Catholics berate Trump for adorning Pope attire in AI image - ITREALMS

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Catholics worldwide have berated the United States President, Donald Trump, for posting an AI-generated image, showcasing himself dressed as the Pope, reports ITREALMS.

According to the New York State Catholic Conference which represents the state’s Catholic bishops in engaging government on matters of law and social justice, expressed outrage over the post.

The Nigerian Donald Trump - ITREALMS

MidWeekCommentary@ITREALMS:

Donald J. Trump last week became just the third president to be impeached in the history of United States of America. But every nation has its own Trump. That is, someone who found himself in position of power, not because of pristine background, experience, leadership effectiveness, moral purity, or political correctness. It could also be someone who might have indulged in gross abuse of office.

Of course, Nigeria harbors a good number of its own shameless characters, some of whom are identified below. Yet, the mere mention of such names in the same breadth with Donald Trump, however ignoble, is ostensibly an elevation, but the glow of a vulture never lasts beyond the dry season.

Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, Governor of Kano State: Like Trump, Ganduje is virally corrupt, morally bankrupt, maleficent, vengeful, baleful, and ruthless. Kano has not known peace, since the governor was seen in a trove of video clips receiving bribes from a contractor and stuffing the proceeds in wads of dollars into his pocket. In short, only in Nigeria can such a highbinder remain a governor of a state. Yet, similar to the situation in America with Donald Trump, instead of punitive action, Ganduje’s political party has turned blind eye while the ancient city of Kano is under assault. Nevertheless, lack of stature, as well as charisma, is the only reason Ganduje would not readily qualify as the Trump Nigerian double.

Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC): Oshiomhole has remained in power through a combination of dubious charisma and the ability to deceive a gullible society for selfish interest. He is also combative, full of bluster, and sees quid pro quo, as a way of life, however warped. Moreover, the APC Chairman is madly attention-seeking and craves exotic lifestyles. These descriptions fit perfectly well with Trump. But it won’t still suffice here. Oshiomhole’s physical attribute is the human equate of the aye-aye, and the American president is conscious of his look and will rather resign from office than be compared with the former Edo governor.

Dino Maleye, ex-Kogi Senator: The history will remain in wonderstruck of how this nothingburger found himself in the Legislature, let his dream to become president. In short, the sole reason Dino is on this list is the mere fact that he is the quintessential bozo. A bozo means wazzock—a stupid person, a clown, buffoon, and nincompoop—the type of nouns commonly associated to Donald Trump. Moreover, Maleye also gloats on his physical attributes, as well as fortune, no matter how crooked, and the media are fascinated with him for entertainment value.

Ayodele Fayose, Former Ekiti Governor: This is another rabble-rouser that exhibits the typical Trump characteristics. He is street-talking, cavalier, incoherent, unapologetic but a goon of charismatic celebrity, who draws followers by parading fantasy as fact. The former Ekiti governor too wants to be president, but that is where the comparison ends.

Orji Kanu, Senate Chief Whip: The garrulous former Abia State governor has a background that not only evinces everything wrong with politics but also echoes that of the American president. Kalu is bold and charismatic and, of course, owes his climb to power to make-believe wealth base. Though he has long aspired to be president, the Senate Chief Whip is a tub-thumper with no known political or religious beliefs, who was merely wagering at the ruling APC before he was convicted for corruption. He would have emerged as a near perfect Nigerian Trump, but the former Abia governor mis-gambled big time with his current party.

Muhammadu Buhari, Nigeria’s President. For sure, Buhari is a slowpoke, as well as a goldbrick. He is neither charismatic nor loquacious. More essentially, he cannot claim to know what it takes to create jobs or wealth. Thusly, he may appear to pale in comparison to Donald Trump, but the truth is that the Nigerian leader actually has more in common with the American president. To begin with, Buhari is a stone-cold bigot who has sustained power through demagoguery. In addition, he is by far the most vengeful, divisive, tribalistic, sectionalistic, nepotic, and toxic leader Nigeria has ever seen.

