The Federal Government has vowed that nobody involved in the alleged bribery saga involving a crossdresser, Idris Okuneye, aka Bobrisky, will escape punishment.

Minister of Interior, Dr Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the vow at a press briefing to mark his one year in office, on Friday in Abuja.

The minister had earlier ordered a comprehensive investigation into allegations of bribery and corruption within the Nigerian Correctional Service, NCoS.

Tunji-Ojo gave the order following reports that Bobrisky, who was sentenced to prison earlier this year, did not serve his jail term inside the correctional centre.

Amid the ongoing investigation, the Nigerian Government, through the Civil Defence, Correctional, Fire and Immigration Services Board, on Thursday 26th September, 2024, suspended some senior officers of the country’s prisons service.

Those suspended are Michael Anugwa, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in-charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kiri-kiri, Lagos State; and Sikiru Adekunle, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in-charge of Maximum-Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kiri-kiri, Lagos State.

The Board also suspended ASC II Ogbule Samuel Obinna, serving at the Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Afikpo, Ebonyi State, for allegedly accompanying a convicted inmate out of the custodial centre to a location outside the facility.

Another senior officer, Iloafonsi Kevin Ikechukwu, Deputy Controller of Corrections (DCC), in-charge of Medium Security Custodial Centre (MSCC), Kuje, Abuja, was suspended for allegedly receiving money on behalf of an inmate.

Speaking on the bribery and corruption saga that is currently rocking the country’s correctional service, Tunji-Ojo urged Nigerians to be patient, and wait for the conclusion of the investigation.

But he assured that all those involved will face the music.

“We will not spare anybody no matter how highly placed. Let’s be patient. Investigation is on but let’s be assured that nobody will be shielded and nobody will be protected,” the minister stressed.

He added that the investigation will go beyond the allegations involving Bobrisky.

“It is not just about Bobrisky. Of the four people we suspended only two are linked to Bobrisky. The one in Afikpo took somebody out. This will continue. It is not going to stop here.”

Tunji-Ojo described the persons in the investigation committee as people of integrity.

“Look at the integrity of the people that are involved. Let the integrity of the people in the committee give you confidence,” he added.

The National Bureau of Statistics has revealed that the prices of Beans, Rice, Bread, Egg have continued to rise in Nigeria.

NBS disclosed this in its recently released Selected Food Prices Watch for August. 2024.

The data showed the prices of one Kilogram of Beans rose by 271.55 percent on a year-on-year basis to N2,574.63 in August 2024 from N692.95 recorded in the same period last year.

Also on a month-on-month basis, the price of Beans increased by 5.31 percent to N2,444.81 in July 2024.

It noted that the average price of 1kg local rice sold loose went up by 148.41 percent on a year-on-year basis from N 737.11 in August 2023 to N1,831.05 in August 2024, while there was an increase of 3.65 percent on a month-on-month basis.

This is as the price of medium size eggs (12 pieces) experienced significant price increases year on year by N121.92 percent from N1,031.55 in August of last year (2023) to N2,289.19 in August 2024.

On a month-on-month basis, the average price of this item rose by 5.48 percent from N 2,170.17 in July 2024.

On the price of bread, there was also a notable price increase of bread (sliced) by 113.16 percent on a year-on-year basis from N684.85 in August 2023 to N1,459.85 in August 2024

On a month-on-month basis, it increased by 2.28 percent from N 1,427.25 in July 2024. On the other hand,

Meanwhile, the prices of Tomatoes and Yam declined on a Month-on-month basis but remained high on a year-on-year basis.

This is as tomato 1kg declined by 11.07 percent month-on-month from N1,693.83 in July 2024 to N1,506.35.

Also, the average price of 1kg of Yam tuber increased by 188.31 percent on a year-on-year basis from N576.39 in August 2023 to N1,661.80 in July 2024. On a month-on-month basis, it decreased by -7.82 percent from N1,802.84 in July 2024.

These figures follow August headline and Food inflation data which stood at 32.15 percent and 37.52 percent.

At least 30 members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, have resigned from Sa’adu Zungur University, SAZU in Bauchi State.

Namo Timothy, the Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Bauchi Zone, made this known at a press conference at Yuli Campus of the university on Friday.

He explained that the Sa’adu Zungur University, SAZU a state government-owned varsity, is in the shadow of death due to poor handling of the affairs of the university and the well-being of its members.

The ASUU coordinator, while calling on the Bauchi government to declare a state of emergency on the university to reverse trends of poor handling of affairs over the years, warned that except that is done, the ASUU branch zone can no longer guarantee industrial harmony between its members and the university administration.

He bemoaned that ASUU members at SAZU do not have a pension nor death benefit scheme as obtained in a structured public service organisations across the country.

