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Arsonist attack: Over 250 production staff out of work – TVC’s CEO Hanlon Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Television Continental (TVC), Andrew Hanlon on Thursday said more than 250 production staff working in the building razed by arsonists, have been out of work since the incident occurred. He spoke when Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his team, among which included the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Deputy Chief of Staff, Mr. Gboyega Soyannwo, and Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso, paid condolence visit to management of the burnt station. Hanlon took the governor round the main auditorium, which was the hub of the TV station’s operation. It was completely razed. The auditorium housed three main studios, three control rooms, three master control rooms and central transmission laboratory said to have been equipped with the modern communication gadgets worth millions of dollars. All left in the building were charred materials. The TV station boss also added that over 500 direct employees of the station had been struggling to work in temporary accommodation put up by the company. Hanlon said: “After the rioters invaded our premises and set the place on fire, some buildings in the premises survived. But the main transmission building is completely destroyed and it was the hub of our operations. The rioters cast fear and terror in the hearts of our employees when they broke in last week’s Wednesday morning. “People’s hard work and huge investment that went down into the TV station were destroyed in a period of about an hour. The incident was really traumatising for all of us. The rioters left immense devastation. The entire interior of the building was destroyed. This is all that is left of our bubbling building, which was a centrepiece. Thankfully, no member of staff died in the incident.” Hanlon said the immediate priority before the management of the TV station was to ensure that all direct employees were looked after, stressing that the means of livelihood of thousands of indirect workers attached to the brand had been threatened. He said efforts were being taken to return TVC back to its full operations, promising that the station would bounce back stronger than it was. The Governor was also shown a wreck of burnt vehicles belonging to the station and employees. By Kazeem Ugbodaga Source:https://www.pmnewsnigeria.com/2020/10/29/arsonist-attack-over-250-production-staff-out-of-work-tvcs-ceo-hanlon/

• Ex-NBA boss offers free legal service to suspected looters • ‘I foresee clash between jurisprudence and state responsibility’ • Mass detention raises fear of COVID-19 spike Mass arrest and detention of suspected COVID-19 palliative looters across states of the Federation threatens Federal Government’s plan to decongest correctional facilities’ detention centres. The country also stands the risk of a spike and rebound of the dreaded COVID-19 pandemic, following violation of social distancing protocols by citizens. The Federal Ministry of Justice, in partnership with the Ministry of Interior and the Presidential Committee on Correctional Service Reform and Decongestion (PCCSRD), had embarked on a nationwide decongestion exercise shortly after the outbreak of COVID-19 to stifle the spread of the virus in the various correctional centres across the 36 states and the FCT. According to the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami (SAN), about 3,751 former inmates, mostly adults, were released during the said exercise, which is not only classified as a mitigation measure for the pandemic but a fundamental contribution to the ongoing justice sector reform by the ministry. The decongestion, Malami had said, was one of the steps by his ministry towards implementing the Federal Executive Council’s mandate to decongest Correctional Centres and reform the justice sector. During a recent virtual session on implementing Amnesty and Decongestion for Juveniles Deprived of their Liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond, Malami had announced that leveraging the achievements recorded during the said exercise, the ministry articulated plans for the second phase of the nationwide custodial decongestion. The focus, he noted, would be on implementing amnesty and decongestion for juveniles deprived of their liberty during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond through the collaborative efforts of the state attorneys-general, heads of courts in the 36 states and the FCT, the Ministry of Women Affairs, the Nigerian Correctional Service, Non-Government Organisations, like the United Nations Children’s Funds (UNICEF), as well as other critical justice sector stakeholders. But all those gains and plans are now endangered following the recent uprising that culminated in the alleged looting of COVID-19 warehouses in some states