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Some aggrieved residents of Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Friday trooped to major roads protesting over the hardship they were experiencing over the scarcities of the new naira notes and fuel.

The protesters, in their hundreds, blocked major areas of the capital city.

These included the Iwo Road Interchange, the frontage of the State Secretariat at Agodi, and other major roads in the city.

At the state secretariat, the fierce-looking youths forcefully opened the gate and moved into the complex, heading straight to the Governor’s Office situated within the complex.

They were, however, prevented from gaining entrance into the Governor’s Office following the quick response by security personnel manning the gates.

In the town, the protesters obstructed the major roads, thereby hindering free vehicular movement, which left many commuters stranded.

At Iwo Road Interchange, suspected hoodlums have hijacked the protest.

READ ALSO:  JUST IN: Buhari meets APC govs in Abuja over new naira crisisNAN reports that they were seen blocking all the adjoining roads, burning tyres, and harassing motorists and commuters.

At the Gate/Bus Stop and Idi-Ape axis, the protesters blocked the roads, diverting vehicles from that direction.

NAN also reports that a cross-section of the protesters attributed their actions to the frustrations being faced in the banks and filling stations.

As at the time of filling this report, the protest was spreading to other parts of the city.

In Academy and adjoining areas, street boys took advantage of the situation to obtain motorists.

They blocked the roads and demanded money.

The traffic at Iwo Road, which forced many to take the inner streets encouraged the touts more.

The patrol vehicles of security agencies, particularly the police, were seen moving toward the Iwo Road and Idi Ape areas of the city to restore normalcy.

Dugbe, the commercial nerve centre of the ancient town, was also hit by the protest.

READ ALSO:  US lawmakers ask Biden to redesignate Nigeria as country violating religious freedomCommenting, Olu Akindele, an Artisan, said he spent the whole day at the Automated Teller Machine point in one of the banks at Iwo Road on Thursday and was unable to get cash.

According to Akindele: “The ATM was not dispensing, but I waited for hours, hoping that the bank officials would load it.

“We Nigerians have been contending with fuel and new Naira notes scarcity for weeks across the country.

“I believe it is time for the government to take positive steps to address the twin’s challenges we are battling with.”

A Point of Sale operator, Funmi Irewole, also expressed frustration as she could not withdraw either the old or new notes from her deposit before the extension of the deadline.

Irewole called on the Federal Government to, as a matter of urgency, review its policy on the new Naira notes to alleviate the sufferings of the citizens.

The proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) has suspended its weekly sit-at-home order for the 2023 general elections.

In a statement on Thursday by its spokesman, Emma Powerful, the group said for the election, it would not issue any sit-at-home order.

The statement reads: “IPOB led by Mazi Nnamdi Kanu has never forcefully obstructed the election process in Nigeria. Instead, we once called Biafrans to boycott elections, which was later called off.

“We have maintained that we aren’t interested in the Nigeria shambolic political selection process called Nigeria elections scheduled for February 2023. Our interest and focus is the release of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu and the date for the Biafra referendum for Biafrans to determine their political future in or outside Nigeria.

“We knew that this mushroom group called PANPIEC is among those sponsoring this fake group claiming that they are IPOB issuing and enforcing reckless sit at homes in the East.

“If they are not their sponsors, why do they keep linking the paid agents of confusion with us even as IPOB has publicly denounced any link with Simon Ekpa and his collaborators?
“It’s on record and public domain that IPOB has not called for any sit-at-home during the February elections.

It’s also obvious that IPOB and ESN do not have any faction or splinter groups. IPOB remains peaceful and indivisible under one command for the liberation of the Biafra Nation from the Republic called Nigeria.

“We reiterate for the records that, IPOB has not, did not, and will not issue any sit-at-.home order in February during the elections period. We also did not call for any boycott of the upcoming elections yet.

“The focus of IPOB is the release from illegal detention of our Leader Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, whom the Appeal Court and other courts have discharged and acquitted since the 13th of October 2022, and the Biafra referendum date.”

The Kaduna State Governor, Nasir el-Rufai, has again said some elements in the Presidency are inciting Nigerians against the All Progressives Congress, APC, with the new naira crisis.

El-Rufai said the time frame for the cashless policy was inflicting needless pain on Nigerians.

The governor stated this on Thursday on a TV Continental programme, Journalists’ Hangout.

Recall that El-Rufai had earlier during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise programme said people whose preferred candidate lost the APC presidential ticket to Tinubu last year were working against the APC standard bearer.

The former FCT minister vowed that those opposed to Tinubu would be defeated and also unmasked in time.

