Headline

Insecurity: Warri, Benin Lawyers Worried Over Abduction Of Three Colleagues, Driver

Published

4 years ago

February 3, 2022

The Nigerian Bar Association, Warri and Benin branches have raised security concerns as kidnappers abduct three of their members, alongside a driver, on their way to the court.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the trio of Fred Aburu, Esq., Isreal Unurierume, Esq., Eda Gbejule, Esq., and Kome Esike, the driver of their vehicle, all from Warri, were kidnapped on Wednesday, along Benin -Auchi road, in Edo State.

The Chairman, NBA Warri Branch, Chief Emmanuel Uti, in a statement made available to journalists lamented that the development “is disturbing”.

“The incident awakens the sad reality of what has bedeviled our society, which the Government has found difficult to contain, in order to reassure its citizens of their safety,” the NBA chairman said.

He added that this act of kidnapping has called “for a revisit of the Branch resolution that, our Branch members should not appear for any accused charged with kidnapping”.

Also, the NBA, Benin Branch, in a similar statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Ogaga Emoghwanre, expressed concern that the kidnapping of lawyers along the Benin/Auchi Road “has become a recurring decimal”.

The statement read, “The Branch ‘is alarmed over the incessant and unending kidnap of lawyers and citizens plying Benin/Auchi Road by dare-devil kidnappers and has for the umpteenth time made vociferous calls on the security operatives in the state to put an end to the ugly trend.

“In what has become a recurring decimal, the kidnappers struck again in the early hours of today, 2/2/2022 shooting sporadically. While at it, they kidnapped three lawyers and their driver to wit: Mr. Fred Aburu, Mr. Israel Unurierume, Mr. Eda Gbejule and Mr. Kome Esike, the driver.

“It was revealed that the affected lawyers who are members of the Warri branch of the NBA, (“The Radioactive Bar”) were on their way from Warri to Sabo-gidda Ora High Court when they were attacked at the Ehor axis of the expressway.

“The question now is: If lawyers who spend most of their lives fighting for the oppressed can be kidnapped, does it not automatically mean that no one in this country is safe?

“The bitter truth is that the rising incidence of kidnapping in Edo State is mind-boggling and the NBA Benin Branch cannot, and will not sit back and allow this to linger within our turf.

“We want to at this juncture, while commending the Police and other security agencies in Edo State, demand that they do everything within their constitutional powers and duty to ensure that the lawyers and driver are released within 48 hours, unharmed and unscathed.

“We state categorically that we are in unshaken solidarity with the Radioactive Bar in this trying time in demanding for the unconditional and immediate release of our colleagues.

“The Chairman of the Lion Bar, Mr. Pius Oiwoh, was on his way to Ekpoma High court when the kidnappers attacked motorists plying that road. Fortunately, he was unharmed and we thank God for sparing him.”

Headline

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

Published

2 hours 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

Headline

Kazakhstan Bans Forced Marriage, Bride Kidnapping

Published

2 hours 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

Headline

Russia Arrests Woman For Detonating Bomb On Railway

Published

2 hours ago

September 16, 2025

Editor

Russia’s FSB security service said on Tuesday it had arrested a woman in her fifties accused of detonating explosives in a bid to sabotage the Trans-Siberian Railway.

The suspect was allegedly working on behalf of Ukrainian intelligence, the FSB said, in the latest incident of alleged covert activity during the countries’ conflict.

“In August 2025, following the instructions provided by the adversary, the suspect manufactured a homemade explosive device from publicly available components, placed it on the railway tracks and triggered it,” the Russian agency said.

“She recorded the moment of the explosion on her mobile phone camera and sent the footage as a report to the handler to receive a reward.”

The statement did not name the suspect but said she was born in 1974 and carried out the alleged attack in eastern Siberia’s Zabaikalsky region.

The FSB warned Russians that it was monitoring social networks and online messenger services such as Telegram and WhatsApp for evidence of Ukrainian services recruiting Russians to carry out sabotage.

Separately, the agency told state news agency TASS that a man had been sentenced to 18 years and six months for transporting explosives on behalf of a “pro-Ukrainian” group.

A resident of the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, had, the FSB said, established contact through the Telegram app with a banned “terrorist organisation”.

He allegedly retrieved explosives from a cache on the orders of this group before waiting for “further instructions”, according to the same source cited by TASS.

He was jailed by a military tribunal.

AFP