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2012 Coup D’état: ECOWAS court orders release of 12 ex-Malian soldiers

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The ECOWAS Court of Justice has ordered the immediate release of 12 former soldiers belonging to the National Committee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the State of Mali linked to the 2012 coup d’état in the Republic of Mali.

A statement by the court’s press unit on Wednesday stated that the court also ordered the payment of 20 million CFA francs to each of the 12 soldiers as compensation for the violation of the fundamental human rights by the Malian government.

Judge rapporteur Gberi-Be Ouattara, who was said to have delivered the judgment on Tuesday, held that the respondent, the Republic of Mali, was liable for violating the rights of Captain Issa Tangara, and 11 others including General Amadou Sanogo.

The court was said to have specifically held that their right to fair trial, be tried within reasonable time, presumption of innocence, liberty and freedom from arbitrary detention, were violated by the Malian government.

It also ordered the government to stop the violations and submit a report on the implementation/execution of the judgment to the court within six months.

The court equally ordered the Republic of Mali to bear all costs.

However, the court rejected the applicants’ claim for the violation of their right to human dignity and held that the claim was unfounded.

The applicants’ lawyers, Issa Coulibaly and Mariam Diawara, had in the suit marked, ECW/CCJ/CCJ/20/19 and filed on May 3, 2019, claimed that the applicants were victims of rights violations.

They sued the Malian government for 500 million CFA francs as individual damages for the prejudice suffered.

Bukayo Saka still thrilled by England call-up

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Arsenal winger, Bukayo Saka, has said he’s surprised himself as he settles into the England squad this week.

Saka’s development has been rapid, having broken into the Arsenal side last year and he admits his quick progression to a fully-fledged England international has even caught him out.

“Yes, 100 percent,” he replied when asked if he was surprised by his speedy rise.

“I didn’t believe it would happen this quickly but I am here and I can only control what is in front of me and just do my best to stay here because obviously, this is where I want to be and where I have been working to be.

“All the boys have been so good with me.

“From the first minute I came in Harry Kane put his arm around me, spoke to me and asked me how I was and stuff like that – for him to do stuff like that helped me settle in much quicker and made me feel comfortable to be myself around everyone.”

World’s ‘Best Teacher’ Peter Tabichi Bags Another Prestigious Global Award

Peter Tabichi, the Nakuru based teacher who won the Global Teacher Prize last year, has bagged yet another international award.

Tabichi, 37, has been conferred the 2020 Ahimsa Award by the Trustees of the Institute of Jainology in London.

The Institute of Jainlology (IOJ) represents 32 UK-based Jain organisations in government and inter-religious affairs and this year’s award was announced at the 18th Jain All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) Ahimsa Day meeting last month.

He was chosen for this year’s honour for his work in dramatically improving attendance at his school, reducing levels of local violence and even teaching local communities how to grow crops that can resist famine hence improving food security.

The Ahimsa Award is an annual award given by IOJ in recognition of individuals who embody and promote the principles of Ahmisa which roots for non-violence.

Tabichi made history last year when he became the first teacher from Africa to win the prestigious Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize.

The Mathematics and Science teacher at Keriko Mixed Day Secondary School in Nakuru County was named the winner of the Sh100 million ($1 million) award during a ceremony held in Dubai.

Tabichi, who beat nine other finalists who were selected from a list of 10,000 applicants for the global award, donates 80 per cent of his monthly salary to help poor students.

Besides inspiring his students to succeed with few resources and equipment, Tabichi, a Catholic Franciscan Brother who teaches chemistry and mathematics, was recognised for giving away 80 per cent of his monthly salary to help the poor.

Planned Relocation: Ijaw youths urge FG to move DPR to South-South

The Ijaw Youths Council Worldwide has warned the Federal Government against its planned relocation of the headquarters of the Department of Petroleum Resources from Lagos to Abuja.

President of the IYC, Peter Igbifa, who handed down the warning in a statement issued in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, on Wednesday, said such move was capable of causing ‘unimaginable restiveness’ in the Niger Delta region.

Igbifa said instead, the apex government should transfer the headquarters of the department to any of the cities in the South-South.

He said, “This idea is nepotistic, insensitive and designed to give northerners unfair advantage to all the benefits that DPR will bring to the table when it eventually acquires independence from the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation as stipulated in the Petroleum Industry Bill.

