PINK REPUBLIC/ MY BLOG IS A STORY MARATHON.

        EFCC PRESS STATEMENT The attention of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) has been drawn to some spurious news circulating in the social media, linking its Operatives with some contrived " Stop and Search" operations around Lekki axis of Lagos State. We wish to state very clearly that our Operatives were not and can never be involved in such operations. Members of the public are enjoined to ignore such insinuations. EFCC is a professional law- enforcement agency and should not be linked with any traffic management operation on our roads.

        Fire outbreak in Marian market right now in calabar.According to a Facebook source wwho wrote few minutes ago that '' CALABAR: Marian Market on fire, fire service arrived after 2hrs. Claiming they had no diesel and water. They arrived with one truck and two men. Traders ask them to leave. They are gone now''.More photos below.

        The Enugu zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), has arrested seven internet fraudsters. They are: Ebere Tochukwu; Onuh Harrison; Christian Ogbonna; Ojobo Kingsley, Eze Charles, Princewill Nwalu and Ekene Ibekaku . They were arrested at Loma Linda Extension Enugu, Enugu State. Their arrest followed intelligence signalling them as a syndicate of fraudsters that specialise in  defrauding unsuspecting members of the public, especially foreigners through the internet. Items recovered from the suspected fraudsters include : three exotic cars: Lexus ES 350, Benz C300 and a Toyota Camry. Other incriminating materials recovered from them are several mobile phones and laptops. The suspects have given useful information in the course of interrogation and will be charged to court soon.

          _*- Warns Persons and Groups to Voluntarily Submit Prohibited Firearms in their Possession or risk arrest and prosecution*_ In line with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police, *IGP Mohammed Abubakar Adamu NPM, mni* on total clampdown,disarmament and prosecution of persons or group bearing prohibited firearms Nationwide, the Commissioner of Police, *CP John B.Abang,fdc* has ordered the strict enforcement of the IGP'S directive in Anambra State. Consequently, the CP equally warned individuals or groups in possession of prohibited firearms to with immediate effect, submit same to the nearest Police Station or face arrest and prosecution. For the avoidance of doubts,part II(3) of the schedule of Firearms Act L.N32 of 1959 provides inter alia that"No person shall have in his possession or under his control any firearm of one of the categories specified in part I of the schedule to this Act (referred to as prohibited firearm) except in accordance with a licence

        What a Great God we serve.... See this wonderful testimony as shared by  a Facebook user Adaeze Glory MumsyElla... Read below... If I have 10 thousand tongues it can not be enough! Nara ekene moooo! It's a testimony and I can't keep alone to myself.. it was around 5am we were sleeping and what we heard was gbuuuuuaaa! We jumped up as My daughter started crying seriously, fear grabbed me I was thinking what's the sound about so her father carried her up she kept crying, what we saw on the bed and floor was blood everywhere we checked and saw my daughter's hand bleeding profusely  😭 😭 😭 😭  it was a GUNSHOTS ooo  😭 😭 😭  it shot in her palm and penetrated from the back.... Hmmmm! Till now we didn't know where the bullet came from, we checked the ceiling, the wall and glasses no penetration anywhere. I laughed at the devil and his agents for his evil arrow have failed. Ah God! What if it's my daughter's head or chest the bullet hits what would have

         Wife of the Governor of Anambra State, Dr. Mrs Ebelechukwu Obiano, today, August 19, 2020, through her NGO, Caring Family Enhancement Initiative, CAFE, handed over the keys to a fully-furnished bungalow to Mrs Eucharia Nwakibie, a widow from Isieke Village, Akwa, Ozubulu, in Ekwusigo Local Government Area of Anambra State. The beneficiary, Mrs Nwakibie, lost her husband in 2012, and was forced to live in her father's house afterwards due to accommodation difficulties, with seven of her children, two of whom had died in the challenging periods. The newly-constructed bungalow comes with a borehole that would serve the beneficiary and her community and a standby power set that would power the building as well as the water. The house is also equipped with a set of furniture, forty-inch LED television, standing fan, refrigerator, mattress and other basic living amenities. Mrs Obiano has so far built a total of twenty seven bungalows for widows and less privileged women since CA

        Discussed yesterday with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, on the situation in Ghana as it affects our citizens. He is very much on top of it, together with the Minister of Trade, Otunba Niyi Adebayo, who is also in touch with his counterpart in Ghana. The happenings in Ghana are indeed against the spirit of the ECOWAS protocol and must be dealt with decisively in the interest of both countries.-Femi Gbajabiamila. More photos below.

         The Lagos State College of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health Nursing, Igando, has disclaimed an advert circulating on social media on the recruitment of Academic and Non-Academic Staff into the School of Nursing Complex, describing it as fake and untrue. According to a statement issued on Tuesday by the management of the College, the recruitment advertisement did not emanate from the school but was made up by dubious  minded individuals to entice and swindle unsuspecting members of the public. Urging the general public to disregard the advert in its entirety and rely only on official communication channels of the College of Nursing, Midwifery and Public Health Nursing, Igando, the release implored citizens to call 08033061863 or 08037200006 for further clarification.

