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How Ekiti Received President Tinubu’s Support In Agriculture

By
Ayodele Oni
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Bola Ahmed Tinubu - President

By Ayodele Oni

President Bola Tinubu has offered support to States to encourage citizens to embark on agriculture as part of strategy to cushion the effect of economic hardship.

Ekiti State Governor Biodun Oyebanji disclosed this at the weekend while inspecting the Bring Youth Back into Agriculture Project farms in some parts of the state.

The Governor told some of the participants that “Please note that the support I am giving you was provided by President Bola Tinubu, the state government doesn’t have that kind of resources.

“I went to him and I told him I want to get involved in agriculture. He gave us that support and I promised myself that when we get that resources, we will invest it in agriculture, so, from that resources, we should be able to get a bus for each group.”

Oyebanji restated his administration’s commitment to food security for residents of the state through various collaboration with investors in agribusiness and young farmers, saying his target for 2025 is to record significant increase in production in the sector to feed the people.

The Governor, who was accompanied on the visit by some top government officials, disclosed that the state’s budget for 2025 would focus more on agriculture, in an effort to ensure food sufficiency and make Ekiti the food basket of the country.

While noting that his government’s deliberate investment in agriculture was already yielding the desired positive results, the governor said his government in the last two years, had prioritized investment in agriculture, boost capacity of farmers and create a market for farm produce as part of efforts to enhance food production and tackle food insecurity.

He expressed  appreciation to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for providing necessary impetus for the state to thrive in agriculture and other sectors, and promised that his administration will continue to provide economic opportunities for youths in the state and position them to be employers of labour.

The Governor added that the State has also improved on its agricultural policies and guaranteed the needed infrastructure and support to drive the State’s agriculture development plans.

“I’m superbly excited on the outcome of agriculture strategy, few months ago, we flagged off this programme, ‘bring back our youths into agriculture’ and I believe strongly that the only way to prosperity is productivity and bring our youths back to work, government has to provide the platforms for them.

“We partnered  with our people and  YSJ, a private sector agric company to work out a strategy of bring back our youths to agric where government cleared land for them free of charge, subsidized inputs by fifty percent.

“I am just going round today to see the outcome of this efforts and I am happy that it has turned round this way.

“What this has taught me is the fact that Ekiti youths are not lazy, Ekiti youths are productive, they can work and what they need is just the platform.

“I have always been saying it that Ekiti can rival with any states in the federation, but as a government, we need to provide the platform for people to exhibit their potentials and this is what we have done.

“Next year budget is going to focus on welfare and agriculture, we have done a lot with infrastructure, education and health, the time has come for us to feed our people and my target for next year is to grow enough food to feed Ekiti people.”

“We Are Sorry”, Ijaw Elders Apologize To Wike Over  Fubara

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Nyesom Wike and Simi Fubara

By Akinwale Kasali

As the feud between Nyesom Wike,  Minister of the Federal Capital Territory. FCT and Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State continue to escalate, some  Ijaw Elders have apologized to Wike.

The Elders apologized to Wike on Saturday when they hosted Wike to a reception in Rivers State on Saturday.

Wike, the immediate past Governor of Rivers State and his successor in office, Siminalayi Fubara, have been embroiled in a bitter political crisis which began barely three months into Fubara’s tenure.

It was Wike who greatly was instrumental to Fubara becoming the Governor but they soon fell apart over the control of the State. That had led to an aborted impeachment of Fubara, and since then nothing has been the same. Both men are at each others neck. And, inspite of the support for Fubara by most of his colleague-PDP Governors, Wike has continued, with the surprise support of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to hold unto the party structure in the State. Fubara seems on his way out of the Party as his loyalists and appointees are contesting the upcoming Local Council Polls in the State on the ticket of another Party, APP.

But at the reception in honour of Wike by the Ijaw, they praised and thanked Wike to high heavens for making an Ijaw son (Fubara) a Governor. They said they were very grateful to him for making that happen in the history of Rivers State.

Speaking on the feud between Wike and Fubara, the Elders begged Wike to forgive Fubara. They urged him to sheath his sword and forgive Fubara who they kept referring to as “his political son.”

