Chioma

The North East Chairman and Commander of Hunters/Vigilantes (Sarkin Baka) in Hawul Local Government Area of Borno State, Shawulu Yohanna, has arrested some people supplying food to Boko Haram and recovered N6.050million in their possession. The development followed calls by concerned residents in Hawul and other communities of Garkida town of Adamawa State including Ishaku Yakubu, Mohammed Madu, Isa Mwajim and Peter John demanding Chairman, Senate Committee on Army, Mohammed Ali Ndume, and Chief of Army Staff, General Farouk Yahaya, to deploy troops of ‘Operation Hadin Kai’ to the axis to protect lives and property of people as ahead of yuletide. The community has come under series of attacks by terrorists and have since been without military formations since the beginning of the Boko Haram crisis. The arrest of the Boko Haram food suppliers and recovery of over N6million was coordinated by Yohanna at the fringes of Sangere community bordering Tashan Alade, Sabon Gari and some parts of Askira Uba council area where Brigadier General Dzarma Zurkusu and four other soldiers were ambushed and killed by terrorists during operations in the theatre last month. “The North East Chairman of Hunters, Alhaji Yohanna, and his team did a wonderful job this week. They acted on intelligence information that was given to them by some farmers. “The farmers volunteered and hinted Yohanna that they usually sighted a truck conveying food items into the fringes of Sangare Village. If you are in Sangare, there are roads that will link you to some parts of Sabon Gari in Damboa Local Government, the other road will take you to Askira-Uba axis or Garkida and even to Hawul Local Government Area. “Upon receiving the information, Yohanna mobilised his team and stormed the spot in the evening. Luckily, the team sighted the vehicle after its owner was about to hand over the food items to the terrorists, they (hunters) engaged them with fire and captured the driver and some other two occupants, while the terrorists fled having known the terrain better than their suppliers. “After arrest, Yohanna interrogated the driver and the two occupants and they admitted that they have been supplying Boko Haram with food items for quite some time from Taraba State. They also told the hunters that they do supply even the commander of kidnappers in Taraba with food items. @gmail “As it is, Yohanna and his team have already handed over the suspects to the Commanding Officer of the 231 Battalion, Biu in Borno State for further action,” a source disclosed. By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/04/suppliers-food-items-boko-haram-borno-nabbedidahorpretty

The Budget Office of the Federation has said restructuring Nigeria into six regions is pivotal to reducing the high cost of governance. It noted that the number of ministers also needs to be pruned and the number of political office holders and their aides reduced, lamenting that the huge recurrent expenditure had constrained the provision of good roads, steady power supply, health care services, quality education and quality shelter etc. This, it said, had contributed to observable underperformance of the economy, slow growth and current infrastructural challenges. These recommendations were contained in a report by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission at its Third National Summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector, held at the State House Conference Centre, Abuja on Tuesday. The event, with the theme, ‘Corruption and cost of governance: New imperatives for fiscal transparency’, was attended by the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.); the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Tanko Mohammed; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Mrs Zainab Ahmed and the Chairman of ICPC, Prof Bolaji Owasanoye (SAN), among others. The ICPC report referenced the Budget Office as blaming the high cost of governance on bloated cabinet size, high cost of elections, corrupt budget practices, multiplicity of Ministries Departments and Agencies and high number of political office holders and their aides. It said a direct result of the expensive governance structure was that less than 30 per cent of Federal Government’s resources were available to fund the much needed capital projects. However, the Budget Office, according to the document, recommended that government should “prioritise completion of ongoing projects, restructure Nigeria into six regions and reduce the number of ministers, and build a more efficient civil service and conduct periodic staff audit.” It added that “MDAs should consider government fiscal position in reviewing salaries, adopt a cost- effective electoral system and limit the number of aides of political office holders.” While highlighting the drivers of the high cost of governance, the document quoted the Budget Office as saying that Nigeria has a large cabinet with 27 ministers, 16 ministers of state and 27 ministries, adding that MDAs raise their personnel cost by engaging in indiscriminate recruitment without clearance from the Budget Office. Nigeria has about 934 MDAs with duplicated functions and 541 public corporations and enterprises. It noted further that high cost of elections and resultant litigation contribute to the high cost of governance in Nigeria and that the current structure/size of the federal bureaucracy was clearly unsustainable for the size of the economy. “The high number of political office holders and their aides also adds to the high cost of governance,” it added. The Budget Office lamented that personnel cost for the past three years gulped N9.7tn, adding that cost of governance had generally been on the rise