PINK REPUBLIC/ MY BLOG IS A STORY MARATHON.

 Teacher who sodomised my 10-year-old son must go to jail – Lagos mother Mother and businesswoman, Mrs Joseph Sedoo, speaks to AJIBADE OMAPE about how her 10-year-old son was sodomised by a 22-year-old teacher in his school under the pretence of helping him (son) to practise for a prize-winning competition How did you learn about the incident involving your son and his teacher? The incident happened on October 25, 2024. My son returned from school and told me there was an ongoing competition in his school, and his class teacher fixed his name there. He said the winner of the competition would take millions of naira home. My son said a drama competition would also take place. He told me he answered questions and his ‘uncle’ gifted him something. He spelt the questions out for me when I demanded to know them. The teacher sent his phone number to me through my son, stating that he planned to pick him up on Saturday. I declined and told my son that if the teacher came, he should call m...

 How crowd trampled on my baby during Ibadan stampede – Survivor In this interview, a female survivor who went to the children funfair at the Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan, where more than 35 children died, shares her experience at the scene with Gabriel Oshokha and Ademola Adegbite Tell us about yourself My name is Laide. I am a 30-year-old hairstylist and a mother of a three-year-old kid. We got to the venue of the funfair a few minutes to 6am. Before we got to the venue, a large crowd had already gathered. The entrance to Islamic High School Basorun, the venue of the funfair, was already jam-packed with people numbering over 10,000. The crowd was quite thick to the extent that it was almost becoming difficult to breathe. I had my three-year-old child strapped to my back, and she was getting suffocated by the intense heat. How did the stampede occur? After standing a long while in front of the entrance, Mr Oriyomi Hamzat, one of the organisers of the event, drove to the s...

 Woman remanded in prison for allegedly threatening Seyi Tinubu, IGP A woman identified as Olamide Thomas, who allegedly threatened Seyi Tinubu with death on social media, was on Friday, arraigned at a Federal High Court in Abuja. She was arraigned by the office of the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, before Justice Emeka Nwite on three-count charge. DAILY POST reports that Olamide was arrested on allegations bordering on harassing and threatening Seyi Tinubu, Egbetokun and the Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, in a viral social media post In the charge marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/636/2024 dated and filed on Dec 18 by the police team of lawyers led by A.A. Egwu, Olamide was sued as sole defendant. Upon resumed sitting, Victor Okoye, who appeared for the police, told the court that the matter was fixed for arraignment, adding that he was ready to proceed. After the counts were read to the defendant, she pleaded not guilty to the charge. The defence lawyer, T J. A...

 LASG MOVES TO CHECKMATE FAKE NEWS WITH RESILIENCE INTELLIGENCE SYSTEM  The Lagos State Resilience Office (LASRO) has organised a workshop aimed at checkmating fake news through the Lagos Resilience Intelligence System (LRIS) at the Colossus, Maryland, Lagos, on Thursday. Dr. Folayinka Dania, the Lagos State Chief Resilience Officer explained that the workshop aimed to validate information regarding early warning signs of the risk of misinformation and disinformation, the adequacy of the proposed threshold, and access to information relevant to assessing risk indicators. According to her, the workshop is a critical step in ensuring that the Lagos Resilience Intelligence System is effective in mitigating the risks associated with misinformation and disinformation which threaten livelihoods in Lagos. Represented by Mr. Olufemi Dada, Assistant Town Planning in the Agency, Dania said, “We gathered to discuss misinformation and disinformation as threats to our livelihoods in Lagos ...

 Police Arrest Alleged Kidnap Kingpin in Rivers The Rivers State Police Command has apprehended 30-year-old Nwile Bete, a suspected kidnap leader, during an operation in Port Harcourt. The operation also resulted in the rescue of a 10-year-old boy who had been kidnapped by Bete. Police spokesperson, SP Grace Iringe-Koko, confirmed the arrest in a statement issued on Friday. Bete allegedly abducted the boy on November 25 and demanded a ransom of N5 million for his release. The boy's mother reported the abduction, prompting the police's Anti-Kidnapping Unit to take action. Based on credible intelligence, officers tracked Bete to Rumuekeni School Road in Port Harcourt, where he was arrested. After his capture, Bete confessed to the crime and led police to Sogho village in the Khana area, where the boy was found unharmed and reunited with his family. Iringe-Koko confirmed that investigations are underway to locate Bete’s accomplices, who remain at large. The suspect will face charg...

