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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Police rescue five kidnap victims in Imo, arrest three-member gang

The Imo State Police Command has rescued a mother and her four children who were abducted in their estate by suspected gunmen operating in the state. The victims included Mrs Odika who happens to be the wife of Mr Obinna Odika of Human Race Estate Naze Imo State and his three female children namely; 27-year-old Chinenye Odika, 9-year-old Chika Mark Odika, Chisom Mark Odika aged 14, and 6 months old baby Princess Odika. The Commissioner of Police in Imo State, CP Hussiani Rabiu, in a statement issued on Monday by the Command Public Relations Officer, CSP Michael Abatham, said that their rescue followed a report by Mr Obinna Odika of Human Race Estate Naze in Owerri North Local Government Area of Imo State, informing police about the kidnap of his wife and children. ‌ The CP said that the Imo State command’s Control Room immediately alerted of the incident, disseminated the report to all the police formations and tactical units for prompt interception and arrest of the kidnappers. He said that luck ran against the kidnappers, when the Ngor Okpala police Division Patrol Team, on receipt of the report, intensified its patrols and in the process intercepted and arrested three members of the kidnapping gang. The suspected gang members included a 38 years old Udochukwu Edmund of Umuezu Onitsha Ezinihitte in Mbaise LGA of Imo State, Uba Edmund age 45 years of the same address, John Okoroafor age 33 years of Amucha Isu Njaba LGA of Imo State, who have been handed over to the Command’s Anti-kidnapping unit for diligent investigation. The CP said that on interrogation the suspects confessed to the crime and led the Tactical Teams to their hideout in a forest in Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo State. On sighting the police according to the Police Boss, the gunmen fired at the police but the police retaliated and during the gun duel, one of the kidnappers was neutralised while two others were arrested with bullet injuries. CP Rabiu disclosed that one pump action gun, three locally made Pistols, fourteen rounds of live cartridges and three hundred and sixty-one thousand naira (#361,000.00), suspected to be part of the ransom money collected, were recovered from the hideout. Also recovered are one sea blue coloured Sienna vehicle with registration number IMO STATE, WER 969 ZE and a motorcycle with registration number KWE 310 QX used by the suspects in kidnapping the victims. On further interrogation according to CP, the arrested suspects revealed where the kidnapped victims were kept and led tactical teams of the command to Central Primary School, Mbutu Okeohia in Ngor Okpala LGA of Imo State, where the five kidnapped victims were rescued safe, unhurt and had been reunited with their families. He disclosed that the two injured suspects were taken to the Federal Medical Centre Owerri, for medical treatment, while efforts were on to arrest the remnants of the syndicate for prosecution. The CP commended the quick response of the command’s officers and men on the gallantry exhibited in the rescue of the kidnapped victims. He advised the people of Imo State to always report incidents promptly to the police for the timely intervention of the Command’s Quick Response Units. He also called on Imolites to assist the Command with credible information and to report any suspicious activity observed within their environment to the nearest police station.

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Police Confirm Five Killed, 50 Abducted In Zamfara Village Attack

Bandits have killed five locals and abducted over 50 others in Gora Namaye village in Zamfara State, police have said. The incident occurred very early on Monday in Maradun Local Government Area. While eyewitnesses said eight people lost their lives to the attack, police authorities in the state insisted that five people were killed. The spokesman for the command, Mohammed Shehu, had initially put the figure of those abducted from the town at 25. He later gave an updated figure, saying 50 people were abducted after “thorough findings” by the police. Shehu said the police have drafted tactical operatives to pursue the bandits and rescue the kidnapped victims. An indigene of Gora Namaye, Sule Gora, who spoke to newsmen on phone, said the bandits invaded the village around 1:30am. According to him, the attack lasted for over four hours before the armed men left the area. He explained that the bandits who arrived on motorcycles, surrounded the village and began to shoot sporadically. “I have never witnessed such a calamity in my life,” the villager said. “The whole village turned to a battleground and gunshots were roaring in the air. “Everybody was running helter-skelter and that was how they kidnapped our people who were trying to leave the village and run into the bush, not knowing that the bandits have surrounded the entire village.” He explained that the bandits targeted a former Commissioner of Local Government in the state, Yahaya Gora, who was out of the village at the time of the attack. Another source in the village, who prefers to be unnamed, also told Channels Television that the Mobile Police Unit stationed in the village engaged the bandits in a gunfight which forced the bandits to flee, leaving two AK-47 rifles and an RPG launcher. He, however, lamented that the bandits later sent a letter to the village in the evening, threatening to come back to pick the weapons they dropped. Due to the incident and attacks in other places, Governor Bello Matawalle convened a security meeting held behind closed doors at the Government House in Gusau, the state capital. As of press time, the outcome of the meeting attended by the state security chiefs, traditional rulers, Council of Ulama, and other security stakeholders, has yet to be revealed by the authorities in Zamfara.

