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Imo Jail Break: FG To Pardon Escaped Inmates If They Voluntarily Return

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Rauf Aregbesola, minister of interior, says the fugitives who escaped from the custodial centre in Owerri, Imo state capital, will be pardoned if they voluntarily return.

The minister gave the assurance while inspecting the centre on Tuesday following an attack on the facility.

He said unlawful escape from custody is a crime but assured that willful returnees will be exempted from prosecution.

The minister said he will ensure that those involved in the attack are brought to book.

Aregbesola said the federal government will leave no stone unturned to fish out perpetrators of what he described as a “dastardly act”.

He said: “Unlawful escape from custody is a crime but government in its magnanimity will grant amnesty to prisoners who willfully return.

“They will no longer be charged with an unlawful escape but only for the initial crimes that took them to prison. So we urge all escapees to return before they are caught on the run.”

Seye Oduntan, the deputy controller of correctional service in charge of Owerri custodial centre, said 36 inmates stayed back after the attack while six persons had so far returned.

The police have accused the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) of being responsible for the prison break and the attack on a police command headquarters in the state.

BIG STORY

Avoid Panic Buying, We’re Not Changing Petrol Prices — NNPCL To Nigerians

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The Nigerian National Petroleum Company (NNPC) Limited says there is no place to change the prices of petroleum products.

In a statement on Thursday by Femi Soneye, its spokesperson, the NNPC asked Nigerians to avoid panic buying.

The national oil firm said the limited availability of petrol in certain regions of the nation is a result of logistical problems.

However, the company said the challenge has been fixed.

“The Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPC Ltd.) wishes to clarify that the tightness in the supply of Premium Motor Spirit currently being experienced in some areas across the country is as a result of logistics issues and that they have been resolved,” the statement reads.

“It also wishes to reiterate that the prices of petroleum products are not changing.

“It urges Nigerians to avoid panic buying as there is a sufficiency of products in the country.”

On March 24, the NNPC denied adjusting the pump price of petrol across its retail outlets.

This came after the organisation had promised Nigerians that there would not be any increase in the cost of petrol on February 9.

The NNPC also reaffirmed its commitment to sustaining the current sufficiency in the supply of petroleum products across all its retail stations in the country.

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Former Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi Wins Ondo PDP Gubernatorial Primary

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A former deputy governor of Ondo, Agboola Ajayi, has emerge winner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) gubernatorial primary election in the state.

Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, the deputy governor of Bayelsa, who chaired the electoral committee that supervised the poll, announced the results on Thursday in Akure, the state capital.

Ewhrudjakpo said Ajayi scored 264 votes to defeat other aspirants.

“By virtue of the results, Ajayi Alfred Agboola having scored the highest number of votes is hereby declared the winner of this primary and hereby declared the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party for the November 2024 election and is hereby returned as the candidate,” he said.

Ajayi was the deputy governor of Ondo state from 2017 to 2021.

Kolade Akinjo, who came second in the election scored 157 votes while Olusola Ebiseni polled 99 votes to clinch the third position.

On June 21, 2020, Ajayi, a lawyer and businessman, resigned his membership from the ruling party All Progressives Congress (APC) and joined the PDP.

He cited irreconcilable differences between him and his principal, the late Rotimi Akeredolu, the former governor of Ondo.

He then joined the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) after losing the PDP gubernatorial primary to Eyitayo Jegede and became the candidate of the party in 2020.

Ajayi had served as a councillor, chairman of Ese-Odo LGA, and house of representatives member before he was nominated by the late Akeredolu as his deputy in 2016.

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Former Senate Spokesperson Ayogu Eze Dies At 66

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Ayogu Eze, a former spokesperson for the Senate, passed away at the age of 66.

Eze, the senator from Enugu North Senatorial District from 2007 to 2015, died on Thursday in a hospital in Abuja following an undisclosed illness.

In May 2023, the Senate confirmed Eze as a federal Commissioner for Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission. Eze is also among the founding members of the Peoples Democratic Party.

In his years at the Senate, he also served as the chairman of the Senate Committee of Works and a member of committees on Constitutional Amendment, Police Affairs, National Planning, Marine Transport and Federal Character & Inter-Government Affairs.

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