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Senate approves Proclamation of State of Emergency in Rivers State …mulls a joint Ad – hoc C’ttee with Reps to oversee affairs in Rivers State  …calls for C’ttee of eminent Nigerians to mediate on crises in the State

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Senate in session

 

By George Mgbeleke,Abuja
After about one and half hours closed doors session on consideration and approval of State of Emergency Proclamation made by President Bola Tinubu on Rivers State on Tuesday this week , the Senate Thursday approved it unanimously .

The approval of the State of Emergency in Rivers State by the Senate was done through voice votes put to Senators by the President of the Senate , Godswill Akpabio based on resolutions adopted at the closed doors session which were all affirmed unanimously .

Announcing resolutions adopted at the closed doors session by Senators, Akpabio said ” The Senate invokes the powers conveyed on it by Section 305 of Section 2 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria ( as amended ), approves the proclamation of state of emergency declared by Mr President in Rivers State of Nigeria.

“The Senate further directs that the declaration of the state of emergency stated in the proclamation documents and demands of Mr President to review and even to terminate the state of emergency at any given time, but not later than six months.

“The Senate further resolved that Section 11, Subsection 4 be invoked, providing the National Assembly the authority to set up a joint ad hoc committee of both chambers to oversight the administration of Rivers State henceforth.

” The Senate further resolved that a Committee of eminent Nigerians be set up to reconcile the warring groups within the government of River State within the period of the State of Emergency in River State.

“The Senate further resolved that a Committee of eminent Nigerians to reconcile the warring factions in Rivers State should be set up and carry out their action during the period of state of emergency.

” For final ratification , I put it to the Senate that those in favour of the proclamation of the state of emergency 2025 in Rivers State , should say aye “, which was affirmatively responded to , by all the Senators in the chamber .

 

Apparently impressed with the affirmative response to the question on approval of the State of Emergency by Senators , the President of the Senate , Akpabio said ” this approval is done with unanimity without a single nay “.

 

” Therefore , pursuant to section 60 of the constitution, section 305 (2) and pursuant to our rules, Rule 1 (b) of the standing orders of the senate and also pursuant to Rules 133, 134, 135
and 136 of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, the State of Emergency Proclamation in Rivers State was approved and other vital resolutions taken “, he said .

 

Thereafter the Senate adjourned for one hour and reconvened later to pass votes and proceedings of the entire session and finally adjpurned to Tuesaday , 25th March , 2025

Earlier , before the Senate went into closed doors session , mild altercation ensued between the Senate President, Godswill Akpabio and Senator Seriake Dickson ( PDP Bayelsa West) .

The altercation began when Senator Dickson raised a point of Order after Akpabio read written gazette on the Proclamation of State of Emergency to Senators and called on the Senate Leader to guide the Senate for its expeditious consideration .

As Senator Dickson raised the point of Order , Akpabio told him to sit down that he had already known where he stood on the State of Emergency having watched him on Television on Wednesday, where he said his views , would not align with that of the Senate .

” Senator Dickson , please hold on with your point of order ,. I heard all what you said on the television yesterday that the Senate will not go with you on the issue at hand and we are not going to go with you .

” You are a former governor like myself and now distinguished Senators of the Federal Republic of Nigeria . Please let’s do things in the interest of Nigerians “, he said .

However, when finally allowed to raise the point of order , Seriake Dickson , drew attention of the Senate to Orders 133 of the Senate Standing rules , which required matter of state of emergency to be deliberated upon in closed doors session .

Akpabio upon hearing that , upheld his point of order , which was later held by the Senate where all its resolutions were taken on the State of Emergency .

Law & Crime

Terror charges: Family accuses Britain of aiding Nigeria in unlawful rendition, trial of Kanu

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Leader of IPOB, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu

 

By Abdul-Ganiyy Akanbi

The family of the detained Biafra nation agitator, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has accused the United Kingdom of aiding Nigeria in the rendition of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria.

Specifically, the family took swipe at the British Government for continually refusing to challenge the prosecution of Kanu in Nigeria on the ground that there is no justification for such trial.

In a statement on Sunday by the family’s Spokesman, Prince Emmanuel Kanu, the family said that the action, especially silence of the United Kingdom in ordeal of Kanu was painful because the detainee is a British citizen.

Apparently angry with the development, the family challenged Britain to publicly accept responsibility for her complicity in the illegal rendition of Kanu.

The family also asked Britain to demand Kanu’s immediate return to either Kenya or the United Kingdom and to cease all diplomatic and legal support that sustains trial in Nigeria.

