₦airaland Forum

The Kogi State House of Assembly has lost one of its members, John Abah.

He was a lawmaker representing Ibaji Constituency in the 8th assembly, where he was serving as a second term.

Demi Olugbemi, the Chief Press Secretary to the speaker, Mathew Kolawole, confirmed the death to The PUNCH.

Abah was said to have died early hours of Wednesday.

He was not known to have suffered any ailment prior to his death.

Speaker of the Kogi State House of Assembly, Matthew Kolawole, described the death of Abah as shocking.

In a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Femi Olugbemi, the Speaker expressed sadness over the death.

He sympathised with the immediate family and the people of Ibaji Constituency, noting that the deceased would be greatly missed.

He said,”It is very sad and painful to lose a breadwinner of a family”, stressing that his demise has created “a great vacuum that will be hard to fill”.

He noted that “death is an expected end of every mortal, hence, he enjoined his family to “take solace in the words of God which say everything under the sun has time, a time to be born, and time to die”.

452 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-209
Oyo-67
Delta-37
Ogun-36
FCT-22
Abia-20
Enugu-16
Bauchi-15
Kaduna-8
Ondo-8
Osun-7
Imo-3
Benue-3
Borno-1

June 22 https://www.nairaland.com/5944347/675-new-covid-19-cases-230

A 22- year-old man, Ayokunbi Olaniyi, on Tuesday appeared in an Iyaganku Chief Magistrates’ Court for allegedly having sex with a pig.

The police charged Olaniyi, who resides in Eleti – Odo area, Iwo Road, Ibadan, with one count of unnatural offence.

The Prosecution Counsel, Insp Opeyemi Olagunju, told the court that on April 2, at about 4 p.m. at Elewi – Odo, Ibadan, the defendant allegedly had sex with a pig against order of nature.

He alleged that the defendant worked for Mrs Adenike Taiwo’s pig farm in Elewi – Odo area, Ibadan.

He said the offence contravened the provisions of Section 214 (2) of the Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. II , Laws of Oyo State 2000.

The defendant pleaded not guilty to the offence.

The Defence Counsel, Mr Mumin Jimoh, prayed the court to grant his client bail in the most liberal terms.

Jimoh said the owner of the pig has forgiven the defendant.

Chief Magistrate Olaide Amzat said:” if the owner has forgiven the defendant, has God forgiven him or the pig forgiven him?”

“The law must take its cause”.

Amzat admitted the defendant to bail in the sum of N100, 000 with two sureties in like sum.

He adjourned the matter untill July 21, for hearing.

Adelami’s Thugs Shot APC Supporters, Vandalize Akeredolu Campaign Vehicles – APC Owo Group alleges

Thugs allegedly loyal to one of the Governorship Aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and former deputy clerk of the National Assembly, Mr. Olayide Adelami on Sunday shot at the members of the APC during a meeting around Igboroko in Owo, Owo local government area of the state.

The APC members under the Owo Youths Redemption Group (OYRG) led by Olayemi Olamide, were said to have held the meeting to declare the support of the group for the re-election of the state Governor, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu Aketi, SAN.

Former member of the House of Representative, Omosule Eni was said to have led the thugs.

According to eyes witnesses, the thugs , numbering about fifteen in number stormed the venue of the meeting and started shooting sporadically into the air to disrupt the peaceful meeting.

It was learnt that when some of the members resisted their shooting and stayed , the hoodlums shot at them and carted away with their phones including that of one of the strong APC members, Ogunbodede Opeyemi’s IPhone and bag.

The group leader , Olamide who narrated the incident said;”At about 2pm around Igboroko here, we were holding our meeting as a group to declare our total support for the re-election of Governor Akeredolu when these thugs brandishing sophisticated weapons such as guns, axes and cutlasses arrived at the theatre of crime in two vans and a white pick up belonging to Eni Omosule

“The thugs fired gun shots sporadically in the open and destroyed Aketi’s campaign bus packed along the street. People scampered for their dear lives while the melee lasted for about an hour. The thugs had escaped to Adelami’s house before the police could get to the scene.

