Youth Group Hails Sanwo-Olu As Lagos #EndSARS Panel Submits Report

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November 16, 2021

The Crown Prosecution Service today amended the rape charge against Manchester City footballer, 27 year-old Benjamin Mendy.

He has now been slammed with with two more counts of rape.

The French international is now charged with six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault.

CPS said the charges relate to four women over the age of 16 who claim they were attacked between October 2020 and August 2021.

Mendy’s co-accused, Louis Saha Matturie, 40, of Eccles, Greater Manchester, also faces six counts of rape and one count of sexual assault

The charges relate to four complainants over the age of 16 and are alleged to have taken place between March 2021 and August 2021, CPS said.

The two men have both been summonsed to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court tomorrow, to face the expanded charges.

A trial is set for next year January.

Mendy, of Prestbury, Cheshire, who moved to the reigning champions for in 2017, has been in custody after first being charged with sex attacks in August.

His co-accused Matturie is also in custody.

A court heard previously that the alleged attacks are said to have happened at his home address in Prestbury.

CPS said in a statement today that the decision to charge the two men has been made in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors

“The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for the criminal court to consider

“The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct.

“It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors

Sen. Orji Kalu Visits Palestinian Ambassador, Prays For An End To 54 Years Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (Photos)

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ABN TV EDITOR

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November 16, 2021

Former governor of Abia State, Sen. Orji Uzor Kalu has prayed for an end to the lingering conflict between Israel and Palestine as he visits Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Ahmad N.A. Elkachach.

Sen. Orji Kalu Visits Palestinian Ambassador, Prays For An End To 54 Years Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (Photos) — L-R: Senator orji Uzor kalu, Mrs J. Elkachach And Ahmad N.A. Elkachach

Sen. Kalu, Chief Whip of the Nigerian Senate paid the envoy a visit in Abuja on Monday, ABN TV reports.

Describing the crisis that has rocked the two nations as one of the world’s most enduring conflicts, the lawmaker prayed for a peaceful resolution of the conflict.

On a social media post, he said, “Yesterday, I was a guest to the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, H.E Ahmad N.A. Elkachach and his wife Mrs Joumana Elkachach. We had a cordial conversation and it’s saddening that Israeli–Palestinian conflict has remained one of the world’s most enduring conflicts. It is my prayer that the longstanding conflict gets resolved.

“The conflict has lasted for 54 years and it requires a package of parallel measures by the two sides . I believe in peaceful coexistence and I love peace.

“To find world peace, the whole world must be able to tolerate one another. I consider anyone who can’t genuinely be at peace with others a hypocrite. No price is too much to pay for peace.”

Sen. Orji Kalu Visits Palestinian Ambassador, Prays For An End To 54 Years Israeli–Palestinian Conflict (Photos)

Nomination Forms For Ekiti, Osun Governorship Polls Cost N22.5m – APC

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November 16, 2021

The All Progressives Congress (APC) has announced a total cost of N22.5 million for its nomination and expression of interest forms for members aspiring to contest for the party’s ticket ahead of the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.

This was contained in the timetable and schedule of activities for the elections released by the National Secretary of APC Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC), John Akpanudode.

“The party fixed the sale of the forms at N22.5 million,” the document obtained by Channels Television on Tuesday said. “While the nomination form costs N20 million, the expression of interest form costs N2.5 million.

“However, female aspirants and physically challenged aspirants are to pay 50% of the prescribed fees.”

Akpanudode stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed June 18 and July 16, 2022, to conduct the elections in Ekiti and Osun States respectively.

He explained that the timeline approved by the APC leadership was released in accordance with the provisions of the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.

See the breakdown of the activities, including the party’s primaries in both states below:

Ekiti State

Notice of Election to the State Chapter: Monday 15 November 2021

Sale of Forms (APC National Secretariat): Tuesday 16th November 2021

Last Day for Submission of Completed Forms and accompanying documents (APC National Secretariat): Tuesday 11th January 2022

Screening of Aspirants: Thursday 13th January 2022

Publication of claims and objections: Monday 17th January 2022

Screening Appeals: Wednesday 19th January 2022

PRIMARY ELECTION: Saturday 22nd January 2022

Election Appeal: Wednesday 26th January 2022

Osun State

Notice of Election to the State Chapter: Wednesday 17th November 2021

Sale of Forms (APC National Secretariat): Thursday 18th November 2021

Last Day for Submission of Completed Forms and accompanying documents (APC National Secretariat): Friday 18th February 2022

Screening of Aspirants: Tuesday 22nd February 2022

Publication of claims and objections: Friday 25th February 2022

Screening Appeals: Monday 28th February 2022

PRIMARY ELECTION: Saturday 5th March 2022

Election Appeal: Thursday 10th March 2022

NUPENG Threaten Nationwide Strike, Issues FG 14-Day Ultimatum

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November 16, 2021

The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike and issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government.

