IPOB warns Nigerian government against witch-hunting Abaribe, Chidoka

 

The group said any attempt to victimise Abaribe and Chidoka would be resisted and would push them to react appropriately.  The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) on Thursday, warned the Federal government of Nigeria to desist from any form of ill-treatment towards the duo of Senator Enyinnaya Abribe and a former minister of Aviation, Osita Chidoka, over their roles in facilitating the release of its leaders, Nnamdi Kanu.
The warning was contained in a press statement issued by IPOB’s Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, and made available to DAILY POST in Awka.
The group wondered why the Federal Government was contemplating going after the two men knowing full well that Kanu’s inability to return to court as contemplated was frustrated by the alleged military attack on his residence in Afara Ukwu, Abia State.
Parts of the statement read, “The orchestrated witch-hunt against Chief Chidoka and Senator Abaribe must stop with immediate effect or else every APC infrastructure across Biafraland, both human and material will be decimated beyond recognition.
“We are not interested in engaging in any direct confrontation with anybody but if Nigeria thinks they can harass these outstanding Igbo sons because they merely stood up to surety our leader, then they are grossly mistaken.
“There are countless corrupt Fulani men in Nigeria. In fact that Nigeria is so backward today is because of Arewa misrule and unprecedented entrenchment of mediocrity at the heart of governance.”
The group said the obsession of this APC regime with Nnamdi Kanu, IPOB and Biafra is its greatest undoing. It said using blackmail to intimidate the political class in the South East does not mean there are no more men of good conscience who can rise up to criticise evil when they see one.
The group also added that, “IPOB is not and will never be interested in Nigerian politics but any politician unfairly singled out from the South East, South South and Lower Benue, to be ridiculed and messed up by either the EFCC or any other Fulani controlled government agency, will be resisted to the hilt.
“This nonsense is becoming intolerable. What are the crimes of Chief Osita Chidoka and Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe?
“Senator Abaribe merely criticised this regime which is his duty to do as an opposition lawmaker since at least on paper Nigeria is still a democracy.
“Leave Senator Abaribe and Osita Chidoka alone! If you want them to forfeit their bail bond please use the appropriate channels which is the law court not crude and primitive intimidation by the EFCC.
“It may have worked with Senator Dino Melaye but it definitely will not work with Senator Abaribe because IPOB will not allow it,” it said.

BIAFRA : begs Appeal Court to suspend enforcement of proscription order

 

The Indigenous People of Biafra has begged the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal to suspend the enforcement of the order for its proscription issued by the Federal High Court in Abuja in September 2017.

IPOB, through its lawyer, Mr. Ifeanyi Ejiofor, filed the motion for stay of execution of the proscription order with 19 grounds on Tuesday.

Part of the grounds on which the group anchored its application for stay of execution was that it had filed an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja to challenge the proscription order.

The group’s appeal which is marked CA/A/214/2018 has the Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Abubakar Malami (SAN), as the sole defendant.

The Acting Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Justice Abdu Kafarati, had in his ruling delivered on September 20, 2017, ordered the proscription of IPOB and designated it as a terrorist group.

This followed an ex parte application by the AGF.

But in its motion filed before the same judge on September 22, 2017, IPOB contended through its lawyer that the proscription order was unconstitutional.

The motion was opposed by the AGF.

Delivering judgment on the motion on January 18, 2018, Justice Kafarati affirmed his earlier order proscribing the group.

