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Priti Patel: Home Office ‘was uncomfortable’ for me as a BAME person

Priti Patel, the UK’s first female home secretary from a black or minority ethnic background, has said she felt “uncomfortable” when she joined the government department in the wake of the Windrush scandal.

Patel became head of the Home Office in July 2019 after the resignation of Amber Rudd after disclosures by the Guardian about the mistreatment and deportation of legal residents, many of whom came to the UK from the Caribbean decades earlier.

In an appearance before the House of Lords home affairs and justice committee, Patel said she was made home secretary as the department was preparing evidence for Wendy Williams’s Windrush Lessons Learned review of the scandal.

“If I think about Windrush, obviously I walked into a department just as the Lessons Learned report was due to come out. I have my own views quite frankly. I’m an ethnic minority home secretary coming into a department where it didn’t feel that comfortable,” she said.

Patel said she has had “a lot of pushback” while trying to change the culture of the Home Office, which could take years. “This is a very, very long haul,” she said.

She has drawn criticism after claiming at the same hearing that some migrants are attracted to the UK by the prospect of being housed in hotels.

“We have ended up having to put people into hotel accommodation and I’m afraid, I think it’s pretty suboptimal,” said Patel.

“It is counterproductive; I think it has also acted as a pull factor for people to come to the country illegally, thinking that they’re going to end up in hotels.”

Enver Solomon, chief executive of the Refugee Council, said Patel’s comments bore “little relation to reality”.

“Rather than people being attracted by the idea of living in a hotel, the problems people are experiencing in their lengthy stays in temporary accommodation have been well documented,” he said.

Under questioning from the Labour peer Shami Chakrabarti, Patel also insisted that there is a “legal basis” for turning around small boats at sea.

“None of this is illegal. So let me just emphasise that, none of this is illegal at all,” she said. “We don’t want to see people dying at sea. We want to stop people drowning at sea. I can’t emphasise this enough.”

Senior QCs have argued that Patel’s controversial new borders bill breaches international and domestic law in at least 10 different ways.

Referring to a man who is believed to have gone missing in the sea off the coast of Harwich in Essex, Patel said: “Only yesterday there was a loss of life in the Channel.”

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Rivers: Police detain 5 over CDC chairman’s death

The Police Command in Rivers has apprehended five suspects over the alleged killing of Chief Ndidi Livingstone, a former Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairman, Mgbuoshimini, Rumueme, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr Disu Olatunji, told newsmen in Port Harcourt that after the killing, the command launched a nationwide manhunt to apprehend the perpetrators.

It would be recalled that Livingstone was murdered in front of his wife and son during a church service in his community on Jan. 13.

Olatunji said that the FID-Intelligence Response Team and personnel of the command later identified nine suspects, including the mastermind of the killing.

He said that five of the suspects died from gunshot wounds sustained after attempting to resist arrest.

“Peter Chukwu, who masterminded that operation, was tracked down in his hideout in Ibusa, Delta, on April 5. His attempt to resist arrest led to his death,” he said.

The commissioner listed other suspects linked to include, Adebayo Adebayo, 48; Success Oge, 39, Nnamdi Emmanuel, 35, John Lucas, 34, and Sunday Godspower, 33.

Others are, Ifeanyi Nwadike, 30, Chigemezu Anochirimoyeanya, 29, Chimezie Adiele, 29, and Ogolo Promise, 25.

He further said that four of the suspects, Adebayor, Emmanuel, Lucas and Promise, led the police to the gang’s hideout in Aluu Village, where their cache of weapons were recovered.

“While approaching the camp, our personnel came under heavy gunfire from hoodlums suspected to be members of the gang.

“The four suspects attempted to escape during the ambush but were caught in the crossfire, they died in the process.

“There bodies have been deposited at the University of Port Harcourt Teaching Hospital morgue for autopsy,” he clarified.

Olatunji said that two AK-47 refiles, two SMG rifles, an assault rifle, a shotgun rifle, a pistol, 10 magazines, and 150 rounds of live ammunition were recovered from the gang.

He said that efforts were ongoing to apprehend other suspects that were linked to the criminal syndicate.

News

Police arrest 9 suspects over communal crisis in Kogi

The Police Command in Kogi State has arrested nine suspects in connection with a communal crisis in Itamah area of Kogi.

The crisis occurred after the assassination of the community traditional ruler, Onu Itamah Job Shagari.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Bethrand Onuoha, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lokoja on Thursday.

The late Chief Job Shagari was on Aug. 12 assassinated by some gunmen who invaded the community.

The traditional ruler’s death had created rift between two families — the Okenyi Abu-Atika and Shagari-Ebijegor, resulting in communal crisis.

But the police said they had arrested nine suspects and they were trailing other suspects.

“What the police are calling for now is for peace to be allowed to reign in Itamah community.

“The destruction done in that community is very unfortunate and uncalled for.

“We want a situation where the aggrieved families should come to round table for dialogue toward finding a lasting solution.

A situation where the community members are involved in an eye for an eye, the whole community will be blind and there won’t be peace there at all,” he said.

Onuoha denied the allegation that the command did not respond to petitions brought before it on arson and hostilities that left some houses and other property razed destroyed.

Mr Akoh Jonah, spokesman of the Okenyi Abu-Atika, claimed that more than 40 houses were burnt during the crisis, alleging that the police arrested 11 members of his family

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Police arrest two suspects with AK-47 rifle in Bauchi

The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested two suspects with a fabricated AK-47 rifle and ammunition in the Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of the state.

Spokesperson of the command, SP Ahmed Mohammed Wakil, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday, September 12, 2024. He said the suspects were nabbed by operatives of the Anti-Kidnapping Unit while trying to sell the rifle for N580,000.

“The Bauchi State Police Command is unwavering in its efforts to combat the proliferation of small and light arms within the state. In furtherance of this commitment, the Taskforce operatives, led by the Anti-Kidnapping Unit attached to the Command, have successfully apprehended two suspects in possession of a fabricated AK47 rifle and ammunition at Boto Market in Tafawa Balewa Local Government Area of Bauchi state,” the statement read.

“Preliminary investigations indicate that the suspects, who travelled from Plateau State to Boto market, negotiated the sale of the rifle for N580,000.

“The apprehended suspects are: Abdulgafar Mohammed, male, 18 years old, from Barkin Ladi, Plateau State and Yusuf Isa, male, 25 years old, from the same address.

“A discreet investigation is ongoing, after which the suspect will be charged to court upon completion of the investigation.

Under the stewardship of the Commissioner of Police, CP Auwal Musa Mohammad, psc, Anipr, the Command has escalated efforts to locate and apprehend the manufacturers of such weapons, irrespective of their location. Ultimately, the Command aims to assure the public of its dedication to eliminating illegal firearms in the state and urges the citizens to understand that.

“Mankind must put an end to organised crime, or organized crime will put an end to mankind”, and on the “ keyboard of life, let us as citizens always keep a finger on the escape key to survive.”