Lagos State Attorney-General (A-G), Mr Moyosore Onigbanjo (SAN), has ordered the release of 253 persons arrested by Police over their alleged roles in the unrest following the #EndSARS protests.
The A-G said the in a statement that his office had determined that there was a nondisclosure of a prima-facie case against the 253 persons by the police.
The statement, signed by Mr Kayode Oyekanmi, Director of Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Justice and made available to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, said 92 persons would, however, be prosecuted.
The A-G said the police had, between Nov. 4 and Nov. 5, forwarded 40 case files to the Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) in respect of the 361 persons arrested in respect of crimes that occurred in connection with the protests.
“Legal advice has been issued in respect of all the 40 case files received.
“As at Nov. 6, the Directorate has been able to despatch legal advice in respect of 81 persons that are being charged to the various courts.
The others will be despatched to court on Monday Nov. 9 .
“Out of the 361 persons, the DPP shall be prosecuting 92 persons for different offences ranging from arson, stealing, breaking into buildings, armed robbery and murder.
“The office has advised that 253 persons be released forthwith for non-disclosure of a prima facie case.
“In the meantime, two case files in respect of 16 persons have been advised for further investigation by the police,” the statement said.
The A-G in the statement assured members of the public that his office would ensure that those arrested by the police are treated in accordance with the due process of the law.
Onigbanjo also noted that his office remained committed to maintaining the rule of law and ensuring peace and order in the state.
Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani on Sunday said the next US administration has an opportunity to “compensate for its previous mistakes” following Joe Biden’s victory in the presidential election.
“Now there is an opportunity for the future American administration to compensate for its previous mistakes and return to the path of adherence to international commitments,” Rouhani said, in a statement on his official website.
US President Donald Trump, who lost Tuesday’s election to Democratic challenger Biden, has applied a “maximum pressure” policy and crippling sanctions against Iran since his 2018 withdrawal from a landmark nuclear agreement with Tehran.
The reimposed sanctions targeted Iran’s vital oil industry and banking ties, among other sectors.
This US “administration’s harmful and wrong policy for the past three years was not only condemned by people all around the world, but was also opposed by the people of (the US) in the recent election,” Rouhani said.
He added that the Iranian people’s “heroic resistance against the imposed economic war” by the Trump administration “proved that America’s maximum pressure policy is doomed to fail.”
Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said Tuesday that the US election result would have “no effect” on Tehran’s policies towards Washington.
Biden has said during his campaign that he plans to embark on a “credible path to return to diplomacy” with Iran, and raised the possibility of returning to the 2015 nuclear deal, negotiated when he was vice president under Barack Obama.
Most of Iran’s daily newspapers reported on Biden’s victory on their front pages with pictures of him and Trump.
The conservative Resalat paper wrote that “the unmasked enemy left, the masked enemy arrived,” echoing the official line that US policies will not fundamentally change with presidents.
The ultra-conservative Vatan-e Emrooz focused on Trump’s allegations of fraud in the election, in a report titled “the graveyard of democracy,” featuring a cartoon Biden sneaking away with a ballot in a skeleton’s hand.
“The complaining president!” reformist Arman-e Melli wrote, while the mainstream Hamshahri daily said “it’s over: the age of Trump came to an end after four days of uncertainty.”
On Tehran’s streets, some expressed happiness over Trump’s election loss.
Trump and Biden “do not differ, but we’re at least happy that we won’t see the cursed face of this wretch (Trump) anymore,” construction painter Gholamreza Goudarzi told AFP.
A retired government employee, only giving his name as Ahmadifar, said “one can’t predict how things will be, yet it seems (Biden) might be better than” Trump.
Bank employee Zolfaqar Lotfi was openly positive about a Biden presidency.
“I feel things are somehow calmer,” Lofti said. “Inshallah (God willing) things will get even better for the people of Iran.”
Nigeria’s former President, Goodluck Jonathan, has urged the United States President-elect, Joe Biden, to be magnanimous in victory.