 “It is crystal clear that the Federal Government has always paid lip service to the development of the Niger Delta region. In one breath, the government asked oil companies to relocate their headquarters to the region, in another breath, this same government is planning to move the DPR head office from Lagos to Abuja instead of relocating it to the Niger Delta region.

“We condemn this move and warn that this development will threaten the peace in the Niger Delta region, which gives DPR and other oil multinationals reasons for existence. The Niger Delta will not fold its hands and watch this happen.

“This is an opportunity for the federal government to lead by example by first relocating the headquarters of the DPR to any of the cities in the Niger Delta region. This will show the government’s seriousness and commitment and enable other oil companies to do same.

“Anything contrary to this is unacceptable and will be resisted by all the Niger Delta stakeholders. It is high the Federal Government walked its talk. What is due to the Niger Delta must be given to us to create equity and fairness. The government should stop running this country with a body language that one section is greater than others,” the IYC President stated.

Florida Gov DeSantis Circulates ‘Anti-Mob’ Proposal

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In the midst of protests, riots and looters, one Governor is taking actions to protect the victims, rather than excuse the perpetrators. Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has drafted new “anti-mob” legislation to improve upon the state’s Stand Your Ground law. The Miami Herald reported Tuesday that the legislation is the Governor’s attempt at preventing “violent and disorderly assemblies.”

An attorney for the DeSantis administration circulated a draft version of the bill. The Miami Herald reports the law will permit violence against those who are involved in the “interruption or impairment” of a business, allegedly described in a draft as being defined as burglary within 500 feet of ‘violent or disorderly assembly.” Fox News reports the draft legislation also “includes measures that would make protesting which disrupts the public by blocking traffic, a third-degree felony.”

The law would also “reportedly grant immunity to drivers who unintentionally kill or injure protesters who were blocking traffic” as well as “allow the state to withhold funds from local governments that cut police budgets” reports Fox News.

As of Tuesday, the proposal is simply a draft. “No bills have been filed in either the House or Senate, and no legislators have publicly said they will sponsor the proposal ahead of the 2021 legislative session which convenes March 2. Committees begin meeting in January” reports the Miami Herald.

Former Miami-Dade County prosecutor Denise Georges who was also against the Stand Your Ground law said the measure “allows for vigilantes to justify their actions…It also allows for death to be the punishment for a property crime – and that is cruel and unusual punishment. We cannot live in a lawless society where taking a life is done so casually and recklessly.”

Women bear brunt of online abuse as world goes digital in pandemic

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Women bear the brunt of digital abuse – threatened with rape and exploited for porn – as the coronavirus pandemic drives ever more people online, media experts said on Wednesday.

Through salacious claims and viral memes, Brazilian journalist Patricia Campos Mello said she has repeatedly faced attack online for reporting on the Brazil government’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis. “Thousands of memes have circulated on the internet which my face appears in pornographic montages,” Mello told the Thomson Reuters Foundation’s annual event, Trust Conference, held online this year due to the pandemic.

Girls as young as eight have also been subject to abuse, with one in five young women quitting or reducing their use of social media, according to a recent survey by girls’ rights group Plan International. The International Women’s Media Foundation said 58% of nearly 600 female journalists interviewed in 2018 had been threatened or harassed in person, and one in 10 had received death threats.

This came as no surprise to India-based journalist Rana Ayyub, who has featured in a fake porn video circulated to government officials and has received numerous death threats.

Ayyub said online abuse needed to be taken more seriously, adding that authorities are yet to do anything about the dozens of death threats she had received.

She said It’s about time that countries make it safer for women to be where they are and not feel threatened to leave.

BREAKING: CAC Reveals Proprietors Of Deregistered NGO, ‘Enough Is Enough’

The Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) has revealed the names of the proprietors of ‘Enough is Enough BN 2210728’, a business name it deregistered on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets on Tuesday, the commission said it deregistered EiE, a non-governmental organisation, because it deviated from its main objectives “over the cause of time.”

According to CAC, the NGO’s business name was registered in 2012 to engage in General Contracts and Sales of Sport Equipment/Promotion.

But in its reaction, the EiE, which was also registered in 2012, said it was registered as “The EiE Project Ltd/Gte” with RC 1047750 as against what was circulated by CAC.

“A big thank you to those who have reached out & spoken up for us!” the organisation said on Twitter, attaching its certificate.

In an update on Wednesday, CAC revealed the proprietors of the cancelled business name as Opayemi Adamolekun and Bisola Edun.


It said their business name was cancelled based on the provisions of section 579 (2) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).

