The Lagos State Police Command has stated its officers in Ipaja Police Division have successfully repelled an early morning attack on their division by operators of commercial motorcycles, commonly known as Okada riders.

The State Police Command’s Spokesman, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, disclosed that the attack came after police officers commenced the day’s enforcement of the existing ban on motorcycles in Lagos State.

“The attackers, who came in their hundreds, stormed the station with dangerous weapons, shooting at the officers and attempting to overrun the station.

“While officers and men of the division held their ground, reinforcement came from the Area Command and the Rapid Response Squad (RRS). Two of the attackers were fatally injured during the attack,” said SP Hundeyin.

He, however, noted that this did not deter the officers from accomplishing their mandate, as over 200 motorcycles were impounded and some of the attackers arrested, with one locally made firearm retrieved.

He reaffirmed that the Lagos State Police Command will not be cowed into abdicating its responsibilities of enforcement of all duly passed laws and maintenance of law and order within the society.

LEADERSHIP earlier reported that in the unexpected incident early Monday morning, over 100 hoodlums launched a coordinated attack on the Ipaja Police Station in Lagos State, leading to a fierce exchange of gunfire with Policemen with several of the assailants reportedly killed.

President Bola Tinubu has said his administration will not spare any effort to ensure Nigeria’s children have a solid footing for realising their dreams.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Ajuri Ngelale, made this known in a statement signed on Monday in commemoration of the 2024 Children’s Day.

The statement is titled “President Bola Tinubu celebrates Nigeria’s children, the bearers of the nation’s torch into the future, on the special occasion of Children’s Day.”

President Tinubu reassured the nation of his commitment to ensuring a safe and secure learning ambience for children while improving the standard of education.

He added that his administration will continue to expand access to qualitative education for all Nigerians.

The statement reads, “The President rejoices with parents, guardians, and families across the nation, and calls for a reinforcement of the family unit as a place where the sacred values of honesty, modesty, hard work and charity are passed down to the shining lights of tomorrow.

“President Tinubu affirms that society is a reflection of each family unit as a collective, urging the preservation of those principles that make us a wholesome, nurturing, and thriving nation.

“The President states that his administration is sparing no effort in ensuring that Nigeria’s children have a solid footing for the realization of their dreams.

“With increased investments in education, and the recent overhauling of the entire education system to provide both human and material resources for learning, as well as the efforts of the National Commission for Almajiri and Out-of-School Children Education to get the nation’s precious gifts off the streets, the President emphasizes that his administration will continue to expand access to qualitative education for all Nigerians.

“President Tinubu reassures the nation of his commitment to ensuring a safe and secure ambience of learning for the children while improving the standard of education.”

Alexer Peres, the estranged wife of singer, Harrysong, has hit hard at him following his infidelity allegations against her.

Recall that Harrysong claimed that his wife, Alexer, was unfaithful in their marriage and got pregnant for another man despite marrying her due to emotional blackmail.

He said he regrets marrying into his wife’s family, claiming that infidelity runs in it as her mother, who has been married to seven men, still cheats. 

Reacting, Peres debunked Harrysong’s claims, saying her mother only remarried once after the death of her father.

She also challenged the singer to come forward with evidence that she cheated on him.

She went on to claim that it is Harrysong’s mum who has six children out of wedlock for six different men.

Peres further claimed that Harrysong is a product of incest and bedwets.

On her Instagram account, she wrote:

“Do you all know that Harrysong bed wets? Yes celebrity wey Dey piss for body.

“Oh so sorry to break it to u all. I also get to deal with this daily, while calling him my lord.

“You said I convinced you to get married to me? A 20 years old girl, convincing a full grown man to get married to her?

“Please make me understand, never knew I was married to a robot, Who couldn’t make decisions for himself. Same you who told me your ex-girlfriend used charms on you.

“And now your eyes are open since u met me So it’s now me that forced marriage on you, really?

“I never knew my mum married 6 husbands wow, chronic narcissist.

“My mum only remarried when she lost her husband, as i speak, she is happily married, with her dowry paid in full.

“Since when did it become a crime for a widow to remarry? And what does the words ’till death do us part’ mean?

