Benin Traditional Council, BTC, has suspended six palace functionaries for allegedly presenting themselves as the palace’s emissaries before the Ooni of Ife in a function.

A statement signed by Chief Sam Igbe, Iyase of Benin kingdom, on behalf of BTC, and made available to newsmen in Benin City on Saturday listed the suspended palace functionaries as
Johnbull Igbinosun, Iduhonre (Ihogbe), S.E. Aigbiremwen, Efesieoghoba (Ogbelaka),

The statement also listed Ogbeide Osagie and Osamudiame Edo among the suspended functionaries.

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He said they were suspended for allegedly engaging themselves in a “sacrilegious show of shame and falsehood against the Benin Custom.”

“These individuals not only declared themselves subjects of the Ooni, but also rendered an inaccurate and disjointed account of the connection between the Benin Royal Dynasty and the Ooni-ship of Ife,” the statement added.

He explained that the offence of the suspended functionaries was contained in video clips circulating on social media.

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He noted that the palace considered the conduct of the functionaries as “inappropriate, sacrilegious and calculated to ridicule traditional history, and to bring disrepute to Benin custom.”

He, however, advised the general public to refrain from having anything to do with the suspended functionaries as traditional functionaries in Benin kingdom throughout their suspension.

He also urged the general public to disregard the inaccurate accounts rendered by the ill-bred individuals named above.

The Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ola Olukoyede, has appointed Michael Nzekwe as his Chief of Staff.

This was as he also appointed Zonal Directors for each of the 14 Zonal Commands of the commission.

Nzekwe who is a lawyer and former Commander of the Ilorin Zonal Command of the anti-graft agency, is described as a “topnotch investigator” in a statement released by the Commission’s Head of Publicity, Dele Oyewale, on Saturday.

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He has served in various departments in the Commission, including the Legal and Prosecution Department, Department of Operations (now Department of Investigations), Department of Internal Affairs (now Department of Ethics and Integrity), Servicom, and Asset Forfeiture Department.

“A seasoned administrator, he has attended several trainings and courses home and abroad, including the Advance Defence Intelligence Officers Course organised by Defence Intel Agency, DIA. The appointment takes immediate effect and he has assumed duties,” Oyewale said.

Meanwhile, the statement said Olukoyede, in his restructuring and repositioning of the EFCC, equally upgraded all the zonal commands of the Commission to the status of Departments, with each of them headed by a Director.

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To this effect, 14 new Directors have been appointed to head each of the zonal commands. Additionally, to bolster and fortify the security architecture of the Commission, the Security Unit of the EFCC has been upgraded to a Department with a seasoned officer appointed as Director, Security and Chief Security Officer.

A new department has also been created in the Executive Chairman’s office and it is headed by the former Makurdi Zonal Commander of the EFCC, Friday Ebelo, who also doubles as Director and Coordinator, Special Duties at the corporate headquarters of the Commission.

The former Department of Internal Affairs has been renamed Department of Ethics and Integrity and minor reshuffling effected in some Departments at the headquarters.

“Olukoyede says that the ongoing restructuring is meant for the repositioning and strengthening of the EFCC to deliver on its assigned mandate optimally.”

Law Lee, an associate of embattled singer, Naira Marley, has made a snide remark about the late singer, Ilerioluwa Aloba, popularly called Mohbad.

Mohbad died at the age of 27, on September 12, 2023, with circumstances surrounding his death sparking controversies on social media.

In an Instagram post on Friday, Law Lee expressed his level of hatred for Mohbad.

His statement came after Portable tackled Zinoleesky, on social media for acquiring a Ferrari despite not having a hit song.

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According to him, the hatred for the deceased increases every day even after his death.

He explained that Mohbad’s alleged disparaging remarks about fellow artist Oniyide Azeez aka Zinoleesky led to a public confrontation towards him on social media by a controversial artist, Habeeb Okikiola aka Portable.

He further stated that if Mohbad had not made negative remarks about Zinoleesky, Portable wouldn’t have made such a move.

He wrote, “Every day my hatred for Mohbad keeps increasing even after his death …. If not for all those miscap about zino na why this @portablebaeby get mind dey sub am .. Fooooooooooool.”

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A former record label signee of Marlian Music owned by Naira Marley, Mohbad left the label in February 2022.

The Lagos State Police Command had, on September 18, 2023, inaugurated a 13-man special investigation team to probe the singer’s death.

A probe into his death also led to the arrest of Naira Marley and controversial Lagos socialite, Balogun Eletu, also known as Sam Larry, among others.

The duo’s had before their arrest faced criticism for allegedly mistreating Mohbad before his passing in September 2023.