A Zimbabwean woman based in South Africa has reportedly taken her own life after she was caught pants down with her husband’s colleague.

H-Metro reported that the woman identified as Mai Aisha was captured in a viral video having s3x with her husband's coworker. The pair faced a violent confrontation from Mai Aisha’s husband, referred to as Baba Aisha, and his friends upon being caught.

Baba Aisha recounted that the incident unfolded after receiving a tip-off while Mai Aisha tried to justify Madzibaba’s presence by claiming he was there to fix a light.

Following the confrontation, Mai Aisha took her life the next day. Baba Aisha, devastated by the turn of events, shared his account, revealing that he had physically confronted his wife and discussed her infidelity, agreeing that she should return to her family’s home. He even arranged a bus ticket for her, intending for her to leave, only to return from work to find her deceased.

Baba Aisha described the scene, recalling discovering an empty bottle of poison beside her lifeless body, along with a note indicating her actions. He expressed his overwhelming sense of loss and confusion, unsure of how to proceed.

He said;

“I assaulted her when I caught her with my friend. We talked about her cheating and agreed that she goes back kumba kwavo. I then booked her a bus ticket but found her dead when I came back from work. I saw an empty bottle and a note by her side saying she (swallowed) the poison, I don’t know where to start now.”

An attempt by a seven-man syndicate to rob three banks in Irele LGA of Ondo State has been thwarted by the Ondo State Security Network Agency, popularly known as Amotekun.

The Commander of the Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, who disclosed this to journalists on Thursday March 21, 2024, at the headquarters of the security group in Akure, said the gang also plotted to kidnap a businessman in the state.

Parading 36 other suspected criminals for various offenses, Adeleye said the 7-man armed robbery gang came from Sapele, Delta State for kidnapping and robbery of the bank.

Adeleye further informed me that 6 of the armed robbers were at large, but Amotekun operatives were able to apprehend the mastermind who accommodated the robbers.

“We were equally able to get to the root of the target that they intended to kidnap to give the officers of Amotekun the feeling that it was mere robbery, whereas it was a dual operation,” he stated.

"The manhunt for the leader who escaped to Delta State is on. We are liaising with relevant government and security authorities to assist us in apprehending this runaway gang

“The Intel available to us shows that they intend to rob three banks and kidnap the Managing Director of a supermarket. Investigations showed that they liaised with a staff of the supermarket who declined to join the group,”

He further explained that among the suspects are specialists in vandalism of critical government assets.

"They went with a trailer to load pipes meant for a World Bank-financed water project and successfully offloaded it but our operatives followed them and apprehended them where they offloaded at a different location,” Adeleye said.

He appealed to the residents of the state to continue to support the security network with timely and actionable information while pledging to always secure the lives and properties of the residents in conjunction with other security agencies in the state.

A bill for the amendment of the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) Act to increase its funding from the consolidated revenue from 2 per cent to 4 per cent has scaled second reading in the House of Representatives.

Chairman House Committee on Basic Education and Services, Honourable Bako Useni, made this known on Thursday, March 21 during the committee oversight function at the Digital Resource Center built by UBEC in Abuja.

UBEC’s Digital Resource Centre is to provide quality digital educational content for schools across the country as well as contemporary capacity building to relevant actors in the Nigerian education sector.

Useni said the 10th Assembly saw the need to increase financial resources to the Basic education sub-sector for set objectives to be further met, hence the amendment bill sponsored by Honourable Muktar Shagaya to increase revenue accruing to UBEC from 2% to 4%.

“The amendment bill which passed the second reading Yesterday (Wednesday) when concluded will make UBEC stronger.

“Since UBEC was established in 2004 to date, a lot has been achieved. However, the House felt that if UBEC is motivated with more funding, it will go a long way in achieving more of what it has achieved.

“It was on this basis that one of us, Honourable Mukhtar Shagaya proposed an amendment to the UBEC Act to increase funding to UBEC from 2% to 4%/from the consolidated revenue fund.

“It is going to bring a new approach to basic education in Nigeria. It is going to improve teachers’ training and content,” he said

“We have also assured the center of our collaboration and support through budget allocations and oversight functions to make sure that whatever funds that are provided are used for the betterment of Nigerians.

“We will continue to visit to monitor the kind of training that is being given to our teachers and other resource persons because it is a center for Nigeria to develop its education sector.

Executive Secretary of the UBEC, Dr Hamid Bobboyi said it was gladdening to have taken the House Committee members on a tour of the facilities of the center, which includes: the digital Museum, Library, Artificial Intelligence Center, the Studio, Micro-labs, lecture halls, accommodation among others.

