What’s news for September 20, 2023, the four biggest stories in Nigeria today:
By Ezinwanne Onwuka
● Cops and paramilitary forces lose 13 in deadly clashes in Imo
Criminal gang ambushes Security force Local media reported eight fatalities including soldiers and officers of paramilitary agency Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA). The security operatives ran into an ambush at Oriagu in Ehime Mbano area of Imo State. Their operational vans were set ablaze, and none survived.
At least five policemen were killed in an attack by armed men in Nigeria’s southeastern Imo State on Tuesday, the latest incident in a state rife with gang and separatist violence. Police spokesperson in Imo, Henry Okoye, confirmed the attack but did not immediately provide details because investigations are ongoing.
Armed groups have attacked police stations and government buildings in states in Nigeria’s Southeast region, which authorities often blame on the proscribed separatist Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) group. IPOB, which has been campaigning for a homeland for the Igbo ethnic group to be an independent country, denies the charges.
● Nigerian Police take lead in Nigeria’s war on guns
In tandem with policies of blue states in the United States to collect all illegal firearms, the Nigeria Police Force has called on the public to submit firearms obtained illegally at any nearest police station. The justification, it said, was to checkmate the proliferation and unlawful possession of firearms in a country with high rates of violent crime.
Though Nigerian law provides that no person shall own any firearm or ammunition except such person has a licence from the President or the Inspector General of Police, Nigeria accounts for 70 per cent of illegal gun owners in West Africa. Tuesday’s order from the commissioner of police in Osun State, Faleye Olaleye, targets mopping up firearms which had found their way into the unauthorized hands of non-state actors.
Earlier this month, police chief Kayode Egbetokun halted the issuance of licences for arms in the country. “We are mopping up arms in circulation. There are too many arms in circulation and if we continue to issue licences on arms, we may continue to aggravate the problems we are trying
to solve,” IGP Egbetokun said.
● Tinubu doubles down in bid to restore civilian rule in Niger
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, leader of the Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS] is believed to be button-holing other heads of state at side events of the UN General Assembly to join him in persuading the military junta ruling Niger to restore constitutional order after the coup in late July. “I extend a hand of friendship to all who genuinely support this mission,” he said in his inaugural speech at the annual UN confab in New York City.
Over the last three years, seven coup d’états have occurred in West and Central Africa, a region that has tried to shed its reputation as a coup belt. The military junta, which now calls itself the National Council for the Safeguard of the Homeland (CNSP), is cementing its rule after gaining the upper hand in a shadow play with the democratic world led by ECOWAS.
● Court grants Atiku’s request for the release of Tinubu’s academic records
Judge Jeffrey T. Gilbert of the U.S. District Court of Northern Illinois has ordered the Chicago State University (CSU) to release all relevant records on Nigerian president Bola Tinubu to Atiku Abubakar, one of Tinubu’s major challengers in the last presidential election.
The ruling appears to be a victory for Atiku, who has persistently sought access to the records to prove that Tinubu forged the certificate that qualified him to run for February’s presidential election. On Sept. 19, Atiku approached Nigeria’s Supreme Court to overturn the judgment of the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal (PEPT), which had, on September 6, affirmed Tinubu’s electoral victory.
The federal court in Chicago, on Tuesday, mandated CSU to provide “all relevant and non-privileged documents” to the former Nigerian Vice-president because of Tinubu’s lawyers’ argument against breaching their client’s privacy rights. CSU had promised to release the records if a court gives the order.
