Top Yoruba traditional ruler, the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has been confirmed dead.
Naija News understands that the longest-reigning Alaafin died at age 83.
Oba Adeyemi has served as Alaafin of Oyo for 52 years.
The monarch who is said to be the third from the Alowodu Ruling House passed on on Friday night at the Afe Babalola University Teaching Hospital, Ado Ekiti, Ekiti State.
An insider from the palace had told Premium Times that Alaafin’s corpse was brought to Oyo town, the Oyo State capital, very early on Saturday and that traditional rites have since begun.
Alaafin is said to have been seriously sick and a plan had been made to fly him abroad before he gave up the ghost last night.
A source who confided in the news platform revealed on Saturday morning that Oba Lamidi’s travel tickets and those of some of his few wives were already procured before the monarch suddenly went to meet his ancestors.
Naija News understands that Alaafin’s death is coming a few months after the two other senior Oyo State monarchs – the Olubadan of Ibadan, Saliu Adetunji, and the Soun of Ogbomoso, Jimoh Oyewumi had died.
The State has witnessed the death of its top monarchs just in less than five months.
The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, is, however, yet to make an official statement on Alaafin of Oyo’s demise, Naija News reports.
As it stands, the Bashorun of Oyo, Yusuf Akinade, the head of the ‘Oyo Mesi’ is expected to now assume the leadership of Oyo town prior to when a new Alaafin would be installed.
The Minister of Women Affairs Dame Pauline Tallen has visited the force headquarters with the children of late gospel singer Osinachi Nwachukwu to seek clarification on the rumored release of her husband, Peter Nwachukwu.
In a statement released by Director Press and Public Relations of the Ministry, Olujimi Oyetomi, Tallen demanded that adequate punishment be meted on the suspect to serve as a lesson for men who are in the habit of constantly assaulting women.
She also stated that she would be enlisting the support of the Governor of Abia state as well as the representatives of the constituency where the late Osinachi hails from, and the assistance of the governor of Enugu state and his wife to give psycho-social support to the children.
She said: “We would pursue justice for the late singer and her family. The alleged killer must not go unpunished to serve as deterrence to other men who are in the habit of beating women.
“The four children of the deceased singer are on second term holiday from their school in Abuja and may be relocating to Enugu to join their grandmother until the present travail is sorted
“I strongly rebuke those who were in the know of the suffering of the late Osinachi without coming out with what they know. Although we are crying over spilled milk, we will pursue this matter to ensure that justice is done to that late singer’s family and to ensure deterrence to others, so that nothing like this will ever happen.”
Responding, IGP Usman Alkali, ordered that the suspect be brought in and paraded before the minister, children and others to assure that he was still in the custody of the police.
He said: “Police will investigate this matter with all alacrity and responsibility. In all cases such as this, expert opinions on cause of death are sought. We have enlisted National Hospital, Abuja and as soon as the outcome is received, we will charge the suspect to Court. It will be swift as much as possible. We just want to assure the public that the suspect is in our custody.”
The visiting family includes the twin sister of the late Osinachi, Eze Grace Amarachi, the brother, the late singer’s children (Three boys and a girl) as well as two other females which include Deborah Rukop who was simply described as a close friend to the family.
Social Critic and Ex-Presidential media aide, Reno Omokri has called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC to investigate Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo if he pays for the APC Presidential nomination form.
The party made headlines on Wednesday after it announced that Presidential Nomination forms will cost N100 million. Omokri, on Thursday, in a statement via social media, said that the VP, going by his annual salary, should not be able to afford it.
“VP Osunbade’s salary is ₦12 million per annum. Ministers earn half of that. By law, they can’t have side businesses.”
“So if he, or Amaechi, or Ngige, or any government official buys that ₦100 million form, EFCC has to investigate them, or apologise to Obi Cubana!”
“If any group should say they are donating the ₦100 million that VP Osunbade, Amaechi, and Ngige, or any government official uses to buy that form, such groups should be prosecuted by INEC for going above the individual financial limits set for campaign donation!”, he wrote.
A yet-to-be-identified driver has crushed an official of the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, Jamiu Issa, to death in the Lekki-Ajah areaof the state.
A statement by the spokesperson for the agency, Olumide Filade, confirmed the development to our correspondent on Wednesday.
Filade said the driver was driving against traffic when he rammed into Issa, who wanted to apprehend him for the traffic offense.
He added that Isa was rushed to the hospital where he was confirmed dead.
