Home Blog Page 366

Nigeria’s debt hits N87.91trn in Q3 2023 — DMO

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Nigeria’s debt hits N87.91trn in Q3 2023 — DMO

Nigeria’s total public debt rose marginally by 0.61 per cent quarter-on-quarter to N87.91trn in the third quarter of 2023.

This is according to new debt stock data from the Debt Management Office released on Wednesday.

According to the data released, total external debt stood at N31.98trn and domestic debt amounted to N55.93trn in the period being reported.

DMO said, “At N87.91tn, the total public debt stock represents a marginal increase of 0.61 per cent when compared to the June 30, 2023 figure of N87.38tn. This trend is explained by the decrease in external debt from $43.16bn as of June 30, 2023, to $41.59bn as of September 30, 2023 and a relatively moderate increase of N1.8tn in the domestic debt.

“External debt decreased due to a redemption of a $500m Eurobond and the payment of $413.859m as the first principal payment of the $3.4bn loan obtained from the International Monetary Fund in 2020 during Covid-19.”

It noted that the servicing of these debts denotes a clear demonstration of the Federal Government’s commitment to honour its debt obligations.

Two men allegedly kill friend over bags of rice in Lagos

Sub-editor
-
0
Two men allegedly kill friend over bags of rice in Lagos

A Magistrate’s Court sitting in the Yaba area of Lagos State has remanded two friends, Noah Tovohome and Rajay Zannu, to a correctional centre for allegedly plotting and killing their friend, Segun Zusu, over 36 bags of rice.

The duo was brought before Magistrate Linda Balogun on Tuesday on two counts bordering on murder.

It was gathered in court that the defendants, Tovohome and Zannu, plotted with a boat driver who was conveying Zusu’s goods from Seme to kill him and steal the bags of rice.

However, on that day, they intercepted the boat around 2 am, at Novo River in Seme, used a plank to beat Zusu up, and threw him inside the river. They thereafter carried the bags of rice to Badagry, sold them for about N1.4m to a businesswoman and shared the money.

The police prosecutor, Chekwube Okeh, told the court that the defendants committed the offence on November 12, 2023.

According to Okeh, the offence contravenes Section 222 and is punishable under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.

The charges read in part, “That you, Noah Tovohome, 27, Rajay Zannu, 38 and others at large, on November 12, 2023, around 2 am, at Novo River, Seme, Lagos State, in the Lagos Magisterial District, did unlawfully kill one 26-year-old Segun Zusu, by hitting a plank on his head and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 222 and punishable under Section 223 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State 2015.”

 The pleas of the defendants were not taken.

Okeh prayed the court to remand them to a correctional centre pending the outcome of legal advice from the office of the Directorate of Public Prosecutions.

Magistrate Balogun granted the prayer and ordered that the defendant be remanded to the Kirikiri Correctional Centre pending the outcome of legal advice from the DPP.

Balogun also adjourned the case till January 22, 2024, for the DPP’s advice.

Court sentences Crime Alert boss to 75 years over multiple investment fraud

Sub-editor
-
0
Court sentences Crime Alert boss to 75 years over multiple investment fraud

Justice Bayo Taiwo of the Oyo State High Court, sitting in Ibadan, on Thursday, convicted and sentenced the Chief Executive Officer of Crime Alert Security Network, Ibadan, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos, to 75 years imprisonment for multiple investment frauds.

Olaniyan, according to a statement from the Head of Media and Publicity of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Dele Oyewale, on Tuesday, was convicted alongside his firm, Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited on December 14, 2023.

They were said to have been prosecuted on 35 count charges by the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, bordering on obtaining by false pretences,  contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.

The statement partly read, “Count 35 of the charge read: “That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited, on or about the 20th of February, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud obtained the sum of  N1,540,000 only from Akinlabi Qasim Dada, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on investment in six weeks (30 working days), which representation you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence of obtaining money under false pretence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.”

“Another charge read, “That you, Olaniyan Gbenga Amos and Detorrid Heritage Investment Limited on or about 27th of August, 2020, at Ibadan, within the jurisdiction of this honourable court, with intent to defraud, obtained the sum of  N170,000 only from Alhaji Mukaila Odunayo, when you falsely represented to him that the money was meant for registration and investment with Crime Alert Security Network with a promise of 30% return on Investment in six weeks (30 working days), which representations you knew to be false and thereby committed an offence of obtaining money under false pretence contrary to Section 1(1) (a) and punishable under Section 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act 2006.”

