By Abdulmumin Giwa
One journalist is left injured with several vehicles, Cameras and sound recorders damaged by thugs led by a Police Officer when they attacked a Press Conference by some APC stalwarts in opposition with the state Governor Nasiru El-rufai.
The incident which took place today at the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Press Center in Kaduna followed a display of discontent by aggrieved APC Senators, Reps in the state and other party members over Governor El-Rufai’s plot to short-list names of delegates not elected and submit to the national body in contravention with the party rules.
Present when the incident took place were Senator Shehu Sani, representing the Kaduna Central Senatorial Zone, Senator Sulaiman Hunkuyi, representing Kaduna North Senatorial Zone and Members of the House of Representative that include Hon Sani Suleiman, Hon Isa Ashiru and Hon Haruna Saeed.
Senator Sani confirmed the incidence to newsmen where he saying “In Kaduna city, at the NUJ state secretariat today, we held a Press Conference against attempt by the Governor of Kaduna state and his minions to hijack and destroy the party in the state.”
He added “The Governor wanted to write names of his boys and send to Abuja as delegates for the Party Convention.”
The Senator also added that they would not accept anything short of following the regulations stipulated by the party.
“Our position is that delegates must be elected and not selected in line with the party’s guidelines for congresses.”
He further stated that sponsored thugs led by police officer clampdown on them during the event pointing accusing fingers at the state government “Sponsored armed thugs invaded the venue aided by a police officer; they damaged vehicles and attacked innocent persons” He said.
Senator Sani added, “they injured a journalist leaving him in the pool of his blood.”
Currently the political tension in the state is worsening as the Governor and his men on the one hand are in a political rattle and clatter with APC leaders and politicians on the other hand.
Meanwhile there is no statement on the matter from the state government and the Police.
Month: July 2017
AL-AQSA, IMN AND THE REST OF US
Robert Brown (USA) Wrote:
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Ever since Ayatollah Khomeini (QSS) declared the last Friday of every Ramadan as Quds day following the Islamic revolution in 1979, with the sole aim of showing support for the oppressed Palestinians and raising awareness about the humiliating occupation of the third holiest site of Islam (Al Aqsa) by the Zionist entity of Israel, Muslims all over responded positively with annual processions, Seminars and conferences across the nook and crannies of the world.
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In Nigeria, the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) under the leadership of Sheikh Ibrahim el-Zakzaky spearheaded the annual Quds day procession and other awareness programs through out its years of existence and transformation . Other organizations and religious sects that are largely Sunnis didn’t care to respond to Khomeini’s call for obvious sectarian reasons despite the fact that the issue of al-Aqsa and Palestine transcends sectarian divisions and that Palestinians are Sunnis and the holy sites are all under Sunni custody.
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The other organizations that were seen as Shiittes chose the path of caution by refraining from Quds awareness rallies and programs to avoid confrontation with security operatives and misinformed public.
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For the Four decades that IMN consistently hit the streets of Nigerian cities to remind Muslims and the world about al-Aqsa and the plight of the Palestinians, they were received with cold contempt and insults from the public and confronted with brutal force by the security operatives resulting in lost of lives and injuries.
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The clampdown on IMN Quds day procession in 2014 saw the murder of 34 people by the Nigerian military including three sons of Sheikh el-Zakzaky that were selectively targeted and murdered. Many politicians then, including PMB and el-Rufai jumped over themselves to condole and console el-Zakzaky over his loss, as it was perfectly beneficial for their politics at that material time of PDP’s dominance. A year after this incident, with Buhari as the President, the military went ahead to murder more than a thousand members of the IMN in Zaria; shot, arrested and incarcerated el-Zakzaky and his wife after killing another three of his Children. El-Rufai, the governor of Kaduna state ordered with impunity the mass burial of 347 bodies of the members : men, women, children all in a single grave. El-Rufai went on to demolish Husseiniyya Baqiyatullah, the personal residence of el-Zakzaky, the house where his mother was interned and many structures of IMN. All this to the cheers and applaud and great jubilation of the hostile Takfiri Salafists and their Zionist masters that benefitted from the massacre and destruction.
