Headlines
Kogi SDP Chair Manhandled, Gov Candidate Barred as INEC, Stakeholders’ Meeting Turns Violent
The meeting called by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lokoja, Kogi State, to sensitise stakeholders on preparation for the November 16 governorship election, turned violent as suspected political thugs invaded the meeting causing serious uproar.
According to a witness, the problem started when the candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Natasha Akpoti, who was earlier prevented by security agents from gaining access to the venue of the meeting, insisted on attending the meeting.
Efforts by her security details to persuade her to leave the venue for peace to reign proved abortive.
The SDP chairman in the state, Mouktar Atimah, who wanted to intervene, was beaten to a pulp in the full glare of security operatives.
At the meeting was Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu; INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu; and the Director-General of National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Shuaibu Ibrahim.
The witness added the police released tear gas to disperse the surging crowd.
Meanwhile, the Police Service Commission (PSC) had said that it would deploy 45 of its personnel to monitor police conduct in the November 16 elections in Kogi and Bayelsa states.
Head, Press and Public Relations of the commission, Mr. Ikechukwu Ani, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja.
Ani stated that 20 of the personnel would be deployed to Bayelsa and 25 to Kogi to ensure that officers complied with the force’s rules of engagement.
He said cases of police misconduct that would arise from the exercise would be investigated, and any police officer found guilty would be punished accordingly.
Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement (YIAGA) Africa has urged INEC to design a plan for flooded areas to avoid disenfranchisement of eligible voters in the Kogi and Bayelsa elections.
The Executive Director, YIAGA Africa, Samson Itodo, made this known in the organisation’s third Kogi and Bayelsa pre-election reports in Abuja.
Itodo said YIAGA Africa sent out ‘Watching The Vote (WTV)’ observers to Kogi and Bayelsa to monitor the pre-election environment and to look at key issues facing the states and INEC, among others.
He disclosed that some things observed were indicators of violence, violation of electoral codes, thuggery, selling and buying of voter cards, flooded areas, usage of weapons and so on.
Kogi State government has declared Friday, November 15, as public holiday for all schools in the state.
A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, Eric Aina, directed all public and private schools to have a break on November 15.
According to Aina, the break was to ensure that all students and pupils are united with their families during the election, and that schools would resume academic activities on Monday, November 18.
Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council (OYC) has called on Ndigbo in Bayelsa and Kogi to use their Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) wisely by voting against candidates who will likely not protect their interests.
In a statement in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, yesterday, the national president of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, said that body had observed that most government policies and procedures outside Igboland had continued to make the Igbo face critical challenges and untold hardship.
He noted that aside the host community, the Igbo were the most populous in any state, adding that their input during election matter.
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.”
