The Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology (OAUSTECH), Okitipupa, Ondo State, has declared compulsory two weeks semester break. Armed rapists have made the University their base, terrorising students, and raping them on campus.
The high point assault on the students happened when hoodlums invaded the students’ hostels and raped four female students.
Sensing that the security apparatus at the University has been compromised, the students of the institution embarked on protests to call the authority’s attention to their plight.
The students lamented incessant robberies in their hostels, threats to their lives and properties, and the rape of female students by hoodlums suspected to be coming from neighbourhood.
It was learnt that what the students described as a peaceful protest, led to the partial blockage of the Okitipupa-Igbokoda road. This caused an unprecedented traffic grid.
President, Students Union Government of the institution, Damilola Okunomo confirmed the rape of the female students.
According to him, the students were tired of the level of insecurity in the area as hoodlums rob them of their valuables like phones, laptops, gadgets and rape female students at gunpoint.
Mr Okunomo added that four female students were raped two weeks ago, alleging that the Institution’s management was not doing enough on the security of lives and properties of students.
“We are tired of this insecurity, armed hoodlums usually come to our off-campus hostels, rob students at gunpoint, and also rape our female students.
“The school Management is not to doing enough as we are the ones securing ourselves by working as vigilantes most times, the situation is terrible.
“We urge the school management to do its best in securing us and complete all the uncompleted hostel accommodations in our campus as this will also guarantee our security.”
Reacting, Dean of Students Affairs of OAUSTECH, Mr Ilemobayo Oguntimehin, explained that the School’s Management was doing its best to secure the lives and properties of the students.
Taking a hard look at the threat and danger posed to the country by illicit drugs, which include :terrorism, insurgency, rape, armed robbery and other heinous and social vices, President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, said drug abuse and trafficking are worse than insurgency, banditry kidnapping. He said it posed more dangers to the stability of the country than anything else.
Making this assertion at the launch of War Against Drug Abuse, WADA, an initiative of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), to mark the United Nations Day Against Drugs Abuse and Illicit Drug Trafficking (2021), in Abuja, Buhari who was Special Guest of Honour at the launch, also charged the NDLEA to intensify efforts at ridding the vast forests of the Southwest and South-South regions of the country of criminal elements, who had made the places their hideouts, from where they launch criminal onslaughts as well as the farming of marijuana.
Speaking emphatically on the danger the menace of abuse of drugs and illicit substances as well as drug trafficking posed to Nigeria, the President, who was represented by the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Boss Mustapha, noted illicit drugs are targeting three generations for destruction.
“The war against drugs is a war that must be fought by all. It is, therefore, my pleasure, to declare, on behalf of the good people of Nigeria, a War Against Drug Abuse (WADA), not just as a slogan, but a call for civil action for all Nigerians to take an active part in this war.
“Let me say that this war is more deadly than the insurgency we have in the Northeastern part of the country or the acts of banditry in the Northwest or the acts of kidnapping that transcends all the geopolitical zones of this country, because it is a war that is destroying three generations because I’ve seen clips of where grandparents are on drugs, parents are on drugs, and by extension, their wards, their children are on drugs.
“So this is a war that is targeting three generations in a stretch. So it is more deadly than even the security challenges that we are having in this country and I believe strongly that every effort must be put in place to ensure that we deal with the issues of substance abuse and trafficking and manufacture so that we can get to the root cause as ably elucidated by our keynote speaker this afternoon.
“I believe strongly, with every bit of conviction, that if we are able to deal with the issues of drug abuse, substantial, our security challenges will drastically reduce as we walk towards a drug-free, Nigeria.
“I once again implore all Nigerians from every strata of life; our traditional institutions, our religious leaders, our local leadership at every level, to be very vigilant and to support this cause and the war against drug that has declared on this day, the 26th of June they 2021,” the President said.
President Buhari tasked the NDLEA to swing into action by descending on specific isolated forests in different parts of the country, especially in the Southwest and South-South regions of the country to dislodge criminal elements engaged in the plantation of cannabis in these forests, as well as using same places as launching grounds for their criminal activities.
“I am directing the NDLEA to develop a robust risk-communication and community engagement strategy that will not only disseminate the four pillars of the plan to responsible entities but also deal with destroying production sites and laboratories, break the supply chain, discourage drug use and prosecute offenders as well as traffickers, rehabilitate addicts and enforcement of relevant laws.