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Today the IMN may have been greatly subdued in its capacity to organize mass rallies in support of Palestine and for the recovery of Masjidul Aqsa, or to embark on long distance trek to commemorate the martyrdom of Hussein (as) the grandson of the Prophet (saw), but the cause for which they struggled and paid the supreme sacrifice is alive and demands even more action and commitment from the Muslims across board . The ignominy the Muslim world is facing with the Zionist’s effrontery and audacity of placing metal detectors at the entrance of al-Aqsa and lining up worshippers to be searched before entering the mosque , symbolizing the complete takeover of the holy mosque by Israel is the worst humiliation a Muslim can imagine.
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Now, perhaps from this reality today many Muslims would see the deep wisdom and insight of Imam Khomeini in declaring the international Quds day, and perhaps many Nigerian Muslims would forgive the annual Quds day procession of the IMN and the obstruction of traffic flow and even wake up from their deep slumber to contribute their quota in the struggle for the liberation of Al -Aqsa.
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The humiliation of Muslims in this three weeks seems to make everyone worried. The son of former King of Saudi , Fahd is calling for Jihad to liberate al-Aqsa, Erdogan calls it a matter of faith and the issue of every Muslim. These are are just few comments from hitherto silent corners. In Nigeria will the Izala-Salafist axis take al-Quds seriously? Will the Sufi Qadiriyya and Tijjaniya do anything for al-Aqsa and the liberation of Palestine ?
Zakzakky and IMN have done their fair share, they have done a lot. What can you do as a Muslim?
BIAFRA: IS APC GOVERNMENT IN CONTROL?
By Tukur Mamu…As Nnamdi Kanu constitutes a Government within a Government
Then why is Sheikh Zakzaky in detention?
By Tukur Mamu
Despite the treason charges against him and the stringent bail conditions that includes barring him from granting interviews and holding rallies, leader of the so called IPOB, Nnamdi KANU has continued to defy the Court that granted him bail and the Federal Government that facilitated his release with unprecedented impunity. While the Federal Government has succumbed to blackmail and intense media propaganda designed by the sponsors of the criminal agitation, KANU has now constituted a Government within a Government in today’s Nigeria and under an administration that promises change.
Since his release, KANU has severally violated the laws of the land and challenges/threatened the nation’s helpless security agencies. In gross violation of his bail conditions and with the full support of his kinsmen and financial backing from some foreign countries notably Israel, KANU has not only granted provocative and inciting interviews but has continued to hold rallies with thousands in attendance and without seeking Police permission in ANY of such unlawful rallies. Kanu’s intimidating convoy with Israeli trained private body guards armed with all kinds of weapons looks more than that of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. In Kanu’s case, the federal government is setting a bad and dangerous precedence. In my opinion, the only difference between KANU and his IPOB with Boko Haram, is he has not yet (at least officially) started killing in the name of his struggle but has so far exhibited all the attributes of BH.
As usual, Kanu’s visit yesterday (Monday) to ABAKALIKI, the Ebonyi State capital has again exposed the double standards of the Igbo political elite particularly the governor of the state and the incapacitation of the nation’s security agencies to squarely contain such glaring threat to national security. Kanu’s visit to Ebonyi which has no Police permission was allowed by the governor to hold even as he has the powers and the resources to prevent it from holding. The visit has disrupted business and government activities to a standstill. Motorists have waited for hours to allow Mr. KANU and his convoy to do as they want.
In a clear message to the Government that allowed him to do as he wished (which we never witness since the civil war), KANU who is supposedly on bail declared categorically and with impunity during his rally at Abakaliki that, “I will teach the Federal Government what they don’t know. I will teach them that nobody can stop Biafra. Biafra has come to stay. I will transverse all parts of Biafra land with out anybody stopping me including POLICE and SOLDIERS. I will continue to walk in their midst as you can see and I dare them, they can’t arrest me. They know they can’t stop Biafra. I have come to declare EBONYI a Biafra State and when next I come, I will shut down the state for three days”. So far and as at the time of writing this piece, the Ebonyi State Governor has not responded to Kanu’s acts of defiance nor has he consider it appropriate to condemn what was done yesterday in his own state. The federal government too did not make any statement regarding Kanu’s acts of lawlessness, impunity and breach of the Nigerian constitution.
