Of the five first-time worshippers who were arrested by the DSS on the orders of Pastor Dr. Paul Enenche’s Church, founder and General Overseer of Dunamis International Gospel Centre last Sunday, one of them, Samuel Iwatonaiye is a blind young man.

Most horrendous is the recent denial of Dunamis Church concerning the illegal arrest and denial of the activists.

The Department of State Security have also refused to reveal the current location of the arrested activists, including the visually impaired young man.

Earlier on Wednesday, the DSS had denied a human rights lawyer, Inibehe Effiong access to the detained human rights activists.

“I woke up this morning to see this bizarrely written press release from Dunamis International Gospel Centre, the release is materially false on so many levels and Dr. Paul Enenche and his wife, Dr. Becky Enenche who Deji Adeyanju, lawyer Marshal DF Abubakar and I met with on Monday, are aware of the facts of this case. HERE ARE THE FACTS:

1. 10 activists attended the first service of Dunamis International Gospel Centre church on Sunday.

2. They wore #BuhariMustGo Tshirts ( which is not a crime and Dr. Paul Enenche attests to this during our two-hour long meeting).

3. They answered “altar call” wearing the Tshirts, were given holy communion and welcome packages ( Dr. Enenche attests to seeing them and even said he was excited).

4. They did not Livestream or protest inside the church (Dr. Enenche attests to their orderly conduct)

5. Upon exiting the church auditorium, they started livestreaming on Facebook and I was the one who shared the livestream and added that “#BuhariMustGo hits Dunamis” Not the activists.

6. They were approached by Church Security and TOLD to end the Livestream, they insisted it was their right and Emmanuel Larry told them he was a journo and maintained respectful distance from the church security.

7. They let them leave and the 10 activists got to the main road and five of the activists boarded a vehicle and left.

8. While five others were waiting FOR a taxi, a new set of church security men wearing reflective jackets CAME and intercepted them and physically manhandled them and took them back into the church premises to their security post.

9. They were forced to delete the two live videos, church officials took some screenshots and even shared with the media on Sunday (I believe they have the full videos retrieved from Emmanuel Larry’s phone).

10. It was the church security team that called the DSS and they (Lawless DSS) sent a white Hilux van accompanied by two power bikes to whisk them away.

They’ve not been seen or heard from ever since.

When Deji Adeyanju invited me to go to a meeting with Dr. Enenche I told him my primary and only interest was the freedom of the protesters because I suspected that the church wanted to use the meeting with us to “clear” the name of the church and Dr. Enenche’s and absolve them of the needless but unfortunate incident, that’s exactly what they tried to do and what this release set to achieve.

I am using this opportunity to urge Dr. Paul Enenche to go to the DSS headquarters in Abuja and get the innocent young activists freed without delay. I am glad this release STATES clearly that the Church is a place to fight against EVIL (and I guess evildoers), that said, most Nigerians today have come to an irrefutable conclusion that the Muhammadu Buhari regime is EVIL and that President Muhammadu Buhari is an EVILDOER, it makes sense ThEREFORE that the #BuhariMustGo activists were right to fight the EVIL regime on Dunamis church grounds, a place spiritually designated for such holy assignment, according to this release. #FreeDunamis5 Let My People Go! They’re only doing God’s work!”.

The Muslim Rights Concern (MURIC) has accused President Muhammadu Buhari’s regime of official corruption in Nigeria’s paramilitary organizations’ recruitment.

The Islamic body faulted the recent recruitment by the country’s paramilitary agencies, saying it lacked federal character.

Ishaq Akintola, MURIC Director, said this in a statement on Friday in Lagos.

Mr Akintola stated, “The list of successful candidates in the 2019/2021 ‘Replacement and Recruitment Supplementary’ exercise of the Civil Defence corps, correctional service, fire and immigration services board is being circulated in the media.

“The lopsided nature of the recruitment list speaks volumes of official corruption in the system capable of denying Nigeria the services of best hands in the country.”

He further noted that “out of 411 names of successful candidates that appeared on the list,” only five were in the Sokoto column.

“As if that is not enough, a closer look at the names springs another surprise. None of the names in the Sokoto column appears to have come from the state by origin. The names are Abdurrazaq Adinoyi, Y, Mercy Chukwukeru, Nwauzor Peace, Ezema Emeka, and Umar Tijani.

