Headlines
Thank You for Your Concern, We Don’t Need Your Vigilante – South East Group Tells Miyetti Allah
The Coalition of South-East Youth Leaders has condemned the statement by the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association that it will establish Fulani vigilante in the South-East.
The group described the offer as an insult and an abomination in Igbo land.
In a statement in Umuahia signed by its President-General, Chief Goodluck Ibem, the group stated, “Who told Miyetti Allah that the South-East is looking for vigilante that will protect it from bandits and hoodlums?
“For the past 12 years, Boko Haram and bandits have been terrorising the northern states and Miyetti Allah did not deem it fit to establish a vigilante group to protect their northern region and fight Boko Haram insurgents and killer bandits.
“They could not chase away bandits on the Kaduna-Abuja highway. They should have formed a vigilante group to stop killings in Zamfara, Adamawa and Borno states.
“The only place they are concerned about to establish a vigilante group is in the South- East because they are the good Samaritans. We say thank you for your concern; we don’t need your vigilante. Take it to the North and protect your states.
“This unguided statement by Miyetti Allah is provocative and insulting to the Igbo nation. The North has more land mass than the South-East, South-West and South-South combined together. Why are they so interested in this small portion of the South-East? The answer is simple; because they are troublemakers and greedy.
“We warn Miyetti Allah to, with immediate effect, withdraw this abominable statement and apologise to the people of the South-East.
“We, as a matter of urgency, demand the establishment of the Bakassi Vigilante Boys in the 19 states in the north to protect Igbo and their businesses.
“COSEYL also warned the South-East governors and traditional rulers in the zone never to sell or give out any portion of land, no matter how small, to Miyetti Allah or any other herders’ association in the geopolitical zone. If they dare it, they will face the wrath of the South-East people.”
Miyetti Allah’s secret agenda, the group said, “is to Fulanise, Islamise and declare jihad in the South-East zone.”
The group called on the state Houses of Assembly in the South-East states to promulgate laws to establish the Bakassi Vigilante Boys “to protect our land from intruders and killer herdsmen.”
The Punch
Commissioner of Police, CP Olajide Rufus Ibitoye, acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, through the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Force Intelligence Department (FID) Abuja, has extended an invitation to the Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, for an “investigative meeting with regards to an incident that occurred during the Sallah celebration within your domain”.
The said incident is in connection with the violence that broke out during the recent Eid-el-Fitr procession in Kano, which resulted in the death of a local vigilante member.
The incident happened as the Emir’s entourage moved from the Eid prayer ground to the palace in a traditional procession. The clash, which marred the otherwise peaceful celebration, led to the tragic loss of life of a vigilante member, Surajo Rabiu, and left one other injured.
The invitation was conveyed in an official letter dated April 4, 2025, and signed by Commissioner of Police, CP Olajide Rufus Ibitoye, on behalf of the Deputy Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Force Intelligence Department (FID) Abuja.
The letter reads: “I have the directives of the Inspector General of Police, through the Deputy Inspector General of Police, Force Intelligence Department (FID), to invite you for an investigative meeting with regards to an incident that occurred during the Sallah celebration within your domain.”
The Emir has been requested to appear before the Force Intelligence Department in Abuja, opposite the Police Headquarters, Area 11, by 10:00am on Tuesday, April 8, 2025.
This development comes amid heightened tensions in Kano State following the earlier decision by the State Police Command to ban the annual Durbar festival due to security concerns. The ban, announced days before the Eid-el-Fitr celebration, was intended to prevent any possible breakdown of law and order during the festive period.
However, despite the suspension of the Durbar, a motorcade procession of Emir Sanusi II still took place on the third day of the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations.
The Kano State Police Commissioner, CP Ibrahim Adamu Bakori, had also inaugurated an eight-member Special Investigation Panel (SIP) to investigate the violence.
As at the time of this report, there has been no official response from the Emir Sanusi II’s palace regarding the Police invitation.
Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, the political adviser to President Bola Tinubu, has resigned his appointment.
Reports say the former spokesman of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) tendered his resignation about two weeks ago.
Further reports quoting presidency sources did not, however, provide details of the reasons for his decision, but only stated that it was on personal grounds.
Baba-Ahmed was appointed in September 2023 as Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of Vice President Kashim Shettima.
Over the past 17 months, he had represented the presidency at several public fora, including a recent national conference themed: “Strengthening Nigeria’s Democracy: Pathway to Good Governance and Political Integrity”, which held from January 28 and 29, 2025 in Abuja.
The Supreme Court has set aside the judgment of the Court of Appeal in Abuja recognising Julius Abure as the National Chairman of the Labour Party (LP).
In a unanimous judgment, a five-member panel of the apex court held that the Court of Appeal lacked the jurisdiction to have pronounced Abure National Chairman of the Labour Party, after finding out earlier that the substance of the case was about the party’s leadership.
The apex court held that the issue of leadership was an internal affair of a party, over which courts lacks jurisdiction.
The court further allowed the appeal filed by Senator Nenadi Usman and one other, and held that it is meritorious.
It also proceeded to dismiss the cross-appeal filed by the Abure group of the Labour Party for being unmeritorious.
In January, the Court of Appeal in Abuja reiterated that Abure remained the chairman of the LP.
A three-member panel of the appellate court, in a judgment delivered by Justice Hamma Barka, held that its judgment of November 13, 2024, which recognises Abure as national chairman, subsists and has not been set aside by any court.
Justice Barka made the declaration while delivering judgment in two separate appeals filed by Senator Esther Nenadi Usman and the caretaker committee and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The appellate court in the two separate appeals held that it did not delve into the issue of the leadership of the Labour Party because such issues are not justiciable.
It said that anything done outside jurisdiction amounts to a nullity. Hence, the judgment of the Federal High Court delivered on October 8, 2024, by Justice Emeka Nwite is of no effect because it was delivered without jurisdiction.
