News
Nigeria Won’t Break Ties With France Over Niger, Others
By Kayode Sanni-Arewa
President Bola Tinubu’s administration has said Nigeria will not break ties with Franceover the military regimes in the Republic of Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali.
Nigeria’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Yusuf Tuggah, while speaking in an interview on Arise News Television’s Prime Time programme on Wednesday said the call by some Nigerians for Nigeria to cut ties with France is myopic and against Nigeria’s national interest as a country.
The minister said, “For Nigeria as a whole, I have some locus to speak on behalf of Nigeria.
“It is insulting to Nigeria and Nigerians for anyone to look at Nigeria and say that they are on course after I finished describing all of these things – Operation Barkhane, G-5 Sahel.
“Were we the ones that were partnering with France on that? Were we the ones that passed the law in 2015, ? Were we the ones that partnered on the arrangement that criminalised migration, that securitised the Sahel region? No!”
The minister was confronted about an alleged ‘renewed partnership’ between Nigeria and France.
The minister said, “What I will like to see is journalist like you (referring to the anchor of the interview), and certain Nigerians that have been whipping up this position of minority and certain people that spoke out in third world countries is to actually look at how they are allowed to even come to actually speak and criticise or to make these porous allegations.
“The countries that they are trying to defend, like Niger, at the moment the way things are, you cannot even come out to speak. They are not operating on constitution.
“The reason we are able to do all of these is because we have the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria which safeguard, which guarantee our right to free speech, our right to free association, and all these freedoms.
“I would like to see us speak for Nigeria for change instead of always speaking for regimes that do not even have constitutions to protect their own people. Their own people cannot even come out to criticise the government.”
“Yet, we keep on going on with all these attacks on our own government, on ourselves,” he said.
When asked about the implications of a ‘renewed partnership’ between Nigeria and France, he said, “We have always had a relationship with France. It did not start today, and there is nothing different about our relationship with France today.
“But it does not mean that other countries or other people have to dictate to Nigeria who it should have a relationship with.
“We cannot tackle the issue of insecurity in our region simply by a partnership or by being friends with the Sahel countries. Even if we do that, you still have Libya to contend with.”
He added, “To solve Libya, we need a relationship with France, we need a relationship with the United States of America, we need a relationship with Russia, we need a relationship with all of these major powers.
“You cannot say because Niger, Burkina Faso and Mali have decided after all these years, that they no longer want to have anything to do with France, therefore, Nigeria must be compelled.
“Meanwhile, Nigeria is the senior partner in the relationship than them, then because they decided that they don’t want to have a relationship with France, they must dictate to us and we must comply. We should no longer have any relationship with France!
“It is shortsighted, it is myopic and it is not in Nigeria’s national interest, which is something that President Tinubu, myself and everybody in government or in public office from top to bottom has sworn to, to protect the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, and that is enshrined in the constitution.”
Japa on reverse lane as the United States Department of Homeland Security, DHS, has updated its list of Nigerians facing removal from the country, reducing the number to 112 and publishing their names and photographs online.
The latest list features Nigerians from different parts of the country and was published through the DHS official website.
Among those listed are Cletus Onyali, Olaolu Alabi, Marcus Unigwe, Mkpouto Etukudoh, Blessing Uchanma, Olaniyi Ojikutu, Richard Ugbah, Oluwamuyiwa Olawoye, Anthony Asanya and Ebele Agbasiele
Others identified on the list include Izuchukwu Okoye, Olufemi Olufisayo Olutiola, Abiemwense Obanor, Chibuzo Nwaonu, Oluchi Jennifer Chimdimma Chime, Ifeanyi Okoro, Oluwaseun Kassim, Quazeem Adeyinka and Talatu Dada.
The complete list contains 112 names, with the photographs and details of the other individuals available through the DHS online portal.
The publication comes amid stepped-up immigration enforcement by the US government, particularly involving undocumented immigrants and individuals with outstanding removal orders.
It also comes against the backdrop of efforts by US authorities to obtain increased cooperation from foreign governments in receiving their nationals who have been ordered to leave the United States.
Nigeria has previously faced pressure from the US over the repatriation of its nationals subject to deportation.
The updated publication provides public access to the identities and photographs of the Nigerians currently identified by DHS for removal from the United States.
The Department of State Services, DSS, on Thursday re-arraigned five men accused of complicity in the May 15 kidnap of pupils and teachers in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State and the subsequent killing of two of the victims.
They were arraigned on a seven-count amended charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/438/2026, filed by the DSS on behalf of the Federal Government.
The defendants, accused of being members of the Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi-Biladis Sudan (ANSARU) terrorist group, are Mahmud Muhammad (aka Abu Bara’a, Abbas Mukhtar); Abubakar Abbas (aka Isah Adam, Mallam Mahmuda Al-Nigeri); Abdulrazak Umar (aka Abu Khalifa/Abu Khalid); Yunusa Musa (aka Abu Yunusa Bin Musa); and Shamsu Adamu Sani (aka Abu Itisar).
All five defendants, however, pleaded not guilty to the charges when they were read to them by the Registrar of the court.