And yet the federal government will justify applying the law to others that don’t have the kind of backing Kanu has.
A very clear case is that of the Shiite movement. For allegedly blocking the road for the Chief of Army Staff, General T. Buratai, hundreds of them were killed by the soldiers while hundreds including their spiritual leader are still being incarcerated In the most inhuman and unlawful manner. Is it because the Shiite don’t have the kind of propaganda machinery, the financial and international backing IPOB and Kanu has? Is it because they choose to conduct themselves peacefully and chose not to defy the federal government like KANU is doing today? Why did the APC led government refused to release their leader, Sheikh Ibrahim EL-ZAKZAKY and his wife despite Court orders but chose to release a person that is clearly threatening the corporate existence of the country, KANU? Is it because the Shiite don’t know how to make noise and don’t have the instruments for propaganda? My readers should know that I am not a Shiite follower and have never admired the Shiite leader.
By the actions and inaction of the APC led federal government on these and many issues of national importance/security, the nation as it is now is sitting on a time bomb waiting to explode at any time if the government continues to lack the political will to squarely address concerns that are threatening the security and existence of the country.
My humble advise to the APC government is that if they chose to accommodate Mr. Kanu’s excesses and allow him to consolidate the government he is making within a government, they should hasten to give ‘almighty Kanu’ the Biafra he wants with ALL the states he demands so that the rest of the country can live in peace.
In my view, the Igbos are free to go their separate ways. In the event of them vacating the north they will create a lot of opportunities for especially we the northerners. For the Igbos, since they and their leaders have demonstrated undoubted loyalty and support for Mr. Kanu’s agitation, they should make sure they all vacate the north while all northerners should leave their territories as demanded by the patriotic Northern Youths. We are all witnessing today the crisis and calamity the people of the Southern Sudan subjected themselves to while we know better by now the progress, peace and security Sudan is achieving in the absence of the South. It is still very fresh in our memories how the so called western powers sponsored secessionist leaders of the Southern Sudan to separate from Sudan. Now they left them to their faith, killing each other, engaging in all forms of rivalry with starvation threatening its citizens despite the so called oil they have.
The pictures below are those of security agents disrupting a peaceful shiite gathering in Zaria today.
“We Reject Government’s Move To Confiscate Our Islamic Center in Zaria” -IMN
Yesterday 20/07/17, soldiers of the Nigerian Army were spotted giving cover to labourers hired by the government to fence the plot where our Hussainiyyah (Islamic center) stood before its destruction by the Military during its genocidal onslaught in December 2015.
The Kaduna State Urban Planning & Development Agency (KASUPDA) and its officials however are claiming ignorance of the development at the site when contacted. This has fuelled the suspicion that this is a federal government project under the direct supervision of the military, who have harboured a secret desire to usurp the property for so long.
We will like to draw the attention of the public and the international community to the fact that the land housing our Islamic centre, Husainiyyah Baqiyyatullah, was legitimately acquired from those who held title to the property. We have all the necessary duly certified documents and papers to that effect. Although it was unjustifiably vandalized by the unholy alliance of the military and the Kaduna state government under the tutelage of Elrufai, the plot remains ours. Therefore, the federal government has no right to start developing a property that does not belong to it. This is a trespass of the highest order.
It is also noteworthy that the destruction of the Husainiyyah complex is part of a current legal tussle before federal courts in Kaduna. Furthermore, the site is a crime site, where extrajudicial murder of hundreds of citizens by the government took place. It is morally wrong for the government to therefore temper with evidence.
Evidently, this recent attempt to usurp our landed property is a further deprivation of our fundamental rights. Again, we believe that the attempt at fencing the plot is yet another effort at concealing the atrocities carried out by the Army during the December 2015 massacre.