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Christ Embassy fined for flouting COVID-19 lockdown in Australia

sixth lockdown while battling an outbreak of the Delta variant of coronavirus. (Photo by William WEST / AFP) Australian police on Monday criticised a Sydney church for flouting the city’s Covid-19 lockdown by holding a service for 60 people in a pandemic hotspot. The church is part of Christ Embassy, an international religious group headquartered in Lagos, Nigeria, which has a record of spreading Covid-19 conspiracy theories. After being tipped off by residents on Sunday, police moved in on the Christ Embassy Sydney church, issuing a fine of 5,000 Australian dollars ($3,600) to the organisation and Aus$1,000 fines to 30 parishioners. Australian media quoted a Facebook-streamed sermon on Sunday from the church in the western Sydney region’s Blacktown as saying: “In the name of Jesus we refuse every lockdown in our cities. We declare the lockdowns are over in the name of Jesus.” The Sydney church did not immediately respond to a request to comment. “It is always disheartening and disappointing when you see people blatantly take it upon themselves to contradict what we know works, to contradict what we know is keeping people out of hospital,” Gladys Berejiklian, premier of New South Wales state — of which Sydney is the capital — told a news conference. “That is the key: to keep people out of hospital, to make sure that we keep people as safe and as healthy as possible. And we know the vaccine is having such a huge impact on that.” The whole of greater Sydney is currently under stay-at-home orders, as Australia’s largest city struggles to contain a Delta variant outbreak that now tops 800 new cases a day. Residents are only allowed to leave home to shop for essential items, exercise, in health emergencies or for a handful of other reasons. The state’s deputy police commissioner Gary Worboys said the church service was a “disappointing” event that would “anger, no doubt, a lot of people”. Videos from the church service were no longer available Monday on the Christ Embassy Sydney’s Facebook page. The Sydney church’s website showed a video of Prime Minister Scott Morrison explaining in April 2020 that churches could broadcast or stream services and that people presenting such services should follow workplace rules and abide by social distancing protocols. The rules have since been tightened to ban all in-person services. The global Christ Embassy organisation is headed by Chris Oyakhilome, described on its website as pastor, teacher, television host and best-selling author of ‘Rhapsody of Realities’. He is also president of Loveworld Inc, a religious broadcast and streaming network. Britain’s broadcasting regulator Ofcom in April ruled that Loveworld Ltd., which it said was associated with Christ Embassy, had for a third time breached the country’s broadcasting code by making misleading and potentially harmful statements about the coronavirus pandemic and vaccines.

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Court orders resident doctors to suspend strike

The National Industrial Court, Abuja division, has ordered the Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) to suspend its nationwide strike. The doctors had commenced the strike on August 1 over “irregular payment of salaries”, among other issues. Efforts by the house of representatives to mediate between the federal government and NARD ended in a deadlock. The federal government then instituted a suit against the association, asking the court for an order of interlocutory injunction restraining members of NARD from continuing with the industrial action. Ruling on the ex parte application on Monday, John Targema, the judge, asked all parties in the suit to suspend all forms of hostilities and maintain status quo pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice. He said: “Having looked especially on the affidavit of extreme urgency, the grounds of the application, the affidavit in support of same and arguments of counsel for the applicant. I also weighed the submissions and arguments of counsel on the law as it stands on this application. “It is hereby ordered that claimant/applicant and the defendant/respondent suspend all forms of hostilities forthwith pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice.” The judge further ordered that a hearing notice be issued and other processes be served on the defendant, including the originating summons. He also added that the proof of service should be kept in the case file before the next adjourned date. Targema adjourned the matter to September 15 for a hearing of the motion on notice and/or any other pending application on its merit.

