TheNewsGuru

Tag: Ekiti State

  • #EndSARS: Police in Ekiti arrest 6 suspects over alleged arson

    #EndSARS: Police in Ekiti arrest 6 suspects over alleged arson

    The police in Ekiti State on Monday paraded six suspects over an alleged attack on three police facilities in the State during the #EndSARS protest.

    Two of the suspects paraded are minors, Odeyemi Sina, aged 12, and Ayomide Akomolafe (13). Other suspects paraded are Alao Emmanuel, Ojuko Tobi, Sunday Salihu and Kosedake Olamilekan.

    People suspected to be hoodlums last week razed two Divisional Police Stations and the Area Command office in Ikere Ekiti when the EndSARS protest was hijacked.

    Parading the suspects, Mr Sunday Abutu, the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, said the minors were arrested at the scene of the incident.

    According to him, the suspects were caught in the act and they have confessed to the crime.

    Abutu added that the suspects and others, now at large, also looted the exhibit room and set the Station ablaze, including all the vehicles parked in and around the stations.

    Abutu said: “When the EndSARS protest started, everything was done peacefully until the 20th of October when some hoodlums stormed our Area Command in Ikere Divisional Police Station and burnt the police station and vehicles there.

    “They also went to two other divisional police stations, particularly the Afao Ikere division, and set the stations and vehicles there ablaze. Some police officers were even wounded while others had to run for their lives.

    “A Joint Operation Team of the Police, the Military and other security Agencies was immediately deployed to the scene to stop further damage.

    “In the process, six suspects were arrested at the scene of crime while others ran away. In their confessional statements, the suspects agreed that they actively participated in the burning of the police stations.

    “We are spreading our dragnets and all the names mentioned by these suspects will be arrested. They are all at large, but we are trailing them and in the course of investigation, they will be apprehended,” Abutu said.

  • Ekiti Govt orders closure of schools over #EndSARS protest

    Ekiti Govt orders closure of schools over #EndSARS protest

    The Ekiti Government has ordered the immediate closure of all private and public schools following continued #EndSARS protests across the state.

    The State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr Kofoworola Aderiye, disclosed this in a statement issued on Tuesday in Ado-Ekiti by Abimbola Dada, the Chief Information Officer in the ministry.

    He said that the decision to close schools was a proactive step to safeguard the lives of pupils, students, teachers and other staff in the schools.

    ”It is also to accommodate difficulty being encountered by those finding it difficult to get to their respective schools,“ he said.

    Aderiye said that school activities would resume on Oct. 26.

    The protests continued in the early hours of Tuesday, with protesters blocking access roads in Ado Ekiti and other major towns in the state.

    Movements were not allowed in many areas and sporadic shootings were reported in places like Okeila/Ado Ekiti Housing Estate road and Adebayo road, as many residents ran for dear lives

    The state secretariat which used to be a beehive of activities was almost empty as many workers stayed away.

    The protesters had on Monday warned workers to either join them in the protest or keep off the roads.

    However, relief came at noon when some transporters came out to remove some of the blockades on Ado Ekiti roads but this was not without the accompanying clashes.

  • Flood takes over Oba’s palace in Ekiti

    Flood takes over Oba’s palace in Ekiti

    The palace of the Alawe of Ilawe-Ekiti, Oba Ajibade Alabi was among many other buildings taken over by flood in Ekiti State on Thursday.

    The rain, which started at about 6 pm and lasted for hours, rendered many residents homeless as their houses were submerged in the after rain flood.

    A correspondent, who went round the metropolis and surrounding neighbourhood, including Ilawe-Ekiti, the headquarters of Ekiti South-West, Local Government Area of the state, observed that properties worth millions of naira were affected by the flood.

    The Media Adviser to the monarch, Chief Ajibade Olubunmi, who confirmed the palace flood incident to NAN, said it was an unfortunate natural phenomenon that had brought the people untold hardship.

    Olubunmi, a former Director of Information, Ekiti State University, said several rivers and streams overflew their banks resulting in flood as the rainfall continued for hours on Thursday night.

    It was observed that Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti State capital, many major roads were flooded while some residents were sacked from their houses and shops by the flood.

    Mr Biyi Akin-Fasae, an indigene of Ado-Ekiti, blamed the nonchalant attitude of the residents toward maintaining proper waste disposal measures for the flood.

    According to him, the residents refusal to heed the warning of the Nigerian Metrological Agency which had predicted rainfall-induced flooding, is the major cause.

    “We have been warned of this flooding. The Metrology Department has flagged Ekiti among the 17 states that are likely to experience flood but very little was done to guide against such occurrence,” he told NAN.

    Mrs Labake Adeniyi, a flood victim in Ado-Ekiti, said all efforts to salvage her wares from her submerged lock-up shop proved abortive.

    “I have lost my wares and other property to this flood menace, I’m appealing to the state government and other relevant agencies to come to our rescue,” she said.

