Hoodlums on Tuesday clashed in the Magodo Isheri area of Lagos State over a court judgement. It was gathered that some hoodlums had stormed the area to prevent court bailiffs from pasting an Appeal Court judgement, given on March 16, 2023, confirming the landlords in the community as the owners of the land. The hoodlums, it was alleged, stormed the palace of the Isheri monarch, where some dignitaries were holding a meeting. However, some youths resident in the area resisted the invaders, resulting in a clash. The PUNCH gathered that during the clash, the hoodlums, who were armed with weapons, engaged themselves in a free for all, creating tension that sent shivers down the spines of landlords, residents and business owners operating in the community. A resident, who does not want his name mentioned for security reasons, said people had been trapped in their houses due to the breakdown of law and order by people claiming that they possessed a court judgment that granted them ownership of land in the community. “As I speak with you, a lot of people are trapped in their houses; they cannot go out because the estate gate is locked. The people claiming that they have a court judgment are fighting. It is a serious clash and the police and men of the Rapid Response Squad have been mobilised to control the situation. “I can’t leave the estate because the security guards have locked the gate. The clash is still ongoing as I speak with you. I will only go out when normalcy has been restored,” the resident said. According to an eyewitness, “There’s something happening at Isheri. There are cultists with cutlasses. They blocked the path from the other gate. They’re saying something about claiming their Magodo land back or something.” Details later…

  A Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja on Tuesday refused to grant bail to one Obiajulu Uja, who protested against the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, while onboard an Ibom Air Abuja-Lagos bound flight. Uja, who was debarked from the plane and handed over to the police, had filed an application for bail through his counsel, Barr. Ejike Ugwu. However, Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail dismissed the application, holding that the application was premature He held that the exhibits attached to the application did not say the defendant was unfit to for trial but rather indicated he was of unsound mind. He also held that while the constitution guarantees every person’s liberty, a court can deprive a person of their liberty based on health grounds. Citing the provisions of Section 35(1)(e) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015, the Magistrate held that Uja cannot be granted bail. He held that where the mental capacity of a defendant is an issue, the court has the duty to ascertain the medical situation of such defendant. He added that the exhibits attached to Uja’s bail application raised the issue of his medical capacity. He subsequently turned down the bail application and ordered that Uja be held at the Kuje Correctional Centre of Nigerian Correctional Service. He further ordered the head of the centre to take the defendant to a government hospital to ascertain his mental capacity. He then adjourned until April 20 for report and hearing. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Uja had held up the aircraft for over an hour, and it took the efforts of six airport security officers to evacuate him after he started the protest. The police accused Uja of threatening violence and causing a breach of peace with his actions. NAN

  The Imo state leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has announced that its governorship primary will take place on Wednesday, April 12, 2023. The State Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Collins Opuozor, made this known to newsmen in Owerri. Also, the State Leadership of the Labour Party, LP, under Festus Onyekwulisi, on Tuesday, announced that the LP, governorship primary will take place this week Saturday. According to PDP, “The 2023 Imo State Governorship Primary Election of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), which holds follow shows: “Date: Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Venue: Imo PDP Secretariat, 98 Okigwe Road, Owerri, Time: 9 am.” For the LP, the preparation said: “Dear party faithful, be notified that the National Executive Council (NEC) of the f Labour Party has postponed the Ward Congress and Gubernatorial Primary Election scheduled to be held on April 11 and 13, 2023 respectively.” “The new dates are fixed for the 13th and 15th of April 2023, respectively. While we regret the inconvenience the development will cause, be informed that arrangements we have made as regards the congress and election remain unchanged,” LP said.

  Police in Rivers State said they have arrested the officers captured in a viral video assaulting a traveller in the state. The Public Relations Officer of the state police command, Grace Iringe-Koko a Superintendent of Police, said arrested persons have already to transferred to the force’s headquarters, Abuja. It would be recalled that two policemen had weekend assaulted a man before his wife in Rivers State. The development triggered reactions in the state, as many have called for the prosecution of the officers in the viral video. Confirming the development in Port Harcourt, Iringe-Koko, said the policemen involved in the act have been arrested. Iringe-Koko said two policemen were involved in the act, but that she does not know at the moment of both were sent to Abuja same time. She said: “Two people were involved in the act. They have been arrested and taken to Abuja. I don’t know at the moment whether two of them were taken to Abuja.”

