The governorship candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), in the last election in Delta State, Olorogun Barr Kenneth Omemavwa Gbagi, is dead.

Gbagi, a former minister of Education and an industrialist died at the age of 62.

The Renowned Criminologist and senior lawyer died on Saturday, May 4th 2024.

A statement signed by his eldest son, Chief Emuoboh Gbagi on behalf of the Gbagi family, said: “It is with profound sadness but gratitude to God, that we announce the passing of our beloved father, grandfather, husband, and brother, Olorogun (Barr.) Kenneth Omemavwa Gbagi, FNIM, OON; Former Minister of Education, who departed this life on the 4th of May 2024 at the age of 62.

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“We take comfort in the fond memories of his life, his achievements, and the impact he made on the lives of countless individuals and communities.

“We kindly request your thoughts and prayers for our family during this challenging time of loss.

“May his soul rest in perfect peace”, the statement added.
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The 37-year-old Queensland Member of Parliament, Brittany Lauga, has told the Australian Police that she was allegedly drugged and sexually assaulted by some unidentified thugs.

According to Lauga, the incident happened during a night out in her constituency of Yeppoon, BBC reports.

The incident that happened to Lauga, who is also the Assistant Minister for Health has sparked protests that occurred in response to recent violence against women in Australia.

“This could have happened to anyone and tragically, it does happen to many of us,” she said after she reported at a police station and then to hospital on 28 April.

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“Tests at the hospital confirmed the presence of drugs in my body which I did not take,” she said in a statement posted on social media, adding the substance had impacted her “significantly”.

Queensland Police Service (QPS) confirmed officers were investigating a sexual assault complaint regarding an incident in Yeppoon on Sunday.

Ms Lauga was reportedly contacted by other women who said they were drugged on the same evening.

“It’s not OK. We should be able to enjoy socialising in our town without the risk of being drugged or assaulted,” she said, adding that she needed time to “physically and emotionally heal”.

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However, police said no extra reports in the same area have been made, but are asking anyone with information or who has experienced something similar to contact them.

“The QPS takes all reports of drink spiking seriously and investigates reports of drink spiking on a case-by-case basis, and often in conjunction with other offences such as sexual assault,” they said.

Ms Lauga has been in parliament for nearly a decade and was first elected to the seat of Keppel in 2015.

Queensland Housing Minister Meaghan Scanlon called the allegations “shocking” and “horrifying”, Australian media reported.

“Brittany is a colleague, she is a friend, she is a young woman in the Queensland parliament and these are really shocking things to read,” Ms Scanlon said.

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“It is unacceptable that women are disproportionately the victims of domestic, family and sexual violence. Our government is going to continue to do everything we can to protect women and stop violence from occurring.”

Australia has witnessed a spate of high-profile gender-based violence in recent weeks.

In April, an attacker stabbed six people to death in a Sydney shopping centre. Five of the victims were women, and the New South Wales police commissioner told Australia’s ABC News that it was “obvious” he focused on harming women.

A wave of rallies took place in response to the killings, with demonstrators calling for gender-based violence to be declared a national emergency and stricter laws put in place to stop it.

A woman has been killed on average every four days in the country so far this year.

Men of the State Criminal Investigation Department, Panti, Lagos, Lagos State have refused the lawyers of the detained journalist with Foundation for Investigative Journalism, Daniel Ojukwu, access to him.

A lawyer, Ridwan Oke, disclosed this on X.com, on Saturday.

According to The PUNCH, Ojukwu was said to have gone missing on Wednesday and was unreachable as his numbers were switched off and his whereabouts unknown to colleagues, family and friends.

Twenty-four hours after he went missing, FIJ filed a missing persons’ report at police stations in the area where Ojukwu was headed.

Luckily, a private detective hired by FIJ eventually managed to trace the last active location of Ojukwu’s phones to an address in Isheri Olofin.

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Oke, who tweets as @Ridwanullahii disclosed that Ojukwu was still in the custody of the SCID and was not allowed access to his lawyers, family or friends.

He revealed that police officers were given express instructions not to allow him access to anyone at all.

“Daniel was not allowed to call his lawyers, friends or relatives to notify them of his arrest.

“The officers gave express instructions not to allow him to reach out to anyone. He was kept incommunicado,” he said.

He disclosed that the police claimed to possess a remand and search warrant for Ojukwu, but have failed to show it to him, neither has the police briefed him on the details of his arrest.

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“Police claim they have remand and search warrants but have never shown them to him. Daniel, up till this moment hasn’t been officially shown the petition against him nor has the police communicated who the complainant is to him.

“The unit involved is said to be the ‘NPF National Cybercrime Centre (NCC) from Abuja’ which means the offence being alleged is a bailable offence but he has not been offered bail and they haven’t presented him in court as enshrined in our laws. The officers here in Panti said they couldn’t help as it was not their case. No one is taking responsibility,” the lawyer said.

He added that efforts to reach the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, proved abortive as he did not pick up calls made to his number, nor did he return the calls.

“Now, I have tried to reach @Princemoye1 but he’s not picking nor returning. No one has so far offered any meaningful explanation and a citizen is being detained unnecessarily for a bailable offence.

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“You have to free Daniel now. He has certain health conditions which need medical attention. If anything happens to him, the Nigerian Police Force @PoliceNG should be held accountable”, Oke concluded.

Recall that gunmen later identified to be operatives of Defence Intelligence Agency abducted the editor of FirstNews newspaper, Segun Olatunji, from his home in Lagos State.

Olatunji, a former Kaduna State correspondent of The PUNCH, was abducted on Friday, March 15, 2024, from his home in the Iyana Odo, Abule Egba area of the state.

The management of the online newspaper linked the action to a recent story published by FirstNews titled, “Revealed: “Defence Chief running an office like a family business – Public Interest Lawyers”, published by many other online platforms.

He was later released on March 28, 2024, to some media stakeholders, including Yomi Odunuga of The Nation newspaper and Iyobosa Uwugiaren of Thisday Newspaper in Abuja after sustained pressure from the media.