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Eight Varsity Students Travelling for Election Perish in Road Accident

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Eight students of Madonna University, Elele, Rivers State have reportedly died in an auto crash on their way to Taraba State from Port Harcourt.

According to reports, the students were travelling home from school on account of the forthcoming general election.

An eyewitness, Matthew Mbam, said the incident happened on Saturday, February 18, at the TTC/Special Science School junction, Abakaliki in Ebonyi State.

Seven other students, who reportedly survived the incident with varying degrees of injuries and were rushed to the Alex Ekwueme Teaching Hospital Hospital in Ebonyi State.

Mbam, who narrated the incident on his Facebook page, said, “While returning from Nwezenyi, Igbeagu, Izzi, Ebonyi State, Nigeria this Sunday evening where I went to pick some people, I met this horrific scene at exactly TTC/Special Science School junction along the trans-Saharan road.

“Seeing the crowd of persons with some army officers around the burnt vehicle, I decided to park my car by the roadside and came out to find out what really happened. I was told that the accident occurred yesterday twilight being Saturday, February 18, 2023.

“After asking some persons there who all declined telling me what really happened, I met the soldiers who accompanied the relatives from Taraba State, directly to ask them what happened with the burnt vehicle.

“They briefed me that the bus was coming from Port-Harcourt, conveying some students from Madonna University with some of the parents who were returning to Taraba State for a break due to the upcoming elections.”

Mbam added that the seven persons that survived were in “bad conditions” while the eight that lost their lives were “burnt beyond recognition.”

“The story further has it that eight students/a parent are the chelated bodies/ashes that were burnt beyond recognition. And about seven persons in bad conditions who are currently at Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, escaped from the bus when it caught fire after having head-on collision with a Sienna car.”

Ezra M Usman, the father of one of the deceased students, expressed his sorrow in a Facebook post, attaching a picture of his daughter.

Usman wrote, “Grace Usman Ezra, I never knew sending you to Madonna University would lead to your untimely death. 18 of you left Madonna to Jalingo yesterday only to hear the news that your bus had [an] accident and caught fire, eight out of 18 came out from the bus. It is well with the 10 of you and the rest that are alive, I pray for your speedy recovery and may God comfort us all that lost our children.”

Efforts to reach the Vice Chancellor of the university, Dr Uchenna Anyanwu, were unsuccessful as calls to his telephone were not answered and he had yet to reply to an enquiry sent to his telephone through text message as of the time of filing this report.

The Punch

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Tinubu Will Not Survive Second Term in Office If He Wins – Primate Ayodele

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Controversial cleric, founder and leader of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Primate Elijah Ayodele, has said that President Bola Tinubu is sick and will not be able to complete a second term if he wins the 2027 presidential election.

In a video posted on Tuesday, Mr Ayodele predicted that Mr Tinubu might end up like ex-President Musa Yar’Adua, who died in office, if he wins re-election in 2027.

“If Tinubu wins the second time, he will not finish it. I stand by my word, he will not finish it. What happened to Yar’Adua or whatever that will make him not to finish it that will lead to emergency government, make Shettima take over from him might happen,” Mr Ayodele said. “Tinubu will not finish his second term, thus says the Lord of hosts.”

Mr Ayodele claimed he was denied access to Tinubu by those Mr Tinubu surrounded himself with, those who do not want him to hear the truth.

“People surrounding Tinubu don’t want him to hear the truth. They don’t want him to hear people like us. I don’t say prophets should not go again. Let them bring one billion alfas. It is a matter of time. You will all see it. If Tinubu wins a second term, he will not finish it. It is not a curse,” the INRI spiritual leader declared.

The cleric called on the president’s family to rally prayers and not let Mr Tinubu die.

“You are not seeing what I am seeing. Tinubu is not OK. He needs prayers. Wife, children of Tinubu, wake up. Seyi! Help Tinubu. Don’t let your father die,” Mr Ayodele said.

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Man Accuses Girlfriend of HIV Infection, Beats Her to Death

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A 30-year-old man identified as Emmanuel Okpara has been arrested in Enugu over the alleged murder of his girlfriend, Chinyere.

The suspect, of Olympic Layout, One-Day, Enugu, allegedly beat his girlfriend to death over argument of who between them infected the other with HIV.

Okpara had allegedly after the murder hidden the remains of the lady in his toilet.

However, his neighbours forced the door to his apartment open and discovered the remains and subsequently alerted the police.

The spokesperson for Enugu Command, SP Daniel Ndukwe, confirmed the incident in a statement on Tuesday.

Ndukwe explained that Chinyere’s surname, age and address had yet to be established.

He stated that the suspect was rescued from an angry mob and detained by police operatives attached to Awkunanaw Division at about 6:30pm on September 21.

He added that “the rescue followed information reaching the police that Okpara had allegedly murdered his girlfriend.

“Preliminary investigation indicates that the suspect allegedly killed the victim on September 19, wrapped her remains in a nylon and locked them inside the toilet of his apartment.

“The offensive odour of the decomposing body subsequently attracted neighbours, who forced the door open and apprehended him before the arrival of the police.

“The remains were evacuated to a mortuary for preservation and autopsy, while efforts are ongoing to trace and notify her relatives,” the statement added.

It further stated that during preliminary interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime.

Ndukwe explained that the suspect confessed that the incident followed an argument between him and the deceased over allegations of who infected the other with HIV.

He further stated that during the argument, Okpara hit the deceased on the head with a pestle, resulting in her death.

He was alleged to have subsequently wrapped and dumped her remains inside his toilet.

According to Ndukwe, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Mamman Giwa, has ordered the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID) to conduct a discreet and thorough investigation to establish the circumstances surrounding the incident.

The commissioner directed the SCID to ensure that the suspect was arraigned upon the conclusion of investigations.

He cautioned the public, particularly unsuspecting young women, to inform trusted relatives or friends about their whereabouts and exercise caution about whom they visit or spend time with.

NAN

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Workers Write Tinubu, Demand N500/litre Fuel or N500k Minimum Wage

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Civil servants under the aegis of Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, (JNPSNC) trade union side, have written to President Bola Tinubu, seeking an immediate intervention to tackle the worsening economic hardship facing workers.

In a letter addressed to the President, the workers urged the Federal Government to stabilise the price of petrol at N500 per litre, approve an immediate Wage Award and upwardly review salaries and allowances across the public service.

The workers equally demanded the immediate constitution of a committee to negotiate a new National Minimum Wage ahead of January 2027.

According to the workers, the recent increase in fuel prices to N1,430 per litre and above in some locations had further worsened the cost-of-living crisis.

They gave the Federal government until Wednesday, September 30, 2026, to take action on their demands, warning that the prevailing hardship was creating palpable tension among workers and Nigerians.

The workers added that the removal of fuel subsidy three years ago had triggered an astronomical increase in fuel prices and produced multiplier effects on the prices of essential commodities across the economy.

According to the JNPSNC, the situation had made life increasingly unbearable for workers, adding that the provision of food palliatives was not a sustainable solution to the economic crisis.

“It has dawned on Nigerian workers that the provision of palliatives such as bags of rice, Indomie, vegetable oil, garri, among other edible foods, is as good as weaponising Nigerians with poverty because it is a Pyrrhic intervention which is unsustainable, inaccessible to the majority of Nigeria’s population and also limited to political cronies,” the workers said.

They further stressed that a more sustainable intervention would be to reduce the cost of fuel to N500 per litre, stating that the measure would have a multiplier effect across the economy.

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