The police command in Akwa Ibom state says a 10-year-old boy is currently in detention over alleged defilement of a three-year-old girl.

A statement on Saturday by Timfon John, the state’s police spokesperson, said the boy admitted to committing the offence without coercion.

He denied the claim that the boy was subjected to trial by ordeal after his arrest.

“To set the records straight, the command wishes to clarify that the said minor was taken into custody following allegations of defilement of a 3-year-old girl (name withheld),” the statement reads.

Advertisement

“The case is currently under investigation and findings, including a medical report, have provided evidence of the incident.

“Additionally, the suspect voluntarily admitted to the offence without coercion. He will be charged to court accordingly on the 10th of February, 2025.

“Furthermore, the command categorically states that there was no trial by ordeal in this matter. Such practices are criminal under Nigerian law, and the police strongly condemn any form of extrajudicial actions.”

Advertisement

The spokesperson said Baba Azare, the Akwa Ibom police commissioner, is committed to ensuring justice is served in line with due process.

She advised the public to exercise patience and allow investigations into the case run its legal course

The Imo State Police Command has denied any knowledge of the whereabouts of the missing president of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, Igboayaka O. Igboayaka, who was reported missing on Saturday night at about 7 pm.

A family source disclosed to journalists that unidentified gunmen, reportedly dressed in black and numbering up to seven, arrived in a Sienna and a Lexus SUV and stormed the residence of the OYC president at Works Layout, Owerri, the Imo State capital, where they arrested him.

The family source further stated that they became apprehensive after repeatedly attempting to reach him through his mobile lines immediately after the incident, but all efforts proved abortive.

“Since this sad news broke, attempts by teeming members of the Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, family members, friends, and associates to reach him through his mobile lines to ascertain his whereabouts have failed, as all his lines were switched off immediately after the ugly incident,” the family source revealed.

Following the incident, the Igbo National Council president, Chilos Godsent, has called on security agencies in the state, particularly the Nigerian Police Force, to launch an investigation to uncover those responsible for the abduction of the Ohanaeze Youth president.

Reacting to the incident, the Imo State Police Command, through its spokesperson, DSP Henry Okoye, issued a press statement clarifying that the missing president of the Ohanaeze Youth Council is not in police custody.

He, however, stated that the command has initiated an investigation to determine the whereabouts of the OYC president.

The police spokesperson also urged members of the public to provide the command with any useful information that could help uncover those responsible for the abduction

Saudi Arabia has restricted Nigeria and 13 other countries to single-entry visas, limited to 30 days.

The changes apply to tourists, business travellers, and those visiting family members but exclude applicants for Hajj, Umrah, diplomatic, or residency visas.

Beyond Nigeria, the affected nations are Algeria, Bangladesh, Egypt, Ethiopia, India, Indonesia, Iraq, Jordan, Morocco, Pakistan, Sudan, Tunisia, and Yemen.

Explaining the rationale for the new regulations, Saudi Arabia cited the misuse of multiple-entry visas as a key reason for the policy shift.

It further noted that some travellers used long-term visas to stay in the country illegally or participate in Hajj without proper authorisation.

The Saudi government regulates Hajj attendance through a fixed quota per country, and unauthorised pilgrims have contributed to overcrowding.

Officials described the suspension of multiple-entry visas as a temporary measure but have not provided a specific timeline for its review.

The development comes ahead of the 2025 Hajj pilgrimage.

In 2024, over 1,200 pilgrims lost their lives due to extreme heat and congestion, a crisis authorities believe was exacerbated by unregistered attendees

A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Bode George, has vowed that he will never leave the party.

Bode George spoke in an interview with NAN on Sunday on Lagos.

He was reacting to the leadership crisis in the party and how some old members are leaving the party, citing internal wranglings.

George said the present problems in the PDP would be resolved and that the party would get stronger .

He said he strongly believed in the ideology of the party, adding that no other political party had strong principles as PDP or practised strong internal democracy like the party.

“I can’t leave PDP, I can’t. Look, every other party is like a miniatured congregation of strange bed fellows.

“They do not have the principles that we have in the our party. So why would I leave reality for others? I would rather go home because I believe so much in the principles of the party

“A rolling stone gathers no moss.If we have crisis in the party,we will stay there and resolve it,we are going nowhere,” he said.

He said those leaving PDP over challenges in the party were not committed to the party in the first place.

George said some of the heavyweights who left the party had since realised that the PDP was the only party practising true internal democracy.