“It took divine intervention and human efforts of Hon. Lawal Fatai Olushina who paid the bill to extract bullets from the bodies of Ijalana Oluwafemi, Ogunbodede Opeyemi ,Idowu Ola Onibuore and one other person whose identity is yet to be identified. All the aforementioned people were hit by stray bullets fired by Adelami’s thugs.”

Olamide named some of the thugs as; Ayipada, Utu , Sussina, Elijah, Oje and Aboba OPC, adding that some otter members of the hoodlum were from Osun State.

He said the thugs even shot at the police at the scene of the crime.

The Acting National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Hilliard Eta, has insisted that inasmuch as the ruling party would have loved to convene an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting to resolve the myriad of crises rocking the party, the violation of COVID-19 pandemic protocols prohibiting public gathering has made it impossible.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja, the APC National Vice Chairman (South-South) also dismissed claims by former Deputy National Secretary Victor Giadom that he was given a waiver to contest in the 2019 Rivers State governorship election, insisting that Giadom was no longer a member of the National Working Committee (NWC), having resigned.

Responding to the clamour from party members to convene an NEC meeting, Eta replied: ‘It is at the root of all of the controversies; if there must be a permanent resolution to the mirage of controversies, then we must hold an NEC meeting. The NEC meeting is a statutory requirement of our constitution.

‘I do not believe that there is anybody afraid or scared of convening an NEC meeting. I think what has been militating against constituting an NEC meeting in the recent past is, of course, the COVID-19 pandemic that has stopped everybody from gathering more than a certain number of persons.

‘As you are all aware, we have over 120 members of NEC and it would amount to breaking the COVID-19 protocol as established by the Nigeria authorities prohibiting gathering of more than 50 people at a time. It will take our breaking that protocol for us to have an NEC meeting. But if it is possible to have a waiver so to speak to be able to have an NEC meeting, we can explore that.

‘There is nobody afraid of having NEC meeting. For those who want to build this party, who want this party to outlast this present government, they are such in number that there is no fear of convening NEC meeting. The only thing militating against convening it is, of course, the current world pandemic. There is no way the ruling party will voluntarily disobey or break rules it is part of making,’ he defended.

While taunting Giadom to head to court to reclaim his membership of the NWC, Eta said: ‘There is no way you can contest any election as a member or an executive officer of the APC without resigning your office. That is the constitution of our party. You can do that and return, but the NWC will transmit a letter to your zone, noting that in view of this vacancy predicated upon this, can you present someone to occupy an office that has been zoned to your own geopolitical zone.

‘I am the head of that zone, I have not heard any such letter till today from the NEC and I have not acted because there was no such communication. I have not been able to act because I cannot act on my own.

‘But in the wisdom of the NWC, which I am just the acting chairman, we had 15 members out of 20 in attendance that unanimously agreed that because Giadom had resigned to contest as Deputy Governorship, it is on record, we transmitted his name to INEC, he printed posters and he could not have done so, we could not have transmitted his name, he could not have campaigned for the position without first resigning his office.

‘The constitution of our party is not a voluminous book, it is just a few pages and it was stated that Victor Giadom, based on his resignation, has ceased to be a member of NWC. You can now find out whether anyone can be given a waiver from resignation.

‘We don’t even have it in our constitution anymore; we have deleted that part for political expediency. But we have it in our guidelines that if you are going to contest this kind of election that you must be a member of the party for a certain period of time.

‘That is the only place that you need a waiver, you cannot take a waiver for resignation. I am saying that if it was done, it was done in errors. It is a human organisation, susceptible to error. But it cannot vitiate the positions and the provisions of our constitution. I was not the national chairman until recently and if as acting national chairman I have discovered that errors were made I have to correct them.

