Gunmen were reported to have killed three people, including an aged couple in the Ikpele community in Agatu Local Government Area of Benue State. A resident of the community, who did not want to be mentioned, said that the incident happened at the weekend when gunmen stormed the community. Several people were reportedly injured during the invasion, but residents of the area could not ascertain those behind the dastardly act. The resident said, “It’s becoming difficult to identify the killers. Sometimes, the attack could be propelled by the communities involved in land or chieftaincy tussles, while at other times, it could be a direct assault from armed herders.” A member representing Agatu State Constituency at the Benue State House of Assembly, Godwin Edoh, who confirmed the killing, expressed deep concern about the incessant killings in the local government. The lawmaker said that an aged couple was among the victims of the latest killing. He said, “A husband and wife who are advanced in age were killed inside their house during the attack.” Efforts to get the Council Chairman, Phillip Ebenyakwu, were not successful as calls made to his cellphone did not connect. The spokesperson for the State Police Command, Catherine Anene, said she was yet to receive a report about the incident.

  President Bola Tinubu has been re-elected for another one-year tenure as Chairman of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of States and Government. Tinubu, whose first tenure is to elapse on July 9, 2024, was elected by a unanimous decision of fellow Heads of Government at the 65th Ordinary Session of the Authority held at the State House, Abuja, on Sunday. In his acceptance speech, the President said, “I have accepted to continue to deliver on this service with the great men and women on this democratic journey, to serve our interest and build democratic values on the structure we inherited.” Presidency sources had on Saturday night told our correspondent that Tinubu may be elected for another tenure. “Some people say he should hand over, and others say he should continue. But they will decide tomorrow,” said the source who preferred to remain anonymous as he was not authorised to speak on the issue. Tinubu was elected Chairman of the Authority at the 63rd Ordinary Session of the regional bloc held last July in Bissau, the capital of Guinea-Bissau. Details shortly…

  Representative Abdulmalik Zubairu (APC-Zamfara), on Saturday, sponsored the mass wedding of 105 orphans and underprivileged brides in his constituency. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the wedding ceremony took place in Bungudu Town in Bungudu Local Government Area. Mr Zubairu represents Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.   The 105 brides selected from the 21 political wards of Bungudu/Maru Federal Constituency were daughters of deceased victims of banditry. In a speech at the event, the lawmaker said that all the beneficiaries were assisted with household materials, including beds, mattresses, wardrobes, bed sheets and pillows, amongst others. He said: “We paid N100,000 for each of the 105 brides as dowry. “You know, during our campaign, we promised to support families affected by banditry. “Alhamdulillah, today, I am fulfilling one of my campaign promises by sponsoring 105 brides for marriage to their suitors.” Mr Zubairu also said that most of the brides lost their parents to banditry, while a few others were selected from less privileged families. He also said that, in addition to the dowry payment, each groom received N100,000, while each bride received N50,000 to start any business of their choice. The Chairman of the occasion, Abdulrahman Kawu-Sumaila, commended the lawmaker for the kind gesture. Mr Kawu-Sumaila, a Kano senator, urged the constituents to appreciate, support and pray for the lawmaker. He advised the couples to be patient with each other, saying that marriage is part of Ibadat (faith).   He also announced a personal donation of N20,000 to each of the couples. NAN further reports that the event was attended by traditional rulers, Islamic scholars, community leaders and politicians, among other important dignitaries from the constituency. (NAN)

  ‌A female student of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN) in Enugu state identified as Favour has been found dead. The 100-level student of the department of Medical Laboratory Science was said to have gone missing on Tuesday after attending her chemistry practical. The remains of the deceased were however found near the Eni-Njoku male hostel, around the varsity’s stadium junction, on Friday evening. According to videos and photos circulating on social media platforms, the corpse was dumped inside what appeared to be a drainage system. The lifeless body of Favour was discovered by some students who were returning from evening lectures. The students, while filming the corpse, also questioned the supposed gender of the deceased. “Na woman now. See, she get br**st. Na woman,” one of the students is heard speaking in pidgin English.   Officers from the varsity’s security department arrived at the scene and took the body to deposit at the UNN morgue on Saturday morning. The management of the university has yet to comment on the matter. When TheCable Lifestyle contacted Daniel Ekea, the state’s police spokesperson, to speak on the incident, he demanded a text message. As of the time of this report, Ekea has yet to respond to inquiries on the circumstances surrounding Favour’s demise.   Last month, a final-year female student of the Adekunle Ajasin University Akungba Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo state was found dead. The lifeless body of the student, identified as Ayandare Modupe, was found hanging beside an off-campus church she attended. Modupe was a 500-level student of agronomy in the faculty of agriculture.

