The chairman of the Coscharis Group, Cosmas Maduka, has lost his dearly beloved wife, Mrs. Charity Maduka
According to family sources, Mrs Maduka died after suffering a stroke in Nnewi, Anambra state on Sunday afternoon, November 28.
Until her death, she was the Vice-president of the Coscharis Group since its inception and the co-owner of the company.
“In her capacity, she was once the Executive Director supervising the Administrative, Legal, Works / Maintenance, Export, Technologies teams of the organization from 1984 – 2003. Under her tutelage, she was able to grow the business by creating value via the various strategic departments she supervised within the organization.
Barely one month after a priest of the Catholic Diocese of Awka suffered a near death experience in the hands of kidnappers suspected to be Fulani men at Amansea, Awka South LGA, Anambra State, another priest of the same Catholic Diocese of Awka, Rev Fr Peter Andrew Chukwuebuka Ibeazor, has faced the same ordeal in the hands of four kidnappers who were also believed to be Fulanis at Amansea – Ezinato Road.
Ibeazor spoke of what he described as his 28 hours retreat experience with kidnappers and how he eventually made friends with them before they released him.
The priest said he was happy that he returned with his Bible and chaplet.
Ibeazor, who is the chaplain of Ezinato Chaplaincy, Awka South LGA, Anambra state, said he had blessed the kidnappers when they kidnapped him on Nov.11, and when they released him the next day, prompting them to say to him, ‘God bless you’.
The Ogidi born priest who said he even invited them to his chaplaincy, recalled that he had finished with his usual sports exercise in Awka and was heading to his parish house at St James’ Chaplaincy, Ezinato, for an appointment with some of his parishioners at 5.30 pm when he ran into the kidnappers around 7 pm on November 11.
Ibeazor, who explained that he was earlier held up in a traffic gridlock at Aroma, Awka, said he had called and rescheduled the 5.30 pm appointment he had.
The priest, who said he was putting on his sportswear, further said that while he was about seven poles to the parish, he heard some deafening gun shots by those who turned out to be Fulani men who were about four in number and within the ages of 18-30 years.
According to the priest, they spoke Fulani fluently with dotted Hausa and immediately he heard the gun shots, he reached out for his Holy Bible and chaplet which he described as his pride, weapons and companions.
He said the fully armed kidnappers took him into the bush, leaving his car which one of his parishioners saw and alerted other parishioners and the security outfit of the town who took to the bush in search of him, while securing his car at the parish.
The priest said the parishioners embarked on prayers the same way the Catholic Community did when the Vice Chairman of the Chaplaincy, Sir Williams Onwu, was kidnapped six months earlier and he could hear his parishioners praying. He narrated that the kidnappers who saw how he guarded his Bible, threatened him at gun point with knives, while he begged them to leave the Holy Bible for him. Having known he was a priest, he said, they left him with his Bible.
Ibeazor said the kidnappers felt threatened by the search being conducted by the community and was ready to shoot at them at any slightest chance. He noted that when the search party from the town later withdrew, his abductors took him to the other side of Amansea.
He continued, ‘I was carefully guarded in between the four men as we went through the muddy roads. And at intervals I would bless them saying, “God bless you, Allah bless you”, and that would attract heavy blows on me. We trekked into the bush through the trees and swampy areas.
I would often kneel down to pray and read my Bible at every spot and each time I did this they would order me to sit down.
‘By 3.30 am the next day, the Anambra State Government searched for me with security tracking devices. We later came to a spot where we settled down and they opened up for ransom and demanded N20m for my release,’ the priest said, disclosing that he was eventually released at Amansea at around 10 pm the next night, being Friday, November 12, following interventions by some of his friends.
On how he was able to make it home safely, Fr Ibeazor explained that the kidnappers had told him to go farther inside the bush and after they left, he came back and found his way to the road through the same route they (the abductors) used.
The Awka Diocesan priest, who said he was left tattered by the kidnappers, said he collected water from road hawkers who were still around and washed off mud from his body and waited patiently for any means of transportation.
He stated that though the kidnappers collected his SIM card, he was happy that they left his Holy Bible and chaplet for him.
‘The abductors, while speaking on the phone with a friend of mine who is an honourable member, said I had something in my hand which I didn’t want to let go (the Holy Bible). ”But he is a good man. If he is not a good man we would have removed his eyes and heart, sell them, and make good money from them”, the abductors said, ‘Fr Ibeazor narrated.
