Category: News

The Alaafin of Oyo Land, Oba Dr. Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi III, on Saturday gifts two of his Wives new mansion in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, named Palace of Patience.

The beneficiaries of the house are; Olori Aishat Folashade Adeyemi and Ayaba (Alhaja) Memunat Adeyemi.

One of Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi’s Queens, Queen Omowumi, pours encomium on him, as she acquires a new home.

Some gunmen have reportedly kidnapped the General Manager of Prosperous Filling Station, Itakorodo Adebayo, at Isan-Ekiti in Ekiti State.

The incident, according to the police, occurred around 7:00 p.m. on Thursday when the gunmen stormed the filling station.

They came with six motorcycles and shot sporadically before whisking away the victim.

The police spokesperson in Ekiti, Sunday Abutu, in a statement confirming the incident said the police and other security agencies have been deployed to the bushes to rescue the victim.

“A team of Police Operatives and Detectives including the Amotekun Corps and the local Hunters have been deployed to rigorously comb the bushes and the forests across the State to ensure the rescue of one Itakorodo Adebayo, the General Manager of prosperous filling station, Isan-Ekiti, who was abducted by unknown gunmen numbering about eight(8) at about 1900hrs on Thursday 8th April, 2021.”

“It was gathered that the gunmen stormed the filling station through the bush on about six(6) motorcycles and started shooting sporadically before whisking the victim away.

“The Ekiti State Police Command, in addition to the rescue teams deployed, has contacted all the States bordering Ekiti State for possible assistance towards the rescue of the victim and the arrest of the perpetrators.

“The Ekiti State Commissioner of Police implores anyone with useful information that could assist the Police to rescue the victim and apprehend the culprits to inform the nearest Police Station or call 08062335577,” the police statement read.

Determined to reduce the population of Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) in Nigeria, the Lagos State Ministry of Youth and Social Development, in collaboration with Association for Reproductive Health (ARFH), has set up a Technical Steering Committee on OVC.

In his welcome address, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Youth and Social Development, Dr. Aina Olugbenga Ayoola, said that the Lagos State Technical Steering Committee on OVC was geared towards improving effective coordination of OVC programming among multi-sectoral actors within the State.

Dr. Ayoola disclosed that “Nigeria has one of the highest population of Vulnerable Children in the world, which is approximately 17.5 million. A large number of children in Nigeria were classified as vulnerable because they lack parental care and support, are at risk of food security and chronic malnutrition, lack of protection, shelter, psychosocial support, education and at the risk of physical and sexual abuse”.

According to the Permanent Secretary, the essence of the programme was to promote welfare and development of Orphans and Vulnerable Children while contributing to the reduction in the number of OVC in Nigeria for significant improvement in the quality of life and wellbeing of all vulnerable children.

On her part, the Country Representative/Senior Advisor at ARFH, Dr. Uche Ralph-Opara, stated that the desire of the organisation to partner with Lagos State was due to its well laid out plan to help ameliorate the situation of the orphans and vulnerable children, adding that the task should not be left for Lagos alone.

Dr. Ralph-Opara promised that ARFH would give the State Government every necessary support to implement the document that would be produced by the Steering Committee for the betterment of Orphans and Vulnerable Children.

The unveiling of body-worn cameras for law enforcement personnel in Lagos State will enhance accountability and transparency in traffic management and enforcement on Lagos roads, the General Manager, Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Engr. Olajide Oduyoye, has said.

Speaking on a television interview programme, the General Manager explained that the new body cameras will increase credibility and confidence in the delivery of effective traffic management and enforcement.

Engr. Oduyoye maintained that the bodycam will authenticate traffic law violation reports or complaints by giving accurate validation of any tale rendered by both parties with pictorial evidence and subsequently allow transparency in investigation of complaints lodged by aggrieved motorists.

Speaking on the operations of the camera, he assured that 70% of LASTMA Officers are graduates, as such, are capable of handling the device conveniently, adding that the equipment would have a significant effect on deviant behaviour on Lagos roads.

