Tag Archives: Silence

About Jailing Hillary Clinton, Donald Trump Breaks His Post-election Silence

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President-elect Donald Trump has backtracked on the suggestion he would jail his Democrat rival Hillary Clinton if elected, now saying he has more important things to focus on.

Throughout his election campaign, the Republican hit out at Clinton over the investigation into her use of a private email server during her role as secretary of state, suggesting he would launch a fresh investigation if he won the White House.

However, he has now said pursuing a prosecution of his former rival is low down on his list of priorities, telling the Wall Street Journal: “It’s not something I’ve given a lot of thought, because I want to solve health care, jobs, border control, tax reform.”

During the second presidential debate, Trump stepped up his previous suggestions he would investigate Clinton, saying she would be in jail if he were president.

“I’ll tell you what. I didn’t think I’d say this, but I’m going to say it, and I hate to say it. But if I win, I am going to instruct my attorney general to get a special prosecutor to look into your situation, because there has never been so many lies, so much deception. There has never been anything like it, and we’re going to have a special prosecutor,” Trump said.

“It’s just awfully good that someone with the temperament of Donald Trump is not in charge of the law in our country,” Clinton responded.

“Because you’d be in jail,” Trump shot back.

Credit: ibtimes

Angelina Jolie Breaks Silence On Her Divorce With Brad Pitt

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Angelina Jolie has broken her silence on her split with Brad Pitt, following his first public appearance since the divorce proceedings began.

This week, Pitt was cleared of child abuse allegations, following the investigation by the Los Angeles Country Department of Children and Family Services into an incident involving his eldest son Maddox on a private plane on 14 September.

Reacting to the news, a spokesperson on behalf of Jolie released a statement:

“The job of the DCFS is to make sure the children are in a safe and secure situation. As we said earlier this week, childcare professionals encouraged a legal agreement accepted and signed by both sides that was in the best interest of the children. Angelina said from the beginning that she felt she had to take action for the health of the family and is relieved that after their 8-week involvement, the DCFS is now satisfied the safeguards are put in place that will allow the children to heal.”

When news of the breakdown of the marriage broke in September, Jolie’s attorney Robert Offer released a statement that read: “Angelina has filed for dissolution of the marriage. This decision was made for the health of the family. She will not be commenting, and asks that the family be given its privacy at this time.” This is the first time that Jolie has spoken out since.

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Gbajabiamila Breaks Silence Over Budget Padding Scandal

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The Leader of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has broken his silence over the budget padding scandal rocking the lower chamber, following accusations of budget fraud made against Speaker Yakubu Dogara and others by former appropriations committee chairman, Abdulmumin Jibrin.

Mr. Gbajabiamila had remained silent since the House descended into a crisis that has drawn the attention of anti-corruption agencies, and sparked calls for the Speaker to step aside.

Mr. Gbajabiamila gave his position via emails sent to members of the House on Monday. A lawmaker shared the message with a reporter.

The Lagos lawmaker circulated emails to colleagues after some unknown people sent text messages around suggesting he was part of a group working discreetly to force a leadership change in the House.

The anonymous message was sent from phone number 08119106894.

It reads,”Plot to destabilize the leadership of the House of Reps has taken a new dimension as the AGF working with Gbajabiamila, Jibrin & SGF has (sic) drafted charges to arraign and detain principal officers of the House so that the transparency group who recently met with Tinubu’s wife will effect a leadership change with Gbajabiamila as Speaker and Jibrin as Deputy. This is why Jibrin did not mention Femi in his allegations. The 8th House won’t be anybody’s rubber stamp. We will resist them like the senate resisted them.”

But Mr. Gbajabiamila, in his email to lawmakers, denied claims made in the anonymous message.

He said, “Since the budget controversy that engulfed the House about a week ago, I have pointedly maintained a dignified silence. I did this for the sake of the institution I represent and which I have laboured hard to grow and protect, knowing that whatever I say could be impactful both within the House and outside it.

“I was determined to keep in place the glue that holds an otherwise fragmented House, protect its integrity and at same time avoid eroding the little confidence and vestiges of hope Nigerians have in us.

“I am being dragged into an arena I tried very hard to stay out of only for the good of the House. The Speakership election has come and gone. The election was divisive and acrimonious but I have since worked hard to heal the wounds some of which still fester amongst members on both sides.

“It is my responsibility to bring all tendencies in a House I lead together and I have worked well with the Speaker and all other Principal officers in a bipartisan manner and in the interest of the institution and members.

