Ondo State
Osun mechanic to die by hanging for armed robbery
An Osun State High Court sitting in Ilesa, on Thursday, sentenced a 29-year-old mechanic, Sola Emorua, to death by hanging for armed robbery. The defendant was first arraigned before Justice Isiaka Adeleke on January 29, 2018, on two counts of conspiracy and armed robbery. Justice Adeleke, in his judgment after a trial that lasted almost three years, said the prosecution had proved its case beyond reasonable doubt and subsequently sentenced Emorua to death. The lead prosecution counsel from the Ministry of Justice, Motolani Sokefun, had told the court that the convict and others at large, on May 7, 2015 around 5.30pm in Osu, on the Ilesa-Akure Expressway, while armed with weapons, robbed a tanker loaded with 33,000 litres of kerosene belonging to one Ismaila Azeez. The counsel further expl...
Lagos governor responding to treatment – commissioner
Lagos State Health Commissioner, Akin Abayomi, says Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is responding well to home-based care and treatment for COVID-19. “Governor of Lagos, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is responding well to COVID-19 home-based care and treatment. He is in high spirit and very appreciative of all your prayers and well wishes. “I will be keeping the public informed regularly of Mr Governor’s recovery and wellbeing,” Abayomi stated in a two-part-tweet update on Sunday night. The commissioner had announced last night that the governor tested positive for coronavirus and has been in isolation since on Friday following contact with persons infected with the virus. Lagos is a major entry point in Nigeria with over 60% of incoming passenger traffic going through the Murtala Muhammed International...
Ondo tertiary institutions to shut down as unions declare strike
Non-academic staff of Ondo State-owned tertiary institutions have declared a 14-day warning strike over six months unpaid salaries. The strike will commence on Monday. The workers are embarking on the strike under the Joint Action Committee (JAC). They said the state government had refused to honour the union’s demands. They are aggrieved over the delay in the release of monthly subvention to the institutions which has caused a delay in payment of salary. According to JAC’s notice signed by Aguda Temitope Secretary of Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU); J.O. Fagbemi of National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and A.O. Ogungbeni, all of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko (AAUA), and addressed to the Acting Vice-Chancellor of the university, the strike is due to failure of ...
Governor Oyetola: Yoruba believe in unity of Nigeria
The Osun State Governor, Adegboyega Oyetola, on Saturday said the Yoruba people are a nation of hospitable, accommodating and warm people who believe in the oneness of Nigeria. Oyetola, who fielded questions from international media organisations: BBC, Voice of America, DW News and Radio France, during the 29th edition of Owu International Conference, also lauded the Yoruba race for the role it is playing in fostering peace and unity in the nation. Commenting on the theme of the conference: “Harmony in Owu polity: A recipe for national unity,” Oyetola described the Yoruba race as a believer in the harmony and oneness of the nation, adding that the migration of other tribes to their territories and settlements is not an issue because they are accommodating and hospitable. Oyetola also comme...
OPU: Security situation in Nigeria coloured with nepotism
The Oodua Progressive Union, OPU, Sunday, lamented that the security situation in Nigeria is being coloured with nepotism, sectionalism, and lack of competence. The group, in a communiqué at the end of the meeting, said: “OPU is disturbed with the news coming from home, regarding the killing of a first-class Yoruba monarch, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Adegoke Adeusi in Ondo State. “We also condemn, in totality, the dastardly acts of Fulani herdsmen who yearly burn down Chief Olu Falae’s farm. In the same vein, we commend Amotekun in the rescue of the wife of the Chief of staff to the governor of Ondo State. “After careful observation of the 1999 Constitution, we realised that the document was unfit and unproductive, making it the source of nearly all our problems. “As a group that is poised fo...
I paid N3 million ransom before I was freed by kidnappers – doctor
Azubuike Iheanacho, the medical doctor that was kidnapped in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State, has revealed that he had to pay a ransom before the abductors freed him. Iheanacho, who owns Peace Hospital located along old Egume Road, Ayingba, was abducted at his residence in Anyigba last week Saturday. Newsmen reported the alarm raised by the state’s chapter of Nigeria Medical Association (NMA), appealing to the security agencies to help free the doctor. Iheanacho told newsmen on Saturday evening that he regained his freedom on Monday, after paying N3 million to the kidnappers. “I was injured but not much. Because at the point of picking me, I resisted. People were around when it happened. I was released on Monday. We thank God for everything,” he added. The physician also called ...
