Headlines
Dambazau’s Comparison of IPOB, OPC to Boko Haram Reckless, Unguided – MASSOB
The Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) has attacked a former Chief of Army Staff and Minister of Interior, Lt.Gen. Abdulraham Dambazau (retd.), for comparing the Indigenous People of Biafra, O’odua People’s Congress and other pro-Biafra agitators with a terrorist group, Boko Haram.
MASSOB described as unguided and reckless the utterances of the former minister, maintaining that such comments were also debasing and unprofessional.
It noted that it was Dambazau’s kinsmen who he described as Fulani herdsmen that were terrorising and destroying Nigeria.
Dambazau, speaking on Friday in Abuja at the inauguration of Army War College Nigeria Course 5/2021, said the proscribed IPOB and the OPC shared similarities with the terrorist group, Boko Haram.
He added that both the OPC and IPOB were making attempts to plunge the nation into an ethnic war.
But MASSOB in statement on Sunday by its National Director of Information, Edeson Samuel, said for Dambazau to compare an internationally accredited terrorist group with self-determination organisations without condemning the atrocities of his kinsmen, Fulani herdsmen, across the country showed conspiracy and Jihadist agenda in the South.
The statement partly read, “It is a well known fact that IPOB, OPC, MASSOB and other self-determination groups in Nigeria are engaged in a legitimate self-determination struggle for our people’s liberation from the series of slavery the British yoked us with the Hausa Fulani-dominated Nigeria Enterprise with their Islamic and Sharia hostages.
“How can a man who has served in the military as Army General suddenly become myopic and exhibit loss of his sense of reasoning by comparing IPOB, OPC to Islamic terrorist Boko Haram?
“The Fulani from Sudan, Mali, Niger and Libya are now residents in Nigeria. They are in our rural villages as shoe menders, water well diggers, okada riders and tailors waiting to execute their plans of overtaking the Southern and Middle Belt regions.
“The coordinated synergy of all pro-independence agitators in Biafra, Oduduwa and Middle Belt lands will always resist the Fulani domination.
The Punch
Headlines
Abiola Cannot Be Recognised As Former President; He Was Never Sworn-in – Gen Ishola Williams
By Eric Elezuo
One of the prime actors of the June 12, 1993 incidents, General Ishola Williams, has said that much as Chief MKO Abiola wrong was created having won the election, and denied victory, he cannot be recognized as a former President of Nigeria.
Gen Williams made his revelation while speaking as a guest on Channels television socio-political programme, Inside Source.
He maintained that only those who were sworn in that recognised as former presidents, and Abiola was never sworn in.
“Abiola cannot be recognised as former president because he was never sworn in.
The General, who said that he resigned from the army as a result of the wholesome reception given to General Sani Abacha, when he overthrew Chief Ernest Shonekan-led Interim National Government, contrary to expectation, also picked flaws in the narratives given by former Military President Ibrahim Babangida, in his recently launched book, A Journey In Service.
Williams rose in the army to become the Commandant of Army Signals, Commander of Training and Doctrine (TRADOC) and Chief of Defence Training and Planning, from where he resigned.
Headlines
Breaking: Supreme Court Recognises Martin Amaewhule As Rivers Assembly Speaker, Orders CBN to Stop Releasing Funds to State
By Eric Elezuo
The Supreme Court of Nigeria has in its ruling on Friday recognised Hon Martins Amaewhule as the authentic speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, mandating him to urgently resume sitting with elected members of the assembly.
The apex court also ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria to stop releasing to the Rivers State government until a proper assembly is constituted.
Details soon…
Tension escalated at the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday as impeached Speaker Mudashiru Obasa made a dramatic return to reclaim his position.
Accompanied by heavily armed men, Obasa stormed the Assembly complex in a bold move that has thrown the State’s legislature into turmoil.
In a stunning turn of events, security details assigned to the substantive Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mojisola Meranda, were abruptly withdrawn on Thursday morning, clearing the path for Obasa’s controversial comeback.
Sources revealed that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) ordered the withdrawal of all security operatives attached to Meranda, leaving her exposed in the midst of an intensifying power struggle.
The Speaker’s Special Adviser on Information, Mr. Victor Ganzallo, expressed concern over the security vacuum created by the withdrawal of personnel.
“In the early hours of Thursday, we woke up to the startling news that all security details assigned to Madam Speaker, Mojisola Meranda, had been withdrawn.
This includes the police and DSS officers, leaving her exposed to threats amid the ongoing speakership crisis,” Ganzallo stated.
He further called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as the State’s Chief Security Officer, to intervene urgently to prevent a complete breakdown of law and order within the Assembly.
“The withdrawal of security personnel has left the Assembly naked and vulnerable at a critical time. Urgent action is needed to restore order,” he pleaded.
With the speakership battle taking a dramatic new turn, political watchers are keenly observing how the crisis will unfold in the coming days.
