Buratai: Subjudice, Sahara Reporters And Concerns For Professional Abuses,

 

 BY FEMI OYEWALE

There are growing concerns about what appears to be persistent and flagrant abuses of the law and theory of subjudice within the media space by Sahara Reporters, an online media platform. In many climes, subjudice is tied to the right to freedom of expression and that of the press.

In Nigeria, for instance, Section 39 (1) of the constitution, as altered, provides that “Every person shall be entitled to freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinions and to receive and impart ideas, and information without interference. However, Section 39 (3) provides that nothing in this section shall invalidate any reasonably justifiable law in a democratic society, especially to maintain the authority and independence of courts.

In a simple explanation, Subjudice, as a legal principle, emphasises that to maintain the authority and independence of the Courts matters before the courts should be freed from comments likely to prejudice the determination of the case. Put differently. It means that when a legal matter has come under the jurisdiction of a court, nobody, including the press and other media, should interfere by either publication or public comment.

This legal caution is the reason democratic enthusiasts and media professionals have expressed concerns over Sahara Reporters’ penchants for consistent mention of former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Buratai, retd, in its reportage, especially in the mode of corruption and abuse of office allegations against the former Army boss. For instance, around the middle of 2022, General Tukur Buratai (retired) took publisher Omoyele Sowore before a High Court of the Federal Capital Territory over an allegation of false publication.

In his prayers, Buratai sought N10 billion damages because, according to him, Sowore, the publisher of Sahara Reporters, a United States-based online medium, linked him to a report that the anti-graft agency, Independent Corrupt Practices and other related OffencesCommission, found billions of currency notes in local and foreign denominations at an apartment in Abuja.

According to Buratai in suit number FCT/HC/CV/252/2022 filed through his lawyer, Dr Reuben Atabo, SAN, Sowore and his medium should be restrained from further publishing or caused to publish any defamatory publication against him. The senior advocate prayed the court for the following reliefs: A declaration that the defendant’s publication dated 23rd day of June 2022 with the caption “EXCLUSIVE: Anti-graft Agency, ICPC Uncovers Billions in Cash Meant for Arms, Ammunition To Fight Boko Haram In Abuja Home of the former Chief of Army Staff, Buratai amounts to defamation of the Claimant’s character, an order mandating the defendant to retract the said publication with a public apology which must be published in two national dailies and on the defendant’s online platform where the defamatory publication was made. An injunction restraining the defendant whether by themselves, servants, agents or otherwise, from further publishing or causing to be published the said or similar words defamatory of the claimant, damages in the sum of N10 billion being general and aggravated damages for libellous wordsfalsely, maliciously and recklessly published by the defendant of and concerning the claimant in the online publication. However, and curiously so, Sahara Reporters, in its recent publications, does not seem to have adhered to this noble professional principle nor respect for rule of law.

On Thursday, May 11, in an article titled Ex-Army Chief, Buratai Sues SaharaReporters for Exposing Recovery of Billions of Naira meant for Arms, Ammunition in Abuja House and on Monday, May 15, in an article titled “Amid Claims of Open Court Martial, Nigerian Army Bars Journalists from Covering Trial of Maj. Gen. Mohammed, Who Exposed How Buratai Used Army Property Firm to Obtain Saudi Citizenship, Fund Wives’ Trips.“ Obviously, these unfounded allegations and malicious reports, are directly aimed at the reputation of Buratai, stand within the bounds of unacceptable comments and reports given that the matter is before a court of competent jurisdiction.

 Interestingly, emerging testimonies from stakeholders debunk these growing negative reports against Buratai. For instance, Brigadier General Onyeama Nwachukwu, Director Army Public Relation lambasted Sahara Reporters over the obvious false narratives. In an official release by the army spokesperson titled, “REPORT ON ONGOING COURT-MARTIAL TRIAL OF MAJOR GENERAL UM MOHAMMED BY SAHARA REPORTERS IS A CAMPAIGN OF CALUMNY” the reports stated: “The Army Headquarters has noted yet another ill-conceived report by Sahara Reporters on a sub-judice and ongoing Court Martial process of Major General UM Mohammed, the erstwhile Group Managing Director (GMD) Nigerian Army Properties Limited (NAPL), who was indicted by a military police investigation and recommended for trial. It is expedient to clear the air on the despicably false report and calculated attempt to cast aspersion on the ongoing Court Martial, which has already progressed to an advanced stage, as the prosecution has put forward the evidence against General Mohammed and closed its case. The accused senior officer has opened his defence and is testifying as Defence Witness One (DW1). For the avoidance of doubts, without being sub-judicial, the former GMD NAPL is facing trial in relation to alleged offences of theft of various sums of money belonging to NAPL and forgery. These are all acts declared as offences punishable under the provisions of various extant penal Laws in Nigeria.”