The statement read, “The driver of a green Toyota Sienna vehicle, with number plate, FST 901 AR, knocked down and run over a LASTMA official, Jamiu Issa, who was later confirmed dead, on April 19, 2022.
“The late Issa was said to have approached and accosted the Sienna vehicle driver who was driving against the direction of flow of traffic, facing oncoming vehicles from Chevron towards the Conservation Toll Plaza.
“It was reported that Issa was knocked down and run over by the traffic law offender. Issa’s colleague at the scene of the event quickly put a call through to the zonal head while some good Samaritans/eyewitnesses pursued the escaping Sienna driver to the Chevron Waterfront area where he was eventually apprehended and taken first to Ilasan police station, and eventually to Ajiwe police station, under which jurisdiction the event happened for proper investigation.
“Also, according to other eyewitnesses’ accounts, the Sienna driver also knocked down another person while trying to escape from the scene before the driver was apprehended.
“At the same time that the above scenario was going on, the fatally injured Issa was rushed to the Lagos Island General Hospital where it was confirmed that he was brought in dead. His remains have been deposited at the morgue of same hospital.”
Filade said the General Manager, LASTMA, Bolaji Oreagba, commiserated with the family of the deceased officer, adding that those who refused all entreaties to desist from assaulting and injuring government officials, would be made to face the full wrath of the law.
The Kuda Microfinance Bank has blamed one of its customers for the way he was manhandled by security officers on the bank’s premises in the Yaba area of Lagos, Nigeria.
A video had surfaced online showing law enforcement officers rough handling the yet-to-be-identified customer of Kuda Bank.
The video was shared by the brother of the customer who lamented the inhumane treatment meted out to his brother, saying that the officers went as far as releasing tear gas on his brother’s face.
Reacting in a statement released on its Twitter page, the bank defended the harsh treatment, saying that as a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, they are obligated to comply with the mandate of all applicable government and law enforcement agencies.
While failing to mention the customer’s exact offence, the bank added that it was the customer’s failure to cooperate with the officers that led to them manhandling him.
“It has come to our attention that a couple of videos are being circulated online regarding the experience of one of our customers yesterday. The videos show the customer being forcefully escorted off our premises by members of the Nigerian Police Force.
“As a financial institution licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, we have an obligation to comply with the mandates of all applicable government and law enforcement agencies, supported by the appropriate documentation. While complying with such mandates, we liaise with the affected customers so that any pending matters between the customers and the agencies are resolved.”
“It is also expected that such affected customers will cooperate fully with the law enforcement agencies involved in order to reach a resolution on each matter. It is truly unfortunate that the customer’s failure to cooperate with the law enforcement officers unfolded in the manner that it did, particularly as the customer was being apprehended by the members of the Nigerian Police Force further in their investigation into alleged criminal activity on the customer’s account,” the bank said.
Kuda bank also attempted to absolve itself of any blame, saying that no staff of the bank was involved in the incident which played out in the video.
“We wish to reiterate that no staff of the Kuda MFB was involved in the unfortunate incident that was captured in the video,” the statement said.
The bank concluded by saying that it had, “commenced internal investigations into this matter would liaise with the customer as well as the relevant law enforcement agencies to ensure that the matter is addressed.”
The brother of the customer first spoke out against the bank on Sunday, 17th April 2022, narrating how the bank locked his brother’s account after he transferred the sum of N577,491 from his Moneypoint POS into the account on the 13th of April.
“For someone that has sent a huge amount of over N10 million at once without you guys locking it, so why did you suddenly lock the account for an amount less than that? You locked his total amount of 1.2 million naira without even feeling remorseful or thinking about how this person would feel after locking his account,” he tweeted.
The customer’s brother, who tweeted via his handle (@I_Am_Jamotech), asked that the bank opened the account because his brother needed the money for his business activities.
“Please kindly open back his account (because) the money is for his business and he needs it to continue his daily activities. You can do whatever investigations but I’m telling you that it is not fraud money and we need you guys to open his account so he can continue with his business, thank you,” he said.
He further tweeted on Tuesday that his brother eventually had to visit Kuda Bank’s customer support office in Yaba, Lagos to rectify the issue when he was accosted by law enforcement officers.
“So my brother went to @kudabankhelp office today at Yaba to know the reason why his account was locked and still not opened after dropping his proof to them that it’s legit money and not fraud money at all.
