HERE WE GO! Hemos enviado un fax al @FCBarcelona_es con nuestra oferta de traspaso: 4 entradas para el concierto de Bad Bunny de mañana, una suscripción anual al ABC y una bolsa de pipas. Esperamos ansiosos la respuesta para preparar el ‘announce’.
I’ve just returned from Nigeria’s killing fields.
Pastors burned alive. Entire villages erased.
Yet the world is barely paying attention.
My dispatch in today’s @DailyMail.
https://t.co/v1PNKFehDN
The U.S. Mission is distressed by the brutal and senseless killing of Reverend Father Sylvester Okechukwu in Kaduna State, Nigeria. We strongly condemn this horrific act of violence. We extend our deepest condolences to the family, congregation, and community of Father Okechukwu, who have suffered an immeasurable loss. Our thoughts are with them during this time of profound grief. We call on the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.
I mourn the cowardly murder of Reverend Father Sylvester Okechukwu in Kaduna State, Nigeria.
Throughout my adult life, I had hoped and believed in the potential of Nigeria to be a truly great country - a nation blessed with vast natural resources, some of the hardest working, brilliant and most talented people on earth. This country and her peoples have huge ramifications for the African continent.
Yet, this country’s leadership and its weak, incompetent and compromised politicians, who have no business in the corridor of the nation’s political power, has conveniently allowed terrorists, bandits and religious intolerance to continue to kill innocent citizens across the country, impede its potential for development and makes it impossible for it to ascend to its natural and intended place in history.
My condolences to the family of Reverend Father Sylvester Okechukwu, the Catholic Church, the faithfuls in Nigeria and to all well-meaning Nigerians across that land.
May his memory forever be a blessing!
I just learned of the arrest of @DeleFarotimi, a respected human rights lawyer and advocate, over an allegation of defamation.
This action is a gross misuse of police powers and a grave assault on the principles of democracy and justice in Nigeria.
I condemn this action in totality. It represents not only an attempt to intimidate opposing voices from questioning authority .
It is also a worrying signal to every Nigerian who loves and values freedom of expression and dares to demand accountability and transparency.
The Nigeria Police Force exists to protect the rights of citizens, not to suppress them.
Defamation, by its nature, is a civil matter that should be addressed in court through due legal process in line with the dictates of the rule of law in a democracy.
As a private citizen, former governor, and even today, I am frequently defamed, insulted, and lied about and against. Yet, I have never resorted to using the Nigerian police or filing reports to silence others.
Those who feel otherwise should seek redress through the proper legal channels, not by weaponizing the police or abusing their access to authority or state power.
The resort to police action, in this case, reeks of abuse of power and raises serious concerns about the independence and professionalism of the police as a civil force.
I hereby request that Dele Farotimi should be released immediately and unconditionally. The police must recognize that their allegiance is to the Constitution and the people of Nigeria, not to narrow interests at the behest of those in power.
A new more Just and fair Nigeria is possible!
-PO