Also, only recently, the Minister of Defence, Major General Bashir Salihi Magashi, (retired)and Vice president- Elect, Senator Kashim Shettima, applauded former Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuff Buratai for putting his life on the line to ensure the indivisibility of Nigeria. Magashi stated this in a message at the public presentation and launch of three books in honour of Buratai. The books, titled: “Duty Call under Buratai’s Command,” “Walking the War Front with Lt Gen TY Buratai” and the “Lonely Grave,” were authored by Jibril Baba Ndace of the Blueprint Newspaper.

The Minister of Defence who was a special guest of honour represented by his Special Adviser, Technical, Major General AT Jibrin (rtd) commended the author for a job well accomplished. He further acknowledged the immense contributions of General Buratai, retd to the stability of the nation’s polity and his giant strides in repositioning the Nigerian Army, stressing that his positive chapter in Nigeria history nis assured.

 The Vice president- Elect Senator Kashim Shettima represented by Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, the Chief of Defence Staff, General Lucky Leo Irabor and the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of the Blueprint Newspapers Alhaji Mohammed Idris Malagi also acknowledged Buratai as a gallant defender of the indivisibility of Nigeria.

Similarly, fresh reports have disclosed that Major General UM Mohammed, a former Director, Nigerian Army Properties Limited, is facing a military court martial over allegations of collecting several billions of naira from serving and retired officers for post-retirement houses but which could not be found. This was reported in the Sunday edition of Vanguard newspaper.

According to the report, a senior officer who spoke to on the development said, “He is also being detained because he cannot account for the billions of Naira collected as proceeds from the sale of NA Properties and lands across the country. “To cover his evil machinations, he is claiming the funds were spent based on directives. But he had worked with several other Chiefs of Army Staff had committed other infractions before this final fraud and I can tell you authoritatively that he tried severally including recruiting many Emirs to beg the Army authorities to stop the court martial without success. This led to the present COAS decision to court martial him. All his mates have retired but since he is facing the court he cannot be retired until judgment is delivered.”

These insider revelations clinically debunk the sustained reports by Sahara Reporters which have been variously interpreted to be prejudicial and a glaring fact that the medium is pained and out on mischief…Therefore, it is about time those sponsoring these malicious reports stop and Sahara Reporters should thread the path of honour and rule of law by being forthright and honest in its reporting. They should eschew the camping of calumny against the former Army Chief.

Life And Time Of Saint Obi

Zik Zulu Okafor

His social life was blunted. Perhaps by his reticent disposition. His persona, two dimensional. To a distant public, he was upscale and cool. His manly bearing spoke loud.

His onscreen image ironically amplified some idiosyncrasies; heroics, romantic adventures and traits that did not gel with the mortal privacy that eerily define his quiet and lonely life.

Saint Obi, real name, Obinna Nwafor, was shy, almost bordering on timidity and insecurity. He cherished the pleasantly tranquil interractions among a few friends. He would vanish at any outburst that could upset the poise of such small meetings. As he repeatedly told me, he just wanted to live a cool, quiet and fulfilled life.

I tell Saint’s story here with painful tears in my eyes because he was a star, a super star whose life turned out a gleam of irony.

Yet, it was this stardom that fetched him his much professed financially strong and powerful wife. And their wedding, that solemn ritual of love would drastically alter the cause of his life and tragically yank him off the creative community that threw him up for the wife to capture and indeed conquer.

Their marriage was at best a dramatisation of love. It was quick. He barely told us that he found a wife. Then, the marriage happened. It was something of a mystique, only those involved understood the histrionics that played out.

None of us who were his closest pals, who walked with him through the crucible to the crest of his career in Nollywood, none of us was invited.

The distance between us and the guy I admirably called Saint of the Storm had begun. This gulf would widen with each year. We saw him perhaps once in a year after this marriage.

And life actually seemed to have given him a fair shake of the dice. He dressed well, drove big cars and even his skin, in literal lingo, spelt wellness.

The Saint would be blessed with three beautiful children. But not on one occasion were his friends in Nollywood invited for christening or birthday. We were told that his wife was of the topmost hierarchy in telecom giant, MTN. But even if their celebrations were designed to be a rendezvous of the elites of the technocracies that his wife chiefly belonged, you expected that Saint would reach out to a few of his fellow creatives, for even if they would herald his small beginnings, there could be no tinge of shame to it because we all have our journeys and our stories.

And even at that, the actor or cineaste in Nollywood is by no means poor.

But more tragic is the fact that his marriage did not only take away Obinna from his friends, it took him away from Nollywood. Saint stopped acting, absconded from his career and perhaps his calling.

It would seem prognostic now. Yes, because I recall leaving my house in Lagos Mainland for his massive office in Lekki, Victoria Island, Lagos.

It was about six years ago. There, I demanded to know why my friend abandoned our industry. He told me with his usual shy expressions that he wanted to focus on some other businesses and also to work behind the camera.