The defendants were said to have pleaded “not guilty” to the charges when they were read to him.

Given his plea, the EFCC counsel, Sanusi Galadanchi, opened the case on February 17, 2022, and called six witnesses, tendered eight exhibits and closed the case on January 24, 2023.

The counsel disclosed further that “At the end of the prosecution’s case, the defendant filed a “no case submission” which was overruled by the court. Consequently, the defendant opened and closed his case by calling three witnesses. Thereafter, Justice Taiwo reserved judgment in the matter till December 14, 2023.

“At the resumption of the trial on Thursday,  December 14,  2023, Justice Taiwo convicted and sentenced the defendant to 15 years imprisonment on each of counts 27, 32, 33, 34, and 35 but discharged and acquitted the defendant on counts 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9; 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19; 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 28, 29; 30 and 31 respectively.

“Furthermore, the court ordered that the sentence should run concurrently and the defendant should also restitute the victims.

“Olaniyan has three other ongoing trials before federal and state High Courts in Ibadan, Oyo State.

“The convict’s journey to the correctional centre began when he was arrested and arraigned before Justice Bayo Taiwo on December 14, 2021, by the EFCC.  He swindled several individuals through fake investment ventures that led to the loss of money to the tune of over N1bn by the investors.

“Olaniyan deliberately reneged to meet up with the agreements he made with his investors, by not paying the agreed “Return on Investment” to those who invested in “Crime Alert Security Network”, a security investment programme under the umbrella of his firm.”

Sanwo-Olu orders tankers, trucks parked on Lagos road to vacate

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Sanwo-Olu orders tankers, trucks parked on Lagos road to vacate

The Lagos State Government, led by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has issued a directive to all tankers and trailers to stop the indiscriminate parking along the Cele Bus Stop inward Tincan Port axis, instructing them to vacate immediately.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday.

According to the statement, the directive is a decisive move to address the ongoing congestion and alleviate the challenges faced by commuters along the axis.

The statement read, “The Special Adviser to the Governor on Transportation, Sola Giwa, said the directive underscores the commitment of the state government to ensuring the smooth flow of traffic and minimising disruptions caused by the persistent presence of these heavy-duty vehicles in the specified location, saying the order aims to enhance the overall mobility experience for residents and commuters in the affected area.

“Prioritising the safety and well-being of the public, the government emphasises the importance of a clear and unobstructed road network, urging tanker and trailer drivers to comply with this directive or be sanctioned in line with the State Transport Reform Law.”

Yuletide: Tinubu approves free rides on trains, 50% reduction in bus fares nationwide

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Yuletide: Tinubu approves free rides on trains, 50% reduction in bus fares nationwide

President Bola Tinubu on Wednesday approved free rides for commuters on all train services and a 50 per cent slash in the price of public transport via mini buses, luxury buses for Nigerians traveling during the yuletide from Thursday, December 21, 2023, to January 4, 2024.

The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Mr Dele Alake, announced this to State House Correspondents at the Aso Rock Villa on Wednesday.

Alake said, “It is in this wise that the President is announcing through us that beginning from tomorrow, December 21, Nigerians willing to travel can board public transport via mini buses, luxury buses at 50 per cent discount of current cost and all our train services on the route the trains currently serve at zero cost on their travels this holiday season.

“This special presidential intervention will commence tomorrow, Thursday, December 21 and it will end on January 4, 2024.

“The Federal Government, through the Ministry of Transportation, will be working with transporters, road transport unions, the Nigerian Railway Corporation to seamlessly deliver on this special presidential initiative.”

Alake added that, “I can tell you that all the relevant stakeholders in that industry have been discussed with or been engaged and all the parameters laid out and the Minister of Transportation has the full details and it’s on top of the game.

“In fact, the Presidents of the various transport unions have been met…and everything is in top shape in terms of execution.”

However, Alake said air iravel was excluded from the initiative because the initiative is targeted at the masses.

“The initiative is for the masses. Air is luxury. The masses don’t use air transport. So they are our main target,” he explained.

Cross River governor declares 14 days Christmas holiday for civil servants

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Cross River governor declares 14 days Christmas holiday for civil servants

Governor Bassey Otu of Cross River has approved a 14-day Christmas holiday for all civil servants in the state effective from December 20.

