Gunmen on Monday kidnapped four persons along Oke Ako-Irele Road in the Ajoni Local Council Development Area of Ekiti State.
Sources said the victims included the principal of a secondary school in the area, two teachers and a nurse with a primary health care centre, who were returning home at the close of work.
ODUDUWA NEWS learnt that the kidnappers waylaid the four persons and whisked them to the forest, leaving the principal’s vehicle on the road.
A source at Irele Ekiti said, “There is anger in the LCDA here. These kidnap incidents and attacks are worrisome. Nobody is sure of his safety again. We need help; something has to be done urgently to guarantee the security of our people in the homes, streets, farms and roads.”
The Chairman, Ajoni LCDA, Michael Ogungbemi, who lamented the incident, said the security agency of the council in conjunction with men of the police, hunters and Amotekun corps had been mobilised to comb the bushes and forests in the area.
Ogungbemi said, “When I got the report, I quickly mobilised men of Operation Ebborac to begin forest combing at Irele and Oke Ako. I also reported the matter to the Divisional Police Officer in charge of Ikole Police Division; his men are also here combing the bush so that we can waylay these people in the forest.
“We have also mobilised Operation Ebborac operatives in the neighbouring towns of Itapaji, and Iyemero and hunters as well to begin forest combing so that we can nab them in the thick forest where they are keeping the people. We believe that before daybreak, we should be able to apprehend the criminals and release our people.”
The Commander, Ekiti Amotekun Corps, Brig. Gen. Joe Komolafe (retd), who said his men alongside men of the Nigerian Army and the police had begun search for the captives, assured that their efforts would culminate in their release.
Wife of the Ooni of Ife, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Olori Temitope Ogunwusi was on Wednesday conferred with the prestigious Transparency Africa award, for her numerous community development and capacity building activities.
Addressing the happy crowd during the Investiture ceremony at the Ile-Oodua Palace of Ile-Ife, on Ambassador Goriola Mosobalaje, described the Ooni’s queen as an epitome of genuine African motherhood with a heart of gold.
“This is beyond mere award, it is an unquantifiable honour done to an honourable royal personality for exemplary lifestyle, philanthropic gesture and efforts towards assisting the poor and vulnerable members of our society.
“These she started with her prominent non-governmental organization, Hopes Alive Initiative (HAI), long before fate brought her into royalty. Upon becoming an Olori in Ile-Ife, she took her humanitarian activities to another level and we are here to applaud her for that.” Ambassador Goriola stated.
The Executive Secretary of Transparency Africa, Amb. Afi Kunto earlier in a letter dated 29th October 2022 written to nominate Olori Temitope for the award described Olori Temitope as a credible and transparent charity ambassador who has run her charity; Hopes Alive Initiatives HAI under the chairmanship of Ooni Ogunwusi in the best global practices in line with their vision to create a corrupt free Africa both in public and private sectors for a better Africa.
“Our vision is to create a corrupt free Africa both in public and private sectors for a better Africa. Transparency Africa recently considered your impressive & transparent records of your personality and organization, thus ratified you for Transparency Africa Honours/Award. Africa is presently faced with the challenge of corruption; the objective of the honours is to promote a corrupt free Africa and honouring credible individuals who have been transparent in their dealings either in public or private sector. Yours is not an exemption, as we have found you credible and transparent enough in your dealings as the CEO of Hopes Alive Initiatives.” The letter reads.
In her acceptance speech, Olori Temitope Ogunwusi revealed that she learned and still learning her leadership as well as humanitarian gesture from Ooni Ogunwusi, her loving husband.
“The whole world is aware of how generous, loving and selfless my husband is. He is a king like no other and that is why I often tell people that I am learning from the best teacher on earth.
“This award is humbly dedicated to my husband, Ooni Adeyeye Enitan Ogunwusi Ojaja II, Ooni of Ife for being that icon that the whole world is proud of. I wish to use this beautiful moment to equally thank all palace staff members, Ife High-Chiefs, Isoros, Emeses and members of the royal family for being so good and helpful.” Olori Temitope stated.
Transparency Africa is is an Accra Ghana based NGO with a global initiative to totally curb the menace of corruption and promote transparency in Africa across board, both in public and private sectors. The Lagos State Chief Judge, Hon. Justice Kazeem Alogba is the first Nigerian to receive the award of honour while Olori Temitope is the second recipient.
Nobel Laureate, Wole Soyinka has said that the removal of history from the curriculum of Nigerian schools by the government is a criminal act.