The timing of the construction baffles analysts, as it comes at a time when the Federal Government is reported to be seeking peaceful ways to solve the problems and uncertainty the continued incarceration of Sheikh Zakzaky, our revered leader, is generating the world over. It seems the hawks in government are making a fresh attempt to swat the peace overtures the same government is making on the Zaria genocide carried out by its Army. We will like to remind these hawks that according to the Rome Status that established the International Criminal Court (ICC), destruction of religious site like Zaria Hussainiyya is a war crime.
It should be clear that we cannot be intimidated in anyway. We will keep on demanding for our rights as enshrined in the constitution legally and through peaceful protests that we are known with since time immemorial. We once again reiterate our demand for the immediate and unconditional release of our Leader, Sheikh Zakzaky, his wife and all others being detained.
SIGNED BY
IBRAHIM MUSA
PRESIDENT MEDIA FORUM OF IMN
Skype: Ibrahim.musa42
22/07/17
IMN’s Alarm on Plans to Assassinate Leader, Attack Members Serious
By Abdulmumin Giwa
In a recent statement issued by the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) raising alarm on the regime’s plans to assassinate the leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky and attack its members, the IMN stated that the planned attack will be linked with an important national announcement.
This has left members of the public in darkness concerning the said plans of the regime on an imminent massacre planned to take place in a few days or weeks as stated by the IMN.
It is not far-fetched to subject the issue to possible analyses based on past occurrences and experiences of the regimes onslaught on the IMN.
Firstly, such leakages of state terror plans have always appeared to be true in the past. For instance the IMN leader spent several months warning of an imminent planned massacre of the IMN members by the regime. This was hardly taken serious by the public and even the media, but it came to pass.
The Nigerian government under President Muhammadu Buhari killed over 1000 members of the IMN including women and children in December 2015 in Zaria. They attempted to kill the revered Sheikh and his wife but they survived. However three of their sons were murdered by the Army.
The massacre the IMN leader had warned of actually took place and IMN members were brutally killed in the attack with some burned alive, some buried alive and majority others were simply shot at in the state sponsored killing spree by the soldiers. But a lot of people hardly took the warnings by the IMN leader serious when he talked about them earlier.
More so, after the pogrom, the government realized that its plans of killing the IMN leader, dispersing the members and outlawing the Movement was not close to being achieved due to the IMN’s ability not to succumb to their plots. The government hatched several other plans that include blackmail, instigation and persistent suppression with the hope that the IMN will resort to violence but it all failed.
Government security agents and thugs clamped down on members of the Movement in 2016 during the Ashura events where several other members of the Movement were murdered and their shops and houses looted. In Kaduna an adviser to the state governor was seen leading armed thugs to the IMN center which they demolished and some people were killed.
Also, it is on record that rumors were spread by government agents that the ailment of the Nigeria’s President was as a result of prayers by the IMN members. They used this to instigate the public, mostly Wahhabis who enjoy the backing of the Nigerian government for supporting the murder of the Shiites by the regime.
The rumors became so serious that the regime sponsored clerics and musicians to induce the false claim in the public that the IMN members were responsible for the sickness of the President. This propaganda was not for nothing but for their plans to attack the IMN. Rumors were also spread that the IMN will be attacked when the President returns from the medical trip to disgrace them and show them that their plot against the President has not worked.
Indeed as if it was a joke, when President Buhari returned from his first medical trip to London, in their usual wild celebration they launched the attacks on the IMN members injuring hundreds and looting their houses and shops in various cities in northern Nigeria while the state governments looked the other way and there was no authority to report to because they too were involved in the acts.
IMN members became a threatened minority that could not enjoy their rights as citizens simply because the government is in an alliance with the majority Sunnis and are clamping down on the minority Shiites.
In the same manner now this rumor has started that the IMN is going to be attacked when a national announcement takes place. They would use the same situation to assassinate the IMN leader and kill as many IMN members as possible.
Judging by past experiences this issue is a serious one and not a joke. No observer of past incidences between the IMN and the government will joke with this information. Most especially as the government has chosen to act in contempt of court and refused to release the IMN leader from illegal detention despite court order fearful of possible revelations from him on the state terror act launched on the Movement.
They consider releasing the IMN leader who they wanted dead as a threat to their interest most especially that the Movement has refused to take to violence and are using peaceful and legal means to seek redress which the terror laden government has never envisaged in their plot of exterminating the Movement from the beginning.