“I want to, particularly, draw the attention of the agency to the fact that the use of many of our forests as criminal hideouts is because large swathes of cannabis plantations are hidden deep within those forests, especially in the Southwest and the South-South.
“You may, therefore, need to drive these criminal elements from such hideouts because they use it for the growth of these plants and also as a repository for criminal elements to conclude and plan their adventures on our people.
“On this United Nations anti-drug day, I call on all families, schools, civil society organisations, professional associations, religious organisations, the academia, community leaders and individuals to work for the common good in order to rid their communities of drug use and trafficking.
“As your President, I will continue to address underlying causes of drug abuse, including poverty reduction, for which my pledge for lifting 100 million Nigerians out of poverty in the next 10 years and strengthened by the recently developed National Poverty Reduction with Growth Strategy signposts my unwavering commitment.
“Finally, I would like to appreciate our stakeholders and international collaborators, especially the European Union, and the United Nations Office for Drugs and Control, for their unwavering support to our drug control efforts, including the development of our roadmap.
“Also appreciated are the members of the inter-ministerial committee on drug control, civil society organisations, the academia, for their contributions and efforts to our National Drug Control initiatives”, he said.
The Chairman of the NDLEA, Buba Marwa, revealed that the value of cash and drugs seized in the past five months since he came on board as Boss of the Drug Enforcement Agency at over N90 billion, with over 2,180 traffickers arrested, including five drug barons controlling different cartels across Nigeria.
He also revealed that a record 2.05 million kilograms of drugs have been intercepted and seized across the country; and 2,100 drug offenders prosecuted with 500 jailed by courts.
“While the statistics are impressive, we wouldn’t deceive ourselves that we have succeeded in cleaning the Augean Stable in five months. We have only made a head start. We need to sustain the momentum. We need to win the drug war. We cannot afford to be complacent,” he said.
Marwa said according to statistics, Nigerians are the highest users of cannabis worldwide, adding that revelations from kidnapped victims have collaborated the facts that illicit substances are enablers of insecurity currently plaguing the country.
“It is not difficult to conclude that drugs have been catalysts of terrorism, kidnapping, banditry, armed robbery and various violent conflicts that are currently Nigeria’s albatross.
“The enormity of the danger of drug abuse calls for an urgent need to nip the problem in the bud. This is the reason we have redoubled our efforts in the past five months with the Maxim of Offensive Action”, he said.
The NDLEA boss stressed: “Today, it is a glaring fact that Nigerian youths are involved in drug abuse. Over the years, an undesirable subculture had flourished whereby adolescents and young adults wantonly indulged in the abuse of illicit substances.
“They not only became addicted to conventional substances such as cannabis and prescription opioids, such as tramadol and codeine, they also experiment with dangerous mixtures leading to novel psychotropic substances such as ‘monkey tail’ and ‘skoochies’
“In the context of that warped reality, they also normalised the smoking of cannabis as we have seen in some popular music videos and on social media. “High” became part of their social media.
“So, it wasn’t surprising when research began to give us bleak statistics. The National Drug Survey 2019, for example, indicated that cannabis is the most commonly abused substance by an estimated 10.6 million Nigerians, some of whom started smoking as early as 19 years of age.
“The Global Drug Survey 2019, also, cited cannabis as the most abused substance with West Africa having the highest abuse prevalence. The World Health Organisation on substance abuse also stated unequivocally that cannabis is the most widely used illicit substance in Africa, with the highest prevalence, between 5.2% and 13.5%, found in West Africa.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, West Africa, by implication, means Nigeria.
He linked the successes recorded by the agency so far to the resolution by officers and men of the NDLEA to clean up Nigeria and make the country drug free”, he said.
He also said “and in this campaign, we are tackling the scourge of drug abuse and trafficking on all fronts. In addition to the arrest and prosecution of drug offenders, we have worked out intensive drug abuse awareness and sensitization programmes targeting different groups, with an emphasis on youths.
“In this regard, my administration has thrown the door open to all for partnership in the fight against abuse of illicit substances. It is to this end that we have set up a Special Purpose Committee to involve stakeholders in the cause”, he said.
Lending his voice, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, urged the President to give nod to the appointment of 10,000 for NDLEA which he said was currently “understaffed”, “underfunded”, and “ill-equipped”.
Gbajabiamila, represented by Hon. Francis Agwu, Chairman, House Committee on Drugs and Narcotics, said the NDLEA is using weapons used during the civil war, stressing the need to fight the menace of drugs abuse in the country as all crimes were enabled by narcotics drugs addiction.