The similarity grows closer when considered that both Trump and Buhari thrive in hypocrisy. For instance, they assumed power in their respective countries preaching integrity, virtue, and righteousness, only to gain the power to embrace corruption, utter disregard for rule of law, and gross abuse of office as way of governance.

Not to be forgotten, the Buhari apologists never fail to brandish the bad examples of President Trump as excuse for the unending moral deficiencies of the Nigerian leader. Very significantly, despite their moral failings, their respective political parties never hesitated to coalesce behind the unrepentant leaders. That explains why Trump may never be removed from office by the American Senate dominated by his party. Such blind following is also the major reason the Nigerian Senate has not attempted to impeach Buhari, let alone removing the failing leader from office. The posterity beckons. The masses grapple.

*SKC Ogbonnia, Convener of Power To The Masses, writes from Ugbo, Enugu State, Nigeria.

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Will Trump unveil Leahy laws off Nigeria?

Commentary@ITREALMS:

It may not be news that the Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari would today, Monday, April 30, in Washington DC, United States of America, meet President Donald Trump at the Oval Office, but the question remained if Trump will unveil the Leahy laws off Nigeria, writes ITRealms.

Top on the agenda of the meeting of the two presidents comprises matters on security and economic realignment and no society thrives where the security of the country is under-siege as seen largely in Nigeria today.

The past week, over 30 persons have been killed including two Catholic priests and Christian faithful in Benue State by suspected AK47 arm-welding herdsmen, while the Army claimed at the weekend a top Boko Haram commander has been arrested over the Benue most recent killings, thereby bringing a twist to the issues on whether those Benue attacks were actually by herdsmen or Boko Haram.

This led the Catholic Bishops of Nigeria to request President Buhari to resign with immediate effect, even as some section of the National Assembly made up of the Senate and House of Representatives have declare ‘no confidence vote’ on his administration.

Worthy of note is that on assumption of office in 2015, President Buhari visited US and held a meeting then with President Barrack Obama and reportedly requested what industry and security observers tagged “counterterrorism with minimal strings” for Nigeria, which was evidently turned down based on damning security reports.

Some of this reports included the increasing insurgency by Boko Haram in the northeast, stressing that the group was behind the kidnapping of over 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014 as well as the abduction of more than 100 from Dapchi in February 2018, and subsequent return of some which was largely described as drama of the absurd, moreso, following insistence by the terrorist group not to release Leah Sharibu for refusal to convert to Islam.

The government of the day led by President Buhari seems helpless as they continued to claim making strides in the fight while more and more Nigerians are being killed if not slaughtered on daily basis.

ITRealms gathered that the US-Nigerian security cooperation was strained under former US President Barack Obama due to prohibition placed by the Leahy laws, which bar providing US military assistance to specific individuals and units of foreign militaries that have been credibly accused of committing human rights abuses.

The State Department at the time concluded that both Boko Haram and the Nigerian military had committed atrocities. Some Nigerian troops, specifically, were accused in a State Department report of committing extra-judicial killings, torture, rape, arbitrary detention, and widespread violence.

Acknowledging these human rights concerns, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, J. Peter Pham, who is also vice president for research and regional initiatives at the Atlantic Council, said: “I would make the argument not to allow the best to be the enemy of the good.” Stressing that “Absent of clear evidence of a systematically abusive regime, moral preening is of little utility in dealing with situations like this.”

Trump in contrast, had pushed ahead military cooperation with Nigeria with his administration in 2017 given approval for the sale to Nigeria of 12 military planes and security equipment worth $600 million; which is still a huge mess when it comes to due process as the National Assembly said there is no evidence such money was appropriated either in 2017 or 2018 budget.

Also, Trump had sought to improve relations with African countries which he allegedly referred to in derogatory terms in January this year, according to Pham. Incidentally, in March, Trump’s top diplomat, Rex Tillerson, then Secretary of State came to Nigeria only to spent a few hours as he was forced to cut short a trip to Africa. Trump fired Tillerson on his return from this trip.