This is contained in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Emmanuel Ogbeche, and made available to newsmen in Calabar on Wednesday.

The statement, however, said that those on essential services were exempted from this holiday.

In the statement titled “Extended Holiday for Civil Servants”, Otu commended the workers for their commitment and hard work.

The governor enjoined the workers to use the opportunity to spend quality time with their families and also be actively involved in the annual Calabar carnival.

He reiterated the commitment of his administration to provide quality and conducive environment for all citizens and residents of the state, while wishing them a Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year.

The workers are expected back at their duty posts on January 3, 2024.

GIJC 2023: What journalists should focus on when covering climate stories

Sub-editor
-
0
GIJC 2023: What journalists should focus on when covering climate stories

By Elfredah Kevin-Alerechi

Rising sea levels and greenhouse gas emissions, which have a global impact on human lives, animal lives, and vegetation, are major contributors to the climate crisis.

However, as society’s watchdogs, journalists have always reported on climate crises and their consequences, and some newsrooms saw the need to carve out a climate desk dedicated to reporting on everything related to the climate. Still, climate experts say there are more dedicated areas to which journalists should pay more attention when reporting climate change. 

At the 2023 Global Investigative Journalism Conference (GJC2023), Dharshan Wignarajah, the director of the Climate Policy Initiative, a UK-based organisation that specialises in finance and policy analysis and advisory, said that while some brilliant investigations have been done about climate, which are outstanding and beginning to play an important role in illuminating and highlighting some of the key issues,  journalists need to take the challenge further to get governments and organisations involved to reduce the impact of climate change.

As one of the conference speakers for the “Investigative Agenda for Climate Change Journalism” session, Wignarajah advised that journalists give precedence to the under-reported coverage of climate finance to ascertain whether certain agreements, such as the Paris Agreement and COP processes, contain financial vulnerabilities.  

Twenty-three affluent nations are obligated to contribute $100 billion annually to climate finance to assist developing countries in mitigating the effects of climate change. The list includes the United States, Australia, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Portugal, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland. However, according to an analysis by Reuters, only seven of these nations have remitted their “fair share.”

According to Wignarajah, the carbon budget is another area that needs further research since the current budget has been exhausted. “You can virtually rank who uses what from a state perspective or even from a company perspective, and I think it’s very important to shine a light on who holds historical responsibility, not just who are the biggest emitters today but who holds historical responsibility.”

The carbon budget refers to the maximum quantity of greenhouse gases that can be released during a given period. The United Kingdom, for example, established the first legally binding carbon budget for emissions over a five-year period.  The country’s Sixth Carbon Budget mandates that the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions total no more than 965 million metric tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent for the five years 2033-2037. 

He stated that both carbon budgets and climate finance are linked to issues such as loss and damage, with many small island nations, including Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, the Marshall Islands, and Fiji, being profoundly affected by what science has unequivocally established is that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions cause certain extreme climate crises.

“I would recommend evaluating the connections between funding and finance, which will support those who are bearing the brunt of the consequences and serve as the foundation for the transition to low-carbon, resilient pathways—a direction in which we should all be progressing, albeit at varying rates,” he said.

While acknowledging that restrictions on journalistic access to information regarding crucial topics like investments and climate change have rendered it impossible for certain regions to allow free speech, Wignarajah believes journalists who have the opportunity should prioritise covering the financial complexities associated with these topics. 

The Global Investigative Journalism Network has also provided a wealth of resources and guides for journalists interested in covering climate accountability, including tips on reporting climate change in their respective countries.

Buhari and Fashola’s Legacy of Killer Roads

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Buhari and Fashola’s Legacy of Killer Roads

By Felix Oboagwina

This fateful Friday of 28th July 2023, a heavy blanket of sorrow enveloped the entire population of Eket Council in Akwa Ibom State. A burial was taking place at the Eket Stadium. But this was no routine funeral. It was a state burial, a mass interment of 13 indigenes, including a baby, killed on a journey.

The Eket 13

Their Salvation Army-branded bus, “AKWA IBOM-KET-779AV,” travelling back from a church conference trip to Lagos, had joined the long queue of vehicles traversing the bad portion at the Ovia-River Bridge along the Ore-Benin Expressway that Thursday 29th of June.

That spot had become notorious for accidents –whole families had been wiped out there; carcases of all makes and shapes and sizes of vehicles even now lie around there perished forever. Yet the cause of the accident was nothing a little effort could not fix.

