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Nigerian Senate suspends female senator who made sexual harassment claim

Nigerian Senate suspends female senator who made sexual harassment claim

Senator Akpoti-Uduaghan is suspended for six months after she makes an accusation against Senate President Akpabio. The Nigerian Senate has suspended a female senator after she accused its presiding officer of sexual harassment. Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan was barred from office from Thursday and will have her allowances and security withdrawn for six months after she made an accusation against Senate President Godswill Akpabio, who denied the claims against him. On Wednesday, the Senate ethics committee rejected Akpoti-Uduaghan’s petition about the alleged harassment, citing procedural rule violations. Her subsequent suspension was justified over an earlier argument that erupted in the Senate about a change in her seating arrangement. In a TV interview on February 28, Akpoti-Uduaghan – one of only four women in the 109-seat chamber – alleged that Akpabio made unwanted sexual advances towards her in 2023. “This injustice will not be sustained,” she said on Thursday after she was prevented from speaking in the Senate and escorted out of the chamber by the sergeant-at-arms. Akpabio has publicly denied any wrongdoing. “Since the 20th of February, I have been inundated with phone calls from various Nigerians. I would like to state that at no time did I sexually harass Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan,” he said, speaking at the start of a plenary session on Wednesday. *Letter to the Nigerian Senate* The Petition of Senator Natasha Akpoti-Uduaghan Must Be Independently Investigated and Openly Discussed in a Public Hearing that the Accused Does Not Preside. Two Demands: 1. Swiftly Appoint an Independent Investigator on the Petition of… pic.twitter.com/rdUkDoR7uU — Oby Ezekwesili (@obyezeks) March 6, 2025 Advertisement Akpoti-Uduaghan, who represents Nigeria’s north-central Kogi Central district, shared a statement on her Facebook page in reaction to the suspension. “Against the culture of silence, intimidation and victim-shaming; my unjust suspension from the Nigerian Senate invalidates the principles of natural justice, fairness and equity,” she said. “The illegal suspension does not withdraw my legitimacy as a senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and I will continue to use my duly elected position to serve my constituents and country to the best of my ability till 2027 and beyond.” Ethics committee ‘not fit for purpose’? Senate Majority Leader Opeyemi Bamidele said Akpoti-Uduaghan should use her suspension to “learn the rules of the Senate”. “I asked her what she will gain if she tries to pull the Senate president down,” Bamidele said during the consideration of the petition on the Senate floor. Critics like Chioma Agwuegbo, executive director of the women’s rights organisation TechHerNG, condemned the ethics committee’s handling of the case, alleging bias. “The ethics committee to which her petition was referred has shown that it is not fit for purpose,” Agwuegbo said. Many prominent Nigerian figures and groups have called for a transparent investigation. Many women also expressed their anger over the expulsion on social media with some calling it “oppression”. Two groups of protesters gathered at the National Assembly ground on Wednesday in the capital, Abuja, one in support of Akpabio and the other for Akpoti-Uduaghan, chanting ”Akpabio must go.” Advertisement Akpoti-Uduaghan has filed a lawsuit against the Senate president, seeking 100 billion naira ($64,000) in damages. While rare in Nigeria’s National Assembly, this is not the first time a case involving sexual harassment or assault has emerged. Senator Dino Melaye was accused of threatening to sexually assault Senator Remi Tinubu, the country’s current first lady, but was never charged. Adblock test (Why?)

