Vanguard investigations revealed that the pupils were allegedly abducted from Umuohie Primary School and Baptist Secondary School, Umuohie, all in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State.
According to reports, the bus driver refused to stop when he was flagged down for routine check and this fuelled suspicion among the policemen on duty.
A villager, who spoke on ground of anonymity, told Vanguard that a female teacher, the bus driver and the school children were first moved to the Divisional Police Headquarters, Umuneke, before being taken to the state Police Headquarters, Owerri.
It was gathered that the female teacher and the driver, whose names could not be ascertained at press time, were already telling the police all they knew about the movement of the school children.
Meantime, residents of the area have appealed to security agencies in the state to extend their surveillance to the border road, which they described as “very lonely.”
According to them, the road was gradually turning into a get-away route for criminals operating across the border communities.
They particularly named the Umuneke-Elele-Obike-Eche road which is called “Abuja Expressway” as prone to criminal activities and urged the authorities to beef up security along the road.
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Shehu Borno blames insurgency on marginalisation
MAIDUGURI — The Shehu of Borno and Chairman of Borno State Traditional Rulers’ Council, Alhaji Abubakar El-Kanemi, has blamed the security challenges occasioned by activities of Boko Haram Islamist sect in the state on alleged marginalisation by Federal Government.El-Kanemi said that Federal Government had marginalised the state for so long in terms of appointments at the federal level and provision of social amenities.
He spoke, yesterday, when he received members of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Security Challenges in the North, led by Alhaji Kabiru Turaki, Minister for Special Duties and Inter-Governmental Affairs, in his palace in Maiduguri.
He said: “It is unfortunate that Borno State has so many federal institutions such as the University of Maiduguri, Lake Chad Research Institute, Chad Basin Development Authority and College of Forestry in Baga town, among others, but none of the institutions is headed by an indigenous person.
“I, therefore, want to use this opportunity through this powerful committee to inform the Federal Government that we in Borno, our sons and daughters, who are intellectuals and professionals, are marginalised by the Federal Government.”
The Shehu also lamented that Borno State, being a centre for Islamic knowledge, had experienced massive influx of Almajiris from different parts of the country in the name of acquiring Islamic knowledge.
He added that most of them were not properly registered or properly guided, which, according to him, had aggravated to the security challenges.
According to him, in recent past, between 10 and 20 trailers full of Almajiris “entered into Maiduguri on a daily basis to acquire Islamic knowledge.”
“Most of them do not have where to go to or specific Islamic scholar to stay with or either registered or documented which is unfortunate and will no longer be tolerated.”
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Four convicts hanged in Edo, as Amnesty, LEDAP kick
BENIN-CITY – Four death row prisoners, Chima Ejiofor, Daniel Nsofor, Osarenmwinda Aigbonkhan and Richard Igagu in Edo State, were, yesterday, executed, despite their pending appeals at the Court of Appeal.
It will be recalled that President Goodluck Jonathan had recently directed state governors to sign the execution warrant of death row inmates, advising them not to shy away from same, as it was part of their duties.Vanguard gathered that the execution took place despite the pendency of the suit by the condemned inmates, challenging their being on death row for over 16 years. They had also asked that their conviction be commuted to life imprisonment.
Meanwhile, Legal Defence and Assistance Project, LEDAP and Amnesty International, yesterday, condemned the execution.
Vanguard was informed that the execution was carried out at 6:45pm, yesterday, by hang men.
Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Henry Idahagbon, in his reaction, said the executed men were convicted 15 years ago, noting that the Edo State Government had nothing to do with the execution.
He said: “These people were convicted 15 years ago. I was only informed this (last) night by the prison authorities that they had been hanged. One of them was convicted in Kaduna, while their matters had gone up to the Supreme Court, and came back to the Federal High Court, Benin. It really has nothing to do with us as a government.
“The governor only signed the death sentence of two, while previous governors signed that of two others. The information I got was that they went to the Federal High Court, which Monday refused their plea for leniency and I believe what the prison authorities did was to execute them immediately after they left the court.
“Edo State government has no hand in it. I was only informed that it had been done,” he added.
In the suit before the Federal High Court, the death row prisoners had
contended that to execute them after over 16 years of trauma, suspense and imminent death would amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.
They had asked the court to order the Edo State Governor to commute their death sentences to terms of imprisonment.
LEDAP, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Mr. Chino Obiagwu, said: “The Attorney-General of Edo State and the prison authorities were duly served with the court processes, comprising the notice of appeal and motion for stay of execution.
“Under Nigerian laws, an appeal and application for stay of execution should restrain further action until the appeal is determined.
“By executing the prisoners, Nigeria government has demonstrated gross disregard to the rule of law and respect for the judicial process.”
Amnesty’s reactions
Amnesty, in its statement, said: “We have received credible reports that authorities in Edo State have hanged four men in Benin City Prison on Monday (yesterday), the first known executions in the country since 2006.
“A fifth man remains at imminent risk of execution.”
Amnesty’s Deputy Director for Africa, Lucy Freeman, said: “If confirmed, these executions mark a sudden, brutal return to the use of the death penalty in Nigeria, a truly dark day for human rights in the country.
“We again urge the Nigerian authorities to stop all executions immediately and return to the moratorium on executions in the country.
LEDAP noted that “it had, with HURSDEF, on October 19, 2012, filed a suit at the Federal High Court, Benin, on behalf of death row prisoners earmarked for execution by Edo State Government.
“In the suit, the death row prisoners in the suit contended that to execute them after over 16 years of trauma, suspense and imminent death would amount to cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment.”
“The prisoners had asked the court to order the Edo State governor to commute their death sentences to terms of imprisonment.
“However, judgment was delivered against the inmates by Justice Liman of the Federal High Court, holding among other grounds, that the prisoners did not place sufficient facts before the court to substantiate the relief sought in the suit.
The appeal
“LEDAP filed an appeal against the judgment of the Federal High Court and also a motion for stay of execution pending the outcome of the appeal and served the notice of appeal with the motion for stay of execution on the Attorney General of Edo State and prison authorities in Edo State.
“Furthermore, all death row prisoners filed a case pending at the Court of Appeal Lagos, challenging the decision of state governors to sign their execution warrants in the case of Godwin Pius & Ors vs. Governor of Abia State & Ors.
“Both appeals are pending at the Court of Appeal and the Edo State Governor and Comptroller General of Prisons are parties in both appeals. LEDAP is representing the prisoners in both appeal and also a party to the appeal in Edo State.
“We condemn the execution of the four inmates despite the pendency of the appeal and motion for stay of execution filed by the inmates.
“Execution of the inmates, while their appeal is pending, is unlawful and amounts to a total disregard for the rule of law and judicial process in any democratic system.”
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