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Category: News

  • Victim under pressure to drop police station rape case — Family

    Victim under pressure to drop police station rape case — Family

    Victim under pressure to drop police station rape case — Family

    Lagos CP, Fayoade Adegoke Mustapha

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    A relative of the 17-year-old girl who was allegedly raped by a police officer at the Ogudu Area H Command, identified only as Anderson, has accused the suspect’s family of pressuring the survivor’s mother, Aramida Olupona, to forgive the accused officer.

     

    Anderson revealed this information to our correspondent during a phone interview on Saturday.

     

    Recall that during a telephone interview with City Round on Friday, the mother of the teenager, Olupona, said, “Officer Owolabi is supposed to have been charged to court by now, what are they waiting for? What are they covering up?

     

    “Now, it’s more than a week and there has been silence from the police. We have not heard from them since then. We want more than a query given to this officer, the police need to be transparent and hold one of their own accountable for his actions.

     

    “They said they are conducting an investigation, what has come out of it? They are trying to shield the officer, but Nigerians are waiting. In fact, the whole of Africa and the rest of the world are waiting for the next step that the police will take.”

     

    The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Adegoke Fayoade, on Friday, also said the command was awaiting the medical report of the test conducted on the minor.

     

    “The accused policeman is currently under detention. We are waiting for the medical report; a medical report in an alleged case of rape is very vital; it is a determinant factor and that is what we are waiting for. But the policeman has been issued a query,” Fayoade said.

     

    This, however, contradicts a text message received by our correspondent after inquiring about the progress of the police investigation.

     

    In response to our correspondent’s inquiry on Thursday, the spokesperson for the command shared a link to a publication by The PUNCH, revealing that the police had received the medical report.

     

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    According to the report, Hundeyin said the medical examination had been concluded and handed over to the police for onward investigation.

     

    “The test result. It has been handed over to the police and the investigation has continued,” Hundeyin had said.

     

    Though the findings of the medical reports were not disclosed, Hundeyin added, “There will be another update in no distant time.”

     

    While lamenting that the police were trying to sweep the matter under the rug, Anderson, a close family relative of the victim, said Olupona, the minor’s mother, had been subjected to intense pressure from the family members of the accused police officer.

     

    According to him, Olupona’s son (name withheld), who revealed the incident on social media, had been advised to stay away from the area due to fears of being harmed after the alleged crime went viral.

     

    “The police officer and his colleague frequented the minor’s mother’s shop. We never knew that he had such an intention against our daughter. The officer lives inside the police barracks in the area while the survivor, her brother and mother have a shop just outside the police barracks.

     

    “We have begged her (survivor’s mother) to stay away from the shop for the time being. But she insisted that she would not leave her means of livelihood for anything. The brother who made the incident go viral has also been instructed to leave the town for his security.

     

    “Now, the family members of the police officer have been going to her shop to beg. I already told her that she should leave the shop if she can no longer handle the pressure.”

     

    The accused officer allegedly raped the teenager when she went to the station to report a stolen phone. To this day, the command has failed to officially reveal the officer’s identity.

  • Hardship protest: US, UK, Canada issue security alerts, traders fear looting

    Hardship protest: US, UK, Canada issue security alerts, traders fear looting

    Hardship protest: US, UK, Canada issue security alerts, traders fear looting

    29th July 2024

    PROTEST

    File photo: Protesters

     

    Foreign missions foresee violence as FG, Obi differ on protest sponsorship.

    The united States, United Kingdom and Canada have raised the alarm over the likelihood of violence during the planned August 1 #EndBadGovernance protest in the country.

    The three countries, in separate travel alerts, cautioned their nationals in Nigeria to avoid getting caught in the confrontation that might occur between the security agencies and protesters, citing past incidences.

    The advisories come as apprehensive market leaders in Abuja, Sokoto, Kano, Katsina, Ogun, Osun, Zamfara, Gombe and other parts of the country requested strong security around markets during the rallies.

    Also in preparation for the demonstration, the police authorities have recalled all personnel on non-essential duties.

    A memo dated July 25, 2024 and signed by CSP Okon Moses directed the withdrawal of riot policemen ahead of the protest.