“It is fruitful to bring the Honourable members to come and see what UBEC is doing in the area of digital education in the Basic education sub-sector of the country.

“The facility will ensure that our teachers are trained on the new pedagogy. We have brought in many teachers, school administrators, and quality assurance officers.

“For them to understand what is digital. learning and also to prepare them to be real participants and not just copycats in the class, where they can develop their digital resources and also take advantage of digital resources already on the ground.

“This is an experiment that we have started and believe that it will be a game changer in our basic education sub-sector,” he said.

Queen Tobi Philips, the wife of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi, has shared adorable maternity photos.

Recall that Ooni announced the arrival of their twins, a boy and girl, in a post via his Instagram page on Saturday, alongside a photo of him and his wife.

The monarch revealed that his wife and their twins were doing well, to the glory of God.

However, on Thursday, Tobi took to her Instagram page to express appreciation to God for their bundle of joy, adding that God gave her double for her trouble.

She wrote, “God Said “Watch Me Do This!” ???? ✨ Agbanilagbatan Gave Me Double For My Trouble”

President Bola Tinubu says lawmakers who alleged that the 2024 budget had been embellished did not understand the arithmetic of the appropriation act.

Tinubu spoke on Thursday night, during an iftar gathering of members of the senate, at the presidential villa.

Iftar is a meal taken by Muslims at sundown to break the daily Ramadan fast.

On November 29, Tinubu presented the sum of N27 trillion as the proposed budget for the 2024 fiscal year, to the national assembly.

On December 30, the national assembly passed the appropriation bill, increasing its size from N27.5 trillion proposed by Tinubu to N28.7 trillion.

THE BUDGET PADDING ALLEGATION

Early this month, Abdul Ningi, senator representing Bauchi central, stirred controversy when he alleged that the 2024 budget was padded by N3 trillion and that the country is operating two budgets concurrently.

Following the claims, the senate debated the matter at the “committee of the whole”.

Subsequently, the senator was suspended for three months for allegedly not providing evidence to back his allegations.

Godswill Akpabio, senate president, had said many Nigerians would no longer trust the upper legislative chamber because of the allegation.

“Nigerians are bashing the senate. Many Nigerians will never in future come back to respect this chamber. The integrity of this chamber has been totally damaged and we wanted you to repair it with your speech,” Akpabio told Ningi.

‘SENATORS’ INTEGRITY INTACT’

Addressing the legislators on the budget padding claims, Tinubu said the integrity of the senate is intact.

“I know the arithmetic of the numbers that I brought to the senate and I know what I got back,” the president said.

“And I appreciate all of you for the expeditious handling of the budget. Thank you very much.

“Those who are talking of malicious embellishment in the budget didn’t understand the arithmetic and they didn’t refer to the numbers… the baseline of what I brought.

“All of your integrity is intact. I am very grateful for what you have been doing.”

Tinubu assured Nigerians that the challenges and economic hardship in the country will soon be over.

“The natural challenge that we face will be over,” he added.

“On the economic challenge, we are about turning the corner.”

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two undergraduate friends, who faked their kidnap to extort their parents.

The suspects are 21-year-old Balogun Ayodele, a 200-level student at Lagos State University of Education, Ijanikin, and Okuomo Dennis, also 21 years old and a student at the National Institute of Information Technology, Lagos.

The Police said the suspects came out of hiding after staying in the bush for a week without payment of ransom by their parents.

Vanguard gathered that Dennis mooted the idea of staging Ayodele’s kidnap in order to extort his father, who is a driver at an unnamed company.

On February 2, 2024, Ayodele reportedly disappeared from home and thereafter used his phone to send his father a text demanding $20,000 ransom for his release.

The instruction was that payment should be made to a Bitcoin wallet address sent.

His devastated father was said to have approached management of his company for assistance but the latter insisted that the matter should be reported to the Police.

Meanwhile, Ayodele, according to spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Benjamin Hudenyin, was kept in one of the rooms in Dennis’ father’s hotel.

He said: “Dennis’ father is a hotelier and has a room permanently reserved for his son, Dennis. That was where Ayodele hid. He successfully avoided detection since nobody checks in there. When the ransom wasn’t forthcoming, they decided to take Ayodele to a nearby bush, stripped him naked, and took pictures of him lying on the ground. They sent the pictures to his father, threatening harm if the money wasn’t paid.

“Later, they sent messages to Ayodele’s father mentioning names of other members of his family, which further escalated the fear. When Ayodele’s father reached out to his son’s friend, Dennis, he denied knowing anything about his friend’s disappearance.

