The Labour Party Caucus of the House of Representatives has expressed deep concern over the prolonged captivity of Justice Azuka, a Labour Party member of the Anambra State House of Assembly, who was abducted in the state over a month ago.
The Caucus said that it is alarmed and disheartened by the Anambra State Government’s seeming inaction and silence on the matter, which they believe has hindered efforts to secure Azuka’s release.
The Labour Party Reps called on Governor Chukwuma Soludo to take urgent and decisive action to secure the release of the abducted state lawmaker and also address the growing insecurity in Anambra State, which has become notorious for kidnappings and killings.
According to LP Caucus Leader, Hon. Afam Ogene, “It’s time to bring sanity back to Anambra State, which has disturbingly become an open and ungoverned crime enclave.
“Even more repugnant is the criminal silence of Hon. Azuka’s colleagues in not taking the state government to task, in the search for the rescue of one of their own.”
This call to action was made in a statement issued in Awka, the Anambra State capital on Thursday, January 23, 2025.
Gunmen had on December 24th 2024, abducted Hon. Azuka, representing Onitsha 1 North Constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly.
The lawmaker was abducted while returning home at Ugwunaobankpa road, Inland Town Onitsha.
The abducted lawmaker is a chieftain of the Labour Party in the state, who regained his mandate after the Elections Petitions Tribunal sacked the People’s Democratic Party(PDP’s) Hon. Douglas Egbuna, who was previously announced winner of the 2023 state assembly poll.
Ogene said: “The level of carnage going on in Anambra on a daily basis is heart-rending. People live in fear as a result of the growing insecurity. The rate of bloodletting, kidnappings and other violent crimes in the state is fast turning the state into a killing field. And this is not an exaggeration. The crime that is reported in the state is just a tiny fraction of the horrendous insecurity reality in Anambra. That’s the brutal truth.
“The horrific experiences of kidnapping survivors in Anambra underscore the dire need for improved security in the state. The government’s primary responsibility is to ensure the safety and well-being of its citizens, as well as protect their property. It is imperative that the government takes decisive action to reclaim control from criminal gangs and restore confidence among the people.
“Although I am aware of recent efforts to tackle the menace, through the launch of Operation Udo ga chi and Agunachemba security outfit, one wonders why it took the state government more than two years to get serious about tackling the insecurity choking the state.
“The government must prioritize the security of lives and property, as this is fundamental to its role and save the people from the daily horror of the current situation in Anambra,” Ogene said
The Labour Party, LP, governorship candidate in the 2023 election Gbadebo Rhodes- Vivor has described the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, as the party of criminals and corrupt people.
The former governorship candidate, in the latest tirade against the APC said the party has been attracting the worst people in the society.
Rhode-Vivor spoke while featuring on a radio programme in Lagos on Thursday, saying the country cannot move forward when she’s being ruled by ‘the worst’ in the country.
The magazine reports that the APC is in power at both the federal and Lagos government where the LP candidate lost the governorship election almost two years ago to an APC candidate.
He said those currently ruling are promoting corruption, thuggery and other crime, adding that they are albatross for the country, accusing the APC of lacking the ideas to tranform the country for the better.
According to him, “It is visible even to the blind that APC is a party that rewards corruption, thuggery, and impunity. It’s no surprise they attract the worst of us: fake lawyers, and leaders with records of crime, without certificates.
“It explains why they do not campaign on ideas (or even govern with any) but rely on bigotry, violence, and rigging to force their way into office.
“No nation can grow with a party populated by people without character, competence, and empathy.”
Rhodes-Vivor lost the governorship election to Babajide sanwo-Olu of the APC in 2023, according the results declared by the Independent national Electoral Commission, INEC.
The National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons (NAPTIP), has rescued nine pregnant women from a baby factory in one of the sprawling estates in Ushafa area of Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, (FCT).
NAPTIP’s spokesman, Vincent Adeoye, who disclosed this in a statement on Thursday in Abuja, said the raid on the baby factory followed a tip-off from a concerned citizen.
