Metro

ECTS Staff Call For Sack Of MD Over Alleged Non Remittance Of Pension Contributions

Published

5 years ago

December 14, 2020

Editor

Staff of Edo City Transport Service, (ECTS), Monday, called for the sack and arrest of the Managing Director of the company, Mrs. Edugie Agbonlahor, over alleged ‘unfair treatment’ meted on them and refusal to remit their contributing pension funds to the appropriate quota.

The staff who loaded themselves into the company’s buses and drove off to the government house in a protest, said this single act may translate to them not knowing what the future holds for them.

Speaking with newsmen at the company’s premises at Ramat Park, Ikpoba Hill, Benin City, leader of the group, Mr. Abudu Briamah, also accused the MD of casualization of staff, non promotion of staff as and when due, and owing of workers salary for two months.

“Our contributions for pension retirement, she has been deducting it since 2017 but she refused to remit it to the body that is incharge and she is owing us over N360m. She should come and pay us.

“We are calling on the EFCC chairman, we are calling on the governor, we are calling on the Edo State Commissioner of Police to get her arrested.

“Why must she not remit our money to the body? She wants to kill us, she wants to kill our career”, he said.

“We are demanding for our November and December salary and we know that the state government normally pay the state civil servants November salary every on 22 to 24 every month, that is when its being paid but up till now, we have not received November salary, she refused to pay us November’s salary.

“She also refused to implement our minimum wage. Since January 24, to be precise, that is when Edo State started paying civil servants their minimum wage.

“From January till now, how many months is that? That is 12 months. We want the state government to pay us our arrears, to implement our minimum wage, to put an end to casualization of staff, we want them to be staffed, we want the staff to be promoted because since 2015 till now, she refused to promote workers“, he alleged.

He further accused the MD of the company of collecting bogus furniture allowance every three months.

“So, we are tired of the woman, the woman must go. Every three months she is collecting N500,000 as furniture allowance and in a year, that is N2m”, he said.

However, in a swift reaction, Managing Director, ECTS, Mrs. Edugie Agbonlahor, said that their claims were baseless adding that some of the staff were trying to run their own personal transport lines within the company and she kicked against it vehemently.

Edugie said she decided to put them on suspension to enable the Management carry out their investigations.

“I said the essence of this protest has nothing to do with the issues of pension.

“The issue is that some of them are on indefinite suspension because they want to run a private transport company within the organisation and when I found out, I issued them query, placed them on indefinite suspension while the investigation is going on. That is the essence of the protest”, she said.

She said it is also out of place for the staff to be protesting for two months salary arrears when the state government paid them for five months without working during the COVID19 pandemic.

Metro

NAF Airstrikes Kill Scores Of Terrorists, Destroy Hideout In Borno

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Nigerian Air Force said air interdictions by the Air Component of Operation Hadin Kai have killed scores of terrorists and destroyed their enclave in Borno.

This was contained in a statement released by the Director, Public Relations and Information, NAF, Air Commodore Ehimen Ejodame, on Thursday in Abuja.

Ejodame said the strikes were conducted on Wednesday at about 10:50 a.m. in Bula Madibale, Gezuwa general area of the state.

He said intelligence and surveillance had confirmed unusual movements at the location, where about 45 terrorists were observed converging, some arriving on motorcycles and bicycles from different directions.

According to him, reconnaissance also revealed two terrorist flags hoisted at the site, underscoring its use as a stronghold and rallying point for insurgents.

“Acting on this credible intelligence, the Air Component launched precision strikes, eliminating several terrorists, while the flagged structure and other hostile assets were destroyed,” he said.

Ejodame also said that the strikes denied the terrorists freedom to regroup, reinforce or mount further attacks on communities in the North East.

He assured that the Armed Forces remained committed to restoring peace and stability across the region.

NAN

Metro

Police Arrest Islamic Cleric With Human Flesh In Oyo

Published

2 hours ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Police Command in Oyo State has arrested an Islamic cleric, simply identified as Alfa Bashiru, in possession of suspected human flesh.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, CSP Adewale Osifeso, confirmed this on Thursday in a post on the verified X handle of the Command.

He said that the Federal Highway Patrol team intercepted a white bus with registration number XA 551 IRG, which the suspect allegedly boarded, at the Toll Gate axis of the Ibadan Expressway at 11:30 a.m., on Wednesday.

Oyefeso said that the suspect, when quizzed, claimed to have bought the suspected human flesh in Lagos.

The suspect, he said, had been transferred to the Homicide Section of the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Iyaganku, for further investigation.

“The suspected item is undergoing forensic analysis to determine its authenticity and source,” Osifeso said.

In a separate development, operatives of the command during a Search and Stop Operation recovered an abandoned Toyota Camry car with Registration number LSD 957 JX.

Osifeso said that police operatives flagged down the Toyota Camry car during a routine search, and the driver of the car jumped down and took to his heels, abandoning the vehicle.

“The car has been taken into custody by the Command while members of the public with legitimate claims to the vehicle are urged to come forward with verifiable documents or contact the Police Command,” he said.

The police spokesman said that Stop and Search operations were not exaggerated security theatrics, but real and deliberate measures to maintain law and order and as well as ensuring the safety of residents and travellers within Oyo State.

Osifeso said that the command under the leadership of the Commissioner of Police, Femi Haruna, appreciated the public for their continued cooperation and understanding.

He assured them of sustained police efforts to combat crime and foster a more secure environment.

NAN

Metro

Fake Madman Arrested For Cultivating Cannabis Farm In Anambra

Published

3 hours ago

September 18, 2025

Editor

The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, for allegedly disguising himself as a mentally unstable person while secretly cultivating a cannabis farm in Awka, the state capital.

The Spokesman for the Anambra State Police Command, Tochukwu Ikenga, stated in a press release on Thursday that operatives attached to the operations department arrested the suspect during a patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway, near Ngozika Estate, on Wednesday.

The statement read in part, “The Anambra State Police Command has arrested a 43-year-old man, Patrick Ojele, who pretended to be mentally unstable while secretly cultivating a marijuana farm in Awka, the state capital.

“The police operatives attached to the Operations Department, Awka, nabbed the suspect on September 17, 2025, during a routine patrol along the Awka–Enugu Expressway near Ngozika Estate.

“He later led the team to the hidden farm, where large quantities of weeds suspected to be cannabis sativa were recovered.

“The Commissioner of Police, CP Ikioye Orutugu, noted that the arrest reflects the Command’s renewed strategy of cutting off criminal supplies by targeting drug dealers who embolden cultists and violent offenders.”

According to him, the CP further directed that the suspect should be handed over to the Special Anti-Cultism Squad, Enugwu-Ukwu, for discreet investigation to trace his buyers and dismantle the wider distribution network.

The PUNCH had reported that the police command has arrested no fewer than 54 suspects, comprising 39 males and 15 females, for various offences ranging from kidnapping, cultism, hard drugs and banned substances.

Ikenga said the arrests were followed by coordinated raids by police operatives in Ogidi, Idemili North Local Government Area, and Ifitedunu, Dunukofia LGA, in separate raid operations.

According to him, the coordinated operations were in line with renewed strategies aimed at restoring sanity in the state and curbing the growing menace of crime among young people between 18 and 26 years.