‘Luckily for me, I had my ATM card on me. So after the help I got from road hawkers, I saw a keke man to whom I explained my predicament and begged him to take me to a nearby ATM outlet.
He took me to Stanel where I withdrew some money and begged him to take me to where I would get shelter. At Aroma Junction, I saw someone I knew.So, I used this phone and called the bishop and informed him of my release,’ Ibeazor said.
The Catholic priest, who is also a deanery chaplain of the Catholic Charismatic Renewal of Nigeria (CCRN), thanked God for the prayers of the CCRN, Onitsha Ecclesiastical Province, who, he said, happened to be at a convention then. He also thanked the members of Ezinato Catholic Community and those of the Number One Adoration Family for their prayers; as well as the support of many individuals, which, he said, necessitated his release.
He appreciated his bishops, brother priests, Anambra state government through the State Commissioner for Works, Engr. Marcel Ifejiofor, of the 4 Square, and his other friend, Hon Nnamdi Obiechina, for facilitating his release.
Ibeazor called on the Anambra State Government to construct an access road for Ezinator to curb insecurity in the town. He said that Ezinato and Amansea towns had been prone to kidnapping and noted that constructing the Ezinato-Umunze Road would help in bringing development to the community which is made up of Ndiora, Ntoko and Ndikpa.
‘Though without road, electricity, water and money, taking my share in labouring/affliction of the Gospel (2 Tim 1:8) is my Joy,’ he said.
The National Association of Nigerian Students on Friday threatened to shut down the country should the Federal Government proceed to remove subsidy from petrol.
The organisation called on Nigerians and all its allied structures to be on the alert for further directives on the next action.
The President of NANS, Sunday Asefon, issued the threat during a press conference held in Abuja.
According to him, although NANS was not totally against deregulation, the conditions for such already agreed upon must be out in place before deregulation.
The text of the briefing was titled “Nigeria will be shut down should the Federal Government attempt the removal of fuel subsidy as allegedly being proposed.”
Asefon said, “None of those conditions is in place at the moment. It is therefore very strange that the Federal Government could contemplate the removal of fuel subsidy now.
“The four refineries are not functioning, and if they are functioning at all, it is at a near-zero level. There is zero consultation with stakeholders to even consider issues around deregulation and why it should or should not be. The survival of Nigerian workers and their wards is yet to be discussed, yet a date that may take lives out of them have been fixed.
Furthermore, inflation is already passing a skyrocketing level. So we may need to find a word to describe the kind of inflation that will be experienced if the pump price of PMS goes above 200 per cent.
“In fact, we are very convinced that the Federal Government is acting impulsively on a matter as sensitive as this.
“NANS is rudely shocked by the statement credited to the Group Managing Director of Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, Mele Kyari to the effect that Premium Motor Spirit could sell as much as three hundred and forty N340 by February 2022. This is said to be due to the plan of the Federal Government to remove fuel subsidy and usher in an era of so-called deregulation.
“Even more absurd is the proposal announced by the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Hajia Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed that N5,000 will be paid to 40 million vulnerable Nigerians to cushion the effect of the fuel subsidy removal.
“NANS is still trying hard to make an iota of good sense out of this strange proposal. We shall return to this particular point.
“But let us first of all categorically state that on behalf of the suffering millions of Nigerian students and on behalf of the millions of the frustrated masses of the Nigerian people who are our parents, brothers and sisters, uncles and aunts, friends and neighbours, we reject this socio-economic evil proposal and we shall resist it.
“Nigerians are really suffering. We are in dire socio-economic straits. We are weeping in our hearts and souls. We are dying in silence. We feel the agony and anguish because we are practically involved. Therefore, any attempt to aggravate the social woes and economic manacles that we already face and wear will not only be unconscionable but reckless. It will amount to testing the patience of Nigerians too far. And we wish to warn against it.
The country is very stretched and tensed. In case the government is not aware, we are passing them this intelligence free of charge now. Again we advise, let the government not stretch it further. The consequences will be dire. The people are already flamed. Mendacity will beget mendacity. NANS is happy that the organised labour and civil society groups have all rejected the proposal.