But on March 1, 2018, IPOB filed a five-ground notice of appeal before the Court of Appeal in Abuja, challenging the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja, proscribing and designating it as a terrorist group.

freedom : IPOB members appeal proscription order

 
Members of the indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) have appealed the decision of the Federal High Court in Abuja which allowed an ex-parte application proscribing the group in September, 2017.
In a motion dated April 23 and filed at the Abuja Division of the Appeal Court on Tuesday, the IPOB members asked the appellate court to stop the Nigerian military from the “harassment, intimidation, incessant arrest and detention of IPOB members.”
The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court, Abdul Kafarati, allowed the ex-parte application declaring IPOB as a terror organisation on September 20, 2017, following an appeal filed by Nigeria’s Attorney-General, Abubakar Malami.
An ex-parte motion is a request by a party in an issue involving two parties for a decision of the court without hearing the views of the other party.
Mr. Malami’s application was sequel to an approval for the proscription of IPOB by President Muhammadu Buhari.
In the motion filed by IPOB’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Ejiofor, the group is asking the Court of Appeal to issue an order for parties to assume the position of things before the proscription and maintain the status quo, pending the determination of the fresh appeal.
Mr. Ejiofor reiterated earlier claims that IPOB is an organisation of peace-loving people whose freedom will not jeopardise the interest of the respondents.
IPOB is made up of a group of people from Nigeria’s south east region who have repeatedly demanded freedom to break away into an independent state of Biafra.
The leader of the group, Nnamdi Kanu, whose arrest generated increased demand for the state of Biafra, is facing trial for alleged acts of treason.
He was granted bail on health grounds in April, 2017, with a list of conditions described by Mr. Ejiofor who is also the lawyer representing Mr. Kanu, as stringent and unconstitutional. Following his release, however, the agitation for Biafra heightened and resulted in a range of controversies that climaxed in the proscription of IPOB and an allegation by Mr. Ejiofor that the Nigerian army abducted Mr. Kanu in his country home at Abia State.

IPOB NEWS : International Criminal Court President Visits Nigeria, Silent On Biafra

 

The President of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Chile Eboe-Osuji, who concluded his official visit to Nigeria last week, has called for the federal government's support to fight against impunity "for the gravest crimes but was silent on the petitions of the Indigenous People of Biafra and the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project.

The ICC was petitioned last year to investigate the alleged killings, torture and human rights abuses of IPOB members by soldiers of the Nigerian Army.

Also in 2017, SERAP had petitioned the international court to consider the "allegations of widespread systematic and large-scale corruption in the electricity sector since the return of democracy in 1999 and under the governments of former presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umaru Yar'Adua, and Goodluck Jonathan," whether they amount to crimes against humanity.

According to a statement made available to BIAFRA NEWS MEN by the ICC, Eboe-Osuji, who was in Nigeria from April 10 to 13, met with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Senate President Bukola Saraki, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Yakubu Dogara, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, Solicitor General of the Federation, Dayo Apata, and other senior government officials.

"The ICC president expressed gratitude for Nigeria's strong commitment to the court, which was reaffirmed by the senior authorities during the meetings held. President Eboe-Osuji underlined that the active support of States is crucial in re-energising the mission of the ICC, of which Nigeria is a founding and important member. He recalled that victims are at the heart of the Court's mandate, which aims to provide justice to those who have suffered the worst atrocities, as well as protect populations from future crimes.

"President Eboe-Osuji further emphasised that the Court is keen to work together with states in Africa to bolster the fight against impunity for the gravest international crimes, and he hoped to count on Nigeria's support in taking that process forward," the statement said.

TODAY NEWS : Keyamo appointed spokesperson for Buhari 2019 presidential campaigns

 
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), Mr Festus Keyamo, as the Director, Strategic Communications in respect of the forthcoming 2019 presidential campaigns.

Consiquently, Keyamo is now the official spokesperson for 2019 presidential campaigns of President Buhari.   

President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Festus Keyamo (SAN) as the Director, Strategic Communications for his 2019 presidential campaigns.
By this appointment, Keyamo becomes the official spokesperson for Buhari’s campaign for the 2019 presidential poll.
The letter informing him of the appointment was signed by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who also doubled as the Director General, President Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation.The lawyer/human rights activist made this known via his verified Twitter handle on Tuesday.
He wrote:”With this letter below, I have just been appointed the Director, Strategic Communications (Official Spokesperson) for the President’s 2019 Presidential Campaigns. I will be making a formal statement on this much later.”
See the tweet

BIAFRA : Theresa May Seduces Buhari To Legalize Same Sex Marriage

 
While speaking at the first joint forum at Commonwealth Head of Government Meetings in Westminster on Tuesday, the minister said there should be no laws criminalizing same-sex relationships across the Commonwealth. Theresa May, Prime minister of the United Kingdom, has called for same-sex marriages in Nigeria and all other countries within the Commonwealth.

