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Tems, the Nigerian singer, has revealed she is open to the idea of marriage.
In a recent chat on the ‘Shopping The Sneakers’ show, the host asked if marriage was in her future.
After a brief pause, the music star responded, “Yeah. We will see”.
Tems, born Temilade Openiyi, is not known to be in any public romantic relationship.
Previously, rumours circulated that she was pregnant with a child for Future, the American rapper, which she quickly debunked.
Recently, the 29-year-old said many men enter relationships with no other agenda than sex.
“A lot of guys, they are very obvious. There is no agenda but to penetrate,” she said.
She also spoke about the qualities she looks out for in a man, listing intelligence and humor as her favorite attributes.
Tems gained popularity in 2020, courtesy of her collaboration with Wizkid, the Afrobeats singer, on the song ‘Essence’.
In the same year, she released her debut extended play (EP) titled ‘For Broken Ears’.
She released ‘Born In The Wild’, her debut album, on June 7.
She has received several awards and recognitions for her talent.
Last year, the songstress won her first-ever Grammy award for her role in ‘Wait for U’, the 2022 hit song by Future featuring Drake.
Her song ‘Love Me Jeje’ recently made the summer playlist of Barack Obama, the former US president.
[TheCable]
A Kaduna-based Islamic cleric, Ahmad Gumi, has accused the Nigerian authorities of turning bandits operating in North-west and North-central Nigeria into religious fighters like Boko Haram insurgents operating in the country’s North-east.
Mr said a recent video of a jubilant terrorism kingpin, Bello Turji, and his armed bandits celebrating “victory” over the Nigerian military and claiming they are fighting for God was an indication that the group has adopted the ideology of Boko Haram.
PREMIUM TIMES reported how the bandits on Thursday burnt down two Nigerian military Mines Resistant Armour Personnel (MRAP) vehicles stuck in the mud in the country’s northwest Zamfara State.
Mr Gumi, in a Facebook post, said the video uploaded by Mr Turji’s group had identified the bandits as Boko Haram members rather than people fighting against ethnic marginalisation.
Mr Gumi said he had advised Nigerian authorities to be careful in fighting the bandits so as not to push them to become guerrilla fighters and terrorists.
He said in the video showed that the groups had abandoned their initial fight against marginalisation and adopted the Boko Haram doctrine of fighting and killing in the name of God.
He wrote: “Radicalisation of Bandits: I warned against the danger”.
“Initially Bandits were fighting an ethnic war that could easily be resolved. I warned if the kinetic approach is intensified, they will turn into ideologically motivated guerilla warfare. Nobody listened.
“The difference between the former and the latter is that ideological war is mostly intractable, BH (Boko Haram) as an example. They commit the same crime, but this time, they think they are serving God. The picture is gloomy,” the cleric said.
This newspaper reported seeing a video of a jubilant terrorism kingpin, Mr Turji, and his armed bandits celebrating “victory” over the Nigerian military after burning down two Mines Resistant Armour Personnel (MRAP) vehicles stuck in the mud.
Soldiers abandoned the vehicles during an operation in the troubled Zamfara State in the country’s northwest region.
In the video, Mr Turji and his lieutenants are celebrating with victory slogans.
“Bello Turji has seized two trucks. Nigerian Army Bello Turji is coming for you, Insha Allah, if you don’t allow peace to reign. We are telling you and your clerics that we are with Allah”, Mr Turji says as he moves towards the stuck vehicles.
The hundreds of mostly youth bandits are dressed in combat regalia Bello Turji and are chanting “Allahu Akbar” and proclaiming “victory” over the army.
On Thursday, soldiers from the Nigerian Army 1 Brigade in Gusau, stationed at Zurmi, carried out an offensive against terrorists in a forest in the Kwashabawa area of the Zurmi Local Government Area of Zamfara.
The soldiers abandoned the vehicles and retreated from the scene because they could not move ahead in the dangerous areas with their plan to attack terrorist leaders in a meeting.
A former Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Organisation during the 2023 elections, Doyin Okupe, has revealed reasons why he and the Labour Party candidate in the election, Peter Obi, defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
According to Okupe, he and Obi left the PDP because they both agreed and believed that the next President of Nigeria must be a Southerner, preferably an Igbo man from the South-East, but the party was not working in that direction.
