Tag: Enugu

  • Police arrest woman in viral video collecting N1000 before issuing PVCs

    Police arrest woman in viral video collecting N1000 before issuing PVCs

    The Police Command in Enugu State says it has arrested the woman in a trending video allegedly extorting money before issuing voter cards to their owners.

    This is contained in a statement by the command Public Relations Officer, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, on Thursday in Enugu.

    “Police detectives serving in the State Criminal Investigation Department of Enugu State Command on Jan. 31, 2023, arrested a female suspect, one Chinwendu Nnamani, 41.

    “Nnamani was involved in the viral social media video clip in which she is seen and alleged to be selling INEC Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) at the sum of One Thousand Naira, at a Primary School in Emene, Enugu.

    “Also arrested is one Nkiruka Patience Obinna, 38, identified as an INEC staff and alleged to have given the said PVCs to the first suspect for distribution to the actual owners.

    “Investigation has been concluded, the case charged to court in line with the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022, and the suspects arraigned accordingly,” he said.

    The police spokesman further said that the suspects were granted bail and the case adjourned to Feb.15 for further hearing.

  • My suspension from PDP null, void – Nnamani

    My suspension from PDP null, void – Nnamani

    Sen. Chimaroke Nnamani (PDP-Enugu) says his suspension from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by the National working committee (NWC) is null and void.

    Nnamani, who represents Enugu-East at the National Assembly, said this in a statement in Abuja.
    “The PDP suspension without hearing is incurably messy and will collapse,” he said.

    Nnamani said the decision to pitch tent with Asawaju Bola Tinubu was caused by the PDP refusal to comply with its own constitution that key political offices should be rotated between South and North to guarantee harmony, peace, fairness, equity and justice.

    “As it is now, there is no fairness, justice and equity in the PDP because both the Presidential Candidate and the National Chairman are from the same region.

    “ I am only exercising my right for freedom of choice and association. On this score, I stand with Tinubu,” he said.

    Nnamani urged the leadership of the PDP to put its house in order, saying that his suspension from the party lacked both moral and constitutional backing.

  • PDP reacts to alleged NYSC Certificate forgery against Enugu guber candidate

    PDP reacts to alleged NYSC Certificate forgery against Enugu guber candidate

    The Enugu State Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Campaign Council has described the allegation of forgery of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) certificate against its governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah as false.

    The party said the allegation was the conjecture of an indolent opposition and the last kick of a dying horse.

    This is contained in a statement by the Director of Public Communications and Spokesperson Enugu State PDP Campaign Council, Mr. Nana Ogbodo on Monday in Enugu.

    The statement said the opposition in Enugu had since came to terms with the fact that they had no prospects in the 2023 governorship election and resorted to smearing campaigns.

    According to the statement, there is no truth whatsoever to the allegation.

    “Our attention has been drawn to a press conference by a faceless group in Abuja, which claimed to have conducted a check at the NYSC under the Freedom of Information Act 2011.

    “The check purportedly showed that our governorship candidate, Dr. Peter Mbah, submitted a forged NYSC certificate to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “We make bold to say that Mbah was duly mobilised for the one-year mandatory National Youth Service in Lagos in 2002, duly completed the exercise, and was issued with an NYSC discharge certificate.

    “We state unequivocally that these purveyors of malicious falsehood are the real forgers, as everything about the letter they claimed to have emanated from the NYSC bears all the imprimaturs of forgery.

    “The language too inelegant and unofficial to have emanated from the NYSC.

    “We have equally observed that the said malicious press statement was not signed by any official of the faceless group.

    The statement added that the campaign group called on media organisations and interested Nigerians to approach the NYSC to confirm the veracity of the purported letter.

    “We are however, taking steps in accordance with the provisions of the law to bring the perpetrators to book,” it said.

    The Enugu PDP Campaign Council recalled that the opposition had tried their hands in other malicious and criminal falsehoods, including forgery of court processes to malign and bring down Dr. Peter Mbah.

    “Rather than present and market their manifestos to the Enugu electorate, they had earlier forged court processes.

    “They filed frivolous and malicious lawsuits claiming that Mbah had entered into a plea of guilt and plea bargain, hence not qualified to stand for election.

    “We call on the Nigerian public to disregard this latest perfidy as the umpteenth mischief by an indolent opposition and last kick of a dying horse”, the statement added.

  • Fr.Mbaka attacks President Buhari, Emefiele over Nnamdi Kanu, redesigned naira

    Fr.Mbaka attacks President Buhari, Emefiele over Nnamdi Kanu, redesigned naira

    Rev. Fr. Ejike Mbaka the Charistmatic Catholic Priest of the Adoration Ministry, Enugu  has issued a stern warning to President Muhammadu Buhari over the continuous detention of Mazi Nnamdi Kanu, the leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB).

