News
Insecurity: Kaduna State suffering from El-Rufai’s evil – Wike
Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike said, the endless banditry activities in Kaduna State was a repercussion for Nasir El-Rufai’s evil intention and crisis he plotted against Rivers State.
Wike spoke on Friday when Vice-President of Rotary Club of Port Harcourt, Rotarian Obiageli Ejezie, led other leaders of the association to the Government House, Port Harcourt.
Rivers governor’s Special Assistant on Media, Kelvin Ebiri, in a statement in Port-Harcourt said the delegation was in Government House to confer on the Governor the “2019/2020 Good Governance Award” for his outstanding achievements in project execution in Rivers.
Wike accused the Federal Government of triggering crisis in Rivers, revealing that his Kaduna State counterpart, Malam Nasir El-Rufai asked the presidency to transfer Rivers Commissioner of Police who was doing well in the State.
He said based on El-Rufai’s wishes, a Commissioner of Police they wanted was posted to Rivers before God stopped their plans.
Explaining further Wike said what is happening to El-Rufai now was because he is an evil plotter.
“I remember when I came in 2015, when they were honouring one of their friends as a Minister on live television Channels, El-Rufai had the temerity to say that (my) election cannot stand in Rivers state and that they will kick me out.”
The governor said APC administration under President Muhammadu Buhari has dragged the nation fifty years backwards.
Having mismanaged the opportunity to make a difference since 2015, Wike urged Nigerians to vote out the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2023.
The Governor told the delegation in 2015, APC convinced Nigerians they were going to offer better governance than the former President Goodluck Jonathan.
But he said: “There can’t be good governance without security and this is based on rule of law. All of us are living witnesses in 2015 when it was alleged that the government of former President Goodluck Jonathan, could not perform. So Nigeria needed a change. What has happened to the change? They have taken Nigeria back by 50 years.”
Wike wondered how long the Federal government would allow the needless killings and abduction of innocent Nigerians to continue.
He said it was no longer acceptable for Nigerians to wake up daily to such ugly news of killings because they expected the government to guarantee security.
He said: “Now, you wake up every morning, students are being kidnapped in so and so State University, people have been killed in so and so State. So, it has become a norm.
“Just wake up in the morning and the first thing you will see on the front page of dailies is 10 people have been kidnapped in Niger State; 20 have been killed in Zamfara State, 5 have been killed in Imo and this happens virtually every day. So, where are we heading to?”
Operatives of the Department of State Security (DSS), have arrested two principal suspects involved in the killing of 16 Nigerians of Northern extraction in Uromi, Esan North East Local Government last week.
The suspects were arrested by operatives of the DSS in Uromi, following credible intelligence. Operatives of various security agencies are hunting for other key suspects involved in the unfortunate incidents
Edo State Governor, Senator Monday Okpebholo, had on Monday in Kano State, during a condolence visit, revealed that 14 suspects had already been arrested in connection with the killing.
Governor Okpebholo who visited the State to condole with the Government and families of the victims, had vowed that justice will be served and those involved in the killing will be brought to justice.
Governor Okpebholo had also assured families of the victims that adequate compensations will be paid.
In the latest development, the two principal suspects arrested by officials of the DSS, have been transferred to Abuja, the nation’s capital, for further interrogation and prosecution by the relevant authorities.
A Nigerian televangelist, Timothy Omotoso has been acquitted of rape after spending eight years in prison in South Africa.
Trouble started when the televangelist was accused of raping young women from his South African church, an accusation he denied when he was arrested eight years ago.
His trial was aired live I South Africa and gained interest across the country, but insisted that he was not guiltynof 32-count charges against him.
In 2018, one witness told the court she had been raped by the pastor – who ran a church in the city of Port Elizabeth – when she was 14 years old.
The presiding judge on Wednesday 1st April, 2025 delivered judgement, saying Pastor Timothy Omotoso has not bèn found guilty over this case because prosecutors had mishandled the case.
South Africa’s National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) shared a similar assessment, saying that “former prosecutors in the case acted improperly and the accused were not sufficiently cross-examined by the state”.
The NPA said it will now “consider its legal options”.
For his part, Mr Omotoso told the media he thanked God for the verdict.
His co-accused, Lusanda Sulani and Zikiswa Sitho, were also found not guilty.
Mr Omotoso was dramatically arrested at an airport in 2017 as he sought to leave the country.
His trial was the first prominent rape case to be broadcast live in a country where sexual violence is rampant.
The hearings attracted huge interest, and raised difficult questions about victims’ rights, impartiality and whether justice is best served by having television cameras in courtrooms.
Following Wednesday’s verdict, Mr Omotoso will be deported to Nigeria, South African media outlet News24 reported.
The Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has declared that it has been vindicated by recent revelations from the state’s former Head of Service, Dr. George Nwaeke.
The Rivers APC Chairman, Chief Tony Okocha, stated this in a statement he personally signed and made available to journalists on Wednesday.
The former Head of Service, who recently resigned had alleged that the suspended Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, was directly responsible for the political crisis in the state and the bombing of the State House of Assembly.
In response, the Rivers State APC asserted that Nwaeke’s testimony aligns with the party’s long-held position, as frequently stated by Chief Okocha, that the suspended governor was the architect of the state’s political crisis, including masterminding the October 29, 2023, bombing of the State House of Assembly.
Chief Okocha further emphasized that Nwaeke’s account, given his high-ranking position in the state, cannot be dismissed as mere speculation.
He said attempts to discredit the former Head of Service will not deter him from exposing the alleged corruption and misconduct that the APC has repeatedly highlighted.
“What is most interesting to the APC in Rivers State as a responsible political party is that Dr. George Nwaeke’s revelations and testimonies of how suspended Governor Siminalayi Fubara and his squad bombed the Rivers State House of Assembly is an eye witness account.
“Again , it has clearly vindicated the APC in Rivers State as the only visible and viable opposition political party in the State, and has cemented the love for the party in the heart of well meaning Rivers people as the voice of the voiceless, and the hope for a better Rivers State.
“The revelations made by the former Head of Service in Rivers State has further positioned her as a political party with high level of integrity, and the hope of Rivers people for a viable alternative to produce the Governor of Rivers State in 2027.
“The verbal attacks staged against the resigned Head of Service will not deter him from exposing the corruption within Sim Fubara’s administration, which we have consistently highlighted as the opposition party. On this matter, the APC shall function as watchdogs”, the party stated.
Chief Tony Okocha expressed confidence that security agencies would thoroughly investigate the matter.
“The APC in Rivers State strongly believes that the relevant security agencies will be professional enough to get to the root of the matter and make their findings public”, he said.
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