The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Ado-Ekiti

  • Court dissolves 15-year-old marriage over frequent beatings

    An Ado-Ekiti Customary Court on Thursday dissolved the 15-year-old marriage between Mercy Augustine and her husband, Linus Augustine on grounds of frequent beatings.

    Other grounds for the dissolution were unruly behaviour, assault and adultery.

    Mercy, 35, a public servant had filed a divorce petition, accusing her husband of maltreating, beating, and disgracing her in the presence of his relatives.

    She also said that her husband was dating other women.

    Mercy a mother of three children, explained that since she left the house of the respondent in Aug.31, 2013, he had refused to allow her visit the children in his custody.

    She appealed to the court ‎to save the future of her children by dissolving the marriage and to award her custody of the children for their proper care and upbringing.

    Mercy prayed the court to dissolve her marriage to enable her have rest of mind and to restrain her husband’s relatives from threatening her life.

    Linus, 47, a public servant, however, refuted all the allegations.

    He accused the wife of infidelity as he recalled catching her making love with her male colleague on their matrimonial bed in April 2014.

    He said that he queried her over her wrong doing, but she showed no remorse, but rather requested for transfer to Ado-Ekiti, and left him and the children in Lokoja, where they lived as at May, 2014.

    According to him, the wife once call to confess that she slept with three men in Ado-Ekiti, adding that he reported the matter to elders in his hometown.

    He agreed with the petitioner to dissolve the marriage‎ for peace to reign and prayed the court for the custody of the three children who lived with him in the past three years.

    President of the court, Mrs Olayinka Akomolede, granted the request of both parties by dissolving the marriage.
    She noted that the marriage had broken down irretrievably.

    She awarded the custody of the three children to their father and ordered that they be allowed to spend their long vacation holidays with their mother.

    The mother was also granted daily access to the children ‎between 8 a.m. and 6 p.m. without any restriction ‎.

    Akomolede further ordered that during the period of visitation both parties must maintain peace.

  • Man, remanded in prison over attempted murder

    Man, remanded in prison over attempted murder

    An Ado Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court  on Thursday remanded in prison, a 23-year-old man, Musa Idoga, over alleged attempted murder.
    The accused, who lives in Isaba area of Ikole-Ekiti, is facing a charge of attempted murder.The Chief Magistrate, Mr Idowu Ayenimo, who gave the ruling, directed that the accused should be kept behind bars pending advice from the State Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).

    The prosecutor, Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on March 31 in Ikole-Ekiti.

    Olasunkanmi alleged that there was a fight between the accused and the victim, Mrs Aisha Adamu, a pregnant woman, and ‎in the process, her husband joined in fighting the accused.
    “The victim wanted to separate them but the accused cut off one of her hands.”
     
    The offence contravened Section 320 of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State 2012.
     
    The case has been fixed for May 19 for hearing.

  • Man jailed five years for stealing

    A 22-year-old man, Olajide Ojo, is to spend five years in prison for stealing some items worth N220,000.

    He was, however, given an option of fine of N80, 000.

    Ojo was convicted by an Ado-Ekiti Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday after pleading guilty to charges of burglary and stealing.

    The Chief Magistrate, Mr. Idowu Ayenimo, convicted the accused, saying that Ojo would spend five years in prison or would pay a fine of N80, 000.

    The Prosecutor, Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi, told court that the convict committed the offence on March 19 in Ado-Ekiti.

    Olasunkanmi said that the accused broke and entered two houses in Ado-Ekiti with intent to commit felony.

    He said the accused broke into the house of one Clement Omodara of Oluwatedo Community Bamigboye and the house of one Festus Bolaji of No. 15, Mercy Quarters, Ado-Ekiti.

    The prosecutor said that the accused stole one Techno Y6 cell-phone, valued at N23, 000 and N4, 000 cash, belonging to Omodara.

    He said the accused also stole one Zinox Laptop, valued at N180, 000, a mobile phone, valued at N6, 500 and a flask, valued N7, 000, belonging to Bolaji.

    The offences are punishable under Sections 390 (9) and 413 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap C16 Vol.1 Laws of Ekiti State, 2012.

    The prosecutor tendered the cell-phone, laptop and other valuables with the statement of the accused.