With the above observations, industry and diplomatic watchers are still in awe why Buhari should trust Trump to change his mind so soon from the core ‘American first’ stanza, moreso, that the reasons adduced by the Obama administration under Leahy laws rather than change, but is getting worse.

For the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) over 300 Nigerians have been killed since January 1 and last weekend and specifically in Benue but no arrest has been made, and action to conclusively show determination by the government, rather the Buhari administration appeared helpless as it resorted to sending condolences.

All eyes is now on Mr. Trump to know if he will still proceed with 2017 approval to Nigeria, amidst alleged ethnic cleansing against President Buhari’s administration, although the reverse is possible if adequate homework is done to strengthen the ties between the two countries before the Oval Office meeting.

The prayer of every well-meaning Nigerian is for the government of Buhari to overcome insurgency and stand up against the herdsmen, which the government claimed came from aftermath of Libya civil conflict, yet the last weekend arrest of Boko Haram commander over the Benue killings in the last fortnight sends a wrong signal, according another school of thought; in that those Benue attacks may have been as well perpetrated by Boko Haram all this while, whereas the government and military search for excuses by tagging them herdsmen from neighbouring countries.

The fact that by the end of this Oval Office meeting between Buhari and Trump, a new security statistics could emerge to either justify the outcome or damn it.

The Leahy Laws or Leahy amendments are U.S. human rights laws that prohibit the U.S. Department of State and Department of Defense from providing military assistance to foreign security force units that violate human rights with impunity.[1] It is named after its principal sponsor, Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vermont).

To implement this law, U.S. embassies, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor, and the appropriate regional bureau of the U.S. Department of State vet potential recipients of security assistance. If a unit is found to have been credibly implicated in a serious abuse of human rights, assistance is denied until the host nation government takes effective steps to bring the responsible persons within the unit to justice. 

While the U.S. Government does not publicly report on foreign armed forces units it has cut off from receiving assistance, press reports have indicated that security force and national defense force units in Bangladesh, Bolivia, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Nigeria, Turkey, Indonesia, Lebanon, and Saint Lucia have been denied assistance due to the Leahy Law.

Senator Leahy first introduced this law in 1997 as part of the Foreign Operations Appropriations Act. It initially referred only to counter-narcotics assistance for one year. 

The next year, with his leadership, Congress expanded it to cover all State Department funded assistance. This provision was included in all annual Foreign Operations budget laws until 2008. At that time Congress made the law permanent by amending it into the Foreign Assistance Act. In 2011, Congress revised the law substantially, seeking to enhance its implementation.

The United States government has long been a major, if not the largest, provider of assistance—funding, training, non-lethal equipment, and/or weaponry---to foreign military and other security forces.

 In 2012 it spent $25 billion on training and equipping foreign militaries and law enforcement agencies of more than 100 countries around the world.[6] Security assistance is driven by overriding U.S. national security objectives, including a desire to challenge/overturn communist regimes during the Cold War, counter drug trafficking in the 1990s, or counter anti-Western terrorism in the 2000s. Throughout the United States' long history of providing assistance to foreign armed forces, some portion of this assistance has been provided to forces that repress and abuse their own populations.

Before 1997, the primary U.S. legislation constraining aid to countries with poor human rights records was Section 502B of the Foreign Assistance Act, which prohibited security assistance to “any country the government of which engages in a consistent pattern of gross violations of internationally recognized human rights.” This law was seen as too vague to be effective in cases where the U.S. government had an overriding interest.

According to Senator Leahy, his law “makes it clear that when credible evidence of human rights violations exists, U.S. aid must stop. But, it provides the necessary flexibility to allow the U.S. to advance its foreign policy objectives in these countries.”

As Nigerians hope for the best, may the best come out of the Oval Office meeting today.

Remmy Nweke/ED, ops

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Buhari heads to Washington DC for Monday meeting with Trump

ITREALMS:

Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari would this Saturday, head to Washington DC, United States of America for a planned meeting with President, Donald Trump on Monday, April 30, this year, reports ITRealms.

This, ITRealms gathered from Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed that President Buhari on this visit would mark the first African president to meet US President Donald J. Trump at the White House in Washington, since emerging President in 2016.

