Apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide has expressed outrage over the attack on Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, by ex-militant leader, Mujahid Dokubo-Asari. The Igbo group called on President Bola Tinubu to ignore the likes of Dokubo and invite Kanu for a round table discussion. Dokubo had while speaking to journalists after a meeting with President Tinubu branded the IPOB leader a criminal, calling on Tinubu not to release him. His statement has continued to draw the anger of Ndigbo, with many accusing him of reaching beyond his bounds. The President of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council Worldwide, Mazi Okwu Nnabuike, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday accused Dokubo-Asari of being sponsored by those who want to destabilise President Tinubu’s government. According to him, it was unthinkable that at a time many patriotic citizens of the country were thinking of ways to unite the country, the ex-militant who postures as a ‘son of the President’ was busy throwing up ideas that would further polarise the country. “We have always known Dokubo-Asari as a rabble-rouser who is not interested in the progress and prosperity of this nation. “This is a man who had been in the creeks for years sabotaging the country’s economy. We all know what it is to sabotage the economy of a country- what other crime could be more than this?   “But curiously, the same man who claims to have repented, even when his boys are still in the creeks, has the temerity to brand Nnamdi Kanu a criminal. “When did Asari Dokubo become a court of competent jurisdiction to decide who is a criminal? He has only taken his hatred for Ndigbo too far,” Okwu said. The Igbo group urged President Tinubu to ignore Dokubo and his ilks “who are not in any way interested in the positive future of the country but their selfish gains. “Mr President made it clear that he is ready to unite the fragmented country he inherited from the past administration and he has been so much applauded for this. “We urge Mr President to go ahead and not allow his administration to be derailed by hypocrites like Asari Dokubo who want to feed fat from any form of crisis in the country. Mr President should be wary of him and his sponsors who are enemies of the government. “The Federal Government should do well to invite and engage Nnamdi Kanu and other agitators. They are fighting for justice and marginalisation. If the government could engage members of Boko Haram who have killed and maimed millions of people, it should not find it hard to engage the agitators. “Mr President is one of those who vehemently fought in favour of democracy and justice in the past; he should give a listening ear to Nnamdi Kanu,” Okwu said. Ohanaeze, however, warned Dokubo “to desist from any further attempt to use Nnamdi Kanu’s ordeal to promote his interests. “Enough is enough, we warn him to henceforth stop using Ndigbo as an avenue to promote his ego. Everyone knows he has personal issues with Nnamdi Kanu.”

  Seven members of the state Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party in Imo State on Sunday morning announced their resignations from their positions. They also announced the withdrawal of their memberships of the party. Addressing a press conference at the party’s secretariat in Owerri, the state capital, Collins Opurozor who until now was the state publicity secretary of party said that the candidate of the party for the November 11 governorship election in the state, Samuel Anyanwu, doesn’t have what it takes to govern the state. He said himself, the secretary of party Ray Emeana, the youth leader, Greg Nwadike, the deputy state chairman, Martin Ejiogu, the state woman leader, Maria Mbakwe, Josiah Eze, State Treasurer and Chibuisi Obido, State Vice Chairman, Orlu Zone, have resigned from their positions and equally dumped the party. All of them who were present at the press conference spoke separately and concurred with Opurozor’s assertion. They however refused to announce which party they were joining, adding that the next party they would join would be made known in the days to come. Opurozor said “Since 2020 when this Working Committee took over the administrative cockpit of the PDP in Imo State, we have evolved a tradition of being upfront with you as members of the Fourth Estate of the Realm about all issues that trouble our dear State. We have, through such interactions, inspired faith in a better Imo realized through good governance and democratic norms. “Today, unfortunately, is not for such engagements. In unequivocal terms, we announce to you that the PDP in Imo State has now been damaged beyond redemption by the National Secretary, Senator Samuel Nnaemeka Anyanwu (Samdadday), and the Party is at last moving irreversibly to its terminus. “It is necessary we remind you that in the last three years, this Working Committee has built a very strong, formidable and enviable PDP in Imo State. To enable the Party realize its promise of being a truly democratic entity, we envisioned the need to expand the internal democratic space by forming nearly five thousand chapters across all the polling units in the State. We took the Party to the people, and that made us the darling of Imo people. We accomplished this task despite our lean resources as an opposition. No other political party has attained this feat in Nigeria. “More so, we institutionalized the culture of accountability in party administration, and demonstrated a readiness to govern and reform Imo. “But, since Senator Anyanwu became the National Secretary of the Party, he has never relented in deploying the powers of his office to fight members of this Working Committee and intimidate even ordinary members of the Party. Endless strife, mindless wars and erosion of all democratic values and principles have now defined and defiled Imo PDP. “Day after day, Senator Anyanwu still sponsors his very few loyalists to cook up puerile petitions against us and flood the National Secretariat of the Party with such inanities. On the basis of those contrivances, he has continued to threaten to dissolve the Party in Imo State, even after we have defeated him at the Supreme Court. Samdadday has remained unrelenting and unrepentant in his destructive agenda. “It is heartbreaking to inform you that some of us in the State Working Committee have severally escaped assassination attempts because of the wicked lies which our National Secretary sold to his violent supporters, that we misappropriated Party funds. “Yet, it was he, Senator Anyanwu, that sent his aides from Abuja to steal the materials for last year’s congresses of the Party, thereby creating a stalemate that gulped all our resources through multiple and controversial exercises and the appeasement of multiple stakeholders so as to save the Party from not fielding candidates for the 2023 elections. “When Senator Anyanwu eventually succeeded at crowning himself the governorship candidate of the Party, he convened a meeting of all the LGA Youth Leaders at his residence in Owerri and confessed openly that he had lied to them about financial mismanagement in the Party by the State Working Committee. “He also apologized to the State Youth Leader for the attacks and elimination attempts he had passed through because of the falsehoods which he (Samdadday) had propagated. He also recanted the lies and repeated the apologies during the only meeting he has had with us as members of the SWC since his emergence as governorship candidate. He said all the falsehoods peddled against us by him were as a result of his fight for survival. “All of us in the State Working Committee are reputable people who have made their marks in their various areas of endeavour. How could Senator Anyanwu destroy our reputation, and also destroy the Party we have built, simply because of his fight for individual survival? The implication is that if by mistake he is allowed to govern Imo State, he will further destroy our dear State if only that would guarantee his individual survival! “Last Saturday, armed thugs sponsored by Senator Anyanwu invaded the Party Secretariat and unleashed violence on us. They vandalized our building, smashed all the glasses, beat our security men to a pulp, broke into our offices, and looted everything they could find. This latest attack was the most brazen and audacious attempt to eliminate us. It is curious that the so-called function which Senator Anyanwu claims to have brought him and his thugs to the Party Secretariat was totally unknown to us as SWC members. “When the State Chairman, Engr. Charles Ugwuh, made efforts to bring the police to investigate the attack, Senator Anyanwu stood against it. Is that not shocking? How can a man who says he wants to make Imo safe again be caught aiding and abetting acts of violence and insecurity even against his own Party members? There is clear danger! There is fire on the mountain! Run! Run!! Run!!! We must now run to stay alive! “Despite the electoral vigour, creativity and resources which our Party had

