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Edo: ICPC Loses Appeal Challenging Reinstatement Of Its Staff

Published

4 years ago

December 6, 2021

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has lost appeal filed at the Benin Division of the Court of Appeal where the anti-corruption body challenged the reinstatement of one of its staff, Rhiuyiosa Albert Osarumwense.

Recall that Justice Oyebiola Oyewumi of the National Industrial Court, Akure, in February 2020 ordered the ICPC and its Chairman to immediately reinstate Edo-born Albert Osarumwense who he said was wrongfully dismissed by the Commission in October, 2015.

In the suit number NICN/BEN/01/2016, Justice Oyewumi ruled that the nature of employment of Albert Osarumwense was one with statutory flavour.

He further ruled that Osarumwense is entitled to be paid all his salary and other allowances from the month of October, 2015 when his employment was terminated till the day of his reinstatement.

Delivering his judgment in Appeal no: CA/B/44M/2021, Justice M. A. Danjuma of the Court of Appeal, Benin, held that the ICPC was not ready to go on with its appeal and therefore dismissed it.

A certified copy of his ruling signed by the Chief Deputy Registrar of the Court of Appeal, Adaeze Oby Aziwe Esq reads: “That the non compilation of the Record of Appeal nor its transmission up to this time and inspite service of a Hearing Notice for the case today and still without any response indicating the existence of any such application for the discretionary respite of an elongation of time to so compile and transmit Record of Appeal towards prosecution, clearly strengthens the fact that there is no desire to prosecute the Appeal left as a sword of damage in the clog of a subsisting Judgment as alleged by the Applicant in his affidavit to the Motion.

“That Notice of Appeal is struck out and the Appeal dismissed pursuant to Order 8 Rule 18 of the Court of Appeal Rules. 2016.”

Reacting to the judgment, counsel to Osarumwense, Olayiwola Afolabi, Esq., said the Court of Appeal has dismissed their case, adding, “the Court of Appeal is the last bustop when it comes to labour matters, they can’t go to Supreme”

He said he believed that ICPC would comply with the ruling of the Court as the Commission is headed by a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) “who knows the law.”

Headline

42 Killed In Israeli Attacks, Says Gaza’s Civil Defense

Published

10 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Gaza’s civil defence agency reported at least 42 people killed in Israeli attacks on Sunday, as the Israeli army prepared for a new assault on the Palestinian territory’s largest city.

Civil defence spokesman Mahmud Bassal said there had been several air strikes around Gaza City — which the military is gearing up to capture — including one in the Al-Sabra neighbourhood that killed eight people.

Attacks were also reported elsewhere across the territory, he said, with the “total tally currently rising to 42 dead”.

The army did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the figure.

“The situation is extremely dangerous… Each day, each minute, there are bombings, martyrs, death and blood — we can’t take it anymore,” Al-Sabra resident Ibrahim Al-Shurafa told AFP, explaining strikes and shelling were ongoing.

“We don’t know where to go. Death follows us everywhere,” he added.

Media restrictions in Gaza and difficulties in accessing many areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by the civil defence agency or the Israeli military.

The October 2023 Hamas attack on Israel that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed at least 62,686 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza that the United Nations considers reliable.

AFP

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Venezuela Frees Eight Opposition Leaders

Published

10 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Venezuelan authorities released eight opposition leaders from jail early Sunday, including a former congressman and two Italian citizens, and granted house arrest to five others, an opposition politician said.

Most of those released had been charged with corruption in opposition-run mayoral offices.

Also set free was Congressman, Amirico de Grazia, detained amid protests that erupted during President Nicolas Maduro’s reelection in 2024.

“Today, several families are once again embracing their loved ones. We know there are many left, and we have not forgotten them; we continue to fight for everyone,” two-time former presidential candidate Henrique Capriles said on X.

Opposition leaders Victor Jurado, Simon Vargas, Arelis Ojeda Escalante, Mayra Castro, Diana Berrio, Gorka Carnevalli, as well as Italian nationals Margarita Assenzo and de Grazia were released, Capriles said.

Nabil Maalouf, Valentin Gutierrez Pineda, Rafael Ramirez, Pedro Guanipa, and David Barroso were placed under house arrest.

The Italian government confirmed the release of de Grazia and Assenzo, who must appear in court to clarify the conditions of their release. It also vowed to continue working on securing the release of other detained Italians.

“We have always said, and we maintain it: we will talk to whomever we need to talk to so that there is not a single political prisoner in our Venezuela!” Capriles added.

AFP

Headline

Russia, Ukraine Exchange Prisoners Of War, Civilians

Published

10 hours ago

August 24, 2025

Editor

Russia and Ukraine each sent back more prisoners of war on Sunday in the latest in a series of exchanges that have seen hundreds of POWs released this year, the two sides said.

Large-scale prisoner exchanges were the only tangible result of three rounds of talks between Russia and Ukraine in Istanbul between May and July.

They remain one of the few areas of cooperation between the two countries since Russia’s offensive began in 2022.

“On August 24, 146 Russian servicemen were returned from the territory controlled” by Kyiv, the Russian defence ministry said on Telegram.

“In exchange, 146 prisoners of war of the Ukrainian Armed Forces were transferred” to Ukraine, it added. Ukraine did not confirm any figures for the release.

Russia also said that “eight citizens of the Russian Federation—residents of the Kursk region, illegally detained” by Kyiv were also returned.

Ukrainian forces launched a surprise incursion into Russia’s Kursk region in August last year, seizing hundreds of square kilometres (miles) of territory in a major setback for the Kremlin.

Russia deployed thousands of troops from its ally North Korea as part of a counterattack but did not fully reclaim the region until April.

Among the Ukrainians released on Sunday was journalist Dmytro Khyliuk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Khyliuk was kidnapped in the Kyiv region in March 2022. He is finally home in Ukraine,” Zelensky said on social media.

Also freed was former Kherson mayor Volodymyr Mykolayenko, “who spent more than three years in captivity,” Zelensky’s aide Andriy Yermak wrote on X.

“In 2022, he was on the list for return, but Volodymyr voluntarily refused to be exchanged in favour of a seriously ill prisoner with whom he was sharing a cell in a Russian prison,” Yermak said.

AFP