Extrajudicial Killing: Daughter of Slain Shiite Demand N5 Billion Compensation From Police

A young lady, Fatima Kabiru-Ahmed, who is a daughter of Kabiru Ahmed, a member of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria killed by the police, has filed a N5 billion lawsuit against the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, to compensate for the alleged killing of her father.

She made the demand in a fundamental rights enforcement suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/364/2021 dated March 16 filed by her lawyer, Bala Dakum, at the Federal High Court, Abuja.

File photo used to illustrate story.

Fatima said the murder of her father, Ahmed, by the police, amounted to a gross violation of his rights as enshrined in the 1999 Constitution.

The 2nd to 4th respondents in the law suit include: the Commissioner of Police, FCT Command, Bala Ciroma; Attorney General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami and Medical Director, Wuse District General Hospital.

Fatima, the first daughter of Kabiru, according to the originating motion, sought the court’s declaration that the killing of her father was illegal and unlawful.

Other reliefs sought include “an order of the court directing the respondents to jointly and severally pay the applicant the sum of N5 billion for the killing of Kabiru.

“An order of the court directing the respondents to tender a formal apology to the applicant and her family by publishing the same in two national daily newspapers.”

In the affidavit in support of the motion, the applicant deposed that her father, among others, was shot by the police on January 26, 2021 while on a peaceful protest at the National Human Rights Commission at Maitama, Abuja, to demand the release of the wife of Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, Mallama Zeenah. 

Fatima, who spoke with journalists in Abuja, said, “Other members of the movement made efforts to take my father to the hospital because he was bleeding profusely but the police scared them off with gunshots and took my father away.”

She said Kabiru’s body was later found at Wuse District Hospital after several efforts. “The staff on duty went through their records and confirmed that my father was brought in dead on January 26 and his corpse was deposited at the hospital’s mortuary by the police led by one SP Solomon. 

"I demanded to see his body and it was shown to me," she said. 

She said the hospital management told her that Kabiru’s body would only be released with the permission of the police.

The applicant added that she was invited by the FCT Commissioner of Police who admitted that her father was killed by his officers and his body deposited at General Hospital. 

She was asked to make a statement and state her demands.

Fatima explained that she made a statement and demanded that an autopsy be conducted on the body of her late father but the request was turned down by the police.

She said, “They said it was confidential, that the Attorney General of Federation is the chief law officer of the country and has a duty to advise the police but refused to advise them appropriately."

Human Rights News AddThis :  Original Author :  NaijaGistReporters,

Posted by Admin March 21, 2021

Petroleum Industry Bill: Bayelsa Governor Rejects 2.5 Percent Revenue Proposed For Host Communities

Bayelsa State Governor, Douye Diri, has said the 2.5 per cent revenue proposed for host communities in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) is grossly inadequate and unacceptable to the people of the Niger Delta.

Diri stated this on Tuesday during a town hall meeting on the bill with members of the National Assembly and stakeholders in Yenagoa.

The governor, who proposed that 10 per cent be provided for host communities, contended that if National Assembly members see firsthand the level of environmental degradation and its attendant effects on the people, they would not hesitate to make it more than 10 per cent.

Governor Diri, in a press release by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Alabrah, stressed that the PIB was critical in addressing issues such as unemployment, lack of transparency in the oil and gas sector, militarisation of oil production, skills acquisition and marginalisation of oil-rich states.

He said: "I restate our earlier submission that the 2.5 per cent proposed for the oil producing communities is grossly inadequate and unacceptable to us as a people. In our proposal to you, we asked for 10 per cent for the host communities. 

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"When you visit some of the sites where oil is being explored; that bring multi-million dollars to this country, you will even agree with me that we should increase it further from 10 per cent.

"This PIB would cure the unemployment that the oil producing communities cry about. This bill would create jobs, accelerate skills acquisition and remove the opacity that we are seeing today in the oil and gas industry. The whole industry is shrouded somehow in secrecy."

Diri, who decried the undue delay in the passage and implementation of the bill for about 14 years, urged members of the National Assembly to ensure its passage to engender peace and development in the region and the country as a whole.

"If this bill had been passed, billions of naira used in safeguarding oil facilities would have been deployed for development purposes."

He expressed regret that oil communities that bear the brunt of oil production were given no consideration while multinational oil companies and the Nigerian government were given more attention in the bill, stressing that such a situation was not in the interest of the people.

In his speech, Deputy Chairman, House Ad Hoc Committee on Petroleum Industry Bill, Victor Nwokolo, said the PIB was from the executive arm, aimed at reforming the oil and gas industry.

Oil Politics News AddThis : Original Author : NaijaGistReporters, 

Posted by Admin March 03, 2021