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Lagos Police Inspector Rapes 18-Year-Old Undergraduate, Threatens Suicide

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A police inspector attached to the Agbado Police Station, Lagos State Police Command, Adelakun Amubieya, has been arrested for allegedly raping an undergraduate, Joy (not real name), in the Ipaja area of the state.

It was gathered that the suspect and the victim lived in the same compound on Abesan Estate.

The cop and his wife were said to have promised to teach the teenager how to make money with an application on her phone.

The 18-year-old, who went to the couple’s apartment on November 15, reportedly met Amubieya alone.

The policeman allegedly forced her into the bedroom and raped her.

Joy told journalists that all appeals to the suspect to let her go fell on deaf ears.

Narrating her ordeal, she said, “Sometime in October, I came downstairs to receive a call due to bad network and I overheard the policeman and his wife talking about something, but I didn’t pay attention.

“When I was done with the call, his wife said their discussion was about a betting site and all I needed to do was to drop my details and I would be receiving N2,000 every three days. They said I must be 18 to play. I told them that I would return on Friday, November 13, when I would have clocked 18.”

The victim said after she returned from church on the Sunday of that week, she went to the cop’s apartment.

“I sat on the edge of the chair next to the door, while he sat on the chair near his room. He said he just woke up from sleep and I should come back later.

“I was about leaving when he called me back and asked what the time was. I told him it was 1.42 pm; he said his wife would be back by 3 pm. That was when I knew his family was not around. I stood up to leave and he told me to hug him, but I declined; he hugged me forcefully and dragged me into the room. He told me to lie on the bed, but I refused. He pushed me to the bed and started kissing and fingering me.

“I struggled to get him off, but he held my legs and had sex with me. I begged him to stop, but he didn’t answer me. I could not shout because I was scared of what he could do to me. He is a policeman and may have a gun in the house. Besides, people were making a noise outside, so no one would hear me.

“I told him to get a condom so he could get off me and I could look for what to do, but he didn’t answer me,” she added.

The victims’ father, who demanded justice, said when he got to know about the rape, he challenged the suspect, but he denied it.

“He said that my daughter was lying against him. I took my daughter to a hospital and some tests were carried out. I also reported at the Ipaja Police Station. Policemen were sent to his apartment, but he was not around. His office was called as well, and when they could not produce him, I reported to a rights group and we went to Mirabel Centre where tests were conducted.

“After they waited for him to show up at the Ipaja Police Station and he didn’t, the case was transferred to the Gender Unit at Ikeja. The man didn’t show up till Monday after sending people to beg me. When I asked him why he raped my daughter, he said it was the devil’s work. I want justice because my daughter is traumatized,” he added.

A voice note was obtained where the suspect reportedly sent to the victim’s father, begging for forgiveness.

Speaking in Yoruba, he said, “Please, I beg you in the name of God, treat me like a prodigal son that has offended his father. I don’t have anything to say before God and man because I know how you treat me and my family; you’re like a daddy to me.

“I’m begging you in the name of God and the creator of my children, mum, and late father. I’m like the breadwinner of my family; if you continue to pursue this case, you want to make my parents cry, and you don’t want me to achieve my aim in life because this is becoming more than what I bargained for.

“If I cannot continue again, it will be okay to take my life, but who will take care of my children? There’s nobody. Please daddy, I beg you in the name of God, with the blood of Jesus, have mercy on me, tell me the way forward. I could not eat or drink since it happened. I have tried my best to talk to God; even if I bring a lot of people to beg you, it cannot equate my sin before you.”

The Executive Director of Esther Child Rights Foundation, Esther Ogwu, urged parents to be vigilant.

“I also want to advise parents to tell their children to be careful of where they go; they should not enter into people’s houses anyhow because it is dangerous,” she added.

The state Police Public Relations Officer, Muyiwa Adejobi, promised to react after getting full details.

He had yet to do so as of the time of filing this report.

BIG STORY

We’ll Reintroduce Bill Seeking 6-Year Single Term For President, Governors Despite Rejection — Rep

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Ikeagwuonu Ugochinyere, a member of the House of Representatives, says the push for a six-year single term for president and governors will continue despite the bill’s rejection.

The bill, which was slated for a second reading during Thursday’s plenary session, was rejected by lawmakers in the Green Chamber.

