News & Announcements

Indecent clothing is now forbidden among university students and staff, according to the Service Contract with All Nigerian Directorate of the University of Calabar.

In a statement released on Friday in Calabar, Prof. Patrick Egaga, the director of SERVICOM, announced the restriction.

He said that the institution’s female personnel and most students were wearing indecent, provocative, and out-of-place clothing, which the directors had seen with great alarm.

“Specifically, short skirts or gowns, above the knee, open backs, crop tops, braless tops and gowns, spaghetti finger, sleeveless tops, handless gowns, bikinis, see-through, transparent, apparels and revealing contours are no longer tolerated on campus.

“Others are handless gowns, bum short revealing laps, slit skirts, body hugs, V-necks exposing breasts, tubes, strip-less, rag jeans, shorts above the knee, sleeveless shirts, singlets, lingerie, sagged trousers and others.

All of those, he said, would no longer be permitted on campus beginning on Tuesday, May 2, 2023. As a result, any student or staff member wearing the aforementioned regalia or paraphernalia would be effectively refused entrance to any university facilities or would face appropriate sanctions.

“A combined security and administrative task force will be constituted to monitor compliance,” he said.

He stated that female staff members and students are urged to adopt the vice chancellor’s and her deputies’ sense of style when dressed.

He also urged the male staff members and students to dress like the university’s council chairman, Gen. Martin Luther-Agwai (ret. ), and the registrar, Mr. Gabriel Egbe, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.

Oladipupo Adebutu, a candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party in the governor’s race in Ogun State, filed a plea with the Electoral Petitions Tribunal exactly 20 days after the election, asking for a ruling naming him the victor.

The All Progressives Congress’ Governor Dapo Abiodun won the election, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, after receiving 276,298 votes to Adebutu’s 262,383 votes.

Adebutu stormed the tribunal secretariat at the Isabo Magistrate court premises in Abeokuta with a member of his legal team, Gordy Uche, SAN, and party leaders, filing several copies of the petition.

Adebutu and the PDP are the petition’s first and second petitioners, whereas INEC, Abiodun, and the APC are its first through third respondents.

Speaking with the media, Adebutu said, “We are here today in continuation of the pursuit of our democratic rights because we have had elections that we truly believe we have represented the people fairly and the people have responded by voting fairly for us in an election we believe we won.

“We will continue to seek out mandate within the ambit of the law.”

Giving details of the petitions, Uche said it was filed on “four solid grounds”, hoping that the tribunal “will do the best.”

He said, “We have about three senior advocates on our team and a host of many other lawyers and many of them are lawyers who are not just because they are being paid, but because of the fact that they believe that the mandate was stolen and they also believe this mandate can be retrieved.

“We have up to four grounds, very solid ones, but it will be sweeter when our opponent tells you the grounds.

“Our prayers are just that the right thing is done and the man who won is given the mantle of the office.”

Some of the probes by Adebutu include a declaration that the petitioner “won the highest number of valid votes cast at the election and satisfied the requirements of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ought to be returned and is returned as the winner of the Governorship election held in Ogun state on 18th March 2023.”

“And in the alternative, the petitioner prayed for an order of the Tribunal “directing 1st Respondent to conduct fresh election in the 99 polling units which cut across 41 wards and 16 Local Government Areas of Ogun State where elections were either not held and/or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.

Some of the prayers read “(a). That it may be determined and declared that the 2nd Respondent was not qualified to contest the Governorship Election in Ogun State held on the 18th March 2023.

“(b). An order of this Honourable Tribunal disqualifies the 2nd Respondent as a candidate in the election held in Ogun State on 18th March 2023.

“(c). That it may be determined that all the votes recorded for the 2nd and 3rd Respondents in the Ogun State Governorship election held on 18th March 2023 are wasted and invalid votes.

“(d). That it may be determined and declared that the 2nd Respondent was not duly elected or returned by a majority of lawful votes cast at the Governorship Election held in Ogun State on 18th March 2023.

