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Bandits abduct 50 wedding guests along Sokoto-Zamfara highway

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ZAMFARA RESIDENTS PAY N12MILLION RANSOM

 

 

Gunmen on Saturday reportedly abducted more than 50 wedding guests travelling along the Sokoto-Gusau Road.

Some of the wedding guests who managed to escape said that the bandits, as the gunmen are called locally, shot into the first vehicle they were travelling in around 6 p.m.

They said many of those abducted were returning to Gusau (capital of Zamfara State) after attending a wedding in Tambuwal, Sokoto State.

TWO OF THE KIDNAPPED VICTIMS

The bandits, who operate mainly in the northwestern states of Zamfara, Sokoto, Katsina, Kebbi and Kaduna, and Niger state in the north-central, have killed thousands while displacing hundreds of thousands of people.

In the past year, the bandits have blocked roads including highways. Important federal highways including Abuja-Kaduna, Gusau-Sokoto-Birnin Kebbi, and Birnin Gwari-Kaduna have become travellers’ nightmares with attacks and abduction or killing of travellers becoming a daily occurrence.

One of those who escaped said that they were attacked just before reaching Dogon Awo in Tureta Local Government Area.

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“We started hearing the sounds of gunshots before the first vehicle was hit,” he said.

It was gathered that the two vehicles conveying the wedding guests were a Toyota coaster bus belonging to the Universal Basic Education Commission UBEC and a Gusau Local Government Secretariat staff vehicle. Two other private vehicles were also involved.

He, however, said he does not know how many people were abducted from the two vehicles, but that those taken in the two buses were more than 45.

He said when the bandits started shooting, he and some of his friends ran into the bush on the other side of the road.

“We kept hearing the voices and screams of our colleagues and friends but there was nothing we could do. After we heard the arrival of security men, we came out of the bush and identified ourselves.”

A student of Shehu Shagari University of Education, Sokoto, who was going to Talata Mafara from Sokoto, said their vehicle escaped “miraculously”

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“We met four empty vehicles with some belongings, including a phone and some travelling bags. We were there when some policemen from Tureta arrived at the scene.

“From what I heard, they were more than 50 people with the bandits because we were there also when some of the travellers who ran into the bush returned to the main road,” the student said.

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NCos moves Bobrisky from Ikoyi to Kirkiri prison

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Embattled cross-dresser, Idris Okuneye popularly known as Bobrisky, who was sentenced to a six-month jail term for abusing the Naira, has been transferred from the Ikoyi Correctional Center to the Kirikiri Prison by the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS).

 

This is contrary to reports that Bobrisky is still being held at the Ikoyi Correctional Centre.

 

According to reports, the popular cross-dresser is presently held at the Kirikiri Prison and was discreetly transferred since last weekend to Kirikiri.

 

, “It is procedural that he is moved to Kirikiri since it is an expansive prison compared to what we have here,” s dourve said.

The added that due to security reasons, Okuneye was quietly moved to the facility where he will serve his term.

 

It would be recalled that Justice Abimbola Awogboro of the Federal High Court in Lagos sentenced the cross-dresser to six months imprisonment.

While sentencing the convict on Friday, April 12, 2024, the judge said the verdict would serve as deterrent to others who are fond of abusing and mutilating the naira.

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Bobrisky is being identified as a male based on his admission at the court last week and according to reports that there is no realignment of gender or genital organs.

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Cubana chief priest pleads not guilty, granted ₦10m bail

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Popular Instagram celebrity Pascal Okechukwu also known as Cubana Chief Priest has pleaded not guilty for alleged naira abuse.

 

He pleaded not guilty to the three-count charge filed against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC).

 

The socialite was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos before Justice Kehinde Ogundare on Wednesday.

 

The anti-graft commission filed a three-count charge against Cubana Chief Priest accused of abusing the naira at a social event, an act said to be contrary to the provisions of the Central Bank Act of 2007.

 

After he pleaded not guilty, the court granted him bail in the sum of ₦10m with two responsible sureties in like sum who must be gainfully employed with the federal or state government and not less than grade level 16.

 

The sureties are to have landed property and the document must be verified by the court.

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Cubana Chief Priest is also to submit his travel passport to the custody of the court.

 

The bail conditions must be perfected within seven days but in the meantime he was released to his lawyer who must give an undertaken to produce him later. Failure to do so, he will be remanded in correctional facility.

 

A copy of the charge showed it was filed on April 4th by EFFC’s prosecutor Rotimi Oyedepo (SAN) alongside seven other lawyers representing the chairman of the Commission.

 

In Count 1, it was alleged, “that you, Okechukwu Pascal on 13th Feb. 2024, at Eko Hotel, within the jurisdiction of the court, while dancing during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

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In count 2, it was alleged, “that you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in 2020, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred Naira) issued by the Central Bank of Nigeria by spraying same for two hours, and you thereby committed an offence, contrary to and punishable under Section 21(1) of the Central Bank Act 2007”.

 

In Count 3, it was alleged, “that you Okechukwu Pascal sometime in January 2024, in Lagos during a social event, tampered with funds in the denomination of N500 (Five Hundred 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”.

 

Meanwhile, the defendant also informed the court of his pending application to challenge the jurisdiction of the court to hear the charge.

 

Justice Ogundare has adjourned till May 2nd to hear the application.

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This is coming days after the EFCC arraigned controversial cross-dresser Idris Okuneye better known as Bobrisky on similar charges for which he was sentenced to a six-month jail term.

 

 

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Police parade 21 ‘Oodua nation agitators’ arrested over invasion of Oyo secretariat

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The Oyo state police command on Monday paraded 21 suspects arrested over the invasion of the state secretariat in Ibadan, the s capital.

 

On Saturday, security operatives arrested 16 “gunmen” suspected to be members of a group identified as Oodua nation agitators for invading the state secretariat.

 

The gunmen, who were said to be dressed in military camouflage, were subdued by security personnel.

 

The security personnel were able to arrest some of the gunmen while others took to their heels and were pursued into the nearby bushes.

 

Sources said the gunmen were heading to the Oyo state house of assembly premises located within the secretariat when they were repelled.

They were also said to have removed the Nigerian national flag in the secretariat and replaced it with the “Oodua nation flag”, before the intervention of the security personnel.

 

In a statement on Monday, the Oyo state police command said 21 “Yoruba Nation Agitators“ have been paraded in Ibadan.

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They were paraded alongside seized exhibits such as guns, ammunition, cutlasses, walkie-talkies, and other communication gadgets.

 

Adebola Hamzat, Oyo state commissioner of police, told journalists that the suspects would be charged with treasonable felony and terrorism.

 

He added that investigations are ongoing to unmask their sponsors, and other suspects still at large.

 

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