In the same vein, the Director of Vehicle Inspection Service, Engr. Akin-George Fashola, who also spoke on the development, reiterated that the creativity is a win-win procedure for both the law enforcement officers and motorists as the regular arguments on traffic laws violation will be put to rest through detailed recordings.

While lauding Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for his determination to solve traffic gridlock problems through the use of technology, Engr. Fashola said that a technological intervention like the body camera would ensure that accurate penalties are meted out timely, through checks and balances devoid of human intervention.

In his own contribution to the bodycam initiative, the Head of the Lagos State Law Enforcement Training Institute (LETI), Prince Oyekan Falade, who is charged with the responsibility of ensuring requisite training on the use of the camera, disclosed that officers of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA), Vehicle Inspection Services (VIS), Lagos Neighborhood Safety Corps (LNSC) and Lagos Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC) will be duly trained on the use of the body camera at the Institute as directed by the Governor of Lagos State.

According to him, a planned three-day training will commence soon and will be done in 26 batches to reduce large gatherings at the Institute, stressing that the cameras will enhance professionalism on the part of law enforcement personnel.

The Head of LETI averred that the body-worn cameras have been found to be efficient and effective in combating crimes, saying, “The German-made cameras have been found to work effectively with the functions required by the State, as those from the USA and China, having met all peculiarity requirements”.

Falade also added that the cameras can work for 12 hours without a blink, as the battery life span is strong and durable.

Children of the police officers murdered during the #EndSARS protests in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, have appealed to Governor Seyi Makinde to sponsor their education.

According to a report by The Guardian Newspaper, they said the death of their fathers had created a vacuum in their lives.

Besides, they appealed to well-to-do individuals to support them in ensuring that they have good education.

Makinde had promised to take care of the children of police officers killed during the protests.

The five police officers gruesomely murdered during the protest were James Akanmu, Rotimi Oladele, Adegoke Ajibola, Alidu Yusuf Wada and Mr. Peter Agunbiade.

A 12-year-old Kehinde Agunbiade, who spoke on behalf of the children of the slain police officers, said their mothers had withdrawn them from schools as they could not afford to pay school fees.

“Governor Seyi Makinde should consider our future as very important. We don’t need cash but we need education. He should give us scholarship.

“Since the gruesome murder of our fathers, it has been very hard for our mothers to feed us, let alone sending us to school. My father was running his masters degree programme when he met his untimely death. He told us that he was going to give us better education but he could not do it because of his death,” he said.

Also, wife of Rotimi Oladele, Feranmi Oladele, asked the state government to assist their children to have a proper education.

She said: “My husband was about to equip my shop before he died. I don’t have money and I don’t know how to care for my children. I need government to help support our children. Their education is very important. We need help.”

Osun Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Wednesday in Abuja, the nation’s capital, X-rayed the country’s security challenges and concluded that one sure way to confront them headlong was to decentralise Nigeria’s current centralised policing system to meet the nation’s current realities.

While acknowledging the efforts of the Federal Government through the Police at establishing Community Police, the Governor noted that the intervention was inadequate as it is still being controlled from the centre, adding that the constitutional provision that assigns the role of Chief Security Officer to governors ought to have provided corresponding empowerment and control of the security agencies to the same governors to enable them to perform their responsibilities as Chief Security Officer effectively.

Oyetola spoke at the 2nd Annual Colloquium of the Sultan Maccido Institute for Peace, Leadership and Development Studies, University of Abuja.

The governor identified the sources of insecurity as “poverty which creates a gulf between the rich and the poor; inequitable allocation of resources which pits one region against the other; injustice which makes offended parties resort to self-help and consequently take up arms against state; illiteracy which makes innocent citizens willing tools at the hands of unscrupulous elites and elements; youth unemployment which makes able-bodied; and educated youths susceptible to crime, among others.”

He noted that security, governance, and sustainable economic development are the tripod upon which a nation’s prosperity and wellbeing stand, adding that security is the facilitator of the other two factors. He further said criminality has no religion or ethnicity.

While insisting that Amotekun is a child of necessity, Oyetola said the security arrangement is complementing the convention security agencies to effectively tackle armed banditry, kidnapping, armed robbery among other crimes.

