Category: Happenings

The Adekolures are currently seeking justice for their daughter, Adekolure Idowu Glory, who was raped and killed in Lyowa Community, Benin, Edo state

According to the sister of the deceased, Glory was killed on her way back from school where she had gone to process her clearance. “Please, I need all the help I can get. My 22-year-old sister went to school on June 13 for her clearance as she recently graduated in April 2024

Her corpse was dropped close to our house & we discovered that she had been raped as she was bleeding from her private part.

We also saw marks on her body indicating that she was beaten in the process. We reported the matter at the Ekiadolor police division in Benin & deposited her lifeless body at the morgue. We need the relevant authorities to look into the matter & ensure the culprits face the full wrath of the law.

The Presidency has said that the N250,000 minimum wage demanded by Organised Labour is unsustainable, cautioning that the Federal Government cannot allocate all its resources to meet such a demand.

The Federal Government and Organised Labour had previously failed to reach an agreement on the minimum wage, with the government and Organised Private Sector offering N62,000, which Labour deemed an insult.

Giving fresh insight on the issue, the Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, said the government cannot channel all its resources to pay workers, as it has other responsibilities to attend to.

Onanuga urged Labour to be realistic, considering that workers are only about 10% of the population, and many others are self-employed or engaged in the private sector.

Former President Muhammadu Buhari says he’s pleased that more Nigerians have taken to the farm to grow more food and feed the nation.

Stressing that uncontrolled population growth was a matter for concern, Buhari appealed to Nigerians to make the country self-reliant by continue to grow their food and buy food made in Nigeria. The former Nigerian leader spoke when addressing journalists in Daura, Katsina State on Sunday, June 16.

A statement issued by Mallam Garba Shehu, quoted Buhari as saying, “I use this occasion to make an appeal to all citizens to make Nigeria self-reliant. Let us grow our own food. We have shown that we can do it.

This is not the time to relent when we see prices going up. Let us buy what is produced in the country. The foundation of a prosperous and stable country has been laid by successive governments, and I encourage our youth, in particular, to continue to play an active role in various nation-building efforts.

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has called on Nigerians to show more care for their neighbours and extend charity to all in the spirit of Eid-el-Kabir.

Speaking with journalists after Eid-el-Kabir prayers in Lagos on Sunday, June 16, the President said some level of sacrifice will be required to move the nation forward.

According to his media aide, Ajuri Ngelale, the president said: “We have been told by the Chief Imam how we can follow the path of sacrifice. The sacrifice required of a good citizen.

Citizenship comes with responsibilities. As citizens, what do we need to do to be committed members of our society? Yes, that is sacrifice; loving your country.

Loving your neighbours. Sharing what you have with each other. And to always be thankful to Almighty God.”

Bandits kidnap Fouani Group MD Mohamed Fouani, two others in downtown Lagos ambush; demand $1.5 million ransom

Armed assailants on Friday seized Mohamed Fouani of electronic distributor Fouani Group, as well as at least two others, during a deadly ambush in Ikoyi, Lagos State.

Fouani Group, run by Mohamed Fouani and other prominent Lebanese business people, is the major distributor of LG and Hisense products in Nigeria. The company itself has yet to issue a statement on the incident.

The abductors had contacted people near the victims for a ransom of $1.5 million.

A Lagos police said the incident would likely unnerve the command, which had hitherto boasted of its capacity to keep kidnap-for-ransom activities low across the state even as they spread in other parts of the country.

Most expatriates and diplomats in Nigeria are based in Lagos, especially in the highbrow Ikoyi neighborhood, where security had long been assumed to be above frequent breaches by motivated assailants.

The Federal Inland Revenue Service has dropped the tax evasion charges against Binance executives, Tigran Gambaryan and fleeing Nadeem Anjarwalla.

Gambaryan, who’s Binance’s head of financial crime compliance, and Anjarwalla, who fled to Kenya, alongside their company were slammed with tax evasion charges on March 22, 2024.

FIRS’ spokesperson, Dare Adekanmbi, who confirmed the latest development, said the federal government “is dropping charges against the two individuals sued along with the cryptocurrency firm, Binance.