    The message titled, ‘Notification of temporary withdrawal of personnel for national assignment,’ read, ‘’In view of the planned nationwide protest, it becomes imperative to temporarily withdraw some of the personnel attached to you in order to muster sufficient officers to dominate the public space.

    “This is part of the proactive necessary measures to enhance the operational capacity/capability of the squadron and your understanding in the above regard is highly solicited.’’

    Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, told The PUNCH that the personnel withdrawal was in line with the Inspector-General of Police’s directive.

    He added that this was done to bolster the strength of the police, adding that the men would be deployed to fortify banks and other critical national assets.

    He said, “The IG ordered the withdrawal of policemen from some beats to augment our strength. Those withdrawn are those on non-essential duties. We’re going to have men to fortify banks and critical assets. That is where we will have our men, we want our men to be back to base.”

    The PUNCH reported that the military had cancelled leaves and passes for its personnel.

    In the past weeks, the organisers of the protest, under the #EndBadGovernance tag, have intensified the mobilisation of youths and civil society groups to participate in the rallies against the economic hardship in the country and the alleged failure of the Tinubu administration to address the people’s plight.

    On assuming office in May 2023, President Bola Tinubu announced an end to fuel subsidy, promising to utilise the savings on infrastructural development, but the policy, compounded by insecurity in farming communities, sparked high transport costs leading to food inflation.

    Tinubu also unified the foreign exchange rates to curb currency arbitrage and floated the naira resulting in a slump in the value of the national currency.

  • Fuel rises to N1,300/litre as depots run dry

    Fuel rises to N1,300/litre as depots run dry

    Fuel rises to N1,300/litre as depots run dry

    29th July 2024

    File photo: Fuel queue in a petrol station

     

    Many depots for Premium Motor Spirit, popularly called petrol, are currently dry, leading to fuel scarcity and attendant queues in Lagos, Ogun, parts of Abuja, Niger, and some other states across the country.

     

    The PUNCH reports that black marketers have taken advantage of the situation, selling as high as N1,300 per litre and N1,500 per litre in parts of Lagos and Ogun states.

     

    Long queues started building up at fuel stations in Abuja and Lagos on Friday and have persisted.

     

    On Saturday, while reacting to the long queues and scarcity in some parts of the country, the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited said the tightness in fuel supply and distribution was caused by a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels.

     

    “The NNPC Ltd wishes to state that the tightness in fuel supply and distribution witnessed in some parts of Lagos and the FCT is as a result of a hitch in the discharge operations of a couple of vessels,” the NNPC Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Olufemi Soneye, said.

     

    The company added that it was “working round the clock with all stakeholders to resolve the situation and restore normalcy in the operations.”

     

    However, despite the assurance by the NNPC, the situation worsened as checks by our correspondents nationwide on Sunday showed that there were long queues at several filling stations across major cities.

     

    No loading at Apapa

     

    The PUNCH gathered that there was no loading of trucks in the Apapa depots as of Sunday.

     

    A depot operator, who did not want his name in print, told our correspondent that there was no fuel in almost all the depots on Sunday after the little available was supplied on Saturday.

     

    The source confirmed that the depots are dry, saying “supply gets late thereby affecting product load out.”

     

    It was observed on Sunday in Abuja, the capital city that while the few filling stations that dispensed the product sold it at between N660/litre and N800/litre, black marketers took advantage of the scarcity to hike the price to about N1,200/litre, depending on the area of purchase.

     

    This came as oil marketers revealed that they were also queuing up to load petrol, adding that most depots lacked stock to sell.

     

    “We, marketers, too are surprised that we couldn’t get fuel as we used to get at depots. We were worried too; we didn’t know the cause until the NNPC came out with a release on Saturday. Let’s just believe what the NNPC said, that they would arrest the situation,” the National Vice President of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Hammed Fashola, told one of our correspondents.

     

    “I believe that within this week, everything will be normalised by the time they push products to the depots for marketers to pick from. Ours is to pick from the depots, take it into our stations, and dispense to the public. But for now, most of the depots are dry. The implication of that is that the stations will be dry too. Most of our members have run out of stock. That is the cause of the queues we are experiencing now,” Fashola added.

