The Anambra State Police Command said it has recovered the three remaining bodies of the victims of a boat accident that occurred on Wednesday along the coastline of the River Niger.
This was as the command urged all water commuters to be safety conscious and avoid behavior that may jeopardize their safety and that of others while on transit on water. This was disclosed in a press statement by the state police spokesman, SP Tochukwu Ikenga, on Friday.
On April 10th, a popular Nollywood actor, Junior Pope and four others were confirmed dead in the boat tragedy. The boat, one of two that conveyed a movie crew to a film location in Anambra West Local Government Area of the state, was returning to its takeoff point in Asaba, Delta State when the unfortunate accident occurred.
This prompted the Actors Guild of Nigeria to bar its actors from all film productions involving riverine areas and boat rides.
Ikenga said the Marine Police of the Anambra State Command recovered the bodies of the three remaining victims of the unfortunate boat accident late on Thursday.
He said, “The two of the bodies were recovered on Thursday, April 11, 2024, while the last was washed in by the tide this morning.
“All the bodies have been deposited in the hospital mortuary in Asaba while the President of the Guild of Actors and Actresses has been notified of the recovery.
“The CP promised an expedited investigation into the sad accident that claimed the lives of five actors. He also commended the Command’s Marine Unit and its Commander for dedication to duty.”
Following the Friday imprisonment of Idris Olarewaju Okuneye, also known as Bobrisky, for abusing the naira, PUNCH Online presents a list of nine actions involving the naira that could lead to legal consequences.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro said the sentencing of Bobrisky, a controversial crossdresser, would be a deterrent to others who are found abusing and mutilating the naira.
The Clean Notes Policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria was implemented with the aim of enhancing the visual appeal and durability of the banknotes in circulation, as stated on the official website of the apex bank.
According to the CBN, the objective is to guarantee that the naira banknotes in circulation maintain a high standard of quality, enabling them to be easily processed and accepted by the general public.
Below are the ways you can abuse the naira:
Spraying: It is illegal to spray banknotes at events.
Writing: Writing on banknotes is prohibited by law.
Stapling: Stapling banknotes is prohibited by law due to the potential for corrosion caused by the pins.
Tearing: Tearing banknotes is also illegal.
Dancing or stamping on naira: Dancing or stamping on naira banknotes is prohibited by law. Getting oil or ink on the banknotes can be considered a form of defacing.
Selling: Selling currency banknotes is illegal.
Mutilation: Anyone caught tampering with the naira note will face legal consequences, as stated in the CBN Act Section 21.
Rejecting the naira: Rejecting the naira is strictly prohibited by law (Section 20, Subsection 5).
Money bouquets: In February 2023, the CBN also identified money bouquets as a type of naira abuse.
Bobrisky’s Friday sentencing is not an isolated incident.
Earlier in February 2024, actress, Oluwadarasimi Omoseyin, was convicted and sentenced to six months in prison for defacing the naira notes by spraying and stepping on them at a social event in Lagos.
The Lagos High Court sitting in Ikeja has granted bail to a former Central Bank (CBN) governor Godwin Emefiele. Justice Rahman Oshodi granted him bail in the sum of N50m with two sureties in like sum.
The court also held that the sureties must be gainfully employed and have three years of tax payment with the Lagos State Government. Justice Oshodi said that the sureties must show proper identification and they must be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
The judge also said that he was satisfied with the bail conditions of N1 million, earlier given to Emefiele’s co-defendant Henry Isioma-Omoil who is standing trial on another charge before Justice Olufunke Sule-Hamzat of the Lagos High Court sitting in Yaba.
According to the court, the bail documents must be transferred to the special offences court and it must also be registered in the Lagos State Bail Management System.
Last week Monday, the Economic & Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) charged Emefiele before the court on a 26-count bordering on alleged abuse of office and irregular allocation of $4.5 billion and N2.8 billion respectively.
Controversial cross-dresser Idris Olanrewaju Okuneye popularly known as Bobrisky has been sentenced to six months imprisonment without an option of fine for abusing the Nigerian currency – naira.
Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court, Lagos, in her sentence, said the judgment will serve as a deterrent to others who are fond of abusing and mutilating the naira.
Before the sentence, the judge asked Bobrisky about his sex, and he quickly replied that he is a man. He was subsequently sentenced to serve his jail term at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre. The judge in her ruling held that the jail term would commence on March 24, 2024, the day of his arrest.
The court had on April 5, convicted him after he pleaded guilty to a 4 counts charge of abuse of the naira, made against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).
The judge adjourned to last Thursday for sentencing, but the Federal Government declared the day a public holiday for the Eid-El-Fitri celebration.