According to him, the victims were locked up in an apartment inside the estate by a yet-to-be-identified suspected trafficking agent who allegedly recruited them through an online platform.
Adekoye also said that the Director-General of the Agency, Hajia Binta Adamu-Bello, has lauded the Judiciary, for the landmark judgment of convicting and sentencing one Bishop Kenneth Duke.
The NAPTIP DG, who said the judgment would serve as a deterrent to others, warned that the Agency would not spare anyone who violates any of its laws.
“Like, I warned a few weeks ago, NAPTIP will not spare anyone found to have violated any of the laws irrespective of status, either on human trafficking or violence against persons.
“Rape is a serious crime with everlasting psychological effect and lasting trauma on the victim. We must all rise to say no to this heinous crime and ensure the protection of our children.
“How can you imagine a 52-year-old man violating a 12-year-old girl? It is painful and it is criminal. I am relieved that the Judiciary has served the convict the commensurable dose of punishment”
The Court of Appeal sitting in Akure, Ondo State capital, on Thursday, January 23, 2024, ruled that a Hotelier and University Proprietor, Chief (Dr) Rahmon Adedoyin, must die by hanging. He is to pay the supreme price for the murder of Timothy Adegoke, a Master’s degree student of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU) Ile Ife in his Hotel, Hilton Honours.
The Appellate Court on Thursday upheld the Adedoyin guilty verdict in the Master’s degree student’s murder.
Adegoke had lodged in Adedoyin’s Hotel in Ife on arrival from Abuja where he was working to take his final examination as a Master’s degree student. But in the night, he was inexplicably murdered and his body dumped in a nearby bush.
The appellate court noted that the judgment by the Osun State High Court, which sentenced Adedoyin to death still stands.
The appeal court had reserved the judgment on October 29, 2024.
The judgement read in parts, “The judgment of the High Court of Osun State stands. Adedoyin’s appeal is dismissed in part. The Court of Appeal held that Adedoyin was properly convicted and sentenced to death.
“Order of forfeiture of Hilton Hotel quashed and set aside. Order of education scholarship to children of Timothy Adegoke by Adedoyin and others quashed and set aside.”
Adegoke was found dead in November 2021 at Adedoyin’s Hilton Honours Hotel, Ile-Ife, where he had lodged.
A source close to the defence said Adedoyin would proceed to the Supreme Court in a last ditch effort to save his neck from the hangman’s noose.
An Imo State-based Lawyer, George Chinedu Nwowu, has been killed by, strongly, suspected hired assassins.
Nwowu, according to reports, was gruesomely murdered on Wednesday, 22nd January, 2025, at about 7.00pm.
From all indications, it was neither a case of armed robbery or abduction. ”It was a case of premeditated murder”, said a grieving young man in his community. He said that nothing was taken from the late Lawyer described by those who knew him as easy-going and popular. His car was, also, not made away with.
He met his cruel fate at Mgbidi, Imo State, while he was driving. He was alone in his car.
His assassins were said to have, allegedly, over-taken his car, blocked him, forced him to a stop, dragged him out of the car, and shot him multiple times. They waited, allegedly, just for a few minutes to make sure he was dead. Thereafter, they abandoned the Lawyer in his own pool of blood, and fled. By the time shocked onlookers rushed him to a nearby hospital, he was, allegedly, dead already as a doctor on duty confirmed he was brought-in-dead.
Nobody quite knows, for now, how many his assailants were in number, the type of car they drove in, or why he was so callously killed.
However, unconfirmed sources claim he had a case in Court slated for the next day, Thursday, pertaining to land issues. It is not known if his killing was connected to the alleged case in Court or not.
Those who knew him, especially, his close friends and family, who suspect foul play, has appealed to the Imo State Chapter of the Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, to which the murdered Lawyer belonged, to leave no stone unturned to fish out those behind his fate.
At the time of filing this report, neither the Imo NBA branch, nor the Police Command has issued any statement pertaining the tragic incident.
