PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, DECEMBER 23, 2012
Abducted ex-gov’s-wife released, goes into hiding BY OLA AJAYI, Ibadan
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From left. Mr Fred Udueme, AGM, Brand, Vanguard Newspapers, Mrs Remi Diagbare, Editor Vanguard Allure and Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas, Special Guest at the Vanguard Allure Wellness Seminar (WOW) 2012. Photo by Oscar Ochiogu.
YO State Police command said yesterday that despite the release of the wife of the former Governor of old Western State, Brig. Gen. Oluwole Rotimi (rtd), late Friday, it would still ensure that the culprits, her abductors are arrested. This came as the woman yesterday refused to grant journalists access into her expansive premises in Ibadan. Mrs. Titilayo Oluwole
Eight mourners, two others killed in Bauchi auto crash BY SUZAN EDEH
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O fewer than ten persons, eight of them mourners, lost their lives while eight others sustained injuries in a motor accident along Bauchi-Gombe Road near Alkaleri Local Government Area of Bauchi State yesterday. Acting Sector Commander of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Mahmud Kachalla, said the accident occurred between Tsohuwar Gwaram village and Alkaleri town and it involved 18 people in a Golf car, a Honda car and one motorcycle. Kachalla said,“ Among the 10 people that lost their lives were five adult females, three adult males, a boy and a girl. Out of the number, eight sus-
Ekanem, wife bag chieftancy titles
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X-BANKER, journalist and Executive Secretary of Association of Nigerian Development Finance Institutions, Noah Ekanem, will on December 22 be conferred with honorary chieftancy title of OBONG UWANA 1 of Ibibioland by the Awa Clan of Traditional Chiefs in Onna Local Government Area of Akwa Ibom State. His wife, an insurance executive, Ifeoma, will also be honoured with a chieftancy title during the event which is scheduled to take place at the Awa Clan Council of Chiefs secretariat, Clan Heads Compound in Ikot Ese Ishiet.
tained injuries and they include five male adult, a female adult and two boys.” He attributed the cause of the accident to over speeding and over loading, adding that the Golf car had eight people com-
ing from a condolence visit to Jigawa State and on their way to Alkaleri, they had a head-on collision with the Honda car. The Commander said the FRSC personnel stationed in Alkaleri rescued the injured victims and
took them to Alkaleri General Hospital for treatment. Kachalla advised motorists to always obey traffic regulations to reduce accident on the highways especially during this festive period when there is mass movement of people.
Mimiko’s wife seeks grassroots devt BY DAYO JOHNSON Akure
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HE wife of the Ondo State governor, Mrs. Olukemi Mimiko, charged government at all levels to focus their development drives on the rural communities to act as catalyst for the overall development of the country. Mrs. Mimiko spoke at this year’s celebration of the International Rural Women’s Day where the Country Women Association of Nigeria (COWAN) honoured five eminent women who had played significant roles in the socio-economic development of their local communities. The awardees include
the late Mrs. Ethel TemiwunmiAdebawo, mother of Sola Adebawo, Manager, Communications, Policy, Government and Public Affairs of American oil giant Chevron; and the late Chief Mrs. Comfort Adekunmi Adesida, the traditional head of women in Ondo Kingdom. Others are Mrs. Felicia Olorundahunsi; Mrs. Grace Olasitimi Adeboye, the Iyalaje of Oke-Igbo; and Mrs. Oludiran Bosede Matilda. The celebration coincided with the 30th anniversary of the establishment of COWAN, a non-governmental organization (NGO) that has been in the vanguard of organizing and assisting rural
‘Okada riders protest illegal’
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HE Joint Action Movement (JAM) has described recent protest of some commercial motorcyclists also referred to as Okada riders against the Lagos State Traffic Law as illegal. The group, at rallies at Agege and Mile 12, over the weekend, warned the protesters that they were toying with contempt of court charges with their actions, noting that “the matter has been adjucat-
ed upon by a court of competent jurisdiction”. Addressing the joint rallies, the national coordinator and general secretary of JAM, Messrs Kehinde Olaore and Kola Animasaun, respectively wondered “ why an aggrieved set of people, who approached the court for adjudication could thereafter engage in senseless protest after the case has been thrown out!”
women in entrepreneurship and providing revolving loans for them. The founder and national coordinator of COWAN, septuagenarian Mrs. Bisi Ogunleye said the ceremony was organized to honour valor and diligence.