The Director of Public Prosecutions of the Federation (DPPF), Mr Rotimi Oyedepo, SAN, who led the DSS legal team, applied for the immediate trial of the defendants in line with the provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act, 2015.
He also applied for the names of witnesses lined up to testify in the trial to be shielded and for them to be permitted to wear masks to ensure their protection.
Following no objection from counsel to the defendants, Bala Dakum, Justice Salim Ibrahim granted the request of the DSS counsel.
At the time of filing this report, arrangements for the full-scale trial were being put in place.
LAGOS — A post-mortem examination conducted by the Department of Pathology and Forensic Medicine at the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) has confirmed that 20-year-old journalist Pelumi Onifade died from a penetrating firearm injury to the abdomen.
The finding is contained in a six-page autopsy report dated July 30, 2026, and submitted to the Lagos State Coroner’s Court investigating the circumstances surrounding the young journalist’s death during the October 2020 #EndSARS protests.
According to the report, Onifade died from massive haemoperitoneum, a severe accumulation of blood in the abdominal cavity, caused by a high-velocity projectile that penetrated his abdomen.
The forensic finding provides medical evidence establishing a gunshot injury as the cause of death, while the circumstances surrounding who fired the shot and the events that followed remain matters before the coroner’s proceedings.
How Onifade Died
Onifade was a 200-level History student of Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED) and worked as an intern reporter with Gboah TV, a Lagos-based online news platform.
On October 24, 2020, during the nationwide #EndSARS protests against police brutality, he was assigned to cover an attempted looting at a government palliative storage facility in the Abattoir area of Oko-Oba, Agege, Lagos.
According to accounts presented by his family and colleagues, Onifade was wearing a press jacket and carrying reporting equipment when officers attached to the Lagos State Task Force opened fire while attempting to disperse the crowd.
He was reportedly struck by a bullet and subsequently taken away in a police van, commonly referred to as a Black Maria.
A colleague who was with him at the scene reportedly attempted to identify him as a journalist and explain that he was carrying camera equipment, but those efforts were unsuccessful.
Onifade was not seen alive again after that incident.
Family Searched Police Stations, Hospitals
Following his disappearance, his family and colleagues searched police stations, detention facilities and hospitals across Lagos in an attempt to establish his whereabouts.
According to the family, police authorities denied having him in custody.
Six days later, on October 30, 2020, the family located his body at the mortuary of Ikorodu General Hospital, where it had been registered as a “brought-in-dead” case under body number 1385.
The discovery triggered years of demands for an independent investigation into how the young journalist died and how his remains ended up in the mortuary.
DNA Test Identified the Body
The identity of the body was subsequently confirmed through forensic DNA testing.
Results from the Lagos State DNA and Forensic Centre established a match between the unidentified body bearing tag number 1385 and reference samples obtained from Onifade’s parents.
The DNA confirmation provided a crucial breakthrough after years of uncertainty surrounding the whereabouts and identity of the missing journalist.
Court Ordered Coroner’s Inquest
The search for accountability later moved into the courts.
In July 2024, Justice Ayokunle Olayinka Faji of the Federal High Court in Lagos ordered the Lagos State Government and the police to conduct a coroner’s inquest into Onifade’s death.
The objective of the inquest is to establish the circumstances surrounding his death and determine the facts surrounding the actions of the security personnel involved.
The ongoing proceedings before the Lagos State Coroner’s Court are being presided over by Magistrate Temitope Oladele.
Following the submission of the post-mortem report, the court has directed key witnesses, including police personnel who were on duty in the Oko-Oba area on October 24, 2020, to appear and testify.
Rights Groups Demand Accountability
Media Rights Agenda (MRA), which has supported the Onifade family in its legal efforts, has described the post-mortem findings as significant evidence in the case.
Rights activists, journalist unions, and the deceased’s family continue to demand the public prosecution of the police officers who fired the shot and those who supervised the deployment during the Lagos #EndSARS demonstrations.
Japa on reverse lane as US releases names, photos of 112 Nigerians on deportation list
Oyo kidnap: Five defendants plead not guilty to seven count charges
Autopsy Confirms #EndSARS Journalist Pelumi Onifade Died From Gunshot Wound
-
News18 hours agoAnambra Govt Releases Records Of Alleged Unpaid Debts By Peter Obi During Tenure As Governor
-
News18 hours agoASUU demands 26% education funding, faults FG over 15% compromise
-
News17 hours agoPeter Obi Weighs In On Dangote Refinery Shares
-
News17 hours ago2027: Atiku, Amaechi Secretly Buying Dangote Refinery Shares – APC Chieftain Claims
-
News14 hours agoWike is an asset to APC, should not be embarrassed – Jibrin defends FCT Minister(Video)
-
News18 hours ago‘Educated Illiterate’ – Soludo Under Heavy Attack After Releasing Alleged Records Of Peter Obi’s Debts
Warning: Undefined variable $user_ID in /home/naijuinz/public_html/wp-content/themes/zox-news/comments.php on line 49
You must be logged in to post a comment Login