Speaking on Monday in a chat with journalists in Lagos, Okupe said his political agreement with Obi, however, ended after President Bola Tinubu won the election and was further affirmed by the courts up to the Supreme Court.
The former presidential media aide said these in reaction to online attacks from supporters of Obi, popularly known as Obidients, who were criticising him on X for dumping their principal and backing the policies of the present administration.
“Obi and I left the PDP because we both agreed and believed that the next President must be a Southerner, preferably an Igbo man from the South-East. Unfortunately, we lost that election. Another Southerner, Bola Tinubu, won the election. This is God’s will. He gives power to whom He wishes. My political commitment and agreement with Obi ended and expired there. I am too experienced in this game of politics for my subsequent political disposition and destiny to be tied to Obi’s ambition. Impossible.
“For me, that cooperation ended with the Supreme Court judgment, right or wrong. There must be order in a society.” Okupe said.
Speaking further on why he opted to support Obi for the 2023 presidential election, Okupe said it was time for the presidency to go to the South and that he aligned with the Igbo candidacy since they had not had the opportunity to produce the country’s president before.
The former presidential aide said he didn’t support Obi because he believed the LP candidate was politically superior to him or because of friendship but purely out of principle.
“I was convinced in my heart that if the presidency was going to the South, then it must be an Igbo man from the South-East because I believe in equity and justice. You can also verify this with Papa Adebanjo. He is still alive. I did not support Obi because he was politically superior to me or because he was a friend or an associate.
“My unalloyed support and commitment to Obi was based on principle. Throughout my period as a DG campaign, I used my own car and never received one naira from Obi as a salary. It was a mutual friend who funded me personally throughout. This can be verified. In difficult times, I borrowed a substantial amount of money to ensure our zonal campaign in the South-West was a grand success. I was refunded by Peter Obi months later.
“You (Obidients) all hailed, praised, and honoured me because, in your understanding, you believed I was just a foolish politician who left his comfort zone to come and help you fulfil your own agenda. You were all wrong,” he added.
A French pensioner went on trial Monday for allowing scores of strangers to rape his wife after he drugged her, in a case that has horrified the country.
Fifty men, recruited online, are also being tried in the southern city of Avignon alongside the main suspect, a 71-year-old former employee at France’s state-owned power utility company EDF.
Police counted a total of 92 rapes committed by 72 men, 51 of whom were identified.
The men, aged between 26 and 74, are accused of raping the 72-year-old woman who, her lawyers say, was so heavily sedated she was not aware of the abuse that went on for a decade.
Presiding judge Roger Arata announced that all hearings would be public, granting the woman her wish for “complete publicity until the end” of the court case, according to one of her lawyers, Stephane Babonneau.
The trial will nonetheless be “a horrible ordeal” for her, said another of her lawyers, Antoine Camus.
“For the first time, she will have to live through the rapes that she endured over 10 years,” he told AFP, adding that his client had “no recollection” of the abuse that she discovered only in 2020.
The woman, who arrived at the court supported by her three children, did not want a trial behind closed doors because “that’s what her attackers would have wanted”, Camus said.
– Some came back six times –
Police began to investigate the defendant, Dominique P., in September 2020 when he was caught by a security guard secretly filming under the skirts of three women in a shopping center.
Police said they found hundreds of pictures and videos of his wife on his computer, visibly unconscious and mostly in the foetal position.
The images are alleged to show dozens of rapes in the couple’s home in Mazan, a village of 6,000 people around 33 kilometers (21 miles) from Avignon in Provence.
Investigators also found chats on a site called coco.fr, since shut down by police, in which he recruited strangers to come to their home and have intercourse with his wife.
Dominique P. admitted to investigators that he gave his wife powerful tranquilizers, especially Temesta, an anxiety-reducing drug.
The abuse started in 2011, when the couple was living near Paris, and continued after they moved to Mazan two years later.
The husband took part in the rapes, filmed them and encouraged the other men using degrading language, according to prosecutors.
No money changed hands.
The accused rapists include a forklift driver, a fire brigade officer, a company boss and a journalist.