Sponsored by Ikeagwuonu from Imo State and 33 other lawmakers, the bill also sought to amend Section 3 of the Constitution to recognize the division of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones.

Briefing journalists on Thursday evening, the lawmaker described the rejection of the bill as a “temporary setback.”

“The struggle to reform our constitutional democracy to be all-inclusive and provide an avenue for justice, equity, and fairness has not been lost,” he said.

The lawmaker added that voting against the bill by the parliament “does not put an end to agitation and hope that we will realise this objective.”

“This is a temporary setback which does not affect the campaign for an inclusive democratic process,” he said.

The Imo lawmaker stated that the sponsors of the bill will review the decision of the House and “find possible ways of reintroducing it after following due legislative procedures.”

“All I can tell Nigerians is that we will continue the advocacy and convince our colleagues to see reason with us. If elections are held in one day, it will reduce cost and rigging,” he said.

“If power rotates, it will help deescalate political tensions, and a six-year single term will go a long way in helping elective leaders focus on delivering their democratic mandate.”

“All hope is not lost, we will continue the advocacy, and we hope that when reintroduced, our colleagues will support it.”

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65% Of Nigerian Households Can’t Afford Healthy Meals — NBS

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The National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) reports that food scarcity, insecurity, and high prices have led Nigerian households to reduce consumption, with 65 percent unable to afford healthy meals due to financial constraints.

These findings were released in the NBS’s latest General Household Survey Panel (Wave 5) report, conducted in partnership with the World Bank.

The report reveals that 71 percent of households were affected by rising prices of major food items, while food shortages impacted more than a third of households over the past year. These shortages were particularly severe in June, July, and August, worsening the food insecurity crisis.

As a result, 48.8 percent of households reported cutting back on food consumption, according to the NBS data.

“In the past 12 months, more than one-third of households faced food shortages, which occurred more frequently in the months of June, July, and August,” the report states.

“Price increases on major food items were the most prevalent shock reported by households, affecting 71.0 percent of surveyed households.”

“Households’ main reported mechanism for coping with shocks was reducing food consumption (48.8 percent).”

  • ‘62.4% Nigerian Households Secured Less Food’

The report also notes a significant increase in the number of households concerned about not having enough food to eat, with the figure rising from 36.9 percent in Wave 4 (conducted in 2019) to 62.4 percent in Wave 5.

According to the NBS, this surge reflects a rise in food insecurity, with more than half of Nigerian families struggling to meet their dietary needs.

“Approximately two out of three households (65.8 percent) reported being unable to eat healthy, nutritious, or preferred foods because of lack of money in the last 30 days. 63.8 percent of households ate only a few kinds of food due to lack of money, 62.4 percent were worried about not having enough food to eat, and 60.5 percent ate less than they thought they should,” the report adds.

“Furthermore, 12.3 percent reported that at least one person in the household went without eating for a whole day, and 20.8 percent of households had to borrow food or rely on help from friends or relatives.”

“In general, households in the southern zones report more incidents related to food security than those in northern zones.”

“For example, in the southern zones, the proportion of households reporting that they had to skip a meal ranged from 50.1 percent in South West to 62.4 percent in South East, while in the northern zones this share varied from 34.0 percent in North Central to 48.3 percent in North East.”

The report further highlights that residents in the south-south zone experienced the highest rates of food insecurity across five out of eight indicators. In contrast, the north-central zone had the lowest rates in six of the eight indicators.

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BIG STORY

POLITICS: Rest 31-Year Presidential Ambition — Bode George Tells Atiku Abubakar

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A former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, has advised former Vice President Atiku Abubakar to end his 31-year-long bid to be President.

Noting that Atiku’s bid to be President dated back to 1993, George said it was high time the former Vice President retired from such a contest, especially in the 2027 election.

Addressing a press conference at his Ikoyi, Lagos office, on Thursday, George urged Atiku to assume the position of an elder in the nation and leave his bid to posterity.

“To Atiku, my advice is this, you will be 81 years old in 2027, and you have been contesting for the presidency since 1993. This is the time for you to calm down and act like an elder. I appeal to you in the name of the Almighty Allah, that you serve, to take it easy and leave everything for posterity,” George said.

George decried that the PDP was on the verge of crumbling because people uplifted their personal interests and individual ambitions above national interest.

He criticised the “divisive, arrogant, haughty” members of the party romancing the ruling All Progressives Congress yet failing to defect from the PDP, describing them as cowards.

“We are where we are today because of a self-inflicted crisis; we should bury our individual ambitions now and not allow the PDP to crumble, please. Elders of the party should tell some of these funny characters to cool off and think of our national interest instead of their personal interest.

“Nigerians are angry and hungry. Instead of telling the APC the truth, some divisive, arrogant and haughty members are busy romancing the ruling party and they are quick to refer to themselves as elder statesmen. Instead of instigating a crisis in our party, why are they not bold enough to defect to the APC? Do they really fear God at all? No member is big enough to hold the party to ransom,” George added.

Particularly pointing to the crisis between Rivers State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, and his predecessor and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, George urged Wike to immediately “cool off” from wanting to “bring down” Fubara.

George said it was worrisome that some party members, rather than bringing the two parties to mediation, further fuelled the Fubara/Wike crisis for their selfish interests.

“My advice to Wike is very simple. You are my political son. I am therefore appealing to him to cool off immediately. I know he was injured by friends during the last PDP presidential contest, but I am advising him as a father to please take it easy. Nobody is bigger than any party. Forget what happened in the past and let us work together in the interest of this party.

“I want to ask the elders at the helm of affairs of our party today, ‘What exactly is the offence of Governor Siminalayi Fubara of Rivers State?’ What exactly is the offence of this gentleman that some elders of our party are trying to throw him under the bus because of political expediency? What exactly is going on that some party members don’t feel bothered about the happenings in Rivers State? Governor Fubara was helped by Governor Wike to become the number one citizen of the oil-bearing state. The governor himself acknowledged this on several occasions.

“Must the governor now behave like a slave to his predecessor and other characters because of this concept of godfatherism which is a misnomer in our politics? Why are some party members encouraging his predecessor to bring him down? He is in Abuja; he wants to control what goes on in Rivers State.

“Did the governors before him behave this way? Why are the party leaders not eager to mediate and bring both groups to normalcy? The PDP cannot continue like this. Why can’t we learn from our past mistakes? Is our party jinxed? Why can’t we tell all these troublemakers to go and sit down if they don’t want this party to move forward?”

The National Assembly has amended the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency Act, prescribing life imprisonment for drug offenders and traffickers.

This decision followed the adoption of the harmonised report by the Senate and House of Representatives on the NDLEA Act amendment.

Presenting the report, the Chairman of the Senate Conference Committee, Senator Tahir Monguno, explained that the amendment sought to impose stricter penalties to deter illegal drug activities.

The amendment specifically stated: “Any person who unlawfully engages in the storage, custody, movement, carriage, or concealment of dangerous drugs or controlled substances and, while doing so, is armed with an offensive weapon or disguised in any manner, commits an offence under this Act and is liable, upon conviction, to life imprisonment.”

The Senate approved the recommendation through a voice vote during Thursday’s plenary, presided over by the Deputy Senate President, Barau Jibrin.

In addition to the NDLEA amendment, the Senate also passed a bill to empower the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission.

The proposed legislation, known as the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation, and Fiscal Commission Bill of 2024, sought to replace the existing RMAFC Act of 2004.

The updated law revises the commission’s composition and operational framework to ensure federal, state, and local governments receive constitutionally mandated resources to address governance and developmental challenges.

Presenting the bill, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on National Planning and Economic Affairs, Yahaya Abdullahi, highlighted the urgency of reforming the commission in light of Nigeria’s dwindling revenues and growing population.

Abdullahi explained that the bill aims to strengthen RMAFC’s mandate as the constitutionally recognised body responsible for monitoring revenue generation and ensuring its equitable distribution among the three tiers of government.

“The Act, last revised over 20 years ago, no longer reflects Nigeria’s evolving economic realities. This bill proposes additional funding and a restructured operational framework for the commission to improve its efficiency,” he said.

He further emphasised that adequate funding from the Federation Account was critical for RMAFC to perform its constitutional responsibilities effectively, noting that funding challenges had previously hindered its performance.

The Senate endorsed the bill following deliberations and a majority vote.

It now awaits President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assent to become law.

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