  The Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has ordered a former Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, to account for payments of N729bn to 24.3 million poor Nigerians for six months. The court also ordered the former minister to provide the list and details of the beneficiaries who received the payments, the number of states covered, and the payments per state. The judgment was delivered in June by Justice Deinde Isaac Dipeolu following a Freedom of Information suit number: FHC/L/CS/853/2021, brought by the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project. The certified true copy of the judgment was obtained last Friday by the organisation. In his judgment, Justice Dipeolu held that “The former minister is compelled by the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act to give information to any person, including SERAP. I therefore grant an order of mandamus directing and compelling the minister to provide the spending details of N729 billion to 24.3 million poor Nigerians in 2021.” Justice Dipeolu ordered the minister to “provide SERAP with details of how the beneficiaries have been selected and the mechanisms for the payments to the beneficiaries.” The judge also ordered the minister to “explain the rationale for paying N5,000 to 24.3 million poor Nigerians, which translates to five per cent of Nigeria’s budget of N13.6 trillion for 2021.” She ruled that “the minister did not give any reason for the refusal to disclose the details sought by SERAP. SERAP has reeled out the relevant sections of the Freedom of Information Act 2011 that the minister contravened and has, in line with sections 20 and 25(1) of the Act, prayed this Court for an order of mandamus to direct and compel the minister to provide the information sought.” Justice Dipeolu dismissed the objections raised by the minister’s counsel and upheld SERAP’s arguments. Consequently, the court entered judgment in favour of SERAP against the minister. Reacting to the judgment, SERAP’s Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, said the ruling is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds. He said, “This ground-breaking judgment is a victory for transparency and accountability in the spending of public funds. “Justice Dipeolu’s judgment shows the urgent need for the Tinubu government to genuinely address the systemic allegations of corruption in the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and other ministries, departments and agencies, as documented by the Auditor-General of the Federation. “We commend Justice Dipeolu for her courage and wisdom and urge President Bola Tinubu to immediately obey the court orders.” In the letter dated July 6, 2024, sent to President Bola Tinubu on the judgment, and signed by SERAP Deputy Director, Kolawole Oluwadare, the organisation asked him to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile with the ruling. The organisation also asked the President to order the release of the spending details of the N729 billion as ordered by the court. It reads, “We urge you to demonstrate your expressed commitment to the rule of law by immediately obeying and respecting the judgment of the court. “We urge you to direct the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disasters Management and Social Development and the office of the Attorney General of the Federation to immediately compile and release the spending details of the N729 billion as ordered by the court. “The immediate enforcement and implementation of the judgment by your government will be a victory for the rule of law, transparency, and accountability in the governance processes and management of public resources, including the N729 billion.”