He gave the advice in a press statement on Sunday titled, ‘Goodwill message to the United States president-elect Joe Biden and Vice President-elect Kamal Harris’.
Biden of the Democratic Party won Tuesday’s presidential election to become the 46th elected President of the United States.
Biden, 77, defeated the Republican incumbent, Donald Trump, by securing 273 electoral college votes against Trump’s 214, after four grueling days of vote count that kept Americans on edge.
Jonathan said, “I congratulate President-elect, Joe Biden, and Vice President-elect, Kamala Harris, on their victory at the November 3, 2020 US Presidential election.
“Their election is not just historic, it is also futuristic in the sense that it gives us a glimpse of what the future will be-a world where race, gender and religion do not matter as much as competence and capacity.
“The best predictor of future behaviour is past behaviour, and based on his tenure as Vice President of the United States of America, between 2008 and 2016, I am fully persuaded that as President, Mr Biden will provide national and global leadership that will set the post COVID19 world on a path of peace and prosperity.
“In a nation much in need of healing, I urge the incoming administration to look beyond party, and be magnanimous in victory, despite the contentious election, and to take all Americans, even those who were against their election, as brothers and sisters from the womb of one Mother, the United States of America.
“I call on the incoming government to partner with African nations to help our continent overcome the vicissitudes of the pandemic, by building on existing trade and expanding on new frontiers for cooperation.
“My special thoughts and prayers go to Mrs. Harris for making history as the first woman and first person of African American ancestry to be elected as Vice President of the United States.
“This is one big step for her, and one giant leap for the Black Race and the female gender.
“I pray that God will bless their joint tenure, and that in four years from now, we will have a better world because of their administration.”
The Commander, 9 Brigade, Nigerian Army, Brig Gen Musa Etsu-Ndagi, representing the Nigerian Army on the Lagos State Security Council, has said he received a phone call from the Lagos State Governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, around 7.23pm on October 20,2020 informing him that a certain Lt Col Bello was reportedly shooting at the Lekki tollgate where #EndSARS protesters were gathered.
Etsu-Ndagi said he immediately called Bello, who is the Commanding Officer, 65 Battalion, Bonny Camp, Victoria Island, and he (Bello) told him that he only fired blank ammunition into the air.
Etsu-Ndagi, who is one of the top four military officers listed as witnesses of the Nigerian Army before the Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry probing the Lekki tollgate shootings, stated this in his statement on oath filed at the panel’s registry on Friday.
The top Nigerian Army officers insisted that soldiers never shot at or killed anyone and there was no massacre at the Lekki tollgate on the night of October 20.
They vehemently denied using live ammunition on the #EndSARS protesters who gathered at the tollgate, adding that soldiers did not take any dead bodies away.
Bello said the protesters were, in fact, happy to see the soldiers at the tollgate, adding that he personally offered the protesters water and drinks while persuading them to go home and observe the 24-hour curfew declared by the Lagos State Government.
The other army officers who deposed to witness statements before the panel are the Commander of 81 Military Intelligence Brigade, Victoria Island, Lagos, Brig Gen Ahmed Taiwo; the Chief of Staff, 81 Division, Nigerian Army, VI, Lagos, Brig Gen Nsikak Edet; Commander, 81 Division Garrison, VI, Brig Gen Francis Omata.
Specifically, Omata and Bello told the panel that by the time they arrived at the tollgate, the protest had turned from peaceful to violent.
They said on arrival at the tollgate, they were being pelted with stones and broken bottles and that in response all they did was fire blank ammunition into the air to disperse the crowd.
Omata said, “On arrival at the tollgate at about 7.30pm, I met a rowdy situation. I also met the Commanding Officer, 65 Battalion (Bello), who briefed me on the situation. He briefed me that he met a hostile crowd, hoodlums mixed with the protesters, who were chanting and throwing stones at them. I was able to disperse the crowd by firing blank ammunition into the air.
“At this point, stones and sticks were being thrown at us. Then I moved to a safe area and briefed General Officer Commanding 81 Division, Maj Gen Godwin Ahamefuna Umelo by phone.