Also commenting on this, the director of the Atlantic Council’s Africa Center, J. Peter Pham, expressed optimism the visit by Buhari is coming with good omen.

“I think it sends a very good signal that the first African head of state to have an Oval Office meeting will be the democratically elected president of Africa’s most populous country and its largest economy,” Peter Pham said.

ITRealms further gathered that the two leaders are expected to focus on security and economic issues.

On security, Nigeria has been battling the Boko Haram insurgency in the northeast of the country for almost a decade. The group was behind the kidnapping of more than 200 schoolgirls in Chibok in 2014 as well as the abduction of more than 100 from Dapchi in February 2018.

Chuks Egbune/GEE 

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Miyetti Allah is terrorist organization – CAN insists

ITREALMS:

The Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has declared the Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders Association of Nigeria (MACBAN) a terrorist organistion, reports ITRealms.

They also called on Federal Government and well-meaning entities and organisations like the United Nations and United States of America (USA) to chorus their declaration by designating Miyetti Allah, appropriately.

Speaking through its General –Secretary, Rev. Dr. Musa Asake, at the National Christian Centre, Tuesday, CAN said that declaration of Miyetti Allah as a terrorist organization is long over-due, 

They urged President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately overhaul the National Security Council with a view to sharing its membership equally between Christians and Muslims and possibly those who do not belong to either.

CAN equally said that Miyetti Allah has proved beyond doubts that its mission is not merely to breed cattles,  describing as hugely unfortunate the backing such a group is enjoying from current security agencies in Nigeria, and the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Mr. Ibrahim Idris Kpotum, particularly, given his recent utterances.

According to CAN scribe, Miyetti Allah has exhibited and committed genocide and ethnic cleansing against the Christians, especially the minorities in the Middlebelt.

"The Myetti Allah organisation should be tagged a terrorist organisation. Its leaders should be arrested and prosecuted for the genocide against the Christian minorities in the Middlebelt," CAN insisted.

CAN pointed out that the overhauling of the security apparatus of the country should start with the immediate replacement of the IGP Idris.

“We call for immediate replacement of the Inspector General of Police because our security can no longer be guaranteed.”

While advising President Buhari to eschew appointments built on religion, CAN said “No religion has a monopoly of competency, commitment and patriotism.”

Further, they called for immediate redeployment of all the Commissioners of Police nationwide, condemning in strong terms the attempt by this pro-Fulani government to introduce “cattle colonies.”

Uboshe Uboshe/GEE

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Shithole: ECOSOCC demands apology from President Trump

ITREALMS:

African civil society under the auspices of the Economic, Social and Cultural Council (ECOSOCC) of the African Union (AU) has asked Mr. Donald Trump, the president of the United States to tender unserved apology to Africans over his latest lambasting of the continent and tagged it a ‘shithole,’ reports ITRealms.

A press statement made available to ITRealms ECOSOCC said, they received with utter shock the news of the uncouth words used by the President of the United States in reference to African people and people of African descent.

“We condemn in the strongest terms the racist undertones of this language and the clear expression of naivety about the place, role and value of African people by the President of the United States,” the group said.

In Africa, they said, elders are highly respected and the language that elders use should be respectful as well to befit the positions that they hold.

The President of the United States, they said, should be an elder and should exude wisdom, deep respect of cultural and social diversity and value of humanity, describing as unfortunate, that the President seems to be depicting the contrary.

“We therefore call upon all citizens and peoples groups, religious and faith leaders, private sector and professional organizations, academics and civic actors in the US and Africa to condemn this language in the strongest terms,” they said.

Citizens across the world, ECOSOCC noted, should be respected for what they are and referred to in appropriate and respectful language.

“To continue to propagate racism through language in the world, is to fuel other types of violent behaviors that we see around the world,” they said.

ECOSOCC therefore, asked US President to seriously consider withdrawing the controversial  statement and issue a public apology to the all Africans and people of African descent in the world.

