judge to take back the control of the Court Complex.
HURIWA lamented that the hierarchy of the Federal High Court out of fear refused to accredit representatives of the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA to observe the judicial trial of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) just as the Rights group accused the chief judge of the Federal High Court of failing to even reply to the written request it sent to his office over two weeks back. HURIWA recalled that in its application titled: “REQUEST TO MONITOR LEGAL PROCEEDING ON MAZI NNAMDI KANU”, it wrote as follows:
“We write to convey our readiness and intention to be offered access to the Court room to monitor the legal proceedings of global importance which involves the leader of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB).
As members of the organized Civil Rights Community of Nigeria, we feel obliged to attend and watch the proceedings in this specific matter given the groundswell of claims that the management of the Court does not feel comfortable allowing members of the public to attend the proceedings. There’s also the suspicion that the Federal High Court has denied Nigerians access to the trial of Nnamdi Kanu for the reason that the process won’t be transparent and accountable and therefore violate section 36(5) of the Nigerian Constitution which complete categorises all accused persons as innocent in the eye of the law. The refusal of access to the venue of the trial is therefore not in tandem with Democratic principles of checks and balances.
No doubt Sir, that Nigeria practices Presidential system of government even as Country is governed by a grund norm which states unambiguously that the people are the owners of the sovereignty of Nigeria as enshrined in section 14 (2) thus “ It is hereby, accordingly, declared that: (a) sovereignty belongs to the people of Nigeria from whom government through this Constitution derives all its powers and authority; (b) the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government: and (c) the participation by the people in their government shall be ensured in accordance with the provisions of this Constitution”.
Sir, we remind your good offices that the public and the press have qualified First Amendment Right of access to Court proceedings and records. Although the first amendment does not explicitly mention the right of access say Emilies S. Kraft, the United States of America’s supreme Court has held that the right to attend criminal proceedings is implicit in freedom of speech and serves an important function in a democratic society by enhancing trial fairness and appearance. We thereby write you this request so two officers from our organization will be given regular access to monitor Nnamdi Kanu’s trial because of its Human Rights related implications. Whilst awaiting your rapid response, accept our highest consideration and regards.”
HURIWA regretted that the office of the CJ of the Federal High Court which acknowledged HURIWA’s letter however failed to respond either in the negative or positive even as the Rights group said it was disgraceful that Lawyers, Journalists and activists were never allowed access to a public Court Complex. HURIWA recalled that journalists were barred from courtroom as the trial of the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu, resumed on Thursday at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS) barred journalists and some court officials from gaining access to the premises.
The frustrated court workers and journalists were seen milling around and wearing heavy frowns.
The media according to HURIWA were not told the reason for the denial because it was not made known by government officials, though a handful of reporters from a list produced by the stern looking DSS operatives were allowed into the premises.
DSS officials had set up a barricade at the entrance of the Court and prevented reporters and officials from entering, resulting in angry scenes and arguments. HURIWA described the behaviour of the operatives of the executive controlled DSS as a primitive recourse to self help effirt by the central government which will inevitably undermine fairness and fair trial.
Most of the DSS operatives were masked as they were clad in their all black ensemble, reports the media quoted by HURIWA.
Gathered outside were frustrated family members, supporters, civil rights groups, lawyers, journalists and other members of the public, who were not allowed near the court.
Nnamdi Kanu’s Special Counsel, Alloy Ejimakor while addressing journalists said the lawyers who accompanied him were also denied access.
HURIWA recalled that Mazi namdi Kanu is facing charges bordering on terrorism and treasonable felony charges brought against him by the Federal Government.
The Federal Government had filed seven amended charges bordering on treasonable felony and acts of terrorism against Kanu on Monday.
Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, filed the charges on behalf of the government.
