43
THURSDAY OCTOBER 14, 2021 ˾ T H I S D AY
NEWS XTRA
Kidnappers Abduct Catholic Priest, Unidentified Woman in Umuahia
Emmanuel Ugwu-Nwogo in Umuahia
A criminal gang yesterday morning attacked Umuahia, the capital of Abia State, and kidnapped a Catholic priest and an unidentified woman in two separate incidents. Rev Fr Godfrey Mark Chimezie of St. Theresa Parish, Olokoro, Umuahia, was kidnapped by the hoodlums on Enyiukwu Road in Afaraukwu Ibeku in Umuania North Local Government Area. According to eye witnesses, the priest was on his way home after a morning mass at St. Gabriel Catholic Church, Okpururie Afaraukwu, when the hoodlums intercepted him. The armed men were said to have forced the priest out of his Toyota Corolla car and bundled him into their Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV) and sped away to unknown destination. Rev Fr Chimezie, who hails from Enugu State, is still young in priesthood, as he was ordained early this year. In the second incident, a woman, who had gone to a petrol station on Aba Road Umuahia to fill her tank, fell victim to the kidnappers, as she was abducted and taken away.
The state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Geoffrey Ogbonna, confirmed the second incident involving the female victim, but said the police were yet
to receive information on the kidnapping of the Catholic priest. He told THISDAY that the woman was double crossed by the hoodlums as she was
coming out of the filling station opposite Madonna Catholic Hospital on Aba Road in Umuahia, and was taken away by the armed gang. It was not clear if the
two kidnap incidents were carried out by the same gang. Meanwhile, the authorities the Umuahia Catholic Diocese were yet to issue any official statement on the kidnapping
of the priest but the police spokesman advised them to go to the police and make formal report on the incident to enable the police commence investigation.
HAPPY 70TH ANNIVERSARY…
L-R: Country Marketing Director, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited,Mrs. Oluyomi Moses; Managing Director, Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Ltd., Mr. Matthieu Seguin; Managing Director, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Mr.Alfred Olajide; and Senior Manager, Frontline Marketing Portfolio Activation, Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited, Mrs. Soji Omoigui, at a press briefing to flag off activities marking the 70th anniversary of Coca-Cola System in Nigeria in Lagos yesterday. ETOP UKUTT
Economic Hardship: Man Ekiti Chiefs Kick against Fayemi’s Appointment of New Monarch Commits Suicide in Kwara Victor Ogunje inAdoEkiti
Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
A middle-aged man yesterday reportedly committed suicide in Ansar Ul Slam area along Oloje-Ogidi Road in Ilorin, Kwara State capital. The man, whose identity is yet to be ascertained, was said to have committed suicide by hanging himself on a tree in the vicinity of his residence. He was said to have done this by climbing on a drum to be able to tie himself to the tree while he remained suspended on the tree after he kicked away
the drum with his legs. Why he decided to take his own live has not been known as he was reported to look hale and hearty the last time he was seen by his neighbours before he committed the suicide. There were, however, speculations that he might have committed suicide because of the prevailing economic hardship. It was gathered that his decision to take away his own life has left his family members, neighbours and friends bewildered because they had no premonition that he was going to take his live.
Police Arrest Two Masquerades in Ondo for Stealing N370,000 Fidelis David inAkure
Men of the Ondo State Police Command have arrested two masquerades, Sheriff Ojo and Muhammad Lukman for stealing N370,000. The Spokesperson of the State Police Command, DSP. Funmilayo Odulami, alleged that “the masquerades attacked their victims, stole N370,000.00 and inflicted injury with cutlasses on one Adinoyi Mohammed the owner of the money at Ipele town, Owo Local Government Area of
the state.” Odulami said that “he two suspects paraded themselves as masquerades, inflicted injury with cutlasses on one Adinoyi and also stole a handset valued 32,000.00 and a shirt valued 2,500.00. “They also inflicted injury on their victim’s father, Mr. Saliu Ajayi. “Two cutlasses, charms and masquerade clothes were recovered from them. The two suspects had been arrested and will soon be charged to court while effort is ongoing to arrest the fleeing ones.”
The Ogoga-in-Council of Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, has declared as null and void the recognition granted by the state Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, to Olukere of Ikere, Oba Ganiyu Obasoyin, as a traditional ruler, describing the “balkanisation” of the town as sacrilegious and wicked.