Speaking at the 24th edition of the Lagos Book and Arts Festival organized, Soyinka stated that memories of Biafra can’t be erased by the removal of history from schools’ curriculum as the agitation can never be defeated.
He said;
“Collective memory is the key because it is that memory which is related to the mechanisms of relating reality to whatever narrative is given to us. It is far more important and it is more dangerous because you can get trapped in it because it is collected as a community activity and some of that I think is happening to us here in Nigeria.
“I’m referring of course to Biafra.
“The collective memory there is very strong, even before the war, I warned that this collective memory might remain to plague efforts at nation being and that therefore, everything should be done to avoid that war.
“When I use expressions like, Biafra can never be defeated can never be wiped away, people thought I was talking about just the battlefield.
“I was talking about, a notion, a passion which enters the collective memory in active life not just as a past narrative. this is what I was warning against. And we’re seeing it today.
“Governments sometimes think that by undertaking the criminal act of removing history from schools, something which I never believed could ever happen to us. The government actually stopped teaching of history in schools.
“So naive, so stupid as not to recognise that there is something called memory, collective memory, active memory in the present.
“If the purpose was to obliterate the war or memories of the war, what about events that led up to the war? What about the position, the narrative of existence in relation to the outer world? How do you obliterate for heaven’s sake?
“Yet people sat down and went about their business when they removed history from the curriculum.
“That’s what I mean by saying that we must always adjudicate the present by history, by the collective memory.
“At the same time, however, we must take care not to become prisoners of that collective memory
The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Monday, November 21, 2022, secured the final forfeiture of the sum of N775,000,000.00, (Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Million Naira), and three properties located at No. 8 Ajay Crowther Street, Asokoro, Abuja; a Plot of land at Plot 1960 Cadastral Zone A05 Maitama District, FCT, Abuja; a Hotel which is under construction with generating set, located at Plot 621, Road 37, Gwarimpa, FCT, Abuja and a twin 4 bedroom duplex with guard quarters located at Plot 736, 7th Avenue Gwarimpa, FCT, Abuja, before Justice D.U. Okorowo of the Federal High Court, Abuja.
The money and properties are the product of illicit activities of a former Accountant General of the Federation Jonah Otunla and Colonel Bello Fadile, aide to former National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki.
Moving a motion for the final forfeiture of the assets today, Counsel to the EFCC, Christopher Mshelia, informed the court that the assets recovered by the Commission in the course of investigating contract fraud in the Office of the National Security Adviser (ONSA) under Sambo Dasuki, were proceeds of the unlawful activities Colonel Bello Fadile and Mr. Jonah Otunla.
The N775, 000,000.00 (Seven Hundred and Seventy-five Million Naira) was refunded by Otunla and Otunba Ade Adelakun (late) during the investigation, whilst the landed properties sought to be forfeited are “reasonably suspected to be proceeds of an unlawful activity received, retained, concealed and converted by the respondents from the office of the National Security Adviser to the President”.
The Commission had on July 20, 2020 secured an interim forfeiture order on the assets and also published the Order of the court on August 11, 2022, in Thisday Newspaper, for the respondent to show cause why the money and properties should not be permanently forfeited to the Federal Government.
Justice Okorowo in granting the final forfeiture, stated that the court was satisfied with the evidence before it and ordered the final forfeiture of the assets to the Federal Government of Nigeria.
The former Governor of Ekiti, John Kayode Fayemi has joined Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of Osun State to commission the Osogbo-Okinni-Ilobu road and Osogbo-Kelebe-Iragbiji road.
According to Fayemi, he said he was delighted to be a witness to one of the positive outcomes of his administration’s development agenda.
“A functional, efficient, and integrated transport system is critical to urban development. This is why APC-led states continue to invest in modern transport infrastructure to unlock the potential that abounds in this sector.
“I commend Governor Oyetola for making crucial investments in the construction and rehabilitation of critical infrastructure, and wish the people of Osun State well”, said Fayemi.
About 23 persons slumped at a rally organised in Kano State to show support for Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
ODUDUWA NEWS reports that first aid workers who were present intervened and helped those that collapsed.
The rally, tagged ‘one-million-man PVC march’, was organised to galvanise support for the APC presidential campaign in respect of the 2023 election.
This newspaper learned that the march was held on Sunday to sensitise loyalists on the importance of collecting their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
Seyi Tinubu, son of the former Lagos State governor, led the rally which affected commercial activities for several hours in Kano.