 Peter Obi To Pay Dele Farotimi’s ₦30 Million Bail Fee Former presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi, has said he would meet the bail conditions of human rights lawyer, Dele Farotimi.Dele Farotimi was granted bail in his alleged defamation case against Afe Babalola by Ekiti Magistrate Court on Friday. The bail conditions include ₦30 million bond, 2 sureties (one shall be a house owner), submit his passport and shall not grant any media interview. Peter Obi‘s decision to meet Farotimi’s bail condition was communicated by former spokesman of his presidential campaign organization, in 2023, Tanko Yunusa. Yunusa disclosed this in a brief statement on his X handle, on Friday. According to him, the former governor of Anambra State wanted the allegation against the former member of his campaign organization to be resolved in the best interest of all concerned. “I consulted His Excellency, Peter Obi, as the leader of the Obidient Movement. As a respecter of rule of law, due ...

 Zimbabwean Prophet Accuses Chris Brown of Illuminati Ties. Prophet Obey Tichafa Mukanhairi has sparked controversy by accusing American singer Chris Brown of being a member of the Illuminati. The prophet claimed that Chris Brown’s tattoos are evidence of his alleged involvement with the secret society, and that his recent concert was a ploy to “win souls” for the Illuminati. The prophet’s comments were met with fierce backlash on social media, with many of Chris Brown’s fans defending the singer and accusing the prophet of jealousy. They pointed out that Chris Brown had achieved a remarkable feat by filling up the largest stadium in Africa, and that the prophet’s criticism was unfair. Interestingly, Prophet Shepherd Bushiri also weighed in on the controversy, noting that he had filled the FNB stadium four times without receiving the same level of recognition as Chris Brown. Bushiri implied that the praise heaped on Chris Brown was undeserved, given his alleged ties to the “kingdom...

  Johannesburg family devastated after funeral parlour cremation mix-up According to MDN News, a Johannesburg family has been left heartbroken after discovering that their mother’s body was mistakenly cremated by B3 Funeral Parlour. The grieving Thekiso family visited the funeral parlour to collect their loved one’s remains, only to be informed that her body had been erroneously cremated. B3 Funeral Parlour has acknowledged the mistake and offered compensation to the family. Executive head Isaac Mamotsau issued an apology, explaining that an internal investigation revealed the error occurred due to a mix-up with identification tags. “Our investigations revealed the greatest mistake, an error. We apologise for what occurred,” said Mamotsau. He explained that during preparations, morticians removed the tags from the bodies, leaving them in the cold room. Upon returning the bodies to storage, the tags were misplaced, leading to the wrong body being cremated. The funeral parlour has vo...

 France begins to withdraw troops from Chad after exit order France began withdrawing soldiers from Chad on Friday, Chad's defence ministry said, after N'Djamena last month abruptly ended military cooperation with the former colonial power, AFP reported. A contingent of 120 soldiers departed for France from a military airport in the capital, the ministry said in a statement on Facebook, 10 days after French fighter aircraft left the Sahel country for good. Chad had been a key link in France's military presence in Africa and its last foothold in the wider Sahel region after the forced withdrawal of French troops from Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger in the wake of a series of military coups. But it announced on November 28 its decision to end a defence accord with Paris mainly dating from independence in 1960. "At midday, 120 French soldiers took off from the military airport of N'Djamena on board an Airbus A330 Phoenix MRTT, headed for France," the ministry said i...

 A shocking incident unfolded in Noida’s Sector 70, where the director of a play school, Learn with Fun, was arrested for installing a spy camera in the bulb holder of the teachers’ washroom. The device was discovered on December 10 by a teacher who noticed a faint light in the bulb socket. Upon closer inspection, she found a hidden spy camera. The teacher immediately informed the school’s security guard, who confirmed the presence of the device. When the teacher raised the issue with the school director, Navnish Sahay, and the coordinator, Parul, they denied the allegations and took no action. The teacher then reported the matter to the police. Noida Central DCP Shakti Mohan Awasthi launched an investigation, which confirmed that the camera was operational and live-streaming footage to Sahay’s personal devices. The police arrested Sahay, who admitted during interrogation that he had purchased the spy camera online for ₹22,000. The teacher further alleged that this was not the firs...

 A shocking incident was reported from West Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh, where a woman received a decomposing dead body in a parcel along with a letter demanding ₹1.3 crore. The woman, identified as Naga Tulsi, had been building a house on a government-allotted site and had sought financial assistance from the Kshatriya Seva Samithi. Initially, the Samithi sent tiles for her house, and Tulsi later requested electrical appliances such as lights, fans, and switches. On Thursday night, a delivery person brought a package to Tulsi’s home, which was supposedly meant to contain the promised appliances. However, upon opening the package, Tulsi was horrified to find the body of an unidentified man along with a threatening letter demanding ₹1.3 crore. The letter warned of serious consequences if the demand was not met, though it remains unclear whether the threat was directed at Tulsi or someone in her family. The discovery caused panic in Tulsi’s household, and the police were imme...