At least 22 people killed as gang violence erupts in Ecuador

At least 22 people killed as gang violence erupts in Ecuador

Rival factions of drug trafficking gang fight over territory in port city of Guayaquil before a presidential election. At least 22 people have been killed in Ecuador’s port city of Guayaquil after rival factions of a drug trafficking gang exchanged gunfire, highlighting the worsening law and order situation in the country before a presidential race. Another three people were wounded in the violence, the police said in a statement as the death toll increased from 19 to 22 on Friday. Police said the gunfight erupted on Thursday after opposing factions of a gang called Los Tiguerones, one of the most powerful in this formerly peaceful country, were caught in a dispute. Guayaquil’s El Universo newspaper described the killing as a “massacre”, adding that the gangs were fighting over the territories they control. According to the newspaper, several homes in the Socio Vivienda district of the city were targeted by at least 20 armed gang members, resulting in the multiple deaths. Images and videos posted on X showed several heavily armed men running around the district of Socio Vivienda during the attack. Emergency medical workers were also seen rushing injured people for treatment, as dozens of government security forces were deployed to the area. Advertisement The latest deaths bring to more than 400 the number of people killed in the area in recent months, El Universo reported. Ecuador is home to an estimated 20 criminal gangs involved in drug trafficking, kidnapping and extortion, wreaking havoc in a country of 18 million squeezed between the world’s biggest cocaine producers, Peru and Colombia. In recent years, Ecuador has plunged into violence amid the rapid spread of transnational cartels that use its ports, like Guayaquil, to ship cocaine to the United States and Europe. Homicides, for example, have risen from six per 100,000 inhabitants in 2018 to a record 47 in 2023. Experts say the gangs are constantly mutating and growing stronger with profits from crime. Guayaquil is the capital of Guayas, one of seven provinces where a state of emergency has been in force for the past two months as the government battles the gangsters. Last month, the right-wing President Daniel Noboa, who is seeking re-election, said he would ask unspecified allied countries to send special forces to help him wage this fight. The violence is not letting up as Ecuador gears for a run-off election on April 13 in which Noboa will face leftist Luisa Gonzalez. Noboa had taken an “iron-fisted” approach to crack down on violent crime, including declaring a state of emergency and deploying the army to the streets. Human rights groups claim the aggressive use of armed forces has led to abuse, including the murder of four boys whose charred bodies were recently found near an army base. Advertisement Adblock test (Why?)

Pro-Ukraine GOP Rep. Bacon declares ‘real Republicans know that Putin’s Russia hates the West and freedom’

Pro-Ukraine GOP Rep. Bacon declares ‘real Republicans know that Putin’s Russia hates the West and freedom’

Rep. Don Bacon, R-Neb., who is a staunch supporter of Ukraine and critic of Russia, declared in a post on X that “real Republicans know that Putin’s Russia hates the West and freedom.” “We also know that Ukraine wants democracy, free markets and rule of law. We stand with right vs evil. Reagan, Churchill, Eisenhower… that is our legacy. I won’t walk away from it,” he added. The U.S. has provided significant aid to the Eastern European nation over the last few years since Moscow invaded its neighbor, sparking the Russia-Ukraine war. SCOOP: GOP UKRAINE SUPPORTERS ALARMED AFTER EXPLOSIVE TRUMP, ZELENSKYY MEETING Bacon asserted on CSPAN’s “Washington Journal” that it is in America’s “national security interest for Ukraine to win,” warning that a Russian victory would cause the U.S. to spend “a lot more money.” The congressman has expressed support for helping to arm Ukraine. TRUMP PAUSES AID TO UKRAINE AFTER FIERY MEETING WITH ZELENSKYY The U.S. has “no troops in Ukraine and no one is advocating for that. We want to arm Ukraine so they can defeat this Putin invasion,” he said on X. “What happens if Ukraine falls? Do you think it ends there? China is watching how we handle this too. I’m for helping Ukraine win,” he noted in another post. “They are fighting for their freedom just like we have in our history. I’m for a just peace, not surrender nor slavery,” Bacon declared in another tweet. SECRETARY OF STATE RUBIO VOWS DIPLOMACY ATTEMPTS WILL CONTINUE IN EFFORT TO END RUSSIA’S WAR IN UKRAINE CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP After someone on the platform asked Bacon approximately how much it would cost to oust Russia from Ukraine, the lawmaker replied, “Read Clausewitz. It’s changing the will of the adversary. Hard to measure. But being weak strengthens the adversaries’ will. It’s more about good vs evil and being on [the] right side of history.”

Noem team demands end to ‘fake news’ reports she spent $650K as governor on credit card — it was $2K

Noem team demands end to ‘fake news’ reports she spent 0K as governor on credit card — it was K