“(e).That it may be determined and declared that the 1st Petitioner won the highest number of valid votes cast at the election and satisfied the requirements of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and ought to be returned and is returned as the winner of the Governorship election held in Ogun state on 18th March 2023.

“(f). An order of this Honourable Tribunal setting aside the Certificate of Return dated 20th day of March 2023 wrongly issued to the 2nd Respondent by the 1st Respondent.

“(g). An order directing the 1st Respondent to immediately Issue a Certificate of Return to the 1st petitioner as the duly elected Governor of Ogun State.

“In the alternative : (h). an order of this Honourable Tribunal directing 1st Respondent to conduct fresh election in the 99 polling units which cut across 41 wards and 16 Local Government Areas of Ogun State where elections were either not held and/or cancelled due to disruption and over-voting.

“(i). An order of this Honourable Tribunal directing the 1st Respondent to conduct a fresh election for the office of Governor of Ogun State to the exclusion of the 2nd and 3rd Respondents.

“(J). Any further appropriate consequential relief(s) that this Honourable Tribunal may deem fit and expedient to make in this Petition.”

Labor Party Presidential Campaign Council, LP-PCC, yesterday accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, of a well-planned and orchestrated campaign of slander to delegitimize and discredit Mr. Peter Obi, the presidential candidate, in order to force him to give up his right to seek redress in court. This comes after the results of the previous election, which were deemed to have fallen short of any requirements for credibility or fairness both locally and internationally.

Notwithstanding the pressure being placed on him and his family, the LPPCC reiterated that Mr. Obi had no intention of leaving the nation at this time.

The statement fully read, “We continue to thank all Nigerians, especially the youths and Obidients as they have remained focused on the core mission of a New Nigeria That Is Possible, even after the presidential elections on February 25, 2023,” the LPPCC said in a statement released yesterday by the Obi-Datti Campaign Council.

“Before, throughout and after the campaigns, it is on record that Mr Obi maintained his commitment and focus on an issues-based campaign, about a New Nigeria that is possible, a shift of emphasis from consumption to production, as well as a New Nigeria characterised by inclusion, justice, equity, fairness and prosperity.

”He repeatedly stated that no one should vote for him based on tribe or religion, but rather on the assessment of character, competence, capacity, credibility and compassion

“Most unfortunately, in the past few weeks, Mr Obi, the Labour Party presidential candidate in the February 25, 2023, presidential election, has been contacted by associates, elder statesmen, family and friends with concerns for his personality.

”These concerns have increased intensely in the last few days as immense pressure, has been mounted directly on Mr Obi to leave the country, no doubt, from sources allied to the APC and its agents in the security services.

”Mr. Obi has been repeatedly and categorically told that he has a choice to leave Nigeria or face the prospect of being arrested on false charges of inciting insurrection in the country.

“It is difficult to fathom and regrettably unfortunate that state institutions have become part of a well calculated, deliberate and orchestrated campaign of calumny by the APC to discredit and delegitimize Mr Peter Obi and compel him to abandon his right to seek redress in court, following the outcome of the last election which was adjudged both locally and internationally to have failed to meet any standard of credibility or fairness.

“As part of the grand design, they are circulating a fake, doctored audio call. At no time throughout the campaign and now did Mr Obi ever say, think or even imply that the 2023 election is or was a religious war.

”It is very sad and wicked the attempts to manipulate Nigerians. Our legal team have been instructed to take appropriate legal actions against the media outlets that make themselves willing tools in the hands of APC’s malicious propagandists.

“Despite the public denunciation of the fake audio call, its contents have been translated to other Nigerian languages and circulated in most parts of Northern Nigeria with some of our Muslim clerics deceived and instigated to use the contents for their sermons at various Mosques during the usual Friday prayers.

”This is a dangerous development at a time the APC led-government and the APC party which have been awarded undeserved and unfair victory should be more concerned in addressing the ethnic and religious frictions unfortunately created by the outcome of the elections.

