Awka – A Rights Group, Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, says the report of the Lagos State Judicial Panel on EndSARS has lent credence to the fact- hitherto denied by many within and outside government- that there was massacre at Lekki Toll Gate. According to the group, the report has also uncovered the disposition of the Nigerian Military and the Police towards extrajudicial killings, torture and brutality, in circumstances where they ought to have behaved in a more civilized manner. The report of the Lagos State Panel as leaked on Monday, published the names of victims of the…
Author: Kenechukwu Ofomah
Awka – There is urgent need for collaboration between the government and community leaders to fish out and prosecute suppliers of Methamphetamine Hydrochloride popularly known as Mkpulu mmiri, in the communities of Anambra State. This is to cut off the supply chain of the illicit drugs in communities. TNC correspondent in Anambra, who has monitored the development discreetly for a while now, reports that many communities now have designated places for open sale and consumption of the hard drugs. TNC investigation also uncovered that most of the distributors at the community level, are high-profile individuals who have coverage of security agents…
Awka – Tuesday, November 16, 2021, has been declared a work-free day in Anambra in honour of Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, Nigeria’s first president who was born on November 16, 1904. This is the third consecutive year Anambra State is observing the birthday anniversary of the man who led Nigeria to independence on October 1, 1960, and is popularly known as The Great Zik of Africa because of his extraordinary Pan-African vision and commitment. A statement on Monday by the State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba announcing the public holiday, recalled how it was the Great Zik of Africa…
Awka – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will on Friday, present the Certificate of Return (CoR) to the winner of the just concluded Anambra State Governorship election, Professor Chukwuma Soludo. Soludo, a former Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor and candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) was declared winner of the Anambra State governorship election by the Returning Officer for the election and Vice Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Prof. Florence Banku Obi. The APGA candidate had at the end of the election which was held on Saturday and concluded on Tuesday after the supplementary…
Awka – The Candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Mr Valentine Ozigbo on Wednesday, congratulated the candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Chukwuma Soludo after he was declared winner of the 2021 Anambra State governorship elections. Ozigbo, came second in the election which was concluded with a supplementary election on Tuesday. In a statement on Wednesday, Ozigbo said he has reached out to his APGA counterpart to congratulate him, wish him well and prayed for his success. He also congratulated all the candidates in state’s governorship election, saying they have shown a determination to see that Anambra…
The late arrival of electoral materials on Tuesday characterized the conduct of the Supplementary Election for the 2021 Anambra Governorship Election, which held in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state. INEC had announced that the election will commence by 10am and end by 4pm. However, as at 12:30pm, electoral materials and INEC officials were yet to arrive in polling units at Ihiala, Mbosi, Ubuluisiuzo and Okija, visited by TNC correspondent in Anambra. There was also a heavy presence of security personnel on ground as well as helicopters for aerial surveillance, to respond to the insecurity which had marred the…
Awka – The Governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP for the November 6 election in Anambra State, Mr. Valentine Ozigbo, on Monday called on the Anambra electorate to turn out enmasse to support the PDP at the supplementary election scheduled in Ihiala Local Government Area on Tuesday, November 9. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had on Sunday, announced suspension of collation of results for the governorship election, pending when the Ihiala polls will be concluded, in line with the extant laws. In the results announced so far for the 20 Local Government Areas, the PDP trails behind the…
Awka – The Candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Professor Chukwuma Soludo is presently leading after the results of the Governorship election held in 20 Council Areas last Saturday in Anambra State, have been announced. Official INEC results for 2021 Anambra gubernatorial election as monitored by TNC correspondent in Anambra, who was at the collation centre at INEC headquarters in Awka on Sunday, show that Soludo of APGA presently has 103,946 votes, having won in 18 out of the 20 LGA results already collated. The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Valentine Ozigbo has won in only one…
Awka – The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC on Sunday, said the 2021 Anambra Governorship Election held on Saturday, 6th November, 2021, was inconclusive. This was because election could not hold in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state. The Commission has also fixed a Supplementary Election in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State on Tuesday this week, saying the election is inconclusive, until the supplementary election is conducted. Ihiala was the only Local Government Area, where it was adjudged that Saturday’s gubernatorial polls in the State did not hold. There was also the issue of the result of Orumba North…
Ihiala – A middle-aged man was Sunday killed in a fatal Road traffic crash at Okeohia by Ihialla-Owerri expressway, in Anambra State. The crash involved a 14-seater Nissan bus with registration number- NKK-314-VT and a trailer vehicle, whose registration number could not be ascertained. TNC investigation revealed that the incident occurred as a result of excessive speed, which led to loss of control. According to an eyewitness report, the bus driver was carrying illegal crude oil and was on speed, when it rammed into a stationary trailer. The trailer driver on seeing what has happened, immediately entered his vehicle and drove…
