News

A’Ibom REC Threatens Suit Against APC Chieftain, Demands N1bn, Retraction In 4 TV Stations, 5 Newspapers

Published

2 years ago

July 3, 2022

Editor

The Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mike Igini, has threatened to file a N1 billion libel suit against a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, Blessing Agbomhere, over alleged defamatory statements.

While denying the allegation, the activist and former President of the University of Benin Students’ Union Government, also demanded N1 billion as damages.

He, therefore, gave Agbomhere a 48 hours ultimatum within which he should retract the said defamatory statements and tender an apology to him in four major television stations and five prominent Newspapers including The PUNCH or he would go to court.

When contacted, Agbomere told The PUNCH that he stood by the allegation.

“I’ve not seen his letter but I stand by my allegation, we’ll meet in court”, he said.

Igini, in a pre-litigation notice that was prepared by his team of lawyers led by Chief Clement Onwuenwunor (SAN), obtained by Journalists in Abuja on Sunday, alleged that the APC chieftain had in a television interview he granted June 29, accused him of not only working for the PDP in Akwa Ibom State but also acting as a ceremonial consultant to Governor Udom Emmanuel.

The letter read, “We act as Legal Practitioners for Honourable Mike Igini (hereinafter referred to as our client) and on whose instruction we write this protest and demand letter to you.

“In a television interview aired by Arise Television and anchored by Dr. Rueben Abati on June 29, 2022, and subsequently relayed on several other news media platforms, you maliciously published to the whole world about our client as follows:

‘Mike Igini has abused the privilege of his office, he is partial/biased against the interest of the All Progressives Congress in Akwa Ibom State; he is working for the Peoples Democratic Party in the state; he is a ceremonial consultant to the Governor of the state in electoral matters; he has compromised the values of INEC; he is a hatchet man hired by the PDP to work for them in INEC, shamelessly defending the rights of political parties and that he lives in the Lodge of the Government of the state, that he has videos of him driving in and coming out.’

“The above malicious accusations published to the whole world have, ever since, been given unprecedented publicity and they constitute the most wicked attack on the towering image of our client, who over the years, has earned a deserved reputation in Nigeria and internationally as a forthright electoral umpire.

“Your said bogus allegations were hellish conjectures from the spiral imaginations of a mischief-maker who neither have the fear of God nor regard for a man of probity in your misguided foray for ephemeral political power.

“As characteristic of unrepentant blackmailers, you threw caution to the wind, and in your frenzied efforts to disparage our client without checking your facts, you did not know (and will be shocked to know) that our client does not know where the Government Lodge of the state is located and that our client lives in the official quarters of Independent National Electoral Commission in Uyo, and this is very well known to you.

“We have the instruction of our client to challenge you or anyone else to post your taunted pictures and videos to the whole world.

“Our brief further confirmed, and this will even interest you to know that our client has never visited the home of a human being, son or daughter, or any individual in his home anywhere in the state since he resumed as the REC in the state in 2017 and your allegations of being a hatchet man for the PDP in Akwa Ibom State, a ceremonial consultant to the Governor of the state in electoral matters, are misguided and reckless in extreme.

“We need you to recognise that the oath of office sworn to by our client has remained his guiding rule and his insistence on compliance by political parties and candidates with the law and Rules of INEC is for the overall benefits of our democratic practice where fraud, manipulations, sabotage, and maneuvering of electoral guidelines are completely discouraged.

“Our client’s principled stance against the above vices, is in summary, the reason for your unjustifiable vituperations against him on a national television. We shall hold you to your words at the appropriate forum and we hope you will not call friends and foes to beg for you when the “chips are down”.

“Consequently, we have been instructed by our client to demand from you a retraction of the defamatory statements and an apology to be broadcast on Arise Television, Channels Television, AIT, TVC and to also be published in a full page of The PUNCH Newspapers, Guardian Newspapers, Vanguard Newspapers, Tribune Newspapers, and Sunday Sun Newspapers within 48 hours from the receipt of this letter.

“We also demand the modest sum of N1 billion from you as damages for the said defamatory statements.

“Take note that if you fail, refuse, and or neglect to comply with the above demand within the stated period, we shall have no other option than to perfect our client’s standing instructions against you.”

News

Over 2,000 Students To Participate In Gombe Inter-Schools Athletic Competition

Published

27 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Tari Ayesinghan

No fewer than 2,367 school students are expected to participate in Gombe State Inter Secondary Schools Athletic Competition.

