The Nation Newspaper

Author: The Nation

  • BREAKING: Protest as motorist kills three sisters

    By Osagie Otabor, Benin

    Protest rocked Uselu Community along the Benin-Lagos highway on Saturday morning as a motorist killed three sisters who were going to the New Benin Market.

    Another female, who was accompanying the sisters to the market, was also killed.

    The incident was said to have occured at about 6:15am.

    Driver of the BMW car and his wife were trapped inside the car, which plunged into an open drainage along the road.

    Identity of the driver was not known as at press time.

    Youths of Uselu Community took to the street in protest and blocked the busy highway.

    The road leads to the University of Benin where the closing ceremony of the 2019 National Festival for Arts and Culure is scheduled to take place.

    Many persons going for the NAFEST closing ceremony had to take alternative routes.

    An eyewitness, Osas Ikpomwosa, said they woke up to find four dead bodies along the road.

    Osas stated that one of the victim was pregnant.

    He said policemen came and rescued the trapped driver and his wife.

    Osas however said they set bonfire on the road because policemen that came to disperse the protest shot live bullets at them.

    He said four of the protesters were shot and taken away by the police.

    “This accident happened this morning around after 6 opposite Uselu park involving four females, a man and a woman.

    “One of the bodies was inside the gutter. Others were across the road. It was a BMW car. Police came and rescued the man and his wife who was injured.

    Read Also: Gridlock: Lagos dislodges traders, arrest 10 motorists for traffic obstruction

    “The police took the dead bodies away. They came back and told us they want to take over situation. The police suddenly started shooting. The reason we blocked the road was because the police took our person they shot away.”

    One of the youth leaders, who gave his name as Evans Uselu Man, said the state government must cover the drains.

    “This morning, four big girls were killed. They were waiting for bus when the came and hit them. They wanted to jump but because of the sand and side drains.”

    “We will clear the road but government should return those boys they took away.”

    Edo Police spokesman, DSP Chidi Nwabuzor, described the accident as unfortunate.

    He said his men were on ground to restore peace and order.

  • Buhari, Ikpeazu pay tribute to late Aguiyi Ironsi’s son

    By Agency Reporter

    President Muhammadu Buhari and Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia have paid special tribute to late John Aguiyi-ironsi, the second son of the former Head of State, late Maj.-Gen. Aguiyi Ironsi, who was laid to rest on Friday in Umuahia, the Abia capital.

    News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Buhari was represented at the ceremony by the Minister of State for Solid Minerals, Mr Uche Ogah.

    The president’s representative was received by the wife and first son of the late general, Victoria and Thomas, who is a former Minister of Defence.

    In a speech at the ceremony, Buhari described the deceased as “a very good man”.
    He also described John’s death as “a great loss not only to Abia but to the nation in general,” saying that the late general’s family remained significant to Nigeria.

    Read Also: Buhari felicitates with Namibian former president, Sam Nujoma at 90

    He said: “The death of our brother John is unfortunate. Death is inevitable.
    “We are all tools in the hands of God and we pray that God will give the family the fortitude to bear the loss.”

    Ikpeazu also expressed grief over the loss, describing John as a great man, who contibuted to the success of past and present administrations in the state.

    The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Chief Ude Oko-Chukwu, said the family was very important to Abia and the country.

    “This is the family that produced the first Military Head of State, the man who did his best for the unity and progress of this nation,” Ikpeazu said.
    He urged the family to take solace in God, adding that John led a very beautiful Christian life.
    Also, Sen. Theodore Orji, representing Abia Senatorial District, encouraged the family to take heart, describing death as “debt that must be paid by all.”
    “John died early, that is why it is painful.He was a good man who served under me when I was governor.
    “Now, for those of us that are living, it is an opportunity to do good and impact lives,” Orji said.
    The deceased’s nine-year-old only child, Nkechi, said that she would miss her father dearly and prayed his soul to rest in peace.
    Former Nigerian Ambassador to South Africa, Okey Emuchay, described John’s death as a painful loss, saying that he was kind-hearted and very honest.
    The deceased’s elder brother, Thomas, expressed regrets that his brother “died too early”.
    He thanked Nigerians for identifying with the family and sharing in its grief.
    NAN reports that the deceased was buried in Aguyi-Ironsi’s country home at Umuanna Ndume in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state after a requiem mass at St. Theresa’s Catholic Parish, Afara, Umuahia.
    Late John Aguiyi-Ironsi, who served as a Special Adviser/Assistant to Orji and Ikpeazu, died at 54 on September 14 after a brief illness. (NAN)

  • NYSC debunks alleged deliberate killing of Almajiri boy by corps member

    By Agency Reporter

    The Coordinator, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Kano state, Alhaji Ladan Baba, has debunked rumours going round on the social media that a corp member serving in Bebeji Local Government Area of the state beats an Almajiri boy to death.