and personnel costs represent significant proportion of the spending. According to the report, MDAs’ recurrent spending rose from N3.61tn in 2015 to N5.26tn in 2018 and N7.91tn in 2020. This excludes the costs of government-owned enterprises and transfers to the National Assembly and the National Judicial Council. “Recurrent spending accounted for 40 per cent of actual recurrent spending in 2020 while overhead was just three per cent. Cost of governance has generally been on the rise and personnel costs represent a significant proportion of the spending,” it added. The President, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and several other leaders had repeatedly stated the need to reduce the cost of governance, but not much has been done to actualise it. Meanwhile, there has been an increasing public clamour for restructuring, with sociopolitical groups like Afenifere, Ohanaeze, Pan Niger Delta Forum, the Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum, Northern Elders Forum, Arewa Consultative Forum and the Coalition of Northern Groups insisting that it is the only way the country could return to the path of progress. The Presidency had in response to the agitations asked the proponents to approach the National Assembly with their request. Why we can’t punish those behind budget duplication – Budget Office The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, on Friday disagreed with the ICPC, saying only 185 projects were found to be duplicated in the 2021 budget, and not 257 as announced by the commission. He said it was beyond the responsibility of the Budget Office to discipline those responsible for the duplication because the staff of the MDAs who prepare their budgets were not answerable to his office. He however argued that errors were inevitable since the budget was prepared by human beings but that those culpable for the “willful duplication” of projects should be fished out by the ICPC and prosecuted. The ICPC chairman had at the summit said 257 projects amounting to N20.138bn were duplicated in the 2021 budget. Akabueze, who spoke on Channels Television’s ‘Sunrise daily’ on Friday, stated that some of the projects identified by the ICPC were not duplicated but had description challenge. He said, “The ICPC came up with a report which they sent to us about duplicated projects in the budget. We did our own review and found that 54 of those projects were actually not duplicated. There were issues with project description, which made them look the same. “Every project in the budget has a unique identifier and for the projects found to be duplicated, funding was withheld. 185 (projects) were found to be duplicated, 54 were not.” Akabueze said there were about 20,000 projects in the budget and that if only about 200 projects were duplicated, it amounts to about 0.01 per cent. He added that the total MDAs’ in the budget estimate was under N4trn, and that the duplicated projects valued at about N20bn was about 0.005 per cent. He added, “Every system has a level of tolerance in terms of error. It is human beings that prepared it, some may be erroneous, some may be willful duplication but the important thing is that there is self-correcting mechanism. The best of systems in the world have audit attached to them because there is an acknowledgement that something can go wrong. We work collectively with the ICPC and it is part of its role as correcting mechanism.” He however said the Budget Office was working towards a zero level of such duplications. He added, “At the level of the Budget Office, what we do is withhold funding for such projects and to that extent, it doesn’t create the sort of problem you alluded to; misuse of state resources.” “As to the discipline of those people, that is outside of our own responsibilities; we look to the day where we have a structure within the budget office where the budget office can deploy its own personnel across the MDAs…to hold them directly accountable. The staff who are involved in preparing this budget in the MDAs are not accountable to the budget office and we have no line of responsibility to question them.” He said the ICPC with its investigative powers should invite the people involved to find out if the duplications were willful actions intended to defraud the government or they were erroneous. By Tunde Ajaja, Tope Omogbolagun and Kayode Oyero Source:https://punchng.com/cost-of-governance-restructure-nigeria-into-six-regions-budget-office-tells-fg/?amp

A representative of Lagos State governor, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, was on Friday night booed by participants at this year’s ‘Experience’ concert organised by the House on the Rock Church. Many of the attendees, who pointed their thumb downwards as the official spoke and asked God for blessings on Lagos and its people, soon started booing and making different sounds to show their disapproval with his presence and speech. In a video of the incident seen by SaharaReporters, the crowd increased the tempo of the booing and noise as the Lagos official tried his best to pass across the governor’s message calling for unity and peace among the people of Lagos. A post shared by Sahara Reporters (@saharareporters) It took the intervention of Senior Pastor of House on the Rock Church and Convener of the yearly worship concert, Paul Adefarasin, to stop the angry crowd from going on with their display of anger and disapproval of Governor Sanwo-Olu’s representative. Friday’s event came days after the Lagos State governor denied the killing of peaceful protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate by military personnel and policemen on October 20, 2020. The governor, through the release of a White Paper, debunked