Responding to a question, he said, “Unmasking them is not as joyful as defeating them. They will be unmasked in time. But we have defeated them when they wanted their own people in the national working committee of the party.

“We have defeated them when they wanted their own anointed person to be the presidential candidate without due regard, due process, or respect for those of us that are governors, that have slaved to put this party together, campaigned for it, and delivered the election twice. We didn’t matter.’’

“Meanwhile, none of them has contested an election as a councilor, and if they did, they won’t win. I have been elected twice with over a million votes in Kaduna State. I can claim to speak for the people.

‘’None of these people can. We will come to the unmasking stage, this is not the stage. The stage now is to draw the attention of Nigerians that they are elements that are doing this and they don’t mean well for our party, they want to incite voters against our party so that we lose the elections.’’

El-Rufai explained that the APC was working hard to win the election, adding that the party would expose those behind the plot against Tinubu.

According to him, the cabal misled President Muhammadu Buhari into taking a decision that would turn Nigerians against the ruling party.

He noted, “Once Nigerians know that, they will know where some of these funny decisions are coming from, and when the election is done and settled by the grace of God in about three weeks, and I’m confident, we are not sleeping.

“We are going to work hard until (February) 27th when all the election results are out and by the grace of God, Asiwaju (Tinubu) is elected and other candidates of the APC; then we will unmask them.

“This has been an ongoing issue and we just feel that some of these things that are being thought of and clothed with good intentions, and dummies being sold to the President so that the electorate will be incited; the people of Nigeria will be inflicted needless pain at the point in addition to all the other challenges that they are facing just so that they will revolt and say, look, we will vote for the other party. It is clear.’’

Murja Kunya, a creator of TikTok skits, has been ordered to be detained in a jail by a Shariah court in Kano’s Filin Hockey neighborhood.

The skit maker was on Thursday arraigned on charges that border on defamation of character, vulgarity, public nuisance and breach of public peace.

Following a complaint submitted by two other TikTokers, notably Aisha Najamu and Idris Maiwushirya, accusing Murja of defaming their character, the defamation allegation was added to the counts.

She made a not guilty plea after the prosecuting attorney, Lamido Sorondinki, read the accused all of the counts.

After that, Murja’s attorney Yasir Musa moved an application for her release on bail, but the prosecution attorney objected.

The case was postponed until February 16 so that the judge could make a decision on the bail request after Abdullahi Halliru, the judge, ordered that the accused be held in prison custody.

Murja was recently arrested by the police in Kano on the order of a Shari’a court.

Victor Umeh, a senatorial candidate for the Labour Party in Anambra Central, has been given permission by the Court of Appeal in Awka, Anambra State, to substitute another method for serving Senator Uche Ekwunife of the People’s Democratic Party with his Notice of Appeal.

In a motion experte with Appeal No. CA/AW/24/2023, the appellant’s attorney, Alex Ejesieme, informed the court that the bailiff had made numerous unsuccessful attempts to serve Ekwunife personally.

He submitted the motion with a bailiff’s affidavit of attempted serve and a 13-paragraph affidavit in support of his position.

In light of the multiple rulings made by the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court on the issue, Ejesieme called the trial court’s ruling “rather unfortunate.”

Justice Hannatu Sankey, the presiding judge of the Appeal Court, gave permission for the Notice of Appeal to be put at the front gate of Ekwunife’s campaign office, which is located at the Uche Ekwunife Event Centre in Awka.

According to The News Agency of Nigeria, Ekwunife and the PDP had appealed the Labour Party’s decision to accept Umeh’s nomination to the Federal High Court.

Nnaemeka Ugboma, the chairman of the Ejemekwuru Customary Court in Imo State’s Oguta Local Government Area, was shot and killed by gunmen on Thursday.

According to reliable sources, he was murdered by gunmen on motorcycles while presiding over a court hearing.

The incident abruptly ended the court session as attorneys, court personnel, and litigants fled.

The murder of the lawyer, who according to our correspondent was from the Nnebukwu community in the Oguta LGA, sparked fear in the Ejemekwuru community, causing locals and residents to flee their houses.

One of the sources said,” The jurist was a law graduate of 1991 set. He was killed in his court while sitting. His killers came with motorcycles. They came into the court, dragged him out and shot him dead and drove off.

“His corpse was there as people in court fled. The whole thing is confusing because nobody knew any reason while they killed him. He was from the Nnebukwu community in Oguta LGA here.”

