Saturday 8 November 2023 Court remands Emefiele in Kuje prison till Wednesday Kano calm as A’Court removes gov, confirms Mohammed in Bauchi Mohbad: Naira Marley, Sammy Larry released from police custody 50 terrorists killed, 122 arrested in one week – DHQ Liberian Challenger Boakai Close To Election Victory Over President Weah EFCC Releases Seven NAF Personnel Linked With Internet Fraud Uzodimma Receives Certificate Of Return, Says Imo Election ‘Most Peaceful’ Diri, Ododo Receive Certificates Of Return In Bayelsa, Kogi President Tinubu To Attend G20 CwA In Berlin Court Remands Suspects In Custody Over Rivers DPO’s Murder Otti Begins Payment Of Abia Judicial Workers’ Eight-Year Salary Arrears Digital Loan Sharks: Shaming, Recovery Techniques Pushing Nigerians To The Brink Wike, Fubara, Makinde woo foreign investors Imo Police chief vows to stop sit-at-home Visit a newspaper stand this morning, buy and read a copy for yourself…

  An apprentice carpenter identified simply as Onome, has been reportedly beaten to death by his master in Sapele, Delta State. Witnesses said the incident occurred at the master’s workshop located along New Ogorode Road, Sapele few days ago. PUNCH Online gathered that the apprentice was disciplined by the boss named Orunor over an alleged lateness to work. In addition, Orunor allegedly accused the apprentice of stealing his Automated Teller Machine card. Consequently, it was reportedly resolved that the boy should be disciplined decisively through beating. However, the alleged beating reportedly took a new twist for the apprentice who, on reaching home, was said to have complained of pains all over his body, to his parents. The apprentice further reportedly explained to his parents all that transpired between him and his master at work. The parents of the apprentice were said to have decided to take him to the hospital for treatment but he reportedly died before he could be attended to. It was gathered that when Orunor, master to the apprentice, was intimated of the demise of the boy, he allegedly went into hiding. Meanwhile, operatives of the Nigeria Police, Sapele Area Command, are said to be on the trail of the fleeing master with a view to arresting him. The state Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Bright Edafe, could not be reached for comments on the incident as of the time of filing this report.

  Former President Goodluck Jonathan has hailed Governor Douye Diri’s efforts at tackling insecurity, saying the Bayelsa leader’s re-election means the state would be a lot safer. Jonathan, who is a former governor of the oil-rich state, spoke on Friday when he visited Diri in Yenagoa, the Bayelsa State capital, almost one week after the governor stormed to victory in a keenly contested poll. While congratulating Diri for winning the exercise, the former president said if Douye had lost, the gains made in curbing insecurity would have been lost. “We don’t want to go into unnecessary crisis in the state. Results have been declared and we believe the election was conducted. We believe the governor won the election and we plead that people should accept it and work with the governor. Let all of us support him so that the state will move ahead,” he said during the gathering. “There should be nothing that will push the state backward. We should think about the development of the state starting from the issue of peace and security in the state which within this last period, three years plus, there are significant improvements in terms of cultism and kidnapping and so on and so forth. “I was saying before this election that if Diri loses this election, I would have relocated my mother to Abuja.” While recounting how his cousin was kidnapped and killed, Jonathan expressed optimism that with Diri returning as the governor of the state, the situation would soon be a thing of the past. “My cousin was kidnapped two times on one of those occasions, one of my cousins, Solo, was killed because they threw him into the river and he didn’t know how to swim,” he added. “So, we’ve passed through hell in this state and we’ve seen a little light at the end of the tunnel. So, people should calm down, and allow Diri to focus on governance so that he will be able to propel this state forward so that we will benefit as citizens of the state.” Diri had earlier in the day received his certificate of return from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a second term in office. He will be sworn in for another four-year tenure next year.

  President Bola Tinubu has cancelled the 40 per cent automatic deductions from internally generated revenues (IGR) of federal universities, saying the policy is inappropriate at this period. Tinubu, who was represented by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, disclosed this on Friday at an ongoing 75th Founder’s Day ceremony at the University of Ibadan (UI). In his speech as the Visitor to the nation’s premier university, Mr Tinubu pledged his commitment to the reform of the education sector as the base for national development. Tinubu said, “The 40 per cent IGR automatic deduction policy stands cancelled. This is not the best time for such policy since our universities are struggling.” Earlier in his welcome address, the UI Chancellor and Sultan of Sokoto, Sa’adu Abubakar, had condemned the policy, citing the multidimensional challenges confronting the universities. Abubakar urged the authorities to abrogate the decision, saying the policy had the potential of jeopardising the university system.

  The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has released one serving officer of the Nigerian Army and seven Nigerian Air Force (NAF) operatives allegedly linked with Internet-related fraud. The suspects were arrested by the Kaduna State zonal office of the anti-graft agency on Monday and remanded in the custody of the commission for further investigation and possible prosecution. However, the matter took a dramatic twist on Friday morning as armed NAF soldiers invaded the EFCC office located at Number 4, Wurno Road in the state capital, to enforce the release of their colleagues from detention. The soldiers, who arrived at the EFCC office in five Hilux patrol vans around 10 am, surrounded the main gate of the commission, preventing the EFCC officials from entering or leaving the office. The incident culminated in a showdown between the Air Force personnel and EFCC security operatives, who engaged in a shouting match and threatened to pull the trigger on each other. The situation was later brought under control with the EFCC zonal head and the leader of the air force team meeting briefly, leading to the release of the suspects. Reacting to the incident, the EFCC spokesman, Dele Oyewale, told Channels Television on a phone call that the commission decided to release the suspects upon completing its investigation and forensic profiling. Oyewale explained that the release and handover of the suspects to their agencies was not done in line with the commission’s standard operating procedure, adding that the suspects would still be arraigned in court at the appropriate time, despite being released to their agency.