Some were single, others married or divorced, and some were family men. Most participated just once, but some took part up to six times.
– Murder probe –
Many have said they thought they were simply helping a libertine couple live out its fantasies, but Dominique P. told investigators that all were aware that his wife had been drugged without her knowledge.
An expert said her state “was closer to a coma than to sleep”.
Her husband told prosecutors that only three men left the house quickly after arriving, while all others proceeded to have intercourse with his wife.
Dominique P., who said he was raped by a male nurse when he was nine, is ready to face “his family and his wife”, his lawyer Beatrice Zavarro told AFP.
This trial may not be his last.
He has also been charged with a 1991 murder and rape, which he denies, and an attempted rape in 1999, to which he admitted after DNA testing.
Experts said the man does not appear to be mentally ill, but in documents seen by AFP, they said he had a need to feel “all-powerful” over the female body.
The trial is to last until December 20.
The Briton accused of inciting insurrection against President Bola Tinubu’s government, Drew Povey has urged the Nigerian government not to treat protests as treason.
Mr Povey, whom the Nigerian government said also bears the name Andrew Wynne, said this in a statement in reaction to the government’s allegation of building “a network of sleeper cells to topple” the Bola Tinubu administration “and plunge the nation into chaos.”
Povey’s bookshop located at the Abuja headquarters of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had earlier been raided and sealed.
Part of the charges against him was enabling some #EndBadGovernance protesters “with intent to destabilize Nigeria.”
The statement on the letterhead of his bookshop reads: “PROTEST IS NOT TREASON – release all the detainees! The mass protests over #EndBadGovernance and #EndHunger frightened the government. But rather than addressing the peoples’ demands, the government turned to repression.
“Perhaps 40 people were murdered by the police and other security forces, thousands were arrested and many still remain in captivity. In Abuja, the authorities have attacked the so-called leaders and organisers of the protests. Ten people face ridiculous charges including treason, mutiny and levying war against the state.
“The NLC promised a general strike to protect its President, Joe Ajaero, from arrest and detention in relation to similar charges. Despite the flimsy nature of the evidence against the detainees, they face long years in prison unless the trade union movement is prepared to protect them. On 7th August the NLC said it, “condemns in the strongest terms the human rights violations perpetrated by security forces against peaceful protesters.”
“The first person to be arrested in this case was Eleojo Opaluwa. He is a former colleague of Joe Ajaero, working for NUEE, the electricians union, as an organiser in Abuja. He is also the Vice Chair of the NLC in Kogi State. He has now been detained for over 4 weeks with no tangible evidence. His family was told that he had received a WhatsApp message from one of the other alleged leaders. This was after Eleojo had actually been detained.
“The ten detainees have been accused of conspiracy to commit a range of serious crimes. However, they barely know each other. Five of them may have been members of a WhatsApp group set up to organise the protests in Abuja. But the other five are unknown to these comrades. They may be a few of the flag waving protesters from Kano who were added to extend the range of the organizers to cover the main protests from Sokoto to Maiduguri
“There appears to be a conflict between the government and the police investigating this case. The head of the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) told the detainees’ lawyers that he would have released them, but that he had orders from above not to set them free. So the police have developed what appears to be a ridiculous case involving the owner of Iva Valley Books. They are claiming that he goes under the name of Andrew Povich, a Russian-sounding name, and that he has now left Nigeria for Russia.
“Neither of these claims are true. Yomi, who works for Iva Valley Books, has, like the other detainees, been treated in a terribly inhumane manner. He was arrested in front of his wife and three-year old daughter. All their phones were confiscated by the police. This was despite appeals from his wife that they needed a phone to get money for food.
“He was then imprisoned illegally and held in chains, beaten and tortured for three days. His only involvement was to design flyers for the protests on the instructions of his boss. The NLC has shown that it has the power to protect its President. It now needs to extend this action to protect its other officers, its members and the general public.”
A former Director-General of the Presidential Campaign Organisation of the Labour Party, Dr Doyin Okupe, has stated that his relationship with the party’s candidate in the 2023 general election, Peter Obi, ended immediately after President Bola Tinubu emerged.