“So funny how when he got there this morning, they sent their MOPOL to arrest him and started harassing him for no reason. So, every young guy’s money has to be fraudulent? Do they who our father is? He called me on the phone and I was listening in the background while they were harassing him, trying to detain him. Please twitter help us do your thing,” he said.
After this, he posted the video showing the security operatives manhandling his brother who could be seen lying on the floor and pleading for water while an officer held him by the belt.
A police sergeant got injured and several vehicles were burnt during an attack on Wednesday morning on Ayamelum Divisional Police Station, Anaku, in Anambra by some unknown gunmen.
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the police said they repelled the attack.
Anambra State Police Command’s spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, who confirmed the incident, said the attackers after being successfully repelled threw a locally made explosive into the compound, but no casualties were recorded.
“The operatives stood firm and engaged the hoodlums which made them flee the scene,” Ikenga said.
Wednesday morning’s attack in Anambra State is the latest violence in the southeast region where separatist violence is on the rise.
Authorities have blamed attacks on either the banned Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) movement, which is campaigning for a separate state for the ethnic Igbo people, or its armed wing, the Eastern Security Network (ESN).
The group has denied responsibility for the violence.
An account with 276 videos of a female pupil at the centre of the Chrisland School sex scandal has vanished from the video-sharing app, Likee, after garnering over 10,000 followers within hours.
The account which had about 4,000 followers as of Tuesday morning, grew to over 10,000 followers and more than 24,000 likes after the minor’s sex videos trended on Twitter.
The female minor and some male pupils were reported to have engaged in the act when a delegation of Chrisland School took its pupils to Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, to partake in the World School Games in March.
About 76 of the pupils were said to have been lodged in a hotel during the four-day competition.
The female pupil’s mother had claimed in a video posted on Instagram by talent manager Ubi Franklin that her daughter was drugged and abused sexually by her male colleagues and accused the Chrisland School management of a cover-up.
The school management, however, denied the allegation and stated that “no rape of anyone or the administration of a pregnancy test on any child took place on our watch.”
The Lagos State Government, on Monday, shut down the school and all its branches across the state and ordered investigation into the matter.
A former Governor of Ogun State and Senator representing Ogun Central in the National Assembly, Ibikunle Amosun, is set to join the 2023 presidential race on May 5, 2022.
Naija News learned that the former governor will formally declare his presidential bid on May 5 at an event in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital.
It is understood that Amosun will run for the Office of the President of Nigeria on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The governor is reported to have consulted with stakeholders in the ruling APC regarding his 2023 presidential ambition.
“Everything is set. He will formally declare his bid on May 5,” a source told TheCable.
Senator Amosun will battle the party’s presidential ticket with the likes of VicePresident Yemi Osinbajo, APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi; Senator Rochas Okorocha, Governor David Umahi of Ebonyi State, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State, among others.
Meanwhile, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has formally made public his intention to contest the presidency in the 2023 general election.
Ngige declared his Presidential ambition today before a mammoth crowd at St. Mary’s Catholic Church Alor, Idemili South local government area of Anambra State.
The Minister described himself as an aspirant well equipped with years of administrative experience due to his 40 years of experience in the public service.
Ngige said he has a huge wealth of experience, capacity and energy as well as a large heart to accommodate the differences among Nigerians.
An aircraft belonging to the Nigerian Air Force (NAF), has reportedly crashed in Kaduna State on Tuesday.
The trainer aircraft was said to have two pilots on board on a training session when the incident occurred.
Although authorities of the NAF are yet to react to the incident, reports identified Flight Lieutenants Alkali and Karatu as the pilots on board.
The recent development takes the total number of reported aircraft’s crashes to no fewer than five in the last 14 months where at least, 20 officers have reportedly died during these tragic incidents, including senior army personnel.
Notable among the crashes was the one involving the Chief of Army Staff, Ibrahim Attahiru, and 10 others on May 21, 2021.
In February 2021, seven personnel died in a Beechcraft King B350i crash on their way to Minna, Niger State. The aircraft crashed after reporting engine failure, according to the aviation authorities.
In April 2021, a fighter Alpha Jet had disappeared in Borno State where it was used in the war against insurgency in the North East.
The authorities said the fighter jet lost contact with the radar while on an interdiction mission in support of ground troops in the state.
On July 2021, another Alpha Jet was shot down after it came under terrorist attack operating between Kaduna and Zamfara states.
However, the pilot, Flight Lieutenant Abayomi Dairo, had survived but the aircraft was reduced to a wreckage after the incident.