Rotimi, who was kidnapped, was said to have been found along the Lagos-Ijebu Ode Cross Road, near Ikorodu, Lagos State. She was abducted by four gunmen within the premises of her company, OAK Enterprises, in Ibadan some days ago. Before she was abducted, it was gathered that her workers protested against conditions of service after which some unknown gunmen drove into the premises of the company and whisked her away. Her abductors demanded N200m ransom before
Four kidnapped Koreans set free; police arrest two suspects BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA, Yenagoa
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HE police in Bayelsa State have arrested two persons over their alleged involvement in the Monday kidnapping of four Koreans working with Hyundai Heavy Industries along with their two Nigerian counterparts in the waterways of Odioma in Brass local government area. Though the embattled Koreans, J.S Chae, J.H Kim, K.H Kim and P.W Lee, spent five days in captivity before they were voluntarily released late Friday by their captors, their Nigerian counterparts were released few hours after their abduction.
Egypt’s vice president resigns BY TONY NWANKWO with agency reports
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HE political crisis that has engulfed Egypt has cost the country a high profile official with the decision of Vice President Mahmoud Mekki to throw in the towel. A story just coming in from Egypt says has resigned from his post effective today. Although no reason was given, analysts say it may not be unconnected with the combative style of President Mohamed Morsi which has led to problems with the judiciary and the legislature while also straining relations with the military. A statement announcing Mekki’s departure is expected to be issued shortly by a presidential spokesman. A former senior judge, Mekki, 58, was appointed last August as Egypt’s first civilian vice-president since the country’s 1952
they released her. When Sunday Vanguard spoke with the Oyo State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ayodeji Lanade, he confirmed her release. Lanade said the Police got the signal that she was found between the boundary of Lagos and Ogun states. According to him, “We learnt that she became conscious shortly after been released by her captors. She regained her consciousness and was crying. We gathered that she walked up to woman who told her where she was and called her relatives”.
revolution. Under a decree issued late September by Morsi, the vice president responsibilities include issuing decisions and taking necessary measures in the president’s absence, as well as access to draft bills and propositions put forward by concerned entities.
The two suspects, currently being held at the state police command in connection with the kidnap saga, are undergoing interrogation. The state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kingsley Omire, while handing over the released expatriates to the management of Hyundai Heavy Industries in Yenagoa yesterday, confirmed the arrest of two persons in connection with the incident. He, however, confessed that the security agencies were not involved in the release of the four expatriates, as, according to him, the Koreans were voluntarily set free by their captors following a disagreement among them (kidnappers). “The police and other security agencies had no hand in the release of the kidnapped Hyundai workers. From the brief given to me by one of the victims, there was a disagreement among the kidnappers; so they set the victims free on their own and dropped them off at Azikoro village after which we received a call on their release,” Omire said.
Queen Erediauwa identifies with the less privileged
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S part of the activi ties marking the yuletide, wife of the Benin monarch, Queen Esther Omoye Erediauwa, has donated gift items estimated at over N1million to three orphanage homes in Benin City, just as she called for peace in the country. The orphanage homes, including Amadin, Salvation and My Mummy or-
phanage, were presented with gifts items such as food and toiletries. Coordinator of the Olohi Esther Erediauwa Foundation, Mrs. Nana Idabo Egbi, who spoke on behalf of the queen at the occasion, stressed the need for children particularly the less privileged to be catered for, adding that “it is nice to gladden the hearts of our children”.