A pastor with the Christ Apostolic Church, Onigbogbo, Atan Ota, Ogun State, Pastor Olusegun Omoniyi, is critically ill after he was allegedly abducted and tortured by some members of the Oodua People’s Congress.

It was learnt that 45-year-old Omoniyi had also gone into hiding after he was rescued by policemen from the Sango Area Command.

He said he feared for his life as the OPC members had threatened to recapture and kill him.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the OPC members were acting on the instruction of some relatives of Omoniyi’s late wife, Omolade, who had vowed to deal with him over the sickness and subsequent death of the woman.

Our correspondent gathered that Omoniyi and his wife married in 1999 and had a set of twins in 2000.

However, the twins were said to have died shortly after they were born.

It was learnt that since the death of the children, the couple had not been able to have any child, which resulted in pressures from Omolade’s family.

Early 2015, the wife was reported to have left the cleric despite entreaties from church leaders and relatives of the husband.

PUNCH Metro gathered that seven months after separating from the husband, the 42-year-old was attacked by a strange illness.

Omoniyi said, “She had told me that her family members didn’t want her to continue living with me, but I begged her to stay.

“However, sometime in 2015, I went for a church meeting when some of her family members came. They took away her property. Attempts at getting her family members to reconcile us were abortive as they said she had made her choice.

“However, in July 2015, I was told she was sick. On the instruction of the church leadership, I went with some other elders to give her N50,000. But her brother did not allow us to see her, saying I should go alone to see her. We refused.

“On February 6, 2016, while I was leading a church programme around 10am, four men entered the church. Two of them were OPC members and the others – Adebayo and Stephen – were my wife’s relatives. While I was on the altar, the two OPC members said they had come to take me away.

“I told them that I would not follow them since I did not know where they were taking me to. They beat me up and one of them showed me a gun and said if I didn’t cooperate, he would kill me.”

Omoniyi said he was thrown into a car belonging to his wife’s eldest brother, adding that he was blindfolded throughout the journey.

The cleric explained that he later found himself in Ijoko, the camp of the OPC, saying the men tortured him before taking him inside a clinic where his wife had been admitted.

“In one of the rooms, I saw my wife on the bed. Her legs were swollen and there was blood all over the place. I asked her why she left the house and what I did wrong

“While talking to her, my in-laws started beating me. I have never suffered such torture. I told my wife right there that God would judge our matter,” he added.

He said he sneaked into the clinic’s toilet where he made a call to a church leader informing him of his location, adding that the latter informed the police who stormed the area and rescued him.

It was learnt that Omolade died the following day.

The church leadership was reported to have sent a delegation to condole with the family, and Omoniyi also accompanied the men.

It was learnt that the deceased’s family allegedly attacked the group, insisting that Omoniyi must take his wife’s corpse with him.

“To appease them, I told them to find where they would bury her and I would bear part of the cost, but they refused.

“As I was leaving, they blocked the road and said they would burn the two vehicles we took there. The OPC members, who had earlier abducted me, came and dragged me to where the corpse was.

“After beating me again, they put me on the corpse and said I must die with her. They put me in a car with the corpse. I couldn’t recognise anybody until I saw some policemen who rescued me the second time,” he said.

Omoniyi said he was taken to a private hospital, adding that the location was not disclosed to protect his life.

He alleged that a top police officer was also backing his in-laws, saying he had gone into hiding for security reasons.

He lamented that his wife’s family had taken away his landed property, adding that his life was in danger.

Our correspondent learnt that the matter had already got to the CAC supreme council and the church had not been able to resolve the case as Omolade’s eldest brother was a top pastor in the church.

PUNCH Metro saw petitions addressed to the Inspector-General of Police, Assistant Inspector-General of Police, Zone 2, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Area Commander, Sango-Ota, Officer-in-charge, Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Abeokuta, among others.

The petitions called for the arrest of Omoniyi’s in-laws and the OPC members for the alleged abduction and torture.

Our correspondent was told that nothing had been done on the petitions.