  • JUST IN: Gunmen kill pastor in Ekiti

    JUST IN: Gunmen kill pastor in Ekiti

    Gunmen have killed a cleric, Mr Kayode Ogunleye, dumping his body in a forest on the Aramoko-Ijero-Ekiti highway in Ekiti.

    The lifeless body of the pastor, who was also a staff of the Ekiti West Local Government Area in Ekiti, was found on his farm near the forest.

    Sources revealed that Ogunleye, working for All Christian Fellowship Church, was murdered while working on his farm.

    He was said to have been shot dead while trying to harvest banana at his plantation.

    One of the sources, who pleaded anonymity, described Ogunleye’s killing as barbaric, calling on security agencies to fish out the killers.

    The Public Relations Officer of the police command in Ekiti, Mr Sunday Abutu, confirmed the incident, saying that it was a suspected case of murder.

  • Police investigate death of an officer in Ekiti State

    Police investigate death of an officer in Ekiti State

    The Police Command in Ekiti has launched an investigation into the death of a policeman attached to Aramoko Division, after he was allegedly crushed by a vehicle on his way to work.

    Mr Sunday Abutu, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), said this while speaking with newsmen in Ado-Ekiti on Sunday.

    Abutu said that the investigation to ascertain the actual cause of the death of the policeman for necessary action.

    • It was gathered that the unnamed policeman died as result of injuries he sustained when he was crushed along Efon-Aramoko Ekiti Road on Saturday.
  • Thunder kills 15 cows in Ekiti

    Thunder kills 15 cows in Ekiti

    Thunder struck on Saturday evening in Ekiti State and reportedly killed 15 cows in Ikogosi community in Ekiti West Local Government Area of the State.

    The Asaoye of Ikogosi-Ekiti, Chief Ayo Ademilua, described the incident as a natural occurrence, which he said was strange in the town.

    Narrating the incident to journalists via telephone on Sunday, Ademilua said that the incident happened at the Ikogosi Warm Spring site, a notable tourism and recreational centre where warm and cold streams met in Ekiti, along Ipole – Ekiti road

    The Ikogosi high chief said that the thunder struck during a torrential downpour between 4:00p.m. and 6:02p.m. on Saturday.

    “The whole town shook when the thunder struck. Later, some commuters coming into town and those returning home from their farms saw the Fulani herders lamenting that it was the thunder that killed their cattle,” he said.

    Also speaking on the incident, the Onikogosi of Ikogosi Ekiti, Oba Abiodun Olorunnisola, said that the herders were making spirited efforts to sell the dead cows to residents, saying that this portends health risk to his people.

    The monarch said he already reached out to his colleague at Ipole Ekiti, Oba Oladele Babatola, on the need to warn their subjects against consuming such a desecrated meat.

    “The two of us have alerted our subjects that there was an attempt to commence the sale of the cows and we are making concerted efforts to prevent the intending buyers,” he said.

    The monarch, however, called on government to evacuate the carcasses of the cows to prevent spread of communicable diseases in the area.

    The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti Command, Mr Sunday Abutu, said the incident was yet to be reported to the police because it was a natural occurrence.

    “We have not been told, but if the owner of the cattle later realises that someone was responsible, he will report at the police station and we will surely rise to the occasion, if such happens,”the PPRO said.

  • COVID-19: Ekiti orders arrest of facemask defaulters

    COVID-19: Ekiti orders arrest of facemask defaulters

    The Ekiti Government says it will begin to arrest those refusing to wear facemasks in public places from Monday.

    The Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Wale Fapounda, on Sunday told newsmen in Ado Ekiti that there would henceforth be stiffer penalties for those who fail to comply.

    The commissioner said Gov. Kayode Fayemi was particularly worried about the deliberate lack of compliance with most COVID-19 regulations in the state.

    He said the governor had ordered full enforcement of all other COVID-19 regulations in the state.

    The commissioner cited some of the precautionary regulations ignored by residents to include compulsory wearing of face masks in public places and observance of social distancing.

    He explained further that mobile courts had been established to try offenders and impose adequate sanctions such as fines and community service.

    The commissioner further explained that commercial motorcyclists as well as road transport workers whose passengers refused or neglect to wear face masks would be held liable.

    He reiterated the commitment of the Fayemi administration to the protection of human rights while enforcing the regulations.

    According to him, the Ministry of Justice has already issued a directive ordering security agents to respect the rights of residents while discharging their duties.

  • Suspected ritualists kill 78-year-old grandmother in Ekiti, remove vital organs

    Suspected ritualists kill 78-year-old grandmother in Ekiti, remove vital organs

    The Police Command in Ekiti on Wednesday confirmed the gruesome killing of a 78-year-old grandmother and widow by persons suspected to be ritualists, in Ikere Ekiti, Ikere Local Government.

