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Outrage As Thugs Attack Protesters In Lagos, Abuja, #EndSARS Hits Kano
~18.5 mins read

Outrage as thugs attack protesters in Lagos, Abuja, #EndSARS hits Kano

• Hoodlums vandalise vehicles, injure protesters, Lagos attackers arrested

• Buhari regime divisive, says Afenifere

• Attacks on protesters sad, NBA laments

• Criminally-minded Nigerians sponsored thugs – Yiaga

• FG to blame, says SAN

Friday Olokor, Adelani Adepegba, Leke Baiyewu, Ade Adesomoju, Oladimeji Ramon, Dele Ogunyemi, Deji Lambo, Ted Odogwu, Gbenga Odogun, Daud Olatunji, Bola Bamigbola, Tony Okafor and Raphael Ede

The Nigerian Bar Association and  civil rights groups  on Wednesday strongly condemned hoodlums’ attacks on people protesting against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police.

Some of those who condemned the attacks, in separate interviews with The PUNCH, alleged they were the handiwork of government.

There have been protests in most parts of the country since Wednesday  last week by Nigerians, mostly youths, who called for disbanding of SARS, accusing the police squad of corruption, high-handedness  and harassment

On Sunday, the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, disbanded the squad and on Tuesday, he set up the Special Weapons and Tactics Team to replace the disbanded SARS.

Despite the disbanding of the squad, #EndSARS campaigners presented five demands to the Federal Government, which the later on Tuesday said it had accepted.

The campaigners’  five demands include release of all persons arrested by the disbanded police unit and justice for victims of police brutality; setting up an independent body to oversee the investigation and prosecution of all reports of police misconduct (within 10 days); psychological evaluation of all disbanded SARS officers before they can be redeployed, and increase police salary so that they can be adequately compensated for protecting lives and property of citizens.

But the protests took a fresh dimension on Wednesday when hoodlums bearing cutlasses and sticks attacked  protesters in Lagos and Abuja.

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Buhari’s regime divisive â€“ Afenifere

Condemning the attacks, the pan-Yoruba group, Afenifere, stated that they reflected the divisive nature of the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.).

Its spokesman, Yinka Odumakin, in an interview with The PUNCH, said, “It is a reflection of the ‘we’ and them’  divisiveness of this government. We can only hope it would hand over a united Nigeria in 2023.

“A government that would mobilise on ethnic line against protests against police brutality is a threat against the unity of the country and will run the country towards implosion.

“The regime cannot unite Nigerians on anything and when they unite themselves on a common issue, it finds a way to split them based on fault lines.”

FG blamable â€“ Adegboruwa

On his part, an activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Mr Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said government was blamable for the attack on the protesters.

He said, “Generally, the lesson from this spontaneous protest is for the government to accept the constitutional right of citizens to freedom of expression, association and assembly, as guaranteed by sections 39 and 40 of the constitution. The people, who are in power now, the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, fully exercised these rights when they were in the opposition in holding peaceful protests.

“So far since this #EndSARS peaceful protests started, it has been clear that the purpose of the protesters is to make a point.  In Benin, you see them protecting policemen. In Lagos, you see them feeding people. So, it is the government and sympathisers of those who are in power that are trying to infiltrate the protesters to give the semblance of violence and I think that will be counter-productive.

“I verily believe that what happened in Abuja today (Wednesday) with hoodlums attacking the protesters should be laid at the foot of the government. Having seen that the youth have been peaceful, it should be the responsibility of government to grant them police protection.”

Attackers sponsored by criminally-minded Nigerians â€“ Yiga Africa

The  Director of Programmes,  Yiaga Africa, Cynthia Mbamalu, lamented that  criminally minded- Nigerians had decided to empower the pro-government protesters to disrupt the peaceful #EndSARS protests.

Also, the  Chairman Board of Trustees, Centre for Transparency and Accountability, Dr Chima Amadi, said the attackers were “unemployed youths whose frustrations were weaponised by hawkish elements within and outside of government.”