The counts against him read: “that you, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, on the 24th day of March 2024, at Imax Circle Mall, Jakande, Lekki, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social event tampered with the total sum of N400,000.00 (four hundred thousand naira) notes issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
“That you, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, between July and August 2023 at Aja Junction, lkorodu, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social event tampered with the sum N50, 000.00 (Fifty Thousand Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
“That you, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, sometimes in December 2023 at White Steve Event Hall, Ikeja, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social event tampered with the sum N20,000.00 (twenty thousand naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.
“That you, Okuneye Idris Olanrewaju, sometimes in 2022 at Event Hall, Oniru, Victory Island, within the jurisdiction of this Honourable Court whilst dancing during a social event tampered with the sum N20,000.00 (twenty thousand naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same and you thereby committed an offence contrary to and punishable under section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act, 2007.”
Nollywood actor Junior Pope Odonwodo, popularly known as Jnr Pope, has died after drowning in a boat accident.
Jnr Pope died on a movie set in Asaba, the Delta State capital, on the afternoon of Wednesday, April 10, 2024. Confusion had trailed his status Wednesday night after Emeka Rollas, the national president of the Actors Guild of Nigeria (AGN), announced that the actor was responding to medical treatment.
“What God cannot do does not exist. Junior Pope is alive. He is taking treatment in the hospital,” Rollassaidin a later deleted post on Instagram.
However, the AGN president confirmed Pope’s passing in a new post on Thursday morning. “It’s so so sad that our joy was shortlived,” he said.
Clearing up the confusion triggered by his initial post, Rollas clarified, “My first post was out of excitement when we noticed his tingling fingers. Two notable hospitals tried their best to revive him but to no avail. God knows the best. We finally lost him.”
The deceased actor was married and blessed with three kids. Rollas also confirmed that the corpse of one Mr Friday had also been identified, while three other victims of the boat accident, including a makeup artist and a sound guy, are still missing.
The incident happened a few hours after Pope shared a video of himself on his Instagram page, riding a wooden boat without a life jacket, apparently for a scene in the movie he was acting in.
The Premier League will introduce semi-automated offside technology next season in the hope of reducing the time it takes to make VAR decisions.
At a shareholders’ meeting on Thursday, top-flight clubs unanimously agreed to introduce the system, which is expected to cut the average length of a VAR check for offside by about 30 seconds.
“The technology will provide quicker and consistent placement of the virtual offside line, based on optical player tracking, and will produce high-quality broadcast graphics to ensure an enhanced in-stadium and broadcast experience for supporters,” a Premier League statement said.
Football’s global governing body FIFA used semi-automated offside technology at the 2022 men’s World Cup in Qatar after running a series of trials, including at the Club World Cup.
It is also used in the Champions League and in Italy’s Serie A. Referees will still need to make calls on subjective elements, such as whether a player in an offside position is interfering with play.
The Premier League has not disclosed the technology partner it will work with and it is understood that no contracts have yet been signed.
Two farmers who were displaced from their ancestral homes in the Umogidi community in the Entekpa Council ward in Otukpo Local Government Area of Benue State have been reportedly killed by bandits.
Two others were said to have been injured, and another was abducted by the bandits in a renewed attack.
Locals who spoke on condition of anonymity said the deceased recently fled their homes due to a similar attack but decided to go to their farms in Umogidi when they were killed on Tuesday.
The other three were also said to be in their farms when the bandits attacked them and took away one of them while the other two were reported to have been injured.
One of the locals who spoke to journalists on the phone on Thursday said, “They (bandits) are now demanding N5 million as ransom for the kidnapped victim.
“All of these victims are IDPs who went to get food in their farms and were attacked by the same armed herders who chased them away from home in the first place.”
Confirming the incident in a telephone chat with journalists on Thursday, the caretaker chairman of Otukpo LGA, Alfred Omakwu, said the victims were IDPs who went to farm on Tuesday but were attacked.
He added that the bandits again attacked another village, Upu, in Otukpo on Wednesday but were repelled by soldiers who engaged them in a gun battle from afternoon until 7pm.
Omakwu said, “The IDPs are camped in St. Charles Primary School, while most of them as they are going to their farms to fetch farm produce, rented one room for their family to stay in Adoka central.
“They (victims) left Adoka where they were taking refuge and went to their farms at Umogidi when they were attacked. Two of them were killed.
“Yesterday (Wednesday), there was another attack in Upu village. They (armed invaders) opened gunfire in the village, the soldiers were there, so they engaged them and chased them to the bush. They exchanged gunfire till 7 pm, and they (armed invaders) ran away. There was no casualty.”
Efforts to get the reaction of the state command’s spokesperson, Catherine Anene, were not successful as her phone did not connect.
