Good morning Nigeria, welcome to Truetells Nigeria roundup of top newspaper headlines in Nigeria for today Saturday, 3rd July 2021.
1. Sunday Igboho Speaks On Wanted Tag, Reveals Who Owns Guns Paraded By DSS
Yoruba nation agitator, Sunday Adeyemo, popularly known as Sunday Igboho, has berated the Department of State Services (DSS) for declaring him wanted.
Truetells Nigeria recalls that the DSS had raided the residence of Igboho in Soka, Ibadan on Thursday morning.
After the raid, the secret police paraded 12 of Igboho’s followers in Abuja on Thursday, saying one other was being profiled. The DSS also said two of Igboho’s guards were killed during a gun duel.
It said a joint team of security operatives raided Igboho’s residence early on Thursday based on an intelligence report that he was stockpiling arms.
2. Nnamdi Kanu: AGF Malami Rejects UK Govt’s Move To Discuss IPOB Leader’s Arrest
Nigeria’s Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, has reportedly rejected a move by UK high commissioner to Nigeria, Catriona Laing, to discuss the arrest of Nnamdi Kanu.
Kanu, who is also a British citizen, is the leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB),
He was mostly in the UK from where he runs Radio Biafra, IPOB’s radio station with which he often engages in calls for the establishment of Biafra.
Recall that Nnamdi Kanu was reportedly rearrested in Kenya and extradited back to Nigeria last Sunday.
3. Sunday Igboho Dares DSS, To Hold Lagos Mega Rally
Yoruba nation activist, Sunday Igboho Adeyemo, has backtracked from his earlier position, vowing to go on with the Yoruba Nation rally.
Truetells Nigeria reports that Igboho had announced the cancellation of the rally scheduled for Saturday after the Department of State Services (DSS) raided his residence in Ibadan on Wednesday.
Following the raid on Igboho’s residence, the DSS had declared the activist wanted, advising him to report to any security agency.
The Lagos State Police Command had also warned against the rally holding in the state.
Speaking in a Facebook live broadcast through Olayomi Koiki, his media aide, Igboho said the rally would hold.
4. Federal Government Reveals Fresh Charges Against Nnamdi Kanu
President Muhammadu Buhari-led government on Friday disclosed that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, will be facing fresh charges.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami, stated this while speaking with journalists in Abuja.
Malami disclosed that the new charges will incorporate fresh allegations against the IPOB leader.
The current charges levelled against Kanu at the Federal High Court in Abuja border on terrorism, treasonable felony, unlawful possession of firearms and management of an unlawful society.
5. DSS Takes Over Sunday Igboho’s Residence After Attack
The Department of State Security has taken over the residence of Yoruba Nation agitator, Sunday Igboho, in the Soka area of Ibadan, Oyo State.
This is coming after operatives of the secret police attacked Igboho’s residence, killing two of his allies and arresting twelve others.
The DSS in a press conference in Abuja on Thursday night paraded some exhibits and people who were arrested during an invasion of his house on Thursday.
6. Fresh Crisis Looms As Yari, Marafa Reject Matawalle As Zamfara APC Leader
Former Governor of Zamfara State, Abdulaziz Yari, and Senator Kabir Marafa have both rejected Governor Bello Matawalle as the leader of All Progressives Congress (APC) in Zamfara State.
Truetells Nigeria reports that Governor Matawalle had officially dumped the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the APC on Tuesday.
Speaking while welcoming the Zamfara governor, the Chairman of the National caretaker committee of the APC, Mala Mai Buni, said Matawalle would remain the leader of the party, while the party exco in the state has been dissolved.
But speaking with BBC Hausa after a meeting with Governor Nasir El-Rufai in Kaduna state, Yari and Marafa said they will not agree with someone new coming to join the party as their leader in just one day.
7. 2023: PDP Is Getting Weaker – Presidency Declares
President Muhammadu Buhari’s special adviser on media and publicity, Femi Adesina has submitted that the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is getting weaker every day.
The presidential spokesperson added that while the fortunes of the PDP continue to decline, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is waxing stronger.
Adesina made the claim in an opinion article titled “Where did this Zulum emerge from?” in which he praised the Borno State Governor, Professor Babagana Zulum for his giant developmental strides in his state, adding that people like him are the reason Nigerians continue to love APC.
8. Nnamdi Kanu Writes British Commission In Nigeria, Demands Unconditional Release
The British High Commissioner in Nigeria, Catriona Laing, has been asked by the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, to file a Diplomatic Note with Nigeria’s Federal High Court indicating Britain’s sovereign interest in his trial as a British citizen.
The IPOB leader in a letter written by his lawyer, Aloy Ejimakor, on Thursday called on the British authorities to declare that he is not a criminal but “a person who possesses a political opinion which the Nigerian authorities are seeking to suppress using punishment of some sort.”
Ejimakor in the letter forwarded to the UK High Commission reiterated that Kanu, being a British citizen, did not travel with a Nigerian passport to Kenya where he was abducted.
9. IPOB: DSS Torturing Nnamdi Kanu In Custody – Deji Adeyanju Cries Out
The co-convener of Concerned Nigerians advocacy group, Deji Adeyanju, has accused the Department of State Services (DSS) of torturing the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) Nnamdi Kanu, in custody.
Recall that Nnamdi Kanu was reportedly rearrested in Kenya and extradited back to Nigeria last Sunday.
In a series of posts on his Twitter page, the former PDP member claimed that the rearrested IPOB leader is being tortured, blindfolded for many hours, left on the floor in a cold air-conditioned room.
Deji Adeyanju urged Kanu’s lawyers to pray the court to transfer the IPOB leader to a prison facility during his next adjourned date.
10. Kenya Unaware Of Nnamdi Kanu’s Arrest, Extradition – Official
The Director-General of Immigration Services in Kenya, Alexander Muteshi, has dismissed the claims that the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and extradited to Nigeria by Kenya.
An Official in the Kenya Ministry of Interior also noted that the ministry has no knowledge of Kanu’s extradition to Nigeria.
The arrest of the IPOB leader has seen different angles to the development with some news outlets claiming that he was arrested in the Czech Republic, while some believe he was arrested in Kenya.
The Kenyan government officials in separate interviews with Reuters and Kenya’s Nation newspaper denied the claim by Kanu’s family that he was arrested in their country.