A top leader with the CAC, who did not want to be identified, said the case had become critical, appealing to Nigerians to rescue Omoniyi.

When contacted, one of the in-laws, Paul, said the case was a family matter, adding that he could not comment on it.

He said, “I am sorry; I cannot say anything about it. It is a family matter and only the family can talk about it.”

The eldest in the family also declined to speak with our correspondent.

The state’s Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, promised to call back after checking with the area command where the case was reported to.

Source: Punch NG

The Ogun State Police Command says it will prosecute a Pentecostal pastor, Wale Fagbere, who allegedly invaded a traditional shrine in the Ketu area of Ayetoro.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mr. Abimbola Oyeyemi, told the News Agency of Nigeria in Abeokuta on Monday that the cleric would be charged with malicious damage and conduct likely to cause a breach of the public peace.

“What he did was wrong and so he must be charged to court. If it was the other way round too, they would also be charged to court.

“Everyone has a right to worship whatever deity one chooses to worship without fear,” he said.

Oyeyemi, however, added that he could not tell in which court the accused would be arraigned as of press time.

NAN had reported that Fagbere on Saturday attempted to pull down a traditional shrine in Ketu, in the Yewa North Local Government Area of the state.

But he was reported to have gone numb upon entering the shrine, attracting a crowd to the scene.

He, however, regained consciousness after the traditional ruler of the town, Oba Abdulaziz Adelakun, intervened and directed that some traditional rites be performed on him.

Source: Punch NG

Rules out outright sale of shares in NLNG

The Federal Government has given conditions that must be met before the sale of certain national assets.
Top among the conditions is that government will insert repurchasing clauses in the assets sale agreements.
A top government source who declined to be named disclosed this to Daily Sun.
The National Economic Council (NEC), chaired by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, had, last Thursday, endorsed government’s plan to sell off some national assets as part of the solution to get Nigeria out of recession and revamp economic growth.
According to the source, government has also ruled out outright sale of assets.

“The federal government has no plan to sell-off its shares outrightly in the LNG where it owns 49 per cent shares and the balance 51 per cent owned by private foreign interests.
“Government doesn’t own the entire gas company and will certainly not sell-off its entire shares but is open to the possibility of selling its 49 per cent ownership by five per cent or thereabout.”

On the repurchase clause, the source said: “Just as in other potential asset sales, there would be a repurchase option that guarantees the federal government’s opportunity to buy-back any such assets if circumstances change anytime in the future.”
Though a list of national assets to be sold is yet to be drawn-up, the source said that there is also a clear decision not to sell any critical asset of the country.
“Some of the intended sales could be in form of time-bound leases, advance renewal payments on leasing licenses and concessioning which would attract buoyant signature fees. If we even want to sell certain assets, while our target is to get foreign currency, specifically dollars, the option would also be opened to Nigerians at some point to buy limited shares through the Nigeria Stock Exchange.”
The source disclosed that one of the concessioning deals almost completed is the East-West lines of the Nigeria Railways, with the General Electric (GE)-being the concessionaire. He also said the firm will invest $2 billion in the Nigerian economy including refurbishment of the single-gauge lane of the lines that have been left idle for years.
GE under the deal, the source added, is expected to hire back some of the laid off staff of Nigeria Railways and also open a Transport University in Nigeria while building/assembling train coaches in Nigeria.
Under the deal, the Federal Government would also receive a signature fees in foreign currency as it would in other assets that might be concessioned.

Source: Sun News Online

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, on Tuesday re-arraigned a former governor of Abia, Orji Kalu and two others on a 34-count amended charge bordering on fraud.
Kalu, his company, Slok Nigeria Limited and his former Commissioner for Finance, Jones Udeogo, were re-arraigned before Justice Anwuri Chikere of the Federal High Court, Abuja on Tuesday.
The defendants’ plea that the court should await the pending appeal by Slok before the Supreme Court failed.
NAN reports that Chikere had refused the defendants’ objection to their arraignment and ordered that the charge be read to them.
Kalu and others were, in the amended charge, accused of diverting about N3.2 billion from the Abia government’s treasury during Kalu’s tenure as governor.
They all pleaded not guilty to the charges and Chikere allowed them on bail on the terms attached to the bail granted them on April 30, 2008.
They had, eight years earlier been arraigned before Justice Adamu Bello, who is now retired.
The court adjourned the case till Dec. 6 for commencement of trial.

