News

Edo Community Tackles Mike Ozekhome, One Other Over Ancestral Land

Published

3 years ago

May 26, 2022

Residents of Iviukwe community in Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State have accused legal luminary, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN and Okumagbe of Uvhano, George Oshiapi, of allegedly using the police to harass and detain community members over sale of community ancestral land.

They raised the alarm that these high-profile persons used the police to suppress them from asking questions about the sales of the community ancestral land of 5000 hectares to Dangote in 2013 for the construction of a fertilizer company.

Addressing journalists in Benin on behalf of the sons and daughters of the community, Comrade Okpame Ozekhome, alleged that community members are being harassed and arrested for asking questions about their sold ancestral land and insisting the tradition and lay down procedure should be followed in installing the community head after the death of the village head.

“For one week now, there had been harassment, arrest and detention of community members over false allegation of inciting violence in the community and resisting arrest.

“Among those arrested are Chief Francis Ozekhome including his two sons, the community chairman, whose legs were tied and handcuffed in viral video among other,” he said.

They therefore called on Governor Godwin Obaseki and the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali to intervene in the matter.

Responding, Mike Ozekhome, SAN, described the allegations as baseless, and without element of truths.

Ozekhome said: “the people are out to destroy his reputation despite everything he has done for the, as the land they alleged sold to Dangote is intact and owned by the same indigenes who are farming on the land. Edo GIS has also denied knowledge of the C of O belonging to Dangote.

“Nothing like that ever happened. Dangote only paid the villagers for the destroyed economic trees when they did preliminary excavator works on a part of Iviukwe lands on a proposed fertilizer project, before they suddenly abandoned it and packed their machines and left for Ondo where they commenced fresh works.

“When the victims of their mayhem and destruction reported to the Agenebode Divisional Police and Area Command at Agenebode, they instigated some youths who went about and viciously attacked the Police, damaging their vehicles.

He, however advised that the people should be called to order so as to prevent them from doing further damage to his good name and reputation of the innocent revered Okumagbe of Uwano Kingdom, and the good name of the community.

On his part, the Okumagbe denied the allegations, saying he has nothing to do with those arrested.

He said the issue of land sold to Dangote has nothing to do with the arrest as the negotiation was done during Adams Oshiomole and that enumeration of economic crops was done while the people were duly paid compensation.

He said the crisis in the village was as result of the disagreement in the Ozekhome’s family who are fighting Mike Ozekhome and that they see anybody closed to as enemy.

The command’s spokesperson, Kontongs Bello, however said, those arrested was as a result of the attack on the police on-the-spot assessment following a petition by a member of the community over destruction of property.

News

Gombe Wins Northeast Quiz Competition On Legislature, Democracy

Published

14 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Gombe State has emerged as the winner at the 2025 North East Zonal Quiz Competition on legislature and democracy organised by the National Institute for Legislative and Democratic Studies (NILDS) for senior secondary schools across Northeast on Friday.

Speaking before the commencement of the 2025 edition of the zonal debate which focuses on the legislature, democracy and governance, the Director-General of NILDS, Prof. Abubakar Sulaiman, said the exercise was to deepen the knowledge of legislative and democratic governance among secondary school students and youth.

According to him, it was also to broaden their knowledge on the history, practice and procedure of the legislature and encourage deeper understanding of civic and democratic governance.

The competition, he added, would stimulate the interest of the young students in politics and make them more proactive in matters relating to the legislature and democracy.

He explained that enhancing the knowledge of young Nigerians in the legislature would not only foster an inclusive and participatory legislature in Nigeria but would also serve as an avenue for citizen engagement in the legislative process.

Represented by Mr Jeremiah Agada, NILDS Northeast Zonal Quiz Coordinator, Sulaiman added that the quiz competition would take place in all the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“It is also to inspire young Nigerians to cultivate the interest to participate in legislative governance.

“This 10th edition of the competition is therefore the fourth time the competition has been held at the national level.

“As the 2025 NILDS Zonal quiz competition is declared open, I therefore urge all competing students and their teachers to abide by the rules of the game so that the desired objectives of the competition are achieved,” he said.