NUPENG said it would commence a nationwide strike if some legitimate welfare and membership-related issues are not conclusively addressed at the end of the period.

The ultimatum was contained in a statement released on Monday and jointly signed by NUPENG President, Williams Akhoreha and General Secretary, Olawale Afolabi.

The union said the decision was reached during a special national delegates conference convened last Thursday.

“We write to convey to the public and all relevant government agencies the resolution of the Special National Delegates Conference to issue a 14-day notice of a nationwide industrial action if some legitimate welfare and membership related issues that have been variously resolved in our favour even by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment are not adequately and conclusively addressed and resolved within the next fourteen days.

“This ultimatum takes effect from Monday 15^th November 2021,” the statement read in part.

NUPENG also listed reasons for its resolution to include non-payment of workers’ salaries, title benefits, among others.

It also accused the management of Chevron of terminating the employment of contract workers for joining the union.

This, it said, was despite the fact that the workers had put in between 10 to 20 years in continuous employment and that their jobs were terminated without payment of terminal benefits.

“For the records, these benefits were in line with the subsisting Collective Bargaining Agreement as at the time these workers were laid off. This fact has been severally established but Chevron management unscrupulously short paid these workers and locked them out of its premises.

“In similar manner, Chevron management also terminated the employment of Contract workers in MUYIDEEN (Labour Contractor) and YKISH (Labour Contractor) because these workers consented to join the Union and when the employment of these workers who have variously put in between 10 to 20 years in continuous employment was terminated, no single kobo has been paid to them as terminal benefits.

“There is also the matter concerning PYRAMIDT workers, who for more than 20 years now being moved from one Labour Contractor to another without conditions of service and Union representation/ recognition.

“The struggle for the unionization of these have spanned several years with workers remaining resolute to be members of NUPENG,” the statement added.

The union also claimed that contract workers working in OML 42 of NPDC are being continuously owed salaries and allowances for upwards of 8 to 10 months and all effort to make management of NPDC and the contractors do the needful haven’t received any meaningful attention and actions.

“Nigeria Agip Oil Company and its contractors are also owing contracts workers’ salaries and allowances for upwards of 10 months. These workers are being denied salaries and allowances on very inhuman and wicked excuses that the Contractors are yet to fulfil certain due process, yet this due process is not stopping NAOC from exploiting the skills and sweats of these Nigerians for profits while the workers and their families are wallowing in hardship and poverty.”

“In a similar manner, NAOC has since early 2020 being using the excuse of COVID-19 to keep several of our members away from work while using casual/daily paid workers to do their work even while there is a subsisting contract.”

The union said despite the fact that these issues have been tabled before different government agencies/institutions and they have been resolved, the decisions remain unimplemented while their members keep suffering in excruciating jeopardy.

Bandits Relocating From Zamfara To Kaduna, Niger – Matane

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November 16, 2021

The Secretary to the Niger State Government(SSG), Alhaji Ahmed Matane, said bandits attacking communities in the state are those fleeing from neighbouring states such as Zamfara and Kaduna.

Matane disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Minna.

He explained that the escalation of security challenges in the state as a result of the ongoing operation by security personnel in Zamfara and Kaduna states which had forced the bandits to flee to neighbouring states.

He disclosed that about 18,000 cattle rustled by bandits from communities in the state had ended up in Zamfara.

“These criminals don’t only rustle cattle, they also kidnap human beings and take them to somewhere around Zamfara and Kaduna states.

“Because our state shares borders with other states, we have in recent times suffered the infiltration of bandits and kidnappers crossing over to the state,” the SSS said.

He mentioned some of the local government areas worst hit by the attacks to include Shiroro, Rafi, Munya, Mariga and lately Mashegu as well as Lapai.

He said that many communities displaced and dislocated during the crisis were now taking shelter in Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs) camps in the state.

Matane said that the State Government had expended resources to address and curb the menace through a partnership with conventional security agencies.

Nigerian Army Killed Unarmed #ENDSARS Protesters At Lekki Toll Gate – Panel

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November 16, 2021

The Lagos State Judicial Panel of Inquiry on Restitution for victims of SARS-related abuses and other matters has concluded that the Nigerian Army shot and killed unarmed protesters at the Lekki Toll Gate on October 20, 2020.

The Panel’s findings were disclosed in its report obtained by Channels Television on Monday.

According to the Panel, the Nigerian Army “was invited for intervention in the State and was deployed to Lekki Toll Gate on the 20th of October 2020.

“At the Lekki Toll Gate, officers of the Nigerian Army shot, injured and killed unarmed helpless and defenceless protesters, without provocation or justification, while they were waving the Nigerian Flag and singing the National Anthem and the manner of assault and killing could in context
be described as a massacre.

“The Panel also found that the conduct of the Nigerian Army was exacerbated by its refusal to allow ambulances render medical assistance to victims who required such assistance.

