Year: 2025

The Indigenous Igbo Women Assembly, says, if the Chief of Defense Staff, General Christopher Musa is genuinely committed to the restoration of peace in the zone, he should ‘move his men to the bush to combat the killer herdsmen killing farmers and raping women and girls.’

 

The women made this known following recent advice by the CDS to the people of the South East against promoting the activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra and its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network, particularly through social media.

 

The CDS, represented by Group Captain Ibrahim Bukar, during a recent engagement in Anambra State, had said that the spread of unverified information “not only endangers the region but also poses a threat to national unity and peace”, adding that “IPOB’s actions are detrimental not just to the South East, but to Nigeria as a whole,” and should not be supported in any form.

 

However, in a statement, IWA’s National President, Lolo Nneka Chimezie, challenged the CDS that IPOB is not a terrorist group, but a peaceful movement protesting the marginalisation and continued exclusion of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria, urging him to advise the federal government to listen to the agitations of IPOB and engage the group in dialogue with a view to addressing its genuine concerns, instead of resorting to propaganda to blackmail its members.

According to the statement made available to newsmen in Umuahia on Sunday, the women said, “We want to remind Gen. Musa that IPOB members are not terrorists but our children who are protesting the ill-treatment and marginalisation of the South East from the scheme of things in Nigeria. Since the civil war up till now, the South East has been grossly marginalized by the Nigerian State.

 

“From 1966 after the assassination of Gen. Aguiyironsi till date, no Igbo man has been President of Nigeria. Ndigbo have grossly been marginalized in political appointments by successive administrations in the country. They have been denied their rightful promotion especially those in the security agencies. And that’s part of the reasons Igbo youths are losing interest in military recruitment. They have refused to join the military and even the police because they hardly get promoted like their colleagues from other tribes”.

 

Expressing their concern further, the women asked, “Why is the federal government killing IPOB members but granting amnesty to bandits and mass murderers who have not stopped killing innocent citizens, including security agents? Why is the government killing our youths during peaceful protests, but allowing armed herdsmen on a killing spree to keep roaming our communities with guns?

 

“What is the rationale behind the constant release of captured terrorists who claim to have repented, while peaceful agitators like IPOB members are held in perpetual detention? Fulani herdsmen do not need AK-47s in the South East because there has never been any incident of cattle rustling in the region. For them to carry AK-47s about, shooting people shows they have an evil agenda because they don’t shoot and run, but shoot and stay.

“What IPOB is demanding is legitimate. It’s their right. Those causing mayhem in the zone are criminal elements and killer herdsmen. If the CDS truly loves the restoration of peace in the South East, let him advise the federal government to listen to IPOB and engage the youths in sincere dialogue and address their grievances.

 

“Gen. Musa should understand that the problem of the South East is not IPOB: our problem is the rampaging Fulani herdsmen busy displacing communities across the zone. If Gen. Musa wants to maintain peace and order in the South East, he should move his men to the bush to combat the killer herdsmen killing our farmers and raping our women and girls”.

 

IWA traced the genesis of the tension in the South East to the deployment of the military to the zone during a special military operation codenamed Python Dance, stating, “May we remind Gen. Musa that prior to the drafting and deployment of the military to the South East by President Muhammadu Buhari, we had absolute peace in Igbo land. South East was the most peaceful region in Nigeria before then.

 

“When the federal government abducted IPOB leader, Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, from Kenya, the problem became worse. IPOB members in protest declared a Monday sit-at-home protest but relaxed it after appeals from the elders. During President Donald Trump’s inauguration, a lot of them were shot and killed in Port Harcourt for celebrating Trump. Many were also killed in Onitsha and Aba for merely praying and carrying out peaceful protests.

 

The Igbo women also decried the continued migration of youths from the South East who are fleeing intimidation and humiliation by security operatives, especially at roadblocks and condemned reprisal attacks on innocent communities any time security agents come under attacks by criminals in South East, stating, “While the security operatives deployed to the South East were busy crushing our youths, criminals were busy spreading insecurity in the South East.

 

“There have been several attacks against security agencies in the North but how many Northern villages were sacked in the aftermath unlike here in the South East? Awo Idemiri and Eke Ututu market in Imo State were all attacked. These made our youths to migrate from the South East in their droves. What the security agents are doing is to systematically chase our youths away so that we will not have those to defend us when the rumoured jihad eventually starts.”

IWA further raised alarm over the influx of aliens in the South East and urged security agents to investigate their mission, stating, “There is an invasion of the South East by strange faces doing all sorts of menial jobs and surveying our land. These strange faces are not IPOB members. In some villages, some of these jobless wanderers outnumber the owners of the land. What’s the Nigerian Government doing that has not stopped these marauders who are moving about with guns and killing innocent citizens at will?

 

Igbo women, therefore, demanded the immediate dismantling of security roadblocks across the South East, which, they said, have become extortion points, causing traffic delays.

Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested a popular Lagos socialite, Emeka Okonkwo Daniel (a.k.a. E-Money), for allegedly abusing the Naira note.

 

Our correspondent gathered that he was arrested on Monday night at his residence in the Omole area of Lagos.

 

Sources within the commission on Tuesday said E-Money was arrested for allegedly spraying United States dollars, an act said to be in violation of the Foreign Exchange Act.

 

One of the sources said, “On Monday night, we arrested E-Money for Naira abuse and defacing foreign currencies. Specifically, he was alleged to have sprayed U.S. dollars, which is against the Foreign Exchange Act.

“He was arrested at his Omole, Lagos residence. Preliminary investigations are ongoing, and he will be charged to court as soon as investigations are concluded.”

