Edo State Special Security Squad has dismantled five suspected kidnappers’ camps in Owan East Local Government Area of the state.

A member of the Squad,
Eribo Ewanta, confirmed this in a statement issued in Benin on Saturday by Fred Itua, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Monday Okpehbolo.

Ewanta, who said the operation followed an extensive bush-combing operation in Ekeke Erah Forest, added that the operation was coordinated by the Principal Security Officer (PSO) to the governor in collaboration with the Nigerian Army, local vigilante groups, and other sister security agencies.

“Security operatives trekked nearly five kilometers deep into the forest, between Afuze and Ora, where the camps were uncovered and subsequently destroyed,” he said.

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While noting that signs of recent activity confirmed that the camps were still in active use, he said: “We discovered five camps, with clear indications that their occupants had only just fled. We found fire still burning and a pot of food left on the fire. This confirms the presence of suspected kidnappers in this area.”

He added: “The operation escalated into an exchange of gunfire at a riverbank, as suspected kidnappers, apparently alerted to the security incursion, attempted to evade capture.

“Evidence of cattle grazing in the forest further raised suspicion that the hideouts may have been linked to armed herdsmen.

“We engaged the suspects in a serious gun duel, but they escaped deeper into the forest. Nevertheless, we are on their trail. Their camps have been dismantled and destroyed. Edo State will no longer provide safe haven for criminal elements,” Ewanta declared.

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He assured Edo residents that the operation marked only the beginning of sustained efforts to flush out kidnappers and other violent groups from the state.

“We are battle ready. The directive of the Governor is clear: Edo must be free of criminal elements. We will pursue them relentlessly until they are apprehended.”

Ewanta further commended Governor Monday Okpebholo for his unwavering resolve to fortify security across the State, noting that the administration’s coordinated security strategy is restoring public confidence and sending an unmistakable message to criminal networks.

I was praying – Woman

A banker narrated how he found a woman, who claims to be his ex-girlfriend and a prayer warrior, at the gate of his house around 01:00 hours naked and bathing in what is believed to have been charms.

According to Zambia Observer, the banker, Burton Musonda, and his teacher-wife, Hoper Chinyimba, 33, of Obama Chelston, are charged with assault occasioning actual bodily harm.

Burton said he found Mainess Muumba naked outside his house barely a month after he obtained a court order restraining her from being close to him or his family.

“When asked what she was dong at the premises when there was an active restraining order against her, she said that they have bad luck in her family and cannot get married and that was the reason she was bathing in those bath salts, “he said.

Burton and his wife, who have pleaded not guilty, allegedly assaulted Ms Mumba last year.

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The couple were recently found with a case to answer and placed on defense.

In his defense, Burton narrated that Ms Mumba was his neighbor whom he firstly met at a home shop within Obama where he was having some beverages with colleagues.

He said the same day he met he, she sent him a message around 19:30 hours, but he was surprised that it was not business-related.

Burton testified that Ms Mumba and her relatives harassed his wife, a development which prompted him to get a restraining order against the complainant.

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As trial continued, the banker narrated that on March 20, last year, he was sleeping in his house when he heard noise outside his gate around 01:00 hours.

“I phoned my neighbour, Kennedy Lusale, who has dogs, and asked him to check what was happening outside.

“Kennedy later phoned me back and asked me to go outside”, Burton said.

“I found two gentlemen and a lady kneeling down without clothes.

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“The unidentified gentleman said, “This lady has been chanting over your name. They said she was saying, “Mr Burton Musonda is my husband.”

Burton said his neighbours startedgathering outside his gate when they heard two gentlemen shouting Ms Mumba is a witch and attempted hitting her.

“Kennedy whisked Mainess into our yard, “ he stated.

Burton said at this point, his wife came out of the house and immediately asked Ms Mumbas to dress up before interrogating her.

“Mainess told my wife, “I will never go out with your husband and what I was just my own personal prayers, “he said.

The case was adjourned.

Akwa Ibom State High Court sitting in Uyo has sentenced a dismissed soldier with the Nigerian Army, 6 Battalion, Ibagwa in Abak, Corporal Stephen Iweh, to death by hanging for the murder of a 42-year-old man, Christopher Enobong Jimmy.

The incident occurred on 23rd May, 2021, along the East-West Road in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area.

The late Jimmy, who was the Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt, had offered Corporal Iweh a lift in his car from Trailer Park in Onne, Rivers State, to Ikot Abasi in Akwa Ibom.

Along the way, at Oboro Junction in Ikot Abasi, the 39 year-old soldier shot him dead before fleeing with the vehicle and valuables.

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Investigations revealed that Corporal Iweh, a father of three children, had illegally kept the AK-47 rifle which he said he “picked at Dambou, Borno State in 2018 and decided to keep it as personal arms”.

On the day of the killing, Corporal Iweh, was supposed to be on duty at the Army Store, 6 Battalion, Ibagwa, Abak, but abandoned his post to commit the crime.

He was later traced to Andy Guest House in Ukanafun, many kilometers from the scene of crime, where he was arrested and the rifle recovered.

In a judgment, the trial judge, Hon. Justice Bassey Nkanang held that the prosecution proved beyond reasonable doubt that Corporal Iweh, a native of Ameke Nkor in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area of Imo State, murdered Christopher Enobong Jimmy, an indigene of Ikot Abasi, robbed him of his Toyota Matrix car, while armed with an AK-47 rifle and unlawfully possessed the firearm without a license.

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The late Jimmy, Manager of a Clearing and Forwarding Company in Port Harcourt, was travelling home in his grey Toyota Matrix, when he gave the soldier, who was in full military uniform, a lift, at the Trailer Park in Onne enroute Akwa Ibom State.

The soldier later shot Jimmy at a junction in Oboro, Ikot Abasi, where they had stopped to urinate and eat Pork meat, before fleeing with the vehicle and other belongings.

Justice Nkanang convicted him on a three-count charge. He was sentenced to death by hanging for murder, death by hanging for armed robbery, and 10 years imprisonment for unlawful possession of firearms.

In his plea for mercy, the convict begged the court for what he described as a “soft landing,” but his allocutus was rejected.

The late Christopher Jimmy is survived by his 34-year-old widow, Arit, who tearfully recounted that her husband had left Port Harcourt to visit his sister and family in Ikot Abasi, but did not return home.