“It is clear that our budget process needs radical reform and very quickly too. Yes, allegations have been made but I strongly believe judgment should not be passed based on allegations. We operate a constitutional democracy and we must at all times submit to its dictates and ethos. All parties are innocent until otherwise proven. This should be our guide. I plead with all members. The mudslinging must stop.

“This text message, which desperately seeks to finger me in some macabre plot to destabilize the House is a throwback and echoes our dark post Speakership election history. The resurfacing or resurgence of the faceless text messengers will not help us as a House and let me quickly add that it will fail.”

“My strongest critics and biggest political adversaries in the House cannot deny the fact that my commitment has always been to strengthen the legislature and its processes and our democracy as a whole. I consider everyone a friend and colleague and urge that as we collectively work towards a stronger legislature and strive to deepen our democracy, we do not pull back the hands of the clock nor lose sight of the enormous responsibility placed upon us by providence as members of a critical arm of government.”

Credit: PremiumTimes

Ekweremadu Writes Int’l Community, Says Buhari Wants To Silence Him

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Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu has written to the United Nations (UN), European Union (EU) and governments of the United States and United Kingdom, alleging attempts by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to truncate Nigeria’s democracy.
Also copied in the letter were the United States Congress and European Union (EU) Parliament.

This is just as the Attorney-General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Mr. Abubakar Malami is expected to appear before the Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters tomorrow, where he is likely to face questions on his decision to prosecute Senate President Bukola Saraki,  Ekweremadu and four others for allegedly forging the Senate rules.

He is also likely to be grilled on the conflict of interest arising from his involvement in the same case a year ago, when he represented Saraki’s opponents in the Senate in his private capacity as a lawyer.

In the two-paged letter, titled “Re: Trumped up Charges Against the Presiding Officers of the Eighth Senate: Nigerian Democracy is in Grave Danger”, Ekweremadu insisted that Buhari’s government wants to silence him as the highest ranking opposition leader in the country by prosecuting him for alleged forgery.

Ekweremadu also attached to his letter, copies of the court summons and other relevant documents relating to the charge.
He urged the international community to go through the documents and determine if the trial was justifiable or one purely borne out of political vendetta.

Credit: Thisday

Human Rights Watch Slams FG Over Silence On 300 Abducted Damasak Children

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Global watchdog, Human Rights Watch, has slammed the federal government over its unacceptable silence on the abduction of 300 children from Damasak, Borno State.

In a press statement, the organization urged the government to “take urgent steps to secure the release of about 400 women and children, including at least 300 elementary school students, abducted by Boko Haram from the town of Damasak in Borno State a year ago”.

“Damasak is the largest documented school abduction by Boko Haram militants. Yet, it has drawn far less public attention than the group’s widely condemned abduction of 276 schoolgirls from a government secondary school in Chibok in April 2014. While 57 of those girls managed to escape, 219 remain captive almost two years later,” the statement added.

The group said that the children have been missing for a year, and yet there has been no word from the Nigerian government, according to Mausi Segun, a researcher at Human Rights Watch.
“The authorities need to wake up and find out where the Damasak children and other captives are and take urgent steps to free them,” he added.

On November 24, 2014, Boko Haram attacked Damasak, a trading town about 200 kilometers northwest of Maiduguri, near the border with Niger, blocking all four roads leading into the town and trapping residents and traders.

The insurgents quickly occupied Zanna Mobarti Primary School, shutting the gates and locking more than 300 students, ages 7 to 17, inside, according to a teacher at the school and other witnesses that Human Rights Watch interviewed.

The Boko Haram militants then used the school as a military base, bringing scores of other women and children abducted across the town there as captives.

Credit: Thisday

FG Planning To Silence Me, Claims Metuh

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Apparently fearing his date with the cold arms of the law, the National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP),  Chief Olisa Metuh has cried out over an alleged move by the Federal Government to persecute him.

Metuh failed to give reasons for his claim that the government was after him, but made a veil reference to the ongoing wave of arrests of some of his colleagues in the PDP over monies received from the office of the National Security Adviser.

Addressing a press conference on Tuesday at the party’s national secretariat  in Abuja, the PDP spokesman alleged that he had been “hounded, harassed, intimidated and threatened severally” in the last seven months for voicing out the view of the opposition.

He said the apparatus of government should not be used as an instrument to settle scores, adding that he never had any contract dealings with the immediate past Federal Government or any of its security apparatus.

