Headlines
Afenifere Condemns Slow Pace in Unravelling Olakunrin’s Killers
Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, has expressed displeasure over what it described as the lackadaisical gesture of the police in the investigation of the murder of Mrs. Olufunke Olakunrin, daughter of its leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti.
In a statement yesterday, Spokesman of the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, said that over two months that Mrs. Olakunrin was killed around Ore in Ondo State, nothing had been done to unravel her killers.
Meanwhile, the Ondo State Police Command Spokesman, Superintendent of Police (SP) Femi Joseph, said it was not true that the Force was not acting or being lackadaisical about the matter, saying: “We are working on it and would soon address the press on how far we have gone.”
But Afenifere said it was compelled to speak out over the lackadaisical attitude of the police over the gruesome assassination.
According to Afenifere, “Mr. Kehinde Fasoranti, the junior brother of the deceased, had stated openly a day after the incident that the police in Ore told him that his sister was killed by Fulani herdsmen when he went to collect her body the day she was killed but that he challenged the police to bring out the statement he wrote at their station. They have not contradicted him till date.”
The group expressed concern that the first sign it got that there was no attempt to launch any serious investigation into the murder was when the car in which Mrs. Olakunrin was killed was released to the family from Ore police station the day after the murder without any forensic investigation into the most prized evidence at the scene of the crime.
“It was when we engaged the police high command that they came to pick the car six days later. The car has now been returned to the family with no report on the examination report.
“Indeed, there was no attempt to carry out an autopsy on the corpse until we also demanded one from the police before the burial.
“One was carried out and only that report was given to the family members when they went to collect the car. Beyond this, the police have not made any briefing to the family on their investigations into this dastardly act.
“For instance, the driver of the car in which Mrs. Olakunrin was killed has not been asked a question by the police till date. Furthermore, few days after the killing, a member of staff of the deceased husband, Bankole Olatunbosun, was arrested as he was said to be in touch with Mr. Olakunrin’s driver, Femi Ajayi, who drove the Toyota Sienna bus in the deceased convoy.
“A week after the killing, Femi was brought into the family house in Akure by police officers in the anti-kidnap unit. The story from the crime scene was that Femi got down from the bus and followed the gunmen who killed Mrs. Olakunrin. He claimed he was kidnapped but there is no evidence of ransom requested from him or his family. He and Bankole Olatunbosun are now free men. Femi even sauntered into the Fasoranti’s family house three days ago,” the statement said.
“All the above put together suggest to us clearly that the police have not done any serious investigations into this murder. And it worries us that we are seeing all the signs of lethargy that usually attend high profile murders with powerful masterminds in our country,” the statement said.
Afenifere, therefore, urged those who respect human lives in Nigeria and across the world to join it in asking the police where are the killers of Mrs. Olakunrin.
The Guardian
The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