We shall ensure that the entire country is shut down and paralysed should the Federal Government proceed with its insensitive plan of deregulation, or even any further increase in the pump price of fuel. We have had enough.
“We know that neo-liberal and imperial economists will soon emerge to confuse themselves with some well-rehearsed stale analysis and commentaries. Let us tell them already that nothing can change except the practical reality of the socio-economic condition of Nigerians changes.
“No deregulation can happen on the basis of import-driven deregulation. We are aware of our reality with all the ones already deregulated, including Kerosene, diesel and cooking gas (which price has gone totally out of control).”
Beyond the issues already raised, NANS said that in the 2022 Appropriation Bill, the Federal Government already provided for fuel subsidy.
NANS, therefore, wondered why government would provide for what it plans to eliminate.
Asefon said, “Upon which data did the Honourable Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning determine that only 40 million Nigerians are vulnerable? And what is the definition of vulnerability in our socio-economic context? Where does she intend to generate the money which will be paid to those 40 million Nigerians since there is no provision for it in the 2022 Appropriation Bill?
Is it not very strange economics to rob the poor to pay the poor even lower?
“On which economic sense or theory does five thousand Naira (5,000) per month ‘cushion the inflationary effect of 200 per cent increment on the central economic item of a country?
“It is really sad that government can contemplate something as critical as deregulating the petroleum sector without thinking it through, without consultation and without a robust debate.
“As far as we are concerned, this sinister plan is the quest of government to get money at all costs to squander and finance the ostentatious lifestyles of public officers and senior civil servants. And for these selfish reasons, Nigerians much suffer to breaking limits for it. Again, we reiterate that it is a total no, never.
“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government to rescind the plan till adequate arrangements like refining at home and utilising our petrochemical by-products are made. Then after that, there will be a robust discussion by all stakeholders to deal with associated socio-economic issues and discuss the details of the new regime. It is only on this condition that there can be a corresponding social equilibrium, economic prosperity, job and wealth creation for Nigerians.
“And while we hope that Federal Government will heed this patriotic advice, we call on all our comrades, allies and all structures of NANS to be on the alert. Nobody should be swayed or distracted. Because freedom comes by struggle, we shall struggle to free ourselves from further socio-economic chains.”
The Ijaw ethnic group on Thursday,26th November became the first to sign the Niger Delta Peoples Charter on resource control and self-determination.
The pact was signed on behalf of Ijaw indigenes by His Royal Majesty, King Frank Okiakpe, Agadagba X of Gbaraun Kingdom.
The ceremony took place in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State capital, a statement by Ovunda Eni, Niger Delta Congress (NDC) spokesman disclosed
Former President, Nigeria Environmental Society (NES), Engr. Olu Andah Wai-Ogosu (Rivers representative) signed the charter mid-November.
A week earlier, Emeritus Prof Ebiegberi Joe Alagoa, representing Bayelsa, gave his assent. The 88-year-old statesman lectured at the University of Lagos (UNILAG).
The charter solicits over 70 signatures from Niger Delta nationalities, organisations and the 6 South-South states.
The document demands that oil and other natural resources be controlled by the people, while pushing for exit from Nigeria.
It will be presented to the world on February 23, 2022, at the 55th anniversary of the Niger Delta Republic declaration by the late Major Isaac Boro.
Snakes can’t live inside soakaway. The gas alone in your soakaway will kill them. Just incase you don’t know, the gas inside your soakaway can generate electricity.
Again I ask, does the Snake live inside your poo Or they float ontop of poo?
Do you know your bathing soap water also goes into that soakaway, both the waste water from your kitchen? Do you know soaps carry chemicals that are harmful?
Again an average building has over 6 Chambers, think of it, for a snake to live inside soakaway and still find it way to a w.c, it means it must past many Chambers,so tell me. How possible is that?
Also it is completely madness living a storey building yet you are afraid that Snake will crawl out from your W.C, how?
it can never happen, thats bcos the 4inch pipe that carry your poo from the w.c to the soakaway has a smooth surface, Snake can not comfortable crawl on it. It not possible.
Now is it possible for Snake to crawl out from your W.C? yes it is. But that can only happen if you stay in a bungalow, ground floor and you have a breakage in the service chamber that has direct link to your w.c, I mean direct link to the toilet.
So please those of you that are busy
Flushing fuel and salt inside ur soakaway, sorry you are just wasting your money.