Speaker Abbas' aide has come out to clarify that the Speaker does not owe the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA) any debts, contrary to reports that led to the revocation of his land allocation.  This development comes after Minister Nyesom Wike revoked plots belonging to several prominent Nigerians, including Abbas, for allegedly failing to pay for their Certificates of Occupancy.  The aide's statement suggests that Abbas may have been unfairly targeted in the revocation process. Reacting to the development in a statement on Friday, the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the Speaker, Musa Krishi, noted that Abbas has only one land allocated to him in the FCT and has since settled all payments. He said that it an error for the FCTA to include Abbas’ name among those having outstanding payments, leading to the revocation of the land titles. The Speaker’s aide advised the FCTA to be more circumspect in handling such issues. The statement reads, “The attention...

  The Nigeria Correctional Service, NCoS, Abia State Command, has denied allegations that its officials are hostile to inmates with disabilities who are serving inside custodial centres in the state. This is even as the NCoS has explained why it does not allow people living with disabilities to use wheelchairs in the custodial centres. The NCoS officer in charge of records at Umuahia Correctional Centre, Chukwu Iheke, refuted the allegations on Friday while responding to the outcry by the Abia State Chairman of Spinal Cord Injury Association of Nigeria, Prince David Onuoha, who narrated how his members in various custodial centres in the state are prevented from using their wheelchairs, and sometimes, their metallic clutches, inside correctional facilities. Such treatment, according to Onuoha, has caused his members physical, emotional and psychological trauma. But Iheke, who represented the NCoS at a stakeholders’ meeting organized on strengthening access to justice for all in Abi...

 PRESS RELEASE: SCAM ALERT  There is a circulating SCAM Post about a ₦25,000 Christmas Cash Grant from Governor Alex Otti. The post is a deliberate criminal attempt to deceive and scam the unsuspecting public. The General Public is hereby advised to ignore the scam as the Law Enforcement Agencies have been alerted to Investigate and Apprehend the Fraudsters. All Social Investment, Welfare and Intervention Programmes of the Governor and Government of Abia State are published on the Official Website of Abia State Government.  Ctz. UKOHA NJOKU UKOHA  Chief Press Secretary to the Executive Governor of Abia State.  20-12-2024.

The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, has given owners of the 762 plots of land in Maitama II District, Cadastral Zone, A10, Abuja, a fresh two-week ultimatum to pay for their Certificates of Occupancy (C-of-O) or risk final revocation of their allocation. This was disclosed this in a statement on Friday by his Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka He said Wike reiterated that the primary interest was not for people to lose their lands, but to get them to make necessary payments to the government. This fresh ultimatum comes a day after Wike revoked lands belonging to former President Muhammed Buhari, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Tajudeen Abbas; and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, George Akume. Also, 759 other prominent figures and organisations in Maitama II, Abuja. were also affected by the revocation which was for non-payment of Certificate of Occupancy. The minister also threatened to r...

 PRESS RELEASE POWA PRESIDENT HARPS ON GOODWILL, UNITY, GROWTH. As POWA Graduates 110 from Skills Acquisition Centre. The  Police Officers' Wives Association (POWA) President, Dr. Mrs. Elizabeth Egbetokun, has emphasized the vital importance of goodwill, unity, and growth within the nation during the recent POWA Annual Convention held in December 2024, at the POWA National Secretariat, Mambila Barracks, Abuja. The Convention which spanned a period of 3 days, from the 5th-7th of December, served as an avenue for the empowerment of scores of women and children of police families. During the Conference, the POWA President highlighted the commitment to empowering not only the wives of police officers but also the broader populace through valuable skills training and acquisition programs reminiscing on the success of the POWA 60th anniversary which saw the graduation of 110 participants from the POWA Skills Acquisition Center, Dei-Dei, Abuja. POWA remains committed to its mission o...

 SANWO-OLU ENCOURAGES NIGERIANS IN DIASPORA TO REPATRIATE THEIR FUNDS, EXPERTISE FOR NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has urged Nigerians in the Diaspora to recognize and leverage Nigeria's enormous potential, not only for personal advancement, but for the progress of the country. This, to him, will foster a sense of pride and promote the country's development. Speaking through the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, on Thursday at the "ConnectED Diaspora Fireside Chat 2024", held at the JK Randle Museum, Onikan, Lagos, Sanwo-Olu said that by celebrating and acknowledging the nation's accomplishments, they are inspiring others to follow the suit and ultimately contributing to the growth and greatness of Nigeria. According to him, “We need to talk more about the good things that are happening in our country. We need to elevate our positivity. We need to appreciate our ingenuity and talents. As a people, we need to als...