“The President should note that the social, economic and cultural contributions of Africans in the United States is one of the highest in the world,” they declared.

Stressing that the United States has a big number of African people in a diversity of professions that do not fit the despicable description used by the US President.

In addition, they said, that one of the Agenda 2063 Aspirations developed by African people and its leaders is: An Africa with a strong cultural identity, common heritage, shared values and ethics.

ECOSOCC, they said is as an organ that promotes and popularizes the Agenda 2063 and strives to build an Africa and world that is ethical and value-based. We therefore call upon the President of the United States to embrace this aspiration and other progressive and positive aspirations of the African people.

African civil society and ECOSOCC therefore joins the rest of the world to condemn the language of US President.

We call upon the President of the United States to restrain himself as well as educate himself about the world and its people and ensure that he espouses the values that the United States people have been known for over the ages.

Chuks Egbune/GEE

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Trump sabotaging US for Chinese exploit

ITRealms:

The Greenpeace International has accused the President of United States, Mr. Donald Trump of sabotage, and paving the way for China to reap America the anticipated economic benefits from green revolution, reports ITRealms.

The organization, in its reaction to the June 1^st withdrawal by America from the Paris Climate Change deal, follows President Trump’s pronouncement, saying it will only put US in jeopardy and provide China the lee way to exploit the economic benefits from America.

The Senior Global Policy Officer, at Greenpeace East Asia, Li Shuo told ITRealms that it will only put United States at an ugly edge.

“It will only corner the US and present China with an opportunity to reap the economic benefits of America’s withdrawal,” Shuo said.

The Global Policy Officer, also alleged that President Trump has taken his administration in the opposite direction against the rest of the world.

Stressing that this is coming on the recent Chinese cancellation of coal power plants and decried that Trump canceled climate action.

“Trump’s attempt to sabotage the global transition to a safer clean energy future would not succeed,” Shuo lamented.

For the Greenpeace Africa Executive Director, Njeri Kabeberi said, “Thursday, June 1st 2017 will be written in history as the day the US, under the administration of President Trump, turned its back on those who needed its leadership, ambition and compassion.

“The millions of people living on the African continent are on the frontlines of climate change, and it is critical that polluters are held accountable for the suffering and injustice global warming is already inflicting. Climate change impacts are already a daily reality, and action to stop catastrophic climate change cannot be delayed. Our global community will take action, and is already taking action, with or without the US government, and it is critical that major emitters like South Africa step up and take a leadership role.”

Equally, for the Greenpeace International Executive Director, Jennifer Morgan, “Withdrawing from the Paris Agreement will turn America from a global climate leader into a flat earth society of one. It is a morally-bankrupt decision that Trump will come to regret. Global climate action is not a legal or political debate; it is an inescapable obligation to protect people and the planet.

“Trump is surrendering US global leadership to real world leaders who are seizing the momentum to protect their country and the climate by transforming their economies to clean energy. We are witnessing a seismic shift in the global order as Europe, China and others lead the way forward.

“Almost 200 countries committed to climate action in Paris and only one has decided to withdraw. This is how far out of step Trump is with the rest of the world. It is the changing of the global guard - as the US bows out, world leaders, CEOs and people across the world can and are moving forward into the future.”

Isaac Oyimah/GEE

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Avaaz alleges plans by Trump to shut down service

ITRealms:

An online global social campaign organization known as Avaaz, has alleged that the elected controversial president of the United States of America (USA), Mr. Donald Trump may shut down its services, reports ITRealms.

According to Ricken, Danny, Mia, Spyro and the Avaaz team in a press statement made available to ITRealms, said that they are worried Mr. Trump has a way to kill Avaaz, stressing that like much of the internet, Avaaz servers, data, email list and website, are all housed in the United State 'President Trump' could shut us down in a heartbeat.

The Avaaz team also wondered if Trump would do it, “We campaigned hard against him, we even filed a criminal case against his top advisor for voter fraud. And if we've learned anything about Trump, it's that he holds a grudge.”

They posited that Avaaz team intends to move countries and fast.