So hear it now, Snake can only come out from your W.C if you have a broken Chamber that is directly linked to you toilet.
Snakes don’t live inside your soakaway because snakes too need oxygen.
Governor Willie Obiano has told the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that he will be relocating to his United States base when he leaves office next March.
Recall Obiano was placed on EFCC watchlist.
Reacting on Thursday over placement of the governor on a watch list by the anti-graft agency, Anambra State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Don Adinuba, accused EFCC of acting a script.
He said his principal, currently out of the country, never disguised when he embarked on the foreign trip.
The commissioner said the governor has made it public that he would relocate to his U.S. residence at the end of his tenure.
A federal high court in Abuja has declared the activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda bandit groups as acts of terrorism.
Taiwo Taiwo, presiding judge, gave the order on an ex parte motion filed by the federal government.
Mohammed Abubakar, director of public prosecution (DPP) at the federal ministry of justice, who filed the motion ex-parte, said President Muhammadu Buhari gave approval for his action, of which objective is the proscription of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other terrorist groups in the country.
In its supporting affidavits, the federal government said security reports have confirmed that the bandit groups were responsible for the killings, abductions, rapes, kidnappings and related acts of criminality in the north-east, north-central and other parts of the country.
It alleged that the group is responsible for the growing cases of “banditry, incessant kidnappings for ransom, kidnapping for marriage, mass abductions of school children and other citizens, cattle rustling, enslavement, imprisonment, severe deprivation of physical liberty, torture, rape, sexual slavery, enforced prostitution, forced pregnancy, other forms of sexual violence, attacks and killings in communities and commuters and wanton destruction of lives and properties in Nigeria, particularly in the Northwest and Northcentral states in Nigeria are being carried out by Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other groups associated with or engaged in the same or similar activities as Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups in Nigeria.
The activities of Yan Bindiga and Yan Ta’adda groups and other similar groups constitute acts of terrorism that can lead to a breakdown of public order and safety and is a threat to national security and the corporate existence of Nigeria,” the government added.
Delivering ruling on Thursday, the court specifically declared the activities of the “Yan Bindiga group” and the “Yan Ta’adda group” and other similar groups in any part of the country, especially in the north-west and the north-central as “acts of terrorism and illegality”.
The court proscribed the activities of the group as well as other similar groups in any part of Nigeria, “either in groups or as individuals by whatever names they are called”.
The judge also made an order restraining “any person or group of persons from participating in any manner whatsoever, in any form of activities involving or concerning the prosecution of the collective intention or otherwise of the Yan Bindiga group and the Yan Ta’adda group under any other name or platform however called or described”.
The court asked the federal government to publish the proscription order in the official gazette and two national dailies.
Human rights activist and lawyer, Kenechukwu Okeke has reportedly been murdered in Anambra state.
His family made the disclosure to Daily Post on Thursday, stating that Okeke was allegedly macheted by his attackers numbering seven in his compound and a keg of fuel poured on him before he was lit up and left to burn to death.
The controversial activist had filed criminal complaints before a magistrate court in Abuja against 50 persons over their alleged involvement in #EndSARS protests last year.
Some of the persons listed in the suit include Nigerian football star, Kanu Nwankwo, musicians’ Folarin Falana, better known as Falz, Innocent Idibia aka Tubaba, and David Adeleke better known as Davido.
Daily Post reports that Okeke was killed in Nkpor, near Onitsha, Anambra State, in the presence of his wife, Mrs Blessing Odinakachi Okeke and his little daughter.
Okeke’s wife was quoted as saying; “Kenechukwu Okeke was killed by his tenant.
”The Tenant, Chiadiobi, was living in our house, but when he packed out without our knowledge and asked to be given two months of his rent that he left, we told him he should have notified us that he was packing out.
“My husband was not around the day he came but I told him he packed out of the house without our knowledge and should not be given back any money. He threatened to deal with us, saying he will teach my husband a lesson. I called my husband and told him what the boy said and that he should not come to confront him, since they say he is a bad boy.
My husband later reported the matter to the DSS and to the police, and he was made to write an undertaking, but he was still coming to terrorize us. Sometimes he will come to our house and break open the gate and come in and pick whatever he wants to pick.
