A lawyer identified as Abba Hikima, has taken to social media to narrate how operatives of the Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) attached to Kano State Police Command, tortured one Sadiq to death.
In a series of posts on Twitter, Hikima revealed that the SARS officials who tortured Sadiq to death, hid the news from the deceased’s family as they continued to extort food and money from them.
According to the story shared by Hikima, Sadiq was praying at the time the SARS officials invaded their house in Kano.
The deceased was said to have been scared after sighting the armed policemen shooting.
While calling for justice on behalf of Sadiq’s family, Hikima maintained that Nigerians have been too quiet over the police assault.
He further charged the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to probe Sadiq’s death.
Read the full thread below:
The impunity with which @PoliceNG (SARS) violates Nigerians is endlessly disturbing. I am currently prosecuting a case where Kano SARS evidently tortured an innocent young suspect to death, hid his death to his family and continued to collect food and money from the family… pic.twitter.com/nDA3S2GoBa
purportedly for onward delivery to the dead suspect who was then already lodged in mortuary. As a legal practitioner, I can write a 1000-paged book on Nigeria Police's atrocities to Nigeria citizenry whom they are by law burdened to protect…
It is pertinent also to say that Nigeria and Nigerians have been too quiet for too long on this. Nigeria's political leadership esp. the president @MBuhari, must give Nigeria a decent police force.
kindly investigate the case of Sadiq (whose picture appears above) as posted on
"JUSTICE FOR SADIQ!!! With deep sorrowful broken heart I write dis painful story of what happened to my cousin today, today as a Nigerian citizen, I have seen the highest order of abuse of office by the SARS officers and cruelty, at about 1pm.
"SARS officers jumped the fence and entered my aunt's house in gwarinpa abuja, and started shooting, Sadiq was performing ablution for zuhr prayers, on sighting one of the officers shooting he got scared and he thought they were armed robbers, out of fear he jumped in to their…
"neighbour's house, one of the officers shot him on the hand, Sadiq was bleeding, he handcuffed Sadiq and one of the neighbour's son and took them in to their vehicle, mean while the remaining officers broke the doors in to the house, brought out the remaining boys and her…
"Husband and started beating them up and took them away and after some minutes some of the officers came back to the house and packed the bullets that were on the floor in an attempt to hide evidence, after making several phone calls they were said to be taken to the SARS office
at Guzape with alot of cooked up stories, on reaching there, they took us to see one of the heads of the office, he narrated the story that, the officers were chasing a kidnapper demanding a ransome and the kidnapper jumped in to my aunt's house and that they didnt shoot any
body, that Sadiq got injured by a barb wire while trying to escape and that Sadiq is the kidnapper, after narrating our own side of the story the officer realised they were some hidden facts, after clear listening to his step mum, the officer asked them to release every body, I
demanded they take Sadiq to the hospital and get him treated and they must foot the bills, the commander and his deputy threatened to arrest me for saying that, and he said everyone should be rearrested he is not releasing anybody, after going back and forth I insisted they give
us Sadiq for treatment and seeing is a gun shot injury non of the hospital's will accept us without a police officer attached to us, I demanded one of the police officer accompanies us to the hospital, they took Sadiq in to their Hilux vehicle, drove him to National Hospital and
left, the Doctors told them to wait behind and submit their statement, they refused and left us there, when the bandage on sadiq's hand was removed, it was a gun shot injury, the bullet has damaged his Radius and Ulna bone, and also damaged the whole tendons on the wrist, we are
demanding justice for Sadiq and the entire Family if there is any justice remaining in Nigeria, if not we have raised our hands and prayed to Allah in this Holy month for devine intervention, but today as a Nigerian Citizen our government has failed us… SARS officers are very
cruel and in human, the officer that shot Sadiq was looking like a hoodlum, with is tattered hair style and chains hanging around his neck, if any one can help us raise the alarm untill it reaches the ears that needs to hear and Justice is given to sadiq it will be appreciated,
The social media was in the early hours of Tuesday, May 19, 2020, set on fire, when Nigeria’s Foreign Affairs’ Minister, Geoffrey Onyeama disclosed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation’s (NNPC) plans to spend as much as N1 billion to feed and accommodate 3,000 Nigerians that will be evacuated from foreign countries due to the novel coronavirus pandemic.