  Some aggrieved senior police officers in the Nigeria Police Force, have pleaded with President Muhammadu Buhari to institute a probe into the alleged collection of $10,000 bribe for police promotion by the Police Service Commission, PSC. The officers said that there’s an urgent need for President Buhari to look into the promotion exercise going on in the force They alleged that “the Police Service Commission gave special promotion to the junior officers above senior ones after collecting a bribe of $10,000. The aggrieved officers, in a statement by Mr Chijioke Okonkwo on behalf of other officers, in Akure, the Ondo state capital, urged the presidency to probe the corrupt practices in the Police Force. They noted that there were a lot of corrupt practices and injustices going on in the force which needed the attention of the Presidency. The statement read: “There is serious corruption in the Nigeria Police in the ongoing promotion of senior police officers. “Junior ones are being given special promotions ahead of their seniors. “Of recent, two aides of a senior officer, who were earlier promoted to Chief Superintendent of Police in year 2018, recently benefited from the special promotion to the rank of Assistant Commissioner and have their date of promotion backdated to 13/07/2021. “Meanwhile, officers who are running the normal promotions, promoted to CSP in the year 2015 and recently elevated to the status of ACP with their date as 27/03/23, making them subordinates to their former junior. “The mother of all the corruption is a list of some officers, most of whom are serving in Lagos State Command; “They have paid as much as $10,000 to some notable people in Police Service Commission, for them to be given special promotions to their next rank and have their dates of promotion backdated under the disguise of community recommendations. “This has taken the Inspector General of Police aback and generating rancor within the force headquarters. “Such corrupt practices can only bring indiscipline, incompetency and lack of commitment in the force.” The aggrieved officers said that “The President and Commander in Chief of Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Muhammadu Buhari, and other concerned authorities should as a matter urgency carry out re-organization in Police Service Commission and appoint corruption-free and God fearing individuals as commissioners into commission.”

  The Federal Government has challenged the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, to clarify his position on a leaked audio of the conversation he allegedly had with the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo. Addressing the media on Monday in London, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said Obi should clarify what he meant by saying the leaked conversation was “a fake doctored audio call.” “I need to draw the attention of Nigerians to the recent leaked audio of conversation between the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, and the cleric. “The leaked audio rattled Nigerians because we heard Obi pleading with the cleric to interfere on his behalf to convince Christians that this is a religious war and they should support him,” he said. The minister said that in the aftermath of the leaked audio, Obi came out to say that it was “a fake, doctored audio call.” The minister said, “If it is fake, it means it never took place. But if it is doctored, it means there was that conversation but it was manipulated. “Obi needs to come out and make the clarification on whether the conversation did not take place or it took place, but it was doctored. “If it was doctored, which part of it was doctored? “Is it the beginning, the middle or the end or is it the ‘Yes Daddy’ part of it, or where he said it was a religious war?” Mohammed said the leaked audio had corroborated the position that Obi’s electioneering campaign was based on religion and ethnicity. He said this was the first time in the history of Nigeria’s elections that a politician would come out openly to campaign on grounds of religion and ethnicity. “From the outcome of the presidential elections, you will see that Obi got his vote mostly from areas where he comes from and his religious leaning. “This is not good for the politics of Nigeria and it is very dangerous. “As a result of this kind of campaign, Nigeria is more divided than ever and people are being heard commenting either based on their religious position or ethnic origin. “Many otherwise respected commentators are not left behind on the effect of this divisive politics,” he said. The audio clip as released by an online newspaper was an alleged conversation between Obi and the founder of Living Faith Church Worldwide, Bishop David Oyedepo. Speaking on his mission to London, the minister said it was to defend the legitimacy of the just concluded general elections and to correct the imbalance in the skewed narrative which had pervaded the air on the polls. He said, like what he did recently in Washington, he would let the world know that the 2023 election was the freest in Nigeria’s history. NAN reports that the minister is scheduled to hold conversations and meetings with international media organisations and relevant think tanks based in London.

  A trailer loaded with powdered milk rammed into a mosque at Suleja, Niger State, on Tuesday, leaving at least three persons trapped. The accident occurred around 6am when many people had left the mosque after morning prayers.   According to eye witnesses, the trailer fell on the back section of the mosque where women and children pray. However, three people, including a child, were trapped in the ruins and subsequently sustained injuries. When our reporter visited the scene, sympathisers were seen around the fallen vehicle which blocked part of the ever-busy Biba Road close to the popular Babangida Market. The trailer reportedly fell down while trying to negotiate a narrow part of the road blocked by a heap of sand being used for construction of new shops. A resident, Baba Maiunguwa, who spoke to our reporter, said three people had been taken to Suleja General Hospital for treatment. He said,” The accident happened after Subh (early morning prayer). Three people have been taken away to hospital including a child. Alhamdulillah, there was no death. “We are lucky that, people have left the Mosque after the prayer. It would have been bad, because the Mosque was filled up during the prayers”. DailyTrust