Television Nigerian

By Lawrence Audu

The Nigerian Army legal team has disclosed that there is no petition against the Nigerian Army before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry and Restitution for Victims of SARS and Related Abuses.

Leader of the team, Akinwolu Kehinde, said the Nigerian Army is not under any form of trial over the shooting at the Lekki tollgate that allegedly resulted in the death of #EndSARS protesters.

Kehinde, who led the legal team to submit its report to the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, at the Army Headquarters in Abuja, said no person or group petitioned against the Nigerian Army over the October 20 incident.

According to him, the Nigerian Army was never summoned but was rather invited to throw light on what happened at the Lekki tollgate.

He said, “I want it to be clear that at no point in time was the Nigerian Army summoned as a respondent, at no time was the Nigerian Army mentioned. Army was there to throw light on what happened”.

Kehinde added further that, “at the end of the presentation. The NA was able to explain its involvement, we were able to establish that the NA did not set out on its own to intervene; the Nigerian Army was called because the civil Police was overwhelmed. We were able to show the footage, both oral and visual to show the role of the Nigerian Army”.

Responding shortly after receiving the copies of the report, the Chief of Army Staff who was represented by the Chief of Policy and Plans, Nigerian Army, Lieutenant General Lamidi Adeosun, said the Nigerian Army is a professional organization that is guided by rules and regulations.

He noted that it’s one of the obligations of the Nigerian Army to assist civil authorities in line with its rules of engagement, when invited.

The United States has condemned  Saturday’s killing of 43 rice farmers in Borno State, stating that it stands with Nigeria against terrorism.

The U.S. also offered condolences to the family and friends of the deceased.

The US Embassy in a statement on Monday titled, ‘US condemns attack in Borno State,’ said, “The United States offers our deepest condolences to the families and friends of those killed or kidnapped.

“These abhorrent attacks are a stark reminder of why the United States stands with the Nigerian government and people as they fight to defeat terrorism and work to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

Forme Senate President, Anyim Puis, has alleged that Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, is after his life.

The ex-Secretary to the Government of the Federation made this known in an open letter addressed to the President, Federal Republic of Nigeria; Inspector –General of Police; Director – General, State Security Service and Chief of Defence Staff.

This was a reaction to allegations against him and other leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party by the governor who accused them of plotting to incite violence in the state.

Mr Umahi, had last week Friday after the state security council meeting, accused Mr Anyim; senators, Sam Egwu and Obinma Ogba, and PDP acting Vice Chairman, South-east, Ali Odefa, of plotting to use members of IPOB to unleash mayhem in the state.

“I want the media to note, that I reported an allegation that some Ebonyi people are engaging cultists and according to them some IPOB Members to start killing and causing crisis in Ebonyi State in the name of fighting Ebonyi State Government and the governor.

“Their leader is Senator Anyim Pius Anyim and their members are Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, Mr. Ali Odefa and others. The same Senator Anyim Pius Anyim fought the former Governor Sam Egwu and many people were killed.

“I have also directed security agencies to ensure the implementation of policies on tinted glasses of vehicles in the state, the use of a siren and then their police escort. If they try to fight the State, this will be their last fight, they will not fight again,” Mr Umahi had said.

Mr Umahi recently caused ripples in the PDP, when he defected to the APC over alleged marginalisation of the South-east by the former ruling party.

A spurned PDP and one of its governors, Nyesom Wike, of Rivers State had accused Mr Umahi of leaving the party in a quest to secure a presidential ticket in 2023.

Meanwhile, Mr Anyim in the open letter described Mr Umahi as a “prisoner of his greed and inordinate ambition.”

The open letter was titled, “Governor David Umahi on his wild, infantile, and utterly senseless accusations against my person”.

“Gov. Umahi is pitiably delusional. He is a prisoner of his greed and inordinate ambition. Here is a drowning man looking for who to drag down with him. Gov. Umahi has made his worst mistake after his latest misadventure by taking on me and other noble and respectable sons of Ebonyi State who have served and continued to serve our dear State with resolute commitment, dedication and integrity,” he said.

Mr Anyim also denied Mr Umahi’s claim that he agreed to defect with him “but later refused”.