He said the National Assembly was working to amend the Police Trust Fund Act to ensure that other policing agencies like NDLEA benefitted from the pool, adding that efforts would be made to guarantee accelerated endorsement of Mr President after its amendment.
“If the surge in crimes must be minimised, then we must fight narcotics drugs addiction,” he said.
Senate President Ahmed Lawan, who was represented by Senator Ezekiah Dimka, Chairman, Senate Committee on Narcotics Drugs, underscored the need for individual and collective responsibilities to achieve success.
The United Nations General Assembly Antonio Guterres, lamented that the world drug problem remains an urgent challenge that threatens to exacerbate damage impact and to hinder a healthy recovery.
Represented by the Country Representative, United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), Oliver Stolpe, he urged law enforcement agents to go after the criminals at the upper level of the drug trafficking chain who reap the highest profit and wreck the greatest havoc.
Guterres said, the 2021 world drug report of UN, shows that death and crime attributed to disorders have nearly doubled over the past decade. He said while new HIV/AIDS infections among adults have declined worldwide but not among people who inject drugs which account for 10 percent of new infections in 2019.
He said international cooperation has helped to limit the proliferation of new psychoactive substances but the problem is shifting to poorer regions where control systems are weaker, drug sales continue to rise and non-medical use of pharmaceuticals such as Tramadol and Codeine is expanding.
He added that drug trafficking and organized crime fuel and perpetuate circles of violence and conflicts. Armed groups and terrorists profit from the illicit drugs trade and the economic fall out of the COVID-19 pandemic has left millions of people even more vulnerable to drug crime and illicit drug cultivation.
Disparities in the access to essential control medicines in low and medical-income countries have further heightened the pandemic. For example, medical practitioners in West and Central Africa in 2019 had four doses of pain medication every day for one million inhabitants while in North America in the same the doses was nearly 32,000.
He said investing in balanced prevention as well as drug use and drug use disorders produce solid returns in the form of saved lives, healthier populations, improved workforce participation and safety and reduced criminal justice cost.
Armed suspected kidnappers have abducted another traditional ruler in Ekiti state.
The Eleda of Eda Ile, in Ekiti East Local government area of Ekiti State, Oba Benjamin Oso, was reportedly whisked away on Friday.
Oba Oso was said to have been kidnapped in the presence of his wife while working at their farm at Eda Ile.
His kidnap brings to three the number of Traditional Rulers that have been victims of kidnap in the state.
Barely two months ago, the Obaadu of Ilemeso, in Oye local government, Oba David Oyewumi, was abducted by unknown gunmen, inside his Palace.
He was let off the hook after ransom was paid to his abductors, who are still at large.
A Community source told journalists in Ado Ekiti on Saturday, that the Monarch and his wife would have been kidnapped, but for pleas by the Traditional ruler.
“The Oba and his wife went to farm and were accosted by these gunmen.
“The two would have been kidnapped, but the Monarch begged the bandits to free his wife, which they agreed.”
The Commander of the Ekiti State Security Network, Amotekun, Brig-Gen. Joe Komolafe, confirmed the abduction.
Akomolafe said security outfits in Ekiti, including police, soldiers, Amotekun corps, local hunters and Vigilante groups, are already in the forests searching for the Monarch.
You just wish it didn’t happen. The tragedy of a Chief Executive Officer and his girlfriend. In the crazy modern age we are forced to live in, the men call their girlfriends by names ranging from side chics, to side kicks to handbags. There is, also, a category called runsgirls.
But this particular girlfriend was from hell. A devil’s gift to mankind. Every parent’s nightmare.
Young and attractive, innocence written all over her face, this young lady is not your everyday beauty. She is a “Slay Queen”. That’s another name her type is called. She is the fatal enchantress who put a stop to the fake and deceptive life of a high-flying, rich Chief Executive Officer of Super TV. She is the one who wiped the smile off the face of another young woman, the legal owner of the super-stud who ended badly. She is the one who broke another woman’s heart. And made her children fatherless. And she is the one who has reduced the lives of her own parents and siblings to an unending nightmare. And brought shame to all who loved her.
She has stigmatised her family, perhaps,forever. In the process, she has destroyed and wasted her own life. The fast life – booze, drugs, s*x – is gone. From now on, she would live a life of agony, and regret, and shame, and pain.