It’s hard to argue when U.S. President Donald Trump says that God saved him to save America. Not only is a rational argument often suspended or lost when God enters the matter, but Trump’s return as the 47th president defies logic.
A leader’s job is never done. But how do you rationally explain Kamala Harris’s defeat in the presidential election and, along with it, the routing of Joe Biden and the Democratic Party in the Congress? If the election were a boxing match, it would have beaten the record of Vitali Klitschko vs Shannon Briggs’s 2010 fight as one of the most one-sided in boxing history.
Biden’s sins
And it’s not a laughing matter. Trump was a joke, but God, they say, uses jokers to teach serious people some lessons. I don’t mean his sordid personal record just yet. I mean where Biden had taken America compared to where Trump left it in 2021. Recovery from COVID-19 was largely exemplary, thanks to Biden letting data and science lead. The management of inflation on his watch (average 5.2 percent) has been the envy of most of the world, especially Europe.
The negotiations with Big Pharma to review the prices of prescription drugs saved taxpayers billions, not to mention the benefits of peace of mind.
He added 16.6 million jobs, achieved the lowest unemployment in five decades, and invested over $300 billion to rebuild roads and bridges. In contrast to climate change denier Trump, who pulled the U.S. out of the Paris Agreement, even though experts have described climate change as one of the world’s biggest threats in the next two to ten years, Biden returned America to the agreement and aggressively pursued investment in clean energy.
Forget the record!
But it turned out that whatever logic or facts might offer, God had other plans, according to Trump. It could only have been divine because how come voters didn’t remember Biden’s record or, if they did, we are now told the record didn’t matter anymore. What mattered was how they felt at election time – a concept obviously outside the realm of logic.
Follow divination
Trump’s sordid record didn’t matter in this solemn divination, this act of God. At the peak of his trials, Trump faced 91 criminal counts and multiple indictments. He was convicted on 34 counts for falsifying business records during his hush money trial and impeached twice. Just at the door to the White House, he was sentenced for a felony but received “unconditional discharge.”
Voters knewhisrecord up until November 5; nothing was secret. Yet, in a divination that spared him to redeem America—one of the few countries, apart from South Africa, Sweden and Finland, where a candidate can be elected even with a convict’s milestone around his neck—Trump won resoundingly.
Donald Trump
It’s pointless trying to figure it out. Trump is here to finish what he couldn’t in his first coming. At the Inauguration on Monday, he announced a glorious new American dawn, the very purpose for which 1) the hand of fate made voters turn a blind eye to Trump’s chaotic record and 2) God saved him from being killed twice. Who can argue against that?
While we’re getting used to the political science of feelings and divinations over facts and logic, it might be helpful to ask what this second missionary journey means for Africa. It does seem that God saved Trump not only to save America from itself but also to save America from Africa.
Relief, at last
His victory is a relief for several countries with strict LGBT laws. Nigeria has an anti-LGBT law that criminalises same-sex marriage and public display of affection by persons of the same sex, with a fine of up to 14 years imprisonment.
It battled to hold its ground against US pressure for over a decade. When Biden was going out the door, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu signed a law banning homosexuality in the military – something that may have played out differently if Harris of the Democratic Party had won.
But Nigeria’s anti-LGBT laws are not even close to those of Uganda, which imposed the death penalty, a move that Biden described as “a tragic violation of universal human rights” and on whose watch Uganda was removed from the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA), among other reprisals.
Tanzania and Ghana were not too far behind a backlash under Biden for their stringent anti-LGBT laws, a misery from which they have now been delivered. In his second missionary journey, Trump has condemned all forms of “social engineering” and declared from day one there are only two sexes in the US – male and female.
This second coming is not only about the sexes or gender. Money—well, not precisely real money—is involved, too, for Africans. Crypto is getting popular on the continent. Data from Creditcoin’s blog suggests that African youths, particularly in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, are playing big. One source says that 35 percent of those aged between 18 and 60 in Nigeria owned or traded crypto assets in 2022.