HURIWA has therefore advocated the take over of control of the Federal High Court Complex Abuja from the stranglehold of the operatives of Department of State Services by the hierarchy of the Nigerian Court system or it will drag the CJ of Federal High Court to the National Judicial Council for ceding independence of the Federal High Court to the Department of State Services which is unlawful and unconstitutional. “The DSS is under the control and command of the President. The President is behind the ordeals of Nnamdi Kanu and if there will be justice or semblance of justice the least physical evidence of it is the guarantee that the facilities of the Nigerian courts are controlled by staff of the Federal High Court who are judicial staff under the Judicial arm of government and not the same arm of government that has brought a citizen to court under some charges”.
The State Security Service (SSS) has blocked all access to the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja to prevent lawyers and journalists from attending the trial of separatist and leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu.
Other litigants who have court hearings scheduled for today are also not being allowed entry into the court by the SSS Peoples Gazette gathered on Thursday morning.
The secret police has denied Mr Kanu access to his lawyers and family since he was abducted and brought back to Nigeria by state operatives in Nairobi, Kenya, with many people questioning the legality of the manner in which he was rearrested.
Mr Kanu was initially charged for terrorism, however, in an amended charge sheet, the SSS said he was now being arraigned for calling President Muhammadu Buhari an idiot, a terrorist, and “embodiment of evil.”
Spokesman to the SSS, Peter Afunnaya did not respond to calls and messages from The Gazette seeking comments on the blockage of the courts.
There was a mild drama on Wednesday morning in the Mpape Area of Abuja when a landlord parked his car and refused to give way to two military vehicles who had parked their cars beside his house thereby blocking the road.
The landlord had overnight come back home to meet the military armored Hilux vehicles parked beside his house and decided to park his behind theirs.
At dawn on Wednesday, the military men said they were on their way out of Abuja, as they were part of a governor’s convoy, and then called on the man to move his vehicle and create space for them to exit the area, but it did not get down well with the man who refused to move his car.
Neighbors on hearing the commotion interceded on behalf of the military men but the man refused. The military personnel had to call for a backup from some of their colleagues who arrived in another armored Hilux van to which the man locked his house and watched as the military men rage and threaten.
Despite pleas and warning shots fired into the air by neighbors and the military men, the man refused, which left the military men with the option of moving the car out of the way by pushing it. While that was going on, the man stood on his balcony with a bottle of beer in his hand, at the same time videoing the whole process.
It took the military men four hours to finally leave the area as the man comes out to apologize and pacify his neighbors stating personal reasons why he did not come out to remove the car and paving way for them.
Describing as absolutely unconstitutional, unlawful, despicable, primitive and reprehensible the actions of the Lagos State’s Police Command for disrupting some PROTESTS and illegally clamping down of peaceful civil Protesters, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has called for the unconditional release from detention of all the protesters arrested by police for marking the one year anniversary of the October 20th 2020 massacre of protesters by armed forces ofNugeria in Lekki Tollgate.
HURIWA described those who participated in the anniversary protests as heroes of constitutionalism who rather than being victimised, humiliated, harassed or tortured should be awarded National honours of bravery and courageous defence of Constitutional democracy and the Rule of law which constitute collectively the bedrock of the human rights provisions enshrined on chapter 4 of the GrundNorm.
Besides, the HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA, a Prominent pro-democracy and leading civil rights advocacy group, has asked the National Assembly to create the NATIONAL BOARD FOR THE OROTECTION OF CIVIL PROTESTERS to be governed just like an independent and totally autonomous body of few experts and civil society leaders to provide advocacy platforms supported by corporate Nigeria to promote, advance, canvass and teach younger Nigerians on the essence of peaceful Assembly and protests and to monitor violations of the fundamental rights to civil protests by state security agencies and the Nigerian police Force. HURIWA upbraided the National Human Rights commission for spectacularly selling out to reactionary elements in government.
HURIWA said the call for a creation of an independent, autonomous but strong national agency to focus on Promotion of attitudes of positive, democratic and peaceful protests has become increasingly necessary as a way of mainstreaming the democratic virtue of civil protests which are critical elements for the sustenance and survival of Constitutional democracy in the Country. It said the body shouldn’t be another avenue to create jobs for the boys but should be a body to be constituted by less than 36 staff and hierarchy with offices in the six geopolitical zones of Nigeria.