“This won't be easy. Shifting all our technology will be costly. But if just 0.1% of us donate the price of a drink or a meal by Jan 1st, we can make Avaaz safe before Trump takes office. Let's trump-proof Avaaz,” they said.

Further, they noted that when the US government wanted to kill Wikileaks, they simply told companies like Visa, MasterCard and Paypal to stop processing their online donations. “It shut them down for over a year. Trump could go even further to target firms that house our servers and email list. We might never recover.“

Avaaz said they are particularly at risk because “we're a global organization. Far-right nationalists everywhere rail against Avaaz and "foreign" organizations who challenge their hate and ignorance. We can't afford to be unprepared for this assault, let's Trump-proof our movement.”

The great beauty and legitimacy and strength of Avaaz, the team said is that all their power flows and comes from people, hence, they are so hard to intimidate “because you won't be. But our fearlessness has made us many enemies, and we need to be smart. Let's get ahead of what they'll do next.”

Chuks Egbune/GEE 

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Death of a nation: Trump and tragic case of Bridget Agbahime

Commentary@ITRealms:

Two weeks ago, while the world faced the frightening prospect of a Trump presidency in the US, an equally tragic event took place thousands of kilometres away in Nigeria. Except that in the case of Nigeria, the people did not elect—pardon the pun—to foist on themselves the cataclysm that may yet consume the nation. Both events—the emergence of Trump as president-elect and the “not guilty” verdict pronounced by the judiciary, and by extension the Nigerian state, on some vermin in human skin posing as God’s arbiters, bear uncanny similarities.

I don’t know if it is our proclivity for the gory and the absurd or the excitement of the US presidential election; but whatever the reason, that bizarre incident in Nigeria went unnoticed. Few people—certainly, not the mainstream media, the tribe of Internet trolls, our effete civil society or women’s organisations—raised their voice or queried that infernal judgement.

Now that the US election is over, perhaps Americans can return, in the words of the good old Dr. Damages of SaharaReporters fame, to those things that they care about most: the ability of Kim Kardashian and her clan to hold down the Internet. And the rest of us lesser mortals can go back to worrying about those things that are important to us. And in the case of Nigeria, how to make meaning of a nation that has lost its soul. But before I return to Nigeria, a slight digression on the election of Donald J. Trump as the next president of the US.

Mr. Trump seems to be on a charm offensive, seducing everybody who cares to watch that, not minding his destructive campaign rhetoric, he has the capacity for good. There are those—including our beloved Oprah—who are having a change of heart about Trump and are calling on the pessimists to give him a chance; that we should hold out hope that the self-confessed p---y-grabbing money man may turn out to be a better president than he is a businessman and entertainer.

Some have argued that candidate Trump had to maintain a bellicose persona and deploy demagoguery in order for his campaign to gain traction and for him to stand a chance against the entrenched and well-oiled political machine that was the Clinton campaign. Of course, what was frightening wasn’t so much what Trump said or did—as dangerous as they were—but the fact that half of American voters actually believed in him enough to give him the Electoral College vote.

There is another side of the Trump victory that observers seem to have ignored: the people. What happened two weeks ago in the US? In one sentence, the people happened! Whether they are right or wrong, only time will tell. Trump may indeed turn out to be a “good president”, but it does not vitiate the fact that he and his campaign stood for something. His xenophobic, misogynistic and divisive messages resonated with some voters, including religious bigots. It is not likely that those who supported his campaign messages will allow him to do otherwise or not take advantage of his victory. America is trying to heal post Trump’s victory. We can only wish them well in this healing process. The first step, we know, in the healing process, is to accept there is a problem; and in Trump, America has a big problem!

Back to Nigeria. Here are the facts of the matter for those not familiar with the case. On June 2, 2016, Bridget Agbahime, a 74-year-old Nigerian trader was savagely attacked and murdered at Kofar Wambai Market in Kano State, northern Nigeria, by a group of bloodthirsty fiends, ever desirous  of propitiating heaven. Her offence? Blasphemy! That age-old alibi that has allowed religious zealots to perpetrate evil. She was reported to have prevented a fellow trader from performing ablution—the act of washing oneself in preparation for formal prayers in Islam—in front of her shop.