“Yet unsatisfied but determined to cause more problems, Mr Lai Mohammed, who fancies himself as modern-day Goebbels is on a tour of some selected countries to present an alternative story about the 2023 discredited election.

“There are many more campaigns of calumny against Mr Obi planned for the near future, both before and during the court process. However, we want to make it clear to the APC party, APC led-government and its agents that Mr Obi, a widely travelled man, has no intention to leave the country at this time, irrespective of the pressure on him and his family. “

“Nigerians and the international community to caution APC and the APC led-government to stop their nasty attacks, Mr. Obi’s focus and commitment to lawfully and peacefully retrieve our mandate to secure and unite our nation, take Nigeria from consumption to production, pull millions of Nigerians out of multidimensional poverty, especially in the North and jumpstart prosperity through agricultural, industrial and technological revolution remains unchanged.

“He has continued to impress upon his supporters the essence of the legal process and will not now or in the future encourage any violence against the state. He has absolutely no reason for this nor desperate, especially as throughout the campaign, he called for a new Nigeria defined by opportunities for all, an end to poverty and criminality in government,, especially corruption and an end to tribal and religious division and bigotry.

“It is for this reason that we appeal to revered religious leaders, especially in the North, not to be part of the grand design of the state apparatus to further increase the religious and ethnic divide in the country.

”Irrespective of the outcome of the court process, we have the obligation to strive for the peace and co-existence of all Nigerians. We call on President Buhari to rein in his desperate officials at all levels as their actions or inactions could lead to unnecessary crises in the country.

“Elections are over, and we are in court to retrieve our stolen mandate. We reiterate that we are doing so through all lawful and peaceful options in line with our legal system and constitution, and I continue to implore all Nigerians to remain peaceful and law-abiding.

“Those fixated on heating up the polity, creating divisions, tensions and hatred within and outside Nigeria should remember that Nigeria is our only country. Our focus should be on how to address the litany of challenges facing us, such as deliberate non-adherence to the election process, the parlous state of our economy, unsustainable debt burden, lamentable unemployment and inflation, insecurity and multi-dimensional poverty. A new Nigeria is, indeed, possible and God will help us.”

Nine robbery suspects were shot and killed by South African police on Thursday during a failed cash theft.

According to the authorities, a police tactical reaction squad located the group at a residence in the suburb of Sebokeng, south of Johannesburg.

According to the BBC, the suspects were en route to attacking a vehicle carrying money when police say they launched the raid.

“A shootout ensued, a total of eight suspects were certified dead at the scene while the ninth suspect died in hospital,” Police spokeswoman Athlenda Mathe said.

According to the BBC, three further people were hurt and were taken to a local hospital for treatment.

The organization was thought to be responsible for an increase in cases of cash heists on armored security trucks in the Gauteng region of Johannesburg and its environs.

At the scene, six firearms, explosives “ready to be detonated,” four vehicles, and other items were recovered, according to Mathe.

In South Africa, which has a high crime rate, thieves frequently target automobiles carrying cash.

Two witnesses were fired at randomly earlier this week as they were caught up in a heist in Benoni, east of Johannesburg, and one of them was injured.

Emmanuel Chinagorom, a robbery suspect in a Delta State town, has admitted that he turned to crime in order to give his mother a respectable funeral.

When Chinagorom was apprehended by members of the Agbor Gha-Ihun Vigilante Group in Agbor, Delta State, it was reported that he confessed to the crime.

It was learned that the 24-year-old suspect was an expert at stealing important stuff like phones from Agbor and its surroundings.

According to reports, the guy was caught in the act at a nearby store and turned up to the vigilante group.

The suspect, who was born in Abia State, told reporters that he was an electrical technician by trade but chose to steal in order to give his deceased mother, “whose body is resting in the mortuary, a befitting funeral as the first son,” a proper burial.

“I enter shops pretending to patronise them but my aim was always to steal valuable items like phones. This is my first time in Agbor before I was caught,” he said.