the findings and recommendations made by a Judicial Panel of Inquiry it had set up earlier to look into the causes of the EndSARS protest and the shooting of demonstrators on that fateful night. The panel in its report stated that at least nine persons were killed by soldiers at Lekki Toll Gate on that date while several others were left with life-threatening wounds as a result of being hit by bullets. The panel report urged the Lagos Government and other relevant authorities to punish all those involved in the killing of innocent protesters. But in a swift response to the indictment by the panel’s report, Governor Sanwo-Olu created another four-member committee to come up with a White Paper on the findings of the JPI. In the White Paper, the Lagos State Government described the claim of the panel that nine persons were shot dead as “assumptions and speculations”. The Federal Government has since backed Sanwo-Olu’s administration into claiming that there was no massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020. Several rights groups from around the world including the United States, United Nations, European Union have all called on the Lagos and federal governments to implement the recommendations of the JPI report headed by Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria. The EndSARS protest was one of the most historic events of 2020. Young people from across Nigeria took to the streets in large numbers to demand an end to police brutality and improved performance from elected officials in government. The demonstration grew so large that prominent people around the world including music stars Beyonce, Rihanna and Nicki Minaj all raised their voices in support of the protesters. One year after that historic march by young Nigerians, nothing has changed as police harassment, brutality and bad governance have all been on the rise in the country. By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/04/representative-lagos-governor-sanwo-olu-booed-%E2%80%98experience%E2%80%99-concert-days-after-release

But for his untimely and gruesome death earlier in the week, the household of the Oromonis was supposed to buzz with excitement as Sylvester Oromoni (Jnr), a Junior Secondary School two pupil at Dowen College, Lekki, Lagos, would have clocked at 12 today. His painful exit on Tuesday notwithstanding, the family would still mark his birthday posthumously. “We will celebrate his birthday on the 4th of December (today). Please, tell Nigerians to join us,” Sylvester junior’s bereaved father, Sylvester Oromoni, told City Round on Thursday; his voice steeped in grief. This is just as the Lagos State Government shut down the school on Friday till further notice to allow the police carry out thorough investigations on the circumstances surrounding the teenager’s demise. The news of his death went viral on Wednesday following a social media post by his cousin, Perry Oromoni, who alleged that some senior pupils of the college beat him up for refusing to join a cult. Speaking to one of our correspondents on Thursday, Sylvester Snr said his late son had complained of being bullied by one of the senior pupils about three months earlier. He added that he had sent his elder son to notify the school authorities of the issue and was given the assurance that it would be resolved. The father said, “Two Sundays ago, we got a call that the boy was hospitalised and had injuries in the legs while playing football with his mates. I sent his guardian to go and pick him up but when he got there he said my son complained of pains all over his body, including his stomach. He kept on complaining but didn’t talk when asked what happened. We saw the fear in him but he refused to talk.” The father also said that the guardian – his eldest son – who picked up Sylvester Jnr called to inform him that his condition was critical. He said, “Last week, I went to Lagos to bring him to Warri (Delta State). I flew from Asaba to Lagos. Since this thing happened till he died on Tuesday, he could not sleep throughout the night. He would be complaining of pains in his chest and legs. We did a test and tried to massage his legs. There was no dislocation or fracture; it was his ankle, waist, stomach and thighs that were swollen and his mouth was peeling. “On Monday, he told us that some senior pupils entered the hostel; five of them – four in SS2 and one in SS1. He said he was on his bed and they entered the hostel and flogged him with a belt. He said he fell from the bed and they kicked him and trampled on his body. I asked why he didn’t tell us all this while but he said he was scared because the seniors had threatened to kill his roommates if any of them revealed what happened. He said the boys told him to lie that he fell while playing with other pupils.” Sylvester added that following a scan run on the boy, a doctor said he suffered “liver enlargement and that congealed blood had gathered by the side of the liver.” Some video clips obtained by City Round showed Sylvester Jnr writhing in pain, moaning to every move and touch to his legs and back. His ankles were swollen while his dried lips were caked with blood. He could barely walk as he was helped to the laboratory and the convenience. School denies torture But while commiserating with the deceased’s family, the school in a statement signed by the principal on Wednesday denied that Sylvester Jnr was tortured. It claimed that on November 21, one of the hostel parents reported to the management that the boy was injured while playing football and a resident nurse immediately administered first aid on him after which he returned to his hostel room. The statement read in part, “He was in class on Monday, 22nd day of November 