http://www.billionblaster.com
- Get Up to 1 Billion Visitors Seeing Your Ad and Visiting Your Site 100% Free.
The Ultimate System For Getting Tons of Free Website & Ad Exposure! Try Out
The Internets Best Free Web Traffic
Generator Now!

Ekiti Tribunal views video of attack on reporters at Govt House

For the third time within a week, judges, lawyers, politicians and members of the public at the Ekiti State Election Petitions Tribunal yesterday watched a video clip of how three journalists were brutalised by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs at the Government House.

The tribunal had earlier on watched clips of how election observers were beaten up by suspected PDP thugs.

The journalists, who testified before the five-man panel of justices hearing the dispute over the April 25 governorship rerun election, said their "offence" was that they discovered illegal thumb-printing of ballot papers by the thugs inside a small room in the Government House.

The video of the assault on the journalists who came to cover the rerun from Rivers State was shown by a witness, Mr. Busuyi Adesokan.

It was admitted as an exhibit by the tribunal which dismissed the respondents’ objection.

Testifying yesterday before the tribunal, one of the journalists, Mr. Gospel Osiri, Petitioner Witness 41 (PW 41), who works for The National Guide newspapers, broke down and wept as he watched how he was beaten by thugs in the Government House.

It was the continuation of the hearing of the petition filed by the Action Congress (AC) candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who is challenging the declaration of the PDP’s Mr. Olusegun Oni as governor on May 5 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The Tribunal Chairman, Mr. Justice Hamma Barka, in a ruling overruled the respondents’ objections to the admissibility of the video clip marked Exhibit 20, stressing that it was pleaded and frontloaded by the petitioners in accordance with Section 1 (1) of the Practice Direction.

Tendering the video clip, Adesokan, PW 38, told the tribunal that he recorded the attack on reporters when he visited his brother at the Government House.

He said he used a small camera to record the incident after which he transferred it to the Video Compact Disc (VCD).

AC counsel Chief Anthony Adeniyi requested that the video clip be shown for all to see.

The court watched the horror visited on the journalists by the suspected PDP thugs who slapped, beat, kicked and inflicted injuries on the hapless journalists for stumbling on the thumb-printing of ballot papers.

A former woman media aide to Oni was seen in the video as one of the supervisors of the attack on the reporters.

From the video watched at the tribunal, the journalists were forced into a small living room in the Government House where all forms of torture were administered on them. They were interrogated by a former woman media assistant to Oni.

The third witness, Mr. Itogo Ofem, PW 39, who works for Verite newspapers in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, identified their tormentors as PDP thugs and Oni’s supporters.

Ofem revealed that their mission in the Government House was to see the Chairman of the Media and Publicity Committee of the Segun Oni Campaign Organisation (SOCO) when the thugs numbering about 50 attacked them and made away with their personal effects.

He said although they explained their mission in the Government House to the thugs, they were not ready to listen to them, adding that they were dragged into a small room where they were beaten by the thugs who branded them as "AC spies".

Ofem told the tribunal that some State Security Service (SSS) operatives came to their rescue and whisked them to their office.

They were subjected to another round of interrogation before they were released.

He said they were later taken to the Government House Clinic for initial medical attention before they were referred to the University Teaching Hospital in Ado-Ekiti.

When being cross-examined by the respondents’ counsel, Ofem said: "We were beaten because we saw a room in the Government House where some PDP members were thumb-printing ballot papers meant for the rerun and because of this, we were beaten and traumatised by the PDP thugs."

Asked whether Oni was there when they were being beaten, Ofem replied that the governor sent messages through the former media aide which, to him, presupposes that the governor knew of the attack on them.

Ofem added that despite the attack on them by the thugs, they still proceeded to Ifaki-Ekiti to monitor the election.

He said they met the same set of thugs who attacked them at the Government House in the town, which is the ancestral home of the governor.

The witness noted that the thugs, who were led by a man simply identified as Ijakoko, did not allow them to monitor the election at a polling unit very close to the town’s roundabout.

Ofem said he had no relationship with the AC but told the tribunal that the party sent a copy of the VCD of the attack on them to their organisations, a development which prompted their editors to direct that they should testify at the tribunal.

Earlier at the sitting, the alleged plot to remove Justice Barka as tribunal chairman featured.

Justice Barka: "When I read of it on the internet, the first thing I said was that ‘Hallelujah, thank God I am going home’."

The issue was raised by Oni’s counsel, Mr. Adebayo Adenipekun (SAN). The tribunal chair said he had been directing the proceedings at the tribunal according to the provisions of the laws.

He said before he got to the state, he had been warned that Ekiti is a peculiar environment.

Justice Barka said he read the reports of the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa (SAN) and the PDP denying their alleged involvement in the plot, adding that he is not moved by media reports.

Reacting to complaints from some quarters over the report of the reaction of the Ekiti in Diaspora to the alleged move to sack him in The Nation, Justice Barka said he loves reading the paper.