Source: PM News

What could have become a major disaster in Lagos State was averted on Sunday after a loaded petroleum tanker fell and spilled its content in the Ikorodu area of the state.

However, a motorist, whose identity had yet to be ascertained, was crushed to death as his Hyundai Saloon car with number plate, KJA 421 AH, was mangled under the weight of the fallen tanker.

The driver was said to have been trapped inside the car and was unable to escape.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the incident happened around 3.30am at the Ikorodu Township Roundabout.

It was learnt that the tanker, which belonged to Forte Oil, was at top speed when the driver lost control at the roundabout, which led to the accident.

Officials of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, the Lagos State Fire Service, the Lagos State Traffic Management Authority, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Federal Road Safety Corps, the National Emergency Management Agency and the Nigeria Police Force, were said to have brought the situation under control.

A LASEMA official said the agency arrived at the scene around 4am, adding that its emergency response team brought out the victim dead from the wreckage.

He said, “Preliminary report revealed that the truck was laden with 33,000 litres of petrol belonging to Forte Oil. While the driver was trying to turn at the roundabout, the truck fell on the Hyunda Saloon car, which had the driver as the only occupant. The man was trapped in the car.

“The prompt response of emergency responders and security operatives prevented the incident from escalating into a major fire disaster due to the spillage and the proximity of the scene to a filling station.

“The truck was carefully lifted upright, while the dead body was extricated by LASEMA men with the use of light duty equipment. There was nothing on him or in the car with which we could identify him.”

He said the vehicles were cleared off the road to allow for free flow of traffic, adding that the police later towed them away to the station.

The LASEMA General Manager, Mr. Adesina Tiamiyu, said proper investigation would be carried out into the cause of the accident by relevant government agencies.

“Motorists, especially articulated truck drivers, must avoid speeding and adhere to all traffic rules and regulations to avoid a recurrence,” he added.

The spokesperson for NEMA, South West Zone, Ibrahim Farinloye, said the victim’s corpse was deposited in the morgue of the Ikorodu General Hospital.

He said, “The operation was concluded without an explosion in any of the densely populated area where the PMS spilled into through the drainage channels.”

Source: PunchNG

A Lokoja Chief Magistrates’ Court on Monday remanded a 29-year-old applicant, Anyaogu Samuel in prison for allegedly killing his two daughters.

The accused was brought to the court by the police for allegedly killing his nine months old daughter, Chinoso, and two-year-old Miracle.

The police prosecutor, Sgt. Tuesday Ganagana, told the court that the children were killed on December 25, 2015 and January 1, 2016.

Ganagana said that the matter was reported at the ‘A’ Division Police Headquarters and CIID, Lokoja by the mother of the children, one Grace Edwin.

He said that the complainant, who resides in Nataco Area Lokoja, claimed that Samuel suffocated the nine-month-old to death on Christmas day.

The prosecutor deposed that the woman also alleged that the accused deliberately covered the baby’s nostril and mouth under the pretext of playing with her and this led to her death.

Ganagana said that the baby was confirmed dead at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja.

He added that the complainant further alleged that on December 26, 2015 at about 02:08 am, the accused put the corpse of Chinoso into a sack and threw it into the stream beside NITEL office, Lokoja.

The complainant also said that Samuel inflicted a heavy knock at the centre of Miracle’s head on Jan. 1, 2016 at about 6:00 pm, and the girl died instantly.

The corpse of the girl was allegedly thrown into the same stream by Samuel.

The prosecutor added that Grace had told the police that, the accused had threatened to kill her if she revealed the cause of death of the two children to anybody.

The complainant, according to Ganagana, was later pressurised by her family members to report the case to the police.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Levi Animoku declined the application for bail by counsel to the accused, Mr O.S. Atokolo.