     

    He noted that marketers were still buying PMS “at a price that is above N700/litre from the private depots.”

     

    “We are not yet getting direct supply from the NNPC as we are supposed to. What we are getting is so small compared to our population. That is why we are forced to go to the third parties, the private depot owners, and they are not helping matters with the kind of price they are putting out there.

     

    “That is why independent marketers sell around N800 or so. Until we address this issue of direct supply, there will be issues. We keep shouting to the NNPC to look at that area properly because something is fundamentally wrong with our distribution channel and until they correct that, we will continue to have this issue of fuel scarcity.”

     

    On his part, the Executive Secretary of the Major Energies Marketers Association of Nigeria, Clement Isong, also confirmed that there had been low stock but could not tell when the situation would improve.

     

    “The problem is that the stock is low because there have been some challenges in bringing the product into the country from the vessels. We are all queuing up for products, everybody is looking for the product from the NNPC. Only the NNPC knows when normalcy will be restored. It is the sole supplier,” he stated.

     

    The spokesperson for the NNPC, Olufemi Soneye, did not respond to inquiries on Sunday on when the fuel supply situation would improve up till when this report was filed.

     

    N1,500/litre in Ogun, Lagos

     

    Our correspondents who visited parts of Lagos and Ogun states on Sunday reported that many fuel stations did not open for business while the handful that opened had long queues of vehicles and people buying in jerrycans. Black marketers had a field day selling to impatient motorists at between N1,200 and N1,500 per litre, depending on the location.

     

    A bus driver, Elijah Sunday, who spoke to one of our correspondents at the Ketu motor garage in Lagos, lamented the struggle to get PMS.

     

    “We have been finding it hard to get fuel for the past couple of days and it’s expensive, so, we had to increase the rates,” he said.

     

    A minibus driver plying the Eko Hotel-CMS route in Lagos insisted on N300 instead of N200, citing the fuel scarcity.

     

    Fuel queues were observed at PM Petroleum at Cele Bus Stop along the Oshodi-Apapa Expressway. At the North West filling station close to CharlyBoy Bus Stop at Gbagada, Lagos and the NNPC station at Ogudu, there was a long line of vehicles.

     

    At Petrocam, a filling station in Ajao Estate, Lagos fuel sold for N780 per litre.

     

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    The PUNCH observed that there was a long queue at the NNPC station along the Cele Expressway, where the pump price was set at N568 per litre.

     

    One of our correspondents gathered on Sunday that a litre of PMS was sold at N1,200 in Ipokia, a border community in Ogun State.

     

    Similar scenarios also played out in some residential areas in Abuja where black marketers sold their fuel at between N1,000/litre and N1,200/litre.

     

    Residents of Idiroko, Ajegunle, Maun, Ijofin, Agosasa, Madoga and other areas in the Ipokia Local Government in Ogun State said they now patronise black marketers, following the ban on fuel supply in border areas.

     

    “You know we have about four filling stations servicing the entire local government area because we are in the border areas. They sell at N870/litre now while black marketers sell at N1,200/litre. That is our punishment for living at the border,” a resident, Sam Adegoke, stated.

     

    Many of the filling stations in the Ogun State capital didn’t sell the product, and some who did, exploited desperate buyers, who paid as much as N1,000 before they had the product sold to them.

     

    Similar case in South-South

     

    In Benin City, the Edo State capital, motorists queued for long hours to purchase fuel at the NNPC mega station on Sapele Road and NIPCO in the Jattu area in Auchi.

     

    The long queues at the NNPC station are a common occurrence as the product is sold for N591 per litre, the cheapest in the state.

     

    In other stations in Benin, a litre of PMS was sold for between N750 and N800.

     

    Northern black marketers

     

    In Gombe, fuel sold between N850 and N1,000 across major stations, while black marketers made brisk business, selling for N1,250 per litre as frustrated motorists resorted to buying the product from them following the scarcity.

