Folarin Kehinde

Operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) have invaded a State High Court sitting in Ilaro, Ogun State, arresting two defendants.

The defendants , Alhaji Isiaka Fatai and Samuel Oyero, were trial in a suit marked HCP/IC/2023 between the State vs Awode Oladosu & 13 others.

The court was presided over by Justice A.A. Shobayo.

The case bordered on an allegation of arson reported by one Chief Akeem Adigun (aka Socopao) against Alhaji Isiaka Fatai, Oyero and 12 others.

Agosasa community in Ipokia Local Government Area of the state was recently enmeshed in crisis, with property worth billions of naira destroyed and one life lost over an Obaship tussle in the town.

But there was a pandemonium when operatives of DSS stormed the court premises and took away the suspects.

Counsel to Alhaji Isiaka, Kehinde Bamiwola, in a statement , alleged that men of the DSS operatives used weapons on the two, stressing that “Alhaji Isiaka Fatai was beaten, slapped, man-handled, rough-handled and molested.”

The Principal Registrar of the High Court and Sectional Head of High Court, Ilaro, Comrade Omololu Olusanya, who confirmed the incident, described it as shocking and disrespectful to the rule of law.

He noted that even after the judge had ordered the operatives not to make any arrest within the court premises, they still proceeded to arrest the two persons.

“They still went ahead and did the act to the extent that they assaulted one of our staff members, Mrs. Fadina, while doing that act. It’s a very sad issue that caused a lot of noise within the court premises.

“It was from the source that we heard they were DSS agents. If anybody sees them, one would think they were armed robbers.

“They did not wear anything that identified them as DSS, but they came to my lord this morning and said they had some people to arrest. That was when we knew they were DSS officers.

“They approached the judge before the court session began. The honorable judge advised them that if they wanted to make an arrest, it must not be done within the court premises.

“They could stay outside and do whatever they wanted, but they refused that advice and carried out the arrest within the premises.” he said.

Peter Afunanya, DSS spokesman, did not answer calls or reply a text message sent at the time of filing this report.

Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara, has announced plans to establish a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the conduct of governance in the state before his assumption of office on May 29, 2023.

The announcement was made during the swearing-in ceremony of Mr Dagogo Israel Iboroma, SAN, as the new Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice of the State at the Government House in Port Harcourt.

While the scope of the investigation was not explicitly defined, Governor Fubara indicated that the inquiry would delve into past governance practices, potentially spanning administrations since 1999.

During his address, Governor Fubara said: “My brother, Dagogo Iboroma, you are going to be the brand new Attorney-General of our dear State. SSG (Secretary to the State Government) give him his letter, he is the Attorney-General.

“Why are we bringing you at this very critical time? We have a lot of issues around us. We believe that you are not going to be the one that when they send service to you, you go and file “nolle prosequi” or you go and file one thing that would kill us here.

“Let me also say this, you have a big task. We will be setting up a judicial panel of inquiry to investigate the affairs of governance. So, brace up, I am not going back on it.

“Please, defend us. We know that you are going to defend us because your record is clean. You are a gentleman and peaceful. You are not a noise maker. People like you are endowed, and they have the fear of God.”

The presidential candidate of Labour Party, LP, in the 2023 elections, Peter Obi, has explained why yesterday, he paid what close associates described as “private visits” to prominent leaders of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

Those visited included former vice president and presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar; former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, and former Jigawa State governor, Sule Lamido

But Obi’s visit to these leaders has raised questions about future plans of Nigeria’s main opposition parties, ahead of the 2027 general elections.

Recall that Atiku first announced Obi’s visit on his X (Twitter) handle. He informed his followers that the former LP standard bearer paid him a visit. Atiku noted that he was always delighted to receive him.

Peter Obi, the former Anambra State governor was Atiku’s running mate on the PDP presidential ticket during the 2019 general elections.

However, they lost to former President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, APC.

But details of yesterday’s meetings are yet to be made public.

Meanwhile, Vanguard gathered that discussions about the need for the opposition to form a common front, ahead of 2027, featured prominently.

