Knocks, kudos as Nigerians react to President’s broadcast

By Bertram Nwannekanma, Godwin Dunia, Daniel Anazia (Lagos) and Njadvara Musa (Maiduguri) |   22 August 2017   |   4:37 am  

Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, said he was disappointed over the content of the broadcast, saying it fell short of expectations.

• It’s a disappointment, buck passing, says Adegboruwa
• ‘Speech to boost terrorism fight in N’East’
• Why national integration dominates president’s address, by APC
As always, Nigerians have reacted to yesterday’s address to Nigerians by President Muhammadu Buhari in different ways. While some knocked the president for the broadcast, describing it as a disappointment and buck passing, others have hailed it as a timely intervention, especially in the country’s fight against terrorism and the need for national integration.
Lagos-based human rights lawyer, Ebun Adegboruwa, said he was disappointed over the content of the broadcast, saying it fell short of expectations.
He noted that “notwithstanding that the president took Nigerians for granted, he was not impeached, but rather Nigerians were offering prayers for his recovery, daily, only for him to return with a language of combat and insult, describing his own citizens as “irresponsible elements”!

This, he said, should not have been the appropriate language of a president that has benefited from the goodwill and magnanimity of his people, as this could not be the message of gratitude.

Adegboruwa, who thanked God that the President is back and praying that God will perfect his health, said reading through the presidential broadcast however, he was utterly disappointed.
“This is a president who virtually sneaked out of Nigeria, who breached his own self-declaration of transparency, by keeping Nigerians in the dark for over 100 days and in the process slowed down the country’s progress.
“There must just be something about the All Progressives Congress (APC) government that detests truth and consistency. While the president was away, his Vice President translated our freedom of expression into hate speeches and terrorism.
“But here is the president, few days thereafter, piling up hatred and animosity upon Nigerians, who are simply demanding restructuring, true federalism and dialogue, asking the president and his party, to fulfill their campaign promises,” he said.
However, Borno State Governor, Kashim Shettima, has said that President Buhari’s return and his broadcast to Nigerians would boost the fight against Boko Haram terrorism in the Northeast region of the country.
He said this in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Isa Umar Gusau, which was made available to journalists yesterday in Maiduguri. “I congratulate the people of the North-East on the return of our President from medical vacation in London.
“The people of the Northeast should be congratulated as the major beneficiaries of Buhari’s return because of his ‘open love, empathy and keen interest’ in addressing the security challenges not only Borno State but the entire Northeast zone,” he added.
Meanwhile, the APC has charged Nigerians to identify with President Buhari’s quest for national integration.
Expressing satisfaction over the president’s emphasis on the unity of the country, deputy national chairman of APC (North), Lawal Shuaibu, told journalists that the most important function of government was security.
“Any action that is capable of threatening the security of lives and property should be the primary concern of any responsible government,” he said.

Discovered

Yesterday, what witnesses called human body parts were discovered at a ritual killers’ den at Ile Zik Bus Stop on the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway at Dopemu area of the Lagos metropolis. This came 48 hours after the discovery of ritual killers’ den in a tunnel at the Obadeyi Bus Stop at Ijaiye area of Lagos State. The human parts discovered at Ile Zik included intestine and kidneys in some bags found in a tunnel in the area.

But the state Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni, said it was the destitute living inside the tunnel, not a ritual killers’ den. He said: “We have to stop this culture of jungle justice and allow the law to take its course.

This matter is a pure case of the destitute and not ritualists.” However, some of the items found in one of the bags are two receipts of Lagos State Teaching Hospital, (LASUTH), Ikeja and drug prescriptions belonging to five-year-old Modupe Ola with registration number 062181.

The two drug descriptions were dated June 28 and July 3, 2017 with N4,800 and N9,600 written on the two receipts. Some the human parts recovered from those arrested were set ablaze. In one of the small nylon bags that contained human kidney and intestines, N11,500 was boldly written on a paper. It was placed on top of the nylon which contained the human parts. Policemen, who stormed the den, rescued five suspected ritual killers from angry mob.

The mob claimed that the five suspects were ritual killers, pretending to be mad people. A woman was said to be part of the supposed mad people arrested. A policeman was injured while trying to prevent one of the suspects from being lynched.

A witness said: “The five persons were arrested in different spots within the area during a search. Items recovered are human parts, a machete, clothes, female undies and shoes. Some tunnels were also discovered within the area.

When people entered the tunnel, traces of people passing through the tunnel were noticed.” Another witness said that the people residing in the area raised the alarm which led to the arrest of the suspects.

The witness said: “We saw three people, dressed like mad people. They were roaming about the area. They were at different spots. We accosted them, and while trying to question them, someone said there was a particular place within the area where they covered something with big nylon. We went there; when we opened the nylon, we saw many empty plastic bottles packed inside. We were still searching the bag when we saw another mad person close to the area.