    TheNewsGuru.com reports that Fr. Mbaka returned to his Adoration Ministry in January, months after he was suspended and sent to the monastery by the Catholic Bishop of Enugu Diocese, Most Rev. Calistus Onaga.

    Fr.Mbaka who has refrained from talking politics since his return from the monastery chose to speak again on Sunday.

    The fiery priest, on Sunday, warned Buhari of dire consequences if his government continued to keep Kanu.

    He spoke while addressing thousands of his Adoration members.

    Mbaka also chastise  the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN) Governor, Godwin Emefiele, over the scarcity of the new naira notes.

    Mbaka said if Buhari and Emefiele did not take immediate measures, they would suffer.

    He said, “It is only in Nigeria that the court can set somebody free and the government will say ‘No’, keep that person.

    “We pray for the full release of Nnamdi Kanu; Ndigbo are suffering for what they know nothing about; students, workers will not go to work; everywhere is locked up on Mondays; our leaders don’t care; it does not concern them; how can you say it does not concern you? But you are a leader; you must care.

    “God set someone free and you say the person won’t be free, what God will do to you, you will regret your decision.

    “Why the judiciary? There are three arms of government- the executive, the legislature and the judiciary, and one arm will say the other is useless. I ask in the name of God and by the power of the Holy Ghost, that our leaders should release Nnamdi Kanu.

    “We cannot be distracted by new currency and fuel scarcity and there is a problem- the judiciary is dying. If the court can acquit someone and the government will say ‘No’, then the country is finished. It is a coup d’etat against the judiciary and as a man of God, I stand to say, release him.

    “Do the needful; our people are suffering, a lot of suffering in the country, perpetuated by our so-called leaders; I am not a politician, I am a prophet of God. My job is to speak when God is angry, I will represent the voice of God in anger, when God is happy, I will speak and represent the voice of God in joy. The poor masses are suffering.

    “If holding that young man will cripple this country, why not release him; Nnamdi Kanu’s case is like a trigger in the gun; you must be careful how you touch the trigger when a gun is loaded.

    “Don’t tell anybody he is a nobody; he represents a people and the court has said release him; why not release him, especially for health reasons?

    “I have to render my voice so that when tomorrow the leaders begin to suffer calamity, they will not ask ‘what did Fr. Mbaka say’.”

    On the naira swap, he said there was no justification for the sufferings the citizens were going through.

    Continuing he said “People will suffer to make money and still suffer to take their money and there is still a country; tomorrow you will say Fr. Mbaka said; why do you force me to say something? I am giving both the President and the CBN governor a mandate from heaven, if they don’t want to react immediately and stop this self-imposed wicked suffering on the people, they will suffer.

    “What a rubbish; why do you multiply misery; people are sleeping in the bank to get their money; in which country has it ever happened? People are now selling money; not dollars; it is easier now to get dollars than to get naira; parents cannot have money to buy foodstuff for their children; I don’t know how many will be alive by the time the so-called new currency will come out. The new currency is not even good, the design very poor, the colour separation rubbish;

    “And everybody is talking election, election. Will dead men do the election? Men of God you better open your mouths; I have come back from monastery to see my people in suffering, in agony; it is time to tell Pharoah, ‘let my people go’,” he warned.

    He lamented that parents now spent their nights either in ATMs or in filling stations, stressing “you are killing people; what kidnappers are not doing; you are doing worse. People cannot access healthcare, by the time the doctor gets alert, the person is dead.”

    He said 99 percent of the population was ignorant of the new naira policy, describing it as “evil in the land. If you are not ready with the new naira, why not push out the old naira?”

    He said he was saddened that upon his return from the monastery, more Nigerians had lost their jobs.

    “Do you think that if this situation continues, that Nigerians will do election?” He queried.

    “What is happening now is a coup d’etat on democracy. But who will say it? To buy pure water, will you do a cash transfer? Why mess up Nigeria because you people are going? Why didn’t you start it all the while? 8 years was enough for you people to stabilise it, wickedness. No job, no food, no house.

    “The present government, I want to ask you, change, or you people will cry, what you are inviting, you cannot face it.

    “The Hausas are crying; the Fulani are crying; the Yorubas are crying; the Igbos are crying; the Niger Delta people are crying; the Middle Belt are crying, who are you now leading?”

     

  • Enugu PDP chairman dies during campaign in Enugu state

    Enugu PDP chairman dies during campaign in Enugu state

    SKB Ogbuagu, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) acting chairman in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State.

    It was reported that the acting chairman collapsed Thursday evening during a town hall meeting of the party’s governorship candidate at the Ezeagu Local Government Area headquarters.

    It was gathered that the meeting had ended and everyone was moving to the reception venue when he fell sick.

    Ogbuagu, who was said to be an asthmatic, was immediately rushed to a nearby hospital where he passed away.

