News & Announcements

Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu, a former deputy governor of Lagos State, stated on Monday that she was still working on renunciating her Nigerian citizenship in the wake of Bola Tinubu’s election as the country’s next president.

It would be finished before May 29, according to Ojikutu, who made this announcement to the media while speaking to them at her Lagos home.

She said, “Before the results of the presidential elections were declared, I came out to say that if Bola Tinubu won the election, I would renounce my citizenship in Nigeria and I have my reasons.

“When he won, people called me and said he would not do anything bad. But I am endangered by the current situation. I have been ostracised and humiliated in places where I should be honoured because of his not being at peace with me.

“I will not hold a Nigerian passport with Bola Tinubu as President. I am praying to God to give me the nation I can go to. I am not going to America or the United Kingdom. I want a simple place where I (can) stay and live for the rest of my life.

“I don’t know where I am going but I have already given it to the lawyers to please see where I can get the citizenship. I am working on it seriously before May 29.”

Ojikutu said all efforts to resolve the differences she had with Tinubu since she was made a Commissioner representing Lagos State at the Federal Character Commission had been unsuccessful.

She bemoaned the situation of the country and declared that she was no longer proud to have held a position of public trust.

She said, “The National Assembly system is too expensive for Nigeria. The natural resources of this nation are enough for every man if it is well managed. I am ashamed to call myself a public officer because I cannot see all my sacrifices. And some people will boast of their political status as excellency. Excellency over a nation like this?

“People who have served this nation faithfully are unhappy at the turn up of events. There are so many people on the streets who are hungry and everything that was supposed to be put in place has not been put in place.”

She asserted that anyone who wasn’t happy with the election results had every right to sue to have the case overturned.

She also objected to the fact that individuals who were contesting the electioneering were being charged with treason, saying that it would further complicate the matter.

Ojikutu, who expressed faith in the judiciary, urged openness in how the matters at the electoral tribunal are handled.

Following the passing of Ahize Okoli, a 500 Level student in the Civil Engineering Department at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, two people who are reportedly members of the Awo Hall Executives have been detained by the police.

According to reports, a mob killed Okoli after believing that he had stolen a cell phone.

According to sources on campus, the student was accused of stealing a cell phone in Awo Hall on Monday. He was moved to the Students Union Building early on Tuesday where he remained until about noon after being severely beaten.

Further information revealed that Okoli’s health had gotten worse as a result of the beating he had received. He was rushed to the OAU Teaching Hospital in Ile-Ife, where he was pronounced dead on Tuesday afternoon.

The two people held were identified as student leaders by the Osun State Police Command, which provided an update on the situation on Wednesday.

Yemisi Opalola, the command’s spokesperson, told reporters that justice will be served as the investigation into the incident continued. Two student leaders have been detained in relation to the event.

Abiodun Olarewaju, the university’s public relations officer, added that the management of the institution would also conduct its own inquiry while arguing that the police should be permitted to look into the situation.

Olanrewaju said, “The university will not meddle in such a grievous offence. It bothers on the criminality of murder.

“So, let the police do their job and we will do our own here. We are going ahead with our investigation.”

In the meantime, on Wednesday, students from the College of Technology blocked access to the campus in protest of Okoli’s passing.

In addition to calling for the arrest of everyone engaged in the student’s assault, the demonstrators demanded the imprisonment of student security volunteers who they claimed took possession of the victim following the attack in Awo Hall of Residence.

When the Dean of the Division of Students Affairs, Prof. Olalekan Aransi, had listened to their demands, the protesting students—who also made sure that no lecture took place on campus as a mark of respect for the deceased student—removed the blockade and permitted movement into the university.

Speaking to the students, Aransi begged them to maintain calm while promising them that the administration would take care of their issues.

A warehouse within a complex housing 5 fully detached warehouses located beside Nigerian Breweries in the Iganmu area of Lagos State, was gutted by fire on Wednesday.

The fire incident also affected a diesel storage tank, a 33,000ltr tanker with no registration number, a mini tanker with registration number XV555-FKJ and a fiat bus with a registration number unknown at the scene.

Although, the cause of the fire outbreak is unknown at the time of filing this report.

Confirming the incident, the Permanent Secretary, of Lagos State Emergency Agency ( LASEMA), Dr. Olufemi Damilola Oke-Osanyintolu, in a statement issued on Wednesday, explained that no life was lost and no injury was sustained by anyone.

Oke-Osanyintolu said “Upon arrival at the incident scene, a warehouse within a complex housing 5 fully detached warehouses was found to have been razed by fire.