Governor of Kano State, Abdullahi Ganduje, described the murder of Agbahime as “unjustifiable” and promised justice in line with the laws of the country. The Police arrested two key suspects, Dauda Ahmed and Zubairu Abdullahi.  Solomon Arase, the Inspector General of Police, deployed the Homicide Section of the Police to ensure proper investigation which led to the arrest of three more suspects, Abdulmumeen Mustafa, Abdullahi Abubakar and Musa Abdullahi. The suspects were charged at the Kano Magistrate court on a four-count of allegedly “inciting disturbance, culpable homicide, joint act and mischief”.

That murder took place in June. Fast forward to November, five months later, and the accused are free men, ready to prowl the streets of Kano for their next victim, thanks to Nigeria’s perverted justice system. 

On November 4, 2016, the chief magistrate, Muhammad Jibrin, acting on the advice of the Attorney General of Kano State, discharged the case and directed the release of the suspects on ground that, “Police investigation regarding the murder has not in any way implicated the accused and that prosecutors have failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that the accused have indeed carried out the crime of killing Bridget.”

In what looked like a state sanction of the execution of Bridget Agbahime, the Kano State government went a step further, affirming that, “There is no case to answer as all the suspects are innocent.” 

So who killed Bridget Agbahime? It certainly wasn’t Donald Trump. For me, it is not so much the crime, as gruesome as it was. The real tragedy here is what appears to be the connivance of Kano State and its institutions, and by extension the Nigerian state, to uphold this death sentence passed on Bridget Agbahime.

The murder of Bridget Agbahime challenges all of us. It is beyond comprehension that a Nigerian would be so savagely beaten to death on allegation of blasphemy. It certainly is not too late to get justice for Agbahime and others who have suffered similar fate, to restore hope that ours is or could be a nation of law and order, of respect for human life and dignity of persons. By not bringing the killers of Agbahime to book, the Nigerian state is inadvertently telling us that us that ours is a lawless state; that Nigeria is Pakistan, Afghanistan and Somalia, where warlords rule and deranged zealots exert “justice” based on their demented vision of religious codes.

Agbahime’s murder wasn’t the first time and probably won’t be the last time that a citizen of Nigeria would be killed in the name of religion unless we reclaim Nigeria from the hands of these barbaric horde and their fellow travellers. By ignoring these telltale signs, we are destroying the very thin fabric that holds us together as a people. And there are many for whom this nation died a long time ago.

The words of Pastor Mike Agbahime who witnessed the savage attack on his wife are instructive. In a November 13, 2016, interview with Punch newspaper he noted: “The saying, ‘One Nigeria’ is just mere balderdash. I say this because the leaders’ mistake is a ‘leading’ mistake. To buttress it, if our leaders cannot keep the oaths of their offices and cannot respect the sanctity of life and our constitution, there is no need to talk about oneness in Nigeria. I also say this because even if the constitution condemns killing in one part of the country and declares other people who killed in other state innocent, I wonder what kind of constitution that is.”

Let’s for once assume this murder was not done in the name of religion. It doesn’t make it any less heinous and it deserves no place in a modern democratic society. Dauda Ahmed and Zubairu Abdullahi and their cohort should be re-arrested and made to pay for their crime.

By Chido Onumah | conumah@hotmail.com; Twitter @conumah

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World-war texting against Trump

ITRealms:

Young Americans are gearing up for a secret world-war against the Republican Presidential 

candidate, Mr. Donald J. Trump by resorting to simply texting against him at the global level to spur the youths to come out and vote, reports ITRealms.

Lead advocate for the Young Americans, Emma Ruby-Sachs, informed ITRealms that they believe in climate change and are strongly against Trump, since they don't vote. 

“Now there's a killer plan for us to reach them and make sure they turn up, by simply texting,” he said.  

According to his petition on Avaaz with additional support by Avaaz US elections team, made available to ITRealms, Young Americans accuse Mr. Trump of trying to destroy the Paris climate change deal.