2021, but during (the) school hours, one of his friends accompanied him to the sickbay where he complained of some pain in his hip. The doctor examined him and prescribed ibuprofen for the pain, while the nurse massaged his leg, after which he felt a bit better. “In accordance with the school policy, the resident doctor called his mother reporting the incident and requesting that she come for him so that he could get further medical attention. The mother however said she was not in Lagos, spoke and prayed with him on the phone and promised to send the guardian to pick him up immediately for further medical attention.” The statement further said that the doctor called Sylvester’s mother again the next day when the guardian failed to show up, adding that the guardian eventually showed up and took him for X-ray, which revealed that no part of his body was broken or injured. It added, “The resident doctor also called the mother later in the week to check up on his progress but she informed the doctor that he was sleeping at the time. The principal also spoke with the mother on the phone to enquire about his progress and she reported that he was having a massage and gave the phone to him to speak with the principal. “As a result, it came as no small shock to us to read social media tales that he was beaten by some students and that he specifically mentioned some names. We immediately commenced investigations and invited the students allegedly mentioned for an interview. His guardian was also present during the interviews, which revealed that nothing of such happened. Lagos shuts school till further notice Meanwhile, the Lagos State Ministry of Education on Friday closed the school pending when the police would conclude investigation into the incident. A statement by the Assistant Director, Public Affairs, Lagos State Ministry of Education, Mr Ganiu Lawal, said the Commissioner of Education, Mrs Folasade Adefisayo, announced the closure after a meeting with the management of the school. “The Lagos State Government has ordered the indefinite closure of Dowen College, Lekki, pending the outcome of an investigation into the death of Sylvester Oromoni Jnr, a student of the school,” the statement read in part. Adefisayo also called for calm, saying effort would be made to get to the root of the incident. Also, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar on Friday demanded justice for the late Sylvester via his Twitter handle. He wrote, “We shall be failing in our duties as parents/guardians, administrators, security agencies and government if we do not get to the bottom of the case of the late Sylvester Oromoni. It is beholden to us to enthrone a safe environment in our schools. #Justiceforsylvester.” By Afeez Hanafi and Janet Ogundepo Source:https://punchng.com/despite-our-grief-well-celebrate-sylvesters-12th-birthday-today-father-of-late-dowen-college-pupil/

Nigeria's anti-graft agency, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has arrested three suspects at the Malam Aminu Kano International Airport (MAKIA), Kano while attempting to smuggle 1,144 Automated Teller Machine (ATM) cards out of the country. The suspects were identified as Abdullahi Usman, Musa Abubakar and Abdulwahid Auwalu. They trio were arrested between November 24 and December 1, 2021 by state zonal command of the agency. Spokesperson for the agency, Wilson Uwajaren said the suspects would soon be charged to court. He said Abubakar was found with 714 ATM cards while Usman had 298 ATM cards with him. Abubakar was going to UAE while Usman was going to Saudi Arabia. The third suspect, Abdulwahid, was found with 132 ATM cards while trying to go to Istanbul, Turkey via Ethiopian Airlines. In a related development, a Federal High Court in Ibadan, Oyo State, presided over by Justice Uche Agomoh on Thursday convicted and sentenced two internet fraudsters, Ogunrinde Olugbenga Akanbi and Olusegun Akinwunmi Eyinade to ten months and three months in prison respectively, on separate charges bordering on fraudulent impersonation. The charge against Ogunrinde reads: “That you, Ogunrinde Olugbenga Akanbi “M” on or about the 11th day of February, 2021 within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court fraudulently impersonated one Iga Swiatek, a female Tennis player from Warsaw, Poland via your Facebook account with Gmail address- swiatekiga105@gmail.com, with intent to gain monetary advantage for yourself and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 22(2)(b)(i) of the Cybercrimes (Prohibition, Prevention, etc) Act, 2015 and punishable under section 22(2)(b) of the same Act." By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/03/three-suspected-fraudsters-arrested-1144-atm-cards-nigerias-kano-airport

The Governor of Zamfara State, Bello Matawalle has barred officials of o, Departments and Agencies from giving journalists information about the government. With the new directive, only the information ministry, information commissioner and the Special adviser on media to Governor Matawalle are allowed to speak to journalists about the programmes of the government. The state information commissioner, Alhaji Ibrahim Dosara disclosed this on Thursday while addressing members of the Correspondents Chapel in Gusau, the state capital. He noted that to curb the spread of fake news, only his ministry will give out information henceforth. He said the decision was taken in "view of the security situation in the state and the mismanagement of information where everybody takes his own opinion and chips in on behalf of the government". He said, ”This further aggravates the issues of security challenges in the state, and the executive council, in one of its resolutions during