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   Attah Ede, Makurdi The Benue State Command of the Department of State Services in collaboration with the State Security Council on Wednesday paraded 11 arrested kidnappers and child traffickers. The suspects were alleged to be specialists in stealing and selling children across the country. The DSS also paraded the victims: Emmanuel Abedi, Favor Oleka, James Adanu and Joseph Aboje who had been in the hold of the kidnappers and traffickers for a while. Speaking to journalists shortly after he was paraded, Adejo Ogiri alias Okala, confirmed that he had kidnapped four children and handed them over to Ezekiel,  a bus driver from Imo State. Adejo said, “Each time I kidnapped children from any part of the state, I usually took them to Ezekiel who in turn, would hand them over to his wife, Amarachi, who specialised in receiving stolen children for the purposes I don’t know.” ‘’I was paid N1m naira for kidnapping little Miracle Jacob. But it led to the bursting of the ...

Home    News August 30, 2016      Charles Abah University teachers, on Tuesday, again warned of a looming strike in the nation’s universities if the Federal Government fails to address urgently the many challenges facing the institutions. The government, they alleged, had been reluctant in bringing about a genuine transformation of the education sector. Lecturers under the auspices of the Lagos zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, who said this through their Coordinator, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, during a briefing at the University of Lagos, however, did not state when the strike would commence. Lagos State University, Ojo; UNILAG, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State; Tai Solarin University of Education and the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Ogun State, all belong to the zone. According to Sowande, the Federal Government has for the umpteenth time violated the tenets of 2009 agreement it signed with the...

Home    News August 30, 2016      The Parish Priest of Church of Assumption, Asokoro, Abuja, Rev. Fr. Anthony Ochigbo, charged with the rape of a 10-year-old parishioner, has been freed of the charge. A Gudu Upper Area Court, Abuja, which discharged him on Tuesday also struck out the First Information Report for lack of jurisdiction. The Upper Area Court judge, Alhaji Umar Kagarko, held that Ochigbo was arraigned under Section 282 of the Penal Code and not under the Child Rights Act. Kagarko said that the court had jurisdiction to try the defendant under the Penal Code and not under the Act as submitted by the prosecutor, James Idachaba. He, however, added that the court had to also allow the rule of law to take its course as matters of jurisdiction was paramount in cases. “I, therefore, terminated the FIR and discharge the defendant,” he said. Idachaba had applied to withdraw the FIR, contending that it was not properly filed. He sa...

Home    Business    Homes & Property August 29, 2016      Maureen  Ihua-Maduenyi The Managing Director of Previs, a special purpose vehicle by James Cubitt Developments, Mr. Peter Coker, has said that the country’s real estate market is highly fragmented, and gets worse from the premium to the mid-market and low income housing cadre. Coker, who spoke at the unveiling of Previs, a company designed to provide properties to professionals and mid-sized companies, said the demand for home ownership in the country far outweighed supply, and this had created room for quackery. He said, “With the national housing deficit currently pegged at 17,000,000, it is little wonder that developers are springing up everywhere with all sorts of schemes. Given that there is no real barrier to setting up a development company and no agreed standard for what it takes to be a developer in Nigeria, the market is currently highly fragmented, an...

Home    Latest News August 29, 2016      Samson Folarin A clearing agent, Mr. Sikiru Olanrewaju, has lost his life after leaving his wife and children at home to have fun with his girlfriend in the Abule Egba area of Lagos State. PUNCH Metro  learnt that 37-year-old Olanrewaju died shortly after having rounds of sex with his lover on Surulere Street. The lover was said to have raised the alarm which drew the attention of residents, including the landlady, who reported at the Oke-Odo Police Division. The victim’s corpse was deposited in a morgue pending the conclusion of investigations. A resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the deceased worked with an aviation company at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja. He said, “The man was married, but he had a girlfriend who lived in Abule Egba. On August 23, he had finished from work when he called her on the telephone that he would be sleeping at her place. ...

Home    Latest News August 29, 2016      Chief Olu Falae Eniola Akinkuotu, Abuja A former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae, has submitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission an email correspondence between him and a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih. Falae tendered the email as an evidence in the probe linking him to N100m election funds It was learnt that Anenih, in the email, mentioned that he was acting on the instruction of former President Goodluck Jonathan. A source at the EFCC told our correspondent that in the email dated March 2015, Anenih, who played a supervisory role in the Goodluck Jonathan Campaign Organisation, informed Falae that N100m had been approved by Jonathan and would be handed over to him (Falae). A source at the EFCC said, “In the email, Anenih told Chief Falae, who is the Chairman of the SDP that N100m had been appro...

Home    Interview August 28, 2016      Second Republic Senator and a member of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, Olorunimbe Farunkanmi Second Republic Senator and a member of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, Olorunimbe Farunkanmi speaks with  PETER DADA  about his relationship with Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the 1996 coup and other national issues What  are your political antecedents? As an undergraduate of the University of Ibadan between 1963 and 1966, I was not only an active member of the defunct Action Group Students, but also the National Secretary of the Action Group Students of the Nigerian Universities. With the incursion of the military into politics in 1966, political parties were scrapped. But by 1979, with the formation of the Unity Party of Nigeria under the leadership of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, I contested election into the Ondo State House of Assembly, made up of the present Ondo and Ekiti states, but I got elected as a...

Home    News August 27, 2016      Gaffin 45-year-old Tracey Lee Giffin allegedly flew into a rage when she woke up from a nap and discovered her last can in the house was gone. Gaffin, from the US state of Pennsylvania, reportedly grabbed a pair of scissors and used them to slash at her 59-year-old husband. Cops say she also bit him during the alleged attack. Trib Live reports that she has now been charged with aggravated assault, assault, reckless endangerment and harassment. Her husband is said to have suffered cuts to his chest, stomach and neck. Police also say they found bite marks on his arms and thumb. It was also revealed Gaffin has had a previous run-in with the law over an item of food. According to KDKA, she and her then-boyfriend got into a fight because she forgot to buy barbecue sauce on her way home on Christmas Eve in 2013. The report says she bit the unnamed man on the nose and hand, and suffered an eye injury herself...

Home    Latest News August 27, 2016      The world’s oldest man believed to be 145 years old has been uncovered in Indonesia, meaning that he would beat the current record holder, Jeanne Calment, who lived to 122. Experts said they saw documents that show that Indonesian Mbah Gotho was born on 31 December 1870, 31 years before the death of Queen Victoria. The man has outlived four wives and all 10 of his children and now has grandchildren, great grandchildren and great-great grandchildren. Gotho claimed that he had been able to live this long because he had been ‘patient’, but wouldn’t want to live any longer. His grandchildren said Mr Gotho spends most of his days listening to the radio because his eyesight is too poor to watch TV. For the past three months, Gotho had to be spoon-fed and bathe. Though an official at the Indonesian records office had confirmed Mr Gotho’s date of birth as December 31 1870, it h...

Home    Latest News Latest News News August 27, 2016      tweet Ihuoma Chiedozie, Enugu The police in Enugu State on Friday evening said it had arrested a 20-year-old man over Thursday’s herdsmen attack in Attakwu community, where a Catholic seminarian was killed. The suspect was identified as Umaru Isah, from Gusau in Zamfara State. Spokesman, Enugu State Police Command, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, disclosed this in a statement on Friday evening. The statement read, “Enugu State Command of the Nigeria Police Force, in its resolve towards unmasking those behind the dastardly act perpetrated at Ndiagu Attakwu community of Akegbeugwu in Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State, which left one person dead and four others critically injured, has nabbed a suspect identified as one Umaru Isah from Gusau, Zamfara State, over his alleged involvement in the incident. “His arrest came through intelligence information gathered. “The said suspect, who claim...

Home    Latest News Saturday Crime August 20, 2016      Oluwatosin and Ogundele Kunle Falayi The inch-long scar on the neck of 53-year-old Mrs. Christiana Ashinwo, is one of the physical reminders of the horror of Sunday, April 24, 2016. She sat on a chair quietly in the sitting room of a house in Agbado area of Lagos, which she built with the sweat and suffering of many years as a single mother and plank vendor. Her head was bowed when our correspondent went to meet her. But when Mrs Ashinwo looked up, her eyes were glazed with a faraway look that would easily giveaway the fact that she could have witnessed trauma, great trauma that she obviously had yet to recover from. Who would blame her? Watching her daughter killed before her presence, is enough to give her chills every moment for the rest of her life. The horrific incident she witnessed and survived few months ago in Kwara State remains so fresh on her mind. Our correspondent had reported ...

Home    News August 26, 2016      Bolivian miners on Thursday during a clash with the police in the town of Panduro hacked the Deputy Interior Minister to death. Interior Minister, Carlos Romero, confirmed on Friday that reports by witnesses indicated that the 55-year-old was beaten to death following clashes between police and miners in the town of Panduro, 165 kilometres south-east of La Paz. Romero said Illanes had been kidnapped by miners after attempting to initiate talks with them at a roadblock. The minister, who spoke of a “cowardly and brutal” murder, added that his aide was also injured and was taken to hospital. He said that one miner was reportedly also killed in the Thursday’s clashes, bringing the death toll in several days of protests against controversial trade union legislation to three. He said, “Two miners were killed on Wednesday. “Around 100 miners were detained after Thursday’s protests....