HURIWA condemned the medieval mindset of the Nigerian Police and other security agencies towards organisers and participants in civil protests just as HURIWA said that the continuous attacks by police and security agencies of protesters are weakening Constitutional democracy and turning Nigeria into a brutal tyranny and dictatorship which it insists must be resisted because dictatorship isn’t different from slavery.
The Rights group called for the legal sanctions of Police operatives fingered in the multiple extrajudicial killings by SPECIAL ANTI-ROBBERY SQUAD of the Nigerian Police which was reportedly disbanded on paper as a consequence of the demands of protesters at last year’s #ENDSARS PROTESTS nationwide. HURIWA condemned the slow progress at the various judicial panels investigating the #ENDSARS PROTESTS just as it asked state governments to enforce the decisions reached by the panels.
HURIWA said the so called disbandment of the notorious SARS was a smokescreen and a charade because the Nigerian Police are still protecting their operatives with blood of the innocent in their hands just as extralegal killings of suspects are still going on in most police detention centres. It called for the passage of a legislation to open up all detention centres to the visitation of civil society leaders and private members of the public so as to ensure that the use of physical torture and forced disappearances are curbed.
In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said: “HUMAN and CIVIL RIGHTS to protests are safeguarded under sections 38, 39, 40 and 41 of the Constitution. It is a fundamental human right of the people to voice out their displeasures, disappointments and frustrations.
The right to protest is the manifestation of first, the right to freedom of thought and conscience and religion (Sec. 38) which precedes rights to freedom of expression (Sec. 39) followed by the right to peaceful assembly and association (Sec. 40) and accompanied by right to freedom of movement (Sec. 41). Right to protest also “embodies the exercise of a number of indivisible, interdependent and interconnected human rights” like right to life (Sec. 33), right to dignity of human person (Sec. 34), right to personal liberty (35), right to fair hearing (36), right to private and family life (37), and right to freedom from discrimination (42). The Court of Appeal upheld the right to protest in the case of IGP V. ANPP (2008) 12 WRN 65 that “certainly in a democracy, it is the right of citizens to conduct peaceful processions, rallies or demonstrations without seeking and obtaining permission from anybody. It is a right guaranteed by the 1999 constitution and any law that attempts to curtail such right is null and void and of no effect.”
Under the International Law, the right to protest is equally protected. Articles 18, 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Right, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Right and the UN Human Rights Council’s Resolution at its 38th Session on Promotion and Protection of Human Rights in the context of Peaceful Protests are quite apposite.
Principle 1 of the Resolution on Promotion and Protection of Human Right in the context of Protest recognizes that a protest can engage in actions targeting any audience, including public authorities, private entities or individuals, or the general public and may annoy or give offence to people who are opposed to the ideas. It also recognizes that protest may temporarily hinder or obstruct the activities of third parties.
Principle 2 then imposes obligations on States/countries to respect the right to protest. States should not prevent, hinder or restrict the right to protest; States should protect the right to protest and should undertake reasonable steps to protect protesters by adopting measures necessary to prevent violations by third parties; States should fulfil the right to protest by establishing an enabling environment for the full enjoyment of right to protest.”
HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has therefore called for the arrest and prosecution of the police operatives seen mistreating and physically attacking peaceful protesters because even under the recently signed Anti Torture law, nobody is permitted to inflict physical, emotional or psychological torture on citizens.
Pro-Buhari protesters have staged a counter-protest at the Unity Fountain, Abuja against the #EndSARS memorial protest.
SaharaReporters observed that the protesters, reportedly paid by the government who are less than 15 arrived at the venue with placards; one of which reads, “EndSARS was an insurrection against the state”.
The leader of the protest said they had gathered against the #EndSARS protest because no one had died at the Lekki toll gate.
He said, “We have come here because we found out that some miscreants hiding behind #EndSARS have planned to come here to hold #EndSARS memorial. We are here to set the records straight. If there was a massacre, where are the bodies?