  The Transmission Company of Nigeria on Sunday said the national power grid has been restored following Saturday’s collapse. The TCN Public Affairs General Manager, Ndidi Mbah described the collapse as partial, saying that “there was a partial disturbance of the grid at about 15.09Hrs yesterday, 6th July 2024.” According to her, the incident “brings to three, the partial grid disturbances, with one total disturbance this year.” The TCN spokesperson said the grid collapse is suspected to have been triggered by the unexpected tripping of three units of a power-generating station which she said suddenly removed 313MW from the grid, causing system instability that led to the loss of bulk supply to a section of the national grid. “Meanwhile, the system operator reacted to the sudden drop in generation which led to a dip in frequency by islanding a section of the grid which includes the Ibom Power Station through which the company continued to feed Uyo, Aba, Itu, Eket, Calabar, etc. even when the other section of the grid had no supply. “Also, the operators commenced grid restoration efforts immediately after the incident. At about 21.57 hrs yesterday, the entire part of the grid that was affected by today’s incident was successfully restored,” Mbah said. Meanwhile, electricity consumers have condemned the repeated collapse of the national power grid. A check by our correspondent confirmed that power generation from all power plants dropped to a paltry 70MW at 3 pm after it peaked at 3916MW around 10 am on Saturday. It was observed that the distribution companies got zero allocation as of Saturday evening. This grid collapse came barely three days after the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission approved a tariff increase for Band A customers, from N206.80 per kilowatt-hour to N209.50/kWh. While speaking with our correspondent, the Executive Director, Electricity Consumer Protection Advocacy Centre, Princewill Okorie, regretted that the grid keeps collapsing despite the hike in electricity tariff. Okorie lamented that unmetered customers would still be made to pay for the period of the collapse, wondering what the government has been doing to stop the incidents. “What are the causes of these grid collapses? Are the materials used in building the grip of good quality and standard? Who is managing the grid? The players in the sector are more interested in collecting money from the consumers rather than making the system stable. What you hear more about the power sector is payment. The money that the international communities are bringing to the industry and the money that is unlawfully collected from the consumers, where are they being utilised? The operational expenditures of the DisCos, and how do they spend them? “In the past few months, they keep increasing tariffs yet there is inefficiency in the power sector. They are interested in collecting money, but whether the money is judiciously utilised or not, nobody cares. They keep overbilling customers. The desperation to collect revenue from customers for services not delivered is a challenge. Now that the grid collapsed, the unmetered customers will still be made to pay for darkness. That is injustice. The government should address this issue of grid collapse once and for all,” Okorie warned. Also, the Convener and Executive Director of PowerUp Nigeria, an electricity consumer right and power sector policy advocacy organisation, Adetayo Adegbemle, said everyone involved in the electricity value chain should be embarrassed by their inability to stop grid collapses. Adegbemle held that some people should be shown the way out to fix the situation. “I think everyone involved in the value chain should be embarrassed by the regular occurrence and inability to put measures in place to avoid this constant grid collapse. It is unfortunate because everyone throws the blame on others “And I believe if heads had been rolling for people not taking responsibility for it, someone would have stood up to fix this problem,” he stated. Suggesting the way out, Adegbemle said, “There’s a need to align the value chain, this was something the Siemens deal boasted to achieve. I expect that if the head of TCN, for instance, is to lose his job tonight, the next MD would be more willing to work with other subsectors to ensure this does not happen again. “From whatever we need to forestall this grid collapses, it is definitely in the hands of the leadership of the TCN, especially.” Commenting on the grid disturbance on Saturday, the Enugu Electricity Distribution Company said its TCN stations are out of supply, saying it is unable to provide services to customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. “The Enugu Electricity Distribution Company wishes to inform its esteemed customers of a general system collapse which occurred at 15:09 hours today, 6th July 2024. This has resulted in the loss of supply currently being experienced across the network. “Due to this development, all our interface TCN stations are out of supply, and we are unable to provide services to our customers in Abia, Anambra, Ebonyi, Enugu, and Imo States. “We are on standby awaiting detailed information of the collapse and restoration of supply from the National Control Centre, Osogbo,” a statement by the EEDC Head of Corporate Communications, Emeka Ezeh, read. Also, the Kano DisCo said, “We regret to inform you that the power outage being experienced in our franchise states is due to system collapse of the national grid. The collapse occurred at about 3:10 pm, hence the loss of supply on all our outgoing feeders. “Power supply shall be restored as soon as the National Grid is powered back. Our sincere apologies for any inconvenience.”

  A trigger-happy police officer has reportedly shot dead a betting agent identified as Anuoluwapo Abiodun in the Imala/Elega area of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. According to Punch, Abiodun, a graduate of Moshood Abiola Polytechnic, reportedly operated a betting shop in front of a popular hotel in the area and was closing his shop for the day when he was gunned down on Friday night. An eyewitness who spoke to our correspondent under the condition of anonymity alleged that the officers were drunk and coming out of the hotel when one of them shot the deceased. Our correspondent further gathered that the officers immediately escaped into the hotel and called for backup before they later escaped from the hotel, about three hours later.   “The guy (Abiodun) owned a shop opposite the hotel. The police were chasing someone or on a raid and there was an accidental discharge, the stray bullet hit the guy and the guy died immediately. “The youths in the area tried to hold down the policemen and they ran into the hotel. They had to reinforce to get more police officers to come and rescue them before they were able to escape later around 11 pm. The incident happened around 8 pm. “As they (police officers) were trying to disperse the protesting youths, they kept shooting sporadically. In fact, fear gripped everybody,” an eyewitness said. When contacted, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident. “We are very much aware of the incident and the Commissioner of Police has detailed the SCID to commence investigation,” she said.