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#OccupyLekki: Govt Ensured Protesters’ Rights Were Protected, Says Lagos Attorney-General

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3 years ago

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Moyosore Onigbanjo, attorney-general and commissioner for justice in Lagos, says the state government ensured that the rights of the #OccupyLekkiTollGate protesters were not breached.

In a video that went viral on Saturday, the protesters, who were demonstrating against the resumption of operations at the Lekki tollgate, were arrested and crowded inside what appeared to be a van, with many of them half-naked.

The youths were later charged to court, and granted bail.

Speaking on Sunday when he featured on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme, the attorney-general condemned the brutalization of the protesters, adding that the police will give an account of what happened at the tollgate on Saturday.

He also noted that the state derives no joy in seeing people harassed, adding that the government’s responsibility is to maintain law and order.

“Your right to protest only extends to where the other person’s right to his own freedom of association and movement starts,” he said.

“We condemn any act of brutality and dehumanization on the part of the police or anybody for that matter. There are three ways to address this. Firstly, is for the commissioner of police himself to set up what is known as an orderly room trial.

“Secondly, if an investigation reveals that any police officer abused their authority, and these facts are sent to the DPP’s office, and the DPP says that the policeman or woman has a case to answer, appropriate charges will be filed.

“The third leg of it, even these citizens who claimed that they were brutalized also have the option to sue the police to court for this act which they alleged.

“In Nigeria, if you are arrested on a Friday, you are probably going to end up in a police station or whatever detention till the next week, but we made sure that the court sat late on Saturday to ensure that people that were arrested were released to go home.

“I think that in itself showed the intention of the state government to ensure that rights are protected on both sides. The state government is there for people who support it and people who don’t support it. We are bound by the law and we ensure that the law is carried out to the letter.

“It could have been very easy to say the court will not sit till Monday, but we did not do that. We chose to get a magistrate there through the mobile court. We chose to get prosecutors there, and they were granted bail and all of them released. It is another thing that could have happened. They could have been granted bail and they say, ‘it is a Saturday evening, the paperwork cannot be concluded till Monday.’

“But that didn’t happen, because we’re hellbent on ensuring that nobody’s right is trampled upon.”

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BIG STORY

Avoid Panic Buying, We’re Not Changing Petrol Prices — NNPCL To Nigerians

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6 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says there is no place to change the prices of petroleum products.

In a statement on Thursday by Femi Soneye, its spokesperson, the NNPC asked Nigerians to avoid panic buying.

The national oil firm said the limited availability of petrol in certain regions of the nation is a result of logistical problems.

However, the company said the challenge has been fixed.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved,” the statement reads.

“It also wishes to reiterate that the prices of petroleum products are not changing.

“It urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there is a sufficiency of products in the country.”

On March 24, the NNPC denied adjusting the pump price of petrol across its retail outlets.

This came after the organisation had promised Nigerians that there would not be any increase in the cost of petrol on February 9.

The NNPC also reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in the supply of petroleum products across all its retail stations in the country.

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BIG STORY

Former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi Wins Ondo PDP Gubernatorial Primary

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7 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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A former deputy governor of Ondo, Agboola Ajayi, has emerge winner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary election in the state.

Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, who chaired the electoral committee that supervised the poll, announced the results on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

Ewhrudjakpo said Ajayi scored 264 votes to defeat other aspirants.

“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.

Ajayi was the deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021.

Kolade Akinjo, who came second in the election scored 157 votes while Olusola Ebiseni polled 99 votes to clinch the third position.

On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.

He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.

He then joined the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.

Ajayi had served as a councillor, chairman of Ese-Odo LGA, and house of representatives member before he was nominated by the late Akeredolu as his deputy in 2016.

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Former Senate Spokesperson Ayogu Eze Dies At 66

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12 hours ago

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April 25, 2024

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Ayogu Eze, a former spokesperson for the Senate, passed away at the age of 66.

Eze, the senator from Enugu North Senatorial District from 2007 to 2015, died on Thursday in a hospital in Abuja following an undisclosed illness.

In May 2023, the Senate confirmed Eze as a federal Commissioner for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Eze is also among the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party.

In his years at the Senate, he also served as the chairman of the Senate Committee of Works and a member of committees on Constitutional Amendment, Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs.

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