“The General Officer Commanding directed me to pacify the hostile crowd and move the troops back to base. However, the crowd still continued chanting #EndSARS. I then instructed the troops to withdraw to base.”
Giving his own account of the incident, Bello said while he was moving towards the Lekki-Ajah Expressway at around 6.45pm, he heard gunshots before the tollgate and on coming down he saw that “the crowd had turned from peaceful protesters to a mob, infiltrated by hoodlums.”
He said, “On getting to the tollgate, I persuaded the crowd to go home and observe the 24-hours curfew declared by the state government. But surprisingly, the hoodlums continued throwing stones, bottles and other dangerous objects at us and were burning tyres. I again fired some blank ammunition upward to scare the hoodlums away. But some protesters who were still at the tollgate sitting down quietly were given water and drinks by me while pleading with them to go home.”
Bello stressed that “we did not fire at the protesters. Blank ammunition were fired upward to scare the hoodlums from the crowd. Nobody was shot dead at the Lekki tollgate, there was no massacre as claimed. The claim that the military took away dead bodies was not true. The protesters were happy to see us as indicated in some of the video clips of 20th October 2020.”
Panel Suspends Sitting As Youths Protest CBN’s Freezing Of Members’ Accounts
The sitting of the Lagos State Panel of Judicial Inquiry probing the alleged shooting of #EndSARS protesters at the Lekki tollgate was frustrated on Saturday due to the absence of the two youth members of the panel, Oluwarinu Oduala and Temitope Majekodunmi.
Oduala, who is one of the promoters of the #EndSARS protest, failed to show up for the Saturday sitting in protest against the freezing of her bank account by the Central Bank of Nigeria.
It was reported that the CBN obtained a court order freezing the accounts of 20 #EndSARS promoters till January 2021. One of those affected was Oduala.
The chairman of the judicial panel, retired Justice Doris Okuwobi, said the panel had no other option but to suspend Saturday sitting as it could not form a quorum in the absence of the two youths.
Justice Okuwobi said, “We are confronted with a situation which prevented her (Oduala) from coming. We do not know if the two youths’ representatives will eventually pull out.
“We don’t want a situation where proceedings would go on and later it is impugned with controversy for lack of quorum.”
Justice Okuwobi stressed that it was important for all the sittings of the panel to be held in accordance with the law.
“In all matters, we have to wait for them (youth representatives) to join us. Without them, we are handicapped,” she said.
The panel scheduled Saturday to take the testimony of the Nigerian Army on the October 20 shootings by soldiers at the Lekki tollgate in Lagos.
A soldier had already taken the witness stand when Justice Okuwobi announced that the sitting could not proceed.
Responding, counsel for the Nigerian Army, A. T. Kehinde (SAN), who explained that the army’s appearance on Saturday was pursuant to an October 28 summons by the panel, appreciated the panel for explaining its challenges to everyone.
He asked to be guided on the next date his client would appear before the panel.
Also speaking, counsel for the Lagos State Government, Olukayode Enitan (SAN), aligned himself with the submission by the counsel for the Army.
“The issue of a quorum is of utmost importance as to the competence of the panel to proceed and as to the integrity of recommendation to be made at the end of proceedings.
“Therefore, the directive for the panel to adjourn is quite appropriate,” Enitan said.
Counsel for #EndSARS protesters, Mr Adesina Ogunlana, described the development as an embarrassment to both the panel and lawyers.
Ogunlana, who claimed to have privileged information about plans to disrupt the panel sittings using thugs, advised the panel to be proactive and to ask the government to do the needful.
“Government cannot approbate and reprobate. This disconnect must be addressed immediately,” he said.
Also, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, Adeyinka Olumide-Fusika, who said he was before the panel on behalf of some victims who wanted to make a presentation before it said he would need the panel’s directive in view of the development.
Olumide-Fusika gave the names of some of his clients as Raimi Olumide, Solomon Samuel Ageze, Olamilekan Sanusi, Ayodeji Beckley, Samuel Asala, Agbese Isiawu and Onileowo Legend.