No ethnic dimension in anti-SARS â€“ CISLAC  executive director

The  Executive Director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre and Chairman, Amnesty International Nigeria, Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, stated, “It’s not about northerners and southerners.  It is about some elements that are deliberately trying to create or further continue to divert attention from an issue that even the government acknowledges is bad.

“It is not about northerners because I’m from Kano and I am one of the leading voices who strongly opposed SARS and its brutal behaviour against Nigerians and I have spoken widely in both local and international media like Aljazeera, BBC, Radio France, Radio Germany and several national media condemning and calling for accountability and investigations for all those SARS members involved in human rights violations, extortion and misconduct.”

He said the group would continue  to demand positive reforms in the police and the security sector in general

Attacks on protesters sad â€“ NBA

The NBA described as said attacks on #EndSARS protesters in Abuja and Lagos.

The Publicity Secretary of the NBA, Dr Raps Nduka, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said “It is quite sad that such a thing would happen. I believe that protests should be based on principles. In as much as we have different ways of reacting to things, the bottom line is the  need to understand the reason for the calls for SARS to end. The problem is that there is no accountability.

“That is why things have got to an extent that the youth can no longer take it, and that is why they are protesting.

“We had a press conference yesterday, and one of the things we demanded was an audit of what has been going on at the SARS unit.

“In as much as some people would have a different approach, this style of staging a counter-protest against others agitating for a change should not be encouraged.

“If the government does a proper  restructuring of the entire system, as being demanded, even the police, will benefit from it, and every single person will benefit from it.

“But if we allow the state of affairs to remain like this, it will keep on going on.  The fact is that nobody is too sure of who will be affected by the act of tomorrow.”

He added that the protests had continued because the people no longer believed government was ready to make genuine changes, citing instances of how successive Inspectors-General of Police had ordered an end to mounting of checkpoints on highways and serially disbanded the notorious Special Anti-Robbery Squad without any lasting effect.

“The government has to go extra mile to make people to believer that it is ready to take concrete steps this time.”

In a related development #EndSARS on Wednesday  rejected the newly formed SWAT.

 The campaigners, who continued their protests in Warri and   Effurun in Delta State,   described the newly formed  SWAT as just another name for the disbanded SARS.

One of the protesters, Igho Tietie, told journalists  that Nigerians were  not satisfied with the disbandment of SARS and establishment of SWAT.

A  leader of the protesters, Deji Adeyanju, also dismissed SWAT, saying   the authorities must address the recruitment process into the police, noting that the police had become a dumping ground for rogues and drug addicts.

Another leader  of the movement, Aisha Yesufu,  asked the IG to start the police reform with the prosecution of officers involved in extrajudicial killings.

The NBA and the National Human Rights Commission, on Wednesday, met with the House of Representatives over anti-SARS protests.

Both the NBA and the NHRC sought legislative interventions by the House, especially on the amendment to  relevant laws to reform the police.

The  President of the NBA, Olumide Apata, said the association visited the House to discuss what could be done on police reforms.

Responding, Gbajabiamila recalled that the House had taken steps on the matter, including a review of the existing laws governing the police and a plan to introduce an amendment bill within 30 days.

Reps, NBA to collate detainees’ list, seek their release

Akpata also raised the issue of some Nigerians being detained unnecessarily  at different police stations, calling on the Speaker to intervene.

Gbajabiamila asked the NBA president to identify all the police stations where people were detained for the House to raise a delegation that would meet with the NBA and get them released.

Policemen found guilty for prosecution â€“ NHRC

The Executive Secretary of the NHRC, Anthony Ojukwu, later met with the Speaker, saying the commission needed to work with the parliament to seek “substantive reforms for the Nigeria Police.”

Ojukwu, who presented recommendations by the NHRC on police reforms to the House, said from past experience, there was the need to institutionalise an investigative panel to hear complaints about human rights violations by all arms of the Nigeria Police.