The procession which kicked off at the Emir of Kano’s palace ended at the Kano government house while the governor, Abdullahi Ganduje, addressed the crowd at the Race Course.
Power bike riders, horse riders, and musicians, all performed.
Earlier today, the Executive Governor of Oyo State, Engr. Seyi Makinde attended the International Students’ Day 2022 Celebration in Ibadan.
The Governor who met with the students in Oyo State used the opportunity to interact with them on the burning issues related to their welfare and education at large.
He assured them that he would continue to have a healthy and collaborative relationship with them.
He also talked about some of the actions that his administration had taken to resolve longstanding issues at state-owned tertiary institutions in Oyo State.
Barely six days in office, the Speaker of Ekiti State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Gboyega Aribisogan, was on Monday impeached from office and suspended indefinitely by 17 lawmakers for blocking the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
Aribisogan was immediately replaced by the Assembly Chief Whip, Rt. Hon. Olubunmi Adelugba ( Emure Constituency), who was unanimously elected new Speaker by all the 17 lawmakers present at a plenary presided over by the Deputy Speaker, Rt. Hon. Hakeem Jamiu.
The oath of office and the oath of allegiance was subsequently administered on Mrs. Adelugba, who became the first female Speaker in the history of the Assembly since return to democracy in 1999.
The new Speaker thanked her colleagues for finding her worthy to be elected as Speaker promising not to take the trust and confidence reposed in her for granted. She later adjourned sittings of House sine die (indefinitely).
Six other lawmakers in the Assembly were also slammed with suspension for compromising the process of the election that produced Aribisogan as Speaker on November 15, among other alleged unpatriotic and unparliamentary conduct capable of threatening the peace of the state.
Aribisogan and the six erring lawmakers were also barred from the vicinity of the House of Assembly Complex within the radius of 145 days for their acts which, according to their colleagues, offend the provisions of the House Standing Rules and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The six lawmakers suspended and barred alongside the impeached Speaker are Hon. Tajudeen Akingbolu (Ekiti West 1), Hon. Tope Ogunleye (Ilejemeje), Hon. Ajibade Adeyemi (Moba 1), Hon. Adekemi Balogun (Ado 1), Hon. Yemisi Ayokunle (Ekiti Southwest 1) and Hon. Adegoke Olajide (Efon).
The legislative penalties meted out to Aribisogan and six others followed the consideration and adoption of the report of a six-member Adhoc Investigative Committee constituted to look into the circumstances surrounding the non-passage of the 2022 Appropriation Bill which they said could cripple governance in the state.
Jamiu who presided over the plenary until the election of Mrs. Adelugba, had earlier dissolved all existing principal positions and appointed Hon. Johnson Oyekola Bode-Adeoye as the new Leader of Government Business while he also resuscitated the already dissolved Committee on Appropriation.
Speaking at the plenary on the terms of the punishment on Aribisogan and six others, Deputy Speaker Jamiu explained that the impeached Speaker Aribisogan and six others were suspended without pay with immediate effect and they are barred from 1.5km radius of the premises of the House.
Jamiu also added that the axed lawmakers are to hand over properties of government in their possession to the Clerk of the House and anyone of them wishing to be reabsorbed must write a letter of apology to the leadership of the House.
Apart from the allegations contained in the report of the adhoc investigative committee, Jamiu also frowned at the impeached Speaker for denigrating the image of the House by taking the internal affairs of the state legislature to the conventional media and social media an act he described as unacceptable.
The Chairman of the Investigative Committee, Hon. Adekola Bode-Adeoye, had earlier laid the report of the findings of the panel before the lawmakers which was unanimously adopted before the impeachment process against Aribisogan and the suspension of six others commenced.
The Committee found Aribisogan and the six other legislators culpable as a result of their unpatriotic acts that stalled the passage of the 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill recommending the impeachment and indefinite suspension of the ex-Speaker from office with immediate effect.
The Committee also recommended the indefinite suspension of the six legislators for various unparliamentary acts which they allegedly carried out in cahoots with the deposed Speaker.
The alleged offences include causing disaffection, tension and apprehension among Assembly members whose voted were not allowed to count at the November 15 election of new Speaker to replace the late former Speaker, Rt. Hon. Funminiyi Afuye.
The Committee also found them guilty of compromising the security of the House of Assembly members thereby putting the lives of innocent staff members as a whole in danger by importing hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons into the gallery and chambers of the complex.