Okupe also mentioned that he had agreed with Obi never to accept any political appointment from him upon his emergence.
The former presidential spokesperson made these remarks to journalists in Lagos on Monday to ward off insults from Obi supporters, popularly known as Obidients, who were criticising him on X for backing the policies of the present administration.
According to him, those abusing and insulting him for supporting Tinubu’s economic recovery plan are ignorant, stressing that Nigeria’s project is bigger than that of any individual or political party.
He said, “I supported Peter Obi out of a commitment to patriotism and nationalistic fervour, not because I don’t know who I am in national politics or where I come from. I told Peter Obi, and we both agreed, that I would not hold any position in his government if he won. Obi is alive, kindly verify. If it is not true, let Obi publicly say that I am lying.
“Obi and I left the PDP because we both agreed and believed that the next President must be a Southerner, preferably an Igbo man from the South-East. Unfortunately, we lost that election. Another Southerner, Bola Tinubu, won the election. This is God’s will. He gives power to whom He wishes. My political commitment and agreement with Obi ended and expired there. I am too experienced in this game of politics for my subsequent political disposition and destiny to be tied to Obi’s ambition. Impossible.
“For me, that cooperation ended with the Supreme Court judgment, right or wrong. There must be order in a society.
To me, the allegations of rigging do not hold water. All elections in Nigeria from the 1st Republic to date have been rigged in one way or another, except perhaps Abiola’s election. In America today, the majority of Republicans believe the election that brought Biden in as POTUS was rigged. However, the Americans did not bring down their country because of that. They patiently waited for the next election and are making efforts to correct the imperfections.”
Providing insights into his reasons for supporting Obi from the beginning, the LP’s former campaign DG maintained that he was convinced that the presidency was going to the South and that he aligned with the Igbo candidacy since they had not had the opportunity before in the country’s history.
“I was convinced in my heart that if the presidency was going to the South, then it must be an Igbo man from the South-East because I believe in equity and justice. You can also verify this with Papa Adebanjo. He is still alive. I did not support Obi because he was politically superior to me or because he was a friend or an associate.
“My unalloyed support and commitment to Obi was based on principle. Throughout my period as a DG campaign, I used my own car and never received one naira from Obi as a salary. It was a mutual friend who funded me personally throughout. This can be verified. In difficult times, I borrowed a substantial amount of money to ensure our zonal campaign in the South-West was a grand success. I was refunded by Peter Obi months later.
“You (Obidients) all hailed, praised, and honoured me because, in your understanding, you believed I was just a foolish politician who left his comfort zone to come and help you fulfil your own agenda. You were all wrong,” he added.
Okupe further stated that he was not narrow-minded when he was a critic and that Obidients should adopt a similar approach in the future.
The announcement of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) on being unable to sustain fuel supply is a game plan, according to experts.
On Sunday, Chief Corporate Communications Officer of the NNPCL, Olufemi Soneye, admitted that the national oil company is owing suppliers, but did not specify the exact amount.
“NNPC Ltd has acknowledged recent reports in national newspapers regarding the company’s significant debt to petrol suppliers. This financial strain has placed considerable pressure on the Company and poses a threat to the sustainability of fuel supply,” Soneye said in a statement.
Experts have, however, suggested that the announcement is part of a game plan from the government, which may lead to 950/1,000 per litre price for petrol.
They alleged that government officials had been pushing this narrative in the last two weeks.
The Minister of State for Petroleum, Heineken Lokpobiri, had, on Monday, asked the NNPCL to halt the sale of fuel below landing costs, arguing that this would help curb smuggling to neighbouring countries.
The Major Energy Marketers Association of Nigeria (MEMAN) recently disclosed that the landing cost of petrol as of July, 2024, was N1,117 per litre.
It also revealed the landing costs of AGO (Diesel) at N1,157 for a 20KT vessel and ATK at N1,217 for a 15KT vessel landing in Apapa, Lagos.
An independent oil marketer, who preferred anonymity, said: “It was almost inevitable for the pump price to not rise, as this is one of the outcomes of a fully deregulated market.
“The NNPCL remains the main importer, with private importation remaining limited. This situation is worsened by Nigeria’s declining crude oil output, which impacts the country’s capacity to import refined products. The Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) has noted the dwindling output of many nations, including Nigeria”, the marketer said.