    The accused, who had no counsel to defend him pleaded guilty.

     

  • Two remanded in prison over abduction

    The Police on Friday arraigned one James Blessing, 36 and Ogunsakin Mary, 50 before a Chief Magistrate’s Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti over abduction.
    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that the police prosecutor, Sgt. Bankole Olasunkanmi, told the Court that the accused and others at large, committed the offence between January and February, 2017 at Ado-Ekiti, Iworoko-Ekiti and Are-Ekiti ‎in Ekiti State.
    Olasunkanmi said the accused unlawfully took possession of one Amodu Success, 17, without the consent of her parents and held her for the purpose of prostitution and sexual labour.
    He said the victim was sent on errand by her parent, but a motorcyclist came her way and beat her until she became unconscious.
    He added that the man took her to the house of one of the accused, Ogunsakin Mary, where she spent two days before taking her to Are-Ekiti.
    “It was in Are-Ekiti that the first accused and others at large used her for prostitution and sex labour.’’
    He said the offence was punishable under Section 30 (a) of the Child Rights Law of Ekiti State 2012.
    The prosecutor applied for a date to enable him to duplicate the case file and send to the office of Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) for legal advice.
    The plea was not taken as there was no counsel to defend the accused.
    The Chief Magistrate, Mr Idowu Ayenimo, ordered that the accused should be remanded in prison, pending the response from DPP.
    He adjourned the case till April 12 for hearing.

     

  • Sheriff is authentic national chairman of PDP – Ekiti senator

    Sheriff is authentic national chairman of PDP – Ekiti senator

    Sen.  Fatimat Raji-Rasaki, representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District in the Senate, has declared that Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff is the authentic national chairmam of the PDP.

    She made the declaration on Sunday in Ado-Ekiti while speaking with newsmen at the end of a three-day capacity building training on ICT she organised for 100 beneficiaries in Ekiti Central senatorial district.

    Rasaki, who is the Chairman, Senate Committee on Trade and Investment, also declared that the era of impunity was dead in the PDP.

    She said that the Court of Appeal judgment which affirmed Sheriff as the national chairman of PDP had afforded the party an opportunity to put its house in order.

    She said that recent developments in Ekiti and at the national level, would enable the PDP prepare ahead of the 2019 general elections.

    She described the Court of Appeal judgment as a “new lease of life’’ for members of the party.

    The senator, who distributed free laptops to participants who attended the training, stressed that anybody that wants to make impact in today’s world must be empowered technologically.

    She urged the beneficiaries to put into practice what they learnt at the training.

    Rasaki expressed sadness that impunity, lawlessness, violation of the PDP constitution and abuse of power by people whose names she did not mention, had negatively affected the party’s fortunes before the judgment.

    She expressed hope that the PDP would emerge stronger from its crises to be a party that would allow equity, justice, fair play, adherence to due process and the principles of democracy to thrive.

    The senator expressed satisfaction that the judiciary intervened and resolved the protracted crises rocking the party.

    She lauded the Ekiti chapter of the party for affirming Chief Williams Ajayi as the authentic state chairman.

    She alleged that some individuals in the PDP had turned the party into their personal property where party congresses and primaries elections to elect candidates were hijacked.

    She added that members of the party were not allowed to choose candidates of their choice.

    She said: “Crisis in any political party is part of democracy because we disagree to agree.

    “We, the authentic PDP, are being led by Ali Modu Sheriff and we thank God that the court judgment has put an end to impunity in our party.

    “Impunity is one thing that destroys any organisation or association where people decide and subscribe to rules and regulations guiding them.

    “It is a pity that some people turned the PDP to a place where one person will corner everything and turn it to PLC.

    “A party is supposed to be where everybody has a say because we are in a democracy.

    “In Ekiti, the authentic executive has won in court as well, so in the PDP, we have no option than to obey the rule of law.”

  • Driver jailed seven years for raping 80-year-old woman

    Driver jailed seven years for raping 80-year-old woman

    An Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado Ekiti has sentenced a 45-year-old commercial driver, Lawrence Adedapo, to seven years imprisonment for raping 80-year-old women, Mrs. Grace Asaolu.