Justice Okuwobi adjourned further sitting of the panel till next Saturday, November 14.
The panel had on Friday fixed next Tuesday, November 10, to continue the viewing of the video footage of the Lekki shootings submitted by the Lekki Concession Company, operator of the tollgate.
In an interview with journalists, the #EndSARS protesters’ lawyer, Ogunlana, said the freezing of the bank accounts of the promoters of the protests had substantiated his submission to the panel on Friday that his life and those of his clients were being threatened.
He declared the freezing of the protesters’ accounts as a declaration of war by the government.
Ogunlana said, “Why are they boycotting the panel? Why did they choose to boycott the panel? It is because one of them has been sanctioned by the Federal Government via the court.
“These people say, ‘How can you put us on a panel for the purpose of resolving this issue and then you are sanctioning us very drastically?’
“We are talking about financial squeeze; they can’t operate their accounts again; that’s a declaration of war. You know one of the ways of fighting a war is starvation. So, these people are saying you can’t ask us to do a job, promising peace and progress, then you are punishing us. That is what happened. And the law setting the panel up say those young people, representatives of the youth are necessary. So, their presence is necessary for the panel to form a quorum.”
A member of the panel, who spoke to Sunday PUNCH on condition of anonymity, said the panel members generally felt betrayed by the government.
The member said, “Most panel members feel a sense of betrayal by the government. Many of the members are sacrificing their time, reputations and even careers, for this assignment, so that peace can be restored.
“It is unfair on the side of the government to provoke the protesters. Having set up the various panels, the government should not be the one undermining the gallant efforts of the panel members.
“In this regard, panel members view the freezing of the bank account of Miss Rachael Oduala (Rinu) as a direct affront on the integrity of the panel.”
The member said it amounted to “the greatest act of provocation for the government to freeze their bank accounts, seize their travel documents or even arrest the #EndSARS protesters since they embraced dialogue by agreeing to serve on panels set up by the government.
“If this should continue, how will the panel get witnesses to come out openly to narrate their experiences? The government should set good examples and not carry on as if there is no law regulating human affairs. We expect the government to reach out to the youth protesters to resolve all issues with them. The panel cannot sit under the present circumstances,” the member said.
The Oyo State Government has shut a tertiary institution in the state following a fresh discovery of COVID-19 infection.
The government said its Emergency Operation Centre had already begun contact tracing to avoid the spread of the virus in the state.
This was disclosed in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde.
The statement reads, “The Government of Oyo State wishes to draw the attention of the public to the recent resurgence of cases of coronavirus in the state. Many of these cases were discovered in closed space settings such as offices and workplaces.
“A reported case within a tertiary educational institution had also resulted in more cases being discovered through contact tracing. The state government has taken appropriate steps to lock the institution to prevent further spread and put in place other preventive measures.”
A former Director-General of the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Prof. Bola Akinterinwa, says a United States Government led by President-Elect, Joe Biden, will favour Nigeria in the area of immigration and financial aid.
Akinterinwa said this shortly after Biden was projected to become the next President of the US.
President Donald Trump had earlier in the year barred Nigerians from receiving immigrant visas and pushed for an end to birthright citizenship which ensures that all foreigners born on US soil are given automatic citizenship.
However, Akinterinwa said Biden would ensure a better immigration policy for Nigerians.
The international relations expert said about nine Nigerians – mostly democrats – contested elections in the US.
He said the fact that many Nigerians were in the Democratic Party would give them better and easier access to Biden.
He said, “Joe Biden is a democrat and the party usually has more sympathy for Africa generally. Meaning a Biden presidency has the likelihood to maintain a better relationship with Nigeria than it is under Trump.
“When we talk of immigrants in the US, Nigerians are acknowledged as the most educated of all them because they are either in engineering, medical field or working in NASA. Nine Nigerian Americans contested for election apart from one of them who contested as an independent candidate, majority of others if not all, contested on the platform of the Democratic Party.
