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June 12: Ijaw Tasks Tinubu On Economic Crisis, Restructuring

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The Ijaw National Congress has challenged President Bola Tinubu to solve Nigeria’s current economic crisis.

The apex body of the Ijaw nation has also implored him to address the imbalance in the number of local government areas in Nigeria as part of efforts to restructure the country.

INC President, Prof Benjamin Okaba, in a message to celebrate 2024 Democracy’s Day, declared that June 12 is worth celebrating, considering the relative human rights and freedom Nigerians have been enjoying under civilian administrations and the need to consciously immortalize the Iconic democrat, Chief M.K.O Abiola, who gave up his life on July 7th, 1998, in active democratic struggle.

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He noted that the return to democratic rule has at least allowed the citizens to choose political leaders and advance their rights.

READ ALSO: UK Varsity Offers Expelled Nigerian Students Flight Assistance

On the current economic crisis, Okaba demanded that the current Federal Government take urgent steps to overcome the hardship facing Nigerians, insisting that the masses who are battling with various livelihood and life-threatening challenges such as insecurity, inflation, unemployment, and criminality are becoming increasingly hopeless and helpless with each passing day

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For the Niger Delta region, the INC helmsman said the expectation of the people is for the Tinubu administration to provide solutions to their challenges.

He said, ‘’The oil and gas-rich Niger Delta region, which is a critical component of Nigeria’s economy, expects the current administration to, without any further delay, address the multifaceted challenges facing the region in terms of Infrastructure development, environmental remediation, economic empowerment, good governance and inclusive representation in decision-making processes.”

READ ALSO: World Largest Canvass Painting Portrait Of Tinubu Unveiled

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According to him, the Ijaw people, who are one of the four largest ethnic nationalities and major producers of oil and gas resources in the country, expect greater commitment from President Tinubu’s administration to deal with ‘’her peculiar and persistent problems and concerns of resource injustice, lack of political inclusion, and representation in key political positions and decision-making processes, and environmental degradation.’’

Okada stressed that the Ijaw quest for true federalism was rooted in their desire for greater autonomy, resource control, and self-determination that would enable them to manage their affairs more effectively and promote their overall well-being.

“We wish to express our satisfaction with President Tinubu’s stance on restructuring. While we appreciate the need for more efficient management of our local government councils, which are the third tier of government that is also closer to the people at the grassroots, we want to caution those seeking local government council autonomy to first and foremost tackle a more fundamental injustice created by the wide disparity in the number of local government areas per state (where Kano, for instance, has 44 and Bayelsa at the other extreme has only eight).

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“Granting local government council autonomy without addressing this politico-demographic imbalance amounts to the perpetration of criminal injustice, in-equity, and disregard for the sensitivity of the people of the Niger Delta region who have fewer Local government areas despite producing the wealth of the nation,” he said.

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Edo: How Pastor Hypnotised My Daughter, Made Her Abandoned NNPCL- Mother

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A 56-year-old woman, Mrs. Florence Igbiti, has appealed to relevant authorities to help free her 27 years old daughter who, according to her, has been hypnotised by a Benin-based Pastor, Craig Omorotiomwan of the Helpline International Ministries.

According to her, her daughter, Miss Treasure Ose Omonlumhen, abandoned her National Youth Service Scheme to go and stay with the Pastor, an act she described as strange and beyond her comprehension.

Mrs. Igbiti, who spoke to journalists at the Press Centre, Benin, amidst tears, said her daughter has since the incident become ‘high headed, stubborn and highly rebellious, pleading to relevant authorities to help free her daughter from the grip of the Pastor.

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According to her, her daughter started attending the Helpline International Ministries 10 years ago, and that when she graduated from the University, she refused to go for the compulsory one year youth service but after pressure and persuasion for over 2 years after graduation she reluctantly obliged to go for the youth service.

READ ALSO:Okpebholo Declares Edo Business-friendly

The mother added that when her daughter went for the youth service, she was posted to Abuja, and that because of environment related course she studied in the university, she was deployed to the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL).

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She lamented that despite deploying her daughter to a juicy organisation like the Nigeria National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL), the pastor who is the General Overseer called her daughter, spoke with her, and paid her flight ticket back to Benin, which made her daughter to abandon the NNPCL job to come to Benin to stay with the Pastor, crying out that it was not ordinary.

She narrated amidst tears: “The Pastor took her out of youth service and kept her in his house. She started the church 10 years ago. I didn’t notice her character started deteriorating. She used to a very calm, quiet, caring girl. As time goes on, she became high headed, stubborn and highly rebellious.

“The Pastor’s words are very smooth. He has very sweet words. He preaches very exciting messages.

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READ ALSO:9 Common Resume Mistakes Graduates Make – And How To Avoid Them

“I think that what he preaches in the pulpit is different from what he preaches to his sect like my daughter. And to my uttermost surprise, my daughter is not the only victim. Many girls are with him in his house, some are even pregnant. Meanwhile, his wife is abroad.

“What he preaches publicly is different from what he preaches to these sects. They are youths that have natural love for the things of God and those that are actually hungry for the things of God.

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“I pleaded with him to encourage her to go back to complete her Youth service but he refused. Instead, he now systematically cut me off from the church and refused picking my calls. Then he just cut me off.

“Even when I lost my father, my daughter and himself did not even come. My daughter has been staying with him for about a year, six months now. She didn’t even tell me she was going to stay with the pastor.