Justice Barka said: "I love reading The Nation and I pray that the owners of the paper will peruse the publications and see that people like me will not stop reading the newspaper."

The hearing continues today

Watch Live Soccer Matches

Watch Champions League Live

Fawehinmi ... ‘The people mourn, who’s left?’

Ondo, headquarters of Ondo West Local Government Area, Ondo State, was throbbing with life yesterday.

Traffic was slow. Residents lined the streets, waving excitedly.

It was all for the funeral of the late legal luminary and irrepressible human rights crusader, Chief Ganiyu Oyesola Fawehinmi (SAN).

The body of the social critic and Lomafe of Ondo Kingdom was interred at his palatial home in Oka at exactly 3.22p.m.

The interment followed a lying-in-state at the Oba Adesanoye Civic Centre and prayers for the repose of his soul at the Ondo Central Mosque in Oke-Otunba.

A mammoth crowd followed the body everywhere it was taken, amidst singing, drumming and dancing.

Thousands of Ondo residents lined both sides of the streets as the funeral train left the residence of the Fawehinmis for the Oba Adesanoye Civic Centre where eminent Nigerians, including Governors Olusegun Mimiko (Ondo), Adams Oshiomhole (Edo) and Sule Lamido (Jigawa) paid tributes to Nigeria’s foremost rights activist.

As the funeral train moved slowly to the Civic Centre, the crowd was getting bigger.

The hearse was surrounded by members of the National Conscience Party (NCP) founded by the late legal icon. They carried the red-white-blue flag of the party.

The body, which was placed in a golden casket, was removed by six pall-bearers from the hearse at exactly 10.27 am. They made several stunts with the body on their way to the Civic Centre where a massive crowd was waiting.

The first son of the late Fawehinmi, Mohammed, who rode in a green Toyota Land Cruiser Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV), led other family members to the place where another round of tributes was paid to the fallen hero.

The body arrived at the Civic Centre at exactly 10.37a.m. Many struggled to enter the expansive hall, pushing and shoving. Part of the complex’s glass door was shattered.

The body was received by lawyers, led by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), who is a product of the Gani Fawehinmi Chambers, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo.

The Chairman of Ondo Development Committee (ODC), Prof I.O. Oladapo, opened the floodgate of tributes, describing Fawehinmi’s death as a big loss not only to the Ondo community but to Nigeria.

Mr. Yemi Adefulu, who delivered a speech on behalf of the Gani Fawehinmi Chambers Alumni (GAFCA), described the eminent lawyer as a "multidimensional person who meant many things to many people".

"He was an enigma, he drove us like jackals and he was an emotional person who cried from time to time on the situation in Nigeria and he used law to ensure that we have an egalitarian society in Nigeria," Adefulu said.

Oyetibo, who spoke on behalf of the Lagos Branch of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), said the whole nation was honouring the late Fawehinmi because of the work of his hands.

He noted that the late Fawehinmi criticised and exposed governmental inefficiency and corruption in high places, adding that he used his wealth, energy and time to improve the lot of the poor.

The late Fawehinmi’s body was interred in a plastered and tiled grave beside his mother’s, Alhaja Munirat Ajimo Fawehinmi, who died on September 2, 2003.

His two wives, Ganiyat and Abike wore mournful looks. His first son Mohammed wiped tears off his eyes many times. The second son, Saheed Fawehinmi, could not hold back his tears. The other children, wept. The scenario was tense.

As the gold casket was lowered, Fawehinmi’s second daughter laid her hands on it, weeping and saying O dabo bami (farewell daddy).

The officiating Imam, Alfa Alimi, the chief Imam of Ondo Central Mosque, urged people not to weep for Fawehinmi, but rather pray for the repose of his soul.

Members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) interjected the sermon with solidarity songs.

Mrs. Joe Oke-Odumakin, executive director, Campaign for Democracy (CD), read a tribute sent in by the Nobel laureate, Prof Wole Soyinka, who is said to be away in California.

It reads: "After Gani, weighed beneath loss; the people mourn, who next? Alas, the streets and pavings cry: ‘Who’s left’? Signed: WS a.k.a. Egbon Prof"... as Gani used to call the literary guru.

As Odumakin ended the reading, she presented the wreaths sent in by Soyinka and the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ).

The crowd surged forward, with people anxious to catch a glimpse of the casket.

Students burst into a song: Gani teri yen, hero lo je o (The Fawehinmi we’re talking about remains our hero...)

Prof Itse Sagay, a renowned Law teacher and one of the late Fawehinmi’s close associates, said: "Chief Gani Fawehinmi has fought a good fight; has run his own race successfully; he has accomplished his purpose on earth and has left us behind to carry on the struggle. And the only way we can truly honour him is to carry on the struggle because he has laid the foundation. So, please, let us build on it successfully and to the end."