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Banks, Markets Shut, Streets Empty In Imo As Residents Observe Sit-At-Home Order

Despite assurances by the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra (IPOB) that it would not enforce the sit-at-home order, residents of Owerri kept off the streets on Monday. IPOB’s spokesman, Emma Powerful, had given assurances that the group would not enforce the weekly order. But as early as 6 am, our correspondent went around the streets and observed the ever-bubbling Owerri streets were virtually empty. Even the few commercial vehicles, described as the early risers that convey women to markets to buy foodstuffs, kept off while school children who began their BECE (Junior WAEC) were stranded as they could not get vehicles to convey them to schools. It was not certain if the examination went on as scheduled as many parents were apprehensive to allow their children into the streets. However, when our correspondent visited some schools, some students said they were asked to get to school early to avoid being caught up in any ugly situation. However, by noon when our correspondent made another tour around the city, the situation had started loosening up as some commercial vehicles were seen plying their trade, but banks and commercial centres still remained shut. Source: Daily Trust

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Veteran artist Yusuf Grillo dies at 86

Veteran Visual Artist, Prof. Yusuf Grillo has been confirmed dead, due to COVID-19 complications. Gboyega Grillo, son of the deceased, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria in Lagos on Monday. Gtillo was 86 years old. He said his father died in the early hours of Monday, August 23, 2021. Grillo, who could not hide his emotions, said he was so pained that he wasn’t able to speak to the media, due to the shock and preparations toward the burial. He said the remains of his father would be buried today at 4 p.m at Atan cemetery in Lagos. Grillo is considered one of Nigeria’s outstanding and academically trained painters. Yusuf Grillo, a contemporary Nigerian artist, born in 1934, was known for his inventive works and the prominence of the color blue in many of his paintings. He became prominent and recognised internationally in the 1960s and 1970s, while exhibiting a large collection of his early works. He made use of his western art training in many of his paintings, combining western art techniques with traditional Yoruba sculpture characteristics. His preference for color blue in natural settings, painting is sometimes similar to the adire or resist-dye textiles used in Nigeria. He was a former Head of the Department of Art and Printing, Yaba College of Technology in Lagos State. Grillo was the first president of the Society of Nigerian Artists. (NAN)

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

No new Afghan government until last US soldier leaves —Taliban

The Taliban will not announce the makeup of its government until the United States completes its troop withdrawal, two sources in the movement told AFP Monday. “It has been decided that the formation of the government and cabinet will not be announced as long as a single US soldier is present in Afghanistan,” a Taliban source said, and this was confirmed by a second insider. AFP More to follow…

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

DSS arrests businessman over IPOB comments on social media

A lawyer and human rights activist, Festus Ogun, on Monday, alleged that a businessman, Emeka Richmond Ngornadi, has been arrested and detained by the Department of State Service (DSS) since April 2021 for allegedly making comments on social media in support of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB). According to Ogun, Ngornadi is critically ill in detention. “Regardless of whatever crime, he’s alleged to have committed, this is an abysmal abuse of human rights that should not go unchallenged. The SSS itself is a creation of law and cannot continue to act as if it is above the law,” he lamented. ‌ “Just last week, news came in that a 21-year-old lady has been in illegal detention for over 67 days. Glory Okolie was arrested for being friends with IPOB members! What could be more illegal? What could be more vexing? What could be more scandalous?” Ogun queried. Tribune Onlinerecalls that after public outcry, the police in a press statement said Okolie was arrested for being a spy for IPOB. But Ogun said “the Police cannot explain itself out of this messy show of impunity. Whatever the alleged crime of Glory was, she is entitled to fair trial and treatment.” He continued, “Under the 1999 Constitution, you cannot detain a citizen beyond 24 or 48 hours. Failure to charge Glory to court within 48 hours of her arrest made her incarceration unlawful and unconstitutional. “My position is fortified by the sacred provision of Section 35 of the 1999 Constitution. Sadly, the Police, who are empowered to ensure law and order, are notorious for observing the law in breach. This madness must stop if we want a peaceful country. “The regime of Buhari must desist from attacking human rights and civil liberties. You cannot continue setting the dignity of citizens on fire by hiding under the pretext of fighting IPOB members. This calculated attack on easterners must stop! Human rights are too expensive to be toyed with in this barbaric manner. “I begin to wonder why the same Buhari regime that derives joy in detaining suspected IPOB members without lawful justification is the same that treats Boko-Haram members with respect, courtesy and love. Our country remains a risk unless and until we learn to respect human rights, rule of law and the basic tenets of social justice,” he said.

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Resident Doctors Still On Strike Due To Lack Of Trust – NMA

A deep distrust of the Federal Government’s ability to implement its promises is behind the prolonged strike of resident doctors across the country, the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) said on Monday. “The problem we face is that when agreements are signed, everybody goes to sleep,” NMA President, Innocent Ujah, said during his appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily. “So there is this distrust among workers. And this is not good for the country; because we expect that those who work for our President should be truthful, honest and should comply with the agreement.” There were indications that the three-week-old strike would soon be called off after the doctors, under the aegis of the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) met with Federal Government representatives in Abuja over the weekend. The meeting was brokered, in part by the NMA, which is the parent body of all doctors in the country. But the resident doctors refused to sign the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) produced at the end of the meeting, citing the government’s decision to institute a court action over the strike. The resident doctors also said the government must reverse its ‘no work, no pay’ policy. Meanwhile, a NARD spokesperson, Julian Ojebo, has said the resident doctors will not resume unless their benefits have been paid. Ojebo, while speaking on Sunrise Daily, said resident doctors have been left ‘impoverished’ by the government’s inability to meet its demands. “We are not on strike for added allowances; we are not on strike for any other thing,” Ojebo said. “We are on strike for our normal due salaries that you have not paid from January to July. “We are talking about salary shortfalls that you have not paid from 2014 to 2016. We are talking about monies you have not paid for our medical residency training program. These are the issues on the table, and these issues have not been resolved.” He noted that signing MoUs was an academic exercise that does nothing to address the doctors’ demands. “Payment of our benefits are the only actionable plans that can actually make us sign any memorandum of agreement of terms,” he said. “Other than these, I don’t think we are being fair.” The resident doctors had earlier embarked on a strike in April. The strike was suspended within ten days after the doctors met with Federal Government representatives and an agreement was signed for implementation. But nothing was done to implement the agreement, NARD has said, prompting the resumption of the strike action. “Twenty-one days of strike action in this country is unacceptable,” the NMA chief Ujah said on Monday. “But the problem is that some people are not doing their work. “This strike is avoidable. In April, we were able to convince our colleagues to suspend the action, and nothing happened anymore. “They gave a period of notice to government, again nothing happened. “The issue is about distrust. So government has to implement at least some of the demands. “If the government does its own bit, there is no reason why resident doctors should not go back to work. They are not happy that when issues are raised, implementation becomes a problem.”

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Post Date : August 23, 2021

Gowon Leads Prayer Against Insecurity, Instability In Nigeria

A former Military Head of State, rtd Gen. Yakubu Gowon, on Monday, led conveners of Nigeria Prays mission to seek divine intervention against security threats and social-economic instability in the country. The Convener of the National prayer rally prayed for Nigeria and its people for God’s preservation against lurking anxieties of insurgency, banditry, separatist idea, famine and for the nation’s development. The session began with prayer points, thanking God for Nigeria since its amalgamation in 1914, thanking God for all ethnic nationalities, for his forgiveness of sins. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos State reports that the session was the South-West Zone National bimonthly chain prayer, with the theme “The Heavens Do Rule” to seek spiritual intervention for the nation. In his supplication at the event, Gowon, who spoke through a virtual telecast, thanked God for His blessings on the land of Nigeria and its people, saying the preservation of Nigeria and its people was a priority to God. He urged the people to do their part by praying to further provoke favourable spiritual intervention in the country. The former head of state said that for the country to still remain one after the many international predictions of disintegration during the 2015 and 2019 general elections and other anxieties that has befallen the nation; was a prove that God is interested in this country. “The international prophecies that Nigeria is one of the five chosen countries God wants to use to trigger off end-time restoration of the world is being played out here. “Another of such prove is the low casualty figure the country has being recording in the surging Coronavirus in relation to other countries of the world,” he said. Gowon, who expressed dismay over the subsisting discordant tones from sub-units of the federation; tasked people to rather pray for God’s plan for the nation to quickly be accomplished. Gowon, who raised to the altar of national prayer with all the five states in the southwest zone and the leaders as point of contact to other states of the nation, said that before the end of 2021 there would be a national restoration. He added that the people of Nigeria would witness a pragmatic turnaround of the economy and an end to foreign borrowing by government. In his supplication for Nigeria at the event, the National Director, Nigeria Prays, Rev. Moses Aransiola, said that prayer was needed to unlock the nation from its shackles that had held it captive for long. According to him, all the factors hindering the nation from taking its rightful position in the comity of nations had to surrender when the people take part in corporate prayer. “Those forces of misrule, corruption, nepotism, religious intolerant and political disharmony that has made the country to remain at latent level through our prayer must give way for a formidable Nigeria,” he said. The prayer group director, who described the migration of the nations prime youths to other countries for green pasture as horrifying; offered violent prayer to halt the trend and its cause. He added that “Nigeria Prays” was a spiritual investment by the group on behalf of Nigeria and Nigerians for a good society. In his appraisal for the programme, Apostle Chunks Alozie, Abia Coordinator and South-East Zonal Coordinator for “Nigeria Prays”, said that the session was biblical. Alozie noted that since its inception 25 years ago, there has been testimonies of the the prayer. He added that the intercession of the group and those of others were what has been keeping the nation united in spite of the myriad of crises. NAN reports that the event was hosted by the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Good Shepherd Parish, Yaba, Lagos. (NAN)

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