2011: Ex-Senate President asks IBB, Ayu, Saraki to step down
Former President of the Senate, Chief Ameh Ebute has advised Gen.Ibrahim Babangida (IBB) , Senator Iyorchia Ayu and Governor Bukola Saraki of Kwara state to pull out of the 2011 Presidential race.
The former Senate President during the reign of IBB made this known in a press statement he issued in Abuja yesterday.
He said he was affirming the decision reached by all leading political office holders from the North Central zone at their meeting on Tuesday in Abuja, where they resolved to support Jonathan Goodluck to run for the presidency in 2011 under the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)
.
Ebute said it was clear President Jonathan Goodluck is relatively more acceptable and popular in the race than the three.
According to him, the advice was borne out of concern because the three come from the North Central geo-political zone .
“Read the hand writing on the wall and accept the majority view from the North Central to support Jonathan.
“The political leaders from the North Central zone including four sitting State Governors, FCT Minister, two former National Chairmen of the party, one sitting Senate President, one former Senate President, scores of serving and past National Assembly members and other stakeholders, all met and agreed on the way forward.’
UNILAG:BRUTAL BEATING AT UNILAG
“The guy was bleeding through his nose and right temple; his right eye and lips were swollen. Even while he was down and unconscious, the guy kept kicking him with his boots; the beating was just too much,” said Ime Etim, a final year student of the University of Lagos, describing the assault that almost resulted in the death of Jide Pinheiro, a post-graduate student of the institution.
However, the extent of damage to Mr. Pinheiro who has been in the hospital for over three weeks remains unclear. His right eye is swollen and he has trouble forming images. The result of the CT scan carried out on him has not been disclosed to him, he said, and he could only guess why.
The attack occurred on the evening of October 30 this year, near the car park of Mariere Hall. Eyewitnesses initially thought Mr. Pinheiro had died after he fell unconscious. “I was shaking where I was standing,” added Mr. Etim.
According to witnesses, Chijioke Onuoha, a 200 level student of Political Science and his friend Donald Okeke repeatedly hit Mr. Pinheiro on the head, with a brick. Although they could not confirm the reason for the attack, they heard Mr. Onuoha shouting after the incident: “No one can challenge me; there is nothing anyone can do about it, don’t you know who I am?” Mr. Pinheiro was immediately rushed to the school’s medical centre.
Three weeks have passed since Mr. Pinheiro was temporarily confined to the hospital bed. However, the students of the institution say they are yet to see any punishment meted out to the assailants, and fear that the influence of his father, a senior lecturer at the university, might be the reason.
Chijioke Onuoha, also known as C.J, is a part-time musician, and the son of Browne Onuoha, a senior lecturer at the institution’s department of Political Science, and the co-editor of Transition Politics in Nigeria.
The incident at the park
In his hospital bed, and in a barely audible voice, Mr. Pinheiro told NEXT he went to the car park to buy suya, a barbecued meat, when he saw Mr. Okeke and Mr. Onuoha approaching their car which was parked close by.
The trouble started when he overheard one of them insult a lady: “One of them said ‘get the be intimate with off the car’, I was just looking, but in my mind, I was like, ‘was that necessary?,’” said Mr. Pinheiro.
After that, the two men accused him of staring at them, and ordered him to kneel down.
He said: “It was crazy; I don’t know why they were acting like that. When I didn’t move, the other one (Mr. Okeke) started fiddling with his phone, like he was calling somebody. I was like ‘I don’t want any trouble’, but I knew what was coming when one of them pushed me.
“All I knew afterwards was waking up at the hospital. To me, it was like a split second, but obviously, it was not. I blanked out instantly, it was later that some of my friends told me he had also hit my head against the metal balustrades at the park.”
At that point, Mr. Pinheiro fell unconscious and it took him a week to remember the events of the night. Some of the witnesses who confirmed the incident said they were amazed that Mr. Pinheiro had not fought back.
“I still don’t understand why he did not even raise an arm while the beating was going on; the thing dey baffle me,” said Tunde Lawal, an eye witness.
“I witnessed from when the guy (Mr. Pinheiro) was standing tall, till he bent low, the beating continued, and till he was down,” added Mr. Etim.
However, Mr. Pinheiro said he had not defended himself because of a promise he made to himself and his grandmother.
“I have made up my mind not to be violent; once, I had a fight with the driver at home and my grandma wasn’t happy, so I promised myself not to fight anybody again,” he said.
Mr. Onuoha initially refused to speak with NEXT when contacted on the phone, “You’d have to speak to my lawyer, that’s all I’m gonna say to you,” he said.
He however admitted later that there had been a fight but that he had acted in self-defence. He claimed that Mr. Pinheiro had drawn a knife from a nearby suya seller and tried to attack him. He said Mr. Pinheiro was in his way, and had not moved when asked to move off.
“I’m not gonna give you a long story; I’d just say this: I told him to move out of the way; he refused, he pushed me and I pushed him back. He reached for the Mallam’s knife, and tried to stab me, so I defended myself. It’s as simple as that; it’s all I’m going to say to you,” he said.
In an interview with Monday, the suya seller, he denied that Mr. Pinheiro took his knife on the night, saying, “Na only this knife I get for hand, and nobody take am from me.”
Efforts to reach Chijioke’s father, Mr. Onuoha, at the Political Science department of the university were unsuccessful, as he was said to be out of the country on sabbatical.
The circumstances surrounding the attack remain unclear, but as Mr. Pinheiro continues to wait for justice, his assailant roams free.
