IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

The Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said on Tuesday that Nigeria’s exit from economic recession is a clear testimony that President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration is working for the progress and prosperity of all Nigerians.

He made the remark in Abuja while addressing a solidarity rally organized for the Federal Government by the Centre for Civil Society and Justice. Adesina said: “You have chosen a very auspicious day for this solidarity rally. Earlier today, we were told that Nigeria had officially exited recession.

“That shows that we have a government that is working for us. We have a government that is interested in our welfare. We have a government that is interested in our well-being.

Citizens of Osina,  the Catholic Bishop of Orlu, Most Rev Dr Augustine Ukwuoma and the entire Orlu Catholic Diocese in Imo State were thrown into lamentation and mourning when the body of Rev Father Cyriacus ONUNKWO was on Friday found dead after he was kidnapped.

Father Onunkwo, on study leave in Rome, returned last week after spending a few days in Lagos to bury his late father who hails from Osina in Ideato local government area of Imo State,  the country local government area after the. Governor of Imo State Owelle Rochas Okorocha.  Pa Onunkwo  died last month and is yet to be buried.

HERE IS AN ACCOUNT OF A CLOSE ASSOCIATE :

"Yesterday, on the very first day of "mber Months", 1st September, around 7pm in the evening, the younger brother of Fr. Jude Udokwu (newly ordained) was somewhere close to Mbara-Okporo, driving with his friend when some gunmen attacked him. They were alleged to be kidnappers. He escaped them with many bullet holes in his car. It was this same group that struck shortly after, at Nkwoito, unfortunately it was our brother, Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo (Boss) who they captured. Fr. Cyriacus had come home to arrange for the burial of his father, who just died on Monday, but his death was yet to be announced to the priests.

Initially, eye witnesses attested that the man kidnapped seemed to a priest but didnt know who. When the police working with Fr. Ihenetu Christopher  (Cuba) came to the scene, they saw the abandoned car, an ash coloured Corolla. They searched the car and found an envelope with Fr. Onunkwo's name on it. Fr. Cuba started making enquiries upon which he discovered through the help of Fr. Udem and Fr. Ukoha that Fr. Cyriacus Onunkwo actually came home for his father's burial arrangements and was staying at Fr. Udem's place. They further confirmed that the Corolla abandoned on the scene actually belonged to him.

They tried his number but it was switched off. Investigations commenced while waiting for the first contact of the kidnappers. Unfortunately, rather than the expected contact, the police called to inform Fr. Cuba that a corpse was found, gagged and tied hands and legs, with blood oozing from mouth, ears and nostrils. Fr. Kenneth Obialisi and Fr. Cuba responded to the police information only to find out that it was our own Fr. Onunkwo and he was already dead!

There was no bullet wound on his body or any serious sign of battering but only blood from the mentioned organs. It appears he might have suffocated or had heart attacks resulting in brain haemorrhage. They must have thrown him out when he died. (These are speculations pending conclusion of police investigations)
His body was deposited at Nempi, closest mortuary to where they found him. But right now it is being transferred to our hospital, St. Damian's Okporo.

Chairman, Zinox Group, Leo Stan Ekeh’s donation of N50m to the victims of the demolition of the popular Eke Ukwu market in Imo State through his foundation was an act of social responsibility meant to provide much-needed relief and succour to affected persons and defuse tension in the state. It must be emphasized that there is no political motivation behind this gesture.

A 10-man committee peopled by men and women of integrity led by Chief Ambrose Ejiogu was hastily set up to oversee the identification of the affected and disbursement of the funds. The committee has immediately swung into action to commence the disbursement of the relief funds to the victims.

The transparency around the donation is essential for the integrity of the committee members as any form of secrecy may see these respectable individuals being accused of embezzlement of the funds meant for the relief.

Despite being a private gesture, Ekeh had digitally notified the Governor, His Excellency Owelle Rochas Okorocha and his wife about the donation. Ekeh had also urged them to do all within their powers to ensure that, miscreants and other agents of mischief do not capitalize on the aftermath of the demolition to foment trouble in the state.

The donation was borne out of a deep humanitarian concern for the affected persons and was solely focused on ameliorating the burden caused by the demolition. Considering the urgency of the situation and the looming unrest in the state, the donation was seen as a gesture that could go a long way to preserve the existing peace in the state and ensure that aggrieved persons do not take the law into their hands.

A native of Owerri, Ekeh believes God has a purpose for raising him from the state. Over the years, he has quietly supported successive governments in the state to improve the lot of the people. This is in addition to many social responsibility investments in the area of educational and human capital development in Lagos State, Imo State and other parts of the country.

Among his many silent initiatives is the donation of N100m to IDPs, donation of security vehicles and monetary support to the Lagos State government, donation of security vehicles to the Imo State Government, provision of scholarships to local and foreign universities for indigent students as well as other numerous contributions to different structured bodies nationwide. 

Also worth mentioning is the construction of houses for widows in the three Senatorial zones in Imo State through the personal foundation of Her Excellency, Mrs. Nneoma Rochas Okorocha.

Most of his charitable donations, constructions and gestures including the construction of houses for widows, are done through proxies and are not commissioned or launched by him.

The N50m donation to victims of the Owerri market demolition is the first to be reported.

Ekeh reiterates his intention not to contest elective office in Imo State in 2019 and beyond. Neither is he interested in sponsoring any candidate for the Governorship election in 2019.

