Civil society groups under the aegis of Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, CACOL, have warned judges in the country to stop handling corruption cases with levity.

A statement signed by its Executive Chairman, Debo Adeniran said that the recent developments in the nation’s judicial system show that the country was not serious in ensuring a corrupt-free society.

The statement, which further accused some members of the judiciary of ridiculing the country reads: “We are worried that soon corruption cases stalled or dismissed in our courts have always speedily sailed through in London courts and in other jurisdictions. We are worried that our judicial officers especially our judges are giving the impression they are there to do the bidding of the very corrupt persons before their courts while the victims are harassed and intimidated.

Several weeks after 11 children, between the ages of five months and two years were abducted in Ishiagu, Ivo local government of Ebonyi State, their whereabouts remain unknown.
The children were reportedly abducted at Ishiagu, home town of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim.
A reliable source in the community said the trend started December last year with the abduction of four children, adding that only recently six others were abducted, bringing the number to eleven.

DailyPost learnt that all the eleven children abducted are settlers in the community.
Already, the situation has taken another dimension as residents of Ishiagu are accusing the police in the state of complicity in the abduction.
Residents who alleged that policemen in Ishiagu divisional police station were aiding the kidnappers, said efforts they were making to stem the tide were being frustrated by the police in Ishiagu division.

When our correspondent visited the Mile 2 Area in Ishiagu where 2 year old Chiemere Emmanuel and eight month, Chidubem Emmanuel were abducted, their mothers Blessing and Nnenna respectively lamented that since the abduction of their children, nothing had been heard from either the police or from the government.
The youth leader of the community, Mr. Chijioke Njoku, who also spoke to DailyPost alleged that Ebonyi state government and in fact the council chairman of Ivo LGA were not torched by the development because the abducted children were not indigenes of Ishiagu.
He said: “It is no longer news that our children are being kidnapped, even on the 19th and 20th of December, 2012 in Ayaragu children were kidnapped.
On 29th of December, along this Afikpo-Okigwe Road, a woman who was coming back from Ayaragu area with her child was intercepted by gunmen, they pushed her and her child into a car; along the road, they pushed her out and took her child away. Till now the family has not seen the child”.
On the effort of the community, he said: “Two or three weeks ago we intercepted two vehicles- Jetta and Mercedes Benz; the Jetta over ran us while we seized the Mercedes Benz.
“When we stopped the occupants of the car, they even tried to fight us. One of them ran away living the driver of the car.
“The suspect was later handed over to the police, with the warning that they should not toy with the case. Painfully, nothing serious came out of that case”.
Continuing, he said: “We are appealing to the government to help us. Everyday we come to this place to keep night watch in an effort to see whether we can stop this abduction, but the police are not backing us”.
The Ebonyi State Police Public Relation Officer, (PPRO), DSP Sylvester Igbo who was contacted on phone, did not make any comment.

 

Leading opposition party, the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has called on the federal government to refurbish police colleges across the country.

The party while expressing hope that the promise by Police Affairs Minister, Caleb Olubolade, that the government will restructure and refurbish police training institutions across the country, is not a hoax designed only to douse the nationwide anger generated by the Channels TV expose on the rundown Police College in Ikeja.

ACN in a statement issued in Oyo yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed said: “If this is one of those ploys to divert attention from a burning issue and then continue with business as usual, the government is in for a rude shock, because Nigerians will definitely hold the Jonathan Administration to its promise to refurbish the police training colleges,’’ .

‘’To convince Nigerians that this is not the usual government gimmick, the minister must give a time frame within which the government will redeem its pledge. This promise cannot be open-ended if it is to be credible,’’ it said.

ACN also flayed why the government had chosen to intimidate Channels TV, which decided to expose the rot at the police college in Ikeja as part of a strategy to forge a public-private partnership to help raise the resources needed to refurbish the college.

The opposition party said the announcement by the management of the TV station ‘’postponing’’ the forum, which it had planned to hold in order to actualise its plan, was a direct result of President Jonathan’s unnecessary and inexplicable anger at the station, when he should have channelled his energy into reversing the rot.

“Yes, Channels TV has not said publicly that it was forced to ‘postpone’ the forum, but any discerning person knows the TV station had to retrace its steps after no other personality than the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria left it in no doubt that its public service initiative was meant to ‘embarrass’ the Administration.”

 

First lady of Lagos state, Mrs Abimbola Fashola, ace music producer JMartins, Highlife music star, Sunny Nneji and a few others have been listed among those that would be honoured as Peace Ambassadors by the United Nations on the January 20.

This was disclosed in a statement released Friday by the Universal Peace Federation and Youth Federation for World Peace.
Other Celebrities on the list include: Nollywood actress, HalimaAbubakar, Zaaki Azzay, Osuji Emelda Ahunna( MadamModesty), Dr. Sunny Obazu Ojeagbase Publisher Success Digest/Complete Sport), Publisher of CityPeople Magazine, Seyi Kehinde and Stanley Okoronkwo.
According to the statement: “This event will unfold in 3different categories; Lecture,Awards & Gala Nite in Lagos State and the theme for this year’sevent is Quest for Sustainable Peace In Nigeria. It will hold at 7, Olufunmilola Okikiolu Street, OffToyin Street, Ikeja – Lagos.”