     

    “You may think that the amount sold by the roadside people (black marketers) is expensive until you are in a fix and you can’t access a filling station with petrol, then you will be left with no option but to patronise them despite the ridiculous amount,” a motorcyclist, Usman Abubakar, told The PUNCH.

     

    Motorists in Jos, the Plateau State capital, expressed concern over the persistent scarcity and high cost of the commodity, saying that the situation had worsened the economic hardship.

     

    Black marketers in parts of Jos sold for N1,300/litre.

     

    A motorist, Philip Gyang, said he had been in the long queue at the NNPC filling station along Dogon Karfi Road for over four hours but couldn’t get the product to buy.

     

    “At the black market I paid N1,300 per litre before joining the queue at the NNPC outlet, where I eventually couldn’t get to buy,” Gyang lamented.

     

    A Jos resident, Margaret John, said the scarcity had further increased the cost of living in the state.

     

    “Can you imagine that I paid N500 from Polo Roundabout to Anguldi, when I was going to the church today (Sunday). When I was returning home, the driver insisted that I paid N700, it’s not funny. People are already complaining about the harsh economic conditions, now the fuel scarcity and high cost are worsening the situation.”

     

    A car owner in Minna, the Niger State capital, said he had abandoned his car at home over fuel scarcity and skyrocketing prices.

     

    “Yes, I have a car but I am not using it now. How many litres of fuel will I buy to be able to come to work? But with two or three litres of fuel, I can come to work on my motorcycle. It is not easy but it is cheaper. This government must act fast, Nigerians are suffering,” a state civil servant, who identified himself simply as Mutum, said.

     

    Also, queues resurfaced in Katsina and Taraba states.

     

    Our correspondents report that Katsina and Jalingo, the capital of Taraba, witnessed long queues in various parts of both cities on Sunday.

     

    A motorist, Mallam Abdulrazakk, said he spent over five hours at the Abukur NNPC mega station, located on the outskirts of Katsina metropolis, without success.

     

    “I was here before 8 am and now it is 1:40 pm and still in the queue, only Allah knows when I will be given fuel today (Sunday). I’m waiting.”

     

    In parts of Yola, the Adamawa State capital, black marketers sold PMS for between N1,000 and N1,200.

     

    “At the black market we buy between N1,000 and N1,200 per litre, so, we need to jack up the fare to enable us to stay in business,” a commercial bus driver said.

  • Stop trying to demarket Dangote refinery, Northern elders warn

    Stop trying to demarket Dangote refinery, Northern elders warn

    Stop trying to demarket Dangote refinery, Northern elders warn

    27th July 2024

    Prof Ango Abdullahi

    Chairman, NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi

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    The Chairman of the Northern Elders Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, has warned against frustrating and demarketing Dangote Refinery, saying it is an ill wind that would do the country no good.

     

    The former vice-chancellor of the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, raised the concerns in a statement issued in Abuja on Saturday.

     

    His concerns come in the wake of the Federal Government’s intervention in the lingering face-off between the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Authority and the management of Dangote Refinery.

     

    The media was awash recently with news on the difficulties being experienced by the refinery, arguably one of Africa’s largest oil plants, in securing local crude oil in the country.

     

    But Abdullahi expressed worry that for 30 years, the vested interests that run the NNPC cartel ensured that the nation’s four refineries were rendered comatose and incapable of refining the needed petroleum to meet domestic consumption.

     

    He noted that instead of Nigerians appreciating the popular business mogul, Aliko Dangote, for his efforts to save Nigeria the burden of continued importation of refined petroleum products, some vested interests are bent on frustrating its operations.

     

    According to him, Nigeria has become the object of global ridicule being the only member nation of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries without refining capacity and heavily dependent on mass importation of oil and other derivatives.

     

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    The statement read, “The Northern Elders Forum is watching with sustained interest the unfolding drama being orchestrated by some powerful vested interests to frustrate the good example set by the nation’s leading investor and foremost African entrepreneur, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who has defied all formidable odds to build a privately-owned ultramodern petroleum refinery in Nigeria.

