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Reps. Move to Decongest Nigerian Correctional Services

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By Gloria Ikibah
The House of Representatives has called on the Federal and State Governments to provide comprehensive reforms of the country’s correctional system, including modernizing custodial centers, building new facilities, and redesigning the bail system;
The House also want the Federal Ministry of Justice to prevent delays in justice dispensation and enhance the process of meeting bail conditions; devise and promote effective reformation, rehabilitation, and reintegration of inmates; and to utilize its prerogative of mercy to grant amnesty to deserving inmates.
The House further urge the security agencies to avoid arbitrary arrests;
The lawmakers also proposes legislation to allocate time for the speedy dispensation of justice and reduce the number of inmates awaiting trial.
This was sequel to a motion on the “Call to Decongest Nigerian Correctional Services” by Rep. Chinedu Ogah on Wednesday at plenary.
In his lead debate, Rep. Ogah noted that the Nigerian Correctional Service, a federal entity under the Ministry of Interior, is a part of the Criminal Justice System under Exclusive list.
The House also noted that the Nigerian prisons, outline, were mandated to reform, rehabilitate, and ensure effective
reintegration of offenders into society in line with universally accepted standards.
He expressed worries that over 70,000 inmates in the country face inadequate facilities despite government efforts, and some have not been charged with criminal cases, while some are unable to pay the fines imposed by the courts despite having their cases determined.
The motion reads: “Disturbed that by the Nigerian criminal justice system is plagued by flaws, with cases often lingering without resolution for years, thus overcrowding the correctional centers in various geopolitical zones.
“Also disturbed that a data system reveals that federal offenders comprise less than 10% of correctional
system inmates, leaving over 90% to state offenses.
“Alarmed that overcrowding of the Correctional facilities has led to a huge revenue drain for successive
governments, leading to prison dilapidation, criminalization, and inability to separate awaiting trial inmates
from convicted ones.
“Cognizant that implementing the criminal justice system and the adoption of non-custodial measures would
effectively reduce the overcrowding of national prisons”.
The House unanimously adopted the motion and resolved to examine the role of the federal and state governments in the correction of inmates; propose sustainable, efficient solutions to address the congestion in 244 jails nationwide and the effective implementation of non-custodial measures.
The House further mandate the House Committee on interior to ensure compliance.
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Hon Nnamchi Grants 500 Youths Scholarships To Universities

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Five hundred youths drawn from various communities in Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency of Enugu State have benefited from Hon. Professor Paul Sunday Nnamchi’s scholarship scheme.

The scholarship scheme was instituted by the Federal lawmaker who represents Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives to cater for indigent constituents in the constituency.

The beneficiaries who are currently on admission in various universities across the country are pursuing the following disciplines; microbiology, biochemistry, human physiology, and human anatomy.

Others are studying mass Communication, Business Education, Education Chemistry, Industrial Chemistry Computer Science and Civil Engineering among others.

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Their school fees amounting to millions of naira have already been paid by Professor Nnamchi for the current academic session not withstanding the challenges some of them had encountered in their performances.

The scholarship scheme was in fulfillment of Rep Nnamchi’s campaign promises of empowering of the youths of Enugu East/Isi Uzo Federal Constituency.

The scholarship according to him was to help those desiring to study at the tertiary levels but lacked the wherewithal to further their education after secondary schools.

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Trump’s declasification of JFK, MLK assassination files opens window into US most shocking crimes

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

A trove of long-classified government documents concerning some of the most politically charged killings in modern American history — including the assassination of former President John F. Kennedy — could finally be made available to the public.

But that’s just the start of the latest saga surrounding the killings, which have sparked fascination, conspiracy theories, and history-changing debate for decades.

President Donald Trump signed an executive order Thursday aimed at declassifying government documents related to the assassinations of former President John F. Kennedy, his brother and presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy, and civil rights icon Martin Luther King Jr. The order essentially requires the nation’s security organizations to create plans to release the records.

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The full findings of the government investigations into the three killings have been hidden for decades, sparking wide-ranging speculation and preventing a sense of closure for many Americans. All three men were national and international icons whose assassinations — and the theories swirling around them — became the stuff of books, movies, controversy, and the pages of history itself.

“A lot of people were waiting for this . . . for years, for decades,” said Trump in signing the release of the documents. “Everything will be revealed.”

JFK assassination, Nov. 22, 1963
The shock of President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963 still echoes more than half a century later.

