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Tackle Insecurity In Anambra Or Resign, Group Tells Soludo

Published

1 year ago

January 21, 2023

Editor

Civil rights advocacy group, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, (HURIWA) on Saturday, lambasted the Governor of Anambra State, Chukwuma Soludo for failing to stem the unprecedented attacks; rapes, killings and kidnappings in the state since he took over in May 2022.

HURIWA has also asked the Imo State governor Hope Uzodinma to perish the idea of engaging in academic arguments with political opposition over the extremely excruciating state of insecurity in Imo State and find a practical solution to the myriads of violent attacks.

The Rights group also urged Governor Uzodinma to request for military posts to be erected in the axis of terrorism around Akokwa Ama-Edward and Arondizuogu whereby several attacks have happened these past few days.

“HURIWA is hereby appealing to the Chief of Army Staff Lieutenant General Faruk Yahaya to instruct the General Officer Commanding 82 division to set up military posts in Akokwa Ama-Edward and Arondizuogu to stop the frequent violent attacks which have been left to become a daily routine just as the Rights group said locating military and Mobile Police posts in Akokwa Ama-Edward and Arondizuogu will help to check the daredevil attacks that have led to the destruction of property and mass killings.

HURIWA’s National Coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in a statement said it is very unfortunate that Soludo has not achieved any of his campaign promises on security in seven months in office despite boasting that he would accomplish them within 100 days in power.

The group said more reprehensible is the fact that Soludo has been playing politics on national television instead of settling down to work alongside security agencies to bring peace and stability to the state.

HURIWA, therefore, asked Soludo to buckle up and stem these tides of insecurity or step down to let a more competent governor emerge.

The group’s statement is coming hours after no fewer than 17 students of Nnamdi Azikiwe University Awka, Anambra State sustained varying degrees of injury while an unconfirmed number of female students were raped during a midnight robbery attack in the off-campus hostels located along Ifite road in Awka, the state capital.

The robbers, heavily armed with guns, axes and matchets, reportedly went from room to room, hostel to hostel, raping female students and dispossessing them of their phones, iPads, money and other valuables unchallenged.

”Lives are no longer safe in the state as abductions, farmland invasion and killings by gunmen have become a norm despite Soludo’s false assurances that security challenges in the state have abated.

HURIWA’s Onwubiko said, “Rapes, cult killings, banditry and outright terrorism are rife in Anambra but Governor Chukwuma Soludo is busy playing politics of election and positioning himself as a potential presidential candidate in the near future, actively undermining Peter Obi and South East chances in next month’s election.

“It is unthinkable that students are raped in Awka near the seat of power but every day Soludo is on national television, playing politics and giving false impression that security challenges have subsided in the state. Soludo better stem these tides of insecurity or step down to let a more competent governor to emerge.”

HURIWA also urge the opposition People’s Democratic Party in Imo State to partner with the Imo State administration in finding lasting solutions to the heightened state of insecurity because if the violence continues then the chances of any successful election in the state are remote and therefore the opposition won’t have the opportunity to seek the mandate of the people.

“What is at stake in Imo State is the survival of the state and the wellbeing of the citizens. It is shocking that many attacks have happened around a particular place in Akokwa Ama-Edward and Arondizuogu for two weeks consistently but the Imo State administration has no solution to it but has gone ahead to pick up petty quarrels with the opposition PDP.

READ ALDO: Trailer Falls, Kills Woman On Anambra Road

“The lives of the people of Ideato North, Onuimo and Okigwe local government Areas are under increasing threats but all that we hear are empty rhetoric and verbal exchanges in the media between APC and PDP in Imo State. This is disappointing and shocking.

“The Imo State government needs to wake up from slumber and get the Army to set up a physical presence in Akokwa Ama-Edward and Arondizuogu for security purposes and not for extortion and these exercises should be well-funded by the government because the primary duty of the government is to guarantee the security of lives and properties of the citizens.”

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Old Clip Of Wizkid’s Father’s Claim On Helping Alaba Get Electricity In 1972 Sparks Outrage

Published

6 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Editor

Muniru Balogun, Wizkid's Father

Muniru Balogun, the father of multiple award-winning musician Ayodeji, popularly known as Wizkid, claimed to have sorted the electricity problem of the Alaba area in Ajegunle, a commercial community in the Ajeromi Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State.