She said she understands that most of the laws against same-sex marriages in the Commonwealth were made by the UK, adding that those laws were wrong then, and are wrong now.

President Muhammadu Buhari, in July, 2015, while on a Visit to the United States of America, categorically ruled out any chance of Nigerian being pressured by the America into legalizing homosexuality in the country.

Homosexuality  was outlawed by the regime of Goodluck Jonathan in Nigeria. The Nigerian anti-gay law became effective on January 13, 2014. The law, which contains penalties of up to 14 years in prison and bans gay marriage, same-sex “amorous relationships” and membership of gay rights groups, was passed by the national assembly int May of 2013.

BIAFRA NEWS:Nigerian government created Boko Haram – Shehu of Bama

BIAFRA NATION: The Shehu of Bama Kingdom of Borno State, Shehu Kyari Ibn Umar El-Kanemi, has blamed the Federal Government of Nigeria for allowing Boko Haram enough space to operate.
He described the endless activities of the insurgent group as a mark of failure on the part of the Federal Government.
Speaking during the unveiling of the Ejike Chukwu Educational Foundation in Etekwuru Main home, Egbema in Ohaji Egbema Council in Imo State, yesterday, the monarch accused the federal government of not initially taking the issue of Boko Haram very seriously.
He said the development had led to the sect gaining more grounds with its attendant human losses and destruction of communities in the North-East.
He said: “Why I said Boko Haram is a creation of the federal government is that, at a time, the government of the day didn’t take it serious.
“They didn’t come in to arrest the situation at the beginning of the uprising. They became a law unto themselves. That’s why I said it was the failure of the state.
“They killed somebody like General Muhammed Shuwa, who was one of the excellent generals that fought to keep Nigeria as one, but up to date, nothing happened and nobody has been prosecuted.
“Though Boko Haram is now a shell of its former self, they need to be mopped up because they are still around, rampaging and attacking soft targets.
“Just yesterday, there was a bomb blast in Maiduguri where a number of people died. So, they need to be mopped up.”

Over US$25 billion will be spent on Nigeria’s upstream capex to 2020

Ultra-deepwater projects will be responsible for over 28 percent of US$25.3 billion of upstream capex in Nigeria, or US$7.2 billion by 2020. The shallow water projects will account for 26 percent of upstream capex with US$6.7 billion by 2020, while deepwater and onshore projects will necessitate US$6.0 billion and US$5.5 billion respectively in capex over the period.
GlobalData expects that Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation will lead Nigeria in capex, investing US$5.3 billion into the country’s upstream projects by 2020. Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Eni SpA will follow, with US$4.7 billion and US$2.8 billion respectively.
Zabazaba-Etan Project, a planned shallow water conventional oil field, will lead capital investment with US$4.8 billion to be spent between 2018 and 2020. Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. is the operator for the field. Owowo West, a conventional oil field in the Niger Delta Basin, will follow next with a capex of US$1.8 billion. Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Limited is its operator.
GlobalData reports the average remaining capex per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) for Nigeria projects at US$6.7. Ultra-deepwater projects have the highest remaining capex/boe at US$11.20, followed by deepwater projects at US$9.7. The shallow water and onshore projects have capex/boe at US$7.0 and US$3.3 respectively.  An average capital expenditure (capex) of US$8.4 billion per year will be spent on 249 oil and gas fields in Nigeria between 2018 and 2020. Capex into Nigeria’s oil and gas projects will add up to $25.3bn over the three-year period in upstream capex by 2020, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.