Her name is Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu. Good names. At 21, she had her life before her. She was a 300 level student of the University of Lagos. She was there to read, to study, so as to become somebody in future, and help her family and the society. When you look at her, she looked all that. A responsible daughter. Sweet looking. She was reading Mass Communication, a good course. But she hit her family below the belt, and became, according to the Police, and judging by her public confession, a cold blooded murderer. And a common thief.
Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu
Chidinma stole from the dead. She stole while watching the blood-oozing dead body of the man she had just drank with, smoked with, and had s*x with. She watched his blood flow in rivulets. She couldn’t be bothered. She stole her dead lover blind. Of I-phone. Of ATM card. After she stole his life, forever.
The victim was a 49-year old, good looking guy. Rich. Had a beautiful home in an area exclusive for the rich – Banana Island, Lagos. Upwardly mobile. He was the Chief Executive Officer of Super TV. So he was a Media owner, or part owner. The one whose media outfit exposed evil. The one whose outfit preached against the use of drugs by the young. The one who appeared prim and proper. But was all rotten inside, if his girlfriend is to be believed. From her story, he lived a double life. A deceitful life.
At home, he was a good father to his children. But would be at the center of the destruction of the life of, perhaps, his children’s mate. He lived a life of drugs, booze and s*x. And those, ultimately, took his life. So his side chic said publicly.
His name was Michael Usifo Ataga. The one now in the mortuary, killed by a girl he met barely five months ago.
How did Ataga allow his glittering life to come to this shattering and shameful end? How did Chidinma’s promising life come to this disgraceful end? A life that would, having confessed to being a killer, now be spent in jail or worse, meet with a brutish end in the gallows?
According to Chidinma, he and Ataga met five months ago. And the dating game started. A game that, I guess, was meant to change her life for the better – or, would that not be why she would date a married man 28 years older than she is? She wanted money. A glittering life. A fantasy life as a student. No hassles over school fees, pocket money, change in wardrobe. Good make-up. Good wigs. Good perfumes.
But she is not an innocent, deprived student. Her look of innocence is deceptive. She lived on the fast lane. High flying. A life of booze, drugs and s*x. She knew those to follow. Her type. Her circle. Not the male students, her age, in school. Before them, she was an introvert. A friend, she said, introduced her to her type of man. A man who would trust her to get a comfortable place for a get-away for two. Pure heaven. But it went awry on June 14, 2021 when the devil in them surfaced.
According to Chidinma, both she and Ataga were high on drugs and alcohol. She called what they smoked skay and loud. This modern generation will kill us. They smoke all sorts. And drink all sorts. With all sorts of weird names. So they were high on those, and things got out of hand. She stabbed him to death, in a most horrendous manner.
The reason she killed him is where she lost me. She said he wanted more s*x and she refused because she didn’t like the first one. What’s that? I mean, the way she told the story, it was as if Ataga wanted to take advantage of an innocent girl. She presents herself as the victim. But, perish that thought. Was having s*x with him not part of the ‘get-away’ package? In any case, even if the man wanted it rough, was that a reason to kill him? Why not walk away? Oh, okay, I remember. She said Ataga locked the door, and hid the key. Story-story!
Without prejudice to Police investigations, this girl told a cock and bull story. It is a story James Hadley Chase, the master story-teller, would ask his character to “tell to the Marines.”
I would say Chidinma went to the apartment prepared. Beneath her innocent look is a devilish heart. She had a well laid out plan. And, propelled by drugs and booze, she had no fears, no qualms carrying out her blood- cuddling mission.
She had a fake driver’s licence. That’s criminal.She had a foreign phone number? Why? She said she generated it? For what purpose? It will be nice to know in which name Ataga knew her. And, which name and phone number she used to book for the Service apartment that turned a murder apartment. Who would patronise that apartment again? She has exposed the place for what it is – no security, not even CCTV cameras.
Again, without prejudice to Police investigations, I am tempted to categorise Chidinma as a cold- blooded murderer. Her action may have been aided by drugs and booze, but it was not an accident. She had the presence of mind to steal his victim’s I-phone (the craze of our youths), and his ATM card. She had the presence of mind to change her clothes and, using the man’s ATM, withdrew, according to her, the sum of N380,000. Could be more.
But, this is the same girl who said she rejected Ataga’s earlier offer to her of his ATM card, disclosed the pin number to her, and asked her to go and withdraw as much money as she wanted. She said the offer was made when she accused Ataga of not taking care of her needs. Her response to Ataga’s offer: “That’s not what I mean.”
