Folarin Kehinde

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has vowed not to back down on his election petition case currently pending before the Supreme Court.

Atiku, who stated this at a media conference in Abuja on Thursday, October 5, said he would pursue the case to a logical conclusion, whether he wins or loses.

He said: “I will only drop the case when the court rules on it. If the court says I am right, fine. If it says he (President Tinubu) is right, fine.”

While answering a question, Atiku, who contested the February 25 presidential election on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), said a group of serving governors had attempted to persuade him to drop the case at the initiate stage of the trial.

According to him, he refused to grant audience to the said governors who he said claimed to be intervening on behalf of the President.

Dr. Paul Ezike has lamented the alleged inhumane treatment melted on Nigerians and other Africans who traveled to Ethiopia by authorities of the Ethiopian government.

According to Ezike who narrated that a voice note was sent to him stated that the Ethiopian government now make travelling en route their border hell for Africans, he noted that once an African is passing through especially with a green passport one is like a suspect and they’ll keep one aside, ensure they delay and make one miss the flight.

His words:

Now this is not a joke because two people already are out of the picture, it happened in Ethiopia two days ago somebody sent me a voice note, I didn’t pay attention because I was very busy but he kept on sending calling I had to pay attention he said brother please help us I said what happened, he said we are dying, we’re in Ethiopia prison.

“He said it’s khaliti prison, maximum security prison in Ethiopia. Khaliti prison is filled up with more than 500 Africans, what is the problem?

“Now once you’re passing through, and you have a green passport you’re like a suspect and they’ll keep you aside, delay you and make you miss your flight.

“Also they’ll get you angry and once you start agitating continuously, they’ll tell you that you need to pay 5,000 dollars to get another flight again back to your country and when you don’t have the money and agitating that they cost you to delay your flight, they searched you and found nothing illegal and if you talk too much, they’ll lead you out until and tell you that you’re mad and they’ll take you straight from the airport to the hospital they’ll check you again and put you in prison from hospital to prison and while in the prison, they’ll serve you paper that you’re going to serve 17,18, 20 years in the prison even without going to the court.

“This is a very serious issue a whole lot of people have lost their lives this year 2023.”

Explaining further, Ezike said “Also around April a woman from Nigeria died why because the police were harassing her and she sustained internal injury in her ribs the took her to the hospital and injected her but the injection didn’t go well with her body and she was taken back to the prison she fell ill again so she pleaded that she shouldn’t be taken to the hospital and also not to be injected with that substance that it’s not good for her body but she was forced to the hospital and forced her to inject her and she died the following day, she was in hospital for some days after her death before she was taken to the mortuary.

“Other female inmates had to search her and brought out her embassy details and her phone numbers, they called the embassy “Nigerian Embassy in Ethiopia Addis Ababa” the primary job of the embassy is to protect the interests of citizens in the country, the guy made it known that the Nigerian Embassy in Ethiopia is always supporting the Ethiopian police even when you invite the embassy representatives, they’ll come and give assurance that they’ll get back to them and nothing will be done.

“This is very very wrong just last week a young man also died because he contacted tuberculosis I saw his picture at Doha airport in middle East

“This young man was passing through, then stopped by at Addis Ababa heading to Nigeria, He was stopped they delayed him and made him miss his flight they took him to the prison where he contacted tuberculosis

“That prison have more than 500
Africans including sick and mad Ethiopians how will they keep sick and healthy people in just one room and tuberculosis is an airborne disease this young man contacted it and died last week.

“Furthermore he said they don’t feed well that they’re just being fed with a spoon of rice for breakfast, lunch and dinner without any stew just ordinary white rice gross malnutrition in Ethiopia Addis. Ababa with no medical care, that if one should fall sick in that prison, one would have to work and raise money for treatment and sometimes they’ll cut off water supply for 3weeks to 4 weeks telling them that it’s their punishment for being in the prison.

What is really happening? we need to fight this injustice in Addis Ababa Ethiopia, we’re talking about 200 people that are from different tribes of Nigeria that are in that prison the Nigeria Embassy is not helping issues and he’s calling for help.

He however call on the Nigerian government and other African leaders to rise up to this challenge and help save the lives of many Africans currently languishing in the Ethiopian prisons.

Nigerian Minister Abbas Balarabe has explained that he slumped during his Senate screening on Wednesday due to exhaustion.