    The NYSC Coordinator debunked the rumour in a statement he signed and issued to News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Kano.

    “The attention of the NYSC, Kano State management has been drawn to above subject matter. While we regret the untimely demise of an eight-year-old boy, Hassan Suleiman, a class 3 pupil of Old mosque lslamiya school.

    “We wish to state categorically that the unfortunate incident happened at about 3:17pm on Thursday, 25th October at Bebeji town, Bebeji LGA, Kano State, where a corps member, Jepthan Peter Makwin ran after the deceased who came in to pluck fruits from an umbrella Tree within the Corpers’ Lodge.

    “In the process, the boy fell and hit his head on the wall of the entrance of the Lodge. He was immediately rushed to the hospital and was afterwards confirmed dead”, the coordinator said.

    Read Also: NYSC member allegedly beats Almajiri boy to death in Kano

    According to him, an eye witness account revealed that there have been cordial relationship between corps members and the community and that the children are fond of visiting the lodge.

    He added that the the corps member was presently in the police custody for further investigation, adding that he led the NYSC management team on a condolence visit to the family of the deceased.

    “The Executive Governor of Kano state, Dr. Abdullahi Ganduje also led some members of the state Executive council, Chairman Bebeji Local Government Area, Alhaji Ali Namadi, the Ward Head and other elders where he commiserates with the father of the deceased, Malam Suleiman Aliyu.

    According to Baba, Ganduje further urged the community to accept the incident as a will of God and remain calm and law abiding. (NAN)

  • Humanitarian doctor celebrates a year of free surgeries

    Humanitarian doctor Benjamin Olowojebutu was five minutes away from his residence on Nov 4, 2016 when a drunken driver hit his vehicle. The fatal head-on collision left him gasping for breath.

    With the support of onlookers and his wife, he was taken to the emergency section of a teaching hospital. But he was treated like a commoner. Yet, Olowojebutu was not disposed to revealing his medical identity.

    After necessary efforts by the wife to get him treated properly, she was informed there was no vacant bed. The victim was left outside on the floor for two hours without analgesics and no vital signs of any coming.

    A referral letter was being written without even seeing his face. This forced the wife to engage on aggressive networking. She sent an SOS to a WHATSAPP group on his precarious condition.

    In no time, the CMD was informed and a bed was arranged on the floor to immediately treat him. He was saved because he was a doctor. If he could hover being life and death on the account of negligence and insufficient facilities despite being a doctor, what fate do commoners face?

    That was the question on the mind of Olowojebutu. It got him thinking on the needs to give back to the community.

    Read Also: Honour for humanitarians at FUOYE

    He remembered his father’s words: “You must give back to the community as you didn’t die for a reason because there is a purpose. A good man will have good money but not all rich men are good men.

    “To be a good man you must give back to the community consciously.”

    That triggered his medical interventions, which has seen him conduct over countless free surgeries. Dr Ben, as fondly called by family, friends and patients, recently conducted 51 life- transforming surgeries, five Fibroids, 33 Lipomas and 13 breast lumps.

    Through the Benjamin Olowojebutu Foundation (BOF), the Medical Director of Twinex Hospital Ikorodu, Lagos, has been bringing succor to indigent people suffering various diseases.

    To mark a year of free surgeries, he will hold a Praise Night on Saturday, October 26 followed by a dinner the following day at Banquet Hall of Excellence Hotel Ogba.

  • PDP flags off campaign for Kogi 2019

    By James Azania, Lokoja

    The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Friday officially flagged off its governorship campaign for the November 16 Kogi State poll.

    The National Chairman of the main opposition PDP, Uche Secondus, while presenting the Kogi governorship standard bearer, Musa Wada to party supporters, at the Lokoja Conference Stadium, said that the latter was in the best position to ensure prompt payment of salaries as well as improved standard of living.

    Secondus also presented Senator Dino Melaye, who he described as a voice that cannot be silenced to party supporters.

    Read Also: PHOTOS: PDP inaugurates campaign committees for Bayelsa, Kogi polls

    He urged them to support him to return to the red chamber come November 16.

    Wada told party supporters to expect improvement in their standard of living, as he is set to bring succour in place of the suffering imposed on them by the APC-led administration of Yahaya Bello.

    Melaye led supporters in songs including “Wada in Bello Out” and “Bye Bye to Rederede.”