All it would take to patch that blood-sucking spot would be no more than two tipper loads of coal-tar. But day after day, vehicles are forced to queue up there in a snarling traffic jam, to navigate the potholed portion at snail-speed. That queue could drag for one whole hour.

Several days on which the road thirsts for blood, one careless heavy-duty driver would forget the routine, fly into the place at top speed and slam into queuing vehicles, spilling blood, death, cries and anguish.

Those homebound Salvation Army from Eket were killed, 13 of them. Of the returning church members, four missed death –a man and his wife and two others.

The couple, who sat in front, had fortuitously taken the opportunity of the slowdown to climb out of the vehicle to ease themselves.

Backs turned to their bus, they heard the deafening bang. They raced back only to behold the mangled, broken bodies of their brethren trapped in the bus underneath a heavy-duty trailer. Everybody in Eket knew everybody who died.

The whole town mourned. One family lost four. Governor Udom Emmanuel turned up for the funeral at the Eket Stadium. He wept openly.

Neither Governor Emmanuel nor Eket’s Salvation Army mourners would be the first or the last to weep over the blood spilled unnecessarily at that killer spot of Ovia Bridge. Yet it would cost less than N20 million of an inflated contract to fix the bad portion.

Even the FERMA or PWD arm of the Ministry of Works would make the repairs in less than 48 hours. On the day the Salvation Army travellers got killed, Lagos State’s former Governor Babatunde Fashola was Minister of Works and Housing.

Where did the trillions go?

The girls of “YOUR VIEW,” the breakfast show at TVC just love, love, love Fashola. The ladies of the flagship breakfast programme of the Lagos-based TV station once had a show where they wondered aloud when Fashola would receive his call-up to continue his “meritorious service” with current President Bola Ahmed Tinubu. But truth is that after his eight-year stint as a “super” Minister under President Muhammadu Buhari, the SAN’s report card shows that, just as he did in Power and Housing, he ended up performing woefully in handling the roads construction portfolio at the Ministry of Works. What can this Senior Advocate boast of after eight years as Buhari’s Works Minister?

In September 2022, Information Minister Lai Mohammed informed that the Ministry of Works had constructed 8,352 kilometres of roads, rehabilitated 7,936 kilometres more, constructed 299 bridges, and maintained 312 bridges more. They reportedly spent some N1.584 trillion for Works and Housing in six years of Buhari’s government, between 2016 and 2021.

Can they point out the 8,300 kilometres of done roads? Where did all those trillions go? Today Northerners complain of bad roads. Southerners complain too. Where are the roads?

Even the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway project the Buhari regime inherited from President Goodluck Jonathan, who inherited it from President Umar Yar’Adua, who inherited it from President Olusegun Obasanjo, remained unfinished till the tenure of Fashola expired. That road is just 128 kilometres. It remains Nigeria’s most important road, connecting the nation’s commercial capital and ports to everywhere upcountry! Eight years of Fashola left it a half-baked work-in-progress.

All roads leading to Lagos

However, the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway is not the only project in which overrated Fashola fell short. The man simply refused to avert his mind to the inlets into the state he once governed. Lagos-Abeokuta remains a death-trap that only those with a “death wish” dare to traverse. Articulated vehicles routinely crash on that hell highway virtually every day, spilling all their goods, several valued at millions of dollars.

Except that Dangote took over the road from Apapa Port and Tin-Can Port in Lagos, that axis would still have remained a forbidden zone. Even then, it remains unfinished. The less than 20 kilometres between Oshodi and Apapa Port is an international route. When the government failed to maintain the road, Dangote took it over for concrete matting. Today, it remains unfinished and has become a second home to drivers and motor-boys, whose tankers, trailers, haulage and articulated vehicles line up to access and exit the Apapa Port. They spend months per trip. They keep crawling on that impossible queue to access the ports and then spend an equal duration to exit.

Not less daunting is the nightmare of plying both the Badagry-Seme road or the Ijoko-Otta road to connect our next-door neighbour, Benin Republic.

All these border roads constitute a disgrace. Imagine the disgust other West African citizens must feel when they come visiting, when their own countries boast of expansive autobahns. What then is the whole hype about Nigeria being Giant of Africa?

All roads leading to Abuja, East, and North

Equally, all roads leading into the Federal Capital Territory Abuja suffer the same fate: The one from Kaduna. The one through Lokoja. The one from Suleja.