He further stated that the SAZU administration owed its members Earned Academic Allowance and Excess Work Load Allowance to the tune of over N650 million from 2012 to date.

He also expressed displeasure at how a HND graduate was appointed Bursar of the university contrary to the provision of service of the university which spelt out that only candidates with a minimum of first degree would be considered for appointment as Bursar.

“The zone has engaged key stakeholders and exchanged several correspondences in an attempt to resolve these issues to no avail.

“This has not only dampened the morale of our members in the university but forced many, including 30 trained PhD holders to resign and migrate to other institutions where their future is secured,” he added.

The Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, on Friday, okayed a suit seeking to compel the Federal Government to investigate alleged link between the Minister of State for Defence, Alhaji Bello Matawalle and the operation of bandits in Zamfara State.

Cited as 1st to 3rd defendants in the suit marked: FHC/ABJ/CS/1434/2024, which was brought before the court by a Zamfara state-based human rights activist, Abubakar Dahiru, are; President Bola Tinubu, the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, as well as the Inspector General of Police. 

Specifically, the plaintiff, through his counsel, Mr. Ojonimi Apeh, is praying the court to declare that “it is imperative for the 1st Defendant (Tinubu) herein to give directions to the 3rd Defendant (IGP) to investigate the activities of bandits and kidnappers in Zamfara state and in particular the allegations surrounding the Minister of State for Defence, Hon. Bello Matawalle in relation to banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara state with a view to securing and/or restoring public safety in Zamfara state.”

He further applied for, “an order of court mandating the 1st Defendant herein to direct the 3rd Defendant herein to investigate the activities of bandits and kidnappers in Zamfara State, and in particular the allegations surrounding the Minister of State, Defence Hon. Bello Matawalle in relation to banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara State with a view to securing and/or restoring public safety in Zamfara State.”

As well as, “a declaration that by the provisions of Section 215(3) and (4) of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 as amended, and other relevant laws, the 1st Defendant herein either by himself or through such other Minister of the government of the Federation as he may authorize can give directions to the 3rd Defendant herein with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order in any part of the federation.”

The plaintiff, in a 22-paragraphed statement of claim he filed before the court, said there is presently high wave of armed banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara state, insisting that activities of hoodlums, “which started like a mustard seed in Zamfara state grew to an alarming and unprecedented proportion during the period between 2019 and 2023 when Hon. Bello Matawalle was the Governor of Zamfara state.”

“The Plaintiff avers that armed banditry and kidnapping have rendered thousands of the people of Zamfara orphans, widows, widowers, homeless, hungry, etc due to the activities of criminals who maim people, extort their monies, kill their loved ones and subject them to all manner of physical and emotional torture.

“The Plaintiff avers that he recently listened to the interview of Governor Dauda Lawal on TVC Television on 18th September 2024, wherein he publicly accused Hon. Bello Matawalle of involvement with kidnappers and bandits in Zamfara State.

“The Plaintiff avers that he has also read an online publication by Umoru Faruk Salifu in the 21st Century Chronicles online Newspaper of 22nd September 2024, where he accused Hon. Bello Matawalle of sponsoring bandits, buying vehicles for bandits, sabotaging efforts of law enforcement agents to curb banditry and kidnapping in North Western Nigeria, granting amnesty to terrorists, etc.

“The Plaintiff avers that he also read an article by Professor Abdussamad Umar Jibia wherein he chronicled series of allegations of Hon. Bello Matawalle’s involvement with banditry and kidnappings in Zamfara state.”

Among other claims, the Plaintiff, “avers that despite the open allegations as to the involvement of Hon. Bello Matawalle with banditry and kidnapping in Zamfara State, no efforts have been made by government to investigate him with a view to coming out with the truth or falsity of these allegations while the spate of banditry and kidnapping continue to reign in Zamfara State to the detriment of citizens.”

Meanwhile, the court is yet to fix a date for the matter to be heard.

The organizers of the scheduled October 1st nationwide protest have written to the Nigerian Police to seek for adequate security for their members.

This is contained in a statement jointly signed by the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), Movement for Fundamental Change (MFC), Youth Rights Campaign (YRC), Joint Action Front (JAF), and Pan-African Consciousness Renaissance (PACOR-Nigeria).

In a press briefing on Thursday, Hassan Soweto, national coordinator of the Education Rights Campaign (ERC), called on Nigerians to engage in peaceful protests against “anti-poor policies”.

The organizers noted that in Lagos, the protest will commence at Ikeja under bridge at 7:30am, with participants marching through various streets to raise awareness.

They also asked Olanrewaju Ishola, Lagos state commissioner of police, to provide adequate security for participants in line with the Police Establishment Act 2020.

“By this announcement, we inform the Commissioner of Police of our planned October action and remind the Police of their obligation under Section 83 (4) of the Police Establishment Act 2020 to provide adequate security for citizens participating in public meetings, rallies, and protests,” they said.

“This action serves as a warning and urgent cry for the Tinubu administration to address our demands immediately. If our demands are not met, more protests will follow the National Day of Survival.”

Giving reasons the protest must hold, the organizers opined: “We invite you on another journey to redeem our nation as we continue to stand against the anti-poor policies of this regime,” the statement reads.

 “As is obvious to everyone, none of the demands of our ten days of rage in August has been met.

“Rather, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu simply went ahead to use our national treasury to procure luxury cars, aircraft, and other luxuries for himself and the first family without caring a hoot about the plea of hungry Nigerians.

“To show the absolute disdain that the Federal Government holds for the people, Tinubu has gone ahead to now unleash on the Nigerian another round of hike in fuel price earlier this month.

“As we speak, the price of fuel hovers between N900 per litre to N1900 per litre depending on which parts of the country you are.

 “Meanwhile, less than two years ago, a liter of fuel did not cost more than N200 per litre. This is outrageous. This is intolerable. As a direct consequence of this increment, life has become unbearable for many Nigerian people.

 “Many are starving as the increase in fuel price has also impacted food prices. Inflation has rendered the N70,000 new National Minimum Wage irrelevant and incapable of bringing any relief to Nigerian workers.

“At the same time, the sharp rise in the cost of imported goods has rendered traders and shopkeepers redundant as shops are overflowing with goods that no one is ready to buy.

“The situation has also affected businesses and industries. Nothing less than ten multinational firms have left the shores of Nigeria between May last year, leading to even more job losses.

“Based on the foregoing, we of the #EndBadGovernance Movement have decided to declare October 1st, 2024, as ‘National Day of Survival.

 “On this day, we call on the Nigerian people, workers, students, youth, the unemployed, traders, and the poor to come out in peaceful protest and demonstrations against the excruciating condition of hardship, poverty, and hunger imposed on us by President Tinubu’s decision to implement IMF/World Bank-inspired anti-poor capitalist policies of fuel price hike, electricity tariff hike, school fees hike, and naira devaluation.

“We also call on the Nigerian people to utilize this day to demand with one voice the immediate and unconditional release of all #EndSARS and #EndBadGovernance protesters in police and prison custody, as well as freedom for detained journalists, whistleblowers, activists, and all victims of state repression.”

A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu has advised President Bola Tinubu to be cautious in dealing with his righthand men who would recommend persons for ministerial offices.

He said this was important, especially as there are reported plans for a cabinet reshuffle.

Shittu was a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Thursday.

According to Shittu, some members of the President’s kitchen cabinet who should be on the lookout for technocrats to be appointed ministers have vested interests and would only recommend their persons.

“You cannot trust anybody, even if you are talking of kitchen cabinet.

“This will be the first time he (Tinubu) would be recruiting people from all parts of the country most of whom he may never have met in life. But he may just be riding on the recommendation, perhaps, of interested power blocs within the party who would give information and sell their candidate for one reason or the other.

“Mr President has an opportunity to decide what he wants. If you are not there and if he does not tell you exactly what he wants, it would be very difficult but I think one failing in our system in this country is that when people are appointed, or about to be appointed, we don’t have a kind of orientation exercise which perhaps will take a week or two weeks to school those to be given jobs to understand the priorities of their employer.”

Shittu’s call re-echoed growing calls for the President to reshuffle his cabinet over underperformance by some ministers.

No fewer than 1,331 members of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area, Kano State, on Thursday defected to the ruling New Nigerian People’s Party (NNPP).

The defectors, who are mainly from 11 wards of the area, vowed to work against the return of APC as the ruling party in Kano State.

Prominent among the former APC members included former Vice chairman of the local government area, Malam Kwa; former state House of Assembly aspirant, Hon. Audu Tumfafi.

Receiving the defectors at Dawakin-Tofa, State Chairman of NNPP, Hon. Hashimu Dungurawa commended them for the decision.

Dungurawa declared that NNPP under the leadership of Sen. Rabiu Kwankwaso was committed to the socio-economic and infrastructural development of Kano State.

While assuring them of equal opportunities in the party, Dungurawa dispelled rumours of mass defection of NNPP members to APC.

He maintained that NNPP was not losing grip of control of its structure across the wards in the state.

“We learnt one APC man has been receiving members of NNPP into APC. We have checked the roll call of our members and we have not noticed any reduction in our numerical strength.

“I need to advise them to beware of 419 people coming to collect the public funds in the name of decampees”, Dungurawa said.

