A 65-year-old pastor, Mr Francis Ogwu, has been arrested for allegedly defiling his seven-year-old domestic help in Awka, Anambra State. 

The suspect, a native of Imo State, was arrested after concerned residents raised alarm about his activities. 

Ogwu, the General Overseer of Jesus House of Joy Church, Awka, is accused of raping the minor three times.

Narrating her ordeal, the seven-year-old victim told the Commissioner for Women and Social Welfare, Ify Obinabo, that the suspect rapes her and then gives her money.

She said: “He usually gives me money, from N500 to N1000, after each experience. 

“Sometimes, his wife accuses me of snatching her husband from her. 

“What prompted my leaving the house was the repeated beating I received from the daughter over irrelevant issues."

The victim’s mother, Destiny Nwabueze, a native of Awka, said she handed the daughter over to the Ogwu family because of the long-standing relationship they had enjoyed. She however said she was shocked when her daughter returned to her to report the ugly incident. 

She said: “I quickly invited the Oga to my house. But when he came, he denied the allegations, which made me to raise the alarm that attracted other persons."

During interrogation, the suspect denied allegations of penetration as claimed by the victim.

He said: “I just fingered the girl once.” 

Asked why he defiled the girl, the suspect said, ” I was tempted because my wife usually gives excuses that she’s fasting whenever I want to have quality time with her."

Reacting, the Commissioner vowed to ensure the victim got justice. 

She, however, advised women to always be vigilant and stop starving their husbands of sex. She further charged women to always protect their children at all costs.

The suspect's family begged the Commissioner’s office for pardon but the matter was reported to the police.

The Kano State Chairman of the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, Hashimu Dungurawa, has said the former governor of the state, Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, appointed the 15th Emir, Aminu Ado Bayero and four other first-class Emirs in pursuance of political gains ahead 2023 elections.

He stated this amid the controversies that trailed the Kano Emirate tussle.

Dungurawa made this known while fielding questions from newsmen in his office, explaining that it was a gamble that was arranged to expire with the tenure of the former governor, who eventually lost the elections.

According to the NNPP Leader, the Emirs enjoyed the status of appointed Commissioners by Ganduje, stressing that it was a matter of public good that they ceased to be recognized after the tenure of the former governor.

He said, “The five first-class Emirs we met on the throne were only commissioners appointed by Ganduje to assist him in winning elections. They were sustained to 2023 and they lost. And so their tenure came to an end.

“The fact remains that immediately Ganduje lost the elections and stepped down as Governor of Kano State, they ought to have also vacated their seats because none of them occupied the vacant seat of Emir of Kano since Muhammadu Sanusi II left.

“But maybe they didn’t accept that their tenure had expired after their benefactor lost the elections which witnessed Dr. Ganduje’s exit from the seat of power in the state.”

He posited that the decision to relieve them of their traditional status was rooted in public outcry over the vacant position of the Emir of Kano.

While reacting to the hoisting of flags at the Nasarawa palace, Dungurawa said, “Don’t forget Nasarawa mini palace is a guest house for the Emir. It is all about the Kano Emirate, it shows the SA Emir of Kano is doing his job faithfully by overseeing the graveyard of their forefathers laid to rest in the mausoleum.”

The Nigerian Federal Government says the disbursement of N150 billion in loans to micro, small and medium enterprises and manufacturers would commence by the end of July 2024.

The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, disclosed this in a statement through her official X handle on Thursday.

Uzoka-Anite said that 60 percent of the proposed one million beneficiaries of the Presidential Conditional Grant had received a financial grant of N50,000 without repayment obligations in the 774 local government areas of the country.

She said, “To all applicants of the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme who are yet to be paid, thank you for your continued patience. The disbursement process is still ongoing, and we have allocated about 60 percent of the 1 million grants.

“You can track the number of beneficiaries per LGA paid so far on grant.fedgrantandloan.gov.ng/learn-more/dis.

“We are also at the final stages of vetting for the MSME and Manufacturing loans. Applications remain open, and disbursement will begin by July ending.”

Recall that in December 2023, the Federal Government unveiled the Presidential Conditional Grant Scheme as part of the Presidential Palliatives Programme aimed at supporting businesses to navigate the economic crunch caused by government policies.

