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Citizens of Commonwealth to Benefit from Improved Justice System

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Citizens of Commonwealth to Benefit from Improved Justice System

By: Michael Mike

Nigerians and other Commonwealth citizens will benefit from improved people-centred access to justice after law ministers from Commonwealth counties agreed on a package of new measures and pledges.

A press statement by the Commonwealth on Wednesday read that: “Millions of Commonwealth citizens will benefit from improved people-centred access to justice as law ministers concluded their meeting in Zanzibar yesterday with a package of new measures and pledges.”

The statement added that the package was shaped by four-day deliberations among ministers, with input from diverse stakeholders, including people with disabilities, civil society representatives and leading innovators in the legal sector.

The statement said: “As part of this package, ministers resolved to ramp up efforts to remove barriers to access to justice and address the legal needs of all citizens.

“Key provisions include improved access to justice for people with disabilities, a model law on virtual assets, a new action plan to protect women from online violence and a proposal to eliminate gender-discriminatory legislation.

“Ministers also welcomed an array of new Commonwealth legal resources, including a mediation guide, a small claims court app for dispute resolution and a database for cooperation on criminal matters.

“Additionally, they adopted the Commonwealth guidelines on the treatment of electronic evidence in criminal proceedings, designed to offer member countries a framework to craft national legislation.

“To support the implementation, ministers requested the Commonwealth Law Ministers Action Group to report progress at the next meeting.”

According to the statement, the package summarises the outcome statement issued by ministers, representing one-third of humanity, at the end of their meeting on 8 February 2024.

Speaking after the meeting, the Commonwealth Secretary-General, The Rt Hon Patricia Scotland KC, said the measures were “absolutely critical” because two-thirds of the world’s population lack meaningful access to justice.

She said: “Our discussions have been purposeful, our decisions have been meaningful, and our powerful new consensus allows us to take the next giant steps forward towards equal access to justice, in modernised legal systems, across our wonderful Commonwealth.

“We leave Zanzibar with a powerful mandate which will allow us to take the next decisive steps to ensure justice for all is the lived experience of every one of the 2.5 billion people living in our Commonwealth.”

In their statement, ministers recognised the Secretariat’s tech-driven justice solutions and its work on artificial intelligence as important interventions in improving access to legal information and transforming justice delivery in today’s complex world.

The Secretariat also presented several papers in the field of energy and extractives, including a carbon tax model law and an oil and gas decommissioning guide, which leverage legislation in efforts to tackle climate change and deliver a just transition.

Hosted by the United Republic of Tanzania from 4 to 8 March 2024, the meeting was chaired by Hon Ambassador Dr Pindi H. Chana, the country’s Minister of Constitutional and Legal Affairs, who commended the substantive outcomes.

Officiating the closing ceremony on 8 March 2024, H.E. Hussein Mwinyi, President of Zanzibar, said:

“I am pleased to note that the meeting has recorded a number of achievements, which challenge us to undertake reforms in an effort to ensure that justice is accessible to all.

“I am aware of efforts that the Commonwealth countries have taken to shape its agenda on the rule of law and access to justice. It is high time that you made the same efforts on access to justice through digitisation.”

The outcomes from the meeting will shape the agenda for the upcoming Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) in Samoa later this year.

The next meeting will be hosted by the Government of Fiji in February 2026.

Citizens of Commonwealth to Benefit from Improved Justice System

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

By: Zagazola Makama

A wave of coordinated security offensives in Imo State has barbecued the Eastern Security Network (ESN), the militant wing of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), with the killing of key kingpins and the dislodgement of notorious terrorist camps in forested parts of Njaba and Isu Local Government Areas.

Zagazola Makama understand that The offensive, which began on June 29, was spearheaded by the Department of State Services (DSS) in close collaboration with the Nigeria Police Force, special forces, and local tactical units.

It was launched after the arrest and detailed confessions of two ESN commanders Uchenna Opara, popularly known as Ntanta Miri, and Ozioma Ihedoro, a.k.a OZ, both natives of Umuaka community in Njaba LGA.

Acting on actionable intelligence, the joint team raided and obliterated several terrorist enclaves, including Umuele Umuaka, Ezioha, and Ugbele Umuaka, known safe havens of the separatist group.

A fierce gun battle ensued as operatives stormed the camps. Three ESN fighters were neutralised during the confrontation, while others reportedly escaped with bullet wounds. Their bodies were later recovered along the Ugbele Umuaka axis.