“We are here to put those lies to rest. There was no massacre anywhere in Nigeria. If there was a massacre; let an incontrovertible evidence be produced. We are here to stop those that want to destablilise our country. We will resist them, fight them because we are patriots that believe in the Nigerian project. We will not allow elements sponsored by foreign interests. We have no other country than Nigeria.”
Operatives of the Lagos State Police Command have arrested two protesters at the Lekki tollgate where the #EndSARS Memorial Protest is scheduled to hold in the state today.
One of those arrested claimed to be a journalist while the other was seen carrying a placard.
The police had reportedly warned that anyone seen at the tollgate without an ID card will be arrested.
The arrested journalist told newsmen that he works with LegitTV and that his phone, driver’s license and other documents were taken away from him.
Speaking from a Lagos State Task Force van where he was kept by the police, the journalist who identified himself as Abisola stated that he lost his ID card in transit.
About 30 police trucks and armed personnel are currently at the tollgate to enforce a ban on protests issued by the police command.
A car procession in honour of those believed to have lost their lives at the tollgate when soldiers dispersed #EndSARS protesters on October 20, 2020, is scheduled to hold at the tollgate today.
What #EndSARS protests were about
The #EndSARS protests which were held in October 2020 were against the activities of the now-disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, a unit of the Nigeria Police Force which was accused of police brutality.
The epicentre of the protests was the Lekki tollgate in Lagos where many youths gathered day and night to air their grievances against police brutality and bad governance.
They were dispersed from the location by gun-wielding soldiers on October 20, 2020, an action which some quarters believe led to the loss of lives.
This was followed by the destruction of private and public properties by hoodlums in Lagos, an incident that informed the latest warning issued by the police in the state.
Foremost pro-democracy and leading civil rights advocacy group- HUMAN RIGHTS WRITERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (HURIWA) has told the Federal Attorney General and Minister of Justice Abubakar Malami to produce the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Court for trial on October 21st 2021 if he (Abubakar Malami) has no subterranean motive to instigate the economic collapse of South East of Nigeria should the self determination group implement her threat to call for a full month of sit-at-home order.
HURIWA is therefore pleading with the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to send a very clear message to his followers not to carry on with the threat to call for a One Month sit-at-home order because it is very likely that the Federal Government with a preponderance of officials from the Moslem North who have manifested open distrust and hatred for Igboland and Igbo people may instigate the Department of State Services headed by the same Muslim North not to produce the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) Mazi Nnamdi Kanu before the Federal High Court Abuja on the next adjourned date so as to precipitate the destruction of the Economic life of the South East of Nigeria.
HURIWA recalled that previously at the proposed arraignment and commencement of the trial of pro-Biafran independence leader Nnamdi Kanu, which was due to resume few weeks back in Abuja before the Federal High Court of Nigeria, was been adjourned to 21 October.
The Rights group recalled that the incarcerated leader of the Independence Movement for the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (Ipob), who has been advocating for the secession of southeastern Nigeria, was arrested abroad after four years on the run and brought back to Nigeria at the end of June.
Kanu is charged with “terrorism, treason, running an illegal company, publishing defamatory material and illegal possession of firearms,” Nigerian Justice Minister Abubakar Malami said in a statement.
Nnamdi Kanu was first arrested in October 2015, but he took advantage of his bail to leave Nigeria in 2017.
“The trial has been adjourned to October 21” because the authorities failed to present Nnamdi Kanu before the court, his lawyer Aloy Ejimkaor told AFP.
The judge said that “the trial could not start without the accused being present”, the lawyer added.
Many journalists were denied access to the courtroom. The human rights organization, Amnesty International, had called on “the Nigerian authorities” to allow “the media free access to the court to do their work”.
In a media statement by the National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, HURIWA said the detained leader must be produced alive in Court for trial by the Federal Attorney General unless the government has a sinister motive to precipitate uprising in the South East of Nigeria for the satanic purposes of destroying the economy of the South East of Nigeria. HURIWA has therefore advocated fair trial for all the prisoners of conscience such as Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.
HURIWA said thus: “Fair trial is observed by a trial judge without being partial and Justice means the ethical, philosophical idea that people are to be treated impertially, fairly properly and reasonably by the law and arbiters of the law.