“Pained soul why are u trying to project your insecurities on me? We all know your mum gave birth to 6 children for 6 different men.
None of which she was married to.

“And you, a product of incest. Imagine having 5 siblings and you don’t know who their fathers are.

“Why throw stones, when you live in a glass house?”

Peres said she was open to conducting DNA tests on their children to prove her innocence.

She added that the singer was the one who gave her all kinds of sexually transmitted diseases except HIV and Hepatitis B.

The Kogi State Election Petition Tribunal has ruled in favour of Governor Usman Ododo, dismissing the petition challenging his victory in the November 2023 election.

Murtala Ajaka, the governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), had filed a petition contesting the outcome of the election.

The petition, filed with the tribunal sitting in Abuja, alleged irregularities including vote-buying and rigging.

The tribunal carefully considered arguments and evidence presented by both parties throughout the proceedings.

During the case, Chief Kanu Agabi (SAN); Alex Iziyon (SAN) and Emmanuel Ukala (SAN), who appeared for INEC, Governor Ododo and the All Progressives Congress (APC) – listed as respondents in the petition – objected to the presentation of a witness by the SDP.

They argued that the witness and their expertise were not properly disclosed in the initial petition documents.

Despite these objections, the tribunal ultimately ruled in favour of Governor Ododo, upholding his election victory.

Attorney General of the Federation, Lateef Gagbemi, has said a major bottleneck in the functioning of the local government in the country is the State Electoral Commission (SECs), which he suggested should be scrapped if the LGAs will function properly.

SECs are responsible for the conduct of elections at the state level as well as the local government level.

Fagbemi who has begun a push to free the LGAs from the control of governors with an institution of a suit at the Supreme Court on behalf of the federal government argued that governors have abused their control of the third tier of government.

Speaking on Monday at a one-day ‘Discourse on National Nigeria’s Security Challenges and Good Governance At the Local Government Levels’, Fagbemi said governors have latched on to the inadequacies and lacunas in some sections of the 1999 Constitution to undermine and render local governments redundant.

He accused governors of exploiting the weaknesses of Section 7(1); Section 83(3); Section 7(5) and others to impose their will on the local governments in the country.

He noted that these inadequacies have allowed the governors to abuse the rights of local governments and in turn, deprive people at the grassroots to feel their presence.

He pointed out that the most prominent abuse of local government was the use of state electoral commissions to impose leaders at the local government levels through sham elections while most Governors only appoint caretaker leadership in their local governments.

Specifically, the Attorney General identified the abuse of State/ local governments’ joint accounts by state governors as imposing a fiscal emasculation thus rendering the local governments poor as the governors hold on to their federal allocations.

Consequently, he called for the scrapping of State Electoral Commissions to allow democracy to take its roots in the local governments.

He urged the organisers of the event, the House of Representatives, to engineer a robust constitutional amendment that will remove all encumbrances hindering the development of local governments and their ability to fulfil their constitutionally recognized functions.

“To achieve this, many experts have proposed that there is a need for the scrapping of the state independent electoral commission.

“Their functions and powers should be transferred to the independent national electoral commission because the state independent electoral commission remains an appendage to every incumbent governor.

“This is perceived as the root cause of the problem of local government administration in Nigeria,” Fagbemi said.

Nigerian filmmaker cum movie actress, Toyin Abraham Ajeyemi has on children’s day taken to social media to express how unhappy she is today.

Despite wishing all children a wonderful day, the actress and mother of one admonished parents against raising children with kids gloves because times have changed.

Toyin Abraham cited examples of youths who bash their elders on social media under the guise of being “woke” and the jungle justice which took place in Ajayi Crowther university where a student was accused of theft. 

She added that children should be raised with values and be taught respect as lack of home training is currently the order of the day in many settings today.

In her lengthy note, Toyin Abraham stated:

“I am not happy on this children’s day

Happy Children’s Day to all children and to parents who were once children. As we celebrate this day, it is essential to acknowledge the need for better parenting. Recent online encounters and observations compel me to share this heartfelt message with every parent and guardian.