“Further to cancellation of the Business Name registration ‘Enough is Enough BN 2210728’, the Corporate Affairs Commission wishes to inform the public that the proprietors of the cancelled Business name are: OPAYEMI ADAMOLEKUN and BISOLA EDUN,” the CAC said on Twitter.

“The name was cancelled based on the provisions of section 579 (2) of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA).”

Section 579 (2) of the Act reads: “Where any business name under which the business of a person is carried on‐ (a) contains any word which, in the opinion of the Registrar, is likely to mislead the public as to the nationality, race or religion of the persons by whom the business is wholly or mainly owned or controlled; or (b) is, in the opinion of the Registrar, deceptive or objectionable in that it contains a reference direct or otherwise to any personage, practice or institution, or is otherwise unsuitable as a business name, the Registrar shall refuse to register the business name.

“Or, as the case may be, cancel the registration thereof, but any person aggrieved by a decision of the Registrar under this subsection may, within one month of such refusal or cancellation, appeal to the Commission.”

Toni Kroos: Footballers are just ‘puppets’ for UEFA and FIFA

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Germany midfielder Toni Kroos feels that footballers are just “puppets” used by governing bodies FIFA and UEFA and are powerless in discussions about competitions such as the Nations League or a possible new European Super League.

“At the end of the day, as players, we’re just puppets for all these new things which are invented by FIFA and UEFA. Nobody asks us,” Kroos said in his podcast ‘Einfach mal Luppen’.

Kroos, who made his 100th appearances for Germany last month, is in the squad for Wednesday’s friendly against the Czech Republic as well as Nations League matches against Ukraine and Spain.

The 2014 World Cup winner feels if players had more say they “wouldn’t be playing in the Nations League, nor a Spanish Super Cup in Saudi Arabia, nor a Club World Cup with 20 or more teams.”

The Real Madrid star said he feels such tournaments are planned “to suck out everything financially, and, of course, physically from every single player – and then some.”

Last month, outgoing Barcelona president Josep Maria Bartomeu claimed a European Super League could soon become a reality.

Edo State Govt. assures Eagles good hospitality

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Ahead of the crucial Africa Cup of Nations 2021 Qualifier against Sierra Leone in Benin City on Friday, the Edo State Deputy Governor, Philip Shuaibu, has assured both the Super Eagles and their Visitors from Sierra Leone, warm hospitality by the government and people of the state.

The Edo Deputy Governor was Speaking to the 20 members of the Super Eagles sweating it out at the famous Ogbe Stadium venue of the clash.

The players in camp includes:

Goal keepers
Maduka Okoye,
Ikechukwu Ezenwa,
Sebastin Osigwe,

Defenders

William Troost-Ekong,
Ola Aina
Leon Balogun,
Kevin Akpoguma,
Zaidu Sanusi,
Tyronne Ebuehi
Chidozie Awaziem,

Midfielders
Joe Aribo.
Ahmed Musa,
Alex Iwobi,
Etebo Oghenekaro.

#EndSARS: APC shares open letter to Pastor Sam Adeyemi

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The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, has shared an open letter written by an anonymous source to Pastor Sam Adeyemi of Daystar Christian Center.

The letter was shared in reaction to a suit filed by activist Kenechukwu Okeke against the clergyman and others who supported the EndSARS protests on social media.

Recall that Sam Adeyemi had reacted to the suit via a tweet saying, “Who sent this guy to file this frivolous lawsuit?”

Reacting to the clergyman’s question, the APC shared the below open letter to him.

Read:

With all due respect sir, asking a needless question at this time is completely beneath you, and I am disappointed.

When a citizen has exercised his right to sue you and other people he believes are instrumental to the damage of his properties, as a pastor how can you be seen attacking a victim?

As someone we all respect, you shouldn’t get yourself involved in the EndSARS propaganda. I expect that you will, by now, be playing the role of ensuring peace reigns and the government meeting the demands of the youths.

A tweet of that nature is not responsible and does not fit the personality you project. Being a pastor doesn’t excuse you from answering to the court of law.

We should learn to deal with issues accordingly and appropriately. By now, we all know it is easy to unravel who is behind who and what in this new media age.

Pastor Adeyemi, if it bothers you that much, you can find this out in less than 24hours. But in my opinion, there are more pressing questions to be asked.

We cannot afford for people like you to also lose focus. PLEASE SIR, DONT JOIN THE FRAY!

Nigeria needs to be SAVED. Thank you, sir.