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How DSS Detained, Tortured Me For Over 60 Days – #EndBadGovernance Protester Narrates Ordeal

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…FG Must Compensate Protesters – Lawyer

…Those Arraigned Minors Are Adults, They Have Wives, Says FG’s Counsel

One of the participants of the August #EndBadGovernance nationwide protests has offered a harrowing narration of how operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him in Kano, detained and tortured him for over 60 days.

Khalid Aminu, an engineer by profession, said he was picked up alongside other young demonstrators protesting hunger and bad governance in early August.

Aminu said he was subjected to all forms of dehumanising torture while in custody and he had no contact with his family for the period of his incarceration at the Kano office of the DSS.

He was a guest on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande, a socio-political programme aired on Channels Television on Friday.

“They (DSS operatives) blocked all of us at the NEPA Roundabout and packed about 11 of us on the day three of the protests (August 3) and took us to their command,” he recalled slowly with a weak voice, his face still plastered with after-trauma of the episode, signs that he is still recovering from the “terrible” ordeal in the hands of the secret police.

“They kept me in detention from August 3 to October 17. For the 68 days, I was in the custody of the DSS minus one week when we were taken to the correctional centre after we were taken to court in Kaduna.

“When we were in detention, they kept bringing in more and more people and the number accumulated to about 39 of us.”

He described his plight in the hands of the secret police as a “terrible” experience that he won’t wish to remember.

The protester said, “What I went through, what we went through was inhuman, I can’t even begin to tell you everything,” Aminu said.

“On the 3rd (of August), they arrested us at NEPA Roundabout. There and then they started beating us. Boots, kicks, and all that. Then they pushed all of us into their Hilux, some into their SUVs, and then we went down to the Command.

“When we got there, the first thing I received was a strong cane, like an armoured cable that they used. If I pull up my chest, you will see. They started beating me, I was flat down and they were blasting me with all forms of sticks, armoured cables, everything you can think of.

“Then they took me to a garden with a sharp grass carpet. They asked us to pull our shirts and asked us to lie down. They poured water on me while I lay on this sharp grass. They were beating me and told me to roll from one side to another. I rolled from one end to another with water on my body. All sorts of insects were on this grass. So, it was double penetration. It was terrible. That continued for about an hour.

“Then they asked us to crawl in a gutter and we came out and they asked us to be looking into the sun. we were there for another hour. It became different type of torture after that day. From what you eat, psychologically, you cannot be stable.”

Aminu and his colleagues were accused of unlawful assembly and for flying Russian flags but the #EndBadGovernance campaigner denied the allegation. “There was nothing like the Russian flag in the first five days of the protests when we were arrested,” he said.

Also, on the programme, Aminu’s lawyer, Ibrahim Wali, said there was no justification for arresting the protesters in the first place because the constitution clearly states that if you arrest someone, you should charge them to court after 48 hours.

“The Administration of Criminal Justice Act goes further to say that when you need to remand further, you can apply for an order to remand further for 14 days but there was no remand order,” he said.

“They arraigned them in court on October 10 and they pleaded not guilty and they were now sent to the correctional centre,” the lawyer said, adding that the claim by the DSS that the protesters gathered unlawfully was not tenable.

“It is the duty of the police to curb riots during protests and the police failed in this duty but they tried to transfer the responsibility to the protesters.”

The lawyer said though the Federal Government and the DSS have withdrawn the case against the protesters because it lacked merit, the Bola Tinubu administration should apologise to the young campaigners and compensate them for the unwarranted clampdown and torture.

Meanwhile, the Counsel to the Federal Government, Rimazonte Ezekiel, has claimed that some of the 76 minors arraigned for #EndBadGovernance protests are adults.

Ezekiel even claimed that they have wives who came with their parents to the court.

He said this on Friday while speaking with journalist following the ruling that the minors should be bail for N10 million each totalling N760 million.

“These boys that we brought to the court today are adults. Most of them are married men. None of them is a minor. Some of them are University graduates. The small kids you are seeing here today came with their parents to come and greet their loved ones.


“They are not even the real suspects standing trial in this case. These boys were arrested in Kaduna and Zaria. Do you know how much it cost us to be at this level of democracy in this country? These you boys are trying to destabilise Nigeria using the Russian flags and other countries while calling on the military to remove our president.

“Is it fair? To even remove the state governors. If they don’t want democracy again, are we forcing them? Everybody is enjoying their fundamental human rights. Nobody is abusing their rights. Everything is moving on well in the country only for these boys for no reason started protests with Russia and other countries’ flags,” he added

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Ghana: Tinubu Congratulates Presudent-Elect John Mahama In A Telephone Call

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President Bola Tinubu has congratulated President-elect John Dramani Mahama on his victory in the December 7 general election in Ghana, following his opponent’s concession speech.

In a telephone call to Mahama, President Tinubu hoped that Mahama’s ascension to power for the second time would further bring stability to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), of which President Tinubu is the chairman.

President Tinubu commended the people of Ghana for their commitment to democracy, which was demonstrated through the peaceful and successful conduct of both the presidential and parliamentary elections.

He applauded Ghanaians for demonstrating again to the world that democracy is the preferred path to achieving political stability, economic development, social justice, and transparent governance in Africa.

He affirmed that Nigeria’s and the region’s belief in the principles of the people’s right to choose their leaders freely will remain a source of pride.