Accordingly, the fund dedicates N75 billion to MSMEs and another N75 billion to the manufacturing sector to help businesses in Nigeria navigate the harsh economic realities.

DAILY POST reports that at the end of the Federal Executive Council meeting on Thursday, President Tinubu approved an N50,000 uplift grant for 3.6 million families in Nigeria.

Sharon Ooja, the Nigerian actress, has revealed how she met Ugo Nwoke, her husband.

Ooja, who got married to her partner in an Abuja traditional ceremony on Thursday, shared how they met during a chat with Bella Naija.

She recounted how her sister introduced them shortly after she had gone through a severe heartbreak.

Ooja stated that she was initially hesitant but Ugo persistently tried to reach out to her.

She added that they got engaged within two and a half months and legally married two months later.

“My love story is one I will say is short of a miracle,” she said.

“I will say I had just recovered from what I consider the worst heartbreak of my life.

“I was filming, and my sister said to me, ‘Oh, a friend of mine wants to speak to you’.

“I was like, ‘Please, I’m not really in the mood. I do not want to talk to anybody’.”

“Anyways, she gave this person my number. We did not speak much. Months passed, and he kept on trying to reach me.

“We dated for two and a half months, and I was engaged in the third month. We married two months after that.”

Ooja’s traditional marriage hosted Nollywood stars including Jemima Osunde, Funke Akindele, Beverly Osu, Nancy Isime, and Ebuka Obi-Uchendu, among others.

Bisola Aiyeola served as the maid of honour.

Ooja rose to fame with her role as Shalewa in the web series ‘Skinny Girl in Transit’.

She has also starred in notable Nollywood films including ‘Oloture’, ‘Bad Comments’, ‘Glamour Girls’, and ‘Dead Serious’.

On June 26, 2024, Nigeria’s external reserve reached a record high of $34.07 billion.

This is according to the Central Bank of Nigeria’s latest FX data on its official website.

The figure represents the highest level since March 2024.

Recall that last week the external reserve reached a three-month high when it rose to $33.5 billion.

Reserves have continued to surge since then, topping $34 billion for the first time since March 21, when it was $34.2 billion.

The external reserves have increased by a substantial $1.3 billion since June 2024.

The development comes as the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Olayemi Cardoso said its reforms attracted $24 billion inflow in the first quarter of 2024.

Meanwhile, despite the rising FX reserves, the Naira depreciated to N1510.10 per Dollar at the forex market according to FMDQ data on Thursday.

Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (retd), a former Head of State, has spoken about the requirements to sustain democracy in the country.

Represented by Gen. Adamu Jidda on Thursday in Abuja at the second edition of ThisNigeria Newspaper Gold Prize and Annual Lecture Awards on the theme of the lecture; “25 Years of Nigeria’s Unbroken Democracy – Prospects and Possibilities”, Abubakar noted that electoral integrity, human rights, economic development and social justice remained critical areas that demand the country’s collective attention and action.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), he believed that the nation’s democratic journey had not been without its trials.

Veteran Nollywood actor, John Okafor, better known as Mr Ibu, has been laid to rest in his hometown of Amuri, in the Nkanu West Local Government Area of Enugu State.

Naija News recalls that Mr Ibu died on 2nd March 2024 at the age of 62 after a prolonged battle with illness.

The Nigeria Actors Guild (AGN), alongside the family of the late comic actor, has been involved in a series of events to pay tribute and last respect to him.

Videos that emerged online show moments from the ongoing funeral ceremony in Enugu as friends and family members bid farewell to the late thespian.

Watch the videos below.

Video

Ten officers of the Nigerian Army, all on the ranks of a general, have retired from active service after successfully serving out their required number of years.

The Generals, from the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps (NAAC), comprise six Major-Generals and four Brigadier-Generals.

They include: Major-General Nsor Okpa Ojiji, Major-General MH Magaji, Major-General GB Audu, Major-General M Danmadami, Major-General JG Mohammed and Major-General UI Mohammed.

Others are Brigadier-General A. Israel, Brigadier-General BA Mohammed, Brigadier-General D. Abdulsalam and Brigadier-General SP Akpan.