Please note that the charges are being dropped against the second and the third defendants in the matter,” he added.

TheCable reports that a federal high court in Abuja discharged the two executives on June 14, after the FIRS confirmed the appointment of Ayodele Omotilewa as the firm’s representative — with FIRS filing a fresh charge listing the exchange as the sole defendant

The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) says it has intercepted hard drugs worth over N4.1 billion imported from Canada and India at the Tin Can Island Port within the period of one month.

The Comptroller General of Customs Bashir Adewale Adeniyi disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Lagos on June 14, 2024.

“Details of the seized containers are as follows: Three plastic drums concealing several packets of Cannabis Indica; 46 bags containing 2,144 packets of Cannabis Indica all weighing 1,072 (kg) seized from 1x40ft Container No. GAOU 669921/5 imported from Canada. The approximate street value of the illicit substances is N3,216,000,000.00.

877 cartons of Barcadin cough syrup with codeine, 200 bottles of 100ml per carton & 82 cartons of Really Extra Diclofenac Sodium 50mg tablets – 600 packs per carton imported from India were also seized. The approximate street value of the cough syrup is N964,339,348.00,” he said.

No fewer than five persons have reportedly died following the outbreak of cholera in communities around Eti Osa, Lagos Island, Ikorodu, and Kosofe LGA of Lagos State.

60 persons are also said to be hospitalized from the outbreak of the highly contagious disease.

The Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof. Akin Abayomi, who disclosed this while reacting to the state surveillance reports, said the state government has issued a call for heightened vigilance and the adoption of precautionary measures to prevent the spread of a potential cholera outbreak in the state.

He noted that the outbreak resulted in about 60 hospital admissions, and five deaths recorded mainly from patients presenting late with extreme dehydration. “We have activated a statewide heightened surveillance and response.

The Ministry of Health Directorate of Environmental Health and the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) have been alerted to investigate a possible water contamination source in the Lekki Victoria Island axis.

It was gathered that incident occurred on June 13, 2024 in Ogbede area of the state.

Narrating what transpired, the victim said: “The car I entered was stopped by the police. They told me & one other guy to come down, then asked the driver to go.

The one that was interrogating me said that I should say the truth, that he knows that I’m a yahoo boy & that me & him will come to an agreement. I told him that I won’t claim what I’m not. He said since I don’t want to say that I’m a yahoo boy, that they will take me to the station.

He called another policeman who told me to give them N30k. That if they carry me to the station, that I might spend up to N200k.

I told them I want to do transfer, they refused & they took me to POS stand, while the other guy was told to enter their vehicle. I told them that I’m not with my card. That they should give me one of my phones to do bank transfer to the POS.

Police operatives in Delta State have arrested a 400-level student of the Delta State University identified as Nelson Eserada for faking his abduction.

The suspect, who was arrested alongside one Jerry Lawrence on June 10, was said to have demanded a ransom of N50 million in bitcoin.

The command’s spokesperson in a statement on June 13, said that the suspect’s father had already paid a sum of N5 million through a bitcoin account belonging to Lawrence.

According to the police, “Following complaints received from the father of one Nelson Eserada ‘M’ at Abraka Division that his son Nelson Eserada was kidnapped and that the kidnappers were demanding a ransom of Fifty million naira in bitcoin. The suspect also sent a video of the supposed victim tied and being tortured.

The DPO Abraka SP Fabian Ayameh swiftly moved into action and embarked on a technical intelligence-led investigation, and on 10/06/2024 at about 2000hrs, one Jerry Lawrence ‘M’ of Jeddo Community Warri was arrested in connection with the crime.

A 39-year-old man, who removed his condom without the consent of the lady he was having sex with, has been sentenced to 51 months in prison by a U.K. court.

Guy Mukendi from Brixton, south London, was on Thursday, June 13, sentenced at Inner London Crown Court for the rape of a woman last year. The woman had consented to sex with Mukendi on the condition a condom was used, but he removed it without her consent.