“In the last seven months, as opposition spokesperson, I have been hounded, harassed, intimidated and threatened severally. In order to avoid personal and family pressure, I had refrained from bringing them to the public domain,” he said.

Credit: ThisDay

Buhari, FG Accused Of Maintaining Silence Over Zaria Killings After 48 Hours

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More than 48 hours after a deadly encounter between troops of the Nigerian Army and members of the Islamic Movement in Nigeria led to several deaths in Zaria, Kaduna State, the Nigerian government has yet to comment on, or condemn, the killings.

Details of what transpired Saturday remain unclear with the army and the Shiites giving different accounts of the clash.

Both sides however agree there were “loss of lives”.

The Islamic Movement in Nigeria, a Shia Muslim group led by Ibrahim El-Zakzaky, says hundreds, if not thousands, of its members were killed when soldiers stormed its base in Zaria and opened fire on unarmed civilians.

We could not independently verify that claim.

The army, in separate statements, said members of the group blocked the convoy of its chief, Tukur Buratai, a Lieutenant General, and attempted to kill him – an allegation the Shiites deny.

Credit: PremiumTimes

Ronda Rousey Breaks Silence After Getting Knocked Out By Holly Holm

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Two days on from the most shocking night in the short history of the Ultimate Fighting Championship, when undefeated bantamweight champion Ronda Rousey found herself coming to on the mat after a knockout kick from Holly Holm, the dethroned champ has broken her silence, reports SF Gate. There was widespread concern when Rousey was taken to the hospital after the fight, having taken a beating beyond just the knockout blow, but she took to Instagram to assuage her fans’ fears.

Credit: Cosmopolitan

Chiechefulam Ikebuiro: Senator David Mark’s Un-Golden Silence?

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Reports have it that over half a million persons are living with the dreaded HIV/AIDS in Benue State. This figure keeps rising by the day and sees Benue sit right at the top with the most endemic states a la HIV in Nigeria. What this portends for the state is better imagined. A commissioner from the state once stated that the Virus was having a great effect on their state from farming to education et al, what with the impact on the human resources.

In March of this year, Nigerians decided that they were done with the ineptitude and insensitivity of the PDP since the inception of this Democracy in 1999 and collectively decided to show them the door. This led to massive changes at the helm, from the Presidency to the two legislative arms of Government which meant new faces/party at the helm of these hallowed chambers.

There is this sad thing about Nigerian Politicians which I do not understand till this day. I am talking about this selfish, out for the number one syndrome which keeps dragging this country in reverse.

Did anybody see Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark at the hallow chambers during the just concluded ministerial screening? Did you notice his body language? Did anybody even hear his voice? He was aloof. He had this I –could- care –less- since- I- am -not -number one kind of mien. The man seemed so uninterested that one is wont to think what his business is in that house and it worries me.

Senator Mark has been around for a very long time and has refused to leave the scene. The least he could do, having seen it all, is to jettison his self-worship and just begin to look at the greater good-that of his people.

What I am asking/saying is, what stops Senator Mark from engaging one or all the potential Ministers of health and taking them on on their plans to tackle the scourge of HIV/AIDS, not only in his State which has the highest(?) number of people living with AIDS in Nigeria, but the whole country.

Could the Senator have asked how they plan to provide services where needed to the infected as well as the affected states? He could have engaged further and found out what plans they have as regards creating more awareness, especially in rural areas, so as to prevent the further spread of AIDS as well as stigmatization of people living with the monster.

But No, Our Dear Senator Mark decided to keep mum when he had the opportunity to, for once, give his people the representation they deserve. He must be thinking since he’s no longer the honcho of the house, why belittle himself by saying anything. Silly mentality in my opinion This is really low because it behooves him to work for the greater good even if it is to at least prove his beneficence.

As is, one cannot guarantee that he would raise a single bill to be passed in the senate.

I just hope he gets over the loss and focus on the primary reason why he is there-to work for a better Nigeria.

Bigger picture please, Senator David Alechenu Bonaventure Mark or take a walk.

The Ingenuity Of Nnamdi Kanu

Till this day, the Civil war which lasted a whole 3 years leaves a bitter taste. To think that was a war that would have been avoided one way or the other makes it even worse.

Some 3 million people lost their lives. Infrastructures and money were blotted out. That was a war that set this country back by some years.

From the tales of those who witnessed the war, it is something we would not want to ever witness again.

