IMO BREAKING NEWS BLOG

The Anambra state police command on June 13 uncovered a hotel named Gally Gally in Nkpor where children between the ages of 14 and 17 are allegedly being used for s€x s!aves, and baby factory. 

A statement released by DSP Ikenga Tochukwu, spokesperson of the state police command, states that the operatives rescued, 35 girls and 4 of them are pregnant. He said the police also arrested 3 persons namely: Mrs Ifeoma Uzo age ‘F’ 35yrs, Chidiebere Alaka ‘M’ 28years and Nweke Chidiebere. 

''We recovered three pump action gu n, seven cartridges and cash sum of Eight hundred and seventy seven thousand, five hundred naira (#877,500).

The Suspects arrested are being interrogated with a view to eliciting information on their involvement and unmasking other gang members.'' the statement in part read

Tochukwu added that the police will hand over the victims to NAPTIP for the welfare and rehabilitation of the children. 

He said all suspects will be charged to court at the end of the investigations.

The National Peace Committee (NPC) has appealed to the residents of Ekiti to choose peace over violence in the coming governorship election in the state. Chairman of the committee and former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, made the appeal in a statement barely a week to the Election Day.

He urged the people to come out without fear, but with hope to exercise their franchise and vote to deepen the democratic process in the state. General Abdulsalami also advised the youths not to make themselves pawns in the hands of the political class but should be aware that the security, stability, and future of Nigeria remain their common patrimony.

He urged everyone taking part in the election to follow due process, conduct themselves with civility and patriotism, and ensure they do not take the laws into their hands no matter the grievances they may hold against individuals and other stakeholders in the poll. The NPC chairman reminded the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, and others that Nigerians and the world were monitoring them as they expect a level-playing field for all parties.

According to him, the conduct and peaceful outcome of the Ekiti State off-cycle election will put to test all the claims of reforms and strategic policy implementations of the last four years. General Abdulsalami also believes the governorship election will offer an opportunity to assess how the 2023 elections will span out. He disclosed that the various political parties and stakeholders in the election would sign a peace accord on Wednesday in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.

Midfielder Nemanja Matic has joined Italian club Roma on a one-year deal. It is the third time Jose Mourinho has signed the 33-year-old after bringing him to Chelsea in 2014 and then Manchester United three years later.

Former Serbia international Matic left the Old Trafford club when his contract ended earlier this month. Roma's general manager Tiago Pinto said: "The enthusiasm he showed at the prospect of joining our project was hugely encouraging. "I am sure that will serve as a starting point for a very productive journey for all of us.

"Nemanja brings with him to Roma, not just a lot of quality on the pitch, but the vast experience he has gained from so many seasons in the Premier League and a focus and mentality that has consistently set him apart throughout his career."

Under Mourinho, Matic won the Premier League at Chelsea and played in an FA Cup and Europa League final for United. He has signed a deal with Roma until June 2023 and will wear the number 21 shirt for the Europa Conference League winners.

Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has questioned the primaries of political parties held across the country. He was concerned that about 178 serving members of the house failed to secure the ticket of their various parties to return to the green chamber of the National Assembly.

Gbajabiamila made the remarks on Tuesday in his opening remarks to the lawmaker at the resumption of plenary after over one month of recess. According to him, many members lost because of the process of primaries, using the delegate system which is what the House fought for by making direct primaries compulsory in the Electoral Act which the President has yet to sign.

That clause of the Electoral Act had to be expunged, allowing political parties to decide their mode of primaries to select their candidates for various elections.

Imo State Governor, Hope Uzodimma on Tuesday said the choice of picking a running mate for Bola Tinubu lies with the ex-Lagos governor, rather than Governors in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

On June 8, Tinubu emerged as the APC presidential candidate in the 2023 general elections after beating Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, ex-Transportation Minister, Rotimi Amaechi, and Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, among others. A week after the party’s presidential primary, Uzodimma, who was also the Chairman of the APC special convention, briefed reporters in Abuja after visiting President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The decision to choose a running mate does not reside with any of us, the governors. It is the presidential candidate that will look at the local characteristics and every factor that will make him win the election,” he said. “There is nowhere in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria where religion is a factor as to who becomes the President or running mate.

“We are looking for a united Nigeria where governance will be the issue, a President will be adjudged by his capacity to deliver democratic dividends.” According to him, the South-East is ripe to produce Nigeria’s next President for the sake of equity and justice.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has set up a committee to screen its vice-presidential candidate for the 2023 general elections. Members of the Vice Presidential Candidate Screening Committee were nominated by the PDP National Working Committee (NWC), said the party’s spokesman, Debo Ologunagba.

Ologunagba, who disclosed this in a statement on Tuesday, explained that the NWC constituted the committee in line with the electoral guidelines of the main opposition party.

He added that the screening exercise would hold by 10 am on Thursday inside the NWC Hall at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

“Pursuant to Part VI, Paragraph 14 of the Electoral Guidelines of our great Party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the National Working Committee (NWC) has approved the nomination of the following Party members to serve on the Vice Presidential Candidate Screening Committee for the screening/verifying of the nominated Vice Presidential Candidate of our Party for the 2023 general elections,” he said.