Nnamdi Kanu drags Buhari govt, Kenya to international tribunal, demands freedom

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Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, has dragged Nigeria and Kenya before an international tribunal over his rearrest and rendition.

Kanu is demanding to be restored to his initial state before rearrest.

The IPOB leader, through his counsel, Aloy Ejimakor, petitioned the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights over his rearrest.

Kanu said he was a free man before his rearrest, hence the tribunal should restore that status.

A statement by Ejimakor said the Nigerian and Kenyan governments must give an account of the extraordinary rendition of the IPOB leader.

‘Nnamdi Kanu didn’t jump bail, will prove how FG made him flee Nigeria’ – Lawyer, Ejimakor

According to Ejimakor: “A few days ago, I commenced a continental legal action against Nigeria and Kenya before the African Commission on Human and Peoples Rights, demanding accountability for the extraordinary rendition of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.

“Both countries also have extradition laws that prohibit this sort of reprehensible conduct that saw Kanu to Nigeria.

“Particularly, extraordinary rendition is expressly prohibited under the African Charter, where It provides in pertinent part that “A State may not transfer (e.g. deport, expel, remove, extradite) an individual to the custody of another State unless it is prescribed by law and in accordance with due process and other international human rights obligations. Extraordinary rendition, or any other transfer, without due process is prohibited”.

“A victim of extraordinary rendition is entitled to remedies mandated by the Charter.

“Therefore, among many other reliefs, I requested that Kanu be restored to his state of being before the rendition, which state of being was that he travelled to Kenya on his British passport and was duly admitted as such and as a free man.

“Further, that no valid territorial jurisdiction can issue from an act of extraordinary rendition because Kanu is, technically speaking, still in Kenya.

“I also requested the Commission to adopt other urgent measures as the Commission sees fit in the circumstances to protect Nnamdi Kanu in the interim.

“Any nation that dabbles in extraordinary rendition has unwittingly brought impediments to her territorial jurisdiction. So, Nigeria, whether it admits it or not, has triggered a hornets’ nest that has, for the first time, brought the international legal order to bear on the matter of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu.”

A few weeks ago, Kanu was rearrested and repatriated from an unspecified African country.

Though the Nigerian government has been silent on the country, it is widely believed that Kanu was nabbed in Kenya.

Since his return, the IPOB leader has been in custody of the Department of State Services, DSS, following an order by Justice Binta Nyako of an Abuja Federal High Court.

On Monday, DSS, however, failed to produce Kanu in court due to logistics reason.

Against this backdrop, Justice Nyako had adjourned the matter till October.

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After allegedly collecting N100 million ransom and promised to release in batches, students of Bethel Baptist School Kaduna in their captivity ,the gunmen reneged on their promise and have asked for a fresh N50 million ransom before they would release the remaining 83 students

A close source told journalists that “after the parents contributed N100 million for the release of their children, the bandits ended up releasing only 28 of them, promising that others will be released in batches. Now they are demanding an additional ransom of N50 million to release the remaining 83 students in their custody.

The parents are hopeless and devastated by this development having sold everything they had to raise N100 million that was given to the bandits.”

But the President of the Baptist Conference, Kaduna, Rev. Ishaya Jangado, who is also the proprietor of the school, said he was not aware of the fresh demand, as there was no update from the bandits.

“Up till now there is no update, we are still waiting for them to release the remaining students,” he said .
It could be recalled that President of the Nigerian Baptist Convention, Rev. Israel Akanji, had said that the church did not pay any ransom for the release of the students.

According to him, he was not in a position to say whether the parents and well-wishers paid ransom to the bandits, pointing out that “there are parents, well-wishers and neighbours who are struggling for the children to be released, therefore we cannot really restrict people from their actions in getting the children out, but as a group we do not believe in paying ransom.”

Akanji had said probably, some must have been involved in certain ways but he could not answer for them.

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Rachel Oniga, veteran Nollywood actress, is dead

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1 day ago

July 31, 2021

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Rachel Oniga, a highly respected Nollywood actress, is dead, according to reports.

Reports of her death filtered in on Saturday morning and Bimbo Oshin, also a notable name in the movie industry, posted the news on Instagram page.

Heaven has just gained another beautiful soul. Aunty Racheal. Ha!” she wrote on Instagram.

Samklef, a music artiste, also posted the about the death of the actress but did not go into details.

There are reports that she died at a COVID-19 Isolation Centre in Lagos but we can’t independently verify this.

Born on 23 May, 1957, in Ebute Metta, Lagos, She began her acting career in 1993.

Before she made her major acting debut in Nollywood with “Onome,” Oniga worked briefly at Ascoline Nigeria Limited, a Dutch Consultancy firm.

She hailed from Eku in Delta State.

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The founder of the church, Bishop David Oyedepo explained that the construction of the roads was part of the church’s Corporate Social Responsibility which is meant to ease the movement of worshippers to and from church, as well as make transportation more comfortable for all commuters.

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