According to Onyeama, it became needful for the CBN and NNPC to cater for the returnees after Nigerians condemned the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration for requesting N290,000 from evacuees for their welfare.
The minister said the N1bn is not only budgeted for the returnees’ feeding but their hotel accommodation as well.
Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama
Onyeama’s words; “We are talking of over N1bn because till now, we have about 4,000 Nigerians out there and if 3,000 of them come back, the cost of accommodation, feeding and everything else is over N1bn that we don’t have and he said he is ready to explore and share with the NNPC.
“I spoke to the GMD of NNPC and he said he is going to consult. So, we kept fingers crossed and thanks be to God, today (Monday), he got back to me to say he was going to meet up with the governor of central bank and together, they would fund the portion – accommodation and feeding of evacuees, so we can go forward in a better environment.”
Wild reactions
Just as expected, the disclosed plan has resulted in wild reactions from Nigerians, who took to social media to slam the CBN and NNPC.
While some wonder how the CBN and NNPC will source for the N1 billion, others claim that the disclosed plan is tantamount to daylight robbery.
I'm relieved it was great slap in our face as a country that smaller countries in Africa could evacuate their citizens without coughing or asking for palliative from her citizens too sad Nigeria as a country asking for palliative from returning citizens
COVID-19: CBN, NNPC to spend N1bn on upkeep of Nigerian returnees. This is unconstitutional@SERAPNigeria@EiENigeria@CLEAR_GlobalNET and others should challenge this daylight robbery.
— Nnamani. Edwin Alexander (@Nnamani_Edwin_A) May 19, 2020
Here’s what we think
It is not surprising that these two public agencies are collaborating to only feed 3,000 people with N1 billion. NNPC in particular is a cesspool of monumental corruption. The agency has overtime been enmeshed in sharp business practises, illegal deductions of funds, violation of laid down rules/regulations, and failure to account for several billions of naira that should go to the federation account. Amongst many of the corporation’s corrupt practises NNPC is known for, is subsidy claims.
What’s your reservation on the disclosed plan to feed 3,000 people with N1 billion?
Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has been mentioned in a fraud controversy on social media.
The monarch was enmeshed in the controversy when a Twitter user tweeted that a real estate company owned by Ogunwusi, Grand Imperio Group, scammed him of N6.7 million.
While responding to a Twitter debate where people were narrating how they have lost huge amount of money to those they borrowed, the user identified as Dolapo Oni, stated that having made a payment of N6.7 million as first installment to the real estate company for the purchase of a house in 2015, till date, he’s yet to get what he paid for.
Not really a loan but I dropped N6.7m as the first installment for a house being built by Gran Imperio Group/Howard Roach, in an estate called Golden Leaf at 2nd Toll Gate in 2015. This is 2020, no money, no land. https://t.co/1TiD9xLajI
— Dolapo Oni (Retired Nigerian) (@Dolarpo) May 17, 2020
Another Twitter user who seems to have had a similar experience, however, insinuated that this case is not the first of its kind. According to him, the company is fond of stealing from people and people are scared to talk about it because it belongs to Ooni.
“Gran Impero pulled one of Nigeria’s greatest real estate frauds. Without shame, and intentionally so, they stole from people. Nobody wants to talk about it because Gran Impero belongs to the Ooni,” @SeiyefaEgein wrote in his tweet.
Gran Impero pulled one of Nigeria's greatest real estate frauds. Without shame, and intentionally so, they stole from people. Nobody wants to talk about it because Gran Impero belongs to the Ooni.
Efforts to reach Ooni for comment and the individuals who accused the monarch of fraud, are however yet to yield a positive results. But trust us to bring the news to you as soon as they give updates and reactions to this story.
About Grand Imperio Group
Grand Imperio Group is a real estate development consortium in Nigeria. The company is known for investment in real estate, dredging projects, resort development and management, general investment finance, and management services.
ExxonMobil, an American multinational oil and gas corporation, has donated some vehicles to Akwa Ibom. Surprisingly, the vehicles which were donated for the state government to aid contact tracing of suspected COVID-19 patients, have been rejected.