The year before was a nightmare for crypto traders in Nigeria after the Central Bank banned trading in crypto assets, and it has been a long winter since. Well, the new crypto godfather has just arrived on the scene. In what signalled a brave new dawn for the token and its youthful lovers on the continent, Trump and his wife, Melania, launched personalised cryptos and became crypto billionaires hours before the President’s inauguration.
Flipside
Yet, the flipside of this balance sheet is concerning for Africa. AGOA, which provides duty-free access to over 6,000 products from the continent, is due for renewal this year.
Some African countries have benefited significantly from it. For example, Ghana’s exports to the U.S. grew from $206 million in 2000 to $2.76 billion in 2022. Kenya’s AGOA-related apparel exports grew from $55 million in 2001 to $603 million in 2022, while South Africa’s automotive exports also increased. Angola and Nigeria have also gained.
These gains are at risk from Trump, who described “tariff” as the most beautiful word in the dictionary.
Trump’s America First policy means the continent may have to look out for itself, which it does poorly even at the best times. This is hardly good news for subregional institutions like the ECOWAS, whose fragile multinational security arrangement was recently further weakened by the exit of four West African countries.
Nor are swathes of African migrants still trying to find a footing in the U.S. going to see Trump’s second missionary journey with its promise of criminalising migration as funny. The President’s attack on the bishop of Washington who asked for mercy for migrants tells the whole story.
Ask God
It doesn’t matter. Trump is not pretending he is on this mission to save the world. He’s not in it to save the climate, make his neighbours happy, champion a global moral force for good, or prevent chaos in international trade. He is sure not on this journey for Africa that was not on the ballot when he was elected, warts and all.
Conservatives, especially African evangelicals, who love him do so for the same reason Christians swear by Israel in the mistaken belief that it is a Christian country. It is not, in the same token, by which Trump’s piety is skin deep. But that is immaterial now.
Anyone who doubts that Trump is on a divine mission can take up the matter with God.
Ishiekwene is the Editor-In-Chief of LEADERSHIP and author of the book Writing for Media and Monetising It.
In a bid to stem the festering crisis between farmers and herders, the Akwa Ibom State Police Command has commenced an engagement process with all the warring parties.
This is just as the Command warned that it will not spare anyone ,no matter how highly placed, who jeopardizes the peace and security of the state
A statement issued on Thursday, January 23, 2025 by the Command’s Spokesperson Timfon John, informed that the Commissioner of Police, CP, Baba Mohammed Azare, on Wednesday January 22, held a crucial round table with representatives of Cattle dealers and Farmers Association in the State.
The stakeholders meeting, according to the statement, was to address the escalating tension arising from the frosty relationship between herders and farmers.
At the meeting, CP Azare underscored the critical importance of fostering peaceful relations between farmers and cattle rearers, and urged both parties to work towards a peaceful resolution of any differences in the overall interest of Akwa Ibom State.
The Commissioner expressed serious concern over the persistent conflicts between farmers and herders which he noted have resulted in avoidable violence and its attendant destruction of lives and properties.
He warned that the police will no longer tolerate such wanton and reckless violence and its destructive effects on the innocent residents of the State.
CP Azare expressed the readiness of the police to deal decisively with individuals or groups discovered to be promoting crisis and violence in the state under any guise .
“The Police will not hesitate to arrest and prosecute individuals who engage in violence. No one, whether farmers or cattle rearers, would be allowed to jeopardize the safety of the Communities in the State.
“The Police strongly oppose situations where criminals enter cattle farms, shoot the animals, or steal them .
“The anti-grazing Committee, includes some members of the Fulani community who assist the Police in tracking down suspects and making arrests.
“We, therefore, urge farmers to report any incidents where cows enter their farms for grazing to the police promptly, rather than taking the law into their own own hands” the CP cautioned .
He appealed to the representatives of both sides and other stakeholders to take the message of peace to their respective communities.
He advised them on the need to adequately inform their respective constituents about the unflinching resolve of the Police to take decisive actions against anyone out to disturb the peace and security being enjoyed in the State.