Fair hearing means giving equal opportunity to the parties to be heard in the litigation before a court or tribunal, and ad-hoc tribunal inclusive.
Where parties are given the opportunity to be heard and the charge or complaint against the party standing trial or being investigated made available to them, they cannot complain of breach of fair hearing principles.
The concept of fear hearing in accordance with section 36 (1) of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended states as follows
“Section 36. (1) In the determination of his civil rights and obligations, including any question or determination by or against any government or authority, a person shall be entitled to a fair hearing within a reasonable time by a court or other tribunal established by law and constituted in such manner as to secure its independence and impartiality.”
Fair Hearing within the meeting of section 36 (1) of the 1999 constitution a trial conducted according to all legal rules formulated to ensure that justice is done to the parties. It is very important to note that this provision also acquire apparently the observance and consideration of twin pillars of the rules of natural justice namely, “audi alteram partem” “hear the other party” and “nemo judex in causa sua” “no one is a judge in his own case”.
A fair trial must involve a fair trial, and a fair trial of a case must consists of the whole hearing. A true test of a fair hearing is the impression of a reasonable person who was present at the trial whether, from his observation, justice has been done in this case. A fair trial are the ways to prevent miscarriage of justice and are essential part of a just society.
What are Fair Trial or Fair Hearing Right?
The Right to a fair and public criminal trial or a fair and public hearing in civil proceedings is one of the guarantee in relation to legal proceedings fair trial and fair hearing rights include:
• That all person are equal before court and tribunals
• The Rights to a fair and public hearing before a competent and impartial court or tribunal established by law
The other guarantees are the presumption of innocence, and minimum guarantees in criminal proceedings, such as rights to counsel and not to be compelled to self incriminate as stipulated in section 36 (5) and section 36 (6)of the 1999 Constitution as amended
Section 36 (5) Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be presumed to be innocent until he is proved guilty;
Provided that nothing in this section shall invalidate any law by reason only that the law imposes upon any such person the burden of proving particular facts.
Section 36 (6) Every person who is charged with a criminal offence shall be entitled to –
(a) be informed promptly in the language that he understands and in detail of the nature of the offence;
(b) be given adequate time and facilities for the preparation of his defence;
(c) defend himself in person or by legal practitioners of his own choice;
(d) examine, in person or by his legal practitioners, the witnesses called by the prosecution before any court or tribunal and obtain the attendance and carry out the examination of witnesses to testify on his behalf before the court or tribunal on the same conditions as those applying to the witnesses called by the prosecution; and
(e) Have, without payment, the assistance of an interpreter if he cannot understand the language used at the trial of the offence.
The importance of fair trial in our society.
Fair trials is the global criminal justice watch dog. It is impossible to overstate how important the right to a fair trial is honestly.
Fair trials are the only way to prevent miscarriages of justice and are an essential part of a just society. Every person accused of a crime should have their guilt or innocence determined by a fair and effective legal process. However, it goes further than protecting suspects and defendants, without fair trials, victims can have no confidence, that justice will be done. Without fair trials, trust in government and the rules of law collapses.
The Right to a fair trial is recognized internationally as a fundamental Human Rights and countries around the Worlds are required to respect. Despite this, it is being abused across the World with devastating human and social consequences. Legal aid globally are working to put an end to this abuses, towards realizing our vision of a world where every person rights to a fair trial is respected.
The number of people directly affected by criminal justice is growing with new offences created every day and increasing numbers being jailed, Countries are developing swifter way of imposing punishment without a trial.
In conclusion the principles of fair hearing in the judicial proceeding and quasi-judicial proceedings cannot be abandoned or waived. Parties are expected to be given the equal access to court proceedings or Disciplinary committee from its commencement up to the delivery of the final judgment.”
Residents of Izombe in the Oguta Local Government Area of Imo State have lamented the havoc allegedly wreaked on their community by soldiers of the Nigerian Army.
The distraught indigenes told Punch that the value of properties destroyed by soldiers in their community was not less than N1billion.