READ ALSO:FG Enlists NYSC Members In Campaign To Fight Small Arms, Light Weapons Proliferation In Northeast

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“The first year she stayed back because the pastor did not release her. She missed that year.

“I persisted and she enrolled again for the NYSC. She was deployed to Benue State from the where she was redeployed to Abuja where she was posted to NNPCL. But the pastor bought a ticket for her to come back. He just withdrew her like that. Since then, I have pleading with the pastor to let her go back and complete her
youth service, knowing the importance of it to her CV.

“The pastor now refused and systematically cut us off. I want to get my daughter back. But another thing I noticed is that my daughter is now acting very unusual. I’m suspecting he did something to her that I cannot understand.

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“Her behavior is clearly different from the person she used to be. I’m sad about that. He has wasted the child several years.”

But the daughter who spoke on the phone said she was not hypnotized.

READ ALSO:Edo Assembly Recalls 324 Employment Letters

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She claimed she completed her NYSC Scheme but was silent on concerns of her mother.

Pastor Omorotiomwan did not pick calls to his phone but checks showed he has sued Mrs. Igbiti and the police for N50m as damages for unlawful violation and threatened violation of his rights.

He is asking the court for injunction to restrain Mrs. Igbiti and the police from raiding his residence.

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Pastor Omorotiomwan is also asking fot a declaration that continued threats of his arrest was unconstitutional, unlawful, null and void.

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Gunmen Kill Three In Zamfara Community Over N3,500 Yoghurt

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At least three people were killed on Wednesday in Danjibga village, Tsafe Local Government Area of Zamfara State, after armed bandits attacked the community.

The incident was reported on Thursday, December 4, 2025, by security analyst Bakatsine on X.

Bakatsine explained that the attack began when a group of gunmen entered a local shop and attempted to take Rufaida yoghurt worth ₦3,500 without payment. The shop owner insisted on payment, prompting the men to become angry, drop the goods, and leave.

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READ ALSO:10 Persons Confirmed Dead In Lokoja–Okene Road Crash, Bandit Attacks

According to Bakatsine, the gunmen returned less than an hour later, heavily armed, and opened fire, killing three people. The attack also forced residents to flee and resulted in the looting of the shop.

He said, “Yesterday evening in the Danjibga community of Tsafe LGA, Zamfara State, a group of bandits entered a local shop and attempted to take Rufaida yoghurt worth ₦3,500 without payment.

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“When the shop owner insisted on payment, the gunmen became angry, abandoned the yoghurt, and left. They returned less than an hour later and started shooting sporadically, which killed three people, forced residents to flee, and looted the shop.”

As of the time of filing this report, authorities have not issued an official statement regarding the incident.

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Patient Accuses Ekiti Teaching Hospital Of Organ Harvesting

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Management of the Ekiti State Teaching Hospital (EKSUTH) has commenced an investigation into an alleged organ harvesting levelled against it by a patient, Mr Joshua Afolayan, who had surgery recently in the facility.

Joshua had accused the Teaching Hospital of an alleged harvest of his kidney by medical doctors in the hospital.

Addressing a press conference in Ado Ekiti, Afolayan explained that he had an accident in August 2025, and after visiting the hospital, he was told that one of his kidneys was affected.

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According to him, the results of multiple scans carried out, including at UCH, Ibadan, Oyo State, confirmed that the right kidney had been damaged but the left kidney was very fine.

READ ALSO:Man Bags Life Sentence For Armed Robbery In Ekiti

However, during surgery to remove the faulty kidney so as to protect other organs, Afolayan confirmed that he still urinated five minutes before the surgery, but since the procedure in October, he has not been able to pass urine.
He noted that all efforts to get explanations from the hospital proved abortive, as they continued to play him around.

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Afolayan added that on second thought, he decided to visit another facility for scanning, only to discover that he had been living without a kidney since the operation.

He called on the government to carry out a thorough investigation and save his life, as he has continued to live in pain.

However, disturbed by the development, the Chairman, Board of Management of the Teaching Hospital, Dr Adedamola Dada, constituted a seven-man panel of enquiry to look into the alleged case of kidney removal in the hospital.
A statement by Rolake Adewumi, Head, Corporate Affairs, EKSUTH, disclosed that the members of the panel included Prof. Francis Faduyile, an Anatomic Pathologist from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Lagos, who will serve as the Chairman of the panel.

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READ ALSO:Customs Appoint New Controller For Ondo/Ekiti Command

Other members included Prof. Patrick Temi Adegun of the Federal University, Oye Ekiti; Dr Henry Abiyere from Federal Teaching Hospital, Ido–Ekiti; Dr Adebola Adeniyi–Agbaje, General Manager, Progress F.M, Ado-Ekiti.
Others are Reverend Emmanuel Aribasoye, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, Ekiti State branch; High Chief (Prof) Babatunde Akindele, the Elemo of Ado–Ekiti, a community leader; and Barr. Adebayo Titilayo, the Legal Adviser to Ekiti State Ministry of Health, who will serve as Secretary to the panel.

She said that the panel has ten days to submit its report, adding that the hospital management reassured the public that no stone would be left unturned to determine the issues involved in the matter.

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“The Management noted that members of the panel are independent and responsible members of the community who would exhibit fairness and justice.

“All the affected parties and the general public were urged to cooperate with the panel as the findings are being awaited.”

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