The Nation Newspaper

Tag: 43

  • Man, 43, allegedly defiles 11-year-old thrice

    A 43-year-old man, Ifeanyi Adieme has been arrested for allegedly defiling an 11-year-old (name withheld) It was learnt that the girl’s parents handed her over to Adieme to look after his three children.

    It was learnt that the girl who attends Iba Estate Primary School, Ojo, Lagos, on Ma 20, 2018, opened up to one of the coordinators of her church’s children section on how she had been subjected to sexual abuse and defilement by Adieme.

    The pastor of the church was said to have reported the matter to Iba Police Station, following a medical confirmation of Adeime’s sexual abuse of the girl, and he was arrested.

    The pastor who refused to give out his name said he was angry when he heard that a little girl was raped by his uncle and he was provoked to call for Adieme’s arrest.

    According to the Pastor, Adieme was not a member of the church but  he allowed his children to attend the church every Sunday. “We only know the children as our members; they have been coming for a long time. But, we don’t know their father, in fact, today is my first time of seeing him”.

    Adieme, who runs a frozen food retail shop and was detained at the station for allegedly raping the girl, initially denied touching her saying: “I didn’t touch her. I am a Christian and would not do such a thing, I hope the hospital can detect if I went into her private part? Let them found that out if I was the one.’’

    Adieme who hails from Nsugbe town in Anambra State but lives at number 19 Oremeji Street, Ibatedo, Ojo Lagos narrated further that he once had a beautiful and good wife who died in January, adding that it was as a result of who would help him look after his children that made him seek for a help.

    “I brought her to my house and enrolled her at Iba Estate Primary School. As time went by she couldn’t do house chores as I expected and I would caution her. Then on Friday 18th of this month, I came back home and saw a candle burning in the parlour. I asked who put the candle; she said it was my son. I said you that is older that I brought into this home to take care of my children, you are not taking care of them well, so I just beat her but not so much and they left to church. I was at home waiting for them to come back from church when police came and arrested me”.

    A medical report from Igando General Hospital confirmed that the girl was actually defiled.

    Around 9:30am on Monday, the pastor, a member of the church and Adieme’s elder brother were at the station. They pleaded with the DPO, Mr Gbenga  Ogunsakin not to refer Adieme to Lagos State Police Command, but grant him bail in order to look after his children. At this time, Ogunsakin called in the victim, to narrate in details how Adieme abused her.

    According to the girl, it all started on a Friday night around 10pm after Adieme’s chidren had gone to bed. She said: “He called me into his room, When I entered he brought out his private part. I screamed and made to leave the room, he dragged me back and warned me not to make a noise. He asked me to kneel down and began to lick. I told him I can’t do that. He hit me on the head and said that he will beat me if I don’t do it. I started doing it; he held my head and was pushing it inside my mouth. When something started coming out, I tried to withdraw but he said I should continue to lick it”

    “Another night, I wanted to go and sleep he called me back. He pulled all my cloth and asked me to lie down on the bed. Then he started doing it. He said that if I tell anybody that he will kill me. After sometime he stopped. His son had woken up at that time, he went outside and came back and started again. I was crying all through, he beat me and said I should stop crying.”

    She added that on the first day it happened that her mother called Adieme. She said that Adieme gave her the phone to speak to her mother but that as soon as she began to tell her mother what happened, Adieme quickly collected the phone and turned it off.

    When the DPO could no longer tolerate what he was hearing from the victim, he ordered that Adieme be brought out from the cell. He wanted to know Adieme’s motive, why he raped the girl three times and why he made her  lick his sperm.

    Adieme fell on his knees and begged for mercy; he said it was the devil that pushed him and more likely to be the curse that was placed on him by his wife’s relative.

    The case has since been transferred to the Gender Unit of the Lagos State Police Command.

    Adejoke Cole, a Superintendent of Police (SP) of Lagos State Police Command in charge of Gender Unit expressed worrisome over the increase rate of child rape in the state.  After documentation and hand over of the case, the victim, was taken to Mirabel Centre, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja for medical tests and treatment.

    However, the state’s Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO) Mr Chike Oti, who confirmed the incident, added that the suspect was in custody and will soon face the law.

  • 43,806 apply for Kaduna teaching job

    43,806 apply for Kaduna teaching job

    Kaduna State Governor Nasir El-Rufai has said 43,806 have applied as teachers in government primary schools.

    El-Rufai, who spoke in Abuja on Wednesday, at a meeting with lawmakers from the state, explained that those shortlisted will undergo oral and practical tests, interview and verification of credentials.

    Those who pass will be trained before deployment.

    His words: “Ensuring quality and competent teachers in public schools is crucial and do-able, but it requires courage, sincerity and honesty as guiding principles.

    “We are all products of quality public schools, and can compete anywhere in the world. We are beneficiaries of quality education from public schools and we have achieved a lot from the sacrifices made by previous leaders.

    “Having benefited from quality public education, we must be committed to reviving our public schools. The unqualified teachers that are being replaced will get all their rights and entitlements.

