Operatives of the Nigeria Police attached to Obi Division, Nasarawa state have arrested a 75 years old man, one Isa Nana Okpoku at Daddare Development Area, Obi LGA for raping his 4yrs old niece. Okpoku was said to have been arrested following a report lodged at the Divisional Police Headquarters in Obi on Saturday, December 10th at about 0800hrs. Preliminary investigation according to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the police Command, DSP Ramham Nansel in Lafia revealed that the suspect took advantage of his niece residing in the same house, lured the victim into his room and willfully had unlawful carnal knowledge with the baby. The victim according to the statement was however, rushed to the hospital for medical examination where the doctor confirmed the hymen broken. Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police, CP Maiyaki Mohammed Baba has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the dastardly act in which upon conclusion, the suspect will be charged to court for prosecution.

  Palpable fear and tension have gripped natives of Uzuakoli Community in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State, following Friday’s alleged invasion of farms in the area. The traditional ruler of Ngwu Uzuakoli Autonomous Community, Joseph Okorie, told journalists in his palace on Saturday that herders invaded people’s farms with their cattle for grazing. Mr Okorie alleged that the armed herders uprooted some cassava and yam tubers in the farms for their cattle. He estimated the extent of damage in the farms at over N20 million. He said that the incident had brought misery to the victims, numbering at least 15. The royal father further said that the community had suffered similar herders’ attacks for more than a decade. He said that his own farm had once been attacked, with lots of yams, cassava and vegetables “severely destroyed and wasted.” Mr Okorie was flanked at the briefing by his Prime Minister, Kanu Imo, the community’s President General, Chimezie Ugorji, and other leaders, including Emmanuel Arisa. They said that their assailants always struck at odd hours of the night as well as on Afor Market days and Sundays, when people do not go to farm. They lamented that the attack had persisted because the local and state governments had failed to wade in and put an end to it. They said that the community had made several efforts to elicit genuine governments’ attention to their plight to no avail. Mr Okorie recalled that the Uzuakoli Traditional Rulers Council sent a Save-Our-Soul letter to the state government and House of Assembly in 2012 in the wake of an attack. He also said that his community had written several petitions to the State Government and copied the House of Assembly, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 9 as well as Commissioner of Police and other security agencies in Abia on the same issue. The traditional ruler further said that the community women had staged several protests round the community as well as Government House, Umuahia and Abia Assembly to express their grievances and solicit government’s intervention. He said, “During one of their protests to the Uzuakoli Divisional Police Station, they encountered some military personnel on the road, where they laid their complaints to them.” Mr Okorie said that the 14 Brigade Command of the Nigerian Army later invited the community to a peace meeting with the state leadership of the herdsmen. He said that the community was advised to either sell off their farm produce to the herders or fence their farms to avert future attacks. “We are predominantly farmers and faming is our only means of livelihood. “We spend huge sums of money to get land, cultivate it, weed and tend it only for these herders to come and destroy all our efforts at the time of harvest,” Mr Okorie said. He further said that the development portended grave consequences, including food shortage, for his community and its environs. The community leaders regretted that there had been no positive actions from the state and local governments, in terms of compensations to the victims of the attacks. They further said that those who were physically assaulted and wounded for daring the armed herders were left to their fate. They cited the case of a native whose four fingers were chopped off after he confronted the herders to vacate his farm with their cattle. “The state government has not responded to our several petitions either by way of compensation or catering for those who were wounded by the herders,” they said. They appealed to the state government to quickly come to their rescue in order to avert a reprisal attack by the angry youths of the community. “It is no longer news that these herders move about with dangerous weapons and sometimes order their cattle to also attack their victims in their own farms, whenever they were challenged. “It is said that only a mad man can challenge a man with a gun. “However, they should not take our meekness for weakness and timidity. “That is the reason for this briefing to further seek the timely intervention of the government and other relevant agencies before the situation gets out of hand,” they said. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that some of the victims at the briefing included Innocent Onyeabor, Donatus Ndukwe, Emmanuel Anukwu and Sunday Asaga. The men, who were in their mid-70s, said that farming remained their only means of livelihood. They feared that their families and the entire community could be plunged into serious famine in the new year, if no serious steps were taken to permanently stop the attacks. (NAN)