     

    “This remarkable business feat, which ordinarily should instantly earn him national encomiums and accolades, has paradoxically ignited the malicious fury of enemies of our dear country, who are strategically located in the oil and gas sector of the economy. They have been wreaking havoc over the years through many subterfuges, resulting in the crippling of our nation’s refining capacity and the ruthless imposition of a ruinous regime of massive refined oil and other sundry products importation to the detriment of our national growth.

     

    “In this wise, the lamentable and highly troubling commentary against the Dangote refinery that came out from the NNPCL and its other sister regulatory bodies smacks of a glaring attempt to de-market this epochal national achievement and premeditatedly derail the economy from the path of healthy growth and stability.”

     

    Continuing, the Arewa leader warned that the masses who mostly bear the brunt of escalating fuel pump prices, frequent fuel shortages and joblessness would no longer fold their arms and allow a few powerful individuals to continue taking the economy of the nation hostage.

     

    “Regrettably, it is only in Nigeria that politics is played with narrow interests as the motive force and the sole determinant, more often than not, allowed to trample the economic interest of the nation.

     

    “The NEF, while welcoming and taking judicious note of the timely action taken by the Honourable Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Mr Heineken Lokpobri, to arrest this worrisome situation, wishes to conclude by restating our determination to stand resolutely with Dangote in defence of this gigantic business stride, which signifies the dawn of prosperity for our people,” the statement added.

  • 6,700 applicants jostle for 380 teaching jobs in Enugu

    6,700 applicants jostle for 380 teaching jobs in Enugu

    6,700 applicants jostle for 380 teaching jobs in Enugu

    Enugu Teacher Applicants writing exams

    Applicants writing teaching recruitment exam in Enugu on Saturday.

     

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    No fewer than 6, 700 applicants were currently jostling to take up 380 teaching jobs at various Secondary Schools in Enugu State.

     

    The News Agency of Nigeria correspondent who monitored the examination on Saturday in some of the designated centres for the examination, reports that the applicants turned out in large numbers.

     

    The Chairman, Enugu State Post Primary School Management Board, Fr. Hilary Mgbodile, told NAN that the board received more than 12,000 applications.

     

    He said that out of the number, 6,700 people were shortlisted for the 380 positions needed to replace those who had retired.

     

    Mgbodile disclosed that five centres namely Union Boys Secondary School, Queen School, Enugu, Holy Rosary College, College of Immaculate Conception and Trans Ekulu Girls Secondary School,

    Enugu were selected as the venue for the examinations.

     

    He said that the shortlisted applicants were being tested in English, Information Communication Technology, Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry.

     

    According to him, over 2,000 applied to teach English while in ICT, the board needs only 80 but 1,700 applied for the subject.

     

    “So we are picking the best of the best which is the only consideration and parameter for the selection of the teachers,” he said.

     

    He added that after the test and the needed competent teachers were not found, the board would call for another application, stressing that he was optimistic that with the number of applicants, the board would get the qualified ones.

     

    “We cannot lower the standard because we cannot get what we want.

     

    “The recruitment is being done by PPSMB but in order to reduce pressure and to ensure meritocracy and absolute objectivity, we decided to seek the assistance of an independent recruiting company,” Mgbodile said.

     

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    On why they dropped a large number of applicants, he noted that after sorting out the applications, it was noted that some were non-indigenes and some were over-aged as they pegged the age requirement at 45 years.

     

    “While some did not have the requisite qualifications for the subject they intend to teach, those that studied Social Studies may apply to teach English which is not compatible,” he said.

     

    The chairman also said that those people who were awaiting their statements of result and others who could not provide their certificates were excluded from the examination.

     

    Explaining the idea behind the recruitment, the chairman said the board observed upon assumption of office in 2023, that Secondary Schools in Enugu were lacking teachers, especially in the rural areas.

     

    He said that at the instance of Gov. Peter Mbah’s directive, the board posted some teachers from the urban to the rural areas.

     

    “As we were doing that, we discovered that we lacked teachers in some key subjects like sciences and other core subjects.

     

    “We made a recommendation to Gov Mbah on the need to recruit teachers to fill the shortfalls of science teachers which he approved.

     

    “That is why we want to recruit competent professionals who studied Engineering, to teach Chemistry.