Could it be another round of the President Buhari’s return attack on the IMN again? More and more Nigerian leaders including the ruling APC stakeholder Chief Bola Tinubu have of recent told newsmen that President Buhari will soon be back in a few days’ time. Could this be the announcement they want to rely on to kill more IMN members and assassinate the leader?
More so, could the announcement be that of the death of President Buhari with which they would exploit the public anger to launch another attack on the IMN and assassinate its leader and claim that they were responsible for his death by praying against him?
Whichever the case, no right thinking or responsible person would ever conceive in his brain that the prayers of the IMN is responsible for President Buhari’s sickness because if such is true, then the IMN will not be an endangered group as it is but a dangerous group for which whosoever attacked them would suffer the same fate.
If it is true that the prayers of the IMN members is this strong then those attacking the IMN and those plotting the attacks within the regime would be fearful of the aftermath because they too would certainly suffer the same fate and the IMN would no longer nurse any fear of being an endangered minority suppressed by government with impunity. It will then become an invincible and strong group which is certainly not the case.
Definitely there is no reason why the IMN should take such threats as a joke because they have been victims of such in the past. It is now the responsibility of peace lovers and defenders of humanity to stop the government from hatching this plan. There is no reason why Nigerians will continue to watch the government breeching peaceful coexistence and imposing crises and insecurity.
If this alarm of another imminent attack and planned assassination of the IMN leader by the Nigerian government is not true, it is the responsibility of the government to come out and deny it and condemn it as well. Keeping silent about it is a display of an element of truth that the government is planning such.
More so, the Nigerian government should be more concerned with its image both within and outside the country. If you are in power today, definitely you would not be in power tomorrow and would certainly be held responsible for the crimes you are committing today. The government should be concerned with its human rights image as it commits war crimes against the IMN members. They should be concerned that the International Criminal Court (ICC) is already showing interest in their crimes against humanity. The government must also be concerned that reputable international human rights organizations see them in very bad light. The government must lead Nigerians by good examples and respect the law and the judiciary. Only an irresponsible and hopeless government will be acting in contempt of court by disobeying court orders and judgments and still call on citizens to be law abiding.
All these senses of responsibility will begin with simple obedience of the court order and freeing the IMN leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky.
Press Statement: Plot to Assassinate Sheikh Zakzaky, Attack IMN Members Uncovered
The Islamic Movement in Nigeria will like to draw the attention of the general public to a mischievous plot hatched by the enemies of peace in Nigeria. This latest plot, as disclosed to us by a reliable source, is a fresh attempt to kill our leader, Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky, who is currently in illegal detention in clear contempt of court judgment, and a simultaneous attack on members of IMN in several cities of Northern Nigeria.
According to the evil scheme, the operation against IMN will start immediately after a crucial and highly important “national announcement” is made in the next coming days or possibly weeks. Those who hatched the plan hope to cash on the political uncertainty they hope the national announcement will generate to finish off their genocidal plans they started years back that culminated in the December 2015 attacks. By carrying out their evil plan of killing our leader and spilling the blood of innocent civilians, they hope to exterminate the Movement once and for all.
We are also aware that troops have been strategically and massively stationed in the major cities this operation will be carried out; waiting for the day the “special announcement” will be made, so that they carry out the killing of innocent lives.
We will like to call on the international community to prevail upon the Federal Government to call its security agents to order, who it seems are still not satisfied with the over a thousand souls they massacred in Zaria in December, 2015.
Assassination of our leader Sheikh Zakzaky and the murder of members of IMN, will in no way benefit Nigeria and Nigerians. We therefore urge them to urgently terminate this genocidal scheme.
We will remain committed to the peaceful ways of getting justice done to the victims of Zaria massacre carried out by the Army in Zaria. We will therefore reiterate our demand for the immediate release of our Leader Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky as directed by a federal high court Abuja.
People of goodwill not only in Nigeria, but the world over, are concerned on the fate of the Sheikh who is clocking 600 days in unjustifiable detention. We want him free now, including his wife and several members of IMN in detention since the Zaria genocide.