Harris Longe, the school’s Dean of Students Affairs told NEXT that investigations are underway but that any action to be taken by the school would follow a set of procedures, as is the norm in the institution. “He’s going to face a disciplinary panel that would determine if he’s to be rusticated or expelled; there are laid down rules and regulations to that,” he said, adding that “the panel would decide how serious it is, but in this case, it is serious because he (Mr. Pinheiro) was hit on the head with an instrument; he could have died.”
He said the school cannot discipline the other assailant, Mr. Okeke, because he is not a student of the school but confirmed however, that a report has been made to the police, and he expects the victim to follow-up on it.
The victim said he will press charges as soon as leaves the hospital.
UNIZIK STUDENTS ON RAMPAGE IN AWKA
Students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University yesterday held Awka, the Anambra State capital, hostage as they protest the arrest, detention and manhandling of about 20 of their colleagues including the Students’ Union Government President, Comrade Nelson Omenugha.
The SUG president was said to have been detained at the Central Police Station (CPS), Awka with some other students when they went to secure the release of some of their students that were arrested Thursday’s night on their way home from a popular club house in Awka.
Between the hours of 11a.m. and 2.30p.m, the students, numbering over 200 barricaded the Enugu-Onitsha Expressway, at Aroma Junction, Awka and made human and vehicular movements impossible.
Speaking to newsmen, the SUG Secretary, Comrade Okonkwo Israel, said that their president and students were manhandled and beaten up by the police and were still being held, hence their protest and demand for their immediate release.
He said: “Some of our students were beaten up yesterday and from what I gathered when we came to rescue them, we were manhandled and that is why we are protesting to ensure that they are released from the Central Police Station (CPS) Awka.”
Corroborating him, a student who said he witnessed what happened, Emmanuel Nwaibe, said: “We went there with the SUG president and as we were there one policeman pushed our president and slapped him and when we demanded for the release of our students, they started beating all of us.
“They dragged everybody into the cell and collected their GSM phones at the CPS Awka. They even locked up one of our security chief and we are not happy, our students’ union president is in the police custody now. Since then they have continued to beat them, especially our president.”
Also speaking, the SUG Director of Sport, Comrade Okorie Ikechukwu noted: “I was there when it happened; we entered there at CPS and the gate was locked and the SARS men started beating everybody, calling us kidnappers, between 15 and 20 students have been arrested so far and they have been dealing with them.”
The alleged police brutality was also extended to a female journalist with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), Miss Joy Mbachi, who was said to have been attacked on getting to the police station to inquire what was happening.
Mbachi, who narrated her ordeal said: “They said I should bring my camera and I said you cannot take my camera; it is my instrument for work, so the DPO asked them to call me and he now explained some issues to me, which is for my own consumption.
“There is a small vehicle that they used and if you see the way they were pushing these students into the vehicle and beating them up, I wonder what has happened to rule of law and our fundamental human right.”
Confirming the incident, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emeka Chukwuemeka (ASP), said the command was investigating the incident, with a bid to have a quick settlement of the matter.
He added that the police have a legitimate and social responsibility of protecting the citizens, adding that Nigerian students are leaders of tomorrow that should be given adequate protection.
ASUU LEADERSHIP WALKS OUT ON S’ EAST LEADERS
The South-east stakeholders meeting convened by the governors to find a way out of the strike by lecturers in the zone turned sour when ASUU leadership and members walked out in protest.
Chairman of the South-east Governors’ Forum, Mr. Peter Obi, had during accreditation for the meeting at the Nike Lake Resort Enugu announced that only Igbo speaking lecturers would be allowed in.
The lecturers, who viewed the announcement as a ploy to stop the national leadership of ASUU from participating, protested the decision and were consequently manhandled by security agents.
The coordinator of the ASUU strike in the zone, Dr. Emmanuel Osedeke, expressed shock that the governor could introduce ethnicity into the university system; “its unfortunate and we decided to walk out.” He alleged that Mr. Obi was out to prolong the strike because he wasn’t going to be part of the 2011 elections, “and his children are not here.” Osedeke declared that the strike would continue until the owners of the universities tell the governors that they were not a local institution; “because the governors did not own the schools.”
He lamented the assault unleashed on ASUU members, pointing out that they no longer feel safe; “the last time we came to Enugu, the governor unleashed dogs on us; so if there will be another meeting, it will be at a neutral ground. One of the lecturers, who was molested by the security agents, Mr. Ogbonna Onuoha, from Abia State University, narrated how a policeman held him on the head and tried to push him down; “when I recovered, his fingers were pointed towards my eyes as he threatened to blind me.
“And as we tried to go, they attempted to kidnap us; they held us hostage and even turned our students against us.”
Efforts to bring the lecturers back to the meeting failed and at the end, a committee was set up to look into the face-off and see the best way to resolve the problem. The committee, which was jointly headed by the Anglican Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma and former governor of Anambra State, Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife, announced that negotiation had been taken over by them. Bishop Chukwuma, who briefed newsmen on the outcome of the meeting, said it was agreed that a neutral body outside the governors and lecturers should handle the negotiation and come up with a conclusion.
He urged ASUU to appreciate the intervention and re-open the universities with the hope that agreement would be reached. Among the stakeholders that attended were the five governors of the zone, Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; Chairman South-east Tradtional Rulers, Eze Cletus Illomanya, Chief Emmanuel Iwuanyanwu, Senator Uche Chukwumerije, Chief Hope Uzodimma, Dr. Dozie Ikedife, Senator Ayogu Eze, among others.
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