Metro

[JUST IN] Edo APC Primary: Protest Rocks Party Secretariat In Benin

Published

1 year ago

February 24, 2024

Editor

Barely 24 hours after Senator Monday Okpebholo was declared winner of the All Progressives Congress governorship primary in Edo State, one of the 11 aspirants that lost out, Dennis Idahosa, was at the national headquarters of the party to demand justice.

Idahosa, who arrived at the party secretariat at about 2.30pm accompanied by a horde of his supporters, described Thursday’s re-run election as a ‘selection’ and not an ‘electoral’ process as the ruling party wanted the world to believe.

The Edo federal lawmaker was one of the three winners that emerged from controversial first primary held on February 17, which was subsequently declared inconclusive.

Governor Hope Uzodimma, who was the then chairman of the primary election committee, had announced Idahosa as winner, while the returning officer, Stanley Ugboaja, declared Okpebholo as winner.

Elsewhere, Ojo Babatunde, who claimed to be representing the returning officers in all the local governments also declared Anamero Dekeri as the winner of the election.

The outcome of the shadow election had led to a public outcry forcing the National Working Committee of the APC to declare the poll inconclusive, a pronouncement that paved way for last Thursday’s re-run election that produced Okpebholo as the winner.

Addressing newsmen at the main gate of the secretariat on Saturday, Idahosa threatened to drag the APC to court if the party fails to return his mandate.

The lawmaker, who told reporters that he has submitted protest letter to the APC governorship Appeal Committee, also appealed to President Bola Tinubu to call the APC NWC to order.

He said: “I am not here to make trouble. I am a lawmaker but one thing that we want is justice. Today, I might be a young man but it might be the children of NWC members tomorrow. We have to do the right thing, if we continue to do what is wrong as a country, we are not going to move forward.

“So I am calling on Mr. President to call NWC to order. Elections were held on the 17th of February. What they did on the 22nd was just selection. I challenged one of the LGA returning officers to show me a picture of him at the local government headquarters where he collated the results, he was just blabbing. There was nothing because I know that they were in the same hotel in Benin and that’s where they wrote all the results.

“So my fellow party members, I am not here to make trouble. I am only here to seek justice. I have written yesterday to the appeal panel commitee and I know they will do justice. I just want to go through the process, having exhausted the party’s conflict resolution mechanism. I will go further to seek justice in the court of law as I will not allow this to stand.”

An Edo lawyer and chieftain of the party, Bernard Ekun, who accompanied Idahosa told journalists that the NWC was deliberately trying to avoid fielding a viable candidate for the election.

According to him, when something is inconclusive, it invariably means some areas have been identified for primaries to before it can be termed completed.

He said, “The governor who was in charge of the purportedly selection primaries said that it was going to be a fresh election. Between you and I, when you know the issue of INEC, there is supposed to be 21 days notice from INEC for that primary. Nothing of such was done and we are out of time. Are you people saying that the selection process you have done, which you called a fresh election, should be acceptable to us?

“Our demands is that the February 17 primary stands. That is known to law. What they have done is kangaroo selection. What these people have done is that they have sold their responsibility and the excellence in them as reasonable men. They have sold it for a Chinese cusuine. People were in their hotel sleeping. How were they able to get the results? There was no election. We stand on February 17 election because that is the only that is one duly observed within the ambit of the law.”

Metro

Soldiers Kill Three Terrorist Kingpins In Sokoto

Published

9 hours ago

July 27, 2025

Editor

Troops of the Joint Task Force under Operation FANSAN YAMMA have eliminated three notorious terrorist kingpins in Sabon Birni Local Government Area of Sokoto State.

The operation, which took place on Friday, was a carefully executed ambush between Mallamawa and Mazau villages in the Tsamaye/Mai Lalle District.

According to military authorities, the terrorists, identified as Kachalla Nagomma, Gurmu, and Ali Yar Daribiyar, were intercepted while attempting to extort ransom and levies from locals in the area.

Three AK-47 rifles with magazines and a motorcycle were recovered from the scene during the operation.

The success of the mission has been met with widespread jubilation in the affected communities of Mai Lalle, Tsamaye, Rimaye, and nearby areas in Sabon Birni and Goronyo LGAs.

Residents, long terrorised by the activities of the neutralised criminals and their foot soldiers, expressed relief and renewed confidence in the security efforts.

Operation FANSAN YAMMA, a security initiative aimed at restoring peace and stability across Nigeria’s North West and parts of the North Central region, reaffirmed its commitment to intensifying counter-terrorism efforts in collaboration with local communities.

In a statement issued on Saturday, the Media Information Officer of OPFY, Captain David Adewusi, called on the public to continue sharing timely and credible information that can aid ongoing military operations.

“The Joint Task Force remains resolute in its mission to eradicate terrorism and restore lasting peace to all affected areas,” Adewusi said.
(PUNCH)

Metro

Pandemonium As Armed Robbery Suspects Invade Radio Station In Kogi

Published

10 hours ago

July 27, 2025

Editor

Suspected armed robbers have attacked Radio Nigeria, Prime 101.5FM, located in Jimgbe, Kogi State, carting away transmission equipment valued at millions of naira.

The daring operation occurred in the early hours of Saturday and lasted for over three hours without any response or interception from security operatives in the area.

