Nigerian atheist activist Mubarak Bala, detained in April 2020, was sentenced to 24 years after pleading guilty to 18 charges in a blasphemy case that had been widely condemned.
Mubarak Bala, in detention for two years, pled guilty to 18 charges of blasphemy. Activists in the country called the sentence, "a sad day for human rights in Nigeria."
Wed Jun 30 2021
It was a landmark ruling in the country’s fight against corruption when, after nine years of trial, a court last week convicted chairman of the then House of Representatives Ad-Hoc Committee on Fuel Subsidy over fraud allegations. The chairman of the investigation committee, Faruk Lawan, was sentenced to seven years in prison for receiving bribe from billionaire oil magnate, Femi Otedola, who was the owner of one of the firms that Lawan’s committee was asked to investigate.
An FCT High Court sitting in Apo and presided over by Justice Angela Otaluka found Lawan guilty of all the three counts of bribery allegations brought against him. The case had moved to and from the court since it began in 2012. While delivering judgment, the judge held that from the pool of evidence before the court, the prosecuting lawyer, Adegboyega Awomolo (SAN), had established a case of corrupt practices against the defendant. “The defendant corruptly asked for $3 million and received