    Justice Bamidele Omotoso who convicted Adedapo held that evidence before the court showed that the driver forcefully had a carnal knowledge of the old woman and was guilty as charged.

    Apart from the confessional statement of the convict and the victim, the prosecution also tendered in evidence the blood-stained clothes of the old woman in proving the case beyond the reasonable doubt.

    The convict who plied his trade in Otun Ekiti sexually assaulted the octogenarian on 7th November, 2017 at Oke Erimope Street, Ogbese via Ise-Ekiti and was subsequently charged to court.

    In the course of the trial, Adedapo pleaded not guilty to the charge and gave evidence in his own defence but called no witness.

    In his testimony, Adedapo who described the old woman as his “mother as well as his concubine” whom he has been dating as far back as his bachelor years claimed that Mrs. Asaolu framed him up.

    He claimed that the old woman had earlier approached him for a sum of money to travel to her village but on that date, she walked into his room and demanded for the money.

    The driver claimed that the old woman started romancing him which eventually led to a sexual intercourse after he had given her N1, 000.

    The prosecution led by the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Owoseni Ajayi, gave evidence that the convict confessed to have been dating the woman before the incident and that she consented to the sexual intercourse.

    Ajayi tendered the blood-stained clothes of the victim which was recovered from the scene of the incident.

    Among issues for determination raised for determination by the court include whether upon the totality of evidence before it, the prosecution proved the offence of rape against the defendant as required by law to warrant conviction.

    And whether the convict can be let off the hook by his claim that the sexual intercourse occurred between because they were lovers.

    The trial judge resolved the issues against Adedapo and consequently sentenced him to a jail term of seven years for unlawfully carnal knowledge of the old woman.

  • Ado Ekiti residents raise alarm over activities of criminals

    Residents of Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, have cried out to the authorities to save them from incessant attacks by burglars and other criminals. This was after a house belonging to a couple presently on holiday in the United States, located on Wonder City College Avenue, along Afao Road, was burgled by unknown persons in the early hours of Saturday.

    Some residents claimed that the hoodlums arrived the neighbourhood at about 2.00 am shooting sporadically. The gateman watching over the house was beaten up while valuable items belonging to the couple were carted away.

    They claim that burglary has now become a common occurrence in the area.

    A resident who craved anonymity said: “It has been a regular attack on this area especially that building. Being a new site, we have been making frantic efforts to gather our people together to make a formal report to the police to help us tackle the problem we are facing with men of the underworld.”

    Police spokesman, Alberto Adeyemi, confirmed that some houses were burgled in the area but denied that there was any shooting incident during the dawn raid. “The location where the incident occurred is between an army checkpoint and a police  checkpoint. There was no shooting there. A woman came to report at the police station that she went to the church for vigil and before she came back, her house was burgled. The matter concerning the couple said to have travelled to the United States has not been reported to the police,” he said.

    Other residents claimed that some boys on Ajibade Lane, who smoke Indian hemp openly both in the morning and in the evening, have constituted themselves into terror and nuisance to others.

    A resident claimed that the boys usually retire to their hideout located on 27, Ajibade Lane, after snatching bags and other valuables from their victims. Another resident alleged that not not less than four girls are raped every week in the area and hoodlums now use a building at the back of a mosque in the area, as their base.

  • Tornadoes begin preseason camping * set to drop 10 more players



    Determined to make a huge impact in the 2016/17 Nigeria Professional Football League, Niger Tornadoes flagged off intensive closed door camping Sunday in Ado Ekiti.  Coach Abubakar Bala described the camping as timely adding that it would provide the technical crew ample opportunity to screen more players with a view to settling for the best legs.


    The choice of Ado Ekiti according to him is to help the team acclimatize on one hand and prepare for the forth coming Gold Cup billed for Ijebu Ode later in the month.
    ‘We are here to make our last practice and allow our new boys to get to understand themselves with the players retained.


    ‘We are in Ado Ekiti with 40 players as the exercise continue we will prone the team to 30 players and we are going to be fast about it, as we anticipate that the NPFL will commence next month’, he said.
    Bala who was recently confirmed as Tornadoes head coach expressed satisfaction with the level of discipline among players adding that everything will be done to maintain the level of discipline while combining it with hard work in the new season.
    He applauded the club’s management committee for not only approving the preseason exercise but for also providing the funds for it, promising that the best crop of players would be picked at the end devoid of sentiments.
    ‘The present technical crew is prepared to select the best legs, we have learnt enough from our mistakes in last year’s recruitment and we will not repeat same this year, Bala promised.