“This court declines to admit the accused to bail, consequently, he shall be remanded at the Federal Prisons, Koton-Karfe, Kogi State,” he ruled on the bail application.

The case has been adjourned till Oct. 18, for mention.

Source: PunchNG

Operatives of the Rivers State Police Command on Monday rescued a corps member, Helen (surname withheld), who was kidnapped at the corpers’ lodge in Omademe, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.

A group of unknown gunmen had stormed the residence of the corps members at about 3am on Friday and whisked her away in an unmarked car.

It was gathered that the incident caused panic among corps members in the area, even as the community’s security group joined forces with the police to search for the victim.

Speaking with newsmen at the police division in Igwuruta (Ikwerre LGA), the victim said she was starved of food for all the three days she was held by the criminals.

Helen, who is from Kogi State, said her abductors moved her from one location to the other throughout her stay in the bush.

“Three days ago (Friday), at about 3am, some armed men came into our lodge in Omademe in Ikwerre Local Government Area and took me away.

“I did not know exactly where they took me to. They (kidnappers) tortured me and for the three days that I was in the bush, I was not given anything to eat,” she stressed amid tears.

Helen, who was looking pale when she was rescued, has been taken to the hospital for treatment.

It was learnt that the kidnappers had earlier demanded N50m ransom before the police stormed their hideout and engaged them in a shootout.

Also, the immediate past caretaker committee chairman of Ikwerre Local Government Area, Mr. Samuel Nwanosike, who spoke with newsmen on the matter, said he alerted the police immediately he was informed about the abduction.

Nwanosike stated that the local security outfit in Ikwerre was mobilised to join the police in the search for Helen, even as he commended the brave effort of the security agents during the shootout with the kidnappers.

“The kidnappers abandoned their victim and ran away due to the superior firepower of the police,” he said.

He warned kidnappers and other criminals in Ikwerre LGA and other parts of the state to repent and embrace the amnesty programme put in place by the state government.

Nwanosike said that the 60-day grace given to kidnappers, armed robbers and cultists to repent and embrace amnesty would soon elapse, adding that criminals who fail to change their ways would face the wrath of the law.

When contacted, the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Nnamdi Omoni, confirmed the rescue of the corps member and promised to speak on the matter later.

“It is correct that the corps member that was kidnapped in Ikwerre has been rescued. I will speak on it later,” Omoni said.

Source: Punchng

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu, has demanded the removal of the party’s National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, over what he called the latter’s anti-democratic handling of the party affairs.

Tinubu made this demand in a scathing statement entitled, “Oyegun’s Ondo fraud: The violation of democracy in the APC,” released by the Tinubu Media Office on Sunday.

The party leader said the APC’s democratic credentials had been dealt a big blow by Odigie-Oyegun’s conduct, especially with his handling of the outcome of the Ondo State governorship primary.

He said the APC was a party borne out of the quest for democratic good governance, arguing that the ideology was currently under a critical threat by those who managed to be in the party but were never part of it.

According to him, from the party’s inception, the principles of democratic fairness and justice are to guide the APC’s internal deliberations.

He stressed that the party’s founders realised that it was only by fair dealing that the party could remain faithful to the progressive ideals that were presented to the Nigerian electorate as governing creed.

“If the party can not justly govern itself, it will find it difficult to establish and maintain just government throughout the nation,” he said.

The APC leader stressed that before now, the party was the embodiment of a democratic promise made between its members as well as a democratic vow made to the public.

Tinubu said, “Evidently, some errant members believe that promises and vows are mere words to be easily spoken and more easily broken. Chairman John (Odigie-) Oyegun has breached these good pledges in a most overt and brazen display.

“In doing so, (Odigie-) Oyegun has dealt a heavy blow to the very party he professes to lead. It is an awful parent who suffocates his own child for the sake of a few naira.

“The party was supposed to buttress the APC members elected to government at all levels. Because of (Odigie-) Oyegun’s conduct of our affairs, the party is rapidly becoming an albatross to those it is meant to help.”

