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Saudi executes two Bahrainis on terrorism charges

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Saudi Arabia has put to death two Bahrainis accused of plotting terrorist operations, state media said on Monday, raising the number of similar executions to nine this month.

The Bahraini nationals, identified as Jaafar Sultan and Sadiq Thamer, had been charged with “joining a terrorist cell led by a man wanted in Bahrain”, the official Saudi Press Agency (SPA) said.

There was no immediate reaction from Bahraini authorities.

Since May 2 Saudi Arabia, one of the world’s most prolific users of the death penalty, has executed nine terrorism convicts, all but one in the eastern region where the Shiite minority is concentrated.

There have been more than 40 executions in Saudi Arabia so far this year, according to an AFP tally based on state media reports.

In 2022, Saudi Arabia executed 147 people — including 81 on a single day for terrorism-related offences, an event that sparked an international outcry.

The two Bahrainis “received training in camps belonging to terrorist entities aiming to destabilise the security of Saudi Arabia and Bahrain”, SPA added.

They were also accused of aiding “terrorists” in Saudi Arabia by smuggling explosive materials and supporting plans to carry out terrorist attacks in the kingdom and neighbouring Bahrain.

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Bahrain’s main Shiite opposition group Al-Wefaq condemned the executions as a “crime”.

– ‘Torture-tainted confessions’ –
“These executions are arbitrary as the two men were subjected to coerced confessions under torture which were then used as evidence against them during an unfair trial, a practice prohibited under international law,” said Sayed Ahmed al-Wadaei, director at the Bahrain Institute for Rights and Democracy.

Riyadh “feels they are immune from any consequences” and Manama is “complicit” for failing to intervene on the men’s behalf, he added.

According to Amnesty International, Sultan and Thamer were arrested in Saudi Arabia on May 8, 2015. They were sentenced to death in October 2021 following “a deeply flawed trial based on torture-tainted confessions”, the rights group said last May.

In June 2022, the UN special rapporteur on extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions sent a letter to Saudi authorities, urging them to “halt any possible step towards the execution” of the two men and “ensure that they are re-tried in conformity with international law and standards”.

More than 1,000 death sentences have been implemented since King Salman assumed power in 2015, according to a report published earlier this year by Reprieve and the European-Saudi Organisation for Human Rights.

Bahrain has also carried out executions in recent years for terrorism-related offences. Bahrain accuses Iran of supporting and harbouring terrorists — a charge Tehran denies.

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Majority-Sunni Saudi Arabia sent troops to Sunni-led Bahrain to crack down on a mainly Shiite protest movement that kicked off in 2011, inspired by revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt.

The recent rise in executions in Saudi Arabia comes as the kingdom, known for its strict interpretation of Islamic sharia law, has been trying to soften its image through sweeping social and economic changes as part of its “Vision 2030” reform agenda.

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Metro

Nightclub killing in Ogbomoso confirmed by Police; officers detained

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The Oyo State Police Command has confirmed the killing of one Iyanfa Damilola at a nightclub in Ogbomoso on Monday and also detained officers involved in the incident.

Police operatives were dispatched to the nightclub at the “Under G” area, Owode Ogbomoso, while the 16th convocation of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) was going on after a distress call over a fighting incident in the place.

But the Oyo State Police Command spokesman Osifeso Adewale said the fracas worsened, leading to the firing of “warning shots” by the officers. This led to one death.

“The incident recorded the death of one Iyanda Damilola, ‘m’, and the injury of his brother one Iyanda Femi Isreal, who has since been discharged from the hospital after treatment,” Osifeso said in a Thursday statement.

“All operatives involved in the incident including Inspr Rasheed Saheed are currently under detention at the State Criminal Investigation Department, Iyaganku,” he added.

According to him, the police commissioner in Oyo Adebola Hamzat has ordered that the case be “taken up by the Homicide Department of the State Criminal Investigation Department with the Deputy Commissioner of Police directly in charge of the investigations”.

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Metro

Photos: Four Injured in Collision on Ibadan-Abeokuta -Omi-Adio Expressway

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No fewer than four passengers sustained varying degrees of injuries in an auto crash on the Ibadan, Omi-Adio-Abeokuta Expressway, according to reports from Mega Icon Magazine.

The incident, which unfolded on Monday, involved a Volkswagen Golf car and a tricycle, commonly known as Keke Marwa, colliding at the Command area along the road, in the Ido local government area of Oyo state.

Eyewitnesses recounted to our reporter that the Volkswagen car, driven by an individual with mobility impairments or difficulties with his legs, suspected to be from an accident, was traveling from Apata to Omi-Adio when it veered off the road and collided with the tricycle heading towards Apata shortly after 6:00 p.m.

Four individuals, including the tricycle driver, were injured in the accident, while three occupants of the Volkswagen Golf, including a one-year-old baby, escaped unharmed.

Promptly responding to the scene, officers of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) swiftly took action, transporting the injured victims to an undisclosed hospital at the time of press.

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Tragic Accident Claims Lives of Siblings in Ondo 

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In a devastating incident along the Ibi-Mango area in Ore, Odigbo Local Government Area of Ondo State, two siblings met a tragic end as they were reportedly crushed to death by a truck.

 

The fatal accident occurred at 10:25 am on Saturday when the victims, riding on a motorcycle, collided with a truck loaded with sand.

 

According to an eyewitness at the scene, the siblings lost control of their motorcycle, leading to a collision with the oncoming truck along the Okitipupa route. The impact of the crash resulted in the untimely demise of the siblings.

 

Confirming the incident, Ezekiel Son-Allah, the Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC) in Ondo State, attributed the cause of the accident to overspeeding by the victims.

 

Son-Allah urged motorists and motorcyclists to prioritise safety on the highways by avoiding overspeeding and dangerous overtaking maneuvers.

 

The bodies of the victims were swiftly transported to the General Hospital Mortuary in Ore, as disclosed by the FRSC boss.

 

Also, the vehicles involved in the tragic collision were handed over to the police of the Ore Division for further investigation.

 

 

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