SIGNED BY
IBRAHIM MUSA
PRESIDENT MEDIA FORUM OF IMN
Skype: Ibrahim.musa42
19/07/17.
KDSG vs IMN: Army Witnesses Contradict Selves in Court
By Abdulmumin Giwa
Two soldiers, Brig, Gen. AK Ibrahim and Lt. Col. Ali appearing as witnesses before Justice David Nyoms of the Kaduna High Court have contradicted themselves before the court as earlier statements they made before the Judicial Commission of Inquiry (JCI) set up by the Kaduna State government and another commission set up by the Nigerian Army to investigate the Zaria pogrom differ.
Gen. Ibrahim had earlier told the commissions investigating the pogrom that no weapons were found in the said cordon and search operations he led during the pogrom but he told the court that the members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria (IMN) shot at his men with locally made weapons as they approached the residence of Sheikh Ibraheem Zakzaky at Gyallesu Zaria.
He also told the court that Sheikh Zakzaky and his wife Zeenat Ibrahim were injured in the operation but he was not aware if they were shot. Counsel to the IMN Barr. Festus Okoye in a cross examination asked how in his position as a general in the army could not tell how bullet wounds looked like.
The army General also contradicted himself on the time of his arrival at Zaria on the 12th of December 2015 where he told the Counsel representing the government Barr. Bayero Dari that he arrived Zaria at 05:30 pm and while responding to questions from the IMN Counsel he said and insisted that he arrived Zaria by 06:00 pm.
It took the Judge’s record which he read out to the court to prove the contradiction as the arrival time recorded was 5:30pm.
He also told the court that one of his men Corporal Dan Kaduna was killed by the IMN members while they shot at them in Gyallesu where he led the cordon and search operation at Sheikh Zakzaky’s residence.
In his own testament before the JCI, Lt. Col. Ali omitted saying that the Army lost any soldier during the development in Zaria, but when in the witness box, told the court that a soldier allegedly died from attacks from Shiite mob.
Barrister Okoye while cross examining him, also pointed out differences in dates when the Army handed over weapons allegedly recovered from Shiites between December 12 and 14, 2015 in Zaria.
Lieutenant Colonel Ali had during his testimony, informed that weapons recovered were handed over to Police investigators on December 13, 2015, contrary to an earlier submission that the weapons were handed over on February 9, 2016.
Lt. Col. Ali however, stated that he would not be surprised that weapons handed over on the later date were different from the ones he was referring to.
Speaking to newsmen outside the court, Kaduna DPP, Dari, said that he was happy with the way the case was progressing.
“Today was a good day in court for the prosecution. The Army witnesses came to testify and the case has taken new shape,” he said.
When asked to comment on the contradiction recorded from witnesses that appeared, he said that contradictions were classified into material and non-material, describing what occurred as falling into the latter classification.
“They will look at the material evidences when the time comes,” he added.
Also responding to questions from newsmen, Barrister Okoye said that the prosecution team is still yet to make a case.
“As far as we are concerned, the accused remain innocent until proven guilty. The prosecution has failed to make a case against the accused. It’s the judge that has the final say,” he added.
Barrister Okoye was accompanied to the court by Barrister Maxwell Kyon and three other learned colleagues.
Meanwhile, the judge reminded the state Counsel that they have about 26 witnesses more to present to the court while the case was adjourned to August 8th and 9th, when some of the witnesses are expected to testify.
Police release Journalist in Katsina following persistent pressure
By Abdulmumin Giwa
The journalist arrested last night in Katsina by the police, Muhammad Danjuma has just been released following persistent pressure by Journalists especially the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).
He was arrested to appease a politician, Mansur Ali Mashi the winner of the recent House of Assembly bye-election who claimed that he had been portrayed in bad light on the social media by Danjuma.
Since his detention, journalists from all parts of the country mounted persistent pressure on the police calling for his immediate and unconditional release which the police succumbed to following a renewed activity by the NGE.
Earlier the State Police Commissioner, Usman Abdullahi confirmed to journalists that Danjuma was only there for interrogation and not on detention and that he was being kept there to pacify the politician who complained on him.
