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Edo Deputy Governor To Media Practitioners: You Benefit Most If Democracy Is Sustained

Published

4 years ago

December 20, 2021

Joseph Kanjo, Benin

… ‘We Are Breeding New Journalism’ – NUJ Chairman

Edo State deputy governor, Comrade Philip Shaibu, has disclosed that the media would benefit most if demorcacy is sustained in the country, adding that if the military comes back to power everyone including the media would feel the heat.

Comrade Shaibu who disclosed this in Benin on Monday while hosting journalists at his annual breakfast with media practitioners at his residence, said the media, being a catalyst for democracy, has a very critical role to play in governance.

While urging journalists to abide by the rules of engagement by balancing every story written, Shaibu admitted that him, being the Deputy Governor of the state was as a result of an investigative journalism carried out by an NUJ member when he was detained during the military junta.

According to him, “I have also use myself as an example on what a professional journalism is and what a true whistle blower is.

“I am deputy governor today courtesy of a member of Nigeria Union of Journalists that had to go out to declare that ‘some persons have been detained for over a month, while the military claim no one was left in detention. so if you say nobody is left in detention, that is no true, some persons are still detained in the prison,’ he listed the names.

“Your pen can help to repair; your pen can help destroy. It will benefit you most when democracy is sustained. This is because if those military come back, you and I would be in trouble.

“Your role is very critical; your role is very vital. And just like we all know, if you don’t play that role well, a lot of things would be damaged; a lot of things will spoil. Government will not be put on its toe to know that things are going wrong,” he said.

While commenting on the new Edo NUJ executive, the Deputy Governor expressed optimism that the Alenkhe-led executive would take the council to an enviable heights.

Earlier in his remarks, chairman, Edo NUJ, Comrade Festus Alenkhe, declared a new breed in the council.

He urged Edo State Government to partner with the NUJ with a view to building a synergy that would benefit both parties.

“We want to build a new NUJ. The idea of giving us fish is over, we want us to be taught how to fish.

“Come to the press centre and see the expanse of land their and see how you can develop a portion for a choice project.

On the need for a stable power supply at the NUJ premises, Alenkhe made this demand, ” Your Excellency, Osoma power plant should be extended to the NUJ as it to NBA and other places.”

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Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

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20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

Headline

South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

1 day ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP