Hours after killing of peaceful protesters across the country, Osinbajo breaks silence

Vice President Professor Yemi Osinbajo has finally broken his silence in a series of tweets, expressing sadness over the loss of some peaceful protesters across the country.

On Tuesday evening, armed men in military uniform opened fire on protesters who had assembled at the Lekki toll gate for two weeks. The incident sparked global outrage, with many criticising President Muhammadu Buhari and the Vice-president for not addressing the nation publicly.

In a short thread of his verified Twitter account, Osinbajo said: “My heart goes out to all the victims of the Lekki shootings, and also the policemen and all other men and women who lost their lives in the past few days in different parts of Lagos & other states. I spoke to some of those in hospital. The pain of these terrible events is palpable in our towns and cities, and some losses are irreplaceable, but we can and will get justice for all of them. I stand with Lagos & all other affected states in these trying times. We pray we will never see a repeat of these tragedies in Jesus name. God bless you all.”

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Kano budget N107m to sponsor 50 students to study in Niger Republic

Kano State Government has said it will expend the sum of N107 million to sponsor not fewer than 50 students to study in Niger Republic under its exchange programme.

The State’s Commissioner of Education, Muhammad Sanusi Kiru made this known during the distribution of instructional materials to primary and Junior Secondary schools in the state; stating that the pupils were selected based on merit from the 44 LGAs across the state to study in Kano/Niamey Bilingual College in Niger Republic.

“The ministry have completed screening of the students. The government is to spend N107 million. The children were selected from the local government areas on merit,” he added.

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Obaseki asks prison escapees to return in 48 hours

Governor of Edo State, Godwin Obaseki, has asked all prisoners, who escaped from the Benin Medium Security Correctional Centre and Oko Medium Security Correctional Centre to return to the prisons, in a 48-hour ultimatum.

On Monday, October 19, 2020, some hoodlums hijacked the #EndSARS protests against police brutality and extrajudicial killings; attacked the two prisons and freed about 2,000 inmates.

While inspecting the two vandalised correctional facilities on Wednesday, Obaseki said the freed inmates must return before Friday, October 23, 2020. In a statement signed on Wednesday by Crusoe Osagie, Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy to the governor, Obaseki said the level of destruction in the state was never in the spirit of the #ENDSARS protests but the action of criminal elements who have now caused unrest in the state.

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UN: Replacing SARS with SWAT will not address police brutality

The United Nations high commissioner for human rights, Michelle Bachelet, has criticised the manner in which the Nigeria police force set up special weapons and tactics (SWAT) to replace the special anti-robbery squad (SARS).

Bachelet said the police swiftly created SWAT “without first addressing some of the root causes of police violence and putting in place sufficient safeguards to prevent future violations.” She also said “there have been few if any charges” against former SARS operatives “despite abundant evidence” against them.

Mohammed Adamu, inspector-general of police (IGP), created SWAT after disbanding SARS over allegations of human rights abuses as a result of undue profiling and stereotyping.

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IGP orders withdrawal of police personnel attached to VIPs nationwide

The Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, has ordered the withdrawal of all police personnel attached to all VIPs (Very Important People) across the nation with immediate effect.

This development was contained in a Wireless Message sent virtually to Zonal AIGs and Command CPs with signal number DTO 210900/19/2020. The signal was copied to all Police formations in Lagos, Benin, Enugu, Makurdi, Port Harcourt, Abuja, Oshogbo, Sokoto, Umuahia, Abeokuta, Akure, Awka, Ibadan, Calabar, Kano, Yola, Asaba and Ebonyi, with the IGP warning that any Commander who violates this order will face the consequences.

However, Adamu said those attached to government houses, the Senate President and the Speaker House of Representatives, should not be withdrawn.