Dear readers, tell me, what else did this girl need? She said she rejected s*x. She said she rejected the offer of an ATM Card and the opportunity to withdraw hundreds of thousands of money. Did she want a marriage proposal?
Big mistake.
Most of these guys don’t usually marry their side chics. They are what they are – side chics. Their wives are the inside chics. They know what they do with the side chics – drugs, booze, wild s*x – and would hardly want to do those with the mother of their children.
It is difficult to imagine how this deceptively innocent side chic managed to subdue Ataga who, reportedly, was an amateur boxer. What type of strength did she have after smoking and boozing? Afterall, according to her, Ataga smoked and drank too.
Not a few people suspect two scenarios. One: that she drugged her victim, made him weak, tortured him, and forced him to release his ATM card and pin number. Or, two: That Chidinma did not act alone. That she had help from one or more people; that this was a cold blooded murder plan from day one. This, now, is Police job, for sadly, Ataga cannot tell his own side of his shameful story, his own side of betrayal and double life.
Here was a man who was married to an accomplished woman – educated, good degrees, top job, beautiful – with whom he had lovely kids. According to reports, Ataga, 49, was to clock 50, a couple of days to his violent death, and had planned to travel to Abuja to celebrate with his wife and children. They were waiting for him, obviously, with kisses, cakes and drinks and other delicacies. But, as the saying goes, Ataga wanted “one for the road” before travelling to meet his family.
He found that in a fatal 21- year old who tortured him to death, and brought untold misery to his family and friends.
Now, he is not in a position to feel the shame. The shame is left, especially, for his wife to feel, to carry, and to bear. She has joined the unenviable league of women whose husbands died in the hands and/or company of other women. Her name is Brenda.
So, tell me, what should Brenda do? Mourn this man – this husband of hers – genuinely? Or curse the day he married him? What will she tell her children, if they are not old enough to understand the shame that their father died because of booze, drugs, s*x and one “baaaaaaad” girl?
That has become Brenda’s lot, her life, a life of heartbreak and unanswered questions. Who will believe her when she says she was a good wife? Already stories are being spun around about her not-too-good relationship with her husband; about her relationship with one Izu, supposedly, Chidinma’s uncle. Stupid, unintelligent stories.
My unsolicited advice to Brenda: Don’t defend. Don’t explain. Don’t talk. Not time yet. The time for that will come. Stick to God, your children and your job.
As for both parents – Ataga and Chidinma’s? It’s your worst nightmare. According to reports, Chidinma’s father found it difficult to believe the Police when they came to arrest her. He tried to resist her arrest. He tried to protect a daughter she thought was incapable of hurting a fly. How was he to know he was living with a murderer in the house? Reports say, for putting up a resistance against his daughter’s arrest, he is in the custody of the Police. I appeal for his release. He is a broken man.
His daughter told him he was going for ‘ushering job.”
Ataga, Super TV CEO
She ended up ushering shame and stigmatisation into the family. Chidinma has, also, given “Ushering job” a bad name.
Now, when young girls tell their parents and/or relations they are off for Ushering job, there will be doubts and inner questions of: “Hmmm, who knows?”
The modern life has turned the lives of parents inside out and upside down. Parents are forced to tolerate what their parents never tolerated. A number of our mothers were fond of rummaging through our things. When they did, they asked questions on how you got what. Now, no mother would dare. Our children call us old school. They say we live in old times, archaic times. They laugh at us when we shudder at some attitudes. They would publicly, on television, discuss their s*x lives in the name of answering celebrities, and reality show stars. They would say who they had it with, and how it was. And we blush
Many parents dare not correct their children. Their teachers dare not correct them either. One group would flaunt child abuse, and read out their rights for you, atimes, just for telling them to mind the company they keep, or not to go out and stay out late.
A couple of years ago in my house, my younger sister dared ask our 10 year-old nephew to give her his very heavy school bag to check. His response: So that what?
We had a good laugh. He was lucky. My mother of the blessed memory would have given him a slap with the back of her left hand, and my father, a Headmaster, also of the blessed memory, would have given him six strokes of the cain on the buttocks.
Now, we watch, in shock, as children, in their early teenage years, smoke all sorts, video themselves, and upload same on WhatsApp and Facebook. We are helpless. This is what the new age and modernity have wrought on us. No shame. Nothing. Our youths need a complete rebirth and reorientation.
But back to Chidinma, how such a young, beautiful, innocent-looking girl ruined her life is what still beats me. She is in my prayers. But, more in my prayers are, especially, her parents, Ataga’s parents, and most, especially, Ataga’s wife and her children.
