Five persons were at the weekend reportedly killed in two separate attacks on Tse- Semaka and Olegobiudu villages in Guma and Agatu local government areas of Benue state respectively by suspected herdsmen, including a herdsman at the Lower Benue area of Makurdi town. Vanguard gathered from a source who craved anonymity in the Agatu that the victims were killed while taking their bath in a stream. The source said, “the incident occurred on Sunday, afternoon when seven boys went to take their bath at the stream in the community. “Unfortunately, they were ambushed at the stream by herdsmen who waylaid and opened fire on their unsuspecting victims which led to the death of two of the boys. “Others managed to escape while the matter was also reported at the Agatu Police Police state.” He said. In the same vein, Vanguard gathered that two persons were killed at Tse-Semaka when suspected herdsmen invaded in community late Sunday. According to our source, the victims were reportedly killed when they moved into the deserted village from their IDPs camp to pick some of their belongings from their homes. “They were ambushed by herdsmen who unknown to them had taken over the village and were grazing on people’s farms.” Benue State Commissioner of Police, Fatai Owoseni confirmed the killing of the four and the herder at Lower Benue while flagging of a Joint Patrol Initiative of the leadership of herdsmen in Benue state and local government council chairmen and paramount rulers in the state. Owoseni described the killings as saddening and unacceptable given the efforts the command had made to ensure peace in the state. “Happily, with this Joint Patrol Team in place, we will attain peaceful coexistence among farmers and herders and with that in place we will soon have the people displaced by the crisis return to their ancestral homes.

The Edo State government has handed over 70 years old Francis Ezomo, and his two sons; Nosa Ezomo, 26 years old and Festus Ezomo, 29 years old, to the Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr Johnson Kokumo, for allegedly defiling a nine- year-old girl, who is a relative of Mr Francis Ezomo’s wife. The Acting Chairman of the Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Basic Education, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, told journalists after the suspects were handed over to the Police at Government House, Benin City, that the case was reported to her office by the headmistress of the minor. “The issue came to the limelight when the headmistress of the minor's school noticed a change of behaviour in the minor and decided to ask her what the problem was. The nine years old girl narrated her ordeal to the headmistress who then informed the Education Secretary of the local government council where the alleged crime took place. We then swung into action and got the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development involved,” Dr. Oviawe said. The SUBEB boss added that when “we could not get the necessary action required from the Police, the state government swung into action and these three men were apprehended almost immediately.” She explained that the Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development has taken custody of the child who is now in a safe place and assured that SUBEB would ensure that her education is not truncated. "What the men have done is bad and their actions have attempted to destroy the life and future of the minor. The three men took advantage of the child and exposed her to trauma. We have waded into the case to ensure justice prevails,” Oviawe said. The commissioner of police assured that his men would investigate the allegation and charge the case to court. “Scientific investigation for the minor was sent to the hospital and a doctor report has shown that her hymen has been broken. The scientific report has established that the minor was sexually abused. We will investigate the case and charge them to court,” Kokumo said, and urged parents not to leave the duty of nurturing their children to teachers in schools. “Nurturing a child is not just the responsibility of the school, both parents and guardians have a lot of roles to play in the proper training up of our children,” the police boss said. Acting Chairman, Edo State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) and Special Adviser to the Edo State Governor on Basic Education, Dr. Joan Osa Oviawe, addressing journalists after the handing over of three persons suspected to have defiled a minor, to the Police in Benin City. The suspects, Friday Ezomo and his two sons, Nosa and Festus were paraded on Friday, at the Government House, in Benin City, the Edo State capital.

National chairman of the party, Prince Uche Secondus stated this at a public discourse on contemporary politics and governance in Nigeria, organized by the PDP in Abuja. Speaking on the theme, “Nation Building: Resetting the agenda,” Secondus pledged the readiness of the PDP to learn from its mistakes arguing that regardless of what the party failed to do, experience remains the best teacher. “The PDP was in power for 16 years and as expected, we made mistakes. We are sorry for our mistakes and when we return, we shall make this country better. We have experience, no any other party has it. “The PDP has embarked on a rescue mission and together we will salvage this nation back from the grip of the incompetent All Progressives Congress (APC),” said Secondus.

The Director General of the State Security Service, SSS, Lawal Daura, has opened up on how his agency was able to secure the release of the abducted Dapchi school girls. According to Premium Times. Daura, in his statement when President Muhammadu Buhari received the schoolgirls at the State House presidential villa Abuja, recalled that the president had given “a clear directive to security agencies to use peaceful options to ensure the timely and safe release of the girls”. He said what followed that directive was “intense behind-the-scene dialogue spearheaded by the Department of State Services”. How we secured the release of Dapchi girls – DSS Boss lailasnews 2 Daura said the insurgents’ only condition was their demands for the cessation of hostilities and temporary ceasefire to enable them to return the girls at the point they picked them. He said they also required assurances that the government security forces would keep to that request. “ “The exercise was arduous and quite challenging. The sensitivity of the operation and some uncertainties surrounding it, particularly routes to be used, nature of transportation, realization, and concern that the girls were not kept in one place, issues of encountering military checkpoints within the theater and indeed keeping the operation on strictly the principle of need-to-know made the whole exercise more complicating,” he said. ” The SSS chief said beyond the release of the abducted girls, the primary interest of the service for engaging in the dialogue was informed by the need for permanent, possible cessation of hostilities.

Linda ikeji blog

A man simply identified as Lucky Ayosin has been sentenced to life imprisonment by an Ekiti State High Court sitting in Ado-Ekiti for impregnating his daughter after raping her. Justice John Adeyeye also sentenced him to 10 years’ imprisonment after finding him guilty of attempted murder of his son, Ilesanmi, who caught him having sex with the victim. The judge ordered that both sentences should run concurrently. Ilesanmi was shot by the father with a single- barreled gun in a bid to cover up the incest. The boy escaped and reported the incident to their mother, Yemisi Bayode, who had divorced Lucky 14 years ago and left the two children in his custody. While the case was going on, the victim, who was a Senior Secondary School 3 pupil at the time of the incident, gave birth to a baby girl from the resulting pregnancy. The incident, according to the charge sheet, occurred on or around November 19, 2015, at Isaba-Ekiti, in the Ikole Local Government Area of the state. The convict first appeared before a magistrate’s court after which legal advice from the Directorate of Public Prosecutions necessitated the transfer of the matter to the state High Court. Lucky was first arraigned at the High Court on February 21, 2017, on two counts of attempted murder and rape. The prosecution called five witnesses in the course of the trial, including a medical doctor who examined the victim. Exhibits tendered included the statement of the convict, a medical report and the single-barrelled gun used by Lucky to shoot his son.