He said the policemen found guilty of rights abuses would be prosecuted. He recalled that the recommendation was made in 2018 and it formed part of the report by the presidential panel on police reforms.

Ojukwu said, “The experience we got from that was that officers who were investigated were jolted for the first time that their activities could be investigated. If we make that a regular thing, that will bring to the consciousness of every police officer who decides to violate human rights that there will be a day of reckoning, and that members of the public will have the right to complain, and that if we are able to substantiate this, a disciplinary action will follow.

“The outcome of the investigation panel now is that all the officers who were indicted are going to be prosecuted and disciplined. We are going to institute another one now, that will now listen to complaints of these protesters and the recent things that have been happening. If that process can be institutionalised and supported financially, it will help.

“We also think that a lot of people who have suffered in the hand of SARS, the constitution provides that victims of human rights violation should be compensated and apologised to. There is the need to have a fund that can compensate victims of human rights violation in the hand of police officers.”

Hoodlums vandalise vehicles, injure protesters, Lagos attackers arrested

As protests against police brutality continued to spread throughout the nation, armed hoodlums attacked #EndSARS protesters in Lagos and the Federal Capital Territory on Wednesday.

In Lagos, as the protesters were making their feelings known opposite the state secretariat complex on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, some hoodlums suddenly appeared with cutlasses and advanced in their direction in a bid to disperse the crowd.

A shouting match ensued between the hoodlums and the protesters, with the latter standing their ground and repelling the attackers.

One of the protesters, John Ademola, told one of our correspondents that the hoodlums stormed the protest venue to cause commotion, adding that three of them were apprehended.

Another protester, Adama Christiana, alleged that the hoodlums were paid by external people bent on inciting violence.

Some protesters, however, caused gridlock on the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway and around the tollgate area of the Lekki-Epe Expressway and the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge, among other areas in Lagos State.

Similarly, three busloads of thugs attacked protesters in Abuja and injured many of them, while also disrupting the peaceful rally.

The thugs, who stormed the venue around 1pm, wielded knives, sticks and other weapons, chased away the #EndSARS campaigners.

The protesters had blocked the Julius Berger roundabout, Wuse, with disused tyres and stones, and also prevented motorists from plying the route as they occupied the bridge.

They were singing solidarity songs when their attackers emerged and assaulted them.

The attackers, who were speaking Hausa language, also vandalised about seven cars belonging to the protesters.

An eyewitness, Francis Udi, said the protesters ran away on seeing the thugs, who were conveyed in buses to the scene.

He said, “Though there is a police post close to the roundabout, the personnel were slow in responding as the thugs vandalised vehicles parked in the vicinity. They shattered the front and back windscreens with sticks, while issuing threats against the protesters, who fled the scene.”

PUNCH Metro gathered that the police later took control of the situation, while the injured protesters were taken to hospital.

Some hours after the attack, another set of thugs arrived the scene to unleash violence on the protesters, but they were resisted and five of them were apprehended and beaten thoroughly.

A leader of the protesters, Raphael Adebayo, said five thugs were caught and beaten, adding that they were also taken to hospital for treatment.

“We were attacked by sponsored thugs and they vandalised our cars, but we eventually nabbed four or five of them. After catching them, we beat them very well and they were injured, so, we took them to the National Hospital,” he explained.

Adebayo insisted that the National Assembly would be responsible for the repair of the damaged cars.

He stated, “We are (presently) at the National Assembly to hand over the seven vandalised cars; the Assembly must fix our cars. We will park them there; we are not collecting money from any legislator. Then, tomorrow (Thursday), we will come back and continue our #EndSARS, #EndSWAT, #EndPoliceBrutality protests.”

Commenting on the attack, the Commissioner of Police, Federal Capital Territory, Bala Ciroma, said five vehicles were vandalised, adding that the police had yet to arrest the perpetrators.