When contacted, Ugochukwu Allinor, the chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association’s Owerri branch, confirmed the killing and promised to inform the public of the branch’s response.

Henry Okoye, the state’s police spokesperson, did not return calls left for him and, as of the time this story was filed, he had not replied to a text message sent to his mobile number.

On Thursday, University of Benin students and some soldiers got into a fight on the school’s grounds over a cash withdrawal from an ATM used by the bank.

The soldiers’ alleged attempts to cut in front of the students who had been waiting patiently in line for their turn reportedly set off the trouble.

A source claimed that the students were upset with the S&T Barracks soldiers since they had oppressively done the same thing on Wednesday.

The source stated, “On Wednesday they came here and harassed the students. They even asked the students who challenged them to lie on the ground. But today (Thursday) when they came again and wanted to do the same thing, the student resisted.”

While confrontations broke out between the students and the soldiers, the institution’s chief security officer stepped in and was allegedly beaten by the soldiers.

The situation got the students aggrieved and blocked vehicular movement on routes to and fro the school which resulted in a gridlock.

It took the intervention of some spirited Nigerians and the Divisional Police Officer Ugbowo Division to appease the irate students to allow vehicular movements around the axis.

When contacted, the state deputy police spokesman, ASP Jennifer Iwegbu, said that calm had returned to the neighborhood following multiple appeals to the students, who had been demanding that a colleague’s broken phone be fixed.

The Vice Chancellor of the School, Prof. Lilian Salami, issued a statement on Friday calling for calm and describing the situation as regrettable.

The statement reads, “The unfortunate incident of the clash between some students of our university and soldiers on Thursday 2nd February,  resulting from alleged resistance of students to the soldiers’ attempt to jump ATM queue on campus has been brought under control and the management of the University is in discussions with the hierarchy of the S&T for amicable resolution.

“The management acknowledges that these are challenging times for everyone and enjoins all to remain calm while efforts are being made to avert a re-occurrence.

“Management also calls on the students to constantly engage dialogue in resolving issues that concern them rather than taking to protests, at any provocation, thereby causing more injury and damage to themselves and other citizens,” the statement added.

The Ogun State chapter of the Local Government Pensioners Association of Nigeria has requested that the state’s governor, Dapo Abiodun, pay their unpaid gratuities and standardize their monthly pension.

At the association’s thanksgiving celebration conducted at the LOGPAN state secretariat in Abeokuta, the state’s LOGPAN chairman, Benedict Ademoye, called for the payment of the accrued gratuity, which totals sixty-eight billion naira.

He bemoaned the governor just paying N3 billion of it.

Speaking about the N80 billion that the governor spent to settle pensioners’ claims, he claimed that the amount paid was different from the gratuity that pensioners were asking for.

He said, “pension is constitutional, it is mandatory, pension is in the law. So any government that comes has to pay pension, and the figure the governor gave you is correct, yes, it’s just like when we are at work, and we are taking our salary.

“That one is constitutional, it is mandatory for the government to pay that one, but that’s aside from gratuity which has accumulated to N68 billion and the government has paid just about three billion out of it.

“The delegation of four, led by late chief Sikiru Ayilara, who is the association’s former chairman, met the governor on the 16th of August 2022, and of course, the governor acceded to our request. the governor promised that he will increase it as revenue increases.”

“Late Chief Ayilara asked for two billion naira every month, and this has to be merged with the revenue and capability, of course, to pay.

“But after that meeting, the quarterly release was increased to 600 million naira, 300 million naira for the state pensioner and another 300 million naira for the local government pensioners.

“We cannot be satisfied because N68 billion to N3 billion is not enough. We are placing our hope on his promise.”

He noted that, among other things, the administration has not yet addressed the increase in the quarterly fund release amount for the payment of gratuity arrears and the harmonization of monthly pensions.

He said, “after the meeting with the government by late Ayilara, the governor acceded to all the request of LOGPAN and promised to take necessary action in respect of; increase in the amount of quarterly release of fund for the payment of arrears of gratuity, and harmonization of monthly pensions among others, but they have not.”

He pushed the state administration to keep going, saying that he appreciated all of their efforts, but acknowledged that they were making progress toward their goal.

He said, “considerable progress have been achieved. We shall not relent on our efforts until total victory is achieved. That is, settlement of all outstanding arrears of gratuities and harmonisation of monthly pensions. A new lease of life shall come upon the life of each and every LG pensioner in Ogun State.”

In the same vein, he was grateful to the governor and encouraged him to make the state’s retirees happy while in office.

He claims that the association has received supportive feedback in the hopes that “pensioners would laugh at the end.”

