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Clergyman Berates El-Rufai Over Comments against Southern Kaduna Christian clerics

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Bishop Mathew Hassan Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, yesterday berated Kaduna State Governor Nasir el-Rufai, for accusing Southern Kaduna Christian clerics of using the killings of its natives by armed herdsmen to receive financial support from churches overseas.

Kukah challenged el-Rufai at the funeral mass of the late Reverend Joseph Danlami Bagobiri, who was the Catholic Bishop of Kafanchan and attended by former President Goodluck Jonathan, who was represented by former Chairman, Nigeria Christians Pilgrims Board, Kennedy Opara and Secretary to the Federal Government (SGF). Kukah strongly condemned Governor el-Rufai over his handling of the Southern Kaduna crisis.

“Today is a special day for Southern Kaduna people and the people of Kaduna State. It is a day of reckoning. It is as much a day of sowing as a day of reaping. “It is day of promise and a day of hope. The mix of gathering suggests very clearly that this is not an ordinary funeral ceremony,” he said during his exhortation.

“Certain burials made certain demands. They set the records straight. They create urgency now,” he added, warning that, “no one should expect that the burial of someone like Bagobiri should be a simple ceremony of burying a Bishop.” Besides, Kukah decried the violence that had engulfed Southern Kaduna since 1992, pointing out that Southern Kaduna had experiences of ‘judicial terrorism.’

He praised the late Bishop Bagobiri for his “undiplomatic’ way of talking about the violence and injustice that had engulfed Southern Kaduna, especially under the present dispensation, while taking a swipe at Governor el-Rufai. He said: “In his television programme during the crisis, the governor of Kaduna State, levelled two accusations against religious leaders whom he accused of selling a narrative of what he described as ‘a policy of exclusion’.

Citing the governor, Kukah said: “This religious leaders wanted only a people of a particular indigenous or religious group to live in parts of Southern Kaduna. “Secondly, he said some Church leader had collected money from missionaries abroad to bury their dead and to rebuild thousands of churches that had been destroyed.

“I am not sure which religious leaders he was talking about, but at least the two most prominent religious leaders in Southern Kaduna would be Bagobiri and the Emir of Jemaa.“As I have said, my encounter and experience with both the Emir Jemaa and Bishop Bagobiri led me to a totally different conclusion.

The Emir of Jemaa called me a day after Bagobiri died. I was shocked by the fact that rather than console me, he spoke of the loss of our dear brother, a good man, father and so on. It was a common love for us.”

President of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), Musa Kaptain Solomon, who spoke on behalf of the Southern Kaduna people said: “When our leaders were playing the ostrich, trying to be politically correct, Bagobiri became the lone voice that stood with his people.

“He was brave and courageous and spoke truth to power on not only for Southern Kaduna, but the oppressed people of Nigeria.”At least 50 Catholic Bishops were in attendance or represented. Both the President and the Secretary General of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) Prof. Supo Oyekunle and Dr. Musa Asake where in attendance. (The Guardian)

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IPOB Declares May 30th As Sit-at-home Day Across The Southern East States To Honour Biafran Fallen Heroes

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The Indigenous People of Biafra has declared May 30, 2024, as a sit-at-home day across the South-East to celebrate Biafran soldiers.

The pro-Biafran group said that day is set aside annually to celebrate the men and women who died in the Biafran war between 1967 and 1970 and beyond and even until now.

This was made known in a press statement by the group’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, on Thursday, adding that every Biafran in the South-East is expected to sit at home and reflect on the war.

He cautioned South-East residents to avoid loitering about on this day, adding that those who intend to travel to and fro Biafra land must do so before the evening of May 29.

The IPOB statement also directed that all the residents of “Biafra Land” are to stay indoors from 6 am to 6 pm on May 30, 2024.

He also called on christians and traditionalists to pray to Chukwu okike abiama for the fallen heroes, And also for the independence of Biafra from Nigeria.

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Anambra State Government Arrests Man For Marrying Off His Underage Daughter

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The Anambra State Government has arrested one Uzochukwu Okoli, for marrying off his underaged daughter.

Okoli was apprehended after his daughter reported to the State Ministry of Women and Social Welfare about the alleged ill-treatment being meted out to her by her father and the man he forced her to marry.

The daughter, Chioma Okoli, who is currently 16 years old, said after the death of her mother, her father took her and her sister out of Edo state and brought them to Anambra.

She alleged that she was first forced to live with a 70-plus-year-old man at the age of 14 but after some time, she ran back to her father’s house before he finally gave her out to a 34-year-old Chinedu Nweke as husband.

Chioma who was in the company of her sister, explained that life with Chinedu has been a living hell because he allegedly beats her and sometimes pees in her mouth.

She said this act made her run away with their 9-month-old baby. Her father, Uzochukwu Okoli, on the other hand, claimed her daughter is 18 years old and, at some point, said she is 20 years old.

After he was handcuffed, Mr Okoli threatened to deal with the daughters if he made it out of prison. He also urged Chioma and her sister to pray he dies in prison because he would make life more miserable for them.

Meanwhile, the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Hon Ify Obinabo, has instructed that the case be charged to court so that the girl can get justice.

Both Mr Okoli and Chinedu Nweke were arrested and will be arraigned in court.

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Nigerians Seek Woman Who Spoke Out Eloquently Against Fuel Scarcity In Viral 1994 TV Clip

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April 30th 1994, 30 Years Ago, And Till Today Nothing Has Really Changed.

Netizens have gone in search of a beautiful and well-spoken woman who spoke out against fuel scarcity 30 Years Ago.

A user on X.com, Jackie, who identifies as #JWEZEE had shared the video yesterday with the caption, “On this day April 30 1994, same day same time, only difference 30years ago.

“Nigerians in long fuel queues lamenting, 30years later they are still lamenting. And In another 30years will still lament, why? Because patterns don’t lie.”

In the video, which has since gone viral, Nigerians were seen queuing to purchase fuel and lamenting their predicament as citizens waiting in long queues with their gallons to buy fuel.

The woman passionately addressed the unfairness of soldiers skipping queues to resell fuel, highlighting a longstanding problem.

She said in part, “You have the soldiers that come, they buy petrol, they put it in jerry cans they sell it right in front of these people, it’s ridiculous.

“They get the fuel themselves, why do they have to come here, they don’t join the queue, they just buy and they sell right in front of people, it’s ridiculous. Something has to happen.”

The 30-year-old video which recently surfaced coincides with the current fuel price hike across the country.

Here is the viral video from 30 years back.

Currently, the country is facing fuel scarcity and price hike, with fuel being sold at N900 per litre in some states. This has affected the price of goods in the nation.

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