  An officer of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) and a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) yesterday engaged in fisticuffs over food at an event in Abuja. The event organised by the Department of Parks and Recreation, Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA), was to mark the 2023 World Day to Combat Desertification and Drought and to flag off the annual tree planting campaign. Our correspondent reports that if not for the quick intervention of some of the guests, including journalists who were still at the venue, the fight would have escalated, as the other corps members were prepared to join their colleague in fighting the NSCDC officer. The event, held at the office of the Department located within the military protected area of Asokoro, was packed full with guests, many of whom went home angrily because staff of the department hoarded the food and drinks meant to entertain guests. Emefiele’s arrest: SSS cries out over image-tarnishing plot Pantami bags award for resetting Nigeria’s digital economy The fight ensued when a NSCDC officer, in uniform, attempted to forcefully collect a bag containing packs of rice and drinks from a male youth corps member. The corps member, who pleaded anonymity, said he tried to explain to the officer that the food packs were meant for his colleagues who were officially invited for the event, but he refused to listen. “One of the staff called me to go and carry food, so I saw the bag and carried it, but three Civil Defence Officers just came and hijacked the bag from me. I asked them why were they dragging the bag from me because I was made to understand that it’s for NYSC members. “Before I knew what was happening, one of the NSCDC officers started warning me to be careful and I said ‘is it because of food that you are pointing at me telling me to take time?’ “I told him to take time too, and he said he will beat me, but I told him that he can’t beat me. Before I knew what was happening, he started hitting me, so we started fighting.” One of the civil defence officers said “It is wrong for this young man, who calls himself a NYSC member, to be dragging food with one of our men. My concern is not even the food but how he was fighting with a uniformed person. I am angry with some of our men who were looking at the whole thing instead of manhandling the guy.”

  Militants linked to the Islamic State group massacred at least 41 people, mostly students, in western Uganda, in the country’s deadliest such attack in over a decade, officials said Saturday. The military said it was pursuing the attackers from the Allied Democratic Forces (ADF), who also abducted six people during a raid on a school late Friday before fleeing back towards the Democratic Republic of Congo. Officials and witnesses said guns and knives were used in a grisly late-night assault and dormitories set ablaze at Lhubiriha Secondary School in Mpondwe. Police and army officials blamed the ADF, one of the deadliest militias over the border in DR Congo’s strife-torn east, which the Islamic State group has called its local offshoot. Sylvester Mapozi, the town council mayor of Mpondwe-Lhubiriha where the attack occurred, said 39 students were killed at the school.   “Within the community, as they (attackers) were going back, they also murdered two people, a female and a male. This is bringing up the number to 41,” he said. Many of the deceased were burned beyond recognition while other students were still unaccounted for, he said: “We are yet to identify and establish their whereabouts.” Mumbere Edgar Dido, 16, said the attackers arrived at his dormitory carrying machetes and guns and opened fire from outside, sending everyone diving under their beds. “They continued to shoot through the windows, then set fire to our room while we were inside, before going to the girls’ dormitory,” he said. Uganda Peoples’ Defence Forces (UPDF) spokesman Felix Kulayigye said the six kidnapped were taken towards Virunga National Park, a vast expanse which straddles the border. “UPDF embarked on pursuing the perpetrators to rescue the abducted students.” Police have not released details about the victims’ ages or how many were students. Outside the school, heavily armed soldiers and police stood guard, where a large crowd gathered and distraught survivors were comforted by loved ones. It is the deadliest attack in Uganda since twin bombings in Kampala in 2010 killed 76 in a strike claimed by the Somalia-based Al-Shabaab group. ‘Big attack’ According to a police report seen by AFP, police and military units were alerted to a “big attack” at the school around 11:00 pm (2000 GMT) on Friday evening. “On arrival the school was found burning and the dead bodies of students were found lying in the compound and the school’s food store broken into” with items missing, the report stated. The school is less than two kilometres (1.2 miles) from the border of the DR Congo, where ADF is primarily active and has been accused of killing thousands of civilians since the 1990s. Major General Dick Olum told AFP that intelligence suggested the presence of the ADF in the area at least two days before the attack, and an investigation