“The Army was also found not to have adhered to its own Rules of Engagement.”

The Panel also “found that the Nigerian Police Force deployed its officers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th October 2020 and between that night and the morning of the 21st of October, 2020, its officer shot at, assaulted and battered unarmed protesters, which led to injuries and deaths.

“The police officers also tried to cover up their actions by picking up bullets.”

Also, the Lekki Concession Company (LCC), operators of the toll gate, was found to have “hampered the panel’s investigation by refusing to turn over
some useful and vital information/evidence as requested by the Panel and the Forensic Expert engaged by the panel, even where such information and evidence was by the company’s admission, available.

“It manipulated the incomplete CCTV Video footage of the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October 2020, which it tendered before the Panel.”

The Panel noted “that there was an invitation of the Nigerian Army to Lagos State made by the Lagos State Government through the Governor before the hierarchy of the Nigerian Army deployed its soldiers to the Lekki Toll Gate on the night of the 20th of October.

“The Panel found that there was an attempt to cover up the Incident of the 20th of October by the cleaning of the Lekki Toll Gate and the failure to preserve the scene ahead of potential investigations.”

The Federal Government had denied that unarmed protesters were killed at the toll gate on October 20.

The Minister of Information, Mr Lai Mohammed, described the incident as a “massacre without bodies.”

The Nigerian Army also denied any wrongdoing.

Man Beats His 8-Month Pregnant Wife To Death In Oyo (Photos)

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November 16, 2021

A man, identified simply as Azeez, is currently on the run, after allegedly beating his 8-months pregnant wife to death in the Saki area of Oyo State.

It was gathered that the deceased, Nimatallahi, reportedly slummed while she trying to run away from her aggressive husband.

According to SakiFirst, she was rushed to the hospital but sadly, gave up the ghost three hours later.

“She was eight months pregnant. Based on our findings and investigation, Nimatallahi once lost a pregnancy of the same stage to domestic violence from her husband, Azeez. He was well known by neighbours and family to be a wife-beater. Azeez is in his 40s, while the deceased was in her 30s” they wrote.

https://abntv.com.ng/2021/11/73-year-old-ezinne-matina-osita-chuks-set-for-burial-in-umunneochi-abia-state-see-poster/

OUK 2023: Northern Youths Kick Off Campaign, Flood Posters In Abuja, Kano, Umuahia, Enugu (Photos)

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ABN TV EDITOR

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November 16, 2021

Few months after declaring support for a detrabilized Nigerian President who can unite the country and save the country from imminent disintegration, Northern group, Arewa Youths for Orji Uzor Kalu, has made a bold statement by flooding posters of Orji Uzor Kalu for President. The posters were sighted in Abuja, Kano, Umuahia, Aba, Enugu.

Kalu who is the Chief Whip of the Senate and former Governor of Abia state has been called upon by several Northern and Southern leaders , Civil society groups and Youth groups to run for office of the president. However, Kalu has refused to heed to their call insisting that he is only interested in returning to the Senate.

Recall that the Northern youths after a rally held recently in Abuja made their position on the 2023 presidential race . In a statement signed by her chieftains , The group called Kalu the best presidential material in 2023, urging the ruling All Progressive Congress to commence a process of adopting him as the sole candidate of the party.

Comrade Yakubu Arigu Muhammad, National Coordinator of the group; Abdulkadir Sadiq Muhammad, Ag. Secretary General; Ibrahim Abdullahi, National Organizing Secretary; and Musa Yahaya Waziri, Director of Media and Publicity, in the statement said that Kalu’s managerial skill, experience and national appeal put him in the best position to rule Nigeria in 2023.

They said: “This may sound odd in the eyes of Nigerians especially those nursing the intention to run for the number one seat in the land. Be that as it may, Senator Orji Uzor Kalu’s acceptability demonstrates the settled resolve of the youths in the 19 Northern states to support him succeed President Muhammadu Buhari.“Kalu is a result-oriented leader with a proven track record that can sustain and consolidate the gains recorded by the current administration.

“Kalu is the best bet for the APC in 2023. He is a presidential material with experience in the private sector; executive and legislative arms of government.“It is imperative to state that, with Nigerians pushing for a President of South-East extraction, the stakeholders in APC need not look any further because the dutiful, and detribalised Orji Uzor Kalu is the right candidate for the party.

“His influence cuts across all the six-geopolitical zones in the country. Don’t forget he was the Chairman of Borno Water Board at the age of 25; Chairman of multinational companies and, a former Governor of Abia State.“We are totally convinced that what Nigeria needs right now is a courageous and vibrant leader who is capable of managing a complex nation like Nigeria. That resourceful manager is Kalu.” the group said.

Gas Explosion Leaves Many Dead In Lagos (PHOTOS, VIDEO)

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ABN TV EDITOR

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November 16, 2021