A former chairman of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN), Ejigbo Depot in Lagos, Mr Akin Akinade recently said: “Our members have no direct supply from NNPC. We buy from Third Party. We buy at DAPMAN Depot in Abule Ado.
“They sell to us N840, N850, and by the time you add transportation to that, there is no way our members would sell less than they are selling. If they bring down their price, we are also going to bring down our price. We are in business to make money”, he said.
In a chat with Daily Trust, Chief Executive Officer, 11 Plc (formerly Mobil Nigeria), Tunji Oyebanji said: “Selling below the cost, whether from import or local refineries, is not sustainable. If they sell at economic price, perhaps others can import, supply will improve, and the financial strain will not be on them alone. It’s either that or these supply disruptions will continue indefinitely. I am baffled why they have not been upfront about this since instead of denials.”
An aluminium worker identified as Lawrence Uzor, attacked his wife and gouged out her eyes allegedly for ritual purposes in Abia State.
The incident happened at Adiele Estate in Umueze Ibeku in Umuahia North Local Government Area of the state on Saturday night, August 24, 2024
The suspect, who hails from Umuchieze in Bende LGA of the state, used a knife to remove the victim's eyes while she was asleep.
Lawrence also attacked his landlady, Madam Lovejane Nwaiwu, as he knocked off some of her teeth and cut off her upper lip.
Madam Nwaiwu, who was also admitted at the Federal Medical Centre, Umuahia, said she heard a noise in the couple's apartment and went to find out what was happening.
“At about 10 pm on Saturday, I heard the man shouting ‘Odogwu, Odogwu (mighty, mighty)’. I was worried as I had not heard the man and his wife, Amarachi Lawrence praying like that,” she explained.
“I started praying for them. After that, I couldn’t sleep up to about 12 am and was restless. At about 1 am, the wife, who is a teacher with one of the foremost private schools in Umuahia and aged 38 years started shouting, ‘Mummy, I have been killed’. I opened my door, came out peeped through their bedroom window and saw the man pressed down on the wife with a knife in his hands
"I started pushing on people’s gates and calling out to Umueze people, but nobody came out or responded. After all, my attempts to call neighbours to come and nobody answered me, I went to their parlour door and started knocking on the door and suddenly, he opened the door while holding the knife and tried giving me cuts on the head but I defended my head with my hand and he cut me at the hand and further slashed the knife at my face that incidentally cut me at the mouth and many of my upper teeth came out.
“I ran into my house and locked the door, while he ran outside, locked our gate and went to a neighbour’s house to tell them that he had killed his wife and his landlord’s wife. While inside my room, I called my mother and my daughter, who then called a church neighbour and the community vigilance team who rushed to the neighbour’s house and apprehended him.”
First Lady of Abia State, Mrs Priscilla Otti, said she was deeply saddened by the case just a few days after signing the compact agreement with the UNFPA on gender-based violence.
Mrs Otti, who spoke at the Federal Medical Centre, FMC Umuahia where the victims are being treated, said she would take immediate action to ensure the victim is well and protected.
“This is a terrible case of violence, attempted murder,” she stated.
Mrs Otti further assured that the state government would tackle such cases, stating that she would ensure further GBV responses front desk and team would take proper actions.
She commended the Umueze Ibeku community over their response and support to the issue, assuring the state GBV will be partnering with communities.
The First Lady also donated cash for the treatment and upkeep of the victims.
Earlier in his response, the Medical Director of FMC, Umuahia, Prof. Azubuike Onyebuchi, who was represented by his Director. Medical Services, Mrs Aisha Onyemaobi explained to Otti that reports indicated that the main victim, 38-year-old Lawrence, was deeply asleep when the husband woke her up and started cutting her.
Onyemaobi further disclosed that good progress in her recovery is expected, saying the suspect is in custody.
Also speaking, the Umueze Ibeku community chairman and General Manager, Abia State Environmental Protection Agency, Umuahia Zone, Tutus Jonah, confirmed the incident.
“It was just like a film that fateful morning”, he said, adding that before that day, the victim and her husband had been living very well as husband and wife.