“It is just natural that this incident will raise public curiosity, particularly when some are making an issue out of the federal character principle and leveraging on it as evidence in support of their agitations,” MURIC director.

According to him, the list appears to be “relegation by substitution” of the state.

He added, “There is no iota of doubt that indigenes of Sokoto may have been short-changed in this arrangement.
“Why was there no single Sokoto indigene among the five by virtue of origin of the names.”

He frowned upon the infraction and demanded the board to explain “the glaring anomaly without delay, to avoid breeding bad blood.”

(NAN)

CORE PRESS RELEASE: May 31st 2021

Omoyele Sowore, National Chair of the African Action Congress was shot this morning by the bestial Nigeria Police Force as he tried to muster support for a demonstration to protest insecurity across the country, organised by a sister civil society body.

Coalition for Revolution (CORE) condemns this attempted assassination in the most categorical of terms. We demand that all police officers involved in this brutal attack at the Unity Fountain, Abuja be brought to book, immediately. This is the last in a series of repressive measures meted out against the activist and citizen journalist.

It would be recalled that Sowore, who is also National Convener of the Take It Back (TiB) movement, an affiliate of CORE, was illegally detained from 3rd August to 24th December 2019, by the secret police. Despite a series of court orders, the state did not release him until there was a groundswell of protests.

On being released, he was restricted with draconian bail conditions to Abuja. He was again arrested at the beginning of the year for organising a peaceful candlelight protest, along with four other TiB members, for eleven days.

This last act is the straw which must break the proverbial camel’s back. We thus demand:

• All police officers involved in the shooting be brought to book IMMEDIATELY,

• All trumped up charges against Omoyele Sowore be dropped forthwith,

• Sowore’s constitutional rights and freedoms to speech, movement, etc be fully and unconditionally restored.

We further hasten to stress that; repression will not cower us. Our struggle for total liberation and campaign for #RevolutionNow, which Sowore is a leading light of, remains undeterred. We fight today as part of the working-class people and youth to stop insecurity, end poverty, smash the coercive machinery of the state and bring to birth a better society. We will not stop until victory is won!

A luta continua! Victoria é certa!!

Baba Aye
Co-convener

Gbenga Komolafe
Co-convener

PRESS STATEMENT – 14th June 2021
______________
The massive nationwide and global turnout for the #June12Protest marks a milestone in the struggle against the regime’s tyranny and its utter inability to ensure a better life for the working people and youth. It is a demonstrated step forward, towards the revolutionary transformation of Nigeria.

This hugely successful wave of demonstrations came up on the heels of the government’s ban of Twitter and threats which were backed up on the streets with security forces armed to the teeth, with the aim of stopping the mass movement. It thus sends home a clear message that we will not be repressed, we will make our voices heard and we will fight for our total liberation, until victory is won.

Coalition for Revolution (CORE) seizes this opportunity to salute all members of its affiliates who made this historic moment happen. We equally commend the great Nigerian students who, in several states, defied the treacherous order of the pro-government secretariat of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) to students’ unions to desist from joining our ranks on the streets.

The #June12Protest is not a passing moment, it is part of movement-building efforts of the Revolution Now campaign. We will take this struggle forward. Preparations to commemorate the 2nd anniversary of the launch of the Revolution Now campaign on 5th August will immediately commence in earnest.

We take note of the concurrent demonstrations of separatist groups in countries such as Britain and the United States, calling for Oduduwa and Biafra republics. CORE makes bold to say we support the right of oppressed nationalities to self-determination. But we hasten to stress that the primary challenges which confront working-class people and youths of all ethnicities and across all regions in the country are social questions: exploitation; economic and physical insecurity including hunger, joblessness, kidnappings, senseless killings; and political repression by a rabid government.

To borrow from the memorable words of the immortal fighter, Chima Ubani “regime change is our stand, mass resistance is our vehicle, system change is our goal”. Our aim is not merely to kick out the Maj Gen Muhammadu Buhari (retd)-led regime which has brought nothing but sorrow, tears, and blood to the poor masses. We fight – alongside workers, farmers, artisans, marginalised women, and youth – to implement the CORE Charter for Total Liberation. And we will not stop until we win our self-emancipation and build a better society for all.

Baba Aye
Co-convener

Gbenga Komolafe
Co-convener