Because his visage was unconvincing to me, I told him in stark terms, that whatever his new vision and pursuits, he must not abandon the trade that made him who he was.

It took another three years for Saint to return to his homies. But when he did, some of the deeply disappointed ones sniggered behind him. This was because the simmering rumours of cracks in his marriage had hit home.

And though secretive in his ways, he knew it was time to open up. And he did. ” I do not know why my wife’s siblings see me as a gold digger. They confront me, harass and fight me in my own matrimony. And my wife did nothing to stop them. I work hard, I earn my money. I have never depended on my wife “, he lamented, eyes blurred with tears.

You could tell he was in deep pain. By the next visit, the Saint returned with a deep cut from knife on his left eye. His wife’s brothers, he said, scaled the wall fence of their house to attack him. They were captured by hidden closed-circuit television, CCTV, installed for surveillance and security, he revealed.

He reported them at the police station and subsequently acquired a gun to defend himself.

This effectively marked the beginning of the end of his marriage and perhaps Saint Obi’s long walk to a sad end. He moved out of his marital home to a new house to begin the reconstruction of his destiny, alone without his wife and worse still without his three beautiful children.

Meanwhile, his wife went to the police to defend her siblings using her financial power to manipulate the cause of justice, Saint stated unequivocally.

The wife also sued for divorce, not in Lagos, but in Ogun State. As Saint put it, “It was to make the journey difficult for me. But I will not bend neither will I break. I will fight with my last blood to take custody of my children. They love me and they know it will be hard for me to live without them. The divorce is not an issue. My marriage has long been over”, he said with a mix of courage and a quaky heart that betrayed his distress.

About mid last year, however, Obinna took ill. But he told no one. He simply became scarce. He was in and out of hospital, we would later learn. He sold two of his three big SUVs to take proper care of his health and to acquire six camry cars he’d use for Uber. But his vanishing health continued unabated. He seemed to have a premonition of his own passing as he wept repeatedly about not seeing his children.

He emaciated. Life took a grim picture. When I saw him by chance in January 2023, the dude called Saint looked 15 years older than his age. His macho cut had shrunk. His fat wallet was gone. What was left was only his fat will. His eyes seemed lost in their socket. This would be the last time I would see him.

Saint snuck out of Lagos to hang in with his sister in Jos. He told no one.

But a month ago, in April precisely, the once delightful actor who brought joy to many a home broke his icy silence. He called our mutual friend in U.S. to give him a devastating message.

He was on a deathbed, he said and wanted our friend to pray for him. ” It’s not looking good, pray, pray for me “, he appealed passionately.

His next call came on May 1, 2023. This time to his mentor, the man who made him a star with his productions, Zeb Ejiro, OON.

He told him with a wavering voice that he had had three surgeries but was still in hospital in Jos.

He averred again that his situation was not looking good, that he is also in a deep pain, distressed that he could not see his children. But still he begged him not to tell anyone about his ailment.

Such was the life of this creative hermit, a lonely trouper.

I was the first to hear the news of his death late on Sunday, May 7. Having confirmed it, I called Zeb Ejiro . “I have a very bad news my brother, Zeb “, I began. “What is it, what is it, “, he asked anxiously. “A big star has fallen in Nollywood “. Zeb broke down in tears.

I hadn’t said who it was. But sobbing helplessly now, he said, ” Don’t tell me it is Saint Obi”. Sadly, he was right. May his soul find peace.

I Lost Weight To Live Long...Teniola

 Popular singer, Teniola Apata, aka Teni The Entertainer, has opened up about her weight loss.

Recall that the plus-size singer shocked many last year when she shared some pictures on social media after losing weight.

Speaking on her weight loss experience on the recent episode of the Glitch Africa podcast, Teni said she feels good physically.

She said, “I feel good. And do you know, imagine going for dinners and paying for everybody’s food and you can’t eat what they are eating… Because I’m dieting.

“You can ask my PA. I’m going to different dinners. I went to Yankee [abroad], that’s where most of my guys are. Normally, in Maimi, we go out, we have fun, crabs, this, that. I couldn’t eat any of that. It’s sad.

“But then, you now grow and you now learn that this thing you are doing is actually good for you. So, you start to change. You start to adopt better choices for yourself. You start to realize that I have this fame, I have this money. I need to be able to live long to enjoy it.”

Don Jazzy Calls Out The Landlords

 Veteran Nigerian producer and singer Michael Collins Ajereh, popularly known as Don Jazzy, has called out property rentals in Lagos who mete out unfair treatment to single women seeking accommodation.

He called out Lagos landlords via his Twitter handle on Sunday.

He queried what single women did that made most Lagos landlords treat them unjustly when they sought to rent properties. 

The Mavin boss wondered why some landlords made renting accommodation difficult for single women in Lagos.

