The Akwa Ibom State Governor, Udom Emmanuel has announced the Constitution of an eight-man Judicial Panel of Inquiry to investigate incidences of Police brutality in the state.

A statement signed by the secretary to the State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Ekuwem, says that the decision was part of resolutions reached at an emergency of the State Executive Council meeting on Monday.

Members of the panel include; Justice Ifiok Ukana (Rtd) Chairman, Ms. Manti Umoh Representative of Civil Society Organizations, Mr. Harris Udoh, (a representative of the protesters, Barr. Bassey Essien CP(Rtd), Senior Retired Police Officer, Barr. Omen Bassey, youth representative, Comrade Aniedi Michael, National Association of Akwa Ibom State Students Worldwide President – Student Leader Tony Iji – National Human Rights Commission, and Mfon Edemekong Esq. Ministry of Justice ~ secretary.

The terms of reference are as follows:

1. Receive and investigate complaints of police brutality, human rights violations, and related extra-judicial killings.

2. Evaluate evidence presented /other surrounding circumstances and draw conclusions as to the validity of the complaint.

3. Recommend compensation and other remedial measures, where appropriate.

The duration of the Panel shall be for three months in the first instance.

Inauguration of the Judicial Panel will hold on Tuesday, 20th October 2020 at the EXCO Chambers by 5 pm.

Harry Maguire did not travel with the Manchester United squad for Tuesday’s Champions League Group H opener away to Paris Saint-Germain as manager Ole Gunnar Solskjaer confirmed Bruno Fernandes will captain the visitors in the French capital.

“We’re a little bit depleted but we’ve got more than enough players,” said Solskjaer, who is without Maguire, Mason Greenwood, Eric Bailly, Jesse Lingard, and new signing Edinson Cavani for the game.

“We hope that the players won’t be away for too long. Edinson needs a few more days training before maybe we can think about the weekend, hopefully, Harry can and Mason as well but we’re not sure about that,” added the United manager of the players’ prospects of being back to face Chelsea on Saturday.

Fernandes, who scored in the 4-1 weekend win at Newcastle United, described being given the captain’s armband in Maguire’s absence as “an honour, an important achievement”.

United are returning to the Champions League this season after missing out in the last campaign.

However, Tuesday’s clash brings back memories of the sides’ encounter in the last 16 in 2018/19, when Solskjaer’s team won thanks to a dramatic late penalty in the second leg at the Parc des Princes.

The Norwegian said: “That’s history for us, it’s in the past, so great history, great game but it has no impact whatsoever on this game.

“We know we’re a different team, they are a different team, it’s a different stage of the competition, it’s of course also without fans so it’s going to be a different game.”

-AFP

Six persons have been killed in a tanker explosion at Lapai in Lapai Local Government Area of Niger State.

The incident happened in the early hours of Tuesday when two tankers collided before exploding in the state.

This was confirmed to Channels Television by the Director-General of the State Emergency Management Agency, Ahmed Inga via the telephone.

Mr Inga said at the time of filing the report he and his men were on their way to Lapai.

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Those injured in the explosion are said to have been taken to various hospitals in the local government area.

Six tankers and yet-to-be-identified number of smaller vehicles have also been razed by fire.

Also, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Abubakar Bello, Mary Noel-Berje confirmed the incident via the telephone.

Noel-Berje said all relevant agencies, including NEMA, the state Fire Service, Federal Road Safety and the Vehicle Inspection Office have been at the scene of the incident since it happened.

While describing the incident as unfortunate, she said Governor Bello has commiserated with the victims of the explosion.

For over three weeks, the Lambata-Lapai-Bida road has witnessed heavy traffic, with over a thousand tankers and trailers caught in gridlock.

Mr Mahmud Abdullahi, a former spokesman to the Late former Governor Abdullahi Kure, also told Channels Television that the bad condition of the road which is a federal government road has caused the gridlock.

He said heavy vehicles are stuck on the road stretching over 50 kilometres.

President Donald Trump said Monday he was ready to remove Sudan from a US blacklist of state sponsors of terrorism, a major goal of Khartoum, after a compensation deal over past attacks.

“At long last, JUSTICE for the American people and BIG step for Sudan!” Trump wrote on Twitter.

Trump said that Sudan’s year-old transitional government had agreed to a $335 million package to compensate US victims of attacks and their families.

“Once deposited, I will lift Sudan from the State Sponsors of Terrorism list,” Trump said.

Sudan is one of four nations branded by Washington as a state sponsor of terrorism along with Iran, North Korea, and Syria — severely impeding economic development, with few major foreign investors willing to run afoul of US laws.

Sudan has been seeking for years to remove the designation, a legacy of former dictator Omar al-Bashir’s welcome of Al-Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden in the 1990s.

The conflict-ridden nation experienced a historic shift last year as Bashir was ousted in the face of youth-led street protests and a civilian-backed transitional government was later installed.

While Trump has the authority to remove Sudan as a state sponsor of terrorism, both the administration and lawmakers have been seeking a package that would compensate victims and families over attacks — namely Al-Qaeda’s 1998 bombings of the US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.

The Trump administration, seeing leverage as it eyed removing the designation, has also leaned on Sudan to recognize Israel, following the lead of the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain

-AFP

A 13-year-old #EndSARS protester has fallen off a truck in Sapele, Delta State.

Channels Television learned the unidentified teenager died from injuries sustained after he fell off a moving truck.

The victim was said to have joined other youths protesting against police brutality and extrajudicial killings in Sapele when the incident happened.

The spokesman for the Delta State Police Command, Onome Onovwakpoyeya, confirmed the incident to Channels Television.

The corpse of the teenager was later wrapped with the national flag, placed on the back of the truck on open display at the Amukpe area of Sapele, causing massive traffic to commuters.

Meanwhile, thousands of #EndSARS protesters have again laid siege at the summit junction at the Asaba-Onitsha Highway leading to the Niger Bridge, causing gridlock with travellers stranded for hours.

They vowed not to back down until their demands were met.