Mr Femi Falana, President, West African Bar Association (WABA), looked directly at the coffin and said: "Chief, please, as you are leaving us, let your spirit strengthen us, let your spirit energise us, to keep up the struggle from where you left us so that we can build a new Nigeria... And I promise you now that we shall never betray you... Let your dreams come to pass... Thank you chief for saving us and we shall keep up the struggle." The students gave a loud chorus of "Amen" to Falana’s prayers.

The crowd pushed and pressed against one another. Many lost cash and mobile telephone handsets.

The Chief Imam thanked God for giving Nigerians Fawehinmi, adding that God would raise another person with the same spirit, dedication and commitment to fight the cause of the poor. He said: "The testimony today and the revelations of what people are saying about you spoke clearly that God Almighty will not deny you Alujanah Fidau. Your presence here testifies to the fact that (Fawehinmi) you were a man of everything. A brother, a speaker for the oppressed and we really thank Almighty Allah for giving us, you, Gani Oyesola Fawehinmi, Alujonnu (spirit), Omo Tugbobo."

He then went into a long recital of Quranic prayers.

Students were singing: We have decided to hold the struggle; we have decided to hold the struggle; we have decided to hold the struggle, no turning back; no turning back...

The Chief Imam warned that no one should make a "god" out of Gani. "Let me tell you, all those Ogun, Oya and other gods that you all know today were human beings like us. It was after they died that people made them into gods and that is why they (the gods) missed Alujanah.

"So, I beg you that if you love Gani, don’t turn him into a god. Let him just go to his God and find favour with God. None of you must also fight here or after this place. Let Gani rest in peace, if you really love him." More prayers and the body was dropped into the grave.

Mimiko said: "Ladies and gentlemen, on behalf of the good people of Ondo State, I say goodbye to Chief Gani Fawehinmi. By our deeds, we can keep your memory alive forever."

We’ve not adopted Soludo for Anambra 2010 —PDP

The ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has said the era of imposition of candidates on the people is over, stressing that it has not anointed any particular candidate for the February 2010 governorship election in Anambra State .

The party’s national chairman, Prince Vincent Ogbulafor who fielded questions from the State House correspondents on the issue said the PDP would not contemplate denying the Anambra people the right to choose who would govern them.

He dismissed the story making the rounds that the party had settled for the immediate past governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Prof. Chukwuma Soludo as its candidate in next year’s gubernatorial election in the state, urging the public to discountenance such an impression.

The PDP boss said the recent reception in honour of Soludo, which was graced by many of the party bigwigs should not be misconstrued for adoption of his candidacy, saying due process would prevail in the emergence of the party’s candidates.

He stated unequivocally that the state chapter of the party would as required by law hold primaries for the selection of its candidate for the election, adding that Soludo like every other aspirants would follow due process to obtain the party’s form now out if he intended to contest the election.
Ogbulafor, who said the PDP was determined to promote internal democracy within it, pointed out that only the people and not the party would ultimately choose who would be their leader.

“We are deepening democracy and we believe in the party that internal democracy must be upheld. We are not moving to choose anybody. The people in Anambra will choose a candidate of their choice.
“There is no anointed person to be upheld as candidate. Soludo is an aspirant. We are giving the forms out. The forms will go down. He will go to his constituency and pick his nomination form like every other aspirant.

“There is no automatic ticket. When we make it open, it is only then PDP will win election in Anambra. But if we pick somebody, that is when PDP will have problems. Therefore, we will try to democratize the selection of a candidate and it will come from Anambra people. They will select whoever that will govern them.” He stated.

Ogbulafior who also spoke about the purported move to PDP by Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji, said the Abia governor was welcome in the party any time any day if he chose to cross over, adding “like I have been telling people, the umbrella is big enough for the whole nation. It should be a free thing, by free volition and no compulsion”.

Ondo set to receive Gani’s body

The Ondo State government is preparing to receive the body of the late social critic and legal luminary, Chief Gani Fawehinmi whose remains will arrive Akure on Monday.The Commissioner for Information Ranti Akerele yesterday in a press statement said the body would be lied-in-state at the Akure Sports Stadium to allow admirers pay tributes.

Government, according to the statement, has involved all relevant agencies and private organizations to ensure a befitting passage. Akerele said after the lying-in-state, late Fawehinmi’s body would be conveyed in a motorcade to his Oka residence in Ondo, while it would be honoured on the subsequent day by his kinsmen [Ekinmoguns] at the civic centre Ondo town. The programme would be followed by “Janaza” prayer at the Central Mosque Oke-Otunba before burial at Oka Ondo.

I am unhappy Gani will not be at my wedding – 29-year-old daughter

Idiat Fawehinmi, an optometrist and 29-year-old daughter of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, was one of the people at the bedside of the lawyer when he ...

Read full story in Punch Saturday 12, 2009

Welcome

This blog will provide News, gists nd giggs on Nigeria. We get to share our views on current issues and stories on Politics, Sports, Economy, Events etc.

This is our voice!!!