Metro

Rape, Defilement: Edo First Lady Attend Court Sitting, Assures Govt’s Support For Victims

Published

4 years ago

August 5, 2021

Wife of Edo State governor, Mrs. Betsy Obaseki, was today, Thursday 5, at the Benin Magistrate Court, Sapele Road, to attend court sitting on child defilement, involving the State Vs Mr. Michael Ugboki.

The First Lady who was accompanied by the Edo State Deputy Governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu and his wife, Mrs. Maryann Shaibu, urged victims of rape and other forms of gender-based abuse in the state to speak up, assuring them of the state government’s support in seeking justice.

Mrs. Obaseki who vowed to follow up the case to ensure justice is served, noted that she will make sure justice is served.

“The case has been adjoined to the 10th of August, 2021. We will make time to come back here again, until we see the end of the case to ensure justice is served. This will serve as a deterrent to others.

“We are here, today, to follow up with the case and ensure justice is served. We encourage everyone out there that has been abused by anyone, to know that the Edo State Government is determined to ensure that you get justice,” she said.

She continues, “We are calling on the people that have suffered abuse, rape, or have been battered in any form, by anyone, to please come out and speak. Nobody should hide anything; people shouldn’t be ashamed or embarrassed about it.

“There is the Vivian Ogu Centre; a gender-based violence centre. A similar centre would be set up in every local government area of the state, where victims of rape and other forms of violence can go to lodge their complaints.”

“We will ensure that victims get justice and are rehabilitated. We will also ensure that culprits are dealt with and judgment is served,” she reassured.

Metro

One Dies In Osun Road Crash

Published

26 minutes ago

August 13, 2025

Editor

Osun State Police Command has confirmed the death of one Usman Mohammed in a road accident that occurred in Ikirun on Tuesday.

Also in the accident, three other people were injured and subsequently hospitalised.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, during a chat with The PUNCH, explained that the accident occurred around Oja Oba, a market located along the ever-busy Ikirun-Iree-Ila Road.

Ojelabi further explained that a truck carrying granite lost control and ran over four people, killing one of them and leaving three others injured.

“The accident occurred today (Tuesday). A truck and a motorcycle were involved. The truck was carrying granite. The driver lost control due to brake failure.

“The truck hit a motorcyclist and veered off to a nearby shop. Four were also involved.

“Unfortunately, one Usman Mohammed died in the accident. He was standing by the road side. Three others injured in the accident are receiving treatment in an hospital,” Ojelabi said.

He urged road users to be security conscious whenever they are using the road, adding that the command will continue work hard to ensure maximum security for lives and properties in the state.

Osun State Police Command has confirmed the death of one Usman Mohammed in a road accident that occurred in Ikirun on Tuesday.

Also in the accident, three other people were injured and subsequently hospitalised.

Ojelabi further explained that a truck carrying granite lost control and ran over four people, killing one of them and leaving three others injured.

“The accident occurred today (Tuesday). A truck and a motorcycle were involved. The truck was carrying granite. The driver lost control due to brake failure.

“The truck hit a motorcyclist and veered off to a nearby shop. Four were also involved.

“Unfortunately, one Usman Mohammed died in the accident. He was standing by the road side. Three others injured in the accident are receiving treatment in an hospital,” Ojelabi said.

He urged road users to be security conscious whenever they are using the road, adding that the command will continue work hard to ensure maximum security for lives and properties in the state.

Metro

Fedpoly Bauchi Shut Down Over Violent Students Protest

Published

15 hours ago

August 12, 2025

Editor

Fedpoly Bauchi shut down over violent students protest
The Management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi, has ordered the immediate and indefinite closure of the institution following a violent student protest in the early hours of Tuesday morning.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that angry students of the institution embarked on a violent protest at about 10 am after an alleged midnight robbery at the male hostel.

The management announced the closure in a statement issued by the Registrar, Alhaji Kasimu Salihu, and made available to newsmen in Bauchi on Tuesday.

It stated: “The Management of the Federal Polytechnic, Bauchi has received the disturbing news of some unscrupulous elements who invaded the male students’ hostel, taking away their belongings and injuring two students.

“Consequent upon this sad development, students came out of the Polytechnic Main Gate to express their justifiable frustration, calling on management to act.

“While management acted immediately with all principal officers and management staff showing up to address the students and situation, it was established that hoodlums, who do not mean well for the students and institution, had taken over what was meant to be a peaceful protest.

“Against the background of this ugly situation, the management hereby orders the immediate closure of academic activities.”

The statement added that the students were given two hours to vacate the campus, effective immediately, until further notice.

Some of the students, who spoke on the condition of anonymity with reporters during the protest, said that the robbery occurred in the middle of the night.

They also said that the institution’s management had failed to provide adequate security.

One of the students, Ismail Abubakar, expressed frustration over the development.

Abubakar said that it was disturbing that “students are not safe off campus and on campus.

“They collected more than 50 phones during the robbery and wounded a couple of students with dangerous weapons”.

The Student Union Government President, Haruna Umar, who also condemned the attack, stated that it had never occurred in the history of the Polytechnic.

Meanwhile, the Bauchi Police Command says it has apprehended and detained three suspected members of the gang responsible for the robbery.

The command’s Spokesman, CSP Ahmed Wakili, confirmed the development in a statement issued via its online platform.

According to Wakili, the command “received intelligence through the Chief Security Officer (CSO) serving with the institution.

“The intelligence disclosed a security breach by unidentified hoodlums, who trespassed into the institution through the fenced wall and forcefully took the students’ phones.

“During the skirmishes, some of the students confronted the hoodlums, which resulted in various degrees of injuries to the students.

“On receipt of the report, teams of detectives attached to E’ Division, immediately despatched to the scene, conveyed the victims to the institution’s clinic for first aid,” the statement added.

It further disclosed that the command later dispatched a reinforcement team to the scene of the students’ protest to end the molestation of innocent people, breaking into and looting of shops and valuables.

Wakili explained that the operatives applied minimal force to disperse the illegal crowd after they encountered initial resistance.

He stated that the situation had been successfully brought under control, adding that 36 male and 12 female persons were being detained for alleged involvement in the protest.

He also stated that the three robbery suspects admitted during interrogation “that they criminally conspired, invaded the students’ hostels, threatened and forcefully dispossessed the students of their valuables, including phones and laptops.

“They also confessed to having inflicted various degrees of injuries on some of the students, who attempted to challenge them.”

Metro

Stop Begging Tinubu For Nnamdi Kanu’s Release, IPOB Tells Igbo Leaders

Published

15 hours ago

August 12, 2025

Editor

The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, yesterday frowned at what it calls the act of prominent Igbo men begging President Bola Tinubu for the release of its leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, instead of demanding his immediate and unconditional release.

The pro-Biafra group said Mazi Kanu is not a criminal, nor did he commit any crime that warrants people to be begging for his release, describing such begging by prominent Igbo men as disgraceful and unacceptable to IPOB.

IPOB, in a statement by its Media and Publicity Secretary, Emma Powerful, titled “Stop begging Tinubu, Demand for the Immediate and Unconditional Release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu Now,” cited a recent instance of a prominent Igbo man begging Tinubu to release Mazi Kanu.

IPOB’s statement read, “The Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, under the leadership of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, categorically rejects and condemns the shameful spectacle of Igbo figures, groveling before President Bola Tinubu with pleas and beggarly appeals for our leader’s ‘pardon’ or ‘release.”

“Such cowardly submissions, as seen in one Idimogu’s recent public groveling, where he begged Tinubu to free Kanu as a political favor to boost APC’s 2027 fortunes and revive the South-East economy, reek of self-serving opportunism and betrayal.

“They insult the intelligence of the Biafran people, undermine the rule of law, and perpetuate the false narrative that Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has committed any crime warranting mercy from a regime built on impunity.

“Let us be unequivocally clear: Mazi Nnamdi Kanu is not a criminal in need of pardon. He is a prisoner of conscience, unlawfully abducted from Kenya on June 27, 2021, in blatant violation of Kenyan sovereignty, Nigeria’s Extradition Act 2004, and international treaties, including the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR).

“Both Kenyan and Nigerian courts have affirmed this criminal abduction: the Kenyan High Court ruled it illegal, and Nigeria’s Court of Appeal, in its subsisting judgment of October 13, 2022, discharged Mazi Nnamdi Kanu outright, declaring no Nigerian court has jurisdiction to try him due to the jurisdictional nullity caused by his rendition.

“This appellate discharge, grounded in fundamental defects, stands as a final acquittal under Nigerian jurisprudence irrevocable unless explicitly stated “without prejudice,” which it was not (Suleman v. FRN, 2018; Mohammed v. State, 2017).

“The Supreme Court’s December 15, 2023, ruling, remitting the case for trial, is a per incuriam travesty, a nullity that cannot override the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended).

“Section 36(9) enshrines ironclad protection against double jeopardy: no person discharged by a court of competent jurisdiction shall be tried again for the same offense. The highest law in Nigeria is the Constitution, not the Supreme Court, and any judgment flouting constitutional safeguards is dead on arrival.

“Furthermore, the charges rely on repealed laws (Terrorism Prevention Act 2011/2013), extinguished under Section 6(3) of the Interpretation Act 2004, with no savings clause to revive them (A.G. Federation v. A.G. Abia State, 2002; Okeke v. State, 2019).

“The de novo trial before Justice Omotosho, commencing March 29, 2025, where Mazi Nnamdi Kanu was forced to plead not guilty anew, is an absolute nullity—void ab initio for lacking jurisdiction.

“Begging Tinubu, therefore, reinforces dictatorship and autocracy, portraying Nigeria as a lawless fiefdom where executive whims trump judicial finality. It signals weakness to our oppressors, implying Kanu is guilty when the law has exonerated him.

“IPOB warns all well-meaning individuals, Igbo leaders, and the public: Cease this degrading pleading immediately. It does not bode well for the rule of law; it smacks of complicity in state-sponsored terrorism and judicial banditry.

“Henceforth, demand for the immediate and unconditional release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu. He has been discharged and acquitted; no court, not even the Supreme Court, can subvert this without offending the Constitution and inviting anarchy.

“We call on all Biafrans, freedom-loving Nigerians, and the international community to amplify this demand: Obey the law, respect the Constitution, and free Kanu now! Failure to do so exposes the Tinubu regime’s contempt for justice and accelerates the inevitable collapse of this contrived contraption.

“IPOB will not fold its arms while our leader is intimidated into an unjust trial. We urge mass mobilization, including protests, legal actions, and global advocacy, to enforce the Court of Appeal’s verdict. Those who continue begging will be seen as enablers of oppression; history will judge you harshly.”