The Ijaw Elders organised the reception under the auspices of Ijaw Elders Forum of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. They condemned Fubara and said the attitude of Governor Fubara has been unpalatable and “insensitive”.

The group said Wike has been good to the Ijaw people of Rivers State.

Speaking on behalf of the Group, the Executive Director Of Finance, Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Boma Iyaye,  said Ijaw people “are sorry for Governor Fubara’s behaviour.

He said nobody from the Ijaw people of Rivers State had ever risen to the position of Governor in the state until Wike made it possible through Fubara.

Iyaye said Wike has done well for them and they will continue to say “thank you”.

He said, “On behalf of our people, we are apologising to you for what our son is doing to you. We are sorry. We are sorry o because it is not in our nature to pay evil for good. You have done well for us, and we will continue to say, thank you.

“Your Excellency, do not because of this bad behaviour of our son run away from us. Continue to be our brother. Continue to have us in mind.

“We have never set our feet on the number one seat of Rivers State. You made it possible for us to become the governor of Rivers State.”

Enugu Clamps Down On Illegal Schools

By
Suleiman Anyalewechi
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Peter Mbah - Governor of Enugu State

By Suleiman Anyalewechi

The Enugu State Government at the weekend sealed several Nursery ,Primary and secondary Schools believed to be operating under substandard and inhuman conditions, mainly in  Enugu the State capital.

The State authorities said the clamp down is to arrest the ugly trend of unapproved and substandard educational institutions compromising quality.

The State Commissioner for Education, Professor  Ndubeze Mbah, who personally led the closure of such schools as Evangel School, Asata and Eastview Nursery and primary School at the Railway Quarters Njemanze, Ivory Education Centre on Owerri Road, and  St. Michael Nursery and Secondary Schools Asata, informed that the affected institutions were operating under an abysmal standard and learning environment.

According to the Commissioner, most of the schools visited  were operating without roofs on their buildings, cracked walls and severe dilapidation which, he  noted, constitute  a serious danger to the lives of the pupils and students.

Similarly, Professor Mbah regretted that most private schools in the State are operating in total disregard of the extant rules, guidelines and regulations as spelt out by the Ministry of Education.

He noted that Government, before now, had directed all schools operating in the State to register with, and secure the approval of all relevant regulatory bodies, particularly the Education Ministry.

He insisted that the decision to wield the big stick, resulted from the failure of the schools to adhere to the registration order.

He stated that it is mandatory for all schools operating in the State to  comply with the regulations, part of which demands registration and approval by the Ministry of Education.

“We sensitized our people on the State Government’s education policy and how education must align with the most advanced global practices if our children can have a chance to acquire 21st Century skills and modern workforce knowledge and be able to compete with their global peers.

“We gave them (private schools) four months grace period to register and get approval. Yet most of them failed to do so.

We are doing this (sealing of their premises) to checkmate abuses and restore the dignity of the system in our state”, Professor Mba stated.

The Education Commission who, also, noted that most of the illegal schools are making use of unqualified teachers, vowed that the Enugu State Government will not sit by idly and watch the unmitigated erosion of its educational standard.

He decried the unbridled establishment of unregistered and unapproved schools in the state by unscrupulous elements, noting that such an ugly trend is totally unacceptable.

He warned that the State Government will not, under any guise, compromise its decision to ensure total compliance with all the extant rules and guidelines governing qualitative education in the State.

Lion Kills Man At Obasanjo’s Presidential Library

By
Akinwale Kasali
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Lion

By Akinwale Kasali

A 35-Year Zoo Worker at the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library, Abeokuta, Ogun State, Babaji Daule, was killed by a Lion over the weekend.

Confirming the gruesome killing of the man,

Ogun State Police Command, on Sunday, said it was due to carelessness.

The spokesman for the State Police Command, Omolola Odutola, disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

The Bauchi State born lion handler was said to have forgotten to secure the locks and barricade the lion’s enclosure before approaching the cage to feed the animal.

This reportedly allowed the lion to escape and attack the handler, resulting in injuries to his neck and eventual death

The victim’s body has been removed and taken to the mortuary at Ijaye General Hospital.

