Headlines
Senate Recommends Death by Hanging, Life Jail Sentence for Hate Speech Culprits
The Senate on Tuesday recommended that culprits of any form of hate speech should be penalised to die by hanging if convicted.
The Senate also provided that any person found guilty of the criminal act should be accorded life jail sentence and or five years imprisonment, depending on the gravity of the hate speech.
These severe penalties are provided in the proposed bill to establish the National Commission for the Prohibition of Hate Speech which passed first reading in Senate on Tuesday.
The bill which was introduced for the first time in plenary was sponsored by Senator Abdullahi Sabi Aliyu (Niger North).
According to the Bill, “hate speeches are comments that insult people for their religion, ethnic, linguistic affiliation, racial contempt among others.”
By the establishment of the commission, if the bill is enacted, hate speech would become criminalised and the severe penalties shall be applied to offenders.
Also, the Bill, if enacted, would provide the offenders an option of fine to the huge sum of N10 million.
The Bill is expected to eradicate all manner of hate speeches peddled by individuals or organisations.
This would further ensure that hate speeches against ethnic nationalities or persons become a serious unpardonable crime.
Business Day
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.”