The one from Jos and Keffi. Under Fashola, the Abuja-Kaduna road remained a write-off. Apart from the insecurity, the deterioration of the road caused travellers to massively embrace the train.

As I put together this piece, a video clip went into circulation, telling the same story of woe about the Nsukka-9th-Mile Enugu-Ngwo Expressway that connects the South-East to Benue and the North.

The Ibadan-Ilorin highway remains bad even after an expenditure of N23 billion.

The entire East-West-East route lies totally tattered and ruined!

The Benin Bypass remains a hellhole. Trailers and tankers perpetually park thickly on both sides. At that bypass, vehicles end up spending up to two and more hours to hip-hop through what should be a short 15-minute drive.

Similar fate befalls the Benin-Sapele road connecting Edo State to Delta State, ditto the highways from Delta to Rivers, to Akwa Ibom to Cross River.

Going to Abuja from the South-South remains a nightmare. Benin, through Ekpoma, Irrua, Auchi and Okpella in Edo State to Okene to Lokoja in Kogi State en route Abuja comfortably competes with the Hammer House of Horror. On the Benin-Auchi axis, smaller vehicles pass through inner roads of villages to escape the horror of heavy articulated vehicles that have languished on those evil spots for months.

That route new Works Minister Dave Umahi travelled recently and spent 12 hours for a five-hour trip, with all his blaring sirens, gun-toting MOPOL and daredevil soldiers.

In traversing the harrowing Yola-Maiduguri road, like several Nigerian roads, you would be funnelled into driving one-way, facing oncoming traffic, terrible go-slows and ACCIDENTS!

This writing did not set out to catalogue Nigeria’s deplorable roads, but mention needs to be mentioned of notorious nightmare routes in the North like: Kano-Kaduna Road, Kano-Maiduguri Road, Kano to Hadjia in Jigawa State, Kano-Katsina Road, Yobe State’s 50-kilometre Damaturu-Tarmuwa road and Nangere-Jakusko roads, Maiduguri-Damaturu Road that leads to other states and the Bama Road.

Drivers also dread the Gombe-Biu Road, the Bauchi-Gombe Road that regularly claims the lives of commuters and motorists, and the Kaduna-Saminaka Road that links Jos, the Plateau State capital.

Can any insurance cover the wear and tear, man-hour loss and stress that man and machine suffer on Nigeria’s killer roads? Terrible roads have turned Nigeria into the graveyard of vehicles from all over the world. Cars used in this country lack second-hand value anywhere else. Abi have you heard of Nigeria exporting fairly-used vehicles to even “poorer” neighbours like Benin Republic or Cameroon?

Just when we thought Fashola and Buhari could salvage their tattered roads records with the completed Second Niger-Bridge, suddenly, the country woke up to hear the shocking news that N260 billion would be needed to make that bridge usable. This is a bridge that they did not start but ONLY completed.

Demystified

Pray what did Fashola and Buhari spend eight years and several trillions doing in the country’s roads sector?

The question begs for answers. However, like it did Buhari, the last regime clearly demystified Fashola.

As former Works Minister, Fashola, unfortunately will only be remembered by his legacy of killer roads. That is the testimony of passengers, goods and drivers wasting their days sleeping on bad roads North, South, East, and West Nigeria.

That is the testimony as well from those 13 tombstones of the Salvation Army travellers in Eket, Akwa Ibom State, and from all those other unknown souls cut short in needless road accidents nationwide. Those deaths stand as epitaphs to that ingloriously disastrous era of Fashola as Works Minister.

Oboawina is an author, journalist, and publisher. He can be reached at [email protected]

Disclaimer

It is the policy of NewsWireNGR not to endorse or oppose any opinion expressed by a User or Content provided by a User, Contributor, or another independent party. Opinion pieces and contributions are the opinions of the writers only and do not represent the opinions of NewsWireNGR.

Pay me N1m before granting your divorce request, businessman tells estranged wife

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Pay me N1m before granting your divorce request, businessman tells estranged wife

A businessman, Nasiru Yunusa told an Upper Area Court in Kubwa, FCT, that he will grant his wife, Aisha Hamisu a divorce if she pays him N1 million.

Mr Yunusa and Mrs Hamisu, got married according to Islamic law sometime in 2021 and is blessed with a 13-month-old daughter.

Earlier, Mrs Hamisu approached the court seeking dissolution of her marriage with Mr Yunusa, on grounds of lack of care and respect.