  • EFCC detains Fani-Kayode’s wife, eight month-old-baby

    EFCC detains Fani-Kayode’s wife, eight month-old-baby

    The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has detained the wife of former Minister of Aviation, Mrs. Precious Fani-Kayode in Ado-Ekiti, the capital of Ekiti State.

    The Nation gathered that Mrs. Fani-Kayode, who was a guest of Governor Ayodele Fayose, was at the Bank for transactions when she was detained by officials of the bank claiming that the account was frozen by EFCC.

    The wife of former Minister of Aviation later found out that she was detained after she inquired from officials of the bank why she was not promptly attended to and was told briefed of the instruction from the EFCC.

    Precious, who was detained alongside her eight-month-old baby, was later released when Governor Fayose stormed the bank with some of his supporters around 7:00 pm to secure her release.

    Thereafter her release, she lamented how she badly treated by the officials while her baby was denied food, saying: “I’m not a politician and that account had been dormant for about five years. I only activated it last month in Port Harcourt.

    “I decided to go to Access Bank to make some withdrawals when I was detained on the instruction of the EFCC. They told me account had been frozen and they were asked by the EFCC to arrest me on the spot.

  • Supporters protest alleged injustice to Ekiti lawmaker-elect

    Tension mounted in some parts of Ado Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital on Monday over the refusal of the House of Assembly Speaker Kola Oluwawole to swear in member-elect to represent Ado Constituency 1, Toyin Obayemi.

    Some youths in Odo Ado area of the city who are supporters of Obayemi said they could no longer endure lack of representation in the Assembly and said they could be forced to resort to self-help on the development.

    Rising from an emergency meeting held at the instance of an interest group, Fountain Alliance, they condemned the continued disobedience of a valid order that Obayemi be sworn in immediately as delivered by Justice Taiwo Taiwo of the Ado Ekiti Federal High Court on July 4.

    One of the youths, Tayo Ogunkuade, said the Odo Ado youths would have embarked on violent protests but were being calmed down by Obayemi who, according to him, is preaching against violence and bloodshed in the pursuit of his ‘stolen’ mandate.

    Ogunkuade said: “We would have taken to the streets to protest the refusal of the Speaker to facilitate the inauguration of Obayemi as this big constituency has been denied a voice since the court removed Musa Arogundade over three months ago.

    “But we are still waiting and observing the development because we might be forced to march on the Assembly complex and shut the place down by Obayemi who is a man of peace has been appealing to us not to do so believing that justice will still be done.”

    The Legal Adviser of Fountain Alliance, Ola Adegode, urged Governor Ayo Fayose to prevail on the Speaker to admit Obayemi into the Assembly chambers in line with the July 4 court verdict saying: “refusal to do so amounts to willful and deliberate disobedience of a valid court order.”

    He said: “The judgment delivered on July 4 by Hon. Justice Taiwo was lucid and clear, the judgment says that Toyin Obayemi should be sworn in immediately and without any delay. It was a declarative order that cannot be stayed, it must be executed immediately.

    “The Speaker is claiming that the House has filed an appeal hence the delay in performing the swearing-in of Obayemi; we want to educate them that this judgment, being a declarative one cannot be stayed by any notice of appeal.

    “In fact, the filing of any notice of appeal does not amount to a stay. Obayemi himself had not received any notice of appeal which they are claiming to have filed. The legislature which makes the law should not be seen to be trampling on the rule of law.

    “We are also using this opportunity to draw the attention of the whole world to the impunity, rascality and attack on the rule of law going on in Ekiti State. Our governor claims to be an apostle of the rule of law but the same rule of law is being eroded under his nose and injustice has continued to fester here.

    “We want the governor and the Assembly authorities to set an example here by obeying the court order that Obayemi be sworn in immediately for the people of Ado Constituency 1 to have a voice in the state legislature and prevent a potential anarchy being brewed by this infraction of the law.”