Earlier, the lion was shot dead to release its grip on the handler.

The Management of the Olusegun Obasanjo Presidential Library are yet to make an official statement at the time of this report.

Governor Fintiri Dumps Atiku For Wike

By
The Source
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Ahmadu Fintiri - Governor of Adamawa State

By Gideon Njoku

There are pointers that Adamawa State Governor, Ahmed Fintiri, has jumped ship. The Peoples Democratic Party’s Governor did not dump the PDP for the All Progressive Congress, APC.

No, the Governor dumped former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, who was the Presidential Candidate of the PDP in the 2023 Presidential Election for the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Nyesom Wike.

Atiku and Wike are bitter political enemies, and are, not a few people agree, responsible for the sorry state of affairs of the PDP, especially, from the months leading to the 2023 Presidential election. Both men aspired to the office of the President but Atiku defeated Wike in the Primary, and dashed his hope of becoming his running mate by picking the then Governor of Delta State, Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa instead, even, after, according to Wike, Atiku assured him he, Wike, will be the one.

To pay Atiku back in his own coins, Wike decided to work against Atiku in favour of then Candidate Bola Tinubu.

He formed a strong alliance with some PDP stakeholders, including, four then PDP Governors – Samuel Ortom of Benue, Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State, Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu. With their leader, Wike, they formed the G5 and worked against the PDP.

The  Group which has been quiet, since Tinubu’s Presidency, appointment of Wike as FCT Minister, except Makinde who is serving his second term as Governor, on Saturday, converged in Rivers State at a reception in honour of Wike by an Ijaw Group.

But there was a new entrant, a new member of the G5. It was Adamawa State Governor, Ahmed Fintiri.

Fintiri is the Governor of Atiku’s home State, and has been with him, or so everybody thought, till now.

However, signs that Finitiri has abandoned Atiku for Wike showed when the Governor publicly endorsed the Acting National Chairman of the PDP, Ambassador Umar Damagum to continue in office with his NWC members. Atiku and his group, including PDP Governors, minus Makinde, and now, Finitiri, want Damagum out as Acting PDP National Chairman. But Wike and his group stand solidly behind Damagum.

While in Rivers State, Fintiri  appealed to  Wike and Governor Fubara to let go of the crisis between them and work together again.

About two weeks ago, however, Wike swore he would never have anything to do with Fubara again.

Whistle-blower Exposes Warehouse Where Banned Styrofoam Is Stored

By
Akinwale Kasali
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0

By Akinwale Kasali

Despite the Ban placed on the use of Styrofoam by the Lagos State Government, some persons and manufacturers have remained defiant.

The Lagos State Government law enforcement agency in a recent operation has uncovered a warehouse in Ikeja where styrofoam products were stored.

According to the Commissioner for Environment, Tokunbo Wahab, the authorities received a tip from a whistleblower, leading to the discovery and seizure of the banned products.

The  Commissioner for Environment, Tokunbo Wahab, who disclosed this on his X handle said that this is not the first time the government has taken action against styrofoam.

“Following a tip-off by a whistleblower, Lagos State Ministry of the Environment and Water Resources discovered another warehouse at No 6 Ogusefunmi Street, off Nurudeen Street, Anifowoshe, Ikeja,” Mr Wahab wrote.

“The building is being used for storing the banned styrofoam packs. The operatives of the @LAGESCOfficial have confiscated the packs.” He said.

However, the Lagos Sanitation Corps had previously seized large quantities of styrofoam at various markets and warehouses across the state

He noted that the State Government’s  intention is to reduce environmental pollution and promote sustainable practices.

Styrofoam, known for its non-biodegradable properties, contributes significantly to waste management issues.

OPINION: Edo Sham Election: Let’s Boycott Elections Until…

By
The Source
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0
Steve Osuji
Steve Osuji

By Steve Osuji

This Column, Expresso, is at pains to suggest that Nigerians must elect to boycott further elections until the following conditions are met:

MAHMOUD YAKUBU  MUST GO:
First, Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, the incumbent chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC,  must resign immediately. He has proven over and over again that he has neither capacity,  integrity nor courage to effect a free and fair election that can pass muster in the eyes of reasonable people.