She said that Mr Yunusa packed her belongings from his house to her father’s house on April 19, 2022.

Mr Yunusa however said he wanted Mrs Hamisu to return to his house but would grant her a divorce if she agrees to compensate him.

“I have spent money on a lawyer for court proceedings which has been going on and all I have spent on her is N1 million which I am ready to prove,” he said.

In response, the plaintiff said that she did not love Mr Yunusa and could not live with him.

“It is not true that he has spent N1million on me because I have been with my parents for the past two and a half years after he dumped my property at their door step.

“I had our daughter through a Cesarean section at Kubwa General Hospital and he did not pay a dime for hospital bill.

“I am ready to pay him back the dowry of N50,000 only to him,” she said.

The Judge, Mohammed Wakili, adjourned the matter until January 8 for continuation of hearing.

Gunmen kidnap high-ranking Chief, 20 residents in Taraba

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Gunmen kidnap high-ranking Chief, 20 residents in Taraba

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, in the early hours of Tuesday, kidnapped a Second-Class Chief and 20 residents in the Pupule area of Yorro local government in Taraba state.

The gunmen, according to locals in the area, invaded the community around 2:am and took away 21 members of the community.

Reports from the locals also suggested that, Umaru Abubakar, a Second- Class Chief in the area, his son and his pregnant daughter as well as his police orderly were kidnapped during the operation.

“Twenty one members of our community here in Pupule, were kidnapped this morning. The gunmen invaded our community around 2: am and carried out the attack.

“They kidnapped a second-class chief of our area, Alhaji Umaru Abubakar Nyala, his son and pregnant daughter as well as his police orderly,” the source who pleaded anonymity narrated.

Usman Abdullahi, the Police Public Relations Officer of the Taraba State Police Command, also confirmed the attack.

Police confirm abduction of High Court judge in Akwa Ibom

NewsWireNGR
-
0
Police confirm abduction of High Court judge in Akwa Ibom

The Police Command in Akwa Ibom has confirmed the abduction of a High Court Judge, Justice Joy Uwana and her driver in Oron Local Government Area of the state.

The News Agency of Nigeria gathered that the judge was abducted on Monday along with her driver, while her police orderly was killed in the attack which occurred on Uyo-Okobo road.

SP Odiko Macdon, spokesman of the police command in the state confirmed the incident to NAN on Tuesday in Uyo.

He said that the police has commenced investigation to track the kidnappers and ensure the safe release of the judge and her driver.

“The Command has received that report, a very bad dastardly act indeed.

“We are on it and the Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durusinmi has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the matter.

“We have been on it all day and we will spare no resources in ensuring that the needful is done to ensure that she reunites with her family.

“Our heart goes to the family of the deceased officer attached to the judge, who was brutally murdered.

“It is very unfortunate; this is not what Akwa Ibom is known for,” Macdon said.

He urged people in the state to go about their normal businesses, and assured that the perpetrators of the heinous crime would be brought to book.

Macdon said the police command would continue to synergise with sister security agencies to ensure that the state remain peaceful.

He warned criminal elements in the state to relocate as the state is no more conducive for their heinous crimes.

“We enjoin the good people of Akwa Ibom to go about their lawful businesses,” the command spokesman added.

NBA reacts as gunmen kidnap Akwa Ibom High Court Judge, kill orderly

Sub-editor
-
0
NBA reacts as gunmen kidnap Akwa Ibom High Court Judge, kill orderly

Gunmen on Monday kidnapped a high court judge, Justice Joy Uwanna, and her driver, in Oron Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State.

It was gathered that the judge’s orderly was killed in the attack, which occurred along Uyo-Okobo road.

The Chairman of the Oron branch of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Toroscho Eyene, who confirmed the development to our correspondent on Tuesday, said the judge was kidnapped on her way to Uyo after a court sitting.

He disclosed that members of the association have scheduled a meeting with the State Commissioner of Police and the Department of State Services, DSS, tomorrow (Wednesday).

Eyene said, “Yes, the sitting Judge in Oron was kidnapped yesterday (Monday) on her way back to Uyo after a court sitting. By tomorrow, Wednesday, we are moving down to Uyo to meet with the Commissioner of Police, Olatoye Durusinmi and the DSS on the issue.”

The Public Relations Officer of the Akwa Ibom State Police Command, Odiko Macdon, could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.

1...365366367...4,398Page 366 of 4,398