The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Edo

  • Bread seller raped to death in Edo

    Unknown gunmen has abducted and raped a 23 year old girl to death in Benin City, Edo State capital.

    The victim identified as Joy Okoh used to sell bread at Lucky Way junction at Ramat Park, Oregbeni quarters.

    She was abducted while going home and later found dead inside the boot of a Jeep at Upper Mission Extension road in Benin City.

    Her abductors were said to have snatched the vehicle before it was abandoned.

    Also, a teenager whose identity is yet to be ascertained is on the run after allegedly stabbing his mother’s lover to death.

    It was learnt that the teenager committed the act while defending his mother who was engaged in brawl with her late lover.

    The deceased whose name was given as Osayande Edoigiawerie lived with his family at Zabayor Street, the same street where his lover lives with her children.

    Children of the deceased said their father hurriedly left home that evening after receiving a call from his lover.

    The teenager and his mother are now on the run while the house where the incident took place has been abandoned.

    State Police spokesman, DSP Stephen Onwuchei confirmed the incidents and said the police have commenced investigations.

  • Osayande, Ativie battle for Edo Deputy Speaker

    Ahead of the inauguration of the sixth Edo State House of Assembly today, the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Edo South is divided on who to support as the Deputy Speaker.

    The party’s leadership had zoned the speakership to Edo Central, with the governor in Edo North, the Majority Leader also in Edo North.

    Edo South, now left with the deputy speakership, appears to be in a dilemma on who to choose between Bright Osayande, representing Ovia North East Constituency II and Elizabeth Ativie, of Uhunwode Constituency.

    At the party’s leadership meeting yesterday in one of the leaders’ house, majority of the leaders from six of the seven local government areas in Edo South supported Osayande, based on his experience in the Assembly since 2007.

    APC leaders from Uhunwode and others from Orhionmwon, Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha urged their representatives to vote for Ativie as Deputy Speaker.

    An inside sources told our reporter that another elders’ meeting held yesterday at the Government House could not agree on who should be the Deputy Speaker, because the leaders of Edo South did not arrive at a decision.

    Also, the Edo Political Renaissance, a social political group, has urged the leadership of the ruling APC to consider merit and loyalty to the party in choosing the Assembly’s leadership.

  • Boko Haram: 900 victims in Edo camp

    Boko Haram: 900 victims in Edo camp

    Over 900 victims of Boko Haram attacks in some northern states are presently in a internally displaced persons (IDP) camp in Edo state.

    The camp tucked in a forest near a community on Edo south senatorial district, which location is being kept secret for security reasons, is run by a faith based group, International Christian Centre for Missions.

    A visit to the camp at the weekend showed that some of the IDPs included children as young as four months and many others in their teens and 20s and a few adults.

    Managers of the camp said the facility for the needy has been providing food and shelter for the IDPs since 2013.

    The camp covers a large expanse of land and has several blocks of rooms and halls, most of which were made of wood, serving as classrooms and bedrooms for the displaced persons.

    The refugees included men, women and children whose families were killed and their homes burnt by the insurgents.

    “There is no public power supply so the place is powered by generators for its light and water.

    “With the over 900 victims coming to join the existing 400 indigent persons in the camp, facilities have been overstretched especially food .

    It was learnt that not less than six bags of rice is needed for a meal and four bags of garri for a meal per day.

    The Overseer of the camp, Solomon Folorunsho said the IDPs were brought to the facility from Borno and Adamawa States, through Jos, the Plateau State capital.

    He said that the Centre depended on donations from faith-based organisations, institutions and individuals.

    “This centre is a place for mission work and discipleship and also to care for children who are in need from different parts of Nigeria. We ‎have been in existence since 1992, catering for children from different villages who have been abused, oppressed and are orphans in the society.

    “We had about 400 children before we saw the need of children in the North East, whose parents were killed.

    ” Some of them ran to the mountains where they ate sand, stones and leaves. And there were some who died of various diseases.

    “Some of them ran to Cameroon and I started getting phone calls there that we from the South here should help to rescue these children, as they were just wandering in the streets. That was what prompted us to set up a committee of pastors who located the children and brought them together to verify their identity.”

    He said the state government was recently informed of the situation three months ago through the Ministry of Women Affairs but was yet to get any response.

