Metro

Commercial Activities Grounded In Benin As Pensioner Protest, Demand Payment Of Gratuities

Published

3 years ago

January 4, 2023

Pensioners in their hundreds on Wednesday took over the Benin City Centre popularly called Ring Road to protest the non-payment of their gratuities since they retired from active service.

The protest led to heavy gridlock in the City centre and major adjoining roads.

Dressed in all black attire, the senior citizens said the current administration did not continue the payment of their gratuities from 2012 where the last administration of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole stopped.

INFO DAILY reports that the Oshiomhole government started the payment of gratuities from 1998 till 2012 as at the time he left office in 2016.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, Amadin Okoro said: “We are aggrieved; a lot of us are dying. A lot of us are not well, many of them are supposed to go for operations, no money. Besides gratuity, local government retirees are owed arrears and their gratuities since 2008. But for the state, it has not paid since 2012 till date.

“Our appeal to the governor is that he should pay us so that we can enjoy the fruits of our labour, which we suffered for 35 years.

“In fairness we receive our pensions monthly but the crux of the matter is our gratuity.”

Another protester, Esther Ehigie said she retired in 2012, adding that she and others were screened and invited for a meeting in 2017 where the authority for payment which is called yellow paper was collected from them but their money was not paid.

Reacting to the development, the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare said the government of Governor Godwin Obaseki has been paying the gratuities of all those who have retired since he became governor and that provision has already been made to clear the backlog.

He said: “We have gone very far to tackle the backlog, we made promises to the pensioners that they we will be paid their arrears, which we have done. We made promise that they will get their pensions as at when due, that we have done, the third leg of that is to clear the gratuity arrears, which is a huge sum of money, we have a plan in place which is coming to fruition, in the 2023 budget.

“We made provision to clear some of these gratuities and those pensioners have been put in batches so that they can be paid and very soon this will be effected.

“We implore our pensioners to exercise more patience and restraint while the issues are being sorted out.”

Metro

Police Bust Kidnap Ring, Rescue 23 Foreigners, Arrest 14 Suspects Near Abuja

Published

8 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

The Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command has dismantled a transnational kidnapping syndicate that demanded N230 million ransom from foreign nationals lured into Nigeria under the guise of lucrative job offers.

Operatives of the command’s Scorpion Squad launched the sting operation around 8 p.m. on Tuesday, October 21, 2025, at Angwan Adamu Ruga Fulani Zone B, Riverside, Ado Mararaba, Nasarawa State, a border community near Abuja.

Fourteen suspected kidnappers were arrested and 23 foreign nationals rescued in the process.

According to police findings, the victims, all West African nationals, were deceived into travelling to Nigeria by a criminal network posing as employment recruiters.

Upon arrival, the victims were held captive, and the kidnappers demanded ransom from their families via WhatsApp and other online platforms.

FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, said on Friday that investigations identified the ringleader as Abubakar Jigiba, a suspected notorious cross-border criminal with known residences in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria.

The syndicate, she explained, demanded four million CFA francs (about N10 million) per person, a total ransom demand of N230 million.

Adeh confirmed that efforts are ongoing to track down the principal suspect, Abubakar Jigiba, and his brother, Sougule Zoubere, both of whom remain at large.

She said: “In a major breakthrough against kidnapping and human trafficking, operatives of the FCT Police Command’s Scorpion Squad have successfully arrested fourteen (14) suspected kidnappers and rescued twenty-three (23) victims, all foreign nationals, from captivity.

“The intelligence-led operation took place at about 8 p.m. on Tuesday, 21st October 2025, at Angwan Adamu Ruga Fulani Zone B, Riverside, Ado Mararaba, Nasarawa State.

“The operation followed a report indicating that several foreign nationals had been lured into Nigeria under the pretext of lucrative job offers. Upon arrival, they were held hostage by their abductors, who demanded ransom payments from their families via WhatsApp and other online platforms.

“Preliminary investigation revealed that the syndicate is coordinated by one Abubakar Jigiba, a transnational criminal kingpin with known residences in Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Mali and Nigeria. His younger brother, Sougule Zoubere, handles the recruitment, kidnapping and smuggling of victims from Mali into Nigeria, where they are detained pending ransom payments. The group demanded four million CFA (N10,000,000) for each victim.

“Further investigations revealed that the victims were trafficked into the country through illegal border routes in a journey lasting about three days. They were subsequently confined in two fortified two-bedroom apartments under inhumane conditions.

“Acting on actionable digital and reconstructive intelligence, the Scorpion Squad traced the hideout to the above address, where a total of twenty-three (23) victims — fourteen (14) males, eight (8) females and one (1) child — were rescued unhurt, except one who sustained a minor ear injury and has been taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, for treatment.”

Metro

Woman Begs Court Not To Grant Husband’s Prayer For Divorce

Published

8 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

A housewife, Fauziya Ibrahim, has begged an Area Court in Ilorin, Kwara State, not to grant her husband, Hamza Musbau’s prayer of divorce.

She told the court that she does not want her marriage dissolved.

“I have been married to my husband for 16 years and I want to remain in this marriage,” she told the court.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN),Earlier, Hamza prayed for divorce on grounds of lack of love and affection.

The judge, Mr Toyin Aluko, said that on the strength of the provisions of the Holy Quran, Almighty Allah allows a wife to seek for settlement, just as divorce is allowed.

He, therefore, advised Fauziya to try her best to make peace and settle any misunderstanding between them.

Aluko adjourned the case.

Metro

Woman Seeks Divorce Over Alleged Abandonment, Abuse

Published

8 hours ago

November 1, 2025

Editor

A married woman, Love Thomas, has dragged her husband, Joshua, before an upper Customary Court sitting in Kaduna, Kaduna State, over alleged abandonment and violence.

According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the complainant’s lawyer, Victoria Omajawu prayed the court to dissolve their marriage on the grounds of abandonment.

She also prayed the court to restrain the defendant from threatening and disturbing her client’s peace or tranquility.

The defendant was however not in court.

The judge, Mrs Patience Musa, adjourned the case.