Headline

Uromi Robbery Attack : More Facts Emerge

Published

4 years ago

February 25, 2022

Strong indications Friday evening emerged on Thursday simultaneous robbery attacks on four commercial banks at Uromi, Esan North-East Local Government Area of Edo State.

It was learnt that the armed robbers took advantage of the absence chain commanders of the Edo Police in the axis to strike.

A security source, who pleaded anonymity told newsmen that the armed robbers decided to strike on Thursday, having studied that the police commanders in the Uromi axis had joined their counterparts across the state in a critical weekly briefing with the state Commissioner of Police.

The source disclosed that as it had been the practice in the past, the Thursday Commanders parley with the CP required the physical presence of all the police Area Commanders and the Divisional Police Officers in the state.

The armed robbers numbering about 30, who came in a convoy of vehicles, carried out the well coordinated heist simultaneously at the four banks in the town at the Uromi city Centre.

The source added that the robbers decision to carry out the commando-like attacks when the crucial security meeting was ongoing in Benin had thrown up serious questions among the top echelon of the Edo Police Command, with posers being raised as to the proprietary or otherwise of the physical meeting in the age of technology, where virtual communication strategy could have been employed.

The vehicle abandoned by the robbers

The absence of the Divisional Police Officers and the Area Commanders, who are the operational commanders, the source posited, must have affected what could have been an immediate coordinated police response against the criminals.

He argued that the armed robbers, who carried out the attacks, during which seven persons (two police and five civilians) were killed, as confirmed by Bello Kontongs, Edo Police Public Relations Officer, must have monitored the area and the possible security reaction to the threat before embarking on the action.

Besides the human casualties, the armed robbers were seeing in the viral video of the attacks loading unspecified huge sums of money in sacks into their getaway vehicles.

The affected banks are Zenith Bank, First Bank, Unity Bank and the United Bank for Africa, UBA.

Meanwhile, a late evening feelers from the neighbouring Ubiaja town in Esan South-East LGA, indicated that the youths of the community, on hearing about the robbery incidents, mobilised and blocked the road to prevent the fleeing robbers from using the town as their thoroughfare.

The unconfirmed feeler stated that the armed robbers abandoned one of the cars carrying the cash stolen from the banks and one of them arrested.

The “breaking news”, as posted on the Edo Police Command Press Interactive WhatsApp platform reads:

“Thankfully our ubiaja youths were able to block Ubiaja Road by the rail line, which forced the robbers to abandon their cash ladden vehicles off the rail line and flee in motorcycles. The vehicles and cash have been recovered and counting still ongoing at the Ubiaja police station. An arrest has also been made. God will reveal all the perpetrators. The blood of the innocent Will hunt them down”.

One of the vehicles, shown in the viral video of the robbery, being loaded with the sacks of cash from the affected bank, a red Toyota Camry car with registration number, MK 23 KJA, was posted along the “Breaking News” on the platform.

Though the PPRO, Kontongs, is listed as a member on the journalists interactive platform, he was yet to confirm or deny the information as at the time of filing this report

Headline

Sweden To Charge 18-year-old Over IS Terror Plot

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Editor

The Swedish Prosecution Authority said Tuesday it intended to charge an 18-year-old man for planning a terrorist act in Stockholm on behalf of the Islamic State group.

According to prosecutors, the planning took place between August 2024 and February 2025.

“We believe the purpose of the preparations was to induce serious fear in the population, in the name of the Islamic State. The criminal act could have seriously harmed Sweden,” Deputy Chief Prosecutor Henrik Olin said in a statement.

Prosecutors did not provide details of the plan but said the man was also suspected of “preparation for serious crimes under the act on flammable and explosive goods and training for terrorism”.

Prosecutors said they planned to file the charges on Thursday and that a press conference would be held the same day.

The young man will also be charged alongside a 17-year-old boy with attempted murder in Germany in August 2024.

Both of them are also suspected of “participation in a terrorist organisation,” according to the statement.

