Wike tackles Markafi, vows to bring down APC structures in Rivers – Newstrends
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Wike tackles Markafi, vows to bring down APC structures in Rivers

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Governor Nyesom Wike

Rivers State Governor, Nyesome Wike, has asked those he described as detractors to leave him alone, just as he vows to destroy the structures of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the state.

He spoke during the inauguration of the Ogbunabali Sandfilled Area and Estate performed by Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi in Port Harcourt.

He was reacting to comments made by former acting chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former governor of Kaduna State, Ahmed Makarfi, and the activities of some Rivers State loyalists of the PDP presidential candidate and former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, who he accused of not working for the party in the state.

He said,  “Some of you, those you rate, and you won’t even buy them for a naira; at the appropriate time, I will tell you who they are; he kind of characters we are talking about, people will speak here today, and tomorrow, they will say a different thing. I begin to wonder… is it this leader that spoke to me last night?  It is very unfortunate. Wike and his team are busy here bringing down all structures of the APC, providing dividends of democracy. In your own state, you are only talking about Wike.”

Descending fully on Makarfi, he said it was better for the former Kaduna governor to focus on the forthcoming 2023 general election and work to ensure victory for the PDP in Kaduna, Kano and Jigawa states, instead of talking about him.

“This morning, I was watching Channels, I saw former national acting chairman of the party, PDP, Makarfi, and he said he is very close to me. I don’t know how close he is to me. Somebody who is close to me, I don’t know when last we spoke. I have never spoken to him for the past five months. So, if you’re close to somebody politically, there is no way in five months you won’t have spoken to the person is it not? He said, Wike, you’re sabotaging other people. I don’t know who says the other people have not. What I want to advise Makarfi is, look, you have a job, make sure PDP wins in Kaduna State. That is your job; leave Wike alone. Take it upon yourself that Kaduna falls to PDP. I don’t want to hear excuses that they rigged election or they didn’t rig election. That is what I’ve told everybody.  In Kano, make sure PDP wins. In Niger, make sure PDP wins; in Jigawa, make sure PDP wins. If you win, then, see whether PDP wins here or not. It’s operation deliver your State. Don’t use anybody’s state to add up.”

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Wike also lampooned some Rivers State politicians, particularly an unnamed member who joined Atiku and others to receive Kano Central Senator and former governor of the state, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau and his supporters to the PDP from the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) on Monday.

He asked the unnamed member who he described as a “rapist” to return home and work to increase the numerical strength of the party in Rivers State. While saying he did not belong to the house boys, Wike accused this “rapist” of not working in River State to make the party win but was only out when food is ready.

“Anywhere any true Rivers man is, you must show that you are important, you must show that you have something to offer and not to do houseboy, we don’t belong to the houseboys; we are not known to be that. So, all of you, continue to show that you are not a second-class citizen in any state or any zone,” he said.

According to him, the best way to show capacity to deliver votes for the party would be to deliver votes from the polling units, wards and the state.

“It’s not to go to Abuja and begin to gossip, say all kinds of things, come home and mobilise. Let us see the capacity you have. It’s operation deliver your polling units, operation deliver your ward, operation deliver your local government. That is what politics is all about.”

On the project commissioned, Wike said his administration has created a new city within the State capital out of a swampy mangrove that once was a hideout for criminals and kidnappers.

He recalled how the people of Ogbum-Nu-Abali fought against the project and one of them dragged the government to court, but they are now happy with how the place has been transformed.

“We have created a new city where people will live, provided them with water, electricity, sewage, everything. This place can take at least, not less then 160 families if allocated.” In his remarks, Ugwuanyi expressed delight to be invited for the third time to inaugurate projects provided by Wike for Rivers people.

He described his Rivers State counterpart as an intense leader who leads from the front, famed for his legendary skill for project execution, and unrelenting crusade for the fundamental liberties as well as the economic interest of the people of Rivers State.

“Wike’s administration has done well and is worthy of our commendation. I therefore avail myself this opportunity to salute a standard-bearer in project delivery; a passionate promoter of the tenets of our Constitutional Democracy and Federalism; an unrepentant advocate of the Rule of Law, equity and fair play; a formidable politician; a man imbued with the requisite gravitas for statecraft; and most importantly, my brother and friend.”

Ugwuanyi noted that Wike’s strides in such austere time underscores the transformative capabilities of a responsive, responsible and accountable subnational government.  He observed that Wike has transformed the landscape of Port Harcourt City and the verdict of history will be kind to him.

Providing the description of the project, Rivers State Commissioner for Special Projects, Deinma Iyalla, said the entire reclaimed land measures 15.4 hectares, filled with about 432 cubic of sand and has five exit gates provided.

In his address, the South-South Regional Manager of Julius Berger Nigeria Plc, Juergen Fischer, commended the Rivers State government for granting the company the opportunity to part of its urban renewal programme.

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Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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Olubunmi Abodund with late wife Taiwo
Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

Olubunmi Abodunde, a Nigerian living in the United Kingdom, reportedly beat his wife, Taiwo, to death with their son’s skateboard, according to the Daily Mail.

The couple, who had three children, arrived in the UK from Nigeria in 2022 and frequently feuded over reported relationships and financial disagreements.

According to the news outlet, 48-year-old Abodunde had been investigated by Suffolk Police several times for domestic abuse and was scheduled to stand trial for murder, but changed his plea to guilty on Wednesday after the jury was sworn in.

During the abuse, officers heard ‘a number of fringes’ inside the house, which Abodunde had entered despite bail restrictions imposed the day before that barred him from the residence due to another violent incident.

