Author: Editor

Agency Report No fewer than 700 people have been sentenced to prison over riots in France late last month, the country’s justice minister, Eric Dupond-Moretti, said Wednesday, lauding the “firm” response of magistrates. In total, 1,278 verdicts have been handed down, with over 95 percent of defendants convicted on a range of charges from vandalism to attacking police officers. Six hundred people have already been jailed. “It was extremely important to have a response that was firm and systematic,” Dupond-Moretti told RTL radio. “It was essential that we reestablish national order.” The most intense urban violence in France since 2005…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia The Supreme Court has flatly denied that the Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Olukayode Ariwoola, had any telephone conversation with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu; and the Director General of the Department of State Services, DSS, on the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal. The apex court in a statement issued by the Director of Press and Information Dr. Festus Akande, dismissed the purported telephone conversation among the trio as untrue, and mischievous. While urging Nigerians to disregard the misleading reports, the statement said such unfounded rumour was capable of ruining the reputation of the country. In the statement…

Nonsochukwu Uwa, Owerri The killing spree by unknown gunmen in Imo State continued with the killing of three persons in two separate communities of Orogwe and Irete in Owerri West Local Government Area. An eyewitness who confirmed this to newsmen in Owerri said the incidents happened between Monday and Wednesday this week. He also said a former Enugu Psychiatrist Director popularly known as Jojo, was attacked and his vehicle snatched from him. The reason for the attack was linked to the Simon Ekpa’s announced sit-at-home order towards the end of this month. The eyewitness said: “It’s sad Ndegwu, Orogwe both…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Abia State, Mr Uzor Nwachukwu, has opened the can of worms on the recent discovery on how ‘political locusts’ and their foot soldiers depleted Abia treasury while some compromised elders kept sealed lips. The startling revelations were made when the Commissioner was addressing a delegation of Abia State Elders Consultative Forum during a courtesy visit to his office. Nwachukwu decried the level of corruption perpetrated by the affected officials of Government. He also expressed disappointment over the baffling silence maintained by elders in the state while the squandermania lasted. The…

By C. Don Adinuba There is so much the Igbo can celebrate about themselves. Take their brilliant performance in education which is phenomenal. Whether in the West African School Certificate examination or the Joint Admissions Matriculation examination or the entrance examination into Federal Government Colleges or into the Federal Government-owned School for the Gifted and Talented in Abuja, the story is the same. Even in global educational competitions, the Igbo are outstanding. This is by no means fortuitous. By 1945 when the Second World War ended, there were a handful of Igbo graduates because the Igbo live in the interior;…

Ben Ezechime, Enugu The Police Command in Enugu State has said operatives of the command were on the trail of the hoodlums who attacked the Isi-Uzo Divisional Police Station, Ikem in Enugu State. The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, revealed this in a statement issued in Enugu. He said that those who carried out the attack were suspected to be members of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra, IPOB, demanding the release of its leader, Nnamdi Kanu. Ndukwe said the attack which occurred at about 4:30 am on Tuesday was repelled by operatives of the command. “Police Operatives of…

By Ejike Anyaduba With the 10th Senate inaugurated, the hope of effective legislation hitherto lacking in the previous senates, especially the 9th, has been renewed. But this hope may be improbable not because of the dearth of senators capable of discharging the office and holding the executive to account, but because of a surfeit of others averse to the common good and eternally opposed to popular legislation.      The 10th Senate as composed has no significant difference from the ones before it. What might have changed, if any, is the presence of new members and the change in the leadership…

Lawrence Nwimo, Awka In a very rare move, a sitting lawmaker has taken the job of a secondary school teacher in one of the schools in Awka, Anambra State capital. The lawmaker is Hon. Henry Mbachu, a member representing Awka South 1 constituency in the Anambra State House of Assembly. Ikengaonline gathered that Hon. Mbachu had expressed interest in taking the duties of volunteer Physics teacher at Igwebuike Grammar School Awka, which happens to be his Alma mater. However, a post shared by Twitter user, @Jack_ng01 disclosed that the Anambra State Government in a letter through the state commissioner for information granted his request,…

As FG owes agency N323bn Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), has said it will suspend all foreign scholarship programmes for two years following the rising exchange rate. Executive Secretary of the agency, Mr Sonny Echono, who gave the hint on Tuesday, said that the Federal Government was heavily owing the agency. He further said that the naira allocated for foreign scholarship could no longer buy the required dollar for the beneficiaries. The TETFUND boss spoke at a public hearing organised by an ad hoc committee of the House of Representatives on the alleged missing N2.3 trillion in…

Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia As reactions trail the latest hike in petrol pump price which now sells officially at N617 per litre, the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has rejected the increase, saying it is provocative. NLC in a statement by its National President, Joe Ajaero, said the hike was designed to worsen the economic hardship on Nigerians. Labour accused the President Bola Ahmed Tinubu-led Government of insensitivity towards the plight of Nigerians. NLC also warned that the sad development could trigger a revolution capable of consuming the country. “We woke up this morning (Tuesday) to the news that NNPCL has increased…