After the February 25th, 2023 Presidential Election heist, it has become clear that the crafty professor is not man enough. He is not upright,  he doesn’t have the strength of his convictions, he has no sense of magnitude of his academic standing or his elevated position.

Most of all, he has the mentality of a plumber who is not possessed of a sense of history nor legacy. Yet he’s supposedly a professor of History. He will probably be annotated as the worst INEC chairman of all time. To think that we have seen the likes of Professor  Eme Awa and Humphrey Nwosu who delivered highly acclaimed elections under dictatorial military regimes. Prof Nwosu has a prime place in Nigeria’s electoral annals for declaring MKO Abiola winner of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections even with a gun virtually placed to his head to do otherwise.

Prot. Yakubu has proved resoundingly that he’s a puppet of President Bola Tinubu and the ruling APC therefore,  it stands to reason that Nigerians, and particularly,  the opposition parties must ignore and boycott his so-called elections forthwith. Elections coming up in Ondo and Anambra are test cases!

LET’S BOYCOTT TINUBU’S ELECTIONS TOO:
President Bola Tinubu has turned 360 degrees from pretending to be a democrat and rights activist to a power-mongering megalomaniac. Most of us were fooled believing he was a fighter for democracy and civil rule, but now that he has hijacked power,  it has become obvious that he’s an arch-kakistocrat… all he wanted was power after all; autocratic power!

Though  history is replete with transformational despots and benevolent autocrats who deploy  their untrammelled powers to lift peoples and develop nations. But not so for Tinubu. He has acted like a popinjay president so far, using the high office to soak up perquisites like a sponge.

Though he’s a notorious election rigger right from his days as state governor in Lagos State (untutored acolytes call him political strategist for his ability to pervert elections). But as president of the Republic, he has gotten brazen and drunken from the cask of impunity. After openly stealing the presidential mandate February 2023 in cahoots with Prof. Yakubu, he now openly calls elections ahead of time.

During Tinubu’s presidential campaign in 2022, he had vowed to Edo APC members that he would return the state to the APC family if he became president of Nigeria. There was no mincing of words nor equivocation in the video clip: “I will deliver Edo to APC if I become president.”  Now he’s president of Nigeria and he simply returned Edo to APC by deploying federal might at his disposal.

BUHARI A BETTER DEMOCRAT THAN TINUBU:
In 2020, Muhammadu Buhari was president and Edo was going to an election.  The atmosphere was charged( again, by a certain Adams Oshiomhole who wanted Edo in his pocket.) Governor Godwin Obaseki,  Oshiomhole’s protégé-gone bad after he had installed him in 2016. Oshiomhole went to the ends of the earth seeking to topple Gov. Obaseki in his 2nd term election.

To achieve his aim, Oshiomhole forced incumbent Governor Obaseki out of APC in the last minutes. Obaseki smuggled his way into the PDP to contest against his erstwhile godfather,  Oshiomhole. As in 2020, the September 21st,  2024 off-cycle guber election was a charged contest between APC and incumbent PDP.

President Buhari openly insisted on a free and fair election in Edo in 2020. He made it public that the people’s choice must prevail; he didn’t try to deliver his party APC by rolling out federal might. It’s on record that President Buhari consistently allowed INEC to carry out elections without interference throughout his time.

ADAMS’ DESIRE:
Mr Adams Oshiomhole has not lived down the humiliation he suffered in the hands of Gov. Obaseki since that electoral defeat of 2020. He fancys himself as the Tinubu of Edo and he desperately seeks to pocket Edo as Tinubu pockets Lagos and southwest.

A megalomaniac and moneygrub like Tinubu he would do anything,  tell any lies and pervert any system to have his way. After eight years as Edo governor, like Tinubu, Oshiomhole has no other article of trade than dark politics.

To his chargrin, he couldn’t move Buhari to rig Edo Election for him in 2020, but with his fellow rigging machine in Aso Rock, Oshiomhole has eventually installed his lapdog as governor of Edo.

