Home » PUNCH Metro

PUNCH Metro

Lecturer found dead with bullet wounds in Ebonyi

A lecturer with the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo, Ebonyi State, Mr Kyrian Nwoke, has been murdered by unknown assailants. Until his death, he taught in the Department of Physiology in AE-FUNAI. His lifeless body was found along Abakaliki rice mill axis of Ogoja Road, on Monday, with bullet wounds. Newsmen gathered that the deceased was using his car for a taxi in order to fend for himself and his family following the hardship occasioned by the lingering dispute between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities which has led to the withholding of salaries of lecturers for months. Mr Nwoke was said to have gone missing on Sunday after a yet-to-be-identified person called him to come to Udemezue in Abakaliki to pick customers to a popular eatery a...

Traders burn 10-year-old boy for ‘stealing’ food

A 10-year-old boy, Ifeanyi, was on Saturday thrown into a fire for allegedly stealing a small measure of uncooked rice in a market at Inikiri Benard village, Effium community, in the Ohaukwu Local Government Area of Ebonyi State. Newsmen gathered that the lad’s mother was late, while his father was mentally-challenged. A community source said, “The boy was thrown into a fire by two traders who accused him of stealing rice from a shop at the market to cook for himself and his father.” The Chairman of Human Rights Defenders, Ebonyi State chapter, Mr Sam Nweke, condemned the inhuman act meted out to the kid. He said, “HURIDE got a call from one Mr George Etamesor, on the grave abuse of this poor boy. This was because he was caught trying to steal some rice in their village market. They tied h...

Ogun police framed us as land-grabbers – community leader

The Akinrogun of Meiran land, Chief Joseph Ayodele, whom the Ogun State Police Command claimed to be the leader of a land-grabbing gang, has refuted the claim. Newsmen had reported that Rufai Abdulkareem, Tobi Ajayi and Wasiu Oladipupo were arrested by the police for allegedly shooting at seven workers on a construction site in the state. The state Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, had said the suspects were terrorising residents of Ota and its environs before they were apprehended. Refuting the police claim, Ayodele stated that Abdulkareem, Ajayi and Oladipupo were members of the Obasogo Royal Family of Ilogbo-Ota. Ayodele alleged that a man, who encroached on the 4,000-acre land belonging to the family, framed the three men as land-grabbers. He said, “To set the record s...