‘If Giadom feels very bad or very strongly about what the resolution of the NWC, of course, like he is always doing, like his like are always doing, he can proceed to court, but that is the resolution of the NWC,’ he taunted.

745 new cases of #COVID19Nigeria;

Lagos-280
Oyo-103
Ebonyi-72
FCT-60
Imo-46
Edo-34
Delta-33
Rivers-25
Kaduna-23
Ondo-16
Katsina-12
Kano-10
Bauchi-8
Borno-7
Kwara-5
Gombe-4
Sokoto-2
Enugu-2
Yobe-1
Osun-1
Nasarawa-1

Highlights
On the 18th of June 2020, 745 new confirmed cases and 6 deaths were recorded in Nigeria
No new state has reported a case in the last 24 hours.
Till date, 18480 cases have been confirmed, 6307 cases have been discharged and 475 deaths have been recorded in 35 states and the Federal Capital Territory
The 745 new cases are reported from 21 states- Lagos(280), Oyo(103), Ebonyi(72), FCT(60), Imo(46), Edo(34), Delta(33), Rivers(25), Kaduna(23), Ondo(16), Katsina(12), Kano(10), Bauchi( 8 ), Borno(7), Kwara(5), Gombe(4), Sokoto(2), Enugu(2), Yobe(1), Osun(1), Nasarawa(1)

June 17
https://www.nairaland.com/5933487/587-new-covid-19-cases-344

Lagos Warns Against Drilling Boreholes without Licence, Permit

… Seals Erring Construction Site in Ikoyi

The Lagos State Water Regulatory Commission (LSWRC), has cautioned operators in the borehole drilling industry against operating without the requisite licence or permit from the State Government, just as it sealed a construction site on Cameron Road, in Ikoyi for violating the Environmental Protection and Management Law 2017.

The Executive Secretary, LSWRC, Mrs. Funke Adepoju, gave the warning on the heels of the commencement of a monitoring and enforcement exercise by the Commission to some construction sites in Ikoyi, where boreholes are being drilled without a licence, permit and total disregard for safety measures.

She said as a proactive government, the present administration has embarked on full implementation of the licence and permit regime for borehole drillers to ensure safe water consumption by residents, protect groundwater and engender environmental sustainability.

While maintaining that erring practitioners will, henceforth, be sanctioned for violating the Environmental Protection and Management Law, she said the enforcement exercise was part of the control measures by the State Government to prevent unregulated drilling of boreholes.

According to Adepoju, “the Lagos State Harmonised Environmental Protection and Management Law (2017) empowers the LSWRC to regulate the production, distribution, abstraction, consumption, supply and use of water, as well as the quality of service, and it would amount to breaching the law for any borehole driller and those who drill for private use, to do so without a licence or permit from the Commission”.

She added that “the LSWRC has the mandate to ensure that operators in the industry comply with the stipulated standards. If you have to drill, we have the responsibility to ensure that the water available is safe for consumption. In view of the high correlation between hygienic water and health, the government will not allow quacks to take over the industry. As such, all drillers need a licence to operate in line with standard regulatory provision”.

The Executive Secretary emphasised that the geological formation of Lagos is sedimentary and caution is, therefore, necessary in drilling for water across the metropolis, noting that due to the importance of groundwater, the government is poised to protect it from pollution, contamination of water bodies, unregulated drilling, saline filtration and environmental degradation, among others.

#LASG
#ForAGreaterLagos

The General Court Martial set up by the Nigerian army to try the former General Officer Commanding(GOC), Major-General Hakeem Otiki, has dismissed him from service.

The GCM, headed by Lieutenant-General Lamidi Adeosun found the former GOC guilty on all the five counts charges filed against him. The former GOC was charged for Stealing N100 million and N160, respectively money belonging to the Nigerian army in count one and two and disobedience to standing order under section 66 of the Armed Forces Act(AFA), on count there, four and five respectively. The pronouncement is however subject to confirmation from the Army Council.