Ondo governors’s chief of staff’s wife kidnapped
Barely 24 after a first-class traditional ruler was murdered in Ondo, the wife of the Chief of Staff to the Ondo state governor, Chief Olugbenga Ale has been abducted by suspected gunmen. Vanguard gathered that Mrs Ale was abducted at Owena in Idanre council area of the state on Thursday night. A source said that the victim was returning from Lagos to Akure when she was abducted by the bandits who laid siege on the highway and took her into the forest. Vanguard was unable to confirm if other occupants in the vehicle in which she was travelling were kidnapped or escaped into the bush. A top government source who confirmed to Vanguard said ” it is true that the woman was abducted at Owena along Ondo Road. “The case has been reported to the security agencies especially the Amotekun and army t...
Governor Akeredolu: We are in a serious security crisis
Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state has said that the murder of the first class traditional ruler in the state, the Olufon of Ifon, Oba Isreal Adewusi was an indication that the country was in a serious security crisis beyond the ordinary. Akeredolu who led a top government delegation to the affected area on Thursday night described the murder of the monarch as heinous. A statement by the information and Orientation commissioner Donald Ojogo said “With a heavy heart, the Ondo State Government hereby confirms the unfortunate incident around Elegbeka, Owo-Ifon road in Ondo State to be true. Truly, Ondo has lost a great one-a deep cut, too sad. “This is a heinous crime, an incident which has, again, confirmed that we are indeed, in a serious security crisis beyond the ordinary. “Already, ...
Nigeria ratifies membership of AfCFTA
The Federal Executive Council, FEC, on Wednesday ratified Nigeria’s membership of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA, as the implementation of the agreement formally takes-off on January 1, 2021. This is as the Council has approved N62.7 billion for the construction of Kano-Dawakin-Tofa-Gwarzo-Dariyo road in Kano. Briefing State House correspondents at the end of the 23rd virtual FEC meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chamber, Presidential Villa, Abuja, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said whereas the implementation of the agreement was initially scheduled to commence in July, this year, the plan was stalled by the spread of COVID-19. Alhaji Mohammed, who briefed on behalf of the Minister of Industry, Trade and Inves...
NiMet predicts hazy, sunny weather activities Monday to Wednesday
Facebook Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted hazy, sunny weather activities from Monday to Wednesday across the country. NiMet’s weather outlook released on Sunday predicted dust haze conditions over the northern region with a moderate visibility range of 2KM to 5KM throughout the forecast period on Monday. According to it, the North central region is expected to be in sunny and hazy condition throughout the forecast period. “The inland and coastal cities of the South are expected to be in partly cloudy to cloudy condition with slim prospects of thunderstorms over Rivers, Cross River, Eket and Bayelsa in the morning hours. “There are prospects of few thunderstorms over parts of Cross River, Ebonyi, Delta, Awka, Rivers, Delta, Cross River, Benin and Lagos state during the a...
Two NSCDC officials killed in road accident in Ondo
At least two officials of the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) lost their lives while one other was injured in a motor accident on Friday along the Ondo-Ore Road in Ondo State. The officers were said to be coming from a burial function in Okitipupa area of the state when the ugly incident happened According to an eyewitness who explained that the vehicle the officers were travelling with, skidded off the road and somersaulted. The State Commandant, Mr Okoro Eweka, who confirmed the incident while speaking through the command’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), ASC. Olufemi Omole, described the incident as unfortunate. Eweka said that the command lost the two officers to the accident and said their remains had been deposited at the morgue while the in...
Ondo governor approves second term inauguration committee
Ahead of his inauguration for the second term in office, Ondo State governor, Mr Rotimi Akeredolu, on Friday approved the setting up of a 25-member committee. The composition of the Committee which includes the deputy governor-elect, Hon. Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa as Chairman and Mr Kunle Adebayo as its Secretary. Other members of the committee include Tayo Oluwatuyi, Chief Olugbenga Ale, Hon. Bunmi Tunji-Ojo and Wale Akinterinwa, including Donald Ojogo, Femi Agagu, Mrs Lola Fagbemi, Mrs Bunmi Ademosu, Dr (Mrs) Olawumi Ilawole and Mr Boye Oyewumi. Also, Toluwani Borokini, Chief Bukola Adetula, Jimi Odimayo, Mrs Renike Witherspoon, Mr Alex Kalejaiye, Olutayo Babalola, Alex Oladimeji, Tosin Ogunbodede, Olayato Aribo, Gbenga Omole, Revd. R.O.A Agboola, Alhaji Khaleel Fawehinmi, and Alhaji Jim...