“Since this approach wasn’t working, on March 11, 2024, Dennis decided to fake his own disappearance, with the hope that his father would pay. They made it look like the same kidnappers, who abducted Ayodele came for Dennis.

“The two families were desperate. The students repeated the same tactic, taking pictures of Dennis naked and demanding $80,000 initially. But when there was no response, they increased it to $100,000. By then, Dennis couldn’t stay in his father’s hotel anymore. He and Ayodele stayed in a nearby bush for five days.

“However, two days after they went to the bush, they tried another ploy. They went to Ayodele’s father’s company, took pictures of the building and sent them to Ayodele’s father, threatening to come and get him. Ayodele’s father was terrified and reported the matter to the company’s management, which issued an alert to all staff.

“Meanwhile, all this information was provided to the Lagos State Police Command, thereby prompting diligent investigation.

“They decided to come out of hiding on March 16, 2024, when they could not get any money. They went back to Dennis’ father’s hotel and claimed they had escaped from the kidnappers’ den. They quickly called Ayodele’s father, who rushed there immediately.

“Ayodele was taken to the hospital for treatment as his father believed he was kidnapped. They were arrested after they turned themselves in. During investigation, they confessed to the crime.”

A Lagos Federal High Court has convicted and sentenced a convict, Mrs. Odeyemi Omolara, to another 15 years imprisonment for drug trafficking.

The convict, Omolara, who is currently serving a 25-year jail-term, was sentenced to another 15 years by Justice Deinde Dipeolu, on Tuesday.

However, Justice Dipeolu said the new 15 years jail-term shall run concurrently with the ongoing 25 years sentence handed down on the convict since June 2017 by Justice Hadiza Rabiu-Shagari (now a judge of Appeal Court)

The convict was formerly sentenced to 25 years jail in June 2017, after confessing to have committed the offence of illegal export of 1.595 Kilogrames of cocaine to Saudi-Arabia.
She was given the fresh jail-term, after she pleaded guilty to charges of conspiracy and unlawful possession of the banned substance, after the prosecutor, Mr. Abu Ibrahim had reviewed the facts of the four counts charge, made against her by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA.

Meanwhile, following the sentencing of Odeyemi Omolara, who is the first defendant in the four-count charge, the trial of Mrs. Funmilola Arike Ogbuaya (a.k.a Ariket), who had pleaded not guilty to the charges commenced before the court.

At the commencement of trial, yesterday, NDLEA called five prosecution witnesses to testify in support of it’s case against Ariket.

Sixteen state governors have submitted reports expressing their supports for establishing state police to the National Economic Council.

They also recommended changes to the constitution to allow for the creation of state police.

The reports were amongst documentations received at the 140th NEC meeting presided over by Vice President Kashim Shettima at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja on Thursday.

Special Adviser to the Vice President on Media and Communications, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed Thursday titled, ‘NEC endorses take-off of $617M i-DICE programme across states.’

According to the statement, NEC is still awaiting reports from 20 states. It expressed confidence that others would support.

NEC was established by the provisions of section 153(1) and Paragraphs 18 & 19 of part I of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). Its membership comprises the 36 state governors, the Governor of the Central Bank and other co-opted government officials.

Chaired by the Vice President, NEC meets monthly to execute its mandate of “advising the President concerning the economic affairs of the Federation, and in particular on measures necessary for the coordination of the economic planning efforts or economic programmes of the various Governments of the Federation.”

Disclosing discussions at Thursday’s NEC, the Vice-President’s spokesman, Nkwocha said, the “Secretary to NEC (Mr Nebeolisa Anako) made a presentation on submissions by states on the state policing initiative. Reports have been received by 16 states on the establishment of State police. 20 states have yet to send in report. All states across the country expressed their support for the establishment of state police for the following reasons.

“States made presentations in support of the creation of state police. States recommended changes in the constitution and the current policing structure to enable the operationalisation of the initiative.”

However, no details were given about the specific states. The Vice President’s spokesperson had affirmed that the total number would be presented at the next NEC meeting even as “the compilation is still going on”.

This comes weeks after the Federal and state governments, on February 16, 2024, resolved to develop modalities to create state police to tackle the country’s security crisis.

Abduction wave

The nation has been wracked by waves of abductions, attacks by suspected bandits and other violent crimes, reviving calls for the establishment of a multi-level policing system, including state police.

Bandits have in recent times 495 persons in Kaduna, Sokoto and Borno states.

On March 7, over 280 pupils and teachers of Government Secondary School and LEA primary School at Kuriga, Kaduna State, were kidnaped.