The Court which started at exactly 7:55 monday night and held at the army headquarters command officers Mess, Asokoro, pronounced the judgement at exactly 23:13 hours.

The GCM sentenced the former GOC to dismissal with disgrace and dishonor on count one, dismissal with disgrace on count two, reduction to the rank of brigadier General with two years seniority, severe reprimand on count four and two years loss of seniority on the rank of Major-General.

All the sentences are subject to approval by army council.

Otiki, an infantry officer was accused of stealing money allocated to the 8 Division Nigerian army Sokoto. The said money which was supposed to be in the custody of the Finance Officer of the division was said to have been diverted by the senior officer who was also accused of engaging in private business other than the army job.

But the Defence counsel while appealing to the court for leniency on his client, said the accused had already returned the money which he was being charged for and that most of the projects he was accused of embarking on had been completed or are at various stages of completion

He also said accused officer was due for retirement this year and that he is very sick and that his wife was down with cancer. He said the officer lost his mother last July and is the bread winner of his family. “For this reason we ask the court to temper justice with mercy.

“By next month, which is July, the accused senior officer would have been in incarceration for almost one year. So we plead that your lordship look at the officer with compassion”. The Defence counsel pleaded with the court.

The GCM, which has Major-General Lamidi Adeosun as president and Major A Mohammed as Judge also has

Major-Generals AA Tarfa , FO Agugo,JS Malu, M Mohammed and Maj Gen CT Olukoju, as members while Major General CC Okonkwo, is the waiting member.

The GCM, was inaugurated on Tuesday September, 17, 2019.

Otiki, was arrested and placed under house arrest and moved to Abuja after Five soldiers belonging to his escort had sometimes in July, absconded with over N100 million while providing security for a Very Important personality to Kaduna. The soldiers who are now in the run include Coporals Gabriel Oluwaniyi, Mohammed Aminu, Lance Corporals Commander Haruna, Oluji Joshua, and Hayatudee, all soldiers of Operation Harbin Kunama III of the Nigerian Army 8 Division.

The soldiers along side a relative of the former GOC, were said to have abandoned their service riffles, uniforms, mobile telephones and other military accoutrements and escaped with the loot. Reports also had it that the soldiers who may have been planning the operation after being sent on several occasion to deliver huge sums of money by their principal, also relocated their families from the barracks at Jaji, in Kaduna state thus making it very difficult for the military authorities to track and arrest them.

However, one of the soldier who refused to participate in the illegal act, was said to have reported the matter to the authorities. The said soldier was also said to have returned the sum of N16million.

The former GOC, who was placed in custody of the SIB, at the Shehu Yaradua barracks Abuja, was later placed on house arrest at his residence in Abuja.

The Defence counsel in an interview frowned against the judgement of the court especially after his client had returned the stolen money to army authorities and vowed to make a representation to the army council on the matter.

Aisha Buhari's ADC Released, Reassigned To Force Headquarters, Others Regain Freedom

Aide De Camp to Mrs Aisha Buhari, Nigeria's First Lady, Usman Shugaba, has been released by the police authorities after being arrested and detained since last week alongside other security personnel attached to Mrs Buhari.

According to sources close to Aso Villa, Shugaba was released earlier on Monday and immediately reassigned to the Force Headquarters in Abuja.

A former ADC to Kogi State governor, Yahaya Bello, Shugaba is believed to know so many secrets of top aides in the Presidency including those of members of the 'cabal', a bunch of individuals with close links to the President and unparalleled influence.

For this reason, Shugaba is seen as a threat especially by this group of persons, who now consider Mrs Buhari to be their major stumbling block in continuing to 'manipulate' the President in their favour.

Recall that the latest crisis in Aso Villa leading to the arrest and detention of Shugaba and other security personnel attached to the First Lady started last Monday when Buhari's Personal Assistant and Private Secretary, Sabiu ‘Tunde’ Yusuf, refused to embark on a 14-day isolation upon returning from a private trip to Lagos.