What followed was a methodical clearance operation targeting the B44 camp cluster, long considered one of ESN’s strategic base networks. The camps, codenamed B44 Tangle 2, 4, 5, 7, and 9, were all successfully dislodged by the joint force.

A caterpillar operator working with the team was tragically killed in the line of duty when the group came under sudden fire while approaching the B44 main camp. He was rushed to the Federal University Teaching Hospital (FUTH), Owerri, but later confirmed dead by a medical officer on duty.

Items recovered from the operation included:
One AK-47 rifle, 15 rounds of live ammunition, pump-action shotgun, two locally made IEDs, one human skull and a Biafran flag

In addition, two suspected ESN members were arrested during the combing of nearby bush paths. The duo Emeka Ogene Sabinus of Ezi Isu in Isu LGA and Nnabuike Emmanuel of Ohofia Oduma in Aninri LGA, Enugu State were said to bear tribal incisions associated with the proscribed militia.

The collapse of the B44 cluster was significant in the counterinsurgency drive in the South-East, where pockets of armed resistance have posed growing threats to residents, security personnel, and national assets.

“The terrain is difficult, but our operatives are relentless,” a senior official close to the operation said. “We are targeting leadership figures, supply chains, and safe havens.”

Meanwhile, efforts are ongoing to apprehend fleeing fighters, with mop-up operations continuing in adjoining forest belts across Orlu, Njaba, and Isu corridors.

The Imo offensive adds to a growing list of successes by joint intelligence-led operations aimed at stabilising regions grappling with armed separatist violence, kidnappings, and the weaponisation of local grievances.

DSS-led joint operation crushes ESN strongholds, kills top kingpins in Imo

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

By: Zagazola Makama

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has arrested three most-wanted bandits and kidnappers operating across Abuja and neighbouring parts of Kaduna State.

According to a police sources, the arrests were carried out on June 29 between 5:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m., by operatives of the Scorpion Squad led by ACP Victor O. Godfrey, following actionable and digital reconstructive intelligence.

The sources told Zagazola Makama that the suspects were identified as: Abdulkadir Abubakar, a native of Mpape, FCT, Mohammed Tasiu Sani, of Rigina, Kaduna State, Suleiman Jibrin, 27, of Sabon-Gayan, Kaduna State.

The three suspects, all Fulani by tribe, have been on the command’s most-wanted list for
their roles in multiple kidnapping and banditry operations, particularly in Jere, Kajuru, the FCT and its environs.

During interrogation, the suspects confessed to abducting victims and moving them to detention camps in Kachia and Rigina forests in Kaduna State. Some victims, they admitted, were held for months, while others were killed at will.

The sources revealed that one of the suspects, Abdulkadir Abubakar, provided disturbing details of internal executions within the gang, in which some members were killed by their own leaders over mistrust and betrayal.

An operational motorcycle, popularly referred to by locals as the “Boko Haram Motorcycle,” was recovered during the raid. The suspects are currently assisting operatives in ongoing efforts to recover arms and ammunition, and to track down other gang members still at large.

FCT police arrest three wanted kidnappers linked to killings, mass abductions

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

By: Zagazola Makama

A 20-year-old farm labourer identified as Solomon (surname yet unknown) has been found dead with gunshot wounds after he was allegedly shot by a member of the Western Nigeria Security Network, also known as Amotekun, along the Ilesa/Iperindo Road in Osun State.

The incident, which occurred on June 29, followed the reported confrontation between a local security operative and a group of five farm labourers on their way to a farmland.

According to Temidayo Olowookere, the employer of the deceased, the labourers were accosted around 11:00 a.m. by an Amotekun operative, one Ajayi Ibukun, who accused them of extorting money from passersby. Two members of the group were apprehended, while the remaining three fled into the bush.

Olowookere said the detained workers were later released to him in the afternoon. However, later in the evening, when two of the three fleeing labourers returned, Solomon remained missing.

A search party was immediately organised. His body was discovered in the bush with gunshot wounds on his back, raising suspicions that he may have been shot during the initial confrontation.

His remains were evacuated to Wesley Guild Hospital, Ilesa, where he was confirmed dead and deposited at the morgue for autopsy.

Police say efforts are currently underway to trace and apprehend the security operative allegedly involved in the shooting, while the community continues to call for justice.

Young farm labourer shot dead while fleeing Amotekun in Osun

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