Finally, I wish Chidinma a good measure of what she put Ataga through. She should enjoy it. Why not?
Ekiti state Police Command has revealed how some students of a private Polytechnic in the state arranged and kidnapped one of their fellow students.
The Command’s Spokesman, Mr Sunday Abutu, explained in a statement at the weekend that all those linked with the kidnap have been arrested.
The statement said that “The Rapid Response Squad(RRS) of the Ekiti State Police Command has arrested a fourteen-man syndicate in connection with the abduction of one Akiode Akinyemi ‘m’, a student of Crown Polytechnic, Odo-Ekiti on 19th June, 2021 at about 1000hrs.
“It was reported that a gang of suspected kidnappers sneaked into the hostel apartment of the victim, blindfolded him and whisked him away to an unknown destination.
“After a while, the suspects, through phone calls, started demanding for ransom to be paid as the only condition for the release of Akiode Akinyemi.
“Consequently, two million two hundred thousand naira(₦2,200,000:00) was paid as ransom by the victim’s family members into eight different Bank Accounts as provided by the suspects.
“Upon the receipt of the information, the RRS Operatives swung into action and on 23rd June, 2021 at about 0400hrs, arrested a total of fourteen(14) suspects in connection with the abduction among whom are 10 students of the Institution, Odo Crown Polytechnic and four others.
“The arrested suspects are: Afolabi Olamide Lekan ‘m’, Peter Adeyemi ‘m’, Abiodun Oluwaseun ‘m’, Bamidele Emmanuel ‘m’, Adewumi Sola ‘m’, Adesuyi Adeyeye Olarewaju ‘m’, David Daniel ‘m’, Damilare Yusuf ‘m’, Olasile Hassan ‘m’, Jesse Obinna ‘m’, Mohanye Samuel ‘m’, Olugbade Timileyin ‘m’, Olamide Temilade ‘m’ and Blessing Omotuyi ‘m’.
“All the suspects arrested have confessed to committing the crime and stated that the two million two hundred thousand naira(#2,200,000:00) collected as random before releasing the victim was shared among them.
“Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Tunde Mobayo, while frowning at the act, appeals to members of the public to always partner and support the Police and other Security agencies especially in intelligence gathering that will assist in getting the Society rid of criminal elements.”
Going by public opinion, the future of the alleged murderer of Super TV CEO, Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, seems decided
By Akinwale Kasali
To residents of No. 57 Akinwunmi Street, Alagomeji, Yaba, and its environs, who had come across Chidinma Adaora Ojukwu, she is a gentle, friendly, jovial, inquisitive, and outspoken young lady.
Some described her as a Promising Mass Communication Undergraduate of the University of Lagos, Akoka, Yaba, who was versatile, urbane and was helpful to her Mother in the shop, where she sold alcoholic beverages and runs a beer parlour.
She is said to be confident and easily relate with people no matter their class or personality. She possesses an innocent look that could melt the heart of the toughest man in the world.
Due to her eloquence self-esteem and good voice, many tipped her to be a broadcaster.
However, the dreams are out of her reach following the alleged murder she committed. She allegedly killed her lover, Michael Usifo Ataga, the high-flying CEO of Super TV.
The reporter visited the Department of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos to get reactions over the murder of Ataga by one of its student in the department. Her colleagues and lecturers refused to comment on the issue.
However, a lecturer in the department, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “I know her (Chidinma). Beautiful young lady. She always stayed on her own, and looks quiet. I am shocked at this incident.”
Confirming the position of the lecturer, one of the students who is in the same department and level with Chidinma said that, “Yes, Chidinma in in my class, she is even in our group chats”
The young undergraduate confirmed that she is a 300-level part-time student of Mass Communication, UNILAG.
One of the classmates, who spoke on condition of anonymity said, “Yes, she (Chidinma) is a 300-level part-time student of Mass Communication.
She is a very easy going person who never talked much or mingled with people in her class. So, this is surprising.”
In a chat with Nonye Oguama, the spokesperson for UNILAG, on phone, imploring to get the reaction of the institution on the development, she did not confirm to this news medium whether Chidinma was truly a student of the institution or not.
Sadly, there is deceit, greed, lack of contentment and killer instinct behind that innocent look.
These were confirmed on Wednesday, June 23, 2021, when a team of Policemen stormed the residence of her Parents where she also lived, to enforce her arrest for the murder of Ataga.