After refusing to self-isolate for the said period and forcing his way into Aso Villa, Shugaba and his colleagues rough-handled Yusuf, who later escaped to the residence of Mamman Daura, Buhari's nephew and member of the 'cabal', on Thursday evening.

Subsequently, Yusuf with the active connivance of Buhari's Chief Security Officer, Idris Kassim, ordered the Federal Capital Territory Commissioner of Police, Bala Ciroma, to arrest Shugaba, Escort Commander and other policemen attached to the first family.

It was claimed that gunshots were fired in the process of trying to get Yusuf out of the Villa, thereby breaching security code around the President, who called for a probe into the incident.

As a result of that incident, a full blown war has since emerged between Mrs Buhari, Yusuf and other members of the 'cabal' desperate to whittle down her influence in Aso Villa.

SaharaReporters gathered from reliable sources that the crisis is far from over as Mrs Buhari is said to be hatching a plot to take a heavy pound of flesh in retaliation for the embarrassment received.

Barely 48 hours after president Muhammed Buhari reiterated his administration’s victory over incessant killing in the country and the need to regularize the activities of the herdemen in the country, a 65 -year- old -man, Mazi Ozoemena Iriaka, has been killed by herdsmen yesterday, in Umuekpu-Agwa, Oguta Local Government Area (LGA),Imo State.

This, according to the villagers who converged at the scene of the incident said the killing has continued for some time as the bandits threaten to attack the community and their farmland again considering that their (community) livelihood is dependent on farming.

The community maintained that this was aside constant threat to life encountered by indigenes who farm in their land on a daily basis since 2015.

Findings revealed that Police officers of at Mgbala Police Division, Oguta, and some personnel of the Nigerian Army arrived the scene after the killers had fled and carried the body of the butchered farmer.

Agwa, a community known for farming is located within the oil rich region of the state which contributes to the food security of the state, has been witnessing food shortages recently due to massive cattle ranching.

Several communities are currently battling with the constant threat of herdsmen to their means of livelihood, sources said are; Akabo- is one of the communities where it was also alleged that a couple was killed last week; others places includes: Izombe, Okwukwu, Ejemekwuru, Amafor, Obibi, Amakohia and Egbeme all in Imo state.

Speaking to newsmen in the wake of the attack which occurred in the early hours of yesterday, a witness (name withheld) said, the incident has thrown the whole community into fear and chaos considering the spate of murder going on in the country by different men of the underworld.

Narrating the unfortunate incident, Mr Austin Onyeoma (a resident) said after destruction of their crops by herder’s cattle, the community has been dragged into economic quagmire, subjecting them to excruciating pains during this pandemic.

He said, having heard the herdermen were on their farm land in the early hour of the yesterday, they matched to the location to know the rationale for their invasion only for the bandits to attack them with AK-47 .

According to him: “When we got to our farm land where their Cattle were devouring our crops which we invested so much, we engaged them on conversation only for them to start shooting at us with their AK-47.

“In the process, they shot Mazi Iriaka and slit his back neck after we ran for dear life. I have never seen this in my entire life where people can no longer farm on their land to survive because of threats from herdsmen considering the lockdown.”

Ninety-six coronavirus patients undergoing treatment in Oyo State have been discharged after testing negative twice for the virus.

The Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, made this known in a series of tweets on Saturday.

According to the governor, a total of 271 patients have recovered in the state.

He also confirmed that 35 more persons tested positive for the virus in the past 24 hours.

He said, “95 confirmed COVID-19 cases have received their second negative test results and have been discharged. This brings the number of discharged cases in Oyo State to 271.

“Also, the COVID-19 confirmation tests for thirty-five suspected cases came back positive. The cases are from Ido (seven), Ibadan SW (five), Ibadan North (five), Ibadan NW (five) Oluyole (three), Ibadan NE (three), Ibadan SE (three), Egbeda (three) and Ogbomosho North (one) Local Government Areas.

“So, the total number of confirmed cases in Oyo State today is 469.”