Besides, the family demands that the United kingdom should initiate a parliamentary inquiry into the roles played by the British High Commissions in Nairobi and Abuja in the rendition of Kanu from Kenya to Nigeria in 2021.

The statement read in part: “With hearts burdened by sorrow, we, the family of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, issue this solemn declaration to the world.

“We do so not only in defense of our beloved brother, father and uncle, but in defense of truth, justice, and the sacred memory of the over 5 million Biafrans slaughtered during Britain’s orchestrated genocide from 1967 to 1970.

“The United Kingdom has never stopped killing Biafrans. Only the methods have changed.

“Today, the same British Government that armed Nigeria to starve Biafran children to death now stands accused of a far more cowardly crime, the silent orchestration and diplomatic shielding of an illegal rendition, torture, and political show trial of a British citizen for exercising freedoms guaranteed under British law.

“Let the world take note: Were Mazi Nnamdi Kanu to die in the custody of the Nigerian government, it would be to the eternal shame and blood-drenched legacy of the United Kingdom.

“In June 2021, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, a lawful British citizen and leader of a peaceful self-determination movement, IPOB, registered under UK law, was abducted in Nairobi, Kenya, subjected to extraordinary rendition without due process, and illegally transferred to Nigeria by operatives whose trail the British authorities have deliberately ignored.

“This transnational crime was carried out in clear violation of Kenyan and international law. Yet Britain said nothing. Worse still, their silence gave Nigeria the license to act with impunity.

“Why was the British High Commission in Nairobi inactive while a British citizen was drugged, tortured, and flown out in chains?

“Why was the UK Foreign Office complicit in turning a blind eye to this abduction that violated every known treaty obligation under international human rights and consular law?

“The answer is now painfully clear: Britain was not merely a bystander. Britain was a co-conspirator.

“Following his illegal rendition, the UK Government pretended to be engaged. British Consular officials visited Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in DSS custody in Abuja.

“He asked one simple question:“Why is the United Kingdom allowing a British citizen to be tried for broadcasts made in the UK, where both IPOB and Radio Biafra are lawful entities?

“The response was both evasive and insidious: We’ll get back to you.” But they never did.

“Instead, within four days of that meeting, Nigeria’s then-Attorney General, Abubakar Malami quietly amended the charges against Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, removing ‘London, United Kingdom’ as the location of the alleged offences.

“The only logical inference is that the British authorities either advised Nigeria to do this or consented to a cover-up to evade the UK’s own jurisdictional responsibilities.

“Despite IPOB’s legal status in the UK and the total absence of any UK court order outlawing its activities, the British Government has continually refused to challenge the unlawful prosecution of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu in Nigeria.

“Why? Because they know what every international legal scholar knows:

“That the alleged offences occurred outside Nigerian territory; That the primary jurisdiction lies in the UK, not Nigeria; That the rendition violated the UK’s own Extradition Act, the Commonwealth Mutual Assistance Treaty, and all norms of international law.

“Yet, when the question was asked of the British Foreign Office—Why won’t you demand that your own citizen be returned to either the UK or Kenya, where he was abducted?—they offered the most cowardly response imaginable:”We cannot interfere in a Nigerian trial.”

“This is not just false. It is a betrayal. The UK Government has, in fact, interfered constantly by suppressing evidence, shielding Nigerian impunity, and erasing its own culpability from the chain of events that led to Mazi Nnamdi Kanu’s ongoing ordeal.

“In 1968, they supplied the arms that killed Biafran children. In 2021, they supplied the silence that allowed their citizen to be kidnapped and tortured.

“What exactly did the Igbo people do to Britain to deserve this generational hatred? Is it our resilience, our enterprise, or our refusal to bow to colonial structures masquerading as post-colonial governments?

“Why is it that every time an Igbo leader rises to speak truth to power, Britain rushes to undermine him?

“It is time for the world to know: Britain’s hatred for the Igbo people has outlived colonialism. What they could not achieve with bombs and starvation in 1967, they now pursue through legal manipulation, judicial collusion and geopolitical deceit.

“This statement is not made in anger. It is made in defiance.We defy the centuries of British deception in Africa.We defy the silence that enables crimes against our people.
And we defy the notion that a British citizen can be abducted, tortured, and tried abroad without the UK lifting a finger.

“If Britain cannot protect its own citizen, then it should admit publicly that some British citizens are more equal than others.

“If anything happens to our brother, the Kanu Family will hold the United Kingdom responsible. Not because they failed to act—but because they chose to act on the side of evil. Their silence is not neutrality. It is an endorsement of tyranny.