The Main Organizing Committee (MOC) for the programme disclosed this during a during a meeting held at the GOFCECON HOTEL conference hall.

Announcing preparations for the upcoming event, the MOC constituted seven sub-committees to ensure a successful competition to oversee the event.

The constituted sub-committees include Technical, Ceremonial, Entertainment, and Training; Media and Publicity; Accreditation and Security; Accommodation, Transportation, and Logistics; Medical and Welfare; General Duties; and Secretariat.

According to the MOC, capacity training will be compulsory for all secondary school game masters prior to the competition.

Additionally, the committee has extended an invitation to one private and one public secondary school from each of the six states in the North East Region to participate in an invitational relay at the finals.

According to the MOC, Amany secondary school across the country willing to participate in the invitational relay can also register.

The competition will feature cadets, youths, and 65 U-20 registered schools, with approximately 2,367 school pupils participating.

The MOC also announced that participating schools will enjoy free accommodation and feeding.

The committees have been urged to submit their budget proposals within seven days.

News

HP Wolf Security Threat Insights Report Reveals Cybercriminals’ Latest Tactics

Published

43 mins ago

May 20, 2024

Tari Ayesinghan

By Tari Ayesinghan

Palo Alto, Calif, May 16, 2024- HP Inc. has released its quarterly HP Wolf Security Threat Insights Report, exposing the latest techniques used by cybercriminals to evade detection and breach PCs.

The report highlights the growing use of open redirects, Fake invoices leading to HTML smuggling attacks and Living-off-the-Land (LotL) techniques to sneak past defenses.

HP Wolf Security has identified notable campaigns, including the use of open redirect vulnerabilities and the exploitation of Windows Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) to download malicious files.

According to Patrick Schläpfer, Principal Threat Researcher, “Invoice lures are a classic trick, but still effective. Employees are more likely to open them, making it a lucrative target for attackers.”

The report emphasizes the importance of a defense-in-depth approach to security, as Living-off-the-Land techniques expose the limitations

News

Traders In Edo Protest Middlemen Activities, Seek Govt Intervention

Published

2 hours ago

May 20, 2024

Editor

Traders under the auspices of Ekiosa Market Traders Association, on Monday protested what they tagged activities of ‘evil middlemen and women’, which according to the protesters are causing price hike and artificial scarcity in Benin markets.

The protesters also protested against the neglect of their market (Ekiosa Market)by concerned authorities, which according to them got burnt in 2019.

The protesters who carried placards with different inscriptions as ‘evil union in Edo market are responsible for hike in food;’ Edo people say no to evil union in our market;’ Edo State government ban evil union in Edo markets;’ ‘we say no to evil union in Edo market,’ lamented that many of them are stranded due to government failure to rebuild their market that got burnt, adding that the middlemen and women are making them unproductive.

Speaking during a peaceful protest to the secretariat of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Edo State council, Lucky Orukpe, President of Traders Welfare Union, accused the middlemen and women of causing artificial scarcity in Edo market and also price hike in farm produce.

He alleged that these middlemen and women who form unions among themselves are making sure that whoever fails to join their union does not have a place to sell in the market in Benin City.

He said: “Today, in our market, if you bring your farm produce to sell, we have people we call middlemen and women in our market in Edo State. They will compel you to join a union before you can sell your garri; they will compel you to join their union before you can sell your yam.
If you are not in their union, and you are bringing produce to sell, no vehicle will carry you. When they succeed in compelling you to join their union, they give you time to come to their market.

“Today, farmers are scared to bring farm produce to the market. So, these evil unions are causing artificial scarcity in our market in Edo State.”

Ourkpe who alleged that the ‘evil middlemen and women just devised a new means of operation recently, lamented that due to their activities, food prices are lesser in states that Edo supplies food.

He further lamented: “We carry food from Edo State to other states but food is cheaper in these states, this is because of the activities of these middlemen.”

Ourkpe who said these men are not government agents but individuals, urged the state government to as a matter of urgency address the issue before it got out of hand.

On his part, Anthony Agho, president, Ekiosa Market Traders Association, lamented “we the Ekiosa Market traders are stranded in the streets. We have no where to trade. And they forbid us from selling on the walkway, so how are we going to survive.

He continued: “In 2019, Ekiosa Market got burnt, and since then we have been managing. In 2020, Oredo Local Government came and said we should leave the place and that they want to renovate it. Then in January 2024, the local government came and told us that we should leave and that between 4 months the work will be completed, and since then we have been waiting.”