When they arrived 25 minutes later, they discovered Taiwo, 41, with her’skull bashed in’.

However, Judge Martyn Levett, sitting at Ipswich Crown Court, cautioned him that the only conceivable penalty was life imprisonment.

Suffolk Constabulary submitted itself to the Independent Office of Police Conduct, which confirmed that three officers were being investigated.

An IOPC spokesman said, “We advised two Suffolk officers that they are under investigation for potential breaches of the police standards of professional behaviour at the level of gross misconduct.

“We advised another officer that they are under investigation at the level of misconduct.”

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Abodunde has a history of mistrust and distrust towards his wife, accusing her of having affairs. He had been probed by police several times for alleged domestic abuse episodes prior to his wife’s murder.

He was detained on April 27 of last year, when police came to the couple’s house in Newmarket, Suffolk, and discovered Mrs. Abodunde with a split lip.

Later that day, he was released on police bail with the condition that he stay away from the marital residence and avoid approaching his wife.

However, after completing a night shift at Tesco, he returned home shortly after 9 a.m. to reportedly pick up his mobile phone.

At 9.20 a.m., two cops arrived to take Mrs. Abodunde’s testimony regarding the previous night’s incident, and they heard persistent banging inside.

But it wasn’t until 9.55 a.m. that they pushed their way in with permission from senior officers and discovered Mrs. Abodunde ‘clearly dead’ near the front entrance.

A post-mortem examination revealed that she had been throttled until unconscious, then stamped on until her ribs were fractured, before her husband used the skateboard to kill her off. The hits were so hard that the skateboard was ruined.

Prosecutor Simon Spence KC told the court that the hammering officers heard was most likely caused by Abodunde continuing to assault his wife after she was unconscious or dead.

Mrs. Abodunde worked as a care home assistant in Cambridge, but her husband, a civil engineer by training, was unable to find work and took shifts at Tesco and Wickes.

Following his arrest for the murder, Abodunde was taken to the hospital “because he appeared to have some sort of mental episode.”.

He later argued in a police statement that he had acted in self-defence, saying, “My wife has subjected me to physical abuse for a number of years.

“On November 28, we got into an argument. She ran at me with a knife. I grabbed the knife and cut my hand. I was defending myself.”

However, the court heard that, while he had a hand injury, no knife was found near his wife’s body.

Nneka Akudolu KC, defending, said the amount of violence was ‘completely out of character’ for her client and could have been influenced by the medicine he was on. However, she stated that no medical evidence would be supplied to back her assertion.

Following the court, Suffolk Police Detective Inspector Dan Connick stated, “This was an awful attack on a woman that has had a long-term impact on the community and, most importantly, on the victim’s family.”

“We are pleased that Taiwo’s family will no longer have to go through the pain of a trial.

“Our thoughts remain with Taiwo’s family and friends, and we hope this result will bring some small comfort to them.”

Nigerian man kills wife months after relocating to UK

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Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

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Major AG Mohammed

Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

Barely one week after Nigerian Army lost two captains and four other soldiers in a deadly ambush in Niger State, another officer has lost his life to bandits’ attacks in Katsina State.

According to a report by security analyst and counter insurgency expert Zagazola Makama, on Friday, Major AG Mohammed, died while confronting bandits.

“The news of the demise of Major Ag Mohammed of 17 brigade Katsina state, Operation Hadarin DAJI, is indeed heart wrenching.

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” Mohammed paid the supreme price while combating bandits in the North West of Katsina State. Until his death he serves as the command Covering yantumaki,Dan Ali and Kankara Axis. He was one of the most gallant, courageous and highly dedicated officers.

Nigeria has lost many gallant officers and soldiers to the bullets of Boko Haram (BH) insurgents, banditry, and other insecurities.

We therefore acknowledge with respect the services of our heroes—some of whom we admire for their courage, and outstanding achievements coupled with noble qualities that have laid down their lives for us to live,” the security expert said in a post on X handle.

Nigerian Army loses another major to bandits’ attack in Katsina

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Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

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Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

Eleven members of a suspected cult group who allegedly terrorised the inhabitants of the Ihembosi community in Anambra State’s Ekwusigo Local Government Area have been apprehended by Zone 13 Police Headquarters operatives in Ukpo.

The defendants were arrested for allegedly trespassing on Las Vegas Hotels Limited’s premises in Ubahu village.

About 12 more members of the group are believed to be on the run as authorities continue to pursue them.

According to a police source who declined to be named because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the agency, the suspects were arrested on Monday in response to a strongly worded petition to Godwin Aghaulor, Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 13 Police Command. The Zone 13 Police Command oversees police forces in Anambra, Enugu, and parts of Ebonyi states.

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Aghaulor, who verified the suspects’ arrests at his office on Thursday, stated that the police will conduct discreet investigations into the case to determine the intentions behind the action, while a manhunt has been begun to apprehend the fleeing criminals.

Chief Omenife Onwuatu, the proprietor of Las Vegas Hotels Limited, petitioned the AIG for his intervention to curb the menace of the cultist group, which he claimed invaded his hotel on March 10, 2024, with about 12 motorcycles, charms, cudgels, cutlasses, axes, and other dangerous weapons and terrorised the hotel’s owners, management, and staff, threatening to kill anyone in sight.

Onwuatu, who is also the Chairman of Ubahu village, had previously warned the group to stop performing rituals in front of the nearby stream and to relocate their shrine to its base, but his warning did not go down well with the suspects, whom he simply identified as “idol worshippers, who earn their living through rituals.”

Police arrest cultists for invading Anambra hotel with charms

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