The council chaired by Sapetu of Oke Ikere, Chief Olufemi Babatola, bluntly rejected the autonomy granted Odo-Oja, a section of Ikere Ekiti, and delineated territory to be presided over by the new Oba. Based on the outcome of the Justice Jide Aladejana-led Chieftaincy Review Commission, which found Olukere’s claim as an Oba credible, Fayemi had
last week recognised him as a full-fledged Oba, and he also designated Odo Oja axis of the town as his territory. A statement signed by the 16 members of the council yesterday said the governor’s action buttressed the fact that he was being allegedly vindictive for losing the 2018 governorship election in Ikere Council to an
indigene of the town and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Prof Kolapo Eleka. Maintaining that Fayemi’s action was also allegedly contemptuous, the chiefs said: “We have long instituted a case at the Ekiti State High Court to challenge the legitimacy of the claim of the Olukere of being made an Oba.”
NITEL/MTEL Retirees Seek FG’s Intervention to Pay 77 Months Arrears Sunday Okobi The over 12,000 retired NITEL/ MTEL staff members in Nigeria have lamented the nonpayment of their 77 months arrears through Pension Transitional Arrangement Directorate (PTAD), calling on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to come to their aid and save them from the ‘deadly’ situation they
are presently. The group of pensioners, who decried the lack of payment of arrears in a statement made available to THISDAY yesterday by one of the leaders of the retired staff, Mr. Samuel Urubusi, lamented bitterly about what his colleagues are currently going through. The statement noted that recently, the Executive Secretary
of PTAD, Dr. Chioma N.Ejikeme, spoke on the outstanding arrears of all government parastatals, that they would be settled in due course, “however in her speech, she stated that they received some sum of money that could settle the outstanding arrears of the pensioners which is approximately N120 billion. “In addition, she promised to credit us by the second quarter
of the year, peradventure she could not be able to cover the 77 months, she would have been able to cover up for substantial months.” The leader of the NITEL retirees in the statement said: “Now that the year is running out, nothing had been done about it. Presently, the union has being trying its best but its efforts seem not to be enough.”
Lawmakers Give Banks 14 Days to Remit N10bn Customs Duties to FG Udora Orizu in Abuja
The House of Representatives Committee on Customs has given two weeks ultimatum to five commercial banks to reconcile accounts and remit all outstanding customs duties to the federal government. The Chairman of the
Committee, Hon. Leke Abejide, issued the ultimatum yesterday at an investigative hearing on alleged non-remittance of N10 billion customs duties to the federal government by commercial banks. He threatened to write the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to deduct all outstanding from
source and blacklist affected banks from collecting customs duty. He added that there are 15 more banks to be investigated to recover every single kobo back to the federal government. Abejide said: “Some banks are in the habit of avoiding the committee.
The committee wants to conclude its investigations within the period to enable members participate in the 2022 budget defence. We will use the power of the gavel if the banks failed to reconcile with our consultants and pay up the outstanding before two weeks.”
Experts Move to Tackle Plastic IBDEC Links Power Outage in Ife North to Paucity of Fund company had tried it’s best in He said: “When we were which IBDEC cannot afford.” Pollution in Coastal Environments Yinka Kolawole in Osogbo resolving the power outage, contacted on the power outage, The Osun House of Assembly
Okon Bassey inUyo
The Partnership for Observation of the Global Ocean (POGO) has said that the need to tackle plastic pollution in coastal environments in Nigeria could not be over emphasised. Presently the body is raising awareness on the consequences of plastic pollution, noting that it could damage the environment
and pose negative economic impact. The observations were made when the Faculty of Oceanography, University of Calabar, visited the Ibeno Beach in Akwa Ibom State with students of University of Calabar International Demonstration Secondary School, to monitor how many plastics they could pick from the ocean to reduce Marine Plastic Pollution.
The Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBDEC) yesterday told the Osun State House of Assembly that the five months power outage in Ife North Local Government Council of the state was due to the faulty power transformer that would cost N90 million. The Regional Head of Osun IBDEC, Mr. Akin Ogunleye, stated that the distribution
thinking that the situation is what it can handle until it found out that a whooping sum of N90 million, which the company can afford will be required. Ogunleye stated that the company is faced with paucity of fund and could not for now take the full responsibility of restoring power to the affected communities in the local government.
we got to work thinking that it was a minor thing that we can fixed only to find out that the coil of the transformer had gone bad. “The bill we got for the repair of the transformer was around 28 to 35 million Naira, experience had thought us that it is not the best to repair but replace with a new one which is in the region of 90 million Naira
had last week summoned the Managing Director of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company IBDEC, the Nigerian Electricity Regulation Commission (NERC) and the Federal Competition and Consumers Protection Commission (FCCPC) after a motion by Hon. Lekan Olatunji over the power outage in Ife North Local Government Council.