     

    “I want to restore the legacy of teaching and learning and make it easier for parents to stop borrowing while taking their children to private and mission schools.

     

    “I want to restore confidence in the public schools and Mbah is a pathfinder in this regard and we want to follow his mantra,” he said.

     

     

     

  • Two fake lecturers arrested in BUK 

    Two fake lecturers arrested in BUK 

    Two fake lecturers arrested in BUK

     

    Bayero University Kano.fw

     

    The security operatives in Bayero University, Kano, have arrested two persons for parading themselves as lecturers and selling books to unsuspecting fresh students.

     

    This was contained in a statement by the Publication Secretary, Special Bulletin, Bala Abdullahi, on behalf of the Registrar of the university, a copy of which was made available to PUNCH Online on Saturday.

     

    According to the statement, the two suspects, David Iluebe from Edo State and Chike Eke from Delta State, surreptitiously entered a lecture hall at the Faculty of Engineering and introduced themselves to 100-level students as lecturers of the department.

     

    “Thereafter, they presented a set of four different textbooks on the Use of English, Statistics, Nigerian People and Culture, and lastly, Algebra and Geometry Mathematics threatening the students to purchase these books as a requirement for their Continuous Assessment (CA) otherwise they’ll fail their courses.

     

    “The apprehensive students present in the hall responded by buying several copies to meet the course requirement,” the statement said.

     

    However, nemesis caught up with the suspects when the security operatives swooped in on them following a report.

     

    “The two persons were, however, arrested on July 25, 2024, by the security operatives for suspected criminal trespass, impersonation and cheating.

     

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    “During preliminary investigation, the suspects claimed that they were the authors of the books they were selling to the students and they confessed to all the allegations leveled against them, revealing that they were hustling to make a living due to lack of a job.

     

    “The suspects further disclosed that this was the second time they were coming to the state, having been to the Kano State Polytechnic earlier this year.

     

    According to the statement, the set of books found in their possession were all of poor quality and believed to have been pirated.

     

    “This is a very disturbing emerging trend in our tertiary institutions which are being invaded by crooks and charlatans masquerading as academicians in order to dupe and exploit our unsuspecting students,” the statement added.

     

    Abdullahi further said, the suspects would be handed over to the Police for further appropriate action, while students would be sensitized on the ugly development.

     

    He also said, “The management of the university, therefore, warmed students and the general public to be wary of such impersonators adding that surveillance has been beefed up in the university to avert the recurrence of such an ugly incident.”

     

     

  • Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

    Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

    Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

    Climate protest in Paris foiled on first day of Olympics

    Paris 2024 Olympics – Opening Ceremony – Paris, Paris, France – July 26, 2024. The delegation of Vanuatu is seen passing under a bridge aboard a boat in the floating parade on the river Seine during the opening ceremony. (Photo by Clodagh Kilcoyne / POOL / AFP)

     

    French police on Saturday blocked climate activists from holding a demonstration in central Paris on the first official day of the Olympic Games.

     

    Protesters from Extinction Rebellion (XR), once notorious for shutting down bridges over the Thames river in London, had planned to occupy the Pont des Arts bridge over the Seine, which had hosted the Games’ opening ceremony only hours earlier.

     

    Security forces are on high alert nationwide after saboteurs early Friday disrupted train travel throughout France.

     

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    The stint on the bridge, which organisers previously said would be “more visible than disruptive”, was called off after police kettled a group of journalists preparing to cover the protest.

     

    “The French government has deployed great resources to block our special Olympic action,” Extinction Rebellion France said in a statement on X.

     

    “Our democracy burns and we are watching the flame of Paris 2024.”

     

    Activists are calling for more participative democracy and the creation of a citizen assembly to design a new climate-focused constitution for France, which finds itself in a political impasse following elections earlier this month.

     

    “We need a new model for society, which has to be fair and democratically accepted. We want to put citizens back at the heart of the political project that we want to see,” said Sandro, an XR activist who didn’t want to give his full name.

     

    The foiled protest comes after eight XR activists were arrested on Tuesday for putting up stickers critical of the Games in the Paris metro, the city’s police said.

     

    They were later released.

