Nation
Catholic Church Seeks Justice For Priest’s Incarceration
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The Catholic Church in Ebonyi State is seeking justice for Rev. Fr. Timothy Ngwuta incarcerated over alleged involvement in the Effium-Ezza Effium fratricidal conflict in the state.
The church made the appeal in a statement signed by Rev. Fr Mathew Uzoma, Chancellor, Catholic Diocese of Abakaliki last Monday while reacting to the cleric’s continued incarceration in the state.
The church, in the statement, said that Ngwuta vehemently denied all charges brought against him before the Bishop of the diocese and implored those responsible for the priest’s incaceration to “listen to the voice of right conscience”.
“He was arrested by the police on December 21, 2021 at Mbeke-Ishieke, Ebonyi Local Government Area of the state while assisting a friend retrieve his vehicle which broke down.
“He went to the police to secure a clearance which was granted after settling the entitlements for guarding the vehicle for two weeks.
“A local vigilante accosted he and his team while inflating the tyres of the vehicle and he told them that the entitlement given to the police also covered theirs.
“Another set of vigilante swooped on him and this caused a rift between both groups with Ngwuta arrested and taken to the same police station which earlier gave him clearance,” the statement read.
The church in the statement, revealed that Ngwuta was subsequently transferred to the state police headquarters and released on December 23, 2021 due to deteriorating health condition.
“He was re-arrested on March 8, 2022 and three days later, arraigned in court for kidnapping and murder of the five Nelan construction company engineers supervising a road project at the crisis area, among other charges.
“We are worried over how an issue of vehicle retrieval outside the conflict area (another LGA) has metamorphosed into such accusations as Ngwuta had disclosed the identity of the vehicle owner to the police.
“Efforts to secure his bail has been hampered by an executive order preventing any court in the state from entertaining matters relating to the Effium crisis.
The church said that it would not shield anyone who perpetrated violent acts in the state.
Reacting to the development, the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Cletus Ofoke said that there was nothing such as an executive order on the Effium crisis.
“The government can never issue order stopping the legitimate duties of the courts as such claim is aimed at maligning the government.
“Once a matter is in court, nobody talks about it with the legal processes taking their course.
“The state government has no hand in priest’s case as it is purely a legal issue from the police to the court.
“The priest is a human being such as others incarcerated over the Effium crisis with several of them already charged to court,” he said.
Efforts made by newsmen to contact the police for reaction proved abortive as its Public Relations Officer, DSP Loveth Odah was not available for comments.
Nation
Council Boss Impeached 48 Hours To LG Polls In Katsina
The Chairman of Malumfashi Local Government Council of Katsina State, Maharazu Dayi, has been impeached.
Maharazu Dayi was impeached yesterday by 11 out of 12 councillors, barely two days before the local government elections in the State.
The councillors reportedly took action following allegations of misconduct and poor governance against the chairman after a dispute over the distribution of the council’s Paris Club funds.
The development has sent shock waves across the local government area, especially as the impeached chairman is among those who failed to secure the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to contest in the forthcoming election.
Nation
Association Tasks Fubara On Rumuwoji Market Phase Three
The Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association, Mile 1, Port Harcourt, has urged the state government to utilise the available spaces within the area to build phase 3 of the Rumuwoji Market in order to solve the ever increasing needs of traders.
The association, which said this at a media briefing in Port Harcourt, also described as a welcomed development the decision by the state Governor to open the phase 2 of the market for business.
According to the association, “We consider it as an answer to the various cries of the people, because he is a man on a mission who is out to place the interest of Rivers people first. It is a dream come true for the first time for the market to be dully allocated and open for business”
Chairman of the association, Hon Godspower Wobo, who briefed the press shortly after a meeting of the association in Port Harcourt, also urged the public to disregard the activities of some persons whose stock in trade is to cause disaffection in the market.
He said the attention of the association was drawn to the activities of some strange fellows who went about misforming the people about situation in the market, stressing that apart from his association, no other group exists in the market except subdiary unions.
Wobo also tasked the reallocation committee to tread with caution so as to avoid being deceived by any group.
According to him, time has come for the state government to engage in robust discussion with aggrieved shop owners who went to court and those who paid monies to the state coffers and issued with allocation certificates for the overall interest of peace.
He also advised the public to deal directly with his association, stressing that the meeting was to review activities for the last year as well as unveil their new Constitution.
Also speaking, former Chairman of the association, Deacon Kenneth Eze urged the Rivers State Governor, Sir Siminalayi Fubara to open the phase 2 of the market, as it is long overdue.
Eze who is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the association also urged the public to do business with only the Rumuwoji Ultra Modern Market Traders Association as it is the only union recognised by the traders.
Nation
AfDB President Denies 2027 Presidential Ambition
The President of the African Development Bank (AfDB), Akinwunmi Adesina, has debunked reports linking him with the race for Nigeria’s presidency in 2027.
Reacting to the report on his X handle yesterday, following a recent interview with Arise TV, the AfDB boss said his quotes were misrepresented and misinterpreted in several Nigerian media reports.
However, the AfDB president denied the media reports, stating that he never said that he wanted to contest for President.
“A segment of my recent interview on @Arise TV has been both misinterpreted and misrepresented in several Nigerian media outlets. What I said was, “I will be available to serve in any capacity, globally, in Africa, anywhere, including my own country.”
“A listen to the substantive and robust interview, which is available online, will show this to be the case. For clarity and for the record, I did not say that I am running for the office of President of Nigeria,” Adesina said.
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