its last meeting decided to centralise information. “Council took the decision to have control and to avert the series of misinformation which is leading to further aggravate the insecurity in the state. “Henceforth, it’s only the ministry of Information or the Commissioner for Information that is allowed to speak on behalf of the government, while the Special Adviser on Media to the governor, is the only person allowed to speak on behalf of the governor. “These two people are the custodians of information of the government of Zamfara state as far as the present predicament is concerned. “We also appeal to journalists to take it as a working tool that is making it easier for you to have access to the information you are looking for to write your reports. “Anybody that speaks to you on behalf of the government if it is not the commissioner for Information or the SA to the governor on Media, that information is invalid as far as Zamfara state government is concerned.” By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/03/zamfara-governor-matawalle-bars-government-officials-granting-press-interviews

Globacom and Emerging Markets Telecommunication Service Limited are set to miss out on the deployment of Fifth Generation network for at least two years as the Nigerian Communications Commission qualifies MTN Nigeria Plc, Airtel Networks Limited and one new player for its 5G auction. The NCC announced on Thursday only three qualified bidders met its criteria for the licensing process for the 3.5 gigahertz spectrum which is required for 5G deployment. These three companies paid at least $19.74m each in order to qualify, it was learnt. In a statement, the commission said, “The qualified bidders that have met the criteria for participation in the licensing process of 3.5Ghz spectrum, including payment of the stipulated Intention to Bid Deposit as outlined in the Information Memorandum, are MTN Nigeria Plc, Mafab Communications Limited, and Airtel Networks Limited.” According to the document released by the Federal Government, “Applicants must transfer an IBD corresponding to a lot into the designated account in cleared funds not later than 17.00 hours West African Time on November 24, 2021. “A bank guarantee, or similar instruments, will not be acceptable. This deposit will bind the applicant to take up a licence, should it be a successful bidder, at the reserve price or any higher bid value submitted during the process.” The commission pegged the IBD at 10 per cent of the reserve price for the spectrum ($197.40m). NCC official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the matter said Glo and 9mobile did not submit any application to partake in the process. The commission said, “At the close of the bid submission date of November 29, 2021, three companies, namely MTN Nigeria, Mafab Communications Limited and Airtel Networks Limited had successfully submitted their bids in line with the requirements of the IM.” According to the NCC, only the three companies would participate in the main auction as well as in the mandatory mock auction process set to hold in December 2021. In the IM, the commission had earlier disclosed that it was only offering two lots of 100 MHz TDD Spectrum in the 3.5 GHz band ranging from 3500 – 3600 MHz and 3700 – 3800 MHz for auction. This implies only two of the three companies would emerge with capability to offer 5G services after the auction. During a 5G stakeholder meeting in Lagos, the NCC disclosed that it would make three more lots available for auction in 24 months after most of the telecommunication companies questioned the commission for making only two lots available. By Temitayo Jaiyeola Source:https://punchng.com/glo-missing-as-ncc-qualifies-mtn-airtel-new-firm-for-5g-auction/

The Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has alleged that some Fulani herdsmen are planning to attack some towns in Anambra and Imo states. The group accused Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodinma of being behind the planned attacks, urging concerned residents to be vigilant. The group identified the communities the assailants are planning to raid as including Ibiasoegbe, Mgbidi, Nnempi, Orlu and Akata in Imo State, as well as Ihiala and Ubuluisiuzor in Anambra State. In a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Thursday, IPOB spokesperson, Emma Powerful urged traditional rulers and local authorities to mobilise their youths against the alleged attacks. The statement read, "The attention of the global family of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) ably led by our great leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has been drawn to the recent plot and plan by Supreme Court Administrator Hope Uzodinma to use Fulani terrorists in Nigerian army uniforms to attack more communities in Biafra land. "We, therefore, want to advise the following communities to be careful and watchful against the impending evil. They must not be taken unawares. "IPOB intelligence unit uncovered this wicked plot, hence the decision of the IPOB leadership to alert the affected communities of this impending attack. "The communities according to our intelligence include Ibiasoegbe Imo State, Ihiala Anambra State, Mgbidi in Imo State, Ubuluisiuzor Anambra State, Nnempi in Imo State, Orlu, Imo State, and Akata, Imo State. "We want the traditional rulers, and other local authorities in these communities to be at alert and mobilise their youths to be vigilant and watch out against any invasion by terrorists under any guise. "They should mount cameras and use drones to capture the scene as evidence against these criminals who must one day certainly stand trial at the Hague. "We want to place our people, and