and the subsequent mass arrest, which would end up congesting detention centres again. ON the likely spike in COVID-19 cases, a former chairman of the NBA, Ikorodu branch, Mr. Bayo Akinlade, said: “I am uncomfortable with the mass arrest of suspected looters and the subsequent remand order granted by the Judiciary at the request of the office of the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP). “First and foremost are these suspects going to be kept in the correctional facilities or in police cells? Whichever way, it seems they (the government) are insensitive to the COVID-19 regulations just to prove a point or to punish some people for looting.” He also expressed concern that out of those arrested, some may be innocent of the crime they were remanded for. He wondered if the innocent among them would be compensated if discovered to be innocent? He accused the government of reacting instead of being proactive. “Those who looted our treasury are roaming the streets free, while those who are suspected of looting items as little as a printer or COVID-19 palliatives are now to spend days in prison detention and you say they shouldn’t protest,” he added. Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, executive director, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC) kicked against the mass arrest, sayings his group had been calling on government at federal and state levels to ensure that various prisons in the country were decongested because of health implications. “Given the COVID-19 health implications we advocated that the government must ensure speedy trial and those who have been there for several years without trial with less offences should be allowed to go or engage them in community service, rather than keeping them to become hardened criminals,” he said. Condemning the mass arrest, which, he said, would likely worsen the condition of detention facilities, Rafsanjani said government should ensure that it carries out prison reform to avoid more people being infected by the COVID-19 and to let go the idea of clamping down on palliative looters. LAGOS State Police Command had, on Tuesday, declared that it had arrested over 200 suspects for their involvement in looting. Mr. Hakeem Odumosu, who is the Lagos Commissioner of Police, paraded the suspects and the items recovered from them on Tuesday at the Police Headquarters in Ikeja. Besides Lagos, some state governors had also called on residents to return the looted items to the warehouses or risk arrest and prosecution. Governor Ahmadu Fintiri of Adamawa State had vowed to arrest and try perpetrators for looting. He made the threat in Yola and urged security agencies to carry out the instruction. Also, Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-rufai, had ordered security agencies to conduct house-to-house search for looted palliatives. In his verified twitter handle, he maintained that those involved must be arrested and prosecuted. “We intend to bring each and everyone of them to justice. Stealing and destruction of property in the guise of #EndSARS will not be tolerated in Kaduna State,” he insisted. Similarly, Governor Ben Ayade of Cross River, stunned by the wild looting by hungry and angry residents, ordered a house-to-house search to retrieve the loot. The governor, who pledged to arrest suspects, gave the police the tasks in a statement issued on Sunday in Calabar by Mr. Christian Ita, his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity. In Osun State, the Governor, Gbeyega Oyetola, ordered residents that took part in the looting to return removed items or face the full wrath of the law. He also directed house-to-house search for the palliatives. He tweeted: “This afternoon, I inspected looted items that have been recovered so far. I urge persons still in possession of stolen items to return them within the amnesty period, which expires in 24 hours. Those who refuse to return looted items won’t be spared; they’ll be tracked and prosecuted.” A FORMER second vice president of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), Monday Ubani, decried the development. Not only has he condemned the arrests, he has offered to give free legal defence to persons, who took away COVID-19 palliatives as a result of hunger and urged them to reach out to him. “After careful prayer and leading of the spirit, I hereby offer free legal services to any Nigerian who is arrested for taking any of the palliatives from the warehouses in the states as a result of hunger. Contact me,” he said. Reacting to the development, human rights lawyer, Toluwani Adebiyi, who said there was nothing wrong in apprehending and prosecuting suspected criminals, however added that arresting citizens for helping themselves with stored palliatives was shameful. He said: “It is a shame for any governor/government to give such threats. These are palliatives meant for the poor people, but they kept them without