    “This reform is necessary hard work, and will not be derailed by propaganda, blackmail, and deliberate misrepresentation of facts. Reform is not restricted to recruiting and retaining competent teachers; we are constructing and reconstructing schools, classrooms, updating the curriculum, providing facilities and teaching aid and teachers’ welfare.

    “We removed the career barrier for teachers in 2015. Teachers in Kaduna State can rise to Grade Level 17 (Permanent Secretary Grade) without having to stop being teachers.”

    The Minority Whip in the House of Representatives, Yakubu Umar Barde, who led his colleagues to the meeting, assured the governor they will work with him to champion the progress and development of Kaduna State.

  • Families of 43 UTME candidates in fatal accident seek justice

    The families of 43 candidates from the Southeast who lost their lives in a fatal accident on their way from Edo State where they went to write the 2001 University Matriculation Examination (now Universal Tertiary Matriculation Examination UTME), have urged the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) to investigate the cause of the mishap.

    They also sent the petition to President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President David Mark, House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, among others, urging them to ensure that justice is done.

    The families urged NHRC “to investigate this matter to a logical conclusion in all its ramifications with a view to awarding damages and also protecting the human rights of the affected persons.”

    They also urged the Abia State House of Assembly to revisit the case so as to implement the resolutions passed in 2001 and 2002 by  the lawmakers, while they asked the Imo State government to implement the promises it made to the affected families.

    The Abia State House of Assembly had held a public hearing on the accident, but the families, through their lawyer S.J. Dare, said justice has not been done, 13 years after.

    The candidates, said to hail from Abia and Imo states, were allegedly taken to Edo by a “Miracle (tutorial) Centre” which allegedly charged each candidate between N25,000 and N50,000 to guarantee an automatic pass in the exam.

    They were said to have been transported in a rickety “Enyimba Mass Transit” bus, and on their way back, it plunged into the Orshionwin River at about 11pm on April 28, 2001, killing the 43 candidates, with the driver reportedly the sole survivor.

    Only the bodies of 17 candidates were said to have been recovered through the effort of some volunteers from the community.

    “All subsequent efforts by the affected parents to get justice proved abortive. They staged protests to Imo and Abia states Houses of Assembly which yielded motions and resolutions but no actions,” the lawyer said.

    The families alleged that they were harassed and intimidated by those who want them to drop their demand for justice and compensation.

    “The affected parents affirm that no power or threat or intimidation will make them to abandon their quest for justice.

    “We crave the indulgence of the good people of Nigeria, especially those with power and mandate, to intercede on behalf of the affected parents,” Dare said.

  • Bank of America reports 43% drop in quarterly profits

    Bank of America has reported a 43 percent drop in its second-quarter profits after a fall in mortgage revenue and a rise in legal costs.

    The bank, the US’s second largest, said net income of $2.3bn (£1.34bn) was down from $3.4bn (£1.99bn) a year earlier.

    Its finances have been hit recently by huge payments to the authorities to fend off accusations of wrong-doing.

    In the past year, its shares have fallen from 32 cents (19p) to 19 cents (11p) per share.

    In April the bank agreed to pay $9.5bn for misleading US mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac before the financial crisis in 2008.

    It then agreed separately to pay $783m (£470m) in fines and refunds, for mis-selling payment and identity theft insurance to nearly three million credit card customers.

    The bank’s chief financial officer, Bruce Thompson, acknowledged the rise in litigation costs and praised the bank for doing “a good job managing expenses”.

    He also said that during the quarter the bank’s credit losses remained “near historical lows.”

    The bank’s results come as analysts have noted a split in the US lenders’ quarterly results between banks that cater mainly to U.S customers and those with a more prominent global presence.

    Domestic-orientated banks have been helped by a pick-up in the U.S economy.

    International traders have not fared so well, with Citigroup seeing an almost 10 percent fall in its share price and GoldmanSachs’s shares dropping seven percent.

    Wells Fargo, which is responsible for one out of six US home loans, saw its share price rise three percent on Friday.

  • Man, 43, hacks wife to death over snake

    A middle aged man identified as Godwin Idon, during the week, allegedly killed his 40-year-old wife for killing a snake inside their home in Uzebba-Iuleha, Owan West Local Government Area of Edo State.

    The week-long quarrel was said to have ensued between the couple after one of the sons of the deceased had killed the snake in the couple’s living room.

    The deceased’s husband was said to have been infuriated by the action which he described as a taboo in the community.

    Our reporter gathered that it is seen as a taboo to kill a snake inside a home of any Uzebba-Iuleha person.

    Investigation revealed that after a week of quarrel, the deceased, in company of her mother-in-law, decided to see a native doctor in order to know the implication of the son’s action.

    It was upon her return that the husband accused her of foul-play and subsequently used a plank to hit her on the head after a reported quarrel between them.

    The remains of the woman who reportedly died on the spot has been deposited in a morgue in Sabongidda-Ora, headquarters of the council.

    The Area Commander of the Nigeria Police, Mr. David Jimwang confirmed the incident and said the man who was immediately arrested has been transferred to the State Police Command.

    The Nation gathered that the deceased’s son, who was alleged to have killed the snake, is a product of the late victim’s earlier marriage.