THE OKPEBHOLO BLOWOUT!
Monday Okpebholo epitomises Oshiomhole’s and Tinubu’s vile politics. They do not care for the people,  they care not for the state… all they care about is their personal aggrandisement. It has been settled that after Tinubu, anyone can be president of Nigeria (much less governor of a state). Okpebholo as governor of a state must be the lowest limit. It is below low! And for Oshiomhole to dig into the ground to exhume an Okpebholo to be governor of Edo State must he the worst thing to happen to Edo State since its creation.

A seeming retard with apparently borrowed biometrics, Okpebholo couldn’t make a simple sentence in English all through the campaign. Like Tinubu,  Okpebholo shunned all debates and all interviews. Instead,  Oshiomhole campaigned as if he was the candidate on the ballot. After his declaration,  pictures are already viral of Okpebholo kneeling down to his god, Oshiomhole for doing the impossible.

Never has Edo election won on the strength of Edo north numbers, yet Oshiomhole and INEC scripted Edo North results to have their waý… with APC, anything is indeed possible in Nigeria.

REMORSELESS STATE CAPTURE:
Oshiomhole has now joined the league of APC big boys who own their states. Starting with Tinubu in Lagos,  Dave Umahi of Ebonyi, Hope Uzodinma of Imo and Yahaya Bello of Kogi (no wonder he can’t be arrested).

Since APC is  poised to capture every inch of the Nigerian political space, Nigerians must snap out of their sheepish docility and fight for their lives and their country. The first and less injurious option they have is to boycott all the stupid elections organised by Tinubu, APC and Yakubu.

It seems most idiotic for any reasonable human to go stand on any election queue, unless you’re one of their paid voters. It’s even a worse proposition for any so-called opposition party to participate in Tinubu’s and Yakubu’s elections henceforth.

BOTTOMLINE:
Professor Yakubu must resign and Tinubu must immediately initiate an election reform to make elections in Nigeria fair (electronic) and their results credible.

Anything short of this, EXPRESSO avers, must be boycotted.  It is time Tinubu’s sham elections were disregarded and indeed, Nigerians must initiate a benign civil disobedience,  going forward, to begin to drive home their point. We, the people, must fight Tinubu’s remorseless state capture.

▪︎Osuji is former editor at The Guardian, Thisday and NewAge. He was until recently, Editorial Board Member, The Nation.

Abure Loyalists Tried To Deregister, Suspend Datti-Ahmed, Usman – Caretaker Committee

By
Suleiman Anyalewechi
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Labour Party

By Suleiman Anyalewechi.

The leadership of the Caretaker Committee, Kaduna State Chapter of the Labour Party, on Saturday September, 28, 2024, maintained that  the duo of Senator Datti Baba- Ahmed, the Presidential running mate to Peter Obi in the 2023 General Elections and Senator Nenadi Usman, its  National Chairman  Caretaker Committee,  remains bonafide members of the Party.

This is even as it insisted that all efforts to distract the National leadership in its efforts to reposition the party will  always hit the rock.

The Kaduna LP leadership’s position comes on the heels of the insistence by the immediate past leadership of the party in the State that Datti-Ahmed and Usman are not registered members of the Party.

A statement issued by the chapter’s interim spokesperson, Natty Auta, said the party has since made public the register and membership card of Senator Usman.

The Kaduna LP leadership, also, denied the existence of  any cracks within the party, adding that it is merely transitioning from one leadership to another.

“We challenge the outgone Executive to provide the Ward Register of Datti Baba-Ahmed and Senator Nenadi Usman to substantiate their claims that these esteemed individuals and leaders of our great party are not registered members of the Labour Party .

“In contrast, we have submitted the register and membership card of Senator Nenadi Usman for public verification.

“It has come to our attention that the Kagarko Local Government Chairman ,Zaphaniah Yohanna, was contacted by the outgone Executive to verify Senator Nenadi Usman’s registration in her Ward.

“When he confirmed her registration, they pressured him to suspend her which he rightfully refused. This incident highlights their continued attempts to undermine legitimate party members”, the Kaduna LP Stated.

To this end, the interim leadership, has cautioned the outgone Barr. Julius Abure loyal Kaduna Executive to refrain from their orchestrated moves aim at blackmailing innocent party members.