anyone’s knowledge, while the poor are dying of hunger. Could they be hoarding it for personal gains? How many people received palliatives from the government? “I have about three estates surrounding the estate where I reside, no presence of government distributing any palliative in any of the four estates was felt, even up till now, yet the same government could send agents to each house to identify those afflicted with COVID-19 pandemic. This government has failed by keeping such things, yet people are dying of hunger.” According to him, no excuse is tenable for hoarding the palliatives. No one, he said, could ever imagine there were still palliatives anywhere, adding that such essential commodities were meant to be distributed and not stored. Adebiyi stated it was the highest level of insensitivity to human plights and the highest crime against humanity. However, the immediate past president of the Campaign for the Defence of Human Rights (CDHR), Mr. Malachy Ugwummadu, said the general principle that ignorance is no excuse in law should apply. In other words, no one, he said, should be excused or protected from the wrath of the law on the ground that he or she lacked knowledge that his or her action constituted a criminal offence. “Certainly, there are multiple offences, including stealing under Section 280 and burglary under Section 306 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015 etcetera. “ However, if they carry out their threats and eventually arraign them for the offence of stealing, for instance, the state will necessarily cross the entire hurdle of establishing all the ingredients of stealing, including, of course, that the items or materials alleged to be stolen belonged to or were owned by the state or other persons other than the present suspects.” He said the burden must be discharged by the prosecutor pursuant to Section 132 of the Evidence Act 2011 and, in this case, beyond every reasonable doubt. “This is likely going to pose an interesting challenge because there is a sense of entitlement and ownership on the part of the suspects over the palliatives they got,” he argued. To this end, Ugwummadu said he could foresee a robust clash between jurisprudence of the law as it is and the responsibility of the state to its citizens. By Joseph Onyekwere Source:https://guardian.ng/news/mass-arrest-of-looters-threatens-prison-decongestion-policy/

Junaid Mohammed, elders statesman and Second Republic federal lawmaker on Wednesday said last week’s attacks on the investments of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests were politically motivated. Speaking in an interview with INDEPENDENT, Junaid said as a citizen of Nigeria who has contributed in no small measures to national development, Tinubu has a right to aspire for the highest office of the land and no amount of sponsored attacks can deny him that right. He said: “First and foremost, I condemn in its entirety the motivation or the reason for the people who carried out the attacks. No matter what one’s attitude towards Tinubu, one cannot justify the attacks on him verbally, attacks on his properties physically and I believe that it is not a crime to be in politics". “Tinubu has done a lot for Lagos in terms of developments and he has also done a lot for the South-West. Even those who are not from his ethnic group cannot deny the fact that there is a difference in the development in Lagos before the Tinubu era and after his era. I am not a member of APC but the fact of the matter is, there is nothing wrong in Tinubu aspiring to be anything". “As far as I am concerned, it is not a crime to want to aspire to be the President of this country or occupy any elective office. It is also a shame that those who have nothing to offer are now targeting people who have done a lot for the country. TVC is a private broadcasting channel; nobody is forced to watch TVC. Clearly, the whole attack is purely politically motivated". “Whether it is motivated against Tinubu’s person or his ambition for the presidency in 2023, the fact of the matter is, Tinubu like any other person is entitled to try his luck and throw his hat into the ring because as a Nigerian, he has absolute right to do so. “That right is undiminished by whatever anybody will say or they will do. No amount of attacks can deny him that right to aspire for the highest office in the land.” By Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos Source;https://www.independent.ng/endsars-no-amount-of-attacks-can-deny-tinubu-right-to-contest-in-2023-junaid-mohammed/