He was trying to run away; some people ran after him. They caught him. “We were still trying to question him, when policemen came and took them. We opened the nylon with the empty plastic bottle, we discovered something wrapped inside.

When we busted it, we saw human kidney and intestines packed inside the nylon. We later set them on fire.” A member of the community claimed that a woman, who was arrested among the suspects, was a regular face in the area. The man said: “The woman, who is regarded as Iya Ibadan, has been patrolling the area for long without anybody suspecting her.

It was due to the incident that happened at Ajala on Tuesday, that people here challenged her. The people discovered a lot of fresh items belonging to people in one of the bags. She covered the bags with tyres. The woman, who disguised as a mad person, had been in this area for long.

They are two mad people; Iya Ibadan and a man. They used to sit around the area. The woman usually cooks in two different spots within the Ile-Zik area with three stones. We have also seen her on many occasions, washing clothes on the road.

“Today (Thursday), we moved closer to her to ask her some questions, and while trying to talk to her, she ran into an iron cage in the middle of the road and tried to lock the cage from inside. We dragged her out of the cage and discovered that some tyres were used to cover some tied nylons bags. We brought out the nylons, and when we poured out the contents, we saw new and old female items like pants, bras, toothbrush, lip sticks, bags, small Bible, comb, cosmetics, sachet tomato, bunch of keys, pairs of shoes, cigarette, glass cup, disposable cups, drinks, bucket of water and other items. As people were about to pounce on her, police arrived at the scene and whisked her away.”

The five arrested people were taken to Isokoko Police Station in Agege, which is the closest police station to the area. Efforts to speak with the arrested people at the police station did not yield result. Street urchins selling Indian helm in the area said the area was a notorious place.

They said that corpses had been discovered there on several occasions. One of them noted: “Police should begin to arrest mad people. Some of them are used in carrying out crimes.” Another witness said that nobody would have known anything was going on around the area, if not that a lady, selling groundnut, lost her purse. While attempting to locate the purse, they decided to question the suspected mad woman. The man said: “Getting there, we saw a man and woman together.

Before anyone could ask questions, the man quickly ran into a cage that was there and locked himself. The people held the woman because the groundnut lady was pointing at them. She said they chased her last night, which was how she lost her purse.

“People held the woman, who confessed that she was not a mad woman. In the process, the mob scattered the place only to see blood stained shoes.” He said that the man used to come around wherever they were smoking, to join them in discussion. “We thought he is a security guard, working in the abandoned milk factory,” said the man.

“I noticed something about the man; his face and hands had cut marks. The man refused to come out from the cage until arrival of policemen. People were just about to leave when they discovered women and men shoes and clothes.”

Inside 9ja

1. 
   The Presidency on Thursday dismissed the ‘Resume or Resign’ protest as a ploy by ill-motivated supporters of the old corrupt order to scuttle the Buhari administration’s corruption fight, while emphasizing that the government would not be distracted by it.

The government’s position was disclosed by the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, while addressing members of the Center for Civil Society and Justice (CCSJ), a civil society coalition that staged a rally in support of President Muhammadu Buhari at the precincts of the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.Shehu dismissed the “Resume or Resign” sit-in as an illegal assembly with the ulterior motive of sabotaging the war against corruption, while also praising Nigerians for standing up against the protesters.

Read also: #ResumeOrResign Day 4: Pro Buhari group storms Abuja to counter Charly Boy & co
In a statement he issued, Shehu said: “It might be taken for granted that the beneficiaries of the old order are fighting back. We have been warned that corruption will fight back.“In a country where just one woman for having the opportunity to serve as minister has N47.2 billion and $487.5 million of public resources in cash and property traced to her by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), you don’t expect the beneficiaries of that order to allow the Buhari administration some peace.

“They want to distract us. But what the Acting President wants to assure patriotic citizens is that the government will not bend.
“As far as the President is concerned, he has done the needful by handing the reins of authority to the Vice President. Since the law of the country does not give a time limit for the President’s return, it cannot be imposed by a saber-rattling group or individual.”

He also went on to commend CCSJ for being orderly in their rally, and urged them to shun all provocations by opponents of government.

He said, “By divine intervention, Muhammadu Buhari unexpectedly got elected with the ostensible mandate of reversing national decline and securing its future. He got into the Villa through democratic victory at election.
“Anybody desiring to replace him, whether you are wrestler, a hairdresser or a musician, you should go through that process. In a democracy, threats don’t work.”Speaking on behalf of the group, the convener, Comrade Prince Goodluck Obi, said they had “absolute faith and trust in President Buhari’s administration and not machinations of corruption and destabilization”.

Obi added, “We are saying from today, 10th August 2017, we will be holding a rally/protest march here at Unity Fountain for the next one month and beyond in order to send clear and unambiguous message to agents of chaos and unity, that Nigerians are solidly behind President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration based on our democratic mandate entrusted to him on 28th March 2015.”