“Also totally burnt out was a stand-alone diesel storage tank, a 33,000ltr tanker with no registration number, a mini tanker with registration number XV555-FKJ and a fiat bus with a registration number unknown.

He further said that no life was lost and no injuries were sustained to anyone due to the incident.

“The fire has been extinguished while dampening down is ongoing. However, the walls and pillars of the warehouse have been seriously affected by the intensity of the fire leading to various cracks and the imminent collapse of the structure, the Agency’s excavator will be required to pull down the warehouse structure in order to avert any crash on the responders and users of the environment.

On Wednesday, the Federal Government gave its approval for the purchase and installation of luggage scanners in all Kano, Kaduna, and Abuja railway stations.

They consist of 50 handheld scanners, eight body scanners with color imaging, eight metal detectors, and eight X-ray scanners.

Ademola Adegoroye, the minister of state for transportation, informed reporters at the State House following last week’s Federal Executive Council meeting that the procurement will cost N498 million.

Adegoroye stated that the new installation was a part of the FG’s continuous program to increase railway transport safety while speaking at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.

The Buhari administration claimed to have aggressively built out Nigeria’s rail network on a national level, but with that growth came security worries after a number of kidnappings, armed robberies, and terrorist attacks were reported during the preceding two years.

On Monday, March 28, 2022, Boko Haram-affiliated militants ambushed a train headed for Kaduna, killing eight people and kidnapped at least 41 others.

The Nigerian Railway Service consequently stopped operating any trains between Abuja and Kaduna for eight months.

Operations resumed in January 2023 amidst tight security and increased skepticism among passengers.

Adegoroye, who spoke on Wednesday, said the devices were necessary due to the need to secure lives and property on the rail.

“So, today there was a memo before the Council for the provision of baggage scanners at railway stations and I’m happy to inform you that the Council agreed with us and has approved that contract for scanners to be installed at railway stations so that when people get there and have goods, then they can pass through the scanners and they can be sure that there’s nothing that can destroy, that can cause violence or inflict danger or bring lives and property at stake.⁣
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“You’ll all agree with me that in view of the process of securing lives and property, such equipment has to be installed at our railway stations.⁣

“Since we’re starting the railway revolution, we are trying to put in place a lot of things with the railways. We don’t want people to come and damage all that the government has been trying to put in place in that sector,” he explained.

Peter Obi, the Labour Party’s presidential candidate, was held by British immigration authorities over the Easter break for offenses that were allegedly committed by an imposter, the party’s Presidential Campaign Council announced on Wednesday.

In a statement issued by Diran Onifade, the head of the Obi-Datti media team, the LP PCCC said that Obi was detained for questioning on Good Friday, April 7, 2023, when he landed in London from Nigeria at Heathrow Airport.

The statement further said that he was later fired after Nigerians who saw the incident stirred great controversy.

The partly read, “The LP Presidential candidate in the February 25 Presidential poll arrived the Heathrow Airport in London from Nigeria on Good Friday, April 7, 2023, and joined the queue for the necessary Airport protocols when he was accosted by immigration officials who handed him a detention note and told him to step aside. He was questioned for a long time and it was very strange for a man who lived for over a decade in that country.

“Since Obi’s face was already an international frame, especially for Nigerians, Africans home, and in the Diaspora who are likely to be Obidients, the people quickly raised their voices wondering why he was being delayed.

“The immigration officials who were also taken aback at the reaction of the people were forced to reveal that Obi was being questioned for a duplication offense, meaning that someone has been impersonating him in London.

“The high implication of the offense is that the impersonator could be committing all kinds of weighty crimes and other dubious acts and it would be recorded in Obi’s name.”

Okoli Ahinze, a 500-level student at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, was murdered for alleged theft.

According to reports, the deceased was beaten to death inside Awo Hall on Monday. The student was reportedly rushed to the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching Hospital Ile-Ife on Tuesday due to complications.

When he was brought to the hospital’s Accident and Emergency Unit, doctors on duty confirmed his death.

According to sources the student was alleged to have stolen a mobile phone at the Awo Hall.

Meanwhile, the Management of the school has condemned, in strong terms, the incident that led to the death of a part five student of the institution.

A release by the Public Relations Officer of the University, Abiodun Olanrewaju, stated that a preliminary investigation revealed that the student died of a mob action on the allegation that he stole a phone.

Saddened by this ugly development which he described as unfortunate, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Adebayo Bamire set up a committee to unravel the circumstances that led to this incident.

“The action of the mob, being a violation of the law of the country and of the University regulations, has been reported  to the police who have commenced investigations,” the statement read.

“The University administration hereby commiserates with the parents of the deceased, staff and students, and prays that God will grant us the fortitude to bear this irreparable loss.