“The case at hand is his defection to APC on the 19th of November, 2020. The discerning public knows that he has been on the plan for a long time and when he decided to consummate it, he suddenly concocted an accusation against PDP, that PDP was not willing to zone Presidency to the South-east.

“People who know Gov. Umahi know that he normally starts this way whenever he is hatching a sinister plan. He raises dust, makes wild allegations and accusations against people just to divert the attention of the public before he strikes.

“It is public knowledge that Gov. Umahi had been planning his defection to the All Progressive (s) Congress, APC for a long time. In his delusion, he believed his own lies that he is the only man who matters in Ebonyi State. He did not consult with anybody notable before consummating his defection to APC. After his defection, no person of note followed him.

“Unable to contain and manage the unsavory reactions from the public he ran to my home in the company of some high-profile people, on the 20th of November 2020, and pleaded with me to defect to APC, saying that if I do, others will follow suit.

“I pointed out to him that his approach has made it almost impossible for anybody to defect. He pleaded with me that if I cannot defect now, I should not attend any PDP meetings, and I said no, I must attend PDP meetings as long as I am in PDP.

“He realised that he could not persuade anybody when he saw the crème of Ebonyi Elders and citizen that gathered for the inauguration of PDP Caretaker Committee. He could no longer sleep and declared war on every one who has refused to defect with him.

“I would not have taken his present spew of baseless allegations seriously, but because I suspect he is under a spell and perhaps something is pursuing him. He may have been told that he will need to kill before he would achieve his present enterprise and so to build up a scenario for him to kill, he will need to spew allegations of killings even when they make no sense.

“I have no doubt that Governor Umahi may have been told that he needed blood to accomplish his present enterprise, otherwise how can a man in his 6th year as Governor of a State suddenly realise that a former President of the Senate, a former Governor of the State and two-time serving Senator Dr. Sam Egwu, Senator Obinna Ogba, two time serving Senator, are now cultists and IPOB members.

“Gov Umahi’s modus operandi are well known and his moves are easily predictable.

“To notify the public that I fully understand that what Umahi meant by *“this will be the last fight I will fight”, is that he will kill me so that I will not live to fight again*. While I invite the security agencies to note this plan, I want to assure Gov. Umahi that my blood is not available for him in pursuit of his ambition,” Mr Anyim said.

The United Nations on Monday recanted an earlier claim that 110 farmers were killed by suspected Boko Haram insurgents in Zabarmari community, Borno State.

Recall that Borno State government officials were quoted as saying at least 43 farmers lost their lives in an attack by insurgents on a rice field.

On Sunday, the Borno governor, Babagana Zulum, had during a mass burial of the deceased farmers, told journalists that 43 farmers were killed.

Later on Sunday evening, the UN issued a statement which quoted the head of the UN System in Nigeria, Edward Kallon, saying that at least 110 farmers were killed in the said attack.

The UN version of the death toll from Koshobe rice field went viral.

In the initial UN statement, signed by Eve Sabbagh, UN’s Head of Public Information at the OCHA in Nigeria, Mr Kallon said he was “outraged and horrified by the gruesome attack against civilians carried out by non-state armed groups in villages near Borno State capital Maiduguri.”

He added that “at least 110 civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”

However, in a new release on Monday, the UN said its initial statement was inaccurate.

The UN’s head, public information, said the earlier numbers quoted by Mr Kallon were not correctly sourced.

In an email circulated to reporters, Ms Sabbagh asked journalists to disregard the earlier statement.

“Please note the number of 110 civilians killed on Saturday’s attack is an unconfirmed number and the correct version of the statement by the Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator is the one published yesterday on Reliefweb and used on OCHA Nigeria’s Twitter account”.

In the fresh statement, the humanitarian agency replaced the portion where it quoted “110 deaths” with “unspecified figure “.

This time around, Mr Kallon was quoted saying “tens of civilians were ruthlessly killed and many others were wounded in this attack.”

The remaining paragraphs of the one-paged statement remained the same.

The UN did not, however, add how it got the earlier figure it released and which was quoted by at least one international media outlet.