She reported the assault on May 9, 2023, and Mukendi was found guilty by a jury in a rare conviction on April 2, this year. The Metropolitan Police said the victim was supported during the “extremely difficult time” as soon as she first reported the incident.

Police worked with the victim to obtain screenshots of messages Mukendi sent where he apologized for taking the condom off, and where he sought to explain his actions by saying he had not had sex in a long time.

He then deleted the messages but the screenshots contributed to securing his conviction.

A police inspector attached to the Delta State Police Command, Ubi Ebri, has been sentenced to death by the state High Court sitting in Asaba.

Mr Ebri was convicted of k! killing a telephone dealer, Emmanuel Onyeka Ibeh, by Justice C.D. Diai.

Mr Ibeh was shot dead on 5 April 2023 at a police checkpoint along Ugbolu Road in front of his newly wedded, pregnant wife.

The Ondo State Police Command has arrested a 31-year-old suspect, Yusuf Adenoyin who was allegedly caught in possession of 8 dry human skulls.

It was gathered that the suspect was arrested on June 10, during a stop-&-search in Isua-Akoko in Akoko South West LGA of the state.

Speaking to newsmen when he was paraded at the State Police HQ, Adenoyin said the economic downturn pushed him to abandon his palm oil business & embrace the selling of human skulls when he noticed it was lucrative.

He explained how he met an herbalist on a social media platform who introduced him to the distribution of human skulls. He said he buys skulls from someone who sources the consignment from graveyards, while he distributes it to those who need it.

The suspect explained that he buys at the rate of N20,000 per skull, while he sells to his customers in Osun State between N30,000 & N35,000 each. He said the 8 skulls found in his possession by the police were dry & with a certain fresh flesh which he claims to be a dog’s heart.

Pres. Tinubu set to enter Guinness World Record as FG unveils world’s largest canvas painting portrait of him.

The National Troupe on Wednesday, June 12, unveiled a large picture portrait of President Bola Tinubu.

Said to be the world’s largest painting portrait on canvas, the portrait was unveiled at Eagles Square during the 2024 Democracy Day celebration parade.

This comes seven months after the president said he deserves to be listed in the Guinness World Records (GWR) because his past exploits paved the way for his emergence.

It would be recalled that the president said this while speaking to a group of investors on Tuesday, November 21, 2023, at the 10th German-Nigerian Business Forum.

Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima has been killed in a plane crash.

The 51-year-old vice president died along with nine other passengers who were on board the airplane that went missing on June 10.

The country’s President Lazarus Chakwera announced the tragic incident on June 11.

The aircraft went missing after it failed to land at the Mzuzu International Airport, about 380 km (240 miles) to the north of the capital Lilongwe.

“The search and rescue operation I ordered to find the missing plane that carried our vice president and nine others has been completed. The plane has been found. I am deeply saddened and sorry to inform you that it has turned out to be a tragedy.

The aircraft was destroyed with no survivors, as all passengers on board were killed on impact. Words cannot describe how heartbreaking this is,” Chakwera said.

Malawi’s former first lady Shanil Dzimbiri was also on board.

After operating in Nigeria since 1950 and enduring a torrid economic climate on the back of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, Guinness has announced it will exit the Nigerian market and sell off its controlling shares to Singaporean conglomerate Tolaram Group on Tuesday.

The brewery brand recorded a staggering N61.9 billion loss after tax between July 2023 and March 2024, just a few months after Mr. Tinubu floated the naira to unify the currency’s value on the official and parallel foreign exchange markets.

But the move backfired and caused many multinational companies to suffer huge financial setbacks including Guinness Nigeria whose N61.7 billion loss after tax in Q3 was a 1000 per cent increase from the N5.9 billion revenue generated in the same period last year.

The loss exacerbated by the naira’s continued downward trend may have informed Diageo, Guinness’ parent company, to sell its 58.02 percent majority stake to the Singaporean group.

“Under the terms of an agreement signed today, 11 June 2024, Tolaram will acquire Diageo’s 58.02% shareholding in Guinness Nigeria royalty agreements for the continued production of the Guinness brand and its locally manufactured Diageo ready-to-drink and mainstream spirits brands,” the company said in a statement Tuesday.