Confirming the incident to journalists on Sunday, the General Manager of the station, Mr. Momoh-Jimoh Adeiza, expressed deep concern over the attack, which has forced the station off-air.

“This is a major blow to our operations. We are currently off air because our vital broadcast equipment has been stolen. The criminals tied up our security guard before proceeding with their operations. Where do we go from here?” he lamented.

Adeiza urged security agencies to intensify efforts to track down the perpetrators and bring them to justice.

He also confirmed that the Zonal Director of the station had been informed of the incident.

“I’m appealing to the relevant authorities and stakeholders to come to our aid so that we can resume operations and continue serving the public,” he added.

Narrating his ordeal, the security guard on duty, Mr. Daniel Haruna, revealed that the robbers were heavily armed and operated with dangerous weapons, including guns and cutlasses.

“They were more than ten of them. They came around 1:00 a.m., and when they spotted me with a flashlight, they immediately tied me to a tree and blindfolded me.

“I couldn’t cry out for help because I was completely helpless. They ransacked the premises for over three hours. It was a terrifying experience I never imagined I would go through”, he recounted.

Items reportedly stolen include copper components of the feeder lines, 22 pieces of transmission modules, armoured cables, generator batteries, and other essential broadcast infrastructure.

Beyond the theft, the extensive destruction inflicted on the station’s facilities has raised serious concerns among staff and stakeholders.

The incident is the latest in a series of security challenges facing media institutions and critical infrastructure across the country.

Metro

NDLEA Arrests Chinese Businessman, 80-yr-old Grandma With Colos In Moimoi Sachets

Published

16 hours ago

July 27, 2025

Editor

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has arrested a Chinese businessman, an 80-year-old woman, and several others in a series of nationwide drug interdiction operations that led to the seizure of large quantities of synthetic and imported cannabis, opioids, and other illicit substances.

The agency made the arrests across multiple states between July 21 and July 26, 2025, according to a statement issued on Sunday by Femi Babafemi, Director of Media and Advocacy at NDLEA Headquarters, Abuja.

One of the suspects, a Chinese national identified as Liang Tak You, was arrested on Friday, July 25, at the arrival hall of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Lagos.

Babafemi disclosed that NDLEA operatives, acting on intelligence, apprehended Liang after he arrived from Bangkok via Dubai aboard an Emirates flight. He was found with two suitcases containing 50 parcels of Canadian Loud, a synthetic strain of cannabis, weighing 26.1 kilograms.

In Calabar, Cross River State, 80-year-old Grace Ekpeme was arrested in the early hours of Saturday, July 26, with over 3 kilograms of cannabis at her residence in the Edet-Nsa area of Calabar South.

Also in Lagos, on July 23, NDLEA operatives intercepted Chidi Agbafo along the Epe-Ajah Expressway with 21.7 kilograms of Colorado cannabis, some of it disguised in moimoi sachets, and 3.8 litres of codeine syrup.

He was allegedly transporting the drugs to Warri and Oghara in Delta State.

At the Apapa seaport in Lagos, officers seized 101 kilograms of Canadian Loud concealed in 202 tins of food labeled “Bean Salad Mix.” The cannabis was hidden in two Toyota Sienna buses inside a container that arrived from Canada. The seizure was made during a joint operation with Customs and other security agencies on July 25.

On July 23, along the Abuja-Kaduna highway, NDLEA operatives arrested Usman Musa, who was traveling to Kano in a commercial bus with 71,000 pills of tramadol, diazepam, and Exol-5.

In Maiduguri, Borno State, a woman identified as Binta Usman was arrested on July 23 with 30.1 kilograms of cannabis. A follow-up operation led to the arrest of her alleged accomplice, Bala Abdullahi, on July 25.

In Ondo State, three brothers, Nanna, Chizom, and Maxwell Ozirinye, were arrested on July 26 after operatives raided a cannabis farm at Bending Corner Forest, Idoani, in Ose Local Government Area. About 2,500 kilograms of cannabis were destroyed, and 121.4 kilograms of processed cannabis were recovered.

In Edo State, NDLEA officers raided Asakpa community in Benin City on July 23 and arrested Bright Sunday Okon, 26, recovering quantities of Colorado, Loud, Arizona, skunk, and methamphetamine.

Other arrests and seizures include: 105.4kg of skunk from an abandoned car in Keffi, Nasarawa State; 6,400 tramadol pills from Bashir Abdullahi in Minna, Niger State; 113kg of cannabis from Jamiu Omolaja’s base in Ifo, Ogun State; and 10,910 tramadol capsules from Adamu Adamu along Gombe-Bajoga road.

NDLEA also said a consignment of skunk concealed in food items was intercepted in Kogi, with a follow-up leading to the arrest of Kindness Bala, 27, in Abuja, who planned to travel to Katsina and later Qatar.

The agency added that 23,600 tramadol pills, 300 ampoules of pentazocine, and 700 grams of cannabis seized from a truck in Ayingba, Kogi State.

NDLEA Chairman, Brig. Gen. Mohamed Buba Marwa (Rtd), commended the agency’s commands in Lagos, Cross River, Ondo, Edo, Borno, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Gombe, Kaduna, and Kogi States for their efforts.

He also praised operatives nationwide for maintaining a balanced approach to drug supply and demand reduction.