Lawyers Petition Buhari Seeking Dismissal of Naval Commander in Kogi State, Give Reasons

Lawyers Petition Buhari Seeking Dismissal of Naval Commander in Kogi State, Give Reasons

  • A fresh petition has been forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari over a series of extrajudicial killings in Kogi state
  • According to the petition by Demaki & Demaki legal practitioners, at least 150 persons have gone missing in the state
  • The petition traced this anomaly to Governor Yahaya Bello who has been accused of using a Naval commander to take out his political rivals

FCT, Abuja - President Muhammadu Buhari has been urged to sanction the dismissal of Charles Akalieze, the Naval Commander in charge of the Navy special task force in Kogi state.

This was made known during a press briefing organised by the petitioner Shedrack M. Demaki Esq of the Demaki & Demaki legal practitioners.

Yahaya Bello, Buhari
The petition accused Governor Yahaya Bello of using Commander Akalieze for his political bidding against his political rivals. Photo: Governor Yahaya Bello
Source: Facebook

As contained in the petition, the law firm accused the Governor of Kogi state, Yahaya Bello of using Akalieze as a tool to eliminate his political opponents in the state.

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The petitioners asserted that Nigeria, under the wings of its current Chief of Naval Staff, has deviated from its statutory obligations by becoming partisan in the political affairs of Kogi state.

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The petition reads:

"We wish to state that the actions of Commander Akaliezi and Chief of Naval Staff are a clear breach of the operational code of conduct of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic Of Nigeria’’.

The petition stated that the jurisdiction of the Nigerian Navy is to protect the territorial waters of the country from external forces and not delve into the exact opposite of their statutory obligations.

The petition further reads:

"The action of Commander Akalieze and the Chief of Naval Staff dents the image of the disciplined officers of Nigerian Navy who are reputed for their bravery and uprightness; and, if left unabated will lead to a breakdown of law and order; and destruction of lives and property in Kogi State.

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“These series of extrajudicial killings, intimidation, abductions and kidnappings of Kogi indigenes have been occurring since 2019 and have not abated, rather Akalieze is further emboldened to continue carrying out his dastardly acts."

It was also gathered that despite all the petitions against the accused, he was redeployed from NNS Kano, Lagos state to NNS Lugard in Kogi state on the 9th of January 2023.

Petition reels out names of victims

Further details as contained in the petition revealed that his redeployment back to Kogi state was influenced by Governor Yahaya Bello.

The petition claimed that the accused Navy commander was responsible for the disappearance of 150 persons in Kogi state who are said to be political opponents of Governor Bello.

Some of the victims as contained in the petition include Hon Musa Adelabu of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Okene local government who has been missing since 2019.

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The petition also listed Mr Rufai Jimoh, Mr Hadi Abdulmaliki, Mr Kashim Ismaila, Mr Ismaila Momoh, Mr Monday Idowu and Abdulazeez Salami.

Senior lawyers expose major factor that threatens 2023 polls, alerts INEC of consequence

Meanwhile, ahead of the 2023 general elections, controversies have begun to emerge in the build-up to next month's decider.

The electoral body, INEC has been caught in the mix of all these controversies in relation to the new Electoral Act of 2022 as amended.

Section 34 of the 1999 constitution and section 65 of the Electoral Act were faulted by these lawyers.

Source: Legit.ng

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