Guinness Nigeria Plc, a public limited liability company quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange, was incorporated on April 29, 1950, as a trading company importing Guinness Stout from Dublin.

The Guinness brand has operated in Nigeria since 1950, but with Tolaram’s controlling stake acquisition expected to conclude by 2025, the global brewery brand will have spent 75 years in Nigeria.

In the statement, Guinness said the firm would leave Nigeria next year and hand over to a third-party venture.

“The transaction is expected to be completed during fiscal 2025, subject to obtaining the requisite regulatory approvals in Nigeria,” said the statement signed by Abidemi Ademola, Guinness’s legal director.

Diageo, however, stated that the sale of its Nigerian brand would not in any way affect its ownership of the Guinness global brand.

Diageo “will retain ownership of the Guinness brand, which will be licensed to Guinness Nigeria for the long term.”

Diageo’s exit adds to a long list of other multinational companies, like GlaxoSmithKline and Microsoft, that have left Nigeria in the last one to two years, citing the harsh economic climate as making business unprofitable.

Some of Diageo’s popular brands in Nigeria include Smirnoff Ice, Smirnoff Vodka, Orijin Bitters, Malta Guinness, Gordons Orange Sunset, and Dubic Malt.

The Federal Government has declared Wednesday, June 12, 2024, as a Public Holiday to commemorate this year’s democracy day celebration.

The Minister of Interior, Hon. Dr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, made the declaration on Tuesday, June 11, in a statement by Dr. Aishetu Gogo Ndayako, the Permanent Secretary in the ministry.

“As we mark another Democracy Day in the history of our dear country, let us all reflect on the efforts of our founding fathers and ensure that Nigeria remains a united, secured, peaceful, and indivisible entity,” he said

A military plane carrying Malawi’s Vice President Saulos Chilima and nine others has gone missing, BBC reports, quoting a statement from the president’s office.

The Malawi Defense Force aircraft “went off the radar” after it left the capital, Lilongwe, on Monday morning.

The aircraft failed to make its scheduled landing at Mzuzu International Airport about 370 kilometres to the north about an hour later.

Aviation authorities lost contact with the plane when it “went off radar,” the statement from the Malawian President’s office said.

Lazarus Chakwera, the president of the Southeastern African country, had ordered a search operation and cancelled a trip to the Bahamas.

“All efforts to make contact with the aircraft since it went off radar have failed thus far,” the president’s office said.

Mr Chakwera was informed of the missing plane by Valentino Phiri, the head of the Malawian armed forces, according to the Associated Press (AP).

The president had ordered national and local authorities to “conduct an immediate search and rescue operation to locate the whereabouts of the aircraft,” his office said.

“The public will be updated on any developments on the situation as facts are established,” the statement said.

Mr Chilima was on his way to represent the government at the burial of former cabinet minister Ralph Kasambara, who died three days ago.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos has convicted and sentenced one Adeyinka Bilikis Gbadamosi to six months imprisonment for currency racketeering.

Gbadamosi was arraigned by the Lagos Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on a one-count charge bordering on currency  Racketeering.

The count reads: “That you, Adeyinka Bilikis Gbadamosi, on the 27th of April, 2024 in  Lagos, within the jurisdiction of this Honorable Court, engaged in hawking the total sum of N897,900 in N200 Naira note denomination, with serial numbers 688101 and N500 Naira note denomination, with serial numbers 315501 issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria and thereby committed an offense contrary to and punishable under Section 21(4) of the Central Bank of Nigeria (Establishment) Act, 2007.”

She pleaded “guilty” to the charge preferred against her.

A female student of the Federal University Dutse (FUD), Jigawa State, has been arrested by the police in connection with the murder of her newborn baby.

The suspect, identified simply as Gladys, allegedly threw the newborn from the toilet window of a three-story hostel building.

The disheartening incident occurred on Monday, June 10 at the Ethiopia block of the new female hostel.

It was gathered that the suspect is a 200-level student from the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences.