The Nigerian Army (NA) has said that late Major Udiandeye Jeremiah Udiadenye, who recently committed suicide had “an unblemished career” and was “never court-martialed” before his demise. In a statement on Tuesday evening by Brigadier General Onyema Nwachukwu, Director Army Public Relations, authorities said the late officer who sadly terminated his life in Kaduna State, never needed to face any disciplinary process. “The Nigerian Army (NA) has observed an obnoxious insinuation making the rounds on social media, alleging that late Major Udiandeye Jeremiah Udiadenye, terminated his life through suicide, because he was being interrogated or investigated by a military court martial in 1 Division, Kaduna,” the statement reads. “Having lost one of its finest officers, the authorities of the Nigerian Army feel deeply concerned that unscrupulous persons under whatever guise would employ such sad occurrence to malign their own Army. Nevertheless, for the sake of posterity, it needs be mentioned that the late senior officer had an unblemished career in the military and never needed to face any disciplinary process. “Until his demise, he was the Commanding Officer of 167 Special Forces Battalion at Giri in the FCT from where he led special operations to various commands including 1 Division. “An appropriate Board of Inquiry has been instituted to ascertain what led to the tragic incident and its report will guide the NA on subsequent actions and measures to take to forestall a recurrence. “The NA belongs to the Nigerian people and remains obligated to work along established guidelines as a responsible corporate entity. The general public is urged to disregard the ignorant piece making the rounds please.”

  Imo State government has declared that soon all issues of fraud within the pension scheme would be addressed and pensioners would rejoice. This was disclosed by the state commissioner for labour, employment and productivity, Mr Ford Ozumba in Owerri, the state capital, yesterday. Ozumba, who frowned at reports of fraudulent activities in the board, disclosed that some staffers of the board were responsible for the excesses but assured that the government had engaged seasoned experts to correct the anomaly. He said, “When we came in, we discovered the incredible fraud in the pension system, a situation which was bleeding the state. We hired the services of a seasoned finance expert who had spent all her life in the military, and with all the precision that comes with managing military finance, we have gotten the desired results.” Ozumba expressed the hope that soon all the concerns associated with pension payments will be sorted out saying “with what we have, every successful retiree will eventually benefit from a functional system.” The commissioner appealed to workers and pensioners to support government’s efforts at restructuring the pension system even as he expressed appreciation for the confidence Governor Hope Uzodimma has reposed in him, saying he will continue to justify the trust.

  The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), on Tuesday, swore in 1,175 corps members for the 2022 Batch B Stream I in Imo State. The Director-General, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brig-Gen. Muhammad Fadah disclosed this at the Orientation Course for the 2022 Batch B, Stream 1 corps members, at the permanent orientation camp in Eziama -Obaire, Nkwerre Council Area of Imo State. The DG urged the 2022 Batch B Stream I Corps Members to promote national unity during their service year. Fatah represented by the NYSC Coordinator in Imo, Mrs Rachael Idaewor, said that national cohesion was imperative in Nigeria, considering the numerous challenges facing the nation. He said the scheme provided the opportunity for corps members to promote and sustain national unity and integration at all times by having a broader understanding of the nation. He also said the scheme would help corps members entrench the culture of working together in an atmosphere of friendship, peace, and harmony. He further urged the corps members to sustain a high level of discipline and enthusiasm by remaining law-abiding at all times and strictly adhering to COVID-19 protocols. ”At this point in the history of Nigeria, the need for national unity and mutual understanding cannot be over-emphasized. ” I urge you to remain law-abiding, observe COVID-19 protocols, and avail yourselves of the opportunities for self-employment offered through the Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development programme “, he said. The NYSC boss, however, solicited support for the establishment of the NYSC trust fund, a move which he said, would address the challenges of infrastructure and provide start-up capital for corps members. He expressed appreciation to the government at all levels as well as security agencies, traditional rulers, corps employers, and other stakeholders to the scheme, for their various contributions.

  The Secretary-General of the Inter-Governmental Marital Committee (IMC), Prince Roger Adedimeji Michael, and officials of the Owerri Municipal Council of Imo state, yesterday, executed an order of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos on the sealing of the Ministry of Interior Marriage Registry in the Owerri Municipal Council of Imo State, saying that only the local government councils have the authority to handle the registration of all types of marriages in the country. The Inter-governmental committee, which is the forum of local government marriage registrars, had obtained a judgment from a federal high court in 2004, against the Federal Ministry of Interior, for usurping one of the statutory functions of local governments and contracting it out to the same private firms. Prince Michael, who is also the lead counsel of the IMC, said that only the local governments are empowered to register all types of marriages, in accordance with the provision of Section 7 (5) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 Constitution as amended, in Paragraph 1 ( I) of the fourth schedule. He also disclosed that the IMC intends to reclaim all the registration fees illegally collected by the Ministry of Interior, since 2004, for the local governments, so that those who had already done the marriage registration with the ministry of interior would be re-registered with the local government councils, to validate them. Speaking after the sealing of the Ministry of Interior marriage registry, located in a private building in the New Owerri, Prince warned the minister of interior and those he had contracted that they risk jail if they flout the order of the court. He said: “It is an order that we must execute, but the ministry of interior opposed it. The judge overruled their application and asked us to proceed with the execution. The implication of the execution is that if, by any chance, the firm engaged by the ministry continues to conduct marriage registration, with evidence, we will fill form 48, which is disobedience of court order, and after a month, it will be followed with form 49 and we will specifically mention the names of the people who disobeyed the court order, like the minister himself and the people running this marriage registry here, which is committal to prison. And they will have to show cause why they should not be sent to jail. “Part of our prayers at the Appeal Court is that those who have already registered be allowed to bring part of the fees, so that the local governments can register them and endorse their certificates, but the judge of the federal high court in Lagos did not grant our prayer, and that was one of the grounds of our appeal. So, this was a declarative judgement given in our favour since 2004, but we have another judgment in 2021 December, for enforcement. We have already enforced the same in Rivers state, Edo and now here.”