    Meanwhile, some of the victims who recounted their ordeal said that they lost all they had to the insurgents who also attacked them in caves where they had initially sought refuge.

    Tani Philemon, said that she was abducted by the insurgent from her home, in Gwoza Local Government Area of Borno State, but escaped miraculously after several day of fasting.

    Another victim, Grace James, 17, said that she and her family fed on raw maize while on the run, after they were attacked and their home destroyed by the insurgents.

    “We kept running for our lives, feeding on fresh maize without cooking it. When we got to a big stream through which we were to cross into Bornu‎, we saw many dead bodies floating on the stream. But we finally got to Bornu and later to Jos. It was in Jos that we heard about a camp in Benin,” ‎she said.

  • Edo Assembly passes N127b reviewed budget

    Edo Assembly passes N127b reviewed budget

    The Edo State House of Assembly has passed a bill reviewing the state’s approved budget from N159.3 billion to N127.16 billion.

    The review followed a bill sent to the Assembly by Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

    The governor, in a letter to the lawmakers, noted that the previous N159 billion budget was unrealistic because of the present economic realities and low revenue from the Federation Account.

    The lawmakers, at a Committee of Supply, approved a 20 per cent reduction, or N32 billion, in the original budget.

    Before the lawmakers passed the bill, the Assembly suspended House Rules 20(21), 55 and 43.

    A total of N64,019,787,000 was approved for capital expenditure while N62,997,148,000 was approved for recurrent expenditure.

    Speaker Uyi Igbe said the ministries of Works and Environment were affected by the reduction because the initial sums approved for them were impossible to achieve.

    He said the cut in the budget was meant to reflect the present economic realities.

  • Edo workers shelve strike

    Organised Labour in Edo State has suspended its planned three-day warning strike.

    This follwed the government’s position that Head of Service (HOS) Jerry Obazele acted “wrongly” by “deducting workers’ salaries without consulting them”.

    Labour leaders, last week, directed Edo workers to begin the warning strike over the deduction of eight per cent from their May 2015 salaries, as pension contributions.

    The workers argued that the deductions contradicted the State Contributory Pension Scheme Law of 2010.

    NLC State Chairman Emmanuel Ademokun said the  workers were assured that earlier deductions from their salaries would be restored while a new date would be fixed for the beginning of a new pension scheme.

    He said: “We have suspended the strike because the circular that led to the strike has been withdrawn; it was withdrawn when we met the governor and it was agreed that the HOS acted wrongly by issuing the circular.

    “The government also said salaries withdrawn and computerisation would be restored immediately while a new date will be fixed for the commencement of a new scheme. They (workers) will resume work tomorrow (today).”

  • Fire razes police post in Edo

    A police outpost at Ahor village in Uhunmwode Local Government Area of Edo State has been razed.

    The fire reportedly spread from a nearby building.

    Police exhibits and documents were burnt.

    The fire was said to have been caused by a woman’s stove in a nearby house.

    The woman, identified as Dada Lemo, lives near the police outpost.

    Lemo, who has been detained, said she was surprised that the fire spread to the police outpost, despite frantic efforts to put it out.

    Police spokesman Stephen Onwochei, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), said the police would continue to provide tight security for the community, despite the fire.

  • Edo lawmakers adopt five-year term for AAU VC

    Edo lawmakers adopt five-year term for AAU VC

    A bill to amend the Law establishing Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma on the tenure of the Vice-Chancellor has passed second reading on the floor of the Edo State House of Assembly.

    Leading debate to amend the bill, the Majority Leader, Philip Shaibu, said the principal Law provided for a two term of four years.

    Shaibu said the amendment seeks to correct the principal Law by stipulating a five-year single tenure for the Vice-Chancellor of the Institution.

    “Mr. Speaker, the school is currently operating a five year single term against the two terms of four years provided for by the Law.  This amendment seeks to give a definite number of years as the tenure of the Vice Chancellor,” Shaibu said.

    Other Lawmakers supported the amendment, adding that, the amendment would correct the tension that arises in the contest for the position.

    The House therefore suspended Rules 20. 21, 42 and 48 to begin debate for the amendment of the bill.

  • My late wife is irreplaceable, says Oshiomhole

    My late wife is irreplaceable, says Oshiomhole

    Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole has said his new wife, Iara is not a replacement for his late wife, Clara whom he said is irreplaceable.