“One day, he came to our house and my husband confronted him, without knowing that he had many boys with him downstairs, and before my husband could do anything, they macheted him, and the fuel we wanted to pour into our gen, they poured it on him and lit him up, and that was how my husband died.
“That day was Sunday and not everyone was around, and the few people around tried to quench the fire and also stop it from burning our house, and later we took him to hospital in Enugu, and that was how he died.”
Mrs Okeke lamented that since after her husband’s death in October, the family has been left alone with the burden of catering for his burial, just as no mention or quest by any organisation to take up his matter has been heard of.
She said what was more heart-rending was that her husband’s killer; Chiadiobi, is still in the neighbourhood, bragging about having dealt with Okeke, while also confronting her husband’s aged mum.
“He even recently confronted my husband’s mother, warning her that he heard that she is taking the matter up, and was warning her to be careful. The boy is still free, going around and without remorse, and we are just left alone to do the arrangements of the burial.
“Up till now, he has not been arrested, even though we took him to police and DSS, and he was made to write an undertaking that he will not disturb us again, but he has finally killed him. I’m not even understanding the police on this matter. I’m confused. The boy is behaving like he is untouchable, and everyone is saying that he is a bad boy and we should be careful. We live in Nkpor, near Onitsha, Tarzan junction.”
Spokesperson of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Toochukwu Ikenganyia, when contacted by Daily Post, said that the police is aware of the matter.
It is a reported case, but for now I can tell you that the matter is still sketchy. Just give me some time, I will get back to you with the full details of the matter,” he said.
The Police in Ekiti State have arrested a woman identified as Sule Nana, for faking her own kidnap with the aim of getting a sum of N50,000 from her husband.
Spokesperson of the command, ASP Sunday Abutu who paraded her alongside other suspects on Wednesday in Ado-Ekiti, the state capital said the suspect was arrested by men of the Rapid Respond Squad after thorough and intensive investigation.
According to ASP Sunday, the RRS operatives on 20th November, 2021, got a distress call from Nana that she was kidnapped by unknown gunmen along Ifaki-Oye-Ekiti road.
“On 20/11/2021 at about 1030hrs, a distress call was received from one *Sule Nana* ‘f’ that she was kidnapped by unknown gunmen along Ifaki/Oye-Ekiti road alongside other passengers,” Abutu stated.
“She called her husband that the kidnappers were demanding for a sum of fifty thousand naira (#50,000:00) ransom before she could be released. The RRS Operatives, upon the receipt of the complaint, swung into action by combing the bush along Ifaki/Oye-Ekiti before it was later discovered that Sule Nana kidnapped herself to get money from her relatives. She has confessed to the commission of the crime.” he added.
In her defense, the woman said she decided to plan her own abduction in order to get money from her husband and relatives.
“I needed some money but I could not see any helper and I decided to plan my abduction where I will collect ransom. I called my husband to demand N50,000 ransom and in the process, I was arrested.” she said.
Real Madrid striker, Karim Benzima, has been found guilty of being complicit in attempted rape blackmail and handed a one-year suspended prison sentence and an $84,000 fine.
A French Court gave the judgement on Wednesday after Benzema was found to be complicit in a bid to blackmail his former France team-mate, Mathieu Valbuena, with a sex tape.
Benzema’s lawyer has said he is going to appeal the decision. “It was clearly shown by the tribunal that Karim Benzema wasn’t aware of any plans beforehand. We’re quite stunned by this judgement. It requires appeal. He’ll be found innocent upon appeal.”
The sentence was tougher than that sought by prosecutors against the 33-year-old star over the 2015 extortion attempt, which led Benzema to be cast out of the France team for five-and-a-half years.
Benzema was not in court in the Paris suburb of Versailles for the verdict, which comes hours before Real Madrid take on Sheriff Tiraspol in a Champions League game in Moldova.
He was not accused of being behind the extortion attempt but rather of conspiring with the suspected blackmailers by putting pressure on Valbuena to pay them off.
The court ruled that he had “implicated himself personally, through subterfuge and lies, to convince his team-mate to submit to the blackmail.”
It added that he had shown “no kindness towards Valbuena”, as he had claimed, “just the opposite” and had even appeared to take pleasure in his fellow player’s demise.
Speaking to reporters at the courthouse, one of his lawyers, Sylvain Cormier, said he was “stunned” by the sentence which he called “very severe, unfair and unfounded.