    Seven governors, including Seyi Makinde (Oyo) and Seriaki Dickson (Bayelsa), chairman of the PDP Governors Forum, were on hand at the packed venue of the campaign flag-off.

  • Endure pains of border closure- Osibanjo

    By Osagie Otabor, Bénin

    Vice President Yemi Osibanjo has urged Nigerians to endure the high cost of commodities occasioned by closure of the country’s borders.

    Osibanjo said the closure of the borders was to ensure farmers in Nigeria are prosperous.

    He spoke at a town hall meeting in Bénin City as part of activities of the ongoing National Festival for Arts and Culture.
    The Vice President explained that part of the reason for the border closure was to get attention of neighbouring countries to take more seriously the the question of policing the borders.

    He said other prosperous nations did not allow any country bring goods into their countries but opted to grow what they eat.

    Osibanjo noted that smuggling discouraged local production and does not allow Nigeria farmers have access to market.
    His words: “Part of the reasons for shutting the border is the smuggling that has been going on. If we continue to allow the Chinese and others to continue to bring in all those things, we will kill farming completely and most of our people will not be employed.

    “There may be some pain in other to gain. The countries of the world that are prosperous didn’t allow anybody to bring in anything to their country.

    “They made sure they grew what they eat. I can assure you that very soon you will see a great deal of progress, you will see a more of our own commodity coming into the market. If we allow our own people grow these things, our people will prosper. The only way our people can prosper is if we let them use the opportunity that they have such as farming, fishing and others.
    “We are going to make sure that commodity are cheaper. We must bare in mind that the reason today some commodity are more expensive is because we stopped smuggling. We have to encourage our local farmers so that our local farmers can prosper.”

    REad Also: Osinbajo warns religious organisations on use of social media

    Osibanjo also commended Governor Godwin Obaseki for the vision to seeking to reposition Edo State as a foremost destination for investment and tourism.

    He said Edo was blazing in the direction of diversifying the country’s economy and moving the nation in the direction of revenue beyond oil.

    “Tourism is one sector which had untold potential for growth, Edo State is blazing the train in this direction. By showcasing its rich heritage, Edo State will attract global attention for all of the right reason.

    “It is apt that the Edo State government is pursuing a cultural agenda that include the recovery of the lost treasures of the Bénin Kingdom from all of the places they were taken to across the world. The invasion of the Bénin Kingdom would have ended a lesser civilisation instead the royal dynasty survived and the legacy of Benin endured not only through the lineage of the noble royal houses but also in the evident resilience of the people,” he stressed.

    Obaseki said his administration was committed to leveraging on the state’s cultural capital to drive investment to the tourism sector.

    He said tourism was the key pillar of his administration agenda and the next level was to translate these cultural assets into a force that attracts international tourists traffic.

  • Duncan Mighty begs to refund Okorocha over death threats

    By: Akpan Sunday

    Famous singer and entertainer, Duncan Wene Mighty Okechukwu, popularly known as Duncan Mighty has offered to refund former Imo Governor Rochas Okorocha money he got to record a song with one of his associates.

    ‘The Port-Harcourt first son’ took to his Instagram page on Friday to write an open letter to the Senator.

    He said he would gladly refund Okorocha because his life has been threatened by people he refused to name since he released the song.

    The singer revealed that aside the threats to his life, he has also been invited by the police.

    Read Also: Our timid electorate and Rochas Okorocha’s priapism of lusts

    He added he was willing to return the money to the politician to secure his life and “avoid further embarrassment to his person.”

    He wrote: “Your Excellency, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, compliments of the season. I am writing to inform you that my life is being threatened because of the money you paid for me to record a song with one of your boys.

    “After I recorded the song prior to doing a video, I have been invited to the police and several threats have been issued to my life. Please I want to return the money to you to avoid further embarrassment to my person. Thank you, Duncan Mighty”.

    The letter which was shared on his Instagram page, also had the caption: “Your Excellency Because you directly paid in public. While the job was going smoothly immediately after you paid. They said you sent them to bring back money to you.”

  • I was turned to sex machine at Kwara ‘rehab centre’- inmate

    By Adekunle Jimoh, Ilorin

    20- year- old Laide Arikewuyo, one of the 108 girls rescued from an illegal rehabilitation centre in Ilorin, the Kwara state capital, has disclosed how she she was turned to sex machine by the children and relatives of the
    owner of the centre, Mallam AbdulRaheem Owotutu.

    The state police command on Thursday paraded the ladies, men and children it rescued from the rehab located in Gaa’Odota in the metropolis.

    Narrating her ordeal, Miss Arikewuyo accused those in charge of the supervision of the inmates of blameworthiness.