He said the failure of late Chief Alex Ekwueme, a foundation member, to get the party’s presidential ticket on two attempts meant PDP was not built around individuals.

Speaking on whether PDP missed defected chieftains like Mr Peter Obi and Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso, George said the party did not miss anyone.

He said what had been missing were the selflessness, dedication and progressive politics of the founding fathers .

The PDP chieftain said that individual interests should be subsumed under the interest of the party for the PDP to rise above its challenges.

George stressed the importance of unity, and legacy-building in political leadership, citing the “exemplary conduct” of former vice president, late Chief Alex Ekwueme.

According to him, Ekwueme contested with President Obasanjo and he declared he lost.

Lauding Ekwueme’s steadfast commitment to democratic principles and party unity, George said, “He never, at any time, raised his hands to demonise or destroy the party.”

The marriage between popular Nigerian gospel singer, Paul Nwokocha and his second wife, Mrs. Goodness Nwokocha, has reportedly ended.

DAILY POST recalls that Nwokocha had married Goodness in September 2023.

The singer had accused his first wife, Alice Nwokocha, of maltreatment, leading to their separation, hence his subsequent second marriage to Goodness, who hails from Nkpa in Bende Local Government Area of Abia State.

A family source told journalist, Promise Uzoma Okoro that trouble began in May last year, after the new wife was allegedly subjected to ill treatment by the gospel singer.

“Goodness was said to have had no prior relationship with the gospel singer before their marriage. She reportedly relocated from Lagos to marry him at the insistence of his uncles, without conducting any background checks.

“As of now, the bride price has been returned to to the family of Paul Nwokocha, signaling the formal end of the union,” the source said.

Paul Nwokocha reacts:

However, reacting to the development, Paul accused his new wife of sending nude images and videos to other men.

DAILY POST sighted a video where the gospel singer made the allegation.

He alleged that his wife was taking nude photos and videos and sending them to men.

“Greetings to you all, all my friends and well wishers, thank you so much, my name still remains Paul Nwokocha, a minister of the gospel.

“I have heard so many people talk about my marital problem on social media, and I want to tell you something, If I marry today and I find out that the wife I married is doing abominable things before God and man, I will send you out of my house.

“Hear me again, If I marry today and I find out that the wife I married is doing abominable things before God and man, I will send you out of my house without any apology.

“You that is talking and showing pity on her, how will you feel if the woman you call your wife is taking nudes photos and videos and sending them to men, how will you feel if you find such thing, how will you feel, I need your comment.

“I married a wife, not a whore. So, I owe nobody apology for this, stop calling me names. Not even minding how long I married you, if I find you are doing evil before God, you are going out of my house,” he said

A former winner of Nigerian Idol, singer Kunle Ogunrombi popularly known as K-Peace, has accused the show organizers of not paying prize money.

The season 5 winner made the allegation during an interview on the latest episode of the ‘Honest Bunch Podcast’ with Nedu Wazobia.

DAILY POST reports that in 2015, K-Peace was announced the winner of the Etisalat-sponsored Nigerian Idol Season 5.

Speaking 10 years after his win, the singer in a trending video on social media, stated that the organizers failed to fulfill prizes announced to the public.

Expressing his frustration and disappointment, he said “I came outside of the Nigerian Idol platform with zero naira in my account.”

Speaking in pidgin English, he continued “As Nigerian Idol winner, I go waka all through Lagos, go for interviews without food for belle despite winning N7.5 million.

“They announced that I had won N7.5 million. When I asked about the prize, they said they are still branding the car. What they announced on national TV be say I won N7.5 million with a brand new car and I’m supposed to have a two week trip to Dubai. I go through hell after winning the show.”

Nigerian Idol is a music talent reality show

Gbemisola, the elder sister of Nigerian controversial musician, Portable, has claimed that her embattled brother is under the spiritual spell of one of their family members.

Gbemisola made this claim following the singer’s ongoing legal battle with the Ogun state government.

DAILY POST reports that the Ogun state government on Thursday arraigned Portable who is currently at large for assaulting the officials from the Ministry of Physical Planning and Urban Development.

He was arraigned with nine of his associates before Abeokuta Magistrates’ Court by the state police command.

However, speaking from his hide-out, the singer pleaded with the government to release his associates from detention, stating that he is being “set-up by some certain individuals”.

Why challenging the officers to provide video evidence of the alleged assault, Portable further warned that he might take his own life following the overwhelming frustration caused by the situation.

Reacting to the development in a viral video circulating on X, Portable’s sister apologised for his controversial actions, alleging that a family member is spiritually influencing the singer.