would be needed to establish what went wrong. He said it appeared the attackers had detailed information about the school. “They knew where the boys and girls’ dormitories resided,” said Olum from Mpondwe, who has been leading an army operation against the ADF in Uganda and the DR Congo. “This is why the rebels locked the boys’ dormitory and set it on fire. The rebels did not lock girls’ section and the girls managed to get out, but they were cut with machetes as they ran for safety, and others shot”. “We have called for more firepower, planes to help in the rescue operation of those abducted, and locating the rebel hideouts for military action,” he said. ‘Killed brutally’ The rebels fled towards Virunga on the border with Uganda and Rwanda, a globally renowned sanctuary for rare species including mountain gorillas. Militias — of which dozens are active in the mineral-rich eastern DR Congo — also use the park as a hideout. Originally made up of mainly Muslim Ugandan rebels, ADF gained a foothold in eastern DR Congo in the 1990s. Since 2019, some ADF attacks in eastern DR Congo have been claimed by the Islamic State group, which calls the fighters the Islamic State Central Africa Province. ADF strikes in Uganda are less common and Friday’s sent shockwaves through the country. “They were killed brutally… It is pathetic and regrettable,” Vice President Jessica Alupo told a graduation ceremony in Kampala on Saturday. But Florence Kabugho, an MP for Kasese, told reporters there were “very many unanswered questions” given the heavy military presence so close to the border. “Where was this security when these killers came to Uganda?” she said. Uganda and DR Congo launched a joint offensive in 2021 to drive the ADF out of their Congolese strongholds, but the measures have failed to blunt the group’s violence. It is not ADF’s first attack on a school in Uganda. In June 1998, 80 students were burnt to death in their dormitories in an ADF attack on Kichwamba Technical Institute near the DR Congo border. More than 100 students were abducted. AFP

  Sunday 18 June 2023 Senators, Reps scramble for juicy committees Hajj pilgrims lament flight delay, blames Arik Militant Attack Kills 41 At Ugandan School Emefiele Had Access To Family, Medical Personnel Before Court Order – DSS South Africa’s Ramaphosa Tells Putin Ukraine ‘War’ Must End Three Dead, Two Injured In Abeokuta-Sagamu Road Crash Angry Students Block Major Highway, Protest Abductions In Zamfara UK Royal Family Unite For King Charles III’s Birthday Parade Suspended Rivers NSCDC Commandant Slams Tanker Drivers Over Protest Cash Crunch Hits MDAs Over Freezing Of Accounts Intrigues as nation awaits Tinubu’s ministers Zamfara: Police comply with court order, return ex-gov Matawalle’s vehicles Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  ….uncovers planned campaign of calumny against government The Department of State Services (DSS) on Saturday said it has identified persons and groups planning to stage campaigns of calumny against it and the Government over the suspension and investigation of Mr Godwin Emefiele. The DSS’s spokesperson, Peter Afunanya said such groups intend to gather at different points in Abuja and Lagos in the coming week with placards depicting the Service and Government in bad light as well as calling for the immediate release of Emefiele. The statement reads, “The Service is, therefore, aware of a cheap propaganda aimed at demotivating and distracting it from professionally executing the onerous responsibilities assigned to it. “It has also noted the misleading commentaries, speculative narratives, storylines and videos being circulated in the social media by uninformed parties, critics and/or desperadoes. It is mindful of orchestrations to infiltrate its fold for the purpose of using disloyal staff for subversive aims against its leadership. While these efforts are considered as hatchet jobs designed to distract, the Service warns the plotters to desist forthwith from their plans. This is more so that the arrow heads are already under watch and will be apprehended when and if it becomes necessary. Speaking further, Afunanya said it is instructive to state that the Service had granted the family of Emefiele, medical officials and appropriate persons access to him, right from the day he was taken in and long before the court order requesting so. The Service implements Standards Operating Procedures on Suspect Handling and Investigation to the latter. It conducts its affairs transparently, professionally and respects the rule of law in compliance with democratic governance. “For the avoidance of doubt, it assures of its professionalism in the current matter(s) under its purview. It will, however, not be distracted or intimidated.

