Headlines

An Akure Magistrate Court has declared as barbaric, evil and ungodly a part of Ibo custom which denied a father access to his children over non-payment of bride price to the wife’s family.

It said: “The custom that tends to punish one person when two consenting adults are involved in the act is nothing but the highest element of insensitivity and servitude.”

Magistrate Segun Stephen Rotiba spoke when he gave ruling on the legal tussle between Prophet Theophilus Obayan and his estranged wife, Prophetess Chibuzor Lilian.

Prophet Obayan is a Yoruba while his estranged wife hails from Abia State.

The were heads of the Divine Prophetic Solutions Prayers Ministry, Ladipo in Lagos State.

Prophetess Chibuzor left her husband to marry one of his spiritual son, Abua Obi, and changed her children’s surname to Obi.

Obayan filed a divorce suit against his wife on grounds that she changed his children’s surname to her lover’s name.

He also asked the court to dissolve the 23 years old union over allegation of disobedience, misunderstanding, lies, manipulation, abuse, hate and rage.

Prophet Obayan challenged snatching of his four children by a member of his church, and sought return of the paternity of the children as well as grant him custody of the children

In his ruling, Magistrate Rotiba dissolved the marriage on grounds that the parties have lost interest in the union and granted Obayan’s prayers to reclaim his four children.

He noted that from the evidence before it, the Respondent alluded to the fact under cross- examination that since the Petitioner did not pay her bride price, her new husband who paid same has the right to have them bear his name in accordance with Ibo custom.

According to him: “In the same breathe, I find the Ibo custom exuded by the respondent and her witnesses that the children of the union can bear Mr Abua Obi as their surname, atavistic, barbaric, evil, ungodly, irrational, unsensational, crass, gross, crude, unwary, provocative, ungodly, discriminatory and insensible.

“The custom that tends to punish one person when two consenting adults are involved in the act is nothing but the highest element of insensitivity and servitude.

“I condemn this custom in the strongest terms. While the matter was on, a publication was made on  February 2, 2023 in Vanguard newspapers, changing the surname of the first two children of the parties to Abua Obi

“Aside the fact that complicit to change the surname of the first two children has been establishqed against the Respondent, it also amounts to subjudice as no action is expected to be taken on the subject matter by whoever, when the matter is pending before the Court.

“This is a complete affront to the Court. I say no more. In conclusion, the Court hereby dissolves the union between the parties, having broken down irretrievably.

“The Court, hereby declares personal non grata, the custom of the Respondent awarding paternal personality to a man who is not the biological father of the children.

“The Court hereby invalidates and render null and void the publication changing the surname of the 1st and 2nd children from Obayan to Abua Obi.

“The Court also invalidates any other publication or whatsoever changing the surname of the Children from Obayan to Abua Obi during the pendency of this case

The three suspects were accused of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and false alarm leading to the death of Abubakar.

No fewer than three suspects who caused the death of a commercial motorcyclist, Usman Abubakar in Aiyetoro – Gbede, Ijumu local government area of Kogi State, have been paraded by the police.

It was learnt that the victim was accused of snatching the male organ of one of them.

According to the report, the suspects identified as Haruna Adamu 28, Harisu Abdulrasheed 18, and Yakubu Mohammed, 23, were among the nine suspects paraded for various deadly offences at a press conference by Kogi Commissioner of Police, Bethrand Onuoha, in Lokoja on Tuesday.

The three suspects were accused of criminal conspiracy, culpable homicide and false alarm leading to the death of Abubakar.

The trio were said to have falsely accused the deceased commercial motorcyclist of snatching the male organ of one of them.

This led lynching of Abubakar in a mob action before the truth could be established.

Another set of suspects, ThankGod Joseph and Monday Mathew, were apprehended for terrorising residents of the Onicha-Igo community in Ofu LGA of Kogi State. Onuoha said the gang was believed to be responsible for a series of armed robbery attacks, assaults, thuggery and mischief in the community.

Onuoha said on 23/03/2023 at about 0130hrs, the hoodlums evaded the house and premises of one Mrs. Rachael Agada, firing guns sporadically, robbed the occupants of their valuable properties, kidnapped the house girl of Mrs Agada, named Nawaitu, and stole her Hilux Van. In addition, he said that on 28/01/2023, the hoodlums killed one Miss Queen Onoja without any just cause.

The remaining suspects are Daniel David, a serial car snatcher, Akoji Ojo, Abdulmumun Zakari and Ali Abdulrahman, said to be kidnappers operating in Lokoja and environs.

According to the CP, the suspects confessed to their various criminal roles in the commission of the crimes and admitted to having carried out several kidnapping, and armed robbery attacks on innocent people as well as travellers on the major highway in the State.

Items recovered from the suspects included three stolen vehicles, arms, ammunition, Jerry cans of oil, handsets, and military uniforms.

“While soliciting for more cooperation from the good people of Kogi State, by continuing to provide credible and timely information to the Police, I want to assure you that the Police Command will not relent in its efforts in crime prevention and public safety in the State.

“Those who engage in criminal activities are warned to desist from such and hand over their arms and ammunition to the Police and engage in something meaningful for their lives or be prepared to face the full consequences of their actions,” the Kogi State police commissioner concluded.

The petrol scarcity in Abuja took a new turn on Tuesday, October 10, with retailers selling the product for as high as N1,000 per litre.

This is even as long queues have returned to the streets of Nigeria’s capital city — a reflection of the crisis rocking the downstream sector of the petroleum industry.

Leading reporters gathered that this is coming barely 24 hours after the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) denied the return of subsidy on the product.

However, most filling stations in Abuja were locked on Tuesday, as long queues were seen at the few that were dispensing fuel to motorists.

Prices have also gone up at the pump, as most independent retailers were selling at N625 per litre, while NNPCL was dispensing at N613.

Black marketers who were seen with the product in yellow kegs had also increased their price from N750 to N1,000 per litre.

This came weeks after President Bola Tinubu said there would no longer be increase in pump price of petrol, despite the deregulation of the downstream market, adding that the present petrol price would remain.

The Senate on Tuesday adopted a motion which was sponsored by Senator Sunday Marshall Katung representing Kaduna South Senatorial District, seeking intervention in farmers’ loss of ginger worth N10 billion due to pathogenic diseases.

In the motion, the lawmaker called for urgent need to address the outbreak of a deadly disease affecting ginger production in Southern Kaduna which has caused a devastating effect to farmers.

Katung said ginger has been grown in the Southern part of Kaduna State since about 1927, and it has steadily increased in its importance as a valuable commodity over the intervening years, but never witnessed destruction of this magnitude due to diseases.

The motion further noted “that Kaduna State ranks the highest in ginger production in Nigeria, contributing to Nigeria’s place as one of the largest producers of ginger in the world, with a production average of more than 300,000 tonnes during the five-year period 2014-2018, and a global market share of about 11 per cent, trailing only India;

“Cognizant that as a subset of the agricultural sector, ginger production has a significant impact on revenue generation and farmers income, thereby reducing the rate of poverty amongst the local farmers of southern Kaduna and the country at large;

“Also cognizant that apart from its revenue generating potential, the consumption of ginger has many health benefits ranging from the prevention of stomach ulcers, the reduction of nausea and vomiting amongst pregnant women, to chemotherapy treatment for cancer patients;

“Worried that the 2023 ginger season in Southern Kaduna State has suffered a significant setback due to an outbreak of fungi pathogens infection destroying over 2,500 hectares of farmlands estimated at 10 Billion Naira across seven Local Government Areas of southern Kaduna State, thereby significantly threatening Nigeria’s position on the world chart of ginger production;

“Also worried that this devastating and unprecedented ginger pandemic affects Nigeria’s non-oil export performance and is already affecting the lives of many individuals within the affected communities of southern Kaduna because ginger is their source of livelihood.”

After contributions highlighting the importance of ginger production, the Senate mandated its Committee on Agricultural Production and Rural Development to interface with the hierarchy of the National Agricultural Quarantine Services and its supervisory Ministry, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security.

The Committee was asked to conduct an on-the-spot assessment tour of all affected areas of the ginger pandemic in Southern Kaduna state.

Senate President, Godswill Akpabio called on the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and Prevention to immediately coordinate surveillance systems to collect, analyze and interpret data on this disease, towards the prevention of further spread or phytonoses

A report by Premium Times indicates that President Bola Tinubu is considering recalling a 71-year-old former Justice of the Supreme Court from retirement to serve as the chairperson of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC).

Abdu Aboki, who hails from Kano state, exited the Supreme Court bench after clocking the mandatory retirement age 70 on 5 August 2022.

Presidency sources quoted in the report said Tinubu has penned down Aboki’s name to replace the incumbent ICPC chair, Bolaji Owasanoye, whose five-year tenure remains about six months.

Aboki’s appointment will deviate from the new trend of showing a preference for the relatively younger generation to head the anti-corruption agency.

Some observers have shared their concerns about his age, saying appointing a relatively older person from retirement to head a key anti-corruption agency like the ICPC is out of sync in an era of fast-changing dynamics of corruption trends that require innovative strategies to tackle.

Some also argue that Aboki’s age and experience across the hierarchy of the Nigerian judiciary would be an asset for an ICPC chairperson, who has to contend with legal issues and difficulties of prosecution of corruption suspects, especially the high-profile ones, in court.

Aboki, whose wife, Dije, is the chief judge of Kano state, began his journey on the bench 38 years ago when he was appointed a High Court judge in the state judiciary in 1987.

Before his judicial roles, Aboki, a graduate of Law from the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, partook in the compulsory NYSC programme in old Gongola State between 1977 and 1978.

He attended the Nigerian Law School in Victoria Island, Lagos, and was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1977.

In November 2020, Aboki, after serving on the Court of Appeal bench for 14 years, was appointed to the Supreme Court bench alongside five others.