This is why I am astound and bewildered by one Nnamdi Kanu who is agitating for the State of Biafra, not through a referendum or any sane way but war. One cannot help but wonder what alien is controlling this being.

Or how else does one describe it when one starts to solicit for arms, making hateful and inciting statements that could egg on a war.

When one encourages donations to bomb makers who have volunteered through phone-ins to his radio station, to destroy the ‘zoo’ then you have to begin to question his sanity, having seen or heard what happened between 1967 and 70.

But then again I am beginning to think he is a genius-A prodigy ; to be able to twist some Igbo minds with ease in 2015. For Nnamdi Kanu, with the bile he spits, to have supposedly omniscient supporters is class. For him to call Nigeria a ‘zoo’, still carry her passport, land in the same zoo and lodge in a hotel at Ikeja despite the array of hotels in the east, and still have followers (albeit ignoramuses) is Einstein.

But never mind the few delusional ones, the Ibos are not fooled .Most have started to begin to agree that to make the East a force to reckon with once more ,the Ibos have to start to ask for accountability from those who govern us. The real agitation should be against the people who rode on our mandate to loot us to stupor, thereby abandoning us to our fate.

Till we start to demand accountability from those who govern us we are yet to be free.

For now, the fraud Nnamdi Kanu, who wants cheap popularity and a means to make it big should be ignored.

Chiechefulam Ikebuiro

chiechefulamikebuiro@gmail.com

@thalynxis on twitter

Views expressed are solely that of author and does not represent views of www.omojuwa.com nor its associates

Khloe Kardashian Finally Breaks Silence About Lamar Odom’s Hospitalization

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Khloe Kardashian has finally broken her silence about her estranged husband Lamar Odom’s recent hospitalization.

“The past week has been incredibly difficult,” Kardashian wrote on her website Tuesday. “I am so thankful to family, friends and fans, who have sent nothing but prayers and well wishes to Lamar.”

Kardashian, who married Odom in 2009 before separating in 2013, also thanked the staff at Sunrise Hospital in Las Vegas.

Odom, 35, was rushed to a hospital last Tuesday after he was found unconscious at a brothel in Nevada. He was in a coma for three days before regaining consciousness. On Monday, he was moved to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles to continue treatment. The incident is under investigation.

“You can never be prepared for an experience like this, but without the outpouring of love and endless prayers that Lamar has received and the strength I was given from my loved ones, it would have been difficult to endure,” Kardashian wrote. “Thank you for your continued support. God is great!!!”

Credit: TVGuide

Kourtney Kardashian Steps Out After Split, Scott Disick Breaks Silence On Social Media

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Kourtney spent the morning working up a sweat with her sisters Kim and Khloe Kardashian. In the evening the trio hit the town looking absolutely angelic in radiate white dresses. It was Kourtney’s first appearance in public since news of the split broke on Monday, and she looked like she was ready to have a fun night.

The sisters, who were filming an upcoming episode of Keeping Up With the Kardashians while going out for a girls’ night at Casa Escobar in Westlake, California, shared a cute selfie on Instagram.

With their tongues out, it’s hard to imagine the girls weren’t sending a message to Kourtney’s ex.

Meanwhile, Scott didn’t seem too upset about the split. The 32-year-old broke his social media silence with an Instagram post on Tuesday encouraging his followers to “party with me this Friday in Vegas.”

Read More: ETonline

Toke Makinwa Breaks Silence On Marital Crisis

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Toke has finally opened up about her marriage to Maje Ayida after it was revealed that her husband impregnated Anita Solomon. She finally spoke up on her Instagram. Read what she said below:

“The amount of emails I have received from women across the world going thru difficult situations is heartbreaking. (Thank you all for sharing). In a world where the popular belief out there is that women hate each other, women can’t stand each other, etc. I have gotten emails/calls from women sharing their own personal pain and that is courageous. I can’t reply everyone, (even though i honestly wish i could.)It is Funny how God uses even the most unbelievable things to bless you. I have been given a voice, a platform, (i don’t even know how it’s all happened) but I woke up one day and I found God and with that came purpose“

“It’s never about you, as hard as it seems, sometimes you go thru things not for you but for the people around you who need direction, a word of prayer or more. May God heal every broken heart out there, may his light give you the courage to begin to love yourself. It is tough being a woman, the pressure is real. You don’t have to be a victim, you can rise above it all. Do not let society tell you otherwise. Be Bold, Be Strong. Trust God’s purpose for your life and keep shinning. *And Yes, to all the people asking, there is a Vlog this week.