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Man jailed 14 years in Bayelsa for impregnating daughter

Published

2 days ago

June 29, 2024

Man jailed 14 years in Bayelsa for impregnating daughter

In Bayelsa State, one Baridapsi Needam has been sentenced to 14 years imprisonment for raping and impregnating his daughter.

Needam, 41, was convicted and sentenced by the Bayelsa State High Court, sitting in Yenagoa.

He was arrested after members of the state gender advocacy group, Gender Response Initiative Team, GRIT, reported him to the police in 2022.

A concerned neighbour had drawn the attention of GRIT to the condition of the victim after noticing that she was five months pregnant and that the father was responsible for the pregnancy.

The victim is said to have given birth to a baby girl while the trial was pending.

In a suit marked YHC/14C/2022, the convict was charged with rape, which, according to the state Commissioner of Justice and Attorney-General Biriyai Dambo, violated Section 1(1) of the Violence Against Persons (Prohibition) Law of Bayelsa State, 2021.

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The State Prosecuting Counsel and Deputy Director in the Bayelsa State Ministry of Justice, Pere Amanda Egbuson, told the court that the accused started having sex with the victim in 2020 until she got pregnant in 2022.

According to him, investigations revealed that the accused began defiling his daughter when she was seven years old by inserting his fingers into her vagina and later had carnal knowledge of her.

The presiding judge, Justice D.E. Adokeme, stated while delivering the judgement that the prosecution presented credible evidence and made reference to the DNA result, which revealed a 99.99 per cent positive report that the convict is the father of the child.

The court ruled that the prosecution has proven its case beyond reasonable doubt that Needam committed the offence of rape and sentenced him to 14 years imprisonment.

Speaking after the judgement, lead prosecuting counsel Pere Amanda Egbuson noted that the judgement will serve as a deterrent to others as a strong message has been sent that the court will not tolerate such heinous acts.

The convict, Baridapsi Needman, who hails from Ogani Wily Kaira Community in Ogoni in Rivers State, was reported to have replaced his deceased wife with his daughter on his matrimonial bed. While the 14-year-old girl, who was in Junior Secondary School 3, was sleeping on the bed with her father, her two younger brothers were made to sleep on the floor

Man jailed 14 years in Bayelsa for impregnating daughter

metro

BREAKING: Pilot survives as NAF helicopter crashes in Kaduna

Published

2 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Trends Admin

BREAKING: Pilot survives as NAF helicopter crashes in Kaduna

A Nigeria Air Force (NAF) helicopter has crashed at Tami village in the Igabi Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The incident occurred in the early morning on Monday, causing significant alarm among the villagers.

The helicopter, said to be on a routine operational flight, experienced a technical hitch that led to the crash.

The pilot managed to execute emergency protocols effectively that ensured his own survival.

Eyewitnesses said the pilot emerged from the wreckage unscathed.

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Residents of Tami village quickly gathered at the crash site, offering assistance and expressing relief that no life was lost.

It was gathered that a team of military officers from the Nigerian Air Force swiftly arrived at the scene to secure the area and conduct an initial investigation.

They cordoned off the crash site to prevent unauthorised access and to ensure the safety of the villagers.

The officers also began preliminary assessments to determine the cause of the crash, which remained unknown at this time.

BREAKING: Pilot survives as NAF helicopter crashes in Kaduna

metro

UK cab driver confesses still getting paid in Nigeria as civil servant

Published

3 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Trends Admin

UK cab driver confesses still getting paid in Nigeria as civil servant

Despite leaving Nigeria for the UK two years ago, Sabitu Adams gets paid each month as a junior official at a government agency back home.

Adams, who now works as a taxi driver in the UK, had his name changed by a BBC report to protect his identity.

The taxi driver has yet to resign from his job in Nigeria.

Adams is one of the thousands of ghost workers, a rampant issue in the Nigerian civil service.
Each year, the government carries out biometric verifications and reels out numbers representing discovered ghost workers, and money saved.

But no one is ever announced to have been arrested or prosecuted.

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Last week, President Bola Tinubu directed that all civil servants drawing salaries from the government after relocating abroad should be made to refund the money.

Tinubu also ordered that the culprits’ supervisors and department heads be punished for aiding and abetting the fraud while they were in charge.

Adams told the BBC that he was not worried about the president’s directives because he earned better as a taxi driver in the UK.

“When I heard about the president’s directive, I smiled because I know I am doing better here – and not worried,” the 36-year-old said.

The cab driver said he did not resign “in case I choose to go back to my job after a few years”.
Adams was quoted as saying he had an arrangement with his boss in Nigeria who is a “relative”.

UK cab driver confesses still getting paid in Nigeria as civil servant

metro

Police rescue 2 kidnapped victims in Abuja

Published

3 hours ago

July 1, 2024

Trends Admin

Police rescue 2 kidnapped victims in Abuja

Two kidnapped victims were rescued by the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command in the Guto community of Bwari, Abuja, on Sunday.

According to a statement by the FCT Police Public Relations Officer, SP Josephine Adeh, the rescue operation was triggered by an early morning attack by gunmen on the community. The prompt response from the police and other security agencies was crucial in handling the situation.

The statement noted: “In response to the sudden attack by unknown gunmen in Guto village, Bwari, earlier today, June 30, 2024, at about 01:30 p.m., where two female victims, Mart Ojadi, 15 years old, and Evelyn Chinaza, 12 years old, were kidnapped and forcefully taken to an unknown location, the operatives of the FCT police command from the anti-kidnapping unit swiftly mobilised to the scene.

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The police, along with the DSS and local hunters, pursued the kidnappers into Gauraka Forest in Niger State, which borders the FCT. The confrontation led to a fierce gunfight, eventually causing the kidnappers to flee into the surrounding bushes with various injuries, leaving the two victims behind, unharmed.

The rescued girls have been safely reunited with their families. FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Benneth C. Igweh, praised the operation and reiterated the commitment of the police force to ensure the safety and security of the capital. He also encouraged residents to remain vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the police through the following emergency lines: 08032003913, 08028940883, 08061581938, and 07057337653 PCB: 09022222352, CRU: 08107314192.”