Junaid Mohammed, elders statesman and Second Republic federal lawmaker on Wednesday said last week’s attacks on the investments of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Lagos State governor and National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the aftermath of the #EndSARS protests were politically motivated. Speaking in an interview with INDEPENDENT, Junaid said as a citizen of Nigeria who has contributed in no small measures to national development, Tinubu has a right to aspire for the highest office of the land and no amount of sponsored attacks can deny him that right. He said: “First and foremost, I condemn in its entirety the motivation or the reason for the people who carried out the attacks. No matter what one’s attitude towards Tinubu, one cannot justify the attacks on him verbally, attacks on his properties physically and I believe that it is not a crime to be in politics". “Tinubu has done a lot for Lagos in terms of developments and he has also done a lot for the South-West. Even those who are not from his ethnic group cannot deny the fact that there is a difference in the development in Lagos before the Tinubu era and after his era. I am not a member of APC but the fact of the matter is, there is nothing wrong in Tinubu aspiring to be anything". “As far as I am concerned, it is not a crime to want to aspire to be the President of this country or occupy any elective office. It is also a shame that those who have nothing to offer are now targeting people who have done a lot for the country. TVC is a private broadcasting channel; nobody is forced to watch TVC. Clearly, the whole attack is purely politically motivated". “Whether it is motivated against Tinubu’s person or his ambition for the presidency in 2023, the fact of the matter is, Tinubu like any other person is entitled to try his luck and throw his hat into the ring because as a Nigerian, he has absolute right to do so. “That right is undiminished by whatever anybody will say or they will do. No amount of attacks can deny him that right to aspire for the highest office in the land.” By Temidayo Akinsuyi, Lagos Source;https://www.independent.ng/endsars-no-amount-of-attacks-can-deny-tinubu-right-to-contest-in-2023-junaid-mohammed/

Lagos residents have appealed to the police to return to their duty posts and ensure the safety of lives and property. The appeal was made on Tuesday on social media platforms following the continued absence of the police on Lagos roads. Lagosians reminded the police that it was their job to protect lives and property, urging them to forget the ugly incidents of last week. Some of the residents decried the activities of armed hoodlums, who have taken over major roads and streets since the police retreated, while others lamented the lawlessness of motorists, especially commercial drivers, who park indiscriminately or drive against traffic. Sulaimon Alamutu said PWD, a bus stop along the Agege Motor Road, was a complete mess following the absence of law enforcement officers. Another resident wondered when law enforcement officers would start working again. “Imagine people taking one way from Obalende to Ogudu on Monday morning,” he said. In an open letter to the police on Facebook, a woman, Safiya Musa, apologised on behalf of Nigerians who demonised the service and grouped all operatives in the ‘bad eggs’ basket. She wrote: “Dear Nigeria Police Force, please we apologise on behalf of Nigerians who demonised you. They put everyone in the ‘bad eggs’ basket, and for this we say sorry. “Now we know how important you guys are, and we’ve realised that not all of you are bad. “Please stop being angry and help protect lives and property, while you get rid of the bad eggs among you. We know many of you have low morale at the moment, but please think of Nigeria.” Amarachi Ogbonnaya said she never knew that the police were important. Chioma Veronica said without security operatives, lives and belongings are not safe. Our correspondent observed on Tuesday that policemen were yet to return to the streets, as most duty posts usually mounted by the police before the outbreak of violence last week were still deserted. Officials of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) and the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) were also not seen in parts of the state visited by our reporter. By Precious Igbonwelundu Source:https://thenationonlineng.net/lagosians-ask-police-to-return-to-work/

The Executive Vice Chairman, EVC, of the Nigeria Communication Commission, Umar Danbatta, has revealed that the Ministry of Communication and Digital Economy is planning to reduce the cost of data from N1,000 to N390 per gigabyte. Speaking to journalists in Kano on Saturday, Mr Danbatta disclosed that part of the plan was the new national broadband plan for the year 2020-2025, which says Nigeria must provide broadband connectivity, cover virtually all parts of the country and deploy 4G infrastructure also across the country. According to him, the ministry was tasked to come up with a digital economy policy and strategies, adding that all the efforts put in place are intended to bring the cost of data down to N390 as against the N1,000 that Mobile Network Operators, MNOs, are charging. “Actually the cost has come down to N1,000/gigabyte of