  Tragedy struck after Chikwado Obiyor, a married man has collapsed and died after a sex romp with his married lover, identified simply as Chidinma. LN247 correspondent gathered that his lover who is married to another man fell into a coma after the sex romp. She was rushed to a hospital where she had yet to regain her consciousness. It was learnt that the incident which happened at Obazu Mbieri in the Mbaitoli Local Government Area of Imo State on Tuesday had unsettled the residents and indigenes of the area. Our correspondent gathered that the corpse of the father of four had been deposited in a morgue. They had gone to a guest home located at the commercial area of the community where the man slumped and died immediately they left the guest house. A source said ” they are into an amorous relationship. The man is Chikwado Obiyor from Obazu Mbieri. He is a father of four while his partner is Chidinma from Rivers State but is living as a tenant with her husband at Umuchoke Obazu. She had two children. One of the leaders of the community, Nokey Ebikam who condemned the development advised married women to be very careful. The community leader said “be careful married women.It happened in Mbieri just yesterday.” When contacted Henry Okoye, the Imo police spokesperson said he is yet to be briefed by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) on the incident as at time of filling this report. More to follow….

  The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Member-elect representing Chikun constituency in the Kaduna State House of Assembly, Hon. Madami Garba Madami, is dead. The lawmaker died on Saturday morning of an undisclosed illness at a Kaduna hospital. The lawmaker-elect recieved his Certificate of Return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) after the general election but he was unable to attend the inauguration of the State Assembly on June 13, 2023 due to the illness that eventually claimed his life to dead. Some of the Sympathizers who visited his family house, in Barnawa described his death as painful and unfortunate. They prayed God to repose his soul. It could be recalled that late Madami was a one-time chairman of Chikun local government council and a former Commissioner in the State before contesting and defeated an incumbent lawmaker of the Chikun constituency in the March 18, 2023 State Assembly elections on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)  

  A four-man criminal gang, yesterday narrated how it killed one Makanjuola Ogedengbe and raped his 14-year-old and 10-year-old daughters in Ibadan. One of the suspects, Abolade Morenikeji, said they robbed the deceased at his home in Apaataku/Onireke, Akobo Ibadan, explaining that their gang leader, Sodiq shot the girls’ father while struggling with them. According to him: “Though I’m not the one that killed the deceased, I’m one of those who raped his daughters. It has not been long I joined the group, this is my second operation, it was the work of devil.” Oyo police spokesman Adewale Osifeso, while parading the suspects at the Command Headquarters, Eleyele, Ibadan, said the suspected robbers invaded the area on May 14 and dispossessed residents of their valuables but in the process killed Ogedengbe and raped his two daughters. Osifeso noted that the case was transferred to SCID Iyaganku for investigation, adding that Ibrahim Rasaq, Abiodun Olalekan and one Abolade Morenikeji were earlier arrested in connection with an armed robbery operation at Sawia Estate at Ogbere in Ibadan were discovered to be the same gang that invaded Apaatuku/Onireke community. According to him, “The two daughters of the deceased were allegedly raped by Abolade Morenikeji and one Sodiq respectively. The said Sodiq, who was the group’s alleged leader was killed in the operation by the community security guards. The assailants also shot at the community’s night guard who is receiving treatment. On 16/6/2023 at about 03300hrs, one Adebayo Salami who is a major receiver/informant of the group and landlord at Ajara Olohunda, Akobo in Ibadan was arrested in connection with the case. The command, equally, recovered four locally made guns which include four single-barrel firearms and two double-barrel pistols and shells of unexpended and live cartridges. Other items recovered from the suspects include phones, gold chains, wristwatches, sickle knife, cutlass, substances suspected to be Indian hemp valued at over 3 million naira, Colorado, assorted native charms, and other hard substances”. Speaking further, Osifeso disclosed further that adequate security measures have been put in place ahead of the forthcoming popular annual Egungun festival in the state.