 

Another source who confirmed his arrest to our correspondent stated that E-Money is currently being flown to Abuja for questioning.

 

The source, who is not authorised to speak to the press, said, “Yes, he has been arrested and is being flown to Abuja as I speak, to face investigators on the issue.”

 

When contacted, EFCC spokesperson Dele Oyewale declined to comment on the matter.

Shade, the wife of billionaire businessman Razak Okoya, has revealed that she did not miss out on anything in life despite marrying her husband at the age of 21.

 

Okoya stated this during an interview with BBC Yoruba about her marriage on Sunday.

 

The socialite noted that she has no regrets about marrying an older man.

 

According to her, choosing to marry an elderly partner has not prevented her from experiencing any aspect of life.

 

She said, “My husband has been very generous to me and defends me everywhere. God said this is where I will be. We met each other, and he liked me.

“I’m happy in my marriage to him. He is far older than me, but I don’t think I ever missed out on anything because I didn’t marry a younger man. I remember when he expressed his interest in me – it was straightforward, and he got down to business by meeting my parents and doing the needful in no time.”

 

Shade, now 48 years old, married billionaire businessman Razak Okoya in 1999, at the age of 21.

 

Her husband, who is currently 85 years old, was already a prominent figure in Nigeria’s business landscape at the time of their union.

 

She confidently stated that she has never felt deprived or disadvantaged for not marrying a younger man.

 

Okoya shared more insight into her marital journey, expressing deep satisfaction and happiness, and affirming that her marriage has been fulfilling and rewarding.

The Oyo State Government, on Tuesday, waded into the simmering public altercations over the boundary dispute between Osun and Oyo states.

 

A statement by the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, in Ibadan, the state capital, said the government urged both sides of the divide to stop the back-and-forth blame game and allow the two governments to continue mature discussions on the resolution to the land dispute.

 

He said that the media feed on combustible materials such as this, and while unending hostile public statements feed the media nest, they are injurious and distracting to what the governors of the two states are doing.

Oyelade said, “The two governments believe that the protracted land dispute is not intractable and traditional institutions should not be a clog in the wheel of peaceful resolution.

 

“Governors Seyi Makinde and Ademola Adeleke are cooperating fully with the National Boundary Commission through their representatives and believe that an amicable solution will be arrived at soon.”

The National Emergency Management Agency, Lagos Operations Office and other stakeholders on Monday received 203 vulnerable Nigerian returnees from Libya.

 

This was according to a statement shared on NEMA’s official X handle on Tuesday.

The agency, in the statement, noted that the returnees were received at the Murtala Muhamed International Airport, Cargo Terminal in Lagos.

It added that returnees arrived at the airport at 19:00hours aboard a Al Buraq Boeing chartered flight with registration number 5A-BAC.

 

The statement read, “The returnees comprised 50 males, 96 females, 29 Children and 28 infants. They (returnees) were offered necessary assistance by the International Organisation for Migration with the support of NEMA, the National Commission for Refugees, Migrants and Internally Displaced Persons Offices, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Department of State Services, the Port Health Services and the Nigeria Police Force.

“There were two medical cases, and the patients were transferred to New Ikeja Hospitals for treatment.

 

“After the mandatory profiling and biometric exercise, the returnees were moved to Igando Internally Displaced Persons resettlement centre for further reintegration programme.”

The Federal High Court in Abuja on Monday ordered businesswoman Aisha Achimugu to appear before it on Wednesday in connection with an ongoing investigation involving her.

 

Justice Emeka Nwite issued the directive after also ordering Achimugu to report to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission on Tuesday and subsequently appear in court on Wednesday in the company of EFCC officials.

 

The order followed an application filed by Achimugu’s counsel, Kehinde Ogunwumiju (SAN), seeking to prevent the EFCC from detaining or harassing Achimugu during her compliance with their investigation invitation.

 

Earlier, on April 11, Justice Nwite had directed the EFCC and five other security agencies to file their defences in a fundamental rights enforcement suit filed by Achimugu. She is seeking protection from arrest and detention.

The security agencies named in the suit include the Nigeria Police Force; the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission; the Depertment of State Services; the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps; and the Nigerian Immigration Service.

 

Achimugu, an industrialist, filed an ex parte motion, marked FHC/ABJ/CS/626/2025 on April 3, listing the agencies as first to sixth respondents.

 

The EFCC alleges that Achimugu, through her company, Ocean Gate Engineering Oil and Gas Limited, acquired two oil blocks using funds not traceable to legitimate earnings, and that corrupt practices tainted the acquisition process. The investigation remains ongoing.

In response, Achimugu sought interim reliefs restraining the agencies from harassing, detaining, or violating her rights to freedom of movement, liberty, privacy, and property. She further alleged that her declaration as “wanted” by the EFCC on March 28 was unjustified and damaging to her reputation and professional standing.

 

At Monday’s hearing, Ogunwumiju informed the court that Achimugu would return to Nigeria on Tuesday to report to the EFCC by noon.

 

He urged the court to ensure she is protected from harassment, especially considering her role as the mother of a child with special needs.

 

EFCC counsel, Ekele Iheanacho, opposed the application, arguing that it was speculative and that Achimugu had previously breached administrative bail conditions by failing to honour invitations.

 

In his ruling, Justice Nwite directed the EFCC to continue its investigation while ensuring Achimugu’s appearance in court the next day.

 

“The applicant shall appear before the 4th respondent (EFCC) on April 29, 2025, as outlined in her affidavit. Upon her appearance, the respondent shall return with the applicant to this court on April 30, 2025, to report on the proceedings,” the judge ruled.

 

Representatives from the ICPC, DSS, EFCC, and NIS were present at the Monday session.