Her father went blank, with the mother dumbfounded. He defended his daughter, claiming that his daughter couldn’t do such, thus shielding and obstructing the Police from effecting her arrest, forcing the Police to arrest Chidinma along with her father.
The father claimed that she had told him and the mother that she was going for an Ushering job overnight on the fateful day she Murdered Ataga.
The naivety of her father came to play following her revelation at the Lagos State Police Command, where she confessed to the crime.
Chidinma narrated how she murdered Ataga in cold blood, stabbing him multiple times, leading to his death.
Speaking to newsmen having been paraded at the Lagos State Police Command after her arrest at her Alagomeji, Yaba residence where she stays with her parents, she said she met the late Ataga about five months ago.
“On a Sunday, June 13, he asked that I get a place where we can stay. I checked online and sent to him, he asked me to go check it out which I did and paid.
“On Monday, June 14, we were together drinking, smoking and I also went to get food.
“On Tuesday, June 15, he was making advances at me and I resisted, so he became violent and later had his way. In the afternoon he ordered for smoke, ate and we became high because I also smoked with him even though I was still angry for the first one he did.
“So, I was on my own, watching a movie on the couch. He came at me again and I said no because I wasn’t happy with him.
“I told him that he doesn’t help me but only plays me around, he kept trying to make advances and I was resisting so I had to defend myself.
“At some point, he hit my head on the wall and was choking me. I tried escaping but the door was locked so he pulled me back.
“I grabbed a knife from the kitchen and stabbed him twice in the neck and threw the knife on the bed. He then tried reaching for the knife so I picked it again and stabbed him the third time.” she said.
After killings Ataga, it was gathered that she took his Automated Teller Machine, ATM, Card and made withdrawal of some substantial amount.
But Ojukwu said she only withdrew N380,000 from Ataga’s account after she had escaped and not N5 million as gathered from information of close associates of the deceased.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, while addressing newsmen at the state Command, Ikeja, said the Ojukwu hurriedly changed her clothes and left the appartment.
Odumosu said that Ataga’s body was discovered in a pool of blood when it was time to clean the apartment on Wednesday, June 16, when the door had to be broken into
Odumosu said the suspect escaped with the victim’s Automated Teller Machine(ATM) card which was used in withdrawing some money from his account.
Odumosu added that he deemed it necessary to brief members of the public the update on the investigation as there had been fake reports in circulation as regards the incident.
Odumosu further urged members of the public to utilise the social media positively and not for fake report which damages the image of the country.
It would be recalled that this news medium had reported that families and close associates and concerned friends first reported that he was missing, after several efforts to reach him proved abortive, until his lifeless body was found in the pool of his own blood.
Again due to some lingering internal crisis, the All Progressives Congress (APC) has extended the tenure of its Caretaker Committee.
The Committee, headed by the Yobe State Governor, Mai Mala Buni, has its tenure extended by another six months.
The Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee was initially constituted and given six months mandate to put in place new set of National Working Committee members.
The first tenure extension for six months, expired on Friday. This is the second.
The Director-General, Press and Media Affairs to Gov. Buni, Mamma Mohammed confirmed the tenure extension in a statement on Friday.
The Caretaker Committee was put together on June 25, 2020, following the sack of Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, National Chairman of the party, by a court.
This is the second time that the tenure of the Caretaker committee will be extended.
The tenure extension caught some stakeholders unawares as they had started to inaugurate Committees that expected to work with the National body for the conduct of Congresses at all levels of the party.
In Ekiti state, the APC on Friday inaugurated an Electoral Committee to oversee the forth coming Congresses.
The seven-member Committee, is headed by the Chairman of the Local Government Service Commission, Chief Samuel Abejide and has Alhaja Maryam Ogunlade, representating the women folk as secretary.
Other members are Chief Abiodun Aluko, Bashorun Odetola, Alhaji Babatunde Onipede, Hon Akindele Femi, and Hon Adumo Sunday.
The Chairman of the Party, Barrister Paul Omotoso performed the inauguration ceremony at the party Secretariat in Ado Ekiti.
The Chairman announced that the committee would assist members of the National Congress Committee assigned to the state to monitor and coordinate congresses in the state.
The Electoral Committee will also ensure that the congresses are hitch free and successful.
Chief Omotoso, while enumerating the importance of the assignment, charged the Committee members to be above board and show commitment.
A former Lagos State governor and ruling All Progressives Congress, APC stalwart Bola Tinubu has reinforced the need for Nigeria to remain an indivisible, unity country.