He however mentioned that it was gathered that a young man in the village took Lawrence to a prayer house, after which he came back following a visit to a local stream with kolanut, egg and other items
Jonah said that the owner of the prayer house was arrested and later released.
Meanwhile, the victim’s sister, Ijeoma Okpokiri and her cousin, Chioma Okpokiri, both from Emede Ibeku pleaded with the Inspector General of Police and Government at all levels, particularly the Abia State Governor, Alex Otti to look into the matter and to also help their sister to recover.
Police in Edo have detained a 19-year-old native doctor, Timothy Dauda, for allegedly shooting his client, Alex Ezekiel, to death during an “anti-bullet” charm trial.
The Command’s Public Relations Officer, SP Moses Yamu, confirmed the incident to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Monday.
Yamu said that the incident happened on August 20 in Onumu Community, near Igara, Akoko Edo Local Government Area of the state.
He said that the suspect was arrested by operatives from Igarra Divisional Police Station in Akoko-Edo.
NAN learnt that the suspect allegedly claimed to specialise in preparing charms against gunshots and machete cuts.
A source further told NAN that the deceased had visited the native doctor’s home to obtain the charm.
It said that “in a shocking turn of events”, Dauda attempted to test the efficacy of the charm by shooting the client with a gun.
The charm was said to have failed as he sustained fatal injuries.
“When he was rushed to a hospital in Igarra, he was pronounced dead by a medical doctor,” the source further said.
Meanwhile, the police spokesman said that the suspect would face prosecution as soon as investigations were concluded
A senior police officer, now retired, has said that the real-time tracking technological platform that once helped the Intelligence Response Team, IRT, to crack many criminal cases ended up being used by politicians to monitor “enemies and mistresses”.
The officer said this while responding to Vanguard’s question on what went wrong with the system put in place to monitor the locations of kidnappers and interception of calls for prompt arrest and rescue of abducted victims.
The Police launched intelligence-led policing in 2015 with the installation of a tracking device that was installed by the then-Inspector-General of Police office, Solomon Arase.
There was also the operation unit code-named Intelligence Response Team, IRT, (still in operation). The team monitored the kidnappers’ movements in real-time, with the information from the device, thereby helping them stay one step ahead.
This device also helped investigators analyze the locations and patterns of calls made by the kidnappers, the routes, and potential safe houses.
In addition, the device provided valuable evidence, such as call records, location data and communication patterns, to build a strong case against the kidnappers.
One such case was the arrest of five kidnappers of former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief Olu Falae. He was taken captive by the herdsmen on September 21, 2015, during his 77th birthday.
In this case, five of the kidnappers came to pick up the N5 million ransom in Suleja, Niger State.
An officer’s eyewitness account
One of the senior police officers who effected the breakthrough told Vanguard “Immediately the kidnappers removed the SIM card used to negotiate, we knew where they were and intercepted them at the last bridge to Minna.
“The ransom money they collected was still in the boot and the SIM card. Five of them were arrested. The motorcycle they used to convey Chief Olu Falae was retrieved.
“The N5 million ransom was marked by the bank. They removed only N100,000 from it. The kidnappers were sentenced to life imprisonment.”
Asked what went wrong with the system put in place to monitor the locations of kidnappers and interception of calls for prompt arrest and rescue of abducted victims, the retired senior officer attributed it to the priority of successive Inspectors General of Police.
His words: “The priority of successive IGPs was quite different. Solomon Arase set up the platform when he was the IGP. It was a technical platform to track calls.
“It was mounted in the IGP’s office then and only one officer, who is now an AIG, had access to the technical platform.
“The Intelligence Response Team, IRT was supposed to be the operational wing that would work with the technical platform. When the technical team got information, it would pass it to IRT to go to the location and make an arrest. Drones and vehicles were bought for the operation.
“But successive IGPs who were analogues didn’t know what to do. They merged the technical platform and IRT. Instead of the platform being used for crime prevention, it became political.
“People in the National Assembly and Villa got hold of the platform and used it to track their enemies and mistresses.
“For such a platform, you don’t give both the technical and the operational units to just one person who would be compromised by politicians. That was the beginning of the collapse of the platform. It requires someone with power and intelligence; someone of a strategic level who is keen on that line.
“This platform was supposed to be renewed and hooked up with the service provider. But that was never the priority of successive IGPs.
“They had money to pay for the accumulated subscription but they refused to pay. When you leave such a system for more than one year, it requires recalibration. This technology keeps evolving.
“You can’t say something you set up today will be used the same way for 10 years without being upgraded. Before long, the system broke down, and the functionality of the Police tracking equipment began to diminish and subsequently went comatose.
The tracker, particularly, became non-functional due to non-subscription as well as failure to engage the relevant company to carry out required system upgrades.
“Due to the failure to pay subscription fees for about three years, and after a grace period had expired, the company overseeing its maintenance and upgrade decided to withdraw its services. This made it difficult to track bandits, kidnappers, and other forms of violent crimes.”
However, Saturday Vanguard gathered that the present IGP, Kayode Egbetokun, reactivated the tracking device.
However, despite its reactivation, in addition to the tracking devices of the DSS and Office of the National Security Adviser, ONSA, kidnappers are still having their way without being tracked in many parts of the country.
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Two brothers have apprehended for for abducting and raping 14-year-old girl in Rivers State.
The duo were said to have committed the crime in Erima community in the Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Areas of Rivers State on Saturday.
The suspects, who are in their early 20s, were said to have waylaid and abducted the victim on a deserted alleyway while she was heading to her uncle’s residence.
The hoodlums are identified as ‘Honest’ and Okwukwe, according to PUNCH.
A community source who spoke in confidence with newsmen on the issue, said the girl’s mother became apprehensive when the teenager didn’t return from her uncle’s residence several hours later.
Unsettled by the situation, she immediately went to her elder brother’s house only to find out that her daughter did not even get there.
The source said the woman raised the alarm and started crying around the community and ran into a vigilante leading to the arrest of one of the suspects.
“It was then that the vigilant people started searching for the girl and saw that the brothers, after kidnapping her, took her to a house near a bush and took turns to rape her,” he said.
Speaking to our correspondent on Sunday, the Second in Command of the vigilantes known as the ONELGA Security Planning and Advisory Committee in Egi community, Onuigba Chinonye, said he was on a patrol with his men when they saw the distressed woman.
Chinonye explained, “I was on a patrol with some of my boys on Sunday morning when we met one woman crying that her 14-year-old daughter had been missing since Saturday.
“I asked the woman which area, and she told us where she was staying and where the girl was going before. So, we started investigating and through some good neighbours too, we found out where the girl was.
“When we went into the place, we saw two brothers, senior and junior, raping the little girl in an isolated compound near a bush.”
Continuing, the vigilante official said, “In the process of trying to arrest them, the senior one proved stubborn and tried to fight us.
“As my boys were dragging him, his junior brother ran away. So, we apprehended the elder and handed him over to the Egi Police Division Headquarters in Obite, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA.
The spokesperson for the state Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the incident, saying an investigation was ongoing.
Iringe-Koko stated, “He (suspect) is in our custody and will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department.
“The Commissioner of Police has ordered the Divisional Police Officer to ensure the arrest of the fleeing suspect for him to face the law.”
The Nigeria Union of Pensioners (NUP) has expressed deep concern over the dire conditions faced by public sector retirees, revealing that some still receive as little as N500 per month in pensions.
Alhassan Musa, Secretary of the union in Kaduna State, described the situation as “pathetic,” highlighting that many retirees are living in precarious circumstances after years of dedicated service to the nation.
“The worst affected are pensioners in several Southern and oil-producing states, despite these regions receiving substantial allocations from the federation account,” Musa said. He noted that the situation in some Northern states and the FCT is relatively better, with monthly pensions ranging from N3,500 to N18,000.
However, Musa pointed out that only Kaduna State has implemented a N30,000 minimum pension, a policy introduced in 2020 under former Governor Nasir El-Rufa’i’s administration.
Musa emphasized the union’s call for a 50% pension increase to match the new N70,000 national minimum wage, noting that even under the Federal Government, some pensioners are still receiving just N10,000 per month. “We are hopeful that the Federal Government will ensure that no pensioner receives less than N70,000 monthly,” he added, stressing that pensioners deserve the same benefits as active workers.
Musa also raised concerns about the plight of retirees under the contributory pension scheme (CPS), stating, “Many who retired in the last decade are yet to receive their benefits. It is truly a distressing situation, not just in Kaduna but in other states and even at the federal level, where pensioners are suffering due to delayed remittances.”
Ahmad Muhammad Kabir, an undergraduate at the Federal University Dutsinma (FUDMA) in Katsina State, Northwest Nigeria, has admitted to providing logistical support and supplying firearms to terrorist groups operating in the region.
Kabir, a student of Geography and Regional Planning, was arrested while attempting to deliver a large cache of ammunition to bandits in Dutsinma.
During a video-recorded interrogation, he implicated fellow student Manir Musa as a collaborator in the illegal arms operation.
Kabir was apprehended on Saturday at a motor park in Dutsinma, Katsina State. He revealed to investigators that he had transported the ammunition from Nasarawa State, concealing it in sacks of guinea corn to avoid detection.
Originally from Kaduna, Kabir confessed to being a key logistics supplier for terrorist organizations. He also disclosed that he had moved to Dutsinma’s Hayin Danmani in the Igabi Local Government Area to pursue a university education at FUDMA.
When asked how he became involved with bandits, Kabir explained: “Two weeks ago, a friend from school, Manir Musa, told me to expect a call from someone that could earn me money. I agreed.
“I later received the call and was instructed to travel to Nasarawa State to bring in ammunition for a fee.
“I went to Lafiya, the state capital, where a man met me on the outskirts and handed me a sack of guinea corn with ammunition hidden inside.
“From there, I traveled to Abuja and boarded a commercial vehicle to Dutsinma.”
When questioned if he had ever met with the bandits in person, Kabir responded, “No, we only communicate by phone.”
Protesters involved in the #EndBadGovernance movement are set to go on trial today in Abuja, Kano, Kaduna, and Borno.
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Intelligence, Dasuki Galadanchi, disclosed this at the just-ended Annual General Conference of the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA).
The DIG revealed that 126 individuals, apprehended for waving the Russian flag and advocating for a regime change during the protest, will be charged to court today.
The protest, which spiraled into violence resulting in deaths and the looting of both public and private properties in various states, led to these arrests.
Human rights lawyer Femi Falana is set to lead a team of lawyers in defending the protesters before Justice Emeka Nwite at the Federal High Court in Abuja.
These protesters were detained following a nationwide demonstration from August 1-10 against the hardship attributed to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s policies on petrol subsidy removal and currency floatation.
Meanwhile, a group of detained protesters has urged the Federal High Court in Abuja to overturn its earlier order allowing the police to detain them for two months.
On August 22, Justice Nwite granted the police’s request to remand 124 protesters for 60 days pending the conclusion of investigations.
Amnesty International Criticizes Trial as a Mockery of Justice
Amnesty International Nigeria has condemned the mass trials of the #EndBadGovernance protesters, calling it a travesty of justice and the rule of law.
The organization highlighted that over 1,000 protesters remain in custody nationwide and demanded their immediate and unconditional release.
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) echoed this sentiment, urging the government to release the detained protesters without conditions.
In an interview with Daily Trust, Director of Amnesty International Nigeria, Isa Sanusi, expressed deep concern that the upcoming trials would serve only to further the government’s agenda of punishing and demonizing peaceful protesters.
“We condemn the sham trials even before they began and call for an end to these endless bizarre attempts to deprive people of the right to peaceful protest. What is going to happen to these protesters, who took to the streets last month seeking good governance, is a disguised exercise solely aimed at punishing dissenters,” Sanusi said.
He called on the Nigerian authorities to release all those arrested for exercising their right to peaceful assembly and criticized the government for prioritizing the punishment of protesters over investigating the deaths and other violations that occurred during the protests.
“The Nigerian government has been wrongfully placing priority on punishing detained protesters, without saying even a word on the urgent need to investigate the killing of dozens of protesters across Kano, Katsina, Suleja/Tafa, Jigawa and Maiduguri. Many protesters were subjected to many other violations by security personnel, including excessive use of force,” Sanusi said.