  • Enugu APC critical stakeholders shun Tinubu’s rally

    Enugu APC critical stakeholders shun Tinubu’s rally

    Some stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Enugu State on Wednesday boycotted the presidential campaign rally held in the state capital.

    The stakeholders were at the Akanu Ibiam International Airport Enugu to welcome the presidential candidate of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and disappeared from there.

    The stakeholders were the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Chief Geoffrey Onyeama, the former Senate President, Ken Nnamani, former Governor of the state, Mr. Sullivan Chime, and former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo among others.

    Briefing journalists, Chime said that the stakeholders were at the airport to receive the presidential candidate but because of the internal issue they had with the state chairman, Chief Ugochukwu Agballah, they would not appear at the rally.

    He recalled that the stakeholders had staged a peaceful protest to its National Secretariat in Abuja over the chairman’s attitude and regretted that nothing was done about it.

    The former governor said that someone not known by the party emerged the party chairman and since then, the party had been in disarray.

    He also complained that the governorship candidate of the party and the deputy were from the same senatorial zone noting that it had never happened since the history of democracy.

    The former governor said they would all work hard to ensure APC’s victory during the general election but they were left with no option than to distance themselves from such illegal act.

    Subsequently, the formal Senate President, Ken Nnamani while pointing out his anger, said the party had external interference.

    He said that the party chairman in the state and the governorship candidate were running the party like a sole administrator.

    Nnamani said that they neglected their leaders in all the party’s activities pointing out that the caliber of people they had in APC were people that could take the party to a greater height.

    He, however, said that if the mess did not stop, there would be no peace in the state.

    Also contributing, the former Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Chief Eugene Odo, said that the rally were not witnessed by the party leaders in the state due to chairman’s attitude towards the stakeholders.

    Odo explained that Gov. Hope Uzodinma as the leader of the party in South East should ensure the unity of the party instead of using mediocre to run the party.

    He therefore said that the stakeholders in the state had decided to distance themselves from such childish act.

  • Indigenous rap artiste, Phyno speaks on being a sickle cell carrier

    Indigenous rap artiste, Phyno speaks on being a sickle cell carrier

     

    Indigenous rap artist, Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike, popularly known as Phyno  has finally cleared the air on  his sickle cell status.

    The Igbo rap artist has denied speculations flying around  that he’s suffering from sickle cell disease.

    The Enugu-based rap artiste debunked the rumor on his Verified Twitter Page on Wednesday afternoon.

    A fan identified as Ele Peter had in a tweet alleged that his love for the singer tripled when she found out that he had sickle cell.

    She wrote, “ Since I heard Phyno has sickle cell the love tripled, I pray God grants him the strength to keep fighting.”

    Reacting, Phyno wrote, “ Lol. No, I do not have sickle cell. Love to everyone fighting it though.”

    Chibuzor Nelson Azubuike, populary known as Phyno Fino, is a Nigerian rapper, singer, songwriter and record producer. He started his music career as a producer in 2003, and is renowned for rapping in the Igbo language.

    His debut studio album No Guts No Glory was released in 2014

  • Nigerian Army rescues abducted female soldier in Enugu

    Nigerian Army rescues abducted female soldier in Enugu

    A kidnapped female soldier has been rescued by the combo of the Nigerian Army and the Department of State Services (DSS) on Thursday.

    The female Lieutenant p.p Johnson was abducted by unknown gunmen few days ago.

    The Army officer had been moved to a forest bordering Enugu State and Ihube Okigwe Local Government Area in Imo State.

    The gang stripped the officer, from Abia State, and made a video of her on 26th of December, Boxing Day.

    The voice behind the recording said the location was along Enugu highway which links Port Harcourt, the Rivers capital.

    Recall that Johnson was kidnapped when she travelled to her hometown for Christmas Day celebration.

    The victim passed out on December 17 after completing the Direct Short Service Course.

    It was gathered that the Army leadership quickly mobilized its men to rescue her after the news of her disappearance surfaced.

    It is suspected that the recording, which circulated on the internet, might have assisted security agencies in tracking the abductors.

     

  • Troops raid IPOB/ESN camps in Ebonyi, Enugu

    Troops raid IPOB/ESN camps in Ebonyi, Enugu

    Troops of 82 Division, Nigerian Army have raided the camps of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra and its Eastern Security Network (IPOB/ESN) in Ebonyi and Enugu State.

    The Director, Army Public Relations, Brig.-Gen. Onyema Nwachukwu, made this known in a statement on Wednesday in Abuja.

    Nwachukwu said the raid was carried out in a joint operation with the Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Police and Department of State Services in the conduct of Exercise Golden Dawn II.

    He said troops had on Monday, raided an IPOB/ESN camp located at Amagu village Nkalaha community, Ishielu Local Government Area of Ebonyi and neutralised some of the criminals.