According to the statement ,the Labour Party is not in anyway divided as some detractors would want unsuspecting members of the public to believe.

The LP spokesman, noted that the outgone executive had to leave following the expiry of its tenure in June this year .

However, Auta informed that it  is the refusal by the former executive members to come to terms with this reality that is driving their attempt to disrupt the peace of the party.

“If they truly care about the party and its development, they should support initiatives like the fundraising event aimed at supporting our candidates in the forthcoming local council polls in the state” part of the statement reads

The party Spokesperson further berated the immediate past Executive Members for their lack of focus, and over-dependence on revenues from sale of nomination forms.

Kano: 20 Million People Served By 600 Doctors, Strike Looms

By
Ayodele Oni
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Medical Doctors in Nigeria

By Ayodele Oni

 

Following refusal of the Kano State Government to pay post Covid 19 allowances to medical doctors, the National Association of Government General and Medical Dental Practitioners has approved October 1 as the date for its members in Kano to go on strike.

 

The Secretary of the Association in Kano, Dr. Anas Idris Hassan, made this known while addressing newsmen on the outcome of their meeting.

 

Dr. Anas stated that despite reaching an agreement with the Kano State Government in June to meet their demands, the government has yet to respond.

 

He emphasized that the government has not addressed the issue of their hazard allowance, specifically the post-COVID-19 hazard allowance, which has been paid by the federal government since 2021, but has yet been paid by the Kano State Government.

 

Dr. Anas further mentioned that newly employed medical doctors, who were hired by the Kano State Government in September 2023, have not been paid their salaries.

 

The medical practitioners also expressed concern over the dilapidated state of Kano hospitals and the lack of necessary equipment, stressing the urgent need to address these issues.

 

Dr. Anas highlighted the critical doctor-to-patient ratio in Kano, which is significantly lower than the World Health Organization’s standard.

 

He noted that there are an estimated 20 million people in Kano, served by only 600 doctors, resulting in a ratio of one doctor to 33,000 patients.

 

The medical practitioners concluded that they have no option but to embark on the strike on October 1.

36 Pro-Biafra Activists Set Free By Court After Four Years

By
The Source
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Biafra Members

By Gideon Njoku

Four years after they were herded into prison, 36 pro-Biafra Activists have been set free.

They were discharged and acquitted by an Abakiliki, Ebonyi State High Court.

The good news for the families, friends and associates of the detainees was broken by Ifeanyi Ejiofor, Counsel for the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB.

Ejiofor disclosed this Owerri Friday, and reeled out  the obstacles summounted before the freedom of the detainees was secured.

All natives of Ebonyi State, the  36 detainees were  arrested in 2020 after which they were charged with murder in case No. HAB/29c/2021.

At the trial, according to Ejiofor, the prosecution was not able to prove the charges. He said that he filed a “No Case Submission,” which was sustained by the Court which on September 27, 2022, dismissed the charges and acquitted the accused.

But no sooner were they discharged and acquitted than they were re-arrested and arraigned.

The new charge sheet,  No. HAB/43c/2022, now included allegations of  unlawful possession of firearms, robbery, unlawful association, arson, conduct likely to cause a breach of peace, and carrying out warlike behaviour.

But again there was no  evidence to support the allegations. The defence presented  another “No Case Submission”.

For the second time, the Court discharged the activists  on December 22, 2023.

Still bent on framing and finding them guilty the prosecution filed another charge against them

while the second charge was still pending.

In  Charge No. HAB/59c/2022, the detainees were accused of armed robbery, and hounded back into custody in defiance of earlier court orders.

Luck shone on them  September 27, 2024, when on the completion of the third trial, the Court again upheld the No Case Submission, and thus, discharged and acquitted  all 36 detainees for the third time.

But despite the repeated court orders, prison officials refused to release them. They cited a new charge said to be before the Ikwo High Court.

Ejiofor lamented this new twist, and described it as a desperate attempt to deny the detainees their freedom.

He, therefore, appealed to Ebonyi State Governor, Francis Nwifuru, and urged him to intervene in order to  prevent this “mockery of the judicial process” from continuing.

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