 LAGOS BADAGRY CARRIAGEWAY RECONSTRUCTION: LASG DIVERTS TRAFFIC FOR REPAIR OF SECTIONS ON SERVICE LANE BETWEEN ALAGBA, BAALE JUNCTION (BADAGRY BOUND) The Lagos State Government has announced planned repair works on the stretch of Iganmu Bridge (Lagos Bound), Eric Moore, Babs Animashaun and Baale Junction (Badagry Bound) along the Lagos-Badagry Carriageway. The repair work will be done in Phases, with phase I - stretching from Alagba Junction to Baale Junction on Service Lane (Badagry Bound) commencing from Sunday, 22nd December, 2024 to Wednesday, 22nd January, 2025.   Motorists are enjoined to use alternative routes as follows: 1.  Motorists inward Orile Community from Iganmu Bridge on the Service Lane will be diverted to Alagba Street to link Imalenfe-Alafia Street to connect Savage Lane to Baale Street, down to Kekere-Ekun Street/Tokosi Street to access Lagos-Badagry Expressway to continue their journeys.   2.  Motorists from Iganmu Bridge to Apapa-Oshodi Exp...

 Obi of Onitsha Unveils Ijele Masquerade Sculpture in Enugu, Praises Governor Mbah's Development Efforts In a bid to promote culture and tourism while preserving Igbo traditions, the Enugu State Government has unveiled a grand metal sculpture of the Ijele masquerade at the Onuasata Roundabout in Obiagu, Enugu. The unveiling ceremony was performed by the Obi of Onitsha, Igwe Alfred Achebe, who praised Governor Dr. Peter Mbah for his transformative infrastructure projects that are restoring Enugu's status as the heart of Igbo culture and the former Eastern Region. The Ijele masquerade, considered one of the most revered figures in Igbo tradition, holds special significance in Enugu and Anambra States. Achebe emphasized that the Ijele embodies the essence of humanity and cultural pride, underscoring the importance of Enugu's role as the "headquarters of Igbo land." Traditional rulers from across the South East, including Igwe Samuel Asadu, Chairman of the Enugu State...

 ALGON Decries Suspension of Edo LGA Chairmen, Calls It a Setback to Democracy The Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON) has strongly condemned the suspension of 18 local government chairmen and councillors in Edo State by the State House of Assembly, labeling it a setback for democracy. In a statement issued by ALGON’s National Publicity Secretary, Hamisu M. Anani, the organization’s National Executive Council and Board of Trustees expressed disapproval of the action taken after Governor Monday Okpebholo accused the chairmen of defying his orders by failing to submit their financial records to the state government. ALGON argued that the suspension is an abuse of power, particularly since the chairmen were not allowed an opportunity to defend themselves. The association further contended that the decision is invalid, as it contradicts the Supreme Court's ruling granting local governments autonomy. The move has sparked widespread criticism across the country, with many...

 LAGOS STATE CHIEF JUDGE SWEARS IN 30 NEWLY APPOINTED CUSTOMARY COURT MEMBERS The Chief Judge of Lagos State and Chairman of the Judicial Service Commission (JSC), Hon. Justice Kazeem Olanrewaju Alogba, on Tuesday, presided over the swearing-in ceremony of 30 newly appointed members of the Customary Court in Lagos State. Addressing the new appointees, Justice Alogba emphasised that fairness is the cornerstone of justice and urged them to dispense justice impartially and without bias.  He cautioned against actions that could undermine the integrity of the judicial system, stating, "Do not do anything to pollute the stream of justice." The Chief Judge further advised the appointees to foster respectful and harmonious relationships with their court proceedings, promoting mutual understanding within their respective courts. He also highlighted the importance of professional appearance, urging them to dress appropriately for proceedings, as their attire should reflect the dignity ...

 LASHMA RECORDS 143 MULTIPLE BIRTHS, CELEBRATES BIRTH OF NEW TRIPLETS The Lagos State Health Management Agency (LASHMA), has recorded 143 multiple births on its Social Health Insurance Plan, popularly known as ILERA EKO since its full take off in Year 2020. The Permanent Secretary, LASHMA, Dr. Emmanuella Zamba, who disclosed this during the celebration of the new triplets delivered by Mr. Toye Hamid and Mrs Habidat Hamid at Silverline Hospital, Ayobo, said that since 2020, pregnant women had 44, 231 encounters for ante-natal care and a total of 29,433 births have been recorded.  Out of this number, the Permanent Secretary represented by the Director, Administration and Human Resources, Mrs. Olufunke Longe, explained that 15,521 births were normal deliveries while 13,912 births including two quadruplets were through cesarean sections (CS). Dr. Zamba added that the quadruplets were delivered by Mr. and Mrs. Dayo Faniyi at Ikorodu General Hospital as well as Mr. and Mrs. Saka Ola...