Don Jazzy wrote, “Dear Lagos landlords what did single women do to you people? Why is it hell for them to rent a place?”

Nigerian Army Rescued Chibok Girls

The Nigerian Army says its troops have rescued another kidnapped Chibok schoolgirls, Saratu Dauda. 

276 girls were abducted by Boko Haram terrorists from Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok town, Borno. Many of the girls have since been rescued while some remain in captivity. 

The Theatre Commander, North-East Joint Operation Hadin Kai, Maj. Gen Ibrahim Ali, made the resue known while briefing newsmen at the Maimalari Cantonment in Maiduguri on Monday, May 15, 2023.

Ali said 25-year-old Saratu was rescued on May 6 by troops of the 21 Armoured Brigade during a clearance operation at Ukuba in Sambisa Forest in Bama Local Government Area of Borno State. 

While handing her over to Zuwaira Gambo, the Borno commissioner for women affairs and social development, on Monday May 15, in Maiduguri, Ali said Dauda was married off to one Abu Yusuf, a Boko Haram improvised explosive devices (IED) expert.

Ali added that the kidnapped victim had three children with her terrorist husband but left them behind while escaping from the forest.

The military commander said efforts were ongoing to rescue Dauda’s children from her husband, adding that she has been taken to the Maimalari military hospital for intensive care.

“She was married to one Abou Yusuf, who she later divorced before getting married to one Ba'ana Muhammed, also known as Abou Zinira, the Boko Haram terrorist IED expert,” Ali explained.

She had three daughters, aged 7, 5, and 2 years old, with Ba'ana, but left them in the terrorists' hideouts during her escape. So far, efforts to rescue her children and other victims are still ongoing,” he said.

He also recalled the recent presentation of two other Chibok girls rescued by the troops.

"Consequently, on May 4 this year, Hauwa Maltha and Esther Marcus, both serial numbers two and 103 on the list of the missing victims, and three of their children were handed over to the officials of the Borno State Government,” he said.

According to him, their rescue, among other several women and children, were largely driven by the kinetic and non-kinetic activities of Operation Hadin Kai, especially in the ongoing Operation Desert and Lake Sanity II.

As of today, the statistics of the 276 abducted Chibok girls indicate that 57 girls escaped in 2014; 107 released in 2018; three were rescued in 2019, two were recovered in 2021; 11 girls were rescued in 2022; and three have been rescued so far in 2023. This brings the total to 182 out of captivity, leaving 93 unaccounted for.

"At this juncture, let me state that the joint efforts of Operation Hadin Kai under the strategic guidance of the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, Chief of Defence Staff, Chief of Army Staff, Chief of Naval Staff, and the Chief Air Staff, have continued to yield more operational successes in the North Eastern Region of Nigeria,” he said.

He also lauded the support of the Borno government and assured the people of the Northeast of the commitment of the military to contain the insurgency in the region.

Nigerian Soldiers Threatened And Dehumanized Innocent Workers

Report reaching us this by one of our correspondence reported that how workers were threatened and dehumanized by Nigerian Soldiers.

It was reported that the alleged company is a cleaning services company called Beta Glitters Cleaning Services refused to pay complete fee to the workers after they are done cleaning the whole hotel named 2 Seasons Hotel And Resort.

 Seeing the video, it appears thar the workers are students who are trying hard to survive. 

The manager of the hotel sent for Soldiers to threatened and dehumanized the innocent and hard working students just because they asked for their balances.

As seen in the video, the Nigeria soldiers abused power, beating and manhandling staff of a cleaning agency. 

Too bad. What a Country

We Had A Phone Conversation Shortly Before His Death

 

Reports reaching us this evening after the burial of the popular actor, Adekola Tijani also known as Kamilu has expressed his grief over the death of his colleaque, Veteran actor, Murphy Afolabi who died yesterday said Murphy Afolabi was someone who doesn’t take life too serious. 

 He revealed that they had a conversation just thirty minutes before his sudden death was announced.

Tijani explained that the deceased made some statements about death during their last conversation but he didn’t take cognizance of them because the deceased was still in his jovial mood when they spoke.

He is still young and we started together. I shot his first movie and he was the first person that discovered my acting skills. 

We have done a lot together, we have fought and settled. I know everything about him.

‘’We still spoke yesterday, we spoke around 9:30 and he fell around 10 am. I was called immediately and we drove him to the hospital but he died before we got to the hospital.’’

‘’He called me after his birthday that I should come and take some of the clothes he used for his birthday shoot. I told him not to worry but I didn’t know he was passing a message across to me’’.

Yesterday, he sent money for a contribution we always do on Sundays, he sent it early than before which i questioned, his response was *we don’t know what will happen the next day or in the next minute*, I didn’t know he was bidding me farewell’’.

May his soul rest in peace.