On the just concluded Ondo State governorship primaries, Tinubu said, “(Odigie-) Oyegun’s comportment regarding the Ondo State primary will become the textbook definition of political treachery and malfeasance of the basest order.

“In early September, the (Ondo) State primary was held. A purported winner was named. Having faith in the ways of the party, Tinubu publicly accepted what he assumed to be a verdict honestly derived.

“As a democrat, one must face the possibility of defeat and accept such an outcome with as much grace as one would embrace victory.”

The APC leader said one of the few bright spots during the conduct of the primary was the Jigawa State Governor, Alhaji Mohammed Abubakar, whom he said chaired the primary convention with decorum and impartiality. He noted that he (Abubakar) was unaware that a tampered list had been slipped into the process.

Tinubu added, “Indeed within hours of the announcement, news began to filter in that gravely disturbed me. Credible allegations of fraud troubled the waters.

“The delegate list had been materially altered by someone in a strategic position to do so. The names of over 150 valid delegates were excised to make room for an equal number of impostors.

“This was not a clerical error. The alteration was wilfully executed that the primary would be directed toward a chosen end that bore nothing in common with the will of most state party members. A cunning few had tried to deceive many into believing they were outnumbered.”

The APC national leader narrated details of what transpired behind closed doors during the NWC meeting, held to deliberate on the report of the appeal panel saddled with the responsibility of handling the appeals.

He accused Odigie-Oyegun of upturning the decision of the majority who voted in favour of the cancellation of the primary and the conduct of a fresh one.

Tinubu stated, “He has shown that he and democratic fairplay cannot exist in the same party at the same time.

“If Tinubu is to choose between John (Odigie-) Oyegun and progress toward a better Nigeria, the choice has already been made. For those who care about the party, who care about Nigeria and its chance for a better tomorrow, now is the time to stand against this brewing evil before it grows to encompass all we have built and all we hold dear.”

Attempts to get the reaction of Odigie-Oyegun were unsuccessful.

He neither picked nor returned several calls made to his line.

Source: PunchNG

Humans have invented some pretty wacky ways of predicting the future over the centuries, but this man might just have found the strangest.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVAapLHF4jY

This brief video, apparently posted from China, is said to show an elderly man trying to tell a woman's fortune by cupping her breast as she looks on, baffled.

The short clip was posted to video-sharing site Miaopai and shows the man, holding a pair of crutches in his other hand, sitting impassively as he puts his hand inside the woman's top.

He appears unmoved by what he sees in the woman's future, as she rests her chin on her hand and even looks bored.

Bystanders also seem bemused by the spectacle, captured by a user called Xiao Yuwen and which has garnered hundreds of thousands of views.

The post prompted sceptical responses from commenters. One suggested it might be "hard to find customers" and another said: "It's just really kinky!"

Branches of divination in China that have found a more mainstream degree of acceptance include palm reading, face reading and astrology.

What do you think? :confounded: :confused: :dizzy_face:

Source: Nairadays

If you can't stand snakes then look away now - this is the stunning video captured by dam construction workers in Brazil of a gigantic 10m anaconda that found its way into their building site.

The huge serpent, capable of eating a man, has been tied down to a crane and a chain is wrapped around it.

But the images provoked a storm of criticism on YouTube from commenters who said the snake should not have been killed.

A shot of its massive, broad head shows its mouth agape and eyes glazed over.

One commenter said: "Shame on these people for killing it! A snake that big has probably been alive for a very long time now, just to be killed for a few pictures? What a waste."

Another added: "Why would you kill such a beautiful snake?"

A third commenter, a self-professed snake lover, weighed in and said: "I adore the cuties. I have two of my own. But they were doing construction, and it was in the way.

"Do you know how hard it is to move a 30 foot snake? Especially a wild anaconda.

"Anacondas are extremely aggressive snakes. Even in captivity, they're extremely hard to tame down and can be very bitey. A wild one, I wouldn't want to mess with at all."

Source: Nairadays