“People of Nigeria, I greet you all. I’m Portable’s eldest sister, the first child of his mother. We are just three that our mother gave birth to.

“Portable has never steal before. I have never come out like this to speak, and he hasn’t even posted me despite being his sister. But he is the only one taking care of the family. If not for him, I would have died during my sickness.

“One of our family members, Akeem is the one casting spell on Portable, he is the one spiritually influencing Portable to misbehave and offend Nigerians.”

The General Superintendent of Deeper Christian Life Ministry, Pastor William Kumuyi, and the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, have been announced as winners of the Irohinodua 2025 Persons of the Year Award.

The editorial board of Irohin Odua, the first pan Yoruba news online, disclosed this in a statement published on its website on Saturday, commending the duo for their outstanding service to God and humanity.

The statement signed by Feyisike Adeoye partly read, “The world and Nigeria are riddled with violence, hate, vengeance and human mystery, and these two individuals with their words and deeds have continued to profess love, peace and brotherhood, not only in Nigeria but across the world.

“In the year 2024, Nigeria in particular, witnessed an upsurge of violence, hate and disaffection, driven by faith and ethnicity, these two individuals, stirred the whirlwind of harmony in every part of the world where their religious institutions have strongholds.

“While others used religion to advance hatred and parochial political and ethnic goals, Pastor Kumuyi and Adeboye converted their multiple platforms to the advancement of peace and good neighbourliness.”

It added that although Kumuyi and Adeboye “came under vicious and violent attacks from their opponents,” their responses were measured, cultured and propelled by godliness.

“Among over 60 million Yoruba people all over the world, these two individuals remain some of the very few that, though hold no political positions, can knock and open the doors of any president or prime minister all over the world.

“Even though local authorities have not given them recognition, their stars continue to shine all over the world to the glory of the Yoruba nation,” the statement added.

Adeoye further stated that both pastors who could have with their impressive academic backgrounds excelled in other fields, chose to dedicate their lives to ministry to make an impact on the well-being of people.

She wrote, “It is also important to know that these two individuals are well educated and will be well to do without taking up the pastoral office.

“The two leaders run faith industries that heal millions of human souls, bring comfort, uplift the spirit and bring hope to the multitude of the hopeless. Apart from spiritual healings, it is important to know that millions of people, including non-Christians derive their livelihood from their tabernacle.”

Irohin Odua said the decade-old award is given yearly to the most distinguished Yoruba personality.

Previous recipients of the Irohinodua Award were said to include Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka, Dr. Adeniyan Abraham, and the Olu of Warri among others.

Attempts by two drug kingpins to smuggle into Nigeria consignments of heroin through the Port Harcourt International Airport and the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMIA) have been foiled by operatives of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA).

One of the kingpins who used dual identities to aid his cross border movements, has a Nigerian passport with his original name: Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus, 30, and that of Sierra Leone with a different name: Kargbo Mohamed Foday.

Sylvanus was intercepted by NDLEA officers with his Sierra Leonean passport on Sunday, February 2, 2025 at the Port Harcourt Airport in Rivers State during the inward clearance of passengers on Qatar Airways flight from Doha through Abuja to Port Harcourt.

He was subsequently taken for body scan, which confirmed he ingested illicit drugs and thereafter placed under excretion observation during which he expelled a total of 62 wraps of heroin in five excretions, weighing 1.348 kilograms.

A statement signed by the NDLEA Director, Media & Advocacy, Femi Babafemi, said investigation revealed Onyekwonike Elochuckwu Sylvanus (alias Kargbo Mohamed Foday) alternated his two identities for different drug trafficking missions between Thailand, Pakistan, Iran and West African countries.

“He claimed to have gone full time into the illicit drug trade in 2017 when his clothing and shoe business went down,” Babafemi stated.

The second kingpin, James Herbert Chinoso, 48, was arrested by NDLEA operatives at the Lagos Airport earlier on Saturday, February 1, upon his arrival from Madagascar via Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on an Ethiopian Airlines flight. After a body scan confirmed illicit drug in his system, he was placed under excretion observation, during which he egested 63 wraps of heroin with a total weight of 909 grams.

“Chinoso had left Lagos to Madagascar on 26th January 2025 and returned via Addis Ababa after spending a week. He claimed to have gone into the criminal trade after his phone accessories business in Liberia collapsed,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, in other operarions, two parcels of 2.82 kilograms of Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis imported from the United States with Lagos as destination were equally intercepted by NDLEA operatives of the Directorate of Operations and General Investigation (DOGI) at a courier firm in Lagos on Thursday, February 6. In another interdiction operation same day but in a different logistics company in Lagos, anti-narcotics officers intercepted 80 ampoules of pentazocine injection 225grams concealed in cartons heading to Canada.