  CP Aderemi Adeoye, the Commissioner of Police in Anambra, has cautioned residents against taking laws into their own hands in the event of crime. Adeoye said the command would no longer condone situations when people engage in jungle justice by lynching suspects to death without trial. DSP Toochukwu Ikenga, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), in a statement, quoted the CP on Friday as saying that perpetrators would be charged with murder. He described any mob lynching of crime suspects as beastial and worse than their victims. The PPRO said two suspects have been arrested for involvement in recent mob lynching that resulted in the death of suspected criminals. “Someone steals a phone and a mob kills him. The sentence for stealing a phone is three years of imprisonment. “Those who lynch commit murder, which carries the death penalty, because the courts have not delegated anyone outside the judiciary to try, convict and execute suspects,” he said. Adeoye commended Anambra residents for their eternal vigilance and cooperation for peace and security in the state but enjoined them to report every criminal matter to the Police. According to him, “if they do not get justice, they should contact my office directly. “I assure the people of Anambra that the Command will always be alive to its responsibility in maintaining law and order. “Recourse to self help is not necessary and it will not be tolerated,” he said. Editor’s Note: This photo is for illustrative purpose 

  Google, the search giant, is set to permanently delete accounts that have not been used within a specified period.   In a recent blog post, Google said it deems an account inactive if the user has not logged in or done any activity in two years The tech giant considers actions like signing in; reading or sending an email; using Google Drive; watching a YouTube video; sharing photos; downloading an app; and searching while signed in to be activities. The company added that starting December 1, accounts in the aforementioned category will be deleted. Advertisement The policy only applies to personal accounts, not those tied to an employer, school, or other organisation. “Google products reserve the right to delete your data when your account has not been used within that product for a 2-year period,” the post reads. “December 1, 2023 is the earliest a Google Account will be deleted due to this policy.” It is understood that there are other exceptions to this; such as if your account was used to purchase something in the Google Play store or if your account has a gift card with an active balance. Google said it would inform users in advance by sending emails to the accounts of affected users as well as any available recovery email addresses.

  The controversial founder of Christ High Commission Church, Araromi-Ugbesi in Omuo-Oke, Ekiti State, Noah Abraham, who was in the news last year for allegedly collecting three hundred and ten thousand Naira from church members as a ticket to heaven has been re-arrested for more grievous offences. This time around, the controversial Pastor was arrested by the Ekiti State Police Command in collaboration with the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons, NAPTIP, for the alleged kidnapping of over nine persons including minors and impregnating the wife of his choir coordinator. It was gathered that some of the hostages were children of his members whom he had hypnotized, brainwashed and set against their parents. Narrating their ordeal, some of the parents of the children who were kept hostage, church members and even the legal wife of Pastor Abraham, who had staged a protest to the Ekiti State Police Command pleaded with the Government and appropriate authorities to assist them in getting their children, wife and relatives out of the captivity of the Pastor. According to them, Pastor Abraham forced their children to withdraw from school while a 27-year-old man who was already working in an unnamed company where he was given an official vehicle was asked to resign and kept in the camp without a specific mission Speaking with Journalists, the choir coordinator of the church, Mr Dare Ikuenayo confirmed that the pastor snatched and impregnated the mother of his three children. He said: “I joined the church in Kabba, Kogi State but one day, the pastor called me and notified me that my wife had a gift of prophesy that I should allow her to stay with him for a month and work for God which I oblige. “But suddenly I noticed that my wife was not even willing to see or talk to me. While I was trying to raise eyebrows, the pastor announced in the church that he had taken my wife and no one could take her from him. “I tried my best but all to no avail until he impregnated her and moved her into his house fully.”   In her testimony, the wife of the pastor, Mrs Mary Abraham said after they came together to Omuo-Ekiti for the aborted heavenly mission, her husband came in one night and asked her to move out because he wanted the wife of the choir coordinator to move in. According to her, “He said the present work in his hand requires the woman to be with him and that was how he forced me out and denied me access to my three children. “He withdrew all of my children from school, and made their lives miserable, I wept when I saw my son yesterday after the police brought him here. I am begging Nigerians to help me take my children from him.” Similarly, one of the pastors working under Abraham, said his son, who was already working in a reputable institution was asked to resign and held hostage. The Pastor said, “Even when I logged in complaint at the police station, I was offered access to two of my three children but on our way home he called them and asked them to run back which they did. “He is always telling us that we have different curses and evil spirits working against us, he would ask us to sell our property and bring the money to him. I have invested almost 7 million in the church, I am left with nothing. Even my children don’t want to see me, I don’t know what he did to them.” Another old woman who is the elder sister to Pastor Abraham alleged that he took almost a million naira from her on different occasions on the account that he wanted to cleanse her of evil spirits. It was also gathered that there are many other complaints against Pastor Abraham with different stories too elaborate and sensitive for media publication. Reacting, Pastor Abraham said the heaven ticket saga was his first assignment, saying he was done with what God had sent him to earth to do and he was ready to go back to his creator. He said he was fulfilled because he had concluded his assignments as directed by God while declining to give any reason for his actions. Meanwhile, the wife of the coordinator whom the founder impregnated is still at large. In a chat with journalists, the spokesman for the Ekiti State Police Command, DSP, Sunday Abutu said the investigation is ongoing in collaboration with NAPTIP, saying the police would revert to the next line of action. Recall that Pastor Abraham was arrested on the 27th of April, 2022 in Omuo-Ekiti after he converged over forty persons in a camp and collected the sum of three hundred and ten thousand Naira from each of them as a ticket fee to heaven but was granted bail at a Magistrate court.