     

    Organisers of the 2024 Paris Olympics promised to take “unprecedented” action for the climate by halving the event’s carbon footprint compared to previous Games.

     

    But academics and campaigners have been sceptical, criticising car giant Toyota’s sponsorship of the Games.

     

    Earlier this month, around 100 scientists signed an open letter arguing that “Toyota’s promotion of a hydrogen car is scientifically misaligned with net-zero and will damage the reputation of the 2024 Games”.

     

    Climate campaigners put up mock adverts in Paris and five other French cities this week highlighting Toyota as a high-emitting company.

     

    Toyota previously told AFP that hydrogen would play “a critical role among different decarbonisation technologies”.

     

     

  • #Endbadgovernment: Take leadership of protest to avoid anarchy – CSO tells organisers

    #Endbadgovernment: Take leadership of protest to avoid anarchy – CSO tells organisers

     

    #Endbadgovernment: Take leadership of protest to avoid anarchy – CSO tells organisers

    #Endbadgovernment: Take leadership of protest to avoid anarchy – CSO tells organisers

     

    A coalition of civil societies in Osun State, The Osun Masterminds, TOM, has stressed the need for the organisers of planned mass protests against bad governance to take leadership of the protest to avoid anarchy.

     

    The group, at its July state-of-the-State address, through its Executive Director, Professor Wasiu Oyedokun-Alli in Osogbo, disclosed that a protest without proper leadership and coordination is a recipe for anarchy.

     

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    While admitting that protest is a right of every citizen who deemed it fit to voice out on how a country is governed but warned the youth to be wary of a poorly organised protest to avoid being infiltrated by hoodlums.

     

    He said, “We strongly hold that the right to protest is that of every citizens of this country and no one should attempt to subdue people’s voices whenever they chose to cry out about how they are been governed or misgoverned. The state of affairs in Nigeria is truly worrisome and people have a right to voice their disapproval as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for freedom of association, gathering, and speech.

     

    “We condemn threats by security agencies, groups, and political office holders against any form of protest. Our democracy as presently enjoyed, was borne out of agitations, therefore, if there is any component of democracy that is germane, it is that of freedom.

     

    “At a time that we have not fully recovered from the woes of the EndSars, the looting, maiming and destruction of lives and public facilities that were and still being replaced by our common patrimony or lost forever, we CAN’T afford to have a repeat of such as a nation and that is why the note of caution is been sounded to the ears of particularly the youths, than an uncoordinated protest or one that is without leadership is a very dangerous.

     

    “It is in this light that we caution that the protest be conducted peacefully, and no form of infiltration must be allowed by hoodlums and those whose intentions are not patriotic. We already are having a shortage in critical infrastructure in the country, and we can not afford to by ourselves destroy the very few functional national assets, in the name of showing grievances against the government.

     

    The group charged government at various levels to be proactive, transparent and accountable to gain the people’s trust.

     

    “We advise the government to be more proactive and engage the citizens more by being accountable, transparent, and showing empathy in their dealings and demand from the system that accommodate their representation and leadership”, he added.

  • Catholic bishops slam Olympics ceremony for ‘mockery of Christianity’

    Catholic bishops slam Olympics ceremony for ‘mockery of Christianity’

     

    Catholic bishops slam Olympics ceremony for ‘mockery of Christianity’

    Catholic bishops slam Olympics ceremony for ‘mockery of Christianity’

    French bishops complained on Saturday about the “scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity” during the opening ceremony of the Paris Olympic Games which has upset some conservatives and has drawn mixed reviews.

     

    The opening had offered “wonderful moments of beauty, joy, rich emotions, and was universally praised,” a statement from the French Bishops’ Conference said.

     

    “However, this ceremony unfortunately included scenes of derision and mockery of Christianity, which we deeply regret,” the bishops said.

     

    While they did not refer to specific scenes, the ceremony featured a segment entitled “Festivity” which began with a group sat at a table, including several drag queens, which was reminiscent of the Last Supper, the final meal Jesus is said to have taken with his apostles.

     

    It was set to music by lesbian activist DJ Barbara Butch.

