Archive March 14, 2025

Contrary to popular belief, the Nigerian government asserts that Christians are not the target of bandits and insurgents in the country’s North-East and North-Western regions.

According to reports, the United States House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa authorized President Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Nigeria because of the alleged widespread killing of Christians and growing religious hostility there.

The decision came after a congressional hearing on Wednesday, during which lawmakers criticized the Nigerian government for failing to stop the escalating violence against Christians.

The Observatory for Religious Freedom in Africa released a report from 2024 that found that 90% of all Christians are killed worldwide each year.

The Federal Ministry of Foreign Affairs debunked earlier reports that claimed Christians were targeted for Christians in Nigeria in a statement released on Friday.

Kimiebi Ebienfa, the ministry’s acting spokesperson, described the report as part of a deceptive campaign intended to persuade foreign governments to designate it as a “Country of Particular Concern” for violent against Christians.

The statement read, “The Ministry of Foreign Affairs expresses serious concern about the recent wave of misinformation and lies regarding the alleged targeted killings of Christians in Nigeria.”

The unfortunate development is intended to compel other countries, particularly the US government, to designate Nigeria as a country of particular concern because of the violence against Christians.

While the Federal Government acknowledges the security concerns facing the country, it is crucial to make it clear that these negative activities are neither motivated by religious prejudice nor directed at any particular religious group.

The majority of incidents involving insurgency and banditry that take place in the country’s predominantly Muslim northern region are not intended at followers of a particular faith or religion, according to the article. Any narrative that attempts to portray these events as religious persecution is false and erroneous.

The ministry put forth the fact that Nigeria is a multi-ethnic, multireligious country, and that the government is still committed to safeguarding all citizens, regardless of race or faith.

Ebienfa emphasized the government’s ongoing efforts to combat security threats, including those involving military strikes against bandits and insurgents, as well as those involving farmer-herders.

“The Nigerian government has taken significant steps, including the deployment of security forces, gathering intelligence, and community engagement initiatives,” according to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

In fact, the military has made significant progress in halting bandits’ and insurgents’ activities.

The federal and state governments have used kinetic and non-kinetic methods to expedite the implementation of the national livestock plan, according to the statement.

The government also demanded that all information be verified before making statements that could cause tensions in Nigeria.

Alhaji Muhammadu Sanusi II’s reinstatement as the Emir of Kano has been delayed by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

Following a unanimous decision by a three-member panel of justices led by Justice Okon Abang, the decision was made.

The Federal High Court in Kano’s ruling on January 10 that invalidated the 2024-a-day Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law overturned the judgment.

Sanusi II was reinstated as Emir following the resolution to dissolve the five emirates established in 2019.

Justice Gabriel Kolawole delivered the decision, which stated that Sanusi II’s appointment was revoked without the necessary authority, and that the case had been transferred to the Kano State High Court.

The appellate court, however, decided that the newly filed motions, which had the numbers CA/KN/27M/2025 and CA/KN/28M/2025, were legitimate and competent.

The phrase “the law is resolved.” Justice Abang remarked that the court is required to exercise its discretion responsibly and in the interests of justice.

He added that because the applicant had served as emir for five years prior to his removal, he deserved his protection.

Justice Kolawole ruled on January 10 that the case should have been decided by Kano State’s high court rather than the Federal High Court, which he described as “a grave error” when he overturned the ruling over Sanusi II’s appointment.

The Kano State Government’s Kano Emirates Council (Repeal) Law 2024, which reinstated Muhammadu Sanusi II as the 16th Emir, was overturned by the Federal High Court in Kano on June 20, 2024.

The presiding judge further directed the Kano State House of Assembly to carry out the status quo while Emir Ado Bayero was in charge of the fundamental rights enforcement lawsuit brought by Aminu Baba-Dan’Agundi.

However, the appellate court cited Section 251 of the Nigerian Constitution and Section 22 (2) of the Federal High Court Act to support its contention that the case should have been brought before the Kano State High Court or the FCT High Court.

According to him, “the proper order is to order the first respondent (Baba-Dan ‘Agundi) to transfer the case to the High Court of Kano State, where the Chief Judge shall assign it to a judge who has not previously been a part of the hearing of the case.”

The judge ordered the Kano State House of Assembly to pay the sum of N500,000.