Kennedy, known for both his glamour and steering the country through the closest it ever came to nuclear war, was assassinated in Dallas, Texas. He was shot and killed as his presidential motorcade brought him along a downtown city street and as he waved to adoring bystanders from the open-roofed car.

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Police arrested Lee Harvey Oswald less than an hour later. But Oswald himself was killed on live TV just two days later as police were transferring him to a county jail.

Oswald’s killer, Jack Ruby, acted alone on an impulse, the President’s Commission on the Assassination of President Kennedy, known as the Warren Commission, concluded. The commission ruled that Oswald also acted alone.

The JFK assassination sent the nation into mourning and shook it to its core, as Americans searched for answers. Hundreds of books have been written and documentaries produced, with bits and pieces of information emerging to this day.

Many regard the commission’s work as a government-orchestrated coverup and doubts have been raised over who killed John F. Kennedy have persisted. Conspiracy theorists lay the blame on everyone from Cuba – at the heart of the nuclear missile crisis – to the CIA itself.

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The wide-ranging theories over Kennedy’s death – how many shooters were involved, how many bullets – became so ingrained in popular culture that they made it onto the comedy series Seinfeld.

MLK assassinated in Memphis, April 4, 1968
King, whose work furthering the Civil Rights Movement is honored with a federal holiday, was killed on the balcony outside his motel room in Memphis, Tennessee.

The Atlanta preacher was visiting the city to march alongside striking workers. On the evening of the assassination, he was preparing to leave for dinner at the home of a local minister.

He stepped outside to speak with colleagues in the parking lot below and was shot in the face by an assassin. James Earl Ray, a 40-year-old escaped fugitive, later confessed to the crime and was sentenced to a 99-year prison term.

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But Ray later tried to withdraw his confession and said he was set up by a man named Raoul. He maintained until his death in 1998 that he did not kill King.

A Memphis tavern owner and a former FBI agent both also claimed a figure named Raoul was behind the killing, according to the Department of Justice.

Loyd Jowers, a former Memphis tavern owner, claimed 25 years after the murder that he participated in a mafia-linked conspiracy to kill King. Jowers also linked Memphis police and Raoul to the assassination, the Justice Department said.

Donald Wilson, a former FBI agent, also claimed in 1998 that after King’s assassination he found some papers in Ray’s car that mentioned Raoul as well as figures linked to the Kennedy assassination.

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Wilson said the papers were stolen from him by someone who later worked in the White House, according to the Justice Department.

RFK killed in Los Angeles on June 5, 1968
Robert F. Kennedy never achieved the political heights of his older brother. But he was no less a beloved figure for his championing of civil rights.

He served as his brother’s attorney general and as a senator. He was killed in Los Angeles where he had gone for the California Democratic primary, just months after declaring his presidential candidacy.

The younger Kennedy spent the evening of the election at a suite at the Ambassador Hotel awaiting election results. He eventually went down to a hotel ballroom to thank supporters, then went through the hotel kitchen after being told it was a shortcut to a press room.

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An assassin, Sirhan Sirhan, killed him as he shook hands with a hotel busboy. Sirhan remains in prison.

But some believe the same elements behind the older Kennedy’s assassination also killed the former senator.

The presidential candidate’s son Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump’s pick to run the Department of Health and Human Services, has long maintained that Sirhan didn’t even shoot his father. The Trump cabinet pick believes Sirhan missed and that instead his dad was shot by a man linked to the CIA.

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Nigerian military silences 25 bandit gang members

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By Kayode Sanni-Arewa

Nigerian troops have silenced at least 25 members of the gang led by notorious terrorist Bello Turji, the military said Wednesday.

Turji’s second-in-command Aminu Kanawa and about eight other commanders were killed as troops raided terrorist camps in the northwestern states of Sokoto and Zamfara from Monday to Tuesday, Edward Buba, the spokesman for the Nigerian military told a press briefing.

Buba said “the camp of Turji is in disarray” following the killing of Kanawa and dozens of others.

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“The death of Turji’s second-in-command, close allies, commanders, and combatants was a significant blow to the terrorists’ network in the northwestern part of Nigeria, as well as their fighting capabilities,” Buba said, noting this group of terrorists was responsible for numerous kidnappings and terrorist attacks across the region.

“Overall, troops are not relenting until these terrorists are destroyed,” said Buba.

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