Danjuma identified some lapses that include cover ups by the party to ensure the APC candidate wins by all means in order not to embarrass the constituency of the President. It was also clear that not much of campaign was embarked upon by the APC as was done by the opposition. There were no posters and billboards of the candidate because he was to win at all cost.
More so, Danjuma was said to have queried how a person indicted of corruption could be allowed to contest elections by the party.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to enforce his fundamental rights and freedom of speech by the NUJ as more journalists speak against impunity by those in power.
Police Arrest Journalist in Katsina to Pacify Politician
Abdulmumin Giwa
A renowned journalist and former Vice Chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) Katsina Muhammad Danjuma has been arrested and detained by the police in Katsina to pacify the winner of the recently conducted bye-elections of the House of Assembly in the state Mansur Ali Mashi.
He was invited by the police last night for questioning over comments he was accused of making on the conduct of the elections which raised doubts about its fairness.
NUJ leaders in the state have contacted the Commissioner of Police in the state Mr. Usman Abdullahi and he confirmed that Danjuma was arrested following a petition by the politician where he assured that he was invited to answer some questions and to also pacify the politician.
Although the NUJ leaders insisted that he be released immediately the CP pleaded that it was late and that he would need to be interrogated the next morning.
Danjuma identified some lapses that include cover ups by the party to ensure the APC candidate wins by all means in order not to embarrass the constituency of the President. It was also clear that not much of campaign was embarked upon by the APC as was done by the opposition. There were no posters and billboards of the candidate because he was to win at all cost.
More so, Danjuma was said to have queried how a person indicted of corruption could be allowed to contest elections by the party.
Meanwhile, efforts are being made to enforce his fundamental rights and freedom of speech by the NUJ as more journalists speak against impunity by those in power.
NUJ National Condemns Gov El-Rufai
Stop the persecution of Journalists
The government of Kaduna State in its further drive to cage the media and muffle freedom of expression, had this week arraigned a Kaduna based Journalis
t, Luka Binniyat before a Kaduna State High Court charged with injurious falsehood and incitement. He was earlier charged to a Magistrate Court for the same allegations, remanded in Prison custody before being granted bail. The High Court had equally remanded Luka Binniyat in Prison custody pending the hearing of his bail application next week.
It will be recalled that Kaduna State government had issued a stern warning to Journalists on the 28th of January this year, threatening of dire consequences if they file any story considered false by the State Governor. Recently some other journalists were taken to court by Governor Nasiru el Rufai, prominent of which included Midat Joseph of Leadership Newspapers who was detained and charged to court for alleged injurious falsehood, plan for mass demonstration that will shut down Kaduna and public incitement. Others being hounded are Dickson Onjekwu of New Nigerian Newspapers and Gabriel Idibia of Union Newspapers.
EL Rufai’s numerous actions are clearly aimed at his perceived political opponents which ridiculously include the media. As a result of his intolerance for criticisms and aversion for the media many Journalists in the State are now being persecuted by the Government. We are terrified by the remanding of Binniyat in prison custody because of his health challenges. He had an accident and came to court on clutches to answer the summons but instead of being in hospital, he is now behind bars. The NUJ will hold Governor Nasiru el Rufai fully responsible if anything mysterious happens to Binniyat in prison.
This development calls for concern, because the government of el Rufai rode to power on the formidable use of the media and therefore it cannot now turn round to want to instruct journalists on how to do their jobs. Certainly the Governor cannot make untoward rules for journalists outside their extant code of practice. Journalists should not be used as scapegoats to cover up for his numerous gaffes.
We advise the Governor to desist from having Journalists arrested, detained and taken to court for writing stories and reports on the crisis in Southern Kaduna which he feels do not reflect the thinking of the State Government. The problems of Southern Kaduna can never be resolved through threats and intimidation by the Kaduna State Government on Journalists. Rather, we suggest that he should appeal to the media to help mobilise citizens to appreciate the benefits of peace and peaceful coexistence.
Shuaibu Usman Leman
Walin SHadalafiya
National Secretary
14-07-2017
abdulmumingiwa 