Akwa Ibom State Police Command yesterday said it has arrested a 40year-old man identified as Inyangake James Peter for the gruesome murder of his biological mother, Mma Offiong James Peter. The state Police Public Relations Officer, (outgoing), Mr Odiko MacDon in a statement on Monday in Uyo disclosed that the deceased was about 70 years old.   According to MacDon the ugly incident occurred on 4th of April 2024 at about 9:00am in Ikpe Annang Village of Essien Udim Local government area of the state. He added that the command also arrested one Asuquo Isaac who murdered his 18-year-old son identified as Iboro Isaac over family misunderstanding. His words “Akwa Ibom State Police Command has arrested one Inyangake James Peter, 40 -years-old, for gruesomely murdering his biological mother, one Mma-Offiong James Peter, about 70 years-old, on 4/4/2024 at about 9:00am at Ikpe Annang Village in Essien Udim LGA. The Suspect who confessed to the crime has been transferred to the State CID for discrete investigation.The Suspect on interrogation alleged that he had a voice saying ” kill her”, ” kill her ” and he decided to oblige. “Similarly, one Solomon Asuquo Isaac of Ikot Obok Nsit in Nsit Ibom LGA who murdered his son, one Iboro Isaac, 18 years old last year as a result of family misunderstanding, has been arrested. “Cases of some family members killing their biological relations has been of great concern to the Command in recent times. “Also, on 9/4/2024, Anti-Robbery Squad of the Command on ‘stop and search’ arrested one Ekemini Edet Akpan of Ekpene Ikpan Village, along Calabar Itu Highway by Raycon Construction Company, for being in possession of one locally made gun, one revolver pistol and 18 live cartridges. “Suspects will be charged to court at the completion of investigation”.

  Justice Binta Nyako of the Federal High Court in Abuja, on Monday, threatened to strike out terrorism charges brought against four defendants alleged to have kidnapped and killed the traditional ruler of Amanze-Obowo autonomous community in Imo state, Eze Basil Njoku. The Judge’s threat followed the absence of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) in court to lead the prosecution of the defendants. Although the four defendants were billed for arraignment by 9 am, the Judge was forced to shift it to 12 noon due to the absence of the AGF or his representatives in court.       The four defendants are Jude Iheme, Chika Madukwe, Nwokorie Chidiebere Ejike, and Victor Nwajuiba Obumneke. The three counts earlier slammed against them have been increased to five in an amended charge. By 12 noon, when the arraignment was to be held, neither the AGF nor his representative still appeared in court without any information or communication to the court. The situation prompted the judge to invite lawyers to the defendants into her chambers where the matter was adjourned till April 30th was fixed. Although lead counsel to the defendants, Solomon Akume (SAN) had applied for dismissal of he terrorism charges against the defendants, Justice Nyako opted to give the AGF another chance to lead a diligent prosecution. The judge however held that in the event of the AGF or his representatives not appearing in court on the adjourned date, the court may have no option than to strike out the charges against the defendants for want of diligent prosecution. At the last proceedings of March 20, the AGF represented by David Kaswe, a lawyer from the Federal Ministry of Justice took over the prosecution of the defendants from the Inspector General of Police (IGP) who, first, commenced the trial of defendants. Kaswe had told the judge that the AGF invoked Section 174 of the 1999 Constitution and Section 105 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA) to assume trial of the defendants. The AGF’s office, at the last proceedings, told the court that the IGP had been directed to make the case file available to his office. However, when the matter came up on Monday, neither the AGF nor David Kwase and Simon Lough (SAN), who was prosecuting the case for the IGP was in court, despite being served with hearing notice. Meanwhile, Justice Nyako has ordered that fresh hearing notice for April 30th arraignment of the four defendants be served on the AGF. Iheme, 52 years of Amagwu Amanze Obowo local government area of Imo, and Madukwe, 42 years of Ndi-Uche Etiti Omuimo local government area also of Imo State, were said to have killed the traditional ruler on December 17, 2022. The defendants were accused of killing the monarch while coming from the Federal Medical Center, Umuahia, after kidnapping and collecting a ransom of N4 million cash from his family. In the charge marked FHC/ABJ/CR/575/2024, Iheme and Madukwe alongside others said to be at large were said to have conspired to commit felony to wit, acts of terrorism contrary to section 26 of the Terrorism Prevention and Prohibition Act 2022. They were also said to have armed themselves with guns and offensive weapons, attacked, kidnapped, and killed the monarch on December 17, 2022. The IGP also accused them of failing to volunteer information at their disposal to security agencies which could have led to apprehension of other kidnappers contrary to section 16 of the same Terrorism Act.

  The United Kingdom has penned down Côte d’Ivoire and Botswana as countries to replicate the Rwanda migrant deportation scheme. The plans were seen in leaked documents that revealed the government’s extensive search for another third-country deal, according to a report from The Times on Monday. Other countries which the UK has reportedly entered into talks with for the asylum deal include Armenia and Costa Rica. Several South American countries, including Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Brazil and Colombia, were also approached, but were viewed as less likely to be interested in what the government describes as a “third-country asylum processing deal”. Some African countries were placed on a reserve list that would be approached if other targets failed. They include Cape Verde, Senegal, Tanzania, Togo, Angola, and Sierra Leone. Morocco, Tunisia, Namibia, and The Gambia were said to have “explicitly declined” the arrangement. The UK is in talks with the nations after Rishi Sunak, UK prime minister, gave the home and foreign offices a deadline of last autumn to secure two additional deals, The Times added.   Officials are said to be testing countries against a feasibility criteria, which include the size of the territory and population. WHAT PROGRESS HAS BEEN MADE WITH THE RWANDA DEPORTATION SCHEME? It has been two years since Britain and Rwanda signed a deal that would see migrants who cross the English Channel in small boats, sent to the East African country, where they would remain permanently. The plan has been challenged in the courts, and no one has yet been sent to Rwanda under an agreement that has cost the UK at least 370 million pounds. Although the Safety of Rwanda Bill had been approved by the house of commons, where Sunak’s Conservatives have a majority, the house of lords, parliament’s unelected upper chamber, inserted a series of amendments to “ensure it complies with international law”. The commons rejected the changes last month, but the lords refused to back down. The unmodified bill is expected to be sent back to the lords this week and if it becomes law, it could be weeks before any flights to Rwanda take off, as people chosen for deportation are likely to lodge appeals. Some reports have also suggested that Rwanda’s state-owned airline turned down a UK government proposal to transport asylum seekers, because it wanted to avoid being associated with the controversial scheme.

  Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been suspended by his ward in Kano State over allegations of corruption. On Monday, executive members of Ganduje’s ward in the Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area of Kano disclosed his suspension. Haladu Gwaju, the legal adviser of the ward, said that ward members agreed to suspend him due to his inability to clear his name of allegations of gross misconduct and misappropriation of funds levelled against him by the Kano State Government. Ganduje is to be arraigned in the Kano State High Court on April 17. On April 9, the Kano State Government declared its readiness to produce 15 witnesses to testify against Ganduje before Justice Usman Na’aba on April 17.

  The Coroner, Magistrate Mikhail Kadiri, inquiring into the cause of death of the late student of Dowen College, Lagos, Sylvester Oromoni, has returned a verdict that the deceased died a natural death. In a judgment that lasted over 6 hours, the coroner also held that the death was however avoidable as the negligence of the parents and the medical team also contributed to it. Magistrate Kadiri absolved some students of Dowen College named in the incident as he concluded that they played no part in the death of Sylvester, and should not have been involved in the matter. The Coroner also gave some recommendations to forestall further incidents of this sad nature. He advised parents not to take their children’s health with levity. He also called for a synergy between the police and the medical team going forward as well as for the police force to ensure due caution before arrests are made. He further recommended that the management of Dowen College should ensure proper documentation of entry and exit of students out of the hostel, as well as proper psychological evaluation for the 5 students suspected to have bullied the deceased. Details later…

  The Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN) has announced the full restoration of the national grid following a fire incident at the Afam power generating station, which it said caused a partial disturbance of the nation’s grid. Daily Trust had reported that the grid collapse, which occurred at 02:41 am on Monday, left the country with 64.70 megawatt. Traveling across Quang Binh to stunning cinematic locations A statement by TCN’s General Manager Public Affairs, Ndidi Mbah, said: “A fire erupted at the Afam V 330kV bus bar coupler, leading to the tripping of units at Afam III and Afam VI. This resulted in a sudden generation loss of 25MW and 305MW respectively, destabilizing the grid and causing a partial collapse.” It added, “During the incident, the Ibom Power plant was isolated from the grid and was supplying parts of the Port Harcourt Region. This further minimized the effect of the system disturbance. TCN confirms that the affected section of the grid has been fully restored and stabilized. “TCN reaffirms its commitment to enhancing the resilience and reliability of the national grid and pledges to continue investing in measures aimed at strengthening the grid infrastructure.”

  Nigeria’s inflation rate jumped to 33.20% in March 2024 compared to February 2024 headline inflation rate which was 31.70%. This was according to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS)’s Consumer Price Index (CPI) report released on Monday. “Looking at the movement, the March 2024 headline inflation rate showed an increase of 1.50% points when compared to the February 2024 headline inflation rate,” said the NBS. “On a year-on-year basis, the headline inflation rate was 11.16% points higher compared to the rate recorded in March 2023, which was 22.04%. “On a month-on-month basis, the headline inflation rate in March 2024 was 3.02%, which was 0.10% lower than the rate recorded in February 2024 (3.12%). This means that in the month of March 2024, the rate of increase in the average price level is less than the rate of increase in the average price level in February 2024.” The inflation report by the NBS followed the hike of Nigeria’s interest rate from 22.75% to 24.75% by the Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN). Interestingly, the March inflation rate was released at a time when measures by the apex bank to strenghten the naira against foreign exchange have seen some positive results. The naira has appreciated against the dollar in recent weeks, gaining over 40%, from about N1,900/$ to about N1,100/$1 now. As the naira rebounds, Nigerians expect significant reduction in the prices of food and basic commodities but this hasn’t been the case with cost of living still high.

  The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc has notified South-East residents of a total system collapse which occurred at its transmission station at about 2:41 am on Monday. The EEDC said the situation has resulted in the loss of supply to all its interface TCN stations and consequently, it is unable to provide service to its customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. This was disclosed in a press statement issued on Monday by the Head of Corporate Communications, EEDC, Emeka Ezeh. He said, “The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company Plc wishes to inform her esteemed customers of a total system collapse which occurred at 2:41 am today, April 15, 2024. “This resulted in the loss of supply to all our interface TCN stations. Consequently, we were unable to provide service to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo states. “However, the situation is gradually being resolved as we received the supply at Awada TCN station, Onitsha, at 7:30 am. “We are in constant communication with the relevant authorities awaiting the full restoration of supply by the National Control Centre, NCC, Oshogbo. Thank you for your usual understanding and cooperation.” The PUNCH reports that Nigeria has witnessed its sixth power grid collapse of 2024, as electricity generation on the system collapsed from 2,583.77MW at 2 am on Monday to 64.7MW around 3 am. Nigeria generates an average of 4,000 MW of electricity for an estimated 200 million citizens across the country. But this is hardly sustainable, as the grid continues to record incessant collapse due to gas supply constraints, transmission infrastructure vandalism, and liquidity crises, among others.