“The implication is that Joe Biden has Nigerian political activists who are in the various houses in the state who can serve as either a lobby group which can be closer to Biden when it comes to policy taken on Nigeria.”
Akinterinwa said a Biden presidency would resume the funding of multilateral organisations like the World Health Organisation which usually give funding to African nations like Nigeria.
The Federal Government on Saturday solicited the support of South-East governors and leaders in the zone on social media regulation to check fake news and misinformation of Nigerians.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed, made the appeal while speaking at a presidential delegation interaction with South-East governors and other leaders of the zone in Enugu.
Mohammed said that the #EndSARS protest and agitation that turned violent and destructive in the country were brought about by fake news emanating from the negative use of social media.
According to him, the purported massacre leading to the EndSARS protest only happened on social media.
He said some Nigerians were misled by fake news on social media which turned out as hatred for the police as well as public and private property.
“It is time we must regulate social media; regulation in this term does not mean stopping or gagging social media but making its users more responsible.
“It is in ensuring that the social media and its content are used for positive deeds and to promote peace and oneness of the country,’’ he said.
According to him, making social media more responsible will check the sad experience of what a hate speech emanating from fake news did to Rwanda where over 800,000 people were massacred.
The minister also enumerated various social intervention programmes targeted at the youths to engage them and create financial opportunities for them and other Nigerians.
He cited the initiatives to include the N75billion Youth Intervention Fund; the N75billion MSME fund, N-Power Scheme, Artisan Financial Credit Scheme, Trader Money, and Farm Money.
He said that no administration in the history of the country had put in place lots of intervention programmes to cushion poverty and create employment as the current one.
Earlier, the leader of the presidential delegation, Prof. Ibrahim Gambari, said that the delegation wanted to interact with leaders of the zone sincerely to understand the needs of the zone as well as assure them of the unflinching support of the Federal Government.
Gambari, who is the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari, said that the delegation needs more information on the unemployment level and its socio-economic consequence on the people.
“The issue of insecurity in all forms within the zone will be sorted out as no nation or people progress in the atmosphere of massive destruction of both public and private property.
“Our diversity is our strength as a nation and we want to hear from all zones,’’ he said.
Also speaking, the Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammad Adamu, decried the number of police personnel killed as well as the massive level of destruction of police stations and operational vehicles during the hijacked EndSARS protests across the country.
Adamu, however, urged leaders of the zone to speak out against wanton destruction as well as henceforth discourage youths from destroying what was built with public money.
“The police and its amenities are put in place to serve the people.
” We cannot perform optimally if we do not get the support and backing of the civil populace, especially the leaders here,’’ he said.
Others in the presidential delegation included Dr Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Productivity; Mr Geoffrey Onyeama, Minister of Foreign Affairs, and Dr Uchenna Ogah, Minister of State for Trade and Investment.
Donald Trump, refusing to concede defeat in the US presidential election, said Saturday that Joe Biden was “rushing to falsely pose as the winner” after television networks declared the Democrat’s victory.
“We all know why Joe Biden is rushing to falsely pose as the winner, and why his media allies are trying so hard to help him: they don’t want the truth to be exposed,” Trump said.
“The simple fact is this election is far from over.”
Trump underlined that states had not yet certified the results, and his campaign has launched multiple “legitimate legal challenges that could determine the ultimate victor.”
However, near-complete results issued by each state showed an insurmountable lead for Biden, allowing news networks to call the overall result, as they do every election.
With networks calling pivotal Pennsylvania and then Nevada for Biden on Saturday, he is now projected to win at least 279 electoral votes, surpassing the magic number of 270 needed to win in America’s Electoral College system that formally chooses the president.
Trump claimed that in Pennsylvania, Republican poll observers were not permitted “meaningful access to watch the counting process.”
“Only a party engaged in wrongdoing would unlawfully keep observers out of the court room — and then fight in court to block their access,” Trump added.
The president’s defiant statement landed as he arrived at a golf course he owns in Virginia, in his first trip outside the White House since Election Day on Tuesday.