Disclosing why the vehicles were rejected, the state Information Commissioner, Charles Udoh, said the vehicles are too old and incapable of withstanding the rigour of contact tracing.
“The vehicles are considered too old and not in good enough operational conditions to withstand the rigour of contact tracing which they were meant to serve,” Udoh was quoted in a statement as saying.
He, however, pointed out that the Governor Udom Emmanuel-led administration accepted the two ambulances and 20 hospital beds that were also donated by the oil company.
The 2020 financial projection for Transcorp Hotels Plc is no longer feasible. This indication emerged as the quoted hospitality company recorded a significant financial drop in revenue, in its first-quarter period for the year.
As COVID-19 continues to ravage different sectors of the economy, including the hospitality sector, Transcorp’s group revenue for the period under review, dropped to N4.17 billion, compared to the N4.18 billion recorded in Q1 2019.
Similarly, its gross profit fell to N3 billion in 2020 Q1, from the N3.10 billion garnered in the corresponding period of last year.
Transcorp’s defense of financial performance and affected projection
According to Transcorp, its 2020 Q1 result was impacted by the lingering coronavirus pandemic.
A statement from the company read partly; “Transcorp Hotel plc started the year 2020 optimistic with detailed plans and budget to surpass the N20bn revenue performance achieved in 2019.
“With the Global Coronavirus Pandemic, the hospitality industry has been negatively impacted.”
“Nigeria has witnessed an increase in confirmed cases which led to the closure of airports and flights and an official lockdown of the FCT issued by the Federal Government to ensure the effective combat of the virus. All of these have negatively impacted the hotel and its business activities in this period.
“The Company anticipates that its future results of operations, including the results for 2020, will be materially impacted by the coronavirus outbreak. However, given the speed and frequency of continuously evolving developments with respect to this pandemic, the Company cannot reasonably estimate the magnitude of the impact on its results and its operations, and, if the outbreak continues on its current trajectory, such impact could grow and become material to its liquidity or financial position.”
Telecommunications giant, MTN Group has announced that it has reversed its 2020 budget downward.
Having budgeted $1.5 billion as its capital investment for the year, the telco said it is necessary to cut down the budget to $1.1 billion.
Reason for cutting down the budget
According to the group, the decision to cut down its budget was to enable the preservation of cash and focus on the maintenance of its network, as the novel COVID-19 continues to ravage economies of the world.
‘It’s a surprise’
MTN’s decision to cut down its 2020 budget came as a surprise. This is because, in the first quarter of the year, the telco recorded significant growth in its earnings.
Within the first three months of the year, MTN Nigeria recorded N74 billion earnings from Nigerians, who splashed the money on purchasing data alone. This was a significant growth compared to the N46.4 billion Nigerians spent on MTN’s data in 2019 Q1.
More so, MTN Nigeria earned N194 billion from its voice calls during the period under review. This is a climb when compared to the corresponding period of last year when the telco earned N182.4 billion.
The board and management of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (formerly Anambra State University), are trying to conduct exams for students amid the novel COVID-19 spread.
A circular seen by Unmaskng.com, has it that all final-year students of the school’s College of Medicine, Faculty of Clinical Medicine, must quietly resume to write their exams.
The circular from Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University
According to Fisayo Shoyombo, an Investigative Journalist, the students were informed that the medical students’ hostel will be closed, and the students will have to temporarily accommodate themselves outside town as they prepare for their mock and final exams.
Why this matters
The move by the school authorities to secretly conduct exams for its final year students contravenes the state and federal government’s order on closure of schools as the infectious disease continues to rage.
What it means
Forcing the students to resume will not only put them in harm’s way on their journey to the school premises but will also increase their chances of having contact with infected persons, which is a threat to the government’s efforts to quickly combat this virus.
More importantly, forcing the students to resume for exams will have them deliberately going against instituted laws. For instance, it’s almost impossible for students who live outside Anambra to make it to the school, considering the ongoing inter-state lockdown. Mind you, the airports are also shut.
Can the VC, Prof Greg Nwakoby and the Dean College of Medicine, Prof Emeka Ojiyi, kindly explain what the hurry for the students to resume is all about?