The Nigerian leader applauded the candidate of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), the Vice President of Ghana, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, for conceding defeat before the official announcement by Ghana’s Electoral Commission.

President Tinubu said Bawumia’s stance reinforced Ghana’s democratic ethos.

President Tinubu noted that President-elect Mahama’s return to Jubilee House, having served as President from 2012 to 2017, reflects the Ghanaian people’s trust in his stewardship and vision to take the country to greater heights.

Mahama served as Vice President of Ghana from 2009 to 2012, Member of Parliament from 1997 to 2009, and held deputy and ministerial roles between 1998 and 2001.

President Tinubu renews his steadfast support for deepening the fraternal bonds between Nigeria and Ghana, underpinned by shared history, cultural ties, mutual support and cooperation, Pan-African goals, democracy, the rule of law, and economic integration.

The Nigerian leader thanks President Nana Akufo-Addo for his exemplary leadership and numerous contributions to Ghana’s progress and regional peace and stability.

The President looks forward to working with President Mahama’s incoming administration to strengthen bilateral ties across various sectors and build a brighter future in the West Africa region

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NDLEA Arrests Engineer For Allegedly Concealing Illicit Drugs In Pressure Machines

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The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) says its operatives have arrested a suspected drug trafficker, Egwu Phillip Inya, who claims to be a building engineer, while attempting to take delivery of illicit consignments concealed in pressure machines imported from South Africa.

According to a statement by the NDLEA spokesperson, Femi Babafemi on Sunday, the 42-year-old Egwu was arrested on Monday 2nd December 2024 at Okeyson motor park Enugu when he showed up to collect three units of pressure machines inside which were hidden parcels of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 7.40 kilograms.

Babafemi stated that the consignments had arrived the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja Lagos import shed on 29th November 2024.

“Following credible intelligence, officers of the MMIA Strategic Command of the Agency had monitored the shipment pass through clearing processes up to a logistics company’s warehouse outside the airport where it was to be collected by the consignee.

“The importer however changed the point of collection to Enugu at the last minute. As a result, NDLEA operatives in a follow up operation in Enugu arrested Egwu when he showed up to collect the consignments.

“No fewer than 511,000 pills of tramadol were recovered from a Siena vehicle at Hildi, Askira Uba way in Adamawa state by NDLEA operatives on patrol along the road in the early hours of Friday 6th December.

“The occupants of the vehicle had made a detour on sighting the NDLEA team and after a distance abandoned the vehicle with the consignments after noticing the operatives were on their trail,” the statement said.

It also added that in Ekiti State, two suspects, Olanrewaju Alale, 48, and Babatunde Kayode Ijadahun, 55, were arrested along Ise- Emure road in a J5 bus marked EPE 958 XJ while transporting 108 jumbo bags of cannabis weighing 1, 323 kilograms to Owo, Ondo state from where they claimed the consignment will be moved to the North for distribution.

It further read, “Another suspect, Adekunle Yusuf, 33, was nabbed by NDLEA operatives with 704 kilograms of the same psychoactive substance, concealed in white sacks on Friday 6th December at Idere road, Igboora, Oyo state.

“In Lagos, a grandmother, 65-year-old Ramata Bola Adeyemo was on Friday 6th December arrested by NDLEA operatives at 62 Odunfa street, Lagos Island, where 20.6 litres of codeine-based syrup were recovered from her. Also arrested in Lagos was Alhaji Lawan Manga who was picked at Ogundana Street, Ikeja on Thursday 5th December while 4.7kg cannabis and 1.3kg tramadol were recovered from him.

“With the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, sensitization lectures to schools, worship centres, workplaces and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA sensitisation lecture to students and staff of Progressive Secondary School, Ado Awaye, Oyo state; Muslim Grammar School, Ede, Osun state; Government Girls College, Maiduguri, Borno state; Community Secondary School, Ogale, Rivers state; Santa Maria Secondary School, Igogoro, Enugu state; and Chiranci Upper Basic Junior Secondary School, Bichi, Kano state while Lagos State command of NDLEA organised WADA enlightenment lecture for leaders and members of NURTW, Orile Agege, Lagos, among others.

Commending the officers and men of MMIA, Adamawa, Ekiti, Lagos, and Oyo Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts are well appreciated.

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NSIB Begins Probe Into FlyBird Aircraft Incident

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The Nigerian Safety Investigation Bureau has commenced an investigation into what it has termed a serious incident involving a FlyBird HS 125 aircraft, with registration number 5NKAL.

The Director of Public Affairs and Family Assistance at the NSIB, Mrs Bimbo Oladeji, confirmed the incident in a statement on Sunday.

According to her, the aircraft, operating a flight from Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport, Abuja, to Kotoka International Airport, Accra, experienced technical difficulties during its flight on December 6, 2024.

It was reported that the aircraft lost two engines during the flight and decided to return to Abuja.


Preliminary information indicated that the aircraft, with four persons on board, was climbing through flight level 240 en route to flight level 280 when the crew reported an engine number 2 indication issue.

The aircraft was approximately 25 nautical miles southwest of VOR station VONUK at 17:54 UTC when the crew requested a diversion back to Abuja due to the engine indication.

Findings by the NSIB showed that the aircraft lost engine No. 2 at flight level 230

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