Police confirm gunmen abducted two Catholic nuns in Anambra

Two Catholic nuns have been abducted by gunmen along Ufuma Road in Orumba North Local Government Area of Anambra State, Police have confirmed.

The nuns, identified as Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli, were kidnapped on Tuesday, January 7, 2025, while returning from a vocational association meeting in Ogboji community.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, the congregation to which the nuns belong, expressed sorrow over the incident and called for prayers for their safe release.

“With sadness, we write to inform the general public of the kidnapping of our two sisters, Vincentia Maria Nwankwo and Grace Mariette Okoli,” the statement read.

Nwankwo serves as the principal of Archbishop Charles Heerey Memorial Model Secondary School, Ufuma, while Okoli is a teacher at Immaculata Girls Model Secondary School, Nnewi.

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“We commit our sisters to the powerful intercession of our Blessed Mother Mary for their speedy release from the hands of their kidnappers.

“We solicit your fervent prayers that they may be released unconditionally and come back to us safe and sound,” the statement added.

It was learnt that the Anambra State Police Command has launched an operation to rescue the victims.

Tochukwu Ikenga, the police spokesperson, confirmed that a joint operation is underway to ensure their safe return.

Nnaghe Itam, Commissioner of Police, who visited the scene of the abduction, said the command is following leads to rescue the nuns and apprehend the perpetrators.

As of now, no group has claimed responsibility for the abduction, and the motive remains unclear.

Residents and religious groups in the area have intensified prayers, urging for the sisters’ swift and safe return.

Police confirm gunmen abducted two Catholic nuns in Anambra

Imo: 18 killed in masquerade, drinking joint violence

No fewer than 18 people were slain in coordinated attacks across multiple towns in the Orsu Local Government Area of Imo State on Sunday. 

The killings occurred in Umukabia, Eziawa, Ihitte Nasa, Umuhu, Amaoku, and Amaebe. Victims were left with serious machete wounds, causing fear and fury among neighbours.

Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, a former chairman of the Nigerian Human Rights Commission from Orsu, announced the incident on Monday via his X account.

According to the report, the incident occurred following the yearly masquerade event held in Umuhu, Amaoku, Amaebe, and surrounding areas.

Following the festivities, some locals, including holiday returnees, congregated at a drinking establishment.

Passers-by later discovered all nine persons in the establishment, including customers and employees, lying in pools of blood with machete wounds.

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A source who pleaded anonymity said, “Everybody in the joint, all nine people, were discovered dead, either customers or attendants; they had been butchered with deep machete cuts all over.

“We were just a few blocks away from there, and nobody heard any sound of gunshot or argument.  We suspect that members of the Indigenous People of Biafra and Eastern Security Network were behind this.”

He went on to say that three corpses, including family members, were discovered in Umukabia, five corpses in Eziawa village, and another five corpses in Ihitte Nasa, all with machete cuts on the same day.

“I can’t explain how these incidents happened and nobody noticed. Three people in Umukabia, five in Ezinwa, and another five in Ihitte Nasa villages, and nobody saw the killers come in nor when leaving. Orsu lost 18 promising lives in one day.

“We suspect that these killings were done with inside collaboration with Orsu boys who are members of IPOB and ESN members that we don’t know,” the source said.

Orsu suffered years of IPOB and ESN dominance, driving locals away until recent military operations recaptured parts of the area, enabling gradual resettlement.

Imo State Police Public Relations Officer Henry Okoye confirmed the killings and stated that investigations are underway.

Okoye said, “The police are aware of the killings, and already CP Aboki Danjuma has set up a high-powered security team involving the different security agencies to unravel the case. The CP appeals to people to remain calm.”

A police source, speaking anonymously, claimed the attackers sought to instill terror and drive inhabitants out of the villages again.

Imo: 18 killed in masquerade, drinking joint violence

Why we couldn’t intervene in NASS rejection of El-Rufai as minister – Gov Sule

Nasarawa State Governor, Abdullahi Sule, has stated that the Progressives Governors’ Forum (PGF) cannot intervene in the ongoing ministerial nomination ordeal of former Kaduna State Governor, Nasir El-Rufai.

Sule, a member of the PGF and a prominent figure within the All Progressives Congress (APC), clarified that despite El-Rufai’s rejection by the National Assembly in August 2023, the former governor remains a member of the APC.

He emphasized that the governors’ forum does not have the authority to address or alter the decision regarding El-Rufai’s nomination.

“El-Rufai has not left our party; he is still part of our party,” Sule said on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday

“What led to his (El-Rufai’s) nomination, what led to his rejection by the Senate or by the security agencies, to be honest with you, are not issues we discussed either at the Progressives Governors’ Forum or even the Nigeria Governors’ Forum. They are not issues because what doesn’t concern us, we can do nothing about it.

“It is the prerogative of Mr President to nominate whoever should be his minister and he nominated. Also, there are agencies including the National Assembly that either confirm or reject and they rejected (him),” said the Nasarawa governor.

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El-Rufai was one of the northern powerbrokers who insisted that the APC presidential ticket for the 2023 general elections be given to a southern candidate in line with the unwritten principle of rotation of power between the southern and the northern regions in Nigeria.

This was after the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari, from the North-West geopolitical zone.

El-Rufai, who was Kaduna governor between May 2015 and May 2023, was vocal in his choice of ex-Lagos governor Bola Tinubu as the flag bearer of the party in the last general elections.

The then Kaduna governor, alongside his northern colleagues, backed Tinubu against two other northern juggernauts who were also aspirants – – then Senate President Ahmad Lawan and ex-Jigawa governor, Mohammed Badaru.

Tinubu later clinched the APC ticket and was elected Nigeria’s president during the February 2023 presidential poll.

In Nigeria’s political turf where compensation politics has become almost a norm, Tinubu nominated El-Rufai as one of his ministers three months after his inauguration.

However, El-Rufai fell out with the movers and shakers in the current government and was rejected by the Senate during the ministerial screening process. The upper legislative chamber cited security reasons from the Department of State Services as one of the reasons for his rejection.

Since the August 2023 incident, El-Rufai has not been seen in a gathering of APC chieftains. The former governor has also not been seen around the Aso Villa, the seat of power, or near the president whom he vigorously campaigned for in the last poll.

Conversely, El-Rufai has been spotted with chieftains of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) fuelling defection rumours, which he has dismissed.

Platinumpost reports that El-Rufai’s relationship with his successor, Uba Sani, in Kaduna, has turned sour with the state assembly probing his eight-year administration for alleged corruption, an allegation denied by the ex-governor.

Why we couldn’t intervene in NASS rejection of El-Rufai as minister – Gov Sule