In Kano, NDLEA operatives on Monday, February 3 arrested the duo of Usaini Salisu and Yahaya Mu’azu, both 23 years old, at Gadar Tamburawa along Zaria-Kano Road, where 15,396 pills of tramadol were recovered from a gas cylinder used to conceal the consignment. In another operation same day, operatives nabbed a female suspect, Chioma Okeke, 35, with 27 blocks of skunk, a strain of cannabis weighing 15kg, at Sabon Gari area of Kano.

A consignment of 12,800 pills of tramadol 250mg going to Shuwarin in Jigawa state, was intercepted by NDLEA officers on patrol along Kabba-Obajana highway in Kogi state on Saturday, February 8 with a suspect, Salisu Basiru, 33, arrested.

Similarly, no fewer than 65 parcels of Colorado, a strong synthetic strain of cannabis with a total weight of 1.600kg also heading to Jigawa state, were recovered from another suspect, Rufai Hassan, 32 at the same check point same day.

The NDLEA spokesman noted that with the same vigour, Commands and formations of the Agency across the country continued their War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), sensitisation activities to schools, worship centres, work places and communities among others in the past week. These include: WADA enlightenment lecture to students and staff of Saint Secondary School, Abakaliki, Ebonyi; Taangayar Malam Abubakar Bichi, an Almajiri school, Bichi, Kano; Federal Government Girls College, Calabar, Cross River; College of Nursing and Science, Birnin Kebbi; and Meiran Community Junior Secondary School, Abule Egba, Lagos state among others.

While commending the officers and men of MMIA, PHIA, DOGI, Kano and Kogi Commands of the Agency for the arrests and seizures, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of NDLEA, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), stated that their operational successes and those of their compatriots across the country, especially their balanced approach to drug supply reduction and drug demand reduction efforts, were well appreciated.

Dismissed Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of Adamawa State, Barrister Hudu Ari, has reaffirmed his claim that Senator Aisha Binani, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 gubernatorial election, was the rightful winner of the poll.

He defended his stance by swearing with the name of God, insisting that his actions during the exercise were based on truth and evidence.

Addressing journalists at his private residence in Bauchi State on Saturday, Barrister Ari insisted that he possessed documentary evidence proving that Binani defeated the incumbent governor, Umaru Ahmadu Fintiri, of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Ari, who was suspended in 2023 and eventually dismissed following National Assembly’s approval of his sack last week, expressed frustration that his evidence of election irregularities was disregarded by both the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Adamawa State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal.

Hudu Ari, holding a copy of the Claims evidence was ignored Qur’an during the press briefing, he swore that his actions were in good faith and in line with electoral guidelines.

According to Ari, there was immense pressure on him and other electoral officials to declare Governor Fintiri the winner or risk personal security threats.

He further alleged that INEC’s Head of ICT in Adamawa State, Bala Aji, compromised the election process by handing over about 20,000 election documents to the governor, who was also the PDP candidate in the election.

He recounted an incident where he, along with the Commissioner of Police and other security agencies, raided a private residence allegedly linked to the governor, where electoral malpractices were taking place.

“It took time to open the door, and when we finally gained access, we found the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and other officials working with election documents that covered the entire state,” he claimed.

Ari also accused Aji of distributing BVAS machines and bribing INEC staff with foreign currency on Election Day, “This was a clear abuse of responsibility, and I took immediate steps against these actions, expecting INEC headquarters to intervene. Instead, my reports were ignored,” he lamented.

Ari asserted that he was denied a fair hearing by INEC and the Tribunal, and his evidence supporting Binani’s victory was dismissed without due consideration. He maintained that his sack by the President was not his biggest concern but rather the “media trial” that, according to him, had tarnished his reputation.

Addressing allegations that he received a ₦2billion bribe from politicians, Ari flatly denied the claim. He revealed that he was consulting his family on whether to pursue legal action, stating, “Nigeria belongs to all of us, and it is up to us to either make it or mar it.”

Reflecting on his time in office in Adamawa State, he pointed out that he had successfully conducted the 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections without controversy.

However, he claimed that issues arose during the Gubernatorial and State Assembly elections in 69 polling units of the State, leading to the crisis that ultimately resulted in his dismissal.