“Let the earth tremble with this truth. Let history record our warning. Let justice not be buried under diplomatic hypocrisy”, the statement said.

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Law & Crime

Police recovers corpse of missing 43 years old Real Estate magnate in Bayelsa

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corpse of missing Real Estate Magnate, Ekpeboh Richard

By David Owei, Bayelsa

Operatives of the Rapid Response Unit of the Bayelsa State Police Command has recovered the corpse of missing Real Estate Magnate, Ekpeboh Richard from the forest between new NDDC road and Otuokpoti in Ogbia Local Government Area of the State.

Police discovered the deceased was shot in the head in an execution manner and dumped in the bush.

Ekpeboh Richard is the Vice Chairman of the Real Estate Consultants Association of Bayelsa and hails from Ammassoma in Southern Ijaw Local Government area of the State. He is married with two kids.

He left home on the 24th of July,2025 and the wife became worried at about 2 am when he failed to return home.

According to family sources, all calls by the worried wife was answered three days later via WhatsApp chat when he purportedly asked her not to mount unnecessary pressure on him and that he was ok.

” Further prompting by the wife that she would reach out to the extended family to ask him why he abandoned the house was met by a promise to send money via POS. A sun of 15,300 was purportedly sent to a POS agent and not her account”

” He also revealed that he is owing two persons N9 million and N3 million within the association.” But it was later discovered that those who abducted and killed him were the ones using his phone to chat with his worried wife.

According to some friends and colleague of the deceased, they later reported the matter to the Police and the men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS) headed by CSP Bishop Elemide.

The RRS operatives, working on intelligence, cooperation of Youths and an eyewitness, discovered that two young men in a blue Coloured Honda Vboot car had dragged the deceased out and took him deep into the forest,” what we heard later were two gun shots. And the two young men scampered I to their car and left.”

They also left with the deceased car, a Toyota Matrix car.

Police investigators discovered that there was a struggle between the deceased and his killers with footwear discovered a few metres from where the body was discovered, ” we, the youths assisted in recovering the body. The place it was dumped was a swamp. His head was blown off by gun shot.”

Our correspondent gathered from sources at the Police Headquarters that the homicide department of the State Criminal Investigation department may take over the case and are already working on two facts.

” We are looking at the fact that it may be a case of business deals gone wrong with members of his Association of Real Estate Consultants or that he may be involved in cyber crime or money laundering deal that went wrong.”

” We will get to the root of the matter and bring the culprits to book. Efforts in on to apprehend ASSAILANTS.”

A Senior Police officer, who confirmed the development, told our correspondent that the Commissioner of Police, Francis Idu is fully aware of the development despite his absence on official duty in Abuja.

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Law & Crime

NCoS denies report by Sahara Reporters  that a Correctional staff released an imate out of custodial centre for conjugal intimacy 

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Comptroller-General of NCoS,Sylvester Ndidi Nwachukwu

 

By Uthman-Baba Naseer,Minna

The Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has described as misleading and malicious a report Published by Sahara reporters alleging that a personnel who took an inmate out of custodial centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover in Afikpo was pardon by the Civil Defence, Correctional Fire and Immigration Board (CDCFIB), while the whistle blower was dismissed.

This was contained in a press Statement signed by the head of Public Relation and Media of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) Umar Abubakar DCC stated that the report is misleading and intended to tarnish the inmates of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The Service, according to the Press release, wishes to categorically state that this report is misleading and intended to tarnish the image of the Nigerian Correctional Service.

The attention of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCoS) has been drawn to a misleading and malicious report published by Sahara Reporters alleging that a personnel who took an inmate out of the custodial centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover in Afikpo was pardoned by the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Board (CDCFIB), while the whistleblower was dismissed.

“The facts of the matter is that the officer in question was dismissed after a thorough investigation by the disciplinary unit of the Service and was found to have committed an act unbecoming of a public officer, specifically for taking unauthorized pictures of an inmate by name Ibuchi Okoro Eze, within the premises of the Barracks of the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, and uploading same on the internet”.

The dismissed officer, he disclosed,ASC 1 Efe Onakpoya with Service number 57790 also made malicious allegations against the service, including the false claim that an inmate was taken out of the Custodial Centre for conjugal intimacy with his lover.

The Nigerian Correctional Service is committed to maintaining the highest standards of discipline, integrity, and professionalism. The Service will not tolerate any behavior that undermines these values.

The service hereby urges the public to disregard the misleading report by Sahara Reporters and to be aware of the antics of mischief-makers who seek to tarnish the image of our beloved Service.

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