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Lagos Police Torture Journalists For Covering End SARS Protest

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No fewer than 20 policemen guarding the Lagos State House of Assembly in the Alausa area of the state brutalised two PUNCH journalists, Femi Dawodu and Segun Odunayo, while covering the #EndSARS activities in the area on Wednesday.

Grassroots.ng reported that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu on Tuesday declared a 24-hour curfew following the chaos that erupted during protests across the state.

However, those on essential services such as health workers, security operatives, and pressmen to carry out their legitimate duties.

Dawodu and Odunayo had gone to cover events around the Alausa area, a major demonstration ground of the #EndSARS protesters calling for a total overhaul of the Nigeria Police Force, the Punch reported.

The duo was recording a live video of the activities in the area when the policemen accosted them and ordered them to stop the recording.

After showing the policemen their identity cards, indicating that they are journalists covering #EndSARS protests and monitoring compliance with the government-imposed curfew, the policemen became annoyed and pounced on them.

Odunayo said the policemen tortured them for four hours, adding that they stripped them of their clothes, laid them on the floor, beat them with a stick and guns, and took a video recording of them while torturing them at the Lagos State House of Assembly.

Odunayo said, “Femi and I were at the Secretariat in Alausa around 7 am and were doing a live video of the activities going on in the area. We were heading back to the Expressway when a group of armed policemen accosted us at the Lagos State House of Assembly roundabout and immediately collected our phones. We showed them our ID cards but they refused to let us go.

“What got the policemen annoyed was that we saw them using a stick and a rubber to beat a young man and during the live video, they heard me saying that they were beating someone. So, after they arrested us, they tortured us and demanded that we should do another live video denying the statement but we refused.

“Each time we refused, they slapped us, used a stick to beat us, used the butt of their guns to hit our heads and bodies after stripping us of our clothes. All they want was for us to do another live broadcast to claim that we lied and we didn’t because we said the truth.”

Dawodu said it took the intervention of the state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, before they were released at the Alausa Police Station, adding that prior to their release, the policemen took their details, including their addresses, took a video record of them and threatened to go after them if any negative report was published about what happened.

He said, “The policemen were transferring the aggression of what is happening regarding the #EndSARS protest on us. They later took us to the Divisional Police Station in Alausa and if not for the DPO, the policemen guarding the LSHA that arrested us would have done more grievous things to us.

“The PPRO and the DPO later spoke with them and we were released.

“But despite his intervention, we were told to write statements. They collected our details, address, took video recordings of us making false statements during the torture, and threatened to use it to blackmail and go after us if we end up doing any bad report against them.”

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Fuel Price Skyrockets To ₦1000 Per Litre In Some States As Scarcity Sets In

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News reaching us is that fuel Prices have gone up ranging up to ₦800 to ₦1000 and above per litre in different states.

The price increase is also as a result of fuel scarcity which has set in. It is believed that some fuel stations are currently hoarding fuel.

Motorists are queuing up in large numbers at filling stations across Kano State struggling to buy petrol that is now selling at over N1,000 per litre.

One Mr Ibrahim said filling stations in the metropolis were charging as high as N1,000 as of Monday morning, adding that he bought the product over the weekend at prices ranging between N950 and N920 before the price skyrocketed on Monday.

The fuel scarcity has also touched Abuja and even Lagos.

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King Charles Reportedly “Really Unwell” And Funeral Plans Are Currently Being Reviewed

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King Charles III’s health is causing concern for friends and the palace as he continues to battle cancer.

“Speaking to friends of the king in recent weeks about his health, the most common response is … ‘It’s not good,’” Tom Sykes of the Daily Beast reported Thursday, April 25.

A friend of the monarch claimed Charles “is determined to beat it and they are throwing everything at it,” adding, “Everyone is staying optimistic, but he is really very unwell. More than they are letting on.”

Royal writer Tina Brown also hinted at the monarch’s health struggles, writing recently that Charles’ cancer has put Prince William and Kate Middleton “in frightening proximity to ascending the throne just when they had hoped for a span of years to parent their children out of the public eye.”

“The prospect of it, I am told, is causing them intense anxiety.”

Sykes also reported that the king’s funeral plans, codenamed “Operation Menai Bridge”, are currently being reviewed.

A separate document that states what went well at Queen Elizabeth’s September 2022 funeral and what could be done better the next time a monarch dies is also circulating, according to the Daily Beast.

All the sources emphasized that royal funeral plans are constantly in review. However, one former staffer in particular conceded that Charles’ health woes have given his plans a different urgency.

“The plans have been dusted off and are actively being kept up to date,” the former staffer explained.

“It’s no more than what you would expect given the king has been diagnosed with cancer. But the circulation of them has certainly focused minds.”

Buckingham Palace announced in February that after undergoing surgery for a benign prostate enlargement, it was discovered that the king has cancer.

We hope the king gets well soon.

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EFCC: New Documents Extracted Shows Yahaya Bello Allegedly Paid School Fees To The Tune Of $845,852,84 For His Family Members

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Still on the EFCC trailing on Ex Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, Documents serving as exhibits have shown how he allegedly paid school fees in advance for his family members already in the school and even those to be enrolled in future with hundreds of thousands of dollars withdrawn from the state coffers.

A letter from the American International School of Abuja to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has shown the school admitting that Bello, the former governor of Kogi State, paid $845,852,84 into their bank account since September 2021 as advance school fees for 4 family members from the present class until they graduate.

Payment was also made for any future student to be enrolled by the family.

The document alleges that the payment was made by Mr. Ali Bello, alleged to be the eldest son of Yahaya Bello.

In the document, the school stated that they have deducted the fees for the educational service already rendered to the Bello children in the institution and what is left is $760, 910, which would be refunded to an account provided by the EFCC as the commission continues investigation into alleged money laundering levelled against Yahaya Bello.

the school fees documented payment

The school also added that from the Bello family kids, “no further additional fees are expected in respect of tuition until they graduate from ASIA.”

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