indeed the world on notice of the ongoing secret genocide in Biafra land. The most annoying thing is that after committing these atrocities, the Nigerian Government and its agents of death still point accusing fingers at innocent IPOB members and the Eastern Security Network, ESN operatives. "Our oppressors have continued their systematic killing of our youths and burning down of communities in different parts of Biafra land. mentioned here. Our people must unite against this barbarity. "Our enemies are not relenting. They want to continue the orgy of violence and senseless killings witnessed in the wake of the Anambra governorship election. Before the election, the oppressors and their recruited hoodlums in their desperation to take over Anambra spilt a lot of blood including that of Dr. Chike Akunyili, the widower of Professor Dora Akunyili who they eliminated because of her hard stance against fake drugs. "Now these agents of death are on the prowl again across Biafra land. Our people must be vigilant and resist them. IPOB will stop at nothing in ensuring our people enjoy peace and safety, especially in this festive season. We did it before, we shall do it again. "Biafra land must witness peace again no matter how hard the enemies try to unleash mayhem. Don't forget that soon after ESN was launched in December last year criminality went down across Biafra land but the oppressors who were embittered that Biafra was the safest place planned to destabilise the region and make it as insecure as the North. But CHUKWUOKIKEABIAMA shall defend our cause." By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/02/ipob-alleges-fulani-herdsmen-are-planning-attacks-anambra-imo-communities

The Agbekoya Solidarity Movement has called for the immediate release of Yoruba freedom fighter, Sunday Adeyemo, aka Sunday Igboho as they condemned his continued detention in a prison in Benin Republic. On Thursday, members of the association took to the streets around Mapo Hall in Ibadan carrying placards boldly demanding the release of Igboho whom they claimed was fighting for their rights. Addressing journalists, the leader of the group said Yoruba leaders can never go before Buhari to plead for the release of Igboho, noting that the agitator never committed any crime. According to them, the demand for self-determination is constitutional and legal especially with the perceived oppression of Yoruba people by the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government. The group had approached the palace of the Olubadan of Ibadan, Oba Saliu Adetunji, with a letter that contains the demands of the group. They requested that the king present the letter to President Buhari on their behalf. The leader of the group said, “We have come to present a letter to the king that we want to know Igboho's crime, we will never go to beg Buhari. Rather than prostrate ourselves before a northerner, it is better to die. Igboho has not committed any crime, let Baba present this letter to Buhari because we know the Nigerian government is behind this case. Igboho before now used to trade with the Benin Republic. “If Buhari's government refuses to leave Igboho, they will face the wrath of Agbekoya. When we planned our rally initially, they said the police were coming to stop us but now, who came out? No one. ”We are, by this letter, calling for self-determination. We are the most educated people in Nigeria. We cannot allow one Hausa (Fulani) man to rule over us. Let us go back to the 1960 constitution else we sit and draft another. No one can be cheating the other, it is either we change this constitution or there will be no election in 2023. We will give it all it takes. We don't have guns, cutlasses or any other but we have charms. “They have released Boko Haram militants, Igboho has not done anything, he should be released. We are suffering and we are tired. Leave Sunday Igboho and let peace reign. We are telling Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu now, we used to be your friend but not anymore, release Sunday Igboho so that peace will reign and the most anticipated election will hold.” Also speaking, the Public Relations Officer of the group, Olusegun said, “ We have come for a rally because of Igboho. We are pleading with the Federal government and all those who are behind this case, we know their names but we won't mention them because we aren't sycophants, they should release Igboho so this doesn't backfire. “Particularly, Yoruba land operates a very democratic system of government, we have the right to self-determination from this oppressive government. Igboho is a freedom fighter, he was not fighting for his own rights but the common man. ”We warn that if they ask the police to come after us, it will be very bad. We have simply come out to state what we want, we have killed no one neither have we destroyed properties but we have come out peacefully. “We might have warriors but we will never shed blood and we all believe in God's commandment that we should be obedient to the constituted authority. ”When we call for self-determination, we have not gone outside the law. There are countries all over the world that have separated from a major country though some of them involved bloodshed, we don't want that and that's why we have been peaceful whereas some of those countries have not experienced half of what we are experiencing now before they felt it was time for self-determination. ”There are laws that allow Yoruba people to call for self-determination and have sovereignty over their own land.” By SaharaReporters, New York Source:http://saharareporters.com/2021/12/02/wed-rather-die-bow-buhari-northerner-beg-igbohos-release%E2%80%94yoruba-farmers-union-agbekoya