Good morning! Here is today’s summary from Nigerian Newspapers:
1. No fewer than six members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, also known as Shi’ites, were feared dead in a bloody clash involving the Muslim sect and the police in Abuja on Monday. The clash, which took place close to the Federal Secretariat Complex, also had vehicles belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, set ablaze. The protesters had gathered at the popular NITEL Junction in Wuse II for a protest march to the Three Arms Zone to continue their call for the release of their leader, Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, from government detention.
2. The unending protests of the members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), alias Shi’ites, has claimed the life a top police officer with the Federal Capital Territory Police Command. The deceased was Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations, DCP Umar Usman. DCP Umar was killed by the protesters while trying to prevent the destruction of property at the axis of the federal secretariat and three arms zone.
3. Channels TV reporter, Precious Owolabi, was shot during the clash between the police and Shi’ite protesters in Abuja on Monday. He gave up the ghost later in the evening. The management and staff of the television station said they were saddened by the untimely death of the promising journalist who was working with the TV station as a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC). According to a statement by Channels TV, the 23-year-old died of a gunshot wound he sustained while covering the clash between the police and the Shi’ite protesters on Monday in Abuja.
4. Nigeria Union of Journalists, FCT Council, yesterday expressed deep sadness over the death of a promising journalist, Precious Owolabi, on Monday. Owolabi, a corps member serving with Channels TV, was amongst those killed from a clash between members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria and the police in Abuja. The NUJ, in a statement by its Chairman Emmanuel Ogbeche, described his death as one too many; stressing that it was another sad day for the journalism profession in Nigeria. NUJ urged President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration to take responsibility for Owolabi’s death as the primary purpose of government is the welfare and security of citizens.
5.The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr Mohammed Adamu, on Monday updated President Muhammadu Buhari on security developments across the country, particularly the activities of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN), popularly known as Shi’ite. A senior Police officer, DCP Usman Umar, in charge of operations at the FCT Police Command, was among those feared dead in the violent protest involving Shi’ite members, on Monday in Abuja. The IGP, who spoke to State House correspondents after a closed-door meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, said that he briefed him on the incessant and violent activities of members of the IMN.
6. Members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria, IMN, yesterday, denied killing a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) and burning the outpost of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) in Abuja. Speaking with DAILY POST in Abuja, Abdullahi Musa, the Secretary of IMN’s Academic Forum, said the protest by the sect over government’s illegal detention of their leader, Sheikh Ibraheem El-Zakzaky, had been peaceful before armed policemen attempted to forcefully disperse them near the Federal Secretariat.
7. Governor Emeka Ihedioha of Imo State on Monday met behind closed doors with President Muhammadu Buhari at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, where he solicited presidential intervention in the infrastructure deficiencies in his state. Ihedioha, who spoke with State House Correspondents at the end of the meeting, said that he discussed the issue of agriculture and how the state could benefit from the Federal Government’s agricultural intervention programmes. He said that Imo State needs the Federal Government’s support in all facets of the economy.
8. Festus Okoye, Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC), says the commission will not be stampeded to issue certificate of return to supposed Senator-elect for Imo North Senatorial District, Sen. Benjamin Uwajumogu. Okoye, who is the INEC National Commissioner in-charge of Enugu, Anambra and Benue states, said this while briefing newsmen in Enugu on Monday. He was reacting to the protest reportedly staged at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja by Uwajumogu and his supporters to demand the release of his certificate.
9. The leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, Nnamdi Kanu, on Tuesday reacted to Fulani vigilante mounting roadblocks in the South-West. A prominent lawyer, Kayode Ajulo, had raised alarm of Miyetti Allah members claiming to be vigilante group in Akure, Ondo State. Kanu frowned at the Yoruba race for allowing the Fulani vigilante in the South-West.
10. The immediate past Senator representing Imo West Senatorial District and gubernatorial candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress, Hope Uzodinma, yesterday cautioned political leaders against making divisive statements. He urged Igbo living in the North and Fulani herders living in the South to go about their businesses, saying that they should not panic over inflammatory statements by some elements in the country. Senator Uzodinma was reacting to the recent statement by a coalition of some groups in the north calling on Fulani herdsmen in the south to come back home.
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