Chinagorom further admitted that he collaborated with a northerner living in Asaba who purchased the stolen phones, saying that he made the decision to turn to theft because he lacked a helper to help him get started in life.

He begged for pardon and admitted that his involvement in criminal activity had made him look bad.

According to Comrade Monday Kiyem, the Head of the Agbor Gha-Ihun Vigilante, they “will continue to ensure that Agbor and its environs remain unsafe locations for criminals like the seized suspect.”

The vigilante chairman revealed that during their investigation, they found the suspect in possession of multiple phones and SIM cards for telecommunications, and that many of his victims who were afterwards contacted reported that their phones had been taken from various locations.

He said, “Some of the victims who reside in Agbor have come to our office to identify their phones and narrated how the suspect came to their shops pretending to buy an item but ended up stealing their phones.

“I will hand Emmanuel over to the police for further investigation and bring his fleeing gang members to book”.

Criminally inclined individuals are asked to leave Agbor immediately or prepare to face the wrath of the law when apprehended, according to Comrade Kiyem, the Governor of Delta State’s Special Assistant on Security.

A Nigerian, alongside three Indians, has been arrested in India for allegedly scamming multiple Indian women on matrimonial applications, the Indian police said on Thursday.

The investigators said the suspects disguised as doctors, engineers and information technology experts to contact with women on different matrimonial apps and collected money from them on the pretext of clearing customs duties for presents.

The accused were named as Delhi residents Aman Kumar (26), Rahul Singh (28), and Santosh Kumar (38), as well as Chibaka alias Tall Issa of Nigeria.

The Gurugram police’s cybercrime unit revealed that it had taken 25 mobile phones, 65 ATM cards, 34 checkbooks, and 12 passbooks from the scammers.

According to Hindustantimes.com, Assistant Commissioner of Police (Cyber) Priyanshu Diwan, the suspects recently formed a gang and were working out of Delhi.

According to him, “The Nigerian was the kingpin of the gang and met the other suspects in Laxmi Nagar area of Delhi. They used to scan profiles of the victims on matrimonial sites and later befriended them on social media such as Instagram and Facebook,” he said.

He described how the offenders were apprehended, saying that the gang members were targeted after a 36-year-old woman complained on March 22 that she had been defrauded of 16 lakh rupees (about N9m).

The woman claimed that on January 26 of this year, she got a friend request from someone on Instagram who identified himself as a doctor from the United Kingdom.

“We exchanged our numbers and started chatting on WhatsApp. The suspect said he would be sending some gold items and £20,000. On January 30, I received a call from a woman who introduced herself as an employee of a courier company in Mumbai and said that gold and foreign currency had arrived in my name,” said Sampa Pal, a resident of DLF Phase-4.

After receiving the victim’s payment of $55,000 as tax, the woman demanded for another deposit of $3,27,920. The suspect once more requested that she deposit 3 lakh followed by 2.98 lakh on February 2. “It didn’t stop there; I deposited a total of 16 lakh within a week and realized I had been duped when they demanded I deposit another 7.26 lakh,” recalled Pal.

Following an investigation, a complaint was filed on February 17 at the Cyber Crime police station under Sections 120 B (conspiracy), 419 (impersonating), and 420 (cheating) of the Indian Criminal Code (IPC), according to the police.

According to Preet Pal Sangwan, assistant commissioner of police for crime, they tracked the suspects’ IP addresses, and on Wednesday night, a team led by Jasvir Singh, station house officer of the Cyber Crime police station, conducted a raid and arrested the suspects from various locations throughout Delhi.

“During questioning, the suspects revealed that the Nigerian man was deported from Mumbai eight years ago, who returned to India on a Schengen visa and another passport. We are still verifying whether his passport is original or forged. He was continuously active in committing matrimonial frauds,” ACP Sangwan said.

The gang allegedly opened more than 100 bank accounts, which they used to transfer money. One of them frequently traveled to a different city to avoid being caught by police, according to authorities, and used to take cash from ATMs in other locations.