“We cannot afford to let lives be lost over matters that can be settled peacefully. The police will not tolerate any form of destruction of property, and anyone caught damaging peoples property will face the full weight of the law” CP Azare warned .
Responding, the Akwa Ibom State Chairman of the Cattle Dealers Association, Mohammed Mijinyawa, appreciated the CP for displaying astute leadership qualities by affording them the opportunity to engage with one another.
He assured of the unalloyed cooperation of the cattle dealers in any efforts towards a sustainable peace in the state.
He also assured that his members are committed towards a peaceful coexistence,vowing to educate his members on the need to avoid any provocative acts in the course of rearing their cattles .
The leader of the Cattle dealers similarly promised that all future disagreements will be reported to the Police rather than resorting to self help.
Mrs Rosemary Ubia, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry for Agriculture, commended the CP for organizing the parley and pledged to convey the message of hope and peace to the farmers in the state.
She also assured of the commitment of farmers in the state towards the pursuit of peace and peaceful resolution of any differences.
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has given a 20-day ultimatum to Political Parties in Anambra State to conduct Primaries for the selection of their Governorship Candidates in the Governorship Election.
INEC announced that Political Parties are expected to conduct Primary Election for 2025 Anambra Governorship Election from March 20 to April 10.
INEC’s Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu made this disclosure Wednesday while addressing Chairmen of Political Parties at the Commission’s Headquarters, Abuja.
According to him, the 2025 Anambra State Governorship Election will hold on November 8.
Yakubu implored political parties to forward their schedule for Primary Election to INEC promptly, noting that it will help the commission deploy staff for monitoring.
He announced that the next Area Council Elections in Federal Capital Territory will hold on February 21, 2026.
After eight days in kidnappers’ den, the Nigeria Police Force has successfully freed the wife of retired Assistant Inspector General of Police, Hakeem Odumosu.
She was abducted last Thursday near her home in Arepo, Ogun State.
Force Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, confirmed the rescue on his official X account Thursday morning.
Adejobi revealed that Police operatives killed the kidnappers during the rescue mission and seized the ransom they had demanded.
Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, commended the officers involved and praised the Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Lanre Ogunlowo, for their efforts in the operation.
In another development, security operatives in Kogi State have rescued three Pastors and 13 other victims who were kidnapped by hoodlums in the Ofu Local Government Area of the State.
The victims, including the three Pastors, were abducted after a crusade in Ejule, Ofu LGA.
They regained their freedom following the intervention of a combined team of security personnel in the State.
The Pastors who were Guest Ministers at the Crusade, were on their way to their Guest House when they were ambushed by their abductors after the second day of the three-day event.
Upon being alerted, the Nigerian Army quickly mobilised other Security Operatives, launched a search that lasted two nights before locating the kidnappers in a forest.
After a two-hour gunfight, the kidnappers fled with varying degrees of injuries, leaving behind the victims.
Kogi’s Deputy Governor, Joel Salifu, lauded the bravery of the Nigerian Army and other security agencies involved in the rescue.
In a statement issued by his Press Secretary, Emmanuel Unubi, Salifu, the Deputy Governor expressed relief that the victims were safely freed and commended the Security Personnel for their efforts.
He also promised that under Governor Ahmed Ododo’s administration, Kogi would not be a safe haven for criminals, noting the State’s commitment to maintaining security and protecting lives and property.
The Abia state Government on Wednesday, January, 22, 2025, issued a stern warning to all merchants of fake and counterfeit products across markets in the State.
This is even as the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control NAFDAC, insisted that it is only against some unscrupulous elements endangering the health of unsuspecting Nigerians.
At an interactive session with the leadership, traders and other stakeholders of the embattled, Eziukwu Road International Market Aba, Martins Iluyomade, Director, South East Zone of NAFDAC, informed that the market, will only be unsealed after due consultation with the National leadership of the regulatory body.