Wizkid’s father said he went to the defunct National Electric Power Authority in 1972 to reach an agreement that helped the area enjoy electricity till today.

The claim has since been greeted by netizens’ outrage after the clip resurfaced two years later.

In the video recorded by GoldMyne TV in 2022, Balogun was presented with the Ajeromi Ifelodun Heroes and Icons Award.

Wizkid’s father, speaking on his contribution to the community, said, “I came to Ajegunle in 1972. At that time, there was no light in Alaba. So, I went to NEPA and lured them to come and make a survey of the area to give them light.

“So when they presented it. I did the survey; I did the draft, and the sketch of the whole of Alaba. They presented it to their board at that time (1972), and it was approved within two weeks, after which light was given to the area.

“So that is my contribution. I am the Baba Adinni of Alaba Central Mosque and also the former Chairman of APC for 14 years. I thank God that I’m still alive and that my son, Wizkid, is still doing well. I thank God.”

He further advised the community’s youths to shun social vices, adding that if they don’t have an education, they should have something to do while urging them to develop their talents in football, music, and the rest.

However, the interview has been greeted with backlashes and tribal outrages from netizens who claimed that the Igbo in Alaba developed the community into the commercial city it is today and not Wizkid’s father as claimed.

A Tweep, Mayowa David, who identifies as @kkiiikk on X, said, “But Alaba is Igboland Nannuuu….”

Another user, Phemmy, tweeting with the handle @phemifem, said, “The colonial master paid for the light in advance.”

Carter of Remo, who tweets as @Biola_carter, opined, “It’s a lie…Aguiyi Ironsi paid for it.”

One Chiefnwosu_store on Instagram queried, “Which of the Alaba? Suru Alaba or Alaba International Market?.”

Solarklips on Instagram also wrote in Pidgin English, “He gave Alaba light ke? na him be governor or LG chairman…Ok. accepted. People must have contributed money for the transformer, but he didn’t mention them. No man can single-handedly give a village electricity not to talk of Alaba.”

This is coming on the heels of the reignited long-standing feud between Wizkid and David Adeleke, popularly known as Davido which was accompanied by fiery social media exchanges.

In the early hours of Monday, April 29, 2024, Wizkid made some controversial tweets, which became the major topic of discussion in the entertainment industry for the week.

Wizkid had posted the embarrassing video, which had surfaced on the Internet some weeks back, in response to a fan who had asked him to release a new song.

He stated that his fans must beg him for a new song the same way Davido was pleading in the video before he would consider their request.

However, the singer did not stop there. He also threw ‘shades’ at Peruzzi, an artiste signed to Davido’s record label. Perruzi is believed to have written many of Davido’s songs, a fact that the latter has confirmed on different occasions. In one of the controversial tweets, Wizkid wrote, “You and all your crew, plus your pant washer songwriter, go to sleep at night thinking you actually got anything on me in music. Wish you all well.”

Responding to Wizkid, Perruzi dared him to swear that he had not also sought for him. On his part, Davido responded, “You’re a sick man.” In a now-deleted tweet, Davido also called Wizkid a woman beater.

News

Anambra Teaching Hospital To Commence Mass Burial Of Abandoned Corpses

Published

6 hours ago

May 7, 2024

Editor

The mortuary at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Amaku-Awka, Anambra State, has reportedly been filled up.

As a result, the institution said it would commence the evacuation, disposal and mass burial of corpses abandoned at its facility since 2014.

The Public Relations Officer of the hospital, Henrietta Agbai, disclosed this in a statement sighted by our correspondent on Monday, adding that the exercise would commence from July 2024.

The three-paragraph statement was issued on behalf of the Chief Medical Director of the institution, Dr Josephat Akabuike, and the Chairman of the Medical Advisory Committee of the hospital, Dr Emmanuel Mba.

Agbai said the decision followed the approval granted for the action by the state government.

She said, “His Excellency, the Executive Governor of Anambra State, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo, has approved the disposal of abandoned corpses at the Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University Teaching Hospital, Coouth Amaku-Awka.

“To this end, the management wishes to inform the general public that COOUTH Amaku-Awka intends to conduct mass burials of the abandoned corpses in its mortuary from 2014 to December 2023.