According to ACP Sangwan, the suspects had been defrauding women for months under the guise of giving and receiving gifts. “In many instances, the victims received phone calls from Mumbai airport officials informing them that their acquaintance had been arrested for carrying US and British pounds as well as pricey gifts. To “register” the valuables, they were required to pay in lakhs. Afterwards, in order to obtain the gifts and free their buddies, the victims were urged to pay more money, he claimed.

To look into the alleged theft of N20 billion by employees of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation Limited, NNPCL, the House of Representatives established an ad hoc committee yesterday.

The money was allegedly siphoned off by paying fictitious consultants.

The House resolution was discussed after Ibrahim Mohammed Kawu’s motion of urgent public significance was made in the plenary.

Remember that NNPCL denied the claim of missing N20 billion in a statement by its Chief Corporate Communications Officer, Garba Muhammad, claiming that it does not work with ghost consultants.

Deputy Chairman of the House Committee on Banking and Currency Kawu, who is presenting the motion, claimed that NNPCL workers were suspected of diverting about N20 billion that was allegedly given to its consultants, Messers Safaya.

He said; “The said over twenty billion naira diverted by the staff of the NNPC is part of monies meant for payment of taxes to State Governments.

“If no action is taken by the parliament to nip this unwholesome practice in the bud, it will negatively affect the fortune of the nation as well as deprive State governments of access to revenue.

Following the adoption of the resolution, the speaker of the house, Femi Gbajabiamila, appointed Kingsley Chinda as the committee’s chair, along with six other members, to conduct an investigation and submit a report to the House for further legislative action within four weeks.

In related news, the House approved a motion introduced by Abdulkadir Rahis calling the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social

Wednesday night, unknown gunmen attacked Gowon’s estate in the Alimosho neighborhood of Lagos State, killing three people and injuring a fourth.

Although the Police claimed to have started an investigation into the incident, their exact objective at 41 Road, Union Bank Block, remained unknown.
SP Benjamin Hudenyin, a spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, reported that the incident took place at around 11.35 p.m.

He clarified that the Gowon estate received a distress call regarding the invasion.

According to Hundeyin, two patrol teams were dispatched to the area as soon as the Gowon Estate Police received the distress call to help contain the situation.

He said: “While at the scene of shooting, the police recovered nine expended cartridges and a bunch of keys.”
He said the corpse of an unknown male was recovered at the Igando general Hospital and evacuated to the Mainland General Hospital, Yaba for preservation and autopsy.

According to him, “Further information to the police revealed that two male corpses were taken away by their families. One male survivor,Doba Ngoze, is currently on admission at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Idi-Araba.”

On Thursday, seven members of the Labour Party’s National Working Committee stated that Lamidi Bashir Apapa, the National Vice-Chairman for the South, would take over as the party’s acting chairman in place of Julius Abure, who had been suspended.

As of the time of publication, stern-looking police officers are in charge of the party’s secretariat.

Speaking following an urgent meeting at the party’s secretariat in Abuja, Apapa claimed that the NWC members had acted in accordance with the Federal Capital Territory High Court’s ruling prohibiting Abure from posing as the LP’s national chairman.

According to reports, in addition to Abure, the court placed three other party executives under house arrest for allegedly forging documents.

The original court documents must also be served on the constrained officials, including Clement Ojukwu, the National Organising Secretary, Umar Farouk Ibrahim, and Abure, the National Secretary, and the National Treasurer, Oluchi Opara.

The judge decided that the ex parte request by the four authorities for an interim injunction restraining them before the court had validity and granted it.

According to Apapa, the NWC also looked into the suspension of party officials who had previously been put on leave by the party leadership.

Alhaji Saleh Lawal, acting national secretary, Rowland Daramola, acting treasurer, and Prince Reuben Favour, acting organizing secretary, took the place of the three other officers who had been restricted.

“The NWC equally reviewed that recently there are some cases of suspensions that were badly handled. And this National Working Committee meeting has reviewed them, and the suspension all over are hereby reviewed and the officers are reinstated.