Home    Latest News August 26, 2016      tweet Egegonye and Oluchukwu Samson Folarin A 27-year-old man, Chigozie Egegonye, has been arrested by the Lagos State Police Command for allegedly planning the kidnap of his sister, identified only as Franca. Franca and her four children had been declared missing since April 2016, when they suddenly disappeared from their home on Mayowa Street, Ago-Palace Way, Okota, Lagos. PUNCH Metro  gathered that Egegonye told his childhood friend, Michael Oluchukwu, that despite the wealth of his sister, she was stingy. Our correspondent learnt that Oluchukwu, a cobbler, sent a text message to the victim, giving her an ultimatum of 12 hours to pay N300,000 or risk being kidnapped and killed. It was learnt that Franca called the suspect and pleaded for her life, saying she could only afford N50,000. Oluchukwu reportedly agreed and sent her his account details. However, it was learnt that the victim had yet to s...

Home    News News August 25, 2016      A 12-year-old boy who is believed to be Britain’s youngest ever rapist was convicted after he admitted to raping his younger sister twice when he was just 11-year-old. The small boy carried out the sex attacks on his nine-year-old sister on two separate occasions while at their home in Plymouth, a court heard. The boy, now 12, who cannot be identified for legal reasons, admitted to two counts of rape at an earlier hearing. The attacks took place on February 26 and March 8 this year and he ejaculated during one of the attacks. Bodmin Magistrates’ Court heard how ‘images’ had been found on his phone but no further details were given. District Judge Diane Baker told him: ‘I know a lot about what has happened in your life and your mum’s life in the past and the difficulties you faced and the confusion you face now about how you wish to lead your life. ‘But what you did...

Home    Latest News August 25, 2016      Nine banks banned this week from foreign exchange trading for failing to remit some oil money into a government account are holding talks with the Central Bank to seek a truce, operators said Thursday. The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on Tuesday suspended nine banks for withholding 2.12 billion dollars belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) and the Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) contrary to a government regulation. “We have been meeting with CBN officials to find a way out of the impasse because, if the crisis persists, it may have very dire consequences on the financial system,” a top executive at one of the affected banks said. He said the ban might trigger “a run on the banks” as concerned customers withdraw their deposits. “Customers may think the suspension is a signal of distress and may rush to take out their money,” he said. Nigeria...

Home    Latest News August 25, 2016      Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday congratulated a former minister petroleum, Prof. Tam David-West, ahead of his 80th birthday on Friday. The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said Buhari recalled with fond memories, his long-term relationship with the elder statesman when he served as Minister of Petroleum between 1984 and 1985. Adesina quoted the President as commending David-West’s steadfastness and forthrightness on good governance, democracy, human rights and the unity of Nigeria. He observed that the elder statesman had remained steadfast especially when some seem to easily give up on the project of building one great nation. The statement read in part, “President Buhari assures the octogenarian that his place in Nigeria’s history is guaranteed for the statesmanship, fearlessness, intellectual depth, resourcefulness...

Home    Latest News Latest News News August 25, 2016      Ogbonnaya Ikokwu, Umuahia The Biafran Independence Movement has urged underperforming governors in the South-East to vacate their offices since they have lost focus and derailed from their political promises. BIM also alleged that some of the governors were good at building and establishing industries and constructing roads on television screen, whereas those roads they claimed to have spent billions of naira to construct remained deplorable, few weeks after their inauguration. In a statement made available to our correspondent in Umuahia, the Abia State capital, by the Biafra Zonal Information Director, Anselm Ogbonna, the group insisted that as a result of the failures recorded by many politicians in the South-East, they should vacate their offices as they have disappointed the electorate. He said, “l really mean my word, they should vacate their political offices now because they ha...

Home    Latest News Latest News August 25, 2016      Thousands of IDPs are housed in schools Years of violence by Islamist Boko Haram militants have taken a “devastating toll” on children living in the Lake Chad basin, the United Nations Children’s Fund has said. The insurgency displaced 1.4 million children in Nigeria, Cameroon, Chad and Niger and left at least another one million trapped in areas that are hard to reach or under the control of Boko Haram, the agency said. An estimated 475,000 children across Lake Chad are expected to suffer from severe acute malnutrition this year, up from 175,000 at the beginning of the year, according to the report. “Humanitarian needs are outpacing the response,” warned UNICEF regional director for West and Central Africa Manuel Fontaine. In north-eastern Nigeria alone, where Boko Haram has its strongholds, an estimated 20,000 children have been separated from their families. About 38 children have been use...