“Students are strongly admonished to desist from taking laws into their hands and to report any criminal activities to the University authorities for immediate actions.”

The training for enumerators and supervisors that was originally scheduled for April 13 has been postponed indefinitely by the National Population Commission.

According to Dr. Ipalibo Harry, Chairperson of the Census Commission, on Wednesday in Abuja.

Harry confirmed the population and housing census, which was scheduled to take place from May 3 to May 7, will go as planned.

He added that the commission had already finished training the Quality Data Managers and others, and that it was prepared to conduct a reliable census.

A new date for the supervisors’ and enumerators’ training will be announced as soon as feasible, according to the chairman of the census committee.

The Akwa Ibom State Police Command has argued in favor of installing Close Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras in the state’s major cities to reduce crime.

The state’s entire apparatus should be digitalized, according to Superintendent of Police and Police Public Relations Officer Odiko Macdon, for the state’s security to be further enhanced.

The Police spokesperson made this statement on Tuesday while hosting guests from the Correspondents’ chapel at his yearly gathering in Uyo, the capital of Akwa Ibom State.

It may be noted that the state’s governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, had proposed placing CCTV cameras in the state but had not yet carried it out.

The PPRO urged the next governor, Pastor Umo Eno, to prioritize installing CCTV cameras as a means of combating insecurity in his administration.

He stated; “We are calling on the incoming administration, whom we believe has the capacity to do this, to digitalize and make policing in Akwa Ibom State technologically driven. 

“Let’s have CCTV everywhere in Uyo. It is doable, it is possible. Let’s have it in Ikot Ekpene, in Eket, in most towns in Akwa Ibom, if we cannot have it in all the villages and all the local governments.

“I’m an advocate of community policing, it will help to a great extent to curb crimes and criminality in our villages.” 

Also, he made automobile owners aware of the state’s escalating car theft rate and cautioned them to keep their vehicles as secure as possible.

He revealed that the command had lately found seven exotic cars that had been taken in various parts of the state.

The PPRO acknowledged that three-man syndicates were responsible for the theft but added that the command was making every effort to completely eradicate the obnoxious threat.

He said, “It pains the Commissioner of Police that now, one of the crimes we are battling with in Akwa Ibom State now is an increase in car theft. There is an increase in car theft and I am calling on Akwa Ibomites to always keep an eye on their vehicles as much as they can.”

“As a command, we recovered only recently about seven exotic cars, stolen from different parts of this state, traced to the receivers, recovered and given back to the people. 

“They are like three syndicates operating in this town. You park your vehicle and before you go in and come out, your vehicle has disappeared. That nonsense is about to end. “

For a period of two weeks, the governor of Benue State, Samuel Ortom, has suspended the operations of livestock guards and the state paramilitary organization tasked with enforcing the state’s open grazing ban in order to give all herdsmen with cattle in the state time to depart.

Following the horrifying murders of over 130 people across the state in the previous week, Ortom revealed this at the conclusion of the state security council meeting on Tuesday.

He said that the suspension served as a warning to anyone who entered the state allegedly unaware of the state’s anti-grazing laws, including the 2017 Ranches Establishment Law and the Open Grazing Ban.

Additionally, he said that the state’s security services had verified that they had received the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (ret. ), order to find those responsible for the state-wide mass murders.

He pleaded with the security agencies to take swift action so that the attack victims could receive some recompense.

Obiajulu Uja, who protested against the president-elect Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whilst on an Ibom Air aircraft from Abuja to Lagos, was denied bail by a Zuba Magistrate Court in Abuja on Tuesday.

After being taken off the aircraft and turned over to the police, Uja submitted a request for bail through his attorney, Barr. Ejike Ugwu. Senior Magistrate Mohammed Abdulazeez Ismail, however, dismissed the request, stating that it was untimely.

According to him, the materials that were included with the application did not state that the defendant was unfit for trial, but rather that he was mentally incompetent.

He further argued that although the constitution guarantees everyone’s freedom, a court may deny someone their freedom for reasons related to their health.

The Magistrate determined that Uja cannot be released on bail based on Section 35(1)(e) of the Federal Republic of Nigeria’s 1999 Constitution (as amended) and Section 278 of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA), 2015.

He argued that when a defendant’s mental ability is in question, the court has a responsibility to learn about their medical history.

The materials that accompanied Uja’s bail application, he said, brought up the question of his medical fitness.

Judge then denied the request for bail and mandated that Uja be detained at the Nigerian Prisons Service’s Kuje Correctional Complex.

Judge also instructed the center’s director to transport the defendant to a public hospital for a mental capability evaluation.

He then called a recess until the report and hearing on April 20.