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CAN: Fish Out 61 Abducted Baptist Worshippers, Or …

Published

4 years ago

November 28, 2021

Editor

The Christian Association of Nigeria ( CAN ) has urged government and security agencies to be serious in locating 61 worshippers of Emmanuel Baptist Church who were abducted by bandits in Kaduna State.

The Christian body said failure to free the Baptist worshippers would make CAN think there was connivance in the kidnap incident.

Rev.Joseph John Hayab, Vice President of CAN in the North, and Chairman of the Kaduna chapter, told Vanguard that ” the
worshippers must be released,if truly there is something going on.”

“Or else we would even think they are conniving with the people and making propaganda in the media that they are working. “

“Okay, what’s the result of all these punishment that Kaduna state people are going through?That the network has been shut down and no practical result to show that criminals have been arrested? They showed us some videos sometimes ago, pictures of Fulani settlement ,claiming to be the bandits settlement that has been chased..But our people are still with the bandits, somewhere here,what’s goings-on?.

“How would bandits carry 66 people, now 61 people and they’re moving and nobody seems to know where they are?Nobody is doing anything?So that government or security agencies must go out there and get our 61 worshippers of Emmanuel Baptist Church released,if truly there is something going on..Or else we would even think they are conniving with the people and making propaganda in the media that they are working.

” This is because we cannot understand, 61 people at the time there’s no network, if 300 soldiers are put in a particular place, they would fish out these bandits and bring our people. What is happening, why the silence?Why is everybody keeping quite about our people who are in the hands of the bandits?Why is everybody keeping quite about our children who are suffering?These young children !! How can you expect these children to come tomorrow and want to serve Nigeria haven gone through this?.”

He said Nigerians need to know that their students are still with these bandits.

“The Bethel Baptist High School students have not come back all ,3 are still with them now since they have released the Head boy.They aremanding from us N5 million per Head for the remaining 3.We have paid them huge sum of money but look at how they are treating us.

“This makes us ask questions. All this shutting down of network, what has happened to it?Have we not used it to track criminals?Have we not used it that these bandits could still keep our 4 children to be demanding money from us?Because our understanding is they would’ve been able to track them.”

“So they came up with an unpopular policy that is just punishing citizens and is not bringing any succour to the people. Look at what we are back to, now. So this is the challenge we face.As I speak to you ,the bandits that took away the 66 worshippers at Emmanuel Baptist Church Kakau Daji ,a week after ,they took them on 31st of October ,and you will remember on the 6th, Sunday was 31st October, then on the 6th of November, they now picked 5 young people between the ages of 15 to 24,as if ithey were to release them, not knowing that they had an evil intention. When they came near home.,they opened fire on all of them. Two died ,one later died .So we buried 3,and the other 2 who sustained gun injuries are still been treated. But the 61 are with them in the bush and nothing has happened.

“They asked us to give then food,we did. First they even refused the food,they later accepted it.Then they are demanding for N99 illion from us for those 61 people that are there with them in the bush. So where is the security that is working to fish out these criminals?That is the question we are asking. Where is the security that is working to fish out these criminals?They’ve done videos,the first video they were showing them and put an old man to speak and one other speaker. The second video they showed them,they even sarcastically said in the 2 videos , “let the world see these are Christians, they are Christians. They forced the people to be saying that they are angry with government, “,but we are the ones suffering the brunt. Christians and Southern Kaduna people. If I pass the video to you, you can listen to it very clearly. I am translating what was said in the video.

“So what’s going on? Are security no more? When there was kidnapping on Abuja road few days ago, the police and others quickly went. So where have they been that this thing is happening and nothing is happening? From the 31st of October to today ,these people have spent 26 days in the hands of these bandits and no effort whatsoever. Our children have over 150 days in the hands of the bandits and no effort whatsoever.

“We are paying money and there is nothing. We rejoice that our Head boy is back but we are sad because of the other 3 and we are sad because of the experience that these whole children are going through, through out this period. That’s why I said I needed to share the concern of the church with you people so that Nigerians would know that our children are not yet back. If anybody is thinking that all is well about Bethel Baptist High School children, now we still have 3.We just got…and they are demanding about 5 million again, per head. What we got to give them, which was almost N5 million, they just released one person. They are still insisting for 5 for each person.” he said.

Headline

US Lifts Restrictions On Visa Validity For Ghanaians, Leaves Nigeria’s Unchanged

Published

55 minutes ago

September 27, 2025

Editor

The United States has restored the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaian nationals following Ghana’s agreement to accept West African deportees, but similar restrictions for Nigerians remain in place.

The B1/B2 visitor visa is now valid for up to five years, with multiple entries allowed, while the F1 student visa’s maximum validity has been restored to four years, with multiple entries permitted.

“The U.S. Embassy is pleased to announce that the maximum validity periods for all categories of nonimmigrant visas for Ghanaians have been restored to their previous lengths. The maximum validity allowed for the B1/B2 visitor visa is again five years, multiple entry. The maximum validity for the F1 student visa is again four years, multiple entry,” the U.S. Embassy announced in a tweet on Saturday.”