The former Speaker and his six colleagues were also declared complicit by the Committee for their alleged roles on desecrating the premises and the hallowed chambers when in the wee hours of the morning of Monday, November 14, precisely at 2.00am by bringing people suspected to be juju men for ritual purposes.
The Committee, in the course of its investigation, invited leadership of the House to shed light on their roles for the non-passage of 2022 Supplementary Appropriation Bill and other unpatriotic activities.
Mrs. Adelugba who was the Chairman of Finance and Appropriation Committee, was summoned before the Committee to explain the role(s) played by her or her Committee on why the Supplementary Appropriation Bill had not been passed.
The new Speaker who appeared before the Investigative Committee to clear herself of any wrongdoing in the stalling of the Supplementary Appropriation Bill.
Other Members that had useful information were allowed to make representation/presentation while.others neither appeared nor forwarded any document to the Committee in the course of investigation.
The new Speaker, Mrs. Adelugba, after adjourning plenary led her colleagues to the State Secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to officially informed party leaders of the change of leadership in the Assembly.
As part of his philanthropic gestures and in a bid to fulfill his promises to his constituents, the PDP House of Representatives candidate for Ibadan North Federal Constituency, Hon Lanre Sarumi has put smile on the faces of hundreds of Sabo community residents in Mokola, Ibadan.
Hon Lanre Sarumi, who went with his team from house to house, street to street and even room to room to give cash donation to the less privileged, petty traders and the needy, said his intention is beyond political ambition as his antecedent shows he always identify with the less privileged.
The Ibadan-born Software Technology Delivery Consultant who also recently employed four health workers to boost the workforce of Sabo Healthcare Centre in order to enable the centre function maximally for 24 hours daily, said the cash empowerment becomes necessary considering the economic situation of the country.
“The economic situation of the country and its attendant effects on the people is so conspicuous, hence the need to put smile on the faces of some our people in my little personal capacity.
“I realize that what some people need to meet their daily need is just token amount of money to start little business to survive, so I decided to help them with cash gift to enable them start one business or the other.” Sarumi stated.
While urging the beneficiaries of the kind gesture to utilise the cash gift judiciously to improve their lives, Sarumi also used the opportunity to call on well-meaning Nigerians to always help the poor and the needy, stressing that it will go a long way to reduce crimes and other vices in the society.
Earlier at Sabo, Sarumi paid a courtesy visit to the palace of Sarikin Hausawa of Ibadanland, Alhaji Ali Tahiru Zungeru who warmly welcome to prospective lawmakers alongside his team.
“I’m here to pay homage to the Sariki and to put smile on our people’s face. I can also call myself a Sabo boy because I grew up in Mokola and I always came to Sabo as a young boy. Even my father was a Sabo man.
“I pray that God will grant our request so that I can fulfil all my other promises.” He said.
Prominent Sabo residents, Alhaji Garba Danjuma and Alhaji Sheu Idris who spoke for the Sarikin, assured Hon Sarumi of the the entire community’s support, pledging that his kind gestures to the needy and the less privileged among them will be adequately reciprocated when the time comes.
Also on the entourage of Hon Sarumi was the former Deputy Speaker of the Oyo State House of Assembly, Right Hon Tunde Olaniyan, who described Sabo community as the second home to Ibadan North politicians. He stressed that whoever Sabo Community Supports, just as they are supporting Hon Sarumi, will definitely enjoy grace of God. He urged them to continue their support for the young lawmaker, adding that their support will not go down the drain.
The arraignment would come up on Monday, Nov. 21 before Justice Ramon Oshodi of the S3xual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja.
The Lagos Directorate of Public Prosecution (DPP) on Sunday disclosed that it would arraign the Medical Director of Optimal Cancer Care Foundation, Dr Femi Olaleye, for allegedly r#ping a 16-year-old girl.
DPP stated this in a letter of notification issued by its Principal State Council, Mr Oluwagbenga Alagbe and made available to newsmen in Lagos.
According to the letter, the arraignment would come up on Monday, Nov. 21 before Justice Ramon Oshodi of the S3xual Offences and Domestic Violence Court in Ikeja.
“Olaleye will be facing a two-count charge bordering on defilement and s3xual assault by penetration. He must appear before the Honourable Court and also make provision for a legal practitioner of his choice,” Alagbe said.
The DPP’s Principal State Council also revealed that a copy of information papers and proof of evidence were attached to the notification of arraignment already issued to the accused.
