Author: Editor

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Marauding gunmen in Benue State, Thursday, ambushed two commercial buses and abducted no fewer than 14 passengers. The incident occured along the Makurdi/Naka/Adoka road around 11am according to local sources. Reports say the scene of the incident is about three kilometres from Naka, the headquarters of the Gwer West Local Government Area of the state. Local sources identified the affected vehicles as belonging to Picnic and Sharon transport companies. Confirming the incident,  the Secretary of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, High-Level Unit, Yakubu Onu, said the two commercial vehicles belong to their members at High-Level…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka  All is not well in Abba, Njikoka Local Government Area of Anambra State, as the community has been torn apart by a Town Union leadership crisis. The people have called on the state government to wade into the matter to avert the looming danger that could lead to bloodshed and loss of lives. Recently, a bloody clash was averted in the community on Wednesday afterEaster, as operatives of Operations Udo Ga-Achi tried to stop what looked like a wedding ceremony at Ire village of the community from going on. A Mitsubishi bus belonging to the Abba Vigilante…

By Azu Ishiekwene It’s nothing to laugh off, however tempting. If the movies imitate life, we may not be as far away from an African pope. It happened in The Conclave, a film by Peter Straughan released in 2024, based on the novel by Robert Harris.  Through the intrigues, rivalries and scandals of the plot, Adeyemi, a Nigerian cardinal at the Conclave, almost emerged as pope before a contestant snookered him with the scandalous love story involving him and a nun, Shanumi, who had a child for him while he was 39 and she was 19.   If the plot sounds…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu  The Unity Torch for the National Sports Festival tagged “Ogun 2025,” on Thursday arrived Enugu and was received at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Stadium by the Commissioner of Youths and Sports Development, Lloyd Ike Ekweremmadu on behalf of Governor Peter Mbah. Speaking while receiving the torch, Ekweremmadu said that the state would participate fully in the festival. He commended the initiators of the festival, saying that it had created a bond of unity among Nigerians. The commissioner said that through the sports festival many talents have been discovered to represent Nigeria in various international competitions across the world.…

Ugo Nosiri, Owerri  The Imo State Police Command has uncovered a suspected case of child trafficking,  arrested two female suspects and rescued a four-year-old boy.  According to a release signed by the command’s public relations officer Mr. Henry Okoye, operatives of the Scorpion Unit intercepted the suspects—Joy Ugwu from Kogi State, and Rosella Michael from Zamba, Abuja–in Owerri.  Further investigations revealed that the kidnapped  boy, Jaffa Umar, was abducted in Abuja while hawking vegetables. The suspects brought him to Owerri and were negotiating to sell him for ₦2.7 million before their arrest.  A third accomplice, believed to be a nurse,…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu  The Enugu State Government, has met with some leaders of Aguowa community on the outskirts of Enugu city as part of the plans to demolish all slums in Enugu city by the end of 2026. During the meeting the state government said that eye-marking of property owners at Aguowa would begin on Friday, 25th April, while a two-week deadline set for the submission of title documents to the Office of the Secretary to the State Government would commence on Monday, 28th April. Speaking, the Commissioner for Housing, Dr Martin Chukwunweike, made some clarifications concerning the process of…

Ike Nnachi, Abakaliki  The Deputy Chief Whip of the senate, Sen. Onyekachi Nwebonyi, has distributed farm inputs to 2,000 resident farmers in his senatorial district. Items distributed were 35, 000 of 50 kg bag of rice seedings, herbicides, insecticides and 50kg of organic fertilizer. Flagging off the programme at Abakiliki Local Government council headquarters in the state, the Senator said the motive was to improve food production in the state. The Senator representing Ebonyi North senatorial district explained that the backslide in farming followed the discovery of oil in the South. “And that is why I have decided to make…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mr Nyesom Wike, has expressed delight over the defection of the 2023 vice  presidential candidate of the main opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, to the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC. Wike said the defection of Okowa, and the incumbent Governor of Delta State, Sheriff Oborevwori, along with their supporters to the APC, had vindicated his (Wikes’s)  stance on the 2023 PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar. Recall that Okowa was Atiku’s running mate in 2023, while Wike, also of the PDP, openly declared his opposition against the PDP…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia  Some Civil Society Organizations including  #FixPolitics Africa; and Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre; Transition Monitoring Group; and Enough is Enough Nigeria; have written to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, requesting the release of the Certified True Copy (CTC), of the recall petition against the suspended Kogi Central Senator, Senator Natasha Akpoti-Udughan. The CSOs urged INEC to ensure transparency and due process in handling the petition by making available the CTC of the initial petition which the electoral umpire rejected for failing to meet the required threshold, before receiving a fresh petition being allegedly considered by…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu  The Presidential Candidate of the Labour Party (LP) during the 2023 general election, Mr Peter Obi, has joined the global community to mourn His Holiness, Pope Francis, who passed away on Monday  April 21, 2025 at a ripe age of 88. In his social media handle obtained on Wednesday by Ikengaonline, the former Anambra State Governor stated: “Today, I joined Francis Cardinal Arinze, global dignitaries, and thousands of mourners at St. Peter’s Basilica, Rome, to pay my final respects to His Holiness, Pope Francis, who passed away on April 21.  “The solemn lying-in-state ceremony was a moment…