He said Amotekun became necessary because “the nation’s conventional security agencies are overstretched and sorely underfunded. The Police once confirmed the sorry state of its manpower when it said the Force needed 155,000 additional hands to effectively police the nation.

The nation’s security agencies as presently constituted are too centralised and too far from the grassroots to adequately provide the required security for the nation. Worse still, they are unfamiliar with the terrains where crimes take place. It is our belief that our people understand the topography of their communities more and can govern them better.

“The nation’s expansive forests have unfortunately become the hideouts of bandits, kidnappers, and other criminals. With the establishment of Amotekun, the forests of the South West are now better policed. The issues that make Amotekun inevitable in the South West are the same in other regions of the nation. Other regions may wish to emulate the South West to put structures in place to rid their regions of crime.

“Our recent experience where the attempt to confront armed banditry headlong in the North resulted in their incursion into the South West and other regions that were erroneously perceived to be immune from the insecurity challenge is proof that each region has to be adequately policed for the region to know peace.”

Oyetola added that “Abraham Maslow identifies security as one the foremost of the seven needs of man. This classification is true for all entities and it means that security is and should be the first desire of man or any entity.

The corollary of this classification is that insecurity is the first enemy of man or entity. Experts aver that security is a crucial factor in governance. Security makes governance, business, development, trade, commerce and every ingredient associated with governance possible and predictable.”

While noting that security holds the master key to planning, governance and sustainable development as the whole outcome could be jeopardised by insecurity, the Osun Governor was quick to add that the government at all levels must not be left alone in the fight against insecurity in the country.

Oyetola therefore called for collective and concerted efforts to deliver the security that we desire as a nation as a people.

He said, “Our recent experience in which insecurity has challenged education, peace, economy and other spheres of life has laid credence to Abraham Maslow’s emplacement of security as one of the foremost in the hierarchy of needs.

“This realisation underscores the need for our leaders and professionals, including traditional rulers, political leaders, academics, religious leaders and corporate leaders to constantly collaborate to brainstorm on ensuring peace in the nation.

“Security breeds peace, economic and other developments, political stability and good governance. The converse of this is that insecurity is a destroyer of these desirable indices.

“As a people, we must realise that it is only in a safe and secure environment that optimal local commercial activities can take place; foreign investors can be attracted; goods and services can be provided; infrastructure can be built and maintained; public service can be delivered, and social and political activities can take place peacefully.

“Therefore, the quest for a sustainable peaceful society must be prioritised as the collective responsibility of all citizens.

“Delivering security is not a task for the government alone. Corporate bodies and Non-Governmental Organisations need to partner with government to achieve success. Business thrives in an atmosphere of peace. Business concerns must join government to restore peace to the regions of the country.”

Explaining the need to involve Traditional Rulers in tackling the nation’s security challenges, the Osun Governor said, “For proper security of lives and property of our people and the prompt containment of growing challenges, we must inevitably now engage our traditional institutions. Governors particularly cannot afford not to look in the direction of the traditional institution.

“This is because every conflict is local and as such, traditional institutions cannot be left out of the scheme. Traditional rulers know their people and also have better strategies for engaging them. Therefore, we must ride on this to be able to protect our nation from implosion.

“Aside from ensuring that adequate funding is made available to this important institution to run efficiently, our administration considers them as critical stakeholders who must be regularly engaged and embedded in our inclusive governance framework. This approach has yielded invaluable gains in our determined quest to protect the lives and properties of our people.

“Today, thanks to this invaluable partnership, Osun is widely regarded as one of the safest states in Nigeria.

“Many of you will recall that sometime ago, specifically, early in our administration – at the height of the farmers/herdsmen debacle in the country – there were indeed flashes and skirmishes of armed banditry in Osun, as it was in other parts of the country.

“However, in our own case, this lawlessness was promptly nipped in the bud, as we leveraged the firm grip of local authorities, the dynamism of our security agencies, and the rallying of critical stakeholders across the State.