    He spoke at his marriage Thanksgiving Mass held at the Immaculate Conception Cathedral, Auchi on Sunday.

    Oshiomhole appealed to the congregation to keep supporting him and his new wife in prayer saying “ It is not easy.”

    ” I lost my first wife and it is not possible to replace her. Yes, I have married another but it is not a replacement. You cannot replace a wife especially one you married when you were young and you were anonymous.

    ” Nobody knew you from anywhere, you had nothing, no car, no house; now, that you can never replace but I understand that under the Catholic doctrine I am entitled to have another wife which is what I am trying to do.

    “Thank you for your prayers, support and blessings that you have always showered on me and the one you conveyed this morning on me and my new wife and we ask for more and more prayers that this marriage will be my last and that God will help us, to unite us and bond us together with the blood of Jesus,” he said.

    Oshiomhole debunked reports that his wife is a ‘top model’ saying the speculation might have been generated from her poise and beauty.
    “When I read newspaper stories and they say that Comrade has married a ‘top model’ I’m like maybe it’s another person.

    “The lady that God has directed to my path and heart to marry is not and was not a model. Of course, she looks beautiful and I understand that is why people assume that this kind of a lady must be a model but of course, she is a model in my heart and we hope and pray that we will be models in the heart of our God and I think that is the most important thing”.

    In a homily entitled, “Communicate the truth in Christ”, the Parish Priest of the Immaculate Concpetion Cathedral, Auchi, Rev.

    r. Valentine Anavbeokhai urged Christians to eschew misrepresenting or twisting the truth in their daily communication saying we all have a duty and obligation to speak the truth, live the truth and if the need arises, to die for the truth.

    He also used the opportunity to congratulate the Comrade Governor and his new wife on the success of their marriage and prayed for God’s peace and blessing on them.

  • Photo Quiz: Name First Lady in the picture ?

    Photo Quiz: Name First Lady in the picture ?

    Mrs Iara Oshiomhole, Edo State First Lady presents a trophy to Tanui Nkele of Kenya, winner of the 1st prize with 33.34 minutes in the 3rd edition of the Annual IAAF certified 10km Okpekpe race, on Saturday.
    Mrs Iara Oshiomhole, Edo State First Lady presents a trophy to Tanui Nkele of Kenya, winner of the 1st prize with 33.34 minutes in the 3rd edition of the Annual IAAF certified 10km Okpekpe race, on Saturday.
  • Oshiomhole: I can do what young people do

    Oshiomhole: I can do what young people do

    Barely 24 hours after he wedded former Miss Iara Fortes, Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole Saturday participated in the annual 10 kilometers Okpekpe road race.

    The governor who completed the 10 kilometer race under the VIP category was joined by Chief Mike Ozekhome, Chief Oseni Elamah, Nollywood artistes and other dignitaries.

    In his speech after the race, Oshiomhole said he worked very hard to ensure he emerged winner of the race.

    “I worked hard but was not successful. To do 10 kilometers after the wedding assured me that I am capable and strong to what young people can do”

    Oshiomhole urged businessmen to key into his administration’s rural development by setting up cottage industries, hotels and amusement parks in Okpekpe community in Etsako East local government area in order to boost the economic potentials of the community.

    “I am excited that Okpekpe community is not only now at the world map but people from various part of the world of various countries and various continent are now participating actively in what is now known as the Okpekpe annual 10km road race. I am informed that in this year we have more participants than the previous years and by logic we expect that more and more people will participate.

    “This is one practical way to remind all of us that there is life outside urban cities and that the real Nigerians, the forgotten majority are in our rural communities.

    “I am satisfied that part of the objectives of our rural development policies have been achieved by the growing interest that this competition is trying to attract but i will be even more fulfilled if our industrialists, bankers and investors can provide by complementing this efforts by setting up cottage industries and other business activities. That is the only way we can increase the prosperity of our rural people.”

    “For all us of that participated in this competition you will observe the beautiful scenery, greens all over the place, beautiful valleys, lovely hills you will think that you are in San Francisco. And I think for those who are involved in the entertainment industry there is no better place now to locate a befitting hotel for people who want comfort and quite neighbourhood to have a weekend outside the busying cities and polluted environment that we have in our urban areas.”

    The Okpekpe road race marathon competition which commenced in May 2013 has been dominantly won by athletics from Kenya, Ethiopia for male and female categories.