          •Sanwo-Olu To Beneficiaries: ‘Justify The Opportunity’ Twenty-three young innovators and tech firms have been awarded a total grant of N100 million by the Lagos State Government to pursue various technology-driven innovations across the six pillars of the development agenda of the Babajide Sanwo-Olu administration. The recipients are the first set of beneficiaries to be picked to benefit from the N250 million seed capital earmarked, last year, as Research and Innovation Fund by the State Government. The awardees were selected through highly competitive process overseen by the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council (LASRIC) established in 2019 by Governor Sanwo-Olu, with the mandate to facilitate and encourage the development of innovative solutions to solve local problems, using cutting-edge technology. The Governor congratulated the successful awardees of the research funds, urging them to apply the grant judiciously and use it to transform their ideas into real

       The Imo State Police command yesterday arrested and paraded a band of hoodlums, armed with guns, matches and other dangerous weapons, masquerading as staff of the Imo State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission (ISOPADEC) on a violent protest in Owerri. The Commissioner for Information , Hon. Declan Emelumba, who was alerted and briefed by the Police on the arrest, parade and findings spoke to journalists that people claiming to  be staff of ISOPADEC could arm themselves with guns and matchets says it all, adding they were hired thugs by the opposition who were rattled by the public ovation that greeted the Governor’s successful commissioning of new roads in Owerri on Friday. "The opposition is smarting from the irredeemable shame the Governments successes is rubbing on their face and they quickly thought of another protest to take the shine out of the increasingly unbeatable trajectory of Governor Uzodimma's successes story. But luck ran out of luck this time"

         By Jimin Geoffrey A College of Engineering will soon be established at the Benue State University. Governor Samuel Ortom disclosed this today at the Benue Peoples House Makurdi when he received a report of the State Steering Committee on the Establishment of Centre for Infectious and Tropical Diseases, College of Health Sciences, Benue State University. He stated that a committee would be constituted to fast-track the establishment of the College of Engineering at the institution. Governor Ortom stressed that Benue as Food Basket of the Nation should also be the hub of education, describing the engineering college as key to technology development. Governor Ortom directed Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr. Emmanuel Ikwulono to present a memo to the State Executive Council on findings and recommendations of the report for immediate action. He commended the committee for the timely completion and presentation of the report in spite of the global pandemic, COVID-19. C

          The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, (EFCC) Kano Zonal Office, on Tuesday, August 18, 2020 arraigned a bureau de change operator, Umar Goni Abdulrahman, before Justice Usman Na'abba of the Kano State High Court on one- count charge, bordering on criminal breach of trust. A petitioner alleged that sometime in December 2019, the defendant obtained the sum of N29,700,000.00 (Twenty Nine Million, Seven Hundred  Thousand Naira) only from him, under the guise of selling the dollar equivalent of the said amount to him. It was further alleged that after the payment of the said money into the defendant’s bank account, he refused to give the petitioner the dollar equivalent of the money nor returned the money to the petitioner. The charge read: ''That you Umar Goni Abdulrahman, sometime in December, 2019 at Kano, within the judicial division of the High Court of Justice, Kano, being entrusted with the sum of N29,700,000 by Abdulrahman Ibrahim, which was transferred

         President Muhammadu Buhari presides over a virtual Federal Executive Council Meeting.More details later and more photos below.

          STATE HOUSE PRESS RELEASE Permanent Secretary, State House, Mr Tijjani Umar, has described measures to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the State House as very strong and solid, commending medical workers in the clinic for playing crucial roles since the outbreak of the pandemic in the country. The Permanent Secretary gave the commendation at the valedictory session in honour of Mr Augustus Ogueri, Deputy Director, Planning and State House SERVICOM Nodal Officer, who retired from the civil service on Tuesday, having attained 60 years of age. At the event, Dr Ibrahim Bashir, Head, Public Health Department, State House Clinic and Dr Chukwu Eze were also recognised for their ‘‘hard work and exemplary contributions to the COVID-19 response in the State House’’. Mr Umar said since the first case of COVID-19 was reported in Nigeria, the medical team in State House Clinic had been at the frontline of implementing public health advice and protocols to prevent the spread of the pande

         · Orders CP Oyo to ensure prompt re-arrest of fugitive​ The Inspector-General of Police, IGP M.A Adamu, NPM, mni has deployed additional investigative aids to Oyo State to complement the efforts of the Oyo State Police Command in the ongoing manhunt and efforts aimed at re-arresting Sunday Shodipe, a prime suspect in the multiple murder of innocent citizens at Akinyele Local Government Area, Moniya, Ibadan, Oyo State. The additional deployment comprises crack detectives from the Intelligence Response Team (IRT) and the Special Tactical Squad (STS) of the Force Intelligence Bureau, Abuja. The team is expected to bring their vast operational, technical and investigative experience to bear in supporting ongoing efforts aimed at re-arresting and bringing the fugitive to book. The IGP who condemned the unfortunate escape from lawful custody of the suspect, has directed the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State Command to intensify efforts and ensure the prompt re-arrest of the fleeing