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IPOB: Abaribe begs Appeal Court to free him as Kanu’s surety

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By Ikenna Oluka

One of the senators representing Abia State in the Senate, Eyinnaya Abaribe, has approached the Abuja division of the Court of Appeal, to relieve him of his earlier position as a surety to the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), Nnamdi Kanu. 

In his appeal before the appellate court, Abaribe contended that his continuous standing as surety for Kanu as a sitting senator is illegal.

In addition, he asked the court to set aside the November 14, 2018, decision  of the Federal High Court, Abuja, directing him and other sureties to pay the sum of N100 million bail bond each within two months having failed to produce Kanu in court.

Justice Nyako in her November 14, 2018 ruling, had held that Abaribe and the two other sureties owed the court the duty to produce Kanu, whose absence since September 2017, had stalled his trial on charges of treasonable felony brought against him by the Federal government.

However, in an amended notice of appeal filed by his counsel, Chukwuma-Machukwu Ume (SAN), Abaribe has asked the court to set aside the decision the Federal High Court.

He rooted his appeal on Sections 55, 165(3), 167(3) and 488 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) and other provisions of the constitution, to argue that a public officer such as a senator was legally exempted from standing surety for a suspect.

Ume who filed the processes blamed the Federal High Court for making a senator part of the sureties Kanu must present in April 2017.

Ume said: “The honourable trial court failed and or refused to take judicial notice” of the relevant provisions of the ACJA and the Nigerian constitution.

“Thus, the trial court had not done the needful under the law otherwise, it would have found that by law, the appellant (a senator) is legally exempted from giving security for the good conduct or behaviour of a suspect.

“It is trite law that where a valid act or law clearly states something, it is not within the powers of the court to go contrary to it.

“We can see, therefore, that the involvement of Senator Abaribe in the whole bail and surety quagmire was invalid from the beginning,” Ume said.

The two-month ultimatum given to Abaribe is bound to lapse on January 14, but before then, the senator and the other two sureties, Emmanuel Shallom-Ben and Tochukwu Uchendu, had filed separate appeals against the November 14, 2018 order.

Abaribe in his appeal, canvassed that the Federal High Court on its own, made “an order of interim forfeiture without considering or evaluating” all the applications filed before it by the sureties.

He added that the trial court acted without jurisdiction when on its own, it made an interlocutory order that in substance rendered the core issue in the substantive matter a nullity.

Meanwhile, the Federal High Court has fixed March 28 for continuation of the matter.

Source: Daily Sun

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The Peruvian Government Has Officially Classified Transgender, Nonbinary And Intersex People As “Mentally ill”

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According to the country’s ministry of health, the controversial decision was made to ensure the country’s public health services could “guarantee full coverage of medical attention for mental health” for the trans community.

It also categorises “dual-role transvestitism,” “fetishistic transvestism,” and “other gender identity disorders” under the same bracket of mental illness.

The new law will change language in the Essential Health Insurance Plan (PEAS) to reflect the view of trans and intersex people as a mental health disorder.

Trans groups across Peru have loudly condemned the decision as a step backwards for the country’s already complex relationship with LGBTQ+ rights.

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Math Teacher Accused Of Having Sex With 2 Students And Getting Pregnant For One Tearfully Reveals The Baby Was Taken Away From Her

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The UK teacher who had a baby with an underage student while on trial for having sex with another teenage boy broke down in court after revealing her newborn baby girl had been “taken away” from her.

Manchester math teacher Rebecca Joynes, 30, sobbed to jurors over how her baby was taken “24 hours after being born” this past January — and now she only sees her for nine hours a week, Joynes told jurors on Monday, May 13, according to the Manchester Evening News.

“At the moment I have contact with her three times a week for three hours and that’s it,” she said through tears.

Joynes was arrested and released on bail on orders not to have unsupervised contact with anyone under 18 after allegedly grooming her pupil, known as Boy A in court, by buying him a $430 Gucci belt before bringing him to her apartment for unprotected sex.

She was suspended from school and eventually fired, but soon after, she began having a relationship with a 15-year-old boy, known in court as Boy B, whom she had a baby with in January.

Joynes, who has denied having sex with either boy when they were underage, told the court that when she learned of the allegations against her she had gone to the second boy in a “panic” and he deleted all of her phone’s content.

The former teacher denied having a sexual relationship with the second boy until after he turned 16 and she was already suspended from teaching.

According to her narration,

She said he had added her on Snapchat twice, which she only accepted the second time because she thought he “wanted to tell her something.”

Joynes said a friendship developed and he quickly became her “best friend” even though the boy would make flirtatious and sexualized comments toward her when he was drunk.

She told jurors that it wasn’t until after his 16th birthday that he messaged her saying “I’ve left school now” with a winky face.

After she received notice that she had been dismissed from her job, he went to her apartment, where following an emotional conversation, they had sex.

The two then entered a relationship that Joynes described as “quite toxic” telling the court how the teenager was “very controlling.”

After discovering she was pregnant, Joynes hid love notes for the boy to find around her apartment.

The notes eventually led to a piece of baby clothing that had the words “I love my daddy to the moon and back” written on it.

The court was told that she gave birth to their baby girl in January, but following an emergency court hearing, the newborn was taken away from Joynes.

Joynes has denied two counts of sexual activity with Boy A; two counts of sexual activity with Boy B; and two counts of sexual activity with Boy B while being a person in a position of trust.

Her trial is ongoing.

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First Man To Receive Pig Kidney Transplant Has Died

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The first Man to receive a genetically modified pig kidney transplant has died two months after the operation.

Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), which carried out the procedure in March, announced Sunday, May 12, that Richard “Rick” Slayman, 62, has died.

They said there was no indication his death was a result of the transplant.

Transplants of other organs from genetically modified pigs have failed in the past, but the operation on Mr Slayman, who was suffering with end-stage kidney disease, was hailed as a historic milestone.

In addition to kidney disease, Mr Slayman also suffered from Type 2 diabetes and hypertension.

In 2018, he had a human kidney transplant, but it began to fail after five years.

Following his pig kidney transplant on March 16, his doctors confirmed he no longer needed dialysis after the new organ was said to be functioning well.

“Mr Slayman will forever be seen as a beacon of hope to countless transplant patients worldwide and we are deeply grateful for his trust and willingness to advance the field of xenotransplantation,” MGH said in a statement.

Xenotransplantation is the transplanting of living cells, tissues or organs from one species to another.

MGH said it was “deeply saddened” at his sudden death and offered condolences to his family.

Mr Slayman’s relatives said his story was an inspiration.

“Rick said that one of the reasons he underwent this procedure was to provide hope for the thousands of people who need a transplant to survive,” they said.

“Rick accomplished that goal and his hope and optimism will endure forever.

“To us, Rick was a kind-hearted man with a quick-witted sense of humour who was fiercely dedicated to his family, friends, and co-workers,” they added.

While Mr Slayman received the first pig kidney to be transplanted into a human, it is not the first pig organ to be used in a transplant procedure.

Two other patients have received pig heart transplants, but those procedures were unsuccessful as the recipients died a few weeks later.

In one case, there were signs the patient’s immune system had rejected the organ, which is a common risk in transplants.

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