data, but the government is saying that we should be targeting N390 in the next 3 to 5 years. To achieve subsidized data cost, according to Mr Dambatta, the country must provide pervasive broadband data infrastructure. “We need pervasive broadband data infrastructure because at the landing point in Lagos, where we have all the submarine cables. You know, that is why we have them. There is the main cable, 133, West African Sea Cable (WASC). And there is the other one which Glo company is trying to deploy. “This, combined, have data capacity of 40 terabyte. This data capacity is at the landing point in Lagos. That is from the coast, where there is ocean. Until and unless you move this massive 40 terabyte data capacity into the hinterland because the undersea cables are terminating in Lagos. “Hinterland consists virtually all the major cities of the country and the 774 Local Governments of Nigeria. Through this way you will be meeting demands for data with appropriate or commensurate supply of data. This is how it will enable Nigerians to pay less data tariff. “But this massive capacity of data at landing cost can’t move itself. There is the need to build fibre cables that can carry this capacity to the hinterland. “We are indeed pursuing the plan. There is infrastructure and company licensing framework that could give the companies the ability to afford to sell the data to the retail agents, who will sell the data to the citizens,” he explained. At the moment, he added, the plan is not happening but is what the country intends to do to bring the cost of data down from N1,000 /gig to N390/gig, adding that the plan is an important policy of the government of President Muhammadu Buhari. The EVC however said Nigeria is among the countries with lowest data cost in the whole Africa. “Following observation of the ranking, which was carried out by reputable global organizations, the commission had found out that Nigeria stands in 4th position among the countries with lowest data tariff on the continent,” Mr Danbatta said. He said Nigeria’s data cost is more than $2, adding that South Africa, despite her economic development, sells data higher than Nigeria and the country is not even among the lowest. “It is true that Nigerians are yearning for low data prices. Nigeria has one of the lowest data tariff in Africa. When we observed the rankings by global reputable organizations, we discovered that in the rankings of data services and cost, we are like number 4. “Virtually all the African countries were listed in the ranking. Our data price is $2 and a few cents. “In South Africa, despite their economic development, they sell data higher than Nigeria. To be honest with you, South Africa is not even among the lowest. Cost of data services doesn’t need to come down,” he said. By Mustapha Usman Source;https://dailynigerian.com/nigerian-government-moves-to-reduce-data-cost-from-n1000-to-n390-per-gig/

As a result of Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri’s harsh stance on vandals and hoodlums who looted items in public and private properties, some of the looters have started returning them to escape severe sanctions. Reports indicated that a number of residents of Yola and Jimeta have started returning the stolen items to their wards heads while some dropped them on the roads for the authorities to pick. Some of the items returned include fridges, tractor parts, water pumps, office furniture, medical equipment and bags of fertilizer. The governor has during the broadcast gave the hoodlums a grace of 12 hours within which to bring the items to the nearest police station or traditional rulers from wards to district heads. The governor threatened that he will sign an executive order to ensure the revocation of the C of O or outright demolition of any house that harbours stolen items. It would be recalled that the state has witnessed a near breakdown of law and order on Sunday and Monday this week as hoodlums take the state under siege and went on a looting spree. Properties vandalized or looted within the state capital include; Customs Office, Federal Road Safety Office, Primary Healthcare Development Agency, NEMA office, COVID-19 Isolation Centre at Kofare, Shamad Concept Nig. Ltd, North East Commodity Association (NECAS), Kofare. Other public and private warehouses in Demsawo, Nyako Quarters, Bakin Kogi, Mayanka, Upper Benue, AADP, LEA, Yola South, Red Cross opposite FMC, Aliyu Mustafa College; Dr Belel’s workshop, private farms amongst others were also vandalized and looted. TheEconomic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC)has beseeched Justice Mohammed Liman of the Federal High Court in Lagos to dismiss the no-case submission filed by suspected internet fraudster, Ismail Mustapha, also known as Mompha, who is standing trial over an alleged N32.9 billion fraud. By Niyi Olugbemi,Yola Source:https://tribuneonlineng.com/hoodlums-return-looted-items-in-adamawa/amp/