Speaking on behalf of the others who were also pulled out of service, Ojiji expressed delight at being able to complete the years of active service successfully and commended the Army leadership for the roles played.

He, however, appealed that more be done for those still in service to make them perform optimally in the service of the nation.

“We recall that the Nigerian Army Armoured Corps (NAAC) has a lot of challenges, which range from poor accommodation to inadequate professional and medical facilities, amongst a myriad of others.

“Today, however, I am happy to note that there are many very functional accommodation blocks; even the ambience of these barracks is very welcoming. Many resources and efforts have changed the situation. This is heartwarming.

“Kudos to commander NAAC, his team of officers, soldiers, and their families, who are determined together that things must improve in the corps,” he said.

Ojiji highlighted the need to address poor equipment grading, especially in formations and units and appealed to the Minister of Defence to look into it.

He added, “We hope that the minister of defence, Alhaji Badaru Abubakar, also make this his cardinal objective during his tenure. I plead with the Hon. Minister through this medium to deem it fit to do so.“

On his part, the commandant of the Armoured Corps, Major General Mohammed Ahmed, congratulated the retired officers, wished them well in their future endeavours and urged them to make themselves readily available for consultations and helpful advice on improving the Armoured Corps.

“We are happy we did what we should do. We carry out a lot of services to the community, ranging from free medical services to the provision of pipe-borne water, among others, and if they tell us about their problems, we promptly attend to those problems.

“There is no army in the world that has enough, and the Nigerian Army has developed its capacity to the level that you can see in most of our equipment, which is highly maintained,” Ahmed said.

The results of candidates of the supplementary Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination, UTME have been released by the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

The supplementary UTME was conducted between Friday, June 21st and Saturday, June 22nd, 2024.

JAMB’s spokesman, Fabian Benjamin, directed candidates on how to check their results.

“To check their supplementary UTME results, candidates are to send UTMERESULT to either 55019 or 66019 through the same phone number they had used to generate their profile codes at the start of registration,” he stated.

Benjamin said the supplementary examination was conducted for 28,835 candidates, who were unable to be biometrically verified during the main 2024 UTME and were unable to take their examination.

A statement by Benjamin said: “Similarly, the other category of candidates were those suspected to have been involved in examination malpractices during the main UTME but who were given a second chance to sit the examination.

“The exercise, which recorded a huge success nationwide, was marked by heightened security measures put in place by the Board to preclude any instance of examination infractions. As such, some nefarious characters, who had attempted to impersonate bona fide candidates were apprehended and handed over to law enforcement agencies for further investigation and prosecution.

“The Board would continue to ensure that no candidate benefits from any acts of infractions through the deployment of state-of-the-art technology before, during and after its examinations.

“Candidates are, therefore, urged, in their own interest, to refrain from engaging in any form of irregularity during their examinations. They are also enjoined to desist from soliciting score upgrades from fraudsters or engage in the mutilation of their result sheets while trying to generate fake result sheets with higher scores.”

Nigerian-born British heavyweight boxer, Anthony Joshua, doesn’t want to wait for too long to fight a fellow British boxer, Tyson Fury.

The rivalry between Anthony Joshua and Tyson Fury has been raging for years but the two boxers haven’t been able to agree on a bout even though they were close to doing so a couple of times.

Due to the online banter between the boxers, especially from Fury, most boxing enthusiasts are anxiously looking forward to when the two Britons will finally clash in the ring.

Hence, it is expected to be one of the most talked about and lucrative fights of all time especially if it takes place now that they are still at the peak of their respective boxing career.

But currently, the two fighters are preparing for different bouts. 35-year-old Fury is preparing for his rematch with Oleksandr Usyk in December, while 34-year-old Anthony Joshua is preparing for his IBF world title fight with Daniel Dubois on September 21.

If Fury beat Usyk and Joshua beat Dubois, the two British veteran boxers will finally face off in a unification bout. But AJ told the BBC that his meeting with Fury is long overdue.

“It’s a fight that’s been brewing for a long time,” Joshua said on Thursday.

“I can’t wait until I’m 50 to fight Fury because I’d have had so many wars, I can’t sit around and wait, I’ve got to continue to fight.”