“Therefore, those whose relatives are missing should visit the hospital’s mortuary for possible identification and collection of such corpses within one month of this publication.”

The COOUTH is located at the centre of Awka, it is usually the first port of call for health emergencies in and around the state, especially in cases of road accidents, gunshot injuries and critical situations, among other.

It was gathered that most of the victims of these health emergencies do not eventually make it, and the corpses are usually moved to the hospital’s mortuary.

According to The PUNCH, the development has resulted in the hospital’s mortuary being overloaded with corpses, most of whom are unidentified, as far back as 2014.

News

Gunmen Kill One, Abduct Seven Travellers On Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode Expressway

Published

11 hours ago

May 6, 2024

Editor

Gunmen numbering up to seven have reportedly killed one person and abducted seven other travellers along the Sagamu-Ijebu-Ode expressway.

The gunmen armed with A.K 47 rifles were said to have waylaid and attacked the travellers in between the Ilisan, Ceplast industry and Iperu junction axis of the expressway on Friday.

A viral audio from one of the victims of the tragic incident, who was apparently a driver heading to Lagos, detailed how the gunmen stopped their vehicles with sporadic shooting and later marched them into the bush.

He said, “This incident happened at past five in the evening, they were armed to the teeth with A.K 47 rifles shooting heavily. They even killed one person who was inside a Lexus car. So, they marched about seven of us inside the bush and when I saw that they were speaking Hausa, I started speaking Hausa to them begging them not to kill me, so they asked if I was a northerner but I said no, that I have once lived in Kebbi and Sokoto.

“They kept taking us further inside the bush, later they asked if I had any money, so I gave them the N103,000 and my phone. There was another driver from the east who said that the kidnappers had collected N120,000 from him just as we were abducted. They later set the two of us free while the other five people abducted were still with them”.

Speaking with our Correspondent on Monday, the Spokesperson of Ogun State police command, SP Omolola Odutola confirmed the incident.

Odutola said that the police could not confirm the number of people that were abducted but noted that the gun-wielding hoodlums killed one of the travellers yet to be identified.

She said the incident which happened on May 3, around 6:55 pm was incidented as a case of armed robbery, murder and kidnapping.

Odutola said: “We have information that about seven people whom we don’t know with A.K 47 suddenly blocked the Benin-Sagamu expressway.

“The DPO of Ilisan when he got to the scene of the incident saw two vehicles pierced with bullets; a Lexus Jeep 300 with registration number LND 640 DY, the driver’s name is Chilaka Lugard and another Lexus Jeep 350 with registration number LSR 996 JF belonging to Kingsley Chineme. Inside this Lexus 350 car was found a cross bag with N113,000, two iPhones; an iPhone Six and an iPhone Eleven Promax.

“There was also a corpse of an unidentified man who was shot in the head.

“The third vehicle was loaded with plantains and the driver who was among those abducted, regained freedom and was later allowed to go with the vehicle. The other Lexus vehicles have been taken to Ilishan Police Station.”

Odutola said the Commissioner of Police, Abiodun Alamutu was not happy with this security breach and had in an emergency meeting summoned on Monday, directed the tactical commanders and the mobile squadron to go after these undesirable elements.

She said ‘the CP had been to the scene of this incident, and a lot of work is ongoing to fish these people out and let them answer for their criminality, I can assure you that, these criminals will be apprehended just very soon.”

About three weeks ago, some rampaging eight gunmen had stormed Ajadeh Event Centre along the Iperu-Sagamu road and snuffed the life out of Professor Yinka Olomojobi, a lecturer with Babcock University, Ilisan Remo.

Olomojobi, a Professor of Human Rights and Gender Law was reportedly shot dead on the fateful day around 9 pm by these daredevil gunmen for allegedly resisting his abduction.

The lecturer and others were at this relaxation centre when these hoodlums began disturbing the serenity of the environment with their heavy shooting.

By the time the dust settled, Olomojobi had been killed while two others, one Dare and another unidentified person had been whisked away.

The police however said that one Awada Ishaya from Plateau State had been picked up as prime suspect of the sordid act.

Ishaya was said to have just been employed two weeks ago as a security guard when the event centre was opened.