Atiku had, at various fora, harped on the need for the opposition to unite. According to him, it remains the only way to rid the nation of the current hardship imposed by the President Ahmed Tinubu-led All Progressives Congress, APC, administration.

Contacted, Atiku’s Media Adviser, Paul Ibe, said: “The meeting was held behind closed doors. But we haven’t been briefed.”

However, Obi’s media aide, Dr. Yunusa Tanko, explained the visits in a statement. This came barely an hour after Obi’s separate meetings.

He explained that “the state of the nation and the plight of the poor” inspired the visits.

Tanko said: “Mr. Peter Obi has continued to live up to his expressed commitment to the peace and progress of the nation.”

Aso, he added: “His abiding devotion is to the emergence of a Nigeria that works for all its peoples and where the people are quickly pulled out of poverty.

A man has reportedly stormed a Nigerian bank in Dadin Kowa town, Jos South, Plateau State with belts packed with what appeared to be a Person Borne Improvised Explosive Device(SPBIED).

It was gathered that he was apprehended on May 13, 2024, when the suspect was found with an apparent bomb strapped to his body to detonate at the bank.

Intelligence sources told Zagazola Makama, a Counter Insurgency Expert and Security Analyst in the Lake Chad region that the vigilante Security at the bank prevented the attack after they spotted the suspects.

They immediately apprehended him before he could achieve his aim. The suspect was later surrounded by an angry mob who demanded that he should be killed immediately.

It is, however, not clear if the suspect is linked with the Islamic State of the West African Province or Boko Haram. He was taken to the Police station where he was undergoing investigation.

Gunmen abducted an unspecified number of Dangote Cement workers Monday, with several workers shot.

The workers were returning from work Monday evening when they were ambushed by suspected bandits at Okpella in Edo, a town near Okene (Kogi state).

Witnesses said it was unclear how many people were wounded or the severity as of Monday evening.

“Other people are in the bush. My colleague has bullet wounds. A coaster bus filled with staff was attacked at Okpella. Kidnappers,” a witness said. “They kidnapped our whole staff bus. Kidnappers took our staff.”

Michael Odofin, a spokesperson for Okpella Cement Plc, confirmed the attack and abduction.

“I cannot give any details right now. The attack is still fresh. We have no one killed,” said Mr Odofin.

The Nigeria Labour Congress and the Trade Union Congress have shut down all Abuja Electricity Distribution Company offices to demand the reversal of the electricity tariff hike.

Leading reporters gathered that the NLC prevented staff members of AEDC who resumed work on Monday from entering their offices.

“Apo office AEDC has been closed by NLC. We were asked to return home when I got to the office around 7:00 am on Monday. Other colleagues in our offices in Abuja were told to do the same”, a staff member of AEDC who preferred anonymity said.

Recall that in a joint notice by NLC Acting Secretary-General Chris Uyot and the TUC Acting Secretary-General, Ankan Hassan, Nigerian workers vowed to ground offices of the 11 Discos Nationwide and the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission.

Nigerian workers had called for a reversal of the April 3 electricity tariff for band A customers to N225 per Kilowatt-hour from N68 kwh.

However, NERC ignored the NLC, TUC reversal call, announcing a minor tariff reduction to N206 kwh.

Unsatisfied with the tariff reduction, the organized labour vowed to shut down discos and NERC offices to meet their demand.

The development comes as Nigerians grapple with the ripple effect of soaring headline and food inflation, which stood at 33.20 per cent and 40.01 per cent in March 2024.

The presidency has reacted to the political crisis brewing in Rivers State between Governor Sim Fubara and 25 members of the state assembly.

Leading reporters earlier reported that the Rivers State High Court issued a restraining order against the 25 members who decamped from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023 from parading themselves as lawmakers.

The 25 affected lawmakers are loyalists of Nyesom Wike, the current FCT minister and immediate-past governor of Rivers State.

Sequel to the order, Governor Fubara signed an executive order for the relocation of the sittings of the assembly to the Government House in Port Harcourt over safety concerns.

But presidential spokesperson Ajuri Ngelage said President Bola Tinubu will not take side with either Fubara or Wike.

Ngelale noted anyone with the belief that President Tinubu would take their side in the political crisis would be disappointed.