According to them, soldiers who were on a reprisal attack burnt no fewer than 80 houses, many cars and economic trees.
The soldiers attached to the 34 Artillery Brigade, Obinze, Owerri, reportedly clashed with the youths of the community.
In the process, a youth was killed, two soldiers murdered, their vehicle burnt and three rifles snatched.
In a revenge mission, the army invaded the community in many vehicles, including Armoured Personnel Carriers and allegedly destroyed many properties.
The development caused the indigenes of the community, especially women and children, to flee the area.
A community leader, Chinedu Nnadi, had said the damage the army had done to the community would not be addressed in the next 30 years.
Nnadi, who is the pastor in charge of He Reigns Chapel, Owerri, said the people had become refugees in neighbouring communities.
A man, Kennedy Ike, whose house and that of his two children were razed during the operation, said his life had been “made miserable”.
The army spokesperson for the 34 artillery brigade, Obinze, Owerri, Joseph Akuga, said the military hierarchy in the state would address the press on the issue.
Faults Barak Obama for Subverting War on Terror in Nigeria
Self-taught journalists in the Jos metropolitan area are the featured truth tellers of a ground-breaking documentary on the Nigerian conflict produced by Fox Nation reporter Lara Logan. Lawrence Zongo and Masara Kim, Plateau State natives, collaborated for months with war correspondent Logan to make the 38-minute film, which is the Fox News corporation’s first in-depth examination of the tragic loss of life some call Nigeria’s “Silent Slaughter.”
It will be reported at an invitation-only Press Conference in Miango on October 15 where elected lawmakers and community leaders will acknowledge the Rural Watch achievement.
The film has been excerpted in segments on the YouTube channel of ICON PSJ media: https://youtu.be/94bVIPo5yPI
Logan, known in the United States as an award-winning war correspondent, delves deeply into the views and motivation of five reporters associated with a group Zongo created called “Rural Watch.” The mentor of the group is Washington-based editor Douglas Burton, who enables the Rural Watch writers to get published in The Epoch Times. Lawrence Zongo, a high-school history teacher and human rights activist, teamed with Masara Kim, a respected conflict reporter in Jos, Luka Binniyat in Kaduna, and Tom Garba in Adamawa as well as many others.
The film credits the Nigerian reporters for making the dangerous and painstaking trips into rural villages in the Middle Belt to get testimonies of the victims and their families. Logan takes pains to stir the conscience of the West, long accused of being a “conspiracy of silence.” “Masara Kim,” she says in her narration, is the “eyes and ears of a world that doesn’t care.” After months of interviews with the conflict reporters and Nigeria asylum seekers in the West, Logan cuts through the fog of war to show who in Nigeria is killing who and why. Dr. Sulieman Yahaya Kwande, a former Representative of Bassa/ Jos North from the ruling party of All Progressive Congress (APC), has said that “Killings of any religion or tribe is an evil act and against the will of God. Nigeria authority should take quick action and stop such killings, I appreciate Lara Logan and the team of Rural Watch News for the timely report.”
“This documentary has been produced to open the heart, eyes and conscience of an otherwise unperturbed world to the wanton cruelty of bands of murderous Jihadists. I strongly commend this great effort,” according to Dr. Pogu Bitrus, National President of the Middle Belt Forum.
A respected scholar in Washington D.C. has said the film exceeded her expectations. “Even for those of us informed about the Fulani and Boko Haram atrocities — this film is an eye opener,” wrote Nina Shea, director of the Center for Religious Freedom at the Hudson Institute.
Among several revelations in the film, Logan documents how Barak Obama rebuffed President Goodluck Jonathan when he needed arms to fight Boko Haram and put its weight behind the election of Muhammadu Buhari.
The press event coincides with the grim anniversary of a massacre of 29 Christian villagers in a classroom of LEA Primary School Nkiendoro, for which no one has been held accountable. “They were looking for refuge at a military base to hide from their attackers, yet they were locked in the classroom and killed by Muslim Fulani terrorists as a result of the negligence of the Military,” according to Zongo.