The quality of children we are raising today needs serious attention. We now have kids who see respect and courtesy as burdens. How do we feel reading some of the things the youth say to adults online under the guise of being “woke” or adopting a “no tolerance” attitude? Many of us were not raised the way we are raising our kids today. We are raising them with kid gloves because we believe times have changed. However, different times are not an excuse to raise disrespectful children.

Despite our age and blessings, there are still things we would not tell our parents, not out of fear, but out of respect. This Children’s Day should remind us to do better as parents and raise children who are respectful and kind. The recent tragic event at Ajayi Crowther University, where students killed a fellow student in the name of jungle justice, highlights the severe consequences of a lack of home training and moral values. Even if theft occurred, it does not justify taking another person’s life.

Respect, courtesy, responsibility, kindness, and hard work are values we were raised with. Although we may not have liked the discipline at the time, we are grateful to our parents today for instilling these values in us. We have a nation-building responsibility to raise the next generation of quality individuals.

Happy Children’s Day once again. May God keep our children for us, protect us from all forms of evil, and grant us a great celebration filled with wonderful experiences for the kids.

My name is Toyin Abraham Ajeyemi. I was once a little child, and I am now entrusted with the responsibility of raising quality children for a better society and nation.”

Justice Inyang Edem Ekwo of the Federal High Court in Abuja has fixed May 29 to begin the trial of detained leader of the Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore, Bello Bodejo,

The court fixed the date after dismissing the application for bail of the accused person.

At the last adjourned date, the bail application was fixed for ruling and commencement of trial of Bodejo but his absence in court stalled the trial from going ahead.

Shortly after the court fixed the date for trial, his counsel, Dr Ahmed Raji, SAN, expressed the readiness of his client to stand trial.

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Raji said since the court has ordered expeditious hearing in the matter, there would be no need to appeal the ruling on his bail for now.

The Miyetti Allah Kautal Hore leader was arrested by the Defence Intelligence Agency (DIA) for allegedly establishing an ethnic militia group unlawfully.

The group, Kungiya Zaman Lafiya, the DIA alleged, was established to promote terrorism.

Bodejo has been in the custody of the Agency in Abuja from where he was arraigned in March on a three-count charge filed by the office of the Attorney General of the Federation (AGF) with accusation of violating the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.

The Miyetti Allah’s leader denied all the charges.

Before the court ruled on hos bail application, Dr Raji had pleaded with Justice Ekwo to admit his client to bail on various grounds ranging from ill-health to the enforcement of his fundamental rights.

The counsel also asked the court for “an order admitting the defendant to bail on liberal terms pending the hearing and determination of the charges preferred against him.”

The senior lawyer predicated the bail request on the ground that Bodejo “suffers from grave ill-health and that the offences are bailable.”

Citing Section 36 of the Nigerian constitution, Raji said his client is presumed innocent until proven guilty, adding that the charge against Bodejo did not disclose any crime against him.

Contrary to government assertions, Raji informed the court that launching of the group by his client was done in a public place with Police Commissioner and personnel of other security agencies as well as Nasarawa State government officials in attendance.

In an affidavit deposed to by one of his brothers, Mohammed Musa in support of the bail bid, he said the Miyetti Allah leader who was arrested by DIA personnel on 23 January has “been denied access to his lawyers, family members, friends and well wishers.”

Musa described Bodejo as a “patriotic Nigerian citizen who goes about his business within the ambit of the laws of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

The deponent further said that Bodejo “neither established nor has any involvement with the ethnic militia group as alleged in the charge against him.”

He explained further that the essence of establishing the vigilante company was to provide security services to the members of the society and not to commit any act of terrorism as alleged.

However, the Federal Government, through its lawyer, Y.A Imana urged the court to reject Bodejo’s bail application on the ground that charges against the defendant borders on threat to national security.

A Federal High Court in Abuja has ruled against a suit from the impeached former Edo Deputy Governor, Phillips Shaibu, who attempted to overturn the February 22 Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship primary in Edo State, won by Asue Ighodalo.

In a judgment delivered on Monday, Justice James Omotosho ruled that Shaibu lacked the locus standi to challenge the outcome of the primary, as he did not fully participate in it and was not present at the venue on the day it was held.

According to the Nation, Justice Omotosho stated that Shaibu’s case was deemed premature since he bypassed the party’s internal dispute resolution procedures before filing the lawsuit.

The judge emphasized that, as a PDP member, Shaibu was obligated to adhere to the party’s rules and regulations, which mandate that any disgruntled aspirant from a primary must first seek recourse through the party’s Appeal Committee before resorting to litigation.

The judge determined that there was ample evidence indicating that Ighodalo emerged as the rightful winner of the primary election.

Naija News recalls that the impeached deputy Governor of Edo State, Philip Shaibu, had expressed plans to reunite with the former Governor of the state, Adams Oshiomhole.

Shaibu made this known in an interview with PUNCH, stating that he is not ready to support the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial candidate, Asue Ighodalo.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s government has halted the Nigeria Airline project indefinitely.

The Minister of Aviation and Aerospace, Festus Keyamo, announced this development on Monday during the Ministerial briefing commemorating the first year of the Tinubu administration.

Keyamo emphasized that the airline was not truly Nigerian, but rather an effort to pass off a foreign airline as a national carrier.

How Buhari’s Minister, Sirika Was Arrested Over ₦8 Billion Nigeria Air Fraud

Last month, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) arrested a former Minister of Aviation, Hadi Sirika, over its ongoing probe into the botched Nigeria Air project.

Naija News understands that the former minister is being investigated for allegedly awarding fraudulent contracts to a company owned by his younger brother, Abubakar Sirika.

The contracts, worth over N8 billion, were awarded to Engirios Nigeria Limited for various aviation projects, including the construction of a terminal building at Katsina Airport and the procurement of aircraft and simulators for the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology.

According to sources, Sirika was also being grilled over alleged conspiracy, abuse of office, diversion of public funds to the tune of N80.06bn, and contract inflation when he held sway at the aviation ministry.

One of the sources told Daily Trust that the former minister was picked up at his Abuja residence by operatives of the anti-graft agency and interrogated at the Federal Capital Territory Command at about 12:55 pm on Tuesday.

The EFCC official source, who spoke under the condition of anonymity, said the EFCC operatives quietly went to Sirika’s residence when they were least expected.

“He was picked up at his Abuja residence by our operatives,” he said.

Another source said the minister was taken into custody and is meeting with EFCC investigators to explain how some funds were expended in his ministry during his time in office.

“Yes, he has been taken into custody and is meeting with our detectives to explain how some funds to the tune of N8, 069,176,864.00 were expended in his ministry when he was the minister.

“All necessary checks have been done before the invitation and he will be asked to explain the role he played in the (alleged) infractions.

“It is an ongoing thing, we will not relent,” the source said.

The Bayelsa State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, located in Abuja, on Monday affirmed the election results that led to Governor Douye Diri’s victory.

Heading a three-man panel, Justice Adekunle Adeleye, rejected the petition brought forth by Timipre Sylva of the All Progressives Congress (APC), and the party, deeming it lacking in merit.

The tribunal unanimously ruled that the petitioners did not provide substantial evidence to support their claims against Diri’s re-election win.

In April 2024, the Abuja Federal High Court threw out a case aiming to disqualify Governor Douye Diri of Bayelsa State and his deputy, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo.

The presiding court judge, Justice Emeka Nwite, ruled that the case lacked substance, as the plaintiff failed to provide sufficient evidence to support the allegations of certificate forgery against Ewhrudjakpo.

Nwite also ordered the plaintiff to pay a fine of ₦500,000 to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the 3rd defendant in the case.

It could be recalled that a new lawsuit was initiated by a Bayelsa resident named Mrs Blessing Clement Azibanagbal, just nine days before the November 11, 2023, Bayelsa governorship election. The case marked FHC/ABJ/CS/1448/23, was filed by Mrs Azibanagbal’s lawyer, Ifeanyi Nsowu.

In the affidavit supporting the originating summons, Yenle Istifanus, a litigation secretary at Compendium Chambers, stated that she had factual knowledge that Azibanagbal, a Nigerian citizen from Bayelsa, had the legal right (locus standi) to initiate the legal action.

The originating summons was officially dated October 26, 2023, and filed on October 30, 2023.