JUST IN; Governor Fubara speaks as 27 Pro Wike Lawmakers win at Supreme Court

Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, has confidently defended his decision to withdraw the appeal concerning the 2024 budget, stressing that the recent Supreme Court ruling holds no significant impact on his administration.

He emphasised that the conclusion of the 2024 budget cycle on December 31 rendered the appeal redundant.

In a statement issued by Warisenibo Joe Johnson, the Commissioner for Information and Communication, Governor Fubara explained that the appeal no longer served any practical purpose.

“The only reasonable course of action was to withdraw the appeal and have it dismissed,” he said.

Fubara further criticised the notion that the Supreme Court’s ruling had any substantial bearing on his governance, noting, “The Supreme Court is a busy court. It would have been unwise to waste its time with appeals that offer no real-world value. That is the appeal that some are celebrating.”

The Governor also dismissed claims circulating among certain political figures, describing them as baseless and politically motivated.

“There is no Supreme Court judgment against Governor Fubara. Ignore the outdated political propaganda by desperate politicians,” Johnson added.

The statement clarified that the Supreme Court had only ruled on the governor’s voluntary withdrawal of the appeal, which had become irrelevant following the full implementation of the 2024 budget.

800 former Boko Haram fighters undergoing deradicalisation for re-integration into Society

800 former Boko Haram fighters who surrendered to the military are presently participating in a deradicalisation program to aid in their reintegration into society, according to an announcement by the Defense Headquarters (DHQ).

During an interview on Channels TV’s Morning Brief on Monday, February 10, 2024, Emeka Onumajuru, the Chief of Defence Training and Operations, disclosed the news.

Onumajuru stated that, although 129,000 Boko Haram fighters have been arrested to date, only 800 have been selected to participate in the rehabilitation process, which aims to help them reintegrate peacefully into civilian life.

He said, “To get the numbers right, right now, (we have) about 129,000 surrendered BH (Boko Haram) members and their families.

“We are a professional army and when you are in combat and an opponent surrenders, then you take him and let the legal processes take its natural course.

“Right now, some of them are detention facilities, some of them are in Kainji, and there is a special court that goes through all of them. Those that were found culpable face the books and those that are going to be deradicalised go through the process and this takes about a year.”

Contrary to widespread belief about terrorists, the Army Chief stated that it is possible to deradicalize and reintegrate them into society within a year.

“It’s possible because the deradicalisation is done by professionals. That one-year period is sufficient enough depending on the people handling the deradicalisation,” he said.

“The number taken in is not huge. As I said, we have 129,000 BH members and families. It doesn’t mean the 129,000 are going through the programme.

”The people going through the programme right now are about 800 — in batches. Those 800 are people that have been sieved through the entire legal process before they are now brought to the centre.

“The deradicalisation carried out by the Operation Safe Corridor is part of the non-kinetic. You cannot win an asymmetrical war with just a kinetic approach.”

Suspected gunmen hack 16-year-old Girl to death for resisting rape attempt

In Ekiti state, a 16-year-old girl was killed by hoodlums who are suspected to be herders after she resisted attempts to rape her.

According to information obtained, the incident took place on a farm in the state’s Emure-Ekiti, Emure Local Government Area.

According to information obtained, the youngster and her brother were on the farm when they were ambushed by the attackers.

The girl was reportedly overpowered by the thugs before he was hacked to death, while the brother managed to flee the assault.

A source in the community, while speaking to Nigerian Tribune, said, “the girl was in the company of her brother on the farm on Monday when the hoodlums who are herdsmen attacked them.

“The brother managed to escape, being an older person but the young girl was not that fortunate. She resisted attempts to rape her before she was hacked with a cutlass.

“I suspected they want to kidnap them because you know the people (herdsmen) are always around here wreaking havoc on us with kidnappings.

“We are calling on the state and federal governments to help us in this area because the activities of these people are on the increase here.

“We want peace and adequate security so that our people can go about their activities especially farming without any fear of attack.”

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Abutu Sunday, confirmed the attack and stated that officers from the command have been dispatched to the area in a bid to apprehend the fleeing assailants.