FIRST ON FOX: Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem‘s legal team hit a South Dakota media outlet with a cease-and-desist letter demanding that it correct and end its knowingly “false and misleading” reporting that Noem allegedly racked up hundreds of thousands of dollars on a government-issued credit card when she served as governor, Fox News Digital has learned.  “On behalf of former South Dakota Governor Kristi Noem in her personal capacity, I write out of concern that your website continues to publish false and misleading information about my client that you have known to be false since at least July 2024,” an attorney representing Noem in her personal capacity said in a letter to the co-founders of a South Dakota outlet called The Dakota Scout. The letter was obtained by Fox News Digital on Thursday.  “Specifically, your website repeatedly, and inaccurately, refers to all charges on credit cards used by the Office of the Governor of South Dakota as charges of my client—allowing a conclusion by multiple commenters on the site and other news outlets that my client violated the laws of South Dakota or stole taxpayer funds for her personal use,” it continued.  “We demand that The Dakota Scout immediately cease spreading these false, misleading, and inaccurate statements and take immediate and significant steps to correct past inaccuracies.”  The Dakota Scout has for months reported that Noem racked up more than $650,000 in credit card transactions on a government-issued card during her gubernatorial career, which has now grown legs in the state as other outlets publish similar reports.  However, receipts reviewed by Fox Digital, as well as outlined in the cease-and-desist letter, show that Noem used her government credit card about 30 times across her tenure as governor for a total of $2,056.72.  Noem’s gubernatorial office did spend more than $650,000 via multiple credit cards for official purposes across her years in office, receipts show.  Noem served as South Dakota governor from January 2019 to January 2025, when she was sworn-in as the nation’s eighth Department of Homeland Security chief.  SENATE CONFIRMS KRISTI NOEM AS TRUMP’S DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY SECRETARY The Dakota Scout is a local media outlet covering South Dakota politics and culture that is based out of Sioux Falls and was founded in 2022, according to its website.  The outlet, which also has a weekly print edition, has extensively written about credit card expenditures under Noem’s gubernatorial tenure, including headlines, “Noem’s state credit card spending kept secret,” “AG Jackley releases state reimbursements amid scrutiny of Noem’s credit card usage,” “Gov. Kristi Noem credit card secrecy prompts lawsuit,” and “Kristi Noem’s credit card expenses: Search database to see 5 years of charges.” “The monthly totals show that Noem spent nearly $650,000 from the time she took office in 2019 through April of this year,” a report from July stated, characterizing the expenses as solely made by Noem.  “The Scout reported last summer that Noem had spent nearly $650,000 on the charge cards,” another article published in February reads.  The Dakota Scout obtained credit card expenditures for Noem and her office earlier in 2025 after filing an open records lawsuit against the state auditor in September 2025, the outlet detailed in various articles. The media organization has since launched a database of her office’s credit card transactions across five years. After receiving the receipts for the expenses in February, the outlet noted in its coverage that both “Noem and her staff charged more than $650,000 to state-issued credit cards,” while recent headlines still focus on “Noem’s credit card usage” and “Kristi Noem’s credit card expenses.”  “This is fake news,” Tim Murtaugh, a spokesman for Noem in her personal capacity, told Fox News Digital of the outlet’s reports in recent months. “They’ve been told it’s fake news, and it’s been proven to them, but they’re still at it.”  “They’re trying to raise their own profile by attacking Kristi Noem because she’s a major public figure from the state, and now that she’s the Secretary of Homeland Security, she’s an even bigger target,” he said. “She’s busy doing her job and won’t be distracted from securing the border and keeping Americans safe as an important part of President Trump’s Cabinet. These journalists are definitely bringing attention to themselves, but not in the way they imagined.”  NOEM SHOWS OFF MUGSHOTS OF ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS WITH CRIMINAL RECORDS: ‘UNBELIEVABLE’ Noem’s then-gubernatorial office sent a letter in October 2024 to The Dakota Scout requesting a correction to its previous report characterizing Noem as personally spending hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars.  The letter, obtained by Fox News Digital, detailed that in 2019 Noem did not have a government-issued credit card, that she spent $55.44 on her card in 2020, $841.21 in 2021, $730.19 in 2022, $429.88 in 2023 and $0 in 2024. The grand total comes to $2,056.72 in expenses on Noem’s card specifically.    Noem’s gubernatorial office told the outlet in the letter that the office of the state auditor initially provided the outlet with a spreadsheet of monthly official expenses “for several state employees, not just the governor,” which Noem’s office said led to the outlet’s “incorrect conclusion that ‘The monthly totals show that Noem spent nearly $650,000 from the time she took office in 2019 through April of this year.’”  The outlet acknowledged that the governor’s office had requested a correction but brushed off the email, including writing “heh” in the response.  “I have reviewed your letter. We do not comment on pending litigation. Heh,” read the email, which was sent by The Dakota Scout co-founder, Jonathan Ellis.  “I’m certain you will have the opportunity to fully explain your reasoning when you are deposed,” the email, which was reviewed by Fox Digital, added.  The cease-and-desist letter sent Thursday demanded that the outlet correct previous headlines and graphics or likely face a lawsuit.  NOEM REVEALS MAJOR MILESTONE ON BORDER CROSSINGS AMID TRUMP’S CRACKDOWN ON ILLEGAL IMMIGRANTS “Demand is hereby made that you immediately cease and desist reporting that my client spent hundreds of thousands