According to Ngelale, President Tinubu won’t allow any attempt to frustrate the Rivers government.

“I believe that anyone who believes that by their actions, whether it’s from the federal level, state level or the legislative branch in the state or the executive branch in the state, if they are banking on Mr. President to take sides on this matter, they’re mistaking and they’ll be disappointed,” Ngelale said.

“I Mr. President will not do that. What he will do is to ensure that everybody has what they need in order to work.

“He will also ensure that any attempt to frustrate the operation of the Rivers State government in conducting its affairs in a way that it would benefit the Rivers people, that’s obviously is not going to be allowed by this President or anybody else.

“So, I think there’s a need for all stakeholders to understand that Mr President won’t take sides,” he added.

The Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) has shut down the headquarters of Jos Electricity Distribution Company (JEDC) in Plateau State over electricity tariff hike.

According to report, the labour union has blocked the main gate of the company, leaving the staff of the DisCo stranded outside the main building.

Security operatives including the police, Department of State services (DSS) and Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) were seen around the entrance of the company.

Daily Trust had reported how NLC and Trade Union Congress (TUC) announced that they would shut down offices of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) and Distribution Companies (DisCos) nationwide as a result of the failure to comply with their demand of total reversal of electricity tariff hike.

Daily Trust had reported how the commission hiked the electricity tariff from N65/kwh to N225/Kwh for Band A users.

The Federal Government later approved a marginal slash, which labour rejected and demanded full reversal, giving an ultimatum of May 12.

The unions had also asked NERC to stop of what it described as “discriminatory practice” of segregating electricity consumers into “arbitrary” bands.

Giving an update on Sunday night, the head of information at NLC headquarters, Benson Upah, said members of the movement would converge on Labour House, Abuja by by 7am.

“NLC invites you to cover the picketing of the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission headquarters in Abuja,” Benson said in the official notification sent to our correspondent last night.

He added that similar arrangement had been made nationwide.

The organised labour has commenced nationwide protests over the electricity tariff hike and removal of subsidy from the power sector by the Federal Government.

The National Treasurer of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Olatunji Ambali and the National Deputy President of the Trade Union Congress, Tommy Etim, who confirmed the planned protests harped on the reversal of the tariff hike to the subsidy era.

The protest, Politics Nigeria understands, is expected to lead to the shutdown of the Abuja headquarters of the Nigeria Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), the Ministry of Power and state offices of power distribution companies (DisCos).

Recall that NERC announced an electricity tariff for Band A customers in April. By the announcement, customers on the Band A classification are charged N225 per kilowatt-hour, up from the previous rate of N68/kWh — representing a 240 per cent increase.

This announcement generated reactions from Nigerians who condemned the increment considering the socio-economic condition of the country.

While NERC ordered a downward review of the tariff from 225/kWh to 206.8/kWh, the organised labour are insisting on a reversal to the old rate of N66/kWh.

The National Treasurer of the NLC, Ambali said, the union had fully mobilised its members and affiliates for the protest against the tariff increase.

“We commend the Federal Government on halting the cyber security levy; however, labour is fully mobilised for the electricity tariff hike protests across the country,” he told Punch.

Corroborating Ambali, the National Deputy President of the TUC, Etim, noted that the organised labour was ready for the nationwide protests at the NERC offices.

“Of course, Labour is fully mobilised for the protests which will start on Monday.

Also, a top official of the NLC, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the union, revealed: “Picketing would start today not only at the offices of the National Electricity Regulatory Commission but also in all the distribution companies across the nation.”

He said the mobilisation of workers and affiliate unions was ongoing, adding that meetings were held on Saturday and Sunday by the NLC and TUC to fine-tune strategies for the labour action.

“We enjoin the civil societies, organisations, market women, and students to join organised labour because it is a collective battle, and we are all collectively being afflicted by the wicked policies of the government,” he said.

“Collectively, we can push that back. As you can see, we have fought the issue of the cyber security levy and they have agreed to withdraw it.

“Together, if we fight this problem, one by one we will compel government’s actions that are anti-people to be pushed back. Don’t leave it to the NLC and the TUC but join us at the barricade so that together, we can compel the government to do the needful,” he appealed.