He remains, however, dedicated to the task of uplifting humanity and will continue to support the current administration and successive governments in the state and across the country.

Everton striker Wayne Rooney has been charged with drink-driving, British police said Friday.

Wayne Rooney has signed a two-year deal with Everton

Rooney, England’s all-time record goalscorer and former captain, was stopped by police near his home in Cheshire, northwest England, in the early hours of Friday.

“The man was arrested shortly after 2.00am (0100GMT) today, Friday 1 September, after officers stopped a black VW Beetle,” said a police statement.

Police said 31-year-old Rooney “has since been charged with driving whilst over the prescribed limit.”

Rooney had been released on bail and is due to appear at Stockport Magistrates’ Court on September 18.

He was seen posing in a selfie with cricketer Jack McIver in a bar in the upmarket town of Alderley Edge, near his home, on Thursday, August 31.

McIver shared the photo of the pair in the Bubble Room on Instagram at around 10:00pm (2100 GMT) that day with the comment: “International Break #legend”.

Rooney announced his retirement from international football last week, having scored 53 goals in 119 appearances.

He made his decision despite England manager Gareth Southgate offering to recall him for the World Cup qualifier against Malta on Friday.

Rooney re-joined boyhood club Everton in the pre-season after a successful 13-year spell at Premier League rivals Manchester United.

He has seemed rejuventated by the move to the Liverpool-based club and scored in his first two Premier League games of the 2017/18 campaign, a 1-0 win over Stoke City and a 1-1 draw with Manchester City

The foregoing was the situation in parts of Borno, Ogun and Edo states yesterday after Boko Haram terrorists attacked an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) camp at Banki on Nigeria’s border with Cameroon, stabbing 11 to death, and a timber laden truck ploughed into a crowd of Muslims at Eid el Kabir prayers in Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State.

Two children worshippers were instantly. Enraged by the development, other worshippers swooped on the truck driver in order to lynch him, but they ended up clubbing to death one of the policemen from Ijebu-Igbo Police Divisional Headquarters who came to the driver’s aid. The deceased policeman’s colleagues gave his name as Joseph Adejuwon.

Eyewitnesses said the truck was navigating a hilly road on the seedy Atikori area when it veered off the road and crashed into a packed vehicle before mowing down the two victims. Several other people were injured.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) may have settled for Aliko Dangote as their presidential candidate with reports indicating that the party is said to have sent emissaries to woo the billionaire businessman.

Ahead of the 2019 general election, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has started making overtures to billionaire business man, Alhaji Aliko Dangote, to come and contest for the presidential election on its platform, DailyTimes exclusively reports.

Already, the opposition PDP has zoned the presidency slot for the 2019 election to the Northern part of the country, while the National Chairmanship slot of the party has been earmarked for the Southern part.

An impeccable insider source disclosed in Abuja that the party, in a determined efforts to win the 2019 election, has already sent emissary to the billionaire businessman from Kano, who is reputed as the wealthiest businessman in Africa.

It was learnt that the decision to reach out to Dangote with a view to wooing him to come and contest for the presidential election on the platform of the PDP, was part of the decisions reached by members of a think tank committee put together by the immediate past President of the country, Dr. Jonathan Goodluck.

The opposition PDP, which recently came out of its leadership crisis following the ruling of the Supreme Court that recognised Senator Ahmed Makarfi as its National Chairman, was said to have taken a lot of things into consideration before the decision to go and woo Alhaji Dangote for the 2019 mission.

The source said: “I can confidently tell you that the PDP has made overtures to Alhaji Aliko Dangote to come and fly the presidential flag of our party for the 2019 presidential election.

“So many things were taken into consideration before the party arrived at this decision. Alhaji Dangote has the clout, the pedigree, the name, the followership and above all the financial war chest to match any presidential candidoate that the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) or any other party may be bringing forward in 2019”.

It was further gathered that Dangote allegedly spent personal money running into about N37 billion in 2015 to help in realising the presidential ambition of President Muhammadu Bihari, before and after he (Buhari) emerged at the presidential candidate of the APC then. It is still not clear if Buhari will be seeking a second term in office come 2019.

Further findings showed that Alhaji Dangote had equally made a lot on financial contributions to the emergence of other past presidents in the country.

Another source within the party who spoke to The Daily Times said: “If Dangote can make financial contributions to ensure the emergence of other past Presidents in the country in the past, don’t you think he will be willing and ready to spend any amount to realise his own presidential ambition if he accepts the overture from the PDP?

“This is one of the reasons why the PDP made the overtures to him (Dangote) and we sincerely hope and pray that he accepts it. If he does, the journey to the Aso Rock presidential villa for the PDP in 2019 would have been made less stressful and less thorny”, the source added.

When contacted, a source close to Dangote disclosed that his principal is not interested in politics, saying that the PDP should look elsewhere for its candidate.

The source, who sought anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, insisted that the stance of the business mogul not to dabble into politics has not changed, saying that any attempt by any political party to woo him for 2019 presidency is a distraction.

He said: “The attempt to woo him will fail because Dangote is not interested in politics. He is a businessman to the core and what you just asked me to react to is a distraction.

“The PDP should go and look elsewhere for its candidate for 2019 as Dangote is committed to his core vision and desire to invest and create jobs to the people”.