The terrorists reportedly invaded Kuriga in Chikun Local Government Area, Kaduna, shooting at their targets before whisking away the pupils and teachers from both schools.

A day earlier, the United Nations confirmed the abduction of at least 200 internally displaced persons from their camp in Ngala Local Government Area of Borno State.

The UN resident and humanitarian coordinator in Nigeria, Mohamed Fall, in a statement said the abductees, including women, boys and girls, were captured while fetching firewood. Fall added that the terrorists released some older women and children below 10 years.

On March 9, bandits reportedly kidnapped no fewer than 15 Tsangaya students at Gidan Bakuso area of Gada Local Government Area in Sokoto State.

On March. 14, at least 17 Nigerian soldiers were killed while on a peace-keeping mission to douse clashes between Okuoma and Okoloba communities in Ughelli South Local Government Area of Delta State.

On February 20, bandits kidnapped over 26 travellers along the Gusau-Sokoto highway. They were said to have blocked the road around Kwaren Kirya village under Maru Local Government Area of Zamfara State and abducted travellers from a Toyota 18-seater bus and a Volkswagen golf vehicle.

At President Tinubu’s meeting with the governors last February, the Federal Government and states agreed to recruit a yet-to-be-disclosed number of forest rangers and invest in more training to “keep our forests and our borders safe,” said the Information Minister, Mohammed Idris, when he briefed State House Correspondents after a meeting between Tinubu and the 36 state governors.

“The Federal Government and the state governments are mulling the possibility of setting up state police,” said Idris, adding that “this is still going to be further discussed.”

He explained, “A lot of work must be done in that direction. But if our government and the state governments agree to the necessity of having state police, this is a significant shift.”

“Like I said, more work needs to be done in that direction. A lot of meetings will have to happen between the federal government and subnationals to see the modalities of achieving this,” Idris noted.

On February 20, 2024, a bill proposing the creation of state police successfully passed the second reading at the House of Representatives.

The legislation titled, ‘A bill for an Act to alter the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, to provide for the establishment of State Police and related matters,’ was slated for a second reading before the end of this week.

Backed by 13 House members, the bill gained the majority’s favour in the Green Chamber, with many lawmakers arguing that the security challenges take preeminence over concerns about political victimisation by state governors.

Meanwhile, the Presidency has said although President Bola Tinubu has given his nod for the creation of state police outfits and forest guards, Governors would ultimately determine the success of both moves.

It also said it expects the re-opening of the Nigeria-Niger border to fight the illegal influx of arms roaming the Sahel from the conflict in Libya.

Speaking exclusively with our correspondent on the issue, a presidency official who did not want to be named said, “The President told the state governors to discuss it further at the state level. A committee was set up for that. We have not heard from the committee yet. Don’t also forget that simultaneously, the national assembly is considering inserting state policing in the constitution. So, there is a consensus around state policing.

“As for the forest guards, work is going on with it. There are existing forest guards in several states, but they are under the states’ ministries of agriculture. The goal now is to strengthen their capacity by arming them properly and recruiting more people.

“Still, it all falls in the hands of states to strengthen the forest guards. That is where we are now.”

Another Presidency official who spoke on condition of anonymity said the opening of the Nigeria-Niger border was part of efforts to stall the proliferation of the small arms and light weapons non-state actors use for their enterprise.

“What I know is this: some people have linked our security problems to the situation in Libya. The Libya conflict has led to the flow of arms to Nigeria. We share a long border with Niger. And many arms are flowing into the country.

“Our borders with our Sahelian neighbours are largely ungoverned. So, there are many arms in the hands of this bandit.

“We had to make peace with Niger because of this. It was an attempt to appease Niger. We share the same border. If we are not at peace with them, they may ignore the arms flowing in. Even the food shortage we are talking about, many goods come from Niger to Nigeria. We exacerbated things when we shut the border,” the official said.

In a similar development, the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, in a communique its issued at the conclusion of its virtual meeting, and signed by its Chairman, Kwara State Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, dated Wednesday and made available to the press on Thursday, emphasised the importance of incorporating State policing as a crucial amendment in the ongoing 1999 Constitutional Amendment process to address a fundamental flaw in the national security framework.

The communique read in part “The Forum commiserated with the Governor of Delta State, H.E Sheriff Oborevwori, over the communal clash between Okuama in the Ughelli South Local Government Area and Okolaba in the Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State, and which led to the death of many including 16 military personnel. While condemning the heinous act, members observed a minute of silence for the souls of the departed.