The 2021 Governorship election in Anambra State has been marred by late arrival of electoral materials and malfunctioning of the newly-introduced Bi-Modal Voter Accreditation System, B-VAS. Our correspondent who monitored the election in parts of the state, reports that the machines take up to 20 minutes to accredit one person while in some areas, it simply packed up after few activities. There was also the case of late arrival of the electoral materials which resulted in the elections starting hours late. When some polling stations in Aguata Council Area were visited at about 11am, materials were yet to arrive, as…
Awka – The hierarchy of the Nigeria Police Force has denied allegations by the Anambra State Government that it plans to arrest its officials on trumped-up charges. In a statement on Thursday, signed by the State Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, C-Don Adinuba, the State Government said it has received credible intelligence about moves by members of a certain political party to use the instrumentality of the state to arrest key officials of the State Government anytime on trumped-up charges. According to the government, the plan is to hijack the gubernatorial election holding on Saturday, November 6, 2021. “One of…
Awka – A joint emergency meeting of Pro-Biafran Groups on Thursday, resolved that the forthcoming Anambra State Governorship Election scheduled for November 6, 2021, will go on unhindered. Across Anambra State, the fear has been with the order of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, directing a 5-day sit-at-home, from the 5th of November to the 10th of November, 2021. However, in a communique issued after a joint emergency meeting that held today, the pro-Biafran groups, noted that the election must hold in the overall interest of Ndigbo and long term benefits of the Biafran struggle. The communique signed by Dr. Law Mefor…
The People’s Democratic Party (PDP), on Tuesday, demonstrated its preparedness for victory in the 2021 Anambra governorship election, as it held the mother of all rallies to drum support for its standard-bearers, Valentine Ozigbo and Azuka Enemo. ‘The Grand Ka Anambra Chawapu Rally’, which was held at Ekwueme Square, Awka, attracted several PDP bigwigs and party leaders, including Mr Peter Obi, the immediate past Governor of Anambra State; Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State; Governor Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, and Hon Philip Shuabu, the Deputy Governor of Edo State. Other dignitaries who graced…
The Independent National Electoral Commissioner, INEC on Wednesday, said all sensitive materials for the conduct of Saturday’s Governorship election in Anambra have been deposited to the vault at the Central Bank of Nigeria, Awka Branch. INEC Chairman, Mahmoud Yakubu disclosed this at an Election Stakeholders’ Meeting held at Professor Dora Akunyili Women Development Centre, Awka, yesterday. According to the INEC boss, the non-sensitive materials have been taken to the 21 Council Areas of the state. This was against an earlier rumour that the commission planned to store them in Owerri, Imo State, a rumour that had sparked condemnation. Yakubu who…
Over 30 lifeless bodies have been pulled out of the rubbles of the collapsed 21-storey building on Gerrard Road, Ikoyi, Lagos State. Lagos State acting coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency, Ibrahim Farinloye gave the figure to our correspondent yesterday. Farinloye said the figure increased late Wednesday after search and rescue officials found more bodies. He said the rescue operation has been intensified to evacuate more bodies from the site. According to the Lagos NEMA coordinator, over five bags were recovered from underneath the collapsed building yesterday. He revealed that the bags which belongs to victims of the collapse…
Veteran Nollywood actor, Chiwetalu Agu, has lashed out at the governors of the five Southeast states for pursuing their personal interests so far in the duration they had lasted in office instead of addressing key socio-economic issues affecting the region and her people. With the exception of Willie Obiano of Anambra State, whose tenure ends March 17, 2022, other four governors of the region have less than two years to complete the tenure. According to the veteran actor, Agu who spoke with TNC correspondent in Anambra, there are no visible evidence to the fact that the governors fought the…
The General Officer Commanding (GOC) 82 Division of the Nigerian Army, Maj.-Gen. Taoreed Lagbaja, says the Nigerian Army is winning the fight against drug abuse in barracks and theatres through deploying international best practices. At the inauguration of a three-day Capacity Building Seminar on Evidence-based Drug Prevention, Treatment and Control on Tuesday, Lagbaja, who was represented by the Chief of Staff of the Division, Brig.-Gen. Greg Omoregbe, said in recent times, the Nigerian Army had deployed international best practices in dealing with issues of drug abuse, spending resources and manpower to treat and rehabilitate drug abuse ill personnel and relations…
Awka – The Anambra State Police Command has told vehicle owners in Anambra State and those either coming in or leaving the shores of the state to ensure that their vehicles have up-to-date plate numbers. The directive is coming as insecurity in Anambra heightens ahead of the Governorship election scheduled to take place in the state on Saturday. Addressing newsmen in Awka on Monday, the Public Relations Officer of the 13th Zonal Command of the Nigeria Police Force and Head Police Media Team for Election Duty, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Nkiru Nwode quotes the State Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng as…
Awka – A coalition of civil society organizations in the southeast zone have said that only a timely reversal of sit-at-home protest by agitators or shift of the election for one month by INEC, remains the two acceptable options going forward in the upcoming Anambra governorship election already slated for November 6, 2021. The Coalition comprising International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety), the Southeast Zone of the Civil Liberties Organization (Southeast CLO) and the Southeast Based Coalition of Democracy and Human Rights Organization (SBCHROs) said in a statement on Monday, that the threat by agitators to embark on sit-at-home protest at the time…
The Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dr Nkem Okeke has spoken up for the first time since defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC, saying he decided to leave the ruling All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, because the state was moving on a fast lane towards decline. The Anambra second has last month, in what many perceived as the mother of all defections, dumped his principal, Governor Willie Obiano of the APGA and joined the APC. Governor Obiano had at public events, disclosed that the defections to APC were because the party was doling out huge amounts of money to…
What many had thought would be an ecstatic moment for the Anambra government and the people, turned out to be a mere ceremony as the flag-off of commercial flights at the Anambra International Cargo and Passenger Airport, Umueri, happened without a single flight in sight. The airport project which is a major legacy project of the administration of the State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, was on Saturday, inaugurated by the governor, without any official of Federal Ministry of Aviation, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, and other relevant authorities. On Friday, the state government,…
Awka – The Nigerian Army says it has neutralized one of the Biafran National Guard, BNG gunmen who attacked troops’ location at Amaekpu, Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State on Thursday, 28 October 2021. On Thursday, videos surfaced online showing armed BNG men in army regalia, claiming to be on a mission to release alleged ‘prisoners of conscience’. The armed men were videoed at a petrol station where they packed items at the Super market and filled the petrol tanks of the vehicles they were using, without making any payment. The alleged commander of the gang who identified himself as…
Awka – Anambra State government has raised alarm over alleged plan to suspend the proposed commissioning ceremony of the Anambra International Airport, scheduled to hold this Saturday, 30th October, 2021. Informal reports reveal that the suspension of the commissioning of the airport, was as a result of security reasons. The Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr. C-Don Adinuba who spoke with TNC in Awka, who confirmed that the suspension was due to security reasons, however noted that the government was not told what constituted security threats in the context. According to him, the people and government of the state are…
Awka – A rights group, the Rule of Law and Accountability Advocacy Centre, RULAAC, has applauded the new Commissioner of Police in Imo state, Rabiu Hussaini for his recent dispositions, which it noted were aimed at sanitizing the Police Force in the state. The Imo State Police Command had recently commenced investigations into a report making rounds online where its personnel were reportedly alleged to have extorted the sum of sixty thousand naira from one Victor Aguwah, travelling from the Sam Mbakwe Airport to his home town in Mbaise. The Imo Police Commissioner of Police, while condemning the incident, had confirmed…
Awka – Anambra State Police Command says it will on Friday commence heavy deployment of its personnel to the streets to reassure the people that the state is secure for the smooth conduct of the November 6 governorship elections. The Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, CP Echeng Echeng disclosed this in a chat with newsmen on Thursday in Awka on the preparations ahead of the upcoming governorship election. Eight days to the election, threats by the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB on election boycott has been rife, resulting in fear among residents. But the Anambra CP has said the command…
Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano on Thursday presented a fire truck to the leaders of Nkwo Ogbe market, Ihiala which was gutted by fire earlier this month. The donation was in fulfilment of a promise he made to the market, to donate a permanent fire truck and maintain a fire service station in Ihiala community, Ihiala Local Government Area. On the 17th of October, 2021, goods and property worth millions of naira were destroyed by fire at the market. Governor Obiano had during a visit to the scene, a day after, also set up a panel to look into the…
A Civil Society organization, Civil Society Committee for Anti-fraud election security has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to prevail on the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to rescind their threats on a 5-day lockdown of the South East. The group also called on former President, Abdulsalami Abubakar and Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, Rev. Fr. Kukar to reach out to the President soliciting his cooperation in addressing the threats. Addressing newsmen on Wednesday, the founder, Comrade Kennedy Iyere said treating the threats with levity by ignoring the group rather than calming the agitators would further escalate the situation. He said, “We’re…
Contrary to the rumours making the rounds that 95 percent of the ad-hoc staff for the November 6 Anambra Governorship election has resigned, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Anambra on Tuesday, said training of ad-hoc workers for the election is on course. Earlier this week, news emerged that 95 percent of the Adhoc staff to be used by INEC for the exercise have tendered their resignation. TNC correspondent in Anambra who spoke to some of them in Awka, reports that they confirmed that they are pulling out of the process. One of the workers who agreed to speak,…
Awka – The Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, on Tuesday ordered a major overhauling of the security landscape in Anambra State ahead of the 6th November, 2021 Gubernatorial Elections in the state. With the governorship election less than 12 days away, the security situation has worsened in the state, with a directive coming from the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB, for sit-at-home from Friday 5th to 10th of November, 2021. A statement today by the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba said the overhauling includes the deployment of selected seasoned Strategic Commanders from the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police…