Leading reporters reports that Balarabe, from Kaduna State, was being screened for a ministerial position when he collapsed.

The Senate adjourned proceedings while Balarabe was treated by medical personnel. Senate President Godswill Akpabio also restricted media coverage by ordering journalists out of the plenary.

Reacting in an interview, Balarabe said that he had a sleepless night preparing for his screening and that he was simply exhausted.

“It is basically exhaustion,” he said. “I got the news of my nomination yesterday and I had to come from Kaduna. There were so many things to do which I attended to throughout the night.”

Balarabe thanked the Senate for their understanding and said he is now feeling better.

“What I experienced was pure exhaustion which can happen to anybody,” he said.

A new global ranking from the World Population Review shows Nigeria has the highest number of homeless persons in 2023.

Nigeria, Africa’s most populous country, grapples with a significant homeless population due to several intertwined factors.

Rapid population growth, at around 2.6% annually, strains the country’s resources, including housing.

High poverty rates, with over 40% of Nigerians living below the national poverty line, make it difficult for many to access necessities like shelter.

Below is the data from World Population Review:

1) Nigeria: 24,400,000
2) Pakistan: 20,000,000
3) Egypt: 12,000,000
4) Syria: 6,568,000
5) DR Congo: 5,332,000
6) Bangladesh: 5,000,000
7) Colombia: 4,943,000
8) Afghanistan: 4,660,000
9) Philippines: 4,500,000
10) Yemen: 3,858,000

Homelessness can be attributed to various factors, such as poverty, mental illness, substance abuse, domestic violence, and the scarcity of affordable housing in many countries, all of which contribute to the problem.

Homelessness can have a devastating impact, leading to increased health issues, vulnerability to violence, social isolation, and educational challenges for individuals and families.

Experts say several things can be done to address homelessness, including Investing in affordable housing and providing support services to homeless people.

The Senate has confirmed Balarabe Abbas, the Kaduna State ministerial nominee who slumped during screening on Wednesday.

Leading reporters earlier reported that the nominee slumped a few minutes after making his presentation to the lawmakers and was about to take questions from them.

Following this, President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio immediately called for executive session to allow efforts to resuscitate Abbas.

After about thirty minutes in a closed session, the Senate reconvened to continue with the screening of the third nominee, Ayodele Olawande.

Thereafter, the Senate President asked for voice votes, confirming the three screened ministerial nominees.

The minister of interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, has stated that no Nigerian would have to wait more than two weeks for an international passport henceforth.

He announced this in a press conference in Abuja while updating Nigerians on the status of the passport backlog in the country on Wednesday, October 4.

Tunji-Ojo said: “No one will ever wait for two weeks to get passports again. If you apply and have been captured, you will get your passport within two weeks.”

He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had cleared all the 204,332 passport application backlogs.

He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had cleared all the 204,332 passport application backlogs.

The minister, on September 7, gave the NIS a two-week deadline to remove all passport application backlogs.

He noted: “Immigration service did three shifts to make sure that we clear the backlogs and to ensure that never again in the history of Nigeria, are we going to have a backlog. This is not a temporary relief but a permanent solution.”

The minister stated that NIS and its partners would enhance their systems in order to improve their services, adding that applicants would not be required to go to passport offices to be captured from December 2023.

He announced this in a press conference in Abuja while updating Nigerians on the status of the passport backlog in the country on Wednesday, October 4.

Tunji-Ojo said: “No one will ever wait for two weeks to get passports again. If you apply and have been captured, you will get your passport within two weeks.”

He added that the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) had cleared all the 204,332 passport application backlogs.

The minister, on September 7, gave the NIS a two-week deadline to remove all passport application backlogs.

He noted: “Immigration service did three shifts to make sure that we clear the backlogs and to ensure that never again in the history of Nigeria, are we going to have a backlog. This is not a temporary relief but a permanent solution.”

The minister stated that NIS and its partners would enhance their systems in order to improve their services, adding that applicants would not be required to go to passport offices to be captured from December 2023.

He added: “People will be able to upload their passport and supporting documents online. Only biometrics will be taken at the passport office.

“We are introducing passport front offices where people can go and process their passport close to where they reside. Solution providers have been given three months to activate this or their contract will be revoked.”