His lawyer Rudy Giuliani was in Philadelphia on Saturday where he said Trump would keep pressing the case to have such complaints — particularly in key battleground Pennsylvania — addressed by US courts.
“Obviously he’s not going to concede when at least 600,000 ballots are in question,” Giuliani told reporters.
Asked for specific evidence of fraudulent ballots, Giuliani provided none. “How can I possibly tell you there’s fraud or no fraud?” he said, although he pointed repeatedly to observers being denied sufficient access to observe ballot counting in Philadelphia.
“They kept our inspectors away.”
No evidence of election malfeasance has emerged, although complaints have been filed in multiple states, particularly about insufficient access to observing the vote counts.
Several congressional Republicans stood firmly behind the president, including Senator Lindsey Graham who insisted that “credible allegations of voting irregularities and misconduct” be taken seriously and investigated, not “swept under the rug.”
“Election outcomes are not determined by media outlets but certified, accurate vote counts,” he said, adding that “officials in Pennsylvania should take allegations… seriously before certifying a final outcome.”
Biden is scheduled to address the nation at 8:00 pm Saturday (0100 GMT).
Joe Biden has been elected the 46th president of the United States.
The Democrat and former vice president, 77, prevailed over outgoing president Donald J. Trump in a squeaker of an electoral outcome that took four days beyond Election Day to be decided and yet resulted in Biden winning more votes than any presidential contender in history. The outcome took longer to be decided due to the overwhelming number of mail votes in this election, as a result of the coronavirus pandemic.
When Biden took the lead in Pennsylvania in the early hours of November 6 it became clear his path to the requisite 270 electoral votes was all but assured. The Keystone State being called some hours later clinched his victory, though he also leads in Georgia, Nevada, and Arizona with more votes in each of those states to be tallied.
Both CNN and NBC News projected Biden’s win Saturday morning, based on calling Pennsylvania and its 20 electoral votes for Biden. It brings Biden’s electoral vote total to 273.
Biden’s victory marks an end to one of the most turbulent election seasons in the nation’s history. The final months of the campaign were defined by Trump’s handling of the ongoing pandemic, which has killed over 235,000 American citizens, as well as nationwide protests regarding systemic racism and police brutality.
Biden served as a United States senator from Delaware for 36 years before serving as vice president in Barack Obama’s administration. He unsuccessfully ran for president in 1988 and 2008. Sen. Kamala Harris of California, Biden’s vice president and a former 2020 presidential contender, has made history as the nation’s first Black, Asian American, and female vice president.
Biden’s campaign stressed the importance of national unity, civility, and repudiating many of Trump’s policies that were enacted over the last four years. Though Biden and Trump differed on practically all policy issues, one of their starkest differences revolved around their ideas on how to manage the coronavirus pandemic: While Trump lied to the public about the threat of the coronavirus, rejected scientific consensus, and failed to enact measures to mitigate the pandemic’s damage, Biden touted a science-oriented approach and stressed the importance of mask wearing, social distancing, and other safety measures.
Biden has also vowed to halt construction on Trump’s Mexico border wall — one of the cornerstones of Trump’s presidency — and reverse Trump’s immigration policies, such as by reinstating Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA). Biden will be faced with a variety of other policy challenges during his presidency. Trump exited the Paris Climate Agreement and the Iran Nuclear Deal during his presidency; Biden has pledged to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement and stated that the United States could rejoin the latter agreement under specific conditions.
Although the film and television industries were not a significant focus of either Biden or Trump’s campaigns, IndieWire’s Libby Hill and Tom Brueggemann analyzed the difference between the two’s arts-related policies in October. Hill argued that though the Biden Arts Policy Committee lacked a clear mission, a Biden presidency was the preferential outcome for Hollywood as Trump had aimed to eliminate the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities in his 2021 budget. Brueggermann noted that Trump’s failures in handling the coronavirus pandemic had caused significant issues for movie theaters and suggested that a Biden presidency could lead to support for stimulus programs that could help save theaters.
