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As governor, El Rufai banned us from reporting killings by bandits in Kaduna- ex SOKAPU president Asake
Jonathan Asake, a former president of Southern Kaduna Peoples Union (SOKAPU), has narrated chilling accounts of the nightmare the people of Southern Kaduna faced when Nasir El Rufai was governor of the State.
Asake said the government banned the communities from reporting incidences of mass killing of Christians and other residents of the area and threatened to arrest anyone that reported the incidents.
In an interview he granted the Sun on Saturday, January 24, 2026, Asake shared a detailed account of how he mobilized media coverage to document attacks and displacement in Southern Kaduna despite facing government intimidation.
He recounted a series of violent incidents that occurred in July 2020, beginning with an attack in Gwenaorogo community within a local government area where 17 people were killed on July 13th. After reporting this initial attack, he said the violence escalated as attackers moved to other communities, killing 35 people in a single day and displacing over 5,000 residents.
The former SOKAPU leader revealed that when he and his organization reported these incidents, the Kaduna State government under Nasir El-Rufai threatened to arrest them. Rather than backing down, Dr. Asake said he took proactive measures to ensure the situation received public attention.
Upon receiving information about the imminent arrest threat, he immediately contacted 21 media organizations and arranged transportation for them. By 7 o’clock the following morning, journalists had assembled, and despite the personal risk, Dr. Asake led them to the affected areas.
He described arriving at a displacement camp where they encountered over 5,000 people who had fled their communities due to the violence. The media presence, he implied, served as protection and helped bring national attention to the crisis facing Southern Kaduna communities at the time.
According to Jonathan Asake, “They went into other communities and they killed 35 people in one day and displaced over 5,000. So when we reported, the government under El-rufai threatened to arrest us. When I got the hint, I quickly called 21 media houses and prepared a bus. As early as 7 o’clock, they had assembled, and I took the risk and we went to the place where the people were.”
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Breaking: Court of Appeal rules in favour of Turaki -led PDP candidate for Osun governorship election
The Court of Appeal, Abuja Division, on Thursday, ruled that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Gubernatorial Candidate in Osun State was validly nominated by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee.
The court also ordered INEC to list the PDP logo on the ballot ahead of Saturday’s gubernatorial election.
The Court held that access code is neither a creation of the Constitution nor the Electoral Act; rather, a creation of INEC’s guidelines and cannot, in any way, override the provisions of the Constitution.
Section 288 of the Constitution does not specify the method for nominating candidates; it only states that the names of candidates should be forwarded to the Commission.
The court further held that the defendant (INEC) should take steps to include the name of the appellant on the ballot paper.
Additionally, the court ruled that the primary election conducted by the Tanimu Turaki-led National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP was a valid primary election in law.
The three-man panel of justices—Justice Mahmud, Justice Jaro, and Justice Ankawere, was unanimous in its judgment.
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Breaking: NHRC sets up situation room to monitor and document hate speech, intimidation, threat to life ahead 2027
The national Human Rights Commission, NHRC, has set up a situation room to monitor and document all incidences of hate speech, intimidation and threat to life by politicians and other actors ahead of the 2027 general election.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
The Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, revealed this on Thursday in Abuja at a press conference.
He said the situation room would enable the Commission harvest data, analysis and document persons, agencies and others involved in the negative statements in order to ensure they are properly tracked and brought to book by relevant agencies.
Ojukwu also took journalists on a tour of the newly set up situation room.
Details later…..
News
Breaking: NHRC expresses concern over rising incidences of hate speech, threat to life ahead 2027 elections
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has expressed concerns over rising incidences of hate speech, intimidation and outright threat to life by highly placed individuals, especially politicians and religious leaders.
At a press conference in Abuja Thursday, the Executive Secretary of the Commission, Chef Tony Ojukwu, SAN, recalled statements credited to Senator Francis Fadahunsi and Sheikh Yahya Jingir and described the das dangerous with capacity to set the nation ablaze.
He called on politicians, religious and traditional rulers, among other stakeholders to call their supporters and faithful to orders.
He urged government to act before rhetorics turn to violence, saying the forthcoming election in Osun State should serve as example of Nigeria’s capacity to conduct political contest in compliance with international best practices.
Details later…..
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