     

    “We think of all Christians across the continents who were hurt by the excesses and provocation of certain scenes. We hope they understand that the Olympic celebration extends far beyond the ideological biases of a few artists,” added the bishops.

     

    The statement was co-signed by the “Holy Games”, a sports programme funded by the Catholic church.

     

    Some conservative and far-right politicians in France have also expressed outrage over what they criticised as a “woke” parade, which featured LGBT+ performers and a racially diverse cast.

     

    The four-hour ceremony took place under driving rain, with athletes sailing down a six-kilometre (four-mile) stretch of the river Seine on 85 boats.

     

    Entertainers performed from river-side monuments, the banks and on bridges.

     

    “To all Christians worldwide who watched the opening ceremony and felt insulted by this drag queen parody of the Last Supper, know that it is not France speaking, but a leftist minority prepared for any provocation,” far-right politician Marion Marechal wrote on X.

     

    A spokesman for France’s far-right National Rally party, Julien Odoul called the ceremony “a ransacking of French culture.”

     

    Arch-conservative Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban meanwhile railed against the “weakness and disintegration of the Western world” which he said was illustrated by the opening ceremony.

     

    “Western values were considered for a long-time as universal but are seen as increasingly unacceptable and rejected by many countries in the world,” Orban said in Romania.

     

    Show artistic director Thomas Jolly, who is gay, had pledged last week that the ceremony would celebrate “diversity” and “otherness.”

     

    Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, he said that his intention had not “been to be subversive or to shock.”

     

    “Last night it was about our Republican values of benevolence and inclusion,” he told reporters.

     

    “In France, you have the right to love as you like, who you like. In France, you can believe (in religion) or not believe. In France, we have lots of rights,” he added.

     

    -Bloated? –

     

    Reviews of the parade have been mixed.

     

    The quirky and high-kitsch parade which also featured ballet, opera and hard-rock has been broadly hailed in the French media.

     

    Sports newspaper l’Equipe said it had “left memories for a century.”

     

    But writing in Britain’s The Guardian newspaper, reviewer Arifa Akbar said there were some “thoroughly weird curatorial decisions.”

     

    “Paris is known for its taste but this looked like a motley outfit thrown together,” she said.

     

    Critic Mike Hale writing in The New York Times said the ceremony felt “bloated” and “worked to diminish the athletes”.

     

    Overall it was “quintessentially French: titillating, hermetic, light on humor and heavy on pretense,” he wrote.

     

    Around 100,000 spectators watched from stands on the river banks, often at a cost of hundreds, sometimes thousands, of euros.

     

    Although many were thrilled and upbeat despite the rain, others complained that they were left to watch screens and passing boats for most of the time, with the singers and dancers stretched out all along the route.

     

    Around 200,000 people received free tickets to stand at locations along the banks, often with poor visibility, and many headed home early.

     

    Paris organisers and the Internatinal Olympic Committee (IOC) were fulsome in their praise for Jolly’s work at a press conference on Saturday.

     

    “Every edition (of the Olympics) brings a stone to the edifice,” Christophe Dubi, Olympic Games executive director at the IOC, said. “This has brought a mountain, it’s not a small stone.”

     

    Chief Paris Games organiser Tony Estanguet hailed the ceremony as “a unique moment” and he stressed the successful work of French security forces.

     

    Around 45,000 police officers, 10,000 soldiers and 22,000 private security guards were on duty.

     

    “There were no security incidents,” he said.

  • BREAKING] Hunger protest: 4,200 policemen deployed in FCT

    BREAKING] Hunger protest: 4,200 policemen deployed in FCT

    [BREAKING] Hunger protest: 4,200 policemen deployed in FCT

    26th July 2024

    Poliofficers

    Ahead of the proposed nationwide protest, the Federal Capital Territory police command has deployed a total of 4,200 policemen across the nooks and crannies of the nation’s capital.

     

    The command also announced the deployment of explosive ordinance device experts at various strategic locations.

     

    The command in a statement on Friday by its spokesperson, Josephine Adeh, said the deployment was to ensure public safety, protection of protesters and to prevent the protests from being hijacked by non-state actors.

     

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