    She revealed that her parents brought her to Mallam Owotutu’s camp.

    Said she: “I was brought to Mallam Owotutu by my parents when they eventually found me where I absconded to.

    “I decided to ran away from home when my parents were no longer catering for my living again and I
    was brought to Mallam camp by my parents when they found me and I have been living in the Mallam camp over five years ago.

    Read Also: Kwara police rescue 108 from rehab centre

    “I was regularly having sex with some of the Mallam children and other relatives, not less than five people that were engaged to supervise us in the camp and I remembered that I have had pregnancy in three
    different times which they always gave me some medicines to use for the pregnancy not to stay.”

    Another inmate, Tope Collins Owonifaari, said that unknown persons picked up in Lagos and eventually he found himself in the centre’s unhygienic environment where all were indiscriminately lumped together.

    He narrated: “I was picked up inside a commercial bus in Lagos around 4 am on 20th of October 2019, by unknown people and I could not say precisely how I found myself in the midst of many people, which some were even lunatic and kept in a particular custody without having access to sunlight.”

    He added that he had just spent four days in the camp before the police came to their rescue

  • Soyombo deserves national award- Legal practitioner

    By Gabriel Ogunjobi

    A human rights lawyer, Barrister Inibehe Effiong, has recommended undercover reporter, Fisayo Soyombo, for national awards.

    Soyombo, he said, should be recognised for exposing the rots in the justice and prison system based on his three-part investigation published during the week.

    He said rather than being charged for espionage, the journalist should be praised for his expose.
    Effiong, in a chat with our correspondent, said: “A journalist has the constitutional right under Section 22 of the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

    “He should, in fact, be given a national award. You cannot imprison somebody for exposing criminality. Part of the responsibility of a citizen is to expose crime. No valid charge can be brought against him.

    Read Also: Nigerians warn against arrest of investigative journalist ,Fisayo, who exposed prison, police rots

    “He only exercised his constitutional obligation. According to the Section 22 of the law, constitutional independence and protection of the media is guaranteed which specifically states that the press shall be free to hold the government accountable and expose the ills within the government. So, it will be absolutely ridiculous for any prosecutor to contemplate filing charges against him.”

     

    He dismissed the purported espionage charge, saying: “He doesn’t work in the government neither has he leaked any classified information. That charge is applied when you’re releasing information that threatens national security.

    ‘Undercover journalism is allowed under the law. The government cannot classify exposing crime as a state secret. His expose should not merit prosecution, but national recognition’, he reaffirmed.

    When contacted Frank Mba, Police spokesman simply told our correspondent that it was not in his ‘character to respond to rumors.’

    The Comptroller of the NCoS, Ja’afaru Ahmed had also denied any attempt to arrest the investigative journalist.

  • Kogi PDP ticket: Judge to deliver judgement ten days to election

    By James Azania, Lokoja

    The main challenger to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) governorship ticket for the November 16 election in Kogi State, Abubakar Ibrahim, has insisted he is the rightful owner of the mandate.

    Abubakar Ibrahim made the revelation when the suit to determine the rightful owner of the Governorship ticket of the Kogi State chapter of PDP governorship came up for hearing.

    The trial judge insisted that judgment on the matter would be delivered before the election date.

    The matter has been adjourned for parties in the suit to continue hearing and defence after several legal fire works from senior legal luminaries that held the court spell bound.

    The suit challenging the outcome of the PDP governorship primaries came up for definite hearing at the Lokoja High Court 4 on Friday.

    It was presided over by Justice Richard Olorunfemi.

    Ibrahim, second runner up in the PDP primaries, is asking the court to declare him the winner of the PDP September 3rd primaries.

    According to him, his submissions and documents, tended and marked, accepted as exhibits by the court showed that he is the rightful owner of the PDP ticket, prayed the court to return his mandate.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Court upholds INEC’s rejection of candidates in Kogi gov’ship election

    In their cross examination, counsel to the the 1st, 2nd and 3rd defendants, M.S. Ibrahim, J.S. Okutepa and A.N. Makwe drilled the claimant on his various submissions.

    Otaru R. Otaru, SAN, counsel to Abubakar Ibrahim, tendered documents submitted by INEC marked as exhibits while that of the Commissioner of Police was received but not marked as exhibit C1 to C14.

    In his ruling, Justice Olorunfemi, said time was of essence.

    He urged that efforts should be made to fast track the process.

    He urged parties to make their addresses on the scheduled date as the court must make its final pronoucement on the matter before the November 16, election date.

    He adjourned the matter to Friday November 1.