    The Command’s Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), ASP Sunday Abutu, who confirmed the incident, described it as “unfortunate and mysterious”.

    Abutu said investigation had begun into the case and that the Criminal Investigation Department, had been directed to take over the case.

    He added that the corpse of the deceased had since been recovered, and deposited in the morgue of the State Specialist Hospital in Ikere Ekiti.

    Concerned local sources, had earlier told newsmen that the victim, Mrs Sabianah Aranilewa was not only killed, her blood was drained and vital organs were removed by suspected rituals.

    Also confirming the reports, the deceased’s son, Mr Eyitope Aranilewa, said his mother had earlier gone missing on Friday, May 29, around 6: 45a.m while washing clothes at her residence along Moshood road, Odo-Oja area of Ikere-Ekiti.

    He said his mother’s friend referred to as Mrs Ojolo, first raised the alarm and organised a search party, but efforts to find her proved abortive until 4p.m when her corpse was found inside a stream with her throat slit and other vital organs removed.

    Said he: “On that fateful day I got a distress call that my mother was missing.

    “It was my mother’s friend, Mrs Ojolo who resides within a short distance from her shop that raised the alarm when she did not see her in the shop

    “The matter was immediately reported at the Police station, but it was not long that information came that her body had been located at a place not far from the home.

    “She was slaughtered like a goat and the corpse dumped in a shallow stream, flowing through the back of her home,’’ he said.

  • Kaduna surpasses Ekiti record for broadband investment, as more States join race

    Kaduna, Imo, Katsina and Plateau States have joined Ekiti State in implementing the right of way charges pegged at a maximum of N145 per linear metre as approved by the National Executive Council (NEC).

    Recall that Governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi had signed an executive order reducing the right of way charges related to the laying of broadband or any other telecommunications infrastructures from N4,500 to N145 per meter.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the development made Ekiti the first State in Nigeria to comply with the NEC resolution, thus becoming the cheapest State for broadband infrastructure investment in Nigeria as 1km of cable will now cost just N145,000 as against N4.5m previously.

    However, the right of way charges in Kaduna have been completely waived, while Katsina, Plateau and Imo States joined Ekiti in pegging the charges at a maximum N145 per linear metre.

    Meanwhile, Dr Femi Adeluyi, Technical Assistant (Information Technology) to Dr Isa Ali Pantami, the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, has stated that the actions of the States Governors are commendable.

    He stated that the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy was delighted to hear about the strides that have been made by the executive Governors.

    According to a statement by Dr Adeluyi, Governor Hope Uzodimma of Imo signed Executive Order No. 002, 2020, ratifying the federal government policy on the 20th of May 2020.

    The statement reads: “The actions of the Governors are truly commendable. They also align with the resolution of the State Governors under the auspices of the Governors’ Forum on the 22nd of January 2020 to address the lingering issue of Right of Way (RoW) charges in a bid to deepen broadband penetration in the country and promote a Digital Economy for a Digital Nigeria.

    “At that meeting the Executive Governors had resolved to adopt the 2013 resolutions reached by the National Economic Council (NEC) which agreed on a maximum RoW charge of N145 per linear meter of fibre. Implementing this resolution will go a long way in implementing the National Broadband Plan (NBP) which was launched by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, on the 19th of March 2020.

    “An increase in broadband access will have a positive impact on the economy of the various States as well as the entire country. One of the key benefits is the rapid growth in the gross domestic product (GDP) of any country that increases its broadband penetration. The COVID-19 pandemic has shown how important broadband is in supporting economies around the world.

    “The Honourable Minister of Communications and Digital Economy congratulates and commends the Executive Governors of Kaduna, Imo, Katsina and Plateau States for these very important actions.

    “We would like to encourage other Executive Governors to do the same in order to support the development of our digital economy, facilitate digital literacy and accelerate broadband penetration across the country.

    “This will also improve our Gross Domestic Product (GDP)”.

  • BREAKING: Ekiti becomes cheapest broadband investment hub in Nigeria

    Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi has signed an executive order reducing the right of way charges related to laying broadband or any other telecommunications infrastructures from N4,500 to N145 per meter.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the development makes Ekiti the first State in Nigeria to comply with the National Executive Council (NEC) approved right of way charges for broadband thus becoming the cheapest State for broadband infrastructure investment in Nigeria as 1km of cable will now cost just N145,000 as against N4.5m previously.

    According to the State Governor, the executive order is part of the ongoing reforms by the ease of doing business project inaugurated by him last year to improve indices that will make Ekiti State an attractive destination for national and international investments in 5 years.

    “This decision will ensure Ekiti achieves full broadband penetration by 2021 to attract new businesses, create jobs, improve access to quality healthcare and digital education while improving internally generated revenue.

    “It is also aligned with the ongoing development of the Ekiti Knowledge Zone, designed to be Nigeria’s first service based innovation park,” Governor Fayemi stated.