He said, “I respectfully call on His Excellency, Dr. Prince Dapo Abiodun MFR, the governor of Ogun State to please not relent in his current effort in seeing that pensioners in Ogun State in general and LG pensioners, in particular, have cause to rejoice during his time by seeing that the outstanding gratuities are paid and monthly pensions harmonized. I wish him, his family and Ogun State well.

“I’m hopeful that Pensioners would laugh and this gratuity would be paid.

“Unfortunately, we lost our leader, and this new executive came on board, on November 10th, which is about two and half months ago.

“Since that two and half months, we are not sitting idly, we have been Consulting with top government functionalities and government agencies that are relevant to our course.

“And until this moment, we’ve been getting positive responses. We know this time is a political something, but then we will not lose focus.”

Delta’s Governor Ifeanyi Okowa has received criticism from Senator Ovie Omo-Agege, the Deputy Senate President and an APC contender for governor of the state of Delta, for lighting up the State House while leaving Asaba and the surrounding areas in the dark.

On February 1st, Senator Omo-Agege made this statement as the APC’s continuous ward-to-ward campaigns made their way into Oko, Okwe, and Umuaji-Asaba, all located in the Oshimil South LGA.

He claimed that Governor Okowa opted for a 5 megawatt IPP that could only supply power to the Government House and Commissioners’ quarters, abandoning the 28 megawatt Independent Power Plant, or IPP, project that the previous administration had started and was intended to illuminate the entire State capital, leaving Asaba and its surroundings in the dark.

He bemoaned the fact that despite the state governor receiving over 4.2 trillion naira and taking on significant debt, Asaba did not have the polished appearance of a major city.

“I am very angry, we are all angry at the misgovernance by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa in the past seven and a half years. This is Asaba, Delta State capital. If for nothing else, we owe Asaba a duty to develop the State capital. Governor Okowa cannot give a satisfactory account of what he has done with over 4.2 trillion naira, yet the State is over-borrowed with no significant Infrastructure on the ground anywhere commensurate to inflow.

“The Osadebey University in Asaba is a signboard because he has not added a block to the former structures of the Anwai campus of Delta State University that he converted to Osadebey University.

“But I commit to you that when I become governor, I will make Asaba wear the proper look of a State capital. I have given this commitment to the Asagba of Asaba. Government House and Commissioners’ quarters that are powered by Governor Okowa do not produce jobs for the people. When I become governor I will revisit the 28 megawatts IPP project to power the entire Asaba and environs so that businesses can operate; so that we can attract investor companies to come in and provide jobs for the youths.”

“I also commit to fixing the yearly flooding which Governor Okowa has neglected to pursue his ill-fated vice presidential ambition. I will tackle the problem using Balloon Technology.”

He added he would fix roads in the State capital and adjoining towns that fall within the Asaba capital territory. “When I become governor, I will construct Oko and Okwe roads. In fact, I have already fixed the Oko 28km road into the NDDC budget and by this time next year it would have been done from Asaba to Oko.”

Miss Ogechi Okoroafor, the graduating student of the Federal Polytechnic Nekede, Owerri, Imo State, who went viral on social media for saying that she graduated with the help of God and her private parts, has written to the institution.

Okoroafor, in the letter, said she meant to say her father and God helped her to graduate from the Polytechnic.

The letter, signed by her lawyer, Ikechukwu Nwaopara, reads, “We are solicitors to OKEREAFOR OGECHI SHARON, our Client under our Pro Bono (Free Legal Services) on whose behalf we write this memo to you.

“We are aware that she will be facing the school disciplinary panel this morning and we wish to use this medium to express our confidence that the panel will carry out their duties in compliance with the principles of fair hearing, a good conscience, and natural justice devoid of harassment, intimidation, and threats.

“We have met and discussed with our Client and evidence before we show that she has no intention to defame the character, standard, and integrity of the institution. In her words, what happened in the said viral video was a slip of tongue as a result of her uncontrollable ecstasy over her graduation. Her intended words were ‘God and Pupsy’ (Not P*ssy) in appreciation of the almighty God and her Dad. 

It is clear, therefore, that she had no intention whatsoever to use such a ‘foul word’ in the said viral video to cajole or blackmail the institution as no lecturer or name of the institution was mentioned or referred to in the said viral video.

“Our lawyers are already on the ground at the institution now to follow up the proceedings at the panel against any form of intimidation or harassment. The integrity and standard of the said institution are not in doubt especially since my senior brother, Rev Dr. Arimanwa, took over as the Rector.”