According to him, the incident was a clash between “pro-SARS and #EndSARS protesters,” noting that a verbal exchange almost led to violence, which was averted by the police.

Kano protesters demand police reform

A coalition of youth organisations in Kano, under the auspices of the Movement for SARS Reformation, on Wednesday staged a peaceful protest to decry the scrapping of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad and instead recommended the reformation of the Nigeria Police Force.

The youths besieged the Kano State Government House and demanded urgent overhaul and re-orientation of the police.

Briefing newsmen, the convener of the coalition, Khalid Kani, appealed to Governor Abdullahi Ganduje to prevail on the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) to consider reforming the police and the SARS so as to streamline the operations of the unit.

Kogi youths back #EndSARS

Protesting youths stormed the Lugard House seat of the Kogi State Government in Lokoja and added their voices to the growing demand for end to extrajudicial killings and police brutality.

That was the first time a protest took place in the state since the #EndSARS began last week.

The youth demanded to see Governor Yahaya Bello, who according to his Chief of Staff, Jamiu Abdukareem, was presiding over the weekly State Executive Council meeting, but the protesters insisted on not leaving until he addressed them.

However, as of the time of filing this report, the governor had yet to address the youth.

We’ve taken youths for granted, says Abiodun

Ogun State Governor, Dapo Abiodun, on Wednesday, said Nigerian leaders had always taken the youth for granted and for too long.

The governor urged his colleagues to adopt a paradigm shift on matter concerning the youth.

Abiodun stated this when he addressed the #EndSARS campaigners, who marched on his office during a peaceful protest at Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.

 He said with the raging protests across the nation, the leaders had started taking them seriously.

According to the governor, the Federal Government has no choice but to listen to the voice of the protesters as it is evident that the police and other security agencies need to put a stop to the brutality of citizens across the country.

He said, “The youth have a voice that must be given attention. The whole country has listened to you. As a matter of fact, the whole world is listening to you. You have demonstrated commitment; you have shown that you can rise up when the occasion warrants it and you can speak out.

“I think that in the time past, we had sort of taken you for granted and I am saying that with all sense of responsibility; we have taken our youths for granted, because the issues you are raising today are not new to us. They are issues we have been living with for so many years.”

Osun protesters lower APC flag

Protesters in Osogbo, Osun State, on Wednesday, lowered the flag of the All Progressives Congress on the premises of the state House of Assembly.

The youths, some of who wore the beret of #RevolutionNow Movement, had earlier blocked some major roads and caused gridlock in some parts of the state capital, but when they got to the Assembly, they replaced the APC flag with the #EndSARS flag.

The protesters also resisted attempts by the Chief Whip of the Assembly, Mr Tunde Olatunji, to address them, and insisted on seeing the Speaker, Mr Timothy Owoeye.

They later moved to the state government secretariat, Abere, and blocked the Gbongan/Osogbo Road, causing traffic to build up for some hours.

Police screen detainees in Anambra SARS cell

Meanwhile, the Anambra State Police Command has commenced the screening of suspects detained in a SARS facility at Awkuzu in the Oyi Local Government Area of the state.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Haruna Mohammed, told our correspondent that the screening was to ascertain the suspects’ culpability in the offences for which they were arrested.

He said those found culpable would be prosecuted, while the innocent ones would be released immediately.

When one of our correspondents visited the SARS office on Wednesday, some police personnel where seen rendering skeletal services as against the ever-busy nature of the place before the SARS disbandment.

The Awkuzu SARS cell was described by Amnesty International as the most notorious in the country.

Family demands justice over son’s death

The family of Ikechukwu Iloamauzor, who was killed by a stray bullet during the #EndSARS protest in Lagos on Monday, has called for justice.

Addressing journalists in Enugu on behalf of the family, the traditional ruler of Ibagwa Nike community in the Enugu East Local Government Area of Enugu State, Igwe Emmanuel Ugwu, who is an in-law to the family, called for a thorough investigation into the circumstances surrounding Ikechukwu’s death.