Also speaking, the Bauchi State’s Commissioner for Education, Dr Muhammed Lawal, said the exercise was a welcome development in the circle of education, adding that it was a ground where students in the zone could be tested among other students in the country.

“This will enable us to improve the quality of our delivery in our various schools to our teeming students across the zone.

“I want them to take it upon themselves that in an engagement like this, there is no loser. You put in your best, and if at the end of the day, you don’t make it up to the top, your efforts will be crowned.

“I hope this will be well covered because it will stimulate other schools to be part of and perform better so that they can come up to this level as well,” he said.

Mohammed appreciated the commitment of teachers and moderators who coached the students to fully participate in the competition and reaffirmed the government’s commitment to revamping the education sector under Gov. Bala Mohammad’s leadership.

Announcing the winner of the competition, the Quiz Master Mr. Lucky Tongs, announced Gombe State as the overall winner of the debate with 75 points

He also announced Taraba State as the first runner up with 55 points and Yobe State as the third position with 50 points, adding that the winner is expected to represent the Northeast sub-region at the National competition in Abuja.

Other states that participated in the competition included Adamawa and Bauchi.

News

Police Arrest Nollywood Production Manager For Assaulting Crew Member

Published

17 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

The Lagos State Police have arrested a Nollywood production manager, Anierobi Courage, for allegedly assaulting a crew member.

Anierobi Courage, better known as Nwa South, reportedly assaulted the head of makeup, Mary Chizzy Eze, on October 28, 2025, while on the set of the film “Lagos to Opulence.”

A trending video of the physical altercation showed the production manager pressing Mary’s throat after slapping her, an act that has sparked widespread outrage on social media.

Reacting to the public condemnation, the Nigeria Film Crew Community (NFCC), in a statement released on Thursday, described Courage’s actions as “animalistic behaviour.”

Announcing his arrest, NFCC called on Nollywood producers and other stakeholders to blacklist Courage across all productions.

“The production manager violently hit and strangled Mary Chizzy Eze for speaking up against unequal treatment among the crew. While she has received medical care, he has been arrested.

“This level of disregard for human dignity is unacceptable. We stand firmly against all forms of abuse, assault, and crew maltreatment,” the NFCC said.

News

‘EFCC Collected N10m Before They Released Me’ – Oladips Alleges [VIDEO]

Published

19 hours ago

October 31, 2025

Editor

Popular Nigerian singer, Oladips has accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, of collecting N10 million from him.

The rapper made this known nearly a year after he was arrested by EFCC during a midnight raid in his estate.

Oladips was arrested with some of his neighbors for alleged fraud in November 2024.

He was released after spending five days in detention.

Speaking about his experience with the EFCC, Oladips in his latest interview on Trending podcast, stated that nothing was found on him after the EFCC investigations.

While revealing that the EFCC collected N10 million from him before his release, he lamented that “Nigeria just happened to me”.

“It’s just one smelling place like that. They just packed us there like sardines and they gave us nonsense food. Funny enough it was Zlatan that was sending me food. Zlatan is not even a friend, that’s my blood.

“He was sending someone to buy good food for me because the food there is bad. They just packed us there like sardines. I’m not even supposed to be there first of all. Like, why did I spend four to five days there when you people (EFCC) didn’t find anything on me, not even a single thing. And they still collect N10 million from me before they released me.”

When asked “Is it a thing you can take up against the EFCC later, or you will just allow the sleeping dog lie?”, the singer responded “Who is my father?”

“Who is my father now? At the end of the day, who is my father? It’s just me and my truth. It’s not something I will want to. I don’t just know how the system works. I for dey their page now if to say I dey do Yahoo. They didn’t find anything on me. If they are watching this, they know that I’m saying the truth.

“They collected money from me before they released me. They didn’t find anything on me. So, what was the money for? What was all that stress and suffering for? It’s just Nigeria. Nigeria just happened to me,” he said.

https://x.com/i/status/1983504280972615813