Should a statement by Andrew Nevin, a partner and chief economist for Nigeria at PricewaterhouseCoopers LLP, hold water, then there are more worries for Nigeria aside from the novel coronavirus ravaging the economy.
Nevin had stated; “There is a possibility that at least for three to five years, there’s going to be no revenue flowing to the government from oil.” This simply means that the Nigerian government has to look elsewhere to get revenue to fund infrastructure projects amongst other things.
Speaking on the economic woes, Zainab Ahmed, the Finance Minister, had admitted that the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration is faced with a twin challenge of dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic itself, and a slump in the price of crude.
Andrew Nevin
“It’s a double whammy,” she said. “This has set us back significantly.”
Unarguably, global efforts to curtail the spread of the infectious disease have driven oil prices so low that they no longer cover the cost of pumping barrels for many companies in Nigeria — let alone providing the government with crucial cash.
Lost earnings
Nigeria kicked off the year projecting it would sell oil at $57 a barrel, then it revised that down to $30 a barrel, and then $20. And according to the IMF, Oil revenues will decline by $26.5 billion this year, down from $54.5 billion in 2019.
“This is a period of crisis,” said Fortune Obi, who works for Shell Nigeria and is a spokesman of the country’s oil union for senior workers. “Job losses are imminent across the petroleum industry. The impact of this will start reflecting from June and July. The reality is that some members will certainly be impacted. What matters most to us is how to manage the process of any such expected exit.”
In late February 2020, Nigeria recorded her first case of the novel coronavirus, when an Italian businessman who travelled into the country on a Turkish Airlines flight, was diagnosed of the infectious disease in Lagos.
As of Thursday, April 2, the number of confirmed cases has increased to 184. And in a bid to curtail the virus spread, the Federal Government had shutdown business activities and restricted movements in some states in the country.
Complying to the restrictions has become a mammoth challenge for millions of Nigerians, who solely rely on daily earnings to feed themselves and their families. Consequently, the shutdown hasn’t only stalled their business exploit but has also brought hunger to them.
Donjazzy
Just as banks and wealthy Nigerians are donating billions of naira to help the President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration fund the country’s medical centers, and at the same time, provide essential materials needed to curtail the spread of coronavirus, celebrities are encouraging people to stay-at-home with social media giveaways, which is believed to be shelving the hunger that already exists among Nigerians as the consequence of the lockdown.
Nigerians are no longer hiding in their feelings to openly request for financial support. As a matter of fact, bank account details are now being broadcasted to celebrities on social media, as many believed they are financially buoyant enough to at least feed them for the period of the lockdown.
Among the celebrities largely putting smiles on people’s faces are -Runtown, and Don Jazzy.
Prior to the lockdown, which halts economic and social activities, Runtown whose real name is Douglas Jack Agu, announced that he will be donating a whooping sum of N10 million to Nigerians on social media.
The money, according to the ‘Mad Over You’ singer, is to help Nigerians stock up on survival essentials.
He tweeted, “HOPE EVERYONE IS STAYING SAFE. TIMES ARE EXTREMELY TOUGH AND I AM CERTAIN THERE ARE PEOPLE WITH NO MONEY TO STOCK UP ON SURVIVAL ESSENTIALS. WILL BE GIVING OUT 10 MILLION NAIRA TO THIS CAUSE. KINDLY DROP YOUR ACCOUNT DETAILS.
“NOTE: OBVIOUSLY 10 MILLION NAIRA WOULD NOT GO ROUND, SO IF YOU HAVE OTHER MEANS TO SUSTAIN YOURSELF, RESPECTFULLY DON’T SEND IN YOUR ACCOUNT.”
Similarly, Don Jazzy in his usual gesture of assisting Nigerians financially, has been very aggressive in providing relief for those who sought it from him.
Although, the legendary producer didn’t announce to donate any particular amount of money, but as seen on his Twitter timeline, many people are affirming his donations, as he credited them with money.
Why this matter
Nigeria happens to be one of the countries in Africa with food-deficiency. The lingering food crisis in the continent’s most populous nation has resulted in distressing levels of stunting in the under-age, which is caused by high rates of poverty.
Arguably, Nigeria, a country that prides herself as the giant of Africa, is one with more than half of her citizenry living below the poverty line.
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