The Lagos State Government on Thursday reiterated its resolve to demolish buildings that fail its integrity test. The state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, spoke when he visited Dosunmu Market on the Lagos Island which was gutted by fire on Tuesday. No fewer than 14 buildings were gutted by fire which resulted in the loss of goods worth millions of naira.
“The fire started from the Penthouse of one of the buildings where a man was carelessly refueling a generator before it ignited the fire and escalated to other buildings. There were many generators in the building that further compounded the escalation,” according to the Lagos Territorial Coordinator of the National Emergency Management Authority, Ibrahim Farinloye.
During his visit to the scene of the incident, Sanwo-Olu said, “A lot of residential apartments have been turned to warehouses. I am saying without any iota of doubt that more buildings will go down.
“I just finished the assessment of a very unfortunate, but preventable disaster.
“Access was denied to the first responder to the fire for a couple of hours. This fire started more than 48 hours ago and is still alive.
“At the last count, we have about 14 houses that have been affected, and more may go down after the extensive test.”
The governor added, “What I have seen here is what could have been prevented. We do not have a full report yet, so I do not want to speculate.
“From the initial report, it was gross carelessness.”
Sanwo-Olu added that the Dosunmu Market would be closed indefinitely, but that government would assist those to be affected.
“We will bring down any property that does not conform to our rules and regulations of construction.
“We cannot allow anyone to put the lives and property of others and the environment at risk.
“We will support those affected by the fire so they can get back on their feet, however.
Abia State Governor, Dr. Alex Otti, OFR, has charged the UN Habitat to fastrack the delivery of Aba Master Plan as well as extend their work to the State capital, Umuahia, in order to accelerate the pace of work in the redevelopment of the cities.
Governor Otti gave the charge when he received the UN Habitat, West Africa Portfolio Manager, Matthias Spaliviero, who visited Tuesday to brief him on the extent of work done by the agency in redesigning the Master Plan for Aba.
The Governor, who said his administration was committed to transforming Umuahia to give it a status befitting of a capital city, announced that government had awarded contract for the construction of an ultra modern bus terminal in Umuahia to enhance the esthetics of the city and ensure a level of sanity in the transport sector. He added that a similar project would be replicated in Aba.
“We are advancing in our quest to develop Aba and address the environmental challenges in the city. While you are working in Aba, extend your work to Umuahia to add value to what we are doing because it is the capital city. We want to transform that city.
“We have given approval for the establishment of a terminal, where all types of transportation empties into. We also have deployed that to two locations in Aba. “You can see that we’re already moving. So, the earlier you now fit what we’re doing into the Master Plan, the better. Otherwise you would just find out that in the next two, three, four months, you may need to go back to what you think you had finished as your Master Plan will not be consistent with the development on the ground, and we don’t want that to happen,” Governor Otti admonished the UN agency.
He called on the organisation to look at the drainage systems in both Aba and Umuahia and come up with designs on how to best address the issue of flooding in the cities.Earlier, the UN Habitat West Africa Portfolio Manager, Dr. Matthias Spaliviero, who said he was in the state for a support mission, explained that the UN habitat intends to show full commitment to the state through technical assistance.Spaliviero said there was need for sustainable urban renewal through engagement with the people, especially in Aba, regretting that Aba people had poor sanitary culture and do not take care of the infrastructure provided by the government.
“Our mandate is to promote transformative change in urban cities and settlements. We want to show our full commitment to Abia state. We do have a contractual agreement with Abia State. This is our strategic plan, so the overall objective is sustainable urbanization as a driver of development and peace to improve living conditions for all,” Dr. Spaliviero stated.
The General Manager, Greater Aba Development Authority (GADA), Arc Uche Ukeje, expressed regret that the UN Habitat was not moving as fast as expected by the state in the execution of the project, which the state had paid for in full.He, consequently, called for the pace of work to be accelerated as the government was not willing to freeze development with regard infrastructure delivery while waiting for the agency to complete the Master Plan that had been in the works for about three years.
Chief Press Secretary to the Governor Abia State Government House, Umuahia April 10, 2024.
We must start today to exposed all the instititional corruption in Nigeria and play the right political game . People are really depressed and incapacitated.
They need to be energized and inspired . Tell me ,what is the mathematics behind selling fuel N700 per litres.It is pure wickedness and crude exploitation.
Is there any international law that says we cannot have two prices region for crude oil ,one for international market ,the other for local refinery and capital punishment for stealing public funds. We need to give our people solutions.
To me, fuel should be sold for less than N100. Why should individuals have oil well ? Lets begin to ask fundamental questions instead of going to town with our copy and paste education put in place by people who colonize us.