“Our Administration organised town hall meetings in all communities under the leadership of our traditional rulers to brainstorm on how to mitigate crisis in those communities and to ensure peace and good neighbourliness. We also leveraged on our existing Committee on Peaceful Co-existence between Bororo/Fulani and Farmers to resolve issues between herders and farmers to ensure smooth relationship between them.

“In our current situation, some of our traditional rulers have proactively intervened in averting conflicts in the Gold-rich zones of the Ife-Ijesha axis by managing the heavy influx of artisanal miners threatening the absorptive capacities of the local communities.

“This is further enhanced by a Government-backed multi-stakeholder committee devoted to settlers and transhumance issues.

“Let me also add here that the preliminary collaborative efforts of the South West governments and the traditional institutions birthed the idea of Amotekun.

“During the novel EndSARS protest which was unfortunately hijacked by hoodlums, the traditional rulers intervened to put the situation under control. Our government also involved them in all our engagements with the youths in the aftermath of the protest.”

ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that some unknown gunmen went on rampage in Osun State and abducted two Chinese nationals on a mining site.

The State Police Command confirmed the incident through its spokesperson, Yemisi Opalola, who disclosed in a statement made available to newsmen on Tuesday night.

He noted that a tactical team has been deployed to ensure safe rescue of the kidnapped persons and that the incident occurred in Okepa/Itikan village, Ifewara area of the state.

Two guards from a private company who were providing security for the Chinese nationals, were said to have been shot during the incident, and are now receiving treatment.

The statement read, “Consequent upon the incident of Monday, April 5, a gang of criminals, at about 4pm, attacked and abducted two Chinese nationals.

“The two men, namely Zhao Jian, 33, and Wen, 50, were working at a mining site in Okepa/Itikan Village, Ifewara, Osun State.

“The Commissioner of Police, Olawale Olokode, immediately drafted a strong, combined reinforcement of Police Tactical units, JTF, and other security outfits, who embarked on the search/rescue operation.

“Two private guards attached to the Chinese nationals who were shot during the kidnapping operation, have also been taken to the general hospital for treatment.

“The police are on the trail of the perpetrators of the crime.”

The Lagos State Government has described the death of the late spokesperson of the Yoruba Pan-Cultural Group, Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin as very shocking and a great loss to the nation.

The Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, stated this today when he led other top government officials on a condolence visit to the Omole home of the Odumakins, describing the late Afenifere spokesman as a patriotic and genuine Nigerian who would be greatly missed.

Dr. Hamzat said, “Yinka was a genuine human rights activist and truly patriotic Nigerian. He will be missed greatly. May the good Lord grant him eternal rest”.

Expressing condolences on behalf of the State government, Dr. Hamzat noted that the demise of Odumakin is very painful and a big loss, bearing in mind that the deceased still has aged parents.

While praying that God gives fortitude to bear the loss, the Deputy Governor admonished the family to take solace in the fact that while alive he fought for the masses and contributed immensely to the call for a developed and better Nigeria.

Hamzat emphasised that COVID-19 is not a hoax and implored Nigerians to continue strict adherence to all safety protocols with the necessary caution, stressing that the Coronavirus disease is still very much with us.

Prayers were later offered for the repose of the soul of the deceased and the wellbeing of the family.

The State delegation, which also included the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, among others, was received by the widow, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin.

ODUDUWA NEWS has gathered that some Yoruba Nation agitators have announced their intention to hold a massive rally in Ibadan to support an agitation for the proposed declaration of Oduduwa Republic.

This announcement was made through a twitter account @OdudwaRepublic on the evening time of April 5. The graphic released stated that the mega rally will be coming up on 17th April, 2021 at Ibadan.

They group also disclosed that the well known Professor, Prof. Banji Akintoye will be the father of the day.

Some of the reactions after the Twitter post highlighted below:

@lanskykevwe
Please I am an Urhobo boy I want to be eating chocolate made in Oduduwa Republic!!!!

@OAresa1
E ku Akin ni sise o,odua a gbe wao,àwón Alale a si mu odale

@OjomuK
Retweet dont be Tired…dont be A SLAVE to A TERRORİST TRİBE…