Ugwu called on the Federal Government and the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to ensure that justice was done by identifying the shooters so that they could face the law, and pay compensation to the family, as the deceased was the breadwinner.

He said that the deceased, a driver with a private company, left behind an aged mother, wife and seven siblings, and was not involved in the protest when he was shot.

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Yimika001
West Ham Fan Banned Three Years For Salah Racial Abuse
~2.4 mins read

A West Ham supporter has been banned from football for three years after pleading guilty to racially abusing Liverpool forward Mohamed Salah.

Bradley Thumwood, 48, from Bexleyheath, appeared at Thames Magistrates’ Court on Tuesday, where he pleaded guilty to a racially aggravated Section 5 public order offence, the Metropolitan Police said.

He was issued with a three-year football banning order, fined £400 and also ordered to pay a victim surcharge and costs amounting to £125.

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Xtyxtabel
ARRESTED BY LOVE
~1.7 mins read
This Story is not my property oh
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ARRESTED BY LOVE
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Season 1
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* Mr & Mrs Alfred
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* Austine, etc
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SYNOPSIS
Daria never relented in search of true
love, even after passing several
emotional heartbreak. Prisca, who was
in the same quest with her complicated
issues. Nobody could believe where,
how and to whom Daria finally found
her true love. But what happened next?

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Yimika001
#EndSARS: Prosecute Corrupt Officers First —Genevieve Nnaji Reacts To SWAT Creation
~1.3 mins read

Nollywood actress, Genevieve Nnaji has reacted to the formation of a new unit to replace the disbanded Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS.

It was reported that the Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohammed Adamu on Tuesday announced the formation of the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) Team to “fill the gaps” arising from the dissolution of SARS.

Reacting, the actress in a tweet via her Twitter account on Wednesday said implementation of the rules should be a sign that the Government is listening to the outburst of the people they are leading.

She also said that the officials who are guilty of killing innocent protesters should be arrested and charged for murder.

“We don’t believe that the Federal Government is listening when nobody has been dismissed, arrested and charged for the murder of innocent protesters and citizens.

“Accountability is the first step to change. EndSWAT,” she tweeted.

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TtrustT
You Must Be A Born Leader If You Have Any Other These Qualities
~2.8 mins read

A leader is a very important person who leads a group of people to achieve a goal, a leader has the capacity to lead a group of people into sucess or into failure. Some people were training to become leader (inherited kingships) some people had no choice but to accept the role of a leader, while some people are naturally born leaders. But of all, the most effective leaders always seem to be naturally born leaders.

Below are four qualities of a naturally born leader.

1. OPEN-MINDED: if you are naturally willing to listen, think about or accept the ideas of other people, irrespective of their race, religion or background, then there's a high chance you're a born leader.



2. HUMILITY: leaders are not meant to be proud, they are where they are to serve. Humility can be learnt, but its almost easy to spot the different between learnt and inborn humility.


3. INFLUENCE: if you can naturally change the decision of people even without much effort, then maybe you're a born leader, because this quality helps get supporters easily and and make am easy pick for a leadership position.


4. TRANSPARENCY: How transparent are you? Are u an open book? Or a room locked with so many chains? People find it easy to trust a transparent individual talk more of a leader.

People won't support who they don't trust, hence a good leader has to be transparent. A born leader is transparent from the beginning, and usually has few things to hide.


If you think you are a naturally born leader, try to ask your family and some close friends, share this article to them and let them judge, the more positive replies you get the higher the chances that you are a born leader

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Yimika001
#EndSARS: Pastor Adeboye Joins Anti-SWAT Protest
~1.7 mins read

Pastor Enoch Adeboye of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has backed the protest against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, and the newly-introduced Special Weapons and Tactics Team (SWAT).

Adeboye said he was backing the youths protesting because they needed to be kept alive.

The clergyman popular called Papa G. O among his followers, stated this in a tweet on his verified Twitter handle on Wednesday night.

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