However, the case was dropped in accordance with Justices Mohammed Mustapha and Abdul Dogo’s ruling that the proper course of action was to dismiss Dan Agundi’s lawsuit from the Federal High Court rather than transfer the case.

The Court of Appeal Abuja has suspended the execution of its decision, which overturned a Federal High Court decision to halt the Kano State Government’s efforts to reinstate Sanusi Lamido Sanusi as Emir of Kano.

A three-member panel of the Appeal Court, led by Justice Okon Abang, delivered the decision.

In light of the Supreme Court of Nigeria’s (Kano State Emirate Council) Law 2024), the suspension is pending a final decision on the Kano Emirate tussle.

In response to the State House of Assembly’s passage of the Kano State Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024, Sanusi was reinstated as a result of a legal dispute brought by Alhaji Aminu Babba-Dan’agundi’s legal team, one of the kingmakers’ leaders.

Following a request from Babba-Dan’agundi, a federal high court in Kano had in June 2024, annulled Muhammadu Sanusi II’s election as Kano’s 16th Emir.

Read more about the court’s decision to reject Bello Turji’s bail application.

The Attorney General of Kano State, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Department of State Services, and other security organizations were sued by Baba-Dan’agundi.

The 2019 Emirate Council Law, which created five emirates from the original Kano Emirate under former governor Abdullahi Ganduje, was repealed by the state government.

Justice Abdullahi Muhammad-Liman of the Kano trial court declared that all actions taken by the state government following the passage of the Kano Emirate Council (Repeal) Law 2024 were unlawful.

The State House of Assembly filed an appeal with the Appeal Court after disagreeing with the lower court.

The trial court’s ruling in January 2025, which had issued a status quo order opposing the passage of the Emirate bill, was overturned by the Appeal Court, which had mandated a new trial of the case.

Additionally, the trial court lacked the authority to hear the case, according to the Appeal Court.

After the Supreme Court’s decision, the parties then filed an appeal for final redress, while Babba-Dan’agundi filed a petition to the Appeal Court for an injunction to stop the respondents from enforcing the appeal’s judgment pending the outcome of the Supreme Court’s decision.

Justice Okon Abang agreed with the Kano State Assembly that a Supreme Court injunction can only be granted when the applicant has provided “special circumstances” that justify granting an order in accordance with the ruling on Friday.

He claimed that the Supreme Court was satisfied that the applicant (Babba-Dan’agundi) had a legitimate and controversial appeal against its decision to overrule the lower court.

In the event that the applicant’s Supreme Court appeal is unsuccessful, he added that the applicant has a legal right that needs to be protected.

The judge decided that granting the application was in the public’s best interest.

The respondents’ representatives (Kano State House of Assembly, Kano State Government, etc.) are granted an injunction. ) from enforcing the judgment of this Court in Appeal No. by themselves, their agents, privies, servants, or personal representatives. He said that pending the hearing and decision of the applicant’s appeal filed on 24/1/2025 before the Supreme Court of Nigeria, KANO STATE HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY & ANOR VS ALHAJI AMINU BABBA-DAN ‘AGUNDI &, OTHERS delivered on 10/1/2025.

According to the position before the trial court’s decision delivered on 13/6/2024 in Suit No. 2, he also directed parties to “maintain the status quo ante bellum” (the condition that existed prior to the legal conflict). In pending the hearing and determination of the applicant’s appeal against the Court’s decision in Appeal No. 192, the applicant files a petition for the court to hear their appeal. CA/KN/126/2024.

In the event that the order should not have been issued, the applicant must submit an undertaking to indemnify the respondents in damages within 48 hours.

All four newly established state emirate councils were disbanded by the state’s House of Assembly on May 23, 2024.

A woman plunged into the Lagos Lagoon from the Third Mainland Bridge, carrying out a suicide mission there.

The tragic incident took place on Thursday night at 4:00 p.m. near the University of Lagos (UNILAG) waterfront.

The woman jumped into the water, according to what was discovered, and Marine Police stationed nearby responded quickly.

According to CSP Benjamin Hundeyin, spokesman for Lagos State Police Command, the woman’s body was found by the Marine Police at the UNILAG shore slipway.

A team of UNILAG medical professionals saw her passing, according to him, along with a Sabo Division police team.

The woman’s body has been taken to the Infectious Disease Hospital (IDH) in Yaba.