The former governor who is also the National Leader if APC, and has been rumoured to have presidential ambition, said Nigeria will scale through its current challenges.
He said aggrieved Nigerians should come together and talk on how to move the nation forward, rather than call for the outright break up of the country. He eruled out the separation of the country.
Tinubu disclosed this at the democracy lecture organised by the Nigerian Youth Congress organised in Abuja, the nation’s capital, with the theme “Nigerian Democratic System and Good Governance: The Journey So Far.”
According to him “Nigeria seats at a crucial junction. Do we advance by doing what is right or do we stagnate by settling for what is easy?
“Our nation’s journey is one of continuous struggles. We have struggled many times, yet never shall we fall. We are Nigerians and shall remain so.
“Of course, much work needs to be done. But it is time to recognise the points at which we fight ourselves. It is one that demands further reforms and evolution.
“We need to continue to transform and improve so that we perfect good and effective governance in Nigeria for all citizens,” Tinubu said.
Represented by James Faleke, a member of the House of Representatives, Tinubu urged Nigerian youths to work together to solve the nation’s problems.
He said the youths must find a way to work with the nation’s political leaders on how to chart a positive way forward at this auspicious time.
Tinubu said “Our youths are the engine by which our future and protection will be powered. Our journey till date will be further defined by your efforts and actions. This journey should not and cannot be a destructive process.
“We must manage the necessary change in a peaceful and democratic manner and ensure the continued unity of our nation, its people, and collective potentials.
“To perfect good and effective government is not going to come solely from the Nigerian elites. It will virtually come from the youths.
“This is not a time for you to falter. It’s a time for you to stand up and help push this great nation forward. It is time for Nigeria to evolve,” he said.
President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Emmanuel Jime as the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian Shippers’ Council, NSC.
The Council is one of the government agencies in the maritime sector, headed by Rotimi Amaechi, Minister of Transport.
Jime, the Benue state governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, APC in the 2019 election will replace Hassan Bello, the outgoing ES of the Council.
Bello: Outgoing Executive Secretary
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, disclosed this in a statement on Thursday.
Shehu said the appointment of Jime is for a four-year tenure and renewable.
“Mr Jime, who holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law, brings his wealth of experience to the new role having distinguished himself in several public offices.
“He was at a time Managing Director at the Nigeria Export Processing Zone Authority (NEPZA), a two-term member of the House of Representatives representing Makurdi/Guma Federal constituency in Benue State between 2007 and 2015, and Speaker of the State House of Assembly from 1992 to 1993,” said the statement.
Jime contested the governorship under the APC but lost to incumbent, Samuel Ortom.
The medical follow-up visit of President Muhammadu Buhari to the United Kingdom earlier scheduled for today, Friday, June 25, 2021, has been postponed.
Special Adviser to the President on Media, Mr Femi Adesina said in a statement that a new date for the trip will be announced in due course.
It is not known why Mr President postponed, but the announcement of the trip was greeted by strong criticisms from not a few people. They described the timing as inappropriate, considering that Nigeria’s Association of Resident Doctors, had given a notice of strike action over the many inadequacies in the medical system.
It was also feared that in the UK, the President could be met by protests organised by a group of Nigerians led by Reno Omokri. During his last visit to the UK, the Group met him with huge protests.
In another statement signed by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, President Buhari welcomed Senator Peter Nwaoboshi to the All Progressives Congress (APC). The Sentor defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Welcoming him, the President told him: “You are welcome to the progressives family.’’
Sen. Nwaoboshi, representing Delta North District, was presented to President Buhari and the National Caretaker/Extraordinary Convention Planning Committee (CECPC) at the State House by Deputy Senate President, Ovie Omo-Agege.
The Deputy Senate President said Senator Nwaoboshi’s decision to join the APC clearly showed that the effort of the CECPC was yielding fruit.
The implications of Nwaoboshi’s defection are in two- folds. First, Delta State Governor, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, PDP, is now being represented by an APC Senator as both of them hail from the same Senatorial Zone.
Second, the APC now has two Senators in Delta State against PDP’s one Senator.
Senator Nwaoboshi was suspended a few days ago by the PDP, for inexplicably publicly criticising the Governor. What the PDP did not know was that the criticism was a prelude to his leaving the party.
Penultimate week, Nwaoboshi was discharged and acquitted of multi-million corruption charges filed against him in the Court by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC.