Ghana’s Foreign Minister, Samuel Ablakwa, also announced in a tweet that the new policy now allows citizens to apply for five-year multiple-entry visas.

Ablakwa also stated that the reversal of the restriction comes with other enhanced consular privileges, adding that the development was the result of months of diplomatic engagement.

“The U.S. visa restriction imposed on Ghana has been reversed. Ghanaians can now be eligible for five-year multiple-entry visas and other enhanced consular privileges,” Ablakwa stated.

“This good news was directly communicated to me by U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Allison Hooker, at a bilateral meeting earlier today, in the margins of the UN General Assembly. I am really pleased that months of high-level diplomatic negotiations have led to a successful outcome.”

These changes reverse earlier restrictions imposed under the Trump administration, which had limited most visas to single-entry and a three-month validity period.

The restrictions affected several African countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, and were based on concerns over visa reciprocity and the acceptance of deported migrants.

In July, the U.S. Consulate in Nigeria announced updates to its reciprocal nonimmigrant visa policy, stating: “The United States Department of State has announced updates to its reciprocal non-immigrant visa policy, impacting several countries, including Nigeria. Effective immediately, most non-immigrant and non-diplomatic visas issued to citizens of Nigeria will be single-entry visas with a three-month validity period.

“Those U.S. non-immigrant visas issued prior to July 8, 2025, will retain their status and validity. We wish to underscore that, as is standard globally, visa reciprocity is a continuous process and is subject to review and change at any time, such as increasing or decreasing permitted entries and duration of validity. You can view the latest information on visa reciprocity schedules for all countries at travel.state.gov.”

Reports indicate that the U.S. pressured some African nations to accept deported migrants, including Venezuelan detainees from U.S. prisons.

Nigerian Foreign Minister Yusuf Tuggar rejected these pressures, stating that Nigeria would not serve as a “dumping ground” for deportees.

“It would be difficult for countries like Nigeria to accept Venezuelan prisoners into Nigeria,” Tuggar said during a televised interview.

“We have enough problems of our own; we cannot accept Venezuelan deportees to Nigeria. We already have 230 million people.”

Meanwhile, Ghanaian President John Mahama confirmed that Ghana had begun accepting deported West African nationals after U.S. requests.

“We were approached by the U.S. to accept third-party nationals who were being removed from the U.S., and we agreed with them that West African nationals were acceptable,” Mahama said.

“All our fellow West African nationals don’t need visas to come to our country.”

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UK Nursery Worker Jailed For Abusing 21 Babies

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

A judge on Friday jailed a nursery worker for eight years for a string of “gratuitous” and “sadistic” attacks on babies.

In one incident, Londoner Roksana Lecka, 22, kicked a little boy in the face several times.

Lecka, who blamed cannabis for her crimes, admitted seven counts of cruelty to a person under the age of 16 and was convicted after a trial of another 14 counts.

Sentencing her for attacks on 21 babies, Judge Sarah Plaschkes said she had committed “multiple acts of gratuitous violence” at two London nurseries where she worked.

“You pinched, slapped, punched, smacked and kicked them. You pulled their ears, hair and their toes. You toppled children headfirst into cots,” she said.

“Often the child would be quietly and happily minding its own business before you deliberately inflicted pain… Your criminal conduct can properly be characterised as sadistic,” she added.

Lecka’s cruelty was revealed in June 2024 after she was seen pinching a number of children.
Police were called in and found multiple incidents recorded on the nursery CCTV.

Victim impact statements submitted to London’s Kingston Crown Court from parents of Lecka’s victims told how they were left heartbroken and guilt-stricken by the attacks.

“These children were so innocent and vulnerable,” one mother told the court.

“They couldn’t speak, they couldn’t defend themselves and they couldn’t tell us as parents that something had happened to them,” she added.

“They were totally helpless and Roksana preyed upon them.”

The hearing was told that she had apologised to the parents in a letter to the court in which she said cannabis had turned her into a different person.

She had been addicted to the drug around the time of the offences, but had not told the nursery.
She was found not guilty of three further counts of child cruelty.

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Italy Fines Six Oil Firms $1bn Fine For Restricting Competition

Published

1 day ago

September 26, 2025

Editor

Italy’s antitrust regulator said Friday it has slapped Italian energy giant Eni and five other companies with fines totalling more than 936 million euros ($1.1 billion) for “restricting competition” in the sale of fuel.

The authority said in a statement that Eni, Esso, Ip, Q8, Saras and Tamoil “coordinated to set the value of the bio component factored into fuel prices”, which tripled between 2019 and 2023.

A probe following a whistleblower’s complaint revealed that “the companies implemented parallel price increases — largely coinciding — which were driven by direct or indirect information exchanges among them”, the authority said.

“The cartel began on 1 January 2020 and continued until 30 June 2023,” it added.

AFP