“With effect from now, the so-called officers who the court had barred should not parade themselves as officers of the party until cases against them are treated or handled by the party”, Apapa stated.

According to Apapa, the NWC also looked into the suspension of party officials who had previously been put on leave by the party leadership.

Alhaji Saleh Lawal, acting national secretary, Rowland Daramola, acting treasurer, and Prince Reuben Favour, acting organizing secretary, took the place of the three other officers who had been restricted.

“The NWC equally reviewed that recently there are some cases of suspensions that were badly handled. And this National Working Committee meeting has reviewed them, and the suspension all over are hereby reviewed and the officers are reinstated.

“With effect from now, the so-called officers who the court had barred should not parade themselves as officers of the party until cases against them are treated or handled by the party”, Apapa stated.

He also refuted the claim that the All Progressives Congress, which is currently in power, had infiltrated the party, adding that Peter Obi, the party’s presidential candidate, is strongly supported by the present leadership.

But, Abure had already voiced concern in a statement, claiming that the APC had invaded the party’s headquarters in Abuja employing thugs and a detachment of the Nigerian Police Force.

The embattled LP leader claimed that armed intruders allegedly tore down fences, committed burglaries, broke through doors and windows to gain access to the secretariat, and fired employees and party members in the process.

Abure said, “Though, I was out of town but information has it that the agenda of the Invaders was to inaugurate an illegitimate executive which has been chosen for them by their sponsors.

“This incident is coming days after a similar invasion in our Imo state Secretariat which up till now is still being occupied by the agents of the Imo state government.

“Only yesterday (Wednesday), our presidential candidate, Peter Obi through the LP Presidential Campaign Council alerted Nigerians of a plot to hound him out of the country over APC’s covert plot in collaboration with some security agents to frame him up allegedly on matters bothering on treason.

“Labour Party is only a political party which is contesting for power. The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has conducted an election that ranked us third, a position we have rejected and have approached the Tribunal to contest. That is our only offence.

“We, therefore, call on President Muhammadu Buhari to call his party, the APC to order and also rein them in from using unorthodox means to suffocate political structures in Nigeria.”

A man armed with a small axe attacked a daycare in southern Brazil, killing four young children in a tragedy described as a “monstrosity” by Brazil’s President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.

A 25-year-old man scaled the wall of a private daycare in Blumenau, a city in the state of Santa Catarina, on Wednesday. According to the local Hospital Santo Antonio, once inside, he killed four children aged four to seven and injured several others.

“A tragedy like this is unacceptable, an absurd act of hate and cowardice … an act of violence against innocent and defenceless children,” President Lula said in a Twitter post.

Police say that the attacker has been arrested. The event takes place more than a week after a 13-year-old student carried out a stabbing attack in a Sao Paulo school that killed a teacher and left five others wounded.

Details about the number of children injured in Wednesday’s attack remain uncertain. The Associated Press said that five wounded children had been taken to the hospital, according to Blumenau’s mayor, Mario Hildebrandt.

The news agencies Reuters and AFP, meanwhile, stated that four children were injured, citing the Hospital Santo Antonio and local officials, respectively.

Footage on TV networks showed parents sobbing outside of the Cantinho do Bom Pastor daycare centre. A police detective told television reporters that investigators would search for a potential motive.

Hildebrandt said that classes had been suspended and that the city would declare a mourning period.

The attack is the second of its kind to occur in Santa Catarina, where a suspect wielding a knife killed three small children and two adults at a daycare centre in 2021.

According to a report from researchers led by Daniel Cara, an education professor at the University of Sao Paulo, 16 attacks or violent episodes happened in schools between 2000 and 2022.

“There is no greater pain than that of a family who loses its children or grandchildren, even more so in an act of violence against innocent and defenseless kids,” Lula wrote Wednesday on Twitter.

“My thoughts and prayers are the families of victims and the community of Blumenau in the face of the monstrosity of what occurred.”