“Trump wants to tear up the Paris climate deal, and that's just the start of his horrifying plans! But now there's a way we can all help stop him, just by texting,” Ruby-Sachs said. 

Recent polls, he said, showed that young Americans believe immensely in climate change and are strongly against Trump. Noting that though political observers had warned that this group is the least likely to vote, yet they now form a killer squad against Mr. Trump.

“Now there’s a killer plan to reach them through a medium they love: text messages!” he declared.

Ruby-Sachs pointed out that if thousands of youth around the world text these young voters despite their usual apathy, urging them to get to the polls, “we could help ensure Trump loses in a landslide.” 

Texting American voters from overseas, he said is one of Bernie Sanders secrets against Trump which is easy, free and already working. Advising interested individuals to click to learn more about joining the team and trying this amazing tool provided by progressive group NextGen Climate.

The petitioners said that Trump and the racist, sexist, anti-climate, isolationist message he peddles are all threats to the entire world and “to everything we fight for as a community.”

As said by the petitioners, which also include Messers Rewan, Adam, Andrew and Joseph connecting with young Americans who also care about saving the planet, and ensuring they have all the information they need to vote, could be enough to secure a vote against Trump. 

Tests, ITRealms gathered, showed that one of the advocates could make a voting plan with 30 people who share same values in just an hour, because there's no get out the vote programme anywhere that has that kind of success rate.

“You’ll get everything you need to jump right in through progressive group NextGen Climate; a thorough training, a community, a support team in a chat room, and a contact list when you’re ready to get started. And because the tool doesn't use any text messages on your plan, you send them through a web page, you can recruit tonnes and tonnes of people at no extra cost.”

Potential public to join the campaign, the petitioners said, must ensure they are super comfortable writing in fluent English.

“We’ve worked together for weeks to help every American abroad vote in this election, and it’s brought in thousands of new voters to swing state races, helping to keep Trump far away from the White House. Now we can use this new tool to multiple our impact on election day,” the team said.

Nenye Dom/GEE

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Clinton: Forensic expert alleges poisoning by Putin, Trump

ITRealms:

Famous forensic pathologist, Dr. Bennet Omalu has alleged that the Presidential candidate for the Democratic Party in the forthcoming election, Mrs. Hillary Clinton may have been poisoned by the duo of Donald Trump and President Russian President Vladimir Putin, reports ITRealms.

In his Twitter handle, @bennetomalu9168, Dr. Omalu reputed for speaking out to the NFL in the United States, suggested that Hillary Clinton’s campaign be investigated for possible poisons after her collapse Sunday in New York.

Although Mrs Clinton had said she did not collapse but missed step, Omalu whose story was famously told in the movie “Concussion,” and reported by the Washington Post as pointing accusing fingers at Trump and Putin, insisting that campaign officials of Mrs Clinton should conduct with immediate effect a “toxicologic analysis of Ms. Clinton’s blood.”

Omalu added that his concern was based on antecedent of Mr. Putin as alluded by recent report by Washington Post, implicated by a British inquiry in January in the poisoning death of Alexander Litvinenko, a former KGB operative in London in 2006.

The Post’s Griff Witte and Michael Birnbaum wrote at the time:

Although the inquiry stops short of conclusively blaming Putin — noting the opaque nature of Kremlin politics — it finds that there is “strong circumstantial evidence that the Russian State was responsible for Mr. Litvinenko’s death.” And citing the high-stakes nature of an operation to assassinate a former KGB officer on British soil, it finds that the operation would probably not have gone ahead without Putin’s direct approval.

Omalu, famously played by Will Smith in “Concussion,” has studied and obtained a number of degrees. Born in Nigeria, he became a U.S. citizen in 2015 and is known for the tenacity with which he pursued the deaths of several former Pittsburgh Steelers during his time in the city’s medical examiner’s office.

Eventually, he convinced skeptics that players were suffering brain damage as the result of taking a number of blows to the head, and had insisted that Clinton may have been poisoned.

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