The man was arrested in Stockholm on February 11 and has been in custody since then.

AFP

Headline

US Shutdown Hits 35 Days, Tying Longest In History

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Editor

The US government shutdown entered its 35th day on Tuesday, matching a record set during President Donald Trump’s first term, as lawmakers voiced hope over progress behind the scenes to end the dispute.

The federal closure appears almost certain to become the longest in history, with no breakthroughs expected before it goes into its sixth week at midnight — although there were fragile signs in Congress that an off-ramp is closer than ever.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune set the buoyant mood music on Monday when he told reporters he felt “optimistic” that newly energised talks between warring Republicans and Democrats could end in a deal before next week.

The government has been grinding to a halt since Congress failed to pass a bill to keep federal departments and agencies funded past the end of the last financial year on September 30.

“I’ll be honest with you, I don’t think any of us expected that it would drag on this long. We didn’t believe, we couldn’t have imagined,” House Speaker Mike Johnson told a news conference arranged to mark the six-week milestone.

“It’s now tied for the longest shutdown in US history. And we didn’t think we’d have to come in here every single day — day after day after day — and repeat the obvious facts to the American people and to put on display every day what is happening here.”

Some 1.4 million federal workers — from air traffic controllers to park wardens — have been placed on enforced leave without pay or made to work for nothing, while vital welfare programs and even paychecks for active-duty troops are under threat.

Both sides remain dug in over the main sticking point — health care spending.

Democrats say they will only provide votes to end the funding lapse after a deal has been struck to extend expiring insurance subsidies that make health care affordable for millions of Americans.

But Republicans insist they will only address health care once Democrats have voted to switch the lights back on in Washington.

While both sides’ leadership have shown little appetite for compromise, there have been signs of life on the back benches, with a handful of moderate Democrats working to find an escape hatch.

A separate bipartisan group of four centrist House members unveiled a compromise framework Monday for lowering health insurance costs.

Democrats believe that millions of Americans seeing skyrocketing premiums as they enroll onto health insurance programs for next year will pressure Republicans into seeking compromise.

But Trump has held firm on refusing to negotiate, telling CBS News in an interview broadcast Sunday that he would “not be extorted.”

The president has sought to apply his own pressure to force Democrats to cave, by threatening mass layoffs of federal workers and using the shutdown to target progressive priorities.

Last week his administration threatened to cut off a vital aid programme that helps 42 million Americans pay for groceries for the first time in its more than 60-year history, before the move was blocked in court.

And the president has returned to a familiar playbook of demanding the elimination of the Senate filibuster — the 60-vote threshold for passing most legislation — so Republicans can pass government funding themselves.

“Terminate the filibuster now, end the ridiculous shutdown immediately, and then, most importantly, pass every wonderful Republican policy that we have dreamt of for years, but never gotten,” Trump fulminated in an all-caps social media post.

Preserving the filibuster — which senators say protects the voice of the minority — is one of the few issues on which Republicans are willing to defy Trump and radical reform seems highly unlikely.

“The votes aren’t there,” Thune told reporters on Monday.

AFP

Headline

China Backs Nigeria, Warns Against Foreign Interference

Published

2 hours ago

November 4, 2025

Editor

China has urged the international community to respect Nigeria’s sovereignty following a US threat of military action.

The Chinese government reiterated its support for President Bola Tinubu’s administration, commending the government for guiding the country along a development path tailored to its national conditions.

According to a report sourced from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, People’s Republic of China’s website, the Spokesperson for China’s Foreign Ministry, Mao Ning, stated this at a press briefing on Tuesday in Beijing.

She said, “As Nigeria’s strategic partner, China opposes any attempt by foreign powers to use religion or human rights as a pretext to meddle in another country’s internal affairs or impose sanctions and military threats.”

Recently, the US threatened Nigeria with possible military action due to the alleged persecution of Christians in the country.

The United States President, Donald Trump, had threatened to deploy military forces in Nigeria if the alleged genocide against Christians is not stopped in the country.