  The presidential candidate of the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) has visited the Ooni of Ife, Adeyeye Ogunwusi to actualise his 2023 presidential ambition. Kwankwaso, who is also former governor of Kano State, used the opportunity of his visit to inaugurate NNPP’s campaign offices in Osun and neighbouring Ekiti state. Taking to his twitter handle on Saturday, the NNPC candidate commended his party members for the tremendous work they have done. He also thanked the revered monarch, the Ife Council, and the good people of Ile Ife for their grand reception. “I had the honour of commissioning some @OfficialNNPPng offices in the cities of Ile-Ife and Osogbo, Osun State. I commend our party men and women for the tremendous work they have shown, and I encourage them to do more,” he tweeted. “I had the honour of commissioning some @OfficialNNPPng offices in the cities of Ile-Ife and Osogbo, Osun State. “I paid a courtesy call on the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, at his Palace in Ile Ife, Osun State. “We are most grateful to His Imperial Majesty, the Ife Council, and the good people of Ile Ife for their grand reception.” I paid a courtesy call on the Ooni of Ife, His Imperial Majesty Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, at his Palace in Ile Ife, Osun State. We are most grateful to His Imperial Majesty, the Ife Council, and the good people of Ile Ife for their grand reception. – RMK pic.twitter.com/xp38jfmRBp — Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (@KwankwasoRM) December 10, 2022 The 2023 general election commences on February 25 with the presidential and National Assembly polls. With the exercise barely two months away, top political candidates have deployed various strategies in canvassing for votes.   I had the honour of commissioning some @OfficialNNPPng offices in the cities of Ile-Ife and Osogbo, Osun State. I commend our party men and women for the tremendous work they have shown, and I encourage them to do more. – RMK pic.twitter.com/shwWtrIA8J — Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso (@KwankwasoRM) December 10, 2022   Analysts have projected that the 2023 presidential election will be a tight race between Kwankwaso, Bola Tinubu of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Atiku Abubakar of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and Peter Obi of the Labour Party. However, whoever emerges as Nigeria’s next President will be determined by Nigerians who are desirous of genuine change.

  The United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has urged the federal government to investigate allegations of systemic abortions reportedly perpetrated by the Nigerian Army. Guterres made this appeal, in an email to Reuter, through the UN spokesman, Stephane Dujarric. The UN chief called on the federal government to thoroughly investigate the allegations and punish those involved. He said, “The Secretary-General takes note with concern of the allegations of systemic and coerced abortions reportedly perpetrated by the Nigerian Army against women and girls who had already been victimised by Boko Haram.” He called for a thorough investigation and “immediate remedial actions and accountability measures,” if such measures were necessary. Dujarric, while briefing reporters during the weekend, said, “We call on the Nigerian authorities to fully investigate these allegations and make sure there’s accountability.” A US State Department spokesperson said the Joe Biden administration was “deeply troubled.” “Our embassy in Abuja is seeking further information, including from the government of Nigeria and stakeholders working in this space,” the spokesperson said. “We have encouraged the government of Nigeria to take the allegations seriously and to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation, and we will continue to do so.” Recall Reuters had reported that the Nigerian Army was running a secret, systematic and illegal abortion programme in the country’s North-East since at least 2013. The programme allegedly involved terminating at least 10,000 pregnancies among women and girls, many of whom had been kidnapped and raped by Boko Haram, according to dozens of witness accounts and documentation reviewed by Reuters. But the Nigerian Army had denied conducting a years-long “illicit programme” to carry out abortions among women and girls who have been victims of Boko Haram militants, calling the report “a body of insults on the Nigerian peoples and culture.” The Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, said the military would not investigate the allegation because the report was not true. The Nigerian military had accused Reuters of trying to blackmail the Nigerian military through “fictitious and wicked” reportage. “Wickedness really runs in the veins of some people and it surely runs deep in the veins of the Reuters team that concocted such evil for interrogation. The fictitious series of stories actually constitute a body of insults on the Nigerian peoples and culture for, no people or culture in Nigeria practises such evil as dreamt up by the Reuters team,” the Director of Defence Information, Major General Jimmy Akpor, said in a statement. “Irrespective of the security challenges we face as a nation, Nigerian people and cultures still cherish life. Hence, Nigerian military personnel have been raised, bred and further trained to protect lives, even at their own risk, especially when it concerns the lives of children, women and the elderly. Hence, nowhere has the Nigerian military operated that, there hasn’t been any trace or allegation of infanticide. The Nigerian military will not, therefore, contemplate such evil of running a systematic and illegal abortion programme anywhere and anytime, and surely not on our soil,” Akpor stated.

  Presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr. Peter Obi, yesterday, played down rumour that he is incapable of securing votes in South-West. Obi, who declared himself the most qualified person to rule Nigeria at the first and second convocation ceremonies of the Dominican University, Ibadan, said he would be voted for because he possesses the qualities to move the country to the promised land. He said: “My number one structure is God, the number two is human being, and you people are my structure because you believe in me and in what I am saying. “The structure we have today is that of criminality and underdevelopment. These structures have ruined the country. So, the question is do you want to continue with the existing structure or you want a new structure? “If they say I give unverified statistics let them come with theirs. They cannot say I give wrong statistics, yet fail to give the right statistics.” Obi, who is the Pro-Chancellor of the university, added that he has proved he can do the job, saying: “I make promises on which I can deliver. “The task ahead requires physical and mental energy, it is left for you to assess who is most likely capable of getting the job done. What I intend to do if elected is to secure and unite Nigeria, ensure that we move it from consumption to production because it is the only way we can pull people out of poverty. If we can create jobs and opportunities for people, things will turn around. “I will invest in health and education. We will start from basic education to ensure that people are educated at the basic level. At the tertiary level, we will find a combination that would enable the system to work well without our students going on strike.” He continued: “Ibadan requires federal presence. Oyo is big. Ibadan is a huge city, Ibadan is as big as Lagos.” Ibadan alone can compare to Lagos and in terms of population, it is huge because there are about four million people living here. This city requires special attention from the Federal Government, especially with so many unemployed youths. “Here is a state where we can invest in education. In Ibadan, there are so many schools. People used to visit College of Medicine, Ibadan. Today, the reverse is the case.” On his part, the guest lecturer, Mr. Peter Amangbo, whose lecture was titled: “Let Your Education Count,” congratulated the 96 graduands for their achievements, saying: “I will like to congratulate our distinguished ninety-six scholars who we celebrate today. I am super proud of your achievements, you graduated at a time of unprecedented global catastrophe. However, it is not all bad news as you all survived the pandemic, which is now part of history.”

  The Presidency, on Saturday, debunked claims by a House of Representatives Member, Mohammed Kazaure, that over N80 trillion of Stamp Duties funds by banks were siphoned. In an interview with BBC Hausa on Friday, the lawmaker representing the Kazaure, Roni, Gwiwa, Yankwashi Constituency of Jigawa State alleged that the Presidential Committee on the Reconciliation and Recovery of All Stamp Duties has accused some government agencies of sabotaging the committee’s efforts. According to Kazaure, who said he serves as the committee’s secretary, it discovered that N89.09tn has so far been realised from deductions by banks but has been siphoned. He alleged connivance by some critical operatives of the regime, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the Protocol Department of the State House, to prevent him from briefing the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) on the findings. But reacting to the allegations, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, late Saturday night said it was unconstitutional for a member of the Parliament to be Secretary of an Executive Committee. Shehu argued that the Presidential Committee in question had since been dissolved but noted that there is another Committee Chaired by the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami set up in June 2020 by the President, which is still reconciling Stamp Duties accounts. He said “In the first instance, the committee on the alleged loss of stamp duty funds he is talking about is an illegal committee, it was dissolved on the directive of the President. “Anyone familiar with our constitution will find it curious that a member of the Parliament is the secretary of an Executive Committee. It suffices to say that the entire net worth of the nation’s financial sector, the assets of the banking sector put together, is not worth N50 trillion, not to talk of the kind of money he is talking about. “The Central Bank assures that there is absolutely no problem, whatsoever, with money from Stamp Duties. There is a committee duly set up by the President in June 2020, chaired by the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice and the Secretary is the Chairman of the Federal Internal Revenue Service that is currently reconciling the stamp duty accounts. The job is not finished. “As it is, there is nothing to give credence to wild accusations made against the administration.” The Presidential spokesman said following speculation and the many allegations, earlier investigations were commissioned by government departments and agencies, including the Ministry of Finance, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Service, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission m, the Nigerian Deposit Insurance Corporation and nothing sensational has been discovered by them. “Issues of reconciliation are being handled,” Shehu said. On allegations of being stopped from seeing the President to expose his findings, Shehu said such a claim is unfounded as Kazaure is known to be a friend of Buhari who enjoys express access to him. He said “As for Hon. Gudaji seeing the President, I’ll like to assure you that there is nobody that can stop him from seeing the number one citizen. Gudaji is a friend of the President. “He sees him as many times as he wants and he is welcomed to come and see him again and again.”