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Edo Senator Trains, Empwers Over 200 Constituents, Protest Greets Venue

Published

4 years ago

November 29, 2021

In a bid to empowering his constituents and making them self-reliance, member representing Edo South Senatorial District at the Red Chamber, Abuja, Senator Matthew Urhoghide, on Monday organised training for over two hundred graduates and unemployed in the constituency.

The training was sponsored by Cross River Basin Development Authority and facilitated by the Senator.

But venue of the training was, however, greeted with protest by some constituents who complained of being schemed out of the training.

Some of the constituents who were locked out of the venue told INFO DAILY that they had the invite for the training and arrived there but unfortunately they were told their names were not in the list.

A woman who was among the people locked out and was complaining but pleaded anonymity when INFO DAILY asked her what really happened, said “As you can see, we are not allowed in. They told us our names could not be found in the list with them so they did not allow us. I received SMS that I should come for the training but unfortunately I am not allowed.”

Another male who came for the training but would not want his name in print laments, “This is my second time of trying to benefit from the training but unfortunately I am being denied again. They said there is another one coming up two weeks from now, but how sure I am that I am going to be allowed. I have the SMS on my phone that I should come for the training, but now they are saying something else.”

However, responding to question on why some persons are denied access to venue of the training, legislative aide to Senator Matthew Urhoghide, Pet Eghobamien, said the experience over time is that some persons invited via SMS from their office do forward such SMS to their friends disguising as if they were invited originally.

He said, “Experience over time is that when we invite people to come for training like this via SMS, they do forward such SMS to their friends to attend too. But when they come, we do discover that the SMS was not from us but forwarded by someone else.”

Starter pack for those that would be trained on hair making and barbing

He continues, “But immediately I finish talking to you, I am going out to meet them. We are going to sort that out. What we will do is, those we invited but are not here, we are going to replace them with some of the persons outside. Everything would be sorted out,” he assured.

Speaking further on the training, the Legislative Aide to the Senator said the training is a regular one organised by the Senator, adding that a total of 220 persons were penned down to benefit from the training.

Eghobamien, who said over 7,000 persons had so far benefited from the training since it inception, noted that, for this particular training, 200 persons would be trained on fabrication with N50,000 take home while the 22 persons to be trained on hair making would be given all the equipment needed to start a hair making shop.

He said, “As of today, we have trained 7,000 people. He doesn’t just train them, he empowers them. He does it yearly and there is another one coming before Christmas which will close the year and then we will resume the following year. He has promised and he is fulfilling.

“There are different classes. For the metal works, we have 200 persons to be trained. For barbing and hair making, and fashion, we have 22 persons. For those that will be trained on metal works and local fabrication, they will go home with N50,000.

“We are not giving the other ones money but we have given them full complement of what they need to start their businesses. For barbers, we gave them everything, including generator sets to start. All they need is get a shop and start the business.”

INFO DAILY reports that they were trained on metal works and hair making with a starter pack for those in hair making for those on hair making.

Related Topics:Matthew Urhoghide Protest

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Gunmen On Motorbikes Kill 22 At Baptism Ceremony In Niger

Published

10 hours ago

September 17, 2025

Editor

Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead 22 villagers in western Niger, most attending a baptism ceremony, local media and other sources said Tuesday.

The shootings happened on Monday in the Tillaberi region, near Burkina Faso and Mali, where jihadist groups linked to Al-Qaeda and the Islamic State group (IS) are active.

A resident of the area told AFP that 15 people were killed first at a baptism ceremony in Takoubatt village.

“The attackers then went to the outskirts of Takoubatt where they killed seven other people,” said the resident, who requested anonymity for security reasons.

Local media outlet Elmaestro TV reported a “gruesome death toll of 22 innocent people cowardly killed without reason or justification”.

“Once again, the Tillaberi region has been struck by barbarism, plunging innocent families into mourning and despair,” Nigerien human rights campaigner Maikoul Zodi said on social media.

Niger’s military leaders, who came to power two years ago in a coup, have struggled to contain jihadist groups in Tillaberi, despite maintaining a large army presence there.

Around 20 soldiers were killed in the region last week.

Human Rights Watch has urged Niger authorities to “do more to protect” civilians against deadly attacks.

The rights monitoring group estimates that the Islamic State group has “summarily executed” more than 127 villagers and Muslim worshippers in Tillaberi in five attacks since March.

Meanwhile, the NGO ACLED, which tracks conflict victims worldwide, says around 1,800 people have been killed in attacks in Niger since October 2024 — three-quarters of them in Tillaberi.

Niger and its neighbours, Burkina Faso and Mali, also ruled by military coup leaders who claim to pursue a sovereignist policy, have expelled the French and American armies that were fighting alongside them against jihadism.

AFP

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Serbia Indicts Ex-minister, 12 Others Over Train Station Tragedy

Published

1 day ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Serbian prosecutors filed an updated indictment on Tuesday against 13 people, including a former minister, over a fatal railway station roof collapse that has triggered a wave of anti-government protests.

The prosecution said all those indicted, among them former construction minister Goran Vesic, face charges of “serious crimes against public safety” over the tragedy that killed 16 people last November.

“The indictment proposes that the Higher Court in Novi Sad order custody for all the defendants,” the prosecutor’s office said in a statement.

The roof collapse at the newly renovated station in Serbia’s second-largest city, Novi Sad, became a symbol of entrenched corruption and sparked almost daily protests.

Protesters first demanded a transparent investigation, but their calls soon escalated into demands for early elections.

The Higher Public Prosecutor’s Office in Novi Sad initially filed an indictment at the end of December, but judges returned it in April, requesting more information.

The accused were released or placed under house arrest following the decision.

The prosecutor’s office said it had complied with the judge’s request and had now completed the supplementary investigation.

The prosecutor specialising in organised crime and corruption in Belgrade is leading a separate, independent investigation into the tragedy.

That investigation is focused on 13 people, including Vesic and another former minister, Tomislav Momirovic, who headed the Construction Ministry before him.

In March, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office (EPPO) launched a third, separate investigation into the possible misuse of EU funds for the station’s reconstruction.

AFP

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Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

1 day ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Kazakhstan has banned forced marriages and bride kidnappings through a law that came into effect Tuesday in the Central Asian country, where the practice persists despite new attention being paid to women’s rights.

Forcing someone to marry is now punishable by up to 10 years in prison, Kazakh police said in a statement.

“These changes are aimed at preventing forced marriages and protecting vulnerable categories of citizens, especially women and adolescents,” it added.

Bride kidnappings have also been outlawed.

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“Previously, a person who voluntarily released a kidnapped person could expect to be released from criminal liability. Now this possibility has been eliminated,” the police said.

There are no reliable statistics of forced marriage cases across the country, with no separate article in the criminal code prohibiting it until now.

A Kazakh lawmaker said earlier this year that the police had received 214 such complaints over the past three years.

The custom is also present in neighbouring Kyrgyzstan, where it mostly goes unpunished due to indifferent law enforcement and stigma surrounding whistleblowers.

The issue of women’s rights in Kazakhstan gained media attention in 2023 following the murder of a woman by her husband, a former minister, a case that shocked Kazakh society and prompted President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev to react.

“Some people hide behind so-called traditions and try to impose the practice of wife stealing. This blatant obscurantism cannot be justified,” Tokayev said last year.

AFP