Earlier, Kwa alleged that former governor, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, an indigene of the area failed to develop it during his eight years in office.

Kwa also alleged that Ganduje had not managed the party very well leading to the ex-governor’s failure to clinch the House of Representatives seat during the 2023 general election.

Five people were arrested in India for the killing of a seven-year-old boy in an alleged ritual sacrifice aimed at bringing good fortune to a public school, police said Friday.

The victim was found dead in his bed on Sunday night at the hostel where he lived in the city of Hathras, not far from the country’s famed Taj Mahal.

Instead of alerting authorities, police said that school director Dinesh Baghel hid the body in the trunk of his car.

Police officer Himanshu Mathur told AFP that the boy was killed before a black magic ceremony conducted by Baghel’s father.

“The boy was meant to be taken to an altar as part of a ritual, but got killed before the ceremony could be completed,” he said.

Baghel and his father were arrested along with three other teachers at the school, Mathur added.

Mathur did not give further details on how the child had died and local media reports said the body was undergoing a post-mortem examination.

India’s National Crime Records Bureau lodged 103 cases of human sacrifice in the country between 2014 and 2021.

Ritual killings are usually conducted to appease deities and are more common in tribal and remote areas, where belief in witchcraft and the occult is widespread.

Last year police arrested five men for the 2019 murder of a 64-year-old woman who was killed and decapitated with a machete after visiting a temple in India’s remote northeast.

Police said the alleged ringleader had been conducting a religious rite to mark the anniversary of his brother’s death.

The Media Office of Yahaya Bello, former Governor of Kogi State, has launched a scathing critique of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), accusing the agency of conducting a politically motivated “hatchet job” against the ex-governor.

The statement, signed by Ohiare Michael, claims that the EFCC’s recent actions and press statements are biased and influenced by personal interests rather than a genuine commitment to combating corruption.

The EFCC had previously declared Bello wanted, stirring significant media attention.

Reports indicated that he had voluntarily appeared at the agency’s headquarters but was subsequently allowed to leave without any charges being filed against him.

This has raised questions about the EFCC’s intentions and the integrity of its actions.

“If the EFCC was truly interested in prosecution, would the agency not have taken him in on that day?” the statement rhetorically asked, suggesting ulterior motives behind the agency’s operations.

The media office further urged President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to intervene in the ongoing dispute between Bello and the EFCC, emphasizing that the fight against corruption must be equitable and inclusive.

“Nigeria belongs to all Nigerians,” the statement concluded, calling for a fair approach to governance and accountability.

It has been congratulations galore for the founder of Living Faith Church a.k.a Winners Chapel, Bishop David Olaniyi Oyedepo who turned 70 today, September 27, 2024.

Notable pastors and organizations from across the country and other parts of the world have joined the members of Living Faith Church in sending their congratulatory messages to the revered Preacher.

Joining the host of others in celebrating Oyedepo ’s 70th birthday, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye, and his wife, Pastor Folu Adeboye on his Facebook page wrote, ‘ Happy 70th Birthday, our dear son, Bishop David Oyedepo’.

Pastor Adeboye in his congratulatory message said: “Today, Mummy & I celebrate not just your life, but the incredible journey of faith, dedication, and service to God that you have walked.

“Watching how God has used you to impact countless lives and expand His Kingdom has been a great joy for me. Your passion, unwavering commitment, and boldness in faith have been truly inspiring.

“As you step into this new decade, my prayer is that God continues to renew your strength, guide your every step, and fill your heart with His peace.

“May His grace over your life multiply, and may your influence for His Kingdom continue to grow beyond measure.

“Thank you for being a faithful servant of the Lord. Happy Birthday, and may God bless you abundantly, our dear son.”

The Presiding Pastor of Salvation Ministries, David Ibiyeomie, wrote on his social media handle: “Happy Birthday Dad. Thank you for the sacrifice of alignment. Thank you for the privilege of access. Thank you for the gift of fatherhood and mentorship. Thank you for bringing light and direction to my life and ministry.

“As you celebrate 70, I pray that you will celebrate greater years of impact and exploit. I love you Papey.”

Also, the Senior pastor at Dunamis International Gospel Centre in Abuja, Dr. Paul Enenche and his wife Dr.

Becky said: “Exactly 70 years ago, a generational shining star, trailblazer, road pointer, pace-setter, history maker, men raiser, God-addict was born. “Blessed be the womb that carried you and blessed be the day of your birth Papa. You have not left your generation the way you met it. Papa, as your days, so may your strength be.

“The Lord cause you to finish the race set before you in strength, victory and triumph. And may Heaven be your home at the end of the day in Jesus Name.

“Happy! Happy! Happy birthday Sir. We love you dearly Sir.”