    He said that while others took to their heels in the fire fight, troops recovered some cache of arms ammunition as well as explosive devices.

    “Weapons recovered are 102 rounds of 7.62mm special, two Pump Action guns, five locally made rifles, 1 roll of Detonator 27, quantity 24 Detonators, 33 electrical cables, quantity 12 of type 36 Hand Grenades and 12 bags of substances suspected to be Marijuana.

    “Other items recovered include, three motorcycles, two generators, one water pumping machine, military woodland camouflage and police uniform,” he said.

    The army spokesman said the troops had in a another encounter at Agubeji community in Enugu state, apprehended one Mr Martins Abogwu, for conniving with IPOB/ESN elements to unleash attacks on innocent citizens.

    He said the suspect, who claimed to be Chief Security Officer of the community had been assisting in the preliminary investigations that followed.

    According to him, he has led troops to IPOB/ESN camp, where a shallow grave containing two decomposing bodies were uncovered.

    “One of the corpses has been identified as a member of the local vigilante, who was kidnapped about a month ago.

    “The Nigerian army reassures law abiding citizens of its unwavering resolve, in synergy with other services and security agencies to deny criminal elements the freedom of action and progressively rid the nation of identified threats to national security.

    “It will continue to execute its constitutional responsibilities in conformity with extant rules of engagement.

    “The Nigerian army also encourages members of the public to work harmoniously with the security agencies to collectively make the South East and the entire nation secured and peaceful,” he said.

  • Just In: Many feared dead as alleged herders invade Enugu community again

    Just In: Many feared dead as alleged herders invade Enugu community again

    A group suspected to be Fulani herdsmen and collaborators from Agala community in Benue State on Sunday attacked Ebor community in Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo local government area of Enugu State.

    The number of people that were killed during the latest attack cannot be readily ascertained.

    The attack comes barely eight days after assailants attacked the community and killed 25 people at the last count. The attack forced residents of Mgbuji, Umujiovu and Ebor communities to flee their homes.

    Subsequently, businesses were forced to shut down in Eha-Amufu, the third largest town in Enugu.

    A security source lamented Sunday’s attack and the negligence of the state government to tackle the problem once and for all.

    The source said: “These assailants have sacked over 40 villages and settlements. Now they are attacking the hometowns. This is the harvesting period and people have been forced out of their homes and communities and the government is paying lip service to this. These people are coming from communities in Benue State and the government is aware of it.

    “The invaders who outnumbered the soldiers and vigilantes, launched another attack on Ebor community this early Sunday morning. I have seen bodies of less than 10 but I can’t give a specific figure right now.

    “We are still in the bushes combing and searching for more people killed. What is happening here is unfortunate. It is exactly what they did to Benue State people. Probably they want to create a vast land joining Benue communities they had already sacked and call it their own land.”

    “From the report I received, the armed herdsmen and their collaborators from Benue State communities launched the attack around 5:30 am to 6 am this morning. Before we got there, several people had been killed. We are few soldiers here and where we are based is a little bit far from the communities. There are no other security operatives from other security agencies here in Eha-Amufu except local vigilantes. They (vigilantes) first engaged them but the invading armed herdsmen outnumbered them,” the source added.

    A community leader, who gave his name as Ogbuabor Samuel, confirmed the attack.

    “As I am speaking to you, the invading armed herdsmen are still shooting. Several people have been killed. At least, we have recovered the bodies of 10 people killed. The chairman of Isi-Uzo local government is playing politics with our lives. He didn’t want to tell the governor the true facts of what is happening in these communities. He is not supporting the local vigilantes and other local security.

    “A few weeks ago, he dissolved all the local vigilantes formed by Eha-Amufu communities yet he hardly visits the affected communities. We need the government to declare a state of emergency on security in Eha-Amufu – especially in Ebor, Umujiovu, Mgbuji and Agu-Amede communities. Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi should do something drastic. His government should stop politicising the situation in our place.

    “They should stop fabricating stories that our people are collaborators. That is a fallacy and it diverts attention from the real issues. Agala people in Benue State have joined forces with armed Fulani herdsmen to continue to kill and destroy our people. That is the situation. Since these recent attacks started in October, we haven’t seen policemen here. You can only see the police if their commissioner is coming to witness the destruction and go back to Enugu to dish out false narratives. “Where are the tactical squads and operational assets of the police he told Nigerians through the media that he had deployed?

    “We want to know, who are the security agencies in Enugu State protecting their interest? Could it be that the security chiefs in Enugu State are in the state to give cover to armed herdsmen?”

    Meanwhile, the state police command has confirmed the recent attack but did not give the casualty figure.

    The command’s spokesman, DSP Daniel Ndukwe, told journalists in Enugu that the “sketchy report at my disposal shows that there was an attack”.

    “But the assailants were repelled by a joint police and army team that is currently trailing them,” he added.