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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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12 Feared Dead In Kenya Light Aircraft Crash

Published

3 days ago

October 28, 2025

Editor

A small plane travelling from Kenya’s coast crashed on Tuesday, according to the country’s aviation authority, with the 12 people on board feared dead.

The small plane was en route to Kichwa Tembo — a private airstrip located in the Maasai Mara National Park — from the tourist hotspot of Diani when it came down at around 5:30am local time (0230 GMT).

“The aircraft had 12 persons on board,” a statement from the Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) said.

It gave no further details, but said that government agencies were already on site to establish the cause of the accident.

The Guardian reports that plane crashes are fairly common in Kenya in the last 18 months. On March 5, 2024, a mid-air collision between a Safarilink Aviation commercial flight and a 99 Flying School training aircraft occurred over the Nairobi National Park, resulting in two fatalities.

The incident took place shortly after both aircraft had departed Wilson Airport. The collision involved Safarilink Aviation Flight 053, a De Havilland Canada Dash 8 carrying 39 passengers and five crew members, and a 99 Flying School Cessna 172M.

AMREF Aircraft Crash

In August, a light aircraft belonging to the AMREF Flying Doctors crashed into a residential area in Mwihoko, Ruiru, Kiambu County, killing six people and injuring at least two others.

The aircraft, a Cessna Citation XLS (registration 5Y-FDM), had taken off from Wilson Airport and was en route to Hargeisa, Somalia, when it went down under unclear circumstances.

AMREF Flying Doctors CEO Stephen Gitau issued a statement confirming the incident. Mr Gitau noted that the aircraft departed Wilson Airport at 2.17 PM before crashing in Mwihoko. He stated that the organisation is “cooperating fully with relevant aviation authorities and emergency response teams to establish the facts surrounding the situation.”

Foreign Couple Killed in Kenyan Plane Crash, Earlier in January, a light aircraft crash killed a foreign couple aboard. The accident involved a Cessna 185 aircraft that departed from Nairobi and was en route to Mbaruk in Nakuru County. It went down in the lakeside town of Naivasha at approximately 5:14 p.m. local time (1414 GMT).

At the time, Naivasha Police Deputy Chief Charles Mwai suggested that poor visibility due to fog in the area might have been a contributing factor. Aviation experts have been called to the scene to conduct an investigation.

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UK Police Arrest Asylum Seeker Sex Offender Mistakenly Freed

Published

5 days ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

The UK police on Sunday arrested an Ethiopian asylum seeker and convicted sex offender, whose crimes had sparked anti-immigration protests, after he was accidentally released from prison in an embarrassing blunder by British authorities.

London’s Metropolitan Police said officers arrested Hadush Kebatu in the north of the capital on Sunday morning, nearly 48 hours after he was mistakenly freed around 30 miles (48 kilometres) away.

Kebatu, 38, had served the first month of a one-year sentence for sexually assaulting a teenage girl and a woman, but was reportedly due to be deported when the Prison Service error occurred on Friday.

His high-profile case earlier this year in Epping, northeast of London, sparked demonstrations in various English towns and cities where asylum seekers were believed to be housed, as well as counter-protests.

Commander James Conway, who oversaw the manhunt for him, said “information from the public” led officers to the Finsbury Park neighbourhood of London, where he was found.

“He was detained by police but will be returned to the custody of the Prison Service,” he added.

Kebatu is now expected to be deported.

Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Friday he was “appalled” by the “totally unacceptable” mistake that saw him freed rather than sent to an immigration detention centre.

The Telegraph newspaper said he was wrongly categorised for release on licence and handed a £76 ($101) discharge grant.

Police had appealed Saturday for Kebatu to turn himself in, after reports emerged that he had appeared confused and reluctant to leave the prison in Chelmsford, eastern England.

A delivery driver described seeing Kebatu return several times in a “very confused” state, only to be turned away by staff and directed to the railway station.

The driver told Sky News he saw Kebatu outside the jail, asking, “Where am I going? What am I doing?”

“He was starting to get upset, he was getting stressed,” the driver said.

The father of Kebatu’s anonymous teenage victim told the broadcaster that “the justice system has let us down.”

Police arrested the asylum seeker in July after he repeatedly tried to kiss a 14-year-old girl and touch her legs, and made sexually explicit comments to her.

He also sexually assaulted an adult woman, placing a hand on her thigh, when she intervened to stop his interactions with the girl.

He was staying at the time at Epping’s Bell Hotel, where scores of other asylum seekers have been accommodated, and which became the target of repeated protests.

AFP

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Madagascar Revokes Ousted President’s Nationality

Published

5 days ago

October 26, 2025

Editor

Madagascar’s new government has stripped ousted president Andry Rajoelina of his Malagasy nationality in a decree published Friday, 10 days after he was removed in a military takeover.

According to AFP, the decree means that Rajoelina, who was impeached on October 14 after fleeing the island nation in the wake of weeks of protests, would not be able to contest future election.

The decree published in the official gazette said Rajoelina’s Malagasy nationality was revoked because he had acquired French nationality in 2014, local media reported, as photographs of the document were shared online.

French broadcaster RFI said it had confirmed the decree with the entourage of the new prime minister, Herintsalama Rajaonarivelo, who signed the order.

The decree cited laws stipulating that a Malagasy who voluntarily acquires a foreign nationality loses their Malagasy nationality.

Rajoelina’s French nationality caused a scandal when it was revealed ahead of the November 2023 elections, nearly 10 years after it was granted.

It triggered calls for him to be disqualified but he went on to win the contested polls, which were boycotted by opposition parties.

The 51-year-old politician fled Madagascar after army Colonel Michael Randrianirina said on October 11 his CAPSAT unit would refuse orders to put down the youth-led protest movement, which security forces had attempted to suppress with violence.

Rajoelina said later he was in hiding for his safety, but did not say where.

Randrianirina was sworn in as president on October 14, pledging elections within two years.