Author: Iduozee Efe Paul

Oba of Benin, Ewuare II, has advised alumni bodies to support traditional institutions in curbing social vices in society. The Royal father gave the advice when members of Immaculate Conception College Old Boys Association (ICCOBA) paid him a courtesy visit at his palace in Benin City. Oba Ewuare II charged ICCOBA to keep their integrity intact as torch bearers of society in the development of their alma mater. The Oba, who gave a rare insight into his experience in Catholicism, which he stressed formed the bedrock of his religious knowledge and the Bible, also reflected on Nigeria’s Civil war. “It’s…

Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, has directed the Commissioner of Police to halt violent cult clashes in the State. The Governor has also banned Drivers Welfare Association and Network Empowerment in the State. He asked the Commissioner of Police to instruct his officers and men to immediately swing into action and halt the unnecessary bloodbath. The Governor had also ordered for the immediate and indefinite suspension of collection of all revenues in Edo, especially in motor parks and others, until further notice, saying he would review the issues surrounding the collections soon and decide on the way forward. “As…

The Executive Director of the Justice Development Peace Commission Initiative (JDPCI), Uromi Diocese, Very Rev. Fr. Dr. Fidelis Arhedo, has said that the high number of people awaiting trial in Nigeria’s correctional centres was unacceptable. Very Rev. Fr. Arhedo, who stated this at a roundtable with journalists in Benin City, said available data showed that in Edo State alone, over 75 percent of inmates in correctional centres were awaiting trial, for minor offences that could have been handled through non-custodial measures. The roundtable was on the effective reporting of the implementation of Administration of Criminal Justice Law (ACJL) in Edo…

A Benin High Court, Edo State presided over by Justice Geraldine Imadegbelo has sentenced two women to 49 years in prison for trafficking in human beings. Sandra Obasuyi, 29, charged by the National Agency for Prohibition of Trafficking in Person (NAPTIP) was found guilty on seven count charges and accordingly sentenced to 49 years and nine years, while the second accused Evelyn Edoleyi, 28 bagged three years for each of the three count charges for a total of nine years imprisonment. The two convicts who were first arraigned on March 29, 2016 were accused of trafficking two teenagers aged 15…

The Environmental Rights Action/ Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has empowered 30 women, whose environment has been impacted by activities of multinational corporations. The Interim Administrator, ERA/FoEN, Rita Uwaka, said at a one-day workshop for the women that the empowerment was aimed at supporting the women from impacted communities. Uwaka said the support would come through a structured learning and healing programme that would equip them with information on environmental issues, their rights, and their struggles with support for alternative livelihood options. The one-day workshop with theme: ‘Promoting Solidarity Economy. Building Resilience,’ attracted women from than 15 communities spread…

Gunmen suspected to be kidnappers have killed a renowned drummer identified as HC Ikhamateh Akhumhele in the Osholo community, Etsako East Local Government Area of Edo State. The spokesperson of the State Police Command, SP Moses Yamu, who confirmed the incident to newsmen in Benin City, said Akhumhele was killed between Iviukwe and Akioli on Saturday, October 26, 2024. He said, “We are meeting with community leaders on this unfortunate incident while tactical teams have been deployed to comb the crime scene and its surroundings for possible arrest of the suspect. “The DPOs sharing boundaries with that area have also…

The Network of Civil Society Organisations of Nigeria, NOCSON, has raised concern over the high rate of cult killings in Edo State and has called for the return of Edo State Security Network, ESSN, to check the trend. In a statement signed and made available to journalists in Benin, the President of NOCSON, Comrade Emmanuel Ogbidi, said recent killings in the state called for serious concern and that proactive and urgent steps need to be taken to stop it before it snowballed into a bigger crisis. “NOCSON had recently frowned on the killings in Edo State in which an estimated…

The Founder of ChariLove Centre, Ossiomo, Chris Omusi, has decried the dire conditions faced by the less privileged children of the Centre and the failure of government to provide them with basic educational support. Omusi, who expressed his displeasure at a press briefing in Benin City, said, “Ossiomo is certainly the poorest of the poor community in Edo State and, perhaps, in Nigeria. The place has continued to witness a circle of poverty stricken generations. And the only way an end can be put to this is through proper education off the children. “Very sadly, this is what the children…

The kidnappers of Rev. Fr. Thomas Oyode, the Rector of the Immaculate Conception Minor Seminary of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Edo State, have reportedly demanded for a N200 million ransom. Oyode was kidnapped on Sunday by gunmen at an evening mass at the seminary at Ivhianokpodi in Etsako East Local Government Area of the state, according to the Director of Communications of the Catholic Diocese of Auchi, Rev. Fr. Peter Egielewa. A source who asked not to be named, said, “The kidnappers on Monday evening contacted the Auchi Catholic Diocese and asked them to pay ₦200 million if they…

The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources (Oil), Senator Heineken Lokpobiri has said the Floating Production Storage and Offloading (FPSO) facility in Lagos, a joint venture between NNPC Limited and Century Nigeria Limited, in partnership with WAEP and ENSERV, has potential to boost Nigeria’s crude oil production by an additional 40,000 barrels per day (bpd). A statement signed by the minister’s SA Media and Communication, Nneamaka Okafor in Abuja, noted that the FPSO project is one of the measures arising from the Minister’s engagement with NNPC Limited, in line with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s directive for increased production, and it…