The Source reports that the Eziukwu Road market ,a renowned hub for the sale and distribution of essential commodities in the South East, was, in December, 2024, sealed by the NAFDAC after intercepting adulterated items worth over N5 billion.
The monumental seizure initially led to the closure of the entire market which serves customers from the South South and South East Regions.
However, before leaving the Commercial hub of Abia State on December 17, the regulatory agency, reopened some parts of the market, leaving sealed the areas largely perceived as a haven for producers and distributors of counterfeit items .
According to the South East Director of NAFDAC, the areas closed will remain so until the resolution of some teething problems.
“Look, it is not as if NAFDAC is against buying and selling, but we are rather against the activities of some unscrupulous elements who are poisoning their fellow citizens all in the name of doing business
“Anyway, I have heard the plea of the stakeholders for the reopening of the sealed areas of the market. But such a decision can not be taken at the Zonal level as we need to table the matter before the national leadership of the organization.
“We value the creativity of an average Aba person ,as well as his/ her industry. However, we are of the view that the creative abilities should be properly harnessed and channeled towards the improvement of the nation’s economy and not to destroy it and the citizens.
“When we first came in 2023, it was based on the information we received. After observing somethings happening at the market ,we took a decision that we will not allow those things to continue.
“We are hearing of kidney failure, heart failure and other things we were not hearing before. Available data has shown that 60% of those suffering these ailments are people from this region. Anything that has. to do with food and drug is a serious matter .
“You can wipe a whole nation through food and drink. It is worst than carrying gun. This issue of fake products related ailments is worse because you use your hard-earned money to buy death.
“This is why because of our commitment, we are insisting that this problem of fake and counterfeit products will not be allowed to fester”, Iluyemode stated.
He lauded the leadership of the market for exhibiting enough political will in pushing for the eradication of the menace of fake and counterfeit products at the market.
Also speaking, the Abia State Commissioner for Trade and Commerce, Hon Kingsley Nwokocha, called on those engaged in the unwholesome business of. fake and counterfeit products manufacturing and distribution to quickly relocate from the State.
According to him, the State authorities will no longer condone any activities that tend to drag the good name of Abia state to the mud.
“What these few heartless people are doing is denting the image of the State as well as undermining the efforts of Governor Alex Otti in repositioning the State.
“If we say we appreciate the Governor and what he is doing, why then undermining his efforts? It is time we recognized ourselves and do things right .
“If we don’t do things right, the impressions out there will remain bad .
“The Governor is totally against this unwholesome act of faking products .It s time we stopped these few individuals from denting the reputation of the state .
“I am here to plead that we should stop killing our fellow citizens in the name of making money. We all are the consumers of these fake products and until we collectively say no to this ungodly act, we can’t make progress as a people.
“I beg all of you to look for another business.Leave this business of fake products manufacturing and distribution because it is not going to be business as usual in the state”, Hon Nwokocha noted .
Earlier the Chairman of the Eziukwu Road market Chief Alphonsus Udeigbo had described the activities of fake products merchants as the biggest challenge that have been facing the market leadership since coming on board in 2023 .
He noted that the leadership of the market will greatly appreciate the collaborative efforts of the state Government and NAFDAC in halting the ugly development.
” Here, I am talking about the those who are engaged in the production and sales of fake and counterfeit products using Eziukwu Road Market as a base .
“This issue was the most challenging to us when we came on board in 2023. Despite our efforts at appealing to the conscience of the promoters of this illegal and deadly enterprise, including the intervention of NAFDAC, they have persisted in their murderous activities.
“Apart from giving Eziukwu road market bad name, the activities of these producers of distributors of fake ,counterfeit and expired commodities have been very destructive to the health and lives of innocent people across the country.
“As leaders of the market, we are seriously disturbed about this trend and, therefore, we like to use this opportunity to appeal to the state Government to assist in rooting out this dangerous development at the market .
“We will greatly appreciate the State Government’s active collaboration with NAFDAC ,as well as other relevant bodies including security agencies in ensuring that this ugly trend is drastically curtailed, if not completely eradicated”, Udeigbo stated.