“Members reviewed the progress of the National Minimum Wage Committee and ongoing multi- stakeholder engagements towards agreeing on a fair minimum wage.

“Members urged the NMWC to consider the current realities, individual State peculiarities and consequential impact on the capacity of the government as well as private sector employers to pay. Members also emphasized the need for proposals to be data- driven and evidence-based.

“The Forum highlighted the need for State policing as a critical amendment in the ongoing 1999 Constitutional Amendment proceedings to correct a fundamental flaw in the national security architecture.”

The debate for creating state police in Nigeria primarily stems from the centralised nature of the Nigerian Police Force, which many security pundits perceive as inadequate for addressing the unique security challenges across the country’s diverse regions.

Proponents argue that the outfit would bring law enforcement closer to the communities they serve, enhance the effectiveness of policing, and allow for more localised control over security matters.

However, opponents fear that state police could lead to the abuse of power, particularly in states with strong political control, potentially exacerbating regional tensions and undermining national unity.

Says attack on party HQ act of lawlessness

Abure, a pathological liar—NLC’s Political Commission

The National Chairman of Labour Party, Comrade Julious Abure, has accused the Joe Ajaero-led Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and those they led to besiege the party’s national secretariat of stealing funds meant for payment of staff salaries, among other valuables during Wednesday’s attack.

Abure, who spoke for the first time since the picketing of the party’s secretariat, described the action of the labour leaders as a shame and act of rascality. In a statement signed on his behalf by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Obiora Ifoh, in Abuja, yesterday, Abure said, “What we saw was a show of shame, a show of rascality, an abuse of office and an abuse of the law of the land.

“Nigeria Labour Congress is subject to the law. NLC under Joe Ajaero is not above the law and the law precludes Ajaero and the leadership of NLC to take laws into their hands, where they besieged the office, broke the fence, destroyed the gates, unlawfully took possession of the secretariat and destroyed properties worth millions of naira.

“Properties stolen, including monies, made for the payment of salaries and other official purposes. This is unfortunate. It is becoming unbecoming.

“I must state today that the leadership of NLC under Joe Ajaero is on the path of destroying the successes we recorded in the 2023 general election.”

Abure, a pathological liar—NLC’s Political Commission

Reacting to Abure’s allegation, Acting Chairman of NLC’s Political Commission, Professor Theophilus Udubuaku, among others , said, “Abure should be reminded, since he is now suffering from selective amnesia that it took the picketing by Ajaero-led NLC to drive Lamidi Apapa away from the LP headquarters before he moved in.

“Talking about lies, it speaks much about who Abure really is when he claims that billions of naira were stolen when the picketing was conducted in the presence of scores of policemen, DSS officers and pressmen. These lies alone define Abure as a man who is grossly irresponsible.”

“We would like the Nigerian media to appreciate the fact that NLC is not interested in a media war with a man who thinks he can successfully transform himself into a sole administrator of LP.

“The press is expected to do its duty and fact-check the comments from Abure and his men and call them out as liars.

Aare Onakakanfo of Yoruba, Gani Adams, yesterday, backed calls for the country to return to a parliamentary system of government, insisting that the presidential system is too expensive and it breeds corruption across all sectors of government.

Adams, who is the Chief Promoter of the Olokun Festival Foundation, OFF, also lamented the country’s security challenges, saying bandits and kidnappers are on the prowl daily.

Addressing newsmen at the 12th edition of the Eledumare Festival in Lagos, Adams, represented by Asoju Aare Ona Kakanfo of Yorubaland, Chief Yinka Oguntimehin, said the country’s present structure cannot take it anywhere.

His words: “As we celebrate the Eledumare festival, I also make a case for a complete overhaul of the structure of this country. I make a case for a parliamentary system of government, where the region will be allowed to function and prosper accordingly. Today in Nigeria, the country is faced with various challenges including economic, political and structural. The security challenges are also very alarming. Just last week about 16 soldiers of the Nigerian Army were murdered in Delta State. Bandits and kidnappers are daily on the prowl. The situation is becoming very unbearable.

“As far as I am concerned, I know for a fact that the present structure cannot help us in fulfilling the dreams of the country. The current system is very expensive, and it breeds corruption across all sectors of the government. So, I hope that if Nigeria is restructured along regional lines, we will be able to secure the future of our country and set a new path for a prosperous nation.

“Going forward, I hope that in the coming years, the Eledumare festival and all other festivals we celebrate annually will continue to attract more prospects in the future. Apart from the spiritual blessing expected by celebrating the Eledumare festival, I also believe that this festival will provide special grace, rewards and better opportunities for all our members to seek the face of the highest God.